Month: February 2014

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Weekly Meal Planning Inspiration

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We have a busy week here this week! My youngest turns TWO tomorrow! The smiles and tears will probably be ever-present this week. My parents are flying in as well and we have the party this weekend. So, there’s a LOT going on! That in mind, I chose recipes that I’m really comfortable with, will please a “crowd”, and can be made pretty easily. Enjoy!

Monday: Baked swordfish, rice and broccoli

Tuesday: “Like” fried chicken (baked), mashed potatoes and cauliflower

Wednesday: Southwestern beef casserole (with added spinach and olives)

Thursday: Roasted vegetable nachos
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Roasted Brussels Sprouts Recipe

One of our favorite side dishes is roasted brussels sprouts. They are bright, crispy and flavorful. I didn’t like brussels sprouts as a child. I remember they were steamed, a little mushy, somewhat stinky and served with vinegar. Blech. (Sorry, Mom and Dad!) Once I discovered the beauty of roasting pretty much anything, I was sold!
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So few ingredients and so little time needed for this!

Cut the ends off your brussels and slice them in half. Wash them under cold water in a colander and shake off the excess water.
Line a large pan with parchment paper (I prefer unbleached parchment paper).
Dump the brussels on the pan. Drizzle with a high heat oil (NOT olive oil) – try Safflower, Sunflower or Coconut. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Using clean hands massage the oil into the brussels.
With your oven set to 425F, put the brussels sprouts in and check every 8 minutes, shaking and turning them over. Depending on how crispy you like the outsides, they’ll be done in 15-25 minutes. You’ll want them to be fork tender.
Serve immediately.

Please find affiliate links for my favorite products below:

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Weekly Meal Planning Inspiration

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Here’s to another week in February with some fun meal plans! I really enjoyed all the plans I posted last week. Did you try any? I also made the truffles and the truffle-stuffed cupcakes I mentioned and they were amazing!

This week I’m trying a few new recipes too. Sometimes, despite my greatest efforts, maintaining interesting meals while rotating healthy, clean proteins (wild fish, organic, grass fed beef, and organic chicken) feels boring! I’ve been experimenting more with Paleo meals, mainly because they are different and interesting, but not because we are “going Paleo”. I’m always curious about grain-free cooking, but grains are still very much a part of our lives. I’ve discovered a bag of buckwheat that I haven’t used and decided to add that in this week as a different gluten-free grain for my family. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Monday: Herb & cheese crusted tilapia with tomato sauce, asparagus, rice

Tuesday: Slow cooker chicken enchiladas with Paleo tortillas, avocados on top and a side spinach salad

Wednesday: Eye of round roast and buckwheat “risotto” with broccoli & mushrooms

Thursday: Gluten-free mac n (goat) cheese with spinach
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Snow Cream Ice-Cream (Made Healthier)

I didn’t intend to write about Snow Cream Ice-Cream today. Or yesterday, either. I wasn’t sure what I would post about, actually. And then the snow came. It fell and it fell and it fell and when it stopped, we ran outside to play and then it fell some more. I remembered to put bowls out to catch the fresh snow for snow cream and I had to share!
Snow Cream Ice-Cream

What is snow cream? It’s ice cream, but it’s made with freshly fallen snow and it’s amazing. Here’s how I make it:

Bowl of freshly fallen snow
Cream (I use SoDelicious Coconut Creamer)
Dash of organic vanilla
Organic Maple Syrup
Optional: raw cacao powder

Mix it all together and adjust to taste.
It’s that easy!

You can see my daughter loves the vanilla, but I prefer chocolate. Between the organic maple syrup, organic vanilla, coconut milk cream and raw cacao powder, you can’t really go wrong! You don’t need much of the ingredients above, just enough to wet the snow and stir.

It makes for a sweet ending to a sweet day. There’s something wonderful about a snow day, with Daddy home from work and kids in their snow suits running through 18 inches of snow. We dug tunnels to walk in and ate more snow than anyone probably should. We snuggled and loved and read books and made Valentines’ and pretty much had what I would call the perfect winter day.

