Two More Days for Book Giveaway at Growing Healthy Sprouts

With all the time we spend as teachers and parents, it can be hard to find time for our important roles as nutritionists and healthy chefs. If you're needing a little inspiration in this department, check out our sister blog, Growing Healthy Sprouts.

Enter our June giveaway, and you could win a copy of Eat to Live, the book that inspired our family to adopt a nutrient-dense diet. We just passed the four year mark without a sick day, and we hope that teaching the kids about nutrition now will set them up for a lifetime of optimal health!

Time-Saving Sunday - Short Cuts in the Kitchen

We love our weekend family time, but Sunday often becomes my day to prepare for the upcoming week. This will be the day I’ll call upon some fabulous mama friends to share their expertise on how to keep our homes running smoothly and our families well fed while still leaving plenty of time for school.

So ready or not, we're finally starting school tomorrow. I feel like I'm leaving a lazy (ha!) summer behind and scrambling to remember how to be organized. For example, getting my kitchen prepared for the week always helps take the stress out of cooking, especially when I'm doing it in bits and pieces around schoolwork.

One of my favorite tips is the Sunday night veggie tray. And one of the reasons it's my favorite is that it's made by my husband, Jim! Seriously though, having an array of veggies washed and prepped is not only great for snacking but also helps tremendously with meal preparation. I'm much more inclined to make salad when all I have to do is chop up the veggies and put them on top of lettuce.

Other kitchen chores I try to get done on Sunday are soaking beans, baking bread and making hummus or whatever spread or dip we'll have for our veggies during the week. This week it's a roasted red pepper cannellini bean dip - and sadly, it's not made quite yet. After all, I still have two more hours until I officially call an end to summer vacation.

Time-Saving Sunday - Blender Breakfasts

We love our weekend family time, but Sunday often becomes my day to prepare for the upcoming week. This will be the day I’ll call upon some fabulous mama friends to share their expertise on how to keep our homes running smoothly and our families well fed while still leaving plenty of time for school. 

A few weeks ago, I wrote a guest post over at Vegan in the Kitchen sharing one of my favorite green smoothie recipes. Since I'm in the midst of vacation-induced laziness (and end-of-vacation-packing craziness), I'm cheating Time-Saving Sunday this week by repeating that post.

With that confession out of the way, let me add that we are huge green smoothie fans - and this is definitely one of our faves! I am decidedly not a morning person, but I have a knack for planning morning activities, which often makes breakfast a hurried affair in our house.

Green smoothies are our go-to breakfast for days when I don’t have much time to make anything (or we don’t have time to sit and eat). They are packed with nutrition, bursting with great flavor and easy to drink on the go. For my kids, anything chocolate is always a hit, and these are great made with strawberries or raspberries instead.

If you use fresh fruit instead of frozen, be sure to add a few ice cubes to cool it off.

Ingredients:
1 cup almond (or other non-dairy) milk
1 large banana
1 cup frozen cherries
1-2 cups packed greens (I used beet greens this time, but spinach, kale and chard all work great)
½ cup roughly chopped zucchini
1 heaping tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon ground flax

Combine all ingredients in blender, and process until creamy and smooth. This makes enough for one adult as a full breakfast or for the three of us (one adult two kids) if I’m serving it with other things. When my husband is home, I’ll double it to make enough for all four of us.

Time-Saving Sunday - Meal Planning Saves Time & Money

We love our weekend family time, but Sunday often becomes my day to prepare for the upcoming week. This will be the day I’ll call upon some fabulous mama friends to share their expertise on how to keep our homes running smoothly and our families well fed while still leaving plenty of time for school. Today's guest post from my friend Jill over at Vegan in the Kitchen shares how to save time through weekly meal planning.

Gone are the days of being that Mom wrapping up the day’s activities around four o’clock wondering, “What’s for dinner?” Meal planning used to seem like an extra step that would steal away too much of my precious time, but when our family began eating a plant-based diet I found it necessary to have a plan. Once I dove in, I discovered meal planning saves time and money that can be reinvested into my family.

