Lately I have watched the show “Mad Men” on Netflix–have you seen it? It is set back in the 1960′s and they really try to show  a housewife then compared to now. I think this is a recipe perfect for a housewife set back in time–or moms who like to make it all from scratch!  When I made this fruit leather I did not realize it would take far longer to cook than the original recipe I found at Skinnymom.com . Well, they called it fruit rolls–I made mine thicker. I also thought the 3/4 cup of sugar was a ridiculous amount to add to dried fruit–not such a great after school snack if you ask me. So–I set out to try to make it sans sugar. That, my friends, is why it took me so long. I felt like a real 1960′s housewife working on a snack item for about 6 hours–so if you are short on time and do not mind the sugar SURGE for the kids you can of course add back in the sugar.

However, despite the long cooking time, this was so easy to prepare. You can turn on the fruit to boil down and start your daily chores of vacuuming, dusting, waxing, polishing, laundry, bathroom and bedroom cleaning. By the time your afternoon chores roll around you will be taking the fruit leather out of the oven and cooling it in front of the open window while changing into your dinner attire and wait for your husband to come home</sarcasm>. Typing that out and actually picturing it gave me an eye twitch.

Fruit Leather (made with love,patience and fruit)

These are perfect--see why I did not add any sugar?

Step One: Find Lonely and forgotten fruits. I love the shelf in the back at our market–we can get discounted fruit that really is not presentable but are great to use in cooking. Yup–organic fruits marked down to pennies a pound. PENNIES A POUND MOMS!! 

YUM! Fruit Soup!

Step Two: Add the fruits of choice to a large pot set on medium heat. I added bananas, kiwi, apple (skin on), mango, and about 1/4c high Pulp orange juice. 

cauldron burn and cauldron bubble

Step Three: Cook until it is reduced by about 2/3rd. It took me about 2 hours to get it to cook down to a little under half and I should have cooked it longer. The colors will really deepen while it cooks and  you will need to scrape down the sides of the pan as it reduces. It smelled so delicious–warm and fruity like a fall day in the apple orchards. Set oven to 250 degrees F.

The original recipe called for parchment paper. I keep forgetting I am Martha Stewart when I am at the market and do not buy any.  I need to add a reminder to my smart phone–I wonder if there is a Martha Stewart app for that.

Set it and Forget it!

Step Four: Spread fruit evenly and thinly in the backing pan–use caution because it is HOT! In this picture you can see how I spread my fruit a bit uneven and it was a little too thick. So–you do it right–learn from my errors.  Bake for about 4 hours depending on your oven and the thickness of the fruit. When it looks like leather then remove it from the oven and flip the fruit over–it will be MUCH smaller. Place back in the oven and shut it off. 

The Amazing Cooling of the Fruit Strips

Step Five: Once the fruit has cooled to the touch remove from oven and cut into shapes, strips, words. This is a fun idea so be creative! Sharp cookie cutters would also be fun!  Let them air dry and then store in a cool dry place in plastic bags. I made sure to squeeze all the air out of the bag and sealed them and just kept mine in the fridge. 

Making Fruit Leather tells the kids you love them.

Other Good Ideas: The fruit mixture here can be stored in the fridge for about a week.
-Use this to replace fats in baking recipes.
-Swirl some into yogurt for a smoothie tasting treat for the kids.
-Stir a bit into our granola recipe in Squeaky Gourmet in place of half of the juice.

Please check out our book and our reviews for more information about Squeaky Gourmet and the recipes you can prepare for your family with just a little help from us!

Sunshine and Lemon Pops

Yay for summer! There are lazy days, trips to the beach, and kickball in the backyard. My kids love
summer and they love flavored ice pops. They also love gardening. We live in the city in an apartment
building. We have no backyard space for our dream garden. So we work with our little 12 foot by 3
foot patch of earth we can plant in. A few years ago we found Lemon Balm Herb at a local nursery and
couldn’t wait to plant it. After 3 years of having it grace our garden, this year I wanted to find a way to
actually use it other than to rub between my fingers for the incredible soothing smell. I knew you could
make tea with Lemon Balm leaves so I decided to try to make some ice pops for the kids to enjoy since
lemons, ice and summer go so well together.

It’s a simple, easy recipe that even your kids can help you with. Not to mention that there are
no artificial colors, preservatives or sweeteners like the many ice pops you get from the store. (And
these are lower in sugar too!) Start by cutting some lemon balm from your plant. Enough to fill two 20
ounce Mason canning glass jars (I just use the glass jars I save from when I buy store bought Classico
marinara sauce) Don’t be stingy-stuff that lemon balm in!

