Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

I'm sitting here, drinking a canned Creme Soda, which is my all-time fave soda. I know I shouldn't, but...I am. I'm sleepy. They're there. They normally aren't there, because I had stopped buying them as a baby step in trying to be healthier family. We had actually gotten pretty good about it. I had maybe a caffeinated drink or two on the weekends, and Isaac was really cutting back on his coffee, sometimes even going days without it! But, I sorta fell off the wagon a little. So it got me thinking as a I sit here, getting ready to make my meal plan for June. (I know, this is a big detour, but I've gotten much quicker at meal planning!) How far have we come? Have I really made changes? Or am I still eating just as badly as before?

Now, I have tried to take it one day at a time, and not let myself get so discouraged by little failures that I just throw in the proverbial towel. I think I've done pretty good about that. And, in all honesty, I think that attitude has made all the difference. I'm allowing myself this small failure of soda at the moment (no justification!) yet I am still planning healthy meals simultaneously. I'm forging ahead, continually choosing whole, real foods to our ever-maturing diet. I decided to do an encouraging assessment of progress.

We no longer buy processed snacks - even if they're on sale.
We buy only organic milk and eggs.
We buy only whole grain pastas and breads.
I cook with lots of beans.
I try to make our meal 2/3 veggies - and our taste buds are following quite nicely!
We buy more locally, when possible.
We buy grass-fed local beef.
We buy organic when possible. (Now, organic=expensive, but there are certain foods where it's important, and others where it's not as important, so I cut corners for now.)
I make a monthly menu plan and cook every night we're home.
We drink lots of water.
We started recycling.

Now, these represent a lot of big changes to me. We used to eat convenience foods, and we hardly ever cooked. If we did, it was nothing great. I disliked most veggies, but have come to crave them! Your taste buds really do change (thank goodness!). We love the flavor difference in organic dairy, and have fallen in love with rye bread. There are still so many things I'm striving towards, but I know it will be a process. This is not an overnight change, and it will require many small steps.

I'm about to embark on baking my own breads. We have a large veggie garden that I plan on canning/preserving from the harvest. I want to start a real compost bin. I want to find a local farmer to provide us with chicken. I want to begin making our own cheese, yogurt and kefir. I want to soak more of our foods to aid digestion. In the distant future, I'd love to have our own chickens and maybe even a dairy cow. (Raw milk!)

I am enjoying this part of our self-sustaining journey very much, even with its ups and downs. It's so satisfying to know I'm changing my family's health for the better. Plus, I love that I'm becoming a better cook! It's also been interesting to see what God has shown me in this process. I began to be overwhelmed initially because I felt like I had so far to go, and that we'd never make it there. But then I realized the baby step process I needed to follow, and that, if I allowed it, eating healthy could become an idol. I decided immediately I would not allow myself to be overwhelmed, burdened or stressed by this process. I would enjoy it, learn and probably fail along the way. But as long as I pick myself up, and keep going, I think my effort is worthwhile. Now, it's time to finish my meal plan, but first, I'll go put this soda can in the newly used recycle bin.

Our Experiment in Under-Estimating

So here it is, halfway through May, and I'm just now getting to a blog post about our garden. You know why? Because we just got the seeds in the ground. Yup, that's right. I'm gonna go ahead and suck it up and admit that this was definitely bigger than we ever thought. Now, in all honesty, part of that is because I'm somewhat of a perfectionist. I wasn't gonna just throw some seeds in the ground and see what happened. I figured if we were going to invest time and money (both of which we possess sparingly) I was going to count the cost and be good stewards. I have read, researched, and read some more. Fortunately for us, we live in Georgia and have a luxuriously long growing season that will be very forgiving to our late start.

Our first delay was the raised beds. I know they will pay off in the long run by increasing the quality of our soil tremendously, but phew! They were a lot of work. (Which, yes, I'm sure was magnified by the fact that we built 9 of them.) We were so wonderfully blessed to have all the topsoil we needed given to us. It was, indeed, a lot of scoopin', however. A lot. And Isaac would add, A LOT. Thanks also to my physical therapist friend who worked the 3-week kink out of my neck from the whole experience. (Apparently, neck muscles have a good memory. No kidding.) Here are our beautiful raised beds.

As you can see, the mulching isn't quite complete surrounding them. I'm laying down a layer of newspaper, followed by a thick layer of (free-yay!) mulch to help minimize the weeds. We'll see how that goes. :)

Next up is the fencing. We already have the 4x4 corner posts in, and also the metal posts too. This has been another big delay in planting the seedlings. I really don't want to get anything going before our fence is complete because we have major wildlife, and I'm not particularly interested in an open buffet for all our hard work. The first night we decided to start our garden, we had to wait to pull in our driveway for 7 deer to cross. Seriously. There are also lots of bunnies. Cute, but stay outta my garden.

