Cookbook Review: Grain-Free Family Table by Deliciously Organic

Posted on: November 14, 2014 by: Tara Canlett Comments: 3 Comments

This is my 2nd real food cookbook! A great start to my collection. 🙂 So, I am going to be totally honest. This cookbook is beyond my expertise as a cook and health-nut, but I want to branch out and do what I can to be healthier. We have been eating organic foods for almost 2 years now and we feel very comfortable with what we buy and what we eat, for the most part. But lately I have been wondering about other foods like different flours and grains available. I experimented with quinoa noodles and they were good! No one noticed that it was anything different. I have done a little experimenting with spelt flour too. But I want to experiment more and I have also been wondering about grain-free options. I am not saying we will go completely grain-free but Carrie Vitt from Deliciously Organic is such an inspiration! She has healed herself from chronic migraines, IBS, eczema, and Hashimoto’s disease all through diet. I am just moved by her story and want to do what I can to be even healthier. I am willing to try new recipes and new ingredients that I haven’t worked with before to see what could happen. I have Fibromyalgia but I have also wondered if I have IBS. I am constantly dealing with digestive issues.

The cookbook starts out with Carrie’s story and how she healed herself. It is such an incredible story. She gives people with chronic illness some hope. And we definitely need that. Then it goes on to some great information about going grain-free, different types of foods, what’s all in her pantry and fridge, how to adapt recipes and eat out, and how to encourage your kids to eat grain-free foods. Then of course are the wonderful recipes with beautiful photos. Breakfast, starters, salads, sides, main dishes, desserts, kids’ favorites, and basics. There’s a conversion chart in the back, with some great resources. I flipped through the cookbook with my kids and they loved the desserts the most! Surprising huh? 😉

There are 125 Recipes in the Cookbook Which Includes:

125 Grain-Free Recipes
125 Gluten-Free Recipes
125 Recipes with a Paleo/Dairy-Free Adaption
87 Egg-Free Recipes
114 Nut-Free Recipes
70% of the recipes have never been published on her blog
All recipes have been tested by a professional test kitchen

This cookbook would make a great gift for someone (or for yourself!) that is trying to eat healthier and maybe even heal themselves from the inside out in the process. These recipes work with grain-free flours like almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot flour, tapioca flour, and bean flours; natural sweeteners; and healthy oils & fats. If you know someone that uses these flours, then I think this is the cookbook for them!

Here is one of the recipes straight out of the cookbook that looks like something I definitely want to make! *ZINGERS*

Zingers

If you’re going to make anything in this book, make this recipe. Carrie’s mom, owner of The Festive Kitchen, in Dallas, Texas, is the creator of these little bites and sells thirty thousand pounds of them each holiday season. The apricot has a melty-sweet quality, there’s a small bite from the jalapeño, and it’s all wrapped in salty bacon. It’s truly the ultimate appetizer.

MAKES 20 APPETIZERS

PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

20 dried apricots
20 jarred jalapeño slices
7 bacon slices, cut into thirds
20 strong toothpicks

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F and adjust the rack to the middle position. Line a baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper.
Using a paring knife, cut a slice horizontally down an apricot. Cut almost but not all the way through, so that it will open like a book. Place a jalapeño slice inside the apricot, wrap the apricot in a piece of the cut bacon, secure it with a toothpick, and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Bake for 10 minutes. Using a pair of tongs, flip the zingers and bake for 10 minutes more, or until the bacon is golden brown. Serve immediately.

NOTE: You can make these ahead of time and freeze them, unbaked, in an airtight container. No need to thaw them—you can bake them straight from the freezer. Just increase the baking time to 25 to 30 minutes.

And here’s a preview of the Apricot Pecan Cookies that are in the cookbook. You will need to purchase the cookbook for the recipe. 😉 Don’t they look good???

So where can you purchase this wonderful cookbook??? Right here: http://www.harpercollins.com/9780062308160/the-grain-free-family-table.

Or here:

And here’s a picture of me with the cookbook on the day it arrived! It took a while to get here so I was excited when it finally came. I am so excited to try these new recipes!!!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same, but Organic Fibro Mommies will earn a small commission (which helps to offset web hosting fees, maintenance, etc.). Your support is greatly appreciated!

Sloppy Joe’s with Homemade Sauce

Posted on: November 7, 2014 by: Tara Canlett

We used to have Sloppy Joe’s from a can (which has high fructose corn syrup & sugar, among other things). I wasn’t that crazy about it, and Kailey was never excited to have it, but we did have it once in a while. Now we make our own sauce and it really only takes a couple extra steps, plus it tastes so much better! I look forward to having it now and my daughter actually likes it. I do make hamburger buns sometimes but recently I found a natural option by Franz at Fred Meyer. It isn’t a perfect choice but better than other choices out there and it’s a great back-up if we are out of buns. And I haven’t really mastered making the prefect hamburger bun yet either. 😉 It is also good on bread. I do make homemade bread once/week.

For the tomato sauce, I usually use Muir Glen. And for BBQ sauce we use Trader Joe’s TJ’s BBQ sauce. It’s not perfect but much better than the Sweet Baby Ray’s that we always used and my husband really likes TJ’s. We went through a long trial and error period with BBQ sauce after switching to organic. TJ’s doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup and uses molasses instead. This recipe calls for either a 1/2 lb of hamburger or a full lb. I have made it both ways. I prefer using 1/2 lb to use less meat and save money. This is great served with my Garlic & Herb Roasted Potatoes!

