Archive for Recipes
Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix
Posted by: | CommentsSave money by making your own taco seasoning mix. It is SO easy! And healthy! And you can put it in a jar (my favorite part)! Actually, even if you don’t have a jar obsession like I do, I recommend putting this mix in a jar as the flavors are strong and will absorb into a plastic container, or mingle with other items it may be sitting beside in your pantry.
Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix
1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1/8 cup ground cumin
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon paprika
1 Tablespoon sea salt
Put all ingredients into a jar and shake!
Um, after you put a lid on…then shake. The jar. Shake the jar. With the lid securely on the jar.
Three Tablespoons of Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix is equal to one 4-ounce package of taco seasoning mix. I would recommend adding 3 Tablespoons of mix to one pound of browned ground meat for tacos.
I would also recommend shaking again before each use to make sure the spices are well distributed throughout the mix.
The jar. Shake the jar. You can shake all you want, but if you don’t shake the jar, your spices won’t be distributed evenly.
Just wanted to be sure I made the instructions clear in regard to the shaking.
Great. I can see it now. Husbands everywhere will walk into the kitchen and see their wives shaking (boogie down).
He will look questioningly at his wife, smile and say,
“Taco night again?!”
Homemade Chewy Granola Bars (without corn syrup!)
Posted by: | CommentsEvery homemade chewy granola bar recipe I’ve ever seen includes corn syrup and/or marshmallow cream (not ingredients we feel okay about eating). And every pre-made granola bar I have seen at the store (even the organic ones) have ingredients I don’t like feeding my family.
I finally figured out a chewy granola bar recipe that we like! It’s easy and includes all natural sweeteners and ingredients! These bars are way cheaper than store bought granola bars! Plus you can customize it according to your family’s taste and allergies! They can be easily wrapped individually to take in the car or packed in a lunch!
Now I will say this: I don’t recommend going overboard on these (or any) granola bar. Unsoaked oats can do a number on your digestive system. I just wanted to create a recipe that will help our family avoid the granola bars at the store when we need a quick, grab and go snack to take to soccer games or on trips. I consider these to be “compromise” snacks because of the unsoaked oats, but otherwise, I couldn’t be more thrilled to have finally figured out a yummy chewy granola bar!
Homemade Chewy Granola Bars
1/2 cup peanut butter or sunbutter
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil (or another oil of your choice)
1 cup oats
1 cup total of any combination of: sesame seeds, coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, mini chocolate chips
In a medium sized saucepan, melt together peanut butter, honey and coconut oil.
Remove from heat and add one cup of oats. Choose your favorite combination of coconut flakes, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dried fruit and mini chocolate chips, to equal a total of ONE CUP. (I just got out my one cup measuring cup and poured in the ingredients until the cup was full.) Pour in and stir well.
Stir well, then spread mixture into a 8×8 or 9×4 pan.
Chill for two hours, then cut into bars.
Wrap in plastic wrap for a quick grab and go snack!
While experimenting with these bars, I played around with a Gluten Free Snack Bar variety too! I’m excited to share that recipe soon!
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Learn more about avoiding High Fructose Corn Syrup and other additives at Lenetta’s place and Katie’s place.
High Five Recipes: Layered Cheesy Salsa Enchiladas
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This recipe could NOT get any easier, especially if I already have a big batch of homemade tortillas in my fridge ready to go.
These enchiladas can also be made with corn tortillas if you have a gluten intolerance or if you just like corn tortillas better.
Layered Cheesy Salsa Enchiladas
1 pound ground beef
sea salt to taste
2 cups salsa
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided (I use raw white cheddar)
8 whole wheat flour tortillas (or corn tortillas)
Brown meat. Stir in salsa and 1/2 cup of cheese.
Lay 4 tortillas in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Spread half of meat mixture over tortillas. Layer again with the 4 remaining tortillas. Spread remaining meat mixture over tortillas. Top with 1 1/2 cups cheese. Bake uncovered at 350° for 20-25 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings.
This dish freezes easily too, making it a great make ahead meal!
