Finger Food Feast

Happy Monday to you!

Last night we strayed from the usually big Sunday dinner. There have been MANY recipes I have wanted to try and just never seem to get around to trying them. So last night, I finally gave them a go! First I must give credit where credit is due. Everyone should own "Everyday Paleo, Family Cookbook" by Sarah Fragoso. This is an outstanding cookbook and packed full of great ideas and information. The recipes posted today are adapted from this cookbook. I say "adapted from" because I never can seem to leave a recipe alone. I will list what is in the cookbook, and then tell you what I did as well.

Tuna Stuffed Eggs

6 hard-boiled eggs
2 Tbsp Mayonaise
1 Green Onion (I leave this out due to my distaste for onion)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon or yellow mustard
Sea Salt and black pepper to taste
1 6 oz can tuna, drained

Peel hard boiled eggs and slice in half lengthwise, scooping out the yoke. Mix egg yokes with other ingredients, stirring in the Tuna last. Spoon the yoke mixture back into the hallowed out egg. We added  2 tablespoons of Dill Pickle Relish to this as well as a sprinkle of paprika.

This recipe got a great review from my family. I now plan to sneak these into after school snacks and even lunch boxes. I think that the weekend is a great time to try new recipes. Sending my kids off to school with something brand new in their lunches makes me nervous. What if they don't like it? I hate the thought of my child, or any child for that matter, hungry. So I try out recipes on the weekend when we are not rushed. Then if we have a failed attempt, there is time to try something else, and I know not to send it to school.

We also had this fresh tray of veggies with a wonderful dip!

Credit goes to my adorable husband for arranging these veggies to look so pretty! What a big helper he can be. :-)

What is the dip you ask??? Would you believe me if I told you that I got my kids to eat vegetables dipped in vegetables?! Seriously, I felt like a nutrition ninja! This wonderful dip, also from Sarah Fragoso's "Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook". Soon there will be an entire section on this blog featuring the many wonders of Cauliflower.

Cauliflower Hummus

4 cups steamed cauliflower
2 tablespoons almond butter
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Steam cauliflower until fork tender. Drain and cool. Once cauliflower is cool place in a food processor along with remaining ingredients and process until completely smooth.

We enjoyed this recipe, though as always have thought of variations to try in the future. We like a little more kick, so we thought of perhaps adding some roasted red peppers and a touch more cumin. The fun part about cooking is that there are so many possibilities!

Space- The Final FUNtier!

Welcome to Friday Family Fun Night! The Space Edition!

We spent the afternoon watching "Wall-E" and making our very own alien hats!

It is amazing the amount of fun you can have with construction paper, pipe cleaners, markers and glue. In our house, a good stash of emergency art supplies is a must! 

The highlight of our outer space dinner was this very fun "Solar System Salad". We use large naval oranges sliced in circles to make the Sun, slices of Star Fruit for stars, and made melon balls as the moons and planets (we used a small watermelon so they would look like Mars!) My children thought that this was possibly the coolest thing I have ever placed in front of them and it was so simple. This was also the first time they have had Star Fruit. They LOVED it, and why not, it is delicious and looks like stars!

The remainder of our dinner requires a little more imagination to grasp the vision. We served delicious slow roasted pork tenderloin on a bed of whipped sweet potatoes with a baked apple on top. This was supposed to be a flying saucer. Can you see it? The potatoes are supposed to be the steam or smoke coming out of the bottom of the saucer. Anyway, my kids went for it. They love these dinners an get really into the theme and making the food fun. So naturally, we had to cut up the pork and the apples for the kids. My four year old then said "Mom! My space ship crashed into the mud and broke!!" OK, that vision worked. I love my kids. We also served this dinner with a side of delicious green beans. We had an idea to make them into aliens, but everyone just wanted to eat, so for the night we just called them "Alien Tentacles".

Recipes:

Pork Tenderloin (This is not really a recipe... but it is what I did!)

Dust with Sea Salt, Black Pepper and Thyme. Place in a glass casserole dish and bake at 350 Degrees for 2 hours. This for so tender and juicy. We loved it!


"Whipped Sweet Potatoes"

3 Large Sweet Potatoes (Peeled and cubed)
1/4 Cup Coconut Cream
1 Tbsp Ghee
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tbsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Tbsp Pure Organic Honey
Salt to taste

Place peeled and cubed sweet potatoes in a large pot and bring to boil. Cook covered until potatoes are fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain water. Mix remaining ingredients together with the sweet potatoes and mash until they reach desired consistency. These were sweet and delicious... but not the same as those Thanksgiving Dinner Sweet Potatoes all covered in marshmallows. Sweet potatoes are an incredible super food so I have been searching for a way to get my children to enjoy them. This recipe did the trick... or maybe it was that I presented it as part of a space ship, either way, I will take it!

