I've been trying really hard to get Michael to try new foods. It's possible there's been bribery sweet incentives involved, but I think I'm OK with that. Very rarely does Michael like to try new things unless it involves the words cheese, chocolate, or fruit. Anything with meat? Forget it. He only eats tuna. Not saying there's anything wrong with that, and I'm definitely not forcing anything on him, but sometimes it gets tiring making dinner only to have him eat black beans, tuna, or a grilled cheese.

The other night we had breakfast for dinner, and I had been dying to try out this recipe. With a few alterations of my own, they were a big hit. After offering Michael a sort of "reward" for trying one bite... he ate three of them. I'd call that a success.


Ingredients:

- 1 C grated zucchini with or without skin. (About 1 large zucchini.)
- 1/4 C Parmesan or cheddar cheese (You can use any kind of cheese, including a cheese that isn't cheese ;), but thus far these are the two I've tried)

- 1/4 C breadcrumbs (I used Panko)
- 1/4 of an onion, diced (I used white, but sweet onion works really well, too!)
- 1 egg or egg substitute

Optional spices:

- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp rosemary
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 to 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

- Grate your zucchini and squeeze all the extra moisture out of it by placing it in a towel (like you would with frozen spinach). Make sure you really get rid of all the extra liquid. If you don't, the tots will be moist in the middle and you don't want that!
- Preheat your oven to 400 and spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Mix together all your ingredients in a large bowl.


- Using a cookie scoop or spoon, fill each hole around 1/2 to 3/4 full. Press down with a fork to even out the tops.

- Cook for 15 to 18 minutes, checking on them after 15 and going from there. This all depends on how crispy you like them, just make sure you don't burn them! (Unless that's your taste, of course.)

Oh, and HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! Only fitting I give you a green recipe for the day, right?

This is one of my absolute favorite muffin recipes. Not only are they delicious, but they don't make you feel guilty for eating them because you know they have "good stuff" in them.

Ingredients:

- 1.5 C whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
-1.25 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 C butter (1 stick), softened (not melted)
- 1/3 to 1/2 C honey
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
1 C unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 to 3/4 C carrot shreds (I used a cheese grater to do this work!)

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 350 and prepare your muffin tin by spraying with cooking oil or lining with tins, or both.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine: butter, honey, egg, vanilla, and applesauce. Once well mixed, gradually add your dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt).
- Carefully fold in your shredded carrots.
- Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, checking with a toothpick. Give sufficient time to cool before serving.

Note: Muffins may seems soft or crumbly when warm. If you let them sit for a good amount of time, even as long as thirty minutes, they seem to be better formed and not as soft.

Recipe adapted from 100 Days of Real Food

I love making meals in my crockpot. Let's face it: it is SO easy. I just stick it in there and (usually) don't have to worry about it.

Clark said this is his new favorite. I had to create a human shield to the food to make sure we had some leftovers as I planned. So, be warned.


Ingredients:

- 1 lb. stew meat (or boneless beef chuck roast sliced into thin strips)
- 1 C beef broth
- 1/2 C low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 C brown sugar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 4 tbsp sauce (from the crockpot after dish is cooked)
Frozen broccoli florets (I used about 2 cups)
White, Jasmine, or Brown Rice, cooked (I used brown)

You can also make fried rice to go with it! Check out a recipe here.

Directions:

- In your crockpot, whisk together the beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and garlic. Gently place your beef on top of the liquid, then toss to coat.
- Turn the crockpot on low and cook for four to five hours, or high for two to three. This depends on your crockpot, so check on it near the end. Mine took about 2.5 hours.
- When it's done, in a small bowl, whisk together your cornstarch and 4 tbso if sauce to create a slurry. Pour into the crockpot and stir to mix well.
- Add your broccoli florets (after the slurry), and cook on low for another 30 minutes to thicken up the sauce and cook your broccoli.

Serve over rice. Prepare to be amazed.

This recipe was adapted from Table for Two Blog.

Want more oriental dishes? Check these recipes out!

Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken

[Baked] Sweet & Sour Chicken

[Easy] Mongolian Beef

When I was little-little, I had two favorite foods: Corn on the cob, and chili. I was really excited when I came across this picture while visiting my parents in Iowa (see one, two, three posts).

I think I'm around two or three in this picture. Michael doesn't look a thing like me, does he?


These are still two of my favorite foods.

