Tag Archives: October Unprocessed

October Freezer Cooking

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This past week was one that I was so grateful for a stocked freezer.  Supper prep for the most part involved walking into the kitchen and asking Liam what he wanted to eat. This past week, I needed the ease of a frozen meal, freshly washed lettuce for salads and fruit for the kids. I’m having to make some adjustments with Liam’s routine again and make sure he’s getting a quiet period during the day so he can rest. That boy… just like his mama. Too much busyness and he is a disaster. Thankfully, I’m learning through his needs that I can say “no” to people and activities if it’s just too much. A lesson I really, really needed!

Anyway.  I grocery shopped on Thursday of last week. It took hours because I did Sam’s Club, Kroger, Target, bulk food store, Wayne’s and our butcher shop. But again, I will only have to go to the grocery in the next month for fresh fruit and vegetables and milk. Totally worth it. I did a whole food menu for the month of suppers and made sure to account for leftovers to be eaten on the weekends and for lunches. I also calculated in for a few meals that will not be eaten at home due to birthdays, the tri and Boo at the Zoo. Friday morning, I got up with my list of meals and did the crock-pot prep meals. I started working at 930 and did not put the last dish in the dishwasher until about 830 that night. BUT, I took time out of working to play with the kids, assist in the potty, color, serve meals, read stories, change diapers, answer questions and hand out snacks. If I hadn’t done those things, I think I could have been done in about 5 hours.

  • Taco Soup (2 batches)
  • Tuscan Mac and Cheese (2 batches)
  • Meatloaf (2 batches, meatloaf made and shaped then frozen)
  • Greek Casserole (4 batches… this was a mistake, should have only been 2, but they are in the freezer for a quick meal when needed)
  • Pizza (2 batches of dough made and then frozen.)
  • Chicken Tikka (ingredients in a bag that will easily dump into the crockpot whenever I’m ready)
  • Chicken Parmesan Meatballs (not prepped and recipe to be shared… eventually)
  • Meatballs (2 batches, one for stroganoff and one for bbq meatballs with orzo)
  • Cheeseburger Mac (meat and seasonings cooked, and in a bag with the cheese and pasta… will take 10 minutes to finish)
  • Dippin Tacos
  • Sloppy Janes with ground turkey (not sure how great this will be… I was tired by the time I got to this recipe, so this could wind up being a pb&j sort of night.)
  • Pot Roast with mashed potatoes (Meat will go in the crockpot and the mashed potatoes are made and ready to bake.)
  • Spicy Apple Glazed meatballs (new recipe that I can’t wait to share!!)
  • Beef Pot Pie (this will be made with the leftover pot roast meat so it’s not even prepped)
  • Confetti Chicken Pasta (new recipe, not freezer friendly)
  • Chicken Alfredo and Rice Casserole (new recipe and I’m not certain how freezer friendly it will be… we’ll see)
  • Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup
  • Panini
  • Falafel (not prepped, but the garbanzos are cooked and waiting in the freezer)
  • Sloppy Lentils (also not prepped, but the lentils are cooked and in the freezer)
  • Bread (4 loaves made and 3 frozen)
To be entirely fair, the beans and lentils were already cooked and in the freezer (which is how I picked those meals) and I baked the bread Wednesday. I also decided to bake the meatballs instead of frying them and I may never go back.  I made 2 pounds of meatballs and then just baked an entire pan full while I continued to work. In the next few months, I won’t do as many freezer meals because of the holidays, but I do plan a turkey for next month and look forward to some fun casseroles or quesadillas with the leftovers!
So my freezer is stocked and I’m free to spend my afternoons playing in the still pleasant weather or baking. Although… now that I’m not training for something, I probably shouldn’t bake so much. I hopped on the WiiFit this morning and it yelled at me for snacking. I wonder who told that nosy thing?!

Hangry no more!

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Our weekends have changed around here. Saturdays are filled with lots of fun Fall activities, bike rides, and family trips. On Sundays we are going to the late service for now so we aren’t home until right before Sylvi’s nap and everyone is hungry. Even though we have a less than 5 minute drive to and from church, somehow we manage to return home with super crabby children and I’m always looking for a quick way to get everyone fed healthily.

Enter my beloved slow cooker. Of late, I’ve managed to get lunch planned the night before and into the slow cooker after breakfast. Because I need to have food on the table by about 1230, I also need something that will cook in 3-4 hours.

