“Cheap-Cheep” Baby Food with Sweet Potato, Carrot and Chicken

Posted by & filed under Michelle, Recipes, Uncategorized.

Chicken Baby Food

Here is a great baby food for babies that are adding meat to their diet.  Easy, inexpensive and tastes great to many babies. Give it a try and see if your baby likes it!

Chicken is one of the first meats that 6-9 month old babies try. My babies were not keen on many of the store-brand meat baby food so this was a great  resource for protein. The sweet addition of carrots and sweet potatoes help disguise the meat-taste if this is a first attempt at meat. My son loved this recipe!

Ingredients:

½ small onion, chopped (If your baby is picky, skip the onion.)

1 tablespoon butter

½ skinless chicken breast (raw), diced

1 carrot, sliced

2½ cups sweet potato, diced

1¼ cups chicken broth

Directions:

In a large pot, saute onion in butter until softened. Add chicken and cook for about 4 minutes. The carrots and sweet potatoes are added next then the broth is poured over all. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes until veggies are tender. Let cool a few minutes, then puree in blender. Freeze leftovers in ice cube trays.

A two-ounce portion seems to be a great start for babies. This recipe makes about three cups (24 ounces) of food for your baby to enjoy for the week!

Parents: this recipe has a few options for your meal, too! Mealtimes can sometimes take forever with a playful or uninterested baby and it is important  for parents to keep up their own strength (and patience)! This is an easy soup to grab some quick protein while feeding your baby. I would usually reserve a bowl for me before pureeing the rest in the blender for the baby. Or, if  everything is already pureed, it can be served warm over biscuits or rolls for a quick meal.

Tis’ The Grilling Season (grilled veggies)

Posted by & filed under Ashley, Recipes.

 

The smell of barbecue has been filling the air on and off for a couple of weeks now.  I love tailgating and cookouts and parties where I can sit outside with my family and friends and just enjoy the day.  One of my favorite easy grilling recipe incorporates a bunch of the veggies I got in my Brewers Organics deliveries the past couple of weeks. 

 

 

Here are the ingredients I used but you can really add any veggies you’d like. 

*Potatoes

*Bell Pepper

*Onion

*Carrots

*Zucchini

*Jalapeño for a good little kick

*Salt & Pepper

*Grapeseed Oil or even Coconut Oil if you want to add a little flavor to the veggies.  Both of these oils can be cooked at a high heat which is why I suggested them.

*Rosemary & Thyme are the spices I used but you can really use whatever you want depending on what kind of inspired dish you are trying to make.

1. Wash and cut up all the veggies.  Wash and peel the potatoes and cut them into small chunks.

2. Boil the potatoes in a small pot of water until partially cooked. 

3. Using a mixing bowl, put all of the veggies, including the semi cooked potatoes, into the bowl.  Add the oil of your choice along with all the spices you enjoy and mix them all up so everything gets covered.

4. Using a good sized piece of foil, put all the ingredients on the foil and fold them up.

5. Place on the grill for 15-20 minutes checking occasionally.  Once all the veggies are soft, take it off the grill and enjoy with your favorite protein and green salad or fruit salad.  Hopefully we get a good grill-out day soon so you can try this.

Another recipe I like to add into my hot days or just eat for dessert some nights when I want something sweet is made with the juicer.  I haven’t talked about my juicer in a few entries and I don’t want it to feel abandoned. All you really need are your favorite fruits.  Throw them in the juicer, put the juice into good portion sized containers, stick them in the freezer and you have a great cold healthy treat.  When I was younger we used to use ice trays as containers to freeze juice or a larger container with a plastic stick to make it more like a popsicle.  My favorite recipe uses mostly berries so it’s a pretty color and tastes delicious.  I used strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and grapes to curb my sweet tooth.  It’s like a whole fruit popsicle but better…and made exactly the way you like it.  The only thing really missing is the joke on the stick. 

Okay everyone, go outside, enjoy the weather and try both of these recipes…you won’t be disappointed with the taste or the time it takes to prepare them.  Next up: My favorite core exercises. 

 

Broiled Grapefruit with Brown Sugar

Posted by & filed under McDonald Family, Recipes.

 

One of our favorite fruits to eat at breakfast is grapefruit.  Generally speaking grapefruit is the best during wintertime, however, we had outstanding grapefruit in our Brewers Organics box just a few weeks ago. A unique twist to add to breakfast is to place the grapefruit under the broiler and add brown sugar.

Ingredients:

1 Grapefruit, halved, sectioned (It’s easiest to section the grapefruit before broiling)

2 Tbs. firmly packed light brown sugar

Directions: 

Preheat a broiler and adjust the rack so it is about 4 inches from the heat source. Arrange the grapefruit halves, cut side up, on a broiler pan. Sprinkle each half with 1 tablespoon of brown sugar. Broil until the sugar is melted and starting to bubble, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the broiler and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Quinoa Salad

Posted by & filed under Katie, Recipes.

