Blog – Page 2

Fruit Plate

Whenever I’m invited to a party, one of the things I always offer to bring is a fruit plate. It’s super easy to put together because there is no cooking, just cutting and washing. Fruit is great to eat during appetizers or dessert. It’ll be the best and healthiest sweet treat on the table because it is a whole food and has a variety of nutrients and minerals. Fruit plates present beautifully and the host of the get together will love your consideration.

Here is how to put a fruit plate together:

use in season fruit because they taste the best
select at least 3 fruits
buy organic for any fruit on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen. Strawberries and apples in the photo are on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen so I bought organic
peel and cut off all inedible parts of the fruit so people can easily pick and eat – pile the fruit high, it looks grand and presents beautifully

Mashed Sweet Potato

Blog, Health

Mashed sweet potato is part of my meal prep each week. Sweet potatoes are nutrient-dense starchy vegetables that keep you full. They also are a prebiotic so it feeds the good bacteria in your stomach. Sweet potatoes taste delicious and leafy green vegetables and pork or beef. You can also eat them baked or boiled whole. For my family, I boil 10 lbs of sweet potato and reheat it for at least two meals. I like hot breakfast so that will definitely be one of the meals.

This is a super simple dish to make ahead of time and easily reheats for easy, delicious, healthy meals during the week.

First, peel all the sweet potatoes.

Cut them into half inch slices.

Put the sweet potatoes in a pot and cover them completely with water. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.

Poor out the liquid in the pot until the liquid is 2 inches below the cooked sweet potato. Save some of the liquid in a bowl in case you want to thin out the mashed sweet potato while blending.

Using a hand blender, blend the sweet potato until smooth. Use the extra liquid in the bowl to make the mashed sweet potato less thick.

One of my favorite ways to eat smashed sweet potato is with sautéed kale and Applegate nitrate and chemical free hot dogs.

Enjoy,
Chrissy xo

Healthy Meal Planning for a Snowboard and Ski Vacation

Blog, Family, Health, Travel

I grew up skiing and have so many great memories going on ski vacations with family and friends, après-ski snacks, and hot chocolate. I wanted my daughters to have these same memories. A winter sport is a great way to get outdoors in the cold weather. Or else the winter can feel like a lot of time indoors. I switched to snowboarding when I started dating Grouchy Husband many many years ago so now we are a snowboarding family. We go on a snow vacation every year. Here are my tips for snowboard and ski vacation meal planning:

Stay somewhere with a kitchen or kitchenette. Our last few rentals have had kitchenettes with only a two-burner stove and microwave to cook and I was able to make a lot of great meals with this setup.

Relax and cook. Eat breakfast at home so you don’t have to get up any earlier and can start the day with a lot of nutrition. Head home after a day on the mountain fo après-ski snacks and a cocktail. Make simple dinners then settle into the evening with a movie and popcorn. Eat lunch on the mountain. Ski mountains have great food. We just came back from Stowe, VT and had some of the best steamed mussels at the top of the mountain.

Bring a cooler in case your refrigerator is too small. It’s winter so you can keep things that need to be refrigerated outside.

These are the essentials you’ll need in the kitchen. Bring these things from home if you aren’t sure the kitchen you’ll be using has them.

peeler
good every day knife. I like this Henkel 4″ knife.
non-stick pan
4 qt pot
potato grater
ghee or other healthy fat
salt & pepper
chopsticks (if you are like me and use them to cook)

Breakfast

eggs, sautéed kale, hash brown potato
mashed sweet potato, bacon, sautéed kale
avocado toast with scrambled eggs
ham and fried egg on a toasted gluten-free bagel

Après-ski snacks

Cut fruit and vegetables
Dips & spreads (Salmon dip, Avocado Cream from nom nom paleo)
Sliced meats and cheese

Dinner

Instant pot Kalua pig and cabbage over rice
Instant pot Kalua pig tacos on Siete grain-free tortillas
Gluten-free pasta, hot dogs, broccoli
Vietnamese beef stew

Bring fruit for snacking. After a day on the mountain, you are hungry and fruit is refreshing. Plan a vegetable for dinner and maybe for breakfast. Sautéed kale goes great with eggs and potato. Make a dip for vegetables and crackers. One of my favorites is Avocado Cream from nom nom paleo. Pack pre-cut and cleaned vegetables. Do the work beforehand so cooking is easy.

Eggs are simple and easy for breakfast. Hot dogs are a tasty protein that can be added to anything. Siete makes the best grain-free tortilla. Prosciutto and cheese are great après-ski snacks.

Don’t forget the alcohol if you’re into that. Bagels and bread are great for spreads and sandwiches. Pasta and sauce is an easy meal and delicious with broccoli and hot dogs. Bring a healthy fat like ghee to cook with.

Crunchy snacks. These are great for the car, after a day on the mountain, or watching a movie.

Eggs, sautéed kale, hash brown potatoes. This will get anyone out of bed. The only prep is peeling potatoes and shredding them. Eggs and kale are straight from the carton to the pan.

Mashed sweet potato, sautéed kale, bacon. I brought the mashed sweet potato from home, cooked the bacon in the frying pan then the kale in the bacon grease.

Scrambled eggs on top of avocado toast.

Après-ski snacks and cocktails. Dips, spreads, cut fruits and vegetables, prosciutto and cheese. Simple and nutritious.

Tacos. Cut everything up the night before you leave and eat it the first night of your trip. I made the Instant pot Kalua pig at home so all I needed to do was reheat it for dinner.

Vietnamese beef stew with sautéed Chinese vegetables. I made this Vietnamese beef stew at home and just needed to reheat it for dinner. Chinese vegetables sautéed in ghee.

The key to cooking on vacation is planning and meal-prep.

Chrissy xo

Why Space and Tranquillity Matter in Your Minimal Lifestyle

Blog, Journal

Minimalism is widely misunderstood and, for many people, it has lost its meaning.

This is an example of a WordPress post, you could edit this to put information about yourself so readers know where you are coming from. You can create as many posts as you like in order to share with them what is on your mind.