If I didn’t get it together in time to think of a good crockpot meal, then it’s scrambled egg sandwiches and fruit. I’m trying to plan ahead so that I won’t find myself with a Hangry family and fast food regrets.
How does you family do meals with Real Food on the busy days?

October again!

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It’s that time of year again!! The October Unprocessed Challenge officially begins today! I participated in it last year and it was the jump start I needed to get back into the habits I knew I should have kept. As a matter of fact, last year’s challenge changed a lot of things for me and I will credit it with my current quality of life… a quality of life I happen to love.

Last year, I found amazing recipes to replace foods that I had purchased in the store for years because I just hadn’t bothered to try. In preparation for the Unprocessed Challenge, I’ve put together a list of foods that you can make in your own kitchen from real ingredients. These recipes even pass the kitchen test that Andrew Wilder discussed way back in 2010, which you can find here.

I’m looking forward to what this October has to bring, both in experiences and recipes!
Did you take the Challenge? Is this a new experience, or are you a pro?

UNprocessed UPdate

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I joined the  October Unprocessed Challenge mainly because it seemed to make sense.  I was already doing a weight loss challenge and needed to get get a grip on what was going in my body.  And… as luck would have it, I had just restocked my pantry with whole grains, raw sugar and as much fresh food as I could fit.  I’m particularity relieved to have done this challenge as it served as the jump start I needed to get myself back to what I know to be best for myself and my family.
I was worried about doing this challenge because my toddler is absurdly picky.  I say absurdly because I did everything “right”.  I made his food, we went grocery shopping together, I’ve had him in the kitchen with me since he was a newborn.  He wants applesauce and Cheerios.  It drives me batty.  I wanted to figure out a way to get more nutrition in him without battling so much.  In the month of October, I introduced brown rice, falafel, pureed vegetables hidden in almost every meal and honey instead of sugar.  He’s eaten pretty well.  I let him keep his beloved goldfish crackers, but cut out all the other snack foods that he liked.  And when we made cookies, I added pureed organic chickpeas.  Not only did he eat them just as well as he would have “normal cookies”, he didn’t ask for very many.  They were filling and he was contented with a cookie that was nutritiously sound for once! 
My 6 month old started solids in the month of October.  We decided that she would only eat organic and homemade foods, so I made a lot of applesauce, roasted sweet potatoes like a fiend and sliced lots of avocados.  I let her feed herself as much as was realistically possible.  She loves food and also the general experience of sitting with us at the table, partaking the social connections.  I am still nursing her quite frequently through the day and night and I noticed that once I cut processed foods and therefore soy products and food dyes, she became happier and started to sleep moderately better.  It has a stark reminder of how harmful a little thing can be, even though filtered through another body.
I was slightly concerned that my husband would  complain about the food changes.  On the contrary, he’s eaten everything I put in front of him without complaint, even the vegetarian options!  I wound losing a total of 8 pounds in the month of October, for a total of 9.5 during the 6 week weigh loss challenge.  It feels like my body has been detoxing, though.  My skin suddenly started to break out angrily and there were days when the only thing I could eat was rice and broccoli.  On the upside, I did notice a clarity in my mind despite my current lack of sleep that I can only attribute to my elimination of food dyes and preservatives. 

Another benefit for me from doing this challenge was that it kicked me back into great with making my own foods.  I returned to making my breads and learned how to make pitas, roast red peppers and replaced canned cream-of-whatever soups in my monthly cooking with a homemade version that worked just as well.  Now that I’ve gotten in the routine of making things food with a purpose, it’s comfortable again.  In the end, I’d say that the October Unprocessed challenge has left me grateful.  I’m grateful because in addition to the wonderful benefits for me and my family, it’s opened the door for me to talk to other moms in the area and find women who have like goals for their families.  And really, it’s that the way it’s supposed to be?  The connections I’ve made in the last few weeks have soothed my soul in place of snack foods and mindless nibbling.  I’ve come out of this energized and inspired.  Oh.  And November is just going to have to be unprocessed, too.  Once you start, it’s hard to stop.

