Forks or Tortilla Chips

My Forks over Knives Cookbook arrived on my Kindle a few days before the labor day holiday. As we traveled about I was able to peruse it while the kids snoozed in the van.

Ah, the simply joys. 

If you haven't already seen the documentary, I suggest you do!  The entire theme is simplicity!

As we have transitioned between summer and the school year, that is certainly all that has been on my mind.  Our world can get hectic, busy and overwhelming in a flash.  That usually leads to tired and stressed out kids and parents, and inevitably bad food choices in our haste.

As with every new school year, I'm determined to keep our schedules simple, and our food too!

Plus it's football season!!!!!  We are ALWAYS ready for some football in this town.  That in itself can present a whole new world of temptations and obstacles in Titletown, where the daily eats suddenly becomes all things meat, cheese, fried and beer - all in support of our Packers of course!!

So I was tickled to find a simple, healthy, game friendly food in my new cookbook featuring EDAMAME!  Just what I needed for my next Meatless Monday A-Z!
 

Don't you just love when everything false in place?

So first things first - what is Edamame? Here is what wiki said: Edamame is a green vegetable more commonly known as a soybean, harvested at the peak of ripening. 

Ahh...good simple.

 

 Some more simple ingredients. Excuse the fake lime.  It's handy in a pinch.

 

 

 Taken for a spin.

 

 

Then boiled edamame, cooked for 5 minutes get a whirl too.

 

Put it all together, and get your fork ready. 

 

Or some chips. 

 

I prefer tortilla chips as my eating utensil of choice.  Or tortillas...its a latin thing.

 

Because now you have Edamamemole! Edamamole? Edahuh? ....well you get it. A bowl full of yum is what we have!

 

Need a closer look?

 

One last end of summer deck party? Perfect.

Healthy tailgate potluck option?  Why yes thank you, this will do nicely.

 

This stuff is good.  It is as I-can't-stop-eating-this-stuff good as the full fat avocado version. 

 

The real test?  The hubster.  Would he like it?

 

Answer:  He loved it! Success!

 

This was the up and up version right out of the cookbook.  Shocking I know, from the master at straying from every recipe I've ever attempted!
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  Not-So-Fat Guacamole

Makes 2 cups

1 c shelled edamame
1 c broccoli florets (yes, that's right. this is hard core green eating)
zest of 1 lime and juice of 2 limes (or 2 tbsp here)
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 small red onion, peeled and diced small
1/2 c finely chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced (about 1 tsp)
Salt to taste
1 pinch of cayenne pepper, or to taste.

Boil edamame in medium saucepan, add water and boil 5 minutes.  Drain and rinse until cool.
Stream broccoli for about 8 minutes.  Drain and rinse until cooled.
Add edamame and broccoli to food processor and puree until smooth and creamy.  Add water if needed to achieve creamy texture.
Add pureed mixture to bowl and add remaining ingredients. 
Mix well,  chill until ready to serve.
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Other options I have seen remove the broccoli and add 1/4 - 1/2 avocado if it just seems like too much of a shame not to include it.

For guiltier-free ....or guilt-freeER? ...snacking, I like you just the way you are edamamemole, edamole, ..uh...ed.

Forks over knives to heavy for you?  There's also a little documentary on the Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue which I actually got hubby to watch with me.  I think he was convinced, seeing as this big fire fighter, still seemed manly eating this green food.





But if you're ready for the full story, watch Forks over Knives. It could change the way you eat ...for the better.



Both are available on netflix!

So you tell me now. 

What healthy eats do you put out for the gang during football season?

Unexpected Detours

So I went into the fitmixer bootcamp to bring up my level of fitness.  Prior to this I had spent months doing Zumba, Piloxing, Kickboxing Classes.  I had gone through a Couch to 5K, worked through Jillian Michaels 30 day shred, even had a taste of Insanity.

The bootcamp completely challenged this novice and did what I wanted it to.  It toned and tightened, brought up muscle tone and reduced body fat %., but most importantly it gave me a great 101 Lesson on fitness.

Know what else it did?  Totally ruined me for Zumba, Piloxing, Kickboxing ...well you get it.  I just do not get the work out I use to with my old favorites!  The exertion level is just not there, like it was in the bootcamp!  I would totally do a Zumba class for fun with friends, but for a REAL workout, now....

No?!