More Lemon Balm!

Fill each jar with boiling water. Let it seep for 20 minutes. Drain using a colander and/or cheesecloth (if
you have tiny pieces of leaves)

Add one teaspoon (or more to taste) of Agave syrup. You could also use honey. Stir well.

Now comes the fun part. Pick some fresh berries to add. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries are our
favorite. Using ice pop molds pour in liquid and add some berries. We also used ice trays so we can
add some of the ice cubes to our summer iced tea. Freeze and enjoy!!

The kids like it more when they get to help!

No need for French fried guilt!

Roasted Garbanzo Bean Snack

Makes 2 cups

2 cans Garbanzo beans (Chickpeas) rinsed

3 T canola oil

1 t. cumin

1 t garlic powder

1 t coriander

½ t ginger

1 t paprika

¼ t ( or more) cayenne pepper

1-2 t sea salt

Toss all ingredients into bowl and mix well making sure the beans are covered with the seasoning.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place beans on a baking sheet with a lip and spread them out.  Stir  the beans every 5- 10 minutes or so.  Cook until the beans are browned and crunchy.  This takes about 30-45 minutes.  Be careful at the end of cooking as the beans start to toast they will burn quickly.

These are a bit like toasted soybeans.  Yummy snack.  These would be great on top of a salad too.

Enjoy!

Jamie

Good Morning

Whenever a new gluten free product comes out in the main stream there is a lot of excitement in the GF community. I was shocked to see Bisquick come out with this but I was excited to give it a try. So far we have made the chicken fingers recipe they have on the side of the box as well as pancakes and waffles–nope I did not make any biscuits with it yet .

Since we have been under the thumb of  heavy snow storms lately the kids have been home more often then not! I love to make them a cozy breakfast of waffles but was out of the healthier types of flours and thought–let’s see how well this mix can hold up to add ins! It held up as you can see. I followed the recipe for waffles but omitted some of the mix and added in almond meal and flax seeds. (1/2 cup meal replaced 1/2 cup mix) The flax seeds were whole but I did add in 1/4 cup ground flax with added water to allow for the mix to stick together better. I thought the almond meal would cause the mix to fall apart in the cooking process.  I also tossed in about 1/4 dark chocolate chips.

Everyone loved the waffles and the added ingredients were a hit! This mix seems to be very versatile and cooks exactly like the original bisquick does. Have you tried it yet?

Here is a little clip from WebMD covering the benefits of flax seeds:

Some call it one of the most powerful plant foods on the planet. There’s some evidence it can help reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. That’s quite a tall order for a tiny seed that’s been around for centuries: flaxseed.

Flaxseed was cultivated in Babylon as early as 3000 BC, according to the Flax Council of Canada. By the 8^th century, King Charlemagne believed so strongly in the health benefits of flaxseed that he passed laws requiring his subjects to consume it. Fast-forward 13 centuries, and some experts would say we have preliminary research to back up what Charlemagne suspected all those years ago.

These days, flaxseed is found in all kinds of foods, from crackers to frozen waffles to oatmeal. In the first 11 months of 2006, 75 new products were launched that listed flax or flaxseed as an ingredient. Not only has consumer demand for flaxseed gone up, agricultural use has also increased — to feed all those chickens laying eggs that are higher in omega-3 fatty acids.

Although flaxseed contains all sorts of healthy components, it owes its healthy reputation primarily to three ingredients:

• Omega-3 essential fatty acids, “good” fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects. Each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s.
• Lignans, which have both plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities. Flaxseed contains 75- 800 times more lignans than other plant foods

I love to go out for ethnic dishes–Thai, Indian, heck anything but hot dogs and apple pie intrigue my palette. I don’t like the exorbitant prices of these ethnic places. Since I live in rural NH it is not a common place to find different country fares represented–so we have to pay more for them. I mentioned in my early entry the cookbooks I received for the holidays–this recipe came out of a really neat book my husband gave me. (Of course I adapted the recipe to represent Squeaky Gourmet–pssh!) The Gluten-Free Good Health Cookbook: The Delicious Way to Strengthen Your Immune System and Neutralize Inflammation. This book has a lot of information about the PH balance of the body and how to neutralize your system–I prefer to not be neutral–it sounds scary. She has a lot of  tips and advice that, frankly, I do not buy into but she has her PhD and I do not–so what do I know?

