Sesame Honey Candies

As I sit here typing, I'm having to lick the yummy sweetness from the Sesame Honey Candies I just made, off my fingers!

OK, if you want a health, nutritious and WAY YUMMY snack, this is about as easy as it gets.

Originally from Greece, these tasty little pieces of heaven have always been a favorite of my kids. Now we are going to be making them regularly. In addition to the yum factor, these guys really are healthy. If you can limit yourself.

Sesame Honey Candies

1 cup sesame seeds
1/3 cup honey
small pinch of salt
Olive oil

Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper. I also oiled my foil for easier removal.

Toast the sesame seeds in a large pan until they are nicely browned. They will dance around in the pan a little, so higher sides are better! Sprinkle your pinch of salt over the sesame seeds and then pour your honey in. It will do it's own dance because the seeds and pan are hot. Stir consistently for 1 minute. Removed from heat and pour onto your oiled foil.

Remember - this is like working with sugar and it gets EXTREMELY hot. Let it cool a bit and then score with an oiled knife into what ever shape you like. I did mine in small rectangles. Let cool completely before you eat. You can store these in an airtight container. Yeah, right. Like there will be any left to store.

Now on to make some to send off to my oldest! Enjoy!!

Starting the New Year with Better Health

Yes, it's that time of year again for many and I have to say that this year I got this FABULOUS book on health and nutrition.
It's full of wisdom that bucks what the "popular" trend may be. It goes to real facts about our food and looks at people from around the world.
It is Nourishing Traditions and you can check it out here:

Money VERY well spent and you will be so excited to try some new things!

Leftover Turkey Stuffing Cups

Leftovers. I always try to do something a little different with leftovers but nothing I can think of is quite so simple as well as so much fun as turkey stuffing cups. 

I wish I had a photo of them, but being on the road, not only do we not have leftovers, I don't have any photos of last years dinner!

Hopefully, you can imagine what these look like as I give you some directions. 

These measurements are approximate. Use what you have.
Mix 3-4 c. mashed potatoes with 2 beaten eggs
Add 4-5 c. stuffing/dressing,
1-2 c. small diced or shredded turkey
1-2 c. gravy, start with less and add more as needed
1/2 c. craisins, optional
Mix all this together with a large spoon until all ingredients are well incorporated. It should be pretty moist.
Here's the fun part: you're going to take your muffin pans out and spray each cup well with non-stick spray. grab a handful of the mix, shape it into a ball and gently place it in the cup. Do so with all the leftover mix. 

Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, until a thermometer inserted in the center reaches 170 degrees.

Serve hot with a side of cranberry sauce and extra gravy if you have some. This is such a huge hit in our home that we plan for extras! I make enough to freeze some to enjoy through the Christmas season as an easy dinner.

Give them a try and let me know what you think. Any other leftover suggestions?

Finances on the Road

The number one question we are asked is, "How do you make it financially?" So, I thought I would share a little bit about The Numbers.
We've always been pretty frugal folks. We have saved a lot so that certainly has helped in this adventure keep rolling down the road - literally. We have a buffer so when little things happen - such as putting gas in the diesel engine and giving us a $1200 repair bill, we aren't stuck for a month eating rice and beans. In all reality, our costs now are actually less than when we were living in the house.
First things first - we had to start with a budget. Planning out all our details including those fixed costs of our insurance and medical bills from home as well as the more variable costs such as gas and campground fees. Great budgeting tools can be found at Dave Ramsey.com He has revolutionized many lives - ours included, and is one reason we are where we are today.

We started with a budget of a little under a $100 a day. We later took out our house and car insurance and prepaid them separately. So, you're thinking, "Oh my gosh, what in the world can you do on $100 a day?" You'd be surprised really. Personal preference really comes in here though.

 I started out by saying we're pretty frugal. Well, no matter how hard we'd love to get amazing gas mileage, there is a limit to how much we can get when pulling the trailer. 12 mpg is fabulous. There are, however, many variables to the cost of the fuel that we put in the tank. We downloaded Gas Buddy to the cell phone and you'd be surprised at the difference in costs in one town (we start looking when we know we're going to want to fill up within the next hour). Now if your tank only holds 10 gallons of fuel, it might not be worth it to chase down a 5 cents savings. Our tank holds 30 gallons and if we can find a savings of 5 or 10 cents (or yesterdays whopper of TWENTY cents), we'll drive a little ways to get the savings. At $3.80 a gallon, that can be over $20. savings.

