Day 7: Our journey comes to an end....

Dinner was great.  The fish with the yogurt and cornflakes was wonderful but I think I made the coating a bit too think.  The vegetables were great and we had some left over broccoli so we added that to have some more.

Lunch today was ok.  I love lentils and I appreciated the freshness the zucchini and squash brought to the soup but it was a little bland....nothing that some Tabasco didn't help!

This week has been challenging but overall a fun and interesting.

• I appreciated so many great meals that were out of the box and now have me thinking about fresh healthy food in a new way.
• I loved how efficient the Chef was with so many of the veggies and ingredients - one recipe would call for 1/2 cabbage and another for 1/4 and then a 3rd for the last 1/4.  It made sure there was no waste which I really appreciated.  I want to incorporate this into my menu planning - so many times I waste veggies that I didn't finish - by planning better I can make sure to incorporate recipes that use it all.
• My family is constantly trying to eat this way - fresh, healthy and on a budget - and there are many recipes this week that will become Mosteller family recipes.

This has been a great week and I'd like to thank the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Chef Justin for keeping us feed well and happy this week!

Now Chef Justin...um, when do we get to cook for you?

Day 6: Cole Slaw the biggest hit of the week?!?! Who knew!

We moved things around a bit today because we headed out to Tallahassee's amazing Red Hills Horse Trials.  James cooked the peanut crusted french toast for us for breakfast this morning!  It was really good.  I think it could have been dipped a bit longer in the yummy french toast sauce but otherwise it was great!

The girls didn't particularly like the toast which surprised me. 

The other funny thing about breakfast was that Chef Justin had has mix jelly in with our vanilla yogurt to add a fruit flavor to it.  I did this earlier this week thinking I had come up with some brilliant idea and two days later it was on the menu!

Day 7 Lunch is PB&J and that was the plan for lunch but we ended up eating at the horse trials.  We'll do Day 6 lunch - lentil soup tomorrow.

Dinner tonight was the Chicken Pasta Bake with Cole Slaw.  The Chicken Bake was ok...a little bland.  I was worried that it would be dry because the recipe didn't call for adding any moisture - so I ended up adding about 3/4 a can of Cream of Mushroom soup. 

But the biggest surprise of the night was the cole slaw.  First the recipe was so amazingly simple and easy to prepare.  Although it did call for cider vinegar which was not on the original shopping list.  I happen to have some so it worked out fine.  The kids LOVED the slaw.  I mean ate it all and asked for more!  I never would have dreamed that they would have enjoyed raw vegetables with so little dressing but they absolutely did - it will become a new staple in our home!

Tomorrow is our last day!  Chef Justin - What in the world will we eat next week?

Day 5: Fajitas...but better I didn't cook them!

First true confessions....I did not partake in the PB&J for lunch today because my office had a lunch meeting..but I'm sure it would have been great!

Dinner was the best of the week because I got into the kitchen and it was done!  James took over the cooking tonight -which does not happen often!  It was great...I wish there had been more veggies in the meat mixture but you can't go wrong with fajitas!  They are almost as good as tacos!  I have to say with the two southwestern nights this week - I have missed guacamole - but I can only awesome the avacados would have broken the bank.

Day 5 - We felt like royalty!

Pancakes on a weekday!  Crazy but delicious!  And wildly enough we had enough time today.  Chef had has purchase whole wheat pancake mix and the only option was Hungry Jack Whole Wheat.  And they were great - but comparing nutrition labels these were unfortunately had no more nutritional value than a regular mix pancake.  I say this only to say that it is an absolute pet peeve of mine to when they try to dupe you into thinking that something is healthy - when it isn't.  But all that said... they were great!  (I added some pecans into mine!)

A personal note on our crazy plates you may see in pictures...they are picnic plates that were wedding gifts and for kids they are perfect because they can't break!

Day 4 - All of it and stewed cabbage......

