Exchange Your Recalled Bumbo for a FREE bébéPOD

In light of the recent Bumbo recall, bebePOD is offering a FREE bebePOD replacement for your used Bumbo chair. Package must be postmarked by Jan 31,2012. You can see the details of the offer here.

San Antonio Book of FREE $24 on Groupon

This is better than the Entertainment Book, it's the BOOK OF FREE for $24 (normally $55.99) on Groupon. Includes a $20 Dave & Buster's card. "Owners can redeem for up to $1,500 worth of food, entertainment, and services around San Antonio. Covers conceal vouchers that users can redeem without making any additional purchases or dissecting fine print in a high-school biology class. Patrons can enjoy treats such as a trio of free movie tickets at Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, dinners at restaurants such as Silo and Aldo's, lunch at Rudy's BBQ and La Hacienda, dry cleaning at Slater-White, and free rounds of golf at Silverhorn Golf Club and The Quarry Golf Club. Guests can contribute to live laugh tracks at Laugh Out Loud! Comedy Club, take overworked vehicles on a date to Express Lube, or enjoy UTSA football at the Alamodome."

Burrito Casserole Leftover Surprise

What's the surprise? It was actually delicious! I modified it from this recipe. I had leftover home fries and quinoa (food purists would probably cringe at this) but the quinoa gave the casserole a nice texture. I managed to add more beans into our diet ('resolution for 2012), and used up leftovers - including FRIES! Total cost for this hearty meal was about $0.60 for the tortillas and beans (cost of leftovers were not included since they would otherwise have gone to the chickens).

Ingredients
Leftover fries cut into cube (or about 2 medium potatoes, peeled, boiled and cubed)
1 c cooked quinoa (or rice or other grain you might have, optional)
1 c black beans, soaked overnight and cooked until soft (or use canned black beans)
2-3 tortilla skins, cut into 1" squares
2-3 c green chili sauce (you can use salsa but I has green chili)
6-8 oz (more if desired) Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 c yogurt (or sour cream)


Method
Preheat the oven to 375F. In a casserole, mix all the ingredients together except about 1/4 of the cheese together. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake for about 20-25 min or until cheese is melted and slightly browned.

Fighting the BIG FAT LIE and Choosing Organic Food on a Budget

Like many concerned parents, we too are concerned about what we feed our kids. We try to go organic as much as we can but as everyone knows, it gets EXPENSIVE. Here's our list of changes we have made/are in the process of making, all while bearing cost in mind.

The easiest thing we first did was cut the junk food - the resulting cost to our budget was a big negative!

• Before even tackling our grocery, we have cut junk food 100% from our diet. We started this late last year. It requires a bit of pre-planning before we leave the door but not only do we cut the garbage, we reduce our food cost by $12-$18 per meal by packing our own. At just 5 meals a month, that's $100 savings!

• We avoid ALL commercially prepared foods containing honey. Since a majority Chinese honey, which can contain lead and illegal DNA-altering antibiotics ends up on commerical products, we are careful to avoid all such products, including Honey Bunches of Oats which we used to enjoy. Chinese/Indian honey has been banned in the EU but our dear fox-in-the-hen-house FDA is doing little to stop it from flooding our food. We purchase locally produced honey.

• We have 100% switched to organic apples. Cost wise, it's a little more, but it's #1 on the list of dirtiest foods on EWG's worst food list. We are able to get 3lb bags of Safeway's O Organics apples for about $4.99/lb

• 100% switched to organic celery (#2 dirtiest on the list). It costs a little more than conventional and sometimes, at Sunflower Market, I can get them as low as $0.99/lb - cheaper than conventional. Celery is on our garden list. 

• 100% switched to organic peaches and strawberries (#3 & #4 on the list). We only buy organic strawberries when in season. That's when it's cheapest, as low as $1.50/lb at Sunflower. We buy organic peaches pitted and frozen from Costco at $1.89/lb)

• 0% organic on tomatoes, peppers, potatoes (all on our gardening list), onions, garlic (both planted last fall), avocados, asparagus, bananas, oranges, rice, Asian groceries (I try to avoid China products but for certain Chinese ingredients, it is difficult to do so. Instead, I try to opt for Taiwanese, Hong Kong or even Thai products as a substitute).

• 100% organic flour for baking. I was lucky to find a wholesaler in the greater Denver area that sells unbleached organic flour at $0.51/lb (50 lb bag). If you can't find one in your area, the next best thing that I found was unbleached flour by High Altitude Hungarian Flour at Walmart, which was priced at about $0.50/lb (25 lb bag).