Summer 2010, camping.

Michael's favorite food (outside the every day things like cheese and fruit) is chili. He gets SO excited when I tell him that's what's for dinner. I have yet to introduce him to corn on the cob, but if he loves it as much as I do-- you can bet we will make a special dinner with the two of them!

Philly Cheesesteaks are probably Clark's favorite sandwich of all time. I've never, honestly, cared for them. Probably because it takes so much effort to eat them... but when I saw this idea on Pinterest I just couldn't pass up making them when hubby was home.

Super easy and, honestly, delicious. This coming from a girl who doesn't really care for the sandwich.

I am supposed to add, from Clark, that they do actually taste like the sandwich-- just without the soggy bread.

Ingredients:

- 2 - 3 green peppers (I only made 2, but had some filling left over-- probably enough for a whole other pepper!)

- 6 to 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 to 1 yellow onion, sliced








- 2 to 3 tbsp butter (I used a little extra for Clark's sake)
- 2 tbsp olive/canola oil
- 1 tbsp garlic powder, or 3 to 4 minced garlic cloves
- 8 oz roast beef (I just used prepared deli meat, thinly sliced)
- 8 - 10 slices of provolone cheese
- salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 400.
- Slice your green peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds/ribs.
- Over medium heat, saute your olive oil, butter, garlic, onion, and mushrooms for around 25 to 30 minutes.
- Slice/rip your roast beef into thin strips and add to your mix as well as your optional salt & pepper. Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Place your peppers on a baking sheet and line each with a slice of provolone cheese. Fill each pepper with your meat mixture until almost overflowing. Top with another slice of cheese.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until your cheese is golden brown on top.


Serve with Beer Bread to make it extra yummy. Enjoy!

I have honestly never had risotto. It's always seemed so delicious, and on TV they always seem to be making it. But I've just never seen the chance or opportunity to make it.

Then I decided I needed to.

So I looked at a few risotto recipes and discovered I didn't really have any ingredients. I mean, I have some Italian sausage I had bought on a whim, and I had some brown rice, and some roma tomatoes... but none of them really looked like they wanted to make "my risotto".

Whether this is "real" or not, this is what I came up with!

Ingredients:

- 1 C rice (I used brown)
- 2.5 C water
- 1 tbsp bouillon
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder

- 1 Italian sausage (you can use Turkey-- I meant to but grabbed the regular in my fleeting moment)
- 4 roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 C spinach
Olive Oil
Dash basil/oregano

Directions:

- Place your rice, water, bouillon, and garlic powder in a larger pot. Cook your rice according to the directions on the bag/box, just with the added ingredients.
- Once your rice is cooked, move to a bowl and place in the microwave to keep warm (or keep it out-- this next step won't take too long.
- Put somewhere between 1 tsp and 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Sautee your sausage until it is no longer pink/ is cooked through.
- Add your tomatoes and your spinach; cook until the spinach is just wilted (this should happen under or just around a minute). Add your basil/oregano.
- Stir in your rice. Take it a little at a time. (You may have to serve some, then add more rice, then serve again.) Mix and let sit for around five minutes before serving.


Easy and delicious!

You last met Nikki in the summer of 2012 when she was about to get married. AND HERE SHE IS AGAIN! It's almost her one year anniversary and she has endured and shared so much over at her blog Mrs. Healthy Ever After. Make sure to hop over there and read things from tips to get your husband to eat healthy to comical stories that you can relate to.

How Juicing Got me to Like Celery
I never thought I’d be a juicing-type person. I mean, sure, my mom did hop on the bandwagon for a short stint when we were in high school to give us freshly made orange-apple juice each morning before school. But it was short-lived, mainly because orange prices had gone up and it became too expensive.

But here I am now, and I can’t get enough of my juicer.

It started innocently enough. I really just wanted to show my husband how important it was for him to eat more fruits and veggies, so I showed him the documentary “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead” (one of my all time favorites I had seen before). The documentary follows Joe Cross on an epic juice fast as he cures himself of a rare disease and then helps someone else do the same.

When the credits rolled at the end, I turned to my husband with a smile basically ready to say, “And now this is why we’re having salad for dinner—“ but before I could, he said something shocking to me: “So when are we going to get a juicer?”

Juicers were too expensive for us, especially since we weren’t even sure we were going to like it yet. So, we bought a 30 year-old, hardly used, Jack Lalaine juicer off of the work classifieds.

