Five Dollar Friday: Roasted Tomato Basil Soup with Homemade Whole Wheat Croutons

This recipe is from one of my favorite Food Network stars, Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa. I love her recipes and her show and own two of her cookbooks. I made this recipe for the first time a few weeks ago. Thatcher ate two huge bowls and would have eaten more if I let him! You can find the original recipe here at the Food Network site. The recipe below has a few modifications to make it more cost effective and fit our family's taste. Honestly, as is it is a little high on the price to be considered a $5 meal but I wanted to post it because if you have basil and tomatoes from your garden, this soup would be nearly free! Even obtaining one of these ingredients from a friend's garden would bring the price down by $3.00. Spring will be here before we know it so if this recipe isn't in the budget for winter, tuck it away for spring when everyone's gardens will be full of goodness.

Also, I love this soup because it is not laden with tons of heavy cream like so many tomato basil soups are, yet it has enormous flavor. I serve it simply with homemade croutons and a bit of Parmesan cheese. Grilled cheese sandwiches are always a favorite with any tomato soup or a chicken Caesar salad would be wonderful if you wanted to add some protein.

Ingredients:

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil

2 teaspoons sea salt (may not need if you are using stock, esp. if it's not low sodium)

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 cups chopped yellow onions, about 2 onions

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice

2 cups fresh basil leaves, loosely packed

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 quart chicken stock or water

1/4 cup heavy cream (not in original recipe but just a bit add a lot of flavor in my opinion)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt (if using), and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

2. In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes (if using) for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add garlic and cook two more minutes.

3. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock/water. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.

4. Add 1/4 cup heavy cream.

5. You have several options here depending on the kitchen gadgets you own and how chunky you want your soup. The original recipe calls for a food mill but I use my immersion blender to make a really smooth soup (and don't have to dirty up any additional bowls or appliances). A food processor or blender would work well too, just be extra careful when mixing/pureeing really hot liquids.

6. Taste for seasonings. Serve hot or cold.

Cost Breakdown: $9.62

$ 3.00 - 3 pounds plum tomatoes

$ .42 - olive oil

$ .02 - 2 teaspoons sea salt (may not need if you are using stock, esp. if it's not low sodium)

$ .04 - black pepper

$ 1.00 - 2 cups chopped yellow onions, about 2 onions

$ .24 - garlic cloves

$ . 14 - butter

$ 1.50 -canned plum tomatoes (sale)

$2.99 - fresh basil

$ .02 - dried thyme

free - 1 quart chicken stock or water (ckn stock left over from here or here)

$ .25 - heavy cream

If you want to add homemade croutons here is how I do it:

I use thick slices of the homemade whole wheat bread I make for our family, but any bread will do. Cut the crust off and brush an olive oil/herb mixture over both sides of the bread. I like to add about 1/4 tsp of basil and 1/4 tsp of thyme with a bit of salt and pepper to about 1/4 cup olive oil for my croutons. You could add garlic powder if you wanted garlicky ones! Cut bread into large chunks. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 - 20 minutes turning every few minutes until all sides are browned. These are wonderful sprinkled on top of your soup. Enjoy!

My (Again) Updated Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

I have been making our family's bread for almost two years now. Hard to believe. It all started because I wanted a whole grain loaf that used no HFCS and I was tired of paying $4 for it. I started in May 2009 using a bread machine and tweaked until I had a really great loaf of bread. But then about six months ago my trusty bread maker died. I had read time and again that the best loaves are made by hand but until that point had resisted trying it out. The bread maker was just so easy. ;) After my machine quit I began researching new options; once I saw that the ones I wanted were in the $200 + range I quickly decided that it would be me and the trusty Kitchen Aid stand mixer for a test run!

Wow! Same recipe, same ingredients but so much better!!! I could not believe it. Dh could not believe it. Truly amazing. And the best part is that using the Kitchen Aid with the dough hook to do most of the mixing/kneading means that it hardly takes me any more time to make this loaf than it did in my bread maker. If you don't have a stand mixer you will just need to knead by hand for about 15 minutes or so. Whole wheat loaves take longer than white loaves. Another bonus of kneading by hand is that it's a great arm workout and incredibly therapeutic as you pound away all your frustrations on the dough rather than on those around you! ;)

I have also changed away from my original recipe which used milk. I have one little guy who cannot tolerate dairy well so we replaced the milk with water about a year ago. In addition, this is a large loaf so you will need a 10 inch bread pan. I am currently looking to replace all my aluminum cookware with stainless or stone bakeware and haven't been able to find a 10 inch bread pan in either. If any of you readers know know of a place, please pass it along. I can find the 9 inch in abundance but not the 10.

100% Whole Grain Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp grapeseed oil (or any mild tasting vegetable oil)
• 4 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp molasses
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oat flour (made by grinding rolled oats in my blender or food processor)
• 1/4 cup gluten
• 2 tsp yeast (active dry)

Directions:

1. Measure all wet ingredients (first 5 listed) in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, reserving a tablespoon or so to bloom yeast in small bowl.
2. Add yeast to reserved warm liquid. I never check the water temp anymore as I know what is just about right by touch but most websites will say between 110 and 115. Hotter than that will kill your yeast.
3. I premix all my dry ingredients (excluding yeast) every month or so like at the bottom of this post. If you use my method, dump all dry ingredients in the mixer on top of wet and turn mixer on low. If not, measure all dry ingredients and add to mixer, then turn it on low for 2 or 3 minutes.
4. After the yeast has started to bloom add it to the mixer.
5. Keep machine running on low speed for about 8-10 minutes.
6. Empty contents of mixer onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand another 4-6 minutes. Add flour as needed so dough doesn't stick to your hands or the counter.
7. Form dough into an oval about the same length as your 10 inch bread pan.
8. Place loaf into a well greased pan.
9. Cover with a kitchen towel and set in a warm place away from drafts. For me this is in on my dryer if it's running or on top of my stove, if not.
10. Let rise until loaf is about an inch to an inch and a half above the pan. This usually takes a few hours in my house in winter. Shorter in summer.
11. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes covering the last 10 minutes lightly with a piece of foil to keep from over browning. Most websites will say cook until bread reaches an internal temperature of 200 - 205 degrees but I have found that at 190 I can pull my loaf out and let it continue to sit in the pan for 5 minutes before turning it out to cool and it's perfect. Every pan is different. Every oven is different. You will just need to play around and find what works for you.
12. You just must eat a hot piece with some butter and a bit of honey. Please do! :)

Five Dollar Friday: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Last Friday I shared how I make Chicken Noodle Soup and a homemade stock in the process. This week's recipe is just a yummy step or two off that initial recipe. Everyone loves their tortilla soup a different way. Mine is a simple soup that allows the flavor of the yummy homemade stock to shine. You can add a can of black beans and some organic frozen corn if you want a soup with more to fill it out. A dollop of sour cream on top just before serving is yummy, too. I am also re-posting the steps involved in making a stock just so readers don't have to go between two posts.

