One Local Summer: Week 3 - and Meatless Monday, and a recipe too!

For yet another One Local Summer menu, and a Meatless Monday one at that, I made a delicious bean and potato soup. This was one of those dinners that just hit the right balance of hearty and soul satisfying without being too heavy. I served it with cabbage and tomatoes.

Gigantes bean soup with potatoes
1-2 T olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped (again from Full Belly)
2-3 carrots, coarsely chopped (Full Belly, of course!)
1-2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped (from the farmer's market)
5-6 cloves garlic, crushed and coarsely chopped (from Gilroy)
4 c. cooked Gigantes beans (any mild white beans would work here; mine were left over from the polenta lasagna and were cooked with onion, garlic, bay leaf, oregano, and thyme)
6 starchy potatoes, like Yukon Gold, chopped coarsely (mine were from Full Belly Farm)
4 c. vegetable or chicken stock (homemade chicken stock from Vacaville chickens)
2 t. thyme
1/2 t. marjoram
1/2 t. sage
1-2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
water to cover potatoes if needed

In a large Dutch oven, saute the onion, carrots, celery until the onion is translucent. Add garlic and saute another minute or two, or until fragrant. Add beans, potatoes, spices, and stock. If the stock doesn't cover the vegetables, add water so that everything is covered. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes or until the vegetables are softened. Remove the bay leaves. Puree to a smooth consistency, adjust seasonings to taste, and serve with chopped parsley on top.


***

Yesterday, Mr.M, his mom, Jax and I drove out to Half Moon Bay and Pescadero to celebrate Father's Day with fresh, locally caught fish and a trip to Phipp's Country Store for beans. At Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, I ordered a halibut entree with halibut caught not 100 yards from the table (yum!)

Phipp's was busier than usual with U-Pick olallieberries, baby chickens in the farm area, and my favorite, the beans! I stocked up on five varieties of beans and you'll be sure to see them featured here over the next few months. Overall, a lovely day by the coast!

Egg and Lentil Curry for Meatless Monday... And exciting news!

First, the exciting news: I'm having a girl! I had an ultrasound and everything looks healthy. My due date was pushed back to August 15, but I'll probably go late since Jax was two weeks late, my brother and I were both two weeks late, and my family has a history of late babies.

I have been eating more junk food lately as cravings hit and I definitely need to pay more attention to getting my 8 healthy guidelines every day. It's too easy to have French fries and pickles for dinner, which offers little in the way of nutrients to either me or the baby.

So for dinner tonight, we'll be enjoying an egg and lentil curry with sauteed garlicky greens and barley. It's my first time trying this recipe and if it comes out well, I'll post it (and a photo) this evening.

Rice Cooker Spanish Rice and Beans for Meatless Monday

Tonight we're having Spanish rice and beans for Meatless Monday. I made this last week one night and it was delicious, very easy, and a hit with the whole family. The Mexican cabbage salad on the side made for an especially delightful combination - warm, savory and spicy beans and rice with cool, crisp, vinegary salad. My husband put a bit of each on his fork for both flavors in one bite.

I don't know if the salad is at all authentic. I was trying to recreate a mayo-free cole slaw that I had over the summer at Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero, and this came reasonably close and just as tasty.

Rice Cooker Spanish Rice and Beans

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
1 1/2 cups dry beans, soaked overnight, picked over and drained (Pinto, black, kidney, or a mixture of beans would work well)
1 onion, chopped
1-2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 carrot, diced
6 cups vegetable stock
14 oz. can diced tomatoes, not drained
1 teaspoons chili powder OR 1-2 chipotles in adobo, minced (more if you like it spicy)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt

In a medium-hot skillet, saute onion, bell pepper, carrot, and garlic in 1 T olive oil until onion is translucent. Add 1 T. olive oil and the rice and cook until the rice browns slightly. Transfer mixture and all remaining ingredients to the rice cooker and set to cook. (My rice cooker has a "cook" setting with no other functions.) Fluff with a fork and serve.

Mexican cabbage salad
1 large head cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, grated
1 red onion, diced fine
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped

Dressing
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
juice of 1 lime
2 t. canola oil
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. dried basil
pepper to taste (I used quite a bit, but I like the peppery taste)

Put all of the dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid; shake to combine. Pour over the vegetables, toss well, and serve.


Daily Menu

Breakfast
1 c. milk
banana
toast with plum butter (local bread and plum butter - yummy!)

Lunch
Potato-beet salad with olive oil vinaigrette (using Full Belly potatoes and beets from this week's CSA box and my own vinaigrette recipe)
served with lettuce and a hard boiled egg
1 c. milk

Snack
Orange

Dinner
Rice Cooker Spanish Rice and Beans (using Lundberg rice and Phipp's Buckskin beans)
Mexican cabbage salad
1 c. milk

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies, 5-9 servings a day - yes
2. Whole grains - yes (whole grain bread, brown rice)
3. Milk, 3 servings a day - yes
4. Healthy oil, 3 teaspoons a day - yes
5. Protein - yes
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+ cups
8. (Prenatal) Multivitamin - yes

Meatless Monday, November 26

Good morning! This was a leftovers weekend and we'll be happy to eat something other than turkey today. The turkey was great, though, and made for excellent leftovers. Good thing, because there are three more in the freezer just like it, and each one will likely feed us for a week!!

