Healthy Menu Planning

Wow, it has been awhile since I have blogged, but I am still around! You would think that I would have more time in the fall/winter when I am not gardening to post. I guess, it is just not the case. Although, I must mention, as of last week, I was STILL getting broccoli from my garden. Now it was just snippets, but nonetheless it was broccoli. We like to use a little here and there for our salads. Perfect for that purpose. I am just amazed that I still have some growing. Never before has this happened. As a matter of fact, it just makes me even more excited for gardening season. I just planted broccoli seeds today inside. I am hoping for a cool weather crop.

I don't know about you, but growing up, my mother fixed potatoes or another starchy vegetable or pasta every night for dinner. I think that carbohydrates are how I picked up most of my weight when I was younger. Just simply too much carbs. I didn't know when to stop as they all tasted so good. I carried this into my adult life. I think one of my biggest challenges in this journey was when I cut back on carbohydrates. However, I must admit, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The initial change was hard, but once over the hump, I can now resist temptation. This is one battle that I could have NEVER imagined that I would conquer. So, what do you fix for dinner if it isn't pasta and carbs? Well, that is a good question. The exact question that I asked my Naturopath.

I have learned to replace the carbs with salads and stir fry vegetables. Instead of my traditional meat, potato/pasta, and vegetable. Now I eat meat, a cooked vegetable/vegetable stir-fry, and a salad. Never thought that I would be satisfied, but I was. I was even satisfied the first time around. However, I can't say the temptation didn't linger for awhile. Try it, see if it works for you. When I say, temptation, I don't necessarily deny the rest of my family from the potatoes/pasta, but I have noticed, they do choose less of the potatoes/pasta since they eat the veggies. This is just as important as my girls could use less carbs too. I have even seen my husband skip the potatoes/pasta and just eat the veggies with meat. Below, I am including my summer stir-fry recipe. Please keep in mind that you can get creative and change the veggies. I have used green beans and peas before, too. Enjoy!

Summer Stir-fry

3 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots sliced

3 medium zucchini, chopped

1 garlic clove minced

1 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. dried sage

1/2 tsp. dried parsley flakes

broccoli florets

aspargus

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil. Add carrots, broccoli, zucchini, and aspargus. Add all spices and mix together with vegetables. Stir-fry vegetables until they are tender.

Bagged Mixes to Freeze

Wow, time flies! I have had blogging on my list for weeks. I need to get better in this area. Today I would like to share a Pumpkin/Banana Muffin recipe with you. This recipe actually came from a dear friend. Thanks, Cathy, for sharing it with me. My family thinks these muffins are yummy! Recently, the girls and I have started to make bagged mixes to freeze. For example, we bag all the dry ingredients that we can and then freeze them in a freezer bag. We pull the bags out another day as needed and then add the wet ingredients and bake them. This has saved us a lot of time. We have done this for cookie mixes too. Hope you enjoy them!

Pumpkin/Banana Muffins

1 1/4 C. Rolled Oats 1 1/2 C. Oat Flour (I've used spelt four)

1/2 C. Plain Yogurt 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 C. Milk 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg

1/2 C. Brown Sugar (Sucanot works) 1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 C. Oil (sunflower, vegetable, or I've used 2 tsp. Baking Powder

canola oil) 1 tsp. Baking Soda

2 Bananas - large ripe, mashed OR (3/4 C. Pumpkin)

1 Egg, large, lightly beaten

In a bowl mix together rolled oats, yogurt and milk. Let soak 10 minutes. Mix oat flour, salt, spices, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Add brown sugar, mashed banana OR pumpkin, egg, and oil to rolled oats mixture. Mix well. Add the other dry ingredients to the rolled oat mixture. Mix well. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake approximately 20 minutes.

Affording to Eat Healthy

I have had a couple people ask me this lately. In this day and age, how can we afford to eat healthy? It sure isn't easy. Admittedly, our grocery bill has went up some weeks more than others, since we started eating healthier.

Our family has had to make some sacrifices. We started off by trimming down on other items we were buying (services like Netflix, phone bills -- better plans, eating out -- which can cost a fortune, vehicle w/better gas mileage, etc.) and we looked for ways to make things ourselves.

