Since my family has grown, I don’t often have leftovers but I am trying to get into the habit of intentionally making more than I need so that I can serve dinner for lunch the next day.

I admit I’m not super creative when it comes to what Amy Dacyczyn of The Tightwad Gazette books refers to as “Leftover Wizardry”, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve.

I like to use leftover rice to make fried rice for lunch or dinner.

In a large saute pan heat a little oil and saute chopped onion (green or white or yellow, doesn’t matter). I add whatever veggies I have on hand (diced carrot, diced onion, sliced celery, corn, peas, snow peas, really anything).

photo credit: fifikins

Add an egg and scramble among the veggies. Add diced leftover meat like ham, chicken, or tempeh or tofu if you swing that way. When everything is hot, it’s ready. Serve with soy sauce. You’re done!

Leftover bits of meat, cheese and veggies can go into quiches or omelets.

A good basic quiche recipe is quite elastic, so experiment away.

Refrigerator Stew – Keep a container in your freezer for small amounts of leftover vegetables, grains, meat and beans. When the container becomes full, you have the makings of a great soup. As long as you start with a base of onions and garlic sauteed in butter, it’s hard to go wrong with soup.

Leftover fruits (you know, the half eaten apples that are lying around the kitchen!), yogurt, milk, etc can become fruit smoothies.

Leftover potatoes become tomorrow morning’s fried potatoes, served with eggs, for breakfast.

Leftover oatmeal is great in just about any muffin recipe.

Leftover chili is yummy on top of baked potatoes (sprinkled with a little cheese or sour cream!).

What tricks do you have up your sleeve for creatively re-purposing leftovers?

I’m tempted to add this cookbook to my kitchen for ideas:
Use It Up Cookbook: Creative Recipes for the Frugal Cook

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If you’re interested in winning $100 worth of grass fed meats for your family, Nourished Kitchen is currently doing a giveaway in cahoots with US Wellness Meats.

Check it out!

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After some research I still haven’t decided whether MSG is truly evil, but I do my best to avoid processed foods just to be on the safe side. Even organic and natural foods that are processed at high temperatures (canned soups, boxed goods etc) contain glutamates – whether artificial or naturally occurring.

Dear EarthTalk:

I see a lot of “healthy snacks” being marketed for kids that list “natural flavors” but don’t identify them. Should I use these products?

– John Stein, Methuen, MA

Beloved food writer Michael Pollan recommends steering clear of foods that advertise their green attributes on their label.

According to his line of reasoning, why give a child a fruit roll-up when you can give him or her a piece of fruit?

Only processed foods need to advertise what’s natural about them, whereas an apple speaks for itself, providing wholesome nutrition without the need for marketing hype.

But most of us depend on the occasional packaged or processed food, so choosing between the lesser of two evils sometimes has to be the way to go.

If a product lists natural ingredients on its label—anything from real fruits, vegetables and nuts to cereals, grains and other healthy foods you can recognize without a food dictionary on hand—it’s probably better than a food reliant on artificial flavors and sweeteners.

“One way for your kids to enjoy healthy snacks is to get them started on naturally sweet foods,” says Christine Steendahl of Kid Approved Meals, which sells menus and shopping lists to parents looking for guidance in meal preparation. “Since most kids crave sweets…naturally sweet foods such as fruits are perfect,” she says. Real bananas, oranges, apples, cherries, strawberries and other fruits are popular with most kids. “You can mix in yogurt or even make a fruit smoothie with some milk and a drop of chocolate or other natural flavors,” Steendahl suggests.

(Note from Carrie:  Christine Steendahl is also the mom behind Dine Without Whine and Menu Planning Central.)

“One thing to recognize about children is that if they try enough types of natural and healthy snacks, they will find one that they enjoy,” says Steendahl. “The problem is that many times parents give up trying to find the snacks that their kids like and settle for popular junk foods instead.” She stresses the importance of teaching kids which snacks to eat and which to avoid early in life so that they can sidestep obesity problems altogether. Nuts and dry cereals, for example, are good alternatives to chips and other junk food.

According to California-based pediatrician and author William Sears, who markets his own line of healthy kids snacks called Lunchbox Essentials, parents should make sure that any snack foods they give their family members provide both fiber and protein, which give the feeling of fullness, and taste good as well. He adds that parents should learn to read labels so they can tell which products contain hydrogenated oils, artificial colors, preservatives and high-fructose corn syrup—all of which should be avoided.

As a last resort for especially finicky kids, parents can find packaged snacks that might look like junk food but are actually healthy and nutritious, including certain brands of fruit roll-ups and granola bars. Look in the snack aisle of your local natural foods market for such items, and don’t be afraid to ask store personnel for recommendations. It’s important to take your child’s nutrition seriously. Whether he or she ever realizes it, you are setting patterns that will enable them to live healthier and longer lives.

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Egads.
photo credit: feverblue

Just reading the labels on those things makes me sick!

Partially hydrogenated oils (loaded with trans fats) almost always top the list.

Besides, it’s easy and cheaper to flavor your own coffee using healthier, natural ingredients. Here are a few ideas.

Flavor Your Coffee Naturally

Vanilla

Vanilla beans will add a lovely aroma to your coffee. Try adding a small drop of pure organic vanilla extract to your cup of coffee. And using cream mixed infused with a natural vanilla pod is also nice. Buy whole vanilla pods at the health food store where you get bulk herbs, and steep them in cream overnight.

Cinnamon

A simple way to do this is to dip a few whole cinnamon sticks into a large pot of coffee and leave to infuse for 5 minutes.  Or, grind a cinnamon stick into your whole beans. The downside to this method is that your coffee grinder will have the flavor of cinnamon until you clean it well, maybe even after. And of course, it’s easy enough to simply shake ground cinnamon into your own cup.
Nutmeg

A friend of mine from the Dominican Republic likes freshly ground nutmeg in her coffee. It imparts a lovely flavor. Use one of those tiny nutmeg graters, and just grind a little into your cup.

Ever notice those little shaker bottles at Starbucks? They have vanilla powder, ground cinnamon, chocolate powder and ground nutmeg in them. Especially nice on top of freshly steamed/frothy milk.

Dried orange peel

Place the dried orange peel in a pot of water and boil for a few minutes. Then sieve the water into your coffee pot and use this orange water to make the coffee.  Also nice in hot tea.

Chocolate

Making your own cafe mocha is easy enough. Simply make a simple chocolate syrup by mixing cocoa powder, a little water, and a little sweetener of choice. Cook this on the stove for a bit, then use to taste in strongly brewed coffee. Top with hot milk and you have a mocha without the hefty price tag.

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Here are 3 more recipes for your dining pleasure. Enjoy!

3  No Cook Summer Recipes

Tuna Salad

(Tuna is full of essential fatty acids (Omega 3’s) which are good for your brain and heart, among other things.)

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of tuna
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 1 carrot
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 cucumber
• 1-2 pickles (such as Bubbies, which are naturally fermented)
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• Cheddar cheese
• Whole wheat pita pocket, bread or crackers

Start by draining a couple of cans of albacore tuna packaged in water. Pour fresh lemon juice over it while you cut up the veggies.

You can get creative with the veggies of your choice or follow these recommendations: shredded carrot, chopped tomato, chopped pickles, and chopped celery for crunch.

Toss the tuna and veggies together in a bowl with mayo. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese. Serve inside whole wheat pita pockets.

photo credit: mynameisharsha

Red Grape Chicken Salad

(You can still prepare a chicken salad without having to cook the chicken itself on the stove. You can either cook the chicken in a crock-pot overnight on low, then refrigerate in the morning until you’re ready to use, or you can buy a pre-cooked, rotisserie chicken.)

Ingredients:

• Leftover chicken or chicken breast
• 1 cup of red grapes
• 1 cup chopped apples
• ½ cup raw sliced almonds
• ½ cup mayo
• Swiss cheese slices
• Croissant, whole grain bread or crackers

The first step in creating a chicken salad is to chop the chicken into small pieces. You’ll also want to chop your apples into small pieces. Any kind of apples will do, but red delicious or granny smith can make a good addition, or a combination of the two. Grapes can be left whole.

Toss the chicken, apples and grapes into a bowl with mayonnaise. Fold in your raw, sliced almonds and your chicken salad is done.

