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We stumbled across this idea after trying it on the appetizer menu at a local restaurant. We loved it and couldn’t wait to try it at home! It is best served as a delicious light dinner, for a Saturday evening at our home, or an appetizer with a Mediterranean dinner of sorts. It is hands on all the way! If you like hummus and feta, you will love this dish! When you make your hummus from scratch, this is a very frugal meal! Hummus is an excellent source of protein and nutrition from garbanzo beans and sesame seeds. Yum!

Hummus (we tried this homemade hummus recipe with good results using homemade tahini – it’s so incredibly easy and cheaper than the store! I used dry garbanzo beans, soaked them for 24 hours, and then cooked them for 5-7 hours in the crockpot. I added about 1 tsp cumin to my hummus with excellent results! Tahini, a main ingredient of hummus, can easily be made at home with a little coffee grinder and sesame seeds! Check out the recipe here.)
Crumbled Feta Cheese
Cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
Olives, kalamata or black, as desired, sliced in half
Naan, Pita, or flat bread (I attempted to make soaked whole wheat naan, but it was a failed experiment. For now, we greatly enjoy Trader Joe’s Naan. Next time, I will try this Whole wheat naan recipe!)

Scoop a little of each topping onto your piece of naan or pita and enjoy!

Asparagus is one of the delightful vegetables in season right now and we are enjoying it in our home!

Asparagus:

• is high in vitamin K
• is high in folate/folic acid (a birth defect fighter), so if you are pregnant or seeking to be, definitely add it to your list!
• stimulates milk supply for you fellow nursing mothers
• helps detoxify your system
• good for your heart
• has antioxidant agents
• is good for health issues: arthritis, rheumatism & PMS

For more health benefits, read here.

I have never been a fan of this vegetable until this year when I suddenly had the urge to give it a try. I believe one of the keys to producing a good dish is not overcooking it till it is soggy. This is how it has been served to me in the past. Another key is grilling it! We have had several meals with grilled asparagus and it is delicious!

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Tis the season for fresh homemade baked beans to eat along with your burgers, hot dogs and the like! I have been experimenting with making a successful batch of baked beans to my liking and I have finally completed the recipe. Sorghum syrup and dry mustard are the two key ingredients in this recipe! Delicious! All naturally sweetened. Check out my updated recipe here.

I recently stumbled upon a great deal for organic maple syrup through Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program. I had formally been paying $17.99 for non-organic Maple syrup. Ouch! Amazon offers organic maple syrup for $26 per 32 oz container. If you use the Subscribe & Save feature you can get it for $22! That is $4 off the regular price plus free shipping! You can cancel your subscription at any time as well.

Why should you consider buying organic maple syrup? According to Sally Fallon in Nourishing Traditions, “Formaldehyde is used in the production of most commercial maple syrup.” Plus you will be supporting good farming and production practices.

Update: apparantly Sally’s information may be out of date as to the presence of formaldehyde. See comments below. I have not done enough research myself to confirm or deny this fact.

I always stretch my syrup with sorghum syrup and water to make my dollar go even further! This way we only need to buy a container of maple syrup every two months.

Read more about the health benefits of maple syrup here.

Just thought I’d pass on one little idea for eating naturally on a budget!

Do you use Subscribe & Save? What healthy deals have you found? I know there is more out there!

It is that time of year! Time to revamp and reorganize my menu plan with a new monthly menu plan for the spring and summer. I have definitely grown tired of our winter meals (all those yummy root vegetables have been growing old to my taste!) and eager to begin eating those lighter meals for the summer. I absolutely love just making two menu plans for the year, one for fall/winter, and one for spring/summer. Why do I like monthly menu planning?

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I recently stumbled across a copy of Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads and was enthralled with all the wonderful recipes for making whole grain breads of all shapes and sizes. The cookbook includes detailed pictures, tips and tricks on how to make artisan breads, all from whole wheat and other whole grains! Pizza dough, pita bread, naan, and many others. Not only that, but this book includes soaking steps for most of the recipes! The funny thing is the author shares about the benefits of soaking your grains from a different unique angle altogether. These are his thoughts, which I found very facinating:

“The primary function of a soaker is to soften uncooked ground grains by soaking them first in water (or milk)…When grain is milled, it can no longer germinate because the grain has been crushed, destroying the embryo. However, when soaked it will still break down and release its sugar threads as the enymes go to work. So, while one purpose of soakers is to soften the grain, an equally important purpose is to release flavor and introduce enzyme activity. When added to dough, soakers, whether made with whole or milled grains, change the way the dough performs, usually sweetening it and creating a richer, more golden crust.”

So not only will soaking break down the phytates in the grain, making it more easily digestible, but it will also increase the sweetness and softness of your final product! I have definitely found this to be so! Although I probably would not follow the exact directions for soaking as described in this book, I have found several recipes I can not wait to try…all made entirely from whole grains! Bring on the whole wheat Challah and Naan!

Have you ever tried making homemade yogurt? If not, you are really missing out! Not only is it very easy and delicious, but also a frugal alternative to the store bought brands. There are two different methods I recommend: in a stock pot or in a crock pot!

As I have shared before in my original post on making homemade yogurt, “Of all the cultured dairy products, yogurt is the most versatile. Yogurt assists the intestines in destroying harmful bacteria by producing an acid environment. Yogurt with active cultures may encourage friendly bacteria production in the digestive tract. Milk protein is more quickly and easily digested in yogurt form over liquid sweet milk. The more tart the yogurt, the greater the absorption of calcium. Eating yogurt can relieve both constipation and indigestion.”

This past week I made yogurt in a crockpot for the first time and it was a big success and very easy! It took maybe 10 minutes of my time and the rest was just letting it sit there and culture away! I kept breaking my candy thermometers, thus making my original method very difficult to complete. With the crockpot, it’s like 1, 2, 3! All’s you need is a 1/2 gallon of your milk of choice, 1/2 cup of yogurt starter (plain yogurt from the store or a previous batch), and a crockpot! It works beautifully! Homemade yogurt will not be as thick as store bought but still tasty. Thanks to Nourishing Days for passing on the method. Check it out here!

We love to add a little maple syrup and vanilla extract for a delicious yogurt! Karis loves yogurt and eats it practically every day. Enjoy!

How do you like your yogurt?