Wonder Women

Adventures in Healthier Eating - Hamburger Helper Makeover

I grew up eating Hamburger Helper, the Cheeseburger Macaroni flavor, and I've never outgrown my love for it. I still make it because it's cheap, it's fast, and it's tasty. The problem is it's made with stuff I can't pronounce. I know there is no way it can be the best choice for my family.

So I was particularly intrigued by Laura's ability to break up with HH and start a new love affair with a recipe made from scratch. Honestly, after the taco corn fritter meal, I was pretty skeptical. But I made it exactly as directed, using whole wheat pasta (not my favorite because it can tend to be tough) and white cheddar cheese that I shredded quickly using my Pampered Chef Ultimate Mandoline. I happily used whole milk to ensure it would be as creamy as possible. I served it up, took a bite, and...

It wasn't exactly like Hamburger Helper. I was worried. But the more I ate, the more my old Hamburger Helper was like a high school honey--long forgotten! The whole wheat pasta was tender, my husband loved it, and the kids who normally eat it were satisfied (c'mon, if everyone ate it, I'd think I was dreaming). Leftovers were particularly yummy I thought.

The great news is it's good, it's better for us, and it doesn't take long to make. I cooked the noodles 15 minutes from the time they started simmering. That's when the milk and cheese mixture really started to thicken.

Do you have any other healthy meal makeovers to share with me?

Adventures in Healthier Eating - Taco Corn Fritters

I've definitely lived the extremes where eating is concerned. But now I would like to eat and serve healthier fare without becoming looney about it. Know what I mean? To that end, I'll be posting some of my food forays in the hope that it will be of some help to those who would like to do likewise.

During one of my healthy eating frenzies, I accumulated a grain mill, a 50-pound bag of whole wheat, and lots of raw sugar. I didn't want to feel like my investment was all for naught, so I decided to include Heavenly Homemakers in my healthier eating journey. I love that Laura makes kid-friendly food, provides weekly menus, and uses many of the staples I've acquired. 

My first meal attempt was her taco corn fritter recipe. My mother made delicious corn fritters and the idea of adding cheese and ground beef to them really appealed to me. The good news is I've enjoyed some of Laura's recipes. The bad news is that this wasn't one of them. Pretty much everyone hated these fritters. I think the problems were a) the honey makes them brown before they're cooked through and b) Fritters are better when made out of flour rather than corn meal in my opinion. Even though my first effort failed, I did not give up! Stay tuned for more adventures in healthier eating.

A Wonderful Appetizer

This recipe is fabulous for my SCD, vegetarian, and health conscious friends as well as anyone who loves mushrooms. I made this appetizer I got from an SCD email loop years ago in August for my husband's family and they were wild about it. I made them again this Friday for a family birthday only I had to double it. They were gone quickly! Enjoy and be sure to check the blog tomorrow. I am doing a giveaway this week for women.

Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms
Serves 6, but I cut in half to serve 12
3 T. olive oil
6 large portabella mushrooms, stems removed (finely chop 1/2 cup stems and reserve)
1-2 T. red dry wine
2 med. Onions diced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 T. Chopped fresh rosemary or 2 t. dried
1 med. yellow bell pepper, diced
1 med. red bell pepper diced
1 T. wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350F. In a small bowl mix 2 T. oil and salt and pepper. Rub mushroom caps in mixture. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Set aside. Reduce oven to 300. In a large skillet heat remaining T.'s oil over med-high heat. Add wine onions garlic rosemary. Cook stirring often until onions are soft about 5 mins. Add bell peppers and reserved chopped mushroom stems and cook, stirring often about 5 mins. Stir in vinegar and salt. Reduce heat to low and cook stirring occasionally, 10 mins. Reduce from heat and let cool slightly. Fill mushroom caps with mixture and place on baking sheet. Just before serving bake until heated through about 10 mins.

