Last Week’s Basket

One of the things I’m thinking of doing with this blog is keeping track of what we get in our Farmer’s Market Basket each week and what I make.

I’ve had a few posts already that I put what we got – but I think I’m going to start not only putting what we got that week, but also what I made from the basket. It seems  to be a good place for me to keep track of what I’ve made with some of the ingredients and also helps share some yummy, healthy recipes!

So, last weeks basket. I got the “Veggie only” basket since we still had lots of fruit from the last two weeks. We seem to eat a lot more vegetables than we do fruit in our house. 

Potatoes (I bought several extra), broccoli, spinach (I bought an extra bunch of organic spinach), Lettuce (I bought an extra head), tomatoes, spring onions, tomatoes and cabbage (we don’t eat cabbage so I “swapped” my cabbage for an extra bunch of spring onions). I also bought some garlic and organic raspberries.

 

My Middle and What I Intend To Do About It

Before Sam was born I decided I needed to lose some weight. I lost 30 pounds and managed to keep the weight off for quite some time.

The weight seems to be creeping back on. I’m not happy. My middle in growing.

The last two years have been a bit stressful and our schedules have been messed up. We didn’t know if Rich was going to lose his job (he didn’t, phew!) and with Rich’s schedule our meal times have been a bit… weird.

I’ve tried diets, I’ve tried working out. I can’t seem to lose weight right now. I’m ready for something a bit different. I love the Clean Eating Magazine and, while we already eat relatively clean, I would love to be “more” clean than we are. I’m hoping if I start to incorporate the changes gradually, my middle will become less.

Reinventing the Family Meal

I have a confession.

We don’t eat dinner together as a family on a regular basis.

I know the family meal table is an important part of child's development. I know how it encourages them to try new foods, helps promote good table manners and is a great bonding time for families.

When I was growing up we always ate together. Some of my favorite memories are around the dinner table. And, on the rare occasion, when my brother, sister and I gather our families at my parents’ house, we still sit around the dinner table and talk.

MMM—Monday!

Back in October 2010, I decided to become a Pampered Chef Consultant. I haven't had much time in my schedule to do many parties, I have had several catalog shows and have had booths at fairs and expos. I really enjoy it and hope things slow down enough that I can start doing more parties.
One of my new favorite Pampered Chef recipes is new the Mango Confetti Salsa Recipe. I made some yesterday and wanted to share it with you all. It is so yummy and so easy!

Mixin' It Up, Tryin' New Things.

We've been in a rut. Food wise.

Like most people, we try to eat relatively healthily (is that a word?), and I have a few dinners that are family favorites. But we do tend to have them day after day, week after week.

But the other week Josh told me he was tired of "Salmon on Monday, Turkey on Tuesday... blah, blah, blah..." He asked me to mix it up a bit. But, since it was the end of the month, my grocery budget was down to the bare-bones.

Fortunately, my new issue of "Clean Eating Magazine" came with all sorts of yummy looking, healthy recipes. And, there was an article about feeding a family of four for a week for under $50. It was "dinners only" but still... an improvement! While they all looked good to me, there were only a few that I thought my family would actually eat. Also in the magazine is an article on "Kid Friendly Fare." So I chose a few new recipes to try out this week and see how the family liked them.

On Monday, I tried out the Sesame-Ginger Chicken with Brown Rice. I thought it was good. The boys on the other hand... not so much! There was a lot of garlic in it -- I cut back on what was asked, but still maybe just a wee bit too spicy for the kids.

Then on Wednesday, I made something I'd never made before. Ravioli. The recipe was from the "Kid Friendly" section -- "Quick White Bean & Spinach Ravioli." I wasn't hopeful from other attempts to bring some variety into our diet.

You mix spinach, white beans, low fat ricotta cheese and a tiny bit of low fat mozzarella in the food processor.


Use wonton wrappers to make the ravioli...



Cook and then serve with your favorite tomato sauce...



The verdict?

The boys loved them! Josh even asked today if he could have them again.

The lesson: Sometimes it pays to take a chance and sometimes it doesn't. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try!

More of our Asheville Trip

We're home from Asheville now. We got home on Friday afternoon.

I wanted to write more about Asheville because we really had a great time. I just loved the town. It was not what I was expecting at all! The locals are all so diverse and eclectic, at times Rich and I remarked we could have been in Camden Town. Yet all the tourists were upper-middle to upper class retirees in search of a good golf course. And everyone was fine with it.

The architecture in Asheville is amazing. The shops are all unique little boutique-y places. We saw lots of "green" shops, places that sold "recycled clothes" as opposed to "used" clothes, artsy shops and galleries, antique shops... all sorts. There are lots of restaurants. More vegetarian and vegan restaurants than I've seen in one small area. And all the "non" veggie restaurants have vegan and veggie options. Lots of outdoor seating...

I know I'm rambling and in my head I had lots of things to say about where we went and what we did... but there was just so much!

Some of our favorite places...

Our B&B. We stayed at the Princess Anne Hotel and I would HIGHLY recommend it. The staff, all of them, were so nice and friendly and welcoming. We had yummy breakfasts every morning and every evening they have wine and cheese and little nibbley bits to enjoy before you head off to dinner. They left homemade truffles in our room every night. It was amazing.

We ate lunch two days at the Early Girl Eatery. This was the only place we went to twice. Lunch on the other days was bread and cheese in our room at the hotel. The food at the Early Girl Eatery was very good. Rich had the soup both days and it was delicious. Very hearty and filling. I had a salad one day and the avocado and sprout sandwich one day. Yummy!

