Tonight I had my hopes set on a fast and easy dinner. I was ready to slice up a Kabocha squash that I found recently (at a store, not in my closet or something) but after it’s photo shoot on the cutting board, I flipped it over to find mold growing on the bottom and a bunch of soft spots on it too.

Well alrighty then. I had a few choice words for this Kabocha squash, chucked it into the compost and moved onto the next orange fleshed vegetable on my shelves.

OK, still going for fast and easy here – tonight seemed like a good night to give my new mandolin a try and make real sweet potato fries.

Now, please note that I said this mandolin is NEW. I’ve never used this vegetable slicing contraption before. Why I thought this would fit into my “fast and easy” plans for dinner is beyond me. I didn’t bother to read the directions (somewhere my mother is groaning at me!) because that would take too long. I’ll figure it out, let’s just jump right in and get this done, OK?

After my first few attempts at slicing this sweet potato, I now had a few choice words for the potato and the mandolin too. It kept getting jammed, I kept worrying about my fingers being the next thing to be mandolined (not a word), the slices I was getting were way too short. Eventually though, it started to come together and we worked it out. By the time I got to the second potato, I was feeling like an old mandolin pro.

Look Ma! Real fries!

Onto a coconut oil greased cookie sheet and into the oven at 375.

Fries getting their bake on, I got started making my favorite fast black bean burgers with my favorite BBQ sauce.

Seriously, this stuff is the best, even if the name wouldn’t lead you to believe it’s vegetarian.

My fast and easy fries were taking their dang sweet time at 375, and after about a half hour I kicked it up 50 degrees and at 425 the sweet potatoes finally took the hint that I was expecting them to cook.

An hour later, fast and easy dinner was finally served.

To be enjoyed with the landslide of magazines I picked up at the old house yesterday.

One for the breadwinner too, whenever he gets home from winning bread.

Seems like my post is trying to take after dinner tonight.

• Two Lefts Don't Make a Right
• The Quest for the Perfect Veggie Burger
• The Opposite of Birthday Beet Juice

Well, I have no pictures of our woodland adventures today because we were not there long enough to take any pictures. Within about 10 minutes I had two very cold, cranky girls on my hands that not even a backpack full of refined carbohydrates (pretzels, granola bars, kashi crackers) could turn around. It WAS cold though, the thermostat in the car read 18 on the way home. Oh well. We tried.

Interestingly enough though, Ava said she “couldn’t wait” to go cross country skiing when we got home. Zak brought his childhood cross country skis to the house yesterday and Ava’s been in love with the idea of cross country skiing ever since.

So off she went, cross driveway skiing immediately after bailing out on our homeschooling friends because it was too cold to play outside.

Maxine stuck to her “it’s too cold” guns and we stayed inside to watch Ava and her maiden voyage on cross country skis.

I have to say, she did pretty well for her first time, especially considering how cold she was barely an hour earlier.

With our schedule suddenly clear for the afternoon, I had no choice to but get started early with dinner.

On tonight’s menu? Something I haven’t made in what feels like ages: Enchiladas!

One of the reasons I haven’t made enchiladas in a while is my reluctance to use the canned enchilada sauce that I typically use. The ingredient list on the can always make me screw up my face and put the can back down to go find something else to make instead. Tonight was no exception… but with a perfectly ripe avocado giving me the evil eye and practically daring me to make it in to guacamole, I decided to find a way around my canned enchilada sauce dilemma.

After a bit of googling and looking at the label of the enchilada sauce can for clues, I went to work making my own enchilada sauce tonight. This is what I came up with:

1 6 oz can of tomato paste
1 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 cups of water (approx)
1 tsp agave nectar
2 tbsp chili powder (more or less to taste)
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp paprika

Add tomato paste, water and spices to pan on low heat, whisk until smooth. Add spices, canola, agave, and vinegar and continue whisking until simmering, remove from heat.

I took French in high school, but I’ve watched my fair share of Dora the Explorer and I’m fairly sure that “Enchilada” is Spanish for “make a big mess on your stove”. Either that or “use a bigger pan next time, you dope.”

