Slightly Indoctrinated

At least that's what my husband would say. I've been on this healthy food kick for a couple of weeks now and changing lots of things. This second documentary, Forks Over Knives, I loved!! It doesn't use scare tactics, it uses hard scientific research studies to back up healthy eating. I highly recommend it! My husband watched it and loved it as well! So ha! He's indoctrinated too.

And ever since he watched it we've both been regularly eating huge salads for lunch together, more fruits and veggies and nothing processed. We feel great!

The documentary follows one scientist and one doctor on their research journeys that they started decades ago. It pretty much proves without a doubt that the Word of Wisdom (don't know what that is? Follow the link!) is completely inspired. A whole foods plant based diet is the best thing for you! They do cut out all meat and dairy...Ry and I just can't be that extreme. Not yet.

The coolest thing about the documentary is that by eating a whole foods plant based diet people are reversing their health problems!! Not just halting, reversing!

So this is what we're doing - limited dairy. I love my milk and cheese. So I try to only have one small dairy serving a day. Lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Avoid processed foods all together. And meat. Well, we've decided small healthy cuts of meat twice a week is good for us. And no overeating!

Sounds extreme I know - but watch the show! It is amazing! And on netflix. =) So now begins my hunt for some vegetarian recipes for the other 5 days of the week.

Another thing we do is try to find the healthiest version of whatever it is we want to eat. On Saturday we wanted waffles - so we searched for a healthy recipe...then changed some things to fit our needs.

This is what we came up with and it was delicious! We will definitely be making them again!

Oatmeal Wheat Waffles
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

1 cup white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cups milled flaxseed
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
4 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp brown sugar

In large mixing bowl, stir together flour, oats, flaxseed, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; set aside. In small mixing bowl, stir together eggs, milk, butter and brown sugar. Add to flour mixture; stir until blended. Pour batter on to grids of preheated, lightly greased waffle iron (amount will vary with size of waffle iron). Close lid quickly; do not open during baking. Use fork to remove baked waffle. Top with fresh fruit and yogurt. 


Super yummy!! And you can feel good serving it to your family!

Mother of all Grains

Quinoa - where have you been all my life?! Seriously, as far as nutritional value - the Incas were right in calling it the 'mother of all grains'...

"Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), and like oats, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it a complete protein source. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered a possible crop in NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration human occupied spaceflights." - Wikipedia


Incorporating Quinoa into our diet is one of the healthy changes I am making. You can replace the rice in most of your recipes with quinoa - but rinse it first to remove the bitterness. My kids love it! 


Our favorite quinoa recipe so far is from this lovely site I just found, Iowa Girl Eats. Mr Man could not get enough!

Mini Ham & Cheese Quinoa Cups

Makes 28 mini cups

Adapted from So Very Blessed

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked quinoa (about 3/4 cup uncooked)

2 eggs

2 egg whites

1 cup zucchini, shredded

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup diced ham

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese

2 green onions, sliced

salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix to combine. Liberally spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray and spoon mixture to the top of each cup. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges of the cups are golden brown. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from the mini muffin tin.

That's all we had for dinner one night + some fresh fruit and we were all full and satisfied, but we didn't feel heavy. I didn't have parsley, so I used spinach instead.

Have any kid friendly quinoa recipes you'd like to pass on? Please do!

Not a Hippie

I'd like to preface this post with this statement...I am not a hippie. I don't go barefoot, I don't protest big companies with picket signs, I love free market and capitalism, I hate big government...not a hippie. Just a conservative republican. Having said that...

I succumbed and watched Food, Inc. I hate shows that use scare tactics but I was interested. And really, it was on Netflix so...I don't know if I'll ever eat meat again. Ever. Okay - maybe if we raise and butcher it ourselves (and by ourselves, I mean my husband).

Yikes to the food industry! There are so many things I want to change about the way we eat. I was already headed in that direction - but this definitely propelled me forward. More fresh fruits and veggies. Less processed foods.

In the last few months we've made some changes - homemade bread, homemade yogurt (recipes to come), and our chickens started laying eggs! So yay for not having to buy expensive eggs anymore! Everything in California is so expensive - so lots of these changes were spurred by the desire to save money. We've also been canning lots - salsa, applesauce, pears, chicken.

And our garden plots are nearly ready to be planted in. We have 4 plots - 16x4 feet each - super excited to fill them up with veggies! My husband also just planted our seventh fruit tree. We have 3 apple, 2 pears, 1 nectarine, and 1 peach. So excited to reap the rewards of that hard work in the next couple of years!

Other changes headed our way...I really want to incorporate LOTS more veggies and fruit into our diets and minimize the meat. We are not vegetarians - I love a good hamburger. But we don't need meat as often as we eat it right now. I want to find other sources of protein and eat more "pure" foods, less processed. Have any good recipes to pass on? Please share!

Does it make anyone else mad that it costs more to eat healthy than to eat junk food? Maddening! Watch Food Inc if you haven't - it's very enlightening.

