Christmas In Pictures

I can't believe Christmas was already 4 days ago. How did that happen? Ours was filled with lots of really good food and family. In fact, I feel full just looking at these pictures. So much good food, not enough room in the belly for it all. Although I did give it a pretty good effort. There is nothing better than rolling around on the floor (literally) on Christmas night, so full you're about to burst. Oh the holidays, such a fun time!

Christmas Eve

bruschetta 

caramel corn

trail mix with chocolate and butterscotch chips, craisins, almonds, popcorn,  and crispix

tomato soup from The Pioneer Woman

spinach salad with onions, shaved almonds, raisins, and homemade dressing

 mango spread for the brisket
thanks for the demo there, Adam :)

brisket

my plate: brisket on focaccia herb roll with spinach salad and unpictured bowl of soup..plus about 97 unpictured handfuls of caramel corn and trail mix

Christmas Day

monkey bread

my family knows me well...pretty much all food related gifts!

how great is that?

can't wait to use these

my favorite dish by far...roasted sweet potato salad

scalloped potatoes

cranberries

turkey

some sort of dip I didn't catch the name of...

asparagus

I just realized I didn't snap a photo of the 472 cookies we had lying around the house. Or of the pies. What is wrong with me? Oh that's right, I was too busy stuffing my face with them to worry about a picture :) I miss those cookies already. 

Kale Chip Taco Salad

I wish I could have posted sooner but this week has literally been insane! Between the last few days of school, shopping for gifts, and getting everything else ready for Christmas, my schedule has been hectic. To add fuel to the fire, an egg even exploded all over my kitchen on Tuesday night. Like, all over my kitchen. There was egg on top of the refrigerator for the love of God. It was on the ceiling. I have a feeling I'll be finding pieces of it in little nooks and corners for a while. Disgusting.

Anyway, this kale chip taco salad is one of my favorites. I love it so much because it provides lots of nutrients and is yummy to boot. Even better, it is easy to make! Obviously, or else it would not appear on the blog :)

Ingredients

• 1 package lean ground turkey (I used Organic Prairie)
• 1 bunch organic kale
• 1 can beans of your choice (I used pinto)
• 1 tomato, cut into bite sized pieces
• 2% shredded cheese of your choice (I used a Mexican blend)
• tortilla chips (I used Food Should Taste Good - White Cheddar)
• garlic and onion powders

Directions

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. wash and tear kale leaves away from thick stem in middle, tear into pieces
3. dry leaves, then toss with olive oil
4. place leaves on a cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, or until crispy
5. while kale bakes, brown turkey on the stove top in a wok over medium high, once cooked add seasonings
6. while kale bakes, also heat beans on the stove top
7. once kale and turkey are ready, line bowl with chips (6-8 is a good serving size), then top with turkey, beans, kale, tomato, salsa, and cheese

If you wanted to eliminate the tortilla chips, you could easily sub in the kale and still get that crunch. If you don't like kale, please try it in chip form. It really is good and so wonderful for you, as it is packed with beta carotene, vitamin K, and vitamin C. It is a definite super food! 

Whatever holiday you are your family choose to celebrate, I hope you are enjoying this time of year and soaking up this precious time with those you love! 

Happy Holidays! See you in a few days after all the festivities :)

What's In Your Refrigerator?

Good Morning!

I played around with some of my standby recipes this week and came up with some pretty delicious dishes! First off, I love oatmeal pancakes but I don't always love how dense they can be. I wanted to fluff them up a bit and thought that if I used a combination of oats and oat flour, I could create something a bit lighter. Oat flour is really easy to make. All you do is throw your oats into a food processor or blender and process/blend until a flour consistency is created. Takes maybe 10 seconds? This way, you still get all the goodness of oats without the density. You can try using this flour in a number of different recipes, subbing it in for whole wheat or white flour.

Chili is a staple in this household, especially during these cold winter months. I'm pretty pleased with my standard recipe but wanted to make a "white" version. Instead of a combination of black, kidney, and garbanzo beans, I used white navy beans. I also used crushed garlic instead of powdered. For something a little different, I added a couple tablespoons of nutritional yeast and oh my goodness, it took the chili to a whole new level. It created a thicker broth with a cheesy taste. If you're a chili person and want to switch it up a bit, I suggest trying this.

What's In Your Refrigerator? 

I have seen some other bloggers share what goods they've got in their fridges and thought I'd do the same. I find it fascinating. How do you know when you are a food nerd? You really, honestly enjoy looking inside strangers fridges. Yep, that's me. Anyway, it is also a good way to discover new foods and products. I'm a sucker for organization and you'll see a neat and tidy fridge where items are basically sorted into groups. Here we go!

