Tag Archives: food

Healthy Cooking With Daddy

05/02/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Finally, the time has come to teach our little girl the ways of healthy cooking! In our house, pants are optional….

healthy cooking with daddy, toddler, kids, teaching, food

I’ve thought of this before she was even born, and it warms my heart now that it’s becoming a reality. Oh, wait, that’s my shirt on fire!!

Okay, all better. So she’s not exactly ready to start slicing and dicing ingredients, but with a little help, she can add spices pretty well.

healthy cooking with daddy, toddler, kids, teaching, food

This was us making a lunch for Mommy to bring to work. Now if she calls sweating from a little too much cayenne, I can blame Avery. She knows that we add fresh ground black pepper to all of our meals and made sure she had a “hand” in that part too.

I had to hold the dish lower since her new non-slip Froggie Step Stool is not quite high enough for her to reach the counter. It’s called the Mommy’s Helper Step Up Froggie Stool, but looks like we just changed that to Daddy’s Helper, huh? Time for a product name change!

Product naming conventions aside, our growing toddler is using her stool for potty training and cooking training. Yes, we use a butter knife to stir in this house, but don’t worry, I was supervising.

I usually tackle several meal preps at a time, so I took the time to get her dinner plate ready as she posed for the camera. Or maybe she was watching the cat walk by….

Either way, she gets so excited if I ask her to help me, and even though she has a way’s to go before I can really trust her to do a few simple things, this is how it starts. For anyone who has cooked with kids, I’m sure you know they are more likely to eat the healthy food if they have a roll in helping prepare/cook it. This includes quality control of whatever we make.

And the verdict?

It’s an underwear-iffic win for dinner tonight!

Avery continues to put a smile on our face every day, and she seems to learn/grow more faster than we can keep up with. Soon, she’ll be stating things to us that we never knew. To those with older kids, when should we expect this?

When time allows, get your kids in the kitchen and explore a new food/recipe together. It will pay dividends well into the future in the form of bonding, healthy eating, and cooking skills.

Food, Going Healthy

3 Quick & Healthy Vegetarian Mexican Recipes

04/18/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

I have been craving Mexican food lately, but since we choose not to order from food establishments, that means I have to make my own Mexican recipes. No problem, I using simple ingredients most of us have in the kitchen, it’s easy to put something healthy and tasty together in under 30 minutes. To make it easier, omit the meat for Meatless Monday and give these guys a break…..for at least one day.

meatless monday, mexican recipes, food, vegetarian, recipes, healthy

Being Monday where no one is happy about the end of the weekend and beginning of a work week, it’s good to keep meal prep nice and simple. Simple is not the same as a convenient drive-thru window at a nearby fast food chain, a little prep in your own kitchen is needed. But, this can be fun and done in less than 30 minutes.

Here’s what you’ll need:
– 1 can of fat-free refried pinto or black beans
– Reduced fat (part-skim) mozzarella cheese or cheese sticks
– Dried cilantro
– 16oz Jar of your favorite salsa
– 6 inch Corn tortillas; I prefer the Food For Life sprouted whole grain tortillas; or use butter or romaine lettuce for a grain-free option
– Garlic, Cumin, and Onion Powder
– Cayenne pepper
* Optional toppings: Shredded lettuce, sliced avocado, chopped raw onion (green, red, or yellow), and sour cream (plain yogurt is a great substitute too)

With these ingredients you can make many vegetarian Mexican-style snacks/meals. Here’s how I make easy tostadas, chips and dip, and bean burritos.

Bean Tostada

Mix the can of refried beans with your jar of salsa, cilantro, garlic, cumin, onion, and cayenne powder. Cut or shred the cheese to your liking. Spread the bean mixture on top of a corn tortilla and sprinkle about 1/2 or 1 ounce of cheese on top; toast in a toaster oven or conventional oven at 375 degrees until the edges start to turn brown and crispy. Remove from oven, let cool, add shredded lettuce, sliced avocado, and a dollop of plain yogurt if desired, and eat!

