Learn something new!

Hi all!
Sorry for lack of posts - sometimes it's hard juggling family, work, and extra interests. But I did find some great articles on the McDougall discussion board written Jeff Novic, who often works with Mcdougall, but also has his own site. They are about the simpleness of starch based eating. I found out something very interesting about whole grain pasta I never knew!

Jeff's Favorite Healthy Packaged Foods

Simple, Easy & Starch Based

Quick Recipes

Happy Reading!

Garden tomatoes in winter?

Ok, so my gardening routine is about as constant as my blogging...few and far between. But I wandered out there this week to see what the rain and wind had done to it and low and behold there were 5, yes 5 beautiful red tomatoes. I expected everything to be dead (which is what happens in the summer if you neglect it), but then I remembered why I love winter gardens!
And why I love living in California!


Toasted Tomato Sandwiches in February!!


Toasted Sourdough
Sliced tomatoes (Mine are the Mortgage Lifter variety, I highly recommend planting them in the spring!)
Salt & pepper

Confetti Tacos & Mexican Rice

If you've already tried these tacos, then there's not much difference - except I used 1 can of kidney beans and 1 can of pinto, draining out 3/4 of the liquid. I've also started adding a tablespoon of sugar to the taco filling and it really enhances all the flavors. My teenage son ate 7 tacos tonight and called them "excellent!"

As for the rice, I just sauteed an onion and 2 cups of rice in a bit of oil until golden (you can omit, but the natives might frown upon it. I chose not to partake of the rice since I'm trying to be good). Then added 3 3/4 cups of water, 1/2 cup of fresh salsa, and 1/4 cup sugar (secret ingredient) and 3 -4 teaspoons of chicken bouillon or veggie bouillon. Oh, and chopped fresh cilantro after it's done cooking. Teenage son remarked that it was close, but not quite as good as Cafe Rio. Whatever.
What's the deal with all the teenage son comments? Do you have a teenage son? Well I'll just tell you that they LOVE to eat.


Here is a pic of the taco filling. We just use shredded lettuce, no cheese (doesn't need it) but do what you must. I grill the kids tortillas with spray oil and mine I grill dry. My life is so boring. Ha! Joking!

Sorry I'd have to reopen iphoto to flip this picture and I'm too tired. Busy day today and tomorrow, I need to get to bed.

Non-chicken Nuggets...pass or fail?

I have made a few vegan dad recipes before and have enjoyed them. He has a slew of boys and therefore makes a lot of seitan/fake meat stuff. I don't need this category in my vegan cuisine, but I understand that a lot of people like to eat fake meat. So when the hubby isn't home for dinner (last night) I usually try out something on the kids for fun.

Find the recipe for Vegan Boneless Chickenless Hotwings here

They didn't take long to put together and I had all the ingredients already on hand.
Overall, the kids liked them - and I tasted and thought they were actually pretty good! They liked them dunked in bbq sauce best. I coated them in crushed up shredded wheat instead of panko breadcrumbs because I didn't have any - so I'll try those next time.

Picked these up for the kids but when hubby called and found out what we were eating he said, "save me some"! Sorry, that idea did not fly with 4 hungry kids.

And maybe putting these under the broiler for the last 2 (or 5 ) minutes wasn't such a good idea.

I may or may not have thought a bad word in my mind when I almost burned these babies.

"Veggie Night"

This is the meal that started it all. About 4 years ago we started having "veggie night" - Just my attempt at getting a lot of veggies into their system without filling them up with meat too. This didn't take very much effort or creativity. It's just as you see it: baked yams & sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli, roasted asparagus and white sticky rice. Sometimes the rice is brown, sometimes we make mashed potatoes, and often I'll make the kids some garlic bread to go with. At first they asked, "Where's the beef?" ...but after awhile they stopped asking. Now they fight over the biggest yam. But one things for sure - there are no hungry tummies when you eat a starch based meal - and the price is right!


I roasted the asparagus in the oven at 400 degrees with a few sprinkles of water and garlic salt. I cook them until the tips are a bit crispy and the stalks are juicy and tender (about 15 minutes) I think I ate almost the entire bunch tonight - minus the few my hubby ate. My kids aren't big fans so they ate broccoli. Mmmm... I LOVE these!

Veggie Night tips:

* Kids add butter to everything. They just do.

* We don't. Well sometimes the hubby does : )

* Try a little brown sugar or maple syrup on your yam instead of butter.

* The yams are best the next day cold from the fridge as a snack - the juices turn sticky like candy. Am I weird?

* A friend taught me that broccoli tastes really good sprinkled with seasoned rice vinegar.

* She's right. I always eat mine like this now.

* The kids don't.

* Of course.

*They just add more butter. - But at least they're eating their veggies!

What's a mom to do?