Sauteed Garlic Brussels Sprouts

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When I was a little girl I hated disliked brussel sprouts. (Okay, so did you know that they are not actually called “brussel sprouts” they are called “Brussels Sprouts.” After the city of Brussels in Belgium where they were discovered, I didn’t know that until today :) But as an adult I started making them myself, and I have found that I really like them now. My mom informed me last night that she always made them from frozen sprouts, maybe that is why I disliked them? Well, these Brussels Sprouts were delicious, and even most of the kids liked them! And that is always a plus when it comes to cooked vegetables! Delish!

Sauteed Garlic Brussels Sprouts Continue reading

Back from…being gone.

Well as you may have noticed I’d left this blog alone since early October, a couple weeks after I discovered we are expecting baby number 7. I didn’t just leave the blog alone, I’ve pretty much left all fruits and veggies and all things healthy alone for a time. I had even been listening to a daily podcast about the Paleo diet and couldn’t stand to listen to that for fear they might talk about the one thing I didn’t want to think about, food.

Peppers

So thankful that season is over. I can smell coffee without feeling like I might vomit. Continue reading

Aspiring Chef in the Making

Familiarizing (is that a word?) herself the ingredients in the frig :)

Just thought it would be fitting to share this adorable picture of our littlest aspiring chef, getting familiar with her ingredients! If I don’t want a similar situation to transpire, I have to get what I need quickly these days or I might have to fish the “goods” out of the frig before I shut the door. Isn’t she just adorable? :)

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

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So, most of my kids prefer plain old “potato fries”. Actually, if you gave them the choice, I’m almost positive they would pass right by mama’s homemade fries for the enemy fries, greasy McDonald. Isn’t that just wrong? Anyway, today while the kids were watching me slave away chopping all of the sweet potatoes meticulously by hand, Eamon pointed out, “that must be hard!” Then someone asked, I think it was Guenna, “are you ever going to make REAL fries mommy?” Hmmm, I’ll have to think about that. Probably not ;) But you never know, I just might if you ask me really nice.

In the meantime, lets work up an appetite for these tasty little homemade, “not quite real fries”, shall we? Okay, we are all a work process, including me. Even though some of the kids are still getting used to the idea of sweet potatoes over regular potatoes, there weren’t really any of these tasty buggers left when dinner was cleared off the table, so not so bad after all! I’m still working on tweaking the recipe to tantalize their taste buds, I got the inspiration from my Everyday Paleo book, you should buy it if you’re a mom and you’re interested in the Paleo Diet! Continue reading

Kids LOVE Meatloaf, at least mine do…now.

Paleo Meatloaf and Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Since Chris and I have started eating “Paleo about a month and a half ago, we have slowly brought the kids one board. For the most part their lunches are the same most days, but they don’t eat box cereal any more and they eat a lot more eggs/pancakes (I know, pancakes aren’t paleo, we’re getting there:). But because I don’t plan to make two meals for the kids/mom/Chris and I, we ALL eat paleo friendly meals for dinner. So for the most part we leave the bread/carbs off the dinner table. And the kids have been adjusting pretty well, there have been a few complaints, but they complained sometimes before so we’re not doing to bad. Continue reading

Almond Crusted Baked Cod

Our kids have not liked all the new “Paleo friendly” food we’ve been trying the past few weeks.  Like tonight for instance, we had acorn squash stuffed with sausage and lots of goodies, sounds delicious right?! Well, I will just say that one of the children mysteriously turned up sick before dinner, and a few of the children were complaining about hunger pangs before bedtime :) But Chris and I liked it!

Well, this Cod was NOT one of those :) They loved it, and were begging for more! It’s always a sigh of relief when the kids like dinner, and two of those kids who loved it, normally don’t like fish, so it was a win, win!

