100 Meals of Real Food

One hundred days, three meals a day (plus snacks), that's a whole lotta planning. I decided instead I'd try for 100 days of at least one meal a day that consisted only of 'real food'. Tonight, it was dinner. Actually, lunch was as well because I ate dinner leftovers, so I'll rewind to last night. First day of school meant falling back into schedules and routine hence; Taco Tuesday.

H 'invented' a taco soup that is dead simple, but surprisingly good. Brown two pounds ground beef* (or turkey or chicken or whatever protein you want); add taco seasoning (make your own with this quick recipe that you don't have to mix up in advance), a quart of good beef stock, and simmer for about 15 minutes to bring it all up to temperature and at the last minute throw in some corn (I cut the kernels off the cobs of two leftover from the previous night's grill-out). If the corn is frozen, obviously do this more than a minute from the end so it's not still frozen. My kids like this as is with some grated cheese on it (which is where H's rendition ends), but I garnish mine and J's with sliced avocado, cilantro, a little cheese and (if I have the foresight) the chili-lime crunchies from this Iowa Girl Eat's burger recipe. If you don't include the corn crunchies, as I did not last night, it's still a good and really filling soup that takes no time and the whole family likes it.

As I was making my meal plan for the week on Sunday night, I asked J if he had any requests for main dishes or sides and he mentioned a bread salad I'd made earlier in the summer. While waiting for my car to get washed I'd seen it in O magazine and snapped a photo of the recipe, made it that night and we loved it, but just kind of forgot about it after that.

September means an overwhelming abundance of garden tomatoes and basil, so this was the perfect suggestion. Instead of a sourdough or white baguette I used a loaf of whole wheat bread, but otherwise the recipe is perfect as is. In order to make it a full meal for my family I heated a package of Aidell's chicken and apple sausages  (thank you Costco for carrying these in bulk!). My kids don't love the salad, but they still ate bites of it, but they do really, really love the sausage plus a straight up piece of the bread. J and I? Love the salad. With one of the sausages it's a full meal without feeling heavy. Let me know if you give it a try!

Warm Bread Salad with Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed but kept whole
• 4 cups torn baguette pieces
• 1 cup 1/2"-diced red onion
• 4 cups 1/2"-diced tomatoes, divided
• 3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 bunch fresh basil, stemmed
• 1 Tbsp. capers
• Kosher salt
• Ground black pepper

Directions

Total time: 30 minutes 

In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add baguette pieces and sauté until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Lower heat to medium-low, add red onion, and sauté 1 minute, then add 2 cups tomatoes. Add vinegar and remove from heat. Add basil, capers, and remaining tomatoes and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with basil leaves and serve immediately. 

Adapted from I Love New York: Ingredients and Recipes 

What changes (if any) are you making to inject a little change into your ho-hum menus? What do you have planned for this week?

*I'm so glad we invested in the half of a cow from my cousin and his wife this Spring. While our freezer was almost overwhelmingly full of beef at first, it's gotten to a manageable level after a summer of grilling burgers and steaks and I have room to start making some freezer meals again. If you're interested in purchasing bulk meat, one thing to consider is the huge savings you'll get on the premium cuts: a big 100% grass-fed, organic Prime Rib for under $4 a pound? Yes, please!

Seamless Transitions

I wrote this post yesterday, because as you're reading I'm probably busting around the house, packing the lunch I'll likely forget to pack tonight and trying to get my new third grader out the door on time and stress-free with photos taken, backpack remembered and kisses placed tenderly on forehead. My kinder has another week before he starts, so this is just my warm up. Happy Fall y'all!

Remember what I said about hating seaming? This sweater was started during last summer's SSKAL (summer sweater knitalong) hosted by VeryShannon. I took a hiatus from it because I got chosen to be a test knitter for her Antrorse sweater which was SO much fun to knit and required no seaming. Bliss.

I kept picking the sweater back up and would work on a few rows at a time, but life happens and this pattern was like picking a novel with too many characters back up after a month, so by the time you're up to speed you've spent your allotted time on it. Anywho, the SSKAL for 2014 rolled around and I decided I was going to finish my sweater for reals this time.

The front and back are knit separately and then a three-needle bind off along the tops of the live arm stitches (right sides together) seams them effortlessly.

Still love my purty spindle.

'All' I need to do is seam the underarms

The horseshoe cables and pretty orange color scream 'fall'. Now I just need a PSL to sip while wearing it.

