Hi Foodies,
I'd like to share today's Green Smoothie recipe with you. As many of you know, my family and I have been enjoying Green Smoothies for over 5 years now, and we love them! Green Smoothies are alkalizing, they increase you fiber intake, increase energy, and Green Smoothies help to clear skin.
Now for today's recipe: 1/2 organic green apple, one handful of strawberries, blackberries, and cherries, one handful organic cilantro, a few slices of a cucumber and water. Toss it all in the blender, and smooth it out. Enjoy!
I try to steer my family away from processed food and snacks. Boxed and bagged foods aren't always easy to avoid because they're convenient, and some are quite tasty. There have been many times that I've fallen prey to a box of fruit snacks, or those evil soft, iced cookies, or--you get the idea!
When grocery shopping, I try to only shop the outskirts of the store, ignoring the aisles laced with cereal, and those "easy"and "helpful" boxed meals and snacks. You know the ones I'm talking about. With that said, my family sometimes tires of noshing on carrots, apples, cucumbers, grapes, and grape tomatoes. When they do, I have to incorporate other goodies into our carte du jour.
This week's shopping trip led me to sugar snap peas, grapes (again!) strawberries, and grapefruit. We always have grapes and strawberries on hand here, and I LOVE grapefruit, but I don't always buy sugar snap peas unless I'm cooking stir-fry. I often purchase grapefruit for myself, but I've never expected our children to eat them, because I remember loathing the taste as a child. I incorporated the snap peas into our dinner Wednesday night (see yesterday's post) and had several left over.
When Noa and I got the munchies today in between meals, I thought of the sugar snap peas. I poured out a few for Noa and I to eat raw. We were both back in the kitchen for more minutes later! They have the perfect snap and crunch to them, and they are delightfully delicious! I think they would taste great with hummus, ranch dressing, or any other healthy dip.
As for the grapefruit, I have peeled quite a few this week for myself. When Cullen and Noa saw that I was eating, they were curious to try my "big orange" as they called it. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they both appreciate the taste. No turned up, squishy faces to the sour/tart pulp! A happy mom I am! Please click here for a nutritional breakdown of sugar snap peas, and http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=25 for more information on grapefruit.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Last Night's Dinner
Yesterday, I set out to make a quick, easy vegetarian dinner. I often look to Real Simple Magazine for healthy, SIMPLE recipes. I can honestly say that every meal I make from their magazine is a family favorite.
Last night was no different. I simply went to the Real Simple webpage, RealSimple.com, typed in my meal preferences, and I came up with Linguini With Asparagus and Pine Nuts. I already had all of the ingredients on hand, which made it even easier. I decided to add fresh sugar snap peas, and fresh mushrooms to ours. I love any excuse to pull out our wok, so I pulled it out, and cooked the veggies in it, and boiled the linguini in a separate pot. I made a salad to accompany our meal, and everyone was pleased. See pictures, and the recipe below.
Last night was no different. I simply went to the Real Simple webpage, RealSimple.com, typed in my meal preferences, and I came up with Linguini With Asparagus and Pine Nuts. I already had all of the ingredients on hand, which made it even easier. I decided to add fresh sugar snap peas, and fresh mushrooms to ours. I love any excuse to pull out our wok, so I pulled it out, and cooked the veggies in it, and boiled the linguini in a separate pot. I made a salad to accompany our meal, and everyone was pleased. See pictures, and the recipe below.
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| Asparagus, Snap Peas, Mushrooms, and Sliced Garlic |
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| This is after adding the Linguini, and shredded Parmesan |
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Salad Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 25m | Total Time: 25m Ingredients
Directions
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Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Meatless Taco Salad
I had a late gym class Monday night, which meant I needed something quick and easy for dinner. As soon as I ran through the doors of H-E-B, I spotted their fresh guacamole. I LOVE their guacamole, so I decided on mexican food for the night. I picked up the guacamole, some fresh jalepenos, and a few other fresh ingredients for the night's dinner. In addition to the taco salad, we had refried black beans, and red rice.
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| My mom's plate |
My taco salad is a family favorite, so I would love to share my recipe with you. Please see below for the ingredients and recipe. This is one of the quickest, easiest meals you can ever make! We actually enjoyed it so much on Monday night, that we unanimously agreed to have it again Tuesday night! Recipe below!
