now showing: homemade gumption "butter" and food revolution long grove is here!

today is the happy ending post from yesterday's loss of fake butter.  i'm literally typing as fast as i can to post this morning and sing it to the mullies.  

you might have noticed i like sara bareilles' music.  well, she just happens to be in chicago tonight at the Park West and well of course there's a song to play of hers for my post today.  i just listened to this in the car and i thought, oh this is perfect... getting over my margarine habit... perfect.  THEN, i looked up the video and realized that somebody is having some fun with me right now because this is how i imagine real food taking over the world.  our drops hitting people behind sara, jamie o, all the food ambassadors out there with me and our new ambassador teammate, briana cardone.  yup that's right, i'm crazy.  and now i have someone to have a brave food fight with.  

food revolution long grove is here baby!  i can't wait to introduce you to briana.  she'll be helping to put our food revolution community picnic event together on may 17th and it's going to be even bigger and better with her on board.  whoop whoop!

please enjoy this oh so perfect food revolution video.  i hope that sara doesn't mind me calling it that, but then i think it's the point of her sweet video.  i sure wish i could dance with her tonight.  so put your earbuds in and start dancing in your seat, around your kitchen or wherever you are and join our little party that's getting started.  

briana, let's make a video someday:)  i hope you can dance girl.  my favorite part is the ending... make sure you watch the whole kit and kaboodle.

sara bareilles - gonna get over you

here's what happened after lunch yesterday.

my dad and i called earth balance and were reassured that they were in the process of getting non-gmo certified   the customer service rep did not know about the article and said, "you can't believe everything you read on the internet."  whether the article's claims are true or false, i will no longer be buying margarine (i am over it) and i was still thinking about what i would find to replace it.  dad and i went through the comments of the article together and what did we find at the very end?  

the holy grail of butter.

the easiest, most delicious homemade-raw-vegan-butter recipe you'll ever make... infinite periods.  notes:  i subbed pink himalayan sea salt.  

all hardened up just like buttah.  this recipe makes the equivalent to two sticks.

last night, i cooked with gumption (meaning no recipe books) and the ghee made its first debut.

now i know why it's called clarified butter... it's really lovely melted in the pan.  i was in the zone and completely forgot to take pictures as i went.  so here is the finished plate, my too toasty garlic bread and all.

i know i know, lemons are not good to eat, but i just couldn't resist.  abbie and mac cleaned their plates.  we had to cheer tommy on, eventually he cleared his plate minus a few scallop bites (which chris and i happily ate).  i am so happy.  can you tell?  i only have a small leftover container of green beans.  they've all tried scallops before, but didn't remember them.  the kids actually took a bite without fearing a lightening strike.  i'm going to remember this night to get me through the next night of whines...

ghee is my new best friend.  it's a cooking dreamboat.

scallops sautéed in ghee
2 T ghee melted in pan
1lb large wild caught scallops
s&p
tequila lime seasoning (optional)

heat oil on med high and place scallops to sear on one side for 1-2 minutes.  flip and cook on the other side.  watch super careful to not overcook.  just before they were done, i took a teansy bit of s&p and tequila lime seasoning and sprinkled the tops.

steamed green beans with homemade butter and garlic salt
frozen organic green beans
1/4 c water
1 T homemade butter
garlic salt

place water and beans in a covered pot and steam for about 5-6 minutes.  toss occasionally.  season with 1 T of butter and a sprinkling of garlic salt.

easy roasted new potatoes 
1/2 bag organic new potatoes
2 T organic evoo
herbes de provence
s&p

preheat oven to 400 degrees. clean and dice up potatoes.  place on pan and toss with evoo, herbes, s&p.  eyeball everything.  cook for 20 min and toss.  cook additional 15 minutes or until starting to crisp up.  (btw, i have stopped using aluminum foil thanks to briana.  she is a chef and does not cook with it as it leeches the darn metal into your food and then your body... hello, gonzos!!  so now i use my silpat.  who cares about another pan to clean?  thanks girl.)

as for my new "butter", it passed the garlic bread test with flying colors (except i didn't pass it with my broiling skills... seriously, you'd think i could time it right with out burning my house down! argh!) and it also passed the breakfast toast test this morning.

this butter stuff is for real.  now go make some already!

xoxo

leftover magic - veggie quinoa to pizza bites with homemade applesauce and ranch

sometimes i struggle with figuring out what to make for dinner.  i was craving pizza and decided to give this recipe inspo a whirl:  quinoa pizza bites - a little gem off pinterest.

