waste not want not.

I'm learning a lot these days.  Waste not want not is one of the big things, and I am learning it through food.  I believe God can teach us through anything, and He knows me and He's speaking my love language-- FOOD.  We started this beautiful CSA where we truly have a bounty of the FRESHEST food EVERY week.  I feel spoiled.  How awesome it is that we get to do this.  One of my goals with this adventure was not to be wasteful with what we have.  You see, I'm that person who buys a shopping cart full of produce only to remember it's in my fridge 3 weeks later and to dig the rotting pieces out, having to clean out my fridge of rotten produce juice-- not even knowing which produce item it came from or how long it's been there.  I do love produce, but I think I buy so much I forget about it all.  I hate it.  I hate that I waste that money.  I hate that I waste that food when there are people right here in my city going hungry right now.

So part of the deal when we signed up for this CSA was that we'd get fresh produce-- whatever it is they give us-- and I'll fix it for us.  I knew we wouldn't always like it.  I tried the radishes, really, I don't.like.them.  But we'll try it.  It's taken me awhile [a month] to get the hang of this, but I am getting it.  For the sake of transparency I thought I better share the whole truth here.  I'm doing better with using it all, or giving it to someone who will use it [enter those pesky radishes again, turns out my mother-in-law and sister-in-law love them.  win!]  But the first few weeks I wasted.  Especially week one.

Back here I wrote about week 1 and what I did with the swiss chard.  Glad I used that-- bummed I wasted a lot of it.

Week 1  

The Stats Week 1:

Broccoli -- wasted
Radishes -- wasted
Bok Choy -- wasted
Garlic -- wasted
Lettuce -- ate, delicious!
Swiss Chard -- made it, tried it, bleh.
Strawberries -- a.w.e.s.o.m.e.

Week 2  

The Stats Week 2:

Lettuce -- ate, delicious!
Squash -- ate, delicious!
Garlic -- wasted
Cabbage -- still in fridge, keeps well... I hope
Eight Ball Squash -- ate, delicious!
Spinach -- ate half, delicious!  wasted other half
Strawberries -- a.w.e.s.o.m.e.

Week 3  

The Stats Week 3:

Radishes -- wasted
Turnips -- made it, tried it, not bad!  [turnips get the Most Surprising superlative]
Broccoli -- ate, delicious!
Napa Cabbage -- made it, tried it, delicious!  [awarded Best Dressed superlative... you'll see why when I post this recipe]
Lettuce -- ate, delicious!
Strawberries -- a.w.e.s.o.m.e.  [I had already eaten them before I took this picture]

Week 4 [night picture]

 The Stats Week 4:

Cauliflower -- made it, tried it, bleh.
Potatoes -- in the fridge. excited to make!
Eight Ball Squash -- oh.my.goodness.  greatest veggie dish I've ever made.  recipe soon.
Cucumbers -- so fresh. so delicious.
Squash -- ate, delicious!
Radishes -- tried a bite of one.  gross.  gave to family.  glad they found a good, loving home.
Lettuce -- ate, delicious!
Arugula -- ate some, some still in fridge.
Kale -- still in fridge.  plans to make this soon.



Now that I'm at the end of this post, I think this  must be really boring for people to read.  If anyone has stuck around, do you have problems with wasting food?  Any tips for me?

recipe: black bean deliciousness.

Back here I posted about my black bean cake fail.  The flavor was awesome, but because I didn't use an egg the cakes didn't hold together very well.  I used Emeril's recipe which you can find on this website.  It is really super easy and doesn't take much time! 

photo via 

 I didn't use his Essence or Seasoning because I don't own them, and the flavor was still fantastic.  Enjoy!

it's the most wonderful time of the year.

It's the season for fresh from the farm produce, and it makes my heart oh so happy!  This year for the first time we joined a CSA.  I've wanted to ever since I saw how great they were in DC a couple of years ago.  If you don't know, CSA stands for Community Share Agriculture.  You buy a share of the farm and thus support a local farm.  You pay a fee for the whole season [ours is 25 weeks long!] and you get produce once a week from this farm.  It's really cool because you're forced to try some things that you normally wouldn't [bok choy and swiss chard anyone??], but you also get some delicious favorites like fresh-picked sweet-as-summer strawberries.  The idea is that the community shares in the bounty and struggles of that farm-- not to mention the farm-to-table benefits, the delicious food, and the connection of knowing the family who grew the food you feed your family.  That also makes my heart very happy.  As you know, I'm a huge farm-to-table fan!  I don't think a CSA is right for everybody, but for my produce-loving, fruit and vegetable consuming family-- it's a good fit. 
 
