Day 1 of Whole30 and Salmon Cakes

Day 1-Monday, September 12, 2016

Woke up at 5 am. I hid my scale and won’t bring it out again until I am done with my 30 days minimum. Ate a fried egg 6 am, 2 fried eggs 730 am. Tried to make the homemade mayo, it is really runny, searched online and found some tips… add another egg slowly, put in fridge. We will see if it thickens up… Lunch-romaine lettuce hard boiled egg, diced chicken breast, cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper, cucumber, salsa, apple. Dinner No-Fuss Salmon Cakes, asparagus drizzled with olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, handful of cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas and grapes. The Salmon cakes were pretty easy to make. I will include photos from the Whole30 book.  There were 5 of us at dinner tonight and 3 of us really liked the salmon cakes.
Mayo seems to have thickened up some. It smells good, tastes OK. I ordered a hand mixer, it should be here tomorrow. I will try again then. :)

The recipe calls for canned sweet potatoes. I could not find canned sweet potatoes at Walmart that were compliant with the rules. They all were canned in syrup. I just went ahead and bought 2 sweet potatoes. I peeled and diced them and boiled till soft. Then when I added them to the bowl with the other ingredients I used a fork to mash them up coarsely.

Talena's adventure with The Whole30

Today is the first day of my Whole30. You can read more about the Whole30 here.  I am going to post the basic "rules" and I hope to update daily about my experience. 

The Whole30 Program Rules

100%--no slips, cheats, or special occasions

Basic Guidelines

YES: Eat meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruit, and natural fats.

NO: Do not consume sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, or dairy. Do not consume baked goods or “treats.” Do not weigh or measure yourself.

• DO NOT CONSUME ADDED SUGAR OF ANY KIND, REAL OR ARTIFICIAL. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.
• DO NOT EAT GRAINS. This includes wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, sprouted grains, and all gluten-free psuedo-cereals like amaranth, buckwheat, or quinoa. This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn, and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch, and so on. Again, read your labels.
• DO NOT EAT LEGUMES. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).
• DO NOT EAT DAIRY. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream… with the exception of clarified butter or ghee. (See below for details.)
• DO NOT CONSUME ALCOHOL IN ANY FORM, NOT EVEN FOR COOKING.  (And it should go without saying, but no tobacco products of any sort, either.)
• DO NOT CONSUME CARRAGEENAN, MSG, OR ADDED SULFITES. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.
• DO NOT RECREATE BAKED GOODS, “TREATS”, OR JUNK FOODS WITH APPROVED INGREDIENTS. Continuing to eat your old, unhealthy foods made with Whole30 ingredients is totally missing the point, and will tank your results faster than you can say “Paleo Pop-Tarts.” Remember, these are the same foods that got you into health-trouble in the first place—and a pancake is still a pancake, regardless of the ingredients.
• DO NOT STEP ON SCALE OR TAKE MEASUREMENTS. This is about so much more than just weight loss, and to focus on your body composition means you’ll miss out on the most dramatic and lifelong benefits this plan has to offer.

*Exceptions to the rule*

• CLARIFIED BUTTER OR GHEE.
• FRUIT JUICE AS A SWEETENER. Products or recipes including orange, apple or other fruit juices are permitted on the program, although we encourage you not to go overboard here.
• GREEN BEANS, SNOW PEAS, AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS.
• VINEGAR. Most forms of vinegar, including white, balsamic, apple cider, red wine, white wine, champagne, and rice, are allowed. The only exceptions are flavored vinegars with added sugar, or malt vinegar, which is thought to contain gluten.

WISH ME LUCK!!!

