Favorite Children's Books: Elephant and Piggie Books

We love ALL the elephant and piggie books by Mo Willems. They are some of the BEST books for early readers. The stories tell about two best friends, Gerald (an elephant) and piggie (a pig) that are different in about every way possible. Gerald is cautious and pessimistic. Piggie is optimistic, but sometimes reckless. I love how they tell the story through pictures with only a few words. The words are repetitive and simple, helping new readers feel more confident in their reading. For very, very beginning readers, it's fun to read it with them. You read the main words, but point to the words that repeat and have the child read those words. 

The stories are funny! I think this is our favorite: 

What's could be worse than a bird on your head? How about two birds on your head? And it doesn't stop there! Read in amazement as Gerald's plight gets worse and worse. Until finally it's resolved, but piggie is in for a big surprise!

One of the things I love about these books is that children learn through reading the stories how to get along with one another. Here's some of the messages that I've found in the elephant and piggie books:

It's okay for people to be different and still be good friends.
We don't always agree, but that's okay.
Best friends do things together, laugh together and have fun together.
When we misunderstand each other, we work at it until we figure things out.
Best friends stick together through thick and thin.

Be sure to check these books out! They are great for children of all ages, but especially for early readers. I hope your family enjoys them as much as we have.

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Frugal Friday: Helping Your Family Enjoy Leftovers

"One day a lady invited me in for dinner with her family. She said, 'We're having Musgoes.' I had to ask, 'What are Musgoes?' She answered, 'I just go to the refrigerator and point', saying, 'This musgo, that musgo!'" (from The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery)

Wednesday night at our house is always "Musgoes". We save quite a bit of money by preparing one less meal per week and using food we already have. If we don't have any "Musgoes" in our refrigerator, then we turn to our freezer and there's always something. On the odd weeks when you don't have any (which very rarely happens in our family), you can look in your pantry and see what foods are expiring soon and work up a meal with those.

A few tips to remember for successful "Musgo" nights:

1. Pick your "Musgo" night carefully! We've chosen ours for the middle of the week when it's most likely that there will be plenty of "musgoes" in the fridge. I also pick it on my busiest day - when I really don't have much time to cook dinner. I love having one day where meals are easy!

2. Consistency is the key - your family will get used to having a consistent "musgo" night planned into the menu. Be persistent. Make the meals you cook the other nights of the week really good, so one night of "musgoes" aren't a problem for them.

3. Dress them up. If your kids don't like "leftovers", dress up the musgoes or disguise them as something else. Serve them with fancy dishes, a pretty tablecloth, etc. You can make "musgo" night fun for everyone!

One of the things that we work hard to teach our children is to be grateful for what we have and to not waste. I think this principle is so important for a healthy family to live by. It is economical, prudent and wise. I believe that teaching your family to eat leftovers is an important step to creating a healthy family.

With that being said, I can't pretend to be perfect at this. There are still many very unsuccessful "Musgoes" nights at our house - I call them unsuccessful when the "Musgoes" sit there uneaten...in spite of all my efforts.
But I did have some success with this a few weeks ago when we had unexpected guests arrive for lunch and all I had were leftovers. The day before was spent all day at a chess tournament for my son and I didn't have time to prepare anything. I reheated the pasta bake, cut the leftover pizza in bite-sized pieces, added some fruit and vegetable bowls and served the spread on nice dishes. Dessert was frozen bread sticks, reheated and drizzled with butter and cinnamon sugar with leftover warm frosting spread over the top. And I must say, it was a success, in spite of my initial feelings of embarrassment about it.

How is your family doing with this? I'd love to hear about your successes and failures. I hope that by sharing ideas with each other, we can all have success!

Linked to: Frugal Friday, Thrifty Thursday, Finer Things Friday

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5 Grain Waffles with Flax Seed

If you haven't noticed by now, I love to include whole grains in my cooking - and the more variety, the better they taste. This recipe combines five whole grains plus flax seed to make delicious, light, and crispy waffles that are full of flavor and taste wonderful. I'll also give you the recipe to make a waffle mix that you can store in the refrigerator, making this recipe even easier!

5 Grain Waffles with Flax Seed {Single Batch}

Printable Recipe

*Serves 5-7

*Note: You can use 1-1/2 C. wonder flour in place of the brown rice, barley, and spelt flour

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 C. Brown rice flour*

1/2 C. Barley flour*

1/2 C. Spelt flour*

1/4 C. Oat flour

1/4 C. Wheat flour

3 Tbsp. Ground flax seed

1 Tbsp. Baking powder

1/2 tsp. Baking soda

1/3 C. Powdered milk

1/2 tsp. salt

2 C. Water

1/2 C. Canola oil

2 Eggs

1 tsp. Vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Heat waffle iron. Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl and mix until combined. Combine water, oil, eggs and vanilla in large bowl and mix together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet all at once and lightly mix until just barely combined. Then let this mix set for a few minutes to let the baking powder do its thing (IMPORTANT: DO NOT MIX AGAIN!). Grease waffle iron well. Then add the amount recommended by your waffle iron's manufacturer to the waffle iron and cook until golden brown and crispy.

