Swiss Chard and Asiago Stuffed Flank Steak.

I made this for our family Valentine's Day dinner. It required no prep ahead of time, although you could easily prepare the vinaigrette and do all the prep ahead of time and cut back on time in the kitchen at dinner time. I used my big roaster skillet that goes from stove top to oven so I used just one pot/pan. Score! :)

Here is the recipe:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/980
Serves 6
Sweet, tender sautéed swiss chard combines with salty asiago fresca cheese to create the filling for this seared flank steak. The flank steak pinwheels set a striking presentation with their vibrant green stuffing. Try the Dijon vinaigrette with a side salad or grilled vegetables as well. Ask your butcher to butterfly the flank steak for you.

Ingredients
3/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bunch swiss chard, stemmed and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 pounds flank steak, butterflied
3 ounces asiago fresca cheese, thinly sliced
Kitchen twine
Canola oil cooking spray

Method
Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until it starts to turn golden brown. Add swiss chard, salt and pepper and cook until just wilted, then remove to a colander and drain well. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, put mustard, apple cider vinegar and red wine vinegar into a bowl and whisk together. Slowly add remaining 1/2 cup olive oil and canola oil to the mixture in a slow and steady stream while whisking constantly. Set vinaigrette aside.

Squeeze out and discard as much liquid as possible from the swiss chard. Add approximately 1/4 cup of the vinaigrette to the swiss chard in a small bowl and mix together. Season flank steak all over with salt and pepper. Arrange swiss chard on the inside of the flank steak, spreading it out evenly. Top with cheese and slowly roll up the flank steak. Secure roll with kitchen twine, tied at 1-inch intervals down the length of the steak.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray flank steak all over with canola oil cooking spray. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add flank steak. Cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown all over, then transfer steak to a baking dish. Roast in oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 130°F. Set aside to let rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then slice into pinwheels and serve with the remaining vinaigrette on the side.

Nutrition
Per Serving (5 oz-wt.): 410 calories (330 from fat), 36g total fat, 7g saturated fat, 21g protein, 2g total carbohydrate (less than 1g dietary fiber, 0g sugar), 50mg cholesterol, 240mg sodium



<3 Enjoy <3



As for MY picky family? Well, The Mister loved it, save the swiss chard. ;) Baby steps right? Keegan sat in front of his dinner through the entire meal time, He never tried it, That was his choice, He, in choosing this, passed up on the brownie that was waiting for dessert. *Sad* Liam scarfed it up. He ate an entire pinwheel of steak, all his corn and bread. He loved it...even the swiss chard. *YES* ;)

Grilled Caribbean Pork Tenderloin

Grilled Caribbean Pork Tenderloin courtesy of WholeFoods.com

As you can see I'm a BIG fan of Whole Food's site. It's VERY user friendly and has a lot of cool features. It seriously may be my favorite site. The only thing I can think of, so far that could improve it is for the site to actually categorize or group together items in your shopping list for you. The way it's set up now they are just listed in the order they're added. It would save a lot of time in the store. I really suggest checking it out. You can use it even if you don't have or choose not to shop at a Whole Foods.

This dinner was deeeeeeelish. The plantains weren't quite ripe so that was a bit of a fail but, the pork and pineapple was wonderful. The husband and youngest really enjoyed it (SCORE!). My 8 year old took some coaxing, He literally sat at the dinner table for nearly 2 hours. We make eating a choice. Sometimes choices are more limited than others. Dinner time is becoming less and less flexible. Tonight, Keegan knew he did not have to choose to eat his dinner but, if he didn't he also could not have the left over piece of cake from his party this afternoon. It was really tough choice for him. When he did decide to eat his pork he was pretty neutral on the taste. The texture was familiar so he was good there. He didn't love the taste but, it seemed to grow on him. Realizing that it didn't taste bad enough to sit at the table for 2 hours and definitely not worth passing up the cake over. He did finish his small serving (half a tenderloin) and said he actually liked it, although I do think there was some kissing up going on for the sake of his cake.

Overall, I think this dinner was a success. Given how picky my family is the level of resistance was actually less than I'd anticipated. The prep and cooking time was minimal. I did all the grilling on my Foreman in about 20 minutes, *two thumbs up*

Slow Cooker Hoisin Beef Stew

Dinner tonight. I'm serving it with brown rice. I just snuck a taste while the rice is finishing up...and it is TASTY!

This was a big hit with the family. The mister tried brown rice for the first time EVER. Can you believe that? He enjoyed it. YES! My little guy is quite the carnivore and gobbled up the beef. The veggies not so much, of course the mister didn't actually eat them either (not that this surprises me AT ALL). My older guy was a little resistant but did eat his meat and took a 'no thank you'* bite of the brown rice.

If you've never heard of a 'no thank you bite'* and you're the parent or spouse of a picky or resistant eater, your life is about to change. No, really. A SpEd teacher of Hadley's shared this gem with me years ago and I seriously use it EVERY day. Your picky eater must be given the choice to not eat what is given them at a meal or snack time, They must first, however, take a bite before they an say "No thank you." to the rest of their serving. How you handle choices after that is up to you. In our house it depends on the meal or snack time and what the rest of the day has looked like. Most of the day a piece of fruit is offered as an alternative. Meal times are becoming less and less flexible. I used to allow a sandwich after a no thank you bite. Depending on the dish being served and what they've eaten during the day most times it's just a choice to eat it or not. Fruits and veggies are always available if they choose them. The idea is to take the battle out of it and make it a choice. This makes life easier for you AND teaches your children to make wise food and nutritional choices.