Quinoa-salad--5479

 

Quinoa has so many fantastic qualities and is so incredibly good for you! Easy to make, like rice, you just have to remember to rinse it thoroughly before cooking. I buy mine in bulk and it lasts quite a long time.

For this salad, I was craving to do something different with my quinoa rather than serving it as a side dish.  I remembered a delicious couscous salad I had once before. So voila, here’s a new option!  Like any salad, you can modify this with what you have available.

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of cooked quinoa
3 ramps diced (I cooked these with the quinoa)
1/2 avocado
kale & green leaf lettuce
1/2 cut cucumber
1 egg

The bed of the salad is chopped kale, green leaf lettuce, chopped cucumbers and 1/2 diced avocado. When I cooked the quinoa, I cooked it with some ramps from my previous box to add some flavor and color. Lastly top with a sunny side egg that is a bit runny! The yolk acts as your dressing and adds a ton of flavor. Enjoy this protein rich salad!
Quinoa-salad--5463

Stop Eating Fast Food (how to do more in a little time with less money)

Posted by & filed under Uncategorized.

 

“Stop eating fast food. Stop it now. Most fast foods contain some ingredient linked back to Monsanto. What do you say? Who will go with me? Who will peacefully refuse to comply?

Who believes that all of us together can create a foundation the next generation is proud to stand on?”

-Lucinda

 

In response to Lucinda’s call to action to stop eating fast food, Christine from christineiscooking.com and lowcarbcrock.com gives us some of her tips to help make home cooking easier. 

Eating GMO Free

March against Monsanto and GMOs are all the buzz lately.  A GMO (genetically modified organism) is an organism (i.e. food product) where DNA from one product is extracted and introduced into the DNA of a completely unrelated plant or animal (this is not a hybrid). For example, GMO sweet corn is genetically engineered to be herbicide resistant (roundup ready) and to produce its own insecticide (Bt Toxin). The unknown long term effects of GMOs are not completely known.

The List:

Common GMO ingredients come from soybeans (soy, soy flour, soy lecithin), corn (corn syrup), canola, sugar from sugar beets (food or drinks with sugar that isn’t cane sugar), cotton / cotton seed oil, Hawaiian papaya, and some zucchini squash.

Completely avoiding GMOs can be confusing because they are not clearly labeled. Only USDA-certified organic products cannot intentionally contain GMOs. So, you may think from looking at “the list” that avoiding those few products should be easy, but it is not. Many forms of these products make their way into processed and fast foods and it is not always easy to tell they are in the food from looking at the ingredient list.

So How Can We Avoid GMOs?

1. Buy organic

2. Avoid processed and fast food.  Cook for yourself with ingredients you know are non-gmo.

3. Grow your own food.  Plant organic seeds and take control of your food supply.

Sounds easy right? No, I know its not…. I live in the real world. I understand the time and money demands on people and families today are tremendous. It is so easy to go to that drive thru or restaurant or buy those pre-packaged foods. But, here are a few ways I ease the work load and cost of cooking at home; once a month cooking / freezer cooking and using a slow cooker.

Once A Month Cooking (OAMC) / Freezer Cooking:
I almost always “cook once and eat twice” or three or four times! Once you have all of your ingredients out and your prepping them, it takes very little extra effort to make additional meals. You would be surprised what you can freeze. For example, if you are going to go to the trouble of making a lasagna, make 3 lasagnas and freeze the 2 extra. On a busy day, you just pop it in the oven. If you google “healthy freezer recipes” tons of options come up.

Here are some of my favorite freezer recipes I routinely cook in bulk. I use my freezer to stock up on organic products when I find them at a good price.

Soup: Soup is like a magic food to me. It is nutritious, inexpensive, delicious, easy to make and freezable for later. I usually make a pot of soup at least once a week. Soup is a great way to use up any veggies or meats you have leftover from the week. Here is my basic recipe for Vegetable Soup. I also like to OAMC cook Lasagna, Turkey Breakfast Sausage, All Natural Beef Taco Meat, Spinach Meatballs, Minestroni Soup, Spaghetti Sauce from fresh tomatoes and Make Ahead Pesto (great on fish, chicken or pasta).

Risotto (creamy rice):  Mushroom, squash, asparagus, spinach… the potential varieties of risotto are endless. You can saute any diced veggies in olive oil, garlic and onions and make veggie sauces for risotto. These sauces can be made in large batches and freeze very well in small 1 or 2 cup portions.  They are wonderful added to cooked risotto and take it from a side dish to an entree.  Risotto is traditionally make with aborio rice, however, I (and my relatives born and raised in Italy) just use plain long grain rice.  This is a great budget friendly easy meal.  Buy bulk organic long grain rice and you can make it for pennies per serving.