Meatless Taco Salad
- fresh Romaine lettuce, chopped
- 2 fresh jalepenos chopped
- chopped tomatoes
- 4 kalamata olives, chopped
- a few chopped chives
- 1 onion chopped
- cilantro
- shredded cheese
- 1 bag thin tortilla chips
- 1 cup Morning Star Soy Crumbles
- a few dashes of chili powder
- fresh guacamole
To begin, cook a little olive oil in a frying pan, and add onions. Allow onions to cook until transparent, and add Morning Star Soy Crumbles. Add a few dashes of chili powder to the crumbles.
While the crumbles are cooking, chop all of the fresh vegetables and set aside in serving bowls. When the crumbles are done cooking, simply grab plates and layer everything starting with the chips. I like mine layered in a particular order, because I'm just persnickety about my food. My taco salad order is: chips, crumbles, cheese (this is important, bc the heat from the crumbles melts the cheese), tomatoes, then lettuce, cilantro, jalepenos, chives, kalamata olives, onions, and then topped with guac. Delicious!!!!
A few years ago, I was looking for a recipe for the perfect rice to accompany a mexican meal. I am not a fan of traditional Spanish, or Mexican rice, so I tore through my collection of magazines until I found the best rice recipe that best fit our meal. I found this: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/spicy-red-rice-00000000012497/index.html#
I consider myself a rice connoisseur. At one point, I prepared rice with every single meal. I thought that was perfectly fine, until Calvin informed me that most people don't care to eat rice every single night. I say all of that to say, I know my rice, and this rice recipe is one of the BEST! It's spicy, but not too spicy. The children don't complain when they eat it, so I'm sure you and your family will love it too!
Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 15m | Total Time: 40m
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- kosher salt
- 1 cup long-grain white rice
- 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 teaspoon chopped canned chipotle chilies in adobo
Directions
- Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
- Stir in the tomatoes, chilies, and 1 1/4 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring once halfway through, until all the water is absorbed, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.
Rodeo Fun
Howdy ya'll!
Friday night, Calvin and I went to the Houston Rodeo to see John Legend. Thanks to a great friend, we had a suite for the concert, we ate sinfully sweet food, and enjoyed the company of our cousins, Glenn and Michelle.
After grooving to John Legend, we moseyed on over to the carnival. There are plenty of rides, sights, and sounds at the Rodeo Carnival, but I ONLY go to eat. There's so much to choose from! Harlon's Bbq (my favorite bbq), corn dogs, FUNNEL CAKES, and fried everythings! This time, I was limited to what I could eat because I am not currently eating meat. I have included a few pictures below to show you what we did eat!
1. Calvin enjoying the friend red velvet cake
2. Shelly and her fried cheesecake
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| We had a blast! |
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| Cowgirl! |
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Making Space
As you know, I have an affinity for fashion and beauty bargains. If it's cute, and affordable, it's mine.
I get plenty of flack from Calvin for not having the discipline to pass up a pair of Levi's (my FAVORITE brand of jeans, hands down), even though the rack on my end of the closet is threatening to cave in any day now. I've been known to purchase every single clearance cosmetic item left on the shelf at H-E-B, or any other local store, just out of fear that it will be discontinued, and never found again. I'm famous for leaving home to buy groceries, but somehow getting side-tracked and going to Goodwill instead. They call it hoarding, I call it collecting. I'm a collector of jeans, and things.
One day, as I looked around at all of my lippies, polish, salves, moisturizers, salves, and other cosmetic addictions, it became clear to me that Calvin deserves counter space too. The poor guy had resorted to storing all of his man items in our guest bathroom. No fair! I started a search for the most efficient cosmetic organizer my money could buy. After a quick, painless search on Youtube, and Wanelo, I was lead to the Tabletop Spinning Organizer by Lori Greiner. Check it out here: http://bddy.me/wCaeAl
I anxiously awaited the arrival of my organizer to arrive so that I would have yet, another excuse to play in my makeup. It took about two weeks to arrive. When it did, I tore into the box, and prepared to play. I enjoyed finding an individual home in each of the compartments for MOST of my paraphernalia. There were lots of compartments for my collection of blush, several compartments for lipsticks, glosses and brushes, and a reasonable amount of space for everything else. The QVC website states that there is enough room on the organizer to hold over 100 pieces of beauty products.