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken, Gluten Free (or not)

I was talking to my sister today about food and told her about the Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken I made last night for dinner. It was really yummy and super easy. I loosely followed this recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/crock-pot-chicken-teriyaki, but adapted it for us. Here's what I did:

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

2 Large Chicken Breasts

1/2 cup (gluten free) teriyaki sauce

1 1/2 cups water (or chicken broth if you don't have vegetable broth powder)

1/2 TBS vegetable broth powder

1/3 cup brown sugar (I did loosely packed to try to be slightly healthier)

3 cloves minced garlic cloves

Mix the last 5 ingredients in your crock pot, then add the chicken breasts. (I cut each one in 1/3's because I needed it to cook in time for dinner). I cooked on high for about 4 hours then took the lid off and shredded the chicken. Then I mixed:

1/2 cup cold water and

2 TBS potato starch (only because I was out of corn starch)

And added that to the contents of the crock pot and stirred. It thickened immediately.

I served this over brown rice with asparagus, broccoli and cauliflower on the side (all from my bountiful basket). It was a very satisfying meal!

Anyone else want to share a recipe that has worked for you recently?

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies: Gluten Free version

I just read over my last post. So much for posting next week. How about next year?! Better late then never I guess. My little guy has officially been gluten free for a year now. Wow, where does the time go? We have had ups and downs but overall he is doing so much better than he was before we cut out gluten.
Over the past year I have learned a lot about different grains for baking and though I don't do as much baking now that my son is gluten free, I have come across some delicious recipes and we are finding our groove. If I talked to someone who is just starting on their gluten free journey, my words of wisdom would be, "be patient. It gets easier!"
So, with that said I wanted to share my first gluten free recipe that I created myself! Well, kind of. I mostly copied an old beloved cookie recipe that my mom used to make and I love. They are my favorite banana chocolate chip cookies and they are just as good wheatless as they were with wheat.
First though, a note about gluten free flour mixes. I like to mix up my own flours, partly because I like to think it might be a bit cheaper, but mostly because I like to think my homemade mixes are a bit more nutritious then what you would find on the shelf in the grocery store. They also have more flavor. My favorite mix for baking cookies I found over at frugalfarmwife.com. Here is a link to her mix.* I like this one because it is 2/3 whole grains to 1/3 starch. Most GF baking recommends using more starch (like 50%starch) for your baking to turn out light and tasty. While that does work out really well for baking so does this mix and it's a bit healthier.
So without further ado, here is the recipe:

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies: Gluten Free

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend* (1 part corn flour, 1 part brown rice flour, 1 part corn starch)

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. Xantham gum

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/4 tsp. all spice (or nutmeg)

1 3/4 cup gluten free rolled oats (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (I use 1-3 large ones, depending on how many are going bad on my counter)

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Cream together the butter, oil, sugar, and egg with a hand mixer. Add the flour, soda, xantham gum, salt, cinnamon, all spice, and oats (I don't do this in a separate bowl. I don't like washing dishes. I just dump it all in and it's always worked out fine). Mix again with hand mixer until blended fairly well. Peel the bananas and throw them on top and then mix once again with the hand mixer. This should give you the consistency of thick banana bread type stuff. You could probably bake it in a loaf pan and call it banana bread, but who would want to do that when you could now add the chocolate chips and make cookies? After mixing in the chocolate chips, drop by spoonfuls on to a lightly greased cookie sheet (I do 24 per sheet) and bake for about 12 min. or until the bottoms are light brown and slightly crispy.

Enjoy!

Our Next Big Food Adventure!

I've been wanting to blog about this for awhile now, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Well, here it goes.

We are stepping into the slightly overwhelming world of going gluten free for a couple of our kids who look like they have celiacs disease. If you don't believe celiacs is a real disease, I don't want to hear about it! I finally found out why my almost six year old son has not been gaining any weight (he only weighs about 30 lbs) and has no energy, constant tummy pain and almost constant leg aches. He has been gluten free for about 3 weeks now and I am seeing a world of difference in him! He is starting to regain energy, his face doesn't look so pale, and he is not doubled over in constant tummy pain anymore. I used to have to beg him and drag him out the door for any kind of exercise. Contrast that with yesterday when he was bouncing around on the couch jumping on me wanting to wrestle while I was cuddling his little sister who woke up grumpy from her nap. Finally in exasperation I suggested a walk/bike ride and he was thrilled. He ran and got his own shoes and jacket on, jumped on his bike and we went. Basically he acted like a normal 5 year old boy and it almost made me cry because he feels good! I did not realize he has felt so crummy his whole life. I thought he just had a mellow personality. I mean, I knew he had a lot of tummy aches, but he would just mention it a couple times a day and then go on with life.

