Moonlight Inspired

birthday time

N.moon — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:09:26 GMT

My little guy turned two last week so I've been busy with him, redecorating his room, making his cool baseball cake and preparing for his birthday party tomorrow. All the cleaning is finally done (bathrooms, kitchen, floors shampooed, pool and spa cleaned out)... now for the fun part -- THE COOKING!

The party is a Pool BBQ. So we're serving up some traditional BBQ foods with a healthy twist :)

The menu includes:

Hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, grilled veggie kabobs, veggies with dip, fruit and yogurt, guacamole with chips and hummus with pitas/celery.

So I'll be posting the recipes this week!

So what do you serve at your birthday parties?

meet my pinch hitter: the crockpot

N.moon — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:37:26 GMT

Today is opening day for the baseball season! My husband works for the Arizona Diamondbacks so we are very excited for this first day. But, it's also Monday, which means we're hit with a double header, my son also has baseball practice tonight.

That means my crockpot is pinch hitting for me for dinner tonight. Thank goodness for extra help! LOL. We're having Indian-inspired crock pot Pork Chops.

I got the recipe from allrecipes.com :

INGREDIENTS:

6 boneless pork chops
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place pork chops in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over pork chops.

2. Cook on Low setting for 6 hours, until internal temperature of pork has reached 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

how do you measure up?

N.moon — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 05:59:37 GMT

These are quite possibly the CUTEST measuring cups I have ever seen. You can buy them at Anthropologie. I liked them so much I actually signed up for an account with the company and put them on my wishlist. But honestly, I can't fathom spending $36 that I don't have on measuring cups that I'm almost 100% positive my toddler would love to smash to smitherines on our tile kitchen floor. Ahhh... maybe some day. In the meantime, if anyone who doesn't have toddlers roaming the kitchen wants to buy a set and sell them to me in a couple years... I'm in! For now, my Dollar Tree plastic measuring cups must suffice.

superhero subs

N.moon — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 07:29:27 GMT

Andrew and I raced the sun as it was setting last night. We were driving home from swimming lessons and he wanted to make it home by the time the first star came out so he could make a wish.

"Mom," he said. "I want to make a special wish."

"Oh?" I asked him. "What are you going to wish for?"

He paused for a second.

"Will it come true if I tell you?" he asked.

"It might not, but you can tell me if you want." I told him.

"Well, I'll tell you, but you can't tell Dad," he said. "I'm going to wish to be a superhero. I want to be Superman."

This wish isn't unusual for Andrew. He's wanted to be Superman for as long as I can remember. You can see in this old picture of him dressed up for Halloween as Superman at age 3.

So he told me all the things that he wants to do when he's Superman. He's going to save the world. Make sure all the kids have food to eat and that their parents aren't "too mean" to them. Then he asked, "Can I set a time limit on my wish? Because I don't think I could be Superman for too long. I'd get tired."

Oh, the innocence. Just when you think the weight on your shoulders is getting too much to carry, they come around with something so intuitive and heart-warming you just melt.

So, on that note, I give you the recipe for Superhero Subs:

1 lb turkey meatballs
1 loaf whole grain french bread
1 jar marinara sauce
parmesan cheese

Cook turkey meatballs as directed on packaging. Slice french bread length wise. Stuff with meatballs topped with marinara and parmesan cheese.

linked up: news from the kitchen blog table

N.moon — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:39:28 GMT

Food Links:

Sudoku Pizza (check this one out! Soo cute!) Slice

25 Cheap, Healthy & Delicious Foods The Daily Spark

Foodie 101: A Guide to Olive Oils The Gourmet Foodie

Girl Scout Cookie Lovers Drool: Thin Mint cupcakes Cupcake Takes the Cake

What to get for the geek who has everything? iPhone cupcake! Cupcake Takes the Cake

Recipe Links:

Healthy Recipes Your Kids Will Love Simple Mom

Accidentally Delicious Turkey Burgers Al Dente

Cucumber Apple Pickle (sounds like a pregnancy craving to me, what do you think?) Epicurious

Snickers Pie (my kind of pie!) Make Life Delicious

Herbed Escobar and Scallops Mommy Gourmet

Dieting Links:

Do New Workout Clothes Motivate You? (they do for me!) The Daily Spark

Tackling Trigger Foods The Daily Spark

Misc. Links:

The Best Mommy Blogs Out There NBC News

Look Your Best in the Nude East Valley Tribune

recipe for the day: microwave apple crisp

N.moon — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:25:13 GMT

I found the BEST new Farmer's Market store near my house that was selling apples for 4lbs for a $1. So tonight we're making Apple Crisp for dessert. YUM!