Ingredients:

4 lb chicken

3 lg garlic cloves, smashed with flat side of knife (no need to peel)

4 celery stalks, cut into chunks

4-5 carrots, peeled and cut in chunks

10-12 peppercorns

1 lg onion (I prefer sweet), peeled and quartered

Bunch of fresh parsley (or 1 tablespoon dried)

1 tablespoon dried thyme

2 bay leaves

2 T salt (start with 1 T and check flavoring to be sure it's not too salty for your taste, you can add more when you add bones to stock).

1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies (I use a store brand of Rotel but the mild version)

8 oz. shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese

1 bag tortilla chips

2 limes cut into wedges

2 avocados

Directions:

1. Remove any extra pieces from cavity and rinse chicken well with cool water.

2. Place in large stock pot with all vegetables and seasonings.

3. Add cool water to cover chicken by an inch.

4. Turn pot to medium until you see a bubbles rising to the top. Then turn pot to med-low/low (see notes below).

5. Skim any impurities that rise to the surface during cooking.

6. Cook for 90 minutes to 2 hrs until chicken is cooked through and extremely tender. If you try to pull the chicken by the legs they will just fall off!

7. Remove chicken and allow to cool. Remove meat from bones and cut into bite-sized pieces. Drizzle a little olive oil over chicken along with a little stock from the pot to keep moist.

8. Add bones back into broth and simmer for another 30-60 minutes. Add more salt at this point if needed.

9. Strain broth to remove all veggies, spices and bones. Rinse out stock pot.

10. Place broth back into pot. If time allows place in fridge for a few hours or overnight and fat will rise to the top and solidify making it very easy to remove. If not, just let broth sit for a time and you will be able to skim most the fat that rises to the top.

11. Add canned tomatoes w/ green chilies reserving most of the juice. Add juice if desired.

12. Add chicken and warm pot if necessary before serving.

To serve soup, crush tortilla chips in bottom of bowl and sprinkle with cheese. Add soup and squeeze lime juice over all. Add chopped avocados on top of bowl and serve.

Cost Breakdown: $8.58 (enough for a dinner plus lunch the next day for the boys and me - and leftover stock to freeze)

$ 2.00 - chicken (on sale for $.48 a lb)

$ . 12 - garlic cloves

$ . 50 - celery stalks (I got organic for this price)

$ . 50 - carrots (again, organic)

$ . 01 - peppercorns

$ . 50 - lg onion

$ .50 - fresh parsley - about half a bunch (less $ if you use dried)

$ . 04 - dried thyme

$ . 03 - bay leaves

$ . 08 - sea salt

$ .50 - store-brand Rotel tomatoes

$1.50 - Monterrey Jack cheese

$1.00 - tortilla chips

$ . 30 - limes

$1.00 - avocados

Five Dollar Friday: Chicken Noodle Soup (and How to Make Your Own Chicken Stock)

This is the first soup I ever make for our family, and it's still a favorite. Pair it with a green or fruit salad and it's a complete meal. The amount of soup below will feed my family two times, especially when I serve it with sides.

When I see whole chickens on sale for a great price ($.50 - $.60 a lb) I'll buy five or more (depending on freezer space) to make this recipe, tortilla soup, chicken and dumplings, roast chicken with roasted veggies or just tons of stock and chicken to freeze for later meals. :) If you have never made your own stock from scratch you will never want to go back to the store-bought stuff. Homemade is so much more flavorful and it freezes wonderfully. Consider freezing it in three sizes: quart, pint and cup. That way you can defrost just the amount you need with little to no waste. :)

Ingredients:

4 lb chicken

Whole wheat egg noodles

3 lg garlic cloves, smashed with flat side of knife (no need to peel)

4 celery stalks, cut into chunks

4-5 carrots, peeled and cut in chunks

10-12 peppercorns

1 lg onion (I prefer sweet), peeled and quartered

Bunch of fresh parsley (or 1 tablespoon dried)

1 tablespoon dried thyme

2 bay leaves

2 T salt (start with 1 T and check flavoring to be sure it's not too salty for your taste, you can add more when you add bones to stock).

Directions:

1. Remove any extra pieces from cavity and rinse chicken well with cool water.

2. Place in large stock pot with all vegetables and seasonings.

3. Add cool water to cover chicken by an inch.

4. Turn pot to medium until you see a bubbles rising to the top. Then turn pot to med-low/low (see notes below).

5. Skim any impurities that rise to the surface during cooking.

6. Cook for 90 minutes to 2 hrs until chicken is cooked through and extremely tender. If you try to pull the chicken by the legs they will just fall off!

7. Remove chicken and allow to cool. Remove meat from bones and cut into bite-sized pieces. Drizzle a little olive oil over chicken along with a little stock from the pot to keep moist.

8. Add bones back into broth and simmer for another 30-60 minutes. Add more salt at this point if needed.

9. Strain broth to remove all veggies, spices and bones. Rinse out stock pot.

10. Place broth back into pot. If time allows place in fridge for a few hours or overnight and fat will rise to the top and solidify making it very easy to remove. If not, just let broth sit for a time and you will be able to skim most the fat that rises to the top.

11. Bring to a boil and add egg noodles. I usually use about 2/3 of the package but you can use more or less depending on how you like your soup.

12. Once noodles are tender, turn off heat and add desired amount of chicken.

Thoughts on this recipe:

The trick to making really tender, juicy chicken is to never let your pot get to a boil. This will toughen your chicken. At step four you just want to start seeing gentle bubbles rising to top, one every second or so and then turn your heat down. When your heat is turned down you should be seeing a bubble rise to the top every few seconds. Also if you don't cook your chicken long enough it will not be tender enough either. Most of the time I cook mine closer to two hours but your cooking time will depend on the exact size of your chicken and the heat you use to cook/how hot your stove gets.

You can vary the spices/seasonings you use to make your stock. Add/delete/change any of the spices to fit your family's tastes. Also, I typically don't need all the stock this process provides for my soup. I can typically freeze at least a quart of stock. It will just depend on the broth to filling ratio you prefer in your soups. Finally, my boys don't like veggies in their final soup, but if I was making a pot just for me I'd add some carrot slices and finely chopped celery in to cook when I added the egg noodles.

If you are only interested in making stock and not the soup simply use the chicken for another meal or freeze it. The stock can be refrigerated for a week or frozen up to three months.

