P'sketti

What family in America doesn't eat spaghetti once a month?  It's a staple, right?  And, lucky for all of us, it's so easy to do unprocessed!  Let's start with the shining star of spaghetti night....the sauce!  I have to admit, in the past, for me making the sauce meant opening the jar of sauce and dumping it on some noodles.  So, today, I set off to make my very first batch of spaghetti sauce.  And, to keep things interesting, I didn't follow a recipe, but just some comments that I found online.

These are the ingredients I used.

• one onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 3 cans plum tomatoes
• basil
• salt and pepper
• sugar, 1 tsp

1.  Remove tomatoes from cans (keep the juice) and cut into chunks.
2.  In a pan, saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent.
3.  Add red wine, and let cook for a few minutes.  Some of the liquid will evaporate.  This is okay, just don't let it all.
4.  Add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper.  Stir.
5.  Simmer 30 minutes.
6.  If you don't like your sauce chunky, remove the large chunks of tomatoes and puree in a food processor. 
7.  Simmer on very low heat until ready to serve.

OH!  I forgot....there's a little "step 3.5" that I forgot to include in the recipe.  Find a large wine glass and fill to rim with remaining red wine.  Drink up.  And, yes, in a perfect world we would all use fresh plum tomatoes.  For those of us living in the middle, we are far better off with canned tomatoes this time of the year.  If using fresh, plop them in boiling water for a few minutes and then peel them. 

Now, if you were impressed with my sauce, sit tight.  Prepare to be amazed. 

Instead of using noodles for your spaghetti, try using squash....spaghetti squash. 

Cook the squash at 375 F in the oven for about an hour (or, if you're okay with the microwave, just nuke it.  I'm still unsure about microwaving everything, so I bake mine).  Once it's cooked, slice it in half, dig out the seeds, and scrape it with a fork just like this. 

Now, I know some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking, "Heids McGhee, there is no way my kids are eating squash instead of noodles."  OK, fine.  Go buy some whole wheat spaghetti and do a 50/50 mix of the squash and noodles.  You still don't think your kids will eat it?  Tell your kids to go to their rooms and don't come out until their palate has matured.  What?  You don't talk to your kids like that?  Yeah, me neither. 

Everyone likes bread with their spaghetti, right?  How would the plates get clean if you don't do the final bread swipe once all the food has been eaten?  Well, this afternoon, I looked outside my window and this is what I saw.

And, when I see snow like that, there is only one thing my mind thinks.  White bread.  Yes, there's a time and a place for good ole' white bread and being snowed in on a Friday night with Mr. McGhee and the minis calls for white bread.  So, I followed a recipe from the NIU FCNS200B lab manual.

One Large Loaf

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1.5 TBSP sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 1 cup water
• 1/8 cup oil or shortening

1.  Grease loaf pan.
2.  In large bowl, combine 1/3 of the flour with all the sugar, salt, and yeast.  Blend well. 
3.  In small saucepan, heat water and oil until very warm (120-130 F)
4.  Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the warm liquid mixture into the well.  Blend at low speed until moistened.  Beat 3 minutes at medium speed.
5.  By hand, stir in additional flour (no more than 1/2 cup at a time) until dough pulls cleanly away from sides of bowl.
6.  On floured surface, knead in additional flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 to 10 minutes of kneading.
7.  Place dough in greased bowl; cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth towel.  Let rise in warm place (80-85 F) until light and doubled in size, about 45-60 minutes. 
8.  Punch down dough several time to remove air bubbles.
9.  Shape loaf by rolling dough into a rectangle.  Starting with shorter side, roll up tightly.  Pinch edges and ends firmly to seal.  Place seam side down in prepared pans.
10.  Cover.  Let rise in warm place until dough fills pans and tops of loaves are about 1 inch above pan edges, about 30-35 minutes.
11.  Heat oven to 375 F.  Bake 40-45 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when lightly tapped.  Remove from pans immediately.  Cool before eating. 

We ate our p'sketti with a salad of spinach, blackberry, clementine oranges, goat cheese and this dressing along with a glass of resveratrol. 

