Garden Produce

Sadly, this is me.  

You know that saying "find something you love to do in life and then find a way to make money doing it?"  Somewhere between "find something you love to do in life" and "find a way to make money doing it" there is a huge stumbling block for me.  Actually, less of a stumbling block and more like a brick wall.  

But that's okay.  Because although I will never be able to financially support my family, if we ever find ourselves stranded and living under a bridge, I could plant a garden and feed us.

Because guess what.....I can garden!!!!

  

And I can honestly say there is no paycheck that could give me the self-satisfaction I get from watching my garden grow and feeding my family.  In fact the other day, my minis ate all the broccoli out of the garden.  I have never been so happy to see broccoli stuck in teeth than I was that day when they came giggling in the house to tell me what they had done!


I think the vegetable I am most excited about is the kale, which we harvested the other day for lunch.

We used the kale to make kale chips.  Now, kale is a veggie that is near and dear to my heart because kale chips are the reason I started this blog in the first place.  So even though I have shared this recipe already, I thought I would post it again for any new readers and as a reminder to those of you who aren't regularly making kale chips.  And I wanted to brag about my garden.

Heids McGhee's It-All-Stared-With-Kale-Chips

• 1 bunch of kale
• olive oil
• seasoned salt (or sea salt)

1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F
2. Line a cookie sheet with foil.
3. Using a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale.   
4. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
5. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.            

Bake until dark on the edges and crisp.

Serve warm on a plate.  Or just hover around the stove and eat off the baking sheet.

I recently whipped up an easy veggie dip that I thought I would share.  These kale chips need no dip, but I find that my minis love dip with their cucumbers, carrots, and broccoli.

Heids McGhee's Veggie Dip

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• fresh dill, chopped
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1.  Mix together and enjoy with fresh cut veggies.

Sweeeeeeet potatoes!!!

I'm starting to notice a trend here.  About every 30 days, I have to come on to my blog and admit that we have slipped into our old ways and had a couple of days of bad food choices.  I am not sure if that's human nature or  what, but since I'm human...I'm using that as my excuse.


Saturday looked like this in the McGhee household....8 am swim practice, 10 am swim team meeting, 11 am hair appointment, 1 pm baseball pictures, 2 pm birthday party, 3 pm baseball game, 5 pm formal fundraiser.  9 am, 10:30 am, 11:30 am, noon, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, 4 pm, let puppy out to pee.  Somewhere around 10:30 am, I gave up and realized when in survival mode, one is not picky about what one eats.  And when one begins to lower ones standards slightly, a rapid decline in ones standards is quick to follow.  


Basically what I'm trying to tell you is that I ate like crap this weekend.  And I think I am trying to blame it on my minis and my puppy.  What's in the past is now in the past (and my past includes hot dogs, pizza, and tequila), so I am moving forward today and getting us all back on track.


If you are one of my regular readers you know that one of my true loves in life is sweet potato kale quinoa.  I have made that dish for so many people and everyone loves it (once they get past the quinoa looking like ants all over the sweet potatoes).  

Since I love the sweet potato-kale combo so much, I went on a hunt for another recipe that combines the two veggies.  As a sidenote, I am starting to realize I need to stop looking for recipes and start writing more of my own.  I end up changing 95% of the recipes I find and always feel like "I could do better than this" when eating the food.  And, yes, this is one of those recipes....but I'll give you the original recipe and then recommendations on how I would change it.


Loaded Sweet Potato Skins

What You Need 

• 4 to 6 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds – make sure they are all around the same size) 
• 1 shallot 
• About half a bunch kale (enough for 2 cups kale) 
• 1 cup chickpeas, canned or cooked (I omitted the chickepeas)
• 1 cup shredded cheese (we used a blend of Monterrey jack and cheddar, next time I will use 1/4-1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese) 
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
• Fresh ground pepper 
• Olive oil 
• Sour cream and green onions, to garnish

What To Do

1  Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the sweet potatoes, and prick them with a fork. Rub them with oil, and sprinkle with some kosher salt and pepper. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until tender. (If you are crunched for time, you can pierce potato with a fork and bake in microwave).  

