First, my part II on our nutrition journey is going to have to wait until this Friday, since my business trip last week took me to a place where (unexpectedly) our hotel did not have free wi-fi! Jeff and I enjoyed our trip to the desert, where we got to catch up with some family I haven't seen in a while, and enjoyed a cute (predominantly shark-themed) aquarium at the Mandalay Bay Hotel. The tradeshow for work (the reason for our trip) went very well, as well. Vegas is not really a city I would recommend for a vacation, though, unless you're wanting to spend most/all of your time outside the city at sites like th Grand Canyon and Lake Mead, especially if you have kids - largely due to the large quantity of nearly nude billboards and such the like.
Anyway...onto today's topic.
In the spirit of Real Food Wednesday, and in honor of my mom's birthday I wanted to share a little bit about why Real Food is worth the time and effort (at least to me).
My mother has never been one of those women who was always looking for something faster when it came to time in the kitchen. As a teen it sometimes frustrated me, because there were not a lot of ready-made snacking materials in our kitchen. Our kitchen was full of ingredients, not (what I now consider disgusting) processed food products. But come meal time, I was certainly not disappointed. My mom made the most incredible foods from scratch - something many of my friends were a bit jealous of.
And of course, the best part about all of that was the opportunity I had to grow up on a chair that was pulled up to the counter. I can entirely attribute my love of cooking to the quality time I spent watching my mom invest her time and her talents into our family. Fast food is, well, fast; but it can never make you feel more loved. Looking at all the time and energy my mom poured into making balanced, creative, and home-cooked meals for us - it is impossible to feel anything but loved!
I'm going to admit something here to make a point - I watched an infomercial the other day (it doesn't happen often, I swear). It was for the Bullet Express, and they were touting that all these meals could be made in minutes, instead of the long amount of time it usually takes. I was immediately grateful that my mom did not opt for such quick fixes. I learned so much from her. I learned that feeding your family is worth time and effort, especially since you get so much more than just a well-fed family. You get a family who knows they are worth your time, knows that they are loved. You give little girls a chance to feel grown up, and to learn how to invest time into the families they will have one day. You get a family who knows that really good things are worth the wait.
Now we both share tips for healthier, more whole foods. Anytime I learn anything knew in the kitchen, she's the first person I call, and she's always telling me new things she's picked up. I'm so grateful for my relationship with my mom, and definitely for all the bonding time I got with her while I was growing up, standing on that chair in the kitchen.
This post is a part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop. Visit for more great links :)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Big Answer
Nicole (and everyone else reading along),
My response on the whole soaking thing was getting a little lengthy for a comment, and I also wanted to give credit where credit is due, so I decided to make a post of it.
Soaking the oatmeal does a couple things, it breaks down something called phytic acid, present in many grains and legumes, that keeps you from absorbing the full amount of nutrients in the grains, and it softens the oatmeal and makes it MUCH faster to cook. I get my soaked oatmeal recipe from this blog (She actually has a TON of great resources, and it is through her blog that I stumbled upon some of these others on my left margin). What I love about the soaked method is that I have about 2 minutes of prep the morning before (usually I rinse out the jar I soaked the previous batch in, toss in more oats, the water, 1 T ground almonds, 2 T ground wheat, and 1 T whey, and let it sit in the cupboard till the next morning), and then maybe 10 minutes of cook time that morning. It's a very fast breakfast!
She has basic soaking methods for several types of grains and beans here. At first read it looks like a lot of extra work, but to be entirely honest, I have found that it makes things much faster the day I actually do the baking. It also forces me to plan ahead. I'm not generally great with juggling all the planning, so both the meal plans on Mondays and the soaking have really been tools I have used to help keep things organized.
Anyway, that's pretty much a nutshell view of soaking, and of the meal planning motivation :) Hope that answered your question!
My response on the whole soaking thing was getting a little lengthy for a comment, and I also wanted to give credit where credit is due, so I decided to make a post of it.
Soaking the oatmeal does a couple things, it breaks down something called phytic acid, present in many grains and legumes, that keeps you from absorbing the full amount of nutrients in the grains, and it softens the oatmeal and makes it MUCH faster to cook. I get my soaked oatmeal recipe from this blog (She actually has a TON of great resources, and it is through her blog that I stumbled upon some of these others on my left margin). What I love about the soaked method is that I have about 2 minutes of prep the morning before (usually I rinse out the jar I soaked the previous batch in, toss in more oats, the water, 1 T ground almonds, 2 T ground wheat, and 1 T whey, and let it sit in the cupboard till the next morning), and then maybe 10 minutes of cook time that morning. It's a very fast breakfast!