We found a great farm down here.  It's about an hour and a half away from where we live, but it's actually very close to Tommy's work.  We pick up on Thursdays just five minutes away from our house.  Thursday has come to be my favorite day of the week! I so look forward to what we're going to get each week, and it kind of feels a little bit like Christmas each week.  [I know I'm a huge nutrition nerd but I can't help it.]

 

 Week 1's bounty!  Oh I was so excited.  I have to confess, I wasted some of this by not using it.  It makes me very sad but I was not prepared to handle all of this produce.  We got broccoli, radishes, bok choy, garlic, red lettuce, swiss chard, and strawberries.  Can you see how red and beautiful those strawberries are??!  Be still my heart. 

I decided we had to use everything we got.  I'm done being wasteful.  [That was before I wasted half this week's produce].  So I googled swiss chard-- I learned about it and I found what looked to be a decent recipe.  It was actually really easy to make and the recipe included garlic, lemon, and top it with a little sea salt.  Sounds pretty good, right?  Honestly, it wasn't half bad, but I'm not a fan.  We tried it with the whole family.  Yes, I invite my who family to participate in my cooking adventures-- lucky them!  It got a surprisingly good response.  Tommy actually did like it; I would eat it if forced to.  But we're all glad we tried it.  

 This pork, however, is the greatest thing I've ever put in my mouth.  Ever.  And so super easy.  I should post that recipe sometime soon. 

I added some produce from the grocery store to my red leaf lettuce to make the most amazing salad ever created.  I had never had red leaf lettuce before and honestly, y'all, it tasted like it was coated in butter.  It was the sweetest, softest lettuce I've ever come in contact with. Bet you didn't think you would feel so uncomfortable  reading my blog, huh? 


We're in week 3 now, and you know I'll be blogging about this A LOT.  Happy FRIDAY everyone! 

bean cake fail.

Before I start this post, I'm sitting here working in t office and it just started pouring those huge rain drops out of the blue with a clear blue sky above.  A rain shower that is completely laced with the heat of summer, and it makes me so excited for this summer season that is just getting started.  Not excited, thought, that I actually did 2 craft projects today and they're outside probably getting ruined.  Oh well.

Last night our good friend ZM was over.  He prefers to live a vegetarian lifestyle, and we like vegetables so it worked out well.  I've been wanting to make bean cakes for awhile, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to give it a try.  After about 25 minutes in the kitchen, I explained it to Zach this way-- we have good news and bad news.  The good news is that you like vegetables and we have a lot of those, the bad news is that our bean cakes died.  He didn't care.  He's pretty cool like that.

The black beans should be mashed up pretty good- that was the longest part of the meal prep. 

I shouldn't say they didn't make it at all-- because they kind of did, just not how Emeril said they should.  So I used this recipe that I watched Emeril make on his show while we were on vacation.  It was super easy!  And this is seriously so healthy!  Mine didn't turn out quite right because of eggs.  I compiled all my ingredients and had everything going.  The last thing I needed to add was 1 egg.  I went into the fridge and pulled out the eggs only to find the expiration date was May 5th.  I know some people use them, some don't.  Some say it's an "expiration date", some a "sell by".  I was tempted but ultimately decided not to use them because I didn't want to make a baby and a guy leaving the country for Africa sick.  So I googled replacements for eggs and came up with some weird things and some interesting things.  Applesauce seemed like it could work with this recipe, so I added 1/4 cup of applesauce.  It didn't ruin the flavors or anything, but it didn't hold my bean cakes together like the egg would have.

So when I went to cook them on the skillet, they fell apart.

 

I hated to throw all of that yummy bean goodness out, so I plopped them on a cookie sheet and baked them at 375 for about 12 minutes.

 It worked fine.  They weren't crispy like they would have been on the stove, but they were still good.  And everyone liked them. 



Tommy is not a fan of beans, but he loved these.  I think this would be a great meal to get the kids to help with, and one that they'll like to eat, too!

baby beans.

Tonight was Meatless Thursday at our house.  Jack Jack loves his black beans.  And I love this kid so so much.  Is that face not precious?  :) 

*Recipes to follow... 

work it out.

I heard some wise words this week.  On Twitter.  I read some wise words this week.  Exercising doesn't cancel out your food choices.  I can't remember who said it, or how they said it but that was basically the point.  This probably sounds so easy and obvious, but to me it was ground breaking.  You see, I rationalize all.the.time. 