Sloppy Joe's with Homemade Sauce

Author: Tara Canlett

Serves: 4

Ingredients

½ - 1 lb hamburger (grass-fed organic beef preferred)
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped bell pepper
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped (see picture below)
salt & pepper (sprinkle desired amount)
15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 TB honey
1 TB BBQ sauce
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp yellow mustard

Directions

Brown the hamburger with the onion, bellpeppers, and carrots (we don't need to drain our hamburger so if you do then maybe wait to add the onion and veggies).
Cook until carrots are somewhat tender (I actually like a little crunch to it). Then add salt & pepper.
Add the tomato sauce, garlic powder, honey, BBQ sauce, apple cider vinegar, and mustard. Mix everything up and cook another 5-10 minutes.
It's great on hamburger buns or bread.

This is just to show how the carrots should be chopped up. Very small. Using a food chopper would be the easiest way (see below).

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Here’s the sauce cooking. I used a 1/2 lb of hamburger that time.

Organic School Lunch Ideas – Part I

Posted on: November 4, 2014 by: Tara Canlett Comments: 1 Comment

This year my daughter is taking a lunch from home every-single-day. We are trying some new ideas but for the most part she likes a selection of items – see The Lunch Rotation. I have taken a picture of her lunch just about every day and this is Part I of what we have put together so far this year. She helps pack her lunch and yes, she could make it all herself but we are both pretty foggy in the morning. It’s bad at night too (I swear she has Fibro too). I try to make sure she can focus and get all her homework done after dinner, shower and read. That’s hard enough in itself so we usually put together her lunch in the morning. Sometimes we do some prep the night before. Do whatever works best at your house. 🙂

Why do we make a lunch from home every day? Well because it’s organic and better for us, of course. 😉 School lunches are not only non-organic, but some of the items they have are really bad and I am just shocked they are allowed in a lunch (or breakfast). For just a few examples of the school lunches: Nachos with processed cheese, teriyaki chicken with MSG, breakfast for lunch with a strawberry syrup that has refined sugar and red dye in it, hamburgers, fries, and chicken nuggets – with meat from factory farms using antibiotics, hormones, and GMO grains. Not good. I really like this post by Juggling Real Food & Real Life on how nutrition helps kids in school. She talks about how what the kids eat effects their learning and what problems the bad foods cause. Kailey has shown huge improvements after we switched to organic foods. She had some behavioral problems (that still pop out sometimes) and after eliminating the refined sugar and dyes, she is doing much better, most of the time.

Some of the lunches we make are different and some are pretty close to the same. We just use whatever we have around, or make something that is pretty quick to make, like a sandwich, quesadilla, etc. All that matters is that they are getting healthy foods. They don’t have to be different every single day. She always takes ice water (with lemon sometimes) but there is the occasional juice and I think of that as a special treat. Most juices have added sugar, even the organic ones. I try to give her something from each of the food groups. She always has a fruit, veggie, protein like meat or nuts, a grain, dairy, etc. Hopefully this gives you some ideas for side items as well. And these lunches fit into a regular size lunch pack that you find in places like Walmart or Target.

Sandwiches without Mayo
Sandwiches are the traditional cold lunch choice but my daughter will go a week without having one. Here are some options that she likes, or that her brother likes. And just to be clear, I don’t think Mayo is unhealthy, as long as you buy organic. But organic Mayo is expensive! And my daughter doesn’t really like mayo anyway. My son does though so he will have a ham or turkey sandwich sometimes.

PB & Jelly – served with animal crackers, bell pepper, tomatoes, kiwi; or
PB & Honey – with cheese, cucumbers, carrots, pomegranate, grapes.

(Details: We like the Trader Joe’s creamy peanut butter that has just one ingredient – organic peanuts. I buy raw honey, and the jelly is usually from Trader Joe’s, sweetened with juice. Animal crackers are the Simple Truth brand found at Fred Meyer or Kroger. I make a loaf of bread each week in my Bread Machine. And there’s a video by Mama Natural on opening a Pomegranate under water in a large bowl. The seeds sink to the bottom while the white stuff floats to the top and the seeds don’t rupture so easily.)

BLT – served with animal crackers, mango, carrots.

(Details: We put butter on the sandwich instead of mayo. I buy either Applegate uncured bacon or Simple Truth brand. I like to cut our mango using this handy tool: Mango Splitter.)

Hummus & Cheese – served with Annie’s bunny crackers, almonds, cucumber, tomatoes, grapes.

(Details: I buy Lilly’s roasted red pepper hummus found at Fred Meyer. And I freeze grapes sometimes when they aren’t getting eaten fast enough. This works great. You can just pull them out of the freezer and add to their lunch.)

Chicken & Cream Cheese or PB & Banana (these are my son’s choices, although on the PB & Banana sandwich he likes to have honey & cinnamon too). Even though I make homemade bread once/week, I do also buy Dave’s Killer Bread sometimes. So you will see that one on the left. My daughter doesn’t like that kind. I buy Organic Valley cream cheese, on occasion.

Soup
So these are the same kind of soup (Chicken Noodle), but I wanted to show that the one on the right is before we got our Soup Thermos. On Fridays they eat in the classroom and her teacher lets them use her microwave. Then we got the Soup Thermos and now she takes soup or other foods we want to keep warm (i.e. leftovers). I usually give her crackers (Late July brand) and some kind of fruit with it. In the picture below, on the right, we put peanut butter on the crackers.

