Food! - Year in Review and What to Expect in 2016!

To put it mildly, 2015 has been a year of changes for my family!  Specifically, I discovered essential oils (not sure why it took me so long!) and watched "Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret".  2015 has been an eye-opening year and 2016 looks as though what has been set in motion in 2015 will continue!

As I mentioned previously, the Netflix movie "Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret" is quite thought provoking and moving!  After watching the documentary, and doing some research, I have really cut way back on purchasing meat, eggs, cheese and other dairy products.  I'm even reading labels and trying to avoid products with milk, whey and egg ingredients.  My family now eats most of our meals without meat, eggs and dairy.  We have increased our consumption of beans and fresh vegetables.  I am much more aware of agribusiness and am now constantly on the look out for healthier, less processed foods to feed to my family which are free of animal products.

Easy tip - Use non-dairy milk in your (or your children's) cereal every morning.  The cereal adds sweetness to the milk and you can hardly tell a difference.  We use a lot of Unsweetened Plain Almond Milk, or Cashew Milk and occasionally Flax Seed Milk or Coconut Milk. 

In regards to Food! posts, 2015 has mostly consisted of recipes that I have tweaked or revamped to fit my family's liking.  I intend to keep posting recipes in 2016 that work for my family and me.  I am also going to try to have themes for each month.  For example, in January 2016 let's start the year off with healthy meal replacement shakes!  I intend to post recipes for protein and green smoothies. Most people make New Year's resolutions, and many include dieting or eating a cleaner/less processed diet.  I will be right there with the masses and hope that my weekly food posts provide some helpful and easy to follow ways to implement dietary changes.

If you have something that you would like me to write about, please let me know!  I'm sure I can fit it in somehow!  I hope that you had a very Merry Christmas with your family and friends and that you have a safe and enjoyable New Year's!  See you in 2016!

Food! - Vegetable Medley!

What do you make when you have a lot of vegetables that have been waiting patiently to be eaten?  You make a concoction or Vegetable Medley!  Following I'll describe what I did one night when I had a counter full of squash and potatoes that I wanted to use!

Vegetable Medley

This does take a while to prepare, mostly due to the cooking of the Squash, so plan accordingly. 

Ingredients

Feeds about 4+

1/2 of as large Acorn Squash (1 small Acorn Squash would have been perfect)

1/2 of a large Spaghetti Squash (I've really just seen one size of Spaghetti Squash, but if you can find 1 small one, that would work too!)

About 1-2 lbs of Red Potatoes

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 - 8oz carton of Mushrooms

1 Red Onion

A few big handfuls of Baby Spinach

3+ cloves of Garlic

Salt and Pepepr

Seasonings to your taste

Directions

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees
2. Cut both types of Squash in half, sprinkle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and salt and pepper
3. Place Squash cut side down in baking dish, add 1-2" of water to dish to help speed up the cooking and to keep the squash from sticking to the bottom of the dish
4. Cook both types of Squash in oven together for about 30-45 minutes, or to desired tenderness
5. Cut Potatoes into about 1" pieces.  Steam to desired tenderness.  I used my DeMarle Cookware with a little bit of water on the bottom and steamed in my microwave to lessen the mess!
6. Chop Mushrooms & Onion and place in large saucepan with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
7. Mince or Crush Garlic and add to saucepan
8. Add Spinach to saucepan (spinach can be chopped into smaller pieces if desired)
9. Sautee vegetables in Olive Oil until desired tenderness is achieved. 
10. Add the steamed Potatoes to the saucepan with sauteed vegetables
11. Scoop the flesh from the Acorn Squash, shred the Spaghetti Squash and add to the saucepan with sauteed vegetables.
12. Season with additional Salt and Pepper or Seasonings of your choice and warm all ingredients together for a few minutes before serving.
13. I'm just learning about Nutritional Yeast and you better believe that next time I make this I will be adding it!!!

For Herbivores, this is a meal in itself thanks to the heartiness of the potatoes!  For Omnivores this can be served as a side with a meat of your liking.  It is also Gluten and Soy Free!

