Crazy for Sunflower Seeds!

A while back I was lamenting the lack of Omega 3s in my life. I've been taking a DHA supplement that's recommended for nursing moms like me and because of my fish allergies, it has to be vegan. There aren't so many on the market! As I read the ingredients of the one that was recommended to me, I was surprised and happy to see that ingredient #2 is sunflower oil. I eat a ton of sun butter but I wondered what else I could do with sunflower seeds? Maybe I could make my own sun butter? I could add them to salads, certainly, and with oatmeal for breakfast. 
I'm excited to tell you that I've been consuming sunflower seeds like crazy! But I'm sad to report that as of yet, I have not found a good recipe for my own sun butter (and I've tried making it at least 10 times!) I'll post the recipe as soon as I come up with one that satisfies me. 

Here's today's daily dose of sunflower seeds - a simple salad for my lunch with arugula, avocado (another thing I cannot get enough of lately), raw carrot slices and dried cranberries, topped with raw sunflower seeds and drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice.

Happy lunching! 

Arugula Salad with Avocado, Cranberries and Sunflower Seeds

3 cups arugula
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 avocado, cut into chunks
⅓ cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of one lemon
¼ cup raw sunflower seeds
Salt and pepper to taste

Avocado * Avocado * Avocado!

Perfection.

Is it me? Or are the avocados lately beyond delicious? I have been eating one a day for several weeks and it's a groove I'm happy about. Avocados are great with every meal; spread on toast for breakfast, sliced into a sandwich for lunch and added to a salad for dinner, just to name a few. 

I made an egg salad yesterday with fresh dill and made a sandwich around it and it just didn't seem complete without avocado. Here's an example of toddler lunch meets infant lunch meets adult lunch. My toddler had egg salad. My infant had some baked sweet potato that I mashed and some avocado, also mashed. I put it all together for this awesomeness - sweet potato spread on one piece of whole grain bread with sprouts, egg salad and avocado. Check this out: 

Avocado is on the menu for dinner tonight, too. The salad below is loaded with protein, fiber, good fats and vitamin E. It's going to be the main event for our dinner tonight with a side slaw of kale with carrot, apple and a gingery dressing that I found here. The sunflower seeds add a delightful crunch and serve as a great substitution for nuts. In fact, I've used sunflower seeds in the kale slaw in place of almonds and have been using sunflower seeds in one way or another almost every day lately.  

Chickpea, Avocado and Farro Salad with Sunflower Seeds

1 can of chickpeas, drained
2 avocados, cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups cooked farro
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
Juice of one lemon (about 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon olive oil
pinch of cayenne (optional)
1/4 cup of roasted shelled sunflower seeds (plus extra for garnish) 
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved (optional) 
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine the chickpeas, avocado and farro. Add chives, mint and cilantro and toss. Add lemon juice, olive oil and cayenne and gently mix. Finally toss in the roasted sunflower seeds and salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the extra sunflower seeds on top for an added crunch.  I've added sliced grape tomatoes for a pop of color but frankly, I think the recipe is delicious with or without them.
Enjoy! 

My first 10k

I'm pretty nervous. Tomorrow I'm running in my first 10k event for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. I'm part of the Moms in Training team and just yesterday learned that our group has raised almost $250,000!

I've been a dedicated runner for years (except for a few brief periods when I was unable to either because of an advanced pregnancy or a stress fracture). My preference is to run with my iPod with the music blaring in my ears and I'm a treadmill runner, not an outdoor runner. My ideal distance is 3-4 miles. One of the things that draws me to running is that it's a solo activity. I realize how that might sound, and how nice it is when people like to participate in team sports... I'm just not one of them. Exercise is my quiet time. My "me" time, and I need that. 

Me after our Hill Training workout on Harlem Hill

The event will raise money to help find cures and better treatments for lymphoma, leukemia, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma.  The cause is near and dear to me. I set a fundraising goal of $11,000 and am just shy of reaching that goal. If you'd like to support this cause and my run, please click here and accept my gratitude in advance. 

People talk about a runner's high – I get that. My feet and legs move as if on autopilot. The beat of the music propels me forward. At some point in mile two, I start feeling like a rockstar. I sometimes forget where I am in these moments and start singing out loud. Oops. 