Microwave Apple Crisp

INGREDIENTS:

4 medium tart cooking apples, peeled, sliced (4 cups)
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
½ cup Original Bisquick® mix
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:

1. In ungreased 2-quart microwavable casserole or 8-inch square microwavable dish, arrange apple slices. In small bowl, stir remaining ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples.

2. Microwave uncovered on High 7 to 10 minutes, rotating dish 1/2 turn after 5 minutes, until apples are tender. Serve warm.

thinning out

N.moon — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:19:41 GMT

Back to blogging today now that my company has left, although I did enjoy having something different to do than stare at my computer for a couple weeks. It took me forever to get through all my unread RSS feeds though, UGH.

Anyway, this afternoon I will be thinning out the garden that we planted while my mom was here. I am completely surprised at how quickly what we planted sprouted and grew. But on the idea of thinning out, I've been thinking that I should apply the concept to some of the other areas of my life too. My closet for sure (need to weed out all those clothes that don't fit anymore) and perhaps my negative self-thought. My brain is overloaded with all these thoughts that are not moving me forward at this point. Time to thin them out.

linked up

N.moon — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 05:01:56 GMT

Food/Cooking Links:

Cutest oinker of a cutting board I've seen in a while Al Dente

Pizza Zing, Pizza Zang So Good

The best layer cake in the world? Whaddya think? Smitten Kitchen

Recipe Links:

French Onion Soup The 99 Cent Chef

Homemade Pita (totally gotta try this!) Coconut and Lime

Chickpea and Pasta Soup Serious Eats

Coucous Vegetable Soup Everybody likes Sandwiches

recipe of the day: tuna and white bean salad

N.moon — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:11:37 GMT

I was looking for some Lent-approved lunch/dinner recipes the other day and found this one on a card at the local Safeway. Looks delicious! We're going to try it on Friday so I'll let you know how it goes.

Tuna and White Bean Salad

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb raw tuna
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1-15.5 oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
3 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Bibb lettuce leaves, whole

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine tuna, oil and vinegar in a shallow dish. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

2. Remove tuna from marinade; discard marinade. Coat grill rack with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat grill to medium-high (350-400 degrees F) Grill tuna, covered, 5 minutes per side or to desired doneness. Let cool slightly and chop into 1/2 inch pieces.

3. Combine tuna, beans, tomatoes, onion, basil and parsley in a large bowl. Cover and chill 2 hours. Place on lettuce leaves and serve. Serves 4.

10 kitchen must-haves for healthy eaters

N.moon — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:01:44 GMT

Sorry for my sporadic posting this week. My mom is in town visiting and I am enjoying my time with her. But I caught a quick break and thought I'd post a list of some of my "must-have" kitchen gadgets. These are the things that I find in my dish pile pretty much every night.

1. A good cutting board and chopping knife: Fresh fruits, veggies and meats almost always require some sort of preparation involving a cutting board. We've recently started cutting down on our processed foods and invested in some good knives and a couple cutting boards. I've never been one to spend much on knives. We have a simple JAHenckel knife. We also have several cutting boards. One is a granite on in the shape of an apple (my kitchen is apple-themed LOL) another mid-sized plastic one that is dishwasher safe that we use for cutting meat and a large bamboo wood cutting board that is the bomb! We've tried the rubber mat cutting boards which work great with duller knives, but don't buy into the hype about them being indestructible. My hubby sharpened our knives a couple of weeks ago and, well, that was the end of the rubber mat at our house.

2. Steamer: Steamed vegetables are a great way to cook veggies without removing all of the great nutrients that they hold. You can buy those fancy layered steamers or bamboo steamers. They are pretty expensive but I hear they work great. I have a $5 metal fan steamer that I bought at the local grocery store. Works just as well as the others without inflicting any pain on my pocketbook.

3. Wok: Stir-frying is a great way to be healthy (provided you use healthy oils when frying). I tend to use my wok on leftover night, I'll cut up all the remaining veggies and meats, throw them in with some rice, vinegar, olive oil and spices and come up with a truly unique and tasty meal.

4. Grill utensils: About 50 percent of our cooking is done on the grill. Grilled meat and veggies! YUM! I realize that we are lucky because we live in Arizona where it's grill season year-round. But cooking outside is also very healthy. It eliminates the use of a lot of fat, grease that can come from oven cooking.

5. Rice cooker: Brown rice and wild rice are staples at our house. Both are high fiber and very nutritious. I buy them in bulk at the local health food store and cook large quantities at a time in the rice cooker and refrigerate until needed.

