How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies

I had the opportunity to get away this past weekend for almost three days with a bunch of women for a retreat.  It was so special to just get some time away and relax, and my amazing husband took care of both of our girls so that I was able to go.  He fed them, bathed them, played with them, read to them- everything I could hope for, and I am so grateful for him.  One thing that does not happen, though, when I am gone, is healthy eating.  (They all, apparently, think Cinnabon for dinner is a good idea!)  :)  I do actually think it is just fine for them to do that every now and again, but when I came home, the fresh fruit that had been sitting around had started to gather fruit flies.

Because we have so much fresh produce sitting around all the time, fruit flies are an issue we deal with from time to time.  I have done a lot of research online, and tried many methods of getting ride of them, and I have come up with what is, for us, the quickest, easier, and surest way to get rid of them.

Gather a jar, cup, bowl or other such container, some red wine vinegar and some dish soap.  I have heard the saying "you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" but I no longer believe it, red wine vinegar works like a charm.

Just add several tablespoons of vinegar to your container, then add in some dish soap.  One or two drops is probably all that's needed, but I always want to be extra sure that I catch them, so I add one or two teaspoons.  There is no need to measure, just eyeball it.  

The flies are drawn to the vinegar, then because the soap had broken the surface tension, they drown.  Just set it out where you have fruit flies, and wash it out or throw it away when it's done it's job.  Easy as that!

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I hope you all had a happy Halloween, and were able to avoid eating too much junk!  Instead of letting my kids have any candy, I let them open one box of sweet cereal- Lucky Charms, which they usually don't get in our house.  They both enjoyed several small bowls to snack on through the evening and were perfectly happy with their treats!  I know if I had planned ahead, I could have come up with a very healthy Halloween treat, but cereal seemed like a decent last minute compromise.  How about you, what are your strategies for healthy treats, or avoiding candy this time of year?

I also want to tell you about Vitacost, if you have not already checked it out.  They are an affordable, reliable online retailer of vitamins, and health food items.  I find it is a great place to get protein powder, coconut oil, vitamins, and more.  They have nearly anything you can imagine, at very competitive prices.  They carry most name brands, but you can also score some awesome deals right on their Vitacost brand products.

Right now, I am loving their Vitacost Whole Food Meal Replacement.  I am a person who needs to start my day with some protein, so I add it most of my smoothies- this is great plant (rather than animal) based protein, and it has the added benefit of vitamins, minerals, greens and more!  I encourage you to try it- it is one of the best protein powders I have tried thus far.

I also like their Vitacost Plant Protein Powder, Vitacost Apple Cider Vinegar, and Vitacost Coconut oil.

And, if you sign up here for a new account, Vitacost will give you $10 off you first order!  That is a great way to try some fun new products.

If you have already tried Vitacost, I would love to know what some of your favorite products are.

How to Menu Plan... And a Free Printable

Have you always wanted to menu plan, but didn't know where to start?  I have always had a menu plan, but now that I have so much fresh produce on hand, I find it is crucial for me to plan out my meals, or it all ends up going to waste.  Here is a quick breakdown of how I menu plan.  I hope it helps.

First, there are some things I buy in bulk and always have on hand.  Once a year, we get together with friends to buy and split half of a grass fed cow.  So, we always have beef in the freezer.  I also have staples like brown rice, quinoa, dried beans, spices, etc, so I don't often have to go buy those.

Next, once a week I get a big box of produce.  It is full of lots of fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetable that I want to work into my menu plan this week, so I don't waste any of it.

Once I look through it and a see what's there, I sit down with my menu plan worksheet to map it all out.  I start by writing down anything on my calendar that would affect how I plan my meals (because I am so forgetful, and need the help remembering things like dinner with friends, birthdays, etc.)

Next, I actually list all of the produce I got that week, as well as anything else I need to use up.  If I don't list it, I tend to loose a cucumber in the back of the fridge, or some sweet potatoes in the bottom of the produce drawer, and not remember them until they are no longer recognizable.

