Fun on Fridays and Early Menu Plan Monday...or late depending on how you look at it :)

I thought I would post a video of one of our favorite things to do as a family...dance around and listen to great music. We probably dance around before bed 3-4 nights a week... care to try it? I bet you'll like it :)..try to ignore me bossing everyone around...I know, I'm a control freak but I'm working on it... but the dancing really is fun, freeing almost!

Here is the menu plan for the rest of this week since I was away, and I thought I would do next week as well to get ahead, or just to make sure I actually do it!

First, is the list of veggies we will be receiving from the Organic Bulk Buying Club along with our Fruit Share:
BroccoliCrowns
Carrots
Lacinato Kale
Spring Mix
Red Romaine Lettuce
Tomatoes
Zucchini
Fennel
Cucumber
White Mushrooms
Garlic
Flame Grapes
Barlett Pears
Donut Peaches
Red Plums
Fruit Share: Cantaloupes, Watermelon and Strawberries


Breakfasts: Waffles, Eggs and Toast, Pancakes, Scones, Oatmeal and Muesli

Lunch: Leftovers, Quesadillas and Chicken Salad

Snacks: Smoothies, Carrots, Raisins, Cashews, Yogurt, Crackers w/ Cheese

Friday: Chicken Angelina (Recipe Below) Recipe adapted from Publix Recipe Card

Saturday: Stuffed Red Peppers

Sunday: Turkey Spaghetti w/ Zucchini and Garlic Bread from Costco

Monday: Brown Rice and Black Bean Casserole except w/ out the diced chili's and using organic dark chicken

Tuesday: Snobby Joes on Whole Foods hamburger buns...mmmm (Vegetarian)

Wednesday: Bean Soup w/ Kale to finish off our parsley and Kale from this past week!

Thursday: Asian Lettuce Wraps- so good!!

Friday: Spicy Turkey Burgers w/ broccoli and quinoa

Saturday: Curried Honey Mustard Chicken

Sunday: Slow Cooker Pulled Pork CROCK POT MEAL!!! FOOT BALL SEASON IS HEEEEEEEERRRRREEE!!! Yay! w/ potato salad, regular salad and fruit


Chicken Angelina- Revised by me :)

8 iz multigrain thin spaghetti
2 1/2 c. water
1/3 c sun dried tomato garlic pesto
1 T. capers
2 T butter
4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 oz baby spinach leaves
2 T. Dried Basil Leaves or 1/3 c. Fresh Basil Leaves chopped
4 Roma Tomatoes
2 T Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste

1. Heat Olive Oil in Large Pan on Med-High. Cut up chicken into slices and place in hot pan. Cook for about 8 minutes and add basil and tomatoes. Cook for another 3 min or until flavors are blended.

2. In another saucepan, break pasta in half and add water, tomato, pesto, capers and butter. Cover and bring to boil on med-high head stirring often. When water boils, reduce heat to med and simmer 6-9 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed.

3. Stir in arugula and cook 1-2 more minutes until leaves are wilted. arrange pasta on plates and place slices of chicken on top. Sprinkle with parmesean if you like. Enjoy!
That's about it!! I am going to post this on Monday to the Orgjunkie's Menu Plan Monday!! Enjoy!



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I'm Back ! With Some Thursday Thoughts For You :)

We just got back from our vacation to NY, Maine and NH to see family, what a whirlwind. I had never been to Maine, and can't encourage you more to make it a "must see" place. It was beautiful, serene and felt like home the minute I arrived.

When we arrived home yesterday, it was only 9:30 am and I had already been up for 7 hours. Needless to say, I was exhausted. My husband, not so "aware" of this exhaustion decides that we should all bake scones together as a family.... go figure.

This spurred my thoughts on an almost 3 year old and a 14 month old in the kitchen...what is their place? What is a child's place in the kitchen at any age? Is there a guideline as to what is appropriate for each age? Our oldest, smeared the milk on top of the scones w/ the milk brush thingy and our 14 month old just focused on making her way to the top step of the stool. She thought of this herself, and that's about all I could have thought for her to do as well...

Anyways, I snapped some pictures for you all to enjoy as a smooth transition back into blogging again after an almost 2 week hiatus.


I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you involve your children in the kitchen!

Found some interesting links and cookbooks that I thought might be inspirational and appropriate !

Holiday Childrens Cookbook

Williams and Sonoma Kid's Baking

Tips for Involving Kids in the Kitchen

Thanks!



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Menu Plan Monday- Week of August 10, 2009

This week is a short week for us since I am taking the girls to Maine on Friday, so I will be taking everything perishable in fridge and trying to use it:

Breakfast: Cranberry Scones, Eggs & Toast, Pancakes( w/ Kefir instead of buttermilk), oatmeal and muesli

Lunches: Leftovers, Chicken salad if needed

Dinners:

Monday: Sweet and Spicy Stir Fry w/ Chicken & Broccoli

Tuesday: Garden Penne ( Vegetarian)

Wednesday: French Ham and Leek Shepard's Pie

Thursday: Grilled Chicken on Salad Greens w/ Quinoa & Carrots

Desserts:
Healthy....er Chocolate Chip Cookies (Recipe Below)

Indian Pudding- never made from last week

I'll be away next week, so I won't have a menu plan... Going to Maine for a family reunion!!! Yay!!

