Figs as a snack, and PBJ Stuffed French Toast

Happy Monday!!

Trying to get caught up with all the photos I've taken of the cooking I've been up to.   But first, a clean snack. 

Purple figs.  Ever had one?  My Produce Juntion had pints for just $2.  I couldn't pass them up. 

Figs taste just like overripe bananas.  Super-sweet and soft.  I was feeling like a decadent snack today, and since I am trying to keep my calories under 1200, that doesn't leave me with much.  So, I peeled a few figs (you can technically eat the skin, but I never eat fruit skin), sliced them into halves, and put a dot of homemade fromage blanc on each (a recipe for another day), then topped it with a pecan.

 Sweet, a teensy bit savory, and LOADS of yumminess.  With nothing over-processed or any nasty preservatives.  

And what got me so hungry for a snack in the first place was just THINKING about writing this post, featuring yesterday's PBJ Stuffed French Toast.  It was so good, even though my daughter suffered a little burn on her leg from the gooey, hot jelly in the middle.

Here's all you need:

You just make a PBJ sandwich for each person at the table.

Whisk up two eggs and dip each sandwich in the eggs, top and bottom.  Then toss them on a buttered grill pan and cook away!  I sprinkled with a little cinnamon sugar on top....

About three or so minutes on each side, or until you get this brown looking deliciousness.

We just halved them and ate them like this.  No need for syrup!  But  like I said, the jelly gets really melty, almost liquidy.  Let them cool slightly before eating.....and for heaven's sake, lean over your plate!

xoxo
Trish


 

White Bean Burgers and today's lunchbox

So, eating healthy is challenging.   At least 50% of the time, I will make the right decisions.  I have the luxury of time to prep and cook, so there's no excuse not to eat healthy.

But there are days when I just WANT something bad for me.  And I have it.  But then I have to deal with the guilt, and the actual physical discomfort of having EATEN something that was too heavy, too salty, too bubbly, too fatty.

I have learned that there are ways to satisfy those cravings, without blowing all of your hard work.  I have a handful of special 'cheat' recipes that make me FEEL like I'm cheating, but really I'm not.

Veggie burgers are a great substitute for heavy, fatty beef burgers.

I have made black bean burgers before, and they are fantastic.  But today, I'm going to tell you about white bean burgers!

White Bean Burgers

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 carrot, diced

1/2 cup oats

1 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. garlic

Process all the ingredients in your blender or food processor.  

I was out of oats, so I used a half-cup of all-purpose flour, instead.  When you reach a texture that's sort of oatmeal-like, you're ready to start shaping into patties.

Now, I experiemented.  I wasn't sure if I would like these baked.  So, I pan-fried four in about an inch of canola oil, and baked four at 425 for 20 minutes.

My observation is that the fried burgers had a much harder time holding together, while the burgers (baked on parchment) held together like a dream, but were slightly drier.  And probably much lower in fat.

I would bake them, next time.  Frying isn't worth the added fat.  The burgers were messy and had too much of that oily flavor, for me.

But both were good, and filling.  I was thinking maybe I could make these into meatballs for the kids.  Hmmmm.

Speaking of the kids, here is today's lunchbox!    We're so excited this year, because we are allowed to pack peanut butter!    We have peanut butter on wheat bread (no crusts), with grapes and strawberries. 

If you know of any good lunchbox sites, let me know!  I love to read them.

 

 

 

 

Today's lunchbox and JIFFY Baking Mix Cinnamon Rolls

Good morning, mommies!

Today's lunchbox:

Sorry for the blur.  But we have turkey pepperoni, cucumbers, walnuts, grapes, cherry tomatoes, and a bag of Triscuit on the side.
She forgot to eat her snack from Friday, which I put into the bottom zippered compartment of her lunchbag.  I opened her bag and found the snack, completely untouched.  She said she forgot it was there, which means she ate part of her lunch as her snack that day, which made me really sad.

