Oh YUM! As you may know, my family now snacks on freeze dried produce. It's DELICIOUS and NUTRITIOUS, but sometimes, this mama wants JUNK! Fortunately, I recently purchased this Kindle book: 30 Perfect Popcorn Recipes : How to Make Sweet & Savory Gourmet Popcorn at Home by Lori Jane Stewart. Popcorn is healthy (until you add the good stuff!) and so inexpensive! With just 1/4 cup of kernels, you will pop 16 cups of popcorn! AMAZING! Most of the recipes in the book use about 8 or 9 cups of popcorn, so I eat the GOOD stuff and my kids happily (unknowingly) snack on the plain stuff. It's a double whammy win! For today's recipe, I just happened to have had a bag of pre-shelled pistachios. Typically I wouldn't splurge on such a treat, but since I had the pistachios, I tried this recipe and fell in LOVE! Notes: My husband prefers the classic electric poppers, but a few years ago we picked up a stovetop popcorn popper and I LOVE it. I feel all old-fashioned and homestead-y :) Pistachio Praline Popcorn from Lori Jane Stewart's, 30 Perfect Popcorn Recipes Ingredients: 1/4 cup butter, unsalted 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed * 1 tsp cinnamon, ground 9 cups popcorn, air-popped 2/3 cup shelled pistachio nuts, roasted without salt Directions:
*I prefer to make my own brown sugar! It's SO easy and delicious. Combine 1 cup of sugar to 1 Tbsp of molasses. Stir with a fork until uniformly brown and fluffy. Add more molasses for darker brown sugar. Store in airtight container. Bon Appetit, | please purchase via the above affiliate links. |
0 Comments
When it comes to Easter baskets, there are some things that must not be changed: gourmet jelly beans (no generic or jumbo ones for me!) & a Reese's peanut butter egg. Those two things will keep me fishing through the plastic green grass with a smile on my face all day long! However, the rest of the traditional Easter items NEED TO GO. Forget the waxy tasting chocolate crosses and bunnies! Forget the foil wrapped eggs. Dear me, puh-lease leave out the marshmallow peeps. The malt balls and speckled eggs, meh... Let's raise a generation of kids who covet their SMALL amount of high quality chocolate* (here is where I back-track and snub Reese's...do as I say, not as I do) and get giddy over the healthy treats found in their Easter baskets! *I recommend heading to your local Aldi for the best selection of chocolates. It's one of life's great perks that the local "budget" grocery store is originally from Germany and therefore full of reasonably priced German chocolates! Lazy Green Mama's 10 Healthy Easter Basket Fillers Recommendations:
My husband LOVES to raise chickens. I do not, but it's not all about me... sometimes :) This past year, he got a little chicken over zealous. I'm not sure of the exact count, but we had about 40-50 chickens. Granted, we had a decent-sized outbuilding/ chicken coop and they all had a place to roost, but that is just TOO many for our "farm" (one of these days I'll have to stop putting quotations around that term). We do let our chickens free range during the day. That makes for healthy, happy chickens and delicious, nutrious eggs. It also makes for chicken poo EVERYWHERE! Every railing, path, picnic table... Oi vey! Now that summer is approaching, Farmer Jake has heeded my pleas and culled the flock. We now have 15 chickens resting peacefully in our freezer. Since they are egg layers, they don't make for especially plump, juicy eating. We will be making a lot of chicken noodle soup! Anyone have other good recipes for me? Like most Americans, I too have the inclination to prefer 6 degrees of separation from my meat. I do not kill, pluck, gut or otherwise prepare any animal brought home by Farmer Jake/ Great White Hunter Jake. However, I recognize the folly of my thinking and I strive to overcome my initial reaction. Last week a sweet 5-year-old boy was visiting and he commented that there are less chickens in my yard. He was NOT happy about this. I told him that we prepared some of the chickens and that they are now in my freezer. "YOU EAT CHICKEN?" was his alarmed reply. "Yes, and so do you." (I'm all about teaching kids from an early age about the food chain so that they don't have the food issues that I've had to overcome). "NO I DON'T!" he adamantly argued. "What about chicken nuggets? I know you love chicken nuggets!" "Those are NOT made from REAL chickens!" hmmm... I think he had a point there.... Anyway, it is funny how far (in the wrong direction) we've come in the past 100 years. How many of us do not know how to process an animal in preparation for a meal? How many of us refuse any uncooked meat not wrapped in plastic? Have you ever killed, prepared &/or cooked anything wild? Do tell! Recently, my book club read Year of Plenty. It's the story of a Christian family who gets fed up with the commercialism of their life. So, they rather spontaneously put a halt to it. For a whole year, they only buy local, used, homemade, homegrown... or from Thailand (read the book, it's not as random as it appears). This post isn't intended to be a review of the book, but I do recommend this book and their blog to everyone. Wherever we are on our "green" mission, this book shares ideas, triumphs, frustrations & some gentle nudges. One of the gentle nudges I received was well articulated by my friend and fellow bookworm, Deb. With a faint trace of guilt, she shared that when she and her husband decided to be full-time working parents, they had to prioritize and pair down. One sacrifice they made: shopping at the socially irresponsible BIG BOX STORE. One stop shopping was what they required in order to best utilitze their family time.
