Food coloring?!?!?

I try to keep things funny and light-hearted around here, but today I wanted to ask you to take a few minutes to read this in lieu of reading my rambling stories about my goofy family.

I know that I have been labeled a "health food nut" by most of you, but you don't have to be an extremist like I am to be upset by that information.  I urge you to think carefully about eating and serving food that is chock full of food coloring.  Here are some safer options that I have posted in the past....

• homemade cereal bars
• fruit granola bars
• granola bars
• peanut butter chocolate granola bars
• power balls

And you guys know that I can't leave you without a new recipe for the day, so I thought I would share my new favorite veggie dish with you.

Zucchini and Carrot sticks

• 2 zucchini (sliced into sticks)
• 5-6 large carrots (peeled and cut into sticks)
• sea salt
• pepper
• italian seasoning (or any seasoning of your choice)
• olive oil spray (or cooking spray of your choice)
• olive oil

1.  Preheat oven to 425.

2.  Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.

3.  Spray waxed paper with olive oil spray.

4.  Put your sliced veggies in a large bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil (no need to over-drizzle).  Season with salt, pepper, and seasoning.

5.  Lay out on the cooking sheet.

6.  Cook for about 20 minutes or until golden in color.  Flip the veggies halfway through cooking time. 

Slice your veggies and drizzle with oil.

Season your veggies and lay out on your baking sheet.

Bake until golden.

These veggies are delish!!!  We all loved them!  I particularly enjoyed them the next day along with a cup of brown rice.

Present Moment Living

Happy belated Mother's Day to all my mommy readers!  I hope you all had a fabulous day, I was blessed to have a fantastic weekend!  On Saturday, Mr. McGhee and I dropped the boy minis off at swim practice and we took the tiny mini to the greenhouse where we bought vegetables and fruits to plant.

We spent a good part of the day on Saturday planting our garden beds, watermelon patch, pumpkin patch, raspberry patch, and herb garden.  We also spent a good part of the day explaining garden hose etiquette to the boy minis, and then laughing hysterically as we broke our own rules by spraying them in the face.  

Is it just me, or is this a total American Gothic moment?

On Sunday, we did a little more planting and a lot of this.

(Take note of the phone in my hand, I am about to address that).

And, at some point on Mother's Day, when I was looking around my backyard, I realized....I've got a lot of wonderful things in my life that really need my attention.

Lately I have been really working hard to practice present moment living.  I have realized that I have been blessed to be given a wonderful life, who am I to not immerse myself and enjoy it?  One thing about present moment living is you have to limit distractions as much as possible and I have a distraction in my life that I realize is a huge hurdle in my desire to live in the present moment.  And, that distraction is the internet, specifically facebook, pinterest, and email.

Anyone who is Facebook friends with me knows that yesterday I let everyone know I am cutting way back on social networking.  I am not trying to turn this into another big resolution (giving up processed foods has been challenging enough), but it is more of a step towards my desire to lead a a more "present-moment" life. I am not someone who is addicted to Facebook, I rarely update my status or add pictures....however, I am totally guilty of when I find that my brain is bored, I often reach for the iPad and check out what is going on in the Facebook world.

And this is what I have learned in the past few years.  Facebook is one of the worst thing that has ever happened to human civilization.  And, if you disagree, and think Facebook is the best thing that has ever happened to you, I challenge you to re-examine the relationships you have in your life.  If something wonderful happens to you, and the first thing you do is reach for your phone to update your Facebook status, that is a huge problem.  If something terrible happens to you and the first thing you do is reach for your phone to update your Facebook status, you have an even bigger problem.  Because here's the deal, of the 25 people that comment on your status to give you sympathy and say they will pray for you, 24 of them won't.  I would even venture to say that all 25 of them won't.  And, does reading those 25 comments really bring you comfort in your saddness? You know what will?  Having a relationship with a best friend (or sister) that you can call and she will say, "I've got on my sweats and I have a  bottle of wine.  I am coming over and we will cry together."  And, for pete's sake, when something good happens, call that friend that will jump up and down on the phone and scream, "I've got on my sweats and I have a bottle of champagne.  I am coming over and we will celebrate together."

Facebook is changing the definition of the word friend.  It puts the person you went to 3rd grade with and haven't talked to in 30 years in the same category as the person who lays in bed at night worrying about you when they know you are upset.

So, I am challenging all of you to think about what I said.  I am NOT challenging any of you to give up Facebook (I am still challenging you to give up processed foods, though).  I know I will not close my Facebook account completely.  I have amazing friends (ones that I call regularly and they hug me even when I have snot bubbles from crying) that live far away from me.  I have a sister with incredible minis that lives far away from me as well.  And, I have online friends from all over the world that I meant through a support system when my oldest mini was born.  So, I know I will still bop into Facebook occasionally to check up on these important people in my life.  But, to the other 310 friends on my Facebook account, my home has an open door and I would love to give you my time and attention.

Now, I know that some of you may be scratching your heads right now.  Why would a blogger encourage people to get off the internet and focus on connecting with the people in their lives rather than the people on the computer screen?  I started this blog to inspire people to give up processed foods, and have quickly realized that  my blogging is about so much more.  I have learned that I can impact people's lives and inspire them to make healthy choices.  And that, in turn, has made me evaluate my life and really think about what is my purpose, what legacy do I want to leave?  That is a scary question to ask yourself, because we all know that the life we want others to think we lead is often vastly different from the life that we actually do lead.  So, I am committing myself to being authentic and I think the easiest way to be authentic is to strive to live in the moment.  And I know by writing this, I realize, I am totally putting myself out there....but everytime I put myself out there, the response and encouragement I receive is overwhelming.

