Grilled cheeeeeese

One of my goals when I we decided to give up processed foods was to make all of our baked goods.  And I did come up with a delish bread recipe that takes about 2 minutes of prep work.  That being said, I haven't made a loaf of bread yet this summer.  


And it's all because of these guys.


Before I go on, I want to say that I am not paid to endorse Great Harvest Bread Company.  And even though I go there 2 times a week, they have no clue that I am a food blogger that occasionally obsesses over them.  But the reason that I continue to promote, gush, and rave about them is their bread is amazing.  And the fact that the lovely ladies at the counter remember to ask my minis how their new puppy is doing each week is an added bonus.  


I always buy honey wheat bread for my family.  (And I always let my minis have a free sample of the cinnamon roll bread).  But this week I decided to go crazy and try something new....the Dakota bread.


Oh My Goodness.  The Dakota bread is proof that God loves us and wants us to happily eat our whole grains.

I don't even know what all is in the Dakota bread, but I know that I trust my friends from Great Harvest and it is healthy.  And amazingly delish.


I decided to make grilled cheese with our Dakota bread.  In the past I have blogged about grilled cheese on the honey wheat bread, and I do believe I declared it the best school-lunch inspired meal ever.  Well, today I  am going to share yet another best-ever grilled cheese recipe.


Heids McGhee's Grilled Cheese

• bread 
• pesto
• spinach
• avocado
• cheese (I used muenster and goat)
• butter
• olive oil

When it comes to pesto, I am sort of a purist and make basil pesto.  (That being said, someone has suggested to me that I try kale pesto with my overabundance of garden kale.)  You can make (or buy, if you must) whatever pesto you prefer.

1.  Butter one side of each slice of bread.

2.  On the other side of each slice, slather on some pesto.

3.  Layer spinach leaves, avocado, and cheese on a slice of bread.

4.  Top with the remaining slice, butter side up.

5.  If you want to be really bad (and I was bad, but justified it by telling myself I did run 6 miles that morning), heat up a little olive oil in a pan.

6.  Grill your sandwich in the pan until each side is browned.

Slather with pesto.  Lick the knife.

Layer on spinach.  Lots of spinach.  It's good for you.  

(Next time I will also add artichoke).

Cheese.  Muenster for the McGhees.

Slices of avocado.  Save leftovers for guacamole.

Sprinkle some goat cheese.

Grill to perfection.

We ate our grilled cheese with zucchini chips and fresh pineapple.  And it was one of those meals where the food was so good that there was silence.  Well, mostly silent, except for my occasional outburst of "BAM! Mama makes some grilled cheese!"

One Month!!!

We did it!  One month processed-food free!  There's no looking back now, the month went so well I can't imagine going back to our old eating habits ever again. 

In the last few month, I've had several people ask me "aren't you afraid that by completely eliminating processed foods from your minis' lives, that someday when you're not around and the opportunity arises, they will go crazy and binge?"  Um, noooooo......

Someone help me with this, please, because I am really not seeing the reasoning in this.  In our house, our minis aren't allowed to swear, watch inappropriate movies, play violent video games, hit, steal, play in the street.....and nobody worries that someday, they will go crazy when I'm not around and do any of those things. 

Giving up processed foods is not a radical choice I am doing to my kids, I am doing it for them.  This is not a rule that I am forcing them to follow, this is our family's newly adopted standard.  News flash America, kids aren't going to die from not being allowed to eat chips and oreos!  And there's no quality of life issue either....kids can have a great, fun, and exciting childhood that doesn't include processed junk food snacks and HFCS at every meal. 

Without trying to get all "conspiracy theory" on you...am I the only one that does not trust the food industry at all?  Do people think that these large corporations value you and your children?  Do you think they really value the products that you put into your body more than they value their bottom line?  I put large food companies, distributors, and restaurants up there with pharmaceutical and insurance companies.  Let's be real, they are there to make a profit, not to give you high-quality nutritional products.  In fact, they'll put more money into marketing their products to look nutritious than to actually be nutritious.  And, for those that haven't heard, Whole Foods is a sellout.  So, think about where you shop and what you buy!!!

I did a little experiment this past few days to prove my point.  My oldest mini is 8 years old and was born with major birth defects throughout his body, a wicked sense of humor, and a fierce determination to let nothing stop him.  As if that isn't enough, he apparently is a genius as well, because last week he won his classroom's estimation contest by having the closest guess as to how many m&m's and candy hearts were in the jar.  And by closest guess, he was only off by 600 pieces.  Brilliant!  I know!  When I saw the jar of candy I internally groaned while saying, "wow, oldest mini...you are ah-may-zing."  And then I dumped the contents into a tupperware container and put it in the pantry, front and center on the 2nd shelf, which is eye-level to the minis.

