What happens when you catch a stomach bug on food prep day?

Ughhhh I caught the kids stomach bug. And I mean, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was accompanied by a fever, aches, pains and exhaustion. Not to mention the frequent bathroom runs. (No pun intended!) 

While all of this was going on, all I could think about was there would be nothing for breakfast for the kids. No dinner either. Nick was home Sunday and found some homemade lentil soup and made toast with the bread I made on Saturday.  But the week was starting and I wasn't ready. I needed a weekend redo. 

Nick assured me Monday morning as I still lay in bed unable to do much more than sip water, run to the bathroom and sleep, that it was okay if the kids ate granola bars and bananas for breakfast. I was too sick to feel bad. 

As the day went on and I started to feel a little better I was able think the week through. With a little extra work each day, I would get through the week. No one would starve. I knew I would need to rely on my crock pot. 

My meal plan for the week had looked like this: 

Mon: butternut sage pasta

Tue: corned beef, colcannon, soda bread and carrots

Wed: white bean soup with rosemary and garlic 

Thur: ravioli and spinach 

Fri: leftovers 

And to my shock and awe, it's going to stay pretty close to that. 

When I felt much better I took a quick trip to trader joes where I bought some kashi, yogurt and more fruit. I knew we would survive breakfast for the week. I bought Irish soda bread because I just did not feel well enough to start from scratch. I bought some hummus and some stuff to make my bento lunch boxes for the week. 

Monday night I threw together soup. It was not white bean but it was split pea with rosemary and garlic. It wasn't my best effort as it should have been white bean but whatever. We ate. I won't sub split peas for white beans again. But doesn't it look pretty? 

I also got the potatoes and cabbage boiled and the corned beef in the crock pot so it could spend Tuesday cooking away. 

Colcannon:

I used the last bit of my energy to make 3 days worth of bento lunch boxes for myself. I am so into these. The colors, the variety, the little bites. I love snacks  more than meals, so this is right up my alley! 

Grapes, blueberries, strawberries, carrots, celery, cucumber, hummus, cheese and fig and olive crackers. How fun! I felt much better about the week. My stomach was still unhappy.

I woke up this morning feeling much better, plugged in the crock pot and I felt good about dinner. The feeling that dinner would be more than half done when I walked in the door made me feel relaxed. I made a note to self that I should work my crock pot into my weekly rotation. 

I had a meeting with G's school today so I had to leave work a little early. When I got home, I used the extra time to finish up dinner and to also make some granola and roast my butternut squash for my pasta tomorrow. 

Granola:

Squash:

And my Irish feast:

The change in the order of things means that we will eat pasta two nights in a row (butternut squash sage one night and ravioli the next) but I am going to be okay with that. 

It isn't every day I get sick and it was a good lesson for me. Food prep is essential but if something gets in the way, we will make it. No cause for alarm! No one will starve! No one even noticed really. Turns out the kids like granola bars and bananas for breakfast! 

I leave you with this: 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! 🍀🍀🍀🍀

Just recipes and food pics...

I feel like I was blessed by my grandmother with the ability to cook (not bake!) without a recipe. I don't measure. I throw in all the things I come up with in my head and it works. Somehow it even works for meat, which I never ever taste. I don't know why or how it works but it does. Genetics I guess. A good sense of smell perhaps? I don't know. But I realize it's a gift and I am blessed to be able to cook this way because lots of people I know really want a recipe and when they ask me for mine and I tell them I don't have one, I am met with looks of frustration. 

I thought that this week I would try to give you recipes the best I can for what I made today. Excuse the inexact measurements. I didn't measure either. It will be okay. 

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with Cheddar: 

3 bell peppers washed and halved

Quinoa (1 cup cooked)

Red onion- finely chopped

Jalapeño- seeded and finely chopped

1 can of black beans- drained and rinsed

Cilantro- 3T minced

1 jar of salsa (as mild or spicy as you like- I used Trader Joes medium)

Cheddar- shred 

Cook the quinoa according to the directions. Separately, sautee red onion, jalapeños, cilantro and beans in pan. When the onions are soft, add cooked quinoa and salsa to pan. Cook until well mixed. Salt to taste.  Spray baking dish with coconut oil spray. Put peppers in dish, fill with quinoa and top with shredded cheddar. When you are ready, bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Top with avocado, more cilantro or sour cream. 

