Classic Beef Stew

One of my favorite internet surfing activities includes scouring the myriad of food blogs out there and swooning over unique mouth watering recipes. More often than not though, in my own kitchen I lean towards tried and true classics. There's something comforting about combining a few simple ingredients and transforming it into a sacred dish full of love. Recently I've noticed these classics haven't been taken seriously, I see recipes boldly adding ingredients or making it so simple the directions could lead one down a path to disaster. Channeling my great grandma or really the very distant memories I have of her cooking while I sat on a pull out stool chair as she danced around the kitchen weaving magic over pots of heavenly smelling goodness, I worked up this stew. 

Now here's the thing, the most important part of a 5 ingredient dish is the quality of the ingredients. If each ingredient brings the top of their game then the dish will surely be a winner.  The second most important part of this process is, well, the process- how things are cut, prepared and little extra steps here and there that seem like no big deal to skip-don't skip them! When done correctly these "extra" steps really bring the dish together. 

So the bad news is- for this recipe you can't just throw everything in a crock pot and walk away-it does take a little time.

The good news-it's delicious and easily doubled to save for a lunch later in the week or freeze for another dinner.

Ok so technically there's a little more than 5 ingredents but there are 5 main ones

1 lb organic grass fed stew beef -if this absolutely is not available, look for a beef that's hormone free and grass fed if possible but I promise you for just a couple dollars more you're not just getting the best tasting beef, you are also voting with your dollars supporting the ethical treatment of cows and most likely supporting a small/local farmer.

3-4 small organic potatoes- I like North Carolina gold, but that's partly because I can get them from a farmer about an hour from my house. Yukon gold or scrubbed russet potatoes work well too. 

1 bunch of organic carrots (about 9) please don't use baby carrots- I know they are super convenient but they're also processed and contain small amounts of chlorine-just say no! chop into bite sized chunky pieces.

1 stalk organic celery and 1/2 an onion chopped

4 Cups Organic beef broth

For the beef- stew meat usually comes in big chunks take each piece and look for the long running fibers, the the meat into bite sized pieces  cutting against the grain. Cutting it this way reduces the amount of chewiness. 

Next brown the beef on medium heat by itself. While the beef is browning over medium heat put on some water to boil in a pan or tea pot and cut the potatoes into small pieces and place in a glass or stainless steel bowl. 

As the beef browns gently pour out the "juice" don't worry about flavor it will make more juice but I've noticed skimming the first bit off drastically reduces any "gamey" flavor of the beef. 

After drained add the onion by now the water should be boiling , add the boiling water to the potatoes for 2 minutes, then drain. The potatoes will add starch to the stew but "pre-cooking" them reduces the amount of starch so there's a little liquid left and the stew will be more like gravy and less like delicious mush. 

Once the beef and onions are almost cooked add a couple tablespoons of butter, the carrots, celery and potatoes and add

1-2 tsp (I just go by "shakes") of the following

oregano

thyme

parsley

basil

red pepper flakes

then add

a couple tablespoons of worstershire sauce

a splash of braggs

and a couple cloves of crushed garlic 

1-2 bay leaves

Cook until veggies start to soften throw in about a tablespoon of flour and stir until everything looks kind of gooey, then stir in the beef broth and bring to a boil. Let boil about 5 minutes or so reduce the heat to low and stick a lid on that bad boy. Let simmer for a couple of hours (at least an hour) then relish in the delight of a classic!

 

Sunshine Juice

A few years ago I was blessed with the opportunity to intern on a wonderful organic farm specializing in fruit and raw roots nestled between the gorgeous Pacific ocean and Mount Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawaii. The owners of Josanna's Organic Farm, Steve and Janelle are wonderful farmers and fantastic human beings, I quickly fell in love with them and became part of their "farm family". Normally all the interns had specific jobs they completed each morning then were free the rest of the day to explore the Island, my job was to climb and harvest the lemon, orange, avocado and star fruit trees. Every once in a while we combined forces to dig up a root field and the first time we did this I discovered one of my favorite medicines I have come across so far, tumeric.  Tumeric is the main ingredient in most Indian curries, and I had eaten it before many times in powder form but I had no idea it was a root or that it had magical qualities. Tumeric is known to reduce inflammation, aid digestion, amongst many other things and in my case drastically reduce migraine pain. When suffering from a migraine one day, Janelle made this juice for me, which was kind of a big deal because the whole farm runs on solar power and using the juicer requires loads of wattage. It worked so well I make it frequently whenever I have a headache or feel a cold coming on (since it's loaded with anti-oxidants from the tumeric and vitamin C from the orange juice) or when I just need a bit of sunshine in my life.

