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.

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!

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!!

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?!

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!

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!

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?!

Keeping an eye out for food!

Maybe it's just because I've never noticed, or maybe it's because I've never really lived anywhere for an extended period of time. However lately, every time I look out my back door I realize there is something new growing. What took over as ground cover last week has disappeared without a trace and been replaced with something completely different to fit the time of year and growing season for that particular plant. What keeps blowing my mind is how many of these "weeds" are edible combined with an abnormally cold spring, lettuce and winter crops are still thriving and it's almost May! Can we say modified forged salad?! However we did witness our fastest snap pea season I've ever seen. I'm excited about growing and with this being our first year in this lovely little house we bought I am excited to see what will surprise me in the coming months! I invite you to look around, see what's growing and possibly what you can eat!

Late spring stir fry with "cheesy" rice

I have been overly delighted by the recent selection at the farmers market. We had a colder than average spring here in NC and I have been craving anything besides leafy greens. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love salad but after six months I need some variety! I kind of went insane this week by the sight of broccoli, squash, zucchini, snap peas, onions, carrots, celery and potatoes. So tonight when I brain stormed for dinner I knew I had to work in something that incorporated most of my bounty, not to mention all the fresh herbs going off in my garden right now. Here's what I came up with......
First off l started the rice 1 cup is usually sufficient for the three of us and I like to make a little extra for J's lunch the next day.
1 C organic brown rice
2 C organic low sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons of brewers yeast (reserve for later)

1lb boneless organic chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 onion chopped
1 shallot diced small
A few cloves of garlic and all the veggies mentioned above ( or whatever you have on hand!) Chopped to bite sized pieces.
As far as herbs I used a handful of combined rosemary, oregano and basil.

While the rice is cooking chop warm up a large skillet and add enough fat of your choice ( I used coconut oil) it won't taste like coconut I swear! Lovingly throw in the chicken and chop the veg. I like to chop the veg that take longer to cook first then add as I go. Once all the veggies are in stir fry for 15-20 minutes adding the garlic and herbs close to the end. Once everything is cooked add a splash  of balsamic vinegar. Yumalicious!
As for the rice once it's cooked to perfection toss in the brewers yeast for a healthy cheesy tasting twist.
Happy Spring!

I

Super Food Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love eating clean whole foods, that being said, I also enjoy a treat every now and again. Recently I walked through the cookie aisle at whole foods and realized there was one vital thing missing....a damn good chocolate chip cookie without refined sugar. I thought to myself "how is this even possible?!" even if you use chocolate chips with a high cocoa content, there's still that pesky bit of sugar. Don't get me wrong, sugar is delicious but I don't like the way I feel when I eat it, sometimes even in small doses. Then it occurred to me, I would just go straight to the source, cocoa nibs! Then I figured I might as well continue with the super food trend and came up with these little diddies, if you're not committed fully to the idea of a "healthy cookie" I hear ya, try using the "I'm on the fence" suggestions :) For everyone else, I truly hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

• 1C sprouted organic whole wheat flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon finely ground sea salt
• 1 cup extra virgin organic coconut oil
• 3/4 cup organic grade B maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 large organic egg
• 1 C raw organic cocoa nibs 

On the fence?
Try using whole wheat white flour or half white flour and half whole wheat. Coconut oil is delicious (and good for you!) and doesn't taste like coconuts once it's baked but a stick of butter would work as well or you can use a mix of these as well. 

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.

Lovingly mix coconut oil, maple syrup & vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Whisk the egg and work it into the oil/syrup blend.

Gradually fold in flour mixture. Stir in raw cocoa nib (I like to sing during this part :) Drop by rounded tablespoon onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes and cool on a cooling rack (if you can wait that long!)