Tips and Tricks


How to Get Your Kids to Give Up Junk and Eat Healthy Food

February 16th, 2012 Nancy

Please welcome Becky Mauldin, N.D. of Pure Vitality!  Becky is passionate about helping others regain their health and stay healthy.  Becky knows first hand what it’s like to deal with chronic illnesses and allergies and she want to help people overcome them.  You can read her inspiring story of how she overcame a life threatening illness through prayer and alternative medicine here.

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Is your family protesting your new healthy way of eating? It can be difficult to transition to a healthy diet when you have children. As you may already know, changing your whole family’s eating habits overnight is likely to cause loud opposition. No one likes having their favorite foods snatched away. Instead, proceed gradually with just small changes at a time. I have had to learn these things the hard way, so here are some tips to make your transition easier.

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Posted in Guest Posts, Tips and Tricks 2 Comments »

How to Have Crispy Skin on Your Crockpot Chicken

January 23rd, 2012 Nancy

Rosemary Chicken - Recipe coming soon!


One of the many reasons I love cooking chicken in the crockpot is because the meat always turns out moist and juicy. Unfortunately, the skin also always turns out mushy and unappetizing. Is it possible to have juicy chicken and crispy skin? I have found that yes, you can have crispy skin and juicy chicken! (more…)

Posted in Allergy Friendly Recipes, Crockpot/Slow Cooker, Tips and Tricks 24 Comments »

How to Cook Bacon in the Oven

January 8th, 2012 Nancy


I cannot cook bacon in a skillet.  I don’t know why, but I can never get it to cook evenly.  I hate standing over the hot skillet and being hit by flying bacon grease.  Plus, it takes forever to cook a whole pound when you only have one skillet.

Several years back, I found the perfect solution.  Cook the bacon in the oven!  The oven does a much better job of cooking the bacon evenly and cooks a whole pound at the same time! No more standing over the hot skillet and dodging hot grease.

What I really like best about this method is that I can stick the bacon in the oven to cook while I finish the rest of the meal.  For instance, I can put the bacon in the oven while I fix protein packed pancakes, or I can put the bacon in the oven while I make dairy-free potato soup.  It saves me a lot of time! (more…)

Posted in Allergy Friendly Recipes, Pork, Tips and Tricks 11 Comments »

How to Freeze Sweet Potatoes

November 20th, 2011 Nancy

Did you know many consider sweet potatoes to be one of the most nutritious vegetables we eat? They are high in numerous vitamins and minerals, specifically antioxidants Vitamin A and C.  These nutrients are best absorbed with a little healthy fat.  You can read more about the nutritional content of sweet potatoes here.

Now is the time to stock up on sweet potatoes.  They are normally $.98/lb at Wal-Mart but they are currently $.28 per pound at Wal-Mart and $.25 per pound at Meijer.  In the past, Wal-Mart has kept that pricing through the holidays, so it’s not too late to get in on the deal.  I like to buy large quantities, cook them and freeze them for later.  In fact, I just picked up about 22 pounds for $6.

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Posted in Allergy Friendly Recipes, Tips and Tricks 8 Comments »

How to Make Powdered Sucanat or Rapadura

November 13th, 2011 Nancy

Making powdered sucanat is easy!  Just dump a cup or so into a blender and blend for a few seconds.  Be careful not to blend it too long or your blender will get hot and the sugar will start to melt.

You can use the powdered sucanat in your favorite frosting recipe.  It works great in chocolate frosting and turns vanilla frosting into something more like yummy caramel frosting.  You will definitely want to try it in this apple cider glaze poured over gluten-free 2 ingredient pumpkin bread.

You may also enjoy this allergy-friendly Hot Fudge Cake and Dairy-Free Caramel Dip/Sauce.

Posted in Allergy Friendly Recipes, Tips and Tricks Tags: , , , , , , 2 Comments »

How to Peel a Whole Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds!

October 12th, 2011 Nancy

 

How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds from SAVEUR.com on Vimeo.

After I posted how to roast garlic, I stumbled on this video:  How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds. I can’t wait to try this!

Posted in Allergy Friendly Recipes, Tips and Tricks 2 Comments »

How to Roast Garlic

October 12th, 2011 Nancy

You haven’t had garlic bread ’till you’ve had toasted bread smeared with warm, freshly roasted garlic.  Roasting garlic is very simple.

How to Roast Garlic

You will need:

  • Head of Garlic
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt
  • Aluminium Foil
  • Baking Sheet or Muffin Tin

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Chop the head off the garlic, exposing the cloves.
  3. Peel the outermost layer of the skin.
  4. Drizzle some olive oil on a small piece of aluminium foil.  Place the garlic head in the olive oil.
  5. Drizzle more olive oil onto the garlic oil and salt.
  6. Wrap the garlic in the foil and place on a baking sheet or in a muffin tin.
  7. Roast for 30 minutes or until the cloves are soft.
  8. When cool enough to handle, use a cocktail fork to remove the garlic cloves or squeeze the head onto toast or dish and spread with a knife.

You may also enjoy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo 1 credit: VirtualErn Photo 3 credit: janeyhenning

Posted in Allergy Friendly Recipes, Side Dishes, Tips and Tricks Tags: , , , , , , Comments Off on How to Roast Garlic

How to Freeze Corn

September 5th, 2011 Nancy

We found a local farmer who has the most delicious sweet corn.  I decided I wanted some year round, so it was time to learn how to freeze corn.  I bought a bushel of corn which is about 70 ears.  We ate and shared more than half of it and froze the rest.

Freezing corn is not a difficult process.  You will need to “blanch” it before freezing it.  This means you need to cook the corn a bit to stop the enzymes from breaking down the corn while in storage.

 

 

What you’ll need:

Corn
Vegetable Brush
Stockpot
Large Bowl
Lots of Ice (You may want to buy a bag if you are freezing several dozen ears)
Bundt Pan
Sharp Knife
Freezer Bags

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Posted in Allergy Friendly Recipes, Tips and Tricks 8 Comments »

Salad in a Jar

August 31st, 2011 Nancy

Have you guys seen this Salad in a Jar site?  I have to say this is brilliant.  Paula writes about how she preps a week or two worth of lettuce and seals them in individual jars.  Then she has no excuse not to eat a fresh salad for lunch everyday.  She vacuum seals her jars.  I have read elsewhere that sealing the jars is not necessary.  Stored salad in unsealed jars lasts a long time as well, just not as long as the sealed jars.

Have you tried storing salad in jars?

Posted in Allergy Friendly Recipes, Tips and Tricks Tags: , , , , , , 2 Comments »

How to Make Chicken Stock and Why You Should

June 9th, 2011 Nancy

Homemade meat stocks are a traditional food that not only add flavor to meals but also add significant nutritional punch. For centuries chicken stock, a.k.a. Jewish Penicillin, has been served to the ill.  Unfortunately, these days most Americans purchase boneless cuts of meats and have lost the skill of creating this healing liquid.

Properly prepared stock contains high amounts of calcium, magnesium, potassium, gelatin and electrolytes.   The stock is gentle on the stomach and the nutrients are easily absorbed.  Homemade stock is the cornerstone to the GAPS Diet, a diet designed for natural digestive healing.  According to Dr. Campbell-McBride, “Meat and fish stocks provide building blocks for the rapidly growing cells of the gut lining and they have a soothing effect on any areas of inflammation in the gut.” It’s no wonder that stock has been recommended for cold, flu and just about whatever ails you for centuries.

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Posted in Allergy Friendly Recipes, Crockpot/Slow Cooker, Soup, Tips and Tricks Tags: , , , , , , , 39 Comments »
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