Finally.....
Hello folks. Wondering what happened to my daily posts? How could I stay away so long? Have I been sticking with the "Wheat Belly Diet?" I won't load you down with a million excuses (I do have about a million legitimate excuses), I will give you a quick rundown: kids sick, upload problems, internet problems, computer problems, my own case of head colds and allergies, a stray dog showing up and adopting us as its new family (which means that along with the 5 people who live here, we have 1 inside cat, 3 outside cats, and 2 dogs who are both inside and outside), baseball season for my boys and softball for my girl, and just life in general. I would happen to think about posting as I was just falling asleep or just waking up. Understand please, I am truly sorry. And I am sure you have ups and downs within your own life that throw your well orchestrated routines into chaos.
Now, let's get back to the topic of the "Wheat Belly Diet."
Would anyone want a gently used copy of the "Wheat Belly Recipe Book?" Because the recipes did not work for my family. Allow me to be more specific: the "bread" recipes did not work at all for my family. My first stumbling block came while trying to fix something for my children to put in their lunch box. After a few days of cut up veggies, fruits and lettuce wraps, their palates became bored. And each Wheat Belly bread recipe was failing miserably in the category of edibility for the whole family. So I compromised. I said to myself: I will buy "regular" bread and only use it for their lunches occasionally. This worked out quite admirably for quite some time. Then, I ran out of "Wheat Belly"recipes that my family would eat. That is when I decided to dig through my other cookbooks and do a little more research. The "Wheat Belly" basic premise boils down to eating foods with a lower glycemic index. By avoiding "Franken-wheat," you are also avoiding carbohydrates. In a brief flash of brilliance, (trust me, it was very brief and not that brilliant, actually) I figured out that I could use Weight Watchers and Atkins Diet as guidelines in conjunction with "The Wheat Belly Diet." That helped open up so many more options and so, so many more recipes. Yippee!!
So here is a list of some of the recipes that have made appearances at my table in the last couple of months: It's Chilly Chili Soup, Tacos in a Bowl, Creamy Ham Chowder, Simple Chicken Cacciatore, Chicken Delicious (chicken with broccoli-chesse soup), Chicken Marseilles (chicken with leek soup), Cheeseburger in a Pot, Slow Cooker Lasagna, Mushroom Beef (mushroom/sour cream sauce for sliced steak or stew meat), Beef Burgundy, Slow Cooker Pork Roast, Hamburger Veggie Soup, Barbecue Roast Beef, Pork Chops with Dried Fruit and Onions, Pizza Soup, Asian Beef with Broccoli, Louisiana Style Shrimp, Asian Barbecue Skewers.
I made adjustments to the recipes when I needed less wheat, substituting rice for noodles, or just using a vegetable side instead of any wheat items. And the truly beautiful thing about the recipes that I listed.....they are all slow cooker recipes!!
In my kitchen, I have 4 slow cookers of varying sizes. Most of them are stowed away since I usually only need them during parties. But the largest one has earned its spot on my countertop. It is wonderful to put in the ingredients, set the timer and temperature and walk away knowing that your meal will be ready when it is time for supper.
So have I eradicated wheat from our table? No, it was not the best choice for my family. We still have whole wheat crackers, I buy whole wheat bread, and I will bake a conventional cake. Do we have less wheat than 6 months ago? Yes. Our consumption of fruits and vegetables has increased along with our consumption of proteins. Sometimes our main source of protein comes from dried beans that I use in bean soups and vegan chili.
Have I noticed a change in our health? Can't really answer that definitively since we still suffer from an occasional cold, allergies or upset stomach, which I believe is normal. But yes, I do believe we have a healthier constitution than we had before I became more proactive about our health and eating habits. Do my children eat junk food? Yes, they do have occasions, frequently, that we allow junk. Easter is an appropriate example. They had ample opportunity to over-indulge in all sorts of candy creations. Did they? Nope. They know that their bodies work better when you put real food, healthy food, into it. They collaborated on a plan that I was quite proud of: they asked that I put a few pieces of the Easter candy in their lunches each day. At this rate, they will still have Easter candy in their lunches when school is over in late May, but I think that was awesome for them to make a choice of moderation on their own.
Today, I am sitting down with 3-4 of my favorite cookbooks to make out our menu for the upcoming week. I will post my menu and pictures each day for your viewing pleasure.
Spring has sprung here in Southwest Mississippi and today's weather is beautiful. I wish I could embrace the day fully, but I have suffered with a nasty head cold for the last 4 days. I sent my children to church without me. I didn't want to spread germs to everyone else. I hope this week will be great for you and I hope you will check in with me again as I keep aiming for a better life.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
The best laid plans.........parts 3, 4, 5,...
It's been a few days since my last post; okay, it's been a week. And boy, has it been busy. I have lots of pictures and stories to share so let's get started.
KJV Bible verse: Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Devotional: "Renewing Your Mind" www.ligonier.org
Housekeeping: We are currently out-of town, so I don't have to worry about today's housekeeping, but here is the link to my favorite site: www.flylady.com
Exercise: Other than running around after my kids today, I am giving myself the weekend off. The weather is awful, as it has been all week, and remember, I am out-of-town for the weekend. So I have a pretty good, solid excuse.
Now for the pictures and stories. Last Friday found me in quite an ambitious mood and I happily opened my almond flour and coconut flour to learn how to use them in my bread making. Don't forget, I am still using my wheat flours in my standard bread recipes with increasing proportions of almond flour and coconut flour.
In the picture above, I have sifted together the bread (wheat) flour, almond flour and coconut flour in a three: one: one ratio according to my bread machine recipe's 4 cups of flour requirement. Here is my nifty bread machine. This particular model will knead, rise, second knead, second rise and bake your bread. I set the machine and let it go. I tried to restrain myself, but I did peek into the window at the top of the machine with quite a bit of frequency.
Finally, the machine beeped the end tones and these is what I found upon opening the top:
Hmmmm, not the height or size that I expected. The smell is divine but the physical appearance seems to indicate that it did not rise properly. Here is what it looked like after removing it from the pan:
I put a towel over it and let it cool a bit and cut into it.