Recipe from Cissie Adolph M Levin

Make Your Own Milk

I have made my own milk when I nursed six babies, but that's not exactly what I'm talking about. I haven't had any kind of milk to drink for seven years. I quit drinking regular milk when I was 17 and was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. The doctor advised me to "avoid dairy" so I was drinking soy milk for many years. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet prohibits soy products and none of the commercial almond milks are legal because of the added sugar. So when I got an ad from Digestive Wellness for this SoyQuick milk maker that can be used to make almond milk, I was excited to try it. Yes, you can make homemade almond milk without a fancy gadget, but it is SO quick and easy to make, I feel it's worth it. I now have "cereal" with almond milk on dried mulberries and other dried and fresh fruit. It's wonderful! My son drinks soy milk and I haven't tried making my own soy milk yet. I'm very ambivalent about him drinking soy milk and have wondered if he would be okay switching to lactose-free milk. If I try it, I'm sure I would save a lot of money. A half-gallon of soy milk is over $3. With the price of groceries and the number of food-related health problems going up, it may be time to consider making more of your own food.

Why the Allergy?

People who hear my "Tummy Trouble" story and learn about my food allergies ask me why so many people have food allergies now. I'm sure I don't know! But I've shared with them the over-exposure hypothesis I've read. People may become allergic to foods they over-indulge in. For example, few Americans are allergic to rice, but many Asian people are.

That explanation doesn't satisfy me though. Are we really over doing it on the peanuts for example? I am usually not one to believe Chicken Little. But my reading about genetically modified (GM) crops has me concerned. When you look at the data about contamination of unmodified crops with GM crops by wind and bee spread of pollen, there appears to be even more cause for concern. Bees are also dying inexplicably. Could GM crops be the explanation? I have read of the dangers of canola and soy and perhaps you have, too. Could it be that there is nothing inherently wrong with these foods, but GM crops are giving our immune systems fits? We worry about bio-terrorism, but maybe we're terrorizing ourselves?

If this article gives you concern, we should be applying pressure to stop the manufacture and planting of GM crops of all kinds. http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/Newsletter/June2007GMCornMayCauseAllergies/index.cfm

Tummy Trouble

A friend of mine asked me to share my battle with ulcerative colitis and food allergies. I wrote so much I thought I would post it here in hopes it may help someone. Please feel free to email me if you have other questions at melphd@aol.com.

I was really at the end of my rope with the intestinal stuff. It was the 2nd bout I'd had with a partial blockage. It was killing me. I knew I was going to have to go to the hospital and they would put me on nasty drugs or do surgery. I knew the ongoing disease process put me at risk of cancer, too. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) at 17, but was just told to avoid dairy and alcohol. No drugs; no surgery. A colonoscopy in the midst of chronic diarrhea after I had my 2nd baby was normal though. Something was weird since I'd had 2 colonoscopies at 17 that confirmed UC.

So at church I admitted the problem and my friends prayed. I went home and was crying. I told God I'd go to the hospital but that I really wanted healing. I felt a warm tingle go through my whole body. I fell asleep. When I woke up, the pain was gone. At that time, an online acquaintance told me about a book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle, that described a diet that had helped her dh who also had UC. I said, NO WAY. I had already been delivered from my overeating problem by giving up dieting. I wasn't going to go back to a diet! She just said, "OK" which made me want to read it. LOL If she'd tried to convince me, I wouldn't have ordered the book and read it, but I did.

I was surprised to learn that the diet was supposed to heal you in a year or two so you could eat normally again. Turns out it didn't work that way for me, but if I had known that ahead of time, I wouldn't have tried it and found the relief I've always wanted. The diet is devastatingly difficult. I cried for 9 months. I'm not exaggerating. To really do it, you have to stay off everything. No licks or tastes or cheats. I went through withdrawals. But within a week, I felt better than I'd ever felt in my entire life. That kept me going. So did the painful diarrhea I got when I accidentally ate the "illegal" foods on vacation.

The diet is no-grain, no sugar (but honey is OK), no yeast, no soy, no dairy except lactose-free cheeses and yogurt, no potatoes, no canned veggies. Getting the picture? The theory is that people with all kinds of digestive disorders (UC, Crohn's, IBS, Celiac) are eating too many carbs and the body can't digest them all. They sit in the gut undigested where they feed the bad bacteria. The bad guys overwhelm the good guys and irritate the gut, causing ulcers. In order the kill the bad guys, all carbs that are digested in the intestine are eliminated from the diet. In order to grow the good guys, you eat lactose-free and sugar-free yogurt you make yourself.

