oh crap, what’s for dinner?

oh crap, what’s for dinner?

i love to cook, i love to try new recipes and create new dishes, but let’s be honest…i am a busy self-employed mom.  i don’t sit around all day and dream of the meal i am creating that evening.  more often than not, i will be busily working away editing photos or designing something (my kids afternoon naps are my main office time) and i will realize that it is approaching 4:30 and i don’t have a clue what we are having for dinner and that’s my daily “oh, crap” moment.  we have been facing this even more in the last 2 weeks (and can foresee it getting worse for a bit) as we just randomly sold our house (which we had taken off the market 6 month ago) and don’t have a clue at the moment where we are moving to.  three years ago, when we faced busy (or busier) waves in our lives, we would simply grab a pizza or fast food, so how do we avoid that now?  how do i keep healthy, wholesome meals in my kids when i don’t have time to spend in the kitchen?

my simple rule: don’t keep junk in the pantry or house or it is way to tempting when you are on the go.  instead, i make sure my freezer is stocked with grass-fed beef, free-range chickens and a supply of wild caught fish.  i always have a variety of organic frozen veggies and every weekend we stock up on fresh veggies/fruit for the week.

here is a typical last minute dinner in our house:

  • grass-fed burgers topped with tomatoes (we typically lettuce wrap them, but of course i was out of lettuce)
  • frozen organic broccoli (lightly steamed and topped with coconut oil and sea salt)
  • grilled zucchini spears (drizzled with olive or coconut oil, sea salt & pepper)
  • and dessert? well that was a jar of unsweetened applesauce that we canned last fall (we were a bit ambitious with our canning) and applesauce makes a frequent appearance at dinner

all of this was prepared in less than 15 minutes, (quicker than a drive-thru run) and easily for less than $10 for our entire family.  yes, it  is not a culinary masterpiece, or an amazing and unique combination of flavors, but it is simple, fast and still delicious.

flax seed eggs

flax seed eggs

i love eggs.  or rather, i “loved” eggs.  you see, our little family is on a break from eggs (one i hope will only be temporary).  we used to be a part of a bi-weekly egg service, that supplied our family with fantastic cage-free, free-range eggs.  i loved them. i miss them.

our first few attempts at feeding our youngest son eggs didn’t go well.  his reaction to eggs is violent. even though we don’t all need to be egg-free, i am still not baking any items with eggs.  the challenge of remembering who can have what or worrying about cross-contamination isn’t worth it to me, so for the time being, i am working on mastering the art of cooking without eggs.  i have had a good number of flops, but i have gotten pretty good at judging what a recipe will need.

i have learned that there are limitations to this substitute. if a recipe calls for 6 eggs…you most likely will not get the desired results.  typically, if a recipe calls for more than 3 eggs i don’t attempt it.

flax seed egg replacer
Author: 
Recipe type: baking
 
this recipe is equal to 2 large eggs
Ingredients
  • 6 Tbsp. water
  • 2 T. ground flax seed
  • 1-2 tsp. of coconut oil* (optional)
  • ½ tsp. baking powder* (optional)
Instructions
  1. heat water in sauce pan and whisk in ground flax seed & coconut oil
  2. heat until mixture begins to bubble (stirring constantly)
  3. as soon as it begins bubbling and starts to gel up, remove from heat
  4. let cool down slightly and add to recipe in place of eggs
  5. ***coconut oil and baking powder are optional

so what do i typically use?

  • ground golden flax seed + water + coconut oil

why do i add coconut oil?

  • most recipes just call for flax seed and water, but i find that they always seem to be a little dry, so i add a small amount of coconut oil to mimic the fat in the egg yolk.

what about baking soda? chia seeds?

  • i add baking soda if i am baking something like a lighter cookie that needs more lift and for 2 eggs usually add ½ tsp. to the dry ingredients.
  • a lot of times, i also add 1-2 tablespoons of chia seeds to my baked goods.  they gel up and add more lift (plus a lot of other nutrients).  this is not a necessary step, but just one we prefer.
  • chia seeds can also be used in place of flax seed though the ratio is half of what the flax recipe is and it doesn’t need to be heated, just stir in and let set.

what are my major egg-free flops?

  • paleo almond flour pancakes, we are on round 2 and though we have “eaten” them…i couldn’t exactly call them edible and they are definitely not “pancake” like.
  • recipes with coconut flour.  i love cooking with coconut flour, but not with much success egg free.  if anyone has successful egg-free, coconut flour recipes… i would love to try them!
  • salmon patties. i try and try to make them stick together without egg, but we always just end up eating salmon hash.

i thought that i would share a photo of our last attempt at paleo almond flour, egg-free pancakes, because i am determined to figure this one out. they were far better than our first attempt, but still need a lot of work. so here is my work in progress (when i figure this one out, i will share a recipe).  don’t be deceived, they look awesome, until you attempt to flip them…and then the big stuck mess begins.

