And the Winner is...

About two weeks ago I started a contest for folks to help spread the word about this new site and I appreciate everyone helpign to spread the word.  Unfortunately, this time around, I can only award one prize.  I used the random number generator at Random.org and it gave me the lucky number:



and of the comments left on the original post - the 8th commenter was Katharine - Congratulations!  I will be sending you an e-mail with an e-gift certificate!  Thanks everyone for playing and stay tuned for lots of fun things coming up!  The next few days I'll be posting fun grilling tips and recipes and some great zucchini breads tha t are great to bake and freeze!

Have a great weekend!

Freezer Friday: Baby Food

Welcome to Freezer Fridays!  Usually through the course of the week, there is something that is being stored in the freezer for later.  It may be batch meals, sauces or staple items. This time of year, produce from the garden, farmers’ market or sale often gets stashed.  This week more of our meals have come from the freezer rather than gone into it. Our garden is under attack by the local wildlife and poor weather patterns so there is a dismal amount of produce actually destined for the freezer.  So, this week, the meals that made it to the freezer were GBaby’s!

I made batches of yellow squash, zucchini and sweet potatoes baby food to have stashed for the next couple of weeks.  (I also made peaches, but the need to perfect that technique before I share it here.)

First, I scrubbed the veggies very well and chopped them into small pieces.  I ended up with about 4 cups of each vegetables.  Put the pieces in the bowl and then put the vegetables into the microwave.  While microwaves differ in power and cook times, the rule of thumb that I use is that when the vegetable is cooked enough that I would eat it (albeit with more seasonings!) it is ready to be made into baby food.  The zucchini and squash took about 4 minutes in my microwave and the sweet potatoes took about 6 minutes.



Then, puree the vegetables.  I like to use the immersion blender for this as I find it easier to get a good, smooth consistency without having to make the food too runny.  Others may choose their blender or food processor.  For me, I dump the cooked veggies into the mixing cup and attack them with the immersion blender.  The squash and zucchini had enough liquid in them that they blend down just fine.  I had to add about ½ cup of water to the sweet potatoes to get them smooth.  The consistency of the food is subjective and you may make it as thick or thin as you would like.  I like to make it on the thicker side and then thin it with breast milk or water when I serve it.



Once your puree has reached the consistency you like, spoon it into an ice-cube tray.  Put the tray in the freezer and freeze the baby food.  This is a great way to portion out your baby food.  Once the cubes are frozen they can be stored in a zip lock and the combined for baby food du jour when you are ready to serve them.

I have small plastic containers that perfectly fit one large cube or two smaller ones.  I pull enough food for 1-2 days at a time and stack up frozen cubes in these containers in the fridge to defrost.  At mealtime I combine the food with cereal and additional liquid if necessary and serve.  GBaby has preferred hers cold lately due to teething, but you may heat it with whatever method you are comfortable.

For 30 minutes of work and $2 in produce I was able to make three trays of food, with 12 ounces of baby food of food per tray.  36 ounces of Gerber: approximately $14. Not bad for a half hour’s work!

Thinking about making your own baby food?  Check out WholesomeBabyfood.com for more information.

Have you made your own baby food?  What was your experience?  Please share your reply below :)

Cloth Diaper Resources

So if you’ve been following my blog this week you’ve gotten a taste of what our trip down Cloth Diaper Lane has entailed.  There are so many options and new innovations that make cloth diapering parent friendly.  I’ve only really gone into details on the basics of the diapering system we chose but there are others available that you may want to consider.

One little gadget that I didn’t mention before is the Snappi.  This little gizmo eliminates the use of diaper pins and works sort of like the little things that you use to fasten an ace bandage.  You sink the “teeth” into the cloth on either side of the diaper and then in the middle and the diaper stays put.  It’s great, especially on wiggly babies! (Let’s hear it for the cloth diapering dad that came up with this great invention!)



Pocket Diapers: Pocket diapers are a cover with a pocket sewn into the inside.  An insert or a prefold that is folded up is then placed into the diaper for absorbency.  The insert is then removed and washed with the cover.  Once the cover has been soiled, as I understand it, it is headed for the laundry.

All-In-One Diapers: An all-in-one diaper is a one-use-then-wash diaper.  The absorbent layers are sewn right into the cover.  These are great for day-cares and babysitters as they go on baby just like a disposable diaper.

Fitted Diapers: Fitted diapers are the alternative to the prefold diapers.  Usually they are made of super absorbent fabric and are contoured to fit baby and Velcro shut.  Fitted diapers must be covered by a diaper cover.

