For years when people complain they have colds- I tell them about elderberries. It’s our go to cold remedy and immune booster. I give elderberries to family and friends and make them syrup too. It’s easy to make and it prevents us from getting sick. If we are sick, it helps us improve in half the time as it normally takes. Plus, making elderberry syrup is easy, cheap, and I know exactly what’s in it.

I’ve never been one to take medicine. I hate feeling groggy and foggy. So, I rely on foods and herbs to help heal us. Elderberries are our first line of defense. There are tons of studies and articles about the properties of elderberries. During the winter, we each take a spoonful of elderberry syrup as often as possible and, if we’re sick, a spoonful or 2 a day- until we feel better.

To make elderberry syrup is easy and requires little of your time. I add rose hip to my elderberries, to add a boost of vitamin c and to prevent a cytokine storm. Cytokine storms are when your immune system goes on overload. It is pretty serious and may occur with ANY immune booster, medication, or vaccination. In fact, most of the research I found was on flu vaccines causing cytokine storms in persons – particularly the H1N1 vaccination, read about it here. To minimize the possibility of a cytokine storm, you will want to increase your vitamin C and D. Here’s a great forum post explaining what to do.

To make elderberry syrup, I take a quart mason jar and fill it with roughly 1 cup of elderberries and 1/2 cup of rose hips. I tend to use the measurement markers on the side of the jar (less dishes to have to do in the end!).

Add 4 cups of boiling water (or to the top of the quart mason jar) and allow to steep for a minimum of 4 hrs or overnight. I loosely cover the jar – to prevent anything from falling in.

Strain – squeezing the liquid out of the elderberries and rose hips. DO NOT EAT THE ELDERBERRIES!!! You only want the juice from them. The elderberries are hard to digest and may cause you to get sick.

Simmer the elderberry/rose hip liquid until half reduced. No stirring needed. Just try not to let it boil as it doesn’t taste as good. Once the liquid is reduced by half – it’s done! Take off the heat and add honey to taste (about 1/4 cup for us). Try to use local honey – it will add to the medicinal power of your elderberry syrup and don’t let the honey cook. It reduces the effectiveness of honey when you cook it.  Sometimes, I throw some ginger root in the elderberry/rose hip liquid while it’s simmering – to give it an additional immune boost. But that’s optional.

I then put the elderberry syrup in a jar and store it in the fridge. My final syrup is a little under a pint. I rarely actually measure anything – so the amount fluctuates, but has always fit in a pint mason jar in the end. I give everyone spoonfuls when needed. It can last for at least 2 weeks. You can also add a little brandy, rum, etc to help extend the life of your syrup. Or You can freeze it and defrost when needed. I know some people who freeze it into ice cubes to store – so they always have a little when they need it.

I get organic elderberries for around $9/lb and the organic rose hip for about $5 for a 1/2 lb. I can make at least 4-5 batches of elderberry syrup out of it. At the store, elderberry syrup can cost between $10-15 a bottle, has extra ingredients, and doesn’t taste as good. There is so little work in making elderberry syrup and it’s a cheap and easy way to stay healthy. I am so thankful for the Holistic Moms Network member for letting me know how to make my own and I hope you try it too!

I thought I’d share with everyone some of the fun goodies that we make. Every year, we have a Halloween party and invite friends and family to help us celebrate. I just love seeing everyone in costume and, by hosting the party, I also know that what they eat will be good for them.

Fingers and Dip
We started off the evening with fingers and dip. I took organic baby carrots, used a little of the dip to “glue” a sliver of almond to the tip (to act as the finger nail). I put them in the center of the dip so they looked like they were poking out. I arranged the crudites around this – so there are a variety of veggies to dip. You could make little veggie cups, so each person could have their own “hand” instead, which would make it easier for a school event, etc. You could also use something a little healthier, such as hummus instead of dip.

I’ve also seen a variety of veggies turned into “spooky” parts. Snap peas with almonds poking out as “teeth” and deviled egg eyes – using an olive slice as the pupil are usually big hits. The best thing I discovered is that even the kids that say they don’t like veggies will eat them when they look “spooky” because it’s fun.

Mummy Pizzas
For dinner, I had a hard time coming up with something that I thought all the kids would eat. I didn’t want anything fussy, that would take a long time to cook, or be difficult for the kids to eat. I finally decided to make mummy pizzas. They’re simply whole wheat organic English muffin pizzas, just made to look like mummies. You could easily make these using pitas or pizza dough (making a big one or mini ones)

To make the mummy pizzas, all you need are English muffins (or other base), pizza sauce, cheese, olives, and red peppers. I took the English muffins, spread a little pizza sauce on each, cut white cheddar cheese into small strips and arranged them to look like a mummy. Then I took 2 olives per pizza, cut a small piece of red pepper to fit inside the olives, and arranged them to look like eyes. I baked them at 350 until the cheese was slightly melted and the pizzas were warm (for about 8-10 minutes). They were a huge hit!

