Make It Yourself Monday: Food Processor Ice Cream

Not only did I get a new baby girl this month (as if she's not enough!), I got a food processor! I love my husband. :) We have been using it every chance we get - making up excuses to use it (First Day of Spring! We need dessert!) when needed.

I was thrilled to see a post about making ice cream in a food processor on the Sweet & Savory blog last week!!! Couldn't wait to try it out and share! The best thing about this is that you really don't need to have anything on hand other than frozen fruit!!

I used 3 frozen bananas and 1/2lb frozen strawberries. I also added 1/4 cup milk b/c I assumed I'd need something to facilitate blending, but I think it would have been even better without it!

Blend it up! That's it!! Serves 4-5!

I could have added some vanilla maybe and some honey, but it really didn't need anything. I would like to try this recipe for chocolate ice cream sometime! My husband thought that there were too many strawberries, but he liked it well enough. My toddler LOVED it and it was good for an after naptime snack today too - I just let it thaw on the counter for 30 min or so ahead of time. :) Enjoy!

What are you making this week? Link up and Link back!

Congratulations!

The winner of the Wrap-N-Mat reusable sandwich wrap is Ally from Sweet & Savory! Please check your email and respond asap!

Thanks to all who entered, look forward to more great giveaways in the near future!

Works For me Wednesday: Use Magazines in Your Freezer

Once upon a time (a few months ago) I tossed a ziplock full of pureed cauliflower into my freezer without paying attention to where it landed. When I went to retrieve it a few weeks later I discovered that it had slipped between the rack and the freezer wall, and expanded as it froze. It was essentially wrapped around the rack and I had to work way harder than I'd like to admit to break it free.

Lesson learned: be intentional about the way I stack and arrange things in the freezer, even if I currently have plenty of room to spare.

I've heard ab0ut people arranging things like soups and sauces in ziplocks in a baking dish in the freezer to make them a better shape for stacking. Great idea, only I don't really have room for a baking dish in my tiny freezer-above-the-fridge. So here's my solution, a magazine:


The (purple) magazine keeps my (tomato bacon white bean) soup from moulding to the rack as it freezes and gives me a level, flat surface to freeze on so that later I can stack another zipock or two on top. :)

The bottom of my freezer is ridged to prevent things freezing flat to the bottom, but that poses the same problem as the rack so a magazine comes in handy. You could also use magazines to create a barrier between two or more ziplocks as they freeze to keep the condensation from making the bags stick together - especially if the food is still a bit warm.

Works for me! :)

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are That Family.

Guest Post: The Reality of Pantry Cooking

This guest post is from Amanda Carlisle from A Few ShortCuts. A Few Shortcuts has Recipes, Coupons, Tips and Tricks to help you save time and money in the kitchen and at the store. You will find 3 new recipes a week including Weekly Meal Deal, “Snack”urday, and Tide you Over Tuesday. Amanda is a busy mom of 3 who loves to bake when she isn’t running to soccer practice, homeschooling, or helping her husband with their trucking business. Thanks for the great post, Amanda!

Let’s be honest. I would sometimes rather be eating anywhere else but from my pantry. I can think of a number of cozy, quaint little restaurants that serve hot rolls while you wait for your meal. You have a server come bring you refills on your iced tea, and you don’t have to wash a single dish. Then… my kids scream.

Yep, it just isn’t reality. While we all have these amazing fantasies of what our adult life will be, it just isn’t reality. Reality is everyone is struggling in this economy. Everyone wants A Few Shortcuts to save money and time so that they have more to spend on/with their families. Let’s face it. Your kids don’t want to be at that cozy, quaint restaurant. They want to be at home with Chicken Nuggets and watching Toy Story.

So, what do you do? The best you can! There are so many delicious, healthy, kid friendly recipes you can make from items in your pantry and freezer. These are meals that won’t break the bank, especially if you shop sales with coupons. Let’s be honest, twenty years from now you will cherish the time spent in the kitchen and around the table with your children. You won’t remember that little restaurant down the road. J

Here is a favorite Pantry Meal from our house!