I never thought this would be me saying this, never never.  Yes, I can completely make the moves bigger, jump higher, shuffle wider, and push a Zumba workout, but it's still not the same.

I completely have to ramp up my workouts!

So I have been searching for a new workout plan.  Thankfully, pinterest has a plethora of suggestions and plans, as do some of you my fellow bloggers.  It has sustained me, but honestly I haven't done the 5+ workouts/per week that I was doing in the bootcamp, and a month - the toning that I was seeing in the bootcamp is starting to fade.

NOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I completely did awesome with working out when someone else was telling me what to do each day.  And knowing the workout assignments were coming daily, my brain would tell me they were piling up if I fell behind.  I am the lifelong student, so missing homework is a no-no!  And having the community/support,  really made a difference!

I had been doing well so long on my own, I forgot how great community is! btw for a great post about community - check out Lindsay's post on fellowship, good stuff.

But back to my dilemma: Question is, what plan do I follow?

I had Insanity on the brain as a potential plan, I even had it in my amazon cart. 

But then.

But then this nagging pain in my heel started getting worse.  I noticed it at the end of bootcamp, after a workout.  Then after simple walks with the kids. When the pain was starting to radiate up to my big toe and up my leg, I finally had it checked out.

Plantar Fasciitis.

Debilitating.

Evil.

My chiropractor told me I had to stay ease up on the workouts, be kinder to my feet, stay off my heels (boo) and gave me treatments and exercises to help my foot.

Source: charlottefgreen.com via Charlotte on Pinterest

No biggie, right?

Wrong.

Thought things were feeling better, went for a few walks and no pain.  So I tried a tabata routine.  At about jumping jack 100 (yes, genius I know),  I felt the twinges again.  That was a week and a half ago.

It still hurts when I walk. 

Every night I do the treatments.  Each morning I hope that this will be the day it doesn't hurt the moment I open my eyes.

Before the bootcamp I had no clue about exercise. 

After? Well I only know what I know from the bootcamp!

Honestly, I loved the cardio intensive stuff.  I felt like I was accomplishing something.

Honestly?  I slacked on the strength stuff. Even though I could feel and see the differences. I did the minimum required.

So my choice now? Focus on strength, and allow my foot to heal.

Unless someone has some experience with this plague or you have other workout suggestions for me! Grrrr...

Another confession:  I was getting really bummed about this.  My brain is seeing my body turn to mush - mashed potatoes is the actual visual going on. 

I am up 3 lbs. 

My brain is telling mean stories again:  you've undone everything you worked so hard for.  This injury is going to send you right back where you started.

I say no. 

No!

I'll keep moving forward. Learn something know.  Regroup.  Roll with the punches. Sway with the curves.

I just won't give up.

Source: livingachangedlife.blogspot.com via Becky on Pinterest

Again I'm reminded that this is a journey.  And if you've ever been on any lengthy journey you know, there can be potholes, foul weather, unexpected events and detours.

This is my latest detour. 

I WILL remember to enjoy each moment, and learn all that I can from this experience.

And I won't give up.

Weekend Download

Happy Labor Day! And unofficial last day of summer!

My kiddies go back to school tomorrow, so we tried to make the most of our weekend stay-cation!  Fortunately we live near some great locations that the big city folk flock to for their getaways. Wow, did we ever get around!

First I started the weekend with a bang.  I went short with the locks, straightened for the first time ever, and went with RED highlights.  Whoa!  Did the family flip.  I am still getting use to this look!

My alter ego

 

We then started the weekend with some final school shopping and lunch with the kiddos. We tried a new place that a co-worker recommended - Senor Taco's Cantina.  The decor was fun. The draw to this place is it's salsa bar.  We had fun experimenting.  There were like 20 different salsa's.

 











Chile relleno plate



Wasn't the greatest stuff, we've had MUCH better, but always a filling choice. We rewarded our goal oriented shopping day with some more fro-yo, but who needs an excuse?

 

expresso/sea salt caramel pretzel and strawberries

 

We decided to do some maritime exploring for the weekend.  Lots of history in the Great Lakes and lots of great scenery to enjoy!

We visited during the olympics, can you tell? :)

We had gone to visit a lighthouse earlier in the summer and were hooked.  We decided to visit another this weekend, the Cana Island Lighthouse. This one was much larger and views were fantastic.

 



 

The island was fun exploring too, there is a walkway out to the island, but water levels are so low in the midwest right now, you can walk out into usually submerged rocky areas.

