I'm back!

Hello there! It has been almost 5 months since my last post, forgive me as I have been enjoying the last days of my husband's unemployment (yes! He was finally blessed with a job opportunity!) and the craziness that is summertime with a toddler! But I am back...with exciting news to share and new recipes to tempt your palate!

First things first...the good news...this blog is going to be the weekly newsletter for our new hobby business, Winnie's Natural Kitchen-a natural (predominately organic) catering and weekly meal service outlet. Are you excited? I am! You can find and follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/winniesnaturalkitchen 

We will post weekly here sharing a recipe from a past week's menu, as well as answer any questions we have received. 

I hope you are all enjoying your summer and staying healthy in the process. Remember eating healthy does not mean boring, flavorless meals. You can still satiate your taste buds and trim your waistline! 

This week's recipe is easy, healthy, gluten free, and delicious!  Enjoy!

Chicken Tomatillo Enchiladas

What you need:

Glass baking dish

Olive Oil

Aluminum Foil

Chicken tenders or breasts

Taco seasoning (I use Trader Joe's brand)

Brown Rice Tortillas (again Trader Joe's)

Shredded Cheese of choice

Enchilada Sauce (Trader Joe's---can see I like this place?)

Tomatillo Salsa (I adore White Girl Salsa, mild---you can get online or at Whole Foods)

Ok...so this is super easy, can be made ahead of time and baked when ready. I have never frozen them, but I am sure you could do that as well. 

First, bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling add 1/2 packet of taco seasoning ( I like the TJ one because it doesn't have additional crap in it...just pure spices) and reduce heat so water stays hot but not boiling. Add chicken and cover for 10-15 minutes until chicken is just cooked through. Remove from water and place in a bowl to cool. 

Once cool, shred chicken. (Tip: if you have a stand mixer with a paddle attachment place slightly cooled chicken in mixer and run on low to medium heat and in less than 30 seconds you have perfectly shredded chicken! Be care not to turn up too high or you will get mush!)

Mix a little bit of taco seasoning and 1/4 of the bottle of enchilada sauce with chicken, set aside. 

Spray glass baking dish with olive oil (Tip: buy the misto bottle and fill with oil of choice. Stop buying that store bought cooking spray with propellant in it!). Preheat oven to 350 degrees, if cooking right away. 

Heat tortillas 2 at a time in microwave for 10-13 seconds. (Brown rice tortillas are stiff, once heated they become more pliable) 

 Fill heated tortilla with desired amount of chicken mixture and roll up. You may need to trim your tortilla so it fits in your dish, they are huge! I trim the top and bottom off so the ends are straight like my dish. Save the scraps, kids love them! 

Continue two at a time, it is ok if your tortilla cracks. 

Top with remaining enchilada sauce and 1/4 of the jar of salsa. Sprinkle desired amount of cheese on top. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or refrigerate and cook later. 

Once the cheese is melty and hot, I top with more salsa and sour cream if desired, serve with rice. Enjoy! 

Easter Eggs...the natural way

As a new mother I struggle everyday with providing my child and my husband with healthy, nutritious foods to eat without feeling like they are missing out on what our culture has deemed "the good stuff". So when it came to my daughter's first Easter egg dying experience I wanted to eliminate the artificial dyes and go more natural.

So we invited over some friends and using a few websites as guides and Pinterest as inspiration we embarked on the trial and error that is natural egg dying.

We made 6 different "shades" of dye using shredded red cabbage, frozen blueberries, fresh spinach, fresh beets, paprika, and turmeric (directions for each listed below) and hard boiled 3 dozen eggs and "baked" a dozen more. (Not impressed with the baking method ): )

The items that worked the best (in order) were beets, turmeric, paprika, and red cabbage. The blueberries and spinach made no change in color to our eggs after 45-60 minutes, so those got discarded. The beets worked the fastest by far needing only 10-15 minutes to result in a nice soft pink color. The turmeric and paprika worked better when the dye mixture was hot (15-20 minutes), once the mixture cooled the eggs required about 30+ minutes to develop a pale yellow or spotted orange color. I must note, the paprika eggs were speckled due to the paprika flakes, once totally dried these eggs looked cool and the paprika didn't rub off like when they were damp. The red cabbage eggs took 30+ minutes to develop a pale blue color, but they were really pretty.