Cost Breakdown: $5.07

$ 2.00 - chicken (on sale for $.48 a lb)

$ .79 - ww egg noodles (on sale, regular price is $1.89)

$ . 12 - garlic cloves

$ . 50 - celery stalks (I got organic for this price)

$ . 50 - carrots (again, organic)

$ . 01 - peppercorns

$ . 50 - lg onion

$ .50 - fresh parsley - about half a bunch (less $ if you use dried)

$ . 04 - dried thyme

$ . 03 - bay leaves

$ . 08 - sea salt

Five Dollar Friday: Shredded Barbecue Chicken Stuffed Potatoes

Stuffed baked potatoes are one of my favorite comfort foods. Mix that with one of my other favorite comfort foods, barbecue, and you have comfort food heaven! On top of that, this recipe is perfect for a busy school day and, if you watch your toppings, it's healthy to boot. Take five minutes to pop the ingredients in the crock pot at your morning break and you will have the majority of dinner ready in a few short hours.

One tip: There are a few times a year you can be sure to find great sales on barbecue sauces - Memorial Day, Labor Day and Fourth of July. These holidays that revolve around grilling are a great time to stock up on your favorite sauce for cheap!!! I typically make my own sauce using a kid-friendly modified version of this yummy recipe from allrecipes.com, but when a good sauce goes on sale for $1 a bottle I can't pass it up.

Shredded Barbecue Chicken Stuffed Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 lbs bone-in skin-on chicken breast

1 bottle favorite barbecue sauce

4 baking potatoes (about a lb one for Dad & smaller ones for the kids and Mom)

4 T butter

1 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

a few tablespoons of corn starch or arrowroot starch (optional)

Directions:

1. Place chicken in crock pot and pour barbecue sauce over the top.

2. Cover and turn crock pot on high for 4 hours.

3. Remove chicken and allow to cool slightly. Remove skin, take chicken off bone and shred.

4. Skim sauce in crock pot to remove any extra grease.

5. This step is totally optional: If your sauce is too thin or you just prefer a thicker one, remove a cup or two and place in a small saucepan. In a separate small bowl, combine 2 T corn/arrowroot starch with equal amount hot barbecue sauce until it's completely dissolved. Pour starch mixture into barbecue sauce and raise temperature until it comes to a very gentle boil and thickens desired amount. Add more corn/arrowroot starch if needed (using the technique of dissolving first in small amount of hot liquid) to get to desired thickness. Add mixture back to crock pot.

6. Return chicken to crock pot. Turn crock pot to low, allowing mixture to simmer and all flavors to meld for 30-60 minutes.

7. In the meantime prepare potatoes (check out howtobakeapotato.com if you need help with this step).

8. When potatoes are ready, sprinkle all generously with salt and pepper. Stuff each with one tablespoon of butter, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/4-1/2 cup chicken mixture with sauce and top with 1/4 cup cheese.

9. Enjoy!

Thoughts on this recipe:

My first attempt at chicken in the crock pot was a similar recipe a friend shared with me that started by using boneless skinless chicken breasts. That time the meat turned out a little dry and had a bit of an odd texture. When I tried it this way, on the bone and with skin, it was juicy and wonderful...and the meat had even been previously frozen for two months.

To thicken or not to thicken...it will depend on your preference, how thick your barbecue sauce is to begin and how much water is retained in your chicken (most chicken has water added, some more than others).

You can add more seasonings to the crock pot when starting if desired. A teaspoon of garlic powder and/or onion powder can be yummy if your sauce is a bit bland. Or a kick of cayenne if you like it hot (just don't forget about the kiddos!), or an extra tablespoon or two of honey or molasses if you want a sweeter sauce.

I skip all toppings and simply use the chicken and barbecue sauce on my potato to keep calories lower. I love all the butter, sour cream and cheese but don't need it. My skinny boys, now that's another story. :)

Cost Breakdown: $6.14 (with plenty left for a mommy lunch later that week :)

$ 3.00 - chicken breast (bought on sale for $.99 per lb)

$ 1.00 - barbecue sauce (see note at top of post)

$ .75 - baking potatoes (from a 5# bag purchased on sale and with coupon for $1.00)

$ . 28 - butter (sale)

$ . 50 - sour cream (sale for $1 for pint)

$ .61 - cheddar cheese (I buy in bulk each month at wholesale club)

Five Dollar Friday: Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Recently Thatcher, Haddon and I had lunch at Panera. Thatch tried this soup and loved it. I immediately came home and started searching for a similar recipe to make for our family. I made a pot and Thatch declared that it was just as good as what he had at the restaurant. :) And you can get it on the table in less than 30 minutes if you cheat like I did and start with a rotisserie chicken and a box of chicken stock.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

(a nod to Panera Bread)

Ingredients:

1 box long grain & wild rice w/seasoning packet (I used Uncle Ben's 6 oz)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 a yellow onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup all purpose flour

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups water (optional)

2 cooked chicken breasts off rotisserie chicken chopped in bite-sized pieces

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups milk (I used 2 % to get some richness but keep calories and fat lower)

Directions:

1. Prepare rice according to directions; set aside.

2. Heat olive oil on medium heat in stock pot and cook onion until translucent. Add celery and carrot and cook 3 more minutes or until slightly tender.

3. Remove vegetable mixture from pan and save. Add butter to stockpot and melt. Add flour slowly and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

4. Add chicken stock slowly, also stirring constantly. Raise temperature to medium high and cook until slightly thickened.

5. Lower temp to medium low. Add cooked vegetables, rice, chicken and milk to pot. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until heated through and thickened. Add water as needed until soup is desired consistency.

Thoughts about this recipe:

I love soup. When fall arrives in Houston I am always excited about two things: no more mosquitoes (for a few months anyway) and making soup. But soup is more of an art than a science; a recipe is just a starting place in my opinion. ;) This soup is no different. The recipe above is a mixture of four different recipes I found and above is the way I like it. You may want more veggies or less, more chicken, thicker, thinner, whole milk or even heavy cream (yum, but oh the calories!). Use this as a place to start. Just be sure to snag your ingredients on sale to keep price of final meal low. I used several organic ingredients in my soup so your price will be lower if you use non-organic or will balance it all out if you can't get some of the ingredients on sale.

Cost Breakdown: $6.70 (recipe makes enough for dinner and a lunch or two for dh to take to work)

$ .14 -olive oil

$ .25 - 1/2 yellow onion

$. 20 -2 organic carrots

$ . 25 - 2 celery stalks

$1.50 - 4 cups organic chicken stock (one box on sale)

$2.00 - 2 chicken breasts off rotisserie chicken (sale)

$ 1.29 - 1 package long grain and wild rice (sale)

$ .05 - 3/4 cup all purpose flour

$. 40 1/2 cup butter (sale)

$ .62 - 2 cups organic milk (sale)

Five Dollar Friday: Spinach Cheese Quesadillas with Black Bean Salsa

This has become a stand-by meal at our home because I almost always have the ingredients on hand, it can be prepared in under 30 minutes and it's a great way to get my boys to eat their greens. If I put a pile of spinach on their plates, they wouldn't touch it. But in four-cheese stuffed shells/cannelloni, blueberry smoothies (actually they don't know they are having spinach this way, so we'll just keep it between us ;) or in quesadillas they gobble it up!

