Cowboy casserole- Real Food Makeover

You all may have seen this popular and tasty comfort food on many a potluck table before, but more than likely it was mostly comprised of many non-food items like cream of mushroom soup, tater tots,  processed American cheese, and corn (probably genetically modified).  I'll be the first to admit that all of these items hold a dear place in my heart as they are the base of many yummy and easy casserole recipes that just scream comfort.  In my effort to give up processed foods, I didn't want to give up dishes like this and maybe you don't either.  This began my quest to makeover classic comfort food dishes into "real food" that will nourish your family and be kinder to your waistline and backside. Look at all of the ingredients in just these three items.

Tater tots 

POTATOES, VEGETABLE OIL (SUNFLOWER, COTTONSEED, SOYBEAN AND/OR CANOLA), SALT, YELLOW CORN FLOUR, DEXTROSE, DISODIUM DIHYDROGEN PYROPHOSPHATE, ONIONS, NATURAL FLAVORING, CORN MALTODEXTRIN, AUTOLYZED YEAST.

Cream of mushroom soup
Water, mushrooms, soybean oil, wheat flour, modified corn starch cream ( contains less than 2% of: salt, whey, monosodium glutamate, soy protein concentrate, autolyzed yeast extract, onion powder, garlic powder. Contains: Wheat, Milk, Soy.

Processed American cheese
 MILK, WATER, MILKFAT, WHEY, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, ALGINATE, SODIUM CITRATE, APOCAROTENAL (COLOR), ANNATTO (COLOR), ENZYMES, CHEESE CULTURE.

I don't know about you, but I can't even pronounce half of those.  Why would I want to eat that? Not too appetizing if you ask me!  Not to mention, they are loaded with unhealthy oils, sodium, monosodium glutamate, and weird things like autolyzed yeast and soy protein concentrate.  I made it into real food by subbing real potatoes that I shredded with the food processor in place of the tater tots.  I make my own cream of mushroom soup by using butter, flour, milk, chicken broth, mushrooms, salt, pepper an garlic.  Processed American cheese was replaced with real cheddar cheese from grass fed cows.  I also shredded the cheddar myself in the food processor.  Did you know that most shredded cheese has junk added to it to prevent it from caking?  I learned that this week.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy this dish.  I liked it because it was a one skillet meal.  I hate washing dishes...err...watching my husband wash dishes.  :)

I look forward to sharing with you other real food makeovers.  If you have any you would like to share with me to put on here or any other comfort foods you would like me to try and makeover, let me know.  I'd love to take a stab at it.  As always, I'm learning along with you.  I hope none of what I write comes across as snobby or high and mighty.  I'm just trying to humbly share with you what I too am learning. 

Real food Cowboy Casserole

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
4 T butter (from grass fed cows is best)
1 small to medium onion, chopped
6 mushrooms, chopped
1.5 lbs lean ground beef (grass fed beef is best)
1/4 c whole wheat flour (coconut flour may work also if you are grain-free)
3/4 c chicken broth ( homemade is best)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 c milk (raw from grass fed cows is best)
2 c green beans- I used long frozen ones and broke them in half
2 T plain yogurt or sour cream
1 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese (from grass fed cows is best)
2 c shredded REAL potatoes (I used my food processor and it ended up being 3 tiny potatoes)





Melt one tablespoon of butter in heavy oven safe skillet.  Saute onions and garlic until translucent.  Add ground beef and mushrooms and brown ground beef until cooked throughout.  Drain most of grease.  Add remaining butter and melt.  Then add flour, stir into meat mixture and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add broth, milk and salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat.  Simmer until it becomes thick.  Stir in yogurt or sour cream, frozen green beans and 1 c. of cheddar cheese.  Top with shredded potatoes and remaining 1/2 c shredded cheddar.  Transfer skillet to 350 degree oven and bake 30 minutes until bubbly and potatoes are done and crisping.



