Quick Fix

This was one of my Make-It-Up-As-You-Go dinners.  Took pics because it' looked so pretty and tasted pretty amazing too!

Along with some water sautéed potatoes, I cooked up some garbanzo beans mixed with onion, mushrooms, corn, swiss chard, Brussels sprouts, and seasoned it experimentally.  (coriander, oregano, turmeric, garlic, I think that was it)

Topped my raw spinach with it.  It wasn't a big hit for the whole table, but I really liked it. They did love the potatoes, though. My crew LOVES potatoes. :)

 

And, well, this is just cute.  Our breakfast line up on mornings I make smoothies for the whole fam.

Continental Breakfast

This is the plan I use for breakfasts for the children each day.  I've been busy sharing this idea with friends, so I thought I should just put it all in one place for easy reference. :)

Saturday, I do a big day of baking for the week. I make a couple loaves of "sweet" breads and granola bars. I also make a couple of pans of baked oatmeal (one for Sunday morning and another for Monday morning).  Everything goes right to the freezer. Anyone snitching on Baking Day doesn't get their share for breakfast later in the week.

Now that I have a baked good for each breakfast during the week, my oldest puts out a continental breakfast buffet each morning. The children come down and make their plate with a bread, fruit, nuts, and side of *G-Bombed beans that cooked overnight in the crockpot. They love it and so do I.

No more cooking in the morning. Way less dishes, so the cleanup that used to take forever is going much faster. I think we even eat faster this way.

Some recipes on our normal rotation:

Orange Berry Muffins

Banana Blueberry Bars

Pumpkin Pie Squares

Banana Bread/Muffins

Zucchini Bread

Make Ahead pancakes

Granola Bars using this recipe, minus the oil and coconut, pressed in a parchment paper lined pan. I sometimes add peanut butter and chia seeds.

So, this week's breakfast menu looks like this:

Monday: Baked oatmeal that is topped with crushed walnuts, fruit, Gbomb beans
Tuesday: Zucchini bread that has crushed walnuts in it, fruit, Gbomb beans
Wednesday: Banana Bread, walnut pieces, fruit, Gbomb beans
Thursday: Zucchini bread with walnuts, fruit, Gbomb beans
Friday: Granola bars, fruit, gbomb beans

*Gbombs is an acronym for Greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries, seeds/nuts. I use the term to mean that we've dressed up the beans to fit the acronym as much as we can. We add onion, mushrooms (chopped VERY finely ), and greens (kale or collards or spinach). They all love their beans and greens in the morning.

Recipe: Teriyaki Rice

I was hunting for something to make for dinner tonight. (my menu planning took a vacation this week *wince* )

I wanted to do something with rice. I wanted to have some lentils.  I was planning to make a vegetable stir fry, which meant it would all have an Asian flavor.  I hunted around a bit, but nothing struck my fancy.

Got to thinking about flavoring the rice.  Hey, why not just toss the lentils IN with the rice. That could work.

A bit more thinking and Voila!! A new dish is created.

Teriyaki rice
3 cups brown rice
1 cup lentils
6 cups vegetable broth
1-1.5 cups unsweetened pineapple juice (I save the juice from the canned pineapple I buy)
2 tbs onion powder...
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs ginger
1/2 tsp (about) red pepper flakes
2 tbs bragg's aminos

Dump all ingredients into a pot. Stir.  Heat to boiling and then reduce heat to low and let simmer about an hour.  It smells wonderful and the taste was fantastic. Only one 5yo said it was "too spicy" for her. Maybe I decrease the red pepper or ginger next time.  Not sure, as I really didn't use exact measurements when I made it.

Since I'm being honest, I'll let you know that I messed up the liquid measurements in my batch tonight too. I only used the equivalent of 6 cups of liquid because I was thinking that I was only using 3 cups of brown rice.  I added that cup of lentils, though, so I should have increased the liquid by a cup or so. I changed the recipe above to reflect that. 

I also meant to toss in a half bag or so of frozen peas when the rice finished cooking. I forgot to do that.  Next time, hopefully I'll remember.

Still, even though the rice was a little crunchy, it tasted great with the vegetable stir fry we enjoyed tonight.  This one's a keeper. :)

Oh, for the love of chocolate!