A few notes: Even though the spinach comes chopped, I chop it again...and again. I make sure the pieces are tiny so no one will get a stringy piece of spinach. That would be the end of this meal for my boys who are hyper-sensitive to textures (if stringy can be considered a texture!). Also, the first time I introduced these I barely put in any spinach, so little they couldn't even taste it -especially dipped in salsa and sour cream. Each time I added just a bit more spinach to where now I can pretty much do a 50/50 ratio of cheese to spinach.

Also, the total cost of this meal is slightly more than $5.oo but the amount of food I have listed below will feed my family for one dinner (dh eats three and the boys and I each eat one) with enough leftover cheese and spinach to make three more quesadillas for lunch the next day for the boys. And still more extra spinach to put in blueberry smoothies for a snack that afternoon!

Spinach Quesadillas

with Black Bean Salsa

Ingredients:

One package of flour tortillas (10 count)

4 T butter

8 oz shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

1 box frozen chopped spinach - thawed, most of liquid squeezed out and finely chopped

1 can black beans

1/2 bag of organic frozen corn (we only do organic corn to avoid GMO's)

2 medium Roma tomatoes

juice of one lime (or less if desired - we like lime around here though!)

Optional:

favorite salsa

sour cream

Directions for preparing black bean salsa:

1. Drain and rinse black beans

2. Cook the corn according to package directions

3. Finely chop tomato(es)

4. Mix all three together and squeeze juice of one lime over it all.

5. Add salt and pepper to taste

Directions for preparing Quesadillas:

1. Heat large skillet over medium heat.

2. On one half of each tortilla add a layer of cheese, a layer of spinach & more cheese on top. Fold each tortilla in half.

3. Add 1 T butter to pan and half of your quesadillas (you may need to adjust amount of butter and number of quesidallas you cook at a time depending on size of your pan)

4. Cook until tortilla is brown and crisp; flip to the other side and cook until second side is done (add one more T of butter if needed when you flip)

5. Cook second batch of quesadillas the same way.

6. Remove and serve with salsa, sour cream and black bean and corn salsa.

Cost Breakdown: $6.29 which for a meal that revolves around cheese is not bad ;) You can get the price even cheaper if you can get MJ cheese for less but in my area I rarely do. Also my butter wasn't on sale ($2 a lb) nor was the frozen spinach or black beans.

$ 1.oo - 10 tortillas (on sale)

$ 1.25 - Monterrey Jack (when it goes on sale for this price I buy in bulk and freeze)

$ .25 - 4T butter

$ .79 - one box frozen chopped spinach (store brand)

$ .25 - sour cream (1/4 of 16 oz store brand container on sale for $1)

$ .50 - half a jar of salsa (on sale with coupon)

$ .60 - can of black beans

$ 1.00 - 1/2 bag of organic frozen corn

$ .40 - 2 medium roma tomatoes

$ .25 - lime

Breakfast Ideas

I am a big breakfast person. I want my kids to have a healthy, filling (and typically hot) meal each and every morning. And cereal is rarely on the agenda. (Not that we never eat it; I just save it for Sunday dinner so I don't have to cook on my rest day ;) But the rub is I don't want to spend a lot of time each morning preparing breakfast. I like to get up early but I want to spend that time drinking a cup of coffee or hot tea and reading, not in long prep time for a meal.

I think breakfast is a dying animal though. As a sort of experiment, I asked 10 friends what they gave their kids for breakfast and of the 10 every single one said pop tarts, cereal, frozen waffles and/or oatmeal from a packet. Sorry, but ewwwww! Below are some things we cook at our home and how I prepare them to try and minimize cook time on busy mornings. If you have other great ideas please leave a comment or better yet link a post on your blog. I am always looking for new ideas so we don't get bored!

Breakfast burritos: whole wheat tortillas filled with scrambled eggs, cheese and sausage or bacon (we use the all natural sausage and bacon to avoid nitrates/nitrites). Potato would also be a yummy addition...or substitution for the meat if you want to go vegetarian.

How I make it work: Burritos are our standard Sunday breakfast because we are out of the house by 7:45 am. We can throw these in the microwave and eat 'em in the car! Once every six weeks I cook a big batch of crumbled sausage and freeze it in one cup servings. I also cook a package of bacon and freeze it as well. Then each Saturday night I make scrambled eggs and add the defrosted sausage or bacon. I make up the burritos and wrap each one individually in wax paper. The next morning we throw each one in the microwave for 30 seconds and breakfast is served. :) I usually make enough so that we have these on Monday morning as well. When we eat 'em at home we add salsa and a side of fresh fruit. Yum!

Golden Pancakes/Egg Crepes: these are officially called golden pancakes (see the recipe in an old post) but the first time I made these Thatcher declared that he would call them Egg Crepes. ;) Of everything on our breakfast rotation these are probably my boys all-time favorite - and I love that they are full of healthy protein! I roll them up and the boys eat them like crepes. Haddon loves his filled with almond butter and dips them in maple syrup. I like mine with jam. Thatcher prefers his plain, and Beckett is just a syrup guy!

How I make it work: I make the batter the night before. It just takes a few minutes to throw all the ingredients in the blender and then refrigerate. In the morning just heat the pan and make your pancakes.

Pumpkin Oat Pancakes: These are not just my favorite breakfast but one of my favorite foods. Period! They are the standard pancakes in our house and so much more tasty than plain ones. Your kids will never know that you found a great way to sneak in all that beta-carotene. ;) See the recipe here in an older post.

How I make it work: Every 4 to 6 weeks I make a double or even triple batch of these for a Saturday brunch or dinner. I freeze what is left in sets of four pancakes each with wax paper between each so they don't stick together. Then in the morning when I wake up I take a set out and let them defrost. I like to heat them up in a skillet on the stove rather than in the microwave because they crisp back up and taste like you just made them.

Yogurt Parfaits: We don't do too much dairy in our house. The boys drink almond milk but we do some cheese and a little yogurt. And these are a fun way to enjoy that yogurt. I just layer homemade granola (recipe below), organic greek yogurt and frozen blueberries in a fun clear glass cup. My boys love it and it's our standard "breakfast in a hurry" around here.

Granola

***This is a good basic recipe and I love it as is. But you can make lots of additions or substitutions to make it your own. Add a cup of dried fruit, change the amount/kind of nuts, add more/less sugar, delete cinnamon, etc....Also this will stay fresh kept on the counter in an airtight container for at least 2-3 weeks, although it rarely lasts that long around here!!!

4 cups old fashioned oats

1 1/2 - 2 cups chopped raw almonds

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup oil (I use grapeseed but any mild oil would be fine)

1/4 cup honey (generous 1/4 cup ;)

1 tsp vanilla (good mexican vanilla is my favorite)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a bowl mix oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.

