Girls Overtaking the Kitchen ~ Kid-created Dinner!

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Tonight, I gave my girls the opportunity to make their own dinner – whatever they wanted and mainly all by themselves. This is a great way to see what they are used to eating- kinda like a “monkey see, monkey do” experience. Our kids mimic our eating habits, and I guess that’s why they both created their own salads to accompany their pizzas. They see what I make and eat, and so they naturally follow suit. For us, this was another excellent way to get them excited about eating healthy foods.

Unbeknownst to each other, they both chose pizza for their DIY dinner tonight. Aleyah decided to create a Cuban sandwich pizza, and Anna made a Hawaiian “taco” pizza. I must say, I was really impressed! They stretched the dough, cut veggies for their salads, made homemade dressing, and cleaned up! And both pizzas were delicious, and I even truly liked Aleyah’s dressing for her spinach salad (a mix of the leftover honey mustard dressing, a touch of greek yogurt and mayo, minced garlic, ground ginger, and poppyseeds). They also began to work together and made an apple and yellow pepper salad with a drizzle of honey and fresh lime zest- so proud of my girls!

Cuban Sandwich Pizza

  • Whole wheat pizza dough

  • Honey mustard dressing (equal parts mustard and honey and a touch of olive oil)

  • Swiss cheese

  • Cooked pork

  • Uncured ham

  • Chopped dill pickles (NO food coloring!)

Stretch out dough to desired thickness. Spread on dressing, top with cheese, pork, ham, and pickles. Drizzle with a little more dressing. Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for about 20 minutes. 

Hawaiian Taco Pizza

  • Whole wheat pizza crust

  • Tomato sauce

  • Shredded mozzerella

  • Uncured ham

  • Pineapple

Stretch out dough into a rectangular shape and to desired thickness. Spread on sauce, top with cheese, ham, and pineapple. Pull up two edges to meet in the middle and pinch together. Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for about 20 minutes. 

Tamari Almonds

20140216-184439.jpg Flavored nuts have preservatives in them so I like to make my own. Use raw nuts and experiment with different seasonings and you will be pleased with the outcome!

Tamari Almonds

  • 2 cups raw almonds

  • 2 teaspoons coconut oil

  • 2 teaspoons liquid aminos

  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Mix together oil, aminos, garlic, ginger and pepper in a medium bowl. Add in almonds and stir to coat all the nuts. Cover and allow to sit for 30-60 minutes. Pour nuts onto a cookie sheet and bake at 250 for 10 min. Flip the almonds and bake another 10 minutes. Turn off the oven and keep the nuts in the oven for another hour to continue to dry. Store in an air tight container.

 

Quinoa and Veggie Filled Portabello

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This is one of the dishes I’ve eaten to help aide in the healing of my broken wrist bone. Mushrooms, kale, spinach, quinoa, and yellow peppers offer vitamins K, C, and D, magnesium, calcium, and protein- all the key nutrients for bone healing! I try to cook large batches of brown rice and quinoa so I have extra to eat later or simply freeze for a future meal. And that is what I did here.

Assembly:

I defrosted some quinoa and then sautéed some carrots, celery, kale, and garlic. These veggies were tossed with the quinoa, placed on the roasted Portabello from the previous night’s dinner (For the portabello I used olive oil, s&p, and balsamic vinegar and roasted it for 20 min at 400). I placed it in the microwave to heat through and then added some fresh yellow pepper to the top and served it on a bed of spinach. Voila!

Caesared Brussel Sprouts – “A Salad For Each Week” #17

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I love my mom’s Caesar salad dressing and have been making a lot of it lately since my girls love it too. But it doesn’t just go well with crisp romaine- it goes great on roasted brussel sprouts! I tossed the sprouts in the caesar dressing and roasted them at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Warm, slightly sweet, and garlicky all at the same time- yummy!

Caesar Dressing

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

  • 2 inches of anchovy paste

  • 2-3 cloves of garlic

  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard

  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

  • Fresh grated Parmesan

On a cutting board, place the anchovy paste, dry mustard, and pepper in a pile. Put the garlic cloves onto them and begin to mince and mash together until it resembles a chunky paste. Pour the oil and Worcestershire sauce into a glass jar with a lid (I like to use my mason jars). Add the anchovy mix and seal the jar. Shake well before pouring. Place brussel sprouts into a bowl and pour on dressing. Shake gently to coat. Place on a cookie sheet and grate fresh Parmesan cheese onto the sprouts. Bake 20 minutes or so. Keep leftover dressing in the fridge for up to one week.

Other recipes you will enjoy:

“A Salad For Each Week” Recipes:

  1. Broccoli and White Bean Salad

  2. Asian Purple Cabbage Slaw

  3. Fresh and Minty Cantaloupe and Tomato Salad

  4. Tangy Kale and Sweet Potato Bit Salad

  5. Key Lime Corn and Black Bean Salad

  6. Green Bean, Tomato, and Mozzarella Pesto Salad

  7. “So Long Summer” Salad

  8. Pickle Salsa

  9. Gingery Broccoli and Carrot Salad

  10. Mediterranean Farro Salad

  11. Home Grown Kale and Pumpkin Seed Salad

  12. Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Warm Chutney Dressing

  13. Cranberry and Orange Quinoa Salad

  14. Southwest Ranch Dressing

  15. Marinated Mushrooms

  16. Fajita Quinoa

Chex Mix in my Oven

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I skipped pass the BOGO Chex Mix deal at my Publix today. Instead, I bought a box of Cascadian Farms Multigrain Squares (also on sale) and headed home to make our own (without preservatives like modified starch or BHT). I mixed the cereal with Newman’s High Protein pretzels, peanuts, and a scattering of Rice Works chips. I used the original Chex Mix dressing recipe but just made it healthier by replacing the butter with olive oil and more satisfying for a hungry tummy by using the higher protein and fiber ingredients. Now the kids will have that all week to snack on at school. Oh, and the warm oven heated my chilly home for an hour 🙂

