Polenta rounds with tomato sauce

I made a seriously delicious, easy, and toddler friendly meal today and wanted to share. Last night, I steamed broccoli and carrots, sauteed bell pepper, onion, and garlic, minced it all very fine and added it to cooked polenta (yellow cornmeal). I spread the mixture out on an oiled 9"x13" pan and put it in the fridge overnight to set. At dinner tonight, I cut the polenta into rounds with a biscuit cutter and pan fried them in olive oil, served them with tomato sauce, and enjoyed a healthy, whole food dinner with Jax, who loves them (he loves anything he can dip.) I have a plate full of polenta rounds to pop in the freezer for when I don't feel like cooking.

I served the polenta rounds with kale and cottage cheese. Yes, I've eaten a real meal! Hopefully it's part of a trend away from the bland carbs that have kept the nausea at bay for these past few months. :)

Chickpeas: They're What's For Dinner

Curried chickpeas, melon, and cucumber, originally uploaded by momaste.

Tonight was a use-up-the-veggies night. I had a head of cauliflower, an eggplant, several tomatoes, and a ton of carrots that were all about to give up the ghost, so I cooked them in the pressure cooker with chickpeas, onions, garlic, and curry in veggie broth, adding whole wheat couscous in the last five minutes to thicken it up. Sprinkled with lime juice and cilantro, it was a yummy, hearty dinner that the whole family enjoyed. I served the stew with slices of melon and cucumber. Yum!

Curried Chickpea Stew

1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 carrots, peeled and diced
1 head cauliflower, cored and chopped into florets
1 1/2 c. dry chickpeas, soaked overnight
2 t. cumin
1 t. garam masala
1 t. turmuric
1/2 t. cardamom
1/2 t. red pepper flakes (more to taste)
4 c. vegetable stock
2 tomatoes, diced
1 eggplant, peeled and diced
1 c. uncooked whole wheat couscous
cilantro and lime wedges to garnish

In the pressure cooker over medium-high heat, saute the onions and garlic in olive oil. Add carrots, cauliflower, chickpeas, spices, and stock. Stir well to combine. Add tomatoes and eggplant on top but do not stir in. Cook under pressure for 20 minutes, quick pressure release. Using a potato masher, mush the tomatoes and eggplant into the sauce and break up carrots and cauliflower. Add couscous, recover, and let sit off heat for five minutes. Serve spritzed with lime juice and topped with cilantro.

Preparing to Party

Jax turns two tomorrow (when people say "they grow up so fast," they really mean it! It feels like he was just born!) He's been all about the fire trucks these days, calling them "Woo-woo chucks!" and playing with his wooden woo-woo chuck almost exclusively for weeks. To celebrate his birthday we're heading over to our friendly neighborhood fire station for a tour with half a dozen of his toddler buddies and their assorted adults, and I can't wait to see Jax's face when he sees the fire truck up close! They'll even pull out the fire truck so we can have snacks and cupcakes in the station.

What kind of snacks and cupcakes will be enjoyed at our little guy's party, you ask? It is a menu of tried-and-true toddler favorites in our house: finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off, carrots and celery with hummus, and melon, with chocolate-zucchini cupcakes for dessert.

Finger sandwiches that Jax has known and loved
Chicken and apples with yochee-cream cheese on raisin bread - Soul Food Farm chicken, apples from my CSA box
Carrot, raisin, and sunflower seeds with yochee-cream cheese on raisin bread
Low-fat Egg salad on rye - Soul Food Farms eggs
Smoked salmon and caper spread on rye
Cucumber and cream cheese on wheat - cucumbers from the farmer's market
Peanut butter and jelly on wheat (it is a 2 year old's birthday party, after all!) - Peach jelly from a neighbor, who canned it with peaches from her own tree

Carrot and celery sticks with hummus - hummus made from Phipps Country Store chickpeas
Melon Trio - watermelon, cantaloupe, and a mysterious yellow melon from my CSA box
Chocolate-zucchini cupcakes - I've never made this recipe before. If it comes out well, I'll post the recipe.

