I have been wanting to make a healthy cookie lately and have not gotten around to figuring out what kind, but these Healthy Oatmeal cookies will hit the spot. Yummo. Thanks Whole Grain Gourmet. I am going to make a couple of different varieties with raisins, chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.
I have been doing pretty well on my better eating style the past few weeks. I am down 9 pounds and I am not killing myself just trying to eat better choices. I am addicted to carbs and I need to balance those better along with adding more fruits and veggies each day but I hope to continue to eat better each day. The one thing that does make me suffer is staying away from fast food places. I admit that I am addicted to fast food. If you eat a lot of fast food your mouth craves that feel and regular food doesn't taste as good at first. I miss the drive thru but I don't miss spending the money and I know I am doing better when I drive on past and go home to eat instead.
There are books out that show you, "Eat This, Not This," and this is one of those websites that show you what might be in the sandwich you choose and a better choice. Some of the calorie counts are shocking. I have never been to the cheesecake factory before but I can tell you right off if I had I would have picked the chicken club they showed and it would have ruined my calorie count for the day. Check it out.
My entire family has been eating better this week and it shows with everyone showing a weight loss this week. We started out by detoxing for a few days with only eating raw fruits and veggies. It was difficult but it helped clear your system out and shell shocked me and my husband from diet soda. My poor hubby has given up his white bread, miracle whip, and diet dr. pepper. Very difficult for him.
We slowly added back in some whole grains and then some chicken. We kept the fruit and veggies as the main part of the meal. My daughter has been helping me a lot by prepare meals, cleaning up and we have been eating as a family.
Last night we were discussing dinner and how much we were craving something sweet like cookies but we didn't really know what to do with it so we talked about what cookie recipes I have that can be healthy. My friend, Denise made monster cookies this year that were great and I made them several times since. So my daughter and I sat and played with that recipe on the recipe calculator to see how we can get it to be healthier. We took out m&m and put in nuts, then we took the nuts back out...we just played around until we decided what would it taste like just as a peanut butter cookie? And this is what we came up with....my version of the healthier peanut butter cookie. Here is the recipe if you were to use splenda sugars and almond butter, Healthier Butter cookie.
Although the calorie count is still up there a bit, the ingredients are really good. They turned out great and a couple of cookies hit the spot so well. If you want a weight lose site this one is great Spark people. I like using it for recipes, recipe calculator, message boards, calorie counting and more.
I am really hyped about this lotion. I made the body butter last week and it has been working great but is a little harder and I do like a creamy lotion. I found this recipe and I just whipped up two batches in less then 15 mins. LOVE IT! Keep in mind that the ingredients you buy can be used for many, many other things and so your investment over time is minimal. Let me give you the actual recipe and then I will break it down into what I did and how it turned out for me.
You can experiment from here by adding essential oils, combining other oils; you can steep beneficial herbs into your water before you add your oil, etc. . .
Here is a nice winter lotion to get you started:
Geranium oil is good for supporting balance and rejuvenating dry skin conditions and for wrinkled and matured skin. Myrrh is a gentle oil that is effective in replenishing moisture.
Vitamin E oil is an excellent antioxidant and helps to protect the skin as well as a nice preservative.
Blend all ingredients in the blender either on whip or cream. You will have a nice creamy firm lotion. Add more water to make a lighter lotion. Store in the refrigerator in hot climates or store in a cool place. Shake well before use.
Enjoy your lotion. Hopefully this little recipe will inspire you to become creative!
OK lets break this down. Water-I read online that using distilled water is better because of the chemicals (chlorine) in tap water. We have well water so I just used that but remember the shelf life of homemade lotions is less then preservative store bought ones.
Vitamin E I bought liquid soft gels from dollar general for $6. This was cheaper then most stores. You can use the Vitamin E for lots of things and actually take it as a supplement. Cut the end off the capsule and squeeze out the liquid.
Liquid Lecithin is a pure vegetable substance. I found it at the Vitamin world for 4.99. Get the small bottle it will last forever.
Oils- I used Almond oil and jojoba oil. I made two batches and on the first batch used the almond only and on the second batch I mixed the two oils. You can use all types of oils. When they say olive oil they are talking about pure cold pressed olive oil not extra virgin.