If you’re interested in checking out the options, go searching on the web and find a retailer somewhere near you.  We ended up going about an hour to Jillian’s Drawers to check out our options and they were super helpful.  They even worked with me over the phone when I was trying to decide on the next size up for GBaby.  (We ended up with the Thirsties Duos – they’re great!)

Looking for even more options?  Check these out:

DiaperPin.com – great reviews from parents on the many diaper options and retailers that are out there

BumGenius.com – major manufacturer of all-in-one and adjustable size diapers

ThirstiesBaby.com – Thirsties makes covers, pocket diapers, and fitted diapers

Etsy.com – carries handmade diapers and covers

Have questions?   Please post here and I’ll see what I can come up with for ya!

Cloth Diapers Tips & Tricks

Processing used cloth diapers is not as difficult or as gross as I had imagined.  When we agreed that we were going to use cloth diapers, I put a condition on it that I wanted diaper sprayers on both our upstairs and downstairs toilets.  I’m so glad I did!  We used the directions from GidgetGoesHome.com and the final product is great and it is about half the cost of the prepackaged kits.

I’ve been told it helped that since I nursed GBaby it saved us from the “formula-diapers”.  I’ve heard they can be pretty bad.  Breastmilk diapers rinse right off and so far all of the real-food diapers have shaken right off into the toilet.  After a quick rinse, our prefolds go into the Rubbermaid until laundry day.

I also wrote Tips for Laundering Cloth Diapers that is published at Helium.com.  Check it out for more great information.

We live in a rurual area where diaper services are not available.  If you live in a more populated area you have the option of letting someone else take care of all the cr... dirty diapers. :)

Don't Forget: Reply/Comment to Win!

Don't forget to go back to our kick-off blog entry to enter up to 3 times for chances to win a $25 gift certificate for Charity's Candles!  Contest closes out at 5pm Eastern Time on Friday!

Thirsties Duo Covers

Updated 10/14/2010: If you're visiting from The Diaper Diaries: Things I Love Thursday - welcome! I posted this over a year ago and these are still my go-to covers as GBaby is showing no interest in potty training yet.  We've had to replace a few due to wear, but that's to be expected and since they're priced so reasonably it's not a big deal!

There have been a number of all-in-one diapers out there that tout fitting a child from newborn to early toddlerhood.  Adjustable with snaps, these diapers offer a “one-size-fits-all” option for parents who wish to invest in all-in-one diapers.  All-In-One diapers are just that, you use them once and the entire diaper heads for the laundry.

We didn’t choose the all-in one diapers.  We chose prefolds (cotton diapers fastened with Snappis) and covers (water-proof, Velcro tabbed covers that work like a regular diaper over the prefold).  There are various brands of said diaper covers and all offer the range of sizes, and until recently, you had to purchase each size as your child grew.

We started with the ProRaps – they were great with the newborn and small sizes for GBaby.  But now, GBaby is a bit of a string bean and doesn’t fit the stereo type for the chubby little breast-fed baby.  The ProRaps aren’t cut so well for skinny kids.  So I called Jillian’s Drawers, my favorite diaper place, to ask what diaper cover fits babies who are long and lean.  They recommended the Thirstie’s covers and pointed me to the new adjustable Thirsties Duo.

The smart people at Thirsties have now made an adjustable cover.  Halleluiah!  I ordered the Size 2 covers that are said to fit infants from 18-40 pounds.  They arrived and I washed one up to make sure it would work for GBaby.  Out of the wash and onto the baby, this diaper cover is a dream.  GBaby is only 16 pounds right now but she is long (27.5 inches) and these covers fit great.

The snaps are placed for an adjustable rise, meaning for the long torso baby, you can use the snaps to adjust the waist height.  The gussets are extra wide allowing for a snug fit around baby’s thighs.  One of my favorite Thristies features is that the Velcro tabs can actually stick to each other so you can fasten them one on top of the other for an extra secure fit around thin little waists.  I am sold!  These covers should last us through the remainder of GBaby’s diapered life and as diaper covers go, these are only $2 more each than the Thirsties sized covers.  If you’re looking at investing in prefolds and covers, I highly recommend considering these for your little one.

TM on Cloth Diapers

When I was pregnant with GBaby, HandyMan and I had many conversations about the diaper options for GBaby.  He was an all-or-nothing cloth diaper side: start from day one, no need for disposables.  I, on the other hand, was a bit more wary because I knew realistically who would be doing the laundry and had been told by veteran mothers to give myself 2-4 weeks to get settled before taking on the task.