Leftovers – Rice/Noodles
My daughter loves rice and noodles. We buy the basmati white rice but also mix in some of the brown rice sometimes. And sometimes I put in dried parsley or thyme. She likes butter, salt & pepper. Sometimes we add a little parmesan cheese. For noodles I have started buying gluten-free quinoa noodles. We are in the transition period for that. Otherwise I was buying white organic noodles. Nobody really cares for the whole wheat noodles. I also buy the tricolor noodles sometimes.

Rice – served with ants-on-a-log, frozen applesauce, cheerios & chocolate chips; or
Rice – with a boiled egg, salad, Drew’s ranch dressing, grapes.

(Details: I buy Mom’s Best Cereals for the cheerios usually, frozen applesauce is in a smoothie-pop-mold, details about the rice in the paragraph above. Ants-on-a-log is celery sticks with PB & raisins. I got the little bowls with lids at Target back when my kids were little. And the Drew’s ranch dressing does not have the best ingredients but I only give her a little. One day I will start making my own.)

Spaghetti Noodles & Peas – served with pomegranate, carrots, pistachios, homemade PB chocolate chip cookie; or
Tricolor Noodles mixed with chicken, shredded carrots, broccoli, tomatoes (yellow) – with a string cheese, and peaches.

(Details: Trick on opening pomegranate found above, under Sandwiches. Details on the noodles in the paragraph above. Sometimes I buy canned fruit so that if we run out of fresh fruit we will have something. I buy the Trader Joe’s or Simple Truth brand. We do have frozen fruit too but like to use that for smoothies.)

Here’s another option for lunch that we did try one time. It’s by Applegate and you can find it in the same section as Lunchables. This is a much better option than a lunchable but I still recommend making your own lunches. It is much cheaper that way. Besides that, I still had to pack some things to make this a complete lunch (fruit/veggies and water).

Here are some of the lunch box items from above:

Pumpkin Recipes

Posted on: October 29, 2014 by: Tara Canlett Comments: 7 Comments

I love pumpkin! It is one of the many reasons I love Fall. We grew our own pumpkins this year and I made pumpkin pureé for the first time! I got 11 cups of puree so I definitely had to start making everything with pumpkin, and I was okay with that. 🙂 Pumpkin is so good for you. It’s an antioxidant, and an anti-inflammatory food (which means it is good for joint health and stress relief, among other things). It is a significant source of Vitamin A, and has high levels of Vitamin C which helps your immune system. It’s great for your skin and a good source of Fiber, potassium, calcium, and zinc.

I just don’t think we need sugar in everything so I only put sugar in the cookie recipe below. Because let’s face it, when you have a cookie you really aren’t intending for it to be healthy. It is usually considered a special treat. But for the bread, I used honey instead of sugar. For the pancakes, I didn’t use anything to sweeten them because we are already adding syrup, honey, or jam. You can add sugar to these recipes if you prefer, or chocolate chips! 🙂

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
dash of ground ginger (1/8 tsp)
dash of ground cloves (1/8 tsp)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup pumpkin pureé
1 egg
2 TB Coconut Oil or melted butter

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Set aside. In another bowl (or make a well in the middle of the large bowl) whisk the milk, pumpkin pureé, egg, and oil (or butter) together. Combine wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. The batter may be slightly lumpy and that’s okay. Grease your skillet and set to medium (I use coconut oil to grease it). Once it is heated, add a big spoonful of batter to each area on the skillet, depending on how big your skillet is and how big you want your pancakes. When bubbles form in the batter, you can flip them. Cook a couple more minutes, remove from the pan and repeat until all the batter is used up. Best served with real butter and 100% pure maple syrup, or raw honey.

Tip: you can use pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, & cloves – about 1 1/2 tsp.

Pumpkin Cookies (makes 2 dozen cookies)

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup raw cane sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
dash of ginger
dash of cloves
1 cup pumpkin pureé
1/2 cup Coconut Oil
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg
1 TB vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips and/or chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix up the dry ingredients with a spoon. Make a well in the middle, add the remaining ingredients and use a whisk to mix it up. Then combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by the spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet. (I use coconut oil to grease it.) Bake for 10 minutes, or until brown around the edges.

Tip: you can use pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, & cloves – about 2 tsp.

Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
dash of ginger
dash of cloves
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin pureé
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1/3 cup raw honey (or pure maple syrup)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a Loaf Pan (I use coconut oil) and set aside. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the middle and whisk the eggs, pumpkin pureé, melted butter, and honey. Then whisk in the dry ingredients until everything is combined. Add the batter to the loaf pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. You can test with a toothpick (insert into the bread and it should come out clean when it’s done).

Tip: you can use pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, & cloves – about 2 tsp.

Pumpkin Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
dash of ginger
dash of cloves
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin pureé
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1/3 cup raw honey (or pure maple syrup)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the middle and whisk the eggs, pumpkin pureé, melted butter, and honey. Then whisk in the dry ingredients until everything is combined. Add the batter to a muffin pan with muffin cups and fill each one almost to the top. Bake for 20 minutes. You can test with a toothpick (insert into the muffins and it should come out clean when it’s done).

Tip: you can use pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, & cloves – about 2 tsp.

