From scratch: No-Bake Energy Bites (Cookie balls)

My kids call these cookie balls, and they love them. They are pretty yummy and really handy when needing a  filling snack on the go. And super easy and quick to make.

No-Bake Energy Bites

(Cookie Balls)

Ingredients:

1 Cup of dry oatmeal (I use quick oats)

1/2 Cup of peanut butter

1/2 Cup of ground flax seed or wheat germ (I use 1/4 cup of each)

1/2 Cup of chocolate chips 

1/3 Cup of honey

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. (I make mine about 1 inch). Store in airtight container and keep refrigerator for up to 1 week.

fruits & veggies

I was  putting my groceries away and was filling my crispers to the rim with fruits and veggies and realized that I hadn't really talked about that part of our diet change. Fruits and veggies are an important part, a really important part.

I have to admit that for most of my married years, that I rarely bought fresh fruits and veggies. It wasn't that I didn't like to eat them. It was actually that I was a bit scared. I was scared to pick out fruit that wasn't ripe, wasn't going to taste good, or was going to go bad too quickly and then it would be a waste of money. Also, I wasn't sure how to cook with veggies to make them taste good and I am also a bit picky about ripeness of fruit, so I rarely ate fruit as a snack. Also, it is expensive!! 

So, when we decided to make a diet change, I just jumped in and decided to just learn. Even if I ended up wasting food and money, I would eventually figure it out, right?. Also, I decided that money and budget didn't matter much when it came to eating healthy. 

Well, I have to say that a year later, I stuff my crispers full of assorted fruits and veggies and rarely does any of it go to waste. I have learned how to cook veggies that taste so good, that we eat them with every dinner meal (thank you Pinterest). And all those recipes for snacks made from scratch actually don't get made all that often,  they are more of a treat than a snack. We eat fruit galore for snacks in between meals. And my kids have really learned to love fruit and rarely ask for anything else when it comes to snacks. And let me tell you that has been no easy task for them to get that way about snacks. 

I have fallen in love with fruits and veggies this year. And I am pretty proud of myself for sticking with something like this and for how far we have come. I really love the feeling I get when I sit down with my family at the dinner table and I know that what we are eating is healthy. And I am grateful that it is teaching my kids good eating habits for life. We still eat way more junk than we should, but it is the habit of eating healthy that I am going for, not dieting.

 I don't share this to say I am better than anyone else, please don't misinterpret. I do not judge anyone by how or what they eat, we eat this way for very specific health reasons for every member of my family.  I am sharing this to show it is possible if it is something that you have been thinking about and wanting to do, but maybe just feel so overwhelmed with it all.  It is possible with a leap or with baby steps. I love the way we eat so much, that it gets me excited and I want to share it with every one. 

From scratch: Chicken Taquitos

These are seriously AMAZING!! And they are worth every effort that it takes to make them. This makes A LOT! About 40. I usually will cook all of them and freeze what we don’t eat. The frozen ones you can pull out and stick in the microwave or back in the oven for a bit. But they still don't last long, because they are too yummy to stop eating. I thought I had originally got this recipe from a PIN on Pinterest, but when my sister-in-law asked for the recipe, I couldn't find my exact recipe in any of the links. 

Creamy baked chicken Taquitos

Ingredients:

12 oz cream cheese (softened in the microwave)

1 small can green chiles

1T lime juice

½ t cumin

1 t chili powder

¼ t garlic powder

3 T chopped cilantro ( I like it with this, Hubs doesn’t, so I don't usually use it)

2 T sliced green onions (optional, I have never added any)

4 C shredded cooked chicken**

1 C cheddar cheese

Small corn tortillas

Olive oil cooking spray

Directions:

1.       Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray

2.       Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so its soft and easy to stir. Add green 

chiles, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and/or green onions (if you are using them). Then add chicken and cheese and combine well. You can prepare all of this ahead of time and stick it in the fridge until you are ready to make them.

3.       Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat them in the microwave in between a damp cloth or 

paper towel. They need to be pretty soft or they will crack when rolling.

4.       Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla then roll it up as tight as you can.

5.       Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Make sure that none are touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle a bit of salt on top.

6.       Bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get 

golden brown.

**I have cooked my chicken in the oven or crock pot. (I am not a fan of boiled chicken) For the oven, all I do is put it in a glass baking dish (sometimes I line it with tinfoil) and cook on 350 until it is done, about 30 to 40 minutes depending on how thick the chicken is and how much is in the pan. Crockpot, I just put it in with a bit of water and cook on high for about 3 to 4 hours.

From scratch: Pizza crust

On Friday nights we like to have a pizza picnic on the floor while watching a movie. We have loved making pizza from scratch this past year. It is so easy and so much cheaper than buying pizza. I have tried a few different recipes and the one I am about to share we have loved the most. It really is quick and easy and it tastes great. I got this recipe from allrecipes.com 

Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

1.5 tsp of active dry yeast

1 tsp of white sugar

1 Cup of warm water (hot water from tap)
2 1/2 cups of bread flour
2 Tbs of olive oil
1 tsp salt

directions:
1.Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. In a medium bowl (I use my kitchen aid) dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about ten minutes.
3. Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Let rest for about five minutes.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan. Add toppings and then bake in oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. 

From scratch: Graham Crackers

We really love these!! They are really quick and easy to make so sometimes when I am in a pinch and need a snack for my kids but have run out of options because I need to go grocery shopping I will make these really quick. They take a little bit more than ten minutes from start to finish. I got the recipe from HERE at Little Birdie Secrets. 

They really aren't anything like the graham crackers in the store. They are more of a cookie than a cracker. 

