Letter of the Week: N

Bailey has been so independent in her crafting lately.  She wants to do everything her way and without my help.  I'm certainly ok with that, but I'm having to make the projects a little more simple so she can do it all herself.  Sometimes she doesn't like my "plans" either so they get scrapped for something else she comes up with.  I think I've created a monster!

 

Noodle N

Simple craft just involved gluing noodles onto the letter N.  Anything that involved glue is a hit with a 3 year old though.

Nest

I thought this one was hilarious but it was all her ideas.  I had gotten a package in the mail and this weird packing material was in it.  Bailey thought we could make a nest out of it.  She cut it up and put some cotton balls in it to look like eggs.  Then she put her robot bird on top of the eggs to keep them warm.  We fed the bird birdseed and worms and waited for the eggs to hatch.

DIY picture display

This is a terrible title for this post, but I have no idea what to call this particular thing.  If any of you brilliant people out there are more creative than me in naming things, help me out and comment on what I can name it.  hehe  Anyway, on to the post.  Sorry for rambling.  :)

 

This was a present for my dad and step mom for Christmas.  I love to give gifts, especially handmade gifts, but it's difficult to buy for someone that you feel like has everything.  One thing they do both love though is pictures of family.  Their house is full of pictures of their kids and especially grandkids.  I thought this was a unique way to display some of their pictures and an easy way to update with new pictures.  Just take it off of the clothespin and clip on another one in its place.  Here's what I did.


First I found a piece of wood.  We have LOTS of scrap wood lying around because my hubby likes to build a lot and we have done our share of updates in the house over the last 6 years. 

 

 Next I painted it.  I should have primed it first but I didn't.  I'm lazy like that, but by all means, prime yours first.  I used paint that I had leftover from another project too.  This particular paint was called Navajo white.

 

After it was thoroughly dry, I added vinyl lettering to the wood.  Easy peasy.  You can cut your own if you have a fancy machine or buy it at a craft store like Michaels, JoAnns, Hancocks, or Hobby Lobby.  (not pictured)




Next I mod-modged strips of card stock onto the fronts of tiny clothespins.  I don't have a picture of this step but you can see what it looks like on the close up picture below.



Then I took the fronts off of the clothespins, nailed the backs onto the bottom of the wood using tiny pin head nails and put the front back onto the clothespin.

  That's it!  Super easy and pretty cute I think.  You can add a picture hanger on the back so it can hang on a wall or you could put it on a shelf or mantle like I have it displayed.  You could also distress it to give it a little more character but I liked mine the way it was.  This makes a great Grandparent gift, housewarming gift, or just something to add a little charm to your house as well. 

Kale chips

This is not an original recipe by any means.  Kale chips has definitely made an appearance on just about every healthy blog out there I think.  Some of you though that read my blog may have never heard of this before, so I thought I would include it.  Dark leafy greens are EXTREMELY good for you, and especially kale.  If you want a snack full of nutrition, try some kale.  Here's what web md has to say about it.

One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 40% of magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% of vitamin C, and 1,020% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.
Kale’s health benefits are primarily linked to the high concentration and excellent source of antioxidant vitamins A, C, and K -- and sulphur-containing phytonutrients.
Carotenoids and flavonoids are the specific types of antioxidants associated with many of the anti-cancer health benefits. Kale is also rich in the eye-health promoting lutein and zeaxanthin compounds.
Beyond antioxidants, the fiber content of cruciferous kale binds bile acids and helps lower blood cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease, especially when kale is cooked instead of raw.

Not only is kale extremely healthy for you, I happen to like it.  My favorite ways to eat it are in soups like my kale and white bean soup or these kale chips.  Kale is pretty inexpensive so it can't hurt to give it a try.  Who knows?  You may like it.

Kale chips

1 bunch kale (organic is best)
2 T olive oil
sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Wash and dry kale thoroughly.  Chop or tear into bite sized pieces.  Place in single layer on cookie sheet.  You may have to use two.  Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until crispy.  Watch carefully and DO NOT burn.  They will get bitter if you do.  Sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy!

Philly Cheesesteak Bowl

I am such a sucker for a cheesesteak sandwich.  It's hard for me to resist it on any menu.  I absolutely love steak but then when you add those deliciously grilled thinly sliced peppers, onions, and mushrooms topped with melty gooey cheese.  Come on...forget about it.  This could easily be made into a sandwich by just putting it on a hoagie bun, but I couldn't find sprouted buns, so we just had the filling.  It did not disappoint.  The trick is to slice the steak as thin as you possibly can and don't cook it too long or it will get too tough.  The best part about this meal is that it came together in about 15 minutes.  We served ours with a big salad for a complete meal. 


