Pizza Pizza

 

Ummm yummy yummy pizza.  So I am getting this bread maker stuff down.  I have made a few good loves and a few that didn’t rise but I am figuring it out.  But tonight we had the best pizza.

Made the dough using the basic bread maker recipe.  Then added tomato sauce,  mozzarella and other cheeses, bell pepper, Garlic (for Sean’s half) and sausage (made at Nugget market, its the best),.  It was super good.  Sean says one of the best pizzas ever. 

I also like that I can pinch off a bit of dough and let Rorie make her own.  She made a heart, added sauce, cheese, bell peppers (I don’t think she knew what the red stuff was but she put it on and ate it) and sausage!  She loves making it and I think she eats more because its her own creation. 

Tomorrow Sean says he will make French Toast with homemade bread so I gotta go program the machine.

recycle, reduce and REUSE

I try to buy in bulk, we get a CSA box, shop at farmers market and I am learning to make bread, etc.  All of these things help reduce the amount of wasted packaging that we bring home.  However we still get a considerable amount of empty bottles, plastic containers and cardboard boxes.  So I started a new bag of stuff that can be washed and reused, here are some of the things we have reused so far.

Medicine bottle: Small soap container for camping or milk container for kids kitchen

Plastic fruit container: storage container, snack container, kids craft: www.notimeforflashcards.com/2010/08/aquarium-kids-craft.html

Cardboard box: Kids toy, packing box, storage

Water bottles: Lady bug carrier (to bring lady bugs home from camping to our garden). 

Egg Carton: Kids craft or seed starter

Many containers also make great sand, dirt or water play toys.

Some containers waiting to be REUSED.

This blog post was inspired on this weekends camping trip.  We went car camping with friends in the Sierra Nevada's.  It was tons of fun and the kids had a blast.  We camped by a creek but it was not at a campsite with amenities, so we had to bring all our water and pack out our garbage.  So we brought reusable plates, water bottles, etc.  Our friends (who are great people just not so good at the 3 R’s) brought a huge thing of plastic water bottles, paper plates, etc. and completely did not understand why we would spend a few minutes washing the plates in the creek rather than throwing paper ones away.  So at the end of a two day trip we had 2 bags of garbage, which we had to pack out in our cars.  I don’t like to be wasteful at home, but when I am camping and enjoying nature with my family I feel even more guilty.  

The Chariot.

The kids in our new bike trailer after a morning at the park.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.3.1

Freezer French Toast Sticks

So I am always looking for New Easy Healthy breakfast, lunch and snack ideas for the kids.  Also we are trying to use all the food in our fridge and not throw anything away.  Well I found a few bags of bread that was no longer great for sandwiches but was still totally edible.  So I searched around and found ideas for day old bread online.  I decided to make French Toast Sticks which the kids devoured, however I still made way to many so I found you could freeze them.

Recipe:

3 eggs

1/2 milk

1/4 Orange Juice

1 tbsp vanilla

Several Pieces of Day old bread cut into 1” strips

Mix eggs, milk, OJ and vanilla.  Pore over day old bread.  Heat skillet to Med High with a bit of oil or butter.  Brown on both sides.

Serve with dippers: We used apple sauce and maple syrup today.  I think yogurt would have been a good dipper as well. 

Freezer: So my kids loved them but I made way to many.  I froze them (just throw them in a freezable container) and reheat in the microwave or toaster oven (great for a quick before school breakfast).  That reminds me I have to go retrieve the one I attempted to reheat in the regular toaster and it got stuck! 

Reusable Snack Bags

In an effort to reduce waste and plastic of course our family has started to use reusable bags.  They are great for lunches, sandwiches, crackers, fruit and other snacks.  Anytime you would use a Ziploc you can use a reusable bag instead.   Be sure to add these to your back to school shopping list!

Check them out here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/reusezone

Would you like to try them for free? 

Yes its finally giveaway time! 

The winner will get to pick a reusable bag set from reusezone!  That is one sandwich and one snack bag in the pattern of your choice! 

A big thanks to Jess at reusezone for sponsoring this contest!

See my FB page for giveaway directions! 

Blackberry Picking and Jam!

On Sunday we went see Grandma and Grandpa who live on a farm outside of Placerville CA. The kids love going to see their grandparents and they have so much fun there. This weekend we spent about three hours picking blackberries. They have tons of wild blackberry bushes growing on their property and Grandma Eileen used the neighbor's tractor to clear paths so we could pick berries. After three hours we had two large buckets of very ripe blackberries.

What's a person to do with all those blackberries? Make Jam of course. (on a side note Sean and I had never canned anything before). So we drove home put the kids to bed, I ran to the store for canning supplies and we made Jam until midnight! We were tired but it was lots of fun and so nice to eat your creation the next day for breakfast.

We finished with 8 pint sized Jars!

Sustainable Notes: The whole process of picking, making it into Jam and canning was fun. It was great to do it together as a family. The cost of the Jam was minimal for Sugar, pectin and jars (which we will reuse). We will now be able to enjoy blackberries out of season and I may be able to talk Sean into giving some as gifts. Canning our own Jam also had minimal energy, packaging and pollution!

Fun Fruity Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Rorie helped me mix up some chicken salad today. It was a great recipe for her to help with because she could add all the ingredients to the bowl and do the mixing. I thought she would be more willing to eat it after helping but she only had one bite and could not decide if she liked it or not.

Basic Recipe:

Equal amounts: About 1/4-1/2 cup.

Raisins, Cooked shredded chicken, Diced apples, Diced celery, Walnuts, Grapes (I was out of grapes today so I skipped them)

1 small container plain whole milk yogurt

Curry (to taste)

Mix in a bowl and serve on lettuce, bread, crackers, tortillas or in a pita. Keeps for a few days.

I like this because I don’t like mayonnaise and it is a great way to use cooked chicken without having the day old poultry taste. Also you can vary the ingredients to what you have on hand. Orange Juice, Pineapple and/or mango’s (although not local) are also great additions.

Eating Local: Chicken, apples and yogurt were all local and bought at the food co op. The celery came in my CSA box (local). The walnuts and raisins were not local however I can purchase them local in the future.