Real Food Challenge - Week #3

For 14 weeks, the family and I are undertaking a Real Food Challenge (put forth by the awesome 100 Days of Real Food blog). I'm hoping to check in about any struggles and successes along the way each week. Our ultimate goal is to cut down on our dependence on processed foods and start using some cleaner fuels to energize our bodies. And stuff.

So, here's how it works. I'll get an email every Thursday for the next 14 weeks (the actual eating challenge will start on Sunday or Monday for 7 days, so there are a couple of days of grocery prep built in). Each email outlines the "rules" for that particular week. It's up to each participant as to whether or not they'd like to try each week independently or build on top of the prior week. In other words, continuing doing the prior weeks while attempting the new weeks, if that makes sense. There's also a very active Facebook group (I've actually joined an offshoot that's super supportive and far more focused) that's there to share, answer and support.

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Review of Week #2: The second week of the challenge was a pretty simple week. The only beverages allowed were as follows: water, milk (suggested organic & whole, which we do anyway), coffee, tea, and wine in moderation (one a day). ONE glass of juice was allowed, mostly so that if anyone hates water they could spritz a bit of juice in for some flavor.

I'm not a soda drinker anymore -- I'll have a couple per year. No, seriously. So, the only part of this that took me anywhere outside my comfort zone was that the only sweeteners allowed in one's coffee or tea was honey (ew, bee barf; love bees, hate the taste) or maple syrup (the 100% awesome quality organic stuff is great, but leaves a "deeply flavored" aftertaste). I don't drink a ton of coffee, but since it was allowed and I needed "caffeine motivation", I tried the maple syrup with a splash of milk. Hmm. Okay, but honestly tasted like...maybe...almost...TOO sweet?

Okay, okay, hold the phones. Those who have known me for any amount of time know that I'm a sugar consumer. I used to use 4-5 teaspoons of sugar in each small cup of coffee. *ahem* And was passionately mocked by family and friends for it. Over time, I've cut it down to about 1 1/2 (which is big for me). But, the fact that just yesterday, I took a mug with coffee and a splash of milk to work and thought it was fine...well, let's just say I'm expecting a chunk of the earth to explode. I'm pretty pleasantly surprised.

I'm hoping to maintain this, although if I'm in need of a sweet caffeine fix, I'll probably try one of the recipes for a NATURAL creamer replacement (something with cinnamon or what have you mixed in so that I don't notice the maple syrupy goodness). Oh, and while I used to have the super rare caramel macchiato (like, also twice a year) at a random Starbucks, I'm not even sure I'd enjoy that anymore. I'd probably get a latte. MAYBE a crappy flavor shot, just for a "treat", but even then...not sure it's a treat anymore. So, I'd call Week #2 a success.

Side note: Hadley still drank juice. I'm bending rules 'cuz he's...y'know...2 1/2. He had far more milk and water than usual and no more than his watered-down cup of organic juice each day, so I'm happy. 

Week #3 Challenge: $#@% just got real. This week will actually be quite the challenge, unlike this past week. We're "allowed" to eat only 3-4 (which means, um, 4) meals containing only locally-raised meat; the rest of the meals are essentially vegetarian. PLUS, whatever recipes we choose should involve meat in a supporting role rather than the star. Hmm. That's. Um. Crap.

I'm not one of those "Must. Eat. Protein." people. Our bodies actually don't need the "one vast serving per meal" amount of protein that folks seem ingrained to tout. (Mom.) But, I do want to make sure that we all get enough. I could easily do pancakes for every meal, but it's not healthy for any of us. At least I'm trying to maintain a semblance of the 6-per-day fruits and veggies, so we're definitely still getting our fill of nutrients. It just throws quite the monkey wrench into things. And stuff.

I definitely have a love-hate relationship with this week's challenge. I fully understand the reason behind it. I haven't had the greatest success at trying a flexitarian meal plan. I've made "meatless" meals and was proud of them, but they weren't that healthy. Like, pasta So, this is definitely a week that I hope to learn from. I'm excited to see whether this is one of those "this is soooo hard!!!" sort of weeks or more of a "this is easier than I thought, I can do this!" week. Fingers crossed!

Here's my flexible meal plan "schedule" for the week:

Caveat #1: The asterisks imply that there may or may not be some local meat involved, depending on what we can pick up at a local market. Like, if we can find locally-raised pork or bacon, it'll go into the potato soup. If we find chicken breasts, I'll cook them up for the stir-fry and salads. Also, this is a general guide that helps TREMENDOUSLY when I'm having that, "What to have for dinner?" blank moment. But, if I decide that we haven't had pasta in awhile (which we haven't), I might switch that out for the omelet night, for example, with some salads on the side. We're nothing if not flexible.

