Meal Plan Dos

Between the holidays, being sick, and Chase getting two more teeth, I haven't had the time (or inclination) to type up another meal plan. I did write it down for planning purposes, but yep...that's about as far as I got.

Without further adieu, here's another week for you lovely people.

Day 1
Breakfast: Sweet potato hash w/ sausage stirred in and fried egg on top

Dinner: Bison burgers w/ roasted asparagus

*Notes: I loosely followed the breakfast recipe. I use this nitrite free sausage from Publix and they have a decent selection of different "flavors." Dinner is easy peasy, I don't follow the roasted asparagus recipe, but wanted to give you something to get an idea of what to do.

Day 2
Breakfast: Frittata

Dinner: Maple pecan encrusted chicken w/ steamed broccoli and beets

*Notes: Frittata is really easy and simple to make it how you like it. Just follow the recipe and switch out the veggie/protein for things that you like. I exchanged sausage for bacon (gotta cook it and break it apart first) and kept the sweet potato and added kale (you can add ANY green or veggie though).
For dinner, I stuck a handful or walnuts and pecans in the food processor and chopped up fine enough for it to dress the chicken. I followed the recipe loosely, but kind of went rogue and did my own thing.  It turned out really well though and I thought it was pretty darned delish.

Day 3
Breakfast: Scrambled egg and sautéed apples w/ cinnamon

Dinner: Pesto cheesy chicken w/ roasted carrots and steamed rainbow chard

*Notes: When I make apple for breakfast, I don't add honey or maple syrup. If it was a dessert, I would. I followed the chicken recipe pretty closely and it turned out well. Keep an eye on the time, it didn't take 45 minutes to bake in my oven.

Day 4
Breakfast: Sprouted flour pancakes and bacon (I throw a fruit or veggie in the mix for Chase, whatever is available. Not literally in the mix...on the side of the plate. Don't be absurd. Ha!)

Dinner: Chopped broccoli salad w/ protein of choice

*Notes: I figure most people aren't going to buy sprouted flour, but I promise it's way better for you then general flour. Just google it. :-) Also, try, try, try to buy nitrite free bacon. Applegate farms has a huge line of good products.

Day 5
Breakfast: Scrambled egg, Ezekiel toast, and fruit

Dinner: Pizza (see previous meal plan)

Day 6
Breakfast: Ezekiel bread french toast w/ sausage and fruit

Dinner: Crockpot apricot chicken w/ whatever green AND veggie you have available or are in the mood for.

*Notes: I used chicken breast, not thighs. I have a weird thing about bones...or do I...Haha!

Nag of the week:
While greens are a veggie, I try to eat a green PLUS a veggie. Try a new green once a week/every other week. Some ideas of greens: collards, swiss/green/rainbow/red chard, kale/dino kale, mustard, spinach, beet greens (yes, you can eat the greens that come on the top of the beets!), and dandelion.  I've experimented with and like those. Honestly, they all pretty much taste the same and when cooked in bacon grease or butter...can't really go wrong there.

Butternut squash cookies

Last night I made chocolate chip cookies for Steve and me and I wouldn't let poor Chase have any. It got me thinking that I need an alternative recipe so that he could have cookies with us and well...I think I may have successfully made some baby/kid friendly cookies.

Let me say that these are NOT as sweet as "normal" cookies. I mean, there isn't any sugar in them, so what do you expect? Butternut squash is naturally sweet and maple syrup rounds it out. This is also the very first thing I've ever made without following a recipe and I'm really proud of myself. It does need a little tweaking, but for the most part I'm happy with it. More importantly, Chase seemed to like them. Then again, that kid likes almost everything.

Butternut squash cookies
2 cups sprouted flour 
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 cup cubed and cooked butternut squash
1 egg (I use eggs from a local farmer's market, but do what you do)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp real vanilla extract
1/2 c real maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350.

In a small(ish) bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

Melt butter (makes it easier if you melt it in a medium bowl that you can also use a blender with - less dishes).

Add vanilla, egg, and maple syrup to butter. Blend.

Add butternut squash to wet mixture and blend.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients while blending.

Drop just over a tsp and a half on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes give or take.