Mexican Challenge

I got an email from a reader asking me if I take requests.  Well, sure I do!  Her email read something like this, "Heids McGhee, my family's favorite dinner is tacos and beans.  Can you walk me through how to make this dinner from scratch?  Thanks so much!"  I interpreted her email as this, "Heids McGhee, I have a challenge for you.  Iron Chef style.  Tacos and beans."  Well, I dove into this challenge the way I do everything, head-first with my eyes closed.

I got a crockpot refried bean recipe from allrecipes.com

• 1 onion, peeled and halved
• 3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
• 1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin, optional
• 9 cups of water

1. Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
2. Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.               

*sidenote* In our family, some like mashed, some don't.  So, I only mashed half the batch.  Everyone wins.

Now, tacos are easy!  Remember these tortillas?  If not, here's a picture to refresh your memory. 

Or, if you want to get really crazy, you can do what I do...use a huge lettuce leaf as your tortilla shell. 

You can fill your tacos with whatever you chose.  Mr. McGhee and I are going to use leftover italian beef, but the minis prefer ground beef.  If you want to get a little crazy, you can add some cooked quinoa to your ground beef.  Tonight was not a crazy night in our house.  Ground beef, straight up, with these taco seasonings.

• tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

1.  In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.                
2.  When ground beef is done cooking, add spices (use amount that suits your preference).

And, if you're one of those people that catches on quickly, you're probably thinking, "hey, I should make a large batch of that and store it in an airtight container".  Brilliant!

Once you have your meat on your taco/lettuce shell, add whichever toppings you choose....cheese, lettuce, tomato, green bell peppers, black olives, and guacamole.  "Guacamole?!?!" you say.  I get requests from people to bring my guac to parties.  And, I totally planned on sharing the recipe with you, except I don't follow a recipe.  I add ingredients and taste test as I go.  Here's what you need.

• Avocados, mashed with a fork....DO NOT puree or overmash
• tomato, diced
• fresh squeezed lime juice
• fresh cilantro
• salt

After your avocados are mashed add in your tomato.  Add lime juice, cilantro, and salt as suits your taste buds.

This meal was a HIT tonight.  The pickiest kids in America McGhee minis loved it!

So there you have it!  My first challenge from a reader successfully accomplished.  Easy peasy.  What's next?  Give me another dinner, I'm up for the challenge!

Chicken Gnocchi soup

There's a particular large-chain Italian restaurant that the Mr. and the minis love to eat at.  And, this particular large-chain Italian restaurant is my least favorite place to eat.  There are a few reasons why I dislike this particular restaurant.

1.  When I read the nutrition information, I hyperventilated.
2.  It's expensive.  Seriously, $14 for noodles and pureed canned tomatoes?
3.  One day, Mr. McGhee and I took the minis to this particular restaurant when they were 5 , 3, and a baby.  As we were being seated at our table, a couple next to us got all huffy and started making comments about how my children were going to ruin their lunch.  And, then the couple had a long discussion with the waiter about how hostesses need to pay attention when seating customers and keep families away from couples.  OK, this was on a Saturday at 11:30 am.  I think there's an unwritten rule that restaurants before noon on Saturdays are fair game for families.  So, the entire lunch, I sat there shooting this couple my stank eye.  My stank eye that says, "I am pretty sure there's a big ole' sign as you walk in this particular restaurant that says, 'when you're here, you're family'". 

Now, Mr. McGhee says it's utterly ridiculous that this one incident has ruined the particular restaurant for me, but I swear, it has left a bitter taste in my mouth.  And one can't enjoy one's lunch with a bitter taste in one's mouth, right? 

So, that sort of puts the McGhees in a bind.  The reason the minis love this particular restaurant is because of their chicken gnocchi soup, so being the dedicated mother that I am, I spent 10 seconds one day googling "particular restaurant chicken gnocchi soup knockoff recipe" and voila....soup recipe.

Now, before we dive into making the soup, we need to do some prep work.  Because, remember, we gave up processed foods.  So, the packaged chicken broth and gnocchi need to be made from scratch.  Luckily, I had some leftover chicken from previous nights, so I just diced that up and step #1 was complete.

To make the gnocchi, I followed this recipe from Food Jaunts. 