Speaking of sunshine in my life, I recently have been blessed again with fresh local tumeric and of all places right here in North Carolina! Jason and Haruka Oatis grow tumeric on their farm, Edible Earthscapes, which is one of many reasons I love them to pieces.

Look at this gorgeous beast! 

 I like to juice all the ingredients separately that way I can adjust the potency of the tonic and I think it tastes better when freshly mixed.

You will need

1/2 C fresh squeezed orange juice
juice from half a lemon
About 3 tablespoons fresh tumeric juice (play with this at first) tumeric has a strong flavor and a little bit goes a long way!
and enough fizzy mineral water to fill the glass

mix the juices together, add a little more orange juice if you like it sweet then top with fizzy lifting drink, if  you get that reference you are forever on my cool list.


Then drink up and start feeling awesome!

 

Friendly Three Bean Salad

I don't think there's really a way to make bean salad look glamorous in a photo, I'm sure someone has tackled this beast of a task with grace, I have not. I have however preserved and recreated successfully this recipe I learned ages ago while on a cross country adventure with then strangers but now good friends. So when my in-laws (bless their hearts) sent me this amazing package of Cali avocados because I had mentioned I was craving them I knew I had to make this dish, and guacamole too of course!

I always make a double batch, so if you're single or don't think you can tackle this much divine bean power, half everything. 

2 cans organic kidney beans (drained & rinsed)

2 cans organic garbanzo beans (drained & rinsed)

(bonus points if you use dried beans and cook them yourself, you are so much cooler than me!) 

1 bag frozen french green beanslightly steamed

small chunks of mild cheddar, I just chop up whatever I have left in the block you want a good ratio just eyeball it
1 giant avocado cut into bite sized pieces

toss together in a large bowl and make your sauce

Sauce

1C olive oil

1/4 C lemon juice

1/4 C local organic honey, trust me on this it's just the best! 

a little salt & pepper to taste

Mix well then stir gently into the bean bowl, cover and let sit overnight.

Easy as pie and it's a great addition to the lunch box or picnic basket or in my case when I first learned this recipe, in the back of a car driving 70 through Wyoming is how it tastes best.

My happy place

There might not be loads to do in the garden during the winter months but I can certainly relax on the couch with a cup of hot coco and relish in the delight of seed catalogs and the dream of what I will plant in the spring!

Meatless Monday Healthy Potato Leek soup

I have to admit vegetarian dinners can be a bit taboo in this house, despite me being a a veg head for over a decade (I'm an omnivore now) I find it hard to please my boys without meat. My husband enjoys a high protein low carb diet and that can be a challenge when working with the plant only kingdom. However I can usually get away with it on Monday nights because we typically don't do an intense workout that day and I usually have something delicious up my sleeve.

This week I made potato leek soup, now technically this dish is not completely vegetarian because I opted to use chicken broth, mainly because I had some in the fridge I needed to use but one could easily substitute veggie broth or even lowfat milk and still keep it healthy and delicious.

Now, I love a good creamy potato leek soup that's cheesy and delicious but I promise you this version is just as good and as a bonus we leave out all the unnecessary fat (which I saved for putting loads of butter on my bread!)

Ok, here's what you'll need

4 potatoes of choice chopped into tiny 1/4 inch squares (I used 2 white sweet potatoes and 2 red skinned potatoes because they cook down into creamy starchy deliciousness)

1 giant leek or a couple small ones ends removed slice down the middle wash and then slice into small strips

1/4 onion diced

5-6 carrots washed and sliced into bite sized pieces

3-4 stalks of celery washed and sliced into bite sized pieces

a couple cloves of garlic

a little bit of butter and olive oil

4 C chicken broth

and about a teaspoon of each dried herb

orageno
red pepper flakes
salt
pepper
thyme
sage
parsley
1-2 bay leaves

Your cutting board should look something like this  (as a side note if you live in a warmer climate most of these veggies should be available to you right now locally!)

