Love Me Some Chipotle

Isn’t Chipotle yummy!! Its not fast food, its fresh yummy food fast! Though if I could change one thing.. A DRIVE THRU!!!! Who wants to haul kids out of the vehicle when you’re starving and trying to throw down some food before naps!!? I would probably eat there more often if they did indeed have a drive thru (Chipotle are you listening!??, Help us Mommas out!!)

So anyhooo.. I got word of this blog from 2 healthy Foodie Momma’s (thanks Amy and Jush!!) and I love her stuff. We don’t cook alot of red meat for a variety of reasons, more spendy, fattier, not as healthy as white meat and such. But I knew my hubby would love it and its something new and fun! I wasn’t disappointed at all.

Barbacoa Beef, yummm

Original Recipe- http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/04/barbacoa-beef.html#more

It was quick, easy and I think next time I will throw it in the crockpot and then will skip the oil and be even healthier! I only used 2 chipotles in mine and it had quite a kick. I also only had a 2 pound piece of meat and so I only used half the sauce I made as I didn’t want to blow the kids away and it was great! So I have some in the freezer ready to for for next time!!

I paid 2.98 a pound for my meat and we all ate, sent Daniel with lunch and still have half of it left! Way to make it last for a quick Sunday after church meal!! I did a rice bowl similar to Chipotles and Daniel made it into a burrito.  I have made a corn salsa similar to hers before and so I whipped that up too!! http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/02/corn-salsa-with-lime.html (i don’t put tomato in mine as we aren’t fresh tomato lovers!)

Served it with Brown Rice, Sour Cream, Cheese and Juanita’s Tortilla Chips. Perfecto!!!

Here’s my plate of dinner after my chiro and massage (heats up great too!)

Delish!

 

 

Healthy.. what does that really mean??

I think I am somewhat healthy, but then I hear some stories of how/what friends eat and then go hmm!?? So frustrating to me all the “stuff” that gets put into our food, all the chemicals, preservatives, injections into meat, so on and so forth. Let alone the major cost increase of all the good stuff!! Organic, all natural, cage free, and on and on they go. What do we do, what do we not do?? Still trying to figure it all out and honestly pray about what God wants us to do. I don’t want to just jump on board because it makes me sound or look good or just cause someone else is doing it. So baby steps right? Feel free to share what you do and why it works for you, I am open (or will try to be, lol)!

So I buy a decent amount of produce and sometimes it goes to waste, lets face sometimes it easier to give the kids fishes (I buy the whole grain ones, haha), graham crackers or pirate booty. But if I have all my options rinsed off, cut up and ready to go its just as easy! I feel like they are both fabulous eaters and love their share of fruits and veggies but why not make it more of a priority as far as how much of what I offer.

On and off I get super organized and prep it all and sometimes I do some stuff but not all. But its sooo much easier to just tackle it all. Just worked out that I went to the grocery store and kids had previously ate our little picnic lunch after the zoo. So I put Addi down while Justice played and attacked my produce.

Ready For An Easy Breakfast!

Hot Out Of The Oven

Fresh Fruits and Veggies

Here we have grapes, apples, oranges, pineapple, sugar snap peas, jicama, carrots, red bell pepper, not pictured- Bananas and Celery. Should help get our 3 a day in 🙂

Onto my next project of the day! Have you ever tried the Costco Aussie Bites?? They are scrumptious, full of protein and fiber too. I figured someone on Pinterest would have tackled that and sure enough, someone had!! http://www.lapommedeportland.com/2010/02/cookin-up-some-aussie-bites I made the first recipe she posted and it was awesome. It makes a ton, so I froze some to pull out for another week! I used sunflower seeds, almonds, flax seed, apricots and craisins! Highly recommend!

Hot Out Of The Oven

 

Ready For An Easy Breakfast!

Serve 2 with a banana for a fabulous breakfast, with coffee of course or milk for the little people! Or a fabulous snack with a side of grapes, pineapple, some cheese or yogurt?

Happy Healthier Eating 🙂

 

 

Love Me Some Mexican Grub

Taco Trucks are amazing. We had one that was about 1 mile away that we use to frequent now and again.  For $4, I could get 2 carne asada tacos with rice and beans.. hello!?? Why wouldn’t I?? One day day they up and left, never to be seen again 😦 Cry me a river!!! Justice still asks “Mom, do you miss the taco truck” when we drive by where it was parked, I without a doubt say “Yes Mommy sure does!”

