Easter

I haven't actually posted in almost a week because I have left my previous blog post up so everyone would be able to enter the give away. One lucky winner will be chosen in the morning! It was kind of nice to have a break and just concentrate on getting your emails and comments all straight so I could enter you the appropriate amount of times. That was a bit trickier than I thought it would be. But it was also Easter and I needed time to prepare!!

We had a wonderful spring break just being home and capped it off with a fabulous Easter Sunday. Church was wonderful. It is good to be in the house of the Lord any Sunday but Easter is so pivotal to my faith that I think I would literally cry if I couldn't go to church on Easter. We had some dear friends and their kids over for Easter dinner after church and sat and visited and ate and enjoyed ourselves so much and realized it was about time for the last meal of the day. Times flies!

So here is our Easter menu. Nothing fancy but like my friend said, good food with no guilt! And I cooked my favorite way---no recipes!

Mixed lettuce salad with cucumbers, grape tomatoes, red onion, strawberries, feta and my homemade mustard vinaigrette.

Fresh fruit salad. I mixed in fresh pineapple, pears, kiwi, strawberries, apples, grapes, and a cara cara orange. Those are my favorite oranges.

Mixed roasted potatoes with an herb butter and spiral ham. I do not use the glaze that they provide in those things. Too much sugar for one thing and the ham is perfectly delicious without it.

My favorite balsamic green beans! I blanch the beans and then cook them in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar with red onion and sliced almonds.

I don't really love my buffet but I do love to be able to serve from it. We have such a small kitchen it is nice to be able to dish up here and sit down plus I had the kids at a table in the living room so they could grab their food and go!

For dessert we had these cupcakes. They were white cake with an almond buttercream frosting and there was absolutely nothing healthy about them. I just like to make cakes and cupcakes. They were delicious!

Of course we had all our traditional celebrations as well.

We did a little Easter egg dying on Saturday morning. This was my favorite Easter tradition as a child. Didn't you love leaving one egg in the dye overnight to see what color it would turn out to be in the morning?

I also had to teach my kids about mixing colors. That was the other thing my sister and I loved to do. We'd put an egg in one color for a while and switch it to another and another and another. I made a pretty stellar midnight blue egg this year that my kids really should have been more impressed with than they were! I would love to have done some natural dyed eggs but it can be fairly time consuming and I ran out of that precious commodity!

This year Evan got picture clues on the ipad that led him to his Easter basket. He found an egg in each location with some quarters in it. Some of the pictures were pretty easy and others we made really obscure. He loved it and so did we because we weren't up late thinking up clues that rhyme!

Faith had her own clues too and she could read them all by herself this year! Thank you kindergarten teacher! Her reading is amazing me!

We always have to have a family photo since I tend to make our clothes somewhat match at Easter and it is easy to grab someone after church to take it.

Of course I have to get the kids by themselves and I usually get the eye roll from Evan but he is coming along and I didn't get that attitude this year.

He is also getting better at taking our picture and not leaving tons of headroom!

We also had to hide a million eggs for our kids. For the record I HATE doing this! I mean it. I despise it. But they love it and I'm their mom. Plus this kid is 12 and he still wants to do this. I am hanging on to whatever innocence I can!

However, I do totally LOVE the smile it puts on their faces. Faith is giddy when she is waiting inside for us to finish the hiding. She can hardly contain herself. She wanted to find this big egg so badly she was telling her daddy beforehand to tell her where he was going to hide it. That girl!

Notice the 12 year olds basket is much fuller than his baby sister's basket. He is usually a pretty compassionate kid but he had no problem snatching up as many eggs as possible before that sweet little girl could get them. He went to grab all the easy eggs first and said he would come back for the hard ones.

Now the only dilemna left is these eggs! What on earth am I supposed to do with these things? I hate to throw them away but I hate eating them when their dye seeped through to the egg making it a funky color too. My problems are big aren't they?

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter as well. If you haven't entered the blog give away this is your last night to do so. I will draw tomorrow morning, April 10th, for the winner. I will try to post right away and contact the lucky duck!