i thawed out the extra veggie and quinoa mixture i had used both for a stuffed pepper night and a soup night.  oh man was i happy to have this on hand.

this is the sheep's mlk cheese we've been using (very sparingly).  the loud mooooooooooo that used to be in my kitche is now a very quiet baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

the only thing i will be changing next time is to mix up most of the cheese in the quinoa mixture like the recipe says and then save some to sprinkle on top.  i had the entire muffin pan filled when i realized i had left out the cheese... oh well, i just covered them all and it turned out just fine.

homemade applesauce 
mullies notes:
6 organic gala apples
1/2 c coconut palm sugar (this stuff rocks)
eyeballed cinnamon
eyeballed ground all spice

as for the ranch... well, that one is a crazy hit in the house.  i am happy to report i'll never buy it from the store again.  it's from gwen p's it's all good.  i wish i could reprint it for you...  sorry charlies:)   i searched around awhile to find another simple 5 ingredient vegan ranch recipe (couldn't find one!) and thought this might come close to being pretty tasty if you don't have the book:

homemade ranch dressing

all gonzos... with our fav bottle of vino:)

oh my word i.love.to.eat.

high fives mom!

did you notice the carrots with the green tops kept on them?  yup, they were a major hit.  MAJOR.  the entire bag was eliminated by the end of dinner.

what's up doc?!

secret tomato sauce and a new smoothie

motherhood is always a good time, isn't it?  hardy har har.  play it.

it's always a good time when your kids go to the orthodontist.  abbie got her permanent retainer/expander yesterday.  good morning and good night.

so for the next few days i'll be cooking & preparing softer food for my dearie abbie.  this is fun as long as you wake up on the right side of the bed.  abbie's teeth are super crazy crowded (she inherited spectacular orthodontic genes from us...I had the same issues and am missing 8 permanent teeth to fit them all in...please just call me pretty horse-face).  her upper jaw is too small to fit them all and her lower jaw also juts out too far from her upper = a crazy under/over bite snaggle-tooth mouth.  we had to move with treatment immediately because her bite was such that she could have chipped her front permanent teeth.  no no no.  that would not be a good time.

so, in about a month she'll be wearing a head gear at home and getting some upper brackets.   whoop whoop, it's gonna be alright.  i know, it's crazy that she is only 6!!!  but the earlier the kids are, the easier it is to move the jaw bones...later in life you have to break em to adjust em...i'll take a pass on that one!!!!  mac will be next, but he gets a removable expander...i'll stop writing now about teeth. 

i feel like i dropped my phone in the pool again and that's always a good time.

i made pasta last night and i came up with a super sauce hoping that i wouldn't even have to try and ask the kids to eat it.  what what?  is that tuna in the picture!?  that's right, i accomplished a major super spy trick last night.  check out my new saucy sauce.

it's always a good time tomato sauce/soup/dippy

inspired & adapted from nutrient rich dippies for kids

1 can tuna (or salmon/sardines/anchovies/chicken...whatever you have on hand)

2 cloves garlic

3/4 c organic evoo

1 T organic flaxseed oil

1 T organic lemon juice 

1 T apple cider vinegar

1/2 jar of tomato sauce

s&p to taste

get your magic bullet/vitamix/blender out and mix it all up!  since i have a smaller magic bullet, i mixed everything up except the tomato sauce first.  i poured the tuna mix and the sauce together in a sauce pan and heated it through.  added the s&p and boy oh boy ...my dad said, "this tastes like portillos a la vodka sauce"...oh sweet scoreage.  

hahahahaha, chris i know you're reading this - you just ate tuna last night and loved it sucker.  it's always a good time when i can trick you and the kids.  hahahahahahhaa, i didn't even have to try!!!

we poured this over brown rice noodles and the kids loved it.  it was abbie's first night with the retainer, and she is having trouble chewing, poor thing.  for lunch this morning, i heated it up, put the sauce in a thermos and wa-laaaaaaa, soup!  i can't wait to hear how it went when she gets home.  

hopefully, it was a good time.

and here's my latest and greatest smoothie:

good times berry protein blast

frozen strawberries

frozen berry blend

fruitables apple harvest juice

plant fusion vanilla bean protein powder

tommy took a header into the carpet a few days ago...nice face kid.

