Leeks!

Yesterday, was incredibly productive! The hubby had yesterday as a holiday (Happy Memorial Day), and so he spent it working on building that sand box for the kids. In Louisiana it is already HOT! We had temps just over ninety degrees yesterday. I went out for a few minutes and I was pretty sure I was going to die. I'm a wilting Daisy. I used to be able to take the heat, but now, I think all my extra insulation traps it and I get overheated very quickly. That's my scientific assessment. I helped to spread the sand while my poor hubby played pack mule. He loaded up the sand into the garden cart and rolled it to the back yard. One load at a time we got the sand box done. (Mostly him.) The kids love it!

Look at how much fun they're having!

From a culinary standpoint, we had a very healthy day. Everyone got up and had their usual oatmeal or cereal. I had a breakfast shake made with banana, egg white and chocolate almond milk. It was delicious! I also had a half bagel and some cream cheese. Then, everyone set to work. My hubby started building the sand box, the kids started "helping" and I sat down at the computer to figure out what in the world I was going to do with all the leeks I've been getting! I have leeks coming out of my ears people. I froze some, that I have been using to put into everything: from stews and soups to stir fry. "Oh, we're gonna eat? Let me put leeks in that." Then, I got MORE leeks this Saturday. I had several people tell me "Leek and Potato Soup!!" So, I set out on a quest to find a good leek soup recipe. After searching for about 30 minutes and realizing I had ingredients from bits and pieces of several different recipes and a basic concept of what leek soup is, I simply said, "I reject your recipes and substitute my own." I'll post the measurements in the recipe on the recipe page. I used bunches and bunches of leeks, celery, onion, broccoli, cauliflower, butter, flour, chicken broth and white wine. I put it all together and let it simmer all day to get the flavors to marry.

Meanwhile, I needed something to feed people for lunch. My poor hubby was working in the heat so I thought I'd get together a light cool lunch, but it needed to be nutrient rich to replenish what he was losing. (He sweats gallons.) We got some spring mix lettuce in our CSA box this week (with the leeks...). What's cold and refreshing on a hot day? Salad! I had the spring mix and tomatoes from my CSA box. I also had sweet baby bell peppers. I boiled some eggs for protein, and cut up some fruit. Then, I blended up a frozen fruit smoothie. What a feast! And we ate it outside on our new patio; sitting under our new patio umbrella. It hit just the right spot.

After handling the clean up from lunch, I got outside and helped my hubby finish the sand box. He hauled  sand and I spread it. We got it done and it was time for supper, but first....baths! The kids were caked with sand. My house may never be clean again. We all managed to degrit ourselves and sit down to supper. I buzzed the soup with a stick blender to give it a creamier smooth consistency. I ate it as is and it was pretty good. The kids and hubby had the bright idea to put some leftover rice in theirs. The kids thought it was really good. Andrew (my tiny gourmet) said it was the best veggie soup I have ever made! The hubby said that he wasn't sure at first, but the more he ate it the more he liked it. By the end he was saying, "that stuff is good!" So I guess now I know what to do with leeks. It's a good thing they liked it because I have a huge bucket of it in the fridge. Leftovers for a week! Maybe I'll freeze some. Hmm..

Lo Mein....and Sore Muscles

The past few days have been awfully eventful! The hubby and I have been wanting to extend our outdoor patio area, and this weekend we managed to rope a few family members into helping accomplish it. We're so happy with the results, and thankful for family who will help us just so we can save a few bucks! Well, to pour concrete, a lot goes into preparing the area. Including stripping sod and putting down a layer of fill sand. I had nothing to do with this. BUT, after the men were done I was left with a huge pile of fill sand in my front yard spilling onto the walkway. This fill sand will eventually be used to make a sandbox for the kids. Until then, its sole purpose is to get tracked into my house. Yesterday I decided I'd clean up and contain the sand so that not so much of it would make its way in. People, I kid you not when I tell you that typing right now even hurts! I swept all the sand off the driveway, then I shoveled the sand off the walkway and back onto the pile where it belongs. My corn husk broom is now nothing but a nub. I sweated (is that a word?) like a pig and burned a zillion calories. And now....I am SO incredibly sore! This, however, is the kind of exercise I like. Where something actually gets accomplished. I felt so good at the end of the day. Maybe I'd lose all my weight if I went to work in the construction industry.

