Healthy Smoothie

Jonah slept all night long.  I slept all night long.  I feel like Wonder Woman! (Minus the shiny hair, rocking bod, and cool hair band.)

I stayed awake at 6:00am after feeding Jonah, made the kids a much healthier lunch than they'll get in the lunch room, and went to breakfast with Shawn.  I gathered up clothes that don't fit the boys and took them to Goodwill.  I went to the gym, shipped a package of Shawn Cheek Bootcamp Sight Reading DVDs, and....wait for it....I washed my hair!  Maybe I AM Wonder Woman. 

After eating too much breakfast After an invigorating workout, I thought it would be a great idea to replace my ham sandwich with a healthy smoothie.  

How did I get it to be a lovely shade of green?  Andes Mints!  Not really, how could I justify this smoothie as a healthy meal replacement if I loaded it with Andes Mints. (Plus, I'd rather save the Andes Mints for when I watch reality TV in the bed tonight.)  The real reason it's green is because I loaded it with two cups of baby spinach.  I read a blog post recently that promised me if I added spinach to my smoothie I wouldn't be able to taste it.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE spinach, but mixed with yogurt and fruit....let's just say I was a bit skeptical.  Here's what I did...

In a blender I added,

2 small ripe bananas, sliced

1 cup nonfat vanilla flavored yogurt (Stonybrook Organic)

about 1 cup frozen unsweetened strawberries (Central Market)

about 1 cup frozen unsweetened peach slices (Central Market)

1/2 to 3/4 cup Apple Juice (Unfiltered Organic, Central Market, I tell ya, this is the best tasting apple juice around,)

2 T. Cold Milled Ground Flaxseed (Central Market, found on the health food aisle)

2 cups packed baby spinach leaves

Blend until smooth.  I don't have the most expensive blender on the market so I had to help the smoothie along by pushing the ingredients around while blending to get things going.  Just don't get your spoon caught in the blades!  The flaxseed has no flavor that I can tell.  It doesn't quite blend up, and can be a bit crunchy in your smoothie.  Shawn thought they were strawberry seeds so it obviously wasn't too big of a deal, and it's a natural way to add a lot more fiber to your diet.  This recipe makes two servings, each about 300 calories. 

Next time I'll try it with one less banana and more spinach.  I'm going to see just how far I can push it before someone asks why I put spinach in their drink.

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Food Memories :: Beef Stew

Is there a special meal, that when eaten, takes you straight back to your childhood?  

For me, that meal is my Granny's Beef Stew.  It's not a fancy meal.  The ingredients are stew beef, potatoes, carrots, and onions.  Basic and simple, but the feelings this meal gives me are much more complex.  I remember sitting in her kitchen watching her serve up this stew to me.  As a child I didn't really like meat much, but this stew... I loved.  It was served hot on a cold day, warming me from the inside out.  Today when I take a bite of this stew I'm taken back 20 years to her table.   

When I married Shawn she put together a cookbook full of recipes she made me as a child growing up. Of all the recipes in the book, my family enjoys this one most.  When I tell them I'm making stew Carter will ask, "Is it Granny's stew?"  I never stray from the original recipe created in 1960.  I want to do it just like she did.  

While I'm cooking I imagine her chopping onions.  Am I doing it like she did?  Browning the meat in batches, peeling carrots and potatoes, and tending a simmering pot takes time, but with each step of the recipe I think about the many times she's done it for her family through the years. 

As the stew bubbles away on the stove filling the house with the smell of true comfort food, I remember

the special moments I spent at her kitchen table.  Even the task of washing dishes by hand doesn't bother me when I'm making beef stew.  I take that time to think of the people I'll be serving.  Will they know how much I care about them, because this recipe is truly a labor of love.  It's reserved for people I hold dear and love the most.  

 I believe cooking for someone and sharing food is the best way to show you care.  One day, when my kids get older I hope they don't just remember the stew I used to make.  I hope they know the tradition behind the recipe and the love that goes into the preparation.  I hope they let me teach them how to make it so they'll understand the love that has been passed down from generation to generation with each full bowl of beef stew.  

Here's the recipe just as it appears in my cookbook.

Beef Stew

Heirloom recipe handed down from : Norma Kay (my Granny)

Region of origin: Central Texas

Tradition: Winter evening meal  

Origin date: 1960

Prep time: 3 hrs.

Ingredients

2 T. oil                                               2 lbs. cubed stew meat or chuck

2 large onions                                    clove of garlic, chopped

4 cups boiling water                          1 T. salt

1 T. lemon juice                                1 t. sugar

1 t. Worchestershire sauce                1/2 t. each paprika and pepper

1 or 2 bay leaves

Instructions

Heat oil in Dutch oven and brown meat slowly on all sides.  Chop onions and add with other ingredients to meat.  Simmer, covered, slowly, for at least 2 hours.

