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!

Will you scream?

“What is your favorite healthy food ingredient?“– I am asked this question a lot.  I answer “avocado” automatically, no thought goes into my response at all because I know the question so well. 9 out of 10 times I hear about how the inquisitor does not like avocado at all as they recant a story of the worst guacamole they ever tried, the terrible texture etc. Honestly, I rarely give listen to the response–because the ones who do not like avocado are the ones who have never really had an avocado aside from some store bought pseudo food product green in color with the word avocado written on the label. I am sick of the reputation this wonder food has! I  can never find anything negative to say about this food–it works in almost any dish, from dessert to main course and anything in between. (Yes, dessert THEN the main course, those are the rules!) I have been known to open the fridge, grab an avocado, peel it and eat it as it. I don’t care–I am wild like that–the avocado and I are wild like that when we are together!

So, reading food blogs about ice cream I got to thinking about how wonderful a coconut milk and avocado ice cream would be. Could you imagine? The idea in my mind was just perfect, so smooth,complimenting and sweet. Both tree fruits ( I declare them tree fruits) can fit in any dish–I bet I could even put them in a pasta meal without you even noticing!  My only drawback was I did not have an ice cream maker–till now. (insert maniacal laughter once again)

Today we created a sugar free (meaning no added sweetener of any kind) dairy free ice cream. We did it and I will do it again!

Cherry Coconut Ice Cream
makes 6 scoops

1 whole avocado peeled and pitted
10 ounces coconut milk
1/4 cup frozen cherries (or fresh)
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a blender or food processor combined all ingredients aside from the chocolate and the cherries. Blend well and add to your ice cream maker. Follow your ice cream makers instructions on when to put in the add ins.

Now on a lot of the blogs i was noting that their ice cream was melting as they were taking pictures so I put my ice cream in the freezer to really set firm before I served it.

The texture was smooth like the butter fat types of ice cream you get here in New England. It was a lot like Ben n Jerry’s Cherry Garcia in fact.  the almond extract complimented the frozen cherries really bringing out the flavor of the fruit. No sugar is even needed in this, the chocolate, the natural sweetness of the coconut milk and the cherries was perfect.  This is a great treat for the entire family to try! I cannot wait now to try out more ice cream recipes–tamarind ice cream perhaps?

Blogs I looked at for ice cream were:

• Dokuzuncubulut
• Kitchen Heals Soul

Cool off your summer days with Sorbet!

Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet

1.5 lbs fresh strawberries, trimmed
½ c lemon juice
¾ c water
½ c sugar- or less if your fruit is really sweet

Puree the berries and juice together in a food processor or blender.  Place the water and the sugar in a microwave safe dish and heat for a minute and a half and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Once the sugar is dissolved, cool the mix in the fridge or add a few ice cubes to it.  Now add the sugar syrup to the berries and blend well.  Chill.  Now you have to follow the directions for your ice cream maker.  I added my fruit mix to the maker, surrounded the container with ice, turned it on and had a luscious sorbet in 30 minutes.

Jamie Wilson

How easy is this? How much better for you is this as well?  Clean eating ROCKS!

Now, consider my garden, as I mentioned in previous posts–it is just a hodgepodge of plants all swirling around and under one another hoping for the best spot in the sun and in the earth.  Well, I have beans growing there! Right near my unnamed squash plant and behind the other mystery plant–I had green beans, wax beans and burgundy beans. The burgundy ones are beautiful  and not pictured here because small children and even smaller bugs also enjoy the flavor and color of this garden harvest!  I did manage to save a large amount of wax beans and decided to give them a toss in a pan to see if I can reasonably recreate the bean dish my sweet husband likes so much.

So, first thing I considered is the beans are crisp and not all flippy-flop when you eat them but they are cooked through so–they must be blanched I concluded in another kitchen genius moment. So, I set up the water to boil, snapped the tops and ends off the beans and prepared the ice bath for the heated yellow veggies.

