Organic Food and Non GMO

Have you been paying attention to the news about our food supply? The more I learn, the more alarmed I become. Our food supply, in general, is in trouble. We are eating food that is pumped full of chemicals, additives, antibiotics, pesticides and preservatives. We no longer eat what our grandparents and generations before that ate. No wonder diseases including cancers, IBS, obesity, gluten and other allergies are so prevalent in our society. 

What can we do? We must try to buy organic, non GMO, free range, no antibiotics, no preservatives, no additives or anything artificial added! Food that has been raised humanely is a must as well as avoidance of most farm raised fish. This is not only extremely difficult but also is expensive. I find myself scouting out sources for "clean" food-fortunately I have stores around me that carry some good options including farmer's markets, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Kroger, Central Market, and more. However, one must question-can we trust the labels? Even if vegetables and fruits are marked organic, does that mean they were also grown from non GMO, organic seeds? 

I have started a very small garden of my own. I would have a much larger one already if it weren't for my extreme fear of snakes. I have lots of non venomous garden snakes in my yard and the very idea of working in the earth in such close proximity of them makes me somewhat nauseated. However, I know I could grow things myself that would be healthier alternatives to many grocery store options, so I am studying organic gardening and similar resources. 

I may try some raised beds and add more containers to my gardening! Ha :)

 

Spaghetti Sauce

No one makes home made spaghetti sauce as delicious as my mom. She simmers all the ingredients together from scratch and it is amazing.  Of course, that's how most of us feel about our mom's cooking  :)

I did come up with a tasty sauce that I am sharing today. Here's how I made it:

In a large pot, pour a few tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of the pan and over medium high heat, add a chopped onion and three minced garlic cloves. Simmer for a few minutes and add chopped vegetables of your choice. My favorites include zucchini, summer squash, red bell pepper, artichokes and fresh spinach.

Saute the veggies for about five minutes then add 1/4 cup of good red wine. Simmer with 2 tsp garlic salt, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp Italian seasoning and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes. Adjust seasonings to taste. 

Pour one large jar of good spaghetti sauce into the pot-I use Muir Glen Organic. You can also use canned or fresh tomatoes or tomato sauce or paste as options.

I added 1/2 cup of cooked ground beef to the sauce and simmered til the spaghetti noodles, cooked separately, are done. 

*Add fresh spinach at the very end of the cooking and sprinkle with fresh Parmesan cheese to serve.

Enjoy!

Halloween Treats 2013

Halloween Treats

 

We had our annual Halloween Pumpkin Carving Party and I made some really fun treats that I thought I would share.

 

Mummy cookies-oreos covered in chocolate melts and topped with candy eyeballs. I bought the candy molds to make this at Michael's.

These were simple-just purchase the pre-made edible cupcake toppers and add a little red frosting for blood and you have festive cupcakes!

Twinkie Mummies-simply twinkies dipped into white candy melts with candy eyes and a little extra candy melts drizzled over them with a fork to finish.

Candy Corn Jello shots-I used this recipe but changed the liquor on the white layer to Godiva white chocolate liqueur and on the other two layers to vanilla vodka. Recipe: http://www.myscienceproject.org/halloween.html

Faux Cat Litter-just Grape Nuts Cereal and Tootsie Rolls

Mummy Dogs- Just cut crescent roll dough into strips and wrap around cocktail wieners to resemble a mummy. I used black frosting to dot eyes after baking.

Samples of some of the best Jack O Lanterns-this one won for Scariest

This won for funniest (LMFAO Character)

This eerie one with the skull popping out took home Best In Show!

Caramel Apple or Apple Jello O Shots-I used Jolly Rancher Green Apple Jello and Green Apple liqueur and topped a few off with Caramel Sauce (I used the store bought kind in a jar for ice cream/dessert topping).

 

Happy Halloween All!

 

 

 

 



Fantasy Football Snackstadium

Every year we host the gathering for the Fantasy Football League Draft for family and friends. We have a great time together and I enjoy making snacks. Every year I make a snack stadium and here's the latest and greatest one to date:

In the beginning:

I used matting material that was on sale at Hobby Lobby. It was a little hard to cut evenly with the new exacto knife I bought. I made up the design and I went along. I wanted it to be large-like a real stadium.
I added collectable football player stickers to the stadium to simulate football posters hanging on the walls.

After filling with snacks:

We used Cheetos puff snacks, Fritos, Tostitos, Chex Mix, Movie Style Popcorn, Cheese Nips, and Chocolate Chip Cookies-which are all fan favorites at our home.

After making the guacamole field:

I included mini football players from Michael's-used for their football mums and sour cream for field line markers. Instead of slim jims, I used pretzels for goal posts this year, secured by a block of cheese underneath the guacamole.  I have used salsa and queso for end zone areas before, but kept them separate this year.

Everyone seemed to enjoy it-it was shown by others on instagram and snap chat, so that makes it a success to me.

I made a double batch of queso, homemade salsa, frosted brownies with a football shape piped on top, chili with fixings, and buffalo chicken bites. We also had Cajun, hot pepper, and cheese popcorn from a local specialty popcorn shop.

I also shaped the popular Frito's bean dip into a football shape complete with sour cream laces:

Lastly, the biggest hit of the party seemed to be the sausage and cheese stuffed jalepenos:

A good time was had by all! Good luck with the fantasy teams! I love football....

Halloween 2012

I love to decorate for Halloween. I don't do very scary, but fancy instead. I am sharing some pictures for you to enjoy. Happy Halloween!

Makin' Bacon

Here's a way to cook bacon without making a mess!
Take a cookie sheet and cover with foil or parchment paper for easy clean up.
Put your uncooked bacon on the sheet. Place sheet in cold oven and turn on oven to 400 degrees. Check after 15 minutes. Bacon will cook in oven and remain in long neat strips. Remove from oven when cooked to desired crispiness and let cool. Enjoy!
Toss foil into trash and you are done!

Fantasy Football Draft Party 2012

We hosted the second annual fantasy football draft party yesterday. The guys had fun and a new league was formed. Here are a few things I made for the party:

Snack Stadium:

Bean dip topped with homemade guacamole for the football field and two kinds of salsas for the end zones. One side was jar Tostitos salsa and the darker is gourmet hatch green chili salsa from Market Street Grocery Store. I piped sour cream as lines and the field goals are made from beef sticks.
I put sub sandwiches around to hold in the chips. Really fun to do-but next year, I am getting a longer pan-to make the field longer.

Football brownies:
Just bake a jelly roll pan of brownies (doubled the recipe). When cooled, cut into football shapes and then pipe white icing as the laces on top.

 We are a house united-some of my money went to TCU and some went to OU :) So, I made my front door decor half for TCU and half for OU. I hand made the footballs because I couldn't find any large enough online or in any crafts stores.
I lit the garland because, well, I love lights! OK, it isn't anything NFL, but hey, I watch both NFL and college football, so it works for me and I wanted to represent these two schools anyways. IIt also matches my two yard signs.
Go Frogs! Boomer Sooner! With both of these schools in the Big 12 this year, it's going to be an interesting season.