The Easiest Way to Make Rice

I used to be pretty comfortable in the way I made rice. You know, measuring the rice, measuring the liquid, etc. But I would find that whenever I made bigger batches of rice, for some reason or another, it wouldn't cook right. I would end up with rice that was crunchy and inedible.

I was sharing my issue with my mother-in-law one day when she taught me this little trick, and now I pass it on to you!

 

1. Pour desired amount of rice into a saucepan. (No measuring needed! Unless you really want to for some reason!)

2. Add enough water to the pan so that the level of the water (from the surface of the rice) reaches the first knuckle on your index finger.

3. Heat water on the highest setting (high for stainless cookware, or medium for non-stick) until it begins to boil. (MIL insists you should not stir it at this time at all, but I'm a stirrer and I've never noticed any issue).

4. Turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Remove from heat, then fluff with a fork or whatever utensil you happen to be using!

It doesn't seem to matter what size pot or pan you are using, for some reason, you get the right amount of liquid every time.

Now I can make Jambalaya without crunchy rice (and I can do so without using measuring cups)! Thanks, MIL!

What cool kitchen tips have you come across lately?

A Tip for Picky Eaters

It's so amazing to me how different two children can be. On one hand, I have my daughter who will eat nearly everything that's offered to her. I mean, stuff you wouldn't necessarily expect a toddler to even want. She'll eat hard-boiled eggs, green smoothies, beans and more. On the other hand, I have my son, who is 4 ½, who will hardly touch anything that doesn't resemble a french fry or a hamburger. (To his credit, he will eat spinach and broccoli and most fruits, so he's not too terribly difficult to get healthy foods into).

The problem I've had with him lately, however, is that I'll tell him what's for dinner, and he'll say "But I don't liiiiike _________!" I got really tired of hearing that response (or something similar), so I stopped telling him. Now, a typical exchange goes a little like this: "Mom, what's for dinner?"

"You'll see when it's on the table..."

Fast forward to dinner time, and I'll say "dinner's ready, come to the table." and he'll come, willingly. And then miracle of miracles, he will begin to eat! With minimal fuss!

Is this how your child sees dinner?

I think this has been working for us because he doesn't have a chance ahead of time to be negative about the dinner time experience. He doesn't have any expectations in his mind of something unpleasant, so he's a little more flexible. I also like not having an argument on my hands while I'm trying to get dinner on the table.

Do you have "picky eaters" in your house? How have you gotten around food aversions in the past?

Linking up here:
 

Dairy Free for the New Year

It looks like I may need to go "dairy free" again. I was dairy free (among other things) for about a year after my daughter was born due to her reactions to dairy in my diet.

I am now 18 weeks pregnant. This pregnancy, though, has been particularly challenging for me since I have been sick from sinus challenges about four times now. Sick on top of the regular challenges of pregnancy is no fun! Not that sick is ever fun, of course.

My main issue? Phlegm! (You just wanted to know, right?) In fact, since early on in this pregnancy, I have joked to myself that it's my "phlegmesis" (maybe I should've kept that to myself :D). I don't think that morning sickness this time around would have been nearly as bad without that constant, over production of mucus. That combined with an overactive gag reflex made things nearly unbearable.

I know the medical community disagrees about whether dairy can make people produce too much mucus. And I don't necessarily think this is true for everyone. For me, though, I'm fairly convinced that it has an adverse effect on me. My two little ones both have dairy allergies, and I could very well have an allergy to it too. (Not sure, since I've never been tested).

So here I go again. Honestly, since I've done it once, it seems like a piece of cake now. I'm not a newbie in this land of dairy substitutes. I pretty much know what's good (coconut milk frozen dessert), and what I can skip (vegan cheese, anyone?). And I'm not going to really miss anything...except butter! (Sorry, but there just isn't an acceptable substitute!)

Have you ever given up any kind of food for health reasons during pregnancy or breastfeeding (or any other time)? What kind of results did you have?