So, let’s get your meal plan on paper. Grab next week’s calendar of activities, a couple of your favorite cookbooks or magazines and make a mental note of groceries you have in your pantry, refrigerator and freezer. You can use a hard copy of your weekly calendar to record your meal plan. Later, post it on the fridge so your whole family will know what’s for dinner, too.

You may also check with your local grocery store for what is on sale. Each week I use Publix’s weekly ad and look for coupon match-ups to help save my family even more money. Going into the store with a list of what I need plus utilizing sales and coupons has helped cut our grocery bill in half.

If you need a cheat sheet for your meal plan, each Sunday on Vegan in the Kitchen, you will find my vegetarian meal plan for the week. They are kid-friendly and mostly healthy, too.

I promise your life will be much less stressful when you have your meals planned. And the next time you are standing at your refrigerator, you will be eyeing your meal plan knowing exactly what you will be taking out to cook come four o’clock.

Jill is a busy homeschooling mom to four great kids who love to eat their veggies. Vegan in the Kitchen provides meal plans, frugal finds and tasty recipes for other busy moms.

Ants in My Plants

Well, I officially have my first garden pests . . . ants in my cucumbers and caterpillars in my tomatoes. I'm lucky to have made it through my spring garden bug-free, so now I have to figure out how to take back my garden.

In the meantime, we're continuing to enjoy the fruits of our labor. We harvested our first kale and lettuce before leaving for our trip, and the eggplant continues to flourish. Last week, we enjoyed our first squash and cucumber as well. My first bell pepper is turning red, and we saw the first tiny bud on our broccoli today. Plus . . . I'm still hopeful that I can salvage the tomatoes.

Homeschooling in Orlando - Disney HS Day

Notice anything interesting about this photo? Yes, I know it's Cinderella's castle. But did you notice that there's nobody in front of it? Except for us, that is. This was our view this morning as we were granted early admission to the park for Disney Homeschool Days!

I'd known about this event for quite a while, but for some reason, we were unable to participate last year. This year, I really wanted to try it, so I set a "school date" with Noah. I wanted to be able to really focus on him for the day, so I arranged for Jim to work from home to watch Ava.

Now I have to tell you, navigating the event website was not easy. Disney does so many things really well, but websites do not seem to be one of them. Since I had a hard time finding info, I'll break it down for you here.

• Day 1 (yesterday) included a speaker series featuring international cast members. Students learned about countries from around the World Showcase, and participated in a Q&A session with cast members. They were also provided materials for a self-guided educational tour around the World Showcase. The cost for this part of the program was $16/student (plus park admission). Several YES programs (see below) were offered in the afternoon. We were unable to attend on this day due to the plants / gardening co-op, but we hope to catch this part next time.

• Day 2 (today) offered a variety of classes through the YES (Youth Education Series) program. The K-2 topic was "How Things Move" while older age groups learned about "The American Story", "Millennium Cultures", "Disney's Ocean Discoveries" and "Disney's Leadership Excellence". The cost for each YES program was $25 each for both parents and children, and classes were 2 1/2 to 3 hours in length.

When we arrived at the park this morning, we were greeted by a YES cast member and taken into the park. The main street area appeared to be open to resort guests, but as we made our way to Fantasyland, we were taken behind the ropes and asked to put away our cameras until the park opened at 9AM (lest we capture something "less than magical" as cast members prepared for the day).

After learning about different ways things move - and the different power sources behind the motion - they were made Imaginears for the day and asked to observe what made several rides move as they rode them - Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, It's a Small World and Goofy's Barnstormer. After the rides, they sat back down and compared their observations to the power sources they saw in the beginning - for example, how the pinwheel they moved with wind in the beginning was similar to the pinwheels on the Dumbo ride.

They also learned about magnets, attraction and gravity, drew their own designs for a new Disney attraction and worked as a team to assemble a "ride" (a miniature car zooming through a series of connected tubes).

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and we'll definitely participate again. Disney hosts homeschool days every September and January. (Limited) details are available on their website.

