Veggie-full Meatloaf

I made a delicious veggie filled meatloaf! If you have been following my blog for awhile you know that I love sneaking veggies into dishes, even though my boys love vegetables! 

This recipe has 1 cup of carrots, 1 cup of Trader Joe's Harvest blend, 1 cup celery, 1/2 onion minced, 2 garlic cloves. Then I went and added another veggie to the side - Green beans!!! 

Hubby was a HUGE fan of this meatloaf and said the flavor was unreal! :) Thanks babe!

The Ingredients:

1 - 1 1/2 lb ground beef

1 cup minced carrots

1 cup minced celery

1/2 onion, minced

1 - 2 cloves garlic

1/2 green bell pepper, minced

2 eggs

basil

garlic

1 can of tomato sauce

1/4 cup of Almond Meal (optional)

The Directions:

Mince all the vegetables in the food processor and add to large mixing bowl. In a small bowl add eggs and mix until the yolk and white are mixed evenly. Add egg to the vegetables and also add the meat. Mix well. Add Almond Meal and seasonings and 3/4 tomato sauce. Mix well. 

In a greased pan add the meatloaf to the pan and form the meat. Top the meatloaf with the remaining 1/4 tomato sauce. 

Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Take off cover and bake for another 20 minutes or until the meat is completely cooked. 

ENJOY!!!

Please note - I have a VERY hot and quick cooking oven. Times may need to be adjusted. 

Egg Salad and Chicken salad

I have been so excited to share these two great summer recipes with you... INTERNET has been down since Monday and finally got fixed today! YAY!!! Thanks to helpful neighbors!!! :)

A few years ago, I remember hearing how wonderful Avocado was. I was already a huge fan but I remember hearing that if you were trying to lose weight to switch mayo to avocado. Avocado has the same texture and taste as mayo. I have been adding mixed avocado to sandwiches or salads that once called for mayo.

This weekend I made one of my favorites!!!!

EGG Salad with Avocado

 So easy and so quick! You can make it real smooth in a food processor or you can leave it chunky and just eat it out of the bowl or top some lettuce and if you want even make a sandwich on bread or lettuce. Whatever you want to do with this mixture -- possibilities are endless!

The Ingredients:
Hard boiled eggs
Avocado
Olive Oil
Pepper and a tiny bit of salt

I made a large batch. 8 hard boiled eggs and one avocado.

The Directions:
Chop up the hard boiled eggs and add in avocado and continue to mash and mix. Add Olive Oil to help smooth and seasoning with salt and pepper.

If you want a smoother mixture use food processor!

Another summer favorite --- Chicken and Avocado Salad

Ingredients:
Chicken pieces
1 avocado
lemon
olive oil
salt and pepper

The Ingredients:
First cut the chicken into the size pieces you desire. Slice and cut the avocado. Mix both in a bowl and add Lemon, Olive Oil and seasonings.

You can add red onion in here but I do not always have red onion on hand.

Again, the possibilities are endless on these two quick summer lunch/dinners.

ENJOY!!!!

Part of: Full Plate Thursday

New and Improved MEATBALLS!

What a week, last week... I am feeling human again and I am feeling the urge to cook! YAY!!! I do not like the feeling of not cooking. I enjoy it. I feel creative. I love providing my family with delicious nutritious food. 

This weekend I made meatballs!!!! You can enjoy the meatballs on Spaghetti Squash, Zucchini or tradition noodles or bread. Whatever your choice, these are good!!! :)

The Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
2 tsp Coconut Aminos
1 egg, mixed
2 tsp parsley

The Directions:
Mix the ingredients together. Cook the meatballs on a frying pan with melted coconut oil. Do not over crowd the meatballs. Brown all the sides and add to a pot of tomato sauce (another homemade recipe to come!) Bring sauce to boil and cook until meatballs are cooked all the way through.

ENJOY!!!!

Creating Healthy Eating Habits, Part 1

“How do I change my child’s eating habits?” This is a question that I am asked at least once a week, thus it is worthy of a post :) ! Honestly this is not highly complex. It boils down to you, the parents or guardians. If you are eating healthy food choices and demonstrating healthy eating habits your kids will do the same. Don’t get me wrong this may not be a smooth transition depending on the age of the child, but it is definitely achievable. In my experience with kids (pre school and grade school) if you show that you are apprehensive or unsure about anything from food to activities, kids will sense it and feed off of it. It goes both ways though! If you make it fun and are excited about what you are going to do or eat and get the kids involved on whatever level is age appropriate they will be more likely to want to try it and like it!

I have decided that I am going to dedicate the next few Friday's to KIDS and creating Healthy Habits.  

My boys eat very healthy and eat pretty much anything I put in front of them. I pride myself on their eating habits. Our baby has only had limited grains and limited dairy. I wish I could say he hasn't had either but he has. I, like many moms, offered my baby O's to help teach eating bigger foods and to entertain him while we are finishing dinner. I pride myself that he prefers peas, carrots and diced up zucchini over the O's now. Although, O's are easier to clean up and easily storable in the diaper bag for a quick grab. Now that baby is getting bigger it is so important for us to offer REAL foods to him and encourage vegetables. 

Baby and 3 year old love eating vegetables. They each have a half of avocado daily (sometimes every other). Our 3 year old loves fruits and vegetables. He sneaks apples and oranges as snacks. The other night, 3 year old went out to dinner with his Aunt and Uncle. I asked him what he was going to get and he said "hamburger and brussels sprouts" He was so excited.