Freezing Instructions: Cover dish well and freeze. Thaw and bake as directed above. Or, if the enchiladas are frozen, bake in a 250° oven for one hour, then at 350° for another 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
I have several more High Five Recipes up my sleeve (not literally of course, but wouldn’t that be fun to see?). Oh, and actually if you haven’t already, you should go read the story of my sleeves because, well it’s always fun to read about sleeves.
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.
High Five Recipes: Easy Butterscotch Bars
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Last week as I was quickly stirring up these Butterscotch Bars to bake and take to a homeschool event, I started counting up the ingredients. Five! Five ingredients! Yay! Another High Five Recipe!
I am so excited that these bars taste so good using sucanat and whole wheat. I had made them years ago using brown sugar and white flour and love that you can’t even tell a difference using the healthier ingredients!
Better yet, these bars can be stirred up and thrown into the oven in just a few minutes. It doesn’t get much better than that!
Easy Butterscotch Bars
1 cup melted butter
1 3/4 cups sucanat
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
Stir melted butter and sucanat together. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in flour and mix until well combined. Pour batter into a 9×13 inch baking pan. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes.
These bars are gooey, rich and better made not very often because I like them waaaayyyy too much.
Way too much.
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Be sure to join us for The little Green Project next week! Read about it here!
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This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday, being hosted today by Rocks in my Dryer.
Healthy Homemade Breakfast Burritos
Posted by: | CommentsWell, I made the kids mad at lunch today. I stood there making 20 breakfast burritos and wouldn’t even let them eat one.
Instead, they had to eat tuna. I was heartless enough to actually make them wait until next week to eat the Breakfast Burritos. Hey, I’m just trying to get ahead here. Someday when they become the parent, they too might have a Breakfast Burrito agenda and make their children settle for tuna. And then they’ll come back to me and tell me how sorry they are for being mad about the 2010 Withholding of the Breakfast Burritos.
Someday.
Homemade Breakfast Burritos
1 pound turkey sausage, browned
12 eggs, scrambled
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I use Landmark Raw White Cheddar)
2 cup salsa (more or less to taste)
20 whole wheat tortillas*
*Tortilla Hint: If you’re making your own tortillas (and if you aren’t, you really should be, because YUM)…try this tip to make burrito forming so much easier! As you roll your tortillas, cook them on just one side, leaving the other side softer and more flexible. Also, I find it works best to form the burritos within two or three hours of making the tortillas…before the tortillas have been refrigerated.
To put together the burritos:
Stir together scrambled eggs, cooked sausage, cheese and salsa. (I leave out the salsa at first and make up some salsa-less burritos for a couple of boys in my life who don’t like salsa. Then I add salsa to the remainder of the mix and make a few with salsa for the rest of us!)
Place a nice spoonful of burrito mixture onto a tortilla.
Fold in the ends.
Fold up one side, and then the other.
You can freeze your burritos in a big container,
or put them into freezer bags.
To reheat: Place desired number of thawed or frozen burritos on a baking sheet. Heat in a 350° oven for 10-20 mintues until heated through.
P.S. The children weren’t mad for long. They really like tuna…but just temporarily forgot that fact when they smelled the sausage cooking. They happily ate their tuna and will ever so much more happily eat their Breakfast Burritos some morning next week when I have yet another agenda: the-hurry-up-and-eat-breakfast-so-that-you-can-start-your-handwriting-and-math…agenda.
;)
Mini Apple Pies (A Part of This Complete Breakfast)
Posted by: | CommentsWho decided that sugar coated sugar dobbers and frosted sprinked poptarts were the best way to start the day? I also want to know why the aforementioned choices…or a pancake drenched in syrup is considered a great breakfast food…yet an apple pie is considered to be a dessert.
Remember, I like to think outside the box when it comes to breakfast. I’m all about Giant Breakfast Cookies, Breakfast Cake, Funnel Cake, Whole Wheat Donuts…and if you recall…even Homemade Ice Cream for breakfast. And what about our Valentine’s day Peach Cobbler? Yes, I think breakfast should be enticing, delicious, nutritious and sometimes even fun. And I think Apple Pie should be okay to eat for breakfast.
This Mini Apple Pie recipe is a new one I’ve come up with as I work on creating more Healthy Make-Ahead Meals. These freeze well (unbaked) – then you can just pull out a little pie (or 3) per person and bake.