What I'm into this Month- July 2011 Edition

Oh boy, time for the July edition of "What I'm into this Month!" Are you super excited? I am! Let's begin, shall we?

On My Nightstand: Gone with the Wind, Understanding Waldorf Education.

Want to Read: The other books on my shelf! I seriously need to stop this compulsive accumulation of books! I have tons of books that I haven't even cracked open yet. (Don't tell my husband I admitted this problem- he might try to keep me accountable! Lol!)

TV Show Worth Watching: None. Sorry. I just haven't been into television.

Movie I've Seen (in or out of theater): Did You Hear About the Morgans? Actually, I don't remember if this was July or not, but it's the most recent movie I've watched. It was really cute, and it had a positive message that's in favor of marriage, which you don't see too much of in romantic comedies.

In My Kitchen: This month, I made pickles, applesauce and tomato paste.

The pickles didn't turn out so well. I think I used the wrong kind of cucumber.

The applesauce was made in the slow cooker and turned out good, but I made the mistake of adding a touch of cinnamon, and my son (the purist) wouldn't touch it (the teeny-tiny bit I added turned the whole batch brown)! My daughter loved it though. I peeled and cored & sliced about 5 lbs of apples, added them to the slow cooker with about a half cup of water (not necessary though, the apples have plenty of water). When they had cooked for a few hours, and were tender, I just put them in the blender. (You can probably just use an immersion blender if you have one).

It's nice to know how to make tomato paste (or tomato anything that I would normally buy in a can) but you use so many tomatoes to make such a small amount of finished product. It's kind of a let down in that sense, but at least I know what's in it! I've generally stopped buying canned tomatoes as most cans are lined with BPA and the acidity of the tomatoes causes it to leach into the product. It's good when tomatoes are in season and you can find them in the market for really cheap!

In My Ears: Can we talk about this? I love music, but I often find myself completely forgetting to play it unless I'm driving somewhere. But...I'm home most of the time, so I don't hear very much music. Does anyone else have this issue? I know that it's totally uplifting when it's played in the house and puts me in a better mood. Do you normally make it a point to play music in the house?

Three Newest Blog Reads: Isn't the internet a never-ending source of new stuff to read? Oh my. This month, I found Taste is Trump, I Heart Mesa, and All that is Good. (The first two being a taste of some local bloggery. :P)

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month: My anniversary. It will be five years! It's our "Wood Anniversary." Ack! I need gift ideas! Hopefully we can have a date night at some point...my husband's been working exceedingly long hours. Boo! (I mean, yay! He has a job!) But we haven't been spending much time together. Anywho. I need a wooden gift for my guy.

So, tell me: what are YOU into this month?

Goals for 2011 Revisited

I know if I were the truly goal-oriented type, I would check in on my goals more than semi-annually. I'm working on it! Just this morning, I was reviewing my goals from half a year ago in my journal.

I was actually quite pleased at my progress. That's not to say that I've already accomplished what I set out to improve on entirely, but I'm closer than I was at the beginning of the year. Yay!

Here's the original post about my goals to read in it's entirety if you missed it.

(And for those of you who may desire more rapid growth and more accountability for reaching your goals, check out the 3 in 30 Challenge if you haven't already! There's some great encouragement as well as awesome ideas for making improvements in your life!)

Spiritual Goals:

1. Spend moments alone with God (in prayer and Bible reading) everyday. Put Him first before anything including computer time and chores. Well...I've done alright here. I have kind of been hit & miss with my commitment to have my quiet time before computer time and chores. Maybe that's why I've only been averaging about four days a week in the Word. Hmm.
2. Cultivate the fruit of the Spirit- Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. Not really sure how to measure this one. Perhaps this one would be best broken down into mini-goals, kind of like #4. As in working on one area at a time.
3. Make church a priority. Be excellent in my areas of service. Do what God directs me to do regardless of whether or not my work is acknowledged or appreciated. Keep my eyes on Him! I've been much happier in this area so far because of this attitude. There have been a few times when I didn't make it a point to be involved, but overall, I've done a lot better. Last year, I think I technically attended pretty regularly, but wasn't really "there."
4. Make a habit of speaking the language of praise- stop complaining! Tame my tongue! I'm still working on this one! I've been more challenged in this area lately, so it's time to really focus on this!

