mealtime

An Easy Way to Eat Clean and Eat Simple

January 27, 2014 by Sandra 6 Comments

This is a sponsored collaboration with The Motherhood and Good Food Made Simple.

My days aren’t the easiest right now.

I’m constantly concerned about David, and my heart breaks because of everything he’s going through. So, as you can imagine, we’re living life pretty low key at the moment. Things are simple, including our meals.

We’re making easy meals that keep everyone in our family happy, and we’re incorporating some Good Food Made Simple foods that are way better than your typical grocery freezer aisle products. Why? Because Good Food Made Simple products don’t have preservatives, artificial ingredients, or GMOs.

That’s awesome.

Eat Clean, Eat Simple
Instead, you can eat clean and eat simple while enjoying delicious burritos and wraps. You can even add your own fresh ingredients to any of these products to make them feel a little more homemade. But trust me, these products are great on their own. My husband, who had no idea that I’d be talking about Good Food Made Simple on my blog, ate a breakfast burrito one day and said it was the best burrito of its kind that he’d ever had.

Good Food Made Simple makes…GOOD foods, with taste that comes from nature, not additives. They make SIMPLE foods with ingredients that come from farms, not labs. And they never use artificial preservatives, flavors, colors or sweeteners.

Again, that’s awesome.

Yum, Steel Cut Oats!
I’ve been eating a lot of steel cut oats lately. I love the heartier texture of steel cut oats, and I’m a little weird in that I can eat them totally plain. But sometimes, I add a little granola. And for the times when I want a little sweetness in my steel cut oats, the GFMS Vermont Maple Syrup steel cut oats are perfect.

I’m Totally Won Over
I’m thankful that in the midst of difficult days, I can grab a quick meal from my freezer that’s not only delicious, but also healthy. Oh, and my bathroom scale definitely approves. The numbers have been moving down lately… 😉

Have you tried Good Food Made Simple products? What’s your favorite way to eat simply, yet healthfully at home?

Would you like some food for thought? Check out these survey statistics stating what people really know about ingredients in food and reading labels. You might be surprised by what you read.

Recipe Video: Chicken Stuffed Peppers

October 26, 2013 by Sandra 2 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and their client.

I recently created a recipe video for chicken stuffed peppers using Kraft Recipe Makers Chicken Cacciatore. The stuffed peppers turned out wonderfully, and it was nice to have two whole pans of prepared food by the time I was finished taping. 🙂

That allowed for quick and easy meals this particular week.

Here’s the video:

P.S. Please excuse the clutter in the background. With all that’s going on with David and having to spend so much time away from home…well, I’ve wished for a cleaning lady more than once. 😉

Recipe: Healthy Tuna Salad Wraps

October 10, 2013 by Sandra 6 Comments

Life couldn’t possibly be more upside down these days.

I literally feel like I’m a million miles away from where life used to be…before the diagnosis and knowledge that my little boy has a rare disease. A disease that affects him physically in so many ways every single day. A disease that has already been the cause of four hospital admissions in just over two months.

Yes. Life is different, and sometimes I want to run and hide from it all. But I can’t. My little boy needs me, and the rest of my family needs to eat…so I’m not going anywhere. 😉

Healthy Tuna Salad Wraps
In order to keep up with all the changes that are taking place around us, we’ve had to keep meals super simple, even more so than in the past.

But it’s so easy for “simple” to turn into a not-so-healthy meal. One way I’ve avoided that when it comes to lunch is by making simple yet delicious tuna salad wraps.

Here’s the recipe for how to make these wraps:

Healthy Tuna Salad Wraps

Ingredients

2 cans Ocean Naturals Skipjack Chunk Light Tuna
1/3 cup black olives, roughly chopped
1/3 fresh tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup celery, finely chopped
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
lettuce
4-6 high quality wraps
salt
pepper

Instructions

In a large bowl, mix together tuna fish, black olives, tomatoes, celery, and extra virgin olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper and taste.
Lay a bed of fresh lettuce down on a single wrap, then scoop the tuna salad into the wrap and fold. Repeat this step for remaining wraps.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2013/10/recipe-healthy-tuna-salad-wraps/

Ocean Naturals Tuna
To create healthy lunch wraps, I use Ocean Naturals Skipjack Chunk Light Tuna. It’s without question the BEST tuna I’ve ever tasted. Ever. I wasn’t expecting the quality of tuna that came out of the can of Ocean Naturals. It’s tuna that’s good, good for you, and good for the planet because it’s wild and responsibly caught in the ocean.

