Don't worry. I'm still cooking !

Homemade corn tortillas. I learned how to do this from the real people ;-)

Stirfry with grass fed beef, bok choy, and rice.

Grilled chesse with homemade bread

A Southern Sunday Night :-)

Chicken and dumplings. Something every Southern girl should know how to make :-)

Tonight's Dinner

-Meatloaf made from grass-fed beef

-Cooked apples from the farmer's market

-Homemade potato wedges, also from the farmer's market

:-)

Monday Lunch

I pack my lunch for work every day (except on rare occasions). I try to follow the same values at lunch that I do when eating at home. So for Monday's lunch I have:

-Homemade chicken salad (my recipe)

-Carrots with ranch

-Organic yogurt

-Local apple

-Kashi Oatmeal cookie

Chicken Broth

Note: This is time consuming only in the sense that you must stay home while it is cooking. The prep work is very very short and simple. Chicken broth is so easy to make and tastes 100 times better than canned. It is also much much cheaper to make your own. Plus, have you ever read the ingredients in canned broth?????? I know exactly what is in this.

Day 1

You need:

1 whole chicken (throw it in a big pot, organs, skin, bones and all, don't even cut it up)

3-4 carrots (cut into 2-3 inch slices, don't worry about peeling them. Skin won't hurt you)

3-4 celery stalks (cut into 2-3 inch slices)

1 onion (just chop it in half, skin and all)

1-2 whole garlic cloves (remember, you aren't going to be eating these veggies, just for flavor)

plenty of pepper and a little bit of salt (you can always add more salt at the end, but you can't take it out)

Add enough water to completely cover everything. Bring to a boil and then simmer for as long as you want. (At least 4 hours but the longer the better). Add water if it gets low.

When you are finished cooking take the chicken out, let it cool a little bit and pull all the meat off the bones. It will probably fall apart. Strain your broth in a colander and put in the refrigerator overnight.

Day 2

All of the fat will be solidified at the top. Scrape it off with a spoon. That's it. You can cook with it then or freeze it. I freeze mine in 16oz portions because that is about "1 can". Usually I will get at least 10 cups of broth. Plus a whole bunch of chicken. All for about $5-$7 dollars. With this batch I made chicken soup for 2 people plus enough for me to take to work the next day, plus I froze 6 cups of chicken broth, and had enough chicken to save for another meal. Pretty good :-)

So here's your cheat sheet:

1. chicken, carrot, celery,onion,garlic,pepper,little salt,water

2.Simmer all day

3. Salvage meat

4. Strain broth

5. Fridge all night

6. Remove fat

7. The end :-)

Labor Day Lunch

Today's lunch:

Peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread (organic PB and jelly)

Triscuits with Laughing Cow cheese

Organic apples

Unsweetened tea

Pho

I love ethnic food. When my husband and I go out by ourselves, we rarely eat at an "American" restaurant. Tonight we ate at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Vietnamese cuisine is so fresh and unprocessed, and eating it is kind of a ritual/cultural experience. The most popular Vietnamese dish is called Pho which is a huge bowl of steaming hot broth with rice noodles in it. The fun part about Pho is that when they bring out your bowl of soup, you get to add all of this stuff too it. If you want to try Pho I suggest bringing someone with you that knows what to do, because otherwise you will be lost. The condiments in the picture above are soy sauce, hoisen sauce, sriracha (which is like an Asian hot sauce), and fish sauce (fish sauce is fermented fish and salt. Don't knock it till you try it). On the plate is lime, beansprouts, Thai basil, jalapenos, and some other herb/leaf I don't know the name of. You add all of this to the soup and eat it with a big spoon and chopsticks. (chopsticks in dominant hand and spoon in the other) If you think you need a fork, you will have to ask :-)

Pie !

So included with my maple syrup were instructions to make this pie that my in-laws had while they were visiting Vermont. As you can tell, we have already enjoyed it :-) Recipe below:

Ok, my health nut speech, haha :-)
All sweets should be enjoyed in moderation. People do not get fat from eating a small piece of pie every week. When you choose to eat something sweet, eat something real and homemade and don't waste your calories on something prepackaged and overly processed. If you are eating real foods that come from mother nature on a regular basis, a treat every now and then will not hurt you.

