Friday, September 25, 2009

Healthy recipes for you and your baby (or toddler)!!


For my birthday my mom gave me the greatest gift. A cook book full of recipes for your growing baby!! the Petite Appetit Cookbook: easy organic recipes to nurture your baby and toddler by Lisa Barnes. I was thrilled! Not only does it give delicious new meals to make, but every recipe is healthy. I've tried two different recipes so far and both were winners. The first was Salmon with Rice and the second was an Egg-cellent Pizza recipe. Cali absolutely LOVED the pizza! The salmon recipe wasn't her favorite, but I loved it. Oh yeah...did I mention you can enjoy all these recipes as well?! Ok, I guess I should put a disclaimer out there...if your not big on healthy eating you might not enjoy these meals as much. I didn't take a picture of the salmon and rice, but there is one for the pizza. Anyway, here are the recipes for the two meals I listed above:

Salmon and Rice:


Makes 2 servings

1 3/4 cups organic vegetable broth
1 (8oz) wild salmon fillet, skinned
3/4 c uncooked short-grain organic brown rice
1 large shallot, chopped (about 2 T)
1 T unsalted butter
2 T chopped fresh parsley
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 c water

In a large saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Add salmon to broth, cover, and poach in simmering liquid for about minutes, or until cooked throughout. Transfer salmon with a slotted spoon to a plate and cover with foil. Return broth to a boil and stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer over medium heat until rice is cooked and tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Break salmon into pieces and add to rive mixture. Cook over medium heat until salmon is heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Nutrition facts:
Serving size: 4 oz fish plus rice (386g)

calories: 560
Calories from fat: 150
total fat: 16g
saturated fat: 6g
sodium: 660mg
total carbs: 64g
dietary fiber: 4g
sugars: 5g
protein: 38g


Egg-cellent Pizza:


Don't be turned away by the vibrant green color!! Whenever you blend or process spinach it always turns into this vibrant green.


Makes1 (12-14 inch) pizza; 6 servings

1 recipe Presto Pizza Dough (recipe below)
1 recipe Spinach Pesto sauce (recipe below)
4 cage-free, organic eggs
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425. Place dough on an oiled baking sheet or pizza pan and press fingers to spread into desired shape. Partially bake dough for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top with pesto sauce. Crack eggs onto pizza and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 10 minutes, or until eggs are cooked and dough is golden and crisp to desired done-ness.

Presto Pizza Dough:

1 package (1T) yeast
1/2 c plus 2 T warm water
3/4 c organic whole wheat flour
3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 c olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water; let stand until foamy. Add remaining ingredients to yeast and water. Mix together and knead by hand until dough is smooth, about 3 minutes. Make dough into a ball, return to bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.


St. Pat's Spinach Pesto (a twist on the typical basil pesto):

Makes about 1 cup

3 cups packed, washed, and stemmed organic spinach leaves
1 med. garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/3 c virgin olive oil
1/3 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Calories: 100

Place spinach, garlic, salt, and pepper in a food processor (I used my Blentec) fitted with a steel blade. Process until chopped and combined. With machine running, add oil in a stream and process until smooth, about 45 seconds. Add cheese and process just until blended.

Variation
Green Eggs and Ham Pizza (I did this): add Canadian bacon or prosciutto, an italian ham, to this pizza.

Nutrition facts:
Serving size: 1/6 of pizza (134g)

calories: 350
calories from fat: 180
total fat: 20g
saturated fat: 5g
cholesterol: 150mg
sodium: 550mg
total carbs: 29g
dietary fiber: 5g
sugars: 0g
protein: 15g

Friday, September 18, 2009

Cali's Birthday Bash!


Yes, our little girl is one and we can hardly believe how fast the time has gone. Of course we had to spoil her with a one year old birthday bash. We had such a fun time! Thanks to all of you who took the time to come out and celebrate with us. And a big thanks to my girlfriend Rachel who made Cali the cutest birthday outfit ever!! What a great way to cap off her first year of life. 








Cake Time!




I left Casey to watch her and when I came back about 1/4 of the cake was gone!  Needless to say she LOVED the cake!!



Cali and one of her favorite uncles (although you wouldn't be able to tell from this face)!



Monday, September 7, 2009

The Rehearsal Dinner


A little over a week ago, my little sister Sydney got married!!! We couldn't be happier for the two of them. My parents hosted a rehearsal dinner for family and friends the night before the wedding and of course it was done in good old Texas fashion. A welcome basket with appropriate Texas treats, DELICIOUS bar-b-q (our favorite from Valley Ranch!!), Texas sheet cake and Texas shaped sugar cookies for dessert, and various center pieces for the tables which included cowboy boots, cowboy hats, spurs, you name it!





My mom's side of the family is super close, so of course EVERYONE shows up for big events as this. We loved seeing the family! I only wished Cali was a walker so she could've kept up with her cute cousins Brandon, Leah, and Ashlyn. The entire night was a complete party and we loved every minute of it!