Apple Vermicelli Salad

My grandmother gave me this recipe and it is definitely one
of my favorites. It is an excellent side dish, or put baked
chicken on top to make it a main dish. It's filled with
vegetables and with my modification, apples too!

Ingredients:
1 12oz package vermicelli
1 TBS accent (season salt)
    * I exclude the season salt
4 TBS extra virgin olive oil
3 TBS lemon juice
1 1/2 cups apples
3/4 cup green onions
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup carrots
1 can olives (optional)
1/3 cup real mayonnaise

You can add or exclude anything that you
choose...sometimes I put bell pepper in mine...

Spaghetti Squash

I'm trying to incorporate more healthy choices for my family.
By doing so, I'm also trying to learn what is in season and
what's not. When I go to the grocery store, I see these
amazing, yet intimidating squashes this time of year.
This week, I chose a spaghetti squash because I have
had it a couple of times before. It was the most familiar
to me. This squash tastes really good even cooked
plain but can be flavorful with spaghetti sauce. It has
a very mild taste, almost bland so I think it can
be used in a variety of dishes.
It's fairly easy to make and according to Wikipedia,
contains rich nutrients such as:
Folic Acid
Potassium
Vitamin A
Beta Carotene

And it's low in calories!

After cooking it, I think my family really liked
it and I will be cooking it with my squash patties
tomorrow...so stay tuned!

Ingredients to serve Spaghetti Squash:
Spaghetti Squash
salt & pepper
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil

First, I cut it in half. Okay, this was difficult, I really need

a sharper knife....

Then I cleaned out the seeds, just like cleaning out a

pumpkin! Now I'm really beginning

to feel the excitement for the Autumn season !

I drizzled olive oil, salt and pepper on the inside...

cut off the stem...

Then I placed the halves face down on a cookie sheet.

I put a little bit of water on the cookie sheet; just

enough to cover the surface....

I cooked it at 350 degrees for approximately

1 hour 10 minutes....

Now for the fun part!

After it was done baking, I scraped the inside of the halves

with a fork. This makes it look like spaghetti!

And that's it, just serve on the side of the main dish.



This is something that has to be eased into my family. If I cook

something way out of the ordinary like this and serve it as the
main dish, my family won't be so welcoming to the change. So
I served it as a simple side dish and will have it a few more
times like that until I can make the big transition to serve
it with spaghetti sauce! Stay tuned for my squash patties
that I will make with it tomorrow!



Vegetable of the Week: Celery

Celery is a vegetable that I think is easy to incorporate into
my cooking. Lately, I have been using it to flavor a lot of things
that have to do with chicken. It is especially good with onions
to flavor different dishes. I put it in things such as my cornbread
dressing, cream of chicken soup, baked chicken dish, or

just raw to snack on.

According to Wikipedia:
- Celery is thought to help the pain of arthritis.

- Is low calorie.

-It contains calcium.
-Celery is used in weight loss diets.

I like cooking with celery....it's very flavorful.....

Classic Comfort: Chicken & Dressing

We were in the mood for comfort food this week. I love eating at

Boston Market and having their chicken and dressing but

 I wanted to see if I could make the same meal from scratch,

no processed packaged food allowed. It went really well.

The chicken came out soft and moist because I made it in

the crock pot.  The dressing was so much fun to make and

came out really good. My grandmother makes the best

dressing and this is my version of her recipe. Together,

the whole meal took me about 1 hour to prepare.

Ingredients for Chicken: 

celery

onion        

fresh parsley  

salt & pepper

garlic powder

carrots                             

Ingredients for Cornbread:

(I used the recipe from the cornmeal bag)

1 cup of pure cornmeal

1 cup of flour

2 TBS sugar

1/4 cup oil

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1 egg



I cooked this on high in the crock pot for about 6 hours.
 It came out tender and moist. The carrots, celery, onion,
 and parsley flavored the stock perfectly. I used the stock
 later to make the dressing! This was my first time making
 homemade chicken stock and it came out way better than
 the canned stock from the store. I think I am going to make
 some more in the near future and freeze it.