Philly Cheesesteak Bowl
serves 2-3

1/2 lb. grass-fed steak sliced thinly (skirt, sirloin, or ribeye would all work well)
1 green bell pepper thinly sliced
1 onion thinly sliced
4 oz. mushrooms sliced
2 T. butter (grassfed best)
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 T. hot sauce
2 oz. cheese (provolone or mozzarella work well)
salt and pepper

Heat oven to broil.  Season steak liberally with salt and pepper. In a oven safe skillet (I used cast iron), melt butter and then add Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce.  Add onions, peppers, and mushrooms and saute for a few minutes until veggies are crisp tender. Add steak and stir fry until steak is done.  Top with cheese and put under broiler until cheese is melted.  You may add more salt and pepper if desired.

Adapted from Health-Bent

What we ate: Jan 16-22

Total spent at Whole Foods:  $167  Again, all organic produce, wild caught shrimp, grass fed/pastured poultry, meat, dairy and eggs.

Average cost per person per meal:  $2.74  One meal we ate at my grandparents.  One meal my dad also ate with us.  The math was confusing this time but I think I got it right.

Breakfasts:  eggs, fruit smoothies, soaked whole wheat banana bread, sprouted 7 grain toast with grassfed butter

Lunches:  leftovers, take and bake Whole Foods pizza (not healthy), fruit, cottage cheese, peanut butter and bananas

Snacks:  cottage cheese, blueberries, apples, oranges, bananas, carrot sticks, peanut butter, cheese slices

Dinners
Monday:
Garlic butter shrimp, sweet potato fries, greens, and orange slices.  Ken and I love shrimp.  Bailey took one bite and refused the rest.  What's wrong with that girl?!  lol  She ate everything else though.

Tuesday:  Dinner at Grandparents' house.  My grandma made homemade chicken and dumplings.  They were delish as always!  She's a great cook.


Wednesday:
Pinto beans with bacon, boiled cabbage, leftover chicken and dumplings, and corn cakes.  My daddy was in town so he joined us for dinner.  This was plain old country cookin'.  Mmmm Mmmm good!  I soaked the beans for 24 hours with some baking soda to help with digestion and make them healthier.

Thursday:
Roasted whole chicken in the crockpot, roasted acorn squash and buttered peas.  This meal was a total disappointment.  I came in from a playdate and the house smelled fantastic liked delicious rotisserie chicken.  I guess I turned it on too early because it was WAY overcooked.  It turned to mush in my mouth.  Ick!  I choked it down, but surprisingly enough Bailey ate the entire meal and loved it.  Weird girl I tell ya. 

 Friday:
Spaghetti with side salad.   The spaghetti was rice pasta.  I used grassfed ground beef and the sauce was homemade.  I used organic jarred strained tomatoes and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, and basil.  Simple and satisfying.

 Saturday:
Naked taco bowls:  Leftover pinto beans and chicken, romaine lettuce, spinach, salsa, sour cream, and raw goat cheese.   This was lunch.  I thought it was pretty so I took a picture.  :)

 Paninis and sweet potato fries:  (fancy grilled cheese) Sprouted 7 grain bread, raw goat cheddar cheese, spinach, bacon, and pesto.  Yum!  I love almost any kind of melted sandwich.  The sweet potato fries were a hit with the whole family.  Even Eli loved them.  They were baked in coconut oil.

 Sunday:
BBQ Meatloaf, roasted broccoli and roasted parsnips.  I totally did not feel like cooking and I had to drag myself into the kitchen but surprisingly this meal came together in minutes and the oven did the rest.  It was a meal we all enjoyed.  This was our first time ever eating parsnips and we liked them.

Homemade household products: Part 2

Last week I shared with you homemade household cleansers to clean your house and laundry.  These will help reduce your chemical exposure as well as save you hundreds of dollars a year on unnecessary cleaning products.  I'd call that a win win!  Today I'm going to share with you the other part of this homemade household products series:  personal care items.  I'm not going to go into detail again on why we want to choose safe lower risk items to groom our bodies because I already did that in Part 1.  If you didn't read that post please do.  It will give you some background info.  If you don't want to make your own, please buy products without flouride, sodium lauryl sulfate, DEA, MEA, TEA, mineral oil, propylene glycol, aluminum, petroleum, and parabens.  This is not an exhaustive list, but just some that I look out for.  For everyone else interested in the recipes, let's get to it!

