My Promise to Post More Frequently

Well, I have apologized before about not being more diligent in my posts, but I really am recommitting myself to posting at least once a week. Life got a little carried away for a minute, but I think I've reined myself in enough to be able to make that promise. I have so much to tell and post!

First things first, I promised some recipes. I have three summertime sweet recipes that have been a huge hit in my house. They were also made with all real ingredients and with the exception of a couple of ingredients - most of them were from local farmers. I am REALLY loving this CSA we have joined!

For the past couple of weeks in our weekly produce bundle, we have received a lot of mint. I love mint, but there is only so much that can be done with any copious amounts of a single herb. Therefore, I decided to take my large amounts of mint and turn them into something wonderful - Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (my favorite flavor!). I got this recipe off of epicurious.com, which is a great website for all sorts of recipes. Below is a picture and the recipe:





Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
yield: 1 1/2 quarts

6 large egg yolks
3/4 C. sugar
2 C. Whole Milk
2 C. fresh mint leaves
1 C. Cream
3 drops of optional food coloring
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

Whisk together the egg yolks and 1/2 C. of sugar.

In a medium saucepan over low-medium heat, stir together milk, remaining 1/4 C. sugar, and mint. Heat until steaming but not boiling, remove from heat.

Ladle about 1/2 C. of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to prevent eggs from cooking, then slowly stir the egg mixture back into the hot milk, whisking constantly. Place over low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coast the back of a spoon. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Discard solids. Whisk in cream and food coloring. Cover and chill overnight.

Process the cold custard in you ice cream maker. Add the chopped chocolate during the last couple minutes of churning. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until hard.

This was a total crowd pleaser. Now I know that there is food coloring in this recipe and I am totally against adding additional chemicals into our bodies. However, without the food coloring it looked a yellowish orange and I had a hard time eating mint ice cream that was orange. Aside from that, the sugar and the chocolate, all of the other ingredients were purchased within a 30 mile radius of my home. Very satisfying!

Another great ice cream recipe is this chocolate peanut butter one that I kind of came up with on my own. I kind of put a few recipes together to come up with this one. I made it for my brother-in-law as a thank you for watering our flowers while on vacation and he was very pleased with the trade-off. It's great!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

6 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 C. Cream
2 C. Whole Milk
2 egg yolks
1/2 C. Sugar
1 T. vanilla extract
Peanut Butter

Combine the cream, milk and chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook until mixture almost boils and chocolate is melted. Reduce heat to low.

While that cooks, beat yolks, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add a small amount of the hot milk mixture to the yolks and stir until combined. Gradually add the yolk mixture back into the hot milk stirring continuously. Cook over low heat until slightly thickened and mixture coats the back of a spoon. Cool in the refrigerator overnight.

Place the cold custard into your ice cream maker and process. During the last 5 minutes of churning add small spoonfuls of peanut butter. Enjoy!

The final summer treat I wanted to share was this great popsicle recipe that I got out of Cooking Light. It was delicious. My daughter couldn't get enough!

Minted Watermelon and Lemon Ice Pops

Watermelon layer:
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. chopped fresh mint
2 C. packed cubed seeded watermelon
1 T. fresh lime juice.

Lemon layer:
6 T. sugar
1/2 C. water
2/3 C. fresh lemon juice
1/3 C. fresh orange juice
1/4 t. orange extract

To prepare the watermelon layer, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in mint, cover and remove from heat. Let stand for 30 minutes. Strain through a sieve into a bowl.

Place the watermelon into a blender and process until smooth. Strain puree through a sieve into the sugar and mint mixture and discard the solids. Stir in lime juice, cover and chill for 1 hour.

Fill 1/2 of the popsicle molds with the watermelon layer and freeze for 1 1/2 hours or until almost set.

To prepare lemon layer, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook 30 seconds. Pour into a bowl and add lemon juice, orange juice, and orange extract. Cool for 15 minutes, cover and chill for 1 hour.

After the watermelon has been the freezer for 1 1/2 hours, remove and add lemon layer. Insert handles or sticks into molds and freeze until solid.

These are all three really great summer treats. We received 4 quarts of strawberries from our CSA farm this week, so check the blog. I'm going to dig up some recipes for strawberry ice cream, strawberry sherbet and strawberry popsicles. It should be good!