It’s superior to other tunas — all the way.

If you buy a can of Ocean Naturals Skipjack tuna, you can learn more about where your specific tuna came from by visiting their website and entering the code on the can.

Who does that? Seriously, a great idea. I love that I can find out exactly where my tuna was caught. And psst…this could make for an interesting homeschooling lesson, too. 🙂

A little about the Tuna Salad in the Wraps
The tuna salad that I made for the wraps using the Ocean Naturals tuna is made without mayo. I was able to keep it pretty light but packed with flavor by incorporating various veggies in addition to a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. I think you’ll like it.

Mmmmm….
I can’t wait to get back home and put together another one of these delicious wraps!

What’s your favorite way to eat tuna?

If you’re interested in entering to win Ocean Naturals Tuna, then be sure to visit their Facebook page on Tuesdays for their weekly Tuna Tuesdays giveaways!

You can also find many more tuna fish recipes using Ocean Naturals Tuna on Pinterest.

Vegetarian Nachos, Everyday Dairy, and Summer Classics

June 10, 2013 by Sandra 11 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Neptune Retail. #EverydayDairy #cbias #SocialFabric

Tortilla chips are pretty much a staple in my home.

We eat them all the time, and with five kids, well, you can imagine how many times a day the kitchen floor needs to be vacuumed as a result. That doesn’t deter us, though. (I just have my 13 year-old son vacuum.) No, we love our tortilla chips, and while munching on them plain is good, creating recipes to eat them with is even better.

Vegetarian Nachos & Everyday Dairy

My latest recipe creation using tortilla chips, black beans, shredded cheddar cheese, veggies, and classic american cheese is vegetarian nachos. This recipe was inspired by a recent trip out of town. During a layover, I was looking for something somewhat healthy to eat in an airport as I waited to catch my flight home to Chicago. I decided to order vegetarian nachos from one of the vendors selling food.

Talk about delicious. Those nachos were sooooo good. I snapped a picture of them with my phone and decided I’d try to make my own version at home. And I did. I’m going to share my recipe with you, but honestly, these nachos are so versatile that you can make them any way your family likes them. You could even add toppings like guacamole, salsa, or pico de gallo.

Here’s my recipe (exact measurements are not necessary):

Vegetarian Nachos

Ingredients

tortilla chips
nacho cheese (see recipe below)
black beans, rinsed and warmed through
romaine lettuce, chopped
tomato, diced
onion, diced
avocado, diced
cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions

Lay a bed of tortilla chips down on a plate (warm the tortilla chips in the microwave for 15-30 seconds, if desired).
Pour the nacho cheese sauce over the tortilla chips.
Top nachos with black beans, romaine lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, and cheddar cheese.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2013/06/recipe-for-vegetarian-nachos-and-everyday-dairy/

Here’s the Nacho Cheese Sauce Recipe:

Nacho Cheese

Ingredients

1/4 cup milk (I used almondmilk)
10 slices of american cheese singles
pinch of pepper

Instructions

In a saucepan, heat the milk over medium low heat just until it's warm.
Then add the slices of cheese, one at a time, stirring constantly.
Once the cheese slices have melted, remove the cheese sauce from the heat, and let it sit for two minutes to thicken.
Stir in a pinch of pepper.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2013/06/recipe-for-vegetarian-nachos-and-everyday-dairy/

Saving on Everyday Dairy

In order to create these fabulous nachos, I took advantage of a great promotion that my local Safeway affiliate store, Dominick’s, was having (actually, it’s still going on). They’ve included a variety of ‘everyday dairy’ items in a promotion where you receive a $5 coupon at the register when you spend $15 on participating dairy items. Dairy substitues like almondmilk are also included in the sale. I love that.

You can see my shopping trip (and even a couple of pictures of my family’s recent visit to Chicago) here in my Google+ story.

Summer Classics

After I got home from the store, I noticed that I had brought home foods that were either classic summer foods or ingredients that could be used to create delicious summery meals. Let’s just say my kids were pretty happy. 🙂

Here’s a little inspiration for meals or snacks that you might incorporate into your summer routine:

Grilled Cheese

Adult Grilled Cheese

Ice cream bars

Orange juice

What are some of your favorite summer foods? What foods are you most excited about this summer?

You can find even more great recipes and ideas on the Everyday Dairy website. You can also follow Dominick’s on Facebook and Twitter for their latest updates.

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