Today has been a crazy day!
The breakfast was great.  I enjoy a good bowl of corn flakes and they were topped with bananas!  I forgot how good that was...  Again, I didn't go for the cooked apples but I mixed a teaspoon of blackberry jam in with my vanilla yogurt and it was great.  Instant blackberry yogurt!

Lunch was the casserole of the left over taco meat, macaroni, and cheese.  It was so incredibly easy to make that I LOVED that part and the taste was surprisingly good.  It was so simple that I didn't have high expectations but it was great.  It was a bit difficult to take it for lunch - we baked it in the morning which added to the craziness of getting out the door.

Dinner was really quite good.  The steak was so thin, that I kept hearing my father complaining that it didn't  possibly count as a steak.  But the flavor of the seasoning, I used Everglades Heat seasoning and Cavenders Greek seasoning, was great.  Cooking the stewed cabbage was entirely a leap of faith and pessimism is the nicest word to say what I was thinking when I prepared it!  But I have to say it was great, I mean so good that it will likely get added into a regular rotation of vegetables in our family! 

I love finding healthy foods that I have dismissed because of my percpetion of them, only to find out it is a delicious and great option for our family.  So thanks Chef for adding a new veggie into our family!

Day 3: TACO NIGHT!!!

Taco night is my favorite dinner night! In fact I would have tacos most every day if James would let us and these tacos did not disappoint!  It was such a unique take on tacos - we loved it.

The black beans call for 2 hours on the stove so instead I cooked them in the slow cooker all day on low and they were perfect for when we got home.  That saved some time.  I love brown rice but hate that it takes an hour.

The taco meat was so different with the slight crunch of zucchini and squash but it was a pleasant surprise.  The yogurt was a stretch for me but I followed directions and it was a really great addition.  It added a sweet/tartness that complimented the tacos.  We didn't tell the girls it was yogurt until AFTER dinner and they didn't believe us!  Harris even said..but mom I don't LIKE yogurt!

The only negative to the dish were the tortillas and I take responsibility for that.  I thought I bought two packages of a brand we know we like but I didn't realize that one of the packages was a different brand that turned out to be too dry.

All and all another successful dish by Chef Justin!

Day 3: Breakfast and Lunch

Lunch: PB & J
This is a classic I confess I never get tired of!  In addition, I love to find something to 'dip' my pretzels in - usually, it is just mustard.  But in the drawer of my office kitchen I found some random mustard packets and a spicy bbq sauce pack and mixed together it is a great 'dip' for my pretzels!

Breakfast:
What a hurried time in our house!  The menu called for honey dew but our family, especially our son Raines, loves cantaloupe.  For a dollar less we choose the cantaloupe and it was the first the scarfed up this morning.  So much so that when I took the last piece, my first piece, my 2 year old threw such a fit that I conceded - it was a wimp mom moment! 

The oatmeal was a mixed bag in our house.  My husband and middle daughter ate it up.  But my oldest and myself weren't on board.  I like oatmeal but this recipe called to top it with cinnamon apples.  While I like to think of myself as an adventurous eater - I'll be the first to admit that I don't eat cooked fruit, in any form (um...unless you count bananas foster!)

Anyway, instead of topping mine with the apples I thought I'd try to mimic Quaker's Maple and Brown Sugar oatmeal and failed miserably when I thought a touch of honey would work!  So by the time all was said and done I had lost my window for breakfast at home.

Day 2 / Dinner: Who doesn't like spaghetti?

Everyone in our house enjoyed the spaghetti and it made a ton.  I added a big can of crushed tomatoes to the recipe because we all prefer a bit more sauce with the meat. But it was very meaty and a great recipe.  And we have plenty of leftovers.

Some of the portions have been a little small - like the soup today - but tonight the whole 1 lb of pasta was too much.  Don't get me wrong - we love leftovers in this house so there is no complaining here.

The soup turned out to not be so popular and this was the 1st time the girls took a thermos to school, which turned into a bit of a mess!  Note to mothers - teach your children how to properly and tightly screw lids on their thermos!

