Category: Recipes

Holiday Sweets and Treats!

Love Christmas cookies and chocolate fudge? Learn the healthy way of making these favorite holiday sweets with whole grains, good-for-you fats like butter and coconut oil and natural sweeteners. This class will be December 6. Register Here.

Class Includes:

VIDEO: How to soak flour and make buttermilk gingerbread

VIDEO: How to maple sugar walnuts

VIDEO: How to make sugarplums

MENU: Candies and Treats to share with neighbors.

MENU: Sweets & Treats for Holiday Gift-giving

MENU: Selection of Christmas Cookies Every Kid Loves

RECIPES: Gingerbread, cinnamon-molasses cookies, sugar cookies, spritz cookies, honey macaroons, sprouted spelt and maple shortbread, honey and mandarin marmalade, fudge, maple sugar walnuts, white chocolate peppermint bark, sugarplums, pasteli, gingerbread men, almond-flour gingerbread men, cookie mix in a jar, pecan crispies, spiced oatmeal raisin cookies, chocolate-coconut truffles.

For complete information on this class and others in the Happy Healthy Holiday Classes

Listen to my Interview with Jenny McGruther to hear her passion for real foods.

Follow me at Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/urbanhomemaker

Follow me at Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TheUrbanHome

Classes are from Jenny McGruther of Nourished Kitchen – author of How to Cook Real Foods

This is a new series from Jenny. You can pick and choose which classes you are interested in.

November 12, 2010
Loss Leader Menu

This week chuck roast is on sale at my local grocery store. I will buy at least a five pound roast because there are so many ways to use the leftovers. *Leftover ideas are posted below.

Here is the menu I’m going to use to take advantage of the savings. I already have a whole chicken in my freezer bought when on sale:

Monday: *Roast Beef with Mashed Potatoes, steamed baby carrots with dill butter, and salad.

Tuesday: Crockpot Roasted Herbed Chicken with roasted red potatoes, green beans, halved peaches, rolls.

Wednesday: *French Dip Sandwiches (from leftover roast beef), applesauce, and raw veggie platter.

Thursday: Chicken Barley Vegetable Soup with herbs, served with Applesauce muffins.

Friday: Poached Salmon (bought when on sale), with Horseradish sauce, and oven fries.

*Other ways to use up LeftoverRoast Beef:

Beef Stroganoff

Barbecued Roast Beef

Beef Stew

Vegetable Beef Soup

What creative uses will you use your leftover roast beef for?

For more menus and recipes obtain Fast and Healthy Menus for Busy Moms.

Follow me at Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/urbanhomemaker

Follow me at Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TheUrbanHome

November 10, 2010
Battling the Grocery Gremlin

By Laura Moll Coble (Laura is also author of Value Meals for Busy Moms)

I don’t know about you, but my most frustrating shopping experiences happen at the grocery store! It never seems to fail that when I think I have about $50 worth of groceries in my basket, they add up to $100. I really don’t think that the problem is with my addition skills, I am sure that there is an evil gremlin in the checkout register that adds a dollar to everything I purchase! I love the savings cards that you get at stores like Safeway because when I swipe the card, I see the total price fall about $10. That always makes me feel a little bit better about life; its my revenge on the gremlin. Unfortunately the evil little gremlin always wins out, and the amount debited from my bank account is higher than it was supposed to be. Grocery shopping is an endless frustration for me.

However, I have found valuable help in the book America’s Cheapest Family by Steve and Annette Economides that has helped make grocery shopping and grocery budgeting much easier. This book has a very high standard, they calculate $50 a month per person. By following the principles in this book, I am supposed to be able to feed Brandon and I on just $100 a month, and this includes eating meats and cheeses, fresh fruits and vegetables. I have not been able to bring my grocery budget down that much yet, but I am getting closer. I thought I’d share some of the grocery shopping principles that I have learned, and if any of you struggle with sticking to a budget at a grocery store, or if you also would like to take revenge on the evil register gremlin, perhaps these methods will help you as well.

1) Make a Menu Plan. Menu planning sounds rather overwhelming if you are a very busy person or just don’t enjoy planning, but a menu plan can take as little time as 10 or 15 minutes to simply jot down a few meals you’d like to make for the week. Planning a menu doesn’t have to be an elaborate affair. I usually plan to make 3 meals during the week. By the time we’ve eaten those 3 meals, we usually have leftovers for another night and enough ingredients to make a 5th meal during the week (and after that we have a long list of friends, relatives, and distant relations we enjoy visiting on weekends). By menu planning, your shopping will be more focused so that you don’t just randomly pick ingredients that look good at the moment, and then you will be able to save $ at the register!

