"Use It Up" Mentality

One of the biggest perks of moving towards whole, local foods is that I am forced to dig through my pantry and freezer for inspiration. (Although, I will tell you that I have found some amazing blogs that really inspire me as well!) We have really been diversifying our eating around here, and what started as a burden has become a great joy. For example, last week, in an effort to use up some veggies I made a shrimp and brown rice stir fry. It was AMAZING! I was pretty skeptical, but I ended up LOVING IT! And, frankly, I think it was pretty healthy. I will work on reducing the amount of oil in the future, but 4T isn't too bad for two nights of dinners. (I usually try to double what I'm cooking and store the rest in the freezer for a second meal.) Monday night I made sweet potato crusted talapia that Ryan actually enjoyed! He's my toughest crowd member! Of course I have been cooking every night, but these were two of my favorite new dishes.

Last night I went through all of my grains and decided to use some stash. I have had a can of rolled oats FOREVER! I have never used it well but always been inspired by its nutritional value. I found a very interesting recipe, modified it a bit, and made cookies...NO sugar and NO flour! I used chocolate chips instead of raisins, and I will reduce the amount next time I make these. Having said that, I think this cookie is a grand alternative "treat" for Benjamin!

This is an adapted recipe from naturallyknockedup.com:
1.5C rolled oats
1C unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2t salt
1/2C flax meal
1/2C walnuts
3 mashed bananas
2 eggs
1/4C melted virgin coconut oil
1T vanilla
Mix and bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.
I had to make some hummus for lunch and realized that we were short on crackers. This is the year to make them! I found this recipe for wheat-thin-like crackers. B LOVES them and calls them "cookies" even though there is only 1T honey in the entire batch! I don't know that they're the ideal companion to hummus, but I will be sending them with peanut butter for B's lunch tomorrow.
As you can tell, I am also experimenting with different flours right now. Currently, flax meal is my wheat replacement of choice. I have also ordered some almond flour that is due to arrive next week. I'm very excited!