No-Bake Energy Bites

This is just a quick post! I'm running around packing and getting everything ready for a trip to South Texas, yay! I can't believe it's already been 10 years since I graduated high school. I'm looking forward to seeing all my friends and visiting the Academy again. Hoping for a fun weekend!


So when you travel with kids, you MUST have snacks. For this trip I packed:


- Individual hummus cups
- cut up veggies
- various rice crackers
- sliced apples
- individual peanut butter cups
- Babybel cheese
- Laughing cow cheese wedges (Levi LOVES these with crackers)
- pretzels
- rice cakes
 - Individual almond vanilla milk
- Individual So Delicious chocolate coconut milk


That's already a pretty good list, but as I was browsing through Pinterest today these little Energy Bites started calling my name. I'm so glad I decided to try them! Levi has eaten 4 already!


So my rating for these? Another 5. DELICIOUS and so good for you. I did make a couple of changes to the recipe, though. First, I ran out of peanut butter and added almond butter. So it's about half and half of each. Second, I reduced to amount of flaxseed meal to 1/4 cup and added 1/4 cup of chia seeds. I also didn't chill the mixture before rolling into balls. It worked fine. Now, when I make this again I think I will cut down the amount of honey. It was a bit sweet for me. If you have a sweet tooth this might be fine. Levi enjoyed it this way :)


This is the recipe I used. Found on Pinterest. 

No-Bake Energy Bites 

(makes 18-20 bites)

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)

1/3 cup honey

1 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything above in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated.  Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.  Once chilled, roll into balls and enjoy!  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Next time I might also change things up a bit and add nuts or dried fruit. It's a very forgiving recipe!

Meatless Monday

So to change things up, I decided to start reviewing recipes from Pinterest. Regardless of how the recipe was written originally, ALL recipes will end up being gluten free :)

I hope this helps some of you to a) be able to convert some of those popular Pinterest recipes, and b) know what recipes are worth trying!

For "Meatless Monday" I decided to go with Lentil Soup. Warm, comforting, and extremely healthy, it's a great choice for a vegetarian meal. Here is the original recipe (first seen on Pinterest).

Lentil Soup

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes, with their juice
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup lentils, picked over and rinsed well
• 1 tablespoon wine vinegar (I omitted this)

Directions 

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onion, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, and bay leaf, and cook until vegetables begin to soften, 2 to 3 minutes longer.
2. Add tomatoes with their liquid, breaking them up with a large spoon. Add water and lentils, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Just before serving, stir in vinegar.

I decided I should probably rate the recipes too. Why not, right? The ratings will be from 1-5 (5 being excellent) and it will be based on taste, sight, ease of recipe, and how kid-friendly it is. 

So how do I rate my first recipe? 5 for sure. The taste was wonderful; earthy and warm. It looked beautiful with all the colors of the vegetables mixed in with the lentils. It's a very easy recipe to recreate, and my kids gobbled it up! In fact, they both had seconds. 

Served with brown rice and a fresh salad, this makes a hearty and complete meal. Delish :)

Granola

This is hands down the best granola I've ever had. Every time someone tries it they want the recipe. I'm not sure where exactly this recipe came from, it's just been in my family for years.

You can easily customize this recipe if you prefer different ingredient. Or make it gluten free as I did.


This is the ORIGINAL recipe, with my gluten free modifications included.

Granola


4 cups oats
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup whole wheat flour (I use 1/3 cup millet flour, and 1/3 cup brown rice)
1 tsp. salt
2 cup unsweetened coconut, shredded
1 cup wheat germ (I use 1 cup rice bran or oat bran)
1 cup sesame seeds
2 cups chopped nuts (I use sliced almonds)
1/2 cup canola oil (I use 1/2 cup melted coconut oil)
2/3 cup warm water
2 Tbs. vanilla
1/2 cup honey

Preheat oven to 225 F.

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. In a small bowl whisk wet ingredients. Mix everything together. Place in jelly roll pans and bake for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until golden. Enjoy!

Ramen

Such a comfort food for me. I pretty much survived on it through college (which probably explains why I felt SO SICK throughout my college days) and miss it so much sometimes. Not the msg, sodium, or wheat, though. Nope. Needed to come up with my own copycat recipe.