Pumpkin Pie Recipe: http://organicfibromommies.com/2014/11/easy-homemade-pumpkin-pie/.

Other Ideas for Using Pumpkin Pureé: Add to soups, smoothies/milkshakes, pumpkin fluff dip (by 100 Days of Real Food), pumpkin brownies, pumpkin bars, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin fudge.

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

Posted on: October 22, 2014 by: Tara Canlett Comments: 1 Comment

After forgetting to add my leftover shredded chicken from my whole-chicken-in-a-crock-pot to our stir-fry the other night, I needed to figure out what to do with it. Well ever since we had Real Fit, Real Food Mom’s condensed cheddar cheese soup I haven’t stopped thinking about it. It was THAT good! We were very impressed with how it turned out and it’s pretty easy to make too. There’s a dish we used to make back when we were eating processed food and used the Campbell’s pepperjack cheese soup or fiesta cheese soup. It was chicken enchiladas with the cheese soup, chicken, and maybe some salsa rolled up in tortillas and baked in the oven. Now we can have that dish again! My husband was so thrilled. 😉 For a vegetarian option, use cooked broccoli instead of chicken.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked shredded chicken
Six 10″ tortillas
condensed cheddar cheese soup (I use Real Fit, Real Food Mom’s recipe)
1/2 cup additional shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
Sour Cream (optional)
Cooked Broccoli (optional)
Spicier Option: Add pepperjack cheese and salsa!

Directions:
Make the cheese soup first. Then preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 x 11″ dish with butter or coconut oil. Fill tortillas with chicken, cheese sauce (soup), and if you want pepperjack cheese and/or salsa add that in too. You can also add cooked broccoli, which I thought was really good. Fold up the tortillas and place in the greased baking dish. Add the rest of the cheese sauce to the top and sprinkle on some shredded cheese (optional). Bake for 15 minutes. Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving. It’s really good with a little sour cream on top!

Homemade Cheddar Cheese Sauce:

Filling the tortillas with all that yumminess (is that a word?):

Tortillas all filled and ready to go in the oven!

Homemade Pumpkin Pureé & Roasting The Seeds

Posted on: October 19, 2014 by: Tara Canlett Comments: 4 Comments

We tried growing our own pumpkins this year for the first time and….. we got four perfectly orange round little pumpkins! (See the picture to the right.) We decided to carve two and use the other two for pumpkin pureé. I have never made pumpkin pureé before and discovered there are two ways to roast the pumpkins. I definitely prefer one way over the other. I’m not gonna lie, it is definitely work either way but I felt good knowing that we are using what we grew. And of course I had to roast the seeds too! 😉 Check out the pumpkin pureé recipe below (in a step-by-step process) and then some ideas on roasting the seeds. And here are my recipes for using the pumpkin pureé: Pumpkin Recipes.

Homemade Pumpkin Pureé

There are two ways you can roast a pumpkin (that I know of). 1) You can put the whole pumpkin in the oven, or 2) Cut it in half or quarters, remove the insides, place on a baking sheet. Personally, I like just putting the whole pumpkin in the oven because it is so much easier to cut after it has been roasted. When I cut the pumpkin before cooking, I thought I was going to slice my finger off! No joke… I also hurt my back trying to do it. It was definitely a pain and I recommend roasting the whole pumpkin if it can fit in the oven (I pulled the stem off mine). It did seem like the ones that were already cut up came out softer but you can just cut up the whole pumpkin and stick it back in the oven to soften more. Anyway, I will show both ways to do it so you can make your decision. I got about 11 cups of pureé total from our two pumpkins. 🙂

Step 1. Preparing for the Roasting: If you are cooking the whole pumpkin then the only thing you need to do is rinse off the pumpkin really well and you might need to pull off the stem to fit it in the oven. If you want to do it the other way, cut up the pumpkin either in half or in quarters. Remove the insides (save the seeds to cook later if you want and toss the rest), and then place the pumpkin pieces on a baking sheet. For the whole pumpkin, I put a baking sheet on a rack below it just in case it dripped. It didn’t but I didn’t want to take any chances.

Step 2. The Roasting: Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes for a small/medium pumpkin. A larger pumpkin may need more time. You will know it’s done if you can cut into it easily. Cut off the stem of the whole pumpkin and then cut it either in half or in quarters. If it doesn’t seem like it’s done after you have cut it, you can always put it back in to roast longer. Then let all the pieces cool a little.

Step 3. Preparing for the Pureé: For the whole pumpkin, you will have to remove all the insides still but it should come out pretty easily (save the seeds to cook later if you want and toss the rest). Then you will need to peel off the outer skin from all pieces of the pumpkin(s). The skin should come off pretty easily too (see picture below). If not just scrape the pumpkin off the skin using a spoon. Toss the skin and cut up the pumpkin (like shown below).

Step 4. Pumpkin Pureé: There are a few ways you can make the pureé. You can use a Food Processor, Blender (add a little water), Potato Masher, or you can even use a NutriBullet (or similar device) but you also have to add water to this one. I tried a couple different methods, the blender and the NutriBullet. Honestly I was about ready to start mashing with a potato masher! Just having to continue to add water and try to get it to blend up was a pain and then had to do several different rounds of it. It probably would have been much easier in a food processor or just mashing yourself with a potato masher. You can see a comparison below between the NutriBullet & my old blender. The NutriBullet pureéd it quite well. A little too good! It looks like baby food, lol. And the blender seemed to be the right consistency. I had to work with both quite a bit to get it to blend up.

