Clean Eating Veggie Fried Rice or Quinoa

Okay, so I have wanted to update y'all on our garden but our camera card is having some uploading issues so the next best thing? Sharing this awesomely yummy, very healthy, and clean eating easy to make meal perfect for summer when veggies are at their peek! We have made this with rice and quinoa and quinoa is our favorite, but rice is just as tasty and a little cheaper as the cost of quinoa right now is skyrocketing.

First I begin to cook my rice or quinoa according to the packages directions. There are 6 of us who eat this so I normally cook 2 cups of the grain with 4-5 cups of water and get about 5 cups when its all cooked. While my grain is cooking, I begin stir frying my veggies in coconut oil. You can use olive oil, but trust me, the coconut oil really compliments all the flavors in this dish. This particular night I had on hand carrots, peppers, zucchini, spinach, and some snow peas fresh from the garden.

Thankfully that's about how many snowpeas we have been picking every day and sometimes almost twice that. We have been freezing the excess we can't eat and will use those for stirfries when our pea season ends. I add some pepper to the veggies and just kind of stir them here and there. Did I mention how easy this is? It needs to be since I'm busy with this cutie pie who is into everything!

When it looks like your quinoa or rice is done, push all the veggies to a corner. Then in a separate side of your frying pan/skillet/ pot, crack two eggs and kind of scramble them up a bit. Let them cook till done and stir into veggies.

Add your grain to the skillet. Stir it all together. I add a nice heaping tbs. of sesame oil as one last hoorah and then we just eat it right up!

So there you have it-- quick, full of veggies, clean eating, kid friendly, and if you use quinoa it boosts the protein in this dish even more! I hope you love this and if you use any neat vegetable combination please share!

My Mom's Macaroni and Cheese-- Healthified!!

I'm going to tell you something and just give it to you straight: My mom makes the best the most incredible mac n' cheese in the world! Back in the day when I was a tyke there was a church covered dish dinner. As the story goes, my dad stood up to share something and ended up going on and on about how good my mom's mac n' cheese was. I was in the crowd thinking, "well, of course it is!" My mom was in the crowd mortified. She never made it for the church again-- but lucky for us 4 kids, she kept making it almost weekly for us. Seriously, whenever I have a baby my mom will say what can I make for you. Mac n' cheese. Or she'll ask what we'd like when we come over for dinner. Mac n' cheese. There is one small problem-- my husband hates baked mac n' cheese. It pains me to say this, but he was raised on the boxed orange crap and won't eat mac n' cheese unless it's orange. I'm not gonna lie, it did cause some dinner time rifts earlier on in our marriage. BUT, we have reproduced and three of our four kids love baked mac n' cheese just like their mama(my daughter truly is daddy's girl... sigh). So at nights when Daddy has to work, I'll whip some up. It's no where near what my mom makes because she must add some love that's all her own and I also have to confess that for years I somehow managed to curdle the cheese and milk mixture which led to many, and I mean many, teary nights. But, I've got it down pat now and decided to up the healthiness factor of mom's mac n' cheese so it can be a one dish vegetarian meal. And it was gooooooooood. The boys and I devoured it. So, here's what you'll need:

Peach, Nectarine, Blueberry, and Kefir Smoothie

Talk about a smoothie that is so good for you! I mean tons of fruit, kefir and then sweetened with agave nectar-- your body will thank you!!

I added two medium sized nectarines and three plump peaches. I just cut away from the pit and dropped all of the chunks into the food processor. Then I added in roughly 3/4 a cup of blueberries. I used fresh, but you could use frozen, I would just do 1/2 a cup then. Then I added about 2 tbs of agave nectar.

Then I poured in a cup of Kefir. Kefir is much thicker than milk-- you can see in the picture how it looks like I added glue almost. But it is so good for you! Seriously, your digestive system and belly will thank you for drinking this. Than I blended and served. Yum!! Now that, my friend, is a breakfast of champions!

Greek Stuffed Peppers

Okay, I think Ihave shared a few times before that all of the sudden with this pregnancy, I crave pepppers. And bonus, they're low in carbs as well. So I began to have this intense desire for stuffed bell peppers and after searching pinterest, none of the recipes I found were either meat free or appealing. So, I needed to take matters into my own hands since the craving wasn't going away, and let me be honest, if Im actually craving something thats low carb, then by golly, I will find a way!!! You will need: 3 bell peppers (halved and seeds removed) I went with colored ones because they look so pretty *** 1/4 cup of onion finely diced *** 2 cloves of garlic minced **** 1-2 cups of frozen spinach. I like more, but you might like less, so either works (I would have used fresh, buuuuuuut I put the bag of fresh spinach away with all the tortilla chips and it didnt make it) **** 28 oz. can of organic diced tomatoes **** 1 lemon **** 1 cup of quinoa **** 2 cups of vegetable broth or water **** 1 tsp of crushed red pepper **** 1 tablespoon of parsley chopped **** salt and pepper to taste *** olive oil **** feta cheese *** 4 tilapia fillets**** old bay seasoning (You can omit fish and old bay-- its a side dish to the main course of the stuffed peppers) So, first step is to place peppers with the um, bump facing up. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place under boiler for approx. 10 mins. Start Quinoa cooking in broth. Add the 1 cup of quinoa in with the 2 cups of broth and just cover and let it cook. Now, place fish in a baking dish and sprinkle with olive oil and old baby and a squeeze of lemon all over. Place under broiler and peek at peppers. Add about 2 tbs of olive oil, onion and garlic to saute pan. Allow to cook for a minute and then add spinach and parsley and red pepper flakes. Saute for a bit until it smells super yummy and at this point, peppers should be done. Pull those bad boys out of the oven. Once quinoa is done coooking (if this is your first time cooking it, refer to the package), turn heat off and stir in tomatoes and sauteed spinach. Spoon into peppers-- there will be overflow-- this is a good thing-- especially if your 7 year old claims that peppers are the worse thing in the world to eat. And now, just go hog wild with sprinkling feta cheese all over the top!Now squeeze some lemon on top (citrus and quinoa are a match made in culinary heaven)! Place under broiler with the fish. Set timer for 10 minutes. Set the table... clean up crafts from the table... okay, this time really set the table... help three year old with getting some milk... finish pouring drinks... and ding! Done! We went all out for y'all tonight and put aside our Disney plates for some fishy plates because it was actually a nice day here. Sigh, one day we will eat off glass plates again, but for now, I am so thankful they make plates that can't break and rejoicing for all the little people around our table that delight in them :) And I'm not going to lie, they were amazing! My husband was impressed. My pepper loving daughter was impressed. And the two boys liked all the "rice"-- hands down, a success--- and LOW in carbs, gluten free, and heart healthy! Clean eating or eating better doesnt have to take hours in the kitchen, have to be just veggies, and can still taste delicious!! Enjoy and let me know how your family enjoys them!