Good news! I have added a tab at the top of the home page, entitled "Recipes". Clever, I know. Here you will be able to find all of the recipes that I reference on the blog, as well as recipes that I invent on my own. You read that write. Apparently some of my creativity has stuck around, and yesterday I had an enlightened moment when thinking about what I could eat for lunch. Behold, "Cashew Curry Chicken Salad". It's pretty darn delicious, if I do say so myself! I have no idea how I thought of it, as usually I'm a stick-to-the-recipe kind of gal, but fortunately it turned out to be edible. And not just edible but something I'd like to eat again in the future.
Anyway, check out the new recipe feature...I'm hoping to add lots of recipes along the way, most of which I hope to be unprocessed for the most part. Obviously mayo is processed, but it's a work in progress, people.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
On second thought...
A day or two ago I posted about my experience at our local farmer's market, which was really great. I was very excited about eating the local grass-fed beef that we purchased at the market and I was sure I was going to be permanently substituting it for the antibiotic & hormone-laden kind we had been eating.....
...But I hated it! Ok, hate is a strong word. I really didn't like it, though, and it was a very disturbing experience for me. We bought ground chuck and we had decided to make it into homemade hamburgers on the grill. I loved how fresh the beef was, I loved how I knew where it came from, and I loved how it was bright red and not the weird brownish-gray color that you see sometimes in the beef at the mart. What I didn't like about it was the taste; obviously, quite a big thing when it comes to food. Honestly, it wasn't a bad taste at all. I'd imagine it is quite an appealing and delicious taste to an unknowing person or to someone like my husband. He thought it was fantastic and he was very excited about having the leftovers all to himself too! You see, the beef just had a very strong herby flavor. Like those wild onions you find in your backyard (or at least in our backyard). The wild onions around here are everywhere and the scent of them is quite overwhelming, especially when people are mowing their yards. That's what the beef reminded me of. The taste of wild onions just hit too close to home for me to be able to enjoy my beefy burger in front of me. I realized that this cow that I was eating was probably one that I had seen on a farm not too long ago. A cow that had been peacefully grazing in a rolling meadow chowing down on some wild onions. Now, I'm no animal activist, and eating meat has never bothered me before. This time, though, the meat just seemed way too fresh and way too local. "That's the point!" I hear you say. Yes, this is true. I am trying to eat locally. I am trying to eat unprocessed foods. The point is, though, that I'm trying! I'm not saying I'm boycotting local grass-fed beef. I'm still a big supporter of it and the farm that we bought it from. I think it's an amazing thing and I am willing to give it another try. Maybe next time, though, I'll buy a steak. And use lots of A-1!
And that is just one more step in my process of going unprocessed.
...But I hated it! Ok, hate is a strong word. I really didn't like it, though, and it was a very disturbing experience for me. We bought ground chuck and we had decided to make it into homemade hamburgers on the grill. I loved how fresh the beef was, I loved how I knew where it came from, and I loved how it was bright red and not the weird brownish-gray color that you see sometimes in the beef at the mart. What I didn't like about it was the taste; obviously, quite a big thing when it comes to food. Honestly, it wasn't a bad taste at all. I'd imagine it is quite an appealing and delicious taste to an unknowing person or to someone like my husband. He thought it was fantastic and he was very excited about having the leftovers all to himself too! You see, the beef just had a very strong herby flavor. Like those wild onions you find in your backyard (or at least in our backyard). The wild onions around here are everywhere and the scent of them is quite overwhelming, especially when people are mowing their yards. That's what the beef reminded me of. The taste of wild onions just hit too close to home for me to be able to enjoy my beefy burger in front of me. I realized that this cow that I was eating was probably one that I had seen on a farm not too long ago. A cow that had been peacefully grazing in a rolling meadow chowing down on some wild onions. Now, I'm no animal activist, and eating meat has never bothered me before. This time, though, the meat just seemed way too fresh and way too local. "That's the point!" I hear you say. Yes, this is true. I am trying to eat locally. I am trying to eat unprocessed foods. The point is, though, that I'm trying! I'm not saying I'm boycotting local grass-fed beef. I'm still a big supporter of it and the farm that we bought it from. I think it's an amazing thing and I am willing to give it another try. Maybe next time, though, I'll buy a steak. And use lots of A-1!
