Cooking classes- Veggies

Some benefits of vegetables with high nutritional values

• A 41% reduced risk of heart disease
• 22% lower risk of certain cancers
• Protection from macular degeneration and glaucoma
• Better teeth and bone structure
• Improved memory and brain function
• Stronger immune system – less colds, flu and infections

Only 14% of U.S. adults eat enough fruits, vegetables

By Lindsey Anderson, USA TODAY 9/29/2009

Only 14% of adults eat the recommended number of servings of fruit and vegetables a day, says a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 33% of adults meet the recommendation of two or more servings of fruits a day; 27% eat the recommended three or more servings of vegetables.

Washington, D.C., leads the nation in eating fruits and vegetables: 20.1% of adults report they meet both daily recommendations. Mississippi sits at the bottom with 8.8%.

Three of the top states are in New England, and three of the bottom states are in the Southeast. The disparity could be a result of the lack of farmers markets in the Southeast and policies that promote healthful foods in schools and communities, says Heidi Blanck, senior scientist for the CDC.

High school students fare worse than adults: 9.5% report they eat two or more fruits and three or more vegetables a day. About the same number of students (32%) as adults say they meet the fruit recommendation, but only 13% say they eat at least three servings of vegetables a day.

The Healthy People 2010 objective from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aims to have 75% of the U.S. population meeting the daily fruit recommendations and 50% meeting the daily vegetable recommendations.

"At the current rate, the goal won't be met," Blanck says.

To raise the percentage of people meeting the goals, the CDC suggests grocery stores increase their stock of "high-quality" fruits and vegetables and encourages states to form food policy councils that evaluate the access to fresh produce.

It also suggests schools provide more fruits and vegetables in cafeterias and vending machines.

A few recipes that we made:

Hans’ Salad

Throw any of the following ingredients together, chopped into small pieces

Bok Choy

Pickled cucumbers

Onions

Collard greens

Roman lettuce

Tomatoes

Avocado

Rutabaga

Jicama

Carrots

Tomato, Avocado and Almond Salad by Shelly

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1-2 cups diced avocados

1 cup chopped almonds

1 cup chopped celery

4 Tbls chopped green onion

4 Tbls chopped cilantro

2 Tbls fresh lemon juice

1 tsp agave

1 Tbls Nutritional yeast (optional)

Dash of cayenne (optional)

¼ tsp sea salt

Mix together and enjoy

And just a regular salad with Ranch dressing and a Tomato Basil vinaigrette dressing.

Cooking Classes- Sugar

Well, my cooking classes that I have been doing with my cute little neighbor girl have been going well. A few weeks ago we talked about sugar substitutes and what sugar does to your body and more specifically how it effects our hormones.

Did you know:
- That the average American consumes an astounding 2-3 pounds of sugar each week, which is not surprising considering that highly refined sugars in the forms of sucrose (table sugar), dextrose (corn sugar), and high-fructose corn syrup are being processed into so many foods such as bread, breakfast cereal, mayonnaise, peanut butter, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, and a plethora processed foods. When you start looking at labels and know what to look for you will be super surprised at how many things have sugar in them. Prior to the turn of this century (1887-1890), the average consumption was only 5 lbs. per person per year!

-Sugar is addictive. Sugar promotes cravings. The more sugar you eat, the more sugar you want. A high sugar meal raises the blood glucose level, which triggers the outpouring of insulin. This excess insulin lingers in the system, triggering a craving for more sugar, thus adding another hill to the roller coaster ride.

-When we eat sugar it actually depletes our bodies of nutrients. This is because in order for our bodies to digest anything it needs nutrients to metabolize it. Because refined sugar contains no fiber, no minerals, no proteins, no fats, no enzymes, it actually steals those nutrients from our cells.

-Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance; some hormones become underactive and others become overactive.

-Sugar inhibits the release of growth hormone which deppresses our immune system and makes us more prone to disease. Sugar aggravates autoimmune conditions such as arthritis, asthma, and multiple sclerosis.

-Sugar raises the insulin levels in the body which in turn causes our body to store and hang on to fats.

-Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline, hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children. Sugar reduces learning capacity, adversely affects children’s grades in school, and can exacerbate learning and behavioral disorders.

-Sugar exacerbates PMS.

-Sugar exacerbates fertility related diseases like PCOS (poly-cystic ovary syndrome) and Endometriosis and is many time the cause of such diseases.

What do I look for on food labels?

Avoid any of the following things that may be on a food label.

• Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal)
  
• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup, or corn syrup solids
• Dextrin
• Dextrose
• Fructose
  
• Glucose
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Lactose
• Maltodextrin
• Malt syrup
• Maltose
• Saccharose or saccharin (Sweet and Low)
  
• Sorghum or sorghum syrup
• Sucrose or sucarlose (Splenda)
• Sugar alcohols such as maltitol and sorbitol
• Sugar, brown or white
  
• Syrup
• Treacle
• Xylose

What sugars are safe to use in moderation?

• Agave
• Blackstrap molasses
• Coconut sugar
  
• Dates or date syrup/sugar
• Dehydrated cane juice
  
• 100% pure maple syrup
• Raw honey
• Stevia
• Sucanat
  
• Turbinado Sugar

I mostly use the ones that are highlighted.

We made three recipes this day.

“Almond Joy” Fudge from greensmoothiegirl.com

Put 2 cups each agave nectar (found in health food stores) and coconut oil in the BlendTec Total Blender. Set the blender container in a sink of hot water for 10 minutes to warm them. Add 1 cup powdered raw chocolate (or unsweetened cocoa) and blend well. Pour into a 9×13 pan and stir in 2 cups each of shredded coconut and chopped or sliced almonds. Chill and cut in squares.

Ginger Bread Cookies from simplehealthytasty.com

3/4 cup coconut oil melted
Egg Replacer for 1 egg
1 cup Sucanat
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
2 cups soft white wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each of ground cloves,
nutmeg, and sea salt

Cream together oil and Sucanat. Add Egg Replacer and molasses then mix in spices, soda and salt. Add flour last mix well roll into walnut sized balls. Gently roll in Raw sugar place on cookie sheet press down gently with hand to flatten. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes or 10-12 minutes for Ginger Snaps. Let cool for 3-5 minutes before removing from pan to cooling rack.

Tapioca pudding

3 TBLS instant tapioca (next time I will use pearled tapioca, but I couldn't find any and my friend really wanted to try making it)
1/3 cup agave
1 organic egg, well beaten
3 cups almond, or macadamia nut milk
1 tsp vanilla

Combine tapioca, sugar, milk and egg in medium saucepan; let stand for 5 min.
Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a full boil. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. cool 20 minutes; stir. Serve warm or chilled.

Fried Pickles

I know, it sounds really weird. That is what I thought when I saw them on the menu at The Garden restaurant in Salt Lake. I was there with some friends and they intrigued us enough to get an order of them and try them. They were SO good! I was pleasantly surprised. The waitress shared the secret with us of how they are made and I immediately thought, "I could totally healthify that!", so I did. Here is the recipe. You have got to try this one.

Fried Pickles

Batter
2 cups spelt flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup Sucanat
1 jar pickle juice
2 tsp dill weed
enough water to make pancake batter consistency

Dredge
3/4 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup corn starch

Coconut oil for frying
1 jar pickles (I used the refrigerated kind, not the stuff in the isle by the olives. They have way less preservatives in them. An even better choice would be to use Bubbies pickled cucumbers. I didn't have the money to spend on them right at that time, so I settled for second best)

Mix batter ingredients together and Dredge ingredients together. Slice the pickles into spears. Heat the coconut oil to 350 degrees. Dip the pickles into the dredge and then into the batter then place into the oil. Cook for about 30 seconds or until it looks cooked and then flip over to cook other side. Can dip into this ranch dressing. This recipe will do the whole bottle of pickles. You may want to half it for a smaller family. We had plenty and we even shared with friends.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I got this original recipe off of allrecipes and changed it a bit to fit my needs better.