After our first juice, it was love at first sip.

We started off with carrot apple—something I remembered liking as a kid when I visited my aunts house. But then we quickly went on to be more daring and started exploring the world of green juices. Who knew that green apples, kale, cucumbers, celery, spinach and lemons all comes together in a concoction that tastes very similar to Gatorade? It was fantastic!

We started juicing in the mornings for breakfast and maybe a snack in the afternoons. I never felt such a jolt of energy before when I finished one of the huge juices we’d get.

Finally I decided I really wanted to try a juice detox—not to lose weight, but to just see how I’d feel. Would it make me feel better like the documentary suggested? We decided only to do a short one, but in those three days, I felt like a new person. Sure, there was one day where I really didn’t feel that well (but hey, my body was DETOXING) and let’s be honest, my husband cheated the whole time, but the juice detox was eye opening.

Who knew that sweet potato, blueberries, pears and cinnamon tasted like apple pie? Since when did beets taste like the best thing in the world?

And yes, these were all very filling.

The biggest change for me was also the fact that I now don’t mind celery. That may seem petty to you—I hate celery, ever since I can remember. I hate it in soups. I hate it in salads. I HATE IT. When we started juicing celery, I’d have to hold my nose. Even the smell was gross to me. But after a while of juicing celery, I now no longer mind it. Juicing had literally changed my taste buds.

I also lost a shocking amount of weight in those three days, but I won’t disclose that here because that’s not the point. And juice fasting isn’t really about the weight loss (especially since you’ll always gain some back once you re-introduce solid foods to your diet). The point is to get healthy. The point is to rid yourself of the toxins your body (did you know your intestines and bowels can hold undigested meat for years? Yup. It’s a thing).

The point is to be good to your body so your body will be good to you.

While we don’t juice as often as we like (we’ve been travelling a lot this summer), we still do enjoy our juicer and look forward to one day owning a newer model.

But before I go, there’s some things to know about juicing.

1) It’s not the same as having a smoothie.
While you could have a smoothie fast in theory, its not the same. Juicing is absorbing nutrients without consuming fiber, so you get the nutrients quicker. Does that make one better than the other? No. Is fiber bad? Of course not. Should you eat a lot of fiber even while juicing? Duh. Some people like to start fights over juicing vs. smoothies and that’s just silly. Both are fantastic.
2) Juice detoxes need to be done correctly.
Juice detoxes or fasts should not be used as a fad diet, and when done incorrectly can be dangerous. You need follow a legitimate plan (Like Joe Cross’ at www.RebootwithJoe.com) and don’t try to do less than that. It’s important to keep your calories at normal levels (minimum 1200 for women and minimum 1600 for men).
3) You don’t have to waste the pulp.
Many people think juicing is too expensive, especially with how much pulp you get out of it to discard. DON’T DISCARD IT. You can make sweet breads, sandwich breads, or crackers! You can even add it to soup for some added veg AND you can compost it too. It’s AWESOME.
4) You don’t have to do a juice fast to enjoy your juicer or reap the benefits
Seriously, all you need is one juice a day to feel FANTASTIC. Start with breakfast and maybe add one for a snack either pre- or post-workout.

Juice on!

Read more about my healthy adventures at www.MrsHealthyEverAfter.com!

Butternut Squash is one of my fall favorites. But let’s face it, who wants to always wait around for the season to enjoy it? Not this girl! I was so excited when I found it still available at my local grocery store.

When it comes to serving meatless meals, my ideas are usually vetoed by the hubs. It comes as such a relief when I can throw something together that we will all enjoy and it doesn’t have to contain meat. This stir fry is so filling! If it had much else in it I think we would have busted.

However, if you are a “my meal must have meat” type of person, adding just about anything to this works! See the asterisk for the details.


Ingredients:

- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 green pepper, sliced
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 3 C butternut squash, cut into cubes
- 1 to 2 tbsp(s) soy sauce
- 1 tbsp teriyaki sauce
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking rice wine

Directions:

- Heat your sesame oil, olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, and 1 minced garlic clove in a wok or large skillet over medium-low heat. Sauté until garlic is golden brown.

*If you wanted to add meat, here’s your chance! Toss it in there before you add your butternut squash and cook until golden/brown all around. It doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through just yet since you have a few more steps to go!*

- Add your butternut squash and sauté for 5 to 10 minutes, until tender.