And that is just one more step in my process of going unprocessed.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Farmer's Market
Today my family and I went to our town's farmer's market for our first time. I wasn't sure what exactly to expect. I mean, I obviously assumed there would be organic produce and probably some other home made goodies, but I was eager to find out if there would be anything that I'd really want to buy...or anything that I'd really be able to afford! Good news: there was!
I found that buying produce at the farmer's market was so much more exciting and motivating to eat better when it all is so fresh. I loved being able to see who grew what. I loved the hand-written signs made out of permanent marker on cardboard next to all of the veggies. I loved not having a list already made up of what ingredients I needed; but, instead, buying ingredients that looked good and feeling creative while thinking about all the possibilities of what I could do with, say, asparagus. I loved it!
I also bought a few veggie plants (bibb lettuce, cauliflower, and broccoli). There is definitely a sense of satisfaction gained from growing a nice fruit or veggie-bearing plant that provides a bountiful harvest throughout the season....when you can actually get it to grow! That's how I learned that there is still a huge sense of satisfaction in buying an already established, beautiful plant that you know has enough strength in it to endure a few missed waterings or hopefully even planting it in the wrong sun spot in the garden. Can you tell I'm not exactly a green thumb kinda gal? Anyway, so I bought these great, healthy-looking veggie plants today and I'm so excited about them. The garden that I have been putting off planting for weeks now suddenly already feels started and I'm excited to get these little plants in the ground. Plus, they were only $1.50/6 plants. Now I'm no avid plant-buyer, but I thought this was an amazing price! I almost felt like I was ripping the guy off that sold them to us, knowing how hard it is and how much attention it takes to grow a quality plant from a tiny little seed. At any rate, I'm thrilled to have gotten a start on my garden and I'm really looking forward to eating from it this summer.
Grass-fed beef was another item we were excited to purchase. We paid $6.49 for a pound of ground chuck. It is definitely more expensive than the slab you can pick up at your local Walmart, but I feel so much better about this beef. No hormones, no pesticides, no herbicides, no antibiotics. Just pure beef from cows raised on grass. I grabbed a pamphlet about their farm while I was there, and I learned quite a bit about the benefits of grass-fed beef from it. Check out their website at www.lickcreekbeef.com or some of their resources from the pamphlet (www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm or www.csuchico.edu/agr/grassfedbeef/ ). I'm not sure how often we'll be able to afford to eat grass-fed beef, but I would definitely like to eat it more often! Of course, I should probably taste it before I make such a bold statement, but with all of the health benefits from it, I can't imagine it wouldn't be delicious.
So, all in all, my trip to the farmer's market was very good. I do have one rant, though, before I sign off. There was a vendor with beautiful home-baked breads of every variety there. Dill bread, honey wheat bread, oatmeal bread, sourdough bread...you get the point. Thankfully, they also had ingredient lists on all of their products. The ingredients read beautifully until I saw the enemy: margarine. Are you kidding me?! I was both shocked and appalled. Saddened and disappointed. Outraged and infuriated. Ok, maybe the last part is a bit of an exaggeration, but I was indeed very upset. Why in the world would you take the time to bake home-made bread and use margarine of all things?! As badly as I would have liked to have bought some fresh bread from the market this morning, I had to simply walk away. I guess I really am changing, afterall, considering a few weeks ago I was clinging tightly to my own tub of margarine. I'm glad I can look back and see just how far I've come :)
And this was just one more step in my process of going unprocessed.
I found that buying produce at the farmer's market was so much more exciting and motivating to eat better when it all is so fresh. I loved being able to see who grew what. I loved the hand-written signs made out of permanent marker on cardboard next to all of the veggies. I loved not having a list already made up of what ingredients I needed; but, instead, buying ingredients that looked good and feeling creative while thinking about all the possibilities of what I could do with, say, asparagus. I loved it!