I ladled enough enchilada sauce into the bottom of a baking dish and then added 5 handsome enchiladas to the pan. I filled each whole wheat tortilla with refried black beans, cooked (frozen) corn, whole black beans and pepper jack cheese, swaddled them like a newborn baby and laid them into the dish on top of the sauce. More sauce ladled over tortillas and then placed them into a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes.

This recipe made more sauce than I needed, but it worked out well because I had plenty to drown these suckers with, when normally I don’t have a drop to spare when using sauce from a can.

While my enchiladas were baking, I got to work on that avocado that was giving me dirty looks.

Homemade guac consisting of 1 fork smashed avocado, 1/2 a diced onion, the juice of one lemon, 1 glove minced garlic and salt.

Guacamole is Spanish for “creamy goodness”, right?

I meant to make rice, but I forgot – by the time I remembered I didn’t care anymore so I went wild and ate my enchilada with guac, salsa and no rice.

How do you say “This is the end of my post” in Spanish?

• Not Chili
• It’s Not Even December
• Whole Wheat* Pizza Crust

After what seems like the 100th day in a row of packing and hauling toys and household items to the new house, I found myself blanking once again when it was time to figure out what on earth I was going to make for dinner tonight. I think I made 6 trips back and forth between the cupboards and the fridge with one hand glued to my cheek due to pure puzzlement. I finally waved the white flag and made giant salads of green leaf lettuce, the last of the spinach that expired two days ago, grape tomatoes, carrots, red bell pepper slices, hemp seeds and Annie’s Goddess Dressing.

After a much needed run on the indoor track first thing this morning, followed by new house related tasks, I had a root canal this afternoon on a tooth that I injured when I was a kid. Oh the timing of these sorts of things. It’s like the tooth knew I needed one more thing on my plate right now (not to mention my debit card) and has been poised and ready, waiting to become infected until just the right moment.

My appointment was with a new dentist so I had to fill out some paperwork, including a brief medical history. One of the questions I had to answer was:

Have you lost more than 10 lbs in the last year?

I was about to check the YES box before hesitating for a moment as I thought about what I weighed last December and realized that no, I haven’t lost more than 10 lbs in the last year! Yes, I lost nearly 40 lbs in 2008 – but I had reached my happy weight by the summer of 2008 and at this time last year I weighed what I do today.

These two stories tie together because of what my fall back, fast, go-to meal is these days. If you were to visit Alison of Decembers past… say December 2006 or even December 2007, my fall back meal would have been a grilled cheese sandwich and baked french fries for my “vegetable”. Not that I’m above eating grilled cheese sandwiches and white potatoes, but I know that I’ve been able to maintain my weight loss because I majorly overhauled my approach to what I once believed was healthy eating. I had to form new habits and get them to stick.

So how do you make these habits stick? We can change just about anything if we truly believe that it’s worth the effort. Knowledge is power and educating yourself is the first step toward understanding why something is worth the effort, or as the case may sometimes be, to clear up a misconception you have that is holding you back from making any progress.

These musings are pretty timely considering I’ve got guest post up on Love Veggies and Yoga today about my journey to reaching my healthy weight. Head over to Averie’s blog if out if you missed reading two posts from me today or if you just want to see some groovy pictures of Mama Averie living large in Aruba!

After I put my salad together, I spent some time with a certain 5 year old girl who relentlessly requested I play War with her until I found my white flag again and begged for mercy!

Uh oh – here we go! Dueling Kings!

This means WAR kiddo.

But awww yeah Mom and The Fallback Salad cleaned up for this round!

I was in the mood for something sweet tonight and opted for the healthiest version of a cookie I can come up with. Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel Toast topped with almond butter and a little shaved Green and Black 70% Dark Chocolate.

Little shavings get melty pretty fast!

Did you know that shaving chocolate can be a great way to save calories?

One might say you save calories because shaving chocolate is a great way to make a little go a long way. But tonight as it turns out I ate the remainder of the 6 small blocks of chocolate I broke off to do the shaving and thus saved NO chocolate calories. It turns out that you save calories shaving chocolate because you only use a little bit and (note to self:) you don’t need to break off 6 squares of chocolate for a few little shavings. Or – for crying out loud woman – put the rest of the 5 blocks of chocolate back in the fridge!

Ah well. It’s water under the bridge now! At least I won War tonight. I’ve got that going for me.