• 0% organic milk and cheese. At $5+/gal vs $1.99/gal for conventional, the increase in cost is too much for us at this time. One concession we make is we NEVER buy milk that's not labeled as rBST-free. Thankfully, these days, most major store brand milk including Walmart's Great Value, Target's Market Pantry, Safeway's Lucerne and Korger are all rBST-free.
  We do NOT buy the USDA's claim that there is no significant difference between treated and un-treated milk. "Significant" is a subject term and let's face it, the USDA's job is to sell US 'food' not to protect us. The fact that the EU bans all US dairy from being imported because of the use of rBST, I think is a cause for concern for all of us. 

• 15% organic beans. I was able to get organic dried garbanzo beans from our wholesaler at $1.69/lb. All other beans I buy are not organic.

• 25% organic dried pasta. I recently found this Garofalo organic pasta variety pack from Costco. It costs about $8+ for six 1lb packs, so about $1.50/lb vs free (after coupons)-$1/lb for regular pasta. But it is DELICIOUS totally worth the extra $$! I never knew dried pasta could taste different! Once I finish my stock of pasta, I will move to this brand (unless I find more free-after coupon pasta deals!)

• 100% organic tofu. That ensures that we don't get GMO soy. $1.50 per pack vs $0.99 for conventional tofu at Sunflower.

• 30% pastured hormone-free chicken. Walmart (of all places) actually has very reasonally priced chicken. Here, their pastured, hormone-free whole fryer chicken is $1.49/lb. Organic whole chicken is about $2.59/lb. I buy the pastured one when I can since (1), I'm about 1/2 hr away from the nearest Super Walmart and (2), I have to go to Walmart. When I'm less inclined, I just get conventional chicken thighs from the King Soopers down the road ($0.59-$0.79/lb).

• 100% wild/organic red meat. Since we successfully hunted a deer, we have no need to buy red meat, organic or otherwise. Ours was a mountain-ranging deer, so we assume it's organic. Deer that live in farm areas and feed on non-organic crop will not be organic.

• 100% home-grown eggs. My eggs are rarely pastured because we live on the side of a mountain, we can't use a chicken tracter. We are also in fox country and have a long winter. Most of the time, sadly, they have to be in their run (with lots of access to the enclosed outside). I feed them conventional feed. Still, our eggs are so much more beautiful and delicious than commerical eggs! There's definitely more to eggs when the chickens are not in a stressful environment. If you can't have your own hens, opt for pastured eggs rather than organic. Pastured means the chickens have access to grass and the outside which makes for better eggs. Organic hens do get outside time but it only means they are fed organic (ie non-GMO feed). Pastured hens may be fed GMOs etc.

• 50% organic butter. Currently, the cheapest price I've found on organic butter is at $3.50/lb at Costco. I was buying that until I got a deal on Challenge butter at $1.79/lb after sale & coupon at King Soopers. Challege is rBST-free so I think it's a little less evil than conventional butter. Once I run out, I'll go back to the organic. 

• To remove from our pantry: any 'foods' that our grandparents would not have recognized as food in their youth. Get rid of corn/canola oil (both GMO frankenfoods). Stop buying any commerically prepared food using canola (GMO), corn (GMO) or soy (GMO). We have replaced most pan-frying oil with butter. I still use corn oil for Asian cooking and am looking into using lard as a substitute. I'm also looking for palm oil as a corn oil substitute for deep frying. The reason is, what we've been told for the past 30 years about saturated fats is WRONG. Saturated fat is good. Butter is good. Cholesterol isn't bad but processed vegetable oils are. 

For those who are interested, I have included the video on this topic hosted by a medical doctor.

Free 8 oz Enfamil Formula at Walmart with Coupon

Walmart currently has their 8 oz cans of Enfamil formula for $4.97. Use this coupon to get it for FREE!

Le Creuset 4.5 qt Enameled Oval Cast Iron Ovens $99 at Bloomingdale's

Bloomingdale's has Le Creuset 4.5 qt oval ovens on sale for $99. Shipping is $11 or free for orders over $150. This is a good deal for Le Creuset ovens. You might be able to get them for less at stores like TJ Maxx but those are usually retail seconds.

For those who were wondering, the higher price on these vs other brands like Lodge is because (except for their frying pans,) these are made in France and not in China.

I have a 7 qt version and it makes great stews. It's also good for going from stove to oven.

