Ch-ch-ch-chia

A couple of years ago, Mr. McGhee and I had a date night.  In our house, date night means we put the minis to bed early, pop some popcorn, rent a movie, and try to stay awake past the opening credits.  The movie we picked that night was the documentary called Food Matters.  The film is full of solid information (that has been supported by scientific research) about alternative diets, medicine, and lifestyles.  We were amazed by the astounding scientific information ranging from the advantages of raw diets and yoga to treating cancer holistically.

I watched the film and all I can remember is that people actually eat chia seeds.

My apologies to the film makers, because I do think your documentary was a wealth of information and I did love it.  But, seriously, I could not get over the fact that people actually eat chia seeds.  So, imagine my surprise when I was doing research the other day for easy breakfast options and came across a recipe that called for chia seeds.  Then, my inner nerd started doing some reading and discovered that chia seeds are, indeed, very healthy for you.  Like, way freaking healthy for you.  Here's some of the information I found about chia seeds.....

2 times the protein of any other seed or grain,

5 times the calcium of milk, plus boron which is a trace mineral that helps transfer calcium into your bones

2 times the amount of potassium as bananas,

3 times the reported antioxidant strength of blueberries

3 times more iron than spinach

copious amounts of omega 3 and omega 6, which are essential fatty acids...

Chia seeds are a complete source of protein, providing all the essential amino acids in an easily digestible form. They are also a fabulous source of soluble fiber.  Like flax, chia is highly 'hydrophilic' - the seeds absorb water and create a mucilaginous gel. They can hold 9-12 times their weight in water and they absorb it very rapidly - in under 10 minutes.  This fills you up faster (hey...anyone trying to lose weight?!??!  Toss in some chia seeds!)   Chia seeds also have antioxidants!!!

Want to know more?  You should!!!  I know I sure do!  Start reading here and here.  Heard enough and want to try eating some chia?  I've got a super easy and convenient way for you to try, overnight refrigerator oatmeal.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup uncooked old fashioned oats
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup low-fat Greek yogurt (I used non-fat)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried chia seeds

1.  Put all the ingredients in a jar.

2.  Add toppings to your preference.

**Suggested toppings:  fruit, honey, vanilla extract, applesauce, peanut butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup.

3.  Put in the refrigerator overnight.

4.  Shake.

5.  Serve.

I went with a little vanilla extract and frozen raspberries.  Next time I will do strawberries, this was a little tart for the minis.

These are a great way to start your day.  If you have a few extra minutes, I would suggest drinking an OJ smoothie as well.  

OJ smoothie

• 4-6 oranges, peeled (I used minelleo and clementine)
• 2 cups ice
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp agave or honey
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract 

1.  Put all ingredients in blender and blend.  

Start your day out right.  Start your day out with some chia seeds.  

And, if you have any leftover, rub them on this guy.  

Comfort food

The minis didn't have school yesterday, they had the day off for teacher planning day.  When I was a kid, we used to have a day off in March to celebrate this guy.  We started the day off with basketball (I totally schooled them), bowling (won again!), and finished with some swimming (got my butt whipped...and they had the nerve to yell booyah suckah in my face!)

We were basically gone all day, which makes eating a little tricky considering this special diet we have decided to adapt.  After basketball we came home and had a large snack of homemade granola bars, cheese slices, avocado, and apple slices with peanut butter.  So I was totally thinking we'd be all set for a few hours.  Wrong!  Am I the only one with minis that think they need to eat as soon as we are in the car?  We made it to the bowling alley, where they totally thought they were going to sucker me into buying some nachos.  Unfortuantely for them, I came prepared with snacks.  So we had peanuts, dark chocolate chips, raisins, clementine oranges and water while we bowled.  If any of you were at Don Carter Lanes yesterday, yes....I was that mom.  I was also the mom yelling booyah suckahs in my minis' faces.  Inappropriate perhaps...but I bowled a 138.  That is serious booyah. 

We made it to the pool where we swam until we were exhausted.  We were tired, cold, and hungry by the time we got home.  My oldest mini decided he would make us all a snack.  He wanted me to share this recipe with you all and tell you that he personally guarantees that your minis will love it too.

Jack's Super Swimmer Snack

• rolled oats
• pat of butter
• tablespoon of brown sugar
• drizzle of 100% pure maple syrup
• milk
• 3 tablespoons applesauce

1.  Cook the oatmeal on the stove.
2.  Put a pat of butter and the brown sugar in a bowl.
3.  Put hot oatmeal on top of butter and sugar.
4.  Stir.
5.  Add a splash of milk.
6.  Add a drizzle of maple syrup.
7.  Stir in applesauce.