• Whensday?
• There’s Always a Silver Lining
• Say What You Mean To Say

With an active day in store for us, I used my workout time this in morning to make some head way on packing and other turning-our-lives-upside-down prep work. I got my heart rate up a couple hours later during an outdoor homeschooling mid-morning adventure with 28 extra pounds strapped to my back.

She looks thrilled, no? Let’s let this picture be a little cranky pants foreshadowing.

We met up today with our friends for a hike through the woods and to build a shelter made with sticks.

There was stick collecting, but there was also a lot of running, jumping, balancing and playing too.

After our walk and some physical labor, it was time to bust into the sack of snacks.

Can you make all of that out in there? Just the essentials for surviving in nature.

Two Kashi granola bars for Thing 1 and Thing 2, a container holding Maxine’s spilled and then retrieved the Kashi Heart to Heart cereal, a buried orange, a PB&J Larabar, a random slice of cheese, some raw (obscured in the white dish) cashews, a cell phone, a small container of mashed curried chickpeas with carrots and onions, and Kashi crackers to go with it. (Sheesh – three various Kashi producs with me today? I should be buying stock in Kashi.)

My curried chick pea snack/lunch was practically camouflaged in the leaves! Where did my lunch go??

Like I was saying, just the essentials. Nothing more, nothing less.

Maxine’s whiny-ness increased exponentially when she was freed from the warmth of Mei Tai during our lunch break. She wouldn’t stop asking to go home, despite extra layers and the offer to split the dividends of my Kashi stock. She told me she had to speak with her stock broker first, so until then – no deal.

This was the last look I got of the shelter before heading back to our friend’s house to warm up the monkey on my back. I let my first born stay behind with the other kids and parents. Together they finished covering the shelter with more sticks and leaves.

Dinner was inspired by an awesome sandwich idea from Erica at Itzy’s Kitchen!

It began with sauteing a red pepper, red onion and canned artichoke hearts in a little bit of olive oil and just a splash of Good Seasons Italian Dressing.

Once the veggies were soft, I loaded Ezekiel sprouted grain buns with the veggie mix and topped it with a little Organic Valley mild cheddar cheese and popped it into the toaster oven to get all melty.

Veggie sammies for two!

One for Zak and one for Alison. Can you tell them apart?

Artichokes were such a great idea for a veggie sandwich! It was fast and easy, the artichokes had a great meaty texture. We both agreed these will be moved into regular meal rotation.

At least I get to keep all my Kashi stock earnings. I’m going to use it buy stock in artichokes! I suggest you do the same.

• Greetings From the South Pole
• Eating Out of Their Hands
• Two Lefts Don't Make a Right

Tonight as I scoured recipes in a couple of different cook books and those in my recipe box, I had no idea what I was looking for. All I knew was that I needed something I could make with with the remaining produce in my fridge or ingredients found in my cupboard. It’s slim pickings until I get to the grocery store tomorrow to restock my personal farmer’s market.

I flipped through pages and recipe cards but nothing jumped out at me or sounded even remotely appealing. I studied recipes and ingredient lists waiting for something with “butternut squash” or “celery” or “old, wrinkled jicama” to leap out at me and flip on the light bulb over my head.

Still dark. Maybe that bulb is burned out.

Just as I was getting ready to throw myself into a heap on the floor and declare we’d be having cereal topped with wilty beet greens for dinner, I got a glimpse of the word “pizza” in the index of 1000 Vegetarian Recipes as I was slamming the book closed like a dungeon door.

Pizza? I can do pizza.

Polenta pizza was great (sort of) and I’m all in favor of wacky and crazy, healthy pizza-like concoctions. But sometimes I just want pizza. Real pizza made with gluten filled flour and cheese made with the squeezing of a cow. Pizza like they make at pizza places but without all the grease.

Isn’t there a happy medium?

Why yes there is! Healthier pizza (compared to what I’d get if I ordered pizza) but not so healthy that I’m making dough from ground sunflower seeds or cheese from soaked cashews. Is that too much to ask?

No, it’s not too much to ask! I can have normal pizza that’s sort of healthy, I just have to make it myself.

“Make it myself”, or delegate? You decide.