2 1/2 cups whole wheat or spelt flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 Tbls ground flax seed
4 Tbls water
(you could use two eggs in place of the flax and water)
1 cup Sucanot
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup coconut or olive oil
3/4 cup apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup water (could use milk, or almond milk)
3 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
1 cup shredded carrots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. mix all dry ingredients together, then add the wet. Lastly add the zucchini and carrots and mixed until just moistened. Bake for 35-45 min or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Serve plain, or add this simple frosting recipe from Robyn, at greensmoothiegirl.com

1/2 cup powdered sucanot (if you don't have powdered sucanot just put sucanot into a coffee grinder and make it)
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup water

My boys at this up like crazy! They loved it and I didn't mind so much letting them eat it!

Healthified Doughnut Drops

(This is a post that I posted on my family blog a long time ago. I forgot about it until I was looking through my blog the other day and saw it. I thought I would transfer it over here and share)
My neighbor posted these on her blog the other day and I have been wanting to make them ever since I saw her site! I had to healthify them a little bit also to fit our needs, but they turned out beautifully!

Healthified Doughnut Drops
(Check out the link above for the original recipe to get great ideas on how to make these when in a hurry.)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat or Spelt flour
1 1/2 Tbls vital wheat gluten
1/3 C. sucanat
2 tsp. aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 C. water, almond milk or rice milk (I used water)
2 Tbs. cocount oil, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg or egg substitute using 1 Tbls ground flax or chia seed and two Tbls water mixed together and allowed to sit and make a gel.
Coconut oil for frying

Mix all ingredients together to form a dough. In a large saucepan, heat 2 to 3 inches oil to 375º. When oil is heated, drop five or six doughnuts into hot oil and fry for 2 to 3 minutes per side to a deep golden brown. I used my small cookie scoop to drop them in the oil. Drain on paper towels. If you like you can top the dounuts with powdered sucanat or drizzle honey or agave over the top of them. It would also be fun to roll them in some agave and then some chopped nuts and/or shredded unsweetened coconut. We just ate them plain and they were delicious and plenty sweet!

Basic Cake Recipe

For cub scouts the boys were asked to decorate a cake and bring it to pack meeting for part of the Blue and Gold celebration. I was really concerned about this because I wanted to bring something healthy, but I still wanted him to be able to participate. I found this recipe for cake and it turned out really well. I am not sure where I got the original recipe from.

Basic Cake

2 C water
1/4 C olive oil
1 cup agave
3 C whole wheat flour or spelt flour
1 tsp gluten
1T vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbls baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
You can also add in anything else to the batter to make it the kind of cake you would like. I added some whole blueberries to the batter to make a blueberry cake. You could add nuts, another kind of fruit, some kind of flavoring etc.

Mix all the ingredients adding baking powder last. Bake @ 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes in a 10x15 cookie sheet with high sides, until cake pulls away from the sides and bounces back when you touch the middle.



Jonah frosted it with this frosting recipe that I used for sugar cookies. We colored it with blueberries. He then decorated it with almonds and some shredded coconut that I put just a little green food coloring in. I didn't love that, but I didn't know how else to color something green and he really wanted some grass on his cake. He had fun doing it and it was pretty healthy also.

Milk

Almond Milk - or any other nut milk or seed milk such as macadamia, cashew, sunflower or seasme

In a large mixing bowl combine one cup of almonds and four cups of water. Leave your almonds to soak for a minimum of 8 hours. After they are done you will notice that the almonds appear plump and tender. If you don’t have time to soak it is ok, but will work better and be more nutritious if you do. Drain your almonds, place in blender along with 4 cups of water. Start on a low setting and blend for 30 - 60 seconds. Increase power on blender to high and continue to process until almonds are chopped fine, approximately another 60-90 seconds. After blending, you will need to strain your milk. There are several ways to do this, you can use a milk bag, a sieve, or just a piece of cheesecloth or muslin. Try to squeeze out as much milk as possible. It is very important to properly store your almond milk immediately after use. Most almond milk can be stored safely for up to 3 days in the fridge. ALWAYS REFRIGERATE ALMOND MILK IN A COVERED, PREFERABLY AIR TIGHT, CONTAINER!