12 oz potato, cut into 2 inch chunks

1 egg, lightly beaten

¾ cup of flour (I used half white whole wheat and half all-purpose) + more for the cutting board

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Steam potatoes for 12 minutes or until soft. Use a potato ricer, and rice potato into a bowl, discarding skins. Let sit for 5 – 10 minutes to cool.
Make a well in the center of the potatoes, and pour the beaten egg into the well. Cover with ¾ cup of flour. 
Being careful not to overwork, cut it all together until combined (if the dough is still too sticky feel free to add up to ¼ cup more flour, if it’s not sticky enough add another egg yolk, not the whole egg like before).
Flour your cutting board (you may have to re-flour as you go). Divide dough into 6 portions and roll into cigar shaped logs. Cut each log into 1 inch pieces. Now either run each gnocchi over the tines of a fork, pressing lightly as you go, or just press down lightly on each piece with the fork. (I did half of it by rolling over a fork then decided that was taking way too long and then just pressed down on the other half with the fork).
In a pot of boiling water, cook the gnocchi until they rise to the top of the water. Wait 30 seconds – 1 minute after they start to float, then drain.

*sidenotes*  I do not have a potato ricer.  Heck, I didn't even know what a potato ricer was until I googled it today.  A website called it an extra-large garlic press.  Well, I've got one of those, so good enough....just press the cooked potatoes through the garlic press if you don't have a ricer.  I also forgot to add the nutmeg, salt, and pepper, which means when my gnocchi were done boiling in water, they tasted like bland potatoes and flour.  No worries though, because after they were cooked I tossed them in the soup and they were delish by dinner time!

Here's the potatoes after I pressed them through garlic press.

Here's the rolled out dough.

Here's my pressing the fork into the dough.

We also need to make chicken stock.  I HIGHLY suggest doing this regularly, it's very easy and you can freeze it for when needed.  Lucky for me, I had some in the freezer.  I use this recipe from allrecipes.com. 

Chicken stock

 4 pound chicken

7 cups water

1 large onion, halved

3 stalks celery

3 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

salt to taste

Place the chicken in a large pot over high heat. Add water to cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 1 hour.               
Remove chicken from pot. Leave water in pot. Cool chicken. Remove skin and bones from meat. Return bones and skin to pot. Add onions, carrots, celery, bay leaf, ginger, and salt. Continue simmering for 3 to 4 hours.
Strain and cool the stock, uncovered.
Use the meat for soups, salads, sandwiches, or other dishes where cooked chicken is needed. After stock has been defatted, use or freeze immediately. I freeze the stock in one-cup amounts and use instead of water for cooking rice or vegetables or making gravy.               

Now, you're all set to make your chicken gnocchi soup.  I tweaked the recipe to make double batch with a few other changes.

2 cups chicken , cooked and diced

8 cups chicken stock

2 cups half and half 

 2 cups milk

2 stalk celery, diced

4 garlic cloves,  chopped

1 carrot, shredded

1 onion, diced

3 handfulls of fresh spinach

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoon thyme

salt and pepper

16 ounces potato gnocchi

1.  Saute the onion, celery, garlic, carrot in oil over medium heat until onion is translucent.

2.  Add chicken, chicken stock, half and half, salt and pepper, thyme. Heat to boiling, then add gnocchi. Gently boil for 4 minutes, then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes.

3.  Add spinach and cook for another 1-2 minutes until spinach is wilted.

*sidenote*  I did not put the gnocchi in at step 3.  I added spinach, and then when spinach was wilted, I turned down the heat and put gnocchi in (they were already cooked).

Here's the pot of soup.

I served this soup with a side salad of spinach, peppers, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers and this dressing.  We also had these biscuits.  And, as always, I did a little tweaking.

Whole wheat biscuits

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

 1/2 cup all purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 cup milk

1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2.  In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt; mix well.

3.  Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

4.  Stir in milk just until moistened.

5.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface; knead gently 8 to 10 times.

6.  Roll to 3/4-in. thickness; cut with a 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter and place on an ungreased baking sheet. 7.  Bake at 450 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

*sidenote*  I have zero luck kneading and rolling, so I just dropped spoonfuls of the dough onto the cookie sheet.  Not as pretty, but it got the job done.

If you are looking for cheats, you can always save time by using boxed chicken broth and these gnocchi. 