Toothpaste
2 drops Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap
Wet toothbrush

This is the method I use right now because it's so easy and doesn't require me to make something.  It works well for me.

Other options:  coconut oil (my fav go to for EVERYTHING), baking soda, salt, or this recipe if you want more of a traditional paste.

I tend to try to keep things low maintenance though which is why I use Dr. Bronner's.  If you buy toothpaste, you want to stay away from flouride and sodium lauryl sulfate.  Both bad news!



Hand Soap/Body Wash
1 part Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap
4 parts water

Put in a foaming pump, otherwise it will be very watery.

OR

My friend Tanya's recipe which is SUPER frugal (She spends $10 to make 8 GALLONS!  Wow!)

1 bar of soap (I'd recommend Dr. Bronner's bar soap)
1 gallon of water
2 T glycerine

Grate your favorite bar soap and add to 1 gallon water, heat on stove top until soap dissolves. Add 2 TBL glycerine. Let sit for 24 hours, this is the time needed to gel ingredients together. If too thick blend the mixture at the end of 24 hours with hand mixer. 


Shampoo/Conditioner
No poo (shampoo) method.  This is definitely not for everyone but it can't hurt to give it a try because it is extremely inexpensive and if it works for your hair, you can go days without having to wash your hair.  


1 T baking soda
2 T apple cider vinegar
water (boiled if you have hard water)


Add 1 T baking soda to a cup of water.  Pour over hair and massage the scalp thoroughly using a gentle circular massage.  Rinse with water.  Then add apple cider vinegar to a cup of water.  Pour on head concentrating mainly on the ends of the hair.  This acts as your conditioner.  Start doing this every other day.  Then decrease to once a week and eventually just rinse when you need it.  I'm NOT there yet.  There is definitely a learning curve and your hair can go through a very greasy transition stage.  



Lotion

Coconut oil:  Put on right after showering.  I use this one most often again because it's one less thing I have to make.

  OR

Whipped body butter: coconut oil, shea butter, arrowroot powder:   Here is the recipe


Lip balm
coconut oil:  Slather on lips  :)

OR

This recipe (It's at the end)


Deodorant (I already shared this with you this summer)
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder or cornstarch
6-8 tbs coconut oil
2-3 drops of tea tree oil

Mix baking soda and cornstarch to combine. Add coconut oil and mix or mash together. Add a few drops of tea tree oil to increase antibacterial properties. Store in a small lidded container.

Note: If your house is hot like mine you may need to keep it in the fridge. Coconut oil is solid but begins to melt in temperatures above the mid 70s. I'm not sure how long this recipe lasts because I haven't used a whole recipe yet. I have a feeling it will last a VERY long time. I've been using it since July and I'm not even halfway through with it yet.  Also don't apply immediately after shaving as the baking soda may cause some irritation. Wait a few minutes.

What we ate: Jan 9-15

Total spent at Whole Foods:  $125 (rounded up)  Again, highest quality food I can buy: all organic produce, sprouted bread, nitrate free bacon, organic pastured eggs, grass fed dairy.


Total average cost per person per meal (3 people):  $1.98

Breakfasts:  eggs(pastured), bacon (nitrate free), soaked oatmeal, smoothies, sprouted spelt toast with grassfed butter, fruit, grain free coffee cake

Lunches:  leftovers, taco salads, cottage cheese, fruit, homemade yogurt, carrot sticks, peanut butter

Dinners:

Monday:
Unstuffed cabbage casserole.  This was really good.  Ground beef, onions, garlic, strained tomatoes, riced cauliflower topped with cabbage and more tomato sauce mixture.

Tuesday:
Chicken tenders with alfredo sauce, buttered carrots, and sauted green beans.  Whoa baby!  I love alfredo sauce and I could probably eat it every day.  This was a yummy way to still enjoy my beloved alfredo sauce without the carb heavy and processed pasta.  

 Wednesday:
Zuppa Toscana  A simple meal and a great way to get in kale and homemade chicken stock.  It's a tad spicy though so if you don't like spice, hold back a little on the red pepper flakes.