And that tupperware has sat there, unopened, for nearly a week now.  So, my answer to all those of you wondering how the mini McGhees will react when they are exposed to junk food is this....I think they will be just fine. 

This morning the minis and I were watching the news, which is something I never do because I think mainstream media is bullshit pefer to live in blissful ignorance.  There was a story about sugar being as dangerous as alcohol.  They story included all the hidden sources of sugar...fruit, juice, cereal, soft drinks, baked goods, ketchup, sports drinks, etc.  My oldest mini turns to my middle mini and says, "well, the good news is we don't have to worry about any of that."   They're 6 and 8 and they get it. 

The reason I was watching the news is because today is Groundhog's Day!  My 6 year old mini was shocked to find out that he had school today because "mom, are you sure?  It's Groundhog's Day."  And the cutest.thing.ever.  My 6 year old mini truly believes that the groundhog is in control of what the weather will be like for the next 6 weeks.  And who am I to tell him otherwise?  So, to celebrate Groundhog's Day, I tried a recipe I found last week for homemade poptarts. 

Here's the recipe for the poptart pastry. 

• 2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pats
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) milk
• 1 additional large egg (to brush on pastry)

1.  Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.
2.  Work in the butter with your fingers, pastry blender or food processor until pea-sized lumps of butter are still visible, and the mixture holds together when you squeeze it. If you’ve used a food processor, transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
3.  Whisk the first egg and milk together and stir them into the dough, mixing just until everything is cohesive, kneading briefly on a well-floured counter if necessary.
4.  Divide the dough in half (approximately 8 1/4 ounces each), shape each half into a smooth rectangle, about 3×5 inches. You can roll this out immediately or wrap each half in plastic and refrigerate for up to 2 days.



Assembly

1.  If the dough has been chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to soften and become workable, about 15 to 30 minutes.
2.  Place one piece on a lightly floured work surface, and roll it into a rectangle about 1/8″ thick, large enough that you can trim it to an even 9″ x 12″. [You can use a 9" x 13" pan, laid on top, as guidance.] Repeat with the second piece of dough. Set trimmings aside. Cut each piece of dough into thirds – you’ll form nine 3″ x 4″ rectangles.
3.  Beat the additional egg and brush it over the entire surface of the first dough. This will be the “inside” of the tart; the egg is to help glue the lid on.
4.  Place a heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of each rectangle, keeping a bare 1/2-inch perimeter around it. Place a second rectangle of dough atop the first, using your fingertips to press firmly around the pocket of filling, sealing the dough well on all sides. Press the tines of a fork all around the edge of the rectangle. Repeat with remaining tarts.
5.  Gently place the tarts on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Prick the top of each tart multiple times with a fork; you want to make sure steam can escape, or the tarts will become billowy pillows rather than flat toaster pastries. Refrigerate the tarts (they don’t need to be covered) for 30 minutes, while you preheat your oven to 350°F.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.

Rolled out

Filling (I used cinnamon-sugar)

Cinnamon Filling (enough for 9 tarts)

• 1/2 cup (3 3/4 ounces) brown sugar
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, to taste
• 4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg, to brush on pastry before filling

1.  Whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, and flour.

Jam Filling

• 3/4 cup (8 ounces) jam
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

1.  Mix the jam with the cornstarch/water in a small saucepan.
2.  Bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes.
3.  Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool.

The poptarts are absolutely adorable.  Our plan was to eat them after dinner, which is chicken fried rice.  But, they were so cute, I couldn't wait and had to let the kids try them after school.  Oh my.  These are seriously delish.  We all LOVED them.  And, I feel the need to point out the obvious here....these are NOT healthy AT ALL!!!!

Fried rice works with rice that is cold, so yesterday I made a batch of brown rice, which I highly encourage you to switch to.  If you absolutely can not do brown rice, do a 50/50 mix of brown and white.  This morning, while making the poptarts, I also baked three boneless skinless chicken breasts, so tonight's dinner will be an easy assembly.

• egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon oil (I used sesame)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cups cooked rice, cold
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup cooked, chopped chicken meat

1. In a small bowl, beat egg with water. Cook on a large skillet over medium low heat. Add egg and leave flat for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from skillet and cut into shreds.
2. Heat oil in same skillet; add onion and saute until soft. Then add rice, soy sauce, pepper and chicken. Stir fry together for about 5 minutes, then stir in egg. Serve hot.               

I also added frozen carrots, peas, and corn.  Very easy and the minis love it.

And, for those of you following the bread saga, I made yet another substitution. 

• 1 1/8 cups water
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon dry milk powder
• 3/4 tablespoon shortening
• 3/4 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1.  Place ingredients in bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select whole wheat setting.  I put mine on light crust and 1.5 lb loaf.

Oh. My.  This bread is to die for.  So good and slices so easily for sandwiches.  Finally!!!  I found the perfect bread recipe.

