Tag Archives: tantilizing tuesdays

Live Solefully:: Day 18 ~ Have a Plan

18 Oct

So It’s Tuesday the second full week of October and I’m finally feeling like I’ve got my groove back on with planning meals, the kids daily routine and my own work/fitness routines.  We have two more weeks of our farm share and since this is our 4th year participating I know what is coming for sure…squashes, potatoes, carrots  and any root veggies you can think of.  So many of my recipes center around those items.  A few of the dinner I will make two and freeze one for another dinner. 

Here’s what’s on the menu this week… Enjoy!

M. Cheddar-Topped Shepard’s Pie

via {Martha Stewart}

 T.  Pasta with Peas and Chives

via {real simple}

W.   Grilled Chicken with Spaghetti Squash and Almonds

via {real simple}

T.  Brinner….Breakfast for Dinner~ Crunchy Cinnamon French Toast  (another request from the birthday boy!)

via {Country Living and Delish}

 

F.  Dinner Out!  This Sole Momma needs a break!

Sweet Treat!  Smore Cup Cakes  These were a request from #3.  His 5th birthday and first big boy party are this week!  Deets to come in another post! 

via {glorious treats}

So Can you guess what the message for Day 18 is? Living Solefully means…having a plan.  Menu Plan that is.  :)  It’s a good thing!

Living Solefully:: day 5 Fall Recipes…

5 Oct

I’ve gotten out of the habit of posting my weekly menus under Tantalizing Tuesday’s.  If your new here or visiting be sure to check out my weekly menus and printable recipes under the Tantalizing Tuesday tag at the left.  You’ll be sure to find something delicious!  However we have a few more weeks of our organic farm share and then it’s done for the year.  I love it so much but I am kinda fresh veggied out.   Although winter isn’t my favorite time of year.  I do start to crave the warm meals that simmer and make the house smell fabulous.  Last night I roasted two heads of garlic for breads and such.  The house smelled amazing. :)

Below are some recipes I am putting on the menu board to make this week. 

Sun. Roasted Chicken with Chestnuts

via martha stewart

Mon.  Roasted Sweet Potato Soup with Curried Apples  We just got some butternut and acorn squashes this week in our farm share and I cannot wait to try this!

via whole living

Tues.  Seven-Onion Soup  with Rustic Gruyere Croutons

via whole living

Wed.  Autumn Pork Tenderloin  (we had this our friends house a few weeks ago….AWESOME!!! Thanks Patti its a keeper.  No Pic sorry~ but trust me yum!

Thurs.  Chicken Leek and Mushroom Casserole  (we’ve gotten a lot of leeks the past few weeks so I found this recipe and am looking forward to trying it!)

Fri: Pizza for the kiddies.  Wine and cheese, movie date night for the adults!

Sweet Treat:  Pecan Short Bread Cookies!  I know these may seem not as seasonal as pumpkin bread or apple pie.  But my thought was I could freeze some for Thanksgiving.  AHHH did I just write that? Thanksgiving crazy!

via delish.com

Do you have a favorite fall recipe?  Please share!

Blueberries and Zucchini!

8 Aug

Well it’s that time of year…the summer is starting to wind down.  The days are getting shorter the zucchini is multiplying by the bushel full and like everyone else I’m thinking “hey summer where did you go?”  I literally have 2 weeks and 6 days until my kiddies are back to school.  My summer fun list has kinda dwindled, but still has many things on it that we just didn’t get too and I’m running out of steam.  But one item on our list that I have been wanting to do is blueberry picking.  Blueberry season is starting to dwindle here in the north-east, but there are blueberries to be picked if you have the patience. 

