Black Bean Dip

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This dip is absolutely delicious! It may not look like much, but it is filling, fairly quick to make, and goes with any cracker/veggie scoops you have on hand.

Black Bean Dip
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Recipe type: Appetizer
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Total time: 25 mins
Serves: 3 cups/6 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 1 cup diced red bell peppers (about 1 large pepper)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • cup water
  • 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley or 1½ teaspoons dried parsley
  • teaspoon dried crushed rosemary
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and red peppers, and cook until onions are soft and translucent. Stir in garlic, and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly so garlic doesn’t burn.
  2. Place water and 2 cups of beans in food processor or blender; process until smooth.
  3. Pour the pureed beans into skillet and stir. Add the remaining beans, parsley, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
  4. Reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a serving dish and serve warm.
Notes

Recipe source: Feola, Kristen (2010-12-14). The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast (Kindle Locations 1649-1663). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

 

Parenting – The Hardest Job I’ve Ever Had – Thanks DragonVale!

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I’m a people pleaser at heart and I hate it when I must do something that hurts someone else – even it is for their own good, and ESPECIALLY when it’s one of my children.  That is why I’m the pushover in the house and Zac is the disciplinarian.

Monday I was reminded of how hard parenting really is.  It’s difficult because you are responsible for helping your kids make wise decisions, whether they want to or not.  And, more importantly, you are supposed to help them learn to make those decisions on their own.

Kaleb, my 10 year old, is an online gamer.  He loves his Roblox and his iPad games.  The one currently on the top of his list is DragonVale.  From what I can gather, it is a game that you collect eggs and grow dragons, something akin to the old Sim City but with Dragons.  The game was free to download; however, there are NUMEROUS opportunities, and I really do mean numerous, to do an in app purchase to collect more gems and coins.  Kaleb received several iTunes gift cards that were intended to go towards music or new apps; however, my son saw the potential spending opportunity on DragonVale’s in-app gem and coin options.  This means that we, Dad, Kaleb, and I, have been going round and round about how irresponsible it is to spend real money on “monopoly money”.  Dad finally took the iPad away but I’m still hearing about how it’s his money and he should be allowed to do what he wants with it.

Zac and I have now decided that he needs to go through a little exercise to help him see the value of money.  (Don’t get me wrong, he’s great at saving his allowance for specific things.  It’s just this whole “pay for fake money” we’ve suddenly encountered.)  So this weekend, from Friday after school to Sunday night, my son will be going through “money bootcamp”.  He will be paying for everything he does.  Go to the bathroom – that’s 50 cents.  Get a drink – that’s 50 cents for water, $1 for anything else.  Watch TV – $1 for every half hour.  And the list goes on.  He will then also need to earn the money he is spending by doing some chores around the house.

Ultimately, we are trying to show him that everything we do either costs us money or earns us money.  As an adult, he will need to earn money and then live within that amount.  We hope that he will walk away realizing that money should be spent on things that have value – NOT gems that speed up a game once for a “small price to pay of only $1.99” over and over and over and over …….  And if he still wants to spend his money on “monopoly money”, I’ll throw up my hands and let my husband deal with it!

Shrimp Tacos with Grilled Poblano Salsa

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Word of warning – The poblano chili makes this salsa pretty spicy.  I love spicy and it had quite a bit of kick.  Zac doesn’t love spicy but he commented several times on how good & different this spicy was.

Shrimp Tacos with Grilled Poblano Salsa
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Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 20 mins
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • For the salsa:
  • 1 ear corn, husked or 1 can corn
  • 6 scallions, white and light green parts only (about 5 inches)
  • 1 poblano chile
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 large (or 2 small) haas avocado
  • 1 small bunch cilantro, minced
  • Juice of two small limes
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • For the tacos:
  • 1 lb shrimp
  • Corn or whole wheat tortillas
Instructions
  1. Heat your grill up to medium high. Brush corn, green onions and poblano chile with olive oil and place on grill. You want everything to have a nice char to it—to chile should be black and the corn and onion should be charred. This will take about five minutes, flipping occasionally with tongs.
  2. When done, remove veggies from grill and let cool on a plate. When cool, peel the now black skin off the pepper, remove the seeds and chop into small dice. Run your knife down the corn to remove the kernels from the cob and place into a bowl with the pepper. Chop onion and place into bowl as well. Add chopped avocado, cherry tomatoes and cilantro to the bowl and add lime juice and salt. Season to taste and set aside while you prepare the shrimp.
  3. Wash and de-vein if necessary then grill only a few minutes until pink. Be careful because shrimp cook extremely quickly! When done, place into tortillas, top with salsa and eat immediately.
Notes

Original recipe found at: Two Peas & Their Pod

 

Heathier at Work – A New Standing Desk

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I work from home. I’ll admit it – that means that most days I stay in my pajamas and, worse, I work in bed propped up with a pillow. I’ve decided that means two things. First, it means that I’m officially a lazy bed potato. Second, it means that my back and knees hurt regularly.

