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!

Comfort Food American Style

This final version is more like a loaded potato with very little calories of course. Normal mashed potatoes that are “loaded” usually have 400+ calories per serving, cauliflower “potato” has just 50 calories per serving. What!?!? Yeah–50.

Smashed Faux-tato

4 cups cooked cauliflower
1 cup no fat greek yogurt or sour cream
1 clove garlic
4 tbls diced scallions
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste.

Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend until you like the texture.

Yeah–it’s that simple.

Like this recipe? Why not check out more of our recipes in our book “Squeaky Gourmet Simple. Clean. Food” !

On evening I decided I would “google” some weight loss transformations and just read up on things a bit. Do you KNOW how many there are? I saw links to every diet idea there could be. I saw articles for success with pictures of what seemed like miracles to plastic surgery.

I also saw those people; those certain individuals who one day woke up and said ” I will not be held prisoner by this weight any longer” and they changed themselves completely. They went from being depressed, tired and lonely individuals to super hero’s. They had web sites that would light a fire under most people. How did they do it? How did they manage to lose 50, 80 and some even more than 100 pounds? What is the secret they have that millions around the world ache for yet are failing to reach? Did they find a magic bullet; some sort of subliminal trigger that others can’t grasp?

We flip on the TV and 2 out of 5 commercials are for a new weight loss program; pill, procedure, drink, injection etc. It is a multi-billion dollar industry. Science is constantly looking for a gene to blame; a cure for obesity as if it were cancer or some other deadly occurrence to the body. Obesity does kill, but it is a preventable killer in which the cure lies in “eating right and working out” So, again, why are people missing this? Why are other people finding it? Science and western society want an easy answer; clapping their hands or snapping their fingers and POOF a thin lean body. I am glad it is not that easy; now anyway.

Once a person reaches a point of deciding to do something, well, the world is theirs to have. Once they wrap their mind around a concept of weight loss, choose a wellness program to follow etc they do find it IS EASY. Want me to reword that? OK!

For the average person, let’s presume you are an average person…..it is easy to walk. Little thought goes into walking, right? You want to get to a certain point so you get up and walk there. You do not have to say ok, left leg first, ok good, now the right leg and so forth. It wasn’t always this way; we had to learn to walk. Sure, I know we do not remember the determination we had around 1 year of age, but it was there. How about talking, learning to read, algebra? (ok I am still working on the Algebra one) driving, cooking, writing etc.  You can see where I am going right? Everything thing we learned to do in our life took determination, practice and learning from mistakes in order to master a skill. This is all it takes. It takes a want or a desire to really and truly be fit and healthy.

If you are not making steps to be thin and be healthy then you just do not want to be thin and healthy bad enough. You can say you have a genetic make up which makes it harder, an illness which makes it to difficult etc but all it takes is a want which is bigger than those things. Google it, I dare you. You will see so many people over come so many physical odds and illness, finding their own way to fitness.

It won’t be over night, it will be trial and error discovering what works best for your body for weight loss.

It will be a journey of discovery and adventure.

It will teach you more about yourself than you already knew.

There is a super hero inside of you, there really is.

All you have to do is let it out.

You ready?

yeah--that's right--chicken balls!

Ok this is more of an idea than a recipe for all you people who are still–STILL–wondering what to do with all that chicken breast you have in the fridge. You will need a food processor,magic bullet or just ask your favorite neighborhood butcher to grind it for you.

