Weekly Menu

Happy Monday!  We had a lovely weekend with beautiful weather.  I hope your weekend was fun as well!  Our trip to the farm was great and we picked up some delicious produce for the week.  We selected some carrots, romaine, mandarin oranges, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, cabbage, and strawberries.  We will also be utilizing green onion, cilantro, and kale from our own garden.  With this selection, we will be enjoying the following meals this week:

• Our Orange Dinner of Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup, and Roasted Carrots
• using the carrots

• Chinese Chicken Salad
• using the romaine, cabbage, sugar snap peas, mandarin oranges, green onion, and cilantro

• 7-Layer Burrito with Mexican Roasted Cauliflower
• using the romaine and the cauliflower

• I will have Massaged Kale Salad for lunch and the strawberries for dessert.

Breakfast Pizza

Mmmm, pizza.  :)  Pizza is the perfect food.  It's wonderful for lunch, dinner...and now even breakfast! This is a hearty way to incorporate a myriad of breakfast foods onto a single pizza crust.  You can customize it with your favorite meats, cheeses, and veggies, but this is how my family enjoys it.  Eat it plain or top it with ketchup or (my choice) Tapatio hot sauce.  Even though it could be considered "breakfast" we often enjoy this for dinner with a tasty vegetable side dish.  I hope you give this a try!

Ingredients

your favorite pizza dough (keep in mind to form a good crust to keep the egg in place before you bake!)

1 C chopped meat of choice - sausage, bacon, ham, or vegetarian sausage (that's what we use)

4 oz shredded cheese - we use cheddar, but pepper jack would be great too!

1/2 C onion, chopped

4 eggs

1/4 C milk

1 C hash brown patties, cooked and coarsely chopped 

3 Tbsp minced herb of choice - we use rosemary since we always have it growing in our yard

ketchup or hot sauce, if desired

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 475 degrees.  
2. Prepare your pizza crust and top with the meat of choice.  Sprinkle shredded cheese and onion on top.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.  Pour carefully and evenly over the pizza.
4. Top with hash browns and minced herbs.  
5. Bake until egg is cooked and cheese begins to brown, about 15 minutes.  Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

This is an original recipe

Mexican Roasted Chard

This is my new favorite Swiss chard recipe!  I am always on the lookout for new ways to prepare vegetables as a side dish for Mexican food to avoid having rice or chips and salsa.  I decided to play around with roasted chard and came up with a delicious combination.  It has a very mild flavor and is so easy to prepare!  I also love that it uses the stem, so every bit of the plant is utilized.  My whole family can't wait to enjoy this side dish again soon!

Ingredients

1 bunch Swiss chard, leaves and stems separated and chopped

1 red onion, chopped

3-4 Tbsp olive oil, divided

salt

pepper

cumin

ground coriander seed

4 oz queso fresco or feta, crumbled

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the chard stems and onion on a jelly roll pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and toss to evenly coat.  Season with salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander to taste.  Bake for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place the chard leaves in a bag and drizzle with olive oil.  Seal the bag and shake so all the leaves are lightly and evenly coated.  
4. Spread the leaves evenly over the onion and stems.  Season again with salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander.  Sprinkle the cheese in an even layer over the leaves.  Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes until the leaves begin to crisp.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

This is an original recipe

Weekly Menu and Giveaway Winner

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!  Ours was delightful with good food, fun and games, and family time.  The girls enjoyed their egg hunt and surprises, as well as the special breakfast chosen by my four year old of Cinnamon Streusel Pancakes and a big bowl of strawberries and blueberries.  We also had a wonderful trip to the farm this week and will even be able to use some of our own backyard veggies!  We picked up romaine, Swiss chard, kale, dinosaur kale, sugar snap peas, broccoli, carrots, and strawberries.  With that selection, we will be making the following meals this week:

• Grilled Mushroom and Black Bean Burritos with Mexican Roasted Chard
• using the Swiss chard and our backyard cilantro

• Breakfast Pizza with Simple Sauteed Broccoli
• using the broccoli and backyard rosemary

• Southwest Chopped Salad with Roasted Carrots
• using the romaine as well as backyard cilantro and green onions

• We will be enjoying the strawberries for dessert, sugar snap peas and kale chips for snacks, and I will be having Lemony Dinosaur Kale Salad for lunches

Thank you to everyone who entered my first giveaway!  The winner of a My Super Foods Company sample pack is...

