Finally! "I Knew Her When....."

Any of you who, like us, have had backyard chickens, will appreciate the humor in this.  What's more? I can finally say, "I knew her when!"  This gal is the sister of my brother-in-law, and we went to college together.  She's got a great sense of humor.  Check this out:




 You love her, right? Yeah. I know.

 Well, she is not only the creator of snappy and smart vids, but she writes an excellent blog as well. Plus! PLUS! She talks about shopping at her local Farmer's Market, which is where I used to live, which makes me feel all warm and sunny inside. :)

 Visit her at One Girl's Rant and on her Youtube Channel where she will make you literally LOL.  Lotsa great locavore foodie recipes and much more!

Using Up a Bunch of Milk

We were given two gallons of milk the other day.  While I'm not much of a fan of cow's milk, much less non-organic milk, I'm not a purist.  If someone gives us two gallons of milk, I use it up as best I can before it goes bad.

I love to make use of what I have on hand.  I enjoy finding recipes that make something tasty out of the stuff that's left when it seems like "There's nothing to eat!"  It is a little game I play by myself, where I try to figure out what meals and snacks can be made from what we have in the house, and grocery shop as little as possible.

I have to stay on top of the makins' as much as possible.  Seeing as how we're a family that doesn't offer much in the way of convenience foods, we can quickly run into this situation:

My boys say some version of that to me, like......every other day.

Boys:  "Mom, there's nothing to eat!"

Me:  "What do you mean there's nothing to eat?  There are grapes, bananas, bread, butter, sandwich stuff, leftover pasta, leftover casserole, crackers, cheese, refrigerator oatmeal, quinoa salad, stuff to make burritos, stuff to make soup, stuff to make......"

Boys:  "Yeah....but.....there's nothing to eeeeaaaattttt......."

Yeah.

So....free milk.  How to use it up?  And produce identifiable food stuffs?

2 batches of homemade yogurt in the crock pot:  The older milk went into this so that I could stretch the use-by date way out.  The yogurt will be used in morning smoothies, as a sour cream substitute in casseroles, and instead of heavy cream in some recipes.

Homemade Hot Cocoa: Once for a snack, once with our German Pancake meal

Awesomesauce:  Will by mixed into casseroles that I will get made ahead and put into the freezer.

German Pancakes:  A simple recipe that my boys enjoy

Refrigerator Oatmeal:  Will provide breakfasts and snacks for my boys for a few days.


What are some of your favorite ways to use up milk or other perishable pantry staples?

Homemade Healthy Hot Cocoa

I'm up late working and needed a snack.  So what if it's summer?  The house is air conditioned!  Time for Homemade Healthy Hot Cocoa!

3 cups milk of your choice (works great with almond, rice, coconut, and other non-dairy milks)
half a cup water
heat the milk + water to your desired temp  (Not a purist, I heat it in a glass container in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes.  You could use the stove top, just be sure not to let the milk scorch.)

add:
two-thirds cup coconut sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
a pinch of sea salt

Whisk it well and serve.  Mmmmmmm.  If you thought Swiss Miss was hot cocoa, this will set you straight.  :)  Very yummy, easy to make, and kids love it too!

Baked Potato and Veggie Casserole

I made this last night, tweaking (of course!) from another recipe I found somewhere that wasn't quite what I wanted.  The finished product was good and worth recommending.  This is a hearty vegetarian casserole that would work great for potlucks as well as at home.

Ingredients:

5 pounds of organic potatoes:  You can use russet or thin-skinned varieties like I did

approximately 3-4 cups of veggies, such as
--cubed or shredded zucchini
--diced carrots
--corn (non-GMO only)
--peas

a half-cup (or more) diced onion

a half-cup thinly sliced celery

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 1/2 cups either plain yogurt, Greek yogurt, or sour cream

half cup organic milk

1 cup Parmesan cheese

8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1.5 teaspoons ground mustard

1.5 teaspoons garlic powder

half teaspoon onion powder

2 dashes cayenne pepper

1.5 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon course ground pepper


Method:

Scrub and bake the potatoes.  Generally 350-400 degrees for an hour will get the job done.  Don't forget to poke each one with a fork or knife so they don't explode all over the inside of your oven!

After baking, let the potatoes cool so that you don't burn your little fingers while you make this yummy dinner!

After taters are cooled, dice them up into smallish chunks, maybe around 3/4 of an inch.  Think of potato salad sized chunks.  Think of a forkful of casserole, and know what size makes sense for eating with ease.  :)

In a large (I mean it) mixing bowl combine the diced potatoes and all the veggies.

