Sweet Southern Belle

In the kitchen, that is. Since making major changes in the food we consume my family and I have tried lots of new stuff. In the kitchen, that is. Since making major changes in the food we consume my family and I have tried lots of new stuff. Some of the stuff is good and some not so much. Below I’ve written about three of my favorite products for cooking and baking.

1. Grapeseed Oil- I love this stuff and use it every day on something. It is a light nutty oil that is high in all the “good” fats. It has the same health benefits as olive oil but can withstand high temperatures. Olive oil puts off carcinogens when heated past 300 degrees. Grapeseed oil is fantastic for roasting, sautéing and grilling. I’ve read it can be used for frying but I can not attest to that as I don’t fry foods. Some studies show that grapeseed oil is not processed in your body as fat like other oils. I use grapeseed oil when cooking vegetables, baking bread, baking cakes, making dressings, and even popping popcorn. It can be used in any recipe that calls for vegetable or canola oil.
2. White Wheat Flour- My friend, Kelley, began using this flour with good results and I soon followed suit. White Wheat Flour is 100% whole wheat but it has a lighter taste and texture than its brown cousin. White Wheat Flour is not as white as all-purpose flour even the unbleached kind. It has a slight yellow tint. I personally love the taste of the brown wheat flour and I still use it some but this pleases my family. The white wheat flour mimics all-purpose flour in recipes. I use it to make our bread and cereal bars every week. I’ve used it in pizza dough, muffins, cupcakes and making cookies too.
3. Raw Sugar- I am slowly switching over to all raw sugar. I know for some sugar is the anti-Christ but I would argue that sugar in general has gotten a bad rap. Sugar cane is a whole food. Unfortunately the processed bleached sugar we see most often in the United States is “bad” stuff, but sugar in and of its self is not bad. It’s the bleaching; refining and processing that make it bad. However, recently it’s become possible to buy “raw” sugar in the United States. Raw sugar like most other “health” foods is more expensive than processed sugar but the health benefits are well worth the few extra dollars. I should note that the raw sugar we have access to in the Unites Stated is still processed some but when it has the label “raw” or “organic-raw” you can be sure it has no bleach or refining. Many of us think that brown sugar is better than white sugar (myself included until recently) but traditional brown sugar has been bleached and refined. Brown sugar has all the bleaching and refining as white sugar but it has syrup added back to give it color and flavor. I’ve used raw sugar in cookies, cupcakes, muffins, bread, and fresh squeezed lemonade. I’ve yet to bake a cake with raw sugar but I plan on trying soon. I still use refined sugar some and occasionally I use other sweeteners such as Agave and Stevia but I’m trying to use primarily raw sugar.

* Just a note…I read lots of articles on products before I use them and certainly before I recommend them here. However, you should always read up on products for yourself and decide what is best for your families’ health*

This is my new favorite salad dressing

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

1 pinch salt

1 pinch ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together until well blended. I just dumped them in my bottle and shook it until it look like dressing!

I like to have a quick breakfast option sometimes and these bars are a great choice. This recipe is my favorite and the bars make a great snack/desert option too. I make these almost every week as they have a “shelf life” of about 7 days.

Play Group Bars

2 cups of rolled oats

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 cup of flour (your choice….I’ve used all purpose, unbleached bread and whole wheat)

¾ cup of dried fruit or chocolate chips

¾ teaspoon salt

½ cup honey

1 egg, beaten

½ cup oil (I used grapeseed or almond)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a large bowl mix all ingredients together until it is a sticky constancy. Then pat into a greased 9 x 12 inch pan. Bake on 350 for 25 minutes. Cut into bars or squares while hot. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Thursday night was pizza night at our house. This was my first attempt at pizza dough and homemade sauce. The pizza turned out great and was super yummy! I did however try to trick my dear husband with veggie pepperoni instead of the horrible real stuff. He was not tricked at all….when asked what he thought about the pepperoni he said they tasted like vegetables but added that they didn’t taste bad! He’s really being a great about all the food changes we are making!

I made the sauce early in the day so the spices had time to flavor the sauce. This made enough for two pizzas so I put the leftover portion in the freezer for the next time we make pizza.