Hopefully the fencing will go up this weekend, as we already have little seedlings emerging. I had been waiting and waiting, because our life schedule just doesn't lend itself to concrete planning. All you parents of small children know what I mean! I didn't want to bank on the fence going up and not get to it. But, I finally gave in for fear of too late a harvest. Our weekends are busy, and hubby doesn't get home until 7. The boys go to sleep at 8, so him doing outside work when he gets home means he doesn't see the boys really, and none of us enjoy that. We've sacrificed a night or two to get some things done though. They have 'helped' by sitting in the stroller outside while we worked a little. They particularly enjoyed when Daddy hammered in the posts. (They aren't really able to play/run around yet. Soon though.)

I'm already seeing some tomato and asparagus babies, and it's very exciting! I know we won't see much by way of the asparagus for about 4 years, but I'm really looking forward to the tomatoes :) Ooh! And the bell peppers too. Yum.

Carrot-Zucchini Bread and Apple French Toast

This bread is delicious! The Apple Cinnamon French Bread is more like a casserole/cobbler. The boys love them. :) These are both from the Pampered Chef More Stoneware Sensations. Yummy!


Spiced Carrot-Zucchini Bread
2 1/4 C flour
1 C sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
3/4 C carrots, finely chopped
3/4 C zucchini, finely chopped
1/2 C walnuts, coarsely chopped
2/3 C vegetable oil
1/2 C milk
2 eggs


Preheat oven to 350. Spray loaf pan with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add remaining ingredients and stir just until moistened. Bake 57-70 Minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes, remove to rack to cool completely.

Apple Cinnamon French Toast

1 loaf french bread

6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
8 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/8  tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 Granny Smith apples
2 tbsp butter or margarine
Maple syrup


Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray. Slice bread into 1 inch think slices and arrange closely in baker. Beat eggs with a whisk and add milk, three tablespoons of sugar, vanilla, and salt. Pour over bread. Combine the 5 remaining tablespoons of sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Peel and core apples and make thin slices. (You can use the PC Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer for this, and I really love it.) Slice down one side of the apples to make rings. Arrange 1/2 over french bread. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Repeat. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour or over night. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut butter into small pieces and arrange over apples. Bake, uncovered, 35 - 45 minutes or until apples are tender and eggs are set. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serve with syrup.

Coconut Cake and Frosted Peanut Butter Bars

This week was Poppy Seed Chicken week, so there's always more to bake because everyone loves the Poppy Seed Chicken. I made a Coconut Cake, a double batch of Triple Chocolate Cookies, Ooey Gooey Chewy S'more Bars and Frosted Peanut Butter Bars. I had never made a coconut cake before, and, like most layer cakes I've made in the past few months, it tasted much better than it looked. Even after I threw coconut shavings all over it, it was still rather umm, messy. I think I need to chill the icing more, even though the recipes rarely say to do that... Check out the recipe at Food Network for Coconut Cake - it's delicious! Well, if you love coconut shavings and buttercream cheese frosting. The flavor was great, and I'm not a big fan of the afore mentioned.

Now, I do really love me some peanut butter. So these Frosted Peanut Butter Bars have claimed a spot on my top ten faves. They truly are awesome.

Frosted Peanut Butter Bars
(From Taste of Home Best Loved Cookies & Bars 2008)
1/3 C shortening
½ C peanut butter
1 ½ C packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ C flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ C milk
Frosting:
2/3 C creamy peanut butter
1/2 C shortening
4 C powdered sugar
1/3 to ½ C milk
Topping:
1 C mini chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening, peanut butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Transfer to a greased 15 x 10 x 1 baking pan. Bake at 350 or 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. For frosting, in a small mixing bowl, cream the peanut butter, shortening and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in enough milk to achieve spreading consistency. Frost bars. Sprinkle mini chops on top. Cut into bars. Store in the fridge.

Hello Dolly!

(Note: This is actually an older post...I thought I posted it awhile back, only to discover it was only a draft!)

My new All-American pressure canner came and I am really looking forward to using her! (Yes, it's a girl, and her name is Dolly.) I won't degrade my children by saying she's a new member of the family, but she will definitely be loved, respected and cared for. I chose the 21 1/2 quart because it seemed like the most practical for the cost. I can do 7 quarts at once, or 19 pints. It can also be used as a water bath canner, and as a pressure cooker for roasts and such. I didn't know that you could cook multiple foods at once in a pressure cooker without them taking on each other's flavors, did you? Interesting...

Anyway, I am planning a few pre-harvest recipes to familiarize myself with the canner. I don't want to be working out the kinks and have a learning curve when there's 20 pounds of tomatoes on the line. I would much rather mess up a small batch of strawberry preserves. That is the first thing I'm going to can. (Now, I know that my purpose in this is preserving in-season, yada yada yada, but I'm not concerning myself with that right now. I'm just learning. Plus, the only thing technically 'in season' right now are greens.) I also need to select something for regular pressure canning, because the water bath is a different technique, and I want to have tried both at least once.