Marital Goals:

1. Be positive with my husband. Don't criticize, complain or condemn. Criticizing, complaining and condemning was a habit last year. I think I can say it's less of a habit now. :P I've read one really good book that addresses this called The Surrendered Wife (read at your own risk, it is not by a Christian author) and it really helped me to break the cycle on some of this behavior. I even wrote a post about one attitude change of mine.
2. Keep "covenant" in the forefront of my mind- by doing a Scripture study and/or reading books/listening to teachings that promote covenant in marriage. Honestly, I haven't really gone out of my way to do this! This is one I'll need to focus on in the latter part of the year, apparently! :)
3. Be flexible (this one is a biggie for me!)- Let your immediate answer be "yes" or at the very least "I'll think about it". (So often I am immediately opposed to new ideas- this is a habit that I would like to break this coming year to promote peace in my marriage). See #1.

Maternal Goals:

1. Actively direct P & C to the Lord by sharing Scriptures with them, weaving Biblical lessons into the everyday- don't be afraid to show them my need for the Savior when I mess up, too! Keep them in prayer on a daily basis! I've been fairly diligent to my little ones in prayer (when I have my prayer time!), also, I've been trying to communicate to my son "We treat others they way we want to be treated" especially during those times when he's "less than nice" to his sister. It's been relatively easy to confess my faults to them (when it has something to do with them, of course). I just read this post the other day that gave me some ideas on how to share Scripture with them.
2. Focus on spending quality time with them in instruction, creative play, and just for fun (with no agenda)! Get out of the house on a weekly basis (in addition to church- i.e. to the library, park or elsewhere). Institute regular TV turn-off weeks/days. We did our "Screen-Free Week" but I haven't done much in the way of limiting television other than that. Maybe I will schedule another one for the second part of the year...maybe in the fall. I've also started having "floor time" with them, which is essentially just that. I sit on the floor, and they get to come up with what to do. Sometimes it's reading books, other times it's climbing on top of me. Lol! Getting out of the house has proven more challenging lately since my husband returned to work. He's been gone for most of the day six days a week, and he works too far away for me to drop him off. Hopefully that will change soon! (Though I am thankful he has a job!)
3. Work toward having "real food" be the basis for their diet (and ours too of course)...phase out store bought/processed foods like chicken nuggets. I was really excited when I realized my progress here. I don't remember the last time I bought chicken nuggets! We have had a few times of fast food or tacos from the local Mexican restaurant, but for the most part, they eat real food. I've even been able to phase out the snack-y foods like crackers and such and even cereal to some extent.

Domestic Goals:

1. Cultivate order and beauty in our home. Make it a place of tranquility and hospitality. Go the extra mile to make things "pretty". Fail! Lol! Actually, not really. :) I've been better about keeping things in order, and teaching the children to help out with clean up time. This has been more or less a daily thing, so that's good. I don't know that our home has become any "prettier" since last year. (Unless you count crayon and highlighter scribbles on the wall) :P Just keepin' it real!
2. Find and use one new recipe each month. I have not been purposeful about this. Though I would imagine that I probably do come close this without even thinking about it.
3. Pare down our possessions by doing "27 Fling Boogies" or something similar on a regular basis. Keep stuff I/we love and use, but sell, donate or dispose of other stuff. I have done probably all of 2 "27 Fling Boogies" so far this year. But that's okay! That means we now have 54 fewer unneeded or unwanted items in our home!