Tomorrow's run takes me out of my comfort zone in many ways. I'll be running outside, which I am not accustomed to and the distance is much farther than what I know my body is easily able to do. Luckily, LLS has a whole plan for folks like me, and for people at every level actually. Though today I worry about whether I'm ready for the run tomorrow, I've been diligently following an 8 week training schedule and and I know I'm prepared. I've been visualizing the faces of my family members cheering me on; it's one of the greatest motivators ever.  

For anyone in the NYC area, come to Central Park tomorrow morning, June 8, to cheer on the many people who are running to support this amazing cause!  

Kale & Farro Salad with Mint and Cilantro

We've been eating a ton of chick peas lately in all forms: I snack on them, I roast them, I make hummus with them. ​I'm usually super organized when it comes to groceries and know when to restock staples but every now and then I'm taken by surprise and discover that we're out of things like paper towels or low on milk. Today I opened the pantry expecting to find at least one can of chick peas for a salad that I had in mind to prepare. No dice. 

I proceeded with my recipe plan anyway and swapped raw sliced carrots for my missing chick peas. ​Wow. That crunch! The color! Frankly, I forgot all about the chick peas and have a sneaking suspicion that I'm about to dive head first into a carrot kick. I've been getting weekly organic produce deliveries from a company called Urban Organic and for several weeks now, one of the many delightful things that I receive is a pound of beautiful carrots. My most recent box also included some fresh fava beans that I haven't a clue how to deal with, but that's a story for another day.  I peeled the entire pound of carrots so they're ready for immediate snacking. 

This salad has summer written all over it. The raw baby kale leaves are softened by added lemon juice and olive oil and the chewy texture of the farro next to the crunch of the carrots was delightful. I added fresh mint, cilantro and red onion and will probably finish it in its entirety before long. In the meantime, the chick peas, while delicious in so many things, were not even missed in this recipe. 

Kale and Farro Salad with Mint and Cilantro

6 ounces raw baby kale, thinly sliced
4 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 cup cooked farro
1/4 red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
Juice of one lemon (about 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon olive oil
pinch of cayenne (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and toss well to make sure lemon juice and olive oil are evenly distributed. Enjoy! 

Introducing LaLa Breakfast!

We are absolutely thrilled to introduce the newest member of our family: LaLa Breakfast! ​

Breakfast is often called the most important meal of the day and yet so very many families I have spoken to struggle with it – mine included. ​I'll admit, it has been a challenge at times to make sure my kids (and myself and my husband!) are fed a balanced meal in the morning before we all race out the door. I set out to improve the flow of lunch with LaLa Lunchbox and since then, lunch planning has been chugging along smoothly. But after one too many breakfast-related arguments, temper tantrums and mishaps, I realized something had to be done. 

What's the problem anyway? First of all, time is tight. And though I may be a morning person, my family members certainly are not. ​There were two options: I could choose what my kids ate in the morning (and deal with the potential waste of unwanted items) or be faced with a barrage of requests, many of which I either couldn't (or didn't want to) prepare in time or didn't have on hand. I don't know about you but the last thing I want to hear in the morning as I struggle to get everything done is whining.

​Your favorite monsters are back

Select your favorite breakfast combos

Customize the foods for your family's needs

Enter LaLa Breakfast. It began on paper, just like LaLa Lunchbox. Each night, my kids eagerly grabbed for it and selected what they'd like to eat the next morning. Naturally, it had to be within reason; I'm neither a short order cook nor a fully stocked grocery store. I let them know what was available and they made their selections. Whatever was able to be prepped in advance, was. Cereal was poured into a bowl and set out on the table. Fruit was cut and stored in containers in the fridge. Breakfast became easier chez moi! And I'm happy to report, the breakfast-related whining has left the building. LaLa Breakfast gives users the option to "hide" items that are not available and like LaLa Lunchbox, it generates a handy grocery list for parents. The Food Library is organized into the following four categories: Eggs, Produce, Grains and Protein. For those who have both LaLa Breakfast and LaLa Lunchbox, the two grocery lists can be seamlessly synced into one, and accessible via multiple devices. 

LaLa Breakfast was created to end breakfast chaos so that families can wake up to healthy, happy mornings. I sincerely hope you enjoy using it! And special thanks to my sometimes goofy, always hungry little (and big!) monsters for their hearty support, feedback and big smiles.  

My hungry monsters