Camping food at it's best

So we love camping!  I jokingly say my hubby lucked out that his wife enjoys roughing it and everything that goes with it.  We have food allergies so prepping for any trip requires some amount of thinking ahead.  For this 4 day trip we have some premade things but mostly homemade stuff.  So today is food prep day.  Yesterday, I cleaned the house for the dog sitters, packed our clothing, and played with the boys.

Here's our list:

Breakfast

Scrambled Eggs with veggies and cheese

Banana Muffins (see Elana's Pantry recipe for Paleo Banana Muffins...I use honey)

Applegate Farms Chicken and Maple Breakfast Sausage

Milk (organic whole milk and Almond Milk)

veggie smoothies

Lunch

Spicy Black bean salad
Salsa
Avocado
Tortilla chips

raw veggies

veggie dip (see recipe below)

Uncured Beef Hot Dogs (Applegate Farms)

Supper

raw veggies

taco meat
Homemade salsa
Avocados
Black bean salad

organic corn chips (for the Superheroes)

Tillamook Cheddar Cheese

Hamburgers

Hot dogs from above

Snacks

70% Cacao Organic Dark Chocolate

Organic Apples

Organic Oranges

Organic grapes

Sunflower Seed Butter Blondies (Elana's Pantry...I use 1/2 maple syrup and 1/2 honey for this recipe instead of the agave nectar)

Now...for the recipes!!!

Veggie Dip

8 ounces organic full fat sour cream

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp sea salt

1 TBSP dried dill

1 TBSP dried parsley

Mix above ingredients and enjoy!

Hamburgers with Feta (Thanks to our friend Jana for this recipe...with some minor additions)

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

3/4 cup crumbled feta

3/4 cup finely chopped spinach

1 TBSP fresh minced basil

1 TBSP fresh minced garlic

1/2 cup minced red onion

1/3 cup finely minced red bell pepper

1 tsp. sea salt

Mix above ingredients and fry on griddle.  Sooo good!  Enjoy!

White Bean Hummus with Black Olives and Pepperocinis

On Memorial Day we went to our friends' house for a BBQ.  I offered to bring veggies and dip thinking it would be easy since I'm always chopping veggies here anyway.  The dip plan was my homemade ranch dip and hummus.

Parade side...just a WEE bit excited to see the festivities!

Normally, I make a roasted bell pepper hummus with garbanzo beans (aka chick peas) that I love!  I am not a big hummus fan so the bell peppers hide the taste of the chick peas and tahini.  So it's the day of...I'm searching our pantry, getting everything out...excited to go.  Handsome Hubby was working out at the gym and then I was going to leave to workout for an hour before we left for their house.  Kids are resting on the couch watching Thomas the Train.  I just had the hummus left to make.

One problem...I didn't have the peppers.  I was literally emptying my pantry out searching.  No luck.  So here you have my new creation...A White bean hummus!  This is what I had in my pantry folks.

I guess my lesson to you is don't be afraid to experiment.  I make a white bean salad with similar ingredients so I thought this would work.  It does!  It was tested and approved by 8 adults and when we left the large bowl was half empty.  A success!  It took about 15 minutes to make since I had to cut the olives and pepperocini some before I placed them in the food processor.

White Bean Hummus

2 cans of canellini beans rinsed and drained
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tsp. freshly minced garlic
1/2 cup tahini
1 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbsp. dry basil
5 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced
3/4 cup pepperocinis sliced
2 Tbsp. pepperocini juice from the jar

Place above ingredients in your food processor or blender.  Mix until smooth.  Enjoy!

Roasted Veggies and Italian Sausage

So tonight I did a weekly menu game changing plan.  I was planning spaghetti but it just seemed like such a repeat.  So I took the Italian sausage that I had made, sliced it up and mixed it with the veggies from our fridge into one of our favorite meals.  I always forget to make this one but it is SOOO GOOD!

Roasted veggies and sausage!

Roasted Veggies and Italian Sausage

2 lbs Italian Sausage
3 small zucchini, sliced
1 bunch of asparagus snapped into bite sized pieces
1 small container or grape tomatoes
one red onion sliced thinly
1 orange bell pepper sliced thinly
sea salt
parmesan cheese
garlic powder

1. Bake Italian sausage at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  
2. Slice and mix with prepped veggies.  
3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
4. Spread vegetable and meat mixture on a large foil lined baking sheet.  
5. Sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese, sea salt, and garlic powder.
6. Bake for 15 minutes.  Stir well.  Bake 15 minutes more.  Stir.  If the veggies are tender then it's ready.  If not bake for additional time.
7. Enjoy!

Natural Ranch Dip?