I also bought a few veggie plants (bibb lettuce, cauliflower, and broccoli). There is definitely a sense of satisfaction gained from growing a nice fruit or veggie-bearing plant that provides a bountiful harvest throughout the season....when you can actually get it to grow! That's how I learned that there is still a huge sense of satisfaction in buying an already established, beautiful plant that you know has enough strength in it to endure a few missed waterings or hopefully even planting it in the wrong sun spot in the garden. Can you tell I'm not exactly a green thumb kinda gal? Anyway, so I bought these great, healthy-looking veggie plants today and I'm so excited about them. The garden that I have been putting off planting for weeks now suddenly already feels started and I'm excited to get these little plants in the ground. Plus, they were only $1.50/6 plants. Now I'm no avid plant-buyer, but I thought this was an amazing price! I almost felt like I was ripping the guy off that sold them to us, knowing how hard it is and how much attention it takes to grow a quality plant from a tiny little seed. At any rate, I'm thrilled to have gotten a start on my garden and I'm really looking forward to eating from it this summer.
Grass-fed beef was another item we were excited to purchase. We paid $6.49 for a pound of ground chuck. It is definitely more expensive than the slab you can pick up at your local Walmart, but I feel so much better about this beef. No hormones, no pesticides, no herbicides, no antibiotics. Just pure beef from cows raised on grass. I grabbed a pamphlet about their farm while I was there, and I learned quite a bit about the benefits of grass-fed beef from it. Check out their website at www.lickcreekbeef.com or some of their resources from the pamphlet (www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm or www.csuchico.edu/agr/grassfedbeef/ ). I'm not sure how often we'll be able to afford to eat grass-fed beef, but I would definitely like to eat it more often! Of course, I should probably taste it before I make such a bold statement, but with all of the health benefits from it, I can't imagine it wouldn't be delicious.
So, all in all, my trip to the farmer's market was very good. I do have one rant, though, before I sign off. There was a vendor with beautiful home-baked breads of every variety there. Dill bread, honey wheat bread, oatmeal bread, sourdough bread...you get the point. Thankfully, they also had ingredient lists on all of their products. The ingredients read beautifully until I saw the enemy: margarine. Are you kidding me?! I was both shocked and appalled. Saddened and disappointed. Outraged and infuriated. Ok, maybe the last part is a bit of an exaggeration, but I was indeed very upset. Why in the world would you take the time to bake home-made bread and use margarine of all things?! As badly as I would have liked to have bought some fresh bread from the market this morning, I had to simply walk away. I guess I really am changing, afterall, considering a few weeks ago I was clinging tightly to my own tub of margarine. I'm glad I can look back and see just how far I've come :)
And this was just one more step in my process of going unprocessed.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Pancakes, Flapjacks, & Hot Cakes, Oh my!
Just so you know, I do realize that it has been more than 1 week since I posted last, thus not adhering to my previously stated goal of making at least 1 change per week. Guilty as charged. Honestly, I was less than motivated and other (dare I say more important?!) things than unprocessed foods required my attention these past few days. But, you needn't worry...I'm back...and I come bearing pancakes.
For the past couple months or so, my family has gotten into a little routine/tradition of making and eating homemade crepes filled with Nutella on Saturday mornings. Love it! They're so easy to make and they're soooo yummy! This morning when I asked my husband whether he wanted me to make crepes or pancakes for breakfast, though, I was admittedly pretty excited (and a little surprised) when he requested pancakes instead of our usual Saturday morning crepe fest. The strange thing, though, is that I hate pancakes. I find them the least bit exciting and not nearly as fun to make as crepes. The only thing that had me excited about making pancakes this morning was a new recipe that I found in the May issue of Parents magazine for Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes. It was a perfect recipe for this blog, calling for whole wheat flour and honey as a sweetener. "Score!", I thought. So, I made them. Seeing as though I'm not a big pancake lover from the start, it's hard for me to give this recipe a raving review. However, they weren't NOT good, so that's a plus. The whole wheat flour definitely gave them an I'm-definitely-eating-healthy-whole-wheat-pancakes kind of a vibe, but put enough syrup (or peanut butter & syrup, as my husband does) on them and you just may find them delicious and nutritious. For the record, I just asked my husband for his review of the pancakes from this morning. His direct quote is this: "They were kind of whole-wheaty, but just about as good as a pancake can get." And there you have it, folks; straight from the mouth of a (self-proclaimed) pancake conoisseur himself. Try 'em...you might even like 'em!