Spooky Desserts
What would Halloween be without the treats?

I save the desserts until after the kids trick or treat. I think it’s fun to come back to the house and know that there’s something extra special to enjoy after you go door to door. I know that some moms (and dads) try to hold off on the trick or treating until the kids are older or try to avoid it completely. But I love it. There’s something super cute about the little ones going to someone’s door, getting so excited, and yelling out “trick or treat”. It’s such a thrill for them (and for me)!

My son is 5. I made his trick or treat bag a couple of years ago and it’s plenty big. Not huge, like a pillow case or some bags you see for sale, but big enough that if he filled it – I’d probably freak out. He knows that I go through his bag with him and that he only gets to keep a few pieces (about 5 pieces) and the rest get put in the treat basket for others that come to the door or get taken to my office for co-workers to eat. I’m sure as he gets older, it’ll be harder to do this…but I think it’s easier for him to let go of the candy because he knows we have dessert waiting for him after all the trick or treating is done.

For kids that come to our house, we have 2 treat baskets. One that’s filled with organic candy and one that’s filled with goodies: play dough, small toys, stickers, crayons, etc. Last year, I found these awesome finger Rock’em Sock’em Robots that were a huge hit. We let everyone take something from both baskets and you’d be surprised, the older kids were way more thrilled with the Rock’em Sock’em Robots and, even, play dough than they were about the candy. It was awesome!

Spider Cookies
Spider cookies are such a hit around our house, we actually make them year round. I started off with a great recipe from Nourishing Gourmet and tweaked it a little.
1 cup of nut butter (any type is yummy, but I use crunchy peanut butter)
1 cup rapadura or sucanat
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
large chocolate chips (like a Hershey’s kiss) or chocolate squares
chocolate covered pretzel sticks or pocky sticks
mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Mix the nut butter, rapadura, egg, and vanilla together until well blended. Scoop or roll into balls about 1″ big onto a cookie sheet, leaving a couple of inches for expansion between each cookie. Take a fork and lightly press down – creating a criss cross pattern.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes or just before they look done. Take a chocolate chip (like a Hershey’s kiss) or a chocolate bar square – I use a Equal Exchange Organic Dark Chocolate bar and break off each square – and gently press into the center of each cookie. Then take 2 mini chocolate chips and gently press them into the cookie for the eyes. Let them bake for another 1-2 minutes, until the chocolate is slightly melted. This will allow the chocolate to stick to the cookie after they are done.

After baking and while the cookies are cooling, take your chocolate covered pretzel pieces (about 3-4 inches long) and gently insert them into the cookies to look like legs. I put 3 “legs” on each side of the cookie. I wasn’t able to put 8 “legs” in the cookie without them being too cramped. But if you made them slightly larger, I’m sure it would work.

We make these cookies without the legs all the time. Even without the chocolate, these are exceptional peanut butter cookies. You can also try them as sunflower butter or another nut butter, if you have peanut allergies. Sometimes, we make them adding cacoa nib (just add with all the other ingredients) and they are super yummy.

Frozen ghosts
Last year, I also made these cute frozen ghosts. They’re simply frozen bananas covered with white chocolate and mini chocolate chips as eyes and nose.

I took bananas, inserted a Popsicle stick in them and froze them. I took a bag of white chocolate chips and melted them. Note – if you’d prefer to dip the frozen banana into the white chocolate to coat them (which would give a smoother coating), you’ll need more than 1 bag of white chocolate chips. I had to spread the white chocolate because I didn’t have enough. Stick the mini chocolate chips to make the face while the white chocolate is still warm, otherwise they won’t stick.

I took a box, gift wrapped it, and then cut little slits in it so the Popsicle sticks could fit and all my little ghosts would stand up. This made a really nice presentation and was convenient at serving time.

Ghoulish decor
I love to decorate for Halloween also. But I am super DIY. We have a few decorations that we use yearly that we got at garage sales, thrift stores, etc. But there are a few things that we’ve made that we love to also use.

Our Door Eyes are super easy to make. Just take black construction paper (or black paper the size of your window) and cute 2 eyes out. Take tissue paper and cover the eyes you just cut out. It doesn’t have to be neat, as no one from the outside will see it. If you want to make it super nice, so that people on the inside see the same thing as outside, use another piece of black paper and cut the exact same eyes out. Sandwich the tissue paper between the 2 pieces of black paper. Tape or adhere the black paper to your window. When the lights are on inside – the eyes “glow”.

