Pink Slime??? What is this, Nickelodean!

Maybe instead of buying a ton of unnecessary products, buy less or you could be eating the pink monster.


70% of Beef in Supermarkets Contain Pink Slime

Sarah's A Fan!

I discovered this new blog while on Pinterest (of course) and I love it!

Marcus Samuelsson - I have seen him on shows such as Anthony Bourdain. He is a famous chef in New York City. I love that he has a blog. He post recipes, fun interesting facts about food and nutrition.

Very Real Danger of Genetically Modified Foods

It can be a battle in our house on how much money we spend on food. However, I look at food like my health insurance. How we take care of our bodies and what we put in them is very important. I am not a person who is a band aid girl. I like to take care before something goes wrong. There ARE ways to spend less and eat more whole foods. It is more expensive then your crappy processed foods but those of us who have the time to make whole foods or the extra money needs to be the change we want to see in our grocery stores. The system is set up on supply and demand. The more we demand good food the cheaper it will get!

Quote from Food Inc. - People have got to start demanding good wholesome food – we’re good honest people. We’ll deliver that!


Here is a link to an article in The Atlantic;

The Very Real Danger of Genetically Modified Foods

Power Snack

Part of my 30-day challenge is getting my eating habits back in order! Here are a few changes I have implemented to continue on in life and eat in moderation.

• No fried foods
• No processed meats
• Limiting red meat
• Limiting desserts

With this said I think snacking is VERY important in our everyday lives. However, what is more important is what we snack on!

One of my favorite "Power Snacks" is a Banana Wrap Treat! I haven't had a microwave for years but I have one at work and I am bringing this protein/vitamin packed goodness back into my life!

Recipe:

1 over ripe banana
3 Tbsp (or more) of fresh ground peanut butter. I grind mine at Whole Foods.
1 to 2 Tbsp of honey. I use Copoco's Honey made right here in Fort Collins! You can use Agave too!
1 Whole Wheat Tortilla Wrap

You smear on the peanut butter, smooch in the banana and drizzle with love the honey. Wrap it tightly and nook for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes in the micro! Careful the oozy goodness of honey will fall all over! This is such a great snack and pretty healthy!

Peace and Love! Happy Snacking!

Butternut and Pumpkin Soup

This is one of my favorite fall/winter soups! It is just so velvety and yummy!

1 butternut squash
1 pumpkin - sugar pumpkin preferred
Vegetable stock
Maple Syrup
1 cup of milk
Cayenne
Grated ginger- god I am in love with fresh grated ginger!
Roasted garlic - I usually roast for about an hour with the pumpkin and butternut squash!
Salt and pepper
Greek yogurt - if to spicy to cool it down

Here is a quick and easy way to make this yummy soup for an evening dinner. I turn the oven to 450 degrees. Slice the squash and pumpkin in half taking out the seeds. Then place in oven with olive oil and roast for about an hour. I put aluminum foil on the cookie sheet and over the top of the squash and pumpkin.

Once soft pull out of oven and scoop out all the goodness. Roasting it makes the pumpkin skin easier to peel. Place in a pot and add all the other ingredients to liking and blend with an immersion blender. Feel free to play with the flavors. Cook til warm and serve!

Peace and Love,

Wheat Berries!!!

Oh I have seriously found a new love...wheat berries! They are fantastic!  There is so much that you can make with them or add them too.  Especially for someone like me who is always looking for ways to add more fiber to my diet.

There is so many benefits to our health from eating wheat berries. Of course, wheat often gets a bit of a bad rap in the U.S. This is, no doubt, partly due to the fact that Americans need to lose weight more than they need to gain weight. But there are other factors at play as well. “The fact that people have greatly overeaten refined and rancid wheat products that have been genetically altered for smut resistance continuously since 1926, partly explains the many common allergies to this vital food.” (Zachary Shahan). 

Here are the top three reasons to eat wheat berries!

1. They are an excellent source of dietary fiber.
2. Lots of protein
3. Essential vitamins, such as; potassium, calcium, iron and vitamin E to name a few.

Here is a site that can provide you more health benefit information about wheat berries.

I found this fantastic recipe (click here) and enjoy! 

It is NOT Ghetto!

I have been a wine drinker and connoisseur pretty much since I graduated from college. I put the Rolling Rock down and moved on. Wine is such a beautiful process linked to our earth that is so much more than one sip.

