Beans n' Rice - Or Maybe Not

Looks like beans n' rice to me : )

The beans n' rice that I was planning to make tonight was a packaged item that was given to us, among many other things, when a friend of ours moved. I have not prepared a packaged beans n' rice before so I don't know what they normally look like, but I wasn't so sure I should eat it after opening it. Since I had other things laying around that could make a nice meal and would be better for my body anyway, to the trash can it went!

Here is what I came up with instead:

2 oz. dry pasta cooked to desired consistency. While the pasta is cooking put 1 - 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan with 2 tablespoons of walnuts and a pinch of salt. Let the nuts toast a bit and then add approximately 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 - 2 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley, and a small splash of cream (we'll say 1 tablespoon to stick with the theme). When the pasta is cooked and the sauce ingredients are combined, toss it together and serve.

It was so tasty! Definitely better than the packaged beans n' rice that I would have eaten otherwise. And besides, I think the trash can is really enjoying the beans n' rice.

My Favorite Homemade Granola Bars

I have been trying to make a good, homemade granola bar for years. These are far superior to any of my other attempts. Plus, they are very easy and fast to make. The only downside is that they really do better when kept cold. I think in a lunch box with an ice pack would be fine, but thrown in the purse/backpack probably won't go over too well (simply because they don't hold their shape well when warm...they would definitely still be edible). However, I don't generally need to pack food for myself, so for me they are great! I just keep them in the fridge. I'm not going to tell you these are the perfect snack for any given day at any time since they do have a fair amount of sugar. That being said, they are still quite healthy, and better for you than almost any granola bar the grocery store has to offer. 

Some of the star ingredients:

Sesame seeds - I keep an eye out for ways to use these since they have many nutrients, including calcium -- who knew! And I love the flavor they add to these bars.

Flax seed meal- Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats! Plus protein, fiber, and many other things.

The nuts and coconut oil provide an array or healthy fats.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup flax seed meal
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1 cup chopped nuts or seeds (I used a 1/2 cup of cashews and a 1/2 cup of pecans)
• 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (or butter)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 cup your choice of dried fruit and/or chocolate (I used a 1/2 cup of cranberries and a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips) 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine the rolled oats, flax seed meal, sesame seeds, and nuts, and spread them evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Toast for 15-30 minutes until golden, stirring occasionally so it doesn't burn (You could also do this in a dry pan over medium-low heat).
2. Put vanilla, honey, coconut oil (or butter) and brown sugar in a small pot and heat gently until the sugar is dissolved and everything is thoroughly combined.
3. In a large bowl, combine sea salt, shredded coconut, cinnamon, and dried fruit.
4. When the oat mixture is finished toasting, add it to the coconut mixture and stir.
5. Add honey mixture and stir.
6. Quickly stir in chocolate chips* (if using) and dump into a 9 X 13 pan lined with wax paper.
7. Spread the mixture evenly in the pan. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top and pack down tightly and evenly.
8. Place pan in refrigerator for at least 2 hours to cool completely. Cut into bars and store in the refrigerator.

*The reason I say to stir the chocolate chips in quickly after everything else is combined is because mine completely melted and spread around in the mixture when I stirred them in with everything else. It is still yummy, but I would prefer to have pieces of chocolate instead, and I think this method should work.

Hmmmm.....now I am tempted to go eat one from my fridge : )

Menu and a Recipe

Monday - Parmesan crusted tilapia, creamy scalloped potatoes, cranberry pecan salad

Wednesday - pasta tossed with Italian sausage, roasted Brussels sprouts, and kale, topped with Parmesan and a bit of olive oil

Thursday - gnocchi with rosa sauce

Friday - beans n' rice (Marshall will be gone so I'm sticking with simple)

Saturday - Mexican quinoa (Marshall will still be gone)

Sunday - tomato barley soup and grilled cheese (Marshall will be home : )

In my last menu I had forgotten that I wasn't going to be working Saturday (yesterday), which meant I was making dinner! I decided to whip up this bruschetta-type dish since I had just made a batch of the dutch-oven bread and also had fresh mozzarella waiting to be used. It ended up being very tasty.

