We Called in Sick

October 26th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (3 Comments)

We didn’t have anything official on the agenda today, so we didn’t really call in sick. But we’ve been goofing around today for sure. Stay at home mom’s and homeschooled kids get a day off once in a while too, right?

Right.

We had breakfast together, we got dressed and then we went about our business.

The girls set up shop in the upstairs foyer.

Set Up Shop

I found Barbie hanging from the register in the kitchen. When I asked no one in particular what this was all about,

Hang Up Barbie

Maxine responded, “So I know where she is.”  Read more...

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Tomorrow We Run With Zombies

October 21st, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (5 Comments)

In preparation for running from zombies tomorrow, we hit up the only logical place for dinner tonight.

Actually, in preparation for running from zombies tomorrow, first I dropped the girls off with Aunt Ellen, then I picked up The Man and we hit the bar.

Vegetarian Bar

The veggie bar at Wegmans. If I hope to ditch any zombies tomorrow, greens tonight are a must!

Veggie Bar

This is one of my favorite places to eat in town. No place else can I load my plate up with greens and then pile on a ton of fun stuff.  Read more...

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Destination Marathon Food Prep

October 7th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Life - (2 Comments)

T minus 36 hours until Steamtown, tonight has been all about getting ready for a three hour road trip to Scranton, PA tomorrow and then a 26.2 mile race on Sunday.

I’m definitely excited to run this marathon, but I ain’t gonna lie – I’m plenty nervous too, mostly about my knee. I’ve been stretching my IT Band like Gumby on an organic taffy pulling machine and am pleased to report I’m currently pain free – but still.

I mean, that’s sounds like good news, right? I thought so too, but then I started listening to the horror stories my friend Google tells me when I search for “running a marathon with ITBS”.  Read more...

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Salad Habits

September 29th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (5 Comments)

There are plenty of good reasons to eat a salad – but I know that if I don’t make salad eating easy, it’s less likely to happen.

I went a stretch of days without eating a salad (gasp!) and it took me a second to realize it was because I’d fallen behind on food prep.

Salad Prep

I’m all caught up now though!  A bunch of greens have been torn up and washed and are ready to go – now I’ve got a couple days worth of leafy handfuls to throw into large bowls and then doll up for quick and healthy meals.  Read more...

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Kale Chips

September 22nd, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin' - (3 Comments)

Today at CSA pick up we were told, “We have TONS of Kale – don’t be shy!”

CSA Kale

Well you’re in luck!  I am not shy.

So ummm, yeah.  After I saw just how much kale I actually brought home, I then saw two options –

Option A: move through a serious amount of kale in short order or

Option B: figure out how I was going to get the fridge door shut.

I went with Option A and officially added kale to tonight’s dinner menu.  One of the things that’s so awesome about kale is the same thing that’s awesome about spinach –  it reduces down to practically nothing upon cooking.  Read more...

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Stuff It, Quinoa

September 7th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (1 Comments)

When I bought my bag of flax seed over the weekend, I snagged a bag of another now-infamous pseudo-grain/seed –>

Arrowhead Mills Quinoa Black Bean and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

oh, Quinoa – it’s been a while!

And with quinoa in my cupboard, suddenly I had quinoa stuffed peppers on the brain. That meant digging through the blog archives to remind myself how I made Quinoa Stuffed Red Peppers in the past.

Ummm, that was like my second post. Ever.

Nostalgia rules. Stuffed peppers make me drool.  Read more...

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Leftover Lentil Burger Leftovers

August 23rd, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (5 Comments)

A great way beat the leftover blues is to create something new and different with your uneaten foodstuffs from a previous meal.

Thanks to a big scoop of rolled oats, lentil tacos from Sunday were turned into lentil burgers last night.

Lentil Tacos Turned Lentil Burgers

With oats stirred in to the last of the lentil taco filling and then given a few minutes to sit, they’ll very generously soak up the sauce and thicken up. It’s then easy to form the mixture into patties with your hands.

Cooked in a lightly oiled pan for about 15 – 18 minutes, flipped a couple of times.  Read more...

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White Bean Garlic and Rosemary Spread

August 15th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (Comments Off on White Bean Garlic and Rosemary Spread)

One day last week I read a post by blog friend Erin who shared a simple recipe for a white bean dip.  Seriously simple, seriously fast and seriously delicious-looking, thus totally qualifing as the perfect unplanned dinner.

Beans, herbs, salt, oil, into the food processor, contents scraped into a bowl, veggies prepped, Ezekiel bread into the toaster oven.  On the table for a fast summer meal for the man before running out the door to my favorite yoga class mere moments after he got home from work.  I didn’t even have a chance to sample a single bite.  Read more...

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Have Salad – Will Travel

July 27th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (Comments Off on Have Salad – Will Travel)

We just returned from a child-free vacation/mini-adventure.  Our travel itinerary included a wedding, an Ironman, plus two additional carefree days with zero parental responsibilities and a bunch of down time thanks to the generosity and support of some very loving and caring family members.

(did you hear the tires squealing as we tore ass out of the driveway before anyone could change their mind?)

So I’m back!  And here today with a few healthy travel tips before my brood returns and life returns to “normal”.

Pack Your Own Food

Preparing food from home can save you time, money and unknown food options while on the road.  Read more...

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If You Choose to Accept It

July 20th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin' - (7 Comments)

It felt like I was on a mission trying to collect all the ingredients to make The Brendan Brazier Salad.

Good thing a salad mission is exactly my kind of mission.

I already had a bunch of the usual salad suspects on hand:

Not Salad Newcomers

Spinach, kale, a variety of greens (including arugula!) cucumber, avocado, beets, hemp seeds.

Whoops, I almost forgot the carrots!

Eat Me

Boy Carrots, you sure are bossy. And kind of rude.

These were the guys I had to hunt down.

Vega EFA oil

Dulse, Vega Antioxidant EPA oil blend and lentil sprouts.  Read more...

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