In a separate, smaller mixing bowl combine the yogurt/sour cream, milk, cheese, and all the spices and seasonings.  I will say that if you're aiming for something lower in calories, you could go halfsies on this sauce.  However, it will not be as creamy and wonderful and you will probably wish it was!

Mix it up good and then pour it over the potatoes and veggies and combine it til it looks beautiful.  Like this:

Get a 9x13 pan and oil it up nicely.  Pour in the casserole goodness and bake it at 350 degrees for about an hour.  When it's done it'll be nicely browned around the edges. Looks something like this:

Yum!

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

I found the original inspiration for this recipe here.  However, I've tweaked it some and for ease of sharing I'll post the recipe I'm using right here.

This salad looks lovely since it's colorful, you could totally tweak it with other summer veggies from your garden, it can be vegetarian or vegan, and would be great for taking to a potluck or cookout.  I have added some of this salad to big bowls of organic greens as well.  It works by itself or as a salad topper.

Did I mention that it's super duper easy to make, too?  You can't go wrong with this one.  (Unless you think green olives are "stinky" like my boys do.  Then you will not like this.  But for parents of children with an aversion to stinky olives, this is great, because nobody else will eat this up when you aren't looking!)

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups or more of cubed tomatoes
• 1 cup of cubed cucumbers
• 1/2 cup sliced green or black olives
• 4 ounces feta cheese (about a half cup)  (or leave it out to have this be vegan)
• 1 cup (or less) raw cashews
• 1 tablespoon of the olive juice from the jar
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Combine the water and quinoa in a medium sized pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and let cook for about 15 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Fluff with a fork.
2. Well the quinoa cooks make the dressing. Combine the olive oil, olive juice, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the cubed tomatoes and cucumbers and the sliced olives. Add quinoa and mix well. Drizzle the dressing on top and add cashews and feta cheese.  (or don't.)
4. Toss everything together. Serve immediately or store in the fridge until serving.

Banana Chocolate Chip Brownies

I make these anytime I have bananas that have aged past the point where I'd be willing to use them in smoothies.  This is quick and easy to put together, and the kids like it!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Get a 9x13 pan to be non-stick.

Combine in a mixing bowl:

half-cup butter or coconut oil
1 cup coconut sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas (or just throw in 1-2 smooshy bananas and let your mixer do the work)
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder without aluminum
half teaspoon baking soda
half teaspoon sea salt
half teaspoon cinnamon or ground cloves
half cup of one of these: chocolate chips, raisins, dried cranberries, pecans, walnuts

Mix it all up and then smooth it out into your pan.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Easy!

Productive Morning in the Kitchen

Some days I get into the kitchen with a plan and it is a beautiful thing.

After my delicious morning smoothie I got to work:

I'm making homemade yogurt in the crock pot.

I made a batch of refrigerator oatmeal for my boys.

One pan of Banana Chocolate Chip Brownies.  (I had two elderly bananas that needed to be used up.)

A batch of Mediterranean Quinoa Salad.  (My go-to lunch and dinner this summer.  Throw it on a salad or eat it alone!)

5 pound of organic potatoes are baking in the oven.  Later today they will be turned into a delicious vegetarian casserole.

One pitcher of healthy lemonade.  (Today I also added lime juice.  So nice!)

And I had a whole lot of abandoned aging clementines that nobody is eating, so I decided that we would turn them into juice.  Voila!  Gorgeous and delicious.  I have drawer space now for something else that people actually do want to eat, and will have no trouble getting takers to drink the juice.

It feels good to have a plan, to use what I have on hand, and to piggyback various projects upon each other so that clean-up and appliance use is shared and maximized.

For instance:

--the Banana Choc. Chip Brownies called for butter, but I have quite a bit of coconut oil on hand, so I used that instead.

--the organic potatoes really needed to hurry up and get used, so I planned to make a casserole with them today.  (recipe here)

--I accidentally over-bought organic milk, so turning half a gallon of it into yogurt helps preserve it for another use.

--the clementines were actually given to us, but were getting old and the kids weren't enjoying the texture that much.  Since I already had the electric citrus juicer out, we decided to also use it for the clementines.  One of the kids came along and volunteered to do the juicing, because, you know, that's a fun thing!  :)

--the quinoa salad helped me use up one garden-fresh tomato and the last half of a cucumber.

--the oven was in use for baking the brownies, and then went on to bake the potatoes as well.  (only one pre-heating time needed, and there will be plenty of time for the taters to cool down before I take them on to the next step later today)

I love, love, love to use up the food I already have on hand!  Am I the only one who would enjoy successfully clearing the shelves of the freezer and pantry and not having to go to the store for a long, long time?!

