Showing posts with label egg free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label egg free. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Piggy Playtime: How Does Your Garden Grow?

3890 Old Ranch Rd, Colorado Springs, CO
Saturdays 8 - 11 am (seasonally)

If you live in northern Colorado Springs, rejoice! We now have a local, organic garden for fresh veggies. Just north of Briargate, (right off Powers) The Shire Market also has convenient ready to go options, all at great prices. Be sure to bring your cash, shopping bag, and questions! The employees of this family owned property (run by Phelan Gardens) are helpful, patient, and informative. 


The Piggies learned to pick carrots! 

It was super exciting. 
They had a dance party in the green house, with all kinds of basil, tomatoes, and peppers. 
Most of the lettuce had gone to seed this season, but squashes are kickin!


Freshly picked, pre-packaged options. 

Eat Local! 
Ever wonder what to do with your haul? Give these farm to table recipes a try. 

Our picks from Saturday,  8/29:
tomatillos, banana peppers, kale, giant zucchini, spaghetti squash, various leafy greens


[gluten-free, paleo, vegan, allergy-friendly]
Roasted Salsa Verde
(click for printable recipe)

This easy, creamy twist on a regional favorite combines lightly roasted veggies with fresh avocado! Depending on the peppers you use, your flavor can range from mild to spicy. 

Roasted Salsa Verde
What you need:
2 red onions, peeled and quartered
1 lb tomatillos, peeled and rinsed
2 poblano peppers, hatch chiles, or jalapeños (you can mix & match here), sliced in 1/2 and deseeded
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 t sea salt (or to taste)
1 t cumin
1 T avocado oil or other mild tasting oil
2 ripe avocados, remove seed and peel
1 t lime or lemon juice

What you do: 
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Place onions, tomatillos, peppers, & garlic cloves on baking tray. Drizzle with oil and roast 15 minutes or until they begin to blister. 
3. Put roasted veggies in food processor and pulse until slightly chunky. 
4. Add seasoning and avocado. Pulse until avocado has been mixed in smoothly to the salsa. 
5. Add splash of lime or lemon juice and pulse to mix. 
6. Refrigerate in sealed container or freeze. 

[gluten-free, paleo, vegan, allergy-friendly]
(click for printable recipe)

This mock apple pie will fool your grandma! Made with a giant zucchini, instead of apples, makes it a much more economical treat and a sneaky way to get in those veggies. 


Z'apple Pie
What you need: 
10 - 12 cups chopped zucchini (peel & cut lengthwise, scoop out seeds, cut into 1/4 inch slices and then chop into pie sized pieces)
1 cup granulated sugar of choice
3/4 cup brown sugar or SUCANAT
1 1/2 T cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t cloves 
or use apple pie spice of your choice
2 t cream of tartar
1 1/2 T arrowroot 
1/2 t sea salt
1 t apple cider vinegar
2 T ghee, butter, or cold coconut oil (in small chunks)
1/2 t sugar & 1/4 t cinnamon for sprinkling on crust

What you do: 
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cook zucchini pieces in boiling water for a few minutes, until just tender. You do not want them too soft! 
3. Remove zucchini from stove, drain and allow to cool. Spread zucchini over several paper towels and press paper towels on top to squeeze out more water. 4.  
    Repeat until you've removed as much moisture as possible. 
5. In a bowl, toss zucchini with sugars and spices, cream of tartar, arrowroot and sea salt until well coated. 
6. Put your ready-bake pie crust in a 9 inch pie pan and poke some holes around the bottom. 
7. Fill pie crust with zucchini mixture. If you have a lot of liquid that settled to the bottom with your zucchini mix,   
    you'll want to put some of it into the pie crust, but don't overflow it. 
8. Dot the top of mixture with chunks of your ghee, butter, or cold coconut oil.
9. Drizzle vinegar over top of mixture. 
10. Gently place top pie crust, seal edges together, and poke a few holes in top. 
11. Brush crust lightly with water and sprinkle on the sugar & cinnamon. 
12. Bake for 15 minutes at 425. 
13. Place a parchment or foil liner over the edges of your crust to prevent burning (cut a hold out of a square piece of parchment or foil)
14. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for 45 minutes, removing the crust liner during the last 10-15 minutes . 