Almond Crusted Wild caught Cod

Almond Crusted Baked Cod Continue reading

Big Changes…New Life of Paleo

Just a little review, most of the recipes that I’m doing right now are “Paleo” which means, no grains, no (or very little) sweeteners, and very little carbs. Chris and I have tried lots of diets over the years but we’ve never really found one that we really feel like we can live with, I lost weight while on the Raw Food Detox Diet but I found it a very difficult way of life, I was constantly hungry and always very shaky. Recently I’ve tried Weight Watchers, and while I did lose a little weight, I was always hungry, and always thinking about what I could eat next.

Chris and I have been eating Paleo for about a month and a half, here are the pros: 1. We’ve both lost weight, he has lost at least 20 lbs, and I have lost about 12 lbs. 2. We’re not hungry all the time, I can eat breakfast and realize I need to eat again around noon and haven’t been distracted by hunger for half the morning. 3. The food is really good! Even without all the grains and things that we love, we are learning to leave those things out and honestly don’t really miss it that much.  4. I’m starting to feel very hopeful about losing the weight I’ve gained over the past six pregnancies, it’s very encouraging! And I’ve found some treats that are healthy that we all love! Here are the Cons: 1. It is a more expensive way of eating, but I think once you get the hang of it and get into a groove it’s definitely affordable. Carbs tend to be pretty cheap, but they are also the problem foods in my case and eliminating them is the best way to get the weight off!  2. More food prep, it takes time. I’m making paleo mayo, almond flour, and a few other things along with the veggie prepping for cooking, but it’s worth it!

Overall thoughts about the Paleo Diet, I love it. I see us eating this way for weightloss and then adding more Nourishing Traditions foods, soaked oats, and sourdough bread, as well as occasional soaked pancakes. It’s doable, and that is saying a lot for a family of 8, 9 with my mom who lives with us!

Crockpot Spiced Chicken

It’s that time of the year again, when my crockpot gets tons of use. I just love that I can throw a bunch of stuff in there and it almost always turns out beautifully! This is a new one that was inspired by a recipe in my Everyday Paleo book. They call for a whole chicken which I did not have, so I’m using a bunch of bone-in chicken thighs but I think you can use just about any part with the skin on. Hope you’re inspired!

Spiced chicken, and our first big puzzle!!
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Dirty Dozen, Clean 15 lists for 2011

I heard about this list from the “Latest in Paleo” podcast I’ve been listening to, I’m thinking I might print the list and keep it in my purse for when I’m at the grocery store trying decide if I want to spend the extra bucks on organic onions :)

This is a list of unorganic fruits and vegetables that have been found to have the most pesticides on them in the store. You might want to avoid buying these in the non-organic section. This list is know as the “Dirty Dozen” and is in order from dirtiest to cleanest.

1. apples
2. celery
3. strawberries
4. peaches
5. spinach
6. nectarines, imported
7. grapes, imported
8. sweet bell peppers
9. potatoes
10. blueberries, domestic
11. lettuce
12. kale collard greens

Enjoying some sweet carrots from our garden :)

And this is a list of unorganic fruits and veggies, (cleanest to dirtiest). This list is known as “Clean 15″

1. onions
2. sweet corn
3. pineapples
4. avocado
5. asparagus
6. sweet peas
7. mangoes
8. eggplant
9. cantaloupe, domestic
10. kiwi
11. cabbage
12. watermelon
13. sweet potatoes
14. grapefruit
15. mushrooms

Thought this was pretty interesting and useful. I’m thankful, after reading that apples have the MOST pesticides, that we have our own bountiful apple trees! Anyway, just a little food for thought.

Green Tomatoes – Help!!

Random- oatmeal, green tomatoes, and kombucha

Aren’t these beautiful?! I got them from my sweet neighbor who didn’t want them to go to the slugs so he picked them. His tomato vines were too heavy so they were dragging on the ground the slugs were gettin’ em! But I have no idea what to do with them, anyone have a tip they’d like to pass along? :) Thanks!