Refrigerator Oatmeal in Large Quantities

You may have already seen the awesome, beautiful varieties of refrigerator oatmeal that are featured on The Yummy Life.  Fridge oatmeal has been a huge hit with my boys.  It has been a wonderful item to have on hand for breakfast and snacks all the time.

One thing that I did not find very convenient for me was to make the oatmeal right inside the jars.  It was hard to mix up, and seemed to not be as convenient as it sounded like it would be.  For my family I make a bunch most days, so I figured out the portions to get it done the quick-and-easy way.  This is my base recipe, and then you can tweak it for various flavors as you like.

In a mixing bowl combine:

2 cups yogurt  (I buy organic milk and then make my own yogurt in the crock pot)
2 and 2/3 cup milk (you can use rice, almond, hemp, oat, coconut, or dairy milk)
12 teaspoons chia seeds
8 teaspoons honey or coconut sugar (or to taste)

And then you build from there.

The most common one that I make includes two bananas, cubed up smallish, plus a variety of freeze-dried fruits that we have on hand.  Most commonly we use mango, pineapple, and pear.  The freeze-dried items soak up some of the moisture, as do the chia seeds, so the end product isn't runny or soupy. This also allows me to get away with using my homemade yogurt instead of thicker Greek yogurt that would cost a lot more.  Even without freeze-dried foods, you can go ahead with the regular yogurt, possibly cutting back the milk to just 2 cups.

Once the base of yogurt, milk, chia, and sweetener is done, I find that I can just wing it with how much stuff I add to it.  Also, I've found that the full half-pint jar can be a little too much for some in my family, so I tend to fill the jars about 3/4 of the way.  I get 9-10 jars out of this recipe.

Have you ever tried refrigerator oatmeal?  What variety do you love the most?

Supermom's Sugar-Busters Starting Now!

We've talked about it.

Some of you have emailed me about it.

I've been thinking about it.

Today I decided:  It's time to do this thing!

Supermom's Sugar-Busters is forming now and we will officially kick-off our mission to get off of sugar on May 1.

Here's how it will work:

We'll hang out together on our facebook group, Supermom's Sugar-Busters.  There we will plan ahead and prepare so that we will be ready to have more success as we transition away from sugar.  Each member of the group can contribute recipes, tips, links to helpful stuff, etc.  We are all in this together!  I will be getting off of sugar (again!) right along with you.  

Possibilities include:

-- group calls where we can talk about what is/isn't working for us, and brainstorm about ways to overcome any difficulties you are facing and to experience greater success in reaching your goals

--private Super Speedy Coaching Calls with me, where I can spend 10 minutes talking to you on the phone, to help you with specific needs

We will be flexible and open to other ideas that the group generates and feels a need for!

Who can join us?

Anybody that gets the newsletter, reads the blog, or follows us on facebook is invited!  If you have a close friend or family member that you want to invite, feel free to do so.  After that, let's wait and see how many people we get.  Since this is our first time around, I'd like to start small(ish) and see what develops and see how I can improve the experience before adding tons of people.  So, yes, you can tell some people, but don't invite all of your facebook friends and twitter followers.  OK?  :)

What is the goal?

Well, our goal is to stop eating sugar.  Each person is going to have their own ideas and needs for how strict they will be, AND THAT IS OK WITH ME!  So, if you want to get off sugar, but still plan to indulge in birthday cake every so often, THAT'S OK.  If you want to get 100% away from sugar 100% of the time, THAT'S OK TOO!  I am not the sugar police, and nobody knows better than me the ups and downs that life brings and the way that our food and health goals flex accordingly.  So, if you think this group can help you, come on and join us!

How much does it cost?

No monetary cost!  I do ask that if you join the group you plan to make an effort to contribute to the group as best you are able.  If you have any experience with kicking the sugar habit, or if you have great links/articles/recipes to share, we want to hear from you! Or you may not know anything about getting off of sugar and may feel like a total novice, but at least you are able to encourage others toward their goals--That counts too!  Again, I'm not policing your involvement.  I'm just asking that we create a group that will support and encourage one another, because that will be way better than one "expert" talking at everybody, and I want this to be really helpful for all of us.

What you need to do:

Request to join our private facebook group here.  If there's an option to send a note with your request, let me know you got this newsletter.  If you invite a friend, ask them to let me know that you invited them.  That's all!

From there, just stay up-to-date with the Facebook group and you'll know everything that's going on.  OK?

What if I'm not on Facebook? 