For dinner (and Meatless Monday) I prepared Veggie Lo Mein. I followed a recipe in my IBS cookbook and tweaked it to include veggies I had in the fridge. Did you know that if it's a veggie you can stir fry it successfully? We all liked this one. I'll post it on the recipe tab in short order. I used onions, summer squash and green beans all from my CSA box this week. I also used sweet baby bell peppers and leeks. Man, I still got a lotta leeks. All stir fried up with ginger and garlic and some soy sauce...yummy! My kids ate everything, not just the noodles like they usually do. They might have left some onions behind when all was said and done, but who cares! They ate it and didn't go "I don't like that". Here's a quick tip for you: if you're going to attempt this recipe, for the love of all things holy, use a non stick pan of some sort! I do not own a non stick pan. My noodles held fast and would not let go. It was carnage. I'm asking for a wok for my birthday...

CSA and Balance

Wow! It's been a long time. My world has been a little upside down and a lot busy. I feel like I've finally regained some of my balance. I don't think I even realized I was out of whack until everything fell back into place again. Does that even make sense?

Since I last wrote, We have started the spring/summer season of a CSA(Community Supported Agriculture)  share at our local "natural" farm. We are enjoying trying all sorts of new veggies, although I have no idea what to do with the fennel we just got. Fennel. It smells like licorice. That just makes me cringe. We have discovered that we love oven roasted beets though. Well, Mom and Dad do. The kids aren't so fond. I wonder if they'd eat it if I put it on pizza.

We finally got back to Meatless Monday here this Monday. Dad and I planned a little surprise to take the kids on a picnic dinner. I made Minestrone Pasta Salad. I got the recipe from Ready Set Eat. It has all the flavors of minestrone soup in a pasta salad. Noodles, beans, squash, carrots, tomatoes. I liked it. Dad liked it. The kids just wanted to play. They picked all the noodles and beans out and ran off. Good enough? I'm not sure, but it's a start back in the right direction for healthy eating.

I've learned that eating healthy on a budget is all about choosing your battles. It's a lot easier to do when I just go and grab a pre-prapared box of veggies every week. It also forces a little diversity into our dinner routines. I mean, fennel....

Andrew....The Tiny Gourmet

This week's Meatless Monday consisted of Spinach Artichoke Pasta Bake. I felt the meal could have used something else. I kind of had the feeling I was missing something and just eating a side dish. It WAS good though. Both kids ate it like it was going out of style. Of course, give them something with a noodle and they usually do. My husband liked it as well. I've just got to figure out how to make it feel like a more cohesive meal. This would make me happier.

This dish was loaded with veggies though. And veggies that kids usually wrinkle their little noses at! I bumped up the nutritional value of the dish by replacing the plain pasta the recipe originally called for with a whole grain "garden" variety. So it was made with whole grains PLUS the little bit of vegetable juice that they use to make the pasta all the pretty colors.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I was scrambling for something to cook for supper. What I ended up with was "cheesy rice and sausage". Certainly not good for you, but pretty tasty! My six year old, Andrew, who LOVED spinach artichoke pasta bake did NOT love cheesy rice. Every kid's dream: rice and tons of cheese. No go for Andrew. I'm turning my kids into health food lovers. And I'm okay with that. Now if only I could follow suit.

Another One for the Box!

This week I did not exercise any more, but I DID find an awesome recipe that everyone loves! You win some, you lose some...

So, I found this recipe on Ready, Set, Eat! It's called Spinach Walnut Penne, and it was a hit! First, let me tell you a little about Ready, Set, Eat. This is a meal planning website which will allow you to search recipes based on a main ingredient (or meatless), how much time you have, and even what's on sale in your local grocery store. I signed up for a weekly email that I kind of forgot all about.