Raspberry Agave Lemonade

Blogging about Cafe 118 today inspired me to take a stab at recreating one of my menu favorites - Raspberry Agave Lemonade. The kids were red-faced from playing outside for three hours, so of course I thought . . . lemonade! Here's what I came up with:

Raspberry Agave Lemonade
4 cups cold water
Juice from 2 lemons
1/4 to 1/2 cup agave (to taste)
1/2 cup raspberries (I used fresh, but frozen might work well too)

Combine all ingredients in blender, and blend well. Pour over ice, and serve. Makes 4 servings

I don't like posting without pictures, but this disappeared so quickly I didn't have a chance to get a shot of it. I'm sure it will be requested again soon though!

Cafe 118 "Cooks" Up Amazing Food

Just blogged about one of our favorite restaurants - Cafe 118 - on the Central Florida Green Guide. Check it out! It's a great restaurant for date night, although I have been there with the kids, for girls' night and even for takeout after dance class.

Green Lemonade

Green drinks seem to be all the rage these days, but to this point, I've stuck mainly with green smoothies. But when I saw someone mention this recipe yesterday, it sounded so good that I had to try it. It's from Natalia Rose's book Raw Food Detox Diet.

One blog I found the recipe on said you can add agave to sweeten it up. I'm sure the kids would have liked it a little sweeter, but I thought it was good "as is".

I'm not a caffeine drinker, but I think that if I were, this would be a good alternative.

Green Lemonade

Into the juicer:
1 head romaine
5-6 kale leaves (I used collards)
2 apples
1 lemon (mine was small so I threw in a second one)

Enjoy!

Another Winning Green Smoothie

Jim and the kids visited the farmer's market with my mom last weekend while I stayed home to do school planning for fall. My mom found some amazing collards for us to split, and just my share takes up most of my crisper drawer! I've never used collards much (but always meant to!), so I've spent my week figuring out how to use them all up. So far, I've used them as wraps (with a sweet potato-edamame filling) and in smoothies . . . which leads me to my third winning green smoothie recipe.

Blueberry-Peach Collard Green Smoothie
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup juice
1 banana
3/4 cup frozen blueberries
3/4 cup frozen peaches
1 large or 2 small collard leaves (stems removed)
1 tablespoon ground flax

Blend well, and enjoy!

Raw Vegan Treats

We're a big fan of Lara Bars around here, so when I came across a recipe for a raw, vegan lemon bar, I couldn't wait to try it. I finally got around to it this week, and they were such a hit I tried a chocolate variation as well.

As you can see if the photo, I rolled them into bite-sized balls instead of bars and covered them in coconut. I'm always looking for ways to get the kids to eat more nuts, and these tasty treats are definitely a winner! The first batch was gone in a matter of hours, and the triple batch I made last night is going fast.

The lemon recipe is in the link, but I'll post the chocolate one here.

Chocolate Balls
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup shredded dried coconut
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup dates (8-12 soft medjool)
2-3 tablespoons of agave nectar

In a food processor, combine almonds, cashews, coconut and cocoa powder until crushed into medium crumbs. Add dates, and process again. Add agave nectar until the mixture comes together and begins to make a ball against the sides. Enjoy!

Apple Pie Salad Dressing (Oil Free!)

I just love it when I try new recipes and they turn out great (like last night's Warm Chickpea Salad from the Fat Free Vegan blog). I love it even more when I manage to concoct something on my own that we all love - like this tasty, oil-free Apple Pie Dressing.

Served over an apple-walnut salad, it was delicious, but I think it would work well on any green salad with fruit and nuts. Enjoy!

Apple Pie Dressing
1 large apple
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons apple juice
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons agave nectar
A few dashes of cinnamon

Combine in blender or food processor until creamy.

More Green Smoothie Goodness

I've been getting a little bored with my go-to green smoothie, so I decided to concoct some new recipes. Right out of the gate, we have a winner! This was different, delicious and well-received by the little people, too.