If you are looking to make your own cream of...soup I'd roughly follow this recipe:

4 T butter
1/4 cup flour
1 c milk
3/4 c chicken broth
onions minced
(chicken pieces, mushrooms, celery, etc depending on what kind of soup you are desiring)
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter.  Saute onions, and whatever kind of veg or meat depending on what kind of soup you are desiring.  Whisk in flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add milk and chicken broth.  Whisk and cook over medium heat until thickened.  Salt and pepper to taste

Creamy Tomato Soup (crockpot)

This was a new recipe that I tried and brought to a church potluck.  Everyone liked it and several wanted the recipe so I thought I would post it on here so they could reference it.  I like an easy crockpot meal so I will definitely be trying this again.


Creamy Tomato Soup

Ingredients
28 oz. diced tomatoes (try not to use canned tomatoes if at all possible due to BPA)
1 small onion diced
1-2 stalks of celery diced
1-2 large carrots diced
4 cups chicken broth (homemade is best)
1 T basil
8oz cream (raw from grassfed cows is best)
1- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
Freshly grated parm cheese for topping

Combine tomatoes, onion, celery, carrots and chicken broth in crockpot.  Cook on low 8 hours or high for 5 until veggies are soft.  Strain out tomatoes and veggies and some broth and puree in blender until smooth.  You can puree all of it for a smoother soup or puree half for a semi-chunky soup.  I left a few chunks.  Pour back into crockpot and add basil, cream and salt.  Cook for another hour.  Top with a generous portion of grated parmesan cheese when serving.

Adapted from 365 Days of Slow Cooking

Does it matter?

Some days my job as a stay at home mom doesn't feel so glamorous or important.  Yes I know that caring for my children and pouring into their lives is extremely important and a special time, but you know what days I'm talking about.  Days when I've changed ten explosive poop diapers, cleaned up countless spills, fighting to put the children down for naps, trying to get one productive thing done without accomplishing it, the dog barking as soon as you get the baby down for a nap, putting your three year old in time out for what seems like the millionth time....These days aren't very glamourous and make me think, "Does all of this really matter?  Am I wasting my education?  Would I be of more use in the corporate world?  Would my children be better off in someone else's care that wouldn't snap at them?"  I'm sure that many of you, no matter what your situation (married, single, working, staying at home, retired, etc.) have felt like you just go through the motions of life and wonder if what you do really matters.  Well I was feeling sorry for myself driving in the car yesterday and on the radio came a song by Stephen Curtis Chapman called "Do Everything."  Here are the lyrics.

You're picking up toys on the living room floor for the 15th time today.

Matching up socks and sweeping up lost Cheerios that got away. 

You put a baby on your hip and color on your lips and head out the door. 

And while I may not know you I bet I know you wonder sometimes, 

"Does it matter at all?"

We'll let me remind you it all matters just as long as you...

Do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you,  

'Cause He made you to do  

Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face and tell the story of grace  

With every move that you make and every little thing you do .

Maybe you're that guy with the suit and tie.

Maybe your shirt says your name. 

You may be hooking up mergers, cooking up burgers, but at the end of the day,
Little stuff big stuff in between stuff, God sees it all the same. 

And while I may not know you I bet I know you wonder sometimes,

"does it matter at all?"

We'll let me remind you it all matters just as long as you do

Everything you do to the glory of the One who made you 

'Cause He made you 

To do every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face and tell the story of grace 

with every move that you make and every little thing that you do

Well maybe you're sitting in math class  

Maybe on a mission in the Congo  

Maybe you're working at the office singing along with the radio 

Maybe you're dining at a five star  

Or feeding orphans in Myanmar.

Anywhere and everywhere you are  

Whatever you do it all matters  

So do what you do and don't ever forget to do
Everything you do to the glory of the One who made you Cause He made you 

to do Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face And tell the story of grace with every move that you make And every little thing that you do.