Just as I suspected, the bread did not rise correctly. Hopefully you can tell from the picture, the bread is entirely too dense. I tried a bite and the taste was delicious, just too dense. A huge improvement over the foccocia bread I attempted with the start of this blog. Now, why do you do with (another) loaf of bread that you really can't eat as bread and you're loathe to throw away anything, even your failures? We had already used one of my failures in as a cornbread/bread dressing recipe so what else could I use this for?? In my Southern Living Cookbook, I found a breakfast casserole recipe that I could adjust and use. I cut the bread into cubes and whisked together eggs, some milk, sour cream and seasonings (salt and pepper.) I grated cheddar, colby and parmesan cheeses and began assembly of the casserole.
The directions for the recipe read to cover and chill 8 hours or overnight, so into the refrigerator it went for our breakfast the next day. Crossing my fingers and saying a quick prayer that this concoction would break my streak of attempts and failures.
Next on my menu agenda was chili. Many people have a standard way of making chili using a seasoning packet that is easy to find at your local grocery store. However, if you check the packets, most of them use wheat flour as a thickener. Since I am trying to monitor the amount of wheat, I will use my own seasonings for this dish. I started with browning 2 lbs. of ground chuck. I seasoned the beef with a sprinkle of salt, pepper, minced garlic, minced onion, diced green and red bell peppers. I drained the grease from the mixture after the beef was throughly cooked and set aside. In my slow cooker, I put a jar of plain spaghetti sauce, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of black beans that have been rinsed and these seasonings: oregano, ground cumin, ground chipotle pepper, ground chili peppers, red pepper flakes, and some crushed rosemary. I apologize that I don't have precise measurements listed. I have cooked chili so many times that I do my seasonings from intuition now instead of precise measurements. After checking the taste of the sauce and deciding if it's about right, then I put in my browned meat mixture. I love to sneak in vegetables in my recipes so today I am sneaking collard greens into my chili. I cut it into small squares with my kitchen shears, probably close to 1 cup of cut up collard greens. And instead of using any wheat or corn product as a thickener, I use canned pumpkin. I usually only need a tablespoon or two to get my chili the consistency that I like. I set the slow cooker preset on low and slow, which is 8 hours of low heat. I checked the taste after about 4 hours and make adjustments to my seasonings if necessary. I check the taste again before serving. Here is my end result:
Yippee!! Thank the Lord for a meal of truly delicious food. My family was also very grateful and ate lots. In fact, the above picture is what was left over. The large slow cooker was full of chili and my hungry family gobbled it up so pictured is only about 8 cups of leftovers. :)
From glowing success to dismal failure: the breakfast casserole. The next morning, I woke early and pulled the breakfast casserole from the refrigerator to put it in the oven. I made coffee, set the timer and set the table with my expectations high. Beep, beep, beep; it's ready.
Looks yummy; smells yummy. Let's cut into it and check the taste.
How disappointing! The casserole recipe wasn't enough to compensate for the bread. The top of the casserole, where all the cheeses were was pretty good but the interior and bottom wasn't tasty at all. What do you do with a breakfast casserole that was an attempt to salvage an inedible bread? Why give it to the dogs and cats, of course. There weren't any ingredients that were bad for cats nor dogs within my bread or breakfast casserole and since eggs are a great source of protein and cheese is really tasty, it made perfectly good sense to give my failed recipe to the pets. They were very pleased and cleaned their plates. I'm so glad that someone like it.
At this point, I felt I should take a break from my wheat-less cooking plans. I expressed my dismay to my mother who replied that I should completely abandon my quest. Later, when I talked it over with my husband, he said something that I think will stay with me the rest of my life. He said, "Anybody can quit." Which means, anyone can give up a project but it takes perseverance for someone to keep going even when they encounter failure. I'm not sure if he realizes that it was exactly the encouragement that I needed to hear. :)
I may flutter when I try to fly; I may stumble when I try to run but I keep trying and I keep aiming for a better life.
KJV Bible verse: Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Devotional: "Renewing Your Mind" www.ligonier.org
Housekeeping: We are currently out-of town, so I don't have to worry about today's housekeeping, but here is the link to my favorite site: www.flylady.com
Exercise: Other than running around after my kids today, I am giving myself the weekend off. The weather is awful, as it has been all week, and remember, I am out-of-town for the weekend. So I have a pretty good, solid excuse.
Now for the pictures and stories. Last Friday found me in quite an ambitious mood and I happily opened my almond flour and coconut flour to learn how to use them in my bread making. Don't forget, I am still using my wheat flours in my standard bread recipes with increasing proportions of almond flour and coconut flour.
In the picture above, I have sifted together the bread (wheat) flour, almond flour and coconut flour in a three: one: one ratio according to my bread machine recipe's 4 cups of flour requirement. Here is my nifty bread machine. This particular model will knead, rise, second knead, second rise and bake your bread. I set the machine and let it go. I tried to restrain myself, but I did peek into the window at the top of the machine with quite a bit of frequency.
Finally, the machine beeped the end tones and these is what I found upon opening the top:
Hmmmm, not the height or size that I expected. The smell is divine but the physical appearance seems to indicate that it did not rise properly. Here is what it looked like after removing it from the pan:
I put a towel over it and let it cool a bit and cut into it.
Just as I suspected, the bread did not rise correctly. Hopefully you can tell from the picture, the bread is entirely too dense. I tried a bite and the taste was delicious, just too dense. A huge improvement over the foccocia bread I attempted with the start of this blog. Now, why do you do with (another) loaf of bread that you really can't eat as bread and you're loathe to throw away anything, even your failures? We had already used one of my failures in as a cornbread/bread dressing recipe so what else could I use this for?? In my Southern Living Cookbook, I found a breakfast casserole recipe that I could adjust and use. I cut the bread into cubes and whisked together eggs, some milk, sour cream and seasonings (salt and pepper.) I grated cheddar, colby and parmesan cheeses and began assembly of the casserole.
