First Tomato of the Season

I just wanted to share a photo of Reese pointing out the first tiny tomato of the season. I started a patio garden and everything is progressing nicely. I'm looking forward to explaining to my kids what's happening and incorporating these fresh ingredients into recipes.

Do I Look Like a Cool Dude?

I went grocery shopping the other day, and when Bodin got out of the car, he struck a pose and said to me, "Do I look like a cool dude like this, Mom? Will you take my picture?" After attracting the attention of my fellow shoppers by laughing so loudly, I whipped out my camera and took a picture. I have NO idea where he learned this (but probably from TV), but it was so cute. I squeezed him hard and told him he was my favorite boy. 

For lunch yesterday I made the kids something they ate at Festival '09 in downtown Grand Rapids. Now, at first this seems like a fairly unhealthy, indulgent and 'snacky' meal, but I realized that each ingredient isn't particularly offensive. It's a tortilla wrap with peanut butter, honey, sliced banana and chocolate chips. I used a mini LaTortilla, homemade peanut butter (I haven't bought Jiff in at least five years!), raw and organic honey, a banana and a sprinkle of chocolate chips. Roll it up and voila! The kids ate it up! 

Making homemade peanut butter is SO simple. Take a food processor and just grind up the peanuts until they are smooth and creamy. It takes about five minutes for about two cups of nuts for me. My favorite is cashew butter, which I usually add a bit of grapeseed oil to because it gets rather dry. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. 

Ramped-Up Mac 'n Cheese

After golfing on Father's Day, we went out to an Italian restaurant afterward (see picture of Reese entertaining the group with her aDORable personality and heartbreakingly good looks). Knowing that any dinner choice I made there would be bad, I went for the pizza for Bodin and mac 'n cheese for Reese. Reese didn't have a single bite of hers, so we took it home. The next day, I doctored it up with some steamed broccoli and some baked chicken nuggets. Unfortunately, neither one really liked all three items together in one bowl.

But, remembering that it sometimes takes kids up to 10 times to try a food and like it, you bet I'm going to keep trying with this one!

The Green Smoothie

I'm starting to drink more and more green smoothies, made with fresh greens (spinach, beet greens, etc), frozen fruit, water, BoKU Superfood, rice protein powder and a little agave nectar. They are SO good for you, even though the taste takes a bit to get used to. Here's a picture of my morning's creation. 

My kids will drink these, too, especially if I doctor them up a bit, adding more fruit and less greens. We call it "Super Juice!" (yes, we always say it with an exclamation point) and tell them it makes them run fast. 

The Beach and the Farmers Market

My mom and I went to Oval Beach in Saugatuck today - it was SO hot the sand absolutely blistered our feet! But, it was a lot of fun. The concessions stand actually had homemade hummus and pita bread and carrots on the menu (for $7), so we all shared that. I fed the kids one of those horribly processed Smuckers crustless (what the crap is so bad about the crust!?) peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along with some pretzels. They had an organic juice box as well. 

Feeling bad about the sandwich, I've decided to make dinner from scratch. We stopped at a new farmers market in Saugatuck and I picked up some potatoes, a spring lettuce mix, some strawberries and some sugar peas. 

I'm making almond/parmesan/oat crusted chicken breast served along with some homemade pesto using basil from our garden. As a side, I'm roasting the potatoes with some rosemary and garlic salt. For dessert, we're having fresh strawberry "cake" - made by placing the cut strawberries in my new pot and covering it with some organic cake mix. With the lid on and the heat turned on low, dessert will be ready in 15 minutes, and will keep warm for at least an hour. It turns into this cobbler-like gooey yummy mush of a dessert and everyone loves it. 

I'm excited to be back to this blog! Look for pictures of my meals and my kids to come shortly!

Stay-At-Home-Mothering and Lunches

Been a while since my last post. I'm now an official stay-at-home mom (although I do some freelancing on the side and am an Independent Distributor for Moxxor, which is a VERY potent omega-3 and antioxidant supplement - check out www.mymoxxor.com/julieh).