So without further adieu:

Thai Chicken
serves just me or a dinner party of 4

2 TBL Evoo
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, chunked up
14 ounces coconut milk–**I did use the light, it made no difference in flavor or texture
4 TBL red curry paste (look in your ethnic food isle at the market–I used the hot paste WOOO!!)
3 TBL fish sauce
1 TBL brown sugar
1 TBL fresh basil chopped fine
1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high and add the chicken, cooking until brown. Add the coconut milk and curry paste and mix it all up. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the fish sauce, sugar and basil–cook for about 5 minutes. Remive from heat and stir in the cilantro–I served mine over sticky rice. When I ate it I fell in love.

Don’t forget if you want to get more healthy recipes into your kitchen and sneak the goodness past the mouths of your kids–try our very own cookbook!

Warm the body and cleanse the soul!

Well–finally the holiday season is over. Can we get a collective sigh of relief as we loosen the belt and adjust to our expanded waistlines? I ate, laughed, drank, ate, danced, ate, celebrated family and ate–and ate–did I mention I ate a lot? We had prime rib roasts, gourmet once a year chocolates and wine, mixed drinks–oh man the foods we had!  What did you have? Leave a comment telling us all what your favorite holiday eats were.

Now that they are over–oh my the clean up I have to do with my body. Yeah, the house too but mostly the body. I like to just eat what i want during the winter break and then clean myself up after. I like to think it is the way we are designed to eat–feast or famine, right? No, I am not in a famine state–forbid someone in a profession of health and wellness to advocate famine–I can just imagine the emails on that mention alone! I just like to return to a healthier meal plan of fruits, nuts, legumes and veggies veggies veggies! Oh and hot lemon water–yes please! I am lucky enough to be the recipient of several cookbooks over the holidays as well–all catering to my healthy desires-WOOT! Last nights dinner was based off  a beautiful vegetarian cookbook given to me by a family friend (Thanks Christine!). The book is Good Housekeeping: Vegetarian Meals: Meatless Recipes Everyone Will Love (Good Housekeeping Cookbooks) and I adapted this recipe from the Vegetarian lentil Stew on page 22. I want to also mention WHAT A BORING NAME!?!? This was such a wonderful meal–I can’t wait to have the left overs today for lunch even! The cookbook calls for lentil soup in a can but I can’t find many soups in a can that do not contain gluten so I always make my own. It took all of maybe 2 hours to cook–hands off cooking. The taste was so fresh and alarming with the curry paste and squash. The apple added a subtle sweetness that was a perfect pair to the heat of the curry. The colors were beautiful and appetizing–you will really love this recipe!

Curried Lentil Stew
serves 8 generous bowls

1 1/2 cups yellow lentils
4 cups vegetable broth
4 cups peeled and diced butternut squassh
3 large tbsl red curry paste (pick your own heat)
10 ounces raw spinach
1 large apple
2 teaspoons diced ginger ( I do not peel mine)
2 cloves diced garlic cloves

In a large soup pan add lentils,broth and curry paste–allow to cook for about 2 hours on medium heat. Add in the remaining ingredients except the spinach and cook for another 30 minutes or until the squash is tender–then add the fresh spinach and stir. Once the spinach has cooked down you can serve and eat.  Really–yes it was that simple–crazy I know.

Calories per serving- 190
Protein-9 grams
Carbohydrates- 34 grams
Fat-4 grams

Hey why not check out more of our recipes in our top selling book on Amazon.com!

It is that time of year again–no, not holiday time or shopping time or fattening up the middle time–it is germ time. Sniffles, sneezes and coughs abound when the weather chills. I am not sure if the schools even teach hand washing anymore and I am overwhelmed with the requests for hand sanitizer in the classrooms etc. I send in tissues instead–hand sanitizer won’t be the solution for not washing hands, come on people!

With the colds comes the desire for soups–I love soups, all soups–well so far all the soups I have tried, I am sure Bizarre Foods show will have a few soups that I would leave the table before sipping.  Here is a warm sweet classic vegetarian lactose free soup that you can serve up to the sick little vegan in your own home! ♥

Butternut Squash Soup

2 T olive oil

1 Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded and diced

1 onion chopped

4 stalks celery chopped

2 medium potatoes diced

32 oz veg or low sodium vegetable stock

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cloves garlic chopped

1 t paprika

2 t cumin

In a large soup pot on medium low heat, add the oil, onion,  squash and stock.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the squash is soft when you stab it with a fork.  I then use an immersion blender and make the squash smooth and creamy.  Now add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the potatoes are fork tender.  If you want the soup to be a little thinner, add more stock or water a little at a time.  I like the chunks in the soup but if you want it to be all smooth and creamy just wait to do the blending until the end.

