Baked Cabbage

I combined this recipe and this recipe to get the recipe below.  One called for grilling (we don't have a grill), but I loved the dressing...so we mixed and matched.  It turned out awesome!

Ingredients

1 head of cabbage

1/4 cup olive oil

Juice from 2 limes

2 tbsp dried cilantro (fresh probably works better, but this is what I had on hand)

2 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp salt

pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove outer (tough) leaves from the cabbage.  Chop cabbage into wedges, space evenly on a cookie sheet, and sprinkle a dab of olive oil on each one.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Place wedges in the oven for 40 minutes or until the edges are browned and the cabbage leaves are tender.

While the cabbage is baking, put 1/4 cup of olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, garlic, cayenne, and salt into the food processor.  OBLITERATE these ingredients until they look like a salad dressing and set aside.

Once the cabbage wedges are done, sprinkle the dressing on them immediately, and serve!

Delish.

Mashed Cauliflower Success!

Since beginning Paleo, we have had to learn a lot of new cooking techniques.  One of the things we've been anxious to get right is mashed cauliflower...we have attempted it numerous times with NO success.

Until tonight!

I decided to commemorate day 30 of our big switch to clean food with another attempt at mashed cauliflower.  I held my breath the entire time they were being made, but they were AH-MAZING!

I followed this recipe to the letter except for switching out minced garlic for garlic powder - I am stunned by the texture and the taste - they are SO much like mashed potatoes - and MUCH easier (and faster) to make!!

I served them with steamed asparagus and Pacific sole cooked in coconut oil...delish.  I didn't even know coconut oil existed a month ago...or sole for that matter.

How to Make Mashed Cauliflower:

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1 tablespoon cream cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• a few dashes of pepper

Cut the cauliflower into florets and place in a pot of water.  Bring to a boil and boil for 12(ish) minutes.  Drain the cauliflower and dry with paper towels (this step is important so that your mashed cauliflower isn't too watery).  While the cauliflower is still hot, place it into your food processor with cream cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and puree.  

That's it...you're DONE!  Now eat some fabulous mashed cauliflower to reward your efforts.  

Comcast Cares Day

This weekend was Comcast Cares Day - the company's annual volunteer day.  I brought out t-shirts home on Friday and quickly realized that Sadie's was more of a "dress" than a "t-shirt," so we did a little refashioning.

It went from this:

To this:

I cut 3" off the bottom, trimmed the hem off of the scrap, and turned the hemless scrap into a ruffle.  I chopped off the sleeves (at the seam) and the collar (at the seam) as well.  It fit her like a dream, she loved it, and the Comcast Cares Day paparazzi were all over her... 

Our project was painting the inside of a school in Northeast Philadelphia...the Today Show showed up to do a bit on our project, and after the publicity shots were over, we ended up working pretty hard to revitalize the school. 

Here's us at 6:45am.  So.  Freaking.  Early. 

Sadie and Eric watching the Today Show taping below us: 

Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and Betsy Ross stopped by...

Hey look!  A cameo on the Today Show! :) 

My mom sent me this text right after the shot aired:  "I saw Sadie green shirt with long white tee...I'm cryn cant c letters"

And I sent this text to Eric during the event when Sadie suddenly had to pee:

"This is the nastiest foul bathroom I've ever been in!  She keeps saying, 'this is going to take a really long time!' UGHHHHHH - I can't stand the smell...I'm gonna hurl."  

GROSSEST bathroom I've ever been in.  High school bathrooms are notoriously horrific even in the best of conditions, but that bathroom smelled like the byproduct of angst, rebellion, and STD's.  

Aside from that minor snag in an otherwise awesome day, we had a great time volunteering. :)  Here are a few photos my friend Tatiana took while we were there:

You'd be surprised what a difference several hundred volunteers can make in a few hours!  You can read more about Comcast Cares Day here.  

Happy Sunday...

Girls Night Out!

Eric went out with the boys tonight, so Sadie and I had a little girlie fun too :)

First we went to dinner at Redstone.  We decided it would be fancier if we ate outside...so we did!

After dinner, we put on lip gloss...

Then we went to the mall and tried on frilly dresses, rode the carousel...

