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While I didn't post much over the holidays, I did try to still do some cooking! Tried three new recipes as well.

For Christmas Eve, I made this mac & cheese recipe, using whole wheat noodles and I added puréed carrots and sweet potatoes for extra nutrition. It was the first time I tried this add-in, and I thought it turned out well!

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015825-creamy-macaroni-and-cheese

Made these baby carrots for Christmas Day- loved the sweet flavor! However I did use less than half of the "sweet" ingredients in the recipe.

http://damndelicious.net/2013/11/25/honey-glazed-baby-carrots/

Had a few apples to use up so tried this apple muffin recipe- these were so good! We gobbled the batch up within a few days.

http://cookieandkate.com/2016/healthy-apple-muffins-recipe/

And last but not least... I made this zucchini bread recipe just about every week in December. Love this recipe and even more I love that it's such a delicious way to get a vegetable in at breakfast!

http://cookieandkate.com/2016/healthy-zucchini-bread-recipe/

Enjoy!

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese Recipe Here is Julia Moskin's fantasy of what this dish should be: nothing more than tender elbows of pasta suspended in pure molten cheddar, with a chewy, golden-brown crust of cheese on top.

After a bit of a holiday hiatus, I'm back at it! A (kind of) funny photo to share- just came home to find my first meal ingredient package from Plated to be eaten by the squirrels! They enjoyed tortillas and buns :) Looks like the rest of it will be ok to use. More to come this week on how the meals turn out! I'm excited to give this a try!

Wow are these good! Just made for the first time. These will be great for breakfast or snacks. Yum!

http://beamingbaker.com/no-bake-almond-butter-coconut-bites-vegan-gluten-free/

I tried a new recipe for minestrone soup last week and then froze it in individual containers for lunches that I've been enjoying all week! I mainly followed the recipe but used vegetable broth and added a can of garbanzo beans. Didn't end up adding the noodles, but this soup was really delicious even without them! Enjoy!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/13333/jamies-minestrone/

I'm so much more into baking since the weather has turned cold! I tried a new zucchini bread recipe tonight- it smells so good! As always, I avoided refined sugar, oil, and grains. I used honey for sweetness but just a 1/4 cup, applesauce instead of oil, and white whole wheat flour. We just may need to try our bread as a bedtime snack- not sure if we'll be able to wait until morning!

http://cookieandkate.com/2016/healthy-zucchini-bread-recipe/

Love having fresh banana bread to start the week! Added bonus that I made a double batch- so I'll put one in the freezer for another week when I don't feel like baking. Our favorite recipe doesn't have refined sugar, oil, or grains, and it tastes so good!!

It's been such a lazy long weekend that I'm just now getting around to sharing what I made for Thanksgiving! We did not host, so we mostly enjoyed others' wonderful dishes, but I did try a few new recipes to contribute. They all turned out well and I'm still enjoying the leftovers- photo is last night's dinner... getting my fill of kale! I hope you had a great holiday!

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/whipped-sweet-potatoes-coconut-and-ginger

http://foodbabe.com/2013/05/08/melt-in-your-mouth-kale-salad/amp/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/creamed-kale-recipe.amp.html

Day 3 of real food! A bit same old, same old as the first two days as I was using up leftovers (pumpkin bread, frittata...) but I made a super easy dinner that I wanted to share. Justin has a work dinner tonight so Micah and I were a bit lazy, but it worked! He asked for cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and a peanut butter sandwich. I made this pita pocket sandwich filled with hummus, cheese, and avocado. The rest of my avocado on the side along with more veggies. Took me 10 minutes to make both of our dinners- couldn't have been easier! Enjoy!

Day two of real food! I had an all-day meeting at work today with catered food. So instead of posting what I ate (and since it was basically the same as what I ate yesterday), I decided I'd share what I DIDN'T eat! Baked goods from Panera, pizza for lunch, and a bunch of mid-afternoon packaged snacks. It was tough to avoid those peanut butter-filled pretzels (love these!!) but I know I felt a lot better throughout the day because of all of these foods that I avoided. A good day two!

I woke up this morning to find on Facebook that my friend Andria was starting her first day of ten days of real food, so I decided to join her! Thanks Andria for the inspiration!

For breakfast I had pumpkin bread with peanut butter. Nuts and a cheese stick for a mid-morning snack. Broccoli frittata with Great Harvest cranberry orange bread- yum! A bunch of carrots while I made dinner and then pasta with peas and broccoli. A very tasty and filling day- and I feel great! Here's to a good day one!

I did some cooking and baking this afternoon to have good food on hand for the weekend! I tried a new pumpkin bread recipe- can hardly keep myself from waiting until the morning to try it! Smells so good. I used applesauce instead of oil and 1/4 cup honey instead of 1/2 cup. I also used white whole wheat flour. Next time I'm going to add walnuts too- forgot to buy them! I also made our favorite frittata recipe- this time with broccoli. This is a hit in our house for any meal. Happy weekend!

http://cookieandkate.com/2016/healthy-pumpkin-bread-recipe/

Micah decided he didn't want leftover quesadillas for dinner so I said he could make his own sandwich. With a little help from Justin, he made this awesome pita pocket sandwich- starting with a whole wheat pita from Trader Joe's and then adding hummus, avocado, cheese, and spinach. Such an easy, nutritious meal! Nice work, buddy!!