Toward the end we started to get impatient and took the eggs in all the other dyes and added them to the beet dye, this resulted in some great coral and orange eggs, too bad we didn't start mixing earlier!

We did also have a few eggs that took color in patches so we re-dipped them in different colors, it was cool to see that, for example, the yellow egg that was splotchy with white still once dipped in the cabbage dye, turned blue and green and the purple splotchy egg dipped in beet became a tie dye effect. This technique was totally random, and really was out of our control.

We also tried a few eggs "stamped" with fresh flowers by placing an egg with a flower bud against it in a knee high sock. Tightening the sock snugly around the egg with twist ties and dipping it in the dye. We did 4 this way and only one came out with a stamp of white flower and the rest of the egg blue. We discovered the other eggs were not tied tight enough to prevent dye from getting under the flower. (More on this technique here: http://bigsislilsis.com/2010/04/02/natural-dye-colored-easter-eggs/) I should also note we took a lot of short cuts as the process in that blog is very long, but check out our 1 blue egg, it looks cool!

I would definitely do this again next year! It was easy and fun, although much more expensive (approx $30-40 for produce and spices) and more prep time required. Definitely worth it to avoid artificial colors!

Directions:
(Pink)
4 fresh beets, trimmed and peeled
2 cups water
2 tablespoons vinegar

Trim,peel, slice beets, placing peels and stems along with beets in 2 cups of water, bring to a boil. Drain water into a plastic bowl, add 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Reserve beets for dinner, discard stems and peels.

(Yellow)
Ground turmeric (we used dried turmeric root and ground it fresh, not sure if this makes a difference) approx 3 tablespoons
2 cups of water
2tablespoons of vinegar

Boil water, add turmeric. Stir until dissolved, add vinegar. (This one worked fast warm, I would leave on low next year and do this one by the stove.)

(Orange)

Same as above, substitute paprika.

(Blue)

2 cups of water
1 small head of shredded red cabbage (I cheated and bought 2 packages cut by my local store)
2 tablespoons vinegar

Place shredded cabbage into boiling water, boil a few minutes. Remove and let cool slightly. Drain and squeeze cabbage. Add vinegar to water.

Resources: here are the two websites I gathered information from.

http://www.bhg.com/holidays/easter/eggs/natural-easter-egg-dyes/

http://chemistry.about.com/od/holidayhowtos/a/eastereggdyes.htm

Thank you to our friends who came to play today! Good luck! Happy Easter!

Mmmmm pasta!

As many of you know, I love to cook, but sometimes I just want to grab a bunch of random stuff from my fridge and throw it together and be done. Tonight was one of those nights, and it came out fabulous!

Pasta has always been a go to dish for a quick meal, but since becoming gluten free it is something we rarely have. After a few tries we did finally find a brown rice pasta we enjoy.

Tonight I had a full fridge to grab from, so I selected fresh baby portabello mushrooms, a small sweet yellow onion, beet greens, and a small amount of pork sausage links and in just 20 quick minutes dinner was served!

When we sat down to eat, the plate reminded me of a dish my grandma used to make called "Cowboy Stew"...basically it was elbows and meat sauce. Here is the new, veggie induced version..I could have done without the sausage, in fact most of it went to my hubby.

Cooked pasta of choice, I used brown rice elbows

Sauté cubed sausage, if using
When sausage is most of the way cooked add chopped onion and baby bello mushrooms
Add a splash of veggie stock and let everything reduce
Add chopped beet greens

Once veggies are to a desired softness, add cooked pasta and a very small can of tomato sauce, stir and season. I used Italian herbs, salt and pepper, and basil. I would have added garlic but I was out.