Everyone has an argument for or against the cloth diapers. Personally, I like that waste from the diapers would be headed for our septic tank and not the land fill.  We’re on spring water, so the extra laundry wouldn’t add to the water bill.  I have lines in my laundry/bathroom so I wouldn’t have to run the dryer.  I’ve heard that cloth diapered kids potty-train earlier.  That’s a big one!  I was leaning towards it but had to get around HandyMan’s black and white arguments.  It took some convincing, but we got there.

Now that we’re six months in, I’m glad we chose the cloth diapers. We started with the cloth diapers when GBaby was about three weeks old.  We’ve used the Seventh Generation chlorine-free disposables for day-trips and vacations.  Most of the time, GBaby is in cloth.

Once we decided on the cloth, we had to decide which cloth option to go with.  Cloth diapers have made so many advances and become so innovative that it’s not even the same league that my mom was in when my brothers and I were little.  There are covers and pre-folds and all-in-ones and pocket diapers and cotton and hemp and bamboo and the list just keeps going!

We finally decided on cotton pre-folds and covers – it seemed like less laundry in the long run as the covers can get used more than once before they head to the laundry bin.  HandyMan installed diaper sprayers on our toilets which are fantastic and have made clean up oh-so-easy!  HandyMan also gets lots of credit for changing diapers, but as I thought, I’ve ended up doing most of the laundry.  But that’s ok – it’s my job!

One day as I was hanging the diapers I began to think about how much we were actually saving.  It is estimated that the average family spends about $550 for diapers during the first 6 months of an infant’s life and another $450 by the first birthday.  So far we’ve spent $290 on cloth supplies, detergent, and disposable diapers and GBaby will be 6 months old next week.  We did luck out and get some of our supplies hand-me-down at a HUGE price-break.

Are cloth diapers for everyone? No.  Are they working well for us? Yes.  Would I do it again? Absolutely.  It’s been more work, but it’s been much more manageable on our budget.  I’ve chosen to invest time rather than earn money, so it works out well for us.

Balsamic Rosemary Pasta Salad

I made this salad after picking fresh zucchini and broccoli from the garden.  HandyMan, who is not a fan of pasta salads, took one bite and in amazement said "That's really good!".  Give it a shot and enjoy!  If you are not a huge rosemary fan, you may want to scale back the rosemary in this recipe.  As with most pasta salads, the longer it refrigerates and marinades, the richer the flavor will be.

Balsamic Rosemary Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked pasta (size of medium shells or smaller)

2 cups broccoli florettes                                          

4 cups diced zucchini

1 cup chopped onion

2 cups diced tomato

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

½ teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoon Pepper

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

2 teaspoons Rosemary

¼ cup Balsamic Vinegar

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded or cubed

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to the directions.  Rinse with cold water and place in large bowl.


2. In the same pot, or separate saucepan, saute onion and zucchini in olive oil, salt and pepper until onions begin to turn translucent: 5-7 minutes depending on your heat.

3.  Add tomato and broccoli and cook until broccoli is lightly steamed: 3-5 minutes.  (Broccoli should turn to darker green)

4.  Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon and add to pasta to cool.  Leave juice from cooked vegetables in the pot.

5.  Add balsamic vinegar, rosemary and garlic powder to the pot and stir until all the spices are evenly mixed.  Continue stirring until mixture comes to a boil.  Allow to boil one minute and then pour over the vegetables and pasta.  Mix the dressing thoroughly, but gently, with the pasta and vegetables.  Refrigerate until chilled.

6.  Add mozzarella cheese before serving.  Toss cheese with the salad and redistribute the dressing that may have settled in the bottom of the bowl.

Makes 12 servings.

Click Here for a printable version of this recipe.

Almond Butter-cream Frosting

Last week I made a fabulous HV Chocolate Cake.  I love chocolate cake with butter-cream frosting. However, when I hit my favorite recipe site for a butter-cream frosting recipe, the recipes it returned to me wereshortening based frosting.  Uh, no.  I like to at least use margarine.  So I pulled out the trusty Betty Crocker binder that HandyMan brought to our marriage and started with Betty's Butter-cream Frosting recipe, and as usual, modified it.  Here is what I ended up with and it was great!