(geranium, myrrh, orange, lemon, lavender and more are essential oils you can find in the tiny jars at health food stores and more. Here is the website for the place I get mine for a fraction of the price at health food places. You can also get the lots of other ingredients there and oils as well. Swanson health products )
I had geranium oil so I did use that in the first batch and substitute jojoba oil for the myrrh oil. I found the geranium oil a little over powering, it smells fine but just not me.
The second batch I used orange and lemon oils because I love citrus smells and it was perfect. Just make sure the scents you use won't bother your skin or others if giving it away.
The whole thing was as easy as could be. Put all the ingredients in a glass bowl and mix with a hand blender. I have a blender that you can put a whipping setting on so I did that. It took only a few minutes on low/high and I had a nice creamy lotion.
Don't forget to get containers to put your lotions inside...I was at Walmart today and they have containers in the travel section. These are perfect. I used a funnel to get my lotion in the container and I was done. Remember to keep your lotion in a cool place out of the sun and direct light. It should last you a couple of months. I am so happy with the outcome of this lotion.
Salad dressing. Remember back when we were little and there were just a few choices? Thousand island, Italian, Russian/french? Now that Ranch has made it way on the frontier you also have every variety known to man out there. What is in those convenient little bottles? Well a bunch of fat and chemicals to preserve it. Now I know I am guilty too there is nothing like dipping a chicken nugget in a creamy ranch or slathering some honey mustard on a snack and all that is fine when you are at a restaurant but what about when you are home and you have access to the healthier stuff? Well here are a few recipes to get your started.
Butter Milk Dressing Mix: This mix is easy to make and stores in the fridge for a month. 4 1/2 cups butter milk powder, 1 1/2 cups freeze dried chives, 1/2 cup dried dill crumbled, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup dry mustard. Whisk together until well blended. makes 7 cups
Butter Milk Dressing: 10 tablespoons of butter milk dressing mix, 1 cup warm water, 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons sour cream or plain yogurt. Whisk together until blended, let sit at room temp. for an hour then stir until well blended. Makes two cups.
Ranch Dressing Mix: 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons dried minced onion, 1 tablespoon dried, crumbled parsley, 2 1/2 teaspoons paprika, 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons pepper, 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder. Put in small air tight container and shake to blend can be stored in cool dark cupboard for up to a year. Makes 6 tablespoons.
Ranch Dressing: 1 container Ranch dressing mix, 1 cup mayo, 1 cup buttermilk. Blend well and refrigerate leftovers, Makes 2 cups.
Orange and Almond Dressing: 3 tablespoons orange juice, 4 tablespoons almond oil, 2 table spoons oil (olive, canola etc), salt and pepper to taste. Combine and whisk before using. Stores for up to a week in air tight container. Makes 1/2 cup.
Hello all. It is hard to believe that we started not that long ago with the beginnings of our Lasagna Gardens and other garden methods. As Fall approaches rapidly we need to start wrapping up what is left of our gardens, begin to prepare our gardens for the coming winter months and thinking about what we want to do for next year. You can go here to see all that I have done so far with my lasagna garden. 
I bought some small pumpkins and will be freezing my own pumpkin puree this weekend. I love pumpkin and found that freezing the pumpkin for future recipes could not be easier. I also want to use the seeds for future cosmic cookies or a tasty treat. Go here to see how to freeze/can pumpkin. I really like the idea of having the pumpkin on hand but also that it is as natural and organic as you can get. It is cheap to purchase the small pumpkins and worth a little effort to have wonderful recipes in the future. If you read up on pumpkin you will also find that it is not overly recommended for canning because of the low acidity however it can be done.
I want to hear all about your gardens this year! What worked and what didn't. What are you proud of and what are you never going to do again? Want to vent, brag or dream of next year do it here.
Next year I plan on planting a little smarter. I will give my plants a little more space. I will bulk up on the things that grew well and I want to freeze. I will plant only what I know I can use. (yes this means very little lettuce...LOL)
In the coming week I will blog some ideas from the gardening series on how to prepare for winter. Now is a great time to get a Lasagna Garden area ready for next year. If you are thinking about making a garden area for next year then prepare it this Fall. Its cheaper too...garden supplies are on the discount.
