If you haven’t checked out Ziplist yet, you’re in for a real treat! We came across Ziplist as we were browsing Martha Stewart’s Web site, and noticed that you could add one of the recipes to your “recipe box”. That prompted us to learn more, including the introductory video below. So, take a look, and then scroll down for even more exciting news! (more…)
Archive for the ‘How-To’ Category
Ziplist: A Great Way to Manage Your Grocery List
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010Cinnamon Apple Filling
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010It is apple season in upstate New York, and that means it’s time to make cinnamon apples! Intended as a delicious pie filling, our family prefers to eat this as a lunch side or sweet after-dinner treat. Plan a day to pick a lot of apples, grab an apple peeler, and follow these steps to make a huge batch. You’ll be able to enjoy cinnamon apple filling all winter! (more…)
Flash-Freezing Chicken: From Fire, to Freezer, to Mmm!
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010
Some of our most favorite wraps and sandwiches use diced chicken as a main ingredient. We’ve struggled with this because home cooked chicken gets a leftover taste almost immediately, making it not the best ingredient the next day. We have used pre-cooked chicken for our convenience (and yours) when we create fun new sandwiches, but the price tag and sodium are sky-high. Rotisserie chicken also works well, but we’ve been hoping to find something that would work even better. Guess what! We finally found a new favorite way to make any sandwich requiring diced chicken. (more…)
Quick & Healthy Pizza Dough
Friday, February 26th, 2010Stromboli
The Dough
Rolling Mini Stromboli
Portable Lunch
Homemade pizza is a Friday night staple in our house, and our kids take the cold leftovers in their school lunch from time to time. To keep costs down and nutrition high, we use our bread machine to make a great whole-grain dough. It’s simple to make, easy to work with and results in a great tasting pizza.
Variety is the spice of life, and sometimes cold pizza in a lunch can get, well, old. Our kids asked us to make something just a little different to mix things up. The last time we made pizza, we decided to make small versions of the large bread known as Stromboli. For our first time, we kept things simple with pepperoni and cheese, but we’re already thinking ahead to other great fillings! Packing this lunch is simple: wrap individual Stromboli in foil and store in the fridge. See our pepperoni & cheese Stromboli page for directions for making your own. If you have access to a microwave or a toaster oven at work or school, pop it in to heat up! We also know from experience that it tastes quite nice cold.
Nutritionally, the pizza dough fares very well. We’ve made a lot of attempts at whole wheat dough in the past, but this one is lighter than anything we’ve tried. The wheat bran gives it some chew and the mix of whole wheat and all-purpose flour results in a very nice dough. See how it compares to traditional pizza dough made with all white flour: (more…)
A Healthier (Chocolate Mint!) Cookie
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
It is nice to have a treat in your lunchbox from time to time. We find ourselves seeking out treats that are lower in fat or higher in fiber than standard cookies. However, many pre-packaged items are costly, and sometimes we just want to be able to whip up our own healthy snacks. A few tweaks to our favorite recipe and we created a new family favorite, Chocolate Mint Cookies.
We compared the nutrition data of this new family favorite to Kashi’s Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies. All values are rounded to the nearest whole number. (more…)
Gingerbread Traditions
Monday, December 7th, 2009
Decorating provides fun opportunities for the entire family!
We got started with Gingerbread houses in 1999, just prior to the birth of our daughter. With time on our hands and thirsty for a challenge, we ordered a Haunted Mansion set from Martha Stewart. Careful to follow each and every direction, starting with the homemade gingerbread and candy windows to the specialty candy needed to complete the project, we enjoyed every moment. Our creation wasn’t quite as pleasing to the eye as the beautiful picture on the box, but we were hooked. It has become an annual family tradition, between Halloween and New Year’s Day. This year we went a little wild with things, and have made three gingerbread houses (and one church!) so far. Check out the pictures below of this year’s creations, and year’s past! (more…)
Sandwich Savings
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009Need to save money or just enjoy the challenge of doing it for less? My three girls continue to amaze me at how much food they can pack away. I have come to the “hollow leg” conclusion, since our dog has maintained her svelte 9 lbs. for the last two years! We have always packed daily lunches for work and school. I have seen the prices go up over the years, along with my girls’ appetites; it has been a challenge to keep the costs down.