But, I really encourage you to make homemade gnocchi and chicken stock.  There is some serious satisfaction watching your minis gobble down a bowl of homemade soup and biscuits from scratch on a chilly winter night.

Lunches and a crockpot dinner

I pack lunch for the Mr. and the minis everyday.  After breakfast, I feel that lunch is the most important meal of the day for the minis.  I don't know about your minis, but by dinnertime, mine are often too tired to really eat a good meal.  They'd rather read and do their homework.  Ah, not really...just thought I'd put that out there in case any of their teachers are reading.

Here's today's lunch.  Now, before you look at the picture, I am equally appalled as you are over the amount of plastic bags I used for today's lunches.  Wow, fail.  I need to get one of these but at $44 a piece, yikes! 

Today's lunch is plain greek yogurt with frozen raspberries (which will defrost by noon) to mix in.  I have gotten emails regarding greek yogurt....I know it's a tough one to get kids to switch too.  I suggest putting small amounts of plain greek yogurt in their flavored yogurt and gradually reducing the amount of flavored.  My kids love plain greek yogurt, which I guess makes me lucky.  It must be that "there are starving children in Africa that would do anything for this $1.19 cup of yogurt, so you better eat it and then lick the bottom of the cup when it's done.  And, no I don't care if you get in trouble at school for licking the bottom of your yogurt cup" lecture that I gave them.  Seriously though, on my to do list this week is to make homemade greek yogurt because that stuff is expensive!  I'm about to make my oldest mini get a paper route just to cover our yogurt budget each week.

Also in their lunch is a tortilla with homemade hummus and diced bell peppers and cucumbers, all rolled up.  I also included a grapes and yellow grape tomatoes.  If your kids don't eat tomatoes, I highly suggest you try giving them yellow grape tomatoes.  They are amazingly delish and my minis love them.  Just a warning, don't eat the entire 2 lb package at one time.  It can give you kanker sores and GI issues that may lead to embarassing moments on the treadmill at the gym later in the day. 

I also put in their lunches some grapes, a pumpkin muffin, and for dessert, dried mangoes.  And, much to the dismay of my minis, I do not put oreos in their lunch...even though they insist every single kid at school besides them, get oreos for lunch.

And tonight's dinner has been cooking since 6 am this morning.  I got this recipe from my sister back when I was a new bride and realized I had a man that thought dinner was a frozen pizza and Doritos.  This recipe is what she calls Italian Beef.  Basically, you put a roast in the crockpot with a can of peppercini peppers (check the ingredients, remember your peppers shouldn't have more than 5 ingredients).  I decided to get fancy this morning, and heated some oil in a stainless steel skillet, sprinkled salt and pepper on my roast and then seared it before putting it in the crockput.  I also threw in a few cloves of minced garlic.  When the roast is finished cooking, shred.  You can serve it over mashed potatoes or on homemade wheat bread/hoagie.  My plan is to serve it over mashed cauliflower with raw carrots and bell peppers on the side.

Mashed Cauliflower from about.com

• raw cauliflower- a medium head makes about a pound of florettes
• any combination of butter, milk, cream, or whatever you use when you make mashed potatoes - about 1/4 cup
• salt and pepper
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• parmesan cheese

1.  Break the cauliflower up into florets, or just chop. I like to cook it in the microwave in a container that I prepare and serve it in, but you can steam it. Cook it until it's tender -- a fork should easily pierce it.

2.  The easiest thing to do is to add the rest of the ingredients to the container the cauliflower is cooked in, and then use a stick (hand) blender to put it all together. Or you can put it all in a regular blender or food processor.

I've had a few people ask how the minis are doing with the changes and do they really eat what I cook.  The answer is they're doing good, and nope, they don't always eat what I cook.  I tell my kids I respect them and their opinions regarding their food preferences, however, I do not cater to picky eaters.  They get a plate full of the same things I have on my plate.  They need to try everything.  If they find something so horrible that they can't possibly eat it, they are welcome to find something else to eat...however, they must choose food from the bottom 2 drawers of the fridge.  So, on nights where they can't bear to eat my dinner, they usually will have an apple, banana, peppers, cucumbers, and some cheese and peanut butter. 

