Taco Salad

For this meal, I used one of our not necessarily healthy staples, the fresh cooked tortilla, and topped it with the leftover lettuce of the week that needed used up, black beans from the freezer (can I just say yum, they were a great thing to have on hand and I think they were even better than freshly cooked. I think I may cook up a few pound of them to get a little stockpile going) tomatoes that I put lemon over a dash of salt and lemon pepper,  and guacamole (made with the same recipe as the verde verde), oh and of course our other obsession chimichurri... soooo good.... and I think total "cook" time was like 6 minutes! YYYUUUMMM.

French Toast with Fruit Syrup

This is another little breakfast idea that I thought I would put up. It is run of the mill french toast made with wheat bread, egg, dash of kefir milk, and cinnamon, topped with the same syrup as in the oatmeal. Real tasty!

Teriyaki Rice Noodles

This was not an epic fail but the husband didn't love it... that being said I thought it was tasty, tangy and light. So give it a try if you are game. I used the teriyaki glaze from the other day but put it over boneless breast this time. Cooked it up then put it over rice noodles. For the colorful top I stir-fried some apples and carrots in garlic, ginger, a bit of curry, and olive oil. Then I added some craisins. In the blender I added my smoothie fruits, peach and pineapple with chicken broth and honey (I know it is weird but I really did like it!) then added it to my odd stir fry, put a little bit of cornstarch as thickener, and let it sit. After everything was done I added the stir fry topper on and ate it up. Like I said I really thought it was a tasty little salad type dish but whatev...

Cinnamon Oatmeal and Fruit syrup

This is not rocket science but was tasty so I thought I would share. I made this mainly for thing one and two, but not too shabby! You make oatmeal (obviously) but add cinnamon while cooking, then in another pan you add your fruits (mine are frozen that I have on hand and pretty much use for everything, but fresh would be healthier and more delicious) add a tiny bit of water, a couple dashes of cinnamon, and a couple drizzles of agave. You heat the fruits up a bit then let them sit a little bit, then you kind of mash them, but not all the way. Then pour the fruit over the oatmeal! MMM... beats sugar and milk! This is the toddlers bowl, he and the baby got a dallop of yogurt because they are not on a diet ;). Anyway nice little breakfast, my toddler thought it was ice cream!

Lentils with Chifles and Rice

Don't be fooled by this dish. although there are not one million colorful veggies, it is healthy. The quick stuff first the rice is regular ole rice. The chifles are an Ecuadorian staple and are really easy to make! You just take the verde, or plantain banana (the ones that look really weird at the store and are green and have a flatness to their peel) and peel them. Then you take a cheese grater and use the part that cuts them to slice them, you can go long or round whatever floats your boat, then you heat oil (I know this is not the healthy part of the meal) I used part olive oil and a little bit of veggie oil, anyway you cook them until they are floating on top. You can salt them with sea salt to taste. We dip them in chimichurri, but what don't we like with that stuff? Anyway easy peasy. Ok so the healthy part of the meal is the lentils. They are so easy to make and the kids and husband LOVE them. You take the lentils put them in broth (once again I use the bouillon without msg) add ketchup, orange (either juice or an orange squeezed) garlic salt and parsley, and if you are a fan, Italian seasoning. I also added the plantain banana because I had it on hand but it is not a must, just a perk! Also if you are doing dairy cheese is delicious! Anyway you cook them until they are soft, I prefer these after they have sat for a while, but whatever and however is up to the cook!

Chicken Salad Pita

This is a meal that you really do to your likings. I put chicken (boiled to take off the extra fat), peas, and grapes in this one. You take mayonnaise preferrably the olive oil kind and a little bit of water so it waters down a bit, then add pepper and garlic salt to taste. These are pretty tasty! We usually do put cashews for a little crunch but I was out and with the kids I worry about them being a little to hard to chew. Also some delicious options are pineapple (fresh, or frozen prefferably) and celery is really tasty in these as well (of course this is one of those unpardonable veggies in this house ... I am working on it ha.) Anyway you take the salad and put it over a of course.... fresh cooked tortilla!!! Or they are great on whole wheat pitas as well, but I really cook with what is on hand and around the house! Anyway these are really great for the summer and take hardly no time at all to throw together!

My Shame

So I broke down alright! I have had dreams of this pizza and finally caved. Even though I succombed to temptation I will tell you I know that my healthy diet is doing us some good, because not only did we feel extremely guilty eating this, I not used to eating the bread and cheese, got extremely sick, so I guess that is a good sign? ha.