What to do when it’s Halloween and you need to make your weekly, make it goolish, of course!  Each family member got to choose two dinners this week. To make it fun, I had them write their food choice on a slip of paper with a spooky twist.  The three delighted in designing their creative menu items. Items include:

Menu

Monday: Mongolian Death Worms in Basilisk Blood (Spaghetti with dream field pasta) E

Tuesday:  Pumpkin Taco Tarts S (Made with beans, low carb tortillas and mozzarella cheese) Made with our new pizza creation as the taco tarts. *See Recipe Below

Wednesday: Devilish Delight (Chili and Bean Soup) E *See Recipe Below

Thursday: Slimy Pickles with Squiggly Mac Salad (Trim Mac Salad Page 181 from The Trim Healthy Cookbook)

Friday: Monster Eye and Spider Crawling Pizza & Movie Night (S).  There are a couple new recipe’s for crusts in the book Trim Healthy Table that we’ve been meaning to try!

Saturday: Mommy Dogs  with Witch Fingers (Green Fries)(S), Our green fries are simply green beans or zucchini strips cooked in the air fryer a perfect alternative french fries.

Sunday: Haunted Halloween Tea with Eye balls (deviled eggs) and Grizzly Gorp (Cheese and Wasa crackers)

For my Sweet Tooth

Pumpkin Gummy Candy I’ll be using the tart cherry recipe but with pumpkin juice to make these gummy candies.

Creamy Pumpkin Chocolate Fried Taco (S) 

• Haunted Halloween Tea with Eye balls (deviled eggs) and Grizzly Gorp (Cheese and Wasa crackers) S

Insta-Pot Pizza Chili

• 2 pound ground turkey
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1 tsp butter
• 2 cans RoTel Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies
• 2 cans of the following beans (Black, any kind of White & Kidney)
• 1 – 2 Tablespoons chili powder (depending on how spicy you like your chili)
• 1 Tablespoon cumin 
• 1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup chicken stock
• Himalayan salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup chicken stock low sodium
• 3 ounce can of tomato paste.
• 2 cans of sugar-free pizza sauce

Press Sauté button and add butter and onion and ground turkey. Once the onion and turkey has been cooked, turn off Sauté mood and add the rest of the ingredients. Close lid and pressure cook on chili at High Pressure for 30 minutes, followed by Natural Release. Open the lid carefully.

New Crust Creation:

• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• 1 tablespoon cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup baking blend
• 1/4 cup psyllium husk
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning.

Place the both the mozzarella and cream cheese into the microwave for a 1 minuet and 1/2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.  If the dough is to soft, add more parmesan cheese or baking blend until easy to roll out. Place the dough between to pieces of parchment paper. I prefer to use a fondant roller to stretch the crust or you can use a rolling pin. Cook at 400 degrees for 10 mins until browned.  Place desired toppings on crust and cook for an additional 10 minuets or until the cheese is browned.

This weeks menu is ready! We follow the guidelines of Trim Healthy Mama developed by Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison and we encourage you to check out their website, books and various social media platforms.

Menu

Monday:  Pumpkin Mung Dal Curry (E) *See recipe Below then Add a large plate of Greens

Tuesday:  Saucy Stir-fry Chicken (E) page 72 of the book, Necessary Food by Brianna Thomas

Wednesday: Loaded Sweet Potatoes (E). So delicious and so very easy to make.

Thursday: Everything Bagel Dogs (S), Low Carb and flavorful options for your easy hot dog night.

Friday: Carb Friendly Pizza & Movie Night (S).  There are a couple new recipe’s for crusts in the book Trim Healthy Table that we’ve been meaning to try!

Saturday: Cicken Alfredo over Zoodles (S) page 72 of the book, Necessary Food by Brianna Thomas

Sunday: Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole (E)- Page 62 the book, Necessary Food by Brianna Thomas

For my Sweet Tooth

Cherry Crisp (E)- Reading through this blog post, I didn’t realize cherries had so many health benefits.  Even if you don’t create this tasty treat, I encourage you to click the link to read.

Pumpkin Bread! (S)

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cup Instant Oats
• 1 cup THM Baking Blend
• 1/2 Cup Sprouted Rye or Spelt flour
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
• Pinch of Sea Salt
• 2 tbsp. Organic, Unsalted Butter, Melted
• 1 Tablespoon Black Strap Molasses
• 1 Tablespoon Honey (optional)
• 4 Egg Whites (or 3/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup pumpkin
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cup Swerve

Other Optional Items to Add to your mix:

• 1 cup Finely Diced Red Apple
• 1 cup Raisons
• 1 sugar-free chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Mix together the dry ingredients: oats, baking blend, four, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter, egg whites, molasses, pumpkin, honey and vanilla and swerve.
3. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together, then add in any of the optional items.
4. Preheat the oven to 325.
5. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat, scoop out a tablespoon for each cookie. Bake at 325 for 13-15 minutes then cool for 2-3 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.

