How many of you eat pizza at home at least once a week? Do you tend to make it yourself or buy it? If you are a regular reader here, you know we have pizza every Friday night on our weekly meal plan. For a long time, we made our pizzas at home using the dough from Trader Joe’s. It’s cheap and fairly easy to roll out ourselves. When I got my bread machine this year, I decided to come up with a pizza dough recipe that will make two pizzas. It’s a great way to save some money and the kids like to help out with this easy project.
https://emilyroachwellness.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Pizza-Dough-Bread-Machine-Recipe.jpg21413045eroachwellnesshttps://emilyroachwellness.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Emily-Logo-header-1.pngeroachwellness2013-05-13 21:00:322019-01-03 22:06:25Homemade Pizza Dough With A Bread Machine
We are big peanut butter fans in our house. We go through tons of it on sandwiches, on bananas, in smoothies or on apples. I’m also a big fan of chocolate so I decided to combine the two and create a Chocolate Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt recipe. I was given some greek yogurt samples from Stonyfield and peanut butter samples from Peanut Butter & Co. Both are yummy on their own, but even better together.
Disclosure: I am a Stonyfield Clean Plate Club Ambassador and was offered yogurt and peanut butter to help facilitate this project. All opinions shared here are my own. I’m sharing this post with Melt in Your Mouth Monday.
If you are stuck inside during a blizzard, you must make cookies. Not only is it a fun activity to keep the kids busy, but it makes the whole house smell delicious. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I made these red and white Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies. They are easy to make, delicious, and a nice departure from your everyday chocolate chip cookie.
https://emilyroachwellness.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Cranberry-White-Chocolate-Cookies-RandomRecycling.jpg31282346eroachwellnesshttps://emilyroachwellness.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Emily-Logo-header-1.pngeroachwellness2013-02-13 07:35:452019-01-09 02:44:26Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
It may be winter, but a delicious smoothie still is a perfect snack. My kids are loving them and I am happy to use up some leftovers produce from the refrigerator. Our new favorite recipe is the spiced pumpkin smoothie recipe. It offers a healthy dose of vitamins A and C, which helps support a healthy immune system. Perfect for this time of year!
We recently found ourselves in a little eating rut. The kids were being picky, which is a bit unlike them. Time for a secret tool~ the skewer. Both kids are old enough to manage them with some adult supervision. At lunch, we included small bites of a deli roll-ups, fruits, veggies, pastas and beans. Both kids loved it.
She looked at it questioningly, but only for a moment before she polished it off.
I decided to test out the skewer theory at dinner. We made swordfish kabobs with green and red peppers. It had a mild marinade that pulled it all together. It was a hit. I choose swordfish, a fish that both kids (generally) like. You can also make this recipe with halibut, scrod, salmon or tuna steak.
1poundfresh fishhalibut, swordfish, salmon or tuna steak, cut into 1" pieces
1/2green peppercut into 1" pieces
1/2red peppercut into 1" pieces
Optional: 1/2 red onioncut into 1" wedges
4cherry tomatoes
Instructions
Combine oil, juice and mustard into a small glass baking dish. Stir to combine. Add chopped fish and stir. Marinate fish for about 8-10 minutes in the refrigerator.
Preheat broiler on high. Thread the fish and vegetables on four skewers, alternating with your choice of vegetables. (I soak my wood skewers for at least 10 minutes in water to prevent burning.)
Place skewers on a broiler pan and broil 4" away from the heat for about 3 minutes.
Turn kabobs and brush with remaining marinade. Broil for an additional 4 minutes or until fish is cooked through. (lightly flaky.)
https://emilyroachwellness.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Swordfish-Kabobs-Label.jpg22653240eroachwellnesshttps://emilyroachwellness.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Emily-Logo-header-1.pngeroachwellness2013-01-03 09:51:312019-02-18 21:00:33Why do kids love food served on skewers?
I took some time to look back over the past year of blog posts to see which ones you all liked the best in 2012. This is a fun exercise and it helps me brainstorm about new ideas to talk about in the coming year. If you have ideas for a future post, please leave a note in the comments.
You are going to learn how to make your own homemade vanilla extract in the steps ahead. I’m going to guess a few of you do a fair amount of baking. Did you have to buy vanilla extract at the store? It’s expensive and it’s not always that healthy for you. Many of the vanilla extracts sold are “imitation” and are really just filled with ethyl alcohol and chemicals. That doesn’t sound like a great way to make your desserts taste extra special now does it. Here is an easy recipe to make your own vanilla extract. I give bottles of it away as hostess gifts, and have one more mason jar saved for myself. Time to make a few more batches.
I cut the vanilla beans in half with scissors, then scraped the vanilla beans out into an sterile quart size glass mason jar. The vanilla beans are also added to the mason jar. Then cover the beans with your alcohol of choice. I used all three alcohols (separately) so I could decide which one is better. The bourbon smelled the best by far, but it is a more expensive choice. The better the alcohol you use, the better the end result. If you choose vodka, skip the plastic bottle bottom shelf vodka and get a mid-level priced option instead. It will create a better end result.
Next, store the jars in a cool, dark place. It has to be handy so it may be easier to just make some room in a kitchen cabinet. Over the next week, give the jars a gentle shake. After a week is up, transfer the jars to a storage area and let them sit for a minimum of six weeks. The longer they sit, the better. For the Christmas gifts I made, I did this in August and let them sit for months. Some say you can do it right away, others agree that longer steeping time is better.
Once your vanilla is ready, I strained the mixture using a double layer of cheesecloth. I bought adorable swing top bottles from a local store. I used these labels and printed them on sticker paper. I had to create my own sheet of just the vanilla labels, cut and paste into a new document to print just vanilla labels. Once the jars were full, I added in some of the vanilla beans for decoration.
There are tons of different ways to make your own vanilla extract. This article here has links to many other crafters which helped develop my own recipe.
Let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy your homemade vanilla extract!
https://emilyroachwellness.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/154750_464795590223725_72733396_n.jpg612612eroachwellnesshttps://emilyroachwellness.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Emily-Logo-header-1.pngeroachwellness2012-12-26 20:56:302019-02-18 20:39:24Make Your Own Homemade Vanilla Extract
I started making homemade granola bars about a year ago and have been tweaking the original recipe ever since. It’s finally ready to share with all of you. Our whole family enjoys them and it’s a healthy, hearty snack for mid-afternoon to hold us over till dinner. I usually make the granola bars while I’m making my weekly batch of granola. The ingredients are already out so I just need a second large bowl and a couple additional items.
Healthy Homemade Granola Bars
The best part of making granola bars in your own kitchen is you know exactly what inside each one. No scary ingredients you can’t pronounce. No strange preservatives and no high fructose corn syrup. This recipe uses only natural ingredients and you can doctor it up with your favorite add-ins like cranberries (our favorite), nuts, chocolate chips and other dried fruits. We also make them nut free sometimes so I can pack them in school lunches. I’ll add in pepitas instead of nuts to keep it protein heavy.
I just can’t get enough pumpkin these days. Muffins, breads, lattes and finally, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I created this recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies using Stonyfield yogurt to replace the butter and fats called for originally. The cookies come out very moist and are healthier than the average cookie. It makes me feels better when I reach for more than one!
Recently I teamed up with Stonyfield as part of their Clean Plate Club. Here you can find lots of family friendly healthy recipes sure to make your kids join the Clean Plate Club. I am excited to come up with challenges in the coming months of how to use more yogurt in recipes to create healthier options, like these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
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