No recipe today, but a confession turned celebration:
After story time, we often go to the drive through at Wendy's. Kids are starving, it's almost nap time, and I just want to have something ready to feed them as soon as I get them out of the car so that I don't have to corral cats to the table after I prepare something.
I would order a salad to share with Virginia, Noah would order a cheeseburger. Without fail, he would eat MAYBE a couple bites of the burger before deciding he only wanted to eat the top bun. I didn't like that he always chose a burger, but I wasn't willing to have the argument with him. But then he wouldn't eat it, he was still hungry, and he would end up eating part of my salad.
Just recently I decided to stop buying the burger. He felt like it was a very mean thing for me to do. But the funny thing is, he always wanted my salad more than he wanted his burger. After the initial fit about wanting the burger that I refused to buy just to toss in the trash, he has begun to get excited about the salad and cups of water that I get for us all to share.
The little things matter. I expose him to salad and veggies all the time. He gets grumpy and whiny quite often and would much rather eat other things if I presented them as options. But when it comes down to it, kids will eat what they're exposed to. Virginia is starting to use utensils, and just this past week she was stabbing at the lettuce and chowing down (usually she just eats the berries and chicken in the salad). It warmed my heart :)
Raising veggie-loving kids in our starch- and fat-saturated world is a battle at times, but it's one worth fighting.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Balsamic glazed mushrooms and onions with some other yummy stuff..
A recipe made from leftover produce, beans and quinoa that needed to be used or tossed. The flavors might seem an odd combo, but they really marry well. And it was super easy. I have no idea what to call it. If you make it, submit your votes for a name :)
You need all the recipe items plus a can of fat free refried beans. You can also add salad greens, I did for my first serving but later that night I was too lazy to chop and wash. Good either way.
Ok, get cooking! Put some water on to cook some quinoa. 2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa. Bring water to boil, add quinoa, return to boil and cover, lower heat to simmer for about 12 min. Take off from heat and allow to sit for about 5 min.
While that was cooking, I "glazed" onion and mushrooms.
1TB olive oil
1large yellow onion, sliced
8 oz sliced white mushrooms
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup water
Heat oil in large sauce pan on medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent and starting to brown, about 10 min. Add mushrooms and cook for about 10 more minutes until the juices have cooked out. Add vinegar and water and cook for about 10 more.
Then layer it up! I did beans on the bottom, then quinoa, then greens, then the onion and mushroom mixture.
This took me a little longer than some of my "easy" recipes, but was still very easy, and the cooking times don't really require much stirring if you have the heat right. Virginia enjoyed it, Noah wouldn't try it but that goes for just about everything these days...
You need all the recipe items plus a can of fat free refried beans. You can also add salad greens, I did for my first serving but later that night I was too lazy to chop and wash. Good either way.
Ok, get cooking! Put some water on to cook some quinoa. 2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa. Bring water to boil, add quinoa, return to boil and cover, lower heat to simmer for about 12 min. Take off from heat and allow to sit for about 5 min.
While that was cooking, I "glazed" onion and mushrooms.
1TB olive oil
1large yellow onion, sliced
8 oz sliced white mushrooms
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup water
Heat oil in large sauce pan on medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent and starting to brown, about 10 min. Add mushrooms and cook for about 10 more minutes until the juices have cooked out. Add vinegar and water and cook for about 10 more.
Then layer it up! I did beans on the bottom, then quinoa, then greens, then the onion and mushroom mixture.
This took me a little longer than some of my "easy" recipes, but was still very easy, and the cooking times don't really require much stirring if you have the heat right. Virginia enjoyed it, Noah wouldn't try it but that goes for just about everything these days...
Sunday, July 7, 2013
15 minute salad
Ok, no pictures today but I will be better from here on out. And I promised a friend I would post once a week, so tune in regularly for my lazy healthy recipes!
I took a great salad to a dinner with friends tonight. Romaine with roasted sweet potato and parsley vinaigrette. It turned out great, and I was totally winging it. Salad is so easy to fake, my friends! So be brave! But to give you some guidance, here is what I ended up doing:
First, from Bobby Flay, parsley vinaigrette. Original recipe here.