Pumpkin Mung Dal Curry (E)

Ingredients

• 1 cup Mung Dal
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1 onion
• 1 tsp cumin
• dash of cayenne
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1st garam marsala powder
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp butter
• 2 tomatoes chopped

Directions:

Set the Instapot on the saute mode. Add the 1 tsp. of butter and onion.  Cook onion until tender.  Add in spices (cayenne, cinnamon, nutmeg, marsala powder, curry & turmeric) cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Turn off saute.  Add the remaining ingredients (Mung Dal, chicken stock, pumpkin, almond milk and chopped tomatoes).  Cook on manual for 10 mins.  Quick release pressure.

The Teal Pumpkin Project

A little food for thought. Halloween is fast approaching and our littles will be out parading their creative costumes and celebrating fall in style. But, what about all the littles with allergies?  As a teacher I had so many young ones with a variety of food allergies. Some broke out in hives others had sever responses that required a tag-a-long Epipen.  It really didn’t hit home until our first born started having reactions to foods as early as 9 months. Now our sweet girl has to carry her Epipen and we, like many, have to read the back of packages for ingredients that might cause a reaction.

A couple years ago I was introduced to the Teal Pumpkin Project and ordered bracelets to help support and spread awareness.  Over the years the project has grown.  So when a friend of mine posted a picture of teal pumpkins at her local Target in Florida, I decided to make a trip of my own. We are thankful that our local Target not only Teal Pumpkin supplies but also an allergy free selection of goodies for our Trick or Treaters. See a teal pumpkin on the porch in your area? Thank them for supporting allergy awareness! For more supplies, just type Teal Pumpkin Project into Google and you’ll see a variety of goodies for sale!

Target for the win!  Thank you for supporting allergy awareness! Speaking of food, we also found these savory costumes!

Week 1 Adventures

Monday: Life Skill- shopping List. Going grocery shopping with children is always a challenge.  This week I’ll have the kids create a shopping list for our weekly menu. They will be in charge of their list crossing and checking off each item.

Tuesday: Art Class– Aberdeen Beads and Brushes hosts a Weekly Toddler Art lesson for $5.00.  Time to get and create!

Wednesday: Exploring Science –make parchment paper. Click this link to see a video of how we created our paper.  It was a quick, easy and fun craft that took no more then 15 minuets.

Thursday: Sports Day– 7 minute Superhero Workout  My kids are in love with this workout!  Maybe add on a family bike ride?!

Friday: Cooking with Math. Summer Ice Cream!  If you are looking for a terrific resource projects with easy steps for grades pk-2, check out “On My Own: Art, Cooking & Life Skills“. We will be using this resource throughout the summer.

Family Adventure!

If you’re in the Southern Pines/Aberdeen/ Pinehurst area join us for Hanging with Hero in Downtown Aberdeen. We will be there supporting the local chapter of  The Green Beret Foundation.

Summer Family Adventures

July 2017

Looking for a way to organize your summer goals, check out our July Summer Adventures.  Each day, during the the week, we have an academic goal, life skill or sports activity.  Weekends are reserved for a fun family adventure and chosen from our families Summer Bucket List.

These are our June Goals:

• Gone Fishing
• Hero Day 
• Dreaming of Vacation
• 4th of July Celebration

Each month we will have a different themed adventure map. Weekly projects will be outlined on the map and detailed on the blog  This month, I created a beach scene that will later be used for a fun game board and reading chart.

Daily Challenge

Daily we ask the kids to:

• Read, Read, Read!
• help the family with their required chores
• play indoor and/or outdoor

Our Weekly Menu with a Dose of Magic 

This week our menu is going to take on a little twist. We follow the guidelines of Trim Healthy Mama developed by Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison and we encourage you to check out their website, books and various social media platforms.  However all of the recipes picked for this weeks menu are non THM.  Consequently we will make some adjustments to alleviate sugars, white starchy flours and to keep our fats from carbs. I’ll mention a few in the comments.  Our oldest wanted to plan the menu for this week and I figured, well, why not!!  So here is this week’s menu from an 8, almost 9 year old girl!

Menu

Monday: Irish Stew page 147 from  The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. ~ No Side and Substitute radishes for potatoes

Tuesday: Shepherds Pie and glazed carrots pages 136 and 129 from  The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. Substitute Cauliflower rice for potatoes.

Wednesday: Haggis with buttered peas pages 155 and 129 The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. ~ Substitue hot dogs or sausages for Haggis

Thursday: Classic Roast Chicken with french fries pages 155 and 128 of The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. ~ Cook in the Instapot

Friday: Low Carb Pizza, (c/o) crust made with Cheese bread sticks on page 310of the book Trim Healthy Table. 

Saturday: Beef Stew with Herb Dumplings page 65 The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. ~No Side and Sub baking blend for flour

Sunday: Chicken Enchiladas (S) – I’m excited about this delicious meal choice!

Sweet Treats

Gorilla Bread:  This recipe was as huge hit! I even had couple with my breakfast the next morning.

Sugar Free Cinnamon Donuts * See Below!!

Cinnamon Sugar Donuts (S)