Date night

Today, the weather is still gloomy and cold and wet. The Superbowl is tomorrow. Sounds like a perfect day for some chili. I have a date tonight, and the kids are spending the night at my folk's house. David and I are going to a retirement party for one of my friends. This means I don't have to cook. YAY!!! I love to give you recipes, and I am hoping that eventually a few recipes will start showing up in the comments.

Anyway, I love a big bowl of chili, and I usually like to cook it all day and really smell up the house with the warm savory smells of the chili cooking. I also am trying to make this blog about saving time, and making things easy for myself and anyone else who chooses to read this and try to prep and prepare healthy meals for their family. This recipe only takes 30 minutes to make. Another option would be to make a double batch the next time you make chili, then freeze half of it in a big bag, or in individual serving baggies. This recipe came from my Taste of Home Simple and Delicious Cookbook.

When I fix it I either use grass fed beef, or ground bison. You can also use ground turkey to cut down on fat. I feel like bison is pretty lean, and very high in protein. Also, we're not huge turkey fans in my family. You can further cut down on time by using a food processor or slap-chop to chop all the veggies.

Speedy Weeknight Chili
Prep/total time: 30 minutes Yields: 15 servings

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 small onions, chopped
1/2 C chopped green pepper
1 tsp minced garlic
2 cans (16 ounces each) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) stewed tomatoes
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 bottle (12 ounces) beer or nonalcoholic beer
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1/4 C chili powder
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

In a large saucepan or dutch oven, cook the beef, onions, green pepper and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncover, for 10 minutes.

Perfect day for soup

Last night it started pouring rain, and it didn't let up all day. This would've been the perfect day for some homemade soup, and a nice loaf of homemade bread. Instead, my poor husband had to grill up some pork chops. Thankfully, the rain let up while he was out there grilling. I also made some cider glazed carrots for a side dish.

We seem to have hit a dip as far as getting together at the table for dinner. I may make sure that we eat well every night, but making sure we sit together for that meal; that's a little more difficult for our family. I think that because I work 3 nights a week, it just wasn't a habit, and when we get busy, it's easy to just fall back into that pattern. Tonight, I got us back on track, and made sure we sat together for dinner. David canceled our cable earlier this week, and he hasn't ordered/hooked up Netflix, or whatever so we have no TV right now. That's OK, I love to play board games, and when my family has nothing else to do, they will play games with me. I don't care if we ever get TV again. We did watch a movie; the kids and I, before David got home from work. I also found it easier to get motivated to make dinner tonight. Usually on Fridays and Saturdays I just don't want to cook. The meat was defrosted, so that held me accountable, and David was doing the grilling, so really all I needed to do was make the carrots, but in the past I would've just said, "we don't need a side dish." Without a TV, I am not snoozing on the couch, and my family got their side dish.

Looking back over this month, I only missed 1 day submitting a blog post which makes me happy. I also plan to figure out how to add pictures, to make this blog a bit more fancy. So those are the goals for February; spice up the blog with pictures and flare, try not to miss even 1 day, no excuses for not sitting at the table when we are all home and able to do so.

This recipe came from my Taste of Home Simple & Delicious Cookbook. I don't do anything to alter the recipe, and it's one of David's favorites. I haven't made it in a while, and it was a welcome surprise for everyone.

Cider Glazed Carrots

Prep/total time: 30 minutes

3 C julienned fresh carrots

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 C apple cider or juice

3 Tbsp water 1 tsp Dijon mustard

In a large skillet, saute carrots in butter for 5 minutes. Add brown sugar. Cook and stir for 1 minute or until the sugar is dissolved.

Stir in the cider, water and mustard. Bring to a a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until carrots are crisp-tender. Uncover and cook 3 minutes longer. Stir to coat carrots with the glaze. Yields: 4 servings

I prefer to use fresh carrots and cut them up myself ( I use a mandolin, and don't always julienne. I also have a spirooli that I love and sometimes use). However, if you'd like to save some time by making your prep time quicker, use packaged shredded carrots. Then simply place all the ingredients in a skillet and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Uncover and cook 3 minutes longer or until sauce is thickened.

Breakfast for dinner.

My family will request this every so often. It's not a frequent request, only because I don't make it that often, so it goes overlooked. When I do make it, I usually make eggs and pancakes, and set up a topping bar. I'm not a fan of too much sugar at night, so I limit the sugary toppings like chocolate chips, and whipped topping. I opt more for berries to top our pancakes. I decided not to do pancakes for tonight's dinner. Instead I made an egg dish that I used to only make 2 times a year; Christmas and Father's day. I got the recipe years ago while watching PBS during a fund raiser. There was a cooking show, and they made this dish. I went to the website, and copied it. I've been making it ever since. I do alter it slightly from time to time, but I love it the way it is. I will serve it with tortillas on the side.

We had Junior high orientation/step up night, so dinner was at the table, but slightly rushed. Still very delicious.

Prep time: 35 Minutes
Total time: 35 Minutes

Yield: Serves 4

Course: Breakfast and Brunch

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon (about 4 ounces) cut ½ inch thick crosswise
• 4 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped chipotle chiles in adobo
• 2 cans (28 ounces each) whole peeled tomatoes in juice
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 8 large eggs
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• Tortilla chips for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes; transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
2. Add garlic and chiles to rendered fat in skillet; cook, stirring, until garlic is just golden, 30 to 60 seconds. Add tomatoes and juice; simmer over medium heat, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon and stirring occasionally, until thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Reduce heat to low. One at a time, crack eggs into a small bowl or cup, and slide onto sauce in skillet, spacing so that all eggs will fit. Cover; cook very gently until egg whites are just opaque (yolks should still be soft), 6 to 9 minutes.
4. Spoon into four serving bowls; sprinkle with feta and bacon. Serve with tortilla chips, if desired.

Nutrition Info

Per serving: (without tortilla chips): 312 calories; 16 grams fat; 20.7 grams protein; 19.2 grams carbohydrates; 3.3 grams fiber

Tags: Egg Recipes, Sauce Recipes

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SLOW DOWN!!!

I've already disclosed to you that I am a perfectionist. I am also very neurotic, and I do not like when unexpected things happen. I have my schedule, I stick to my schedule, and life is good. So when one of my kids gets sick it's hard for me to pump the breaks. In the past, I used to call my mom, and send the kids over there. I am very grateful that I am in a position to do that. My daughter came home from school yesterday with a low fever. 100.5. She has an extremely strong immune system. She rarely gets sick, and when she does, it's usually over as quickly as it began. I can count the number of times she's been really sick on 2 fingers. Today she didn't have a fever, but the rule at school is that they need to be fever free for 24 hours before they can return back to school. I understand that this is to give the child an ample opportunity to recover, and to keep the other children, who may not have such strong immune systems from getting sick. I get it. That doesn't mean I like it. I followed the rules and kept her home today. I canceled my sessions for the day and kept her home. I really don't like to cancel sessions, but I know that the reality is that my clients will survive just fine without me, and I'll see them at the next session. I actually had one client send me a text celebrating a hike that she completed. I could tell she was proud of herself, and I was very proud of her. It makes me happy when clients, past and present workout on their own.