I love that I can control what my kids are eating during the day. While they were at daycare, I know that they were given snacks that wouldn't make my 'approval' list at all.

However, I'm not as creative as I'd like to be and am constantly trying to figure out what I want to feed my kids. Personally, I would love to become a vegetarian, so I've been avoiding chicken (already don't eat red meat, pork) somewhat. However, chicken is such a staple and a meal-rounder that it's hard to avoid.

Kids had grilled cheese with raisins today. I've been reading about the many wonderful healing properties of coconut oil, so I'm replacing butter and other oils with coconut oil. It's really good on a grilled cheese. Bodin likes to open up his sandwich and

stick the raisins inside, which makes it taste sort of like cinnamon bread. Reese did the same, but only because she likes to copy her brother.

Snow and winter are miserable; I can't wait for next summer. The kids will be a little older and easier to get out and about with. I want to visit farmer's markets to get them to try new fruits and veggies often. I'm always open to kid-friendly veggie/healthy recipes. My awesome aunt got me a subscription to Vegetarian Times last year and I'm going to sit down with all of my back issues and go through the recipes that I think they would like. Tough sell is going to be Justin. :)

Mad dashes and coconuts

This mothering gig is HARD! This past week (and upcoming week also) was a difficult one, work-wise. Lots of travel. Next week, I'm on the road every day, traveling at least an hour one way. Makes for long days. Last night, after making dinner for the kids (reheated homemade pizza), I completely forgot about making their lunches and it was a mad scramble in the morning to pull something together. Betcha can't guess what they got for lunch today! Yep, PIZZA!

Along with that, they each got a baggie of black, seedless grapes and a banana.

Prior to dinner last night, I decided to introduce the kids to an actual coconut. I got out a Phillip's head screwdriver and the hammer and took the kids outside in the grass. Bodin helped me pound three holes into the top of it, and I poured the milk into two cups. Bodin tried it and didn't like it. Reese tried hers and liked it. I gave her a refill and she dumped it all over my lap. Coconut milk is sticky!!

Here's a picture of our coconut.

The First Tomato

Finally! My evergreen tomatos are finally starting to come over to the "red" side. My first red tomato has finally ripened on the vine. I was starting to get worried that I would have to scour the Internet for "Fried Green Tomato" recipes.

I was so excited that I had to take a picture of it

Mini Taco Bowls

This is a dinner that I threw together when I couldn't come up with anything interesting for the kids.

I cooked up 1lb of ground turkey meat with a taco seasoning packet.

Then, I filled up about a dozen Baked Tostitos chips with the taco meat, cheese, little bit of romaine lettuce and a touch of salsa.

Big hit, simple meal!

The 'Whatever' Smoothie

Bodin now requests smoothies, which makes me SO happy. Here's one that I've made him and Reese in the past.

1c water
1/2c red grapes
1 scoop rice powder
1c fruit, regular or frozen (strawberries, bananas are our faves)
1c fresh spinach
1 scoop of 'greens' (health food store)
1T agave nectar (health food store, and (surprisingly) Meijer, in the spice aisle)
1-2T coconut oil (health food store). Add this after everything else is blended, and then pulse for 10 seconds or so. It hardens under a certain temp (in the 70s), which makes it hard to blend.
2T cacao nibs (health food store). Add these after the coconut oil, and pulse *maybe* one or two times. Chunks are good.

Blend!

I have a BlendTec blender, with a 2hp motor, so my blender can "juice" this entire blend with no problem. You may need to blend at earlier parts in the recipe to get everything mixed together.

Also, these amounts are my best estimate. Add more or less depending on taste. Rice milk can be subbed for the water...obviously you can use whatever fruits you prefer. Kale can be subbed for spinach. This is truly a Whatever Smoothie, and you can make it what you want. The more you make them, the more you learn what works and what doesn't. Just remember to drink your mistakes, there's still a LOT of nutrition in them.