Making wine you need to really pay attention to where you are planting your vines; what is the weather and climate like in that area. Vines love the struggle, the bigger the struggle...the better the wine.  It is important for the grapes to be harvested in peak condition for their particular variety. Several factors will be considered including sugar levels, color and taste.  Then there is the crush, fermentation, racking and then bottling and aging.  Wine is pretty much produced now all over the world in various levels and varieties.

In the early 2000's the largest producers of wine in the world were, Italy, France, Spain, US and Argentina. However, wine making is popping up all over in unexpected places. I read this great article a while back in Wine Enthusiast about undiscovered wine regions. I have attached the link for you to review. Wine doesn't have to be expensive, contrary to some people's opinion. I mean don't get me wrong I love a Del Dotto full body Cabernet, but I am not independently wealthy and can't afford to drink that way all the time. Recently Jeremy and I discovered...boxed wine!

I know, I know what you are going to say! BOXED WINE...how ghetto! On the contrary! There is some really good boxed wine out there and there is pretty crappy boxed wine, so do your research! I would not trust the cashier because before you know it you will be coming home with a box of Fish Eye wine...no bueno! Here are some of our top pics that I have enjoyed and I hope you do too!

Reds:

• Bodegas Adria Val Montium Mencia
• CalNaturale Cabernet Sauvignon 
• Bota Box Malbec
• Big House Red 
• Maipe Malbec
• Domaine Grand Veneur Cotes du Rhone

I don't drink white so unfortunately I can't help you there, but check some out. Make sure you do your research! What is great is when you want just a tiny glass in the evening you can just turn and close it back up. There is no pumping or wine wasted. There is a GREAT website where you can order boxed wine to try and it is quite spectacular, it is called newschoolwines.com! Check it out and start the box wine movement.


Peace and Love...and Happy Drinking!

Yes...you can change a Man! Sarah's A Fan!

My husband has been a Mayo lover I think since he came out of the womb!  He will dip his broccoli in it, smear so much on his sandwich that it will over flow off the sides and can go through a jar pretty quickly.  I recently have had our family switch to Vegenaise because of the health benefits of the product...and it seriously taste so similar you barely know the difference!  If you don't think your family will ever ditch the mayo, the cover the label up and start supplementing it in place of mayo and see if they notice.  What is Vegenaise you ask? Just check read all about Vegenaise!  Click on the link and read all about it!

Pesto! Pesto! Pesto!

Jeremy and I have never been fans of pesto.  Even when we traveled around Italy, we never ate it the entire time.  We just didn't like pesto - until recently, with a meal that we had with our neighbor Matt.  We literally call it the most legendary lunch of all time!  First, let me describe the lunch.  We had homemade pumpkin ravioli that Jeremy made with a brown butter sage and manchego pesto (pesto made by my neighbor Matt) and left over Flank Steak marinated overnight in a homemade chimchurri sauce.  Now...take a moment to picture the deliciousness. That was the beginning of a new love affair with pesto.

The key for me with pesto is using Manchego instead of Parmesean. For those non cheese enthusiasts, Manchego is a Spanish cheese from the La Mancha region of Spain from the milk of sheep. I prefer to use the 6 month aged cheese.  Here is neighbor Matt's Pesto recipe:

Everything (per Matt) should be equal parts:

• Fresh basil
• Pine Nuts or to save a little bit of money...walnuts
• Manchego
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic

Matt told us to not use oil when you blend everything, and instead add it when you pull it out of the freezer. I freeze in separate parts.

Tonight, Jeremy and I snacked on the yummiest treat!  I toasted bread with a little olive oil, spread pesto and topped with a tomato. I also sauted up some sliced Japanese eggplant to add to the bread too.  Here is a picture to get your mouth watering!

This is made with everything grown in our garden, locally made (the bread) or homemade!!!  Picture perfect of summer plenty!

Stoplight Pasta

Sometimes only you can really love your own food. I am not sure you will find this pasta with the enthusiasm Jeremy and I found it the other night, but we we're really excited and loved every bite!

STOPLIGHT PASTA

• 1/2 a bag of whole wheat spaghetti - cooked aldente
• 3 spoon fulls of your favorite pesto (I used my mother-in-laws yummy recipe)
• Chopped roasted beets (as many as your heart desires) + read below for roasting beets information
• Few pinches of salt
• Pinch of roasted red peppers (or as much as you desire)
• Roasted Beets: Wrap beets in aluminum foil. I do one big beet per wrap and will combine a few smaller beets. Roast at 450 degrees for at least an hour or more! When the are done peel the skin off and chop up. Don't be afraid to snack on a few.