Tonight we used my standard recipe for pizza dough. Pizza dough use to seem so intimidating. Yeast, dough, rising, fear of crust that is as hard as a rock or reminiscent of card board – oh the things that can go wrong! Well, I’ve yet to fail with my the recipe linked above (don’t make me link it again) and I love that when I make it myself I can use organic ingredients, sub some whole wheat flour for white flour, use canola oil instead of who knows what.

Next up, let’s get saucy. Into the mini prep went a 15 oz can of organic diced tomatoes, a 4 oz can of tomato paste, a tablespoon or so of agave nectar and a little salt.

Time to shred like my girl Jillian. I’ll pass on all those fun preservatives and anti-caking chemicals that come in pre-shredded cheese, thanks. Unfortunately we did not get a pass on hormones or antibiotics tonight. Mama skipped organic mozzerella and went with the cheaper, Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone variety this time.

I just can’t bring myself to buy the 4.99 brick of cheese every time, what can I say. I’ll still shred my own block of cheese every time though – antibiotics or not!

Not only did I pass on organic cheese, but I passed on calorie counting with dinner tonight too. I just wanted to make pizza and eat pizza like a normal pizza-makin-pizza-eatin person. I didn’t want to weigh shredded mozzarella, I didn’t want to measure out flour precisely when adding a little more at the end to make it the right consistency. So I didn’t.

Kid pizza? Sauce and cheese. Done and done.

Next up, a grown up pizza. My favorite pizza toppings for a veggie pizza would be banana peppers, mushrooms and onions. But as I mentioned earlier, I’m scraping the bottom of the produce drawer until tomorrow, so I had to make do.

OK, whatta we got?

Hmmmm pineapple? Let’s do it.

Banana peppers? Yes, I believe I said that already.

Half a tomato left over from lunch? Dice it up and throw it on there.

Sundried tomatoes too? Absolutely!

What about this half of an avocado in here? Hmmm, maybe. OK, no. Save that for lunch tomorrow.

We’ve got a cucumber in here still. And some cauliflower? Um, no. I draw the line somewhere.

OK, so where’d we end up? Pineapple, banana peppers, tomatoes – both normal and shriveled varieties.

Finally – normal, health(ier) pizza time is here!

I’m usually a stickler for toys at the table but sometimes I’m a total slacker, inconsistent with the rules kind of mom. I’ll bookmark this post and email the link to their shrinks 15 years from now.

Calorie counting, organic cheese and sunflower seed crust thrown to the wind tonight – sure, what the hell, your toys can eat with us tonight. What do I care.

No pepperoni here – just toy pig on the side.

And a slice of a grown up pizza. Pineapple on pizza rocks. Try it and then come back and tell me how smart I am.

Well, I did it! Normal pizza! Made with whole wheat flour, RBGH, canola oil and some BPA from canned tomatoes. It’s a tie.

• Whole Wheat* Pizza Crust
• Whensday?
• Weekend Randomness

Where’s the place to be on a cold, dreary day?

The beach of course!

We met up with our “Get These Kids Outside Or Bust” homeschooling group and today was a true test of our pledge to get outside even in the crummiest of weather.

It was cold. It was rainy. There was whining.

Ava happily played with her friends but Maxine clung to me like a marsupial and said “I want to go home” about 100x in my ear, throwing in the occassional “I’m hungry” despite having just eaten breakfast 30 minutes earlier.

We made it about an hour in the misty rain and upper 30’s temps before finally succumbing to cold, wet feet and went back to the car for some heat and some food.

Curried Chick Pea Sandwich Spread for me – that I didn’t spread on a sandwich but ate with raw veggies instead.

Cheese sandwiches and smiles from the peanut gallery.

We enjoyed our car seat picnic and let the hot air blast us for 30 minutes before the feeling returned to my fingers again and it felt safe to put the car into gear.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert – one for each of us. Definitely feeling warmer now!

Despite today’s weather challenges, I’m still totally into this “get outside and experience nature in all kinds of weather” group we’ve hooked up with. We were unfortunately not dressed appropriately for the weather this morning – or more accurately, we weren’t dressed for the rain.

*shaking fist at weather man who mumbled “a chance of showers”*

See? I did find something else to shake my fist at today after all!

Let’s just call today a lesson, shall we?

