Harvest Sunday

Sunday around our house is a little crazy.  Most people spend their weekends relaxing - and especially Sundays. We usually end up more tired at the end of a Sunday than we are from a whole week.  We fall into bed exhausted and we wonder why we punish ourselves.

Well, Sunday is our farmer's market day.  It runs from 10-2. Although people have started shopping by 9am now so you really have to get there early if you want to get the good stuff. This does usually allow us a little time to enjoy a slow breakfast together which is always nice.  But once the shopping starts, the day speeds up quickly.  The Farmer's Market results in probably 35 pounds of food. Usually carried on my body! If we bring the kids we can shove it into the stroller but I always feel a little silly pushing the stroller full of food when I don't bring the kids!!!  At the market we get 90% of our fruits and veggies.  I finally figured out a way to get some fruits that we can keep and eat at the end of the week - Melons! I put them in the fridge and cut them on Thursday. This is great so we don't have to go back to the store mid-week.
We come home and cut everything up - serve a random lunch of fresh produce, and Andrew goes down for a nap. Then I usually run to Trader Joes for everything else I need for the week.

When I'm really organized, I usually get some cooking done for the week by 3pm - then we enjoy ourselves for a couple hours before getting dinner on the table and....well, then the whole bedtime routine kicks in as well as packing lunches and getting organized for the week.

We also have to do all of our yardwork and gardening on Sundays.  Today the kids wanted to help so they got to stay home with Mike and "work" with him as he pulled out tomato plants and got the gardens ready for fall planting (not sure when we'll actually be able to put plants IN the ground tho!).

So Sundays are all about harvesting.  I've begun to almost dread it b/c I know it's going to be exhausting...but then I remind myself that if I were a farmer, this would be every day for me.  Oh - and I'd have to pick ALL of the 35 pounds I carried around the market!

Here are a few of the fun things I did with today's load:

Arugula salad with yellow tomatoes, roasted yellow beets, broccoli rabe, and goat cheese.

Broccoli Rabe (or Rapini) is one of my favorite things. They even sell it at Trader Joes in ORGANIC!  I just throw some olive oil and garlic into a saute pan and saute it for about 10 minutes.  It stays crisp which is nice. And you eat more of the stems then you would on regular broccoli. If you can ever get this stuff fresh out of a garden it's amazing.

And here's something fun - did you know you can cook the green tops from beets? The tops of some of the root vegetables are actually more nutrient dense than the actual vegetable. Beet tops and carrots are two such cases.  Beet tops are yummier than spinach when you cook them - just wilt them down in either steaming water or olive oil.  Add a touch of salt and you're set.  Kaelyn loves these!  Carrot tops are not so yummy cooked -I put them in smoothies. 

I hope you enjoyed your Sunday -whatever you did!

Keeping it real! Kathy

Pumpkin Smoothie - Hits all the marks!

This one is a winner on all counts.  I mean, you really can't go wrong with pumpkin, in my opinion.  But this one has some extra goodness in it!  It's a perfect breakfast.

Recipe slightly altered from Angela Liddon's from Oh She Glows

Ingredients:
2 cups almond milk
1/2 cups rolled oats
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 t vanilla
1/2 T blackstrap molasses
1 ripe banana
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1.5-2 T pure maple syrup
1 cup canned or real pumpkin
10-15 ice cubes

Start with the first ingredient and add them in order into a blender.  Blend until smooth.

The kids LOVED this one.  It's a true breakfast in a cup - this one is great for the road.  I'm thinking of adding 2 dates to the next one for a little extra sweetness and some extra vitamins.


Keeping it real! Kathy

An important proposition

I'm continuously surprised at how many people are unaware of the fact that most of the food at the grocery stores has been genetically modified - and why that is not a good thing. On the ballot this year (in CA) you'll have an opportunity to put your foot down on GMO food - by at least making it something that you will be aware of.  Everyone has a right to make their own choices but we don't realize that we're making choices about things that we don't even know about.  It is so important for the labeling to become a part of our food choice process.

I ran across this super easy and compelling blog post about a mom on a mission for GMO labeling.

And I watched the video within it which I highly recommend you watch. Here is the link.