Mix all together! Now here is the topper...FRY AN EGG over easy and place on top (Jeremy needs two eggs). I am telling you it is seriously delicious!  However, you must like all ingredients to enjoy the wonderfulness. I really wish I could have posted a picture but there is something to be said for having a good camera or hiring a professional to take pictures of food. If you don't, sometimes the lightening doesn't make it look super appetizing.

I hope you all try this and enjoy!!!

Nelsetti's Famous House Pizza!

Jeremy and I have become quite novices on the homemade pizza making front!  For my bridal shower I received a Pampered Chef pizza stone and who would of known what wonderful things it would have brought us!!!  We have become pizza making machines, having it about once a week. I have started calling it "Colorado Goulash", because you can simply put anything and everything on it.  Whatever leftovers we have in our fridge, we throw it on a pizza. First, it is simply something Jeremy and I truly enjoy doing together! It has become very bonding and an event I look forward too!

Jeremy is the king of the crust! I don't know what he does but it is thin, crisp and simply wonderful!  He has it nailed down! Now we just need to figure out a yummy wheat crust.  I am the master of our secret sauces we put on all our pizzas and I have to admit that I am pretty good. I am pretty secretive when it comes to our pizza recipes, however I don't mind sharing with you our house pizza. You will probably see a lot of reference to our wonderful pizza's throughout the blog so I wanted to give you a little background.

Nelsetti's House Pizza

• 1/2 lb of Hazel Dell Mushrooms (I really like the Shitakes and Cinnamon tops) sauteed - I would recommend some local mushrooms but any will do.
• 1 whole sweet onion (Vidalia or Walla Walla) caramelized
• I use my secret red sauce for the base
• 1 cup of Mozzarella
• 1/4 cup of Fresh Parmesan grated

Bake at 500 degrees on your pizza stone! MAKE SURE TO PUT YOUR STONE IN THE OVEN AND THEN PREHEAT AT 500 degrees.

I think pizza night is so much fun at any age!!!! We have picnics in our backyard, movie nights or friends and family over!






 

The Beginning...

Welcome to our lives! I hope this blog brings you laughter, knowledge, and enjoyment as you follow my and my family's everyday journey. I had a blog awhile back that was just focused on food, however I realized I had so much more to talk about and needed to expand my content. Our family keeps growing and learning and I realized that some people out there might be interested in this journey.

My husband and I recently became chicken owners! We are the proud parents of 6 adopted Rhode Island Reds! I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to get them! I do not live on a farm or out of city limits. I live right here in suburban Fort Collins. About a year ago Fort Collins passed an ordinance that allowed everyday people like myself, living in suburbia, to have backyard chickens. I honestly think I could do a daily blog on chickens alone they are just so much fun and interesting. You will hear a lot of stories and information about the chickens as we move along this journey.

Aside from the chickens I love to eat, cook and garden. I believe in whole foods as much as possible. My goal for my family in my last blog was to make us as limited as possible on processed food and we were successful. I would say only 20 to 30% of our food is processed. Don't get me wrong though, I LOVE going out to eat and I can wait to share with you some fun and interesting places in and around Colorado. The main way to eat healthy (and cheap) is to learn how to grow your own stuff. Whether you live in an apartment or house, there are ways that you can eat healthy year round and I hope to share those with you.

I am by no means a vegetarian, vegan or anything such! What I am is a locavore and a foodie! What is a locavore you ask? "Someone who seeks out locally grown and produced foods", New Oxford American Dictionary. I try my hardest to eat grass fed beef, chicken from places where I know the bird has lived a happy life, like Jodar Farms (http://www.jodarfarms.com/pages/farm), black raspberry jam from my mother-in-laws wild bushes, honey from Copocos Honey (http://www.copocoshoney.com/), veggies from my garden and yummy breads (http://www.facebook.com/goodseedbakery) and so on and so on. I believe what grows together goes together, however I am not perfect and you will see I do use food weekly from the grocery store, packaged, etc...because let's face it...I live in Colorado. Our growing season is short and I seriously love avocados!

Another big part of this blog is Jeremy's and my journey to get our son Cy. We are adopting from South Korea and couldn't be happier!! I hope you join me in the journey to bring Cy home and and once he is home. Adoption can be a very long and arduous rode with an outcome so wonderful it changes your life forever. There are so many products, information, books and just regular baby information I can't wait to share with you. I am sure this blog is more for me, but I hope you enjoy!

Peace and Love,
Sarah