Since it's not often practical to grind up all of those various grains every time you want to make waffles, here's the recipe you can use to make a large batch of waffle mix to keep in the refrigerator and pull out when you want to make a batch.

5 Grain Waffles with Flax Seed {Refrigerator Waffle-Mix}
Printable Recipe

*This large batch will make 6 single batches

*Note: You can use 9 Cups wonder flour in place of the brown rice, barley, and spelt flour 

INGREDIENTS:
3 Cups Barley flour 

3 Cups Brown Rice flour

3 Cups Spelt flour
2-1/2 Cups Oat flour
2-1/2 Cups Wheat flour
1 Cup + 2 Tbsp. Ground flax seed
1/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp. Baking powder
1 Tbsp. Baking soda
1 Tbsp. Salt
2 Cup Powdered milk

DIRECTIONS:
Combine all the ingredients and store in a large container in the refrigerator. I used a 5 qt. plastic ice cream container. Then follow the recipe for a single batch of waffle-mix waffles.

5 Grain Waffles with Flax Seed {Single Batch from Refrigerator Waffle-Mix}

Printable Recipe

*Serves 5-7

INGREDIENTS:

2 Cup Water 
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Canola oil
1 tsp. Vanilla
3 scant Cups Waffle-Mix (scant means just barely below the cup line)

DIRECTIONS:
Heat waffle iron. Combine water, eggs, canola oil, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Mix until eggs are well beaten. Add the 3 scant cups of waffle mix all at once and stir until just barely combined. Then let this mix set for a few minutes to let the baking powder do its thing (IMPORTANT: DO NOT MIX AGAIN!). Grease waffle iron well. Then add the amount recommended by your waffle iron's manufacturer to the waffle iron and cook until golden brown and crispy.

Caution #1: Make sure to not refill your waffle iron or you'll end up with this...

Caution #2: Make sure to spray your waffle iron really well or your waffles will end up looking like this...

And no those weren't on purpose...hehe...I have a lot of oopsies in my cooking. Just follow those two cautions and yours will turn out great! Enjoy!

Update: And if you've got a reason to celebrate here's a very yummy way to eat these waffles: Spread nutella on the hot waffle, top with strawberries, walnuts (yes, really) and whipped cream! Just look at the picture at the top of this post and see if your mouth doesn't water!

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Monday Meet Whole Foods: Flax Seeds!

Introducing: Flax Seed!

What are Flax Seeds?

There are two main varieties of flax seeds - brown and golden. The two types are essentially equivalent in nutrients. Flax seeds come from the flax plant, which has been grown since ancient times. Flax seeds are slightly larger than sesame seeds and have a shiny, hard outer shell. They have an earthly flavor, that is slightly nutty.

How do I use them?

Ground Flax Seed

Flax seeds can be ground or sprouted. While they can be consumed whole, it is not recommended, as the body does not absorb as many nutrients by eating them that way. It is better to store flax seeds whole, as they can go rancid quicker when ground. Flax seed are easy to grind in a blender. Some grain mills do not recommend grinding flax in them due to the high fat content of them, which can cause problems with the machine. I have tried both brown and golden flax in my cooking and prefer the flavor of the golden. I like to grind up a small quantity of flax seed and keep it in a sealed container in the refrigerator until I'm ready to use it. I add flax seed to bread, smoothies, muffins, granola, etc. I have also used it as an egg substitute in baked goods.  For one egg, substitute 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed and 2 Tbsp. water. You can also buy flax seed oil and use it to make salad dressings. Flax oil is not good to cook with, however, because it burns easily.


Where can I buy them?
Flax seeds can be found in most health food stores and are becoming more widely available in regular grocery stores as well. I buy mine at WinCo and they sell both kinds of flax seed as well as ground flax seed.


How healthy are they?
Flax seeds are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are necessary to include in a healthy diet. Omega-3 fats are important for reducing inflammation in conditions such as asthma, some types of arthritis, migraine headaches and osteoporosis. They also help protect bone health and prevent heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Flax seeds are rich in fiber which is important in our bodies to help lower cholesterol level. Flax seeds are a good source of magnesium which helps keep the airways relaxed and open, reducing the severity of asthma. There are so many more benefits to flax seeds - they are a wonderful whole food!


Got a recipe? 
I have loved learning about flax seeds and I hope you did also! This week I'll be sharing some of my favorite recipes using this wonderful whole food.  If you have a favorite flax seed recipe, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail!