Almond Butter-cream Frosting

3 cups Confectioners Sugar

1/3 cup stick Margarine

2-4 tablespoons Milk

1 teaspoon Almond Extract

Directions:

1.  Mix margarine and confectioners sugar on low until the margarine and sugar make a coarse mixture.

2.  Add almond extract and milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.  Mix thoroughly between milk additions.  Stop when the frosting is the consistency you desire.

When I made the frosting this time it was a bit thinner than normal but it set up beautifully!

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

So, what does one do with a half gallon of fresh yogurt (see yesterday's post)?  I started off with a Strawberry-Banana smoothie that was great!

Ingredients:


2 Bananas

1 cup of Sliced Strawberries

1/2 cup homemade yogurt*

Place ingredients in your blender or a large cup to blend with an imersion blender.

Blend until smooth and enjoy!  Makes two servings.



(Ok, so I enjoyed before I took the picture!  It was a crazy morning!)

Homemade Yogurt

I have fond childhood memories of my Mom’s fresh, homemade yogurt and warm, homemade granola.  It was good stuff!  I know that when I was younger, she taught me how to make these wonderful treats, but alas, I’ve forgotten.  So, I asked her how she made hers and then went sniffing around the internet for a good set of directions.  I tried making yogurt in the crock pot like Stephanie over at A Year of Slow Cooking, and true to the comments on her post, it was runnier than I would have liked.  I tried the oven method discussed on wikiHow and had a hard time maintaining the temperature and I tried the eHow method which uses a cooler and boiling water to incubate your yogurt.  I ended up with a mess of condensation everywhere in the cooler and it still didn’t maintain the temperature very well.  Each of these methods had their flaws and nothing came out like Mom’s.  So I broke down and bought the missing link: a heating pad. I made my batch with a half gallon of milk.  Feel free to adjust accordingly to the amount of yougurt your household will consume in about 2 weeks.

Here’s what you will need: a candy or meat thermometer, glass jars with lids to hold your yogurt mixture (2 quarts + 1/2 cup), wooden spoon, pot big enough to heat the milk, 1/4 cup of starter yogurt per quart of milk, heating pad that does not have an auto-shut-off, and a box or cooler (I used a soft sided picnic cooler).

I started with a half gallon of whole milk (I’ll experiment with 2% and 1% later now I’ve got the method right!) and ½ cup of whole milk plain yogurt.  It is important to make sure that your starter yogurt contains active cultures.

First, measure out your yogurt starter and sit it in a bowl on the counter to bring it to room temperature.  You will need 1/4 cup of starter for every quart of milk.  Then, heat the milk on medium (or lower) until the top is frothy but not boiling.  Make sure to stir constantly so that it does not burn.  The milk should be about 185 degrees.  Turn the heat off and go do 20-30 minutes of other chores while the milk cools down to 90-120 degrees.  Milk that is warmer than 120 degrees will kill the cultures in your yogurt starter, so err on the side of cooler.

Once the milk has cooled, stir in the starter.  I’ve heard and read that it’s important to NOT use a metal spoon from this step forward in the process and that if you use a metal spoon to serve your final product it will break down the culture and your yogurt will get watery.  I cannot speak to this nor have I found a good reason to follow this wisdom, but yet I do.  So, stir in your starter with a wooden or plastic spoon.

Once you’ve stirred your mixture, pour it into your jars.  Any glass jar will do as long as you’ve thoroughly cleaned it.  I have a pickle jar and salsa jar that work well for me – you may use whatever you like.

Place the heating pad in the bottom of your box or cooler,

then gently set your jars on top  of the heating pad.  Set the lids on the jars, but do not tighten them so that the mixture has room to breath and you won’t end up with as much condensation inside the jar.  Place towels around the jars as necessary for stability.  Turn the heating pad on and set a timer for 2 hours.   Come back and check the temperature of your yogurt to make sure that it is staying below 120 degrees.  Close it up and come back and check again later.

Within 5 hours my yogurt had thickened to the point that it stuck to the thermometer when I put it in and by 8 hours it would pull away from the jar as a blob –nice thick yogurt! It is normal to have a bit of water-like fluid on the top of your yogurt.  I like to pour off as much as I can.  You can also just stir it in.  Many commercial yogurts do not have as much fluid on top because they have pectin or gelatin added.