Breakfasts:  I take care of breakfasts by making and freezing large batches of homemade all natural fruit filled pancakes, waffles, and muffins for the kiddies. It is a great option on busy mornings.

Snacks:  Our favorite snack is organic popcorn made in our old-timey air popper.  It is quick, easy, inexpensive and free of everything but organic corn.

Slow Cooker (aka Crock Pot)
My slow cooker is pretty much my life saver when it comes to home cooked meals. It is my go to kitchen device that saves us from fast food. I literally have hundreds of crock pot recipes that are all no precooking and no pre-processed ingredients.  Most of the recipes are about 6 ingredients or less and gluten free. My favorites easy slow cooker meals are: Zucchini Soup, All Natural Taco Meat, Shredded Beef Tacos, Lemon Garlic Asparagus, Asparagus Soup, Minestrone Soup, Mexican Pot Roast, Spaghetti Squash, Tomato Garlic Green Beans, and using my slow cooker for kid-friendly quesadilla fixins.

Again, like all recipes, you can tailor these to your lifestyle, budget and dietary needs.  You can stretch your meat budget by adding lots of veggies from Brewers Organics.

Grow Your Own!

swiss chard

I really enjoy gardening. It is a hobby of mine. I have a very small yard and I am restricted on space so I do a lot of container gardening. I’m not going to lie, sometimes I think it is more expensive to grow your own food then to buy organic. However, growing your own makes sense when the item is either very expensive to buy and/or it is easy to grow organically. My favorite items to grow are tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh herbs and rainbow swiss chard. Swiss Chard is a great container vegetable. It grows just about anywhere and is a nutritional powerhouse that can replace spinach or greens or lettuce in just about any recipe. You can read more about growing it and cooking with it here.

These are some of my favorite ways to save time and money when home cooking. Please share your own tips in the comment section below! 

Happy Cooking!

Christine

 

Foraging for Morel Mushrooms

Posted by & filed under Holly.

morels

A post from Holly:

Last week, while hiking in the woods behind my daughter’s school, my husband and I happened upon 36 nice morel mushrooms.

The problem was, we were RIGHT behind my daughter’s school and it was recess time.  We feared for our daughter’s social standing, in 6thgrade, because if any one of the kids playing outside had seen us, worse yet, recognized us, it would be all over for her.

“I saw Ruby’s parents in the woods behind the playground looking down, rooting around in the trees and leaves, carrying a grapefruit knife (our morel cutting tool) and walking over & over, up & down and in circles!  I think they are crazy!  Ruby’s parents are crazy… Ruby’s parents are crazy!”

So we hid behind trees when the kids would come near and we were lucky to be seen by only one, silly-voiced girl, who only cared about our cute dogs who were with us and called out, “nice dogs”!

The results of this hilarious hike?

A bag full of fresh morels, a handful of Lily of the Valley and a lilac flower stolen from my alley on the walk home.

The morels will be cooked tonight and I can’t wait to eat them; cooked in garlic and butter and melting in my mouth.

Italian Pasta Salad Recipe

Posted by & filed under McDonald Family, Recipes.

pasta salad

 

With Memorial Day ushering in the unofficial start of summer it is time once again that we are grilling out more often.  It can get boring having the same old sides with our burgers and chicken.  A super easy side to serve is an Italian Pasta Salad.  It is extremely versatile since you can add whatever vegetables you have on hand.  Some versions of the recipe also call for pepperoni if you prefer meat in it.

 

Ingredients:

3cups (8 oz.) rotini pasta, cooked, drained

2 cups broccoli florets

½ cup cubed Mozzarella Cheese

½ cup chopped red pepper

½ cup finely chopped red onion

½ cup of halved cherry tomatoes

½ cup pitted black olives

1 cup Zesty Italian salad dressing

 

Instructions: 

Run pasta under cold water to help cool the pasta. 

Toss all ingredients in a bowl except for the dressing and lightly mix.

Add salad dressing.  Note:  Most recipes call for only ½ cup of dressing but we have found that it takes a full cup since the pasta tends to soak up the dressing.

Refrigerate salad at least one hour before serving

 

Chia Seeds, Kefir and Functional Exercises

Posted by & filed under Ashley.

 

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve become really interested in expanding my food horizons.  There are so many foods and superfoods out there that are just waiting to be eaten.  Here are a couple of my new favorites…

 

Chia Seeds:  chia seeds

The first superfood that I mentioned in my last entry are chia seeds. Chia seeds are a gelatinous food because of the gel like substance they become when they get wet.  This helps with the digestive process and clearing out the digestive tract.  They have 27 vitamins, minerals and amino acids as well as fatty acids. They also have 42% of our daily fiber intake.  A good place to check them out and get more information is Nutiva.com.  I’m sure after you read all of this, you have to be wondering how to incorporate these magical seeds into your diet.  Well, you can pretty much mix them into anything.  I usually mix it into my kefir or yogurt but I’ve also just put a serving into water and let them set a bit and just drank them down.  You can put them in your juice or smoothies too.  They are tasteless so the sky is the limit when it comes to consuming them.

