Orange Ambrosia Cup How-To

This little fruit cup is both easy to make and impressive, and I'm no whiz at cutting fancy shapes out of fruits and veggies! First of all I measured from the top of the orange down about 1 1/2". This left enough of the orange to make a nice sized cup. At that point the orange measured horizontally at 10" around. The scallops on my flower cookie cutter are 1 1/4" so this meant I could evenly draw 6 scallops.

Next I cut the top off the orange with a citrus knife taking as much of the ink off with it as I could. The rest of the ink I washed off carefully with water and a scrubbie thingy.
Then I cut and scooped out the fruit of the orange and put the pieces into a bowl for use in the fruit salad.


After getting the orange cut up I added a small banana, sliced, stirring it to coat the slices with orange juice preventing them from turning brown, and 4 cut up strawberries. The empty orange had about a 1/2 C. capacity and this little fruit salad fills 2 orange cups very nicely. I think I could have put more fruit in the cup than the picture shows. Of course you can fill this little cup with whatever combination of fruit is your favorite. I put a little coconut ribbon on top before placing the strawberry.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

How-To Make A Tomato Napoleon

Enjoy this at your next BBQ or get-together with friends!

This beautiful salad is nothing more than a thickly sliced tomato, not sliced all the way through, with salad greens like spinach and small bits of other colorful veggies: yellow bell pepper diced small, grated carrot, chopped black olives, and green onion. Some like to add feta cheese however I prefer to go dairy free. Serve on a lettuce bed and drizzle with Italian dressing made with olive oil and apple cider vinegar or serve a creamy dressing on the side.

How-To Feed Your Garden, or Instant Composting

This is a great way to use all your fruit and veggie scraps and plant items that didn't make it to the dinner table. (Please do not use animal products ie. meat, milk, eggs or fats.) You've probably heard of composting? It's where you save all your scraps and put them into a pile outside for months while waiting for them to break down into the soil for fertilizer? Well, this is an instant way to do the same thing! I read a comparison in someone's info and they called the time it takes "warp speed"! What I like best about this is it doesn't cost anything, you don't need any fancy bin, and it doesn't smell. All you have to do is save your scraps
for a day or two. Then you blend them in the blender with a cup or two of water. I'm sure you already know not to try banana peels or corn cobs. They won't blend!

Mix this garden smoothie into some soil. I like to do half at a time so I don't have to wonder if I stirred it all the way to the bottom.
Then I put the mixed soil into a pot, or you can directly stir it into your garden space wherever you will be planting.
And lastly I add the plant, this one's a bell pepper, and water it!
Happy plant, happy pocketbook!

P.S. You can also add this to the garden later by putting it in the ground beside the plants.

How-To Freeze Ice Cream In A Plastic Bag

Summer is coming fast and some days our weather here is already in the high 80's. Strawberries are in full swing at the fruit stands, too, and it's time for a good strawberry ice cream recipe. This freezing method is great for Family Night or as a party activity for the kids.

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

Blend in blender:

3 Egg Yolks
2C. Coconut Milk or Milk of Choice
1/4C. Xylitol (or sugar)
Pour into saucepan and bring to scalding on med. heat. DO NOT BOIL. Cover and cool to room temp. and place in refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Almost liquify in blender:

2+ C. Hulled Strawberries
1/4C. Honey or Light Agave (or sugar)
1t. Vanilla
Chill.
Stir mixtures together. Pour 1/2-1C. ice cream mixture into sandwich sized ziplock freezer bags. For each sandwich bag you will also need a 1 gallon freezer bag and a friend. You will need at least 4. Fill gallon bags half full with ice. Sprinkle ice with about 1/2C. table salt. Add one bag of ice cream to each gallon bag and turn over and over to churn and freeze ice cream. Putting a towel on the table is a good idea for soaking up any spilled water (or, heaven forbid! Ice cream!!)

For a simple and easy 5 minute vanilla recipe click HERE.
And for more info click HERE.

How-To Make Simple Peanut Butter Fudge

At my house we are a bit food-challenged. I am allergic to sugar, dairy products and chocolate. Some have wondered what's left?! There actually is a lot left, but for a long time I thought I'd never eat fudge again. Had I had to deal with these allergies several decades ago I'd have simply been out of luck ~ I've seen those "health food" cookbooks from the 70's and they sure leave something to be desired! Some call for wierd ingredients and many don't have much flavor. But nowadays there are healthy alternatives that are easy to find and taste good, too! So, how do you make fudge without chocolate, you may ask? Well, there is a substitute I use called Carob. I know it's not truly the same, but it works for me. And this recipe can be made with chocolate chips instead of the carob chips that I use here. Carob chips come in 10 oz. bags and chocolate chips come in 12 oz, so I measured them at 2C. Place chips in the microwave for about 30 seconds with 2/3 - 3/4 C. Peanut Butter (we like the crunchy kind). I prefer Adam's because it has no sugar or hardened fats, and add 2 tablespoons of milk. Adam's is very soft so with regular peanut butter you may need to increase milk. Stir the chips, peanut butter and milk, place back in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and stir again. If needed microwave another 10-15 seconds. Be careful though, carob is very heat sensitive and becomes chewy like a tootsie roll quickly if it get too hot. If there are bits of carob chips left, just stir the warm mixture until they finish melting. Add 2-3 packets of Truvia to taste and 1/8 t. of Vanilla. I use Butter Vanilla. Spread onto oiled plate. Allow to cool to room temperature. Carob Chips can be purchased at Health Food Stores and Whole Foods. Adam's Peanut Butter, Truvia (a no calorie natural and healthy sweetener), and Soymilk are available in many grocery stores. And, Butter Vanilla comes from from the specialty cake and candy maker's supply store, but regular Vanilla is OK, too! So there you have it; Fudge made without Chocolate, and taste's like a peanut butter cup! Well, at least to me it does!! Here're those 5 simple ingredients without all the chatter:
2C. Carob or Chocolate Chips
2/3 - 3/4 C. Peanut Butter
2T. Milk or Soymilk
2-3 Packets Truvia
1/8 t. Vanilla

