A Neat Recipe Resource

I have been trying to get back to eating healthier again, whole grains, less processed foods, etc... I came across this link recently and thought I'd share it with you. They have all sorts of healthy recipes broken down into categories such as "Vegetarian" "Kid Friendly" and more.

Check it out and see what you think. I have learned from similar recipes many items can easily be replaced with similar ones based on your preferences or availability. For example many of the snack recipes call or "Organic" Chocolate or Carob, which I prefer either, but right now my budget doesn't allow for that, so I just substitute with good ol Hershey's. But to be sure we are making some improvements to our diet, I make every effort to use whole grains or Sucanut rather than sugar.

There are lots of great recipes there, many of them are fairly easy to make and quite affordable if you buy grains and such in bulk or know when and how to substitute the more expensive items.

Cheap and Healthy....Beans!(yummy too!)

With food prices continuing to rise it seems more and more of us are "beans and ricing" it. I don't mind in the least as beans are pretty common fare for us being vegetarians. You can't go wrong with dried beans at $.59 to $1.00 or so a pound you can really make them stretch!

One of my favorite Bean and Rice recipes is this one:

Red Beans and Rice

2 cups dried small red beans(or regular dried kidney's)

4 cups boiling water

6 cups veggie broth or chicken broth

1 bay leaf

1 large onion diced

2 stalks celery diced

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp olive oil

1 can diced tomatoes with juice

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

I soak the beans in the morning in the crockpot. In the evening I drain and rinse and add back to the crockpot adding the water and broth. I cook on low overnight. In the morning I saute the onion and garlic in olive oil and add to the beans. I also add the remaining ingredients and cook on low all day.

This even taste better the next day as left overs after all the flavor of the seasonings mix in!

If you're a meat eating family, you could add in some ham for a nice flavor!

When ready to eat just serve with white or brown rice in bowls. A good crusty bread or corn bread goes great with this. I like to round it out with a salad on the side.

These freeze well if you have left overs!

Next time I will share a quick and easy recipe for a casserole dish using canned beans!

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

I didn't realize in my last post that I gave a recipe for the muffins that I had already given a recipe for just in the previous post! Oops!

So to make up for it, here's one of my other very favorite cookie recipes:

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

1 1/2 cups melted butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour( I use bread flour in all my cookie recipes, but you can use regular)

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

I mix the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla together first, then add dry ingrediants. Drop by spoonfulls onto cookie sheets(I spray with olive spray or pam)

cook for 8-10 minutes in preheated oven at 350.

Like the peanut butter cookies in the previous recipe, the secret to these is timing. If you overcook they will be crispy. They should look undercooked when you take them out, just starting to brown at the edges. They puff while baking and flatten as they cool. Store in ziplock bags or wrap with plastic wrap immediatly after cooling or they will get crispy. These are chewy like fudge brownies, and oh so yummy!

Cookies and Muffins

These are actually recipes I posted on my other blog some time back, but they are family favorites so I thought I would share them here as well. The only drawback to these is that it is summer, and these require the oven, but they are so good it is just about worth working up a sweat to have them! If it weren't from these cookies, I'd still be a size 2!!

Peanut Butter Cookies

INGREDIENTS:1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened1/2 cup chunky or smooth peanut butter1/2 cup granulated sugar1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed1 egg1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour1/2 teaspoon baking powder1/2 teaspoon baking soda1/4 teaspoon salt

PREPARATION:Preheat oven to 375°.Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars until light. Add the egg and mix until fluffy.Blend the flour, baking powder, soda and salt together well. Add these dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 375°.
The secret to these is the timing. If you cook them even minutes too long they end up crispy rather than chewy, yet if you don't cook long enough they fall apart. Ten minutes seems just about right. When the edges just start to turn golden, pull them out! YUMMY!!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 cup canned pumkin
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup canola oil
2 tbls ground flaxseed
1 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cup flour
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup chocolate chips
mix together and pour batter into grease muffin pan. Top with cinnamon/sugar mixture(3/4 cup sugar and 2tsp Cinnamon, save left overs for the next few times!)
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Delicious!

Breakfast Ideas...

Breakfast can be a hard one, unless you're satisfied with boxed cearl and willing to pay the high price per box. I do occasionally get cearl for a very good price(60 cents to a buck a box!) with sales and coupons, and stock up as much as I can we I can find those deals. With a family of six, even 10-20 boxes doesn't last long, we can easily go through a box a day, and more often than not two boxes! OUCH!!

Cearl can also get quite boring after a while, and in most cases cearl is highly processed, loaded with sugar and not very healthy.