Great lyrics, huh?!  I thought so!  It just snapped my perspective and focus back into place where it belongs:  not onto me, but onto the one who created me and deserves my best and praise.  It was just a great reminder that yes changing explosive poop diapers does matter to God and that I can do everything, even the most mundane to the Glory of GOD! 

Organize With Me

The organization bug has hit me.  I don't know if it's the fact that I've been spending too much time on pinterest or what but I am in the mood to organize!  I thought I better take advantage of this rare mood and do something about it because it doesn't come around very often.  Don't get me wrong, I love an organized home and I long for it, but most of the time it just doesn't happen.  I've shared with you before about the state that my home often finds itself.  Surprisingly right now it is pretty clean but I'm finding that it is difficult to clean clutter.  I find myself spending all of my cleaning time on decluttering and picking up instead.  Deep cleaning or even light cleaning rarely gets done.  In an effort to remedy this problem I plan to PURGE PURGE PURGE!  I already have a hallway full of stuff that I have randomly picked up from around the house that I am wanting to get rid of.  Now I'm going to go through the house with a fine tooth comb and GET RID OF SOME STUFF!  I can't wait!  It may sound silly but it's so cleansing to declutter.  It's like chopping off 10 inches of your hair or losing 50 lbs.  It just feels great!  Tonight I decided to start small.  I needed a small victory to start out to keep me going.  A daunting task would have discouraged me and I would have quit before I even started.  Here's my first mission.

 The bib drawer in our kitchen

Total chaos!  Bibs and baby washcloths all mixed together.  WAY too many!

WHAT I DID:

Got rid of all the girly bibs.  B doesn't use them anymore.  Also got rid of the bibs that are teeny tiny and aren't very functional.  Then I added shelf lining paper and neatly put the bibs on one side and the washcloths on the other.

 Look at how much I got rid of!  Wow!  I told you we had way too many in there.

See?  Much nicer.  A small victory but a victory nonetheless!  It makes me happy.

Here's the rest of my list of what needs to be organized in my house.  Want to organize with me?  I'd love for you to!  I'd even love for you to send me pictures so I can show off your hard work and we can celebrate together.  

 kid’s toys
  master bedroom closet
  coat closet
  spice cabinet
  crafts
  books
  desk
  sock & underwear drawers
  garage
 basement
 under sink
 cookbooks
 built ins
 dog food
 meal plan calendar
 mail
 command center
 refrigerator
 freezer
 games
 pictures
 stuffed animals
 crayons
 shed
 kids’ closets
 vanity
 master bathroom
 cups/bottles
 bibs
 coupons
 chores

Letter of the Week- K

[Insert witty introductory comment here]  Enjoy!  :)

 King

 Kiss:  

I let her put on red lipstick and kiss paper over and over to make kiss marks.  So simple and she LOVED it!

 Koalas

Kindness:

We talked about kindness towards others and put together a shoebox filled with gifts for Operation Christmas Child. 

Ridiculously easy FREE scarf tutorial

Are you ready for the easiest tutorial you've ever seen?  Like so easy even a 3 year old (if they can use scissors) can do it?  Intrigued?  You should be!  Here we go!


I'm not exactly what you would call trendy or a fashionista.  Ok, who am I kidding?  Let's just be real here.  I still wear a lot of clothes that I wore in high school.  ::hangs head in shame::  The problem is that I just hate spending money.  Sometimes I'm too cheap for my own good.  I go shopping maybe once a year and even then, I usually get just a few quality items that I know will last a while.  I always see people wearing cute scarves and accessories and wish that I were "cool" enough to pull certain looks off.  Well I decided I'm never going to be "cool" and I'm probably never going to be "rich" enough to go on gigantic shopping sprees so I'll just do a good job of faking it.  Here's where my tutorial comes in. 

You take an old XL/XXL t-shirt of your husband's or your own. 

 

Cut right under the armpit all the way across.  Also cut off the bottom sewn edge.