Of course, I reminded her fifty times that her snack for today was in the bottom of her lunch bag.   The thought of her pillaging through her lunch for a snack makes me wish I'd chosen a different kind of bag.

She'll live, I suppose.  GAWD, we baby these kids.  lol

Speaking of babying the kids:  Saturday, I made the kids some "homemade" cinnamon rolls.  The quotes are there, because I used a mix.  Not the doughy stuff you find in a tube in the refrigerated section of the market (although THOSE are pretty good, too).  I used JIFFY baking mix.  You may have come across a box of this a time or two.

This is a lot like Bisquik, but much cheaper.  Really, there is no difference, in my opinion, to warrant the extra couple bucks.  There are about seven recipes on the box for things like waffles pancakes, biscuits, and the cinnamon rolls.  I was first going to do pancakes, because anything else that requires me to knead dough is an instant turnoff.  But I decided to go a little beyond my comfort zone, on that day.  After all, I had this neat new dough scraper thingee:

This is my floured surface AFTER I rolled the dough.  My camera was being a little bitch, so I didn't get the entire process.  But the procedure is like this:  you stir up the mix, plop it on a floured surface and knead it.  Mine was too sticky, so I added like a quarter cup more mix to the dough, while it was already out on the surface.  This made it perfect, and got some more flour on my board.  I think I was too skimpy with the flour on the surface.  The trick is to use lots.

Then, I kneaded the dough.  Not as hard as I thought it would be.  I just basically palmed it back and forth 20 times.  Palm it out, then pull it back and do it again.  It came together nicely.   Then I rolled it out into a rectangle, spread some softened butter on the top, and sprinkled it (which sounds so delicate.  really, I loaded that stuff on) with sugar and cinnamon.  I have a little yellow bottle of it already mixed.  I also chopped some walnuts, and scattered them about.   Then I used my little scraper, and rolled up the dough, scraping as I went.  Then I cut the roll into little 2-inch slices and slapped them into a round tin and baked them according to the directions, which I forget but are on the box.

Now, if you're me, you need the white sugary icing on top.  I mixed about a cup of confectioner's sugar with a tablespoon of milk.  Whisk and let sit.  You might have to adjust your milk, depending on the consistency you're looking for.  Gooey, was my criteria.

And for Heaven's sake, don't do what I did.  Wait until the rolls are cool to add your icing, or it will melt and disappear and your kids will whine, "Where's my icing?"

My husband proclaimed that they were the best he ever had.  Now, in all fairness, they were better than the tube kind, but not as good as they could be, if they were made from scratch.   They weren't nearly as sweet, and the dough was more crumbly, which was good.   But I could detect a mix-iness about it that I couldn't define. 

Either way, the fam was happy.  Give it a try!

School Lunch & the NINJA PULSE versus the Nutribullet

Hi there!  Now that school is back in session, I will try to document all the kids' lunches.  My daughter, Sofia, is six years old and just started first grade.

She is extremely adventurous with food choices.  The girl loves calamari, fortheloveofgod.  She will try ANYthing.  And she prefers vegetables to super-sweet treats.  So packing lunch for her is a pleasure, EXCEPT for the fact that she doesn't like sandwiches.

Seriously.

How do you pack a lunch for a kid who doesn't like sandwiches?  It can be a challenge.  Her appetite isn't huge, so I do a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.  Here is her lunch box.  I love owls.....

And here is what I packed on Friday.  Snack was raisins, some pretzels and a 2 chocolate chip cookies.  Lunch was rolled up nitrate-free ham, some Jersey white corn cut right off the cob into strips, cherry tomatoes, and green beans in vinegar from my mother-in-law's garden.  There was also a small baggie of Triscuits.  Plus, I packed some chopsticks, just for fun.  She loves to show off her chopstick finesse with her buddies.

I also wanted to share with you my newest, most favorite kitchen purchase.  The NINJA Pulse.