[gluten-free, paleo, vegan, allergy-friendly]
(click for printable recipe)

Kale is the ultimate green leafy veggie. You can sneak it into smoothies, sauté it with onions and garlic, add it to your favorite soups or bakes...or eat it like a chip. Now, go get crunchin!



Kale Chips
What you need:
1 bunch of kale, rinsed/dried/de-stemmed & cut into somewhat uniformed sized pieces. 
liquid oil for drizzling
desired seasonings

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Toss prepared kale leaves in a little bit of oil. You just want them lightly coated, not soggy. 
3. Toss oiled leaves in seasoning of choice 
4. Lay leaves in a single layer on a baking pan and bake for about 10 - 15 minutes or until crispy (but not burned!). For more even crisping, toss your kale chips several times during baking. 

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Straight Outta the Lunchbox! 7 days of [Top 8] allergy-friendly & #littlepiggyapproved EATS

Since I'm packing lunches every day anyway, I thought that I could share what goes into a 5 year old's bag around here. (NOTE: The bento boxes and leak-proof containers are LunchBots and, of course, S'well Bottles are a staple. I'm lovin' our LunchBot choice and very happy to have 2 containers in different compartment styles to rotate between.) 

Keeping in mind that this is only the second week of school, I'm trying lots of variety to see what are the favorites. Once I see what my son is more likely to eat, I'll do a lot more repeats throughout the week AND I need to add more fresh veggies to the mix. I also just found out that he only gets 20 minutes for lunch (to wash hands, walk to the cafeteria, find a seat, unpack, socialize/dilly dally, and THEN eat in whatever time is left *gasp*), so I want to make sure I'm packing things that he is going to eat without packing junk.  After the first few days of being seriously h'angry after school, I tried to stress the importance of eating as much as he could at lunch so he would have energy to finish the day. After that, he typically has been eating about 1/2 of his food and finishes the rest immediately after school. He also knows not to eat any "dessert' unless the rest of his food is finished...or else. I'd like to think that I've got him trained pretty well ;)  

For a drink, he's been asking for lemonade so I make my "Little Piggy Lemonade" recipe (water, ice, organic lemon juice & stevia) and try to mix in some Great Lakes gelatin (the green can is cold water soluble) for added protein. 

You can find links to most of the brands I mention (or recipes) on the "Little Piggy Lunch Ideas" List!  If there's something you see that you can't find more info about, just leave me a comment and I'm happy to help. Enjoy! 

Day 1: You've seen this one before. "Bamboo Lane" Rice Rollers, "Nick's Sticks" grass fed beef sticks, organic raisins,  organic green beans. Packed in the Trio bento box and 4 oz leak-proof container, 9 oz S'well bottle. 
Day 2: organic corn tortilla chips, "Bare" Apple Chips, "Applegate" pepperoni, organic carrot sticks, organic "Wholly Guacamole" 100 cal pack. Packed in Quad bento box. 
Day 3: organic seaweed snacks, organic grapes, beef taquitos. Packed in Trio bento box. 
Day 4: crackers, leftover meatballs, "Simply Balanced" fruit & vegetable strip, organic apple sauce. Packed in Trio bento box and 4 oz leak-proof container. 
Day 5: leftover spaghetti (100% corn noodles) with meat sauce, mandarin oranges in 100% juice. Packed in 10 oz Thermos Funtainer and 4 oz leak-proof LunchBot container. 
Day 6: "Pizza Popcorn" (air-popped, seasoned with avocado oil and "Flavor God" Pizza seasoning), "Wellshire" natural/ no-sugar added bacon, organic broccoli, pears in 100% juice,  Little Piggy sized Birthday Cake Cookie from BWB. Packed in Quad bento box and 4 oz leak-proof container. 
Day 7: mini-flatbreads (made with Otto's Naturals Cassava Flour), organic carrots & apples with sun butter, [dairy-free] yogurt with [no sugar added] strawberry sauce and Enjoy Life mini-chips. Packed in Quad bento and 4 oz leak-proof container.