I made a similar decision this year. My corner of the world doesn't have any great, locally owned grocery store options, but instead of driving out of my way to go to the best organically stocked grocery store, I embraced many rational arguments for why I need to do my grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. Gasp! I know! Oh the shame... I hate that they kill local competition and don't give their workers full-time hours or benefits. I HATE their flourescent lights and their constantly changing lay-out. However, our finances are beyond tight and due to LIVING LIFE prior commitments, I don't have the time or energy to drive a little farther and/or make multiple stops. SO, re-inspired by this book and my friend, Deb, I realized that though I'm shopping at EVIL BIG BOX STORE, I can use my purchasing power in a more socially responsible way. I shop every two weeks...and ONLY every two weeks. We're really cracking down on that one. It's just so easy to ask hubby to pick up one item on his way home from work. However, multiple trips is a WASTE of time, gas & money. This has forced me to come a loooooooooong way in terms of meal planning. I'll share more on that another day! The other thing I'm doing, buying organic EVERY TIME! Typically, I do buy organic when given a choice. However, some days, the extra $.40 for the organic broccoli becomes an easy out when the regular brocolli is sitting right next to it. The selection of organic foods has come a loooooooooooooong (I'm having fun with those O's!) way in the recent past, however, not far enough! Every time I pass over the organic option, I'm telling Wal-Mart that I don't care about where my food comes from, how it was grown, who grew it, etc. One more inspired step, yesterday I sent emails to the three brands of sugar sold at my Wal-Mart. I'm going to gradually research my options and choose the most socially responsible offerings. It's a small step, but a step in the right direction! Dear fellow green(ish) mamas,
I NEED SOME ADVICE! It’s been four days since my baby has stopped breastfeeding. I wasn’t sure how to wean and over the past few months just tried to be conscientious about only feeding her when she seemed to want it, not just because it’s our normal time. So, we were down to just the early morning feeding. A sweet cuddle and feeding and she would return to bed for an hour or two. However, this Monday she began to sleep until at least 6:30! SCORE! Since I had been hoping to make this a seamless transition, I decided to not offer her milk when she awoke and see what happens… nothing. She didn’t whine or grab my shirt or point. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, same story! Granted, I’m sure that if I offered it, she would snuggle in and greedily enjoy the feeding. There is nothing sweeter than breastfeeding. It has been such a gift. Ok, when she fed every 2 hours, it didn’t feel like a gift, but for the past 6-9 months, I have absolutely loved it. I should mention that my daughter will be 14 months old soon (September 8th). So…MY QUESTION: Do I need to feed her milk? What type? How much? I don’t want to be responsible for a vitamin deficiency or osteoporosis! It should be noted that other than a vanilla coffee creamer addiction, my husband and I do not drink cow milk. We eat dairy products, but the idea of drinking the substance designed for calves… does not appeal to us! We use soy milk on cereal and that covered milk’s main purpose in life. Thanks for taking the time to reply, Oh HAPPY day. When my BABY is healthy and happy. I love this FOOD! HappyBabyOrganics is exactly like all the convenience foods I find at the local big box… except they are organic, not overly processed, and chock full of healthy nutrients.
