“Smart Sweets”: A Better Option

by Michelle on November 21, 2011

When it comes right down to it, most of us like to have dessert once in a while (or more often than that!). The biggest problem I have is finding recipes that taste delicious, are simple to follow, and even if they don’t have huge nutritional value, they are at least not downright terrible for me (high fructose corn syrup, anyone?).

So coming across Katie over at Kitchen Stewardship’s new eBook, I wanted to share it with you as there are 30 dessert recipes (89 pages total) including recipes for chocolate syrup, brownies, cakes, and fudge bars- all made healthier! She also takes the time to explain about different sweeteners, alternatives to sugar, and where to find them. Some of the goals she incorporates (as a “real foodie”) into the book are:

  • Less sugar
  • Healthier sweeteners
  • Whole grains, soaked/sprouted grains, or no grains
  • Probiotics
  • Some vegetables

Yes, some of the recipes still contain some sugar, but I have to agree with a good point that Katie makes in her post about it: while the health benefits of using other sweeteners than white sugar are undeniable, realistically, sometimes it is just too expensive to use sweeteners other than sugar (for bake sales, etc.). The price of pure maple syrup, local raw honey, sucanat, and even stevia can be just too costly to serve much outside the family.

So if you are interested in giving healthier desserts a try with simple, tested recipes, click here to purchase the book for only $9.95!

Also, one last important note, many of the recipes in Smart Sweets can be adjusted to specific dietary needs. 17 recipes are gluten-free (15 of these are also grain free), 16 are dairy free, 15 have been tested egg-free, and for most recipes any nuts called for are optional!

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Kitchen Stewardship’s eBooks, which means I’ll earn a small commission from any sales made through these links. However, I won’t promote anything I don’t personally believe in (plus the brownies are totally delicious!) 

 

 

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Organic Garden First Year Re-cap

by Michelle on November 16, 2011

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Thanks to one of my wonderful readers, I was reminded that I never did a re-cap on my first attempt at organic gardening! Also, despite the loads of fruit and veggies that I brought home with me over the summer (my garden was in a family member’s backyard), I also never took a good picture of some of the produce!

The not-so-lovely photo above just “happened” to get taken while testing out a new camera I received as a birthday present. Nevertheless, those are some of my cucumbers and zucchini (no, the camera didn’t add ten pounds to that big zucchini- it was huge!) that I was able to enjoy.

I’ll re-cap starting at the beginning. I planted lettuce, spinach, beans, dill, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, marigolds, and cucumbers. By far, my most successful vegetable was the cucumbers. I have never seen so many in my life- there were days when I picked at least 20 and had no idea what to do with them all (after making pickles and cucumber salads, of course!).

I gave as many away to friends and family as possible, and learned a valuable lesson to limit the number of cucumber plants (when I only had 5!) so as not to have any go to waste! Obviously, I used nothing besides seeds, water, dirt, and sunshine and these babies came out pretty much flawless. Only towards the end of summer (when this picture was taken) did they grow a bit mis-shapen as the plants were winding down.

My favorite item by far that I grew was leaf lettuce- I picked these delicate leaves all summer and felt SO lucky enjoying many tasty salads and BLTs. I found that the leaves do wilt quick (I always tried to get them in a crisper in my fridge ASAP), especially with my commute home, but I noticed that they would fare better if I picked them in the morning or evening- anytime but when they were warm from the sun. [click to continue…]

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Homemade Baby Food: Butternut Squash

by Michelle on November 7, 2011

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Last night I decided to make my first baby food for the freezer with some wonderful butternut squash from my mom’s garden. It was so bright orange and flavorful, I couldn’t help but eat a few scoops myself after it was cooked! I’m a little over 31 weeks now with our first baby (a girl!), due on January 7. As fast as fall is going so far, it will be nothing short of a miracle if I am able to get anything else in the freezer (including regular meals for my husband and I) before she is born!