Nicky O.

Congratulations Nicky!  Be on the lookout for an email from us!

Product Review - My Super Snack and GIVEAWAY!

Recently, I was approached by the lovely people at My Super Foods to see if I would like to try their snack product.  I have to admit, I was a little hesitant at first as my kids RARELY eat processed foods.  But as I learned more about them I became intrigued.  Their focus is on healthy, preservative-free, super-food-packed snacks for kids on the go.  Let's face it, sometimes a mom really needs a little help, so these are a great option to have on hand.  

One aspect that I loved the most was the fact that their ingredients are non-GMO.  That is one of the biggest reasons I so strongly limit my family's exposure to processed foods.  So the fact that there is a snack option that is non-GMO is a wonderful thing in my book.

Now it's time for the all-important taste test.  They come in three delicious flavors - Blueberry Banana Acai, Chocolate Chip, and Apple Raisin and are the perfect size for little ones.  My 4 year old tried all three and so did I.  I had to make sure the quality was good enough for my baby!  :)  She loved the chocolate one the best, but she loves everything chocolate.  I enjoyed them all, but my stand out favorite was the Blueberry Banana Acai.  They had a great chewy cookie texture and were not crumbly at all (something that I hate when I have to clean up after a messy snack time).  

The verdict - These were a tasty snack that my daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed.  I love that they are non-GMO and preservative free.  From a marketing standpoint, I love the characters they created for their packaging.  It's a great way to get little ones excited about them and competes with the characters so successfully used by conventional kid-targeted foods.  While they would only be an occasional treat for my children, they are a wonderful option for parents looking for a healthier snack that they can feel good about giving their kids.

The Giveaway!
limited to our U.S. residents only

Now for the amazing part!  I have a sample pack for one lucky reader to try for their very own!  I was just so excited about this product that I wanted to pass it along and spread the word about this company.  Enter below for your chance to win!! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Roasted Parmesan Kohlrabi

I just love trying new veggies we find at the farm.  My daughter gets so excited to taste something new and help me figure out how to prepare it.  I decided to try kohlrabi this week, and I am glad I did!  I prepared it using a basic roasting method with a hint of garlic and Parmesan, so I could enjoy the real flavor of the vegetable.  It has such a nice, light flavor and almost potato-like texture that roasting really compliments.  I hope you give this unusual veggie a try the next time you see it available!

 Ingredients

2 kohlrabi bulbs, peeled, halved, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
1/3 C freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Toss the kohlrabi slices in the olive oil and garlic until evenly coated.
3. Lay them out in a single layer on a baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.  
4. Bake for about 20 minutes, until lightly golden around the edges, turning once halfway through.
5. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.  Return to the oven for about 5 minutes for the cheese to brown.  Serve immediately.

Weekly Menu

Happy Monday!  We had a wonderful weekend with friends and family in beautiful Southern California weather.  I hope your weekend was equally wonderful!  We also had an extra fun trip to the farm this week for their seasonal strawberry tour!  We got to ride a tractor-pulled wagon around the farm, taste fresh veggies, and pick our own strawberries.  It was so much fun!  We were able to pick up some great produce as well - even some never-before-tried veggies!  We picked up some romaine, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberries, and (for the first time) turnips and kohlrabi.  I was so excited to try something new!  With this selection, we will be making the following meals this week:

• Sweet Potato Burger with Roasted Kohlrabi
• using the romaine and kohlrabi

• Red Robin-Style Chicken Tender Salad
• using the romaine

• Beet, Goat Cheese, and Arugula Panini with Sauteed Beet Greens
• using the beets

• My Famous Macaroni and Cheese with Caramelized Turnips and Sauteed Turnip Greens
• using the broccoli, cauliflower, and turnips

• We will be enjoying the strawberries for dessert