Finally, I really wanted to show you all a picture of the great skirt I finished for my daughter. She got to debut it on our vacation and I was very pleased with the results. I think this is going to be one that I reproduce to sell at the Fall Festival. While she can wear it now, I can add tights and a long-sleeve top to take it into Fall:

I think that's about all for now. My family and I got to work out at our CSA farm yesterday and my husband took some really great pictures. I'm hoping to post those here in a couple of days just to show the beauty of sustainable living. I also got some really pretty veggies that I can't wait to try and report back on! I'm so excited to get to the point where a grocery store is only a side thought!

Sorry it's been so long!

I am very ashamed of myself. It's been way too long since I've published a post. In my defense, not a whole lot has been happening. I have been taking strides in making as much from scratch as possible. So far I have discovered a deep dish pizza crust that my family is crazy about, and some really wonderful homemade ice cream recipes (I'll try and post those recipes later this week). I have a feeling my ice cream maker is going to be working in overdrive this summer! We still have a long way to go (I just can't seem to cut out chips completely!), but we're getting there! One exciting thing that has happened is that we had our first CSA pickup this past week and I wanted to talk about it before it was time to pick up our second week's helping.

I am SO impressed with the farm we have chosen. The kids and I went out there last Wednesday and had a great time picking out our veggies and herbs. Since this is the beginning of the growing season, we didn't get tons of produce, but that will change as the season progresses. We picked up bok choy, green leaf lettuce, green garlic, and assorted fresh herbs. They have all tasted great! For those of you who have never heard of green garlic (this was a first for me!), it is very similar to a green onion. It's the garlic plant in it's baby stage. It definitely has a garlic taste to it, but it's much sweeter and lighter than a mature garlic bulb. I've used it in just about everything this week. To those of you who don't have the space (like me), or the desire to grow your own produce - I highly recommend finding a farm that has a CSA program. The kids love going out there and we ate very healthy all week long. Tomorrow I go and pick up our week 2 rations. I also get to pick up our first meat order. My husband is very excited about the meat shares I'll be bringing home tomorrow night. The Luckenbill's are eating well!

Other than our wonderful food starting, I have also been sewing like crazy. I have made my daughter a couple of adorable items. I'm going to get pictures and post them for all to see. I did a great skirt for her with side ruffles that it is almost too cute. I was even able to use fabric scrapes to piece it together. So much fun! I've also been getting busy making items for my town's fall fest in September. My sister and I are planning on setting up a booth there. I have a long way to go to build up any inventory, but I'm going to have fun sewing every last item. I think I've got two items made and ready to go . . .

I hope everyone is enjoying the sunny weather we've been having after ALL the rain. Remember to thank God for such beauty. We were actually able to get out of the house today and play outside, so I'm in a really thankful mood! I hope everyone is doing well and I promise some pictures at my next post!

A Few Summer Recipes

I hate asparagus. It is by far my least favorite veggie (that I've tasted so far, at least). However, I made a risotto last night that had me eating ALL of my asparagus and enjoying every bite. We ate is as the main dish, but my husband seems to think it would have been much better paired with a steak (that's his view on most of the vegetarian dishes I serve!). You could, however, add a little chicken or shrimp to this recipe and make it a main dish that would please everyone. Here's the recipe:

Asparagus Risotto

4 C. Chicken Broth
2 T. Olive Oil
4 green onions, minced
1 c. Arborio Rice
1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
4 T. Butter
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 C. grated Parmesan Cheese

Bring the broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and maintain at a simmer.

Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the green onions and uncooked rice and cook for 5 minutes, or until the rice is golden brown.

Begin adding the broth, a 1/2 C. at a time and cook, stirring constantly, for 20 minutes, or until all the broth is absorbed and the risotto becomes creamy. Just before adding the last 1/2 C. of broth, add the asparagus, butter and pepper. Stir in the cheese just before serving!

It is wonderful. I hope you all try it and love it as much as we did!

I also had a couple other recipes I wanted to share. This next one is a GREAT summer recipe. It is a syrup that you pour over your fruit salad to keep the fruit from turning. It is amazing. I made my fruit salad a whole day in advance and not even the apples had turned. However, if you are going to add banana, I would do that right before serving, because bananas seem to turn quickly no matter what!

Fruit Salad Syrup

1/3 C. sugar
1/4 C. fresh mint leaves
2 T. lemon juice

Bring the sugar and 1/2 C. of water to a boil in a saucepan. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon and mint. Let steep for 15 minutes, then strain out the mint.

