How Was It? Wednesday

This weekend, while my husband was working, I decided to take on making a dress for the girls. I used this pattern which you can purchase from the designer on Etsy.
I had leftover fabric that my sister used to wrap our Christmas presents from a few years ago...thanks Meghan!!
Here is how it turned out. It actually fits both girls, but I am going to make one a little larger for Lily.
In total, this dress probably took me about an hour to do.... mind you it was my first article of clothing I have ever attempted, so it is definitely doable! The pattern that I purchased is very clear and easy to understand. Over all, I'd say the experience went well!

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Menu Plan Monday- Week of June 15, 2009 w/ Recipes

This morning, I made a smoothie ( or a smooshie as Lily likes to call it!) for a mid morning snack. I'm telling you....you can put ANYTHING in smoothies! MY husband was getting nervous about all the vegetables that were still in my fridge from the CSA produce from this week. So I put two heads of bok choy leaves in, and Lily didn't even think twice about asking for seconds! This is a Kefir smoothie mind you! Here is what I used- I eyeballed the amounts, but I can try to round out measurements for you!:

1c. ice cubes
1 1/2 c. strawberries
1 banana
2 heads bok choy leaves only
1 T. wheat germ- raw
3/4 c. Kefir
1 T. maple syrup
Place in blender and blend on high for about 1 min.

There you go! Who knew all those crazy ingredients could be so good.






Here's my Menu for the Week:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal, Eggs & Toast, Whole-Wheat Pancakes w/ Kefir

Lunch:
Leftovers, Quesadillas & Curried Chicken Salad

Snacks:
Smoothies, Fruit, Veggies & Peanut Butter, Cashews and Raisins

Dinner:

Monday: Ham and Leek Shepard's Pie- DELICIOUS!!

Tuesday: Spaghetti w/ Ground Turkey and Costco Garlic Bread

Wednesday: Vegetable Masala w/ brown rice- VEGETARIAN

Thursday: Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken w/ Spaghetti Squash and Rice Pilaf- Recipe below

Friday: Pizza w/ pineapple, green pepper and onion and homemade dough- VEGETARIAN

Saturday: Shrimp/Tomato/Lemon Kebabs on the BBQ w/Corn and Cous Cous

Sunday: FATHER'S DAY- Daddy's Choice! Not sure what that is yet :)


I love the Near East brand of Rice Pilaf. I did a little researching and found a recipe that I am going to try this week with a few changes. The recipe called for chicken bouillion cubes which I am not a fan of, so I am just going to use chicken stock in place of the water and bouillion:

1/2 cup brown rice
1/2 vermicelli, broken into pieces or orzo
2 Tbl. butter, Margarine, or Olive Oil
2 1/4 c. chicken stock
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbl. dried parsley

Melt butter (if using) in large skillet with well fitting lid. Brown
pasta in butter or oil. Add rice and stir to coat. Add stock and spices. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer about 50
minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.


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How was It? Wednesday

Last night, I made a Indian Dahl with Spinach and it was great! We would have like it with a little more kick and flavor, so next time I will add about 3/4 teaspoon of everything instead of what they called for which was only a 1/4 t. I served it with brown rice and Naan. I ended up putting a little too much water in it, but over-all it was a great Vegetarian dish... I forgot to take a picture, so this is one from the all recipes website. I would definitely recommend that you follow the link and try this if you are looking for great meal at a low cost. Don't be afraid of the Garam Masala either. I would definitely recommend putting this in your spice collection. It adds tremendous flavor without having to add all the separate spices. I'm going to post about this on Friday.


Also, I made a BEET chocolate cake....yup, a BEET chocolate cake. I had some leftover beets from the veggie co-op, so I boiled them, pureed them, and added them to my cake. That too was amazing. It tasted very earthy, but I like that flavor with chocolate. There was not a lot of chocolate in the cake either (so little, in fact, that I was convinced that the cake would come out tan instead of dark brown...I was wrong) Would definitely recommend that you make this cake if you want a healthier alternative to pure chocolate. I also used Sucanat instead of brown sugar and the recipe came out fine. To make it a little more moist, I added about 3/4 T. of maple sugar too.
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Try It! Tuesday... Soap Nuts for Laundry Cleaner!