She has basic soaking methods for several types of grains and beans here. At first read it looks like a lot of extra work, but to be entirely honest, I have found that it makes things much faster the day I actually do the baking. It also forces me to plan ahead. I'm not generally great with juggling all the planning, so both the meal plans on Mondays and the soaking have really been tools I have used to help keep things organized.
Anyway, that's pretty much a nutshell view of soaking, and of the meal planning motivation :) Hope that answered your question!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Our Nutrition Journey (Part 1 - My history with Food)
Off and on in my past, I have gone back and forth on nutrition. My Sophomore year of college, I was diagnosed with gall stones. They run in my family, so even though I was neither fat nor forty (they talk about risk factors for gall stones being "The Three F's: Forty, Fat, and Female." No offense meant here, just referring to the three F's), it was not a complete surprise. Also, I was a complete junk food / fast food / "easy" food addict.
I did not want to have my gall bladder out, and I was pretty adamant about that. I had learned throughout the diagnosing process that the job of the gall bladder is to secrete bile into the stomach, to aid in the digestion of meat-based fats and proteins. I figured that if my gall bladder was taken out, either my diet would have to change drastically, or I would be ill all the time. A friend of mine had suggested that I do a liver cleanse...but I read the packet of information he gave me and could not stomach the idea of drinking all that oil and salt, or the enemas that went along with it.
So, what could I do? More than the tiniest bit of fat or meat in my diet and I was in a lot of pain, not to mention that if I did enough damage and had a severe enough attack, gall stones could actually be lethal! So, I decided to go vegetarian. I was not entirely sure that I was prepared to do that for the rest of my life, but at least until I could decide between the liver cleanse and surgery.
I should also mention that I had major issues keeping weight on. For all of high school and thus far into college, I was about 15 lbs underweight. I ate a tremendous amount of food, I just never gained any weight. It was certainly not my parents' fault; my mom cooked wonderful, scratch-made, nutritious meals at home. But I had an obsession with sugar. Recently I learned that refined sugar has to leach minerals from your system in order to be properly digested, so my current theory is that I was undernourished - not because of a lack in nutrients - but because of an over abundance of sugar!
As a vegetarian, I actually gained weight. Not in a frightening or unhealthy weight, but for the first time in quite some time, my weight was actually within the range for my height and age. I was pretty excited about that, so even though barely 2 months into vegetarianism I was healed of my gall stones (went forward for prayer after church, had a scan of my abdomen done later on a hospital visit and the scan found NO gall stones), I continued as a vegetarian for almost a year. On top of that, I started working very hard to cut refined sugars out of my diet and drink at least 8 cups of water every day. I felt so much better than I had during my first year of college. I was much less tired, got sick less often, and had more focus just from changing those two things! My "health kick" only lasted until the spring, though. Easter candy on sale is a horrible thing! Just a little indulgence and it was back into the downward spiral of sugar addiction. (Apparently, I'm a slow learner).
I bounced back and forth between healthy periods and much less healthy for the next 5 years. Exercised sometimes, most of the time I did not, though. Through the rest of college to a few years of living on my own I rode a food roller coaster. What made it most difficult to stick with healthy choices was that, somewhere along the way, I developed a major issue with compulsive overeating. It did not present in obvious weight gain (I stayed roughly the same weight from my junior year of college until I was about 3 years out from college, and that was within my healthy bmi/weight range). But, as I was dealing with some personal issues - largely centered around anxiety - food became an easy outlet. Not just any food, but the sweetest, most disgusting junk food I could get my hands on. I'll not go into too much detail on compulsive overeating here, but suffice it to say that it definitely invaded every endeavor of mine to clean up my diet. And nothing I tried to get a handle on my eating worked, until...
Discussing the concept of Christian stewardship with some friends, we dwelled on the fact that our body is one of many resources God has given us. If we are to be a good steward of our resources, we need to be good stewards of our bodies. That realization saved my neck! Somehow, in that, came the grace to break off the bondage of overeating. I think that part of it was that, instead of trying "not to" overeat, I was making a positive effort, aimed at obeying Christ. It was not, "How should I not eat?" but instead, "What can I eat to take good care of myself?"