I have already used this recipe 3 times and summer hasn't even begun yet! It really gives the salad a fresh taste. My kids love it!

The final recipe I wanted to share is a great one to get your kids (or husbands!) to eat more veggies. This is one of my husband's favorites and getting him to like "strange" veggies is quite hard.

Meatball Kabobs

32 frozen, fully cooked meatballs, thawed
1 red pepper cut into 1 inch squares
1 green pepper cut into 1 inch squares
1/4 C. apricot jam
1/4 C. Barbecue Sauce of your choice

Thread the meatballs and peppers onto 8 skewers. I do meatball, red pepper, green pepper, meatball, etc.

Microwave the jam in a small bowl on high for 15 seconds. Stir in the BBQ sauce. Brush half onto the kabobs.

Grill the kabobs for 8-10 minutes, turning occasionally and brushing with the remaining mixture the last 2 minutes.

Delicious!

I hope everyone is enjoying the weather. Only a month to go until we start getting our fresh produce. I can't wait!!!

P.S. is everyone watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC on Friday nights? It is a GREAT show with an even better message. No wonder our country is so fat . . .

Recipe!

Good morning! I was thinking about the blog last night and realized that it's been a while since I've posted any recipes. I decided upon my mother's Chicken Lasagna. In the past months I seem to have been taking a lot of meals to people who have had babies. This is my go-to meal. It freezes really well and you can make it up without doing the final cooking, so when you are ready to eat it, it tastes fresh! On another note, this recipe uses a lot of cheese. I HIGHLY recommend grating your own cheese. Take a look at a package of shredded cheese and look at all the extra preservatives and stuff in it. It is rather disturbing. On the other hand, a block of cheese has only those ingredients you would associate with cheese. My opinion, always grate your own. It really doesn't take that much more time!

Chicken Lasagna

8 oz. oven ready lasagna noodles (I use the whole wheat kind!)
1/2 C. chopped onion
1/2 C. chopped green pepper
3 T. butter
1 Can of Cream of Chicken soup
1/3 C. milk
1/2 t. basil
3 C. diced cooked chicken (I just cook a package of breasts and chop them up!)
1 1/2 C. ricotta cheese
1/2 C. Mild Cheddar Cheese
1/2 C. Parmesan Cheese
1 1/2 C. Mozzarella Cheese
8 oz. package of mushrooms

Cook the onion, pepper, and mushrooms in the butter until tender. Stir in the soup, milk, basil and chicken to make the "sauce." Place 1/2 of the noodles in the bottom of a 9X13 pan. Cover with 1/2 of the ricotta cheese, 1/2 of the sauce, and 1/2 of the cheeses. Repeat the layers. At this point you can either wrap it up and freeze for later, or bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

I have also been experimenting with some vegetarian dishes this week. I just made up a few this morning, but have yet to try them. As soon as I do, and if they pass the taste test, I'll post those as well. I'm really trying to get a LOT more veggies in our diets and thought that sticking a few vegetarian items into our menu would be a good way to go about that. We'll see. They sure smell good!

Spring is Here Now, Right?

Well, as I look at my window I think I'm convinced that Spring is actually here this time. I think most of the snow from the weekend has melted and I think it's supposed to be a nice day. It's time for fresh produce!!

Yesterday we had our CSA orientation and my husband and I are both rearing to go. We had to sign up for a day to work at the farm during the growing season and we decided that he would take off work so we could do the farm thing as a family. I am REALLY excited about all of this local eating. We also signed up for some meat and egg shares from another farm. We will be getting grass fed beef, lamb, pork and chicken and then eggs from those free wandering chickens. The menu is going to be very tasty this summer.

Because of eating locally high that I'm currently riding and because of an OB appointment I just left, I really wanted to talk about food and exercise for a bit. For those of you who aren't aware, I had to have a hysterectomy at the age of 28 and have been struggling with some of the side effects from the surgery for about 2 years now. One of these struggles happens to be weight. Another background note is that last October, while training for a 1/2 marathon, I developed a stress fracture and acute tendinitis in my right hip and have been pretty much been off exercise since then because of the pain. Anyway, my dr. and I were talking about the "right" steps that I need to be taking to ensure great health. While many of my weight issues are because of my hysterectomy, these are all issues that I would have had sooner or later. It's because of my surgery that this is happening about 15 years earlier for me! I wanted to just share some of her wisdom:

1) She really advocated Yoga. She said that since my body is no longer producing hormones naturally that I am now at a risk for Osteoporosis. In order to combat this I need to be doing some weight resistant exercise like Yoga two times a week.