Blast of heat + lunch = no chance of holding still for a couple pictures.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent at home – dry and inside.

For dinner tonight I made something that I’m unsure of what to call it. Sweet Potato Lentil Chili maybe? But there are no tomatoes in this. Does the lack of tomatoes disqualify this meal from taking on the title of chili? How about sweet potato lentil stew? OK. That works.

Sweet Potato Lentil Stew

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 c brown lentils, rinsed and drained
2 c vegetable broth
3 c water
chili powder, cumin, salt and crushed red pepper, to taste

Saute onions until soft, add sweet potatoes, lentils, water, broth and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until lentils are cooked. (Red lentils cook faster than green lentils if you’re in a hurry!)

Just 140 calories per 1 cup serving! This recipe made 7 servings, I had 1 1/2 servings for dinner.

This dinner was very easy, totally yummy and very filling! Especially with a tossed salad along side it.

Yeah, let’s just call this stew. The morning was chilly and I’m not in the mood for any thing else “chilly” today.

• There’s Always a Silver Lining
• Say What You Mean To Say
• Whensday?

I’d like to give special thanks tonight to my neighbors, who put up their Christmas tree the day after Halloween. This has been cause for being repeatedly peppered with the “When are we going to put our tree up?” screech question every time we come home in the dark.

Uncle! Uncle! I’m crying uncle! OK! Let’s put the tree up already!

This is the earliest I’ve EVER put up a Christmas tree. I know a lot of people put them up the day after Thanksgiving, I’ve just never been one of those people. I’m afraid I’ll turn into the Incredible Hulk and start ripping down lights and tinsel around December 23rd if I put decorations up too early.

But as luck would have it, we’ll most likely be moving into our new house the day after Christmas – which means our Christmas decorations will be coming down Christmas evening instead of New Years Day. Yes, you read that right. The day after Christmas, as in – December 26th. Merry Moving Day to us!

So, in short, we spent the afternoon getting the house decorated and pretending to be kitties knocking ornaments off the tree.

I mistakenly told them a story about the cats and that when they were kittens, they would bat at ornaments on the tree and chase them all over the house like maniac cats. Now I’ve got maniac kids pretending to be maniac cats who play baseball with our ornaments. Me and my big mouth.

Once I got the cats kids in their cages out of my hair, I got dinner started. It all began with a big ol’ spaghetti squash and a post from Zesty Cook that got me thinking about different ways to use Sun Dried Tomatoes.

Cut in half length wise and de-seeded.

Baked face down at 375 for about 40 minutes.

While my squash was baking, I got started on a sun-dried tomato sauce.

Sun Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce

3/4 c sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil – separated
1 14 oz can of artichoke hearts – separated
1/3 cup pistachios

Place about a 1/2 cup of the sundried tomatoes into the food processor and puree until fairly smooth.

Add half the can of artichoke hearts and pulse until chunky.

Chop the remaining artichokes by hand.

Combine processed tomatoes and artichokes with chopped artichokes in a separate bowl and set aside.

Remove pistachios from their shells until you have about 1/3 of a cup.

Add to food processor and pulse until you have your desired consistency. I left mine fairly chunky. Add chopped pistachios to tomato and artichoke mix and stir until well combined. Add remaining 1/4 cup of whole sundried tomatoes and set aside.

When your squash is ready, scrape out with a large spoon to get your “spaghetti”.

The sauce will be at room temperature but will warm up quickly as you add and stir in hot spaghetti squash.

Time to eat!

Dinner for two – Sun Dried Tomato and Artichoke Spaghetti Squash with a side spinach salad with tomatoes and cucumbers.

I have to admit, I’m totally in the holiday groove after decorating today. Although I think I’ve been feeling at least slightly Christmas-y since my encounter with the wall of holiday teas back in October. Maybe my neighbor saw that tea wall back in October too and it hit them a little harder than it hit me? Must be.

• Thanksgiving is Officially Over
• Not Chili
• Let’s Learn Spanish

After a roasted red pepper hummus sandwich and a side of carrot sticks with salsa for lunch this afternoon,

we were off with some friends to the local garden center for some holiday fun.

Lots of decorations to check out -

and painted plywood to stick our heads through.