 Thursday:  It snowed and we were feeling particularly lazy.  We had a gift card for a free Papa John's pizza.  Definitely not real food nor healthy but hey, it filled the bellies.  Everyone slips up every once in a while.  :)



Friday:  Still feeling lazy in the food department.  We had a large late lunch and were out at Lowe's until late looking at toilets.  Sorry for the TMI.  This is real food that we eat when we don't feel like cooking.  I had cottage cheese, avocado and fruit (not pictured).  Ken and Bailey had similar things but I can't really remember specifically.

Saturday:
Liver, red skinned mashed potatoes, and green beans.  NOT a huge fan of liver but we're trying to eat more of it because it's one of the most nourishing foods you can eat.  HELP!!!  What's a good way to fix it?  The initial taste isn't bad but the weird aftertaste and texture as I chew gets to me.  

Sunday:
Breakfast.  Whole grain pancakes with grassfed butter and real maple syrup, eggs, and bacon.  No vegetables but still nourishing.  We had huge salads for lunch if that makes any difference.

Homemade household products: Part 1

I've had a lot of requests lately for homemade recipes for cleaning and personal care items that are less toxic.  At the beginning of the month I told you in my healthier living in 2012 post that it was in the best interest for you and your family to reduce the chemical exposure in your home.  If you were to get all of the cleansers, detergents, shampoos, body washes, soaps, lotions, deodorants, make up, hair gels, hair sprays, and baby products in your house and write down all of the ingredients in them you would probably be astonished at what you put into/onto your body on a daily basis.  I've stressed to you many times that what you put into your body is important, but what you put on your body is important as well.  The skin is our largest organ and is excellent at absorbing both the good and bad into the body.  Take this popular product for example.  Johnson's baby lotion  There are 21 different chemicals in this one lotion, some more harmful than others.  Based on the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep website, this particular lotion gets a rating of a 7/10 and is considered a high health risk due to its toxicity in its ingredients.  Now taking into consideration that this is one of MANY things that gets put onto and into our bodies on a daily basis, you may be starting to see why I am proposing to you that the chemical exposure you get in a day could be in the hundreds.  That's a lot of chemicals folks!  It's no wonder that we are a cancer ridden society.

Not only are these conventional products hurting us physically, they are hurting our pocketbooks.  I'll be honest.  I'm a tightwad.  I hate spending money and when I do, I feel guilty thinking about how better that money could have been spent.  We've got bills to pay, mouths to feed and people to bless.  The last thing I want to spend my money on is chemical laden junk with a high price tag.  Even if you could care less about reducing chemical exposure and healthy living maybe you can still be won over by the cost savings.  :)

Making your own products is the only way you can control what ingredients go into your products.  I don't waste my time with "green" marketing and trying to decide if "natural" products are actually healthy or just a marketing scheme trying to get my money.  Being green is trendy right now so everyone and their mother is jumping on the bandwagon.  I've never been one that has to be in the "in" crowd, but I do like to save a buck and I do like to do what's best for my family.

This will be a two-part series.  Homemade Household products/cleansers and Personal care items.  Today I'll focus on the household products and cleansers.  Here are recipes that I would recommend to clean your home.


Homemade laundry detergent
1 bar grated soap (I use Castile or Fels Naptha)
1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax
 1/2 c oxiclean (optional; definitely not necessary. I couldn't really find good info on the ingredients and safety of oxiclean.  It's fine to leave it out when in doubt.)
 

Mix ingredients thoroughly and store in air tight container.  Use 1-2 T per load depending on how soiled the items are.



Stain remover (from wellnessmama.com)
 2 parts water
1 part hydrogen peroxide
1 part baking soda

Use as a spot treatment or let soak for 30 minutes before laundering. 





All purpose Cleaner
2 cups water
2 cups vinegar
1 T Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap
optional:  4 drops of essential oils or Tea tree oil if you don't like the smell of vinegar and to also add additional cleansing properties



Mopping solution (works on laminate wood flooring as well)
1 part vinegar
4 parts water


Soft scrub
Baking soda
Water

I don't have measurements.  Just eyeball it and make a thick paste out of the two.  Helps to remove soap scum and also helps when scouring stove burners/rings.



Glass cleaner
Never tried it but this one looks pretty good.
Confession:  I'm still using glass cleaner that was in this house when my husband and I got married 6 years ago.  It's not that I don't clean, that's how much cleaning products were here.  My mother in law stockpiled.  :)


Toilet bowl cleaner
1 c. vinegar (again I know. haha)
1/4 c baking soda (optional)
Pour them in the bowl separately and let it sit for a long time.  Watch it suds and sizzle like a baking soda volcano.  :)  Scrub with your scrub brush as usual.  Vinegar is fine by itself too.

