Don't get me wrong, I LOVE ice cream and I can eat the 'no sugar added' stuff. But recently I have taken to freezing my homemade yogurt and it is delicious! It satisfies my sweet tooth and then I don't crave the ice cream.
The last batch I made had a hint of vanilla because the yogurt that I used as a starter for my batch was vanilla. Then I added some lemon juice and xylitol (you can add honey). It is so mild and yummy and I'm addicted to it!
It's really nice on a warm evening to sit outside and eat it...and there's no guilt at all :)
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Another Yummy Treat
This is one of my favorite things to eat!
Garden fresh green beans are the best, but in their absence you can use frozen.
Spray a cookie sheet with oil and cover with raw green beans. Spray the top of the grean beans with oil and sprinkle salt over the top. You can experiment with different seasonings, too. I know thyme is really good on them.
Bake at 350 until golden brown and the ends are crispy. Time will vary depending on if you use frozen or fresh. Just keep an eye on them. It can take up to an hour or more if frozen.
Green beans are a great source of vitamin C and are super good for you!
Garden fresh green beans are the best, but in their absence you can use frozen.
Spray a cookie sheet with oil and cover with raw green beans. Spray the top of the grean beans with oil and sprinkle salt over the top. You can experiment with different seasonings, too. I know thyme is really good on them.
Bake at 350 until golden brown and the ends are crispy. Time will vary depending on if you use frozen or fresh. Just keep an eye on them. It can take up to an hour or more if frozen.
Green beans are a great source of vitamin C and are super good for you!
The Best Waffles Ever....Seriously
The Best Waffles Ever!
2 Cups whole wheat flour
1/3 Cup teff (this makes it SO good!)
1/4 Cup sesame seeds
abt 1/3 Cup honey (I use some xylitol and stevia mixed)
4 tsp Rumford's baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 Cup applesauce (instead of oil)
2 eggs
2 cups lowfat milk
1 tsp vanilla
(You can add nuts, seeds, and fruit if you want, too!)
Heat waffle iron. Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix until just moist. Spray waffle iron with oil and cook.
These are a weekend tradition at our house :)
Oh, and they are super good topped with this:
2 Cups homemade plain yogurt (recipe in a previous post)
1/2 Cup honey (I use xylitol and stevia)
1-2 tsp almond extract
2 Cups whole wheat flour
1/3 Cup teff (this makes it SO good!)
1/4 Cup sesame seeds
abt 1/3 Cup honey (I use some xylitol and stevia mixed)
4 tsp Rumford's baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 Cup applesauce (instead of oil)
2 eggs
2 cups lowfat milk
1 tsp vanilla
(You can add nuts, seeds, and fruit if you want, too!)
Heat waffle iron. Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix until just moist. Spray waffle iron with oil and cook.
These are a weekend tradition at our house :)
Oh, and they are super good topped with this:
2 Cups homemade plain yogurt (recipe in a previous post)
1/2 Cup honey (I use xylitol and stevia)
1-2 tsp almond extract
Some Recipes
Peanut Butter Cookies:
1 Cup apple sauce (instead of butter)
1 1/2 Cups honey (I use xylitol because I can't eat honey)
abt 2 1/2 Cups Adam's peanut butter (I like a mix of creamy and crunchy)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 Cups whole wheat flour
abt 1 Cup oats
1 tsp baking soda (I like Rumford's brand)
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350. Mix first 3 ingredients well. Add eggs and vanilla. Add the rest of the ingredients until combined. Spoon dough onto cookie sheet and press with a fork. Bake for abt 15 minutes or until light brown.
Zucchini Casserole:
abt 4 homemade bread slices
3 zucchini
some mushrooms
1 onion
any other veggies that sound good
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 Cup cooked beans of choice
Jar of pasta sauce
mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese
italian seasoning
garlic salt
Preheat oven to 350.
Butter one side of each slice of bread and place buttered side down in a casserole dish until the bottom is covered. Sprinkle mozzerella over the bread.
Saute onion, garlic, and zucchini until mostly cooked.
Mix veggies with pasta sauce, beans, and seasonings. Pour into the casserol dish.
sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake until bubbly (abt 30 min)
Tuna Casserole:
13 oz whole wheat pasta (cooked)
1/2 Cup cooked navy beans
1/3 Cup cooked grain of choice
2 Tablespoons butter
1 chopped onion
1 Cup sliced celery
1 chopped red bell pepper (or vegetable of choice)
4-5 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
1-2 Tablespoons seasoned salt or garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper (regular pepper will work)
3 Cups lowfat milk
2 cans tuna
3/4 Cup Parmesan cheese
sage
marjoram
dill
Preheat oven to 375. Spray casserole dish with oil.
Using a large saucepan, saute veggies in butter until mostly cooked. Add flour, salt and white pepper. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir until thickened.
