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We have been enjoying 10 days straight of glorious sunshine here in the Northwest. It’s a little taste of summer. We are soaking it up before it disappears back to rain. With summer on our minds…we have been thinking about homemade ice cream! Summer is such a fun time of year to whip up some homemade ice cream to serve to your family and friends. It is a fun thing to create in the kitchen with kids and come up with all sorts of yummy concoctions. Here are a few helpful tips and recommendations for making the best ice cream:

- Add more sweetener than you think – it kind of disappears in the freezing processing. You want to make it slightly too sweet when preparing and it will be perfect when frozen.

- The more cream the better- Try to go for at least 1/2 heavy cream and 1/2 whole milk. The more cream you use, the more creamier the results will be. I have also substituted coconut milk many times as well for easy dairy free ice creams. Coconut milk has a really nice creamy texture to it.

- Keep it simple. You don’t need to add egg yolks or cook your ice cream as many recipes call for. Skip the eggs as they really aren’t necessary in the recipe. Some say they make it creamer, but I haven’t really noticed much difference. I just throw all the ingredients in my blender, whirl it around till smooth, and then throw it in to my ice cream maker. Works every time and takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.

- Transfer to another covered container and keep in your freezer for no more than 2 hours before serving. This will maintain the soft creamy texture. If you leave in the freezer too long, it will become very solid and more icy. If you have leftovers, just make sure to give it 20-30 minutes to thaw. But it will always be the best texture if served shortly after preparing.

- Use a quality ice cream maker - An electric ice cream maker is such a fun summer investment for your family. It gives you opportunity to make yummy ice cream with quality ingredients in just a few minutes. We have been using the Cuisinart Ice cream maker for several years now and we absolutely love it! It takes just 30 minutes to make a fresh batch of ice cream.

- Make sure your ice cream maker bowl is completely frozen for at least 24 hours before using! I have learned the hard way that it just doesn’t work without this time period for the bowl to become re-frozen.

- To prevent freezer burn, make sure to wrap your ice cream maker bowl in a few plastic grocery bags and store in the freezer between uses in this manner.

Here are some of our favorite recipes:

Banana Ice Cream
Coffee Ice Cream
Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Strawberry Ice Cream 
Egg Nog Ice Cream
Coconut Ice Cream 

And our newest concoction (pictured above)…

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Adapted from Just Making Ice Cream 

Ice Cream:
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk (or substitute all milk for coconut milk for a dairy free alternative- yum!)
3/4 – 1 cup sucanat, sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc (use less if using honey or maple syrup)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Cookie Dough:
1/2 cup sucanat, rapadura, sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg

For cookie dough: Combine sweetener, peanut butter, and egg and combine until blended. Roll into very small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place in freezer until frozen.

For ice cream: Throw all the ingredients in your blender and pulse until smooth. Transfer to your ice cream maker, and let it go! Once the ice cream maker has completed its cycle, fold in the cookie dough balls, even if they aren’t totally frozen yet. Transfer to a covered container to store in the freezer for 1-2 hours before serving. Enjoy!

For a whole array of ice cream recipes make with real ingredients, check out Just Making Ice Cream. While I personally don’t feel it necessary to add eggs or cook the ingredients as I mentioned before (I tend to be very simplistic), this ebook has lots of fun inspiring ideas for you and can easily be adapted for your preferences and choice of ingredients.

Our favorite fish tacos!

Spring is here and time to refresh the menu! Here is my updated menu plan for the Spring and Summer months for May through September. I have a few new recipes to try that I am excited about, including making my own homemade gyros and pizza on the grill! Can’t wait! For more information on my strategy for monthly menu planning, visit here.