Ate ice cream, and tossed pennies in the wishing fountain... 

It was a stellar ladies night if I do say so myself :)

It's Gonna Be Ok...

Snow White's Religious Moment...

Sadie knows that there are people who don't believe what we believe, she knows that our family is Christian, she knows what Christianity means, and she knows that God lets us choose whether or not to accept His gift.  Too much for a four year old?  I don't think so.  Here's our quick conversation last night while we were watching Snow White...

Sadie:  MOMMY - Snow White is a Christian!
Me:  How do you know she's a Christian?
Sadie:  Because she just said her prayers!
Me:  You're right!  I bet Snow White is a Christian.

Snow White did, in fact, say a prayer before she went to bed.  And I'm officially happy that we skipped our reading lesson last night in order to indulge in a little Disney magic.

Zucchini Noodles!

Tonight, I found a kitchen tool that is changing my life.  My Julienne Peeler.

Do you have one of these?  Let me show you how it turned ordinary zucchini into noodles tonight.  

Zucchini:

+ Julienne Peeler

=

Zucchini Noodles!

It took six zucchini to get this many noodles.  I blanched the noodles (1-2 mins in boiling water), and then shocked them in cold water to prevent them from cooking further.  They had the exact same texture as al dente spaghetti noodles.  What.  The.  Heck.  ?! If there are wonders of the culinary world, then this is most certainly one of them.  It was awesome!

I made a meat sauce to go with my "spaghetti" and then topped with parmesan cheese. 

Easy Peasy!

Since beginning our switch to Primal eating, I've had to make a lot of "weird" things. I've been amazed at how delicious these odd concoctions have been, and tonight was no exception.  It was fabulous, and I'm ecstatic that I've found a nutritious (and tasty!) spaghetti substitute.

So Long, Picnik, Hello PicMonkey!

Hello, my sweet little photo-editing friends...I have bad news and I have good news.

The bad news is that if you're a Picniker, you've probably been seeing this foreboding note every time you go to the website:

{insert sounds of grown women sobbing}

I like to lovingly refer to this as the "Picnik Apocalypse" or the "Picnocalypse."

The good news is: you don't have to get desperate.  Your pictures can still have that 1960's, super skinny, no wrinkles, glowy, tinty, obviously hacked quality that we've come to know and love.  There's a new kid in town! I have stumbled upon the rebellious love child of Picnik and Awesomeness.  From what I can tell (in my limited research), after Picnik was acquired by Google, a couple of rogue Picnik engineers set out on their own to sprinkle some amazing on the online photo editing industry.  Say hello to your new best friend, PicMonkey!

PicMonkey has all of the best loved features of Picnik and then some.  Even if Picnik were going to continue to exist outside of the box they're creating for it at G+, I would STILL be a PicMonkey convert.  I hope you'll join me in appreciating the serendipity that brought us what I like to consider "Picnik on steroids."

I edited all three of the images in this post on PicMonkey (even the Picnik one, ironically), so as you can see, it works just fine.  The user interface is so similar to Picnik, that you'll fit comfortably in the groove in no time at all, plus you'll have fun exploring a couple of new features that you didn't even know you were missing!

Eventually, they'll have a "Royale" membership, just like Picnik's "Premium," but for now, all of the fancy features are free, so GET OVER THERE and fancy up your pictures.

Also, they use generous helpings of the word "awesome."  I'm not sure what could make this website any better, honestly.  

Happy Editing, friends!

Baseball Baby

She's a natural...

Easter Sunday

I love church on Easter Sunday...the gospel is the simultaneously the simplest and most profound message that can be preached, and it always seems brand new on Easter.   

After church, there was an Easter Egg Hunt!  It made Sadie feel like this:

And then she cheesed it for me like this:

And then we took some obligatory family pics like this:

Afterwards, we ate Easter lunch at the grocery store (doesn't everyone?), played baseball at the park, and made Easter dinner...Paleo style :)

P.S. It's like Fiesta ware was MADE for Easter, right?

All said and done, I'd have to say it was pretty much the best day ever.  Jesus and family...what else is there?

Happy Resurrection Sunday!