25 Days of Christmas

It's been a while since you've heard from us.  We know you're all waiting with baited breath for a new post from Grab Your Greens!  {wink}  We'll be straight with you - it's just not a priority right now.  And that's okay!  We are busy enjoying our beautiful children.  Our oldest kids are in school, and that keeps us super busy, as ironic as that may seem to those of you without school age children.  And our littlest ones are still at home with us, but will all be starting Kindergarten August 2013.  As in, 8 months from now.  Let's not even get started on how weird that is!  (I'm thinking it will be a sob fest for me!)  They're still our "babies".  They seem so little.  I think we've lost perspective having a big kid, how tiny Kindergarteners are.  The clock is ticking and we're busy treasuring having our babies home with us. 

So, in the Spirit of Christmas, here's a little fun for today, inspired by a 25 Days of Blogging Challenge...

Sweet Potato Chili

Since our family made big changes to our diet over a year ago, I've been wanting to find a good recipe for sweet potato chili.  I've tried at least two different recipes and neither was very good.  I recently had some sweet potato chili at LeAnne's house, though, that was perfect!  She got this recipe from a friend, passed it on to me, and I tinkered just a bit with it to suit my family's preferences.  It's a keeper and will be on regular rotation at our house.  The pineapple and cinnamon, I think, really make the dish.

Garlicky Quinoa & Chickpea Salad

This dish is a meal in and of itself, containing great sources of protein (chickpeas, quinoa), whole grain (quinoa), and a cruciferous, green vegetable (broccoli).  It is delicious served both warm or cold and I love the crunch of the raw broccoli with the nutty, creaminess of the rest of the dish.  The hint of spicy mustard is fun and different, too.  This is one of my favorite new recipes!

Link Happy Monday

I feel like I have been getting lots of snippets of information lately.  So, here they are for you, in no particular order: 

I've been playing around with my new waffle-maker and have been thoroughly excited about this recipe for Brownie Waffles.  My kids especially love them.  And I love knowing what great ingredients are in the food they're eating.  Seriously, have you seen the long (many un-pronounceable) list of ingredients on frozen waffles?  Even the better-for-you options like Nature's Path, Kashi, are guilty of long ingredient lists. To clean this recipe up even more, you can substitute the 2 eggs with 2 "flax eggs" (whisk 2 T. ground flax and 6 T. cold water in small bowl, allow to rest for 5-10 minutes or until thickened a bit).  And substitute 2 T. unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil.  I use unsweetened almond milk instead of soy milk, but that's just a personal preference.

No Bake Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

1/2 c. slivered or sliced almonds

1.5 c. raw unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped

1.5 c. old fashioned rolled oats

1.5 c. crispy brown rice puffs cereal (Erewhon or 365 brand found at Whole Foods)

1 c. coconut nectar (or brown rice syrup) (can be purchased at WF, amazon.com, vitacost.com)

1/4 c. raw coconut crystals (or date sugar) (can be purchased at WF, amazon.com, vitacost.com)

2 t. vanilla extract

1/4 c. dark chocolate chips

Books we had our nose in this summer...

Dawn's summer reading...

1.  On The Island  This was my first read of the summer and probably my favorite!  Such a unique story line.  I loved seeing how these two characters stranded on a deserted island used their resources to survive. 

2.  One Thousand Gifts  Beautifully inspirational book about thankfulness.  "When I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me." 

3.  7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess  Wow.  We both read this book.  Rocked. our. world.   Jenn takes 7 months to address 7 different areas of her life she feels are too filled with distractions.  Her journey will have you laughing one page and searching your soul the next!

Plant-Strong Kids, Week 8

Click below for Engine 2 Diet, Plant-Strong Kids, Week 8 printables:

Week 8

If your child has completed all eight weeks, you may print this fun certificate for them!