So, my starter yogurt was $3.49/quart, my milk was $1.50/half gallon.  For 3+ quarts of yogurt this first time around (1 quart starter + 2 quarts I made) it comes out to about $1.66 per quart, next time, since I can use my homemade yogurt as a starter, the cost will be down to about $0.75/quart for fresh, homemade, I-know-what’s-in-it yogurt!  I’ll post details of how future yogurt adventures turn out if I can master a low-er fat version and as I track down my mom's granola recipe.

3/5/2010 - Edited to Add: Check out my more recent post for tips on how to achieve a sweeter, milder yogurt.

Teething

So GBaby is teething.  Hardcore.  It is her first teeth and she won't let me near her mouth so I can't really see if they're really in yet.  I can definitely feel them, but she is definitely still pretty miserable.  I've given her infant Tylenol a few times (the great new dye-free formula!) and some homeopathic teething drops.  She's managed to gnaw on almost every hard surface in our house and is a pretty big fan of wash cloths that have been moistened and then frozen.  I tried a piece of cold apple in the mesh teether too.  Any other recommendations from the mom's out there who have done this before?

Growing Spinach

Since we have had such a cool summer, I decided that I would give a second planting of spinach a try.  I'm hoping to get some fresh greeens by early September.  I planted the seeds in the shade of the corn stalks so we will see how they do!

Here is a bit I wrote for Helium.com about growing spinach.  See the original artical here.

Would you like to have vibrant green spinach leaves, packed with vitamins growing prolifically in your vegetable garden, ready for your dinner table with just a bit of clipping?  Spinach is a very easy cool weather crop to grow in early spring.  In some growing seasons, a fall crop is also possible.

First, you will want to choose a location in your garden that will receive more sun at the beginning of your growing season and may be shaded by taller crops as the summer goes on.  Spinach that is shaded by taller crops, like zucchini or corn, can sometimes produce later into the growing season as the daytime temperatures climb.

Next you will need to choose the type of spinach you would like to grow.  While all spinach is a great source of calcium and iron the main difference between varieties is appearance and ease of cleaning.

There are three common varieties of spinach that tend to be similar in flavor but have differing appearances.  The first is flat-leaf spinach.  The small, flat, round leaves of baby spinach are most commonly found bagged loosely in produce department.  Often, flat-leaf spinach is also spade shaped.  Savory spinach leaves have a rough, crinkly surface and are darker green in color.  Semi-savory spinach is a hybrid of the savory and the flat-leaf spinaches and is slightly crinkled.  The smoother the leaves are, the easier the produce is to clean.

Once you’ve chosen your location and purchased your seeds, it’s time to plant.  Spinach can be planted up to six weeks prior to the date of the last expected frost date.  Maps showing estimated last frost dates are readily available in gardening books, the internet and often right on seed packets. Once you have planted, the seedlings are not sensitive to a mild frost, but will be in danger below 20°F.  Plant your seeds 3-4 inches apart, water regularly and wait for your spinach to grow.

As soon as the second sets of leaves appear, clip the first set of leaves and enjoy.  Continue to harvest your spinach in this manner and you will have a perpetual harvest until your daytime temperatures warm to 80°F regularly and the plants being to wilt.  Harvest all remaining leaves before the plant shows signs of going to seed: usually yellow flowers.  In climates that allow, you may be able to reap the harvest of a second crop in the fall.

TM On Gardening

2009 is our third year with a garden and unfortunately due to a very cool summer it’s not doing that great this year, but in the past two years we’ve done very well.  When we bought our home I was thrilled to see seven raised garden beds already in place and we have since added two more.  I am a HUGE fan of the square foot gardening method and have used it in our beds.

Our garden usually produces zucchini, pumpkins, corn, peas, spinach, carrots, broccoli, strawberries, green beans, basil, cilantro, cucumbers, green peppers, and tomatoes.  Most of our produce is then processed to be frozen or used fresh.  We have more freezer space than pantry space and the freezing process seems to be a bit easier than the canning process for me.

The thing that I love most about the garden and freezing our own (or locally grown) produce is that in the dead of winter when I bust out the frozen green beans, I know where they have come from.  They weren’t picked to early and flash frozen through some factory then trucked across the country. They came from my back yard.  That makes all the work of gardening in the summer, worth it!  What's growing in your back yard this summer?

TM on Shopping

Last week i talked about how shop for your family and stay on a budget.  Now here comes the true confession:

I do not like shopping in stores.  For anything.  (Give me the internet and that is a completely different story!)  I live about thirty minutes from all the major shopping in my area so completing this chore generally takes more time than I wish to spend among the steel aisles, clanking carts and fluorescent lighting.  Midge8 and I generally do the “shopping run” every two weeks together and the social aspect makes it much more bearable.