"thisch isch my schmoothie, tommy"  say it with a uber schloshy lischp pleasche.

genius girl. find a random water bottle lid for a "tea-cup" she says.

this is a really good smoothie mom.  thanks for making breakfast such a good time, whoooooooo!

happy friday!

go have a good time in your kitchen this weekend.  xoxo

day 30 and a foodie weekend

i am very excited about this school week.  in way, i am happy i screwed the pooch by giving her the cal-mag supplement laced with sodium benzoate.  it has been vaporized from the house f.o.r.e.v.e.r.

hopefully, her little brain is clean as a whistle now...fingers and toes crossed, butt cheeks clenched.

mac complained about not liking the new maple syrup over the weekend.  abbie was sitting next to him ready to whine and agree...  this is how i handled it:  

"mac, let me read you the ingredients of our old syrup: corn syrup, liquid sugar (natural sugar, water), water, salt, natural and artificial flavor (lactic acid), sodium hexametaphosphate, preservatives (sodium benzoate, sorbic acid), caramel color, phosphoric acid.   that stuff comes from gasoline and here is the new maple syrup bottle - (plop on the table in front of him) - this comes straight from a tree, mac.  

and feel free to read the ingredients yourself: "pure maple syrup".

his eyes got wide and he proceeded to eat with gusto, with no comments from either one.  they all asked for seconds on the pancakes.  

also interesting... there is way less syrup used now ...hmmmmmm.

i tried out another pizza crust recipe on friday.   

this one has made the cut.  

i love danielle's blog so much!

i think i rolled it out a little too thin, next time i will leave it thicker.  

I also did not have raw cashews, so i will definitely be adding those to my grocery list.  

now for the main event!!!

one of my family's favorite dishes has always been 

pork tenderloin with a peach barbecue sauce.  

i haven't made it since our food revolution.

i am super-duper-looper excited about my newly adapted and might i say, improved sauce.  

we had a family over for dinner so this meal fed four adults and six kiddos.

(how i forgot to take pictures of the meat & sauce is beyond me...)

the mullies peach barbeque sauce

2 canned peaches quartered and smashed up & drained (i used trader joe's (tj's) canned peaches and i bet fresh would rock)

3 c organic ketchup (tj's...this is approximate since i kept adding more from the original recipe link above)

2 T organic coconut oil (tj's)

2 tsp veganaise horseradish

1 tsp cider vinegar

2 T prepared organic mustard (tj's...this is also approx since i kept adding more to taste)

2/3 c sucanat

2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt (i used pink himalayan salt)

1/3 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

i think it's fun to experiment and add more of this or that while you're cooking!  so, just dump it all in a small pot and mix it up as it heats through.  once it was all combined, i kept a lid on it and simmered the sauce until it was time to eat.

full recipe notes:

i seasoned three tenderloins with a salt and pepper blend and used coconut oil to brown the meat.  

you MUST coat the tops of the tenderloins with some sauce before finishing the cooking in the oven.  

good golly miss molly it's ahhhhmazing.

here are the sides i made with dinner and the links to the recipes:

pumkin biscuits

i substituted earth's balance vegan buttery sticks and cup 4 cup gluten free flour.  i actually had a butternut squash, but just not enough time to cook that too.  so, i used canned pumpkin puree instead.

i offered honey or butter to slather on top.  delish.  thanks shannalee!!

diced purple-lishious potatoes

these little guys were in my organic produce box for the week.  i was so surprised when i cut into the first one and they were marbled all purple and white!!  (i simply drizzled evoo, kosher salt and pepper all over them and cooked them with the tenderloins).

primal banana chocolate chip cakies

these didn't turn out as thick or as light in color as heather's beautiful pictures.  

maybe i put too many bananas in...

you bettah believe i will be baking these cakies again.

totally, completely gone in 15 minutes flat.  

dippy dinner

tried something new tonight.  

tuesday is flag football night and nowadays, almost every night is wacked out, right!?

here's a fast & healthy dinner or lunch or snack i guess...why didn't i think of this before!?

cut up apples, oranges, carrots, celery and red pepper and put them out on a platter.  

i also diced up an avocado with s&p in bowls (their fav).  

i had exactly three carrot muffins left for each kiddo.

then i added the dippies:

red pepper hummus

almond butter

salsa & chips

now this night could be expanded to be sooooo much fun!!!!  and it would be easy for my hubby to prepare this without me...even bettah.

so easy, fast, simple...filled with good things and the kid get to choose.  

everyone had to try a bite of something they didn't want (my only rule). 

to have more of something, i told them they had to try the bite of the "disgusting one".  

it totally works. blackmail:)

tommy came back to the table at about 6:45 and chowed.  i'm telling you...this new philosophy for my picky eaters works.  thank you sister for passing the link along.

and here is a book review that i was told to read before my big switcheroo...

which i think i should read now:)

i fricken love not having to be at war with my kids at the dinner table.  

score