Plant-Strong Kids, Week 7

Click below for Engine 2 Diet, Plant-Strong Kids, Week 7 printables:

Week 7

Plant-Strong Kids, Week 6

Click below for Engine 2 Diet, Plant-Strong Kids, Week 6 printables:

Week 6

Quinoa Lettuce Wraps

This recipe is courtesy of the Naked Kitchen, but we make some minor adjustments.  These wraps have circulated amongst a few of us, and we all agree this is a winner!  You know those yummy lettuce wraps at PFChang's?  Well, these taste virtually the same, but are plant-strong.  The best part is, the recipe makes a lot, and it saves well, so you can enjoy simple leftovers for up to a week! 

Plant-Strong Kids, Week 5

For some reason, I thought the Engine 2 Diet Plant-Strong Kids was a 4 week series, but apparently I was wrong!  So, here you go, Week 5...


Click here to connect to the Daily Beet (E2 blog), where you will find the link for Week 5 printables.


Or, go directly to the Week 5 printables here.

Little Hen Restaurant

In celebration of Grab Your Greens and POWER teaming up this spring for the Food Challenge, Janine treated us to a very special dinner last week at Little Hen Restaurant in Holly Springs.  We dined on the Vegetarian Farmstead Feast and every. single. bite. was melt-in-your-mouth delicious!  We did miss our Jenni, though, the "other half" of POWER who was sick and unable to join us.

Where Have We Been?

In case you haven't noticed, it's been a little quiet here at Grab Your Greens.  We're still here.  We took a little step back to enjoy having our children home for the summer.  To read some books.  Tend a garden.  Enjoy the beach, the pool, Disney.  To take a breather and slow down.  And to do some soul-searching.  Especially in regards to this itty bitty little blog venture of ours.

It's easy to get burnt out, even doing something you love.  To wonder if it matters, if it makes a difference.  It's easy to look at "fancy" blogs and start feeling sorry for our very humble 'home'.  And to see the corresponding Facebook pages, where there is lots of community response, and wonder what we're doing wrong.  It's easy to see the number of views of each blog post, as a direct correlation of our worth.  It's hard not to get discouraged when you feel you've been given this great gift, but don't have a clear vision as to how God wants you to use it.

Plant-Strong Kids, Week 4

Find your way over to the Daily Beet, the Engine 2 Diet blog, where you'll find information about their Plant-Strong Kids summer series, week 4. 

Or, you can go directly to this week's printable resources, by clicking here.

Plant-Strong Kids, Week 3

Enjoy Week 3 of The Engine 2 Diet's Plant-Strong Kids Summer Series.  These are such great printables to use with your kids!

Week 3

After clicking on the above link, which takes you to the Engine 2 Daily Beet blog, click on
PlantStrongKidsWeek3 to download the printables for this week.

Plant-Strong Kids, Week 2

Plant-Strong Kids Summer Series, Week 2

Be sure to click on PlantStrongKidsWeek2 link in the middle of the blog post, to pull up the printable resources!

Plant-Strong Kids, Week 1

We posted this on our Facebook page today, but it is really great information and is worthy of appearing on the blog... 

Engine 2 Diet is running a weekly Plant-Strong Kids series in July and August.  From the E2 website:

"Every week in July and August we will have an easy-to-print PDF for kids and parents! Each week we will have articles, games, tips for parents, challenges, recipes and more. At the end of the summer we will have a printable PDF certificate for kids who participated!"

If you're looking for a way to educate your kids about good food choices and get them more involved in the process, this is a great place to start!  Fabulous printables, challenges, etc.!

Plant-Strong Kids, Week 1 will take you to The Engine 2 Diet's blog, The Daily Beet, where you can learn about this great four week series.  From there, you can click on the link to download the printables, or simply click here for week 1 printables.

Let's be intentional about educating (& feeding) our kids well!

dawn

Mango Lime Bean Salad

1 mango, peeled & diced

One 15 oz. can black beans (or cannellini), drained & rinsed

1/4 c. diced red onion

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

2 T. lime juice

Combine all ingredients.  Adjust amount of cilantro and lime juice to your liking.  Chill for several hours before serving, to allow ingredients to blend.  Eat as is, or with chips as a salsa, or served over a bed of greens as a delicious salad.  This recipe serves 2.  Double or triple to serve a family or have leftovers!

