A big bowl of YUM!

Dinner at our house last night was super simple: a big bowl of guacamole.



Our favorite mexican restaurant always plays around with their guacamole, adding in fresh fruit for a different twist. I decided to do my own experimenting last night, with excellent results! Here's the recipe I used:

Strawberry Guacamole
3 ripe avocados
1/2 red onion, chopped
3 plum tomatoes, diced
5-6 ripe strawberries, diced
dash of salt
splash of lime juice

Throw everything in a bowl and stir until the avocados are creamy. Add a dash of salt and a splash of lime juice (to your taste).

I've made this with pomegranate seeds instead of strawberries, which was also excellent (Trader Joe's sells a convenient pack of just the seeds so you can avoid having to mess with the entire fruit). We've also used red grapes, another tasty version, as well as blood orange chunks. All delicious!

I absolutely adore El Milagro tortilla chips. They're super tasty and remind me of the chips we enjoy every time we're in Mexico. In fact, eating this for dinner last night made me a little giddy for our upcoming trip this June! Since I don't eat seafood (and most of the restaurants where we go are seafood-oriented), I tend to indulge in a lot of guacamole when I'm on vacation. I come back tan, with a slight tint of green! (Kidding, of course!)

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The food revolution at our house

I've really been enjoying Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution" that begin Friday night on ABC. And I was inspired to teach my daughter to cook as a result. Granted, she's only four, so we're starting slowly. I am hoping that by giving her more responsibility in the preparation of our meals, she will be more apt to try new things and be excited about things like... vegetables!

Last night's dinner was veggie pad thai, so I had her help me chop the vegetables. Cabbage, green onions, carrots... she chopped like a pro! (Granted, I oversaw this one very carefully and for the cabbage, I assisted her with my "mommy" knife!)



Once all the veggies were prepped, we cooked the rice noodles, then combined everything in the wok. I gave her the very important job of adding all the chopped veggies into the mix and stirring the sauce in. We dished up servings for the three of us, then set the table so everything was ready when Clean Fresh Hubby got home from work.



It took a little longer to pull dinner together with the help of my "assistant," but she was so proud of herself that it was worth the extra time. And this morning, when she woke up, the first thing she asked was if she could cook again. So I let her make the breakfast smoothies. Literally running down the stairs, she added the fruit, protein powder, honey and OJ to the blender, then mixed it to perfection.

I'm happy to see her excited about all the possibilities cooking offers, and the fact that she ate several bites of the pad thai felt like significant progress from her usual fare of Morningstar chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and PB&J. Best of all, she actually wanted to do the dishes, so I gave her the soapy sponge and let her go to town.

Who am I to stand between a girl and a sink of dirty dishes?

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Gumbo a la Disney

Like most parents of four year old girls, I went out last week and picked up a copy of Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" for our little princess. I've lost count of how many times we've actually seen it since then, along with how many times we've read the book before bed. These repeat viewings and readings caused my daughter to suddenly become obsessed with the idea of making gumbo. It's all she's talked about in recent days and one night, unbeknownst to me, Clean Fresh Hubby told her we would make gumbo for dinner. So the next morning, she was on fire talking about gumbo, gumbo, gumbo and how daddy told her we'd make it.

Thank heavens for the Whole Foods recipe app on my iPhone! I did a quick search for "gumbo" and found a recipe for a vegetarian version. Off to Trader Joe's to pick up the necessary ingredients and we were set to make our own version of "The Princess and the Frog" Gumbo.

Here's the recipe I used as my starting point, with a few of our additions included:

Quick Vegetarian Gumbo

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 (16-ounce) package frozen bell pepper strips (I did not include these... personal preference)
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 to 1 tablespoon blackened cajun spice
1/2 pound vegetarian sausage links, Cajun or spicy variety, cut into 1-inch slices
3/4 cup rice (white or quick-cooking brown)
1 box (1 qt) creamy tomato soup
8 ounces frozen cut okra
Hot sauce to taste

Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot until warm. Add garlic and sauté briefly. Stir in peppers (if using). Cook another 4 minutes then add tomatoes, tomato soup, beans, seasoning and sausage. Bring to a boil and add rice. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add okra and simmer another 10 minutes or until rice is cooked. Serve with hot sauce on the side.



This turned out really good, though quite a bit spicier than I expected. When making it again, I would use less of the cajon seasoning (I used 1/2 T for this batch; would cut it to 1 tsp). I also used the Morningstar Hot and Zesty Sausage, so I would substitute plain Morningstar Sausage. The original recipe did not call for the box of soup, but it was very thick and my daughter wanted it to look "more like the movie gumbo," so thankfully, I had a box of soup on hand. I think the extra liquid helped the rice cook up and I liked the consistency the soup added. The biscuits are Alexia brand... this company makes some of the best frozen baked goods I've ever had and the biscuits were no exception! While not exactly "healthy," they are made with all natural ingredients and no trans fats, so not as bad as the ones you buy in the tube.

