Somedays, I Just Don't Want to Cook

I get it, me too! Im the Queen of mcdonalds & breadsticks! I craved it… my body craved it just as much, up until 17 or 18 days ago. My friends would be shocked to know I haven't had a single mcdonalds french fry or sweet tea in almost a week! A WEEK!!! That's absolutely disgusting, until you look at the labels on the crackers you consume daily at lunch along with a hot dog and string cheese.  What do you replace the crackers & hot dogs with? Pita and humus, home made chips and guacamole! Lunch is always the hardest in our home, some kind of meat or cheese is a go to for lunches. Its american, its a staple.. its what we know! (Maybe some of you know the canned ravioli & lunchables, in that case… THROW THEM OUT!!!)

With three kids at home, 7 days a week, 365 days a year… (Yep. Homeschool) I HAD to come up with menus and lunch ideas. I surfed google like a professional winning the gold in hawwaii! I went through every page of pinterest, magazines, advice and recipes from friends & family… NOTHING was going over with these girls, they're like those fairy tale princesses; their way! I made the Elvis sandwhich once, although up until now I didn't know it had bacon on it, ha! They were hooked! In the next few days I worked in a few different recipes (One pot spaghetti, pasta with herbs & homemade bread, different salads with herbs) that were hit & miss.

When it snows, we're on lock down. I dislike driving in it & well its cold! On a grocery day it was blistery, and that wasn't flyin' around here! I knew I had to come up with something good… The girls love banana, we had marshmallows… and tortillas! Im pretty sure there was peanut butter in there too!

Banana "LUNCH" Tacos!

makes 8

2 ripe bananas

8 corn tortillas

peanut  butter

mini marchmellows

Heat skillet.
Slice bananas to fit the tortilla. I usually get 4-6 pieces from one.
Throw a tortilla into a skillet, arrange a few (seriously, a few is 2 or 3 people!) marshmallows in the middle and fold over. Let that get warm, about 2 minutes.
Add a few pieces of banana & spread some PB on that
Fold like a taco & heat another 2 minutes.

Wa-La!

Hummus & Pita

Hummus...

Homemade humus in the pressure cooker is aaahhhmmzzzzing! 

Its so good, I make double & freeze it for a weekly lunch on the menu! 

My oldest daughter has been almost full vegan since she was 4, 

we had to find ways for her to get protein. 

It turned out, she loves hummus. 

Eventually we started reading whats in it, and thought … 

Yep, thats right! Get, Rid, Of… IT! 

I use two pounds of chickpeas, wash them in a strainer

 than our them into the pressure cooker. 

On top of that goes two whole yellow onions, 

and three bulbs of garlic (I may even use 4 next time). 

Fill that baby up with water…to the top! 

Set timer to cook for 40 minutes, let the pressure out naturally.
When its done, squeeze out the garlic.
Throw away the onion
& drain the water!
Smash the chickpeas & Season with salt!

The pita bread is so much fun! I can't say we've perfected it, 

but…we keep using all kinds of beers to make our doughs 

& its pretty damn amazing! 

My husband is a genius. 

(He'll probably never see this muaha)

Beer Pita Bread

1 C. Hot Beer, not boiling

2 t. active dry or instant yeast

3 C. organic white flour

2 t. salt

2 T. Coconut Oil

Pour the beer and yeast into your bowl, I use the kitchen aid for this! 

Let sit for about 5 minutes, it'll get foamy.

Add 2 1/2 C. flour, the salt and oil

Knead for 6-7 minutes, adding the rest of the flour

until you have a smooth dough.

Dust the counter & turn the dough out.

Knead the dough with your hands and make into a ball.

Clean the bowl you used, wipe with oil  & put the dough back in. 

Cover with plastic, put somewhere draft free for an hour.

Gently deflate the dough, make into 8 balls

Roll them out on a floured surface!

Heat a skillet on high, throw those pitas on! 

Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, when you start to get bubbles

FLIP!

You can also keep the dough for up to a week!

Burgers!

Burger Recipe:

3lbs fresh ground meat of choice 

1/2 onion diced
4 or 5 cloves of garlic, minced
black pepper

handful of shredded cheese

lettuce, tomato, avocado
(makes 8)

When I grocery shop I usually know exactly what I need and what Im making with it. I try to meal plan as much as possible... although I dont cook every meal, every day, I strive to!

I rolled and patted them out, (while singing patty cake with Azzie & Koral) sprinkled salt on one side put that side down on the grill first, for about...  5-7 minutes, only flip once! Add a little shredded cheese, let that melt... 

We had our burgers on toasted buns, that I put a thin layer of coconut oil on and grilled!

Hats off to.. My pressure cooker!

When people ask me how I make something, they don't except my answer to be "my pressure cooker"… The look is always astonishing! Im sure its because Im not a 85 year old grandma canning jam! Am I the only modern day Woman with all kinds of cooking gadgets?! 