 Yum!.......

 Next step.....make the cornbread......

Mix the cornmeal, flour, egg, sugar, oil, salt, and milk together.

Pour into a pan and bake at 425 degrees for approximately

15-20 minutes or until golden brown. I used to use the corn

bread mix from the store which contains lard and preservatives.

I never knew making cornbread like this was so easy!

Next.....the dressing........

Ingredients for Dressing:

Cornbread

1 1/2 cups chopped celery

1/2 cup onions

1 1/2 TBS flour

salt and pepper

2 tsp sage (optional)

2 + cups chicken stock

3/4 cup milk

1 TBS extra virgin olive oil

In a saucepan on medium heat, mix celery and onions with 1 TBS

extra virgin olive oil. Add salt and pepper and cook until onions

are translucent. Add flour to the mix and cook for a couple of

minutes. Then, from the crock pot, pour out the chicken

stock and mix it in with the celery and onions. Add the milk

and let boil for a few minutes...

With a fork, crumble the cornbread into small pieces. Pour

the chicken stock mixture on the cornbread and mix well.

Bake uncovered 375 degrees for at least 40 minutes or

until it is dark golden...

And it's done....delicious dressing and I didn't use any

ingredients I couldn't pronounce!

Learning how to cook is so much fun... some things I

learned along the way:

-crock pot chicken is extremely soft and moist

- the dressing needs some time so this isn't

something I will make on just a regular week

day.

-chicken stock is really easy to make

Mommy Logic on Not Using High Fructose Corn Syrup

High Fructose Corn Syrup is doing a blast campaign trying to defend their sugar.They claim that it is a healthy sugar simply made from corn. Three years ago, when I first started this journey to wholesome living, the first thing I did was eliminate High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) from my diet. I'm not a scientist or a nutritionist, but my logic to not using it is simple mom logic:
 HFCS is in almost every processed food on the isles of grocery stores. It not only sweetens food but preserves it for a really long time. Is food meant to be preserved like this? Spending time in Europe showed me that they eat bread that has no preservatives, it goes bad in a day or two. So our bread, that stays on the shelves for weeks is healthier? 100 years ago when people were living more naturally, were they using sugar or HFCS? Is HFCS made in a laboratory or grown fresh on a farm? These are some questions that as a mom, I have to ask but finding the truth is difficult when there are two sides to the story. However,  personally, I still believe that HFCS is not a natural and healthy way to sweeten/preserve our food. I have struggled with weight as do many people in our country and since HFCS is in almost everything we eat, it is my prime suspect to the contribution of many unhealthy issues. 
So in my family, we eat real cane sugar and honey. And yes, having lots of sugar is bad so I deal with the struggles of having myself and my family consume it moderately...I don't think there is anything wrong with that. My kitchen pantry is completely HFCS free and I'm perfectly happy with that!

Applesauce Cupcakes

Apples are in season and I am trying to find delicious ways to

cook and bake with them. I had a recipe for applesauce cake

that called for 2 cups of sugar and 1/2 cup of butter. I

reduced the sugar and butter significantly,added more

applesauce and raisins, and they still taste delicious. For

the frosting, I added some honey to give it a really wholesome

taste and reduce the amount of confectioner's sugar. These

hearty cupcakes are a good dessert that include real ingredients.

Ingredients:

(makes 20 cupcakes)

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

6 TBS butter

2 eggs

1 cup applesauce

1tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

First, mix butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Then add the eggs. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda,

salt, and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the

butter/sugar mixture.Don't over mix. Add the applesauce by

 folding in, again avoiding to over mix. Add raisins and

walnuts (optional).

The batter should be thick...

Add to a cupcake pan....

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 15

to 20 minutes.

Mmmm.....I love it when the house smells like sweet,

baked apples.....