Here is the recipe from the May 2010 issue of Parents Magazine
Mix 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (not sure why they call for "white" whole wheat...I used the non-bleached kind, which is less processed than the white), 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. baking soda, and 1/4 tsp. salt; set aside. In another bowl, blend 1 egg, 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, and 1 Tbs. each honey and canola oil (I substituted coconut oil). Stir into the dry ingredients. (Makes about 12 1/4 cup pancakes)
Like I wrote within the recipe above, I used regular whole wheat flour instead of the "white" kind that they call for. Also, I added about 1/4 cup of whole milk to the mix at the end, because it was way too thick for my liking without it. I ran out of buttermilk, so whole milk is what I decided to add to thin it out. And, I substituted coconut oil for the canola oil.
Side note: No, I did not use real maple syrup on top of my pancakes drawn straight from the maple tree in our backyard. We don't even have a maple tree in our backyard. Actually, I'm not even sure if I could pick out a maple tree in a lineup of trees. I did use maple syrup straight from our grocery store, though, and the first two ingredients of it are water and high fructose corn syrup...obviously not so unprocessed. However, I have great aspirations to make homemade fruit syrup this summer. I have a friend (we'll call her my 90/10 Friend...she says she strives to make about 90% of her diet unprocessed and about 10% is made up of processed foods...so she will be known here as 90/10 Friend...it has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?) who is a great inspiration for eating unprocessed foods (and a great resource too!) who assures me that making my own syrup is easy and fun, so I shall attempt it...at some point...hopefully this summer.
And this was one more step in my process of going unprocessed.
For the past couple months or so, my family has gotten into a little routine/tradition of making and eating homemade crepes filled with Nutella on Saturday mornings. Love it! They're so easy to make and they're soooo yummy! This morning when I asked my husband whether he wanted me to make crepes or pancakes for breakfast, though, I was admittedly pretty excited (and a little surprised) when he requested pancakes instead of our usual Saturday morning crepe fest. The strange thing, though, is that I hate pancakes. I find them the least bit exciting and not nearly as fun to make as crepes. The only thing that had me excited about making pancakes this morning was a new recipe that I found in the May issue of Parents magazine for Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes. It was a perfect recipe for this blog, calling for whole wheat flour and honey as a sweetener. "Score!", I thought. So, I made them. Seeing as though I'm not a big pancake lover from the start, it's hard for me to give this recipe a raving review. However, they weren't NOT good, so that's a plus. The whole wheat flour definitely gave them an I'm-definitely-eating-healthy-whole-wheat-pancakes kind of a vibe, but put enough syrup (or peanut butter & syrup, as my husband does) on them and you just may find them delicious and nutritious. For the record, I just asked my husband for his review of the pancakes from this morning. His direct quote is this: "They were kind of whole-wheaty, but just about as good as a pancake can get." And there you have it, folks; straight from the mouth of a (self-proclaimed) pancake conoisseur himself. Try 'em...you might even like 'em!
Here is the recipe from the May 2010 issue of Parents Magazine
Mix 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (not sure why they call for "white" whole wheat...I used the non-bleached kind, which is less processed than the white), 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. baking soda, and 1/4 tsp. salt; set aside. In another bowl, blend 1 egg, 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, and 1 Tbs. each honey and canola oil (I substituted coconut oil). Stir into the dry ingredients. (Makes about 12 1/4 cup pancakes)
Like I wrote within the recipe above, I used regular whole wheat flour instead of the "white" kind that they call for. Also, I added about 1/4 cup of whole milk to the mix at the end, because it was way too thick for my liking without it. I ran out of buttermilk, so whole milk is what I decided to add to thin it out. And, I substituted coconut oil for the canola oil.