So here's the deal.  I am the mom who tricked my now 5 year old into eating his vegetables by giving him Hidden Valley Ranch dip.  Even at the time when he was 2 years old and I was doing it I would cringe inside.  I had read the label...maltodextrin, buttermilk, salt, monosodium glutamate, dried garlic, dried onion, lactic acid, citric acid, spices and artificial flavors. Dried buttermilk adds the characteristic tang to the ranch dressing. (Livestrong.com).

This is what he liked?!  Kids need to eat their veggies!?  I'm a first time mom!  I want to get it right!

Well...guess what.  He just liked flavor and I figured out how to get him to eat cooked carrots (cooked in my chicken stock), asparagus, parsnips, green beans, and cucumbers.  But, I'll be honest with you...he still liked the ranch dip.

Typical spread at my baby shower.  Note the veggies and ranch dip in the back.  This was before we gave up processed food!  It makes me shudder!

No Going Back

Handsome Hubby and I didn't want to go there.  Monosodium glutamate is bad stuff!  Here's a list of known symptoms from the Mayo Clinic website:  

• Headache
• Flushing
• Sweating
• Facial pressure or tightness
• Numbness, tingling or burning in the face, neck and other areas
• Rapid, fluttering heartbeats (heart palpitations)
• Chest pain
• Nausea
• Weakness

So now what?  I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner but Pinterest helped me.  A recipe for it!  There's a little website that is fabulous called Keeper of the Home.  I stumbled on her recipe page for 17 common mixes that we use.  One of which was a guest post linking to a Ranch dip mix.  The link to her 17 mixes is above.

Eating "Real Food" and LOVIN' it.

The Rationale for Fat

So my simplified version is coming below...this is just dip for veggies.  If you can't tolerate dairy, get lactose free greek yogurt.  Or you could make it with just mayonaisse.  I would recommend making your own so you can avoid soybean oil (a common allergen and gmo).  Also, try to get a full fat sour cream or full fat yogurt.  A misconception is that we have to stay away from fat.  It's not true.  We need to stay away from fake!  Eat real foods.  The higher quality of plant based food and grass fed or free range meat you eat the more quickly you become full.  

The more quickly you become full, the fewer calories you eat.  The fewer calories you eat, the more weight you lose.  It's the QUALITY of calories that matters more than the QUANTITY.  Sure, you can't eat like a pig and not gain weight.  Food is food.  If you eat too much no matter what it is, you may have an unhealthy relationship with food.  That is something for you to examine in yourself.  We had to.  We still do.

But when companies start taking fat out of dairy, adding hormones, adding flavor enhancers, you're getting away from the way God made food.  Our bodies need a certain amount of fat.  It helps in brain memory functioning, you stay full longer, there's actually less of a chance of childhood obesity in kids who drink whole milk versus those who drink skim.

The Ranch Dip Recipe

16 oz container of full fat organic sour cream (or greek yogurt)

1 TBSP dried parsley

1 TBSP onion powder

1 TBSP garlic powder

1 tsp. sea salt

Mix above ingredients and enjoy!  That's it!  It saves you money too and you can adapt it.   Don't be locked into the sour cream either.  Try mayo.  Try hummus with this mix of spices.  Try Greek Yogurt.  To make it a dressing, add some whole milk.  Just a tablespoon at a time.  Try it out and let me know what you think!

Reinventing Leftovers

I have a Love-Hate relationship with leftovers.  I love the fact that it means I don't have to cook as much.  I hate the fact that it's the same old thing over and over.  So sometimes I need to spice things up and make ways to stretch the meal into several different meals.  I can freeze the leftovers or recreate them into a totally different meal.

A few weeks ago I made spaghetti sauce when Handsome Hubby went hunting.  Yesterday, I thawed it out while my parents were visiting and we had it for supper.  My mom couldn't believe how fast I prepped the meal.  She asked where the sauce came from.  We served it over mung bean fettuccine (as option 1) or some sauteéd zucchini (made with olive oil, garlic, and Italian seasoning).

Today, I gave my Superheroes the option of more spaghetti (they had eaten it for lunch) or bread sticks with the sauce.  They chose bread sticks.  I stumbled on this recipe at Multiply Delicious one day on Facebook.  It has become a favorite of ours.  My now 5 year old Superhero is bringing it to school tomorrow for his lunch.  I often wonder what the other kid's lunches look like and if he's bothered by it.      He did ask for fruit snacks today but I told him I'd give him some chocolate chips instead.  He was satisfied with that.

Tomorrow, the sauce will be reinvented again into pizza or I'll thaw out something else since we used it up tonight.  Perhaps it's time for that tilapia that's sitting in the freezer.  We shall see what I come up with.  It seems like tilapia and roasted asparagus will be the winner.  Enjoy!