So, my sister asked me the other day, "how do you even start with the gluten free life?" I am lucky that for him, it actually hasn't been too difficult. One of his favorite foods was already rice. Popcorn also makes a great snack. He also likes apples, corn, peas, carrots, and will even eat green salad. The only thing he really likes that we have had to cut out is graham crackers. He used to eat them dipped in milk every night before bed, but now he eats Kix or Chex instead. One of his favorite breakfasts was Puffy Pancakes (or German pancakes, or whatever you call them!) and those have been easy to duplicate.

Here's the super simple recipe I use for those:

Gluten Free Puffy Pancakes

3 TBS butter, melted in 8x8 glass dish in 400 degree oven

3 eggs

1/2 cup gluten free all purpose flour (I've been using the Pillsbury brand)

1/2 cup milk

Put all the ingredients in the blender (except the butter melting in the oven) and blend really well. Then dump the batter into the hot glass dish in the oven and bake at 400 for about 15 min.

These don't puff nearly as well as puffy pancakes with wheat flour, but they still taste good. I have also found this gluten free cooking for dummies crepe recipe that he really likes. Again, I just use the Pillsbury GF all purpose flour and leave out the vanilla and almond flavorings and cut the sugar in half, and these taste almost like the ones we are used to, and not bad by any means.

Despite all these things that he will eat, he is still hungry a lot. This caused me a minor panic attack one Sunday when we got home from church at 2 and he told me he was starving and I couldn't think of anything to feed him! So I am now venturing into the world of gluten free baking in the hopes that we can have bread and other foods on hand for those situations.

My challenge now is that the pre-made GF all purpose flour mixtures aren't really all that nutritious. In fact I'm finding that a lot of things being marketed and sold as GF are full of lots of starches and not much whole grain.

One of the exciting things I've learned is that there are so many grains out there! We limit ourselves so much by just eating wheat all the time. So, next week I'll post about some of our adventures trying other types of grains. I still have tons to learn but thank goodness there are many bloggers and others out there who have done a lot of the experimentation and are sharing their knowledge.

So, armed with the internet and my brand new Blendtec Kitchen Mill grinder, we're going to meet this new challenge head on and try new things!

Homemade Ice Cream

These recipes were given to me by Cassie Wynn, This is the ice cream Don and Cassie made for the dinner following the Huntsman Ride on Saturday June 21, 2014
Follow manufacturer's instructions to freeze the ice cream. :)


Berry Ice Cream

Whip together 4 eggs and 2 cups of sugar.  Add 2 quarts heavy whipping cream, 1 Tbsp vanilla 3-4 cups mashed fruit (Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, including 1 mashed banana)... add 1/4 cup orange juice concentrate, 2 tsp. lime juice and fill to the fill line with whole milk.

Chocolate Ice Cream

In a pan mix 2 cups sugar and 3/4 cups cocoa and a little cream.  Stir over medium heat until bubbly and no more lumps.  Remove from heat and add a little more cream to cool it down. Whip 3-4 eggs in ice cream canister and add the chocolate mixture to the canister.  Add the rest of the cream (totaling 2 quarts) 1 Tbsp vanilla and enough whole milk to fill to the fill line.

Meat-Tomato Freezer Mix

Once upon a time, a long time ago, hamburger was the cheapest meat you could buy in the store. Whole cookbooks were devoted to creative things you could do with hamburger. Here is a freezer mix made with hamburger. But you could use chicken and do the same thing. Then freeze the mixture and use it to make a dinner. The Spanish Rice, the Enchiladas, the Goulash, the Lentil Stew, the Tacos--I think that all of these would be good with chicken if you prefer it over the hamburger.

