What's for Dinner

I wanted to share one of our favorite dinner recipes. It's super quick and DELICIOUS!

One night I made this dish while a worker was setting up our home security system and I invited him to grab a plate. He said it was the best pasta he's ever had. And I think he was telling the truth, because his plate was clean!

I like to call this type of recipe a Dump Recipe. No measuring required. Just cook however much you want!


Ingredients:

Whole wheat pasta (I like to use angel hair or penne, but it doesn't matter)
1 can of Rotel tomatoes, drained (I use medium hot, but again it doesn't matter)
Turkey smoked sausage, sliced
Zucchini, slice thin
Marinara Sauce
Minced Garlic
Olive Oil
Shredded white cheese (doesn't matter what kind)


Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions then drain.

Heat some olive oil in a large pan. Dump some garlic in the oil and sliced zucchini and let it brown for a few minutes. Then add the sliced turkey sausage. Allow the sausage to brown and get happy. Once the sausage gets to a brownness that you like, add the Rotel tomatoes. Use the juice from the tomatoes to deglaze the pan, then add the marinara sauce. Dump the cooked pasta in the pan and mix with the sauce. Once pasta and sauce are heated through, remove from heat. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top of the pasta and cover with lid. Allow to sit for a few minutes to give time for cheese to melt.

Enjoy!

How to Preserve Herbs

Here's a link to a great article about preserving fresh herbs:

http://www.wikihow.com/Preserve-Herbs

Spring!

I love spring! Mostly because it's one of the few times of year in Arkansas that you can enjoy the outdoors without any extreme temperatures, but also because of the fresh produce! After a winter of beans and potatoes, I'm looking forward to all of the colorful and delicious fruits and veggies that are coming our way!

Last night we had our first taste of some fresh strawberries. I decided to save myself some time and just cut up the whole container so we can grab a handful whenever we want! This morning I sacked up a handful and put in Free Range Bennett's lunch box.

I've also read about some freezer jam recipes that I'm planning on trying with seasonal berries. We were successful with the apple butter experiment, so I'm ready to move on to try new things. Also, homemade jams and apple butter make excellent gifts!

With the recent rains, we've got tons of fresh cilantro and basil growing in the backyard! (That's all the gardening I have time for.) I'm learning how to dry my own herbs so none of mine go to waste!

Rotisserie Chicken Week

One thing that has worked well for us in the transition to cooking with whole foods is making a huge batch of one type of protein and using it in dishes throughout the week.

One of my favorite things to do on a busy week is purchase a rotisserie chicken from whole foods and find ways to make something new out of it every night. It never ceases to amaze me all the wonderful things you can do with a rotisserie chicken!

Yes, we eat ALL WEEK on just ONE chicken. My coworkers all mock me, having the same chicken 4 nights in a row. But we just don't eat a lot of meat. So it works for us. It's easy and cheap and good for you!

Here's how rotisserie chicken week usually goes down at my house:

Night 1: Plain ol' rotisserie chicken, veggies, some sort of fancy bread from the local bakery.

Night 2: Chop up some chicken, some onion, cilantro from the back yard, and put in enchiladas (using my homemade enchilada sauce)

Night 3: Chop up so more chicken and mix with some veggies, homemade cream of chicken soup, chicken stock, refrigerated pie crust (I like Immaculate Baking Company's pie crust) and you have chicken pot pie!

Night 4: Chicken, celery, a little mayo, seasoning and it's chicken salad! (Sometimes the chicken lasts until day 4, sometimes it doesn't.)

Most of these recipes even work double time as lunch the next day!

Some recipes we're thinking of trying this week with our rotisserie chicken:
Curried Chicken, Chicken Tacos, and Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches

Bread Machines Are From Heaven!