Strawberry Syrup

Arrowhead Mills Organic Buckweat Pancake & Waffle Mix is what we most frequently use to make pancakes for our families.  It is a great whole grain, no sugar, pancake mix.  However, to keep it plant-strong and amp up the nutrition, we make some simple substitutions to the pancake recipe on the back.

• Instead of 1 egg, we use 1 flax egg (1 T. ground flax whisked in small bowl with 3 T. cold water.  Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes, or until gooey like an egg, before adding to other ingredients)
• Instead of 2 tsp. canola oil, we use 2 tsp. unsweetened applesauce
• Instead of 3/4 c. milk, we use non-dairy milk such as unsweetened almond or soy milk

Fun additions to pancake batter: 

P.O.W.E.R. Clean Eating Challenge Debrief

We recently wrapped up leading our first Clean Eating Challenge.  Several of our POWER girls said they would love to see a debrief blog post.  You asked, we deliver! 

First, a huge THANK YOU to those of you who took the time to fill out surveys for us!  We (& many of you) really wanted a face-to-face debrief meeting with all of you at the conclusion of the Challenge.  But, because May very well may be the craziest month of the year, especially for those of us with school aged children on a traditional school calendar, we were not able to make it work out this time.  Which is why your feedback was even more important to us!  Thank you!

Fitness Friday

I get a "nudging" (as my friend Jenni calls it) to write sometimes.  I've had a nudging, but I haven't had the time.  And now that my kids finished school two weeks ago for the summer (cue angels singing!), I HAVE THE TIME!  If I could send them to school half the time, and homeschool the other half, I'd totally do that in a minute.  Because, man, the school rat-race is tough!  If you have kids in school (real school, not preschool), you know what I'm talking about.  The month of May is IN-SANE.  Definitely worse than December, which ranks right up there.  And every year seems to get a little more insane.  How is that?!  I always thought that when they started school things would slow down.  Ask any mom with big kids and they'll tell you I was dead wrong!  But, I digress...The point is, I have TIME.  Time to actually enjoy my kids (instead of my kids' to-do lists!), time to try new recipes, time to actually read a book, or blog.  It's been at least 9 months since I had TIME.  Such a precious commodity.

So, What Are You Feeding Your Kids For Lunch?

For many of us moms, as summer rolls around, we are SUPER excited to not be packing lunches anymore! The prep work the night before, making sure the right lunch bags go into the correct book bag, and washing those smelly containers after school is put on pause for summer vacation!
Unfortunately our kids still have to eat (ha!), so we are left with what to prepare for lunch!  We do find ourselves still packing for play dates, pool outings, and running errands (a packed lunch in our cute containers are our new version of drive thrus.)  So, with a little more time and a microwave and stove option, these are our favorite quick summer lunches to feed our kiddos!

My Kind of Celebrity...

One of my favorite stores EVER is Southern Season in Chapel Hill, NC.  From the fresh flowers, gourmet chocolates, wine selection, and stationary, it's a southern girls' dream store.  As if that wasn't enough to win you over, Southern Season has a Cooking School that hosts local chefs, as well as internationally known chefs who teach culinary lessons to folks like you and me.  As part of the audience you get to see cooking techniques up close, ask the experts questions, and the best part is you get to eat what they prepare!  I've taken a few classes before, but my favorite by far was the class taught by Robin Asbell Bentley and I recently attended!

(I love learning and being in a classroom - especially talking about plant foods!) 

French Toast

1 banana, mashed

2/3 c. unsweetened almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)

2 t. vanilla extract

1 t. cinnamon

4-6 slices whole grain bread

Combine banana, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon in a shallow bowl or plate.  Quickly coat each side of the bread slices in the mixture, and cook in a nonstick skillet on medium heat, until lightly browned on each side.  I served with a super small sprinkle of powdered sugar and maple syrup.  For my 3 year old twins, I cut in strips and we called them French Toast Sticks.  This went over well, as they remembered the (incredibly unhealthy) French Toast Sticks we used to eat in our "former processed food life".

