Sad but not devastated:
La Choy Fortune Cookies: Yellow 5 and Yellow 6
Smucker’s caramel flavored syrup: yellow 6, red 40
Smucker’s butterscotch topping: yellow 5, yellow 6
Kraft creamy french dressing: yellow 6, yellow 5
Any flavor cake mix except chocolate

Not really that sad:
Vanilla pudding mix (harvest of the west): yellow #5 and yellow #6
bear creek tortilla soup mix: Yellow #6

Some of the pictures from old posts are killing me.  This one in particular from November of 2007.

I was thinking today how big Cori looked- then I saw this picture and the chub in her cheeks (that’s no longer there) and it just seems so long ago that she even remotely looked like a baby!

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Yeast
2 Tbsp Sugar
2.5 Cups warm water
2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp oil
5-6 cups of flour

Mix all ingredients together- kneading until flour is incorporated. Let rise overnight for the dough that’s easiest to handle- or let rise on counter until double in size. But you can make the dough up on Monday and not use it for several days if you want.

Press the dough out into circles (about 10 inches works well) and then rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and oregano. Par bake the crust in a pan on the stove until it bubbles and is golden brown (flipping to par bake both sides). Remove from pan before it’s cooked all the way through. Top with sauce, cheese and toppings and put it in the oven (preheated to 500 degrees) directly on the rack until the cheese is melted.

The par baking and high temperature baking helps to avoid the soggy crust.

Spices to taste:
basil
garlic
salt

Mix all ingredients and heat to a low boil. Turn down and simmer until combined and the same consistency/texture throughout. You can run it through the blender for a smoother sauce.

You’ll need food safe dowels- I get them in the cake decorating aisle (of a craft store or Walmart).
I start soaking the dowels in warm water when I make my dough- so they soak for at least an hour while the dough rises and I make my crusts for pizza.

Then roll out pieces of dough into long ’snakes’ as my kids call them, roll out all your dough so that the first ones are ‘resting’ while you roll out the rest, this will make the dough easier to roll onto your sticks.

Then wind them up around the soaked sticks and lay on a cookie sheet. Brush with melted butter and either sprinkle with garlic salt and basil, or brush with butter and then roll in a cinnamon and sugar mix. (Don’t sprinkle on the cinnamon and sugar- you’ll end up with a burnt, smoky mess).

Here is the rolled out dough and the first couple of one’s ready for the oven:
Here is a close up of the oven ready ones (before adding spices):
Here they are out of the oven :

Brush with butter as they come out of the oven while they’re hot- this will keep them soft. Baking them on the sticks keeps them moist. They turn out fabulous (and eating them off the sticks is just fun).

And these are my lovely assistants/taste testers:

Saute:
1 onion
5Tbs. (ish) minced garlic (I use pre minced garlic- but you can substitute powder to taste- but add after tomatoes)
one green pepper
1lb of ground beef (I use extra lean)
This is a good place to add extra veggies and grains also. I generally add chopped zucchini and quinoa.

When veggies are cooked through and beef is browned add:
2-3 cans of tomatoes
1 can kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can of corn
taco seasoning to taste
simmer until it’s cooked through

Serve over lettuce and chips and top with sour cream, cheese, guacamole and olives. I like to add ketchup to mine- which my husband finds disgusting, my kids like it with ranch, which I can’t stomach. I like to make mine with lettuce on the bottom and then crush just a few chips on top for crunch without adding too many calories.

Also when I make this I make a huge batch and then freeze it for a quick dinner in a week or two.

Sweet and Sour sauce:
mix:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp ginger (I usually add more of each ginger and garlic though)
2 Tbls. cornstarch
then add:
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (white works though)
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1/3 cup water (you can add more water and less juice or more juice less water to adjust sweetness)
2 tsp soy sauce

microwave for 4-5 minutes until thickened

The important thing here is options. You don’t HAVE to have all of these ingredients- and when you put them on the table it’s best to let people build their own.

Base:
Rice (I prefer brown- but white works well)
‘crunchy noodles’ (chow mein noodles)

Create your haystack with any/all of the following:
cheese
pineapple
ham
cut up chicken
polish keilbsa
celery
tomatoes
peppers (I like red ones on mine)
olives
green onions
coconut
almonds

Top with Sweet and Sour sauce

Ingredients:
1 Pkg. Angel Hair Pasta
1 bottle of Zesty Italian dressing (Kraft)
meat cut into bite sized pieces (we did grilled chicken pre cooked and thawed from costco, and pepperoni)
veggies (green/red peppers, tomatoes, olives, zucchini, summer squash)
cheese if you want (we did cheddar, asiago and fresh parm tonight)

Toss all together with dressing (not the whole bottle- just enough to moisten) and serve cold.

I attended a cooking class this week that’s got me all fired up about eating healthy. I think on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being only eating McDonald’s to 10 being only eating food that we grow organically in the season that it’s grown we probably rate a 6 on the ‘healthy’ scale. My kids eat fairly well and I cook (generally mostly from scratch) often. We usually have a selection of veggies and fruits with meals and my kids eat them. I sneak veggies into the main dish as well.

This class I attended was fabulous. The presenters discussed ways to lessen the meat that you serve your family and adequately replace the proteins with whole grains- in ways other then in bread! They discussed grains I’d never heard of, and some I had but didn’t know the health benefits of. I paid a visit to the health food store and $50 later am ready to start some experimenting.

I’ve struggled with a variety of physical ailments, auto immune diseases that seem to come and go without explanation (diseases that shouldn’t go once they’re diagnosed). My 5 (almost 6) year-old struggles with chronic constipation. If nothing else I’m hoping a diet higher in whole grains (besides wheat) will help her bowels function properly.

I have a tendency to go through phases, to get all excited and fired up- but this is EASY. That’s the key. You cook your regular recipes and WoW it in order to up the fiber and the vitamins and minerals and your family won’t even know! Wherever you’re at you just do a little better.

I’m going to start by discussing some grains that I’m experimenting with- and sharing recipes- the old way and what I’ve done to Wow it. I’m excited. Hold on tight!