I'm happy to report that there are no longer any live stitches in sight and all that needs to be done in order for me to finish the sweater during this year's time period is to seam the underarms on each side. Right, there's the catch. I have until September 24th to create two approximately three foot lengths of stitching. Simple, right? Who wants to place a bet that I'll be sweating it out on September 23rd creating said seams? Me. I'm the world's worst procrastinator, especially when it comes to tedious tasks that I don't wanna do. There are so many other things I'd rather be doing. Like cleaning the toilets. Folding loads of cloth diapers. You know, the really enjoyable tasks in life. Stay tuned to see if I get 'er done and photographed in time to be included in the 'Featuring You' post at the end of the knitalong this time around!

Over the River

A friend saw a photo that had been repeatedly popping into my newsfeed as well, of a hooded cowl that was full of cables, ribs and button detailing. She tagged me and asked if I could make it for her. When I clicked over, it was a kit on craftsy that had been sold out, but reading through the comments the pattern for Through the Woods was available on ravelry for only four dollars.

The construction was intriguing to me, and it was knit with Cascade Eco+, which I'd been wanting to try for some time. At $26 a skein for bulky yarn, I wasn't expecting to get so much yardage (478!); definitely a great value for 100% wool.

After finishing I can say this; the construction is a little fussy (and it's not a quick one to two evening knit like most cowls) because you're seaming the cast-on edge together, then picking up stitches along the new top and bottom to create the ribbed bands. The plackets are then knit separately and seamed onto the sides of the hood. Have I ever mentioned that I hate seaming? Most knitters do, but this project certainly reminded me of that fact. However, I have learned to embrace it, because most garments will require at least an underarm seam and, well, practice makes perfect. Also, it's kind of like doing dishes or folding laundry; you waste more time dreading it and thinking about it than the two minutes it actually takes to sit down and do it.

seaming the cast on edge from the inside changes the direction of the cables

stitches picked up and knit along the inside of the hood to make the ribbed band that will fold over

stitches picked up and knit along the bottom for the ribbed edge

awaiting the button and flat plackets.

Now that it's on the blocking mat I can say it was worth the tedium because it's really pretty. After it dries, I just need to affix the buttons and it's ready to go!

100 Days of Real Food: A Review

Fold massive pile of scrubs or peruse new cookbook? Tough Choice

I first saw Lisa Leake's blog 100 Days of Real Food, probably via pinterest, when I stumbled across a post that addressed packing healthful and varied school lunches for your kids. The topic of school lunches is one that I feel pretty strongly about, but that's for another post.

Leake's blog was full of great recipes, meal plans, product reviews and videos and had a very accessible tone so I added it to my blog roll and started following her on facebook. Be warned, though, people on facebook can get downright nasty in their comments to even the most innocent posts. Like the time she candidly showed her kids taking homemade uncrustables to eat at the airport. Holy nut allergy sensitivity!

As soon as I saw she had finished her first cookbook/guidebook, I pre-ordered it. That was back in January and a whole bunch of life happened in between, so I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived on my doorstep a week ago.

My first impression upon taking it out of the box was that this was no amateur job. There was clearly a ton of work and thought put into the content and organization so that it covers all the bases, gives you the tools and confidence to get started in your own journey to more healthful eating and food-prep for your family, yet still provides references to go out and learn more on your own.

Coming in at 339 pages, not including the reference section, this is one hefty tome. Yet, full of beautiful photos and a voice that is not at all condescending or pandering it invites you to bring it to your couch and flip through while you sip your coffee (with grass-fed cream, of course).

Starting at the beginning of her journey and walking you through the changes she made for her family without getting totally bogged down in the details, Leake leaves you with the understanding that this is not an all-or-nothing proposition. By first simply looking at the ingredient lists of the foods in your pantry to better understand what may or may not have been great choices to using her meal planning (even broken down by season so that you can utilize farmer's markets if you desire) and grocery shopping list templates you can start building your own whole food life. The first 123 pages focus on giving you the information you need, while the second half has the promised 100 recipes, broken into the following categories; breakfast, lunchbox, snacks and appetizers, salads and sides, simple dinners, special treats and, finally, homemade staples.

I love that there are examples provided of what she adds to the given lunch box recipe in order to pack a full meal for her kids.

Pizza bites made on mini whole wheat pitas; H will love these.

Breakfast tacos

Eggs in a Basket

These cinnamon apple chips will make a great addition to the rotation of after-school snacks (and sweet treats for me) this fall!

I know I'm sounding like a broken record here, but yet another thing I really like about her approach is that she does not shy away from the fact that committing to a more healthful way of eating definitely involves planning, organization and work, but that it's worth it.