Side note: No, I did not use real maple syrup on top of my pancakes drawn straight from the maple tree in our backyard. We don't even have a maple tree in our backyard. Actually, I'm not even sure if I could pick out a maple tree in a lineup of trees. I did use maple syrup straight from our grocery store, though, and the first two ingredients of it are water and high fructose corn syrup...obviously not so unprocessed. However, I have great aspirations to make homemade fruit syrup this summer. I have a friend (we'll call her my 90/10 Friend...she says she strives to make about 90% of her diet unprocessed and about 10% is made up of processed foods...so she will be known here as 90/10 Friend...it has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?) who is a great inspiration for eating unprocessed foods (and a great resource too!) who assures me that making my own syrup is easy and fun, so I shall attempt it...at some point...hopefully this summer.
And this was one more step in my process of going unprocessed.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Tortilla! Tortilla! Yum Yum Tortilla!
If you know the tune of the title for this post and now have the song stuck in your head, you are a dork just like me and watch too much Barney, just like me. If you don't know the song, turn on PBS Kids and I'm sure eventually you'll see Barney and friends singing about various bread products, tortillas being one of them. Which brings me to my point: Tortillas.
I wanted to make tacos for dinner about a week or so ago, and so I set out to find some natural, whole-wheat tortillas at my local grocery store. At first glance, I was pleasantly surprised to see so many different choices for whole-wheat tortillas. As I flipped over the first package that I grabbed to read the ingredients, I couldn't believe what I saw was in fact an ingredient list and not a complete written account of the history of the tortilla. There were so many ingredients (and not good ones, either)! I quickly ditched those tortillas and moved on to the next brand. Same thing. Next one. Same thing. Next one. Same thing. Are you kidding me?! I must have read over ingredient lists on about 6 different packages of whole-wheat tortillas before I found one that didn't take 10 minutes to read through. The best choice that I could find for unprocessed (well, least-processed) whole-wheat tortillas was the brand Ole Xtreme Wellness Whole Wheat Tortillas. While these tortillas do still contain bleached flour and other things that I cannot pronounce (or spell), the ingredient list was by far the smallest, and the processed ingredients in the list are apparently less than 2% of the product, so I figured they weren't all that bad. This was the best choice that I could find, but if you have discovered a better product, please let me know!
And that is just 1 more step in my process of going unprocessed.
I wanted to make tacos for dinner about a week or so ago, and so I set out to find some natural, whole-wheat tortillas at my local grocery store. At first glance, I was pleasantly surprised to see so many different choices for whole-wheat tortillas. As I flipped over the first package that I grabbed to read the ingredients, I couldn't believe what I saw was in fact an ingredient list and not a complete written account of the history of the tortilla. There were so many ingredients (and not good ones, either)! I quickly ditched those tortillas and moved on to the next brand. Same thing. Next one. Same thing. Next one. Same thing. Are you kidding me?! I must have read over ingredient lists on about 6 different packages of whole-wheat tortillas before I found one that didn't take 10 minutes to read through. The best choice that I could find for unprocessed (well, least-processed) whole-wheat tortillas was the brand Ole Xtreme Wellness Whole Wheat Tortillas. While these tortillas do still contain bleached flour and other things that I cannot pronounce (or spell), the ingredient list was by far the smallest, and the processed ingredients in the list are apparently less than 2% of the product, so I figured they weren't all that bad. This was the best choice that I could find, but if you have discovered a better product, please let me know!
And that is just 1 more step in my process of going unprocessed.
