Blondies (Homemade and Corn-free)

Blondies are our favorite easy dessert that all of us can make from scratch without a recipe. Blondies are just brownies sans chocolate, but they are truly delicious. My daughter can't eat any of the brands of chocolate or cocoa that we have tried so we all eschew chocolate in the name of solidarity. You may even find that you don't miss the cocoa if you give these blondies a chance.

Blondies:

• 3 sticks organic butter (melted)
• 3 cups organic cane sugar
• 3 organic free range eggs
• 3 cups organic all purpose flour
• 3 tsp. homemade baking powder (or 1 TBSP)
• 1 tsp. ground vanilla beans
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Preheat oven to 325°F. Mix melted butter and sugar. Add eggs and stir until mixed well. Add flour, baking powder, ground vanilla beans and salt and mix well. Pour into buttered 9" x 13" dish (I love my glass bakeware) and bake for 42 - 45 minutes. Let cool before cutting (or just be careful not to burn your mouth with the molten lava temperature of the inside of hot blondies).

This recipe is very easy to remember because of all the threes. Both of my teenagers and I can whip up a batch of these so quickly, it hardly takes any effort. This is just a bar cookie and tastes a lot like really thick chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate chips. This dessert has been very popular with everyone that tried it and was even on the menu at our latest birthday party. Brenda requested (three times) that I put this recipe on my blog since tasting them at my house, so I knew I had to get it done.

Corn-free Ketchup Recipe

I've had a request for a corn-free ketchup recipe and I just happen to have one. This recipe is not Nourishing Traditions friendly or GAPS friendly, but just a quick, easy ketchup. The ingredients should be easy to find and you may even  have them in your pantry. This recipe uses canned tomato paste (which I hate to buy), but it is winter so there are no safe corn-free tomatoes for sale

Corn-free Ketchup

Ingredients:
2 small onions (diced)
1 clove elephant garlic or 2 small cloves (diced)
2 TBSP butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large can tomato paste
1 tsp ground cloves (fresh ground is best)
1 1/2 to 2 cans organic sugar (use the tomato paste can for measuring)
2/3 can Bragg's Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (use the tomato paste can for measuring)
1 can water (fill the tomato paste can with water)


Saute the onions and garlic in the butter over low heat until transparent. Add the tomato paste, ACV, water, sugar, cloves and salt. Cook over medium low heat until heated through. Use an immersion blender (stick blender) to puree the onions and garlic. Cook over medium low heat until desired thickness (it will be slightly thicker when cooled) is reached. This makes about 1 1/2 quarts. If this is too much for your family at once, you can scale down the ingredients to fit a small can of tomato paste. Longer cooking times will result in a thicker, richer ketchup.

I used the can for the measurements so it is possible to scale it to any size can of tomato paste you may be able to find. Plus, it means less dirty dishes to wash. My kids love this ketchup and I am betting yours will, too. Once the summer starts, I will make a recipe with fresh tomatoes from my backyard. I can't wait!

Roasted Onion Dip (Homemade and Corn-Free)

I have always loved onion dip. You know, open the french onion soup mix packet and stir it into the sour cream and chill. Now that I know corn is a problem for us, I needed to come up with a new way of making onion dip. This is what I came up with and it is delicious. By the way, I was able to find all the ingredients at Kroger which is quickly becoming my go-to store for corn-free shopping. My local Kroger has more corn-free items than all the other stores in my area combined (including my tiny local food co-op). The store brands Naturally Preferred and Private Selection are proving to be very good brands for corn avoiders like us, too.

Roasted Onion Dip - Homemade and Corn Free

2 medium onions
1Tbsp. Pure Indian Foods ghee or Organic Valley butter
2 cups Daisy full fat sour cream
1 Tbsp. McCormick Organic onion powder

Dice and roast the onions. Coat the onions with the ghee and spread them in a pan. Roast in a 350 degree oven. I roasted them for 20 minutes, then stirred and roasted for 20 minutes. Continue until all are roasted but not burned. Let cool.

Stir roasted onions and onion powder into the sour cream. Chill. Enjoy.

You can serve this dip with Carr's Water Crackers or Kettle brand Lightly Salted Chips. Both are corn-free and available at Kroger. It's also nice with Bunny Luv carrot sticks, red pepper strips, broccoli or cauliflower florets, jicama, or homemade crispy crackers of your choice.

I would love to try this with mushrooms or roasted red peppers (maybe some cayenne pepper added in) or maybe a combination of several roasted vegetables for a brand new Roasted Vegetable Dip.

Take a look at Real Food Wednesdays for more great tips and recipes.

Teach a kid to cook and feed him for a lifetime.

Image by ScrapStampSew via Flickr

I cook with my children every day. There are lots of reasons I think it is important but the main one is: Cook for a kid and feed him for one meal. Teach a kid to cook and feed him for a lifetime. You see what I did there? 8^) Yes, the kids also go to the grocery store with me and help me look up recipes and experiment with new spices. They really enjoy it. Really. You can ask them.

If you've read any of this blog you know that we are not healthy. We have been searching for answers for our health problems for many years with no luck. We recently swore off all packaged foods and starting cooking everything from scratch. You wouldn't think that would be controversial, but it sure was. My family is actually angry at me and currently not speaking to me. You may think my family is a bunch of kooks, but they are just normal people. I'm sure you're thinking that I must have been demanding or condemning or nagging about it. I actually went out of my way to make sure our new way of life would not inconvenience them by preparing our food and bringing it with us. I offered it to any who wanted to try it but didn't force it on anyone. Nothing worked.

Now, something you must realize is that our health has greatly improved since implementing this new way of life. We have lost over 30 pounds each in 6 months and my daughter and I no longer have asthma. It is glaringly obvious to anyone who sees us that our health has improved. So why does it bother my family so much? I don't think they want us to stay unhealthy. I'm pretty sure they love us, so I am stumped.

My family is not alone in thinking this way. Every time the subject comes up people look at us with horror. I have actually had someone say to my kid, "Poor thing, you don't get to eat ice cream?" First of all, what kind of moron thinks no one ever ate ice cream until it showed up in the freezer section of the grocery store?! AND, do people really think propylene glycol is a necessary ingredient in real ice cream, therefore we can't possibly make it? We have ice cream in the freezer all the time. OK, so sometimes we get lazy and go two or three days before making another batch.

For some reason, it is assumed that we don't eat tasty or fun food because we don't buy it already made. Or, they think I don't just deprive my kids but starve them as well. We eat macaroni and cheese (my son makes a killer bechamel sauce) , ice cream, waffles, hamburgers, french fries, burritos and tacos (my daughter is merciless with the chipotle but it is oh-so-good), pizza, pasta, bacon, etc. as much as we want. I don't restrict the amount of food that we eat at all. I guess I do deprive them though because they don't get to eat velveeta, fruit roll-ups, twizzlers, nabs, Cheetos or bubble gum. Of course, those items are marvels of modern science and not actually food so we don't miss them.

All in all, it has helped our health tremendously. We actually enjoy each other's company and learn something new every day. Cooking is so complicated when you think about it since it involves proper food handling and safety, selection of ingredients, differences of cooking methods, proper utensil selection, timing, selecting the right seasonings, and storage options for leftovers. It seems to me that cooking logically requires an apprenticeship rather than simple lessons. I feel like I am giving them the gift of a lifetime by teaching them to feed themselves well. Really, it is just a touch above child abuse to send your kids out their own unarmed with the most basic skills. What skill could be more fundamental than cooking?