Today's daily menu

Breakfast
Hot cereal mix with applesauce and sliced apples, milk - with Windborne Grain hot cereal mix, home made applesauce, and Organic Valley milk from Modesto

Lunch
Egg salad made with yogurt
Beets (finishing off leftovers!)

Dinner
Cranberry beans and greens (chard and spinach) over barley - using Full Belly Farm beans and greens, Windborne Grain barley

Dinner was DEEElish

...but sadly didn't photograph well. I made beans and rice with the fresh cranberry beans from Full Belly Farm and brown rice from Lundberg Farm. To go with the beans and rice, I made a puree of roasted eggplant, onion, and acorn squash, all from Full Belly, and garlic from Gilroy. Those fantastic fresh Brussels sprouts from Green Oaks Creek Farm were a side dish, pan roasted with garlic, Hare Hollow olive oil, and a spritz of lemon from a neighbor's tree. Yum! A tomato-basil salad (both from Full Belly) rounded out the meal for a colorful, completely local, 100% Core Meatless Monday dinner. Jax is having a bit of watermelon for dessert, the last of the farmer's market watermelon from his birthday last weekend.

Here's the menu plan for the rest of the week:
Tuesday - Eggplant tamale pie (with leftover eggplant puree, tomatoes, and spices, and fresh corn in the tamale part), carrots
Wednesday - Chicken cacciatore (from the freezer) with wheat berries, zucchini
Thursday - Tofu stirfry with bok choy, bulgur
Friday - Grilled steak, mashed potatoes, kale

For the Freezer: Almost DONE! Daily Menu for September 17

I now have 16 meals in the freezer, and will be making the pot roast in the crockpot tomorrow. I'm so pleased with myself for getting it all done, but am even more impressed by the rockin' pressure cooker! I prepped the next meal while the last one was in the cooker, so it was easy to make a number of meals in short time. I finished 4 meals (2-4 meals of each, making 12 dinners) in about 3 hours. The crockpot kicked out another, and I had only one stove top meal on the list. Once I finish the pot roast and make it into shephard's pie, I'll have put about 6 hours into 16 dinners, almost entirely local and all organic. And, even better, on nights when I'm too busy to cook, we can eat a healthy, quick, home made meal. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday!

Another Meatless Monday is upon us, and here's today's menu:

Breakfast
2 c. Clover milk
apple from a neighbor's tree

Lunch
Chickpeas with eggplant-tahini sauce, bulgur, and spinach (1 Point) - Chickpeas from Phipps Country Store, eggplant from Full Belly Farm, spinach from Salinas, tahini and bulgur organic, not local

Dinner
Black bean and rice burgers - beans from Phipps, rice from Lundberg
Zucchini from Full Belly Farm
Green salad with basil-olive oil vinaigrette - lettuce and basil from Full Belly, olive oil from Hare Hollow

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 1
WPA points available: 35
Activity points today: 2 (Walk Away the Pounds 1 mile video)
Activity points this week: 2

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - bulgur,
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - 1
5. Protein - yes
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

Three Bean Soup with Potatoes

It's been a busy weekend! I'm taking all day classes on Saturdays in September, so Mr.M picked up out CSA box this week and I didn't make it to any farmer's markets. This will be it for the week!

Included in this week's box:
Corn
Eggplant
Edamame
Melon
Onion
Tomatoes
Sweet peppers
Peaches

Yum!

***

For Meatless Monday, we're having Three Bean Soup with Potatoes. I made it early in the day to give it more time to simmer, but it would be easy to make in about an hour without a whole lot of hands on time, and makes a huge pot that will freeze well and be super tasty reheated.

I'm using Red Calypso, Black, and Cannelini beans from Phipps Country Store, and am due for another trip out as I'm down to just one little bag of beans! The veggies all came from Full Belly Farm, except for the jalapeno growing in my front yard and cilantro from C. Farm.

Three Bean Soup with Potatoes
Beans
1 c. dry, picked over Red Calypso Beans (can be substituted for any medium-sized firm bean, like pintos)
1 c. dry, picked over Black Beans
1 c. dry, picked over Cannelini Beans
8 c. vegetable broth
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 T. canola oil (to keep beans from foaming)

In the pressure cooker, cook on high for 25 minutes. Let pressure come down naturally. Drain beans, reserving broth for another use. You could also soak the beans overnight and use a stove top method to cook them.

