Tag Archives: whole foods

by Wendy | March 26, 2011

My New Fave Meatless Recipe!

I’m not vegan, nor am I vegetarian…but I’m still totally down with the Meatless Monday.

Actually, since we’re aiming for quality over quantity these days, I’m more likely to go meatless most days, eating small portions of meat only once or twice a week.

That’s why I am loving the new recipe I found for Quinoa Burgers!

These burgers are easy enough to whip together during nap time, and they contain lots of my favorite ingredients: quinoa, mushrooms, oats, Parmesan…

…and the texture (which I’m pretty picky about) is waaaay better than almost any other meatless patty I’ve made, or purchased.

My husband AND toddler even liked them! <<does victory booty-shake>>

I followed the recipe pretty much word for word, so I’d like to show some love and link you straight over to to A Life Less Sweet, who provided the path to yumminess.

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Do you do “Meatless Monday”? Do your kids eat meat? I’d love to hear some of your favorite meatless meals!

5 Comments

Filed under Recipes & Food

Tagged as easy vegetarian meals, healthy, meatless monday, mushroom, natural, no meat, quinoa burgers, toddler recipes, vegetarian, veggie burger, whole foods

by Wendy | January 29, 2011

TT Organic Coconut Oil Review and Giveaway! Great for cloth diaper moms, too!

I love coconut!

Let me clarify: I’m not such a fan of coconut in things like pies, cakes or Almond Joy bars. I prefer my coconut more savory, like in Thai food, or in drinks. I love coconut water, and rich soups made with coconut milk.

Several months ago, I started using coconut oil. I use it in my cooking and baking, and sometimes I even just mix a little bit into my oatmeal. It’s a beautiful cooking oil, lending a faint, delicate coconut flavor that is just heavenly in fish, chicken and vegetable dishes.

The best thing about coconut oil, in my opinion, is that its uses extend far beyond the kitchen. Did you know that you can use coconut oil on your skin, your lips, and even your baby’s bottom!? Yup, that’s right. Coconut oil is a 100% natural, extremely effective way to combat your baby’s red tush, and, unlike conventional diaper creams, it’s safe to use with cloth diapers! (I recommend keeping a separate jar in baby’s room, though. )

So, I was really excited when Tropical Traditions sent me some of their Gold Label virgin coconut oil to sample!

The first thing I did was head over to their free coconut recipes blog for ideas on how to use it. There were so many recipes I didn’t know where to start! So, I started with Hot Cocoa! (It is January, after all.)

I’m still experimenting, so I’ll be sending some more recipes your way soon…

I’m not going to throw a bunch of health claims at you, because you know how that goes: research is pretty subjective, and no definitive health claims can be made about a food without upsetting the FDA. But here are a few things I DO know about TT virgin coconut oil:

It’s made by family farmers, using good manufacturing practices benefiting rural families in the Philippines.
It’s certified organic under strict USDA standards, with no chemicals or GMOs.
It contains lauric acid, a nutrient found in breastmilk that supports the body’s immune system.
It tastes wonderful, and leaves my baby’s bottom soft, soothed and smelling super coconutty!

If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of virgin coconut oil along with recipes and more, you can acquire a free copy of the Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil book by taking part in their referral program! Click here for details, then choose “Referred by a Friend” and enter user ID 6878693 for your free book! Contact their customer service department for assistance, if needed.

If you use coconut oil, or even if you’re just intrigued by its many uses, I have fun news! Tropical Traditions has offered me one 16-ounce jar of their Gold Label virgin coconut oil to give away to one lucky reader!

And, this one is open to both US and Canada!

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED***

Mandatory entry:

Visit Tropical Traditions and leave a comment below telling me something you learned about coconuts, coconut oil, the company itself, or any of its products! Easy as pie!

Bonus Entries:

1. Sign up for the Tropical Traditions newsletter. You’ll be first to find out about free product specials, discounts, news and new recipes! (2 entries – leave 2 comments for this one!)

2. Follow Tropical Traditions on Twitter @TropTraditions (1 entry. Include your Twitter handle.)

3. Tweet: (1 entry per day. Leave one comment per tweet, including a link to each unique tweet.) Here’s a sample tweet you can use:

I entered to win @TropTraditions Gold Label virgin COCONUT OIL! Enter now @ABCGP http://wp.me/pTRQh-Bp Ends 2/16 #giveaway

Good luck!

Entry period is open until 8 pm on February 16, 2011. I will choose a winner via Random.org after entries close, and winner will be notified via email. Winner will have 72 hours to respond and claim their prize, or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to residents of US and Canada.

**UPDATE! My winner is comment #33! Congrats Nicole! Check your email…

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Disclosure: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

119 Comments

Filed under giveaways, Parenting & Family, Product & Restaurant Reviews, The Everyday

Tagged as cloth diapers, coconut oil, coconut oil for diaper rash, coconut oil safe for cloth diapers, cooking oil, giveaway, no GMO, organic coconut oil, organic foods, Tropical Traditions, whole foods, win

by Wendy | January 24, 2011

Mommy and Me Spinach Mozzarella Bites

My little man is definitely a veggie eater, and I couldn’t be happier. But I’ll admit I’ve been lacking in the creativity department lately. A little boy can only be expected to eat so many lentils and sweet potatoes. So, I challenged myself to find a way to get more greens in that sweet little tummy…the result? Mommy and Me Spinach Mozzarella Bites!

I’m really excited about this recipe for a few reasons. First, it’s super easy to make, and loaded with fresh spinach. It’s also toddler-friendly without being messy. We barely even had to wash hands after these! And, given that we always have extra spinach from our garden during the growing season, these are an easy way to use it up without having spinach salad every. single. day.

