Banana Bread and Purple Pancakes

Banana bread is very versatile! It can be used as a breakfast, snack and I even give the children banana bread for lunch with some cheese slices. You can put pecans on top to add protien and beauty :)

My kids love purple pancakes! Just add a bag of thawed frozen mixed fruit to any pancake mix. You may have to add more flour for a good consistency that isn't too runny.

Dinner - Cheesless Beefy Mac and Cheese

What you need:

• 6 cups dry macaroni
• 1 stick butter
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 5-6 cups rice milk
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 onion
• 1 large can beef
• salt
• pepper

What to do:

1. Boil 6 cups dry macaroni noodles in large pot
2. In a medium sized pan melt 1 stick butter
3. Add 6 tablespoons flour
4. Wisk until smooth then add about 5-6 cups of milk (use rice milk if you are sensitive to cooked milk). Cook on medium heat until thickened
5. Add 2 cloves chopped garlic and one onion-sliced, to the milk mixture
6. Add one large can of all natural beef
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper
8. Drain noodles
9. Put milk mixture in the large pot. Use a potato masher to break up the meat. Then add the noodles
   
   
   

Snack - Energy Bars

I found this wonderful recipe called Bird Seed Energy Bars

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=156785&servings=24

I made two batches this evening, one with the chocolate chips and one without.
I cut them and put them in sandwich baggies. I put all the little baggies of bars in a freezer Ziploc bag, then put them in the freezer. These bars are delicious and will be great to have on hand when I need a special treat for the kids.

The only modification I made was using Safflower oil instead of Canola oil. To save on dishes, I also wisked the liquids first then added the rest of the ingredients one at a time. Save the flour and oats for last. If you're using the chocolate chips put them in very last. You can also make these bars thinner by using two pans.

CooL Tip: Measure out your oil first, then use the same measuring cup for your honey. The honey will slide right out!

Dinner - Lentil Bean Soup

One of my children's favorite meals is lentil bean soup!

What you need:

• Chicken broth-use leftover from boiling chicken
• 1 pound bag lentil beans

Optional items:

• Box frozen spinach
• Carrots
• Onion
• Tomato
• Salsa
• Garlic cloves or Garlic powder
• Salt
• Pepper

What to do:

1. Take leftover chicken broth and put it in the crockpot first then add a bag lentil beans(rinse the beans first).
2. Add any of the following items to your soup:

• I always add a box of frozen spinach (thaw in microwave)
• Raw carrots - I peel them and then cut them into pieces. The kids thought it was fun when I left them large. I cut one large carrot into thirds.
• Onion - frozen already chopped is easy(GFS sells a big bag of frozen onions). I also have sliced a onion into the soup, which made for lots of flavor when you got a whole slice
• Tomato - home canned are the best!
• Jar of salsa - we prefer mild salsa
• Garlic - garlic cloves or garlic powder

3. After you've added everything fill the rest of the crock pot with water. I cook the soup all day in the crock pot. I keep it on high until it has been simmering for awhile, then turn it down to low. Season with a generous amount of salt before serving.

Dinner- Taco Salad

One of our favorite dinners is Taco Salad!

What you need:

• Homemade taco seasoning
• Ground beef
• Organic refried beans
• Mozarella cheese
• Crackers
• Salsa
• Daisy Sour Cream
• Black olives

What to do:

1. Add homemade taco seasoning to ground beef for the meat. Add about 1/4 cup of water to keep your meat from drying out
2. Heat organic refried beans
3. Shred Mozarella cheese at home with a cuisnart shredder/slicer
   hint: pre-shredded cheese has an anti-caking agent
4. Crunch crackers on your salad instead of chips (the corn in the chips has free glutamates)
   My favorite crackers to use are Carr's Water Crackers; the garlic flavored ones are the best!
5. Meijer mild organic salsa and Daisy Sour Cream top it off!
   hint: Daisy sour cream doesn't have carageenan. Don't get the light it does!
6. Enjoy :)

Birthday Dinner

Tonight I cooked a leg of lamb with rosemary, salt and pepper rubbed on it and garlic cloves stuffed into slits.
I made scalloped potatoes using rice milk and herb bread and had a side of cooked veggies.
For the cake I made Old Fashioned White Cake. I didn't frost the cake, but put predone sugar roses and lettering on top. The sugars could be taken off by anyone who couldn't eat them, but made the cake look festive. I served Turkey Hill vanilla ice cream and fresh berries on top! Yummmy!

DInner - Leftove Pizza toppings in Scrambled Eggs

In a large frying pan I beat one dozen eggs in some milk
then I added my leftover pizza ingredients which were:
pizza tomato sauce, shredded cheese, sausage flavored ground beef
and I threw in the rest of my Michigan cottage cheese
then I decided to add the crust from the leftover whole wheat bread
and some chopped onion.
I put the lid on and let it cook on medium until the eggs were cooked.
The kids loved it!