You Can Make This Everyday Mom

So when my almost 5 year old says "You can make this everyday Mom" I know it's a hit.  Tonight I used some of the spaghetti sauce from Saturday's cooking extravaganza to make pizza.  I thawed some out and decided to try making a cauliflower crust.  I've been reading about them for awhile and was curious.  I perused several on Pinterest and decided on this one for no particular reason other than I know some people that had tried it too.  The blog is Eat.Drink.Smile and she focuses on real whole food recipes.

I followed her instructions almost to the word.  Just doubled it to feed our growing boys and used 1/2 mozzarella and 1/2 parmesan in the recipe.  After baking for 15 minutes I topped with sauce and toppings (black olives, pepperocini, roasted bell peppers, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese).  I baked it a bit more we were ready to eat.

Superhero #2 chose the deconstructed pizza since he has an aversion to sauce these days.  He ate cheese, pepperoni (uncured), and some veggies and milk.  Superhero #1 said I could make it everyday. I asked my Handsome Hubby if he could figure out what kind of "flour" I used for the crust and he was stumped.  You can't tell it's cauliflower.  Trust me.  I don't like cooked cauliflower.  We all devoured it.

There are about 6 square pieces left in the fridge.  I packed 2 for Superhero  #1's lunch tomorrow.  The preschool classmates won't even know that it's not your average pizza and it's safe to bring to a school with nut allergies.

The only drawback I would say is that we had to take our LACTAID pill before eating because of our lactose intolerance.  I loved the flavor but even with the pill in my stomach working I could feel that I'd had too much dairy.  So next time I might try a recipe I found that follows the same path but does use a bit of almond flour as well.  In case you're curious...that recipe is found here at the blog Love and Lemons. 

Later this week I hope to post my latest craftiness project.  I desperately needed to patch the knees of my outdoor Superheroes pants so I decided to have fun with it and make various vehicles on each knee.  That will come later with pics.  Right now they're washing.  Enjoy the pizza and let me know what you think if you try it.

Not Your Lazy Saturday

Sometimes we have lazy Saturdays.  We don't have any commitments.  We play at home, do yard work, stay caught up on laundry, etcetera.  This was not your lazy Saturday.  My feet hit the floor running at 6:30 a.m. and stopped moving at 9:40 p.m.  I literally did not sit down for a single meal.  I do not recommend this for anyone.  Especially a heart attack survivor who is supposed to be "managing stress".  However, life is life.  Sometimes you find yourself packing it in.

I woke up this morning to my sweet Superhero #2 calling for me.  So we played a little on his car mat with him explaining types of cars to me while the oven heated.  Next, he helped me make two new muffin creations using coconut flour.  I have to admit, coconut flour has not been my favorite flour of choice.  So if you're like me and don't like the texture of coconut baked goods, you may want to consider these recipes.  I made pineapple-coconut muffins and mini blueberry muffins with my boy.  They were so good and everyone devoured them as soon as they cooled.  The pineapple ones reminded me of pineapple upside down cake.  Both were from two of my favorite food blogs on whole food eating...Elana's Pantry had the blueberry muffins and The Nourishing Home had the Pineapple-Coconut muffins.

I did adapt both recipes some.  With the blueberry muffins I used melted coconut oil and grade b maple syrup instead of the grapeseed oil and agave nectar.  Coconut oil is a natural anti-inflammatory, big in "healthy fats", anti-microbial, adds moisture to baked goods, and the list goes on and on.  I replaced the butter in the Pineapple-coconut muffins with melted coconut oil and then used lactose free whole milk that I had in the fridge since I didn't have any kefir or yogurt.  Some of us have dairy allergies here so I try to limit it as much as possible.  I'm not against dairy...just against my reaction to it.

After that we left for soccer and I met a friend to go whole food grocery shopping.  She is overhauling her family's eating and feeling a bit overwhelmed.  So we met at a local health food store, traveled to Costco and introduced her to the corporate wonderland there and then parted ways for me to complete my shopping.

I arrived home to hungry kids and a Handsome Hubby who needed food for his wild turkey hunting trip this weekend.  So...I put on my cooking hat (figuratively) and started cleaning up from breakfast.  Then I made a bean salad for him with my own recipe.

Huge bowl of Greek Bean salad...ready for the road

Greek Bean Salad
2 cans white canellini beans (rinsed and drained)
1 cup chopped pepperocini
1 cup chopped kalamata olives
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
grape tomatoes (if you have them...I didn't today)
feta cheese to taste

Mix above ingredients together and enjoy!  It's so tasty!  High in carbs but when he's out hiking all day he needs them and burns through them.  He is meeting a hunting buddy so I made a HUGE bowl today.  All of the ingredients above are approximate.  Honestly...I just dump things in and taste until it seems right.

