Grilling & Art

         Weird combo I know, but that is how I roll.  Last night we had the best grilled steaks and tomatoes.  I found a recipe on pinterest for grilled garlic tomatoes, but there wasn't any real amounts and actually I am not a thyme fan.  So of course I had to change it up to work for us.  We are still doing the clean eating so this recipe fell in perfectly.   Paired with some organic strips from the cow we purchased from my uncle it was amazing! I also think this would be perfect to top on some nice crunchy bread, maybe even some creamy goat cheese!! Yum!!

 

You will need:

5 romas

1/4 C EVOO 

5 tsp minced garlic

1/4 C parmesan

sprinkling of sea salt

sprinkling of  pepper

 2 tsp of my favorite seasoning Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute 

Slice the tomatoes in half and season with salt and pepper.  

In a small saute pan mix up the garlic and EVOO and cook until garlic softens.  

Add in 21 Salute and parmesan.  When you're done it will look something like this.  

Next place the tomatoes on the grill seasoned side down.  Grill for a minute or so until they are warm and char marks appear.  Flip and spread the seasoning on them.  Grill for about 4 minutes more.  Until skin starts to fall off and they are all warm and melty! Like this.  Eat right away!!

Lastly I have found the most wonderful app for the iPhone called ArtKive.  It is amazing!! I have three children and the first is just getting into Kindergarten.  He brings home about 5 pieces of art and work every day, so I needed a way other than putting in the filing box to save.   I found the link on pinterest an had to check it out.  All you do is take a picture with your phone and it is saved into your account.  You can categorize work by date/grade and child, great if you have multiple children.  You can share the album with family via email. They are currently getting ready to launch a way to convert it to a print album.  How awesome is that!!

6 days & still going strong!!

     So it's been six days now of clean eating and I have had one slip up, one tiny Skittle leaped out of my candy jar at work...and oops, in it went! Oh well, before I pry would have eaten the whole dang jar before the first bell rang!! 

     It has been very easy to maintain.  I am much more mindful of the foods we are purchasing and read just about every label.  My husband has been helping out looking up recipes and being a bit more mindful.  I haven't made my whole family take the plunge, just me and Elin my almost 1 y/o. Really because I make her food everyday so she gets what I give her.  I think after the start of September when the boys are both in K/PreK it will be a full force adventure.  I am still having struggles with convincing the dear husband that school lunches are atrocious!!! Did anyone else watch the HBO documentaries in which one episode focused on that?? I think its called The Weight of the Nation.  Ugh we do a real disservice to our school children!! 

     I have made several recipes and if you can believe it have stuck to our menu plan.  One in particular that I just love is the homemade granola.  Nothing better than granola atop some plain greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey! Yummy!!  I had to adapt this recipe to fit my liking and that of what I actually had in the pantry.  

 

Homemade Granola 

3 1/2 cups rolled oats 

2 cups almonds 

1 cup sunflower seeds 

2 tsp cinnamon 

1 1/2 tsp ginger 

1/2 tsp allspice 

6 Tbl butter (unsalted) 

1/2 C honey 

1 tsp vanilla 

Preheat the oven to 250.  Line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or crisco/flour topper. 

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together. 

Melt the butter and honey in the microwave and mix thoroughly.  Add the vanilla.

Add the mixture to your dry ingredients.  

Stir well to make sure your oats get a little moist.  

Spread out on the baking sheet. Cook for 1 hour.  

Let cool and break apart.  Store in an airtight container.

Real Food. Clean Eating.

     I did it, I took the plunge and signed my family up for the 10 day mini pledge for clean eating.  I had taken some time to reflect the past few days and really feel like I have done my children and my body a huge disservice by feeding the junk food. A lot.  We are the family that goes to McDonalds pry three times a week maybe more!  That is ridiculous!! I never grew up eating like that and never did until we moved out closer to the city.  So the laziness has definitely come out of me this summer.  
     I did some reading on 100 Days of Real Food and love the philosophy behind clean eating.  It's not a diet or anything radical. Simple, cut out the crap! And we have a lot of crap to cut out.  I went through my pantry and was a little sad to see some items were not on the Read Food list.  I put those in a special basket, way high up for the one day a week I will let us have a "cheat" day.  ( well after our 10 day pledge)  I think this cheat days serves several purposes.  One it will curb the feeling of being deprived, and then it will also help us to see how we actually feel when crap food hits our bodies.  I am excited to start our meals tomorrow, and really if I'm honest it isn't really different from what we did before, but it will be a little more restrictive on what I use in the prep of my food.  
Stay tuned for some hopefully super recipes and Clean Eating success. 


Week One Meal Plan 


Breakfast 
M/T- Overnight Oats 
W/R- Granola & Yogurt 
F- Overnight Oats 


Lunch 
M- Tuna Sandwich w/ veggies 
T- Peanut Butter and Jelly Az Mac crackers w/ appliesauce 
W- Grilled Chicken Salad 
R- Grilled Chicken w/ fruit and veggies 
F- Peanut Butter & Jelly on Ezekial bread 


Dinner 
M/T - Clean Beef Stew 
W/R- Clean Black Bean Chicken Bake 
F/S Clean Spaghetti w/meatless meatballs

Pizza and Play

Today we knocked another thing off our bucket list, a "drive in" movie.  I snagged a few boxes from Lowes at about $1 a piece it is well worth the money for hours of enjoyment, then  the boys went crazy with glue and crayons creating their cars. Forgot to actually get out my camera and take pics...oops!  So you'll have to settle for an Instagram.

What is better than a movie?? How about pizza and a movie!!  So time to try a new recipe.  I had some leftover BBQ sauce, and some grilled chicken.  Throw in a crust, some onion and cheese and viola! BBQ chicken pizza.

 BBQ Chicken Pizza 

1 Pizza Crust ( I like the thin crust, but use what you love) 

2 Chicken breasts diced 

1 cup Cheddar Jack Cheese 

3 TBL chopped cilantro (more or less to your liking) 

3/4 C BBQ sauce 

1/4 red onion chopped 

Pepperocinis or jalapeno for  a little extra heat!! 

Heat oven to 400 or as directed by pizza crust package.  

Top pizza with BBQ sauce, chicken, onion, cilantro, peppers, and cheese.  

Cook for 8-10 minutes ( or according to pizza crust directions) 

** I made two variations one with Famous Dave' Rich and Sassy and one with their Georgia Mustard.  Personally I loved the Georgia Mustard with just a dusting of Rich and Sassy mixed in.**