Personal Goals:

1. Continue to develop friendships with other women...pray for and be on the look out for a Titus 2- type mentor. I think I've done okay with the first part of this one. As far as a mentor is concerned, I still have not really become "connected" with someone like I need to be. My Pastor's wife is an awesome choice, and I actually have had a couple of meetings with her this year, but I know it would benefit me to meet with her more regularly.
2. Continue to blog regularly- make a schedule of posts every month (you know, so I don't sit around wondering what to blog about every day!). Gain 60 new blog followers in 2011. Well, I don't know if I've blogged as regularly as I set out to, but I've posted usually at least once (sometimes twice) a week. And actually, I think I've come at least close to half way on my goal to gain followers! So that's exciting. (Not sure of the exact number, as I did not record my number of followers at the beginning of the year).
3. Read! Commit to two books per month for a total of 24 in 2011! (And, try to read one book at a time! :D) I've been reading...just not sure how much! I have joined the adult reading program at the library, so that has helped motivate me (I so want to win a reusable bag full of goodies! ;-) It can just be so stinkin' hard to stay committed to a book. Mostly because right now, I'm not reading frequently enough that I guess I get bored with whatever I happen to be reading. And I definitely have not stuck to one book at a time!
4. Contribute $400 per month to our family's income (with the purpose of covering "non-essential" expenses like gifts and other nice-but-not-necessary things) through my Pampered Chef business. The closest I've come to reaching this goal is about half way! I need to really get busy on this, at least for now, as it's not really "fun money" at this point. I have a couple other ideas to contribute monetarily (you know, without getting a "regular job" hee hee) so we'll see how those ideas pan out.

How have you done on your goals for 2011 so far? Remember, it's not too late to create some goals if you missed the "resolution making" of the New Year!

My Little Helper

My little guy helping me out in the kitchen a couple nights ago. Well, he's not really an ox, and he's not exactly treading grain, but he sure enjoyed sampling the spinach I asked him to dry in the salad spinner!

Real Hot Cocoa

Okay, so I think you all should know that despite living in a hotter than you-know-where "warm" climate (it was well into the 90's a couple days ago!), I like warm foods pretty much anytime. Like hot tea, hot cocoa and soups, etc. (Just consider yourself warned for when I post a chili recipe in July! :P)

At any rate, I thought I would post this recipe before it gets too warm for all of you who live in a reasonable climate!

I wanted to do this because I'm trying to move away from refined sugar and other junky stuff, but I don't want to give up the chocolate creaminess of hot cocoa (yet). But I don't like what I see when I read the ingredients on the instant hot cocoa. Let's review them shall we? (Taken from a popular commercial brand of hot cocoa mix with marshmallows):

Sugar, corn syrup, modified whey, cocoa (processed with alkali), hydrogenated coconut oil, marshmallows (sugar, corn syrup, modified corn starch, gelatin, artificial flavor), non-fat milk, calcium carbonate, less than 2% of salt, dipotassium phosphate, mono- and diglycerides, artificial flavor, carrageenan.

Ick! So here is my version for a single mug of hot cocoa that is not much more complicated than opening that single-serve packet and heating the water. It literally takes me about two minutes to make this. (Adapted from my Betty Crocker cookbook):

2 oz water

½ TBSP cocoa powder

a pinch (or maybe slightly more) of Kosher salt

TBSP raw honey (you could use more or less depending on your desired sweetness)

¾ cup of coconut milk beverage (You can use whole milk, almond milk or whatever else you drink- rice milk probably wouldn't work so well in this)

Add water to small saucepan and whisk in cocoa powder over medium high heat. Once the mixture is hot, add the salt and honey and whisk until blended. Add the milk of your choice, and continue to whisk the mixture until it reaches the desired temperature. Top with some marshmallows (don't tell anyone- the ones pictured are just regular ol' marshmallows- but you probably have some organic marshmallows on hand that you could use) or real whipped cream. Enjoy!