I decided I would try going in the evening vs day time.  It’s been in the upper 80′s and 90′s for the past few weeks. I knew if I took them during the day they would be complaining after 10 minutes, and that’s not fun for anyone.  So tonight we headed out, bug spray in hand and had the best time!  It was so quite, hardly anyone there. The kids were really into it.  They each had their own personal picking bucket and it was funny to listen to their bantering conversations.  Some of their chit-chat was too cute…”omg this one is totally huge”, “wow I’ve hit the mother load”, “this one is rainbow”, “this bush has a hundred million”, “ahhh this ones guts are coming out”.  My daughter caught a toad and she proceeded to carrying it around.  I felt so bad for that toad.  He kept trying desperately to hop away.  He must have fallen out of her hand 5 or 6 times.  I finally was able to convince her to put him back under the bushes.  But he (the toad) will have a great survival story to tell and a headache for sure.

 We picked 3.75 lbs of blueberries! WOW- and it only cost $8.48.  Now the fun begins… what to make with all those berries.  Some will get frozen for sure.  Other will be made into treats for our trip to Block Island later in the month! 

Here are some things I plan to make a Cucumber-Blueberry Smoothie for myself tomorrow morning. Blueberry Sour Cream Pound Cake, and Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins.  I’ve also gotten requests from the “peanut gallery” for blueberry pancakes.  If you have a great blueberry recipe please share, I’m always willing to try something new.  

Some Summer Fav’s and a few T.T. Recipes!

6 Jun

I have to first apologize for my lack of posting on TT (tantalizing tuesday).  Like all mom’s I’ve gotten a bit overwhelmed with the last few weeks of school.  Running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  Dinners here have been grab and go, breakfast for dinner, or grilled, grilled and more grilled food.  Our microwave kicked the bucket.  I had it working for a while after beating the crap out of it.  Literally.  But now it’s hummed its last hmm.  Which puts us in two problematic areas.  1.  Menu planning.  I now have to not only have meals planned, but know the night before what I want to make so I can get the defrosting started.  Which lets just say, I like to menu plan and then decide daily what fits into the routine.  Planning that far ahead takes the mental strength of a saint.  2.  We are now contemplating all new appliances.  But you can;t have new appliances without new counter tops, new cabinets…you see where I’m headed.  So it’s been challenging.  But were surviving.  Just like Mary Ingalls did without a microwave, “in the olden days”…LOL!

But in terms of food I have started wracking my brain for poolside snacks and meals.  As I have shared in previous posts we belong to a pool club and we have already started to send countless hours there.  I need to have snacks that are portable and healthy.  The snack bar is great for a quick treat, but we can’t be ordering from their everyday can we? No.  So here are a few recipes and products I found that are going to help me get organized and feed the kids healthy foods all summer long. 

First I found these awesome kid friendly Bento Boxes from Lap Top Lunches.  A mommy team created the perfect on the go snack and lunch container set.  It’s made in California and is BPA and Lead free and do not contain phthalates or PVC.  Awesome!   I really think these will be a hit with my kiddies.  Each child will have their own bento box, (color coded per child of course) with their preference of snacks packed inside.  This way there’s no crying over who got the last grape or ate two Go-Gerts. 

Another fun thing about summer is my kiddies ask for dessert.  As a dietitian I usually do not do dessert every night.  But in the summer I tend to be a little more lax as they can run around outside with it, thus leaving the mess there as well.  This is an awesome product from Williams Sonoma, the Zoku Quick Pop Maker.  This fun freezer allows you to create your own customized frozen pops in about 7 minutes. This means wholesome fruit pops.   You can make them, saran wrap, but into a baggie or Tupperware and freeze for later use! Wouldn’t you be the coolest mom at the pool with these babies!

Lastly a few recipes!

A No Bake Cookie from Eating Well.com  A perfect addition to my bento boxes!

{eating well.com}

 

For mom and dad pool side… edamame and ginger dip.  Like humus but better!

{via eating well.com}
What are some of your favorite beach or pool side treats!  Leave them in the comments.  I’m sure we’d all love some great ideas!

Tantalizing Tuesday is Back!