I have a shopping list note pad lives on my fridge.  Items get added as they are desired or as they are used up and it’s not just grocery items.  Since we will do all of our “town” shopping at once it’s also the Lowes list and the Target list and the… well, you get the idea.

This year we’ve been working very hard on our budget and what this usually means for my shopping is a big restocking grocery run at the beginning of the month and just getting fresh stuff we need as the month goes on and the grocery line on the budget creeps closer and closer to its limit.  The pantry items and freezer stuff -meats on sale, frozen juices and bulk cheeses that get portioned and frozen- are generally restocked at the beginning of the month.

Our groceries come from a variety of outlets.  We have a locally owned bulk foods store that is in HandyMan’s regular path of travel where we get a lot of our pantry and deli items and in the summer HandyMan stops by our local produce market on his way to a weekly meeting and stocks up on our produce for the week.  In Town, Aldi’s is a regular stop as well as a locally owned restaurant supply house that retails to the public.  Occasionally, when I’m leaning towards a Country Gourmet night or they’re having a really good sale, I’ll end up at Wegmans.

What is your favorite, or least favorite, part of shopping?

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Sonlight Chocolate Cake

This is one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes.  I first snagged it when I was helping out in the kitchen at Sonlight Christian Camp.  I've made it dozens of times and with an electric mixer on hand, and it really doesn't take too much more work than a mix.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Vegetable Oil


• 1 1/2 cup Sugar


• 2 Eggs


• 1 1/2 cup Buttermilk


• 1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa


• 2 cupsFlour


• 1 teaspoon Salt


• 1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda


• 1 cup Boiling Water

Directions

1. Beat oil and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and beat until fluffy

2. Mix cocoa, flour, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl.

3. Add buttermilk and dry ingredients alternately, mixing thoroughly (I cheat and add them all at once and then mix it really well until smooth.  I'm sure Martha Stewart would have comments about that technique but it works for me!) Once fully blended add boiling water and mix until smooth.

4. Pour into a greased 9"x13" pan and bake at 325 for 40 minutes

Footnote

Recipe makes 12-15 cupcakes or 9x13 pan or 2 9" rounds. Cook cupcakes and round 15-25 minutes, checking often.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

Sonlight Chocolate Cake

This is one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes. I first snagged it when I was helping out in the kitchen at Sonlight Christian Camp. I've made it dozens of times and with an electric mixer on hand, and it really doesn't take too much more work than a mix.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Vegetable Oil


• 1 1/2 cup Sugar


• 2 Eggs


• 1 1/2 cup Buttermilk


• 1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa


• 2 cupsFlour


• 1 teaspoon Salt


• 1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda


• 1 cup Boiling Water

Directions

1. Beat oil and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and beat until fluffy

2. Mix cocoa, flour, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl.

3. Add buttermilk and dry ingredients alternately, mixing thoroughly (I cheat and add them all at once and then mix it really well until smooth. I'm sure Martha Stewart would have comments about that technique but it works for me!) Once fully blended add boiling water and mix until smooth.

4. Pour into a greased 9"x13" pan and bake at 325 for 40 minutes

Footnote

Recipe makes 12-15 cupcakes or 9x13 pan or 2 9" rounds. Cook cupcakes and round 15-25 minutes, checking often.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

So, I have to admit, I am a bit of a chocoholic.  The darker and richer, the better.  Cakes, pies, mousse, candy, I don't discriminate- although I do try to limit the frequency of indulgence so that my family history of diabetes doesn't catch up with me.

A few summers back, HandyMan and I worked at a great summer camp in Southwest Colorado that we love!  They made a chocolate cake on the regular menu rotation and it was fabulous - and the frosting was amazing! Since I was helping out in the kitchen I snagged their recipe and have used it dozens of times.

I'm usually the last to mess with a good thing.  But I have to admit, that I cannot tell the difference between this chocolate cake and the one we made at camp -unless you lick the spoon.  The batter doesn't taste quite the same but the finished product is fabulous!.

Hidden Veggies Chocolate Cake

Prep Time: 20 Minutes  Cook Time: 40 Minutes

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

1 cup pureed yellow squash

1  cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1 1/4 cup 1% Milk

1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa

2 1/4  cups Flour

1 teaspoon Salt

1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda

1 cup Boiling Water

Directions

1. Beat oil and sugar and eggs until smooth.  Add squash and mix thoroughly.

2. Mix cocoa, flours, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl.

3.   Add dry ingredients liquid mixture slowly while mixing or alternate adding dry ingredients and mixing.   *When you have finished this step, it will look like normal cake batter, but you're not done yet.