Here is what I did with my ground up chicken breast: I added some red curry paste, garlic powder, turmeric, onion powder, cumin, fish sauce and sea salt. I mixed it all up and let it sit and marinate in the spices for about a half hour. Then I took an egg and cracked it open in a bowl and beat it up *flex flex* in another bowl I added some potato starch. I then removed all my bling rings from my fingers, washed my hands and formed meat balls with the chicken mix–then rolled the ball in the egg and next the potato flour. Let those sit for a few minutes to really have the egg and potato flour introduce themselves to one another.

raw poultry balls

Here they are getting acquainted while the skillet warmed up on medium high heat. I sprayed the pan with some olive oil cooking spray, enough to just prevent them from sticking–and as the can says–add a trivial amount of fat to the dish. Trivial!~

I put about 8 balls in the pan at a time, making sure not to crowd them or cool down the skillet at all. I then covered the pan and let them cook like that for about 5 minutes–then i turned them and let them brown on all sides–uncovered–for about another 5-7 minutes.  the key with this is to get them potato starch to brown up and give it a crisp outer shell to make us think it is fried food. Pretty tricky, Sis!

These passed the taste test with all the kids and the husband, and this is straight up strict diet food here!
See , they look like cheat food and they taste wonderful!  You can add any seasoning mix you would like, garlic, onion and some smoke flavor would be excellent as well!

If you are opposed to chicken balls you can do the same batter and omit the coating. Fit the chicken with your hand onto skewers and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Chicken on a stick! I used the same seasoning and then squeezed lemon juice on them when done. Also super delicious! So–once again rethink your chicken breasts!  These would be great to have as party foods, too!

Everything tastes better on a stick!

So, after flipping through some magazines I found a spaghetti frittata idea in the September edition of Health. As an aside–I hate getting a September magazine at the end of July–right now I am getting thanksgiving articles in the magazines -in the month of September magazines are encouraging me to baste the tofurkey bird and unleash the fresh cranberries.  In the words of Paul Simon “slow down you move too fast”. Anyway this recipe was about less costly meals that are healthy enough to actually prepare and share versus the mac and cheese mass produced- costs 10 cents a pound junk that most of us think of when we think of feeding a crowd for less money.I wanted to give this recipe idea a run–Spaghetti Fritatta, eh?  I needed to omit the pasta from the recipe because of the gluten and really the whole idea of spaghetti does not fit in with the level of carbohydrates we want to eat right now. I then thought that spaghetti squash would be a fun substitute to try in the recipe. Spaghetti squash is in season right now and the farm stand is over flowing with it ; since it is only 50 cents a pound it is less pricey than cheap pasta–win, win! i also picked up a ton of other veggies to toss into the mix and of course a dozen of some farm fresh local eggs. Yeah Baby!

Spaghetti Casserole
serves 4

4 cups  cooked spaghetti squash
4 large fresh eggs
1 large red bell pepper diced
1 medium hot pepper diced and seeded
3 cloves minced garlic
1 whole tomato sliced thin
1 large sweet onion diced
3 cups chopped broccoli florets
1 handful fresh basil crushed and chopped
1 spring fresh rosemary diced fine
2 generous pinches sea salt
1 tblspn Olive Oil

Optional Topping –1/4 cup cheddar cheese–shredded

Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix well. Set in the fridge for at least an hour to marinate and allow the flavors to meld. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil a 9×9 baking dish. Add the marinated raw casserole to the pan and bake for 40 minutes or until the dish is set.  Serve hot.

Other good ideas:

–make a large batch and store for easy lunch grab and goes
–add in chopped bacon or ham
–go heavy on the additional vegetables

Calories Per Serving: 227
Fat: 11 grams
Carbohydrate: 24 grams
Fiber: 5 grams
Protein: 11 grams

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

Right now Basil is spilling out of my herb garden with it’s bright green leaves just begging me to make something with it–anything with it!  This is one of my most favorite fresh herbs to use in most dishes and dressings this time of year. It has such a fresh, clean  and wholesome flavor to it. This particular dish is a light and flavorful summer meal that will leave you experiencing the full feeling of summer and health.  You will love it! The smell of the pork cooking is so enticing, the fresh herbs, the lemon and garlic all dancing together in harmony–tantalizing your taste buds without adding to your waistline! Such a simple dish to prepare–but when you taste it  you will be taken away by the medley of flavors. This is not just your basic “other white meat” recipe.