Recipes With Flax Seed:
Whole Wheat Bread with Flax Seed
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars with Flax Seed
5 Grain Waffles with Flax Seed
Granola Bars with Flax Seed

Information for the post came from: whfoods.com and wikipedia.org

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Food For Thought

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Favorite Children's Book: Tilly Lays an Egg

Our family has loved this book "Tilly Lays an Egg" by Terry Golson. We have checked it out at the library many times in the last few years since we discovered it. Every time one of the kids see it, we add it to the bag. It's that kind of a book.

The book is full of beautiful photos of real hens and a real farmhouse. In each picture Tillie has laid an egg in some silly place. The kids (especially the little ones) LOVE to search for it.

At the front of the book the author has pictures of all the hens with their names. I love their names - Prudence, Buffy, Edwina, Twinkydink, Marge, Ginger, and Tillie of course. We liked the names so much we even named a chicken Edwina (because she looked like the one in the book) and another chicken Ginger (that resembled Ginger from the book).

It's a very simple book, really. But fun to read and fun for the kids. Especially in the springtime. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

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Frugal Friday: More than 100 Frugal Spring Family Activities

Can you feel it? Spring is in the air! I'm always on the lookout for free or cheap activities to do as a family at all seasons of the year. Today I'm sharing my list of more than 100 frugal activities you can do with your family in the springtime. I hope we can all be inspired to spend more time with our families. Doing fun things together builds love and healthy, lasting relationships.

1. Grow something - Try these educational ideas, Carrots in a 2-liter bottle, or a cute Grassapillar
2. Have a Mexican Fiesta for Cinco de Mayo and make a homemade pinata
3. Build a garden labryinth
4. Splash in some puddles
5. Go on a picnic
6. Play Hopscotch
7. Go star gazing - indoors or out
8. Go on a nature scavenger hunt
9. Have a puppet show - with cardboard marionettes
10. Do a puzzle
11. Read a book together
12. Have a soap box dragster race
13. Have a bubble gum blowing contest
14. Play dress-ups
15. Have a photo scavenger hunt - go on a walk and see how many things on the list you can take a picture of that have to do with spring - bird's nest, new buds, baby animals, spring flowers, etc.
16. Have a family slumber party!
17. Go fishing
18. Tap Dance - Here are some cute shoes you can make out of pennies
19. Paint a window with window paint
20. Build a rock pile
21. Learn some magic tricks together and put on a magic show
22. Fly Paper Airplanes
23. Raindrop racing: Sit at the window and each person picks a raindrop, starting at the same place and traces it down the window. The first drop to hit the bottom of the window wins!
    
24. Have a jump rope competition to see who can jump the most in 2 minutes
25. Go on a treasure hunt. Hide some buried treasure and make a treasure map
26. Get some bars of soap and have a soap carving contest
27. Make paper daffodils
28. Visit a greenhouse
29. Play Fluffy bunny with marshmallows 
30. Decorate Easter Eggs
31. Put on a play or puppet show - here's some free playscripts
32. Have a bug safari and hunt for all kinds of bugs
33. De-junk your house and gear up for a yard/garage sale
34. Invite over some neighbors for a party
35. Explore your city or town - find something that you never saw or knew about before
36. Go on a hike - motivate kids with these fun games or come up with your own. Keep a pocketful of small snacks to motivate and give "turbo boosts" to lagging kids
37. Play frisbee
38. Start an ant farm
39. Raining outside? Play ribbon limbo!
40. Draw pictures of each other together
41. Feed the ducks at a local pond
42. Spring clean the house!
43. Have a family parade - put on the marching music, get out the rythmn instruments (or pots and pans), dress up, and have fun!
44. Plant a garden and teach your children the value of work and the law of the harvest! 
45. Adopt a grandma or grandpa in the neighborhood
46. Decorate the sidewalks with spring art
47. Make mud pies
48. Have a catapult contest
49. Write letter to someone
50. Learn how rain works with this rain in a bag activity
51. Visit a farm nearby and see the baby animals
52. Do some landscaping together or a home improvement project
53. Have a TV free week or month
54. Hunt for a four-leaf clover
55. Make nature mosaics or 3-D art by gluing rocks, leaves, plants that you find outside together.
56. Play Spaz
57. Plant some fruit trees
58. Shake some homemade rainsticks in a rain dance
59. Make a rainy day maze with bed sheets
60. Go on a family bike ride
61. Make a butterfly habitat
62. Make Homemade Bird Feeders
63. Have an upside down evening
64. Go on a staycation
65. Wash your windows
66. Visit a local monument or historical site
67. Play a homemade version of twister
68. Volunteer in your community - plant some flowers, visit people in a rest home or hospital, etc.
69. Play catch
70. Climb trees
71. Have a marshmallow war!
72. Tape some paper to the wall and draw an art mural
73. Have a game night where everyone picks their favorite game to play
74. Go outside and play nature memory
75. Give away some random acts of kindness - need ideas? Here's several to keep you going for a while!
    