After hearing the girls talk about the soup today, I confess that this could easily have been 'operator' error and not the recipe.  But James and the girls complained about it being too 'soupy' - so I want to go back and see where I might have gone wrong.

In addition to the great meals so far blogging has added a whole new dimension and I find that it is opening a dialogue for me at work and with friends to talk about ways to provide great fresh meals for your family and in return we are getting some good ideas as well.

I appreciate the efforts of Commissioner Putnam to bring fresh eating into the daily lives of Florida's children and families and that our family gets to be a small part of that challenge has already been rewarding and we are only on Day 2!

See you all tomorrow and happy cooking!

Day 2 - Breakfast and Lunch

Breakfast -  Cereal , cottage cheese and fresh fruit

Cottage cheese?  I can't lie going into breakfast this morning I kept seeing Jane Fonda in her 80s get up.....  But by and large the cottage cheese was a hit.  Our son, Raines (2) loved the cottage cheese, Harris liked it and Mahlon was too busy fighting it to realize that it actually tastes good!  Check out their comments on the "What the Kids Think" page.

The kids felt the cereal was bland so I let them add one packet of Splenda to it and that seemed to do the trick.

Breakfast was hard this morning as we all raced to get out the door but by an large we managed to pull it off!

Lunch - Creamy Potato Soup

I made the soup and salad last night to save time this morning.  Everything looks great but it really doesn't seem like it is enough.  Last night I doubled the amount of potatoes from 4 to 8 but there still isn't much.  So I sent soup with the girls and James (since he missed the zucchini cakes) and I'll take a PB&J.

As a mom, there are few a things I wonder if I'm doing right, a lot of things I wish I did better and a handful of things I'm feel spot on proud of.  One of the things I am proud of is our snack drawer.  Each Sunday I cut up a ton of fresh fruit and veggies - put it into individual serving bags and fill up the bottom drawer of our fridge.  That way we have snacks ready to go anytime anyone is hungry and for lunches.  So to supplement the girls lunch today they picked two bags from the snack drawer - grapes and strawberries.

Day 1 - Dinner and confession of a Southerner

Dinner tonight was amazing.  I forget how great a roasted chicken can be and other than taking 90 minutes to cook it is so easy to make.

We followed the recipes to the letter.  I used Cavenders Greek Seasoning for the chicken and everything else was great.  The mashed potatoes were wonderful and we used skim milk as the milk.  The green beans were crisp and the tomatoes added a freshness to the flavor that was really amazing.

My confession is simply that as a Southerner - I couldn't look at all those drippings in the bottom of the roasting pan and simply throw them out.  So, I drained off all of the grease added a little flour and chicken broth and made gravy...because well that is just what we do!

This meal was super easy for me tonight and partly because  I had the day off because our girls were out of school.  I'm heading back to work tomorrow and won't have as much time.  But our hats are off to Chef Justin for flavor points and we look forward to more yummy-ness this week.

How will the girls handle soup in their lunch boxes?

Day 1 so far.....

Day 1

Breakfast

First the breakfast was delicious and very well balanced.  It tasted great and the kids were totally impressed!  However, trying to cook potatoes on a week morning was a bit time consuming.  James and I both woke up a bit early but it was worth it to spend some time together with my husband and the kitchen and to put such a great breakfast in front of my children!  Not sure based off of time I could do it every morning but overall it was a big success.

Lunch

Amazing!  Is the best word to describe the pancakes.  I’m sure I could have done them so they were prettier and crispier but they was so delicious and easy!  Using the pancake batter was a great idea.

The yogurt sauce was great as well, my family is originally from Louisiana so our ‘general spice’ was Creole seasoning.

The salad was great as well but I’m not a fan of just oil and vinegar as the dressing so I made a mixed up my own.  Our dressing was Italian seasoning mix, balsamic and red wine vinegars and then when I ran out of olive oil I used a little sesame oil and vegetable oil.  It turned out to be delicious! With great flavor!