Kefir:  kefir

I’ve had a bunch of people that have read my blog say to me that they haven’t heard of many of the foods that I eat.  I’m going to go ahead and assume that Kefir is one of those.

Kefir is a fermented probiotic milk product.  Probiotics are beneficial in helping with GI functions as well as pushing the bad bacteria out of the small intestines during the digestive process. I tend to just treat it like yogurt even though it’s thinner and drinkable and mix in muesli (whole grain granola), chia seeds and hemp seeds. 

I also try to avoid a lot of sugar so I buy the plain and just add stevia or truvia to it.  Add it to your smoothies or I suppose you could mix it in your juices or simply drink it to reap the benefits of this fast absorbing food (faster than yogurt). Check out Lifeway.net for more information.

Functional Exercises:

I’d like to switch gears a bit and get into a little fitness talk because I feel like its been a while.  I hope you have been incorporating stretching in your exercise routines like I mentioned a few entries ago.  The next thing I suggest adding into your workouts if you don’t already do them are some functional exercises.  They are called functional because they are motions that are used in everyday life. It can be something as simple as walking up stairs or sitting down and getting up from a chair.  The two exercises I’m going to introduce today are both just using body weight.  To challenge yourself you can always add weight as long as you are using proper form. 

The squat incorporates all lower body muscle groups such as quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes.  When doing a squat, it’s very important to protect your knees so technique is essential.  ashley wo

Let me take a moment and preface the photos…first of all, I never, I repeat, never work out with my hair down.  I’d pass out of heat exhaustion or drown in my sweat.  I just couldn’t find my ponytail holder.  Lastly, fitness photos where people are smiling are unrealistic and look pretty silly though for this photo of showing where your feet should start would be super awkward if I just mean mugged the camera hence the cheesy smile.  So here we go, let’s squat.  Start with your feet shoulder width apart with both feet facing forward. Weight should be evenly distributed through toes to heels.

To perform the exercise, pretend you have a chair behind you…sit your butt back first as you start to bend your knees.  The weight should shift into your heels and you should be able to lift up your toes at the bottom of the exercise.  The reason for this is to make sure your knees are protected.  The rule of thumb is your knees should never cross the plane of your toes.  You can start by putting a chair behind you and lightly touching down just to get a feel for sitting back and allowing your weight to shift.  Lastly, always keep your chest up and shoulders back.  Good posture is alway key for any exercise you do.

Ashley bo1

ashleybo2

Pineapple Mango Salsa Recipe

Posted by & filed under McDonald Family, Recipes.

 

mango salsa

 

Last week we received our very first box from Brewers Organics and we could not be more impressed!  Our order included the typical bananas and strawberries but it also allowed us to branch out and try new things like English Peas and Ataulfo Mangos.  Since the weather has now gotten warmer, we are all looking for meals that are lighter and more refreshing.

One of our favorite summer meals is grilled salmon with pineapple mango salsa.  Salmon always turns out great on the grill if they are made on cedar planks.  This allows the fish to cook more even and not stick to the grill itself.  All it takes is approximately 4-5 minutes per side.  The same cook time works inside as well if you prefer to use the broiler in your oven.

Below is just one of many variations of Mango Salsa you can make.  Another great feature is there is no cooking required!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped peeled mango

• 1 cup diced pineapple

• ½ cup diced red pepper

• 1 plum tomato, chopped and seeded

• 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

• 2 green onions, sliced

• 2 tablespoons lime juice

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until chilled.  Yields 2-2/3 cups

Pear & Grape Chicken Salad

Posted by & filed under Katie, Recipes.

chicken salad

 

This is my absolute favorite salad to make! Perfect for all seasons, I eat it as a whole meal. It is SO delicious and you can make it entirely with organic produce from Brewers Organics!

Ingredients:
1 pear diced

1 cup of halved red grapes

1 head of organic red leave lettuce, spinach or other favorite leafy green

1 cup of dried cranberries

1 lb of almond breaded chicken (optional)

 

pear-grape-chicken-salad-2007

 

Bake chicken at 350º for 25 minutes. Mix fresh ingredients and toss with your favorite balsamic dressing. I like to switch between a cranberry balsamic or raspberry! The chicken is optional, I’ve had it with pistachios as well. The grapes give a fresh juicy burst of flavor to the salad and the pear is a perfect compliment. Most of the needed ingredients are in your upcoming delivery!