Mondays – Main Dish Salads

1. Cobb Salad
2. Macaroni Ham Salad
3. Chicken Caesar Salad
4. Bacon & Blue Cheese Steak Salad 

Tuesdays – Sandwiches 

1. Grilled Veggie Sandwiches (an awesome vegetarian frugal meal!)
2. BBQ Beef or Pork Sandwiches (throw a roast in the crock pot with soy sauce and your favorite BBQ sauce and let it cook on low all day! Shred the meat and serve with additional bbq sauce on hamburger buns! Yum!)
3. Eggplant Sandwiches – (this is a new recipe to try! I love goat cheese, so may mix and match with this recipe)
4. Beef or Lamb Gyros - this is on my new list to try and experiment with this summer! I am a huge fan of gyros and want to learn how to prepare them myself!

Wednesday – Italian

I like to use brown rice pasta for all our pasta needs – it’s yummy, more easily digestible than wheat, and far more nutritious than white, and still light and flavorful!

1. Pasta Presto (twice a month)
2. Summer Squash Chicken Alfredo (with homemade alfredo sauce and substitute with raw cream)
3. Penne w/Chicken and Asparagus (or in season produce – summer squash, bell peppers, etc.)

Thursday – Mexican

1. Grilled Stuffed Burritos (We love to put all the ingredients in a tortilla and wrap it up and grill on all sides on the stove)
2. Fish Tacos (twice a month)
3. Chicken Fajitas (sliced chicken, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, black beans, and corn, sauted together with taco seasoning mix! Serve with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.)

Friday – Pizza

Friday is family night, so it is usually our traditional homemade pizza! I make a batch of 4 crusts at one time and stick them in the freezer for easy pull-out on Friday nights.

1. Homemade Pizza Supreme on Homemade Pizza Crust - one of the things I want to try this summer is pizza on the grill! (twice a month)
2. BBQ Chicken Pizza
3. Pepper, Onion & Feta Pizza (add humus underneath ingredients)

Saturday – BBQ

Saturday is Daddy’s opportunity to have fun on the grill and give Mommy a break!

1. Pork Chops
2. Hamburgers 2x
3. BBQ Chicken, Steak or some other special meat

Sundays

We like to try to intentionally keep Sunday as a day of rest at our home, so one way we have found to make it fun, simple, and intentional is to often eat out as a family on Sunday evenings. Otherwise, we eat leftovers, baked potato bar, nachos, etc.

For further inspiration, check out Real Food Meals for Summer and Busy Seasons.

What are your favorite summer recipes?

This soup has been a favorite on our dinner menu over the last few months…we just can’t get enough. It has such a rich flavor and incredibly satisfying for every cold night! Need I say…yum!!!

1-2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 zucchini, diced
1-2 cups black beans, as desired (or 1 -15 oz can)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup chunky salsa (we use our homemade fermented salsa – yum!)
1 tsp sea salt (add if you are using your own homemade broth, season as desired)
8 ounces corn tortilla chips
1 cup shredded cheese (we use raw cheddar, but you can use monterey or peppered jack)
Sour cream, optional

 Directions:

1. Brown chicken breasts in olive oil until fully cooked or you may boil them in a medium pot of boiling water until they are cooked through. Remove from pan, cool, and then shred with two forks.
2. In a large pot, saute onions, zucchini, and celery until soft and browned. Add cumin, garlic cloves, chicken broth, corn, black beans, chili powder, lemon juice, salsa, salt, and shredded chicken. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes.
3. Break up some tortilla chips in the bottom of each bowl and pour the soup over the chips. Top with sour cream and cheese.

Crockpot adaption: In a crockpot, combine all your ingredients, except chips and cheese. It is easiest to leave chicken breasts whole until they are fully cooked, then pull them out and shred them with two forks and place the chicken back into the pot during the last hour. Cook on low for 4-6 hours in your crockpot. Break up some tortilla chips into individual bowls and pour soup over chips. Top with cheese and sour cream as desired.

Yield: 6 servings.

I have recently been on a mission to adapt most of our family favorite recipes into simplified crockpot adaptions that could easily be combined in a freezer ziploc bag for a future meal. I love my crockpot for the simplicity it provides to my homemaking – one pot meals with little mess to clean up afterwards. This week we made an easy adaption to my favorite chicken curry recipe, added a few more yummy vegetables, and threw all the ingredients in the crockpot. And guess what? It was our favorite curry yet! 