That was not an easy period of transition, but it was the beginning of a change in perspective. It completely changed the way I look at food, and my reasons for eating. Ocassionally I still struggle there, but God always gives the grace to remember why we eat the way we eat, what I really want to put in my body (and how much), and how to be a good steward of my body for the Lord's glory.
More on where my journey went from here (and how it merged with Jeff's when we met) next Friday! This post is a part of Fight Back Fridays, hosted by Food Renegade.
Typing this up so late, I'm watching the 700 club, which I almost NEVER watch (nothing against it or anything, just not really up my alley), because it just happened to be on. They just had a whole segment on a family that is "going green to save money." They talked about the great things this family does to save money that are also earth friendly (and mentioned that as being a good steward of the planet), and that got me totally psyched. I know many Christians who are into healthy and earth friendly living, but in Christian media I hear so very little about it! Not only that, this family made their own detergents (like we do!), and ate a diet that focused on rooting out processed foods and eating things that were raw and natural. How cool is that??
I did not want to have my gall bladder out, and I was pretty adamant about that. I had learned throughout the diagnosing process that the job of the gall bladder is to secrete bile into the stomach, to aid in the digestion of meat-based fats and proteins. I figured that if my gall bladder was taken out, either my diet would have to change drastically, or I would be ill all the time. A friend of mine had suggested that I do a liver cleanse...but I read the packet of information he gave me and could not stomach the idea of drinking all that oil and salt, or the enemas that went along with it.
So, what could I do? More than the tiniest bit of fat or meat in my diet and I was in a lot of pain, not to mention that if I did enough damage and had a severe enough attack, gall stones could actually be lethal! So, I decided to go vegetarian. I was not entirely sure that I was prepared to do that for the rest of my life, but at least until I could decide between the liver cleanse and surgery.
I should also mention that I had major issues keeping weight on. For all of high school and thus far into college, I was about 15 lbs underweight. I ate a tremendous amount of food, I just never gained any weight. It was certainly not my parents' fault; my mom cooked wonderful, scratch-made, nutritious meals at home. But I had an obsession with sugar. Recently I learned that refined sugar has to leach minerals from your system in order to be properly digested, so my current theory is that I was undernourished - not because of a lack in nutrients - but because of an over abundance of sugar!
As a vegetarian, I actually gained weight. Not in a frightening or unhealthy weight, but for the first time in quite some time, my weight was actually within the range for my height and age. I was pretty excited about that, so even though barely 2 months into vegetarianism I was healed of my gall stones (went forward for prayer after church, had a scan of my abdomen done later on a hospital visit and the scan found NO gall stones), I continued as a vegetarian for almost a year. On top of that, I started working very hard to cut refined sugars out of my diet and drink at least 8 cups of water every day. I felt so much better than I had during my first year of college. I was much less tired, got sick less often, and had more focus just from changing those two things! My "health kick" only lasted until the spring, though. Easter candy on sale is a horrible thing! Just a little indulgence and it was back into the downward spiral of sugar addiction. (Apparently, I'm a slow learner).
I bounced back and forth between healthy periods and much less healthy for the next 5 years. Exercised sometimes, most of the time I did not, though. Through the rest of college to a few years of living on my own I rode a food roller coaster. What made it most difficult to stick with healthy choices was that, somewhere along the way, I developed a major issue with compulsive overeating. It did not present in obvious weight gain (I stayed roughly the same weight from my junior year of college until I was about 3 years out from college, and that was within my healthy bmi/weight range). But, as I was dealing with some personal issues - largely centered around anxiety - food became an easy outlet. Not just any food, but the sweetest, most disgusting junk food I could get my hands on. I'll not go into too much detail on compulsive overeating here, but suffice it to say that it definitely invaded every endeavor of mine to clean up my diet. And nothing I tried to get a handle on my eating worked, until...
Discussing the concept of Christian stewardship with some friends, we dwelled on the fact that our body is one of many resources God has given us. If we are to be a good steward of our resources, we need to be good stewards of our bodies. That realization saved my neck! Somehow, in that, came the grace to break off the bondage of overeating. I think that part of it was that, instead of trying "not to" overeat, I was making a positive effort, aimed at obeying Christ. It was not, "How should I not eat?" but instead, "What can I eat to take good care of myself?"
That was not an easy period of transition, but it was the beginning of a change in perspective. It completely changed the way I look at food, and my reasons for eating. Ocassionally I still struggle there, but God always gives the grace to remember why we eat the way we eat, what I really want to put in my body (and how much), and how to be a good steward of my body for the Lord's glory.