Caveat #2: Oh, and while we're allowed 3-4 meals including meat, if there are leftovers from a particular dinner, you'd better know we're using them for lunch. That's how we're playing that game. Leftovers are my saving grace, dudes.

So, that's the latest! Looking ahead, the following few weeks look pretty easy again (and even fun!), so I'm lucky for the most part! Now, if I could get Hadley to eat more of these meals, I'd really be getting some place.

Have a great weekend (and happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!) and good luck to any fellow challenge friends!

Another Weelicious Treat

I made a yummy muffin from Weelicious back in September, and recently decided to try a different kind. I mostly make them for Hadley (because apparently he's spoiled...who knew? As my husband recently said, "Well, he eats better than we do" to which I thought, "Huh. We eat well, but that's probably true."), but they're great for grown-ups, too. Whether you need a snack to go with a cup of midday tea or coffee, or a quick breakfast option to send to the sitter, these tasty muffins have just the right amount of sweetness and spice to do the trick. 

Weelicious is a site dedicated to feeding kids of varying ages, although are always seem to be some good family-friendly recipes (read: you don't need kids to eat this stuff). Let's just say that this post could pretty much be in the form of a love letter to the mom behind Weelicious -- as well as a hope that she doesn't mind my sharing HER recipe, tweaked (not to be confused with "twerked") a bit. I'm all about giving credit where credit is due -- this isn't my recipe, it's just the way that I made it. Here's the recipe she created that gave me a jumping-off point.

And here's what I made...

PicMonkey strikes again! (Not perked...by PicMonkey or Weelicious. Just a fan!)

These would be great with walnuts (or almonds, maybe), and I'm always keen on adding some clove and nutmeg to anything apple-laden. We kept it pretty tame for the munchkin since these are essentially his snack/breakfast muffins.

Oh, and full disclosure: For whatever reason, the muffins seemed to stick to the super-cute paper liners that I used. Maybe I didn't wait long enough for them to cool before digging in (I tried!), or maybe it was just dumb luck, or maybe there's a fully logical physics-based reason to the issue (I skipped out on Physics, so...yeah...). I'd just suggest a) greasing the pan as advised in the original recipe or b) expect this to happen and accept the inevitable. It seemed better the next day (not completely, but better), so it's not like all your hard work will end up in the trash along with half of the muffin.

I also found myself (yes, folks) sniffing H's muffin yesterday. Sniffing it. I have no shame.

I'm a Ham

Yes, yes. We all know I'm a bit of a ham -- at least when I get on stage. Probably the reason Dave and I work well together. I don't think I know anyone else who commands a stage (at times while admittedly overacting) quite like he does. His special talent, though, is for people to fully realize that he's hamming it up -- but to enjoy it and fall in love with him, regardless. Now, THAT'S talent, people.

But, I digress. This post isn't really about how hammy we (and, so it seems, our son is). It's actually about a ham dinner I made recently.

(crickets chirping)

Yeah, it doesn't get much lamer than that. (And, yeah, it's another "recipe" post. Neener neener. ;-)) But for those of you who wonder what our meals look like -- you know, the GOOD, I had a little time and energy to put into them meals vs. the after-school-meal-grind meals -- here's an example.

We're still doing pretty well with the weekday vegetarian thing, although we don't beat ourselves up if we end up taking a turkey sandwich (because it's all we have in the house for the "main") for lunch or have the occasion meat-inclusive dinner on a random Tuesday. All things in moderation, people, especially moderation. ;-) But, yeah, for us, we're doing pretty well with it.

However, this particular meal was made on a Saturday, so I felt I had a "Get Out of Jail Free" card. I had also thawed a pound of ground beef (grassfed, local) and a thicker-than-I-realized ham steak (also grassfed, local), so no matter what, meat was on the menu. (Needless to say, the beef was used that Sunday.)

All I had to do for the ham was heat it up (in this case using a grill pan) and maybe throw on a maple mustard glaze; quick and easy. It took far more time to prepare the sides, truth be told. You don't need much direction on the rice -- it was just regular, long-grain (non-instant) rice which we cooked while the broccoli was roasting. I'm trying to retrain my patience since I haven't found any organic instant rice. ANYhoo...

Roasted Broccoli with Garlic

2 heads of broccoli (or 1 large head of broccoli) {side note: ours was organic}
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
Drizzle of olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon, juice of 1/2 - 1 lemon (depending on your taste)
S&P
Sprinkle or two of red pepper chili flakes (optional)

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut the broccoli to uniform sizes (as close as you can; don't obsess) and place on baking sheet. Add the garlic, olive oil, lemon, and salt & pepper and toss well.

