If you love an occasional sweet and gooey treat, then I’ve got just the thing for you! Check this out…Yum!! CHECK OUT OUR RECIPES PAGE FOR MORE GREAT RECIPES!!!
Want more great natural recipes??? Our “Eating Additive-Free” Natural Cookbook & Grocery Shopping Guide is available here in e-book format.
Below is an overview of a few things we’d prefer not to live without in our REAL FOODIE kitchen. What would you add to this list?? We’d love to hear your suggestions in the comment section below!!
Crock Pot/Slow Cooker – We don’t have a particular brand preference, but a slow cooker is a MUST for occasional “low maintenance” dinner preparation like our favorite Crock Pot Roasted Chicken recipe! Also…the bigger the crock pot, the better – in our opinion!
Cutco Knives – We’ve owned this set for many years, and they’ve never failed us.
Fruit & Vegetable Chopper – This link is the brand we own. It’s also the only one we’ve ever tried, but it works great! And we found it at Costco for $20 or $25! It’s also available on Amazon!
Garlic Press – We LOVE this one from Pampered Chef! There is actually a big difference in how well garlic presses work, and we’ve been disappointed with many other (expensive) name brand presses.
No-slip cutting boards/mats. These are from Sur la table, but ANY type of cutting board that is “grippy” will suffice. After all, it’s no fun (and just plain dangerous, actually) to be chasing your cutting board around as you slice and chop!
Good Cook “Safe” Can Opener – We don’t eat many canned foods…but when we do open an occasional can of tomato paste or beans, there’s NO chance we’ll injure ourselves because we threw out our regular can opener after slicing open a finger on the sharp edge of a can lid. Yikes! I’ve seen these priced as high as $20 at some stores, but if you’ve ever cut yourself in this fashion, I’m sure you can appreciate the value!
Hand Blender & Mini Processor – This is the brand we own/use (because we found it at Costco for more than $10 cheaper than other stores)! It’s the only brand we’ve ever owned, but it works GREAT! We use it to chop nuts, puree soups, and to make our favorite homemade mayo recipe!
Hand Chopper – This gadget is great for dicing veggies or nuts. We also LOVE our mini version that we use for mincing garlic!
Popcorn Popper – We love making air-popped popcorn because there’s no greasy pan to clean up! Click here for our favorite Sweet ‘n’ Salty Popcorn recipe!
Salad Spinner – This is one kitchen tool we absolutely cannot imagine living without! No more soggy salads or waiting around for lettuce leaves to dry in our house!
Vita Mix – This is an expensive machine (about $400!!), but we use it a TON! It can turn even the most stringy veggies into smooth and delicious healthful drinks with a juice-like consistency! We also LOVE making health-ier desserts (like our favorite Candy Apple Dip) with our Vita Mix, and a regular blender just doesn’t do the job! We happen to own the Vita Mix, but Blendtec is another comparable high-powered blending machine that can do all of the same things! The best prices I’ve seen (for new machines) are at Costco – they have them on demo a few times per year at our local store!
Food processors are awesome! And the bigger, the better!! 🙂 We don’t have a particular brand to recommend; but this tool comes in REALLY handy for making some of our favorite recipes, like Dairy-Free “Ice Cream”.
Tovolo Groovy Ice Pop Molds – We love that these molds can be taken individually from the mold stand with their individual covers! We use these to make (dairy-free) Homemade Chocolate Pudding Pops and other tasty treats!
The Eating Additive-Free e-book includes a 160-recipe natural cookbook and a 40-page grocery shopping guide to provide REAL FOODIES (and aspiring REAL FOODIES) with all of the recipes and information Chad and Christy Pooschke (founders of CompletelyNourished.com) discovered when they started converting to a more natural lifestyle. Click here for pricing and more details!
What would you add to this list of “must haves”?? We’d love to hear your suggestions in the comment section below!!
Herb Roasted Chicken Thighs & Oven Roasted Potatoes
Holidays and other social events can be a tricky part of life when you battle a bazillion food intolerances! I’m sure many of you can relate, and I’d LOVE to hear how you enjoyed this Thanksgiving – just leave a comment below. :)Typically, Chad and I go to my Mom’s house for Thanksgiving. It’s a wonderful event filled with family and friends, fellowship…and never-ending food (none of which I can eat, unfortunately). So how do we handle this holiday? I know everyone has a different solution for this apparent dilemma – and surely many of you just eat what is offered and suffer silently for it. Perhaps others of you attend the function and just skip the food? That’s what we usually do at most events and social functions…but Thanksgiving is a little more food-focused than your average function (LOL!), and we certainly don’t want to cause any awkwardness for anyone.