While I was chopping things up for that I started making my "secret spaghetti sauce".  It's really not a secret...it's natural sweet Italian sausage from the local health food supermarket that I bake and grind up in my food processor.  Next I found that the Kirkland brand spaghetti sauce has no added sugar or junk and as a bonus...IT'S CHEAP!  So I pour the 3 jars of that with my 3 pounds of sausage and we're set for spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, and breadsticks.  I sent a bag of mung bean noodles with him and some sauce so BAM another meal done.

Secret Spaghetti Sauce

Secret Spaghetti Sauce
3 lbs Italian sausage
3 jars Kirkland Marinara Sauce

Bake sweet Italian sausage at 350 for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes.  Cut links in "chunks" and grind in food processor.  You'll have to do several small batches.  Place ground sausage into large stockpot with the marinara sauce.  Simmer for 20-30 minutes and enjoy!

So with the dishwasher running and the counter still a mess I decided to throw some laundry in and cook more!  I'm crazy I know.  I made some turkey sliders for him to take and for us to eat while he's gone.  It's a favorite recipe from The Food Network and while it does include cheese I just try to limit how much I eat.  Here's the link if you're interested...unfortunately I didn't get pics of these.

Then with Superhero #1 celebrating his birthday at school on Monday and us having a busy day at church tomorrow I decided to do the unthinkable...bake more!  They had to be nut free but coconut flour was ok.  So I made two different coconut flour recipes.  One is for a white cupcake with a maple buttercream frosting.  The recipe may look intimidating but trust me...it's worth it.  My son always wants chocolate cake and this one was his favorite.  It came from the website Deliciously Organic.  She has wonderful information on how she healed Hashimoto's disease by eating whole foods.

Blueberry muffins, Pineapple coconut muffins, White cupcake with maple buttercream frosting and Chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream frosting

The second was from Elana's Pantry.  I think she must live in the kitchen because she always has so many incredible recipes and this one hit the mark again.   I did exchange melted coconut oil for the grapeseed again and used honey instead of the agave nectar.  My husband loved these the best and I honestly don't know what I like more.  I used some of the whipped buttercream from the white cupcakes and mixed it with the chocolate ganache type frosting that I had and it made a light fluffy chocolate buttercream.

In the midst of all this Superhero #2 played with water on the floor next to me showing me how to pour things, blow bubbles with straws, measure marbles in the cup with water, and many other things.  I had to experiment on and off as well and that area on the kitchen floor is SO clean.  He also saw fit to experiment with how well marbles roll on the wood floor.  He was very successful with that endeavor too.

Some playdough and Hot Wheels cars later I am finally sitting.  WHAT  A  DAY!  But you know what? Tomorrow I can relax a bit more and there are enough leftovers frozen and saved in the fridge that I don't have to cook at all while Handsome Hubby is gone.  Maybe you can all pray with me that he gets his turkey the first morning and comes home early like last year!  Enjoy the recipes...I just wouldn't recommend making them all in one day!

Healthy Doesn't Have to be Hard...

I hear the argument over and over that it just sounds too hard to eat an unprocessed diet.  Sometimes it's the busy day argument.  Maybe you travel a lot.  Maybe you aren't big on cooking.  Maybe your kids are picky.  I do agree that it takes a little more prep work.  When I have to shuttle one to preschool, make it to appointments, pick him up, etc...I have to think ahead a bit.  But you have to ask yourself why you're doing it.  Some things in life are hard.  Raising kids...is hard but I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.  Marriage can be hard...but the rewards are worth it.  College or graduate school can be hard...but the degree is worth it.  So why is it we're willing to sacrifice and invest in those things but not the health of our family or our own health?

Yesterday was a busy day.  My handsome hubby had just returned from a longer trip at 2:30 in the morning.  The kids were excited to see him (and so was I).  We were all tired.  We had to get ourselves out the door in time for preschool, get the last of our grocery shopping in for the week (I try to do it all in one or two days to save gas).  Pick up Superhero #1 from school and then head home to cram in as much fun in the sun as possible since we finally had a warm spring day.  The only problem with my "playing outside" plan was that I also needed to clean the house for piano lessons later in the afternoon, make supper, and leave from piano straight to my Handsome Hubby's work to bring him supper since he had an unexpected meeting late and we all wanted to see each other.

Notice...some of the things in my day I didn't HAVE to do.  I didn't have to cram in outside play time.  But I want to make time with my kids a priority.  If I were to have another heart attack and it were fatal... I don't want them to remember how Mama kept a clean house.  I want them to remember Mama playing, snuggling, and laughing with them.  I didn't HAVE to meet daddy for supper.  But I want them to have that connection with their dad.  They adore them.  He couldn't control having the meeting the day he got back but we could have a little quality time with him before bed.  His work day was brightened, my day was brightened, and the boys' day was brightened.  I even could have left my house messy or made a McDonald's run for supper.  But I didn't.