Serve with parmesan cheese.

Yum!

Undiscovered Tuesday....a new name for Tuesday!

You've heard of Meatless Monday, right? Well let me introduce you to Undiscovered Tuesday...ok it's a working title...lol

I love trying new things in the kitchen...new veggies, new fruits, new recipes, new spices! Today was an introduction to a new veggie, the parsnip! Thanks to Pinterest I found a recipe that inspired me, even though I didn't end up using it.

So on the menu tonight was Orange Honey Glazed Boneless Country Ribs with Baked Sweet Potatoes and Roast Parsnips, Carrots, and Brussel Sprouts.

I think the roasted veggie is way under used in many homes, there is nothing like a farm fresh assortment of veggies tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper and roasted on a stoneware pan in a hot oven. They make the house smell fabulous! They look beautiful served on a white dish! And most importantly, the taste as good as they are for you!

Recipes:

Boneless country style ribs, trimmed
Orange marmalade, be sure to select one without high fructose corn syrup...I found a locally made one at my grocery store
Chicken broth, I like kitchen basics..it's rich, flavorful, and gluten free
Honey
Salt and pepper

Trim fat off the ribs and generously season both sides with salt and pepper. Use more salt then you think, as salt breaks down the meat while marinating and tenderizes it. Place an glass baking dish. In a small bowl whisk marmalade with a small amount of broth, just enough to thin it out but leaving it still a syrup consistency. Pour over meat, cover with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate 24-48 hours, turning at least once.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove wrap and drain remaining marinate off the meat. Pour a small amount of broth in the pan and top meat with a spoon full of marmalade. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 1 hour. Remove foil and bake until fork tender, mine took another 15 minutes. Top with a small amount of honey and broil until the top starts to caramelize. Serve!

I served this with whole, roasted brussel sprouts, baked sweet potatoes, and roasted parsnips and carrots.

Delish!

Great food can be quick and easy too!

I have to say how shocked I was this week by how great I can feed my family and not send more than usual at the store. As many of you know we eliminated processed foods about 6 months ago, started eating organic and as much non GMO as possible about 3 months ago, and last month we eliminated gluten from our diet. We have made a lot of changes to our lifestyle in a short period of time, and all for the better.

At first, it definitely felt like eating better was more expensive but now that we are adjusted to the changes it really does cost us about the same. Our average grocery bill is $130 per week for a family of 3 (2 adults and 1 toddler).

We do the majority of our shopping at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, with supplemental shopping at Stop and Shop and meats from a local butcher and seasonal farmers markets.

This week we tried a few new things. I usually buy a months worth of meat from the butcher, but I am running low and dint want to get my dear daughter out of the car an additional time, so I grab a "big buy" pack of organic chicken breasts at Whole Foods, 4 boneless, skinless breasts for about $10. A little higher than the butcher, but worth the savings this time.

Surprisingly I got 3 meals out this buy, so in the long run, SCORE!

1. marinated 2 breasts in teriyaki and served with a quinoa veggie stir fry
2. marinated 2 breasts in citrus vinaigrette and blood oranges and served with roasted potatoes, carrots, and beets
3. poached the tenders (that I removed from the breasts on day 1) in a seasoned bath of chicken stock, shredded and used them for yummy enchiladas. (Recipe below)

So, it can be done. I remarked to my husband tonight how much farther meat goes when you increase your veggie intake and reduce your meat consumption. Just make sure you are still getting plenty of protein in your diet and healthy fats!


Chicken enchiladas (makes 6 enchiladas)
4-5 chicken tenders
Southwest seasoning blend
squeeze of lemon
Chicken stock
Shredded cheese of choice
Enchilada sauce
Corn tortillas
Olive oil

Brown rice
Beans of choice

Rub tenders with a generous amount of seasoning and squeeze of lemon, refrigerate overnight
Place chicken in saucepan and cover with stock. Bring to a slow boil and reduce heat to medium low, poach until cooked threw. Place in a bowl to cool.