If you have not blanched a bean–let me walk you through it because it is super easy and weird.

Set up a pan of boiling water and a separate pan filled with ice water.  Add the beans to the rapidly boiling water and boil for 3 minutes, set a timer stand by the stove and let your mind wander for 3 minutes.

Bean ice baths are not as controversial as they look

Once the timer goes off and you fade back into the kitchen activity and away from the daydream, use a large slotted spoon to toss the beans right into the ice bath. This will make them talk!  Let them sit in the ice bath for about 1-2 minutes–you want them to completely stop cooking.  While they were cooling off I set a cast iron skillet on medium high heat and added a slab of butter and let that melt, sizzle and turn slightly brown.  Drain your beans in a colander to completely remove the excess water on the outside of them. Prevents you being burned when you drop these babies into the hot pan.

In the now hot skillet I added a shaved garlic clove–this means I sliced it super thin, my garden does not grow hairy garlic–does yours? I want to see it!  Once the lovely scent of that garlic hits your nose add in the beans and toss to cover them in the butter and garlic.  I tossed them in this for another 3 minutes then removed from the heat, stirred in some sesame seeds and a generous pinch of sea salt and served them up.

Easy Summer meal

I paired the beans with a juicy turkey breast burger as shown.

So, the conclusion my husband had for the closeness or the Chinese restaurant hidden calorie beans and these were– “These almost taste like the ones at the Chinese food place!”   I win!

Really, this is such a simple recipe and so easy to do and was really super yummy. My son’s girlfriend was over when I was making them and I forced one on her as well and she really liked them. So, this garden to table dish is husband and teenager approved!

This post is also being shared on Real Food Wednesdays-click to see more Real Foods!

It is officially fall–leaves are changing, weather is cooling down and the days are shorter. So, to celebrate, lets bake some cookies! Apple spice cookies with oatmeal just screams fall to me, really I can hear it, can’t you? Oh, and of course these are gluten free!!

Apple Spice Cookies
1 dozen
1/4 cup fresh butter
2 cups fresh apple sauce
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup raw sugar

1 cup GF flour mix*
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbls orange zest

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a cookie sheet. In a bowl add all the wet ingredients and blend using an electric mixer until the mixture is fully blended. In a separate bowl add all the dry ingredients together and mix well. Slowly add the dry mix to the wet mix blending on medium speed until it is all the dry is added and well mixed.
Place large spoon fulls on cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until the edges are browned.

* you can use whole wheat flour if you do not need gluten free cookies

Other Good Ideas:
–add in nuts
–add in dried fruit
–make extra because these are really good

Calories per Cookie- 164
Fat- 5 grams
Carbohydrate- 26 grams
Fiber- 3 grams
Protein- 4 grams

Check out More Real food!

Kohlrabi Quick Pickles

3-4 peeled and sliced kohlrabi

2 t pickling salt

Combine the kohlrabi and the salt in a bowl and let sit out for 1 hour. Now drain and put in a quart jar or something similar.

In a small pot combine-

1 c water

1 c seasoned rice wine vinegar

3 t chopped garlic

Zest from 1 lemon

2 T sugar

1 t coarse ground black pepper

½ t crushed red pepper flakes

1 small slice peeled fresh ginger

Bring to a boil and then pour over the drained vegetables. Let cool then refrigerate for 3 days before serving. These will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. These are crunchy, fresh and gingery.

Though in my desire to open the door of gluten free possibilities to my daughter I decided –Why Not, let’s give this brownie a go!

Black Brownie
serves 12
modified from Whole Foods Black Bean Brownie
15 ounces canned black beans-rinsed and drained
3 eggs
3 tbl butter-melted
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 raw sugar
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 8×8 pan.Blend beans into a paste using a blender or food processor. Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour brownie batter into pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the sides start to pull away from the pan.

