Tag Archives: cooking

Simple Elements of Our Thanksgiving Tradition

12/01/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

Yeah yeah, I know, Thanksgiving was last week and Black Friday and Cyber Monday are already in the past. Unless, that is, you count the desperate retailers “extending” Cyber Monday through the week. Ugh……..I love to hate it. Hey, it’s hard to say no to something you want that’s on sale, right?

I’ve enjoyed not worrying so much about getting a blog post out there, but missed it at the same time. Another love to hate thing I guess. Anyway, we hosted a whole two people for Thanksgiving, my mom (G-Ma) and little brother (Uncle Preston).

As you can see, Uncle P was very into the Thanksgiving spirit. He was trying to get tickets to the Cowboy’s game or at least go tailgating at the stadium, but no luck with tickets and the rain stopped any tailgating action. So Plan B (or would it be C?) was our house. Despite being 3rd choice, I’m happy he joined us as I feel we never get enough brother time.

I think it’s best Uncle Preston missed paying to see our Cowboys lose to the Panthers anyway. It was a disappointing game (especially for Romo, ouch!), but that didn’t dampen the spirits of G-Ma and Avery.

These two had a lot of playtime together which, as you can see, made both of them happy. It also wore G-Ma out; it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep that night. So much for watching How I Met Your Mother with us!

I was a little tired too since I wanted to take on making all of the Thanksgiving spread. It’s stressful, but it’s how I like to do things. I looked like this for a lot of the day….

Thankfully, I had these lovely girls to keep me company as they snacked and patiently waited.

Maybe “patiently” is not the best word for Avery. She kept giving me that staredown.

After spending a good hour carving the 14 pound beast of a turkey (hey, it’s a lot for 4 1/2 people) and keeping bones to make slow-cooker bone broth, we were finally ready to eat. If it wasn’t for my awesome wife getting everything heated, set out and setting the table, it would’ve easily been another hour of waiting.

Our Thanksgiving spread, and what I’m hoping will become tradition in our home, included:

A free-range organic turkey roasted in the oven
Goat cheese mashed potatoes
Mashed cinnamon sweet potatoes
Crock Pot cumin black beans
Roasted Brussels sprouts
Sugar-free spiced cranberry sauce (I used a can of Orange Zevia that turned out awesome)
Crustless NuttZo pumpkin pie squares (I used blended steel cut oats and gelatin to thicken)

I was happy with how everything turned out, and judging by how everyone went back for seconds (thirds for Uncle P), I’d say so was everyone else. Can you guess my favorite dish?

Probably a tie between the Brussels and turkey. Although, when paired with the cranberry sauce, I say the turkey was and is my favorite part. Oh, and the NuttZo pumpkin pie squares were up there. So much so that I forgot to take a pic before digging in.

Going Mom had our camera setup with her new tripod and remote shutter release to capture our quaint Thanksgiving gathering.

Oops, that’s one of the 1000 times Avery got a hold of the remote. Here we are actually ready for the shot…..

Avery was a little blurry, but we call it a win just for the fact that she turned around. She kept busy eating turkey and mashed potatoes with her hands on her blue plate.

But she had an important phone call on G-Ma’s phone that she had to take at the table.

Probably already talking to her toddler peers about how to delay going to bed. We’re currently experiencing this part of the toddler phase; I’ll go into more detail later.

It was nothing extravagant, but that’s exactly how we wanted it. Good, healthy food made from scratch being shared with loved ones. I’m forever grateful to be able to spend it with my beautiful wife.

And of course my crazy beautiful daughter, mom, and little (who’s bigger than me) brother.

I’m hoping to do the same spread for the fast approaching Christmas meal with the same loved ones too. The only change we’re considering is making a ham instead of turkey. I love turkey, and the bone broth is awesome, but geez, it sure it time consuming for the entire process! I’m not sure yet, but will have to figure it out soon….after getting my gift buying complete. Ahhh!

Do you have large or small gatherings for the holidays?

What do you think? Turkey or ham for Christmas?

Going Healthy, NuttZo

Healthy Single Serving NuttZo Oatmeal Cake Recipe

11/21/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

It’s pretty clear that the Going Family loves both NuttZo and Oatmeal, so it only makes sense to combine the two into a healthy, tasty and transportable treat. I’m not trying to win any creativity awards here, just make something the whole family will love and won’t take forever to put together.

And that’s just what I did. Voila!

The unfrosted version is better for transporting. Trust me.

Nothing fancy, but damned delicious. If you’re enjoying at home, why not put some healthy Greek yogurt frosting on that NuttZo-atmeal cake?

Need a better view?

Oatmeal Cake with Yogurt Frosting 2 — Topped with cinnamon and looking lovely. Make it go away…….via eating

I wanted a recipe for a super peanut buttery and healthy oatmeal cake, and am very pleased with the end result….so are Kelley and Avery!