Rice Milk

4 cups water

½ cup uncooked brown rice or 1 cup cooked brown rice

1 vanilla bean or ½ tsp vanilla extract

1. Cook rice, vanilla bean or extract and water until very soft.
2. Let cool, remove vanilla bean (if using) and put mixture into blender or food processor.
3. Blend until very smooth.
4. Let stand for at least 45 minutes, then strain through cheese cloth.

Alternatively- Place 1 cup cooked brown rice in a blender with 4 cups water and blend until smooth. May strain if wanted.

Dairy

I have a friend who has a daughter who is really struggling with some hormone issues right now. She is 12 and already on birth control as a means to help with her imbalance. Because of the success that I have had in balancing my hormones my friend asked me if I could help some how. I decided that I would really like to teach her about food and why she should be careful with what she eats. I am such a firm believer that if we feed our bodies right we will not need as much medical intervention in our lives. My life is proof of this, and I want to share that with people. So I have been sharing a bit of our dinner meals with her so that she can try some new foods and see what she likes and doesn't like. So far she has liked everything that I have given her (at least that is what she says) She came over last Thursday and we has a little class with just her and I. It was so fun to have another girl around! I gave her some information and then we made some things and ate them. My first focus for her was to teach her about dairy and how strongly it affects our hormones. I just wanted to post the info that I gave her here in case any body else could use it.

Dairy-

Common dairy products include milk, flavored yogurts, sour cream, cheese, Ice cream and cottage cheese.

Why should we avoid dairy?

1. Dairy (especially milk) contains powerful hormones that increase the estrogen and progesterone levels in your body. There are two reasons that this happens. First, most dairy farmers give their cows artificial growth hormones to help them to produce more milk. Second, and this one is often over looked, is that most cows are milked about 300 days a year and for much of that time the cows are pregnant. When cows are pregnant, their hormone levels are naturally raised, just like in humans, especially their estrogen. Even if you buy milk that says no added hormones, likely the hormones are still higher because the cows may be pregnant. Dairy accounts for 60-80% of estrogen consumed.
2. Dairy contains other things that are not good for our bodies.

· Dieses like Leukemia and Para Tuberculosis are found in cows often. These diseases are supposed to be killed by the pasteurization process, but studies have shown that these diseases are not killed all the way. Many believe that para tuberculosis is the cause for human diseases such as Crohn’s Disease, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

· Dairy also often contains traces of antibiotics and other drugs that are given to cows to help them combat all the diseases that they get.

How does this affect the hormones in my body?

These added hormones to our bodies affect everybody differently. Some people don’t see much affect and some see a lot. Some of the affects that can be seen are early onset of puberty, acne, irregular menstrual bleeding, PCOS and endometriosis, which are major causes for infertility today.

What about calcium?

There are many sources of calcium out there. Most are better sources of calcium then milk and actually help our body to absorb calcium easier than milk. Here is a small list of good sources of calcium:

· Sesame seeds

· Raw nuts

· Beans (white, kidney, etc)

· Flax seed

· Chia seeds

· Arugula

· Collards

· Parsley

· Kale

· Sunflower Seeds

· Spinach

· Oats

· Swiss Chard

· Lentils

How do I avoid dairy?

Obviously avoid all the products that you know are dairy (items listed above) You will also need to look at labels to be certain no dairy is in it. Law says that dairy must be labeled very clearly on all products. If it is in an ingredient that is in the product that ingredient must be labeled that it has it in parenthesis. Example: (milk)

What are some good alternatives?

Milk- Nut milks (macadamia. Almond, cashew, etc), Rice milk, Seed milk (sesame, sunflower, hemp)

Yogurt- Homemade yogurt made with goats milk, or hormone free cows milk can be ok on occasion. It has good bacteria in it that will help it to digest easier.

Sour Cream- Sauerkraut is a great alternative for the sour flavor of sour cream. We often put it on tacos and baked potatoes. Nut sour creams are also a good alternative for using in baking or on top of things.

Cheese- Nut cheeses and nut cheese sauces.

