Get Your Own Food, Kid!

Most mornings I feel like a viking who just came back from war and hasn’t eaten in days, which can be a good and a bad thing. Good, because it means I finally fixed my metabolism, and bad because I’m yelling “I want to eat NOW” in my Veruca Salt voice (for all you Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fans) while I’m impatiently cooking my eggs or warming up my meal prep breakfast. 

Inevitably, as soon as I sit down to eat my food, my boys, who have usually already eaten their own breakfast, appear hovering and sniffing. “Mom, that smells really good!” For those of you who are not moms, that is code for, “Can I have some?” I used to want to snap at Jacob or Jude and say, “Get your own food, kid!” But that was before I came up with this "guilt-free" omelet recipe. 

Why did I name this dish “guilt-free”, you ask? Well, because I pride myself on making my kids’ breakfast instead of shoving something pre-packaged down their throats every morning. Knowing that my children are not eating empty calories for breakfast makes me feel like I am earning my “mommy stripes”. And with this recipe, I don’t have to be guilted into slaving over a hot stove every morning to be a good mom. Having this simple, healthy breakfast option readily available is a must for any busy mom. It will put hangry viking mom to rest and allow nice mommy to say, “Help yourself my love, there is more in the fridge."

Practice What You Preach

“What is that? I've never tried that before,” I think to myself as I speed walk around the produce section of my local food store  (to get the most out of my daily step intake, of course) for the 100th time this week.  And it hits me: I'm constantly pushing, nudging, semi-threatening (not really!) my children to try new veggies to expand their palette while there are still plenty of new things for me to try too. It's a great lesson for all moms, I believe, to not only teach your children to try new things but to also discover how beneficial new foods can be for your own mind and body. Play a quick game of charades while circling the produce section. Your kids will think it's a new game, it's guaranteed to provide a few laughs and you might just find a new favorite food. 

 P.S. My gooses thought I looked like a pre-historic bug. 

View fullsize

Dragon Fruit Defined: White-fleshed pitahaya (Hylocereus-undatus) is commonly called dragon fruit or strawberry pear. In Latin America, this member of the cactus family is also known as pitahaya blanca. Both the juicy white flesh and the tiny black seeds distributed across the flesh of the drag fruit are edible and nutritious. Dragon fruit is also low in calories and can offer several health benefits when consumed in moderation and as a part of a balanced diet. 

Dragon Fuit Smoothie Recipe

• 8 oz of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 5 frozen strawberries
• 1 cup of your dragon fruit (cut up)
• 1/2 - 1 scoop of your protein powder
• 1 tablespoon of chia seeds
• 1/2 banana

Smoothie Xtras:

• 2 teaspoons of coconut shavings
• 1 tablespoon of your cut up dragon fruit

1. Blend all of your ingredients together until your mixture becomes blended and frothy. 

2. Pour your smoothie mixture into a tall (cold) glass - I like to place my cup in the freezer while I am preparing my smoothie. 

3. Make sure you SIT and ENJOY!

Pro Tip: What do I do with this extra fruit? You can freeze, cut up the extra half and make another smoothie tomorrow or add it to your dinner salad. 

Laundry: Mountain v. Mole Hill

It's Monday (i.e. #dontstopjustgo). I drop off The Gooses at school and the moment I walk back through my door, I go into "laundry mode," grabbing every bathroom hand towel, throw blanket and kitchen towel, combing through everyone's bedroom floors, checking under beds, semi-organizing the toy bins while I find random socks and balled-up t-shirts from a fun-filled weekend of free play. I think the boys will use anything as a basketball. I don't know why I'm surprised to find a single, lonely Nike basketball sock between the couch cushions. Why, why, why and how did that even get there? Yup, boys will be boys, I tell myself. There is a feeling of satisfaction when all the dirty clothes are completely gathered and ready to be sorted. I tend to look at that as a completed obstacle, and have to admit, I feel kinda good about myself. I'm one step closer to accomplishing my end goal. As a mom and devoted wife, I find myself always asking fellow women about their view on laundry and getting many of the same responses. Personally, I've found that if I wash and fold at least 1-2 loads of laundry daily, I will reach my goal by Saturday morning. Obviously, everyone has a different view on the subject. I just tend to get overwhelmed when I see that mountain of laundry to wash and fold when I miss even just a day. It can easily turn into the mountain v. mole hill complex, so I try to think of the laundry chore as a challenge that I want to conquer. Sometimes I don't reach my goal, but striving never killed anyone. It just made them strive harder the next day. 

Easter Egg FAIL

View fullsize

View fullsize

It was February 21st, and I had already purchased my Easter Egg dying kit. I bought into the store's marketing scheme and totally caved, buying the first dying kit I saw. “This year, I'm going to be ahead of the game. This year, my kids will forget that I left them for 3 months to shoot a reality show. This Easter will be the BEST EASTER EVER.”  I'm talking to myself, literally out loud in my local food store, "This year I am going to have to close my eyes and use a whole lot of Red Dye #98!" Bright side is that I was on track to succeed: I cooked my dozen organic eggs on Good Friday, we had our annual family bible study that taught my children about the empty tomb by baking "Empty Tomb Cookies," their baskets were wrapped with all the cute trimmings, my Easter table was set, and even my basket of plastic eggs was filled and ready to go for Sunday’s annual hunt. There was no way I could mess this up ... until I did. Monday morning came and I noticed that after all that, I totally never got around to dying eggs with my gooses. Ugh Mom Fail #7598 and Easter Fail #2. While a part of me wanted to dump them in the trash and punish myself for being forgetful, I looked for the bright side instead. I peeled those eggs and made a fabulous, guilt-free hash for myself and with some leftover Easter ham, had breakfast for my boys for the next few days. I realized that there will always be another Easter to dye eggs, and watch my favorite movie, HOP (fail #1), with the gooses. When the other “egg” finally drops in GG land, just make them into an Eggcellent Hash! 

Eggcellent Easter Hash

• 1 hard boiled egg, chopped
• 2 hard boiled egg whites, chopped
• 1 cup of pre-cooked spaghetti squash 
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1/2 of a small shallot, thinly sliced
• Fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2-3 slices of a haas avocado
• 2 slices of a tomato

1. Heat up your frying pan on medium heat. Spray the entire pan with spray canola oil.

2. Add your garlic and shallots. Cook just enough until the garlic and onions start to get warm.

3. Add your cooked spaghetti squash,to the garlic and onion sauté.

4. Season with salt and pepper. Mix all the friends in your pan, until everyone is happy and getting along.

5. Add your chopped eggs & whites to your spaghetti squash party. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice over your spaghetti squash hash. 

6. You should be hearing the party getting loud now. At this point, you are just warming up your ingredients. Remove from heat the moment your spaghetti squash starts to brown on the edges. 

7. Plate and serve with a sliced tomato, avocado, and quick squeeze from your BFF, lemon juice.  This meal is about 300 calories with zero guilt, unlike a local greasy spoon’s potato hash.