And, finally, remember those $40 lunchboxes I wanted.  I found the cheap knock-off version at my favorite store, TJMaxx for $5 each! 

Holy Cow!!!  That's it for the day!  Think about the things I said and for those of you passing my blog on to others, thank you so much!  I started this for a few friends and have ended up getting more traffic than I ever thought I could! 

               

Cookies and Chard

Yesterday's bread is ah-may-zing.  So, if a little bit of bread flour and shortening is wrong, then I don't want to be right.  I still plan on trying to replace the shortening with coconut oil, but I've gotta say....I am over my shortening shame.  Yesterday's bread is yum-o, delish.

Do your minis love granola bars?  I'm hearing from a lot of people that granola bars are a staple in their minis' lives.  Well, the mini McGhees are missing their granola bars, and I have this recipe from marathon mom that I have been dying to try.  Marathon mom is the homeschooling mom to 7 boys and pregnant with an 8th baby.  From now on, I will refer to myself as 5k mom.  Maybe even kids fun run mom.  Here's her recipe.

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1/3 cup local honey

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup oats (not quick oats)

2 tablespoons wheat germ

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup chocolate chips (Mini work best, but it doesn’t really matter.)

What to do:
1. Melt the butter, peanut butter and honey in a pot over medium to low heat, stirring constantly. Turn off the burner when melted.
2. Pour in the cup of oats and the wheat germ. Stir til combined.
3. Wait til it cools and stir in the coconut and chocolate chips. Or, if you’re impatient with things like this, like I am, go ahead and dump it all right in. The result will be a more uniform chocolate taste.
4. Pour into foil-lined 8 X 8 pan and stick in the fridge.
5. Once cooled, flip out (the bars….not you) onto cutting board and cut to the size you like.

OK, so I'm the type of girl that calls a spade a spade.  And this, folks, is a cookie, not a granola bar.  It's a damn good tasting cookie that the McGhee family snarfed down as if we hadn't seen food in real food in weeks (there's a joke in there somewhere, I know it).  However, I struggle to say that this is a healthy, nutritional snack to give your minis.  BUT, because this recipe is delicious and the minis loved it, I am going to tweak it, maybe add a few things to see if I can increase the nutritional value of it.  And, I will say....it is a HUGE improvement over the HFCS-filled store-bought granola bars.  Give it a try....the McGhee family gave this a huge, sticky, chocoately double thumbs up.

Tonight's dinner was a spinoff on chicken pot pie.  I made the "stuffing" of the pie, following this this recipe from allrecipes. 

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1 cup frozen diced carrots
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken meat

1. In a large saucepan, saute chopped onion in the butter.
2. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.
3. Remove from heat and slowly add chicken broth and milk. Stir well. 
4. Return to heat.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Cook for 2 minutes.
5. Season with salt and pepper. Add frozen peas and carrots and cooked chicken.  Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring often.

Instead of using a pie crust, I made biscuits using a previously posted recipe.  This time I made some tweaks.  I used a very small amount of all-purpose flour.  And, no, I am not proud of it...but just the tiniest amount of all-purpose flour gives whole wheat baked goods a much more desireable texture. 

• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup cold unsalted butter
• 1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. In a medium sized bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Mix well with whisk or fork.
4. Cut the ½ stick butter into little pea sized pieces and then mix the pieces into the flour mixture. Using a fork, try to mash the butter pieces as you mix it together with the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs. It is okay if the outcome just looks like the same pea sized pieces of butter covered with flour.
5. Then pour in the milk and mix it all together.
6. Knead the dough with your hands 8 to 10 times and then turn out onto a counter or cutting board.
7. Pat it out flat with your hands until the dough is a somewhat even ¾-inch thickness (sprinkle with a little flour if necessary). Turn a drinking glass upside down and cut out biscuit rounds.
8. Then put them on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes or until lightly browned.


I served the chicken biscuits with swiss chard.  Never heard of swiss chard?  I hadn't until our CSA started giving it to us every.single.week.  This is what it you want to look for in the grocery store.

Remove the stalks and chop the leaves.

Sauteed Swiss Chard

• olive oil
• chopped/minced garlic
• swiss chard
• balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper
• parmesan cheese

1.  Saute the garlic in the olive oil for 2 minutes.
2.  Add swiss chard and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes.  While cooking drizzle balsamic vinegar over swiss chard.
3.  Season with salt and pepper.  Grate fresh parmesan over the swiss chard.

OK, so I know you're looking at this picture and thinking, "Heids McGhee, there is no way that my minis are eating that."  Well, I say, do what I do.  Set the plate in front of them and when they start to protest, shoot them your best mama-means-business stank eye.  Don't have a mama-means-business stank eye?  You've got bigger problems than swiss chard!

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.