Cheese Bread

Well I haven't perfected this one yet but here it goes... Here is the original recipe. I changed it around a bit due to the suggestions of others that commented on the recipe and will make further changes when I make this again next week because it was so good! Oh and I made it healthier of course.

My version.
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup honey
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt
1 1/2 cup shredded SHARP Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1/3 cup canola oil

The cheddar cheese has to be sharp or I think the cheese will be lost to the wheat flour. Next time I make this, I am going to add 2-3 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and omit the salt all together and add 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder.

My son and husband both like this bread a lot. I forgot I was out of yogurt for Dylan's lunch today and had to come up with a really quick lunch before nap time so I made some pizza bread and he loved it.

If I get brave after making this a few more times, I will omit the oil and use apple sauce instead and see what happens.

Yogurt Pancakes

The family was out all weekend for my birthday and Mother's Day so we didn't eat up our yogurt. Since I now make my own yogurt, it only lasts about 10 days and I didn't want to waste any. I looked online and found a recipe for yogurt pancakes.

Of course I had to healthy up this recipe. I used whole wheat flour, honey instead of sugar, Earth's Balance instead of butter, plain homemade yogurt, and added 3 Tbls of ground flax seeds. I also used a full tsp of vanilla and added a little cinnamon.

OK, so these pancakes were not easy to cook at all. They stuck to the pan no matter what I used, and they burned easily, but they were delicious!!! My husabnd actually said they were the best pancakes he's ever had. They were not pretty as you can see from the pictures, but don't let that stop you!

Right now my son Dylan is eating the left overs that I warmed in the toaster oven. Next time I might try cutting the recipe in half. The full recipe made about 10 pancakes.

The New Dirty Dozen!

Here You Go!
UGH!! And I just bought non-organic kale for the first time ever because I thought I was being too fanatical about the whole organic vs non thing. People in my family are always looking at me like I am a freak and saying things like, "I ate nitrates all my life" and, "I sprayed my vegetable garden every year and I am still here." That is the part that gets me, "I am still here". Yep, you are, and you are full of toxins. I used to think anything in moderation was ok. A little high fructose corn syrup here, a little aspertame there, and some non-organic peaches with as many as 62 pesticides, and lets see some MSG... Now I think it all adds up to an unhealthy body full of toxins. A body that has a hard time fighting infections, allergies, and is more suseptible to things like cancer, fatigue, and just general poor health. I will continue to buy my non-organic produce but I will try to stick to the Clean 15!

This reminds me of something that just happened last night and had me in such a mood. My raw milk order didn't come in until 4 pm and I was in the middle of making lentil soup for dinner. I was going to make whole wheat dinner rolls to go with the soup but I also wanted to walk the dogs so I decided to take the whole family for a quick walk, because exercise and fresh air is so important:) and I thought I'd just pick up some rolls or bread on my way home from picking up my milk. So I stop at this local grocery store and there is not a single bread product in the whole store that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup and/or some evil preservative in it. Actually they all had HFCS, even the ones that were "fresh" from the bakery. Not one!! So I left empty handed and my family had Ezekiel sprouted grain english muffins with our lentil soup:)

Get Out!

There are so many benefits to being outdoors and active. Cleaner air is probably the first thing that pops into my mind but that is just a start. For kids, the benefits are amazing. Kids that spend time outside on a daily basis have better grades in school, act out less at home/school, have longer attention spans, are healthier, live longer, maintain a healthier weight, lead a more active life style, the list goes on. The one benefit that sticks out most for me is stronger bones and lower cancer risk. If you could give your kids all these wonderful health benefits by just teaching them to play outside, why wouldn't you? Walk away from the computer, turn off the TV, and get OUT! If it is raining, go jump in some puddles. Most importantly remember that children learn by example. If you sit on the couch and eat junk all the time, eventually they will too.

Oh, and do not forget to take your dogs!!

Whole Wheat Healthy Banana Muffins

So once again in an attempt to get my picky toddler to eat healthy, I have come up with a fabulous recipe for Banana Muffins. I make a batch of these, which is about 18 or so, I keep about 6 out and freeze the rest. Then maybe 2 days a week I give one to Dylan with his yogurt at lunch or as a snack if we are on the run.

I was going to post a link to the original recipe that I started with but I have made so many healthy changes to it that I do not think it is necessary.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup spelt or whole wheat flour
1 cup oat bran
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
Mix the above ingredients in one bowl.
1/4 cup raw honey
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 cup black strap molasses
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla ***I think I used 2 last time.
3 small ripe bananas mashed
Mix wet ingredients together and add to dry. Add 1/4 cup of walnuts or pecans. Mix until well blended but do not over mix! Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake in preheated oven for 15-20 mins or until they pass the toothpick stab.

Healthy, healthy healthy!

Now you can use maple syrup in place of the black strap molasses. I used the the molasses because of the extra nutrition and slightly lower sugar content. With 20% of your Vitamin A, Calcium, and Iron in just 1 Tbsp, how can you go wrong as a sweetener. You can also use quick oats instead of the oat bran.

Here's my boy with a mouthful of his muffin.

Pizza Again

Could my blog actually have only 3 posts and 2 of them be about pizza? Well in an attempt to improve on my previous pizza crust recipe, I have made these changes.

Here you go again!

1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup oat flour
1/4 cup spelt flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 package fast rising yeast
3 Tbs ground flax seeds
3 tsp honey
3 tsp olive oil
3/4 to 1 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients. Add olive oil and honey to very warm water and stir until honey is dissolved. Add water mixture to dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until it forms a ball. Knead on lightly floured surface for about 2-4 mins. Cover and set in a warm place until double in size about 20-30 mins. Roll out on floured surface and shape into pizza crust and add toppings. Bake for approx 15 mins at 425.

I am continually trying to add more whole grains to this recipe and so far it always comes out great. You do not need all these different flours. If you only have whole wheat flour, just use 3/4 cup instead of the spelt and oat. If you can't find whole wheat pastry flour you can use unbleached all purpose flour instead. I buy Bob's Red Mill flours http://www.bobsredmill.com/. They are the best!! I have found them cheapest at Wegmans but you can find them at most health food stores.

Organic or Not?

I fight with this question constantly. Should I buy this or that organic? Is it ok to buy the "all natural" variety instead? There are certain things we'd never eat if we had to find them raised organically. I live in a smallish town with one health food store and it doesn't sell produce! Right now I am limited the the "Nature's Promise" brand at my local Giant, or I have to drive 40 mins to my nearest Wegmans.
I try to buy as much produce as I can organically. There are things I would never allow Dylan, my son, to eat unless they were organic like; strawberries, peaches, nectarines, apples.... the list goes on. What I found very surprising is that things like celery, lettuce, and bell peppers are high on the pesticide list. What I found comforting is avocados, mangos, and papaya are fairly low on the list. If I had the money, I would buy everything organic and not worry so much about it. However, working with a very limited budget these days, I find myself compromising a lot.
Here is a nice list of the fruits and veggies that are high on the residue list. http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrition/a/pesticides.htm
I take the top 15 and try very hard to buy them organically. But as I said, I often have to compromise due to money or availablity.
I remember talking to my friend Marie about this issue and she said something like this, " I choose to believe that the benefit of the fruit or veggie, outweighs the harm of the pesticide." I wonder if there is any truth in this.
And what about dairy and meat? Oh boy! This is a BIG one for me. I want nothing more than to buy organic meats, but our budget doesn't allow for this. One day I hope to either have the money, or the answers.