Well if I work out more I can have more ice cream. 
If I worked outside I'm hot, burning more calories, and can have brownie batter by the spoonfuls [yes, this really happens]. 
I probably burned a lot of calories today doing [insert general statement here that fits for that moment], so I could use some pick me up in the form of sweet and chocolate and plenty of it. 

And the biggest one of all... 
I will start exercising tomorrow so it's okay for me to eat this tonight.  


Looks like I might have some emotional eating issues, too, huh?  I think most of us women do.  But my point is that exercise is great, and healthy, and we definitely need it, but it doesn't cancel out our food choices. 

If I choose healthy foods and exercise, I'm living a healthy lifestyle.  If I exercise and choose unhealthy foods, I'm still making unhealthy choices. 


Please don't take this as me saying there's never room for sweets or the occasional poor food choice.  If you know me, you know I always make room for dessert in my healthy lifestyle.  What I am saying is that a lot of us have this notion that one thing [exercise] cancels out another [poor food choices], and it's unhealthy for us to think that way.  Exercise and healthy food choices are part of a healthy lifestyle.  Enjoy your desserts or your weak spot every once in awhile, but don't think that because you walked/ran/biked/whatever that you get a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card for eating what you want.  And I'm talkin' to myself here, too. 

these are pictures i found in my files, and you better believe i enjoyed those meals.  

breakfast of champions.

Continuing on in the spirit of healthy dieting/weight loss, let's talk about the importance of breakfast.  I already feel like I sound like a commercial.  Sorry for that.  Seriously breakfast is so important.  It kick starts our metabolism, it gets the body going, and keeps us from binging later on.  Having balanced meals and snacks is key to successful weight loss-- breakfast is a big part of that.

Jack and I wanted to demonstrate a healthy breakfast.  My new favorite thing for breakfast is plain yogurt, and I add in fresh fruit and a little honey to sweeten it.  I don't need a lot in the mornings/don't have time to sit and eat, so it's perfect for me.  Jack's still going with the old standby-- the classic oatmeal and milk.  He wanted me to mention he has fruit, too.

My point with all this is breakfast doesn't have to be a huge meal where you sit and eat for 30 minutes.  It can be quick, light if you wish, and healthy!  Some mornings I would just have toast.  [Would being the operative word here, since I can't use my toaster since it's full of mouse poop.  And still sitting on my counter.  What's wrong with me?? ]  Ok funny story here, Tommy still was having toast, until I informed him the other day that I thought I saw mouse droppings down in there.  His response "well, let me go throw up and then I'll throw the toaster out."  Bless him. 



*there's mouse poop in our toaster because we left most of our stuff in our house in Maryland when we moved to Tennessee.  we didn't clean out the cereal cabinet.  four months later, mice had done a lot of damage in our kitchen.  although i had an incredibly tough first round inspection on EVERY SINGLE ITEM that came from that mouse house, apparently the toaster slipped through the cracks.

think small.

In light of yesterday's post on how inappropriate the tube feeding diet is, I thought I would do some posts of appropriate ways to go about weight loss.  If you read yesterday, then you know tube feeding should not equal dieting.  A good way to go about weight loss is to think small and realistic.  These are some of the biggest things to successful weight loss, in my eyes.

I like to tell people to make small changes that are realistic.  For instance, if you drink soda all day- don't say you are never going to drink soda again.  That's just not going to happen.  But maybe you could cut down the number of sodas you drink each day.  We all like for change to happen big, especially when it comes to weight loss, but that's not how successful weight loss happens.  If you eat out for dinner and eating out is what you enjoy, don't give it up.  Yes, eating at home is typically healthier, but if you aren't going to do it then don't kid yourself.  But do make healthy choices while eating out [which is another post in and of itself].

via

These are just two very brief examples of small, realistic changes.  To some people they may seem to small, but they do add up when they are followed.  Once you get the hang of your first small change, you can take the next step to a bigger change and implement that in your life.  It's exciting to conquer small changes!  They provide motivation on the long journey that is weight loss.

rice and beans.

Sometimes I don't have the time or energy to fix dinner.  I'm sure I'm the only one, right?  Truthfully, that sometimes is like 4-5 nights a week, but if we ate out every one of those times we'd be struggling with our weight more than we do and hurting in our bank account.  My Granny gave me this rice and beans recipe that is so simple, fast, and delicious [thanks Granny]!  I love it and so does Jack!  Turns out that boy loves his black beans.

The recipe calls for saffron, which is definitely tasty but so high in salt.  I made it with saffron the first time and loved it, but since then I've been trying to use brown rice or at least plain white rice.  It still tastes delicious. 