If you have a little princess in your house, this is a fun and easy recipe to make together (just go easy on the spice or your princess could be like mine and get upset that it is too spicy, refuse to eat it, and instead opt for a bowl of plain tomato soup!).

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The party dress

For her birthday, one of the things my parents got my daughter was a party dress. Black and white gingham with a big pink bow and layer upon layer of pink tulle underneath to give the skirt a full effect. When she opened it, I thought "cute, but really not practical." Then she opened the rest of her gifts where she received several cute ensembles perfect for school and play.

Fast forward three weeks and I am here to report that the birthday present that has gotten the most use is that black and white party dress. She wears the dress EVERYWHERE. To the grocery store. To a dive pizza place for dinner last weekend. To school. To the park. The dress has gotten some serious mileage. In fact, there have been several instances where I feel a bit sheepish about my own outfit when we're out in public. At Trader Joe's last week we looked a bit mismatched... an adorable four year old in her party dress, jewelry and sparkly shoes, and her mother, fresh from a workout, just running out for a few last minute groceries in her exercise attire!

We're into the sixth straight day of wearing nothing but that dress. My goal is to sneak it out of her room tonight so I can get it in the laundry before she wakes up in the morning (and fingers are crossed that it washes well... I can just see the tulle being a problem!).

I'm sure the fascination with the dress will pass and we'll be able to bust into some of the other cute outfits she received. But for now, if you see us out and about, I'm the gal standing behind the little girl in the party dress.

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Random food thoughts and another great recipe

Day 18 of the 21 day vegan challenge, so thought I'd just ramble a little about various food thoughts I've had over the past two and half weeks.

It has been very easy to give up the meat, particularly the prep and cooking of it. Prepping chicken has always grossed me out and I tend to worry about it being cooked long enough. So to eliminate it from the diet has been nice. Our dinners have been revolving around veggies and some sort of grain or bean, with some pretty tasty results. Clean Fresh Hubby didn't exactly signed up for this challenge with me, but he is eating the dinners I make, so that's encouraging. And he is making healthier choices at lunch, so maybe I'm rubbing off on him a little!

Dairy has been the harder of the two to eliminate completely from my diet. I've had a few slips (a slice or two of cheese pizza), but overall I'm doing good about not eating cheese. I've been limiting my coffee intake to one day over the weekend since I do like to drink it with cream. I have been able to substitute agave nectar in place of sugar with good results, so this morning I decided I would try adding vanilla almond milk to my coffee to see if I could get away with that. No luck. Didn't have the same consistency as cream, so it really did nothing in my coffee. So I will continue to just drink coffee over the weekend, with cream, and consider it a treat. If a little cream is the worst I do, that's not that bad!

For breakfast, I've been alternating between carrot juice on the days I don't have to work and fruit smoothies on the days we're scooting out the door to work and school. Lunch is typically a salad, leftovers from whatever we had for dinner the night before, or a veggie sandwich from Subway on days I work. Dinner has been the time to experiment with new recipes; I'm finding quite a few good ones in Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet" book I've been reading.

Like this one, for pinto bean stew:

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups Imagine creamy tomato soup
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp dried basil (or 2 tsp fresh)
dash of dried oregano
dash of red pepper flakes
salt to taste

Combine the soup, 1 cup of water, soy sauce and oil in a large soup pot. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Add the beans. When the liquid returns to a boil, reduce the heat and add the onion, garlic, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes. If the stew seems to thick, add more tomato soup or water. Place cover slightly askew over the pot and simmer 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt.



This was super easy to throw together and quite delicious. I served it with a salad made of watercress, beets and tomatoes drizzed with a little olive oil and lemon juice (decided I'm not a fan of watercress, so next time I'll just use mixed greens and I think it will be much tastier).

I'm experimenting with quinoa too with good results. I made my favorite dinner (angel hair with tomatoes and garlic) and substituted quinoa for the pasta. I made the sauce as usual, then added 1/2 cup of quinoa to the pan, covered it, and let it cook for 20 minutes. It was excellent!



So overall, it hasn't been too difficult to find tasty foods to eat in place of meat and made without dairy. My plan is to continue on with this even after the last day of the 21 day challenge, but not be so rigid that I can't enjoy a dinner out with friends or a little creamer in my coffee (or a cappucino here and there!).

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Wine Wednesday: Going organic... again

Friday night, Clean Fresh Hubby and I went to see a show in the city, one that was billed as BYOB (Bring Your Own Beverage). We had two bottles of red in our rack, so we packed them in a bag and were off. One was our old stand by (Layer Cake), the other was a new one I had picked up at Whole Foods, an organic, no sulfites added Cabernet.