In a big pot melt on low-medium a heavy tablespoon of butter, when melted place all veggies in the pot and stir around for a bit. When the bottom of the pan looks dry (butter all soaked up) add a swirl of olive oil and let veggies cook and stir occasionally. This part is important it takes a little while but let the veggies cook slowly after about 10 minutes stir in the garlic and herbs.

When the veggies are softish not crunchy but not mushy yet stir in the chicken broth (or broth of choice), switch the heat to low add a lid and let this pot of deliciouness simmer as long as you can wait! I paired this with whole wheat spinach and red pepper bread with a tad of butter.

Bon Appetit!

SUNday Harvest!

Sunflower seeds!

DIY Instant Oatmeal

I'm all about some comfort food for breakfast, however having the time to whip it up on a weekday usually escapes me. I've tried oatmeal in the crock pot but it never quite works for me and cleaning the pot after is nearly impossible. Thumbing through cook books yesterday I saw a recipe for instant oatmeal. For some reason it just never occurred to me that you could make your own instant oatmeal! I thought it was made in a factory by unicorns or something! I stopped buying it years ago because I couldn't justify the extra ingredients and loads of little wax coated bags, it just seemed like so much waste! There are many ingredients you could add such as nuts and dried fruit, but I'll just give the basic recipe and you can let your imagination run wild, or in my case I'll just hand over the creative bit to the unicorns.  

6 C organic oats
1/4-1/2C brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1teaspoon salt

               Bake oats on a cookie sheet @ 375 degrees for 20 minutes, pull out and let cool.

 

Grind 4 cups of oats, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a food processor until smooth

                                                         
                                                           It will look a little like this

 

Mix the oats and oat mixture into a mason jar and whatever toppings you want and boom instant oatmeal!

Mix 1/2C instant oatmeal and 1.5 cups boiling water in a bowl cover for 5 minutes and you have Sunday morning breakfast any day of the week! 

 

Chicken Pot Pie (with shortcuts!)

I have been seriously craving chicken pot pie for at least a month now and with the cooler weather of fall setting in this comfort food down home dish really hits the spot. After reading the ingredients list of the "good pot pie" at Whole Foods, which included enriched flour and questionable gmo ingredients, I knew I was destined to make my own.

 For being a member of the humble casserole  family, when done right this soul nourishing meal has a high maintenance diva side. In order for it to taste right and for the veggies to keep their integrity each component needs to be cooked separately before whisked away into a oven safe dish and left only to do it's thing. I've been making a crock pot half chicken every week so figuring out another thing to do with the bits of dark meat is a blessing, so that took care of the chicken part.

I used a mix of light and dark meat so it wasn't gamey tasting, around 2 cups of chicken. I pulled it off the bone cold, chopped it up and set aside. A chicken breast would work as well, chop it up into bite sized pieces season with pepper, garlic and cook in the oven (bonus points for using the same dish you will be making the casserole in, plus less dishes!) at  375 for about 30 minutes.

Coming up is the hardest part, and I promise it's easy :)

Make a Rue
A rue consists of equal parts flour and fat. For my pot pie in a deep 8x8 baking dish I used 1/2C butter and 1/2 C flour. Let fat melt completely then stir in flour bits at a time. When it's nice and thick and you're terrified it's going to burn start adding bits of chicken broth (or cream if you're a traditionalist) I like to use chicken broth because it's less fatty and I had the best broth on hand from my crock pot chicken. I used about 2 cups total just keep adding as it thickens, also a little Parmesan cheese goes a long way! Once that's done all you have to do is construct using the shortcut methods!

Mix chicken, rue and about a cup of frozen organic mixed veggies (I like the pea, carrot, corn blend) and place evenly in the casserole dish. Then lay a thawed out prepared crust, the Wholsome whole wheat pie crusts from the frozen department from Whole Foods have 6 ingredients and everything's organic. Don't get me wrong I love me some home made lovealicious crust, but it's just not always practical!

Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes, then dance a jig and eat pot pie!!

