Reheating

I've read all sorts of conflicting reports on microwaves and what they do to the quality and health of our food. The evidence is scary enough that I've decided to wean us off of ours. We only really use it for defrosting once or twice a month and microwave popcorn on occasion, but the biggest thing is reheating food. I always make enough food for leftovers and those usually get reheated in the microwave.
So my search began once again for a better way.
I have found a few good solutions.
1. Flashing
This has nothing to do with showing body parts. It's a great way to reheat food in the oven without re-cooking it. It works well with food that isn't too dense or that can be spread out.
Preheat your oven to 475 degrees and put the food in- preferably in a thinnish layer on a pan, pie tin or cookie sheet and let it go for 5-10 minutes. This works great for grains in the morning. I also reheated my Pad Thai this way in a pie dish. Delish.
2. Bathing
Once again, no nudity here. This is good for defrosting. Basically, you seal your food in a ziploc bag (if needed) and give it a nice warm bath in a bowl. Change the water out if needed. Works great for frozen fish or shrimp and also for frozen fruit and veg.
3. The counter top toaster oven with convection
This will probably be my next purchase with my Home Depot gift card. Big enough to fit a 12" pizza or a medium sized casserole. Since it's smaller than a standard oven, it preheats faster, takes up less energy and doesn't heat up the whole kitchen. The convection feature cooks about 33% faster.

Veggie Pad Thai

My family is not big on spicy, so this one is super mild and really tasty.

Veggie Pad Thai

16 oz rice noodles (not too thin)
2-3 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 White or yellow onion, coarsely diced
1 cup chopped red and yellow bell peppers
3/4 cup chopped carrots
about 8 asparagus spears chopped in 2 inch pieces
about 2 cups fresh broccoli
about 8-10 baby bella mushrooms cut in quarters
Sauce (Recipe below)

Soak noodles according to package instructions.
Make sauce (see below).
Place broccoli, mushroom and asparagus in steamer and steam lightly.
Heat coconut oil on medium high heat in the bottom of a large skillet or pot and saute onion, peppers and carrots on medium heat until onions are translucent.
Add noodles and sauce to pot and stir fry for about 3-5 minutes- til noodles are al dente. Add steamed veggies and combine well.
Enjoy!

Sauce

4 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/4 red bell pepper
1/3 cup soy sauce or tamari
juice of 1 lime
5-6 small/medium cloves fresh garlic
1/2 to 1 tsp powdered ginger
1/8- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (depending on your heat preference)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 c water
3 tbsp corn starch

Put sauce ingredients in blender and blend until smooth, then bring to a simmer in small pot, stirring occasionally until thickened.

Creamy Broccoli Soup

This one is another slight adaptation from The Original Fast Foods book. I must give credit where credit is due!

Creamy Broccoli Soup

2 1/2 cups chopped carrots
2 1/2 cups diced potatoes
1/2 medium yellow onion
2 tsp sea salt
3 cups water
2 cups organic vegetable broth
3/4 cup raw cashews
2 tbsp Vogue instant chicken base (msg free)
5-6 cups fresh broccoli
1-2 cups frozen corn kernels
Salt and Pepper (always fresh ground)
(The OFF recipe calls for nutritional yeast instead of chicken base to give a cheesy flavor- I had none, but I would love to try it that way as well. This also renders the recipe vegetarian/vegan friendly)

Combine 1 cup carrot, one cup potatoes and all of the broccoli in steamer and cook to desired firmness.
Bring 3 cups water and salt to a boil in a large pot, add 1 1/2 cups each of potato and carrot as well as the onion. Cook until soft and pour the whole thing (water and all into blender with cashews and chicken base (or nutritional yeast). Blend until smooth and return to pot. Stir in vegetable broth. Salt and pepper to taste.
Add steamed vegetables to blended mixture along with corn. Stir well and enjoy!

Roasted Garlic Dressing

I didn't have all the ingredients I wanted for a recipe I had brewing in my head, so I improvised. It wasn't one of my best and I hope to tweak it with the right ingredients at some other time, but the dressing was so yum that I thought I'd post that recipe and some suggestions for it's use here.

Roasted Garlic Dressing

1 head fresh garlic
about 3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1-2 tsp sea salt

Chop the top 1/4 off of the head of garlic and drizzle/rub with a little olive oil. Wrap tightly in tinfoil and roast in a 400 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes.
Remove from oven and foil and let cool for about 10 minutes.
Squeeze all the garlic cloves out of the head and put them in a blender (I use my magic bullet) with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, parsley and sea salt . Pulse until smooth.