Shoprunner 1 Year Membership for $1 ($79 value)

Shoprunner is offering their 1 year membership for $1 right now. Regularly priced at $79. $1 charge goes to charity.

Make sure you set your account to DO NOT AUTO RENEW. Otherwise, you'll be charged $79 for the subsequent year. To do that, go to Account Settings -> Manage/Cancel Membership -> Set my account to Do Not Renew

Free Seeds are Here!

I few days ago I getting free heirloom tomato seeds from wintersown.org and now, mine have arrived!

I picked mine according to taste and high yield. Most seeds offered by Wintersown are heirloom and open pollinate, means you can save the seeds and they'll yield the same varieties with every successive planting (assuming they did not cross pollinate).

Up to 8 Heirloom Tomato Seed Varities for SASE at Wintersown.org

Spring is around the corner and I'm sure many of you are ready to start your plantings! Wintersown.org is a non-profit that currently has about 150 different heirloom varieties of tomatoes. You can request up to 8 different varieties for an $0.88 SASE.

If the varieties are too confusing, you can have them choose for you. They'll pick the ones that they think will work best for your zip code area. It's a great site! They have also always given me 2 extra random non-tomato seed packs with my order!

Of course, if you have extra seeds for next year, or have funds to donate, please do so!

How to Make Stock

When I came to the States, I could never understand why people bought those packets of stock for what I think it just a ridiculous price. There's no need to buy it! You can EASILY make it yourself at home while getting more bang for your buck on the food you're already using!

When I de-bone meat, I normally just save the bones in a bag and pop it in the freezer for later use. You can do this with bones, shrimp shells and vegetable scraps (freeze them seperately of course).

Even leftover bones from a cooked meal works. But of course, the flavor imparted to the stock will take on the flavor of the ingredients you used in that meal. That may or may not be a good thing for your stock, depending on what you plan to use it for.

If you already buy organic meat with bones, you get organic stock. Why pay $4-$5+ for a pack when you already have the ingredients on hand?

The same goes for vegetable scraps. Just freeze all the ends and tips that you cut off in a bag. However, it's best to leave sweet bell pepper scraps out because they will impart a bitter flavor to the stock.

Ingredients

- Chicken/Pork/Beef Bones/Shrimp shells/Vegetable scraps
- Water

Method

In a stock pot, bring water to a boil. Have enough water to at least cover your ingredients. Wash vegetable scraps of debris (if applicable). Add bones/vegetables to the water. Reduce to a low simmer and cook for at least a half hour. The longer you simmer the stock, the thicker it will be. You might need to add more water.

You can cool and freeze the stock in freezer bags. Just fill a bag with cooled stock, seal and lay flat in the freezer. Once frozen, you can stand them up for better storage if you need to do so. I personally prefer to just freeze the bones then make stock when I need it that day or the night before to save on freezer space.

25% Back in Rewards on Almost Anything at Staples (in store only)

Staples is offering 25% back in rewards on almost everything in store! Valid until 1/25. You'll need to use this coupon. You should also be able to use this Office Max coupon if your local Staples considers it a local competitor.

 
That means for this week, if you use it on free after Staples easy rebate* items, you get your items FREE (+ sale tax) and get 25% back in Staples Rewards. The purchases also count towards the $1000/year expenditure to get yourself to Premier status (means you can recycle 20 ink cartridges per month instead of 10 at at least $2 each).

Free after rebate items this week are:

Titanium Internet Security 2012 (1-User).  Limit 10.
$40 - $40SER - 25% rewards = +$10 MM
McAfee Total Protection 2012 (1-User). Limit 1.
$60 - $60MIR - 25% rewards = +$15 MM
Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security 2012 (3-User). Limit 5.
$69.99 - $69.99SER - 25% rewards = +$17.50 MM
Command medium hanging strips item 884313. Limit 1.
$3.99 - $3.99SER - 25% rewards = +$1 MM
Staples 4x6 photo paper item 648177. Limit 1.
$9.99 - $9.99SER - 25% rewards = +$2.50 MM
Scotch pop-up tape dispenser SKU 766408. Limit 1
$2.29 - $2.29SER - 25% rewards = +$0.57 MM
Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2012 (1-User) [Boxed CD] Limit 5
$55 - $55 SER -25% rewards =+$13.75 MM



*Staples easy rebates can be filed online at Staples.com. No mailing or UPC clipping necessary.


