Super yummy recipe from Rachel Ray that Kimberly suggested to me the other day. I'm just giving the basics of the recipe, but if you want the full version, go here. This version is slightly different than the recipe in the cookbook I followed, but basically the same.
Here's my basic version:
Melt 1tbsp butter with 1 tbsp EVOO in a medium saucepan. Saute 1/4 chopped onion for 2 minutes. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of brown rice and cook for 3 more minutes. Add 3 cups chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 20 or until rice is tender.
Heat large skillet over high heat, add 2 tbsp EVOO, add 1 and 1/2 pounds cubed chicken, season with 2 tbsp grill seasoning, then brown chicken. Once chicken is cooked, either remove it from pan or move it off to the side of the pan. Add sliced onion, sliced pepper, 4 chopped garlic cloves and cook about 3 minutes. Mix chicken back in and add 1 tbsp ground chipotle powder, and 1 tbsp ground cumin. Mix. Add 2 tbsp honey and 1/4 cup real maple syrup. Mix. Add chopped cilantro or parsely and 1 cup raw cashews.
Serve chicken over rice.
Yumm-O!
Note: I used slightly less maple syrup because I didn't want it to be too sweet, I was in the mood for spicy. However, I wish I had used the full amount. It was really good, but I don't think the full amount would make it too sweet.
Kid-Friendly Note: I think this is a great meal to make for families with kids even if you're hesitant because of the honey and nuts. Since they are added right at the end, it is a perfect meal to make and simply take a little of the chicken and veggies out of the pan before you add the honey, syrup, and nuts.
Enjoy! I know my family certainly did!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Snacktime
Our first Healthy Mommy, Happy Family get together didn't go quite as planned, but Michele and I had fun talking about healthy snack foods for our kids.
Here are a few suggestions:
~Plain Yogurt (recipe to follow) - Starting with plain yogurt and then adding fresh fruit or whole grains is much healthier than buying the flavored stuff in the store.
~Applesauce (recipe to follow) - When buying applesauce, be sure it does not have anything in it except apples and water. Most jars in the store have extra sugar added. Apples are so sweet on their own, you just don't need the extra sugar.
~Raw veggies - Raw is healthier than cooked, but if your child is too young for a crispy veg, steam them just for a moment. Steam, don't boil. The more water you use, the more nutrients you lose. Another version of veggies that we do quite often for snacks or lunch is frozen vegs. Just the cheap bag of mixed chopped veggies. When I buy a bag, I pour a serving into small containers and put them in the freezer. That way, when snacktime comes, all I have to do is pull out a pre-made bowl, stick it in the microwave for a minute and it's done!
~Guacamole is a great dip for veggies and crackers.
~Hummus is also a great dip for veggies and crackers. (See recipe in previous post.)
~Nut butter on apple slices or celery sticks.
~Fruit smoothie - You kids will think they are having desert, but it can be totally healthy if you do it right! Just blend together fresh or frozen fruit along with some plain yogurt. Add some pure fruit juice if necessary (I love V-Fusions because you can throw some veggies in there, too without anyone ever knowing!)
~Low-fat cheese sticks - This is a great fix for a snack attack in the grocery store. Instead of reaching for the Animal Crackers, reach for some cheese. It's even got protein to help reduce cravings later.
~Dried fruit - This is one of our favorite snacks at the moment. I'll put out a couple different fruits and some whole grain cereal and my Baby Dude just munches while he plays.
I love making my own yogurt. It is so easy; It is such a money-saver; and I know it is all natural. Here's my recipe:
Pour 8 cups of milk (I use 4 cups whole, 4 cups 1%) into your CrockPot. Turn it on LOW for two and a half hours. Turn it off, but leave it as is for another three hours. Take out two cups from CrockPot and mix with half a cup of already made yogurt. Pour mixture back into CrockPot and stir together. Cover with towels to keep heat in and allow to sit for 8 more hours. Then it's done! Yes it takes a little while, but most of the time you don't have to do anything to it. It's super easy.
My newest super easy CrockPot adventure is homemade applesauce. This couldn't be easier. I made it simply because I had several apples that were going to go bad before I had a chance to eat them. Here's the "recipe":
Slice, core, and peel apples. (I used 7. Use as many as you want.) Throw apples in CrockPot. Add approximately 1/4 cup of water for every 4 apples. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, approximately the juice from one lemon for every 4 apples. Turn CrockPot on low for 4 to 6 hours. My apples were plenty mushy by 4 hours, but it will depend on your CrockPot. They should be soft enough to just mush them with a fork and there you go! Could that be any easier? I'm not sure that you actually need the lemon juice, but I used it. And the applesauce is so yummy! It is so much tastier than the loaded with sugar stuff that you get from the store. Fresh, Natural, Pure. Yum!