Here is what I did:

• 2 pints grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• olive oil (probably about 2 tablespoons), plus more for drizzling on bread
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried marjoram
• salt and pepper
• 4 slices of bread (depending on size)*
• kalamata olives (about 1/4 cup), quartered
• fresh mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Place cut tomatoes, chopped garlic, olive oil, oregano, basil, marjoram, salt, and pepper in an oven safe dish with a lid.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, remove lid and bake for 15 more minutes**
4. Lightly drizzle olive oil on four slices of bread and bake for about 10 minutes or until nicely toasted. 
5. Split the tomatoes between the four slices of toast and top with the olives and mozzarella.
6. Broil for about 3 minutes or until cheese is browned.

*The amount you see in the picture accounts for two of the four slices of the bread. They are about 4 inches long and 3 inches wide.

**There will be a decent amount of juice left from the tomatoes. That's fine, just don't put that on the bread. It will make them too soggy. And nobody likes soggy bread (except when eating a big juicy Italian beef sandwich drowning in Au Jus....can you tell I'm venting about being deprived?)

They turned out nice and crispy on the outside and soft and a bit juicy on the inside. I'll definitely make this again! Hopefully you'll make it again too.....ya know, after having tried it the first time : )

Thus Begins the Journey

I FINALLY made it to the market!

Produce: comice pears (SO good!), grapefruit, lemons, kohlrabi, kale, romaine, parsley, and Brussels sprouts

Tea: Loose leaf earl gray, hibiscus licorice

Cheese: Fresh mozzarella, Parmesan, farmer's cheese, and brie de Meaux

Other Dairy: Heavy cream, butter, and milk

Meat: some sweet Italian pork sausage and mild Italian pork sausage

peanut butter

Anyone wondering what journey I am talking about?

I have finished the reading portion of Nourishing Traditions and, though I already thought that eating organically was important, it pushed me over the edge specifically to start buying organic dairy products that are from grass-fed cows (like the cream, butter, and milk I bought) . The prices for those items can be outrageous, but the market makes it a bit more reasonable. Plus, when we are talking about the health of our bodies, almost any cost I can manage is worth it to me. Did you know that cream and butter are rich sources of vitamins and minerals when they're organic and from grass-fed cows? I'm happy to have a very good reason to keep spreading butter on my toast : )

I also just started reading The China Study. This book definitely contradicts Nourishing Traditions in some ways, but not in others. 

Let's talk meat for a minute. Marshall and I really like our sausage. I do think that meat is an important part of our diet but I try to include more chicken and beef due to sausage not being the best source of meat available for our health. Furthermore, I was very sad to learn that Johnsonville sausage has some unnecessary things added to their sausage, including msg.... : ( I have bought sausage at the market before and it was good, so I will try my best to purchase that as a majority of the sausage we eat since it has nothing except meat, salt, and spices. Yay!

So the journey I am beginning is to consider all that these books have to say and decide what I believe from each. Then I will do my best to make the necessary changes to our diet.

There is a tidbit for you of what I have learned in my recent readings, and I really look forward to sharing more as I read, learn, and solidify what I believe to be true.   

Happy buttering....(as long as the cows ate grass : )

Menu and Veggie Trivia

Monday - curried salmon soup

Wednesday - cheese ravioli in lemon-parsley-olive oil sauce sprinkled with Parmesan

Thursday - creamy macaroni and cheese

Friday - spaghetti carbonara

Sunday - Parmesan crusted tilapia

Our second snow storm interrupted my rescheduled trip to the market that was cancelled due to the first snow storm, so I didn't get to go again. This week I am supposed to be going (So it will probably snow) and this is my menu assuming I make it there : )

I have no idea what we'll be  having for vegetables this week because it all depends on what looks good and is priced well at the market. But, as usual, I will be buying kale and hopefully Brussels sprouts.

Saying "Brussels sprouts" reminds me of something I've been wanting to tell you! Typically, you see people type brussel sprouts (including me), but my blog always tells me that it's a typo via a squiggly red line. I got tired of not knowing why it was doing that and I looked it up. Turns out they are actually supposed to be called "Brussels sprouts" because they have been popular in Brussels, Belgium for a long time (and maybe originated there.....thank you Wikipedia). so from now on I will be calling them Brussels sprouts with a capital "B" and an "s" at the end. What could be more exciting than the history of vegetables? : )

I can confirm for you that the sour cream chocolate bundt cake was very good! Marshall and I are not that crazy about cakes in general, but this is worth eating (again and again and again). Moist and dense and chocolatey, but somehow not too heavy. Yum yum!