Honestly, when it came around to cooking sweet potato casserole (or is it yams?) for Thanksgiving, I didn't have the first clue how to make them from dirt covered to marshmallow smothered, I just knew it was going to happen in the pressure cooker; like 90% of the things I make! I called a friend, asked how many pounds of potatoes I needed for around 25 people, I heard a gasp… "what…" and something about 12 pounds I believe… I can't remember exactly how many now, but it was a lot! 

I started by washing the sweet potatoes, scrub those little suckers good, there is no need to peel them, the skin is super nutrient! Now, this where the pressure cooker comes into play. Seriously, I cut the sweet potato in half, toss them in! THAT EASY! No cutting them up evenly so they all cook the same. To that I added a whole pineapple, with all the outside cut off of course! About half a cup of honey and a little water to cover the potatoes. I may have used some fresh rosemary and dill as well, Im pretty sure  of it actually. Seal the lid, and cook! Its THAT simple. Twenty minutes of cook time, thats about 35-40 all together with waiting for the pressure to build up! 

Chile Rellano Casserole! Ole

Chili Rellano Casserole

2 roasted pablano chiles

2 roasted anaheim

2 jalapeños (Hell, I roasted these too!)

2 eggs

1 1/2 C. Water

1/2 C. flour 

1/4 onion, diced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

Monterey jack cheese

Cheddar cheese

Handful of chopped cilantro

2 or 3 chopped basil leafs

1. Roast your chiles in a pan on low, for about an hour, rotate every 10 minutes, let sit until cooled to the touch, so you don't burn your fingers :)

2. Heat a skillet with some oil; add the onions, garlic and cilantro, cook until the onions are transparent

3. Mix the eggs, flour and water; add the onion mixture when its cooled.

4. Cut the peppers up, place in the bottom of a greased casserole pan, cover with cheese (I use very little), and some more peppers on top! Pour the egg/onion mixture over and top with some cheese! Bake at 375-400 for 40 minutes!

Gettin Dirty, Eatin Clean

Happy New Year! We had a blast in 2013 and now we're getting ready to start a new book, fresh pages & new paint to mess it up! Im dedicating this year to eating clean and getting dirty while doing it! We'll be planting new herbs and a few indoor vegetables today! Ive already got clean homemade granola bars in the oven and our breakfast was amazing! Next on the list is pita dough, for the week & I may even get dinner knocked out while Im at it!

How we started eating clean:

1. Get rid of all your spices! 

Thats right, I said it! I had SUCH an amazing spice rack. Everything bought local and fresh, still when we switched over and started using FRESH herbs… WOW! The taste, the pop and crispness of flavor, words almost don't do it any justice… Unless you've had my Jalapeño Popper Dip! I have plants now, herbs! Sage, Rosemary, Tarragon, Basil and Dill. They're amazing and go to for any dish! 

2. Cut all your produce when you get home:

Easier said than done. Once I filled up the sink, put all the produce in there to wash and forgot about it! I believe it got left until dinner! SHIT! Turns out, wasn't that big of a deal. I cut my onions first, get that shit outta the way! Sliced, than just quartered. I don't dice or mince until Im ready to use it, so I have the juice from the onion; for health reasons mostly! Cucumbers, Celery and Lettuce are all cut and ready to use! 

Now to the Gettin Dirty part! 

Ill post a few recipes daily, probably breakfast, lunch, dinner type stuff.. duh! MOSTLY Vegan! I know, crazy right? When we started this journey of getting healthy we stopped eating all animal products… yes seriously… yes, Im for real. I went to the store and didn't buy a single animal product. My family was in shock for a few days, maybe even the better part of a week! I have invented the most delicious meals, some of my friends don't believe it! Ive made the meal in front of them and still its "You made this".. yes, with you watching my every move; stalker! LOL 

Granola Bars

Preheat oven to 350

6 C. oats

4 T. coconut oil

1/4 C. peanut oil (oil of choice)

little salt

1 1/2 C. brown sugar

1 C. honey

1/4 C. aloe vera juice (or apple juice)

1 sandwich baggie of almonds (yep, thats how I measure) 

-Crush almonds

-Combine oats, oils, almonds & salt; put on foiled lined baking sheets and bake for 20 minutes. Watch carefully so they don't burn! 

-In a saucepan melt down the brown sugar, honey and juice.

-When the oats are done, put back into the bowl and pour the sugar mixture in and mix to coat!

I found I had a little extra liquid on the bottom, no biggie!

-Put your oat mixture into very well greased cookie sheet, and pat down good! 

If you have extra liquid, pour over the oats!

-Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden!

Breakfast Potatoes

5 wash potatoes, diced

1/4 onion, diced

4 or 5 fresh tarragon leafs, chopped

2t. coconut oil

In my non stick, new Christmas present pan I add the oil & onions, let that cook for a few minutes add season salt and potatoes! Cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat, tossing around the pan here and there! Add the tarragon, or any other herbs you have on hand! Serve with warm corn tortillas and a fruit! Delicious!