A bunch of cheaters

So, I've gotten a few emails that read something like this, "Heids McGhee, not that I am planning on doing this, but if someone were to cheat, what would you recommend?"  Sheesh, people, you all are about as discreet as Mr. McGhee.  So, I am torn on this....I don't want to make it too easy for you to rush to the store and pick up some acceptable "cheats", however if your other option is to give little Timmy an all-beige-deep-fried-complete-with-a-happy-meal-toy dinner than I'd rather you cheat.  But promise me these are for desperate times only.  Remember, we are trying to go unprocessed here.

Bread....oh my, people really love their bread, don't they?  I am totally committed to finding an easy, delicious, whole grain bread recipe.  Why haven't I done that yet, you ask?  I've been too busy perfecting my muffin recipe.  Tomorrow, I will tackle bread.  I promise.  If you must buy bread from the grocery store, please read the label.  If there are many ingredients, it's not what you are looking for. Remember, more ingredients=more processed.  Ingredient #1 must be.....WHOLE wheat flour.  Do not get fooled and buy a bread made from wheat flour.  And for crying out loud, do not buy bread with enriched or bleached flour.  It makes Heids McGhee nervous when people eat that stuff.  And your bread needs to have at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.

If you MUST cheat on bread, and you happen to live near a Great Harvest Bread Company your life just got a whole lot easier.  Here are the reasons why you should buy the honey wheat bread from Great Harvest.

1.  They only use 5 ingredients in their honey wheat bread.
2.  They grind their own flour daily.
3.  The employees wear really cute shirts that say "professional loafer" and "flour power".
4.  They say things to you like, "sweetheart, while you are waiting for me to slice your fresh baked bread, do you want a free sample of something?"  And, when you say no thank you, they say, "are you sure, not even a small taste of a scone?"
5.  It is, hands down, the best bread I have ever had.  If you try it and don't like it, let me know.  I want to know which of my readers are impossible to please.

Pancakes....my middle mini is a pancake lover.  And my middle mini has big, brown eyes that can melt anyone, so when he comes downstairs in the morning rubbing those eyes and asking for a koala hug and pancakes, that boy is getting pancakes.  I use this recipe for his pancakes, which I got from king arthur flour website.

4 cups King Arthur white whole wheat flour

1 cup King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour

3 1/2 cups old-fashioned or rolled oats

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons baking powder

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 cup vegetable oil

1.  Grind oats in food processor until fine, but not a powder.
2.  Put the flour, oats, and all other dry ingredients into a mixer with a paddle. Mix on slow speed, and drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running.

3. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature, or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer.

4. Whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1 cup of buttermilk (you can use soured milk, but buttermilk gives noticeably superior results; a combination of half plain yogurt and half milk also will do), and 1 large egg. Don't worry if it seems thin at first: the oats will soak up the milk, and the mix will thicken a bit as it stands. Let the batter stand for at least 20 minutes before cooking.

5.  Cook on a slightly greased griddle or a nonstick skillet.

SERVE WITH 100% pure maple syrup.  Or fruit, fruit works too.  My middle mini loves the syrup, though.

If you're reading that and thinking, "Heids McGhee, not happening.  That's too much work in the morning", here's a solution.

It's a premade mix.  Add some milk, oil, and an egg.  Easy peasy and a decent option.

Tortillas....these were a tip given to me by my friend Jennifer, whom I think could single-handedly run the marketing department at costco.  I will say these are by far the most unprocessed tortillas I have seen with only 5 ingredients.  However, ingredient #1 is wheat flour and not whole wheat flour.  So, it's a tradeoff.  These are raw tortillas, which means you have to cook each side for about 30 seconds on an ungreased skillet before you can eat them (it's so simple, you really don't even have to clean the skillet after you've used it...not that I have done that, but just saying...you could."

And, since these are at Costco, you can buy more tortillas than you could eat in a month for $7.

Crackers....the most unprocessed cracker you can find is Triscuits.  Personally, I want to eliminate crackers from our diet, but my minis love crackers.  And they usually pair them with hummus and cucumbers to make little sandwiches, so I do let them have Triscuits.  I suspect they secretly close their eyes and pretend they're eating Cheez-its.