Once I have everything listed out, I start to fill in my menu plan, crossing things off as I use them up.  If I have a lot of bananas, I might plan banana smoothies for breakfasts, and bananas for snacks on a few days.  Between meals, smoothies, and snacks, I try to account for all my produce each week (except for things that keep well, like potatoes and onions.)  I usually plan one day for leftovers, to eat up anything we had extra of throughout the week.  I keep my grocery list with me, and when I put something on my menu plan, I make sure I have it on hand, if not, I add it to my grocery list.

Menu planning this way (based on what I have, rather than the other way around) saves me a lot of money each week.  If you plan out seven yummy sounding dinners, then have to go buy every ingredient for those, you will have a very expensive shopping trip.  However, if you are planning around what you have, and only shopping to fill in the gaps, you grocery bill will go down,and you will waste less food.

Here is a sample of what my menu plan for a typical week might look like:

And that's all there is to it!  You can download my menu plan template here, and start your menu planning tonight!  Good luck!

Do you have any tried and true menu planning methods that have worked for you?  I would love to hear your ideas!

World's Easiest Guacamole - And How to Prevent Avocados From Turning Brown

I found these delicious mini avocados for only $0.20 each at a local produce stand, so we get to indulge in guacamole tonight with dinner.  (Avocados are a healthy fat- but it is still a lot of fat, so guacamole is an indulgence to be enjoyed in moderation.)  This is not so much a recipe for guacamole as a quick tip on how to make it if you don't have all the ingredients.  Here's what you need: Avocados, and your favorite salsa.  Yep- that's it!  There are many good guacamole recipes out there, but for when you don't have the ingredients or don't want to buy them, this works great!

World's Easiest Guacamole
2 large Avocados (or 3-4 small ones)
2-3 TBS of your favorite salsa (homemade is great, but store bought will do.)
Salt to taste (I like pink Himalayan Sea Salt)

Cut avocados in half, then use your knife to pop out the pit, setting it aside.  And you don't really need one of those nifty tools to get the flesh out of the avocado, just cut it in quarters and use your fingers to seperate the peel from the flesh.

You can dice the avocados, or toss the quarters into your blender or food processor.

Add salsa, season with salt, then either blend, or mash with a fork.  Done!  How easy is that?

And here is an old family secret... do you know how to prevent your guacamole from turning brown?  Most people recommend adding an acidic agent like lime juice- which does help, and tastes good too, so feel free to do it.  But here's my method... just leave the pit in it!  Yeah, I know, too easy right?  But it does the trick every time!

Just stir the pit down into your guacamole and set it out to enjoy with chips, or even better, sliced veggies.  (Carrot sticks, sliced bell peppers, cucumbers, jicama... so many choices!)

Enjoy!

Coconut Protein Smoothie

Have you seen these young coconuts, or baby coconuts in stores, but wondered what to do with them?  They are full of fresh coconut water, which is supposed to be great for you!  I am no nutritionist, but there is a lot of information online on the health benefits of coconut water and coconuts in general.  (I don't want to make any unfounded claims, but you can Google "Health Benefits of Coconut Water" to find dozens listed!)

I just know that they are delicious, and supposed to be good for you.  If you have not seen these fabulous little coconuts in your store, they are often sold in Health Food stores or Asia markets.  In my area, (Tacoma, WA) I have had good luck at H-Mark, Pal-Do World Market, and the East Asia Market.  You can also find them often at stores like Marlene's Market or Whole Foods, but they tend to be less expensive at Asian markets.  I usually pay around $0.99 to $1.49 per coconut.

Once you bring one of these babies home  though, what do you do with it?  That question has stopped many people from trying them!  Once you get the hang of getting them open, they are actually pretty easy.

The pointy end is the top, and this is where you will open it.  Lay it on it's side, and use a knife to shave off the husk left around the top.

Next, being very careful, use the heel of a large knife and tap around the top of the coconut until you find the spot where it open easily.  (Here is a good You Tube Video, if you are a visual learner- and no, that's not me, it's just a video I found online)

Once you find the right spot, the top should just pop open with a twist of your knife.

