Maker's Diet

Getting ready for my 40-day adventure that starts tomorrow. I chose to change my eating lifestyle for our church's 21 days of Prayer & Fasting that we do at the start of each new year. Unfortunately, the route I chose will last 40 days! I'll be doing the Maker's Diet. It's not a diet weight-loss plan but a plan to get back to the foods and ways of eating God intended for his creation. I'm hoping this adventure will make me more mindful of all that God's provides me with and that it's His desire for me to bless myself through prayer, emotional well-being, exercise, and nutrition. Also, I'll be blessing the earth by supporting farmers of natural and organic practices.


http://www.makers-diet.net/

A Pear and some Crust

I had one pear and one half a pack of Pillsbury pie crust.  What is a girl to do?  I found this recipe online and it turned out great.  I substituted with what I had on hand: halved the recipe, pear, whole wheat flour, and made glaze with water instead of apple juice.

It turned out great!  So easy and cheap.  A great dessert for the winter months!

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/easy-apple-foldovers-with-apple-glaze/cafa209d-6ef0-4de8-b228-1636ac7e15fe/

Spinach-Cheese Tortellini Soup

Last week, I tried a recipe from the cookbook So Easy by Ellie Krieger.  It turned out great!  I may cut back on the red pepper flakes.  I enjoy spicy stuff but this soup turned out a little spicier than expected.  It's a great soup for winter time, freezes well, and reheats deliciously.
*changes:  used baby carrots since I had them on hand & could only find frozen cheese tortellini

Chili-Mac

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chili-Mac/Detail.aspx

I made my first chili-mac tonight.  And it was awesome!  I didn't grow up eating chili-mac but I remember this being a staple in public school & college lunch menus growing up.  I was worried it wasn't going to be very exciting but this recipe is awesome.  I will definitely be making this again!

Replacements:  ground turkey, whole wheat pasta, organic italian diced tomatoes (store didn't have organic cans of chili or mexican style), added a couple of dashes of red pepper flakes to the mix.

Friday night, Jason, James, Pam and I attempted to make chicken Pad Thai. I think we did a great job for such a different cooking choice. We had to add some extra fish sauce-white wine vinegar-sugar because the dish was getting a little dry during the last five minutes of cooking. Plus, tensions were a little high since we were all new to this recipe. But in the end I think we did an awesome job. I think I'll try this recipe again in the next couple of weeks and try to perfect it. And after you make the initial purchase of the fish sauce and vinegar this recipe is very inexpensive to make. Plus, I had so much fun going to the local Asian Market to buy the noodles that I even bought chopsticks for us to eat with!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pad-Thai-2/Detail.aspx

Getting Back To Cooking and Blogging

I tried out two new recipes tonight. It's been forever since I've really cooked. Sometimes you just get in a slump of grilled ham&cheese sandwiches and soup for dinner. But tonight was an exception.

Basic Quiche (Real Simple magazine)

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/basic-quiche-10000001123637/index.html

Cinnamon-raisin Toast with Honey Walnut Spread (So Easy by Ellie Krieger)