We've been juicing for about a year, using a regular old juicer.  Which means we've been throwing away all the valuable nutrition found in the pulp and the skin and the seeds.  So, I have seen the infomercials for the Nutribullet, and have been wanting to get one for a while.  Target has the Nutribullet for $99, which is 20 bucks cheaper than if you buy from the FREE SHIPPING infomercial.  (Nothing is ever, EVER free.)

So, I went to buy the Nutribullet the other day, and after a 40-minute comparison shopping session in the blender aisle at Target, I realized that the NINJA ($79.99) offered 100 more watts of power than the Nutribullet, PLUS you get a nice sized pitcher, and three blades, some of which are meant for PIZZA DOUGH and COOKIE DOUGH, which the Nutribullet did not have.

Hel-LO!  The Ninja was cheaper, had higher wattage and better features and attachments.  Sold!

I made a juice of beets, celery, carrots and cucumbers.  It was much pulpier than my usual juicer juice, so I re-ran it through the Ninja to make it smoother. 

 



Kind of a blurry picture, but look at that color.  Drinking that puppy CAN'T be bad for you.  And lately, my diet needs some GOOD.....

Kids Eat Free

Love going out to eat, but hate paying for your kids' meals that are hardly touched?  Me, too.  That's why I visit websites like http://www.kidseatfor.com/.  Go here, type in your zip code, and the website lets you know what local restaurants offer free kids' meals.

Other similar sites:  www.kidsmealdeals.com and http://kidseat4free.com/.

Happy dining out with the kids!

101 things to do in 1001 days.

My family has been in dietary transition, lately, which is why I haven't been posting.  It's really no excuse.  What better time to post than now, as we move as a family from a regular, clean but meat-eating diet, to a raw, vegetarian lifestyle.  I should use this blog as a journal to measure our ups and downs, trials and errors.  A place where I can one day visit and say, "Look how far we've come."  But the change has proven to be a lot of work, one which the girls are less than thrilled about.  But I shall make a better effort to report in, and tell you what I've been learning.

But for today, I would like to share with you something I found on livelovelife.com.  It really inspired me to create my own list.  I feel more accountable now to actually follow through with the things I've been saying I'll do.  101 things I want to do in the next 1001 days.  Starting now!  I stole many of her ideas, but threw in some of my own that I have been wanting to do or try.   I’m also leaving this list incomplete, as I’m sure I will come across many things I will want to add, as I go along…..

