Recipes and Tips for Healthier Living and Smarter Budgeting

Friday, September 30, 2011

Hand Grinders

I love our electric wheat grinder and use it weekly.  But in the event of a long-term power outage, we would need a hand grinder to continue using our wheat.  So, those of you with hand grinders: What brand do you have and use?  What style is it?  Do you like it?

In my online research I've seen that there are a lot of options in type and price and don't know what would be best.  I'd like to get as much feedback as possible so as to make an informed decision for our family.

Thanks in advance!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Glorious Garlic

As I told a friend recently, the more I learn about garlic, the more amazed I am by its health-promoting properties.  Fortunately, I like the taste of garlic, so it's easy for me to use it often in my cooking.  And like everything else, eating it fresh is more beneficial than taking a capsule. (Especially eating it raw, but I'm not one who can do that!)

Of course, I can't eat garlic every day and I don't like having garlic breath, but I've learned that even taking one or two capsules of deodorized garlic when I feel an illness coming on (or am sick), can really help improve my health.

Here are some things I've learned lately about this little allium vegetable: (See complete article here for more information.)
  • When using garlic in cooking, it is best to not only add it at the end (and thus reduce its cooking time), but to also allow it to sit for at least 5-15 minutes before cooking or adding anything to it.
  • It may help improve iron metabolism--and iron is crucial in fending off viruses.
  • It produces cardiovascular benefits by helping protect against oxidative stress and unwanted inflammation, which are two things that can lead to heart diseases, diabetes, and hypertension.
  • It may be able to prevent blood clots.
  • It lowers blood pressure.
  • It is an excellent source of vitamins C and B6.
  • It helps in controlling and preventing infection by bacteria, viruses, yeast/fungi, and worms.
  • It is an "anti-cancer" food.
  • Crushed garlic heals infections when it is applied topically to infections (see this article for a wealth of information).
Maybe the saying should be "Some garlic a day keeps the doctor away"!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Neti Revisited

I'm realizing again this year that sometimes it really seems that I have more allergy symptoms in the fall than in the spring.  Can anyone relate?

Not to mention that fall weather brings colds and illnesses to many people--enter more undesirable symptoms.

One way or the other, in order to fend off these undesirables, I'm back to using my neti pot often.  I know some of you use a neti pot also, and I've never heard a negative review from anyone who uses one.  For those of you who haven't taken the plunge yet, if you suffer from allergies, frequent illnesses--particularly sinus infections--or even just live in a dry climate like I do, you really should try neti to improve your overall health.  It's not a big investment and once you get the hang of it (which didn't take me very long) it's totally worth it.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Chocolate Zucchini Bread


Here is a variation on our family's regular zucchini bread. Much of my extended family prefer the chocolate version and so do my little girls (though they like the regular, too).  I love that either way, we have a tasty, hearty treat with whole wheat flour and no refined sugar!

CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD

1/2 c. shortening
1/3 c. applesauce
1 c. honey
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
4 Tb. cocoa
½ c. sour cream
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. cloves
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
2 ½ c. whole wheat flour
2 c. grated zucchini

Cream together shortening, applesauce and honey. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Add cocoa and sour cream. Mix well.

Add remaining dry ingredients. Mix well.

Mix in zucchini.

Pour into 2 greased bread pans.

Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Staying Healthy as Fall Begins

Many of us around the country are beginning to sense the coming of autumn as days shorten and temperatures begin to cool. I have already noticed that with that change of season, people are getting sick--including sniffles already at my house. So I've been thinking about what we should be doing better to prevent illness as much as possible, and looking back at prior posts I've realized how many things I've already written that address this. So I thought I would re-link you to them, in case you need the refresher, like I do:
  • Honey's role in promoting wellness (and its curative properties)

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Budget Saver Tip #25: Christmas Shopping

The other day I heard a talk show host discussing how Christmas stuff seems to arrive in the stores earlier every year. He was disgusted by it, and so am I. I remember when we didn't used to see Christmas items till right after Thanksgiving (and Thanksgiving didn't get so short-changed), and then right after high school I noticed it arriving with the Halloween decor. Now I see it has already arrived and we're not even to October yet!

I hate the commercialization of Christmas, but I love the season itself, and I always try to make it special for my family, like my mother always made it magical for us. By keeping her eyes peeled for good deals all year round for the next Christmas, my mom was able to make it so that even though we didn't have much money when I was growing up, we always had a generous Christmas. I don't know many people who have their Christmas shopping completed by summer's end (or earlier), like Mom does, but every year I try to do better at following her example. I know I save money when I shop earlier, watching for good deals. Normally she and I both like to do this as we go "yard saling" during the summer. But this summer I wasn't able to go as often as I hoped and when I did go, I didn't find much in the way of Christmas presents.