Terms and conditions: *No limits per day or per member. Offer valid only for original recipient of this email as sent by Staples. Standard Rewards will be excluded from items receiving promotional Rewards. Maximum of one Rewards promotion will be given for each item purchased. Price eligible for Rewards is the amount paid at checkout after application of all promotions, coupons and Rewards redemptions and does not include tax. Not valid on desktop or laptop computers, tablets, netbooks, Beats Audio™, Amazon Kindle®, NOOK®, Epson® ink and toner, custom printing orders placed online, gift cards, cell phones and cell phone services, Staples® EasyTech(sm) professional-grade and on-site services, depot repair and parts, phone cards and postage stamps. Must be a member of Staples Rewards®. Staples Rewards membership is FREE. Rewards earned from this promotion will be issued online in February 2012. Rewards expire no less than 60 days after issuance. Limit one Staples Rewards account per person or at any mailing address. For full program details, visit StaplesRewards.com. 

Thanks to Donut909 from SD

Sweet Sour Meatballs

This dish is not traditional Chinese. It's closer in taste to American Chinese fast food, except without the garbage ingredients.

Ingredients

Sweet sour sauce (recipe here)
Meatballs (beef or venison is recommended for this sauce) (recipe here)
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced thin
1 Tbsp oil for frying

Method

Heat oil in a dutch over (preferred) or pan. Add onions and fry until soft. Add meatballs then sweat & sour sauce. Mix well. Cover and let simmer on low heat for at least an hour. Add some water if the mixture gets too dry

Serve over white rice

Free Single Serving of Firecracker Chicken Breast at Panda Express on Jan 23

In celebration of Chinese New Year tomorrow, Panda Express is offering free single servings of their fire cracker chicken breast tomorrow. You can download your coupon here. 

I personally think their food is nasty but free is free so I'm posting this for those who might be interested!

100% Back in STAPLES REWARDS Duracell Batteries AA/AAA

It's back again! Get AA/AAA Duracell batteries free after rewards (ie you get the $$ back later as a Staples store voucher).

In store only, limit 2 per household per week.

Rewards do NOT roll. If you use rewards to pay for these, you will NOT get rewards back. Use only cash/credit/Staples gift cards.

Deals such as these work up to Premier ($1000 spent per year) status more quickly. Premier status allows you to recycle up to 20 instead of 10 inks per month for at least $2 store credit each.

For an extra bang for your buck, if your local grocery store offers fuel points, buy gift cards from there first to get the points. (My Safeway and King Soopers offers 2x fuel points. ie, every $50 spent in gift cards gets you $0.10 off gas, up to $1 off).

Venison Meat Balls

OK. So I was inspired by Ikea's Swedish Meatballs so I decided to make my own with venison and pork. They're charging "only" $9.99 for a frozen box that feeds a family of 4. $10 for a home cooked meal's pretty expensive. I wasn't impressed with the price so I made my own and came up with enough meatballs for 5 family meals at a fraction of the price.

The resulting meat balls are very versatile. I have used them for my copycat Ikea Swedish Meatballs, sweet & sour meat balls and spaghetti and meatballs.

Ingredients

2 lbs ground chuck venison (or beef)
1 lb ground pork
3/4 c milk
1/4 c breadcrumbs
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 c dried onion flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Butter or oil for pan frying

Method

Since my venison was processed and frozen as chunks, I pulsed it in the food processor until roughly minced. See why it's better to grind your own beef anyway.

Add all the other ingredients except the butter/oil and process until well mixed. In a pan, heat butter/oil over medium heat. Cook a bit of the meat mixture until done then re-season the raw meat to taste if necessary.

It is easy to make regular sized meatballs with your hands:

Use a spoon to make the final scoop off your hand.

Make all the meatballs. Then in the heated pan, pan-fry all sides until done. I find that pan-frying is better than baking as it locks the juices in rather than drying the meat out.

Why It's Better To Grind Your Own Meat

It's much better and safer to buy beef and grind it yourself. For ground beef or hamburger meat, just use chuck. Why do I say this? Your pack of ground beef usually comes for many cows from many countries all mashed up into that 1 pack. The problem with that it that each cow that goes into each package increases the odds of diseases like E.coli entering your meat.

Worse, when the meat is ground, the surface area is increased many fold, allowing for more risk of contamination. When you buy a piece of meat to grind at home, all these factors not only fall away, you get to choose the piece you want as well!

Most places don't label the country source of their meat but they do at Costco. The label scared me - one pack of beef contained beef from like 6 countries including (if I remember correctly) - USA, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand etc. Ewww...

