Grilled Pineapple and Coconut Pepper Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Today was the kind of day where I wanted to sit on a beach and sip a strawberry-mango drink as waves lapped over my toes. Yeah, I indulged that fantasy for all of thirty seconds before I was slapped back into reality by the cruel hand of the pile of laundry that sat in front of me, fantasizing about being folded and put away. So I settled for a tropically flavored dinner.

Grilled Pineapple and Coconut Pepper Chicken Lettuce Wraps. Whew, that's a long title. But this is so delicious and nutritious, that I had to include allllllll of the extremely yummified ingredients to tease you and tempt you into making this. The best part is, you will eat seconds and thirds of this and be completely guilt free! This was a meal I whipped up in a few minutes using goodies from my Bountiful Basket this week (see this post for a BB explanation), and boy, am I glad I did! My husband, who is definitely an "all-American man food" sort of guy, expressed satisfaction with this meal. We kept it light and didn't do any sides with this, but some fresh veggies, or a brown rice infused with saffron or other magical spice would do well with this. These wraps are summery, light and island-tropical. They are the perfect get-away when you are unfortunately trapped in your own home and can't just hop a flight to Maui. Get yourself some pineapple and make this as soon as possible. Your mouth, belly and family will thank you. I will recommend some other options in the recipe commentary to spice this little gem of a recipe up.

Eating Well (Healthy, Clean and Natural) on a Budget

My husband and I were married about seven months ago, and once the honeymoon period wore off (which was actually pretty quickly, since I got sick right after we came home from our honeymoon), we were smacked in the face by reality. The reality of our budget. And believe me, it is a tight one. I worked as a teacher for five years before I moved and we were married, and I haven't been able to find a full-time position this year. I tutor independently, which helps a bit, but we live off my husband's salary, and it has been a challenge. Our situation is one that has brought us both frustration and unimaginable blessings. I am grateful for the constraints that we have, because we have learned to do more with less, to show gratitude for little luxuries and everyday necessities, and we have learned to communicate well about what we can and can't afford.

Baked Apple Cinnamon Quinoa

I have an obsession with quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH). I learned about it from a friend with some special dietary needs about four years ago, and have been hooked ever since. If you don't eat/use quinoa, I really recommend trying it. Quinoa is a super grain. It cooks quickly, similar to rice, and is gluten-free and PACKED with protein, rich in amino acid, and has great flavor and texture-check out the page at WHFoods for more information. I love to use quinoa in place of rice and pasta, and as a nutritious add-in for a variety of recipes. One of the advantages to using quinoa in your cooking, in addition to the obvious health and nutritive benefits, is that quinoa will take on the flavor of whatever you cook it with. Because of this, quinoa makes a great substitute for oatmeal and is an amazing breakfast food.

I can't sing the praises of quinoa highly enough. It is an amazing food-I call it the super grain. I really encourage you to try it and to make it a staple in your diet. I do have a few pieces of advice for using quinoa.

Slow-Roasted Apple and Onion Pork Chops

This has been a weird week for me. I am all caught up in myself and dealing with it by self-medicating with Netflix and cooking and snuggling with my sweet dog. These sort of gray-ish days have only two cures-long walks with the husband and dog in the evenings, and some healthy comfort food.

As expected, last night was not a spring food night for me. I woke up craving these succulent apple and onion slow-roasted pork chops I made a few weeks ago, and decided to revert back to fall cooking for a night. I am so grateful that I did. To liven these up a little, we ate them with some fresh, crisp green beans and a delicious side of experimental Apple Cinnamon Baked Quinoa (recipe will be posted separately tomorrow). All around, this was a great dinner with minimal prep time and skill involved. A note on the pork chop recipe-this is something I have borrowed from Mel over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe ( a great go-to recipe blog that never fails me!). I have made this several times now, and I just can't get enough of it. So get yourself some beautiful pork chops and make some already!

These chops are soft as butter. You don't even need a knife to cut them. Just let your fork gently break them apart as you struggle not to inhale the whole thing. They taste like apple and brown sugar and sweet onion. I haven never had pork as tender as this. I've had and made many a tough pork chop in my life. This recipe will leave you wanting seconds and thirds. This recipe is no-fail, and incredibly delicious, and made from whole, natural foods.

A Mindful Breakfast: Spinach and Tomato Egg White Omelette

Breakfast is the most challenging meal of the day for me. It is difficult to put together a healthy, complete breakfast when your eyes are bleary with sleep and you can barely stand up straight. Being at home during the day has made me more conscious of my breakfast choices, but there are times when I hearken back to the days of commuting an hour and a half to work and quickly scarfing down a Starbucks breakfast sandwich, or whatever piece of chocolate or leftover baked good I could find in my apartment. Then there were those days when I didn't eat breakfast at all, and rectified my low blood sugar with a can of coke at 10 AM...yeah, those were the days. I am a reformed woman, though, and I eat breakfast every day, and 95% of the time, it is healthy and mindfully eaten. I definitely thrive on having a wide selection of breakfast varieties available to me, so that I don't slip back into eating sugary cereals or other nutritionally-deficient options. I usually alternate between oatmeal, fruit, green smoothies and a variety of egg dishes. Today, I am sharing one of my favorite omelettes.

Mindful eating has always been a challenge for me. I have never been a fan of prepackaged food and convenience snacks, but I have always been a fan of anything butter-laden and decadent. I still love desserts and baked indulgences, but I save them for the weekend or special occasions. Anyway, I digress. Back to the point. When I make my food myself and consciously choose to use fresh produce, and the most natural ingredients I can afford, I am a more healthy, happy and satisfied person. My diet directly affects how I feel, and a good breakfast can set the tone for the entire day. This weekend, I had several sodas, pizza, and fast food. I felt awful. I know that is directly related to my dietary choices and my body screaming at me to eat something with nutritional value and devoid of all traces of high-fructose corn syrup.