76. Have a bike wash
77. Fly a kite - make your own or buy one
78. Find some animal prints to identify and track
79. Play freeze tag
80. Have a paper airplane contest
81. Play Frisbee or another outdoor sport
82. Make a recycled twig birdhouse
83. Make boats & float them in some water
84. Have an Egg Wrestling Match or here's another Easter egg game idea
85. Plant an indoor sponge garden
86. Go to a local free museum
87. Go on a nature walk and notice all the signs of spring 
88. Play Reverse Charades
89. Play in the mud
90. Get out your magnifying glasses and explore your back yard - see who can find the most interesting thing
91. Make a parachute out of an old bed sheet and bounce balls or balloons
92. Wash the car
93. Make a meal together from another culture
94. Play Swing the Statue
95. Go bird watching. Or how about butterflies or squirrels? 
96. Build a backyard obstacle course out of chairs, hula hoops, jump ropes, or garden hoses
97. Build a tower out of cards as high as you can
98. Hunt for the other end of the rainbow
99. Go to the park & play 
100. Host an egg olympics

If that's not enough ideas for you, here's a free e-book with activities and crafts for the spring. Or see my post on More than 100 Frugal Winter Family Activities, which includes many activities that would work for spring also.

What about you? Do you have any ideas to share? We'd love to hear from you. Then go out and have some fun!


Linked to: Frugal Friday, Thrifty Thursday, Frugal Fridays, Finer Things Friday, Hearts 4 Home, Weekly Kids Co-op

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Delicious Fudgey Brownies {Electric Pressure Cooker Recipe}

I discovered a secret that I really shouldn't have. Because, let me tell you,

It's Dangerous!

Here's my disclaimer: There are some recipes that cooks who want to remain relatively skinny should never find and this is one of them! So use caution and proceed to the end of this blog post at your own risk. Don't let the title of my blog fool you, this recipe is not healthy!

I've used my electric pressure cooker for many things - to cook grains and beans, make soups, stews, chilies, etc. It's a marvelous tool. One day not too longer ago the thought popped in my head: "I wonder if my pressure cooker would cook brownies?" That's an odd thought because I have many brownie recipes that are absolutely delicious in the oven. So why try the pressure cooker? But the thought persisted so I had to comply. And....drum roll please...that brought about this amazing, fantastic brownie recipe that is unlike anything you will ever taste coming out of the oven. Do you like those moist, fudgey, chocolately, melt-in-your-mouth brownies? Well, here you have 'em - in their perfect form!

Moistedness - perfect! 

Fudgyness - perfect!

Chocolateness - perfect!

Melt-in-your mouth - yes!

So why cook brownies in a pressure cooker? Let me explain my reasons and you might think of some more of your own when you make them.

1. Texture - the best way to describe the texture of these brownies is to say they are a cross between fudge and brownies. They are actually best cooled off in my opinion because they kind of settle down in the pan. This increases their "fudgyness" which makes them even more wonderful.

2. Easiness - one of the great things about electric pressure cookers is you can prep the food, start the pressure cooker and walk away. You can go to work or go pick up your kids from piano lessons, and when you come home, the food is waiting, all cooked and still warm, for you to enjoy.

3. Less Heat & Energy - cooking brownies in the pressure cooker will use less energy than in an oven. I'm especially looking forward to making these in the summer time when the oven heats up the house so much.

So now that we have the justifications down, here's the recipe!

Delicious Fudgey Brownies {Electric Pressure Cooker Recipe}

Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Cup butter
1/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Cup sugar
3/4 Cup unbleached white flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder (or 1/2 + 1/4 tsp.)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. honey
2 eggs
1/2 Cup chopped walnuts, optional
2 Cups water
1 Tbsp. vinegar, optional

DIRECTIONS:
Melt the butter in a saucepan on the stove top. Remove from heat and mix in cocoa powder. Allow to cool slightly. In a medium mixing bowl combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Then to the flour mixture add the honey, the eggs and the cooled butter/cocoa mixture. Mix well. Add nuts, if desired. Pour batter into a greased 8" diameter round pan or casserole dish. Cover the brownie pan completely with a two to three foot piece of aluminum foil.

Place the metal trivet on the bottom of the electric pressure cooker. Add 2 cups of water and 1 Tbsp. vinegar into the pressure cooker. The vinegar will help prevent your trivet and pressure cooker from developing a milky white film in it. Fold another two to three foot piece of aluminum foil into thirds lengthwise to make handle that will help you easily lift the pan in and out of the pressure cooker (see picture below for an example). Place the foil strip underneath the brownie pan and fold the edges together over the pan in order to easily lift the pan into the electric pressure cooker. Place the brownie pan levelly on top of the metal trivet and fold down the sides of the foil on top of the pan.

