Cooking From Scratch

It has been some time since I have written about wellness and healthy eating. One thing my husband and I do is to try and avoid processed foods as much as possible. Because of this, summer and fall are my favorite times of the year to cook meals that contain so many items from our or our children’s garden.  Using these fresh fruits and vegetables is a great way to make meals from scratch and to make meals that support a healthy lifestyle.

One of our favorite meals that we have quite often, as soon as fresh zucchini, tomatoes and peppers are available, is a meal I simply have titled the “Zucchini Dish.” It is a hearty dish and still low-calorie.  The only two items that do not come from the garden are the ground beef or ground turkey and the grated Parmesan cheese.

I prep all of my vegetables in advance so they are ready to add when needed.

INGREDIENTS:

       -1 lb. lean ground beef or ground turkey

       -1/4 diced onion

       -1 large bell pepper cut into chunks

       -4 to 5 medium size fresh tomatoes cut into chunks

       -3 small zucchinis (we prefer the green over the golden) cut into chunks

       -1/4 tsp. oregano

       -1/4 tsp. garlic powder

       -salt and pepper to taste

Brown meat, onions and bell peppers.  Add the spices while browning.  Then drain.  Add tomatoes and zucchini (you may need a little water to keep the mixture from drying out)  Cover and cook on medium to low heat until zucchini is tender (about 30 minutes).  Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

I also like to serve it with some made-from-scratch homemade muffins.  This week I made banana-applesauce muffins.

INGREDIENTS:

-1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Flour

-1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour

-1 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp baking soda

-1 tsp ground cinnamon

-1 ripe banana mashed

-1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

-1/2 tsp Almond extract

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix all ingredients in the order written.

Place in a well-greased 6 compartment muffin tin and bake for 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.

Another late summer and early fall meal that is easy to make from scratch is a crockpot favorite.  I have memories of childhood whenever I make this meal.  My grandmother always called it “Boiled Dinner.”  We usually had this on either a Monday or Tuesday, after having ham for Sunday dinner.  My grandmother always said it was a poor man’s New England boiled dinner that contains corn beef and cabbage with added vegetables.  However, since I now make it in the slow cooker, I call it “Crockpot Boiled Dinner.”  It is also very easy to make and uses a lean cut of ham and four fresh vegetables.  I like to make it from the cabbage and carrots our son grows in his garden.  It is another hearty, yet low fat meal.

Again, I prep all of my ingredients in advance so they are ready to add to the slow cooker all at once.

INGREDIENTS:

-2 slices of lean ham, cut into pieces.  Be sure to leave the small bone in.  It adds to the flavor.

-3 large carrots cut into 1-inch pieces

-3 large or 4 medium potatoes pealed and cut into quarters

-1/2 fresh cabbage cut into large chunks

-1/4 diced onion

-4 cups water (or enough to cover the ingredients)

-salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients into slow cooker.  Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 5 hours.  Stir often while cooking.  Add more liquid as necessary.

I like to serve this with homemade corn muffins that I have made from scratch.  I use one of the recipes from my mother’s 1929 cookbook titled, “New Delineator Recipes.”  It is a recipe for SOUTHERN CORNBREAD.  I like this recipe as it does not use any sugar nor any regular flour.  I have cut the recipe in half so it fits in a 6-compartment muffin tin.

INGREDIENTS:

-1/2 cup sour milk

-1 tsp baking soda

-1 egg yolk

-1/4 tsp salt

-1 cup corn meal

-1 egg white beaten stiff and added last

Mix in the order given and bake in muffin tin @350 degrees for 15 minutes until light golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean.

To be true southern cornbread you should use white corn meal but I prefer the flavor of the yellow corn meal.

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Another favorite I fix throughout the year. However, it is especially special when I can use a cabbage grown in our son’s garden.  I am talking about a family favorite, Polish Golabki or Stuffed Cabbage Rolls.