10 May

With the crazy spring season upon us even I…the menu planner, can get caught up in the hustle and bustle of kids sports, meetings, recitals and forget to take the time to plan.  Let’s face it it makes a huge difference in the functionality of your day if you have a plan.  It reduces stress and allows for more healthful food choices, not to mention saves money.  Because eating out and ordering food isn’t cheap!

So with that said here’s my menu for the week for May 9th

grapefruit and avocado salad pic via {i village}

m. pink grapefruit and avocado salad

tu. cinnamon chicken with raita

wed.  turkey taco salad (adults will have the salad and the kids tacos)

thr.  linguine with asparagus and pine nuts

fri.  chickpea burgers with tahini sauce (my kids love these- we call them crabby patties :) )

sweet treat~ chocolate crunch (salty sweet and antioxidants too! whoot whoot!)

chocolate crunch pic via {eating well}

 

You can grab the weekly printable recipe cards here!  Tantalizing.Tuesdays.week11 Have a great week.

O.M.G Doesn’t really say it all…

20 Apr

It’s been a crazy week! First off the kids have spring break which means I’m full-time “fun maker mommy”.  Mommy make me breakfast, mommy make me lunch, mommy make me dinner…make me “red jello” (yes that was a request)…help me play a game, color, make a craft…mommy teach me to sew…(yes another actual request).  Plus we were 1 kiddo down, had to cancel her birthday party.  The flu took down Sophie for 6 solid days last week and the poor thing still isn’t 100%.  But we persevered and had a birthday party for her big brother Ben at laser tag for twelve 10-year-old boys. 
PLUS and this is a B- I- GGGG plus, on Tuesday morning my computer died. Yup. I was getting a “hard drive not found message”. Sheer and utter panic. All my pictures, files, everything in this rectangle box, gone? not found?! Much to everyone’s horror, I had nothing backed up in ….wait for it… 4 years! Yup, pic’s of my kids, holidays, my youngest sons birth photos gone. I was paralyzed. So sick to my stomach that I could be sooo stupid as to not back it up.

Luckily my hubby a computer geek by trade, took the little rectangle box and tried to get it up and running.  After numerous attempts to get it going with the same horrible error message he opened the back-up, looked at the “guts”, wiggled some wires and we were able to get a connection!  Our first task- BACK it Up!

So hence no Tantalizing Tuesday~ on Tuesday.  But what I was going to share with all of you was my menu for our Easter Morning Egg Hunt brunch.  We will be doing an Easter Egg hunt with our neighbors which is super fun.  We live 1 house apart on main street in our town.  The house between us is an antique store so we hide eggs between the three houses.  Last year I  worried that people walking by on the sidewalk would take them, because the Easter bunny hid them the night before.  But they didn’t, thankfully and it was so cute to see the kids running up and down the street!  That’s why we bought this house to have moments like that. 

egg hunt 2010

So without further a due… My simple menu for the Easter Morning Egg Hunt!  Enjoy!

Quick Easy Juice Bar pic {via martha stewart}

 

fresh citrus juice bar, coffee, tea

cinnamon doughnuts from Dotties Diner    (voted best doughnut in Connecticut)

orange kisses    I make these every Christmas and Easter a breakfast tradition.  It’s the only reason I keep my bread machine.  They are TDF!

mixed berry bowl

quiche or strata… I’m not sure of what kind yet- I’m choosing between these three- asparagus, leek and gruyere quiche, mushroom and fontina cheese quiche or carmelized onion and goat cheese strata. 

That’s it- no muss, no fuss!  I want to be able to run around and enjoy my kiddies and not be slaving in the kitchen!  I mean someone needs to find the Golden Egg!

And just because I now have them… a few photos of my kiddies last year on Easter.

Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Spring!  May god bless you and your family during this time of spring renewal.