"Baked Apple"

Cut apples in half and removed the core (I actually used my melon baller to remove the core which worked wonderfully). I drizzled just a touch or honey in each apple slice, placed them in a glass baking dish and baked for about 30 minutes at 350 Degrees or until the apple was soft, but not gooey.

There you have it. We wrapped up the evening with a couple episodes of the original Star Trek series, with a clean up break in between episodes. We must start each day with a clean kitchen or it seems as though no one gets to eat!

"Live Long and Prosper!" -Mr. Spock 

Fajita Night

Last night was Fajita Night. I know the thought of fajitas without cheese and sour cream and well... tortillas seems a little depressing, but I am pleased to announce that this dinner came complete with my husband making that happy sound that husbands make when they are eating something delicious. He loved this meal so much he had three helpings!

I am going to tell you a little secret.... ready? I don't cook with onions. I HATE onion. The only time I use it is if I really want the flavor, and if that is the case I usually use the onion whole and then remove the onion before serving the dish. So, when you look at any recipe I post feel free to add onion if you are an onion person. 

Here it is! 

                                         Paleo Fajitas with Sauteed Mushrooms and Sugar Snap Peas

Fajitas

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast- Sliced in Strips 

Sliced Green, Red and Yellow Pepper

(Onion if you so desire)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil or Coconut Oil

1 tsp Garlic Powder

Salt

Pepper

Fresh Romaine Hearts

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken, sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cook until chicken starts to brown. Add Peppers. Cook until the chicken is cooked through and veggies are your desired consistency. Then serve in a fresh romaine heart with some of your favorite fresh salsa. EASY!

I filled this dinner out with some sauteed fresh mushrooms and sugar snap peas. I heated about a tablespoon of Ghee in a skillet, added 1 clove of minced garlic and the veggies to the hot skillet. Then I sprinkled it with a little steak seasoning to add zip. Yummy! 

Tune in tonight to check out of Friday Family Fun Night! We are going to embrace our nerdy side and "boldly go" where no dinner has gone before. Have a fabulous Friday!

Spider!

Today's afternoon snack is nothing fancy, but it is fun and it is healthy! We made spiders. You can use this idea with pretty much any food you have in the house. I'm telling you, if you present it in a fun way, even the vegetables get eaten!

Our snack today included:

2 Slices of smoked summer sausage
8 thin slices of Celery
8 Blueberries
2 Cherry Tomatoes

Ta-Dah! A snack that everyone thinks is super fun... and took almost no time to put together.

                                        

Please tune in tomorrow evening for our "Friday Family Fun Night!" I will give you a clue... we have been watching some old episodes of "Star Trek".

Sticky Finger Fun!

Continuing on with our after school snack theme of the week, this one is very simple and gets a 100 point review from my picky six year old. It is your classic Apples with Peanut Butter, but jazzier!

"Jazzy Apples"

1 Thinly sliced apple
1 tsp fresh honey
1 Tbsp Almond Butter
Coconut Flakes
Raisins

Thinly slice an apple and spread it out on a plate in one layer. Melt your almond butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or until it is easy to drizzle over the top of the apple slice. Drizzle almond butter and honey, and sprinkle coconut flakes and raisins over the top. This took me about 2 minutes to put together and not one spec was left on the plate!

"Brought to You by the Number 4!"

Today's after School Snack is brought to you by the number 4!

My kids come home from school everyday starving! This is an important time to give our kids something nutritious, delicious and fun to eat. In my experience, if I give the kids something sugary or otherwise unhealthy they are hungry again before I've cleaned up the dishes from the first snack. So, embrace the after school snack! Make it fun, and take the time to sit and talk with the kids about the day they have had.

Today's snack includes:

4- Pineapple Piggies (Pineapple Chunks wrapped in Bacon)
4- Banana and Almond Butter Sandwiches
4-Raisins
4- Cherry Tomatoes
4- Blueberries

Presenting snack with a numbered theme presents a fun opportunity to talk about basic arithmetic as well. "I had four cherry tomatoes and I ate one. Four take away one is three" or "Four bananas plus four pineapple piggies makes eight"! These things can be fun. Happy Snacking!

Green Smoothies

Happy Monday!