(adapted from The Engine 2 Diet)   

Beet Chips

Ingredients:

Beets
Olive oil cooking spray
Sea salt

Preheat oven to 375.  Peel beets and slice paper thin with mandoline, vegetable peeler, or a sharp knife.  Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.  Spray lightly with o.o. cooking spray.  Lay beet slices in a single layer.  Lightly spray beets and season with sea salt.  Lay another sheet of foil on top of beets, and place another smaller baking sheet on top of beets.  This will keep them from curling up.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove the top baking sheet and layer of foil on top of beets, and bake uncovered 10-15 minutes more until dried and crisp.  There is a fine line between crisp and burnt, so you'll want to pay close attention towards the end of cooking.  It's almost best to remove them when you think they are almost done, but not quite, as they do crisp up a bit more after they are removed from the oven.  You want to still see pinkish/red.  If the chip is all dark and black, it is burnt!  These are amazing and all 3 of my kids loved them, which is fairly unheard of in the Mendez home!   

(recipe from PBS Parents)

Avocado Chocolate Pudding (Aka Chocomole!)

This is SO good, it should be bad!  You would never know one if its star ingredients is the avocado!  It is truly the most amazing chocolate luxury we have ever had.  The recipe as  is, produces 2-3 servings.  If you're serving a family of 4+, you may want to double the recipe.  

Avocado Chocolate Pudding (Chocomole!)

(recipe courtesy of Kris Carr, author of Crazy Sexy Diet)

1 ripe avocado, pitted

6-10 pitted dates (depending on size, we average 8), soaked if necessary to soften a bit

1/2 t. vanilla

4 heaping T. unsweetened cocoa

1/2 c. water

Place the first four ingredients in a food processor (you can use a blender or Vita-Mix) and begin blending.  Drizzle in the water, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl if need be, until the mixture resembles a thick chocolate pudding.  Let it continue mixing until smooth and creamy.  Chill and serve with fresh berries! 

The Weight of the Nation

The "chatter" on our Grab Your Greens Facebook page this week has been about the four part HBO Documentary, The Weight of the Nation.  The Weight of the Nation premiered this week on HBO, in conjunction with the Institute of Medicine, the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  The documentary addressed America's obesity epidemic.  The sobering statistic is that 68.8% of Americans are overweight or obese.  Almost 20% of children and adolescents are obese.  (Here is some great reading on Food Marketing to Children)  We are bombarded at every hour of every day with an excess of food, or rather food-like products, that are calorie-dense and nutrient-poor.  How frustrating it is that this has become an American epidemic, with such grave consequences and implications, when the very simple solution is not the next fad diet, but rather cutting our highly sugary processed food diets and instead eating...REAL food, with a large emphasis on plant foods!  Imagine that!  If you haven't already watched, it is worth your time!  All four parts can be watched online at The Weight of the Nation. 

Food Revolution Day

We wanted to make you aware of a community even this Saturday in Cary at Waverly Place!

What:  Food Revolution Day
When:  Saturday, May19, 2012
Where:  Waverly Place Shopping Center, Cary, NC 

You are invited to stop by for tips on how to eat healthy on a budget, kids food education stations, and where to get local produce.  There will be a team of 18 volunteers ready to inspire you!  Come by and help NC STAND UP FOR REAL FOOD!

Here are some more details listed on the WF site http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/cary/.  If anyone is interested in the food tours they need to sign up ahead of time by calling the store. The entire day of events is free.

In addition to the Waverly Place location, the Western Wake Farmers Market will have events to promote healthy fresh eating on a budget, as well as, how to start your own garden.  www.westernwakefarmersmarket.org

Have a healthy day!!!