Roast in oven for ~20 minutes. (The garlic may brown quite a bit; that's okay.) Taste and season with more S&P if needed, and add some chili flakes, if using. (We didn't because any vegetables I make these days go into the baby's mouth -- a good thing -- and I'd rather not pain him. ;-)) This is also yummy with some Parmesan cheese.


Maple Glazed Ham Steak

1 ham steak (size doesn't really matter; make more of the glaze if you need, make less if you don't seem to need it; cooking's an art, not a science)
2 - 4 Tbsp. REAL maple syrup (not the "pancake syrup" stuff, please, for the love of God!!!)
1 - 3 tsp. dijon mustard
1/2 - 1 tsp. brown sugar (if you have it on hand; I didn't and it was still fine)
Sprinkle or two each of ground clove and nutmeg

Heat your pan (grill or regular) to medium high. Prepare glaze using all the ingredients but the ham. You can either glaze the ham prior to cooking or while cooking (glazing both sides after each is cooked; this creates less burning and more "glazey" flavor than "hammy" flavor).

Either way, since this is a ham steak, you really only want to put a little color on the meat and heat it through (it's already cooked, yay!), so use your judgement. It may need 4 minutes on each side...it may need 6 on the first and less on the second...or five on each. Just be sure to keep an eye on it that the glaze doesn't burn (turn to medium if you're worried about this happening).

* I also did a teensy drizzle of maple syrup over my rice and ham when finished. As Ado Annie says, I CAN'T SAY NO!


So, there you have it. One example of a Saturday evening meal in the ol' hammed-up household. I try to keep it simple these days (since the moment the lil' guy sees me cooking, he starts whining and fussing -- he wants food, and he wants it IMMEDIATELY. We're lucky to have such a great eater, but...), and it's the little things -- Dave loves (...wait for it...) rice. Rice with a meal (or, yes, even AS a meal) and salads, his two favorite things. Well, and maybe a wife who makes them for him without having to ask.

Easy Arse Broth

Yes, another food post! No, I'm not apologizing! ;-) I'm sure you'll get a slew of DIY or Mommy or budget or cat posts at some point soon, so it is what it is.

It also must mean that, although our weather is teetering on warm/unseasonable, I'm ready to jump headlong into autumn (and start thinking about Christmas...which, admittedly, I should've probably done several months ago). We even went on our first-ever apple picking family adventure today -- none of us had gone before! If only Hadley had more than two-and-a-half teeth, he would've eaten his weight in apples rather than sucking and piercing them with his little chompers.

So, here's a little non-recipe that only takes a little time and thought in advance, a tiny bit of prep, and some freezer space. SO EASY!!!

Homemade Vegetable Stock

- Plastic freezer bag full o' veggie cuttings (ANYTHING; we had everything from celery to carrot ends to onion peelings to part of a garlic bulb that I roasted, asparagus ends, and I can't count how many broccoli stems -- but, literally, you can use anything as long as you have a good array)
- Water to cover the veggies+
- Salt (optional; I didn't use any)
- Bay leaf (optional; I forgot to throw it in, so I'll just use one if I make soup with this)

Every time you find yourself chopping some vegetables for salad (or anything else), put the (clean) trimmings into a freezer bag; I keep one just for this purpose. Once it's full enough, fill your pot about 2/3 full with your veggies (throw the rest back in the freezer; I had to do this), then pour in enough water to cover it and then some. Bring this to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and allow to cook as long as you can, at least an hour. The longer it cooks, the more the vegetables are able to infuse the water with their yumminess. Seriously, Dave wouldn't shut up about how awesome the house smelled. With just veg water? Yep. 'Twas awesome.

Allow to cool a bit and strain the contents. Again, allow to cool further (to room temperature) before putting in containers to store. In this case, I froze the larger amounts and threw the smaller jars in the fridge to use when I make rice and sauces.

All in all, I made about 10 cups of stock. Oh, and when we buy stock/broth, we get low sodium to control what our intake is, which is why we didn't use salt. Also, stock is technically unseasoned and ready for use in whatever you want (while broth is seasoned and yummy on its own), so it's all in what you do with it that makes it SO GOOD!

All it took was some time (although it cooked while I was going about my normal what-not) and zero dollars. Win-win!

What would you use this stock for? A good, ol' traditional soup? Or something more exotic? Share, share!