Notes:
*Next time I will add a few liberal drizzles of honey for additional sweetness. I was out of honey, so I had to work with what I had.
*The cookies do not spread out like other cookies do, so however you place them onto the cookie sheet is how they will remain. That's why doing smaller cookies is important - to ensure that they cook through.
*You could also add chocolate chips (the darker, the better) or cocoa nibs if you wanted to add a little more sweetness (for yourself or if you're ok with giving it to your kids). I think I'll try cocoa nibs in the future.
*Adding nuts is also an option. When Chase is a tad bit older, I'll add nuts. I'm thinking pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts. Just throw them in the food processor first to get them in smaller pieces.

And that's it! It was actually really easy and quick. Well, quick for cookies. The worst part about making cookies is having to reload the cookie sheet every time. Hope you try 'em and like 'em! Let me know what you think!

XOXO

Six day meal plan

Most of you know how crazy I am about the food my family eats daily. I'm somewhat neurotic about it, but that's another story. Food plays such a huge role in how we feel about ourselves, inside and out. Without a weekly plan, it's easy to become overwhelmed and find comfort in the drive thru. And you know what? The drive thru is ok too. I love some Chic-Fil-A; I'll be the first to tell you. If I could marry it, I would. But that's just weird and creepy...so let's change the subject back to good food. The point is, live your life. Eat junk, but eat it moderately. Don't get frustrated if you have a bad food day or meal, it's really no big deal. Eating healthy shouldn't be a DIET, it should just simply be eating.

So, for my dear friends, I'll post my dinner menus weekly for you to take a gander at and use what you want. Feel free to skip over anything crazy that you're not into or not willing to try (yet...because you'll eventually try it. LOL! Or I'll find you!) I'll try to also post snack/treat ideas too, but most of my recipes for that require what some people would consider obscure ingredients and don't have on hand regularly. My pantry/fridge is always stocked with weirdness, so I have the ability to whip anything up when I get a hankering for something. Did I really just say hankering? Who am I??

Ok, ok. Here's your six day forecast - my personal menu may change, dependent on whether I have time to cook that night's meal/Chase's crazy 'tude...I may switch days around, switch sides around with other things if a veggie is about to go bad, or not cook it at all. However, I always make a plan, otherwise I just wander around the kitchen aimlessly.

Day 1
Salmon patties with homemade mayo/mustard sauce

Maple Brussels sprouts and apples

Mashed potatoes (I generally do sweet, but used regular ones here)

*Notes: Salmon patties were ordered from US Wellness Meats, I'm sure you can get them from a regular 'ol market, but I like knowing my meat is GMO/crap free/raised humanely/and wild/pastured.
You can just mix store bought mayo and dijon mustard to make sauce or use whatever you want.
I omitted cranberries in the sprouts/apples. I didn't have any on hand, but I bet it would have been delish!
When I mash my regular potatoes, I mix in butter, a bit of raw milk, and sour cream.

Day 2
Skirt steak with chive butter

Sautéed kale in butter

Mashed parsnip and carrots


*Notes: I pretty much did everything that the person did with the skirt steak. I didn't have a butternut squash on hand, so I made mashed parsnip and carrots instead.
I don't follow the kale recipe linked, I just make it up as I go. However, this will give you a starting idea of how to cook it and you can deviate as you see fit.

Day 3
Lemon chicken

Crockpot broccoli

*Notes: I use chicken breast instead of thighs. Know that if you chose breast over thighs (or any other bone in cut) that you have to pay attention to cook time as your meat will dry out. I also use dried herbs/spices versus fresh.

Day 4
We typically do a pizza night in our house on Friday nights. So, for the sake of keeping up with that, I'm going to throw in a pizza date here. I use store bought dough (yup, I sure do!) and I make pizza sauce from organic ingredients.
You can also buy pizza sauce, Muir Glen makes a delish organic pizza sauce and their cans are now BPA free. Wooo!! Go crazy with whatever you want on your pizza.
I generally throw whatever leafy green we have in the fridge (kale, spinach, chard) on it, with cheese and pepperoni. I buy Hormel nitrite free pepperoni and Organic Valley Italian blend cheese for this.
I know, I know. I use a crappy, grain filled pizza crust with all these awesome things. I have zero desire to make a crust myself and almond flour crusts don't do it for me. Enough rambling.

