Operation "Eat Better" day 10 and 11

Monday
Breakfast:
POBA muffin (vegetarian), smoothie made with frozen banana, blueberries tablespoon of Chia seeds, a teaspoon of peanut butter and almond milk (vegan)

lunch:
half 'Amy's Texas burger (vegan) Jeanne ate this too.  Not her favorite, but she ate it. Pumpkin soup (vegan) (Loki liked this too),wheat crackers

afternoon snack:
2 "fast lunch cookies" (oatmeal, maple syrup, peanut butter)(vegan)

You know.  Before this experiment, I would have 6 meals and several grazing snacks throughout the day.  Dinner was always my biggest meal, and I always craved 'dessert'.  This is all still true.  I actually feel like I  eat a lot of food, I just never eat until I am full.   Never.  So there is always room for more food in a little bit.

Dinner:
Brixx: Veggie pizza with vegan cheese.  When I say 'pizza', I mean the whole pizza.  By myself.  I did not share.  I did not have a leftover bite......  All me.  A whole pizza.  In my belly.  All of it.

Tuesday:
Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with spinach, scallions and feta (vegetarian) whoa boy this was good.  Loaded a bunch onto a whole wheat english muffin with vegan butter.  YUM!  Ironically, I wasn't hungry for over 4 hours after eating this meal....  As I wrote just above, I usually eat constantly.  Hrm, food for thought.

Lunch:
Cauliflower chowder (oh boy this was good, recipe coming)(vegan)  I ate two bowls and Loki liked it too. Made in the slow cooker and easily adapted for the stove top.  Also had left over Pasta Florentine (vegan).  3 store bought oatmeal raisin cookies (vegetarian)

Dinner:

Creamy tomato soup from the Veganomicon (recipe below), grilled cheese (vegan), smoothie with peanut buter, greek yogurt, pineapple, almond milk vegetarian)

We now take a break from Operation "Eat Better", because I know many of you don't give a rats tutu what I'm eating.

You know, sometimes I can really knock out this 'mommy' thing and get a whole bunch of stuff done in a day while remaining patient with my children and remembering to get on the floor with them and play too. Other days, I can't remember if I brushed my teeth.  Never can figure out the secret to the good days.  Wish I could.  I'd like to have more "Awesome Mom' days.  Today was an Awesome Mom day.  We're all smiles here.

Today I took the kids for a walk, returned some items at a local store, brought Jeanne into Pet Store to look at rats, ferrets and fish.  Both kids ate a great vegan lunch, and lots of it!  I played with them both, they played well together, I ran the dises, did dishes in the sink, did the laundry, folded the laundry.  Remembered I have no idea what is for dinner, and scoured some cookbooks I have from the library.  While the kids napped, I chopped the veggies and soaked the sun dried tomatoes.  After that I was able to cut my fingernails.  Yes, getting to my fingernails gets counted towards a good day.  Do you know how hard it is to cut your fingernails with two kids clambering on you.  This task is really low on the 'must do' list.  You know, picking up the same toys for the um-teenth time that day usually wins out.  That or remembering I have time to pee during a nap.  So yes, I cut my nails!  

RECIPE:  

CAULIFLOWER CHOWDER: vegan, from "The Everything Vegetarian Slow Cooker Cookbook" serves 6 (yeah right, maybe 10)

2 pounds cauliflower florets

2 quarts vegetable broth (this was too much I think..., I would reduce by 2 cups personally.   I think of chowder as being thick, not watery like soup)

1 onion, chopped 

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon white pepper (I only had black, who cares?  Not me)

1 1/2 cups broccoli florets

2 carrots, cut into coins

1 stalk celery (oops, seems I forget this... oh well)

1. In 4 quart slow cooker, place cauliflower, broth, onions, garlic, pepper and salt, stir.  Cook on low 6 hours or until cauliflower is fork tender.  Tip: don't go crazy chopping, you will be using an immersion blender here, so just make it small enough to balance flavors and cook quickly.

2. Use immersion blender (see, I told you).

3. Add broccoli, carrots and celery.  Cook for 30 minutes or until fork tender.  

(I also added 1/2 tablespoon vegan butter, and it was CRAZY GOOD).

Calories: 135, fat 0.5g, protein 6g, sodium completely dependent on your veggie broth and the amount of water added, fiber 9g, carbs 30g, sugar 13g

Verdict:

Honestly, it smelled wonky while cooking, so I wasn't thrilled to try it.  I let it cool and put half away (it made a ton, ton, ton).  When I warmed it up today for lunch, I was WOWED!  It was so good I had two bowls, and the kids both liked it too.  Next time I will add a but of corn too.  I will be making the vegan soup again!