I made Cosmic Cookies tonight. These cookies are very healthy for you. They are packed with protein, made from all organic products and taste so good. My friend, Denise found the recipe awhile ago and I finally got to taste these babies this weekend. Go here to see a picture of them on Denise's blog. They are higher in calories but work great to ward off hunger, to eat before a work out or right after. They are very chewy and you can get a good amount of water down with them. Denise wraps them up individually and then freezes them to pull out as she wants one. I did the same. No time for breakfast...this is it my friend.
I made two changes to the recipe. One is they use soy milk. Denise and I subbed rice milk. It calls for dark choc chips. I get choc overload so I subbed part organic peanut butter chips and choc chips. I am happy with the substitutions. Let me know what you think about the recipe and if you make it how it turned out for you. Go here to see the recipe.
How do you make your stewed tomatoes? Denise and I were having a conversation the other day about making tomato juice, sauce and more. We discussed that sometimes parts of the tomato goes to waste. I am sure there are better methods where you can use the juice, and the other parts but for us beginners and for ease of use the way I am about to show you has been the easiest for me when making stewed tomatoes. My Lasagna Garden is about done but I found a wealth of tomatoes from a close source and so the tomato canning/freezing continues.
The first thing you want to do is remove the skins because they become hard and yucky in when cooked. To do this boil a big pot of water and drop some of the tomatoes into it for 45 sec to 1 min. to blanch. If you have time making a big X on the bottom of the tomato can help to peel but I found that you really don't have to do so. I use tongs and grab the tomato out of the boiling water and place it in a bowl full of cold water. Most places will tell you it should have ice in it but I have found that using cold water from my tap has been fine. Place the tomato in there and then place more in the boiling water. Grab the ones out from the cold water and place in another bowl. And then just keep repeating until all your tomatoes are blanched. It takes only a few minutes. Below is a picture of what the tomatoes will look like when you blanch them. Notice the skins are coming off.
Now is the really messy part. I sat at the kitchen table and had a cutting board, a sharp knife, a clean bowl and a bowl for the discarded parts. Yes I find I use a lot of bowls. Being very careful because it is slippery peel off the skins and take the knife and core or cut off stem. Then cut in half (small) or quarters (bigger, rounder). Take your fingers (or a core scoop, fingers worked better) and just scrap out the seeds and take the harder whitish flesh with it. That doesn't break down in cooking.
This Roma type tomato is an easy tomato to de-seed. Below you see what a bigger, rounder tomato will look as you de-seed it.
Once you have your tomatoes all done then comes the fun part. You get to really get dirty. You can use a potato masher of any other type of masher if you like and I do use those as I cook but for this first part you just stick you clean hands in the tomatoes and squish away.
Try taking a picture while squishing tomatoes....:). Once you are done squishing then put them into a pot and cook down. I put them on the lowest setting and slowly let them simmer apart. Stir every once and awhile and continue to break the tomatoes down with a masher if you don't want any chunks of tomato left. My family doesn't like the chunks so I break it down as much as I can. After you get the consistency you want you are ready to can or freeze. I made mine into spaghetti sauce and here you can see the product about an hour into the cooking. I will let this simmer for several hours and then cool slightly before I freeze it this evening.
A quick note. If you find you don't have enough tomatoes to make sauce then you can use what you have and add a few cans of tomato sauce. I did that with my first few batches because I didn't have enough tomatoes ripe to make a batch to freeze.
Today my friend Denise and I were discussing our canning/freezing over lunch. Our goal is to get as much "natural", "organic" and "homegrown" food/produce stored for winter. I told her I saw a recipe for cream of mushroom soup and after much searching I found it. This may be a lot better for cooking with because there is less salt and processed items in it...here it is if anyone wants to give it a try.
Read more...I am exhausted. I decided to go ahead and can some tomato juice. This was messy but overall pretty easy to do. I just cored them and used my vadalia chopper to chop them up. You put them into a big pot and cook them down. Then you strain them, put the juice in the jars and give them a water bath. Sound simple and it was but it is time consuming and messy. Several times I thought to myself Tomato Juice from Aldi's is cheap and easy but at least I have organic, good juice to make some chili this winter.
I also stewed some tomatoes. These I did the same as above except I blanched to peal the tomatoes then de-seeded the tomatoes, then put them into a big pot and simmer crushing them as they heat up. Then can as normal. You can use this to make sauces, chili, soups and more.