Do you have any other great snack ideas?
On another snacktime note: Be sure to have set snacktimes. If you allow your child to snack throughout the day then they are not likely to be hungry to eat the nutritious meal you have cooked.
Most books recommend two snacktimes, one morning, one afternoon. Personally, this doesn't work for us. If we snack that much we aren't hungry for lunch or dinner. The meals end up being another version of a snack. Typically we either do breakfast, snack, late lunch, dinner; or breakfast, early lunch, snack, dinner. Find out what works best for your kids and stick to it. Snacktime is very important especially when it comes to little ones.
What do you eat for snacktime?
Here are a few suggestions:
~Plain Yogurt (recipe to follow) - Starting with plain yogurt and then adding fresh fruit or whole grains is much healthier than buying the flavored stuff in the store.
~Applesauce (recipe to follow) - When buying applesauce, be sure it does not have anything in it except apples and water. Most jars in the store have extra sugar added. Apples are so sweet on their own, you just don't need the extra sugar.
~Raw veggies - Raw is healthier than cooked, but if your child is too young for a crispy veg, steam them just for a moment. Steam, don't boil. The more water you use, the more nutrients you lose. Another version of veggies that we do quite often for snacks or lunch is frozen vegs. Just the cheap bag of mixed chopped veggies. When I buy a bag, I pour a serving into small containers and put them in the freezer. That way, when snacktime comes, all I have to do is pull out a pre-made bowl, stick it in the microwave for a minute and it's done!
~Guacamole is a great dip for veggies and crackers.
~Hummus is also a great dip for veggies and crackers. (See recipe in previous post.)
~Nut butter on apple slices or celery sticks.
~Fruit smoothie - You kids will think they are having desert, but it can be totally healthy if you do it right! Just blend together fresh or frozen fruit along with some plain yogurt. Add some pure fruit juice if necessary (I love V-Fusions because you can throw some veggies in there, too without anyone ever knowing!)
~Low-fat cheese sticks - This is a great fix for a snack attack in the grocery store. Instead of reaching for the Animal Crackers, reach for some cheese. It's even got protein to help reduce cravings later.
~Dried fruit - This is one of our favorite snacks at the moment. I'll put out a couple different fruits and some whole grain cereal and my Baby Dude just munches while he plays.
I love making my own yogurt. It is so easy; It is such a money-saver; and I know it is all natural. Here's my recipe:
Pour 8 cups of milk (I use 4 cups whole, 4 cups 1%) into your CrockPot. Turn it on LOW for two and a half hours. Turn it off, but leave it as is for another three hours. Take out two cups from CrockPot and mix with half a cup of already made yogurt. Pour mixture back into CrockPot and stir together. Cover with towels to keep heat in and allow to sit for 8 more hours. Then it's done! Yes it takes a little while, but most of the time you don't have to do anything to it. It's super easy.
My newest super easy CrockPot adventure is homemade applesauce. This couldn't be easier. I made it simply because I had several apples that were going to go bad before I had a chance to eat them. Here's the "recipe":
Slice, core, and peel apples. (I used 7. Use as many as you want.) Throw apples in CrockPot. Add approximately 1/4 cup of water for every 4 apples. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, approximately the juice from one lemon for every 4 apples. Turn CrockPot on low for 4 to 6 hours. My apples were plenty mushy by 4 hours, but it will depend on your CrockPot. They should be soft enough to just mush them with a fork and there you go! Could that be any easier? I'm not sure that you actually need the lemon juice, but I used it. And the applesauce is so yummy! It is so much tastier than the loaded with sugar stuff that you get from the store. Fresh, Natural, Pure. Yum!
Do you have any other great snack ideas?
On another snacktime note: Be sure to have set snacktimes. If you allow your child to snack throughout the day then they are not likely to be hungry to eat the nutritious meal you have cooked.
Most books recommend two snacktimes, one morning, one afternoon. Personally, this doesn't work for us. If we snack that much we aren't hungry for lunch or dinner. The meals end up being another version of a snack. Typically we either do breakfast, snack, late lunch, dinner; or breakfast, early lunch, snack, dinner. Find out what works best for your kids and stick to it. Snacktime is very important especially when it comes to little ones.