More on where my journey went from here (and how it merged with Jeff's when we met) next Friday! This post is a part of Fight Back Fridays, hosted by Food Renegade.
Typing this up so late, I'm watching the 700 club, which I almost NEVER watch (nothing against it or anything, just not really up my alley), because it just happened to be on. They just had a whole segment on a family that is "going green to save money." They talked about the great things this family does to save money that are also earth friendly (and mentioned that as being a good steward of the planet), and that got me totally psyched. I know many Christians who are into healthy and earth friendly living, but in Christian media I hear so very little about it! Not only that, this family made their own detergents (like we do!), and ate a diet that focused on rooting out processed foods and eating things that were raw and natural. How cool is that??
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Real Food Wednesday - Baked Chicken with Apples and Barley
Recently I learned a good bit about the health benefits of barley, and I thought, "Well, this is great, but I have no idea what to cook barley in or with, I need to get some ideas!" Thankfully, I stumbled onto this website (linked to just a sentence back), and it had a host of ideas (most of which I still have yet to try. An instant favorite, this recipe has a hint of Indian flavor (aka curry), and plays to my love of fruited chicken!
I did soak my barley, first, which isn't mentioned in the recipe. From what I've read, barley does not require a long soak time, just 6-8 hours (which is perfect for me because I can set it to soak in the morning and whip up dinner when I get home from work!). I soak the barley in a 1:2 (barley:water) ratio and added 2 T of whey. I then drained and rinsed the barley, and it was ready to go. It calls for pearl barley, but I used just plain ole' hulled barley and it came out just fine (amazing, actually). We make our own chicken stock on a fairly regular basis so I did not use any store-bought broth or reconstitute bouillon cubes (soooo hard to find w/o MSG, anyway), I simply diluted our stock 1:1 (stock/water), since it is much darker/stronger than soup broth.
OK, without further ado, here is the recipe for Baked Chicken with Apples and Barley. It came to us at just the right time, when we were trying to add variety to our recipe repertoire! I think it has to go into the rotation for the week after our Vegas trip...I will be wanting a nice home cooked meal when I get back!! Ooh! I just realized I want this for my BIRTHDAY dinner! That's our first whole day back! :)
Find more Real Food Wednesday posts here at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
I did soak my barley, first, which isn't mentioned in the recipe. From what I've read, barley does not require a long soak time, just 6-8 hours (which is perfect for me because I can set it to soak in the morning and whip up dinner when I get home from work!). I soak the barley in a 1:2 (barley:water) ratio and added 2 T of whey. I then drained and rinsed the barley, and it was ready to go. It calls for pearl barley, but I used just plain ole' hulled barley and it came out just fine (amazing, actually). We make our own chicken stock on a fairly regular basis so I did not use any store-bought broth or reconstitute bouillon cubes (soooo hard to find w/o MSG, anyway), I simply diluted our stock 1:1 (stock/water), since it is much darker/stronger than soup broth.
OK, without further ado, here is the recipe for Baked Chicken with Apples and Barley. It came to us at just the right time, when we were trying to add variety to our recipe repertoire! I think it has to go into the rotation for the week after our Vegas trip...I will be wanting a nice home cooked meal when I get back!! Ooh! I just realized I want this for my BIRTHDAY dinner! That's our first whole day back! :)
Find more Real Food Wednesday posts here at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Gratituesday - Joy No Matter What
Today was your average Tuesday. Work was good (though strangely enough the day seemed a little longer today than yesterday), and I came home to find that my husband had put his day off to good use, helping with some of the housework that I can't get done while I'm at work (OK, he helped with quite a bit). But between work and home was...the prayer room.
While I was in the prayer room tonight God was pressing on my heart the importance of joy, even when things do not seem all that conducive to joy. There were several people on my heart in various tough places, and as I prayed about their circumstances, I heard the Lord say, "Pray for their joy."
Scripture tells us to be joyful in all things, worry for nothing, be gentle toward all, and pray with gratitude in our hearts (Philippians 4), and again to be joyful always, and to pray continually, and to give thanks in all circumstances, not putting out the Spirit's fire (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Not just for my friends and my family, but I so need to hear that, too! Not just to be passively resigned to whatever God has for me at this point in my life, but to relish every single second of the life He's given, rejoicing in ALL things.
