I’m so excited that my August guest post is from one of my closest friends, Brandy. Brandy and I go back to high school……and yes, she’s still sticking around. I think she likes my sense of humor. She’s going to give you a great tutorial on how to make grape juice – because grapes are starting to be ready! Thanks Brandy. 🙂 |
Hi! I’m Brandy and I live on a little lot in town with a handsome man who tends my garden. We’ve grown varying amounts of our own food over the years and while we have a new baby, this year is proving to be no exception. Grapes are in season right now, so we’ve made grape juice to brighten our coming Winter days. Here’s how we did it:Find a place where you can get free grapes, be it your own vines or that of a friend. Free is wonderful. Using a pair of scissors, clip the grape bunches from the vines. Try to choose the ones with the best-looking grapes to save yourself some work later on. Watch out for drunk bees. Gather as many grapes as you can stand. [Read more…] |
Archives for August 2011
How to Separate Eggs the Easy Way
I’m going to be honest. Usually when I separate eggs, I just use my hands. Yes, it’s true. I do wash them first, but I just think it’s easier and faster than using something else. However, I do know there are some people who just can’t handle weird stuff on their hands…..having a toddler rid me of any problems like that. Sometimes I use my handy-dandy egg seperator from Pampered Chef……but sometimes not. I think “do I want an extra dish to wash?”But, knowing I’m different than most and knowing that most people don’t have an egg separator, I thought I’d show you a handy trick for separating eggs. All it requires is a glass and a funnel. Please make sure the funnel has a small opening at the bottom. I tried it with a larger funnel and the yolk slipped right through it. Oops. You want it big enough for the white to get through but small enough for the yolk to stay. Clear as mud? Set your funnel over a glass, like shown. [Read more…] |
Meal Plan for 8/30-9/5
-Breakfast: Baked Oatmeal, fruit -Lunch: Baked Potato Nachos -Dinner: Crock Pot Beans and Rice, veggies |
-Breakfast: Leftover Baked Oatmeal, fruit -Lunch: Leftover Fettuccine Alfredo, veggies -Dinner: Tuna Melts, organic corn chips and salsa [Read more…] |
Sugar Detox Challenge – Week Five
Okay, let’s have a recap. Our family decided to go on a Sugar Detox in order to get rid of a lot of the bad sugars that we still had in our diet, even though we were on the path to Whole Foods. I’ve rid the house of High Fructose Corn Syrup, all white flours, desserts even with healthy sugars, and all sugars except those like honey, Sucanat, and maple syrup. We’re still doing great. Our only challenge comes in trying to explain to others why we’re passing the dessert table. At this point, I’m used to people thinking I’m weird, so it’s no big deal for me. [Read more…] |
Crock Pot Cajun Roast
I’ve made this dish several times and I think I love it better every time I make it. It’s delicious and it makes great leftovers for lunch. I love things that are leftover for lunch…..it just makes my day a lot easier. Leftovers ROCK! This was originally a Pillsbury recipe, but I tweaked it a little like usual…..okay, so I tweaked it a lot. I have to do that now with our new eating habits. Beef. It’s what’s for dinner. [Read more…]
Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
When we started out on this new journey of eating healthy, I knew a lot of things would have to change…….like canned soups.
They are chock full of MSG. I’ve known MSG wasn’t really good for you for a while. Barry’s grandmother would always get sick if she ate it.
BUT, even knowing that I held on to my little cans of condensed soup. I thought you’d have to pry them out of my cold dead hands……they are the base of so many of my recipes that I was having a very hard time parting with them.
And then, here comes Tammy with a great recipe for a homemade version. Tammy puts out some fabulous recipes and I’m thankful to her for that. After making her soup, I know I won’t look back.
It’s DELICIOUS! And easy. Have I ever told you that I like easy stuff? Bye, bye MSG. Hello creaminess. [Read more…]
Biokleen Review
I was given the opportunity to try Biokleen Dishwashing Liquid and review it for you. I love trying new things, especially since we’re moving over to a more “eco-friendly” way of living. I’ve been buying carbon offsets at carbonclick.com and already make my own cleaners, but homemade dish soap wasn’t something I had been successful at making. Actually, I had a couple major FLOPS at it so I knew dish soap was something I’d continue to buy. Biokleen sent me a full sized bottle to try. Biokleen is natural, non-toxic, and biodegradable. The Dishwashing Liquid is hand moisturizing which is really important to me. My hands tend to be sensitive and break out easily. I have to be careful which dish soaps I use, but this one worked great! After using it several days, my hands aren’t dried out at all. It is very gentle on the skin. And it smells GREAT! The scent I’m using is Grapefruit Seed and Orange Peel. I’m just sniffing away every time I wash dishes – which somewhat makes it sound like I’m crying in there doing dishes. [Read more…] |
Peanut Butter Kefir Smoothies
We love smoothies here at the Myers house. If I’m going to be making a lot of them, I make a smoothie base and keep it in the fridge (thanks Brandy!). I am always looking for good ways to use up my kefir and get the great benefits of all the probiotics……especially as it’s getting closer to the time of year when sickness abounds. This is one of my favorite smoothies – probably because it has peanut butter in it and I’m a peanut butter fanatic. I’ve used kefir in this smoothie, but feel free to use plain yogurt in its place. You’ll need kefir (or yogurt), a ripe banana, honey (I used raw), wheat germ, peanut butter and vanilla. [Read more…] |
Healthy Baked Oatmeal Muffin Recipe
We LOVE Baked Oatmeal around here. In fact, it’s one of the most popular recipes on this website. We eat it at least once a week…..sometimes more if we’re lucky. I like to make it in advance sometimes, especially if it’s going to be a hectic morning and I know I won’t have 30 minutes to wait for something to bake.
We also have to eat on the run occasionally and it would be nice to be able to take Baked Oatmeal with us on those days. It’s pretty easy to eat in its original state, but I thought I could make it even easier……so when I knew I needed a meal on the go, I decided to try muffin cups for the oatmeal. It worked GREAT!!! I’ll be doing it more often. It is very easy to eat in the car.
I used the same recipe, I just poured it into 8 muffin cups instead of the 8 inch pan. The recipe makes 4 servings, so each person could have two…..or like Annie, just one. Actually, I could eat them all myself. I might regret it later though. I used cup liners for ease of toting, but you wouldn’t have to do that if you didn’t have any.
Meal Plan for 8/23-8/29
-Breakfast: Baked Oatmeal, fruit -Lunch: Leftover Jambalaya, veggies -Dinner: Eating with our mentors |
-Breakfast: Leftover Baked Oatmeal, fruit -Lunch: Sandwiches, fruit -Dinner: Italian Chicken Casserole, veggies [Read more…] |