Whole Foods Fast: Sugar Free Taco Seasoning Mix

Everyone is happy on Taco Day in our house.  I am happy because it is a healthy meal with little prep work or clean-up work that can be made ahead that our kids love to eat.  The kids are happy because they love the taste and have fun making their own tacos.



Sugar Free Taco Seasoning Mix
Adapted from Family Feasts for $75 per week

1/2 cup of dried minced onion
1/4 cup sweet paprika
1/4 cup organic corn starch
3 Tablespoons Chili Powder
2 Tablespoons of Salt
2 Tablespoons of Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon of Ground Cumin
1 Tablespoon of Dried Oregano

1. ) Place all the ingredients in a pint-size canning jar.  Put lid on and shake to combine.  Use 1/4 cup for every 1 pound of ground beef.

Notes:
* You will thank yourself over-and-over again if you cook 4-6 pounds of ground beef and use what you need the first day and put the rest in freezable Pyrex containers (I find the 3 1/2 cup rectangular size is the perfect serving size for our family of four)
* This is my go-to meal when we get a last minute invite out on an afternoon when I haven't made dinner yet, but I want to eat at our usual 5/6PM time.  I pop one of these out of the freezer, take the meat out of the pyrex, put it in my slow cooker on high, chop up some tomatoes, shred the cheese and go have some fun.  Then when we get back home a dinner everyone likes is waiting for us.
* If you want to have this every week, alternate between tacos and taco salads every week.  That way you won't feel like you are serving the same thing every week.

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CSA Options in the Rochester Area

Residents in the Rochester Area interested in joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program have a few options to choose from for the 2011 season.  May is the time to decide what CSA is right for your family because most CSAs begin distribution in June.  Below I have detailed a few of the bigger CSAs in the Rochester Area.

Maple Creek Farm




Website: http://www.maplecreekfarm.com/


How you Get Your Food: You drive to one of the 25 drop-off points around Metro Detroit and pick up your box.  There are two drop off locations in Rochester to choose from.


Cost: 20 Week Distribution.  Single Share Size $400.  Family Share Size $750 (my pictures represent the family share size)


How to Sign-up: http://www.maplecreekfarm.com/membership.html OR they are at the Royal Oak Farmer's Market on Saturdays if you would like to meet your farmer in person.

What does a Share Look Like?:  This is the CSA that I have been doing for the past 2 years.  You can see all the produce that I received each week throughout 2009 and 2010 the pictures I put together on Flickr.


Upland Hills Farm

Website: http://www.uplandhillscsa.org/

How you Get Your Food: You pick up at the farm on a Tuesday or Thursday at a specified time.

Cost: 16 Week Share.
They have several pricing options based on if you work on the farm or not.
1. Non-working Full Share   ($580 Pickup once a week)
2. Working Full Share           ($400 Pickup and 2 hours work once a week)
3. Non-working 1/2 Share    ($340 Pickup every other week)
4. Working 1/2 Share            ($250 Pickup and 2 hours work every other week)
How to Sign-up: Fill out their application form (pdf)

What does a Share Look Like?:  They list these photos on their website.


Blue Water Organics

Website: http://www.bluewaterorganics.com/

How you Get Your Food: Pick up at the Rochester Farmer's Market.

Cost: 18 week season.  $375 for a small share.  

How to Sign-up: Go to the Rochester Farmer's Market, they are there every week or email: lee@bluewaterorganics.com

What does a Share Look Like?:  There are no photos posted on the website, but I am familiar with their high quality of their produce because I frequently purchase food from them at the Rochester Farmer's Market.  

Other Options

* Antaya Acres - I found this CSA mentioned on Craigs list, although I have no experience with them: http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/grd/2331832825.html

* Door to Door Organics Michigan offered a CSA last summer.  Not sure if they will do the same for 2011.  You can still sign-up for their non-CSA option for weekly delivery of organic food (not always local).

* Raub-Rae Farm is at the Rochester Farmer's Market weekly and offer very good organic produce, and in my opinion the best eggs in town. So good, that I get up at 7AM to make it to the farmer's market in time to buy them, because they run out later in the morning.  They are a great alternative for someone who doesn't want the commitment for a CSA for a full summer, but wants fresh, organic food.  Connect with them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Raub-Rae-Farm/296325419291

* Local Harvest (http://www.localharvest.org/) is a great website to find farms selling the products you are looking for close to your home.

* Dobrasevic Food Company offers weekly delivery of local food (not organic) throughout Metro Detroit.  Check their website for more details: http://www.dobrasevicfoodcompany.com/

Are you a Rochester Area resident with experience with a different farm?  If so, please include the information in the comments.