I finally got to try out my bread machine this weekend! I went into it with the expectation that I'd probably have to try it a couple of times before I got it right, but I was so pleasantly surprised! I made a loaf of honey whole wheat bread and it came out moist and fluffy and delicious! The crust was a little crisp, but that's OK by me. As far as I'm concerned - I'm done buying bread in the store. This was WAY too easy! Free Range Bennett loved it too! He's started putting words together (he's 20 months old) and he said "more bread." That kid and I have WAY too much in common!

Here's the recipe I used for Honey Whole Wheat Bread in the bread machine:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp dry yeast
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup warm water

follow the directions for your bread machine - sometimes the order in which you add the ingredients matters.

Pictures to follow.

Score!

We made a trip to Free Range Nana's House this weekend and I scored some loot!

I got a bread machine! I can't wait to start making my own bread! I am truly giddy with excitement!!! As I mentioned before, we've been struggling with trying to find a good bread that's minimally processed around here. Problem solved!!

I also got an electric griddle, which will be great on our pancake making marathons, and little sandwich cutters to make Free Range Bennett's sandwiches into fun shapes.

Oh, and I almost forgot - 2 pounds of Arkansas pecans, shelled and ready to go into some delicious muffins or homemade granola!

Double Score!!!!

Grocery List

I thought I'd share what our grocery list looks like now that we've switched to whole foods:

Plastic Cutlery (Free Range Bennett has a party @ school)
Organic Unsalted Butter
Plastic Storage Bags
Organic Whole Milk 1/2 gallon
Frozen Spinach
Feta Cheese
Whole Organic Chicken
Organic Chocoloate Chips
Cream Cheese
Artisan Lettuces
Celery
Carrots
Paprika
Onion Powder
2 Dozen Organic Eggs
Whole Wheat Flour
Bay Leaves
Pears
Frozen Corn
Green Beans (I buy these in the can because I love them!)
5lb bag of red potatoes
1 pint grape tomatoes
2 bunches bananas
1 zucchini
Whole Wheat French Bread
1 pint blueberries
Facewash (not a food item, but included in our total)
1/2 pound deli turkey

Grand total $103

I used no coupons, and most of what I bought wasn't even on sale this week. I do try to shop sales, but it just didn't work out that way this week. And we still did pretty well!

One thing I'm experimenting with is buying one protien source each week and making multiple meals out of it. Hopefully this will cut down on cooking time each day.

What I'm making this week:

Dinners:
Roasted Chicken with veggie pancakes (I'm using leftover chicken bones to make stock)
Chicken Enchiladas
Veggie Quiche and Salad
Eat out 1 night
Chili (from the freezer, leftover from a few weeks ago)

Lunches:
Leftover Enchiladas
Turkey Wraps
Chicken Salad and Triscuit crackers (if there's any leftover chicken)

Breakfasts: (all of these made previously and stored in freezer)
Zucchini Muffins
Mini breakfast casseroles
Homemade granola and greek yogurt

Snacks:
Fruit
Homemade No-Bake Energy Balls

Updates

We've been transitioning to whole foods at my house for a little over a month now. We chose to transition to whole foods gradually for a couple of reasons:

#1 - I didn't want the food we already had to go to waste.

#2 - I don't know how to cook anything unless is comes in a box.

So over the last month, we have been eating SOME processed foods, just to get rid of things and help ease the learning curve.

This change has been difficult to say the least, but I believe that true change is a process and not something you can do overnight.

Here's some updates on the progress at my house:

- We gave family members and friends some of our processed foods that haven't been opened. Everything else has it's own shelf in our pantry so we know what we need to get rid of. Some things, I just threw away. Hate to waste food like that, but I'm not going to lose sleep over throwing away that last little bit of salad dressing.

- I have a freezer stocked full of homemade zucchini muffins, mini breakfast casseroles, and homemade pancakes for us to grab in the mornings. I also have some homemade apple butter to put on our pancakes so we don't have to use sugary syrups.

