Menu

Sunday - Taco salad

Monday - Tuna salad with apple, walnuts, and cranberries on toasted rolls

Tuesday - Savory waffles with bacon, onions, and nutritional yeast

Wednesday - Romaine salad with shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, and kalamata olives, tossed with a lemon vinaigrette dressing

Thursday - House Church night and I'm not sure yet if I'm cooking

Friday - Farro with sausage, onions, and sun-dried tomatoes, broccoli on the side -- I've learned that I really like a lot of vegetables cooked in coconut oil, broccoli being one of those many. I'll probably saute it this time.

Saturday - Smoky Quinoa and Bacon Salad and roasted carrots -- I followed this recipe except I caramelized the onions in the bacon fat, and I served it warm instead of room temperature or cold as the recipe suggests. I did eat the leftovers cold though and it was also good that way.

Menu

I didn't do a menu last week because we had so many leftovers from the week before that I only cooked a couple times last week! It was kind of nice to have a few easy meals that just needed to be heated up. I did make a couple of fresh meals though and both of them were hits that will definitely be in our regular rotation so I thought I should share.  One was roasted beer honey chicken and the other was banh mi sandwiches with homemade sandwich rolls. We didn't put pate on our sandwiches as suggested, but other than that we followed the recipe. They were great! 

Okay, onto this week's menu.

Monday - Massaged kale salad with farro, cranberries, hazelnuts, and apple -- Except I don't have enough cranberries so I'm adding some golden raisins, I don't have enough hazelnuts so I'm adding some walnuts, and I don't have an apple so I'm using a pear.

Tuesday - Smoky quinoa and bacon salad, roasted carrots

Wednesday - Corn fritters, fruit

Thursday - Pesto pasta with sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives

Friday - Turkey burgers -- I made these particular turkey burgers recently and they were excellent. I'll share the recipe soon ; )

Saturday - Spicy pan-fried swai, peas, rice

Massaged Kale Salad with Farro Cranberries Hazelnuts and Apple

I'm back with another kale salad! 

I know that some people think you're lying if you say you like kale, but Marshall and I really do like it. We don't only eat it because it's healthy. Of course that's a big motivating factor, but we also like it's taste. Though many say it's tough, I actually like it's texture, especially after it has a massage. Everyone is more pleasant after a massage, right? Same goes for kale. Give it a try!

If you've never had farro before I'd definitely recommend trying it. Trader Joe's sells a 10 minute farro, which is what I used, and it's delicious. It has a nice chewy texture and a nutty flavor. And I was pleasantly surprised to see that a 1/2 cup serving has 10 grams of protein! For our Christmas breakfast this year we had crispy farro cakes topped with poached eggs that were delicious. The paleo diet intrigues me, but I would never choose it unless it became necessary because of grains like farro. So tasty!

This salad is full of textures and flavors. From the crunchy hazelnuts to the crisp apples to the chewy farro and cranberries, you get quite a variety here. And in my mind, nothing goes better with a big ole salad than a big ole piece of homemade bread. 

Massaged Kale Salad with Farro Cranberries Hazelnuts and Apple

Ingredients:
1 medium bunch of kale, massaged - 6-8 cups after it's been massaged
1/2 cup farro, cooked - measured before cooking
1/2 a large sweet potato, cooked (optional)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup roasted hazelnuts - or any nut that you'd prefer
1 medium apple, diced
Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon tahini
1-2 teaspoons maple syrup
salt to taste

Directions:
Put all the kale into a large bowl and sprinkle it with salt. Massage the kale for at least three minutes or until darker green and tender. This can be done at any point in the day, even the day before.

Cook the farro according to package directions. Put all ingredients for the dressing in a small jar and shake until combine.

Toss all the ingredients together, including the dressing, and serve.


Here are the links to my other kale salads.

Massaged Kale Salad with Lentils Sweet Potatoes and Caramelized Onions

Fruity Kale Salad with Chicken Bacon and Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing

My Avocado Story

This is a story about acquiring new tastes. This is a story about being adventurous. 

This is a story about an avocado.

In my recent post for Mexican Inspired Stuffed Sweet Potatoes I linked back to THIS post about how I didn't used to like sweet potatoes but how I have come to love them. When I read that post before linking to it I was surprised to find that at the bottom I said I was working on avocados and tomatoes, and I also said to ask me how it was going in a year. The funny thing is that I said that one year and 3 months ago, and guess what? I like avocados now!

Avocados are all the rage these days. I find it strange how a food can be trendy, but it can. Avocados, kale, quinoa, and goji berries are proof of that. I have understood for a long time that avocados are good for you, but what I didn't understand is why anybody liked them. I'm not easily bothered by textures so that wasn't a problem for me, but the taste was a problem. I simply didn't like it. I couldn't (and still can't) pinpoint what exactly it was that I didn't like about them, I just thought they were gross. I didn't even like guacamole loaded with other flavors because I could still taste the avocado.