I don’t know why, but I love doing this. We have been using the same “eyes” for 2 years and will definitely be putting them back up this year. They also look great from the street. Every time we drive up at night during October, I get a cheap thrill seeing them. You can do this to any window you might have and you can elaborate. We have a bathroom window that I’ve been thinking about doing this too, but adding a nose and mouth. Or you could do any silhouette or other ghoulish shape.

And what Halloween decor wouldn’t be complete without the prerequisite garbage bag ghosts?

I fill a small plastic grocery bag full of packing peanuts (to create the fullness of the body), poke a hole in the middle of the bottom of a big garbage bag, and pull the handles of the grocery bag through the hole to create a loop so I can tie them to our trees. You could also use white fabric and/or a balloon (as the inside body). We glued on the face as I found that the stiffness from the paper face helped prevent the bag from wrinkling – which happened when we drew the face on with a permanent marker. I know it’s a bit wasteful, but we love making these each year, so we have stuck with the garbage bags rather than have white fabric ghosts.

Whatever you do – just make sure you have fun! As my kids get older, we get to be more creative and make more things. It’s fun to add each year and see what we can come up with. Plus, it’s a great way for us to have a project that we can work on together.

Costumes

Each year, everyone (including my kids) get to decide what they want to be for Halloween. We can change our minds as many times as we want UNTIL we buy the supplies. Last year, my son wanted to be a skeleton. It turned out to be a great learning experience. We got a black sweat shirt and sweat pants and some white fusible fabric. We went online to find “bone” clip art and cut the white fabric for the bones. Then we ironed them on. He got to learn and discover where all of the major bones were and he looked awesome!

And me? I was Super Mom! All I did was get some self adhesive felt and create the Super Jen emblem for my t-shirt. The cape was one I made for my son when he was a vampire a couple of years ago. Everything else (including my beloved boots) I have owned for years. But the costume was fun and made me feel great. I mean, who doesn’t want to be recognized as Super Mom at least once?

By making your own plan, GO Kits, and Emergency Kit you can decide what is important for you to bring/pack. For us, I was most concerned about food and first aid. When a disaster strikes, your body becomes more prone to illness and disease: your stressed out, you don’t eat well, sleep well, and have other things to worry about. Having quality food and first aid is essential to boosting your immune system and preventing disease. Unfortunately, during most emergencies – first aid and food are the hot commodity. Many MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) are full of additives and chemicals and, while they give you the essentials to survive, do nothing to help boost your immune system. We eat very little processed foods and I am concerned that it would be a huge jolt to our system to suddenly go through an emergency and have to eat foods full of additives and chemicals. It was vital to me to plan and make our own kits to ensure we would have the proper nutrients needed during an emergency.

So, what is the plan? Talk to your family and see what works for you. If something happens, you and your family will need a safe place to go to – where you all can meet up. Most neighborhoods, towns, cities, etc. have emergency shelter locations throughout the area. These are established safe houses that already have an emergency plan in place (and often supplies, etc). For us, its a local middle school that’s within walking distance. If there is an emergency and our house is not safe – that’s where we are to go or meet up.

Establish point persons out of state, if possible, that you can text. In cases of emergency, phone lines will be down or tied up for emergency personnel use and texting will be the easiest form of communicating. Also, communications out of the immediate, emergency area tend to be less effected. There are often comments about how people were able to talk to Aunt Susie who lives across the country, but couldn’t reach their sister down the street. If you are separated from loved ones, it’s important to have a contact person, out of the area, who can relay messages or information.

Have escape routes. One of the best pieces of advice my dad ever gave me when I was a teenager was to always know the back way out of anywhere I was. Of course, at the time, he was referring to high school and college parties… but it’s been great advice that I still live by. Almost everywhere I am, I scope out where the exit door is or how I’d leave if the front door wasn’t an option. The same is true for where you live. If something happens at 2am and the front door is inaccessible – how would you get out? If you have kids – would they be able to get out? What about pets? Where’s your emergency gear? Do you have a go kit? What would you do?

Before I became an official CERT member last fall, I underestimated the time you really had when disaster falls. Say, it’s the middle of the night and you hear the smoke alarm start to ring. There’s a fire in the kitchen – it’s too big to put out with a kitchen fire extinguisher (if it’s bigger than a small wastebasket fire – it’s too big), but you’ve called 911 and it seems small enough that it won’t escape the kitchen. Surely you have time to put on pants and shoes…right? WRONG! It can take less than 1 minute for a fire to get out of control and less than 3 minutes for you to become trapped. You need to get out IMMEDIATELY!

GO Kits
So you run out of your house immediately and watch it become inhabitable in front of your eyes. You literally have the pajamas you’re wearing and that’s it. If you’re lucky, you might have the shoes you crammed on as you ran out the door…but no socks…

This is why a GO Kit is the most important piece of equipment you could have during an emergency. If a disaster strikes your area and you are forced to evacuate immediately, personnel will not allow you time to gather belongings, but if you tell them you just want to grab your GO Kit – it’s allowed. Why is that? Because a GO Kit is already packed, is somewhere easy to access and full of all your emergency items.