Flavorful Roasted Almonds

I love nuts as a mid afternoon snack, just a handful has enough protein to keep a belly full and fight fatigue. Salted nuts are good but I've been really digging the "flavored" nuts I've been seeing around. Well I love them until I read the ingredients label and realize they are loaded with "extras" so I decided to give it a go. For this batch I started with raw almonds and roasted then for 10-13 minutes at 425. Basically I pulled then out of the oven when I started to smell the sweet fragrance of almonds in my kitchen.
After they cooled I tossed them with a little sesame  oil, Bragg's liquid Amino's and sprinkled with brewers yeast.
Delicious!

How to Make Delious Healthy Muffins

If you google "blueberry muffin" there's an estimated 4,540,000 search results that come up for recipes. It's kind of a thing :) and I'm not so sure these muffins are super unique but they are "healthy" as far as muffins go and I take great pride in using ingredients and methods that result in delicious food & can be eaten for breakfast or snacks alike. The key here is substitutions and I'm not talking about subbing applesauce for oil or butter, because let's face it a little fat makes things YUMMY! Here's the original recipe I pulled from "The Joy of Cooking" cookbook. I use their recipes for a starting point most of the time because it's classic, simple and I like the fluid layout. However once I'm finished it doesn't look much like this at all, but baking is a science more than a free flowing art form like cooking can be so I try to stick to the dry/wet ingredient ratios.

Let's start with the flour  I always use a mix of unbleached all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. Using all whole wheat flour makes baked goods too dense but you can go a 1:1 ratio and it works out great. Enriched flour is basically flour stripped of all it's nutrients and pumped full of "nutrients" usually of a very questionable quality level.So I opt for the OG flour and trust I'll get my iron & vitamins elsewhere. You can read more about enriched flour at The Global Healing Center blog. Ok, enough of that tangent! 

The next thing I always substitute if possible is Greek yogurt for milk or cream, now since I'm baking with it the pro-biotic quality diminishes but the cup this recipe calls for adds a whopping 22 grams of protein!

 Coconut oil has been getting a lot of attention lately, and for a good reason it's an amazing product. Aside from putting it on my hair as a leave-in conditioner and on my skin as a fabulous moisturizer I also eat it for many health benefits. If you don't like the taste of coconuts, don't worry it's undetectable when it's cooked. Dr. OZ has a great explanation of coconut oil on his website. 

The last major change is ditching the sugar, raw organic or otherwise and using maple syrup instead. I promise it doesn't make your muffins taste like maple syrup just a hint of maple flavor if you have a refined pallet or if you're like me you probably won't taste it at all. Including all of maple syrups health benefits I love it mostly because it doesn't spike the blood sugar the way straight sugar does.

Now that all of that is out of the way, let's get to the how we make these awesome little fluffy balls of goodness!

Preheat oven to 400
Grab a helper


Sift together

1 C whole wheat flour
1 C unbleached all purpose flour 
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

In another bowl whisk together

2 eggs
1 C yogurt
3/4 C maple syrup
6 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix in flour mixture until there are no more clumps but it will be kind of thick, almost like play dough. At this point you have what I like to call a "master recipe" you can add various things you love (nuts, fruit, mini chocolate chips) and make a plethora of combinations. In this case I added a healthy cup of blueberries we had left in the freezer from our blueberry picking trip earlier last summer. It's that's about it easy breezy, just oil or line a muffin pan fill those bad boys up (about 3/4 the way) and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on top and when they come clean when poked with a toothpick.

Try to share!!!

What are your favorite substitutions for classic recipes?!

Easy Chicken dinner

It's a lovely Sunday here in Raleigh, and by mid-September there's a plethora of family friendly activities going on every weekend. The last couple weekends we've went out and by the time we get home it's almost 6 and we still have to make dinner! So after two weekends of chaotic Sunday evenings I've decided to think ahead a little & have the main part of the cooking finished by the time we get home.