Stellar Organics Cabernet Sauvignon



Compared to the other no sulfite wine I reviewed a few months ago (Our Daily Red), I quite preferred the Stellar Organics Cabernet. Very smooth, no obnoxious bite and it went down easy.

Since we also drank a bottle of regular, sulfite added wine beforehand, I can't speak to whether or not drinking the Stellar Organics would've prevented that foggy brain headache I usually wake up with. Guess I'll have to pick up another bottle and try drinking it on its own to see what happens. As it was, I did have that groggy feel in the middle of the night, likely caused by the amount of wine consumed that evening!

Anyway, if you're in the market for an organic wine with no added sulfites, I would recommend Stellar Organics. It cost about $11.99 for a bottle at Whole Foods.

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Keen on quinoa

I've seen quite a few recipes that use quinoa (pronouced "keen-wah"), so I decided to give it a try. Quinoa is very high in protein, which makes it a perfect addition to a veggie dish... this particular recipe from Whole Foods was not only a nice, balanced meal, but super easy to boot!

Zesty Quinoa with Broccoli and Cashews



Here is the recipe if you are intrigued enough to try it:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
Salt to taste
1 cup small broccoli florets
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup roasted cashew pieces
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Heat oil over medium heat in a medium pot. Add onions and garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, broth, wine and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Stir in quinoa and salt. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

Arrange broccoli on top of quinoa, cover and simmer for an additional 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and toss gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper, transfer to plates and serve garnished with cashews and green onions.

Really, this was a very tasty dish. Quinoa seems to be something you could use in place of rice, so perhaps try substituting it here and there to up your protein.

In other news, Clean Fresh Hubby and I have a date tonight... dropping our daughter off at grandma's and heading to the city. We are going to eat dinner at an all-vegetarian restaurant, so I am excited to see what's on the menu. I'm even more excited that Clean Fresh Hubby has agreed to give it a whirl. He saw a picture of a "rib" sandwich on their website (made from seitan) and thought it actually looked good.

After dinner we're going to see a show that is BYOB, so I have a new bottle of wine to try this evening (Stellar Organics Cabernet) that I'll review this coming Wine Wednesday.

A weekend with good food and wine, doesn't get much better than that!

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Wine Wednesday: Partying with old favorites

This past Saturday, we celebrated our daughter's 4th birthday by hosting a big bash for family and friends - about 30 guests total. In years past, I've made a big dinner from scratch, but in the interest of my sanity, this year we decided to keep it simple and just order some pizzas (and because I couldn't just let it be, I did whip up some pasta, salad and appetizers... I have a problem, really, I do!).

As for beverages, we decided to keep that simple as well and go with our tried and true favorites: Layer Cake Shiraz and Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc.



I've featured both of these wines as part of previous Wine Wednesdays, so I won't repeat what I said originally. I will just add that both were BIG hits with our family and friends. My sister, who is more of a foofy drink drinker, helped me plow through the Kim Crawford, while a girlfriend, who typically prefers a pinot noir, was quite taken with the Layer Cake Shiraz. And one of Clean Fresh Hubby's guy friends forsake beer in favor of the shiraz. How often does that happen?

Anyway, the party was a success thanks to good food, good friends and good wine. And if you haven't tried either of these wines yet, please do. You won't be disappointed!

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21 Day Vegan Kickstart - week 2

So last week I started the 21 day vegan kickstart. For the most part, I did pretty good all week. A minor slip up over the weekend, but we were celebrating our daughter's 4th birthday (which is today), so I had a piece of cheese pizza and some cake and ice cream. But no meat for the past week, so I count that as an accomplishment. Especially since Clean Fresh Hubby fried up some bacon for breakfast yesterday. It was killing me not to just reach over and break off a little piece to savor. But I was strong.

I think being a week in helped. Two days into this challenge, I was already figuring how I would live after this was over. Meat, no problem, I can give that up forever. But cheese and dairy? I told Clean Fresh Hubby I may have to cave on those.

But now, one week later, I'm feeling more resolved about the whole thing. I just started reading Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet" and it is giving me the inspiration and motivation I need to continue on with this journey.

And I've found a few recipes that are so darn tasty I don't even miss the meat or cheese. Like this one:

Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic, Tomatoes and Basil

1/2 box of Barilla Plus angel hair (or you could use whole wheat, but I like the Barilla Plus because it has the added protein and tastes more like "normal" pasta)
1 can organic diced tomatoes
6 cloves minced garlic (we like a lot of garlic in our house, so adjust as necessary!)
4t olive oil
1 bunch fresh basil, diced (or 1t of dried basil)
salt to taste



I boil up the pasta first and then set it aside while I prepare the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and once hot, add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the can of diced tomatoes, stir and salt to taste. If you are using dried basil, I add that at this point as well (if you are using fresh basil, add it at the end). Once the tomato mixture is heated, add the pasta to the pan, stir and heat through.