And speaking of the cost per gallon, the costs have varied greatly by region. The west coast being the most expensive and California topping there. When we started our trip we were paying $4.40 a gallon! We had budgeted only $4. We knew we couldn't stay there for long with the costs of one of our major expenses being 10% higher than what we were expecting. That said, much of the midwest even that out quickly with desiel costs around $3.50 a gallon. More recently, in the south and south-east, it's been around $3.65 - 3.85. We call the "leftovers" play money!

Food. We have to have it. It's a staple of life and at the same time, we're concerned with what we are eating as much as it's costs. There have been days where we've spent our entire daily budget on meat at the farmer's market, but we know that with the higher quality, we'll use a lot less. I'm still using coupons but with a tiny "pantry", there isn't room to get a lot when things go on sale. I have done some things though that have saved...things like baking our own bread. Healthy, no chemical preservatives and about half the cost of a "good" loaf of bread. Making our own shampoo and conditioner. While not food, those things can really add up and making our own costs literally cents and is healthier for us and the environment! See my article on Make your own shampoo. As for the meals, we try not to eat out much, but when we do, we're trying to choose a little higher quality. Homemade meals are simple and affordable. I'm working on keeping our food costs under $15 a day (this includes personal care and paper items too).

Housing. Well, we've got the camper and while not fancy, it's paid for. I have to check my attitude sometimes when we pull into campgrounds with big, fancy fivers (the nickname for 5th wheel trailers) with three and four slide outs and gorgeous ammenities and remind myself that ours keeps us just as warm and dry as the fancy ones. And we aren't spending the big bucks every month on a payment. So our costs here are completely related to campground fees.  We've paid nothing and spent the night in a Walmart parking lot. Actually a lot of those up north when we started and gas prices were so high and the night time temps were OK. We've spend close to $50 a night just outside of Gettysburg (that was a VERY rare treat at a great campground). Here's the thing though: campground fees include utilities 90% of the time. Water, sewer and even electric. Sometimes they'll include cable TV and internet as well! Typically though, we were saving money by using our Passport America campground membership, where we pay half price and are looking at campgrounds to be in the $20 range average.
We just recently though found out about Thousand Trails. They were having a sale on their memberships and the campground that we were staying at was not only one of their properties, they offered us to apply what we paid in our "rent". How could we pass that deal up? Nope, couldn't. We paid $449 for the southeast membership and they refunded the entire amount as we had paid that (and a little more) for the space rental! For that annual fee you get 30 days of free camping. After that, within the one year's time, you can camp in any of their campgrounds for $3 a night. Yes, you read that right: THREE dollars per night. Here's the catch: if you stay at any one property for more than 4 days, you have to wait a week before you can come back or use another property. Not a big deal - we've still got our PA membership as well as Good Sam if we can't find anything else. And really, it's already paid for itself at the first campground. Anything extra is just more savings for more fun things. Like Disneyworld.

And that brings us to entertainment. We have budgeted about $20 a day for entertainment. There are many free things to do as well. We bought a family membership to the Pacific Science Center just before we left. We now use it all across the country through their reciprocating program and see all sorts of amazing (and some pricey) science centers and museums where ever we go.  We also bought an annual pass for the National Parks. While some are free, others have entrance passes for adults and others for kids too. The great thing about the parks too, is that they offer these amazing Junior Rangers programs. It gets the kids (and parents) involved in exploring and finding out more information about the park. All for free. Not sure that's a good use of tax dollars, but that's for another day. We do love the program and use it with the boys.  The budgeted money is accumulated for things Disneyworld (ouch!), NASCAR tickets, movies and other special events. We're still close to many towns so we'll also try to find Blockbuster or Redbox for some quiet family time. We'll also browse through the movie selection when we stop at Walmarts and see if there is anything family friendly out there. We've got quite a selection going from their $5 box!

As you can see, when I said we live frugally, we really do mean it. Sure there are days we'd love to have more gadgets and fancier housing, but in the end, we have to be content with where we are and what we have. And keep saving for the next farm...

Homemade Almond Milk - Easy

We are pretty much a family with food allergies. Dairy is one of them. I found out when I was pregnant with our youngest when I had allergy testing done. I knew something wasn't right but had been blaming it on bread. Turns out dairy is in lots of stuff. Bread included. I do love my cheeses though, so on occasion, I'll use some of the good stuff in my food. Butter doesn't seem to affect us as much, so that is our cheat.

