Naturally Optimistic

I thought since I'm trying this Whole30 thing, and I REALLY want to commit to it...I am going to start blogging about it. I am nervous & excited. I have never stuck with anything for 30 days...I don't know why this time is any different, but I need to reset my body. I've had terrible tummy troubles lately and really throughout different periods of my life. I have bad habits. I love cheese. I just want to reset things. I'm not saying I'm never going to get another slice of cheese or bowl of yogurt or rice or pasta or drink another diet coke...but I *do* want to give this a fair shake. So - Day 1 Over the weekend I did a fair amount of research on the Whole30, read the rules, made lists, pinned a bunch of recipes to my Whole30 board and yesterday I set off to the grocery store to stock up. Boy did I stock up! Our fridge is packed with fresh veggies, fruits & lean meats. The pantry is stocked with crushed tomatoes, canned pumpkin and Larabars.  To...

Last autumn a friend of mine posted on Facebook that he was looking for people, parents in particular, who were willing to read Karen Le Billon's books about getting your kids to eat & have a healthy attitude about doing so. Not just to "eat" but to eat things that are GOOD for you; that have layers of tastes & textures. Having a well-rounded palette and not being expected to be catered to. Hi, my name is Carrie and I have two small children. ONE who is particularly challenging when it comes to eating anything other than "Creamy Macaroni" or frozen nuggets & fries. *sigh* The other one isn't far from that mark either but at least gives an effort and occasionally finds something new that he loves. YES! I want to take this challenge. I want to read these books, implement ideas, try new things, blog about it - perhaps correspond with the author? Sure! Sign me up. And then...the holidays. And then....randomly, suddenly and unexpectedly w...

I've been wanting to do a "freezer cooking" session for a while now. It's so helpful to have things 'on hand' to make for dinner. Even if I have to be a *little*bit prepared & think about it the night before, it's GREAT to have something to throw in the crockpot or in the oven. Makes my after-work life a lot easier. A few weeks ago, a friend/co-worker of mine (Colleen) & I were chatting (both of our daughters are in the same ballet class) and it hit me. We are SO BUSY. We don't even do much, but with working full time & juggling other people's schedules, it can be a lot. And I hate the 'ANY DINNER IDEAS?!' question. Blech. So I asked her if she wanted to set up a freezer cooking day (plus, her husband has had some tough medical stuff going on this year & she could use a BREAK!) Meanwhile, another friend/co-worker (Jess) had heard about the plan and asked if she could join it. Perfect! In this case, 3 is better than 2 for...

I had a moment of profound sadness this morning while lying in bed. I was thinking of my upcoming trip to the grocery store. I was thinking that I am so bored with the current repetoire and I need to try some new recipes. Then I started thinking about my favorite cookbook - Hollyhocks & Radishes. This got me thinking about a conversation I had with my mother-in-law and her sister (my aunt-in-law?) last year about this time. The three of us had begun to meet up a few times, every couple of weeks or so for Happy Hour. It was a fun time when I really felt like I was getting to know the both of them a bit better. On a more personal & adult level. Without husbands, significant others or children around, the conversation was often different and more intimate that I had experienced with these two incredible women before. I enjoyed those times immensely. We started talking about the aforementioned cookbook as Joan (A-I-L) had given it to me at a bridal shower she hosted for me. I...

So I got a new cookbook for Valentine's Day! I'm so excited because I've wanted Deceptively Delicious for a while now and my hinting must've paid off! Because I'm really needing to slim down and bit and eat healthier in general, I thought - why not try these recipes? Why not start eating more veggies, more fiber, less saturated fats - why not now? Dahlia has no problem eating veggies right now, but I know that will most likely change so - hey, let's start some good habits now. So yesterday was my puree day! I headed to the store and set out to make up a bunch of purees for the week. A chance to play with the food processor - whohoooo! I started by roasting butternut squash. It smelled delicious. I kind of just wanted to eat it! While the squash was roasting & baked some chocolate chip cookies - healthy ones! No butter (trans-fat free smart balance), no egg yolks, but chick peas! Crazy. They turned out really good. We actually really loved them. Carrie - 1. ...

It wasn't that good. It was better but - meh.... I added sauteed garlic, celery & carrots bacon a small bit of cheese salt & pepper and....it was better but not good. I'm throwing the rest out. I just can't bear to think of having this meal AGAIN. I will be making appropriate notes in the cookbook.

I got a new cookbook for Christmas. It's a Soup cookbook and since I love to make soup it's a perfect fit! :) I decided to make Navy Bean & Ham soup for New Year's Day. I soaked the beans the night before (I actually remembered to do this!) and threw everything else in the crockpot yesterday morning. What I found strange was that it said it made 6 servings yet it filled TWO CROCKPOTS. Who are you serving?? Paul Bunyan? Anyway - I went ahead and made the soup and while it smelled delish...the results were only...blah. The soup is missing something - some kind of spice, some salt some....??? The ham I bought was really really tasty as I was cutting it up but after sitting in the pot all day tasted very bland. We have so much leftover...I don't know what to do with it. I'm considering adding cooked carrots & celery and I dont' know what else? Any spice suggestions? I know it'll freeze up well and we'll eventually eat it all but I'd like to make ...

Meigan was kind enough to send me some diabetic recipes to try out and because I'm getting sick of a slab of meat + a measly 1/2 cup of carbs I thought - why not! I love making soups and was excited to try the Ginger Carrot Soup. Plus I would get to use my oh-so-neglected food processor. It's so fun to use but I just don't have use for it that much. Martha always uses hers for everything...but I haven't been very "Martha-ish" lately. So, I got home after running some errands, chopped everything, used some turkey broth that I had been saving in my freezer for base (I'm always excited to get to use that too), threw it all in a pot and let it cook for about an hour. It smelled delish. By the time an hour was up I was starving. I cut up some crusty bread (mmmm....) and called Steve to the table. However, I didn't FINISH the recipe! DUH. I served my husband this: Yes, that's right - it looks like carrots and peeled tomatoes in a watery broth. We ate it...

Last night I made another new recipe. It's from Raesha's site and she got it from Dawn whom I don't know but I thought the recipe sounded good so we went with it! Steve loved it and I thought it was pretty good. I'm not a huge salsa fan (ie: I don't like peppers -YUCK) but I'm trying REALLY HARD to make things that are more interesting for dinner and not just to my bland taste buds. Plus I'd like to expand my palate a bit - even if it's one little onion flake at a time. I made homemade corn bread to accompany and we added our tortilla chips & cheese just before eating it (so it was crunchy!) instead of cooking for a couple minutes after the chips were added. We also used some sour cream on the side and it was a very good dinner. Another new recipe for the rotation - whohooo!

Here is the recipe for the pumpkin lasagne from earlier this week. It's from www.foodandwine.com - but when I searched there again, it came up with nothing...go figure... Ingredients: 2 Tablespoons olive oil 2 onions, chopped (I used about 3/4 of one onion....I'm not a HUGE fan...) 2 lbs Swiss Chard, tough stems removed, leaves washed well & chopped (I couldn't find Swiss Chard at my Cub so instead I used Spinach. It worked just fine) 2 1/4 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper 1 teaspoon dried sage 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg (I used the kind from my spice rack) 3 cups canned pumpkin puree 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan 1/2 cup milk 9 no-boil lasagna noodles 1 tablespoon butter 1. In a large nonstick frying pan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to moderately high and add the chard (or spinach), 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper...