Foodie Pen Pals - April

Another month has come and gone. I had fun buying for Kristen and then receiving from Ashley. Kristen lives in Sonoma County, California. My boys and I went out and found some goodies that were from our area to send to her. Check out her blog to see what I got her.

Ashley lives in Indiana. She sent not only to me but also to my boys. The Wee One has declared I need to send a picture of him holding his goodies to my next pen pal because in the last 2 boxes he has gotten something yummy to eat. Whatever boy! Both of the gifts were well received by the boys.

[caption id="attachment_3337" align="aligncenter" width="375"] All of the delicious goodies![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3339" align="aligncenter" width="375"] The Imaginative One's gift - He's going to be going to a Mission to Mars camp this summer so this is perfect.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3341" align="aligncenter" width="375"] The Wee One's gift - One of his favorite treats! Sorry for the poor quality.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3343" align="aligncenter" width="375"] The Wee One holding his gifts. He so wanted me to get done taking the picture so he could eat one of them.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3344" align="aligncenter" width="375"] The Imaginative One checking out his gift. As I was cooking dinner, he was writing in the details so it's ready for his camp.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3345" align="aligncenter" width="375"] The card - It was handmade in her town. I love giraffes so this is perfect. It's hanging up in my classroom so I can smile whenever I see it.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3346" align="aligncenter" width="375"] The note[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3347" align="aligncenter" width="375"] This granola is so delicious! It has cashews in it which is a welcome surprise.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3348" align="aligncenter" width="375"] Yum![/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_3349" align="aligncenter" width="375"] These are good. The Imaginative One and I ate on them.[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_3351" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I haven't dug into this yet. However it looks delicious.[/caption]

Thank you Kristen for a great box! We really enjoyed it.

 
And now it's time for some details about Foodie Penpals. In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
-Foodie Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa.

If you’re from the US or Canada and are in participating for November, please CLICK HERE (www.theleangreenbean.com/foodie-penpals/) to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by May 4th as pairings will be emailed on May 5th!

*If you're from Europe, please CLICK HERE (www.thisisrocksalt.com/foodie-penpals/) to signup.

Obsession

I have an obsession with granola.  I love trying new flavors.  We were at Whole Foods yesterday and I was checking out the granola's there.  The Imaginative One had to tell me to step away from the granola area because I didn't need to buy too many of them.  I just love eating them with either plain yogurt or almond coconut milk for breakfast or with my lunch

Here's my newest find:



 

It's delicious@

Pesto Orzo Pasta Salad

I tried to come up with a witty blog entry about this salad.  Even though I thought and thought, I couldn't come up with anything.  So I'll just be straightforward.  This recipe is delicious and easy to put together.  You can adapt it by changing up the veggies in the salad.  

Stars of the recipe:

• 1/2 cup orzo pasta


• 1/4 Tbsp. pesto


• 1/4 c. broccoli florets


• 1/4 c. grape tomatoes, cut in half or even fourths


• 1/4 c. bell pepper, diced (I used yellow.)


• 2 Tbsp. diced black olives


• 2 Tbsp. Feta cheese

Steps:

1. Cook orzo pasta according to package directions.  Put broccoli florets in the cooking water for the last 3 minutes of the pasta cooking time.


2. Drain pasta and broccoli in a strainer.  Run cool water over the pasta and broccoli to stop the cooking process.


3. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.


4. Enjoy!

This made 3 servings for me.

Need to get refocused

I had been doing great with my eating. Then illness and other things halted my progress. Spring break was killer for me. I didn't eat right during a lot of it. I've gained back a pound so I know I need to refocus before it's multiple pounds.

Today was my first day from break. I was so busy with getting work done and teaching. I've got to make sure I have time to eat lunch. That is one of my biggest problem. Too little calories is just as bad as too many calories. I need to make sure those calories count also. Today for lunch I had orzo pasta salad with a pesto dressing. The veggies in the salad were broccoli, tomatoes, and yellow peppers. There was also some chopped black olives and feta cheese in the salad. Yum! I also had a Chobani blood orange yogurt and a cutie. It was a good lunch.

