I just finished watching Food, Inc.  Great Movie! The take home message is to buy local, and in season food! If you haven’t seen the movie yet, did you know you can download and “rent” the movie to watch from Amazon for $2.99!  I just realized this!  Right under “Buy”, you click WATCH IT NOW, $2.99 to rent.  

Although I’ve mentioned them before, after watching the movie, I was so glad we buy our meat local (beef and pork at least).  If you live in Utah and are looking for a local meat supplier, you must check out The Christiansens farm for well fed, well treated, organic, and super awesome meat!  Hollie Christiansen is my neighbors- sister.. which is how I found out about their farm. 

Last night, I pulled out our bag of frozen Edamame to snack on while I prepared dinner.  The kids devoured it! I forgot how much they liked this great snack the first time I bought it.  It’s definitely coming out more often this week.

As always, head over to the side bar, or Menu Archives to print the menu!

Don’t forget…. Monday is the last day to enter for Crest Pro-Health supplies,

and FRIDAY is the last day for the V8-V Fusion Visa $100 Gift card!

It’s shocking how many varieties of rice I have to choose from, yet I choose the same kind over and over.  It used to be Calrose or California rice, then Sweet Brown Rice.  But I’ve been eyeing the wild rice for some time, and decided to dive in.

What I found out was, wild rice, isn’t truly rice at all.  All though many varieties in the grocery store has mixed it with other rice’s (the Wild rice is the black grains you see),  it is actually the seed of a grass. It’s extremely high in protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, folic acid, and fiber.

Did my kids like it?  They didn’t hate it. They tried it.  With some foods I have found its best to NOT to say, “It’s just like the rice you always eat!” Cause its not.  Just like I told them not to compare my Macaroni and Cheese with the kind they have tried from the grocery store, but simply we are having “Elbow noodles with a cheese on top”. 

The wild rice took much longer to cook, so start early.  It had a nutty, savory flavor to it.  Even I only needed a small portion of this rice, whereas white rice, we could literally eat a whole cup, EACH OF US!

Its a great idea to expose your kids to different varieties of similar foods.  Not only do some varieties have more nutrients than the traditional ones we eat (such as in this case) but this movie, The Future of Food, discusses the dangers of eating and growing only one variety of corn.  In other countries, they are still eating hundreds of varieties of corn.  So if one variety gets diseased, they still have 99 other varieties to consume.  Pretty fascinating.

As you know, my blender has been literally MELTING!  A few days ago, drinking a delicious smoothie, I felt a hard piece of PLASTIC in my mouth. It had melted off the blender and mixed its way into my smoothie! That was the last smoothie I made on that blender.  So while the fight is still going with my husband about me buying a Blendtec, and I couldn’t use my blender, I bought a $50 Oster blender from Costco… and I LOVE IT.  And my husband LOVES that I love it.  I learned from that, start high of something you want, and he’ll be ecstatic when you make a purchase for less.   Next I’ll try some $400 shoes and maybe he’ll be glad when I end up with $50 shoes!!

Now that my kids are drinking more smoothie’s, I had been contemplating stepping it up a notch and adding some Super Food mix-ins.  Like wheat grass and powdered vegetables.  I was hesitant though, because it isn’t cheap, and I didn’t want them to pour it down the drain. 

Then I found Amazing Grass who had a Kidz line.  They agreed to let my kids try some of their products, and I couldn’t be happier!  We’ve tried their chocolate powder and their berry powder.  It has

• greens like Kale, peas, wheat grass, barley grass, asparagus, alfalfa, broccoli, sprouts, lima beans, green peas, kiwi, spinach, brussel sprouts, and zucchini.
• Oranges like apricots, carrots, mangoes, sweet potatoes, pineapple, tangerines, yellow squash.
• Reds like pomegranates, Raspberries, guavas, cranberries, red cabbage, cherries, and tomatoes.
• And Blues/ purples like beets, plums, grapes, and more!!

GYMNASTICS ENERGY

The berry powders I’ve added straight to the smoothie, and the chocolate powder I added to some warm milk.  My kids drank it as fast as they did drinks without add-ins.  AND ASKED FOR MORE!!  Flip-flopper has been asking for a smoothie every morning since I’ve been adding the powder. 