Make them for breakfast…and your family will smell them baking, jump out of bed and come running into the kitchen and plow you over onto the kitchen floor (out of joy and love of course).
You can make these a couple of different ways: Mini Apple Pies, or Apple Pie Pockets…depending on what works best for you. I use the same crust recipe I use for my Homemade Pizza Pockets. Follow the same instructions for the pizza pockets to create an Apple Pie Pocket…
The following directions are for Mini Apple Pies:
Crust:
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 t. sea salt
1 cup melted butter
1 cup plain yogurt
Stir ingredients together until thoroughly mixed. Use the dough right away to create pockets or pies…or let the dough sit overnight to break down the phytates and make the grains more digestable. This dough is MUCH easier to work with if you work it like playdough in your hands a while before you try to roll it out.
Filling:
3 pounds of apples – about 11-12 smallish apples (any kind you like)
1/4 – 3/4 cup sucanat (your preference)
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Topping:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2-4 Tablespoons sucanat
3 Tablespoons melted butter
To make Mini Apple Pies:
Peel apples and cut them into bite sized chunks.
Add sucanat and cinnamon.
Stir well and cook over medium heat until apples are
tender and a syrup has formed (about 10 minutes).
In the meantime, separate dough into 21-24 pieces.
Roll each piece into a little circle with a rolling pen.
As you can see, I am NOT a perfectionist. If I was making these for a
ladies’ brunch or something…I might take the time to make them pretty.
But for my family of boys?
Do you think they really care if their pies are pretty?
They eat them in three minutes flat. Thus my sloppy dough squishing.
Squish (or place nicely) your dough circles into well buttered MUFFIN PANS. Using a muffin pan for these Mini Apple Pies eliminates the need to go buy 24 little mini pie pans.
Fill each (unbaked) crust with apple pie filling.
In a bowl, stir together topping ingredients until the dry ingredients are moistened.
I find that melting the butter and stirring it into the flour, oats and sucanat makes a great crumb topping…much less effort than “cutting in the butter”.
Sprinkle topping all over the top of your little pies.
Try if you can to be as messy about this process as I am. Sheesh.
Freeze your pies in your buttered muffin pans for a couple of hours.
Remove your muffin pans from the freezer and allow them to sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes. Use a fork to gently pry the pies out of the pan. Place them carefully into freezer bags and put them bag into the freezer.
To bake your Mini Apple Pies:
Take desired number of pies out of the freezer and place them on a baking pan. Bake in a 375° oven for 35-45 minutes. You can let them thaw first if you want…but I find that the frozen pies bake just fine!
And now I’d like to point out that (depending on how much you use) there is about 1/2 cup of sucanat divided by 24 little pies…making this a very healthy, very low in sugar breakfast. Much less even than my Applesauce Bread or something otherwise considered a breakfast food.
Bring on the Breakfast Pie! Shucks…maybe we should even serve it with Ice Cream!
What’s your opinion about serving cobbler or pie for breakfast? Do I sound like a weirdo? (Wait, don’t answer that.)
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This recipe is linked to Ultimate Recipe Swap.
Healthy Gluten Free Recipes
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Flour Free Peanut Butter Cookies
I often have the privilege of taking meals to friends who have just had a new baby. I love taking meals to people, but I really love holding the new babies when I get there. :)
My most recent new-baby-meal was delivered to a family that must avoid gluten. I enjoyed the challenge it posed to come up with an entire meal that was completely gluten free.
What I discovered through this challenge was that while I talk a lot about grains and grain mills and making bread…I also have quite a nice collection of recipes that are gluten free. I was excited to discover this and decided to make a Quick Click Gluten Free Resource Page on my site for those of you who either must eat a gluten free diet, or have opportunity to cook for those who do.
