What's for dinner?

     So I know, I didn't blog on our start date. I honestly intended to, but this week has been super busy for me. Thursday was our official start date that we had picked (May 1st). I'll be honest with you guys, we probably should have started on Monday. While we've eaten what we're supposed to, we have a lot going on this weekend, cookouts, and dinner outings, it's inevitable, we're going to be cheating a little this weekend. BUT we promise be super strict with no exceptions starting on Monday. You guys are in charge of holding us accountable.


     Another thing that I've wanted to do all week, but haven't been able to because of all the rain, was finish planting the garden. It's surprisingly hard to find organic seedlings around here. I had to drive about 30 minutes away to find them. So Friday night, we all pitched in and got the job done.

And here's Ryland just being silly. 

It doesn't look like much, but I'm really hoping that it will be enough to provide us with lots of fresh, organic veggies. We have a small planter garden on the deck too. I just didn't have enough space to plant everything I wanted to. The kids were really excited about helping out, and even Cory didn't complain. =)

Now, what have we been eating? Well, the first night, I didn't get home until late, so I grabbed something quick and easy from Earth Fare. We had spinach, garlic, and chicken sausages, sauteed zucchini and onions, peas, and pineapple. Kind of a strange meal I guess, but it was pretty good. I try not to use too many packaged things, but it is convenient occasionally.

The second night, we had this:

Chicken and Vegetable Stirfry  

1-2 pounds of chicken, cut into chunks

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 shallots

Handful of fresh oregano

Handful of fresh basil

Handful of fresh sage

Handful of freshrossemary

Sea Salt, to taste

1 bag of stirfry veggies, or 2 cups of diced veggies of your choice.

Cut up chicken into chunks, and put it in a skillet with the oil, Cook until the chicken is just about done. Then add your shallots, herbs, sea salt and vegges. Cook until the veggies are tender

It was so good! I forgot to take a picture, so this is a half-eaten bowl of the veggies, but you get the idea.

And last night, I have my very good friend, Grace, to thank for this recipe. She's been eating healthy and organic for about a year, and called me the other day and took the time to talk about things she has learned, recipes, and that type of thing. I'm going to be using a lot of her tips, but don't worry, I'll share them with you! So tonight, we had a roast chicken. Looks amazing, huh?

Roasted Chicken

The recipe she gave me calls for butter, but since we are cutting out dairy for now, I used olive oil.

Rinse the chicken really well. Make a rub using 1/2 stick melted butter (or 1/4 cup olive oil) Add 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp onion powder. Rub on the chicken. Take 1 tsp salt, sprinkle into cavity. You can stuff your chicken with onions and vegetables for flavor and moisture. Cook 400 degrees for 1.5 hours for 4 lb chicken until 180 degrees.

After your chicken cooks, and you take all the meat off off it, use the scraps to make a very healthy chicken stock. Put it in the freezer, and use it to make homemade soups, or other recipes. And here's the recipe for that:

Chicken Broth

Chicken leftovers

3 quarts water

2 Tablespoons sea salt

4 chopped carrots

4 chopped celery stalks

1 small onion, chopped

4 small or 2 large garlic cloves, chopped

2 Tablespoons Bragg's raw unfiltered organic apple cider vinegar

fresh parsley

Throw all the skin, bones, and broth into soup pot. Add all the rest of the ingredients. Turn on high until it comes to a boil. Then cover, turn to low, and leave it for 24 hours. Then strain it, (throw all the veggies and bones away) and put it into freezer bags. 

You can put it in different quantities for different recipes. For example, put 1 cup into a bag, then 2 cups into a bag, just be sure to label the amount. This makes an extremely healthy broth, full of nutrients, and none of the preservatives and other junk.