 Then STRETCH STRETCH STRETCH.  See what I mean?  Nerdy...I just can't help it.  lol

 

Soon your edges will roll up like this.  NO SEWING!  WHOOT!

 THAT'S IT!!!!  

Wait you thought there was more?  Nope sorry.  

Ok ok I'll show you some pics on how to wear them.

 

Basic loop.  Just put around your neck.  I mean, we're not talking rocket science here folks.

Um...hello high school senior pictures!  HA!

 

 Double loop:  Twist and put it around your neck a second time.

 

 Take two scarves and twist them together.  Then do the double loop.

And there you have it.  As many scarves as your little heart desires for FREE!  Woo hoo!  You know you have old t-shirts taking up space in your closet.  Go ahead, grab some scissors and get to it.  You can even take the scrap bottom edge that you cut off and make some cute t-shirt flowers using this method.  Pin them onto your scarves for an even cuter look.  But then again, what do I know about fashion!?  :)

30 Day Grocery Challenge Review

My 30 Day Grocery Challenge is over and done with.  I have come out on the other side a little wiser, a little healthier, and more money is in my pocket.  If you are new to my blog, here are the other 30 Day Challenge Posts. 
30 Day Grocery Challenge
Week 1 
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Basically I wanted to see if it was possible to feed 3-4 people healthy unprocessed food on $50/week.  My purpose in doing this experiment was to debunk the thought that eating healthy is too expensive.  I was hoping I would find that you wouldn't have to sacrifice health for frugality.  I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't hard, because it was.  Overall it was a success and although I am not going to continue to spend only $50 a week on groceries, I now know that it can be done and can use it for emergencies or when we want some extra cash for something special.  Here is what I learned from the entire process in no particular order:

1.  It takes a lot of planning but can be done.
     PLAN YOUR MEALS!  I can't stress this enough.  Look at your grocery stores' fliers and see who has the best prices on meat and produce that week.  Buy the cheaper produce that stretches further and plan your meals around what's on sale.  For example, if ground beef and avocados are on sale, I know it's a good week to make tacos, taco salad, meatloaf, taco soup, or burgers.  If chicken is $3/lb, I know I'm not going to be eating chicken that week unless I have stockpiled it from a previous week. (See #4) 

2.  The junk + healthy food is what eats up the budget. 
     I found that once I spent my $50 on my healthy food purchases for meals, there wasn't any room for extra junk.  When I say junk, it's not what you typically consider junk, just not the most wholesome choices.  For example, popcorn, granola bars, sugary "princess" yogurts, and juices didn't make the cut.  Prioritize your food.  Also I promise you you'll be more likely to eat all your produce if you don't have something else to fall back on.


3.  Making stuff at home is frugal and so much better for you.
     I made yogurt, whole grain buns, pancakes, salad dressings, chicken broth, taco seasoning, and tortillas at home with stuff I had in my pantry already.  Just by making those things myself, I saved at least $10 off my bill each week.  They also aren't full of preservatives, additives and junk that are found in the conventional items at the store.

4.  Shop sales and stockpile
     If chicken is $1.50/lb that week and beef is $3.99/lb that week, buy extra of the chicken and put it in the freezer for another week.  Wait for the beef to go on sale and then stock up on that. Pretty soon you'll have a freezer full of a variety of items to choose from at a cheaper price.  The same goes for all other items.  When you find a great sale or combine a sale with a coupon, take advantage of it and buy extra! 


5.  Don't take your kids with you when you shop if you are on a strict budget and are new to the idea.
     The first three weeks I went by myself and was focused.  I came under budget.  The last week I had both kids and was distracted so I slightly overspent.  I lost track of money spent and ended up just trying to get out of there.  I paid for it literally at the register. If they must come, stay calm, stick to your plan, and have something to keep them occupied.  Let them help you but DON'T let them talk to you into impulse purchases that you don't need.