With the start of the new year, there are some changes coming to help me make healthier choices.  The first one happened completely on a whim. Jeff has a standing desk in his office that peeked my interest. Then, one of my bosses, Terri, posted this link about building a standing desk.  It was enough inspiration to get out of bed, put on something other than pajamas, trek to the workshop, pull out the power tools, and make one.

This is the finished product:

It was really easy and required very few materials. Even better, I had almost everything at home already.  I used:

  • 2 ½ lengths of 2x4s (probably 12 ft long)
  • 2 ½” general purpose screws
  • A nicer 1″ x 10″ x 8′ board (for the printer shelf and the monitor shelf)
  • An existing desktop from our no longer needed family desk

Then I set to work to build something like this desk.

They had a great screenshot that showed height details which helped figure out the correct heights for the desktop, cross frame in the legs, and the monitor shelf.

My husband lent some muscle to counter sink the screws, but it felt great to do the majority of it myself.  It’s not often I make something that I’d actually want in my house.  But as a short-term solution, and for a whooping $15, I figured I couldn’t go wrong.  And I’m thinking that we can even keep it after the move!

So far, I’m really enjoying it and am using it.  I am finding that I need to wear tennis shoes or my feet and legs begin to hurt, but I’ve been told that will last about a week regardless as your body gets used to standing.

Now, I can still work in my pajamas, but I’ll move the five feet from the bed to the desk!

2012 is the year of FOCUS

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The last 15 years of my life, I have had focus but it has been on things that I don’t particularly place on my “high value” list.  I’ve been in careers that have required me to spend an average of 60 – 70 hours a week focusing on clients’ or students’ needs instead of my own.  Any available time left has been spent focusing on finishing school, first my bachelors and then my masters.  2012 will be the first year since graduating high school that I will not still be in school myself.  It will also be the first time that I will be in a work place that truly cares about putting God and family first.

I’ve been at LifeChurch.tv for two months.  It is the first time in my life that I can say I love what I do for a living and feel like my work has purpose – I get to spend time reaching the unreachable for God’s Kingdom through a medium, the internet, that I am very passionate about.  It is also the first time that I can say I have some time to focus on the items I value.

Every year, I take a week at the end of the year to evaluate how the year went and what I’d like to accomplish the next year.  It’s my version of “Year In Review”, if you will.  This year is the first time that I can put some personal things on the upcoming list and feel like they may actually be achievable.   My list this year is pretty straight forward and requires me to set aside time more than anything else.  So here it is:

Personal Goals

  1. Spend more time with God in purposeful relationship – The last eight years, my relationship with God has been more about what Seminary has asked it to be about.  When reading the Bible is required reading, it’s hard to hear anything besides what the class is looking for.  This year I will be going through YouVersion’s year-long Chronological reading plan and then some shorter topical reading plans.  (The first topical being a 21 Day Fasting Plan to go along with the Daniel Fast the church staff is doing.)
  2. Commit to one exercise activity a day – I may look half way healthy, but I am horribly out of shape.  I am committed to doing something every day: ride a bike, go for a walk, do a workout video, whatever.  For the first quarter, I’m going to try and do P90 – NOT the X version, but the regular get your feet wet version.  Since I work from home, live on a highway, and am about 20 minutes from the closest park or gym, I figure that is the thing I can commit to for sure.
  3. Read two self-improvement books a month – This one is probably the easiest one for me since I LOVE to read, but I had to at least put it out there.  I actually have three on my nightstand for January.  My first three will be What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, The Speed of Trust, and The Christian Atheist.
  4. Cut back on caffeine – I am a coffee addict.  I drink 1- 2 pots a day by myself.  I’ve managed to cut back to ½ decaf and ½ regular, but I’d like to replace coffee altogether.  Since I’ve committed to drinking nothing but water for the first 21 days of the year, I’m going to try and continue that through the year but this one is more of a “significant cut back to one or two cups a day at max” goal.
  5. Blog Monday – Friday – I have had a blog on and off for a few years, but I’ve never really used it.  Part of the reason has been it hasn’t had a purpose or a plan behind it.  This year, I’m going to try and be intentional by splitting up the days into specific topics.  Each day is aimed at a specific item on my personal goals list so it’s more accountability and journaling to myself than sharing with the world.
    1. Monday  – working out/healthy lifestyle
    2. Tuesday – discussion on my current book
    3. Wednesday – free for all
    4. Thursday – menu planning/recipes
    5. Friday – ministry focused