Garden plans are in the works, news and pictures to come very soon!

Sweet Potato Burritos

So, this one isn't a baked good! Well, I mean, technically you have to put it in the oven. But it doesn't have chocolate or sugar or butter...oh, wait! Now I've lost your interest! Come back, it's a delicious recipe, I promise. Plus, it's super easy, and that doubles its point value in my book. I've made it twice now, although not exactly according to recipe. (I do that a lot, don't I?) Anyway, it calls for kidney beans, and I used great northern the first time. And this time I had bought a bag of kidney beans with lofty plans of beginning the soaking journey. But, then I forgot. So...I used black beans, because I had 20 cans of them I got for 16 cents. (Yes, I love the Grocery Game.) Well, I'm sure kidney beans are all well and good, but I loooove me some black beans. So, I still plan on trying the recipe as is one day, but I have a feeling I'll keep using the black beans.

I got this wonderful recipe from allrecipes.com, which is fun. I'm always looking for new things to try. I've read the average family cooks the same 21 meals over and over again. I don't fall in that catagory... I also like cooks.com, crock-pot.com, epicurious.com, foodnetwork.com, and tasteofhome.com.

Sweet Potato Burritos

Oh, and it supposedly freezes well too. We've got a half dozen in the freezer right now, so I guess I'll find out soon! Hope ya'll enjoy this one as much as we have :)

Where's the Butter?

Every Tuesday I have the opportunity to bake several desserts for the Wednesday night dinners for the church where my dad heads up the food ministry. It is so much fun to try new things! I really enjoy baking, but I don't get to nearly as often as I would like. This is a fun day for me because I can fine-tune my baking skills. I find myself discussing new recipes I've liked quite often, and I have shared them numerous times. So, I thought this might be an ideal place I could send people to when they request one.

Now, just a few explanations. Isaac and I are trying to shift our lifestyles to a healthier, more self-sustaining diet and lifestyle. I haven't bought processed food in awhile, and I'm trying to fix meals focused on whole, real food. Now this is a subject I could go on and on about, but I'll save that for another posting. Basically, I want you to know that in general, these are not low carb, low fat, low food, fake butter, fake sugar, processed baked goods. (As a matter of fact, if a recipe calls for 'Bisquick' or 'boxed mix cake' I pretty much snub my nose and keep on looking. Because really, how am I supposed to learn how to bake using those? But I digress...) My basic motto is 'everything in moderation' and I don't think real butter is what's making our nation fat - so I use it.

That being said, the church buys my supplies for their baked goods, and well, they're on a budget. So that stuff is made with the cheapest of everything, including using margarine. Therefore many of my recipes I've tried with various ingredients. I rarely have something bomb so badly I'm embarrassed to serve it though. Anyway, as you peruse any of my recipes, the modern-day person may guffaw at how fattening some of these things may sound, but in moderation, I really don't think a lot of this is as bad for you as McDonald's/Hamburger Helper/Trix/Ramen Noodles/Soda...blah blah blah.

Basically, make your own call, use whatever type of ingredients you prefer (processed or real). I've pretty much used them all when it comes to baking these recipes. In the end, I try not to let even eating healthy become an idol, but to be a way of living that brings glory to God. Now, without further ado, here are a couple recipes I tried this week:

Peanut Butter Cookies
(from Fabulous Cookies, by Hilaire Walden)

• 1 Cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 Cup butter
• 3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 Cup crunchy peanut butter

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. In another bowl, mix the egg and vanilla, then gradually beat into the butter mixture. Stir in the peanut butter and blend well. Stir in the dry ingredients. Chill for at least 30 minutes, until firm. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 baking sheets. Spoon out rounded teaspoonfuls of the dough and roll into balls. Place balls on the prepared baking sheets and press flat with a fork into circles about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, making a criss-cross patter. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly colored. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

*I thought these were awesome! This is about the 3rd pb cookie recipe I've tried, and it wins hands-down. Also, I used creamy pb instead of crunchy and they were still great.

Peach Cobbler
(Paula Deen, Food Network)

This was soooo good! Now, I haven't baked that many cobblers, but it was wonderful. It was fairly easy too. (As easy as peeling peaches gets, anyway.) This week I substituted 4 cups of mixed frozen blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. The first time I made it I had less than 4 cups of peaches, so I used a flat 2-quart rather than the 3-quart she recommends. It turned out great. Then, when I actually had the 4 cups of fruit, I used the 3-quart and it didn't cook quite right. There were too many variables to know what went wrong, but it seemed to take forever to cook. It tasted fine, but wasn't nearly as pretty as the first one in the flatter dish as opposed to the deeper one. Just an fyi.

Enjoy!