Food of the Month - Cauliflower

Cauliflower is the ugly duckling of the vegetable world. To some, she is the bland white, knobby thing that ruins the frozen vegetable medley that we all keep stocked in our freezer. Or maybe she’s that horrible side dish that comes boiled and under-seasoned when you have dinner at Aunt Margaret’s house.  But to us, she’s SO much more.  All you have to do is take off her glasses and add a little lip-gloss and POW, she can be your new favorite vegetable. If you can’t already tell, this month we’re celebrating cauliflower, one of our favorite fall/winter vegetables.

First things first, why eat cauliflower? Not only is it totally de-lish, it’s a member of the cruciferous veggie family. Like it’s brothers and sisters (broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage and kale), it’s loaded with Vitamin C and K, folate, fiber and B6.  Cauliflower also helps the body naturally detoxify and has a strong anti-inflammatory effect on the body.

Now, how do we glam-ify this nutritionally packed veggie?  Here are our top three favorite way to make cauliflower kid/husband friendly.

When you turn a head of cauliflower into this famous junk food staple; you’ll totally turn heads. Check out our delicious recipea for BBQCauliflower wings. They look and taste just like your favorite finger food but they’re all veggie, have a perfectly crunchy outside and a deliciously “meaty” inside and are totally gluten-free.

When you turn cauliflower into this fancy Italian dish, you’ll leave your family singing, “when the moon hits your eye like a big dish of RISOTTO…that’s amore-eee.”  Simply dice up a half a head of cauliflower (dice into very small, rice like pieces) and add to your favorite risotto recipe. Most recipes call for you cook the onions and garlic then add your veggies (before you add the Arborio rice), this is when you’ll add the cauliflower. You want it to cook down and become creamy like the rice. Use a large pot because this will give you more servings of risotto. Most people won’t even know that you’ve replaced a good amount of the main ingredient with a veggie!

And our final cauliflower recommendation is something you don’t have to make yourself. Our FAVORITE way to eat this nutrient powerhouse is via our delicious AND fat-free cauliflower VEGGIE WEDGIES.  A serving of Peas of Mind’s cauliflower veggie fries contain 2 servings of veggies, are gluten-free, vegan and can be prepared in about 12 minutes.  If you want to spice up a bag of fries, check out our garlic fry recipe and get ready for your little ones to ask for seconds and thirds!

Fort FRYday!

Happy FRYDAY!  In celebration of Spring, the end of the week and our fat-free veggie fries being available in military commissaries, we're calling today a FORT FRYDAY!  

This week we're celebrating the woman behind        www.worldtravelingmilitaryfamily.com, Laurie Hebb.  She's a mother of three and military wife of a deployed husband.  So join us in saying thank you to Laurie and her family for all that they've done for our country.

More from this week's hometown hero, Laurie:

What branch of the military is your spouse in?
"The United States Air Force."

How long have you been a military wife/ husband?
"I have been a military wife for 14 years." 

Do you have kids? If so, what are their names and ages?
"We have 3 amazing kids.  Two boys 16 and 12 years old and a girl who is 9 years old."

Why did you start your blog and what is it about?
"I started my blog in 2008 because I was frustrated with the lack of information on the Internet in regards to traveling all over Iceland, Japan, and Europe.  Sure there was information about how to get to xyz or what to see, but not tried and true stories and pictures of people's adventures.  I'm a huge planner and researcher so this was really what I considered a huge need for the blog world, I wanted the ins and outs, the do's and do not's from other families who had done it before us.  So I started the blog so that it could be used as a resource for traveling with a family overseas, information on PCSing, experiencing different cultures, and just a general glimpse into the life of a military family. It's so rewarding knowing that other families can have access to the information from our tried and true trips and I look forward to posting about our adventures in Italy starting this summer!"

Do you or have you lived on base? Which one?
"We live on base and we love it. We tried living off base when we moved back here, (yes, back...it's our 2nd time here) and it just wasn't what was best for our family.  So as things go with the military I ended up doing a DITY (Do It Yourself) move after my husband deployed last time." 

What is the best thing about base life?
"I love that my husband's work is literally a 1 minute drive away so that he could come home for lunch, at least he did before he deployed.  It's also great that the kids are able to go out and play with their friends and I don't have to worry about them.  I also am thankful that the younger two kids get to attend the DODs school, the public schools in our area are not very good.  While we prefer living on base and have lived the 'Americanized' version of living overseas but still in the comfort of base housing, we'll be having a huge change soon.  We are PCSing to Italy this summer and there is NO base housing, excited but preparing myself for the challenges to come."

What is your favorite food to prepare for your family?
"Crockpot meals, you know the kind you throw in the morning and walk away and viola at dinner time you open the lid and serve the family :)  I've even found you can pre-make some of the meals and freeze them, then dump into crockpot when needed!  I use it at least 2 times a week and it makes my life SO much easier!" 

You are on a deserted island and can only bring one thing...Go!
"A Bible."

Is Military wife life what you thought it would be?
"No, its not.  Funny thing is that I remember swearing I'd never marry a military guy...and look here I am 14 years later happier than ever and LOVING our military life.  Being a military wife has been way better than I ever expected!  I love getting to move every 3-4 years and traveling the world.  I love making new friends, even though leaving them is hard. I love that being a military wife forces me to step outside my comfort zone, almost daily, I'm not the same person I was 14 years ago and I so thankful for how being a military wife has helped me to grow.  Yes, there are challenges but I haven't found one yet that we couldn't get through, including most recently a 15 month deployment."