I spent the day taking care of things that I've been neglecting, and taking some much needed down time, that I rarely allow myself. Today's dinner was an easy crockpot dish that everyone in my family loves. Since this was a parkour and Toastmaster Wednesday, I had to make it easy. We won't be able to eat at the table together tonight, but I know we will all eat well. I found this recipe on Pinterest, and I've made it quite a bit. Whenever I bring kale home from the grocery store, David gets all excited, I can see his face drop when I tell him it's for a smoothie, or something else, then he will request for me to make this recipe. I make it as is, and don't change anything. Sometimes I will change up the type of sausage I use, and I always use chicken sausage, but sometimes it's Parmesan and basil, sometimes it's sweet, and sometimes I use spicy. Tonight I used spicy. The weather earlier in the week was rainy and cold, and had I made this then, I might have dragged out the bread machine. Today was lovely, and I guess I could have made a loaf to go with it, but I didn't.
I didn't tell the truth. I actually leave out the bacon. The first time I made it, I added the bacon, and it was delicious! I just think it tastes just as great without it, and if I can save some time and steps by not adding it, then I usually will. Keep in mind that I'm usually at work or busy when I choose to use a slow cooker recipe, so that leaves little time to fry up some bacon. However, since I was home today, AND we also had some bacon leftover from last night's bacon cheeseburgers, I added it.

Ingredients

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• 1 pound(s) Italian Sausage (spicy)
• 4-6 Russet Potatoes :bite sized cubes
• 1 Onion :minced
• 1/4 cup(s) REAL bacon pieces
• 2 tablespoon(s) Garlic :minced
• 32 ounce(s) Chicken Broth
• 1/2 bunch(es) Kale (or Swiss Chard) :destem & cut/torn into bite sized pieces
• 1 cup(s) Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2 tablespoon(s) Flour

Preparation

1. 1. Brown sausage links in a sauté pan.
2. 2. Cut links in half lengthwise, then cut slices.
3. 3. Place sausage, chicken broth, garlic, potatoes and onion in slow cooker.
4. Add just enough water to cover the vegetables and meat.
5. 4. Cook on high 3-4 hours (low 5-6 hours) until potatoes are soft.


6. 30 minutes before serving:
7. 5. Mix flour into cream removing lumps.
8. 6. Add cream and kale to the crock pot, stir.
9. 7. Cook on high 30 minutes or until broth thickens slightly.
10. 8. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.

What happens when life gets in the way?

I was in the waiting room at my dentist's office this morning when I got a call from the school nurse. I had to reschedule the cleaning (for the 3rd time). My daughter was running a fever. When I got to the school, I opted to just take both kids home, so I wouldn't need to drag my daughter back to school when my son got out. I brought them both home, and they did their homework, and then they actually both took a nap. I was able to get her in to see the Dr, but not until 6:10 PM. I had clients from 4-7, so David was the one to take her in. He also had to fix dinner. I had planned for him to fix dinner tonight based on my work schedule. I didn't plan for a sick child though. We had bacon cheeseburgers for dinner, but we used ground bison, and I was ready to use pork bacon, but David requested turkey bacon. For the turkey bacon, we use Applegate Farm brand. So while life does sometimes get in the way, if you just stick to it, and work as a team with what you've planned, things will go as smoothly as possible. I won't mention what my kitchen looks like. It's OK, I have a sick kid. At least that's what I will keep telling myself.

The kids were still awake when I got home, and while I was eating, my son informed me that he thought dinner tasted like bacon and eggs. Since I don't really have a recipe for tonight's dinner, I will share another of my favorite bacon and egg recipes. I found it in a fitness magazine - I don't remember which one. Tosca Reno submitted it. She  is a vegetarian, but I added bacon to this recipe as I am not a vegetarian. I broil/prepare the poblano peppers the night before, so I don't have worry about that part of the recipe. I also have not learned how to perfectly poach an egg, so I just cook them over easy. I spent the better part of a year teaching myself how to make the perfect fried egg. I will be learning how to poach and egg and soft boil and egg as well. I'm pretty picky when it comes to how I like my egg, and I practice until I have it down.

Baja California Eggs Benedict

Yield: 2 servings, each containing 1 whole English muffin, 1 roasted poblano pepper, 1 whole egg + 2 egg whites, ¼ avocado, and ½ of the yogurt “Hollandaise”.

Ingredients

• Yogurt “Hollandaise”:
• 1/3 cup low fat Greek yogurt
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp orange juice
• Pinch cayenne, plus more to sprinkle on the top of the finished dish

• 2 poblano peppers
• 2 whole eggs + 4 egg whites
• Eat-Clean cooking spray
• 2 whole wheat English muffins, split
• ½ avocado, pitted, peeled and thinly sliced
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation

1. To make the “Hollandaise”, in a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, lemon juice, orange juice, and cayenne. Set aside.
2. Place the oven rack 6 inches from the top, and heat the broiler. Place the peppers on a baking sheet and place them under the broiler. Broil 3 to 5 minutes until the skin is charred and blistered, then turn and repeat until the entire pepper is thoroughly blistered. Transfer the peppers to a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let sit for 5 minutes to steam. Peel away the blistered skin, using a paper towel to wipe away any remaining blackened skin. Remove the stem and seeds. Cut the peppers in half.
3. Fill the bottom of an egg poacher with 1 inch of water and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Spray the poaching cups with Eat-Clean cooking spray, and fill 2 of the cups with the whole eggs. Divide the 4 egg whites among the 2 remaining cups. Cover, and cook the whole eggs about 4 minutes for the whites to set and the yolks to thicken slightly. Remove the cooked whole eggs. Cover, and continue cooking the egg whites until opaque, another 3 – 4 minutes.
4. Toast the English muffins under the broiler, and divide them between 2 plates. Place ½ roasted pepper on each muffin, and top with the poached whole eggs, and egg whites. Top with the avocado slices, and spoon the yogurt “Hollandaise” over the top. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper, and sprinkle with a little cayenne.

Delish fish

Tonight's dinner was so easy, that even if I did work 9-5 and had a terrible day, I could have made this dish, and not be too bogged down with cooking. Thankfully, I did not have a crazy day. My day was actually pretty meh. I have the absolute best "job" in the world, and I love that I get to help people change their lives. The kids came home and got right to homework without fighting me or each other. So I guess today was actually a banner day. I got off early, and came home and put dinner together.

The look of the dinner made me think of chicken parm., and that is actually an option. However, I made it the way it was written and it was so delicious! Everyone ate everything without picking or complaining. Success! The recipe came from Taste of Home Simple & Delicious Cookbook

Salsa Fish
Prep/total time: 20 minutes Makes: 6 servings

2 pounds walleye, bass or perch fillets
1 C seasoned bread crumbs
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 C salsa
2 C (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Coat fillets with bread crumbs. In a large skillet, brown fillets on both sides in oil. Transfer to a greased 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Top with the salsa and cheese. Baked, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 7-10 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork and the cheese is melted.

