Getting your Junk Food Fix!

Since we are on the topic of giving in to our food cravings, I decided to dedicate this post to just that!

This is a slight twist on satisfying that craving that creeps in and just doesn't want to let go.

We gave up bad eating habits a long time ago. It goes against our very nature to get into the car and drive to a fast food joint to satisfy our craving.

It seems almost unnatural and wrong. In fact if you analyze the food you actually get when you indulge in such places, it is exactly that: wrong and unnatural.

My switch to Organic local farming happened when I started eating chicken again during my pregnancies. I practice it religiously, avoiding chicken that I know has not been raised in healthy happy homes. Patrick, has just recently made the switch and can't even eat in his food court anymore!

I promise, he will have that post out soon on industrial factory farming vs local organic farming soon, here and at

So this post is dedicated to satisfying our natural urges for "bad" food and turning them into pretty healthy options for lunches and/or dinners.

So here you have it:

The Hamburger

The Sub

The French Fry

For the Hamburger:

I make these hamburgers for my kids all the time. I make the mini versions for all of us. I don't need a huge hunk of meat sitting between two pieces of bread at lunch time.

A small mini burger like this one and a salad is more than enough.

For the Chicken Burger.

1 pound of organic lean ground chicken

2 corns cooked-kernels only

2 shallots finely diced

1 green pepper finely diced

1 red pepper finely diced

2-3 sprigs of parsley finely chopped

Salt & Pepper

1 egg

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Season.

Make small patties and grill about 5 minutes each side on the bbq.

(if you are cooking inside use a grill pan)

Toast the mini buns, dress your burger and enjoy!

Change ground meat to turkey or beef and use the same recipe.

The Homemade Sub

Incredibly sweet peppers. Soft sweet onion, tender juicy organic chicken, or organic steak, fresh crisp salad and melted mozzarella cheese make this sub a Friday night delight!

Easy, healthy and so tasty.

You can leave out the bread and just enjoy your sauted veggies, with chicken, or with beef for an even leaner alternative!

For the Vegie Sub

1 green pepper julienne

1 red pepper julienne

1 yellow pepper julienne

1 orange pepper julienne

1 vidalia onion sliced

Mushrooms sliced

Mozzarella cheese grated

1 bread roll

Slice up all your vegetables.

Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper

Grill on bbq or bake in an oven at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

Or lightly saute veggies in a wok over medium low heat for about 15-20 minutes.

Lightly toast bun.

Place veggies in bun.

Add shredded cheese.

Broil for about 2-5 minutes until cheese has melted and is golden brown.

For the Chicken Sub

I use chicken scaloppini.

I season with salt and pepper and grill or saute it.

I add it to my sub with the same veggies and cheese and voila! delicious.

For the Steak Sub

Marinate a flank steak over night.

For the marinade:

1/2 cup orange juice

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp chlli powder (Patrick likes to use chipotle chili)

2 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp kosher salt

1/2 tbsp ground pepper

Grill the steak for 4 minutes a side on direct high heat.

Cut the meat across the grain into thin slices.

Layer up your sub.

Heat under the broiler for 2-4 minutes or until cheese melts.

Enjoy.

So easy, so cheap and so much better for you than the alternative.

The French Fry.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Peel 6 potatoes.

Cut your potatoes to the desired thickness of choice.

Soak in milk, buttermilk or cold water about 30 minutes.

Rinse under cold water.

Dry well.

In a bowl coat with 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt.

(if you want to add seasoning like sea salt, parsley, garlic, paprika, rosemary etc. do it at this moment).

Cook potatoes for about 10-15 minutes at 425 degrees.

Flip fries and cook another 10-15 minutes.

Add salt when warm!

A low fat recipe would be to mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil with 240ml of water. Pour into a spray bottle and simply spray the potatoes with the oil and water mixture. Cook for the ten minutes, spray them again and cook for another 10 minutes. Or until crispy and golden brown.

Greek Salad Pita Sandwich

Patrick says that one of the reasons he married me, or rather, fell in love with me, was because of my skills with a well composed sandwich.

Patrick and I gave up pasta, bread and potatoes about a year ago but sometimes we break the rules and go back to the perfect designed sandwich.

I believe very strongly in the perfect sandwich. Attention to detail, layering and sauces. They all add up to create a deliciously balanced lunch, dinner or snack.

I usually use last nights dinner as inspiration for my sandwich of the day.

Today I used left over greek chicken. I put together a small greek salad and that was that. A perfect lunch.

In a bowl combine cut tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion, cucumber slices, feta cheese, olive oil salt and pepper. Add some chopped mint and parsley. You could also add some olives. Mix and combine all the flavors well.

Heat your pita for about 30 seconds in the microwave. Lay down some Tzaziki, add your chicken and salad mixture and enjoy.

A little Inspiration for Saturday or Sunday Morning...

Wild Mushroom, thyme and Bacon Scrambled Eggs in Vol Au Vent Pastry!

3 frozen vol au vent pastry shells cooked as per instructions.

3 strips of organic bacon cooked and crumbled.