I've been getting organic chicken from whole foods but after seeing a terrifying video of how organic chickens were being "processed" in an industrialized manner, I decided to see what my other options were. Last weekend I had the pleasure of meeting, Jan Campbell of Homestead Harvest Farms in Wake Forest, NC. She assured me that cooking half a chicken in a crock pot was an easy, painless process. Not only was Jan right about it being easy, she also has the best chicken we've been able to find. I also love, love, love the fact that all her chickens are loved, have great lives and are processed as she puts it "the way grandma raised poultry". Everything about this chicken boasts superiority to its grocery store cousins- it looks, smells, feels and tastes better. My husband who swears all dark chicken meat tastes "gamey" will eat every part of this chicken, win!

Here's what to do:

Place whole or half chicken in a crock pot ad 1/2 C of water for half chicken and 1 C for a whole chicken 

Sprinkle with salt & pepper (or spices of choice)

Turn on low and walk away. That's right, walk away!

Its honestly that easy, the meat pretty much falls right of the bone so disassembling it later isn't a huge chore. Oh and did I mention the delicious and I mean delicious chicken broth you get out of this bargain?!! Whatever we don't eat right away I store in the fridge for salads and quick meals.

A Meal Born From Compromises

I do most of the grocery shopping around here and I've noticed lately we've gotten into a dinner time rut and there's nobody to blame but me! In an effort to eat as local as possible I shop at the farmers market every week, sometime twice. I realized this morning that I have my "routine" there and I haven't ventured from it much recently. Today I  challenged myself to get something I have never bought before, which I thought might be a trial since I am a huge veggie lover. When put to the test, I found there were whole booths I mindlessly pass up on a regular basis. Today I found beautiful oyster mushrooms from Old Milburnie Farm and even though I'm not a fan of mushies, my husband loves them so I bought a few ounces. Later on when I went to Whole Foods to find a friend for the mushies I by chance started talking to one of the guys at the fish case (I never buy fish) he suggested that a pecan crusted tilapia would work fabulously with the mushrooms. I love fish but the hubby isn't a huge fan but I thought since I bought those lovely mushies it might be ok. The results exceeded my expectations, I now can no longer say I don't like mushrooms and fish might make more of an appearance at our house!

Here's my Recipe for Pecan Crusted Tilapia with Asian Inspired Stir Fry

For the Fish

I kind of cheated here because I'm not familiar with cooking fish so I bought the pecan crusted tilapia from the fish case at whole foods. If you wanted to DIY it would be pretty easy I'm going to do that next time. I cooked it on a metal rack, the rack allows air flow so both sides are crispy instead of one crispy and one soggy side. Place the metal rack on top of a cookie sheet and bake @ 375 for about 10 minutes on each side.

I sliced up the oyster mushrooms, sauteed them on medium heat with butter  and set aside

While the fish is in the oven I cut up the Veg. I used the following veggies, but anything could be added or left out.

Red Peppers, sliced into strips
Bock Choy (I chopped the bottoms and tossed those in first and reserved the greens for later since they cook so fast)
Carrots cut in matchsticks
Thin green beans

Pea shoot sprouts (for garnish) 
 
On medium to high heat warm up some oil just enough to cover the bottom of the pan (I used coconut oil) brown 2-3 cloves of garlic and fresh ginger then toss in all veggies (except greens and mushrooms) and cook until soft but not mushy. Then toss in the greens, mushrooms add a swirl of rice vinegar, sesame oil and a smidge of Bragg's liquid aminos or light soy sauce.  And there you have it a quick easy meal fit for royalty!

Last of the Tomatoes

Chewy Granola Bars (gluten free!)

A few weeks ago we had a tie dye party at our house and all the moms were kind enough  to bring a snack to share. Between you and me there's always that one mom (or dad) who brings the "WIN" and this time it was my friend, Tara with this scrumptious recipe from the Paleo Mom blog. I have made these about a dozen time in the last two months and as I sit here and savor the smell of the most recent batch cooling on the oven I decided these little bars of heaven must be sang about!The paleo diet basically is the absent of grains so instead of being filled with carbs these nut, coconut and chocolate delights boast loads of protein and fiber, making them a great on the go snack. The ingredient list is kind of long but most (if not all) depending on the store you go to can be found in the bulk section. Also it's stressed on the website but I highly recommend reading all the directions first then following them to a T. These little pups are a science but Oh Oh Oh SOOOO WORTH it!

The Magic of One Seed

                                                      A whole bowl from just one flower! 