Apple crisp for dessert!
So, over the years, what we’ve determined works best for us is to bring our own food. This way, no one struggles to accommodate my very specific and complicated dietary needs; there’s no risk of anyone accidentally “poisoning” me (which makes them and me a bit more relaxed); and I’m not just sitting there eating the carrot sticks or a few other items that happen to be okay for me while everyone else enjoys the full courses and feels bad that I’m sitting there with nothing on my plate. I’ve included some pictures here of what Chad and I prepared and packed for our “to go” meal this Thanksgiving (click any pics to enlarge). Okay…Chad actually prepared all of it…and I packed it! LOL! Yes, you read that correctly….I didn’t cook a thing on Thanksgiving! Score!
Entrees and desserts all packed and ready to go!
Alright, so we kept things pretty “low maintenance,” and we both prefer chicken over turkey, anyway; so we feasted on Roasted Chicken Thighs and Oven Roasted Taters….umm, and those might be plain canned green beans. (Shoot us…we like them! LOL!) Oh, and some yummy gluten-free/dairy-free apple crisp for dessert! When dinner was ready to be served, we popped our grub in the microwave (which we normally don’t use…but we decided to “live on the edge” for the day. Hee, hee!) Admittedly, it wasn’t the typical Thanksgiving feast; but there’s no rule that you have to eat the same food as everyone else at the table in order to have fellowship, right? And at a glance it seemed we were partaking in the meal – it’s not like we had a bowl of spaghetti or a piece of pizza or something! 😉
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday; and if you deal with “food issues” at holidays and social functions, we’d love for you to share in the comments section below!
When you’re shopping at the grocery store, do you ever notice the employees working diligently in the produce department to ensure that the bins are stocked with fresh, blemish-free fruits and veggies? Ever wonder what happens to all of that “less-than-desirable” produce after they rotate it out of those bins?
I recently learned that if arrangements are not made by not-for-profit groups in the community to “rescue” this produce, much or all of it may end up in the landfill.
Luckily, here in Omaha, Nebraska, we are home to produce rescuers like David Hibler (a.k.a., “Dr. D”). Dr. D. began rescuing produce 30 years ago – first in Lincoln, and now here in Omaha – when he discovered that produce was being thrown away while many in need went without. Chad and I were privileged earlier this month to meet Dr. D. and to assist with his mission one brisk fall afternoon. It was an inspiring time – – to say the least.
Pictured to the left is an example of the amount of produce that’s available to be rescued daily at Whole Foods Market Omaha (click photo to enlarge). Upon closer inspection, I discovered that some of it was smashed or molded beyond the point of being suitable for human consumption…but the vast majority of it is entirely usable – as long as it will used right away! As part of his “Community Produce Rescue,” Dr. D. drives to Whole Foods Market in Omaha every Wednesday and Sunday to pick up a truckload of discarded fruits and veggies. Store employees save the produce for Dr. D. in the back room – so, no worries if you thought he was dumpster diving! 😉
From there, Dr. D. hauls the loot to the Benson Plant Rescue (another non-profit started by Dr. D. and his wife Judith) at 7230 Maple Street. Along with any volunteers that may be on hand, he sorts out the rotten items from the good. (Even the rotten items are put to good use through the Benson Plant Rescue’s worm composting program!)
Dr. D. then delivers the freshly sorted produce free of charge to various low-income groups, homeless shelters, food pantries, and non-profit group homes in the Omaha area. Often it’s a full day’s work, but Dr. D. is a man on a mission!Now, what started out as one man’s project 30 years ago is becoming a partnership between Benson Plant Rescue, Centering Corporation and No More Empty Pots. And, as I’ve been learning, they have exciting plans for this Community Produce Rescue in the future!
If you would like to be involved in this growing mission of food reclamation, please send an email to CommunityProduceRescue@cox.net and join this group’s newsletter list to learn how you can participate!
Pictured here to the right is the kind and generous “Dr. D.” enjoying some fishing in Canada! (Click photo to enlarge.)
Completely Nourished 