Simple Split Pea Soup

I found this recipe on the Weight Watchers website years ago. It originated as a crock pot recipe- just toss all in the crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 2 hours.

Simple Split Pea Soup:

12 Oz. Bag of dry Split Peas*
1 Clove Garlic(I use the frozen)
2 Carrots, cut into chunks
1 Onion, Diced
8 C. Chicken Broth*

Put all ingredients in large pot and simmer on low for 2-3 hours until smooth. You may need to add water when you reheat as the peas absorb the water.

This is always a hit and I often double or triple the recipe.

*I use either 500 grams of split peas with 10 C. broth OR I double and use 1 Kilo split peas and 20 C. broth and double everything else.

Steak Chicken

I found this recipe for chicken marinade a while back. It quickly became a staple and one of our favorite chicken recipes. We thought that the Worcestershire sauce gave the chicken a steak like taste so we have dubbed this recipe Steak Chicken. When making this recipe I use boneless skinless chicken breast that come already pounded from the butcher. I have made a few changes-when don't I? I have used canola in place of the olive oil on occasion. When making this recipe I use red wine vinegar as it was all I had the first time I went to make it. I have also made it both with and without the thyme and it is delicious either way.

I give you Steak Chicken:

1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
3 Tbls. Full Fat Mayonnaise
1 Tbls. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbls. Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
1 Tbls. Poultry Seasoning
1 Tbls. Garlic Powder
1 Tbls. Sweet Paprika
1/2 Tbls. Onion Powder
1 tsp. Thyme (optional)

Put all ingredients in container with tight-fitting lid and shake well until all ingredients are combined not worrying if there are some beads of mayo that don't combine; they will dissolve when you're marinating.

Put the chicken in a container with a tight-fitting lid. Pour over just enough marinade to cover the chicken, then let it marinate in the fridge for 6-8 hours or longer.

Grill over medium to high heat making sure the chicken is fully cooked. When using the pounded chicken breasts it takes just a couple minutes on each side.

Enjoy!!!

Dairy Free, Nut Free Pesto

I got this recipe for Dairy Free, Nut Free Pesto from my sister. It was simple to make and VERY tasty!

1/2 cup olive oil
11 tsp. basil or 11 frozen cubes of basil(the package says 1 cube=1 tsp)
4 cloves fresh garlic
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Blend all together and enjoy!

Cauliflower Carrot Soup

A friend of mine gave me this recipe for Cauliflower Carrot Soup. I am not sure where it originated but we loved it.

1 head of cauliflower or 1 bag frozen cauliflower
1 Tbls. Olive Oil
3-4 cloves garlic
4-5 Carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 Parsnip
1 Onion, diced
2 Celery ribs, sliced
8 C. Chicken Broth
Salt
Pepper

Roast cauliflower with olive oil, salt and pepper at 350 for 30-45 minutes or until soft. Saute carrots, celery, parsnip and garlic. Add cauliflower. Add 8 cups chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer for 45 minutes. Puree with immersion blender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I would like to add that while this is the recipe I didn't have a parsnip so I didn't put it in and I went out special to buy the celery and forgot to add it, so don't worry if you forget it.

Fruit Roll Ups

I would like to welcome all my new readers. Feel free to "Follow" the blog or sign up for RSS feeds. Of course as always all comments and suggestions are welcome.

I found this recipe for Fruit Leather and thought it would be a good snack since my kids love Fruit Roll Ups, Gushers and all the dried fruit sugary snacks. It was very simple to make and very tasty. That said we found it hard to peel the fruit off the paper which could be the brand of parchment paper I use. I know the recipe already says this but I am going to reiterate- take notice of how even the fruit is on the cookie sheet before you bake it as this will make a big difference in the outcome.

Strawberry Fruit Leather:
3 Cups Strawberries or 1 box
1 Tbsp Honey

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Remove the stems from the strawberries and rinse.

Place the strawberries and honey in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour the mixture on to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and spread with the back of a spoon or spatula in a large rectangle making sure that the mixture is completely even.

