Super Stuffed Tortillas

Mike made a delicious dinner last night of apricot glazed tilapia, baked potatoes and edamame. I think Jack had more fish than both of us combined.


After a week of eating a lot more fast food than can be good for anyone, as sometimes happens when traveling, I at least have been craving a lot more wholesome foods in my diet- a lot more vegetables. I did myself a favor and made these Super Stuffed Tortillas from Simply in Season, and they hit the spot. They were stuffed with lots of onion, green peppers, corn, zucchini, black beans and some tomatoes, cheddar cheese, among other goodies. Mike loved it, and Jack, once we coaxed him to take one bite claimed, "It's not so bad, after all," and proceeded to clean his plate. Gail spat it out after downing three or four bites. You can't please everyone.

I'm making Marinated Tofu and Vegetables out of the same cookbook for tomorrow's dinner. Yum!

CSA 2009

We are on our third week of our new Community-Supported Agriculture share from Fat Blossom Farm in Allegan, MI. It works in the same way our Pittsburgh one did in that we paid ahead for a weekly "share" of produce and then we pick up that share at an appointed time and place during the week. Our cost was about $15/week for 10 weeks and the pick-up stop is convenient to our house. Some farms offer discounts if you work a set number of hours at the farm, but there was no way that was an option for us this year. So far, we've sampled salad mixes, snap peas (the girls LOVED them!) mint, radishes, cooking greens, and Chinese cabbage. The weekly newsletter gave us a heads up that summer squash and new potatoes are in store for this week. This is by far the easiest way I've found to enjoy and support local produce--even less effort than taking two kids to a local farmer's market. And we can't say enough good about the quality of fruits and veggies both from Fat Blossom and Penn's Corner in Pittsburgh. For more information, check out Local Harvest.

What does Daddy do on the days that I sleep in?

Amalia was helping me prepare breakfast the other morning. She peered into the refrigerator and asked, "Mommy, would you like a beer?" As it was 7:00 on a Sunday morning, and I am 7 1/2 months pregnant, I opted for orange juice instead.

Ginger glazed tilapia and south of the border chicken enchiladas

Ginger glazed tilapia

4 tilapia fillets
3 T brown sugar
2 T honey
3 T soy sauce
3 T balsamic vinegar
3/4 tsp freshly grated ginger root (or 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 clove garlic
2 tsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 T olive oil

In a mixing bowl, stir together all ingredients except for fish and 1 T olive oil. Place fish in marinade and refrigerate for at least an hour. Fry fish in olive oil over med high heat for 3-4 minutes before adding the rest of the marinade. Bring to boil and allow to reduce to glaze consistency. Fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork. Spoon glaze over fish and rice.

We had ours with mixed veggies and peaches-- very flavorful.

***

Our friends, the Mehaffeys, joined us for dinner last night, and we had these enchiladas.

South of the border chicken enchiladas

4 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
2 T butter
1/2 cup onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1-16 oz. can of tomatoes, undrained
1-8 oz. can tomato sauce
1-4 oz can diced green chiles, drained (we skipped this step because of the kids)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
10-12 corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups lite sour cream
4 cups montery jack cheese

grease 9x13 baking dish. preheat oven to 350.

Enchilada sauce: melt butter in med. saucepan, then saute onion and garlic in butter until tender. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, green chiles, sugar, cumin, salt, oregano and basil. Simmer on stovetop for ~20 min., until heated through and seasonings are well-blended.

To assemble enchiladas, soften tortillas in warm skillet, then dip each side in tortilla sauce. Fill enchiladas with 1/3 cup chicken and sprinkle with 2 T cheese, then roll up and place seam side down in baking dish. Blend sour cream into remaining sauce. Pour sauce over enchiladas and sprinle with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered 35-45 minutes until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.

We served with refried beans, strawberries, cantaloupe, corn on the cob, ships and salsa (and lime jello with pineapple)

All-seasons sesame chicken

All-seasons Sesame Chicken

1 lb boneless chicken breast, cut into strips or bit-sized pieces
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 T ginger, grated
1 T dry mustard
1 tsp pepper
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 T sesame seeds

Mix all ingredients besides chicken in a large bowl. Add the chicken and let marinade in fridge for at least an hour. Preheat oven to 350. Add everything to a large pan and cook for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Drizzle juices over rice.