BEEF-TOMATO FREEZER MIX
4 pounds ground beef

2 1/2 large onions, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups

1 cup chopped green pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 cans (15 ounces each) tomato sauce

1 can (12 ounces) tomato paste

2 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon pepper

Cook and stir meet in Dutch oven (i.e., big pot) until brown. Ddrain off fat. Stir in remaining ingredients; heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Divide mixture among four 1-quart freezer containers (about 3 cups in each). Cool quickly cover and label; freeze no longer than 3 months. Us freezer mix in the recipes that follow.

(Note: If you prefer, the mixture can be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 days. In that case, decrease the cooking times in the following recipes)

RECIPES FOR WHAT TO DO WITH THE BEEF-TOMATO FREEZER MIX

FREEZER MIX GOULASH

1 Container frozen Beef-Tomato Freezer Mix

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup catsup

1 cup sliced celery

1 can (4 oz.) mushroom stems and pieces, drained

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

3 ounces noodles (about 1 1/2 cups) (could use rice instead)

Dip container of frozen mix into hot water just to loosen. Place frozen mix and remaining ingredients except noodles in 2-quart saucepan; heat to boiling;. Reduce heat; cover adn simmer, stirring frequently, until mix is thawed and celery is tender, about 40 minutes.

While meat mixture is simmering, cook noodles or rice as directed on package; drain. Stir noodles into meat mixture and simmer until hot.

FREEZER MIX SPANISH RICE

1 container frozen Beef-Tomato Freezer Mix

5 slices bacon, crisply fried and crumbled

1 cup uncooked regular rice

2 1/2 cups water

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves

Dip container of frozen mix into hot water just to loosen. In large skillet, heat frozen mix and remaining ingredients to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mix is thawed and rice is tender, about 30 minutes. (A small amount of water can be added if necessary.)

FREEZER MIX MEXICAN CASSEROLE

1 container frozen Beef-Tomato Freezer Mix

1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons chili powder

1/3 cup water

1 can (16 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained

1 can (2 1/4 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup biscuit baking mix

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal

3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

Dip container of frozen mix into hot water just to loosen. In 2-quart saucepan, heat frozen mix, chili powder and water to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer, stirring frequently, until mix is partial thawed, about 15 minutes. Stir in corn and olives; heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 5 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. While meat mixture is simmering, mix remaining ingredients. Pour hot meat mixture into ungreased 2-quart casserole. Drop batter by teaspoonfuls about 1/2 inch apart onto meat mixture. (The batter will bake together to form crust.) Bake uncovered 20 minutes.

FREEZER MIX ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

1 container frozen Beef-Tomato Freezer Mix

1/4 cup water

1 can (2 1/4 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained (1/2 cup)

1 1/2 to teaspoons chili powder

6 corn tortillas

1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

Dip container of frozen mix into hot water just to loosen. In 2-quart saucepan, heat frozen mix, water, olives and chili powder to boiling. Reduce hat; cover and simmer, stirring frequently, until mix is thawed, about 20 minutes.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Layer half each of the tortillas, meat mixture and cheese  in ungreased baking dish, 11 3/4 x 7 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches; repeat. Bake uncovered until bubbly, 30 to 40 minutes.

FREEZER MIX LASAGNA

Prepare lasagna except substitute the following mixture for the Meat Sauce:

1 container frozen beef-tomato freezer mix

1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves

1 tablespoon snipped parsley

1/4 cup water

Dip container of frozen mix into hot water just to loosen. In 2-quart saucepan, heat frozen mix, oregano leaves, parsley and water to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Uncover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mix is thawed.

FREEZER MIX PIZZA

Use 1 container frozen Beef-Tomato Freezer Mix

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

Dash red pepper sauce

Dip container of frozen mix into hot water just to loosen. In 2-quart saucepan, heat frozen mix and remaining ingredients to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer, stirring frequently, until mix is thawed, about 20 minutes.

Makes enough topping for 2 pizzas.