Bake for 2-3 hours (or until it’s dry and not sticky to the touch). Remember, cooking times will vary depending on how thick you spread your mixture and how much water (juice) is naturally in the fruit. *Every oven is different, so the cooking time maybe less then 2 hours if your oven tends to be hot. Allow to sit and cool at room temperature. It takes several hours for the fruit to soften up (when you first take the leather out of the oven the edges will be a bit dry and crispy, but if you allow it to sit overnight it softens up nicely). Cut with a knife or pizza cutter into strips or use scissors, keeping the paper on, and then roll the leather into “roll ups”.

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

A few days ago I made Banana Pancakes which were really good and my kids loved them. I decided since I still had some bananas left and they had been a hit I would try another banana recipe. I came across Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and they sounded good and looked gorgeous! Plus Danya had been asking me to make chocolate chip muffins lately so I figured I would give it a whirl. Of course I don't know how to follow a recipe without changing it so here is what I made:

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 C. canola oil
1/4 C. milk
2 Eggs
1 Tbls. Vanilla
1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 C. Flour
1/2 C. Silan
1 Tbls. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Ground Flax Seed
1 C. Chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease or place liners in a muffin pan. Mash the bananas in a bowl. Add oil, milk, eggs and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add the flours, silan, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flax seed and chocolate chips. Mix until combined but don't over mix. Fill each muffin up about 3/4 full. Bake about 10-15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place muffins on a cooling rack and allow them to sit for 10-15 minutes before attempting to remove the wrapper. Makes 12 large muffins.


These were absolutely delicious and got rave reviews from the kids and husband.

Do we think these are an acceptable substitute for cereal for breakfast??

Quick, Easy and Moist Meatloaf

Tonight I decided to make meatloaf. It wasn't until I was an adult that I truly appreciated and enjoyed meatloaf. This recipe was adapted from a family recipe. Over the years I have changed all of the ingredients except for the egg. We hope you like this one as much as we do.

Quick, Easy and Moist Meatloaf:

1 Pound ground beef or turkey
1 egg
1/3 C. whole wheat bread crumbs
2 tsp. onion soup mix
1 can tomato sauce
1 tsp. ground flax seed(optional)

Combine all and bake in loaf pan at 350 for an hour.

A note about the tomato sauce. I used the Yachin 260 grams tomato sauce for lasagna

and it was delicious-if you live in Israel I recommend using that one.

Banana Pancake

I had been wanting to try out some Banana Pancakes for a while now but found that I would buy bananas with the intention of making the pancakes and then all the bananas would get eaten. So when there were still bananas left today I seized the opportunity to finally make Banana Pancakes for dinner. I found a recipe for Banana Pancakes and I used it as a foundation for the ones I made.

Here is my version:

1/3 C. Whole Wheat Flour
2/3 C. White Flour
2 Tbls. Splenda
1 tsp. Ground Flax Seed
1 1/4 cup milk
1 egg beaten lightly
1 1/2 Tbls. Canola Oil
2 small bananas mashed

Combine milk, egg, oil and banana. Add flours, flax seed and splenda. Stir until combined. Mixture will be clumpy. Heat a large non-stick pan sprayed with Pam. Pour 1/4 cup of mixture at a time into the pan, allowing room to spread. Cook until small holes appear in the surface, turn pancakes, cook until browned.

When I made this it yielded 7 pancakes. Everyone loved these and all the pancakes are gone. I love that they aren't fried in oil and have no sugar. Plus nobody noticed the added flax which I really try to throw into anything.

Cookies

Today I attempted making my regular blondies with half the fat and sugar. I announced to my husband that half the sugar was replaced with splenda, all the brown sugar was replaced with silan, half the oil(which used to be margarine, but I stopped using that a year ago) was replaced with apple sauce, half the white flour was replaced with whole wheat flour. I then agreed with him that if they came out edible it would be miraculous. Then we tasted them and couldn't believe how good they were. Now I am going to be honest and say that they tasted a little more like chocolate chip cake than chocolate chip blondies however they were so good. 2 of my 3 kids tried them and loved them. I rarely make this cookie recipe into cookies mostly out of laziness however I think they might make soft cookies. I'll give it a try next time.

