Back To School

I have been feeling really down lately because we're poor. I had hoped to make a big market trip to several markets today but when I checked the bank account and saw how low it was, I wanted to find a corner and cry. It has been hard with the kids in school, the extra expense of that, the extra expense of the car, the $625+ insurance bill that's overdue and other things. I didn't want to complain in my main blog because all my family reads it but I don't think this one is as well read. This at a time when I want to invest in healthy food, an investment of health and well being.

It was easy to fall into the trap of buying cheap snacky foods for the kids lunches. They don't take enough time to eat since they want to play so I want things that they can eat quickly. I have been sending thermoses filled with soup or pasta since I know how nice it is to have something hot at school. But I have also been sending snacky food that I want to replace with homemade, wholesome goodies.

I haven't been feeling like doing much this week so I haven't been making much good to eat. I want to start though. I sure can't complain I don't have time anymore.

I had a great farmers market week! We went to the Thursday market in Tusket. There I got two huge bunches of green onions (I am going to make salted onions with these), two bags of delicious organic tomatoes, some cucumbers, lettuce, a bag of carrots (little ones) and some other things we must have eaten and I spent less than $10! All organic, something I couldn't do at that price in a grocery store.

This morning, I got 11lbs of turnip, real turnip not rutabagas like they sell in the store, for $3! One of them was 5lbs! (I got three, $1 each) I also got a few heads of garlic, 2lbs of ground beef, swiss chard and a big bag of salad greens, all organic! This came to about $10 as well. Then we went to Wallace Brothers where we picked a huge basket of apples, which was about 35 or so lbs for only $7! They were soo good, so fresh and crisp, yumm! We ate a ton in the car, I"m surprised we don't all have belly aches, lol! Then we went to the Belliveaus Farmers Market but it was so cold there were hardly any vendors there. I did get to try some chicken fricot. I'll have to try to make it some day. At the Comeau's Farm Market, I got two big english cukes, a big bunch of bananas, a bag of parsnips, a half peck of pears ($1!), 3 packs of natural bacon, a package of Fox Hill Cheese and slushies for the three kids for about $18.

So we have a lot of food around the house, all local and natural. I love eating like this. I must admit it is not really easy for me. I want to eat bad but I know for the sake of our budget and health, I need to eat good food. I want my kids to grow up liking it and appreciating it. They are so picky that it's hard. I must find a way.

My struggles for this week will be:

- cutting down the junk in the kids lunches and replacing it with more nourishing food.

-cooking more from scratch.

-preserving some foods, probably with dehydrating and some fridge pickling

-using what we have on hand and eating down the freezer so we have room

-doing some baking/cooking for the freezer to have some stuff on hand when I don't feel like baking or cooking

-using food up before it goes bad (this is really hard; I had to throw out a lot of good food gone bad because it got shoved to the back of the fridge)

It will be a challenge but something that I need to work on.

Healthy Cookies

I have mentioned I am on the look out for recipes I can make that are good for the kids lunches when they go to school. I came across a recipe that is a winner! I found it here. They are called healthy cookies and they appear to be very versatile. They were very easy to make and we love them! They are egg free, dairy free and can be gluten free. They are also added sugar free but I put some honey in them. If I take a picture, I will add it here.

So here is the recipe:

Nikki's Healthy Cookie Recipe

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes. I baked these as long as possible without burning the bottoms and they were perfect - just shy of 15 minutes seems to be about right in my oven.

Makes about 3 dozen bite-sized cookies.