My new breakfast obsession:  Chocolate Green Smoothie

1 cup (ish) of unsweetened almond milk
3-4 kale leaves or 1 cup of frozen greens

Blend in blender starting on low and working up to highest speed. Blend until smooth.

Add 1-2 cups frozen fruit/berries and about 1 cup water.  Blend on low working up to highest speed until smooth. Scrape sides and add water as needed.

Add 1-2 tsp of ground flax seed or chia seeds, 2 tsp dark chocolate cacao powder, 1 tsp vanilla, and a banana.  Blend on low working up to high until smooth and creamy. Add more water and scrape sides as needed.

Sip and enjoy the deliciousness. :)

Totally Beat

I am so.incredibly.tired.

Busy day. Schooling, choring, working on house projects, dealing with character issues. I am feeling Worn Out.

Children were up late. Baby was crabby and up late nursing.  I don't think I even need this Nighty Night tea I'm sipping. 

And, the comforting thing is that while I drift off to sleep, I can rest content knowing my *girls* will be burning the midnight oil (err...electricity) so the fam will wake to THREE pots of warm beans to fill their bellies in the morning. 

Pumpkin Spiced Cookies from Dr. F

Made these this week and they were a big hit. They are definitely going on the list for tomorrow's Kitchen Day. 

Dr. Furhman's Pumpkin Spice 
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
12 medjool dates (pitted)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (add more if needed)
1 cup pecans (chopped)

In a food processor or high-powered blender, blend pumpkin puree and dates. Place in a bowl and mix in remaining ingredients. Drop by spoonfuls on a non-stick baking pan (or use parchment paper) and press down to flatten. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

 

 

They are the perfect treat when you want to snuggle in with a good book.

 

 

Still Hangin'

I didn't even step on that scale this morning.  Too busy getting the day going.  So, I'm still teetering in wonderland...wondering if I'm in that next decade or not. ;)

My skirt was still looser fitting today than when I first bought it.

I ate well today. Really well.  Starch heavy at dinner, but it was comfort food at it's finest.  Ultimate Vegetable Loaf, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, corn, and mixed vegetables.

Happy sigh. 

Lunch was a large salad with my new taco salad topping. Onion, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms, chard, and a bit of cilantro tossed in with pinto beans and corn.  Love that topping. I forgot to add in the home made taco seasoning, but it was still delicious. 

Breakfast was my new love, Chocolate Green Smoothie.  Creamy, chocolatey, and much easier to get down than the chewing that needs done with my breakfast salad.  Still, I need to not leave that behind all together. ;)

I ran out of non-dairy milk for mixing up the potatoes tonight. The local stores had only vanilla flavored non-dairy milk available. So, I had to give in to the moment and get some regular low-fat milk.  I didn't add much to the 'taters and I didn't eat much of them either. Still, I'm already itching in my poison ivy target spots tonight at bedtime.  I haven't had that issue for over a month. Crazy.  I'm not saying it's definitely the dairy. I'm just saying, it's an interesting coincidence.

Heading out tomorrow for a Girls' Day with my mom and oldest daughter.  We're going to do some thrift shopping, antiquing, and my first ever trip to Trader Joe's.

I am Giddy. How am I going to get to sleep??  The gym looms on my morning horizon, so I need to find a way fast!!

One More At the Table

My mom is visiting with us for 10 days!! I've been busy getting ready for her arrival and now we're busy enjoying her company.

I was a little nervous having her come and stay, wondering if our diet choices would leave her uncomfortable or feeling poorly.  So far, all is well.  She's been so helpful to me in the kitchen. I sure wish I could have her here everyday!  Having an extra pair of already trained hands in the kitchen is such a blessing!

These two (my mom and my oldest) are the BEST kitchen helpers!!

Last night I made a variation of a new recipe, Southwestern Black Bean and Quinoa Casserole.  It turned out lovely and everyone liked it.  I was excited to cook up some quinoa.  I don't think I've used it before.

 

I used a veggie cheese product on about 3/4 of the pan.  Most everyone said it wasn't really needed so I think I'll just skip it next time.  I didn't think it was worth the cost and ingredient list. It drives me crazy how "vegan" foods can be so ridiculously processed and unhealthy. 