The directions for the recipe read to cover and chill 8 hours or overnight, so into the refrigerator it went for our breakfast the next day. Crossing my fingers and saying a quick prayer that this concoction would break my streak of attempts and failures.
Next on my menu agenda was chili. Many people have a standard way of making chili using a seasoning packet that is easy to find at your local grocery store. However, if you check the packets, most of them use wheat flour as a thickener. Since I am trying to monitor the amount of wheat, I will use my own seasonings for this dish. I started with browning 2 lbs. of ground chuck. I seasoned the beef with a sprinkle of salt, pepper, minced garlic, minced onion, diced green and red bell peppers. I drained the grease from the mixture after the beef was throughly cooked and set aside. In my slow cooker, I put a jar of plain spaghetti sauce, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of black beans that have been rinsed and these seasonings: oregano, ground cumin, ground chipotle pepper, ground chili peppers, red pepper flakes, and some crushed rosemary. I apologize that I don't have precise measurements listed. I have cooked chili so many times that I do my seasonings from intuition now instead of precise measurements. After checking the taste of the sauce and deciding if it's about right, then I put in my browned meat mixture. I love to sneak in vegetables in my recipes so today I am sneaking collard greens into my chili. I cut it into small squares with my kitchen shears, probably close to 1 cup of cut up collard greens. And instead of using any wheat or corn product as a thickener, I use canned pumpkin. I usually only need a tablespoon or two to get my chili the consistency that I like. I set the slow cooker preset on low and slow, which is 8 hours of low heat. I checked the taste after about 4 hours and make adjustments to my seasonings if necessary. I check the taste again before serving. Here is my end result:
Yippee!! Thank the Lord for a meal of truly delicious food. My family was also very grateful and ate lots. In fact, the above picture is what was left over. The large slow cooker was full of chili and my hungry family gobbled it up so pictured is only about 8 cups of leftovers. :)
From glowing success to dismal failure: the breakfast casserole. The next morning, I woke early and pulled the breakfast casserole from the refrigerator to put it in the oven. I made coffee, set the timer and set the table with my expectations high. Beep, beep, beep; it's ready.
Looks yummy; smells yummy. Let's cut into it and check the taste.
How disappointing! The casserole recipe wasn't enough to compensate for the bread. The top of the casserole, where all the cheeses were was pretty good but the interior and bottom wasn't tasty at all. What do you do with a breakfast casserole that was an attempt to salvage an inedible bread? Why give it to the dogs and cats, of course. There weren't any ingredients that were bad for cats nor dogs within my bread or breakfast casserole and since eggs are a great source of protein and cheese is really tasty, it made perfectly good sense to give my failed recipe to the pets. They were very pleased and cleaned their plates. I'm so glad that someone like it.
At this point, I felt I should take a break from my wheat-less cooking plans. I expressed my dismay to my mother who replied that I should completely abandon my quest. Later, when I talked it over with my husband, he said something that I think will stay with me the rest of my life. He said, "Anybody can quit." Which means, anyone can give up a project but it takes perseverance for someone to keep going even when they encounter failure. I'm not sure if he realizes that it was exactly the encouragement that I needed to hear. :)
I may flutter when I try to fly; I may stumble when I try to run but I keep trying and I keep aiming for a better life.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
The well-laid plans of mice and men.....
KJV Bible verse: Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Devotional: Audio broadcast, Renewing Your Mind, "Economics for Everybody" www.ligonier.org
Housekeeping: www.flylady.net
Exercise: Sun salutation yoga
Menu plan: Hmmmmm...we'll see.
Well folks, my plans for yesterday fell flat. It was that darn housekeeping. Ugh. My day was going well until I decided to scrub the shower/bathtubs of the children's bathroom and the extra bathroom that I use to bathe the dog. First, let me tell you about our dog. She is an 10 month old Irish Wolfhound.
This is a picture of her and my youngest son who is 6 years old, laying around in my laundry room. Although she is still a puppy, she is 3 foot tall at the shoulder already. And she really doesn't enjoy getting a bath. A week ago when she had a bath, she did what dogs naturally do after a bath.....shake her whole body. In doing so, she flung water all over me and the whole bathroom. I wiped down the walls afterward but didn't clean out the shower walls nor bathtub. So yesterday in my cleaning productivity, I decided to clean up the mess I left from the dog bath episode. Since the cleaning urge hit me while I was upstairs, I started in the children's bathroom. Then went downstairs to the extra bathroom. With all that reaching and scrubbing, I pulled a muscle in my back. "OUCH," doesn't quite touch the pain I encountered. Several OTC painkillers and using a freezing muscle rub helped immensely. Hence, the exercise choice for today, yoga, to help put my back into working order. But the rest of my day's plans yesterday had to be adjusted. The pumpkin pancakes didn't happen. Thankfully, my mom and pop stopped by yesterday with some sweet potatoes. I threw them into a 350 degree oven for about 2 hours, and cooked some link sausage to accompany it. We season our sweet potatoes with salt, butter and sour cream. It was yum, yum, yummy. And thankfully didn't require me to stand over the stove flipping pancakes.
On a positive note, I received my almond flour and coconut flour yesterday. Today may be the day for an attempt at bread making again.
As I look over the Wheat Belly Cookbook recipe for basic bread, I notice that I am still missing an ingredient: garbanzo bean (chickpea) flour. My food processor died the last time I tried making my own flour from dried chickpeas, so I will attempt substituting again with regular (wheat) flour. And depending on my results and my own bravery, I may try one of my basic bread recipes that could be used in my bread maker using a combination of almond flour, coconut flour and possibly a bit of bread (wheat) flour.
Breakfast will be some breakfast cereal, lunch will be chilli that I threw into the slow cooker this morning. And supper might be Peppered Steak from the Wheat Belly Cookbook. We'll see how ambitious I am after my excursion to the grocery store. Hopefully the yoga will stretch out the kinks in my back and I will be ready to tackle whatever comes my way. I hope you are still pursuing your resolutions. It's not too late to join us here each day as we aim for a better life. Have a great day.
Devotional: Audio broadcast, Renewing Your Mind, "Economics for Everybody" www.ligonier.org
Housekeeping: www.flylady.net
Exercise: Sun salutation yoga
Menu plan: Hmmmmm...we'll see.
Well folks, my plans for yesterday fell flat. It was that darn housekeeping. Ugh. My day was going well until I decided to scrub the shower/bathtubs of the children's bathroom and the extra bathroom that I use to bathe the dog. First, let me tell you about our dog. She is an 10 month old Irish Wolfhound.
This is a picture of her and my youngest son who is 6 years old, laying around in my laundry room. Although she is still a puppy, she is 3 foot tall at the shoulder already. And she really doesn't enjoy getting a bath. A week ago when she had a bath, she did what dogs naturally do after a bath.....shake her whole body. In doing so, she flung water all over me and the whole bathroom. I wiped down the walls afterward but didn't clean out the shower walls nor bathtub. So yesterday in my cleaning productivity, I decided to clean up the mess I left from the dog bath episode. Since the cleaning urge hit me while I was upstairs, I started in the children's bathroom. Then went downstairs to the extra bathroom. With all that reaching and scrubbing, I pulled a muscle in my back. "OUCH," doesn't quite touch the pain I encountered. Several OTC painkillers and using a freezing muscle rub helped immensely. Hence, the exercise choice for today, yoga, to help put my back into working order. But the rest of my day's plans yesterday had to be adjusted. The pumpkin pancakes didn't happen. Thankfully, my mom and pop stopped by yesterday with some sweet potatoes. I threw them into a 350 degree oven for about 2 hours, and cooked some link sausage to accompany it. We season our sweet potatoes with salt, butter and sour cream. It was yum, yum, yummy. And thankfully didn't require me to stand over the stove flipping pancakes.
On a positive note, I received my almond flour and coconut flour yesterday. Today may be the day for an attempt at bread making again.
As I look over the Wheat Belly Cookbook recipe for basic bread, I notice that I am still missing an ingredient: garbanzo bean (chickpea) flour. My food processor died the last time I tried making my own flour from dried chickpeas, so I will attempt substituting again with regular (wheat) flour. And depending on my results and my own bravery, I may try one of my basic bread recipes that could be used in my bread maker using a combination of almond flour, coconut flour and possibly a bit of bread (wheat) flour.
Breakfast will be some breakfast cereal, lunch will be chilli that I threw into the slow cooker this morning. And supper might be Peppered Steak from the Wheat Belly Cookbook. We'll see how ambitious I am after my excursion to the grocery store. Hopefully the yoga will stretch out the kinks in my back and I will be ready to tackle whatever comes my way. I hope you are still pursuing your resolutions. It's not too late to join us here each day as we aim for a better life. Have a great day.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Ready to kick-off 2013
I am generally an early riser, but the holidays have shot my normal routine. Instead of my usual wake-up time of 4:45 am, I have been waking up at 8am. I am really looking forward to getting back into schedule and putting my resolutions into practice. Time to get the day started on the right foot:
Bible verse: Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
This same verse will appear each post for the month of January 2013.
Devotional: "The Source of Joy," daily audio broadcast from www.ligonier.org
This is an app that I have on my phone. I can plug in my headphones and listen while I do laundry, or any other housework. The broadcast is new each day.
Housekeeping agenda: www.flylady.net
If I can get everything listed for the day done, I reward myself with an hour of "alone time," which means one hour of doing whatever I want: reading, watching a movie, or taking a nap. With today's dreary skies, I am choosing -take a nap- from the list.
Exercise plan: Although it isn't raining, it is muddy outside today. Since I don't want to clean up after muddy shoes and muddy clothes, the kids and I will be inside playing Just Dance 4 for some exercise.
Now the menu plan. As I stated before, I still have wheat products in my pantry. So I would rather use them and focus on reducing our wheat intake until my wheat products are gone. This morning's breakfast will be whatever breakfast cereals I still have in the pantry. And since all the breakfast cereal makers are really pushing that their cereals have whole grain/whole wheat, that means our blood sugars will shoot through the roof and we'll be hungry again in no time. :(
Our lunch will be the leftover Cheeseburger Soup served with corn tortilla chips. Snack will be mozzarella cheese sticks and mixed nuts. And we'll have breakfast for supper tonight: pumpkin pancakes with spicy patty sausage. I still do not have my almond flour nor the coconut flour. So this is my adjustment: I found a Bisquick mix that is labeled "carb-smart" in my pantry. Although I know it has wheat, I am using it. I will mix in a tablespoon of flaxseed flour, about 1 cup of canned pumpkin, about 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice, additional cinnamon, some Stevia, and use coconut milk for my liquid. It isn't wheat-free, but it is at least a bit better, nutritionally, than the standard pancake. For syrup, I am attempting to make a simple syrup with Truvia and Splenda and water. We'll use that to pour over our pancakes along with some whipped coconut milk for topping. Should be a tasty supper and I'm already looking forward to it! What a great kick-off for 2013!
Bible verse: Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
This same verse will appear each post for the month of January 2013.
Devotional: "The Source of Joy," daily audio broadcast from www.ligonier.org
This is an app that I have on my phone. I can plug in my headphones and listen while I do laundry, or any other housework. The broadcast is new each day.
Housekeeping agenda: www.flylady.net
If I can get everything listed for the day done, I reward myself with an hour of "alone time," which means one hour of doing whatever I want: reading, watching a movie, or taking a nap. With today's dreary skies, I am choosing -take a nap- from the list.
Exercise plan: Although it isn't raining, it is muddy outside today. Since I don't want to clean up after muddy shoes and muddy clothes, the kids and I will be inside playing Just Dance 4 for some exercise.
