{Muster Monday} Yummy Vegetable Chips

Vegetables. Can you get enough?! um, yes. I can...too much of a good thing, they say.... ;)

So, I needed to shake it up a little. It was getting boring...although my body was saying "YES, YES...oh god, YES!"...my mental state was screaming "please help me."

Along comes an impulse buy for chips and thankfully I was in the 'good' aisle at Fred Meyer.

Voilá!---Terra® chips...specifically the sweet potato chips for me but they all look good!

Do you make your own? I've tried a couple recipes but most of them are the "better eaten immediately" kind & I'm the only one who eats them. I want to keep them on hand for smaller portions at a time so I'm glad to find the above chips.

If you want to try for yourself, try this recipe for Sweet Potato Chips {in the microwave!} from rachel cooks and let me know how it worked. Happy Munching!

{Muster Monday} Lentil Salad

I've been following a metabolic detoxification menu plan by Metagenics™ for the past month upon the suggestion of my Naturopathic doctor. In the plan, recipes for suggested menu items were made available...some were yummy! I've done quite well on the plan, which includes their UltraClear RENEW™ powder formula, and I will continue to refer back to it after completion. Especially for some of the recipes like the following!

Instead of cooking the lentils, I substituted Melissa's steamed lentils that I found at Costco and made quickness of my time. I also left out the bell peppers, only because they seemed to be giving me some trouble lately. :)

Lentil Salad

3-4 servings

2 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed

3 ½ cups water

2-3 TB red wine or balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp fine sea salt

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ cup black olives, chopped

½ cup carrots, shredded

2 med tomatoes, cut into ½-inch pieces, or 1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 med red bell pepper, seeded and cut into ½-inch pieces

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1 cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped

Simmer lentils, covered in water, until tender—30 to 45 minutes. Drain and cool. Combine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, basil, salt, and pepper in a jar; mix well. Combine remaining ingredients with lentils and toss with the dressing. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

 

{Muster Mondays} Dairy Free

Well, this is good timing for my New Blogging adventure--I must go "dairy-free" as well as avoid wheat, gluten, and eggs.
Hmm....sounds very similar to Vegan. But I will add a splash of meat so don't get too excited there ;).

My dilemma will be those "grab something quick" or "I don't feel like cooking" modes. You know, t-i-m-e. And I've had 40 years to hone my OtHeR way of thinking, ack ack.

So I'm heading it off at the pass! (yeah, we'll see)
I've made a semi-menu list for Monday - Wednesday (work outside-of-home) days.

Breakfast Smoothies sound like a doable part of the plan - like this one I found on my Whole Foods app.

Get Over It Green Protein Shake

2 cups organic chopped fresh greens such as spinach or kale, thick stems removed
1 mango, peeled and cubed
1 cup original or unsweetened ricemilk
1 banana
3 tablespoons WF Organic Vanilla Soy Protein Powder

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

I'll use this as a guide for my mornings. Had my first one this morning, SPINACH and all...it was delicious!

Well that's it for now....If you have a fave dairy-free "smoothie" that you want to share with me, please do! (in the comment section you know :) ).

[food]: raspberries

Every summer we get fresh raspberries (among others) from the neighbors who operate a berry stand. As it is very nice to have connections sometimes, it has also become a creative challenge.

I will admit--I waste more berries than eat. And I have a problem. :)

I think I still have gallon bags of frozen berries from two+ years ago. That's not right! So this year I am looking for ideas--easy ideas--to use this fresh flat of berries before they go bad.

So far...I have made a batch of muffins, a small batch of scones, and added them to a Betty Crocker lemon cake mix. That didn't put much of a dent in it! I will also take some to work and SHARE! I'm loving that idea!

Anyone else want to lend an idea hand? Please feel free! Thanks for the comments.