- Also in the freezer, we have some frozen meals that I made a double batch of. These are great for busy nights, all I have to do is take some frozen chili out of the freezer and heat it up!

- I have made huge batches of homemade enchilada sauce and cream of chicken soup. We make casseroles and Mexican food a lot so I made giant batches of both of these and froze them in 12 ounce portions.

- For those nights when we have a sweet tooth, I have a batch of homemade cookie dough in the freezer. Turns out that with homemade cookies, we get full after just a couple of cookies and we don't feel the need to gorge ourselves.

- Our pantry is mostly filled with the basic baking ingredients, canned tomatoes (with little or no salt), whole wheat pasta, coffee, tea, beans, and peanut butter.

- We no longer use white sugar or any artificial sweeteners. With our morning coffee or tea, we will have a spoonful of honey or maple syrup instead.

- Free Range Hubby and I are BOTH off of sodas completely! YAY!!!

- I have arranged a trade with friends so that we can diversify our homemade food supplies.

- My mother is giving us a bread machine for us to start making our own bread. I just don't have the time to go to multiple stores for our food so I figure making our own will be the most convenient. I can't wait to try it out!

- I have a few basic recipes that the family likes for us to cook throughout the week. Some of our new favorites include homemade granola, no-bake energy balls (see previous post), refried beans, and fried rice.

We still have some processed foods in our house. Some I'm OK with. Every once in a while, I just want a bowl of sugary cereal. But we've found brands like Cascadian Farms and Mom's Best Naturals that make yummy sugar laden cereals that are made with ingredients we can actually pronounce. And they're delicious! I'm also a fan of Annie's foods for Free Range Bennett. Their snacks still contain many ingredients, but they again are all ones you can pronounce. These products I'm just not ready to part with. But I believe moderation is the key.

I'm still working on ways to incorporate some of our favorite foods into our new whole foods lifestyle. Condiments are a big challenge. I love ketchup. I'm still trying to decide if I want to try a couple of less processed brands or make my own. I have some salad dressings that I can't wait to try once we run out of the processed stuff. And I'm still trying to figure out how to either make my own tortillas or find a store that sells minimally processed ones. We still have pizza every couple of weeks, and I don't see a problem with that. And when we eat out, I try to choose dishes that I know will be less processed.

Again, this is all a process. But I'm thrilled about the progress we've made. I've found a love of cooking that I didn't know existed within me, and I feel better than I've felt in a long time. I can't wait to see what the next month has in store!

Every Vote Counts

In Food, Inc. one of the things they mention is that when you buy something at a store, you're essentially making a vote for what you want stocked in the stores. It makes perfect sense - the store's not going to stock it unless they know you're going to buy it. Going to WalMart or Kroger and buying organic whole food items tells that store "these are the items I'm buying, please stock more!"

Take that one step further:

I sometimes shop at Whole Foods, which I love. I love that they grind their own ground beef. I know when I buy it, I'm not getting a bunch of fillers. I've had food poisoning 3 times in the last 2 years, knowing what my meat goes through before it gets to my table is important. I also like that the employees there are so knowledgeable about what they sell. I can tell the meat man what I want to make, and he'll pick out the best cut of meat for me. Service like that is hard to find nowadays.

But I was thinking, Whole Foods already knows their customers like to by whole foods. (Hence the name, dummy) What about the big chains like Kroger and Walmart? A representative from Walmart said on Food, Inc. that they stock what their customers buy. So in essence, buying organic at large chains like Kroger and WalMart may actually make an impact on what their stores carry, therefore increasing the selection and availability of whole organic foods to all the customers that shop at these stores. People who shop at Whole Foods go there for a reason - they care about what they eat. But by encouraging the large chain grocery stores to stock more of these items, we can help make organic whole foods available to a whole new set of people. My family lives in rural Arkansas where the only grocery store for 20 miles is WalMart. If I can buy organic milk at my Walmart 150 miles away, and convince other people to do so, I can help convince the entire company to carry organic milk in other locations - making organic milk available to my family in rural Arkansas. Big chains like WalMart are successful for a reason: they sell what people like to buy. If we tell them we like to buy organic whole foods, they'll sell it.