1/2 cup juice
1/2 cup water
1 banana
1 cup frozen peaches (add a few ice cubes if you substitute fresh peaches)
1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
1-2 large kale leaves (stems removed)
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds

Blend well - I let mine go for about a minute, and it got nice and creamy. Enjoy!

My First Attempt At Drying Herbs

Okay, just to get this out of the way up front . . . the kids had no role in this venture whatsoever. I fully intend for them to in the future, but to be completely honest, I took advantage of a quiet moment to try this for the first time.

A friend had given me some tips for drying herbs since they were growing way faster than I was using them. And just by chance, that same friend delivered tadpoles to my door today, keeping the kids occupied long enough for me to snip parsley, oregano and sage.

Her advice was this simple - cut them, tie them and hang them up to dry. And since things are never as simple as they should be, I ran into my first little hitch trying to find twine. For some reason, that's the one thing I can never find when I need it. So I did what any homeschooling mom would do - raided the craft supplies. The yarn was also mysteriously missing, so I ended up tying them with pipe cleaners and hanging them off some tacks in the kitchen I keep up for the kids' art projects.

The look cute in the kitchen, but I've learned by experience that herbs will dry with even less effort. The parsley I'd left in a little bowl in the fridge a few weeks ago (because I didn't yet know what to do with it) is now nicely dried and made a nice addition to the kids' favorite (chickpea salad) today at lunch.

More Goodies from the Garden

We're headed out of town for a few days later this week, so I'm trying to use up all the goodies from the garden before we go. The kids requested Eggplant Parmesan, so tonight we picked our eggplant and more tomatoes for the sauce.

As much as I beat myself up about not being more diligent in teaching Ava the ABC's and 123's, I love the "life learning" she's picked up through our adventures. She can name all the plants in our garden and spot the same varieties when we're out and about. Recently, she's pointed out basil at the Magic Kingdom, marigolds in a neighborhood and jasmine at Grandma's pool. Like her brother, she's taken a big interest in the garden and had a great time helping me pick veggies tonight . . . after which she asked to go on Starfall to work on her alphabet!

I Just Saved $62 On My Groceries!

Yes, this is one of those posts that has absolutely nothing to do with homeschooling. At least if I'd taken the kids to the store, I could have educated them on the art of snagging unbelievable deals. But this was serious shopping, and sometimes serious shopping is best done alone.

So let me start by revealing that I've never been a coupon girl. I like the idea of them, and if I can find one for a store or restaurant I like, I'll definitely use it. But when it came to groceries, there never seemed to be coupons for the products I actually used.

Recently, however, I've noticed many of the natural foods manufacturers running sales and offering coupons, and Publix has had their own specials for these products as well. In fact, it was their great buy one, get one free specials that inspired me to start purchasing extra items every week to donate to a food pantry.

So, I started using a random coupon here or there . . . and then I found this wonderful blog. At Fiddledeedee, Sarah shares "strategic shopping" tips and provides weekly lists of in-store specials at local supermarkets. Then, she pairs each special with links to additional coupons for that product.

For example, I noticed that Post Trail Mix cereal was buy one, get one free and decided to get two boxes for my food pantry collection. The normal price for two boxes would have been $8.40, but I could get them both for $4.20 with the Publix sale. Then, using the link on the blog, I printed a coupon for $2 off one box and ended up paying $2.20 for two boxes! I think you can actually take this one step further and actually use another $2 off coupon for the second "free" box, but hey, I'm just learning.

The total savings on my receipt - including manufacturer's coupons, in-store savings and advertised specials - was $62.52. The 30% savings was definitely worth the few minutes it took me to plan my purchases and print the coupons. I love that she has lots of information on Publix, since that's where I do most of my shopping, and that she posts organic deals every Friday.

Some extra deals not listed on the blog that were a nice surprise:

• The buy one, get one free on Ragu pasta sauce included their organic sauces ($2.59 for 2, and that's without even printing the coupon - didn't know it included organic before I got there).

• Muir Glen soups had a $1 off coupon on every can (only $1.19/can with the coupon).