Soup
1 onion, diced
2 sweet peppers, diced (I used one red, one orange)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and membranes removed, diced fine
1 T. olive oil
Cooked beans
3-4 sprigs fresh cilantro
1 T. chili powder
3-4 c. tomatoes, diced with juices
2 or more cups reserved broth, depending on how soupy you want it
4 large potatoes, diced
2 c. corn, fresh or frozen
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion, peppers, garlic, and jalapeno in olive oil. When onions are translucent, add beans, cilantro, chili powder, tomatoes, potatoes, and broth. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add corn and salt and pepper and simmer 10 minutes more.

This makes a huge pot of soup. If you want it thicker, you could puree half of the soup in batches. Very tasty!

***

I weighed in on Friday and was down .4 lb., not bad considering the extravagent (for me) meal on Wednesday night. My total is now 29.6. My goal is 31 lb. by September 23, and I should be able to reach it!

Sick and crabby, but on plan!

I have had a cold for a few days, and it's grown to include phlegm and fever, never especially fun. I ate little yesterday, and my appetite doesn't seem especially close to the surface today. I'm still planning a healthy daily menu for the day and I'll try to have as much of it as my hunger allows. I know I haven't been hitting all of the daily 8's lately and that has to get back in line. I've also avoided exercise, since I've felt pretty miserable, but I'm getting back to that too, adding the 1 mile Walk Away the Pounds to the day instead of the planned 2 mile. If I have more energy, I'll do it twice.

***

After nearly a decade out of school, I'm back at community college taking classes. I'm taking 16 units this semester, and will be packing lunches Tuesday and Thursday for school in addition to my current Wednesdays spent nannying. I've revived my Mr.Bento love and am excited to pack fun, healthy lunches to take with me.

***

Meatless Monday Daily Menu

Breakfast
Apricot muesli (yogurt, oatmeal, apricots, applesauce)

Lunch
Lentil soup
quinoa
carrots
milk

Dinner
Chickpeas, eggplant, tahini, and spinach w/1 t. olive oil (1 Point for the tahini)
zucchini with 1 t. olive oil
Brown rice

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 1
WPA points available: 35
Activity points today: 2 (Walk Away the Pounds 1 mile video)
Activity points this week: 2

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes (lentils, chickpeas)
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

Meatless Monday Daily Menu for August 20

I ate a container of cashews last night in a not-hungry-but-need-to-chew frenzy. It hasn't happened much since starting CORE, and cashews are certainly a healthier food than the cookies and French fries that I would have gone to before, but it's still not a healthy choice to eat all of my WPAs in a sitting, especially when I wasn't even hungry. I need to examine the behavior to figure out why I wanted to eat so that I can change it next time. Anyway, that's why all the WPAs are gone and any extra points will have to come from activity.

It's Meatless Monday again! Is anyone else participating in this? There are so many wonderful meatless meals that it really isn't a struggle to find tasty, healthy, balanced vegetarian menus. Hopefully you'll make it a Meatless Monday at your house, too.

Breakfast
apple (not really hungry)

Lunch
red lentil soup
2 c. milk

Dinner
Chickpea, eggplant, spinach and tahini (1 Point)
Brown rice
Melon

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 6
WPA points available: 0
Activity points today: 4 (walking)
Activity points this week: 12

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - brown rice
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes (lentils, chickpeas)
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

Daily Menu for July 30

My pants have been hanging from me with inches to spare for the past few weeks and fell off the other day (luckily I was at home!), so was time to buy new ones. I tried on several sizes and ended up with jeans two sizes smaller than the ones I'd been wearing! I can't look in the mirror and see the loss yet, but fitting into those smaller jeans showed me yet again that it's working.

***

I was pointed to the Meatless Monday website. From their site:

Our goal -- consistent with recommendations made by the US Dept. of Health and Human Services, the US Dept. of Agriculture, and the American Heart Association -- is to help Americans reduce consumption of saturated fat 15% by 2010. That works out to eliminating saturated fat one day a week.

The idea isn't to encourage vegetarianism (although that is a good choice for many people) but to encourage people to make more healthy choices, including eating more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and low fat dairy. While we already have meatless meals many times each week, and what meat we do eat is locally, organically grown on pastures and naturally lower in saturated fats, I thought it was a great idea.

In addition to the health benefits, there are environmental benefits of taking a break from meat once a week. Click here to find out how damaging industrial meat is to the environment, the workers, and your health. Even limiting your meat consumption one day a week can have a significant impact on your carbon footprint, in addition to helping to lower your cholesterol and exposure to antibiotics and hormones.



***

Daily Menu

Breakfast
Apple from a neighborhood tree
2 c. fat free milk (Clover)

Lunch
Lentil tamale pie (this really is the last of it!!)
Tomato-basil salad, with both tomatoes and basil from Full Belly

Dinner
Jacob's Cattle bean soup, with beans from Phipps Country Store
Brown rice
Asparagus from the Palo Alto Farmer's Market (I didn't get the vendor's name)

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 0
WPA points available: 25 (I ate about 10 points of nachos last night)
Activity points today: 0
Activity points this week: 3

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - polenta in tamale pie, brown rice, corn cakes
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes (lentils, fish)
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes