New Adventure

I am so excited about my new adventure.  I will be opening a home based cooking school for children this fall.  I will be able to combine my love of whole cooking with my love of teaching.  Feel free to email me at littlesproutscooking@gmail.com if you have questions about it.

Preserving Summer Harvest

This summer, I have been enjoying all the fresh veggies and fruits that come with this time of year.  Knowing that this type of produce won't be so readily available in the winter, I have been working on preserving it for winter eating.  This is what I have done so far:

Peaches:
I have never canned peaches successfully.  Never.  They always turn mushy and brown.  I like the freezing method much better.  I just skinned and sliced the peaches, sat them on a cookie sheet, flash froze then overnight, and then threw then into a bag.  Easy peasy.  Now they are ready for smoothies, oatmeal or cobbler this winter.
                                               
Peppers:
We had an abundance of green peppers and banana peppers at the garden this year.  I roasted them in the oven with a little olive oil, let them cool, skinned them, flash froze them overnight, and threw them into a bag.  Theses are great on pizza, in pasta, in fajitas, etc.
                                     
Green Beans:
There was also an abundance of green beans this year.  I just blanched them for 2-3 minutes, and flash froze them.  Again, I put them in freezer bags once they were individually frozen.  These can either be steamed or sauteed and added to almost any dinner.
                                       

Zucchini:
Jonathan is not a fan of zucchini, but will eat zucchini bread.  I shredded it and froze it in 2 cup increments.  Most zucchini bread recipes call for 2 cups of shredded zucchini.
                                       
Tomatoes:
My dad planted 28 tomato plants this year.  Between my sister and I, we canned around 75-80 pints of a combination of the following:

Tomato soup
Roasted Tomatoes w/Garlic
Spaghetti Sauce
Tomato Puree
Fancy Ketchup
                                         

                                         


I also have bags of frozen blueberries and frozen strawberries in my freezer.  The website http://www.pickyourown.org/ is a great resource for preserving almost any produce.

Here are a list of other veggies and fruits that are fairly easy to preserve:
Potatoes
Apples
Pears
Corn
Peas
Carrots
Cherries

I prefer to preserve what I can for two reasons.   The first is that if you buy the produce while it is in season, or better yet plant your own, then it is very cheap. The second is that you know that it was preserved fresh without any additives.

Homemade Baby Food

When Riley was a baby, I made most of her baby food.  I had the time and thought that it was worth the effort.  When Tyler came along, I quickly changed my mind.  I was so busy taking care of two, that I just went with the store bought stuff.  With Will, it was more of the same.  Gavin is now at the age where he is eating baby food, and my sister referred me to www.onceamonthmom.com.  She has a great site dedicated to once a month cooking, but the baby food section is what caught my eye.  I felt a renewed desire to make and freeze Gavin's baby food.  In all honesty, some things are super cheap to make on your own, and some things are the same as store bought.  Today Gavin hung out with me in the kitchen and taste tested as I made the following meals:

Brown Rice and Avocado Mash

                                    

Cannelini Beans and Kale

Cinnamon Butternut Squash and Apples

                                    

Cauliflower, Tomatoes and Carrot

                                    

                                    

Strawberries and Pear

Banana Blueberry Oatmeal

                                    

As I have been taste testing these baby food combinations, I was surprised at how good they all are.  It led me to find similar grown up recipes like :

Quinoa, tomato and avacado salad (you can substitute the quinoa with brown rice)

White bean and Kale salad

Butternut Squash Apple Soup

Mashed Carrots,Cauliflower and Herbs

Strawberry Pear Salad

Oatmeal Banana Blueberry Muffins

Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Thai Peanut Sauce

These spring rolls are so easy, and a perfect light dinner for a warm evening. There are different ways to tweak this, according to your family's preference.

Spring Rolls

rice paper*

rice vermicelli*

cooked shrimp, halved

carrots, julienned

cucumbers, julienned

shredded lettuce

fresh cilantro

fresh mint

*You can find these ingredients at an Asian market.

Cook vermicelli according to package instructions. Dip rice paper in warm water until they are just pliable. Layer lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, herbs, vermicelli and shrimp in middle of paper. Fold up ends and tuck tight as you roll them up. If your rice paper feels a little stiff as you roll, don't worry, it will soften up as it sits.

Thai Peanut Sauce

1/4 cup natural peanut butter, no sugar added

2 t soy sauce

1/2 t sesame oil

1T brown sugar

1T fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup water

1 clove minced garlic

* optional - 2 T red curry paste, we don't add it, because we are spice wusses.

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Pour into a saucepan and stir and heat until thickened.