I could have taken a ton more pics, but I grabbed the wrong battery that morning!  I can tell you there was family hiking, lots of exploring, more beautiful scenery and old fashioned mint chip ice cream while we watched an amazing sunset.  Have I said it here before? I love Door County!  Sometimes its a good thing when your camera dies, you can just enjoy the moments!!

Next day I went back to my curly self.  Liking the RED highlights!

We went to the Maritime Museum and explored a WWII submarine.  Love the history lessons.  The guide was a Korean War Navy vet, and was very knowledgeable and a hoot.

Amazing what our vets have done for us.

We searched for other lighthouses on the coast and did some lounging around.

 

Then we made a long overdue trip to one of Milwaukee's favorites -Water Street Brewery!

I was soo excited to find this Veggie Mezzo Burger on the menu - falafel burger!  Yes, again - anything chickpea makes me happy :)

 

The burger was paired with some root veggie chips and of course we have the cold beer - root beer that is! lol  Hubby's german sausage meal is in the background.  Mmmmm.

 

And more mmmm... look at that beast!

 

 

We were in the neighborhood, so we made a stop at Trader Joe's - yay! Nearly 2 hours away from home so we couldn't pass up the opportunity.   

 

 I think I'm in love.

 

Between the kids and I these lovelies were gone before we pulled into the driveway.  Reeally wish we had bought more.

 

 

Hubby was back at work this morning and we are getting ourselves laundered, straightened and groceried for the first week back at school. 

 

But we had to end it with some relaxing for the adults with a viewing of Hunger Games.

 



 

 

Lovely.

 

How about you?  What adventures did you have this weekend?

WIAW

Though technically not correct.  Just reflecting on some of the yummy stuff  I've had recently.  Lots of new stuff for me!

• Ethiopian Millet, Mushroom Tibs and Sauteed Collards. From the amazing Isa.  Let me warn you that the mushrooms were SUPER spicy! Even for this spice loving chick.  There are a bajillion spices in this dish, but I absolutely loved it!  Made it again already and pulled the curry powder.  Just as yum with some heat, but that simple fix made it something I will definitely be making regularly - COMFORT food!!
• Larabar Sale!!!! New flavors for me including Lemon?!. And the cookie dough. Craaazy good.
• Sweet and Spicy Dates!  It's not too late to hop on board the Meatless Monday A-Z train! Go check out Heather's blog for more Date recipes!  Next week is edamame!
• Salad with hummus for dressing - not new, but always seems like an indulgence.
• Tuscan Kale Soup
• Artichoke!! with some leftover Ethiopian millet.  What an adventure to clean one of these lovelies!
• Green Tea Kombucha. I am still getting use to green tea.  Liked this one - clean, refreshing, and it makes me feel good about myself!
• Fro-yo!!  I may be the last person on the earth that had not had fro-yo. Well at least in my suburb.  A new Smart Cow store opened at the beginning of summer, the only fro-yo place around, and you would have thought there was money at the bottom of each cup.  Its has been PACKED.  And our girlies have been pleading with us to go.  I had a vanilla bean with sea salt caramel pretzel,  (aka fro-yo crack) and strawberries - oh my yum! and I am addicted!
• Falafel, another Isa recipe. It was my first try making homemade falafel.   They were great - but seriously I think I would eat anything chickpea based - addicting!
• Gala Apple Salad with Shittake Vinagrette, Feta and Almonds - oh joy!

Sweet and Salty Dates

It's Monday peeps.  What do I have on the brain? 

 

DATES and dates! 

 

Hubby and I have to do our annual health assessments for the insurance company, so we decided to make the best of it, take the day off, shuffle the kids off to day camp and and make it a date day too! 

 

Yay for us!

 

So after I skee-daddle, yeah that's right I said skee-daddle, it's a word, out of work this evening, I get a day off to get blood drawn, my weight taken --- um, no that's not the good part yet --- and have a date day with my man!

 

Other dates on the brain?  DATES!  Like the kind you eat! 

 

I was so excited when Heather over at Better with Veggies suggested Meatless Mondays from A-Z! While I have tried SO many new-to-me veggies, there are still some I have yet to experiment with.

 

 

For instance - the artichoke.  I have had these before actually, but usually the briny canned variety and usually in something prepared by someone else.  I decided that I should get my big girl pants on and tackle this ART-I-CHOKE.