The 100th Post = BLOG GIVEAWAY!!!

This is my 100th post! I have enjoyed writing each and every post and learning along the way all about blogging and finding some of my own favorite blogs in the process. The blogging world is incredible. Especially the food blogging world. There are some extremely talented people out there and I am thankful for the inspiration I receive from them.

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I began this blog on labor day weekend after some encouragement from several friends who just wanted my recipes in one place I think! I didn't realize what a true portion of goodness in my life it would become. I have heard such encouraging words from so many of you and I feel truly blessed to enter into your world each time you click on a link and read my latest post.

Some interesting things have happened along the way. Some funny things too. Here is a list of a few.

- I have become the grocery store police. I have run into some of you at the store and you don't want me to see what is in your cart. It makes me laugh!
- My children now wait when we sit down to eat not because we have to pray but because I have to take a picture of the food.
- I have been reduced to my recipes. My husband said the other day that at least if something happened to me he would know where to find my recipes!
- I now wish that my brain understood science much better. I never thought I would wish to like science but it would sure be nice to have some credibility when I am talking to someone about nutrition.
- My favorite stores have become Whole Foods and Trader Joe's instead of Pottery Barn and Gymboree.
- I am pretty sure I have made my kids hate the word green, as in, "Is there something green on your plate? or How much green food have you eaten today?"
- People often text me from the grocery store to ask where they can find a certain product. Have you all seen me reading labels and spending hours there or something? Funny thing is I usually know where the product is located! 
- The word quinoa is a regular part of my vocabulary now and surprisingly it has been added to the vocabulary of tons of people I know. I even know some 9th grade boys who know about quinoa. That excites me!
- I have forked over more money on healthy food than I ever thought my frugal brain would allow. In fact I am pretty willing to pay good money for something I think is healthy like my $5.50 Sunbutter or my $4.50 Sprouted Pretzels.
- I regularly find my own husband reading my blog. He even looked up my recipe for mustard vinaigrette so he could make it himself one day.
- I have had more fun than I could have ever imagined doing this!

My last point brings me to the reason for this post. It has been so fun and I feel the need to thank you for valuing the things I have to say enough to keep coming back for a visit. I love it when you share about a recipe you have tried or the steps you are taking to make a more healthy life for yourself or the color you are adding to your plate! It all excites me! So I wanted to give you the opportunity to win something fun as a way of thanking you for your continued support. Nothing major but just a few of my favorite snacks, gadgets, and foods.

So here is the loot..............

Nature's Harvest banana chips, dry roasted pepitas, and oat bran sesame sticks.

Your very own BPA free microwave popcorn popper. I am also hoping to add some organic popcorn to the loot. They didn't have it at the store today.

My very favorite lemon juicer. I use mine all the time.

This is the best sugar free chocolate bar! I usually don't like anise but it is subtle enough in this bar that I don't mind.

Of course you knew I would have to throw some quinoa in the mix. It would be wrong of me not to. I also use a ton of Bob's Red Mill products and I thought you should try some wheat berries in case you haven't yet.

These are just some fun little prep bowls I use often that I got at Target. I also like to serve my Just Bananas Ice Cream in these. They are the perfect size for that.

I love these cocoa roasted almonds. I like to keep a pack in my purse just in case.

Last night my husband said he would really love to open this bag of pretzels. I said go ahead. I will get another one tomorrow for the blog giveaway. He ate some and then my children promptly followed slightly arguing over the bag. The bag is now empty. I went back for more today and they were out. I promise to get a full bag before I send/deliver this to the winner. They are crazy good!

This is just a fun little milk frother. I picked one up at IKEA after reading about it on another blog. It does an incredible job for such a small thing. It is fun to have some frothed cream or milk in your coffee or tea occasionally. I will include the batteries.

And finally a BPA free cup with a straw to get you to drink more water. I have had a cup like this for quite some time and a couple months ago I got some for the kids. They drink a ton more water with these. Then Miles felt left out so I got him one this week and he loves it. In my defense the man usually has 4-5 Nalgene water bottles going somewhere so that is why he didn't get one sooner.