I'm not willing to waste money on something we don't need or that nobody would want or appreciate--even if it's only $1. And I like my gifts to be thoughtful and appropriate to the person. So lately I have been turning to ebay and etsy. As with anywhere, one has to be careful when shopping online to be sure the item really is a good deal--including shipping--and it takes some searching, comparing, and calculating. But I have recently found some things I felt were very worth purchasing, at prices I felt good about, and it makes me excited to give them.

And it also feels good to know that with this planning ahead, we won't be spending more than we can afford when December rolls around. It's no fun to get behind in your finances just before the new year begins!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Gardening 2011

Here is part of one day's harvest last week. It made me happy!

Not all of our gardening ventures worked this year, in part because it was our first year to garden at our new place, but we have enjoyed the success we've had. And we know what to change for next year.

Every year we learn something different about gardening, and this year part of our learning was trying four new fruits and vegetables from our usual: cantaloupe (which were volunteers), spaghetti squash, corn, and potatoes.




Gardens are a lot of work, but the rewards are so fulfilling and gratifying! I'm already looking forward to next year's garden.

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Friday, September 9, 2011

Question

Please help!

What summer squash dishes do you make that your children like? I have tried so many recipes, some new, some old favorites, but haven't hit one yet that my kids will eat without complaining. (Except, of course, with zucchini I make zucchini bread and cookies, etc, and they love those.) I don't know why they have this bias--crookneck is so pretty and has a sweet, mild flavor--but I'm guessing it's typical.

So how do you get your kids to eat summer squash?

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Freezing Fresh Produce

I have been learning about the proper way to freeze different fresh fruits and vegetables and thought I would share what I've learned so far. (If you already know these things, bear with me. :))

Corn: We have been getting a lot more corn from our garden than our family can possibly eat as corn on the cob, and since most of it ripened at the same time, I thought I would just spend a day canning it. When I was growing up my family never grew corn in our garden, so I had to research to know what to do with it. First of all, I found out that corn is best preserved within 6 hours after it has been harvested. That was certainly not possible in my case; I got to it as soon as I could, but it wasn't that quickly. Secondly, I thought I could just cold pack it like I'm used to, but I found out that corn has to be pressure canned, since it has such low acidity, in order to not grow botulism. We don't have a pressure cooker and I didn't have the motivation or energy to try to locate one to borrow on short notice. So I realized my only other option was to freeze it (and I prefer the taste of frozen corn anyway). I didn't figure there was any trick to freezing corn, but I looked it up anyway and found out that there is more to it than I thought. I figured I could just cut the corn off the cob, throw it in bags, and put it in the freezer. But apparently, the flavor of raw corn loses its quality over a period of only two months, so cooking it beforehand for three or four minutes--called "blanching"--is preferable. It's also important to cool it quickly (in ice water, if possible) right after blanching, so it doesn't become mushy. Then, if you place the corn-filled Ziploc bags flat on a cookie sheet in a single layer, they will freeze better and stack more easily after freezing.

Raspberries: I bought a half-flat of these a couple weeks ago and was in heaven! Eating them was like reliving my childhood, when my mom and siblings and I used to walk over to my great-grandpa's house and pick several loaf-pans full of raspberries at a time. I love eating raspberries as-is, but since we had so many I thought maybe I'd do something different with them as well. But when my cousin gave me a tip on how to freeze them, I decided to try that to save them that way until I knew how I wanted to use them. And I love the result! This is definitely the best way to freeze raspberries: Place a kitchen towel on a cookie sheet and spread the raspberries out on the towel in a single layer. Freeze, then pop the berries off the towel and place them in bag or container. The raspberries freeze individually this way instead of in a big clump, so it's easy to just grab a handful to go with breakfast or whatever you want. Much, much easier!

Peaches: If you need tips on freezing peaches, refer back to this post.

Any others you want to know about or can offer tips on?

Friday, September 2, 2011

Homemade Bleu Cheese Dressing


Not everyone likes bleu cheese, but being one of those who do--especially in a mild dressing--I was excited to get my mom's new recipe for making bleu cheese dressing. The first time I tried making bleu cheese dressing from scratch was from a recipe I found online. It was much too strong and we didn't really like it. This recipe was a different story! Mild, creamy, and delicious, it is a wonderful salad topper. It's also super easy to whip up.

Bleu Cheese Dressing
1/2+ c. crumbled bleu cheese
3/4 c. mayonnaise
3/4 c. sour cream
1 Tb. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried onion (fresh green onion would probably be even better)
milk (a couple Tb. to make right consistency).

Blend all together.

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