• True North nut clusters are still on sale 2 for $5.

Happy shopping!

Making Pickles & Preserving Peppers

Anyone who knows me well is probably laughing at the title of this post. In the past, I've had absolutely no success growing anything - much less preserving it for future use. But, I thought it would be fun to make pickles as a science experiment - too bad I didn't grow cucumber and dill this season!

Fortunately, I have a good friend who knows her way around both the garden and the kitchen who was willing to break out her canning supplies and help me out. The kids played while we did the prep work, then they helped us by counting the cucumbers, grape leaves, horseradish, garlic, dill, peppercorns, mustard seeds and cloves for each jar. Twenty minutes later we had pickles - piping hot pickles, of course, but pickles nonetheless. They are currently cooling, and I suspect that we'll dig in tomorrow.

Since I was in the pickling spirit, I decided it was time to do something with our bumper crop of banana peppers. They were literally growing faster than we could eat them (and Jim can put away some banana peppers!) So I found some simple tips for preserving them online: sterilize a jar, put in sliced peppers, fill with boiling white vinegar and seal with a hot lid (leave it in a boiling pot until you're ready to put it on). Voila!

We've been enjoying the peppers raw, but Jim really likes the pickled ones so I was excited to try this. Can't wait to see how they turned out . . . and to get the dozen or so fresh ones that we still have ready to pick later this week!

Tomato-White Bean Bruschetta and Vegan Caesar Salad

I knew the time would come when the tomatoes would overrun the fruit bowl and demand to be made into more than just a salad topping. Their timing could have been better though since this week was extra busy and we've eaten out a lot. So, with two tomatoes on their last leg and several more at the peak of ripeness, today was the day to get the job done. Here's what I did:

Tomato-White Bean Bruschetta

For the topping:
4 vine-ripened tomatoes
1 cup cooked white beans (I used navy beans)
3 tablespoons chopped basil
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon rice Parmesan (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

For the base:
1 whole wheat baguette
1/2 cup Earth Balance (softened)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Halve the tomatoes, remove the seeds and "juice" and dice into small pieces. Toss in a bowl with remaining topping ingredients, and let marinate while you prepare the base (and the salad). Cut the baguette into quarters, then slice each quarter in half (you'll end up with eight pieces). Mix the Earth Balance, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper until well combined, then brush over the baguette pieces. Bake on 425 for about 10 minutes or until toasty, cover each piece with topping and enjoy!

Vegan Caesar Salad
(modified from a Vegetarian Times recipe)

For the dressing:
2 tablespoons blanched almonds
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup water

For the salad:
1 large head of romaine, roughly chopped
Extra veggies of your choice
Croutons (optional)

Grind almonds in food processor. Add all remaining dressing ingredients until thoroughly blended. Toss with lettuce and any other veggies. Top with croutons, if desired.

The original recipe calls for oil, but I've never tried it that way. To me, it tastes great without. I've found the dressing keeps pretty well, so I often make a double batch and use it for a few days. My kids love it, so it goes pretty quickly. If I ever have extra, it also works well as a dip for raw veggies.

Pizza!

Noah had a great request for the first eggplant from our garden - pizza! It took me three days to get to Whole Foods for vegan mozzarella, but it was worth the wait. I knew I'd be short on time, so I bought some fresh focaccia at the farmer's market, sliced it in half and baked it with sauce, basil, eggplant and 1 yellow / 1 red tomato fresh from the garden. Here's a picture from before it went into the oven. The after pictures are a little too "crispy" to post because I'm bad at babysitting the broiler.

More From the Farmer's Market

I promise not to post pictures of my produce on a weekly basis, but I'm still thrilled to actually be able to buy local, organic produce. $30 seems to be my magic number up there.Here's what it bought me this week:

1 pineapple
2 canteloupe
1 large head of lettuce
1 bunch of asparagus
1 bunch of broccoli
2 bell peppers
1 huge cucumber
5 small cucumbers
5 peaches
4 bananas (plus two free ones for the kids)
2 mangos