Don't Judge This Vending Machine By Its Cover, But By Its Contents & Cheesy Whole Wheat Crackers!

Good Morning!

I have to apologize for my lack of posts lately.  We are preparing to move, and anyone who has ever moved a big household knows just what we are up against.  Sheesh...how exhausting!  So, I apologize, and promise that things will pick up eventually.  Here's this for now...

My husband and I recently went away for our 15th anniversary, and I spotted this in the hotel.  Let's have a look...

So, this is what the vendor considers healthy choices.  I had to get a closer look...

...and when I did, I couldn't spot a single "healthy choice".  Can you?  

What did we pack for snacks so we wouldn't be running for the vending machines?  A pint of local organic blueberries that we picked up at the Farmer's Market that morning, bottled water, and a bag of organic corn chips.  "HEALTHY CHOICES"...how insulting.  

I know that one of the snacks that my kids enjoy is crackers...cheese crackers.  Think Cheese Nips, Goldfish, and Cheez Its.  Needless to say, those are no longer a part of our diet, so I whipped these up for them awhile back...

Easy Cheesy Crackers

This recipe is from Lisa at 100 Days of Real Food, and can be found here.

Easy Cheesy Crackers

SERVES: MAKES 2 DOZEN

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into tablespoon size chunks
• 4 oz. or 1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese…the sharper the cheese the cheesier the crackers
  (Yep, that’s it…only 3 simple ingredients!)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine all three ingredients in a food processor and blend. The mixture will eventually turn into one big ball chasing itself around the bowl. Be patient because it can take a few minutes.
3. Roll the ball into a log about 1 ½” in diameter. At this point you could refrigerate the dough until later.
4. With a sharp knife slice ¼” thick pieces off the log (pictured above) and place each one flat on an ungreased baking sheet. Try to rotate which side you are cutting down on because the top of the log does start to flatten a little. It is like your very own homemade slice and bake!
5. If you want your crackers to look a little fancy (as pictured above) take a fork and gently mash down the top of each one before baking.
6. Bake for 8 – 14 minutes or until golden brown. The thicker the crackers the longer it will take.
   These crackers can be stored in the freezer so double the recipe and save some for later!

3 ingredients!!!  How simple is that?!?

Here are my rolls of cracker dough.  I stuck them in the fridge until  I was ready to slice them up, and again in between batches.  And, here is what they looked like sliced and pressed with a fork.

The finished product...aren't they beautiful?  My kids loved these, so I am sure to make them again !

Have  a great day!

Veggie Loaded Fried Rice & Sending Real Food for a Week Long Summer Camp

Good Morning!

I have a few things for you today.

First, I mentioned on my Facebook page recently that I made fried rice for lunch.  Well, my kids gobbled that stuff right up! So, here is the recipe.

I had some rice left over from dinner the night before, so this seemed like a no-brainer.  

Fried Rice

2 c cooked organic brown rice (I used short grain) 

veggies (you can use any combination of fresh or frozen. I used 1/4 c frozen peas, 1/3 c frozen organic corn, 3 fresh organic mushrooms, 1/2 a chopped onion, 1/2 an organic yellow squash cut into strips, 1 small diced organic carrot, & 1/2 chopped organic bok choy)

2 T nonGMO oil

2 eggs

salt & pepper to taste

1/4 t ground ginger

2 t sesame oil

1/2 T sesame seeds

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Add the cooking oil, veggies (toughest veggies first, like the fresh carrot, that need the most cooking time.  Then add the others depending on how long they need to cook.  I added the carrot first, then a few minutes later added the rest, saving the peas for last.), and garlic in a large skillet or wok. Cook until veggies reach the degree of crispiness/softness that you like.  I like my veggies with a bit of crunch, so my cooking time is shorter.

Push the veggies to one side of the skillet, then crack the eggs into the empty side of the pan, giving them a bit of a scramble and then breaking the larger pieces up.  Once all of the egg is cooked, give it all a stir to blend together.  

Add the sesame seeds, rice, ginger, and sesame oil.  Stir, and cook for 5 minutes.  Season to taste with salt & pepper.

I serve this as a light lunch with fresh or frozen fruit, or organic yogurt parfaits. 

I've also shared on the Facebook page that my oldest daughter recently went to summer camp for a week.  This is the same camp that she went to earlier this year, but that was as a volunteer for a couple of days, this was as a very busy camper for a week.  Quite a food challenge, that!  Being that our compromise tends to be bringing breakfasts, lunches, & snacks, but eating their dinners, that could be quite a lot of food, not to mention money.  After getting a few very helpful suggestions, here is what we decided on...

Breakfasts

Refrigerator oats are definitely our go-to meal for this.  This winning combination tastes like strawberries and cream, and a little goes a very long way.

Now, I don't always put the same things in these babies, but use what I've got on hand.  To see a more detailed explanation of a variation that I have used in the past, check this post out.  These jars are simply organic steel cut oats, organic rolled oats, chia seeds, raw honey, Hartzler's Whole Milk, and frozen organic strawberries.  You only see 3 jars, because that is all I sent.  I don't like to leave these in the fridge for more than 3 days, so I sent her with some other foods/snacks that she could make breakfast out of.

Lunch

Pizza!  I can't take credit for this idea, since it was someone else who gave it to me, but I thought it was brilliant!  I already had a Great Harvest Whole Wheat pizza dough in the freezer, so after thawing I divided that into 3.  I rolled out the 3 personal pizza size crusts, and baked them.  I shredded up some fresh mozzarella cheese, and whipped up a quick raw pizza sauce.  What's in the sauce?  Using my Ninja chopper, I blended together 1 clove of garlic, 1 1/2 fresh local tomatoes, 1/2 a small onion, a dash of salt, 1/2 tsp organic Italian Seasoning, and 1 Tbsp fresh basil.  I poured it into a glass jar, and packed it up.

Soup...she loves a good soup, and it's so easy to reheat in these glass jars.  I had some homemade Potato Kale soup in my freezer, so I just thawed it and filled up these jars.  

Trader Joe's Handmade Whole Wheat tortillas (6), fresh ground dark chocolate peanut butter, homemade organic hummus (used an old container), and cut up veggies (carrot & cucumber).  She was able to make herself either veggie wraps for lunch, or peanut butter wraps for quick high energy snacks.  She could also use the wraps for breakfast.

Fruit & Snacks

The fruit that I sent could be used with meals or for a snack.  I suggested she use some banana on a peanut butter wrap for a breakfast.

Pumpkin Seeds, pretzels, 5 Ginger Snap Lara Bars (also could be used for a breakfast with some fruit), 2 Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate bars, and a bag of organic corn chips and organic blue corn tortilla chips.  I also sent in a couple organic lollipops, but they aren't pictured.

Drinks

 I sent her with a jar of organic lemonade, bottles of spring water, a glass jar of filtered water (not pictured), and a jar of green tea concentrate (that I brewed on my own).  She only needed to add the concentrate to water to make quite a few drinks out of it.

And that's how we did it!  How did it go?  Well, she said I sent way too much food!  It sure didn't seems like it to me, but she was so busy so much of the time, that she didn't sit around all day eating like I imagined. ;)  How did others react?  Pretty cool about the whole thing.  In fact, she even had enough food to share.  It was a smashing success!

Have a great day!