Glad to say that Mahlon who's initial reaction was to hate the pancakes did a 180 and loved them!  I'm proud of my girls for being so enthusiastic and supportive of this challenge!

The Trip to the Grocery Store

The grocery store was quite an adventure, of course anything with three kids is an adventure.  By and large we were able to stick to the generic name brands and Chef Justin’s prices.  

However, I did make a couple of executive decisions.  For instance with Oatmeal and OJ – I think you get what you pay for and I was willing to pay a little extra to get the name brands I know I like.  On the meats, I got 4 lbs of turkey because we are a family of 5 and was worried that based off of the menus the 3 lbs would not be enough.  The store didn’t have sirloin strips only full steaks which cost a bit more.  I saved money however on peanut butter because in our house we make our own and I already had peanuts to take care of that.  The biggest cost shocker came with the tomatoes – according to Chef Justin I should have been able to get 9 tomatoes for $3.00, but they didn’t have the packs Chef Justin recommended so 9 tomatoes would have been almost $11.00.  I put 3 of the tomatoes back, we paid $7.15, and will make do.

There are some items that are in recipes that weren’t on the grocery list – olive oil, vinegar, honey and general spice.  While it is true these are pantry staples and we have all of them in stock.  It should be noted that olive oil and honey can be quite expensive on the week you have to purchase them.

There were also some items that we bought outside of the list.  For instance, our children tend to have fresh fruits for their snacks so we bought strawberries and grapes for them as well as some household items.  We spent an additional $54 on these items.

Tomorrow our cooking adventure begins.  I am still concerned about the time it will take to prepare some of the meals, especially on a weeknight, but I am also really looking forward to expanding our pallet and enjoying some new menu items we wouldn’t have otherwise tried.

Fresh Eating on a Budget - Cragin

My husband works for the American Heart Association which strongly supports revamping school lunch programs to provide children with a more balanced and health diet.  In addition, we are a family of five that regularly struggles to put quick, healthy, inexpensive meals on our table.

So when James (my husband) mentioned that the Florida Agriculture Commissioner had challenged Florida Chef Justin Timineri to create an affordable healthy menu, I was intrigued and suggested we give it a try. 

Before we start let me tell you a little bit about our family.  My husband and I both work full time demanding jobs – which leaves us little time in the kitchen!  We are parents to three beautiful children, Harris (7), Mahlon (6) and Raines (2).

Breakfast for our family is typically oatmeal breakfast bars or cereal.  My 7 year old likes to make herself a tortilla wrapped with lunch meat and cheese. 

For lunch, the children take a ham or turkey and cheese sandwich with three sides – one for snack and two for lunch.  The sides are always a fruit and/or vegetable – apples, grapes, tomatoes, melon, carrots are the main staples.  The kids don’t have chips or cookies in their lunch.  To drink the kids take a Capri-sun water.  

My husband and I for lunch tend to eat whatever is around – either a Lean Cuisine or out at a restaurant.

For dinner, I try to cook every night and we eat as a family most nights.  A typical dinner is usually a one pot meal but if not I try to always have a veggie with the protein. 

As a rule I feel we eat ‘fairly’ healthy, while we don’t always count calories, I try to keep us away from processed foods, sticking to whole grains and fresh foods.

For the next seven days we have committed to following Chef Justin’s menu for a healthy and inexpensive week.  I’ll admit I’m a bit nervous.

My two main concerns are time and taste. I’m worried that the time to fix any of the meals will be more than our weekly calendar will allow.  And I admit, I like what I like.  I’m nervous that the meals may not be something my children or I would prefer. 

My family and I will blog daily on our food experience and hope that our experience will encourage others to know that you can have a wonderful fresh and healthy diet on a budget!

Important Links: Chef Justin's Challenge
                          How to Eat Healthy on Tight Budget, the Recipes