For dinner 2 nights ago I decided to try and make stuffed peppers, vegetarian style :) It came out very well. The pepper was stuffed with quinoa that I cooked with grated carrots, onions, spinach, diced tomatoes and black beans. I left out the celery because none of us likes it, but I think for the next time I will try and add a little bit just to see if how we like it. Seasoned with salt, pepper and cumin. Then added some monterey jack cheese. My son had the idea of adding the black olives, great idea! It added to the flavor beautifully. From beginning to end it took me about an hour to prepare. My son doesn't like peppers so he ate one bite and then took out the stuffing and left the pepper. This is a dish that I will be making again. :)

here is the entire recipe from Vegetarian Times

Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers

Vegetarian Times Issue: February 1, 2009   p.66

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This dish freezes well for future meals. Quinoa provides whole-grain goodness and a serving of protein.

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and celery, and cook 5 minutes, or until soft. Add cumin and garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Stir in spinach and drained tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes, or until most of liquid has evaporated.

2. Stir in black beans, quinoa, carrots, and 2 cups water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 minutes, or until quinoa is tender. Stir in 1 cup cheese. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour liquid from tomatoes in bottom of baking dish.

4. Fill each bell pepper half with heaping 3/4-cup quinoa mixture, and place in baking dish. Cover with foil, and bake 1 hour. Uncover, and sprinkle each pepper with 1 Tbs. remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes more, or until tops of stuffed peppers are browned. Let stand 5 minutes. Transfer stuffed peppers to serving plates, and drizzle each with pan juices before serving. 

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ingredient list

Serves 8

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 ribs celery, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 Tbs. ground cumin
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
• 1 10-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved
• 1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup quinoa
• 3 large carrots, grated (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups grated reduced-fat pepper Jack cheese, divided
• 4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed

Nutritional Information

Per 1/2 stuffed pepper:

Calories	279
Protein	14g
Total Fat	10g
Saturated Fat	3g
Carbs	36g
Cholesterol	15mg
Sodium	518mg
Fiber	10g
Sugar	9g

Market Spice Lentil Packet :)  I found this recipe in my Vegetarian Times magazine and with a few adjustments, made it for my family. It was a hit! My youngest is not crazy about curry so I omitted it from her packet and none of us like cooked raisins so I didn't add them. I also add onions to every dish whether it calls for it or not :).  We all love sweet potatoes and lentils which are the main ingredient, and since the packets are all individually made you can add/omit various ingredients according to what you like/don't like.

I make my own vegetable broth with no salt. You can use either the canned lentils or cook the lentils yourself. It takes about 20 minutes to cook about 1 1/2 cups of lentils.

Sweet potatoes and lentils get cooked in a curried broth inside packets for a lightly spicy dish. Serve with quinoa.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place 4 16-inch lengths of foil on work surface. Fold foil in half from short side. Unfold. Shape corners and edges of one half into semicircular "bowl" with 1/2-inch sides. Coat insides of foil with cooking spray.

2. Combine sweet potato, bell pepper, green beans, and raisins in medium bowl. Add oil, and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

3. Whisk together broth, ginger, garlic, and curry powder in small bowl.

4. Divide sweet potato mixture among packets; top with 1/3 cup lentils. Pour 1/4 cup broth mixture over lentils, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Fold other half of foil over ingredients, and crimp edges in overlapping folds until packets are sealed. Transfer packets to baking sheet. Bake 25 minutes.

5. Transfer to plates. Let each person open packet carefully—escaping air will be hot. Top with chutney, if using.

ingredient list

Serves 4

• 2 cups finely diced sweet potato
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup fresh green beans, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 2 Tbs. hot sesame oil
• 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
• 1 tsp. curry powder
• 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils or 1 15-oz. can lentils, rinsed and drained
• 4 Tbs. prepared mango chutney, optional

Nutritional Information

Per packet:

Calories	265
Protein	9g
Total Fat	7g
Saturated Fat	1g
Carbs	43g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	253mg
Fiber	10g
Sugar	13g

Mashed red potatoes, steamed broccoli, carrots and spinach, baked salmon with sauteed leeks on top. One of my family's favorite meals, the sauteed leeks were a last minute addition that added the perfect flavor to the salmon.
This is an easy meal to make, simple and not time consuming. From beginning to end it took about 45 minutes, while the potatoes are boiling cook the salmon in the oven, when it is almost ready, start steaming the veggies, and sauteeing the leeks. I add salt, pepper and lemon juice to the salmon before baking it for abt. 25 min or so.

Another way to serve the rice and beans and greens, with some lightly steamed vegetables. Can't you just see a theme here with the rice and beans :). I interchange the type of rice I use, some days it's white and other days it's brown. I always add carrots, onions, garlic and either spinach or kale to the rice dish.

There are so many ways to serve this dish, beans give you protein, greens calcium and a host of other vitamins....and of course the glass of water to top it off :).
We have had it with corn on the cob, avocado salad, roasted beets, sauteed chicken, etc....