This was my first attempt and it was a good one. Not perfect, but good. Levi loved it :)

"Ramen"

8 oz. Rice noodles (I used pad thai style)
8 cups chicken broth (you could use vegetable)
1 Tbs. GF tamari sauce (or to taste)
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 Tbs. scallions, sliced
1/4 tsp. freshly grated ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
Sea salt to taste

Combine all ingredients except rice noodles in a pot. Bring to a boil. Add noodles and simmer for a few minutes until noodles are soft, about 3 minutes. Enjoy!

Last night's dinner:

Garlic noodles and cucumbers with lemon, basil, and parsley.

The kids also shared a banana split for dessert, but I forgot to take a picture of that. This is the recipe I used for the noodles. It was SOOO good! Both kids gobbled them up; we had no leftovers!

Today's lunch:

cheesy pasta, ants on a log (celery with PB and craisins), blueberries,  broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots (steamed)

If you're wondering, I do usually eat whatever the kids eat. EXCEPT in situations like these when the main dish consists of pasta, cheese, and butter. Yeah, pass. I had a huge salad instead, with baby spinach, butter lettuce, grape tomatoes, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, garbanzo beans, and feta cheese. Yum. I did eat the vegetables and blueberries, though :)

Interesting story, I had a "friend" accuse me of feeding my kids cancer (aka animal products such as meat, dairy, etc). Yeah, she actually used the word cancer. It was strange. I sort of...stared at her. Waiting for a punch line or something, but nope. Dead serious.

Ok, so how do you respond to that? Thank you? Teach me, oh wise one? I had a million things running through my head, but I just shrugged and told her a vegan diet hadn't worked for me and changed the subject. She was REALLY surprised that I'd been vegan, and even more surprised that I didn't think it was the ultimate way to eat. 

Here's a though, crazy friend: everyone is different. I honestly didn't like being vegan. Not only did I find it incredibly isolating, but I just didn't feel great. I always felt hungry and started grazing more, instead of being able to eat 3 meals a day. I was constantly daydreaming of burgers, scrambled eggs, and grilled salmon. Haha. And quesadillas. Omg. Vegan cheese is just....not the same at all. 

My vegan diet officially came to an end when I found out I was pregnant with Sophie. My morning sickness was awful and I craaaaved meat. After 6 months I said goodbye to being a vegan and haven't looked back since. 

How do I feel now? Amazing. Truly, my body functions much better on a high protein, low carb diet. Gluten free also, of course. I started drinking dairy again (organic skim) and eating eggs (organic, free range) and it made a world of difference to me. My energy levels are up, my head feels clear and I'm much happier. So is my husband! Poor guy SUFFERED through my vegan months. We're all much happier, I assure you. 

Now, am I feeding my kids cancer? I hope not. I try my best to feed my family everything organic. From the meat, to the veggies, to the fruit. The beef we buy is also grass fed, and the chicken free range. It's much more expensive, but that just means we eat less of it. The bulk of our meals consist of vegetables, fruits, and grains. I think, nosy friend, that it's safe to say we eat healthy enough. 

Are we going to get cancer? Who knows. But just so you know, your vegan diet doesn't exempt you either. I just didn't bother to tell you that because, oh, you know. It's none of my business. 

Manic Monday

We had a pretty relaxing weekend. It was cold, so we pretty much stayed inside and watched movies, played games, and read lots of books. Good times.

I was just thinking this past week that we consume entirely too much produce. I'm not even sure how it happens. Every time I get back from the store I think, "there's no way we're going to finish all this, I finally bought too much." and nope. Gone before the week is over. Here's an example of what I got this week:

1 dozen apples
1 dozen pears
1 dozen plums
1 dozen white nectarines
1 dozen kiwis
1 dozen tangelos
3 lbs. grapes
Huge box of blueberries from Costco (not sure of the exact quantity)
2 quarts of strawberries
3 lbs. lemons
6 lbs. bananas
6 broccoli crowns (yes, 6!)
1 head cauliflower
1 lbs. green beans
1 bunch of kale
1 bunch of romaine lettuce
1 box of organic baby spinach

And a few extras like onions, garlic, celery, etc. Well, from ALL that stuff above, here's what we have left:
2 apples
1 pear
2 plums
1 kiwi
1 tangelo
2 lemons
2 bananas

Seriously! It hasn't even been a week! That's going to last us until tomorrow. Ugh. I like grocery shopping once a week only because I feel it cuts back on spending and I don't waste time and gas going back and forth to the store. Good thing I have frozen mangoes, peaches, berries, and some vegetables. That will have to do until Wednesday.

