Kitchen Tip Tuesday

Welcome to my first edition of Kitchen Tip Tuesday. It is my goal to participate in this blog carnival weekly to share a kitchen tip as well as learn something new, too. Just click here to visit the home of Kitchen Tip Tuesdays and learn other kitchen tips.

So, here we go.

Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs-I don't like to eat the ends of our loaves of whole wheat bread because they tend to get stale. This makes my husband crazy, among other things. But, I found a solution to this problem. I throw the left-over whole wheat bread in the freezer. Then, when I have a little extra time at home, I will gather all the left-over bread to make bread crumbs. I dry them in the oven for about 30 minutes at 200 degrees turning once to dry both sides of the bread. Then I throw them in the food processor to make bread crumbs that can then be stored in freezer bags. Now I have convenient and cheap whole wheat bread crumbs that can be used to make a family favorite, chicken tenders.

I plan on posting the links to Kitchen Tip Tuesdays under my "Sneaky Tip of the Week" section in the right column of my blog.

Please feel free to join the carnival and add your tips as well.

Other Sneaky Moms

Calling all sneaky moms!!!

Aren't we all sneaky moms when it comes right down to it? Whether it is getting our kids (and husbands) to healthier foods, turning boring chores into games to entice a toddler or sneaking in 15 minutes to take a power nap or catch up on reading other blogs, er, I mean polish my toenails or should I say empty the dishwasher.

Have you tried any of the blogs that are on the left of my blog text? Well, these next two recipes will give that opportunity.

First, I found this tasty granola bar recipe at Cents to Get Debt Free. This mama has lots of great ideas for frugal living as well as lots of recipes and ideas for other homemade items such as laundry soap and fabric softener.

While I was visiting Cents to Get Debt Free I saw her post for Meal Plan Monday and a recipe for oatmeal pancakes which was from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This mama has tons of wholesome and delicious recipes that might inspire you, too.

These granola bars were super easy to throw together and took no special skills to make them stick together. I baked them for about 25 minutes and will probably bake the next batch just a smidge longer as they were pretty chewy. But, Seth loved them and so did I. Sure beats those prepackaged "granola bars" with mystery ingredients. Plus, if you check on the math on the cost of the ingredients listed here they are much, much cheaper than the prepackaged bars. Plus, these are made with love and you know exactly what is in them.

I have been trying to make the oatmeal pancakes for about two weeks now, but kept putting it off. Silly me! WOW, these were great! They got the super tasty seal of approval from everyone in my household! PLEASE NOTE: the recipe is for a pancake mix that can be kept on hand for quick pancakes in the morning, BUT you will need to plan ahead a little as the mix needs to sit in buttermilk for about 20 minutes before cooking. To simplify even more, when I make my next batch I will make a double or triple batch and store in the freezer for a really quick breakfast. I even took a picture of what my pancake mix looks like for you.

I will also place links to these recipes in my recipes section for quick reference for you.

Puree Party

What's a puree party you ask?

Well, let me show you!

We took all of this beautiful, nutritious food and . . .

made these convenient bags of puree to use in "sneaky" recipes for our families.

We boiled,

(bonus, steam facial)

we steamed,

we processed,

we scooped,

and scooped,

we drank (these refreshing smoothies),

we bagged,

we counted,

and this is the "fruit" of our labor.

All of these bags of puree are able to be frozen and used at a moment's notice to add sneaky nutrition to any meal.

We also ate. What's a party without food? I made lots of samples of my sneaky recipes to share. Unfortunately, I was too busy eating to take any pictures of this part.

Sound like fun?

Wanna host your own puree party?

Let me know if you have any questions about hosting your own party. I would love to help. You can either leave a question in the comments section or email me at bdcannon@insightbb.com.

Wanna come to one of my puree parties?

Keep checking back here as I am trying to schedule some more parties and will link the sign-up form to my blog.

Did I mention that we had FUN!

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sticks

I am a big, no, HUGE fan of bacon, eggs and cheese almost as much as I am a fanatic about having a healthy breakfast. I am not such a big fan of the fat and calories associated with the above-mentioned foods, but know that in moderation I can enjoy and relish! So, this recipe is a great way to have my bacon, egg and cheese and sneak some healthy and convenient in along the way.

I found the recipe in the Sneaky Chef to the Rescue and tried it several months ago, but the outcome was dry and bland and I would not have recommended it to you as I made it then. But, after a little modification this recipe just won its place as one of my favorites. It even got the approval of my Mommy & Me aerobics class today. Still waiting on the husband and kid stamp of approval as I made this after our breakfast today. I will post the original recipe and my modifications. Some changes were made deliberately. Others were made out of convenience, such as I did not have buttermilk in the house, but used plain yogurt as a substitute.

