Thursday, September 30, 2010

Finished 10 days of Real Food!

We actually finished last week but I'm a little behind writing!  It was great.  I absolutely loved it - I felt awesome!  The 2 hardest parts were packing my kids lunches and going to someone else's house for dinner.  I have girl's night every Tuesday night - sometimes we go out and sometimes we go to someone's house.  During the 10 days, I had it twice, both at someone's house.  To me that was very stressful to ask someone what they are having and try to figure out how I can eat it and not be a pain and not make a big deal about it.  Luckily, the girls are my best friends and I've known them since 10th grade so they were very supportive although they do kinda laugh and I'm sure think "here she goes again on her soapbox"  It worked out fine.  We had mediterranean shrimp pasta one night.  I just brought my own whole wheat pasta.  She had cheese and triscuits for appetizer (without me asking for it) so that was perfect!  The pasta was delicious and I ate what everyone else was eating!  The second girl's night, we had butternut squash soup, salad and baguette slices with cheddar, walnuts and sliced apple.  I just brought my own bread and again ate what everyone else was having and it was also delicious.  

I only went out to eat once in the 10 days and that was for sushi - I had yellowtail rolls with brown rice and some edamame.  It was good - would not want to eat out anywhere else - it would be too hard and I am not good about asking lots of questions.  It embarrasses me!

On the 11th day I still ate all real food because I loved what I had been eating so much!  On the 12th day, I was working and lunch was catered in.  I had a turkey sandwich and had a bad stomach ache and indigestion all afternoon! 

My 8 yr. old was a trooper.  The only "cheats" he had was a pack of goldfish and popsicle after his football game.  He looked so sad when they were handing them out, I told him it was ok.  And, he had some organic ketchup on his roasted potatoes.  He said he didn't want any potatoes without ketchup and I thought if he is eating roasted chicken, roasted potatoes and brocolli and likes it, I'm giving the kid some ketchup.  Those are the only things he ate off the plan!  Remember, they did not take the pledge so I allowed them a little more lenience.  I was strict with myself.  My 10 yr. old and husband did well but had many more cheats.  Hubby cannot give up diet coke and both ate pizza on Panther's game day.  Overall I am still very proud of everyone!!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Day 7

Starting the soup
Last night we had tomato & chicken soup with grilled cheese sandwiches.  I made a really delicious and easy soup (idea courtesy of my friend Gretchen)  Just saute some onion, garlic and other veggies if you want - I put carrots and peppers.  Add a couple of large cans of tomatoes - any kind - and a few cups of broth or water and simmer for awhile.  Then puree the whole thing.  I used an immersion blender.  Then I added leftover shredded chicken and blended a tiny bit more so the chicken was small but still a little chunky.  Add a little cream if you want at the end.  That is it - of course you can leave out the chicken if you want - I needed to use some that I had in the fridge.  Would be even better in the winter!

For breakfast this morning, I made eggs with soldiers - soft boiled eggs with toast strips.  (I only served runny yolks because they were fresh, local eggs.  I personally would be afraid to do it with regular grocery store eggs)  My kids loved it.  My 8 yr. old said it was the best breakfast he has ever had in his life!

Egg Salad Sandwiches
Quesadillas
                        

I made egg salad (made homemade mayo - 1st time - I thought it was pretty quick and easy) and kids had egg salad sandwiches, watermelon and grapes.  David had cheese quesadilla (with pimento cheese) and I had egg salad in a tortilla.  I also found some Baked Kettle Chips that are potatoes, oil and salt only.  Kids and hubby were thrilled to have chips!

Only a few more days!

Friday, September 17, 2010

We are half way through our 10 days!

Thursday breakfast - kids had pancakes again.  They LOVE the banana pancakes!  I had granola with fruit - yummy.

Lunchboxes - one had whole wheat spaghetti with butter and parmesan in a thermos, one had peanut butter, banana, honey, granola rolled up in tortillas.  They both said great lunch!  My 3rd grader had someone bring in cupcakes yesterday for a b-day and he declined it!  Way to go.  He also started his Wednesday night kid's church program this week which includes dinner.  I think dinner is their favorite part and they were having nachos.  I told him he could eat it if he wanted - he said no, he wanted me to pick him up before dinner.  He is taking it very seriously.  My older son and husband not so much.  They are doing great but my husband has had a few diet cokes and my older son did not decline birthday treat at school.  (side note:  I am not making my kids do this - they wanted to do it and I am not being as strict with them)  I knew they may have a few "cheats"  I am being very strict for me because I took the pledge!

Thursday night dinner - sausage pizza on whole wheat crust (recipe also from Food Illusion blog) It was great!!  I used the leftover sauce I made from lasagna earlier in the week.  The crust was the easiest pizza crust I've ever made and rolled out perfectly and was delicious.  Family loved it of course!  Packed leftover pizza in lunch boxes today.  What a treat!

Made mini quiches yesterday for breakfast / snack / or lunch - whatever I need it for.  Hubby likes, older son likes, younger son does not like.  Some things are hit or miss...

