Peanut Butter Cookies on a dreary, rainy day? Yes, please! When my 6-year-old suggested making cookies today, so we would have a treat to share with our visiting friends (and a treat for himself!), it sounded like a delicious idea. I modified my Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe (see HERE) to make a batch of Peanut Butter Cookies. I made classic Peanut Butter Cookies for me, and my son wanted Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies for him.… Continue reading
food
Healthy Snack: Fruit-Sweetened Green Chocolate Smoothie
We love cold, milkshake-style smoothies on a hot afternoon. We haven’t made one all winter, and when my 6-year-old asked for one as a treat this afternoon, it sounded fantastic.
So we pulled out my on-its-last-legs high-powered blender, tossed in a bunch of ingredients, and then enjoyed our smoothies outside on the deck in the afternoon sunshine. This could also be a great breakfast smoothie, though I may add an egg or some nut butter to the mix for a bit more protein.… Continue reading
34 Ways to Reduce Food Waste
The other week, I posted about the huge amount of food that is wasted on a daily basis in the United States (see HERE): almost 40% of our food supply is wasted. While you may not have direct control over what happens on a large farm or within food processing facilities, you can control what happens in your kitchen. Since US consumers throw away roughly 25% of the food they buy, that can add up to huge savings.… Continue reading
Easy Fruit-Sweetened Banana Ice Cream
What do you do when your kids are asking for spur of the moment ice cream? Find a way to make it with whatever you have on hand, of course. We had no cream in the house, so this is more of an Ice Milk recipe, but we call anything that’s a frozen ice-cream-like dessert ice cream in our house.
I try to keep our sugar consumption low, so this ice cream is entirely sweetened with fruit.… Continue reading
Healthy Snack: Fresh coconut (plus a tutorial)
The last time we were in the market, my boys were very excited about a pile of fresh coconuts. They were so excited, we brought one home to have as a snack.
In addition to being delicious, coconuts have many health benefits. They are full of healthy fats, lots of fiber, and contain abundant vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. They can help stabilize blood sugar, lower cholesterol, boost immunity, and assist a person in losing weight (Dansereau, 2012).… Continue reading
Refreshing Sparkling Mint Drinks or Virgin Mint Juleps
Today is the Kentucky Derby. As my horse-loving friend was preparing for the big race, we were discussing big fancy hats, Mint Juleps, and all things traditionally Derbyish. My 6-year-old was present for the discussion, and asked if I could make him a Mint Julep. I’m not big on giving kids (or myself!) lots of sugar, and I’m definitely not giving them Bourbon, but I did make us all a delicious, refreshing Sparkling Mint Drink using the mint in our garden (the one thing that reliably comes back for us year after year), sparkling water, and a bit of sweetener.… Continue reading
Vegetable Crust Grain-Free Pizza
My 6-year-old has never had pizza, but he really wanted to try it. So I made one using the Broccoli Breadsticks recipe I posted last week. Now this pizza does not have your standard pizza crust, but a standard pizza crust is full of grains and it certainly can’t boast that it contains an entire head of broccoli. So given this disclaimer, we all enjoyed sharing a pizza dinner.… Continue reading
On-the-Go Food Containers for Kids
We frequently take food on the go. Whether we are eating a picnic in the park (or in our own yard), bringing food for a trip in the car, or simply sending a snack with my 6-year-old as he attends his weekly art class, we bring food with us almost every time we leave the house.
I used to use glass containers for packing almost all of this food.… Continue reading
Healthy Snack: Turkey Avocado Roll-Ups
My 6-year-old takes a class once a week at a local art studio. The class lasts three hours, and the kids all bring a snack to eat when they take a little break part way through class. The one caveat to this snack is that the art studio is a Nut-Free Zone (neither peanuts nor tree nuts are allowed), so many of our staples can’t be eaten in that space.… Continue reading
Budget tip: Know your Prices
I periodically have people ask me how I feed my family of four grain-free, high-quality, organic food on a budget. While our food costs are higher than some people, I manage to keep them within the realm of reasonable [to be read: not completely-out-of-control high] by working hard to buy the food we need at the lowest possible prices.
While this may seem obvious, there’s a bit more to it then that.… Continue reading