January Activity List

Baby! It's Cold Outside!!

But that doesn't mean we can't be active and have fun and enjoy a healthy lifestyle. 

Here is your January Activity List. 

Chai Tea Latte Mix

I love Chai Tea and I got hooked on the instant mixes when I lived in Washington and everyone drink Oregon Chai and has the mixes everywhere they have hot chocolate packs.

The mixes are pretty hard to find here - if not impossible, so here is the recipe to make your own.

Chai Tea Mix


Ingredients

1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea (This is going to be Instant Ice Tea - watch out for Lemon!) 

2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (Spring for the cardamom, it is expensive, but it makes it so so good)

You can spice it up even further by adding 1 teaspoon nutmeg and allspice, and 1/4 teaspoon white pepper.

Directions
In a large bowl, combine milk powder, non-dairy creamer, vanilla flavored creamer, sugar and instant tea. Stir in ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom.

(To make it super fancy -  Put it in a blender or food processor, blend 1 cup at a time, until mixture is the consistency of fine powder. but in my mind, this is a completely unnecessary step)


To serve: Stir 2 heaping tablespoons Chai tea mixture into a mug of hot water.

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

Believe it or not, homemade hot chocolate is so simple to make, and it really is much less expensive than the store bought gourmet brand. 

Where I live, gourmet hot cocoa is all the rage. At my local grocery store, there is a single brand that has at least 12 different flavors. And they are pretty pricey in cost. 

You can make this mix quickly at home, it is nearly mistake proof and you can make it in fancy flavors too, if you want. 

Hot Chocolate Mix

Ingredients

3 cups nonfat dry milk powder

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

If you want to add flavor to to hot chocolate, but a flavored creamer and add 1 cup of it to your mix. 

If you want super creamy hot chocolate, substitute 1 1/2 cups of your powdered mix for non-dairy creamer. 

Directions

Mix milk powder, sugar, cocoa, and salt together in a bowl. Transfer mix to an airtight container.

For each serving, add 1/4 cup cocoa mix to 1 cup hot water, stirring well.

The mix will blend most smooth, if you put a bit of hot (hot) water in the bottom of your mug and then add your mix, stir to make a syrup and then add the rest of your water. 

Pumpkin Spice Latte Mix

Here is a quick winter drink mix that you can mix together in just a few minutes. 

The ingredients and really inexpensive and you can give it away in such cute jars or as a gift bag. 

I didn't try and make it, but I am sure you could use any flavor of creamer and make a Hazelnut latte or perhaps a peppermint one for the Holidays or caramel.... Yummy!!

Pumpkin Latte Mix

Ingredients

1/3 cup vanilla flavored powdered creamer

1 cup pumpkin spice flavored powdered creamer

1/2 cup instant coffee granules

1/2 cup white sugar

Directions

Stir together the vanilla creamer, pumpkin spice creamer, instant coffee granules, and sugar. 

Store the latte mix in an airtight container.

For 1 serving, place 2 tablespoons latte mix in a coffee cup. 

Add 1 cup boiling water, and stir to dissolve.

Holiday Wassail Mix

It is a holiday family tradition of ours to make a big pot of Wassail on Christmas Eve. My mom usually makes it in the late morning and then we sip sip sip on in all day and then through Christmas Eve and the next morning. 

I love the way that it makes the house smell, spices of Christmas and citrus fruit. The warmth after being out shoveling snow or sipping while doing a puzzle in front of the fire.  I have a lot of memories associated with it, but I also think it is pretty delicious. 

But the thing about making Wassail, is that it takes a crowd to drink it. Lots of different flavors of juice and even adding just a little bit adds up quickly, and then you have bottles and bottles of half drank juice in your fridge. It isn't really a beverage for one... Until Now!

I certainly don't take credit for "inventing" this, but I do really like it, and that means I want to share. 

If you make some, it can make a great gift to take to friends or neighbors. It keeps for quite a while in a lidded jar (or plastic zip bag) in your pantry - for whenever those rainy / snow days are making you feel all cold and chilly. 

Homemade Wassail Mix

Serves: makes 3 cups of mix

Ingredients

2 cups Tang

1 cup sugar

3 Tbsp Country Time Lemonade mix (or 1 3oz pre-sweetened Lemonade Kool-aid mix)

1/2 tsp cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to mix.

To make one cup of Wassail, add 2-3 tsp of mix to 1 cup of hot water.

This mix dissolves really easily in water, so it is a good choice for little ones that want something warm to drink, but are much too little for something "hot". 

If you would like, test out adding less sugar, or even adding a sweetener substitute. 

This is a big one for me, so I don't mess with tradition. I'll save the health points for something else. 

