Fresh and Minty Cantaloupe and Tomato Salad

Minty Cantaloupe and Tomato Salad

Salad 3 in “A Salad For Each Week” Series

This is a salad that I posted awhile back. However, with the heat of summer sitting upon us, it seemed only fitting to use these cool and refreshing fruits for one of my “A Salad For Each Week” recipes. Once again, thanks to my friend Heather for convincing me to try this when I would have otherwise passed it by!

Minty Cantaloupe and Tomato Salad

1 Cantaloupe-cut into bite sized pieces
1 pint of cherry tomatoes cut in half
handful of chopped mint
sprinkle of kosher salt
2 tbsp of rice vinegar
2 tbsp of olive oil

Place all ingredients into a bowl and gently mix. Let it stand for a bit in order for the flavors to marry. Enjoy!

Also try my Asian Purple Cabbage Slaw and my Broccoli and White Bean Salad!

Sunshine for Your Monday Morning

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A little pineapple and peach “sunshine” awaits my family this morning! Have a wonderful week everyone!

Asian Purple Cabbage Slaw

20130811-123153.jpg Here is salad #2 in my “A Salad For Each Week” series. This was created specifically for Joel’s birthday dinner. He loves red peppers, carrots, and will actually pick out the cabbage from a salad just to eat it plain. The flavors develop as it chills in the fridge so enjoy it over the course of a few days. Add in tuna for a complete meal or scoop some into a large leaf of romaine for a lettuce wrap.

  • Half of a head of purple cabbage

  • 2 medium to large-sized red peppers

  • 2 cups loosely packed shredded carrots

  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil

  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

  • 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (preferably organic)

  • 2 garlic cloves, minced

  • Pepper to taste

  • Fresh cilantro

  • Sesame seeds

Julienne the cabbage and peppers (That’s fancy  for “cut into long, thin pieces strips”.) Add coconut oil, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and black pepper into a large bowl. Whisk together. Add in the cabbage, peppers, and carrots and gently toss to coat. Place in fridge to chill until ready to serve. Top with fresh cilatro and sesame seeds when ready to enjoy.

Also try my Broccoli and White Bean Salad!

Dear Summer,

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Dear Summer,

Your warm and carefree days rolled in at the end of May, and have all too soon disappeared. But I want to thank you for allowing me the precious time with my children. We may not have traveled far, enrolled in a countless camps, or spent extra time practicing math facts. However, the kids stayed in their jammies until lunch on some days, they created some (ok- a lot of!) pretty cool Lego structures, and battled one another with Star Wars figures and ships.  We played countless games of Uno and Skip Bo, took many trips to the library, and spent time with family and friends. We are not promised tomorrow, so I am grateful that we took advantage of the yesterdays! I have no regrets from the past three months- just wonderful and treasured memories!

“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” James 4:14

Homemade and Healthy PB&J Uncrustables

This is the ingredient list for Smucker’s Uncrustables Peanut Butter and Grape Jelly Sandwiches:

Ingredients:

BREAD: ENRICHED UNBLEACHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, UNBLEACHED WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: SALT, WHEAT GLUTEN, DOUGH CONDITIONERS (DISTILLED MONOGLYCERIDES, SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, DATEM, ENZYMES [WITH AMYLASE, LIPASE, ASCORBIC ACID, CALCIUM PEROXIDE, AZODICARBONAMIDE, WHEAT STARCH]), YEAST. PEANUT BUTTER: PEANUTS, DEXTROSE, SUGAR, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES (PALM AND/OR SOYBEAN OIL), CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED AND/OR RAPESEED), SALT, MOLASSES. GRAPE JELLY: GRAPE JUICE, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: PECTIN, CITRIC ACID, POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVATIVE).

YUCK and NO THANK YOU! Trans Fat (Hydrogenated oils), corn syrups, sugars, white flour, and preservatives. Quick and easy for a busy family? Yes. Nutritious? No. What’s an alternative? Make a bunch yourself for those rushed mornings and feel good about sending these ‘Uncrustables” to school in your child’s lunchbox.20130808-201343.jpg

What you need:

  • Whole grain bread (I love our local Busy Bee’s Organic Stone Ground Whole Wheat Bread)

  • Peanut Butter – no trans fat, little to no added sugar

  • Jelly – fruit juice- sweetened, no added sugar

  • 3″-4″ round cookie cutter (or any fun shape!)