Carne Asada-

 

So if I figured I should create my own Carne Asada, which I have done in the past. There is though a fabulous Mexican Grocery store down the way I can buy it at for $5-6 dollars a pound, but this time I made my own!

I get a good deal on Carne Asada meat (yep its marked that way at Winco) and grab a few ingredients and BOOM I am ready to do this thang!

The Ingredients, Ready to Be Assembled

 

1 Onion Sliced

1 Orange Sliced

1 Lime Sliced in Half

Cumin

Salt

Chili Powder

I take the meat out of the package and then begin assembling meat, onion, orange and spice layers! Then take the lime and squeeze it all over the top and throw that bad boy, wrapped up in plastic wrap of course, into the fridge for as long as you can!

Layered Up and In Marinating Heaven

When ready to cook up, just fire up your grill nice and hot and cook them just a few minutes on each side, more spices can be added when on the grill if need be 🙂 Slice into tacos or just eat it like a steak!

Spanish Rice-

Why not just make up some rice to serve along side or to make a rice bowl for the meat, either or is a winner!

Cast of Characters

1 onion diced small

2-3 cloves of garlic diced up small (you can’t really see mine)

8 ounces of tomato sauce

2 cups of chicken stock

Cumin

Salt

Rice, Onions, Garlic

Brown up rice till golden brown and add in onion and garlic, saute till just starting to lose the bright white color and turns to translucent.

Tomato Sauce, Chicken Broth

Add in tomato sauce, chicken broth, cumin and salt and bring to a boil. Then put the lid on and simmer for approx 18 min.

Wa La!

All gorgeous in color, just fluff with a fork and serve. Freezes wonderfully too if you make a big batch!!!

Enjoy a taco and rice for me 🙂

 

 

Asian Cous Cous

Gosh, how did this happen, I am taking Cous Cous and even giving it an Asian spin. I do have other recipes to post, I swear, lol!!

So I have been trying to eat healthier and try new things. I have tried cous cous before and have liked it okay. I made some at home a very long time ago and it just didn’t work for me, I didn’t have the right dressing/oils/sauce on it!

But I was determined to give it ago again and I am sure glad I did!!

Cast of Ingredients

2 cups dry of whole wheat cous cous (cooked per package directions)

1 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast- chopped

1 bell pepper (I used various colors)- chopped

1/2 red onion- chopped

handful of sugar snap peas- chopped

1 carrot-shredded

1 can of mandarin oranges drained

1/4 c. sesame oil

1/8 c. rice vinegar

S & P

Throw it altogether in a boil and refrigerate.

Comes out to about 400 calories for a cup of the Cous Cous Salad. I think I might chop up a bunch of spinach and put mine on top of that to make it heartier and healthier, good combo right!?? I was hoping it would be a little less in calories for a cup but it is a grain/carbs I suppose 🙂
*** Update, I just guessed how many servings and I was wrong, woohoo!! There is 8 servings so it makes it only 263 for a whole cup!! Much better 🙂

Lunch Anyone??

Green Chicken & Veggie Curry

For me, I think curry is a very tricky thing. There are quite a few varieties out there, some powder, pastes, some Indian and Thai. I haven’t experimented much at Thai restaurants with different kinds as I don’t want to be disappointed or spend money on kinds I don’t like. I have made red curry several times and loved it. At the Mall awhile back I got some food and it was from a Thai kitchen in the food court. There Coconut Curry was wonderful (but didn’t say what type). I guessed yellow or green due to the color, it took a few times before I could get them to tell me as they kept saying “coconut” and I was trying not to be insulting and say “well duh” but truthfully not all curries have coconut milk, which is beside me because coconut milk is amazing!

So one day I had to get a few ingredients from the Asian Grocery store and thought well I should give green curry a go. YUMMMO! So glad I did. I pretty much followed the same recipe as I do for my Red Curry but switched out the different paste and different veggies. The one at the mall just had carrots, onions and nappa cabbage and it just hit the spot so I didn’t want to mess with it.

Curry Ingredients (minus a few, oops)

So here we have Trader Joe’s Light Coconut Milk ($.99 any variety will do)

2 tsp Maesri Green Curry ( I paid $1.39 for this)

1-2 tbl Fish Sauce

1-2 tbl Brown Sugar

1 Chicken Breast, partially thawed and cut on the bias very thinly

1 Carrot, cut on the bias

1/4 White Onion, thinly sliced

1/2 c. Nappa Cabbage, thinly sliced.