 

Pizza Hoagies

This is one of those recipes that really isn't a recipe at all. It is more of just something that I heard about someone doing and I thought, I really should do that. And I did.. and it worked out.... and so I keep doing it. 

So yah, Pizza Hoagies, the name isn't very glamorous, and essentially they are just a meatball sub for people who are too lazy to make meatballs (me). My kids think they are awesome.. and with the way that I make them, I always always make some for later - in fact, Later is actually the point of the Pizza Hoagie. 

I make these when I find ground beef on sale - like SUPER sale... practically free sale. But as you have probably noticed, most often when ground beef goes on sale, it goes on sale in the huge giant 5lb ++ packages.  That is a lot of ground beef to be using. (Even for Us). 

But as we were Christmas shopping this weekend, we swung over to the other end of the store to pick a few things up for dinner - and I saw that 10lbs of ground chuck was 1/2 PRICE! I snagged that so fast, in fact.. I got two (I'm going to make make-ahead meatballs tomorrow) 

It is going to work out perfectly, I made these last night for dinner, I made a ton for the fridge / freezer. We had boys arrive for California last night and school is out on Wednesday.  I'm totally prepared for the "I'm Hungry, what is there to eat?" questions. 

So to make the magical Pizza Hoagie, You'll need: 

Ingredients:

Ground Beef

Hoagie Buns

Mozzarella Cheese

Spaghetti Sauce

The amount of each totally depends on how much ground beef you use - for 10 lbs, I used 4 packs of buns (8 each) and two cans of spaghetti sauce - and you know... about { ---- } that much cheese. 

In your largest skillet, brown your ground beef. I used my electric skillet, because it is by far my biggest. 

Then add your spaghetti sauce, I add enough to make it saucy - because I think they taste a little yummier when the bread soaks up a little bit of sauce - you can always add more, you can't take any away. 

Take a hoagie roll and put a few scoops of meat on it, since I make these for later, I do not over-fill the buns. You don't want stuff squishing out everywhere. 

Then I add a healthy layer of mozzarella cheese. 

That's It!  Eat 'em up!! 

 

To save them for later, I wrap them up in 2 layers of plastic wrap. If everyone is going to be home a lot I keep them in the fridge, if they are going to be out and about a bit more, I'll put them in the freezer. 

To warm them up - if it is has been in the fridge, just microwave it for 45 seconds to a minute - then let sit for 2 minutes. 

if it has been in the freezer, microwave it for a minute, flip it over and then for another minute. 

The Absolutely Simplest Fancy Fish Tacos

I have been wanting to make fish tacos for a while now. Everyone who eats them seems to go crazy for them - not a specific recipe really, but the idea / food in general. I am not a huge fan of fish, but I have a lot of people in my family that are. I am a big fan of tacos though - and everything that goes with them. 

These two sauces may sound a little intimidating, but they could not be easier. They make one of the most simple dinners that you can imagine - seem pretty upscale and something special. 

One of the best parts, is that you can have both the cream and the salsa made in the time that it takes to cook the fish sticks. 

Avocado Coconut Cream:

1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted

½ cup coconut milk, from the can

1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 Teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. 

Mango Cucumber Salsa:

2 limes

2 mangoes, diced

1/2 english cucumber, diced

1 red onion, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

I always dice my onions and peppers first and then I add the lime juice (or other acid) and a bit of salt, and I let it sit while I chop the rest of the ingredients. The acid actually "cooks" the onions and peppers and gives them a milder flavor. 

You can make both the sauce and the salsa ahead of time and then at dinner time, just toss the fish sticks in the oven. 

When you are ready to serve - take a tortilla (we had flour this time) and add 2-3 fish sticks. (Little kids got 2, big people got 3). Add some shredded cabbage (like the cole slaw mix) and then top with tons and tons of salsa and a healthy dollop of avocado cream. 

Then you just eat them up and pretend that you are a wildly creative young chef, working in a hip food cart with a line around the block. And not a stressed-out, over-worked, under-appreciated (but STILL totally awesome) Mom. 

 Enjoy!

A Few Reasons You Should Make Dinner at Home

If you don't feel like reasons why you should make dinner at home tonight - Here are some reasons why you might want to Not meal plan. 

But that's not you and that's not me, We are all about saving money and being less stressed out and eating healthy and just being totally awesome in general! 

That's right!

I know it is so easy to fall into the trap of: I am too tired / stressed / busy to make dinner tonight. Perhaps you might be, if you were needing to make prime rib, but it is just dinner. You can throw together some spaghetti and red sauce (as opposed to spaghetti and white sauce - which we have to specify in our house) - Anyway, you can throw together a spaghetti dinner and a green salad in the time that it takes to boil some water. Toast some bread with garlic and butter in the oven and you've got something that you could make people pay 8.99$ to eat. 