2) Eat as much whole foods as possible. She mentioned that you should have red meat only once a week with chicken and fish filling in the rest of the days. Meat should also be a side item, not the main dish.

3) While you need both fruits and veggies, you should eat at least twice the amount of veggies as fruit.

4) Running is bad on women's bodies (and my Dr. is a runner). Not only is it hard on the joints, but it also is really hard on the female organs due to the jostling while running. She really pushed swimming and biking as great ways to get my cardio in at least 5 times a week.

5) Finally, she recommended trying any exercise that you could see yourself doing at the age of 60 or 70. Finding exercises that you can do for your entire life will ensure that you are staying healthy your entire life.

I think those were the main points of my visit. While I haven't done any research myself, she also pointed out that studies have been done that are relating Alzheimer's and dementia with cardio health. In other words, if your arteries around you heart are clogged or moving slow, so are the ones in your brain. That really made me stop and think. I can think of no worse disease!

I hope this helps all of you in your quest for healthier selves. Good luck and eat locally!!

Short and Sweet

Hello everyone! This is going to be a very short post. I have two 3-year olds waiting to be put down for a nap, but I wanted to post a few pictures before I did that. First of all, here are the pictures of my daughter's Easter dress that I finished almost 2 weeks ago. She's very excited to
wear it. It's not perfect, but not bad for my first time, either!

Here are a few other projects that I have recently finished. This is my little bunny creation. He's made out of a recycled cashmere sweater. It had moth holes in it and was no longer wearable, so I've given it new life and turned it into a bunny for a baby named Owen (hence the O on the front!). He is my second recycled bunny and I think they turn out pretty darn cute. If any of you have any unwearable sweaters that you'd like to contribute to the cause, they make great baby gifts!

Finally, these are a couple of pictures of a baby quilt that I just finished for a friend. Obviously, she just had a baby girl named Olivia.

I think that about sums it up for now. We're pretty busy here so I hope to post a more thought provoking entry in the near future! God bless!

P.S. Did any of you watch Opera last Thursday? It was all about the food industry and eating better. She had the guy from Food, Inc. on. It was great!

My Amazing Mentor

Today I just wanted to quickly write a little bit about mental health. Part of my journey to all-around good health involves being healthy mentally, and being a mother of 3 year-old twins, this isn't at all easy! However, I have found a great cure to all that ails mentally. Find a hobby. I think that it really is that simple.

When I was pregnant I was looking everywhere for baby bedding that I really liked and that was gender neutral. At the time, it was nearly impossible. I didn't want a themed room at all, but I was also having a hard time finding stuff that wasn't primarily pink or blue. Therefore, I decided to make my own. Please keep in mind that at this time I didn't know a thing about sewing and didn't even own a sewing machine. So, I asked for and received my sewing machine that year as a birthday gift and had my mom teach me a few basic things about sewing. It was a slow process, but after a week of doing nothing but sewing, my mother and I completed my nursery. It was then that I realized I had been bitten by the sewing bug. Since then, I just can't get enough!

It didn't take long for me to outgrow my mother's sewing knowledge. At that point I turned to books (I can learn really easily by looking and reading books). I was able to pick up quite a few things from each book I picked up, but I felt like I was missing something in each technique. It was at this time, while at a P.E.O. meeting, that I was talking about my sewing and another woman piped up that she knew all sorts of stuff. Apparently her mother had owned a quilt shop in Louisiana while she was growing up and she knew how to do all sorts of things. She was also quite excited to teach me. I was thrilled! Since that meeting, we have gotten together twice. She is currently teaching me how to smock. For those that aren't savvy, smocking is the tiny pleating done on baby and little kid outfits, usually across the chest that will have a design or picture on it. It's used a lot in christening gowns as well. Anyway, I am almost finished with my daughter's Easter dress ( hopefully I can post some pictures on here later this week) and I'm so excited to learn more. My mentor is going to teach me heirloom stitching, more on quilting, and even tatting (that's the creation of lace). I can't describe what this has done to my stress levels. Mentally, I believe I am healthier now than I have been in a long time!

I want to challenge each of you to try something you've always wanted to try, or learn something you've always been curious about learning. It is such a great way relieve stress and it can't hurt to know a few more useful skills, right?! Good luck!