Potatoes O'Brein

A freezer friendly plant based breakfast. How could breakfast get any better than this?

Potatoes. I'm not a huge fan of potatoes, however hubby and the kids are. I'll make them once in awhile since they really aren't that bad for you. They just need to be cooked the right way.

After purchasing large potatoes at the farmer's market one weekend, I diced them and boiled them for freezing. I also did so with bell peppers and onions.

First off, cook the potatoes in water in a large skillet or pan. I couldn't quite them brown since they kept burning and sticking to the bottom. I'm not sure how to get the potatoes that lovely brown, so next time I will try browning/baking in the oven. to get them that lovely brown color.

After trying to brown the potatoes, add the peppers, onions, and mushrooms. You can also add the canned Anaheim or jalapenos to it for more flavor.

Even though it wasn't brown, it was still good. The family ate it all up and wanted more. This is a great breakfast that you can make a double or triple batch to freeze for later. Talk about a filling time saver!

Hot Chocolate with Plant Milk

A nice warm cup of hot chocolate.

As the weather gets colder, hot drinks are in order. Blankets, sweaters, and a nice cup of steaming anything. This is a great time to pull out the slow cooker and warm up a cup of hot chocolate. If you're like me, you have a ton of soup in the freezer and enough hot chocolate packets to feed a third world country.

For Halloween this year, I handed out packets of hot chocolate. Definitely not a big favorite for the kids, but oh well. I don't need to buy candy. I'd rather be different and hand out something different.

When the kids want something warm to drink after a full morning of being outside, they want something warm and sugary. So it's a cup of lukewarm hot chocolate it is (with plant milk of course)!

Trying to convert them to drink plant milk hasn't been easy. So sneaking the soybean milk (meant to buy almond milk-oops) wasn't too bad. They actually enjoyed it!

Cooking Quinoa for the first time

As with anything, everything is new at one time or another. This was no different. Heck, I hadn't even heard about quinoa until I read some plant-based/real food blogs. Hubby really doesn't like anything whole grain, but trying to eat healthier, it actually tasted pretty good.

I cooked it with zucchini and yellow squash (peeled) and it was actually really filling. The website I used was http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/05/how-to-cook-quinoa/. They had step by step instructions with pictures. This is definitely not something I can find in my Betty Crocker or New Homes and Gardens cookbooks. One of these days I should buy some new cookbooks. According to the best bites website, quinoa is a great way to get protein.

I used 2 cups quinoa

 Rinse it out a couple times to get the outer shells off.
Below is what it looks like when you get it all rinsed off and put it in 4 cups of water or broth. I never keep broth in the house, so for me its always water.

Let it simmer for about 15 minutes. You can put a lid on it if you'd like

Still simmering...

I went ahead and added peeled zucchini, corn, and yellow squash

I didn't have time to take another picture before everyone started digging in. They were starving! Most websites say they will eat quinoa by itself as a side dish like couscous, but my family said no. They didn't like the nutty and slight bitterness. Even though the family didn't like this, I think this will be really good in some Mexican dishes. I loved this meal with salsa on top.

Jiff's Nutella aka Chocolate Peanut Butter

Has anyone tried chocolate hazelnut butter? I know I've been trying to eat better and when I found out our grocery store is out of their homemade peanut butter, I figured we would do without. I completely forgot about buying plain unsalted peanuts since I was in a hurry.

Walking through the grocery store looking for something in particular, we walked by the peanut butter. Might as well get some since we were out. Oh... nutella. I've never tried it. Instead of buying the expensive Nutella brand, we bought Jif, saving $3.

Once at home, we opened the jar to see a chocolate looking glob. Yuck. Not sure if my kids should eat it, I lick the edge of the butter knife. Oh my goodness. Why haven't I bought it before? I spread it on my kid's bread (for PB & J), and they ate it faster than their regular PB & J. "Mommy, I love our new chocolate peanut butter!"

No wonder. It was so good. I thought my sweet tooth was going to fall out and beg for more. Then I realized how healthy it must be, since all those tv commercials about Nutella said it was. Wow. All those "mother" actresses spreading it on bananas, waffles, toast, etc. "It's a healthy nut butter that my kids can't get enough of." To put it plainly, it's another unhealthy preservative loaded with sugar and oil. Another item on the "no" list. I should have realized this since its packaged, and no doubt, processed.

Looking for an alternative to this sugar nut butter, I googled "homemade oil-free Nutella". Google results: 155,000. After going through seven websites and blogs, the eighth result actually came up with a recipe that has no oil. Their website: http://www.realfoodkosher.com/quick-homemade-nutella/. It looks natural, without the coconut or palm oil. I can't wait to try it!

Not So Halloween Breakfast

The kids wanted toast. And pancakes. I wanted something different without 10,000 carbs. So what did we come up with? Smoothies. Having frozen strawberries and blueberries in the fridge, we pulled the blender out of the cabinet. I put in

2 bananas,
1 cup frozen strawberries,
1 cup frozen blueberries,
1 cup soymilk

"Wow!" the kids exclaimed as I pushed the magical yet loud button. I only had to push the berries down once and that was because I hadn't added the milk yet.

However, just throw everything in and push that magical "on" button.

Easy as pie! Or a smoothie.
Thanks for reading

These were the quickest thing they have ever finished for breakfast. Very tasty and healthy at the same time. Now to see if they will drink a "green" smoothie. Never know until you try...

Another Day at the Bako Depot

Another day has come and gone. Still in the lovely fall weather, they are actually talking about an actual thunderstorm tomorrow! We haven't had a good t-storm in a LONG time, so I'm very excited. This cooler weather is making me want to drink hot chocolate already. Living in the midwest for 15+ years, I got use to the snow and do I miss it? I miss looking at it. That's about it. If I want to bundle up, the mountains are about thirty minutes away. Good enough for me!

Today, hubby and I went for a walk in the wee hours of the morning. It wasn't until halfway through that the rooster crowed. He's been later than usual. The kids woke after hubby left for work so I made them some eggs with diced jalapenos (whoops) and then dumped that out so I could cook canned chilies (Anaheims), which instead of opening the can to dump in diced chilies, they turned out to be whole chilies. So I diced them and put them in the skillet with the mushrooms. I can't tell you how much my three year old hates mushrooms. I've showed him a little snippet on YouTube about Mario eating mushrooms and growing biger. It unfortunately didn't work!

After that, I read a book (Little Blue Truck) to the kids and they are actually picking up more and more words. I had them paint on a large piece of paper before they decided it would be more fun to paint each other. Another shower for them...

We baked red velvet cupcakes, brownies, and made grilled a whole chicken for dinner (with other stuff). Plus, we made bread in the machine. Nothing beats homemade bread.

Like I said, the weather has been great, so the kids can go outside and I don't have to worry about sunburns anymore. Now it's climbing trees and fighting with sticks. I'm hoping I get a chance to deflate the pool now that summer is over.

I got more weeds pulled in the garden, filled up the yard waste bin, and found the peppercinis and tomatillos are still producing like crazy! We will definitely be planting more of those next year. I also found I need to put a net over the grapes and tomato plants next year. The birds attacked with a vengeance for my fruit.

Overall, it was a productive day. I still have lots more to finish: laundry, cleaning the kitchen (never-ending), filing (sitting on my table for a month now), and general fall cleaning. Did I mention I want to get a few projects done in case we need to move? I swear the list never ends.

And as for the kids, I've decided I'm going to homeschool Lizzy during her kindergarten year. I'm going to try it and see what she thinks of mommy teaching her. I'm trying my best to stay calm and patient, but I'll write more about that later.

Thanks for reading!