Sugar Free

(picture from here)
I am not much of the new year's resolution type. I have never been successful in setting a resolution and then keeping it for an entire year. However, I do like the beginnings of a new year and starting out fresh. One of my friends, Carrie, challenged several of us on Facebook to do a month without sugar with her. She did it in November. I said there was no way I would give up sugar the month of my birthday (plus most of David's family's b-days) and Thanksgiving. I love b-day cake and Thanksgiving pies too much, plus the tradition of it all. Then, December was of course out. So, here we are in January and both David and I are charging through the month without sugar. I wish that I could say that we are TOTALLY sugar free but our bread does contain it. However, I believe that is the only thing that we are currently allowing in our diet with it. We are trying to only use natural sweeteners/sugars, such as fruit/fruit juice, honey, agave nectar.

Through this challenge, I have discovered several things. First, sugar is in EVERYTHING!! You may not even realize all the things you buy that contains it (pasta sauce, peanut butter, crackers, salad dressings, soups, and many other things but these were the first that came to mind). It took me forever to complete our grocery shopping the first week of this because I was reading every label. We have been amazed at how we have made it this far and have decided to does this the first week of every month (excluding February...we need a reward!). Second, sugar is addictive and the more you eat the more you crave. If you stop eating it, you loose the addiction to it and you don't crave it as much (realize I said "as much"). I still can't wait to eat a piece of cake or pie but mostly chocolate again!! However, I think now we will change many of the things that we were eating that has unneeded sugar in it.

I have made a banana bread this month that contained agave nectar instead of sugar. I would like to find other recipes to substitute sugar with a natural sweetner. Please let me know if you have any to share. I have also been using agave nectar to sweeten my green tea. I will continue to use this instead of sugar.

So this is what I have been up to for the past couple of weeks. It has been quite an adventure but a good one. I feel like I have more energy and my body just feels better. Let me know if you have ever tried this or if you would like support from me in taking this challenge!

Homemade Birthday

Tonight we celebrated David's brother, sister-in-law and dad's birthdays. Yes, the month of November is quite a busy birthday month for our family. Today was spent finishing a birthday cake, making gifts and assembling presents and cards. Below are two homemade gifts we gave to David's dad.

Here are the recipes if you are interested in making some for yourself or to give as a gift.
Hot Fudge Sauce
(from Southern Living's December issue)
Makes: 3 1/4 cups (I halved the recipe.)
Melt 1 (8oz) package unsweetened chocolate baking squares and 1/2 cup butter in a large, heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Add 2 cups sugar, and cook, stirring constantly, 30 seconds or until blended. Add 1 cup milk, and cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated and sugar is disolved. (Do not boil.) Remove from heat. Stir in 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 1/8 tsp. salt. Cover and chill sauce up to 2 weeks.
*To reheat, microwave sauce in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring occasionally, at HIGH for 15- to 30-second intervals or until warm.

Chocolate Chunk Hot Cocoa Mix
(from Real Simple's December issue)
What you need
2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder; 3/4 cup sugar; 8 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate.
What to do-In a bowl, combine the cocoa, sugar and chocolate. Store in an airtight container. Keep at room temperature for up to 4 months.
*Instructions: In a small saucepan, whisk 1/4 cup cocoa mix with 3/4 cup milk. Bring to a bare simmer. Serves 1.

Local food, great offer!

(Image from here.)
If you are looking to support a local business this Christmas and would like to save a little money at the same time, then head over to Baja Burrito for a gift card. They are offering 20% off their gift cards until December 24th. For example, a $40 card only costs you $32. What a deal! Thanks, Baja!! (Not sure if Blue Coast Burrito is offering this same deal....of course, I am a bit biased to Baja.)

Easy Summer Salad

I don't have a name for this bean salad but I am sharing this healthy and easy recipe below. The last time we met at my friend Alma's house for playgroup she made this salad. It was so good that I made it for myself the next day and ate it all week for lunch! Enjoy!

1 can black beans, drained
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 can sweet corn, drained OR 1 1/2 cups fresh corn
1 can pineapple tidbits, drained OR fresh pineapple, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tomato, diced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
lime juice from one lime
salt to taste

Traditions

Picture from Nashville Metromix.
If you are ever trying to find us on a Friday night, this is where we will be. David and I started eating at Baja Burrito every Friday night (or Saturday if we had other Friday night plans or another week night if we were out of town) since we started dating and this has continued in to our six years of marriage. So, my question to you is, do you have any weekly traditions?

Free root beer float

Sonic is offering a free root beer float tomorrow night, Wednesday, June 3rd from 8pm to midnight. I'm trying to decide which Sonic in town will have the shortest wait.
picture from here.

Weekly Menus

picture from Kaboose.com

I feel that I am not alone in the "what's for dinner?" boat. When my friends from my playgroup get together, I find us constantly asking each other "what are you making for dinner tonight?" There are some great cooks in our group so I like to hear what they are making and discover new ways to put different foods together. Plus, they all like to cook healthy things, which is helpful for me to become more creative with my recipes. I would love to have up to a month's worth of recipes that are healthy, inexpensive, and not too difficult to make. When I can plan a weekly menu, I find that my groceries are cheaper and I don't have to make frequent revisits to the grocery store for things to make for dinner that night. What is most difficult for me is that the only meat we eat is chicken or turkey, which limits our menu options. So, here are a few websites that I have found that are helping me come up with new ideas.