Very seldom do we buy "snacky" items anymore. Instead, we make them from scratch. I stopped buying granola bars, fruit grain bars, bagged popcorn, cake mixes, and other prepackaged mixes. If it wasn't in our house, we had to make things if we wanted to eat them. This forced us to eat better, but also saves tremendously on our food bill. Now, the biggest sacrifice for me, has been TIME! Yes, it all requires time. Fortunately, I have three able-bodied children who live in my home and eat my food. Therefore, their room and board is paid by manual labor! Yes, they all take turns cooking and baking.

The bulk of my shopping is done at Giant and then my specialty items are purchased at Sonnewalds Natural Food Store, Common Market, or Costco. Common Market and Costco are monthly to bimonthly trips with trips to Sonnewald usually weekly to bi-weekly. I made a price comparison between all these stores with items that we use regularly. Yes, it did take some time, but was/is worth it. When I buy meat at Giant, I catch the sales and stock up big time (sometimes even saving $2 per pound). Also, they have a coupon kiosk that when you scan your bonus card, it will give you 4 coupons per week. These coupons are tailored to each individual and based on items that you puchase on a regular basis. The same goes for the coupons that are printed out with your receipt at the register.

Another huge savings for us this spring/summer/and even fall, has been our garden. We have had many vegetables from our garden this year. We just picked green beans (second crop this year), have a second crop of lettuce growing, and are still getting peppers and some tomatoes! I had one bag of lima beans, several bags of green beans, 12 jars of tomatoes, and made 10 jars of peach jam. I didn't do a lot of canning, freezing, and preserving, but every little bit helps. We had many fresh salads, vegetable stir-fries and vegetable soup made from what we reaped from the garden too. Yes, all of it does take time. The kids did help when needed too. After all, they live here too! Now is the time of the year that I am not looking foward to ... having my grocery bill go up as we won't have anything coming in from the garden this winter. Since this was my first year to garden in awhile, I can sit down now and evaluate what did work and what didn't work and what we would plant again next year and what we wouldn't quantity wise.

I encourage you all to look for ways to trim down other things in your life to help you to eat healthier even though you may not be able to trim down the grocery bill. Before we looked at what we were spending and trimmed down on things, I thought we couldn't possibly live more frugal. Sometimes those home repairs have to wait. Sometimes activities have to cease. Try a family movie at home for entertainment ... instead of the kids going out with a group. We've had to do that too. One more notation ... gas. Yes, gas is expensive. Our best way to save is to use our gas points from Giant. We have saved 80 cents a gallon before. Sheetz has a Sheetz card (like a store rewards card NOT a credit card as that is what I thought it was a first) and when you obtain one, you save 3 cents a gallon on gas each time you fill up. This has helped us too.

Please take the time to share with me any things that you have done to help your family trim bills in your house that might help me or others out. Thanks and have a blessed weekend.

Pumpkin Cookies

Today my daughter made Pumpkin Cookies. Yummy! Thought I would share the recipe. I would recommend putting the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour or so before baking. The first batch was a little flat and soft. She used 1 1/4 Cups of Teff Flour and 1 1/4 Cups of Quinoa Flour; however, I am pretty sure you can use whatever flour your family usually uses (as this is what we did) for this recipe. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cookies

1/2 Cup Coconut Oil 2 1/2 Cups Flour

1/4 Cup Butter 1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 Cup Coconut Nectar or Maple Syrup 1/2 tsp. Salt

2 Eggs 1/2 tsp. Ground Nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

1 1/4 Cups of Pumpkin 1 Cup Raisins, Chocolate Chips, or Carob Chips

In a large bowl, cream the coconut oil and butter together. Add maple syrup (or Coconut Nectar), eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin, and cream again. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir in raisins, chocolate chips, or carob chips. Scoop dough with a cookie scoop and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Coconut Nectar and Coconut Crystals

Wow! Has it really been that long since I last posted? Ugh. What does the time go. We are still plugging away here and trying to eat healthy. We have all been hit with our first colds for the fall/winter season. Hopefully, our last!

I am so excited as we are still reaping produce from the garden! I picked green beans this evening and have broccoli, lettuce, and cabbage that aren't quite ready yet. Peppers are still growing and I harvested the beets the other day. I love the extended growing season! Wish I had the time to make it last longer.