My weight hasn't dropped much in the last few days. I'm sort of plateaued again, which makes sense, I guess, since this was O week.  I keep forgetting about that.  I do feel like the new skirt I bought is fitting a little less snugly, so that makes me happy. :D

It felt SO good to hear my mom say how great I am looking right now. She really focused on my face and how different I look. Then, she mentioned that I look great from behind, too! Wow!! First time I've heard that one. :D

I haven't gotten in much exercise lately. But, I'm out of my funk I was battling last week. I was so stuck in carb-heavy-swamp that I didn't think I'd ever get out.  Back on track and feeling really great about it.

I also started making up some green smoothies this week for myself and the youngest children.  I'm finding it an easy way to get in my greens when I don't have time to fix up my breakfast salad. I love that I'm seeing my 1.5yo and my 3yo guzzle their greens each day. Woohoo!

Medival Feasting

The last two days found me in the kitchen.  So, what's new about that, right?

This time I was taking orders from my oldest daughter as she led the way in hosting her first medieval feast.  She planned this event all year, looking forward to her birthday.  She worked hard to make the foods, the table, the decorations, and the events as close to authentic as possible.

We invited some of our favorite friends to enjoy the day with us.  Their oldest son's birthday is the day before our daughter's so it was great fun to celebrate both of their days together. 

Now, when I say we feasted, I mean it!! Good thing I was so busy serving I didn't have time to overly stuff myself.

It was an amazing day. I'll post some recipes for the foods soon. Right now I sorta ache from my back to my calves to my finger tips. All signs of an amazing day!

Steak for Dinner!

Iceberg steak, that is. ;) 

My 9yo thought I was so clever serving "steak" with pasta.  For the first time in a while, my picky girl devoured her dinner!!

 

 

Some cuties wanted in on the fun of taking pictures of their dinner plates.  Oh, to be like Mommy. :) 

 

We actually used KNIVES at the dinner table! I don't even know how long it's been since we've done that. 

Well, *some* of us used knives. :)

I was reminded of one of our favorite documentaries we've watched recently, Forks Over Knives.  It's a fascinating film that deals with whole food plant-based diets.  It's a look at other cultures that thrive on this lifestyle of eating, the history of the food pyramid in our nation, and a summary of an amazing source of scientific data called The China Study.  I think this is a film that every family should watch and see what they can glean from the information given.

Strong Start to the Week

This Monday started with a bang! Okay, not a bang, more like a big YAWN and Do I HAVE to???? whine when my husband woke me up at 5am to head to the gym. BUT, I did it and the rest of the day was stellar!

I was running quite a bit today for the children's activities.  I packed a quick lunch of pb & j for them with carrot sticks, bell pepper slices, pears, and soy nuts.  My salad was half a head of romaine, a pile of spinach leaves, soy nuts, and mandarin oranges.  Not as filling as it could have been, but I was short on time.

I made up for it at dinner, though!! Check out this beauty of a stir fry!

 

 

I make my own sauce with the juice from a can of unsweetened pineapple chunks and add vegetable broth to make 2 cups.  Mix in 1 tbs ginger, a few red pepper flakes to preference, 1 tsp (about) of Bragg's, and 4 tbs of cornstarch.  I must have been hungry for stir fry because I was loving this meal!!  The children ate theirs over brown rice. David and I just piled high the veggies!

 

Scale was DOWN today. Yahoo!  

What have you Nutritized today?

I finally got to making this recipe for dinner. It's been on the menu for over a month, but something always comes up to bump it. 

I changed it a bit (see recipe below) to fit our preferences, ingredients I had on hand and to boost the nutrient value. I affectionately call that, Nutritized.

It's simmering now and I think it's going to be a winner with at least a few of us.  I'll serve it over or along side baked potatoes for the family. I'm having mine over steamed broccoli.

Spiced Chickpea Sauce

1 onion, diced fine

3 large white mushrooms, diced fine (so my children don't notice)

1 heaping TBS minced garlic (non-oil kind)

1 TBS ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp (or so) red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp ground cloves (only I didn't have those so skipped it)

1 TBS paprika

1 28 oz can stewed tomatoes

1 6 oz can tomato paste

2 cups no-salt vegetable broth

1/2 bag of frozen spinach

1 28oz can chickpeas, rinsed

Saute onions, garlic, and mushrooms in water or vegetable broth until soft. Add seasonings and mix. Add tomatoes, paste, and vegetable broth. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer. I mashed the tomatoes at this point to make it less chunky. (I have many in my family that will appreciate that effort.) Add spinach and chickpeas. Continue to simmer for at least 15 minutes. Add more vegetable broth if desired.