So I have a tendency to overcook fish. I followed the directions to a T, and while I was eating, I kept thinking that I had under cooked it. I'm pretty sure it was just fine. Instead of bread crumbs, You could use coconut flour and unsweetened shredded coconut. You could also use Panko (Japanese bread crumbs). My family (David) doesn't like coconut, so I used Panko. I also used grape seed oil instead of vegetable oil.
I used broiled asparagus as our side dish.
To give this dish an Italian twist, substitute spaghetti sauce for the salsa.

I'm off to go clean the kitchen, and my biggest challenge is going to be not eating the leftovers, so I can have them for lunch tomorrow.

Back on tack with a quite Sunday dinner

Please forgive me. I didn't post yesterday. I admit, I was lazy and didn't feel like cooking. I also didn't get anything out of the freezer in the morning, so I couldn't cook even if I wanted to. After dinner, we watched a movie as a family, and I fell asleep on the couch, so I couldn't have posted...even if I wanted to.

I had a wonderful lazy morning of sleeping in and writing out the grocery list for the week. By noon, my son and I hit the grocery store. He and I also had a nice hour long hike after we were done shopping. Then we came home, and I started dinner. This is a family favorite that a good friend directed me to. She told me about the recipe, and the first time I made it, everyone loved it. Every time I make it, everyone eats everything on their plate, and no one speaks. Seriously it makes for a very quiet evening at the dinner table. I LOVE it! So the recipe comes from www.thecookingguy.com There was a video that came with it, and when Sam - the cooking guy  takes the ribs out of the oven, he accidentally drops a rack on the ground, brushes it off and throws it on the grill. Cracks me up every time I watch it. So funny.

I served potato salad and cowboy beans as side dishes, and we usually do watermelon for dessert when we have ribs. Tonight though, I made root beer floats.

Sticky Sweet Ribs
Serves 4

2 racks pork back ribs, about 4 pounds (I use either baby back or spare ribs)
1 1/2 C barbecue sauce, plain
1/4 C pancake syrup
1/4 C brown sugar
4 Tbsp white vinegar

Mix the sauce, syrup and brown sugar, set aside.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Place ribs in a large baking/casserole dish. Pour vinegar into dish with ribs and cover tightly with aluminium foil. Bake about 75 minutes or until very tender.
Remove from oven and carefully lift off the tin foil - watch out for steam.
The ribs are now fully cooked and just need to be "sauced" finished and you have 2 options:

1. Heat grill to medium and place ribs meat side down without sauce - but you can baste the back with the sauce. Cook until they start to develop grill marks, and turn over - now baste the top. You can stop here after they grill a bit on this side, or you could baste them a bit more and then give them a couple more minutes meat side down.

2. Heat broiler to high and place ribs on a baking sheet about 4 inches from the heat source. Brush the top of the ribs well with the sauce and cook until they start getting a bit brown - then flip to the back, sauce and cook some more. Flip back to the top (sauce again) and cook until they get that beautiful rib look.

Finally, no matter how you've cooked them, give 'em one extra baste after they've been removed and just before you serve them.

I follow the first option. I also find that the portions for the sauce are too much. Maybe David doesn't sauce them up enough??

Enjoy

Multiplicity

This is one of those weekends when I am being pulled in a million different directions. It makes me think of the movie Multiplicity with Michael Keaton. These weekends are tough for me, much as one would expect. While I am no expert nor am I perfect, I am however a perfectionist. So when I get inundated with tons of things that need to be done, and places that I need to be, I stress. I just feel like I am holding my breath until I am able to check each thing off the list, then I can breathe a little bit with each check mark. By the time Monday rolls around, I am ready to just sit and do nothing, but the week starts again. Most often in the past, when these weekends come up, I would just ditch whatever I had planned on the menu, and order a pizza or some other take out, so I wouldn't have to cook. Not this time. I can do this. I made sure to get the salmon out of the freezer so I would have to cook it - hold myself accountable. My daughter is doing some volunteer service work with my mom in the morning tomorrow, and it was easier for her to spend the night, and tonight's dinner was one of her favorites. She requested it. We didn't get to eat at the table as a family, and as a matter of fact, I ended up packing a serving plate in a Tupperware so Kaila could eat her dinner at my folk's house.

David topped the salmon with some barbecue sauce, and put it on the oven while I put the potatoes together to put in the oven.  The potato dish is really yummy, but I had Brussels sprouts and sweet potato leftovers to eat, so I had that with the salmon. Heath doesn't like this potato dish, so David and Kaila scarfed the cheesy potatoes. The recipe came from my Super Suppers cookbook.

Arizona Potatoes
Makes: 8-10 servings

Nonstick cooking spray
6 C frozen loose-pack shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
1/2 C butter, melted
2 C shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 C sliced green onion
2 C sour cream
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375. Coat a 13x9x2 inch baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.

2. In a large bowl combine potatoes, butter, cheese, green onion, sour cream, salt and pepper. Spread mixture in prepared baking dish.

3. Bake 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

You can prepare this recipe through step two, without preheating the oven. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Preheat the oven. Continue according to step three. This is a great way to plan ahead when you know you're going to be busy, and either not have time to cook, or just not want to cook. Another option would be to freeze ahead by preparing through step 2 without preheating the oven. Cover and freeze up to 1 month. Defrost completely in the refrigerator. Preheat oven. Continue according to step 3.

I usually cut this recipe in half, because I don't need 8-10 servings. I also leave out the green onion, and that is why it is one of Kaila's favorites.

Improving my track record

What a wonderful Thursday! I had to pull the kids out of school to take them to a dentist appointment. I don't like to pull my kids out of school for any reason, but I couldn't get them in over Christmas break, and they were all booked up for January, so I took what was available. Now I easily could have taken them right back to school after the appointment, so that they could finish the day. Instead I took them to lunch and then to the store so they could spend some of their Christmas gift cards. They played hookie, and I knew what they were doing every second of it. Doesn't get much better than that. To be completely honest, they are the reason I have a job; I miss them when they're in school, and I need something to do to occupy my time, and make me a better mom. Well, that and so I don't check them out of school on a regular basis, so I can hang out with them.

So tonight's dinner was a quick crock pot recipe, only taking 2 hours. I knew I had some time to throw it together in the afternoon, and David would be in charge of the final touches. I got it cooking and then  headed back to work for 1 client. David took care of the final touch, and then we had a meeting at my kids' school to go to. We had dinner after the meeting. Tonight's dish, Thai chicken and noodles was easy enough to prepare, but unless it's Mexican or Italian food, I have a very poor success rate when fixing ethnic food. Especially Asian cuisine. This one turned out OK. I won't say it was great, but is was good(ish). Everyone ate, so I will take that as a plus. The kids were wound up after the meeting at the school, so I had to remind them of their table manners, and had to keep telling them to eat, but that ate, so mom is happy. Just out of curiosity, am I the only one whose husband acts worse than the kids at the dinner table and ends up egging them on? I swear I have 3 kids sometimes.