All together...

Top shelf...yogurts, coffee creamer, eggs, and bread.

Middle shelf...selzers, organic chicken breasts, leftovers of some sort? 

More selzers (we like them...can you tell?), water.

Bottom drawers...produce: organic apples and pears in the top drawer and organic spinach, broccoli, peppers, and sweet potatoes in the bottom.

More eggs, condiments.

More condiments and a little soy nog, OJ, non fat milk.

Baking soda and powder, rice milk (use it in smoothies sometimes), more OJ (jeez).

To the freezer! Frozen mangoes, bananas, brussels sprouts, Amy's veggie burgers, Nature's Path frozen waffles, whole wheat hot dog buns, Amy's Margherita pizza.

Organic ground turkey and some coffee from like 2009 (need to get rid of that).

Somehow the middle drawer in the fridge escaped the camera but it consists of cheeses and hummus.

Maybe next week I'll show you my pantry! Ohhhh the excitement! :)

See you all later this week!

Runner Safety: ICEdot

Running is a glorious, glorious sport. It keeps me healthy, both mentally and physically, and for that I am very grateful. Throughout my years as a runner, I have learned that there are two kinds of people out there hitting the pavement. There are those who enjoy running with others and those who prefer to run solo. I belong to the latter group. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind running with others. However, in my book, there truly is nothing better than simply being with me, myself, and I and the open road. I get to enjoy some peace and quiet, the only noise being that of my Brooks pounding the trail. I get to just hang out with my thoughts. Think through both my problems and successes. Escape my over articulated life and ZONE OUT. While running alone is wonderful, it is important to take all the necessary precautions in order to stay safe. Sure, we never plan for anything bad to happen but you just never know. That's why I like to be prepared. 

The kind people over at ICEdot, an emergency identification and notification service, offered me a free membership in exchange for my review. ICE stands for "in case of emergency" and is really simple yet effective.  You can choose either the free service or the premium service. The free service includes an ICEdot sticker, which is to be placed on the rear window of your car. This sticker is also called an "identifier" and informs first responders, such as paramedics, that you are an ICEdot member and that they can therefore find your medical information on your standardized emergency response form, which is supposed to be located in your glove compartment. This service is ideal for drivers.

sticker

source

The premium service is ideal for runners or anyone out exercising on their own. It allows first responders to receive important medical information via any mobile device. A premium member has a wallet card which includes a picture and an 8 digit PIN. This 8 digit PIN can be texted to 51020 and the reply text will include both the patient's emergency contact and medical information. This service can be taken even one step further. The letter A can be texted to receive allergy information, M will give you information on the patients medication usage, and N will send a notification to the patients designated "in case of emergency." 

I simply take my wallet card with me on runs so that if needed, all my medical and contact information can be easily accessed. Easy access to this information can save lives. Like I said, while we certainly never plan for accidents to happen, it is always better to be safe than sorry. I definitely feel safer knowing I have this service. A measly $10/month for this premium service seems more than worth it to me! 

For a bit more information, check out this video created by ICEdot...

Thank you ICEdot. I love feeling safe on the road. 

P.S. We ate Thai Chicken Pizza the other night, a recipe I found over on How Sweet. I nearly passed out it was so good. Go check her out. Her food and photography are outstanding!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I was in the mood to bake this afternoon. In particular, I was in the mood to bake cookies. Warm, chocolately cookies. 

Looking for inspiration, I flipped through some of my cookbooks and ultimately settled on a recipe in Cooking Light. This recipe produced a very dry, crumbly cookie so if you're more of a moist cookie person, this might not be for you. I'll be honest and say I  usually like my cookies super moist but I figured I would give something different a try.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from Cooking Light's Chocolate Cherry Heart Smart Cookies


Ingredients

• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 3 ounces chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine the first four ingredients and whisk together
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, remove and add brown sugar, stir until combined
4. Add sugar mixture to the flour mixture and mix until thoroughly blended
5. Add the vanilla and egg until combined
6. Fold in chocolate chips
7. Coat a baking sheet with spray, drop tablespoon sized dough onto sheet, roughly 2 inches apart
8. Bake for 12 minutes 

I snacked on my cookies with a cold glass of milk...

The original recipe called for 1/3 cup all-purpose flour and 1/3 cup whole wheat flour, but I used 2/3 cups whole wheat flour instead. Keeping this in mind, according to Cooking Light, each cookie has about 94 calories, 3.2g fat (1.6 sat, .6 mono, .2 poly), 1.5g protein, 15.7g carbs, 1.3g fiber, 10mg cholesterol, .6mg iron, 88mg sodium, and 15 mg calcium. I would guess my version has a bit more fiber. Pretty good stats for a cookie. 