Fresh Beet Salad

My sister in law makes a variation of this every time they come to the states to visit. I always assumed I didn't like beets, because who likes beets? This is so good and so good for you. I have only ever used the fresh beets. Some say you can use canned, but it will change the taste. Fresh beets are better for you anyway. Just a little warning, beet juice stains. Be careful when you are handling them, especially when they are cooked.

Fresh Beet Salad

3 fresh beets

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 cloves minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Cut off stalk of beets, but don't cut off root. Keep skins on. Boil in a covered pot for 45 minutes. Remove beets from pot and place in a strainer. Run under cold water. Remove the skins (they should slide right off). Cut off root. Cut the beets. I prefer to dice them, but you can also slice them. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cover and chill for 2 hours. It is important to cover the salad unless you want your entire fridge to smell like garlic.

Beets are full of nutrients. They are an especially good source of folate and fiber.

Gardening Basics

For those who know me, you may laugh that I am giving tips on gardening. I am not a green thumb, however, I am determined that this is the year. I have the benefit of having a dad who graduated with a Masters in Agricultural Science and a brother who has taken after my dad and has mastered the art of growing a perfect garden.

Here are some pretty basic veggies that are easy to grow at home:

Tomatoes (both full size and cherry)*

Green Beans (bush variety)*

Green Peppers*

Herbs*

Sugar Snap Peas

Cucumbers

Squash

Potatoes

Lettuce

The things with the (*) can easily be grown in a big pot on your back porch or patio. You just need full sun. All other things listed grow really well in North Carolina, but they need more space, so they really need to be planted in a garden bed.

All plants need three things:

1. Sun - Make sure that you plant in a sunny spot.

2. Water - Make sure to keep you plants watered. It gets HOT here during the summer, and many a plant have fried due to my neglect in this area.

3. Nutrient Rich Soil - This is the golden ticket as far as vegetable gardening is concerned. You need to have the right balance of topsoil, peet moss and compost. The general rule of thumb is 1 part top soil to 1 part peet moss to 1 part compost. I use any old compost, but my brother is a big believer in mushroom compost.

If you are going to plant in containers, just fill up the container with the soil mixture and plant away. If you are using a garden bed, you need to prepare the beds first. It is fairly easy to build a bed. You just need to decide on your dimensions, and get treated lumber to match the dimensions. It is important to buy treated lumber, so that it won't weather and warp. Once you nail everything together, staple landscaper's fabric to the bottom of the box and then place in a sunny area. Fill with the soil mixture and start planting. By stapling landscaper's fabric to the bottom, you decrease the amount of weeds drastically, if not eliminate them altogether.

Most fresh vegetables and fruits can be preserved by freezing or canning. Here is a great link with lots of information about preserving your harvest - www.pickyourown.org. This is a also a fantastic site for finding "pick your own" farms in your area. If gardening isn't your thing, going to a farm and picking your own produce is a good option.

Gardening is a fantastic family activity. It is a great way to teach your kids about work and healthy living.

Strength Training Basics

Any good workout program will have both a cardio and a strength training component. Why? For the following reasons:

1. Sustaining muscle tissue requires more energy than sustaining fat tissue, therefore the more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you burn.

2. Muscles are what make your skeleton move and keep its proper form. If you have a weak muscle in one area of your body, the skeletal system will not be in balance, which can lead to pain and injury.

3. Stronger muscles allow for more power and better overall fitness.

4. Strength training gives you more energy.

There are some important things you need to know before you start strength training (sorry for all the lists):

1. Definitions:

Reps - The number of times you contract the muscle with an exercise. For example, if I do 10 biceps curls, then I performed 10 reps.

Sets - Groups of reps. Usually you perform 3 sets of an exercise with anywhere from 8-12 reps in each set.

Isometric Contraction - Contraction of a muscle without any change in range of motion. You can see this type of contraction in the isometric biceps curl video.

Concentric Contraction - A contraction where the muscle is actively shortening. Again, think of a simple biceps curl.

Eccentric Contraction - A contraction where the muscle is lengthening while there is tension on the muscle. You can see an eccentric contraction in the calf raises video. As Jonathan lowers down from his toe raise, his calf muscle (gastrocnemius) is still tense, but is lengthening.

2. You need to work out opposing muscle groups. If you focus on your hamstrings and not your quadriceps, then you will have tight, strong hamstrings which can lead to knee and back problems.

3. You need to work out your core. Your core muscles are basically any muscle group that supports the spine (abs, back, hip muscles, etc.)

4. You need to STRETCH after a good workout.

5. You need to learn and practice proper form. For instance, if you perform a squat and your knees go over your toes, or you squat so deep that your knee is less than 90 degrees, you can seriously damage your cartilage.