Step 5. Storing the Pureé: The pureé is good in the fridge for up to a week, or you can freeze it for 6 – 8 months. I prefer to freeze it in 1 or 2 cup increments. You can use ziploc freezer bags or mason jars. I did some of each and prefer the mason jars because it isn’t so messy. Trying to fill the freezer bags was a pain and I can only imagine trying to get the pureé out of them when I go to use it. It will be a lot easier with mason jars but of course, more dishes to wash. (And you can reuse the lids and rings for the freezer as long as they aren’t rusty or bent (but you cannot reuse lids for canning unless you have the reusable kind)). If you use mason jars, make sure to leave some room at the top for expansion.

Roasting the Seeds ~ Spicy, Sweet, & Salty

There are a few different recipes we like. Well, I should say that I like them. Kailey likes a couple of them but the boys aren’t as crazy about pumpkin seeds as we are. Anyway, here are a few recipes for you. You can double the recipe too if you have a lot of seeds. We like to make them different ways so we do 1 cup at a time.

Spicy:

1 cup of pumpkin seeds (dried)
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt (I use sea salt)
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
1 TB olive oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the olive oil to a medium bowl and mix up the seeds to coat them. Then mix up the seasonings in a small bowl and add the coated pumpkin seeds. Mix up well. Lay them out on the baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Sweet:

1 cup of pumpkin seeds (dried)
1 1/2 TB Sugar (I use raw cane sugar)
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1 TB olive oil

Salty:

1 cup of pumpkin seeds (dried)
salt (sprinkle desired amount)
1 TB olive oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Simply mix up the seeds with the olive oil in a medium bowl to coat them, and lay them on the baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with desired amount of salt. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Another Option – Dill Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:
Just follow the same recipe as above but sprinkle the dill on top of the salt. I really didn’t taste the dill too much but just wanted to put the recipe out there if you like dill. 🙂 Picture below:

Freezing Summer Squash

Posted on: October 14, 2014 by: Tara Canlett Comments: 1 Comment

My Aunt gave me this huge patty pan squash and I started looking up ways to use it up. Well then my husband told me that he absolutely does not like squash and didn’t want me to add it to our dinners or anything. 🙁 So, I figured I would probably add it to my soup that I make for lunch sometimes and needed to freeze it to make it last longer. This was pretty easy to do. It’s just all the chopping and then the dishes when I was done but at least they were easy to wash! 😉

The reason squash cannot be just chopped and added to the freezer is because it contains enzymes and bacteria that, over time, break down and destroy nutrients, change the color, flavor, and texture during freezing. To destroy the enzymes, squash requires blanching. Blanching (in this case) is a cooking process using a quick plunge into boiling water to remove enzymes and bacteria, and then a quick plunge into ice water to slow the cooking process.

Step 1: Wash the Squash – Just rinse really good in cold or lukewarm water.

Step 2: Chop the Squash – If it’s yellow squash or zucchini, cut off the ends and chop the rest at 1/2″ thick slices. If it’s a patty pan squash, I just cut out the stem and chopped up the rest into chunks like in the picture to the right. Note: You don’t want to leave the squash sitting (after it’s cut-up) for more than 1/2 an hour, otherwise it will start to discolor.

Step 3: Bring Water to a Boil – Fill a large pot 2/3 full of water and bring to a boil.

Step 4: Blanching – Add the chopped squash to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes, covered. I left it on high and stirred occasionally. Note: If you have a ton of squash, you may need to blanch it in batches. You can use the same water each time.

Step 5: Cooling the Squash – Get a large bowl and add ice and cold water. Remove the squash from the hot water using a slotted spoon and add to the ice water. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Cooling the squash quickly prevents overcooking. Add more ice as needed. Drain the water using a colander and let sit for a few minutes. I then spread the squash out over the cutting board to let dry for a bit.

Step 6: Freezing – I just used ziplock freezer bags. I put about 1 cup (or maybe a little more since I didn’t measure) per bag and marked the bags. It should be good for up to 9 months in a regular freezer. Make sure to get as much air out of the bags as possible before closing them up.

When you pull the squash out of the freezer it will be mushy after it thaws, so it’s best to use when cooking instead of raw. You can let it sit out to thaw or just use it frozen with what you are cooking. I plan to just add it to my homemade soup I make for lunch sometimes with my homemade chicken broth.

This picture gives you an idea of how big this patty pan squash was!

Here is all the squash I got from the patty pan squash. I gave the two big chunks to a neighbor who likes squash. The picture doesn’t do it justice for sure. It was a lot!

Natural Ways to Boost Immunity & Heal

Posted on: October 9, 2014 by: Tara Canlett Comments: 2 Comments

I will probably get sick tomorrow after posting this but since we have switched over to eating real organic foods we hardly ever get sick. The kids do sometimes but it isn’t for very long and I usually don’t get it, even with kissing them and drinking off the same drink! It’s amazing what our bodies can do. (Of course, I do still get Fibro sick at times but that’s not even very often.) We used to get sick a lot more. We do what we can to prevent getting sick but it’s okay to be sick once in a while. Our bodies need to rest sometimes and this is a way of letting us know to slow down. We just have to listen to our body. Also, I try really hard to not get sick because it will cause my Fibro to flare up and nobody wants that. 😉 I am not a doctor or an expert on this but have done my research and know what works for us and what doesn’t. Use your own personal judgement on what you want to try or eliminate. Talk to your doctor before making any major changes to your diet or adding in supplements. Even all natural supplements could have side effects.