The kids took their rest time and I vacuumed and mopped.  There wasn't much clutter because in reclaiming our house I've been getting rid of unnecessary stuff.  I wiped down the bathrooms and then moved onto supper.  I had baked chicken with lemon pepper seasoning sprinkled on it the day before.  There wasn't enough leftovers for a full meal so I made some mayo (store stuff has soybean oil or canola oil...both bad for the body and heart, both GMO's aka genetically modified), chopped up the 2 1/2 chicken breasts and 2 celery stalks in the food processor and mixed it all together.  I added a little more lemon pepper and salt to taste and voila...supper was made.  Total time to clean house and make supper...45 minutes.  Total time outside... 2 1/2 hours.  Time with daddy...45 minutes.

Busy day.  Healthy meal.  Happy kids and parents.  Below you'll find our recipe for mayonnaise and lemon pepper chicken.  As a bonus I also added a pic and recipe for a lemon pepper, cucumber, tomato salad.  Enjoy!

Lemon Pepper Cucumber Salad

Lemon Pepper Cucumber Salad

Lemon pepper chicken cubed

1 baby English cucumber sliced in half spheres

1 roma tomato diced

Mix cucumbers, chicken, and tomatoes together.  Drizzle a little olive oil over top.  Sprinkle with salt and lemon pepper (without MSG added!) or preferred seasoning to taste.  Enjoy!

Mama's Mayo
3 large organic eggs
1 1/4 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 cup oil (we use macadamia, avocado, almond, or olive oil due to heart health and inflammation reduction)

1.  Place eggs, dry mustard, salt, and lemon juice into blender (we have a Vitamix) in the order listed and secure lid.

2.  Turn on lowest setting

3.  Turn machine on and slowly increase speed to highest setting.  Remove lid plug but NOT THE LID:-) (if possible).

4.  While machine is running, slowly pour oil through the lid plug opening into the container.  As mixture begins to thicken, the oil can be added at a faster rate.  The process should take about a minute.

5.  Stop machine and stir in any oil sitting on top.

6.  Refrigerate in a separate container and use within 2 to 4 weeks.



Chicken Salad Salad
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2-3 organic celery stalks
lemon pepper or preferred seasoning(dill, Emeril's original essence, etc)
salt
mayo

Place chicken on a foil lined pan and sprinkle with sea salt and lemon pepper.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Remove and cool.  Prepare mayo.  Cut chicken and celery in large chunks and place in food processor together.  Pulse chicken and celery until desired texture.  Remove from food processor and mix with mayo.  Add salt and extra seasoning to taste.  Serve on Nut Thin or Paleo crackers, paleo bread, lettuce wraps, or a bed of lettuce with tomatoes.  Enjoy!

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A Taste of Thailand for my little family

So this post will be quick...Today I was hungry for a coconut milk based Thai soup.  I had read someone's post on Facebook about them having some for dinner and realized I had several of the ingredients already.  Thankfully our sons have been exposed to a wide variety of food so this didn't scare them.

In an effort to save money on this whole food eating adventure, I've started buying whole organic chicken.  Costco has them for $2.49/lb which saves us a bundle compared to boneless/skinless chicken breasts.  You can put them in the crockpot which I do often.  But to save time today I baked it.  Simply preheat your oven to 400 F.  Place chicken in a dutch oven with 4-5 cups of water and cover.  Bake 1 hour.  Remove lid and bake an additional 20-30 minutes.  The internal temperature should reach 165 F. I add the water around my chicken so I have chicken stock/broth to use in other recipes.  The recipe below is what we made today.  It was soooo good!  It made me feel like I was back in graduate school eating at my favorite Thai restaurant in Minneapolis.  My Handsome Hubby even said it was better than some Thai food we had last week.

Here's the recipe notes and link...

Thai Chicken Soup

You do have to get a few obscure ingredients that can be harder to come by in smaller towns.  Lemon grass, kaffir leaves, and fish sauce could be tough finds.  A note to remember is that coriander leaves are the same as cilantro.  It's the same plant...when it goes to seed it is considered coriander.  We added mushrooms, extra chicken, broccoli, and bell peppers to our soup to make it more of a meal.  I used the chicken from the whole chicken that I baked during the day.  Then it was served as soup for my husband and I.  The kids ate it over mung bean noodles.  All of us topped ours with cilantro, basil, and green onions.  My husband added chili paste.  Sorry no picture!  I know it helps but go to this link and follow the recipe.  It's worth your time.



Enjoy!