Here are the gluten free recipes I already have on my site:
Breakfast Recipes
- Fruit and Yogurt Delight
- Smoothies
- Strawberry Yogurt Fruit Dip
- Turkey Sausage
- Veggie Egg Scramble
- Warm Chocolate Soother
- Warm Vanilla Soother
Dessert Recipes
- Caramel Apple Dip
- Chocolate Caramel Truffles
- Coconut Macaroons
- Creamy Pudding
- Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
- Homemade Chocolate Chips
- Homemade Ice Cream
- Hot Cocoa
- Peanut Butter Honey Bars
- Peanut Butter Honey Fudge
- Peanut Butter Raisin Balls
- Peanut Butter Truffles
- Snow Ice Cream
Main Dishes
- Baked Potato with Broccoli Cheese Sauce
- Beefy Enchilada Bake
- Beefy Vegetable Soup
- Black Bean Salsa
- Black Bean Taco Salad
- Cheddar Ranch Burgers
- Cheeseburger Zucchini Boats
- Cheesy Beef and Rice
- Potato Soup
- Shepherds Pie
- Sloppy Joes
- Taco Potatoes
- Tomato Soup
- Turkey
Side Dishes and Snacks
- Angeled Eggs
- Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
- Cream Cheese Salsa Dip
- Creamy Coleslaw
- Fruit Salad
- Homemade Potato Chips
- Justus’ Shaved Ice
- Ranch Cheese Ball
- Ranch Potato Wedges
- Rice and Veggie Stir Fry
- Simple Mashed Potatoes
- Spicy Avocado Dip
- Strawberry Milkshake
- Strawberry Peach Slushie
- Super Simple Chip Dip
Dairy
Condiments
- Barbeque Sauce
- Italian Salad Dressing
- Peanut Butter
- Ranch Salad Dressing
- Sunbutter
- Sweet Pickle Relish
- Thousand Island Salad Dressing
- Turkey Gravy (if you use cornstarch or arrowroot powder)
My hope now is to continue to add to this list as I find new, yummy, healthy gluten free recipes. I already have a few in the works that I plan to post, but I’d LOVE to add your recipe links to this page too!
If you have a healthy, whole foods recipe that does not include wheat, barley, oats or rye as an ingredient…leave the link in the comments section or email it to me so I can add it to the list. I would LOVE to have a huge collection of great gluten free recipes for all of us to resource as needed!
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This post is linked to Spring Cleaning Carnival where we’re talking about Getting the Gluten Out.
Special Valentines Day Treats: Peanut Butter Truffles and Chocolate Caramel Truffles
Posted by: | CommentsI have always loved the idea of making truffles, yet it always seemed so daunting to me. Truffles sound so…gourmet or something. I finally decided that this year for Valentine’s Day I was going to give truffles a try.
I learned that not only are truffles easy to make…they are quite an inexpensive Valentine’s Day treat. Do you KNOW how much truffles cost at the store? Yeah, a lot more than homemade ones. Not only are the homemade truffles less expensive, these treats don’t have high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils in them!
This first recipe is SO easy to make! Try this one first if you want to prove to yourself that you can make truffles.
Peanut Butter Truffles
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 T. butter
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I used homemade peanut butter)
1/4 cup organic, unbleached powdered sugar (optional)
In a saucepan stir together chocolate chips, cream and butter over medium heat.
About the time the chocolate chips are almost melted,
add peanut butter and stir until smooth.
Spread mixture into a pie pan and chill for about two hours.
Lick the pan while you wait for truffles to chill because…
well…do I actually need to give you a reason?
Roll mixture into 1 inch balls.
Dip in unbleached powdered sugar.
Place on parchment paper and chill until set.
This next truffle recipe takes a little more time to make, but it is SO WORTH IT.
Chocolate Caramel Truffles
1 cup sugar (I used sucanat)
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup chocolate chips (milk chocolate or semi-sweet)
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. sea salt
In a saucepan, cook and melt sugar, stirring with a fork.
It will clump up at first while it melts, but it will melt if you keep stirring and heating.
(Trust me, use a fork. A spoon doesn’t work.)
Remove melted sugar from heat and stir in cream.
Pouring in the cream will immediately create a crazy big blob thing of caramel,
so take it back to the stove and heat and stir until it melts.
It will seem to take forever but don’t worry,
it really will melt eventually (about 15 minutes).
See, it finally melted. Now you have caramel.
Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips, vanilla and salt.
Pour mixture into a pie pan and chill for about two hours.
Roll mixture into 1 inch balls and chill on parchment paper until set.
You can dip your truffles in a bit of cocoa powder if you want them to look pretty. They look pretty without the cocoa though, because hello? Chocolate and caramel all rolled into a ball? How could that not be pretty?