Family feed back: My husband thinks he hates black beans, he tasted the brownie and said they were very good, rich in texture and he asked me if the secret ingredient was coffee. However, the coffee in this is no secret! The taste to me was like those \dark chocolate covered espresso beans you can get in gourmet candy stores. For me the flavor was a good combination because I do not like chocolate but I love coffee which made them tolerable for me.
My children who love chocolate were asked to rate the brownies by a 5 star rating system–one declared 19,000 stars–but she really loves chocolate. The other children all gave the brownies 4 stars.

You cannot taste the bean in this at all–but they add a texture which pleases the palate much like dove chocolate does. These are a rich dessert with some added fiber.

Calories per brownie-146
Fa- 6 grams
Carbohydrate- 18 grams
Fiber- 2 grams
Protein- 4 grams

Other good ideas:
– shave off some calories and substitute butter for applesauce
– cut sugar in half by using stevia
– serve hot with a tablespoon of peanut butter and sliced bananas

Zucchini Banana Bites
makes 12 small muffins
1 cup oat flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1 large egg
5 large egg whites
1 medium banana-mashed
3/4 cup shredded zucchini
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray your Muffin pan with non-stick spray. Add all the ingredients to the mixer and blend thoroughly. Fill each muffin tin about 2/3 full and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Other Good Ideas-
–use pumpkin instead of banana
–add in raisins or other dried fruits
–add in walnuts

These are so good and so easy to prepare you can make them ahead of time and freeze for the winter snacks. Also makes an excellent zucchini loaf!

Calories Per Muffin- 60
Carbohydrates- 9 grams
Fat- 1 gram
Protein- 4 grams

I was actually an adult before I had a rice crispy treat. My mother was a lentil bean feeding hippie throw back when I was little. We did not have a lot of the junk food treats like Twinkies, ho hos or rice crispy treats. Different world out there today, less people prepare their kids snacks and more people purchase fast food. When I pack my kids lunches I always wonder if they will be looking over at what the other kids are eating and wish they could have it, too. I know I did, no one when they are little likes to be left out. Though–a lot of school peers loved to trade some of their food for my mothers Zucchini muffins–bonus for me!

Anyway, school is about to begin here in NH and with the foods schools are offering I try to make sure I have a variety of healthier choices at home to be packed into the lunch pail. This week we tried out some gluten free organic rice cakes. Now, I will admit just because it is organic does not make it healthy for the body. What it does do though is provide a better advantage to the body in processing the foods and allocating the nutrients to where they belong. our body is not looking at the artificially created food product and wondering just what the heck it should do with it. So–this is a good reason to even make treats organic. In this recipe we include the fats of peanut butter to fill the child up longer and of course help they remain focused at school. Slow down that food fuse to allow for a nice burn rather than an energy surge and a crash of fatigue 60 minutes after snack. I also used brown puffed rice cereal since it is gluten free and has more fiber.

Puffed Rice Bars
serves 16
3 cups Organic Puffed Rice Cereal
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
8 marshmallows OR 1/4 cup Marshmallow Fluff
1/2 cup raisins
1 ounce dark chocolate

Combined peanut butter and marshmallows and heat in a microwave for 2 minutes. Stir the mixture until smooth–you want to make sure the marshmallow has melted and melded with the peanut butter. Then add in the puffed rice and raisins–blending so the cereal is coated. When I did this it did not look at all like it would form bars, it looked like the cereal was barely coated at all but when you press this into your pan it will stick wonderfully–trust me!
So–press firmly into a pie plate or a 9×9 baking dish. Melt the chocolate in the microwave and spread evenly on top of the newly created treat and cut into even pieces before the chocolate cools. I made palm sized pieces, or 1.5″x1.5″ which ended up being about 100 calories each.
My kids devoured these….DEVOURED–so I plan on making them on Sundays and quickly putting them into containers for the lunch bags so they won’t be gone by Monday.

Per Serving
Calories- 98
Fat- 4 grams
Carbohydrates- 13 grams
Protein- 3 grams