Hearty Black Bean Soup

1 cup tomato salsa
2 (15 1/2 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Sour cream

Instructions

1.  Heat the salsa in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Stir in the beans and broth.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the soup, covered, for 15 minutes.

2.  Let the soup cool slightly, then ladle half of it into a food processor or blender and puree it.  Return pureed soup to the pot.  Stir in the lime juice and chopped cilantro and heat the mixture through.  Serve the soup warm, topped with a dollop of sour cream, if desired.  Makes 4 servings.

This is my favorite quick, easy, healthy lunch.  I just put all of the ingredients in my Vita-mix blender, put it on the hot soups setting and we have lunch hot and ready in about 5 minutes!

Peanut Butter Balls

This is a favorite addition to the kids lunches, a great after school snack, or I have also made peanut butter balls to go along with our morning smoothie.  We found this recipe in the Friend Magazine in August of 2004, and it has been a favorite ever since!

Peanut Butter Balls

BY JANE MCBRIDE CHOATE

---

1/2 cup honey

1 1/2 cups powdered milk

1/2 cup peanut butter

choice of topping: shredded coconut, shelled sunflower seeds, or chopped nuts

1. 1. 
   Combine the first three ingredients and form into small balls.
2. 2. 
   Roll the balls in your choice of topping.

Easy Cold Lunch Idea

I realize, I didn't post this before school got out, but it is a good lunch idea anyway.  

Granola

Strawberries

Grapes

Apples

Yogurt

Water Bottle 

(FYI- I found these water bottles at Old Navy and they are my favorite, because they are dishwasher safe!!) 

Spring Cleaning: Body Clutter

It is that time of year when we welcome the happy signs of springtime life.  Along with freshening up our houses I always find motivation to loose those extra pounds that I always seem to gain between Halloween and New Years.

Yes, I realize that this year I am gaining weight very quickly (I am pregnant) but I know that eating healthy now will help me to feel good and have a better recovery after pregnancy.  

I wanted to get a visual picture of what  I eat so I have been taking pictures of each meal with the ipad.

I know it is a little silly to take a picture of what you eat, but it has helped me to be more aware of what  I am eating.  I also take time to put everything on my plate and then sit down to eat instead of just snacking while I prepare the kid's meals.  

Breakfast

 orange, cheerios, skim milk, almonds, dried cranberries

 oatmeal, pecans, natural applesause, skim milk

 cottage cheese, natural applesauce, applesauce muffin

 orange, granola, banana, almonds

 pecans, greek yogurt, skim milk, fresh rasberries

 apple, greek yogurt, pecans, flax seed

12 grain bread, scrambled egg, grapefruit

Lunch

left over lasagna, carrots, apple, whole wheat toast

green smoothie, peanut butter balls, carrots, and sandwich 

(I am sure I ate more than a quarter of a sandwich :)

green smoothie, tuna cheese melt, pickle, and oranges

turkey sandwich with lettuce, cheese, avocado, yellow peppers, and an apple

whole grain breadsticks, greek yogurt, grapes, turkey, light string cheese

left over salmon, rice, mixed vegetables, crackers, cheese, and natural applesauce.

sandwich with tons of vegetables and greek yogurt with fresh raspberries.

bean burritos (cheese, beans, and corn) and a strawberry smoothie

Dinner

 garden vegetable wraps, fruit with veggies with ranch

 Southwest stroganoff with lettuce wraps

 asparagus, rice, and broccoli beef 

 homemade cornbread with honey and butter and winter vegetable chowder

Snacks

Quick and Easy Taco Salad

This is my very favorite meal when we need lunch or dinner in a hurry.

  This is what we do:

On a plate we layer:

Tortilla Chips

Lettuce

Canned Chili (warmed)

Grated Cheese

Tomato or Salsa

Ranch Dressing

Quick, easy, and delicious :)

Lunch Idea

Susan Christensen just sent me this great lunch idea:

What's for lunch?

Last year as I sat stuffing ziploc bags with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and apple slices I wondered what we could do to add some variety to the cold lunches for the school kids and cut back on the messy lunchtime at home with the little kids.  

My Aunt send me an email with a great way to give cold lunches a new life!  

Have you heard of Bentos?  They are Japanese style, creatively packed boxed lunch.  The great thing about Bentos is that it helps you to think outside of a sandwich and make lunch time more creative and healthy.  

The first thing I did is make a list of items in every food group that we could have on hand for lunches. I have a "bentos chalkboard" in my kitchen.

Grain

crackers

bread

english muffins

pretzels

tortillas

Protein

nuts

boiled eggs

lunch meat

peanut butter

Vegetables

carrots

salad

olives

tomatoes

cucumber

Fruit

apples

grapes 

bananas

strawberries

dried fruit

Dairy

yogurt

milk

string cheese 

cottage cheese

Then I went to the local Grocery Store (couldn't find them at Walmart) and picked up some new containers for our lunches. (The containers are Ziploc brand and were only a few dollars). When you consider the cost of ziploc bags or prepackaged foods it saves a lot of money. 

The third step in improving our lunches was to assign our 10 year old to help with lunches each morning!  During the summer we make Bentos lunches in the morning (when the breakfast mess is out) and then if we decided to go to the park we already have lunches ready to go.  It also saves on clean up time after lunch.  (once  I get little kids down for naps I would rather not spend the afternoon doing dishes:)  

There are many great websites that offer ideas and of course Pinterest has a lot of great pictures!  

I like the bentos ideas on this blog Thoroughly In Earnest

here are some of her pictures:

*I also bought little ice packs that I stick in their lunch bags with the bentos.  

Healthy Happy Lunch

I was a little skeptical when my friend, Jessica Orrock, mention that her family really likes Lemony Lima Beans with Parmesan.  I made them last night for dinner and Hyrum requested that I make them again for lunch.  Yes, it was good.

Healthy Fruit Smoothy

orange juice + frozen fruit= yummy

Homemade Toast

Lemony Lima Beans with Parmesan

course salt and ground pepper

2 (10 ounce) packages frozen baby lima beans, thawed

3 T. olive oil

1 T. lemon zest

2 T. fresh lemon juice

1/3 c. shaved or shredded parmesan cheese

1.  Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.  Add lima beans and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4 minutes.  Drain, rinse with cold water (to stop further cooking), then drain again, and pat dry with paper towels.

2.  Transfer lima beans to a bowl.  Sir in oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper.  Divide among four serving plates, and sprinkle with Parmesan.

6 grams of protein and 0 grams of fat, you can't beat that!