Dinner is served

I realize now how much pregnancy had changed not only my taste buds but my complete desire to cook.  I actually really enjoy cooking and creating new healthy meals for my family.  It's oddly therapeutic (although I could do without the mounding pile of dishes I often create).  Now that I have been freed of the joys of pregnancy and getting back into the swing of things around the house, I find myself in the kitchen more often and adding new recipes to my weekly meal plan.

Sunday night we had lentil sweet potato burgers, gluten free pasta salad, and steamed asparagus.
 

The lentil burger is an adaptation of this recipe. I cut out the dried mango because I didn't have any, added half a cooked sweet potato that I had in the fridge, and modified the spices to our liking.  I cooked them in coconut oil for about 5 minutes per side, basically until they were hot on the inside and topped them with avocado and romaine. I go without a bun to steer clear of the gluten, but Jim had his on a kaiser roll.  YUM!  Riesling was a fan of it as well, particularly when dipped in ketchup.

PASTA SALAD
1 bag of spiral or penne pasta (I used Tinkyada gluten free)
Grape tomatoes
Pitted kalamata olives
orange or yellow pepper
red wine vinegar
olive oil
italian seasoning

Cook pasta according to package directions. 
Rinse in cold water and toss with oil (I used walnut). 
Set aside and let cool completely before adding veggies.
Slice tomatoes and olives in half lengthwise.
Chop pepper.
In a separate bowl toss veggies in red wine vinegar, olive oil, and italian seasoning blend.  I am the worst at measuring (sorry!) but you definitely add more oil than vinegar and just adjust it to your taste. 
Add veggie mix and dressing to cold pasta.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Well no green beer or crazy bar crawls for me this year (it's been quite a few years since either of those have happened). This year was just a tad bit more low key. I started the morning off bright and early finishing up some art projects with Riesling.  She has quite the talent for sticker placement.

This was followed by a much needed haircut for Mommy while the girls spent a little quality time with their "Gram."  She cut off almost 6 inches, although Jim said it's barely noticeable because I stopped styling my hair months ago and he had actually forgotten what it looked like down.  Long hair was just too much for this Mama to deal with.

After naps, I dug out some green for everyone to wear and managed to get the crew cleaned up and smiling for Daddy's arrival home.  I realize now that I own exactly 2 articles of green clothing, the shirt shown above and a cardigan.  Riesling had one t-shirt.  Apparently we don't wear a lot of green.  Except for Winnie, as a fashionable young baby, she had just the perfect thing for the occasion.

We ended the night with a festive dinner of green including edamame hummus served with blue chips, carrots, & cucumbers and gluten free pizzas topped with kale.

Riesling hogging the carrots.  

  

Overall a successful celebration of the patron saint of Ireland and another Monday survived.

Smoothies

We have a lot of smoothies around our house.  I love them because they are so yummy & an easy way to pack in extra veggies and nutrients into your day.  Riesling loves them and asks for them almost daily (she even has her own special smoothie cup).  She has become quite the little helper and knows that banana, milk, and spinach (although sometimes it's kale) goes into everyone.  I switch up the remaining ingredients depending on what we have on hand, my mood, and what I feel like we need a boost of that day.

Today's smoothie:
1 Banana
Almond milk*
~1C. Spinach
~1C. frozen pineapple
1 scoop of protein powder 
1 Tbsp flax seed
1 heaping scoop of almond butter

We just throw everything in the Vitamix (my wonderful new birthday gift) and a few seconds later you have a healthy snack even your toddler will approve of. 

Meatballs

Saturday night we had plans to take dinner over to a friend's to celebrate their new home.  She has a four kids ranging from 16-25, all with significant others that are known to be present at even given time.  I wanted to make sure there was enough food to feed a crowd in case there was one in fact present.  I spent Saturday morning prepping as Riesling would allow and all of nap time making a huge crockpot of turkey meatballs and a pan of roasted vegetable pasta. 

The crockpot was on 'low' for about 3 hours and I had recently switched the setting to 'warm'.  Jim had just gotten home from work and we were getting cleaned up and organized to head out.  Out of nowhere the glass lid of the crockpot shattered!  Into my meatballs!  I was honestly dumbfounded for about 5 minutes, just starring at the disaster trying to decide a) what the hell happen and b) what do I do about dinner.  After the shock wore after it was decided that no one wants glass shards in their dinner and the entire batch was contaminated.  Luckily, I had set aside a much smaller batch to freeze and only one of her kids were home for dinner so I still managed to feed everyone with 2 meatballs to spare.  But, seriously Crock Pot how did this happen?!

Snacks

I'm soooo ready for warm weather, a little sunshine, and a tasty fresh garden salads. The produce aisle has been looking (and tasting) pretty sad lately.  I know it's late in winter when the novelty of squash and root vegetables has worn off and even the apples start tasting like mushy cardboard.  So what does one do? Turn to processed comfort foods of course. 

I noticed myself sliding down the slippery slope....Honey Chex for breakfast, overdosing on tortilla chips, tempted to buy frozen mac n cheese for dinner.  Don't do it!  Spring is on the way (Jim has mini lettuces and bok choy sprouted in the basement as we speak).  Until then I'm trying to make the best of what's available.  A few of my favorite healthy snacks lately include:

Grapefruit

We were on a real clementine kick for awhile but the prices spiked and the sweet juicy factor plummeted.  Grapefruits have recently been running around $1.00 each at our local grocery store.  It might sound a little pricey but Jim and I always split one so $.50/person for a mid morning snack is not bad at all. Not to mention it's juicy, delicious, packed full of antioxidants, and can even help lower your cholesterol. 

Carrots & Hummus
I usually enjoy an almost daily snack of blue chips & hummus but I found myself eating WAY too many chips so I've made the switch to carrots and throw in a few chips as a reward at the end. Hummus has a good amount of Omega-3 fatty acid and carrots improve your vision, nourish your skin, and lower your risk of heart disease.

Celery Ants on a log are one of those childhood foods that should not be forgotten.  I got these great containers on Zulily awhile back.  They have a separate little tray designed to keep your granola from getting soggy in your yogurt but works really great for this snack too.  

Celery helps support your immune system, regulate your blood pressure, and is an anti-inflammatory.  I increase the health factor by adding in flax and chia seeds.

 Celery on the bottom and peanut or almond butter topped with sliced almonds, chia seeds, ground flax seed, and raisins.  Just dip the celery in and enjoy. I make this  a lot for Jim and I to take to work.

 
What are your favorite snacks to beat the winter blues?

Random thoughts for a Tuesday

I can't decide what hurts more: winter thumb cuts or ear pimples.


We were dog free for a few days.  Without my little Sofee vacuum around I realized how much food I actually drop on the floor in a day.

I'm scheduled for a much needed haircut tomorrow.  I'm thinking bangs but I might regret that.  Maybe just chop it off?  Or a boring trim?

Have you heard the new Foxygen album?  I'm thinking about using my iTunes gift card from LAST Christmas to buy it.  I'm so indecisive about investing in music. 

I made these last week and can't stop thinking about them.  It's like Rice Krispies crack.

Every year Jim and I declare that we a late February/early March vacation is essential to surviving winter in the Northeast, yet we NEVER plan one.  Why is that? 

I love seeing good friends that make you feel like family.  Doesn't it look like we switched babies with the hair color & complexion mix going on?  Little girls are just so darn sweet.