I think there is much truth to the theory. HOWEVER, I believe the other reason it works is because of food allergies/intolerances. I am allergic/intolerant to wheat. The reason I keep saying allergic/intolerant is because it's entirely possible I wouldn't show a true allergy on a blood or RAST test. However, when I eat it, I start wheezing and my throat itches and I get mouth ulcers. I am also, I am sure, getting ulcers in my colon. Other symptoms include eye redness and burning and reflux. That's when I really eat a bunch. I'm pretty sure I'm intolerant to corn products (corn syrup) and MSG, too, but I don't have all the symptoms I do with wheat. I discovered this in two ways. First, when I slowly went off the diet, I had a return of symptoms. I was devastated. I also had a horrible flare up when I was pg with my dd. My blood test showed high eosinophils (a marker for allergy). Research I did on this showed that people with IBD (Crohn's & UC) have higher levels of eosinophils, especially in the gut.

Whenever I hear about celiacs who continue to suffer despite removing gluten from the diet, I suspect they have other food intolerances that aren't being addressed. It's entirely possible that the intolerances have less to do with the foods themselves than with what's been done to them with genetic engineering, pesticides, and food additives. I've heard people who are intolerant to milk, for example, being able to drink unprocessed milk from drug-free cows.

I think the food supply and people's reactions to it is like a nuclear disaster that no one acknowledges. It's so huge. Almost every day someone tells me about themselves or someone they love who is in complete agony with this problem. My heart goes out to them and sometimes I wish I were a medical researcher, because no matter what it took I would prove that our diets are killing us. When I saw a GI doc when pg, she told me diet had nothing to do with IBD. I would love to see her eat her words one day.

If you or someone you love is having tummy troubles, please buy Breaking the Vicious Cycle (see the book list at left) and consider trying the diet for a month. If it works, I know it's disappointing in a way. But I no longer feel sorry for myself because I know people who are deathly ill for whom the diet is NOT effective.

Sweeter than Pie

It just isn't Fall for me unless I bake one of my apple pies. I am so in love with this recipe that I cannot tolerate less in an apple pie! In fact, I'm a little arrogant about it. My mother, a superb cook, decided to take me on in a pie contest one year. She didn't use a recipe and I did-- the recipe for Apple Crunch Pie I got from Woman's Day magazine. The contest was officially declared a tie. That tells you how good this is!

Before I give you the recipe, let me explain a few things. If you like apple pie and apple crisp, you'll love this recipe. The recipe calls for store-bought refrigerated crust--another reason I love it. But if you're like my mom and prefer to make your own, have at it! There's simply no reason to make one pie, when you can just as easily make two, so the recipe is already doubled for you. The kids helped me make this. They love using my apple peeler and Pampered Chef stand for it. As I was helping them peel, I remembered my dad peeling apples for hours so mom could put them in the freezer to bake with later. This pie is full of meaning! We're eating the first pie with Grandpa tonight, but the second goes to our sweeter-than-pie friend, Pastor Blake, who is doing so well. When I asked Deb if he liked apple pie, he said, "Bring it on!" If he can see this, I hope drooling isn't bad for your heart!

To keep your crust from burning, you can get a pie crust protector like this one from Amazon 

You can also make your own like I did by cutting the bottom out of a foil pie pan. Now here's the recipe!

SERVES: 16

2 refrigerated pie crusts

CRUMB TOPPING

1 c. + 4 T. flour

1 c. packed light brown sugar

2/3 c. granulated sugar

2 t. ground cinnamon

2 sticks (1 c.) cold butter or margarine (not spread), cut in small pieces

FILLING

14 med. to lg. apples (about 6.5 lb) such as Granny Smith, Pippins or Greenings

2T. lemon juice

1 c. granulated sugar

6 T. flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1. Have ready two 9-in pie plates and a cookie sheet (or two). Place oven rack in lowest position in oven. Heat oven to 450 F.

2. Line pie plate with pie crust according to package directions. Flute or crimp edge.

3. CRUMB TOPPING: Mix flour, sugars & cinnamon in a medium bowl. Cut in butter (or use fingertips) until mixture forms moist, coarse crumbs that clump together easily.

4: FILLING: Peel, halve & core apples. Cut in 1/8-in. thick slices (may use food processor to slice). Put into a large bowl. Toss with lemon juice to coat. Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle over apple slices; toss to coat.