I might find something else fun to throw in there too when I go looking for the organic popcorn at our local health food store, Potpourri.

So this is how you can get your name in the drawing for the loot! I am trying to keep this fairly simple but still give you several chances to get your name in. For each thing you do I will add your name giving you 4 chances to get your name in the drawing.

#1 - Become a follower of my blog. Just click on "Join This Site" where you see all the other little faces. If you are already a member then you automatically have one entry. Hooray for you!

#2 - Leave a comment on this post telling me something you have learned, enjoyed or about a change you have made to your lifestyle. If you don't have a google identity just comment as anonymous but be sure to type your name in so I know who you are.

#3 - Share a link to my blog on your facebook or twitter account and tell me you did so in a comment here, on facebook, or email. My email address is pamrohde@q.com

#4 - Tell me about a recipe you have tried from the blog in a comment, on facebook, or through email and why you liked it.

#5 Invite me over for dinner. Just kidding. No bonus entry for inviting me to dinner!

Unfortunately because this will be a heavy box to ship I will not be shipping overseas or to Canada this time. I do still love all you lovely people reading from all over the world. Next time I will do something like a gift card that is easily shipped! You have until Monday night April 9th to enter for the giveaway. I will have my lovely assistants help me draw for the winner on Tuesday morning and announce it first thing. Please make sure I have your contact information so the rightful winner can be notified!

Again thank you for making this blogging experience a true Portion of Goodness in my life. You are appreciated!

The Dirty Dozen

I have been meaning to write this post for quite some time. As you know we have taken a lot of steps to clean up our diet and our life. We took baby steps because I think that is what is practical and can help you maintain your new life style. When you try to change too much at one time it is just to overwhelming and you will get discouraged and quit. For example, when we began to drastically change our diet we didn't exercise. Giving up a lot of your favorite foods is hard enough and we wanted to concentrate on one thing at a time. We discovered that losing weight is so much more about what you put in your mouth then how much you exercise. I tell you that to let you off the hook just a wee bit with the exercise if you are just getting started. We were still fairly active people during that time and engaged in some physical activity just not like we do now. Don't get me wrong. Exercise is very important for so many reasons, especially for maintaining your weight loss, but like I said we were taking baby steps.

Along the way in my baby steps I had a thought like this, "Wow! Now we are eating so healthy. We eat tons of fruits and vegetables and a heck of a lot of lettuce every single day. I wonder what they are putting on all this produce I consume?" Imagine my shock when I learned that on some of my favorite produce over 60 different pesticides have been detected!!!!!! Enter next baby step: BUY ORGANIC!

I know what you are going to say. Eating healthy is already expensive enough and now I am asking you to think about buying organic. Trust me. I understand. I know how much money I spend on food every month. It hurts sometimes. We live on one income for the most part and our grocery bill is a huge percentage of our budget. Dave Ramsey probably wouldn't be that proud of my grocery budget.

So that is why I am supplying you with the 2012 Dirty Dozen List today. If you can't afford to buy everything organic like most of us Americans, but want to take some baby steps like I did, then these would be the top 12 things to begin buying organic on a regular basis.

This is the symbol you want to keep an eye out for because then you will know that it has been certified organic. And this is why you want to look for it......

“What is organic food? Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.  Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones.  Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.  Before a product can be labeled ‘organic,’ a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards.  Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.” Consumer Brochure, USDA National Organic Program, http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/Consumers/brochure.html

I want to know that there are some checks and balances in place if I am going to pay the higher price for my food. I look for this label because I know that a farm is following the rules and that certifier's have actually visited the farm where it is being grown. Are you ready for the list??

2012 Dirty Dozen List

#1 APPLES   - Are always on the list and usually near the top. They have had over 40 pesticides detected on them. This also means you need to buy applesauce and apple juice organic. Many of the pesticides and fungicides are added after harvest to preserve shelf life.

#2 CELERY - Has been labeled the dirtiest vegetable with over 60 different pesticides detected.