I would like to share two NEW (to me) products with you today. We have been using Coconut Nectar and Coconut Crystals in our baking. The Coconut Nectar would be a more healthy substitute for honey and the Coconut Crystals would be a more healthy substitute for brown sugar. Both products are a low glycemic sugar alternative with no chemicals, pesticides, or herbicides. They are gluten free, unbleached, unrefined, and GMO free. The coconut crystals and coconut nectar can be used in tea, cereals, or baked items. The Coconut Nectar can be used on pancakes too and is more nutritious than agave! They are both made from the sap of the coconut tree. I usually purchase these from www.vitacost.com. Believe me, they are both worth checking into.

Seriously, I need to get better at posting. I will try to make it my goal for the week. Hope you all are enjoying the fall weather. I hear more rain is in the forecast for next week!

Cooking with Spices

I think that I have mentioned before in a previous blog that I have experimented with spices. Up until about six months ago, I never cooked because I liked to cook ... I cooked because I HAD to cook. Since I started to experiment with spices, this has changed. It is amazing how the palate changes too. Now, I am always trying a new recipe and dabbling with spices. Before, I was afraid to try any new recipes with the fear that we might not like the taste of the spices or that I would buy one spice for a recipe and never use it again.

Today, I experimented with curry powder. Now, I must admit, the smell of it doesn't exactly make my mouth water, but if I use less than a recipe calls for, it is quite an interesting spice! Hope you enjoy the recipe below.

Also, I had quite a few responses in reference to the question I posted in my last blog so ... now, I am posing another question. What are some of your fondest memories of cooking with your Mom? My Mom was always particular about a clean kitchen and didn't usually want her five kids under her feet while cooking. However, she had the patience to let me (and I am sure, my siblings) watch her roll out pie dough and make pies. She even let me make little pies myself. Unfortunately, I never made my own as I got older. As a matter of fact, I didn't even remember how! That is until this summer. My girls wanted to make apple pies to enter in the county fair. So, I figured that I would have Grandma help them. Well, let's just say that my Mom is much older and couldn't quite remember how she did/does make pies. I think we caught her off guard. However, we set out to make them. I wanted my girls to experience this. Well, we had to find a recipe and we struggled with that pie crust, but it all worked out. Not for the fair though! We weren't so sure our first pie was worthy of the fair. However, the best part was ... we did it! The girls have even made two pies since then. Mission accomplished! By the way, after we got going in making the pie, Grandma recalled how she made them! Please share any favorite memories you have with your Mom in the kitchen.

Curried Buttermilk Chicken & Grilled Pineapple

4 - 6 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 1/2 cups Curried Buttermilk Marinade (see below)

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

Coconut Oil

Pineapple Rings

Place chicken in large zip-top bag and add Curried Buttermilk Marinade and seal, squeezing out as much air as possible. Refrigerate for 2 to 6 hours, turning occasionally.

In small nonstick skillet, heat coconut in coconut oil on medium until lightly browned, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Transfer to plate to cool.

Heat grill on medium-high and spray with nonstick Olive Oil cooking spray. Remove chicken from marinade and place on grill. Place pineapples in some of the coconut and place on grill. Cook chicken throughly about 5 minutes on each side. Remove both from grill. Put the remaining coconut on the chicken and serve with pineapples.

Curried Buttermilk Marinade

In medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups low-fat buttermilk, 1 tablespoon curry powder (this is what I used), 2 tsp. sea salt, and 1 tsp. ground black pepper. You can use this to marinade pork, chicken, seafood, or vegetables.

Zucchini Bread

Yeah! We are up to 5 eggs a day now. I cannot tell you how excited I was yesterday to come home (after a long day in Washington, D.C.) and use my metal bucket to gather eggs. You see, this brought tears to my eyes as I cherish the days that I (carrying that metal bucket) used to go out with my grandmother to gather the eggs when I stayed with her. Those are the best memories of my childhood. It was so exciting to see how many eggs those chickens had for us. After we gathered them, she would come in and fix a wonderful breakfast. Anyone else out there ever gather eggs with/for their grandparents? May we always cherish those memories.

I thought I would share a recipe with you today that seems to be a highly favorite one here. Also, we have been making this recipe quite alot lately as we are still getting some zucchini coming in. It is very easy to make and VERY yummy!

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

1/2 c. honey

1/2 c. sucanaut

1 c. coconut oil

2 c. packed, grated zucchini

2 3/4 c. sprouted grain flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 T. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 c. unsweetened flaked coconut

Cream together first four ingredients. Stir in zucchini, then add dry ingredients and mix well. Bake in 2 loaf pans or large 13 x 9" cake pan at 350 degrees for 1 hour.