Let cool, then add frosting:

For the Honey Cream Frosting:

4 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese

2 TBS butter

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1 TBS honey

pinch of salt

Mix together until creamy...

Mmmm......

Vegetable of the Week: Asparagus

Each week when I go to the grocery store,
I have decided to step out of my comfort zone and buy
a vegetable that I'm unfamiliar with. This week I chose
Asparagus. I've only had it once and I liked it so I hope
to start incorporating it more into our everyday meals.I'm
actually surprised that I found it because it is a spring
vegetable.

According to Wikipedia, Asparagus is:

• low calorie
• extremely high in folate (promotes healthy heart)
• high in potassium
• high in Vitamin C
• has lots of antioxidants
• and is "cleansing and healing"

I'm surprised how good this green vegetable tastes....
So far I have included it in pizza and just as a side dish with walnuts ( check out my 2 prior posts)....

Asparagus with Onions and Walnuts

Being that asparagus is my new vegetable of the week, I
served it with chicken fingers and mashed potatoes.
Here's how I cooked it:

1. Heat a frying pan at medium heat
2. Add 1 TBS of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3. Place chopped onions and walnuts in the
pan and let cook for about 2 minutes.
4. Add washed asparagus
5. Salt and pepper according to taste
(I didn't salt them and it still tasted good)
6. Add about 1/2 cup of water
7. Cover and let cook until asparagus
is tender.

I really thought that the walnuts and onions
gave the asparagus really tasty. I will definitely
serve this again...

Tonight's Dinner: Homemade Chicken Fingers

Every time we eat out at a restaurant, the kid's menus
always offer chicken fingers with french fries. Those
chicken finger meals are frozen, processed, have no color,
and are filled with preservatives. I make chicken fingers
at home that consist of 4 ingredients.

Asparagus & Tomato Pizza

There is no need to ever go out for pizza again!
This pizza is easy, quick, and so much healthier.
My mom found this pizza dough recipe from
"Mother Earth News." I like it because there
is no wait time for letting the dough rise. I made
this in 45 minutes.

Pizza Dough Ingredients:
* makes 1 cast iron skillet sized pizza
1/3 cup warm water
1/2 package yeast
3/4 cup flour
3/8 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. sugar

Yes, that's it for the dough....5 ingredients!

Preheat oven to 450 degrees....


Mix the warm water and yeast together until yeast is dissolved.
Add flour, salt, and sugar. Mix together until dough is
nice and sticky. It needs to sit about 10 minutes....or as long
as it takes to chop the vegetables and grade the cheese.


In a pan, cook the asparagus in a little bit of water until
it gets soft.


Roll out the dough and place in a slightly greased cast iron
skillet. If you don't have a cast iron, you really need to get
one....but if not....I have cooked it on a cookie sheet before
and it still comes out great.


Add either tomato sauce or marinara. I us Newman's Own
Marinara. Add just a little bit of the sauce so the dough
does not get soggy.


Add cheese. I use sharp cheddar. It's white cheddar because
I buy the kind with no preservatives. It has milk, salt,and
enzymes as the ingredients.


Mmm...already looks good!


Add the asparagus and tomato on top, then add a little
bit more cheese.



Colorful food is so good!

Bake 450 degrees for approximately 15 minutes...





Healthy....colorful....delicious!

The Power of the Crock-Pot

I love to cook, but realistically, I cannot cook every single night of every single day. So, I just bought my first crock- pot this week and I love it! First of all, I have made two extremely delicious meals out of it and it took virtually no effort. At around 2pm I put on a roast with potatoes and carrots in it. And Voila! At 7pm, dinner was served! Yes, it's really that easy and it is helping me with not eating out and still getting a decent meal to my family. Sometimes moms just have to take shortcuts so I'm going to refrain from feeling like I'm cheating. I will keep you posted on the recipes I try to make with it.

