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RECIPES

Meals/ RECIPES

Chicken Pot Pie

When my first child was born (10 years ago!), I had many lovely meals brought to my home by friends and family.  This meal stood out as one of my favorites!  It was made by my cousin, Kerri, and was just so comforting and delish!
I just made it again last week, and forgot that it fills 2 pie dishes.  I only made enough crust for one, so the next night I used the leftover filling by heating it up and serving it over homemade biscuits!  It was a huge hit with my kids, which means I need to pull this recipe out more often, and double it to make 2 Chicken Pot Pies and 2 meals of Chicken N’ Biscuits!  All would freeze beautifully.
Chicken Pot Pie
2 carrots, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
1 medium potato, cubed
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
   ***
6 Tbls butter
6 Tbls flour
2 1/2 cups chicken broth (homemade is great!)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (I used whole milk)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1/4 tsp ground sage
   ***
4 cups cooked chicken (can use this method)
Pie Crust Pastry (enough to cover the top of 2 pies)
In a saucepan, cook carrots, potato, onion and peas in a small amount of water, covered, about 10 minutes or until crisp tender.  In another pan (skillet), melt butter.  Add flour, cook and stir until mixture is golden brown.  Slowly add broth, cream (or milk), salt, pepper, thyme, and sage.  Cook and stir 5 minutes or until thickened and smooth.  Divide chicken between 2 pie plates.  Top with vegetables and sauce.  Stir gently to combine.  Place pastry over and cut slits on top.
Bake 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes (watch crust for browning).
Recipe for biscuits coming up!

This post is linked to:
Tasty Tuesdays @ Balancing Beauty And Bedlam

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Healthy Eating/ How-Tos/ RECIPES

Real Food Challenge-Update

For those of you who signed up for the 28 day Nourishing Traditions Challenge, I wanted to let you know where I am at with it.  I said in the post “It will be interesting where this challenge takes us, and if there will be a point I draw a line and say, “nope, not ready for that.””  Well, that point hit at day 3! LOL.
 
I’ve read much on this movement and really do believe that it is important to try and eat foods in the most minimally processed state–but–I am only willing to go so far and spend so much of my life’s time doing it.   Day 3 talked about soaking grains–have not done it and not sure if I ever will, and I am willing to read on and continue to learn, but I know for me and my family, this level is just a bit too much. There are others that have been on this Real Foods journey much longer, so maybe for them that next step is not overwhelming.

I am all about baby steps, so the emails I am receiving from the challenge are throwing me.  The same email they tell you to change white grains to brown grains, they tell you that is not enough and that you need to start soaking your grains and making everything from scratch.  Sorry, but THAT overwhelms me!  It is a huge step for some people to just go from white bread to 100% wheat, or to change white pasta to whole grain pasta, so to expect people to be ok with “trade the white to wheat, grind your own wheat, soak your grains, make your bread homemade”…that is enough to make anyone give up and go buy a box of Twinkies, in my opinion!!

I guess what I am trying to say is if you signed up and are reading the emails, don’t freak out and give up on the idea of eating real foods.  It can look many different ways for many different people.   There are lots of people out there like me, who have made small steps to becoming more healthful and have had great success, without taking it to a level many of us won’t ever be.

I, personally, read the challenge and appreciate learning what others are doing and why, but I am careful.  I do not want to become consumed with feeling like I have to do everything they say in order to measure up and make a difference for my family.  I refuse to become a perfectionist about it all, and I rest in knowing that small changes here and there are enough.  If I allowed myself to become consumed, it could do my family more harm than good, by taking away from other, just as important, areas of nourishment for them–like emotional nourishment, for one.

Anyway, I had to communicate with you, my readers.  So many of you have sent such wonderful emails communicating your desire to eat healthier foods.  You have expressed excitement as you have tried new things, and you have expressed frustration when it seems overwhelming.  I hate to think that a link I shared would add to that frustration, especially when it seems to be going against what I am always saying…”one step at a time!”:)  So, if one of those steps involve removing yourself from the Nourishing Traditions Challenge email list, so you won’t get overwhelmed, by all means do what you need to do!!  If instead, it is intriguing to learn what the process is for some people, stay signed up and read on!

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Healthy Eating/ How-Tos/ RECIPES

Coconut Oil

I’ve been wanting to write about Coconut Oil -how and why I use it, but instead  I am going to send you over to Sorta Crunchy.  Meghan wrote a great post on it–very informative. She gives the how and why, and also some great links to order some online, which is what I will be doing the next time we run out.

When I first started reading about different health foods, coconut oil was intimidating because I didn’t know how to use it, what to use it for, and if it would have an weird taste.  Now, I am so glad I just bought some and tried it.  Because of coconut oil, I no longer need to keep vegetable oils and canola oil in the house.  The fats I have in my kitchen are butter, olive oil, and coconut oil.  It is all I have needed, and I feel great serving my family these types of fats.

