HappyMama

we recently have tried 2 new recipes.  The first is an asian chicken salad with bok choy.  It was my first experience with this Chinese lettuce, and dh & I really liked it.

It also called for pine nuts, which I had never purchased before.  These were tasty, but I won’t buy them again because of the price.  I’ve said before, I like to try new things at least once!

The second recipe is an easy way to grill sweet potatoes.  (I steamed them first to reduce the grill time.)  They were great with grilled chicken.  This recipe adds apples, which are just heavenly cooked this way.  Of course, with a stick of butter and brown sugar, how could they not?  My 1yo couldn’t get enough of this.

my latest concoction in the smoothie machine:

• sun tea (I’ve been drinking this lately instead of coffee, made with green tea)
• 1 peach
• frozen raspberries
• lemon juice
• sweetener, to taste
• ice

Yes, I’ve been eating more junk food than I should be.  I won’t be apologizing for that.  We have found a few recipes this year that we’ve enjoyed, and I’ll share some now.

BREAKFAST:

Although I could make my own, I really like Bob’s Red Mill Muesli.  You just mix it with yogurt, let it soften for a couple minutes (or overnight) and enjoy.  My 5yo loves it.

On Ash Wednesday this year, I served these Whole Wheat Pancakes for dinner, without syrup.  Sound penitential?  It turned out to be a family favorite, for everyone.  We’ve quit using syrup altogether.  Instead, I set out bowls of toppings, and the kids help themselves: yogurt, berries, and applesauce.  For this recipe, I substituted half yogurt, half milk for the buttermilk.  I have used the wheat germ, but have also substituted oats fine.

Another pancake favorite we like is called Farmer’s Flapjacks, from Sassafras cookbook:

Mix together 1 C buttermilk and 1 C oats, let sit overnight.  Add:

• 1 egg
• 1/4 C flour
• 2 T sugar
• 1 T baking powder (I use less. I wonder if it was a typo?)
• 1/2 t. soda
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1 T melted butter

And then just cook like normal pancakes.

I’ve also been making a variety of muffins to keep on hand and in the freezer.  Bob’s Red Mill has a very good recipe for Bran Flax Muffins.  (Don’t peel the apples.)

We also like these Rice Cereal Energy Bars.  It’s like a granola bar, but with rice crispies.  I’ve never made them exactly as written.

DINNER:

I’ve had this old Taste of Home recipe for years, but never made it until recently.  They aren’t the healthiest entree, but everyone liked them, and you can freeze them.  They are called Cheeseburger Buns.  I made the dough in the bread machine, and substituted wheat flour for 1/4 of the flour.

I’ve also had this recipe for a long time, from Pampered Chef.  It’s called Italian Roasted Vegetables, and it’s one of our favorites.  Our favorite veggies to cook this way: sweet potatoes, carrots, and cauliflower. Basically, just chop them up, drizzle with olive oil and your choice of seasoning, bake at 375 for about an hour, turning once.  My 1yo just LOVES the sweet potatoes this way!

My latest vice  craving has been for Orange Julius.  Mom & dad used to make these for us occasionally as kids.  Now that I’m “all grown up” I get to make my serving as big as I want, ha ha ha.  I’ve been using this recipe.  Unlike my other vices  cravings this one is caffeine and alcohol free.  Not calorie free, granted.  Not cheap, either.  But hey, if momma ain’t happy…. I couldn’t post on this blog!

I’ve got a hundred things I’d like to post about, but not a drop of energy.  Let me share one thing that did go right today, however - a recipe for fat-free french fries.  And before you think, “thanks, but no thanks” let me say that hubby said he liked ‘em even before I mentioned the fat-free part.  I can’t remember where I read about this recipe, I couldn’t find it today and just made these by memory.  Let me know if you’ve got a “real” recipe similar to this.  Here’s what I did:

• Preheat to 400.  peel potatoes and cut up with a crinkle cutter to look like fries.  (I used white potatoes, but next time will also try with sweet.)
• in  a bowl large enough to hold all the fries, whip egg whites (1 for every 2-3 large potatoes) until white & foamy.  (I used this hand mixer I got for the kiddos.)  It only took about a minute.
• add potatoes to the egg white along with whatever spices you want, and mix until coated.
• put on a single layer on a baking sheet or stone- try to keep them from touching each other.  I baked these about 30 minutes, turning them once.  Because I wasn’t using a recipe, I just guessed & watched them.  They were very good.

Well I admit it’s been a rough week.  Illness & the consequential total lack of energy was tempting me toward the blues.  It seemed like I just couldn’t get caught up with anything, let alone do any extra fun activities!  Then grandpa arrived and played with the kids all day and I actually did get caught up.  (Well, at least enough to feel sane again.  And hubby can wear clean clothes to work tomorrow.)  So a huge thanks to my dad today!  They wrestled, played outside, searched for bugs, put together puzzles at the library while I gathered a dozen new books, then read and read and read.  Good day.

And just in time for Thanksgiving, here’s my favorite cranberry jello recipe.  Our playgroup is having a luncheon tomorrow, so I made it and it’s just on my mind.   Mom used to make this once a year, for this holiday, and then because it was one of my favorite menu items, I decided to get the recipe and make it more often than annually!  Let’s see if I can remember it…

• 2 small boxes red jello - dissolve in 3 C boiling water.  Add 1 C. sugar.
• 1 can crushed pineapple - drain, add the juice to the jello - stir and let it start to set while you…
• in a food processor grind 1 bag cranberries (partially frozen seems to work best,) 2 or 3 apples, and 1 entire orange (including peel, but no big seeds.) 
• mix everything together.  Add chopped walnuts if you want.  Refrigerate for several hours.

Well, I have a hundred things I’d like to post about, but because I’ve been out of town for a week, I’m a tad bit behind on you know, EVERYTHING.

So for today, here’s a recipe we tried and enjoyed recently after I got the Fall itch to go buy a ton of locally grown produce at a Farmer’s Market, despite the fact that I didn’t know what to do with half of the things I bought.

This recipe is a Grand Prize winner from Taste of Home.  You can find it here. 

I added some other vegetables (including a beet!) and I substituted canned vegetable broth and just stir fried the chicken & veggies.  (I used acorn squash.) I omitted the kale because they didn’t have it at the grocery store.  All of my kiddos liked this soup.

It’s hard to know what’s “healthy” these days. I recently read a magazine article about these “10 best foods you aren’t eating” which they claimed to be very healthy. The article included descriptions, benefits & recipes. You probably can’t find half of them at a small-town grocery store, but here’s the list anyway:

• fresh beets
• guava (rind, seeds, & all)
• cabbage
• pomegranate juice
• swiss chard
• cinnamon
• purslane
• goji berries
• dried plums (i.e., prunes - no longer a fashionable term)
• pumpkin seeds