Kale is one of those amazing vegetables that is chock full of great vitamins and nutrients…but until last year, we didn’t really eat it much. I never grew up eating kale and I had no idea how to make any yummy kale dishes. I tried a kale salad, adding it to soups, but nothing really worked for us… until my husband made kale chips (and I finally did too). Wow! Nowadays, we can barely keep them from being devoured within hours of coming out of the oven.
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For years when people complain they have colds- I tell them about elderberries. It’s our go to cold remedy and immune booster. I give elderberries to family and friends and make them syrup too. It’s easy to make and it prevents us from getting sick. If we are sick, it helps us improve in half the time as it normally takes. Plus, making elderberry syrup is easy, cheap, and I know exactly what’s in it.
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Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday! It starts off the holiday season. You don’t have to worry about giving/getting presents, there’s usually no family stress, and you get to dress up and pretend to be someone/something you aren’t. I just love it.
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I have a secret…I don’t like milk. I rarely ever drink it. But I love dairy! I love cheese, I love yogurt, and I love cooking with all sorts of dairy products. I have promised a few people that I’d post on how to make yogurt, buttermilk, and sour cream. They are all super easy to make with very little effort… so easy that you could make buttermilk and sour cream before you even finish reading this!
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Every well stocked pantry should have beans. They are versatile and yummy. They are high in protein, easy to add to a variety of meals, and kids tend to really like them – at least my kids do.
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Lately, a few people have been asking me what we feed our children and how do we get them to try new things.
We have a 14 mo old girl and a 4 yr old boy…both, I’m relieved to say are pretty good eaters.
I am going to be doing a series of posts regarding how we eat…starting with baby food.
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For the last few years, I have been milling my own grains. Of all the things I do - composting, eating organic, trying to reduce our carbon footprint, etc - this is the one thing that raises the most eyebrows...grind your own wheat and other grains? Now, that's going too far...or is it?
I grew up in the San Francisco bay area, sourdough (but still white bread) was a staple. I moved to NYC (Brooklyn Girl, thank you) and bagels became a staple. I have bread almost daily - if not with every meal. So, eating the best tasting and best for me is important. My love of bread is also something my entire family shares. So of course, I want to get the most out of it.We have lived in our house for almost 2 years and have had issues with our plumbing from the beginning. Within months of our moving in, we had to tear up our entire front yard to replace our sewage line. Since then, we have been pretty careful to not do anything that might cause further damage or clogs…unfortunately, there is my hair.
Apparently, my hair is a pipe’s nightmare and a clog waiting to happen. Sometime last winter, we had to call a plumber to use a super duper long snake to clear out a clog and it was my hair. I’ve used drain catchers and still, my hair gets through. This time, Marc was determined to figure it out and NOT call a plumber. Oh, and no chemicals. We have an 11 mo old and were not going to introduce toxic chemicals into our household.
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Let me just start by saying: Water Kefir is awesome! I love it. I am a carbonated drink girl. I used to drink tons of soda and wanted to stop. I tried tons of different options, but always missed soda. Even if you aren’t interested in the health benefits of water kefir, think about the expense. The cost of water kefir is a fraction of the cost for soda!
Water kefir is a probiotic, which means its full of healthy goodness. There are tons of whole food probiotics out there: yogurt, sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi, and miso are just a few. Check out Wise Geek’s page for a complete description on what is a probiotic and what foods are probiotics. We try to eat at least one probiotic food a day (the more the better). When we feel run down, I amp that up to a few a day. It’s not hard for us to have yogurt in the morning, a pickle for lunch and miso or kimchi with dinner. If people around you are sick, one of the best preventatives is to eat probiotic foods. Yes, you can take a probiotic vitamin/pill, but usually those only contain 1 or 2 …
Learning to make mozzarella was a huge turning point for me. For a long time, foods held a certain amount of mystery for me. I took for granted what went into making certain things. I was a Food TV junkie that was an observer not a participant. I’d seen at least a half dozen shows about making mozzarella, but never did I really consider making it. But, I found out it was EASY and it really did change my life.
I guess my turning point was when I read, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. If you haven’t read this book, go and get it! It’s worth it. It’s the memoirs of a family that works as a family, eats as a family, and lives as a family should. Here is where I learned that you don’t have to be a chef to make good food. Through her experiences, she taught me to believe I could make foods I never thought I’d try. She discusses her desire to make cheese. Her desire made me curious to see if it was really as simple as she made it seem.
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