Ice cream- Homemade ice creams made with nut milks or coconut milk are great. You can also by some ice creams that are non-dairy. Just make sure to check the ingredients to make sure they are good.

After we talked a little we made these recipes:

Almond Milk

Macadamia Nut Sour Cream

Cheezy Sauce

Ranch Dressing

Then after we made them, we had some nachos with the stuff we made, (except for the almond milk, we saved that for the ice cream that we made next). They were yummy!

These are the ice cream recipes that we made. Because of time we just made them in the blender so they weren't super solid, but they sure were good.

Strawberry Coconut Ice Cream

Vegan Blueberry Ice Cream

It was a fun day. Check back with me next week so see what we learn about next!

Sour Cream

I have looked for a good alternative for sour cream for a while. I have listed here some that work for me. My favorite is the macadamia nut. It actually has the sour flavor of sour cream along with the right color and very close texture. It is more expensive to make then either of the other two however, so there is a trade off. If you click on the title of each recipe it will take you to the original site that I got the recipe from, except for the almond sour cream, I am not sure where that one came from, sorry.

Macadamia nut sour cream

1 cup macadamia nuts, soaked for 6 hours or longer

• 3 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Pinch Celtic sea salt
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups water (or less)

Measure all ingredients -- macadamia nuts, unsweetened coconut flakes, lemon juice, Celtic sea salt, apple cider vinegar and water into a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Stop to scrape the sides with a rubber spatula.

Note: The amount of water can differ depending on the soaked nuts and coconut moisture. Start with a small amount of water and add as needed for the desired consistency of smooth sour cream.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Sunflower Seed Sour Cream

1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup water
5+ Tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove pressed or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

Place ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Almond Sour Cream

½ C almonds

½ - ¾ C water

¼ tsp non salt veggie salt

Dash of garlic powder

Blend all together

Turn blender to low and ass 1-1 ¼ C sunflower/avocado/safflower oil thicken

Add: 1 Tbsp lemon

If you want it to last longer add ¼ tsp apple cider vinegar

Valentines Day Sugar Cookies

We got together with some other home school families for a valentines part and I volunteered to bring some sugar cookies for the kids to decorate. So then I had to get to work healthifying a sugar cookies recipe. These cookies were every bit as good as the original in my book. YUM!

Sugar Cookies

2 cups Macadamia nut scour cream
1/2 cup butter or coconut oil (softened)
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 organic eggs or 2 Tbls flax seed mixed with 4 Tbls water
2 cups agave
2 tsp baking soda
7 cups spelt flour, rice flour or whole wheat flour, or a mixture of any.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream together first 7 ingredients. Stir in last two ingredients. Chill for 2 hours. Roll out 1/4 inch think using flour on surface. Cut out into different shapes. Bake for 8-10 minutes (no longer)

Butter Cream Frosting

1/4 cup spelt flour
1 cup nut or rice milk
1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup agave
2 tsp vanilla

Optional- pureed strawberries, blueberries, peaches or other fruit to add color to frosting.

In a small sauce pan, mix the flour and milk and cook over low heat until it forms a smooth paste with no lumps. Place in the fridge and let it cool completely.

With an electric mixer beat the softened coconut oil and butter (MUST be soft) with the agave. Beat the cooled flour paste and mix until smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Stir in pureed fruit if desired.

We decorated them with coconut flakes, nuts, dried fruit, uncooked millet, and what ever else I had in my pantry that I thought would be fun. I wish I had pictures of then all decorated, but I forgot. Sorry.

Fancy Oatmeal

I am not sure where I got this recipe from, but it was fabulous! Enjoy!

Fancy Oatmeal

2 cups rolled oats (not quick oats)
4 cups water
1 large apple, cored and sliced
3/4 cup raisins or craisins
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all of the ingredients (except apple) in a 2 quart casserole dish.
Arrange apple slices to top of the other ingredients.
Bake for 1 hour.

Pear Upside Down Cake

This is a recipe from Taste of Home magazine that I made better. It was SOOO good. You have to try this one.