Easy! Good and good not so bad for you!

Linking up here:

Miscellany Monday

1. Been quiet around here lately!

I can only say that stuff has been pretty crazy. Between battling colds, food poisoning (yuck!) and the accompanying exhaustion...well, I don't have a lot of bloggy motivation! I know you all are hanging onto the edge of your seats waiting for me to post something! Ha ha. But anyway, I feel like it's been forever since I've posted regularly. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things!

2. My new favorite face scrub.

I once heard someone say that you should only put something on your skin if you would feel comfortable eating it! (Well that eliminates my whole beauty regimen, how about you?) I discovered that mixing honey (a couple tablespoons) with granulated sugar (maybe a tablespoon or so) makes a great face scrub! It's really awesome.

3. Joseph

I just finished reading Genesis this morning. I've read it several times, but I just love the story of Joseph. That never gets old. Every time I read the part where he reveals his identity to his brothers, I have to fight back tears. Seriously. Give it a read sometime if you never have. (Genesis 37-50)

I love this Scripture:

"Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." Genesis 50:19-20

4. Clothing overload

Man I need some help in this area! I managed to unpack two large boxes in our master bedroom today. (Yes, I'm still unpacking). But I came to the stunning realization that we have way too much clothing! I have a ton of clothes in various sizes- ranging from before my pregnancy with my son (4 years ago) to maternity clothes to "transition clothes" (I gained 60 + pounds with my two pregnancies- and took a while to get the pregnancy weight off). Well, I don't want to get rid of too much of my stuff, because I may need it again. My husband also has a ton of clothes! So I need to figure something out!

5. Hanging on to the beautiful weather

For the next few days, the weather is going to be perfect! It will be in the 90's by the end of the week, though! Ugh. That's one thing about living in the desert! We have a very short spring. On the bright side, that means it's flip-flop weather! My favorite. (My apologies to anyone still looking at snow!)

6. Tacos

Somebody stop me. I think I'm obsessed with tacos. I love making them at home too. The best way that I have found to make them is to use a pound or so of ground turkey or beef, and season with a combination of kosher salt, chili powder (about a tablespoon), cumin (a couple tablespoons- I love cumin), and then add about a teaspoon of cocoa powder, and brown the meat with a chopped onion and a few cloves of minced garlic. Yum! Fry some corn tortillas in coconut oil, and you have the perfect taco, in my opinion. ;-)

Could a Co-Op Save You Money?

I think so! Not only that, it would probably improve your health!

I got the idea to join a co-op just last week. I had been reading a blog post somewhere and the author was talking about having joined one. I wondered if we had one in our area, and as I had never heard of one nearby, I "Googled" "co op near (nearby city, my state)."

I was so excited to discover Bountiful Baskets. I pretty much read their entire web site as soon as I found it, looking for the drawback. I couldn't find one. Even my husband was excited about it. I have brought other ideas to his attention before, looking for ways to get healthier food into our home. CSA? Nope. Too expensive right now. (The ones in our area require you to pay for an entire 10 week agreement up front). Farmer's market? Did you see those prices? I tried every rebuttal I could think of, to no avail. (But we'd be supporting our local economy. Don't you want to keep our dollars in our state? We'd be eating fresh produce in season...it's healthier...) I do feel those are valid reasons, and if we had room in our budget, I would love to support our local farmers directly.

Here is what we received for $15

So anyway, in case you don't know, here's how it works: You "opt in" at any particular time. Ours is a week by week agreement. (We make a contribution on Monday, and pick up our basket on Saturday). It costs us $15 for about $50 worth of conventional produce- the same stuff you would buy in the grocery store. The people who run the co-op (all volunteers- so you're eliminating more cost there) scout out the best deals for the members, and basically the cost is so low because there is no retail mark-up. The middle-man (in this case, the supermarket) is eliminated so we get produce straight from wherever the grocery store gets it, and also local farms. In our case, our produce comes from our state first, and then other items come from regional suppliers...other states and some come from Mexico (which is pretty close to us). I think in the case of Mexico, pretty much the only thing that comes from there is bananas, and that is opposed to getting them from South America. The co-op is able to get them at a better price, and in doing so, supporting smaller farms in Mexico rather than a huge conglomerate in South America somewhere.