Cereal....we have covered breakfast already.  And if I could just get everyone to change ONE meal a day, with breakfast being the easiest meal to change, I would be a happy Heids.  But, some people insist, they need cold cereal.  The only option out there for an unprocessed cereal is Post Shredded Wheat which I have a feeling after you have one bowl of that, you'll be whipping up a batch of my granola  ASAP.

Random assortments

Mr. McGhee is cheating.  Now, before you get all huffy and start tsking my man....Mr. McGhee is not cheating on me.  But, he did give the kids lollipops.  They came home from school on Friday, giggling and full of laughter.  I assumed it was because of me and a home full of the scent of fresh whole wheat banana muffins.  Then tiny mini McGhee proudly announced, "daddy gave us lollipops" and stuck out her green tongue to prove it. At this point, I just gave Mr. McGhee my blank stare.  In our marriage, that means pick your poison, buddy.....a butt-chewing or the silent treatment.  Mr. McGhee claimed it was a lapse of judgement.  I pointed out that it was sugar and food-coloring on a stick.  That's a pretty big lapse.  Then, he grinned and said he did it to give me material for the blog.  Being a new blogger and all, I realized, he did have a point.  So, I dropped my blank stare and dropped the subject.  See, I really am a treehugger and don't like to fight.

Yesterday, one of my readers emailed me and said her husband told her that the banana muffins tasted like sticks.  That was a little harsh and I hope she gave him a blank stare.  You know, the "pick your poison" blank stare. 

That being said, I do want to accomodate my readers....so, I hit the kitchen this morning to come up with a new recipe.  And, I promise, this one is fabulous tasting, but slightly less healthy than these muffins.  One of my best friends from high school was visiting today and she told me these pumpkin muffins were really good.  And I believe her.  She would never lie to me.

Pumpkin Muffins (based on this recipe with some changes)

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2.5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 1.5-2 cups pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 1/3 cup coconut oil (melted slightly)
• 1 cup honey

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2.  In a bowl mix flours, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
3.  In a separate bowl, mix eggs, pumpkin, oil, applesauce, coconut oil, and honey.
4.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into well.  Mix just until the dry ingredients are absorbed.  DO NOT OVERMIX. 
5.  Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

I've gotten a few emails about hummus, so I thought I would share how I make hummus.  It's super easy, and you can follow a recipe like this or you can do what I do and just dump stuff into the food processor. 

• 1 can of garbanzo beans (slightly less than 2 cups)
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cloves garlic

1.  Drain garbanzo beans, keep liquid separate.
2.  In a food processor, put beans, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and garlic.
3.  Blend using liquid from beans to thin hummus, if needed.

I would recommend not putting all the tahini and lemon juice in right away.  I would add half of them and blend.  Then taste and add more, based on your personal preference.

And, because I know someone is going to want to know what tahini is, here's a picture. 

Ever have one of those nights where everyone is tired and lazy and you don't feel like making dinner?  That was the general mood at the McGhee house tonight.  I would have loved to have ordered a pizza and I'm pretty sure my kids would have sold their souls for some cheetos and a chicken nugget.  But, since we have given up processed foods, we opted for a dinner of a random assortment that made no sense at all......kale chips, zucchini and squash, and chicken breasts.  OK, after I read that it doesn't seem so random, but for some reason it sure felt it.  Kale chips, you already know the recipe and I've gotten great feedback on them.  I am happy to be part of the green leafy revolution that is going on amongst the minis of America.   

Zucchini and squash

• oil (I used grapeseed oil)
• 3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• sliced squash and zucchini

1.  Heat oil on stove.
2.  Add garlic and squash and zucchini slices.
3.  Cook until brown on both sides.

Remember when I said I wasn't promising you perfect pictures.  Um, yeah, I think it was this picture I was referring to.

I had leftover dressing from last night that I drizzled over the slices and then threw it on some spinach leaves. 

For the chicken I used this recipe from Our Best Bites.  I got this recipe from my friend Jami that lives in Seattle, which makes her way cooler than those of us stuck in "the middle".  I like to channel my inner Jami when I am shoe shopping and when I cook spicy honey chicken. 