INGREDIENTS:

–1 whole head cabbage

-1 lb. lean ground beef or ground turkey

–1 tsp garlic powder…at least

–1/4 teaspoon salt

–1/8 teaspoon black pepper

–3 or 4 whole garlic cloves

–1/2  cup uncooked white rice—do not use instant

–1    15 ounce can of tomato sauce

-1    15 ounce can stewed tomatoes (In the summer, I use two medium sized tomatoes, sliced)

Preheat oven to 350°

Step One:  Gently remove 10 to 12 leaves from an uncooked cabbage…be careful to keep leaves in one piece.  Put leaves in a large cooking pot and fill with water. Boil until leaves are soft…you do not want them to fall apart.  Cool leaves in cold water.

Step Two:  Cook the half cup of rice according to directions on the package

Step Three:  While rice is cooking mix raw ground beef,  garlic powder, salt and pepper plus the can of tomato sauce in a bowl.  When rice is done add to this mixture.

Step Four:  Slice 3 to 4 whole garlic cloves and lay in bottom of baking pan. Place 2 or 3 cabbage leaves and place on top of the cloves. Fill 6 to 8 leaves with meat/rice mixture and roll.  Place in baking pan.  When done rolling the cabbage and meat, place 2 or 3 remaining leaves on top

Step Five:  Pour the remaining tomato sauce on top and add the entire can of stewed tomatoes.

Step Six:  Cover and bake in oven for one hour.  You should be able to smell the garlic and cabbage.

Serve with buttered pumpernickel bread…we prefer the bread from our local store that is baked there.  It has less preservatives than brand-name bread.  The golabki are better a day old and reheated…I put them in a 300 degrees oven for 40 minutes to reheat.

As autumn inches closer, I will be making homemade vegetable beef soup.  I use as many fresh vegetables as I can when I make this soup.  We have a wonderful market not far from where our sons live.  You can purchase fresh vegetables all throughout the year.  That is where I can get my fresh green beans, carrots, peas, celery and potatoes.  I always use ½ pound stew meat cut into soup size pieces.  I brown the meat in just a little olive oil and then boil for at least an hour in 1 can of chicken or beef broth plus 2 cups water to make sure the meat is tender. I add ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper, 1/8 tsp thyme

While the meat is cooking, I prep my vegetables:

-2 to 3 cups cubed potatoes

-1 to 1 1/2 cups cubed carrots

-1/2 cup peas

-3/4 cup cut green beans

-1/2 cup diced celery

-3/4 cup diced fresh tomatoes

-1 small can of tomato sauce

After the meat is tender, I add all the vegetables, tomatoes and tomato sauce and cook on medium heat until all the vegetables are tender.

I like to serve this soup with homemade baking powder biscuit muffins.  I use the recipe in my mother’s old cookbook, “New Delineator Recipes.”

INGREDIENTS:

-1 cup flour

-2 tsp baking powder

-Dash of salt

-1 tbs butter

-1/2 cup milk

-1/2 cup water

Mix dry ingredients.  Work in butter by cutting in with two knives.

Add the liquid gradually, mixing with a spoon to a pourable thickness.  It is hard to determine the exact amount of liquid. Fill a 6-section muffin tin equally and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.

I was in the mood for muffins today but discovered I was out of eggs.  Oh well, I decided to use sour cream instead.  I made sour cream-apricot preserves muffins.  They came out light and yummy.  They only have 105 calories per muffin.  I decided to try one out with a hot cup of one of my herbal teas and a good magazine.

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INGREDIENTS:

-1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Flour

-1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour

-1 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp baking soda

-1 tsp ground ginger

-2 TBS sour cream

-2 TBS sugar free apricot preserves

-1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

-1 tsp Vanilla extract

Mix in the order given and bake in muffin tin @375 degrees for 25 minutes until golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Making food items made from scratch is not only a healthier way to eat, it also gives you a sense of accomplishment when you serve the meal to your loved one.  What are you doing to live a healthier life style?

Remember, “Don’t Save Today for Tomorrow.”