Slice open croissants, add a slice of Swiss cheese, then scoop in your chicken salad.

You can use crushed walnuts instead of sliced almonds, or a fancier cheese, such as brie, instead of Swiss.

Now how about a beverage? No hot stove required! Take advantage of theheat by using it to do the cooking for you.

photo credit: AMagill

Raspberry Sun Tea

Ingredients:

• 4 bags of organic black tea
• ½ bag of frozen raspberries
• Sweetener of your choice (Sucanat, honey, or stevia is best)

In a large mason jar, add several tea bags and water. Place the jar in the sun for a day.

When 3 hours have passed (this timing may vary), bring the jar inside.

Remove the tea bags and pour the tea in a pitcher. Be sure to add ice and sweetener as you desire.

What makes this recipe extra special is the frozen raspberries you’ll add to the pitcher.

Pour into glasses and serve with your tuna or chicken salad for dinner.

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The other day the kids and I headed out to the park to enjoy the first really hot day of the season.

As soon as it starts to heat up outside, I find my appetite waning for cooked and hot foods. I want watery, cold things.

When it’s summer it’s too hot to cook. Who wants to heat up the house with the stove or oven?

You know what I had for lunch AND dinner?

A super cool Mexican layered dip, served with organic corn chips.

(And a side of watermelon.)

It had guacamole, chopped green onions, sour cream, black beans, diced tomatoes or salsa, sliced black olives, and shredded cheese.

YUM.

We had a lovely park in the picnic.

What do you like to eat when it’s hot out?

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I remember my mom and dad cranking an old fashioned ice cream maker. These are hard to find anymore and cost a pretty penny if you find one on eBay. You don’t have to have an ice cream maker to make your own ice cream.

Making ice cream is a fun project for the kids this summer and the end result is a tad healthier than store bought versions. And nothing says summer’s here like a drippy ice cream cone!

Of course, I’m going to recommend that you use raw, unpasteurized dairy products from a local farmer whose cows graze in open pasture.
photo credit: eyeliam

Here are a couple of recipes:

French Vanilla Ice Cream

What You Need:

1/2 C sugar
1/4 t salt
1 C of milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 T vanilla
2 C whipping cream, chilled

How to Make It:

Dump the sugar into a heavy duty saucepan.
Sprinkle the salt over the sugar.
Pour the milk into the saucepan and stir to combine.
Add the egg yolks and stir until all the ingredients are combined together well.
Place the pan over medium heat and stirring constantly cook 3 minutes or until bubbles begin to appear around the edges.
Remove the pan from the stove and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
Stir in the vanilla.
Pour the ice cream into a refrigerator try and place in the freezer 45 minutes or until mushy.
Place 2 bowls in the refrigerator to chill.
Add the whipping cream to the chilled bowl and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks begin to form.
Spoon the partially frozen ice cream mixture into the second chilled bowl.
Beat with the mixer on medium speed until smooth.
Fold the whipped cream into the mixture well.
Pour the ice cream evenly into 2 refrigerator trays and cover with wax paper.
Freeze at least 3 hours or until firm stirring the ice cream mixture about every 10 minutes for the first hour of freezing time.

Makes 1 quart of ice cream

To make this ice cream in a crank style ice cream maker, follow the above directions to where you add the vanilla. Add the vanilla and whipping cream together. Pour 1/2 of the mixture into the freezer can of ice cream maker. Fill the freezer tub 1/3 full of ice and then add the remaining ice cream. Crank until it becomes too difficult to turn. Drain off water, replace the lid and allow the ice cream to ripen for at least 4 hours.

Strawberry Ice Cream

What You Need:

2 C of strawberries
1 C sugar, divided
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 3/4 C half and half, divided
1 t vanilla

How to Make It:

Clean and cut the strawberries in half.
Place the strawberries into a saucepan.
Dump half of the sugar into the pan with the berries.
Place the pan over medium low heat and cook 18 minutes or until the berries are soft, stirring often.
Place the mixture into the blender.
Cover the blender and puree the berries until very smooth.
Transfer of a bowl, cover and chill at least 4 hours but no more than 24 hours.
Place the egg into a small saucepan.
Pour in 1 C of the half and half and the remaining sugar.
Place the pan over medium heat and stirring continuously cook the custard about 5 minutes or until the mixture passes the metal spoon test (see tip below.)
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the remaining half and half and the vanilla.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours but no longer than 24 hours.
Pour the half and half mixture into the ice cream maker’s freezer canister.
Freeze 5 minutes then stir in the strawberry mixture.
Freeze according the ice cream maker’s directions.
Allow the ice cream to ripen for 4 hours.

Makes 8 servings

When making a custard type of ice cream it is important to cook the egg mixture to right stage.  To check the mixture place a metal spoon into the mixture and coat the bottom part of the spoon.  Remove the spoon and run your finger down the spoon.  If the finger trail is clear the custard is done.

photo credit: jontunn

Coconut Ice Cream

What You Need:

24 oz. half and half
1 C unsweetened coconut milk
1 C sugar
2 C whipping cream
1 T lemon juice
1 T vanilla
1 1/3 C coconut, toasted

How to Make It:

Pour the half and half and coconut milk into a large mixing bowl.
Dump the sugar in with the milk and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Add the whipping cream and lemon juice and stir until combined.
Stir in the vanilla well.
Fold the coconut into the ice cream mixture.
Pour the mixture into the freezer canister of the ice cream maker.
Freeze according to the directions for the ice cream maker.
Ripen 4 hours.

Makes 12 servings

To toast coconut preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lay the coconut in a single layer in the bottom of a shallow baking pan.  Bake 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the coconut is nicely browned.

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What you need:

2 cups spinach
2 cups frozen strawberries
1 banana
2 tablespoons raw honey
1/2 cup ice

What you do:

Place the spinach in the freezer until frozen, at least 1 hour.

Combine the spinach, strawberries, banana, honey, and ice in a blender. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

You can use other fruits your kids like, such as bananas and berries too.

Your kids will never suspect there’s spinach in there and they’ll ask for this smoothie over and over, so be sure to have plenty of the ingredients on hand throughout the summer.

Looking for more smoothie recipes?

Try these:

Green Smoothies for Kids

Smoothie Recipes

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<img src=”http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/Carrielee/saladsat.jpg” alt=”free salad recipes” align=”right” />
<h2>Almond Cranberry Couscous Salad</h2>
What You Need:

1 (10 oz) pkg. plain couscous
1 C dried cranberries
3/4 C green onions, chopped
3/4 C sweet yellow pepper, chopped
3/4 C almonds, toasted
1/3 C lemon juice
1/4 C olive oil
1/2 t paprika
1/4 t sea salt
1/8 t pepper

How to Make It:

Prepare the couscous as directed on the package.
When the couscous is cooked, place it in a large salad bowl and use a fork to fluff.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate 30 minutes or until chilled completely through.
When chilled remove the couscous from the refrigerator and stir in the cranberries.
Add the onions, sweet pepper and almonds and toss to combine all the ingredients.
Place the lemon juice into a small mixing bowl.
Add the oil, paprika, salt and pepper.
Use a whisk to mix the ingredients together well.
Drizzle the dressing into the salad and toss to coat.
Cover and refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

Serving Size:  14

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Breakfast.

The kids jump out of bed early, that’s no problem – but they’re accustomed to eating a little later in the morning, after they’ve been up for awhile.

Their little stomachs don’t seem ready for food at 6:30 A.M. For a couple of days I was throwing away a lot of half eaten eggs and stuff. I certainly don’t want them to eat at school (nutritionally inferior offerings) but I don’t want them to go off with an empty belly either. They need high quality protein in order for their little brains to work properly to study.

photo credit: acme

I decided to look at some quick breakfast options that the kids can hold in their hands and eat while they walk to the bus stop or in the cafeteria once they get to school, after they’ve been up for awhile and have worked up an appetite.

Stuff like granola bars aren’t my thing, neither is cereal. Extruded grains are a no-no in this house. And carbs aren’t really a great idea in the morning anyway, especially if the kids aren’t going to be eating lunch for a few hours.

Here are some of the ideas I came up with for quick before school breakfasts.