Dinners we had such a hard time choosing where to eat. There is every type of cuisine available. The first night we had Indian at Mela. I'm still dreaming about the salmon tikka. And if anyone knows a good recipe, please let me know!

The second night was a bit disappointing. We really wanted to have either a good steak or some sort of fish. We found a place called Magnolia's Oyster Bar & Grille which looked promising. They had a large covered outdoor seating area and the menu looked good. But when we got in and really had a look at the menu, it was a bit over the top (grilled trout with fried shrimp and oysters with a bur blanc sauce....). I kept expecting Gordon Ramsey to come out as they were filming "Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares" there. In the end, we decided "simple" may be best so we both ordered a fillet -- rare plus to medium rare. I cut into my steak and it was stone cold in the middle. Fair play to them, they were really nice about taking back the steaks and cooking them more. And they even gave us a new plate with new potatoes and asparagus. And the waitress was really friendly. It's such a charming little place, it's just the menu was a bit over the top and complex. I'd like to think the regular chef was off on Mondays and it's better most other days...

Tuesday it poured rain and thundered so we ordered pizza and watched a movie in our room.

Wednesday we went to a very yummy Thai restaurant called Thai-Basil. It was so nice to sit outside and just have a nice meal. The curry puffs were not quite as good as the ones at Chinta Ria in Melbourne, but they were still good.

Our last day there, we really wanted to have a nice dinner but we didn't know what to have. We were torn between Tapas, a pub meal, Italian or Mexican. In the end, my vote was counted twice and we went Mexican. We ate at the best place ever! Called Salsa's. It's a small little place with "Mexican-Caribbean" flavors. We sat outside and stuffed our faces. It was a great way to end the week. Highly recommend them if you are ever in Asheville.

And, like I said, we got home on Friday afternoon. It was so nice to see the boys again. Sam didn't stop hugging me for about 20 minutes. The look on his face was priceless. We met Josh at the bus stop and he was just as happy to see us!

My parents left yesterday -- completely tired and worn out -- but happy for being able to spend a week with their grandsons! They're off visiting their granddaughters now at my sister's cottage.

That was our anniversary vacation. I really am looking forward to going back to Asheville. I can't imagine a more perfect place to spend with Rich!

The Great Vegetarian Experiment

Last week, we agreed that, if Josh wanted, he could try being a vegetarian on Friday. This is came about because he didn't want to eat his dinner said he didn't want to "kill animals."

So he woke up on Friday and was very excited about his "meat free" day.

But somehow, I'm not quite sure he gets the idea....

Me: "Josh, what do you want for breakfast? Cereal? Toast? Eggs?"

Josh: "How about bacon? Is that vegetarian?"

Um... no.

He settled for Fruit Loops and Fresh fruit salad.

About 10:00 he comes to me...

"Mom, can I have a turkey and pickle sandwich?"

Me: "Josh, that's not vegetarian, remember?"

Josh: "OOOHHHH! I only wanted to be vegetarian at breakfast, lunch and dinner... Not at snack time!"

In the end he settled for some pickles and some cheese.

He did have tuna at lunch time, and while I know that's not strictly vegetarian, there are a lot of vegetarians that eat fish so we let that slide. Sam did much better with a grilled cheese sandwich.

And then at dinner the boys had bean and cheese burritos. Josh told me he liked them better with meat.

So, I don't quite think he's ready to give up eating meat, but he did give it a good go.

At the end of the day we were talking about his vegetarian day. I asked him how he liked it.

Josh: "Mom, Vegetarians sure do get to eat good food!"

Me: "Yes, well, you don't have to be a vegetarian to eat vegetarian foods. If you want, we can do it once a week."

Josh: "Yeah, I think I could do it once a week..... Can I do it on the nights you have turkey for dinner?"

Um, no. But he gets points for trying.

A 7 Year Old's Dilemma

One of the things that is very important to Rich and me is teaching our kids about proper nutrition and eating well. We want to teach our children how to make good, healthy choices in food.

We do bring the kids to McD's or let them have special "treats" from time to time. But it's the exception rather than the rule. Moderation is the key.

Lately, everything Sam eats he asks if it is "healthy." It hasn't seemed to deter him from wanting chicken nuggets or the processed macaroni and cheese... but at least he's asking the questions.

So last night at dinner Josh was very curious about different foods and trying to avoid eating his fish asking all sorts of questions. His teacher last year was a vegetarian so he was curious about what that meant and why some people are vegetarians and some aren't.

Rich explained that some people don't eat meat for a variety of reasons, among them religion, diet and that some people object to killing and eating animals.

Josh then said he didn't like to kill animals and that he liked fruits and vegetables so maybe he could be a vegetarian. We told him if he wanted to try and be a veggie, that would be fine with us.

So we agreed that on Friday we'd have a "meat free" day to test it out and see how he likes it.

We started to explain that there were many types of vegetarians -- some that don't eat any animal by-product like milk and cheese (he didn't want to explore that) and some that will eat fish and eggs.

We explained that there are some people that aren't totally vegetarian, but make decisions not to eat some kinds of meat due to how animals are treated (like veal or only eating free-range chickens, etc...)

We told him he had to make a decision about what was important to him and then decide what he was willing to give up for his beliefs.

Josh then said, "Well, one thing I know I don't like is chicken!" Then he pointed at his food.

I said, "Well, that's fish Josh. And you don't like chicken nuggets?"

The look on his face was priceless.

I continued, "... and no more hamburgers or hot dogs. You wouldn't be able to eat at McDonald's anymore."

He said, "Oh. Maybe not then."

Thus ended his attempt to talk his way out of eating his dinner.