Day 5
Taco scramble

*Notes: You can always use a tortilla shell, but we'll opt out. Well, I'll opt out. Steve will probably use a shell.
Also, you can buy the packet of taco seasoning, BUT it probably has junk in it to preserve it. Read the ingredients, but I'm sure it's crap. I make my own seasoning. Using THIS recipe. It's easy to double or triple and just keep it in an air tight container for later use.

Day 6
Bacon apple crockpot chicken

Steamed broccolini (baby broccoli)

*Notes: You can either use jarred BBQ sauce of your choice (read the ingredients) or make your own. I've done both with this recipe and I can say I prefer making my own using THIS recipe. There is no recipe really for steaming broccolini. Throw it in the steamer, squeeze a little lemon over it, steam until desired tenderness.

Sweet Treats
I try to always make one or two sweets a week, because I. LOVE. TREATS. A lot. I may not always make them, but I like to have a couple in mind, so if I'm missing any ingredients I can get them on my weekly market trip.

Pumpkin Ice Cream
Chocolate Bark

*Notes: I've never made the chocolate bark before, so I can't give much info on it. Let's just hope for the best.

*FINAL NOTES: Next week's plan won't be this intricate or long. I promise. I just felt the need to ramble and over explain. I won't continue to do that - unless requested. Also, I know that it's not possible to always use the absolute best ingredients, but please make an effort to just READ the ingredients you're using. I make every effort to limit my use of canned/jarred/boxed/etc items. In fact, I rarely shot in the center of the market...except the baking aisle. Gets me every time. Be aware of GMOs  in your food (which if it's boxed, it has GMOs) and stay away from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and other artificial sweeteners. Contrary to the popular American diets, fat is good for you, so you will see me using FULL fat milk, sour cream, cheese, etc. However, they will be quality, full fats. Also, stay away from canola and vegetable oil, stuff will kill you. Here's a list of safe oils to cook with.

If you're interested in the diet that I LOOSELY follow, you can google Weston A Price or Primal/Paleo diets.

Ok, that's it! I swear. Did you even read this far? If you did, you're dedicated and you're my new BFF. Once again, next week's plan will not be this long. I'll stop over explaining. If you would like for me to include a grocery list, I can do that too. Just let me know!

XOXO

Simply Sunshine Smoothie - Amanda

Link to recipe: http://uncooking101.com/site/raw-food-recipe/simply-sunshine-smoothie/

INGREDIENTS
5 bananas
1 pineapple
(the juice of) 1 lemon <-- I forgot...
1 1/2 cups ice
1 cup water
dash of cayenne <-- I went overboard with my "dash"

Overall Rating: Satisfactory...would have been better had I not dumped a bucket of cayenne in it...

Rating Based On:

• Taste - Average
• Ease of Preparation - Super Easy

(Scale: Super -- Satisfactory -- Average -- Eh -- Puke)

Applesauce Pancakes - Ashley

Let me just start by apologizing for not having pictures or a video of this endeavor. I was holding my almost seven week old the whole time, so obviously that was more important than holding a camera/setting up a video. Besides, the only thing you missed was me dumping flour all over the floor. 


This recipe was your basic pancake mix with applesauce added. Not too much to it and it went reasonably well. I will say that this recipe makes some super thick mix, so we had to keep gradually adding water to thin it out a bit. I personally like thin pancakes as opposed to super thick, so if you like thick, no thinning is required. I feel like the applesauce made the pancakes cook ridiculously fast, so make sure you start out on a low-ish heat and work your way up from there. They weren’t very applesauce-y, so if you want to taste more of that, I would recommend adding another 1/2 cup or so. 


I think this is the first recipe that I didn’t deviate from since starting this. Here it is:


Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. milk + 1 c. applesauce
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt


Directions:
Beat eggs with hand beater until fluffy; beat in remaining ingredients just until smooth.

* It says that it makes 18 4-inch pancakes. I’m going to say that it makes WAY more than that, but that could be because we thinned ours out so we had a ton more. 

Recipe can be found here:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,194,144180-239201,00.html

Scale:  Super -- Satisfactory -- Average -- Eh -- Puke

Rating Based On:

• Taste - Average
• Ease of Preparation - Easy

Vegan French Toast - Amanda

I followed the recipe precisely using whole wheat bread. I felt like it was a bit too citrusy for my liking, and would probably back off of the OJ next time. It was also a bit soggy, but like my sister did, I popped it on the frying pan.