You can see, a good coconut is full to the brim with coconut water.  When choosing a coconut, choose one that feels heavy for it's size, and does not slosh.  If you can hear sloshing, it is not full, and may be old and dried up.  Also, if you see any purple discoloration, it means that the coconut is old.

Pour the coconut water into a blender.  You should get anywhere from 8-12 ounces of water from one young coconut.

Then using a spoon, scrape out the coconut meat, and add it to the blender as well.  The young coconut meat is soft, wet, and gelatinous, not firm and dry like that of a mature coconut.  You might not actually get much meat, but that is okay.  (Don't worry about a little brown skin from inside the coconut sticking to the meat- it's not a problem.)

You can blend coconut water and meat up with pretty much any smoothie you like, but here is my favorite recipe.

Coconut Protein Smoothie
1 baby coconut
pinch of salt
2 pitted dates
4 ice cubes

Optional Add-Ins
1 scoop protein powder (I like vanilla, but unflavored, or chocolate is also good.)
1 TBS chia seeds
Handful of spinach or kale

Add all the ingredients to a blender in the order listed.  In a Blendtec, select Smoothie or Ice Crush, or process in any other blender.

mmm... you can add lots of other ingredients, but I love the mellow flavor of the pure baby coconut.  And- as a side note- if you do use protein powder, be picky about what kid you get, I have tried many, and the wrong one can ruin any smoothie.  I love the Whole Foods Shake from Vitacost... it is affordable, delicious  and packed with vitamins and whole foods goodness!  Click below to check it out!

Instant Soup

When I think of instant soup, it usually involves a can, or maybe a cup of noodles, but this quick easy recipe from Blendtec is awesome!  I made this for lunch the other day, and in under 10 minutes, I had delicious soup ready to go.

Just assemble all the ingredients in the order listed in the recipe, add warm water, and blend it up!

Healthy, easy, and delicious!  You can't beat that!

Crazy Healthy Cilantro Lime Dressing

I have been wanting to create a homemade version of Cilantro Lime Dressing since I sampled some at Trader Joe's a few weeks ago.  When I searched for a recipe though, everything I found contained a lot of oil or mayonnaise .. not things I want in my dressing.  So, I started from scratch, trying to figure out how to get a tangy, creamy dressing using only ingredients that I love and feel good about.

This one is a winner.  It gets creaminess from soy milk and avocado, green goodness from cilantro and kale, and an extra boost of omega-3's and fiber from the chia seeds. My 14-month old baby actually ate this whole bowl of it with a spoon as soon as it was ready!  There are not many salad dressings I would let her eat like that, but I think this one is okay.

Crazy Healthy Cilantro Lime Dressing
1 1/2 cups soy milk
1/2 avocado
1/3 to 1/2 bunch cilantro sprigs (stems and leaves)
1 leaf kale
Juice of 1 lime
2-3 cloves garlic
1-2 TBS chia seeds
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to blender in the order listed.  In a Blendtec, select "Dressings" or blend in other blender.

Feel free to adjust the seasonings to fit your personal tastes.  Serve it as a salad dressing, put it on tacos in place of sour cream, use it to dip your veggies, or eat it by the spoonful...the possibilities are endless.

I put mine is this handy squirt bottle, then it's easy to dress your salad, even decorate a plate!

We had romaine lettuce, black beans, avocado, and roma tomatoes with this dressing for dinner.  Yum!

Healthy, Delicious Shepherd's Pie

In the fall and winter, a large portion of produce boxes or CSA shares can be made of up root vegetables.  This healthy version of Shepherd's Pie is one of my favorite ways to use up all those roots, replacing much of the usual meat with vegetables.

Healthy Delicious Shepherd's Pie
2 onions, finely chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
1-2 additional root vegetables, chopped (I had one parsnip and one turnip, you could use celery root, rutabagas  or anything else that sounds good.
1/2 - 1 pound ground grass fed beef or lamb
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 TBS tomato paste
1 cup beef stock
3/4 cup red wine
dash of Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1 TBS fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 TBS chia seeds
salt and pepper to taste

2-3 TBS additional water or wine for sauteing

Mashed Potatoes (approximately 2 cups)
Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat a small amount of water or wine in a large pan or dutch oven.  Water saute (just cook, stirring, in the water rather than oil to keep it from sticking) onions, celery, and garlic.  Add carrots and other root vegetables and rosemary, cook until slightly soft.  Set aside.

