{Muster Monday} The Dining Table

I grew up with 4 other siblings in the house and in the same town/area as both sets of grandparents. We sat at the table to eat...not always all of us, or not always at the same time....but the table was to sit and eat. It just was. It wasn't a requirement for every meal....actually, it was preferred we didn't when we had good ole watermelon :). Outside was best for that! Then you could have a contest to see who could spit seeds farther. lol And then you laughed so hard when someone messed up and the seed just trickled down their chin. Baaahaa.

Some good memories of mine to share with you:

• Weekly supper meals when I was young with bountiful veggie options from my Dad's garden. I ate the crap outta those brussell sprouts!
• My Mom's best darn breakfast...biscuits (almost always a staple people), gravy & bacon & eggs...oh man! This was mainly on the weekends, as cereal was the choice for school days :).
• Sunday dinners at Grandmother's house. Then watching old cartoon movies afterwards like Felix the Cat. Fun!
• Family gatherings at Mamaw's...ok stop, listen...my FAVorites from that lady was her Homemade Hot Rolls #1, her Bread Pudding, Banana Pudding...well, all her desserts, she rocked in that department!

I digress. The dining table...I've realized...after ALL those years and time of sitting at one to eat and the good memories associated with it...I don't use mine. At all. Seriously. I don't remember the last time (even if it is just me who does) that I've sat there to eat. It's wasted space in my house it seems. Sitting there cleaned off, even has a lovely centerpiece, not used, not piled high with other stuff. Sad.

I wonder why? I might try it for a week. Might develop the habit again...I think it's a good, positive habit I could live with hehe. :)

Do you use your table to eat?

{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 :) ).

[Back to Blogging]

Hi there! I'm gonna try this blogging again.  :)

I've had some time to think about it...ok, LOTS of time obviously since my last post was last summer. But I want to share things with you...

I chose the following guidelines based on my general activities...maybe it will be easier, hm.

So this is what I'm proposing for myself:

{Muster Mondays} - this is where I may share a recipe, a meal plan, a food comment...OR, an organizational action/thought, or a preparedness action. Whatever it has taken me to "muster" for the week.

{WASP Wednesdays} - What?! you may ask...well, these posts will be rAnDoM. Maybe you'll see crafting..maybe about gardening...maybe about politics (NO..just kidding bout that)...Humor will probably fall on this post day. :)

{Friendship Fridays} - these posts are not about friends, but about relationships. The F's just worked good together...:). You might see thoughts on my people relationships or recommendation of a "link" in my life. Literally, probably a recommendation through a link. A connection.

SO, with that said, let's set a deadline to start...maybe like MONDAY, MARCH 19. Fingers crossed! I can do it! eek.