1-2 chicken thighs, cut into chunks
3-4 Tbsp curry powder (adjust depending on how spicy you like it)
1 Tbsp dry ginger (or 4 Tbsp fresh, finely chopped)
1 Tbsp garlic powder (or 4-6 garlic cloves, minced)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks
1-2 zucchini, cut in small chunks
1 apple, diced
2 carrots, cut in small chunks
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 Tbsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1 Tbsp sea salt
1-2 Tbsp sucanat, rapadura, or other natural sweetener
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1-2 cans (14 0z) coconut milk (adapt to your tastes)

Cut, chop, and prepare all your ingredients as described above and throw together in your crockpot. Turn crockpot on low for 4-6 hours. Stir on an hourly basis until fully cooked. You may desire to thicken further with additional flour or arrowroot powder or remove the lid during the last hour so some of the liquids can simmer off. We also like to add additional coconut milk and puree in the blender for the kids so it is not too spicy for them. Serve over a bed of brown rice and enjoy!

If you want to make this ahead of time for the freezer, simply combine all the raw ingredients above and place in a freezer ziploc bag. Store in the freezer until you are ready to thaw and prepare in your crockpot on another occasion. Be aware that it may take longer to cook if you place the ingredients directly from freezer to crockpot. This is crockpot freezer cooking for you!

I’m eager to adapt my recipes so we can have a weekly or monthly freezer crockpot meals preparation day! That would certainly simplify my life!

Mint chocolate is my thing…Andes Mints have my favorite chocolate for as long as I can remember. Minty freshness with a hint of sweetness just makes my day. Any other chocolate simply have no appeal to me. With the holiday season came the thought of trying to make a healthy adaption of peppermint patties for a fun little treat and gift for others. I came across Elana’s Pantry version and knew I just had to give it a try. I prefer using raw honey in replacement of agave nectar for the increase nutritional value, so I adapted the recipe as follows. I also found you could use maple syrup just as easily. I also increased the peppermint extract because it needed a bit more. I doubled the recipe below and it made about 20 small peppermint patties. It turned out simply scrumptious and received rave reviews to the recipients that I shared it with. It is a simple 4 ingredient little treat for anyone!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil (solid state – firm at temperatures below 76 degrees)
1/4 cup raw honey or maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2-1 cup dark chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly (I found it easiest to melt them and thin slightly with a Tablespoon of milk to get the best consistency. Cooling is essential for it to stick correctly.)

Directions:

1. Combine the coconut oil, honey/maple syrup, and peppermint extract in a food processor or blender till smooth.

2. Place in freezer until the ingredients are fairly solid (15 minutes or so).

3. Scoop out mixture with a 1.5 teaspoon scoop or whatever you have on hand (I used a standard Tablespoon) and form small balls on a parchment paper/wax paper lined cookie sheet. Press down into flattened rounds. (It will naturally melt a bit when brought in contact with your hands, so quickly form little mounds but don’t stress for perfection, because it will not happen.

4. Transfer back to the freezer to solidify again.

5. Remove from freezer after they are firm again and dip with a spoon into your melted cooled chocolate until fully covered. Allow 10 minutes or so to harden. Store in refrigerator until you are ready to consume.

Yield: 10-12 small patties (if you want to make them larger, go for it!)

Enjoy!

We made this pear salad for our Thanksgiving feast and it has become our new absolute favorite salad! It is so flavorful and delicious, balancing sweet and savory. I seriously could eat this whole salad at once! Just had to pass on the recipe for your own enjoyment. You can make it lovely and festive with dried cranberries and avocado as well.

Ingredients:

1 bag (10 oz) fresh salad greens, or 1 head spinach
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1-2 pears, thinly sliced or cubed
1/2 cup bleu cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup candied pecans or walnuts (make your own here)
1 avocado, cubed (optional)
1/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)

Dressing:

1/4 cup maple syrup or honey (preferably raw)
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar (preferably raw)
1/4 cup olive oil (preferably cold pressed)
1/3 cup mayonaise
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Directions:

1. Layer the mixed greens, onion, pears, bleu cheese, pecans. Add avocado or dried cranberries as desired.
2. Blend the dressing ingredients together in a blender. Pour over the salad just before serving.

