Roasted Squash Seeds

Here is a great snack that my kids, and John and I, enjoy. They are really simple to prepare with only a few ingredients. You can use any seeds from squash or pumpkins.

Separate seeds from pulp. Place in a colander and rinse any remaining pulp off. Lay onto a paper towel or clean dishcloth and pat to dry. I usually leave them sitting out for a while until I get to them a while later. Then I know they are plenty dry enough to roast.

Place dry seeds in a bowl, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil. You only need enough to coat, don't overdo it, you can always add more if you need it. Too much will make them greasy.

Sprinkle with your favorite seasonings. I usually use sea salt, organic garlic powder, and organic onion powder. Crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper is great too! Play around with different flavors. If you've collected enough seeds you can make a few different types to appeal to your snackers!

"Slow and low" is always best when roasting seeds. Preheat oven to 275* and roast on a baking pan for about 40 minutes or until nicely browned.

Purple Cow Pops

My kids thought these pops were such a treat! They were so easy to make and from start to clean-up took only about 5 minutes!

To be honest, I did not measure anything for these. I just eyeballed to what I thought would fill my ice cube tray.

Start with some plain homemade yogurt, then add your favorite flavor of frozen 100% fruit juice concentrate. Enough to flavor. I'm sure pureed fruit or 100% fruit juice would work fine also, this is just what I had on hand to use! I used 100% grape which did have one other ingredient of citric acid, which I didn't realize when I bought it, and I can't bear to throw away food, so I came to terms with the tiny bit of citric acid and used it! Next time, I'll be sure to check! I have a mango to use up so I may just puree that to use!

Stir and pour into ice cube trays, then insert popsicle sticks! I got my sticks for a few cents at the craft store with a coupon!

Freeze and enjoy your kids smiling faces while they gobble them up!

~Joe's Favorite Kale Chips

In this house we all love kale in soups, but I honestly have never had it prepared any other way. I bought a HUGE bunch of kale for $.99 at the market. Seriously, it was a HUGE bunch. I used it for some homemade Zuppa Toscana Soup (recipe to come soon) and still had tons left over. This is one super healthy food that is very affordable, and one bunch can be stretched a long way!

In my quest for healthier options for my family, I came across a recipe for Kale Chips. Admittedly, I was very skeptical that I could pull these off and get my kids, or husband, for that matter, to eat them. And LIKE them! But, I decided to give them a shot! And boy am I glad I did! We all love them. They taste surprisingly, just like a potato chip! What a wonderful, healthy alternative!

The health benefits of this super food are plentiful. Just to name a few, it's loaded with fiber, vitamin A, and it's a superb source of calcium!

So get your hand out of the greasy potato chip bag and give these a try! Their totally easy to make and don't take much time whatsoever!

What you'll need to make Kale Chips:

• a bunch of kale (wash and spin or shake off water, you don't want wet kale)
• olive oil
• sea salt (to taste)

Preheat oven to *325 degrees.

Tear kale off of its stem into bite size pieces. Place onto a baking sheet and drizzle with enough olive oil to coat. Sprinkle with sea salt. I toss it all with my hands, makes it much easier to coat evenly and spread them into a single layer.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, turning at about 7 minutes to ensure even crispness. Crispness? Is that even a word? Well it is now!

They should come out crisp and lightly browned on the edges. Be careful, once they start to brown they WILL burn quickly!

Cool and enjoy!

I've stored whatever is left (which isn't much after Joe gets his hands on them) in a container at room temperature and they kept well for the short time they stuck around! So I'm not too sure how long they will keep for! I'm sure you won't have many left to worry about it though!

Upcoming Posts To Watch Out For!

Upcoming posts...

Soaked Whole Wheat Bread, Tori's Whole Wheat Healthy Banana Muffins, My Sourdough Starter, & Ideas to use up my abundance of eggs!

Nutty Maple Granola

This is so tasty AND for an added bonus, the aroma from it fills the house with the most wonderful scent!

7 Cups oats

2/3 Cups melted coconut oil (you can use melted butter, but this is much healthier & tastier)
2 tsp. vanilla

3/4 Cups REAL maple syrup (pure)

1/3 Cup almonds

1 Cup pecans

2 Cups walnuts

3 T. ground flax seeds

Mix all ingredients together. Stir until everything is coated with syrup. Spread onto a cookie sheet (be sure to use something with sides, not a flat sheet or stone, you'll thank me later when your stirring it!)

Bake in the oven at 325* degrees, stirring every 10 minutes, for a total of 40 minutes. All ovens will vary so if you notice it starting to brown quickly you'll want to keep close watch on it. It WILL burn in an instant!

Store in an airtight container or jar. This is my first time making this so I have no idea how this will keep. I'm sure it will be gone before it has the slightest chance of spoiling, it's that good!

This is great alone as a snack, cereal, or yogurt topping! It got an A+ from the kiddos too so that is just awesome!

You can use any combination/variety of nuts or seeds in this recipe. Even dried fruit or raw honey in place of some of the maple syrup. This is just what I had on hand to use! Next time I'll be adding some sunflower seeds to the mix and some of our delicious raw tupelo honey we bought in Lancaster this weekend!

Let me know what different tweaks you try so I can try them too!

Well On Our Way To Whole Foods

I've been meandering thru hundreds of articles, blogs, and news & health reports trying to educate myself as much as I can about ASD's (Autsium Spectrum Disorders) so I can do my best to help my son. I've learned such a wealth of information about how the foods we consume effect our health in such negative ways and have come to have a new appreciation for whole foods.

What are whole foods? Here's my quick explanation...any foods that are from nature, fresh, seasonal, and definitely unprocessed and unrefined. Foods as close to their natural state as possible.

This is when I decided it was time for me to make some major changes to my families eating habits. Although we didn't eat terrible, we definitely didn't eat many whole foods either!

My first food to conquer a healthier version of was yogurt. So, one of my kids favorite foods down, only about 1 million more to go!

After making the yogurt out of store bought milk, I started my research on raw milk. My hubby, for years, has wanted to get a dairy cow to add to our gaggle of animals. I've always been on the fence about it, mostly because I've never taken the time to actually sit down and actually learn the in's and outs of raw vs. pasteurized.

Well, guess which one won my vote?

Yep, raw.

Picked up my first gallon this evening. It's fresh, local, and WHOLE. Chock full of yummy goodness and nutrients that will NOT be found in pasturized milk.

Before you raise your nose to the fact that I will from now on be feeding my family raw milk, please take the time to educate yourself on the real truth about raw milk!

My newest homemade, and yes, whole food, is in the refrigerator draining as we speak! Cream cheese! And it's made right from my yogurt! I'll share more on that when it's finished! Pictures to come!