WANT TO TRY IT TO??  Two ways! FIRST, YOU CAN WIN a Kidz SuperFood Combo which is two, 200g bottles, and 1 box of packets by leaving a comment.  OR use the online promo code ‘healthykids’  and save 15% off your order. 

I’ll take comments until Friday!!  THANK YOU AMAZING GRASS.

Wednesday: Beans, seeds, nuts, etc.

Here is a lesson in being flexible.  I made this delicious spanish beans and brown rice in the slow cooker for dinner.   When we sat down to eat, no one wanted to even try it.   But to be honest, I didn’t think it looked that great either. 

But, instead of getting offended, or mad, or frustrated by my kids, we put our heads together.  We decided it would be more appetizing wrapped in a tortilla.  “Let’s eat it like a burrito!”  So for the kids, I added a few shreds of cheese and the beans and rice.  They loved it!

Then for me, because its OK to add yummy healthy things to your own meals, even if your kids aren’t going to… I added Avocado.  I love avocado on anything.

CROCK POT GIVEAWAY

There is a new online community on Blogher called The Juice (sponsored by Tropicana Trop 50).  On the site, women can exchange practical ideas and tips on how to get more of what they want and less of what they don’t. The Juice is all about the “good stuff.”  Members will be taken on a holistic journey that touches on nutrition, fitness, time management, mind & body, relationships – the “good stuff.”  This week the focus is on meal planning and slow cooking. Check out this video about crock-potting

Now, the giveaway!!  Do you want one of these? (and PS, this is exactly the same crock-pot I have)

AND one of these?

Leave a comment, and I’ll pick a winner by Sunday, June 7th.  Also, they have offered  a coupon for $1.00 off this new Tropicana Juice with 50% less sugar and 50% less calories!    http://tropicana.com/#jointrop50tout

Tuesday: Whole Grains

I can’t stop singing this:

Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun!” 

Seems like just yesterday that 1980’s commercial was on.

Last nights dinner AWESOME!! Crock pot Sloppy Lentils from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. I borrowed the cookbook from a friend, but someone posted the same recipe here.  Here were the reactions:

Ketchup boy, “These are good sloppy joes mom,” And he had TWO! Two full size sloppy lentils (and he’s 6!)

Wade (my husband), “These would be really good with some pork in it.“  You can feel sorry for him. He made me promise to add animal protein to 10% of every dinner, and yet I have a tough time keeping my promise.   If anyone wants to bring this poor guy some meat, you have my blessing.

Flip-flopper and cereal boy ate a full sandwich virtually in minutes, no complaints.

The buns:  I never buy buns anymore. I use the same recipe, for buns as I do for bread. I will never buy store bought buns again.

My simple menu planning (of eating the same 30 meals each month) needed a little shaking up.   Today I chose 2 cookbooks (I used a Vegetarian Crockpot cookbook I borrowed from a friend, and a cookbook my mom picked up, written by Costco, from Costco).

I flipped through the cookbooks.  Using small post-it notes, I tagged the pages of things I want to make this week. Not only dinner, but salads, breakfasts, and snacks too.  For the dinners, I added the day of the week on the post it note so I have a menu for the week.  The whole process only took a few minutes.

Here are some things that we are trying this week.

Dinner

• Slow cooker spanish beans and rice
• Citrus Walnut Pasta salad
• Chicken and avocado skewers
• Burritos
• Sloppy Lentils

Lunches

• Berry Spinach Salad
• Avocado sprout sandwiches
• Fruit kabobs with cinnamon cream
• Apple salsa
• Harvest spring cranberry walnut salad

Breakfasts

• Smoothies
• Sweet bread
• muffins
• energy bars

Pictures and recipes will follow this week. Also, look for an AWESOME GIVEAWAY (maybe Tuesday)

TUESDAY: Whole Grains

As my life gets busier (OK, spinning out of control with massive to do lists), I have been spending less time in the kitchen.  In a new book I’m reading, (AND LOVE)  Michael Pollans, “In Defense of Food” he says,

A Hallmark of the Western Diet is food that is fast, cheap, and easy.  Americans spend less than 10 percent of their income on food; they also spend less than a half hour a day preparing meals and little more than an hour enjoying them.  For most people for most of history, gathering and preparing food has been an occupation at the very heart of daily life.