RECIPE:

CREAMY TOMATO SOUP: from the Veganomincon serves 8

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion

3 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary (cruches between your fingers)

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon salt ( I didn't add any)

lots of freshly ground pepper

1 pound waxy potatoes (about 2-4 not  russet) and weigh them, I used two medium sized ones, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

1 cup sun dried tomtoes (not packed in oil)

6 cups water or broth

1 (28 ounce) fire roasted tomatoes

juice of 1/2 lemon or to taste (I didn't use any)

Pre heat a large soup pot over medium heat.  Saute onions until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.  Add garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper. Saute for about 1 minutes.

Add potatoes and sun dried tomatoes (these should have already been sitting in boiled water for 10 minutes, then that water drained).  Pour in water or broth, cover and bring to boil.  Once soup in boiling, lower heat to medium and simmer about 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

Add can of tomatoes and heat through.  Use immersion blender or puree in blender in batches CAREFULLY.

Serve.

Both Loki and Jeanne liked the soup.  We had it with grilled cheeses (mine was with vegan cheese).  Hubbers said it was the best tomato soup he ever tasted, and he hates tomato soup.  He only ate half of his bowl, but he ate 'some' so I count that as a win.

I really like this soup.  Really.  I'm thrilled the kids liked it too.  Sweet.

Operation "Eat Better" day 4

Breakfast:
Me: Homemade granola with vanilla almond milk, some pear and a coffee
Hubbers: cereal with banana
Loki: left over ham sandwich, cheerios, pear, quinoa with black beans and mango
Jeanne:left over ham sandwich, cheerios with plain almond milk, pear, white grape juice (diluted 50%)

Early breakfast / snack?
Me, hubbers and Jeanne: hummus wrap with cucumbers, celery, red peppers, lettuce
...
a little later, green chips.


Afternoon snack:
Me and the kids, goldfish
Me: beets.  Sheesh, I am trying really hard here to be all healthy etc, but man, while tasty they sure didn't fill the "I want a snack" feeling.

Dinner:
We had dinner out at 'Moe's'.  I had a small wheat tortilla with pinto beans, organic tofu, guacamole, cucumbers and tomatoes.
Kids had quesadillas, and dad had a rice bowl with chicken, we all had water or unsweetened tea.

OK, we did go next door and get dessert.  Two kids cups of ice cream, mint and dark chocolate.


GREEN CHIPS:  recipe from "The 30 minute Vegan"
1 bunch of curly leaf kale (the other kind wont crisp up well)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt

OK, now that I gave you the ingredient list, I can tell you I don't follow it.  I use all the ingredients, but not in those measurements.

Pre-heat oven to 350F
First wash the kale, then rip the leves off in bite size bits and put on cookie sheet in a single layer.  Bake 12-15 minutes.  Too short they will still be too chewy, too ling and they will be burned.  Figure out your oven.

Move kale to large mixing bowl and drizzle with the oil, sprinkle the yeast and salt.  Again, I just keep tasting.  Not too much oil, I don't want fat chips, I want healthy green chips.  I use less then half the yeast, Jeanne doesn't care too much for it and I would much rather her EAT the KALE chips than not.  If you don't want to use the yeast, you can't go wrong with oil and salt!

Give it a try, go on.  Organic curly kale from my foo foo grocery cost me $1.99  You can't go wrong with that kind of experiment.  The worse thing that can happen is that you and your kids LIKE it, and ask you for green chips every time you go grocery shopping.

A note on any food I list that sounds 'good'.  I didn't come up with it.  None of them.  If there is a mention of something I ate, believe me I looked up the recipe and followed it from a book.  I apologize before hand if I am slow in citing correct references, but I am absolutely taking no credit for coming up with them on my own!

Operation "Eat Better" day 3

Breakfast:

Me:
Quinoa with almond milk and cinnamon, one POBA muffin, TWO coffees, blueberries (it was a really rough night, Jeanne spent an hour screaming.  Screaming. Screaming, and I have no idea why).
Hubbers:
Steel cut oatmeal with brown sugar, tiny bit of eggs and potatoes left over from yesterday, coffees
Kids:
Loki:Quinoa with almond milk and cinnamon, eggs, potatoes, whole milk french vanilla with blueberries
Jeanne: Quinoa with almond milk and cinnamon, steel cut oatmeal (she stole most of her dad's), whole milk french vanilla with blueberries
   
Snack:
Jeanne: half a "Fast lunch cookie"  recipe will come and some corn chips
Me: Mexican Chili (vegan) with corn chips and a banana

Lunch:
Me: half a PBJ sandwich, small hummus wrap with red peppers, cucumbers and lettuce, veggie chips
---half a 'fast lunch cookie"

Dinner:
Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango, recipe from 'The Veganonicon"
left over vegan shepards pie, beets and lots and lots of grapes!



Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango recipe:
tip, make quinoa ahead of time to save prep time for dinner.
1 mango diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup scallions
1 cup cilantro
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons grapeseed oil
1/4 teaspoons salt
2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
1 (15) ounce can black beans

Combine mango, red bell peppers, scallions and cilantro in mixing bowl
Add red wine vinegar, oil and salt and mix.
Add quinoa, mix , then fold in the rinsed beans.

You can eat at room temp or eat chilled.  I ate mine at room temp, but this will also be a very nice chilled salad on a hot day.  Too bad we don't get too many hot days here in Raleigh.

Happy with my mostly vegan day!  Feel great today, not too hungry, despite the lack of sleep.

Fast cookie recipe, from "Forks over Knives"
Makes about 8 cookies (I always make 9-12)
Tip#1, use all ingredients as listed, these are amazing!
Tip#2.  Use a whisk when heating the liquids, and a spatula when incorporating the oatmeal.  Use the same spatula to place and form the cookies on a cookie sheet or piece of wax paper.  Place/keep your cookies in the freezer.  They are much more manageable when frozen and go great with a cup of almond milk.  If putting in a lunch box for later, also pack napkin.  ENJOY!

1/3 maple syrup
1/3 cup almond milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 Tablespoons peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1.5 cups rolled oatmeal
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped optional

Put maple syrup, almond milk and cocoa into saucepan and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 3 minutes.  Add peanut butter and stir until dissolved.
Remove from heat and add vanilla, oats and walnuts.
Stir well and form into cookies.

Operation "Eat Better" cont.

First see the Fooducate Blog post, then read what I ate today.

Bah!

Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with a wee bit of cheese, orange scented broccoli
coffee
red potato has browns with onions and beet greens
cup of almond milk

Lunch
Tacos, with homemade heirloom beans, chopped lettuce, tomatoes, jalepenos
4 mini store bought chocolate chip cookies
couple of goldfish and corn chex (really to see if they would choke Loki)


Snack:
smoothie (very little, I bought it for Jeanne) made with blueberries, strawberries, peach juice and protein powder

Dinner:
Vegan Shepards pie, so that means peas, corn, carrots, and mashed potatoes baked, I didn't eat the cheese on top
a slice of homemade pizza with banan peppers
one beer


Dessert:
"Ice cream", made with bananas, peanut butter, almond milk, strawberries and a couple of chocolate chips

Recipes:
POBA muffins: or peanut butter, oatmeal, banana, applesauce muffins.  I think these need a better name.  Here is the recipe.
POBA muffins

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

For Mom.

Yes, this uses the slow cooker, you silly.

This is for a 1.5 - 2 quart slow cooker.   Serves 2
From: The Vegan Slow cooker by Kathy Hester

It is important to keep your slow cooker 1/2-2/3 full.  You can either double the recipe or use a pyrex pan or measuring cup inside a larger slow cooker, filled with water 2/3 up the side or your pan.

Night before put the following into your oiled slow cooker (or pyrex)
1/2 cup steel cut oats
2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
pinch of cloves



Set to low for 6-8 hours

In the morning:
Stir and top with brown sugar and pecans if you wish.

This was so amazingly GOOD!  Hubbers, Loki and I loved it, only Jeanne was un-pleased by it.  This is a new staple in our house.

Mom, I also found these recipes that also sound cool:
Lemon Blueberry muffin oatmeal
Banana pudding oatmeal
Maple pear oatmeal
Carrot Cardamon (can't wait to try this one!)

If your not vegan or don't want to buy special milk for these recipes, you can use cow's milk or water.

Roasted and Spiced Nuts

Roasted and Spiced Nuts - slow cooker

cooking spray
1 cup raw unsalted pecans
1 cup raw unsalted almonds
1 cup raw unsalted pistachio meat
1/2 cup raw unsalted pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1.5 Tablespoons maple syrup

In large slow cooker, spray inside of your stoneware with cooking spray. 
Put all ingredients in your crock and stir well. 

Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours stirring every 20 minutes.**
Every crock pot cooks differently, I've had 3 and they each cooked these nuts at different rates, varying from 1.5 to 3 hours.  Just be sure to stir every 20-30 minutes (set a timer).   The nuts will burn if you leave them too long without stirring.  The plus side is I've seen no harm in taking them out early.    These seem to be a lot of effort, but really, its just stirring.  Make them while reading a book or watching your favorite TV show.

Spread the nuts on a cookie sheet to cool and store in airtight container.

The cayenne really makes these hot ( to us).  I would use 1/8 teaspoon.  Also use any nuts you have on hand or love.  We're trying to eat more walnuts here so I used 2 cups of walnuts and a cup of 'mixed' nuts.

These make a great gift, or a fantastic snack to have out while you have guests.
~ a la "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow" by Stephanie O'Dea

Pumpkin Butter

Pumpkin Butter on Rice Cakes

A new treat I've been having is pumpkin butter on rice cakes.  I just happen to pick the rice cakes up, and was assaulted by memories of bland, gross, stale things many years ago.

