Day 29

Day 29 -  I haven't had a chance to be on here for a couple of days.  Just thought I would take this time while I am waiting for one of my youngest to fall asleep to give a brief update.  I am not sure what has been going on the past couple of days but that we tried out another new recipe for pumpkin pancakes.  They turned out pretty good.  I will post the recipe later.  Today my family took me out to eat for my birthday.  We went to a place that we had heard that they had some all real food on their buffet.  If they had much it was mixed in with everything else and was hard to tell.  So at lunch we didn't, I am sure of it, have all real food, but it was for a birthday (a special occasion).  They are allowed.  So tonight I made a birthday cookie pizza for our little celebration here at the house.  We will see how it turns out, I will try to put the recipe up tomorrow, if it is any good.  That about does it for now.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup fructose
1/2 cup raw brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
10 oz. All Natural chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375F.  Mix the ingredients together.  Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 9 to 11 minutes.  Makes about 4 dozen cookies. 

I had made it into bars.  Just add a few more cooking minutes!
Ghirardelli has All Natural baking chips.

Day 26

Day 26 - It must be fall!  I love to get out in this weather and have some fun.  Another way that I know that it is fall is the pumpkins!  Yes, the pumpkins!  The mini-muffins were eaten up for a snack this morning and we had breakfast for super, pumpkin waffles and applesauce with real maple syrup.  Isobel didn't want them for they were made out of pumpkin, but it didn't stop her from eating them.  I think she would start to realize that she likes pumpkin.  She even had some pumpkin seeds this evening for a snack.  Maybe I need to find a way to make pumpkin crackers! :)

Pumpkin Waffles

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/8 cup fructose
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup pumpkin

Instructions

1. Set up the waffle iron on a counter top or table within easy reach of the cook. Plug in the iron to preheat it.
2. In a medium-size mixing bowl, stir together the flour, fructose, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter, and pumpkin. Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture and stir just until combined.
3. Coat the preheated waffle iron with cooking spray. Pour the waffle batter onto the center of each section of the iron. (You will need 1/4 to 3/4 cup of batter for each waffle.)
4. Cook the waffles for about 4 to 5 minutes or until they are crispy and light brown. (Read the manufacturer's directions for details about how long you should cook the waffles in your particular waffle iron.) Serve immediately with maple syrup. Serves 4.

I should have made a double banch so we could have had some left!

Day 25

Day 24 - The girls and I went to a Mother/Daughter Brunch this morning.  All the food looked good, but most of it was a no!  We had an egg dish and fruit.  The tables were decorating so pretty and some of them had cupcakes and candy on them.  We made sure that we sat at a table that didn't have any of that tempting stuff on them.  When it was all over and we were talking to people, someone at one of the tables with fun size candy bars offered them to us and we had to turn them down.  Then she asked if we wanted to take them home for the boys, so we explained why we could not have them.  She was a big encouragement to us then with the words that she said to us.  Our daughter was at the play tonight that she is in and she had a falling out!  All of the children in it were given a sucker and she gave in.  I guess that it is pretty good to go until the 24th day for something like that to happen and with all of the other ones having them.  How many tempting things can a 7 year old handle in a day!


Day 25 - We are 1/4 of the way there!  Should we have a party with an ice cream cake!  I don't think so!  We can just be happy that we have made it this far.  For our Sunday morning fellowship time I made Pumpkin-Raisin Mini Muffins.  My daughter was not sure about them because they were made with pumpkin, but ended up eating 3 of them because they were good!  The the boys finished them off this afternoon and asked for more.  I just took the pan out of the oven and the boys are on there 2nd ones.  We feel that more people are excepting our challenge or getting use to it and know they can't do anything.  Which is nice for us.  Here is my latest muffin recipe:

Pumpkin-Raisin Mini Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup fructose
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup low fat milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (could use applesauce)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup golden raisins

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, fructose, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a second bowl, mix the egg and egg white, milk, oil, pumpkin puree and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir only until moistened. Do not over mix. Stir in the raisins.
2. Spray mini-muffin tins with cooking spray. Spoon batter into prepared tins, filling each section 2/3 full. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
   Makes 24 mini muffins.

Day 23

Day 21 - We had our church's Wed. night Dinner at a local park.  The main food was hot dogs and hamburgers, with sides.  I knew before we got there that it may be a hard night of eating.  It turned out not to be so bad.  Of course the two things that I took we could have.  There was about a handful of things there that we were able to eat and that was just fine, because our tummies were full!  One of the things that we took was our homemade gram crackers and they were a big hit!

Day 22 - We kinda ran out of fruit!  The children have been snacking more on fruit.  We have gone through 4 bags of apple within a week!  And the peaches went by fast, too!

Day 23 - So we took a trip to the store this afternoon to pick up some fruits and other things.  One thing we picked up was a baking pumpkin.  For supper we made some pumpkin fries!  The children just ate them right up.  And even wanted more!  We made to different kinds.  Who said that eating like this would be no fun!  We even froze some sliced pumpkins to use later.