Strain stock. Return to pot and add rice. Add water if needed and cook rice.

In a small pot, heat beans, I used an open can of white beans. Once warm, smash some of the beans with a potato masher. Stir and add a splash of enchilada sauce. Keep warm.

Once rice is cooked, drain any liquid remaining. Add a sprinkling of cheese and splash of enchilada sauce. Stir and keep warm.

Place cooled chicken in mixing bowl, using the paddle attachment on low shred chicken, or use two forks. Once shredded, add a handful of cheese and a generous amount of enchilada sauce and stir.

Spray a glass dish with olive oil and set aside. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Warm a skillet sprayed with olive oil, warm corn tortillas one at a time until just warm. Fill with chicken mixture, roll, place seam side down in dish. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and shredded cheese. Bake until warmed threw and cheese melted.

Serve with beans and rice.

Enjoy!

Detox...almost over...lots learned

So our 21 day detox, well 20 really-thank you Super Bowl- is coming to a close. Thank you Joanne of Getting Real Health (http://www.gettingrealhealth.com) for your guidance and support!

We learned so much over the 20 days, I hope I can inspire all of you to try this out! It is incredible what you can learn from your body by just eliminating certain items and seeing how you feel.

We will definitely be doing a cleanse again this summer and eliminating different things- I am thinking eggs and dairy next time- and we will be remaining gluten free going forward, more on that in a minute.

Let me share some of the things we learned:

1. For the first time, maybe in my life, I understand why our bodies need hydration. I have never been a water drinker. When I got pregnant I increased my water intake for the health of the baby, but this was different. I know what it feels like to be thirsty now, I know that sounds simple but believe me it is totally different then what you think. Once you give your body the fluids it needs to work properly you notice a change. After a few days your system looks for that hydration, and if you ignore it, you will know what thirst feels like.
By hydrating my body better (I never got up to 1/2 my weight in ounces. I got up to just over 1/4 of it and I am still striving for the full goal) I noticed an increase in detoxification, my skin is less oily and more nourished, my eyes are not as dry, I can wear my contacts longer each day (before I was lucky to get 6-8 hours out of them), my mouth isn't as dry, weight loss increased slightly and my body fat has dropped. Water really is the gas for your system, and my tank has been on empty for quite some time!

2. Gluten has no positive effects on our bodies. I don't miss gluten. I easily found alternatives to bake and cook with that have no effect on taste at all, in fact some of them actually taste BETTER! Prior to this cleanse, we would have pasta as a meal, now we view it as a side dish, and make sure it is made out of a body benefiting substance, and not an over processed flour.
I look forward to the challenges ahead keeping gluten out of our diets. I enjoy cooking and baking, even more so now that I can control exactly what goes into our system. Homemade everything is better :) there will be times when we will slip, but those times will be few and far between.

3. Dairy is my friend, and I have missed her! I know a lot of people have opinions on why you shouldn't eat dairy. Example: it is highly inflammatory, it comes from an animal--more often than not that animal isn't humanely treated or fed properly. I will strive to purchase better dairy going forward. I will read labels and buy local when able.
Removing dairy wasn't all punishment, we discovered that our 15 month old has a milk sensitivity. She seems to be fine with yogurt and cheese, but milk causes a rash and eczema to appear within a short time after digesting it. So no more cows milk for us....almond and coconut milk here we come!

4. Processed foods have no place in our home. We made this change about 5 months ago, but I wanted to mention it here as well. The amount of chemicals and GMO foods in the large array of processed foods out there is really disgusting. Stop and read what you are eating. If you can't pronounce it, don't eat it. If it isn't organic, it's loaded with pesticides. (As of now that is the only way to rule out GMO foods in the US. Hopefully that will change). If it has more than 5 ingredients, do you really need to have it? If the answer is yes, can you pronounce and know what all those ingredients are? If no, don't buy it! Find an alternative!