 

“T” for Tuesday

12 Apr

Hello everyone!  I’m back with the 10th addition of Tantalizing Tuesdays!  Wow- that’s over 50 recipes I have shared with all of you. I hope your trying some of these and that they help planning your weekly meals.   This week I have been wracking my brain on what to make.  I’m in between spring cooking mode and late winter cooking mode.  However it was 75 degrees here yesterday.  Everyone was out and about walking, running, biking, driving with the windows down, convertibles open I knew I had to change some of my recipes.  With that said, my menu changed a little bit.  I added a hint of spring and lighter foods.  The poached eggs with spinach is a great “go-to” meal for lunch or dinner.  The brown rice pudding is my favorite health conscious comfort food.  This dessert is made with soy milk and is a super healthy treat for those raw damp spring days.

poached eggs with spinach pic via {martha stewart}

The menu for week of April 11th 2011

m. hummus and vegetable sandwiches with sweet potato fries

t. poached eggs with spinach and tomato

w.  tortilla soup

thr. all veggie burritos

f.  spiced cod with broccoli and quinoa

sweet treat~ brown rice pudding

brown rice pudding pic {via martha stewart}

Grab the printable recipes here!  Tantalizing.Tuesdays.week10 

And make sure you come back tomorrow as I will have my first in a series of features with exceptional “sole mommas“.  These features will bring to you the stories of unbelievable woman who juggle health, fitness and family one step at a time!  Happy Tuesday!

Something New for Tantalizing Tuesday!

5 Apr

This week we have something different for Tantalizing Tuesday.   I am embarking on a new eating plan to get my body leaner.  This means less “cheating” and more eating.  Yes you read that correctly.  Sounds like a oxymoran I know,  but it’s true.   You have to fuel your body to get results.  In this case I want to light my metabolism on fire!  I need to increase my frequency of meals trying to get in 3 meals and 3 snacks.  This is not going to be easy for a girl who can also be known as “the skipper”.  I’m more likely to under eat than over eat, which logically sounds like it should work for weight loss, however it is the opposite.  The less you eat, especially under 1000 calories your body thinks it’s starving and desperately holds onto any and all food you put into your mouth.  But when you eat up to your metabolism your body burns more calories at rest.   So instead of giving you 5 dinner meals I am going to give you 5 healthy snacks!  Why because I had to plan this out for me…and I thought what the heck you might be interested too. 

Quick Snacks for Week 9~ April 2011!

m. Cashew-Strawberry Crunch

pic via {real simple}

tu.  Pineapple and Pistachios

pic via {real simple}

 Extra benefit…both dried fruit and nuts are great sources of antioxidants!

wed. Creamy Feta-Walnut Dip

pic via {real simple}

th. Spiced Up Hummus

pic via {M.S. whole living}

fri. Four-Berry Salad

pic via {M.S. whole living}
sweet treat~ gotta have it!  Chocolate-Banana Grahams

pic via {eating well}

You can grab the printable recipes here!  Tantalizing Tuesday- week9 Quick Snacks  Booyah!

Tantalizing Tuesday…ok Wednesday- sorry! :)

29 Mar

Updated! Hello all- Ok so it’s not Tuesday…its very very early Wednesday morning (1:20am) eek! But I got this posted :) . Maybe you can cut the girl some slack this week. Time seems to slip away quickly when there’s 3 kiddies to run all over gods green earth, feed, bathe, read to, check home work…. you know the drill. But the recipes I picked this week are quick meals given the circumstances, but I think you’ll like them! Let me know if you make anything!

Portobello Burger {via ivillage}

the menu~ march- april 2011 week 8

m. salad with quick ginger dressing

t. chili-glazed pork with sweet potato hash

w. portobello cheeseburgers (my kids LOVE these!)

th. pasta with escarole

f. quinoa tabouli (my kids love quinoa, go figure!)

sweet treat ~ raisin scones

Raisin Scones {via i village}

Well- I hope you enjoy these! I cannot wait to make the scones! (Yea I’m craving those bad boys!)

Grab the recipes here Tantalizing.Tuesdays.week8

~ Cheers!

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