Family Focused

  1. Healthy kid lunch options – My kids love to take their lunches to school but all I feed them is PB&J, applesauce, yogurt, and juice.  It’s time to shake things up.  I am going to find at least 10 lunch meals that my kids will eat (key words there) and that are healthy.
  2. Make one night a week dedicated family night – We do quite a bit at home together; however, it isn’t family-focused.  It’s typically TV-focused.  As a family, we are committing to one night a week without TV and doing something together.

There are some other minor things that could be added to the list, but these are the big ones.   The ones that I want to hold myself accountable for at the end of the year.

Granola

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I make homemade granola for use in several different meals.  It goes great in yogurt as breakfast, as cereal, with apples for dessert, or alone as a snack.  I don’t always have all the ingredients so I just make it up as I go.  Here is one of the base recipes I use:

Granola
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Recipe type: Snack
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 75 mins
Total time: 1 hour 20 mins
Ingredients
  • 3 1/2 cups rolled oats (if you want bars use steel cut oats so it will stick together better)
  • 1 cup raw sliced almonds
  • 1 cup raw cashew pieces (or walnuts or pecans)
  • 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I could only find unsweetened at Earth Fare, which is similar to Whole Foods)
  • 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • parchment paper
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Cover a rectangular baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Mix the dry oats, almonds, cashews, coconut, seeds and spices together in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Heat the butter and honey together in a small saucepan over low heat. Once the butter melts stir in the vanilla.
  4. Pour the hot liquids over the dry ingredients and stir together with a rubber spatula until evenly coated.
  5. Spread mixture onto prepared pan in one even layer. Bake for 75 minutes.
  6. The granola will become crisp as it cools at which point you can break into pieces (if making bars) or break it up into small chunks by pounding it in a zip lock bag (if making cereal). Store in air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Notes

Original recipe found at: 100 Days of Real Food

 

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

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Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
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Recipe type: Dessert, Cookies
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 12 mins
Total time: 22 mins
Serves: 2 dozen
Ingredients
  • 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 T milk (I used skim)
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  3. Using a mixer, cream the sugars with the softened butter for about two minutes.
  4. Add in the egg, vanilla, and milk. Mix until smooth.
  5. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, with the mixer on low. Mix just until flour disappears. Don’t over mix.
  6. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips by hand.
  7. Form rounded cookie dough balls, using about 1 T of dough. Place dough balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
  8. Bake cookies for 11-12 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges. Let cookies sit on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes to set up. Then move to a cooking rack.

 

Greek Yogurt

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I’ve been on an unprocessed food kick the last few months.  One of my favorite snacks is yogurt; however, it’s expensive and the store brand often adds “stuff” to it.  I’ve learned to make my own and it tastes better, lasts longer, and has infinite options for sprucing it up.  It sounds much more difficult to make then it really is!

