Slip-ups happen

Since the kids started back to school, we have really been focusing on getting the sugar out of the house and cleaning up from a summer of popsicles, ice cream, hamburgers on the grill, etc.

Things were going well. A word of caution to everyone out there reading this and trying to eat cleaner and healthier, when you are awakened from a deep sleep (or not so deep in my case) at 12:30 in the morning and are hungry, it is best not to go online and read all the food blogs you subscribe too.

Want to know what happens?

You make a 1/4 of a macaroon recipe at 1:30 in the morning - eat two, drink a glass of milk and then go back to bed. Wishing you hadn't had that coconut leftover in your pantry from the healthy granola bars you made a few weeks ago. Nonetheless - here is the recipe. I plan on making the entire batch this weekend - they were amazing!

Damn it.

See it happens to all of us.

Today, much better.

P.S. Happy anniversary Dave -- 14 years. Today is your one year warning. One year to start saving for the 15th wedding anniversary and my 40th birthday - yikes for you!

Mom's Birthday Dinner

We hosted a birthday dinner at home last night. It was a dinner for my mom and it was just me, the kids, and her. Dave and my dad (Gramps) were out of town.

The kids and I debated on which restaurant we should take her to for several days, and finally I decided, to cook at home. I love cooking and I especially love special occasions because it gives me an excuse/reason to bake something new.

I have this crazy love of baking. Muffins, scones, I will try every variety of chocolate chip cookie out there, but because I believe we need to eat healthy at home, I often don't bake as much as I wished.

So, this worked out great. Plus, I don't really love restaurant food. I can never find anything tasty enough given what I really like to eat. And my kids always eat crap! Their out-to-eat diet wavers between chicken nuggets, pizza, corn dogs, hot dogs and spaghetti. Yuck.

I am not going to reveal my mom's age (she might kill me) but I will say that I can only hope to look as good as she does.

Here is what we had:



Pork Tenderloin, Bread, Bacon and Sage Leave Kabobs - I got the recipe (and the photo - we were too hungry to wait) from the Williams-Sonoma website. Mine actually looked better than this. I used large pieces of bread and went with a sourdough I picked up at Whole Foods that day - it was perfect. I say if you are serving this to guests, the more random sizes the meat, the more rustic and prettier it looks on the table. Very easy to do - and just perfect.

We also had a really great tossed salad full of great summer veggies, carrots, cucumbers, red onions, apple juice sweetened dried cranberries - Yum!

To top it all off - we (the kids and I) baked a Strawberry Plum Crumble. It was so sweet and buttery. Something you must try and very easy. We served ours with some homemade vanilla ice cream. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Strawberry Plum Crumble

1 Pint of strawberries
4 Plums - pitted and sliced

Place them in a pie pan or tart pan - I seriously could have just stopped there.



Combine 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 -2 tablespoons cornstarch - sprinkle on top.



To make the crumble -

1/3 cup cold butter - diced small
3/4 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup oats

Combine and the sprinkle on top -



Bake at 350 degrees for a half an hour.



Wow!





Original recipe and photos courtesy of Dinner with Julie.

Chick Pea Salad...

because my kids think it has a funny name.

I love summer cooking, because of grilling. But, lately, it has been too hot for me to fire up that grill and go outside. So we have been cooking inside. Tonight I wanted a quick, no cook side dish that we could eat with some roasted chicken. This was good and pretty easy. I would highly recommend trying cilantro in place of the parsley - unless you love parsley.

Davis ate all his portion, Clara choked down a bite and Eden (my picky eater) spat it out back onto her plate. I loved it and I especially love that I have leftovers to mix with some chicken tomorrow for a Chick Pea Chicken Salad. Try this.



2 cans of chick peas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup kalamata olives, diced
1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1/2 roasted red and yellow peppers (I grilled mine with a little olive oil)
Green onion, diced, you decide amount
Olive oil
Juice from a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley (you may want to try cilantro)

Combine all the ingredients. Toss and serve. Also, I guessed on the above amounts - I went back later and added more peppers and tomatoes - but you decide.

Enjoy!

Mash ... the Banana Mash

I am always on the lookout for really tasty and healthy breakfast options. It is my favorite meal of the day, and though I sometimes wish I could eat a half dozen hot cinnamon rolls, that is not usually in the cards. Today I tried something called banana mash. On cold mornings I find myself searching for something warm to eat. I try to eat gluten-free (read mostly fresh vegetables and fruits) most of time, so oatmeal is not always a good choice. Unless I cover it in honey and other goodies. So this worked for me.

It is banana mash and served warm, it is delightful.

1 banana sliced
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all three ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium low for ten minutes. Remove from heat. Mash like potatoes. Yum! Really you should try it. I think even Dave would eat this with little granola on it.