Maple Dream Pie
(Makes 2 pies) or half the recipe for 1 pie like I did

Crust: (you can cheat and use pre-made shortbread crust, but this was really easy)
2 cups flour
1 cup finely chopped nuts (I used food processor)
2 sticks melted butter
Combine and bake at 350 for 20 minute. Let cool.

Then.......
1 cup powdered sugar
8 oz softened cream cheese
Blend together and spread onto crust

Then..........
3 cups real maple syrup (don't you dare use the fake stuff)
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
2/3 cup flour
2 tsp butter
Warm syrup in saucepan. In another bowl mix eggs, water, flour, salt. Mix into syrup and cook until it boils, stir constantly. Turn off heat and add butter. Cool and then add to the pie.

Then..........
Top with cool whip and chopped nuts (the recipe says whipped cream but I was afraid homemade whipped cream would "deflate" after a day or two.

Maple Syrup

My in-laws are from Vermont and recently visited there and brought me back a whole gallon of maple syrup. Yes ladies and gentleman, a whole gallon. I didn't even know they made such a thing until I became part of my Vermont family. This is the real stuff; no Aunt Jememiah here.

Here are a few fun facts about maple syrup:

- The sap used to make maple syrup is tapped from the trees in early Spring; when the days are warmer and the nights are cold.

-It takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup.

-Maple syrup comes in 4 types: grade A light, medium, dark, and grade B. Grade B does not mean an inferior product, it just means it is darker and has a stronger maple flavor.

-Light syrup comes earlier in the season, dark and grade B comes later.

-Native Americans were making maple syrup long before Europeans came to America.

-Maple syrup contains some vitamins and minerals. Pretty cool !

Pizza

Pizza from scratch. I made the sauce and the dough. Totally worth it :-)

Asian Night !

I love love love Asian food. There is an authentic Thai restaurant and a Vietnamese restaurant that my husband and I go to quite frequently. I am so blessed to have a husband that is as adventurous with food as I am. So anyway, I cook stir fry at home at least once or twice a month. I use all fresh veggies (except sometimes frozen in winter). I sometimes do chicken or beef but usually do tofu, and I make my own sauce. Also, we always cook real rice. No instant stuff allowed.

How long did this take? About 30 minutes, start to finish.

How much did it cost?
broccoli: 1.00
carrots: .50
1/2 box tofu: 1.00
1/2 cup rice: .10
cashews: .10
soy sauce, fish sauce, hot sauce, honey, rice vinegar, cornstarch, orange juice: .50 (maybe)

Total: $3.20 This fed 2 people with no leftovers.

Scuppernogs

Do you know what these are? These are Scuppernogs and I sooo look forward to these every year. Scuppernogs are native to the Southern United States and come into season in late summer through the fall. I did a little research and found out that the name Scuppernog comes from the Scuppernog River which is in the Eastern part of NC. There is also a purple variety that tastes similar; they are called Muscadines. People around here make some wonderful juice and wine out of these things, but I love them just like they are. To me, they are so sweet they are almost like candy. And maybe I am wierd, but I get excited about eating things that only come in to season a short period (like local strawberries).

Scuppernogs are nothing like a regular grape. They have a thick skin and a soft, super sweet juicy inside. You can eat the skin but it is very tough and most people don't. There are also 3-4 seeds inside that you can either eat or spit out. Go to your local farmer's market and check it out!

Spaghetti !

My sweet grandmother gave me seven pounds of tomatoes from her garden (yes, I weighed them). Here is the spaghetti sauce I made tonight. Per a friends request, I'm going to start trying to post how much each meal costs and how much time it took me. Keep in mind these are only estimates and some things you don't really use enough to count, like salt and pepper. Also, if I only use part of something and save the rest for later, I will try to list the cost just for what I use. (Like $2.00 block of cheese. If I used 1/2 the block that would only be $1.00.

Time:

blanching, peeling and chopping tomatoes: 20 minutes

chopping veggies: 5 minutes

cooking meat: 5 minutes

So I would say prep time is about 30 minutes and cook time is how ever long you want to let it simmer. All day for me.

Cost:

Grass fed beef: 4.50

Tomatoes: free!