I wrote yesterday's blog early - before we sat down for dinner. The dynamic at the table was off. I guess we can't be 100% all the time. SOMEONE didn't want to come to the table, and was grumpy about it, which made SOMEONE ELSE take it personal, because it was messing with her experiment, and blah blah blah. Anyway, we're over it, and I guess I have to realize that I can't expect 100% all the time. The word of the day yesterday was "pyrophoric" pretty cool, and we had some fun with that one. Especially because it's a term relating to chemistry. I am a science geek, but my true love is chemistry. I  love chemistry!

Thai Chicken & Noodles
Makes: 4-6 servings

2 tsp olive oil
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
1 bottle (about 10 ounces) sweet chili sauce
3 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14 ounces) chicken broth
1 package (8 ounces) vermicelli noodles
1 C shredded cabbage and carrot mix
1 C bean sprouts (optional)
chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
chopped roasted peanuts (optional)

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken (in batches, if necessary) and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned on all sides. Transfer to crock pot.

2. Stir together chili sauce, peanut butter and garlic in a small bowl. Pour over chicken. Stir until chicken is well coated with sauce. Add chicken broth and stir well. Cover and cook on LOW for 2 hours.

3. Add noodles and cabbage mix. Cover and cook 30 more minutes or until noodles and cabbage are tender. Garnish with bean sprouts, chopped cilantro and peanuts, if desired.

When I was shopping for the ingredients for this, I looked on the spaghetti isle for the vermicelli, and couldn't find it. Before the days of the smart phone, I would just call my mom and ask her what it was, but now I can just look it up, and see that it is an Asian type of noodle. Just one isle over in my grocery store. Thank goodness for smart phones. I might have had to ask someone in person otherwise. Dodged a bullet there. Jokes, people. Just jokes. Seriously though, if you saw the store that I shop, you might think the same.
I learned another thing with this dish. I got out the bean sprouts for this meal. I bought a 12 ounce bag - the only size I could find, and only needed a cup. So in the spirit of cutting wast, I will be using some bean sprouts in my lunch tomorrow. ANYWAY, I didn't know you were supposed to boil the bean sprouts before you ate them. My whole life, I've always just eaten them raw.
The way I altered this dish to suit my family, was by leaving out the shredded cabbage & carrot mix. I couldn't find any, and my family doesn't like cabbage. The dish was fine without it. Also, I do not like cilantro (I recently found out that that is in your DNA), so I left out the cilantro. The hubs love it, so I chopped some up for him.

BONUS Recipe(ish)
For my lunch tomorrow, I'll make a paleo wrap that I found on Pinterest. For the filling, you mash up a ripe avocado, chop up 2 Lebanese cucumbers, add a cup of roughly chopped mixed green leaves, and 1/4 finely chopped almonds. I will add the bean sprouts to it. Which will probably make it less paleo. If you have any experience with the paleo way of eating, you're probably very familiar with the question, "is this paleo?" The recipe comes complete with an additional recipe for the wraps, using coconut flour, flax meal and tapioca starch. you can go to www.anjasfood4thought.com for the complete recipe, or you can just use a whole wheat tortilla if you're not all that concerned about paleo. If you're reading my blog, I'm guessing that paleo isn't all that important to you, or you're reading this as a guilty pleasure, or you're just judging me. Whatevs. I really like the light and nutty taste of these, and the texture as well. If you try them, I hope you like them too.

Soup & Sandwiches

My favorite thing about my favorite day of the week is going on hikes; either solo, or with Heath. So much fun exploring our wonderful backyard. Heath requested tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. When I was compiling this 3 week block, I noticed quite a bit of bread throughout the menus. I thought I'd like to get a bread maker. I had thought about it once before, and I didn't know which one to get, or even what I wanted/needed/didn't need in a bread maker. One of my clients was very kind, and let me take hers home for a few days to try it out. I didn't buy one back then, but when I saw the amount of bread throughout the next 3 week block, I decided to go ahead and get one. All I had to do was get everything in the bread maker and set up the timer, etc. For the tomato soup, I used a recipe for tomato pasta soup, but I left out the pasta. I just figured that was too much. The soup took about 30-35 minutes to make. Easy delicious dinner on a busy week night.

I've had the cook book titled, Grilled Cheese & More - which is in the shape of a grilled cheese, since my daughter was in preschool. I bought it at a book fair held at the preschool. Safe to say it's a pretty old book.

Fresh Tomato Pasta Soup
Makes: 8 servings

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 C chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
3 pounds fresh tomatoes (about 9 medium), coarsely chopped
3 C chicken broth
1 Tbsp minced fresh basil
1 Tbsp minced fresh oregano
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 C uncooked rosamarina or other small pasta
1/2 C (2 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until onion is tender. Add tomatoes, broth, basil, marjoram, oregano, fennel seeds and black pepper.

2. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover; simmer 25 minutes. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

3. Puree' tomato mixture in a food processor or blender in batches. Return to saucepan; bring to a boil. Add pasta; cook 7 to 9 minutes or until tender. Transfer to serving bowls. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Like I stated at the start of the blog, I left out the pasta for this time.

Hope you like it.

The dreaded pig in a blanket

Every time I set out to make the next 3 week block of menus, and I enlist my family's help someone will request pigs in a blanket. SIGH. I usually don't say anything, and I don't put it on the list. So this past weekend as I was making up the next set of menus, the hubs says, "you know what we haven't had in a while? Pigs in a blanket. Put that on the list." I told him that it was on this week's list as a way to appease him, and so I didn't have to put it on the next block. Well, now I had to make good on what I told him. Tonight I had to work late, and I had some yummy leftovers, so what better night for my family to have the ever requested pigs in a blanket.

I wish that I had seen that episode of "The Talk" with guest Evette Rios a few weeks earlier. One of the recipes she spoke about was a rehabbed version of the corn dog or pigs in a blanket. I think I may serve this up the next time someone requests them. OR I may just stifle a sigh, and leave it off the list for a few more weeks. Either way, I will have this recipe rehab in my back pocket. Well, in my avocado green recipe box.

Baked “Corn” Dog Mini-Muffins (gluten free)

Serving size: 6 mini muffins (recommend doubling recipe for a party!)

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp melted butter

• 3 eggs, room temp

• 2 tbsp honey

• 1 tbsp washed and finely chopped dill

• 1/4 cup almond flour

• 2 tbsp coconut flour

• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

• 1/4 tsp baking soda

• 1-2 beef hot dogs (cut into one-thirds or depending on height of muffin trays)

• Optional: shredded jalapeno cheese to top when still warm out of the oven

• Sauce: hot mustard

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Whisk together melted butter, honey, dill, and eggs.

3. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

4. Stir dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until incorporated. The batter will be very “wet” looking.

5. Pour/scoop the batter into a greased mini muffin trays (no more than two-thirds full.)

6. Place one hot dog slice* in the center of each muffin. *The muffin batter will rise so consider this when cutting the hot dogs to the appropriate height.

7. Place in oven on sheet tray.

8. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Check after 17 minutes, and rotate the tray so that the muffins in the front of the oven are now in the back.