They also have organic produce available for $10 more per basket. They offer other special deals on pantry staples such as rice, beans, granola, and different oils. These vary from week to week. Produce by the case is available as well. For instance, for the past two weeks, we've ordered 8 lbs of strawberries for our smoothies! It's cheaper than the frozen strawberries we've been getting from the supermarket. We also ordered some really awesome bread. We chose 9 grain bread which contains nothing artificial and nothing I'm unable to pronounce or buy from the store myself! And it was cheap! I'm talking $2 per loaf! And really good, by the way!

a Jerusalem artichoke

Another awesome feature is the opportunity to try foods that we wouldn't normally eat (or even see in the market, for that matter!). It's kind of an adventure! In our first basket, we got Jerusalem artichokes (or sunchokes), which looks like ginger's more full-figured cousin, but is actually more closely related to a potato. We also got a bunch of Forelle pears, which I had never seen or heard of. They're like cute little mini-pears.

a Forelle pear

You really can't beat the prices, and joining a co-op means fewer trips to the grocery store! My husband is happy, I'm happy, our children are happy, our planet is happier. In my opinion, you really can't go wrong with this option.

The only reason I could see that it might not work for someone is the fact that you have very limited time to pick up your basket. We have a twenty minute window in which to pick up. And you have to pick up from a specified location. Bountiful Baskets has several pick up locations near us, and I noticed they are active in several states. Is one of them yours? Do you have a co-op in your area? I think it would be totally worth it to look into it- if you haven't already!

I can hardly believe that it's taken me so long to discover this awesome program. I've lived in my area for over 15 years! I don't even know of anyone nearby who is a member of a co-op. Now that I know about it, there's no way I will go back to paying full price at the grocery store for produce! (Unless there's just something I need).

Could this opportunity be a benefit to your family and your budget? Have you ever been a part of a co-op? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Linking up here:

 

A Good Drink and Some Good Reads!

On the home front, we have become OBSESSED with smoothies! It all started when we attempted to go grain-free on the Maker's Diet (that didn't work out for too long- you can read my previous "Happy Tummies" post for the back story on that). I came across this post at Passionate Homemaking, and I was inspired to make a green smoothie. It was actually really good!

I love this idea, especially as a homemaker with young children, I could use a boost during the day- and a green smoothie provides just that! The ones I make are usually heavier on the "green"- but since my husband is the Chief Smoothie Maker in our house, most of the time, they look like this:

Would you believe that actually contains spinach (a good amount, too)? And carrots? Yes, carrots. The one in the picture has frozen strawberries, blueberries, spinach, carrots and orange juice. He's even started making them with tomatoes. (I'm still not quite sure how I feel about that- and I like tomatoes!)

Anyway, they're really easy to make, and we just have a regular blender- nothing fancy. The only one in our house who doesn't love a good smoothie is my son (who calls them "smoozies" by the way), and I think that's only because he hasn't been brave enough to try one. My daughter LOVES them- as soon as she sees one in my hand, she is on me like white on rice! I love knowing that I'm getting a good serving or two (or more) of vegetables, and it tastes so good! Here are some ideas of what you can add (that I've tried) that I really like:

• Berries
• peaches
• mango
• pineapple
• spinach
• parsley
• coconut milk (the stuff in a can- it adds a lot of fat which helps you stay full longer- and has many other benefits- that's a whole 'nother post!)
• plain yogurt
• bananas
• orange juice
• pomegranate juice
• cranberry juice

Jordan Rubin even recommends adding a whole raw egg for protein (and all the extra good stuff eggs provide). Just make sure you use a good quality egg (like organic or free range) and wash it before you crack it- that's where the risk of Salmonella is for the most part. I actually did that for a while years ago during another "smoothie kick", and you can't really taste the egg- so it's not an issue if the thought of that grosses you out. :)

Anyway, now for the reading: I've come across SO many great food/wellness blogs lately and some really great posts that I just have to share...so go make yourself a smoothie, and then come back and read them!