Since this is my first “go” at baby food, I am no expert and would appreciate any advice, tips, or tricks that you experienced moms may have! I just did the very basics and am hoping for the best. Making baby food seems like a very easy process (although it was a bit harder with my feet hurting so much last night!), but just requires a little bit of time. In my mind, it’s worth it for the health benefits of improved nutrition (the freshest foods available locally)- plus you know exactly what goes in it and how it was processed. The basic steps I followed were: cook the food plain, puree it (I used my trusty food processor), and then freeze it.

I know they have those wonderfully fancy little freezer containers at baby stores (and I even added a few to my registry!), but I had an extra ice cube tray free and figured that I would give that method a try first. Each “ice cube” is approximately one ounce so it should still be easy to track how much to thaw/feed the baby.

To start, I cut the butternut squash in half, removed the seeds, and baked it on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about an hour and 15 minutes. I knew it was done when I could slide a fork easily into the thickest part. I let the squash cool for quite a while on the counter and then scooped out all the insides into my food processor.

I ran it in the processor until the squash was nice and creamy with no chunks. I then carefully scooped the squash into the ice cube tray (trying not to make too big of a mess) and placed it in the freezer overnight. Today, I will pop the frozen squash cubes out of the trays and put them in freezer bags (hoping I’ll be able to reuse them again later) so they will be easy to grab and thaw when I need them.

I’m pretty excited to at least have made my first attempt with baby food, although I’m sure I still have lots of practice and learning to do!

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Natural Make-Up Coupon Code

by Michelle on October 28, 2011

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I wanted to let you know that my all-time favorite natural makeup, by Erzulie Cosmetics, is currently running a great deal where you can get an extra 10% off at the Etsy store! I have tried a number of Erzulie products which quickly became staples in my make-up bag: foundation, bronzer, concealer, lipstick that also doubles as blush (pictured above!), lip gloss, highlighting pencil, and more. No icky chemical smells or tastes with these products- just all natural beauty!

The best part about these products (other than the fact that they work fantastic) is that they are truly all-natural. The ingredient lists are clear, with prounounce-able, natural products and have nothing to hide. No cringing for me at any of them! The owner has women’s health in mind with every item, and does not add any compromising or dangerous ingredients that you would find in almost any commercial brand.

So if you are interested in taking advantage of this special, the coupon code to type in on Etsy is “integrity”. I hope you love these products as much as I do if you give them a try!

 

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Clean Start E-Book Released!!!

October 24, 2011

I am excited to share that my Clean Start e-book is available for purchase as of today! It walks through every room of the home and offers natural solutions to cleaning a variety of surfaces. Whether you are already using some natural cleaning methods in the home or are just starting out, Clean Start offers [...]

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Wrapping Up the Growing Season

October 17, 2011
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Here in Michigan, fall has moved in and my garden has been done for a couple weeks. While I miss having so much free, ripe produce available for the picking I’m at least thankful that I don’t have to really shop at the grocery store- yet. Our local farmers market is open until Christmas, and [...]

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Help Fight Famine in East Africa

September 19, 2011

Guest Blogger: Sarah Lenssen from #Ask5for5 Family photos by Mike Fiechtner Photography Thank you Openeyehealth and nearly 150 other bloggers from around the world for allowing me to share a story with you today, during Social Media Week. A hungry child in East Africa can’t wait. Her hunger consumes her while we decide if we’ll [...]

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Go “Green” With Food

September 15, 2011
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I’m excited to be participating in the Go Green & Save Green Series with several other green bloggers this week!  We’ll be talking about different areas of green and natural living, showing you how to go green while saving money at the same time!  Be sure to check out the great links at the end [...]

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Natural Cleaning: Less is More

September 13, 2011
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I’m excited to be participating in the Go Green & Save Green Series with several other green bloggers this week!  We’ll be talking about different areas of green and natural living, showing you how to go green while saving money at the same time!  Be sure to check out the great links at the end [...]

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Go Green & Save Green!

September 12, 2011

I’m excited to be participating in the Go Green & Save Green Series with several other green bloggers this week! We’ll be talking about different areas of green and natural living, showing you how to go green while saving money at the same time! Each day will have a different theme: Monday – Personal Care Products/DIY [...]

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