Pear Upside Down Cake

1/2 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup sucanat
2 large pears, sliced into thin slices
1/2 cup no sugar added applesauce
1/3 cup agave
1 organic egg, or 1 Tbls ground flax seed mixed with 2 Tbls water
1/3 cup molasses
1 3/4 cup spelt flour
3/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup warm water

Pour melted butter or coconut oil into a 9 in square baking pan; sprinkle with nuts and sucanat. Arrange pears over nuts.
In a large bowl beat applesauce, agave, egg (flax seed), water and molasses. Combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda; add to wet mixture beating well.
Spread over pears. Bake @ 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Serve warm.

Hawaiian Haystacks

This is one of my all time favorite meals! There are no measurement for my recipe because you just cut up and make as much as you think your family will eat.

Hawaiian Haystacks

Cooked brown rice or, my new favorite cooked millet.
Celery, diced
Olives, sliced
Tomatoes, diced
Water chestnuts
Pineapple tidbits
Green onion, sliced
Green pepper, diced
Mandarin Oranges
Slivered almonds, or even better sprouted whole almonds, chopped
Shredded coconut
May add a little cheese
Gravy (recipe below)
Salt and pepper to taste

Layer on plate, rice or millet, gravy and then assorted toppings as you like.

This recipe is from simplehealthytasty.com

Simple Basic Gravy

2 cups rice milk

1 level Tablespoon Vegetable Broth Powder

( or another veggie broth powder, but I LOVE this one)
2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour

Salt, pepper or other seasonings to taste (optional)

Take 1 1/2 cups of the rice milk and put in a sauce pan mixing in bullion. Bring to a simmer. In a small bowl stir the last 1/2 cup of rice milk with flour. Slowly add while stirring to simmering mixture. Stir until thickened use warm!

Whole Wheat Veggie Lasagna

This Lasagna was so yummy. I have made it a few times and keep forgetting to take a picture.

Whole Wheat Veggie Lasagna

1 package of whole wheat lasagna noodles

2 Tbls olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

8 oz fresh sliced mushrooms

2 cloves fresh garlic

1 zucchini finely chopped

1 yellow squash finely chopped

½ green pepper finely chopped

1 carrot finely chopped

2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 tablespoon dried oregano

salt to taste

10 oz fresh spinach

1 (16 ounce) container cottage cheese, or ricotta cheese

2 eggs

3 tablespoons dried basil, divided

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Cook lasagna noodles in a large pot of lightly salted, boiling water for 10 minutes, or until al dente. Rinse with cool water, drain, and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the chopped onions, mushrooms, garlic, and zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, pepper in the oil until soft. Stir in both cans of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano and salt to taste. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, Drain cottage cheese. Using a mixer, blend cottage cheese, eggs, and 2 tablespoons basil until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine shredded mozzarella cheese and grated Parmesan cheese.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread 1 cup sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer 1/3 of the noodles, 1/3 cottage cheese/spinach mixture, some fresh spinach, and a 1/3 of remaining sauce. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients. Sprinkle top with cheese mixture and remaining 1 tablespoon of dried basil.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Christmas Eve Fondue

I wanted to have something really fun and special for Christmas Eve dinner. Something that we don't normally have and that we could make a tradition. Of course, I wanted it to be healthy also. I decided to do a fondue dinner. It was so much fun! We had three courses. The first was the appetizer course. We tried two different kinds of cheese fondue. This was a treat for use since we rarely have cheese. I liked the blue cheese one the best. Then we had the main course that was a broth that you cook the veggies in. It tasted great and it was fun to let the kids cook their own. The last course was a dessert course. There again were two choices. They were both good.

Here are some pictures (they are not that great, sorry) and recipes. I healthified the recipes from www.gofondue.com/

Cheese Fondue Recipe for the Whole Family

1 clove garlic
1 Tbls Butter or coconut oil
1 Tbls whole wheat or spelt flour
1/2 cup Nut or rice milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup macadamia nut sour cream

1. Cut the clove of

garlic in half and rub each half inside the fondue

pot. Discard the garlic when done.