Healthy Bean Dip

Mix the beans and other ingredients like you did for tostadas, then mix in 6 ounces shredded cheese. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, microwave 30 more seconds, stir; continue until the cheese is melted and well incorporated in the mix.

Cut the corn tortillas into 6 or 8 wedges, sprinkle with a little salt, and bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven until lightly browned (about 5 – 8 minutes).

Now you have homemade chips and dip. If you don’t want to make your own, Beanitos are a favorite chip in our home.

Mix the plain yogurt in the dip if you would like, it adds a cool and tangy taste that’s pleasing to the palate. For an even healthier option, I choose crudites like raw baby carrots, broccoli, or celery as the perfect dipping devices.

Bean Burritos

With the same bean mixture as the other two quick-fix recipes, fill the middle of a corn tortilla (flour tortillas usually contain hydrogenated oils and I do not recommend them) or use a hardy lettuce like butter lettuce or romaine for a grain-free option with about 2 heaping spoonfuls and a half ounce of cheese.

Wrap in paper towel and microwave for 30 – 40 seconds; enjoy! Since these are smaller, you will probably want more than one. They are more like flautas, only not fried and much better in my opinion.

For reference, an ounce of cheese is similar to four dice; if shredded, about a 1/4 cup.

The combination of beans and a whole grain like corn provides all essential amino acids to make a complete protein, so you will not miss the meat today. Treat your friends, family, and self to one or all of these easy Meatless Mexican meals this Monday or any day and relax.

Food, Going Green, Going Healthy

Why Meat Lovers Should Partake in Meatless Monday

03/14/2016 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

Remember when the USDA retracted its statement referencing “Meatless Monday”? Yeah, the Cattlemen’s Beef Association flexed its “beefy” bicep when the Ag Dept posted a message to its employees about helping to reduce the environmental impact of eating meat by skipping it one day of the week.

I know very little on the inner-workings of lobbying and getting messages out to the public, but I figure money is the biggest concern; not public health. When I see/hear any sort of “this is good for you” promotion from the government or any big business, I raise my brow and take what’s being pushed with a grain of salt.

Just ask yourself these 2 questions when you see claims on packages, the television, magazines, billboards, etc:

Who or What will reap the most benefits of this statement? – It says it’s healthy, but the 50 ingredients in this pretty package don’t seem very good or natural.

How much money was spent so people like me can see this claim? – Only the big industries have great power to push their products for all to see. Small, local companies producing small batch, whole food goods, don’t have the funding to really advertise as well.

I like all types of meat and fish, but I eat red meat sparingly and only grass-fed…preferably local too. The economic cost of producing beef is just not worth it to me. Just think of all the cheap, junky beef products fast food chains are rolling out to so many people each day; it’s crazy! Sure, the $1 menu “deals” seem appealing to those who are ignorant to health and are short on cash; sadly, this is a common correlation.

Costs associated to produce a quarter pound of beef.

But consider other costs; the cost to get the meat wrapped in a paper package and handed to you through the window of a drive-thru…mmm. Producing just a half pound of beef requires 7.40 pounds of CO2, that’s equivalent to driving 9.81 miles. Now take into account that in 2009 the U.S. consumed 14 million tons of beef; and 72 million tons for the world. That’s a lot of gas! (Source for this info.)

meatless monday spicy black bean burger

I will happily choose a couple meatless meals per week to help reduce emissions just a little bit. If we all did this, our little changes will have a big impact on the health of our economy and bodies. So give the USDA and Beef Industry the finger a carrot, and enjoy a meal with the spicy black bean burger in the pic above instead! Recipe coming soon.

Check out wannaveg.com for a list of 10 reasons to go vegetarian one day each week.

I wonder what what the CAFO supporting beef industry would do if more people helped the health of the Earth and their bodies by abstaining from meat for one day? They’d be as mad as cows for sure, so I would assume their well-paid lobbyists made sure the posting was removed. And it was……only hours after being posted.

I would never ask anyone who loves meat to go vegetarian (I’m certainly not!), but please reduce the consumption of meat, especially from fast food or the cheap store-bought kind, and reap the benefits on cost, healthy, and experiencing new food!