You know all those health benefits of chocolate? The real health benefits are in the raw cacao because it hasn’t been heated, so the enzymes are alive and able to provide all the benefits to you! Here’s the affiliate link for the raw cacao powder we purchase (as usual:

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Weekly Meal Planning Inspiration

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Hello Valentine’s week! I kind of wish, now that I look at my meal plan, that I was one of those Pinterest moms and had a whole heart- and love-themed meal plan for the week but I don’t. I planned meals around sales at the store and items in my pantry and freezer. I have some hopes to make some special treats this week and maybe Friday I’ll cut out the leftover pancakes into heart shapes, but I think that’s about it! How about you?

Monday: Catfish, bok choy, and garlic butter quinoa

Tuesday: Paleo chicken tenders, streamed broccoli and roasted potatoes

Wednesday: Cincinnati chili in the crockpot with pasta and a spinach salad

Thursday: Tofu with peanut sauce and spinach (crockpot) over rice

Now for those treats. I really, really, really want to make these gluten-free truffles by Gluten Free on a Shoestring. And then I want to put them inside these cupcakes…. Will I? I don’t know. But I’m gonna try!
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Tamale Pie Recipes

Tamale Pie is so versatile; you can do all kinds of things with it! You can use meat instead of beans, or mix half and half, or add more veggies or less veggies, cow’s dairy cheese, goat’s cheese, vegan cheese or no cheese. I really don’t think you can go wrong with this recipe! It’s like a shepherd’s pie but with cornbread instead of mashed potatoes, beans instead of meat. It’s nostalgic to me because I remember my dad making it when I was a kid. I have moments when I’m desperate to recreate those meals that warmed my heart and my stomach. This one did not disappoint!
Note: I made a large quantity (a 9×13 and an 8×8) – you can easily halve this recipe, but it does freeze nicely!

Tamale Pie

Ingredients:
2 cups dried beans (I chose black and kidney)
Water and vinegar to soak
Water and kombu to cook
Oil for cooking
1 chopped onion
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
1 small can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 large can or jar of tomatoes (about 28 oz)
2 cups spinach (or more, or less)
2 cups cornmeal
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 Tbsp melted butter
4 cups buttermilk (I make buttermilk by adding apple cider vinegar to a non-dairy milk like SoDelicious coconut milk beverage)
2 eggs
2/3 cup frozen corn, thawed
1-2 cups shredded cheese (I use goat cheddar)

Directions:
Soak the beans overnight in water with a splash of vinegar. This helps with digestibility.
Cook the beans with kombu and water to cover, until tender. (Kombu contains the enzyme needed to break down oligosaccharides in beans.) Transfer the beans and cooking liquid to a heat safe bowl.
Add the chopped onion to the pot and cook in oil (I choose coconut oil) until soft. Add the tomato paste and spices and stir, cooking until fragrant. Then add the tomatoes, bring to a steady simmer, and add the beans.
Allow the beans and tomatoes to simmer, letting the flavors combine, and then add a few handfuls of spinach. Cover until spinach wilts. Then stir in.
Transfer the beans and tomato mixture to a 9×13 and an 8×8 pan.
Prepare the cornbread topping. Combine cornmeal, baking soda, salt, butter, buttermilk, eggs, corn and cheese.
Pour over the pans. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.
Enjoy!

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Weekly Meal Plan Inspiration

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Welcome to another week! We had a bit of lovely weather this weekend, which makes the cold ice-rain easier to handle this week!

Monday: Paleo fish tacos (new recipe – probably will use corn tortillas even though it’s not officially Paleo!)

Tuesday: Another new recipe – Paleo chicken nachos – I love the idea of the peppers as “chips”, but again, I will probably bring tortilla chips into the final product. This recipe will also let me use some leftover chicken in the freezer (a big money-saver).

Wednesday: Spaghetti and meatballs, using my favorite recipe; I add lots of fresh spinach to the sauce for some added nutrition

Thursday: And yet another new recipe (I must be feeling ambitious this week!): Tuscan white bean soup with kale and hot, toasted garlic bread – sounds heavenly.