In reading the book, you better understand that this is not an extreme 'diet'. You aren't ordered to immediately open your pantry and pull out the dumpster to rid your house of these dirty, dirty foods that are clearly killing your family right now. There also aren't a ton of rules to follow, calories to count, or food groups to eliminate, it's simply about understanding what you are eating (and feeding your family) and how those foods can either benefit your overall health, or not, then eating controlled portions of those foods (which Leake also addresses).The guiding principle, adopted from Michael Pollan, is that you should eat foods that are more a product of nature than a product of industry.

Dairy, gluten and legumes are all whole foods and the elimination of them from a lot of trending food plans has been a real turn-off to me. Seeing great whole wheat bread recipes, the use of home made corn tortillas and real cheese made my heart sing.

That said, she also has several recipes that would accommodate people who need/want to eliminate those foods and there is even an index in the back that organizes the recipes by dietary need so they're easy to find.

Don't you just want to sit down at the table with her?

I especially appreciate that she candidly addresses the issue of budget. Her family's second round of the 100 Days of Real Food Pledge, involved her doing so on a budget that was voted on by her readership. For a family of four, she had $125 a week to spend on groceries. In her state, a full food stamp allotment for her family size would have been $167/week, so it was definitely a challenge, but they achieved it! You can read her posts about how she did that in the hyperlink above. A huge, and very real, barrier in a lot of people's minds when they think about making the change. Bottom line: eating whole foods certainly doesn't mean you have to/should shop there.

The only sections I skimmed (and they were small) were the ones addressing strategies for eating at friends' houses or when you're on vacation, or how to share the whole foods love. I'm just never gonna be the girl who eats before she goes out to eat, or offers to bring something to a friend's house as a guise, or is the huge party buzz kill talking only about Monsanto and GMO's. While these things are important topics to explore and research for your own personal benefit, it's a huge turn-off to me when people are trying to overhaul their eating habits and it's all they can talk about. Blech.

Overall, Leake's book is a great addition to any collection of resources on the whole foods movement, especially because it provides the specific help of meal plans and recipes to add to your rotation so you have not just the research, but the practical application. If you haven't already, definitely read Michael Pollan's books including The Omnivores Dilemma, In Defense of Food and Food Rules. There are additionally some really great documentaries available, most of which you can stream on netflix, such as Food, Inc., King Corn and Food Matters.

Now go forth and meal plan; school starts in two days!

Oh Captain, My Captain

The perfect pool-side project to while away the swim lesson hours.

I had so much fun creating a nursery for Jack, that I couldn't just let the new babe slide into the room I'd created for him (which they'll be sharing) that would be way to efficient and practical. Since it's the first girl, I wanted it to inject some femininity, while still being conscious of the fact that it was a boy/girl shared room.

I love the combination of navy and coral and it's a color scheme that seems to be in vogue right now because Pinterest is full of ideas. Since I wanted it to have some nautical undertones, I've found several fun things to add to the gallery wall that's already there for Jack's room, I'll be repainting his 'J' navy and ditching the aqua and yellow that are currently in the room.

 I finally properly framed the ABC sampler that I embroidered when I was pregnant with Jack, so it'll go up on the wall as well after I paint the frame with my favorite satin spray paint; Rustoleum's Heirloom White.

I had a lot of fun stitching that up, so I searched on etsy for other embroidery patterns and found several that I'll be adding to the wall. Some simple, some with a ton of detail, but still easy for a beginner, like this one from Cozy Blue. At just around four inches in diameter, I stitched on this for about a week in my down time and it was done.

In order to get the most detail possible in the transfer from PDF to fabric, I invested in Sulky's Sticky Fabri-Solvy stabilizer that comes on printable 8.5x11 sheets. After running it through your home printer, you just peel off the backing and stick it on your fabric. I am terrible at applying any of those static cling stickers to phone fronts and I had no problem getting this onto my fabric wrinkle-free.  After you're done stitching, you just peel up the corners and snip off the excess and then soak your whole piece and the extra dissolves. It's not inexpensive, but it was worth it for the amount of detail you get. I would use for sure if I do the alphabet sampler again.

You can see the bumpy texture of the stabilizer. I love how crisply all of the detail prints onto it.

Now to decide between a traditional frame and an embroidery hoop.

Anyhow, this is just a sneak peek of a few of the projects going into the new nursery. I'm forcing myself to get our bonus room in order first because it will be a painful project as it serves the triple duty of office, guest and craft room and none of them very well right now, then I can move onto the fun of the nursery, so stay tuned!