February 6th, 2014
I am a member of the Collective Bias®Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser.
A new week started and I was getting a feel for my menu plan and in those plans came an idea for a Jungle Book-inspired salad. Why a #JungleFresh salad you might ask? Well, we’re happy to announce that the Blu-Ray / Combo Pack Diamond Edition of Disney’s The Jungle Book is released on February 11th, 2014! We have been trying to get our young kids to eat more veggies but to no avail, since they always see behind my healthy schemes.
When I think of winter I do not generally think about eating a lot of raw foods, like salads and such, but when a clean start is decided clean foods need to be reintroduced especially in the winter. Since we returned from Disney World a few weeks ago, it has been hard getting back into my regular schedule including grocery shopping. My husband called me one evening from the grocery store offering to do the shopping so that was nice, but I have finally have gotten back to the groove.
As I entered Walmart, I was amazed to see a huge produce area to my right. I had decided to leave my youngest daughter at home and brought my toddler with me with a list in hand. I had a LIST in my hand which is always a miracle. I usually leave it home. Luckily, everything I needed for my salad was in the produce section so I quickly picked all my items. I happened to be in a store when my toddler got hungry so I was happy to pick one of the snack packs available in the produce section. How convenient, eh?
When I planned a jungle-inspired salad I thought of tropical fruits but I was wary of the availability of tropical fruits in the winter. Well, there was nothing to fear because all of the fruits were available for me! I was amazed, happy, and shocked all at once! I actually spent a quality amount of time in the produce section because I was genuinely amazed at the selection.
Arriving home, I got all fruits and veggies together hoping to put it all together for my family’s lunch the next day. I was going to prepare grilled chicken but our power went out and is currently STILL out. As we salvaged our food from the fridge and freezer, the produce kept calling us and boy, did we have a great tropical lunch despite being in a cold home.
I chopped up fresh mango, Clementine oranges, avocado, star fruit and grated fresh carrots. I was praying that the girls would eat their lunch since it was not their normal warm meal or sandwich. I made a fresh vinaigrette with little oil and tossed the salad and served it to the little gang. My toddler was the first to question the salad but then I explained how we were eating a NEW kind of salad with lots of yummy fruit that a bear would eat in a jungle. My toddler’s eyes lit up.
Even though we have not introduced many Disney films yet, because our toddler does not sit for them at home, we HAVE listened to The Jungle Book while playing and they enjoyed listening to it! So how did we all like these salads? Look at my bundled kids eating their salads! They ate the fruit and the salad really well and I was happy because they were hardly complaining. Here is how I made the recipe:
A Light and Tropical Jungle Book Salad – #JungleFresh
by Noelle Kelly
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients (serves 4)
Salad
- 1-5-ounce bag mixed greens
- 1 mango, peeled, pitted and chopped (save the pit)
- 1/2 cup canned pineapple, chopped
- 1/4 cup shredded and sweetened coconut
- 1 large avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped
- 1/2 cup canned mandarin slices, reserving juice
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 1 star fruit, sliced in 1/2-inch slices
- 1/2 cup Almond Accents, sweet roasted almonds with dried pomegranate arils
Dressing
- 1/4 cup Clementine orange juice
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice, reserved from can
- 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
Salad
In a big bowl, add the lettuce. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the mango skin completely. Using a knife, slice the mango flesh on four sides against the mango pit. Chop the mango and add to the salad.
Chop the rest of the listed fruits and veggies and add to the salad bowl except for the star fruit. Use the slices to decorate the plate. Make sure to reserve the pineapple juice for dressing.
Dressing
Place Clementine orange and pineapple juices in a small bowl. Squeeze the mango pit with your hand to release the remaining of the mango pulp. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder to the juices as well as the oil. Shake well. Pour over the salad and toss well. Serve with rice crackers.
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January 27th, 2014
I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meets SM program, May Media Group LLC, but all opinions are my own.
Everyone knows that when the New Year rolls around we immediately want a new you. New Year’s resolutions are started and usually abandoned quickly or new diets are started and quickly are forgotten. In year’s past I would fit that pattern but then I just came to terms that I was not going to start something that I was doomed to fail eventually.
Since having 2 kids, it has been super easy to make excuses for the way I handled my life. Everything else came first and I came last. In the last month I started asking God to give me strength to have discipline because I KNEW for sure I had not been able to do anything in the last year and a half. When it comes to food, I just simply decide that portion control does not exist, but at the end I come to realize that “man does not live by bread alone but on the every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)
You know what knocked some sense? After I realized I have neglected myself in 3 years with going to the dentist, doctor and everything else, I knew I needed to get my diet under control. There is one thing being a food blogger and eating food and there is another just simply controlling the amount and the type of food I fed myself. I was 30 pounds lighter and on the way to a healthy weight after having my first daughter then when I found out I was pregnant with my second I said I would be able to get back on the bandwagon, because after all, a pregnant woman should not be denied anything. It is just plain stupid. Cravings are just what they are, cravings. Moderation did not exist and I simply can not live without applying this to my life.