 

The real reason I am elated about these seeds, besides the fact that they're delicious lies at the beginning of the seeds journey. In early Spring my 3 year old brought home a little sprout housed in a plastic dixie cup that he had planted at school. We put it out back and got busy so busy that the next time little Z went outside to check on the plant he stormed inside crying because it had died. Well I happen to know plants sometimes have a magical regenerative quality if you give them extra love and attention and really at that point I was willing to try anything to mend my little guys heart. I gently told him to pick out a special spot in the garden, we talked to the plant propped the poor thing up with a twig and couple rocks and hoped for the best. Honestly, I just thought that for the moment the crisis was averted, went to the store and bought a bag of sunflower seeds for us to plant. To our surprise about a week later the sprout was standing on it's own again. After another week it tripled in size, that's when we began to document it's process.We took a photo every two weeks, every time Z squealed with joy and was amazed when the plant was "taller than daddy!"

The flower bloomed, inviting a myriad of  lovely summer guests to delight in the joys of it's nectar and beauty- and in the case of the birds and squirrels, it's seeds! Then it drooped it's giant head and took a well deserved rest! Last night while we were playing around it the yard I noticed a few seeds had dropped from the droopy mammoth and decided it was time to shuck them. Only I have never shucked a sunflower before so it quickly became a family activity. I held out my dress and caught the flying seeds as my husband wiggled the top around and Z picked the ones off the ground that I missed. I'm sure Martha Stewart has mastered the art of "shucking" or "de-seeding" a sunflower and I'm sure it's efficient and crafty, but I wouldn't want to do it any other way. As we were all sitting around our dinner table huddled over this bowl full of seeds a sense of joy washed over me. The kind of joy you feel when everything seems perfect, the kind I imagine zen masters are talking about when they say "be here now" I felt that many times through this process, just udder joy and perfection from one itty bitty seed.

Learning A Life Lesson From a Cucumber

Something in your way? No problem, just grow with it :)

Blackberries!

A couple weeks ago my three year old burst into the house super excited with a purple mustache. I have to admit, I was kind of terrified at first wondering where that juicy purple ring around his mouth came from and he opened his sweet little hand and showed me what he found growing along our fence line. Fresh. Ripe. Juicy. Blackberries! One more reason my backyard is magical!

8 Tips For Making Hair Care Products From Fresh Herbs

I met a lovely woman a few months back at a seed swap and she shared with me her way of washing her hair. Basically she walks around her garden in late summer collecting herbs, puts them in a container, covers them with vinegar and lets them sit for a year before she pulls it out to use as a shampoo. The whole ordeal sounded so romantic to me, and her hair looked nice -not what I would expect from someone who said they never washed their hair with regular shampoo. I'm not ready to completely give up my coconut milk shampoo but with an abundance of herbs and a surplus of cool jars I thought I'd give it a try. After some trial an error and loads of research here are some useful tips to making a good hair rinse/shampoo:

1. I use it more as a rinse once a week after washing

2. Use whatever mix you want but rosemary is the herb that really conditions and strengthens so try to use that as a base and throw in lavender or sage for fragrance

3.Wash all herbs really well, the last thing you want is a bug in your shampoo!

4. All parts of plants have different qualities and purposes, it takes a little longer but it's well worth it to pick the leaves off the stem first. 

5. You don't have to wait a year, a week will work just fine

6. Use plain white or apple cider vinegar

7. Store in a dark cool place, heat and light can rob herbs of their potency.

8. Strain before using

I

Perfect Summer Sammie

Now I didn't bake a loaf of bread for this sandwich but I did hand pick the loaf. I'm an omnivore at this point in my life, it's just what works for my body, I was however a vegetarian for the better part of a decade so when it comes to whipping up a veggie sandwich it's second nature.I layered the following on a nice Jewish Rye bread I found at The Fresh Market
Sliced cucumbers- I linke to slice them long ways like sandwich pickles
Sliced tomatoes-from the garden
Sliced avocado
Big pieces of spinach
On coated each slice of bread with a rich herbed goat cheese from the farmers market and spinkled with shredded rainbow carrots.
I didn't even notice it was missing the meat!

Best Tomato Sandwich, Ever.