Then lock the lid into place and pressure on high pressure for 35 minutes. Pressure can then be released naturally or you can use the quick release method. The brownies can be served warm or cold, but they are easier to cut when chilled slightly. Delicious any way you serve it! You can't go wrong. But I think they are the very best the next day!

Recipe Source: healthyfamilycookin.blogspot.com

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How To Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs in an Electric Pressure Cooker

Are you looking for a fool-proof method for making hard boiled eggs? Cooking hard boiled eggs in the pressure cooker makes them turn out perfect every time. This method is simple and fast and even farm fresh eggs come out easy to crack, which is hard to achieve on the stove top.

Hard boiled eggs are fun to make any time of the year for a snack, brunch, breakfast or lunch. Here's a video clip that I created about how to make hard boiled eggs in an electric pressure cooker, but this method works just as well on a stove top pressure cooker.



Decorating eggs for Easter is a fun, inexpensive and enjoyable activity to do with your family. If you're making hard boiled eggs for Easter, here's some cute and fun designs you might like to try.

Easter Egg Coloring Tips, Dye & Design

Easter Eggs Decorating Ideas for Kids

A collection of Easter Egg Decorating Ideas that Kids will love

Nine Unique Easter Egg Decorating Ideas

20 Easter Egg Decorating Ideas

Decorating Easter Eggs

Easter Egg Decorating For Kids

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Monday Meet Whole Foods: Eggs!

I'm changing the name of my Monday series to be Meet Whole Foods! The purpose of this series is to introduce you to whole foods and their health benefits and give you ideas about how to include more whole foods into your family's diet.

For today's whole food, I'll be talking about EGGS!

What are Eggs? 

Eggs are laid by females of many types of animals, fish, and birds. But the eggs we buy in the store were most likely laid by chickens. Eggs have a yellow yoke surrounded by a translucent or milky white substance and a hard outer shell. The outer shell can be various colors depending on the species that laid it. Chicken eggs usually range in color from brown to white, but there are a few species that lay shades of blue or green.

How do I use them?
Eggs can be hard boiled, soft boiled, fried, scrambled, poached, coddled, or pickled. Eggs can be used in many types of dishes, desserts and baked goods including omelettes, crepes, pancakes, custards, quiche and breads.

How do I protect against salmonella?
It's not recommended that eggs be eaten raw, as there is a risk of salmonella poisoning. In addition, eggs should be handled, used and stored carefully to protect against salmonella. As a precaution, do not use previously cracked eggs. Soft boiling or cooking eggs sunny-side up contain a risk for salmonella, whereas hard cooking, scrambling or frying them does not. Sanitize your hands and any surfaces that have come in contact with raw eggs.

How healthy are they?

Eggs are a good inexpensive source of high-quality protein. Protein is important in order to form the building blocks that make up the structure of our bodies. Eggs also are the richest food source of choline which helps boost brain health and memory development, reduces inflammation, is important for nervous system and cardiovascular health. Experts in the past have told people with cholesterol problems to avoid eating eggs because of the high cholesterol in the egg yolk. Apparently, this is still in debate. Studies have been shown recently that eating one or two eggs a day does not negatively effect cholesterol levels and may even help improve cholesterol level. Proteins found in eggs help reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke because they help inhibit blood clots. Eggs are also healthy for our eyes, reducing the risk of age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.

As you can see, there are many benefits to eating eggs and it is my opinion that the benefits outweigh the harm done by them. From what I've read, the healthiest kinds of eggs to eat are the omega-3-rich eggs. These eggs are produced by hens with a diet rich in flax seed. The eggs contain higher quantities of the important omega-3 essential fatty acids that our body needs. I personally don't eat omega-3-rich eggs. I choose to get my omega-3 sources directly from sources like flax seed, walnuts, fish, soybeans, winter squash.

What about "growing" your own?

I love to use fresh eggs in my cooking! There really is a difference in taste and quality. We had chickens for a little while and it was so much fun to gather the eggs and use them. We found out a little while ago that our zoning laws did not allow us to raise chickens and we had to sell them. So check with your city zoning if you're interested in raising them where you live. They are easy to raise and make fun pets (and chores!) for the kids. We have also had ducks and got a few duck eggs. I think they were my favorite. Ducks have wonderful personalities and are so fun for the kids. They don't lay as many eggs as chickens, which is one of the reasons why chicken eggs are so much more common. But they are great.

Where can I buy them?

Chicken eggs are widely available in grocery stores. They are relatively inexpensive ($1-$2/dozen) and easy to find. Omega-3-rich eggs are also found in grocery stores, but they will be more expensive and harder to find. If you can't raise chickens or ducks but still want fresh eggs, you may be able to find a place to buy them. They will be more expensive ($3-$4/dozen), but the taste is great.

Got a Recipe?

This week I'll be sharing some of my favorite recipes using eggs. If you have a favorite recipe with eggs, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail!