Now the menu plan. As I stated before, I still have wheat products in my pantry. So I would rather use them and focus on reducing our wheat intake until my wheat products are gone. This morning's breakfast will be whatever breakfast cereals I still have in the pantry. And since all the breakfast cereal makers are really pushing that their cereals have whole grain/whole wheat, that means our blood sugars will shoot through the roof and we'll be hungry again in no time. :(
Our lunch will be the leftover Cheeseburger Soup served with corn tortilla chips. Snack will be mozzarella cheese sticks and mixed nuts. And we'll have breakfast for supper tonight: pumpkin pancakes with spicy patty sausage. I still do not have my almond flour nor the coconut flour. So this is my adjustment: I found a Bisquick mix that is labeled "carb-smart" in my pantry. Although I know it has wheat, I am using it. I will mix in a tablespoon of flaxseed flour, about 1 cup of canned pumpkin, about 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice, additional cinnamon, some Stevia, and use coconut milk for my liquid. It isn't wheat-free, but it is at least a bit better, nutritionally, than the standard pancake. For syrup, I am attempting to make a simple syrup with Truvia and Splenda and water. We'll use that to pour over our pancakes along with some whipped coconut milk for topping. Should be a tasty supper and I'm already looking forward to it! What a great kick-off for 2013!
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Resolutions, yea or blah?!?
This is my second post today.....don't look for this to happen too often. Hahaha! Today's menu looks much the same for most folks who follow the tradition of having black-eyed peas and cabbage for New Year's Day. So I didn't need to post any new comments or photos about what we are eating or my attempts at any new recipes. Today is the first day of the New Year and I wanted to get this out while it was fresh in my mind. Everyone makes New Year's resolutions and this blog is part of my hopes in being more accountable for keeping my resolutions. So what are my resolutions? Here goes.....
1. "A Closer Walk with Thee" I want to pursue and enrich my relationship with God.
2. Watch what I say and how I say it.
3. Eat healthy.
4. Clean house = happy family.
5. More exercise for the whole family.
That's it. I try to limit my list to five since I can memorize it by counting on one hand. So how do I expect to accomplish my list? We have to have a plan in mind, else "if I fail to plan, I plan to fail." First, this blog. Starting tomorrow I will post the same Bible verse each day for a month. The plan is that by repeating it each day for a month, it will become part of long term memory. I will also provide a link to the devotional that I read or listen to each day www.ligonier.org Next on the list, I have 3 school age children and too often my tone is critical, sarcastic, and the words are not kind. We get busy and rushed with school and activities and we all need to slow down and enjoy each moment as a blessing. The third item on the list, well, that's primarily why I started this blog, to chronicle how my family responds to the Wheat Belly Cookbook. Here's a link to the blog for The Wheat Belly Book, www.wheatbellyblog.com Item four, is a cinch to talk the talk, but a bit harder to walk the walk. And since I don't believe in reinventing the wheel, I will post the link to my favorite site for house-keeping: www.flylady.net And the last item on my list I can accomplish with a little help from Santa....more specifically, some of the gifts Santa brought. For outside activities, Santa brought a basketball goal along with 3 new basketballs. We also live out in the country and have access to trails to walk/jog or ride our bikes. For those rainy days like we are having here in Southwest Mississippi today, Santa brought Just Dance 4 and last year's gifts include Kung Fu Panda for Kinect Xbox 360 and Just Dance 3. So the kids and I can get active no matter what the weather.
There it is, folks. Now, what are your resolutions and how do you plan to achieve your goals so that 2013 won't be a year of unfulfilled promises? This can be the year that you aim for a better life. I won't be perfect and I hope you get a laugh out of my failures and my attempts. Buckle up for a fun ride!
1. "A Closer Walk with Thee" I want to pursue and enrich my relationship with God.
2. Watch what I say and how I say it.
3. Eat healthy.
4. Clean house = happy family.
5. More exercise for the whole family.
That's it. I try to limit my list to five since I can memorize it by counting on one hand. So how do I expect to accomplish my list? We have to have a plan in mind, else "if I fail to plan, I plan to fail." First, this blog. Starting tomorrow I will post the same Bible verse each day for a month. The plan is that by repeating it each day for a month, it will become part of long term memory. I will also provide a link to the devotional that I read or listen to each day www.ligonier.org Next on the list, I have 3 school age children and too often my tone is critical, sarcastic, and the words are not kind. We get busy and rushed with school and activities and we all need to slow down and enjoy each moment as a blessing. The third item on the list, well, that's primarily why I started this blog, to chronicle how my family responds to the Wheat Belly Cookbook. Here's a link to the blog for The Wheat Belly Book, www.wheatbellyblog.com Item four, is a cinch to talk the talk, but a bit harder to walk the walk. And since I don't believe in reinventing the wheel, I will post the link to my favorite site for house-keeping: www.flylady.net And the last item on my list I can accomplish with a little help from Santa....more specifically, some of the gifts Santa brought. For outside activities, Santa brought a basketball goal along with 3 new basketballs. We also live out in the country and have access to trails to walk/jog or ride our bikes. For those rainy days like we are having here in Southwest Mississippi today, Santa brought Just Dance 4 and last year's gifts include Kung Fu Panda for Kinect Xbox 360 and Just Dance 3. So the kids and I can get active no matter what the weather.
There it is, folks. Now, what are your resolutions and how do you plan to achieve your goals so that 2013 won't be a year of unfulfilled promises? This can be the year that you aim for a better life. I won't be perfect and I hope you get a laugh out of my failures and my attempts. Buckle up for a fun ride!
Happy New Year and Cheeseburger Soup
Happy New Year! I hope today finds you ready to make resolutions so that you can join us as we aim for a better life. I am excited today to share the results from yesterday's supper menu, Cheeseburger Soup. Right now I am using the Wheat Belly Cookbook for recipes before I try to adapt any of my favorites from the myriad of cookbooks that I have collected through the years. So let's see how it turned out!
Here is the recipe found in The Wheat Belly Cookbook by William Davis, M.D.:
Cheeseburger Soup (serves four)
4 c. chicken broth 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets 1/4 tsp paprika
1 tbsp butter or coconut oil 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 small onion, chopped 1 tbsp coconut flour
1/2 lb ground beef 1/2 c shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
Combine 31/4 c of broth and cauliflower into large saucepan; cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and cook 15-20min, or until cauliflower is tender.