12 Foods You Don't Have to Buy Organic

10 Reasons to Cut Out Processed Foods

An interesting article about breakfast cereal and why you should consider avoiding it.

Slay the Sugar Monster in Four Steps- I love this article! So informative about different kinds of sweeteners and why you should kick the sugar habit. 

So, what kind of smoothie did you make? What did you think of the articles? Share with me in the comments!

Introducing Happy Tummies!

So you've probably noticed the Happy Tummies tab underneath the header (you have, right?) and you may have wondered what it's all about (right?). Anyway, I will begin adding related content pretty soon, but I wanted to explain what I mean by "Happy Tummies". 

Happy is the opposite of SAD, which stands for "Standard American Diet" which is a diet full of unhealthy food, low in fiber and complex carbohydrates and high in sugar and processed foods. I think I first heard the term "SAD" back when I first read The Maker's Diet (which is a great book to read- even if you don't do the 40 day diet) about seven years ago.

My Journey

Like many, I think I pretty much grew up on the "standard American diet". I remember eating a lot of sugary cereal and things like Pop Tarts for breakfast, sandwiches on white bread for lunch...most the time we ate something home cooked for dinner, but at busier times we would eat pizza or fast food or boxed, highly processed convenience meals (think "just add water" and ground beef- or mix the day-glo cheese powder with margarine and milk). As a teenager, I distinctly remember eating candy bars and soda for "breakfast" and Taco Bell for lunch...and top ramen for dinner. I continued eating this way into my early adult years, until at one point I was probably about 30 pounds overweight from eating fast food all the time (that may not seem like much, but on my small frame, it was really noticeable).

It was at that point that I began to make some changes- and when I did, I saw the weight come off pretty quickly. I stopped drinking soda (for the most part) and started adding in more and more fresh fruit and vegetables to my diet. I started cooking more food at home and enjoyed recipes from a "quick and healthy" cook book that I had. I still use some of those recipes from time to time, but I actually started using real eggs and butter in the recipes that called for "healthy" egg substitute and margarine several years ago.

Then, about seven years ago, I participated in a healthy living seminar at my church, and started learning about organic, whole foods, and other "super foods". I also read The Maker's Diet around that time, and from that point I've learned more and more about how to take care of and nourish this body that God has entrusted me with.

Now, I pretty much try to avoid "fake food" altogether or, as I like to call it "frankenfood." When selecting something that is not a whole food at the grocery store I usually follow this criteria:

• short list of recognizable ingredients
• no high fructose corn syrup
• no Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
• no artificial colors or artificial flavors
• organic (sometimes- usually if a packaged food is organic, you can count on it to be free from unhealthy sweeteners, artificial flavors and colors.)

I try to purchase and eat food that is as close to it's original state as possible. I'm still growing on this "real food journey" so I still will use some items for convenience like canned tomatoes or beans- but I am big on learning how to make stuff at home. Pretty recently, I learned how to make chicken stock at home- it is so much tastier than store bought, and I know exactly what's in it! I also learned how to make homemade yogurt which takes a long time, but is rather easy. I had one failure with the yogurt, but it ended up as ricotta cheese instead!