In the same pan, brown the ground beef or lamb, add thyme.  Set aside.  (I had saved a half pound of precooked ground beef from the previous day's recipe, so I simply mixed that in the last step, it's an easy way to reduce how much meat your family eats.)

Finally, in the same pan, saute mushrooms, and set side.

Combine cooked vegetables and meat, then add tomato paste and wine, bring to a simmer and cook until liquid is reduced by half.  Add broth, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, mushrooms, and chia seeds.

Spoon into an oven proof dish.  (If you used a dutch oven to brown everything, you can save a dish and use this to bake it in.  If not, use a 9x13 or comparable dish.)

Top with a thin layer of mashed potatoes.  (Avoid making them with too much butter to keep this healthy. This dish has enough flavor you won't miss butter in the potatoes, I just mash mine with some soy milk.)

Sprinkle a small amount of Parmesan cheese on top, and bake about 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

The perfect way to end a cold and blustery day!

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce... and How to Get Less Meat in Your Diet

Still trying to use up tomatoes, I looked for a pasta sauce recipe, and found this one on Blendtec's website.  (They have a lot of great recipes there!)  I wanted to try it, but adapt it to what I had on hand, and try to make it a little healthier.

My husband loves meat.  To the extent that if I ever truly became a vegan, as strong as our marriage is, he just might leave me.  So, while I have decided it is much healthier to have less meat in our diets, I don't cut it out entirely.  Instead, once a year, we buy a share of a grass-fed cow, put it in the freezer, and make it last for the whole year.  I grew up eating pasta sauce that had at least one, sometime two pounds of meat in it, but we don't really need that much in order for it to feel meaty.  But ground beef usually comes in one pound packages  so by default that is what I used to put in any recipe.

Now, I cook up my pound of ground beef, usually with an onion in it, and set it aside.  Then, I can put half in my current recipe, and save half for later.  (In this case, half a pound for today's pasta sauce, and half a pound for tomorrow's shepherd's pie.  Both will still taste meaty, but we've cut back on the meat consumption considerably.)

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce
2 lbs tomatoes
1 large or several mini bell peppers
1 onion
10 cloves garlic
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp no salt seasoning (like Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute)
Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste
1 TBS dried oregano

Optional Add Ins
1-2 sauteed zucchini squash
1 lb sauteed mushroom
1/2 lb lean, grass-fed ground beef
2 TBS ground flax seed
1-2 TBS chia seed

So, I have tomatoes, mini peppers, onions, and garlic, so that's what we'll be roasting.

Roughly chop vegetables, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt, seasonings, and pepper, and toss in a roasting pan.

Roast for one hour in a preheated 375 degree oven.  (At the same time, I added one whole spaghetti squash in the oven, and let it roast for the same amount of time.)

Allow veggies to cool slightly, then transfer to blender jar.  In a Blendtec, select "sauces" or process until smooth.

This sauce is ready to serve, and delicious as is, but I wanted a chunkier sauce, so I opted for some add ins. I put the sauce on the stove to simmer, and sauteed some zucchinis and mushrooms.

I also stirred in 1/2 pound of precooked ground beef, and some flax seed and chia seed to thicken it up, and add a healthy dose of omega threes.  You could serve this over any kind of pasta, but I decided to serve it on spaghetti squash instead.

Squash can be notoriously hard to cut open or peel, so instead, just throw the whole thing in the oven.  I baked this one for one hour, along with the veggies, then pulled it out and allowed it to cool.  Once cool enough to handle, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and then scrape out the flesh.  Spaghetti (or Stripettie, in this case) squash is stringy, and works well under pasta sauce.