#3 STRAWBERRIES - Over 60 pesticides. Frozen strawberries usually have less.

#4 PEACHES - Always on the list and over 60 pesticides. There are fewer in canned peaches but those single serving kinds still have plenty.

 #5 SPINACH- Leads the leafy green pack at 50 pesticides. Frozen still has nearly as many but canned does a bit better.

#6 NECTARINES (IMPORTED) - Has tested as high as 33 pesticides but domestic peaches are better.

#7 GRAPES (IMPORTED) - More than 30 pesticides detected and this also brings into question raisins and wine.

#8 SWEET BELL PEPPERS- All color varieties are affected. Over 50 pesticides used.

#9 POTATOES - Interestingly 91% of potatoes will test positive for pesticides and over 35 have been detected. Sweet potatoes have less chance for residue.

#10 BLUEBERRIES - My favorite! They unfortunately usually make the list with over 50 pesticides. Frozen are a bit better. Cranberries and cherries are often contaminated too even if not on the list.

#11 LETTUCE - This is the one that bothers me most because I eat the most of it at more than 50 pesticides. I do prefer to buy my lettuce organic and triple washed anyway in the boxes.

#12 KALE &COLLARD GREENS (Tied for 12th)

 I know these two aren't on that many American plates anyway but in case I have talked you into adding kale to your diet then you should be aware. Traditionally kale has been known to be a pretty hearty vegetable not in need of pesticide but it has made the list for two years now.

I know it might be hard to remember these at the store so keep a list in your wallet or purse somewhere and the more you buy these organic the more you will remember. Also try to remember these three main categories, TREE FRUITS, BERRIES, AND LEAFY GREENS. These are typically in the danger zone! Picking 5 fruits and vegetables to eat from the 12 most contaminated can cause you to consume 14 different pesticides in one day. I don't know about you but that would be pretty easy for me to do almost every day!

The Enviromental Working Group puts out this list every year. The foods are ranked on how much or how little pesticide they contain. The group estimates that you can reduce your exposure to pesticides by 80% or more if you switch to organic for these 12 foods. (actually 13 with that tie) The USDA does set allowable pesticide residue limits it deems safe but some watch dog groups think it is too liberal. The EWG does also say that the benefits of eating fresh fruits and veggies does outweigh the the known risk of consuming pesticide. But if you can reduce your risk that much by shelling out a bit more cash for these foods than it just might be worth it! I am trying to protect myself from cancer, not give it to myself by consuming pesticides.

If you refuse to buy organic then promise me you will start washing these 12 things much better with something like this .....

Or you can use plain vinegar as well and really get in there and scrub them up!

Also keep in mind that there are other foods besides fruits and vegetables that contain pesticides and you should think about buying those organic as well. A few worth mentioning are milk, wine, chocolate, and coffee. Many of those things are grown overseas where there are lax regulations on pesticides and for things like coffee that you can't really wash it is worth considering. Interestingly enough pesticides are found in fatty meats as well but lean meats come up clean.

Thank you for reading such a long post! I am really hoping to get to something more fun tomorrow; the blog giveaway post! One sick child has consumed my day today so I am a bit behind. So stay tuned for pictures of what I am giving away and how you can get your little self entered!

Healthy Lemon Bars

Yesterday I spent an awful lot of time in the kitchen working on a couple recipes. Miles even commented, "Was that a really involved recipe?" As I was looking at my photos I realized that having to take pictures of every step of the cooking process doesn't help me get out of the kitchen fast! That is what slowed me down. So the answer is NO! This isn't a very involved recipe. But I took 102 photos of my cooking yesterday. It is important to have decent looking pictures. You won't make my food if it doesn't look good, right? On to the recipe!

My April/May issue of Clean Eating arrived a week or so ago. I did my usual quick skim through and found these lemon bars at the back! I wanted one ASAP! However they use a different kind of lemon called a Meyer lemon and I wasn't sure I could find them in Willmar. But lo and behold I did find them. At Wal-Mart of all places.