To serve, place a slit on the top of a sweet potato (or white potato, your choice) and gently squeeze to open. Removed part of the insides, if desired, and reserve or mix in with chickpea sauce. Ladle sauce over potatoes. (I didn't remove anything. I just split the potatoes and let the children choose if they wanted the sauce on the side or on the potato. They all chose the side but most were mixing it in with their potatoes after they tasted it.)

In looking over the recipe, I could have increased the seasoning by quite a bit. However, the flavor was fine for my family and I wanted to be cautious of over-seasoning it on the first run. :)

Report:  Everyone thought it was good. Even my non-bean eater went back for a big, healthy second helping. I just had one 7 year old chickpea dissenter.

Nutritarian Birthday Feast!

My oldest daughter turned 16 yesterday.  We had some fun shopping, then stopped for an express lunch in the van.  Instead of fast-food, we went to the local grocery store and built three huge salads for David, myself, and our daughter. Grabbed a loaf of bread, jar of peanut butter and jar of all fruit for the other children.  We were all excited to have good stuff to eat and cheap for on the road!

After that we ate our way through the apple orchard while we picked to fill our bucket of fresh apples.  Now, that's some healthy fun!

We cruised home for a Taco Bar night.  We tried something new by baking corn tortillas in the oven like this, making some great taco shells for our filling of black beans mixed with onions, garlic, mushrooms, collards, and seasoning, brown rice mixed with mixed vegetable medley, dried onion, garlic, and more seasoning, and of course, a giant fresh salad and salsa.  Everyone was quite happy with the birthday girl for giving us an excuse to eat such yummy food. :)

The best part of the meal came at the end, of course. She was so excited to plan out her birthday dessert, Nutritarian style.

She chose Dark Chocolate Nice Cream mixed with Raw Brownie Bites.  We called it Live by Chocolate Nice Cream. (spin off of our old favorite, Death By Chocolate Ice cream).

 

 Delicious!!  She truly is a genius.

 

I always tease my children that their birthday is also MY birthday. After all, who did all the work, right?  ;)  So, I was pretty happy to see the scale down half a pound this morning. I'm calling that a belated birthday gift to me!

Sunday is the day

Seems that Sundays are a good weigh-in day for me.  I was able to see my weight follow that curve up and then back down for a total loss of 2 pounds this week.  I'll take it.

Tomorrow begins a little extra boost to my week. David rejoined our family at the YMCA.  That means I'm planning to get up with him early in the morning for a workout together before we start the day. Should be a good way to get me moving and rolling.  I already know that getting ME out of bed is the key to the rest of the day.

We had a super busy day.  Church in the morning in Concord (2 hour round trip).  Lunch with David's parents while there.  Headed back for church with our new friends near our own hometown with a quick stop home to grab Babykinz a change of clothes and whip up a quick salad to share with the church family.  I am SO grateful for that food processor that lives on my counter now.

So, this salad is called Apple Bok Choy salad, but I have yet to make it with bok choy. Every time I've made it, I've used different vegetables, but it's always turned out really good. 

Tonight's version:

Half a head of purple cabbage cut into shreds
1/4-1/3 head of cauliflower cut bite sized
4-5 carrots, shredded
2 apples, diced
1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped

Dressing:
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup almonds or walnuts
1 TBS Dijon or regular mustard
1 TBS balsamic vinegar (or whatever vinegar you like)
1/2 cup raisins

Puree in food processor, adding water as needed to thin

Mix everything in a large bowl. The mixing takes a little bit to spread out the dressing evenly.

I like this salad a lot. The romaine wilts easily, so using the cabbage works well. I would imagine the bok choy would hold up better too. The first time I made this I put in broccoli flowerets and it was really good. It reminded me of a broccoli salad my friend makes that I love. This recipe has a similar flavor without the sugar. 

I'm feeling motivated and excited to work hard this week to get to that next decade. Only four pounds to go!! :D

Another great Kitchen Day

I went into the day dreading the amount of work that was ahead of me. Yet, once I got going, I was full of energy and conquered The List.