We Don’t Get Flu Shots Now and Here’s Why:
Last year we didn’t get a flu shot for the first time and don’t plan to this year as well. That may sound risky and my former self would have thought I was nuts! In previous years we have gotten terribly sick, several times throughout the year. Last year (with no flu shot), we probably got sick a couple times and it wasn’t too bad and didn’t last long at all. I know this has to do with the way we are eating now too. I think the flu shot does more harm than good. Do you know what is in a flu shot that we were injecting into our bodies every single year??? Aluminum, mercury, MSG, latex, formaldehyde, polysorbate 80, triton X100 (strong detergent), sucrose, resin, gentamycin, egg products (including avian contaminant viruses), chick embryo cells, gelatin. I like Food Babe’s post on the flu shot. And here are 11 reasons why flu shots are more dangerous than the flu itself. This is a decision that you need to make for your family. This is what we are doing and it works for us. Do what you believe is right.

What We Do To Boost Our Immune System:
So to protect ourselves from getting the flu (or other crazy stuff going around), we try to boost our immune system on a daily basis. I do give the kids a multi-vitamin in the Fall/Winter months, since these are the months where people get sick the most and all that cruddy stuff is going around. I make sure the vitamins don’t have any artificial colors in them. And they probably don’t even need the vitamins but I like to give them an extra boost. We incorporate all the healthy good foods we need into our diet like homemade bone broth, raw honey*, leafy greens, grass-fed beef and other organic meats (we should be eating fish but none of us really care for the taste), fresh organic fruits/veggies (we grow some of our own too), and we tried canning for the first time this year! We canned some peaches with a honey/water/lemon juice mixture. We eat cultured yogurt and butter (contains probiotics), organic brown eggs (I try to get pasture-raised when I can), organic cheese and raw cheese sometimes, I put a lot of garlic and onion into our meals, sea salt or Himalayan pink salt, pepper, a variety of herbs, all kinds of nuts/seeds, avocado, smoothies (with hemp milk, chia seed/flax seed, spinach/kale, ginger, turmeric), and many other healthy foods that we eat all the time. I juice sometimes too, and drink ginger tea and green tea on occasion. I try to give my kids raw honey* and cinnamon whenever possible. This will really boost their immune system! I put it on their pancakes, bread/toast, or just eat a spoonful of it. You could give your kids a spoonful before they go to school in the morning or before going to any large events where there are crowds of people. Also, I make “kid’s tea” that has honey/cinnamon (see recipe below). I put a slice of lemon in the kids’ water sometimes and I do with my water every day if I can. *Honey is not recommended for children under one.

Here is some information on the benefits of some of these foods: Lemons are antiseptic and have a powerful cleansing effect on your liver, kidneys and blood, plus they are full of vitamins and minerals. Definitely an immune booster. Cinnamon is a powerful antibacterial and is used in Chinese medicine to treat cold & flu symptoms. It is also used to prevent nausea and vomiting. And it’s one of the top 7 antioxidants in the world. Honey boosts your immune system, reduces the risk of heart disease, soothes indigestion, and bolsters your energy levels. Probiotics aid the immune system from the inside out. Garlic contains powerful antioxidants and fights infection and bacteria. Turmeric is a natural liver detoxifier, a potent anti-inflammatory, natural pain killer, immunity booster, and much more. Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties and is a natural pain reliever, it’s great for nausea, motion sickness or upset stomachs. Green Tea is good for depression, contains strong anti-viral and anti-bacterial agents, improves your immunity, and can help fight allergies.

Other Ways to Boost Your Immune System:

Vitamin D – easier to get in the summer but you might consider taking a supplement other times of the year;
Sleep – try to get to bed at a decent time so you can at least get 8 hours of sleep a night. Sleep is just as important as diet for boosting immunity and energy levels;
Stress Less – yea, easier said than done right? But we really do have to try to manage our stress as best as we can or it will wreak havoc on our health and effect everything we do;
Exercise – releases tension and stress and enhances immune function;
Stay Hydrated – drink plenty of water throughout the day and don’t drink anything that dehydrates;
Avoid Anything that Depletes your Immune System – smoking; drinking alcohol; exposure to chemicals which are in so many things we might not even think about like personal care products, soaps, cleaners, candles, perfume, make-up products, hair dye, and obviously non-organic foods.

Treating Our Ailments:
If we do get sick, ginger and peppermint are great for tummy problems (make sure it’s actually real peppermint and not a substitute). I buy Trader Joe’s organic ginger & pear tea and add honey and sometimes a slice of lemon. There are also these Ice Chips available in our area and I keep a couple different ones on hand – ginger and menthol eucalyptus (in the picture above). They are made with natural ingredients and sweetened with birchwood xylitol. There are many different flavors. (Here’s the story on the Ice Chips, and where to order some if you aren’t in our area. They were on Shark Tank too.) We make homemade bone broth now and use it to make chicken noodle soup. Bone broth is very healing for the body. You can learn more about that in my Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot & Homemade Broth post. If it’s a simple cold they will get over it pretty quick. Our “kid’s tea” (see below) is great for soar throats or other common cold symptoms. Sometimes kids just need to be sick, rest, eat healthy foods and recharge themselves to move on with their daily lives. Apple Cider Vinegar is good for clearing sinuses (mix 2 tsp with 6 oz of lukewarm water, stir and drink). Another soar throat remedy (besides the kid’s tea) is to gargle salt water. Just add 1/2 tsp salt to a cup of lukewarm water, stir, then gargle. If my kids get a fever (which is rare nowadays), I don’t rush to give them Tylenol. A fever is our body’s way of fighting infection or whatever is causing them to be sick. I just give them plenty of fluids and rest. If they have a high fever that just won’t break, then maybe I would give them Tylenol (or a similar fever reducing medicine).

