Long Monday

Kind of a busy day with getting back into the routine of planing for school again. That bad kind of busy where you get forced to spend a lot of time sitting, digging for necessary things. I think I spent 4 hours just pouring through my files trying to find a notebook form that we will be using every week in the coming school year ! I hate when that happens, and as a result I felt like I was in serious danger of developing butt callouses ! Good news is that the forms were finally found, the first week of school is planned, and now I can find a new groove to fall into for the year.

Thought I would photo journal what the new way of eating looks like. Trying to get the right mix of fat, fiber, protein and all of those good nutrients for our bodies.

Breakfast consisted of 2 eggs with mushroom, green onion, zucchini , Mexican blend cheese accompanied with 3 slices turkey bacon, two slices of Santa Clause melon and 4 big cherry tomatoes.

Lunch was Boar's Head corned beef and a slice of Swiss on an Earth Grains Multi grain roll and joined by 2 cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, celery and sliced roast red and yellow beets. To make the beets I roasted them with the skins on at 350 till fork tender, cooled, peeled and sliced. Nothing else on them, and they are almost like candy !


For dinner, I played with another oddball sort of vegetable- Long Beans !

These are also sometimes called snake beans or longevity beans. In Chinese folk custom they believe that serving these helps to bring a long life. Perhaps it does, but in the mean time they are kind of fun to toss in the cart ! They taste like slightly tough , chewy green beans, and to cook you wash, ,tip and tail them, cut them into bite sized portions and proceed with any fresh green bean recipe. They wound up being served with crock pot honey chicken and coconut rice


Honey Chicken serves 4

1 lb chicken breasts, no skin, no bone ( or boneless skinless thighs)
1/4 tsp. Curry powder
1 tsp. Cinnamon
½ cup diced onion
3 T. coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4tsp. Powdered ginger
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
1/4 tsp. Paprika
½ cup water

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Toss well to coat the chicken evenly.
Place the mixture in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
If desired, serve over rice or orzo (rice-shaped pasta)


Coconut Rice
1 cup brown rice
2 cups tap water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut

In a 2-quart pot bring the water and salt to a boil. Stir in the dry rice and the coconut.
Stir and return the water to a boil. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible flame.
Place the lid on the pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Do not peak while the rice is cooking.
OR place in rice cooker


Szechuan style green beans

1 pound Chinese longbeans (also called yardlong beans or just longbeans)
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger, chopped
2 scallions (spring onions, green onions)
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons coconut oil for stir-frying, or as needed

Wash the longbeans, drain thoroughly, and trim the tops and bottoms.
Cut the longbeans on the diagonal into slices approximately 2 inches long.
Chop the garlic, ginger and scallions.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add the longbeans and stir-fry until they start to
shrivel or "pucker" and turn brown (5 - 7 minutes). Remove the long beans and drain in a
colander or on paper towels.Heat 1 tablespoon oil on high heat. Add the garlic, ginger and scallions. Stir-fry for a few seconds stir-fry for a few more seconds
until aromatic. Add the longbeans and the remaining ingredients. Mix together and serve.