So here is my healthier version of Nestle Toll House Cookies:

1/4 C. plus 1/8 C. Splenda
1/4 C. plus 1/8 C. Sugar
3/4 C. Silan (Date Syrup)
1/4 C. plus 1/8 C. Apple Sauce
1/4 C. plus 1/8 C. Canola Oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/4 C. White Flour
1 C. Wheat Flour
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 bag Chocolate Chips

Mix Splenda, sugar, silan, apple sauce, canola oil and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. Add flours, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Add chocolate chips. Bake in 9x13 pan at 350 for 20-30 minutes(if it wiggles when you shake the pan you need to cook it more). If making cookies bake 8 minutes.

I would also like to add that this is my first time using silan and I was very pleasantly surprised. I am curious to hear how you use silan and at what equivalent. After today's experiment you can expect to see it showing up more in my recipes.

Corn Muffins

In attempt to break my kids out of the sugar cereal routine I have been trying assorted muffins made with ingredients like whole wheat, ground flax seeds, oat meal, apple sauce-the list goes on and on. I think they are all tasty however since my kids are used to very sweet baked goods they don't enjoy the subtle taste. I finally found one that everyone likes. Either these taste sweeter than the ones I have tried in the past or their taste buds are finally adjusting. Either way I am happy to have found one everyone likes-even my husband.

I made a couple changes to the recipe for Tiny Corn Muffins. First off I have no buttermilk but I found this substitute for buttermilk which I always use now. In this case I used a tablespoon and a half of vinegar and added milk until 1 1/2 cups. In place of the 3/4 C. flour I used 1/2 C. whole wheat flour and 1/4 C. white flour. I added 1 Tbls. flax seed because why not and I used honey rather than agave because I am still on the fence about agave-feel free to pass along your thoughts about agave. Lastly I used canola oil rather than vegetable oil. Hmmm-I guess mine were very loosely based on that recipe. To make life easier I will put my edited version here:

Tiny Corn Muffins:

1 3/4 C. Cornmeal
1/2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 C. White Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Tbls. Ground Flax Seed
1/4 C. Honey
1 1/2 C. Buttermilk(or 1 1/2 Tbls. vinegar plus milk to equal 1 1/2 C.)
2 Large Eggs
1/4 C. Canola Oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the first 7 dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk the remaining wet ingredients in a separate bowl until thoroughly combined. Pour the cornmeal mixture into the wet ingredients and thoroughly combine with a whisk. Pour into greased or paper lined mini muffin cups. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted inside. Cool and serve.


The original recipe says it makes 24 mini muffins however I came out with a little over 50:

I also lowered the oven temperatur and cooking time as they were very well done at 425 for 15 minutes.

Oven Baked Fries

Tonight I decided to add Oven Baked French Fries to our chicken hot dogs and whole wheat buns.

Oven Baked French Fries:
2 lbs. potatoes, approx. 4 medium potatoes
2 Tbls. canola oil
Salt

Scrub and slice potatoes into matchsticks. Toss potatoes in a bowl with oil and salt to taste. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and spread potatoes in a single layer. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake fries for 15 minutes. Turn fries and switch racks. Cook an additional 25 minutes or until browned.

These were a hit. Everyone that likes fries in my house loved these(can you believe I have a child who doesn't like french fries???). I'd like to add sweet potato fries and zucchini fries soon but figured I need to ease into it so I started with something familiar.

Part Whole Wheat Pizza

After last nights chili disaster I decided to move back into the kids comfort zone. I decided to make the same pizza I always make them but making the crust part whole wheat-repeat after me-baby steps. The recipe for pizza dough that I always use is from my 7th grade home economics cooking class. So thank you Mrs. Purtell. I just change the white flour to part whole wheat.