We still have so much to learn!

1. We need to be more active, since we have more energy now that won't be as hard.

2. We need to learn to stop "boredom eating" and only eat when we are hungry. This might be the hardest thing ever! Old habits are hard to break!

And many more things, but lets start with those two whoppers!

Overall, we have expanded out fruit and vegetable intake, more than doubled our water consumption, and learned so much about how food effects our bodies. My husband lost about 10 lbs in 20 days (he had soda a few times, and gained a pound or so back) and I lost about 6 pounds and 5% body fat in 20 days. I am we'll on my way to my weight loss goal...down 45 pounds total...only 35 pounds to go. Once the winter weather goes away, I hope to shed the weight that much faster (my daughter loves to be outside!)

I challenge you to try and eliminate the useless items in your diet. Fuel your body with organic, healthy food and see how much better you feel! If you need help, don't hesitate to contact Joanne, she is great! She works with people nationwide!

Thank you for reading and coming along on this journey with me. Stick around, I hope to share many more recipes, organic skin care tips, and healthier lifestyle tips with you all!

Feel free to subscribe to my blog and check out my skin care Facebook page, www.facebook.com/skin-care-by-Jen

Detox Day 13

I totally expected to wake up this morning and feel like crap from cheating Friday night. I was pleasantly surprised when I felt great, despite the slight sore throat and nasal drip I still have. Since dairy is what I am missing the most, I am glad it doesn't seem to have an effect on my body like gluten does. Gluten is the devil, I've decided :)

Today was a busy day, so our meals were more like snacks until we had time to sit and take a minute at dinner time. I don't mind that so much, now that we've cut out the bad foods we used to turn to prior to this cleanse. To tell the truth, I honestly don't miss it! I do however hate the extra effort it takes in either planning or obtaining these healthier snack and food items. Eating right should be as easy as fast food, why isn't it? I don't understand!

I am a proud lover of chocolate! It makes everything better, but since I have been eating primarily dark chocolate, I hate commercial chocolate now! Tonight while getting gas I grabbed a Hershey's bar. I ate one piece and it was gross! Too sweet! Grainy! Not satisfying at all!

I doubt that I will be giving up white chocolate anytime soon, I die for white chocolate, but milk chocolate is out! It is dark chocolate around here from now on! Woohoo!

It's amazing how good the foods that are GOOD for you really taste after you cleanse your system of the crap you have been poisoning yourself with. I honestly believe it is mind over matter for us. I have to tell myself why I shouldn't eat something so I won't eat it. I need to teach myself to feel how food makes me feel, that we eat for substance not enjoyment. I have a beautiful, healthy baby girl and a loving husband and they are my new source of enjoyment, I vow to reward myself with experiences with them, not with food. It will be a difficult change, but I can do it...and so can you!

Water about 80 ounces

Breakfast
1/2 banana
1/2 cup granola

Lunch
Slices of ham, turkey, and pepperoni
Sweet potato and Beet chips

Dinner
Salmon and avocado roll
Spicy tuna roll
Chicken satay with peanut sauce
Split order of pad Thai with hubby

Snack
1 piece of chocolate bar

Detox Days 11 & 12

Day 11, so far so good. We have increased our fruit and veggie intake by at least double, tripled our water intake, and eliminated all gluten and dairy. We are remember to take all of our supplements, with the exception of the probiotics post meal. Over all I feel great!

Today I chased my 15 month old around an indoor playground for 2 hours and for once she was ready to drop before I was!

"Detoxing the body, is like detoxing the soul" ...unknown (I am sure someone has said that right? I feel great!

So great in fact that Mother Nature decided to bless this nursing mother with her womanly gift, after a 2 year hiatus (almost to the day!) lucky me!

