Monthly Archives: August 2012

Airplane Snack

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I’m sitting in the Tucson, AZ airport waiting to board. What a difference getting through security here versus JFK! Piece of (low-sugar, whole wheat) cake! The kiddos have been champs. The wild one is finally at an age where he doesn’t have to drink anything while we take off and land to pop his ears. He can just chew gum. Tornado, on the other hand still needs a little help. He’s not too thrilled about drinking more than a sip of water though, so I decided to get him a little treat. Bought him a Naked Green Machine. And all for the small price of $6.00. REALLY? Maybe JFK is better after all!! Anyway, it’s worth it for a little treat and a boost for me too. This brand is totally legit. I’d buy them all day long if I couldn’t make them cheaper myself :) . Which I can.

Here’s the ingredients:

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Sweet right? I know what all of that is and it’s all good. Worth $6. Wish us luck for the flight, and if you happen to be sitting next to us, I’m sorry in advance. But maybe I’ll share my green drink to make up for it.

Desert Gems

Howdy y’all from the great southwest! I am visiting my parents’ desert oasis in Arizona and wowzers it has been some kind of wonderful (aside from the scorpion encounters and my littles boycotting naps…minor setbacks). The highlight for today was visiting my new friend, Lissette and tasting all kinds of wonderful morsels.

She started eating whole foods and learning and changing 30 years ago, when it wasn’t as trendy and it was much more difficult without the resources we have today. I am so inspired by her and she taught me so much in our short little visit. I told her next time I am down here I’ve got to move in with her for a bit and become her protege :) . As she puts it, we are all learning and growing together, which is true, and how I like to do it on my blog.

More updates to come soon from some awesome recipes I sampled today, but here’s a few iPhone pics to tide you over.

Me and the master, Lissette!!

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Yummy spinach pasta

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Brownie bites- delicious!!

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The kids went nuts!

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Vegan feta cheese, 2 bean dips, and lemon hummus. All to die for and recipes coming soon!

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Almost stepped on this little bugger 2 nights ago. Got a small case of the heebie jeebies!

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More AZ news to come!

What’s For Snack Time Wednesday: Plum Jam (3 ingredients and sugar free!)

So…turns out jam making is a chore!  Woah Nellie, I am wiped out!  But, it was a great experience and I’m glad I did it.  I just made one batch in case it turned out awful.  But it didn’t!  It was just time consuming.  3+ hours of cooking on the stove, and my friend said to me, “I bet you could make it in the crockpot.”  Genius.  Has anyone ever tried that?  My biggest surprise about the whole thing was how much it cooked down.  I used 24 plums, and it filled a big pot.  By the time it was done, it probably made about 1 cup of jam (see that jar back there?).  I’m learning all kinds of lessons here.

Anyway, here is the recipe.

Plum Jam (original recipe found here)

  • 3-4 lb. ripe, Italian plums
  • 10 cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick

Wash the plums and cut them into small pieces (1/2 inch or so), removing the stone as you do it. Place them in a heavy pan and pour a little water in the bottom, no more that a half a cup.

Bring the plums to a boil, stirring often so that they don’t burn on the bottom. Add the cinnamon stick and the cloves.

Boil gently for 3 or more hours, stirring often.

Place the cooked plums in a ricer or sieve and stir to remove the skins and spices. Bring the jam/butter back to a boil until it has reduced as far as you want it and is very thick. Ladle the butter into clean, boiled, preserving jars or into freezer bags. Freeze or can, as you wish.

I just put mine in a jar and plan on eating it throughout the week.

Consensus:

Me:  It’s bitter since it doesn’t have any sugar, but it’s pretty good!

The Mr.:  Says it is TART, not bitter (excuse me).

The Uncle:  Says it reminds him of Christmas

The kiddos:  Ate it like it was normal jam.

Plums the word

 

 

If you are like us then you have a plum tree giving plums up the wazoo!  We are up to our ears in plums.  Cannot eat them fast enough and I offer them to all our guests and force the kids to eat them all day long.  So, I have to do something!  I just spent some time looking up what to do with plums and narrowed it down to a few options.  Here is what I came up with.

+ Plum Bread (sounds interesting) Recipe here.

+ Plum Pie (never remembered hearing about this, except for “Little Jack Horner sat in a corner, eating his Christmas pie.  He stuck in his thumb and pulled out a PLUM and said ‘What a good boy am I.’”  If it has stood the test of time in nursery rhymes, maybe it is good?).  Recipe here.

+ Plum Crumble (who doesn’t love a good crumble?) Recipe here.

+ Plum Jam (I think this is the winner and I am 90% sure I am making this tomorrow.  More on that later)  Recipe here.

Hopefully that gives you a few ideas.  Stay tuned for more tales of the plumhood.

From the Garden: Sauteed Veggie Pasta

We’re back We’re back We’re back We’re back We’re back!!!!  We took a red-eye flight from New York back home, and less than 48 hours later we drove 10 hours to San Diego.  We are finally home and I am officially sick of traveling.  I came home to find a beautiful, humongous garden bursting with fruits and veggies in our backyard (our landlords have amazing greenthumbs).  We have plums, pumpkin, watermelon, tomatoes, tomatillos, zucchini, corn, carrots, beets, cucumbers, peaches, etc. etc.  I am in heaven.   There is so much food I literally cannot pick it and eat it fast enough.  Tonight I had no plan for dinner, so I just went out to the garden and picked what was ripe and then tried to figure out what to do with it.  I ended up with zucchini, tomato, corn, and cucumbers.  I put some olive oil in a pan, added garlic and onion, and sautéed the zucchini, and tomato til they were nice and flavorful.  Meanwhile I boiled some pasta, and added corn on the cob for the last 2 minutes.  I threw it all together with some salt and pepper, tossed in a few sun-dried tomatoes and sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top and we had a perfect meal!  For some reason I never think to put veggies over pasta, but it totally works.  Such a yummy meal and we got so many veggies in!  I also sliced up the cucumber and cut up some honeydew.  Man I love summer.  What am I going to do when all this yummy produce is gone?

What’s For Snacktime Wednesday: Whole Wheat Banana Bread – No Sugar!

Hello folks,

We are back from New York City!  It was a very long day of frantic cleaning/packing and then a long red-eye flight across the country, but the kids were champs and were so excited to see their toys that we had a big party at 2 am.  It’s been a whirlwind couple of days, and it’s about to get crazier!  We are heading to a wedding tomorrow, so more time on the road!  In the meantime, here’s a delicious snack I’ve been making with all my quickly ripening bananas.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread (Original Recipe from 100 days of Real Food)

  • 2 cups whole-wheat flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed
  • ¼ cup plain yogurt or sour cream
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup oil (or applesauce)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease pan.
  2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger.
  3. In a separate bowl mix mashed bananas with yogurt, honey, eggs, oil, and vanilla.
  4. Fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture until blended. Do not overmix.
  5. Pour batter into prepared pan.
  6. Bake large loaf for 40 – 50 minutes or until it comes clean with a toothpick.

Happy Snacking!  Back from sunny San Diego next week!