9. Remove from the oven when done. Sprinkle cheese (optional). Let rest 5 minutes before removing muffins from the tray (easiest this way!) Serve with hot mustard.

Skewered steak kabobs

Today was a wonderful MLK day. The kids didn't have school, but David and I both had to work. I took the kids to my folk's house, and went to work. David picked the kids up on his way home from work, which meant that I had the afternoon free. What a beautiful day for a hike! So many people were out hiking that I couldn't call it a solo hike, but it was lovely none the less. I got home and had lunch and started the dinner process. The steak was supposed to marinate overnight, but I didn't do that. However, they did have about 4 hours to marinate, and that was enough.

As I was prepping the meal, it occurred to me that not everyone is able to come home mid day and meal prep. I get that I am very blessed in that respect.  I recalled a time when I did an experiment to see how hard it was to do what I was asking my clients to do as far as nutrition was concerned. I think I may try to do the same in this situation, and see how different things become if I act as though I am a 9-5er. I'm sure the prep will have to be different. Can't hurt to try. I feel like the way I prepped my roasted veggies last night, and most of the things I do for lunches can stay the same. Also living on leftovers for lunch is very helpful and time saving.

Tonight, David grilled the steak kabobs, and I had him grill up 2 chicken breasts so I can have them for lunch 2 days this week. Heath didn't like the marinade of the steaks, and he had 1/2 of one of the chicken breasts. The rest of us loved the steak. David made rice as a side dish, and I made a chopped salad as well. There are some leftovers, which is great because as much as I tried to hold off tomorrow's dinner, it was inevitable, and it is upon me. Leftovers it is.

Skewered Steak Kabobs
Makes: 4-6 servings

2 pounds sirloin steak
3/4 C soy sauce
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
4 12 inch metal or wooden* skewers

Hot cooked rice tossed with sliced green onions

1. Trim fat from meat. Cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Place in a resealable bag set in a shallow bowl.

2. In a bowl combine soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and garlic. Pour over meat. Seal bag. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator, turning occasionally.

3. Thread meat onto skewers leaving 1/2 inch space between pieces. Grill kabobs on a grill rack directly over medium heat for 15 minutes, turning several times. (For gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place kabobs on a grill rack over the heat. Cover and grill as above). Transfer to a serving platter. Cover and let sit 10 minutes before serving** If desired, serve the kabobs over hot cooked rice and green onions.

Side notes: One way I like to plan ahead, and I'd like to think that if I was a 9-5er, or a stay at home mom, I would definitely use the make ahead and freeze technique. If you were to plan ahead on this one, prepare the recipe through step 2. Freeze up to 1 month. Defrost completely in the refrigerator. Continue according to step 3. If you do this technique, remember not to refreeze meat. You would need to do this after bringing the meat home from the store. I have done something in the past where I do a meat run at Sprouts, then head to the grocery store, and I spend about 60-90 minutes in the kitchen cleaning and prepping meat and veggies, and then throw things together in different freezer baggies. I will make about 6 different meals to thaw out, and heat up. I've told you about the meatballs that I make ahead, this isn't much different. It's also a life saver when things get super busy. When I was pregnant with my daughter, and went through the nesting phase before she was born instead of cleaning, I was in the kitchen cooking and freezing meals. Our freezer was packed to almost overfull. That was so wonderful when I was sleep deprived, and really didn't want to cook. I did the same thing before my son was born, and have continued to do it about twice a year.

*If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 20 minutes before grilling. This will keep them from catching on fire.

**Letting cooked meat sit, or rest, a few minutes before serving allows the juices to redistribute, assuring juicy meat.

You can also use chicken  instead of the steak.

Hooray for white chicken chili

Today was another relaxing Sunday for the most part. I got to sleep in and lounge around in my PJs while the family and I composed another 3 week block of menus. I had to do the shopping for the current 3 weeks of meats, so in the spirit of saving - gas and mileage (and time for that matter) in this case. I added the next 3 week block to the current 3 week block. I also had to head up to the grocery store to do the weekly shopping. I didn't want to come home between trips, so I did something I've not done before (sometimes I'm a little late to the party) I took an ice chest with me, and bought some ice at Sprouts. I loaded all the meat up in the ice chest and topped it with the ice, that held over while I did my grocery shopping.

Once the groceries were put away, and the kitchen was cleaned up, I started dinner. I was also able to cut some time off of this recipe, but while dinner was cooking I was able to get my veggies to go with my lunches prepped. This week, I roasted sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. I was also able to get dessert for tonight ready. We don't usually have a dessert, but every once in a great while, I will fix something and try to pass it off as a dessert. I've even gone so far as to cut up a watermelon and tell the kids it's a dessert. Tonight, I fixed a mixed berry shortcake. Yum!

This recipe came from one of the cook books I've been using quite a bit lately, Taste of Home A+ Recipes. It's a newer cook book, so I guess the novelty hasn't worn off yet. However, when we were compiling the next 3 week block, I pulled out a few cook books that I haven't used in almost a year. So much fun, and I was able to break up my family's same 'ol same 'ol. That part makes me happy.

White Chicken Chili
Prep: 25 minutes Cook: 1 hour Makes: 7 servings

2 cans (14.5 ounces each) chicken broth
3 bone-in chicken breast halves (8 ounces each)
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cans (15.5 ounces each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1.5 C frozen white corn
1/3 C lime juice

Sour cream, shredded white cheddar cheese and/or minced fresh cilantro, optional

1. In a large saucepan, combine the first 8 ingredients (through cayenne pepper). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 35-40 minutes or until a thermometer reads 170 degrees. Remove chicken from broth; allow to cool.

2. Remove meat from bones; discard bones. Cube chicken and return to pan. Mash half of the beans. Add all of the beans, corn and lime juice to chicken mixture. Return to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes of until flavors are blended.

3. Serve with the sour cream, cheese and cilantro if desired.

So I saved some time by using boneless chicken breasts, and cubing the meat before cooking everything. I followed the directions as normal, but cut the first cooking time down to 30 minutes. During that cooking time, I prepped the ingredients for the second step. I also prepped the berries for dessert, and the veggies I roasted for this week's lunches. I didn't have to remove the meat from the broth, and it was already cubed, so I just added the final 3 ingredients, and kept cooking.

Side note: I don't know what the chef or author was thinking, but they left out avocado from the list of optional extra ingredients. I mean, avocado is like bacon in the sense that it makes everything taste better.  I sliced up an avocado and my family added it on top of their bowls. So yummy!

You've got to be flexible

Strength without flexibility and flexibility without strength are both situation in which an injury is waiting to happen. I feel this can be in any area of life. I love to plan and organize, it keeps me calm. However, I do plan for those nights out, I also plan for nights to eliminate the leftovers, or "mustgos" as one of my clients calls them. The hubs hates leftovers, so I usually try to plan a meal that uses the leftovers in a different way, but sometimes we just end up with extra, like the stuffed peppers or ham and cheese scones this week. Every once in a while I will plan a YOYO (you're on your own) night. This is the night that we finish off all the leftovers/mustgos. My YOYO night was actually planned for Sunday, but David had to work the weekend, and I had a pedicure, so the kids and I did YOYO, and I am saving that white chicken chili for David to enjoy tomorrow. So you will have to wait one more day to get this recipe.

