Menu Planning Calendar

What's for Dinner??

So, I'm trying to be better prepared this year. We've got football, confirmation...you know, the normal things that come with kids growing older. So, I sat down over Labor Day and made a month of meals. I started by making lists of dishes: crockpot, oven and stove top; side dishes. Once that was done I just started plugging them in, taking into consideration what would be going on any given day. The best thing about doing it on a Google calendar is the ability to make reoccuring events - woo hoo!!! Yes, we'll eat tacos often, they are easy to put together, so let's get that on every few weeks. You get the idea, right? On this calendar I also added in the URL's for online recipes just so I don't have to relook them up. Anway, look, enjoy. I hope you find something delicious to make!

So this will automatically put the latest month up...I apologize for the months it might not be completely filled out..keep checking back!

I am a bad blogger...I admit it. But thankfully I don't have a demanding following. I really used to try to blog, but life always seems to get in the way. Last May my parents were in a car accident and my Dad left us to gain his Heavenly reward. Since then it's really been a blur of...I'm not sure what. Summer, helping Mom, cleaning out things, then back to school. I'm teaching 5 days again this year which is fun, but at times overwhelming with my two kids, hubby and church commitments.

However, along the way I have tried to keep to my goals of living a healthy life as best as possible. I am not perfect, we do occasionally get fast food (as long as I am fairly sure of the ingredients). I did not produce much of a garden in the drought this past summer but have friends who were happy to share their bounty. I still got jelly/jam made and tried my hand at putting up tomato sauce.

Pinterest has been a great source for new foods, recipes and ideas. If you're not already on there...do it!

My latest commitment to healthy living has been to refocus on my household products. A long while back I started making my own cleaners with baking soda, vinegar and borax, but that's as far as I got. Friends got me re-interested in making my own laundry products, and two different friends even brought me some of their handmade laundry soap! I wasn't sure if I could use it in my HE washer, but I have had no trouble with it, and my clothes are really clean!

That, of course, got me thinking again about what I use as far as cosmetics, soaps and shampoos, so I bought a book recommended to me by my friend Sarah Anderson: Beauty Secrets of the Bible by Ginger Garrett. You can order it from her website, I recommend it!

http://gingergarrett.com/books/beauty_secrets.php

She gives some good advice on how to use simple ingredients like olive oil, honey, and dry milk powder to make cleansers and toners. One thing I really love is that she also includes daily Bible studies to help your soul while you are learning to care for your body!

I really want to share this new information, so look for upcoming blogs showing how I've learned to make all of these new, wonderful products!

Fresh Tomato Tart

Last week a good friend took me out to her garden to give me a "few things" because she had too much. Well, that included about 30 fresh, ripe tomatoes. And yes, I've eaten sliced tomatoes every day since, but wanted to do something a little different. My sister Leigh makes a lovely tart, so I got the recipe from her and made it for Father's Day dinner tonight. Thanks Leigh, it was as delicious as I remembered!!! And honestly, it couldn't be simpler:

Make a pie crust, buy a crust, whatever you feel like doing!

Layer with about 8 ounces of grated mozzerella, and about 2 tablespoons of fresh, chopped Basil.

Slice tomatoes into about 1/4 inch slices.

Place the tomatoes in a single layer over the Basil and cheese. Season with sea salt, fresh cracked pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is nicely browned.

Let cool slightly so it firms up a bit. Slice and garnish with fresh Basil leaves. ENJOY!

My "G-Free" report

Hey! Can you believe it's already July? Where is the summer going?


Well, the other day I took the kids to the library and was browsing the cookbook/diet book section, and I ran across the book "The G Free Diet" by Elisabeth Hasselbeck. I'm not sure why I picked it up, except that I have a few friends who are gluten-intolerant, and I was curious about it. It was a really easy read, and I posted on Facebook that I had read it. Well, my sweet friend Sarah A. made a flippant remark that I should report back to her on the highlights - here you go Sarah!!!! :)


The book was written by Elisabeth so that others wouldn't have to suffer like she has. For years she had suffered severe gastrointestinal problems, sometimes sending her to bed for a week at a time. Nobody had answers for her. She applied to be a contestant on Survivor: Australia and was accepted. Odd as it may seem, she says she felt WELL while scrounging for food in the outback, and when she returned to the States, she tried to introduce foods back one at a time to find the culprit. She researched and looked and determined that wheat seemed to be the problem, and she took it out of her diet, or so she thought. Some foods still made her sick, and after even more research, she found information on celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Doctors still didn't go along with her self-diagnosis, but once she moved to New York, she found an Australian doctor who finally ran the necessary tests and confirmed celiac's.


