Look how far we've come...

Just so you know, I have not always been such a frugal, highly skilled Foodie.  In fact, I used to consider  French Fries a vegetable serving, and fruit roll-ups a healthy snack...can you imagine?? :)
Although my love of food, baking and cooking started at the young age of 7 or 8, it didn't really take a healthy turn until about 10 years ago.

 I was 50 pounds heavier than I am now, trying desperately to get pregnant and struggling with feelings of sluggishness and low energy.  The changes to how I cook and eat started off very slowly--it was a long process to get here, where I am today. Nothing happened overnight, some of it was easy, some of it was not.  But thinking of what precipitated the change--wanting a healthier body to support a pregnancy and then a nursing baby--prompted me to start asking some questions about the food industry, what we buy, and what we eat.
Here are some of the questions that started coming up:

1.  What is the difference between Sour Cream and "Sour Cream Product", fruit juice and a "fruit beverage" (...I could come up with a million other examples of the sleight of hand  that marketers use to sell these food industry products--next time you are at the grocery store--look at the labels, start asking yourself some questions about what you are buying)
2.  What is margarine really made of, and why do I choose it over butter (a far less processed product, that has real ingredients--not chemicals)
3.Why do I buy that item, instead of making it? (like pancakes, cake mixes and muffin mixes etc)  If I choose to make it, will it have less chemicals, preservatives, sodium, and BHT(what?)? --OF COURSE it will!
So, I am encouraging you to start asking some of those questions. What other questions can you come up with?  There were many, many more for me...and the farther along this path I go, the more changes I make to what I buy and what I cook--and I am 50 pounds lighter, more energetic and happier too!  Could you be too?
  
Pancakes from Scratch (adapted from "The Joy of Cooking" )
2 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
1tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs-beaten
enough milk (about 1 3/4 cup) to fill the measuring cup to 2 cups
3 tbsp oil
1-2 cups fruit of your choice (apples, strawberries or raspberries are popular in our house)
In one measuring cup combine the milk, egg and oil, mix.
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.  Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture all at once and stir until just combined, and moistened.  Add fruit .
You know the rest...ladle into hot pan, flip when brown, done when cooked all the way through.
Serve with maple syrup, or homemade table syrup (..you can make homemade table syrup???!!!)


Homemade Apple Table Syrup 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup water
2tbsp butter
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2-3 med apples, peeled and slice thinly


Bring sugar, water, butter, cornstarch and cinnamon to boil.  Boil  2 minutes or until thick.  Reduce heat and add apple slices, simmer about 10 minutes until apples are tender.  Serve over pancakes or waffles.


Enjoy!

Food is Love

Every once in awhile you come across something in a book or movie, maybe something profound (...or not so profound-who knows!) that someone said.  And it changes you. Or it sparks some long distant thought memory, reminding you of something you always knew--but didn't know you knew.  That's what happened to me.
I was reading a fictional account of a chef/restaurateur who held cooking classes at her restaurant every week.  She described each student and went on to give a little info on each of their lives.  What resonated so distinctly with me, so profoundly touching my soul, was the way she chose each recipe based on the emotion she felt it conjured and how she felt it would affect each of the students.  It was like, click-click-click, puzzle pieces fitting together in my mind--THAT'S IT!  That is how I think about food too!  FOOD IS EMOTION!  Food. for me. is love!
How do you know I love thee?--I have cooked for you, shared a meal with you, planned a dinner for you.  Food is how I express my love for those around me.  Food is how I show my appreciation for all that you do.  FOOD IS LOVE!

Lovely Shortbread Cookies (these will warm your heart!)
1lb Butter (not margarine or any substitute)
 1/2 cup corn starch
1 cup icing sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp pure vanilla or almond extract (optional) 

Soften butter and beat in large bowl. Mix flour, cornstarch and sugar in a separate bowl.  Slowly add to butter and mix with hand-mixer until combined.  Continue until mixture looks like whipped cream (this may take a couple of minutes--but is totally worth the effort!).
Roll into 11/2 inch balls and place on cookie sheet--flatten with a fork or spoon.  Sprinkle with coloured sugar, sprinkles or nuts.
Bake at 300 degrees for 15-18min (they will be just barely brown on the bottom)
Enjoy!

A Year in the Life

I invite you to follow me into a year in the life of food in our home.  I will share recipes, thoughts and ideas about the topic I love the most-FOOD!

It has occurred to me lately (...mostly through those close to me sharing their insights into how I operate...) that I think differently about food: shopping for, preparing of, cooking of and enjoying of, than most people.  There is not much  that I think of more fondly than "What's for dinner?"--Except maybe, "What's for dessert?"--anyone who knows me, will know how very true that is!  What has also occurred to me (again through the help of many of those closest to me), is that there are people out there who are interested to know what I know--SO, let me share this love with you, and perhaps inspire you to think a little differently about food too!
Welcome to a year in my life...let's see where it goes!!