Information from this post came from: wikipedia, and whfoods

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Food For Thought

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Unplugging for the Week

Just a little note to let you all know that I won't be doing my regular posting this week. I'm taking some time off to catch up and will be back at it next week. My best regards to you for a wonderful week!

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Food For Thought

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Favorite Children's Book: The Fourteen Bears

This book, The Fourteen Bears by Evelyn Scott, is like an old friend to me. You know the books that just remind you of your childhood and make you feel warm and cozy inside when you read them. This is one of those kind of books for me.

The story is about a daddy bear, a mother bear and twelve little bears that all lived in a forest. The each lived in separate hollow trees except little Theodore who lived with Mother and daddy bear in the largest hollow tree.

I think the thing I love most about the book are the illustrations. We would spend literally hours pouring over the illustrations in this book. We would point our our favorite bed, or our favorite hollow tree, which kind of honey we would want to try, etc. The illustrations are beautiful.

This is a very family oriented book, which is another reason I love it so much. The bears loved each other, they did fun things together, just like a real family does. The mother and father bear didn't worry about the fact that they were supposed to hibernate in the winter, their children wanted to see it so they bundled everyone up and had a wonderful time. The children each have their own personalities, the decorate their trees differently, they enjoy different activities, they like different kinds of flavored honey. This teaches children that family members don't all have to be the same. Difference is good and accepted in a healthy family. There are so many other great lessons taught in this book. I hope you and your children and grandchildren love it as much as we do!

A few years ago my mom was going through her old books and my sister saw this one and asked if she could have it. Then we all wanted it so my Mom ordered a copy for each of us. I love having this book in our home. It looks like the book may be out of print right now because it's selling for a LOT on Amazon. Try your library for it or you can search on ebay to see if you can find it. This book is a keeper for sure - a timeless, treasure of a book.

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Frugal Friday: Frugal, Healthy Snacks

If your kids are like mine, snacks are a necessity to have around. It seems like the kids are always hungry and it's easy to fall into the rut of buying prepackaged snacks or cold cereal to satisfy them. Not only does that rack up the grocery bill (No matter how many coupons you use!), it's also not healthy (no matter how many whole grains or low calories they claim to have). Here's a list of some frugal, healthy snack ideas that cost less and are made of real food.

1. Healthier microwave popcorn and healthier popcorn toppings - Quick to make, frugal and healthy!


2. Granola or Granola Bars - Easy to make, frugal, tasty and healthier!


3. Fresh Fruit - Buy fruit in season and leave it out on the counter tops and watch it disappear...


4. Dried fruit and fruit leathers - raisins, cranberries, apples, pears, apricots, peaches. Buy them on sale or dehydrate your own.


5. Homemade Pop Tarts - these are fun to make with your kids. You can double the recipe and freeze them to have on hand.


6. Homemade Wheat Thins Crackers - these are so good! Watch my video demonstration for an even easier method of making them.


7. Chips & Salsa - Make your own healthier chips in the oven by cutting up tortillas, spraying them with oil and baking in a 400 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until crispy!


8. Homemade Yogurt or a yogurt smoothie - add your own fresh fruit, jams or jellies to flavor plain yogurt. We like to freeze yogurt smoothies to have on hand when the kids want one. We just un-thaw them a few seconds in the microwave and they love em!


9. Hard boiled eggs - eggs are high in protein and very filling. Good for kid's snack. Here's a quick and easy way you can cook them in a pressure cooker so they come out perfect every time.


10. Homemade corn nuts - Here's a recipe to make it in oil, which isn't the healthiest (but healthier if you use a good oil for you). I've also made them in the oven and the kids loved them. Look for my recipe in the near future as it's still being perfected...


11. Muffins - Great to make in bulk and freeze for quick snacks. There are so many different kinds out there. See my breakfast recipes page for a list of our favorites. 


12. Waffles - make a big batch of waffles and freeze them. The kids can pull them out and pop them in the toaster when they're hungry.


13. Homemade Bread  - this was my favorite snack growing up and probably still is. We love eating it warm out of the oven, but it's also great frozen and un-thawed. It makes the best cinnamon toast. Mmmhh!


14. Bagels - also freeze great, tasty, and easy to make.


15. Homemade Tortillas - great to make burritos, quesadillas, etc. Eat now or freeze for later.

For more frugal, healthy snack ideas, see my snack recipes board on pinterest. If you have any more ideas, leave me a comment! I'd love to add them to the list!

Linked to: Frugal Friday

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Corn bread in a Pressure Cooker {Electric Pressure Cooker Recipe}

After last week's experiment with making a yeast type bread in the pressure cooker, I had a few people suggest to try quick breads. So this week I present to you my experiment with corn bread in a pressure cooker using freshly ground popcorn.