Add pasta, beans, grains, tuna, sage, marjoram, and 1/4 Cup parmesan cheese and mix.
Pour into casserole dish and sprinkle with dill and remaining cheese. Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes.
Tuna Salad:
2 cans tuna
1/4 Cup cooked amaranth
1 green onion chopped
1 small celery stalk chopped
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 Cup lowfat Mayo
3 Tablespoons sweet pickle relish (I usually add some xylitol instead because the relish is too sweet for me)
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
tobasco sauce (optional)
Mix all ingredients and eat with whole wheat bread, lettuce, and tomato. This tuna salad tastes even better after it has sat in the fridge for a day. It's the best recipe I've ever tried!
Southwest Black Bean Soup:
abt 1 Cup natural chicken cooked and chopped
1 Cup brown rice uncooked
1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chiles undrained
1 can crushed tomatoes undrained
2 cans Swanson's chicken broth
3 cans black beans undrained
2 Tablespoons butter
2 bell peppers
1 onion
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Seasoned salt (I like garlic salt)
Southwest seasoning if you have it
Bay leaf
Tarragon
Oregano
Pinch of cinnamon
This can be either a crock pot soup or stove top. Saute all veggies in butter until partially cooked. Add all the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until rice is done, about an hour. If using a crock pot, don't worry about bringing it to a boil :) It's good served with cheese on top.
Mexican Lime Soup:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
6 garlic cloves minced
abt 1 Cup chicken
3 Cups brown rice or quinoa or a blend
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
9 Cups Swanson's chicken broth
1/3 Cup lime juice
3 chopped green onions (the green and white parts)
1 can diced tomatoes
2 Tablespoons seasoned salt
If using a crock pot, add all ingredients including the raw chicken and let cook for some hours. If cooking on the stove, then add all ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about an hour.
When soup is done, crush tortilla chips into soup. Top soup with fresh chopped avacados, tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro.
I will post more recipes as I think of them.
1 Cup apple sauce (instead of butter)
1 1/2 Cups honey (I use xylitol because I can't eat honey)
abt 2 1/2 Cups Adam's peanut butter (I like a mix of creamy and crunchy)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 Cups whole wheat flour
abt 1 Cup oats
1 tsp baking soda (I like Rumford's brand)
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350. Mix first 3 ingredients well. Add eggs and vanilla. Add the rest of the ingredients until combined. Spoon dough onto cookie sheet and press with a fork. Bake for abt 15 minutes or until light brown.
Zucchini Casserole:
abt 4 homemade bread slices
3 zucchini
some mushrooms
1 onion
any other veggies that sound good
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 Cup cooked beans of choice
Jar of pasta sauce
mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese
italian seasoning
garlic salt
Preheat oven to 350.
Butter one side of each slice of bread and place buttered side down in a casserole dish until the bottom is covered. Sprinkle mozzerella over the bread.
Saute onion, garlic, and zucchini until mostly cooked.
Mix veggies with pasta sauce, beans, and seasonings. Pour into the casserol dish.
sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake until bubbly (abt 30 min)
Tuna Casserole:
13 oz whole wheat pasta (cooked)
1/2 Cup cooked navy beans
1/3 Cup cooked grain of choice
2 Tablespoons butter
1 chopped onion
1 Cup sliced celery
1 chopped red bell pepper (or vegetable of choice)
4-5 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
1-2 Tablespoons seasoned salt or garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper (regular pepper will work)
3 Cups lowfat milk
2 cans tuna
3/4 Cup Parmesan cheese
sage
marjoram
dill
Preheat oven to 375. Spray casserole dish with oil.
Using a large saucepan, saute veggies in butter until mostly cooked. Add flour, salt and white pepper. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir until thickened.
Add pasta, beans, grains, tuna, sage, marjoram, and 1/4 Cup parmesan cheese and mix.
Pour into casserole dish and sprinkle with dill and remaining cheese. Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes.
Tuna Salad:
2 cans tuna
1/4 Cup cooked amaranth
1 green onion chopped
1 small celery stalk chopped
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 Cup lowfat Mayo
3 Tablespoons sweet pickle relish (I usually add some xylitol instead because the relish is too sweet for me)
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
tobasco sauce (optional)
Mix all ingredients and eat with whole wheat bread, lettuce, and tomato. This tuna salad tastes even better after it has sat in the fridge for a day. It's the best recipe I've ever tried!
Southwest Black Bean Soup:
abt 1 Cup natural chicken cooked and chopped
1 Cup brown rice uncooked
1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chiles undrained
1 can crushed tomatoes undrained
2 cans Swanson's chicken broth
3 cans black beans undrained
2 Tablespoons butter
2 bell peppers
1 onion
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Seasoned salt (I like garlic salt)
Southwest seasoning if you have it
Bay leaf
Tarragon
Oregano
Pinch of cinnamon
This can be either a crock pot soup or stove top. Saute all veggies in butter until partially cooked. Add all the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until rice is done, about an hour. If using a crock pot, don't worry about bringing it to a boil :) It's good served with cheese on top.