Marlene's Sugar Free Experience

After a whole week last week of eating way more sugar than I normally do, Sunday I started  "Kick the Sugar."  Julie posted that she wanted others to join with her for a month-long sugar fast.  I decided I needed to try this and see if my headaches would improve, if my cholesterol would lower and my over-all energy and mood would get better.  

We came home Saturday afternoon from visiting the grandchildren in two states, so I didn't have a lot of food in the house.  This was good for one reason-no treats or goodies; and bad  for another reason,  because I had no substitutes to help with the diet.  I am planning on some hummus and- more veggies and fruit- only jam.  I plan to watch what is in the packaged food I eat, but that will be easy since I don't eat too much pre-packaged food.

I will do it a little differently than Julie in that I am not going to cut out fruit from my diet for now, but just cut back to 2-3 servings a day.  My lo-carb sprouted bread from Trader Joes lists honey and molasses at the end of the ingredient list but shows no measureable grams of sugar.  I also plan to eat 1 to 2 pieces of very dark thin Ghirardelli chocolate which is 72% Cacoa.  I just need it; at some point I may be able to cut that out. I read Julie's blog recommendation www.sugarshockblog.com  and ordered the book "Sugar Shock."

Sunday the only sugar I had was:
*a little regular jam on my toast
*1/2 apple
*2 rings of fresh pineapple
*2 dark chocolate squares
*1 cup of hot milk with plain cocoa in it- whippped.

Oh, and I have to mention that I gained 2 1/4 lbs last week.  I am hoping the swimming I do everyday and cutting the sugar will help me lose those pounds and a few more.  This is a challange and discipline that I think will be good for me.  We need to nuture ourselves sometimes and I think this is a good way to do it.   Thanks Julie for starting me on this program.

No Sugar Almond Flour Muffins (with low sugar option)

These muffins are what I eat for breakfast every morning with my coffee or tea.  They have no added sugar, only the sugar from 1 banana and 1/2 cup of blueberries spread out between the 24 muffins.  I like to use almond flour because I find it much more filling than a wheat flour.

Sugar Free Muffins (with low sugar option)

adapted from Everyday Grain Free Gourmet

5 cups of balanced almond flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

6 eggs

2 tablespoons of vanilla

1 banana

1/2 cup of honey (optional)

1/2 cup of blueberries

1. ) Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center.

2.) Put all of the wet ingredients in the well of the dry ingredients.  Use a hand blender or a fork to mash/mix the eggs, banana and vanilla (and honey if using).  

3.) Mix in blueberries, fill muffin cups 1/3 to 1/2 the way full with batter.

4.) Bake in a 300F oven for 25-35 minutes.

A few notes:
* I find that these do not store for very long, so I put them in the freezer and defrost them in my toaster oven each morning.
* Did you notice how brown the banana was in the picture?  That is because when they get old, I throw them in the freezer and then pull them out when I need to cook with them.  Once defrosted, just snip off the top of the banana with a pair of scissors and press out the banana from the bottom right into your bowl.  It will be pre-mashed.  

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Sugar Free Salad Dressing Recipe

Well, today is the 1st day of giving up sugar.  I am super excited that two other people have decided to join me and will be writing guest posts here about their experience.  If you would still like to join in, there is still time!

One store-bought item that frequently has added sugar is salad dressing.  To avoid this, I usually make my own.  My absolute favorite recipe that works well on a variety of salads is an adaptation I have worked out from the Greek Salad Dressing recipe from Family Feasts for $75 per Week (a very good book).



Greek Salad Dressing
Adapted from Family Feasts for $75 per week.

I usually make a couple of batches in the pint size canning jars.  I will mix the liquids into one, and then put the rest in the pantry, so when I am ready for the next batch, I only have to add the liquids.

Dry ingredients:
1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon will taste good too)
1 teaspoon onion powder

Wet: 
I put the fill line measurements for canning jars in ( ) so you don't have to get out the measuring cups.

1/2 cup olive oil (fill to 6 oz. line.  Note: The dry ingredients take about 2 oz of space, so even though 1/2 cup has 4 ounces in it, we start measuring the liquids at 6oz.)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (fill to the 10 oz. line)
1/4 cup water (fill to the 12 oz. line)

Shake and use or place in fridge for up to 2 months.



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Giving Up Sugar for a Month

Photo Credit: Uwe Hermann

On Sunday I will start a month-long journey of giving up sugar.  Why?  I have become lazy over the past year and let sugar creep back into my diet.  Too much into my diet!  I know friends and family already feel like I don't eat that much, but I do.  And I can feel it.  I don't like the way my body craves it for a pick-up in the afternoon or the example I set for my kids when they see me eat it.  I don't like the few pounds I have gained because of it.  So the time has come to give it up for another month.

This isn't the first time I have given up sugar, I did it back in November and it was a good experience.  So I will do it again, but with a difference.  This time I would love to have people join me on the journey.  So I would like to invite others who would like to do this with me to guest post on the blog about your experience.  Why are you giving up sugar?  How is it going?  Why do you like it?  Why don't you like it?  How do your family and friends feel about your decision?  