Although, now I eat brown rice all the time, and I love the nutty flavor of it.  The ones I happen to pick up were from the same makers of the brown rice I eat anyway, so I bought them.  I figured anything tastes good with peanut butter on them, and perhaps I can get Jeanne to eat them since they are crunchy and new.

Pumpkin Butter
First, the name is misleading, there is no butter in this.  The butter is in reference to the texture of the spread.  And, yes this is a slow cooker recipe.  Haven't you bought one yet? Sheesh.

I made a half recipe, but I will never do that again.  I'll make a whole recipe, you can always freeze two 1 cup amounts to enjoy later.

One 29 ounce can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie)
1.25 cups firmly packed brown sugar *
1/2 cup honey
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice**

Put all ingredients in slow cooker and stir with spatula.  Any lumps in the sugar will melt during cooking.  Make sure to scrape down the sides with the spatula.  Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove lid and cook on HIGH for 30-60 minutes more, until it reaches the thickness you would like.

Turn off cooker and let pumpkin butter come to room temperature.

You can store this covered in the fridge for up to 6 weeks (be sure to date your jar). Alternatively you can freeze up to 3 months.  Serve cold or at room temp.
* I did not pack down my sugar, and it was plenty sweet.  I will reduce the sugar next time I make this.
** I didn't have either of these spices, so I made my own using this recipe:
Apple of Pumpkin Spice

I've had two brown rice cakes smeared with yummy homemade pumpkin for the last 3 days.  So good.

Chicken soup

Chicken soup is good all year round. Its great after a day sledding or shoveling in the winter.  It always makes you feel better when you're sick.  Chicken soup is a great meal to bring to friends having hard times, or a new baby.  Here's mine, although it changes depending on seasonal vegetables, or veggies I want to clear out of my crisper drawer.

Yes, this uses a slow cooker, but you can do it on the square thing in your kitchen if you'd like too.  I add no oil or butter, so no added fats here!

2 cups vegetables (any really, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, scallions, corn, although if you are going to add peas, I'd wait until 10 minutes before serving, and just stir them it, they stay bright green this way)
1 cup cooked chicken (I always save some dark meat and some breast when I cook a whole chicken, just throw it in the freezer and your all set when you want to make this soup)
2 quarts of chicken broth (8 cups)
1 cup brown rice (or 1/2 cup brown rice and 1/2 cup rinsed quinoa)
2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
salt and pepper to taste

I usually just use all rice, but thought I'd give the quinoa a try.  It was a really nice change and Jeanne loved it.  I make this soup every other week or so.  The whole family loves it and I never worry about throwing out leftovers.  This is one of my soups that Jeanne always has two bowl fulls the night I make it and is willing to eat leftovers the next day or two (if it makes it).

Specifically, the batch I made yesterday had the following:
broccoli, 1 carrot, 1/2 a cooked sweet potato (it basically dissolves, so each and every bite has a veggie in it, even if you have picky eaters), frozen corn, and I added frozen peas at the end
Some chicken from a previous whole bird cooked
1/2 cup brown rice
1/2 cup quinoa
I only had 'regular' chicken stock on hand, so I used about 3.5 cups of stock and the rest water to reduce the sodium.  I prefer to add salt to my soup then not eat soup I find too salty.

The result was more of a stew than soup, but it was jam packed with protein and vegetables!  We had it for dinner last night, and lunch today.  Never a complaint by Jeanne.  Loki looked like he wanted some too, but he'll have to wait.

A lot of growth in a little time

Hubbers and I agree, Loki has grown a lot in just a week.  All of a sudden he is sitting up and even beginning to spin around while on his belly.  This week also marks his first cluster feeding (Jeanne had many, and often).  Loki is alert and happy nearly all the time, and loves, loves to eat food.  I think his favorite so far are carrots.

 Jeanne is also growing quickly.  She has a sense of humor now, and has started bargaining for things she wants.  For example, today I told her it is was time for 'milk and books' (aka nap time), she turned around and said " Dance 1 song (while pointing 1 finger at me), then milk soon".  Hard to argue with that, so dance we did.

Jeanne is still helping me bake, and this morning we made these Banana, peanut butter, oatmeal muffins.  Whoa boy were they good.  These are a keeper. I'll freeze half this batch and dole them out as yummy snacks when all else fails (kind of like my smoothie pops made with yogurt, peanut butter and fruit).  We ate ours plain, warm out of the oven, but I suppose you could put butter on them.

This week is the last week.  Either we sell the house, or we don't and we're done with it.  We just can not maintain this level of borrowing and stress.  It is beginning to have clear effects on my health.  I will let you know one way or another, what happens with the house.