2  Meanwhile, finely chop the shallot. Roughly chop the kale. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Saute the shallot until soft, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the kale, and saute for a few minutes, until tender. Set aside.

3  When the potatoes have finished baking, remove them from the oven and let them cool a bit. Cut them in half and scoop out about 1/2 of the inside, making sure to keep a layer of sweet potato within the skin so that it can stand on its own. In a bowl, mash the sweet potato, then add 1 cupchickpeas (drained and rinsed, if using canned), 1 cup shredded cheese, kale, 3/4 teaspoonkosher salt, and fresh ground pepper.

4  Fill each potato skin with the filling (you may have some left over). If desired, you could top with more shredded cheese as well (though we did not). Bake until heated through, about 15 minutes. Serve hot, garnished with sour cream and sliced green onions.  (I did not serve with sour cream.  Next time, I will drizzle with balsamic vinegar).

Prepare your sweet potato.

Mix your filling.

These were pretty good as written.  I think with a few changes that I suggested, they will be delish!

Rock Your World

This past weekend, my two boy minis totally rocked my world.  They both signed up to swim the mile (that's right swim a mile).  They have both done it before, so the excitement level beforehand was minimal.  They swam their miles, and I watched at one end of the pool where I could count laps for them.  I paid no attention to the clock.  My 9 year old mini (the one that swims one-legged) finished first.  His coach was all excited and he came rushing over to tell me that he with his time of 34:22, he had shaved 40 seconds off his fastest mile time (that time is still the 8 year old boy record at his swim club).  I was way excited for him because my oldest mini has been having a rough time lately, and spending a lot of time doing this.....

.....instead of doing this......

So, I gave him a quick squeeze and then went back to concentrating on counting laps for my middle mini (counting laps is not as easy as one would think, the swim is 67 laps.....67 laps, people!!!!)  

My middle mini finished, and I realized his coach was jumping up and down and shouting.  And then I realized, hey...she's shouting at me!  And then I realized, hey....she's shouting that my mini just shave FOUR MINUTES off his fastest mile time and re-set the 6 & under mile swim record with a time of 38:24!!!!  And, then I cried.  Because I was so proud of my mini, and also because my oldest mini was jumping up and down screaming and hugging his little brother.  The happiness of the moment was too much.  And what I thought was going to be a little morning swim ended up rocking my world and kept me smiling all weekend long.  

Why am I telling you this?  Well, because now I am going to rock your world (I also wanted to brag a little).  But, seriously, this salad recipe I am going to share with you is going to rock your world.  Are you expecting dinner guests soon?  Make this salad.  Is there someone special you want to fall in love with you?  Make him this salad.  Want to do something special for mom on Mother's Day?  Make this salad and buy her this purse.

I got this recipe from my friend Jennifer.  Jennifer lives on the west coast, which automatically makes her cooler than me, but she also always gives me fantastic recipes.  And she's a 31 consultant, which means she's organized and loves all things monogrammed.  And she runs marathons.  And she does crazy things like spending a weekend with people she met on internet.  And she loves kale salad.  

Kale and Apple Salad

• 2 cups pecans (I used one cup pecans, one cup walnuts)
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• kosher salt
• 6 oz thickly sliced pancetta, finely diced
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp caper brine (from a jar of capers)
• 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
• freshly ground back pepper
• 2 granny smith apples, cut into matchsticks
• 1 large head radicchio, shredded
• one 8-oz bunch kale--stems discarded, leaves finely shredded
• 3 tbsp snipped chives
• 1 tbsp chopped tarragon
• 2 ounces shaved pecorino