Tomorrow I have 2 grocery trips planned; I've got my weekly trip planned, and I also have my meat trip to Sprouts planned. I've got my lists planned out, and coupons ready to go. I have also already started a list for the next 3 week block of menus. I've got 6 requests on that list so far, so almost a complete week, making our next family menu planning session that much easier. It's nothing fancy or extravagant, but I'll try to take pictures of my process, and get them onto the blog.

Tonight, I will leave you with a super easy and yummy slow cooker paleo recipe, and a fun appetizer. Both of these recipes were found at http://paleochix.com  Very easy and VERY yummy.

Pulled Pork
1 pork tenderloin
1 large of salsa (read the label - NO SUGAR)
1 small jar of salsa
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1/2 C water
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Marinade pork in dry rub

Place pork in Crock pot, add water,* large jar of salsa, onion and garlic. Sprinkle red pepper and cayenne to spice (optional). Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove meat from crock pot and use two forks to shred the meat. Heat contents of 2nd jar of salsa in microwave and cover pulled pork with salsa. If you have guacamole made, top meat with it. Or add this spicy pork to a salad with as many vegetables as you desire. The pork is a great next day leftover!

*Optional; add a jar of pepperoncinis (pour entire jar in crock pot and omit the 1/2 C water as listed above.


Stuffed Mushrooms
24 medium white button ( commonly found in the grocery store)
1 roll of spicy hot sausage ( or you can use mild)
1 8oz package of cream cheese (not paleo)

Cook sausage as directed on package, be sure to crumble sausage into small pieces. Cut stems off mushrooms, wash them and hollow out the center (gently). In a bowl, mix the cream cheese and sausage. Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Fill mushrooms generously with sausage/cream cheese mixture and bake for 12-14 minutes.

Change in plans

You know what they say about the best laid plans. Well, I had planned to make one of my favorite dishes - white chicken chili. Things turned out a tad bit differently. You see, my son has a fine motor delay, and I am doing everything possible to make things easier for him. He does private occupational therapy, he has occupational therapy services in school, and I recently signed him up for parkour classes to help with that. I started thinking a while back about getting him a drum set. I figured that playing the drums would help his coordination, his core control, and his motor planning and fine motor development. We saw that there were great prices for drum sets over the Christmas holiday, so we put one on layaway. We didn't want to buy it for Christmas, but also didn't want to pay full price. Today was the day to go pick it up and bring it home, which meant that the boy had to CLEAN his room like he's never cleaned it before. He tried to just clean out his closet and say that he wanted to put his drum set in the closet. I figured that he was overwhelmed and didn't even know where to start. My daughter and I rolled up our sleeves and went in to help him. What a job. His room got one heck of a cleaning, and we got rid of a few bag fulls of trash and a bag full of stuff to donate to the thrift store.

We left to go pick up the drum set, and my folks offered to let the kids spend the night, which would leave David and I home. Alone. David wanted take out Chinese. I've already taken the chicken out of the freezer, so that means I will need to make the chicken chili for dinner tomorrow. Fine with me.

The recipe for today is inspired by that crunchy apple salad I had last night and again at lunch today. I am now obsessed with salads. I was looking through my cook books, and found a salad recipe that I think I might used for a few lunches next week.

White Bean Tuna Salad
Prep/total Time: 30 minutes Makes: 6 servings

Vinaigrette
1/2 C olive oil
1/4 C white wine vinegar
2-3 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp snipped fresh dill
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Salad
1 can (15 ounce) white kidney or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans (5 ounces each) albacore white tuna in water
1 C chopped roasted sweet red peppers
1/2 C chopped red onion
1/2 C chopped pitted Greek olives
1/2 C chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 C minced fresh parsley
2 tsp minced fresh oregano
6 leaves red leaf lettuce

In small bowl, whisk the vinaigrette ingredients until well blended
In a large bowl, combine the beans, tuna, red peppers, onion, olives, tomatoes, parsley, and oregano. Drizzle with the vinaigrette; gently toss to coat. Serve on lettuce.

I love salads where I can make my own dressing, I like to experiment and vary the amounts or the ingredients. I think I may make this a traditional salad with mixed greens, and spinach instead of laying the ingredients on top of a bed of a few lettuce leaves.

Learn something new everyday

Today is the recipe that almost didn't happen. I read the recipe over breakfast, and figured I was good to go. I would make it on my break from work, after I picked the kids up from school. When we got home, I sat down for lunch (leftovers have been so good to me this week), and turned on the TV. "The Talk" was on and they were on the cooking segment of the show. Out comes  Evette Rios, the host of Recipe Rehab. Wait...What?!? Who is this person? What show is this? How do I not know about this? Where has this been all my life? I'm thinking I need to watch more TV, or change the channels. Thank goodness for Hulu, now I can watch all these shows. So as I'm watching I am thinking about what I'm about to make for dinner, and that it desperately needs a recipe makeover. The first ingredient is 3 cups of flour. Over the Christmas holiday, I invited my mom over and we, along with my daughter, made cookies. I bought all the ingredients I thought we'd need and when we finished I had an unopened bag of flour left. My mom volunteers at a food bank, and I gave her the bag of flour to donate to the food bank. I went to the freezer to get some flour, and find that I have about 1/2 cup. Now what? What can I make for my family instead??? Wait a minute, I have Pamela's gluten free, wheat free pancake mix! I wonder if that will work...After doing some research on Pamela's web site, I see that I can use it and just leave out the baking powder and salt.  I got it together, and while it was baking, I had time to clean up the mess, and make the salad. The salad calls for some blue cheese, and I really do not like blue cheese, however, I can not get enough of this salad. I am so excited for tomorrow's lunch.
No one in my family has any food allergies, and I am very thankful for that. I use Pamela's gluten free, wheat free pancake mix when I make my family pancakes. I usually will make a double batch and freeze them, so my kids can have microwave pancakes like they see in the store.

We didn't get to eat dinner at the table last night, and therefore missed "word of the day Wednesday" Kaila asked if we could do it tonight, so we combined "word of the day" and "thought of the day" The word of the day today was mackle, we had fun with it. The kids ate about half of what was put on their plate, claiming they were full, so I told them no after school snacks tomorrow. I will give them some fruit to snack on, but that's it. They were chowing down on everything today, and I bet that they were actually full, so I will take control of their snacks tomorrow. Heath did ask if he could pack some leftover dinner in his lunch box tomorrow. I tell you, the leftovers have saved me time and money, and fed me well this past week.

These recipes came from Taste of Home A+ Recipes

Ham and Cheddar Scones
Prep: 25 minutes Bake: 20 minutes Makes: 1 dozen

3 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C sugar
2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 C heavy whipping cream
1 C diced fully cooked ham
1/2 C diced cheddar cheese
4 green onions, thinly diced

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in cream just until moistened. Stir in the ham, cheese and onions. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 10 times.