These refrigerate for several days and can be frozen to enjoy as a hearty, healthy breakfast at a later date.

True Love

You know that it is true love when your husband sends you an internet link for something that he thinks will be good on your blog. While he was at work last night he found this link for more smoothie recipes http://www.delish.com/fruit-smoothie-recipes?kw=ist.

We tried one this morning and used the fresh black raspberries that we picked while visiting my mom in Kentucky this weekend. The flavor was good, BUT noone could get past the seeds. So, in short don't use black raspberries in these smoothies, but I guess if you wanted to do the extra work and strain the seeds out, but seriously who has time for that!

Here is a picture of Seth eating, I mean picking, raspberries this weekend!

Smoothies

It's HOT outside. REALLY HOT! So, here are a few recipes to help you cool off. These are easy and nutritious. You can use either a blender or food processor. If you have a hand held blender that you stick down in the cup then I would choose recipes that don't have frozen fruit in them.

Smoothies are a great way to get some nutrition in kiddos who are under the weather, too.

Experiment! You will see that all of these recipes are very different and you will be successful with a hundred combinations of any of these.

Red Smoothie

Flu Fighter Smoothie

Ashley's Smoothie

Peach Melba Smoothie

Peach Passions Smoothie

Tropical Treat Smoothie

Nectarine and Strawberry Smoothie

OR, just throw whatever fruit you have on hand (frozen or fresh) in the blender with some yogurt, pomegranate/orange/cranberry juice, sugar/honey and maybe some ice and see what you come up with.

CHALLENGE: Create your own smoothie or try one of these and let me know how it turns out.

Please send me your favorite smoothie recipe/creations!

Happy blending!

Tidbits

It has been almost two weeks since I last posted here. Sorry, things have been a little crazy around here. I have been having drama with my eye which culminated in me wearing an eye patch (ARRRGH Matey) for the last 24 hours, so, needless to say that staring at a computer screen for any amount of time was not fun. Just because I haven't been blogging does not mean that I haven't been cooking. 'Cause I have and LOTS.

This past weekend my husband was out of town and my mom came to visit which was a huge help in getting re-stocked on some of my sneaky supplies that I was getting low on. I made whole wheat bread crumbs out of all my old, leftover loaves of bread; ground almonds and made bags of better breading to keep in the freezer; SAM's had fresh chicken breasts and chicken tenders for an incredible price this weekend, $1.97/pound and $2.17/pound, so I stocked up and made lots of chicken tenders to freeze; I also got tons of fruit at SAM's including cherries which my wonderful mother pitted and I then turned into cherry puree, individual bags of frozen cherries and Seth finished off the rest. Monday night, my friend Ashley came over and we made puree, TONS of puree. In case you are curious how much a ton of puree is, about 168 1/4 cup bags of white, orange, purple and green puree. We had a some good girl time, made healthy stuff for our families and got to know each other better.













MODIFICATIONS: I have a couple of modifications that I will include here as I discovered during my cooking craze this past week. In making the blueberry oatmeal bars I discovered (*gasp*) that I was out of purple puree (thus sparking the fire for the puree party). But, I did have some spinach and made a quick puree out of that to use in the bars. It was actually better with the plain spinach puree. So, my next mission is to make some plain spinach puree to use for this favorite recipe. After that, I want to try it with blackberry preserves.

Also, I have had great success in making the Grab-n-Go Granola Bars stick together for my last two batches. So, here is what I did different. I used a 9x7 inch pan lined with foil. One attempt, I added a smidge more honey and the other I did not and it did not affect the outcome. So, add a little more honey if your tastes allow. I did make sure that I thoroughly mixed the dry ingredients with the wet before placing (smooshing them really good) in pan. Once I baked the bars, I let them cool completely (as in I covered them with foil and left them overnight on the kitchen counter). The next morning I was able to cut the bars beautifully. What a feeling of accomplishment!!!!

Finally, I am going to include a new recipe. It is for bolognese sauce. I have experimented with several sneaky recipes for a pasta sauce and had a hard time finding the right combination of sneaky ingredients and spices to get good flavor. But, this recipe passed the test. It even passed the picky husband test. It has lots and lots and lots of sneaky ingredients which is even more exciting. I used it over pasta and then froze some. Later, I used it to create a baked pasta dish. Hope you enjoy and modify as you and your family will enjoy.

Any red sauce is a great place to hide purees. Just start with a small amount and gradually add more for the health of your unsuspecting family. Orange, green or white purees hide especially well. I also sneak in some purees when I make chili in the winter.

I have been spinning a lot of sneaky ideas around lately including hosting a puree party to help other moms stock their kitchen with purees and have a good time while doing it.

Anyone interested?