5. Layer apple slices in pie shell, mounding them higher in center. pat topping evenly over apples to form a top crust.

6. Place pie on cookie sheet to catch drips. Bake 15 mins. Reduce oven temperature to 350F and bake 45 mins. longer or until a skewer meets some resistance when center of pie is pierced (apples will continue to cook after removed from oven) and topping is golden brown. If topping is browning too quickly, drape a piece of foil over pie. Cool pie completely on wire rack before serving. 

Recipe for Success

I spoke on making Meaningful Meals in Just Minutes (for Not Much Money) this weekend and the most common comment was that women wanted recipes. In the past, I've heard a similar comment on my get-organized talk. Women wanted more organizing tips.

I honestly love talking tips and recipes! But I believe that's not where we're lacking. Is our problem with getting organized or putting nutritious meals on the table really that we just don't have enough tips or recipes? Even though I have drastically decluttered my recipe books, I still have more recipes than I will ever make in a lifetime. That does not even count the thousands I have in my files and in my www.bigoven.com software. Every time I get my Woman's Day magazine or any of the other great women's magazines I subscribe to, I have another large batch of recipes and organizing tips to consider.

If I would have given you all of my favorite time-saving recipes, many wouldn't have liked them. There would have been those who don't eat beef, pork, or fish and those who don't use certain spices. I know how this works because I've seen the feedback Marla Cilley gets on www.flylady.net. She hears, "Oh I could never wear shoes in the house" and "There's no way I can get my house clean in an hour." The women who make these kinds of declarations without being willing to tailor the tips for themselves are also the women who will not experience change.

In 2 Kings, chapter 5, Naaman is angry when he is not cured of his leprosy in the manner he expects. He must go through a process that seems pointless to him. We can all behave this way! We may wish that the Super Power would give us a magic recipe for the change we desire, but most often He expects us to use what He's already given us. Go through your recipe stash and pull out those that can be made in a hurry. Make a separate quick category for them in your recipe software or in your files. Also make a list from memory of the meals you and your family enjoy and write the quick-to-make meals on index cards. On the back of each card, make a list of ingredients you need for the dish. Using a card file, you can shedule your meals for the week or the month! You could also use business cards and put them in daily order in your planner.

My favorite quick meals are broiled salmon fillets purchased at Sam's, chicken, pork, and fish coated with seasonings I got for next to nothing via the Grocery Game (www.grocerygame.com) and crock-pot recipes and others I've gotten from www.savingdinner.com. One of the women who attended my talk commented that I didn't have any ideas of my own. Amen! There is nothing new under the sun. I am not a chef. But I do have to make three meals a day for eight people, one of whom has special dietary needs (that would be me!). I do have a recipe for success, even if I didn't create it. May the Super Power bless you as you undertake the important task of making meaningful, nutritious meals for yourself and your family. 

Mind Your Manners Please

On the matter of reminding to mind the manners...I found a great little product at www.savingdinner.com yesterday. A simple download of cards with one manner listed on each. The parent reads the little rhyme and focuses on a single manner for that meal. Look for Manner Minders on the left side of the website. I plan to laminate mine and keep them in the middle of the table. As long as no one runs off with them, it should work great!

What's for Dinner?

If you're looking for help in the kitchen and you can't afford a chef, you'll love these new websites. My friend, Shari, gave me the link to www.menus4moms.com. I haven't used her service yet, but here's what I like. #1 - It's free! And it's a system based on the practices I teach in my workshop, "You Can Make Meaningful Meals in Minutes (for Not Much Money)." The only drawback to the menus is they aren't based on sales in your area and they aren't diet-specific. If you're looking for low-carb, for example, you won't find it there.

A fee-based service ($1.25/week) plans diet-specific meals based on sales at your local grocery: www.e-mealz.com. I don't shop at the stores listed by e-mealz, but I did find a site that offers meal plans based on my local grocery store's sales. Do a web search on meal planning in your area and you may find a similar service.

These services are additional helps for figuring out what to make your family. The most important step is to have a plan! If you don't know what's for dinner next week, why don't you look in your cupboards? A quick search of www.allrecipes.com or your recipe software can tell you what you could make with those ingredients. You can automatically add any other necessary ingredients to your shopping list. If you plan well ahead of time, you can buy ingredients at the very best price.  For now, let's just figure out what to eat this week!