Italian Pasta Toss

Printable Version HERE

· 2 Cups Cooked Chicken cut into bite sized pieces (about 2 breasts)
· 1 cup Italian Salad Dressing
· 1 box pasta cooked (Shape of your choice)
· 1 bag frozen veggies (again your choice…I like broccoli)
· Shaky Cheese (Grated Parmesan) Optional

Directions

In a large skillet mix 2 Cups Cooked Chicken Breast chopped into bite sized pieces, 1 cup Italian Salad Dressing, 1 box of pasta cooked al dente (I used Bow Ties), and frozen veggies ( I chose Broccoli).

Cook over medium heat until heated through.

Serve! Top with cheese if desired!

Yes, it’s that easy!
My kids loved this. The little one ate 2 bowls. I also, halved the recipe since it was just the kids and I eating.

*TIPS*
· Cook Chicken when you bring it home from store. Place in freezer bags for quick meals, or salads!
· Cook pasta the night before, so you just have to toss it all together! You will have dinner in 10 minutes!
· Change it up! Use a different type of veggie and salad dressing for a different taste!
· This is super kid friendly!

Thanks, Amanda! Don't forget that today is the last day to enter to win a Wrap-N-Mat reusable sandwich wrap and the last day to take advantage of the Savin' O the Green Sale!

Make it Yourself Monday: Pumpkin Pie Spice

You wouldn't know it is Spring here in Missouri - the ground is covered in snow. It's the perfect weather for the Coconut Sweet Potato Pie I'm going to make this week! If you need to use up the last of your Winter squash or sweet potatoes, you may have similar plans this week.

Pumpkin Pie Spice is commonly called for in many pumpkin recipes. Do you know what is in yours? It is usually a combination of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and sometimes ginger or allspice. One of the great things about making your own is that you can leave one or more of those out or even add something crazy (chili powder anyone? Or maybe just some cocoa?). :)

If you don't plan to use it often, just use dashes of this and that in your recipe to taste. If you want to make things easier on yourself next time, use an empty spice container and use this bulk recipe:

Pumpkin Pie Spice

4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp ginger

Some people might enjoy more cloves - we aren't huge fans.

Here are some ideas for using your spices:

Coconut Sweet Potato Pie

Butternut Squash Apple Soup

The BEST Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Biscotti

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

What are you making yourself this week? Link up and link back please! And don't forget to enter the Wrap-N-Mat giveaway - just today and tomorrow left!

Giveaway Reminder

I know it has been quiet around here this week as we adjust to our newest little blessing, but I don't want you to forget the great Wrap-N-Mat giveaway that you have until 3/23 to enter! Don't miss it!

Savin' O' the Green Sale at Living on a Dime

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

I have a special treat for you today. Tawra at Living On A Dime and Gary from The Dollar Stretcher have offered a special deal to bring you Living On A Dime's Grocery Shopping On A Budget e-course AND Dollar Stretcher's e-book extravaganza at a dramatically reduced price.

Until midnight on Tuesday March 23rd, 2010 you can get both of these great money saving collections for 70% OFF!

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Try The Savin' O' The Green 11 e-book Special for 70% off And Get Six Free Bonuses!

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This is a great way to save money on the resources you've been looking for to get started or get more comfortable with eating on a budget with what you have on hand!

If the 70% discount isn't enough to have you heading to the
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Wrap-n-mat Review and Giveaway

My husband and I have been gradually switching out all of our old plastic food and water storage containers for BPA and PVC free alternatives. We have also tried to move away from anything that is plastic and "disposable" (both for our wallets and to waste less.) We have a nice collection of re-purposed glass jars, pyrex, and cloth bags. Some things (ahem... ziplocks!) are harder to replace than others, though. I've had my eye on several reusable options for a while and we finally decided to go ahead and purchase a Wrap-N-Mat sandwich wrap a few months ago (the green one if you're curious).

I am very pleased to have the opportunity to pass along my recommendation for this great product! I am not receiving a sample or any compensation from the company for this review, but they have graciously offered to send a mat to one of YOU, so read through to the end!!

The president of Wrap-N-Mat Wraps is a mother of four who became aware of just how may plastic bags her family was using. The 13" x 13" wraps were designed in 1997 and patented in 1999 to provide help families take "small steps to changing our daily routine" to make a difference to our planet.