So what's a mom to do? I take the same approach with breakfast as I do with pre-made frozen lunches. I make large quantities of pancakes, muffins, rolls, and breakfast sandwiches and freeze them. Then the kids can just help themselves to what they like in the morning.

Our favorite pancake recipe is this one:
2 eggs
2-1/2 cups buttermilk(I use regular milk with 2-1/2 tbls vinegar)
1 tsp baking soda
2-1/2 cup flour
2 tsp sugar
4tsp veggie oil
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

I usually double or triple the recipe and mix it all together and cook them all and freeze the extras in individual servings. These are also good to make the batter and store in a container to take camping!!

I will also make large batches of a variety of muffins and sweet breads to freeze. On of my favorites is Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins:


1 cup canned pumpkin

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup canola oil

2 tbls ground flaxseed

1 tsp vanilla

1 2/3 cup flour

1 1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 cup chocolate chips

mix together and pour batter into grease muffin pan. Top with cinnamon/sugar mixture(3/4 cup sugar and 2tsp Cinnamon, save left overs for the next few times!)

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Delicious

Not the least expensive option, but one of our favorites are breakfast sandwiches. You can use biscuits(home-made or store bought), bagels, or English muffins.

On each stack with cheese slices, meat or veggie sausages and eggs. I freeze these in individual servings as well.

It takes a little work to make such large batches all at once, but it is worth it to have ready made items on hand when the kids start complaining of being hungry. You could buy all of these pre-made, but I guarantee you these are MUCH cheaper and healthier!!

Spag. and Pizza, and Pizza Pockets!!

This one is another easy and tasty idea. With this one you get at least two meals from one night of cooking!

In the morning I put 2 medium sized cans of tomato sauce along with a small can of paste into the crock pot. I also add a tablespoon of soy sauce(sounds odd, but it gives it extra flavor!) a teaspoon of salt, a small handful of brown sugar and half a handful(1-2 tablespoons maybe?) of the following: Basil, Oregano, and a bit less Thyme. A couple good shakes with the garlic powder finishes it off.

I let it simmer on low all day and at dinner we have spaghetti along with homemade garlic or foccacia bread and a salad!

The next day I make pizza and pizza pockets using the leftover sauce. For the pizza I use a recipe included with my bread machine for the dough and top with cheese and veggies. Sometimes I will add pepperoni or veggie meatless balls ground up.

For the pizza pockets I make a the dough in the bread machine using a recipe for white bread (NOT pizza dough for these!)

I separate the dough into eight pieces and roll each one into a round shape. I add a big slice of Mozzarella Cheese, a tablespoon of Ricotta and a tablespoon of the spaghetti sauce from the previous night. I fold over and pinch edges with a fork to seal. Let rise for an hour and bake at 350-400 for 20-30 minutes.

When cool, I put in individual freezer bags and again, the kids have ready made lunches to heat in the microwave. These are WAY yummier than any store bought varieties and healthier too.

You can add anything else that suits your fancy, pepperoni, veggies, etc....

My son came up with a good variation the other night: Rather than separate the dough he rolled it all out into a rectangle. He spread with mustard and topped it with sliced ham and pepperoni and cheese. He folded the top over and baked right away. After it cooled a little he sliced it into individual servings!

I like cooking this way, cooking one night and getting 2-3 meals out of it! Saves time, money and the temptation to order out!

Beans, Beans, Beans!!!

Once every other week or so I make a big pot of refried beans using my crock pot. I then use some that night for Enchilada's, and maybe set some aside for nachos or bean burritos for lunch and/or dinner the next day, and finally with the rest I prepare as many bean and cheese burritos as I can. I then wrap these and freeze them. Then during the week when the kids are hungry and I am too busy to stop what I'm doing and start lunch, they can just go to the freezer and grab one and heat in the microwave for 2 minutes each!

My husband also takes these to work for lunch many days a week!

We do something similar with pizza pockets, which I will share a recipe for next time. For now here is how I make the beans. I get rave reviews on these from young and old alike, and they are SO easy and SUPER cheap!!!

First, in the morning, I put about four cups of beans covered with water to soak all day in the crockpot. That night I drain the water and recover with water and cook on low all night. Then the following morning, I add:

4 tbsp. Flour
4 tsp. Chili Powder
3 tsp. Dried Minced Onion Flakes
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp. Paprika
1 tsp. Sugar
2 tsp Garlic Powder
I also add a pinch or two of dried red pepper flakes. I then use a potato masher to smash them all up and cook for several hours longer on low. I will turn them off late afternoon to let them cool before I separate them for their various uses.

These are so much tastier than store bought canned beans, and much cheaper as well, not to mention healthier!! Enjoy!