Fajita Quinoa – “A Salad For Each Week” #16

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After a few weeks of Christmas happenings, traveling to see family, and getting back into the swing of the normal school-year schedule, I am now finally posting a salad recipe that is yet another grab-and-go dish in my “A Salad For Each Week” series.
This salad is based on my infatuation for all Mexican food- particularly fajitas! I love the taste of all the peppers and onions in this sizzling meal, so I concocted this lighter and healthier version that is still full of flavor.

Fajita Quinoa

  • 2 cups cooked quinoa

  • 1 green pepper, sliced

  • 1 red pepper, sliced

  • 1 cup sliced onion

  • 2 garlic cloves, minced

  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin

  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika

  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

  • Dash of sea salt

  • 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

Saute peppers, onion, and garlic in a little bit of water over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, pour cumin, paprika, pepper, and salt onto quinoa and stir to mix. Once veggies are done, you can either stir them into the quinoa or serve on top of it. Garnish with fresh cilantro. Enjoy immediately or the next day when it is even better! Makes 4 servings.

Other recipes you will enjoy:

“A Salad For Each Week” Recipes:

  1. Broccoli and White Bean Salad

  2. Asian Purple Cabbage Slaw

  3. Fresh and Minty Cantaloupe and Tomato Salad

  4. Tangy Kale and Sweet Potato Bit Salad

  5. Key Lime Corn and Black Bean Salad

  6. Green Bean, Tomato, and Mozzarella Pesto Salad

  7. “So Long Summer” Salad

  8. Pickle Salsa

  9. Gingery Broccoli and Carrot Salad

  10. Mediterranean Farro Salad

  11. Home Grown Kale and Pumpkin Seed Salad

  12. Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Warm Chutney Dressing

  13. Cranberry and Orange Quinoa Salad

  14. Southwest Ranch Dressing

  15. Marinated Mushrooms

Clean Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken

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This meal has become a favorite in my house. I can even serve it as leftovers for my husband (who is a leftover snob), and he will happily eat it! Between the wonderful flavors, the lean chicken, the peanut butter, and a fiber-rich whole grain, this is a meal that will leave you completely satisfied.

  • 4 boneless chicken breasts (about 2 – 2.5 pounds) sliced into think strips

  • 1 cup Chunky Peanut Butter

  • 2/3 cup broth (chicken or veggie)

  • 3 Tablespoons organic soy sauce

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 teaspoons onion flakes

  • 1 Tablespoon honey

  • Juice of one lime

  • 2 tablespoons of coconut oil

  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

  • Fresh cilantro as garnish

Coat bottom of the crock pot with coconut oil. Place in chicken. In a medium bowl, mix all remaining ingredients except for the cilantro. Pour the mixture over the chicken. Cook for 6 hours. Serve over whole grain noodles or brown rice and top with chopped fresh cilantro.

Check out some of my other great slow cooker recipes like Chicken Piccata, Mango and Black Bean Chicken and Chex Mix Chicken.

Dried Herbs on Evergreen Boughs

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Looking for a way to continue to enjoy your dying Christmas tree? Try using it as a drying rack for your fresh herbs. I simply pulled (or touched at this point!) off some of the tree’s needles. I cut fresh basil, rosemary, and mint and tied them with yarn to the tree limb. I started them off by my kitchen window (as seen in this picture), but then read where the moist and aromatic air of the kitchen is not the ideal place for them and neither is the sunlight. So find a place that lacks sunlight and has dry air, hang your herbs there, and enjoy the drying process (1-4 weeks) and the last of your Christmas tree! Use your herbs in your favorite dishes or in a decorative fashion.

Lemon “Poppy” Seed Scones

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My oldest daughter decided that we should have a Christmas tea party. Therefore, we did. My mom hosted this tea party on Saturday and it was requested that I make lemon poppy seed scones. I used my orange date scone recipe as my base and decided to replace the poppy seeds with chia seeds- always looking for a way to add a healthy twist! Here is the recipe that left little remaining on the serving plate:

Lemon “Poppy” Seed Scones

1 cup organic whole-wheat flour

1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free flour mix

1/4 cup organic coconut sugar

1/4 cup local honey

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chia seeds

6 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup almond milk

Zest and juice of one lemon

1. In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, salt, shia seeds and baking powder. Stir until mixed. In a medium bowl, whisk together coconut oil and honey. Add to flour mixture. In that medium bowl, mix egg, milk, and lemon juice and zest. Add into flour mixture. Gently stir just until combined and dough forms a large ball.
2. Preheat oven to 350°. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured baking sheet. With floured hands, pat dough into an 8-inch round, about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut round into eight pie-shaped wedges. Bake until lightly browned around the edges, about 20 minutes. Cool on a baking rack. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over warm scones if desired.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree! How Healthy Are Your Branches!

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This was my oldest daughter’s creation last week. An edible Christmas tree…creative and healthy!