8 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats, approximately 2 cups
1 1/2 ounces raw sunflower seeds, approximately 1/2 cup
3 ounces sliced almonds, approximately 1 cup
1 1/2 ounces wheat germ, approximately 1/2 cup
6 ounces honey, approximately 1/2 cup
1 3/4 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup packed
1-ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 1/2 ounces chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries, blueberries, raisins, cranberries or coconut flakes

Directions

1. Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.
4. Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. 5. 5. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

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Adapted from theKitchn.com’s Creamy No-Roux Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese

1/2 pound pasta, any shape (I wouldn’t suggest whole wheat penne)
3/4 cups whole or 2% milk (I used whole, non-homogenized milk)
1 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups shredded cheese, like cheddar, monterey jack, or colby (I used mozzarella since that’s all we had)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon powdered mustard (I substituted 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard)
Optional extras (cook before adding): Ham, bacon, onions, peas, mushrooms, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower

1. Boil the Pasta: Bring about 2-3 quarts of water to a boil over high heat in the pasta pot. Add the pasta and a tablespoon of salt. Cook until the pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Warm the Milk: When the pasta has finished cooking, prepare the cheese sauce. Begin warming half of the milk in the saucepan over medium heat. Whisk together the remaining milk and the flour until there are no lumps. When you just start to see tendrils of steam rising from the warming milk, whisk in the milk-and-flour mixture. Continue whisking gently until the milk thickens slightly to the consistency of heavy cream, 3-4 minutes.

3. Make the Cheese Sauce: Turn the heat to low and begin mixing handfuls of cheese into the milk. Stir in the salt and mustard. Stir until all the cheese has melted and the sauce is creamy. Taste and adjust the seasonings as desired. Remove the sauce from heat.

4. Combine the Pasta and Cheese Sauce: In a large serving bowl, combine the pasta and 1/2 of the cheese sauce. Stir to coat the pasta evenly. Add the second half of the sauce and any extra add-ins.

5. Serving and Storing Leftovers: Serve the mac and cheese immediately while still warm. Leftovers will keep for up to a week and can be reheated in the microwave. If the sauce is a little dry after re-heating, mix in a splash of milk to make it creamy again.

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Image courtesy of Flickr user stormgrass.

Free yourself from the tyranny of the pancake mix box! You probably have most of this stuff at home already.

1 1/4 cups (7 oz by weight) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (0.5 oz weight) corn meal
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 TBSP sugar
1 1/2 cups whole or 2% milk
1 egg
1/3 cup canola oil

Makes about 8-10 pancakes depending on their size. Use organic ingredients wherever possible.

If using an electric griddle/skillet, turn on to 250F. Measure all dry ingredients (flour, corn meal, baking powder, salt, sugar) in mixing bowl. In another bowl (preferably with a spout or lip), whisk together the oil, egg, and milk until very well mixed.

Quickly add the oil/milk/egg mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix with whisk. Be sure you don’t over-mix – literally about 10-12 “strokes” should do it. Lumpy is OK as long as you don’t see any dry powder. This ensures a fluffy pancake. Let the batter sit for 3-5 mins and you’ll start seeing bubbles coming from the baking powder.

Spoon batter onto griddle or non-stick pan using ice cream scoop. Let the pancake cook on one side until you start seeing bubbles. At this point, you can add blueberries, chocolate chips, or nuts. Flip and wait until golden brown on both sides.

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Though Kim and I are crazy about cooking at home, we’re equally crazy about eating at great restaurants. The focus now, of course, is finding places that are just as passionate about getting the best organic, local, or sustainably harvested ingredients. This can be tricky because while there are limited rules on labeling food we buy at the supermarket, there are NO labeling rules/guidelines regarding what happens in restaurants. You have to ask around, see where they get their food, and talk to the chefs. You can quickly see their passion to deliver delicious and healthy food.

Recently, we went to Latitude 41, downtown Columbus, Ohio. They have a tasting menu which we found was wonderful. It wasn’t so busy, so Chef Andrew (Chef de Cuisine) was able to talk about his preparations and where he gets his ingredients.

The post Eating Out: Latitude 41′s Tasting Menu appeared first on Healthy Home Restaurant.

Something parents everywhere should start becoming more aware of. I’m just as guilty…I have convinced myself that because all of our snacks are organic that it must be healthy.

Truth is…after reading this article, I need to plan better and pack real food snacks.

The post Organic snacks vs real-food snacks. appeared first on Healthy Home Restaurant.