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 tsp dried dill
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 a large white onion, sliced
1/4 cup tightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium sweet potato
Seasoning salt or seasoning of choice
Olive oil to drizzle or cooking spray
Salad greens, about 4 cups
Sliced almonds, 2 handfuls (maybe 1/3 cup?)
Directions
Preheat oven to 425.
Dressing: Combine vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, honey, garlic, onion, parsley, dill, salt and pepper, to taste, and oil in a blender and blend until smooth.
Sweet potato: cut potato in half length-wise. Slice thinly and toss with a light drizzle of oil and about 1/2 tsp seasoning salt. Spread on baking sheet and cook for 10 min or until tender and starting to brown.
Chop and wash salad greens (I chopped two heads of romaine).
Allow potatoes to cool slightly and then toss everything together.
I literally did this in 15 minutes because I fell asleep and woke up just in time to throw something together using what was on hand, which included an old sweet potato that needed to get used, and some wilting parsley from my last Bountiful Baskets order. This was enough for sides for 5, but if I were wanting to make this a meal salad I would say more like 4 servings, and I probably would have added a can of beans to beef it up.
I took a great salad to a dinner with friends tonight. Romaine with roasted sweet potato and parsley vinaigrette. It turned out great, and I was totally winging it. Salad is so easy to fake, my friends! So be brave! But to give you some guidance, here is what I ended up doing:
First, from Bobby Flay, parsley vinaigrette. Original recipe here.
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 tsp dried dill
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 a large white onion, sliced
1/4 cup tightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium sweet potato
Seasoning salt or seasoning of choice
Olive oil to drizzle or cooking spray
Salad greens, about 4 cups
Sliced almonds, 2 handfuls (maybe 1/3 cup?)
Directions
Preheat oven to 425.
Dressing: Combine vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, honey, garlic, onion, parsley, dill, salt and pepper, to taste, and oil in a blender and blend until smooth.
Sweet potato: cut potato in half length-wise. Slice thinly and toss with a light drizzle of oil and about 1/2 tsp seasoning salt. Spread on baking sheet and cook for 10 min or until tender and starting to brown.
Chop and wash salad greens (I chopped two heads of romaine).
Allow potatoes to cool slightly and then toss everything together.
I literally did this in 15 minutes because I fell asleep and woke up just in time to throw something together using what was on hand, which included an old sweet potato that needed to get used, and some wilting parsley from my last Bountiful Baskets order. This was enough for sides for 5, but if I were wanting to make this a meal salad I would say more like 4 servings, and I probably would have added a can of beans to beef it up.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Salat, ensalada, salad...
Salad a day has been going well, even though Saturday my salad was iceberg lettuce and tomato slices snitched from the hamburger station at my husband's work party. I'd rather not think about the other food option: crawfish. I don't think any amount of time in the South will warm me up to those little mud bugs.
Sunday was romaine, fresh basil, fresh grated ginger, apples, and walnuts. Yum.
Sunday was romaine, fresh basil, fresh grated ginger, apples, and walnuts. Yum.
Caught in the act of stealing some of Mommy's salad. We start 'em young around here.
Tonight I plan on making a great salad from some delish FRESH FRESH FRESH greens my friend let me pick from her garden this morning. So excited. The more salad you eat, the better lettuce tastes, seriously. I hardly need dressing anymore.
A bounteous life
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Salad a day
My goal lately has been a salad a day. It has been remarkably fun. Sometimes I don't get to it until it's time for a bedtime snack, but if I'm going to eat before bed, what better option than some leafy greens? So I'm going to document it here. I may or may not remember photos, but I will try to be good about getting them. Didn't get a picture today, but here's what I ate:
1 cup kale
2 cups romaine
1/4 cup yellow bell pepper
1/4 cup black beans
1 Tbsp homemade date-sweetened vinaigrette (recipe HERE), I like mine thinner than what she does so I thin it out with water, plus it coats the greens more evenly that way and you get just as much flavor with fewer carbs from the dates.
1 cup kale
2 cups romaine
1/4 cup yellow bell pepper
1/4 cup black beans
1 Tbsp homemade date-sweetened vinaigrette (recipe HERE), I like mine thinner than what she does so I thin it out with water, plus it coats the greens more evenly that way and you get just as much flavor with fewer carbs from the dates.
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