4. Once fully blended add boiling water and mix until smooth.



5. Pour into a greased 9"x13" pan and bake at 325 for 45 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Recipe also makes 12-18 cupcakes, or 2 9” round pans.  Cook rounds and cupcakes for 15-20 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.



The finished cake is firm and fudgey!  I plan on frosting this one with an Almond Butter Cream frosting - I'll try to get that recipe up next week-but it's great just dusted with powdered sugar as well!  Give it a try and let me know how yours turns out!  Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

9pm ETA: This cake was such a hit at our lunch gathering that the kids were the first to ask if we were going to leave the cake.  So, to requests by many, we came home cakeless.

Hidden Veggies

Recently a friend told me about Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfield.  I liked the premise of it so I put it on my Inter-Library Loan list.  I skimmed through it and caught the major points and then set out to re-invent some of my recipes.  Jessica’s idea is to add vegetables, in pureed forms, to foods that your kids already eat to infuse them with a bit of nutrition.  It is a great in theory. However in practice it seems to be extra work with little results.  While her recipes were nutritious and the few I tried were very good, there weren’t enough veggies in her recipes to take the place of the veggie servings that we and our children should be getting.

BUT – when I did the numbers and realized that but substituting pureed yellow squash for some of the liquid in my favorite chocolate cake recipe, I was able to cut the fat calories almost in half and not tell the difference! Now we’re talking!   Since I love to bake, any opportunity to make recipes a bit healthier is right up my alley.

I’m working to infuse some of my favorite recipes with more vegetables using the pureed method that Jessica outlines.  Recipes will be posted as I experiment marked on this site with “HV” or “Hidden Veggies”.  Nutrition Facts I post are calculated through CalorieCount.

Do you have any veggie packed recipes that leave the eater unsuspecting?

Hidden Veggies

Recently a friend told me about Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfield. I liked the premise of it so I put it on my Inter-Library Loan list. I skimmed through it and caught the major points and then set out to re-invent some of my recipes. Jessica’s idea is to add vegetables, in pureed forms, to foods that your kids already eat to infuse them with a bit of nutrition. It is a great in theory. However in practice it seems to be extra work with little results. While her recipes were nutritious and the few I tried were very good, there weren’t enough veggies in her recipes to take the place of the veggie servings that we and our children should be getting.

BUT – when I did the numbers and realized that but substituting pureed yellow squash for some of the liquid in my favorite chocolate cake recipe, I was able to cut the fat calories almost in half and not tell the difference! Now we’re talking! Since I love to bake, any opportunity to make recipes a bit healthier is right up my alley.

I’m working to infuse some of my favorite recipes with more vegetables using the pureed method that Jessica outlines. Recipes will be posted as I experiment marked on this site with “HV” or “Hidden Veggies”. Nutrition Facts I post are calculated through CalorieCount.

Do you have any veggie packed recipes that leave the eater unsuspecting?

Family Cooking On A Budget: Tips & Tricks

Cooking healthy foods for your families does not have to strap you for cash, but it often does require a bit more planning. First, in order to shop on a budget, one must set a budget. Once you've established what your allowance is for groceries, the key is to know what you're shopping for and when you need to buy it. With plans in place to answer these two questions, you can regularly keep your grocery budget under control.

There are two basic thoughts of creating a shopping list.  There are those who shop to fill the fridge and cupboard with no regard for what they plan on cooking and those who shop for what they plan on cooking in the coming week(s).  It is the second shopper who will spend less.  If you create your shopping list based on a general menu, then you will have all that you need to create a set schema of meals.  Flexibility is also important, especially for the proteins that fill your meals.  Often meats hog up the largest portion of the grocery bill.  If you get to the store planning on purchasing beef but find that chicken is on sale for half the price, purchase the chicken and adjust the protein in your menu.  So make your list and stick to it – unless you can save some money substituting for on items that are already on your list.

The second way to save money on your groceries is to shop less often.  What?  That’s right, if you usually shop every week, try shopping for the majority of your items once every two weeks and on the off week only buy the perishables you need to restock.  The key to this is that you are limiting your exposure to impulse items that tend to sneak into the basket. (Yes, back to making the list and sticking to it.)