Let's take this ANOTHER step further:

By purchasing more organic and whole foods at the large chains, the large chains now carry more organic and minimally processed items - therefore increasing the demands on the farmers and manufacturers that supply these stores. So we have beef farmer A that grows cows that are fed with corn and pumped full of antibiotics, and beef farmer B who grows cows that are grown organically. Over time, if people are buying more organic beef from large chains, beef farmer B is going to become incredibly successful. So beef farmer A (if he's smart) will also want to jump on the bandwagon and grow his cows organically. So we now have HUGE changes in the farming industry. Less E Coli, less food poisoning, and the people of the world skip down the streets holding hands and singing "We Are The World." Well, maybe not that. But you get my point. Me buying organic milk at Kroger may actually make a huge impact down the line.

This is not rocket science, it's basic business principles. Supply and demand, people. Demand organic and whole foods from our grocers, and they will supply it.

One Week Down

Well, I've been Diet Coke Free for one week. Here are the changes I notice:

-I sleep better.

-I crave sweets less.

-I have more energy throughout the day. I used to hit a wall about 2pm -- not anymore!

-I like the taste of water more.

-I like iced tea with no sweetener....weird.

-I no longer crave my Diet Cokes.

All positive changes! The first few days were hard. I was like a smoker who was trying to quit - irritable, jittery, and anxious. I'm glad I suffered through those first days because I feel tremendously better!

My favorite Diet Coke Alternatives:
Coffee with 1tbsp maple syrup, 1tsp cocoa, and a splash of whole milk
Hot tea with honey
Iced tea, plain
Ice water
Naked fruit smoothies (which I drink sparingly because they are 130 calories per serving!)

Food, Inc.

See it.

That's All.

One Is Too Many...One Hundred Is Never Enough

I've come to the realization that I have a problem......

Hello, my name is Amanda, and I'm addicted to Diet Coke.

I mentioned in blog #1 that I was just not ready to take the leap to quit my Diet Coke habit. Well the time has come.

I previously talked about listing what times of day or what meal you rely on processed foods the most and I decided breakfast was that time for my family. So we premade a bunch of home made breakfasts that we just throw in the freezer and heat up as needed. And that has worked out beautifully.

Now on to step 2. Unfortunately, for me, that means giving up my Diet Coke. I've built myself up to drinking 4 cans a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But still, that's on average 180mg of caffeine a day. Not to mention all the other crap that's in it. So my next "small" change to make a big impact is cutting out my beloved Diet Cokes. We've had a beautiful relationship, but it's time I move on.

So Saturday and Sunday I just had one to kind of wean me off, and today I'm down to none. I can't say I'm trilled about it just yet. But I know in a week's time I'll feel tons better.

I'm still having some caffeine. I drink coffee in the morning. On a side note, I've switched my coffee sweetener from Sweet N' Low to honey. This is one change I'm thrilled about. It just takes a tiny amount to do the trick and it's delicious!

There's something weird about Diet Cokes though. The people who drink them seem addicted. I know I was/am. I started having anxiety with just the thought of cutting back. I don't like letting something have that sort of control over me.

It's always been my goal to live a life of moderation. But with me and Diet Coke, there is no such thing as moderation. Like my title says, "One is too many, one hundred is never enough."

It's going to be a rough week.....sigh.

Frustrated

I am not one of those mothers that claim to be able to do it all. Nor do I want to be one of those mothers. I love having a life outside of the house. I love that Free Range Hubby helps a lot. I LOVE that I get to be a little selfish every once in a while! With that said, I'm feeling a little discouraged the last few days. It may be that I've been sick, but we'll get to that in a bit.