Mexican Lime Soup:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
6 garlic cloves minced
abt 1 Cup chicken
3 Cups brown rice or quinoa or a blend
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
9 Cups Swanson's chicken broth
1/3 Cup lime juice
3 chopped green onions (the green and white parts)
1 can diced tomatoes
2 Tablespoons seasoned salt
If using a crock pot, add all ingredients including the raw chicken and let cook for some hours. If cooking on the stove, then add all ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about an hour.
When soup is done, crush tortilla chips into soup. Top soup with fresh chopped avacados, tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro.
I will post more recipes as I think of them.
What We Eat
So here's a break down of the things we do and do not eat. Our diets are mostly the same with a few differences that I will provide.
These are the things we avoid (there are always exceptions here and there):
sugar
high fructose corn syrup
hydrogenated oils/ trans fats
saturated fats (except those found in avacoados and such)
processed food like white flour and quick oats, etc.
high amounts of salt
* (because of my blood sugar issues, I also have to avoid fruit, honey, potatoes, and popcorn. But Dan eats these things in large quantities)
So this means that we do eat a lot of whole grains, fruits (for Daniel), vegetables, beans, nuts, and lowfat dairy. I am more willing to eat more fatty foods than Daniel, which means that I will eat full fat dairy products sometimes. We don't buy foods that come in packages or that have been pre-prepared (other than condiments).
A typical day involves eating oatmeal or homemade toast (bread recipe in previous post) with the butter/oil combination on it, and a glass of 1% milk.
Lunch is either leftovers from dinner the night before or something like tuna salad or chicken salad sandwiches, or Adams natural peanut butter sandwiches.
Dinner is often a casserole of some sort because I think they are easier to make and we like eating them as leftovers. I will provide some recipe examples later. I like casseroles because I can put beans and grains like amaranth or teff or quinoa or millet in them and it still tastes really good. It's also a way to get lots of good veggies.
Snack foods are a must for me. Our snack foods include bean and hummus dips (made from dry beans with no fats added), peanut butter oatmeal cookies (all healthy ingredients), and tuna salad.
I will post recipes in the next post :)
These are the things we avoid (there are always exceptions here and there):
sugar
high fructose corn syrup
hydrogenated oils/ trans fats
saturated fats (except those found in avacoados and such)
processed food like white flour and quick oats, etc.
high amounts of salt
* (because of my blood sugar issues, I also have to avoid fruit, honey, potatoes, and popcorn. But Dan eats these things in large quantities)
So this means that we do eat a lot of whole grains, fruits (for Daniel), vegetables, beans, nuts, and lowfat dairy. I am more willing to eat more fatty foods than Daniel, which means that I will eat full fat dairy products sometimes. We don't buy foods that come in packages or that have been pre-prepared (other than condiments).
A typical day involves eating oatmeal or homemade toast (bread recipe in previous post) with the butter/oil combination on it, and a glass of 1% milk.
Lunch is either leftovers from dinner the night before or something like tuna salad or chicken salad sandwiches, or Adams natural peanut butter sandwiches.
Dinner is often a casserole of some sort because I think they are easier to make and we like eating them as leftovers. I will provide some recipe examples later. I like casseroles because I can put beans and grains like amaranth or teff or quinoa or millet in them and it still tastes really good. It's also a way to get lots of good veggies.
Snack foods are a must for me. Our snack foods include bean and hummus dips (made from dry beans with no fats added), peanut butter oatmeal cookies (all healthy ingredients), and tuna salad.
I will post recipes in the next post :)
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The Omnivore's Dilemma
This is the first in a series of posts that I am going to do on some more specifics of the way Daniel and I eat. I wanted to start out by endorsing the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" because it summs up our core beliefs on the way we should eat.
So anyone seeking to follow the way we eat should read this book as a foundation to all that we say and do.
Michael Pollan takes four food chains and traces them from their beginnings all the way to a meal. He discusses the importance of knowing where your food comes from.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Yogurt and Carrots
My sister in law just taught me how to make my own yogurt, and it is so yummy and is way cheaper!
1. Put 1/2 Gallon of milk (any %) mixed with 1/4 Cup dry milk in a crockpot and cover and cook for 2 1/2 hours on low.
2. turn crock pot off and let it sit for 3 hours.
3. take 2 cups of milk out of crock pot and mix with 1/2 cup of store-bought yogurt (with live active cultures)
4. Pour yogurt/milk mixture back into crockpot and mix well.
5. Cover crock pot with a thick towel and let it sit for 8 - 12 hours.
*The next time you make it, save 1/2 cup from the last batch to mix in...that's why it's so cheap!
These are a few of the last carrots from the garden. I just liked how colorful they are.
This one looks like something off of Star Wars :)
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