As I started meditating on that, this song by Nichole Nordeman came to mind, and I thought I'd share it. When I first heard this song I was somewhat confused by it, because it almost seemed like, "I'll pray for these things, but..." But upon my second listen (ooooh so long ago, we're up way past millionth now) I realized it was more like, "God, I know that only You can change my circumstances, but I'll still praise You, even if they stay the same." Or, as Job said, "Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him (Job 13:15)."
Gratitude
(Nichole Nordeman)
Send some rain, would You send some rain
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would you send a cloud, thunder long and loud
Let the sky grow dark and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case
We give thanks to You, with gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
And how to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never grant us rain
Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups and fill them up again tonight
And would You wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roof
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case...
We give thanks to You, with gratitude
For lessons learned to hunger after You
And that a starry sky offers a better view
If not roof is overhead
And if we never taste our bread
Oh the differences that often are between
Everything we want and what we really need
So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight
But maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case
We give thanks to You, with gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace
But, Jesus, would You, please
For more Gratituesday posts, check out Heavenly Homemakers.
While I was in the prayer room tonight God was pressing on my heart the importance of joy, even when things do not seem all that conducive to joy. There were several people on my heart in various tough places, and as I prayed about their circumstances, I heard the Lord say, "Pray for their joy."
Scripture tells us to be joyful in all things, worry for nothing, be gentle toward all, and pray with gratitude in our hearts (Philippians 4), and again to be joyful always, and to pray continually, and to give thanks in all circumstances, not putting out the Spirit's fire (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Not just for my friends and my family, but I so need to hear that, too! Not just to be passively resigned to whatever God has for me at this point in my life, but to relish every single second of the life He's given, rejoicing in ALL things.
As I started meditating on that, this song by Nichole Nordeman came to mind, and I thought I'd share it. When I first heard this song I was somewhat confused by it, because it almost seemed like, "I'll pray for these things, but..." But upon my second listen (ooooh so long ago, we're up way past millionth now) I realized it was more like, "God, I know that only You can change my circumstances, but I'll still praise You, even if they stay the same." Or, as Job said, "Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him (Job 13:15)."
Gratitude
(Nichole Nordeman)
Send some rain, would You send some rain
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would you send a cloud, thunder long and loud
Let the sky grow dark and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case
We give thanks to You, with gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
And how to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never grant us rain
Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups and fill them up again tonight
And would You wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roof
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case...
We give thanks to You, with gratitude
For lessons learned to hunger after You
And that a starry sky offers a better view
If not roof is overhead
And if we never taste our bread
Oh the differences that often are between
Everything we want and what we really need
So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight
But maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case
We give thanks to You, with gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace
But, Jesus, would You, please
For more Gratituesday posts, check out Heavenly Homemakers.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Menu Plan Monday
So, a few of last weeks meals get to be recycled, because - true to form - a lot of last week got switched up. Don't get me wrong, it got switched up in very good way. We went out for a potluck type dinner with several friends for the evening of the 4th, went to the fireworks on Thursday and needed a quicker dinner, etc.
Today was pretty amazing. Work was good (and also really flew by. I got a lot of work done, and I felt very good about what I accomplished.
Headed to the prayer room for some alone time with God this evening after work, and that was a pretty fantastic time. I have struggled often with knowing exactly how to draw near to God in that place of intimacy that sometimes comes so easily. But today it was like God just (lovingly) wopped me upside the head, and I realized that many of those other times, God had given me some sort of song. Something that particularly spoke to what was going on in that moment in my walk with God. And so tonight in the prayer room, I prayed of course, but I did much of it in song. I just sang to Him anything that came to mind that reflected the state of my heart (or where I wanted my heart to be), and spent time between songs listening. It was really beautiful. And it was some of the most incredible time I've had in the prayer room in the last year.
OK, without further adue, here is the menu plan for this week.
Monday (happened already)
Breakfast - Kefir smoothie
Lunch - Grits and eggs
Dinner - Chicken sauteed with garlic, mashed sweet potatoes (mmmm), and steamed spinach.