Egg McHuggins

I can’t take credit for this one. My Dad invented it (with a little inspiration from the golden arches, no doubt!). Egg McHuggins is pretty simple, and very tasty, and portable. The basic recipe involves a split open English Muffin. (I use the Ezekiel sprouted grain English Muffins from Food for Life. Sprouted grains are easier to digest and have more nutrition available to the body.)

Spread a little butter on the English Muffins then top with cheese. (I use raw organic cheese and grass fed butter – either KerryGold or Organic Valley’s pastured butter.) Bake in the oven until the cheese melts. (Or yu can toast them first and then place the cheese on top and warm until it melts. Or use shredded cheese.) Meanwhile, scramble an egg. Put the scrambled egg on top of the cheesy English Muffin. You can fry some bacon (make sure it’s organic and grass fed!) or sausage to go on it too.

This is what we had this morning. The kids were munching on them as they walked out the door. Easy to hold and eat.

Coconut Flour Blueberry Muffins

Ever since I tried these the first time, I’ve been hooked. I got the recipe from Cheeseslave who got it from a cookbook called Cooking with Coconut Flour. Since youngest and I don’t eat wheat, we get our muffin fix with these. They are SO VERY delicious and surprisingly filling. I cannot eat two of them!

Muffins are portable and delicious even when cold so these are perfect.

Smoothies

Smoothies worked well the other morning because the kids could sip on them slowly while they got ready. I made mine with raw milk, strawberries, banana and organic vanilla yogurt. Got 50 smoothie recipes right here.

Larabars

In a pinch, I give them each a Larabar. These are just about the only “granola” bars I approve of. They’re made from dried fruit and nuts – that’s it. The kids love them and I always have a supply in the pantry. No HFCS or other cheap sweeteners, no trans fats, no soy (yuck!),  no fillers and no grains.

That’s what’s working for us right now.

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Romaine Lettuce Hearts Finger Salad

What You Need:

2 hearts of Romaine lettuce
1 T pecans, toasted
1 small red pepper
1/4 C Italian cheese, shredded
1 C Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing

How to Make It:

Separate the leaves of each heart and place them on 2 salad plates.
Sprinkle the top of the lettuce with 1/2 T of the pecans per plate.
Slice the red pepper in half and remove the seeds and core.
Slice each red pepper.
Place the red pepper slices on top of both salads.
Top each salad with 1/8 C of the cheese.
Divide the dressing into 2 small bowls.

Serving Size: 2

By placing the dressing on the side you can use your fingers to dip the lettuce and peppers.

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Bacon Laced Fruit Salad with Cider Vinaigrette

What You Need:

3 T butter, room temperature
2 T sucanat or rapadura
1 1/2 t cinnamon, divided
1/2 t red pepper, divided
4 slices whole wheat bread, remove the crust
1/2 C olive oil
2 green onions, chopped fine
½ C raisins
1/4 C apple cider
2 T apple cider vinegar
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 (10 oz) salad greens
1 pear, cored and sliced thin
1 apple, cored and sliced thin
4 pieces of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1/4 C walnuts, toasted
1/4 C Swiss cheese, shredded

How to Cook It:

Place the oven temperature on 400 degrees and allow it to heat while preparing the croutons.
Place the butter in a mixing bowl.
Add the sugar, 1 t of cinnamon and 1/4 t of the red pepper.
Mix together until well blended.
Spread the slices of bread with the mixture.
Place the bread of a baking sheet and bake 8 minutes turning once or until the bread is toasted to your liking.
Remove the toasted bread and allow it to cool to room temperature then cut into bite size pieces.
Place the oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Add the green onions and stirring occasionally cook 3 minutes or until tender.
Put the raisins in the skillet and stir to incorporate with the onions.
Pour in the apple cider and vinegar.
Sprinkle in the salt, pepper, the remaining cinnamon and the remaining red pepper.
Stir until all the ingredients are combined and cook until heated through about 5 minutes.
Place the salad greens into a large salad bowl.
Add the sliced pears and apples and toss to combine.
Pour the warm dressing over the salad and toss to cover the salad well.
Sprinkle the crumbled bacon, walnuts, cheese and croutons over the top just before serving.

Serving Size: 4

You can use grapes cut in half instead of the raisins, just add them in with the pears and apples. The walnuts can also be replaced with pecans or almonds if you prefer.

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“Know WHAT to buy organic.”

That means that some food items are more likely to be contaminated than others with pesticides (corn, dairy products), so it makes sense to buy those items organic.

On the other hand, some foods have no appreciable pesticide residue so it’s still pretty safe to go conventional.

The Environmental Working Group has recently released their 5th edition of the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides. You do have to sign up for their newsletter to get it, but they send you a printable pocket guide to keep in your wallet (helpful – I’m always forgetting this info!).

You can also check the full list of 47 fruits and veggies to see where your family’s favorites fall.

photo credit: iLoveButter

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Sweet Potato Salad

What You Need:

6 C fresh sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 C mayonnaise
1/2 C sucanat or rapadura
1 C pecans, toasted and chopped
1/2 C raisins

How to Make It:

Place the cubed potatoes into a large saucepan.
Completely cover the potatoes with water.
Place the pan over medium heat and bring the water to a brisk steady boil.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer the potatoes for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
Drain the potatoes well and allow them to cool for about 5 minutes.
Put the mayonnaise into a small mixing bowl.
Dump the sugar in with the mayonnaise and stir until well combined.
Fold in the pecans and raisins until well coated.
Place the potatoes into a serving bowl.
Add the mayonnaise mixture and stir to coat the potatoes well.
Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator at least one hour before serving.

Serves: 8

To toast the pecans, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pecans (pecan halves work best) in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Place the pecans in the oven for about 6 minutes, stirring them often, until the pecans are nice golden brown. Allow them to cool enough to work with. Use a sharp knife or a chopper to chop the nuts to desired size.

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Delicious Lentil Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup brown lentils
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup red onions, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
½ tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
½ cup celery stalks, diced
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper, freshly ground

Instructions:

Put the lentils, carrots, onion, garlic, bay leaf and thyme in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring mixture to a quick boil, lower heat and simmer uncovered for about 15 – 20 minutes or until the lentils are cooked (don’t let them get mushy).

Remove the bay leaf and after draining the lentil mixture, combine with lemon juice, celery and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and mix gently.

Enjoy with fresh crusty bread!

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She’s just put together a free report called “How To Cut Your Grocery Bill In Half“.

She is offering it as a free download here. (No opt in or obligation required.) Who couldn’t benefit from a few of these tips? I’m reading my copy right now.

And in case you missed it in the newsletter, you can get a copy of her Freezer Cooking Made Simple here too. (This is a .pdf file and opens in a new window, you can right click on the link to save it.)

**** Edited ****

When I sent this link out to my subscribers, one wrote back immediately and expressed her concern that the recipes found within were hardly compatible with a whole foods diet.

“Beenie Weenies? ewwww! I don’t think this is something you should promote. It sullies your good name. Huge fan of the show.”

Supportively,
A Mom

I really appreciate the honest feedback from my listeners! To be frank, I had the same thought as I was reading the report… but then I realized that the recipes can be altered to be more healthy. We whole foods eaters are accustomed to having to change recipes around. For example, my kids love the uncured buffalo franks and I feel totally comfortable giving them those.

Also, the principles of saving money at the grocery store are helpful, no matter what the specific diet. Susanne has a lot of healthy recipes on her blog, HillBillyHousewife.com

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Each Saturday I’ll post a free salad recipe here. If you like these, may I recommend the 365 Salad Recipes ebook for even more healthy, delicious salad recipes?

Bulgur Salad with Greens

Ingredients:

¾ cup bulgur (cracked wheat)
2 cups green peas (frozen or fresh)
½ cup chopped green onions
3 tbsp lemon juice
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp sesame oil

Instructions:

Bring some water to boiling point. Place the bulgur wheat in a large bowl and add the boiling water over it (according to packet instructions) – the water should cover the bulgur wheat by at least 1 inch. Let stand for about 20 to 30 minutes until tender. It should have doubled in volume.

Drain through fine-meshed sieve and get rid of excess water by pressing it out. In a small saucepan, boil the peas for about 1 minute only to keep them crunchy.

Use a salad bowl and combine all ingredients, including cooked bulgur and peas. Season with salt and pepper and toss with sesame oil.

This is a fantastic and healthy side dish to accompany beef, chicken or fish.