This would be awesome on a lentil or quinoa salad, roasted potatoes, the rainbow roasted veggies (see prior recipe), a fresh green salad, spinach salad, the possibilities are endless!

Sweet Potato Pasta

This is a new creation that got the family approval. Healthy and delicious.

Sweet Potato Pasta

approx 12 oz whole grain pasta (I used spaghetti, but other types would work)
3 medium or 2 large sweet potatoes or yams
2 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
1/2 medium sweet yellow onion, diced
approx 2 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 14 oz can coconut milk
approx 1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tbsp garlic powder
sea salt to taste (approx. 1-2 tsp)

Cook pasta according to directions, drain well and toss with a little olive oil.

Peel and chop sweet potatoes into 1/2 inch to 1 inch cubes. Steam until soft (about 15 minutes).
Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft.
Add corn and spinach to oil and onion and mix to coat.
Place steamed sweet potatoes and coconut milk in blender and blend until smooth.
Add smooth mix to pan with spinach and stir well.
Add basil, garlic and oregano. Stir over medium low heat until heated through.
Serve over cooked pasta.
Enjoy with a colorful green salad!

Our Favorite Dessert- Berry Delicious Pudding

This comes from my mother-in-law- thanks Joyce!
Dessert can be healthy too!

Berry Delicious Pudding

1 box silken tofu
2-3 cups frozen strawberries (you can use blueberries or other berries as well, but strawberries are our favorite by far!)
2-3 tbsp agave nectar

Run some water over the strawberries to thaw a bit, then put it all in the blender and smooth it up.
This one reminds me of the very yummiest strawberry pudding pop.

What about breakfast?

I post a lot of dinner ideas, and they almost always make enough for leftover lunches the next day, but what about breakfast? The goal is nutrition. I pack as much in as possible so that when nutrient needs are met first thing in the morning, we end up snacking less on junk throughout the day and I send my family off knowing that they have what they need so that I don't have to worry about what they consume when they are away. Here are some of our easy favorites.

Ultimate Nutrition Smoothies
Sometimes these are more nutrient packed than others. It depends on how badly I need to go shopping! Fruit is a seasonal thing as well, so we have to take that into account. Sometimes I send half the apple or pear in my son's lunch and only put half in the shake, it just depends.
Here are some ideas.
1/2 c water (mostly to help the blender work better!)
1 cup 100% grape juice
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup ground pumpkin seeds
2-3 tbsp ground sunflower seed kernels
1 banana
1 apple
1 mango
1 pear
2 cups fresh spinach (makes the color interesting, but doesn't change the flavor much)
1 cup baby carrots
1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
1 peach (or enough frozen slices to equal 1/2-1 peach) white and yellow peaches have different flavor so sometimes I add both
1/2 cup fresh or frozen pineapple
1/4 cantaloupe
1/2- 1 cup frozen honeydew melon
1-2 cups frozen or fresh strawberries

You get the point- throw in whatever you can and believe it or not, it tastes fruity and delicious. You have to blend it really well and it helps (at least with anything but a vitamix which could very possibly puree a baseball) to add things a few at a time and blend well.
My kids love this, but sometimes will only drink it with a straw. They have it almost every morning with a whole wheat toast with agave and cinnamon.
Since I am not keen on the idea of getting up at 6 am before my husband leaves for work and turning on the blender, I make a big blender full the night before and store it in the fridge in airtight water/blender bottles (a thermos would work well too) and Aaron drinks it on his way to work. It doesn't separate and stores really well. We try to have these 5 mornings a week.


But for cold mornings when we are low on the fresh stuff:

Sweet Whole Grains
(From my sweet friend Nae)
You can mix this up however you care to. I cook up a big batch in my rice cooker and keep it in a tupperware in the fridge, then warm up however much we need in the morning.
2.5 cups of whole grain
(Spelt, brown rice, pearl barley, wheat... or a combination of any or all)
7.5 cups water
Cook until water is absorbed.

It the morning:
warm 1-2 cups of cooked grains. Add 1-2 tbsp coconut oil and 1-2 tbsp agave nectar per cup of grains. Mix it up and enjoy!

We like to have at least one fruit with our breakfast, which you can eat separately or chopped up and mixed in.