A Fresh Start

For some reason it takes a major life crisis or a new year to help propel us into a fresh start.  We are such creatures of habit.  I'm so guilty of trying to maintain the status quo and yet God always reminds me in so many ways that it's not worth it.

So in this "Happy New Year" mentality I'm going to show you a sample menu of what we ate the past two weeks.  I know I've checked out for about 3 weeks here due to company visiting us and and all the preparations that go into that.  Now I'm back and I still feel passionately about what my family is doing to improve our health in the long run.

I can't stress enough how thankful I am that my handsome hubby and I are doing this TOGETHER.  We both want this.  We're a team.  When the kids see what we're doing...they want to do it.  For the past 6 months, it's become our norm.  People say they don't have the time to eat healthy.  I ask, is it that you don't have the time or that you truly don't have the motivation or desire to?  We've been so busy the past 2 weeks.  Here's my lunch/supper menu during that time crunched schedule.  Every meal covered 2 to 3 days and was changed up a bit.  That saved me time and made the leftovers more interesting.  Every bit of food was eaten.   It's doable.  It's healthy.  It's necessary to reclaim your health.

Lettuce wrap with my Almond Crusted Chicken, hummus, and tomatoes.  Clementine and small dark chocolate treat for my dessert.  A perfect Christmas lunch!

Prep veggies and hummus (see previous recipe here) for the week.  Then you don't have to cut them daily and you're more likely to eat well.

Have plenty of eggs, unprocessed nitrate/nitrite free breakfast meat (sausage or bacon), and veggies on hand for smoothies and omelets.  Have a green smoothie every morning and before supper.  It fills you up and is a great way to get your veggies.  Add fresh herbs, salt, and balsamic vinegar to make them a bit more tasty (like a V8).

Have organic romaine lettuce on hand.  Replace your sandwiches with lettuce wraps filled with hummus, veggies, and meat.


Crock pot Chicken or Turkey (we have a large crock pot so I double this and use the leftovers)

• 1 chicken 
• sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, and fresh thyme
• fill cavity of chicken with onion, parsnips, carrots, and butternut squash
• cover tops with same veggies
• Cook on low 5-6 hours until fully cooked

Turkey taco salads (Use the leftover turkey or chicken from above and shred it in your food processor)

• 2 pounds shredded turkey (you can estimate or buy a cheap food scale)
• homemade taco seasoning (great recipe here!)
• 2 small onions (saute first)
• 2 six ounce cans of tomato paste
• six ounces of water
• Combine all and serve with homemade guacamole (recipe here) on a bed of lettuce with tomatoes, green onions, and jalapeños.

Spaghetti

• 4 jars Organic spaghetti sauce (sugar free)
• 2 pounds All natural nitrate free Italian sausage (or make your own...recipe here)
• Bake sausage and grind up in food processor.  Simmer with sauce to combine flavors.
• Serve over spaghetti squash or Mung bean fettuccine.  Purchase here on Amazon.

Pizza

• homemade crust made from almond flour (Best recipe I've found here) Buy your flour online to save 50-60% off grocery store prices.
• leftover spaghetti sauce
• finely minced kale, uncured pepperoni, roasted bell peppers, olives, etc.
• NO CHEESE!

Ham

• Uncured ham
• green onions, carrots, parsnips
• Raw honey
• Bake at 350 covered for 1 hour surrounded by veggies.  Spread raw honey over top and recover. Bake for an addition 30 minutes until veggies are tender.

Chef Salad

• boiled eggs
• romaine lettuce
• chopped raw veggies
• chopped ham (leftover from above)
• Organic sulfate free balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil
• sea salt
• Prepare lettuce, top with veggies and ham.  Drizzle balsamic and olive oil over top.  Sprinkle with sea salt. Enjoy!

There is no halfway.  My hubby and I talked about this and both agreed...if we still had bread, crackers, chips, cookies in the house that were made of grains...we'd still be on the carb addiction cycle and wouldn't have lost a collective 50+ pounds between us.  If we still had our Pepsi or Mountain Dew, or chocolate from Kroger's, we wouldn't have 7 bags of clothes set to be donated this week.  You either want this.  Or you don't.  That means you have to give up the coffee creamer, the pop, the fast food, and find delicious substitutes.  It can be done.  Here's a few links that I use a lot.  Always keep in mind...grain free, dairy free, unprocessed.  Our only sugar comes from fruits, honey, and Grade B maple syrup.  You have menu for your first week or 2 of 2013. You have resource links.  You have recipes.  Make a grocery list and take the leap.  It's worth it.

Extra links:
The Nourishing Home
Elana's Pantry
Unrefined Kitchen
Passionate Homemaking
Real Sustenance

Make 2013 your best yet.  Enjoy!