- Add your green pepper, red pepper, onion, and the rest of your garlic and ginger. Sauté for another 5 to 10 minutes.

- Mix in your sauces (soy, teriyaki, and Chinese cooking rice wine). If you do not have rice wine, you can substitute cooking sherry or just use extra soy sauce. Let stand for at least another 5 to 10 minutes, mixing occasionally.

- Serve warm on its own or over rice.

Don't forget to VOTE FOR MICHAEL in the Parents Magazine Cover Photo Contest!

This is the FIRST Wife of the Month for 2013. Somehow it slipped away from me for the past four months. How did I manage that? I loved doing this series last year. I loved getting to know other wives and mamas in the blogging world.

It seemed only fitting that I re-feature someone you met in 2012! (This also fits in for "Throw Back Thursday"!) Do you guys remember Sarah? She's pretty awesome. Her blog was just featured in Skirt! Charleston. For her post about that amazing bit, click here.

Lately I've been struggling with diet fads and all the craziness surrounding "clean eating". So I thought I'd ask some other bloggers to share their thoughts on the matters.

Who better than to share some thoughts on clean eating from someone who is all about it?

As you guys may know, I am not vegetarian/vegan. There are, however, definite health benefits if you decide to make the choice to go either which way.

I'll stop babbling now. Here's Sarah!

Photograph by Alice Keeney Photography.

Hey y’all! Sarah from What I Vegan here.

I’m excited Emily has asked me to guest post about clean eating today!
I think most everybody agrees that we want to give ourselves and our families healthy food that will nourish and sustain us.

But grocery stores out there are practically minefields of chemicals, GMOs (genetically modified organisms), MSG, bacteria, and hormones. These have known and (even scarier) unknown effects on our health.

Seriously, how’s a gal supposed to navigate that minefield and find a way to avoid giving herself and her kids all those terrifying ingredients?

By eating a clean diet full of plant-based, whole foods.

Hang on a sec; did your eyes just glaze over as you pictured bland, brown “health food”?

Snap back with me here, sister.

I’m not talking beans for dinner every night (though I DO love me some beans ‘n’ greens; check out a delectable recipe here). I’m talking about a whole WORLD full of amazing food possibilities opening up to you that are not only healthy, but downright delicious.

Eyebrows still raised? I would have been skeptical too. Before I went vegan, I was (self-proclaimed) Miss Cheese living off of pasta, pizza, and you guessed it, cheese. I wasn’t exactly a health nut.

And I’m still not one. But I do recognize that certain foods and their dangerous ingredients are best avoided, and it’s really not that hard to do.

Don’t believe me? Check out a few healthy, veggie-centered dishes I made at home (and trust me, I’m no chef):

Quinoa noodles with avocado pesto pasta and squash.

This is what I call “Everything in the Fridge Salad” – just throw together a salad, with whatever toppings you have on hand. Get creative!

Vegan crab cakes with tangy rémoulade and sautéed spinach from Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Kitchen.

Twelve-grain bread with hummus, organic tomatoes, avocado, arugula, and salt and pepper. Easy, healthy, and delish!

Red and black chili with cashew sour cream.

Check out more pictures of what I eat on my blog’s Facebook page! You’ll be amazed at what all you can do with plant-based foods!

Now that you see how yummy it can be, I’m going to give you some easy tips on how to add more of these healthful plant-based foods to your family’s table.

•Eat more veggies! Pick a few to take the spotlight on your dinner plate. Be adventurous; buy a veggie you don’t recognize, and then look online for a recipe. A great site is VegWeb.com.

•Buy organic produce as much as possible. It’s a little pricier but your body will thank you for saying no to those pesticides! Can’t buy all organic? That’s ok; just avoid these dirty dozen.

•Check those ingredients. The less processed, the better. Try to buy items that have fewer than 5 or so ingredients and make sure you can pronounce them! Your body doesn’t want that azodicarbonamide (whatever that is)!

•Skip the meat, dairy, and eggs. They’re full of hormones, antibiotic resistant bacteria, cholesterol, and other nasty stuff. Switching to organic won’t help either. Not to mention, animals are treated in unspeakable ways to make these products. Best to skip out as often as possible (or altogether!). Start a Meatless Monday tradition and work on it from there!

•Look for the Non-GMO Project symbol. This guarantees that the food doesn’t contain harmful GMOs, which have never been suitably tested for long-term health impacts. To learn more about them, click here.