Joelle Gillooly

FoodRevNC@gmail.com

NC Ambassador for Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day

Health and Wellness Advocate for Children

Vegetable Tostadas

The tostadas can easily become soft tacos if you skip broiling the tortillas. Serve with brown rice.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup chopped red onion (about 1)

1 red bell pepper (chopped)

1 cup fresh (2 ears) or frozen (thawed) corn kernels

1 cup chopped zucchini (about 4 ounces)

1/2 cup green salsa

2 cups black beans

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided

4 (8-inch) tortillas (We use Ezekiel tortillas –

http://www.foodforlife.com/product-catalog/ezekiel-49/tortillas

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Almond, Rice, or Non-Dairy Cheese or Monterey Jack cheese

Teriyaki Chickpeas with Pineapple Salsa

2 15oz. cans chickpeas, drained & rinsed

1/2 c. teriyaki sauce

2 T. szechuan sauce

2 T. honey

4 cups cooked brown rice

1 cup pineapple salsa (or fresh pineapple chunks)

Fast Food Burgers & Steak Fries

This recipe is courtesy of Jeff Novick, MS, RD.  Be sure to check out his new DVD, Jeff Novick's Fast Food: Burgers & Fries! 

Black Bean Soup

1/3 c. red onions, finely chopped
2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 c. tomatoes, chopped
2.5 c. vegetable stock
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. fresh parsley, chopped
Sea salt & pepper to taste


Drain excess liquid from beans & rinse.  Let drain while cooking onions.  In soup pot, saute onions in several Tablespoons of veggie stock, till transparent but not brown.  Add remaining ingredients and beans to pot.  Heat to boil, then reduce and simmer for 1 hour.  Serve with sliced cucumber & tomato salad tossed in balsamic vinegar.

Kale, Carrot & Avocado Salad

1 bunch kale, stemmed and finely chopped
2 c. grated carrots
1/2 avocado, peeled and pitted
1/4 c. thinly sliced red onion
2 T. lemon or lime juice
2 T. sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 t. low sodium tamari (or Bragg's Liquid Aminos)

Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Use your hands or the back of a large spoon to thoroughly mash avocado into kale. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving to allow kale to soften.

Health is NOT a Competition!

Sometimes a dose of "healthy" competition is good for our family!  It's not always been this way though.  When we first got married, my husband and I would often play board games and card games together at night.  I was NOT a good loser and would literally play one more hand or one more round just so I could win!  Bentley would eventually give in to the need to sleep or just be rid of my madness, and I'd walk away happy to have claimed victory again.  (Clearly he is a very patient man!)


Then came children.  Eliza is definitely my offspring and really did NOT like losing from a very young age.  I remember reading parenting books that said "let them win" and other opinions that said "they need to accept losing sometimes."  We've done some of both and now that she's 6.5 we really try and let her compete knowing she will not always be in first place.  Lydia, our almost 4 year old, has served as a great teaching tool for Eliza.  We often have family game night at our house and I find myself telling Eliza to, "be patient as Lydia learns, help her when she doesn't know or understand something, you are her biggest cheerleader, and praise her when she wins!"  Slowly game night has become less about winning and more about quality family time full of full of laughter and silly talk.  Oh how I could have used these lessons I am teaching for most of my life.  I agree sometimes competition is healthy and good, but other times it's being on the journey together that really matters.


And so if some of you are feeling like you need someone to say they believe in you and are cheering you on, WE DO!  I feel as though often times we look at most everything in life with competitive eyes and start comparing ourselves to the person next to us on their journey.  We don't want to lose or feel left out, so we either give up trying all together, or become discouraged and feel like we will never measure up.  You must remember HEALTH IS NOT A COMPETITION!   It's a JOURNEY and each person's journey is unique to that individual!


The most important step is to BE ON THE JOURNEY.  Instead of competing with the girl next to you this week, encourage her and be her cheerleader!  Everyone can use more positive energy flowing their way!  As you begin or continue to read books, websites, blogs, and recipes, as well as, clean out your fridge, go grocery shopping, or plant a garden, take time to really pause and SMILE at the choices you are making towards a healthier you.  Each step matters and should be praised and celebrated!


Today, I met a friend for lunch and I continue to be amazed at her journey with food and health!  She is a rock star and I want her to know I am constantly learning from her as well.  I also saw a friend in Whole Foods today buying "Forks Over Knives" and you can only imagine my excitement!  I love that she is beginning to really explore the world of food and health!   I want the world (literally) to know truth and freedom in eating from the earth and be an encouragement to others on their journey towards health.


So, if you want healthy competition enter a race, or challenge your husband to some rounds of UNO one night, but keep the competition out of food.   I promise you will appreciate your journey so much more and find yourself gleaning from all the positive energy around you!


cheering you on...
leanne (& dawn)

Oatmeal Crisp

In a baking dish put a layer of frozen or fresh fruit (any fruit).  I used blueberries.  Next add a layer of rolled oats (about 1 inch thick).  Cover the oats with non dairy milk until the oats are soaked. You can sprinkle cinnamon & nutmeg on top if you desire.  Bake in the oven at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until the liquid has absorbed into the oats (there should not be excess liquid when you are done.)  Drizzle with 1 tsp. maple syrup if you used a more tart fruit.  Eat as breakfast, dessert, or cut into bars for traveling!  Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from www.engine2diet.com

Strawberry & Lentil Salad

Yum!  Seeing that picture makes my mouth water!  This is a super easy meal that requires NO cooking and NO real recipe.  I know some of your ears just perked up!  The best part is, it is just as delicious as it is simple.  Because of the high protein content of lentils, this is a great salad to use as a meal.  If you choose to add meat, top with grilled salmon.

Eggplant with Cashew Parmesan

1 medium eggplant (1 ½ pounds), peeled and cut into ¼ inch slices

Cooking spray (You can mix olive oil and water in a bottle to spritz.)

Pasta Sauce (We use Whole Foods 365 Organic Fat Free Pasta Sauce)

Parmesan Cheese (see below for cashew parmesan)

Set oven control to broil and place a rack about 6 inches from the heat.  Spray a large-rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.   Place eggplant slices on the baking sheet and spray lightly with cooking spay.  Broil for about 5 – 7 minutes (check often).  The tops of the eggplant should be browned.  Remove from the oven.

In a saucepan heat your pasta sauce over medium heat about 2 minutes until heated through. 

Serve the eggplant with pasta sauce and cashew parmesan cheese.

Minestrone Soup

1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (15 ounces) great northern beans, undrained

1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, undrained

1 cup frozen corn

2 medium stalks celery, thinly sliced

1 small zucchini, sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup shredded cabbage (I like purple cabbage for added color.)

½ cup whole wheat or brown rice macaroni/pasta shape of choice (uncooked)

1 ¼ cups water

2 vegetable bouillon granules

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 clove garlic, crushed

Heat all ingredients to boiling in a large pot on the stove.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the macaroni/pasta is tender.  Enjoy!

Money-Saving Tips

One of the biggest misconceptions about eating healthfully is that it is expensive.  I would say, it is all in how you approach it.  You can make it as expensive and complicated as you want, or as cost-friendly and simple as you want.  In general, fresh or frozen fruit, vegetables, beans, whole grains, etc. are reasonably priced.  The more processed health foods (yes, there are healthier processed foods - the key is to read labels!) and meat you purchase, the more expense you will incur.  We've put together a short list of ways to keep your food bill down. 

Having Guests Soon?

I've had the privilege of working with 5 amazing women this year on my steering team for MOPS.  I wanted to have them over for dinner Sunday night and prepared 5 of my favorite salads/side dishes for dinner along with homemade gelato and cookies.  Here are the links to the recipes I made!  I doubled most recipes so I would have a refrigerator full of yummy salads for our own lunches this week.  By keeping it simple I was able to make everything ahead of time that afternoon and really enjoy the conversation and company of these ladies while they visited.  With warmer temperatures approaching, I hope you find time soon to have friends over for something yummy & of course green!