25 Free 4x6 Photos from Walmart

Walmart is offering 25 free prints:

Click here to register.
Enter your activation code here
Then upload your photos!

$10 off $59 purchase + Free Delivery at Walmart to Go (select areas only)

For a limited time, Walmart is offering $10 off $59 with codes 10OFFNOW & GET1FREE codes. The service is available in San Jose, CA and possibly other select areas.

How To Tell If Your Eggs Are Still Fresh

Spring is coming and for us, that means the chickens will be laying more once again. Since we don't have 'Best By' dates on our eggs, how can we tell it's fresh? You can use this on commerical eggs as well. Don't waste food! Best By dates are just a guide. Food is often good for quite a bit longer after that date!

To test the freshness of eggs:

Place your eggs in enough cold water to submerse the egg. If it sinks to the bottom, side ways, it is fresh.

If it 'stands' at the bottom or close to it, it's no as fresh. These eggs are better used in baking, or as hard boiled eggs. Less fresh eggs are easier to peel as the shells don't stick to the whites.

If it floats, it's stale. Time to toss them out!

How to Cook Healthy & Natural Snacks Kindle Edition Free on Amazon

Prices fluctuate so get it for free while you can!

How to Pickle Chilies

Pickling your own chilies is the the easiest thing to do. It's much cheaper than buying the commercial soggy canned stuff (usually about $0.99 for a small can). In the US, use Serrano or jalapeno green peppers. On sale (here in the Denver area), I can get jalapenos for $0.88-$0.99/lb. The cheapest I've found was $0.88/lb at Walmart.

Some recipes call for pouring boiling vinegar on the chilies but this is not a necessary step. Doing so will make the chilies soggy.


One pound is enough to make a decent-sized jar's worth of pickles. We normally use it in our South East Asian dishes like fried bee hoon or hor fun but this also appears in pizza and Mexican fare.

Ingredients

- Chilies, washed and sliced, stem removed
- Distilled white vinegar

Method

Add prepared chilies in a glass jar. Add vinegar until it covers all the chilies. Cover and allow to stand for a day at room temperature. I use a piece of plastic between the jar and lid to prevent the vinegar from corroding the lid. Store in the fridge.

Thick Sweet Sour Sauce

There are many versions on how to make sweet sour sauce. I have made some using canned pineapple juice in the past which turned out well. This time around however, I had to use what was on hand. This is a strong sauce which would work better with beef in a slow stew. I liken the flavor to Panda Express fare without the garbage ingredients.

Ingredients
1/4 c concentrated pineapple-orange juice (I used frozen Dole)
1/4 c ketchup
2 Tbsp sugar (I used organic raw sugar but white should be OK)
1 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp amino acids (you can use soy sauce as a substitute)
1 Tbsp corn starch
1-2 c water

Method 

Add all the ingredients except the corn starch in a small saucepan and bring to a low simmer. In a separate bowl, add 1/4 c water (the amount does not need to be exact) to the corn starch. Stir to make a slurry. Add the mixture to the saucepan and mix it into the sauce. Simmer until thickened.


Feel free to adjust the ingredients to suit your taste!

156 ct Huggies Snug & Dry Diapers, Size 3 $24.80

Amazon is having a sale on diapers right now. 'Clip' the $2 off coupon on the page and select 'subscribe and save' to get the $24.80 price. You can cancel your subscription immediately after placing your order without affecting the order.

Bee Hoon Hor Fun

Depending on where you are, Hor Fun isn't easily available. Luckily, this is very easy to make at home. Instead of the traditional kuay tiao, I used bee hoon (rice vermicelli) and dried mee pok (flat egg noodles).

Ingredients

Dried bee hoon (rice vermicelli) soaked in hot water until soft
Dried mee pok (flat egg noodle)

Chicken, cubed/ beef, sliced/ prawns, peeled
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
3-4 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in water until soft, sliced
1/2" ginger, peeled and minced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

Chicken stock
Dark soy sauce, soy sauce, salt, white pepper, fish sauce, sesame oil to taste
Corn starch to thicken gravy

For ganish
Cilantro
Condiment: sliced pickled green chilies (optional)

Oil for frying

Method

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add egg noodles and cook until soft. Drain and set aside. In a frying pan, heat some oil over medium heat. Add noodles and soaked bee hoon and fry until the noodles are slightly browned and crispy. Set aside.