Before I start, just a word about popcorn. I love to use ground whole grain popcorn (yes, un-popped) when making corn bread! One of the main reasons is because I like to grind my popcorn really fine into flour rather than corn meal. Before I found this secret, I never enjoyed eating corn bread because the texture was so grainy. Try it. It really does make a difference! Also the ground popcorn has a wonderful fresh flavor that you don't get in corn meal that's been sitting on the shelf for several weeks. It's healthier too because whole grain flours lose nutrients as they sit on the shelf.

So on to cooking corn bread in the pressure cooker. If you don't want to cook it in the pressure cooker or don't have a pressure cooker, here's my instructions for cooking it in the oven.

Corn Bread {Electric Pressure Cooker Recipe}

Printable Recipe

*Makes 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup milk

¼ Cup butter, melted

1 large egg

1-1/4 Cup cornmeal (made with fine freshly ground popcorn)

1 Cup white flour *see note

½ Cup sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS:

Add 2 Cups of water and a splash of white vinegar to the empty pressure cooker. I've found that adding the vinegar to the water helps so you don't develop a white film around your pressure cooker pan when you cook. Place the metal trivet on the bottom. Then spray a round pan that fits into the electric pressure cooker with oil. 

Beat milk, butter and egg in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Pour batter into round pan. Wrap pan with aluminum foil. Fold a 1-1/2 to 2 foot piece of aluminum foil into thirds and use that to carry the pan in and out of the pressure cooker (See my pressure cooker bread post for an example of this). Pressure on high pressure for 16 minutes. Naturally release the pressure. Serve warm.

*Note: alternatively you can try it with a whole-grain flour. I've made it with wonder flour before and it it's really tasty, just a bit more crumbly than with white flour.

Reactions & thoughts on pressure cooking cornbread: 
It tasted delicious! My oldest son said I should make it this way every time, he loved it. In fact he even asked for some today in his lunch. The pressure cooker made it very moist inside.

There wasn't a whole lot of time savings. I tried to cut the time to 12 minutes the first time I made it and it was still raw inside. The second time I did 16 minutes and it came out perfectly done. In the oven it takes about 20-25 minutes so if you count time for the pressure cooker to heat up and cool down, you're not saving much time.

It wasn't the prettiest thing in the world. I covered it with aluminum foil and it stuck a little so next time I either need to spray the foil or try it uncovered.

Well, I'm on the fence a little on this one. I haven't decided which way I'll be cooking corn bread in the future...in the oven or in the pressure cooker. What do you think? Have you tried making corn bread in the pressure cooker? Got any tips for me? What works for you? Do you think it's worth it? Got a better recipe for me to try?

For more pressure cooker recipes see my pressure cooker recipe page. Or follow my pressure cooker board on pinterest.

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Healthier Popcorn Toppings

Popcorn really can be healthy if it's not drenched in fat and sodium! Here's some more healthier topping ideas that I found for your DIY Healthier Microwave Popcorn or air popped popcorn:

1. Garlic Popcorn - Garlic Powder & a little salt
2. Ranch Popcorn - Spray with a healthy type oil and sprinkle dry ranch dressing mix 
3. Parmesan Popcorn - Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and salt
4. Fiber Nut Popcorn - Add slivered Almonds, sunflower seeds and raisins to plain popcorn
5. Mexican Popcorn - Chili powder, hot sauce and a little salt
6. Taco Popcorn - Add taco seasoning
7. Fake Cheese Popcorn - Spray with olive oil, sprinkle on nutritional yeast, and a little salt
8. Cinnamon Popcorn - Sprinkle with cinnamon and a little sugar
9. Curry Popcorn - Spice things up with a little curry powder
10. Seasoned Popcorn - Add seasoning salt
11. Sweet Popcorn - drizzle with honey or xagave
12. Mix and Match #1 through #11! Be Creative and have fun!

I can't wait to try some of these. Hopefully they got your brain thinking of even more! I even found someone who suggested spraying a little water from a spray bottle to help the toppings stick instead of butter...I don't know? It's worth a try! 

One that I didn't include to the list is pepper - my brother always loved to sprinkle pepper on his popcorn! It was pretty good! Have you tried any of these or others? What toppings work for you and your family?

Linked to: Healthy Wednesday, Midweek Fiesta, Real Food Wednesday

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DIY Healthier Microwave Popcorn

I love to eat popcorn! And I like to make it the easiest and fastest way possible. I have an air popper that I use when I want to make large batches quickly, but usually I just want to make enough for a serving or two for an after school snack, a movie, or date night. Prepackaged microwave popcorn has too many questionable ingredients in it so I don't like to eat it or feed it to my family. Plus it's expensive! 

So today I'm going to show you my infallible method of making microwave popcorn. It's cheaper, healthier, and, I think, tastier! And it's just as fast as popping a bag of store-bought microwave popcorn.