Start date: May 29, 2012

End date: February 26th, 2015

Food & Drink

1.       Try a new cuisine.

2.      Cut out white foods altogether with my family.

3.      Eat 80% raw (out of 3033 meals, I will eat 2402 raw meals.)

4.      Get some raw recipes the kids will eat.

5.      Drink water more often.

6.      Buy a decent dehydrator, vitamix, nutribullet and spiralizer.

7.      Incorporate a green monster smoothie into my daily menu.

8.      Learn 10 new metabolic recipes.

9.      Build up my vegetarian/vegan cookbook collection.

 Fitness & Health

10.   Walk on the treadmill for 30 min every day.

11.  Take a kickboxing class.

12.  Take a yoga class.

13.  Get the kids to do a yoga class at home each day.

14.  Take one family walk a week.

15.  Swim class for girls.

16.  Reach my goal weight/clothing size.

17.  Go ice skating in the winter as a family date night.

18.  Take girls roller skating.

19.  Sledding/Tubing weekends in the winter.

20.  Take girls on active adventures while on vacation.

Family & Relationships

21.   Make 3 new friends.

22.  Get 1000 subscribers to my blog.

23.  One date night per month with DH.

24.  Better vacations with family.

25.  Reunite with old friend.

26.  Organize play dates with friends once a month.

27.  See my dad more often.

28.  Try to go to every family party I’m invited to.

29.  Compliment husband and girls every day.

30.  Never fight in front of girls.

Career

31.  Build new youtube channel for Buggy Tales.

32.  Learn the art of playwriting.

33.  Start writing a new play.

34.  Compete in three new competitions.

35.  Compete for one fellowship.

36.  Make another short film.

37.  Get 200,000 views on Buggy Tales.

38.  Take Buggy Tales books to editors.

Compassion

39.   Donate to Good Will once a month.

40.  Offer something to a stranger in need.

41.  Volunteer for one program a year.

42.  Compliment a stranger.

43.  Sponsor someone in a race.

For the Home

44.   Organize financials.

45.  Make garage into playroom.

46.  Plant a garden on deck.

47.  Hardwood floors.

48.  Attic fan.

49.  Ceiling fan in LR.

50.  Landscaping.

Other

51.   Go to church.

52.  Take Sofia to a museum.

53.  Learn how to drive a stick shift.

54.  Learn Italian.

55.  Watch all the Oscar winning movies since inception.

56.  Learn how to fix a flat.

57.  Ride a horse.

58.  Go a week without negative self-talk or complaining.

59.  Save $10 a week (that’s $1,320).

60.  Go to a haunted house.

61.  Pumpkin-carving/picking.

62.  Join an organic local co-op.

63.  Visit local farmers markets every other week in season.

64.  Inspire someone else to make similar list…

Baked Cream Cheese Veggie Rolls

Yes.  It's been seven months.  I apologize.  I was sidetracked by Pinterest.  But I'm back and I've found lots of new recipes to try for my midgets.

I made Cream Cheese Veggie Rolls with some Plum dipping sauce, last night.  The kids decided they wanted cereal.  Which was fine, because I ate about half of the rolls myself.  The reason I am making a cream cheese roll so soon after the wontons post is because the wontons were good, but required a lot of effort.  I wanted to try egg roll wrappers, and boy, are they easier to work with than those thin, flimsy wonton wraps.  I will never go back to them!

Baked Cream Cheese Veggie Rolls
Egg roll Wrappers
Cream Cheese
Veggie of your choice (I used chopped fresh broccoli and chopped red cabbage.)

First, take your wrapper and smear some cream cheese down the middle.  I rarely measure anything, so just eyeball it.  Use as much or little as you like. 

Then, add the veggies.  You want to add them, and kind of press them down a little bit.  Don't make it too bulky, because you don't want the wrapper to tear, when you roll them.

You're going to first roll the top and bottom, then fold one edge over to cover the veggies.  I use little dots of cream cheese like glue, to hold all of the edges down.

Then I lay them all out on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  If you don't have parchment, just give the sheet a spray of Pam.   Then I spray the rolls lightly with olive oil spray.  If you don't have a sprayer, I would recommend spraying the rolls with Pam, but if you must, you could brush them lightly with oil.   I sprinkle sesame seeds on top, after spraying, because I like the asian flavor they add.  But again, not necessary.

Notice how much better I got at rolling these toward the end.  There are some strangely shaped rolls up on the top of my cookie sheet, there.  Sad, messy little pillows.  They ripped open, it was a mess.  But it just goes to show that everything doesn't always work out in the kitchen, just like in life.  You just have to keep at it, and try a different technique, you will find success!

See?  Look at those beauties!
Bake at 375 degree for 20-25 minutes, turning midway through.  Just keep an eye on them.  If they're getting too dark, take them out.

While the rolls were in the oven, I whipped up some Plum dipping sauce.  Which is, essentially, Plum preserves and teriyaki sauce or soy sauce. 

Just take a couple big spoonfuls of the preserves and add a couple spoonfuls of teriyaki sauce or soy sauce.  Whisk together, and heat over medium heat until it bubbles.  Let it bubble, and stir for about five minutes or so.  Voila!  Plum Dipping Sauce!

Now, the rolls are done!  Baked, not fried and full of veggies!  They're crunchy on the outside, and the cream cheese makes them creamy on the inside.  You can use whatever veggies rock your boat.  Or, you can brown and season some ground turkey and a litte bit of shredded cheddar and make some Baked Turkey Burger rolls.  Really, there are a million things you can do with egg roll wrappers.  How about some nutella and banana for breakfast?  Or some scrambled eggs and ham?

Your options are endless!!!  Enjoy!