Is anyone with me?

I think giving up sugar could look different for different people depending where you are at right now.  Maybe some people do it for a week, maybe two.  Maybe you give up all sweets, but don't worry about the sugar in your pasta sauce or hot dogs.  

To me a Giving Up Sugar in May means: 

• * No sugar.  
• * No corn syrup.  
• * No sweeteners, fake or real, of any kind in the ingredients list of anything I buy.  
• * Naturally occurring fruit and milk sugars are OK - but I will limit fruit to no more than 1 per day.

So if you are interested in doing this with me, send me an email at j m a g r o @ g m a i l . c o m (remove the spaces) and let me know.

Door to Door Organics Give Away

It is time for Give Away.  The kind people at Door to Door Organics have agreed to give away a box of food to one of my readers!

Door to Door Organics is a service that delivers fresh, organic food to your door on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.  To start, you sign-up for one of the many different size boxes that they offer:



What is really nice is that you see what is coming in your box the following week and can make substitutions if there is something that no one at your house likes.  What is also really nice about their service is that they offer an online marketplace of dry organic grocery goods that you can add on to your order each week.  They also just started carrying grass fed organic meat.  



Door to Door Organics sent me a complimentary box of their food to try before I posted this giveaway.  I ordered the bitty box, which really isn't that bitty.  The picture below shows the box as I got it.  The picture at the very top of this post shows the food outside of the box.



Doesn't that look great?  We really enjoyed all the food.  It was all very good quality.

They also offer an great fundraising opportunity for groups/schools/churches.  You can check out their co-op page for more information.

Win a FREE bitty box from Door to Door Organics
All you have to do is comment on this article with what your favorite vegetable is for a chance to win.  I will choose a winner via Random.org next week, February 23rd on Facebook, so if you enter make sure to like us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/AMichiganMom)


* One entry per person please!
* Make sure to enter your name in the "name/URL" option when commenting so I know who you are if you win (you can leave the URL blank).
* Check to Make sure they deliver to your area: http://michigan.doortodoororganics.com/delivery

Where I've Been

The past five months have been a bit of a blur.

*  Both my kids started school in August, and start at 8AM (a little too early for my taste) so mornings are busy getting them off and ready.  Evenings are busy preparing for the next day of school and getting them to bed in time.  And now they have homework, parties and fieldtrips to keep the days busy.

*  I was writing for Rochester Media's Community Edge.  Check out my 2010 Advent Calendar Activities, as well as our Breakfast Around the World Staycation.

*  And, I have picked up some new consulting clients that have kept me busy developing their websites.

I haven't forgotten about The Dinner Table.  It is frequently on my mind.  I have recipes to post and products to write up.  One of my resolutions for the 2011 is to be more structured in where and how I spend my time, and spending time on The Dinner Table is part of that plan.  I am incredibly excited about the coming year and can't wait to share it with you!

Australian Food & Wine Tour

Came across a travel agent in Birmingham, Michigan (Australia 2000 Travel) that offers a deluxe Food and Wine Tour to Australia.

My husband, Leonard, has family in Australia and it is always a place I have longed to visit (he has already been there).  Wouldn't a Food and Wine tour be the perfect thing to combine with a trip to visit my husbands family in Australia?  I think so...guess I will add this to my Christmas List!

Any of you readers ever booked an Australia travel package before?  What did you see?  Where did you go?  More importantly, what did you eat?  Anything scrumptious?

Julie

Maple Creek Farm Share 2010

Here is a slideshow of the share produce for 2010. My thoughts on this year's share follow the slideshow.



The CSA season is over and I must admit I am not too disappointed about it.

For some reason, I found the share to be more stressful for me this year. I didn't feel in the mood every Wednesday to pick up the share, clean and store the veggies and then prep them for use during the week or to store them in the freezer for use during winter. Last year was the opposite, I felt like every Wednesday was like Christmas picking up my share.

It wasn't that I felt the quality of the share was any less than last year, because I thought it was good considering they hardly had any rain all summer.  We got A LOT of peppers, I would guess it was because it was what they had to give us considering the difficulties with rain.  The tomatoes we got this year were FANTASTIC!!  We had fun eating the many varieties we got through the season.

I am not sure if I am going to be a member of Maple Creek or any share next year for a few reasons. One, I feel like a break.  Two, I go to the farmer's market every week anyway, so I can just pick up what I really wanted there without all the stress of getting things I do not feel like cooking each week.  And Thirdly, we enlarged our garden (which we lovingly refer to as Tuscany, since it is a garden on a hill) for next year and I think we will get a decent amount of produce out of it next summer.  But time will tell, and I will be sure to let you know!