We had it with snow peas and watermelon. Everyone (even the almost-one-year-old) was a fan.

bread machine bread

I've been making lots of bread in the bread machine. So easy. I'd love to make it completely by hand, but why? And when am I going to do this? I'll leave you with some bread machine recipes that we've been making the past couple of weeks (all for 1 1/2 lb. loaves).

simple Whole Wheat Bread

1 cup milk
3 T water
4 tsps honey
1 T margarine or butter
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups bread flour
3/4 tsps salt
1 tsp active dry yeast


oatmeal bread

1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup water
1 T margarine or butter
2 1/2 cups bread flour
3 T packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast


Banana Walnut Bread

1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1 egg
2 T margarine or butter
3 cups bread flour
3 T sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (opt.)
1 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted

Greens in Peanut Sauce

If you are at all interested in healthful, seasonal eating the one cookbook you need is "Simply in Season: A World Community Cookbook", by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert. My thanks go out to my friend Becky every time I use it, which is at least weekly. It is such a resource as well as a great read.

This week we tried Greens in Peanut Sauce which we served, as suggested, over baked polenta. Possibly my favorite attempt at veganism so far.

1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic minced
In a large soup pot saute in 1 TBSP oil

1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/8 tsp ground cloves
Add, cook, and stir 2 minutes.

1 lb. kale or collard greens (I used turnip greens--about 8 cups.
1/2 cup water
Add and steam until greens are soft but not mushy. Avoid overcooking. Stir occasionally to coat greens with the spices.

2-3 TBSP chunky peanut butter
1-2 tsp hot waterCombine and add to greens at cooking time.

***I also added a can of red kidney beans at the end just to up the protein factor.

weekly meal plan 5/18-5/24

Monday-- tacos with lean ground beef, taco sauce, romaine and spinach, onions, cheddar cheese and light sour cream, blue corn chips with bean salsa, rice, grapes

Tuesday-- whole wheat pancakes, scrambled eggs, home fries, the last of the facon, grapes


Wednesday-- tuna buns, tomato soup, oranges

Thursday-- homemade pizza with onions and red and green peppers, salad, carrots and watermelon

Friday-- Some recipe with tilapia, green beans, roasted potatoes, cranberries, whole wheat rolls

Saturday-- Chicken artichoke pasta, salad, garlic bread, watermelon

Sunday-- Grilled cheese sandwiches, homemade minestrone, fried apples

Mississippi Caviar

Made some of this yummy chip-dipper this past weekend.


2 16 oz. cans black eyes peas, drained
1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped red pepper
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup drained, shopped pimento
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
salt- to taste
tabasco sauce, to taste

Combine peas, bell peppers, onion, pimento and garlic. In separate bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil and mustard and pour over the bean mixture; mix well.
Season to taste with salt and Tabasco sauce. With a wooden spoon or potato masher, mash the bean mixture slightly. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Drain well and serve with tortilla chips. I ate the last 2/3 right out of the bowl with a spoon. What?

Veganism--Week One

We've been attempting veganism for just about one week and here are our initial observations. But first, a review of our ground rules:

1) We're doing this as a two-week experimenting simply in order attempt another method of healthy living and to see if the claims of "more energy through vegan diet" are true. In general, we're comfortable with our own "flexitarian" diet, but are intrigued by other possibilities.

2) Since this is an experiment, rather than a staunch cause we're following, we are keeping the kids' diets fairly similiar. They eat the vegan entrees we make, but eat meat and dairy sides, (i.e. cow's milk to our rice milk, etc.).

3) We haven't been eating at restaurants during this time, but when we are at other people's homes, we eat what is served in order to be gracious guests.

4) Yes, we are carefully monitoring our protein and calcium intake. Not to mention considering the baby growing inside of me.

So how's it going?

Overall, well! We've sampled some yummy new vegan dishes. My wonderful husband whipped up some fantastic Indian chickpea appetizers. We've substituted soy products for sandwich options and eaten lots of peanut butter in various forms. Lentils seem to go well with anything, including a new recipe for rice bread in the bread machine.

Believe it or not, cost can actually be be prohibitive. We both have good (okay, huge) appetities and have needed to be re-fueled regularly. While beans, rice, and lentils are super-cheap, products like rice milk and veggie burgers aren't. We also have found that we need to keep up a good stock of fresh fruit and vegetables, peanut butter, and healthy granola bars as snacks.

Dairy might just be the hardest to give up. I haven't found a good substitue for eggs while baking and yogurt is generally a staple in our diets. We use plain yogurt regularly as a topping in place of sour cream and also for dessert smoothies. And I do miss cheese. Of course, there are soy versions that can replace those products, but until I do more research, I'm not comfortable in using soy for every part of our diet (i.e. soy burgers with soy cheese, soy yogurt, soy milk--doesn't seem "balanced" enough).

Filling up nutritous, whole foods definitely makes a difference in feeling healthy. I've noticed a lack of junk-food cravings because my body's needs are taken care of. We both feel energized, even with the normal demands of toddlers and life in general.

We're on to the next week, although our schedules won't let us eat completely vegan over Memorial Day weekend. Still, I'm excited to continue as such the next few days and learn what we can incorporate from this in the future. Suggestions welcomed!