Ingredients:  
1 [5 oz.] package saffron
1 [15 oz.] can black beans
3 T lime juice [bottled is fine]
1 t chili powder
1/2 t cumin
2 T chopped fresh cilantro [divided]
Garnishes: sour cream, sliced green onions, fresh cilantro.

Directions: 
1.  Cook rice according to package directions.  Keep warm. 
2.  Drain beans, reserving 2 T liquid [what I refer to as the bean juice.
3.  Combine bean juice, lime juice, chili powder, and cumin in a saucepan & cook over medium heat until thoroughly heated.
4.  Stir in 1 T cilantro.  Serve beans over rice.  Sprinkle with remaining cilantro.
Garnish if you want.  I don't except for more cilantro [the more the better].  If you do garnish with sour cream-- go easy on it and go low fat.

Serves 3-4.  [or 1 1/2 if you're me & Jack]

Enjoy! 

stuffed chicken.

This chicken is awesome.  This dish is so healthy and really pretty easy to do.  It's a fun one to get the kids involved with too because they can learn about healthy ingredients and help put this dish together.


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs chicken cutlets  
• 1/2 c. finely chopped roasted red peppers  
• 1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese  
• 1 T chopped, flat leaf parsley  

 Directions:
1.  In small bowl mix together feta and roasted red peppers.
2.  Season chicken with 1/4 tsp salt and pepper on each cutlet.
 
3.  Divide the cheese/pepper mixture evenly in each cutlet [about 1 heaping tablespoon] & roll the chicken up.  Use a toothpick to hold the rolled up chicken in place.
 
4.  Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in skillet on medium-high heat.  Use an oven safe skillet to make this even easier! 
5.  Cook chicken seam-side up until browned [about 3-4 mins].  Flip chicken and transfer skillet to top rack in oven.  Roast until cooked through [14-16 mins].
 
6.  Remove from oven when finished.  Check internal temperature.  Poultry should be 170 degrees F. 

 


 The healthy facts:

• I love chicken as a protein.  Lean and a great choice.  A lot of people think chicken can't be good, but this dish has so much flavor you won't even remember red meat.  
• This dish is low in fat.  The flavoring comes from the roasted red peppers & feta cheese.  
• Choose low fat feta cheese to make this dish healthier.    

A few things:

• Don't let your kids touch raw chicken.  That's just wrong.  
• Don't let your child use a knife.  
• Great roles for kids include measuring things out, mixing together ingredients, and monitoring the time on cooking. 

  *Recipe is from Real Simple and can be found here. 

And this is seriously so delicious.  Enjoy!

my very first csa.

If I had to describe it in one word, it would be AWESOME {any How I Met Your Mother fans?}. Serious awesomeness. The people there were so nice! They walked us through and explained what we could get and encouraged me to taste the tomatoes. Little did they know, that was like a dream come true for me. Yes, I am a big dork. I wish I had pictures of us there-- me, Tommy, and Jack in tow, but I'm kind of glad I don't because who knows how weird I would have looked with my goofy I'm-at-a-csa-and-I-love-it grin. Here are some pictures {although bad and don't do the produce justice} of the goods.

Tomato and cucumber went in the wrap below.- so good!


Best corn I've ever had in my life! Until I had this amazingly sweet yellow corn, I thought the best corn was white corn. My world has been rocked.


And without a doubt my favorite take-home of the day. I was popping these things like candy on the way home. Tommy didn't get any, but I so loved the yellow, orange, and red!


We also made it home with a good handful of donut peaches {my first time trying these bad boys}, an onion, some red potatoes. 2 zucchini, and a picklin' cuc as my Mamaw would have said. The plums in the pic were too ripe, which was disappointing. Everything else has been awesome.



I know what we're signing up for in the fall. We missed the late summer share sign up by 2 days. Ahhhh!!!

chicken ceasar salad.

Do you ever have those meals that you could eat over and over again? This is one of mine! I made this the other day and it was so good! It just hit the spot and was so quick and easy to make! While the dressing is certainly not healthy the rest of the salad was full of good stuff, so we count this as a good meal.

Steps for chicken ceasar salad:
- Wash and tear lettuce then rinse and use the salad spinner
- Wash grape tomatoes
- Ask wonderful hubby to put chicken on the grill
{I got these thinned chicken breast strips. They were perfect for the salad and cooked in
less than 5 minutes on the grill}
- Combine lettuce, tomatoes, dressing, and parmesan cheese and toss until everything is covered with dressing
- Slice chicken strips & top salad with them


Enjoy!