  • A slice of banana, peel still on but slightly pulled back

  • Wax paper

  • Freezer bag/container

Use your cookie cutter to cut out 2 circles from the bread slices. Rub around the outside of one of the circles with the banana holding the tip as a handle (I learned this “glue” trick from Bobby Deen on The Cooking Channel!). Place a dollop of peanut butter in the middle of that circle. On the other circle, place a scoop of jelly in the center of the bread. Turn the peanut butter slice onto the jelly slice. Pinch the edges together to form a tight seam. Place the sandwich onto wax paper and fold the wax paper over to completely cover the sandwich. Place into a freezer bag or container. Pull out as needed.

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Salad Bowl Shake Up

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To go along with my weekly salad ideas, including yesterday’s Broccoli and White Bean Salad, I came across this “Savvy Salad Ideas for Summer” post from the nutritional blog by the Mayo Clinic. It “breaks down” a salad into different components and makes suggestions on how to incorporate each of the following groups: Leafy greens, Carbohydrates and whole grains, Proteins,Vegetables and fruits, Herbs and spices, and extras. 

Your salad bowl is a blank canvas! Use these ideas to create a lunch or dinner that satisfies your hunger AND cravings!

Broccoli and White Bean Salad

20130802-085618.jpg With the craziness of schedules starting back up for young families, my goal is to post one salad a week for through the next school year. These salads will be make-ahead dishes that you can grab-and-go and will last a few days in the fridge. Therefore, you have no excuse for not having something healthy on hand for a snack or meal- whether for you or your kids 🙂

Broccoli is inexpensive as are white beans. This dish is packed full of fiber and has some protein and healthy fats as well to keep your tummy full. You can eat it ‘as is’ for a snack or always add in some chicken or turkey to make this a perfect lunchtime meal.

  • 1 head broccoli, chopped

  • 1/4-1/3 cup (depending on its strength and your preference!) purple onion, diced

  • 1 cup white beans

  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

  • 1 good squeeze of an orange

  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic

  • 1 teaspoon honey

  • Salt and pepper to taste

Place oil, vinegar, OJ, garlic, honey, and s&p into a medium bowl. Whisk together. Add in broccoli, beans and onion. Mix together to coat and then place in fridge to chill. This is best served after sitting for a couple of hours and is even better the next day since the flavors marry and the broccoli absorbs the oil, vinegar, and juice.

My Daughters Need Your ‘Like’ for a $50 Gift Card!

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I’m shamelessly asking for you to take 30 seconds and click ‘like’ under the photos of my girls’ decorated toe shoes for a contest at our local dancewear store. Click on the two links below and hit the ‘like’ button under each photo. My girls have a chance of winning a $50 gift card for all their ballet needs. And now that I have downsized my hummus business, this could really help out! Voting ends Sunday! Thanks and share!!

Click here for Anna’s shoe

AND THEN click here for Aleyah’s shoe

Speaking of my Crazy Schedule…

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In my “Downsizing” post earlier this week, I mentioned that this Saturday, July 27th would be my final set-up at the Indialantic Fresh Market. Well, since Scott’s one summer class has been overwhelming and it ends this week, we decided to celebrate with our only family “vacation” this summer and head out of town for Friday and Saturday. This means I am pushing back my last farmer’s market appearance until next Saturday, Aug. 3rd. Thanks for understanding!!

Pickle Salsa

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My daughter, Aleyah, arrived home yesterday from a 10 day trip. If you’re like me, you feel the need to “detox” after vacation. While I try my hardest to stick with my healthy eating lifestyle, vacation always seems to throw a kink into it. Eating out, being off schedule, and sometimes insufficient cooking /refrigeration needs lead to an overall feeling of sluggishness. With this in mind, when she arrived home last night, I had a cuban roasted pork loin waiting for her (loads of garlic, key lime juice fresh from the tree, cumin, and fresh cilantro), black beans (not from a can!) and organic brown rice, cantaloupe slices, and pickle salsa. Yep. Pickle Salsa! The salsa was a hit and I made it again tonight!

  • 1 cup chopped dill pickles (I use WF’s 365 brand – no food dyes in this one!)

  • 1/2 cup fresh chopped tomatoes

  • 1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper

  • 1/2 cup diced onion

  • 1 cup pickle juice

  • 2 teaspoons garlic, minced

  • Touch of salt

  • Pepper

  • Fresh cilantro

Place all ingredients (except cilantro) into a bowl. Stir and cover. Chill and serve with fresh cilantro as garnish. It is best made the day before. Enjoy on black beans and rice, with tortilla chips, or over a bed of romaine.