Dish soap
1 part Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap
2 parts water

This one  also looks really good although I've never tried it.  This will be thicker if you like a more conventional soap to wash your dishes.  The first one will be very thin and watery. 

Note:  Castile soap is highly concentrated so a little goes a long way.  Make sure it's diluted for maximum cost savings.  A medium sized bottle is around $15 but don't let that keep you from buying it.  You will find a million uses for it since it's so concentrated, diluting it makes it last for a long time.




One thing that I haven't tried yet is automatic dishwashing detergent.  We still buy Ecover tabs.  I like them and they work.  I don't *think* they are too harmful either.  If you find a recipe that works well for you for this, let me know.  I'll add it to the list and I'd love to try it out!

Letter of the Week: M

We're FINALLY back in the swing of our old routine for the most part.  Over the holidays we got so off schedule and it was good for a while, but I'm glad to be back to "normal", whatever that is.  We're continuing where we left off with the letter of the week series.  Last week was the letter M.  We didn't do too much because, like I said, this was our first week back and I wasn't too organized.  Three activities was all we did.  Hope you enjoy!

 Mouse M

This is one of my favorite alphabet animals we have done.  Bailey went crazy over it too.

 Mr. Monkey. 

This craft is pretty self explanatory and was simply made out of card stock and google eyes.

M tracing page

What we ate: January 2-8

This week's meals definitely showcases why I love just eating "real food."  We've lost weight eating whatever we wanted to without counting calories, limiting fat, and eating "health food."  You don't have to eat dry salad and sacrifice tasty food every night to be healthy.  Just cook real food using healthier ingredients instead of processed junk.

Total spent at Whole Foods:  $143 (rounded up)  This is buying the highest quality I could get:  all produce organic, grass-fed/pastured meats, organic sprouted bread, and organic dairy from grassfed animals.
Total average cost per person per meal (based on 3 people): Approximately $2.25

Breakfasts:  eggs, uncured bacon, sprouted toast with grassfed butter, soaked oatmeal, smoothies


Lunches:  Leftovers, grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches, salads


Dinners:


Monday:
Beef pot roast with gravy, mashed potatoes and carrots.  Sooo good!  We all loved it.

Tuesday:
Salmon with Sriracha cream sauce based on this recipe, roasted green cabbage slices, and roasted butternut squash roasted in coconut oil.  Super yummy.  Bailey even tried a little of everything and she says fish smells disgusting. :)  She ate quite a bit of the cabbage "noodles".

Wednesday:
Soup made out of the leftover pot roast from Monday.  I took this to potluck at church.

Thursday:
Cheeseburger Sliders, buffalo chicken dip, salad, and homemade brownies.  We had the college students from our church over last minute and this is what I served.  In all the rush, I forgot to take a picture.



Friday:
Roasted broccoli cheddar soup from this site.  It was good but not exactly what I was hoping for. The flavor was excellent but the consistency was a bit off.  It wasn't quite smooth enough or something and kind of clumped up.  Maybe I messed up the recipe, I don't know.  Like I said though, it tasted great.

Saturday:
Chicken enchiladas from my own made up recipe.  I want to share this recipe with you one day, but I still need to tweak it.  I just love enchiladas.  These were made out of my own whole wheat tortillas, which I soaked overnight.  The sauce is also from scratch and couldn't be easier.  Can't wait to share this recipe soon, because they are certainly tasty. 

 Sunday:  Leftovers.  We had plenty left so I wanted to get them all eaten up.  Plus I love one day when I don't have to cook.

What we ate: Dec 26-Jan 1

I always like meal ideas from other people, so I'm going to try to share with you all what we ate to give you all some ideas too.  Like I told you in my 2012 goals post, we are trying to reduce our grain consumption for health reasons, so the only grain you see is rice.  I won't be having much rice though in the future because Bailey doesn't like it.  I had some left in my pantry from a dish I made for Christmas which is why it makes an appearance this week.  I will go into detail about the grain reduction at a later date.  For now, here's what we ate!  Hope you enjoy!



Monday:  (not pictured) leftover ham from Christmas, roasted broccoli and roasted butternut squash


Tuesday:  Bunless lettuce wrapped grass fed beef burgers, sweet potato fries and avocado.  Bailey went crazy for the sweet potato fries.

