The Healthier Flavored Water

For those who are accustomed to sweet drinks, but are trying to drink water instead, commercially flavored water and vitamin water can be enticing.  So, what are these liquid water enhancers made of?  I researched the most visible brand of water flavoring by visiting their website, where I discovered that each flavor contains two artificial sweeteners, at least one preservative, and several artificial colors, depending on the flavor.  In addition, nearly all of the flavors list propylene glycol as the second or third ingredient.  

I have been trying to avoid propylene glycol in my family’s food and cosmetic products for years (not an easy task―it’s everywhere) since a friend told me it is a possible carcinogen.  According to my old copy of The Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives, propylene glycol is used in food industry and RV anti-freezes.  It’s also widely used in processed foods, over the counter children’s medicines, and cosmetic products.  Don’t believe me?  Go check a sampling of products that your family uses; I’ll wait.

According to this article, the main function of propylene glycol, besides providing moisture and acting as a solvent, is to penetrate the skin so other chemicals can reach the bloodstream.  Even though most studies suggest it is safe in small quantities, I’m not a fan of putting chemicals on or into my body, so I try to avoid propylene glycol.  The article linked above also suggests avoiding it, and if you consider that the artificial colors and preservatives in most foods that contain propylene glycol (such as water flavors) can interfere with children’s sleep, this makes sense.

I avoid sweet drinks, so I drink a lot of water, but sometimes I want a little something to flavor it.  My children are learning to drink plain water, but they are not always cooperative.  Homemade lemonade is wonderful, but sometimes I want to avoid the sugar in the lemonade, and I definitely don’t want my children drinking the sugar, artificial colors, and artificial flavors of other drinks.  Sometimes, I just squeeze some lemon or lime into our water.  Other times, I splash some juice into it.

Recently, I ran across Fork’s post about Sassy Water on her blog Fork fabrications (via Karri’s My Favorite Things Link up).  I have tried a similar water flavoring before, using only a cucumber, so I just had to try this recipe.  As Fork explains, you just slice up your citrus and cucumber, toss it with mint into the water and let it sit in the fridge a few hours.  She found this recipe at Prevention Magazine, and when I clicked over there I learned that their recipe uses grated ginger.  I used a few thin slices of ginger root instead.  I pulled the mint right out of our garden.

This beverage is indeed a yummy sugar free homemade flavored water.  Even my kids liked drinking it.  They especially liked putting slices of cucumber and orange in their glasses, and they liked the yellow tint the orange gave to the water.  You can tell by their excitement over over such a pale color that we don’t drink artificially colored stuff that often!  We will definitely be drinking this regularly!

Because I have made flavored water before with just a cucumber (you can try that too), I know you can refill the pitcher and get a second batch, although the flavor is not as strong. Also, you can vary the citrus and the type of mint, and leave the ginger in or out, creating different flavors.

By the way, the glass pitcher in my photo belonged to my parents; they received it as a wedding gift.  I also have all eight of the matching goblets.  I just love the heavy green glass look of the set; it’s so 1960s!  

I also have bowls and other kitchen items that belonged to my grandparents.  I am overjoyed to have a direct connection to the women who taught me how to cook; using these items reminds me of the many hours I spent with these two women, along with many other aunts and cousins, in the kitchen preparing daily meals and food for family gatherings.

Linked with Catholic Bloggers Network, Welcome Home, Farm Fresh Friday, Making it Count, Your Green Resource, Food on Fridays, Better Mom Mondays, Try a New Recipe Tuesday, and Healthy 2Day Wednesday.

MyPlate Birthday and Recipe Review

MyPlate, the government’s replacement for the food pyramid, is celebrating its first birthday with a revamped website that includes new resources and recipes, as well as tips for celebrating events with healthier food and by including movement and exercise as part of the festivities.  You can find the links to the celebration resources and more, including the place to wish MyPlate a Happy Birthday by clicking below.

A year ago I promised to review the original recipes from the MyPlate site when I wrote my post about the change.  You can find their original recipes here.  So, in honor of MyPlate’s first birthday, I present my reviews of the salads from their original recipe list.  So far, we have liked everything we have tried.  I explain my adjustments for each recipe below, if any.

As I mentioned last year, we like the Outtasight Salad (page 5).  We use whatever fresh vegetables and fruits we have on hand, usually doubling the amount to two cups each.  The more vegetables and fruits, the less noticeable the greens are, and my children prefer the salad this way.  Also, fresh pineapple is our choice over canned.  And for the dressing, we leave out the vinegar, keeping the dressing thicker and creamier, so it can coat the chunks of vegetables and fruits.

We usually eat this as a light lunch, with nut butter or cheese toast.  Leftovers make a good side salad for dinner.

The Fire and Ice Watermelon Salad (page 9) is a refreshing and new way to eat watermelon.  I really like the kick of the dressing, but my children prefer to eat the fruit mixture without the dressing, so I just reserve it on the side.  We were almost out of white vinegar the first time I made this, so I used half white and half apple cider vinegar.  You could probably use all apple cider vinegar too, although I have not tried that yet.

This recipe makes a lot, so you may be eating this watermelon for a couple of days; it is good as a snack, or a luncheon side dish.

We have also tried the Bulgur Chickpea Salad as a side dish (page 10).  I actually prepare my bulgur off the stove, using warm water.  I use fresh parsley instead of dried, and shredded carrot instead of chopped.  This dish offers an interesting flavor combination that is light and fresh, perfect for summer.

These last two recipes are great ways to use the green onions we grow on our windowsill.

If you have tried any of the MyPlate recipes, let us know how you liked them.  You can find additional new recipes and resources at this page.  With so many links, I have plenty of new recipes to try, so look for more reviews in the future!