Part Whole Wheat Pizza

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
3/4 C. warm water
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbls. oil
3/4 C. whole wheat flour
1-1 1/4 C. white flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, salt, oil, whole wheat flour and 1/4 C. white flour. Stir. Slowly add remainder of white flour until moderately stiff. Turn dough onto greased board and kneed until smooth and elastic-approximately 5-10 minutes. Place dough in a bowl sprayed with Pam. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand for 15 minutes. Refrigerate for 2-24 hours.
Roll out dough to cookie sheet or pizza stone. Add sauce, shredded cheese and toppings. Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Everyone loved it and nobody had a clue that I changed anything. I guess that is the key-slow, small changes.

Chili

Tonight I made chili for dinner. I based it on this recipe I found for Four Bean Chili.
I made a few changes however. I could not find pinto beans so instead I used a can of Spicy Chili Beans. I also didn't include the meat so it was vegetarian. Lastly, I did not prepare it in a crock pot but in a pot on the stove. So I present to you my version of

Four Bean Vegetarian Chili:

1 Tbsp Canola Oil
1 Large Onion, chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1-15 Oz Can White Beans, rinsed and drained
1-15 Oz Can Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
1-15 Oz Can Chili Beans, rinsed and drained
1-15 Oz Can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1-28 Oz Can Chopped Tomatoes with Juice
2-15 Oz Cans Tomato Juice
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Cumin
2 Bay Leaves
2 Tsp Salt
Grated Cheddar Cheese

In a large pot over medium heat heat oil and saute onions for 3 minutes. Add minced garlic and saute another minute until the onions start to caramelize, then remove and place in a crock pot. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot and stir to combine. Cover and simmer the chili for 2-4 hours on low. Top with cheese and serve.

My husband and I loved it. My kids- not so much. Part of the problem I think was that it was slightly spicy. Not sure if that was because of the chili powder or the chili beans. When it was reheated the next day it was not as spicy. The other problem is that my kids don't like to try new things and this was way outside their comfort zone. Perhaps I tried this too early. I am not giving up though-I will try this one again(perhaps with meat next time). I highly recommend it with the cheddar mixed in. Also, my kids enjoyed mixing in the cheese and watching it melt.

Zucchini Bread

I made this recipe for Zucchini Bread the other day. It wasn't too sweet but it was very good. We told the kids it was cake and while they were hesitant about the zucchini they did enjoy it. I made 2 medium loaves and baked them for 45 minutes. Enjoy!

Light Lunch

I tried this Puerto Rican Cabbage Salad for lunch. I didn't use the celery leafs as I have never had them before and wasn't sure I was willing to eat them. I used 1/4 tsp. of Tabasco sauce and the salad had a slight kick but if you like things really spicy then add more. For the oil I used canola. Overall it was a really good, light salad and I look forward to making this again.

Carrot Soup

My sister passed along this Carrot Soup Recipe which is adapted from The South Beach Diet Parties & Holidays Cookbook. We all really liked this one and it was so simple to make. Also, I loved that it was a really quick soup.

3 Tbls. olive oil
1 med onion, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
2 1/2 pounds carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
6 cups water plus 4 tsp. chicken soup powder
pepper

Heat oil in large saucepan. Add onion and garlic, stir to coat. Reduce heat to med-low and cook, stirring occasionally until they soften about 5 mins. Add carrots, stir to coat, and cook 10 minutes. Add water and chicken soup powder and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med-low and simmer until carrots are tender-approximately 25 minutes. Puree. Season with pepper to taste.

Slightly Healthier Homemade Mac and Cheese

Yesterday I discussed baby steps and how adjusting to healthier versions of what my kids are used to eating was a little complicated. Thursday night dinners are very predictable in our house- it is either Wacky Mac or homemade Mac and Cheese using white pasta and American Cheese(read: processed). Again, like yesterday, I decided to take some baby steps and keep my kids in their comfort zone. So I present Slightly Healthier Homemade Mac and Cheese:

4 C. Uncooked Pasta(I used 2 C. White Pasta and 2 C. Whole Wheat this time)
2. Tbls Butter
2 Tbls. Flour
1 1/2 C. Milk
1 1/2 C. Cheddar Cheese

Cook the pasta (if using a mix of white and whole wheat cook it together making adjustments for the different cooking times between the 2 pastas). Drain. In the same pan melt the butter. Whisk in the flour making a roux being careful not to burn. Add the milk and cheese and whisk until smooth. Add the pasta and serve.