The wraps have cloth on one side and a plastic liner on the other. The liner is made to FDA standards for contact with food and is BPA, phthalate, and lead free. You can read a more detailed decription of how the linings are manufactured here.

We have really enjoyed using ours. My husband takes it to work a few times a week with a sandwich or bread and loves that he can just brush the crumbs off and bring it home. My toddler and I recently used it to bring carrot sticks to the park for our hummus. It was great to have a surface to eat off of too!

WIN ONE!

Here's your chance to give this great product a try for free! This giveaway will be open until midnight CST on March 23rd. The winner will be contacted by email and announced on this blog by midnight on the 24th. Leave a separate comment per entry. Here are all of the ways you can enter:

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1. (mandatory) Visit Wrap-N-Mat an then leave me a comment telling me why you'd like to try their sandwich wrap and who in your family will be using it.

2. Follow Eat From Your Pantry on twitter. Leave your user name so I can return the favor!

3. Tweet about this contest. You can copy and paste this text if you'd like:
Win a re-usable sandwich wrap from Wrap-N-Mat and @EatFromPantry Enter before 3-23! http://bit.ly/asGy1z #giveaway
Leave a URL for your tweet. You can do this once a day!

4. Subscribe to my RSS feed (left side bar).

5. Become a friend on Google friend connect (right sidebar).

6. Become a fan of Eat From Your Pantry on Facebook!

7. Leave a comment on any other post on this blog. Mention the contest in your comment so that I can keep track!

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Good luck and thanks for entering!! :)

Make it Yourself Monday: Cora Ruth

I'm making an exception to my rule. I said last week that I'd like to focus on things that people usually buy pre-made for MIYM, and this doesn't fit, but I couldn't resist.

Introducing our newest creation: Cora Ruth


Born on March 13th at 3:02pm - 7 lbs. 12oz and 20 inches of loveliness. :)

Labor and delivery were wonderful and we were discharged from the hospital at almost exactly 24 hours after her arrival. We're at home enjoying our new larger family now and resting up.

What have you made this week? Link up....

I'm having a baby! :)

What are *you* doing this weekend? ;)

Contractions are regular now, will post an update when our little girl makes her appearance!

Become a Facebook Fan!

I'm excited to announce that Eat From Your Pantry is now on Facebook! I'd love for you to join me over at the fan page! Today is also my due date so send me some come-out-baby prayers! :D

Fruity Brown Rice Salad

Loved this great recipe from Mothering.com! Super easy and perfect for a light meal, picnic, or potluck - will be especially good with seasonal fruit this Summer!

2 cups cooked brown rice
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 cup vanilla or lemon yogurt
3/4 cup of honey
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Toss all ingredients in a bowl and serve.

Since our yogurt was vanilla-honey flavored, we left out the honey, and we only used one apple. Pleased the whole family!

This post is linked to Tuesday Twister, Tasty Tuesday, and Real Food Wednesday.

Make it Yourself Monday: Bread Crumbs

As promised, today is the first day of a new meme, Make it Yourself Mondays! I've got some great ideas for the upcoming weeks and I'd love for you to join me by linking your recent posts that feature things you have made yourself instead of buying pre-made. Starting with something simple today: Breadcrumbs!

Making Breadcrumbs

Step 1: Set out leftover bread extras (ends of loaves, pieces not eaten with dinner, etc.) over night. We were given a sub sandwich this day and little guy ate all of the meat and cheese out of it. :)

Step 2: Zip dried pieces up in a bag and get ready for the fun part!

Step 3: Pound away! I like getting my 2 year old involved in this part - you could even let little ones try stepping on the pieces to crunch them.

Step 4: Store breadcrumbs until ready to use. I just stick the bag in the freezer and add to it as we can.

Step 5: Season as desired and use to make yummy things like lamb meatballs or top sides like this twice-baked butternut squash!

There are obivously a million variations on these instructions, but I wanted to make sure you got a taste for how simple it really can be. If you are pressed for time you can try toasting your bread or baking it at a low temp until it has dried. Keeping your supply up will ensure that you never have to run out to buy pre-made crumbs and also let you have control over the ingredients your family consumes!