NuttZo Oatmeal Cake

Ingredients

– 1/2 cup rolled oats

– 1 T melted NuttZo

– 1/4 tsp baking powder

– 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

– 1/2 tsp cinnamon

– 2 packets or 1 T stevia powder, 8 – 12 drops liquid stevia, or, if you want to use sugar, 1 – 2 tablespoons honey or brown sugar

– 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, pumpkin puree, or mashed banana (Plain yogurt works well too)

– 1/4 cup unsweetened almond or other milk of choice

– Small dash of salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all ingredients together until well incorporated. Let sit 5 – 10 minutes to allow oats to absorb liquid

Pour into one of the muffin molds in a muffin tin, 1-cup ramekin (or use a glass baking dish like I used), or just spread flat on a baking sheet for a crunchy treat. Make sure you use non-stick bake ware, spread coconut oil, or non-stick spray before pouring batter into device of choice.

Cook for 25 – 30 minutes; the top should have a nice light brown and the whole cake will feel firm. You can set your oven to broil and let cook about 3 – 4 minutes for a crispier crust; reduce baking time by 5 minutes if you do this.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing.

For a quicker version, use a microwave-safe container and microwave mixture for 5 minutes.

What happens when you let your wife/kid try a "bite" — What happens when you let your wife/kid try a “bite”

This cake is bliss on its own, but try smearing more NuttZo or nut butter of choice on top for extra nuttiness! Or, get a little more creative with a banana and peanut butter mashed together and smeared on top.

Try your favorite spread and let me know what you come up with. Have fun with the flavors and making this cake.

What? You want to try the Greek Yogurt Icing? Ok, it’s extremely easy; just like this recipe…..

Greek Yogurt Icing

Mix 2 cups plain Greek Yogurt (non, low, or full fat will work) with one of the following to suit your preferences:

– 1/2 cup melted NuttZo, other nut butter, or peanut flour for peanut butter icing

– 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder (preferably organic and sweetened with stevia) and 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

– 1/2 cup chocolate protein powder (preferably organic and sweetened with stevia), 2 tsp cacao powder, and 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

– 1 very ripe mashed banana and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

– 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger and nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp cloves

I love the single serving recipes, but just double, triple, or quadruple the measurements to make more. This would be a perfect Thanksgiving breakfast you make in a hurry since we all know the rest of the day can get hectic fast! Try making the entire mix the night before so you can cook first thing in the morning.

Food, Life, Parenting, WIAW

Our Toddler’s Daily Blue Plate Special + WIAW

11/04/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

Our toddler is getting a little more sophisticated around here. Before, we could just use her high chair tray as a “plate” for her to eat off of, but now she insists on using a plate. And not just any plate, and blue plate!

Actually, as long as the plate is next to her, she will still accept eating from the tray, but her plate must be blue. Pink or purple is a surefire way to set her off like Katie Ka-Boom from the Animaniacs (please, someone tell me they know the reference), so she gets her blue plate every day for at least dinner. Then wash, rinse, repeat (literally).

It doesn’t stop with just her plate either, she insists on sitting in her blue chair, drinking green smoothies from her blue bottle, wearing a blue shirt, and favors her blue cloth diaper over the other colors. And I lost count of how many times we are told the sky is blue and she has blue eyes. I know she’s too young to call it official, but for the time being, blue is definitely her favorite color.

Back to the blue plate. I’ve enjoyed sharing our toddler’s eats for past What I Ate Wednesday’s, so I figured I’d share her blue plate fare (rhyming rocks!) for this week’s edition.

Breakfast – Banana, homemade chocolate protein pancake, homemade NuttZo Banana Bread, and sprouted raw pumpkin seeds.

I’m always a bit worried about the pumpkin seeds since we’ve had several tipped plate experiences already, but lately, she’s been much better at putting her pincer grasp to use.

Snack – Tiny But Mighty Heirloom Popcorn with more NuttZo Banana Bread.

So it wasn’t a plate, but a blue lid seemed to pass her stringent color standards of….um…blue.

Lunch – Lots of slow-cooker veggies with black beans and a 50/50 mash of cauliflower and potatoes mixed with nutritional yeast, goat cheese, and several spices.

Please note the blue fork. I found it on Amazon and had to buy it for the name alone; Air Fork One. She loves it too!

Big Girl Snack – hard boiled egg, diced apple, slow-cooker butternut squash, steamed veggies, and cut cherry tomatoes.

I swear, she eats more than most adults! She’ll finish off a plate like this and simply look at us and say “more”.

Dinner – chicken thighs from a local farmer, baked apple, and more slow-cooker veggies.

Dinner time is when she tends to get a little ornery, so we keep more food to the side or feed her from our own plate/bowl. This time, however, she was all about the chicken and the veg and used her Air Fork One very well.

Picking up the cargo..

…dropping it off…

…and then back out for another load. Or she’s threatening us, not sure.

Who knows how long the blue plate phase will last, but I guess it could be something much, much worse, so as long as she keeps eating so well, blue plate it is!

Hope you have a great day, we’re getting over the hump now!

Does your kid have a particular item they must have at all times?

Ever see the Air Fork One or something like it?