Place your truffles into little Valentine muffin papers and you’re all set!
I will present these truffles to Matt on Valentine’s Day, at which time we will have a conversation about whether caramel is pronounced Kare-uh-mel or Car-ml. He will say that he is pretty sure that it is Kare-uh-mel because there’s an “a” in the middle, and I will just sit there eating his truffles.
How do you say caramel, by the way?
(It may seem like Matt and I argue over word pronunciation often, but really we don’t. Just KYOOPON vs. KOOPON and the occasional Kare-a-mel vs. Car-ml. And if those two marital issues are among our biggest, I’d say we’ll have a pretty great Valentine’s day.)
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This post is linked to Frugal Friday and Finer Things Friday.
High Five Recipes: Chicken Fried Steak Strips
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I do almost all of the cooking around here…not because Matt can’t or won’t cook. I just really, really love to cook and have more time to be in our kitchen.
However, ever since Matt started working at a restaurant, he’s been quite a bit more interested in learning about food preparation…and guess what? My husband has a really great cooking tip for you today.
Yes indeed, this nugget of Chicken Fried Steak Strip wisdom is brought to you by the Heavenly Homemaker’s Husband! (Maybe you knew this tip already, but I didn’t.)
Here’s what he shared with me the last time I made these Chicken Fried Steak Strips:
If you keep dipping the meat in the flour and then in the milk and then back in the flour and then back in the milk and then back in the flour and then back in the…
It will make an extra yummy, extra crispy coating on the outside of the strip.
My strips were good, but I had just been single dipping. Following Matt’s advice, I am now double and even triple dipping. Now, they are Oh My Goodness Amazing. All thanks to my husband. I love that man. You will too after you try his double/triple dipping advice. But you can’t have him. He’s mine.
Chicken Fried Steak Strips
1 pound beef cube steak
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 t. garlic powder
3/4 cup milk
oil for frying (I usually use palm shortening for this from Tropical Traditions)
Cut cube steak into 1 inch strips. In a bowl, stir together flour and garlic powder. Pour milk into a separate bowl. Heat oil in a skillet (350° for electric skillet or medium heat on the stove top).
Dip beef strip in milk, then in flour mixture. Dip, repeat. Dip, repeat. Dip, repeat. (More or less is fine.) Place strip in oil. Cook for about 7 minutes on each side. (Salt to taste.)
So let’s review: The more you dip, the better the strip. You’ve gotta try it!
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Read a great tip about Preparing Ahead and Flash Freezing your Chicken Fried Steak Strips here!
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This post is linked to Kelly the Kitchen Kop for Katie’s Spring Cleaning Carnival.
Warm Chocolate Soother
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So, chocolate…or vanilla? That is the question.
I’d almost always say “chocolate” and yet…depending on the day, the occasion or the item…I may want vanilla. I’d say just about nothing beats this Warm Vanilla Soother.
And yet, last week the boys asked if I could try making my Warm Vanilla Soother into a Warm Chocolate Soother, just for fun. The kids thought it sounded yummy and hey, who am I to argue when it comes to making something chocolatey?
This recipe is almost exactly like Warm Vanilla Soother…just a couple of ingredients added.
Warm Chocolate Soother
3 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup real maple syrup
3 T. sucanat
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 T. arrowroot powder or corn starch
1 Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, egg yolks, maple syrup, sucanat, cocoa and arrowroot powder. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly (I use a whisk) until mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Stir until creamy. Pour into mugs and serve warm.
Once this finally cooled down enough to drink, my eight year old proclaimed, “Mom!! It tastes just like you’re drinking a brownie!”
For real?! Drinking a brownie? I want to drink a brownie!!!
Mmmm, he was right!
This has the appearance of hot cocoa, but it’s thicker and heartier. Oh. My.
So chocolate…or vanilla? That is still the question.
Maybe we’ll assign days to flavors.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and every other Sunday will be Warm Chocolate Soother days. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and every other Sunday will be Warm Vanilla Soother days.
Unless I have a hankering for vanilla on a Friday or feel a deep need for chocolate on a Tuesday, which I very well may. I’ll have to be flexible and leave the options open.
Let’s see, today is Tuesday. Which one are you gonna make?
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This post is linked to Frugal Friday.