Meanwhile, add butter or oil to medium pan over medium-high heat. Cook the onion, stirring until golden. Crumble in ground beef and cook thoroughly. Stir in parsley, salt, paprika and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.
Transfer the cauliflower and broth to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Return to the saucepan. In a small bowl, whisk the coconut flour with the remaining 1/4 c of broth until smooth. Gradually add the coconut flour mixture to the cauliflower mixture and return to heat, whisking constantly for about 3 min, or until slightly thickened. Whisk in cheese just until it melts. Remove from heat and stir in the reserved meat mixture. Serve.
And now, my attempt: I doubled the recipe because I have a family of five and generally need recipes that serve 8-10. I chopped up the cauliflower and put it on stove using chicken bouillon instead of the listed broth.
This is a full head of cauliflower since I am doubling the recipe. I set my timer and started browning my ground beef. I used ground chuck since it is leaner than regular ground beef. I also used dehydrated chopped onions and dried parsley for the meat mixture. I seasoned the browning ground beef with a spice mixture that is labeled as a steak seasoning. It contains salt, pepper, garlic, and onion. As the meat mixture cooked, the cauliflower started to boil. WARNING: cauliflower is in the same vegetable family as broccoli and cabbage and will stink up your house as it cooks. My children all made appearances in the kitchen asking what that smell was. I had to fib a little and tell them I was cooking something for tomorrow's menu since I was afraid that if they knew they would be eating the stinky stuff for supper they would mutiny.
So the cauliflower is fork tender and again I remember a bit late that my food processor is dead. Hmmm...use a potato masher? blender? And then I remember that my mother gave me an immersion blender for Christmas. Thank you Mama!! I drained about 2 cups of liquid from the pot before I put in the blender. It worked beautifully! Next, the recipe said to use a thickener with coconut flour. My coconut flour hasn't arrived yet, so I didn't use any thickener. That is also why I decided to drain about 2 cups of liquid from the cauliflower. The mixture seemed just the right thickness so I added the cheese. I also added about 1/4 c. of smoked Provolone, since that is one of my favorite cheeses, especially for a burger. Then I stirred in the meat mixture, as instructed. This is my result:
In case the photo doesn't clearly express it, this wasn't the most appetizing concoction I have stirred up. Since we couldn't use crackers, and the focaccia bread didn't exactly work out (see New Day, New Grocery List) we decided to use tortilla chips with our soup. I double checked the tortilla chips for any added wheat or wheat flour and was pleased to see they were just corn tortillas. Here are our bowls:
Hope you got a chuckle out of our fancy paper plates that I use for the children's bowls. So we sat down, said prayer, and I have to admit that I had to make myself take that first bite. See, throughout all that cooking and stirring, I didn't taste test. I generally don't taste test as I cook, so it really isn't that different. My aversion to take that first bit I believe had a little bit to do with the cauliflower stench that lingered in the air. (And by the way: The cauliflower stench is still in my house, even after burning scented candles and using air fresheners.) So I did finally take a bite and I was pleasantly surprised! It was very yummy. The cauliflower was completely disguised by the cheese. The children ate well, especially using the tortilla chips so that it was like a cheesy beef dip.
We cleaned up the kitchen and I put away the leftovers. Then we spent our New Year's Eve at the skating rink trying out the new roller skates that Santa brought. We were home by 10:30pm and finished out 2012 watching Dick Clark's Rocking New Year's Eve. I think it was the first time that all my yahoos made it past midnight. It was a great way to wind up 2012 and I look forward to continued striving, God willing, as we aim for a better life.
Happy New Year to you and yours.
Here is the recipe found in The Wheat Belly Cookbook by William Davis, M.D.:
Cheeseburger Soup (serves four)
4 c. chicken broth 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets 1/4 tsp paprika
1 tbsp butter or coconut oil 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 small onion, chopped 1 tbsp coconut flour
1/2 lb ground beef 1/2 c shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
Combine 31/4 c of broth and cauliflower into large saucepan; cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and cook 15-20min, or until cauliflower is tender.
Meanwhile, add butter or oil to medium pan over medium-high heat. Cook the onion, stirring until golden. Crumble in ground beef and cook thoroughly. Stir in parsley, salt, paprika and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.
Transfer the cauliflower and broth to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Return to the saucepan. In a small bowl, whisk the coconut flour with the remaining 1/4 c of broth until smooth. Gradually add the coconut flour mixture to the cauliflower mixture and return to heat, whisking constantly for about 3 min, or until slightly thickened. Whisk in cheese just until it melts. Remove from heat and stir in the reserved meat mixture. Serve.
And now, my attempt: I doubled the recipe because I have a family of five and generally need recipes that serve 8-10. I chopped up the cauliflower and put it on stove using chicken bouillon instead of the listed broth.
This is a full head of cauliflower since I am doubling the recipe. I set my timer and started browning my ground beef. I used ground chuck since it is leaner than regular ground beef. I also used dehydrated chopped onions and dried parsley for the meat mixture. I seasoned the browning ground beef with a spice mixture that is labeled as a steak seasoning. It contains salt, pepper, garlic, and onion. As the meat mixture cooked, the cauliflower started to boil. WARNING: cauliflower is in the same vegetable family as broccoli and cabbage and will stink up your house as it cooks. My children all made appearances in the kitchen asking what that smell was. I had to fib a little and tell them I was cooking something for tomorrow's menu since I was afraid that if they knew they would be eating the stinky stuff for supper they would mutiny.