Easy Lasagna with Hidden Healthy Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground turkey or beef
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 Tbsp sour cream
• 1/2 sweet potato puree
• 1/2 grated parmesan
• 1 (26 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes, with their juice
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 cup cauliflower puree
• 1 (8 oz) box no-boil lasagna noodles
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat an 8x12 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Cook meat on stove top, season with salt and pepper, until no longer pink. Sprinkle with flour and half of the garlic, stir, cook for 1-2 min longer. Off the heat, stir in sour cream, sweet potato puree, and half (1/4 cup) of the parmesan; set aside.
3. For sauce: combine tomatoes with juice, onion, remaining garlic, and parmesan (1/4 cup) in a food processor or blender until smooth. Pour into bowl. Or use jarred sauce and just add parmesan.
4. In the same food processor, blend cottage cheese, egg white, and cauliflower puree until smooth; set aside.
5. To assemble: spread 1 cup sauce in bottom of pan. Layer 1/3 of the noodles, covering sauce completely. Spread all of the meat filling over noodles. Cover with another 1/3 of the noodles. Spread all of the cottage cheese mixture over noodles. Make another layer with noodles. Then spoon remaining sauce over the top. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella.
   
6. Cover with foil bake 40 min. Remove foil and bake another 10.
   

I am loving hiding veggies in dishes. It is so easy. This dish was easy to make and pretty tasty. Both my husband and I thought it was missing something - more sauce maybe. We couldn't quite figure it out. And the meat maybe needed more spice. But I'll let you be the judge! At least we got more veggies in!

This recipe is from Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld - love this book! I'll be posting more recipes from it in the future.

*Note: If you're thinking, why go to all the trouble for a measly 1/4 cup puree, how much difference could that make to a diet?! Well, I thought the same thing. But, if you do it consistently, it's great. If you only do it once in awhile, then it's at least better than nothing! A little more veggie in take and extra vitamins can only help, right?

All of the purees are very similar to the way I made Little Miss's baby food when she was little - for more info click here.

Baked Potato Soup

Everyone in my house is sick (except me - knock on wood), so I decided for dinner last night we needed a good hearty warm soup. (Thanks sis for the recipe!)

I love my crockpot! It saves me time & money. This recipe has a little bit of extra prep - but it's so worth it. You'll have tons of delicious soup - really good leftovers! Nice and hearty.

• 4 large baking potatoes
• 2/3 cup butter or margarine
• 2/3 cup flour
• 6 cups milk
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 4 chopped green onions
• 12 slices cooked and crumbled bacon
• 1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 8 oz light sour cream
• 1 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon granules

Wash potatoes and prick several times with a fork. Bake in foil at 350 degrees for 45 min to 1 hr. Let cool. Cut potatoes into cubes.

Melt butter in heavy sauce pan over low heat. Add flour, stir until smooth. Cook 1 min, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is bubbly.

Pour into crockpot and then add salt, pepper, green onions, crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese, chicken granules. Mix through. Then fold in potatoes.

Cook on high for 4 hrs. Stir in sour cream right before serving. If soup is too thick, add a little milk at a time until desired thickness is achieved.

Garnish with additional sour cream and crumbled bacon.

*My changes: 1/2 tsp salt instead, no chicken bouillon granules and it tasted just great! I also only cooked for 2 hours and it was already overdone. Since everything is pre-cooked I think I'd even do it on low for 2 hours and it would probably be good and done. Also delicious when served in bread bowls!

Apple & Pear Pork Roast

LOVE this new recipe!! So tasty and so easy - I love you crockpot. Thanks to my guinea pigs, who all approved! Ry really liked it...I think he ate half the roast himself!
Apple & Pear Pork Roast

• 1 pork roast (3-4 lb)
• 2 apples - peeled & sliced
• 2 pears - peeled & sliced
• 1/2 onion - chopped
• 1 cup apple juice
• salt/pepper to taste

Place roast in crockpot. Pour apple juice over the top. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Surround roast with sliced apples & pears & diced onions. Cook on low 6-8 hours, or high 4-6 hours.

Penne Pesto Chicken

Last week we had some friends over for Guinea Pig Thursday (on Wednesday). I really had a hankering for pesto, which I love, but had never actually used at home before.

I was all geared up to make the pesto - but after collecting all of the ingredients at the store and realizing just how ridiculously priced pine nuts are - I went for the jar of pesto and called it good.

This recipe was super easy & delicious! It says 8 servings...but I'd say it's easily 10-12. We ate it for leftovers a few times. Wouldn't change a thing!

Click Here For the Recipe

Poppyseed Chicken

For Guinea Pig Thursday (Wednesday rather) - we had Poppyseed Chicken. I'd had this before, but never made it myself. I have a really bad habit of changing things in a recipe before I've even made/tried the dish - and it took all my will power not to change this recipe. As I was making it I kept thinking - holy crap, this is a lot of butter!! And it was. But it sure did taste great!! =) Our guinea pig was Jordan, Ry's brother.