Pocket sized triumphs

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There are days when I realize that the reason why I haven’t done something is simply because I was too unmotivated to get started.  Case in point: pitas.  For years, I’ve read blog posts about how simple it is to make your own and I just haven’t gotten around to it.  However, since doing the October Unprocessed and behaving myself so well, it just seemed silly to buy pitas for our falafels.  The most challenging thing about this recipe is that I was a nervous wreck about how hot the oven was with Liam running around.  I did have to employ the hubs to keep an eye on the kids while I was making the pitas, but it worked out.  And I made the pitas while the falafels were frying so everything was done about the same time!  Most amazing part of making pitas at home?  Getting to watch the pitas puff up as they cooked!  I did a dance during most of the cooking, I was so excited!
Unprocessed Pitas
  • 3 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. yeast
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 1/4 c. warm water
* I used my kitchenaid mixer to make this recipe, but you can do all the kneading by hand if you choose.*
Put the yeast and warm water in the bowl of your mixer and allow to bloom by leaving it alone for 2-5 minutes.  Then, add in the rest of the ingredients and mix with the paddle attachment.  Once the dough is mixed, stop the mixer and switch to the dough hook.  Put the mixer on the 3rd speed and lock the mixer so it doesn’t move.  Then, set your timer for 10 minutes and let the mixer knead the dough.  At the end of the 10 minutes, the dough should be soft and smooth.  Remove the dough hook and place the dough in a warm spot covered with a damp towel.  
Allow the dough to rise for at least an hour and after that if you are not using it right away, put it in the fridge for up to 3 days.  Keep it covered and check every hour for the first 4 to make sure it doesn’t continue to rise.  When you are ready to make your pitas, preheat your oven to 475 degrees and place a baking stone or a cast iron skillet in it so that as the oven heats up, so does the stone.  (I used my pizza stone for the pitas.  It’s been used for a number of meals, so it’s well seasoned.)  Divide the dough into 12 balls and cover them with a damp towel while you are working on the pitas.  Take each ball and roll it out until it’s at most 1/4 inch thick.  Keeping the dough moist is what helps them puff up in the oven while they cook.  


I can fit 3 rounds on my stone at a time.  Quickly open the oven and put the pitas on the stone (or skillet) and close the door.  It is helpful to turn on your oven light if you have one so you don’t have to keep opening the door to check the pitas.  Cook for about 3 minutes, or until they have puffed up delightfully.  When the pitas are done, remove them from the oven the keep them covered with a towel as you work on the others.  Cut the pitas in half to use as sandwiches or into wedges to serve as dippers!

Roasted

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See that beautiful baby in the photo?  She’s sweet and precious and someone I fight to protect every moment of my day.  I started doing the October Unprocessed because I was already on a weight loss challenge and I figured it would be good for me.  As the weeks have passed, I’m realizing it was the jump start we needed to get ourselves back on track to healthy eating.  And the motivation I needed to start trying a little harder to make sure those whole foods come back and stay back.
I love that when I open my refrigerator, it’s full of glass jars with things I made myself.  Ghee, salad dressing, jams and now roasted red peppers!  I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but just never got around to it.  However when I was stocking up on pie pumpkins, I found a good deal on local red peppers.  I bought a few with the intention of roasting them and then making my own hummus again.  It took me a few weeks (I know, you’d think I was busy or something…), but once I did it, I was thrilled with the results!  

I don’t have a gas stove so my options are either to roast them on the grill or in the oven.  The weather has been less than pleasant so I opted to do them in my oven.  It took a while since I was timid with the heat, but the result was wonderful!  I set the temperature at 425 and then cut up the peppers.  The peppers that blistered the most were the ones that were the flattest, so I know for next time that you have to cut them with purpose so that they will set on the baking sheet skin up without wobbling.  I lined the baking sheet with tin foil and filled it with peppers.  Into the oven they went and I turned on the light so I could watch them while I worked in the kitchen.  In about 25 minutes, I could see the skins blistering up and forming a bubble.  I took them out of the oven at half an hour and then quickly wrapped them up in the foil so they could steam.  Once the peppers were cool enough to handle, but still warm, I peeled the skin off with my fingers.  I used a few to make hummus and the rest, I put in a jar with some minced garlic and equal parts olive oil and water.  I’m very excited to use my peppers in future recipes and I’m so excited that I made them myself for a fraction of the usual cost!