Another thing we devour are eggs. I buy 2 dozen organic, free range eggs every week! We don't eat eggs every single day, but I do use them for baking, and when the kids eat them for breakfast they easily eat 2 eggs each. Plus, I like having a few harboiled eggs in the fridge as a high protein snack for the kids or just to add to my salads.

If we go through this much food now, how will I keep up with them when they're teenagers?! Hold me.

Baby cucumbers, cheddar cheese cubes, blueberries, black bean patties with sour cream, eggplant sticks

White nectarine, carrot ribbons, EnviroKids cereal, cream cheese and cucumber heart sandwiches

Pear, peas, black bean patties, grilled cheese sandwich (cut up for Sophie)

Coconut water! Yum!

coconut with chile and lime. Mmm....

Gluten free onion rings for the Super Bowl

gluten free pizza

Yummy snack

blueberries, strawberries, and grapes

Gluten free chocolate cupcakes

Black Bean Patties

I just threw these together to use up some leftover beans. They're good!

1 cup black beans (if canned, rinse and drain)
1 Tbs. cornmeal
1 egg
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
Salt and pepper to taste.

Whiz everything together in a food processor. Heat olive oil in a skillet and drop by spoonfuls. Fry a couple of minutes on each side. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.



For the Onion Rings I used this recipe and it was fabulous!

Slacker

Yeah, I know it's been a while. Here are a few good eats:

Brown rice made in the oven. Soooo amazing!

Quesadilla, green grapes, mini turkey pepperonis 

Eggplant sticks, cubed grilled salmon, green grapes, peas and corn,  Kinnikinnick chocolate animal crackers

Gluten free flour tortillas

Plantain patties, beans, rice, roasted green beans, brownie bites, green grapes

Annie's Rice Macaroni and cheese, apple cut-outs, baby carrots with ranch, peas 

Homemade corn tortillas

Cream cheese-cucumber sandwich hearts, Envirokids cereal, carrot ribbons, white nectarine

Gluten free Miracle Bread

Baked Brown Rice
I used this recipe by Alton Brown. Seriously amazing, and I don't even like brown rice!

Eggplant Sticks
I sort of just "wing" these. But this is basically the recipe:

1 medium eggplant
2 eggs, whisked
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Cut eggplant into matchsticks. Try to make them all approximately the same size so they cook evenly. You can peel it if you want to; I don't.

Put whisked eggs and set aside.

In another shallow bowl mix breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and italian seasoning.

Dip a few eggplant sticks in the egg, then roll them in breadcrumb mixture. Arrange in cookie sheet in a single layer. Spray the tops with cooking oil. Bake for 15 minutes and flip over. Bake another 15 minutes until browned.

*Both my kids LOVE these. We usually eat them with marinara sauce, but recently Levi has requested ranch with them. No matter what you eat them with, these are awesome.

4th of July and other adventures

My parents have been on vacation for almost 2 weeks, so we've been out and about even more than usual.

Here are some of the meals I've remembered to photograph:

blueberries, hummus, Lentil Crackers, potato salad, grilled corn

Asian pear slices, baby carrots, green beans, Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta al Forno, Udi's Whole Grain Bread with butter

Melon balls, baby cucumbers, beans, quesadillas, cottage cheese

For my dad's birthday I made Gluten Free cake! Turned out really  well and super yummy :)

My uncle Ben and aunt Connie came to visit from California, so we had a great weekend. We didn't do much for the 4th of July, though. Just grilled some burgers and corn and ate some of my uncle Ben's delicious potato salad. Good, low-key day :)

Hummus
1 15 oz. can chickpeas (or 2 cups cooked chickpeas), drained - reserve liquid
1 Tbs. Tahini
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves
Salt to taste

Place all ingredients in food processor and add reserved garbanzo liquid until preferred consistency is achieved. Season with salt to taste.