2) Shop as Infrequently as Possible. Every time you shop, you are tempted by impulse buys, so the less you shop, the less you will be tempted. The Economides shop once a month, because they have a deep freeze and plenty of storage space. Most of us do not have such luxuries, but you can try to cut down your trips. If you have been shopping twice a week, try going just once. Or if you go once a week, try going every other week. This takes a little more planning, but out of all the tips in this book, this method has helped me save the most at the checkout (does this mean I am a very impulsive person or I am just easily tempted?).

3) Check Sale Fliers. Your local grocery store, like Safeway or Krogers, will feature certain items at really low prices as an incentive to get people in the door. Then make a menu plan based on the sales. For example, last week chicken breasts, thighs, and drumsticks were on sale for 99 cents a pound. So I bought about 5 pounds of chicken breasts and we will be enjoying Parmesan Chicken, Chicken Oreganato, and Honey Glazed Chicken (or at least that is the hope…the meals have yet to be made!). Chuck Roast was also on sale for $2.00 a pound, so I also purchased several pounds of roast and divided it into several different meals. I now have enough meat to feed Brandon and I for about two weeks of meals for just over $10. Watch for deals in other areas as well. For example, the other week grapes were also on sale for 99 cents a pound, so we enjoyed grapes with our lunches for the next two weeks! This week bacon was on sale for $1.99 for a one pound package, so I stocked up on that for breakfasts.

The grocery gremlin still thwarts me at every chance he gets, somehow marking up prices by the time I get to the register, or sneaking extra items in my cart (I swear I didn’t put those Oreos in my basket!). But I am learning and someday, I shall be victorious!

Thank you for inspiring me to get a little more serious about grocery shopping!

Please post your best grocery saving tips for a complimentary copy of my ebook Fast and Healthy Menus for Busy Moms

Follow me at Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/urbanhomemaker

Follow me at Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TheUrbanHome

November 8, 2010
Pumpkin is loaded with Nutrition

Pumpkin is loaded with an important antioxidant, beta-carotene which is converted to vitamin A in the body with many essential health benefits. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), B vitamins such as Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate and important minerals such as Iron, Copper, Magnesium and Phosphorus.

So here is a great way to sneak some pumpkin into your kiddos along with other goodies like cod liver oil and they will never know. I also have “snuck” (is that a word?) pumpkin in blender batter pancakes along with the pumpkin pie spices.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1 Cup Raw milk, yogurt, or kefir

½ cup apple juice concentrate

½ cup canned pumpkin

¼ tsp vanilla

dash of nutmeg

1 frozen banana, broken up

1-2 Tbsp cod liver oil, flaxseed oil, or coconut oil

6 ice cubes

Blend until smooth and creamy. Adjust flavorings if necessary. Makes two servings.

How are you sneaking good nutrition into your kiddos? Post your original ideas and recipes for a complimentary copy of Breakfasts for Busy Moms ebook.

Follow me at Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/urbanhomemaker

Follow me at Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TheUrbanHome

October 29, 2010
Gluten Free Baking Questions/Answers

I’m going to try making Thursdays our question of the week day, where you teach me and other readers the answers to important cooking and health related topics.

I received this question in my email last week and would love to get lots of reader feedback to help her out.

“Is it possible to make gluten-free bread with the Zojirushi breadmaker? At the moment I am trying to decide between purchasing a Bosch blender/mixer combo or the Zo machine. I only have a family of five, and one of them needs to eat gluten-free. So, I would be making wheat bread for only four people.“

I personally have made a millet/egg batter yeast bread in my Zo that worked out OK, but I wasn’t crazy about it. It uses eggs and xanthum gum to help hold it together but it has a completely different taste/texture than wheat or Kamut TM. I also have made gluten free whole grain porridges and pancakes using millet and brown rice successfully.

So I am turning to you all for your helpful testimonials, insights and resources to share with others.

Please share your TNT (tried and true) gluten free bread recipes and ideas in the comments section below for a complimentary copy of my ebook Holiday Open House.

