Can you pass the test ?

Planning and cleaning day yesterday for me- two very necessary chores for the smooth running of this house. Menu planning keeps us on track food-wise, money-wise and helps me with time management. Housecleaning keeps us all sane and organized. They can be boring jobs, but I have come to embrace the act of planning as an adventure all in itself. I also began to plot out next weeks homeschool lessons, and was reminded by the calendar that it is about time to do our annual attempt at the President's Physical Fitness Challenge. Anyone remember that ? It is a standard of fitness that tests the number of push ups, sit ups , running speed and so forth to label one as fit or unfit. While checking for this year's resources , I came upon a PDF document that has the Adult Fitness Test. Think you can pass it ? Check it out here. If nothing else, if you do not belong to a gym or have a trainer, this could make for a good basis on which to form your own workout plan .

Breakfast was overnight oats with apples and pears added in with the morning heating and topped with a tablespoon of ricotta cheese. Reason for this addition was that I have part of a container of ricotta in the fridge that will go out of code soon, so I am looking for creative ways to use it up. Tasted pretty good !

Lunch was Split Pea soup, raw veggies and walnut hummus. Walnut hummus makes for a nice variation , and can be a little easier to find the ingredients for most home kitchens

Walnut hummus

1 can drained chickpeas
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (omit if you don’t have them)
2/3 cups chopped walnuts
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
sea salt to taste

process in a food processor till smooth

Dinner was black bean burgers with Zucchini Skillet. I thought the zuchini dish would be flavorful, but we discovered that it really needed something with a more savory flavor to add in. The combination of sweet potatoes , corn and bell peppers made it too sweet for our tastes.After I snapped the photo we began to eat it and wound up putting a spoon of ricotta cheese on top to balance out the flavors. Next time I will try adding nuts to this or substituting the parsley for cilantro or something.

Bean Burgers ( makes 4)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2 cups black beans
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. wheat germ or oatmeal

Chop the sunflower seeds in a food processor or hand chopper and mash the beans with a potato masher or food processor and mix. Mix in the remaining ingredients and form patties. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool until you can pick up each patty and compress it firmly in your hands to reform the burger. Then cook for another 15 minutes on each side.


Zucchini Skillet- serves 6

3 cups diced sweet potatoes
1/3 cup water
2 cups diced zucchini
1 cup diced red onion
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup green onion -- sliced
1red pepper -- diced
1 green pepper -- diced
2 orange peppers--diced
1 clove garlic -- minced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

In a covered large skillet, saute the sweet potatoes in water for about 10 minutes.
Add zucchini, red onions, corn, green onions, red peppers, green peppers, and garlic.
Saute in water until vegetables are tender. Add remaining ingredients and allow flavors
to blend. Serves 6.

Where is Solomon when you need him ?

Why is it that deep, sustainable changes have to be so difficult to make ? Simple change is easy, and just because something changes does not mean it will remain on the new course unless it is a sustainable action. And unless something is a sustainable action, change can mean more harm than good. Intelligent change must be real, measurable and sustainable. To bring sustainability all factors of the current problem must be understood and taken into account when making a change, or it will fail. That's kind of where I am right now, and it seems that the equation gets more complex as things go about. I have been considering just how to make this whole thing with family time work with my husband's commitments. He devotes almost all of his vacation time to the heavy weeks church wise ( Holy Week and Christmas), every weekend ( at least 2 weeks a month it is Saturday and Sunday, the rest is usually all morning on Sunday) flex time off at work for funerals and now he is being called to do funerals on his vacation as well. We have one car because we cannot afford a second car, no public transportation and live at an intersection of two very busy roads with no sidewalks.No possible solution is one that would be sustainable for many reasons and it is making me think very unkind thoughts about everything involved. Then in the mail I got a bridal shower invitation for one of the nieces, and as much as I would like to go I know I probably will not be able to because he is going to be called for a funeral AND do evening mass that day and we will have to jockey around the whole rest of the week in order to fit in the necessary errands of the week, so I will not go. It's one of a thousand things I have missed because he has to sing. It gets really old.

One thing is certain though, I think better on my feet while walking. Walking can become a moving meditation that gets your blood pumping, endorphins flowing and helps you burn some calories. While walking I discovered that I am also able to jump now ! Nick and I did a lot of walking yesterday , housecleaning and playing another Wii game called Walk it out. It allows you to walk to the beat of several different tracks while you build an island community. We could not walk because of the noise factor, so we did the most we possibly could while seated in a chair. We broke a sweat , and it was a lot of fun !

The day was powered at the start by pear apple blueberry oats. We seem to go to this one a lot !

Lunch was black bean salad on a bed of romaine and watercress. I really love the colors in a black bean/corn/tomato mix !

15-Minute Black Bean Salad

½ cup minced onion
2 medium cloves garlic, chopped
1 can black beans -- (15 oz) drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn -- thawed
8 cherry tomatoes -- quartered( I used 2 whole, chopped)
½ cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
3 TBS fresh lemon juice
lettuce of your choice

Mince onions and garlic
Mix all ingredients together and serve on a bed of lettuce. This salad will keep for a couple of days and gets more flavorful if you let it marinate in the refrigerator for awhile. Serves 4

Dinner was an easy one . I wanted to make another round of lentil soup and 15 bean soup for the freezer, and both work best with ham. I bought a shank ham for the bone, planned to cook it in my crockpot, but it would not fit so I had to cut the meat off the bone and cook it separately. This was a big advantage because I could do a second crock pot with lentil/split pea soup at the same time as the ham. I remebered a trick discussed on my freezer cooking loop to make ham less salty ( pour a can on lemon lime soda over it) , and decided to try it for myself. It worked ! The ham came out less salty and very tender. I served it with a tossed salad topped with fruit salad and pecans and a vegetable ragout- think a sort of stew without broth.

Asparagus-Potato-Leek Ragout

2 large leeks -- white and pale green
1 lb. small yukon gold potatoes ( or other small potatoes)
2 cups water -- seasoned with Mrs Dash
1 lb. asparagus -- trimmed and cut diagonally
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms
lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves -- chopped ( or 2 T dried)
3 Tbsp. fresh parsley -- finely chopped ( or 1 T dried)

Cut leeks lengthwise and wash thoroughly. Then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Quarter potatoes and steam in a steamer until just tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer potatoes to a bowl. In skillet,water-saute leeks in seasoned water for 3-4 minutes, stirring until tender. (Add liquid if needed.)
Transfer leeks to bowl with potatoes. In skillet, heat more VegiZest water and water-saute asparagus for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add mushrooms and water-saute mixture, and continue cooking for about 3 minutes or until mushrooms soften. Combine all ingredients. Before serving, squeeze a little lemon juice over vegetables, stir in mint, parsley, and pepper to taste, and gently toss. Serves 4.