Toast curry in the pan for a minute to release flavor, add coconut milk, 1 tbl of fish sauce and 1 tbl of brown sugar and bring to a boil. Add in chicken and let cook for a minute, then add carrots. Add in the onion when the chicken and carrots are just about cooked through. Remove from heat when the onions have softened to your liking. Add the nappa cabbage into the bowls and pour the hot curry on top, it will wilt the cabbage perfectly.

Feel free to make it more hearty with some steamed jasmine rice or some asian rice noodles.

Totally forgot to take a picture of the final product fresh, I was too hungry to eat I guess. Forgive my horrible leftover bowl from the fridge, its much lovelier than it looks, lol!

Green Chicken Curry

Happy Eating

Salad Spinoff

So from yesterday’s post I relayed that I had a great recipe for the random leftover random bits I had from making my Salad Rolls. While this is no genius creation, I was pretty surprised at how fun and yummy it was to eat a spring roll a completely different way. With a fork that is 🙂

I took the same ingredients but didn’t use the rice paper. I took the noodles and added all the veggies, protein, and the amazingly delicious-succulent-finger licking-spoon eating Peanut Sauce and drizzled it all over just like I would my regular salad dressing. It was delicious!! I actually made a little salad for Addi, my 22 month old daughter, tonight and she ate it up. So not only scrumptious but kid approved (well 1 out of 2, my 4 year old son didn’t want a thing to do with it, though he does eat salad, he is just a wee bit partial to ranch, like his father!!)

Sorry my picture quality stinks, just got an Iphone today, so improvement is coming folks!!

Happy Eating Friends

Thai Salad Rolls

My favorite food of all times is Chinese/Asian food. It’s oh so comforting to me. I love a great combo plate with fried rice, subgum chicken chowmein, sweet and sour chicken and egg foo young (though I can only name a few places that prepare it well!).  I love a hot steaming bowl of Wonton Soup when I don’t feel good too. I get my carbs, veggies and protein all on one plate, just kinda weird like that! Over the years I have also developed a  huge love for Thai food. Being that until I moved to Portland I hadn’t lived in a big enough community to offer such varieties. So I am very torn at times as Thai food is just as good or better in my book depending my mood. It’s so fresh, it is much healthier in alot of ways than your standard chinese food too. All around I am a huge lover of all things asian.

A few months ago me and 2 girlfriends took a Thai Cooking Class and it was alot of fun. I had made salad rolls before in the past, but I took home some new pointers and techniques and one day had a gumption to make them, so I did!

Prepped and Ready to be assembled

This is one of those things you can customize and use whatever you prefer and have on hand.

Ingredients-

Rice Paper (Tapioca Flour is prefered)

Protein (I used some leftover shredded chicken and some diced shrimp)

Rice Noodles

Basil

Shredded Carrots

Green Onion

Julienned Cucumber

Julienned Bell Pepper

Shredded Nappa Cabbage

Lay out a mat to work on. To assemble, take your rice paper and dip into very hot water for about 5-10 seconds. You want it to just get limp but not slimy. Then begin layering it starting with protein, noodles and veggies. Just like building an eggroll/burrito you don’t want to get carried away or else its too big to roll. Proceed to wrap like a eggroll/burrito and tuck in the edges. Slice on the diagonal for a pretty presentation.

 

Rolled up and ready to eat!

You can buy your own peanut sauce or just take a few minutes to make your own. I take a half a can of light coconut milk, add 2 tbls of chunky peanut butter, and 1-2 tbls of Thai Sweet Chili Sauce and heat on the stove. Then adjust to taste, whether you want more coconut, peanut or spicy flavors. So simple and I could honestly just eat that by itself as its so amazing!!!

Looking forward to showing you next what I do with all the leftovers from this recipe!

A Girl and Her Love for Food and Cooking

I love Food. I love Cooking too! Its a blessing and a curse really, but I thoroughly enjoy it. I have shared my cooking and recipes now and then on our families blog but decided I wanted something of my own that was separate and wouldn’t take over all the cute kid posts!

So stop by, check out a new recipe, give me a heads up on a new recipe you tried or just say hey!

From my kitchen to yours, Sarah