I do understand my boys are young and we starting eating healthy from day 1 so creating this plan was easier but I plan on having a few friends write a blurp on how they get they older kids to eat and eat healthier choices. I am really looking forward to this little series! Please make sure to comment... I love hearing from you! 

IN THE NEWS:

Did you happen to see the article this week about the Chicago school banning homemade lunches???

I mean, seriously? I wanted to think this was some joke. A late April Fool's joke. Unfortunately it is not. A school in Chicago is baning homemade lunches. I am not too much into politics but this ban is flat our wrong. What about our freedoms? What about the US being the greatest country in the world? That is hard to believe today.

This may be only one school but its in Chicago. Its in one of the biggest cities in the world. If it was in some small city then it may not have made headlines.

I do understand the importance of limiting the amount of sugar and junk the kids are eating. The school, or should I say, the teachers, experience the sugar affects on the children. The sugar highs and lows. Why ban all school lunches, though? Why not compromise and accept lunches that do not contain white flour, refined sugar, or other "processed" foods, like a Tucson, Arizona School started last year. 

To me - I agree that we need to limit the amount of junk food entering our children but at the same time I know that the school is not going to have my high standards on meat and vegetables. Why would I want my child to eat a FACTORY beef burger or some FACTORY chicken dish. 

NO - THANK YOU... My children will not be eating this school lunch. 

Did you watch the clip on Wednesday's post? Check out how school lunch meat is made... Pink Slime.

What do you think about the homemade lunch ban??? I want to hear your thoughts!

Almond Coconut Butter

Kid lunches

Sweet Potato chips (homemade), carrots, strawberries and turkey

I am really excited about telling you my creation/mistake-turned WONDERFUL!!!

I was playing around with my vitamix. I started with some coconut. I was going to attempt coconut butter, again! When I started mixing, I quickly realized that it was not going to work again. (didn't have enough coconut) Thinking quickly, I added Almonds and coconut oil. Blended for awhile and came up with this delicious creation! The Almond Coconut Butter was fabulous. It hardened in the fridge because of the coconut but has a very creamy feel because of the Almonds!

This is a must try!!!

Part of Pennywise Thursday, Monday Mania

Cabbage Rolls (Paleo version)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!! 

Toddler lunch (grapes, carrots, green beans and roast beef) Don't worry he did not eat all that beef!

This summer I was introduced to cabbage. I made cabbage rolls for the first time this summer too! They were filled with rice and topped with rice. Now that I am really watching the grain intake and my dairy I knew I would have to come up with something new. 

YUM - boy did I have a fun idea...

 CAULIFLOWER!!!! 

I know, I am having a love, maybe a start of an obsession for cauliflower! 

The Ingredients:

2 lbs of ground beef

1 head of green cabbage

3/4 of a head of cauliflower (chopped in Vitamix or food processor 1/2 rice 1/2 mash)

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 medium onion (chopped)

1 farm fresh egg

1 TBSP dry basil

1 TBSP dry oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

2 cups of tomato sauce

The Directions:

Saute chopped onion, garlic in olive oil or coconut oil.

Mix meat, eggs and seasonings, mix thoroughly. Mix in onion and cauliflower.

Separate 10 - 12 of the cabbage leaves.  Add 1/2 cup of the meat filling in the center of the cabbage leaf. Starting at the stem begin to roll. Tuck the ends under and lay in the 9x13 dish, seam side down. 

Repeat with the remaining leaves. Top the rolled cabbage with the tomato sauce. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. 

ENJOY!!!

 Don't forget to comment for your chances to WIN a copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar!!!!!! 

 

Fight Back Friday

Swissing Beef Roast

There are so many of you, who are just finding my blog and are commenting and emailing me. THANK YOU! It is nice to know hear that there are readers who enjoy what I am doing! Thank you for the kind words and please keep them coming! I love hearing from you and love answering any questions you may have! 

I have a few new ideas for the blog that I plan to share with you in the next couple of days... For example... 

Primal Kitchen, a blog I follow, has an amazing idea! She posts pictures of the preschoolers lunch box, almost daily. It is so refreshing to see that another family is eating the same we do and her preschooler is enjoying it too! She has some great lunch (lunchbox) ideas. Make sure you go check them out!

Here is a 3 year olds plate from lunch. He will be starting preschool in September and I might have to follow her lead and start taking pictures of my boys lunches! :) Might I add, 3 year old also ate a bowl of peas!  

Applegate Turkey, 1/4 Avocado, Carrots, 3 Strawberries and 1/2 Clementine

I made an amazing Roast this week. I have had a few packages of meat with "Swissing Beef" on it. I kept pushing the meat aside not knowing what "swissing beef" was. Not the case this week. I decided to thaw one out and make something with it.

This roast was my first roast not using condense soups, dairy or other not so good for you stuff! This was simple and delicious! I cannot wait to try some more roast flavors!!!

Swissing Meat was basically Roast meat. It was delicious and tender. The meat just fell off the bone.

 Roast -
Swissing Beef
1 cup Beef Broth
1 yellow onion, sliced
Trader Joe's 21 season blend

I added the meat to the crockpot with the seasonings and broth and cooked on high for 6 hours.

At hour 5, I added a bag of small carrots. The carrots steamed and cooked perfectly.

I also made some cauliflower mash! DE-LISH!!!! There is nothing left... We ate it all up!

ENJOY!

Part of Pennywise Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Fight Back Friday, Fat Camp Friday, Friday Potluck,