Menu

Tangy Chickpea Salad

Butter Bean & Basil Salad

Quinoa Pilaf With Toasted Pine Nuts

Black-Eyed Pea & Tomato Salsa
Black Bean & Corn Salsa

FOK Whole Grain Corn Muffins

Best Ever Peanut Butter Cookies
Strawberry & Banana Fluff

Strawberry Banana Fluff

I've searched and just cannot find any ice cream / gelato in the grocery stores, so I've started making my own versions of a cold treat in my Vitamix.  (I know some of my friends use their Ninja.)  Super simple, easy, and delicious.  I feel so good about it, I served it to my kids for breakfast this morning!

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

Juice of 3-4 limes

2 tbs red wine vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can corn, rinsed and drained

2 large tomatoes, finely diced

1/4 cup of finely minced red onion

1 to 2 avocados chopped

1/8 cup finely chopped cilantro

1-2 cloves of minced garlic (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and chill at least 1 hour before serving.  Eat in Ezekiel wraps with a spring lettuce mix and enjoy!  Serve with whole wheat couscous and a fruit salad/fresh cut fruit. 

Quinoa Pilaf with Toasted Pine Nuts

My sweet friend Rachel recently shared this recipe with me.  I made this Sunday and it’s so yummy!  (I changed a few of the ingredients to make it E2 challenge worthy J!) Enjoy! 

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

2 cups plus 1 tbs. low-sodium vegetable broth

¼ cup pine nuts

½ large onion, chopped

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

Black-Eyed Pea & Tomato Salsa

My new favorite salsa.  I love to serve it for lunch over a bed of mixed greens!  Happy Spring!

My Journey to Slowness...

Since I can remember, I have always been a girl on the go.  My parents used to joke (they still do) that I am happiest when I am out and about in the world enjoying life with others!  At age 7, I was off visiting family friends for an entire week and cried when I had to come home.   Needless to say, this carried over into my adulthood -  already this year I’ve been out of town 7 times! 

When I really started eating more conscientiously (plant based & close to nature) last year, this was by far the hardest part of my journey!  I am the queen of lunch dates, ladies night outs, and dates with my husband.  I loved good food, even healthy food, but taking the time to read labels, plan out my grocery list, and actually cook most of our meals was VERY overwhelming at first.  I had a love of Dinner Affair where you could make your meals for a month and put them in the freezer.  I would go to three different Harris Teeter grocery stores to rack up on triple coupon deals.  This new way of eating really pushed me out of my comfort zone.   It required me to trade in my freezer meals for fresh produce and put aside the mentality that a deal was worth more than my health.

MOPS

Early last week we had the privilege of speaking to the MOPS group that LeAnne leads, and I used to participate in.  Jenni, LeAnne and I prepared a nutritious breakfast for them:  Overnight Steel Cut Oats, Baked Oatmeal, Monkey Bars, Green Smoothies, bread & no sugar jelly from Great Harvest Bread Co., and fresh fruit salads were provided by several sweet MOPS ladies. 

Tummy Troubles

If you are having Tummy Troubles with your new way of eating, Jenni offers some great insight in her latest blog post.


Tummy Troubles

Double Green Smoothies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups unsweetened non-dairy beverage, such as almond, rice or soy 


2 dried apricots or 4 pitted dates 


1 banana 


1 cup chopped kale leaves 


1 cup spinach leaves 


1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries

Combine non-dairy beverage, apricots/dates, banana, kale, spinach and berries in a blender and blend until smooth.

(from Whole Foods website)

Veggie Kabobs

With the warmer temperatures this coming week, we are going to use our grills to make veggie kabobs and eat outside for dinner!  If you do not have kabob sticks, no worries.  We always lay down aluminum foil on the grill to avoid the carcinogens getting on our food and laying your veggies on the foil works fine.  If you do not have a grill, then broil your veggies in the oven on low heat. Each oven is different, so check every 2 - 3 minutes and rotate the veggies until they are done enough for you.