In a frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add ginger and stir fry until slightly fragrant. Add garlic, carrots, meat until cooked through. Add mushrooms. Season to taste. Set aside.

Bring chicken stock to a simmer. Add dark soy sauce to give the gravy a deeper color. Season to taste. In a separate bowl, add water to corn starch (do not add corn starch to water - you'll make it very hard to mix). Stir until a paste is formed. Add the paste to the stock mix and let simmer for a few minutes until the gravy thickens. If it's not thick enough, add more starch paste. If it's too thick, dilute with some water or extra stock. Add the stir fried mix into the gravy.

Serve noodles topped with the gravy mixture. Garnish with cilantro and green chilies (optional).

Chicken Bao

These are so yummy and worth the effort to make. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a recipe that makes good bao skin so I have no choice but to use a commercial preparation. You can buy these for about $1-$1.50 each at a Chinese grocer/restaurant but it costs only about $3 in ingredients to make 12-13 big baos at home.

I've found that this brand of bao flour makes really nice skin. From the Asian grocer. These are not mainstream and you won't find this at regular supermarkets.

Ingredients

For filling:
2 chicken leg quarters, skinned, de-boned and cubed
1/2" nub of fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
2-3 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked until soft, small dice
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine/dry sherry
1/4 c chicken stock
2 Tbsp corn starch to thicken
1/4 c water chestnuts or jicama, peeled cooked and small diced (optional)
Soy sauce, fish sauce, salt, garlic powder, sesame oil to taste


3 small hard boiled eggs, shell removed and sliced length-wise into quarters






For bao dough:
Follow method and ingredients on the packet.





12 pc wax paper, each about 3" squares



Method


Prepare bao dough according to package instructions. Divide dough to the number of portions you want. For the brand I use, you can get 12 bao divisions.

For filling, mix all the ingredients except the eggs together. If mixture has too much liquid, add a little more corn starch. 



In a steamer, bring water to a continuous boil.


Roll the dough portion into a ball then flatten in the palm of your hand. Place filling in the center of the dough. Add a slice of egg. Bring all the edges of the dough together and pinch at the top to seal. Place raw bao on a piece of wax paper. Repeat until all ingredients are used.


Place 3-4 baos in the steamer, allow for expansion so do NOT squeeze too many baos in the pan. Place a dish cloth between the steamer and cover. This will collect the condensation and prevent the baos from getting soggy from the condensation. Steam for 20 min or as directed on the package.


Serve hot.

Naturally Skinny (100 Organic Recipes Under 350 Calories) FREE on Amazon

Amazon is currently offering Naturally Skinny (100 Organic Recipes Under 350 Calories)  Kindle edition for FREE. Prices fluctuate so get it while you can:

However, if your 2012 resolution is to lose weight, please to read my post of fats and sugars. In the sugars post, Prof. Lustig (professor of pediatrics at UCSF) discusses at length why not all calories are the same, why fat is good and sugar is poison. Interesting stuff!

$5 off Enfamil, $1 off Honey Bunches of Oats Coupons

Coupons.com has some nice big coupons right now including $5 off Enfamil formula and $1 off Honey Bunches of Oats.

Normally we would have jumped on the Honey Bunches deal but do read my post on why we avoid it now. Since a majority of Chinese honey ends up in commercial products.

1lb Challenge Butter as low as $1.79 at King Soopers

King Soopers is currently selling their 1lb Challenge Butter bricks for $2.79. You can print a $0.55 off coupon at coupons.com This is an unadvertised sale so prices may vary by store. If your store doubles, you can get the butter for as low as $1.79!

Organic vs Free Range vs Conventional Eggs

An egg is an egg is an egg. Or is it? What is the difference?

Conventional/battery hen eggs -

Here, hens are cramped into tight cages. They are almost inhumanely de-beaked to prevent them from pecking each other to death. In such close-range quarters, they will most definitely otherwise kill and cannibalize each other.

These chickens never have access to the outdoors or sunlight. They are usually riddled with disease and routinely treated with antibiotics. When egg production goes down (usually after 2 years), they are sent to slaughter for meat (I heard Campbell's is a big buyer of this meat for their chicken soup).

Cage-free/Free-range eggs -

Since these terms are not regulated in the US, the conditions of 'cage-free' hens are usually similar to their battery counterparts. The only difference is that instead of a cage, the mass of chickens are housed in open warehouses. They do not need to have access to the outdoors to be labeled as 'cage-free'.

