I grew up eating sauerkraut from a can.  I liked it pretty well, but then I was introduced to REAL sauerkraut!  I’m talking about lacto-fermented sauerkraut, alive and health-giving.   There’s no way to describe the difference between canned sauerkraut and fresh, real sauerkraut!

(I haven’t taken any pictures of my sauerkraut, so I’ll give you a few links that explain the process.)

(It’s important to remember that these new ways of eating and cooking get so much easier with time.  So, if things feel awkward at first, don’t be concerned. )

Crystal Miller shares: How to make sauerkraut-Step by Step.

Debbie Apple shows how she makes sauerkraut.

Have you ever made sauerkraut?  Do you make other fermented veggies or have a favorite recipe to share?

Go to Food Renegade for Fight Back Friday to learn more about great food!

I grew up eating wild mushrooms called Morels.  They are some of the most delicious things you will ever put into your mouth!

They grow better in the Northern states, but we still find a few in Middle Tennessee.

This is Matthew, our son, holding a Morel mushroom we found in our yard last year.  One of two…not quite enough to eat!

I had been doing some research on edible plants and mushrooms in our area, so Matthew and I went on a search in the woods around our house to see what we could find.  We found a tree that had fallen, but the large stump was still standing. On that stump we found… Oyster Mushrooms!  There are no look alikes in the US, so we were sure that we had the real deal.

This is what we harvested…about four pounds of free, tasty, gourmet mushrooms!

The best way that we have found to eat Morel and Oyster mushrooms is to gently pan fry them in butter.

After we harvested them, I put them in salt water to get rid of any bugs.  I rinsed them off gently and carefully.  Next I put them into a zip-top bag and coated them in flour.  Then I fried them in butter and salted them to taste.  They were so good!

The next time you go to the grocery, look at the gourmet mushroom mixes.  I bet you’ll see small oyster mushrooms in there!

For more information check out these sites:

General Mushroom Info

Edible Wild Mushrooms

(Time for the disclaimer:  Do your own research. Make sure you are harvesting in a clean area, not by a road, because mushrooms absorb heavy metals and toxins.  Don’t eat any mushrooms that you aren’t ABSOLUTELY  SURE are safe.)

For more real food fun visit REAL FOOD WEDNESDAY!

After I read about the health benefits of sprouting, I started to sprout my grains and beans before using them.  It is SO EASY!

Here’s how to sprout dried beans:

* Sort your dried beans, removing all stones and shriveled beans

*Rinse the beans. Put the beans into a bowl and cover with water until the beans are about 3 inches under the water.  Cover and soak overnight or 8-10 hours.

*After soaking, drain the beans in a colander and rinse.  Leave the beans in the colander and rinse at least twice a day. The beans will sprout in about 1-3 days.

*When the beans have a very small sprout you can store them in the fridge for a few days or cook right away.  These cook up faster than un-soaked beans and are much more nutritious.  You can use them for your favorite recipes, our family likes them in chili.

Stephanie at Keeper of the Home has a great post about freezing all those beans you just made!

Check out Fight Back Fridays at Food Renegade to see more food tips.

Do you have any good recipes including beans?

I can’t tell you how excited I was to find a recipe for soaked banana bread!

My children really like to eat bananas for snack time, but sometimes we have a few left over.

Banana bread is great for using up really ripe bananas, so it’s very frugal.

The only problem is that banana bread usually has a lot of sugar and white flour.

It was a happy day when I found this recipe that has no refined sugar, whole grain flour and is also soaked to neutralize the phytic acid in the flour.  Whoo Hoo!

Here is the link for the recipe so you can make your very own tasty banana bread!

For more healthy living info, go to Food Renegade for Fight Back Fridays.

Are you looking for a healthy, quick snack for your kids?  I have a great suggestion…Dino Eggs!  They are easy to make, look really cool and taste great.  These eggs use natural food coloring…purple cabbage juice!  (The juice will only add color, not flavor.)

Here’s how to make them:

1. Boil a purple cabbage in a few inches of water. Drain off the juice and cool.  Be sure to eat the cabbage, it’s very tasty!

2. Make hard boiled eggs by putting eggs into cold water. Bring the water to a rolling boil and then remove the pan from the heat.  Let the eggs sit, covered, for 10 minutes.  Drain and then add cold water and ice to cool the eggs. (This will prevent them from continuing to cook.)

3.  Crack the eggs, by tapping them on the counter.  Put the eggs into the cabbage juice and leave them overnight in the fridge.

4.   Peel your eggs and they will have a cracked surface like dino eggs!  Enjoy!

For more ideas from awesome women, visit We Are That Family for Works For Me Wednesday.

Be sure to come back tomorrow! Nester and I have new art prints coming out…you can see them here and at Nesting Place.

When I started learning about nourishing food, I was really excited.  But, there was one thing I was dreading….my grocery bill.  Because everyone knows that healthy food costs more, right? Well it can, but it doesn’t have to.

