Lunch with Luke

Every Monday I get to share music with the kids at Luke's preschool. I spend the morning singing and dancing then I have lunch with Luke. We have a great time together eating and chatting. Tonight when I made my lunch I was trying to keep it light and healthy because I was coming off the third weekend in a row celebrating my 34th birthday. I feel so lucky to have friends, family and co-workers to celebrate with, it has been an amazing three weeks. However I think I need to taper off the chocolate cake, wine and rich yummy food. So my Monday lunch with Luke will be my clean start to a healthy eating week:)

Tuna, Olive, Almond Salad with Dijon Lemon Dressing
Serves 1

1 handful of shredded cabbage
1 handful of spinach leaves
4 broccoli florets
1 half can of Albacore Tuna in olive oil
3 Kalamata Olives (sliced)
1 half avocado cuped
1 TBS slivered almonds
3 basil leaves chopped (of course)
1 sprinkle of red pepper flakes


Dressing:
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp Olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt & pepper

For salad, combine all ingredients in a bowl. If taking this salad on the go, I bring knife to cube up avocado before I eat the salad so it is fresh. For dressing I use a small Ziploc plastic storage cup and add juice of lemon and drizzle in olive oil. Then add mustard and salt and pepper. Secure lid on storage cup and shake.

Dress salad, toss and enjoy!


Luke's Monday Lunch with Mom (TJ's Style, every bit)

Almond Butter & Honey Sandwich on TJ's Organic Mutligrain Bread (no crusts)
Green Grapes
Tj's Multi grain Tortilla Chips
Snaquarium Cookies

Salmon & Peppers

This was such an easy dinner to make and so colorful. I loved the flavors. I know I get stuck on the same veggies sometimes and of course basil. I'm trying to vary it up a bit, but for now enjoy this little plate full of pizazz!

Salmon & Peppers
Serves 4

1 Package of Fresh Salmon (oz vary),rinsed
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
2 Shallots
4 TSP olive oil
1 Lemon
5-6 Basil leaves
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup brown rice
1 bay leaf

Place 1 cup of brown rice in two cups on water in a 1 to 2 quart sauce pan. Drizzle in olive oil, add bay leaf and salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a quick boil then turn to to low and let rice simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat Oven at 350 degrees or start up your grill.
Take a nice size sheet of aluminum foil and place rinsed salmon on foil.
Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper then drizzle with a bit of olive oil and squeeze the juice of half of the lemon on top of salmon. Fold up foil and pinch the top to secure it closed.

Place salmon rapped in foil on baking sheet and place in oven, or on the the grill.

While salmon cooks, dice up your peppers and shallots nice and tiny. Heat a saute pan on medium heat and add olive oil, 1 tsp or so. Add in diced peppers and shallot and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute veggies for 5 to 6 minutes. Set aside.

Check fish, depending on how much fish you have, it should take 15 to 20 minutes to cook or grill. Salmon should be a nice bright pink when it is done.

Squeeze the other half of your lemon and use the zest to mix into your steamed rice. Season rice with a bit more salt and pepper.

Place rice on plate with salmon and throw on the pepper mix. Top with chopped basil.

You Are What You Eat!

After spending the morning getting my hair done with Thomas, I came home to find my fall hair highlights to be on the purple side. FUN! I was also starving. So I put together this little lunch. I'm not staying true to my blog by using some opal basil I got from my co-op. However it was so beautiful and yummy, it just looked so perfect on top of this little dish. When I took a picture of it, I thought wow, my hair color is similar to the opal basil color. So I had Troy take a picture of my hair and then I noticed my eyes looked really green with my purple hair. Troy and I were laughing, I guess you really are what you eat!

This is a perfect recipe for 1 person, make sure to double, or triple it for more people! ENJOY!

Green & Purple Chicken Salad (aka Green Chicken Salad - if you don't have opal basil)
Serves 1

3 oz cubed up Just Chicken (sold in refridge section)
1/2 cubed Hass Avocado
1 small diced green heirloom tomato
1 small jalapeno finely chopped
3 to 4 Opal Basil leaves (or regular Basil leaves) chopped
Zest of half a lemon
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1 piece of toasted Ezekiel bread, drizzle with olive oil

Cube and chop up all ingredients through basil. In in a small bowl combine chicken, avocado, tomato and jalapeno. Add in olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Toss lightly. Sprinkle with beautiful basil. Load on top of toast and enjoy!

Dinner with Tree

Tree Skyped us while I was cooking the other night. It was so fun. We showed her what we were making and chatted away as we cooked. We miss her and wish she was here to eat the dinner with us but Skype makes it fun!

RECIPE - Albacore Tuna Steaks with Soba Noodles & Sauted Pepper & Onions

2 Albacore Tuna Steaks(found in the frozen section)
1 Box of Tokyo Style Soba Noodles
1 Large Yellow Pepper
1 Large Red Pepper
1 Onion
1 Lemon (half of the lemon sliced into 4 thin rings)
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

This is such a easy dinner to put together. Preheat your oven at 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Thaw and rinse your tuna steaks and season with salt and pepper and drizzle olive oil on the top of each steak. Lay them on your baking sheet and place the lemon rings on top of the fish. Place in oven.

While fish is cooking start cooking the Soba Noodles as directed on box,very quick and easy. Cut up your peppers and onions into thin strips. Heat a saute pan on medium/high heat and add olive oil. Add peppers and onions and saute for 5-7 minutes. I like them with some crunch left in them.