Vegetarian Stir-Fry

After a long day of animal viewing at the Utica Zoo, I was at a loss for what to make for dinner. Luckily, we had just gone to a local market the day before, so at least we had some ingredients on hand to play with - and the dorky daddy brought up the idea of a stir-fry (which means he had been yearning for it; he's usually very flexible with meal planning). Since our vegetarian schedule was a little off thanks to a mess of first-birthday leftovers, a nice, light vegetarian Sunday meal sounded perfect.

This is a flavor I haven't made yet (unlike my usual stir-fry), and it was pretty darn good. As usual, you can vary the ginger (or use fresh; ours had gone bad), garlic, and veggie combo - even make it carnivorous with some chicken. (It's be good with tofu, too. But, again, keeping it simple.)

Vegetarian Orange Ginger Stir-Fry

Brown rice for serving 

1/2-1 onion, thinly sliced

3-4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 small summer squash (1 yellow, 1 green)

2-3 carrots, peeled and julienned (or diced)

1+ cup frozen broccoli (cooked in pan, added later)

Sauce:

1 cup orange juice

2 tsp. soy sauce (plus some for garnish)

2-3 tsp. cornstarch

A few shakes of ginger powder

A few shakes red pepper flakes (optional)

Whisk together sauce and set aside. Over medium heat, put a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large pan (add a little as needed); while this heats, get your rice going. Once heated, add the oil and sauté until translucent. Add carrots and squash (both kinds), sautéing until tender but still crisp (a few minutes). Add garlic and sauce, cooking until the sauce thickens. Throw in the already-heated broccoli (or any other veggies that have been cooked from frozen) and serve with rice. Put some soy sauce over the top and garnish with chopped green onion (optional).

And tonight is the perfect night for huge arse salads, another one of Dave's favorites. :-) Hope you enjoy the recipe! Let me know if you make it and what veggies you use!

Before the Bravery

a.) Is this a dude or a lady?
b.) It's so strange I just HAD to use it.
Gotta love royalty-free images.
c.) SERIOUSLY, though! Transgender, maybe?
If so, rock on!

It takes a lot to make a huge change in your life, and something that's insanely personal -- in this case, FOOD -- can be a tad daunting. We have recently made the flexitarian switcheroo, meaning that we eat some (not much) meat on weekends, but are fully vegetarian during the weekdays.

And, guess what. It's actually sticking.

It could be that our bodies are feeling less "heavy" after our weekday meals. It could be that we're not eating anything particularly unusual or out of our comfort zone. It could be that we're not doing it "right" -- I'm not forcing tofu or veggie burgers onto the hubby (although I have both in my fridge...biding my time!). It could just be that I've figured out a comfortable way to manage our weekday meals in a familiar way.

I'm going with that last thought. Yeah. I've figured out a kind of equation for our dinners that help me get through the week without feeling like "Ugh, I can't wait to eat meeeeaaaat this weekend!!!" Actually, I feel incredibly guilty and tend to cook only one type of meat to last the weekend (our other meals are meat-free or a leftover of that item). Yet, I'm still a bit of a scaredy cat (hence the title -- ain't feelin' brave yet!) when it comes to cooking outside of my comfort zone.

Breakfast is easy -- we're "eat this everyday" sort of people. Dave, toast and tea. Me, cereal or toast. (We eat a ton more on weekends.) Why is it that we're so comfortable eating the same breakfast everyday, but we MUST have a different dinner? People are weird, folks!

Lunch can be challenging, but we're doin' it. Sometimes it's a leftover from the night before (yyyesss!!!). Other times, it's a continuation of my usual snack-like lunches (which I started back when I was pregnant) -- usually a combination of the following: organic cheese stick, apple/banana, tortilla chips (GMO-free corn, yay!) maybe with hummus, a handful of peanuts, a granola bar (non-GMO, organic), PBJ sandwich (natural, few ingredient (ie "real food") bread, organic PB & J, and this is if no leftovers are available), and when I remember it, carrot sticks. Oh, and whole milk organic vanilla yogurt (we can't go plain yet) with berries and maybe a few dark chocolate chips for a morning snack. It does the trick for my still-nursing, still-pretty-hungry body. The hubs usually figures out his own much smaller meatless meal.

Dinner is the road bump and could very well be a deal breaker. But, here's my strategy lately:

- One night, pasta with marinara sauce and a green salad. (Somehow, it's often Monday nights. Hello, "Antiques Roadshow"!!)
- One night, pasta with garlic, oil, parmesan cheese, veggies and seasoning and a green salad.
- One night, frozen all-natural pizza and a salad.
- One night, "breakfast for dinner." (Pancakes, french toast, or eggs (probably more of an omelet with some veggies) and toast, maybe some sweet potato hash browns.)
- One night, homemade soup and salad or grilled cheese. (I'm into the sammy...Dave's into the salad. What can I say? I married a salad guy.)
- One night, just one big ar$e salad. Gotta give into the temptation, I suppose.