What have you made recently? This is not strictly limited to food, but try to keep it focused on things that people regularly buy pre-made. Can't wait to learn from all of you! Use the form below to add your site - be sure to name it something that will give us an idea of what your post is about. For instance, I'd label mine Anjanette @ Eat From Your Pantry: Breadcrumbs!

Also feel free to grab the graphic for your post, and link back to this page so others can enjoy!

Linky:

Chicken & Lentil Loaf

Another experiment with leftovers... and it turned out just fine! Adding it to my list of things to make with the whole chickens I cook. Served it with a side of asparagus and cashew gravy (gravy was AWESOME - I did substitute arrowroot for corn starch). My only complaint is that it was a little dry. I think I will try it without any tomato anything next time and instead use milk like the recipe for this Dutch Chicken Loaf calls for. Then maybe I'd put the cashew gravy on the loaf itself!

Chicken and Lentil Loaf

Ingredients:

2 cups lentils - cooked

2 cups cooked chicken - diced

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 large onion - diced and sauteed

7 oz. tomato paste

2 tbsp. water

4 eggs

seasonings of your choice

(I diced my chicken pretty finely)

Directions:

Prepare lentils, chicken, and onions if you do not have them leftover from other meals. Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. In separate bowl, mix tomato paste with water to thin out and then add eggs and whisk thoroughly (I just used a fork). Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and work with a spoon or your hands until evenly combined.

Shape loaf in a greased bread pan and bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes or until set.

I originally intended to make 2 small loaves (to freeze one) but in the end went with 1 larger loaf. Still, I used whole numbers so this would be super easy to halve if you didn't have enough on hand or weren't sure your family would go for it!

Guest Post - How I Changed My Thinking by Grating Cheese

A better title for today might be "Stolen Post: How My Friend April Has a Way With Words." :) I *did* ask permission to copy her post here though, so it's not technically stealing!

I am gearing up for the posts I promised to share on getting started with cooking from scratch, and April wrote the perfect introduction! I am blessed to know April in real life and delighted to share her wisdom with you. Please visit the original post at her blog and tell her if you love it as much as I do!

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It's easy to get overwhelmed when it comes to cooking. With all the cookbooks, blogs, and cooking shows out there, we are just bombarded with information, and it can be really confusing to know where to start. And that's not even taking nutrition into account--how can I be worrying about lacto-fermentation when I don't even know how to chop an onion? I certainly didn't learn all those things overnight. I had to start somewhere small. I started by grating my own cheese.

Grating your own cheese may not seem like culinary mastery, but I realized just the other day what a huge difference it made in my thinking and the way I buy and cook my food. And for me, at that time, it was a big change. I grew up in a family that bought the giant bags of shredded cheese at the warehouse store. It was easy to just grab a handful and throw it into whatever. But as I started learning more about grocery prices, I found that I could often get a brick of cheese for cheaper than its shredded counterpart, especially when the bricks went on sale. So I bought myself a $5 box grater, and I got to shredding some cheese. What I expected was for it to be a bit of a pain--and it was, at first. I had to wash that thing constantly (which may say that we eat too much cheese around here), and it did take quite a bit longer to shred my own cheese than to grab a handful out of a bag. But what I didn't expect was how much better it would taste. It tasted fresher. It had a better texture and melted better because it wasn't coated in cornstarch to keep it from sticking. And, as I mentioned, it was often cheaper.

As I got out that box grater the other day to shred some cheese, it hit me, how normal grating my own cheese had become. I no longer consider it a pain, because I have forgotten the alternative. For me, this is just what you do if you want shredded cheese. I don't even look at the sale prices on the pre-shredded stuff, because that's just not what we do. And in that moment, I realized how many other things, that I used to consider terribly time and labor-intensive, have become completely normal for us. As silly as it may sound, shredding my own cheese opened up the door for me to make all kinds of things on my own. Once I got used to cheese-shredding, making my own pasta sauce didn't seem so intimidating. One thing led to another, and before you know it, my thinking changed so that now, there's hardly anything I could buy in the store that I don't think I could make at home.