So the cauliflower is fork tender and again I remember a bit late that my food processor is dead. Hmmm...use a potato masher? blender? And then I remember that my mother gave me an immersion blender for Christmas. Thank you Mama!! I drained about 2 cups of liquid from the pot before I put in the blender. It worked beautifully! Next, the recipe said to use a thickener with coconut flour. My coconut flour hasn't arrived yet, so I didn't use any thickener. That is also why I decided to drain about 2 cups of liquid from the cauliflower. The mixture seemed just the right thickness so I added the cheese. I also added about 1/4 c. of smoked Provolone, since that is one of my favorite cheeses, especially for a burger. Then I stirred in the meat mixture, as instructed. This is my result:
In case the photo doesn't clearly express it, this wasn't the most appetizing concoction I have stirred up. Since we couldn't use crackers, and the focaccia bread didn't exactly work out (see New Day, New Grocery List) we decided to use tortilla chips with our soup. I double checked the tortilla chips for any added wheat or wheat flour and was pleased to see they were just corn tortillas. Here are our bowls:
Hope you got a chuckle out of our fancy paper plates that I use for the children's bowls. So we sat down, said prayer, and I have to admit that I had to make myself take that first bite. See, throughout all that cooking and stirring, I didn't taste test. I generally don't taste test as I cook, so it really isn't that different. My aversion to take that first bit I believe had a little bit to do with the cauliflower stench that lingered in the air. (And by the way: The cauliflower stench is still in my house, even after burning scented candles and using air fresheners.) So I did finally take a bite and I was pleasantly surprised! It was very yummy. The cauliflower was completely disguised by the cheese. The children ate well, especially using the tortilla chips so that it was like a cheesy beef dip.
We cleaned up the kitchen and I put away the leftovers. Then we spent our New Year's Eve at the skating rink trying out the new roller skates that Santa brought. We were home by 10:30pm and finished out 2012 watching Dick Clark's Rocking New Year's Eve. I think it was the first time that all my yahoos made it past midnight. It was a great way to wind up 2012 and I look forward to continued striving, God willing, as we aim for a better life.
Happy New Year to you and yours.
Monday, December 31, 2012
A new day and a new grocery list?
I am headed back to the grocery store today for bread. I guess I have some explaining to do.......
Yesterday, the task was to make a wheat-less focaccia bread. My product was edible but not tasty. I can't blame the recipe. No, it is entirely my fault. As I prepared my ingredients for the focaccia bread found in the Wheat Belly Cookbook, I found that the order I placed for the almond flour and coconut flour had not come in yet. In my eagerness to try the recipe, I decided to "wing it" with the ingredients that I had on hand. Upon closer perusal, I find a bag of dried garbanzo beans and a bag of raw almonds. I think to myself, "oh this will work, I can make my own flours of garbanzo beans and almonds. He (the author) says you can make your own almond flour in the (wheat belly cook-) book." I proceed to get out my small food processor and all my supplies and ingredients. I pour 1 cup of dried garbanzo beans and pour them into the food processor. I turn it on and immediately my poor ears begin to bleed. You see, dried garbanzo beans, or chickpeas if you prefer, are hard as rocks, possibly harder. My children stumble into the kitchen to see where all the racket was coming from and find me nearly doubled over in laughter while the food processor continued its attempts of grinding pebbles. Then it stopped. I checked and re-checked with my husband (the mechanical genius in the family) and the food processor was really and truly dead this time. But I still do not have the flour I need for the recipe. As I think over what to do next, I figure that maybe I'll just try to do a reduced wheat foccacia. I pull out the flax seed flour and regular flour. I read the recipe and make the adjustments I think will work and start mixing. Using 2 cups of flax seed flour and 1 cup of bread flour, baking powder, salt, then mixing the yeast and buttermilk preparation and the 4 egg whites that were beaten to stiff peaks, folded into the dough gently yielded these results (see picture):
The next step was to spread the dough onto a greased baking sheet, smooth and dimple with fingertips and sprinkle the prepared herbed-olive oil (or plain olive oil, which was my choice) over the top.
Then into a 400 degree oven to bake for 20 minutes. No extra kneading or rising specified. After 20 minutes, I have this:
I cut a piece, pop the warm bread into my mouth, chew and then make myself swallow. The texture is the same as a chewy bread, it's the taste.....more blah-bland than bad, but pretty bad all the same. The only thing I can think of to possibly save it would be copious amounts of garlic butter. My husband tried a bite, my kids tried a bite. My youngest proclaimed, "that's nasty." And then I was left with a pan of focaccia bread no one wanted. Since I hate to waste anything, I decided I could make dressing with the crumbled focaccia and some cornbread I had in the freezer. I grab my slow cooker, chop some onion and celery, stir in cream of chicken and cream of celery soups. (Here's a shocker: the standard cream soups have wheat in them, be sure to read the labels!) I added some celery salt, and chicken broth and set my slow cooker to high for four hours. Here is the finished dressing:
While that cooked, I decided on Almond-Crusted Chicken for our supper. I pounded the boneless, skinless chicken breasts so that they were about an inch thick. This was a messy procedure. The recipe said to sandwich the chicken breasts between two sheets of wax paper and pound them until they are about an inch thick. My wax paper began to tear and I had chicken juice splattered all over my counter. Ewwww! Bleach clean-up time!
Chicken is ready for the next stage and I realize my food processor has died....how will I chop up the almonds small enough to crust the chicken? The meat tenderizer/pounder thingy is sitting in the dish drain all cleaned up, so I snatch it up, put the nuts in a bag and release my pent up aggression by beating the crap out of the almonds. Only problem is that if you get too carried away, the plastic bag tears and you have almond crumbs on the counter. I am very talented at creating messiness. So I dip the chicken into an egg batter, then into a seasoned almond crust. My almond crust consisted of 2 cups crumbled almonds, 1 cup flax seed flour , 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. The recipe said that they should cook 20 minutes on 375 but I didn't think they were quite done. I cooked them another 10 minutes and checked to make sure the juices were clear before taking them out of the oven.
Our supper consisted of almond-crusted chicken breasts, sautéed green beans, and corn bread (and wheat-reduced focaccia bread) dressing. Here's a picture of the chicken:
It was a delicious meal, although it wasn't a "knock your socks off" kind of delicious. The dressing was good but not nearly as good as my mother's, which of course, due to the holidays, I had recently consumed. Although I am not someone who really likes chicken, the almond-crusted chicken breast was pretty tasty. I didn't crumble the almonds quite as small as I should have, but because I really love almonds, it was a good thing for me. This will definitely be a recipe that I try again.
