Beets! It's what's for dinner!

Am I the only one that reads things all the time and thinks, "OMG, that is totally me!"  I ran across this the other day and I couldn't help but think someone had crawled into my head before they drew this cartoon...

Lately I've been in the "overwhelmed and craving routine" category.  We are really busy and I have been working so hard to stay committed to eating healthy and homemade.  So, I have been cooking unprocessed meals that nobody in my house will eat.  There.  I said it.  I am on a streak of really crappy dinners.  And guess what?  I'm cranky about that.  Ask my kids, they'll tell ya....mama doesn't like when nobody will eat her dinners.

Both of these sounded wonderful and looked great when finished too.  But neither of them were blog-worthy.  In fact, the soup was practically inedible and the pizza was so "meh" that I wanted to cry.

The only new thing that has come out of my kitchen lately that is blog-worthy is a roasted beet salad that I made the other day.  

Roasted Beet Salad

• roasted beets 
• feta (or goat) cheese
• walnuts

1.  Roast your beets.  I follow this method.....

• 12 beets
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, minced
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
• Juice of 1 large orange 

        1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

        2.  Remove the tops and the roots of the beets and peel each one with a vegetable peeler. Cut the beets in 1 1/2-inch chunks. (Small beets can be halved, medium ones cut in quarters, and large beets cut in eighths.)

        3.  Place the cut beets on a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil, thyme leaves, salt, and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, turning once or twice with a spatula, until the beets are tender. Remove from the oven and immediately toss with the vinegar and orange juice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper warm.  

2.  Let your beets cool for 10-15 minutes.  If you're in a hurry, you can skip this step.

3.  Sprinkle your beets with cheese and walnuts.

Here's my beets, all sliced up and sprinkled with dried thyme.  I also put sprigs of fresh thyme on top.

Once cooked, I removed the fresh thyme and let them cool a bit before adding in cheese and walnuts.

This is a simple recipe that my family all enjoys.  Beets are a fantastic source of vitamins, and the roasted beets can be refrigerated and enjoyed cold the next day!   In fact, maybe you should make a double batch of these beets in case you have a dinner failure, you have a back up plan.  Beets!  It's whats for dinner!

Sydromes

I recently diagnosed myself with something called onemore-thing syndrome.  You may have onemore-thing syndrome as well.  In fact, if you are female and have children that are shorter than you, there is a big chance that you are also suffering from this syndrome without even knowing it.  


Onemore-thing syndrome is very dangerous because it causes delusional thinking and can flare up at regular intervals throughout your day.  For example, when you have plans to leave the house at 7:30am, and you realize it is 7:29.5 and everyone is ready.  Someone who does not suffer from onemore-thing syndrome would get in the car and leave.  Sufferers like myself become delusional and think, "I've got time to get one more thing done before I leave.  I know!  I'll fold a load of laundry, make a phone call, scrub the toilet, send an email, iron, bake a cake because I've got 30 extra seconds."


The problem with onemore-thing syndrome is that it leads to a much more serious condition called running around like a chicken with its head cut off sydrome (RALCHCO syndrome, for short).  And RALCHCO is serious because it can suck all the enjoyment out of life.


Now, what I can't figure out is why nearly every woman I know suffers from both one-more thing and RALCHCO syndromes.  It doesn't matter if you're a career woman with no minis driving a 2-seater sports car or if you're a stay at home mom homeschooling your 8 minis, pregnant with your 9th, and planning the timing of your 10th.  What are we doing wrong her in America?  Because I am fairly certain that our European sisters are not suffering the way we are.  In fact, I am positive that in the case of, "I have 30 seconds before I have to leave, what else can I get done?" all our European sisters do is finish their glass of wine and check their lipstick.  

So, if you are someone that doesn't suffer from one-more thing and RALCHCO syndromes, contact me!  The rest of us want to know your secret.  


Until then, I will continue posting easy dinner recipes for the rest of us.  Tonight, the McGhees are having mac and cheese with roasted beets and broiled grapefruit.  


Mac and Cheese

• 2 cups Uncooked Macaroni
• 4 tsp Butter
• 2 tspMinced Onions
• 4 tsp Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• ¾ tsp Dry Mustard
• ¼ tsp Paprika
• 2 cups Milk
• 3 cupsCheddar Cheese, divided
• 2Ripe Tomatoes, blanched, peeled and sliced into ½" thick slices

1.  Preheat oven to 375. 

2.  Lightly grease 13 x 9 inch baking dish. 

3.  Boil 6 cups salted water, add macaroni and cook until al dente. Drain. 

4.  In large pan, melt butter. Add onion and cook, stirring constantly, until tender. 

5.  Add flour, salt, dry mustard, and paprika; mix well. 

6.  Add milk and stir for 5 minutes or until thickened. 

7.  Add 2 cups shredded cheese and stir until melted. 

8.  Stir in macaroni and pour into prepared dish. 

9.  Cover macaroni with tomato slices and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Serves 4 to 6

I haven't decided yet if I will omit the tomatoes.  It depends on how much I want to hear my minis whine and complain at dinnertime.