FREEZER MIX ONE-DISH SPAGHETTI

1 container frozen Beef-Tomato Freezer Mix

3 cups water

1 can (4 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces, drained

1 package (7 ounces) thin spaghetti, broken into pieces.

1 teaspoon oregano leaves

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 ounces)

Dip container of frozen mix into hot water just to loosen. In Dutch oven (big pot), heat frozen mix and remaining ingredients except cheese to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer, stirring frequently, until mix is thawed and spaghetti is tender, about 30 minutes. ( A small amount of water can be added if necessary.) Sprinkle with cheese; cover and heat until cheese is melted.

FREEZER MIX LENTIL STEW

1 container frozen Beef-Tomato freezer Mix

3 cups water

1 cup uncooked lentils

1 sprig parsley

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (optional)

1 large carrot, sliced

1 large stalk celery, sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt

Dip container of frozen mix into hot water just to loosen. In Dutch oven, heat frozen mix, water, lentils, parsley and bay leaf to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer, stirring frequently, until mix is thawed, about 20 minutes.

Stir in remaining ingredients; heat to boiling.

Reduce hat; cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove bay leaf.

FREEZER MIX TACOS

1 container frozen Beef-Tomato Freezer Mix

1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder

1/8 teaspoon cayenne red pepper (optional)

Dash red pepper sauce

1/4 cup water

Dip container of frozen mix into hot water just to loosen. In 2-quart saucepan, heat frozen mix and remaining ingredients to boiling. Reduce hat; cover and simmer, stirring frequently, until mix is partially thawed, about 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer, stirring frequently, until mix is partially thawed, about 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

FREEZER MIX SLOPPY JOES

1 container frozen Beef-Tomato Freezer Mix

1/r cup water

1 cup sliced celery

1 tablespoon catsup

1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional)

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

6 to 8 hamburger buns, split and toasted

Dip container of frozen mix into hot water just to loosen. In 2-quart saucepan, heat frozen mix, water, celery, catsup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer, stirring frequently, until mix is partially thawed, about 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until of desired consistency, about 10 minutes. Spoon onto bottom halves of buns; top with remaining halves.

crock pot fajitas

Put in crock pot some chicken breasts, sliced bell peppers and onions.  Add a can or two of black beans.  Sprinkle everything with some taco seasoning and a ranch packet, add some water. and cook all day...  I have not made these but I had this meal at a friends house a couple weeks ago and this is what I remember her saying she did.  It was so yummy!  Oh, she added some fresh mushrooms during the last hour.  

Update on my menu for this week.  A friend brought me a crock pot meal for today so we are having cheesy chicken potatoes and broccoli tonight.  :) I think I will do the lasagna on Sunday.  

Talena's meal this week

I have done pretty good this week with meals too.  :)
Sunday we had roast and mashed potatoes
Monday we had chicken florentine
Tuesday we had beef stroganoff
Wednesday we did leftovers cause that is our busiest day of the week and no one eats together so we have to just warm something up and run...
Thursday (tonight) we are having lasagna
Friday probably pizza and
Saturday crockpot chicken fajitas
I feel so blessed to have food in our house and a place to prepare meals for my family.

Backward Meal Plan

Since we got home from our exhausting Christmas break I feel like I've been doing pretty well at making dinner. Before Christmas I was doing terrible! Every night 5:00 would roll around and I would ask everyone what they wanted to eat and of course no one here can agree on a dinner so we would throw together something for each person. An Engish Muffin for Audrey, bagel for Rylen, yogurt for the baby, you get the idea. We just weren't eating well and I was feeling stuck!

So, I am feeling motivated again and I thought I would share the meals I've been making in the past week, in case you are feeling stuck like I was. I don't claim they are extremely healthy, but I try to add in veggies with every meal and have a green salad with most meals. Just the fact that I am making dinner though, and we are all sitting down together to eat without stressing at dinner time every night makes us all feel better I think.