A whole bag of them and just like it says they are sweet and tart!

So off to lemon bar work I went! I also needed to pick up this spelt flour. Spelt flour is a primitive relative of our modern day wheat. It has a distinct nutty flavor so I also wouldn't substitute it in this recipe but you can. The recipe actually calls for light spelt flour but the regular is what I could come by. I think it would make a slight difference to have the light version but I was satisfied with this. In my food processor I combined one cup of this flour with.....

 4 tablespoons of evaporated cane juice. Don't let the word juice fool you. It isn't in liquid form. Evaporated cane juice is a "clean" alternative to sugar because it doesn't undergo the same amount of processing as refined sugar so it holds onto its nutrients. You can find this in the health food aisle of stores.

Also in the food processor went 4 tablespoons unsalted butter. I actually used butter this time if you can believe it but I am sure earth balance would have worked. I was just trying to stick with the recipe this time. You do need the butter to be cold. I pulsed that all together in the processor until it was crumbly. I needed to add another tablespoon of butter because I had added a wee bit too much flour. I was still a bit skeptical that it

would come together in the pan but it did.

This is what it looked like pressed into the pan.  Just start pressing it down with the palm of your hand and then with the back of a spoon to get it nice and firm. Put this in the oven for 10-14 minutes at 350 degrees.

While that is cooking get started on the topping. The Meyer lemons are a darker yellow color and they definitely have a different taste then a regular lemon so do not think you can get away with substituting! You need to zest two lemons and juice them.

I used my favorite little friend to juice them. I have one to give away this week for my 100th post blog giveaway so maybe you will get to have a favorite friend too. The recipe said that I would get about 1/2 cup lemon juice from 2 lemons. It took me 3 lemons so maybe theirs were bigger.

Into a bowl I combined the lemon zest and lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of the spelt flour, and 2 more tablespoons of the cane juice.

You also need  1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of sea salt.

Plus two large eggs.

You need to whisk that all togther until it is a pale yellow and well combined.

When the crust has finished baking you will pour this mixture over the top evenly and put it back into the oven for 10-12 minutes or until completely set. Let them cool completely before you cut into them.

Then dig in and enjoy the very surprising taste of these lemon bars! Here is the other problem with taking 102 photos. I can't decide which one is my favorite so you get them all today! You can pick your own favorite.

We loved the subtle sweetness of these compared with their traditional counterparts which can be overly sweet for me. We also loved that they had no gelatinous center that was hard to cut, messy, not like real food, and just plain weird. In addition, these had the perfect sweetness to them that there was no need to dowse them in powdered sugar either. I think I should make them again and have a tea party!

In other news this is post number 98! I have one more to share with you and then it will be giveaway time so stayed tuned this week to see how you can win! I promise there is good stuff to be had and I will ship it to you if you live out of town.

Also, thank you to everyone who shared my popcorn post through a link or through email. You have greatly increased traffic to my blog making that post the 2nd most visited post of all time. I am very happy that you shared, not just for the sake of blog traffic, but so that people are informed and for your health and the health of your friends and family too.

Meyer Lemon Bars

Clean Eating Magazine April/May 2012 Issue

Ingredients:

Olive oil cooking spray

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. light spelt flour, divided

4 tbsp. organic unsalted butter

6 tbsp. organic evaporated cane juice, divided

2 Meyer lemons, zested and juiced (about 2 tsp. zest and 1/2 cup juice)

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mist an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.

2. In a food processor, combine 1 cup flour, butter, and 4 tbsp. cane juice and pulse until mixture resembles cornmeal, 8-10 pulses. Spoon mixture into baking dish and firmly press into bottom, spreading evenly. Bake until fine cracks appear and edges being to brown, 10-14 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine lemon zest and juice, eggs, remaining 2 tbsp. flour, and 2 tbsp. cane juice, baking powder and salt. Whisk until pale yellow and well combined, 45-60 seconds. Remove crust from oven and pour lemon mixture over top, spreading evenly. Bake until set, 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely in dish. Cut into 16 bars.