We enjoyed a gigantic train display.

The adults appreciated the finer details of the model, like dirty old men and their posters.

Bums being picked up by the cops.

Guys drinking on the job.

After train spotting, it was time to move on.

There were rides to ride after all! And rides to just watch too, apparently.

Maxine chose to watch, Ava chose to ride.

One likes to bounce.

One likes to hold still.

But we finally found a ride that was Maxine approved. Mama approved too thanks to the lack of sketchy characters standing around the train scene. Although a reindeer decorating a Christmas tree seems a little sketchy, but we’ll let it slide this time.

A fun day out, but I’m afraid the day after Thanksgiving is not complete without a meal full of leftovers.

Leftovers of vegetarian stuffing and sweet potato casserole were freshened up with some steamed broccoli and cauliflower and a little sage seasoned, sauteed tofu.

Plus a small piece of apple pie!

The leftovers are gone, the last piece of pie has been eaten. Thanksgiving is officially over. Who wants a sexy lady poster for Christmas? I’m making my list and checking it twice! I already know you’re naughty, but I’m nice – Mama Claus is shopping around!

• Whensday?
• The Reasons I Had Kids
• Rest Day

My green smoothie stuck with me most of the morning, but with about two hours until dinner time – I was getting hungry. I didn’t really want to eat anything, I wanted to be good and hungry for a feast! But I didn’t want to get to dinner feeling famished either.

What’s a girl to do?

Juice is always the answer!

Carrot apple ginger juice – the perfect thing to tide me over and leave me ready to eat by 2:30.

This year we brought along our favorite Thanksgiving book, The Thanksgiving Bowl by Virgina Kroll.

Having read this book before bed every night for nearly the past three weeks, not to mention the past two Novembers, Ava and I decided it would be fun to do a Thanksgiving Bowl with our family this year.

In the book, the family writes down something they are thankful for on a little piece of paper as they arrive and place their note in a yellow Thanksgiving bowl. After dinner the grandmother reads each note and she has to guess who wrote the note.

Everyone was happy to play along and wrote down a little something while we waited for everyone to arrive and for dinner to be served.

So many amazing vegetable dishes to choose from – who got room for turkey?

After our feast, it was time for Great Granny to guess!

Want to play? You get one guess for this one!

OK, it’s a little tricky so I’ll give you a hint. The person thankful for kitties is featured in this picture.

I missed my photo op for the dessert buffet before pies were sliced and diced!

With the clean up under control and some slivers of pumpkin, apple and elderberry pie enjoyed by me, it was time for some digestion and to head out with my favorite aunt for our annual post-Thanksgiving hour long walk and talk.

Our walk was blessed with a beautiful rainbow.

And am amazing sunset.

Good food and good family.

So much to be thankful for!

I am also thankful that I probably won’t be hungry for three days. And that Thanksgiving only comes once a year.

• We Came, We Saw, We Raked
• Let There Be Light
• Laundry Catch 22

The girls were with Aunt Ellen today while I got some work done around the house. I managed to sneak in 45 minutes of Runner’s Yoga before I left to pick them up with plans to run some errands on the way home.

We were out longer than I expected. By the time we got back some of us were pretty cranky. Some of us were pretty hungry too. And some of us were all of the above.

I had nothing planned for dinner. What else is new. After a quick scan of the produce drawer I pulled out a green pepper, mushrooms, onions and tofu and got to work.

Veggies were chopped into large pieces and then sauteed in some olive oil and veggie broth until they softened up.

I rummaged the spice cupboard for cumin, chili powder, oregano and red pepper flakes to add to the mix.

Once the vegetables were nearly done I added 1/2 a block of extra firm tofu, sliced into thin strips. At the last minute I threw in some jarred jalapenos and stirred gently so the tofu pieces wouldn’t break up too much.

20 minutes after walking in the door, veggie fajitas were hot and ready. It’s about time! I’m cranky! And hungry!

Into a warm whole wheat tortilla with a little salsa. x2.

This meal was fast and filling and totally worth the salsa stain on my shirt.

Not only do I cook fast, but I eat fast too. Now if I could just do laundry fast I’d be all set.

• We Came, We Saw, We Raked
• True or False
• Thanksgiving is Officially Over