Want to learn more?

Watch the movie Forks Over Knives (it’s on Netflix!). It’s entertaining, informative, and could save your life!

Check out the book Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr, who I consider to be the queen of clean eating. Her follow up book, Crazy Sexy Kitchen, has amazing, clean recipes!

Can we eat 100% clean 100% of the time? Or course not. That’s not realistic. But we can try to eat healthfully the majority of the time for the sake of our bodies and our kids.

Try the tips above to take the first step!

To Healthy and Tasty Food!
Sarah

A super easy and healthy dinner alternative to pasta, I absolutely love these. If you're a zucchini lover, then you definitely need to put this recipe on your "to make" list or Pinterest board.

I realize that I've started posting quite a few Italian-Veggie dishes... like my Eggplant Parmesan (and there's another one on the horizon). What can I say? I'm trying to cut down on the pasta and up my vegetable intake. What better way to do that than make a few substitutions?

Ingredients:

- 3 to 6 medium sized zucchini, halved and hollowed (see picture)
- 2 to 3 C ground beef or turkey (you can also use a meat substitute or sausage of any kind!)
- your favorite marinara sauce (about half of a typical jar for 3-4 zucchini, the whole jar for 5-6)
- 1/2 white onion, finely chopped (optional)
- Mozzarella Cheese (to top)
- Parmesan Cheese (to top)

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 400. Prepare a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.
- In a large skillet, combine your onion and ground meat/sausage of your choice. Cook over medium-high heat until your meat is cooked and your onion is soft.
You don't have to use onion if you don't want it!
- Mix your marinara sauce into your meat mixture and let sit (covered over medium-low heat) for ten to twenty minutes, if possible.
- If you haven't already, cut your zucchini in half length-wise and hollow them out making "boats". However many zucchini you use, you will have twice the number of boats (i.e. if you use 3 zucchini, you come out with six boats).
- Spoon meat mixture into your zucchini boats and top it with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
- Bake for ten to fifteen minutes (until cheese is melted/golden brown).
See first picture!

The idea for this recipe comes from Dashing Dish.

I LOVE eggplant. It's a new obsession. Much like my zucchini love. Last year on my birthday Clark took me out to dinner and I got eggplant parmesan for the first time.

I fell in love.

I can't believe it's taken me this long to make it. Perhaps it's because Clark doesn't really like eggplant, so I made this on a night when he wasn't around for dinner. Michael wouldn't eat it, either. What can I say... I'm surrounded my picky boys (relatively speaking, that is).

This could probably be enough for two people... but I must admit I ate it all myself. I was rather hungry, to say the least.

Ingredients:

- 1 small to medium sized eggplant, sliced length-wise
I didn't use the whole eggplant. I think I left out about two "slices" of it.
- 1/2 C low fat ricotta cheese
- 1/4 C onion *optional*
- 1/3 C spinach *optional*
- 2 tbsp Parsley
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp basil
- 1/2 C (+ extra) reduced fat Mozzarella cheese
- 2 tbsp (+ extra) grated parmesan
- Your favorite Marinara (I used about 1/2 to 3/4 of the jar)
- Salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Directions:

- Slice your eggplant length wise in slices about 1/4 inch thick. Lightly salt them and put in a colander for 20 to 30 minutes to release texture. If you're like me and don't actually have a colander, I salt them, lay them over a bacon screen (or something close to it) and let them sit. It works (sort of) the same. Use paper towels to dab and soak up more moisture after your 20/30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 450.
- Heat up (or make) your sauce.
- Place your eggplant slices on a baking sheet. Lightly coat both sides of the eggplant slices using 1 tbsp of your allotted olive oil. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, then turn them over and do it again. If you cut them thinner, make sure to watch them closely. Don't want the slices burning around the edges (some of mine did!)
- Mix together your cheeses and seasonings.
- Heat your other tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium-high. Add your onion and sautee until soft, about two to five minutes. Add your spinach until just wilted. Mix this in to your cheese mixture as well.
- In an 8 x 8 baking dish, or 9" round dish, or really whatever you wish to use, pour enough of your sauce to cover the bottom. Next add a slice of eggplant, followed by cheese mixture, sauce, repeat. Do this until you have at least three layers. You may be able to make more than one serving, depending on the size of your eggplant. Make sure you top it with sauce before adding extra mozzarella and/or parmesan cheese! *I also sprinkled extra parsley on the top of mine-- yumm!*
- Cover with foil, lower your oven's temperature to 400, and bake for about 30 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.