Overall Rating: Satisfactory
Would I Make It Again and/or Recommend: Yes





Scale:  Super -- Satisfactory -- Average -- Eh -- Puke

Rating Based On:

• Taste - Satisfactory
• Ease of Preparation - Super Easy

Wheat-free pizza crust + pizza - Ashley

Let me start by saying this was a rather interesting recipe and this made me seriously question my ability to go wheat-free. It’s not that it was awful, it wasn’t. It was just...interesting - and not for me. 
So, let’s do this! 
Ingredients: 
3 cups cooked rice
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 cup tomato sauce
pizza toppings of your choice


Directions:
1. Mix the rice, eggs, and 1 cup of the cheese. Put the mixture into a greased frying pan and pat down. Cover and cook at medium-low for 15 minutes. This rice base will be your crust and at this stage the crust should be slightly brown and beginning to set. 
2. Combine oregano, salt, garlic powder, and tomato sauce to make sauce (or use a commercial pizza sauce of your choice).
3. Spread the sauce on the base. Top with toppings of your choice. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheese over the sauce. Cover and cook 10 minutes at the same heat.
4. Uncover and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
5. Serves 1 to 2. 


What actually happened:
I followed the directions, with the exception of making my own sauce. I had a can of organic pizza sauce, so I just used that. (Hey! It’s hard to cook when I have a six week old screaming bloody murder at me.) 

Cooking the rice in the beginning

Getting the ingredients ready while the rice is cooking

Rice Crust prior to setting (cooking) 

Crust after 15 minutes

Bottom of the crust after flipping 

Flipped and cooking the other side

Finished product (Steve, my husband, didn’t want tomatoes)

The original recipe didn’t require a flipping of the crust, but it wasn’t setting properly and the top was still very mushy. I think I may have put too much in the frying pan, which leads me to believe the original recipe maker was using a frying pan for giants (I was using the biggest frying pan I have, I didn’t even have a lid big enough for it). You really only need two cups of cooked rice, not three...unless of course, you have said frying pan for giants. Moving on. I flipped the crust rather easily. Just put the pizza pan on top of the frying pan and Steve helped flip it and slide it back into the pan. So, I did 20 or so minutes on one side, flipped it, and do an additional 10 minutes before topping. After topping, I let it go for another 5 minutes as the recipe indicates and then slide it back onto the pizza pan for serving. It was still too mushy/rice-y for my liking, but I think that can be easily solved by cutting down to 2 cups of rice versus 3. 

Would I do it again? Probably not. I LOVE pizza and this just wasn’t doing pizza any justice. I guess if I had a problem with wheat, I would consider it. Until then, give me my real pizza! 



Overall Rating: Eh

Would I Make It Again and/or Recommend: No

Scale:  Super -- Satisfactory -- Average -- Eh -- Puke

Rating Based On:

• Taste - Eh
• Ease of Preparation - Easy

Chocolate Pudding - Ashley

5-22-12

I bet when you think about chocolate pudding, you don’t think avocados, bananas, or dates. WHAT?! Yup, but I gave the recipe a try and it was fantastic! It was super simple and if you have the ingredients on hand and are having a chocolate craving, it’s a perfect go to recipe to solve that problem. In my case, I had a few avocados and bananas that were about to go bad, so I needed a way to get rid of them without throwing them away.

So, without further ado, here’s the original recipe:

Ingredients:

2 avocados

1 banana

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ cup dates (pitted, soaked in water for a few hours, drained)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Transfer to a bowl or individual serving bowls and chill several hours before serving.

As I was cutting my avocados, I realized that one of them had gone bad already. Total Wasteful Wanda. With one avocado down, I had to cut the rest of the ingredients to half-sies. With the exception of cutting everything to half and not soaking the dates for a few hours, (I soaked them for 30 minutes, I’m really impatient) I stuck to the recipe. My only critique is that if you don’t like a strong taste of banana, add a ¼ banana at a time and keep tasting. My ½ banana turned out well, but I can see how it would be a little strong for some people.  Be prepared for an awesome mess in your blender, mine is currently soaking indefinitely. Also, it’s much better chilled, so try to be patient and let it chill for an hour or so.