I was even thinking I could tweak this recipe a little more and morph it into a really great granola. I will definitely put this idea on my "to make" list. 

Happy Sunday...enjoy!

Creamy Butternut Squash Dip and "Homemade" Spelt Tortilla Chips

So sorry for such a long gap between posts! Life has been just a tad busy this week. Working with 19 five year olds each and every day during the Christmas season is insane. They've all lost their minds. That is all I am going to say. 

I'm sure many of you are gearing up for all sorts of holiday parties within the next couple of weeks...I know I am. Here's the thing: while these parties are all kinds of fun, they are usually loaded with tons of not so good for you foods. I am definitely all for indulging and enjoying all those yummy treats. However, I always make it my goal to enjoy these foods in moderation. I usually try to pick one fairly healthy item and one treat in order to keep things balanced. That way, I don't feel like I missed out on the goods but at the same time, didn't go overboard. It is all about the balance!

A great way to healthify any holiday party is to include this Butternut Squash Dip. It's creamy, light, and loaded with vitamin A. Hooray for vitamins. 

Creamy Butternut Squash Dip

adapted from Natural Awakenings Magazine

Ingredients

• 3 packages thawed (frozen) butternut squash or 1 whole butternut squash (frozen is easier!)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• pinch of salt, pepper, ginger, thyme, and rosemary (amount is up to you...I honestly used just a couple pinches of each).

Directions

1. If using whole squash...peel, remove seeds, and cut into 1 inch cubes (if using frozen, this is already done for you!)
2. Place cubes into a medium sized sauce pan and pour enough water in so that the squash is completely covered. 
3. Bring water to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cover. Let simmer for about 9 minutes or until squash is tender.
4. Remove squash from heat, drain water, and then place into food processor. Add olive oil, maple syrup, and all spices. 
5. Let the processor do its thing for about 20 seconds. Blend until smooth.

I served mine with "homemade" spelt tortilla chips.

This is definitely nothing fancy. Simply get 4 tortillas, slice into eighths with a pizza cutter, spray with olive oil, and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Bake in a 350 oven for 5 min. Ta da! 

Enjoy your evening. I'm off to relax and take advantage of the silence that is my house. Come 7:50 am, I will once again be surrounded with a lot of little people who are very, very loud. God bless them. 

Blue Corn Sweet Potato Tacos

Hello, people.

Before we get to the tacos, I want to share quite possibly the best pancakes ever. Whole Wheat Blueberry Banana Pancakes.  They are definitely as good as they sound! Yesterday morning we were making our usual Saturday pancakes (well, the boy made the pancakes...gotta give him the credit!) and he decided to throw in one whole smashed banana and about a cup of frozen blueberries to the batter.

The addition of the banana made for a really moist batch and the blueberries provided a nice little pop of flavor.   In the past I usually just use bananas and blueberries as toppings, rather than mixing them in, and I have to say I like my pancakes better this way. 

Tacos. Quite possibly one of the easiest and most delicious dishes ever. My love for tacos has already been proclaimed here on this little blog and with this recipe, I've grown to adore them even more. I was feeling particularly lazy yesterday and didn't feel like putting a whole lot of effort into my dinner. I scanned my fridge and found some blue corn tortillas and a sweet potato. I questioned the combination but I knew it would be easy and in my state of laziness, easy=apealing. Now, I've seen tacos made with mashed sweet potatoes but never roasted. I simply washed and cut up one organic sweet potato, roasted it in the oven with a bit of olive oil at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes, and threw them into the tortilla topped with a little salsa. 

The verdict? Good! I was a little weary, thinking these might royally suck, but they were truly delicious. I would have also used some spinach and maybe a little cheese but our fridge was bare bones yesterday and I just had to make do. These are a great option for lunch or dinner and I bet you could even roll these up and stick them in the oven, creating a darn good enchilada. Ohhhhh the options are endless!

Ingredients

• 2 blue corn tortillas (or any tortilla would work)
• 1 sweet potato
• Salsa (as much or as little as you like)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Wash and cut sweet potato into bite sized cubes
3. Toss with olive oil, place on baking sheet, and bake for about 30 minutes or until soft
4. Warm tortillas in microwave (20 seconds)
5. Fill tortillas with sweet potato and top with salsa

I have done about 472 things today and still have items on my to-do list. Have a good week!