2. In a saucepan warm oil and honey. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

3. Pour liquid over oat mixture and stir gently with wooden spoon. Spread in a baking pan.

4. Bake 40 minutes, stirring carefully every 10 minutes.

5. When finished allow it to cool completely and store in airtight container.

* If you want to add fresh fruit add it after granola has cooled. Sometimes we add dried cranberries, especially in the fall!

Oatmeal: Simple, traditional, classic, healthy and yummy! I like steel cut oats better than rolled oats. Thatcher likes his with melted peanut butter drizzled all over the top. I like mine with tons of cinnamon and walnuts added. Dh likes his plain. Best of all, it just costs cents per serving.

How I make it work: Easy, I make it the night before and then stick the whole pan in the fridge. In the morning when I wake up I put the pan back on the stove to reheat (add a little more milk if needed) and we're ready to go. I make ours with almond milk and a little honey. Serve with a side of blueberries or other fresh fruit and breakfast heaven!!!

Egg Puffs: These are my mil's creation. One time she was staying with us and came up with these and the boys love them. You basically scramble up some eggs, pour the mixture into greased muffin tins, add some cheese and/or some breakfast meat (my boys love ham - I usually use Hormel Natural Choice ham to again avoid nitrates/nitrites) and bake at 350 until the centers of each puff no longer jiggles.

How I make it work: I make these at night once the kids go to bed. When dh and I are hanging out and visiting I'll make enough of these to last for 2 breakfasts. The boys like them best in mini muffin tins because they love to pop the whole thing into their little mouths at once!

We make lots of other things for breakfast as well: peanut butter toast with turkey bacon and fresh fruit, french toast, over easy eggs with toast and fresh fruit and yes an occasional bowl of cheerios. :) But I just wanted to give a few recipes and ideas of things that can most easily be made ahead.

I hope someone gets inspired to revamp their breakfast menu. Leave me a comment if you have other ideas. We can always use some inspiration!

Five Dollar Friday: Pumpkin Oat Pancakes

Dark chocolate is a passion of mine. And pumpkin is another. I love all things pumkin...except pumpkin pie. It's a texture thing. So it was a happy day when I came across this recipe which combined pumpkin with another love of mine, oatmeal. Yum! This recipe is really wholesome using wheat germ, whole wheat flour, oats, eggs and pumpkin, which is super high in vitamin A. Want to know another great thing about this recipe? It uses buttermilk. I am a huge fan of buttermilk. If you have never used this wonderful ingredient in recipes then get ready for a surprise. Recipes for baked goods that include buttermilk are tender and just amazing. I promise. Almost all my favorite recipes for biscuits, cakes, cornbreads and the like include buttermilk. And yet one more great thing is that you can double the recipe and freeze the leftovers. They reheat beautifully in a skillet with just the tiniest drop of oil. The outside will crisp back up like they just came fresh out of the pan. You will rarely find my freezer without a huge bag of these yummies!

Pumpkin-Oat Pancakes

served with fresh fruit

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg white
1 whole egg

1 tablespoon oil

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup lowfat or skim milk

Dry Ingredients:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup all purpose flour

2 tablespoons wheat germ

1 tablespoon sugar (or to taste)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine oats and buttermilk. Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes to soften.

2. Add the remaining wet ingredients and blend well.

3. In a small bowl, comine all dry ingredients. Stir them into the wet ingredients, mixing until batter is fairly smooth. Add more milk if batter is too thick.

4. Pour about 3 tablespoons for each pancake onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or skillet. Flip pancakes when underside is golden and tops begin to bubble.

5. Serve with butter and real maple syrup

Just a few thoughts about this recipe...depending on how thick you like your pancakes add/take away some of the milk. More milk = thinner pancakes and less milk = thicker. I used quick cook rolled oats because I always seem to have these around that need to get used up. I also like to use more cinnamon and sugar than what's suggested. Haddon's favorite way to eat these is smeared with peanut butter before dumping on the syrup and I have to admit it's pretty darn tasty that way! That kid'll smear anything with peanut butter though. ;) If you don't already, consider switching to real maple syrup. If you are used to the stuff most Americans call syrup it may take a little time to get used to but you won't miss the corn syrup and preservatives for long! I calculated the cost using the pure stuff.

Cost breakdown: $3.09 (leaving $1.91 to buy whatever fresh fruit you want to go along with your pancakes - we love strawberries in the spring when we can go pick our own at a local farm)

$.08 - 1/2 cup quick cook oats

$.25 - 1 cup buttermilk

$.26 - 2 eggs

$.03 - 1 tablespon oil (I used canola)

$.25 - 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (any leftover puree you can freeze if you don't need it right away)

$.05 - milk

$.10 - 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

$.04 - 1/3 cup all purpose flour

$.06 - 2 tablespoons wheat germ

$.02 - 1 tablespoon sugar

$.03 - 1 teaspoon baking powder

$.01 - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

$.01 - 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

$.28 - 4 tablespoons butter

$1.62 -1/2 cup pure maple syrup

Five Dollar Friday: Chicken Breast with Lemon-Caper Sauce

A friend of mine is an amazing cook and has shared several recipes with me, most of which have become instant favorites at my house. This is one. Thanks A.B. for this one and all the others!

Also I just wanted to add that this is a great example of a recipe that could easily be a lot more than $5. The trick is to get all your ingredients on sale and with coupons. Enjoy.

Chicken Breasts with Lemon Caper Sauce over Angel Hair Pasta
(served with steamed broccoli)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (use paprika if you want to avoid cayenne but still get pretty color)
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded very thin
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon capers
4 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon butter

Directions:
1. In large skillet begin heating olive oil over medium high heat.
2. In a shallow dish stir together flour, salt and cayenne.
3. Dip chicken in mixture and shake off excess. Place on plate.
4. In a small bowl mix together lemon juice, parsley and capers.
5. Add chicken to hot skillet. Cook approximately 6-8 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown. Turn once during cooking.
6. Remove skillet from heat and stir in parsley mixture (*see notes below)
7. Add butter and stir until melted. Spoon over chicken.

Only a few notes for this recipe. The main one being do not add all the lemon juice at first when making the sauce. Hold back about 1/2 of it until you have tasted the mixture after adding butter. Some lemons are much more tart than others and you may end up with too strong a lemony taste. This is the voice of experience talking here! ;) Also I find that I like to season my chicken with a little extra salt before dipping it into the flour. Not too much, but a bit really seasons it well. To prepare the broccoli I simply steam and add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a bit of salt, and for the pasta I just toss with a dab of olive oil to keep from sticking. I thinly slice the chicken and lay it on top of the pasta and then spoon the sauce over it so the pasta gets some of the goodness.