When I first started buying healthy food, I was shocked when I left the store.  I left with only a few bags to take home and a short receipt in my hand. My grocery budget was shot.  Something had to change!

I’ve learned a few things that have helped me feed our family healthy food on a budget. I believe these tips will help you too!

First, having a menu plan will make the greatest difference in the amount you spend at the grocery.  But, remember that a menu plan only works if you actually USE the menu you’ve written down!

Start prepping your evening meal in the morning; so you won’t be too tired to cook that night. (If you’re too tired to cook, fast food is very tempting! Ask me how I know!)

Organic and Thrifty sums this up nicely: “Remember, the way to eat nourishing without spending a bunch of money is to look for the deals on meat, poultry, and seafood as well as produce and build your menu on those things. Then, round out your meals with whatever you have on hand. And remember, you don’t need lots and lots of meat per meal; only about the size of a deck of cards!”

Stay tuned for part 2 on Wednesday.  I’ll be showing you what I bought on my last grocery trip and how I saved almost $30 in a regular grocery store!

I’m so excited about the Nourishing Frugal Recipes Carnival hosted by Kimi at The Nourishing Gourmet!

As I’m learning to feed my family healthy food, I’m always looking for ways to do it for less.

I thought I’d share two recipes that I’ve made in the last few weeks. These recipes passed the kid and husband test, so they must be good!

Mexican Sprouted Rice and  Crock-pot Roast Beef

All I do is sprout some brown rice and cook it normally.  Then to 4 cups of rice I’ll add in about 1/2 cup of salsa, 1 cup of canned crushed tomatoes, about 2 Tablespoons of cumin and salt to taste.

I cook my roast in the crock-pot on low all day.  When it’s done I shred it and add in salsa, cumin and salt to taste.

I serve the meat over the rice with natural sour cream and salsa.  I serve a salad on the side.

The second recipe is for raw hummus. I found this on All Recipes.com.   You can see the recipe here.

This hummus isn’t as creamy as it would be with cooked chickpeas, but I found it to be easier to digest than  regular hummus.

I also take the time to sprout my chickpeas. It makes them more nutritious and easier to digest. It’s very easy to do. Sprouting seems like a lot of extra work, but when I do it while I’m cooking our regular meals it’s really easy.

Sprouted Chickpeas

1. Sort, rinse and soak dried chickpeas overnight or for 8 hours. Be sure to cover the chickpeas with at least 3″ of water; they will absorb lots of water while they are soaking.

2. Drain and rinse. Rinse the chickpeas three times a day. I do it at breakfast, lunch and dinner to make it easy to remember.

3. They are ready to use when the spouts are 3/4″ long. If you can’t use them right away put them in the fridge for a few days.

Simple, fugal and nourishing!

Be sure to come back on Monday for part 1 of Healthy Food On A Budget!

Matthew

Hannah

Saturday we celebrated Matthew’s birthday. He was born on Valentine’s Day 9 years ago. Wow, the time sure does go by quickly! Seeing how quickly he is growing up makes me try to enjoy every moment that I have with my children.

Matthew decided he wanted an undersea theme party. So we went to work and gathered up anything ocean related from the house: wooden ship models, fish glasses, a treasure chest, starfish, coral candle, blue and green streamers and blue and green balloons.

Sea food

We had natural hot dogs cut into octopus shapes with shell mac and cheese and goldfish crackers.

He spends most of his free time and money on Legos, so we had to include those too! I made the cake and we put the Legos on top. I don’t like us to eat food coloring, so after icing the cake I put plastic wrap on top of the regular icing and then put the blue icing on top. Fun, but healthy!

I was able to make this delicious cake without sugar. I sure do wish I knew how to do this a few years ago!

Want to find out how? Come back on Wednesday and I’ll have the recipe and all the info you need to make one too!

Here is a quick and easy way to take strawberries from regular to romantic!

Wash and dry the strawberries. For the fan shape you’ll want to leave the cap (the green leaves) on, for the heart shape you’ll need to take the cap off.

To make the fan all you do is make thin cuts from the bottom of the berry to the top, but don’t go all the way through the cap.

Gently fan out the slices and you have a beautiful garnish.

Here’s how you make the strawberry hearts: Take a clean berry and remove the cap by cutting a v shape on the narrow side of the berry.

Slice the narrow side top to bottom and you’ll  have strawberry hearts!

These fancy strawberries are fun to give to your kids and to your spouse. It’s just another way to show your family that you love them!

Be sure to visit Rocks In My Dryer…I got to meet Shannon at BlissDom and she’s very sweet!

Be sure to go to Nesting Place on Friday! Nester and I have a special surprise for you all!

Chocolate…give me a bar of dark, dark chocolate and I’m very happy! Yum!

So…I’m very excited about the carnival that Kimi from Nourishing Traditions is having.

The Nourishing Chocolate Carnival begins today!

I’m new to making healthy deserts, so I’m looking forward to trying out the great recipes that are sure to be there. Woo Hoo!