I would actually need 2, or more of these to actually make a difference in my bathroom counter space, but this organizer did help! Calvin was able to nab a corner in our bathroom to house a few of his essentials. Pictures below!
I get plenty of flack from Calvin for not having the discipline to pass up a pair of Levi's (my FAVORITE brand of jeans, hands down), even though the rack on my end of the closet is threatening to cave in any day now. I've been known to purchase every single clearance cosmetic item left on the shelf at H-E-B, or any other local store, just out of fear that it will be discontinued, and never found again. I'm famous for leaving home to buy groceries, but somehow getting side-tracked and going to Goodwill instead. They call it hoarding, I call it collecting. I'm a collector of jeans, and things.
One day, as I looked around at all of my lippies, polish, salves, moisturizers, salves, and other cosmetic addictions, it became clear to me that Calvin deserves counter space too. The poor guy had resorted to storing all of his man items in our guest bathroom. No fair! I started a search for the most efficient cosmetic organizer my money could buy. After a quick, painless search on Youtube, and Wanelo, I was lead to the Tabletop Spinning Organizer by Lori Greiner. Check it out here: http://bddy.me/wCaeAl
I anxiously awaited the arrival of my organizer to arrive so that I would have yet, another excuse to play in my makeup. It took about two weeks to arrive. When it did, I tore into the box, and prepared to play. I enjoyed finding an individual home in each of the compartments for MOST of my paraphernalia. There were lots of compartments for my collection of blush, several compartments for lipsticks, glosses and brushes, and a reasonable amount of space for everything else. The QVC website states that there is enough room on the organizer to hold over 100 pieces of beauty products.
I would actually need 2, or more of these to actually make a difference in my bathroom counter space, but this organizer did help! Calvin was able to nab a corner in our bathroom to house a few of his essentials. Pictures below!
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| A side view. Not able to fit much on this side. |
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| Yet, another side view. |
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| A top view. Please don't act like you don't have a tooth brush to brush and gel back flyaways! |
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| We were able to free up some space for my love, Calvin, thanks to the organizer. Ladies, you understand! |
Hummus Pizza
Hello Foodies!
I hope you're all having an amazing week! I haven't had the opportunity to cook much this week, due to my sinus issues. I was able to peel myself out of bed to cook two nights this week. Thankfully, Calvin covered for me on the other nights.
Last year, I created my very own recipe for Hummus Pizza, using Naan bread, Grandma's Hummus, and fresh veggies I found in my kitchen. This time, I challenged myself to take it to another level by making my own hummus. I will include the recipe for the home-made hummus along with the recipe for the pizza. Please see below.
Hummus:
(please note that I prefer to eyeball most ingredients, instead of measuring)
- 1 can garbanzo beans, drained liquid set aside
- 1 clove roasted elephant garlic
- juice of 1 lemon
- a few shakes of ground cumin
- a few shakes of sea salt
To begin, drain garbanzo beans, and set liquid aside. Next, combine remaining ingredients in food processor. Add some of the liquid set aside from beans to the mixture and blend. Feel free to add more or less liquid to mixture. It all depends upon your desired consistency.
Hummus Pizza
- fresh, organic spinach
- chopped mushrooms (I used white, button mushrooms)
- organic grape tomatoes, chopped and seeded
- chopped purple onion
- chopped scallions
- fresh dill
- Stonefire Tandoori Naan Flatbread
First, spread the home-made, or store-bought hummus of your choice onto the Naan Flatbread. Make sure that you cover the bread with the hummus, in the same way that you would cover a regular pizza with tomato sauce. You don't want a "dry" pizza, so don't be stingy!
Next, add the toppings. I chose to add the spinach first, and then layered everything else on top of it. Lastly, place the pizzas on foil and then onto a baking sheet. Cook at about 400 degrees, for about 12-15 minutes.
This meal is a family favorite. Cullen enjoys helping me prepare the pizzas for the oven. It's quick, easy, and most importantly, healthy. Please note, there are several variations to the recipe. I sometimes add kalamata olives, kale, feta, etc.
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| I love a colorful meal! |
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