 

 

shared on:  fat tuesdayallergy free wednesdays & food renegade

red wine marinated fajitas {gluten free}

red wine marinated fajitas {gluten free}

we do taco night a lot in our house. the simple beef type with tomatoes, green chilies and cumin. it is one of our “go to” meals if i am in a hurry.  i love tacos, my husband loves tacos and most importantly, my little boys love tacos.  we almost always have the ingredients we need on hand, especially since we have been canning our own pinto beans (yeah, i bought 50 lbs of organic dry pinto beans).  that turns out to be a lot of canned beans. mexican food is my “comfort food.”  my mother is mexican and i grew up in a family where homemade tortillas were a staple (one of the only gluten filled foods i miss). i promise i will share some of the recipes i learned from my grandma and how we have adapted them to be gluten free.

i had been planning on having tacos, but by accident pulled out a round steak to thaw.  sidenote: {i love, love having a huge supply of grass-fed beef in our freezer & we love farmer jack who we were introduced to by our friend lindsey, from the blog enjoying healthy foods.} anyway, as i was prepping for my day, i realized that i had the wrong cut of beef dethawed.  so i went hunting around my kitchen to see what i could switch dinner to and i eyed a half of a bottle of red wine and a yellow pepper…perfect for fajitas!  i make a similar type of marinade for kabobs, so i just swapped a few ingredients to be more “mexican” in flavor. i then served the fajita meat over slowly sautéed yellow peppers and onions and served with a blue corn refried bean taco topped with raw cheddar. we will be making this recipe again!

 

red wine marinated fajitas {gluten free}
Author: 
Recipe type: entree
 
Ingredients
  • 1 lb. of grass-fed flank or round steak
  • 1 c. dry red wine
  • ⅓ c. olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
  • 1 Tbsp. gluten free worcestershire sauce
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 tsp. chili powder
  • 1 tsp. cumin
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. ground pepper
Instructions
  1. whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a glass dish
  2. submerge meat in marinade and let set for 8-12 hours in the refrigerator
  3. grill on high heat until medium (or desired doneness)
  4. let meat rest for 15 minute before cutting into thin slices
  5. serve over sautéed yellow peppers and onions

 

 

shared on: slightly indulgent tuesdays, allergy free wednesdays & real food wednesdays

our favorite green smoothie {peach banana spinach smoothie}

our favorite green smoothie {peach banana spinach smoothie}

i remember when i used to see people drinking green smoothies or juices and the thought of “drinking” a vegetable sounded horrible to me.  trust me, i have come a long way….yesterday, i drank a huge glass of cabbage apple juice (that would have never happened a few years ago). ever since we invested in a vita-mix and an omega juicer,  both green juices and smoothies have become a staple in our household. i don’t follow specific recipes necessarily and a lot of times i am kinda “cleaning out the fridge”, but i thought i would share a recipe for one of our favorites.  this peach banana spinach smoothie is great for people that are just starting out with green smoothies, since it does have a lot of fruit in it to cover the spinach.

this picture of the full vita-mix was when i was making a batch for 4 people….that is about half of the amount of spinach i typically use, but i had to blend it down before adding more. we also have the ease of using our canned peaches.  every year we can a ton of jars of peaches with my husband’s family, which is wonderful since i always have them on hand.

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
our favorite green smoothie {peach banana spinach smoothie}
Author: 
Recipe type: drink
 
Ingredients
  • 1 banana
  • 2 peaches (de-pitted)
  • splash of fresh squeezed orange juice
  • 2 large handfuls of spinach
  • {optional} ½ cup of yogurt or almond milk
Instructions
  1. throw everything into a high powered blender (we prefer our vita-mix)
  2. blend until smooth.
  3. enjoy!

 

shared on: monday mania

while i was making dinner – {life with 2 little boys}

while i was making dinner – {life with 2 little boys}

as i was buzzing around making dinner, i sent the boys outside to play on our patio.  a few minutes later as i ran outside to start the grill, i was greeted by 2 mud-covered boys who informed me that they were planting a new garden. this “new garden” just happened to be created by them transferring buckets of mud into our fire pit and by them picking all of my fresh mint and stuffing it into the dirt.  this makes me smile.  welcome to my world with two little mud covered boys.

 

 

 

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