Top 10: My Toddler Loves Vegetables

My 2 year old actually loves to eat healthy food!
Check out my new page, titled "Top 10: My
Toddler Loves Vegetables," that has my Top 10 list
of ways I encourage him to eat healthy.

Scrambled Eggs w/ Veggies

I try to put vegetables in everything, and I mean
e-v-e-r-y-thing! So remember that salsa I made a 2 days
ago? Well I had some chopped onion, red bellpepper, and
green bell pepper left over from that. So I put them in a skillet
on medium to low heat. Then I whisked some eggs.

Ingredients:
Onion
Red Bellpepper
Green Bellpepper
Eggs
salt & pepper


Poured the eggs over the vegetables...

'
And cooked them 'til they were scrambled.



The vegetables take scrambled eggs to a whole new
level of flavor. And my recipes never pass the test until
my 2 year old gives the ok...

He liked them a lot....

Watermelon Cubes

Lately I have been wanting ice cream but have not given into
my temptations. So I was eating a watermelon and this was
a juicy sweet watermelon. I poured some of the juice into an
ice tray and froze the cubes. My 2 year old and I really enjoyed
them. This was such a sweet, refreshing snack and it took
virtually no effort.

Ingredients:

Pure watermelon juice


I will definitely make more of these...

Apple & Pecan Pancakes

Sometimes, I like to make pancakes for breakfast instead
of the everyday oatmeal or cereal. I used to make pancakes
from a pancake mix, yuck! I didn't know that they were so
incredibly easy to make from scratch. These pancakes
come out fluffy, light and delicious. This is one of the
recipes that is good to let the kids help because it is so
simple and fun to make.

Ingredients:
(makes 2 servings)
1 TBS butter or oil (softened)
1 cup flour
1TBS baking powder
1/2 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 chopped apple or banana



Start with chopping your apples into small pieces.


After mixing all the ingredients together, the mix is thick
and lumpy.


Pour onto the skillet ( I use a slightly greased cast iron)
and add the chopped apples on top.


Flip the pancake and let the side with the apples cook a little
longer than the first side.


I add lots of things to pancakes since we don't use syrup; it
makes them enjoyable without it. Sometimes, I add pecans
or bananas instead of apples.


Mmm... fluffy and delicious. Yes, it's okay not to use syrup!
They still taste delicious. Just drizzle a little honey on
top and enjoy!

Healthy Household Cleaners

I get headaches when I clean with chemical cleaners so I use
natural cleaners instead.Natural cleaning supplies leave
my home clean and fresh. Why use harsh chemicals to clean
when these natural cleaners get the job done? Ok, I
will admit sometimes I have to put a little more elbow
grease into my cleaning but it is totally worth it! These
natrual cleaners are non-toxic andvirtually odoar free.
They are so much safer to have with little ones in the house
than those poisonous, toxic, smelly, chemical cleaners.


Vinegar is one of the greatest solutions to domestic
duties.Ok your are probably thinking...Oooh it smells!
But it actually deodorizes. After the initial vinegar smell,
if you clean with it, your house will smell fresh afterward.
And anyway, those chemical cleaners have strong
smell way worse anyway. I use vinegar mixed
with baking soda (a scrubbing and deodorizing agent).
I use vinegar to clean:
- Any and everything!
- Especially the kitchen
- Baby toys
- Bathroom
-I mop with it
-If you absolutely have to use a smelly chemical to
clean something, wipe vinegar over it and it will help
nutrilize the smell.


Basic H is an awesome All-Purpose Household cleaner.
It's an excellent degreaser, completely organic, and has no odor.
This 16 oz. bottle is extra concentrated and I only put about 1 tsp.
per gallon of hot water.




Baking soda is good for scrubbing, and everday cleaning.
I also put it on my carpet and vacuum it up.


7th Generation and GreenWorks dish soap, in my opinion,
are great because they leave less residue and are free of
unnecessary fragrances.

Ok so there you have it. Cleaning with these natural cleaners
is just one more step I have taken towards creating a healthy
home for my family.