Next time I make these I may use quinoa and grass fed ground beef. I could use shredded chicken. If it's a hit with the kids, I play with it. I may make them Moroccan style with quinoa and raisins and cinnamon with yogurt sauce. (Note to self: make those soon.) Depends on my mood. 

Greek Chicken, Tzatziki and Quinoa with Spinach: 

*tip- I doubled the quinoa above and so I had cooked quinoa for both. Nick also chopped all the red onion at the same time so I had for both recipes.

Chicken- I used organic boneless skinless thighs

Marinate with-1/2 red onion chopped, a handful of chopped dill, 2 garlic cloves minced, 2T of red wine vinegar, juice of a 1/2 lemon, salt to taste and olive oil- a drizzle.   

I cook them on the stove in a little olive oil until browned on the night we eat them. 

Tzatziki: Greek yogurt- 1 1/2c, 1 cucumber seeded and shredded on the cheese grater, 4 cloves of minced garlic, a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and 1/2 of lemon juice. 

Quinoa:

1 c of quinoa (cooked)

1 can of chickpeas - drained and rinsed

1/4 cup of chopped dill

20 kalamata olives chopped

1/2 red onion minced

3 garlic cloves minced

1 bag of baby spinach

Feta cheese- 1/2 block crumbled

Lemon juice and/or red wine vinegar 

I prep the quinoa ahead with everything but the last 3 ingredients. On the night I use it I will heat olive oil, sautee the spinach and then add the quinoa and cook for about 15 min. I will add lemon and vinegar last and top with feta. 

Crispy Chickpeas:

I used the recipe last week from this website: 

http://www.modernparentsmessykids.com/2012/08/healthy-snack-roasted-chickpeas.html

This week I decided to make them Indian spiced. I used garam masala, curry powder, cinnamon and salt. 

The recipe for the Cinnamon Raisin Bread was found here: 

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/05/25/recipe-whole-wheat-cinnamon-raisin-bread-for-bread-machine/

The granola bars here:

http://www.fivehearthome.com/2014/02/02/chewy-no-bake-granola-bars-with-coconut-oil/?crlt.pid=camp.zNK3qismxz4c

This week I did whole almonds, almond butter, peanut butter and raisins. 

I make trail mix all the time- I mix all kinds of things together but some of my favorites are: almonds, cashews, dark chocolate chips and dried cherries or cranberries. This week was unsalted peanuts, almonds, dried unsweetened pineapple and dark chocolate chips. Trader joes is amazing for nuts and dried fruit. You can actually find unsweetened dried fruit there. 

And like any good Italian- if I told you what was in my tomato sauce, I'd have to kill you. So I won't. But here is a pic anyway: 

Those are my recipes this week. I will try to share them more often or give links to where I find things if they aren't my own! 

Happy eating! 

"How do you do it?"

I am a mom of three, a full time lawyer, a wife. I work 9 hours a day or more. I have plenty of activities, birhday parties, and family events to attend. I like to do a few things for myself like my nails, hair and yoga. So how do I find the time to bake bread, meal plan, and food prep? 

I have been asked this question countless times this month. 

First off, I am a type A, highly organized, borderline crazy, push myself to the limit and thrive off of it kind of girl. Secondly, my kids wake me up at unGodly hours on the weekends and I have a hard time sitting still. Lastly, I have come up with a system that seems to work for me. Perhaps it would work for you too, so I thought I would share. 

Every week I sit down and meal plan. And I stick to the same formula every week. Mondays are a night we are all home. I have time to cook so Mondays are always a night I try a new recipe usually found on Pinterest. I prep the ingredients for this on the weekend. This week is cauliflower fried "rice" with tofu. Tuesdays and Thursdays are karate nights. So I make pasta and veggies one night and chicken, veg and starch on the other night. I pre-marinate the chicken and prep all the veggies I need for both those nights. Wednesday is yoga night. I have one hour of time. Wednesday night is always soup night. This week, tomato basil and grilled cheeses. Friday nights are left overs. Eat what's in the fridge. Saturday or Sunday are a big meal that I usually use a new recipe for or homemade pizza. And I repeat this formula every week changing marinades, vegetables, side dishes and sauces to keep it interesting. 