Yields: 8 servings

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What IS Lacto-Fermented Salsa and Why Should I Care?

To quote Nourishing Traditions,

“Lacto-fermentation is a process whereby special bacteria transform sugars and starches into beneficial acids. These … are valued for medicinal qualities including the ability to relieve intestinal problems and constipation. The proliferation of lactobacilli in fermented vegetables enhances their digestibility and increases vitamin levels. These beneficial organisms product numerous helpful enzymes as well as antibiotic and anticarcinogenic substances. Their main by-product, lactic acid… promotes the growth of healthy flora throughout the intestine.”

To put it simply, lacto-fermented foods are whey good for you. Especially if you have any kind of issues with yeast, you need to be eating lots of lacto-fermented foods daily. They’re highly nutritive. Also great for anyone with any kind of tummy troubles. You can skip the expensive enzyme or probiotic supplements if you eat lacto-fermented veggies regularly.

Throughout the world, traditional peoples haven eaten lacto-fermented foods.

They’re your kefir, your buttermilk, your yogurt. Your sauerkraut, your kim chi, your salsa, your chow chow, your relish, your pickles. They’re your umeboshi and your chutney, folks. Every culture has ‘em and they are eaten with most every meal in small portions as a condiment.

Making them at home the old fashioned way means they’re more nutritive and much cheaper.

Lacto-fermented foods are the ultimate in “food as medicine and medicine as food”.

If you’re unconvinced, get your hands on a copy of Wild Fermentation.

Now for my recipe:

Homemade Lacto-Fermented Salsa

• 6 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 or 4 diced jalapenos (optional)
• 1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• juice of 2 lemons
• 1 T sea salt
• 4 T whey
• 1/4 cup water

Note: This is an adaptation of the recipe, again, from Nourishing Traditions. After some experimentation, I like my version better.

Now, if you’re new to the whole Weston A Price/Traditional diets way of thinking, I’ll have to explain how to make whey. It’s easy and cheap.

How To Make Your Whey

Buy a tub of organic, plain (unsweetened, unflavored) whole milk yogurt (like Stonyfield). Place it into a colander or sieve that is lined with a thin tea towel and place that on top of a large bowl. If you don’t have a thin tea towel, coffee filters or cheesecloth will work too.

Let that sit overnight in the fridge. The stuff in the bottom of the bowl? There’s your whey. You can use the “yogurt cheese” several ways. Sweeten it with some honey and add nuts and you have a yummy topping for toast. Google yogurt cheese for lots more ideas.

Wasn’t that easy?

Back to Lacto Fermented Salsa – It’s Whey Cool!

Salsa making is easy. Just mix all the ingredients listed above and place them into clean glass jars. Wide mouth Mason jars are great, but if you don’t have any, use any clean glass jars. I like old Bubbies sauerkraut jars or any other that I have hanging around (I like to save my glass jars for food storage, they’re great for storing and freezing everything from nuts to broth and are safer and more hygienic than plastic).

If you don’t know this already, you can quickly and easily peel tomatoes by bringing a pan of water to boil on the stove in a saucepan. Dip one tomato at a time in the rapidly boiling water with a slotted spoon. Remove after a few seconds, and the peel slips right off. To seed tomatoes, cut them in half widthwise, hold over a bowl and squeeze gently. The seeds come right out.

Once you have your veggies in the glass jars, press them down a bit with a spoon so they are under the water/whey/lemon juice liquid.

Now, all you have to do is leave them out at room temp for a couple of days on your counter.

After that, stick them in the fridge. Lactofermented salsa is best after it’s a week or two old. It gets fizzy and has a nice kick to it. Guaranteed to knock the socks off of anyone who eats your next taco, burrito, nacho or whatever dinner.

… And your colon will thank you!

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First, y’all know I love coconut.

Second, since youngest and I have issues with wheat, pancakes are a rarity around here, unless they’re gluten free and those leave something to be desired, texture wise.

So I got myself to Whole Foods and bought some Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour.

This morning, we made them there pancakes.

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

The kids and I have died and gone to breakfast heaven.

A couple of tips if you decide to make these.

First, they don’t behave on the pan. Despite having well seasoned cast iron skillets and lots of butter for greasing, they stuck like the devil.

So I made mine tiny like silver dollars, which worked better. Be fast with your spatula and don’t hesitate or they’ll make a huge mess.

Second, cook them SLOWly. Once your pan is hot, turn your heat way down or they’ll burn on the outside and be raw inside, which isn’t terribly bad, because they don’t have that raw dough taste. But still.

You have to try these! Whether you have issues with wheat or not, coconut is so good for moms. These are super filling too, the recipe is small but you only need a few silver dollar sized coconut cakes and you’ll be full all morning.

They’re naturally sweet so you only need the teensiest bit of maple syrup. I think they would be awesome as a side dish for some Caribbean style dinner.

You can learn more about using coconut flour for cooking in this book:
Cooking with Coconut Flour: A Delicious Low-Carb, Gluten-Free Alternative to Wheat

photo credit: petyosi

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Speaking of the peanut butter salmonella scare…

When I heard that Larabar had voluntarily recalled their Peanut Butter bars “just in case”, I was very disappointed.

Because I had 17 of them in my pantry.

We love Larabars around here. Not only are they the healthiest snack bar I can find, but they’re handy emergency food for my youngest daughter, who is allergic to wheat.

I keep one in my car and purse most of the time so that she’ll always have something safe to eat when we go out.

So I called Larabar and they took my name and address, and mailed me a check for the cost of the bars I had to throw away.

Wasn’t that nice of them?

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Your wish is my command.

I had a kind of Caribbean theme with the menu and everyone kept saying how good the food was so I’m happy to share the recipes.

I got these from several places but tweaked them a bit to use ingredients I had on hand or to make them a little healthier.

For instance, I left the sugar out of the plantains.

They’re sweet enough with the whipped cream on them to be a side dish, but I suppose if you were serving them as a dessert a little sugar wouldn’t hurt.

And I used brown rice instead of white for the coconut rice.

Enjoy!

Coconut Shrimp with Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice
• Few tablespoons ghee (you could also use butter)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
• 1/4 cup lime juice, fresh squeezed
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

Melt ghee or butter in large saucepan and pour in rice. Stir and “toast” rice for several minutes until it is nutty and fragrant. Add chicken broth and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce to the lowest setting for 45 minutes or until rice is cooked.

Just a few minutes before rice is done, start preparing the shrimp.

Place the coconut flakes on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for a few minutes at 350 degrees. You may have to stir and turn it a bit. It should be golden brown and nicely toasted.

Put more ghee into a pan and melt. Add garlic, red pepper and shrimp and cook until shrimp is opaque (just a couple of minutes).

When the rice is cooked, stir in the cilantro and top with shrimp. Serve with toasted coconut sprinkled on the top.

Thai Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tsp lime zest
• 1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce (you can also use bottled Thai hot and spicy sauce and omit the sugar)
• 2 Tbsp sucanat or rapadura
• 1/2 cup red onion diced
• 2 large cucumbers, sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbsp raw peanuts

Combine the rice vinegar, lime zest, hot sauce, sugar, red onion, cucumber slices and cilantro leaves in a glass or stainless steel bowl.

Marinate at least 2 hours. Just before serving, top with the peanuts. (This recipe serves 4 so I doubled it.)

Fried Plantains with Real Whipped Cream

Ingredients

• Peanut or coconut oil, for shallow frying (I prefer coconut oil for the flavor it gives the plantains)
• 2 firm-ripe plantains
• Sea salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• Fresh whipped cream

Directions

Heat about 1-inch of oil in heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat until hot. (I used a cast iron pan for this and it worked great.)

Peel the plantains and discard the skins. Slice into 1/4-inch thick pieces. Fry the plantains in oil, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon or spatula and drain. (I used a paper grocery bag to absorb the grease but you could also line a plate with paper towels.)

Sprinkle the plantains with a little salt and the cinnamon. Serve with the whipped cream. This recipe also serves four so I doubled it.

For the Whipped Cream:

• 1 small container of organic heavy cream, chilled

Whip the cream with a mixer until soft peaks form. You can add a little sugar if you like (or a little rum!) and whip again. Serve with the plantains.

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The ladies at Cheeseslave and KellytheKitchenKop host this meme weekly, where they discuss their real life real food tips and ideas.