Potato Salad*
Cooked potatoes
Hardboiled eggs
Pickles
Finely diced onion
Finely diced celery
Vegenaise
Mustard
Salt and pepper

Mix everything together and refrigerate until ready to eat.

*I don't give any quantities because we just "wing it" every time depending on how many people are going to be eating. It's all pretty much to taste anyway :)

I'm back!

I've sort of been neglecting this blog, but we've been busy with family. This past week we've been going to walk/ride bikes every morning at 6:30 for a couple of hours. The weather is absolutely beautiful! The kids are up anyway, so we might as well go. Well, David doesn't go because he goes in to work at 7:30...but my parents are on vacation so we've been going together along with my Aunt Debbie (my dad's youngest sister), Uncle Sem (dad's younger brother), and my grandma (dad's mom). Fun times.

Here's Levi in the bike trailer. His snacks are some blueberries and Honey Nut Chex.

Here's what he had for lunch....I think on Friday? Can't even remember. But he ate this at some point last week: Red apricots, Ian's Chicken Nuggets with ketchup, zucchini with corn, rice with saffron

Last week I also made gluten free bread. This is the recipe I always use.

In other news, Sophie can now sport a tiny ponytail :)

Zucchini with Corn

3 Roma tomatoes, grated on a cheese grater

1 medium onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

4 zucchinis, cut into chunks

2 cups of frozen corn kernels

1 jalapeno, washed

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat some olive oil and cook onion until translucent. Add garlic, tomatoes, zucchini, and jalapeno*.  Continue cooking until zucchini is almost tender. Add corn, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until zucchini and corn are cooked completely. 

* Add the jalapeno WHOLE. It just gives flavor without making it spicy. If you do like it spicy (like we do!) dice another jalapeno and cook it with the onion. 

Bittersweet

So my paternal grandfather passed away last night. We all have heavy hearts but cling to the blessed hope of being reunited again. Far beyond the sun...

On the "sweet" side, we had a wonderful weekend. Sophie was dedicated by her grandfather, we enjoyed beautiful music at church and wonderful company for lunch. Sunday was busy. We had a special brunch at home to celebrate father's day and also our anniversary! Yay for 6 years! In the evening we went to the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens for concerts in the garden. We had a fabulous time despite not being able to enjoy fireworks to to high winds. Boo. A great time was still had by all  :)

In other news, Sophie had her 6 month appointment today! She's 17 lbs and 26 inches long. Growing well and meeting all her milestones. Great appointment. Her pedi talked to me about keeping her gluten free - what did I think? I'm not going to risk it, so she'll be gluten free too. No biggie, it's not like she eats much anyway. All fruits and veggies are gluten free, thankfully, so she can eat normally.

Oh, and as a side not, she also got her shots. She did so well! Screamed for less than a minute, then she was all smiles. Brave girl :)

Levi has now been gluten free for an entire week. It was pretty easy, honestly, because we usually eat naturally gluten free anyway - mostly whole foods, not too many processed items. The biggest changes were his crackers. He LOVES Wheat Thins and Triscuits. Poor guy, I think that was his biggest bummer. Although he also really likes the crackers I gave him, so it helped him get over it :)

Here are some pictures of our fun weekend:

Sophie's Dedication

Marissa, Me, Krystal - He Knows My Name

Levi playing with my cousins Brandon and Paola

They turned the office into a bounce house....

We got them to sit still with Veggie Tales :)

After her shots

Today's lunch - pasta salad, goat cheese, blueberries, hazelnut Nut Thins

Pasta Salad

16 oz. cooked and cooled elbow macaroni (we use Tinkyada or Bionature)

Half of a red bell pepper, finely diced

Half of a yellow bell pepper, finely diced

1/4 of a red onion, finely diced

1 cup sliced black olives (or to taste)

1 stalk celery, finely diced

Half a bottle Italian Dressing OR Caesar Vinagrette (this is what we always use)

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to eat.