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. In a bowl, cover the pecans with water. Transfer to a sieve and shake out the water. 
2. In another bowl, whisk the confectioners' sugar, cayenne and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. 
3. Add the pecans and toss. Transfer to a sieve and shake off the excess coating. 
4. Arrange the pecans on a parchment paper–lined baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the sugar is lightly caramelized and the pecans are golden.  SIDESNOTE:  Whatever you do, do not taste-test the pecans.  If you do, you will not be able to stop!!!!
5. In a skillet, heat the oil with the pancetta and cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until the pancetta is browned, 6 minutes. 
6. Strain the pan drippings into a large bowl; whisk in the vinegar, caper brine and maple syrup and season the dressing with salt and black pepper. SIDENOTE:  I fully understand that I am asking you to make salad dressing with bacon grease.  Don't judge.  Don't question.  Just do it.
7. Add the apples, radicchio, kale, chives, tarragon and pecorino and toss. Mound the salad on plates, garnish with the pecans and pancetta and serve.

Salad dressing made with bacon drippings.

The nuts to top the salad. Make extras and set them out in a dish.  They'll be gone in minutes.

I took this salad to a dinner party on Saturday night and people loved it so much, it practically made me a celebrity.  I thought I was going to have to start signing autographs.

I also made sweet potato and quinoa salad, which was another huge crowd pleaser.

And this is what my kitchen looked like.  It's a mess.  Thankfully, messed don't bother me.  What bothers me is crappy food.

Tonight is another busy night, so dinner will be p'sketti.  I've got the sauce made already, with extras to freeze for next time.  I also have a loaf of french bread in the breadmaker and left over kale salad, which I really don't want to share.  So the minis will probably have fruit salad.  I'll have to share with Mr. McGhee though.  Unless I hide in the pantry and eat.  I've been known to do that.   

Trying to Inspire You All!!!!

Last night the McGhee family went to see our local minor league hockey team play.  Mr. McGhee and the boy minis love going to these games.  Myself and my tiny mini are notsomuch the fans, but occasionally we like to tag along.  On the way to the game last night, my oldest mini (the one that donates stuffed animals to hospitalized kids and writes me poems every night) says to me, "Mom, tonight I am hoping for either a bench brawl or a goalie fight.  Because that would be something special."

My mini got what he wished for.  Something special.  And as the crowd was throwing aside their hotdogs, nachos, and beers to struggle up out of their seats and scream, "fight, kill, fight" I realized hockey is a very primitive sport.

And then I went home and I set my alarm to get up early so I could participate in this event to raise awareness for organ donation.  And at the finish line, there were people dropping their bananas, oranges, and water bottles to jump up and cheer for runners as they crossed the finish line.  I realized that running is a very encouraging and inspirational sport.

Someone after the race said to me, that today is a reminder to cherish every day because you never know in life what will happen.  And I agree with that, whole-heartedly.  But, after today's race, I walked away with a different message.  I have got to take care of what I have in order to honor all these people that are so sick and would do anything to be living life in a healthy body.  And I have to keep working hard to inspire other people to do take care of themselves.  It's the least we can do, right?  Take care of yourself....do it for YOURSELF and for pete's sake, do it for all the people that love you!

I'm bringing back one of the first recipes I posted here, mainly b/c it is an absolute favorite in our house!  We are very busy today, Mr. McGhee and our oldest mini are working on making my raised garden beds and I am busy spring cleaning inside.  Since I am cleaning, that means our minis are stuck outside for the day and I am just randomly bringing them bowls of food to keep them satisfied.  So far, they have seemed the most excited about kale chips.

Kale Chips

• 1 bunch of kale
• olive oil
• seasoned salt (or sea salt)

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F
2. Line a cookie sheet with foil.
3. Using a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner.   (or buy the bag of pre-cut kale....who says all convience food is processed?)
4. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
5. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.               

And because I am obsessed I made another batch of sweet potato, kale, and cranberry quinoa.  We have been randomly snacking on that throughout the day.  I made a late breakfast of spinach, goat cheese, and peppadew omelets with toast.  So, I have done lots of cooking today...but sorry, no new recipes!  Tonight, Mr. McGhee and the boy minis are heading back to another hockey game.  I have a girls night out with my favorite girl in the world and plans to set my alarm for a run early tomorrow morning.

Menu Planning

The question I get asked the most is "how do you do it all?"  In the interest of full disclosure, I do not work full time out of the house.  However, I do work very part-time running a non-profit, run a very small supplemental consultation business, and have 3 minis that keep me busy with swimming, baseball, yoga, soccer, strength training, and therapy appointments.  And, I spend some serious time researching, cooking, and writing for this blog.  So, yes, the McGhee household is very busy and Monday-Thursday we come home from activities after 6 pm.  And that makes dinner tough.  However, I am very committed to feeding my family a healthy, balanced dinner every night.  In order to do this, I can't wait until 5 pm to think about dinner.

The theme of the day is planning ahead.  This is an  organizing blog that I started following a while back that has fabulous ideas on how to menu/meal plan.  I will say, while I love reading Jen's suggestions, I have never actually done any of Jen's suggestions.  I recently saw this on pinterest and think it could be a great tool.  You store your tried and trusted recipes in the pockets and each week, select seven recipes to make that week.

This is a simpler concept, mainly to be used to record what your menu plans are for the week.

I use a very simple method of menu planning.  I have a day planner that I use to keep track of all of our schedules.  I have a running list of recipes I want to try.  There is no organization to my list, if I see a recipe, I write it down.  Once a week, I go through my list and write down a menu item on the calendar for each day.

Sounds easy, right?  Except every day, I am gone from 3-6pm, so making those dinners for 3 hungry minis gets tricky.  I try to always have a soup or stew made each week because that is an easy dinner.  I make a huge batch and we can usually get 2 nights out of it.  One night I will pair it with grilled cheese and fruit salad, another night I will pair it with a spinach salad.  I also love breakfast for an easy dinner night.  And on a real rough night, I resort to PB&J, fruit salad, and a spinach smoothie.

With all that being said, the recipes I am sharing with you today are NOT for nights when you come home at 6pm and need to make dinner.  But on those Sundays, when you are home catching up on laundry, paying bills, and shooing the minis out of the room so you can watch your DVRed shows.....these are the recipes to try.  Make two of the chickens, you can use the leftovers all week long for dinner.  Make double of the vegetables, you can pack them in lunches all week long.  If you live with someone that doesn't eat leftovers, tell them they are making life much more difficult than it needs to be.  

Roasted chicken (For the first night, you can follow this recipe and for a later night make the vegetable dish below).

1 3-5lb. roasting chicken

6 garlic cloves, peeled and squashed

1/2 lemon

1/4 cup or so of grapeseed (I use roasted garlic grapeseed oil)

kosher or sea salt

freshly ground pepper

1. Two hours before you begin, take the chicken out of the refrigerator to bring it up to room temperature. Tip: Always start cooking meat from room temperature as it ensures even cooking throughout.  **This is how the recipe is written, I never remember to do this**
2. Dry chicken inside and out with paper towels (alternately you can leave it in the fridge uncovered for a day as well and really dry it out) and season the cavity with coarse salt and pepper.
3. Put 4 cloves of the squashed garlic and 1/2 a lemon into the cavity. Set the bird on a platter breast side up and rub with oil then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Flip the bird over and repeat on the back and legs.
4. Preheat your oven for 425°F. 
5. Place chicken in center of roasting dish, back side up. That’s right, back side up (as in breast side down).  Roast in 425°F oven for 25-35 minutes (more towards the 35 minute mark if the bird is closer to 5 pounds), then turn the oven down to 375°F and roast for an additional 60-120 minutes (depending on the size of your bird).  Chicken is done when internal temperature (measured at the thickest part of the thigh) reaches 165°F.
7. Remove the chicken from the roasting pan and set on a wooden board to rest for 20 minutes. 


This is just to show you how you want to put the chicken in the pan....breast side DOWN.

Quinoa salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Kale


I feel the need to tell you all, this *may* be the single-most amazing veggie dish I have ever made.  AMAZING!!!!

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 medium red onion, sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 cups kale
• 5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
• 1 cup uncooked black quinoa
• 2 cups water
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• crumbled goat cheese (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 400F.  Place sweet potatoes and red onion slices in a medium bowl, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.  Toss together and put them on a large baking sheet.  Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes, until sweet potatoes are tender.  Stir a few times while baking.

2.  Drizzle kale with 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar.  Season with salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet.  When sweet potatoes and onions have been in oven for 15 minutes, put the kale in the oven.  Bake for 15 minutes or until kale is wilted and starting to crisp.

3.  Prepare the quinoa, following instructions on package.  

4.  When the vegetables are done roasting, let them cool to room temperature.  In a large bowl, combine quinoa, sweet potatoes, red onion, and kale.  Drizzle the salad with the remaining three tbsp of balsamic vinegar.  Add in the dried cranberries.  Go crazy and toss in some crumbled goat cheese.  And don't be chinzy with the cheese, load it up!  Season with salt and pepper.

I can't describe how delish this is!  I will tell you that I made a double batch at lunch time and I am concerned there may not be enough leftovers for Mr. McGhee and the minis at dinnertime!  

This is a delicious Sunday night dinner and a great way to start your week.  Make sure you make extra chicken because tomorrow I have a recipe to share, using the chicken!  

Food Be Thy Medicine

I've been getting emails and messages today from readers telling me, "Heids McGhee, there is no way I can do this.....I am too busy/work full time/have children/can't cook/live with picky eaters.....to take on what you are doing".  OK, readers, I am not going to let you give up on this before you even begin! 

If the thought of giving up processed foods sends you spiraling into a panic thinking your family is going to starve, you need to re-think what you are eating.  If your daily diet is a bowl of cereal, a lean cuisine/lunchable, noodles with some Ragu sauce, and then a bag of microwave popcorn while you watch Modern Family, then you need to join me!  This is about prioritizing your health and preventing disease.  Hippocrates said it best, "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine by thy food."  Take care of yourself people!!!

So, I have a challenge for you....re-think the way you eat.  Throw out your processed food and replace it with something else.  Bread, biscuits, muffins, crackers, cereal, tortillas, chips, pop tarts, granola bars. lunchmeat....your body does not need them.  So, don't stress over replacing them with homemade from scratch recipes.  Replace them with nature's food....your mealtime should be a protein (probably a meat), vegetables and fruit.  Fill up on that, and you won't even miss your Cheez-its, I promise!  Now, while you are working on that, I will work on coming up with fast, easy recipes that you can encorporate into your busy life. 

I encourage you (and your families) that the next time you are hungry, to head to the fridge.  Avoid the pantry.  Remember, we need to eat food that expires quickly.  When you are grocery shopping, shop the perimeter of the store....produce, meat, eggs, dairy.  Overwhelmed with going completely unprocessed?  Pick one meal to go unprocessed.  I suggest breakfast, it's going to cost you about 10 minutes extra each morning, but what better way to honor your body and your family than to begin each day with a healthy start? 

Change the way you and your children snack.  Next time your kiddos are starving, give them these options:

• raw baby bell peppers dipped in hummus
• cucumber slices with lime juice and sea salt
• homemade granola (sorry...you're not allowed to complain about this one, it takes about 5 minutes to make)
• homemade whole wheat muffins
• hard boiled eggs
• fruit kabobs
• plain greek yogurt with frozen fruit mixed in (defrost the fruit and it will mix well)
• celery with peanut butter and raisins (ants on a log....it's still a hit!)
• core an apple and slice it real thin, use the apple slices as "bread" and make a peanut butter sandwich
• cheese and grapes
• nuts
• smoothies (milk, ice, frozen fruit)

I'm going to leave you with a recipe that I want you all to try for kale chips.  Kale is a great veggie that packs tons of nutrients. 

• 1 bunch of kale
• olive oil
• seasoned salt

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F
2. Line a cookie sheet with foil.
3. Using a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner.   (or buy the bag of pre-cut kale....who says all convience food is processed?)
4. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
5. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.               

We had kale chips for dinner tonight with tilapia and a couscous salad. 

Now, I've got to get to work.  I realized I've got the attention of lots of people with this little project I started.....so, I am working for you guys now!