I love these quesadillas "with a twist" that we're having for dinner tonight. Just one more way to use up your apples from this fall! Enjoy!

http://fakeginger.com/apple-and-brie-quesadillas/ =4253405

Love these- and feel especially strong about the first two. What do you think?

5 Things You Should Never Say to Your Kids About Food If you've said any of these things to your kids, you could be setting them up for a toxic relationship with food.

I'm so excited to be diving into my new cookbook from 100 Days of Real Food. This blog was one of my key motivators to start eating more real food several years ago and I still follow it closely today. Lisa's new cookbook is geared toward busy families, so I'm looking forward to finding some new ideas for us! Let me know if you have the book too and what you try! Have a great Saturday!

I made a vegetarian frittata this week thinking we'd have it for dinner one night and then use as leftovers for lunches, but Micah loved it so much that he ended up eating it for dinner three nights in a row! I love this recipe because it's quick and easy, and you can change up the vegetables to your liking or based on what you have on hand. Here it is:

-5 eggs
-box of fresh spinach, sautéed (or any vegetable you like; this week I did a combo of sautéed spinach, red and green bell peppers)
-1 cup cheese
-1 cup half & half
-1 T each of diced white onion and chives
-1/4 t each of salt, curry powder, and dill w**d

Mix everything in a bowl, transfer to a greased pie plate, and bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy!

I made butternut squash soup today- tried a new recipe and it was delicious! I think what made it so good was roasting the squash as it brought out so much flavor. Micah also loved making this soup as he is a big fan of using the immersion blender! Enjoy!

http://cookieandkate.com/2015/roasted-butternut-squash-soup/

We tried a new recipe for breakfast this morning- wow were these delicious!! I made the batter in about 15 min last night so then all we had to do this morning was heat up the waffle maker. I highly recommend this recipe- perfect breakfast for a fall weekend- and we'll have leftovers for the week! Enjoy!

http://www.theworktop.com/guest-posts/whole-wheat-pumpkin-waffles-sarah-real-food-ice-cream/

I made my first batch of soup of the season this week! I also tried a new recipe and it turned out great. I followed the recipe except used white whole wheat flour and whole milk. Micah even said "yummy!!" when he tried it. Enjoy!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/13313/best-cream-of-broccoli-soup/

I'm so excited about fall baking! We switched up our muffin flavor now that it's September and made these Apple Walnut muffins today. I couldn't wait until tomorrow morning to try one- they smelled so good while baking and tasted awesome. Enjoy!

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2014/09/30/recipe-apple-walnut-muffins/

We made our favorite banana bread this weekend and have been savoring it each day- so good!! I made a double batch and put one loaf in the freezer- will make for a super easy few days of breakfast in the near future!

I make a few substitutions to the recipe (from Edible Twin Cities: The Cookbook)

-white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose
-a few "swirls" of honey instead of sugar
-unsweetened applesauce instead of oil

I highly recommend this recipe! Enjoy!

This is such a fun idea! Especially for little ones who may have a hard time using a fork to eat a salad.

Dippable Salad For Kids - Real Mom Nutrition Want your kids to eat more greens? How to make a salad for kids that they can dip!

Love this!

Not that I'm wishing summer away, but I'm getting excited to start cooking fall foods! Vegetable soups, chili, and pumpkin muffins are on my mind... How about you? What are you excited to cook or eat this fall?

Micah cooked up another great meal for us this week! We all love quesadillas. I especially love them because they're a complete meal in one. We always include beans, one or two vegetables (this week- artichokes), cheese, and top with salsa. A tasty and easy weeknight meal!

If you have Gatorade or other sports drinks in your house and are concerned with sugar intake, you may want to check out this article. Just one 20 oz bottle of Gatorade has 34 grams of sugar, which is well more than the recommended max of 25 grams per day (for adults).

Sports drinks aren’t ‘recharging’ your kids. They’re just pumping them full of sugar. Some are better than others — in taste and nutrition — but water and fruit always win out.

Micah was all business tonight making our salad! I love seeing him get excited about and involved in preparing dinner. Our salad tonight was greens, sharp cheddar, chickpeas, and red and orange cherry tomatoes.

Micah asked for smoothies this morning and I loved the idea because it had been a while! Our "recipe" was coconut water, plain yogurt, banana, peanut butter, flax seed, and ice. Here is a closeup photo Micah took of the finished product!

I got really excited tonight when I realized our dinner included 5 different vegetables! For a pre-dinner snack- red and yellow bell peppers and zucchini with hummus. For dinner, a pasta with mushrooms and peas. Which veggies did you enjoy tonight?

Listening to my body has been one of the most effective methods for me in improving the way I eat. I first began doing this about 20 years ago (wow I am dating myself!) when I was about 30 pounds heavier than I am today and I knew I wanted to make a change. I started paying attention to the difference between being satisfied and overly full. More recently, I've noticed a strong link between when I eat refined grains or sugars and my energy level. If I have a sandwich for lunch or something sweet in the afternoon, I start to feel very tired. Whereas if I have a salad for lunch and some nuts in the afternoon, my energy stays high through the day. Just by thinking ahead to how I know I'll feel after I eat a particular food has been enough motivation for me to avoid bad choices most of the time. Have you tried this? What have you learned about yourself?