Wed: Easy Chicken Fiesta Rice served over chips, like taco salad. (Briella calls this Red Rice and she loves it. It's on her list of faves)
Thurs: Potato Pancakes, Waffles, and Eggs
Fri: Homemade Pizza
Sat: Ground Beef Enchiladas with corn and rice
Sun: Sausage Egg Rolls and Rice
Mon: Stir fried leftover rice with lots of frozen mixed veggies, served on tortillas with cheese, and leftovers
Tues: Homemade Mac and Cheese and corn off the cob (frozen corn. Rylen has discovered he loves it!)
Wed: Broiled Tilapia, twice baked potatoes, and brocolli

Tonight was my first attempt at cooking and eating Tilapia and I LOVED it! It helped that the recipe I used (I linked it) smothered the stuff in Parmesan cheese, butter, and mayo, but I think I would have liked it anyway. The recipe was super simple and Briella enjoyed it with me. If you have never cooked fish before, or if you aren't a big fish fan, I strongly recommend that recipe. It's easy and so tasty.

So there you go. I have been trying to just simplify and not over-complicate making meals. I try to make something someone (besides me or Wayne) likes every night so that at least two of us can enjoy dinner, and that means simple stuff because the kids like simple!

Let me know if you want a recipe for any of these dishes and I will post it! And lets see how long this motivated streak lasts...

Egg Rolls (and some other stuff)

Last week I got a bountiful basket and I was a bit disappointed. 2 HEADS OF CABBAGE! blech. Also some kale and cauliflower? All in one basket?
But I decided to make the best of it. I gave one head of cabbage away. With the kale I decided to make some kale chips. People rave about these online and declare their kids scarf them down. My kids wouldn't touch them. They smelled funny. I kind of liked them, but they are nothing to rave about and I ate as many as I could. The rest went bad.

 With the over ripe plums I got in my basket I made some plum syrup. It was delicious! Especially served over my whole wheat blueberry pancakes (I also got the blueberries in my basket)

But my favorite meal this week was egg rolls! Why have I never made these before? They were so easy and so good and now I have a bunch in my freezer for an easy meal.

Here's the recipe I used

1 lb sausage

1/2 head cabbage (chopped up)

2 large carrots, peeled then grated

1 small onion, chopped up small

1 package of egg rolls

Cook the sausage in a large pot on the stove, stirring to break up. Add the chopped cabbage, carrots, and onion. Keep stirring it and cook until the veggies are wilty.

Follow the directions on the back of the egg roll package, they say it a lot better. Just put a couple table spoon fulls of the cooked mixture into the egg roll and roll it up.

After putting mine on a cookie sheet I rubbed some olive oil on them and then baked them for about 12 min. They came out crispy and juicy and yummy! The only of my kids who enjoyed it though was the baby. She likes just about everything I make, sweet child!

Sweet Potatoes

If you remember, in my bountiful basket about 4 weeks ago I got a couple of gigantic sweet potatoes. Yes, almost 4 weeks ago. I finally used the last of them today. I tried sweet potato soup and it was a huge flop. I tried sweet potato fries, and that wasn't so good either.
Finally I scored with this sweet potato bread:
http://www.chow.com/recipes/11150-pecan-and-sweet-potato-bread
The kids gobbled it all up and really enjoyed it.
Today I made some sweet potato cookies and they turned out so interesting I had to share them. I got the recipe from here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sweet-Potato-Cookies-II/Detail.aspx
But I changed some things so I wanted to post what I did.

Sweet Potato Cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp grated lime zest
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1 cup grated raw sweet potato

Cream the sugar, butter, and coconut oil. Add the rest of the wet ingredients. Then the dry ingredients. Bake at 350 for 9-10 min.

So basically I just substituted some oats for some flour, cinnamon instead of nutmeg, and lime instead of lemon. I also used part coconut oil for some of the butter. Other than that I stayed pretty true to the original recipe.

I asked my son how he liked them and he said, "Well, you know Mom, they're kind of yucky."