Ingredients
2 sugar pie pumpkins = approximately 8 cups when cut
Savory Spice Mix
2 tsp. curry powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp. olive oil
Sweet Spice Mix
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice or allspice (no sugar added)
2 tbsp. honey
Directions
Prep: preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 1 – Cut the pumpkins in half and remove the seeds.
Step 2 – Remove the skins with a potato peeler. (Careful not to get your fingers!)
Step 3 – Cut into strips, similar to french fries.  About 1/4 to 1/2 inch in thickness.
Step 4 – Coat your pumpkin in desired spices (see instructions below).
Step 5 – Arrange the fries on a parchment lined cookie sheet so that they are in a single layer
Step 6 – Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until it is soft and easily pierced with a fork.
SAVORY PUMPKIN FRIES
Step 1 – Place your cut pumpkin and olive oil in a mixing bowl.
Step 2 – Add 1 tbsp. of the spices.
Step 3 – Toss by hand until the pumpkin is well coated in oil and spices. 
SWEET PUMPKIN FRIES
Step 1 – Place your cut pumpkin into a mixing bowl and sprinkle on your spices.
Step 2 – Add honey and toss by hand until your pumpkin is well coated with honey and spices.

Skirt to Dress

Earlier this summer I picked up a skirt at a thrift store.  I have turned it into a dress for Isobel.  You may ask me how!  I'll tell you.  I measured it around Isobel and cut off the sides to fit it to her.  Then with the part that I cut off, I made into strapes.  She loves it.  I am working on a smaller one for a friend, too!  Here is the skirt and the after pictures!

Day 20

Day 19 - Isaiah had soccer last night.  They always have a snack afterwards!  When snack time came he looked at daddy to see if he could have it!  And he was happy to find out that he could because the snack had turned out to be bananas and water!  After soccer we came home and ate supper and the boys decided to make more almond butter with choc.  and for some reason it did not turn out and got hard. 

Day 20 - Isobel is at the play and they have been doing so well that they are getting a treat.  Unlike Isaiah who got the snack last night, she is having to say no because it is candy!  She has her supper with her and an apple.  Just some things in a corse of doing all of things.  The children sure are learning a lot, well at least the older two!

They wanted to turn it on, but knew that it would be loud.  They can be so funny!  Enjoy!

Day 18

Day 18 - So today was our third Sunday.  It is always nice to have people be supportive of what we are doing.  Today we had some people asking us why we were doing 100 days and why the children are doing it too.  They don't think that we should be having the children do it.  It is a good thing that we are the parents and we want what is best for our children.  Eating foods that are not process and do not have unnatural sweeteners in them are better on your body.  People in the Bible would not have been filling theirselves with all of that kind of food, so why should we?  So if you are thinking that we are doing wrong to our children, I am not making you read this!  Our children are not complaining about our adventure and they are enjoying it and learning new things from doing this.  They are supportive and even tell others that they can't have some things.  I love my children!
     On the other side of things, my husband wanted more homemade gram crackers today!  So I helped him make them.  We also had some little hands helping.  We again made two batches and ate them with some of our homemade almond butter!  So good, we had to make ourselves stop eating it!  And the muffins I made last night for us to eat at doughnut time this morning at church, were a hit with our children! 
     If anyone has a recipe for some whole wheat plain crackers, I would love to know about it!

Day 17

Day 17 - It has been one busy day.  I am just now able to set down and take a break.  Our real food days are going good.  Last night I made some homemade pizza with veggies as the toppings.  The children were picking the peppers off, but overall was eating it really good.  Today we made some almond butter.  Then made a second batch with cocca in it.  We should have put more in.  The children were eating it with the homemade bread that I made yesturday.  This evening I made some flaxseed muffins for us to have at church during doughnut time.  They have carrets and apples in them.  We will see how the children like them.  If they do, I will post the recipe.

Day 13

Day 13 -- Making some homemade salsa for my husband.  It is just helping us save some money.  Something I do about this time every year.  We have been moving right along.  Day 10 has come and gone.  Some days it is harder then other, wanting to just throw something into the over like fish sticks.  But we are learning a lot, like how to make things that people just go out and buy.  One thing that I made just the other day was salad dressing or mayo.  I could not believe how easy it was to make it and only 3 things went into it.  If you look at a jar of mayo, how many ingredients is on it?  Do we really need all of that in it?  I still would like a piece of chocolate and can't believe I have gone without for 13 days, about half a month!  Right now my boys are snacking on carrots!  How good to see that.  I have a meeting tonight, lets see if I can stay away from all the good food that they have there.

Day 9!