Herb Infused Pork

1 1/2 lbs pork loin fat removed and sliced thin
4 cloves fresh garlic
1 handful fresh basil
1 handful fresh cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon lemon
1 tablespoon basil olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3 generous pinches sea salt

In a food processor or blender add all ingredients but the pork loin. Blend completely. In a mixing bowl add the sliced pork and pour over it the herb marinade–toss until the pork is completely coated. Allow this to sit for at least 30 minutes. I usually marinate mine while preparing the salad and the sautéed veggies that go so well with this dish.

heat a cast iron skillet lightly coated with oil on medium high heat–add pork loin pieces one at a time not crowding them in the pan. You want to sear this pork–too many pieces in the pan will cool off the surface and let more moisture escape from the pork than you want.  Continue this method until all the pork is cooked–it is about 3 minutes each side.

to keep the meal light and easy to digest in the summer heat serve over some summer fresh sautéed vegetables–here it is pictured with various peppers, onions and mushrooms and a field greens side salad.

I love this time of year in the garden–well in the miraculous growth in my yard, really. I am not an avid gardener like other people are–I compost and stir the land and then scatter seeds and wait and hope the earth will allow it all to grow. I am not the organized boxed Gardner like I want to be–rather, I look and see the ripe rich green of the natural flora of my yard and hope the seeds I scatter will follow suit.  Some do–some do not. I do not mind that some do not grow because I get over joyed with the ones that DO!

Right now I have some wonderful sage, coriander, tarragon and oregano overflowing the garden edges and seducing the air with their textured leaves and sultry green life forces. I love to just pluck a leaf or two off each one and rub them together in my hand and just inhale the fragrance of them. They smell like nature, rain fall on a hot summer night, healing and sustenance–they smell like life.  The fresh herbs do not lose any flavor in the food you add it to, cooked or raw. They dance around the dish touching it all lightly with their own voice. How can I not cook with them?

I had some chicken breast in the fridge and some new quinoa in the cupboard and they each seem to go perfectly with the fresh herbs I grabbed from the garden. Even though the settings were off on the camera ( I really need to learn how to USE this camera of mine!) I had to share the images and the recipe is really a must try. If you do not have the herbs growing in your yard–hop the fence of the neighbors and see if they do. If they also do not, consider listing your house and relocating as well as checking your local farmer markets for samples of what other people may be growing. I would also ask for some sprouts to plant since you will fall in love with this combination  and will be in dire need for more.

Quinoa Chicken Salad with Garden Fresh Herbs

serves 4

1 pound raw boneless skinless chicken breast-cubed
1 cup rinsed raw quionoa
2 cups vegetable broth
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tbls fresh lemon juice
2 whole fresh scallions
1 green bell pepper
1 handful each tarragon, sage, coriander, oregano

Place raw chicken in a bowl, add to it 2 teaspoons sea salt and cover with ice water–set aside.  Cook quinoa in the vegetable broth for about 15 minutes or until all the broth is absorbed into this magic little seed. Set quinoa in the fridge and allow to cool.  To prepare the herbs, rinse them with cold water and remove leaves from the stems. You easily remove the leaves by holding the stem upside down in your hand and then just pinch the stem between your thumb and pointer finger of your other hand and gently slide your pinched fingers down the stem–the leaves come right off.

Next heat a non-stick skillet on medium high heat–add in chicken and herbs. Cook chicken all the way through while stirring to prevent burning. Even with the raw meat, look how fantastic the herbs look–trying to restore life to the meat!

Once the chicken is cooked through add in the fresh lemon juice and remove from heat. While the chicken is still warm dice the peppers and scallion and stir into the chicken.  Stir in cooled quinoa and store in the fridge until the entire dish is chilled. Serve on a bed of cucumbers and enjoy!

Other Good Ideas:

–add different spices, anything you can think of!
–make extra and bring to a summer picnic
–add in some mango and use lime juice