Day 11

Water 100 ounces
Breakfast

1/2 banana
1/2 cup cherries, grapes, blueberries
2 egg frittata with caramelized purple onion, mushrooms, spinach, and potato

Lunch
Whole Food lunch stop
Veggies, chilli on 1/2 taco shell, chicken, plantains
GF chocolate chip cookie

Dinner
Brown rice
White beans
1/2 chicken breast
1 cup left over chicken veggie soup

Snack
1/2 gluten free apple tart


Day 12

Well I can honestly say that I feel like a teenager again, not in a great way either! I woke up feeling cramps and aches in my belly and back, sore throat and swollen glands. Weighed myself this morning and I am down 7 pounds in 12 days, not bad. My hubby is down over 10 in 12 days. I'm jealous of the male metabolism :)

Needless to say today was a couch and movie kind of day! Oh, and a cheat night! Joanne told me to ask my body what it needed, then eat it. Today it wanted a burger!

Water 60 ounces
3 glasses of hot lemon with honey

Breakfast
1/2 banana
1/2 cup homemade granola

Snack
Orange
1/4 cup hummus with carrots
Apple

Lunch
2 burger patties with cheese (I was very hungry...and I needed the cheese...no bun)
Sautéed mushrooms and onions
French fries with chili (it took a lot to skip the cheese here!)

Snack
6 wings

So I fell off the wagon today by 2 slices of cheese and some red meat. I took my probiotics after I stuffed myself, and I don't feel too bad, yet. Back to the grind tomorrow! Hopefully this sore throat goes away too!

Detox Days 8, 9, 10

I am falling behind on blogging, sorry about that! Life has been crazy!

I am definitely feeling more energy and I am really considering eliminating 95% of the gluten from our diet.

Dairy is another story! I miss you cheese, and Super Bowl Sunday you will be honored!

Our menus this week have been unexciting as we had a lot of left overs from the weekend. Tonight was the first night that I made dinner, a veggie pad thai...it rocked!

I did venture into our local gluten free cafe today while running errands, Naturally Free Foods in Smithtown. What a great place! You can shop and eat home cooked Gluten, Dairy, and egg free foods all in one place! The only con I found was it was very pricy!

http://m.naturallyfreefood.com/

I purchased a 5 pound bag of gluten free all purpose flour, it was $24.99! After doing some research, I could have bought the same bag at the company's website for $14.99. I like to support small business, but I will be ordering future purchases online! There were other brands to choose from, but I am following a recipe for gluten free soft pretzels from this brand so I didn't want to mess around on my first gluten free experiment.

I will let you know how they come out!

Until then....have a great day!

Detox Day 6 and 7

So to follow up from my last post, the small addition of gluten definitely aggravated my gallbladder. The next morning I had terrible pain in my lower back and was very uncomfortable. It is crazy to think that such a small amount could affect your body in such a way!

I didn't log what we ate on Saturday, the weekend was quite busy. This weekend I made a gluten and dairy free feast for my husband's family. Below is my menu and a few recipes, all turned out yummy!

Day 6

Daytime food not logged, I do know we didn't stray and I remember dinner.

Dinner
3 egg frittata with onion, mushroom, spinach, and herbs
Oven roasted potato
1/2 apple
1/2 orange
Oj

Day 7

100 ounces water

No breakfast

Snack
Apple

No lunch

Appetizers
Shrimp cocktail
Spinach and artichoke hummus with multigrain gf chips and carrot chips
1/2 glass of wine

Dinner

Citrus glazed chicken
Crushed orange potatoes(substituted Earth's Balance Whipped Organic Butterlike Spread)
Roasted Carrots and Green beans
Red Quinoa and Edamame Salad
Garden Salad with beets and walnuts with GF Citrus dressing
Quinoa salad with thyme roasted grapes and roasted Spinach

Dessert
Almond Milk chocolate ice cream with a banana and blueberries.

Recipe links below. I made a few adjustments to these here and there, but mostly followed these guidelines.

http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/kays-citrus-chicken

http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/crash-hot-orange-potatoes

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/the-best-whole-baked-carrots

Detox Day 5 of 21

Quick notes...