1/2 yellow bell pepper: 1.00

1 onion: .50c

4 garlic cloves, various spice from the pantry, olive oil: .50c

1 box whole wheat spaghetti: 1.00

Total: 7.50

This will feed 4-6 people, which means leftovers for me or frozen extras for another night!

What is Healthy?

Sometimes I get asked: " I thought you only cooked healthy food"? So here we are with my famous Country Style Steak. A staple of any Southern kitchen. So what is my opinion on foods like this? Enjoy in moderation; and use the best ingredients. This meal would only be unhealthy if you ate it every other night and consumed large portions. I made this gravy from scratch (milk, salt, pepper, flour, that's it), and used grass-fed beef that I get from a lady's farm in the same town where I live. I also made my own mashed potatoes with real butter and milk. You will never ever find margerine (fake butter) or instant potatoes in this house. I just do not understand why you would buy something in a box that is so so easy to make using the real vegetable. *Hint* I do not peel my potatoes. I buy the little ones and chop them up real quick, boil, drain, salt, milk, butter, the end :-)

Oh and by the way, this is my husband's plate, not mine. Just so you didn't think I was a pig :-)

What's for Dinner ?

Organic corn

Roasted blue potatoes (organic)

Homemade macaroni and cheese. So much better than that box stuff! And not too hard to make either!

Lemon Meringue

So tonight I decided to get creative and make a lemon meringue pie. From scratch (except the crust). This recipe is not hard at all if you know how to temper. Temper means to gently heat a food before adding it to a hotter substance.

I will post a picture of the inside once I cut it.

Biscuits

Like any true Southern girl, I love biscuits but I usually don't eat them because most store bought ones contain hydrogenated oils (aka. trans fat) which is one of those man-made/altered things on my list of things I try not to consume. So of course who do I call upon when I need to make a true southern-girl homemade biscuit? Well Paula Deen of course :-) Biscuits are really easy make because they don't have to rise like yeast breads and they only take a few minutes to bake. So here you go. And like all special occasion foods, please enjoy in moderation :-)

www.foodnetwork.com

Farmer's Market

I love going to the Farmer's Market. What a wonderful economic way to shop for the freshest fruits and veggies AND support your local farmer. Everything I bought today is local, which means it was grown within a 100 mile radius (actually, all of this stuff was grown probably within 30 miles of where I live).

Along with healthy, natural eating, I also like to eat local foods whenever possible. Now I'm not willing to give up my banana and pineapple from Costa Rica but imagine a few hundred years ago, people had to eat local. Most food did not travel thousands of miles before it got to the table.

So for today I have (for only $8.00)

-blueberries

-cantelope

-blue and red potatoes (organic)

-okra (organic)

Dinner!

As some of you know I (almost) always cook from scratch. And almost everything I buy is free from artificial flavors, artificial colors, preservatives, HFCS, and hydrogenated oils. Those things are man made and I just don't think they are good to put in our bodies. I think our bodies were designed for pesticide free apples and not Red #40.

So I hope you enjoy tonight's creation (thanks again to Rachel Ray): Chicken, brown rice, black beans, pineapple, onion, jalapenos, brown rice, jerk sauce.

Hola Mexico!

Whenever I travel (which is not as often as I'd like) I love learning about the food they eat and learning about how they do things differently than we do. This picture is from a store in Cozumel called "Chedraui" which is alot like Walmart here. What do you notice about these pastries here? Mexico has a whole different concept of sanitation than we do. Breads and sweets just sit out in the open like this and you just go and pick what you want. Yes, you could touch them all before choosing and no one would stop you. Other things we normally would find in closed containers or bins are also just sitting out in the open. Yes I consumed my fair share of every Mexican pastry, cake, and cookie. Yes it had been sitting out in the open all day and yes, I am still alive to tell you about it. It's part of embracing the culture :-)

Chicken Fajita Salad with Poblano-Buttermilk Dressing

I got this one out of a Rachel Ray magazine. The quesadillas and avocado were my idea. A little spicy, but that's the way I like it. If you have never tried them, poblano peppers are amazing :-)

Welcome!

Welcome to my food blog. I am not a professional writer. I am not extremely witty with words. I just love to cook and play in the kitchen, and I love to share what I do. I was asked the other week what I would do if I was not a teacher. Answer: A chef or a baker. Somewhere where I could play with food all day long.