If you have never tried squash in place of pasta before, here is my personal take- don't plan on it actually tasting or feeling like pasta, it doesn't.  But it is good, delicious in fact, in it's own right, and well worth trying.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Radishes

Everyone once in a while, when you get a box of produce, you end up with something that might not be your favorite.  In my case, it's radishes   I know most people love them sliced fresh in their salads, but they just don't do it for me.  But I have also learned that if I get something I don't like, I should try it in a new way, and I have actually learned to love a lot more produce this way, and not waste what I get.  In this case, I discovered that while I don't care for fresh radishes, they are really good roasted!

You could toss them in with any veggies you plan to roast, in this case, what I had on hand was a giant tree of Brussels Sprouts!

To clean Brussels Sprouts, pluck them off the stem, wash them, discard outer leaves if yellow or loose, cut off the stem end, and then cut them in half if they are large.

Of course, you could save time and buy already cleaned Brussels Sprouts, but then you would miss out on fun photo ops like this...

Clean radishes and either leave them whole if small, or cut them in half if large. Toss them with Brussels Sprouts in a 9x13 dish or on a large baking sheet.  Add any other veggies you want.  ( I added 1/4 sliced red onion... whole peeled garlic cloves would also be great.)

Drizzle with a small amount of extra virgin olive oil, (1-2 TBS) and season with salt and pepper.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, stir, and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

The flavor of the radishes really mellows with roasting, and they compliment the Brussels Sprout well.  Remember, recipes are just a guideline, use what you have on hand, and don't be afraid to try a new vegetable... or an old one in a new way- you just might be surprised!

How to Cut Onions Without Crying

Do you love onions, but hate to cut them, because of the way they sting your eyes?  Here is a really quick tip... Cold onions don't sting nearly as bad!  Did you know that?  So- if you have the room, store onions in your fridge,  (I use one of the produce bins,) then just pull them out and go to chopping, hazmat suit not required.  If you don't have room in your fridge, stick an onion in the freezer for a few minutes before cutting it.

When you are ready to cut, slice of the stem end of the onion, but leave the root end in tact.  This gives you something to hold, keeps the onion from falling apart, and also helps with the stinging.

Then slice the onion in half, peel off the outer layer of skin, and holding the root end, slice or chop as needed.

Happy onion chopping!

Healthy Chili (For a Meat Lover!)

Between the tomatoes that came in my produce box this week, the ones my mother dropped off from her garden, and the ones ripening in my own backyard, I have a lot of tomatoes to either use or preserve pretty quickly.  I am thinking some homemade pasta sauce coming up later this week, but the first thing I made was a big pot of chili for my meat-loving husband.  I have a wonderful husband, who puts up with a lot of my healthy cooking experiments, as long as he gets something meaty from time to time.  Chili is a staple for us, because we both love it and I am satisfied that it is fairly healthy.  I have to confess, we ate it all so quickly that I didn't get any pictures!  Maybe I'll have to fix it again soon to remedy that.  Depending on what I have to use up, it never tastes that same twice, but it is always fantastic.  So, here you go...

Erin's Healthy Homemade Chili
1 pound lean grass-fed beef
2 large onions (red or yellow are healthier than white,) diced
2 red or yellow bell peppers, diced
2 large carrots, shredded
2-3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
1-6 fresh jalapenos, (depending on how spicy you like it) stemmed and minced
any other misc veggies you think would be good- I sometimes add some very finely minced kale
4 TBS chili powder
2 TBS cumin
2 TBS oregano
1-2 tsp salt
4-5 large tomatoes, or a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
4-6 cups homemade beef stock
3 cans assorted beans, drained (or re-hydrated dried beans) black, kidney, pinto, or whatever else sounds good

Optional
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
2 TBS cornmeal
2 TBS ground flaxseed
1TBS chia seeds

In a large dutch oven, brown ground beef.  Add onions, peppers, carrots, celery, garlic, jalapenos, and misc veggies, cook, stirring until onions are tender.  Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt.  Cook, stirring, for about 5 more minutes.  Add tomatoes and beef broth, stir, and then simmer for as long as possible!  At least 1-2 hours, but it can simmer on low most of the day.  About 30 minutes before serving, stir in beans and corn if using.  To thicken, mix together cornmeal, flax seeds, and chia seeds, and stir into chili.  Serves 6-8.