Well let me tell you - things have changed! I really wanted to like them so I could further broaden my produce intake and get more healthy fats into my diet, so I began to try them out in different ways.

First, I tried a smoothie. It had fruit in it that I thought would cover up the taste enough, but no. That was not going to be the way I eased myself in. I then went straight to almost plain. I sprinkled lemon juice and salt on a couple slices and cumin and salt on another couple slices. that was okay, but I certainly didn't picture myself going out and spending a dollar on one of these things because I could say it was okay.

What ended up getting me hooked was guacamole. I had tried it before as I mentioned above, but after trying it enough I started to like it. That was the first thing I had with avocados that got me to go back for seconds. I know a lot of people (and restaurants) that make good guacamole so I began to try it everywhere I went. And after a while I started to realize that I might actually like the taste of avocado, not just all the spices that were added to guacamole. After realizing this and putting my suspicions to the test, I can now say I am an avocado lover!

I went from tolerating guacamole with cumin, chili powder, onions, corn, black beans, etc. to loving half an avocado with a spoon.

I did this simply by trying, trying, and trying again.

Some other ways I enjoy eating avocado include:

Diced with chips. This is kind of like having guacamole but super fast since it's just diced. The chips are Beanitos brand black bean chips.

Toast with mashed avocado and an egg - Delicious! I love this for breakfast or lunch.

So I'm noticing a trend with myself. With sweet potatoes and avocados I introduced myself to them with dishes where their flavor was barely noticeable, but in time I grew to love them the most for their true, plain flavor with very little (or nothing) added.

I hope this inspires you to try new foods, even those that you have tried and disliked before. If you don't like hot dogs there's no need to try and change that, but yummy and healthy foods like avocados, salmon, and blueberries all deserve another chance.

Menu

Sunday - Marshall's having lasagna and I'm having stuffed peppers - Both from the freezer : )

Monday - Sweet potato "alfredo", broccoli

Tuesday - Beef ravioli fried in butter and herbs, roasted carrots and parsnips 

Wednesday - Nutty apple cranberry tuna salad -- Probably served on spinach

Thursday - Pesto pasta with sausage and sun-dried tomatoes

Friday - Coconut curry soup with fish and vegetables -- I've made something similar to this with chicken before. If it turns out well I'll post the recipe.

Saturday - Beef and Guinness stew -- YUM! This recipe is so so good. 

Mexican Inspired Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

I love sweet potatoes! I didn't used to, but I explained all of that in THIS post. At the market I can get them for 59 cents per pound (!). They are cheap, delicious and nutritious, so they have been appearing on our menu quite frequently for the past year. Any meal any day.

Sweet potatoes do a great job at being a side dish. Sweet potato fries, diced and roasted, mashed sweet potatoes, and the list goes on. But in this case they are the star of the show. 

This meal is vegetarian (vegan if  you leave off the cheese and use coconut oil for sauteing) but delicious and filling. You could add some taco meat to this if you so desired, but I find that unnecessary. It is tasty just like this and leaving off the meat also makes it cheaper. Win!

The sweet potatoes I usually buy are ginormous and I can't usually finish this meal, but this is one of those things that I don't want to stop eating...And sometimes I just don't until every last bite is gone.

Mexican Inspired Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
1 small onion, diced
1 cup black beans (I use dry beans so that's equal to 1/3 cup before soaking and boiling)
1 cup corn
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
A couple shakes of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup colby jack cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons butter, coconut oil, or cooking oil of choice
salt to taste
salsa
Other toppings if desired: Avocado, sour cream, green onions, etc.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wrap the sweet potatoes in foil and bake them in the oven until fork tender, about an hour for large sweet potatoes.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter or oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and saute until translucent. Then add the black beans, corn, and the spices. Heat until warm and then remove from the heat.

When the sweet potatoes are tender, cut them in half and mash up the sweet potato in the skin a little bit with a fork while adding a little butter to each side. Top with cheese and place back in the oven for 5 minutes for the cheese to melt. Serve with salsa and any other desired toppings.

Menu - Fridge and Pantry Cooking

Monday - Smoked apple chardonnay chicken sausages (From TJ's), fried plantains, sauteed kale, and leftover bread

Tuesday - Lasagna from the freezer, roasted parsnips and carrots

Wednesday - Massaged kale salad with farro, cranberries, sweet potatoes, apples and nuts (recipe coming soon!), and bread

Thursday - Sweet potato "alfredo", broccoli

Friday - Probably leftovers from the week : )


This week came with the same challenge as last week - still trying to wisely use perishable items I have on hand. Certainly a blessing though so I'm not complaining! Tim brought over a ton of kale before he left to travel and I don't want any of it to go to waste! Good thing Marshall and I like kale : ) ...I was even inspired to create a new salad with it last week that was delicious and I'm making it again this week.

I have kind of a busy week so most of these meals are pretty quick. It's nice to have a repertoire of healthy fast meals for times like this. I've never made the sweet potato already and I'm really hoping it's a keeper. I went from not liking sweet potatoes a couple years ago to them being one of my favorites!