Five Things Friday

Happy Friday, friends!

It's only 11:00 a.m. and I've already been to the dentist, had a meeting at school, cleaned up cat vomit, been to the Goodwill (and scored a cute vintagey-looking lamp!), and washed the dishes.

For breakfast I had a large Mill Mountain Blend and a cinnamon scone.
Apparently I needed it. And apparently it worked.

Moving on.

We are continuing to try eat a little healthier at our house this week (ignore the above comment about the large coffee and cinnamon scone...it is Friday forgoodnesssake), so today for Five Things Friday, I thought I would share five food things relating to my healthy resolutions.

(It is fitting and proper to call them resolutions, I think, because the start of a new school year always feels like a New Year anyway.)

In the spirit of healthy eating, (and because I have been reading and loving Michelle's blog lately) I went to the library and checked out a bunch of healthy cookbooks.  I have been trying out some new things.

1. Banana Split Oatmeal

I got this recipe out of the Flat Belly Diet book.  It's a delicious and fun take on traditional morning oatmeal! 

Cook 1/2 c. rolled oats in 3/4 c. water in the microwave.  When done, stir in half a banana, some frozen strawberries that you've heated in the microwave so that they are thawed and a little syrupy-like, and a handful of chocolate chips.  Yum!

2. Abs Diet Meatloaf

This recipe is adapted from the Abs Diet cookbook.  Patrick does not like meatloaf.  But I, since we have gotten married, for some reason, really feel some sort of weird wifely duty to make a good meatloaf despite the fact that my husband will probably never come around.   This one, though, was a winner!  Patrick liked it!  (He wants me to clarify that he did not LOVE it, but he did like it enough to eat it again.)  Calvin and I LOVED it.  Search over.  It's probably the only way I will make meatloaf from here on out. 

1 pound of lean ground beef

1 c. of saltine crackers, smushed

2 eggs

1/2 c. BBQ sauce, plus extra (try to find one with no high fructose corn syrup)

3 cloves of garlic, pressed

3/4 c. onion, chopped

1 tsp. oregano

Mix all together and form into a loaf on a cookie sheet.  Spread the loaf all over with extra BBQ sauce.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

I do not have a picture of the meatloaf, but I have found that generally pictures of meatloaf are not very appetizing anyway. 

3. Lemon Potatoes

I made this recipe up, but it is not hard (do not be impressed) and is pretty much based on the one my granny does for Sunday dinners, just leaving out a few other ingredients.  I made these with the meatloaf from above.  It was so good that we had it two nights in a row!  The tangy, lemon flavor in the potatoes is a great match to the sweetness of the BBQ sauce in the meatloaf.

Cut up a bunch of red-skinned potatoes into bite-sized wedges (Enough to spread along the bottom of whatever size baking pan you want to use.  I used an 8x8 glass baking dish and it was the perfect amount of potatoes for the three of us.).  Squeeze all the juice from one lemon all over.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle heartily with kosher salt and pepper.  Bake for an hour on 350 with the meatloaf.  Easy peazy.

4. Ezekiel Bread

I bought a loaf of Ezekiel sprouted grain bread to try.  It's pretty good!  I chose the Sesame variety and love it for morning toast. 

 It's good with my other go-to breakfast: toasted, spread with some natural peanut butter and the smallest drizzle of honey, and topped with half a banana sliced up.  I want to try the cinnamon raisin kind too! 

5. Sassy Water

I also got this recipe out of the Flat Belly Diet book.  The book says to make up a pitcher of this water for the next day each night before going to bed.  The idea behind Sassy Water is two-fold.   1. The goal is to drink up the whole pitcher throughout the course of the day, thus increasing your water intake  2. Making the water each night will remind you daily of your commitment to healthier choices.  I have only done it a few times, but it is good and a nice change up for my water bottle!

Get a pretty pitcher that makes you happy.  Cut up a whole lemon into thin slices.  Peel and slice up half a cucumber.  Add some fresh grated ginger and fresh mint leaves.  Smoosh it all around.  Fill up the pitcher the rest of the way with water.  Put in the fridge and let it all marry together over night. 

photo source

Anyone else out there trying out some new healthy recipes?

I would love to hear!