Roasted Beets

• 6 beets, peeled and cut into eighths
• extra virgin olive oil
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1/8 cup orange juice
• 1/8  cup balsamic vinegar

1.  Preheat oven to 400.
2.  Put peeled beets into a dish and drizzle with olive oil.
3.  Add fresh thyme.  If you don't have fresh thyme, use dried.  If you don't have dried thyme, skip this step.
4.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5.  Roast until beets are soft, around an hour 15 minutes.
6.  Mix orange juice with balsamic vinegar and pour over cooked beets.

Broiled Grapefruit

• grapefruit, cut in half
• honey
• plain, greek yogurt
• chopped walnuts
• unsweetened shredded coconut
• cinnamon

1.  Preheat Broiler.
2.  Place grapefruit halves on foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle with small amount of honey.
3.  Broil 6 minutes until golden.
4.  Top with yogurt, wanuts, coconut, and cinnamon.

Enjoy!


And, for those that have emailed me asking how my sweet Lola girl is doing....here she is.....

I know, I look terrible.  It's this medical condition I suffer from.  A condition this girl will never have....

We're having company for dinner!

I am so excited to share this next set of recipes that I can't even think of something witty to say.  We had company for dinner tonight.  This was the sort of company that you don't feel like you have to clean your house for.  That works for me because less cleaning time = more cooking time.  We had an amazing dinner of artichoke, beet, and spinach salad, tilapia, and marinated veggies.  It was ah-may-zing....and all the recipes were mine!  A little disclaimer about that....I don't exactly measure ingredients as I go, so all these measurements are educated guesses.  The good news is, that basically means you can't mess any of these up...and no need to use measuring cups and spoons! 

The first thing I did was make some roasted beets.  I actually did this yesterday and just kept them in the fridge overnight. 

• 6 beets, peeled and cut into eighths
• extra virgin olive oil
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1/8 cup orange juice
• 1/8  cup balsamic vinegar

1.  Preheat oven to 400.
2.  Put peeled beets into a dish and drizzle with olive oil.
3.  Add fresh thyme.  If you don't have fresh thyme, use dried.  If you don't have dried thyme, skip this step.
4.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5.  Roast until beets are soft, around an hour 15 minutes.
6.  Mix orange juice with balsamic vinegar and pour over cooked beets.

Set beets aside and let them cool.  Any leftovers are going in the mini's lunches tomorrow.  For all of you out there that do not like beets, try these beets.  If you try them and still don't like beets, then yeah....you don't like beets.

Next step is to make the brown-sugar walnuts for the salad topping.

• 1.5 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• handful of walnuts

1.  In a pan, melt butter over low heat.
2.  Add brown sugar and stir.
3.  Add walnuts and stir constantly for 3-5 minutes.
4.  Cool walnuts on parchment paper.

Final prep step is the Citrus Vinagrette.

• 2/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon honey

1.  Whisk all ingredients together.

This salad dressing may be my best one yet.  It is absolutely delish. 

Roasted Beet and Artichoke Salad

• 5 handfuls of spinach leaves
• feta cheese
• roasted beets
• one can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• red onion, sliced
• brown-sugar walnuts
• citrus vinagrette

1.  Toss all ingredients together.

I have to confess, I was so excited about this dinner that I forgot to take pictures until after we had eaten!  So this is the leftovers that I am saving for tomorrow.

I thought the salad was the star of my dinner, but everyone else loved the tilapia I served it with.  Even the minis loved it.  Score!

Bread-crusted Tilapia

• 3-4 tilapia filets
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I used breadcrumbs made from stale bread)
• dried basil
• dried oregano
• garlic salt
• fresh grated italian cheeses (parmesan, asiago, etc)
• one egg, beaten well

1.  Preheat oven to 350 and grease a glass baking dish. 
2.  Mix breadcrumbs with spices and fresh grated cheese (use amount the works with your personal taste preference, I use a lot!)
3.  Dip each tilapia filet in the beaten egg.
4.  Dredge each tilapia filet in the breadcrumb mix.
5.  Put tilapia filets in pan and spray with non-stick spray.
6.  Bake until white and flaky, approximately 30 minutes.

My brilliant company brought a dish of marinated veggies to share.  These were delish and could easily be used many ways.  I can't wait until this summer when Mr. McGhee can grill these up while I lay in the pool yelling at him to make sure they aren't over-cooked (I prefer my veggies crisp!)

• 1/2 cup thickly sliced zucchini
• 1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup sliced yellow bell pepper
• 1/2 cup sliced yellow squash
• 1/2 cup sliced red onion
• 16 large fresh button mushrooms
• 16 cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 clove garlic, crushed

1. Place the zucchini, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, squash, red onion, mushrooms, and tomatoes in a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, mix together olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, and garlic. Pour over the vegetables. Cover bowl, and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
3. Cook on the grill or stove top in a pan.

Delish!  If you are a blessed like I am and have friends and family that will come over to your messy house and let you cook for them....this is a meal I would highly recommend.  I hope you are as lucky as I am and they will love it so much that they do the dishes before they leave! 

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!