Snack Attack
In a previous post, I wrote about not knowing what kinds of natural snacks I could give my kids. My 2 year old was quickly getting bored with cheese and assorted fruits and/or veggies. My sister suggested we try Pirate's Booty. It was a bit more expensive than what I would have liked to pay (a running trend in unprocessed foods, I've found), but I think it's going to be one of those snacks we're just going to have to pay more for. I thought it was really good, and my daughter ate almost the whole bag by herself in one sitting! I kid you not...she was going bonkers for Booty! She even asks for it by name now, saying "Boo-ee" when she wants some (which is pretty much non-stop!). It's all-natural, contains no preservatives, no artificial ingredients, and it's good so hopefully we'll find a coupon for it at some point because I don't think I will ever be able to leave the grocery store again without buying it because of you-know-who (giving the shifty-eye to 2 year old in the room).
The other snack we tried was Annie's Cheddar Bunnies. They also are all-natural, no artificial ingredients, and all that jazz. The box looks small for the price, but there is actually quite a bit in the box. Think Goldfish crackers au naturale style. My daughter gobbled these up too, and they kept her quiet in the grocery store which was a plus too!
And those are 2 more steps in my process of going unprocessed.
The other snack we tried was Annie's Cheddar Bunnies. They also are all-natural, no artificial ingredients, and all that jazz. The box looks small for the price, but there is actually quite a bit in the box. Think Goldfish crackers au naturale style. My daughter gobbled these up too, and they kept her quiet in the grocery store which was a plus too!
And those are 2 more steps in my process of going unprocessed.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Quinoa and Cake
This week I tried a few new things. The first thing we tried was something called quinoa (pronounced keen-wah). I've heard of this grain before, as it has been recommended to me by friends and even doctors, but I have resisted it for quite some time now. Honestly, it never sounded very appetizing and I assumed that it would require a lot of effort to make it. I was wrong! It was actually very easy to make, as the cooking instructions for it are very similar to that of rice. I wasn't quite sure how to eat it, though, and I am going to continue to experiment with it. From what I've heard, it's a very versatile food and it goes well with many different things. I added black beans and a can of tomatoes & green chiles to my pot of quinoa. We also added a little bit of guacamole to the top of it, and it was actually pretty delicious. I think quinoa will be a really good addition to our diet, as it's supposed to be really healthy. In fact, it is high in amino acids and is considered a complete protein. Don't ask me what that means, but it sounds important and like it's probably pretty good for me ;)
This week, I also made home-made chocolate cake. Last weekend I invited some friends over at the last minute, so I had to use what we had on hand to make something to eat. I managed to scrounge together the ingredients to make chocolate cake...and not from the box, either! It was sooo good! This was the first time I've ever deviated from the box cake mix stuff, and it was so much better. However, I did make this cake using my bleached granulated sugar, bleached white flour, and canola oil...all things processed. Well worth it as it was delicious, but also something I wanted to compare by making it with unprocessed ingredients. This weekend we have friends staying with us, so I decided to experiment on them. I used raw sugar, coconut oil in place of the canola oil, and a mix of unbleached all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. The rest of the ingredients were unprocessed, except for the powdered sugar that I needed for the frosting. The cake turned out very good, but honestly not quite as good as the processed version. However, the difference between the two cakes was nothing huge, so I will definitely keep making the unprocessed version, as I know it is much better for me and my family.
And those are two steps in my process of going unprocessed.
This week, I also made home-made chocolate cake. Last weekend I invited some friends over at the last minute, so I had to use what we had on hand to make something to eat. I managed to scrounge together the ingredients to make chocolate cake...and not from the box, either! It was sooo good! This was the first time I've ever deviated from the box cake mix stuff, and it was so much better. However, I did make this cake using my bleached granulated sugar, bleached white flour, and canola oil...all things processed. Well worth it as it was delicious, but also something I wanted to compare by making it with unprocessed ingredients. This weekend we have friends staying with us, so I decided to experiment on them. I used raw sugar, coconut oil in place of the canola oil, and a mix of unbleached all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. The rest of the ingredients were unprocessed, except for the powdered sugar that I needed for the frosting. The cake turned out very good, but honestly not quite as good as the processed version. However, the difference between the two cakes was nothing huge, so I will definitely keep making the unprocessed version, as I know it is much better for me and my family.
And those are two steps in my process of going unprocessed.
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