Kid’s Tea:
Note: I don’t measure so this is an estimate.

1 mug of really warm water (you want it pretty warm or hot to start with so the honey mixes up well)
1 TB Raw Honey*
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 small slice of lemon (optional)

Just heat up the water, add the honey* & cinnamon and stir it up. Add a slice of lemon if you prefer, and serve. Make sure it isn’t too hot to drink or let the kids stir & blow until it’s cool enough to drink. Both of my kids (5 and 8) like to have this when they are sick, and have had it for over a year now. (Another option is to add 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar for an extra boost.) *Honey is not recommended for children under one.

Other Options for Healing (that I still want to try, or am thinking of trying):

Essential Oils – Thieves Oil is great for boosting immunity. It is made up of essential oils specifically designed to boost immunity and support the body’s natural defenses when combating infection.
Elderberry Syrup (here’s a recipe to make it, by Mommypotamus) – Elderberries offer great immune support, reduce cold & flu symptoms, and provide nasal/sinus congestion relief. For more information on the benefits of elderberries, click on the link above for the Mommypotamus recipe. It also includes a video on making the syrup.
Neti Pot – This is used to wash out the nasal cavity and get rid of the mucus and debris. Sounds like a good idea and probably works great but this has always scared me so I haven’t tried it. I’m afraid of what it would feel like.
Homemade Herbal Teas – There are so many different types of herbal teas out there and I can’t even pronounce most of them. Here are a couple (that I can pronounce): Dandelion Root Tea–rich source of vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and phosphorus. Good for B complex vitamins, trace minerals, organic sodium, and even vitamin D. Even contains protein too, more than spinach. It’s a digestive aid, removes toxins from the liver, rich in antioxidants, reduces inflammation and boosts immune function; Rosemary Tea–improves circulation while easing joint pain and headaches – also good for memory.

Cookbook Review: 100 Days of Real Food

Posted on: September 30, 2014 by: Tara Canlett Comments: 2 Comments

How I Became a Cookbook Ambassador

Before I get into the review of the cookbook, I have a story to tell you. Over summer, during our vacation, our website crashed and my best friend (Jeanette – the other Admin for this website) was in the hospital bleeding internally and they didn’t know what was wrong. It was very serious. She would just pass out from the loss of blood. I don’t know what I would do if something ever happened to her. I was distraught. She turned out to be okay and life kept moving along but I missed a very important email. An email from Lisa Leake at 100 Days of Real Food accepting me as her cookbook ambassador! I replied to the email and followed what it said but I was sure it was too late. 2 weeks late to be exact. Well then my laptop crashed and I thought I lost everything. We were finally able to recover most of my stuff but now I have to wade through tons and tons of files and pictures to get everything organized again. You could bet I was checking my email every day after missing that one. And guess what popped in one day? More information on being a cookbook ambassador and then I got a signed copy of the 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook!!!! I COULD NOT believe it. I thought everything around this blog was crashing on me… from the website crashing, missing the important email, and then my laptop crashing. It’s amazing I’m still blogging. 😉 It was sure nice of Lisa to let me in at the last minute.

So what does it mean to be a Cookbook Ambassador? Well, I get to be part of a group of bloggers that received a F R E E signed copy of the 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook (see Lisa’s signature to the right)! All I had to do in return is review it and post my review on my blog. Lisa has already sent out her Thank You post that includes all the cookbook ambassadors. There are a lot listed but I am honored to be one of them. Check out the list and you may find some other blogs that you want to follow. And feel free to share with others!

My Review of the 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook

Okay, enough about me and now we are on to this really great cookbook! The only cookbook I have really ever had is a Betty Crocker cookbook. It’s not about organic real foods and it’s all black-and-white. No pictures. The 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook is not just a cookbook, it tells a story. A story of how Lisa and her family made these huge changes in their lives towards real foods. A story of how you can make healthier changes in your diet, how you can make changes for your whole family. I absolutely love this cookbook. My kids enjoyed looking through it and we can’t wait to make these yummy foods. I love how the recipes are separated out and the pictures are beautiful! I think the pictures alone would convince anyone to make these delicious foods. Anyone could benefit from this book. The way it is laid out is so easy to follow and I truly believe that if someone wanted to switch to eating real foods, they would know exactly what to do and where to start from following this book. Lisa has done an amazing job of putting it all together.