Photo Credit

I have been a fan of monthly menu planning for the past couple of years because of the simplicity it provides for my life. It enables me to decrease my grocery shopping excursions to twice a month and have more free time to focus on my family and home. How do we do it? Learn more with my step by step guide on this process here. It may not be for everyone, but it is a fun adventure to try it out. It really takes one solid chunk of a few hours time to plan out a monthly menu that can be rotated for several months. I usually make two monthly menu plans per year – one for winter/spring and the other for summer/fall. This season we are utilizing the crockpot a lot more. I wanted to be able to prepare nutritious real food meals without consuming too much time. With three little ones, getting dinner prepared in the morning is so much easier! There is less clean up and less hassle. You will notice many of recipes below come from Crockpot 365, which we will be sampling and experimenting with this year.

Here is our updated winter/spring menu plan for the new year!

Breakfasts

These remain the same on a weekly basis with some variety:

Monday – kefir green smoothie, fried eggs, bread (muffin or toast)
Tuesday – Soaked Oatmeal w/raisins & apples
Wednesday – French toast
Thursday – Soaked Oatmeal w/raisins & apples
Friday – Eggs (Breakfast burritos) or Fruit salad, yogurt & granola
Saturday – Soaked Pancakes
Sunday – Granola or cold cereal (a quick breakfast before church), hard boiled eggs

Lunches

Lunches are a bit more flexible, as often times we will have leftovers on hand to eat from a previous meal, but if not, I keep the ingredients on hand for these ideas:

Monday – Salmon Melts
Tuesday – Egg Salad Sandwiches
Wednesday –Tomato Soup & grilled cheese sandwiches
Thursday- Ham & Cheese sandwiches, fruit/vegi, Crockpot Mac & Cheese
Friday – Peanut Butter & Jelly or regular sandwiches
Saturday – Leftovers (Saturday is generally leftover day or clean out the fridge day)

In addition to our weekly menu, we have a baking day on a weekly basis. Every Tuesday afternoon, we will rotate through restocking some nutritious snacks and baked goods, such as granola, protein bars, granola bars, muffins, and/or biscuits for various meals. 

Dinners

I like to choose dinner themes for each night to work around. This time around we are using the following themes:

Winter Menu form
Monthly Menu Planner form

Looking forward to trying some new recipes this season and simplifying my life at the same time! Real food crockpot recipes here we come! What recipes are you excited to try this season?

For more on the topic of monthly menu planning, check out Simplifying Grocery Shopping & the Benefits of Monthly Menu Planning.

I love fall and the smells, colors, and sounds that it brings! I have been getting excited about apples, pumpkins, harvest festivals, and simply enjoying a hot cup of homemade cocoa as the cold weather sets in. Today we made some yummy healthy pumpkin muffins with good wholesome ingredients and it turned out heavenly! They were light, fluffy, and full of rich flavor. They are being consumed very quickly around here. The kids and I enjoyed them over a hot cup of homemade cocoa…ahh! The sugar and oil in this recipe can be easily adapted to what you have on hand. We just prefer these more natural choices.

Ingredients:

2 cups pumpkin puree (or 1 – 15 oz can)
1 cup coconut oil, melted
2 cups rapadura/sucanat (a natural unrefined whole cane sugar – learn more here)
4 eggs
3 cups & 2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour (I used a combination of whole wheat & spelt)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, coconut oil, eggs, and sugar. Mix until smooth.
2. In a second bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
3. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the first bowl of wet ingredients. Gently fold in, just until mixed. Do not overmix.
4. Grease your pans or muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes for muffins or 45 minutes for loaf pan.

Yield: 2 loaf pans, or 20-24 muffins

For a cup of homemade cocoa to accompany your muffins, mix 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder with 1 1/2 tablespoons of honey in 8 oz of water or drizzle this homemade chocolate syrup into hot water to your taste. Enjoy!