Sweet Pepper Chicken with Whole Wheat Penne and Roasted Garlic Asparagus

My favorite part of leaving winter behind is the explosion of color in my fresh produce options. Suddenly, my kitchen transforms into a rainbow of delicious possibility, and the dreary days of winter and dull, lifeless food seem to fly out the window. This dish is a celebration of colorful rainbows of culinary possibility. Oh, and it's super easy, super healthy, and a great way to get your vitamins in for the day.

Prepare your palate for a delicious treat of Sweet Pepper Chicken with Whole Wheat Penne and Roasted Garlic Asparagus.  We ate this with a crisp spinach salad and savored every bite!   

Let me say-I have always hated peppers. I remember being served stuffed green peppers as a child and hated them, and I think my aversion comes from that. I have learned to like red and yellow bell peppers, but my world was literally rocked a few weeks ago when I had my first sweet baby pepper. It was like eating vegetable candy, and I have been hooked every since. This simple dish was a great chance to allow some chicken to absorb the sweet, succulent flavor of these peppers. The green onions added another flavor dimension and really bumped this dish up to a 10 for me. The asparagus was a deliciously simple pleasure, and the addition of a nutrient-rich spinach salad rounds this out and makes it both healthy and delicious.

Meyer Lemon Meringues

I love to bake and cook. It is a passion so intense that lately I question my decision to become a teacher and wonder why I never went to culinary school. Being a complete amateur and self-taught cook gives me lots of room to make culinary mistakes though, and for that I am grateful. The cookies that I am posting about today are anything but a mistake. They are a delicious, relatively guilt-free, home-run of a treat. That's great for my recipe binder, and even better for my ample hips. A quick, pre-recipe note. I love to eat healthily. I have made a lot of changes to my diet over the past three years and for the most part, we eat a really balanced, whole foods diet in our home. Sometimes, this conflicts with my intense, long-standing love affair with all things butter and sugar and yeasty deliciousness. I have reconciled some of my guilt by realizing that anything I make at home, from scratch, with quality ingredients, is a bazillion times better for me than something from the store out of a preservative-laden box. So I bake. And I use sugar. And butter. And eggs. And I sample the batter along the way, and eat giant slices of cake. Yup. As long as I know what's in it and I make the choice to consume those things, it's okay. So you will see a variety of delicious, healthy recipes on here, and also some major indulgences-or rather, foodulgences.

Creating Your Cleaning Arsenal-You Can Do It!

When I first embarked on my journey of becoming a natural frugalista, I was terrified of the amount of time, effort and money that it would take. Going organic and green is pricey! Political proclivities aside (and mine don't so much line up with most greenies), my transition was based in economics. That's right, the bottom line for me is the wallet. We are a single-income couple, and this adventure had to save us money for it to be worthwhile and feasible. I was also fearful that making my own green cleaning products would make me become a crazy recluse that cooked up potions on my stove while my friends and family secretly whispered that I was going batty. While the whispers and rumors may be flowing, I am happy to report that my experiences have been cheap and not very time consuming. I can whip up most of my things in 5 minutes or less. So rest assured, you can make the transition as well, even if you work full-time, or have kids clinging to your ankles, or are on a tight budget. I still spend less on my cleaning supplies than I did when I was couponing for them, and far less time than when I was dragging my coupon binder out daily to scour the internet/flyers/stores for deals. So today, you get my photo essay of the basic things you need to start, and a price point for all of these items. And the best part? This stuff makes ALL of the following: Laundry detergent, all-purpose spray, toilet cleanser, shower cleanser, soft scrub, floor wash, oven cleaner, microwave cleaner, window/glass cleaner, shampoo and body wash. Amazing, right? Don't believe me? I'll post all of these recipes over the next few weeks.

Are Natural Cleaners Effective?

When I first considered transitioning to natural cleaners, I was skeptical of their ability to truly kill germs and keep my house fresh and sanitary. I was raised in a bleach-loving household (I love you, Mom!) and for a long time, didn't feel my dorm rooms or apartments were clean unless I was reeling from bleach fumes. Research has made for some interesting reading and consideration in convincing me that for most cleaning issues, natural is the way to go. That being said, I do keep a diluted bleach solution around for emergency occasions, but they have been few and far between these last seven months.

I won't spend forever discussing the chemical science to explain how natural cleaners work, but I will pop some links in that you can peruse at your own leisure. Here's the bottom line for me-anything that makes me have a four-day migraine and makes me feel completely nauseous and gives me a killer skin irritation is something I don't want to use often.

Natural Cleaning-Infused Vinegars

In September, I embarked upon an epic bathroom cleaning project. It was one of those, "hey, I'm going to scrub every nook and cranny, wipe up every tiny speck of dust" cleaning rampages that I tend to go on when I am stressed. After a ton of bleach and two hours, I had the worst migraine headache of my life. It lingered for four days. I made a vow then and there to stop using toxic and harsh chemicals in my cleaning. Since then, I have been experimenting with and absolutely adoring a ton of fun, and SUPER inexpensive natural cleaning solutions. My house sparkles, my head doesn't hurt, and our budget is incredibly happy about our frugal, natural choices! Ultimately, my goal is to one day not worry about my child drinking anything under the sink. Vinegar would make the kid sick to their stomach, but no call to poison control needed.

My go-to ingredient for cleaning is vinegar. A gallon of the stuff runs for about $1 at Wal-Mart or Target, and it goes so far. Since September, I have gone through two gallons-and I am an obsessive cleaner. I use it in the tub, toilet, on the floor, in the wash...it is my wonder cleaner. So today, I am going to share one of my vinegar experiments that is sitting in my windowsill as we speak.