Menu Planning Resources post on Simple Mom (gives examples of a weekly menu and resource links)
Menu Plan Monday by Organized Junkie (every Monday links for posts of weekly menus and many with recipe links)

Healthy Recipe sites
Whole Foods Recipes
Cooking Light recipes

My question to you is do you have ideas for a weekly menu or even a favorite menu for one night that you could share? Is there a website that you frequently visit for recipe ideas or do you have a favorite cookbook?

Summer Food

In the summer, I find myself being more creative with my cooking. We belong to a CSA (community supported agriculture) and enjoy the benefits of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables so I have to figure out what to do with my 1/4 bushel every week. One of my favorite meals this week was turkey burgers with sweet potato fries and roasted kohlrabi and radishes. We also have enjoyed a variety of lettuces, which surprisingly Asher has eaten. With strawberry season upon us, I came across an easy recipe for strawberry shortcake as seen in the picture above. Picture and recipe are from the Joy of Baking.

Sweet Potato Fries
-Peel and cut sweet potato into equal size sticks.
-Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
-Spread evenly (and not touching) on a cookie sheet lined with foil.
-Roast for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, flipping over at 10 minutes. After 20 minutes, increase temp to 425 degrees, flipping every 5 minutes for a total of 10-20 minutes. Watch closely at end to prevent burning.

Roasted Kohlrabi and Radishes
-Peel kohlrabi and dice into cubes.
-Slice radishes evenly.
-Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
-Roast in oven at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, turning occassionally.

Playgroup lunch

Our playgroup meets every Monday and we each take turns hosting. I hosted this past Monday and was having a hard time coming up with a lunch menu. Thanks to my dear friend, Melanie, I was able to serve these two great dishes below. (Oh, and thanks to Mel's friend, Naphtali, for the orzo recipe.)

Roasted Veggie Orzo Salad
1 lb. orzo pasta
vegetable or chicken stock
2 lemons, juiced
olive oil
fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts, roasted
1 pkg. feta cheese
1 bunch scallions, chopped
2 egglplants, chopped
2 yellow peppers, chopped
2 red peppers, chopped
2 red onions, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
-Roast pince nuts at 400 degrees for 1 minute.
-Place the chopped eggplant, yellow/red peppers, red onion and garlic on two rimmed cookie sheets. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, flipping periodicallly.
-Cook orzo pasta in vegetable or chicken stock according to box directions. Drain and stir to prevent sticking.
-Combine orzo and roasted veggies and let cool.
-For dressing, combine 1/3 cup olive oil, juice of 2 lemons, salt and pepper to taste. Pour over orzo and veggies.
-Top salad with scallions, roasted pine nuts, feta, and fresh basil. Serve.


Mini Fruit Pizzas
1 pkg(24 count)sugar cookies break and bake
cream cheese frosting
fruit of choice (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, kiwi)
Bake cookies according to package. Cool, then frost each cookie. Cut fruit into small pieces. Arrange several types of fruit on each cookie.

Blueberry Plants

We are now in a house with somewhat of a yard and so I thought I would try and tackle blueberry plants this summer. Here are a few reasons why: 1. Asher loves blueberries (as do I). 2. They make great shrubs with the benefit of fruit. 3. Even if I do not eat all of the blueberries, the birds can feast off of them as well. 4. They are easy to maintain (or at least this is what I have read).

If you are considering planting your own blueberry plants, here are a few tips that I have found in my research:
-Plant in full sun and in moist, well-drained acid soil with organic matter such as peat, chopped leaves, and composted manure.
-You will want to the plant it slightly high in the hole allowing your root-ball to sit 1/2 inch above the soil.
-You also need to plant two different types of plants for cross-pollination, otherwise you will not bear fruit.
Research and picture from here.

Dried Black-eyed Peas

This week we received dried black-eyed peas from our CSA. I have yet to shell the peas but am guessing that it will probably come out to be 1/4 cup of peas. Does anyone have any ideas for what I should do with these? And do you know if you have to soak them before you cook them? Looking forward to trying something new!

Pasta Fresca

David and I took a trip to Italy before Asher was born and while we were there we enjoyed some of the best pasta. Whenever we would look over the menus of restaurants, we would always try to find "pasta fresca" which means "fresh pasta." If you have never had fresh pasta and can't make a trip to Italy, Nashville has the place for you...Lazzaroli Pasta. Lazzaroli Pasta is a store located in historic Germantown on 5th Avenue North. A friend tipped me off on it this week and told me they were making a special batch of whole wheat pasta. So, I had to go check it out. I chose the whole wheat linguine and couldn't resist the spinach ravoli (our favorite dish while in Italy). Their selection includes: fresh pasta, varieties of ravioli, homemade sauces, and many different pantry items. They also have vegan and wheat/gluten free pastas. For their more speciality items like the vegan or whole wheat, it's best if you call in advance to place your order and they will most likely have it ready later that day or 24 hours later.
(picture from Lazzaroli's website)

Cooking with fresh local food

These are two dishes that I have made this week from some of the fresh vegetables and fruits that we receive weekly from our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). The above picture is eggplant parmesan stacks and you can find the recipe here. The bottom picture is a blackberry crumble and you can find the recipe here. This summer we have joined Avalon Acres and split a 1/2 bushel with another family every week. We have received quite a variety of food (summer squash, onions, cumcumbers, tomatoes, corn, strawberries and blackberries just to name a few things), and we are looking forward to the rest of the summer. I highly recommend joining one if you get a chance. It is helping me become more creative with recipes and helping us eat plenty of fruit and veggies. Plus, we are supporting our local farmers! (Photos from MarthaStewart.com)