Well, I am hoping to win this in a giveaway over at Passionate Homemaking (which by the way, is one of my favorite blogs!!) , and if I do I will definitely try it then. I think I can purchase these at our natural food store. Otherwise I will be getting a sample online if I don't win.
Thought I would tell you a little more about them:

They are the only true Natural Laundry Detergent...meaning, NOTHING has been done to them. You can pop them in your laundry right off the tree!! Amazing...skeptical? Maybe a little bit, but the more I hear about them, the more great comments they get that the silly things work! Who's in to try them?

I guess you can also make soap nut liquid detergent yourself as well. This is changing them from their total natural state, but still better than almost anything else out there.

Head on over the Passionate Homemaking and try to win a free sample yourself!! Let's try them together!


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Menu Plan Monday -June 8th

Last week I had the opportunity to work with a ton of vegetables from the bulk buying group that I joined. Everything was delicious! I still have a few things to use up, but for the most part we ate everything! Yay! I think our favorite was the asparagus that I steamed up and ate totally plain! Amazing! Here is this weeks menu-plan- I looked online and can already tell what veggies we will be receiving this week!

We will be getting spinach, in which I will be trying these Green Smoothies...I am so excited about them! Feel free to try them and let me know how they are too!

Breakfasts: Eggs, Toast, Oatmeal, Muesli, Pancakes

Lunch: Leftovers, Salad, Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Monday: Grilled Hamburgers, Sweet Potatoes and Salad

Tuesday: Indian Dahl w/ Spinach- Vegetarian meal of the week! Served with Naan & Rice

Wednesday: Spicy Turkey Burgers w/ Balsamic Vinegar & Ginger Bok Choy

Thursday: French Leek and Ham Shepard's Pie

Friday:Cabbage Rolls (slow cooker meal)

Saturday: Picadillo w/ Naan and Spaghetti Squash

Sunday: Chicken Stir Fry w/ Bok Choy & leftover veggie

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How Was It? Wednesday

Last night I made Baked Kale Chips, and they were pretty good. I over salted them, and that was the only part about it that wasn't so good. I also would have liked to have them overall be a little more crispy, and I think I could have accomplished that by lowering the temp, and keeping them in a little longer. I used garlic salt as well.

Here is the recipe: Baked Kale Chips -
Note: These are not like potato chips, they are still veggies :)
1 bunch of Kale
1 T Oil
1 t. Garlic Salt

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Wash and Dry Kale in Salad Spinner. Remove stems and cut leaves into small pieces. Place on baking sheet with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil and garlic salt. Put in oven. Bake for about 4 minutes and move them around or turn them over. Bake for approx another 2-4 minutes or until you have reached the desired crispiness. Don't over bake, they burn fast! Tip: I thought this would be great to use some sort of infused oil like rosemary or thyme, or garlic.
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Menu Plan Monday...on Tuesday

This is really getting pathetic...I can't seem to make it on Monday:) We were away in North Carolina for the weekend and arrived back late last night. This week I am going to focus on using all of the amazing veggies we received from the bulk buying produce group. What we have had so far has been so delicious. The asparagus, which I am not even a big fan of, were so sweet...we didn't even have to put any seasonings on them!

Tuesday: Italian Dressing Marinated Grilled Chicken, Baked Kale Chips, Salad, Rice

Wednesday: SpicyTurkey Burgers, Sweet Potatoes, Salad

Thursday: Shepard's Pie- using carrots, peppers, celery and onions from Veggies

Friday: Stuffed Peppers and Bok Choy

Saturday: Organic Hot Dogs (no sulfites and not cured), Grilled Eggplant, Cabbage

Sunday: Lemon- Dijon Chicken w/ Fresh Parsley, Red Potatoes and any leftover veggies

For breakfast we will do eggs & toast, pancakes, muesli, oatmeal and granola

For lunches, we will do leftovers and chicken curry salad sandwiches

I am going to post some of the recipes I decide to use for the veggies too. I am going to try for the first time those Baked Kale Chips, so I will let you know how it turned out on Wednesday! I will also post my recipe for my Shepard's Pie which I think is pretty tasty :) Thanks!


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