Kitchen Roll-Ups- Fruit Leather from your Juicer

For most owners of a powerful Breville juicer, the job description of their machine begins and ends with extracting juices from fruits and vegetables. However, a juicer can be one of the most versatile tools in the kitchen for an adventurous cook, and one of its hidden powers is the ability to make fruit leather in your own home.

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These delicious fruit snacks can be made using a wide range of fruit blends and are guaranteed to remind you of a packed lunch from your school days. They also retain all the nutritional value of the chosen fruits, so kids will find it much easier to get more fruit into their diet one roll at a time.

Preparation

Creating a homemade fruit roll up starts with choosing the fruit flavors that will go into the mixture. Practically any fruit will work, even dried fruit can be rehydrated with water and honey for use in this recipe. Honey, maple syrup or agave nectar can also be added to the mixture before juicing for enhanced sweetness. Add the fruit blend into the juicer and process into a thick, pudding-like consistency using the homogenization setting.

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Turkey Soup

This recipe is really easy, and it’s great to use left over meat with it. I always make this after  a family dinner or, Thanksgiving, Christmas even. You take those left overs and the carved up turkey ( bones and fat and all)  boil it for a few hours with vegetables till all the meat falls off. Toss some beans in there, you have left over soup with whatever meat you had on hand. It makes a great hearty soup, my kids like to eat it in mugs after a rainy day .

soup

 

Ingredients

The remains of your turkey or chicken ( even Ham works) with bones, skins, fat, everything. No need to pick off the itty bites of extra meat, it’ll come off later. This is going to make the broth for the soup

2 cups of left over Turkey or Chicken or Ham

3 stalks celery chopped

1 large onions chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

2 large tomatoes chopped

1 cup mushrooms

1 cup both red and green peppers

1 1/2 cups chopped carrots.

1 bag of dried beans which have been soaked over night or 3 cans white northern beans ( rinse them)
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Amazing Chocolate Cocktails

Got a chocolate lover in your life?  Maybe you are looking for an amazing “signature drink” for an upcoming party.  You will love  the flavored vodkas by Van Gogh – they do all the work for you, just mix and serve!  So delicious, and there is nothing overly “girly” about them, so the guys will enjoy it as well.
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Banana Bread Recipe

baking bread

You can’t go past a good homemade banana bread. One slice after another – and before you know it you have eaten a whole loaf. Make sure you use really ripe bananas, as they bring about a deep, sweet banana flavor. Often I spread a cream cheese icing on top, finished with toasted chopped walnuts – but it wouldn’t be a bread then, would it? Tip: you can also make this delicious banana bread recipe in bread maker appliance easily.

Makes 1 x 23cm LOAF

220g self-raising flour

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

80g sugar

45g brown sugar

2 eggs

60ml milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

75g melted butter or vegetable oil

200g mashed ripe banana
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What to do with all those Thanksgiving Leftovers?

So, it’s all over. All that prep, the cooking, the shopping- and of course, the eating.  Now- what to do with all those leftovers?

thanksgiving dinnerFood Safety Tips:

If your family is anything like mine, then you’re used to having the same problem each Thanksgiving—what to do with all the leftover food! While you may be dreaming of turkey sandwiches and leftover pie, just remember that mishandling leftovers can create opportunities for contamination with bacteria. So keep these food safety tips in mind after the big party to prevent foodborne illness.

How Many of These Leftover Rules Do You Follow?

  • Leftovers should be refrigerated or frozen in shallow containers. Whole roasts, hams and turkeys should be sliced or cut into smaller pieces or portions before storing them in the refrigerator or freezer. This encourages rapid, even cooling.
  • In general, leftovers stored in the refrigerator should be consumed within 3-4 days. When possible, put a sticky note or other label on your leftovers with the date they were first stored so that you know when to toss them out. A full list of recommended cooling and freezing times is here: http://go.usa.gov/GKVd
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A Gluten Free Thanksgiving

If you are going gluten free this year (or every year, for some people with no options), Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be a complicated affair.  Some of the most basic holiday foods, like the turkey, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes normally have no gluten in them already- so huzzah!  Several steps down, several more to go.

What to do about the foods you love that DO normally have gluten in them?  Well, turns out it might not be as bad as you think.

ready to use gluten free stuffing

image via Glutino.com

Start with the stuffing

You can make your own with gluten free bread that you let get stale, or you can make it from a mix if you are pressed for time.  You can also go non-traditional if you feel like getting wild and crazy, with cornbread or even wild rice stuffing.  For me, personally, I’d go cornbread, but I am a sucker for that stuff every. Single. Time.
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Nut Free Thanksgiving Goodie Bags for The Classroom

Nut Free Classroom Snacks

So, it’s that time again- time to be supermom.  As if you don’t have enough to do, it’s class party time, and you are in charge of snacks.  With everyone allergic to something, you need to be conscientious about your food choices.  If you, like me, are not the crafty type , here is a cute (and easy!) all-in-one craft/goody bag the kids are sure to love, and your kids will love making with you.  (Look at that, you ARE supermom!  Quality time with the kids and class party making all rolled into one, score one for you.)

My son and I made these turkey snack bags for his class.  Yes, it would have worked out better if we used orange, brown, or yellow pipe cleaners, but he wanted black ones, so there you have it.  No arguing with the kiddo.

What you need

Pipe cleaners
Orange or yellow construction paper
Non-latex gloves- you know someone is going to be allergic to latex
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Healthy Holiday Gardein Meatless Hors D’oeuvres

The holidays are here, and so are all those wonderful foods we all love.  From turkey on Thanksgiving, to Latkes on Chanukah, or Ham on Christmas, there are literally tons of great food to eat and eat way too much of.  I suggest this year, you try to make a meatless hors d’oeuvres for your guests.  This can be not only healthy, but delicious as well.  Going meatless is also one of the trendiest ways to be healthy this year, both online, and off.

11 18 14 products 006Going Vegan is one of the hottest fads right now, with #meatlessmondays  as one of the biggest hashtags.  Even celebrities are following the act, with Jennifer Lopez’s 22-day vegan challenge, which also had Beyoncé and Jay-Z involved as well.   Going Vegan is getting easier then ever. There are even restaurants popping up around the country too so you can keep to your cuisine while still going out to dinner.

The health benefits of going vegan are numerous- not only do meatless proteins have less fat and no cholesterol.  Plant proteins are rich in vitamins too.  These all greatly reduce risks of cancer, obesity, and diabetes.
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