Home Cooking Saves Money - Anything and everything you have someone else do you for costs money. Somebody else prepped that food, someone else cooked it, served it and is going to clean it up - and you're going to pay them. Pre-Cooked, Pre-Packaged, and Pre-Made are all just going to cost you more than cooking with basic ingredients. Never in the history of the world has spaghetti cost 8.99$ a serving in ingredients. See - dinner at home saves you money. 

Home Cooking Saves Time - In the time it takes to drive to a restaurant, place your order, wait for your order, return home and serve the meal, you could have made a three-course meal from scratch with time to sit and chew slowly. If you are short on time during the week prep food on the weekends; chop vegetables, cook rice and pasta, freeze casseroles or soups. 

Less of What You Don't Want - When you cook at home, because of the ingredients that you use and the ways that your prepare the food, it automatically has less chemicals, sodium and trans-fats. And that is without making any changes at all! If you want even less of the things you don't want (or MORE of the things that you do) you can adjust your recipes, try new ones and experiment with making recipes and dishes just exactly like you like them. 

Avoid Being Hurt By Your Food (or Food Prepare-r) - I am avoiding using words here like "kill" and "death" and "dead" and "poison" - but seriously the reality of eating out isn't pretty. If you cook at home, you know you washed your hands.. And used soap! You know your cutting boards are clean and that you didn't cross contaminate. And at least the crumbs on the kitchen floor are you own - even if they are still there from breakfast. Most food borne illnesses can be prevented by some good safe food handling, and it is best to do it yourself. 

It Brings People Together - You know I am the champion of Family Dinner. There isn't anything that I think it can't do. So I think it is the worth the extra "trouble" to do it. If there was a magic solution out there that could make us healthier, happier, richer..... you Know we would all be doing it. I really truly think that thing is family dinner. 

I have lots and lots of other reasons too - it teaches our kids healthy food habits, it combats obesity with not only better quality food but correct portion size. It means less food waste and fresher foods which can mean more nutrients. There are fewer dangers of allergies and sensitivities if you prepare your own food. 

You didn't realize how awesome you were being by having dinner at home tonight, did you? Now get that pot of water on to boil - you have a spaghetti dinner to make. 

Easy & Healthy Baking Substitutions

I love holiday baking, making good tasting memories in the kitchen is something that I hope to pass on to my kids. - It is also a great way to share the gift of healthy eating with friends and neighbors.

1 cup All Purpose Flour = 1 cup Whole Grain Flour

• don't just assume that brown flour is Whole Grain - Whole Wheat is not the same thing. 
• This works best in breads - try 1/2 and 1/2 for cookies. 
• Sometimes it will be necessary to increase the liquid in a recipe when making this change. 

1 cup Sugar = 1 cup Unsweetened Applesauce

• Just replace the desired amount of sugar with the same amount of Unsweetened Applesauce
• This changes reduces the calories. 
• It works best in cookies, cakes and quick breads. 
• Sometimes it might be necessary to decrease the other liquids in a recipe when making this substitution. 

1 Whole Egg = 2 Egg Whites

• This is a great substitution for people with high cholesterol or wanting to add protein. 
• A combination of Whole Eggs and Egg Whites works best in all baked goods. 

1 cup Sour Cream = 1 cup Plain, Non-Fat Greek Yogurt

• This significantly cuts down fat and add protein.
• This works best for cream-based soups, dips and salad dressings. 
• You can also use Non-Fat Greek Yogurt in place of Mayonnaise in Tuna, Chicken and Egg Salads. 

1 cup Heavy Cream = 1 cup Evaporated Skim Milk

• This change works best for soups and casseroles.
• Evaporated milk won't whip or thicken the way cream does, but if Heavy Cream is an ingredient in a baked good, this is a substitution that works well. 

1 cup Sour Cream = 1 cup Cottage Cheese

• Cottage Cheese is a rich source of protein and calcium.
• It is typically much lower in fat and calories.
• This works best for dips. 
• For best results, puree your Cottage Cheese in a blender. 

1 cup Butter = 1 cup Pureed Avocado

• This works best in baked goods, such a bread, muffins, cookies, cakes and pies. 
• This eliminates saturated fats, increases healthy fats, and reduces calories. 
• For best results, make sure the avocado is Well Blended. 

1 cup Oil = 1 cup Fruit Puree

• Works best in baked goods, such as cake recipes, muffins and gingerbread, and can replace at least 1/2 the fat in cookies. 
• Add 1/4 unsweetened applesauce for moisture
• This substitution may require a shorter baking time. 