What You Can Expect

In addition to telling their story, Lisa gives her definition of what real food is. This includes a break-down of the different types of grains, her thoughts on sugar consumption, reading labels, and so much more. There’s also information about shopping, food budget tips and meal plans. There are recipes for different dietary needs (see bulleted items below). Recipes for appetizers and treats, all the basic meals, side dishes, salads, snacks, and things to make that you just need to have around. Basic staples like sauces, dressing, bread, tortillas, and much more. A beautiful color photo is included with each recipe. There is a lot here that is not on the 100 Days of Real Food website. Plus, I don’t think it is very convenient to search for things on a website. I love having this book that I can easily carry around and flip through to make these easy, wholesome recipes. It isn’t super heavy like I imagined. My kids could carry it around… although I don’t think I would let them just yet. I am very protective of this new book I just got! 😉

71 recipes are (or can easily be) Gluten-Free
79 recipes are (or can easily be) Vegetarian
49 recipes are (or can easily be) Dairy-Free
42 recipes are Freezer-Friendly

In the beginning of the cookbook, Lisa tells their story of how they got here and the goals for the cookbook. I love her story of when “the light clicked on” for her and she never turned back. That was similar to what happened to me. And the goals of this book are to be able to help those in any type of situation in which they think they won’t be able to make the switch to real foods but in fact, anyone can! And this book definitely shows you how. Here’s some of the content, straight from the book:

One of the first recipes we will be making from the cookbook is the Cinnamon-Raisin Quick Bread:

Recipe for Cinnamon-Raisin Quick Bread from the 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted (plus more for greasing the pan)
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 cup raisins

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a loaf pan with butter and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Using a fork, mix in the eggs, applesauce, melted butter, and syrup until well combined, taking care not to over mix. Gently fold in the raisins. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 – 55 minutes.

My kids and I sat down together to look through the cookbook. They knew all about it and why I was keeping a close watch for the UPS guy/gal every day until it got here. 😉 They really loved going through all the pictures and talking about what we can make. Their favorites are: Waffle Sticks you can dip in syrup, Eggs in a Basket, Cinnamon-Raisin Quick Bread, Pizza Bites, Cinnamon Apple Chips, Fruit Kabobs with Yogurt Dip, Spaghetti and Meatballs, and every single Special Treat recipe in the cookbook.

My son Tyler (age 5): “Everything looks SO GOOD and it’s making me hungry!”

My daughter Kailey (age 8): “Those girls (Lisa’s daughters) are SO lucky they get to eat all this good stuff. I want to bring that stuff for lunch too.”

The following morning I asked the kids what they wanted for breakfast and what we should pack in my daughter’s lunch. They both mentioned items from the cookbook. So we made the Eggs in a Basket for breakfast and they both LOVED it! For my daughter’s lunch (3rd grade), she picked the hummus sandwich. I was really surprised. I didn’t think she would ever want something like that. They want to try a lot of other recipes but I need to stock up on some of the items first. 😉

Here’s where you can purchase this wonderful cookbook, that is a #1 New York Times best seller by the way! Buy yourself a gift or it would be a great gift for someone else. How about one for you and one for them?? 😀

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Posted on: September 27, 2014 by: Tara Canlett Comments: 4 Comments

Chicken noodle soup is best known for its healing powers when we are sick. And that is so true. Have you ever wondered why? Chicken/beef broth (bone broth) is so good for you. Especially if it’s homemade! I make my own chicken broth now. You don’t get all the benefits out of the broth unless it is homemade. See my Whole-Chicken-in-a-Crock-Pot & Homemade Broth recipe, that includes information on all the health benefits of homemade broth, how to freeze the broth, ideas on what to do with the broth and the leftover chicken. For the chicken noodle soup, you could do rice instead of noodles if you want. I have also added zucchini to mine (shown in the picture below). Since our zucchini has been going crazy in the garden, we add zucchini to everything! 😉 Maybe even some butternut squash? There are many possibilities.

Homemade soup is so much better for you than soup in a can. Soup in a can is never just soup in a can. To name a few added ingredients that are not healthy and shouldn’t be added to soup: MSG, vegetable oil, potassium chloride, soy protein isolate, maltodextrin, sodium phosphate…. These are the ingredients listed in Campbell’s and Progresso chicken noodle soup. Of course none of the ingredients are organic and the meat comes from factory farms. You could make a double-batch of the recipe below and freeze some. Then it would be convenient to grab some out of the freezer and thaw when you are sick, or when you just don’t want to cook. We do have some left after making 1 batch but we eat the leftovers for lunch instead of freezing it. I want to get a Soup Thermos for my daughter so she can take some of this for lunch. She absolutely LOVES it!

Ingredients:

1 leek or 1/2 – 1 cup of chopped onion
3 large carrots
2 stalks of celery
8 – 10 cups of chicken broth (8 cups is 64 oz)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 TB parsley leaves
½ tsp salt (or desired amount)
¼ tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups noodles (we like the spiral noodles but you can use any kind)
1 – 2 cups cooked chicken (shredded or in small pieces)
Other options: zucchini, kale/spinach, butternut squash

Directions:
Peel the carrots and chop the onion, carrots, and celery. Then add to a large pot to sauté for a few minutes. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. While this is cooking start adding in the garlic, herbs & seasonings. Mix well. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 10 min. Return to a boil and add noodles and chicken, cook about 10 min at a slow boil. Make sure the carrots are tender, then remove from heat and discard bay leaf before serving. It would be really good served with a slice of homemade bread & butter, or a biscuit.

Tip: You could make this in the crock pot right after making your homemade broth. Save a dish. 🙂 (Just get the broth, veggies, onion, garlic, & seasonings going on low until close to the time you want to eat. Then bump it up to high and add the noodles & chicken. Cook for 10 minutes, or until noodles are done.)