More recently, I adopted an allergen free diet. Shortly after my daughter was born, she began exhibiting allergic symptoms that were alleviated when I cut out the "big eight" allergens from my diet (milk, eggs, soy, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish). The first four were the toughest for me, and the others not as much because they weren't a huge part of my diet anyway. (I am breastfeeding, by the way). It's definitely been an interesting experience, and I've learned even more about health. I've also realized the strong possibility that I have been experiencing "leaky gut" (or increased intestinal permeability) which would (at least in my mind) explain why my daughter would be sensitive to food that I eat to the extent that she is.  My son also tested positive for food allergies (also breastfed). I've recently tried to follow The Maker's Diet (which is basically grain-free) which meant reintroducing eggs and milk, but my daughter is still reacting to those foods if I eat them in larger quantities. I've had to re-assess and have made the decision to go back to the milk, egg, wheat, soy free diet.

As you step out on your own journey, just realize that all the little changes that you make will make a big difference in your life and in the lives of your family members. You don't have to make the changes overnight! It's not an all or nothing venture. You can start out like I did (depending on where you're at) by cutting out sodas, for example. And just go from there!

Healthy, Achievable, Properly Prepared and Yummy! That's what "Happy Tummies" is all about! I plan to post something on a weekly basis related to this- whether it be a recipe, or information that I feel like I need to share.

Where are you in your journey to "real food?" Is there anything in particular you would like me to address? Let me know in the comments!

Butternut Squash Soup

Our highs are in the mid-upper 80's...that's a far cry from the triple digits of a month or so ago!  But other than the cooler temps, there's nothing here in the desert to show me that it's a different season...except what's on sale at the market!

The other day, I picked up a butternut squash for 69 cents!  (I don't know if that's cheap for the rest of the country, but it seems inexpensive to me).  Anywho...I saw the squash, and I knew I wanted one, so I bought one.  But I had no idea what to do with it. 

Somehow I got the idea to turn it into soup!  I Googled a recipe, and well, I didn't have everything that the recipe called for so, I just made up my own version.  It turned out really good.  Here's how I made it:

3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 sweet potato, chopped
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
4 cups homemade chicken stock
fresh nutmeg to taste

Heat the olive oil over medium.  Add all the vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes.  Add the chicken stock (you could probably use vegetable stock if you prefer) (just enough to cover the veggies).  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover the pot and simmer for 40 minutes.  Transfer probably 3/4 of the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth.  Use a potato masher to mash up the remaining veggies in the pot.  (I like this, because then you have all different textures in the soup- it seems more "rustic" this way).

Doesn't that look pretty? I started taking pictures of it because the colors reminded me of Autumn leaves. Lol!

I made a second batch to share at church yesterday evening, and I made a couple changes, and that turned out really good too!  Everyone loved it!  I omitted the sweet potato, and added two peeled and cubed regular potatoes.  I used store bought stock, so it wasn't quite as flavorful as the first batch, so I added salt, pepper, nutmeg, and ground ginger.  I think I really like the addition of potatoes...also the salt and pepper made a big difference. 

A couple more things about butternut squash:

I read that it was easier to prep the squash by leaving it whole and piercing it several times with a fork, then baking at 350 or so for about an hour...you can then cut it and easily scoop out the flesh of the squash...blah blah blah.  Okay, but for those of us that don't want to wait...it's really easy to peel and cube if you take a big (sharp) knife and cut off the stem and root ends, then cut it in half lengthwise...then cut horizontally at the part where it gets "skinny" so you have four pieces.  Then you can easily peel off the rind with a smaller knife.  It doesn't take that long with the right tools.  If you don't have good knives, then it's probably better to stick with the first method! ;-)

Oh! If you have some kind of gloves you can wear in the kitchen...use them!  Apparently there's some kind of sticky sap or something that is released from it as you cut it.  It got all over my left hand, and it really dried out the tips of my fingers.  At first I was thinking it was some kind of allergic reaction or something, but then I did some research and learned that many people have this issue with butternut squash.  It's not terribly worrisome, it does come off after several handwashes.  It was just a strange sensation that I would rather avoid next time.