Don't judge a recipe by it's photo. I planned on taking another photo of this once it was in a bowl but the kids were so hungry and then before I knew it the entire pot was empty!

I was surprised at how light in color and in weight the whole wheat pasta was. I haven't had whole wheat pasta in years and I remember it being dark in color and very heavy. I think nobody would have noticed if I used all whole wheat pasta in this one. That is my plan for next time. I am also going to use whole wheat flour in the roux next time. Baby Steps.

Baby Steps

Generally speaking on Wednesday nights we eat hot dogs for dinner. It is one of the few meals that all the kids like and look forwards to. Granted some kids want their hot dogs boiled and one wants them grilled-still easier than making 3 different meals for 3 different kids. In thinking about what to serve for dinner tonight I decided that this is one dinner that we are going to need to ease out of or just make a little healthier-plus the only other option in the fridge was tofu and I thought that would be too big of a jump. So we had chicken hot dogs on whole wheat buns. They were served with edemame and whole wheat couscous. This was one meal that nobody complained about.

The Breakfast Dilema

Since I began this whole health food revolution in my house I have been struggling with breakfast. Since my family has a serious addiction to cereal and particularly sugar cereal I knew this would be a struggle. Someone suggested that I buy some healthy cereals and offer them to my family. I knew this wouldn't fly so I thought that perhaps if there were other food options in the morning then perhaps they wouldn't notice that there was no Cocoa Pebbles or Honey Nut Cheerios. I decided to try this recipe for Whole Wheat Muffins. I decided to try making them with strawberries since I thought they would be good and I had some strawberries that were going to get bad soon.

Also I didn't include the nutmeg as we don't like nutmeg.
Josh tried them last night and did not like them. I know they aren't the sugary treats he is used to so I decided to try them today and I think that perhaps the strawberries were not a good mix in for this recipe. I think I will try them again with nuts or bananas and maybe a little more honey. Let me know if you make them and find a better mix in.

For dinner I made Almond Crusted Chicken Fingers. I liked that they were oven baked and only a drop of oil. Of course Jordy ended up eating pizza at a friends house for dinner and once again Nadav wouldn't touch what I made but everyone else loved them. They were crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside and flavorful. I doubled the recipe but ended up with a lot of extra egg whites so next time I would use less egg.

I served them with whole wheat couscous and salad. I didn't dress the salad and was really proud that Danya ate it without asking for dressing.

All Day Burritos

Yesterday Danya picked a recipe out of the Kosher by Design Kids in the Kitchen cookbook that she wanted for dinner. It was for Bean, Rice and Cheese Burritos. I felt like this was a good chance for me to take a recipe that wasn't so healthy and make it a little healthier. I started last night by making my own refried beans using pinto beans. I didn't take a picture but be glad as they weren't pretty. Then I went a little too far and made my own whole wheat tortillas. They were very tasty however it was a lot of work, hard to do and my stove was a bit too hot so they all got a little too crispy which made them hard to wrap.

Next time I would just buy whole wheat tortillas. However, if you are looking for a challenge, or own a tortilla press, I recommend this recipe. The recipe called for white minute rice and I substituted it with brown rice. So what should have been a simple recipe became an all day process. In the end they were really good.

Josh, Danya and I liked them a lot. Jordy took an itsy bitsy bite and said yuck and Nadav said "no, no, no" as I tried to hand it to him but neither of those responses were unexpected.

Here is my altered recipe.

Bean, Rice and Cheese Burritos

4 wheat tortillas
1 C. brown rice prepared with a packed of taco seasoning
4 Tbls. refried beans
1 C. shredded cheddar cheese

Spread 1/4 C. of rice, 1 Tbls, beans and 1/4 C. cheese on each tortilla. Roll each tortilla and wrap in foil. Place all the burritos in oven heated to 425 and cook for 15 minutes until cheese is melted.

