Day 16

happy monday!

the weekend was a great one.  i cooked a lot.  the kids are definitely getting used to mom's "healthy" cooking and there is less whining.  wow.  it's taken over two weeks,  but chris and i are finally seeing marked improvement.  tommy actually fed himself last night for the bulk of the meal.

we are finding they will eat more bites, and more bites and more bites if there is something at the end worth eating for.  last night it was juicy oranges and holy cow do they love oranges.

the plates were cleared.  

i caught up with my magazine reading and found my weekend recipes in the October Better Homes and Gardens.  i'll start with some pineapple fried rice i made on friday.  yea, not a hit with the younger two...but we are getting them used to eating rice.  it's definitely a texture thang and we're gonna keep at it!

i added quinoa for some more protein.  omitted the garbanzo beans.  super easy and really good leftovers.

Saturday was a monster cooking and baking day.  I never did get to those oat bars, but i will do that this week:)  I made these banana cinnamon bun muffins for breakfast and added goji berries to the smoothie list.  the kids really liked the muffins.  i used an egg replacer which worked out pretty good.  I would love to try these again with actual eggs.  YUM.

the smoothies are a HUGE hit.  i cannot believe how much i love this little blender.  it really is magic.

i literally started cooking at 3pm for dinner on saturday.  

oooooooooooooopppssssss....

i keep messing up on the no gluten thing.  this dish is brown ale-braised chicken, also from my BHG.  as i was pouring in the sam adams octoberfest beer i thought...CRAP!  that has wheat in it!!!  

oh well, not gonna lose my panties over it:)

aren't these potatoes so cute!  you gotta try them.  the kids were a little weirded out my purple potatoes. my mom and i got abbie to eat them by doing a blind taste test.  she ate them all:)  the only change: i used only evoo (extra virgin olive oil), no butter, and just s&p for seasoning.

hasselback potatoes

the broccoli is now a fan favorite (tommy is getting there...).  just chop up some fresh green babies, douse em in evoo and sprinkle chopped garlic, course salt and pepper all over.  my girlfriend christina adds whole garlic cloves so they won't burn...gotta try that.  

and last but not least, i made these awesome chocolate chip cookies.  yes, from a box...but oh so good.  i am going to get some millet flour and try experiment with making my own.  

i know, these look like poo too, but they are GONE by last night. 

the kids are hanging in the kitchen longer at the island with me as i cook.  we talk, they make all sorts of projects, finish homework etc.  they are "working" at the island longer than they ever have before.  

is it the food?  is it the atmosphere?  is it me?  probably a combo of all three and i could not be happier.  

i dooooo have a lot more dishes though...