I am lucky in that my daughter loves food. She will eat ANYTHING! In fact, her dad thinks it’s funny to feed her blue cheese ‘cause she makes horrible faces, but still eats it. Meanie! (Please click “Read More” to enjoy my absolute thrill over HappyBaby!) I'm referring to the food chain of where you food was raised/grown, who has handled it, how far it has travelled, how fresh is it really?
Tonight I served my family Hassenpfeffer and it was delicious! We raise our own rabbits as food, but hadn't yet LOVED the meals we made. That changed today... thanks to my trusty Crock-Pot! I'm not gonna publish the recipe here, 'cause I didn't make it up, but if you'd like the recipe, send an email to lazygreenmama[at]gmail[dot]com. Two of my favorite bloggers/people recently blogged about their experiences with raising chickens and preparing them. It's fun that we're all starting this journey and quasi clueless. Click here and here to enjoy their posts. However, it seems to me that the average person is grossed out with the idea of raising their own food. If I hadn't spent the last six years with my husband (an avid hunter), I'd probably be just like that. However, now I'm grossed out with the idea of food that was raised God knows where, handled by God knows who, sat on ice for God knows how long... It's not feasible for many people to raise their own food, especially livestock. However, I encourage you to start the process of considering where your food is coming from and research alternatives (ie buy direct from a farm, talk to your grocer, eat one vegetarian meal a week). I was thrilled when ThermaPod Mini found ME ‘cause I was just gearing up for a big lunchbox research project. Oh the things I do for my readers J. I read every single thing on their website and fell IN LOVE with this product. It was designed by a mom of FOUR BOYS (gulp) who happens to be married to a guy with the skills and connections to take her ideas and do something about it! (psst: Click "Read More" for review & giveaway) I admit that I sometimes avoid knowledge because it complicates life. It's not noble, but sometimes a line needs to be drawn in order to save sanity.
This week I read a great article by Mommy Made Green about FARM RAISED FISH. Her blog post didn't make me feel guilty for eating farm raised fish, just a bit alarmed and surprised that I had avoided really understanding the importance of wild fish for so long. I'm smart enough to buy wild fish when presented with an obvious choice, but I've never sought it out or hesitated to buy fish in a restaurant. Now all that has changed! Once we deplete our current supply in the freezer, I'm committing to only feeding my family WILD CAUGHT FISH! Now that I live inland, this will be much harder, but I don't eat fish all that often, so I think we'll be able to find/afford it often enough. When we lived in Oregon, we bought A LOT of tuna right off a fisherman's boat and canned it. We still have a few dozen jars of our fresh, wild tuna... YUM! Here's our favorite tuna dinner recipe: (ahem...I wrote about my first go-round with this recipe when I first started blogging over 2 years ago. You are welcome to read that post here... and now I'm going to go lie down under my car while you all laugh at me ;) Adapted from Betty Crocker's Good and Easy Cookbook TUNA SALAD ORIENTAL 1/4 c vege oil 3 T sugar 2 T red wine or seasoned rice vinegar 1 T soy sauce 1/4 lb Chinese pea pods, strings removed (1 cup), cut diagonally... or whatever pea is fresh from your garden or the market 3 c coleslaw mix (or just chopped cabbage... we have an abundance right now from our CSA!) 1 can (10 ounce) tuna (original recipe is for chunk light chicken), drained 1/2 c sliced almonds, toasted. Mix oil, sugar, vinegar and soy sauce in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients, toss to coat. YUM! It’s a wonderful coincidence that this giveaway event falls over Independence weekend. What better way to celebrate our (or my if you’re from elsewhere) country, then by taking one more {lazy} GREEN step? Today is my grandparent’s 62nd Anniversary. Wowsers! They are the King and Queen of reusing/ repurposing (note: don’t ask my husband about the shed of coffee cans and butter tubs he had to empty. 30 years of ‘em… twas a lot of work!). All joking/heckling aside, they truly are skilled at repurposing everything AND being content to use things until they wear-out (something that actually drives me a bit crazy, but I’m working on growing in this area!). ReUsies are the green alternative to plastic baggies. I was thrilled to receive a snack and sandwich ReUsie to review because I’m always a bit embarrassed by my use of plastic baggies. It’s like having “FRAUD” stamped on my forehead during lunch! (Please “Read More” for the product review & giveaway) |
Categories
All
Archives
February 2015
Header/Button designed by South of Sheridan
Image Credits: IStock |