I love the colors of this easy to make dish on the left. Red cabbage, carrots and scallions (I added later). Sautee in the wok until the cabbages are wilted and the corn is a little crispy, add the scallions and cook for a few minutes more. Meanwhile boil some Udon noodles according to the package directions. Then add it to the vegetable mixture and pour some low sodium soy sauce mix it well and serve while hot. I cut the cabbage ahead of time and then go about my business while it settles, (about 45 min) then drain the water out. The cooking time from beginning to end is about 20 minutes or so.. (not counting the time to cut the cabbage). My kids love this dish!
The main objective in feeing your children healthy dishes is to get as much color as you can on their plate. I love to experiment with food and try new dishes that I'm pretty sure my family will eat. Usually I'm right. :) But you shouldn't be afraid to do the same, even if your kids are not crazy about a lot of vegetables or flavors. The rule as far as food goes in my house is you eat what you are served, if you don't like it you can get a healthy snack. I usually have apples, organic yogurt, bananas etc if they try a few bites and really don't like the food. My youngest one is usually the pickier of the 3 but she has gotten used to a lot of various flavors and I have only had to use the 'get a snack' route 3 or 4 times in the last year or so.  :)

A favorite in our house, rice and red beans with sauteed greens, so easy to make and soo good! The beans take the longest to cook, and the greens take about 5 minutes in the wok. You can pair this meal with a nice big slice of avocado like my girls and Dh do.








Another meal I make fast (under 45 minutes) is chicken and vegetable stir fry with rice. I use only chicken breast, cut up small, and summer squash, carrots, broccoli and onions. But you can use pretty much any favorite vegetable. I do use the store bought stir fry sauce which is not the best if you are watching your sodium intake, I buy the low sodium version and use it sparingly. To make the sauce a little thicker I use corn starch and water. I have not figured out how to make my own stir fry sauce :(.

While searching for a Vegetarian food pyramid I came across this, from the Harvard school of medicine. I like it as it doesn't tell you to never eat sweets, just in moderation. There is no section for meat as protein, it is replaced by the legumes & bean section.  As far as drinks go, the only thing I give my children is 100% juices, sparingly, and water with lunch, dinner and in between. One way to get your children to think healthy is to introduce them to food labels. Read it with them and explain why the food/beverage is good or bad for them. Educating yourselves and your children is the key to life long good healthy eating habits. There are so many options for each category so if they don't like one kind of vegetable, try another kind, aim for a variety of colors on your dinner plate. One thing that worked for my children when they were younger is to make a game out of it. For each meal (we used dinner) I had them name some foods that were yellow, blue, green, red etc... and when we went food shopping at the market I had them search for foods that fit the colors. Periodically I had them draw, or cut out pictures from magazines of foods of different colors and made an art project. The point is to get them used to eating a variety of colors, they are bound to like more than a few of the fruits/vegetables they try. :) Now there will be a few things that your child will not like, any way you prepare it, present it, etc... my son who will be 12 soon, hates summer squash! He has tried it so many different ways (roasted, stewed, steamed, sauteed) and just doesn't like it. He ate it as a baby, but once he turned 2 or so there it went. He said a few weeks ago that he realized it's not the taste he doesn't like, it's the texture. I still have him try it once in a while, just to see if his taste for it has changed :). He know that and tries one bite and then doesn't eat the rest, I have not stopped serving him squash. There were a variety of foods that DH and I hated growing up but now love so there is hope :).  

PCRM | Power Plate

PCRM | Power Plate

Some great resources for what you should put on your plate, with links for kids to check out....you can click on each part of the plate and get more detailed info.

Rice, white beans,roasted beets and sauteed greens

We tried beet greens a few days ago and fell in love. One of my family's favorite dinners is rice (made with carrots, onions and kale) white beans, and sauteed greens. Dh and the 2 girls have it with avocados as well, I can't eat avocados. The kids and I love roasted beets and I bought them at the market with the greens attached.  After looking at some recipes, and asking a few friends about what to do with the greens, I decided to just sautee them along with the kale, adding onions and garlic. It came out so good! I caught the kids picking at the greens that were left in the wok :)...

When we first started eating sauteed greens a few years ago, my now 7 yo did not like the greens. She loves the rice and beans so I chopped up the greens into small bite size pieces and mixed them with the rice/beans. It took her a few tries to decide that she really likes greens. Now I can serve them any way, and no more chopping them up. Sometimes she mixes it with her rice/beans but eats it all up!

Moral of the story :), just because your child says they don't like something doesn't mean you should stop serving it to them.  It can take a few tries and some creative ways to get them to eat new things. I do not believe in hiding the new food, then they don't realize what they are eating, but mix it with a favorite food and serve it whenever the rest of the family is eating it.  It goes without saying that if you want your children to eat healthy you have to eat healthy as well.

Happy eating! :)

One of the things I've tried to instill in my children is to be open to trying new foods.  They are not afraid to try anything, and realize that they like almost every thing they try.  It helps that I love to cook and try new things periodically.  I made this for dinner last week, and at first my 7 yo said that she didn't like black beans with salsa, which is one of the main ingredients for the taco. I told her that she'd have to try it and then decide. I gave her a taste as it was cooking and 'ohh this is gooood!' was her response. From beginning to end this meal took 20 minutes to prepare. Dh, the boy and I had 2 tacos, the younger two had 3 :). So I figure it was a success.

The ingredients consist of black beans (from a can, try organic black beans) heated up with half a cup of salsa, if you are up to it, make your own. I used a prepared version, meanwhile roast the frozen corn with some cumin, salt, and pepper until it's brown, then fill the taco shell. I then put roasted red pepper slices, sliced thin, and fresh spinach leaves. You can also add some cheese crumbles if you'd like. I decided to opt out of the cheese for this time.  You can also use the left over black beans/salsa and mix it with some rice for the next days lunch. Just add the spinach and some shredded cheddar cheese if you'd like.

I decided to start this blog to share with those of you that are interested, how easy it is to cook healthy for your family. I love to cook, and my family loves to eat. I believe in raising healthy children who are open to trying all types of food and understand what real food is! I hope to show you, how easy it is to make food that is delicious and healthy :).