Tuesday
Breakfast - Kefir Smoothie / Soaked whole wheat banana muffins (just soaked my usual banana bread recipe, and added the egg, baking powder/soda, and banana this evening before popping them in the oven)
Lunch - Salads / sandwiches
Dinner - Breakfast for dinner (my favorite!!) soaked whole wheat and banana pancakes (again, just put everything except leavening ingredients together w/ 1 T kefir last night, added all the leavening today & refrigerated), bacon
To Do: soak pancake batter (done), bake bread for sandwiches(in the oven now)
Wednesday
Breakfast - Kefir Smoothie / Soaked whole wheat banana muffins
Lunch - sandwiches, salad
Dinner - barley burgers
To Do: Soak Barley (wednesday morning)
Thursday
Breakfast - (you guessed it) Kefir smoothies (breakfast of champions) if there are still muffins left over, we'll have those too.
Lunch - leftover Barley Burgers
Dinner - spaghetti -just for my husband (special request :-P), whole wheat garlic bread (mmmm)
To Do: Make Spaghetti Sauce (Wenesday night - I like it better when it sits for a day in the fridge)
Friday
Breakfast - We love our kefir! Granola, too
Lunch - sandwiches
Dinner - I'm on my own...probably leftover barley burgers. The recipe makes like 8 and there are only 2 of us!
Saturday
Breakfast - Scrambled Eggs & Bacon, whole wheat toast
Lunch - Carrots & Celery, Grilled PB & Banana, Kefir
Dinner - Leftover spaghetti & more whole wheat garlic bread
Sunday - Warner Robbins for the day
Meals with Mom Buller
EARLY Breakfast of kefir smoothie (definitely the only thing I can eat before 6 in the morning)
Next week's meal planning is nuts. There is Monday, and that is all. Tuesday morning early we leave for Vegas for my business trip. I'm really excited about going. I'll get to see some family I haven't seen in ages, spend some quality time with the husby, and of course meet and greet customers I have thus far only known by phone while I'm on the tradeshow floor. It'll be a good trip, and we'll be gone until Sunday night. All our meals will be at the Imperial Palace buffet, so I'm not sure what kind of good healthy options they'll have. I am, however, going to pack 2 big bags of homemade granola in my suitcase, and buy kefir while I'm there. I'd love to just buy raw milk and make kefir in my room, but I'm going to have to settle for pasteurized. I tried to make contact with a dairy out there, but didn't get any feedback. At least I'll have my probiotics, though! (I'm really trying to think positively on the digestive front.)
I really want to go see Food, Inc., but it is not in our area for very long, and Atlanta is a long drive for a week night (couldn't make it over the weekend.) It'll be in Asheville, NC on the 17 of July, which is the closest it gets to us once it leaves ATL, but we'll be in Vegas.
Then I come back to my BIRTHDAY WEEK! My Birthday is Monday, July 20th. Sooooo exciting! I'm turning 27, and I'm actually starting to feel like an adult these days, so I'm kind of excited about that.
Check out more Menu Plan Monday posts here at Organizing Junkie!
Today was pretty amazing. Work was good (and also really flew by. I got a lot of work done, and I felt very good about what I accomplished.
Headed to the prayer room for some alone time with God this evening after work, and that was a pretty fantastic time. I have struggled often with knowing exactly how to draw near to God in that place of intimacy that sometimes comes so easily. But today it was like God just (lovingly) wopped me upside the head, and I realized that many of those other times, God had given me some sort of song. Something that particularly spoke to what was going on in that moment in my walk with God. And so tonight in the prayer room, I prayed of course, but I did much of it in song. I just sang to Him anything that came to mind that reflected the state of my heart (or where I wanted my heart to be), and spent time between songs listening. It was really beautiful. And it was some of the most incredible time I've had in the prayer room in the last year.
OK, without further adue, here is the menu plan for this week.
Monday (happened already)
Breakfast - Kefir smoothie
Lunch - Grits and eggs
Dinner - Chicken sauteed with garlic, mashed sweet potatoes (mmmm), and steamed spinach.
Tuesday
Breakfast - Kefir Smoothie / Soaked whole wheat banana muffins (just soaked my usual banana bread recipe, and added the egg, baking powder/soda, and banana this evening before popping them in the oven)
Lunch - Salads / sandwiches
Dinner - Breakfast for dinner (my favorite!!) soaked whole wheat and banana pancakes (again, just put everything except leavening ingredients together w/ 1 T kefir last night, added all the leavening today & refrigerated), bacon
To Do: soak pancake batter (done), bake bread for sandwiches(in the oven now)
Wednesday
Breakfast - Kefir Smoothie / Soaked whole wheat banana muffins
Lunch - sandwiches, salad
Dinner - barley burgers
To Do: Soak Barley (wednesday morning)
Thursday
Breakfast - (you guessed it) Kefir smoothies (breakfast of champions) if there are still muffins left over, we'll have those too.