Enjoy.

a warm healthy comfort meal

A lot of our readers know my dilemma for finding a vegetarian gluten free meal that my entire family will enjoy–not just eat but enjoy. Meal time should be about the love of the family as well as the food that is shared.  We want to know that what we are feeding our spouses, guests, children etc will not damage their body but encourage whole health–body and mind. Well, one night I was stumbling around Foodbuzz and was reading vegetarian meals I wanted to try. The Picky Eater: A Healthy Food Blog is the final blog I rested on when I found this recipe for Spiced Indian Chili-Rajma.  You should really look over that blog, too, what a great resource for recipes and ideas!

So, with that recipe in mind I began my own creation of Rajma–it was so deliscious  I have made it twice more since the first time.

Rajam
16 ounces canned diced tomato
16 ounces Red Kidney beans–drained
1 large onion diced
1 large red pepper diced
1 tbls minced fresh ginger root
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp Garam Masala
Chili powder to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Add all ingredients aside from the cilantro to a 8 quart pan and cook medium heat  until the onions and peppers are soft –stirring to prevent burning of course. Add in the cilantro and heat through.

See how EASY this recipe is?  It has so much flavor and really is now one of my favorite dishes! I pictured it here served with a dollop of Greek yogurt for those who want a creamier dish.  It is an excellent dish reheated so make extra!

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Can't you just feel the warm oven and smell the medley of vanilla and spices?

I have loved granolas ever since i was a little girl and my mom would buy those small boxes of thick cluster granola with dried up raisins and nuts in them. Old school granola, loaded in calories, sugars and wonderment! I think the caloric value was integral to the mountain climbing crowd that it was marketed towards–but i loved it–despite keeping my feet at sea level.  Love it!  For my own family I like to create a less saturated fat granola–you know one that is actually good for you.

Here is a great recipe that you can make and eat right away, or spoon over yogurt, pack into snack bags for school or even sprinkle onto a bowl of fruit.  It also makes great holiday gifts packed up for teachers or loved ones!

Cranberry Orange Granola

¾ c orange juice
1/3 c honey
2 T canola oil
2 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla
2 t orange zest
2 c old fashioned oats
1 c dried cranberries
½ c coconut
½ c chopped almonds

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Combine juice and honey and stir until the honey dissolves.  Add all of the spices to the liquid and mix.  Combine all of the remaining ingredients in a large bowl then dump liquid and stir  to evenly coat mixture.  Let the mix stand for 10-15 minutes to absorb the liquid.  Place on a greased or foil lined cookie sheet with a lip around it and cook for approximately 25 minutes or until the oats have started to brown a little.  Stir every 5 minutes or so.

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A perfect warm dish on a cool fall day

I love a hearty stew in the fall. I love all the rich flavors of the fall harvest, too. Carrots, squashes–heck I want to curl up inside a cornucopia and marvel at the fall wonders.  When I think of winter squashes and hot stews I want to draw hearts on paper with the names of each dish they can create. Comfort, warmth, excitement of the seasons cool nights, crunching leaves–the bright open night sky with the stars spilling across the entire view like vibrant beacons of sparkling hope.  I love Autumn!  This dish is a great accompaniment for the mood of the season. Rich, soothing  velvety and crisp!

I used boneless skinless thigh meat in this recipe because, let’s face it, that is where the flavor is. Sure we run off and purchase chicken breast in bulk now for most recipes but in a hearty dish like this–use the thigh! The heavy cream–just a bit–ensures it will hold up with the vinegar and not curdle or do anything else in the stew you do not want it to do. Fully fat creams behave well in this recipe–and it is just a splash–or two.

Creamy Chicken Stew
(adapted from Eating Well October 2010)
serves 6
1 pound brushed clean mushroom caps
1/2 cup diced sweet onion like Vidalia or Wala
1 cup chopped white and orange carrots
1 cup fresh peas
1/4 cup water
3 cups chicken broth
2lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into bite size pieces
1 Large spring fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
4 tbls cider vinegar
2 tbls corn starch
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tbls Olive Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Combined mushrooms , onions , olive oil and 1/4 cup water to a 6 quart dutch oven. Cover and cook over high heat stirring often until the mushrooms are juicy –about 6 minutes. Remove cover and cook for another 10 minutes–browning the mushrooms. Add 2 cups broth, carrots, rosemary, and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Cover the entire soup with the chicken thighs and sprinkle the cider vinegar over the meat. Lower heat to simmer and cook for 45 more minutes. Mix the cornstarch with the remaining cup of chicken broth add in the cream. Pour the mixture into the cooking soup and stir until thickened, add the fresh peas and heat for another 20 minutes. Serve warm in large baked squash bowls.

Calories per 1 cup serving: 319
Fat: 15 grams
Carbohydrates: 17 grams
Protein:31 grams

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