Let it sit about five to ten minutes before diving in!

*Use cheese substitutes to make this vegan friendly!*

This recipe was adapted from Skinny Taste.

I'm still horribly behind on my Easter posts. I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating the resurrection! I do promise to share our Easter story, but for now here's what I made for dessert for our Easter dinner with friends!

Ingredients:
I only made a half batch due to only needing enough for four people.
- 2 C all-purpose, unbleached flour
- 1.5 C sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 4 eggs
- 1 C canola oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3-4 C freshly shredded carrots
*optional* 2/3 C chopped pecans and/or walnuts

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 and prepare your muffin pan with liners/cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together your eggs and oil. Add your vanilla.
- Mix in your sugar and cinnamon before adding your flour and baking soda.
- Fold in your carrots. Do not over mix!
- Use 3 to 4 tbsp to fill your tin/liners.
- Bake for 18 to 25 minutes.
Top with cream cheese frosting and enjoy!

This recipe was adapted from Wilton.

Before Clark had to head out to work again, his dinner request was homemade Mongolian Beef. It's one of his favorites to order for take-out, and since we're trying to cut back on doing that, we experimented. When all was said and done, Clark said it was the best Chinese dish we had made at home. Period. Apparently my Sweet & Sour Chicken has finally been surpassed.

Ingredients:

- 1 lb beef tenderloin [ I actually just used stir-fry beef for this because it's WAY cheaper. ]
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp grated/"powder" ginger
- 4 to 6 tbsp soy sauce [low sodium preferred]
- 2 to 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp Chine rice wine or dry sherry
- 3 to 6 green onions cut into 2 to 3 inch pieces [green part only]
- 2 to 4 tbsp oil for the pan [I used olive]

For Fried Rice Recipe go HERE*

- Directions:

- Mix together your soy sauce, sugar, and rice wine/sherry. Set aside.
- Heat oil in pan [I used a wok] over medium-high heat. Add your ginger and garlic. Sautee until garlic is browning.
- Toss your beef in cornstarch. Make sure to shake off any access cornstarch. Add your beef to the pan and saute until lightly browned.
- Add the sauce to the mix. It should boil pretty quickly. Lower the heat and keep stirring until the sauce begins to thicken and sort of glaze the meat. It should happen in a matter of minutes.
- Toss in your green onions a few minutes before serving. Turn the heat off after adding them.

Serve with fried or steamed rice.


Recipe adapted from chodivine.com.

I've been so anxious to share this recipe with you! I adapted this from Dana Made it to make them vegan! Well... almost. I did put regular yogurt in them, but I know there are yogurt substitutes. You can also leave out some of the applesauce and use eggs if you like. That's included in the ingredients!

These were to get Michael to have more veggies in his system. Lately he really won't eat them. I think it's important to make sure he gets something green, and nothing seems to be cutting it. So... pureed broccoli, anyone? These may sound gross, but I tried one and I promise they're actually tasty. Just a different kind of banana muffin, really!

Ingredients:

- 1/4 C apple or prune juice
- 1.5 to 2 C whole broccoli pieces, frozen or fresh

- 3 mashed bananas
- 1/2 grated carrots (I used julienne cut carrots because I had them and, well, sometimes I'm lazy)
- 1/4 C yogurt (I used plain non fat, but if you're going vegan you can use a substitute-- you can also use a flavor if you like!)
- 1 tsp vanilla

- 1/4 C to 1/2 C sugar (optional-- if you use a flavored yogurt or sweetened applesauce, I really don't think you need the sugar at all)
- 1/4 C butter (or Earth Balance)
- 2 eggs or 1/2 C unsweetened applesauce (if the batter gets too thick feel free to add a little more applesauce or another type of oil)

- 2 C whole wheat flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 350 and prepare your muffin pan(s). I made one batch of minis plus a batch of regular sized, so I imagine this makes around 24 regular muffins.
- Use a food processor and puree your broccoli and apple juice together. It should come out looking something like this:

- Mix together your sugar, butter and applesauce in a large bowl. Next add your broccoli to it.
- Add your bananas, carrots, yogurt, and vanilla.
- Last, pre-mix your dry ingredients and then add them to your overall mixture.
- Fill your prepared muffin pan(s).