Pastured eggs-
Again, this term is not regulated in the US. However, pastured usually suggests that the hens have access to the outside and access to grass.

Organic eggs-

Organic egg certification requires hens to be raised humanely. They are fed non-GMO feed. They may or may not have access to pasture but would have access to the outdoors. They are not given antibiotics unless necessary.

"From hens fed with a vegetarian diet" is by far the most laughable claim. Having chickens has taught me that chickens are by far NOT vegetarian. They will eat meat with gusto. They will also readily peck and attack any chicken that shows signs of weakness to death and cannibalize it. Even in our small coop, there is no real way for us to stop this. It is impossible for a commercial farm of any size to truly make such a claim.

Even though our chickens are not organic or pastured, (they are fed regular feed and only have access to grass part of the day in spring/summer). Our eggs still retain their beautiful orange yolks even in the dead of winter (they become more orange in spring/summer). They look vastly different from commercial eggs.

Studies have shown that hens in a less stressful environment produce healthier eggs. The only real way for us to know how laying chickens are raised is to raise them ourselves. Thankfully, in the US, more and more municipalities are allowing people to rear hens (not roosters).

If keeping your own chickens is not possible, a good alternative is to seek out local small-scale farmers. These farmers would usually allow you to take a look at their chickens. Good places to start are localharvest.org and craigslist.

Quick Chicken Pot Pie

This is a very quick and easy recipe which I made up essentially from leftovers. You can leave out the beans but I found that mashing it into the potatoes is a really good way of masking them while bulking up the dish nutritionally.

Ingredients
Butter and flour for a roux
Milk
3 Carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 large onion, peeled and diced
Leftover chicken chunks (cooked)
3 stalks celery, peeled and diced
3 large Potatoes, peeled and boiled until soft
Lima Beans, 1/2 can or about 2 c soaked overnight and cooked until soft
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

You can use canned beans but I opted to use dry because it cuts cost and sodium content. It also stores very well in this state. Soak dry beans overnight. Drain then cook over a low boil with some salt until soft. Drain and set aside.

Cook potatoes in salted boiling water until soft. Add some milk and the beans and mash together. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside

Preheat the oven to 350F

In another (preferably oven-safe) pan, cook onions, carrots and celery in some oil/butter over medium heat until cooked through. Make a roux with the butter and flour. Add milk until you get a thick gravy. You can do this in a separate sauce pan but I just make it all in the same pan to save on washing extra dishes.

Add chicken chunks and mix. Season to taste. You can also opt to add other ingredients like sliced mushrooms, peas etc. I didn't have any so I just used what I had on hand. Transfer the mixture to an oven safe pan or casserole if you need to. Top with the mashed potato mixture. Bake in the oven for about 20-25 min.

Why We've Stopped Giving Our Kids Pediasure

I thought I'd include a post on this after coming across an interesting lecture on youtube. I think many of use know about, and avoid high fructose corn syrup.

What we didn't know was that sucrose (table sugar) and fructose are just as poisonous. In a nutshell, both sugars react the same way as high fructose corn syrup does in the body. The effects of these sugars in the body have almost the same effects as alcohol consumption (same ingredients, same process).

When Maya was born (at 4.5 lbs, full term), all the medical professionals were so focused on her weight and size. Even now, at 18 months and 17+ lbs, she's considered well below the weight curve for her age. Our pediatrician even suggested supplementing with Pediasure for extra calories. We have been giving that to her - until now. I checked the ingredients:

So instead we'll give her more butter and other good oils.

For those who are interested, I'm embedding Dr. Lustig's (professor of pediatrics at UCSF) lecture:

Free 2012 Seaworld & Busch Gardens Pass for Pre-Schoolers (FL residents only)

Unfortunately, this deal is only open to Florida residents. However, it is still definately worth mentioning!

"Sign up your preschooler for the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Preschool Pass. Children ages five and younger can now explore the wonders of Africa and the depths of the ocean with this special free pass offered to Florida residents ages 5 and younger.

It gives them all access in 2012 to Busch Gardens’ Sesame Street Safari of Fun, the play land filled with kid-size rides and cool water fun. Take a dive on Air Grover, the new junior coaster for parents and kids to ride together. Splash in Bert & Ernie’s Watering Hole, a wet adventure filled with bubblers, geysers, jets, dumping buckets and more. A photography studio offers photos with characters daily, and a musical stage show brings safari tales to life in a celebration of imagination and the spirit of adventure.