I baked a fresh loaf of bread for a tomato, yeah you heard me right I busted out flour, yeast, and salt, mixed, kneaded, waited, kneaded again and baked it all for a tomato. Why you may ask, why would you bake a whole loaf of bread for a tomato? Well that's a fabulous question, because this, my friend is the tomato in question, a gigantic, glorious, perfectly ripe mid-July tomato fit for royalty.

When you make a sandwich with only five ingredients, those five ingredients need to be perfect, or at least pretty darn close. That being said, this is my favorite sandwich of all time and because of the imperative nature of the ingredients the window for making this sandwich lasts for about a month. maybe two a year.  I used a very simple french bread recipe out of my trusty Julia Child cook book, it's a lot easier than you think! For the filling I lovingly placed in between the toasted baguette, slices of my juicy tomato, fresh basil from my garden, fresh mozzarella from the farmers market and coated each side of the bread with copious amounts of aged balsamic vinegar. I tried so hard to savor this culinary masterpiece fit for the gods but it vanished in about 45 seconds, guess I'll just have to make another!

Raspberry Strawberry Coconut Milk Popsicles

Well it's finally summer time here in lovely North Carolina and by summer time I mean well into the 90's everyday. Besides going to the pool on the daily I like to have my freezer well stocked with frozen treats of goodness. This Popsicle recipe is really as easy as putting all three ingredients in the blender and filling up Popsicle molds. I used about a cup of each strawberries and raspberries (frozen) and a can of light coconut milk, Z loves them!  What's your favorite Popsicle recipe?!

10 Tips to Get Your Lovely to Eat Healthy Food

I feel like I've been having the same conversation over and over with other parents when I'm out. "Little Billy Joe Bob ate well until he was 14 months old"
"Sally ate all her veggies until she went to school"
and the list of excuses go on and on "quick health food is expensive" and my personal favorite "I made my own organic baby food and now my kids eat fruit roll-ups"
Here's the real deal and I know because I've been there with my own child. As they get larger that precious little baby whose lips you wouldn't let anything but the most sacred ingredients pass turns into a back talking wild child who refuses to eat until they are on the verge of a severe meltdown and out of total desperation you give them whatever you can find. Sometimes that is a bag of cheezits from a vending machine at the gym, or a juice from starbucks, the lolipops from the bank or treasure chest from Trader Joes and yes there's "healthy" grab and go options but most of them are loaded with sugar and here's the thing about sugar....sugar begets sugar. It's easy to turn our bodies on to a sugar burning state. In the world of a toddler where time is of the essence, they delight in the quick energy of a juice and feel that's enough energy to sustain them. The problem is, that's not enough energy to sustain them and the cycle repeats itself constantly, then the cycle becomes  habit.

I recently did this with bagels, now bagels aren't all bad but my little guy is sensitive to gluten but he LOVES blueberry bagels. So for a while I would just buy him a bagel when we were shopping at Whole Foods as a treat to bypass the sugar doom kids club wagon. After a couple weeks I kind of forgot how out of control his behavior gets when he's been eating loads of gluten and I bought a whole bag of bagels thinking Z really likes these and they're great on the go. Three days later I had a manic child who only wanted to eat pasta, bagels and fruit strips.

I decided to make this list as a reminder for myself and for anyone else who finds themselves in the same cycle. I am going to tack it to my fridge as a reminder when I make grocery lists and pack lunches!


1. Ditch the Juice and Drink Water Instead

We all know water is good for us, we're made of mostly water after all! Most of the time when we're "hungry" we're really just thirsty and it's our bodies telling us we're starting to dehydrate. Juice is not a whole food, if you've ever juiced before you know what I mean. You throw loads of fruits and veggies into a giant machine and out comes a tiny bit of juice. Then you're left with all the good stuff to dispose of. The good stuff is pulp filled with fiber and most of the fruits and veggies nutrients. I've found it helpful to leave water out at all times as a reminder. Z has a special cup that is only for water and when he's really fighting it we make "lemonade" which is water over ice and a squirt of lemon. Making it special in some way helps kids appreciate it's importance.