I however think they are pretty yummy. I think he is caught off guard by the lime flavor. Who would have ever thought to add lemon or lime zest to sweet potato cookies? I never would have thought it, but it makes a fascinating combination and makes them taste quite refreshing.
I would be interested to hear about it if anyone else tries these and likes them! I think cookies are a great way to get a vegetable serving in for the day ;)

How to Cut a Melon

Okay, y'all probably know this already, but this is what Susan, Jen's mother-in-law, taught me once, and it works with any melon I've ever tried.

First you cut a thin slice off each end of the melon. Then you cut the whole thing in half crosswise. Then scoop out the insides (of course, you don't have to do that if it's a watermelon). Then put one of the halves cut-side down on your cutting board, and use your knife to take a slice of the rind off from the top to the bottom. Work your way all around till the rind is removed from the entire half, then, without moving it from its upside down position, it's easy to simply cut it into eight sections. From there I put a bowl over the whole thing and, using the cutting board to keep it all together, turn the bowl right side up and remove the cutting board, and wa-la! the melon is in the bowl ready to serve.

This honeydew melon that we cut into today was oh-so-good. I have enjoyed it tremendously!

Roast Vegetables

Tonight Dad and I tried something for the first time: Rutabaga. I guess it's also called a yellow beet. Anyway, I remember last Fall when I was visiting Talena, we roasted some red beets that were wrapped in aluminum foil, then peeled and cut them up and put them in a green salad. I didn't expect to like them, but I did. In fact, they were really good. I've tried canned beets before, which I didn't like because they were pickled. I've tried boiled beets from the garden before, and they just tasted like dirt. But that roasted beet, now, it was good.

So here's how I did it tonight: I peeled the beet and cut it up, and I peeled the rutabaga and cut it up, and I peeled an onion and cut it up. Then I put them all in a plastic bag with a little olive oil and some salt and pepper and shook them around. Then I dumped them into a glass cooking pan and baked them in a hot oven for about an hour. I actually baked them at too hot of a temperature, and they got a little overdone. But they were still really good. Something about the little bit of oil at the hot temperature causes them to caramelize and turn sweet on the outside. The little bits of onion that stuck to the bottom of the pan were especially sweet and yummy.

Serve that with some baked salmon, a generous serving of dark salad greens, and a bite of dark chocolate for dessert. Mm-mm! I ate like a queen tonight!

Here's the recipe where I got the idea.

Sausage Lentil Kale Soup

This recipe appealed to me because of the "healthy" foods in it, i.e., the kale and the split peas, but also the appeal-to-Dad food in it, i.e., the Kielbasa Sausage. The original is found on Kitchen Parade, here. Make sure you read her tip for how to prepare the Kale, as the hardest thing about eating kale (I think) is the stringy texture. So anything you can do to remove the strings can only help. Of course, I adapted it to what I had on hand, which is lots of cannery-canned dry soup mix, and a package of frozen tomatoes that needed to be used. But I did buy the kale and the sausage especially for this recipe. So here's how I did it:

4 oz. Kielbasa sausage
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 onions, chopped
1 quart tomatoes
1 quart water
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules
1 cup dry soup mix
1 bunch kale
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large pot over medium high heat while you prepare the sausage. Cut the sausage in quarters lengthwise, then slice into little bits. Add to the hot pot (it should sizzle) and stir around. Chop the onions and the garlic and add them as well, being careful that the sausage doesn't burn while you do. In other words, turn the heat down if you have to, and stir often. While the sausage and veggies simmer, blend the tomatoes up on high. Then add the blended tomatoes, the water, and the bouillon granules to the soup pot. Stir in the dry soup mix (or split green peas or lentils or whatever you're using). Prepare the kale by soaking it in a sinkfull of water for a couple of minutes then remove the stems and just keep the curly leaves. Chop the leaves finely then add them to the soup pot, along with the carrots. Turn heat to low, cover, and simmer for 90 minutes or until the peas and lentils in the soup mix are cooked through. Stir in the vinegar and salt and pepper and serve immediately.