Then....I ran to the store for more jars and started in on the peaches. I blanched as I did the tomatoes to get the skins off, them pitted them and put them through the vadalia chopper. I got the perfect consistency for making jam. Here is the recipe I followed.
The jam is finishing up in its water bath and I am tired! I still have peaches left over and I wanted to make and can peach pie filling but need to find some thing called clear gel to use instead of cornstarch. If I cant find it tomorrow (walmart didn't have it) then it will just have to be canned/frozen peaches.
How are all of you doing on freezing or canning your summer produce? I have done fairly well with all that I have gotten this year. So far I have frozen zucchini both shredded and finely grated for sauces. I have frozen spaghetti sauce and fresh blueberries.
My friend Denise has been doing a great job of getting her produce put up this year. She has frozen and canned: blueberries, cherries, strawberries (I believe) and she has canned tomatoes, peaches, made some jellies and is working on some pickles. Good job Denise.
I plan to go get some farm fresh peaches and freeze some this week. Not too many but enough that I can make some fruit crisps this winter. Go here if you want to see how to can/freeze peaches.
This freezing and canning works great for fresh foods. You know what you are eating. You know where it came from and is economical in the long run. I have never canned before. I used to watch my mom do it every year. We had a huge basement growing up and had shelving that was like a grocery store. My mom canned tomatoes and we never used store bought. My dad (he did all the grocery shopping) stocked the shelves with food that he got on sale. He was a coupon man and whenever we needed something we just went downstairs. I have no space to put any canning I would do. I do have a big deep freezer in the garage. I would love to can but just don't know where I would put it.
Leave your stories of gardening, canning and freezing good or bad so we can all hear your great stories.
All of us gardeners have tomatoes that are just ripening or you are getting more than you can handle right now. What are your tomato plans?
I made some great meat sauce with my first tomato harvest. I plan on freezing the rest of my tomatoes in various ways. Here is some sites that can help you decide how to use your tomatoes. You can make tomato sauce, paste, spaghetti sauce or just freeze the tomatoes to use as needed.
If you are new to freezing or canning or just need to brush up on your knowledge then these sites are helpful as well. It showed me how to quickly blanch the tomatoes to get the skins off, how to cut and de-seed the tomatoes. There is step by step instructions on how to make all the different tomato options.
Spaghetti sauce go here.
How to freeze tomatoes go here.
How to make tomato paste go here.
How to make tomato sauce go here.
Remember that you can freeze or can the tomatoes. I plan on freezing them. I might try and can a few just to see but no sure because freezing is so easy.
Here is the meat sauce I made. I prepared the tomatoes as they suggested. I blanched them, peeled the skins, cut in half took out pulp and seeds. Put the tomato in a strainer and squeezed them. In the mean time I browned hamburger in olive oil and garlic paste. I also salted and peppered it. I then added my cheese grated zucchini. No one can even tell it was added to the browned beef. I added the tomatoes, and canned tomato sauce (of course didn't have any of my own at this time) so used what garden tomatoes I had and canned sauce. I added a bit of parsley, thyme, more pepper and some sugar. I slow cooked it on the lowest setting for about 2 hours and it was really good. The actual amount of everything is going to very for every person. So experiment and have some fun. I don't like bay leaves or basil so I never add them if I can avoid it.
My First Tomato from the Lasagna Garden. I have a few more that should be ready within a few days. My husband picked this and brought it into me. I told him today to stay out of my garden. LOL. He was is pretty proud of my little garden, I think. He hates tomatoes but he is going to love the sauces I make with these little beauties.
How are all your gardens going? Hopefully you are getting some good harvests and starting to prepare for the winter. I can't believe it is going to be August. Here in the Midwest it barely feels like summer since it has been so mild. I saw the weather map on the news tonight and the rest of the country is boiling. My heart goes out to you all that are trapped inside with the air eating up your bills. Here windows and doors stay open 24/7 for the wonderful air.
Doggie update: Snickers had surgery today and they found out it was not a tooth but the original reason I took her to the emergency vet Saturday night....she had bugs in her cheek. Yes flies bit her and laid eggs in there. Gross I know. It caused a very bad infection in her body. But it is taken care of now, her teeth got cleaned since she was under the antistatic, she is on more meds and is acting a little more like normal today. We will take another blood test in 10 days to check her liver though because it was not looking so well. The vet ended up discounting our bill. She called me and was very apologetic because she felt she should have looked herself on Monday and not just trusted the emergency vets diagnosis. My bill should have been $417 and was discounted to $257. Total vet bill about a grand. Just what the unemployed need right? Thanks for all your wonderful thoughts and prayers.