2. Transfer dough to a greased baking sheet. Pat into a 9 in. circle. Cut int 12 wedges, but do not separate. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

I didn't add green onions, only because it's never something I add. Maybe because I'm lazy. Maybe I should plant some in the garden, and the next recipe I have that calls for green onions, I could use them. Like I said, I used pancake mix, and therefore left out the baking powder and the salt. I also used 1.5 C of the ham, and 1 full cup of the cheese

Crunchy Apple Salad
Prep/total time: 30 minutes Makes: 16 servings (1 cup each)

2 packages (5 ounces each) spring mix salad greens
2 large apples, chopped
2 cups bagel chips, coarsely crushed
1 1/2 C honey-roasted peanuts
1 C (4 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
 Dressing
1/3 C sugar
1/3 C canola oil
1/4 C cider vinegar
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 1/4 tsp diced minced onion
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp pepper

1. In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients. Drizzle over salad; toss to coat.

So for the salad, I cut it in half. I don't think we could eat 16 servings before it went soggy. Even with cutting it in half, I had 2 servings at dinner, and I will have leftovers!!! I made the dressing in the full amount (only because I'm not good enough at math to cut it down). However, I didn't, "drizzle it over the top, and toss to coat." Instead, I left it on the side, and then drizzled 1-2 tsp over the top of my individual servings. There is just too much sugar in it for me to be comfortable drowning my veggies in it.

I know this was a longer blog than usual, but you got a "twofer." Enjoy.

Stuffed Roasted Peppers and Onions

Guess what day it is?!?! I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned that Wednesday is my favorite day. I've probably also mentioned that it's a pretty busy day as well. Wednesdays are my half day at work, and Heath had parkour every Wednesday. I usually get dinner ready before he and I head out, and we have dinner as a family when he and I get home. On the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month, I also have Toastmasters meetings. On those nights (like tonight), David takes our son to parkour, and I head out to Toastmasters. We don't get to eat as a family on those nights.

Today was a good day, we are all still processing our events from yesterday, but I was able to get out for a solo hike, and clear my head, and put things into perspective. I picked the kids up from school, we came home and I was able to help them with their homework. After homework, I started making dinner. This recipe is super easy. It seriously takes less than 10 minutes to prepare, and then 30 minutes cooking time. Just enough time to clean up the mess (about 1 mixing bowl). This is one of the recipes I could recite to you if I met you on the street, and you asked me for something good to fix for dinner. The page in the cook book is worn, and wrinkled with food stains on it. I used to make it all the time, and my family (well, except for Kaila) loved it. I think I might have made it one too many times, as it was my go to meatless dish. Whenever David tells me he wants pigs in a blanket for dinner my stomach turns a little bit. Well, whenever I make this for dinner I think the same thing happens to David, and this used to be one of his favorites. I have tried Mexican and other variations on this same recipe by just varying the ingredients, but this one is the easiest.

It took me a while to even decide to make this recipe when I first got the cook book; back in the day when I was growing up, my mom would make stuffed peppers using green bell peppers, ground beef, and rice. The rice on top was always a little crunchy, and I really didn't like them. At all. Maybe that is how I am able to be sympathetic/empathetic when my kids - Kaila won't eat something. I do think that sometimes she does take advantage of the situation though. Pick your battles is my mantra. I'd rather her miss a meal, than to develop and eating issue in the future.

I do make a few changes to the recipe, which I will note after I post the recipe. This one came from a cook book by Judie Byrd, founder of Super Suppers. The book is titled Super Suppers Cookbook 2.
The recipe is on page 100.

Stuffed Roasted Peppers & Onions
Makes: 6 servings

1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
12 cherry tomatoes
1 C prepared basil pesto
1 C crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese
1/4 C sliced, pitted black olives
3 medium green, and/or yellow bell peppers, halved and seeded
2 medium red onions, quartered lengthwise
4 medium tomatoes, halved
olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a large roasting pan with cooking spray, set aside

2. In a large bowl, combine drained beans, cherry tomatoes, pesto, cheese, olives, and salt and pepper to taste. Fill bell peppers with bean mixture, place in prepared pan. Arrange onion quarters and tomato halves around stuffed peppers. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the 1 tsp salt and the 1/2 tsp pepper.

3. Bake 30 minutes or until onions are tender and golden brown.

I don't roast the onions and the tomatoes. I do put the cherry tomatoes in the bean mixture, I just don't like cooked tomatoes (I think I mentioned that in the post with the prosciutto wrapped egg muffins). Also, no one will eat the roasted onions or the roasted tomatoes, and I don't want to waste food, so I just leave them out. That also saves me some time = bonus! Some other things I do differently are that I use red bell peppers, and I don't add the salt and pepper to either the bean mixture or on top of the prepared peppers. I also do not drizzle the top with olive oil. I figure there is enough oil in the pesto, and I just never got into the habit of adding salt to anything I cook unless it's a large enough amount to make a significant difference in taste. In my opinion, the olives and the feta cheese are salty enough to leave out the addition of more salt.

I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do.

I wish I was an expert

I've said before that I am no expert. Today I wish I was. I wish I was a parenting expert. I know how easy it is to paint a perfect picture on the Internet, and only let people see the good. The other night I was soo happy that things seemed to be so wonderful with my family bonding. Then this morning happened. Again, I found myself in no mood to do any cooking. Fortunately, I had planned out the week to have David cook tonight. He's not only a rock star, he's my rock in times like this. Not to try to paint another perfect picture, but we have our moments, and this was definitely one of our better moments.

Tonight's dinner was pretty easy, and therefore not really a recipe to go with it. I will post a different recipe for you though. Tonight, we had smoked sausage and mashed potatoes. We used to do smoked sausage, and fried potatoes, but we like mashed better with this dish. AND I can make my favorite, mashed cauliflower, and have that while the family has mashed potatoes. I didn't have any cauliflower on hand, so it was mashed potatoes for me as well. When I cook with ham or sausage I prefer to use meat from either Applegate farms, or Niman Ranch. Their meats are free of antibiotics, hormones, and nitrates. Their products are a bit more expensive, but for me it's worth it. They even make deli lunch meat, so I will buy the kids turkey for their school lunches.

The recipe below is one of my very favorites. I haven't made it in a while, and have jotted it down to make an appearance on the next 3 week block of menus - which is still about 4 weeks away. I found this recipe on www.paleochix.com

Macadamia Crusted Salmon with Citrus Steamed Vegetables
2 pieces of salmon
2 handfuls of macadamia nuts
1 clove minced garlic
1 birdseye chili
1/2 leek chopped roughly
1 orange/lemon
1 lime
handful of spinach chopped roughly
bunch of Chinese broccoli chopped roughly
chunk of cabbage chopped roughly

1.  Crush macadamia nuts (either with a mortar and pestle or in a food processor) until they are finely chopped. Coat salmon pieces with the macadamia nuts. Press firmly as they tend to fall off pretty easily.