Chicken Rub

• 2 tsp granulated garlic (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

Glaze

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar

1.  Mix all spices together.
2.  Drizzle oil on chicken and rub the chicken rub onto the chicken (how's that for obvious?)
3.  Grill/pan fry chicken until no longer pink in the middle.
4.  Warm honey and add vinegar.
5.  Pour honey/vinegar mixture on chicken. 

Just at tip....you can make a huge batch of that chicken rub and store it.  It makes life much easier on those "I would so much rather order a pizza tonight" nights.

And that is it for today.  I've got to get moving and get some menu planning done for the week.  Enough of these random, shameful dinner nights!

Crunchy Granola Tree Hugger

That last post was a little stern, wasn't it?  Was I the only one that read it and thought, "sheesh, Heids McGhee, four days into this and you are already lecturing people"?  No more harsh talking to's, from now on I will just refer to that post when needed.  I'm uncomfortable using that authoritative, harsh tone...I am a tree hugger, after all.  Well, a treehugger that carries a leather purse and drives a huge SUV, so there's room for improvement on that.

Speaking of crunchy treehuggers....here's my granola recipes!  I am not sure who to credit these recipes for, I combined 3 different ones that I found online. 

Granola bars

• 1 and 3/4 cups steel cut oats
• 1/4 cups almonds
• 1/4 cups cashews
• 1/4 cups walnuts
• 1/4 cups sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds (I used seeds still in the shell)
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 5 TBSP unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 cup of brown sugar

1.  Mix oats, nuts, seeds, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
2.  In saucepan on stove, melt butter and honey.
3.  When butter and honey are melted, add vanilla and brown sugar.
4.  Pour wet mixture over dry mixture and mix well.  **at this point, I divided my mixture and put dried cherries in half of it**
5.  On a baking sheet (LINED WITH PARCHMENT PAPER), pour mixture out, spread all over baking sheet and flatten.
6.  Bake for an hour and 15 minutes at 250 F.
7.  Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet. 
8.  When cooled, break into bars.
This is the granola mixture.  Sort of looks like birdseed, eh? 

The finished product....two very large granola bars. 

Broken into bars.  For my OCD readers, I know it's not a perfect rectangle.  I like it that way, it looks homemade.

Crumbly granola (for cereal/toppings)

• 3.5 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup pecans
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds (I used seeds in the shells)
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 2.5 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ginger
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 7 TBSP unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

1. Mix oats, nuts, seeds, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
2. In saucepan on stove, melt butter and honey.
3. When butter and honey are melted, add vanilla and brown sugar.
4. Pour wet mixture over dry mixture and mix well. 
5. On a baking sheet (LINED WITH PARCHMENT PAPER), pour mixture out, spread all over baking sheet and flatten.
6. Bake for an hour and 15 minutes at 250 F.
7. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet.
8. When cooled, break into small chunks.

Granola, spread out and ready to be baked. 

Here's the scoop about making your own granola.  It's really easy.  Take oats and whatever nuts/seeds you like, just try to keep the total volume close to that of the recipe.  Add the wet ingredients (you can omit the brown sugar, if you'd like) and any dried fruit you like. 

I've had a couple of questions about oats.  The canister on the left is old fashioned oats.  You needs these for the crumbly granola.  The canister on the right is steel cut oats.  You need these for granola bars.  Both types of granola can be cooked to make a delicious breakfast, follow directions on box.  Add dried fruit, brown sugar, milk, honey, etc.

And here's tonight's dinner.  I know you all are thinking, "Heids McGee, that is a hunk of red meat on your plate!"  Crazy, I know, right?  I eat red meat maybe once a month.  You know last year's New Year's resolution was to become vegetarian.  When I presented that idea to Mr. McGhee he laughed hysterically in my face.  In our marriage, that means "you crazy woman, I will do no such thing."  So Mr. McGhee grilled a steak for us, and I threw some mushrooms and onions in a pan with olive oil.  I paired it with a side salad of berries and spinach that was deeeeeeelish!  Way better than that steak.

Spinach salad

• spinach
• berries (I used strawberry, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries)
• crumbled goat cheese

Dressing

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper

1.  Add chopped garlic to balsamic vinegar
2.  Season with salt and pepper
3.  Slowly add olive oil and stir to mix.

I want to hear how your granola turns out!  And, PLEASE make that salad, it's so easy and delish.