How-To "Do" Rice

I used to shy away from the whole idea of using brown rice. It just took too long to cook and I got less than ideal results. But all brown rice is not the same. Select long grain to get lighter, fluffier rice. Short grain is a bit chewier and tends to get sticky. Cooking a large batch works well because you can make it ahead and freeze it. This way you only have to cook it once a month or so and all it takes is getting it from the freezer instead of cooking it for 45 minutes each time. Yes, 2 lbs of rice takes the same amount of cooking time as 1C. of rice!
Follow the package directions, and measure the amount of water carefully. You don't want too much or too little. Cover and bring to a boil on high heat, then lower the flame and set the timer. Make sure to simmer on low and DON'T PEEK for the whole 45 minutes! After the timer goes off, check to make sure all the water has been absorbed by pushing rice aside with a spoon and looking at the bottom of the pan. You can replace the lid and cook it for 5-10 min. longer if needed. If there isn't water but the rice is a little wet, you can turn off the flame, fluff the rice with a fork and let it dry out for a few minutes before serving, leaving the lid off and allowing the steam to escape. Cool and divide into sandwich-sized bags and store in the freezer. Once cooked it's easy to add a bag of rice to browned ground meat seasoned with onion and/or garlic and a bit of salt, or to soups, etc.. As a lover of Rice Pudding, and custards in general, I'm sharing a favorite here.

The rice came out more even-colored than the picture shows.

Place in lightly greased 8" pan:
4C. or 2 Freezer Bags of Cooked Brown Rice
Sprinkle with Raisins, if desired.
In the blender mix:
2 1/2C. Milk of choice
2-3 Eggs, 2 if extra large
1/2C. Honey
1/2t. Cinnamon, if desired
Pour custard mixture over rice and bake at 350 for about 1 hour or until custard is set. Baking in glass makes it so you don't need to put the pan in water in the oven, as custards usually require, because it protects the delicate food from getting too hot on the bottom. Serve with milk, if desired.
With only 2 of us, leftovers make a quick and yummy breakfast or dessert right from the fridge or warmed in the microwave.

How-To Get The Kids To Eat Their Vegetables?!

Everyone already knows about putting peanut butter in celery, topping it with a few raisins and calling it "Bugs On A Log". Then I thought maybe an apple could be cored at the top and center only, leaving the bottom closed and filling it with peanut butter and raisins, but that's a fruit and not a veggie! A while back our family brainstormed this very problem of how to encourage the kids to at least be willing to give those vegetables a try and here's what we came up with:
~ Veggies-On-A-Stick. Use a little toothpick and line up cherry tomatoes, olives, squares of bell pepper, or whatever you think you can get away with!
~ Disguise them by blending them into sauces, like carrots into spaghetti or tomato sauce (compatible colors). They can be chopped tiny and hidden in meat loaf, meat balls and casseroles. We have been known to blend spinach into our citrus smoothie! (And yes, that's my poor blender pitcher that got melted when I took it somewhere and was left to drain on the stovetop!) Here's what I put in my Citrus Smoothie:
1 Can Pineapple with juice
2 Oranges
a handful of Fresh Baby Spinach (The older it gets the stronger the flavor)
and 2 C. Ice
You can start out with less spinach and gradually increase the amount to give the kids a chance to get used to the flavor. But it's a nice sweet way to eat your greens! This makes at least 2, 2C. servings.
~ Veggies get a very nice flavor when sauteed in coconut oil, plus you get benefits like, 1. It's a fat that doesn't harden with higher temperatures, and 2. It actually helps with weight loss!

~ Let the kids become involved with food. Allow them to grow a vegetable or two in their own corner of the garden. They can help prepare their own salad. Let them create! Some parents become concerned when their kids want to "play" with their food, but if that play will encourage them to eat it (and isn't too messy), why not?!

~ Here is also a place to go for a chart to help them want to eat a rainbow of veggies!

I can't promise what will work for your youngsters, but maybe these little tips will help get your juices flowing and you'll come up with something innovative and new. Then you can share those with me! ...PLEASE?

You can click here for Google Image's, "kids veggie creations", or click below for photo sources and lots more info:

Rainbow Chart.............carrot butterfly................. pirate.................girl with garden cabbages

Welcome!

...to my little how-to infoblog!
My daughter, Suzanne told me of an idea she heard about called How-To Tuesday, where participants share what they know on their blog, with links so that interested readers can enjoy finding out what others have learned. So far I've posted 2 "How-To's" there but I seriously didn't think I had all that much to share. Then I wrote a list and came up with over 30 blog possibilities, and only 4 of them were non-food related!
Now here I am beginning a new blog, excited to be helping others as well as myself to a healthier lifestyle. It is my hope that here you will find interesting reading as well as answers to how you may tweak your diet for the better without having to take as much time and $ in the learning as it took me. Enjoy, and...

HAPPY EATING!

Picture and Info Source here