3 Speedy Meals...Our Fast Food

So this will be a recipe post.  I have several that are churning in my head but I know one complaint of eating in a healthy way is TIME!  "I would eat better but we just don't have the time."  I get it.  I have 2 toddlers, 2 dogs, 2 fish, 1 hubby the upkeep for said toddlers, dogs, fish, and hubby.  Preschool, teaching Sunday school (in a few weeks), teach piano lessons, soccer for the boys, working out 4-5 days a week, quality time with hubby at night and my devoted "it's after 8 so now I'm officially done for the day whether the house looks good or not" policy.  Sometimes I have to prioritize.  Eating well makes a happier me.  It makes a happier household.  I'm not kidding you!  I had a package of Mike And Ike's last week and I felt like a crazy woman!  STAY AWAY FROM THE SUGAR!  They should come with a warning label!

Easy Meal #1:  Lettuce Wraps

Bread does not exist in our house.  Our lovely neighbor suggested I try this with our hummus and now we do it often.  I've listed my favorite below and it's a great way to get rid of a little extra chicken that isn't enough to feed all of us.  Superhero #1 and #2 eat the meat and veggies plain.  Hubby and I do the following.

1 leaf of romaine lettuce
dill hummus
leftover chicken, tuna, turkey burger, etc
thinly sliced tomatoes
thinly sliced cucumbers

Spread hummus generously down center spine of lettuce.  Add finely chopped meat, tomato and cucumber slices.  Enjoy!

Easy Meal #2:  Turkey Burgers with Guacamole

We serve these with guacamole so I'll list that recipe as well.  The kids LOVE the burgers plain and my hubby and I eat them with the guacamole.

Turkey Burgers
1.5 lbs ground turkey
1 tsp honey Dijon mustard
1 dash organic balsamic vinegar (no sulfites)

Mix the above ingredients and sprinkle each side with the blackening spice.  I'll list the recipe for that below.  I save an empty spice bottle so I can sprinkle it on easily and use it for other things.  Then grill or fry on a frying pan.

Blackening spice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cayenne powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder

Guacamole (taken from the Ultra-Metabolism Cookbook by Dr. Mark Hyman)
2 large avocados, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/2 cup diced red onion
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
5 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon minced jalapeño pepper
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Place all ingredients in a medium bowl.  Gently mix until blended but still chunky.  Yields: 2 1/2 cups.

Not as Easy but Absolutely Fantastic Meal #3:  Almond Crusted Chicken Nuggets

The kids LOVE these.  They are crunchy like chicken nuggets but without all the deep frying and unhealthy fat.  Their favorite is when I chop up butter lettuce finely and mix it with chopped chicken, tomatoes, green onions, a tiny bit of organic balsamic vinegar, and a touch of salt.  TO DIE FOR meal.  Hubby says it's 4.5 out of 5 stars and he is my toughest food critic which I'm thankful for.

You'll need a food processor for a lot of the recipes I create or use so it would be worth purchasing a good one.  I have a Cuisinart food processor that I got for Mother's Day from Costco.  I was SO EXCITED!  Seriously, I was.  I love to cook.

1/2 red bell pepper
1 cup broccoli chunks
4 eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 lbs. chicken chopped in nugget or chicken tender size
3 cups roasted almonds
1 cup flax
2 tablespoons blackening spice (see above recipe) (use more if you want it really spicey)
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 gallon size Ziploc bags


Puree broccoli and bell pepper in food processor using the chopping blade then set aside in bowl for eggs and chicken.  Add 4 eggs, olive oil and chopped chicken.  Mix well so all the yolks are broken and all of the chicken is coated in the veggie/olive oil/egg mixture.

Rinse and dry food processor container and blade.  Set up food processor and add almonds, flax seed, blackening spice, and sea salt.  Chop until you have a fine texture.  If you want it crunchier you can leave bigger chunks.  Divide evenly the almond mixture between the two Ziploc bags.

Using a slotted spoon to drain some of the egg mixture off, scoop chicken up and divide evenly between two Ziploc bags.  Seal bags and coat evenly.

Fry on non-stick fry pan or you can bake in the oven on a pan covered with parchment paper.  I would probably bake for 20 minutes at 350 F turning a couple times.  I've always used our frying pan and turn the nuggets a few time.  They're tender and the kids get extra veggies by eating them.

These nuggets make a great topping for a salad.  That's how we eat them!  Some romaine or butter lettuce, chicken, tomatoes, green onions, avocado, a touch of olive oil, and a touch of organic balsamic vinegar and sea salt.  Absolutely fabulous!  My hubby always goes back for seconds!

We had these last night for Superhero #2's birthday and then took the leftover chicken with us today when we went fishing.  The kids had it plain with veggies on the side and my hubby and I made lettuce wraps with it.  Enjoy!