- Bake between 25 and 30 minutes. Check on them every so often, because the minis finished for me before the regular, so if you're making minis perhaps set your timer for about 18 minutes and then go from there.

Enjoy! I took about half of ours and put them in the freezer (after removing the wrappers, of course). If you do this, probably use them within a few weeks as it is. Stick them in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds and they feel like they're fresh out of the oven!

Michael certainly approved (he was watching Monsters Inc, the new favorite in our house)... and our dog was more than happy to try and sample some as well.

So, I'm one of those people that LOVES Banana Bread. Banana Muffins. Bananas. Yeah... I'm one of those people. I don't like fake banana flavoring, but when it comes to baked goods with REAL banana I'm all for it.

I also love Carrot Cake. I rarely EVER eat it because I take into account the cream cheese frosting and the possibility of just how much sugar is in the cake itself. Still, I have to admit it's one of my favorite desserts.

So, what better way to experiment in the kitchen then mix together two of my favorites? After researching many banana bread and carrot cake recipes, I tied together what I think is a rather successful, tasty (and healthy) treat.

Optional Streusel Topping and Cream Cheese Frosting Recipes are also listed below!

Ingredients:

- 2 C grated carrots (about 4 to 5 medium sized carrots)
- 4 ripe bananas
- 1 1/2 C whole wheat flour

*If you want this bread to be more like carrot cake and a little less like a healthy bread, then skip the whole wheat flour and use 2 1/2 C all purpose, unbleached flour*

- 1 C all purpose, unbleached flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 C unpacked brown sugar
- 2 tbsp canola/vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/3 C applesauce
- *optional*1/4 C - 1/2 C chopped walnuts

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 350.
- Grease a 4 x 8 pan (I believe this recipe should make about two of these. I made one loaf of bread and one pan of muffins).
- In a Medium-Large bowl mix (or sift if you have the option) together both flours, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.(I really didn't use a big enough bowl.)

- In a Large bowl beat the unpacked brown sugar and canola oil until they are as well combined as possible. Add the eggs and vanilla to this mixture and beat for another 30 seconds to a minute.
- In the large bowl, add the bananas and cinnamon. If you do not use ripened/frozen/thawed bananas (putting ripe banana in the freezer until you have enough, taking them out and giving them enough time to thaw, in which case they're easy to mix/beat in without having to do much work), then take a potato masher and smash the bananas in a separate bowl until they are broken up enough to beat into the mixture easily.
- Take the flour mixture and beat it into the mixture in sections. Only do this for about 2/3 of the whole flour mixture. Set the last 1/3 aside.
- Stir in the applesauce, carrots, and optional walnuts. (I would make sure you set enough time to grate the carrots, even the day before you make the bed, if you don't have an easier way than I do!)

*Feel free to add another 1/4 C of applesauce or so to make the bread more moist.*

- Stir in the remaining amount of the flour mixture.
- Sprinkle some walnuts on top or add the optional Streusel topping (scroll down for ingredients/directions).
- Cook the bread for 55 minutes to an hour. Check with a knife to make sure it comes out clean with no batter sticking to it. Served best with butter or cream cheese!
- This recipe can also be used for muffins. Cook them for 18 to 20 minutes!



*Optional Streusel Topping*

If you want to make the bread just a little sweeter, this is one way to do it.

Ingredients:

- 3/4 C unbleached, all purpose flour
- 3/4 C sugar
- 1/4 C butter/margarine
- 1 tbsp water
- 2 tsp cinnamon
(Recipe inspired from Food.com.)

Directions:

-Mix all the ingredients together with a hand mixer/ mix master. Sprinkle the topping on the bread or muffins.
- TA-DAH!

*Optional Cream Cheese Frosting*

Another way to make the bread or muffins just a little bit sweeter (and less healthy).

- 8 oz (1 package) of low-fat cream cheese
- 1/4 C butter/margarine, softened
- 3 C Confectioner's (Powdered) Sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
(Recipe inspired from Food.com.)

Directions:

- Beat the cream cheese and butter together until fluffy.
- Beat in powdered sugar 1/2 C at a time until you have the consistency that you want for your frosting, beating until nice and smooth.
- Mix in the vanilla last but not least.
- Let the frosting cool in the refrigerator until it's easy to spread. Add this to your muffins or perhaps serve it on the side to go with the bread!


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