Follow me at Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/urbanhomemaker

Follow me at Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TheUrbanHome

October 28, 2010
Monday Menu – Layered Mexican Lasagna

Ed Note: This recipe was adapted by my sister who got it from a Pampered Chef Consultant/friend. She serves it to company with a big green salad, guacamole, and extra tortilla chips. It’s delicious. I would like to hear from my Real Food Friends on how to make this “healthier”.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves
1 pkg – 8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (28 oz.) enchilada sauce (I like the green sauce)
12 (6-in.) corn tortillas
3 cup diced or shredded cooked chicken
Garnish with additional chopped fresh cilantro leaves, optional

Directions:
1. Chop cilantro with French Knife. Place cream cheese in mixing bowl. (Microwave on high briefly if cream cheese isn’t softened.) Add cilantro and 1 1/2 cups of the Monterey Jack cheese; mix well. Chop onion, set aside. Spread 2/3 cup of the enchilada sauce over bottom of 2 quart baking dish, or one that is approximately 7 X 11. Pour remaining enchilada sauce into large mixing bowl; set aside.

2. To assemble lasagna, using fingers or tongs, dip four of the corn tortillas into enchilada sauce in mixing bowl and arrange over sauce in casserole dish, overlapping as necessary. Scoop half of the cream cheese mixture over tortillas using a small scoop or spoon and spread evenly. Top with 1 cup of the chicken and one-third of the onion. Repeat layers one time. Dip remaining tortillas into sauce and arrange over second layer. Top with remaining chicken and onion. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over lasagna and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes. Garnish with additional chopped cilantro.

Yield: 8 servings

Follow me at Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/urbanhomemaker

Follow me at Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TheUrbanHome

October 25, 2010
Roasted Tomato Marinara Sauce

After I finished the apple sauce Saturday, Belinda and I still had time to chop up the end-of-the season tomatoes to make roasted marinara sauce.

The beauty of this recipe is that you use what you have including tomatoes that are going over the hill. Oven roasted vegetables of any kind are extra flavorful and so is this sauce which can be used for spaghetti, pasta sauce, pizza sauce, tomato soup, anything you would use a marinara sauce for.

Method

Using a deep roasting pan, or two 9 X 13 pans, drizzle the bottom of the pan with olive oil – 1-2 Tbsp. Fill with chopped tomatoes – any kind or combination of tomatoes is fine.

Slice up 1-2 medium onions and arrange over the top of the tomatoes. Add herbs such as basil, garlic, oregano, thyme, and rosemary to taste along with some hot red peppers if desired. Sprinkle some salt over the pan. Roast the onions/tomatoes for 90 minutes at 375 degrees F. Allow to cool. Run through the blender, package in 2 – 4 cup portions and freeze.

You can add tomato paste to make it thicker, or pour off some liquid if desired before pureeing in the blender. Adjust seasonings.

I enjoyed this sauce over spaghetti squash last year. I also added some Parmesan cheese and pine nuts to the sauce in the blender before heating for an extra rich flavor.

October 19, 2010
Dehydrating – Food Preserving the Easy Way

Why Dehydrate?We’re hooked on dehydrating! Most foods can easily and successfully be dried with very little preparation time. What’s more, they are even easier to use!

With all the surplus apples at a good price, Stephen and I are going to get busy dehydrating later this week before he leaves for his officer training. He can take a little taste of home along with him and no worries about spoilage.

I love the round dehydrators with a fan because you can adjust the number of trays as needed, there is a thermostat, and plenty of power. But any dehydrator will work. It’s quick and easy.

Advantages of Dried Foods:
Easily Stored – Dried foods take one-tenth or less the storage space of canned foods.
Naturally Good and Nutritious – Flavor and nutrition are kept in dried foods without adding preservatives, sugar, or salt. Dried fruits and some vegetables (such as seasoned zucchini chips) are great natural snacks.
Economical – Bottles, jars, lids, sugar, etc. are just some of the items you won’t have to buy when you dry food. Processing energy will also be lowered considerably. Overripe fruit needn’t be thrown away but can be converted into tasty fruit leathers.
Completely Safe – Dried foods (even vegetables and meats) are completely safe when dried according to directions. There is no danger of botulism because the moisture that is a breeding ground for organisms has been removed.
Versatile – Dried foods are easily reconstituted for use in many recipes; from main dishes to breads and desserts. Leftovers and peelings can be dried for flavoring soup stock.
Easily Prepared – For people in a hurry, drying is the ideal way to preserve food. Very little preparation is needed – no hot jars, canners, or boiling water to tend.