Valentine's Day and Snowy View

Here is our Valentines Day treat!

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake

This cake didn't turn out perfectly, but because of that I got to taste it already! I'll explain for those who haven't noticed what went wrong. 

I tipped my pan upside down with my hand supporting the cake ready to see something beautiful and, though I am still very happy with it, a portion of the cake decided to hang out in the pan. That's what all those bumps on the inside of the ring are from. Which means.....I got to taste what was stuck : )

It was very good and definitely not your average chocolate cake. Moist and kind of dense. Plus, if that doesn't sound good enough, it is also covered in chocolate ganache.  

We will be enjoying this tomorrow night : )

Here is a peak at our second snow-apocalypse 

This is the view I got to enjoy from standing in my kitchen (or sitting on the couch) on Wednesday. I sure don't feel like I'm in Atlanta right now! (However, it is basically gone already).

Menu

Monday - fish stew

Wednesday - kalamata olive pizza (which I made Saturday and threw in the freezer...love homemade frozen pizzas!)

Thursday - gnocchi with a fresh pesto from the market

Friday - creamy sausage and leek scalloped potatoes

Sunday - beef and Guinness stew


Dinner vegetables for the week: More brussel sprouts and broccoli! Plus I am going to the market this week and I will definitely buy kale there because of the great price and freshness.

Both of the links I shared in this post are from foodwishes.blogspot.com. Both are very good! Both are recommended! : )

Snacking - Who Doesn't Do It?

And I honestly think we should do it. 

Our metabolism speeds up tremendously when we eat, and therefore, it is best to eat every 3 - 4 hours to keep up that fast pace. This doesn't mean that we should eat a huge pile of pasta for dinner at 6pm and feel bad for our metabolism because we didn't have a cookie before sleeping. For me this usually means a couple of snacks per day and a little less for meals than I would eat otherwise.

I am going to list for you some of my favorite healthy snacks to have around on a regular basis that require no (or very little) prep. I'm listing the amounts that I usually eat to help anybody who is unsure of a good snack size. Of course this largely depends on how big your meals were that day, your exercise plan, and simply your individual body needs. Just because this works for me doesn't mean it's right for everybody.

It's not even always right for me! Yesterday I had what I like to call an "eating day". That means I just want to snack, snack, snack all day long! Is this a good idea? No. I do my best to avoid this, however, since I generally manage to follow a healthy diet I am not really concerned about these days since they are occasional. Especially when I am able to make good snack choices! Here are some of my favorites!

hard-boiled eggs (1 or 2)
almonds (....or whatever nuts you like best - 1/4 cup)
fruit of any kind (1-2 pieces depending on size, 1/2-1 cup if it's something like berries)
carrots (1-2)
bell peppers (1/2)
green smoothies (which usually consist of about 2 cups of greens, water, and 2 servings of fruit)
1 pc. toast or 1/2 an English muffin with butter or PB

Tip: If you're feeling kind of hungry, not really sure, don't know what you'd eat anyway....drink a glass of water (or hot tea!) before chowing down on 300 calories of whatever that snack ended up being that you barely remember because you ate without thinking! Been there, done that! Sometimes all we need is a drink!

Enjoy your snacking! (In moderation : )

Just a Menu

Monday - turkey cranberry paninis -- Marshall really likes these!...fast and delicious!

Tuesday - You may have noticed in my recent menus that I have been skipping Tuesday. Our Bible study has resumed for the semester and we always share dinner. Occasionally I'll cook for the group, but not too often.

Wednesday - pizzas -- Marshall's office mates are coming for dinner!

Thursday - cheddar-black bean-onion quesadillas

Friday - sauerkraut and sausage soup -- This is a new recipe. I'll be doing it quite a bit differently than this link, but that's the base I am following....so we'll see how it turns out.

Sunday - Valentine's Day dinner at the Cheesecake Bistro : )

Dinner vegetables: We have a lot of broccoli and brussel sprouts right now, so mostly that!