What do you eat for snacktime?
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Embarrassed? Don't be!
I have written before about using reusable bags at the grocery store. Yes, many people look at you funny when you say, "I brought my own bags." It is becoming more common, but still not the norm. You definitely get strange looks when your bags are mixed shapes, colors, styles, sizes, materials, etc as mine generally are. A friend of mine, Bethany, happens to find it hilarious to go to the store with me and see the reactions I get from the bag boys.
For some people, this could be embarrassing to have people look at you strangely. But don't let that stop you!
The other day, Bethany called me with a funny story of her own, similar to my multi-sized bags.
Bethany works at a coffee shop. Anyone that has ever worked in a coffee shop knows that you drink a lot of coffee (and other beverages) during your shifts. And typically that means you go through a lot of disposable cups on a regular basis. Not good for the environment.
Bethany has started bringing her own reusable travel cup with her. It's a really nice one, used for hot or cold drinks, insulated, etc. Well, she started just taking it to work. No big deal. Then she realized, why just take it to work? So she pretty much always has it with her.
So when she walked into Burger King the other day for lunch with a friend, she grabbed the cup and took it with her. She ordered a #1 (or whatever) and the guy turned to hand her a cup for her beverage and she said, "I don't need a cup. I brought my own." She said his reaction was priceless!! He didn't know what to say to that! But was she embarrassed that she got some funny looks? Nope! She's just proud she's saving the planet, one cup at a time!
In other planet saving news, I thought I would update you all on my paper towel challenge for myself.
I decided to leave the paper towels out on the counter and just try to make a point to not use them, but they were there if I just had to. After a few weeks, I realized I hadn't touched them. So I moved them to the pantry so they wouldn't be taking up any counter space, but still not too far if I needed them.
Can you believe it: I have used them ONE TIME within the past month. I couldn't figure out how to make bacon in the microwave without a papertowel!
And my Swiffer mopping challenge? I love my floors now more than ever! I cut up towels to make mop rags to fit the Swiffer. I fill my sink with a little water, a little vinegar and a touch of oil, throw several clean mop rags in there, and get to Swiffering! When one rag is done I throw it in a bag that I have hanging next to the sink and grab a clean one out of the sink. That way the dirt from the floor never mixes with my cleaning water. And the bag next to the sink is for all my rags that I go through. Then when laundry day comes, I grab the bag and do a load of rags. Then they're clean and ready to use again the next week!
How are your challenges going?
For some people, this could be embarrassing to have people look at you strangely. But don't let that stop you!
The other day, Bethany called me with a funny story of her own, similar to my multi-sized bags.
Bethany works at a coffee shop. Anyone that has ever worked in a coffee shop knows that you drink a lot of coffee (and other beverages) during your shifts. And typically that means you go through a lot of disposable cups on a regular basis. Not good for the environment.
Bethany has started bringing her own reusable travel cup with her. It's a really nice one, used for hot or cold drinks, insulated, etc. Well, she started just taking it to work. No big deal. Then she realized, why just take it to work? So she pretty much always has it with her.
So when she walked into Burger King the other day for lunch with a friend, she grabbed the cup and took it with her. She ordered a #1 (or whatever) and the guy turned to hand her a cup for her beverage and she said, "I don't need a cup. I brought my own." She said his reaction was priceless!! He didn't know what to say to that! But was she embarrassed that she got some funny looks? Nope! She's just proud she's saving the planet, one cup at a time!
In other planet saving news, I thought I would update you all on my paper towel challenge for myself.
I decided to leave the paper towels out on the counter and just try to make a point to not use them, but they were there if I just had to. After a few weeks, I realized I hadn't touched them. So I moved them to the pantry so they wouldn't be taking up any counter space, but still not too far if I needed them.
Can you believe it: I have used them ONE TIME within the past month. I couldn't figure out how to make bacon in the microwave without a papertowel!
And my Swiffer mopping challenge? I love my floors now more than ever! I cut up towels to make mop rags to fit the Swiffer. I fill my sink with a little water, a little vinegar and a touch of oil, throw several clean mop rags in there, and get to Swiffering! When one rag is done I throw it in a bag that I have hanging next to the sink and grab a clean one out of the sink. That way the dirt from the floor never mixes with my cleaning water. And the bag next to the sink is for all my rags that I go through. Then when laundry day comes, I grab the bag and do a load of rags. Then they're clean and ready to use again the next week!
How are your challenges going?
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