Monday morning, as I was weeding through the enormous amounts of email that seem to come to my inbox in the middle of the night, I was going "WHAT AM I GOING TO COOK TONIGHT?!?!" (I totally just typed that while holding down the shift key...who needs caps lock?) There it was, email number 6,752....Ready, Set, Eat "4 Delicious Vegetarian dinners" I heard "Hallelujah Chorus". I read the email and decided that Spinach Walnut Penne sounded super tasty. I was really excited about it actually.

I had everything in the house except for spinach and walnuts....off to the store it is. This meal took all of maybe 30 minutes to prepare. That made me happy. It tasted great. That made me AND everyone else happy. The only critique we had was that my husband didn't care for the crunchiness of the walnuts mixed in with everything else. Maybe if I had followed instructions and chopped the walnuts it wouldn't have been so noticeable. Oops. Maybe next time, because there will be a next time for this dish. Soon.

My (Almost) Vegetarian Day

Monday, I tried to come up with something meat free for me to eat for every meal. I'm borrowing my mom's juicer so I can try it out and decide if it's something I will buy for myself. So far, I love it. Monday morning I made myself fresh carrot/apple juice. It was so good and I didn't add anything to it! The glass of juice itself was enough to fill me up so I didn't have anything else for breakfast. The children do not like carrot/apple juice. We don't usually buy juice so it's always a treat for them to have, but they would not take more than one sip of this juice. I'm eager to try just plain apple juice and see if they like it any better.

For lunch I made myself one of my new favorite things: a Greek yogurt smoothie. I love these! It's very simple. I put a banana, a six oz. container of flavored Greek yogurt, a few berries (if I have them) and enough vanilla almond milk to reach the 16 oz. mark on the blender pitcher (I know, my precise measurement thrills you). I blend it all up and yum!

For dinner (Meatless Monday mind you) I decided to do a baked potato bar. My husband said he would love to have the potato bar again on a day he's carb loading before a long run. He loves baked potatoes, and so does my oldest. They were very happy to see potatoes. I baked giant russet baking potatoes, and giant sweet potatoes. It's actually very simple to do. Move the oven racks to the top and bottom thirds of the oven. Put aluminum foil on the bottom rack. Preheat the oven to 375° Scrub the potatoes, poke about 8 - 12 deep holes with a fork, coat them lightly with oil, sprinkle with salt. Bake the potatoes on the top rack for at least an hour. Mine took an hour and half because I was cooking so many. Check for doneness by poking them with a fork. We had butter, sour cream, green onions, cheese and.....bacon. There's the 'almost' in my vegetarian day. I put crumbled bacon on my baked potato.

This day was one of my better food days in a long time. I had tons of fruits and veggies and natural sources of all sorts of vitamins and minerals. I felt so good too. Not bloated and "ugh I ate too much, but it's meal time so I'm going to eat again..." When it got close to meal time, my stomach growled, and so I ate enough to be satisfied. The only time my stomach ever growls is halfway through church on Sunday because I never eat anything Sunday morning then I over eat at lunch to make up for the not eating. If I could have more days like Monday I'd be a happy camper. Oh, and I walked on the treadmill for a mile. I had to stop after a mile because my left knee was not happy...it hasn't been happy for a while now...but I actually exercised. Tuesday and Wednesday haven't been nearly as healthy, but not bad either. Am I starting to turn it around? Maybe. As much as I hate to think of it, I should probably step on a scale sometime soon....

Momma hides spinach....and they don't care!

This week we had a pretty good Meatless Monday. I made a recipe that I pulled out of a magazine ages ago. Spinach Mac and Cheese. I was a little nervous since the spinach is very visible. Will my kids eat it? And the answer is....YES! And they didn't even ask me, "what's this green stuff?" They just heard the words "mac and cheese". They were committed. Dad and I thought the recipe lacked something. Maybe it would be better with my usual cheese sauce. So I modified the recipe I posted in Spinach Mac and Cheese to reflect changes I would make next time. I'd love to hear your opinions about this recipe!

I haven't made very good choices this week. I don't feel well, and it shows in my eating. I just want to curl up and eat ice cream because my throat hurts and my ears hurt...Actually, I had ice cream for breakfast this morning. Sigh. Will I ever break loose of these bad habits?  Well I can try one day at a time, one meal at a time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have laundry to do...