Here is more information on cooking with healthy fats:

From The Nourishing Gourmet–
benefits of using Coconut Oil

 From Lindsey @ Passionate Homemaking-
Part 1 & Part 2 – detailing the best oil choices being coconut oil & olive oil

From Kitchen Stewardship-
A great post about the controversy surrounding coconut oil

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Healthy Eating/ How-Tos/ RECIPES

Real Food Challenge

There is a Real Food movement going on and I’m happy to be moving with it.  My movement has been gradual, but I can’t tell you how great it has been to feel like the foods I have chosen to feed my family have been doing wonders for their health.

We have always been a family who were known for being sick…ALL THE TIME!  It felt like we lived at the dr.’s office (every two-three weeks at least, for years- no joke!)  Since deciding to eat Real Foods, that is no longer the case.  We have not been to the doctor since LAST MAY!!  We have had a cold here and stomach flu there, but usually only one of us gets it now(instead of the usual domino effect of illness that would happen when one would get sick–we’d all get it!) and it is over quickly.  I was the mom that got letters from the principal every year for each girl, telling me they had missed too much school.  Now the only school they have missed is when mommy falls for brilliant acting on my girls part:) That has happened twice recently, but momma’s not gonna fall for it again!  If they perk up after keeping them home a few hours, off to school they are gonna go!

A few months ago, I visited my pediatrician for a referral to an allergist to get my daughter checked for a suspected corn allergy.(never went to the allergist, symptoms disappeared when we stopped eating processed foods regularly)  When she saw us, she couldn’t believe how long it had been since we had been in, and was really surprised my daughter was off all inhalers for her asthma.  I loved it.  I feel like God has been so faithful in guiding me to some answers to my family’s health issues.

All that to say, I truly believe our eating habits are the reason why we are healthier.  I believe our immune systems are working as they should be, and our bodies are getting what they need through our foods.  We are by no means doing everything we could be doing, and I am at peace with that.  We are doing enough to make a difference in our health, so pressure is off to follow the movement perfectly.  I’ll be interested to see where this challenge takes us, and if there will be a point I draw a line and say, “nope  not ready for that.”

If all this healthy food talk is getting to you, just keep scrolling down and enjoy my posts on beauty or crafts or God🙂  If instead, it sparks some interest, click on the image above and sign up.  All you have to do is enter your name and email, and you will get posts sent to your email the next 28 days.

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RECIPES/ Sides

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I had a ginormous sweet potato sitting around my kitchen for a week.  Today I decided to do something with it, so I…

~cut it up into 1 ‘ cubes
~ put them in a pan with enough water to cover, and boiled until tender, about 10 minutes.
~drained
~added 3 tbls maple syrup
~added a splash of whole milk
~added 2 tbls butter
~added 1/2 tsp cinnamon
~added 1/2 tsp salt
~whipped them until smooth w/ my stick hand blender

…and was very happy with the result.  The maple syrup brought the sweetness out of the potato without making it overly sweet.  The salt and cinnamon should be added to taste.  The milk is to help make them creamy when whipping.  The size of the potato I used was at least 2 maybe 3 normal size sweet potatoes…it was huge!

This post linked to:
 30 Minute Blog Challenge @ Steady Mom
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday @Blessed With Grace
Tuesdays At The Table @ All The Small Stuff
Tasty Tuesday @ Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

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HEALTH/ Healthy Eating/ How-Tos/ RECIPES

Ways We Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup



If you have read this post on “Foods To Avoid” you will know that I work very hard to keep High Fructose Corn Syrup out of our home. Here are a couple of the reasons why:

 Dr. Mehmet Oz, author of You: The Owner’s Manual, made big news when he appeared on Oprah and told audiences that they should stop consuming HCFS. Dr. Oz says that the higher fructose content means that our bodies process HFCS differently than other sugars:
One of the biggest evil influences on our diet is the presence of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a sugar substitute that itself is a sugar found in soft drinks and many other sweet, processed foods. The problem is that HCFS inhibits leptin secretion, so you never get the message that you’re full. And it never shuts off gherin, so, even though you have food in your stomach, you constantly get the message that you’re hungry.
Lots of folks, from the Weston A. Price Society to the AARP have said similar things, noting the very strong correlation between HFCS and obesity. Here’s Nina Planck’s take:
Intake of high fructose corn syrup grew by more than 1,000 percent between 1970 and 1990, far exceeding changes in consumption of any other food. The rise of corn syrup mirrors the increase in obesity. Fructose also raises insulin, blood pressure, and triglycerides…stop eating all forms of industrial corn.
For more reading on HFCS:Very thorough post on HFCS
Trying to avoid it can be disheartening, so I thought 
I would share some products we buy:

Breads/Cereals 
 (MOST breads have HFCS.  There is more of a demand for HFCS-free bread, so I have been seeing bread companies respond to that demand, slowly but surely!

