Food
Living the Green Life includes <a href="https://blog.xbydesign.biz/eat-well-live-well/">eating healthy food</a> that tastes great too. If you can't grow it yourself, then pick it yourself, cook it yourself, & enjoy it. Grab a <a href="https://blog.xbydesign.biz/vegetarian-lentil-sliders-burgers/">recipe </a>or 2 for food I eat & feed my family, share some of your own, or just chat about what works & what doesn't when you're trying to eat healthy tasty food.
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Quick & Easy Weeknight Gumbo
Quick, easy, & weeknight are NOT words associated with making a gumbo. But yes, you read that title right and yes it is true that you can make a quick & easy gumbo anytime you want. The trick is in the prep work & the technique. First a disclaimer or 2… quick & easy are relative. So… By quick I mean much faster than it would take to make my normal gumbo recipe. 30 minutes or so (45 if you use brown rice) By easy I mean as easy as it can get with still having to make your own roux. Normally it takes me hours to make gumbo because…
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Cooking with Kids: Semi-Homemade Corn Dogs
Hey y’all!! It’s officially summer! And that means more time with the kiddos, more bored kiddos, and more HUNGRY kiddos! This summer I told my youngest (age 8) that, among other things, he was going to learn to cook. Every kid needs to learn to be self sufficient, even in the kitchen. And what says summer more than corn dogs?! Watermelon maybe, but there’s nothing to do there but keep it simple & cut it up (kids love watermelon wedges with juice running down their arms)! But this is not about watermelon. By request from insta-friend & fellow blogger Kenyatta over at My Design Rules, we are making semi-homemade corn dogs with the kids! How…
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1 Skillet Chicken & Orzo
I like the challenge of making delicious & easy weeknight meals using as few ingredients as possible, preferably 5 or less not including the basics (like salt, pepper, turmeric, onions & garlic – I put that ish in everything!). This is one of my family’s favorites & can be made in so many variations – AND cleanup is easy! It’s 1 skillet Chicken & Orzo. Try this simple recipe with your family with a veg or 2 on the side. Ingredients: 1/2 small onion, thinly sliced 1 garlic clove, sliced or chopped 4-6 chicken thighs 1 cup of orzo 2 ½ cups of water salt & pepper to taste The…
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Greek Style Bean Soup
Every week we try to have at least 1 veggie only meal. Not just a bunch of vegetables on a plate – that’s just boring & maybe even lazy (unless of course it’s a side dish for Friday night wings). We want fun (kids like fun food), delicious & (hopefully) easy food. But it can be hard coming up with different dishes every week. Honestly, most of the time I don’t; we find some things that we really love (usually something stuffed) & eat them over & over until we get tired of it. Then I try to come up with something new. One thing that’s pretty easy is soup. …
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Why Turmeric & Liquid Amino Acids Are My 2 New Kitchen Favorites
I have been a naturalista for something like 26 years. In the beginning I tried so many products, some worked, some not. Only when I kinda became a “purist” (maybe) did I find out that some of the best things I cook with are also the best for my body & hair. No surprise there. Most recently – like within the last 6 months or so – I have found 2 new “naturalista” best friends in my kitchen cabinets… Turmeric & Liquid Amino Acids. Why Turmeric & Liquid Amino Acids Are My 2 New Kitchen Favorites Turmeric kinda came easy. I love food. And I love curry. So I keep…
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Vegetarian Eggplant Casserole
After the holidays we needed to press the reset button. We ate like crazy in the Green house so…. Time to cleanse & I’ve got the perfect recipe to kick things off… Vegetarian Eggplant Casserole Eggplant Casserole Ingredients Ingredients: 1 large eggplant or 2 medium Olive oil 1 yellow onion, diced 1 bell pepper, diced ½ hot pepper (jalapeño or serrano, optional) 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 ½ cups cheese (I split mine with ½ cheddar & ½ mozzarella) 2 large eggs, beaten 1T butter, melted salt & pepper to taste {a glass of wine to sip on while you cook} The Process: Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 2…
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Gluten Free Vegan Lo Mein
Not that we are either gluten free OR Vegan in the Green House. Yes we eat pretty well, but we are definitely not that good. Sometimes we just need to press reset on our diets/eating habits & this gluten free vegan lo mein is a perfectly tasty way to do it! I just love spaghetti squash (chameleon that it is) & vegetables in general, as long as they are NOT sweet. That is the only way that I am picky – if you can call it that. No sweet vegetables please. Thank you. Anyway, I didn’t know if I should call this lo mein or chow mein because… Lo mein…
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Eat Well to Live Well
The summer is over & so are the excuses. In the Green home we eat well to live well but this summer we fell off the wagon – some harder than others. There was so much junk food to be had, birthdays full of sweets (at least they were mostly homemade) and donuts & kolaches at every chance. After Hurricane Harvey, school has finally started & now that we’ve taken care of our kids we parents have once again ramped up our own self-care. Today DH went to the doctor & while his appointment went well, our longtime family doctor talked with him about eating whole foods. The first thing she…
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Vegetarian Zucchini Boats
I recently cooked for several girlfriends on a birthday trip and, as usual, I bought way too much food. One of the items I made was steak & veggie kabobs. They were a hit, but I had several squashes & zucchini that I didn’t even use. I really like eggplant, squash, & zucchini but they can be tricky. They have a high water content, need to be seasoned just right, & a lot of people don’t like the texture. I normally just slice them & saute with sliced onions, salt & pepper and the family enjoys that. I’ve also been know to stuff an eggplant with a similar mixture. This…
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Vegetarian Lentil Sliders
For some time now, I have made it a point to have at least 1 meatless day per week at the Green house. To make it easy, I stuck to Meatless Monday. Ironically, these days I almost never remember to do it for Meatless Monday. That day just comes whenever I think about it & say “hey we haven’t gone meatless yet this week. Today is that day for this week. I was making salad for lunch & realized I need to use an eggplant we had in the fridge. Normally I do something stuffed or some sort of a soup, salad, or pasta. Today I decided to do something…