 

Did you know they are mean little guys?  They poke.  It hurts!  It is a lot of work to prep them too!

 

phew!...and yes, my kitchen has the worst lighting
 

Satisfying?  Yes!  So yummy, this is the Ethiopian Millet Stuffed Artichoke I got from all my hard work! De-lish!

 

Ethiopian Millet Stuffed Artichoke

 

 

I have had NO luck finding Beets or Caper berries, neither of which I've had. 

 

So sad. 

 

Is there some kind of shortage of beets? Are they out of season?  I have no clue.  But I know I have seen them at my grocery store before, so I'll keep waiting.

 

This week the challenge was :  DATES!

 

Again, a new one for me.  I may have had these IN something, at sometime, but I couldn't really remember it.

 

My first thought when I saw them though was some cheesy, sweet and salty concoction.  The great google told me that some people like to eat these guys with bacon!  Interesting. 

 

I was looking for a veg friendlier version, and found a goat cheese stuffed version on pinterest.

 

Bingo!

 

A few adjustments and soon we had:

 

 

Sweet and Salty Dates

 

Ingredients

4 oz tofutti better than cream cheese
3 tbsp shelled, salted pistachios
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives

Freshly ground pepper
8 plump, soft dried dates, pitted and halved lengthwise

Sea salt

 

 

 

 

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine cheese, 2 tablespoons pistachios, and 1 tablespoon chives.  Season with pepper.
2. Arrange dates, cut side up, on a platter. Scoop and stuff dates with cream cheesy goodness
3. Garnish dates with remaining pistachios and sea salt

 

Need a quick app for guests?  Look how sophisticated these little guys can be!

 

 

 

Take a bite and it's creamy sweet and salty goodness....oh my yum.

 

 

As my obligatory taste testing was going on, I had another epiphany.

 

Date Sandwich Spread!

 

Chop up the dates, add some more cheese, and sea salt right to the bowl, combine and you have a perfect sandwich spread that would love to meet up with some rye bread for some tea sandwiches. 

 

Hmm, guess I'm not over the tea time treats the kids and I mustered up for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, but that's a tale for another post ;)

Earl grey tea, cucumber dill sandwiches, and figgy spread

Saturday Sweaties

I love Saturday workouts.

Saturday I can extend my workout time, try something new, do something fun - well, the possibilities are endless!  No early morning, time stressed worries.  No time budgeting or rushing to get somewhere else. I can get sweaty and take a leisurely shower, take my time to fix my hair and get into some cute and comfy clothes feeling FIERCE!

This week was a long and busy one at work, so I came up short on logging in workout days. 

Today I was determined to get sweaty!!

For some people that would mean easing into a workout so as not to over do it. 

THAT is completely rational.

I am not always so rational.

So I pulled together a bunch of my favorite moves for a hurts-so-good session I called -

 

Give me 50!

     50 reps of each

Burpees

Box Jumps

Jumping Jacks

Squats

Pull Downs*

Curls (per arm)*

Triceps OH Extensions (per arm)*

Side Kicks (per side)

Walking Lunges

Frog Jumps

Squat Jumps

Upright Ab Twists*

Crunches

Leg Lifts

*with weights

 

This was great!  Loved it.  Body is SCREAMING!  Verdict? Hurts so good!

 

Try that Recipe!

This week on Try that Recipe!,  I attempted to cook a lovely Zuppa Toscana Soup from the brilliant mind of NS Sweet Life.  Oh sweet Kelly, you may want to close the screen down now.  If you haven't then let me apologize, 'cause I'll admit it:  I am TERRIBLE at following recipes. When it comes to recipes, I am a reckless, mess of an almost-sometimes-I-do-tell-myself-I follow-a-recipe kind of gal. Anyone else like this? 

How does this happen?  It's simple right? Anyone who can read should be able to successfully follow a recipe.  Perhaps its because I have the attention span of a gnat, perhaps the character Dory was based on me, or I can blame the kids and tell you they don't allow me two consecutive minutes doing ANY activity at any time, EVER.

Regardless of the WHY, the fact is I am fairly certain I couldn't completely and accurately follow a recipe to save my life.

This is how it went down:

A few weeks back: 

LOOK! NSSL has a gorgeous (almost) vegan version of a soup I haven't  had in EONS!

I LOVE that soup. 

Hubby might actually eat this "vegan" soup with me....

**"Scan" ingredients.**

I can do this.

I'm going to make that soup!