6 organic eggs

2 sprigs of thyme stems removed

6 oyster mushrooms( or any mushrooms you may have)

3 green onion finely chopped

salt and pepper

Cook vol au vent in oven as per instructions.

In a pan cook bacon. Set aside.

In the same pan add green onion and thyme.

Add mushrooms and cook about 2 minutes.

Add eggs.

Season

Spoon egg mixture evenly into vol au vent pastry.

Garnish with bacon and fresh thyme.

Serve!

IT"S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL!

One important detail I love about the Montessori World is that in essence, it is a world made smaller for little people!

Everything becomes easier when portions, sizes, and even words are made smaller.

Mini plums for snacking.

I have found some great "mini" portions of certain foods that make all meals more of a joy!

Here are some examples.

An assortment of mini bagels to build sandwiches and snacks.

Cream cheese & Apple

Peanut Butter & Jelly

Cream cheese, smoked salmon & capers.

Butter & cheese.

Peanut butter & banana.

Hummus.

Cream cheese, honey & raisins.

Tomato, onion & cheese.

Eggplant spread, roasted red pepper spread, avocado refried beans!

Mini Pasta Mexican Soup- A classic in my kitchen

Take half an onion and 4 large tomatoes. (2 cups pureed tomatoes) puree in a blender

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a sauce pan.

Add 1 cup mini pasta.

Add tomato and onion puree.

Season.

Add 4 cups of vegetable broth or water.

Cook about 15 -20 minutes.

Helping Hands

Maria Montessori stresses the importance of children's hands in the classroom and in real life. Getting children to be a part of the dinner process allows them to connect with the food they eat and allows them to be helpful and creative in the kitchen.

Here, the kids peel corn to help make the salsa for the Tilapia.

Tilapia with Corn & Fruit Salsa

Season fish with salt and pepper.

Cook fresh summer corn and remove kernels when cooked.

In a bowl combine, corn, raspberries, diced peach, diced cucumber, finely sliced basil and feta cheese.

Grill or pan fry fish. Serve with salsa.

Abu's Lentil Soup

My dad is a surgeon. He uses his hands with precision and detail. I don't often find him in the kitchen but when I do I put his skills to work!

He cuts the vegetables exactly the same size which makes for a perfectly cooked soup.

Abu knows how to make three things in the kitchen. One is Mexican red rice, the other is lentilsoup, and the most important of course are quesadillas! (recipes to follow)

This soup is great for entertaining friends for lunch, a light dinner or a cozy mid afternoon snack.

Entertaining friends or...

A cozy mid afternoon snack.

4 baby carrots cut into thin small slices

1 celery stalk finely diced

1 medium potato very finely diced

1 leek very finely diced

1 onion finely diced

3 garlic cloves minced

1/4 teaspooon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander seed

1/4 teaspooon ground celery seed

1/4 teaspoon oregano mexican or otherwise

1 bay leaf

2 cups french du puy lentils or 1 can organic lentils in a can

8 cups of vegetable broth

Add all diced vegetables to a medium sized stock pot with about 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Cook 4-6 minutes over medium heat

Add 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/4 teaspoon ground celery seed.

Cook for another 4-6 minutes.

Add broth and bay leaf.

Cook fresh lentil soup for about 45 minutes-1 hour.

Cook canned lentils 30-35 minutes to absorb all flavors.

Serve with shaved parmesan cheese, a drizzle of spicy olive oil and a sprig of fresh parsley.

Roasted red Peppers

Paolo's Roasted Red Peppers

It was hard for Patrick and I to come home from Italy and not find the usual foods we were so priveleged to enjoy in Italy. The fresh flavors, the labor that went into making foods from scratch, the home cooking. We missed it all.

However, we were invited to our friend Paolo's for dinner one night and we were so pleasantly surprised to find the entire dinner cooked from scratch. We were very excited and the food was tremendous. The memory of that dinner is still very much alive in both our minds.

Paolo made some roasted peppers that were so simple and flavorful. This is the recipe I put together from that night. Not the exact recipe, but close enough I think!

We miss you Paolo!

By the way if you happen to be following this blog please correct or update the pepper recipe. We also want your Tiramisu recipe.

By far the best Tiramisu I have ever had, and I have had a lot of Tiramisu in my lifetime!!!

Roasted Red Peppers

6 Long Red peppers (tend to be sweeter)

2 Yellow Peppers

or any combination of red, yellow, orange peppers.

4 cloves of garlic smashed

6 Basil leaves thinly sliced

1 tablespoon regular cooking Olive oil

Good quality Oilve oil

Fleur de sel

Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Wash peppers and place whole on baking sheet.

Drizzle with regular cooking olive oil.

Roast in oven about 15-20 minutes or until skins turn black.

Allow to cool.

Remove skins and seeds from flesh. (some seeds can stay)

Cut peppers into thin strips.

Place in a bowl with crushed garlic and mix well.

Add 1/2 cup good quality olive oil.

Add freshly cut basil leaves.

These peppers are delicious on their own or served with little toasts.

I usually have them out when I serve cheese, or for cocktail hour!

The longer they sit the more flavorful they become! You can store them in the fridge and take them out to rest at room temperature about 1/2 an hour before serving.