The Preschool Pass is an online-only offer, and is good for all of 2012 at both SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Parents and older kids can join in on all the excitement with a Fun Card, when they pay for a day and play all year through Dec. 31, 2012, with no blackout dates.
Visit our web site to sign up for your Free Preschool Pass."

Parents and older siblings can purchase a "Fun Card" where you pay for one day and get admission for the rest of the year FREE!

168 Huggies Little Snugglers Sz 1 $24.13 on Amazon

Amazon is currently offering Huggies Size 1 diapers for about $0.14/diaper. Remember to 'clip' the $2 off coupon on the page and choose 'Subscribe & Save' for the full discount.

Remember to cancel your subscription immediately so that you don't forget later on. You do not need to wait for your order to ship before canceling.

Creamed Ham and Mushrooms on Quinoa

OK. Every festive season our local Safeway and King Soopers sells ham for $0.99/lb. So, once again, I could not resist. Price-wise, it was a good buy - I portioned my $10.xx piece of ham into 10 meal packets + the ham bone. That meant about $0.99 base per meal for the family.

Health-wise, the purchase probably wasn't such a good buy. factory-farmed meat isn't good. Factor in the nitrates etc, not such a good buy. But, I still bought it.

 

Now..what to do with it. I had leftover whipping cream, the ham, green beans in the freezer, mushrooms that needed to be cooked and I wanted to serve it with quinoa.

I found a recipe for Kentucky creamed ham. It is traditionally served with rice or corn bread but worked very well with quinoa.

Ingredients
Butter
Flour
Milk
Heavy Cream
Mushrooms, sliced (I used fresh Shitake)
Ham, cubed
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, nutmeg, dried dill weed to taste.

Method

Saute mushrooms in some oil or melted butter. Once cooked, remove the mushrooms and set aside. Melt more butter in the pan. Using the butter and flour, make a roux. Slowly stir milk into the roux to make a thick sauce. Add cream. Add mushrooms and ham. Add seasonings to taste.

Serve over cooked quinoa and green beans sauted in some butter and seasoned lightly with salt.

How to Make a Roux

What is a roux? French in origin, it's traditionally made with equal parts of melted butter thickened with flour and cooked together until a thick golden paste forms. This is then used as a base thickener for many French sauces and soups.

To make a roux, melt butter over low heat. Slowly add flour and mix it into the butter with a fork or whisk over low heat. Gradually incorporate all the flour into the melted butter. A thick paste should form. Cook until a golden yellow color forms.

Add it to soups or sauces to thicken them up.

Plans for 2012

I've never been big on resolutions so I never make any New Year ones. However, now that the two babies are a little older, we have some exciting plans for 2012. We have discussing doing some of these for a couple of years now, however, taking care of two babies took time and energy away from the proposed plans.

But I think we're now ready and I'm very excited to include our progress in this blog!

Plans for 2012 (in no particular order)

• Set up aquaponic system (we plan to start with tilapia and shrimp)

•  Get red wriggler and meal worms populating 

We've already ordered and housed some late 2011. Now we want to populate as many as we can   for livestock feed, compost tea, worm castings and for sale.

• Plan aquaponics and outdoor gardens

• Brew beer

• Try growing mushrooms 

• Purchase Kitchenaid flaker attachment to make corn and other flakes 

• Continue to not eat fast/junk food as well as try to eliminate as much processed food from our diet

• Add more beans into our diet. They're cheap and a great source of fiber and proteins. However, David doesn't like them so I have to find ways to 'hide' them!

• Make ethanol/water/essential oil distillers for personal use and for sale  

Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT illegal to own and operate a still in the US. In fact, you are even allowed to make your own ethanol for fuel. Alcohol for consumption requires additional permits. We have already obtained approval from our local zoning, health and fire department. We just need to get our still plans/size finalized before applying for the final permit from the AFT. If you're interested in applying for an ATF permit, you can get the form here. There are currently no application fees for small scale production

• Organize pantry

• Organize my work space

• Try to get another doe for the freezer before hunting season ends (at least for David to-do)

For the girls

• Enroll Hana in Maya's early child development class

• Make homemade PlayDoh for the girls when they get a little older 

 Poultry Plan

• Order 2-3 Frizzed Cohins to replace our beloved Super Deformed (RIP)
• Order a few Araucanas for more blue/green eggs  
• Learn how to blow and clean goose eggs for sale

 

Free Kindle Books for the New Year

Happy New Year to all! :) Let's start the new year with some free Kindle books from Amazon! Prices fluctuate so download now while it's free!