Now is the time for you to join Facebook if you are not already on there.  I find that for most people, Facebook is something they are already keeping up with both on their computers and their phones.  By having our group hub on Facebook we are making it simple, there is no special system to learn or log in to, and if you have a smartphone, the group support and resources are only a tap away!  

You can start joining the group right now.  We will be sharing recipes and ideas to get set up to kick sugar starting May 1.  (and yes, if you already started or are starting later, you can still jump in!)

Let's do this thing!

~Erica

Thrive Sweet Potato Pie recipe

I know that lots of people enjoy sweet potato items for the holidays.  This is a great demo video showing how to use the convenience of freeze-dried foods to make a classic sweet potato pie!  What I love about it is that this recipe is easily "healthified"!  My version of this recipe follows the video.  You can easily print the recipe using the Print Friendly button!




Healthier Sweet Potato Pie

Base:

1 1/2 cups Thrive Sweet Potatoes (rehydrated with water)
1/3 cup coconut sugar
half teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons Thrive whole egg powder + 4 tablespoons water

Topping:
1/3 cup coconut sugar
half cup whole wheat flour
half cup chopped pecans
quarter-cup melted butter
quarter-cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Combine the base ingredients with mixer until nicely mixed and fluffy.  Pour into greased 8x8 casserole dish.

Mix topping ingredients together and sprinkle evenly over the base.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Raw Almonds and more

For the past few years I have made raw almonds, walnuts, and cashews available through the store, and many of you have enjoyed being able to get good prices on these items without having to buy a huge amount at once.  However, it seems that every year I run into problems with the supplier being able to provide the products in a timely manner, some orders end up waiting for months on end, and it becomes chaotic in my home trying to divide up a thousand pounds of products and ship out huge, heavy boxes of these items.  Due to these issues and the current needs of my own family, I have decided not to offer the raw nuts through my store this year.   I would, however, like to point you in the direction of the best place I know for you to get raw nuts and many other high-quality items that will support your family's health goals into the new year.  Click on over to Green Smoothie Girl's big Group Buy and see what she has to offer.  I think you will be impressed.

Yes, the minimum amounts for some of the products may be a lot.  Consider teaming up with your local friends and family members to see if anyone wants to split an order with you!  You may find that you can get really good prices on a manageable amount of pantry goods this way.  :)

10/11/12 Sale!

With a special date like 10/11/12, how could I miss the opportunity to create a special sale?!  :)

So, from now until the end of 10/11/12, please enjoy the following special $10, $11, and $12 items:

Bee Strong--reg. price $14, on sale for $12

Bone Ami--reg. price $12, on sale for $10

Mineral Blast--reg. price $12, on sale for $10

Odorless Garlic--reg. price $15, on sale for $12

Liquid Chlorophyll--reg. price $13, on sale for $11

Vitex--reg. price $13, on sale for $11

Thoughts on PMS, the cyclical nature of women, and respect

It never fails that when I talk about any of the products that help with hormones or fatigue, there are women eagerly wanting to buy some.  Recently one of my friends purchased some of the new liquid B-12 because of how tired she feels, particularly during PMS.  Her comments got me thinking about these issues, and I had some thoughts I wanted to share, and I hope to open up a conversation about these things.

Some women have it worse than others.  It isn't nice to spend a week or 10 days a month (or more) feeling like you hate people, want to quit life, or crying and feeling miserable.  Hormones that are out-of-whack can sure make like feel harder than it really is.  I'm all for taking some vitamins to help me feel less homicidal one week a month.  LOL

However, I also have an intuition about this:  We are cyclical creatures, ladies.  We are not, by nature, made to be "even-steven" every day of our lives.  We are created to live out our childbearing years on a rollercoaster, of sorts.  Should we always be at war with this?  Is there a way we can make peace and accept this and allow it to nourish us?

I get it.  We live in a go, Go, GO! world.  Most of us are busier than we'd ideally like to be.  Most of us give and give to our families and our friends and our jobs and our social obligations, leaving ourselves in the dust.

I get it.  Nobody cares if you've got cramps or need a nap or are crying at commercials.  They all NEED you, and so you stuff it all down, or set it aside, and carry on.  I have been a mother for 20 years and have six children.  I know.  I know.  I know.

You can take some vitamins or supplements to help you not feel quite-so-strongly that you want to -smack- somebody.  You can eat some extra chocolate, too.  But what if you anticipated each cycle and made space for what your very nature is communicating to you month after month, year after year?  What if instead of fighting what your body is asking for, you choose to surrender, and see what happens?