Lately

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I know, I know… again with the lack of blog posts.  There’s a lot going on here!  I’m busy with the October Unprocessed challenge and beginning some Tot school work with Liam.  And I’m writing other places!
Sunday, my first Opinion shapers column was in the Mansfield News Journal.  So far, I’ve gotten negative comments, so if you’d like to read and have the desire to leave sometime positive, go for it!  I got an email tonight from a reader and it really made my day to hear that she had appreciated my article.
Today, I guested for Abbie at Farmer’s Daughter.  She’s teaching Physics this year, so I got the chance to write about my sewing skills.

Speaking of which, I made Liam a little apron this afternoon to wear while we cook.  Matt made him a Helping Tower to keep him from falling off the chairs in his excitement to help me.  I’m pretty excited about it and so is he.  So much that at night in his attempts to not go to bed, he asks begs to bake with Mama.  Anything to not miss out on the excitement of staying up late!

Tomorrow is the October Carnival of Natural Parenting.  Our topic is Money Matters and I personally, am really excited to read the other submissions and maybe learn something new.  Or even get some couponing tips.  I don’t know about you, but I get nervous thinking about stacking coupons.  You know that show on TLC about extreme couponing and how those people are always freaking out at the check out over their totals?  Yeah.  Their totals are in the hundreds to thousands.  I stacked coupons for the first time for toilet paper last week and was sweating in anxiety that I wasn’t doing it right.  Clearly, I could use a few more tips!

October fresh

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In the interest of full disclosure, I haven’t been such a healthy eater these last few months.  During the last weeks of my pregnancy and early weeks of Sylvia’s life, other people were doing my grocery shopping and buying whole grains kind of slipped through the cracks.  Little by little processed foods found their way into my cabinets and freezer and I started to feel pretty crummy.  I knew every time I opened my cabinets and saw boxes and plastic containers, something really needed to change, but I didn’t have the motivation to do anything about it.
I joined a Moms fitness group and as luck would have it, they are doing a weight loss challenge.  My BMI is hideous so I signed right up. Part of the challenge involved writing down everything that I eat.  Nothing like having to admit to a woman who runs marathons that you’ve had pizza twice in 72 hours to whip you into shape.  I lost a pound in 3 days because I was conscious of what I was doing.  Part of my issue is boredom munching.  Being aware of how much I snack because I’m not doing anything else has kind of scared me.
Thankfully, I had been out a bulk food store the weekend prior to this and restocked my pantry.  The flour was empty, so I replaced it with whole wheat.  I didn’t have a single box of pasta, so I bought semolina flour vegetable pastas.  It felt good to fill my shelves with food that had value.  I did my batch cooking that weekend with food that had been harvested or raised within 100 miles.  For 2 weeks, I’ve been pulling from my freezer meals that were prepared thoughtfully and sustainably.  I’ve not been rushed at supper and tempted to order out because I’m prepared.  It took a whole day and a half to get things organized, cooked and prepped, but it’s been totally worth it.  
Yesterday, I saw a post about October Unprocessed.  I went to the site and read through and decided this was what I needed to do to really get myself back where I belong.  I had had Subway for lunch, felt guilty and told Matt we’re going to start behaving again.  There was only mild grumbling.  For supper, I made grilled turkey and cheese and homemade tomato soup from the tomatoes I canned last month.  I can’t tell you how good it was.  I’ve adapted the rules to fit what my toddler eats and what is already in my freezer for the month, but I’m not messing around any more.  
After supper, I made ranch dressing and spicy remoulade.  Matt had brought home some Boar’s Head Spicy remoulade a few weeks ago and I totally fell in love with it.  Turns out, though, I couldn’t find a recipe that suited my needs, so I played around until I got what I wanted.  Poor Matt got stuck with baths tonight while I tinkered around in the kitchen.  However, I ran samples in to him so he could help with the process so I think that it was worth it in the end.
October Remoulade
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 Tbsp. minced sundried tomato
  • 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp. dried parsley
  • 1/2 tsp. cayenne
  • 1/2 tsp. chili powder
  • 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • 2 tsp. horseradish
  • 1 minced garlic clove
  • splash Worcestershire
  • 1/2 tsp. paprika
  • 1/4 tsp. sea salt
  • 1 shallot, minced

Saute the shallot and garlic in a small bit of butter, until fragrant and translucent.  Stir in the sundried tomato and mustard and heat through.  Remove from the heat and mix in the remaining ingredients, the mayonnaise last.  Spread on sandwiches, use as a dip or eat it with a spoon.  Store in a sealed container in the fridge.