We have a long road ahead of us where all of this is concerned but, I'm committed to keep on it. My kids are worth it to me. My husband is worth it to me. Heck, even I'm worth it to me. *wink*

Compliments of WholeFoods.com

Slow Cooker Hoisin Beef Stew

Serves 4
This warm and hearty stew is an aromatic welcome after a long day. Serve over rice with sautéed snow peas or steamed edamame. Even if you don't have time to marinate the ingredients overnight, keep in mind that the stew will still be delicious. Ingredients with an asterisk (*) are available in the Whole Foods Market Family of Brands.

Ingredients
1/2 cup beef broth*
1 (10-ounce) bottle hoisin sauce*
1 teaspoon hot sauce*
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 (1-inch) piece peeled ginger, grated
1 1/2 pounds cubed round or chuck stew beef
2 yellow onions, roughly chopped
1 cup baby carrots
2 ribs celery, roughly chopped

Method
Whisk together broth, hoisin, hot sauce, garlic and ginger in a wide, shallow dish or bowl. Add beef, onions, carrots and celery and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Transfer meat mixture to a slow cooker, cover and cook on a low setting until beef is very tender, 6 to 8 hours. Alternately, cook on a high setting for about 3 hours. Ladle into bowls and serve.

Nutrition
Per serving (about 13oz/379g-wt.): 430 calories (90 from fat), 10g total fat, 3.5g saturated fat, 110mg cholesterol, 1300mg sodium, 24g total carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 14g sugar), 55g protein
Tags: Budget, Make Ahead, One Pot Meals, Family Friendly, Dairy Free
Note: We've provided special diet and nutritional information for educational purposes. But remember — we're cooks, not doctors! You should follow the advice of your health-care provider. And since product formulations change, check product labels for the most recent ingredient information. See our Terms of Service.

Meet The Foxes.

Mama Fox, aka Angela, is currently a full time mom and homemaker. She has every intention of returning to school 3/29/10 to work toward her RN. It seems that every time Mama makes a plan the universe throws something crazy at her to remind her to be flexible...and prepared for ANYTHING. The latest thing the universe has thrown Mama is 3 DVT's and Coumadin therapy. It's important to share this only because, at this time, it does come with some diet restrictions. Anything high in vitamin K is off limits, including (but not limited to) green vegetable (mostly green leafy). As you might imagine this is a bit of a road block from a nutritional standpoint. Her doctor reassures her that green veggies WILL be allowed in carefully measured and consistent portions soon. Please keep that restriction in mind. For now, most of the recipes and side dishes I serve will be low on green veggies and side salads etc will be pretty non existent.

Daddy Fox, aka Brandon, is a Petty Officer in the US Coast Guard. He is a Boatswain's Mate and loves his 'job'. He is currently filling a 4 year billet at a small boat station. He 'plays on' 25' boats...and occasionally does a few search and rescue, law enforcement and routine area of responsibility calls/patrols. *wink* Brandon's duty schedule has him home half the month and at the station the other half...unless it's summer, opening week for fishing of some kind, rose fest or any other thing that throws the schedule off. Pretty much if he's home it's a bonus. *wink*

Hadley is our guardian angel. She is forever 8 and forever our girl. She caught her "helo" to heaven on 12/12/08 after a long battle with a brain tumor. She touched our hearts in ways words can't express...and changed the lives of people she never even met (in person). We will miss her every single second of every single day. She was truly our sunshine...and continues to brighten our lives.

Keegan is 8. He is in second grade and loves, loves, loves to read. He is a sweet boy with a juge heart. I would say he has a huge brain as well but, he'd interrupt to inform me that brain size has nothing o do with intelligence. Yes he's THAT kid. *wink* We love him to pieces and are constantly amazed by his ability and eagerness to learn new concepts and absorb information. He won a character award at school this year for integrity. So, yeah, he's a good kid....on paper. In real life he still drives Mama bonkers some days. *hee hee*

Liam is 6. He is in Kindergarten. He is a charismatic little rough neck. He is sweet and funny and ALL boy. He makes friends easily and loves to be outdoors. His pre-reading skills are really blossoming. He is so proud to be sounding out just about everything he sees. I adore that he is so anxious to read. Liam loves sports and can't wait to be a 'teenager'. Just today he asked Mama how old you have to be to 'take driving lessons'. Liam, let's work on outgrowing the booster seat first. K, buddy? *wink* Liam is quite entertaining until he's not...then you want to pull your hair out. It's probably about a 50/50 split between wether he gets the time out or Mama does.

Baby Hope is our year and a half old cat. Hadley named her so, despite the urge to change her name to something that fits her better (like Murder Face or Killer) we have stuck with Baby Hope. <3>

So, there we are. As Hadley would say "Nice to meet you!".

Mission.

This blog is intended to be a place for me, Mama Fox, to document and journal as I lead my family on a journey to better health and broader food horizons. I've taken on bigger things, so why does this feel SO huge? Is it the enormous sense of responsibility for my children's current and future general health, food choices and weight? Is it parental guilt? Is it fear of failure? Could be laziness I suppose. We do live AWFULLY close to several 'convenient' food options. We've been in that trap for way too long though. This Mama is taking charge. Period.

I am not expecting miracles and total compliance over night. My family, husband included, are pretty picky. This journey will have to be paced. I will have to be dedicated and patient. The food will have to be quite tasty. My main goal is to start putting more whole, natural, foods into my family's bodies. I would LOVE to eliminate all processed foods eventually but, like I said, it's going to be a long road for this family of 'addicts'.