Graham Crackers

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup honey

directions:

1. mix dry ingredients together in med mixing bowl.

2. in a separate bowl mix together the melted butter and honey.

3. add liquid mixture to dry mixture, stir until combined.

4. drop the mixture onto cookie sheet and roll out.

(I use my SILPAT and I just flatten it out with my hand as much as possible because it is sticky.)

5. bake for 8 minutes at 400 degrees.

6. Once out of oven (while still hot) cut with a pizza cutter into cracker size rectangles.

***Another reminder that these don't keep stored for very long because of the lack of preservatives (which is a good thing!).

From scratch: granola

So here is my first "from scratch" recipe post

I got the original recipe from the 100 days of real food blog HERE (this blog helped me a lot in our adventure to change our diet). I have simplified the recipe for our family as Mac has a tree nut allergy and I like the simple taste of just cinnamon. Hubs has added peanut butter when he has made it a few times, which is also really good. So I am sharing how I make it and if you want the full version with all the nuts and seeds and other spices then go to the link above.

We love ours as cereal with milk for breakfast and if I have some blue berries or strawberries I will put that on it. YUM!! Our kids love it! We will also just eat it dry for snacks. Although a bit messy that way. I don't make it very often, maybe every couple of weeks, because we go through a double batch in about 3 days. Yes, we love it that much. 

Granola

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups oats (we like to use quick oats)

2 tsp of ground cinnamon

6 Tbs butter

1/2 cup of honey

2 tsp of vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with parchament paper (we use our SILPAT).

2. Mix the dry oats and cinnamon (and any other nuts, seeds or spices that you want) in a large mixing bowl.

3. Heat butter and honey together in a small saucepan over low heat. Once butter is melted, stir in vanilla.

4. Pour hot liquid over the dry ingredients and stir together with a rubber spatula until evenly coated.

5. Spread granola mixture onto prepared pan in one even layer and bake for 60 to 75 minutes. (I like it at 60 minutes because I don't like it super crunchy). 

6. The granola will become crisp as it cools. You can store it in an air tight container at room temperature for up to two weeks***. 

***A little side note about making food from scratch is that it goes bad faster than food you would buy pre-made because there are no preservatives in it to keep it from going bad. 

from scratch!

I have talked a few times on here about changing our diet about a year ago but I don't remember if I have ever talked about what kind of change we made or not. The change came after a lot of research and praying and then realizing it was the change we needed to help with a few things in our family in regards to health. The diet change we made was to reduce the amount of processed food we ate.

I won't go into the reasons why processed food but it has been pretty life changing and will be a permanent life change for our family. We aren't extreme and just try to eat this way as much as possible. There are times when we will eat fast food although that is few and far between because I have never really like fast food ever and we don't like to spend our money there if we can help it. Our kids stay with grandparents and friends every once in awhile and I don't expect them to feed my kids this way. But at home we eat this way about 75 to 80 percent. To do this we make a lot of food from scratch and where once I was a lazy baker and cook I have started to really enjoy making things from scratch and finding  new healthy recipes to make for dinner. It is so satisfying sitting down to eat with my family and looking at our table and knowing what they are eating is healthy and will benefit them forever.

We are far from perfect at it and there are a few things that I know we shouldn't use and I just can't bring myself to change it out. But this whole process has been a slow one and we take this little by little. But with every new recipe I find it easier and easier.

The whole point of this post though is to share some recipes we use that have helped our transition into eating this way. A few of the actual recipes I won't share on here because they are not mine to share publicly, but if it looks good and you want to try it, please email me and I would love to give you the recipe. Also, since I realized that my list of all the recipes I want to share is a long one I will be just sharing one or two at a time over the next couple of weeks. I am so excited about this!!

To start off here is the list of the recipes I plan on sharing with you (although not in this order)...

-granola
-honey whole wheat bread
-muffins (blueberry and apple cinnamon)
-english muffin bread
-veggie stuffed peppers
-energy protein balls (cookie balls)
-pizza crust
-zucchini fries
-chicken taquitos
-homemade chicken nuggets
-graham crackers
-pancakes
-brownies
-taco seasoning
-baked cauliflower and broccoli
-green smoothies

Adventures in Bread Making ...

(or adventures in trying to eat a more whole/real food diet.)

So my first step in trying to eat healthier was to stop buying cheap, white bread (or any bread for that matter). So to do this I am going to have to start making bread.

I have never made bread from scratch in my life (at least from what I can recall). I also wanted to make a bread that has as few ingredients as possible and I wanted no sugar and wanted to use whole wheat. I chose white whole wheat and got some at the store a couple of weeks ago when this whole new change of diet started brewing in my head.

Next I had no clue where to go so I asked my friends on FB for some help and they totally came through. They gave alot of great recipes, but most of them were not exactly what I was looking for (see requirements above).

I ended up using a recipe that I saw on someones blog that I had "pinned".

And it did not go well...

I can't be totally sure where it went wrong, but it did not rise AT ALL!

Then just in time another friend saw my request on FB and emailed me her recipe that she says they make a couple of times a week. She gave great instructions for me, since I am a beginner.

And it turned out beautiful...

And yummy!!

And I even did it all by hand. As in with my actual hands not the mixer.

I am pretty proud.

When asking about whole wheat bread recipes, alot of people warned me about it being dense if I didn't add any white flour. But I didn't want to do that, I want it made completely out of whole wheat.

I have to say that the denseness does not bother me at all. And to get my sweetness craving answered I have been putting honey on toast and it is so GOOD!

I have to say that we have been completely sugar free for three days and it is feelings so good.

I am really excited about this change and I feel like it will be good for us.