Poppyseed Chicken

• 4 large chicken breasts, cooked & diced
• 3/4 cup butter, melted (could be less)
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 12 oz sour cream
• 1 1/2 rolls Ritz crackers (could be reduced fat, but not reduced sodium)
  
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 cups cooked rice (could be more, even doubled)

Cook the rice & put in bottom of greased 9x13 pan. Mix chicken, 3/4 c. melted butter, chicken soup, & sour cream. Pour over rice. Crush & mix together crackers, 1/2 cup melted butter, & poppy seeds. Sprinkle over the casserole. Bake for 30 min at 350 degrees.

*Do not substitute butter for margarine - my sis-in-law who gave me this recipe tried that once & said it turned out weird.

Crockpot Lasagna

This one's for you Lisa! I wanted to try something other than a roast in my crockpot & I've never made lasagna - so here ya go.

The guinea pigs were a few of my in-laws. Minimal preperation, which rocks. I think next time I would do 1/2 lb ground beef & 1/2 lb italian sausage to give it more spice. I also would cut back on the cheese a little.

It just was a little too much cheese for me. Or maybe leave the cheese as is, but do another 1/2 lb meat to compensate. Oh, and the recipe also says cook on low for 4-6 hours - 4.5 was plenty. It was starting to burn on the bottom.

Click here for the recipe (and other great crockpot recipes)!

Creamy White Chicken Chili

For Guinea Pig Thursday we had Creamy White Chicken Chili in soup bowls...yum! I had a taste of this at a local grocery store try-out a few months back and loved it! Of course, it tasted different when I made it, even though I followed the recipe exactly.

Our guinea pigs were the in-laws. Everyone seemed to really like it, but agreed it was a little on the salty side. I thought it was ridiculously salty! Next time I will be skipping the salt all together.

It definitely is a hearty soup - Ry thought a little less chicken might be good. So with a couple of changes I think it'll be great next time. It was super easy & cheap to make - feeds a lot of people!

So I can't find my recipe card...but I'm pretty sure I can remember all of it...

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cans (4 oz.) diced green chilies
  
• 6 cans great white northern beans
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 2-3 cans (14.5 oz) chicken broth
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

I think that was it. Cook/brown chicken in large pan with oil - then add onions & chilies, cook until onion is soft. Add everything else & cook on med/high 20 minutes until thickened.

I thought it would be really tasty to throw in some cooked rice as well for added texture and heartiness. So - no salt, little less chicken, and rice. The end. Enjoy!

Gettin' Saucy in The Kitchen

For Guinea Pig Thursday we made breaded pan fried chicken fingers - which turned out more like chicken nuggets - little bread crumbs, olive oil, and lemon pepper - yum.

Then we went crazy making sauces to dip them in! I've really wanted to learn more about basic sauces - you can get so creative once you have the simple stuff down.

So I made a marinara sauce and a cheese sauce for dipping. We also had ranch & bbq for fun. Ry & I were just the guinea pigs this time - but we both approved.

Basic Sauce Recipes

Oh & the next night I added a little water to the marinara to thin it out & we had it on spaghetti for leftovers.

Stuffed Zucchini

Tonight we had Stuffed Zucchini - yum! It definitely passed with flying colors. I only changed the recipe a little by adding cheese (asiago & parmesan) to the top & it was super good.

There was enough filling leftover that I even made a small meatloaf for leftovers tomorrow.

Two dinners in one - it doesn't get any better than that! The guinea pigs - us, & Ry's sister & her husband. Served with mashed potatoes, very filling.

I give this one an A++ & I'm excited to have another way to use our zucchini this summer! Forgot to take pictures - so I stole this one from the recipe site. Enjoy!

Spicy Baked Macaroni

I saw this recipe on the food network, because I'm a nerd and sometimes (always) watch it. Don't judge me. =)

We had Ryan's sister Teresa over. As I was serving up the dish I realized I had the two pickiest people to be my guinea pigs for something with...uh-hum...spinach and mushrooms in it!!!! What was I thinking?!

To my surprise they ate it and didn't even complain much. They even both admitted they thought it was pretty good and of course pointed out that they weren't even picking things out.

Teresa even said she wasn't having to wash it down with her drink like she would most things with vegetables in them.

If I were to make it again I would cut back on the mushrooms to about half and add some bite-size chicken. The recipe says 8-10 servings...you could easily feed 15-20 people from it, especially as a side dish at a potluck. Served with garlic bread. Yum.

The Recipes

*indicates extra healthy factor - usually sneaky...

Appetizers

Breakfast

• Green Eggs *
• Pink Pancakes *

Entrees

• Creamy White Chicken Chili
• Penne Pesto Chicken
• Poppyseed Chicken
• Secretly Healthy Lasagna *
• Spicy Baked Macaroni
• Stuffed Zucchini
• Zucchini Souffle

Crockpot

• Apple & Pear Pork Roast
• Baked Potato Soup
• Lasagna

Side Dishes

Dessert {the most important part!}

• Cake Balls
• Cranberry White Chip Blondies
• Easiest Cheesecake Ever
• Lucky Lime Pie
• Pear Tarts
• Thanksgiving Pies 2009

Drinks

• Green Smoothies *

Baby Food

• The Basics

Food Storage

• Strawberry Freezer Jam

Misc

• Basic Sauces