Lunch - leftover Barley Burgers
Dinner - spaghetti -just for my husband (special request :-P), whole wheat garlic bread (mmmm)
To Do: Make Spaghetti Sauce (Wenesday night - I like it better when it sits for a day in the fridge)
Friday
Breakfast - We love our kefir! Granola, too
Lunch - sandwiches
Dinner - I'm on my own...probably leftover barley burgers. The recipe makes like 8 and there are only 2 of us!
Saturday
Breakfast - Scrambled Eggs & Bacon, whole wheat toast
Lunch - Carrots & Celery, Grilled PB & Banana, Kefir
Dinner - Leftover spaghetti & more whole wheat garlic bread
Sunday - Warner Robbins for the day
Meals with Mom Buller
EARLY Breakfast of kefir smoothie (definitely the only thing I can eat before 6 in the morning)
Next week's meal planning is nuts. There is Monday, and that is all. Tuesday morning early we leave for Vegas for my business trip. I'm really excited about going. I'll get to see some family I haven't seen in ages, spend some quality time with the husby, and of course meet and greet customers I have thus far only known by phone while I'm on the tradeshow floor. It'll be a good trip, and we'll be gone until Sunday night. All our meals will be at the Imperial Palace buffet, so I'm not sure what kind of good healthy options they'll have. I am, however, going to pack 2 big bags of homemade granola in my suitcase, and buy kefir while I'm there. I'd love to just buy raw milk and make kefir in my room, but I'm going to have to settle for pasteurized. I tried to make contact with a dairy out there, but didn't get any feedback. At least I'll have my probiotics, though! (I'm really trying to think positively on the digestive front.)
I really want to go see Food, Inc., but it is not in our area for very long, and Atlanta is a long drive for a week night (couldn't make it over the weekend.) It'll be in Asheville, NC on the 17 of July, which is the closest it gets to us once it leaves ATL, but we'll be in Vegas.
Then I come back to my BIRTHDAY WEEK! My Birthday is Monday, July 20th. Sooooo exciting! I'm turning 27, and I'm actually starting to feel like an adult these days, so I'm kind of excited about that.
Check out more Menu Plan Monday posts here at Organizing Junkie!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Fun in the Kitchen!
Hello All,
First of all, there is a new post over at Bee Beautiful, which is long overdue! Head over that way for your Fabulous Friday skin care tip. I have to say it felt a little strange typing up a "Fabulous Friday" post, since I have the day off and ultimately it feels like a Saturday. Already today I've had an incredible workout (longer than usual because I was not pressed for time), a casual morning, gotten some laundry done, gotten to watch a movie with Jeff while he was home on a break (put in extra hours last night bringing his consumers to the fireworks), washed a few loads of dishes, and started making ricotta cheese.
The cheese is largely because I had some whey to use up after making mozzarella the other day. Now, I use Ricki Carroll's 30 minute mozzarella from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Co., so technically I shouldn't be able to make ricotta from that. HOWEVER, let me tell you a trick that can be used to easily convert this mozzarella whey into ricotta cheese.
The 30-min recipe cannot be reused to make ricotta because the whey is not cultured. So, I have added 1/2 a cup to 1 c of whey from my yogurt straining process. Here is how. First, after making the cheese, I strain all the whey into my GINORMOUS stock pot after making mozz. The whey I have leftover is still somewhat milky, even after yielding a pound of cheese. Not only that, but I also almost always have just a little shy of a gallon of whey leftover anyway. OK, so then I funnel all of that whey back into a newly cleaned gallon jug, and add the yogurt whey. Then I screw on the cap and let it sit on the counter, until the gallon starts to bulge a bit (you can tell the culture is definitely in the process that way, kind of like when air gets in the bag for Amish Friendship Bread (which I am also currently making "brewing"). This may take several hours (4-6?). When I did this the other day, some of our plans changed and I didn't have time to make ricotta then. Rather than waste all that whey, I just stuck it in the fridge. 2 days later I'm still able to make ricotta from it! [note: This is from raw milk. The mozzarella process is entirely raw, never getting above 110 degrees. For that reason, I do not know if it will work to add the yogurt whey to the mozz whey if you are using pasteurized milk. I've never done it and I'm not prepared to say it wouldn't help you grow harmful bacteria instead.]