Breakfast is also an issue for me. I've been doing better about having breakfast. However when I am working I take it with me with intention of eating it all. I usually only finish part of it. I'm just not hungry before I leave for work.

So if I can work on eating a better lunch and completing my breakfast, I think I'll do better in my quest to get healthier.

Menu Plan - Week of April 8

I've been bad about eating healthy.  I really need to get on track.

Breakfasts -

• warm apple yogurt x 2


• overnight oats x 2


• pumpkin chocolate oatmeal muffin


• spinach and artichoke frittata

Lunches -

• BBQ beef lettuce wraps


• pesto orzo salad


• brown sugar chicken salad


• honey dijon pork sandwich


• pizza

Dinners -

• BBQ beef 


• brown sugar chicken, rice, steamed veggie


• Honey dijon pork, baked potatoes, steamed veggie


• pizza , salad


• spaghetti, bread, salad


• chicken cordon bleu, salad


• "fried" fish sandwiches, baked oven fries, salad

For more menu plans, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Ham and pineapple fried rice

Day 2 of using up ham left-overs was a success. In fact, Hubby told me that it was better than Bd's Mongolian Grill. Score!

A few weeks ago, we went to Bd's for supper. He loves the fact you can pick your own ingredients and then they grill it up. So this was saying a lot when he liked my version better.

Oh, I know there are a lot of versions of this recipe floating around. However this is my creation based on the concept.

Ham and Pineapple Fried Rice

Stars of the recipe:

• 1 tsp. sesame seed oil


• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil


• 1/2 onion diced


• 1-2 carrots, peeled and diced


• 1 c. Broccoli cut into small pieces


• 1-1/2 c. Ham diced into medium sized pieces


• 1 sm. can of diced pineapple, juice drained and set aside (8 oz.)


• 1 lrg. Egg, beaten


• 1 c. Cooked brown rice, cooled


• 2-3 Tbsp. soy sauce


• 1 Tbsp. ground ginger


• 1 Tbsp. hot sauce

Steps:

1. Heat oils in a skillet. (Medium heat)


2. Add veggies to the skillet. Cook until tender.


3. Add ham and pineapple. to skillet. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes until warmed through.


4. While the ham and pineapple are cooking, combine the pineapple juice, soy sauce, hot sauce, and ginger in a separate bowl.


5. Push all veggies, ham, and pineapple to side of skillet.


6. Add the beaten egg. Stirring the egg until it's cooked.


7. Add the rice. Pour the pineapple juice, soy sauce, and ginger mixture over the food in the skillet.


8. Cook for about 5 minutes longer.


9. Enjoy!

Ham and Black Bean Soup

So on Easter Sunday, I decided to cook Easter dinner.  Yes, on Easter Sunday at about 11:45 am, I committed to making dinner.  Okay it was only going to be for 6 of us so that's not too bad.  

My family of four headed to the grocery store to plan out the meal because I had no clue was I was going to make.  I ended up cooking crock pot ham, honey and cinnamon carrots, mashed sweet potatoes, mixed veggies, and spinach salad.  We had lots of ham left-over.  Fortunately for us, we love ham!  

I'm finding ways to transform the ham into delicious dishes so we are not just eating ham over and over again even though the Imaginative One would love that.  Last night I made ham and black bean soup using Bob's Red Mill's Black Bean Soup mix.  You can use any black bean soup mix or dried black beans to make this soup.

Ham and Black Bean Soup

Stars of the recipe:

• 2 cups of black bean soup mix or dried black beans


• 8 cups of water


• 3 cups of diced ham


• 1/2 lrg. onion, diced


• 4 cups of chicken stock


• salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Rinse and sort the black beans or black bean soup mix.


2. Put the black bean soup mix or black beans, water, and 1 c. diced ham in a large soup pot.


3. Bring the water to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.


4. Let cook for 1-1/2 hours until the beans are soft.


5. Add the chicken stock, onion, remaining diced ham, salt, and pepper.  Cook for another 10 - 15 minutes.


6. Enjoy!  (We had ours with a pretzel roll.  We shared the soup with my mother-in-law.  She had hers with rice.)