Wednesday:  Chicken fried rice and something else, but honestly I can't remember.  :(

Thursday:  Spicy honey chicken, salad and leftover butternut squash

 Friday:  Chicken salads with lettuce, spinach, peppers, avocado, cheese, carrots, ranch dressing, and egg

Saturday:  Cheesy Chicken, broccoli and rice casserole made with leftover chicken and soaked rice

 Sunday:  Chicken soup (not pictured)  I was sick this day and my hubby made it.  :)  It made me feel loads better!


Heavy on the chicken this week because I made chicken stock and didn't feel like freezing anything for a later week.  I wanted the soup since I was sick.

Make the most out of your whole chicken: Connected Meal Planning

As much as I love to cook, I don't always have the time, energy, or money to make a huge complicated meal seven nights a week.  We're often on the go, making it tempting to run through a fast food drive through.  I know fast food isn't the best option for us so instead I've started carefully planning meals so that I can cook one large piece of meat and use if for several different meals later in the week.  I like to call this connected meal planning.  I have started buying pastured chickens, pork and grass fed beef which is much pricier than conventional grain fed meat.  One whole chicken can typically cost anywhere from $15-$25 depending on the size of the bird.  If I were to use that for only one meal, I would likely go broke!  Instead, I cook a whole chicken about once a month and try to stretch it out to 3-5 more meals.  This saves me time in the kitchen and money in my pocket.  If I had a very large family, I would cook two chickens and use this same method.  I do want to mention that just because you can get 5 meals out of one chicken doesn't mean you have to have chicken every night in the same week.  I personally like a little more variety.  Many things can be frozen like a casserole dish, soups, enchiladas, etc.  This makes dinner even easier for later in the week.  Just thaw and pop in the oven or heat on the stove.  So here we go.

Meal one: 

 Roasted chicken. 
This is delicious with roasted veggies, mashed potatoes (in moderation), and gravy.  This is one of my favorite meals.  If you make this, take out 2-4 cups of chicken for future meals or you will eat it all and won't have any left.  :) Save the bones and immediately throw them in a pot of water to prep for my meal 3 below.  The rest of the meat can be used for the following dishes:

Meal two:

Chicken salads.  This one is super quick and easy.  Use this for a night where you feel lazy or need something on the table quickly.  I only use one chicken breast that I took off the chicken first.  This gets chopped up for the two adults.  My 3 year old eats some of the dark meat.  If your kids say they don't like salad like mine does, don't stress.  Serve them components of the salad like the chicken, hard boiled eggs, avocados, carrot sticks, etc and let them dip them in the salad dressing.  I usually also have Bailey choose a fruit to add to it too or make her a quick smoothie.




Meal three: 

Chicken soup.  After you have deboned your roasted chicken, use the bones to make chicken stock overnight.  Reserve 8 cups of the chicken stock the next day, add 1-2 cups of shredded chicken, cut up veggies, salt, seasonings, and rice if you prefer.  I usually don't add rice to mine.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes until veggies are tender.  Another quick and very healthy meal.  It's particularly good if you have someone who is sick in the family or in the winter when you are trying to prevent illness. Chicken soup really is good for the soul and body.  It's also great for getting rid of extra produce in your fridge.  Just throw whatever you have on hand in the pot.  You may come up with a combo that you love.



Meal four:

Chicken, broccoli and rice casserole.  This is a true comfort food.  Once the chicken is cooked and especially if you use leftover rice, this comes together quickly and will be a hit for even the little ones in your family.  I don't have an actual recipe for this because I still need to tweak it, but it was basically leftover chicken, leftover rice, chopped up broccoli, homemade mayo, sour cream, chicken broth, cheddar cheese.  Season, stir together and bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.


Meal five:
Use the rest of the broth in a casserole or in a soup that calls for broth such as this creamy tomato soup or kale and white bean soup.  The possibilities are endless.  You still get the benefits of the meat from the broth without having to use actual meat.4



Other favorite leftover chicken dishes:  Chicken enchiladas, chicken tacos, quesadillas, paninis, cold sandwiches, chicken pot pie, stuffed in pitas, chicken fried rice, chicken curry.

Grain free options:  salads, chicken lettuce wraps, shredded bbq chicken, chicken taco salads


So as you can see, homemade food doesn't have to take a long time and doesn't have to be expensive.  To get the most bang for your buck and to save yourself time in the kitchen, it just takes a little advanced thought.  I promise the more you do it, the easier it gets and you'll wonder why you never did it this way before.

 
ANY OTHER IDEAS FROM YOU?  HOW DO YOU LIKE TO STRETCH YOUR FOOD?