Veggie Night

At least one night a week at our homes is a "veggie night".  No recipes, no complicated menus, just veggies.  So simple and usually goes over well with everyone, even the less adventurous kids.  Tonight, scratch the planning, scratch the meat, and pile the table with several veggies.  Here's what we've got on the table tonight:
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Baked Apples
Lemon Garlic Green Beans
Roasted Asparagus
(Substitute other green vegetables to your liking, for beans &/or asparagus)

Sautéed Kale

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds young kale, stems and leaves coarsely chopped

3 tablespoons low sodium vegetable broth

2 cloves garlic finely sliced

1/2 cup low sodium vegetable broth or water

Salt & Pepper

2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

Directions

Heat 3 tbs. low sodium vegetable broth in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until soft, but not colored. Raise heat to high, add the broth and kale and toss to combine. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove cover and continue to cook, stirring until all the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add vinegar.

Taco Bar Night

An easy, nutritious weeknight meal we often have in our houses is “Taco Bar Night.”  You can prepare most of the ingredients ahead of time and put in containers in the fridge to be pulled out for dinner.  This     is great especially for nights when you have after school activities and everyone’s eating at different times.    Be creative and add whatever ingredients your family likes!

Whole Wheat Tortillas – (We recommend Ezekial Tortillas in the Whole Foods Freezer section or using baked tortilla chips from Whole Foods)

Beans – Black, Pinto, Refried (make sure it’s on the bean in the can)

Roasted Sweet Potatoes – See recipe below on how to prepare

Lettuce  or Cabbage

Corn – we like frozen corn that has been thawed

Radishes, Cucumbers, Tomatoes – diced

Olives

Brown Rice – You can buy microwavable brown rice in the freezer section of most grocery stores

Avocado – Or Guacamole (we mash an avocado and add garlic salt and bragg liquid amino to ours)

Cilantro

Salsa – Amy’s and Muir Glen are “clean brands” or you can make your own

If you already do “Taco Bar Night” and want to experiment a little more, please check out our blog post Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos for another creative version of tacos.

Fuel Your Body Well!

We've heard many of you are hungry and still stumped on what to eat throughout the day!  I asked a clean eater winner from last October her thoughts on this topic and she said to remind you to eat every 3 hours!  We completely agree!  Think several mini-meals throughout the day.  REMEMBER THE FOODS YOU ARE FUELING YOUR BODY WITH ARE NUTRIENT RICH, SO DON'T BE AFRAID TO EAT!  Of course fruit has sugar and nuts have fat, so you want to make sure you have variety in your diet!  However, we want you to feel full!  These are some of our favorite mini-meals/snacks.  Please don't go to bed hungry!  Your body needs fuel and if you are hungry then EAT!  Just think nutrient dense foods!  Also, you MUST PREPARE!  We really cannot stress enough the importance of packing your mini-meals/snacks so you have options when you are hungry.  We encourage you to keep a basket of healthy snacks in your car or at your desk.  We even pack our mini coolers with healthy food options when we know we won't be home for most of the day.

Top 10 Favorite Quick Clean Lunches

This is a list of our favorite quick lunches that are easy to assemble!  They are great for eating at home or to pack on the go!  We always try to have something green at lunch if possible!


1.  Brown rice (microwave packet) & shelled edamame, with low sodium tamari/soy sauce (Or brown rice & black beans, with splash of pure lime juice)
2.  Salad with clean (or homemade) dressing.  Be creative!
3.  Ezekiel tortilla stuffed with veggies & hummus
4.  Ann's Panini with Hummus, Mushrooms, and Spinach
5.  Leftovers
6.  Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burger (freezer section at TJ's and WF's), topped with hummus and pico de gallo or TJ's Black Bean & Corn salsa (cold section TJ's) served over a bed of spinach
7.  Lucky 32 Black Bean Cake (double batch and freeze extras), topped similar to #6 and served over a bed of greens
8.  Ezekiel tortilla spread with peanut butter (or any other nut butter) and honey.  Cold or warm in pan.  
9. Sliced avocado, tomato, cucumber, with a splash of white vinegar and sprinkle of garlic powder.
10. Smoothies - think green!