Now I have a new grocery list. I am out of traditional bread since my grandiose plan was to make the wheat-less focaccia bread. And since that didn't turn out the way I planned it's back to the grocery I go to pick up bread and a few other items that were forgotten the other day. Because I would rather use up my pantry stock of "wheated" items than throw it out, you will notice that for a while, my menus will include some wheat. I have boxes and boxes of breakfast cereal that I refuse to just throw away. Same for flours, I have whole wheat, self-rising, all purpose, and bread flour just to name a few in the pantry. I own and use a bread maker. We eat lots more "wheated" items than I initially thought. It may be difficult, but I'm not giving up yet.
Today's menu plan: eggs and sausage for breakfast, salad for lunch (corn tortilla chips instead of crackers) and Wheat Belly Cookbook Cheeseburger Soup for supper. Wish me luck. :)
Yesterday, the task was to make a wheat-less focaccia bread. My product was edible but not tasty. I can't blame the recipe. No, it is entirely my fault. As I prepared my ingredients for the focaccia bread found in the Wheat Belly Cookbook, I found that the order I placed for the almond flour and coconut flour had not come in yet. In my eagerness to try the recipe, I decided to "wing it" with the ingredients that I had on hand. Upon closer perusal, I find a bag of dried garbanzo beans and a bag of raw almonds. I think to myself, "oh this will work, I can make my own flours of garbanzo beans and almonds. He (the author) says you can make your own almond flour in the (wheat belly cook-) book." I proceed to get out my small food processor and all my supplies and ingredients. I pour 1 cup of dried garbanzo beans and pour them into the food processor. I turn it on and immediately my poor ears begin to bleed. You see, dried garbanzo beans, or chickpeas if you prefer, are hard as rocks, possibly harder. My children stumble into the kitchen to see where all the racket was coming from and find me nearly doubled over in laughter while the food processor continued its attempts of grinding pebbles. Then it stopped. I checked and re-checked with my husband (the mechanical genius in the family) and the food processor was really and truly dead this time. But I still do not have the flour I need for the recipe. As I think over what to do next, I figure that maybe I'll just try to do a reduced wheat foccacia. I pull out the flax seed flour and regular flour. I read the recipe and make the adjustments I think will work and start mixing. Using 2 cups of flax seed flour and 1 cup of bread flour, baking powder, salt, then mixing the yeast and buttermilk preparation and the 4 egg whites that were beaten to stiff peaks, folded into the dough gently yielded these results (see picture):
The next step was to spread the dough onto a greased baking sheet, smooth and dimple with fingertips and sprinkle the prepared herbed-olive oil (or plain olive oil, which was my choice) over the top.
Then into a 400 degree oven to bake for 20 minutes. No extra kneading or rising specified. After 20 minutes, I have this:
I cut a piece, pop the warm bread into my mouth, chew and then make myself swallow. The texture is the same as a chewy bread, it's the taste.....more blah-bland than bad, but pretty bad all the same. The only thing I can think of to possibly save it would be copious amounts of garlic butter. My husband tried a bite, my kids tried a bite. My youngest proclaimed, "that's nasty." And then I was left with a pan of focaccia bread no one wanted. Since I hate to waste anything, I decided I could make dressing with the crumbled focaccia and some cornbread I had in the freezer. I grab my slow cooker, chop some onion and celery, stir in cream of chicken and cream of celery soups. (Here's a shocker: the standard cream soups have wheat in them, be sure to read the labels!) I added some celery salt, and chicken broth and set my slow cooker to high for four hours. Here is the finished dressing:
While that cooked, I decided on Almond-Crusted Chicken for our supper. I pounded the boneless, skinless chicken breasts so that they were about an inch thick. This was a messy procedure. The recipe said to sandwich the chicken breasts between two sheets of wax paper and pound them until they are about an inch thick. My wax paper began to tear and I had chicken juice splattered all over my counter. Ewwww! Bleach clean-up time!
Chicken is ready for the next stage and I realize my food processor has died....how will I chop up the almonds small enough to crust the chicken? The meat tenderizer/pounder thingy is sitting in the dish drain all cleaned up, so I snatch it up, put the nuts in a bag and release my pent up aggression by beating the crap out of the almonds. Only problem is that if you get too carried away, the plastic bag tears and you have almond crumbs on the counter. I am very talented at creating messiness. So I dip the chicken into an egg batter, then into a seasoned almond crust. My almond crust consisted of 2 cups crumbled almonds, 1 cup flax seed flour , 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. The recipe said that they should cook 20 minutes on 375 but I didn't think they were quite done. I cooked them another 10 minutes and checked to make sure the juices were clear before taking them out of the oven.
Our supper consisted of almond-crusted chicken breasts, sautéed green beans, and corn bread (and wheat-reduced focaccia bread) dressing. Here's a picture of the chicken:
It was a delicious meal, although it wasn't a "knock your socks off" kind of delicious. The dressing was good but not nearly as good as my mother's, which of course, due to the holidays, I had recently consumed. Although I am not someone who really likes chicken, the almond-crusted chicken breast was pretty tasty. I didn't crumble the almonds quite as small as I should have, but because I really love almonds, it was a good thing for me. This will definitely be a recipe that I try again.
Now I have a new grocery list. I am out of traditional bread since my grandiose plan was to make the wheat-less focaccia bread. And since that didn't turn out the way I planned it's back to the grocery I go to pick up bread and a few other items that were forgotten the other day. Because I would rather use up my pantry stock of "wheated" items than throw it out, you will notice that for a while, my menus will include some wheat. I have boxes and boxes of breakfast cereal that I refuse to just throw away. Same for flours, I have whole wheat, self-rising, all purpose, and bread flour just to name a few in the pantry. I own and use a bread maker. We eat lots more "wheated" items than I initially thought. It may be difficult, but I'm not giving up yet.
Today's menu plan: eggs and sausage for breakfast, salad for lunch (corn tortilla chips instead of crackers) and Wheat Belly Cookbook Cheeseburger Soup for supper. Wish me luck. :)
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