Homemade Bagels with Pesto Cream Cheese

Why? Why? Why? Have I never tried making homemade bagels before, I have no idea. They are so yummy. Crispy on the outside and warm and fluffy on the inside.

I got out my bread machine this morning and was going to make some focaccia bread but ran across a bagel recipe and thought I'd give it a try. Ahhh, I'm glad I did. I just used the recipe from the bread machine book.

Bagels need cream cheese right? How about pesto cream cheese. Here's how I made my pesto.

1 bunch of fresh parsley
1 bunch of fresh basil
1 sprig of rosemary
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
1 pkg. 8 oz. cream cheese- softened

Put all ingredients, except cream cheese, in food chopper and blend until nice and smooth. Add more olive oil if it's to pasty. In large bowl pour your pesto in and add cream cheese. Stir well until all is mixed and creamy. Spread cream cheese on your delicious bagels and enjoy.

Also try drizzling on some honey and sprinkle with cinnamon, on the other half of course. Yummy!!

Quick and Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Everyone needs a healthy breakfast to start their morning right. Well, at least I do. No, coffee and a donut don't count. Our favorite quick breakfast ideas are yogurt parfaits and warm oatmeal.

Yogurt parfait can be made many many different ways. I usually use granola, yogurt and what ever fresh fruit I have on hand. Layer it in a pretty glass and wow, breakfast is beautiful. It's also very yummy and healthy. You can substitute granola for oats or nuts. The kids love it :)

Warm oatmeal is my favorite breakfast. I use to eat cream of wheat all the time. I only cooked with oats, you know, oatmeal raisin cookies. One day I decided to try them for breakfast, no not the cookies. I heated up some water, added it to my oats. Threw in some raisins, honey and some cinnamon= WOW. What a awesome breakfast! I have been hooked ever since. So yummy!

What are your favorite quick and healthy breakfast ideas?

Cleaning out my Pantry: Part 2

(Before)

No, your not looking at the same pictures. There is a little difference. I got rid of some "junk". For the most part my pantry is pretty healthy. I try to can a lot of my food from my garden in the summer so I don't have to buy processed vegetables that are loaded with salt and other preservatives. I eat a lot of beans and honey is my favorite sweetener. But I still needed to give the cabinets a "cleaning".

(After)

This year I have decided to teach my 17 year old how to grocery shop. I want her to learn how to check the item to see what price she is paying per ounce. You know, the little sign on the shelf that tells you "29.1 cents per oz". This way she can compare different items with coupons to see which is her best offer. She has also started clipping coupons.

Our agreement was that I would buy the main food to make meals and such. Any "junk" food that she wanted she would have to shop for. I'm hoping this will show her also how expensive junk food is. I hear people say that it is so expensive to eat healthy, I think it's expensive not to. If you can grow some of your food, you can cut back on your grocery bill significantly. That's a whole other post.

The left side of the cabinet is my side and the right side is hers. We'll have to see what gets put on her side. Betcha is won't be much....

Cleaning out my Pantry and Getting Real

Once a Month mom has a "Get Real 2012" challenge. It's a year long series of helping you change to "whole foods". I did the "100 days of real food" challenge back in the fall. I only did the "mini" challenge of 10 days. But let me tell you, I never felt better. I'm not going to lie and tell you it was easy, it's hard to come up with recipes your whole family can eat. And cooking goodies, that's another challenge. Love the re-fried bean recipe.

One of my new years resolutions was to try and eat vegan. That has only lasted for 4 days. I miss my cheese and eggs. I'm defiantly stopping the meat though. This series from Once A Month Mom will help me to get back on track with healthy whole food eating. They have every month planned out with different topics each month. Jump over and check it out.

January is Pantry cleaning with Lisa from "100 days of Real Food".
I'm headed to the kitchen for a little cabinet cleaning. Join me and clean out your cabinets.

Happy New Year 2012

Welcome 2012! A new year and new goals.

Last year I meet a lot of my goals:

-replaced back door
-removed skylights
-paid off two credit cards
-got 4 more chickens
-got rid of bamboo

Still working on:

-paying off last credit card (only 2 payments left)
-saving up 3 months worth of monthly bills

Goals for 2012:

-Give More (give more of God's money back to him)
-eat more meals at home
-try to eat as much of a vegan diet as possible (I love my cheese)
-expand my garden to be more fruitful this year
-finish master gardener class and get certified (starts Jan. 11)

All in all, I'm very blessed to have what I need. God is good. Let's see what He has in store for 2012.

Growing Shiitake Mushrooms

Has anyone every grown shiitake mushrooms? A local farmer told me that you can make pretty good money growing these and selling them to local restaurants. I have done a little research and am thinking about growing some. They don't seem to hard to grow, just need time. Any suggestions would be GREAT!!

Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Oat Muffin

These muffins are so moist and yummy they won't last long. If your trying to find ways to sneak in healthy foods for your kids, this is your muffin. Just tell them it's pumpkin muffins. It worked for my nephew. He didn't know a thing. You can use pumpkin if you don't have sweet potato or butternut squash.

Muffins:
1 cup pureed sweet potato
1/2 cup cane sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup softened butter
1 egg
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp homemade vanilla

Topping:
1/2 cup quick oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp melted butter

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees
-Grease muffin pan
-In a large bowl mix cane sugar, brown sugar, egg and softened butter until creamy. Add sweet potato and mix well. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Mix until blended well. Stir in vanilla
-In medium bowl combine topping ingredients and mix until well incorporated
-Pour muffin batter into pan, filling about 3/4 full
-Spoon heaping tablespoons of topping on top of muffins and gently push down to make mixture stick to muffins
-Bake for 25-30 minutes



These muffins with some homemade applesauce and breakfast is done. Or toss a muffin in lunch with homemade fruit leather. Your kids will love it.