1 (4 oz) can of tomato paste (I used organic)

1 ½ cups water

1/3 cup of olive oil

2 gloves or garlic, minced

Salt and Pepper

½ tablespoon of chopped oregano

½ tablespoon of chopped basil

½ tablespoon chopped rosemary 

(I used fresh spices)

Mix together tomato paste, water, and olive oil. Add garlic and all other spices. Mix well and let sit for 3 + hours for flavor.

Pizza Crust

3 cups of all-purpose flour (I used unbleached bread flour because that’s what I had on hand)

1 (.25 ounce) of dry active yeast

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 cup warm water (100 degrees)

1 package of Italian seasoning (optional)

Combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Mix in oil and warm water. Spread out on a large pizza pan or stone. Top as desired.

Oh how I love fresh homemade bread and oh how I love a bread machine that does most of the work for me! Homemade bread is a 100 times better for you than store bought, 100 times better tasting and much cheaper too! I don’t buy bread at the store at all now. I bake a loaf or two each week for my family. This is my favorite wheat recipe from the Amish Mennonite cookbook (with a few changes). It’s got a great taste and is good for slicing for sandwiches.

Whole Wheat Bread

½ cup lukewarm water            ¼ cup oil

½ teaspoon sugar                    1/8 cup of honey

1 tablespoon yeast                   1 cup hot water

½ tablespoon salt                    1 cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup sugar                             1 ½ cups of unbleached bread flour

Bread Machine

Put all liquid ingredients (water, oil and honey) in first, and then add flours, sugar, and salt. Add yeast last. Be careful that yeast does not touch liquid. Set on whole wheat setting, 1 pound loaf.

By hand

Mix 1/2 cup lukewarm water, 1 teaspoon sugar, and yeast; set aside. Beat together salt, ¼ cup of sugar, oil and honey, and 1 cups hot water, then add whole wheat flour. Now mix the two mixtures together. Mix well. Then add bread four and mix by hand until it won’t stick to the bowl much anymore. Let the dough sit to rise until double in size and put in pans. Let dough rise in pans until about ½ inch higher than the pan. Bake in 2 greased bread pans at 300 for 30-35 minutes. Brush with butter when baked.

There is much debate in the world of nutrition as to the definition of healthy food. Some believe a low-fat diet is best, some believe a low-carb diet is best, some believe a meat-free diet is best and so on and on it goes. I have tried all of the diets at different points in my life and certainly pass no judgment on what others choose as “healthy” for themselves but my family has been recently making changes towards what we believe is healthy eating. It’s not low-fat, low-carb or meat-free it’s simply “whole” foods. We are trying to cut out as much processed foods as possible. I buy mostly organic food but when I indulge with something processed organic is a must for us. As a part of this we are eating a lot less meat, partly to help even out the cost difference between organic and conventional food costs. There are other reasons we are cutting back on our meat consumption but I’ll save those for another post on another day.

I’m certainly no expert on whole foods or cooking from scratch. I’m learning as I go so I thought as a way to keep myself accountable I’ll try to blog as often as I can with menus, pictures and recipes of what we are eating. Some days I may choose to blog about what I made for breakfast while others it may be lunch or dinner.

Tonight’s dinner was Black Bean Burgers on Whole Wheat buns with homemade French fries. This was an incredibly delicious and filling meal. Even my dear husband who looked at me strangely when I told him we were having veggie burgers instead of the venison burgers he was hoping for enjoyed the meal a great deal. My dinner preparation started in the morning when I made the yummy whole wheat buns for the night’s meal. I got the recipe off of another blog. This was a very easy recipe and the buns tasted 100 times better than store bought buns.

A little closer to dinner I made up the black bean burgers and cut up the fries. All three recipes were a first for me. The black bean burger recipe was one I pieced together after reading several veggie burger recipes and not finding exactly what I was looking for. Here’s a picture of the finished product.

The fries were organic Idaho potatoes cut up with salt, pepper and garlic. I baked them on 450 for 30 mins.

Black Bean Burgers

16 ounces of cooked ( and cooled) black beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 cup mushrooms

½ onion

3 gloves of garlic

1 egg

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon of hot sauce

1 cup of bread crumbs ( I used the homemade wheat loaf I had on hand)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly oil a cookie sheet.
2. In a bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
3. In a food processor, finely chop mushrooms, garlic and onion. Then stir into black beans
4. In another bowl stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and hot sauce.
5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed bean mixture. Then stir in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together.
6. Divide into 5 patties
7. Place on cookie sheet and bake for about 10 mins on each side