1 package buckwheat soba noodles
8-10 shitake mushrooms
10-12 shrimp (we prefer “31/40″ sized raw, tail-on for best flavor, but cooked shrimp can also work)
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup thinly sliced red cabbage
3 green onions, sliced into thin rounds
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/8 cup sesame seeds, toasted
garlic powder
red pepper flakes
canola oil

Dressing:
3 TBSP sesame oil
2 TBSP wheat-free tamari
2 TBSP rice wine vinegar
1 TBSP maple syrup
1-2 tsp hot pepper sesame oil
1-2 tsp fresh grated ginger
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

Use all organic ingredients when possible

1. Cook the noodles according to the package. Drain and rinse with cool water, set aside.
2. In a saute pan, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  If using raw shrimp saute the shrimp until done (they’ll take on a firm texture and white color). Remove from pan (keeping oil in pan) and saute the green onions, mushrooms and cabbage for 5 mins. 
3. In a small bowl, whisk together ingredients for the dressing.
4. In a large mixing bowl, stir in the cooked noodles, carrots, cabbage, green onions, cilantro and sesame seeds and toss. Pour prepared dressing over noodle mixture. Toss/stir well and serve with sriracha sauce and garnish with cilantro or more green onion.

This can be made gluten-free (using 100% buckwheat soba noodles), vegetarian/vegan (by omitting the shrimp or replacing it with organic tofu).

The post Buckwheat Soba Noodle Salad appeared first on Healthy Home Restaurant.

Serves 4-6

2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
3 1/2 cups water
pinch of sea salt

1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely diced
2 tsp dried thyme (I omitted this)
1/4 tsp Herbamare or sea salt
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped parsley
freshly ground black pepper and sea salt

Dressing:
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 TBSP white wine vinegar
1 tsp orange zest

1. Preheat oven to 300° F. Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer under running water for a few minutes. Place into a medium pot with the water and a pinch of sea salt. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer; cook for about 20-25 minutes or until done. Remove from heat and let pot stand for about 20 minutes.
2. Heat the TBSP of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add red onions, thyme, and Herbamare. Saute for 5-6 minutes or until onions are soft and are beginning to turn color but not browning.
3. Place pecans in a small pie plate or cookie sheet and lightly roast for about 10 minutes. Watch carefully as they can burn easily. Remove from oven and let cool.
4. Place cooked quinoa into a large bowl. Add cooked red onions, toasted pecans, dried cranberries and chopped parsley to bowl. Mix together. Pour the orange juice mixture over the quinoa and gently mix. Add sea salt or Herbamare and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
5. Add pecans (we like to roughly crush/shop them to release more flavor) when ready to serve.

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8 1/2 oz (1 3/4 cups) whole wheat flour
10 oz (2 cups) bread flour
2 TBSP coconut flour
1 TBSP cornmeal
1 TBSP wheat germ
1 TBSP rolled oats
1 TBSP flaxseed
1 TBSP quinoa
2 TBSP raw sunflower seeds
2 tsp salt
2 TBSP brown sugar
13 1/2 fl oz (1 11/16 cup) water
2 1/2 TBSP olive oil
2 tsp active yeast
*Use all organic ingredients when possible

Combine all dry ingredients in bread machine. Mix wet ingredients together. Pour over dry mixture. In our machine you add the yeast to a slot in the top. Set bread machine for multigrain. Ours takes about 5 hours. This recipe has been adapted from the Panasonic SD-YD250 Bread Maker recipe booklet. All bread machines are different so amounts/times could vary.

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10 1/4 oz (2 cups) unbleached all purpose flour
10 1/4 oz (2 cups) bread flour
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 TBSP cane sugar
14 oz (1 3/4 cups) water
1 1/2 tsp molasses
2 1/2 TBSP olive oil
1 1/2 tsp active yeast
*use organic ingredients whenever possible

Combine all dry ingredients in bread maker. Mix wet ingredients together well. Pour over dry mixture. This will make an XL (about 2.5 lbs) loaf. Set the bread maker to XL basic and select preferred darkness. I usually just keep it on medium. This recipe has been adapted from the Panasonic SD-YD250 Bread Maker recipe booklet. Amounts/times may vary between bread makers.

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Image Courtesy of Flickr user Tassike.ee – Marju Randmer.

Taken from The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, MS, CN

3 cups cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas) or 2 cans
1/2 cup sesame tahini
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 extra virgin olive oil
2-3 cloves of crushed garlic or 2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1-2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup bean liquid or water to desired consistency

1. Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Your blender may get “stuck” with the thickness of the ingredients. Simply turn OFF the blender and scrape the sides down to the blades with a wooden spoon. Adding more olive oil or bean liquid can help.
2. You will want to taste the hummus to see if it needs more lemon, tahini, garlic or salt.
3. In a pinch I have substituted 1/4 cup natural peanut butter for 1/4 cup tahini.
4. You can also add basil or other ingredients (such as red chili flake or roasted red pepper) to vary the flavor.

Hummus makes a great, healthy snack and freezes well!

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