Wednesday, August 24, 2011

What the Grains?



In an effort to beef up the immunity in our house we are going to phase in some better nutrition. This might be hilarious. I spent the evening last night at 2 different stores looking over the endless variety of grains, milk/dairy alternatives, and all the millions of supplements available nowadays. I'll admit I am WAY out of my element. Nothing even even remotely resembled bacon....And since my cooking style is of the add more cheese variety ... lets be honest, you cant expect to eat like that and feel very good. When Im pregnant I especially live off random foods fueled by hormonal cravings and my family definitely suffers. I dont need to remind you of my pepperoni mustard shots do I?

Spencer and his chronic sicknesses and constant fevers has inspired me. Every time he gets sick I have to stop all dairy and sugar. I didnt realize how hard this was going to be until I realized that it is pretty much all he eats. How sad! In fact If I wrote down a typical menu for the day it would appall you to learn that he lives almost exclusively on bananas, goldfish, easy mac, yogurt (not the healthy kind - the pink dora kind.), and whole milk. Because he is still so little and picky he isnt very open to trying new things. And until now I havent been very motivated to branch out of the usual routine. But I am going to try! I have stocked the pantry - theres no going back! (well technically there is, but not until next month when the grocery budget gets restocked and I can buy different foods! So for now, we have to eat what I bought!)

So a website I found a while ago that I really like is called Weelicious. Its a great little resource for kid friendly plant based meals. A few of my faves that I cant wait to try: Banana Dog bites, Mushroom Barley, Veggie burgers, Pumpkin Pear BreadIsraeli Couscous SaladQuinoa Mexican Salad, Risotto Milanese, Protein Bars, and Millet Cakes.

What I want to know is, what are your FAVORITE HEALTHY RECIPES? Is there a website I must know about? Im a teensy tiny bit Vegan deep down inside, so bring on the eggless, cheeseless, meatless delights! Have you ever made a polenta that made your husband cry tears of joy? Or found a way to sneak something uber healthy into your kids dinner that they actually LIKED? Or are you a pro at using lentils, bulgar, wheat berries, coconut flour, and amaranth? Send me your wisdom!

My favorite Healthy Sites and a "to try" recipe from each one!
Little House of Veggies - Pumpkin Butter
Eden Kitchen - Roasted Chickpea stew
We like it Raw - Donut Holes

9 comments:

The Cannons said...

I am not uber healthy and I don't cook with any of the things you blogged about but I do try to eat relatively healthy. The basic things that we do at our house that I think is pretty good is that we only eat whole wheat bread. We drink skim milk (adults). We eat whole wheat pasta (about half the time). Lean meats, like I buy the 96% fat free ground beef (expensive). Anytime you can cut your meat in half like cooking meatloaf with half oatmeal is a great way to add fiber and cut the cost of meat. Or add more beans to chili or soups. I personally think that dairy products are great and healthy but I know that there are many people who don't. I think eggs and cottage cheese are fantastic foods relatively low in fat and high in protein. But I cook a lot of casseroles that are chuck full of cans of soup and cheese, so like I said not uber healthy.

jayna said...

Go gluten-free and you'll be healthy in a hurry!

Really though, this is the reason my kids ate baby food until they are 3...who am I to argue with a toddler who will eat spinach in a jar?

good luck weeding out the "dora's" and ramen!! :)

Anonymous said...

I just discovered a program on BYU t.v. called Fusion Grain Cooking. He got me so excited I made some Quinoa and have put it in everything and you can't even tell it's there. It's a complete protein, so is ground flax seed so when I make pancakes, bread, meatloaf, casseroles etc. I throw in both of these things which will cut the meat and add tons of fiber. Also I add 10 grain mixture. I can't find half the grains he talks about but I'm excited to find and try some more stuff. I totally believe..."eat meat sparingly."

El Chidote said...

Check the blog (for the love of cooking) that I have on my blog list! It is great and she adapts all of her recipes to be the "healthier" version of whatever it is. LOVE IT.

El Chidote said...

Sorry that was me. Myca

Amanda said...

100daysofrealfood.com

Great resource and amazing recipes! You will love. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!!

Andrea said...

Sometimes we put veggies on our pizza. Does that count?

The Woodlands said...

The BEST thing we eat that is healthy and can be very simply made Vegan is the following recipe for baked felafel {from Ellie Krieger on FN}:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/healthy-appetite-with-ellie-krieger-/baked-felafel-sandwiches-recipe/index.html

Yeah Ellie, although well-meaning, is kind of too perky and sort of obnoxious in her cooking/talking healthy style, and yeah I would prolly rather watch/cook like Rhee Drummond too, but seriously, these little babies are legit! Plus, warm/homemade pita? YUM! ANNND you can switch up what goes into them based on the spices you have on hand {we have even done Mexi-style with Cilantro and Cumin cause it's what I had!} we also NEVER eat it with tahini, mainly because that is extra/unnecessary work and I don't think Matt would touch it with a 10-foot pole!

Hope you and gabe and the little guys are feeling better soon- good luck eating healthfully :o)

DILENGE CREW said...

Ok I have to say we are junkies for eating out and bacon but, the best thing I ever did for my kids while they were little was to buy a magic bullet (that's a blender) I blend everything, I can whip up a real strawberry soy milk in under 3 seconds none of that sugar ridden powder or syrup and the kids love it, if I do put sugar in anything I use truvia or stevia instead as these don't cause a spike in bloodsugar. I can throw in all sorts of veggies, with a little extra virgin olive oil or even just a juicy tomato heat it up and mix a small amount with rice they love it...I tried to come up with clever veggie shakes that failed but, it never hurts to try. And with rice flour on the market now you can use egg substitutes and rice flour to make about anything, I even used my magic bullet to turn oatmeal into flour for pancakes. I know you have it in you to make this life change a huge success!!!!