This week’s theme is Healthy Fast Food, otherwise known as “It’s 5 o’clock and I haven’t a clue what’s for dinner“.

Here’s what I do when I want to avoid eating out, offering something packaged or otherwise inferior in nutrition, but am short on time.

• Cheese Quesadillas – Make with sprouted tortillas and raw cheddar cheese, and served with homemade salsa.These take less than 5 minutes to get on the table and the kids love them.
• Breakfast for Dinner – Free range eggs scrambled or fried in grass fed butter with potatoes pan fried in coconut oil and butter.I get my 6 year old daughter to chop the taters for me so things go faster.
• Cheese, Apples and Crackers – This snack was invented by my mom. She would snack on tart apples sliced thinly (with a teensy dash of salt!), pepper Jack cheese and Triscuits.My version of this is sliced Gala (my favorites – and kept the salt!) apples, blocks of raw cheese, and sprouted flax crackers or Ry-Vita.We just had this today for lunch. It’s super easy and fast but quite filling, and seems to satisfy all your cravings. The apples are sweet and salty, the crackers crunchy, and the cheese is creamy and provides some fat and protein.
• Quick Burgers & Kraut- I fry up some burgers (from grass fed ground beef or buffalo) and serve them with Bubbie’s sauerkraut (which I always keep in my fridge because I can’t seem to find time to make homemade lately).We serve our burgers without buns because my youngest is wheat allergic and I don’t think the older kids would like the taste and texture of GF buns, but they like them just fine this way.
• Fried Rice – I shared my recipe on my post about cheap eats. I cook rice more days than not so I almost always have some leftover rice in the fridge.I cook it with whatever veggies I have on hand, along with a couple of real eggs and plenty of coconut oil. The kids always ask for seconds on this one, and it takes minutes to prepare.
• Larabars – When all else fails, Larabars are a lifesaver. They are truly the only healthy “granola” bar out there, at least that I’ve found, are are on the Weston A Price Shopping Guide listings under Snacks. They have no isolated soy protein or sweeteners or other pseudo-healthy ingredients. They’re grain free so my youngest can eat them. They’re simply raw fruit and nuts smushed together, and taste delicious. I try to keep these in my purse or in the car or pantry for emergencies. I recently purchased a box of these at Whole Foods, in the peanut flavor, and lo and behold they’ve been recalled because of possibility of the peanuts being contaminated. The company is issuing a refund so it’s all good. I’ve had to beat the children off of them in the meantime, lol!

Dinner doesn’t have to be complicated, especially with kids. Now I’m not cooking for a man anymore so your mileage may vary. LOL!

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Often when I am adding graphics to this blog and I use the little Photo Dropper thing, I find one of Tiffany Washko’s kids drinking a green smoothie. It’s totally hilarious.

Well, it’s no wonder. She has worked her magic again and just launched a new Green Smoothie Recipes for Kids cookbook.

And you should totally check it out.

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I’m not so sure about microwave anything. I don’t own one, and do quite fine without it. But microwave popcorn in particular has gotten some negative publicity lately.

The inside of microwave popcorn bags is coated with a chemical that prevents the bag from disintegrating into a soggy mess while doing said popping. I don’t like the sound of that. When these chemicals are heated, a compound called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is produced. According to the EPA, PFOE is a carcinogen.

See the letters “fluor” in that name? Yep, it has fluoride in it – and in a few weeks you’ll learn on this show (although you probably know already!) why we don’t want to eat fluoride. PFOA also happens to be an ingredient in Teflon pans, something else I bet you’ve retired the use of.

I even heard tell of some popcorn factory workers becoming ill with respiratory diseases when exposed to the “buttery flavor” ingredient (which sounds pretty mysterious to me). The chemical used for artificial butter flavor is Diacetyl, and word has it that 54 of these workers settled out of court. I’m sure they got a nice chunk of change, but what about the rest of us?

You would rather use real organic butter than some mystery “buttery flavor” mishmash, wouldn’t you? I’m sure you make it a point to stay away from artificial flavors too. The FDA says that only a minimal amount of PFOA makes it into the popped corn, but we know about the FDA don’t we? Most brands of microwave popcorn contain trans fats, something we should all avoid like the plague. Interestingly, even some products labeled “trans fat free” are lying – they can have small amounts of trans fats (under 0.5 gram per serving) and claim “zero” on the nutrition facts.

Way to tell the truth, huh?

A few companies have come out with “natural” microwave popcorn, like Newman’s Own, which uses palm oil instead of fake fats. Their website also claims their corn has no added Diacetyl, but still. Another issue with microwave popcorn has nothing to do with your health, but with the waste created by the packaging.

Microwave popcorn is a metaphor for what’s wrong with the world: We want convenient, disposable, ultra fast products at the expense of our own health.

I have never owned a microwave oven, so I’ve always enjoyed popcorn the old fashioned way. Making it is half the fun!

Make Real Old Fashioned Popcorn without a Microwave

If you want just the popcorn, oil, salt and butter, you’re going to have to pop the kernels yourself in a pan. You could use an air popper, but I find that cooking it on the stovetop makes it taste even better. The air popped corn will sometimes be too tough and chewy. I think it’s because they don’t get hot enough.

It’s actually quite simple to make popcorn from scratch, but there are a few tricks to it that can make a huge difference in the quality of your snack. My ten year old makes our popcorn most of the time, and if he can do it, so can you.

First, you need organic popping corn, a hot pan and hot oil.

Corn is one of those things you should always eat organic, because much of the corn sold in this country is genetically modified. You can get in in bulk cheap at the health food store, or online.

* Pick a heavy bottomed pan, and use coconut oil. Coconut is the oil movie theaters used years ago that gave popcorn its characteristic yummy “movie theater” taste and smell. Movie theaters moved away from using coconut oil around the time it was being vilified (without cause, thanks to the food monopolies doing their thing) as a fattening, artery-clogging oil and vegetable oil was being promoted as the healthy alternative (actually, the opposite is true!).

* Put 3 Tablespoons coconut oil in your pan, put it on the stove on medium heat. Place 3 individual popcorn kernels in the pan.

* When the oil and pan are hot enough, one of the kernels will pop. Immediately add 1/2 to 3/4 cups of popcorn kernels to the pan, put the lid on the pan and start moving your pan around. When the popping slows down, turn off the stove and continue moving the pan. When the popping slows way down or stops altogether, your popcorn is ready. This is where the “art” of popcorn making comes in. It might take a few tries to get it just right.

* Pour the popped corn into a paper grocery bag if you have one. If not, a large bowl is fine, or several bowls if your popcorn eaters are greedy (mine are!).

* Put the pan back on the stove and add plenty of butter to the pan. There should be enough leftover heat to melt the butter.

* Pour the melted butter over the popcorn in the bag or bowl, add sea salt to taste, and vigorously shake the bag up and down to mix it up, or gently toss the popcorn in the bowl.

Enjoy your healthy, microwave less popcorn.

It promise you it will taste far better than anything you could prepare in the microwave and you will know (and be able to pronounce) everything that is in it.

photo credit: madame.furie

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For a quick, healthy breakfast that the kids can’t say ‘no’ to, I like to make an:

Elvis Presley Smoothie

One frozen banana, a spoon of PB, some milk, ice and honey.

Serve with a swing in your hips.

Yum!

Did you see my post about losing the post feast bloat?

photo credit: timparkinson

(And to Heather I say, “Uh thank yuh – thank yuh very much.”)

Find more smoothie recipes in this cookbook.

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In my continuing quest to find tasty wheat free treats to serve to my 3 year old wheat allergic daughter (and myself, when I’m being a good girl and avoiding the stuff since I’m also allergic!), I discovered these two mixes.

I’m eating a Snickerdoodle made from The Gluten-Free Pantry Old Fashioned Cake & Cookie Mix as we speak. (Or rather, as I type and you read. Except when you read this I’ll likely not be eating  it. But you get what I mean!)

And it is a sure winner. This one will definitely be appearing in my pantry again.

123 Gluten Free Sweet Goodness Pan Bars Mix was transformed into Pumpkin Bars by my 10 year old sous chef in training.

They were delicious! So moist, and you never would have guessed they were wheat free. The texture was just right. The box suggested making icing to go on the top of the pumpkin bars but they were so good without it (plus, I was out of cream cheese).

