Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Ideas for Packing a Healthy School Lunch!

Well, September is here, school is beginning and it is time for packing
lunches once again! The above lunch was made by my 8 year old daughter. It is composed of a quesadilla made with refried beans and two brown rice tortillas, blackberries and sliced nectarines, sliced carrots and cucumbers, raw cashews, almonds, and chocolate chips. As you can see, very simple and nutritious, full of key nutrients for a growing and developing brain.

This month I am hosting a wonderful monthly blogging event called Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free! This event was created by the lovely Naomi Devlin of Straight
into Bed Cakefree and Dried. And my theme, of course, is: Ideas for Packing a Healthy School Lunch! This is a way for you, a reader or blogger, to submit a link and photo of your recipe and/or ideas to me by the end of this month (please, no later than September 27th) and I will post them all to my blog on the 30th of this month. If you don't have a
blog, please feel free to submit a short recipe or list of ideas with a photo and I will post it along with the links from other bloggers. Please email me your post attached with a digital photo to ali@nourishingmeals (dot) com.


In the meantime, (while we are waiting for all of your lovely ideas) I have a few ideas myself to share. First off, if you haven't read the post I did last year on Packing a Healthy School Lunch you might want to check it out. I have a colorful chart with pictures of foods in each food group that you can download, print, and post on your refrigerator for a quick reminder of what to pack. This way your child can choose a food from each category to create a healthy, balanced lunch.


Main Dish/Protein Ideas:
Summer Black Bean Salad (made without the spicy peppers)
Rice, Garbanzo Bean, and Kale Salad (my kids love this one!)
Spring Herb Quinoa Salad (my 5yr old daughter's favorite!)
Garlic Rosemary White Bean Dip on sliced bread with cucumbers
Slices of Roasted Chicken
Moroccan Chickpea and Potato Soup (an absolute favorite of my kids)
Quesadilla slices made with brown rice tortillas, refried black beans, and spinach


Vegetables/Fruits:
Green Smoothie (poured into a small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid)
Mixed greens with a small container of Salad Dressing on the side
Slices of cucumbers, carrots, and celery (my kids like simple best)
Celery sticks with almond butter spread into them
Any in-season whole or sliced fruit


Grains:
Sticky Brown Rice in nori rolls (all-time favorite of my kids)
Carrot Raisin Buckwheat Muffin (my kids beg me to make these!)


Treats:
We don't always have treats around but when we do it would be some of the following (fruit is sometimes the best and easiest treat of all):

I am really looking forward to sharing your post on Ideas for packing a Healthy School Lunch. Please remember to submit it with an attached photo by September 27th, 2010! Thanks! :)



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Posted by Ali at 8:00 AM 1 comments
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Thursday, September 2, 2010

Fish Curry with Garden Vegetables

We love anything curry here. Thai curries, Indian curries, curry roasted potatoes, you name it. Our kids love curry too. Those flavors are passed through breastmilk, so they became addicted quite young. One of my favorite things about making a curried dish is the fact that it is fast, easy, and of course, a one-pot meal.

This Thai fish curry recipe uses fresh garden veggies, halibut, coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, and Thai basil. The key to a good curry is timing. I like to keep the veggies all evenly cooked and not over-cooked. Carrots and onions take a little longer to cook, so I start with those. I will test a carrot, and when it is about halfway done cooking, I will add the other faster cooking veggies such as zucchini and bell peppers.

When purchasing the fish, I usually buy 1.5 to 2 pounds and then ask to have the skin removed. When I am ready to make the curry all I need to do is cut the fish into cubes. It is much easier this way, especially when you have twin two-year-old boys chasing each other below you arguing whether each is an airplane or not ("I'm an airplane....no you're not....yes I am....zoom!").

This curry has another key ingredient that is very beneficial to your health: Turmeric. This orangish-yellow spice will stain your clothes forever but is an excellent anti-inflammatory. In Tom's words: "Curcumin is an amazing compound found in turmeric that can change our gene expression. It has a tendency to lower inflammation, increase detox enzyme expression, and increase antioxidant protein expression. In short, it lowers the impact of life's insults, and increases your innate buffering mechanisms to minimize the residual effect of those insults."


Thai Fish Curry with Garden Veggies

This curry can easily be made vegan too by omitting the fish and replacing the fish sauce with a little extra Herbamare. Any variety of garden vegetables will work here. Try walla walla onions, cauliflower, cabbage, green beans....or even mushrooms. Kaffir lime leaves can be found at your local Asian market. They are very inexpensive and can be frozen. I keep a few small bags in the freezer and then take them out to use as I need them. Kaffir lime leaves look somewhat similar to bay leaves and will give your curry an authentic Thai flavor. Fish only takes about 3 minutes to cook, so be sure to add it last! Enjoy with cooked brown jasmine rice for a complete meal.