Anyway ... milk is off the table. Even goat milk. So, I turned to the first alternative that is readily available: soy. I knew there had to be something better out there and so started trying other milks. Tried rice milk - too watery. Coconut milk was yummy good, until I realized it upset my stomach as well. Oh the pain! Weird too, because I can use coconut milk for cooking, so my guess is that the daily milk was too much. And then I found almond milk. Yummy, satisfying and no issues with my tummy as well. So, now the boys and I are drinking almond milk, but it can get pricey. I've decided to give it a try on my own - it's almonds for goodness sake, how hard can it really be?

Turns out, it's not. It's actually really easy in fact. Here's the process:

Soak 1-2 cups RAW almonds in 4 cups water and 1 tablespoon salt for 4-8 hours. This will remove any bitterness from the skins. The more almonds, the richer and creamier the milk will be.

I have no idea why Blogger wont adjust the orientation of this picture...

Strain and rinse the almonds.

Place the nuts in your blender (mine is big and strong so I do them all at once. You may need to do batches) along with 4 cups of water, 1 Tablespoon vanilla and 2 Tablespoons sugar/sucanut (both are optional). BLEND on high for 1-2 minutes. Really, the time depends on the blender. Taste and add more vanilla or sugar if needed.

Let sit for 5 minutes. Give a quick blend for 20 seconds.
Strain through a strainer lined with cheesecloth. When it is done dripping, I gather the corners and then give it a good squeeze to get the liquids out - I do this into a 4 cup measuring cup and then pour into my container for the fridge.

Ended up with almost 4 cups after straining and squeezing

That's it. Easy! Now don't go and throw those grounds away. I'll be posting a recipe and photos soon, but I've made almond cookies with the pulp as well as added it to bread dough too. I've tried to make crackers but can't get them to stay together ... still tastes amazing but not a cracker.

Enjoy your new found hobby that is healthy and nutritious.

Calzone Time and Kale

Having a minuscule kitchen means things have to be easy. That is why I've been sharing recipes with you every week or so on easy AND healthy recipes.We've been hearing and reading more about Kale lately with all of it's health properties including being a big anti-inflammatory, that we've had to find a way to add more of it into our diet.

Dr. Oz calls it King Kale for all it's anti cancer properties. 

So we tried some of the Kale chips we've been reading about. Warning: this is so easy, your kids can do it and will eat it without much of a fuss.

Take 1 bunch of Kale, preferably organic. Wash and dry it. Cut or tear it into small pieces off of the hard stem.

Place the kale in a bowl or bag and drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil over it and spread it on a baking sheet.

Take a pinch of fine sea salt and sprinkle it over the top.
Put it in the oven at 200-250 for approx 20 minutes. It should be crisp and crunchy.OK, maybe it doesn't look so pretty, but it tastes good and given it's health benefits, you'll want to eat a plateful.

Today's recipe is for Italian Calzones.

Kind of like a wrapped up pizza, I haven't made these in years and wanted to try something else to put some kale in that would be simple, simple, simple.

Dough
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. water, warm
1 tsp. yeast
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine above ingredients, let sit in a warm location for 30 minutes (I have put my bread bowl above the coffee maker in the am). Once it has risen, you will take it out and divide in half and press /squeeze out all the air bubbles out.
Now let it rest for 5 minutes. Go and do the rest - we'll come back, I promise!

Filling
OK, this can really be ANYTHING you want, but here's what I used:
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 - 1 1/2 c. spaghetti sauce
1 tsp. chopped garlic
2-3 Tbls. dried, ground kale
1 Tbls. parsley
1 tsp. celery salt

Shredded Cheese - I used Edam, because that is what I had on hand, but my first choice would have been mozzarella.
Cook sausage completely. Add in next 5 ingredients and as soon as it comes to a low simmer, remove it from the heat. OK was that easy, or what?

Now, back to the dough. Take one of the two halves and flatten it out onto a flat surface. I used a couple tablespoons of flour on my board as I started out. Once it was coming into shape, I tossed a little cornmeal on my base so it would have an additional texture.

Almost ready!

From here you will make sure the dough is as flat as you can make it. Use your finger tips to dimple it continue to stretch the dough. If it tears, don't worry, just pull it back together and press.

When you have it to your desired thinness, take half the filling mixture and place it on one half of the dough. Add as much cheese as desired.

Now is actually the hardest part: folding and crimping. Even this though is fun which in turn makes it easier.  Grab the back half of the dough that doesn't have any filling on it and pull it over the top. All you are going to do is "roll" a little bit of the dough over itself and push it down onto itself. Gives a little crimped edge look.