Monday mornings in my house are so stressful. I feel like I say "hurry up!" and "It's time to go" about one hundred times before 9 AM. Getting out the door seems to be an impossible task, so eating a healthy breakfast needs to be fast and fun.

"Green Smoothies" have become a staple food in our house. When I was first presented the idea of a green smoothie I was very resistant. "Spinach in my smoothie? You have to be kidding me". Well, I tell you now, these are AWESOME!

What you need:

1 1/2 Cup of Vanilla Almond Milk
1 Banana
1 Cup of Fresh Spinach
Handful of frozen fruit (your choice!)  Strawberries, pineapple, mango, blueberries, raspberries etc.
Add some fresh fruit too! I like to peel a "Cutie" Clementine and toss that into my smoothie!

The fun thing about smoothies is that anything really works. My kids love smoothies because they can choose what goes into it. Even if your kids insist they don't want the spinach, throw it in there anyway. They will never know! Green smoothies are like fruit and vegetable ninjas, the perfect way to sneak some extra nutrition into your kids and give them 3-5 servings of fruit and vegetables. It's a total win.

Cilantro Lime Chicken Salads

Why spend money at a restaurant or fast food place for a salad when it is simple to make your own better salad at home? There is no reason! We enjoyed this salad today for lunch and the entire family really enjoyed it. 

                                                      "Cilantro Lime Chicken Salad"

3 Large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

2 tsp Olive Oil

1 Lime

1 Tbsp Dried Cilantro 

Finely chopped fresh peppers 

Chop chicken breast into bite sized pieces. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add sliced chicken. Sprinkle with Cilantro and squeeze half of a lime over the chicken. Today I had just a few pieces of Red, Green and Yellow Peppers left over so why waste? I chopped them up and added it to the chicken. Adds nice flavor and extra veggie nutrition. Cook on medium heat for about 10 to 12 minutes stirring occasionally. The lime not only adds amazing flavor, it also makes the chicken very tender. 

Now, we chose to serve this today on top of a delicious fresh salad including:

Lettuce

Spinach

Sugar Snap Peas

Cucumber

Avocado 

Black Olives

Lime wedge

1/4 Cup of Fresh Salsa

This was EASY and DELICIOUS. 

Want to change it up a little? Why not serve it as tacos in a lettuce wrap? Same concept, different presentation. Enjoy! 

Family Fun Friday- Pirate Edition!

Ahoy Matey! Happy Friday! In our house, weekends are time for fun and family. To get the weekend off to a proper start, today is "Family Fun Friday." From the moment the kids got home from school we have been embracing our theme of the day- PIRATES!

I stopped by our amazing public library and stumbled upon a new children's book "Pirateria" by Calef Brown and added another from our own collection"How I became a Pirate" by Melinda Long. There is nothing like reading a few wonderful books to my children to get in the spirit of the afternoon! Along with our stories, we made our own pirate hats. We happen to already have several sheets of pirate stickers that I picked up at the dollar store, add to that a few crayon towers, markers, and a roll of brown painters paper and we had ourselves a wonderful time. By the way, painters paper is an awesome, and inexpensive thing to just keep around the house. We use it for many of our art projects.

I know, I know. This is a food blog. But, eating right can still be loads of fun! Why not make our meal a fun event for the kids? I now present to you our "Family Fun Friday Shipwreck Feast!"

                          "Pirate Meatballs on the Beach with Pirate Ships and Seaweed"

"Pirate Meatballs" or my daughter called them "Dead Pirates!"

1 pound Lean Ground Turkey
1 c. very finely chopped mix of green, yellow and red pepper
1/4 c. very finely chopped carrot
1 egg
pinch (Yes, a pinch. I don't actually measure it) of each, Thyme, Oregano, Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp each Salt and Black Pepper

Serve with organic spaghetti sauce and don't forget a few pirate swords (found by toothpicks)

This is easy. Throw everything into your stand mixer. If you don't have a stand mixer than throw it all in a bowl and mix everything together with your hands. Shape mixture into small balls. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the meatballs. I threw some simple marinara sauce in with the meat balls as they cooked. Cover and let cook about 5 minutes, then gently turn the meat balls over with a spoon and cook another 5 minutes.

Want to know a secret? You can do this all ahead of time! I actually prepared the meatballs while my youngest took his nap and then loaded them into my crock pot on low so they would be ready when we were ready for dinner. These also freeze well.

"Sand" (Cauliflower Rice)

Take a large head of fresh cauliflower and finely chop or whirl through your food processor until it resembles rice. Place in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Stir and repeat for another 3 minutes or until the cauliflower is soft. Salt and pepper to taste.