It's always good to educate yourself... even if it's hard to hear...

And even if it's not for you - vote for the children of our future...
Vote Yes on 37...
 
Keeping it real! Kathy

Zucchini Enchilada Boats

Have you heard of Punchfork?  It's like Pinterest meets Betty Crocker.  Well - WAY better than Betty (no offense!).

It's like an online recipe catalog.  Pure awesomeness.  Basically it's a photo of a great dish and when you click on it, it links to the recipe and credits who posted it.  It's totally addictive.  The recipes range from healthy to the opposite, as well as fun, complicated, or super easy.

I've been finding my favorite recipes and then pinning them into my Wanna Try Recipes repository.

I'll admit - I usually amend the recipes to make sure they fit our food requirements...but darn is it a fun way to find new ideas!   I can look for hours!

Today, I found these fun Zucchini Enchilada Boats.  An old nanny stopped by last week and brought us a 2 foot zucchini that we weren't sure what to do with (especially since the kids don't like Zucchini). I had it figured for the compost bin.  But alas - I thought I'd give this recipe a try.  OMG.  That's all I can say. The photo below is only 1/2 of the zucchini.  And Mike and I split one of them for dinner (I will dream of eating the other half for lunch tomorrow as I sleep tonight!).

As I mentioned, my kiddos don't eat zucchini (knowingly) so I put the "stuffing" into an organic whole wheat tortilla (still looking for a 'best' option of these) and Kaelyn loved it.  Andrew was fine as long as he closed his eyes and made a game of it. Once he saw what was inside he couldn't get past it.  What is WITH the kids who have issues with how food looks?  Drives me insane.

Here is my recipe.  It's pretty similar to the original.

Ingredients

• 4 medium to large zuchini
• 2 (about 8 oz total) small zucchini
• 1 package or jar of enchilada sauce
• 8 oz cooked shredded chicken breast 
• 1 t crushed coriander
• 1 t sea salt
• 1 tsp oil
• 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup diced green purple or red pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 cup frozen spinach
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp enchilada sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

For the Topping:

• 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar (organic raw milk or grass fed)
• chopped scallions and cilantro for garnish

Directions

Place chicken in oiled glass dish.  Season with salt and coriander. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

Boil a pot of water.

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and using a small spoon or melon baller, scoop out flesh, leaving 1/4" thick. Chop the additional smaller zucchini to use in your stuffing.

Drop the zucchini halves in boiling water and cook 2-4 minutes, depending on how thick they are; remove from water.

In a large saute pan, heat oil and add onion, garlic and bell pepper. Cook on medium-low heat for about 2-3 minutes. Add chopped zucchini, spinach, and cilantro; season with salt and pepper and cook about 4 minutes. Add the cumin, oregano, chili powder, water, and enchilada sauce and cook a few more minutes, then add in chicken; mix and cook 3 more minutes.

Place 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of a large (or 2 small) baking dish, and place zucchini halves cut side up. Using a spoon, fill each hollowed zucchini with 1/3 cup chicken mixture, pressing firmly. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on top of the stuffed zucchini boats.

Top each boat with 1 1/2 tablespoons each of shredded cheese.

Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes until cheese is melted and zucchini is cooked through.

Top with scallions and cilantro for garnish and serve with greek yogurt if desired.

The stuffing is so good you could mix it with quinoa, top a salad, eat it with chips, etc... It's very versatile. Easy to make extra and freeze for another time...or even make on Sunday night to use later in the week.

Keeping it real! Kathy

Easy Strawberry Smoothie - non-dairy

Recently I was visiting a grand "re-opening" of Healthy Creations.  They have added some yummy smoothies to their menu.

While we were at the party, they snuck a little cinnamon into their Goji Berry smoothie and it was so yummy we told them to put it on their menu!

I decided to make one of my own to share with the kids.  It's a bit of a knock off - but the cinnamon again, is the special secret!

Strawberry Smoothie

1 cup almond milk (or other dairy/non-dairy option)

1 bag frozen strawberries (Trader Joe's)

4 dates, pitted and quartered

1/2 t cinnamon

Blend till smoothilicsious!


Keeping it real! Kathy