Everyone is tired of zucchini right now. I got several bags for the freezer done today. Then my husband went out and found two more. I shredded the zuc two ways. I regular shredded it and I cheese grated it for a very fine grate to add to sauces. See the photos below. My food processor is not working correctly right now so I had to do it by hand. Fun, Fun. I saw this recipe for chocolate zucchini muffins and think I will give this a whirl soon. Here is another one for Pineapple Zucchini bread. Its a fun twist on the regular muffins and my family will eat it.
Overall I am very happy with my little lasagna garden system this year so far. I can't wait for the tomatoes to ripen so I can start to make spaghetti sauce. I will update some pictures soon.
I stumbled upon this recipe for healthy blueberry muffins and think I will give it a try later this week. Give it a looks see.
Read more...Here is my dear friends healthy but great tasting zucchini muffin recipe. You can always find something good comimg from her oven. Check her site out. She has also used some of the lasgna gardening methods this year. Her garden looks great!
Read more...
This is the first harvest of green beans and the second for zucchini. I put the beans and cut zucs in a zip lock steam fresh bag with some butter and pepper. Zapped it for a bit and gave it to grandpa with a smoky griller sausage and a zucchini muffin. Grandpa is easy to please and the veggies didn't go to waste because we would not be home to eat tomorrow.
I am enjoying the harvest so far. Something satisfying about picking and cooking within the same 15 Min's.
Look at my harvest....it is tonight's snack! My friend, Denise reminded me today to go look at the cauliflower and broccoli and I was surprised to find these. I didn't even see them yesterday. The Cauliflower is the size of my whole palm and the broccoli is the center of my palm. I had three sugar snap peas too but I ate two and Mike ate one. Those were yummy.
There are two blueberries and one raspberry. There are quite a few blueberries that are not ripe yet and I have never seen as many raspberries growing as I have this year.
My bean bushes are slow but growing. My tomatoes are about cherry size so far. The zucs have lots of blossoms but no growth yet. My peppers are not overly doing well. They are drowned out by the other plants. I have tons of lettuce and not using it. It is shameful.
If you have not been following my Lasagna Gardening series you can click on the series on the left side bar to catch up on the entire series.
Here is a picture of the garden the day I planted it (to recap). Please pay attention to how small the marigolds are and then.....
Here is a picture of the garden today...
Here is a picture of my sugar snap peas and my cherry tomato plants, I started from seeds
This is a picture of my cantaloupe in one of my lasagna containers out front.
Here is a picture of my flowering plants out front because they are so pretty. To the left you see more lettuce in the containers.
This is another lasagna garden on the fence. Pay no attention to the grass growing around and behind it, our mower broke and we are finally getting it back tonight. 
Here are my bean bushes finally starting to sprout good now. I planted them a few weeks ago.
Here is my raspberry bush that I was so worried about. But thanks to the lasagna gardening my berry bush is growing like crazy.
So what do you think? Crazy growth huh? No chemicals at all just lasagna gardening and once in awhile I remember to water it.
I have seen several of your posts on your garden as well and I think everyone is doing a great job. Please leave a comment and leave your blog spots so everyone can check out your blog and gardens as well.
I finally made the black bean brownies on Sunday. I can honestly say that I could not taste the beans at all. I tasted the batter and it tasted fine. The brownies came out very moist and slightly chewier then regular brownies. My family ate most of them. Having said that let me say that I have mental problems. I just couldn't get over the fact that they were made of beans and it turned me off. I don't know why because I love black beans. I am strange like that any time my mind thinks a certain way I will not eat or drink something. So if you are not like me or want to trick your family make these brownies because they really were good.
The recipe is a breeze. Take one can of black beans, rinse and drain. Put beans in blender with one cup of water and liquefy. Add that mixture to one box of regular brownie mix. Nothing else just those two ingredients. Mix and put in a pan. Add any nuts or whatever you want, I put in some Reese's chips. Bake for normal time keeping an eye out for doneness. That is it folks. Let me know if you tried it or have tried these brownies and what you thought.