I’ve discovered that I have to stay away from any mixes that contain soy because I can taste it, and the finished product will give the sensation of sucking on a soybean, which really, really leaves me cold.

This is true of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix, which is disappointing because the other Bob’s Red Mill gf products are really good. Like the brownie mix, which I reviewed here. Ditto for the cornbread mix.

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photo credit: kimberlykv

I wanted to give a shout to a few awesome traditional foods blogs I’ve come across lately which have rekindled my interest in traditional diets.

These women take the notion of “whole foods” quite seriously. If Great-Great-Grandma wouldn’t recognize it, they won’t eat it. Not only do they provide wonderful information about traditional foods, they back it up with research, resources and ohmygosh the RECIPES!

• Food Renegade – A wife, mom and real foods advocate. (Read it if for no other reason that it has the word “renegade” in the title, adding instant cool factor.)
• Kelly the Kitchen Kop – Fantastic for its long, well researched articles on traditional nourishing diets. If you want to know WHY certain fats are so healthy, WHY raw milk/grass fed etc., start here.
• CHEESE SLAVE – “For the love of bacon, butter, raw milk – and all those other things we’re not supposed to eat.” Well put!
• The Nourishing Gourmet – I love her for the pictures, and for this. You’ll know why!

Common themes you’ll find:

• It’s good to eat meat. Make it grassfed.
• Whole grains are ok – if they’re soaked/sprouted.
• Butter is a health food!
• Ditto for coconut oil.
• Cholesterol is your friend.
• Get (government policies) out of my kitchen.
• If it comes out of a box, skip it.
• Food should taste good and be a source of pleasure.
• Raw is good, and fermented is uber cool.
• Many references to Nourishing Traditions and Nutrition and Physical Degeneration

More from me on the subject of traditional diets and nutrition:

• Fit and healthy pregnancy – traditional nourishing foods for a healthy pregnancy and postpartum
• What is raw milk? – and is it scary or healthy?
• Membership in the Weston A Price foundation – who was Weston A. Price and why should I care about his research?
• Eating more coconut oil – why coconut oil is a good fat
• Why we take cod liver oil, despite the occasional fishy smelling dryer.
• Health benefits of kefir.

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Recently the Mom’s Best people sent me several boxes of their products. The kids were pretty thrilled. (What is it with kids and cereal? LOL!)

Their products are kind of like knock offs of your favorite brands. There’s “Honey Nut Toasty O’s“, a Raisin Bran cereal, sweetened Wheat-fuls (these are like frosted mini wheats, my favorite!).

What’s nice about these products is that they are all made with whole grains. They also contain no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial flavors or preservatives, and no hydrogenated oil.

I also really liked the Variety Packs of Instant Oatmeal. These were so delicious and quick for busy mornings. Even my 7 year old, who doesn’t care for oatmeal generally, ate the apple cinnamon (it had big hunks of apple in it) willingly.

The Mom’s Best website has a store locator if you’re not sure where to find these. They’re also quite reasonably priced especially when compared with other healthier boxed cereals.

Print a $1 off coupon here

NaBloPoMo #17

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In fact my 5 year old, who is my almost picky child, said it was “her most favorite dinner” she has ever eaten. Because “It had ve-ge-tuh-bulls in it”. LOL!

Wow! So I decided to post my recipe here.

Lentils are another healthy frugal food and are therefore worth cultivating a taste for. I’m sorry if this recipe is a little homegrown, it didn’t come from out of a book but mostly out of my head, using what I had in my fridge (I’m trying to use up everything in my kitchen before buying new stuff, which tends to bring out one’s creativity).
photo credit: bucklava

Carrie’s Lentil Stew

I started with my sage green enameled cast iron Dutch Oven pan. Just pulling it out is good cooking karma and makes me feel all domestic and warm inside. (Good cooking starts with love, you know.)

I put about half a stick of butter in the pan (we do not do low fat here. fat is our friend) and melted it on low.

Then I added about 1/4 diced red onion and two diced celery ribs and let those get soft in the butter. Enjoyed nice smells of onions and celery sauteed in butter.

Next was two diced carrots, and two diced red potatoes (chopped with love by the 5 year old – hey maybe that’s why she thought it was so delicious!).
photo credit: bucklava

I poured in about four cups of organic chicken broth, about 2 cups of lentils, sea salt and pepper, a little water, and a can of organic Italian style diced tomatoes.

I cooked that on very low (because then we snuck out to go to the park. Yikes, that was a bit of a fire hazard, wasn’t it?!) for about an hour until everything was nice and soft.

Then I served it with Ciabatta Rolls from Whole Foods and a cream biscuit from the Gluten Free Bakery for the youngest. Topped with plenty of butter.

Food is love!

PS. You could also use white or yellow onions or white potatoes, but that’s what I had on hand, and it worked.

NaBloPoMo #5

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photo credit: ChazWags

I bought a bag of Bob`S Red Mill Corn Grits (Polenta) for about $2 at the health food grocery. I’ve made a few meals out of this bag and it’s over half full still.

Polenta is a staple food in northern Italy, and is eaten in Latin America too. Remember reading about Laura Ingalls eating “fried cornmeal mush”? That was basically leftover corn grits that, after they sat and congealed in the pan, were sliced and fried in bacon grease. The resulting food is creamy, warm, and delicious – and far healthier than the “grits” we Southerners eat that have all the good stuff in the whole corn removed.

Polenta is wonderful for people who have allergy issues with wheat and gluten.

You can serve polenta just about any place you can pasta, or potatoes. It’s delicious for dinner with marinara sauce (tomato based or not), fish, chicken, greens, and legumes. For breakfast, you can cook the corn grits and serve them hot with butter alongside eggs, or by themselves. Some people like to slice and fry the polenta and serve it with gravy or maple syrup. The kids love it!

Instead of buying polenta premade in the tube, it’s cheap and easy to make it yourself by simply cooking the corn grits first and letting them sit. If you grease the pan it will pop right out on a plate (just invert it after it’s cooled completely).

photo credit: Special*Dark

In the next couple of weeks I’ll be sharing more frugal healthy eating tips. If you have some recipes or tips you would like to share, please contact me using the form here and I’ll publish them.

NaBloPoMo #3

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I just finished reading through the book and it’s wonderful. I can hardly wait to dig in to the recipes (I even submitted a few that appear in the book).

This “un” cookbook will be very helpful for me especially since my youngest child is allergic to wheat. The raw pie crust is gluten free and I can hardly wait to try it along with a pie recipe.

Of course, you don’t have to commit to a 100% raw diet in order to benefit. We ALL want to eat a percentage of our foods raw in order to have a healthy diet. In the summertime, eating more raw is cooler and saves money too.

Not only does the book have 80 raw foods recipes that are kid friendly, it also has tips and resources for further information, and helpful products that will make eating more raw foods more convenient.

Tiffany is a raw foods enthusiast and well known blogger for natural families.

Go check out Recipes for Raw Kids

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And I’m telling you what I thought of it.

Zevia comes in 4 flavors and they sent a six pack of each flavor. There was Cola, Orange, Twist (like Sprite or 7Up) and Root Beer.

The ingredients are pretty simple and listed on the website, with an explanation for each, which is pretty cool.

The Twist and Orange flavors are caffeine free, and the other two have a small bit of caffeine.

Zevia has zero calories, is zero on the glycemic index, and has all natural flavors and colors. No sugar, high fructose corn syrup or nasty fake sugars. It’s sweetened with stevia!

I tried all 4 of the flavors and my favorite was Orange. To be blunt, I didn’t care for the others too much, because they tasted a bit like diet soda. I’ve always hated diet soda and never drank it, although I hear the pleasantly bitter flavor grows on you.

I never wanted to get hooked on diet sodas because I think they’re dangerous.

If you like diet soda, you’ll love Zevia.

Drinking it would be an awesome way to wean yourself from diet soda. Stevia is so superior to those nasty artificial sweeteners!

My kids dove into these immediately. They aren’t allowed to have sodas except for a small serving of root beer, once a week on Taco Night, so they were excited to have unlimited access to soda pop! The kids, unlike me, LOVED THE STUFF.

They drank up all 24 of these cans in a matter of days. LOL!

If you want to give Zevia a shot buy it through Amazon here.