So my challenge for you today, dear readers, is twofold: First, I want you to pick one thing in your kitchen to do on your own that you're not already doing. For some of you, it might be making mashed potatoes from scratch instead of a box. For others, it might mean rendering your own animal fat--something that's not even on my radar right now. We're all at different stages, and that's okay. The second part of the challenge is to stick with it! When I first started shredding my own cheese, it was seriously a pain in the neck. But if you stick with it, over time, your thinking will change, and I can almost guarantee you'll be better for it.

What one thing do you plan to change?

Wrapping up the Real Food Challenge

This week Jenny from Nourished Kitchen shared her knowledge of the importance of incorporating meat into our diets, and what to look for to make sure the meat we eat is nutrient dense and safe.

Meat is a tough one for us (and I imagine most other city-dwellers). $6.00/lb for good beef, lamb, or bison uses up my food budget a lot faster than my frugal mind can handle sometimes. Knowing how dangerous the hormones and antibiotics we consume second-hand from conventional meats are has encouraged our family to eat less meat - we eat vegetarian dinners about a 1/3 of the time and incorporate meat into a dish rather than serving it as the main course on the other nights.

Downside: I've struggled with anemia both of my pregnancies so far. I had to have a blood transfusion after my last, and have been keeping track of and trying to improve my iron levels this time with hopes for a different outcome. I have never dealt with obvious signs of anemia outside of pregnancy, and this could just be what my body does when I'm pregnant, but I would wager that all but eliminating red meats from our diet hasn't helped.

Purchased some yummy meats this week and made lamb meatballs and bison chili! Both super-delicious!

Read my post on Thinking Outside the Grocer if you are struggling to find a source for quality meats.

The other topics this week were all great as well. If you missed them, check out the archives.

To wrap this challenge up, I'm going to list the changes we've made as a direct result of the knowledge and/or encouragement Jenny has shared. Thanks so much for helping us take steps to better nourish ourselves and families this month!

We have...

Started soaking our flour, rice and other grains, and beans before cooking them.

Purchased coconut oil and ghee in bulk.

Made (and LOVED) milk kefir for the first time.

Made bone-broth half a dozen times and used it in even more ways!

Stopped eating dried pasta (for the most part - and this is a HUGE sacrifice for us!).

Tried new-to-us foods like arrowroot and sucanat.

Learned a TON that we haven't had a chance to implement.

Had our thoughts on food challenged in too many ways to count.

Found about a hundred topics to research further (never ends, does it?). :)

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Love the great summary Jenny shared on the final day of the challenge:

Stay Natural & Unrefined. Eat only natural, whole foods in their unrefined state.

Avoid Modern, Processed Foods. Avoid processed, packaged, refined foods even those sold as "natural" foods. If you're great-great-great-great-great grandmother wouldn't recognize it, don't eat it.

Sour, sprout or soak. If you eat grain, beans, legumes, nuts or seeds, make sure that you properly prepare them to maximize your body's ability to assimilate their nutrients.

Love healthy fats. Enjoy wholesome, healthy, unrefined natural fats liberally - and especially on your vegetables.

Brew mineral-rich stock. Make homemade, mineral-rich broth and stock weekly, and consume it daily.

Eat grass-fed, pasture-raised and wild-caught.Eat meat, including offal, and make sure it's from a trusted source that relies on traditional methods of raising their animals: on fresh pasture.

Keep dairy raw and fresh. If you eat dairy, keep it raw or, at the very least, make sure it comes from grass-fed animals and is not subject to ultra-high-temperature pasteurization.

Get Your Good Bacteria. Consume naturally fermented, probiotic foods and beverages daily.

Get involved. Grow your foodshed and give back to the community. Fight for farmers and consumers rights and against the industrialization of our food supply.

Maximize nutrient density of your foods by preparing and consuming them with time-honored tradition.

I hope those of you who have participated in this challenge, or followed along in any way, are interested in learning more! I'll be posting on some real-food topics in the near future and Nourished Kitchen is going to be posting video tutorials this month!!!

Also, you should check out the Recipe Cards that Nourished Kitchen puts out by mail each month. I received a month's worth and they are GORGEOUS and wonderful! Jenny is offering a discount of $28 on a year's subscription if you order using the code 28DAYS through March 28th.

List post is linked to Nourished Kitchen. You should stop by to read the week 4 reports of other bloggers!