FOOD! - BLACK BEAN & KALE BAKED YAMS!

As we are trying to consume less meat, dairy & egg products, I am able to experiment with different foods and recipes!  For this particular dinner, I knew I wanted to use the yams that I already had, but I wanted to make it different.  In searching on-line, I came across one with minimal ingredients, and ingredients that I had already or could easily substitute!  Perfect!  Just what I need, a simple recipe!  Following is my version, which I must say tasted pretty darn good!

Black Bean & Kale Baked Yams
(Serves 6-8)

Ingredients

4 - Medium to Large Organic Yams or Sweet Potatoes
2 - 15oz cans of Organic Black Beans (or approx 3 cups of cooked black beans or 1 cup of dry beans)
About 4 - 6 cups chopped Organic Kale (Spinach or Chard would work well also)
2 - 3 TBSP Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 - Cloves of Organic Garlic pressed or minced
2/3 Cups of Water
Sea Salt and Pepper to your preference

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees.
2. Cut Yams in half lengthwise and place cut side down on lined sheet pan or Demarle Silpat (I love my Demarle cookware!) Poke holes in top side of yams. Cook about 30 mintues or until desired tenderness.
3. While Yams are cooking, chop Kale and prep Garlic.
4. Heat Olive Oil in saucepan, add Garlic and cook until fragrant (usually just a few minutes).
5. Add Kale to Garlic and Olive Oil.  Toss to coat.
6. Add Water, cover saucepan and cook about 5 minutes.
7. Remove cover, toss Kale & Garlic, reduce heat and cook another 15 minutes or until Kale has reached desired tenderness and texture, add more water as needed.
8. Add Black Beans to Kale & Garlic and cook until warmed thoroughly.  Season as needed with Sea Salt and Pepper.
9. When Yams are ready, split down the middle of the cut side and open each half up.
10. Spoon Black Bean, Kale & Garlic mixture onto Yams and serve!
11. No topping is necessary, but if desired, a vegan sour cream does taste good on top (my children liked the added sour cream).

I found the original recipe HERE.  The original called for an avocado dressing, which I omitted because I knew my children would definitely not touch their dinner if it was on there, and I didn't have any avocados!  But I will make this again for myself with the avocado dressing to give it a try!  Enjoy!!!  Be sure to let me know what you think!  

Food! - Kid Approved Bagels and Cream Cheese

This is my first post following the Blog Schedule that I put together.  So I'm keeping it quick and easy!  I went right for a "Kid Approved" breakfast/snack that my son helped me come up with the other day!

We are trying to come up with creative & healthy ways to eat while minimizing dairy, eggs, beef, pork and chicken consumption.  Good thing my kids like bagels!  We enjoy the Sam's Club Daily Chef bagels made with no high fructose corn syrup.  On this particular day, we chose the Raisin Cinnamon bagels.  My kids are used to regular and flavored cream cheeses, so how could we "spice up" this plain imitation cream cheese?  This was the first time that we tried the Tofutti Imitation Cream Cheese and I wasn't sure what any of us would think of it!  My son's other favorite snack is nuts (which we are eating a LOT of these days too) so he wanted nuts on his bagel (peanuts & cashews).  Hmmm... How to do that?  Oh yeah!  Chop them up!  As the bagel toasted, I used my Pampered Chef Food Chopper and it was quick and easy!  I spread the cream cheese onto the warm toasted bagel pretty thick. Then we sprinkled the chopped nuts on top - you can also dip the bagel cream cheese side down into the chopped nuts (good idea hubby!).  Top with the other half or add more nuts to that side too for a nuttier taste.  

Result - he LOVED it!  It's his new favorite!  He wants to eat it for every meal!  Definitely Kid Approved! 

I needed to try this too!  So I did the same, but added raisins, craisins, almonds & pecans to the peanuts and cashews before chopping them up.  This was definitely Mom Approved AND Kid Approved!

Don't be afraid of the imitation cream cheese!  It tasted great!  But does anyone know of a non-soy imitation cream cheese?  What are your favorite healthy bagel brands?  Please comment below!