How does this all apply to my juice cleanse? Well, I got the opportunity to review a 3-day cleanse with Skinny Limits and I simply knew it was meant to be and I had to do it. I knew I would be very ready for a cleanse especially after coming from our Disney trip. I actually wanted nothing with food after we came back and in a sense that is probably why I have not posted much lately. I have been evaluating my eating habits and everything else. I don’t have to be vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free or anything else to realize that the trouble is with the amount of food that I eat versus the type of food I eat.
After I knew I was going to go through this cleanse then I planned to start my journey with Weight Watchers as I had been doing the first time around. My journey after a cleanse would focus on clean eating. No processed foods and no excuses. Thanks to Skinny Limits for such a wonderful program and juice selection.
Here is a little about the company. I am excited that Skinny Limits is based in Austin, Texas because I’m originally from Houston. Even thought I am practically new in the East Coast, I can’t help being excited about a Texas-based business.
Skinny Limits was founded in Austin, Texas by Cary and Joanie Frieden,
two avid juicers who wanted to spread their passion for raw foods. After
personally experiencing the health benefits of a raw food diet and daily
juicing, the Friendens were convinced that it was the healthiest option for
families everywhere. They created Skinny Limits to share their nutritious
cleanses and raw food options with the world. Skinny Limits makes it
possible to find a completely natural and raw cleanse.
Here are a few more facts:
• The standard 3-day juice cleanse kit includes 18 bottles of juices total,
in varying flavors and fruit/vegetable combinations. Each day you’ll
drink six 16oz bottles of juice. The ingredients in each type of juice are
listed below:
• Pure and Simple (Green Juice): Kale, spinach, parsley, cucumber,
apple, and lemon.
• Balance (Green Ginger): Kale, spinach, parsley, cucumber, apple,
lemon, and ginger.
• Green Firefly: Kale, spinach, parsley, celery, cucumber, apple,
lemon, and pineapple.
• Scorpion Lemonade: Lemons, agave nectar, cayenne, and
filtered water.
• Crescent Moon: Raw cashews, vanilla bean, cinnamon, agave
nectar, coconut oil, himalayan sea salt, and filtered water.
• Skinny Limits juices are completely natural and raw, made without
pasteurization or processing. Plus they are vegan and gluten-free!
• All Skinny Limits juices are made fresh to order and delivered
immediately after being produced. All juices must be refrigerated
immediately upon arrival.
• The retail price of a 3-day Skinny Limits juice cleanse (18, 16oz
bottles) is $147.
I think the wonderful part about Skinny Limits is that it is affordable and it is READY for you to drink! It arrives quickly to your doorstep and ready for you to place in your fridge. The drinking starts the next day since all the juices are fresh. I love juicing, but with 2 kids and juicing for 3 days and cleaning a juicer, I simply was not inspired.
Even though some of you might be intimidated to start or try something like this there ARE options to try one day cleanses to get a feel starting at just $49! There are several juice packages the company offers like a variety pack, a standard pack, a tropical pack or a custom pack.
I chose the Tropical pack which included these:
1 Pure and Simple (Green Juice)1 Balance (Green Ginger)2 Green Firefly (Kale Pineapple)1 Triangle (Carrot Juice)1 Crescent Moon (Cashew Nut Milk)
My favorite was the Kale Pineapple and the finisher nut milk. It was almost like drinking horchata. 🙂 The plus with juicing was the experience I had with my toddler because by the second day the kids were playing with the empty bottles and my toddler was asking to try all the juices and giving her opinion on each. She thought the carrot juice blend was “too sour,” but then she kept on drinking. She liked the Kale Pineapple blend as well. What a plus to see my little one drink and an inspiration to keep eating clean even more.
I also love that I could travel with these bottles and continue with my fast. On day 3 of my fast I attended The Philadelphia Inquirer Travel Show which was a bit hard with all the food samples and demos but it continued to teach me discipline so I survived my test. If you are a mom, doing the fast will be a little challenging because there will be moments your body will feel tired. I read my signs and took a nap with my kids. I also decided to do the fast over a weekend so I could start a new week on eating clean.
Thanks to Moms Meet for being able to make my new kick start to health possible and for Skinny Limits for being an awesome company inspiring health.
As a Moms Meet blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media
Group LLC or the manufacturer of the product.