Sample Menu for the Week

So something I do every week that seems to save me from running to the grocery store multiple times and spending extra money on incidentals is make a weekly menu.  I look in my pantry, figure out what I have on hand, what I need, etc.  You get the picture...

I'll try to post a weekly menu from time to time to give you an idea of how we eat.  It has kept us full.  I'm not starving between meals.  For snacks between meals our go-to is fruit or nuts.  I also have homemade pickles that the boys like or veggies an hummus.  I bring fruit and nuts when we leave the house for errands along with our water bottles so we always have food to keep our blood sugar stable and to keep the crabby-pants away.

This amount of food is for my hubby, me and the two superheroes.  Granted our Superheroes don't eat much at the ripe old ages of 2 and 4 but they do eat.  I eat the leftovers at lunch and so does Scott.  For the boys, sometimes they do and sometimes I make them tuna.  I'm still experimenting with homemade mayo so we can stay away from the canola oil mayo that we buy.

As a rule, the only oils we use are ones that haven't been processed or altered...olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, and sunflower oil.  Soybean I stay away from due to links with cancer and the estrogen that is naturally found in it.  My boys don't need any more of that.  Also Superhero #1 is allergic to soybeans.  Canola is actually a genetically modified version of the rapeseed plant and as a whole not good for your cholesterol or body as a whole.

So after that diversion...here's our menu from last week:

Monday:  
Breakfast:  Quinoa (superfood, high fiber and protein!) made with unsweetened almond milk, 1 apple, and cinnamon, sprinkled with chopped walnuts and flaxseed (omega 3's healthy fat!), 8 oz. fruit/veggie smoothie
Lunch:  Sunday's leftover chicken with veggies and hummus
Supper:  Homemade tomato soup made in our Vitamix with tomatoes, peppers, olive oil, organic chicken broth, celery, onions, carrots, salt, pepper, and marjoram.  Ginger-lime-garlic shrimp, Hummus and veggies, almond milk

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Leftover quinoa from Monday
Lunch:  leftover shrimp and tomato soup
Supper:  Shrimp, tomato soup, veggies and hummus

Wednesday:
Breakfast:  organic eggs fried in olive oil...each egg inside a  ring of bell pepper, sprinkled with chives, salt, pepper, and a thin slice of tomato.  Steam in a pan so the egg is cooked through by the steam to your liking
Lunch:  Tuna made with homemade mayo, veggies, any remaining soup, the boys use Nut Thin crackers with their tuna, I have mine in a lettuce wrap with some dill hummus
Supper:  Turkey chili  (2 lbs turkey, ancho chili powder, onion, 2 cans kidney beans, 28 ounce can whole tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne, etc.), serve turkey over brown rice or quinoa,  side of fruit for dessert

Thursday:
Breakfast:  eggs similar to Wednesday...switch it up by scrambling all ingredients and adding fresh rosemary
Lunch:  Leftover chili
Supper:  Leftover chili

Friday
Breakfast:  Amaranth made with unsweetened almond milk, chopped peach, cinnamon, chopped nuts, flaxseed (I love this one!)
Lunch:  Chili...yes we're sick of it at this point but there really wasn't enough to freeze
Supper:  roasted butternut squash (cubed) made with salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, shallots, and fresh chopped rosemary, ginger lime chicken (use fresh ginger, oregano, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lime juice, salt, pepper), side of raw veggies with fresh hummus.

Saturday
Breakfast:  Leftover amaranth
Lunch:  Leftover chicken and squash
Supper:  Chicken curry with carrots, onions, celery, fresh ginger, garlic, golden raisins, onion and coconut milk.  Serve over rice

Sunday
Breakfast:  eggs fixed in pepper rings
Lunch:  Lettuce wraps using fresh hummus, tomatoes, chopped up ginger lime chicken, and some fruit
Supper:  Leftover curry

What we ate tonight...

Tonight we had one of my favorites...dill hummus with raw veggies.  We also had turkey chili. The boys are still acclimating.  Superhero #2 loves the hummus.  Superhero #1 is still being convinced.  I got the recipe from the book "The Ultra-Metabolism Cookbook".  It is our go to cookbook for our lifestyle change.  I have tweaked it like I do every recipe... here is the recipe with my tweaks...

Hummus

1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas or 2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup tahini
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 medium cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
a dash of ground red pepper

My bonus ingredients...Use only one of the below options...

1/2 cup roasted red pepper
or
1/2 cup fresh basil
or
1/2 cup fresh dill

Drain and rinse chickpeas but save some liquid for later.  Combine everything in the food processor fitted with the metal blade.  Process until smooth.  If too thick, slowly add extra chickpea liquid until desired consistency.  Enjoy!