I have a coupon for $5 off a case. It is a coupon code that you can use to order online from the Zevia website or 800 number.

To win, just leave a comment and one person will be randomly chosen (I’ll email you the coupon code)

Update 3/14/09 – OFFER EXPIRED.

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CHICKEN AND BLACK BEAN SALAD

30 ounces Black beans; drain — rinse
3 cups Chicken; cooked — cubed
6 Green onions — sliced
1 Sweet red pepper — chop
1 Sweet yellow pepper — chop
2 Tomatoes — coarse chop
1/4 cup Coriander; chop – fresh

—–DRESSING—–
1 Jalapeno pepper — minced
1 teaspoon Grated lime rind
1/4 cup Lime juice
10 milliliters Garlic — minced
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1/4 cup Vegetable oil

Use canned black beans (15oz (425mL) per can). In large bowl, gently stir together black beans, chicken, onions, red and yellow peppers and tomatoes.

Dressing: in small bowl, whisk together jalapeno pepper, lime rind and juice, garlic, salt and pepper; gradually whisk in oil. Pour over salad; add coriander and toss gently.

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photo credit: Pacdog

Slow cookers can be mom’s best friend.

Throw everything in during the morning time (when everyone is busy and happy and not cranky and underfoot), and have a hot, delicious meal ready for you by dinnertime.

Here are a few healthy slow cooker recipes that feature whole foods. Enjoy!

• Slow cooker Asian chicken
• Slow cooker Beef with Squash Stew
• Slow cooker Nine Bean Soup
• Slow cooker Split Pea Stew
• Slow cooker Lentil Taco Stew

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Cherry Tomato Salad

1 pint cherry tomatoes
6 bacon slices
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh basil — chopped
6 leaves romaine lettuce
2 tablespoons chives — chopped

Wash and stem tomatoes. Dry completely. Cook bacon until very crisp; drain thoroughly on paper towels.

Mix mayonnaise, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and basil. Pour over tomatoes, crumble bacon over all, and stir to coat tomatoes with dressing. Serve on lettuce leaves, sprinkled with chives.

Serve at once or refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Caesar for Two

1 each Clove garlic — minced
1 each Head romaine lettuce
1 each Tin Anchovies (Millionares)
Croutons
4 each Bacon chopped
2 tablespoons Olive oil
2 tablespoons White vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
Dash Tabasco
Lemon
2 each Egg yolks
Cappers
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Crush garlic in oil with fork in bowl. Add 1/2 can anchovies, capers & chop mince with oil.
Separate egg yolks in small bowl and add to mixing bowl Add Worcestershire sauce, lemon, Tabasco, vinegar and bacon bits mix well. Let stand for 5 minutes. Toss salad and add croutons and cheese.

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Carrot Raisin Salad

2 Tbsp Raisins
1 Tbsp Cider Vinegar
1 C Carrots — coarsely shredded
1/2 C Pineapple Chunks in Juice — drained
2 Tbsp Pineapple Juice — unsweetened
dash Ground Cinnamon
dash Ground Nutmeg

Combine raisins and vinegar in a med. bowl; let stand 15 min. Add carrot and pineapple tidbits; stir well. Combine pineapple juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg; pour over carrot mixture, and toss well. Cover and chill.

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Catfish and Crawfish Mold

1 Cup Chopped parsley
1 Cup Cream cheese
1/2 Cup Dry white wine
Sea Salt, to taste
1 Tablespoon Lemon juice
1 Pound Catfish meat, cooked
1 Teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce
1 Pound Crawfish meat, cooked
1 Tablespoon Lea & Perrins sauce

Chop catfish and crawfish in food processor. Add wine, parsley, lemon juice, and salt. Mix real well. Add hot sauce and Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. Mix well. Add cream cheese. Mix well.

Refrigerate overnight in a mold. Serve with crackers or on a bed of lettuce. You can use shrimp if crawfish aren’t available.

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California Chicken Salad

2 cups cooked chicken — chopped
1/2 cup Monterey jack cheese — shredded
1/2 cup cheddar cheese — shredded
1 avocado — diced
1/2 cup olives — chopped
1 tomatillo — chopped
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onions — chopped
black pepper
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon green chiles — minced
2 teaspoons sun-dried tomatoes, oil-packed — minced

* A tomatillo is also known as a Mexican Cherry tomato.
** Use a dash of onion juice instead of minced onions if preferred.

Lightly mix the first 10 ingredients together. Moisten with mayonnaise, using more or less as desired. Mound in 4 decorative serving dishes, sprinkle the minced green chilies and minced sundried tomatoes on top. Chill for 1 hour.

Serve with corn chips or crisp-fried tortillas as a light lunch.

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Calico Salad

1/2 cup Rapadura or Sucanat
1/2 each Green pepper — chopped
1/2 cup Salad oil
1 each Med. onion — chopped or sliced in rings
1/2 cup Vinegar
1 can Cut green beans
1 teaspoon Salt
1 can Red kidney beans
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 can Yellow wax beans

Wash and drain kidney, green, and wax beans. Add chopped pepper and onion. Mix sugar, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over salad. Chill.

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I wonder if I should start posting a free smoothie recipe each Sunday like I post a free salad recipe each Saturday?

What say you?

Well, while I decide, here’s one.

Go Green Drink

In blender combine:

2 cups pineapple juice
1 cup greens (such as spinach or kale)
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/2 cup fresh mint

Blend until smooth then let stand for a couple of minutes. Strain if you want to, then top with ice and serve.

More Smoothie Recipes here

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For Omnivore Types:

Roasted Almond Chicken Salad
Tortilla Chicken Bundles
Layered Corn and Chicken Salad

Yummy Beverage:

Lavender Lemonade

For the Veggies:

Lentil Salad
Cilantro Garlic Hummus
Red Potato Salad
Grilled Vegetable Medley

and more!

We’ve also added a feature to make printing the recipes much easier. Just look for the “print this post” link at the top left corner of each recipe for a printer friendly version of the recipe.

Enjoy

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Quick & Easy Simple Dinner Recipes

I’ll go first.

Fried Rice

I don’t know about you, but I find it nearly impossible to cook just the right amount of grains around here. It’s always too little or too much. If I have a ton of leftover rice for dinner one night, serving fried rice for lunch or dinner the next day is frugal, easy, and nutritious. It goes something like this:

In a large saute pan heat a little oil and saute chopped onion (green or white or yellow, doesn’t matter). 

Add whatever veggies you like (diced carrot, diced onion, sliced celery, corn, peas, snow peas, really anything).

Add an egg and scramble among the veggies. Add diced leftover meat like ham, chicken, or tempeh or tofu if you swing that way.

When everything is hot, it’s ready. Serve with soy sauce. You’re done!

I love fried rice because you can literally have dinner on the table in about 10 minutes. So next time, go ahead and cook a double helping of rice and plan on having this the next day.

Now for Your Quick & Easy Dinner Ideas:

Amanda shared her Grilled Veggie Sandwiches – sounds delicious! I’m all for sandwiches for dinner

Annette posted one of her family’s favorites – Chicken Fajitas – yum, I love Mexican food.

LaTara wants us to try her Easy Cheesy Vegan Potatoes – umm… how can you go wrong with potatoes? Love them – cheap, filling and healthy.

And finally Cara suggested Tuna Casserole (I’ve only made this once and I loved it – and so did the kids, so I’ll definitely try it again).

Thanks everyone for playing. Let’s do this again, shall we?

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Cabbage Fruit Salad With Sour Cream

2 cups Cabbage; raw — shredded
1 Apple med., diced — unpeeled
1 tablespoon Lemon juice
1/2 cup Raisins
1/4 cup Pineapple juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 tablespoon Sugar
1/2 cup Sour cream

Prepare cabbage and apple. Use 1 T lemon juice to wet diced apple to prevent darkening. Toss cabbage, raisins, and apple. Mix fruit juices, salt, and sugar. Add sour cream, stir until smooth; add to salad and chill.

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What I’m asking for are your:

Quick & Easy Dinner Recipes

(Simple recipes - ideally 5 Ingredients or less!)

I want to start a collection of super quick (20 minutes or less) dinners that don’t break the bank, are kid friendly and easy to throw together.

Oh and it needs to be healthy too of course! Meat, veggie, vegan, it doesn’t really matter to me. (Although, I don’t eat soy. So don’t suggest that please.)

