Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Best of 2011

The Best (& Hardest) of 2011
Well, the most viewed and a couple of my favorites.

I struggled with whether I should include the sadness in this post, but it is a large part of why I disappeared from the blogosphere for so long, so I really feel I need to include it.

2011 was the hardest year for me in a very long time.  In addition to other things, I lost my very best friend to cancer on September 18, 2011.  She had fought with an unbelievable strength, long and hard for five years and left behind three young boys and a husband who loved her dearly.  I'm glad that she's no longer in pain, but it was really a lot harder than I expected it to be when she passed.  Her husband and I became good friends, though, and we still talk about her when we're reminded of things she'd do or say.  I never realized just how involved we were in each other's lives until she wasn't here anymore.

That whole thing really threw me for a loop and I struggled to keep my house in order.  I definitely wasn't up to posting recipes.  It actually helped me today to go back and see what posts people enjoyed... it reminded me that there was a lot of happy times last year, and lots of yummy food. Seriously, my mouth was watering while I looked through pictures.

I had a lot of fun going through the posts from the happy times, my favorites are mostly when my husband is on video showing his reaction to the food I made.  That, and our Anniversary Post.  I love my hubby so much:)

2011 Wrapped up as having been both the worst, and the best year.  We ended on a good upswing and started on our new Puppeteering Journey.  So I guess whatever the case may be, no matter how down things are, in this rollercoaster of life, there is always another peak coming eventually!

My Personal Most Versatile and Most Used Recipe EVER

Most Viewed Post

Top Fitness Food Post


Top Dessert/Treat Recipes


Top Yummy Dinners

Clean Eating #150 Cream of Potato Broccoli Soup

I've actually been getting some requests for more clean eating posts, and the whole 365 Days of Clean Eating didn't specify that I'd do them all in one year, now did it?  (It actually might have, but for now, we're going to pretend it didn't)

My cooking brain is completely blank.  Other than the not so clean eating cream of potato soup I made last night when I inadvertently put way too much liquid in my "Dr. Seuss Twice Baked Potatoes" when I purposely set out to do something new and unusual!  I love experimenting and making yummy food for my family!

I don't know whether to call this soup or mashed potatoes, but since I already posted about mashed potatoes, I'm going to call this soup.


Hmmm... Honestly, it was a LOT more "soup" last night!!!  Apparently in the night, little elves came and drank up all the liquid the potatoes absorbed all of the excess liquid.  Hmmm... I might have to add MORE liquid and make it look all soupy again.  You know what, on second thought, I'm too lazy, so you can just squint and pretend it looks more soupy:)

Ingredients
5 pounds of potatoes, chopped and boiled until they're soft
2 bags of frozen broccoli
1 12 oz bag of shredded cheese
3 cups of frozen spinach
1 large onion
1 carton of vegetable broth
Skim milk, if desired for more 'soupy-ness'
**To make this more 'clean', replace about 1/2 of the potatoes with Cauliflower &/ puree some cookied white beans in with the potatoes.
Salt/garlic salt & Pepper to taste

Add frozen veggies to the boiling potatoes when they're almost done.
Drain the whole lot
Add too much vegetable broth, because you need to ruin your plans for twice baked potatoes that you didn't want to wait for anyway.
Throw in some cheese to cover your mistake.
Puree half of the veggies until smooth
put the whole thing back on the stove and tell your family "Look!  We're having Cream of Potato Broccoli Soup!  I learned how to make creamy soup today!"

Onward my readers...
Anyway, I got a bulk food order yesterday.  Nine pounds EACH of almond butter, peanut butter and Sesame Tahini as well as a huge bag of whole wheat rotini pasta, a gallon of raw agave nectar and a large bag of slivered almonds.  I'm going to try some new recipes for granola and protein bars!

Any ideas?  I'm definitely going to mix some of the nut butters and tahini together to make apple dip again, and as a sandwich spread... what are your favorite recipes that include nut butter or Tahini?  And look at these awesomely cute containers that I can reuse when the stuff is gone!




Give me your suggestions for future recipes and what you'd like to see more of!  (If you say more brownies and cookies and unhealthy food, I will know that its really you, Kainan, my teenaged son... I can TELL!)

Saturday, January 21, 2012

New Blog!

Hey guys!
I'm starting a new project this year. I plan on still doing some clean eating posts over here on a weekly basis, but at the moment I'm starting a new children's series called "Bean's Monkey Business" with a puppet I made. Right now the posts are about the behind the scenes stuff, but soon they will be interactive posts with actual webisodes! We premier on January 30th!