Linked with Catholic Bloggers Network,  Welcome Home, Making it Count, Tea with Saint Anne, Pay It Forward, Your Green Resource, My Favorite Things, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Try aNew Recipe Tuesday, Food on Fridays, and The Better Mom.

Peach Harvest

Due to a mild winter, our peach tree bloomed a couple of weeks early this year, so we have been harvesting peaches a few weeks earlier than usual.

One of our favorite ways to use our peach harvest is to can our own fruit cocktail.  I had hoped to make significantly more fruit cocktail this year than last year, but my kids and husband ate some of the organic fruit I bought before canning day, so I made nearly the same amount: three pint and a half jars plus 4 pint jars (17 cups) versus the eight pint jars I made last year (16 cups).

I used exactly the same fruits as last year: peaches from our tree, apples, and pears.  However, this year I forgot to add the lime juice, so we won’t try to save a jar to see how long it keeps (acidic environments are less likely to spoil).  We opened the final jar from last year a couple of weeks ago, and it was just as good as the day we made it.  I doubt this year’s jars will make it to fall.  My girls love our homemade fruit cocktail; maybe we’ll make some in winter with other fruits.

You can find the link to the fruit cocktail recipe, as well as the Peach Salsa and Peach Popsicles we made both this year and last year at this post.  I opted to puree all of the peaches for the popsicles, because the diced pieces were really hard to chew from last year’s batch.  That post also discusses the nutrients found in peaches.

I repeated a recipe from last year that I did not include in that post: Spiced Peaches by Dorothy from her blog Shockingly Delicious.  I like to call these sweet and sour peaches; however, they do not taste like the red stuff you will find in a Chinese restaurant.

I also made a great Peach Barbecue Sauce by Katie from So Tasty So Yummy that I served with her Chick-fil-a Chicken Nuggets.  Although I haven’t tried making variations of this sauce yet, I bet it would taste great even without the peach.  We have been eating this sauce with grilled meats and even with baked potatoes.

And, I made a version of Katie’s Peach Oat Muffins that I found highlighted on another blog through the Secret Recipe Club Dorothy and Katie both participate in.  Here is the other version.  I actually merged the two versions, but I'm sure these muffins will turn out great whichever recipe you use.  We definitely liked them.

Finally, I made a Peach Custard Pie using this Good Housekeeping recipe for Nectarines.  The custard part is really good, but we used the last of our crop and the peaches tasted sour.  I think this is because we harvested most of those peaches before they were ripe in order to keep the birds from getting them all!

If you have a favorite peach recipe, I hope you will share it; I am always looking for something new to try.

In 2013 I am linking with: Backyard Barbecue Bloghop, Motivational Monday, Better Mom Monday, Healthy2Day Wednesday, Shoe Lace 

In 2012 I linked with:  Welcome Home, Farm Fresh Friday, Making it Count, Tea with Saint Anne, My Favorite Things, Show Me What You Got, Open House with Four Moms, Food on Fridays, and Try a New Recipe Tuesday.

Not Your Ordinary Seafood Dinners

Tired of fish sticks and fried fish?  How about a seafood dinner that is a little more unusual?  Read on!

About a year and a half ago, my husband put a recipe app on his ipod touch (this was before we bought the ipad this past December), and started looking for new recipes to try.  One of the first ones he found, for Crab Tostadas, has become a favorite of ours.  

Photo by Lucy Schaeffer courtesy of Epicurious.com

Even though the recipe calls for crab, that is expensive where we shop, so we have used steamed shrimp or even lobster tail when it goes on sale.  Another adjustment we make is to smash the avocado and spread it on the tostadas instead of using slices.  This is a yummy seafood dinner that even the kids like.

For a twist on the burger, try Grilled Wild Alaskan Salmon Burgers, using canned wild salmon.  It is very important that you choose wild salmon over farmed, because wild salmon is much higher in healthy omega-3 fats.  Read more about the benefits of this type of fat from my blog here and from SuperFoods Rx.  And, canned wild salmon is much more affordable than wild salmon fillets.  This recipe also stretches one can of salmon to feed four people.

Courtesy of SuperFoods Rx

Don’t forget to put these burgers in the fridge for at least an hour so they will stay together when cooked.

A number of years ago, a friend introduced me to a variation of a pasta salad that I had been eating for years without seafood.  This recipe uses canned tuna, but for a vegetarian or vegan version, leave out the fish and/or the boiled eggs.  The vegetarian version was a staple meal for me when I was single and living on my own.  Adjust the amounts for how much you need.  This recipe is so flexible; all of the ingredients are optional.  Use what you have on hand, or what your family likes.

NO MAYO TUNA PASTA SALAD

          by Elisa Garza

drained canned tuna

cooked pasta (shapes, not strings)

boiled eggs, sliced or chopped

chopped vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, shredded or matchstick carrots, green onions, celery, etc.

chopped fruit: pineapple, apples, raisins

sunflower seeds, poppy seeds

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

pepper, dried oregano, fresh basil

Mix everything together in a large bowl and serve.  Use whatever ingredients and amounts you prefer.  You can shake the olive oil and vinegar together first (use less vinegar than oil if the sharp taste is not to your liking), but I just pour them into the bowl with everything else.  You don’t need much.  Or, use your favorite dressing instead.  Serve with bread or fruit on the side, or by itself.  See, totally flexible!

In 2013 I am linking with: What are you doing this Lent?, Try a New Recipe Tuesday, Your Green Resource, Food on Fridays, Better Mom Monday, Motivational Monday, Healthy 2day Wednesday, Four Moms, Welcome Home

In 2012 I linked with: What are you doing for Lent?, Catholic Bloggers Network, Lenten Link up, Lenten Meal Plan Monday