Here’s where you come in:

* Post such a recipe on your blog and link back to this post.
* Leave a comment here and let me know you did such (and where).
* I will add the link to your recipe on a future post when everybody (who’s anybody!) has participated.

Deal?

Ok.

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Smoothies are great because they’re:

• made from the most basic of ingredients
• take minutes to whip up
• can be endlessly customized for your needs
• taste delicious
• are very nutritious and can be chock full of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients
• an easy way to get said nutrients in your kids without them knowing.

Smoothies can even assist in weight loss efforts, help you have a more frugal kitchen, and of course improve your overall health.

Here is where the Simply Delicious and Nutritious Smoothie Cookbook comes in!

Here are just a few of the yummy recipes the ebook includes:

• Sweet and Sour Smoothie
• No Need for Pancakes Smoothie (I know you’re curious about this one!)
• Cheesecake in A Glass (great for those cravings!)
• You Could’ve Had a Smoothie (lots of veggies)
• Greener Side of Fruit Smoothie
• Sweet Potato Pie Smoothie
• Green Pineapple Paradise
• Raspberry Cream Smoothie
• Pineapple Banana Mama

44 smoothie recipes in all!

The ebook also has tips on: boosting your weight loss efforts by drinking smoothies, adding more nutrition (including sneaking health infusing ingredients that your kids may refuse otherwise!), and saving money with smoothies.

I am offering this recipe book as a “Thank You” special to my subscribers, listeners and blog readers. Once I launch this to the general public it will be priced higher.

You can get:

Just The Smoothie Recipes for $5

(That’s about the price of ONE of those fancy schmancy smoothies that have too much sugar anyway!)

- OR -

The best deal – my Ultimate 365 Salad Cookbook (named such because it has 365 salad recipes) along WITH the Smoothie Recipes for the super low price of:

Smoothies AND Salads for $11.97

The Salad Cookbook is $11.97 so you’re basically getting the Smoothie Recipes thrown in for FREE.

Sound good? Click one of the links above and get your cookbooks instantly.

P.S. As a customer of either of these cookbooks, you’ll also get lifetime updates for free! As I add more recipes I will release a new version once a year. You’ll get free access to these new improved versions.

Thanks so much for being a listener!

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Buffet Make-Your-Own Salad

2 chickens — cooked, * see note
4 cups cooked rice
3 cans chow mein noodles — large cans
5 cups gravy — ** see note
3 cups celery — diced
10 green onions — sliced
16 ounces pineapple chunks in juice — drained
2 cups cheddar cheese — shredded
1 cup toasted almonds — slivered
1 1/2 cups toasted coconut
1 cup black olives — chopped

* Broiler-fryer chickens. Cook, skin, bone and cut into bite-sized pieces. Or use Rotisserie
chickens to save time.
** Use chicken gravy or combination of broth, chicken soup and gravy.

Heat chicken and gravy together. Place in pretty serving or chafing dish. Place other items in a decorative fashion on buffet table. Guests can build their own salads using these ingredients.

This can be made in advance and stored separately, ready to assemble when needed.

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Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

1 bunch broccoli (separated into florets)
1 head cauliflower (separated into florets)
8 strips nitrite free natural bacon (fried and crumbled)
1/3 cup of chopped purple onion
1 cup chopped seeded tomatoes
1 cup natural mayonnaise
1/3 cup Sucanat or Rapadura
2 tablespoons vinegar

1. In a large salad bowl, combine the broccoli, cauliflower, bacon, onion and tomatoes. Set aside.

2. In another bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar – mixing until smooth. Combine.

3. Just before serving, pour dressing over the salad and toss.

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I was brainstorming the other day of some ways to cook without heating up the kitchen, and here are a couple of ideas that I came up with. Maybe these will help keep your kitchen cool this summer too.

Too Hot To Cook: Summer Cooking Tips

I’ll start with dinner. During the hottest part of the day, the last thing you want to do is heat up the kitchen to cook dinner. Here are some tips on feeding your family and keeping it cool.

Sandwich Night
Every mom should have a weekly sandwich night, just because it’s not fair to have to cook every night of the week! But another great reason to adopt sandwich night is to avoid heating up the kitchen.

Gather up your family’s favorite sandwich fixin’s and go to town. Get creative. If turkey and cheese is getting boring, how about a “salad” sandwich? This is one of my family’s favorites. We spread cream cheese on lightly toasted whole grain bread (the garden vegetable cream cheese is really nice for this), then add sliced tomato, cucumber, lettuce, avocado and a sprinkle of herbs and sea salt. Yum!

If sandwiches are getting boring, try wraps with tortillas instead of bread. Or large pieces of butter lettuce instead of bread. More healthy sandwich recipes can be found here.

Main Dish Salads
What’s nicer on a hot day than a cool, crisp, crunchy salad?

In the summertime your body needs the additional water so give it what it’s craving by making a main dish salad.

To make a meal out of a salad, add cooked and cooled chicken, shrimp, tuna, beans, cheese and hardboiled eggs for additional protein.

Experiment with pasta salads too. Try some of the whole grain and alternative grain (spelt, kamut, rice, quinoa) pastas for variety.

===> If you need some help coming up with more ideas for hearty salads, check out this salad cookbook.

Take It Outside
To the grill, that is. Cook your meat and veggies outside on the grill and keep the heat out of your kitchen. Then serve a nice cold fruit salad for dessert. Refreshing!

You could also plug in your slow cooker or toaster oven outside on a table on your porch and then when the food is cooked, bring it inside.

How about building a small solar oven? Or buy one, like this Solar Oven from Gaiam. At the very least, brew some sun tea to harness the free energy of the sun and avoid turning on your stove.

More Summer Dinner Ideas:

Sushi – you can cook the rice in a rice cooker (I love mine!) early in the day to avoid using your stove.

The rest of the ingredients are raw (or purchased precooked) so no cooking required. Here’s an easy recipe for Nori Rolls.

Sushi is actually quite easy to make. Several years ago I bought this Sushi Chef Sushi-Making Kit and it’s a lot of fun to use.

Gazpacho – serve your soup cold in the hot summer.

Chips with bean dip, homemade salsa and guacamole – who says dinner has to be formal? Chips and salsa are my favorite part of eating at the local Mexican restaurant. And no cooking required.

Hummus with Pita bread and veggies – the Middle Eastern version of chips and dip.

Antipasto: Mozzarella slices, still warm from the farmer’s market tomatoes with fresh basil, crusty bread (purchased from the bakery so you don’t heat up your kitchen baking!) with olive oil, artichoke hearts, a variety of olives – oh man I’m getting hungry just typing!

If you just have to have a hot supper, here are some tips:

Eat things that cook fast like Omelets, Quesadillas and Stir fries.
Use a smaller appliance to cook with, like your toaster oven and slow cooker, as these won’t heat up the kitchen like your stove or oven do.

Now some ideas for the other meals of the day.

Summertime Breakfast and Lunch Ideas

This one is actually pretty easy. Some of the foods we enjoy eating in the morning are typically served cool or raw. Such as:

Smoothies – These are so delicious and hydrating in the hot summer.

If you’re having one for lunch and want it to have more staying power, add protein and fat.

Ingredients like: full fat yogurt, peanut and other nut butters, crushed almonds, sunflower seeds or other nuts, coconut milk, coconut oil, etc will give your afternoon smoothie a bit more stick-to-the-ribsness.

Smoothies are wonderful for experimentation, but if you need some help, check out these smoothie recipes.

Fresh Fruit and Fruit Salads – Fresh fruit in season is nice for snacks, breakfast and dessert. I love this breakfast ambrosia any time. And what about this strawberry dessert soup? Can’t wait to try this one!

Yogurt – My new favorite breakfast is a dish of organic yogurt with chopped berries on top. It’s so light and refreshing in the heat.

A little granola with yogurt is a nice breakfast too.

Keep it simple

It’s ok to keep it simple, especially in the summertime. Sometimes me and the kids will eat a piece of fruit, some cheese and nuts for a meal.

Eat more raw food

Summertime is a nice time to investigate raw food recipes. While I’m not an advocate of a 100% raw food diet, our bodies do seem to gravitate towards raw foods during the heat, so we should listen to that. Search for raw food cookbooks here.

What are some of your favorite summer cooking tips?

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