6.  Take cash ONLY and a calculator with you when you shop.
     You are far more likely to stay under budget when you don't have your debit card to fall back on.  I took cash with me each week except for the last and made SURE I was going to stay within budget.  Who wants to not have enough money at the register?  It's embarrassing.   I also found that tallying up totals on my phone calculator as I put items in my cart was helpful.  Once I got everything I "needed" in my cart though, sometimes I had to prioritize and put back some items  because it was going to put me over budget.


7.  Shop your pantry and freezer first.
     A well stocked pantry is essential to keep a grocery budget low.  One day I'll include what I have in my pantry and freezer at all times but not in this post.  Look for meals you can make just out of items that you have on hand and try to include at least one of these meals in your weekly plan. Plan your meals around what you already have.

8.  Soups are extremely healthy and stretch a long way.
     Most weeks I made at least one soup because they are extremely cheap and make great lunches.  I tried to make them early in the week so I could have leftovers for lunch.  Chicken soup is so frugal and easy.  Boil a chicken, use the broth for soup and split up the chicken for soup and other meals if you wish.  Add whatever produce you have on hand.  Season to taste.  Simple, easy and delicious.



9.  Do without and procrastinate getting items.
     We ate a lot of salads and I really "needed" dressing.  It just wasn't in the budget every week so I was forced to come up with something on my own.  For ranch dressing I made a dry spice mix and mixed it with yogurt.  For vinegarette dressings, I used a combination of olive oil, lemon juice/vinegar, garlic, and spices, and sometimes honey.  It cut down on expenses tremendously.  Here's another example.  One night I made taco soup.  I love to put cheese, sour cream and avocado on mine, but I didn't have the funds for it.  Guess what?   I didn't buy them, it still tasted great, and it was a little healthier for me as well.  Your kids don't NEED the extras.  You don't NEED the toppings and extra snacks.  Look for items you can make yourself or do without to slash your grocery bill.


10.  Shop the perimeter of the store.
     To stay away from the processed food temptations, stay on the outer most parts of the store.  Don't go in the middle aisles.  That's where the dangerous food is.  You'll get trapped there.  :)  Your more "whole" "real" foods are going to be on the perimeter of the store.  Think about it.  Produce, meat, dairy, frozen food, and eggs are all on the outer most parts.  Your junky stuff is in the inside.  The only things I got from an aisle the entire four weeks were canned tomatoes, olives, and natural peanut butter.  There are exceptions to this rule, like olive oil, nuts, etc, but they are few and far between.  For the most part this rule applies.


11.  Buy a combination of fresh and frozen produce.
     I found buying a combination of fresh and frozen helped me waste less.  I tried to use the fresh earlier in the week and the frozen later in the week.  If something comes up, and your meal plan gets pushed back a few days, if you have frozen produce it's not a big deal and won't go bad.  Frozen fruits and veggies that I like are peas, greens, long skinny green beans, and corn(limited amounts), all berries (for smoothies). 

12.  Connect your meals.
     I love doing this especially with a whole chicken or a large pork roast.  The idea behind it is to use a large piece of meat or a meal and then turn it into something else another night.  For instance, from a boiled chicken you can get soup, chicken tacos, and chicken salad.  You don't need large amounts of meat if you use them in this manner and it drastically stretches your food budget.  This can be done in so many ways.  Get creative with it!


13.  You don't need as much food as you think you do.
     I don't know about you but I often throw away a lot of food when I normally shop.  On this $50/week challenge, I hardly wasted ANY food, and guess what?  We didn't starve.  Imagine that!   

$50/week is extremely frugal for most people in America but it is extremely wealthy for the rest of the world.  It was truly an eye opener on how spoiled and blessed we are.  It was convicting and challenging to me to use wisely the funds that God has provided me in which to use to nourish our family.  Will I spend it on lots of junk or will I take some extra time and spend it on fewer quality items that will further our health?