So now, I just follow the ricotta making instructions you can find here, at Heavenly Homemakers. The only reasons that I don't use her mozzarella instructions are time and a lack of space in our kitchen. I would love to make a cultured mozzarella instead, so hopefully when we finally have a house with a bigger kitchen (and perhaps we have more time on our hands) that will be one of my first projects. The only thing I do differently from her ricotta recipe is generally to let the heated whey sit for half an hour (or so, if it seems more time will be needed, see below).
Now, sadly, making the ricotta this way (from the whey that has culture added, that is) is only about 66% fool-proof. Every third batch or so, the curd that separates from the why is too fine and goes through the cloth I use (I use a pillowcase, haha). If this happens to you, don't be discouraged. Try heating it all the way up to 185, and letting it sit for longer. Sometimes that works quite well. If you still have no success....maybe you should make the cultured mozzarella first (instead of the quick way), or just make your ricotta from milk! To make it from milk it is basically the same, except that in the beginning you'll be adding a teaspoon and a half of citric acid, vinegar, or lemon juice to the milk before heating it up. You can find good ricotta recipes all over the web. I have used this one, again from Ricki Carroll's collection, this one I have not used but it looked really good.
That's all for today, folks!
First of all, there is a new post over at Bee Beautiful, which is long overdue! Head over that way for your Fabulous Friday skin care tip. I have to say it felt a little strange typing up a "Fabulous Friday" post, since I have the day off and ultimately it feels like a Saturday. Already today I've had an incredible workout (longer than usual because I was not pressed for time), a casual morning, gotten some laundry done, gotten to watch a movie with Jeff while he was home on a break (put in extra hours last night bringing his consumers to the fireworks), washed a few loads of dishes, and started making ricotta cheese.
The cheese is largely because I had some whey to use up after making mozzarella the other day. Now, I use Ricki Carroll's 30 minute mozzarella from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Co., so technically I shouldn't be able to make ricotta from that. HOWEVER, let me tell you a trick that can be used to easily convert this mozzarella whey into ricotta cheese.
The 30-min recipe cannot be reused to make ricotta because the whey is not cultured. So, I have added 1/2 a cup to 1 c of whey from my yogurt straining process. Here is how. First, after making the cheese, I strain all the whey into my GINORMOUS stock pot after making mozz. The whey I have leftover is still somewhat milky, even after yielding a pound of cheese. Not only that, but I also almost always have just a little shy of a gallon of whey leftover anyway. OK, so then I funnel all of that whey back into a newly cleaned gallon jug, and add the yogurt whey. Then I screw on the cap and let it sit on the counter, until the gallon starts to bulge a bit (you can tell the culture is definitely in the process that way, kind of like when air gets in the bag for Amish Friendship Bread (which I am also currently making "brewing"). This may take several hours (4-6?). When I did this the other day, some of our plans changed and I didn't have time to make ricotta then. Rather than waste all that whey, I just stuck it in the fridge. 2 days later I'm still able to make ricotta from it! [note: This is from raw milk. The mozzarella process is entirely raw, never getting above 110 degrees. For that reason, I do not know if it will work to add the yogurt whey to the mozz whey if you are using pasteurized milk. I've never done it and I'm not prepared to say it wouldn't help you grow harmful bacteria instead.]
So now, I just follow the ricotta making instructions you can find here, at Heavenly Homemakers. The only reasons that I don't use her mozzarella instructions are time and a lack of space in our kitchen. I would love to make a cultured mozzarella instead, so hopefully when we finally have a house with a bigger kitchen (and perhaps we have more time on our hands) that will be one of my first projects. The only thing I do differently from her ricotta recipe is generally to let the heated whey sit for half an hour (or so, if it seems more time will be needed, see below).
Now, sadly, making the ricotta this way (from the whey that has culture added, that is) is only about 66% fool-proof. Every third batch or so, the curd that separates from the why is too fine and goes through the cloth I use (I use a pillowcase, haha). If this happens to you, don't be discouraged. Try heating it all the way up to 185, and letting it sit for longer. Sometimes that works quite well. If you still have no success....maybe you should make the cultured mozzarella first (instead of the quick way), or just make your ricotta from milk! To make it from milk it is basically the same, except that in the beginning you'll be adding a teaspoon and a half of citric acid, vinegar, or lemon juice to the milk before heating it up. You can find good ricotta recipes all over the web. I have used this one, again from Ricki Carroll's collection, this one I have not used but it looked really good.
That's all for today, folks!
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