at home with ann

For the past few weeks, I've been doing the 21 Day Fix .  Let me tell you, those workouts are no joke, and they work. Along with the workouts is a clean eating plan. I personally found the portion controlling to be a little restrictive (I'm going to eat as many fruits and vegetables as I want), but I liked that it was a reminder to eat clean and avoid processed food.  I always love the opportunity to try new recipes, and everything we've been eating lately is going into our regular rotation.  I put together a little round-up of some of my favorites, because I assure you that my easy variation on tuna nicoise is far better than cold grilled cheese crusts for lunch. Breakfast Veggie Scramble - This has become one of my favorite dishes. I cook zucchini, kale, and tomatoes in olive oil. Mix with a scrambled egg and top with pesto. Avocado Toast - So simple, so filling, and so good.  A slice of Ezekial or other sprouted bread, topped with mashed avocado, an egg and se

A few weeks ago we went into Boston for the day. After chasing little people up, down, and around the Children's Museum, watching Colin climb up three stories on a jungle gym and James' excitement at a room filled with golf balls, we went to Flour Bakery for lunch.  I had the Roasted Sweet Potato sandwich, and it was amazing. I just checked the menu , and it looks like they don't offer it right now, but lucky for you I made a salad that's just as good.  The original sandwich was roasted sweet potato, apple, walnut pesto, blue cheese and kale on wheat bread.  I took some liberties, changed up some ingredients, and made it into a salad. Roasted Sweet Potato Salad Romaine and Kale, shredded Olive oil Sweet potato rounds, roasted Apple, sliced Avocado Roasted tomatoes Goat cheese Balsamic Vinegar Drizzle kale and romaine with olive oil Sweet potatoes - coat slices or cubes with olive oil and roast at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Tomatoes - toss with olive o

This version of Sloppy Joes is lightened up with ground turkey, and packs a bunch of vegetables into the mix.  My brother-in-law, who might be my most loyal reader, lived with us a few years ago, and probably remembers the Sloppy Jane. It used lentils instead of meat and was even healthier than this version.  After the lentil taco incident, which some of you may recall, I've stayed away from those particular legumes for the time being. Turkey Sloppy Joes Ingredients: 1 lb. ground turkey 1 zucchini, shredded 1-2 carrots, shredded 1 onion, shredded or chopped 1 garlic clove, shredded or chopped Olive oil Salt and pepper 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 8 oz. tomato sauce 1/4-1/2 cup barbecue sauce Rolls, for serving In a medium saucepan, saute zucchini, carrots, onion and garlic until soft. I shredded everything in the food processor, but you could also use a box grater or just chop finely. When vegetables are cooked through, move them to the side of the pan and add

It's been pointed out to me by more than one person that I haven't been posting much lately.  I'm here to remedy that with an easy and healthy meal your whole family will enjoy, as long as you don't have a finicky 4-year-old. Truth be told, instead of writing down recipes and photographing meals, life is moving pretty quickly around here.  Many afternoons I make dinner in 5 minute increments running into the kitchen while I leave Colin "in charge" outside in the back yard. Someday this will likely result in James running Colin over with the mini John Deere (again...), or someone getting stuck in a tree. If you follow me on Facebook (please do! I share mini-recipes and awkward comments - link is on the sidebar), you know I have a serious addiction to my spiralizer.  There are zucchini noodles all over the place here.  Today, I set my beloved kitchen gadget aside for a y-shaped peeler to make these noodles.  This has all the cheesy, saucy goodness of your fa

This has quickly become one of my new favorite meals.  Quick, easy, healthy, and the kids (usually) enjoy it, too.  That's pretty much all I ask for these days.  It's also great because you can stock all the ingredients in your pantry/freezer to have at the ready.  Long gone are the evenings of leisurely stirring risotto for forty minutes while sipping on a few glasses of wine.  Yesterday I put all the ingredients in the crock pot after lunch and dinner was ready to go at our early bird time of 5pm when we came in from playing a highly competitive game of outdoors Chutes and Ladders.  If you're wondering what that is, it's basically Colin directing me around the yard to most of the "chutes" and him winning the game.  The champion always seems to win ice cream. White Chicken Chili 1 lb. chicken breasts (fresh or frozen) 2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed 1 8 oz. jar salsa verde (I like the Trader Joe's brand) 2 teaspoons cumin 2-4 cups chicken

This was such an easy dinner, perfect for weeknights.  I turned on the oven at 4 and we were ready to eat at 5.  The early bird special works for the kids, otherwise they are demolishing snacks and getting sleepy at the table later.  Last weekend Jon and I went out to dinner for the first time in, oh, 8 months. We put the kids to bed first so we didn't eat until 9.  I was demolishing snacks and getting sleepy at the table, because apparently I'm 4.  Or 94. I made my own pesto, because bunches of basil were half the price of tiny containers of pesto, but either works here. Pesto Baked Chicken Ingredients: 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (depending on the thickness you may want to slice them horizontally or pound them) Pesto 1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes (or use fresh) 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour diced tomatoes into the bottom of a baking dish. Arrange chicken breasts on top. Spread with pesto. Sprinkle with cheese.