You don't need to make all these substitutions in one recipe - you don't even need to make the whole substitution. Start out with a 75%-25% ratio, or 1/2 and 1/2.  Ease into in, Any healthy change is a good one, no matter how small it starts out as.

And perhaps it might be a good idea to not start your first experience with the 8 dozen cookies that you are making for the ladies' group cookie swap or the brownies for the school bake sale. Try a small test batch first. :)

Beef Pot Pie

I am such a giant fan of the Cook Once, Eat Twice concept. 

Although I don't mind making dinner so much anymore, most days, the less amount of time that I can spend in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning, the better. 

This dinner ended up happening in a strange sort of way, I had leftover mashed potatoes from a previous night (when I made a double batch) So I decided to throw some stew meat in the crock-pot and make some mashed potatoes with beef chunks for dinner. 

But I had to leave the house right at the exact moment that I needed to start dinner, my mom came to watch the kids - and she and my dad finished dinner. 

They did a fantastic job, but I was left with zero mashed potatoes, quite a bit of stew meat and about a gallon of gravy. Like any normal human that had the kind of night I did, I decided to put it all in the fridge and deal with it later. 

For dinner the next night, I decided to try and attempt a beef pot pie with the leftovers. It actually came together amazingly well and I am a little disappointed it was just the saving of a disaster and not an actual recipe. I know when I try and make it again it won't turn out the same and be as good. 

I added the stew meat to the gravy and then added a bag of frozen mixed veggies. I put the whole mess in a 9x13 baking dish and made a quick biscuit dough as a top pie crust. 

I got all hands-on and mixed the butter in with my fingers and I think it made all the difference in the world (somehow).  Maybe it just tasted so delicious because I was so happy to not be wasting all that food. 

Be brave in the kitchen, Create!

We are learning the skills to not be overwhelmed when faced with a situation that didn't go exactly as we had planned. 

Larb or Lop

Larb Gai – Lahb Gai – Laab Gai – Larp Gai – Laap Gai – Lahb Gai ลาบไก่

That is what we are making - I had no idea it was called so many strange things that I couldn't pronounce. 

We are lucky enough to live in a local culture where lots of people have lived abroad for 2 years serving church missions. That means lots of people who know a little bit about local cooking and a lot about local eating. 

We had some friends that would invite us over when we lived in Washington and they would make up Lop. (at least that is what we called it) - It was so delicious!! - and the experience of eating it was really super fun. 

I asked for the recipe and started making it for my family when they would come to visit. They loved it and went home and started making it for their friends. It has gone though lots and lots of variations, I am almost positive that this version is note a thing like anything you would get if you had it anywhere else.

But it is delicious, my kids and my family Love it! It makes for a really really fun (and so super easy) family dinner. The little ones ask for the meat you eat with your hands - and the big guys get very territorial about who gets the leftovers. That is my kind of meal, low-cost, quick, guaranteed eat!

The only part that I think makes a bit of difference is that you use the right meat. The recipe called for 2 parts ground turkey to 1 part ground pork. You shouldn't really use beef and you shouldn't use sausage. It really does make a difference. 

Ingredients:

 1 lb ground turkey

1/2 lb ground pork

Sauce:

3-4 Tbsp. sodium-reduced soy sauce

2 Tbsp. rice wine or rice vinegar

2 tsp. cornstarch

1 tsp.sesame oil

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp. green onion, minced

1 Tbsp. fresh minced ginger

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. chili paste (sambal oleek or chili paste sauce with garlic) I leave this out if my mom is coming - she does not do spicy

Cooked Rice - use the stickiest rice you can - We just use plain old rice though - we don't get fancy. 

Directions:

Put on a large pot of rice to cook. I always cook double what I think I am going to need to use later. The rice for this needs to be nice and fresh so it isn't great for the second night of "eat twice", but it makes the perfect first night. -- anyway, cook some rice. 

Begin to brown your meat in a large skillet. While the meat is cooking, break it into very very small pieces. You want the end result to be that meat pieces are about the same size as the grains of rice. 

While you meat is browning, add the ingredients for the sauce, whisk together and set aside. 

When the meat is almost all the way done cooking add your sauce that you mixed together. 

Let the meat finish cooking all the way through and let the sauce mostly absorb. It will smell heavenly and all your family will start to gather in the kitchen. (it's True!!) 

To serve it, you put a scoop on a plate of both the rice and the meat. You then take a large pinch of rice and squoosh it into a ball sort of shape - and then you take your pseudo rice ball and smash it into the meat to make that yummy-ness stick to the rice.  Then you pop it into your mouth. 

I serve veggies that I think can be eaten with hands to keep the forks away from the table. We had raw carrot sticks and steamed green beans (not snipped). 

We only had one somebody that resorted to a fork, and the leftovers where gone the next day.