2. In a wok heat up a little bit of olive oil, add garlic and chili and stir for a minute. Add leeks and cook until translucent, like you would with an onion. During this time heat your skillet up to medium with a little oil. Put your fish in (You want to make sure you don't burn the macadamia nuts, which will happen very easily, keep an eye out and make sure that your pan isn't too hot).

3. Add vegetables and orange and lime juice mixture to wok. Toss and put lid on. Let it steam until the juice evaporates and the Chinese broccoli is tender but still crisp. Flip your fish, cook it for a minute or two - once you take it off it should still have enough heat in it to keep it going and it also depends really on how you like your fish, it should still be fairly pink, but deliciously flaky.

So I've written the recipe just as I found it on the site. I know that the ingredients aren't exact, so I guess just eyeball it. The hubs doesn't like cabbage, so I leave that out, and I add things like sliced red bell pepper and snow peas. Whatever I want to make it like a stir fry.

Enjoy, and feel free to post any of your favorite recipes in the comments.

Herbed Lemon Chicken

My allergies have been driving me crazy since last Wednesday. I wish that when I sneezed it was lady like and dainty like every other female (with the exception of my mother) I know. This morning, I was caught in the middle of another sneezing storm, and I pulled/threw out my back. Not cool! It's starting to calm down little by little, and I'm sure I'll be fine by the morning (I hope I hope I hope - I have dead lifts tomorrow morning). Because of this I really did not feel like cooking or even doing any food prep today between shifts. David was in charge of grilling the chicken that was marinading since last night. I was planning to make Brussels sprouts to go with the chicken. My favorite veggies that I could eat day in and day out include; mashed cauliflower, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and asparagus. Sadly, I did not prep the Brussels sprouts. David came through with the side dish to go with the chicken. He made a side of beans, and they paired very well with the chicken.

I got off early at 6 tonight, but stayed and did some light cardio (in attempts to heat up, and loosen my back). I made it home by 7, and David held dinner for me. We ate together at the table. Conversation was around school, and tests, and upcoming science projects, and homework. It's only been 12 days since starting this experiment, but I can already start to notice some changes. I don't know if that means we were really messed up, or if is just a better version of what we were. I imagine that we will start to see big differences right around 4-6 weeks, and then right around 6-8 weeks, we may hit a plateau of sorts. I am finding myself wanting to change up my work schedule so that I am home every night for dinner. Maybe in the future. We'll see.

This recipe called for mayonnaise, and I've thought about experimenting with making my own mayonnaise. Maybe that will be on one of my upcoming weekend to do lists. If any of you have any experience with making your own mayo, I would love to hear any tips you might have, or how your experience went.

Herbed Lemon Chicken
Prep: 10 minutes + marinating  Grill: 10 minutes, or until done  Makes: 6 servings

1 C mayonnaise
1/4 C lemon juice
2 Tbsp white wine or chicken broth
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 ounces each)

1. In a small bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients. Pour 3/4 C marinade into a large resealable plastic bag. Add the chicken; seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade.

2. Drain chicken and discard the marinade. Moisten a paper towel with cooking oil; using long-handled tongs, lightly coat grill rack. Grill chicken, covered over medium heat or broil 4 in. from the heat for 5 minutes. Turn; grill or broil for 4-9 minutes longer or until a thermometer reads 170 degrees, basting occasionally with reserved marinade.

I cut the recipe in half, because we only grill 3 chicken breasts. The kids usually split a breast between themselves. I also didn't leave any marinade to baste with while grilling. I'm wondering if it would have made a difference in either taste or texture. I felt like it was pretty moist, and tender, and quite delicious.

Enjoy.

Another wonderful Sunday

Today was a wonderful, lazy family Sunday. We did have to get out and run a few errands, and get the grocery shopping done, but that's it. The plan for dinner was chicken, but keeping in the spirit of laziness, I failed to read the recipe ahead of time. The chicken needed to marinade for 8 hours to overnight...oops. I know that you can technically marinade something for 30 minutes and things will be just fine, but I like to marinade longer. That meant I had to take a meal off next week's menu and switch it with the chicken. Someone requested meatball subs when we made the menu way back when. I got out some sauce, and put the meatballs in. I've already shared with you the recipe I use for meatballs. Today, I can share a recipe for sauce, or I can share with you how I get my kids to plan, pack, and eat healthy lunches everyday at school.

I used to pack the kids lunches everyday, and over half of it would come back home. My kids never caught on to the whole "throwing it away so mom doesn't find out" but everyday I would pick two very hungry kids up from school, and they would have a pretty full lunch box. Enter the planet box lunch box. www.planetbox.com Now I have the kids plan their weekly menus on Saturday or Sunday, and I add the items we need to my grocery list, so they understand that it is important to plan ahead, or I won't buy it, and they won't have it for lunch. I've set rules that they have to have a fruit and a vegetable in 2 of the compartments, then a healthy, balanced "entree" in the main compartment, and they get a small treat. My daughter always packs edemame in the veggie spot, and my son always packs cherry tomatoes. I've put down a rule that 1 day a week, they need to pack a different veggie, that usually turns out to be steamed broccoli. The fruit is usually always the same as well, my son's go to is grapes, and my daughter chooses apple slices. If I have cantaloupe in the morning, I will slice up some extra for them for a little variety. I've also purchased a fruit shape maker thingy, to encourage them to not only get creative, but to venture out and eat different fruits. I will say that now they pack pretty good and healthy lunches, AND they eat all of their lunch. Occasionally, I will need to pack their lunch when they request brunch for lunch. In that situation, I will fix it the night before. I/we LOVE our planet boxes. The only "complaint" we have is that the kids in their classes who have the responsibility of carrying the lunch basket say that the planet box it too heavy. I can attest that it is not heavy. I would imagine that a laundry basket full of 25+ lunch boxes would be heavy, and to pick one out might help, so why not pick the one that looks different.

Here is another favorite breakfast recipe, I will make this one on a Sunday, and have two days worth of breakfast during the week. Total life saver when we have to be somewhere early, or things get rushed.

Pumpkin Pie Quinoa Breakfast Casserole
1 C water
2 Tbsp pumpkin puree
1/4 C raw quinoa - red or white would work
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp gluten free pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch ground ginger

Topping
1 Tbsp coconut oil melted
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1.5 Tbsp finely ground almond flour
1/4 C pecans, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350F, and lightly oil a 4 cup casserole dish.
2. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients, minus the topping. Stir until fully mixed, then pour into prepared casserole dish. Cover with a tight lid, and cook for 45-50 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine all topping ingredients. After the 50 minutes are up, remove casserole from the oven and sprinkle topping the top of the casserole. Return to the oven and cook uncovered for another 10-15 minutes, or until golden.

*When you place the topping over the top, there should still be some liquid left in the dish. Baking it uncovered for the remaining of the cooking time will evaporate the liquid

I found this recipe on Pinterest, and the pin took me to http://www.healthfulpursuit.com/2011/02/pumpkin-pie-quinoa-bake/

Hope you like it.