 

The Creamy Zucchini soup we had for lunch was great! Next time I double the recipe.

 

I used canned pumpkin in place of applesauce for my baked oatmeal. Hopefully, everyone will like the change instead of being upset that I messed with their favorite breakfast.

 

Today a good friend dropped off a 1/2 bushel bag filled with kale from her garden.  They've had such an abundant harvest, they are ready to share.  I am SO excited!! We're definitely going to be making kale chips now!

Even with all that work I did today, (started about 8am and didn't stop until we ate dinner at about 7pm)  I feel great.  Maybe it was the lovely cup of coffee I enjoyed today. First cup we've brewed at home in months! It was delicious but maybe the caffeine has me a little over energized.

More likely, I'm just feeling great about how much I got done.  That always gives me a boost of confidence and motivation.

Tomorrow we rest.  So glad to have a fridge full of food prepped so I can enjoy some time with the Lord and family.

 

Wowzers!!

After all that poor eating, I'm DOWN another pound! 

Yesterday was a great day with great choices.  I met a friend in the afternoon and we did a short hike with the children. Then we headed over to the apple orchard for some fun time.  While our friends munched on ice cream, we sampled apples and cider and then the girls munched on their Kashi cereal while I sipped my herbal tea.

Then we zoomed home so I could fix dinner. We had friends over for a meal and they eat ETL!!! It was WONDERFUL cooking for people that know and WANT to eat this way. No explaining, no defending, no need to feel *weird*.

I made a giant stir-fry with veggies from the garden, fridge, and cabinet.  Green beans, cabbage, peppers, onions, mushrooms, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, bean sprouts, Asian corn, and water chestnuts.  I mixed it with a sauce made of pineapple juice, ginger, red pepper flakes, a tiny bit of bragg's aminos, water, and arrowroot powder. 

On the table we also had brown rice, pineapple, and a melon salad.

Then came dessert. :)

My husband brought home a bag of freshly picked apples from my mother-in-law.  I just knew something creative could be done with those.  I peeked around at baked apple recipes on allrecipes.com and then went to work nutritizing one.

So, we cored the apples then sliced them in half.  Mixed some frozen blueberries with cinnamon and vanilla.  Fill the middle of the apples with the berry mixture. Bake at 350 for about 40-50 minutes.  They were amazing!!!! Everyone loved them.  The berries made this beautiful syrup that would be lovely over pancakes. :)

The best part, though, was having time to talk with someone using ETL and seeing her life change and feel better. We talked about how we see our physical bodies improving.  We shared ideas for recipes. We made a plan to get together to build our meal binders.  It is just so great to have a friend I can see face to face that embraces this lifestyle and *gets it*. 

A few pics

These are some pics of food adventures over the last couple of weeks.

Must-Go Soup from this weekend. I chopped up all the vegetable trimmings from this week and threw them in a pot with the bits of barley and lentils that were in the pantry. Seasoned it up and it was delicious!

My revised breakfast bowl I eat each morning for breakfast. I dropped the nuts/nut butter and have been adding more kale as I go.  So much so that it's now been renamed.  The Breakfast Salad. Finely diced kale, diced green apple, 1-2 cups frozen berries and 1 tbs ground flax seed. My favorite meal of the day.

Salad bar for lunch.  This is a great way for the children to enjoy a salad for lunch. They love building their own salad. Looks so pretty, too!

The start of a delicious spaghetti sauce. Yum.

Harvest time! Benjamin has some great tomatoes and peppers coming out of the garden right now.

We have two refrigerators. I love having two fridges for a big family.  They've now been converted to a Vegetable Fridge and a Fruit Fridge. My shelves have never been so colorful!

Baking day! I've started to serve Continental Breakfast each weekday morning. The children have a baked good, fruit, nuts, and G-Bomb beans. It makes for a quick meal and clean up.  Each Saturday a couple of helpers and I work on preparing all the baked goods for the week.  We've got everything from Baked Oatmeal to Banana Muffins to Granola Bars. The children have never liked breakfast so much!

I've been trying to make a yummy dessert each Saturday during Baking Day.  This is a Fruit Cobbler.  It was an okay treat. The topping was a little dough-y.  I didn't get pics, but last weeks Chunky Monkey Cookies and Raw Brownies were much better.