Here is the recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies... they are healthier too!

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup organic unrefined white sugar
• 1 cup sucanat ( natural sugar) replacement for brown sugar.
• 1 teaspoon Black Strap Molasses
  
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c. Unbleached Flour
• 1 1/2 c. Whole Wheat Flour
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

1. Cream together the butter, white sugar, sucanat and molasses until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour and chocolate chips Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
2. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

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Our Produce...How Was It? & Thursday Thoughts

Well, since I have been writing about how I will one day take a picture of our produce right when we get it, I thought I should actually get around to it. I took some photos of our produce and fruit share, just to give you an idea of the quality and amount that we get. This is all for $59 every two weeks. What do you think? Worth it? I thought our produce was the best its ever been this week. Everything looked amazing! I also thought I would share a little bit about procrastinating...

My oldest who is 2 1/2, goes on the little girl potty about 8-10 times a day... Sometimes, I "procrastinate" (ok, I just don't want to do it), to empty out the little girl potty into the big potty. I feel like I would be in there all day..

This is what happens when you procrastinate:




Mini swimming pool?
A day at the spa?
A foot soak?




No, just disgusting...
My one year old seemed to enjoy it!







Did I learn my lesson? Ask me when she does it again:)
There's my Thursday Thoughts, or just sharing what goes on in our home...








{Peace}

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Try It Tuesday! Make Your Own Brown Sugar!

Since moving to Florida, for economic AND health reasons, I have totally tweaked our families eating styles. Check out my first blog post here to learn more about how I changed our food budget from $900-1000/ month to only $400 by doing just a few different things!


One thing I noticed is that brown sugar is a lot more expensive than regular sugar. I use the Wholesome Organic Sugar brand.


For most of my baking, I use Sucanat, which is one of the rawest, least processed forms of sugar you can have. It is a good replacement for brown sugar, but sometimes, you just want to have the real thing...brown sugar.




This method is a lot cheaper than buying brown sugar at the store:

Ingredients:
Sugar
Molasses- preferrably Black Strap Molasses because of the health benefits

Mix 1 c. of Sugar to 1 T. Molasses for light brown sugar or 2 T. Molasses for Dark Brown Sugar. Mix with a fork until completely combined...there's your own homemade brown sugar! Why pay more when its so easy to do yourself!



Photo Source
Black Strap Molasses is good for you because: Source

• Blackstrap Molasses is a very good source of calcium. Calcium, one of the most important minerals in the body, is involved in a variety of physiological activities essential to life, including the ability of the heart and other muscles to contract, blood clotting, the conduction of nerve impulses to and from the brain, regulation of enzyme activity, and cell membrane function. Calcium is needed to form and maintain strong bones and teeth during youth and adolescence, and to help prevent the loss of bone that can occur during menopause and as a result of rheumatoid arthritis. Calcium binds to and removes toxins from the colon, thus reducing the risk of colon cancer, and because it is involved in nerve conduction, may help prevent migraine attacks. Two teaspoons of blackstrap molasses will meet 11.8% of your daily needs for calcium.
• Contains copper, manganese, potassium and magnesium.
  

You want to look for a Blackstrap Molasses that is unsulfured since this processing chemical can be an allergen for some. Blackstrap Molasses is what is left after the third boiling of sugar.

Try It!!

Thanks

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Menu Plan Monday- Week of August 3rd, 2009

I am desperately trying to get back on track after being away for a few days. Hopefully I will be back in working order by the end of the week. Till then, I am just going to post the Menu for the week. I'm still trying to incorporate at least 2 vegetarian meals a week, but it seems to be getting harder...not sure why :) We'll be receiving our Organic Buying Club share this week too. This will include:

BROCCOLI CROWNS
CORN, BI-COLOR
CUCUMBERS
SPINACH
RED LEAF LETTUCE
MUSHROOM, CREMINI
LEAKS
GARLIC, PURPLE
TOMATOES, ROMA
ZUCCHINIS
CARROTS, TABLE
CLOVER SPROUTS
VALENCIA
PLUOTS
APRICOTS
BANANAS

and then whatever comes in the Fruit Share!

Here is the menu for the week:

Breakfast: Pancakes, Oatmeal, Eggs & Toast, Quiche w/ Fresh Spinach

Lunch: Leftovers, Quesadillas, Grilled Cheese, Salads

Dinners:

Monday: Turkey Chili w/ homemade Cornbread(Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)

Tuesday: Ham and Leek Shepard's Pie- This Recipe is AMAZING!!! RECOMMEND HIGHLY!

Wednesday: Arroz con Pollo- Rice w/ Chicken & Broccoli

Thursday: Turkey w/ Peppers- Peppers are left over from last week..must use

Friday: Pizza w/ Green Peppers, Pineapple and Onion- VEGETARIAN

Saturday: Tamale Pie

Sunday: Best of Everything Veggie Burgers- VEGETARIAN


Desserts:
Indian Pudding
Mini Ice Cream Cones


Laura at OrgJunkie.com is taking a blogging break this week so Menu Plan Monday is being hosted by Toni at TheHappyHousewife.com this week. Check it out. BTW- The Happy Housewife blog is my favorite blog I read!
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