Start with 1/4 cup of popcorn 

(you'll get good enough that you don't even have to measure anymore)

Place it in a lunch bag, fold over the top three or four times, and stick it in the microwave

Microwave on high power for 3.5 to 4 minutes 

(You may try the popcorn setting on the microwave, but usually that's not quite enough time for mine). Listen to it and stop it as soon as you can count 4-5 seconds between pops.

Open up the bag and you have:

Popcorn!

Add 1-2 tablespoons of melted butter and salt to taste.

Or as a healthier alternative, in place of the butter, you can add 1-2 Tbsp. coconut oil

And that's it! DIY microwave popcorn in minutes!

Mmmmh! Enjoy!

Linked to: Made with Love, Creative Bloggers, Real Food 101, Nifty Thrifty

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Monday Meet Whole Foods: Popcorn!

Today's new whole food is: 

Popcorn!

You might be thinking right now, "uh, popcorn?" What is there to know about popcorn? It pops and you eat it and that's it right? 

Wrong! Popcorn is more than just a snack food. Did you know you can grind popcorn in a grinder and make a wonderful corn flour or corn meal. It makes the tastiest cornbread that you've ever tasted!

It can be used in many wonderful ways and I'm going to show you a few of my favorites this week! I hope you enjoy learning all about popcorn!

What is Popcorn?

Popcorn is an ancient grain that has been around a LONG Time! The Native Americans are believed to have discovered it. They introduced it to the early settlers of our country who liked to eat it as a breakfast cereal. 

How does it Pop?

I've wondered this for a while so I did a little research about it online. Here's what I discovered. Popcorn has a unique property of having a very tough outer shell or hull, unlike most other grains. But like all grains, inside the hull there contains a certain amount of moisture and oil. When popcorn is heated quickly, the moisture inside becomes steam. This steam softens the starch inside the grain making it pliable. But at the same time the steam creates pressure on the outer hull. This pressure increases as the heat is increased until finally the hull breaks. With this release of pressure, the starch and proteins inside the kernel are converted to a foam, that we know as popped popcorn!

How do I use it?

You can use popcorn by popping it in the microwave, air popper or in oil on the stove top. There are other oil poppers you can find out there to use as well. I've even popped popcorn over the campfire with a neat little campfire popper! In addition to popping, and as I mentioned before popcorn can be ground into flour and used in yeasted or non-yeasted breads or pancakes.

How healthy is it?

That depends on what you put on it! But let's just talk about raw popcorn. Raw popcorn is a whole grain and low in calories, high in fiber, and sugar free! Corn fiber has been documented to have many digestive benefits, including lowering the risk of colon cancer. Consuming corn, like popcorn has been shown to help people with diabetes regulate their blood sugar levels. Combining corn with legumes creates a complete protein and help improve overall nourishment. 

Where can I buy it?

Raw popcorn can be found in most grocery stores or online. I like to buy mine in bulk at WinCo or other places locally. I don't recommend the microwave pre-packaged kind because it is high in fat and sodium and other harmful ingredients. 

Got a Recipe?

This week I'll be sharing some of my favorite recipes using popcorn, including how to make your own microwave popcorn! If you have a favorite popcorn recipe, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail!

If you need more ideas, get inspired with this episode (free streaming) of chef Brad's fusion grain cooking show all about popcorn! You can find the recipes he uses in the show at his site chefbrad.com.

Information from this post came from: chefbrad, wikipedia, and whfoods

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Favorite Children's Book: The Seven Silly Eaters

Do you have a picky eater in your family? Or two or three or four? How about seven!?! That's how many picky eaters Mrs. Peters has, in this beloved children's book "The Seven Silly Eaters" by Mary Ann Hoberman. This is the same author who wrote A House is a House for me, which I reviewed previously.

The story starts out with Mrs. Peters and her first baby, Peter Peters, whose milk had to be just the right temperature. She doesn't mind her first picky eater, but with each child comes more and more work as she tries to prepare the only food that they will eat. Finally with seven growing children she spends all day long fixing food for them - pots and pots of food. "Mrs. Peters was a wreck!" She goes to bed tired that night, realizing that the next day was her birthday. The children sneak out of bed at the crack of dawn to make their mother the food that they all love. But of course, things go wrong and it doesn't turn out quite the way they've all expected, but they all go to bed. When Mrs. Peters wakes up, she's smells a wonderful birthday surprise and she's ecstatic! She's finally found the answer to her dilemma and now she can make one meal that her whole family will enjoy. 

Don't you just feel for the poor woman, Mrs. Peters? I think most Moms can probably relate. This is a story that you will love and laugh about as much as your children. Mary Ann Hoberman has a wonderful, musical rhyming pattern that you'll come to love as you read her books. The illustrations tell a story all of their own, which makes the books perfect to read to pre-readers, but any age would enjoy this book. And don't all Mom's sometimes wish we could find the perfect meal that every person in the family enjoys? It's probably a fantasy for all of us, but if you follow Mrs. Peter's trick, who knows? Maybe it'll work for you! I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!

 

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