Just about every morning for the past 12 years, I’ve had a green smoothie for breakfast. When I was running the rat race in Big D, my smoothie saved me from crashing and burning when Lunchtime was so sporadic that I sometimes had to rename it Early Dinner. Although I am no longer spending my life in traffic, I still rely on my morning smoothie to help me out in the trenches of Homeschooling.
It’s a jungle in here, folks. Continue reading “Easy Breakfast Smoothies”
I’m on a mission to feel better and have more energy and so far, it’s working! I have been doing yoga on a regular basis and fitting a little running in when time allows, but mostly, I’ve been making healthier food choices. Over the last few years, I have fallen into a bad habit of letting lunchtime get the best of me. We homeschool so we can exercise healthy food choices, but we don’t always do it. Some days we are knee-deep in schoolwork and don’t allow for a real lunch break. We eat while discussing our latest math concept or history timeline. That’s not always a bad thing, but doing these things over sandwiches and chips is not so great.
I’m not knocking sandwiches. They are what you make them. For the chips, I have no strong argument. I will say, there was a time in my life I didn’t eat chips. I never even bought them. Five years ago, after discovering the need to eat a gluten-free diet, I began substituting the wheat snack crackers I once enjoyed with chips. What was I thinking? I wasn’t. It wasn’t thinking about the extra fat and empty calories until the extra pounds began layering themselves on my person. It isn’t a daily thing, but I put chips on my plate more often than I care to admit and my thighs are angry about it. They’re not gonna take it anymore! (You’re singing Twisted Sister in your head right now, aren’t you? Sorry.) Continue reading “Healthy Lunch Ideas”
I made this for dinner tonight and it knocked my socks off! It was a cinch to prep, it’s gluten-free and would be a perfect addition to your St. Patrick’s Day feast, being green and all.
In order to get this posted so you all have plenty of time to gather your ingredients, I am posting this while pretty close to a long-day-after-dinner coma. Please forgive me for any misspellings and poor sentence structure that may result. (Not that poor grammar doesn’t happen any other time. Nope, not here.)
Here’s what you need for the pesto:
For the “noodles”:
Here’s what you do:
Wash and slice your zucchini. You can do this with a knife, making thin slivers or you can track down a Veggetti spiral vegetable slicer, or something similar.
I went the Veggetti route because, a) I have one and b) I like the long “noodles” it creates. I also like typing “noodles”. I like anything that I can use quotation marks. Don’t even get me started on how much I love doing cheesy air quotes with my fingers. We’ll be here all day!
Stick with me. After your zucchini is transformed into long strips, place them in a strainer over a bowl and toss them with a pinch of salt. This helps to remove some of the water so the dish isn’t watery. Make sense? Gooood!
Now, on to the pesto!
In a food processor (or blender) add all ingredients and process until smooth. You may have to play with the vinegar and oil amounts depending on how much cilantro you are using (a bunch isn’t a standard unit of measure. Neither is “a whole mess” of something, but it should be. It paints a clear picture.)
I think the food coma is getting the best of me.
Once your pesto is processed, heat a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick skillet. Throw in the “noodles” (there are those lovely quotes again. In my head, they are air quotes since in my head, I’m talking to you all.) Gently heat over medium heat for just a couple of minutes then add the pesto and stir to coat all the zucchini…”noodles”. (I can’t help myself.)
When you begin to smell the garlic, remove from heat and transfer into a bowl to stop the cooking process. You only want to warm the pesto and still have some crunch to the “noodles”.
A note on the lovely cilantro pesto. Cilantro has been linked to being a detoxifier of heavy metals. Not only is it nutritious and delicious, but it’s a hard-working chelator!
Happy clean eating!
(This recipe makes 6-8 servings depending on how many ravenous teen-aged beasts you are feeding.)
That’s all folks!
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