I pick two to three breakfast items each week. I pick from granola yogurt parfaits, egg muffins, waffles, kashi cereal and overnight oats. 

I also pick 2-3 snacks in addition to fruit and peanut butter and string cheese. We have tried baked sweet potato chips, trail mix, sweet and savory chick peas, granola bars, and date, coconut bites. 

It takes me 10 minutes to throw together bread. I measure out the ingredients, throw it in the bread maker and press on. 3 1/2 hour laters I have a delicious loaf of healthy bread that has nothing in it but what I put. 

Here is next weeks meal plan as an example:

Monday: Stuffed peppers with grass fed beef, quinoa, peppers, onions, zucchini and corn, salsa, shredded cheddar and organic sour cream. 

Tuesday: Greek marinated chicken/tofu, spinach, dill, chickpea feta mix, tzatziki, whole wheat pita

Wednesday: white bean rosemary soup 

Thursday: pasta with tomato sauce, ricotta and broccoli with olive oil, parm and chilis

Friday: leftovers 

Saturday: homemade pizzas- veggie and margarita. 

Food prep will be:

Prep all veggies for stuffed peppers

Prep peppers

Cook quinoa 

Marinate chicken 

Make tzatziki 

Make soup

Make tomato sauce 

Granola bars

Crispy chickpeas

Overnight oats

Bread- cinnamon raisin and wheat 

It looks like a ton, I know. But Nick is my sous chef. He chops all the veggies for everything and I put it all together. It will take us 3 hours. I will throw the second loaf of bread in when the first is done. 

We have come to really love it. We put on music, cook together, the kids come in and out and it's a pretty peaceful way to spend the morning together on the weekend! 

Last weeks food included: 

Bacon, spinach and onion egg muffins

Honey cinnamon and garlic parmesan crispy chick peas

Tomato basil soup

And more sweet potato chips with cinnamon! 

Happy eating! 

A week of transitioning

It's been a week of transition. The goldfish crackers are gone. The gogurts are almost gone. We are on our last loaf of commercially made bread. There are two more Eggo waffles in the box. There are no more jars of spaghetti sauce left. There is no more hazelnut creamer. 

I have to admit, the fridge looks sparse. At least the two shelves where I normally keep a bunch of convenience foods looks empty. It scares me a little. 

The counter is a bit more full. The bowl of fruit is full, as is the basket of squash, onions, shallots and potatoes. 

There is a loaf of banana bread baked this morning and the homemade loaf of whole wheat is in the bread maker rising as we speak.

I made "go-gurts" myself. I used organic vanilla yogurt (Stonyfield), tart cherry juice (loaded with antioxidants) and dark sweet cherries (frozen from the grocery store but with no additives) and made smoothies that I froze in silicone freezer pops. 

The end result was delicious. It is sweet enough, it is healthy and I feel good about it. I wish I had more of the ice pop holders to do a second batch with a different flavor. I will order more. 

The kids were questioning why I am making so much stuff and what this means for some of their favorite snacks. I explained about chemicals and some of the things used to make the food we eat. I explained that if we keep eating foods with these chemicals or unhealthy additives it may have an impact on how we get old.  I also explained that maybe we will all get sick less. They seemed to get the concepts and are excited about some of the foods. They are less excited about the addition of more vegetables to our diet. I tried hard to get them ramped up about acorn squash. Needless to say, they aren't buying it yet. 

I anticipate issues around syrup and bbq sauce. I love real maple syrup. I don't understand why everyone doesn't. But I figure we will have to have a funeral and the equivalent of mourning for Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth because they have died in our house. So has sweet baby Ray. And he is my fav.  I just need to perfect a replacement recipe. 

This weeks menu includes slow cooker pork chops with apples, honey glazed carrots, acorn squash and marinated chicken, black bean pasta with a roasted red pepper pesto. Stewed tofu for me. And of course, bread!