Healthy Family Hangout

So far this summer, lunch has been one of those meals that are left unplanned and thrown together so last week I found this idea online.  Millard loves pinto beans and they are healthy so I had to give this one a go. I drained and rinsed canned pinto beans.  Yes, I know dry beans would be a healthier option... perhaps the next time.  I whisked together lemon juice, juice from jarred mild pickled banana pepper rings, olive oil, pepper, and Millard added a mix of seasonings.  Then the mixture was poured over the beans to let it marinade a little.    The original recipe called for canned tuna, but Millard is allergic to tuna so we needed a substitute.   We had canned Kirkland Signature Chicken Breat in the pantry that made the perfect sub.       So I shredded the chicken by hand and added it to the salad along with the chopped tomato.    ...

Summertime calls for light and fresh salads.  I was in the mood for pasta salad last week, but I have to keep two things in mind... (1) the carb count for the diabetic in our family and (2) Christian is anti-mayo.  So, seeming that this would be the only side to our steak I needed to find something that Christian would enjoy and that would also include lot of veggie.  I came across the concept of a shrimp pasta salad on Pinterest so I had Christian work with me to make our own recipe. I chopped up 24 large cooked shrimp, 1 celery stalk, 3 vine riped tomatoes, 3/4 english cucumber.   I have to admit that usually I just dump however much pasta into the pot without measuring.   This time I cooked only 1 cup of macaroni (which made 4 cups cooked)        The assembly of the salad was super easy.  I simply tossed all the chopped ingredients into the pasta.    Now, because Christian don't like may...

If there is one thing that I've learned over the past couple of years is that if I make a meal plan and stick to it then we do great and if I don't... well, we do terrible with our healthy eating efforts.  I have been so unbelievably slack these past months, but this week I have things back under control and I promise myself and my family that I will continue to do so!! On Monday morning we went off to get groceries with a detailed list.  Getting everything wasn't as easy as I had hoped.  We ended up going to Costco and three grocery stores.  And came home with a great haul of fruits and veggies.  Missing in the picture are avocado, lettuce, cucumber, and teriyaki sauce. This, along with what already sits in my pantry, fridge, and freezer will pull together the following meals.  Yeah, there are some holes in the menu, but it is a start. Monday Lunch Supper Thai Salad with Zucchini & Yellow Squash Asian Cabbage Slaw Asian Grilled Ch...

Avocado is one of mine and Christian's favorite foods so this morning both of us started our day with this simple avocado smoothie.  The avocado flavor was very obvious and we both loved it.  The picture does not do the color of the smoothie justice.  It was a nice bright shade of avocado-green and ever so creamy. We rounded our breakfast out with a small bowl of cereal with a few banana slices. Simple Avocado Smoothie 1 Avocado 1 cup Milk 1 tbsp Splenda 4-5 ice cubes Blend all ingredients together and done! 

    A couple of nights ago we had grilled steaks.  I would've loved a pasta salad, but this option was high in fiber, high in protein, considered good carbs, and low in fat.  It is very similar in idea as one of my favorite salads, Orzo Greek Salad, so it was a must-try. The salad turned out nice and surprisingly Chrsitian ate almost all of his chick salad.  I say 'surprisingly' because chickpeas is not something we normally eat a lot of.  I feared that he would screw his nose up at it, but he didn't.  Alex, on the other hand is a different story.  He continues to be picky about almost everything.  Mediterranean Chickpea Salad 1    can Chickpeas, drained and rinsed in water 1/8 cup Parsley, chopped 1/2 cup Red Bell Pepper, diced 1/2 cup Tomato 1/2 cup Black Olives, sliced 1/4 cup Red Onion, diced 1/4 cup Feta, crumbled       Kraft Greek-Feta Salad D...

The weather is finally starting to warm up and we just filled the propane tank to start our grilling season.  I am always looking for new salmon recipes and this one really caught my eye.  Grilled salmon and fresh fruit salsa... oh yeah!  I've made many salsas before, but this is my first time using strawberries and kiwi.  I love to try to plan our meals around what we already have.  I had already stock piled on kiwi that we didn't seem to be eating as quickly as usual so this was an ideal way to use them.  And I had everything else on hand except for the fresh strawberries so it was an extremely short grocery list. This recipe was pretty easy to make, especially seeming that my dear hubby is my grill master!  It took me about 10 minutes to dice up the ingredients for the salsa and whisk up the glaze while my grill master took care of the red onion and salmon.  The grill master and Christian were my sal...

This is what is getting us to drink more water.  This lemonade is a new flavor for us.  I like it! Alexander asks for it as   'Water Colors' His favorite is Grape, but it always seems to be sold out.  Luckily, I did find it today.