Normally I would serve this with grated parmesan (which is how Clean Fresh Hubby enjoyed it last night), but honestly, it tastes just as good without the cheese, so I didn't feel like I was missing out. I made this pasta for our daughter's birthday party over the weekend and it was a hit with the family as well.



So I'm starting week 2 with a strong resolve to see this through. It's hard to be perfect, so I will not berate myself for little slipups along the way. I figure it is the end result that is important and if it means I feel better and am healthier, than that is what really counts.

And did I mention I lost two pounds last week? Woo hoo! Just an added bonus!

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A tale of two corns

Laying in bed this morning with my daughter, I told her we had a busy day ahead of us. Her birthday party with the family is tomorrow, so I was telling her how we needed to get the house cleaned up, go to the grocery store, go get cake decorations and make a stop at Costco. I started pulling together a grocery list and asked her if there was anything else we needed. She said:

Daughter: I want popcorn. The kind in a red box.

(pause)

Daughter: With the guy on the front.

(pause)

Daughter, singing: Ya know, the popcorn guy.

Even at age four, brand loyalty appears to have kicked in. Obviously she has not been loving the organic microwave popcorn I've been buying as much as loves Mr. Redenbacher! I guess you can't win 'em all!

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Tacos without meat and cheese?

Yes, it can be done! And quite tastily too!

I found this recipe online quite awhile ago, but never had a reason to try it, since before this vegan challenge, I would load my taco with shredded chicken or whatever other meat was prepared.

So last night, I decided to give this recipe a try:

Lentil Taco "Meat"
3/4 cup of lentils (rinsed)
1/2 medium onion diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of taco seasoning
2 teaspoons of cumin
4 cups of water

Saute garlic and onion in a little olive oil. Add lentils and seasonings, stir. Add water simmer until lentils are tender (adding more water as needed) about 30-40 minutes. Serve in a tortilla with your favorite toppings. Serves 6+.



It smelled divine while simmering on the stove for the 40 minutes. Once cooked, I mashed it up a bit just to give it a more refried bean texture. Then I fried up some corn tortillas (I figured if I was going to eat a taco without cheese, then doggone it, I could enjoy a fried shell at least!). Sprinkled the shells with a little garlic salt, then loaded them up with the lentils, some lettuce, olives and salsa. All in all, not too bad! Even Clean Fresh Hubby ate them without complaint, saying the flavor was good. He's a tough cookie to pass vegan foods off too, so I took that as high praise coming from him!

So if you're looking for a way to do Mexican food a little healthier, give these a try!

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21 Day Vegan Kickstart - Day 1

Today is day 1 in the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart challenge sponsored by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. And because I love a challenge, I decided to give it a go.

So...

Good bye cheese. Good bye meat. Good bye coffee creamer (which I guess means good bye coffee since I'm not sure I can drink it without my beloved creamer). Good bye eggs. Good bye processed foods, white flour and white sugar.

Basically, good bye to all that is good and holy in my life.

Alright, I'm being a bit melodramatic, but that didn't stop me from gorging on this yesterday as sort of a last supper:



Lou Malnati's thin crust cheese pizza. Sigh.

This morning, I purged the refrigerator and pantry of temptations (bye 1/2 eaten Ghiradelli chocolate bar, bye Oreos, bye Hint of Lime tostitos). And then I broke out my juicer, which hasn't seen much action in the past, oh, six years or so.



Back when Clean Fresh Hubby and I were engaged (about 11 years ago), I was completely vegan. I made fresh carrot juice two times a day. Fruits, vegetables and grains made up the bulk of my diet. Then we got married and over time, I started introducing various foods back into my diet. I discovered a love of cheese I never knew existed. And from then on, all bets were off. And over the past six years, I have gained about 30 pounds as a result. Now no one would look at me and say I'm overweight, but more of what I'd call "skinny fat." And no matter how much exercise I do, I seem to plateau and am unable to lose the last 15 pounds I need to shed.

So here I am, attempting to get back on the vegan bandwagon, at least for the next three weeks. I can handle 21 days. And, combined with my current exercise regime, if I can start seeing some movement on the scale, then perhaps I'll extend it another 21 days. We'll see what happens.

If you're interested in learning more about the kickstart and want to join me on this crazy adventure, check out the Web site. I'm going to try to post daily on this challenge and will be sure to include any recipes, products and tips that help lessen the pain of a cheese-free existence!

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