Cost Breakdown: $5.31

$ 2.54 2 lbs chicken breast purchased for $1.77 a lb
$ .20 parsley - from a bunch that cost $.60
$ .25 lemon - some for sauce and the rest of the juice to squeeze on broccoli
$ .50 capers
$ .03 flour
$ .28 olive oil
$ .13 butter
$ .38 for half box of whole wheat angel hair or thin spaghetti (bought when on sale and paired
with coupon)
$ 1.00 fresh broccoli (purchased on sale; I got an enormous head for $1)

Five Dollar Friday: Baked Potato Soup

This is a very simple but amazing soup and one of the first recipes I ever collected. I got this from a sweet mom I used to babysit for while in college in Austin, Texas (Hook 'Em Horns!). It's a great meal to feed a crowd or take to a family with a new baby, too.

The soup served with a side salad with feed my family two times (love to cook once and eat twice!) making the final cost $10. You can decrease that price if you leave off the optional garnishes. But to me, they are what make it a baked potato soup rather than a basic potato soup so I included them in the final price. Also you can make this from start to dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less. Another huge bonus in my book.

Baked Potato Soup
(and simple green side salad)

Ingredients:
7 cups of peeled, diced and cooked potatoes
1 stick butter
2/3 cup flour
5 cups of milk
16 oz sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Optional:
1 lb bacon chopped and cooked for bacon bits
8 oz shredded cheese
fresh chives, chopped very fine

Directions:
1. Melt butter and add flour gradually; stir until smooth.
2. Continue cooking for one minute stirring constantly.
3. Gradually whisk in milk and continue cooking over medium heat until mixture thickens. Stir frequently.
4. Add sour cream, potatoes, pepper and salt.
5. Serve with cheese, bacon bits and chopped chives on top.

* Here are some thoughts about this recipe:

Earlier in the day peel and chop your potatoes. If you have time go ahead and cook them. If not, store in a bowl of cold water and they won't oxidize. You can use more or less potatoes, just depending on your preferences. Also, I only use full fat sour cream because the low fat stuff usually has additives. In addition, my store has two versions of their regular sour cream. One that says "All Natural" and one that doesn't. They cost the same but the ingredient list is "clean" on one and not so on the other. Read those labels. :) For the milk in this recipe I use 2% because you still get plenty of richness (especially using regular sour cream) but not so much fat. I have been known to make it with whole milk when taking a batch to friends (Shhh!! Don't tell them. ;) Salt the water you cook the potatoes in because it will season the potatoes well and you won't need as much at the end. I prefer to use sharp or even extra sharp cheddar because you get "more bang for the buck". Last I always check the natural/uncured bacon (no nitrates/nitrites) in my store. When it gets near the expiration date they put it on sale half price and I buy lots and keep it in the freezer.

Cost breakdown: $10.00 (nice when it works out so evenly!)

$ 1.00 - potatoes from a bulk bag purchased on sale
$ 1.00 - 16 oz. all natural sour cream purchased on sale
$ .95 - 5 cups of milk
$ 1.25 - 8 oz bag of fancy shredded sharp cheddar cheese - sale price
$ 2.50 - 1 lb thick sliced bacon
$ .50 - 1 stick butter

$ .10 - 2/3 cup flour
$ 2.00 bag of mixed greens (use 1/2 bag for first meal and the other half for the second time
around) I can often get this on sale cheaper but this particular day I had no such luck.
$ .50 roma tomatoes at $.99 a lb
$ .20 balsamic dressing from a bottle purchased for $1.00
$ .20 fresh chopped chives

P.S. ~K.N. this is for you! :)

Five Dollar Friday: Lentil Soup

Here is my first "Five Dollar Friday"

We came across this recipe when we were studying about the monks who lived in Medieval Europe. Making this soup was a suggested activity and has now become a family favorite. It was my first time to ever cook or even eat lentils. I hope someone else enjoys it!

Lentil Soup
(adapted from Story of the World, Activity Book 2: The Middle Ages)

Ingredients:
1 large onion chopped
3 carrots diced
3 stalks celery chopped
2-4 garlic cloves minced (approx. 2 tsp of garlic but adjust to your taste)
1 bay leaf
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
6 cups of water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 cup dried lentils (My store only carries one type, brown with a greenish tint, so that's what I use)
1 cup fresh spinach finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add carrots and celery and cook until tender. Stir in garlic, bay leaf, oregano and basil. Cook for 1-2 minutes being sure not to burn garlic.
2. Add water and tomatoes then stir in lentils. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour to an hour and a half until lentils are tender. When ready to serve stir in spinach and add seasonings to taste.

Serve with a loaf of homemade whole wheat bread if you wish!

* This soup is wonderful as is but if you have a little extra in your grocery budget you can jazz it up in several different ways. You can add shredded Parmesan cheese on top. Or, if mild Italian Sausage links (pork or turkey are both great) are on sale they can be grilled, cut up and added in the last 30 minutes of cooking. If you want to keep it vegetarian the original recipe said to serve it with wedges of cheese and sharp cheddar is wonderful with the flavor of the soup. Any of these will raise your overall price but if you catch some good sales, they are yummy additions.

Cost breakdown: $4.65

$ .50 lentils - 1/2 of a 1 lb bag bought for $1.
$ .50 onion - sweet yellow onion on sale for $.77 per lb
$ .66 carrots - 3 carrots out from a 2lb bag I bought for $2.00
$ .33 celery - 3 ribs out of a $1 bundle
$ .10 garlic - a few cloves from a head that cost $.33
$ 1.06 28 oz can tomatoes - I actually bought 2-14.5 oz cans because it was cheaper that way!
$1.50 spinach - 1/2 of a 10 oz bag that cost $3 spinach

Sharing Our Whole Grain Homemade Bread Recipe - Update

Well, that will teach me to jump the gun! I posted this original recipe back in May right after I started making our own bread. I posted too soon. It was yummy but dense, very dense. I just thought that the "fluffy bread" my boys kept asking for would have to be sacrificed on the altar of "homemade and 100% whole grain." But I didn't give up. I continued to research and tweak the recipe and you know what? Homemade, whole grain and fluffy can happen! :)

I started learning about dough enhancers, ingredients that improve the texture and taste of your bread. You can buy these pre-made but I wanted to create a recipe with ingredients I could purchase at my local grocery store. First I added ginger to my recipe after learning that yeast love, love, love the stuff. The ginger alone, even in its tiny amount, helped my bread rise higher. Next I found several recipes that called for much higher amounts of gluten. This helped too. Then I found Darcy's recipe for her boys' bread. It included vinegar and I remembered reading that vinegar would help activate the yeast and boy did it! My bread now rises high out of the pan and is that fluffy texture the boys were asking for.

Now one thing I have learned is that just because this recipe works for me, with my bread maker and in my climate it doesn't mean it will work for you. I have tried recipes from other blogs that are the "perfect" recipe but they don't work at all in my machine and in Houston's humidity. Be ready to tweak your recipe until you get it just like you like it!

100% Whole Grain Bread Machine Bread

1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
2 Tbsp canola oil
4 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp white vinegar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp ground flax seed
2 tsp salt
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour
1/4 cup gluten
1 Tbsp yeast

Put everything into the bread machine in the order given. Chose the "Whole Wheat" setting and start. This recipe makes a 2 lb loaf. At first, I was putting all the ingredients in at night before bed and using the delay cycle in order to have fresh bread each morning. I started getting worried about milk and eggs sitting in the bread maker for several hours though. Also, now that I am using vinegar, I don't want the vinegar to have time to sour the milk. Now, I usually throw the ingredients in right before breakfast so that we have fresh bread for our sandwiches at lunch or right before lunch so we can have a fresh loaf to go with dinner. For breakfast we usually toast it anyway, so day-old bread works just as well.

A few tips:

• never let the salt touch the yeast. It can prematurely activate it.
  
• when you measure the oil, use the same spoon for the honey and molasses and they will slide right out!
• I make my own oat flour by processing old fashioned oats in the food processor. It's much cheaper than buying oat flour.

Enjoy. I know we have! :)

Sharing Our Whole Grain Homemade Bread Recipe

Update as of December '09: If you have come to my blog via a search engine go here to see an updated post!

For several months now, I have been saying I wanted to start making our family's bread. I did it when we were on the gluten free diet for eight whole months, but I was very motivated. Store bought gluten free bread tastes like stale cardboard. ICK! Now that we are off gf/cf, each Saturday it has been too easy to just throw a loaf of bread in the basket and think, "I'll start next week."

Two weeks ago I resisted the urge to do that yet again. Instead, I came home and googled "whole wheat bread machine recipes" and started searching. I wanted one that used no white flour whatsoever and no refined sugar. This is the one I liked best; I used it as a springboard for my own variations.

Here is the recipe I am currently using:

100% Whole Grain Bread Machine Bread

1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
2 Tbsp canola oil
4 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp ground flax seed
2 tsp salt
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour
1 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp gluten

Put everything into the bread machine in the order given. Chose the "Whole Wheat" setting and start. I put mine in at night and delay the start time so the bread is just finishing its baking cycle as we are rousing. Waking up to the smell of freshly baking bread is heavenly!

The flax and gluten are optional but you may have to make adjustments in other areas if you don't use them. Also, I grind my own oat flour from old fashioned oats because it's so much cheaper that way. Just throw the oatmeal into a coffee grinder or food processor and you'll have oat flour in just a few seconds. :)

And a huge time-saver...

I set out four of these containers at a time, then I grind a big batch of oat flour. Last I start measuring out the ingredients. Both types of flour go in first (You can see the oat flour is the lighter of the two at the bottom.). I then add the salt and flax at the top. Then when it's time to throw all the ingredients into the bread machine at night, it just takes me a few seconds to grab the other ingredients and measure them out.

This makes a really moist all-purpose bread. It's great for sandwiches, toast or fresh out of the bread machine with a little butter and honey or jam on it (my favorite!).

I am thrilled that we are saving money since I was paying $4 a loaf and we use two loaves a week. I can buy a 5 lb bag of King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour for that same price and get many, many loaves! You can even buy cheaper ww flour but King Arthur has worked beautifully for us. Even more than that, I love that I am feeding my family something that I made with no ingredients we cannot pronounce! ;)

Something with Strawberry Jam!

I mentioned in a recent post that dh has lost over 20 pounds in the past seven weeks! One of the the many things we've learned is how important it is to start each day with a serving of what they call "dense protein" to kickstart your metabolism. Dh typically eats an egg and three egg whites mixed with different veggies each day. Unfortunately, I despise eggs and the only way I will eat them is in an omelet filled with veggies (carmelized onions, roasted red bell peppers and sauteed mushrooms) and covered in salsa. That way I can't taste the eggs. ;)

Cottage cheese is another dense protein but one that dh wouldn't touch. I went to one of my favorite sites, allrecipes.com, and seached "eggs and cottage cheese" to try and find something we could both eat that would still fit on the plan. The result is this yummy dish we've added to our breakfast rotation. They remind me of crepes yet you would never know they are made from primarily eggs and cottage cheese and just a drop of flour and milk. Best of all, I top mine with the homemade jam I mentioned in my last post! :)

Golden Pancakes
adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup milk (skim, 2 %, almond, soy or rice will all work)
1/4 cup grapeseed/canola/other vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
In a blender combine all ingredients.
Process on highest speed for one minute.
Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto greased hot griddle or non-stick skillet.
Flip when bubbles form on top; cook until other side is golden brown.

Smoothies: Our Favorite Power Drink!

I am working on posting our first "Weekly Report" of this entire year!!!

In the meantime I thought I would share how I make smoothies for my boys. Since I've started my nutrition posts I have had several people ask me (with all we've cut from our diet), "So what do you feed your boys?" One of my favorite things to make them is blueberry smoothies. They love them and have no idea I pack them with so many goodies.

This is definitely more art than science so if you don't already make smoothies, use these ideas and come up with your own favorites! Basically I fill up the blender about 2/3 of the way with organic frozen blueberries (a superfood all by themself!) , throw in a handful of fresh strawberries, fill it up with orange juice and let 'er rip!

Now here's what makes them so fantastic: I add ground flax seed (read about the health benefits of flax here), a plant source of healthy Omega-3 oil that most of us Americans don't get nearly enough of in our diet. Don't use whole flax because our bodies cannot process it and it will just pass through your system. You can also use flax seed oil but it is a little bitter and we prefer the ground seeds.

I add frozen veggie cubes as well. I keep my eye on fresh organic spinach at my grocery each week. When it's within a day or two of its expiration they sell it cheap! I bring it home, steam it with just a drop of water, put it in the blender, pour it into ice cube trays, pop the frozen cubes into a gallon-size baggie and they're ready anytime I want to make smoothies. I usually add three cubes in each batch of smoothies. The blueberries are dark enough that the green color of the spinach doesn't show nor does the flavor come through.

Still, just to be on the safe side, the first time you make these, just add a drop of the flax seed and one cube of spinach. Increase the amount each time until you get where you want.

We are not big "dairy in our smoothies" people but if you are then add some organic vanilla yogurt and you'll add a fourth superfood off Web MD's list (I count the flax as a superfood because they have salmon on the list due to the fact it is high in omega-3's but fish wouldn't be an appetizing addition to our afternoon snack, huh?! As a side note, read this article on the pros and cons of using flax over fish for your omega-3 source).

You can try different combinations as well. My boys also like strawberry smoothies and in those I use frozen carrot cubes. Just like with the spinach in the blueberries, you cannot taste them at all! :) We also make Mango/Orange smoothies with frozen mango, a can of mandarin oranges (to add orange color so they don't suspect the hidden fruit ;) and the carrot cubes as well.

Happy drinking.