Greek Yogurt
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Recipe type: Snack
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 12 hours
Total time: 12 hours 5 mins
Serves: 1 qt
Ingredients
  • 2 qts of milk
  • 1 single serve natural Greek yogurt (live cultures, no sugar added)
  • Things you’ll need:
  • Food thermometer
  • 2 qt Pyrex container (microwave safe)
  • Dish towel
  • FINE mesh strainer, paper towels, or cheesecloth
Instructions
When making Greek yogurt, 2 quarts of milk will result in 1 quart of yogurt.
Microwave start:
  1. Microwave 2 quarts of milk in the Pyrex container until it measures over 180 degrees. (The temp on this is important. The milk has to reach at least 180 to cool correctly. There is a science behind it but don’t ask me to explain it.) I typically microwave 6 minutes, stir and scrape off any coating on top, and then repeat until it’s done.
  2. Remove the Pyrex from the microwave and set on the counter. Cover with a dish towel and let sit until it is 118 degrees. I have a thermostat that alarms when it reaches a certain temperature but you may have to just check it periodically. 118 is an arbitrary number. It needs to be less than 120 but more than 110.
  3. Once the milk measures 118, scrape any skin off the top and stir in 1-2 tsp of the bought Greek yogurt. It will act as your starter to create more yogurt.
Oven/Heat Source:
  1. Turn your oven for a minute or so then turn the oven back off. Turn on and leave on the oven light. Sit the covered Pyrex in the oven for 6-8 hours. I typically make yogurt at night right before I go to bed and then just take it out in the morning. The temperature needs to stay between 100 and 105 or so for the yogurt to do it’s thing.
Make It Thicker:
  1. Once you take it out of the oven, the yogurt is finished if you want regular runnier yogurt. I prefer thicker Greek-style yogurt. To do that, you’ll need to strain some whey out of it.
  2. I am cheap, so I use a regular strainer lined with paper towels. Set the strainer over a bowl to catch the whey. Fold over the paper towels and place something “fairly heavy”, like a bowl or plate, on top of the yogurt.
  3. Place in refrigerator for a few hours until you reach the thickness you like. I typically replace the paper towels every hour or so, otherwise it seems to take forever to strain out the whey. You can keep the whey for cooking but I just throw it away.
Storage/Mixing
  1. Store in an airtight container and enjoy! It will last for several weeks this way.
  2. I mix in flavors as I serve it so that I can “mix it up”. Frozen fruit, granola (and chocolate chips), and honey are all great mix ins.

 

Kale Chips

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Kale Chips
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Recipe type: snack
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 15 mins
Ingredients
  • a bunch of kale
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1-2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
  1. Cut the stalks out of the kale and then cut or tear the kale in to 2-3 inch pieces.
  2. Put the kale, salt, and olive oil in a large bowl and stir until coated evenly.
  3. Place kale in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
  4. In a 350 degree oven, bake kale for 10-15 minutes. Time varies so you just have to watch them. It only takes about 30 seconds for the kale to go from soggy to burnt.
  5. Repeat until you’ve cooked all of your kale.
Notes

You can use any type of seasoning you want: garlic salt, seasoned salt, salt and pepper, red wine vinegar and no salt – whatever you want. Be creative!

In our quest to eat healthier, we have been experimenting with quite a few recipes.  This one was a recipe I hoped my kids would eat.  It’s super easy to make but it does take some time to cook all the pieces since you need to lay them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet.

UPDATE: My husband thinks these taste like I picked hay from the field and cooked it.  My daughter ate a few when they were hot.  My son wouldn’t even try them.  I ended up eating them all myself.  I like them when they are hot out of the oven and they are slightly salty.  They do taste more “grassy” once they cool and sit.

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

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We made these for breakfast today to use up some over-ripe bananas.  I didn’t realize until I started mixing everything up that we were out of milk.  Fortunately, I had almond milk so I was able to substitute that.

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes
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Recipe type: Breakfast
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Total time: 20 mins
Serves: 18 pancakes
Ingredients
  • 2 cups whole-wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • teaspoon of fine sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 ¾ cups milk
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted + butter for frying
  • 2 ripe bananas, mashed
  • Optional:
  • 100% pure maple syrup for serving
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until well mixed and then make a well (hole) in the center of the bowl by spreading the flour mixture to the sides of the bowl. Pour the honey, eggs, milk, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter into the well, then gradually whisk from the center outward until the ingredients are well combined but still a little lumpy. Do not over mix the batter. Very gently fold in the mashed bananas (and/or other berries).
  2. Preheat a non-stick or cast iron griddle (or sauté pan) over medium-high heat. Set electric griddles at 370 degrees F. Your cooking surface will be ready when a drop of water flicked onto the surface dances and evaporates instantly. Allow some butter to melt then ladle the pancake batter forming circles on the griddle or pan.
  3. When the pancakes have begun to bubble in the center and the underside is golden brown, use your spatula to flip them. Cook until the 2nd side is golden brown, and then keep on a platter in a warm oven (200 degrees F) while you cook the remaining pancakes.
  4. Serve with warm maple syrup and a side of fruit. And freeze the leftovers for another day!
Notes

Original recipe located at: 100 Days of Real Food.