So, there you have it.  Another new goal for Heids McGhee.  Authenticity.  Present moment living.  And, in the spirit of authenticity, I need to let you know...this weekend, in a desperate moment we went through the McDonald's drive through for lunch.  And, I bought dark chocolate almond milk (which has more than 5 ingredients).  And, I may have lost my cool when my tiny mini dumped an entire 12 ounce glass of the dark chocolate almond milk on my bedroom carpet.  And, I did shoot Mr. McGhee my "why the hell are you giving a 3 year old a 12 oz glass of dark chocolate almond milk with directions of 'go find mommy'?" look.  And, I am failing miserably at potty training my puppy.  And, I have a dress to wear on Saturday that doesn't  zip, yet I just ate a brick of cheese and a banana/dark chocolate almond milk/peanut butter smoothie for lunch.

Total authenticity.

And, if you've made it this far and are still reading....God Bless Ya!  Believe it or not, I've actually got a recipe to share.  This is a roasted carrot recipe that was super easy to make and we all loved it.

Ingredients

• 6-8 medium carrots, peeled and sliced lengthwise down the center
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg (I used dried, didn't have fresh)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• fresh parsley, chopped (I had some, forgot to add it!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Mix vinegar, brown sugar, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and olive oil.  
3. Place carrots round side down side-by-side on a baking sheet. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
4. In a small bowl, stir together balsamic and brown sugar until combined. Add olive oil. Drizzle the whole mixture over carrots. Toss to coat.
5. Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until carrots are crisp-tender and caramelized (cooking times can vary depending on the thickness of your carrots). Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Super easy and totally delish.  And, I just realized, I didn't plant any carrots in my garden.  That's tragic!

Eat The Rainbow!!!

I was at my favorite local market this morning with my 2 youngest minis and I saw something that made my palms sweat and my heart race, and nope, it wasn't the grind-your-own peanut butter, it was these beauties.....

Come. To. Mama.  If you have never had organic rainbow carrots before, you need to run to the market and get some.  Do it.  Right now.  You will never eat another bag of baby carrots again.  Carrots are a great source of fiber and Vitamin A (they really do help you see in the dark!).  They also support healthy immune function, younger looking skin, and help repain sun-damaged skin.  So, for vanity's sake, eat your carrots!

So once I got my hands on these puppies, I had to totally change my dinner plans for tonight.  I was tempted to do a fancy schmancy carrot dish and then I realized my minis were as excited about these carrots as I was, so we will peel 'em and eat 'em raw.  We're hardcore like that!

Tonight's dinner is called lunch-for-dinner.  We are having wraps with tortillas, hummus, yellow grape tomatoes, cucumbers, and diced rainbow mini sweet bell peppers.  Our side dish will be rainbow carrots and roasted beets.  Dessert will be yogurt with mashed bananas and honey. 

Here's the beets.  Oh. My. Delish.  A few changes....I roasted mine for about an hour and I used balsamic vinegar instead of raspberry.  These were the best vegetable I have ever eaten.  If you love beets, try this.  If you hate beets, try this.

I just realized that we will be eating a boatload of rainbow veggies tonight.  That is excellent because it will guarantee two things.  One, our dinner conversation will revolve around how rainbow colored veggies lead to rainbow colored poop.  And, two, the McGhees will be getting a large dose of phytochemicals.  Phytochemicals are the compounds in fruits and veggies that give them the vibrant colors.  The deeper the color, the more phytochemicals in that fruit or veggie.  The crazy thing about phytochemicals is that there are thousands of them and scientists haven't really identified them or established what each phytochemical specifically does, but they do know they lower risk of cancer, chronic diseas and inflammation.  We do a rainbow challenge in our house, where the minis can make their own lunch and try to use as many colors on their plate that they can.  They love it, it's way fun and the resulting rainbow poop is oddly fascinating as well!

So, I am challenging all my readers to do a rainbow meal!  Let me know what you come up with!

I also thought I would share with you a little trick I just saw on pinterest.  You take a toothpick and etch a message or drawing on the skin on a banana.  Super fun.  Super easy.  Total guarantee your mini will be bragging on you at lunchtime, which hopefully will offset the "I am the only kid that doesn't get oreos" attitude.

Look at that face.  He clearly loves it.  He clearly never brushes his hair either, which is all part of his charm.

Tomorrow night, Mr. McGhee and I are going to a rock concert.  I know, I think it's a little shocking too, considering I've been known to say at 9:30 on a Saturday night, "Should we stay up for House Hunters International or just go to sleep?"  At which point, Mr. McGhee doesn't answer because he's already snoozing.  So, yep, a rock concert on a Thursday night should be interesting.  We're going to be staying overnight in the city and then spend Friday hanging out with the city folk.  Why am I telling you this?  Because, our goal is to not eat any processed food while we're gone!  (And, when I saw "our", I mean "my" goal for "us".)  I'll update you on how we do, and I am hoping to come back with a blog-worthy rock concert story!