**Kind of-sort of skim the directions**

(Several weeks go by now as I buy ingredients when I see them at the grocery store, one by one and completely from my fading memory, then subsequently forget and use them in different concoctions).

See a cooking show making soup - and remember I never made that GORGEOUS soup! 

Next grocery stop I am determined to get all the ingredients.  (Nope, determination doesn't spur me to look up the recipe again or make a list to get ALL the ingredients at home)

At the grocery store:

Spy YELLOW potatoes.  Oooooh.  I LOVE yellow potatoes, so buttery and creamy. 

Fields sausages!! Score!

Kale, kale, kale, kale, kale! Reminder to self, don't use up this kale in a smoothie! 

Hmmm....I think the rest of the recipe was staples.

I'm good!

Declare to twitter followers that I have ALL the ingredients to FINALLY make said soup - something has to hold me accountable, right?

SOUP-MAKING DAY!!

Decide to start prepping soup ingredients at about 4 pm on a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Occurs to me I need to look up the recipe as I have no idea what I am adding, let alone what quantities.

Wait...this is a CROCK POT recipe?  This would be GREAT in the fall!  Ok, focus - I can still do this.  We would eat dinner at what, 11p?.......?!!!  THAT's not going to work.  Okay, okay, I can do this in a pot, right?  You can make soup in a pot. Ok!

Onions, onions....oh crap.  My onions went bad last week.  No onions.  OH, RED onion!  What's the difference again?  Um, okay close enough.

Garlic!  Chopped garlic.  How many teaspoons per clove?  Oh well.  I LIKE garlic.  Let's add LOTS.

Russet potatoes?  Oh, those went bad too.  Yellow potatoes are sooo buttery and creamy though. I love yellow potatoes!  That'll be good!

Only have cherry tomatoes.  THOSE are pretty. Dice? I'll just cut them in half.  They're so little!  Oh darn, that wasn't suppose to go IN the pot? 

White wine.  white wine? I don't remember that at all.  Hmmm, I have white wine vinegar....noooo, that can't be the same. Skip it.

Okie dokie, searching, searching, searching.  YES! - I DO have vegetable broth.  Good thing, 'cause that pot is sizzling!  I need to add some liquid, fast!

How many ounces are in a cup?

 **break for kid referring**

Was that four or five cups I added? 

Hmm...that's it? Awesome!

But....well.... I like me some spice! 

*liberally shake in some pepper.......add a little more......resist the urge to start tossing in other "italian-y" spices**

Boil, boil, boil pot!  I guess a watched pot doesn't boil. Well, what do you know?

FINALLY boiling.  Set on low and cover.

Actually read the recipe directions. 

Realize I have no DAIYA!  Oh good, it says optional.  Aww, I love me some daiya - poo.

OH, so the tomatoes were a gar-nish!

So if its 4-6 hours in a crock pot, how long is that in regular pot time???

Its starting to smell good!!  I must have done something right!

***************

So in the end, this is how I murdered revised this lovely innocent  recipe ingredient list:

4 Italian "sausages" (vegan Field Roast)

2 cloves 2 tbsp Garlic (minced)

1⁄8 1/3? large red Onion (diced)

4 cups 1 bunch Kale (mostly torn in to pieces - extra rustic! chopped)

2 Large Russet  3 medium yellow Potatoes (cubed)

32 ish ounces Chicken broth (vegetarian, if desired)

2 cups Water (added later just realized it was actually in the ingredient list!)

1⁄2 cup White Wine

1⁄2 cup Daiya cheese (optional)

1⁄2 cup  1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved Tomatoes (diced, optional)

black pepper to taste

I could pretend that I am just sooo creative in the kitchen, and meant to do this.  And ultimately these shananigans would be fine when I actually end up with a tasty concoction.  But I NEVER end up marking up the original recipe, because I am delusional and think I will ONE DAY do it right. OR that I will remember what I changed!! - HA! I crack me up.

So there you have it.  Kelly, if you're still reading, I'm sooo sorry!  I'm sure your version is phenomenal as it likely actually took careful thought and planning.

What was that? How did it turn out you say?

SUPER tasty!  And yes Kelly, HUSBAND approved!! (I did manage to save some for him after devouring a good portion of it - so yum!)

I am definitely giving it another go.  I may even follow the directions this time and enjoy the FULL awesomeness of this recipe!

 

 

VERDICT:  SUCCESS!