6. Salad spinner: There's been a lot of hype about these things. Some people think they work, others think they are a waste of time and money. I'm on the fence about them. I do see that they work with some types of lettuce, but not all. It can be a waste of time if you don't have it, but if you do, it does perk up the lettuce which helps it to taste better.

7. Hand Grater: Trick of the trade that I learned from a family member, orange and/or lemon zest can spice up just about any bland recipe you have. I added some recently in a baked chicken recipe and ooohhh la la, yum!

8. Water filter: Depending on where you live, water from the tap may be questionable. Just about everywhere I've lived has required me to find drinking water elsewhere. Until recently we bought bottled waters or had water containers delivered. But in an effort to save money we switched over to the Brita Filter for Good and bought ourselves water bottles and a refridgerator sized Brita filter. The water tastes great and the extra money is wonderful.

9. Baking Pans: When I first got married my mom threw me a Pampered Chef bridal shower, which was great, but I walked away with a dozen or so of those heavy "bakeware" baking pans. Thank goodness, over the years they have broken and gotten replaced with good old fashioned glass and metal ones. The bakeware did nothing for me. But, I use my new ones to bake veggie casseroles or chicken and they turn out delicious.

10. Breadmaker: This is another one of those toss ups like the salad spinner. Some say it's not economical to make your own bread (they are right, it's not) but others swear by them. It's really your choice. I choose to use mine because we are looking to different alternatives to processed foods.

linked up

N.moon — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:48:04 GMT

Food Links:

Top Money Saving Ingredients Epicurious

I'm Lovin' It - McDonald's Inspired Cupcakes Cupcake Takes the Cake

How to Make Green Beer for St. Patty's Day Serious Eats

Coke Says Drink Mountain Dew So Good

Recipe Links:

Ranch Parmesan Chicken Make Life Delicious

Dieting Links:

Tips for Chosing a Personal Trainer girlawhirl

100 Calorie Krispy Kremes? The 100 Calorie Blog

recipe of the day: garlic broccoli drizzle

N.moon — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:41:22 GMT

A fellow mom rattled off this recipe during a conversation earlier this week. I was a little skeptical at first, but it's really a tasty way to dress up your regular ol' steamed broccoli.

Garlic Brocolli Drizzle

INGREDIENTS

Fresh broccoli
1/2 cup rice vinegar
as much chopped garlic as you can stand
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dijon mustard

DIRECTIONS

1. Steam broccoli until tender

2. Mix vinegar, garlic, salt & pepper and dijon mustard

3. Drizzle vinegar mixture over broccoli and serve

calorie cover-up: newsflash restaurants lie

N.moon — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:32:45 GMT

The CBS station in New York City has uncovered that local restaurants often underestimate exactly how many calories are in their foods. The restaurants highlighted in the story? Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts.

So, what does that mean for us consumers? Take the information you're given with a grain of salt (or flour, maybe?) and push your local lawmakers to pass laws to pass laws giving health departments more or better oversight of nutritional disclosures.

While I do believe these "discrepancies" were most likely unintentional, buyer beware.

taste test: Frey Vineyard's Organic Wine

N.moon — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:10:42 GMT

I first read about this wine a year ago in diet-craze book The Skinny Bitch . It's the country's first sustainable, certified organic wine. Made without sulfites and other additives, I was expecting it to taste a little unusual maybe a little earthy and tart but I was surprised. It was a GREAT wine! Sweet and tart at the same time and gave great legs in the glass. I tried the Zinfandel with our steak dinner last night. YUM!

For about $8 a bottle you can buy this wine at Whole Foods and other health food stores. I found mine at Sprouts here in Arizona. They have Pinot Noir, Syrah, Zinfandel, Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay (among plenty of others) and even boast a growing wine club that I am seriously considering joining.

hitting the trails: awesome trail mix recipe!

N.moon — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:12:32 GMT

I conquered the mountain yesterday with some friends. Okay, not really, but we did take a really great hike, got to spend some time together in the sun and burned a whole lotta calories. I stopped at one point and met a lady who had some really delicious homemade trail mix with her. At first taste, I was in love with it, so I gave her my email and asked her to send me the recipe.

Now, because I think it was so great, I'm passing it on to you. Enjoy!

Basic Trail Mix Recipe

Combine one quarter cup each of the following ingredients: unsalted peanuts, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried apricots, raisins, chocolate chips, pretzels, Cheerios, Chex, granola. (Feel free to leave out any ingredients that don't sound good.) Mix together in a big bowl. Store in an airtight container or eat immediately.