The entire menu is home made and organic. Just about everything in the finger sandwiches is local, with a few small exceptions like sunflower seeds, peanut butter, and cream cheese. (With all the local dairies, I'm surprised that local cream cheese isn't available!)

The cupcake ingredients are not local, other than the zucchini from a neighbor's garden and eggs from Soul Food Farm. I'm making an extra dozen cupcakes for the fire fighters; they deserve chocolatey goodness with a little healthy zucchini mixed in!

Yochee-cream cheese is a half and half mix of strained plain fat free yogurt (the yochee) and low fat cream cheese. It makes a nice low-fat substitute for mayonnaise, with the creamy texture and mild tartness of mayo but significantly lower in calories, fat, and cholesterol. I'm using the yochee-cream cheese in the egg salad, but also add about a tablespoon of real Canola mayo to a round out the flavor. The Canola mayo, made by Spectrum, has such a strong mayo flavor that a little goes a long way.

Here is one of Jax's favorite sandwiches. It's not CORE, but is very healthy, full of fiber, and is very tasty. My mom made a similar carrot-raisin combo with cream cheese when I was young, and that's another yummy combination.

Carrot, raisin, and sunflower seeds with yochee-cream cheese on raisin bread

1 c. shredded carrots - mine are from Earthbound Organics
1/3 c. raisins - mine are California Thompsons from Sigona's farmer's market
1/4 c. sunflower seeds - mine are organic from the bulk bin at Country Sun
1 t cinnamon
1 T honey
1/2 c. yochee (about 1 c. yogurt, strained overnight through a coffee filter) - mine is Wallaby
1/2 c. lowfat cream cheese - mine is not local, bought at Country Sun
raisin bread - I'm using Alvarado St. Bakery bread

Mix together everything but the bread. Spread a thin layer on the raisin bread, cut off the crusts, and enjoy. If you're not a picky toddler, you can leave the crusts on. :) This is also tasty with pineapple tidbits, but that's WAY outside local, so we're skipping those this go around!

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!

Daily Menu for June 24

We had fat free refried beans in addition to the lentils and made them into tostadas instead of tacos. The lentil mixture was really, really good, though, and a definite make-again meal. I think they'd freeze well for make-ahead meals, too.

Tasty Lentil Tacos Recipe from AllRecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup salsa

12 taco shells (I used corn tortillas baked in the oven with a little olive oil brushed on them. They got nice and crisp.)
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup chopped fresh tomato
1/4 cup diced onion
1 diced avocado
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (I used less of a smoked sharp cheddar, and with the strong flavor a little goes a long way
6 tablespoons sour cream (I used plain fat free yogurt)
any other toppings you like

DIRECTIONS
In a large nonstick skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Uncover; cook for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Mash lentils slightly.

Stir in salsa. Spoon about 1/4 cup lentil mixture into each taco shell. Top with lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream.

***

Daily Menu

Breakfast
Summer Muesli (yogurt, oatmeal, fruit)

Lunch
Lentils, brown rice, 1/2 oz. cheese (1.5), veggies for a lentil taco salad
Mexican coleslaw

Dinner
Don't know yet! I'll update later

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 1.5
WPA points available: 34
Activity points today: 2
Activity points this week: 6

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

Egg Curry

Tonight's dinner, Egg Curry, is simmering on the stove and giving off its wonderful aroma. It's so good, and so easy, that I wanted to share the recipe.

Egg Curry
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 large onions, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
1 t. ground turmeric
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. paprika
1 1/2 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. salt
1 t. Garam masala
1 1/2 c. diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
6 hard boiled eggs

Directions
Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil. Add spices and fry together for 1-2 minutes. Add tomatoes, cover and simmer until thick, about 20 minutes. Add 6 hard cooked eggs, cut in half. Simmer five minutes. Serve with brown rice or bulgur.