Totally delish and truly easy to make.  Seriously, if my mini can do it, yours can too.  OK, that didn't come out right.  My brilliant mini can do it and I am sure your brilliant mini can too.

Tonight's dinner is a batch of chicken and dumplings, yellow carrots, and peas.  This dinner was very easy to prepare, thanks to leftover chicken from Friday night.

2 cups Flour

½ teaspoons Baking Powder

1 pinch Salt

2 Tablespoons Butter

1 cup Milk, A Bit Less Than A Full Cup

2 quarts Chicken Broth (I swear by this recipe, but you can use canned/boxed, if you insist)

3 cups Cooked Chicken

1.  In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a fork or pastry blender. Stir in the milk, mixing with a fork until the dough forms a ball.

2.  Heavily flour a work surface. You’ll need a rolling pin and something to cut the dumplings with. I like to use a pizza cutter. I also like to use a small spatula to lift the dumplings off the cutting surface.

3.  Roll the dough out thin with a heavily floured rolling pin. Dip your cutter in flour and cut the dumplings in squares about 2″x2″. It’s okay for them not to be exact. 

4.  Use the floured spatula to put them on a heavily floured plate. Just keep flouring between the layers of dumplings.

5.  To cook them, bring the broth to a boil. Drop the dumplings in one at a time, stirring while you add them. The extra flour on them will help thicken the broth. Cook them for about 15-20 minutes or until they not doughy tasting. Add the cooked chicken to the pot and you’re done!

Delish.  Seriously, after making this dish, you will never spend $10 on chicken and dumplings again.

Step Away From the Cereal Box

Cereal is a tough one to give up.  The thing is, cereal is so processed that the end product is practically unrecognizable when compared to the original ingredients.  How do we get from this,

To this?

Well, the answer is we process the heck out of it.  Most cereal is ENRICHED.  We read it on the boxes, the manufacturers write on the packaging, "enriched with 12 vitamins and minerals", so we think it must be good for us.  Do you know what enriched means?

When a food is excessively processed, it is stripped of all its nutrients and minerals.  Manufacturers will then add nutrients and minerals back in to compensate for the loss of the original nutrients and minerals (the ones that Mother Nature intended to be there!)  Enriched does not mean that extra nutrients have been added, it means that food product is so overprocessed it needs to be "fixed" before it can be sold!

So, you've got to throw out your cereal.  While you're at it, throw out any instant oatmeal you have too.  When it comes to breakfast, we need to come up with other options.  And, just a warning, you will probably have to turn your stove on in the mornings.  The first thing I suggest you try is incredible and edible...that's right, you guessed it....

We eat eggs nearly every morning in our house.  Do you know that egg whites have the biological value of 100, which means all the nitrogen absorbed from the egg protein is retained and incorporated into your body tissue protein?!?!  Have no clue what that means?  Eat eggs, they're good for you!  We ALWAYS have hardboiled eggs available for snacks in our house.  Throw some eggs in water, bring to a boil, turn off heat, sit covered for 12-15 minutes, rinse in cold water.  My kids love hardboiled eggs with fruit for breakfast.  We love using this to slice them:

And amazing mothers have these that they use to mold their kids' hardboiled eggs.  I strive to be amazing, I'm not there yet.  So sorry, mini McGhees...you're settling for sliced eggs!

If you don't like hardboiled, you can always scramble them.  If I scramble I always add in diced bell peppers and spinach.  Fancy people call that a fritatta.  I call it eggs with veggies.

Another good breakfast option is oatmeal.  We can't use instant, flavored oatmeal, but we can make our own...it's tastier anyway!  My kids love steel cut oats, so try those or you can stick with rolled oats too.  Make the oats following the directions on the package.  It basically is adding the oats to boiling water (I use milk) and stirring occasionally until oats are done.  Once the oats are done, the fun begins!  The possibilities of are endless, but ideas to put into your oats are:

• fruit
• nuts
• honey
• small amount of brown sugar
• small amount of 100% maple syrup

Stove top oatmeal has a different texture than instant oatmeal.  So, your kids will probably protest because kids (and men) don't like change.  I would suggest calling stovetop oatmeal "hot cereal".  That way your kids aren't expecting their typical oatmeal only to be disappointed by the healthy, good stuff.  Or, you could always make a batch of stovetop and a batch of instant oatmeal and make a 50/50 mix.  Gradually, decrease the amount of instant until it is 100% stovetop.  Or, you could make the stovetop, plop it in front of your kids, and tell them breakfast is served, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.  That always goes over well too.

Other options are homemade whole wheat pancakes, waffles, or french toast, homemade whole wheat muffins, homemade granola with milk, plain greek yogurt with fruit and homemade granola, toast (homemade whole wheat bread).  Recipes for all of these will be coming soon, I will share them as we try them!