2. Be the Example

I once read a really powerful quote, I forget where and who said it but I never forgot it " Don't be concerned that you child doesn't listen to you, be concerned that they watch everything that you do." This was a real game changer for me , it's taken some real "reprogramming" but most of the time before I say anything I noticeably role play what I'd like my little to do and most of the time it works. I also try to keep this in mind when I'm driving and absolutely with what I eat.

 3. Make Your Own "Snack Packs"

 When I get home from the grocery store one of the first things I do is cut up extra veggies and divide the crackers, cheese and anything else I think will be ok for a couple days in the fridge. Then I disperse them into little Tupperware compartments and stack them in the fridge. I originally starting doing this for Z in the morning (he's an early riser)! But then I quickly realized that having a prepared snack was brilliant for several reasons, running late in the morning they make a quick makeshift lunch and also in a pinch when running out the door for the park or just as a snack when I'm in the middle of something and can't prepare something right then. Z likes the way it gives him independence by picking what he wants and getting it himself. Win!

4. Have an Emergency "Car Pack" filled with nuts, dry fruit and ziplock bags with individual servings of pretzels exc. this allows for more healthy choices and not being at the whim of a gas station, vending machine or just not having anything and risking a meltdown. If it's hot outside keep in mind things that melt, I have lost many protein bars and trail mixes with little chocolate nibs to the heat!

5. Compartmentalize Foods

I am a stickler for  everyone eating the same meal, I am not a short order cook! That being said I do know that kids have a different perspective on food than adults. If I am making a very spicy dish  for the fam. I will take a bit out for Z before it gets too hot. He almost always eats what we eat but I have better luck putting like things together rather than mixing it all together. For example if we have a Greek salad instead of giving him a bowl of mixed salad I give him a plate with olives, tomatoes, cucumbers. lettuce, a little dipping bowl of Greek dressing and even a pepperoncini to try. 

6.  Little Chefs

Allowing children to be involved in the process of "food production" gives them an appreciation of where their food comes from and how much work it is to gather, prepare and clean up afterwards. Let them crack eggs, mix ingredients and even maybe pick dinner one night a week. Having a garden, or visiting a farm teach them where food comes from rather than magically appearing at the super market. They will most likely be more willing to try something they grew from a seed or small plant.   This is Z with the sunflower he planted at school and transferred to our garden, he checks on it first thing every morning!

7. Snacking is OK!

We are natural hunter and gathers, it's natural to eat bits at a time . The first thing most diets say is to eat 5-6 small meals a day instead of 3 large ones. Kids are naturally good at this, we as parents just need to make sure they have access to healthy snacks at all times. Recently I read an article in parent magazine ringing alarm bells about snacking and yes if snack options are crackers, juice and chips snacks can pose a potential problem. However if the quality of snacks are high who cares if kids eat an epic dinner? Seriously if they love eating in the car offer carrot sticksif it's the only thing available they might just give it a go! Our favorite snack right now is the back yard forging snack, here's what Z had today for one of his snacks.

8. No Snacking in Front of the Television!

This may seem like a no brainier, but let's face it, it happens. It's 10 after 5 you just got home from the park and need to get diner  started. You pop on a video for the bambinos, they're hungry from running around all afternoon and grab a box crackers to accompany their show. Before you know it dinners ready and they're not hungry anymore. We tend to over eat while sitting in front of the television because we're not listening to our bodies, if this becomes a habit we lose our ability to listen altogether. I'm not saying we don't have the occasional popcorn with a movie, what childhood is complete without that?! But it definitely is a treat. If they insist on having something to satiate them while watching try handing them their super awesome water or "lemonade".
9. Food Rituals

 Eat dinner together as much as possible or at least keep your babes company while they eat to let them know food and eating is an important process!There are numerous studies singing the praises of eating together for many reasons beyond kids eating more veggies and trying new foods. According to research children that eat with their families on average of five night a week are more likely to get better grades and make better choices when faced with peer pressure.

10. It's All About Branding!

I recently went crazy making all kinds of "bites", "balls"  and various concoctions I found on pintrest. Z refused to try any of them even though I promised they were delicious. That is until I started calling them things like "sneaky ninja quiona bites" and "manic monkey muffins" then I had to hide them if I had any hopes of eating any!

What's your favorite trick to get you littles to eat healthy food?!