Definitely feel more energy, hunger is more manageable.

Water 60 ounces

No breakfast, wasn't hungry

Snack
Banana
Turkey

Lunch
Brown rice tortilla with rice and beans

Dinner
Chicken
Yellow rice with peas carrots onions
2 Chinese dumplings

I am writing this the morning of Day 6, I'm not sure if it was the gluten in the 2 dumplings or the fact that my daughter was up almost hourly last night but I'm tired and cranky!

Detox Day 4 of 21

Day 4, I haven't caved yet! I'm very proud of myself. I'm usually a diet cheater, so this is a big deal.

I honestly don't feel like I am missing anything. Of course I want cheese, but I'm not missing it just yet ;)

I'm definitely feeling like I have more energy today. I like that, and want more!

Day 4

60 ounces of water

Breakfast
3 egg whites and 1 yolk scrambled with spinach
1 piece of bacon
1/2 banana
1/2 orange

Lunch
5 slices of turkey
Grapes
1/2 cup sweet potato chips

Dinner
Quinoa
1/2 chicken breast
Steamed broccoli and cauliflower
Sautéed green beans

Snack
Small dark chocolate pbcup
1/4 c granola


I didn't feel as hungry today, so I didn't snack as much. So far, 4 pound weight loss. I will take it!

Detox Day 3 of 21

Today I came to realize something I have always known but denied, I am an emotional eater! I use food to make me feel better.

Today was stressful, my daughter (15 months) needed to have blood work done for her 1 year check up, to rule out anemia, and to see if we can get to the bottom of a recurring rash. It was awful!

Her veins, like mine and my grandmother's are super tiny and hard to find, that coupled with the only liquid intake she has is breast milk (they claim she wasn't hydrated enough), made the venture very difficult. After several attempts to find a vein, the tech poked my baby and she was not happy. Her moving caused the tech to lose the vein and she tried to find it, with no luck. My heart is broken that I have to put her through this again.

Upon leaving the lab, we promised her chicken noodle soup, her fav, from our local diner. She fell asleep in route, so she never got her soup, but it did alert me to the fact that I am starting off on the wrong foot with food relationships with her. Food shouldn't be a reward, it should be a necessity. Sure everyone deserves a splurge every now and then, but not as often as we do.

I vow to make a change in my life so her life will be better, hence the detox! The second step to a healthier mommy and daddy!

Day 3

40 ounces Water...I got worse, not better! Tomorrow I will be better, I promise.

Breakfast
1 hard boiled egg
1/2 banana

Snack
Dark chocolate edamame

Lunch
5 slices turkey
1/4 cup strawberries

Snack
Dark chocolate and peanut butter

(don't judge, it was a rough day)

Dinner
1/2 apple
1/2 orange
Quesadilla on a brown rice tortilla with quinoa, mushrooms, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, refried beans and green chilies


Dinner was WAY better than I expected it! Here is the recipe...give it a try!

Brown Rice wrap, cut in half
Earths balance whipped organic spread
Refried beans with green chilies
Cooked quinoa
Chopped mushrooms and onions
Olive oil
Chopped broccoli and cauliflower

Sauté chopped veggies in oil until just tender, add beans and stir. Cook until beans start to brown a little.

Spread a small amount of Earth Balance spread on one side of brown rice tortilla and place in a hot non stick pan. Top with bean mixture, pat down until even, add quinoa and press into beans. Place other half of wrap on top. Brown, flip carefully, repeat. Slice into 3 wedges and enjoy!

So yummy, doesn't look great though!

Detox Day 2 of 21

So my day was slightly derailed this morning, which in turn has sort of set us up for a crazy day today.

We slept until 9am this morning (which is usually a good thing) and my precious angel needed to have blood drawn today and the lab closes at 11, resulting in a very rushed shower and get out morning.

Needless to say, we are behind on water consumption today and since we skipped breakfast and snack, with a late lunch to boot...we are hungry today!