#1: What's the point of making all this food from scratch if Free Range Bennett doesn't even eat it!?!?!? We had like an hour long tantrum last night because he didn't want to eat what I made - all ingredients I know he likes. But after an hour of him crying, he gave in and ate! I did compromise and left the sauce off the pasta, but I consider it a victory!!!! Just wish it wasn't so much effort. I'm hoping he'll get used to it over time, but it would be so easy just to go back to the junk food.

#2: I feel like I go to the grocery store every day! Maybe I just need to plan better, but how can you stock up in fresh fruits and veggies? They go bad! It may be partly my fault. I feel nervous buying 2 bunches of bananas, because I'm afraid they'll go bad. Never mind the fact that Free Range Bennett eats like 2 a day. We usually go through a bunch in 2 days. So I'm going to the store every other day for bananas, not to mention all the other stuff. These stay at home moms obviously don't have boys. My child can go through an entire container of blueberries in one sitting. I just need to get over my fear of buying too much.

#3: All this homemade food is supposed to make you feel better and what do I get? Strep throat. Exept I'm not entirely convinced it was strep. Five days later and I still feel a little puny.

This switch to more whole foods is stressful, but I know in my heart it's worth it. I really do enjoy learning to cook and feel like my skills in the kitchen have increased tremendously. It's so overwhelming getting started, but I just keep telling myself it will get easier.

Breakfast Blitz!

Last night Free Range Hubby and I made nearly a month's worth of breakfast foods to put in the freezer. We started at 7:40 right after Free Range Bennett went to bed. Including the cleanup, bagging, labeling, and storing, we finished at 9:45. I think we even lunches for the following day during that time.

So after 2ish hours we had plain pancakes (whole wheat), berry pancakes (made with frozen berries bought from the store), cinnamon-vanilla pancakes, french toast sticks, and breakfast burritos. I'm excited about having all of these homemade breakfasts to enjoy throughout the month!

Like I said before, breakfast is the meal that we rely on most heavily for processed foods. Most of the other blogs I read talk about doing lots of lunches and dinners, but I haven't found many people who premake breakfast foods. If you can't do the whole once-a-month freezer cooking thing, I suggest doing what we have done. Just pick out what time of day you're most likely to resort to the processed stuff and prepare a couple of things ahead of time. One of the things I've learned through all of this is the transition to whole foods is not an overnight process, true change comes when you do it little by little. Baby steps!

Homemade Granola

This is the recipe for granola I made the other night:

4 1/2 cup oats
2 cup chopped nuts
2 cup dried fruit
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup maple syrup

Mix all ingredients together. Spread on cookie sheet and bake at 425 for 40-50 min. Mix halfway through. Cool and store in freezer.

What I love about this recipe:
1. It tastes AMAZING
2. It makes the whole house smell like cinnamon
3. It's so easy to modify.

I didn't have enough maple syrup so I added a little honey and it turned out great. I'm thinking just about anything sweet would work. I used pecans in mine because I had some fresh ones, but any nut would work. I also used raisins, but you can use craisins, dried apricots, dried apples, or any other dried fruit. I can already tell this recipe will be a favorite in my house!

Thanks to simpleorganizedliving.com for this fantastic recipe!!

False Alarm

Great news! I expected to come home yesterday to a crockpot full of charred apple goo. What I did come home to was a perfect pot of apple butter! I guess the cleaning lady just didn't realize what it was and thought it was burning or something. Here's the recipe that I modified from one Allrecipes.com:

Crock Pot Apple Butter:

5 1/2 pounds apples, peeled and chopped
2 cups sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt

Place all ingredients in crockpot and cook on high for one hour. Then reduce temp to low and cook for 9 hours or until thick. Remove cover and cook additional hour on low. Allow to cool before placing in containers.

A few pointers: I halfed the recipe and it made 4 jars, which is way more reasonable for a family of 2 and a half. I also added a little allspice. This recipe will store in the freezer indefinately, and is good in the fridge for a few weeks.