  • Natures Own 100% Whole Wheat bread (note, their other varieties do contain HFCS, but not this one)*
  • Rudi’s Organic 100% Whole Wheat bread
  • Sara Lee Hearty and Delicious 100% Wheat With Honey Bread*
  • Sara Lee Hearty and Delicious 100% Whole Wheat Bread*
  • Pepperidge Farms Whole Grain Wheat Bread
  • Pepperidge Farms 100% Whole Wheat Bagels*
  • Kashi Cereals*
  • Cheerios*
  • Total
  • Total Cinnamon Crunch
  • Post Grape-Nuts
  • Life Cereal
  • Quaker Oatmeal*
  • (or make homemade granola)

          Condiments

          • Annie’s Naturals Organic Ketchup
          • Annie’s Naturals Organic Honey Mustard
          • Annie’s Naturals Smokey Maple BBQ Sauce
          • Annie’s Naturals Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette (great used as a grilled chicken marinade!)
          • Bull’s-Eye Original Barbeque Sauce
          • Cascadian Farms Sweet Pickle Relish
          • Frenchs Honey Dijon Mustard (Most regular mustard contains hfcs, but a lot of the “honey” mustard’s do)
          • Heinz Organic Ketchup*
          • Hellman’s Mayonnaise
          • Wishbone Bountiful’s Salad Dressing
          • Natural Jif Peanut Butter*
          • Polaner All Fruit Spread(*we use jelly all the time on pb & j sandwiches and toast, so finding on w/o HFCS was exciting!)
          • Welches 100% Fruit Spreads

                Ice Creams

                • Nature’s Promise Organic Ice Creams
                • Breyer’s All Natural Ice Cream*
                • Breyers Pure Fruit Strawberry Fruit Bars*
                • Luigi Italian Ice
                • Dreyers/Edy’s Strawberry Fruit Ice Cream Bars
                • Some Ben & Jerry’s (ones with bits of candy and cookies usually do have HFCS

                      Crackers

                      • Nabisco Original Triscuits*
                      • Some Pepperidge Farm Crackers and Cookies

                            Chocolate:

                            • Cadbury-most
                            • Hershey’s Skor
                            • Hershey’s Special Dark Candy Bar
                            • Dove-most *

                                  Maple syrup:



                                  Granola Bars

                                  • Kashi*
                                  • Nature Valley Oats and Honey Granola Bars*

                                        Waffles (*I usually make homemade, recipe here, homemade pancake recipe here)

                                        • Kashi Go Lean

                                        Yogurt

                                        • Breyer’s
                                        • Brown Cow*
                                        • Dannon Activa
                                        • Stoneyfield Farm*
                                        • Wallaby Organic*

                                              Applesauce


                                              • Mott’s Natural Apple Sauce (add honey to sweeten, I use this in place of oil in many baking recipes)*


                                              Orange Juice

                                              • Simply Orange Juice Products*
                                              • Simply Lemonaide

                                                    Soda

                                                    • China Cola
                                                    • Archer Farms Brand Natural Italian Soda
                                                    • Blue Sky Soft Drinks
                                                    • Jones Pure Cane Soda

                                                          Pasta Sauce (I usually made homemade, recipe here)

                                                          • Ragu Organic Pasta Sauce
                                                          • Classico (most )

                                                              Think of it as an ‘exchange” — HFCS food for non-HFCS.  It seems less restricting, it is not that you have to go without, but be aware of the ingredients in certain products, and exchange the products you have been using, for more healthful ones.
                                                                                                                             I am fairly sure these products do not contain Non-hydrogenated Oils, which is another BIG thing to avoid. 


                                                              *the products I use most often
                                                              **excuse the crazy sized font and spaces on this post.  After trying for 45 minutes to fix it, I gave up!

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                                                              Brunch/ RECIPES

                                                              Homemade Granola

                                                              Are you officially granola if you make homemade granola?  My friends and family joke, calling me granola because we are eating more ‘traditionally’ now.  I don’t think I am, I think I am a ‘sorta’ granola.  Kinda, sorta- like this great blog “Sorta Crunchy.”  She wrote a post about the ‘sorta’ part, and I ‘ditto’ the post.

                                                              Back to the recipe, its a keeper!
                                                              I found it on my friends blog “the_uncomplication_project.”  Her blog is just a couple months old, but she is off to a great start!  I have learned from her already and look forward to her future posts.
                                                              Like she says on her blog, it is not a crunchy granola, it is a bit chewy, which I like!  It was very easy to make and my 2 younger girls devoured it.

                                                              Chunky Granola

                                                              Preheat oven to 350F
                                                              Place in ungreased 9×13″ pan:
                                                              6 c rolled oats
                                                              Bake 10 minutes.

                                                              Remove from oven and stir in:
                                                              1/2 c. sunflower seeds or nuts (I used pumpkin seeds)
                                                              1/2 c. coconut (I didn’t have any, used dried cranberries instead)
                                                              1/2 c. wheat germ (I forgot this ingredient, oops!)
                                                              1/2 c. powdered milk

                                                              Add to dry mixture:
                                                              2/3 c. honey
                                                              2/3 c. oil (I used coconut oil)
                                                              1 t. vanilla

                                                              Stir until toroughly coated. Bake 10-15 minutes, stirring every 3-5 minutes until uniformly golden (I do 4min-4min-3min). Do notoverbake. Let cool in pan undisturbed, then break into chunks. 


                                                              Click on over to “the_uncomplication_project” to see her notes on the recipe, and while you are there, check out the blog she’s got going on so far.

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