When you're done it should look something like this:

Place it on your baking sheet. Next, repeat with the 2nd dough. Now, it is really, really, really important to take your fork and poke the top so the steam has somewhere to go. Otherwise you'll ended up with an extra airspace like this:

Not a huge deal - it is what it is and it still tasted great. The boys ate theirs not knowing how easy or just how good it was for them.

I hope you enjoy this one. Working on a couple more ideas for Kale. Have you tried it before and if so, how did you make it appealing?

Super Easy Chocolate Mocha Mousse

This is one you will want to make tonight for dessert - and it's easy enough that you'll wonder where this recipe has been.

Literally, I scrounged around the camper looking for chocolate this time. I've made this with Hershey's bars, bulk milk chocolate from the health food store and this time, with Dove dark chocolates that I found at  the back of the cabinet (don't worry, they were still good).

Ingredients
1 pkg chocolates or 2-3 full size chocolate bars
1 - 2 tsp instant coffee OR 2 Tbl strong coffee, optional
2 Tbl water
2 egg yolks
1 c. half and half
8 oz. Cool Whip or whipping cream
1 graham cracker pie shell

Directions
Unwrap 1 package of Dove chocolates and put them in a bowl over a pot with about 1 cup water on a simmer (this is my homemade double boiler system).

Stir the chocolates consistently.

While the chocolates are melting, mix 1 teaspoon instant coffee with 2 tablespoons water OR 2 tablespoons strong coffee. If you don't want the mocha flavor, skip this all together.

I had some leftover Taster's Choice samples, so this worked well for me

Separate 2 eggs yolks, discard whites or use for another purpose (like yummy meringues). Once all the chocolates are melted and smooth, now is the time to add the egg yolks. Stir immediately and constantly for 1 minute and don't forget to scrape the sides of the bowl. The eggs will cook into the chocolate if you keep your arm moving swiftly. Don't do this step and you'll end up with scrambled eggs in your chocolate.

Next, pour in the coffee. It will start to thicken pretty quickly. Remove from heat.

Add your 1 cup of half and half, stir until color is smooth.

Lastly, add in 1 - 8 oz. tub of Cool Whip. OK, this is one option - you can also grab some whipping cream and make up 8 ounces of the fresh stuff. No judgment here - I wanted easy this time. Stir until color is smooth again.

From here you have a couple choices. You can simply pour it all into a pre-made graham cracker pie crust, pour it into individual serving bowls or, as my guys are always wanting to do, eat it all directly from the bowl.

From start to finish this recipe will take you about 15-20 minutes - the first time. It gets easier the more you make it.

OK, I'm finally going to do it

The boys have been on me for too long about a tablet and now with the introduction of the totally cool new Kindle Fire with it's full color  7" screen and Wi-Fi, I've put my name on the waiting list for this gadget.


Yes, we do have a laptop and I'd said I would be content with that for our trip. But if you have tried holding a full size laptop while your driving down the road (in the passenger seat that is), getting out maps, passing out school work and having a little coffee all without harming the laptop, you totally understand where this desire is coming from.

Why not the iPad? Really, it's all about the money. An iPad would be nice, but really, with all the features of the new Kindle Fire I don't see enough of a difference to warrant the extra money.

I've been using the Kindle app on my iPhone for quite some time. It has been so fun to read some of the old books while we are traveling down the road. Really, I think Scott and I are the only one's really interested, but hey, if they get a few words in their ears here and there, why not.

Shhhh!
Here's the deal though ... they don't come out until mid November, so this will be one of the family Christmas presents. Now it's up to you to keep the secret. Or maybe add one to your Christmas list, tell me and we can keep secrets together.

What do you think - am I nuts? More than normal, I mean.

Smells, Herbs, Flavors and Disney

As I've said before, I like to experiment with food. I've also said that I win some and I loose some. I think that the more you experiment, the more you get a feel for what will go together and what won't. It just takes time, patience and a loving family. :-)

You also start to learn about flavors and smells. I love the Disney movie Ratatouille, where Remi (the rat) starts grabbing jars of spices and smelling them. I'm a Remi. I like to actually smell the spices and see what smells good together. Most folks know that Basil and Oregano are good together, but what about other combination's?

On the road, I'm working to find new combination as well as use old favorites to keep good flavor with our foods. A favorite combination for me is: paprika, garlic, onion powder, pepper and either celery salt or sea salt. Sometimes a little chives added in.

I bet those of you who camp a lot are asking how I'm storing my seasonings and herbs. Very simple answer: right on the counter. If we're going to park where that spot is in the sun, I guess I'll have to choose to either keep the window closed all the time or move it to a shady spot. Back to cooking outside on the grill ... it's way to warm to cook inside the camper right now.