Day 9 - We are almost 10% done with our real food!  It has been going pretty well.  The children have really been into it.  I was not sure how they would take to the changes.  Today I made some gramcrackers.  I had to stop the children from eating them.  They are really easy to make and it is fun making foods, I know what is in them and know that it is real.  If you would like to try your hand at these, here you go:
        

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cups butter, melted
• ½ cups honey

Mix together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and soda. Separately, mix the butter and honey and then pour into the dry ingredients. Mix well and drop onto a greased baking sheet (jelly roll size). Roll out to the corners with a rolling pin. I usually end up using my hands to press out the mixture as it tends to be pretty sticky! Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Cut quickly when they come out of the oven. Your kids will love it when you use different shaped cookie cutters! These are delicious warm out of the oven, but they also keep well.

I also made a batch of chocolate.  Added 1/3 cup cocoa to the recipe (left our the cinnamon) to make chocolate graham crackers.

Cut and ready to serve!



Chocolate graham crackers still in the pan.

 We will also be having homemade pizza for supper.  I need to be getting the toppings on and getting it in!  Any children want to help me?

Day 7 and 8

Day 7 - Made some homemade fruit lather.  The children ate it all up.  Will post picture and recipe later.
      Apple Spice Fruit Leather
Yields one 11”x17” pan of fruit leather
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 5-8 hours at 170°F

INGREDIENTS
1 25-ounce jar of applesauce
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 170°F.
2. Line an 11”x17” jelly-roll pan or lipped cookie sheet with greased parchment paper (wax paper will smoke in the oven) or a silicone baking mat.
3. Spread the puree until it’s about 1/4” thick. Pick up the pan and tilt back and forth until it’s evenly distributed.
4. Bake in the oven for 5-8 hours. Rotate the pan halfway during the baking time to ensure even drying. Timing will vary depending on the fruit used. It’s ready when it’s smooth and non-tacky.

5. Let it cool, then cut in strips with scissors or a pizza cutter. Stack or roll them and store in an airtight container or a zipper storage bag.

• Spice up a can of pumpkin with nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves for another twist on fall-inspired fruit leather.
• Puree a can of peaches or other canned fruit in the blender for a quick option that requires no washing and slicing.
• To sweeten fruit leather, add a couple teaspoons, or to taste, of vanilla, brown sugar, honey or maple syrup.
• Try adding herbs like lavender, basil, rosemary, mint, sage or thyme for subtle hints of extra decadent flavor – a perfect adult treat.

Day 8 - Made some crackers this evening.  The batch went like it was going out of style, so I made another.  The children sure are liking new things.  I will try to post this recipe tomorrow.  I think I will be trying to make homemade gramcrackers tomorrow!

•      1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into tablespoon size chunks
• 4 oz. or 1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese…the sharper the cheese the cheesier the crackers

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine all three ingredients in a food processor and blend. The mixture will eventually turn into one big ball chasing itself around the bowl. Be patient because it can take a few minutes.
3. Roll the ball into a log about 1 ½” in diameter. At this point you could refrigerate the dough until later.
4. With a sharp knife slice ¼” thick pieces off the log (pictured) and place each one flat on an ungreased baking sheet. Try to rotate which side you are cutting down on because the top of the log does start to flatten a little. It is like your very own homemade slice and bake!
5. If you want your crackers to look a little fancy (as pictured above) take a fork and gently mash down the top of each one before baking.
6. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes or until golden brown.

These crackers can be stored in the freezer so double the recipe and save some for later!

Yield: Two dozen



Fruit Leather



Day 3, 4, and 5!

What can I say about Day 3!  It was our baby girl's 1st birthday, so we had to have a cake.  We took all that was left of the cake over to our neighbors.  So, one piece for everyone and no more and we didn't even have any ice cream with it!

Day 4:  I thought I would have some sad children for there are always doughnuts at church to eat before Sunday School.  I made some muffins and we took those and the children didn't mind at all.  One of the older ladies even ask our 5 year old if he wanted a piece gum (which my children can never say no to), but he told her that he couldn't have one.  After she found out why from him, she came over to me and told me that she should try what we are doing for some of the problems that she has.  It was also potluck day (1st Sunday of the month).  Our eldest (7) did a pretty good job picking out her food and the others had some help.  One of the ladies in our church knows about what we are trying to do and she was so sweet and brought a platter with all fresh fruits and veg.  Over all we did pretty good at potluck, but I am sure there was something on all of our plates that should not have been there.  Then we took off on the road for an over night trip.  So supper was in the cooler.

Day 5:  Hotel breakfast - they have a wide variety of food, but not to much for us.  We did our best, with cold cereal and eggs and fruit, and yogurt.  We tried!  Lunch was a little tricky, but stopped at a grocery store to pick somethings up.  Supper was back at home.  Why the overnight trip.  Eric ran in a marathon this morning and came in 20th place with a 3rd place win in his age group.  We didn't stay around for they were having pizza and cookies!  So 5 days down, 95 to go.

Day One

Today was our fisrt day or "real food."  It went pretty well.  We had eggs, toast, and milk for breackfast.  Fruit and Vegs. for lunch.  There is one thing that we are not doing and that is changing our milk.  You are to have raw milk or whole and we just are not into doing that.  Overall day one has been okay, besides Eric wanting gum.