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January 21st, 2014
We have have established a tradition every Sunday night where we have fresh pizza. You would think we would have it any other night but somehow it has worked this way and it has stuck. Now, don’t get me wrong, sometimes we get off our schedule and have pizza on a Friday or Saturday but then we get back on track. 🙂
As get off and on my meal planning track, pizza tends to make it on the permanent menu. We recently visited a pizza joint in Havre de Grace that sells their own fresh dough for $2.00! For a price like that, why not buy it? My kiddos are still small and spending too much time in the kitchen can sometimes be challenging. I rather have dough ready or frozen so I can plan ahead.
What dough do I like using? We’ve tried Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Wegmans, Rocco’s, and a few others but the best prepared dough we have liked is Wegmans’ pizza dough. It cooks so evenly and in fact one dough ball makes TWO 8 or 10-inch pizzas. Ryan likes thick crust and I usually prefer thin to hand-tossed so having two crusts makes both parties happy with leftovers.
Even though we have a standard recipe for toppings I usually like making a specialty pizza ever so often. While I lived in Houston we frequented a pizza joint called Star Pizza. They offered white flour crust and whole flour pizza crust. The crust was not to dense and was flavorful. The ingredients used on the pizza were fresh and delicious and even their specialty pizzas were unique. One certain pizza I would order or get someone to agree to order would be the Salsa Verde Pizza which would consist of spicy tomatillo sauce topped with roasted poblano peppers, pan-fried garlic and feta cheese. Does this not sound delicious? While I have not had it in years, I decided to try my hand at recreating this unique pizza.
Since I had the prepared crust ready for me to use, it was easier working with preparing the rest of the ingredients for the toppings. I oven-roasted the poblanos and garlic and bought our favorite roasted tomatillo salsa from Wegmans. I crumbled some fresh feta and shredded some low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella for the finishing touches. I also grilled one chicken breast to try one pizza out with chicken and one as vegetarian.
All in all the finished product came out really well. We ended up liking the pizza with chicken just because it gave the pizza a different depth of flavor. Don’t get me wrong. BOTH pizzas were amazing but we just preferred one over the other.
Why not make pizzas for your guests on Super Bowl? Try this one for a change.
Salsa Verde Pizza with Roasted Poblanos Peppers and Garlic
by Noelle Kelly
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 poblanos peppers
- 1 garlic bulb
- 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled (divided)
- 1 chicken breast, grilled and sliced
- 2 cups low moisture, part-skim mozzarella, shredded – divided
- 1 cup roasted tomatillo salsa, divided
- 1 recipe for pizza dough
Instructions
Roasting Poblanos and Garlic
Preheat oven to 450. Line a small cookie sheet with foil. Place 2-3 large poblano peppers on the baking sheet. Wrap garlic bulb in parchment paper then in foil. Before wrapping, drizzle garlic bulb with olive oil.
Cook peppers for 15 mins, rotating after 7 minutes so that the whole pepper will roast. It will look a little charred. Remove peppers from oven and place in a ziplock bag for the peppers to sweat for 10-15 minutes. This will allow for easy removal of the outer pepper layer. Continue roasting garlic for another 10 minutes.
Divide pizza dough in two. Hand toss each pizza and place on a greased pizza pan.
Remove peppers from ziplock and slip off outer pepper layer. Carefully deseed the pepper and discard. Slice pepper into medium slices.
Pizza assembly
Lower oven heat to 425 degrees.
Dough makes two pizzas.
Place 1/2 cup roasted tomatillo salsa on the dough. Divide poblano pepper slices over both pizzas. Remove garlic cloves from garlic bulb and divide cloves between both pizzas. Place sliced grilled chicken over one pizza. Sprinkle feta cheese and then mozzarella cheese and bake in oven for 15 minutes.
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January 14th, 2014
I was invited to do a tasting of the new menu but all opinions are my own.
Date nights have become something very special with us. We actually have sat down and started talking and budgeting how often we can have time alone and in the last 2 months it has worked out so well. It has also given us a really great opportunity to try delicious new eateries around our area and even a little ways from where we live. We recently were able to try the NEW menu prepared by the NEW executive chef at Avero Bar Italiano.
This restaurant is located on the Main Line in Wayne and even though it started a few months ago as pizzeria, a whole new face lift has been given to the eatery. While the menu still offers amazing pizzas, the focus has been shifted offering artisan Italian dishes with the new chef’s personal twist. We found out that Chef Christopher Defeo spent time in Italy learning all about their dishes. His desire for the restaurant is to serve dishes using in-season ingredients and it was very prevalent in every dish we received. Come and see what we were served.
We arrived before rush hour on a Monday night before New Year’s Eve and were greeted by a simple but elegant Italian decor. I felt like I was in Venice with the ceiling decor. The ambiance is laid back but the tables and dishes plus the stone oven in the entrance made for an elegant weeknight dinner.