Sure, there are other things we eat and I've been trying to come up with one new recipe each week (or so, depending on how busy we are), but these are the recipes that I have in my back pocket for those nights that I don't feel like makin' ANYTHING. The big thing that I've noticed is that if you plan a lot more when you're shopping, not only does it make your food stretch longer (and lessen your waste), you'll at least have a mental picture of the meals you'll make. When you've got a big ol' question mark on your forehead, you're more apt to revert to your old ways, no matter what your life choices may be.

Last week, I made a couple of bunches of on-sale asparagus help us through a couple of omelets (I even asked Dave this weekend if he wanted meat in his and he said he didn't care one way or the other...of course, I left it out) and some sides. When it reached the point of "crap, it's gonna go bad in 5 minutes", I parboiled what was left and threw it in a freezer bag. Now, I've got a quick quiche dinner in the back of my head with a frozen organic pie crust, the asparagus, some onions, cheese, eggs and a bit o' milk when the need arises. It feels good to have an extra ace up my sleeve. Very good.

I also threw together some broccoli cheddar soup that was pretty darn good that served several dinners AND lunches. Use whatchya got! Odds are, it'll be tasty. The same goes for the excess carrots I had a couple of weeks ago -- soup, there it is.

Oh, and I know it's not the *healthiest* thing in the world (and I can't list how many horrible things are probably in it), but we have discovered a couple of vegetarian items on our local Chinese menu that help on those nights that I REALLY can't cook. Say, like last week when I went to the theater to get all covered in paint only to arrive home wicked late to a husband who had more work to do (for his job), a baby in a fowl mood (hungry/tired, lots to do), and a front door knob that picked the perfect moment to fall off in my hand. You know. That kind of night. Broccoli with garlic sauce and veggie lo mein (or was it chow mein...) to the rescue. (Sometimes some Buddhist delight thrown in for good measure.)

I'm sure as time goes on, and as I discover the subtle nuances of tofu, I'll share some more recipes that are actually unique and yummy, but until then, we're all in this together! Sometimes you need some easy fixes to get you out of a bind.

Meaty Choice

I've been volleying the idea of vegetarianism around in my head (and even publicly, here and here) for awhile. We've mastered, in a loose way, Meatless Mondays -- although they're not always Mondays -- but we haven't taken a larger leap than that. I've even recently explained why we're not vegetarians.

But something seemingly small and unimportant made me snap. I was watching a news story about the bird flu in China (which is being spread by chicken consumption) when the background video showed a man grabbing a bird out of a small cage full of numerous chickens.

Now, I'm not an idiot. I know that when I eat chicken, that chicken was once living. But, for whatever reason, when I heard the sound of the bird screeching, I was struck -- not only did it sound like my baby crying, it was screaming for its life. It knew what was coming, and it couldn't do anything about it. My stomach turned and I started to cry.

Since then, I've decided to cut back to eating meat on weekends. This all started earlier last week, so it hasn't been a long adventure yet, but let's just say it's Saturday...and I haven't had meat yet today (or the rest of the week). I've got a freezer full of meat that will need to be used up, so I'll have to get around my guilt to do so, but I've never been good at going cold turkey, so giving myself the leeway helps.

The neatest thing is that when I finally told Dave about it, and found myself getting upset yet again, he immediately agreed and was on board; almost like he was waiting for our family to take the step.

And, much as how we've treated Meatless Monday (adjusting the day accordingly, just making sure to include more vegetarian meals throughout the week), we're going to adjust our vegetarianism according to circumstances. For example, Hadley's birthday party will be on a Saturday, and it's shaping up to probably be a barbecue. Because of this (and because one of our issues is the fact that we've got very much carnivorous families), we'll plan on eating meat this day; there may be other family events that fall M-F, so we'll thus plan.

So, I suppose we're taking flexitarianism up a notch. We're also still lacto-ovo vegetarians, in that respect. Still eat eggs (from humanely treated chickies) and pasture-fed milk, yogurt and cheese. I could never give up cheese. It's my weakness!!

I think the biggest challenge will be figuring out lunches; breakfast is easy, and dinner's getting there, but work lunches can be a bit of a tough time. I'm still researching a lot of websites for meal ideas, but I'm sure I'll be sharing what's working for us. But, seriously, it's become a lot easier to order delicious vegetarian options when going out 'n about.

So, that's an update on our meat-eating. (Side note: Second choice for post title: "Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?")