Nutrition 101 - Part Three: Dyes

One of the things we avoid around here are all synthetic food dyes...well not ALL the time but the huge majority of the time anyway. What's wrong with synthetic food dyes? Did you know they are made from petroleum (look at the last question in the article)? Yep, one barrel of oil goes to the refinery to produce gasoline for your car and the next to an FDA approved factory to make all those pretty dyes that color your M&M's and just about everything else we eat. I don't know if it happens exactly like that but that's how it works in my mind! Did you know they can cause significant reactions in children with ADD/ADHD and other medical issues (allergies, migraines...)? Heck, the official FDA site only says there is a "reasonable certainty of no harm". I don't like "reasonable certainty" when it comes to the food that is entering my boys' bodies. How about you? And just for good measure, here is one more article from Web MD that talks about food dyes.

What are other options? You have to be a little creative but we've found tons of fun alternatives so my kids never feel they are missing out. Here is a link that shows you how to make homemade grenadine. Beware before clicking that link; know that you are going to an amazing cupcake blog. Proceed with caution! :) I keep this delicious syrup in my fridge at all times and we use it for ton of things listed below. I have used the same recipe using POM tangerine juice as well. One thing I do change in the recipe is I sweeten the syrup with agave nectar instead of sugar (We also avoid refined sugar as much as possible.). It does not thicken like a traditional syrup but it is every bit as yummy and much healthier!

We use this syrup for snow cones (We actually bought our snow cone maker at Wal-Mart for $15 at the start of the summer but this will give you an idea.) on hot summer evenings. We also make homemade cherry "Sprite" which is simply a mix of seltzer water, a little white grape juice concentrate and a spoonful of the grenadine. Yum! Thatcher actually prefers a little of this syrup on his pancakes some mornings rather than the pure maple the rest of us adore.

Instead of popsicles that cost too much and are full of dyes and refined sugar we use an inexpensive popsicle maker I picked up for super cheap. We fill the cups with different diluted juices and my kids love it!

Also, you can make yummy jello with your child's favorite fruit juice and plain gelatin. The gelatin is less than $1 a box and you can use the juice you have at home. The recipe for Knox Blocks (the same idea as Jello Jigglers) is right on the back of the box and will take you five minutes to prepare. Again I use the agave nectar to sweeten rather than sugar if needed at all. Plain Jello has not one good thing in it; it's full of dyes and chemicals and artificial flavors. Ick! Try this instead. We cut ours out using cookie cutters in fun shapes to celebrate whatever season we are in for some extra fun, too!

These yummy Sundrop candies are great substitutes for M&M's and my kids love a few of them sprinkled in a bowl of freshly popped popcorn! My kids also love jelly beans or gummies we buy at our local health food store made with only natural dyes, too. The same company that make the gummies also makes a great candy sprinkle that is artificial dye free, too. My boys love these sprinkled on the occasional homemade ice cream, sugar cookie or cupcake.

For a special drink on the go my boys love 100% fruit juice boxes (avoiding ones with preseratives...and yes labels can and do say 100% juice but have yucky stuff added in) or Vitamin Water.

In the realm of breakfast cereal we stick with Cheerios, an organic version of Rice Krispies from Erewhon (to avoid the BHT in many breakfast cereals) or cereals from the Envirokidz line. No Froot Loops here! :) You would be surprised what cereals have dyes in them. At one time Life cereal had dye (Can't say if it still does because I haven't checked in over a year.). Why??? Life is a brown cereal; why dyes are needed is beyond me!

One last thought...the more you buy that is organic the more you are able to avoid artificial dyes. This is true for everything from breakfast cereal to granola bars to lunch treats. I know what my store carries and stock up on these items when they go on sale about once every three or four months. I don't pay full price for anything! :)

If you have your own favorites, please leave a comment. Or better yet write a blog post and link it here so we can all see what other great ideas are out there!

Nutrition 101 - Part Two: Now What?

Well I posted awhile back just a few thoughts on nutrition. Here is my first follow-up: Now What? Several have asked me what I feed my family after eliminating all the aforementioned things. Well, read on!

In this post I just wanted to focus on nitrates/nitrites in food. Here is another link that talks about these preservatives in food with several helpful links at the bottom: How Stuff Works - What is Sodium Nitrate? Like so much of this stuff, there is no definitive answer that can be found as to exactly how dangerous these substances are and in what quantities they must be consumed to cause problems. The reality is that we may never know, but there is enough research that shows them (especially nitrites) to be cancer-causing that my family avoids them altogether. Just look at those links and see what else those substances are used in and you'll probably never want to feed them to your family again!

Sodium Nitrate/Sodium Nitrite is found in lots of prepared meats you buy at the grocery store - especially breakfast meats and deli meats. Luckily there are tons of alternatives that are really tasty available now. You need to look for uncured natural products. Here are some examples. Click on each photo to go to that product's site and see other products available!


Here is a list of a few of the foods I buy that are natural and uncured: turkey bacon, bacon, ham (I cut into slices and freeze in packs of 3 to cook for breakfast for the boys), chicken breakfast sausage (see photo above), turkey and chicken hot dogs, specialty sausages to grill (my favorite is chicken apple sausage on a big crusty hot dog bun with tons of mustard!), lunch meat (turkey, ham and roast beef), salami and prosciutto. I have yet to find uncured pepperoni to buy in any of my local stores but I keep looking. One of my local stores does carry a gourmet frozen pizza made with uncured pepperoni though!


Each store in my area carries a different selection of these items. What I do is when I happen to be near one of these stores I stop in and stock up. Almost every product I mentioned can be easily frozen. I will buy five packages of turkey bacon and freeze four. I will pull one out each week for the next month before I need to go back to that store. Now before that happened I had to acquaint myself with what each store carried. I also talked with the manager of my default store and requested all the items I wanted. They actually were willing to order several with the stipulation that if they didn't sell, they would not be ordered a second time. A few have stuck around and a few haven't but I was so glad I asked. If you happen to live near a Trader Joe's or a Whole Foods your life will be much easier in this regard.

Last, here is a simple recipe for homemade breakfast sausage. You'll never need to buy the pre-made, chemical-filled stuff again. This only takes a few minutes longer than buying the Jimmy Dean chub and knowing how many chemicals you are eliminating is worth those few minutes.

Maple Breakfast Sausage

1 pound ground pork (no msg, nitrates/nitrites and not low fat!)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon sage
3 Tablespoons of pure maple syrup (yes get the real stuff! :)

Mix thoroughly and form into patties. Cook and enjoy! Freeze any leftovers and reheat when needed.

All measurements are to taste. The pork I buy is only preserved with salt so I don't need to add much more. You may want to adjust seasonings depending on the pork you buy. This does not work with chicken or any other lean meat - trust me ;). I make this for my boys so the sweet maple is perfect for them. If you prefer a spicy breakfast sausage google a recipe and you'll get tons of ideas! I usually triple this recipe and freeze the extra sausages in groups of three. I pull one packet out for breakfast, pop it in the microwave on defrost and it's as yummy as when you first make it.

Have fun searching out your local stores' collections of natural products. Let me know what you find.