This weekend I'm making a bunch of breakfast foods to put in the freezer and have throughout the month. This apple butter will go perfect with almost everything I'm making, and it's WAY healthier than syrup!

Mishaps in the Kitchen

Last night I made homemade granola. OMG!! It's worth making if only for the smell. I'll post the recipe in a bit. I cook really awesome things like this and it makes me want to say, "Suck it, stay at home moms!"

But then I'm immediately put in my place with my next project....

I also thought it would be cool to make some homemade apple butter to go with the breakfast foods I'm making this weekend.... FAIL. The recipe is easy enough. You pretty much just cut up a bunch of apples and place them all in the crockpot with a bunch of sugar and spices. How could someone possibly screw that up, right?

Well, not only did I screw it up but I almost burned down our house in the process. I acidentally left the crockpot on high (it was only supposed to cook for an hour on high, then cook on low for 9-11 hours). Good thing the cleaning lady came today and saw that there was about to be a fire in my kitchen. OOPS! And now instead of coming home to the delicious smell of warm apple butter, I get to come home to the smell of charred apples. Awesome.

That's what I get for trying to be super mom.

Once I actually get the recipe right, I'll post it.

Freezer Cooking

I've been reading a lot about freezer cooking. A lot of ladies out there devote just one day a month to making a ton of dishes to be frozen and eaten throughout the month. I'm intrigued.

At this point, I don't know if I have several hours in one day to devote to the project. So I've come up with a plan of my own. When I make a dish we eat often, like meatballs, I'll make a double batch and freeze one. I'm already cooking anyway, so it's not an extra time committment to just roll out a few more meatballs. I'm going to work this weekend on making some freezer breakfasts. We rely heavily on frozen waffles and pancakes. I'm thinking it may be healthier and cheaper to make a batch from scratch and freeze them. I've also read that you can make breakfast burritos and freeze them, so I'll give that a try as well. Breakfast is the meal that we rely on processed foods the most, so I think starting with some freezer breakfasts would make the biggest impact.

Wish me luck!

Is there anyone else out there into freezer cooking? Advice and comments are welcome!

Greek Meatballs

These meatballs have been a regular dinner at our house for years. They are super easy and delicious! I've been reading a lot about freezer cooking to save time, so I made a double batch and stuck one in the freezer. This recipe normally makes 4 servings, so Free Range Hubby and I each get a serving for dinner and a serving for lunch the next day. I usually serve them with some steamed veggies on the side.

Greek Meatballs

1 pound ground beef (I use 91% lean ground beef)
1 cup uncooked brown rice
1 small package feta cheese
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 jar pasta sauce

Cook rice and allow to cool. Mix rice with beef, oregano, and half of the feta cheese. Roll mixture into 16 balls. Place in casserole dish and cover with jar of pasta sauce. Sprinkle remaining feta on top. Bake at 450 degrees for 45 minutes or until the meat reaches 170 degrees.

Procucts I Love

In the quest to find balance between whole foods and processed foods, I often spend A LOT of time in the grocery store reading labels. One fine Saturday morning, I stumbled upon these little blessings: Sweet Potato Pancakes. They are the most delicious frozen pancakes I have ever eaten, and Free Range Bennett loves them too! With just a little bit of butter and a banana, they are the perfect breakfast. They are made with real food ingredients like eggs, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, sweet potatoes, etc. - and not a bunch of chemicals. Even better, they are from a locally based company! De Wafelbakkers headquarters is actually right across the street from Free Range Bennett's daycare. I would love to tour their factory. Sometimes when I pick up Free Range Bennett they're baking at the factory and it smells HEAVENLY!!!

I always try to support local businesses when I can, especially those that care enough to make quality products. I buy ours at Whole Foods, and they have a few different varieties, not just sweet potato. I'm pretty sure they're sold nationwide, so check it out!