"Seaweed"

Take a carrot peeler and "peel" zucchini and yellow squash into long strips. Sauté in a skillet with some Ghee (purified butter) and salt and pepper until cooked. Serve as seaweed.

                                                                    "Pirate Ships"

I used Apple Slices and Clementine slices, but this can be done with any fruit you have that can be boat shaped. Add a toothpick with a cleaver little flag and you have yourself a pirate ship. Easy. This was probably my kids' favorite part of the meal.

Have a Wonderful Weekend! 

Three Meat Chili with Variations

Last night we had my homemade "Three Meat Chili". This dish falls under my favorite category of cooking: "Whatever is in the refrigerator, chop it up and throw it in a pot!" Eating great food does not have to be complicated. I am so sick of every healthy cook book having these crazy long drawn out recipes full of ingredients I have never heard of. Don't get me wrong, I love looking through beautiful cook books and trying new recipes, but most days I just need to feed my family delicious, healthy food with what I have in my fridge and pantry.

So here is my quasi recipe for the chili we enjoyed last night:

1 Large Chicken Breast
1 Pound Browned Ground Sirloin
6 Slices of Bacon, Cooked and crumbled
1/2 EACH- Green, Yellow and Red Pepper Finely Chopped
1/2 Bag Shredded Carrots
1 Can Diced Tomatoes
1 Can Stewed Tomatos
2 Cup Chicken Broth
1 Cup Water
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
salt and pepper to taste

After browning the meat and bacon, throw the rest of the ingredients in a large pot and bring to boil. Boil soup for 10 minutes (This cooks the Chicken and lets to chicken absorb the other flavors). Cover, and let simmer. I actually let this simmer last night for an hour because that is just how our evening went. Everyone enjoyed this meal! This is also a FABULOUS dish for the crock pot! Throw everything in on low and let the crock pot work its magic all day!

Now,  as listed above this is a VERY mild chili. I have three kids so spicy isn't really an option in our house. However, this is really easy to jazz up to your preferred taste. Add a jalapano pepper, or some green chili peppers. Use the canned diced tomatoes with green chili peppers in it if you have some on hand. Increase the amount of each of the Cumin, Chili Powder and Cayenne Pepper to fit your taste buds.

Want more variation? Change up the meats! There is no rule saying you have to use ground beef. Try ground turkey, or pork. This is also really fun with italian sausage. Use what you have and be creative! That is the joy of soup, chili and stews!

Welcome to My Kitchen

Hello Friends! My name is Cora. I have three amazing and energetic kids who keep me very busy. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen catering to their every request. I started to think about what I was feeding my children everyday out of convenience. Granola bars, cereal, pretzels, yogurt, cookies, ice cream, fruit snacks, juice and the list goes on and on. I thought I was feeding them well, but the reality is that I was feeding them what was fast and convenient. Everything was highly processed, full of sugar and contained little nutritional value. For a long time I had struggled to gain any sort of control over our kitchen. It was almost never clean, rarely stocked with anything healthy and most nights we end up wasting money on eating out only to feel hungry again before bedtime. Well, I recently decided that I have had enough! Why waste money? Why fill our bodies with foods that aren't helping us? So, my research began.

A good friend steered me toward The Whole 30 program, which is a 30 day dive into the Paleo lifestyle. You can find details about this program here. In 30 days I experienced major changes in the way I felt and lost 18 pounds! The basic guidelines are no sugar, no alcohol, no grain, no beans, no dairy and no cheating! "Ok. Well, what do you eat, Cora?" became an everyday question for me to answer. Well friends, welcome to my blog, where I will share with you my quest for a healthier lifestyle. I will include recipes, meal plans, grocery lists and budget and kid friendly Paleo options.

Cora's Kitchen confession #1: I rarely stick to a written recipe. I see them more as guidelines. So when I am writing out a recipe, feel free to take your own liberties with it.

Today, let's talk about lunch. One of my favorite lunches has become this:

Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps:

1 Can Light Tuna in Water
1 Tbs. Light Mayo
1 Lg Carrots Chopped
1/2 Small Apple Chopped
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
A few pecans as garnish

Mix together and serve in fresh lettuce! This is so simple and it is really delicious. Today I served it with the other half of my apple, a few fresh raspberries, half of a sliced cucumber, and some black olives.

I am learning that simple, real food is the way to go!

Tonight we are having a big pot of my homemade 3 Meat Chili. Tune in tomorrow for the recipe and family review!