Now add:

6 carrots, peeled and sliced, 3 or 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed.  Simmer stew another 30 minutes.  Remove bay leaves.  Now pour 1/2 cup cold water in jar and add 1/4 cup flour and shake.  Push stew to one side and stir in flour mixture.  Simmer a few minutes longer until thick.  Serve with hot garlic bread or corn bread and salad.  

Serves 6 to 8

My favorite picture of Granny and Grandpa. 

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Special Oatmeal Cookies

What could be so special about oatmeal cookies?  When you add orange zest and a whole bag of white chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips they go from ordinary to something special.

It's a cookie you can't walk away from.  If you're a one cookie for dessert type of person think again.  These are too good to walk away from after only one.  You'll feel the need to eat them until your stomach hurts.    

These cookies are also special because it's just about the only cookie recipe I ever make.  They're so good no one complains about the lack of variety.

Orange zest is one of those ingredients that elevates a dish and heightens the flavor of other ingredients in a recipe.  Chocolate for example goes well with orange zest.  At Thanksgiving I found out that orange zest goes great with sweet potatoes too.  

If you have a canister of Quaker Oats you have the basic recipe for these cookies.  Add a few extra ingredients and take out the raisins (yuck, who wants raisins in a cookie?) and you have something special to share with friends. (...Or you can bake the cookies on a day when no one is home and eat them all by yourself.)

Special Oatmeal Cookies

adapted from Quaker Oats

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 Tbsp. butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

the zest of 1 orange

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt (this is an optional ingredient, but I never skip the salt)

3 cups oats, quick cook or old fashioned, uncooked)

1 bag good quality white chocolate chips

1 bag good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips (I like Ghiradelli)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars on the medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy. (I use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer).  While your mixer is running add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and orange zest.  Beat until smooth and creamy.  This should resemble something similar to a thick icing.

In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Add to your wet ingredients in thirds with your mixer on low.  Mix just until combined.  Scrape down edges and mix quickly once more.  Add oats and mix until just combined.  Remove from mixer and add white and semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Mix with a wooden spoon.  (I've gone through several spoons with plastic handles that have snapped in half trying to mix this batter.) 

Use a small ice-cream scoop to make even sized cookies.  Drop on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Cook on the middle rack of your oven for 10 minutes.  Let them cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack. 

These cookies freeze great (if they last that long.)

***

My kitchen counters are good for cookie baking and baby bathing.  

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Evan Says, "Let's Be Honest"

Yesterday morning I made a very tasty yet healthy breakfast.  The recipe made exactly 10 mini frittatas.  Evan ate four.  He added enough picante sauce to make most six year olds cry then scarfed them down.  He also ate two slices of turkey bacon, a Cutie orange, and drank two glasses of milk.  I said, "I'm glad you like this very healthy meal Evan." Evan said, "Let's be honest, when you make a healthy meal we like I'll eat a whole lot.  When you make a healthy meal I don't like...I just eat candy." 

I know he has a candy stash...I just have to find it.

And when I find it do you think I'll gather it up and throw it in the trash?

No, I'll scarf every last piece of candy while he's at school.  He can't get mad....if he does he'd be admitting he's had a candy stash all along. 

**The recipe I referenced can be found at the blog Eighty Twenty.  Her philosophy is eat 80% healthy foods and indulge in 20% of the good stuff.  She shares great recipes and tips on leading a healthy lifestyle. I suggest you visit her site and find something to make for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.**

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What's For Dinner

I read this blog every week. I'm a natural meal planner and organizer so when I found this blog I fell in love. Plus, I've won two of her giveaways. It's always fun to win something. Now that I'm adjusting to life with a newborn and two other children I'm back in the kitchen. It makes me feel one step closer to my "old self". So, here's what I'm cooking this week.

Monday: HEB Deli Turkey cranberry salad wraps on whole wheat tortillas. ( I love the Mission brand whole grain tortillas ) with a tomato and feta cheese salad.

Tuesday: Pancetta Leek Pasta & Salad

Wednesday: Broiled Salmon Teriyaki , Cilantro brown rice (maybe I'll post the recipe some time), and steamed green beans.

Thursday: We attend small group at church for a little Bible studyin' and eatin'. We eat every time we're at church it seems.

Friday: Shawn is playing piano for an event located downtown. Carter is going with a friend to Chuckie Cheese to celebrate going up a reading level for their AR program. Evan and I will probably eat some left over soup from the freezer.

Saturday: Hopefully I'll get Shawn to take me out...or all of us out. Or maybe we'll just eat Pizza. The kids have been wanting to watch Captain America in our home theater/garage and eat pizza.

Sunday: ...I can't plan this far in advance...

**Post edit** The pancetta leek pasta was delish. We had zero leftovers. Good thing I wasn't planning on eating it for lunch the next day.