{ Slow Cooker Sunday | Sloppy Jose Goes to Greece }

People see my mother and know that I inherited my looks from her. We get the “are you two sisters?” question a lot (which is either a stunning compliment to her or a hint for me to start using under-eye cream at night). We both love a good bargain, and enjoy making things with our hands. But what most people don’t know is that we have another shared trait, we both turn into complete ogres when we’re hungry. Not joking.

In high school I ran cross country, and by the time I got home from a two-hour after school practice, it had been a solid six hours since I’d eaten lunch. Mom would press the “express cook” on my dinner that was waiting in the microwave, and no one would even ask how my day was until I was halfway through my meal for fear of ogre-girl. Unfortunately, this tendency to be a little snippy when hungry rears its ugly head the worst on Sundays after church. I’ve just heard a great sermon, I’m determined to apply it to my life posthaste, everyone at church was super friendly and complimenting my new haircut and…BAM! It’s 12:45, I’m starving because breakfast was a half an apple nibbled while I applied my makeup in the car on the way to Sunday School four hours earlier, and everyone better just get out of the way because dinner will not be ready fast enough. Add to this the stress of a husband who needs to be out the door for work at 1PM and a daughter who is wailing for her own meal (that only mommy can provide)…and you can see where this is going: Ogre City.  

All this stress means we either end up in the McDonalds drive-thru (which is definitely not Food Revolution approved), or I hastily prepare a meal (whilst Annie screams in the background) that the hubby gets to eat before dashing out the door, and I get to eat alone. So…now that you know way too much about me (and my mom!), I’ll get to the point: I’ve found a solution! The slow-cooker, or crock pot, is a head-slappingly simple fix to the ogre infestation we have around here – but crock pot cooking requires a bit of planning and prep work, which I would surely fail to do except for now I am blogging about it and it is slow-cook or shame from now on.

Inspiration for today’s meal was found here, but I’ve added my own flare to this tex-mex-sloppy-joe/Greek concoction. I hope you enjoy it, but most importantly, may it keep your own ogres at bay.

Sloppy Jose Goes to Greece

You’ll need…

1 package ground turkey (20 oz or so)

1 eggplant, cubed

1 cup salsa

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

1 T chili powder

1 t ground cumin

1 t dried oregano

1 (10 oz) package frozen corn

8-10 Pitas*

Fresh cilantro or parsley

Sour cream or tzatziki sauce

Shredded lettuce

Olives, sliced (black or kalamata)

Shredded cheddar cheese

Combine turkey, eggplant, salsa, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and corn in crock pot. Add about 12 ounces of water, salt & pepper to taste, and stir well. Cover and cook on high for about 4 hours.

Once your crock pot meal is cooked, prepare pitas. We grilled ours for about a minute on each side, but you can wrap the stack in foil and heat for 10-15 minutes in the oven at 300F or just eat them straight out of the package. Now would also be a good time to stir in a handful of chopped fresh cilantro or parsley to your crock pot meal.

Spoon meat mixture over pita (tostada-style or taco style) and add toppings as desired. Enjoy!

*I cannot say enough wonderful things about Alexia brand Greek flatbread-style pitas. They are delicious and freeze well. At my market, they’re located in the bakery near the fresh bread

PS: There are no photos of this meal because we ate it too quickly. Sorry…will try harder next time.

PPS: For those of you who go to church with my mom or hang out with her afterward, I have it on good authority that she now snacks between services.

{ Ashley Weiss’ Food Revolution }

Eating habits around here at Casa Weiss are pretty healthy except that, since I’ve been nursing Annie, I eat dessert at least once a day.  We get plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, choose lean meats, limit our fast food intake, and actually eat out only about twice per month. But even with a track record as excellent as this, I wanted to try to do more for my family, especially since Annie will join the ranks of solid food eaters in a few weeks. Now please don’t misunderstand me, you may see our car in the McDonalds drive-thru from time to time – but that is, and should be, a treat. Our family eats at our dining room table at least 90 percent of the time – so the food on that table should be first-rate.

So since we are already “healthy” eaters by American standards, what changes are we talking about? I have listed a few of the goals for my kitchen, some that I hope to achieve immediately, and others that may take some time.

{Food Revolution Goals | Achievable by September 30}

*Bake our every day, 100% whole-wheat sandwich bread from scratch

*Switch to organic produce, with fruit being the first priority

*Eliminate products containing MSG and high fructose corn syrup from our regular grocery purchases

*Begin purchasing organic dairy products from Costco

*Stick to our original grocery budget

*Don’t get overwhelmed or try to over-do it with changes

The term “Food Revolution” may sound familiar to you. Jamie Oliver, a British chef, author, and TV personality has just concluded his second season of his show: Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. His revolutionary idea (hahaha) was born out of the knowledge that American children are plagued by obesity-related illness, and are the first generation predicted to have shorter life expectancies than their parents before them. I have definitely enjoyed watching his show, and decided to call my own little journey-to-healthier-eating a “revolution” as well. ‘Cause let’s be honest…it sounds much cooler that way.