1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil or olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into crescent moons
4 medium carrots, sliced diagonally
4 to 5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 can coconut milk
1 cup water, chicken stock, or fish stock
4 kaffir lime leaves
4 teaspoons Thai Kitchen red curry paste
2 tablespoons Thai Kitchen fish sauce
1/2 to 1 teaspoon Herbamare
2 medium zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise and then cut into rounds
2 small red bell peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 medium ripe garden tomatoes, diced small
1.5 to 2 pounds fresh Halibut, skin removed and cut into cubes
large handful of fresh Thai Basil leaves, chiffonade (sliced thinly)

In an 11-inch skillet or other large pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the carrots and garlic and saute a few minutes more.

Then add the turmeric, coconut milk, water, lime leaves, red curry paste, fish sauce, and Herbamare. Stir to incorporate the curry paste. Simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes or until carrots are partway cooked.

Then add the zucchini and bell peppers. Note: if you are using green beans, you will want to add them earlier. Simmer until the veggies are crisp-tender then add the tomatoes and fish and simmer for an additional 3 minutes or so. Be careful not to stir too much otherwise the fish will fall apart. Sprinkle with Thai basil and serve hot!


More curry recipes:
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Posted by Ali at 12:02 PM 9 comments
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Monday, August 23, 2010

Zucchini-Almond Bread (gluten-free + dairy-free)

Well, it's August. Harvest time. I've been busy picking berries, peaches, and apples as of late. Jam-making is in full swing, our gardens are overflowing, and the energy of summer is winding down into Autumn. You can feel it in the air here.

So why not bake zucchini bread? Now that our kitchen isn't 100 degrees anymore, I feel I can bake again! This gluten-free zucchini bread recipe is easy to make, moist, and super flavorful. It does contain eggs. If you are looking for an egg-free (vegan), gluten-free zucchini bread recipe please check out the Quinoa Zucchini Bread recipe in our cookbook. It is a great recipe. You'll also notice that I use something called 'coconut sugar' in this recipe. Coconut sugar is a low-glycemic granulated sweetener that can replace white sugar in any recipe. For more information on one of my favorite sweeteners please refer to my Coconut Sugar Apple Crisp post!


Gluten-Free Zucchini-Almond Bread

This moist and delicious bread is a great way to make use of the massive amounts of garden zucchini available at this time of year! Use the grating disc on your food processor to quickly grate the zucchini or offer the task to your child to be done with a hand grater. I use stone mini loaf pans which evenly distribute the heat and don't cause any sticking. They are available through Pampered Chef.

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sorghum flour
1 cup almond meal (Bob's Red Mill almond meal/flour)
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
3/4 cup coconut sugar
2 large organic eggs
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup almond milk (or another unsweetened dairy or non-dairy milk)

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil four mini-loaf pans.

In a large bowl, whisk all of the dry ingredients together well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, and eggs. Add the zucchini and milk and stir together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together well using a whisk or wooden spoon until the batter thickens. Immediately fold in the chocolate chips if using.

Evenly distribute batter amongst the four loaf pans. Smooth the tops with your finger if desired (I always do this). Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Remove loaves from pans after about 5 to 10 minutes and place onto a wire rack to cool. Source: www.NourishingMeals.com


More Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread recipes from other bloggers:

More Zucchini Recipes from this blog:



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Posted by Ali at 9:50 PM 15 comments
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Saturday, August 7, 2010

Spicy Peach Chutney Recipe

One of my favorite things to cook is Indian food. We recently had a large family reunion in Estes Park, Colorado with over 60 people. Each night a family hosted a dinner with a different theme. Our night was Indian night. Along with the contributions of a few of my cousins, we made Indian Chicken Curry, Lentil Spinach Dal, Saag Paneer, Rice with Potatoes and Saffron, Raw Cilantro Lime Chutney, and this very spicy and easy Peach Chutney; all to feed 60 people. Other family members brought some incredible side dishes and appetizers such as Chicken Satay and Chicken simmered with Onions, Spinach, and Tomatoes.

This chutney recipe was a last minute addition of mine and we all thought it was so delicious that it deserved to be photographed and added to this blog!

The trick to removing the peach skin easily is to drop the peaches into boiling water for about 30 seconds. Remove the peaches with a slotted spoon and place them into an ice water bath. The skin will easily slip off with little effort. If your peaches are on the firmer side you may be able to simply remove the skin with a paring knife and skip the boiling water altogether.


Spicy Peach Chutney

Serve this flavorful, fresh chutney recipe over dal and rice or your favorite curry recipe. If you would like a milder chutney, simply omit the habanero peppers. If you don't have coconut sugar (a low-glycemic granulated sugar) on hand then feel free to use another granulated sugar such as raw cane sugar or Sucanat.

8 medium-sized ripe peaches, peeled and diced
the juice of 2 limes
3 habanero peppers, seeded and finely diced
2 to 3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely diced
1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
4 to 6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup coconut sugar
few dashes sea salt or Herbamare

Place all of the ingredients into a medium-sized saucepan and set heat to medium. Note: I used an 11-inch skillet in this photo because it was the last pan in the house! Simmer covered for about 20 minutes over medium to medium-low heat then remove the cover and simmer for about 10 minutes more to let some of the liquid evaporate. Serve warm or chill and serve the next day. The flavors definitely improve with age. Source: www.NourishingMeals.com


More Indian-inspired recipes you might enjoy:


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Posted by Ali at 5:42 PM 9 comments
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