So, what is celiac disease? It's a "digestive disorder characterized by a toxic reaction to gluten, the protein found in certain grains." (G Free Diet). It's hereditary, chronic, and autoimmune. It destroys the tiny villi lining in your small intestines thereby preventing your body from absorbing nutrients, which can lead to a wide range of serious health problems. Researchers estimate it affects 1 in every 133 Americans, and many more are suspected of having a milder gluten sensitivity. However, less than 5% of people who have celiac disease actually know it. According to the book, it takes an average of 9-11 years to diagnose after the first onset of symptoms which is in stark contrast to Europeans who most often diagnose in the first year. Elisabeth and her doctor feel like part of the reason is because here in the States, we have big pharma who can offer up drugs to treat a lot of the symptoms, and doctors prescribe away. But for true celiac patients, there is NO CURE! You have to avoid gluten the rest of your life, a dietary solution.


Dr. Green says that doctors often confuse celiac disease with other conditions like IBS, acid reflux, Crohn's, intestinal infections and chronic fatigue syndrome.


Okay, so what are the symptoms? They vary and the list is long, but include: abdominal pain, anemia, constipation, delayed puberty, discolored teeth, excessive weight loss or gain, gas, headaches, joint or bone pain, reproductive problems, skin rashes, stunted growth in children, tingling or numbness in legs, Vitamin K deficiency. Patients might also have other sensitivities as well, including a lactose or peanut allergy or similar.


Next, what are some of the conditions that you can have that come from not treating celiac disease? Intestinal cancers, anemia, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's, osteoporosis, arthritis, fibromyalgia, Type 1 diabetes, and even some behavior disorders might be influenced like ADHD, depression and bipolar disorder. There are about 256 symptoms and health conditions associated with celiac disease!!


It can affect people of all ages and backgrounds, but especially those of Northern European decent. If one person in your family has it, your chances are as high as 1 in 22 that you do, too, but you must carry the gene for it. The odd thing is that you might not have any symptoms for a good portion of your life - Elisabeth didn't. But for some people, experiencing some sort of physical or emotional trauma can activate the condition. Hers was contracting a bacterial intestinal infection and she was never the same again!


If you think you might have celiac disease you need to go see a doctor for proper diagnosis. They can run a celiac panel which will either rule it out, or see where you are on the risk spectrum. Next they can do a small tissue biopsy, and then there is a genetic test if the first two point to celiac.


There is all the medical information she gives, well, at least a shortened version of it. The rest of the book is dedicated to helping you cook, shop, live and enjoy being gluten free!!


How does this all apply to me? Well, I've known for years that my body does better without wheat. I became a "low-carber" right before my son was born, and when I stick to it I feel better, have no spots of eczema on my arms, no indigestion. Now that I've read the book, I don't think I have celiac, but I do think it's possible I am one of those with a gluten sensitivity (I know, there goes my orthorexia nervosa kicking in!!! LOL) and so I am willing to take certain steps to reduce the gluten in my diet and see how I feel. I'm just weird like that, I'd rather eat the food my body likes and works best with. The book is great because she gives lists of naturally gluten-free foods, and also lists of things that are off-limits or suspect. I'm already an avid label-reader in the grocery store, so watching for a few more things is okay by me.


I've already started buying some GFree "substituted" foods, and so far so good! I will say that the EnerG brown rice bread was TERRIBLE! However, we've made Hodgson Mill pancakes which were good. Gorrilla Munch cereal and Van's GF waffles are good. For snacks we've tried Envirokids Chocolate Crispy Rice bars, Pop Chips (made from popped potatoes), and Glutino pretzel twists (can't tell the difference). I have some apple muffin mix to try as well as a French Bread mix that I'll make today. And I bought some rice based penne to make a baked casserole for Sunday.


So, there you have it, my "G-Free Diet" book report. If you have ANY intestinal issues that you are being treated for, I'd highly recommend this book!! I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on TV, but I just think if you can change your food instead of taking a drug for a condition, it's worth at least trying. Here's a convenient link to the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/G-Free-Diet-Gluten-Free-Survival-Guide/dp/1599951886.


Have a great Independence Day weekend!!!!

All's not right in Gardenland, at least the squash part

Well, it's official. The squash crop is dead, stupid vine borers!!!! Yup, all of my plants are now garbage. Well, I think there are 2 still out there, but they could get yanked at any point!