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Day 4

I don't have any new photos because stuff I made yesterday wasn't so pretty but yummy!
I made whole wheat banana pancakes (www.foodillusion.wordpress.com )  They were awesome.  I made them last night so they would be ready for this morning.  My kids were thrilled!

As I thought, packing their lunches has been the hardest part.   "Mom it is so hard watching everyone eat hot, cheesy pizza!"  They are doing great though.  They are really hanging in there. Today for lunch I gave them slices of local Italian Sausage, a hard-boiled egg, cheese stick, cantaloupe and a couple of whole grain pretzels dipped in peanut butter.  I hope they like it!

I've been having delicious sandwiches for lunch with lots of veggies and goat cheese and hummus.  I think I could have that everyday!

For me, what to eat is easy... feeding the kids is hard.  More cooking and planning than I thought!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

TUNA




TUNA.......we had a great pasta and fresh tuna dinner....we were in chapel hill last weekend celebrating John's MBA graduation.....YAY>>>>john.....we are proud of you!!!!!!!
we went to whole foods and bought some fish to bring home...it all looked so good....we got..fresh tuna steaks, red snapper, and wild alaskan salmon....last night i made angel hair pasta in a lemon, white wine sauce (with red pepper and garlic)....thinly sliced very rare tuna and basil.....delish..

LABOR DAY BRUNCH





over labor day we celebrated my birthday (a big one) and our anniversary! what a fun time we had....all the peeps were there...i have a lovely family.
the food was fantastic as well....didn't take as many photos as i should but here are a few.....

Monday, September 13, 2010

10 Days of Real Food


kid's lunch
Whole Wheat Tortillas - Easy and fun to make!
David's lunch
My family is taking the challenge!  We are eating no processed foods for 10 days.  You may have read about the Leake family in the Charlotte Observer or seen them on Charlotte Today.  It is a great story.  They did it for 100 days!  Check out Lisa Leake's blog www.100daysofrealfood.com to learn more about it.  I officially started yesterday and the rest of my family today.  I'm going to let you know how it is going.  I prepared some stuff over the weekend to get ready - most were recipes from 100 days blog.  I made whole wheat tortillas, eggplant hummus, granola, and a roasted chicken to use through the week. I think the hardest part will be packing lunches for everyone.

Eggplant hummus
I'm so proud of my family for being open to this challenge - the kids are excited.(sorta)  David is fine with it - he is happy he can still drink beer - he is a little bummed about his diet coke  - I've been trying to get him off of those anyway.  This morning the kids and David had oatmeal with bananas, blueberries and honey.  Grey also had a leftover whole wheat biscuit that I made yesterday. David had an egg and cheese on whole wheat tortilla. For lunch, I packed the kids natural peanut butter, honey and banana sandwiches with a cheese stick and fruit.  It looked delicious but they love processed school lunches.  I made David a sandwich with goat cheese, hummus, lettuce, cucumber, avocado and roasted chicken.  That looked great - I'll probably have the same thing. 

Real Food is scrumptious
For dinner, we had lasagna - whole wheat noodles, homemade sauce with lots of veggies pureed in .... see what yummy stuff you can have...My kids won't eat much salad but there were plenty of veggies in lasagna so I didn't worry about it.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

escapade: Artful arrangements (in the bathroom)

escapade: Artful arrangements (in the bathroom)

BEAUTIFUL



THERE ARE LITERALLY DOZENS OF BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES IN MY BUTTERFLY BUSH.......WONDERFUL TO WATCH.....

THANKS



Thank you to a customer of hillbilly produce market, for sending along a wonderful recipe. it is
eggplant, zucchini, and tomato tian......it is from cooking light.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1988557
....i made it and it is really good....she was kind to say she loves our vegetables!!!!Thanks.....

Massage your Kale People!!!!
















If you haven't done your okra this way, you are missing out! Jason told us about it...just slice length wise then toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast on a baking sheet (I like to put them all cut side down- probably not necessary) bake 425 for 15 - 20 minutes - they get brown and crispy - yummy! Also made Massaged Kale Salad - it is from Aarti Party - the new Food Network show -Aarti won the Next Food Network Star!! Her recipes are mostly Indian inspired. This salad was so delicious and fun to make. Have you ever massaged Kale before????? I haven't but I liked it!! It makes raw kale more tender. I made it with her Mango Chutney, Prosciutto Paneer Pizza - you can find both recipes on Food Network websites. Both were awesome!!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

farmer's market dinner in the mountains














My husband and I went to Chilhowie VA last weekend and ate at a fabulous restaurant called TownHouse - www.townhouseva.com

We also visited the Abington VA farmer's market and had a great dinner with all fresh local stuff.
NY strips in a cast iron skillet with goat cheese and balsamic glaze..............
roasted purple fingerling potatoes............
roasted okra...........
tomato cucumber basil salad in our new hand carved gorgeous bowl that we bought for ourselves for our anniversary. www.nicolaaloisio.com    Great weekend
!!!!!