Bake fish for at least 15 minutes and plate fish with noodles and veggies. Enjoy!
Drizzle with the lemon juice left from the other half of the lemon.

ENJOY! You should have this on the table in less then 30 minutes:)

Siena's Creation

Since Siena was a small sprout, she would cook with me in the kitchen. She has never lost the love to cook with me! However now she makes up her own dishes and has to chop her own things and just recently wants to use the stove..YIKES! So tonight Troy helped her cook up this AWESOME stir fry from the the veggies and sauces in the fridge. She picked out everything. Troy was cute and put daps of a few sauces on a plate for her to taste, then she chose which ones to use. The great part about this post is I get to share two recipes. Siena used some of a salad I made on Tuesday in her dish, so here is my quick salad recipe and then Siena's creation which her and Troy named. Luke refrained from tasting because he avoids things that are green!!!


Cabbage Salad
Sometimes I like to use shredded cabbage instead of lettuce for the crunch factor! TJ's has a package of shredded cabbage in the fridge section.

1 packages TJ's shredded cabbage
1 red bell pepper slice thin
1 large hand full of shredded carrots (also found in the fridge section)
6-7 raw broccoli trees (as Luke calls them)

Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Toss well.

I keep it undressed so I can eat it all week. I use 1 TBS of dressing per serving and toss in a separate bowl. I love to use TJ's Cilantro Salad dressing or their Green Goddess dressing with this salad.

Serves 4-6



Hot and Spicy Vegtable Medley - Contributed by Siena and Troy Hayes
This recipe is for 1 serving, so increase to eat more:)

1 handful of Cabbage Salad (see above)
1 zucchini cubed up
2 tsp Olive oil
2 tsp Sriracha
1 TBS TJ's Teriyaki Sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a small sauce pan on medium high heat. Add olive oil to cover pan. Add cabbage salad, zucchini, salt and pepper. Toss in pan for 3-4 minutes. Add Sriracha and teriyaki and mix to coat veggies. Heat for an additional minute. Take of heat and serve.

This was so good. We loved it. I'm going to make it again with shrimp. It is spicy, so Siena ended up drinking water then milk then eating crackers, anything to cool off her mouth.

It was a fun night in the kitchen:)

Quick School Lunch TJ's Style

This is a quick, easy, healthy lunch I made Siena the other day.

Turkey & Red Pepper Roll

1 TJ's organic whole wheat tortilla
1 TBS TJ's organic whipped cream cheese
5 slices of a red pepper
1 oz sliced Turkey

Spread the cream cheese on the tortilla. Place turkey on top of the cream cheese and the peppers on top of the turkey. Roll it up tight from bottom to top. Slice in half. I put 1/2 of roll in her lunch and the other 1/2 in the fridge for an after school snack.

Additional Lunch items shown:

1 cubed up pineapple spear (these are in the fridge section at TJs)
1/2 cup of TJ's white cheddar corn puffs
1 package of TJ's apple raspberry flakes
1 Kidz Clifbar for morning snack

This is my go to easy pasta recipe that is every changing. Every week when I shop at Trader Joe's I get the staples that I need to make most our meals. Toward the end of the week, when I only have a few things left here and there, I like to see what I can toss together for a pasta to avoid wasting anything. So depending on what I have left is why this recipe is never the same. Here is what I made tonight with the goal of using up some veggies I had left in the fridge. The flavor of the mushrooms are wonderful and I was able to use my basil that is growing like crazy on my patio. I also had plenty left over, so put some of the sauce in the freezer and packed up a bowl full to share with my parents along with a bag full of fresh basil. I felt great serving this to my family knowing there were tons of veggies in the sauce, most of them they couldn't see:)

Waste Not Pasta Dish
Serves 4-6

1 package of Trader Joe's Organic Brown Rice Pasta
2 TBS Olive Oil
1 onion, dice
12 mini heirloom tomatoes, halved or quartered
1 package of pre-cooked Trader Joe's Sweet Italian Sausage, cut in cubes
1 can (14oz) of Trader Joe's Tuscano Mariana Sauce
1 zucchini, shredded with a cheese grader
1 cup slice porcine mushrooms
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp Italian seasoning
7 leaves of fresh basil, chopped


Fill a large pot full of water and cover, place on high heat to boil
While water is heating, dice onion, tomatoes and heat a large pan on medium/high heat. Coat your pan with olive oil and toss in onions and tomatoes. Sprinkle with 1 tsp each of salt and pepper. Give a quick stir and allow the onions and tomatoes to continue to cook while you dice up sausage. Add in sausage and stir in with tomatoes and onions. Allow this mixture to cook for 5-7 minutes bringing your heat up slightly to get brown bits to form on the bottom of the pan.

While this mixture browns, add salt to your pot of boiling water and pour in the bag of pasta. Stir with a spoon and let cook. Open your can of marinara sauce and slice your mushrooms. Pour in marinara and stir, scrapping the bottom of pan. Add the rest of the salt and pepper and add in Italian seasoning. Stir well and let simmer for 2-3 minutes. Stir your pasta.

Shred the zucchini into sauce and add the mushrooms. Mix in well and let sauce simmer for 5 more minutes. While sauce simmers, check your pasta, drain and rinse if done. Chop up basil.

If you are feeding 6 people, toss pasta in the pan with your sauce. Serve on plates or in bowls, sprinkle with cheese and basil.

If you are feeding only 4 people, place pasta on plates or in bowls and top with sauce, cheese and basil.