(Please note: I’m sure there are other similar recipes out on the web. This one was simply born from the ingredients that happen to be on hand in my kitchen. All ingredients are estimated, so you may need to tweak to suit your tastes.)

Mommy and Me Spinach Mozzarella Bites

1 1/2 – 2 cups baby spinach leaves, washed
1/2 cup Organic Valley shredded mozzarella cheese
1 Organic Valley egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs (use panko, whole wheat, seasoned or whatever you may have on hand.)
1 dash salt (or omit if you prefer)
1 dash garlic powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking pan with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray. (I used a baking stone, which I highly recommend for even baking.)

Chop spinach in food processor, or finely chop by hand. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix well. Form into patties of desired size (we chose slightly larger than silver dollar size.) If patties do not stick together, add more bread crumbs until mixture seems a little more solid.

Bake 6 minutes on one side; turn, bake 6 minutes on the other side until lightly browned. (Cook times may vary slightly due to oven variations.)

Remove from oven and serve.

Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, with a yummy toasted cheese flavor. And perfect for little fingers!

Wondering why I included them as a “Mommy and Me” recipe? Because they are terrific floating on top of a bowl of soup! I will definitely be packing a few of these in my lunchbox. Mommy needs her greens, too, right?

My little man gobbled down 5 of these while they were still warm from the oven. Can you tell they were a hit?

How do you get your kids to eat more greens?

15 Comments

Filed under Parenting & Family, Recipes & Food

Tagged as easy toddler recipes, green baby, healthy eating, healthy toddler, Mommy and me recipes, mozzarella cheese, natural baby, organic valley, spinach, spinach mozzarella bites, whole foods

by Wendy | January 22, 2011

It’s a Pleasure to Meet You…

Wow! The Blogtastic Extravaganza event has been a HUGE hit, and I’ve picked up several hundred new subscribers in the past 4 days! Don’t forget – you can still enter until midnight tonight, 1/22. The winner will be announced on Monday, 1/24.

To all of my readers who have been with me for the past year, I just want to say thanks so much for hanging with me! (You know I love ya, right?)

And to all my new subscribers, I’d like to introduce myself!

I’m Wendy, and this is my little man.

I know you probably get a million emails a day, and I am SO grateful that you’ve allowed me to occupy some of that precious space in your inbox!

But I have to admit, I’m a little intimidated. I mean, now I guess I have to come up with something interesting to say, huh?
Haha. I’ll do my best to keep things interesting…discussion is welcome here, so please chime in with your thoughts and suggestions often!

Here’s a quick idea of what you can expect from ABCGP:

I’ve always been a little bit crunchy, a little bit foodie. It’s a combination that makes life a constant learning process, especially with a baby in the mix! Once I found out I was expecting back in 2009, my desire to surround my baby with all things clean, pure and natural kicked into high gear. I quickly realized that you really can’t “green” your baby’s environment without doing the same for yourself, so we’ve challenged ourselves to examine all aspects of our life as a family, learn as much as we can, and make the changes it takes to make ourselves healthier, day by day…and that’s what this blog is about. (With a healthy dose of toddler mayhem thrown in, of course.)

You won’t get an email from me every day, but I try to update a few times a week. Things you can expect to see include:

Journal-type entries about our day-to-day life
Attachment Parenting topics
Garden updates
Eco-friendly lifestyle tips
My favorite recipes (mostly healthy, whole foods)
Product reviews and giveaways – several coming up SOON! Always easy entries.

I just made some new buttons, so please feel free to grab one from my sidebar!

Again, thanks for stopping by…I look forward to getting to know you all.

(…and feel free to leave me a link if you’d like me to visit your blog!)

8 Comments

Filed under The Everyday

Tagged as eco-friendly, green baby, green blog, green mommy, healthy living blog, introduce myself, natural, product reviews, recipes, welcome new subscriber, whole foods

by Wendy | January 9, 2011

Made-from-Scratch Sunday

Now that the holidays are over, my body is in dire need of some healthy food. I can feel it.

No, not diet food. Not low-calorie food. Just homemade, nutrient-packed, scratch-made REAL food. It does a body good, you know. My goal each week is to cook as much as possible on Sunday in hopes that it will take a little bit of the pressure off during the week, when there is just NO time. I’ve gotta feel good about what I’m feeding my boys!

And so begins Made-From-Scratch Sunday! Some recipes will be mine, some will be links to my favorites. If you all like it, it just may become a regular thing.

So I went searching some of my favorite internet spots for inspiration, and they did not disappoint.

My trip to Eating Well Magazine‘s site yielded this Cumin-Scented Wheatberry Lentil Soup:

A peek into my kitchen:

My little man just LOVES lentils!

My pal Lisa at Lisa’s Foods on the Move has given me the kick in the butt I need to get baking with her newest venture: baking her own bread for a year! A visit to Lisa’s blog never fails to center me and remind me of the way I want to be living, so I’m going to embark on her venture with her (sort of…) I’m not sure I’ll make it the whole year, but I HATE paying money for storebought bread when I can make a fresh loaf myself, at home, so I set my sights on the No-Knead Bread recipe she recommended. Here are the lovely, golden brown results:

I also felt like I needed some rolls to accompany our soup, so I made the recipe that has been stalking me from the back of our bag of flour…(This recipe will be a part of next week’s Made-From-Scratch Sunday…I promise!)

Here’s a preview:

I hate to leave you hanging, but I’m fading fast tonight, and my bed is looking really good. You see, the lovely SaltyTooth mentioned fresh butter in a recent post, and with all this bread around, I felt like I just had to get shakin’! And now, I’m tired! (but my arms are ripped!)