2. Turn on the burner on low and melt the butter in the

cheese fondue pot.

3. Add the flour and milk and mix well.

4. Add the cheese one hand full at a time. Increase the tem

perature a little.

5. With a wooden spoon, mix well and stir regularly. D

on't let the mixtu

re come to a boil.

6. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

7. When the fondue is hot enough (but not boiling), add the sour cream, mix well and serve.

8. Dip your pieces of bread and other dippers into the deli

cious melted blue cheese.

9. Enjoy and repeat. Keep stirring the cheese to make su

re it doesn't burn at the bottom.

Easy Cheese Fondue

1/2 Tbls butter or coconut oil
1 clove garlic
1 Tbls chopped green onion
1/2 cup unsweetened apple juice
3 Tbls dried cranberries
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 Tbls cornstarch
1/8 lb Swiss cheese, shredded
1/8 lb cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 lb Gouda cheese, shredded
pepper to taste

1. Turn on your fondue pot and melt the butter. Add the garlic and green onion and cook for two minutes while stirring.

2. Add the juice, cranberries and rosemary and let it si

mmer for about 4 minutes.

3. With burner on low heat, add the cornstarch and shredded cheese, one handful at a time, until all of it is melted. With a wooden spoon, mix well and st

ir continuously.

4. Add pepper to taste.

5. If the mixture is too hard, add juice. If the mixture is too soft, add

cheese.

6. Dip bite size pieces of steamed broccoli, asparagus and cauliflower, button mushrooms, pear slices, apple slices or mild pepperoni sticks.

7. Let the dipped pieces cool off for a few seconds, the

n enjoy and repeat!

Tip: If you ask your children to make a figure 8 while dipping, it will turn this meal (or appetizer) into a game while ensuring the cheese mixture gets constantly stirred.

Dippers for cheese fondues- steamed broccoli, cherry tomatoes, apple slices, grapes, crusty bread, steamed asparagus, steamed new potatoes

Fondue with Vegetables in Broth

3 cups vegetable broth
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 Tbls grated ginger
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tbls Braggs liquid aminos
salt and pepper to taste
assortment of dippers

1. In a large pot over medium heat, warn up the veggie stock.
2. Add the chopped green onion, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.
4. Arrange your dippers and dips on serving plates and bowls and keep refrigerated until fondue starts.
5. When you are ready to get started, add braggs and salt and pepper.
6. Strain the fondue broth to remove all solid particles.
7. Transfer to your fondue pot. Keep the extra broth in a pot on the stove on low heat to replenish as needed.
8. Light the fondue burner and adjust the heat.
9. Put a piece of vegetable onto your fondue fork and cook it in the broth.
10. Transfer the cooked dipper onto a regular fork and dip into one of your favorite dips.

Dips- Mango Salsa, Ranch, Pesto sauce

Dippers- raw organic chicken, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, celery, mushrooms, bell pepper

There are only a couple times a year that we cook meat at our home. One is for valentines day and the other is on Christmas Eve. We cut up in to thin strips, one organic chicken thigh and it was enough for our whole family. You don't need very much.

Basic Maple Syrup Fondue

2 Tbls water
2 tsp cornstarch
1 cup real maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut milk
Assortment of dippers

1. In a small bowl, dilute the cornstarch and water. Set aside.
2. In a small sauce pan, bring the maple syrup to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat and add the coconut milk. Mix well.
4. Keep mixing and gradually add some of the cornstarch mixture until the fondue has reached the desired consistency.
5. Pour the fondue mixture into a fondue pot.
6. dip bite size pieces of various dippers.

Peanut Butter Fondue

5 Tbls honey or agave
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Assortment of dippers

1. In a small saucepan, bring the honey or agave and the coconut milk to a boil, while stirring consistently.
2. Reduce the heat and add the peanut butter.
3. Mix well.
4. Pour the peanut butter mixture into your warm fondue pot.
5. Add the cinnamon and stir well.
6. Dip bite size pieces of various dippers.

Dessert Dippers- Nuts, Apples, strawberries, warmed pineapple, bananas