Overall Rating: Satisfactory

Would I Make It Again and/or Recommend: Yes

Scale:  Super -- Satisfactory -- Average -- Eh -- Puke

Rating Based On:

• Taste - Satisfactory
• Ease of Preparation - Super Easy

Original recipe can be found here:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/3148

Finished product - totally looks like my handprint on the lid...it’s not. 

Raspberry Green Smoothie - Ashley

5-22-12

I didn’t have time to actually make yesterday’s recipe, but it was a smoothie so I made it for breakfast this morning. And! I think it’s safe to say that I strayed so far from the original recipe, I owe it to the creator to give it a re-do. It wasn’t very good; in fact, it was to the point where I was forcing myself to finish it. No one likes a Wasteful Wanda.

Recipe as follows:

Ingredients:

5 cups fresh spinach

1 cup soaked chia seeds

1 cup water

1 tbsp maca

1 tbsp green powder

2 tbsp carob powder

3 frozen bananas

½ cup frozen raspberries

Directions: Soak chia seeds in 2 ½ cups water a couple of days prior to use. Blend everything afterward.

What I did:

I knew that I was only making enough smoothies for Steve and myself so I cut most of the ingredients to:

2 cups of fresh spinach

1 cup water + a few ice cubes (I forgot to freeze my bananas)

2 tbsp carob powder

2 bananas

1 bag frozen strawberries

I went to the health store to get the chia seeds, maca, green powder, and carob and let’s just say it was all out of my price range. I looked everything up online and I’ll be ordering that way and making the smoothie the right way again later. I also didn’t have any raspberries, so I figured strawberries were just as good. I was probably wrong about that. I figured the smoothie would be good with the bananas, strawberries, and carob (a chocolate replacer), but I think the spinach threw it off quite a bit. There’s always next time!

Overall Rating: Puke (if made my way, unfair to rate the real recipe)

Would I Make It Again and/or Recommend: Yes, to make it correctly

Scale:  Super -- Satisfactory -- Average -- Eh -- Puke

Rating Based On:

• Taste - N/A
• Ease of Preparation - Super Easy

The original can be found here:

http://uncooking101.com/site/raw-food-recipe/ultimate-energy-boosting-raspberry-green-smoothie/ (an awesome website for those who are into the raw eating lifestyle)

---

Raspberry Green Smoothie - Amanda

I also didn't follow the ingredients precisely, however here is what I did use:

• 3 cups fresh spinach
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp maca
• 2 tbsp carob powder
• 2 frozen bananas
• ½ cup frozen raspberries

Immediate Feedback: It was REALLY chocolately. I'd definitely back off of the carob powder. I drank the whole thing...but I was starving.

Overall Rating: Eh

Would I Make It Again and/or Recommend: Up in the air

Scale: Super -- Satisfactory -- Average -- Eh -- Puke

Rating Based On:
Taste - Eh
Ease of Preparation - Super Easy

Vegan French Toast - Ashley

5-20-12

Amanda and I decided that we would do a new recipe a day to try different dietary styles. 

Today's recipe:

• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbs. raw cashews
• 4 pitted dates
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 Tbs. whole wheat flour
• 7 pieces of bread

Whiz all ingredients but bread in blender until smooth. Pour into a shallow bowl. Dip the slices of bread into the mix and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400º F until golden brown. Turn and brown the other side. Top with applesauce or fresh fruit.

Actual recipe can be found here:

http://www.godairyfree.org/Recipes/Breakfast/Egg-Free-French-Toast-Vegan-Soy-Free.html

What I did/used:  2tbs raw almonds instead of the cashews (it's what I had...) 

                           I added a tsp of flax seed meal

                          5 pieces of sourdough bread 

                           maple syrup (the real stuff!)

My recommendations: I did NOT like the sourdough bread. Highly recommend using a different bread, but it's what I had. It was still good, just very sourdough-y. Also, I did bake the toast for about 10 minutes on each side, but then I threw it on the griddle for a few minutes per side as well. You may want to grease your cookie sheet and if you're really doing a vegan breakfast, make sure your grease doesn't have animal or animal by-product in it. :-)  

Overall, it was delish and I would definitely make it again after doing a few tweaks. I think I’ll keep it in rotation.

Overall Rating: Satisfactory

Would I Make It Again and/or Recommend: Yes

Scale:  Super -- Satisfactory -- Average -- Eh -- Puke

Rating Based On:

• Taste - Satisfactory
• Ease of Preparation - Super Easy