I almost asked my hubby if we could sit in the bar area because I like seeing drinks being prepared. It was quite inviting but so was the rest of the restaurant. There were two large plasma televisions in the place which made it seem more like a bar scene but I believe it was more to give a relaxed setting. As we continued people come in, a mix of parties came to dine from families to couples then to large parties.
As we waited to meet the executive chef, we received our drink orders in these gorgeous glasses. I believe they were the tastiest gin and tonics we have had in a while. Not too much ice and even in all ingredients.
Our fresh bread arrived with a healthy portion of extra virgin olive oil. I believe this is always a favorite starter before receiving the rest of one’s order.
The restaurant has a great selection of salads for all tastes and healthy ones at that, including some with kale, goat cheese, beets and unique dressings. My hubby and I each received 2 servings of some of their salads. On the left we had the Garlic Bread Caesar Salad with the perfect amount of dressing with crisp and cold romaine lettuce. This happens to be one of my husband’s favorite salads but it would not be one I normally one I would order but it was sure one I would order after I tasted this.
The salad on the right was the Fresh Burrata salad with grilled eggplant, roasted red peppers, basil, buttery mozzarella with a balsamic reduction. Oh my! It was so delicious and very unique in flavors. I had never had burrata so I asked the waiter what and how it was made and he was very informed and explained to me that it was made with buffalo’s milk. It was definitely much more different than fresh mozzarella made from cow’s milk. It was truly buttery and creamy. I took my sweet time enjoying this salad.
The next appetizer we received was not on the menu but a special the chef was trying out. We made sure to tell him it was the most unique appetizer / salad we have tried in long time. A crispy octopus frisee’ salad included a perfectly charred octopus served with roasted fingerling potatoes, chopped tomatoes, green onions with romanesco sauce and a balsamic reduction. It was truly a savory dish.
If you go, we found out that this was going to be a permanent addition to the menu and will be an option as a big salad meal. So worth it!
We next received a healthy portion of Tagliatelle with Kobe Bolognese. Yes. Kobe. This is a pasta shape I hardly ever prepare but I was convinced I needed to buy this from now on. The sauce had so much flavor with finely diced carrots and a delicious depth. It reminded me of my late grandmother’s dish she prepared with the same pasta and flavors. I was excited I had to tell the chef. Now I know where I can have a dish of exquisite pasta.
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Our last dish was called the Bistecca which consisted of black angus flat-iron steak served with cherry tomato and arugula salad, fingerling potatoes and cipollini agradolce. The presentation was art that it made it hard to mess it up. The beet julienned on top made a great addition. I ordered my steak medium which I usually do not do because I cannot stand looking at red meat but took my hubby’s advice and it was the most tender and flavorful meat I have tasted in a while.
All these dishes I shared would be paired with the great selection of wines Avero has to offer. I left the best for last because it was the best way to end.
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We had a Panettone Bread Pudding with a rum sauce, golden raisins, and blood orange dust. The gelato was a perfect pairing. We know bread pudding real well in our home so we were happy and excited to try an Italian version. It was so moist and warm served with the sauce. It was an ideal portion and would be paired with an espresso.
Go and try Avero and try other seasonal dishes introduced by the new chef. He definitely has inspired me to take more pride in savoring dishes and presenting them with unique ingredients. After all, I do have Italian blood. His dishes will have you coming back with your friends, date and private parties.
Avero Bar Italiano
821 Lancaster Pike
Wayne, PA 19087
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January 13th, 2014
I’m back at it folks. I decided to take a BIG break from posting while our whole family was at Disneyworld the last 10 days. Yes, if you missed it, it is because I never announced it. Ha! I posted on Instagram the whole time we were there so if you would love to see some pics check it out.
Before I left I really planned on the items to take with us to limit waste and to prepare for feeding a baby AND a toddler. Lots of people told me I needed to make sure that I had enough snacks and food to feed both girls. Food is always something I can never have enough for these kids.
I knew I had to limit the amount of sandwich bags because those could tear easily or the snacks could be crushed. I also knew I was only taking one small insulated lunch bag for both girls so I also needed to take baby bottles with extra milk for the baby. The Nuby Store n’ Feed™ Breastmilk Storage Containers came in SUPER handy as we traveled. I was able to fill them with dry snacks and with breastmilk. I also took 2 more for baby food I rehydrated. It worked out so well!
Check out this cute photo:
I also pumped while we were on vacation so I could have extra while we were out and about in the parks so I was really happy that we had a fridge in our room. So glad!
Here is a little more information about the product:
- Durable leak-proof construction will stand up to every day use
- Clear, break-resistant plastic
- Graduated in both ounces and ml
- Includes 4 storage bases and 4 lids
- It also works great for your child’s dry snacks
- BPA FREE
Take these on your next trip and you’ll see how handy they will be. You can find them
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