Here is my challenge to you:  For your next couple of cycles, be mindful of how you feel and when you feel it.  Take notes if you need to.  Download the P Tracker app for your phone and make notes in there.  Notice when you feel energetic and full of ideas.  Notice when you feel tired and need naps.  Notice when the cramps come and you want to just curl up and rest quietly.  Notice what is really coming out when you feel angry or upset.  (Maybe you aren't crazy!  Maybe, just maybe, it is true stuff coming up at a time when you do not have the reserves available to ignore it.  Maybe it is stuff you should deal with later in the month.)  Take note of how you think and how you feel, and after a couple cycles you will probably start to see a trend.  From there, start to plan to take care of yourself by honoring these stages of your cycle.

When the time comes that you need a nap, make time for it, and thank your body for helping you to take a much-needed and well-deserved rest.

When the time comes that your body is crampy and sore, don't automatically silence it with a pill and keep forcing your way through life.  Try to take time to nurture yourself as kindly and sweetly as you nurture everyone else that you love in your life.

When the time comes that you feel quiet and want to curl up with a book and stay at home, try to give yourself that space.  Get your cozy blanket, a box of tissues, and read and laugh or cry or whatever you feel like doing, and just accept yourself at that point.

It does us no good to only find ourselves acceptable when we are energetic, At Your Service, prettied up, cheerful, and thin.  Ladies--you are more than all of that.  It is time to accept yourself in all of your womanliness, including the times that ask us to pull away and take time for ourselves.  Honor it.

Superdad Vitamins on Sale!

It's no secret that our Supermom and Superdad vitamins are some of the best multi-vitamins you can get.  Not only do you get a full complement of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, but a bunch of green superfoods like spirulina, barley grass, chlorella, and wheat grass as well!  Most high quality vitamins like these will cost you an arm and a leg, so I am very pleased to have such a great product to offer you at such an affordable price!

Right now you can order the Superdad 180 tablets or 180 vcaps at a great sale price.  Unfortunately the supplier has had to raise prices, so after this sale ends on October 12 we will have to increase ours as well.  Until then, take advantage of the opportunity to stock up while you can save a bundle!  Sale prices are in effect through October 12, 2012.

One Day Sale Starts NOW! (October 1)

So this past week's sale has gone so well that I sold out of all of the Berry Well that I had in stock, so now I'll be getting more in stock, probably by the end of the week.  As I was thinking about what to offer for sale next week, including a NEW PRODUCT, I knew what I needed to do:

Since there is already a bit of a wait for the new shipment of Berry Well, I can give you one more day to take advantage of that great sale price PLUS get to take advantage of a bunch of other sale items on Monday October 1, only!  Due to the week I have going on and the wait on new stock, most orders probably will not ship until Friday or next Monday, so this is really for those of you that have some flexibility on when your order arrives.  Unlike my usual habit of personally emailing you if there will be a delay on shipping your order, just know that there will be, but nothing too extreme.  :)  If your weeks fly by as fast as mine do, you will be into next week and opening your box of goodies from Supermom before you have time to think about it!

Here are the sale items that you can order til Monday, October 1 at 9pm Eastern time:

NEW!  Liquid B-12 vitamins!  This is something I have been eagerly awaiting and am so excited to be able to offer to you.  Wonderful for your brain, your heart, and YES indeedy--your ENERGY levels!  Oh how I love B-12, and you will too!  Introductory special priceMonday only.

Vitex with Dong Quai:  Your husband will appreciate it when you regularly take your Vitex!  PMS will cease to cause you to feel the extreme grouchiness and other miserable (for you and everybody else!) symptoms that plague so many women.  Stock up now before you go another cycle without it.  

Superkids Liquid Multivitamins--now in glass bottles!  We love these yummy-tasting vitamins for kids.  They are full of all the good stuff you want in a multi-vitamin, but without all of the junk (aspartame, corn syrup, sugar, MSG...) that are found in so many other types. Stock up price Monday only--just $15.99 per bottle!

Supermom vitamins are on sale too!  Both the 180 tabs and the 240 vcaps have had a price increase at the supplier level, so later this week both of those prices will have to be adjusted in our store.  The 240 vcaps are available here for our usual price of $33 until later in the week when we have to set the regular price at $36.00.  Get the 180 tabs on sale for just $28.50 Monday only.  Regular price will be increasing to $39.50 later this week.  Be sure to click here for the Supermom 180 tabs.

And of course don't forget the Berry Well!  You can still order it at the sale price on Monday as well.  

We still have some Sweet Leaf Stevia on clearance, so add some of those items into your order as well. 

I hope you enjoy this One Day Sale!