So, you may ask, what the heck is a vine borer? Well, it's a bothersome pest that lays it's eggs at the base of your plant. They then hatch, chew into your plants and there they set up shop, chewing away. You may notice a wilt on your plants, maybe fruit that starts but quickly dies. At that point, it's too late! They are inside the stems cutting off all nutrients. Go look at the stem, you will probably see the tell-tale "frass", a sort of orangy sawdust where they have been chewing. Now, I've read that some people poke a sharp object in the stem to kill it, or even carefully slice open the stem, remove the worms and then rebury it to encourage new roots. Mine were so bad they just got yanked.

Now I must read and research and see how to get rid of the pupae that might be lurking in the soil...I'll have to try tilling and treating the soil along with crop rotation.

However, things are looking much brighter the next bed over - I have beans and peas!!!

The beans are "Kentucky Wonders" and the peas are Southern Purple Hull. As they mature the pea pods do turn a beautiful shade of purple and then you know they are ready to harvest. I am SO looking forward to making my first pot!

Well, that's all for tonight, I hope your garden is thriving without a pest problem. Happy harvesting!

Pickles!!

Happy Memorial Day weekend! I hope you are enjoying this time with some family or friends, or both!

My garden is coming along nicely, save for a few cucumber beetles that I've discovered. I thought they were weird-looking ladybugs, but upon further research found out that they are terrible pest! ACKK!! I have a plan to get ride of them which will be discussed in a future blog post - for now I am just hand-picking and killing, and I'm also using Neem oil about twice a week.

In spite of the bugs, I am getting a few cucumbers and zucchini.

While the cucumbers are still small I thought I'd try my hand at refrigerator pickles. I happened to catch an old episode of "Good Eats" called "American Pickle" and Alton came through for me again! It's a super-easy recipe, and I really only had to go buy a few ingredients. I had most of them already in my cabinet! Here's the full recipe:

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

2 medium cucumbers

4 whole garlic cloves, smashed

1 cup water

1 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup champagne vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. whole mustard seeds

1/4 tsp. ground turmeric

1 tsp. celery seeds

1 tsp. pickling spice

I'll start by saying that the original recipe says to slice the cucumbers thinly - I did mine in about 1/4" pieces.

Place the cucumbers, onions and garlic in a glass jar, you can use regular canning jars or the spring-top kind.

Place the remaining  ingredients in a non-reactive pan (non copper or aluminum) and bring to a boil. Simmer for 4 minutes.

Carefully pour the pickling liquid over the vegetables, filling to the top of the jar. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate. Give the pickles a good 24 hours before you try them.

I thought these pickles were very good, and super crispy! I am going to try something different next time, I am going to trade the pickling spice for dill and see how that works. I hope you'll try these, and if you don't grow your own cucumbers, try visiting your local farmer's market. Don't know where it is? Try this link: www.localharvest.org

Have a great holiday tomorrow, and don't forget to thank someone you know in the military!!

Mark's Apricot Chicken

This is a super-easy recipe, and it happens to be a favorite of my husband's. I normally start it in a skillet and then bake it in the oven, but today my chicken wasn't quite thawed, so I decided to do it in the crock-pot. It still turned out GREAT! I really haven't made it very much the last few years because one of the ingredients (there are only 4 of them!) is Catalina dressing which has red dye in it. Now, it didn't occur to me to look since I was in a hurry, but there are recipes to make your own, and here is one of them: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/1960s-Catalina-Dressing-33561

I don't know if Annie's or Newman's Own makes it, you can look.

ANYWAY, back to the recipe. Like I said about, there are only really 4 ingredients, and basically the outcome is a sweet and sour chicken. Here is how I made it today:

Place your chicken breasts in the slow cooker, you can sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper if you want, I used Tony Chacheres' cajun spice.

Cook on high for about 4-5 hours or until mostly done. Next mix the bottle of Catalina dressing, a jar of pure apricot jam or preserves, and most of a can of Durkee Fried Onions. Pour over the chicken and cook on low for about 45 more minutes.

Place in a serving dish, making sure you get all the sauce!!! Top with the remaining fried onions.

Okay, told you it was easy!!! lol

If you want to do it in the oven, I normally brown the chicken in a skillet first, then transfer to a baking dish and cook for about an hour depending on how big the chicken is. 

Mark prefers it served over rice, and for the two of us, we add tobasco or some other hot sauce to give it an extra kick. 

Enjoy!!!!