Here is the break down:

80 oz water total

Breakfast...no

Snack...no

Lunch
5 slices fresh roasted turkey with tomato in a lettuce wrap
Sliced carrots with spinach artichoke hummus
Banana

Snack
Grapes
Coconut milk hot chocolate (not the best or worst thing I've ever had, but I needed a hot drink and I WANTED chocolate!)

Dinner

Quinoa stir fry with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onion, green beans, mushrooms, and 1/2 a chicken breast

Snack

1 scoop of Chocolate Almond Milk ice cream....yes I needed more chocolate!

Note: this stuff was AMAZING!

Detox Day 1 of 21

One of our family goals of 2013 is to become healthier and more active. Our first step we took a few months back by eliminating processed foods and fast food. We committed to only having "take out" twice a month, and never buy anything that had more than 5 ingredients unless the ingredients were all "real foods". I have to thank the blog http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/ for the inspiration!

Our next step is a detox. The holidays always bring a lot of sugar and more food splurges then we typically enjoy. With the help of Joanne Romanelli at Getting Real Health (http://www.gettingrealhealth.com/) my husband and I embark on our 21 day cleanse.

Joanne tailored a cleanse to our needs, I am a nursing mother of a toddler and my husband has a few health concerns to keep in mind. Our cleanse basically consists of a gluten, dairy free diet with lean meats and lots of fruits and veggies.

I will be journeying our experiences on this blog, sharing recipes and tip and tricks I discover along the way. I am excited to detox my body and gain more energy so that I can move on to the next goal...be more active!

Day 1... Not so bad! The biggest challenge is drinking 1/2 my weight in ounces of water...today 60 ounces total...and no I don't weigh 120 pounds!

Breakfast
Daily supplements and vitamins
Banana

Snack
2 hard boiled eggs

Lunch
Salad of fresh tomato and spinach with almonds and a splash of Italian dressing

Snack
1/2 apple

Dinner
Lemon, garlic chicken with capers and onions
Sautéed Brussels sprouts and carrots in coconut oil
1/2 baked sweet potato with cinnamon

Snack
1/2 cup coconut frozen non dairy ice cream
Strawberries

Over all, I think today was a success. I miss cheese and I must drink more water!

Just keep repeating to myself I want to be healthy so that I can be more active with my beautiful daughter. She is my anchor. I don't want to be the mom that sit and watches her play, I wanna play too!

Caramelized Pineapple Pork Chops

Tonight I got inspired by fresh pineapple. I love pineapple, but my husband is not a fan...so I set out to convert him. It worked!

This is a very easy to make dish that doesn't take long at all.

What you need:

2 Boneless Pork Cutlets, trimmed
1/2 a Fresh pineapple, cored and sliced no thicker than 1/2"
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
3 tablespoons butter
Teriyaki marinade
Salt
Olive oil
Vegetable stock


At least an hour in advance, up to 24 hours, place your trimmed pork cutlets in a glass dish an marinate in a teriyaki marinade of your choice. We like Lawry's Teriyaki Marinade with Pineapple juice.

Heat a stainless sauté pan and melt butter. Once bubbling add pineapple. Sprinkle brown sugar and a pinch of salt over top. Reduce heat to medium high. Sauté 3-4 minutes, basting with the sauce as you go. Flip and repeat. Once caramelized, reduce to low until ready to serve. (Note: make extra...you'll want it on ice cream later with chopped cashews :))

Heat an additional skillet with olive oil, add your cutlets. Brown 4-5 minutes. Flip and Brown other side 3 minutes. Add your pineapples to the top of your pork and add a splash of vegetable stock (or water or other stock...or pineapple juice) and cover for 3-4 minutes or until pork is cooked to your liking. ( you could add the syrup as well but I thought it might be too much, I reserved mine for carrots another night)

I served with steamed asparagus and veggie quinoa. Super Yummy! Enjoy!