The Experiment Begins

The plan today was to ease the kids into healthier eating.  I cut up some vegetables and had them sitting on the kitchen table when the kids got home.  I figured I would just see what happens.  When Jordy came home from school and saw them he excitedly asked me if he could have some.  I said yes and couldn't believe it as he ate half the plate without requesting a chocolate sandwich.  While he was sitting there I pulled a loaf of whole wheat bread out of a grocery bag.  I had no intention of trying to get him to eat it as I have tried before and I know he doesn't like it.  I actually bought it to make bread crumbs for a recipe.  As soon as he saw it he asked if it was "brown bread".  I told him yes it was and took out a piece to show him.  Both he and his friend thought it looked good and wanted some.  His friend wanted it plain however Jordy wanted a chocolate and peanut butter sandwich.  Nonchalantly I suggested he just have peanut butter and he said ok.  He then ate the whole sandwich with a glass of milk.  So whole wheat peanut butter sandwich, vegetables and a cup of milk for after school.  Not bad!

When Danya came home she wanted to know what there was to eat.  I pointed her in the direction of the vegetables and she was ok with that.  She asked for salad dressing to dip them into which I was about to give to her when I saw the container of vegetable tahini.  I suggested that instead and she was game.  She finished the vegetables and requested more.  Later she returned to the kitchen when I was finished baking whole wheat popovers.  The recipe calls for them to be mini but I didn't have a mini muffin pan so I made them full sized.  I baked them for only a few more minutes than the mini's as they had popped.  I suggested that Danya put a little bit of jelly on top and she thought frosting would be better but I told her no, either jelly or peanut butter. In the end both she and Josh tasted them and enjoyed them with a little strawberry jelly spread on them.   
They didn't photograph well but they were cute.

On to dinner. Deciding what to make for dinner tonight was a bit of a process. I really wanted to find something that everyone would be willing to try and nothing to far out there. I settled on garbanzo burgers.

I renamed them falafel burgers or giant falafel for Jordy who doesn't like hamburgers. Everyone likes falafel so I thought we had a chance. Danya was upset that we wouldn't be putting french fries in the falafel like they do at her favorite falafel place. I had to explain that we don't always need french fries. Eventually she agreed and really liked the falafel-which I served in half pitas. Nadav wouldn't touch his but that isn't surprising. Josh and I both liked them and Jordy took a bite but was not happy about them being burger shaped and large rather than small and ball shaped falafel he is used to so he didn't eat them.

All the food I photographed today was the same color.

As we were in the middle of dinner we ran out of hummus. So I opened a can of chickpeas and made some. I only had vegetable tahini so the flavor was a little different and Danya didn't like it, which I thought was funny since she loves the vegetable tahini on it's own.

All in all not bad results for day 1.

Pull Up A Chair

I recently had a revelation about the way we eat in our family.  For the past year I have been eating a low carb, low fat and mostly sugar free diet.  My husband and children on the other hand have continued eating their high fat, high carb, high sugar, processed food diet.  I have been very bothered about this but wasn't sure how to go about changing it and how to get a picky 10 year old and an even pickier 8 year old on board(my husband will eat most anything and the 2 year old will throw anything you give him across the kitchen).  The other day I was watching an episode of Oprah and became inspired.  After doing more reading and research I came to the conclusion that it isn't too late but if I need to do something now. 

My goal is to limit the processed foods-or as I like to call them, frozen crap.  I was going to completely eliminate them but couldn't imagine making homemade ketchup, mayonnaise etc.  I want to minimize white flour and bring whole wheat and grains into our meals.  I want to see my kids excited about fruits and vegetables.  I want to see them try and enjoy new foods- not just those that come from the freezer and can be prepared in the toaster. Homemade meals made with real, mostly natural ingredients.  I have seen my children enjoy these foods on occasion and wanted those occasions to come more often. 

Thanks for joining me on this wild ride.  I plan to include recipes and pictures of the meals I make.  I look forward to your recommendations and comments.