I recently discovered a way to save on lunch meat. I have passed by the large, whole, fully-cooked, plain or maple-flavored boneless hams in the meat department many times before while shopping at our local Shur Save. It was simply too much for a meal unless extended family was coming to dinner! One time, for whatever reason, I viewed them as a significant cost savings in comparison to the deli meats. I did some quick calculations: the whole ham was priced at $2.99 per pound … the deli meat was $7.49 per pound … at two pounds of meat per week, we’d save $9 each week. That works out to $36 per month or almost $400 per year (assuming we have ham every day of course!) I wondered if I could have it sliced and freeze it. (more…)
Save $750 a year with cold-brewed coffee (!)
Saturday, November 28th, 2009
Okay, I admit, it’s a sensational headline, but it’s an interesting way to think about the drink that gets many of us through the day. I’ve tried many different ways of procuring this nectar of life: the neighborhood barista, free coffee from the bank, and using a coffee machine or french press at home. Of course, the first one is the only one that really adds up, but this article as much about taste as it is about cost anyway, so here goes…
Cold-Brewed Coffee
One of my colleagues clued me in to cold-brewed coffee. The New York Times ran an article about it, with a corresponding recipe. It’s a great taste, and really simple to make at home, without the expense of and cleaning of a coffee maker. After brewing overnight, I strain it through a coffee filter in a colander over a glass bowl. Then, I store the resulting coffee concentrate in the fridge until I need it. Simply add cold water and ice in a 1:1 ratio with the concentrate … delicious. Like it hot? Just add the water in the same ratio and nuke it for a few minutes. Either way, it tastes just like the beans smelled, so we’ve been having fun with different flavored beans. (more…)
How to make dairy-free or vegan muffins
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
You can adjust a recipe to use dairy-free ingredients
Dairy-Free Muffins
 Carrot Spice Muffins |
 Coffee Break Muffins |
 Strawberry Banana Muffins |
Vegan Muffins
 Lemon Muffins |
 Sun-Dried Tomato Herb |
 Peanut Butter Muffins |
Intolerance to milk is much more common than a serious allergy, yet many people suffer from a mild intolerance that can cause, well, gastrointestinal issues…
The good news? It’s very easy to replace dairy in common baked goods, and even better, you won’t even notice the difference! Pick the right recipes to use as a base, experiment with substitutions at least a few times (and carefully record the changes you’ve made!), and know what to substitute.
A Dairy-Free Baking Experiment
We picked three of our favorite muffin recipes as a base, ensuring that each recipe contained only one dairy ingredient. Each recipe required a simple one-step substitution that changed the rest of the recipe only slightly or not at all.
We love Earth Balance Buttery Sticks because they behave just like butter and have a lovely butter flavor. When you substitute them, drop the salt in the recipe by half if you are replacing unsalted butter. (more…)
How can I make sure my child’s lunch actually gets eaten?
Thursday, May 14th, 2009Peer pressure can be tough on little ones, especially in the lunch room. There are a few things you can do to help make sure you child eats the lunch you’ve sent, or (gulp!) doesn’t throw it all in the trash!
The Cool Lunch
Kids love to be the one with the “cool” lunch at their table. You don’t have to break the bank or buy the latest trendy packaged foods to make this happen, though. Remember, just because your child may eat certain foods at home, it’s not a foregone conclusion that they’d accept them as readily in their lunch box. Here are some options:
- Make an ordinary food extraordinary by varying flavors or textures, or pairing things together. For example, fire ants on a log are an unusual pairing, but make for a great conversational item.
- Pack amazing “treat” substitutes for traditional packaged “junk food” (more on this below)
- Use cookie cutters or a knife to make “uncrustable” sandwiches with silly shapes
- Include fun games or notes
- Pack fun straws for a juice box or water bottle
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