If the end of the budget period is approaching and your allowance is running low, look in the pantry, fridge and freezer and get creative with what you have on hand.  Often, with a little creativity there are dozens of meals just sitting in the kitchen, that don’t require minimal, if any, additional ingredients.  Those meals taste so much better because you know you’re upholding the integrity of your budget.

Lastly, never never never go to the grocery store hungry!  If you must go into the store to do a lot of shopping and you are hungry, it’s often worth purchasing a piece of fruit as a snack before you start shopping.  You end up with a healthy snack and your brain can better make the decisions as to what goes into the shopping cart, not your stomach.

Click here to see this artical in its published form at Helium.com.

TM- On Cooking

I love to cook. Love it!  I love seeing and enjoying the finished meal and sharing a great home-cooked meal with friends and family.  As much as I love cooking, I equally despise the clean-up of said culinary ventures.  So I rarely cook for one meal at a time.

I've been inspired in part by my mom who always cooked to have leftovers and the theories more than the recipes of the Once a Month cooking folks.  If I’m cooking it’s going to be for a small army or for at least four meals to come.  Lasagnas and enchiladas: one for the oven and at least 2 for the freezer which will each yield dinner and at least a lunch if not two.  Homemade meatballs: part of the batch for dinner, enough for two other meals to the freezer.  Soups in the crockpot: dinner when cooked, enough for a meal leftover in the fridge and the rest portioned for Ready Meals to the freezer.  You get the idea!  What is your favorite meal to cook in batches or to have for leftovers?

TM- On Cooking

I love to cook. Love it! I love seeing and enjoying the finished meal and sharing a great home-cooked meal with friends and family. As much as I love cooking, I equally despise the clean-up of said culinary ventures. So I rarely cook for one meal at a time.

I've been inspired in part by my mom who always cooked to have leftovers and the theories more than the recipes of the Once a Month cooking folks. If I’m cooking it’s going to be for a small army or for at least four meals to come. Lasagnas and enchiladas: one for the oven and at least 2 for the freezer which will each yield dinner and at least a lunch if not two. Homemade meatballs: part of the batch for dinner, enough for two other meals to the freezer. Soups in the crockpot: dinner when cooked, enough for a meal leftover in the fridge and the rest portioned for Ready Meals to the freezer. You get the idea! What is your favorite meal to cook in batches or to have for leftovers?

And We're Up!

Welcome to ThrivingMama!  In the last year I’ve had three friends ask how my family and I ended up with our simplistic way of life.  I’m a relatively new gardener, but I’ve had folks ask about gardening.  I’m and avid cook and baker and I’ve had dozens ask for copies of my recipes – and most recipes I’ve tweaked enough that they really are mine.

I am a child of the internet age and can find more information that I usually want with a few short keystrokes and I love a challenge.  So ThrivingMama is my challenge to share some of what I’ve learned: my recipes, my gardening tips and links to folks who are gifted in areas that I am not.  Time is valuable and I don’t see the point in re-creating what someone else has already done!

I have chosen to put family first, to live frugally and to choose to be content, instead of longing for things that are beyond our means.

So welcome, please, roam around, ask questions and feel free to e-mail me at thrivingmama@gmail.com. Check out some of my Philosophies to get a feel for my take on such mundane things as cleaning and cooking and I've posted some of my favorite Recipes to get things started.

Giveaways!

And what is a Grand Opening without party without giveaways?  Not this one!  Help me get the word out about my new site, and get up to three entries into the contest.

One lucky winner will receive a $25 Gift Certificate for Charity’s Candles & Crafts (yes, shameless self promotion on two fronts!).  Get ready for fall with our Spiced Apple Cider or Hot Chocolate soy candles- so yummy!

1. Contest ends Friday, July 31^st at 5 pm EST. Winners will be announced in a post on that date.

2. Entry #1: Leave a comment (or Reply just saying how you found this blog and you want to win.

3. Entry #2: Leave a SEPARATE second comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting it in a forum, posting about it on your blog, Tweet about it, emailing all your friends, and/or subscribe to my feed by email or in a reader).  Make sure to leave your Twitter name or blog address.

4. Entry #3: In a SEPARATE third comment, tell me one thing you are most thankful for and one thing that will always bring a smile to your face.

5. Winner will be selected by Random.org.

7/16 Edited to Add (ETA):  Yes - Family and friends are certainly eligable and the "Reply" is the same as "Comment" :)

Happy browsing and don't forget to subscribe to the RSS feed with the button above :).