Recipe: BLT with (or without) Crabmeat

Here is a recipe that offers a little twist on the classic BLT sandwich…if you so desire. With some fresh locally grown or homegrown tomatoes you cannot go wrong whether you decide to include the crabmeat or not. I do admit this is not an entrée my kids will dig into, but they do like bacon and the bread so I just gave them some of that along with a few other kid-friendly items.

Read Full Post »

Recipe: Zucchini Bread

Ever since I made this recipe we have a fear that our 5-year-old is going to turn into a piece of zucchini bread!  She cannot stop eating it. She actually said she was sad about something the other day, but eating a piece of zucchini bread would make it all better. And can you tell that I couldn’t even get a picture of a whole loaf (the backend is missing) because suddenly there is no restraint in our house when it comes to this bread! I have to admit it really is good and tastes so similar to the recipe I used to make that was full of sugar. Granted this one does have a decent amount of honey in it so you shouldn’t sit down and consume an entire loaf in one sitting, but the fact that this is approved during our “100 Days of Real Food” makes me so happy!

Read Full Post »

(Not) Cleaning your plate

I don’t know what it is about our society, but most of us have been taught (and are teaching our children) to “clean our plate”. As it turns out this might actually be really bad advice. One of the more surprising things I learned from Michael Pollan’s book is that other (much healthier) cultures simply stop eating when they receive an internal cue that they are starting to feel full (about eighty percent full, to be more specific). On the other hand, according to Pollan, we Americans eat until we “receive some visual [or external] cue from the environment that it’s time to stop: the bowl or package is empty, the plate is clean, or the TV show is over.” Wow, what a novel idea to instead stop eating the moment you no longer feel hungry!

My husband and I have been trying to carry out this advice ever since we read the book a few months ago and, I must report that for some reason this is very HARD to do! Imagine you are eating and enjoying a delicious meal. There are two bites left, but you start to feel full…what do you do?

Read Full Post »

Recipe: Fajitas

I love a lot of different foods, but let me tell you that this fajita recipe is right up there at the top. This is the kind of meal where you hear my husband and I “mmmming” and “aaahhhhing” at how good the flavor is the whole time we are eating. Anytime you cook with the freshest ingredients it is hard to go wrong, but I especially think the homemade tortillas are a big part of what makes this recipe so money. If you don’t want to invest the time to make the tortillas then I think store-bought corn tortillas are the best alternative. Unless you have a local bakery, it is really hard to find whole-wheat breads or tortillas from the grocery store without a bunch of junk in them. I did once try Ezekiel flour tortillas (which are made with sprouted grains and kept frozen at Earthfare), and even though the ingredients were decent I didn’t feel the same way about the taste.

Read Full Post »

Buying organic (or not)

Despite the fact that we absolutely prefer and always try to buy organic…I really want to get one thing straight here. Just because something is organic does not automatically mean it is healthy and that you should eat it! There are still highly processed foods out there that just happen to be made with organic ingredients. Here are some examples:

• Organic ice cream sandwiches (the one pictured contains organic corn syrup and organic sugar in addition to white flour)
• Organic flavored yogurt (also full of organic sugar)
• Organic cookies
• Organic crackers made with white flour
• Organic chips and pretzels
• Organic white bread

Thinking about something being organic vs. highly processed is like comparing apples to oranges. It is important to first ensure an item is not highly processed and then also try to find the organic version if possible. So now that we have covered the pre-made stuff you might buy, here is some more food for thought…

Read Full Post »

Recipe: Homemade Maple Pecan Ice Cream

If you don’t already own an ice cream maker…I think it is worth it to go out and buy one (could be a good father’s day gift!). The difference between store-bought and homemade ice cream is unbelievable. And with the machines for sale these days there is no ice, rock salt, or cranking necessary. You can spend between $30 and $40, push one button, and within 15 – 20 minutes enjoy the best ice cream you will ever have. Not to mention that when you make it yourself you can also control the ingredients.

Read Full Post »

Sweeteners 101

Ever since we started our 100 Days of Real Food it seems like we have been getting a lot of questions about sugar and other sweeteners. Can’t we have sugar? Isn’t it natural? Yes, I suppose it is technically “natural” since it is made from the sugar cane plant, but it is also a highly processed version of this plant similar to how white flour is made from the wheat plant. If we are going to start classifying things in this manner we could also technically say high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is “natural” since it is made from corn. And despite the mixed research on if HFCS is really worse for you than good ol’ white sugar, according to Michal Pollan, it just happens to be “a reliable marker for a food product that has been highly processed”.

Read Full Post »