Foodie

I am a foodie! I love to eat, BUT not just anything. I love to eat good food. Food with lots of flavor and seasonings, the fresher the ingredients the better, of course. My favorite foods are vegetables, (seriously, im not making that up) so there is another reason why summer is so awesome. Vegetables are abundant in the summer! But when I am pregnant, my taste buds and appetite change a little. (No I am not pregnant) When I am pregnant I want sweets and junk food and meat and french fries and anything that is easy to prepare. My last pregnancy I couldn't even eat salads because they grossed me out. Then after having my babes it takes me a while to get back to my normal self. My appetite for fresh veggies and healthier foods starts to come back. Six months seems to be my magic mark. With both girls by six months after having them I have been back to my normal eating habits. (And back to pre-pregnancy weight, YAY!) So the past few weeks I have been putting so much more effort in to meal planning and preparing good foods for my family. With a picky toddler and a little to no veggie eating hubby I have to be creative if I want them to eat well. I have started using this cook book. "Deceptively Delicious" was given to me by a friend when I had Nonah and I wasn't too intereseted in it at first. But I kept it just in case. Well it is brilliant! I love it. The basic jist is you steam and then puree fruits and/or vegetables and then freeze them to use when needed. Then she has a bunch of recipes on how to use the purees. You add it to things like mac n cheese or sloppy joes or spaghetti. So your family doesn't have a clue that they are eating veggies. Last night Nonah ate sweet potatoe for the first time since she was a baby because it was mixed into a sloppy joe, she had no clue. That is the only one I have made so far but I plan to make a lot more purees. I have also been making healthier breakfasts and lunch for Nonah and I. I was getting really lazy with what Nonah ate and Im very surprised at how well Nonah has accepted the change. There will be no more pop tarts served for breakfast. Thankfully she loves fruit so we always have fruit and then some sort of eggs or oatmeal or Gluten Free cereal or granola. (I still try to limit her gluten intake) Oh and she always has a yougurt for breakfast. For lunches we almost always have pickles and olives and some sort of tortilla chips and salsa. They are staples in this house. The other day we tried ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins) and she loved and ate 3 stalks of celery. Yay! Here of late I have been making hummus once a week which Nonah enjoys. My absolute fave summer lunch is gaspacho soup which is a cold tomatoe soup. We also eat lots of cucumber and tomatoe salads with a little lemon or lime juice on it. I guess I really shouldn't complain about a picky toddler because my girl eats all that stuff and not many kids I know would. For ideas for meals I have been going to this website that I found on Pinterest. I am not strictly following there plan or anything but I browse their meal plans and use some recipes or tweek it to what will work for us. Its really helpful. I never understood why my mom would complain about coming up with meal ideas but after doing it now for almost 7 years I get it mom! I need all the help I can get right now. Heres some yummy healthy recipes to check out if you're interested. Gazpacho Soup I have never added the sugar but might try that next time. Hummus This is a very basic recipe, you can all sorts of things to hummus like roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, your favorite spices or herbs, hot peppers, a different bean, the possibilities are endless. Also I don't always add the tahini just a little water and it turns out fine. Kale Chips These are so yummy. Noni and I ate these for breakfast the other day, she loves them! Guacamole We usually don't add the tomatoes or cayenne pepper and we don't always add the cilantro. Noni will lick the bowl she likes it so much. Goulash I made this the other night and was able to chop up kale red peppers and carrots really fine and everyone loved it. You could add all sorts of things to a dish like this. Another suggestion that a friend of mine made for me is dates wrapped in bacon. simply wrap up the dates with raw bacon and bake in the oven til bacon is as crispy as you want. They are soooooo good. I usually don't eat dates but these are delic. Noni actually does not eat this one. She eats the bacon but not the date. Thats all for now! I will post more recipe ideas as I find them!