Now since I’m not willing to spend more than 10 % of my income on food, for the good of our family, I need to spend more time preparing food in order to limit the processed food coming into our house.

STARTING WITH BREAD

I stopped baking bread a few months back because of lack of time and the fact that we ate an entire loaf as soon as it emerged from the oven.  But I am recommiting to this basic baking tradition.  Its not like I have to grow the wheat and knead it by hand.  Michael Pollan also said good, healthy, traditional bread is made with a remarkable small number of familiar ingredients.  But todays bread has:

1. Unfamiliar ingredients (such as ethoxylated monoglycerides)
2. It exceeds the rule of a maximum of 5 ingredients (by roughly 36!)
3. It contains high fructose corn syrup.
4. And I’ll add, if it doesn’t it usually is more than $2.50 per loaf.

So, to get my family back to whole, natural, unprocessed foods I am baking bread today.  The whole point of Michael Pollan’s amazing book is that if we are eating REAL food, we will be healthier. Not fortified, not complicated, not with additives, not in commercial packages, not taking supplements as a replacement etc.  It need not be complicated. His famous quote”

EAT FOOD. NOT TOO MUCH. MOSTLY PLANTS

With permission, I posted Mary Kathryn’s recipe for Banana Oatmeal Pancakes.  You can see the recipe here.

Get ready for pasta week. I just bought 50 lbs of pasta this week.  A local guy was selling for 0.75 per pound, which is a great price. He even had whole wheat.  If you are in the Lehi area, you don’t want to miss it.

Monday:  BBQ Chicken Pizza on Whole wheat crust. (I have about 4 bottles of BBQ sauce with about 1/2 cup left in each one on my fridge door. This will be a good way to polish at least 3 of them off.)

Tuesday: Rice and Beans

Wednesday: White chicken chili

Thursday: Tortilla Soup (Thanks Mary Kathryn)

Friday: Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burritos

Saturday was a success for me.  I was helping (testing cholesterol) at a health fair for the Utah State Board of Education.  I knew before going there would be tables of delicious food like fruit, muffins, pastries, and cookies. I’ve done these before.  So I decided before I got there, I would not eat any of their cookies or pastries, just fruit.  That is exactly what happened!

PRODUCT REVIEW:  Lightful Fit

While not sold in my area yet, these smoothie drinks are better than most.  They taste good, there is no HFCS, no artificial colors, they are only 90 calories, and have 5 grams of fiber. 

My kids like drinking yogurt smoothies.  I didn’t even ask them to try these.  They drank them as soon as we got them.  The note said to refrigerate first, but it was about 10 degrees the day they came and they sat on my porch for a few hours, so I think they were sufficiently chilled.   They loved the flavors strawberry, chocolate, mango, and peach.

You can use their website to order these, or to find out if they are sold in your local stores.

Not only are potatoes available year-round, they are also inexpensive.  With vitamin C, potassium, B6, and fiber, it’s a staple in our house.  My kids love mashed potatoes and baked potatoes, and lucky for me, they do not care for cheesy potatoes (funeral potatoes for those who know).

I made mashed potatoes the other night for dinner.  I try to include small pieces of the skin on in order to preseve some of the healthiest part of the potato.  I chopped up a raw potato.  Boiled the chunks in water until the pieces were soft (about 15 minutes). 

Poured out the water and blended up the potatoes with a mixer.  At this point many people add butter, salt, cream, milk, or whatever to make it creamier.  We are very happy with just a spoonful of plain yogurt, and a little bit of salt.

 This night I used the mashed potatoes to top my shepherds pie.  The base was black eyed peas (because we love them) mixed with a little lean ground beef to hold it together.   A sprinkle of season salt.  Then layered corn, green beans, and finally topped with the mashed potatoes.  The kids ate several helpings. The husband finished it off.  Definitely delicious and a dinner I will make again.