What does a GO Kit consist of? This is NOT your emergency kit. This is a smaller, more condensed version with items you may need for 1-2 days. It should fit in something easy for you to travel with, like a backpack, and be in an easy to reach location. We chose to keep our main GO Kit in our car. You notice I say main GO Kit. This is because we do have provisions bedside, just in case. But I don’t have glasses or other items that I might want to grab bedside (major considerations when deciding where to store a GO Kit). We did put some special LED stick on lights around the house (in case of emergency/power outage), plus have a few essentials near the bed. Even if you choose to locate your GO Kit bedside, near your front door, etc.; it’s vital to also have a few emergency essentials in your car. Shoes, flashlight, blanket, and some extra clothes are vital. Imagine having something happen and only having flip flops to wear and then having to walk through glass and debris for miles?

You don’t need to buy fancy items to fill your GO Kit or emergency kit. I used an old Hello Kitty backpack I had lying around the house. I have 2 young kids, so my GO Kit is their GO kit. Inside our kit, we have the basics: flashlight, small first aid kit (band aids, antiseptic wipes, acetaminophen, safety pins, and medical gloves), a face mask, leather gloves for me, and enough food and water for a day (mostly nuts, dried fruit, and energy bars), a windup radio/flashlight, shoes for all of us, a spare outfit (light long sleeve t-shirt, pants, socks, and underwear), and a plastic rain poncho.

If you have kids, pets, or other dependents, it is vital that you plan for them also. Because I have kids, I added a couple of comic books and a small toy for each kid (a zip baggie full of legos and a small doll). The clothes and shoes I packed for them are all hand me downs and about 1 size bigger than what they wear now, so I won’t have to keep updating them. My daughter is potty learning right now, so I also added a few diapers in our kit, as well. Plus, she’s small enough that she will have a hard time walking long distances, so I have a long scarf/wrap in my bag that I can wrap like a Moby Wrap. Since it’s just a long piece of fabric, we can also use it as a wrap, blanket, or I can tear it up into bandages if necessary. It’s important to decide what additional items would be essential for you to bring that will be of assistance to you in a disaster.

If you are on medication, need glasses, or other items – it’s vital that you remember to pack a spare in your GO Kit. Even if it’s your old glasses, it’s still better than not having any glasses at all!

It may sound like a lot of items. But I was able to fit all of them in my GO Kit. I used a travel space saver bag to store all the clothes in. Not only does this help to keep our clothes safe from getting wet, but it made it much easier to store. The comic books and toys took very little space. In fact, it was the water that took the most space. I chose to get boxed 5 yr water. It’s like juice boxes, but water and they have a shelf life of 5 years. If you choose to use bottled water, please note that clear bottles will last up to 1 year without direct sunlight and opaque/filmy plastic bottles will last up to 6 months without direct sunlight.

I also tried to make certain items easy access. The first aid items are in the small pocket in the front of the backpack. The flashlight, gloves, and masks are all on the top, so when I unzip the bag they’re easiest to find.

Emergency Kit
The biggest difference between a GO Kit and an emergency kit is that an emergency kit should last you a minimum of 3 days, if not longer. Therefore, an emergency kit is bigger and has more items/quantity in them.

We chose to store our kit in a spot on the side of our house (which is gated and not easily accessible to others), in the shade and out of the elements. Your emergency kit should not be in the house or garage. What if something happens and your house/garage became inaccessible? It should also be located somewhere easy access to move in a hurry. We bought a big bin with a water tight lid, that has padlocks, and wheels. The padlocks are for safety (these are still our personal items) and the wheels were essential for us – we didn’t want to have to carry something that heavy a long distance. There are 4 of us – water, food, and essentials for a week weigh a lot. But you can use any weatherproof storage container that you want. A great idea, especially if you want to store a lot of items, is to use a garbage can that has wheels. Just make sure whatever you use (and store in it) can withstand the weather in your area.

In our emergency kit, I have similar items to our GO Kit – but they are more extensive or longer lasting. I have a larger hand crank flashlight/radio, a face mask, leather gloves for Marc and me, shoes for all of us, a spare outfit for each of us (light long sleeve t-shirt, pants, socks, and underwear), a plastic rain poncho and enough food and water for my family for a week. Our food consists of organic nuts, dried fruit, dried veggies, broth powder, pre-made dried soup mixes, and a few dried camping food packs. In our first aid kit, I included a standard store bought kit, a natural hand sanitizer, and added essential oils that we commonly use: lavender, tea tree, peppermint, eucalyptus, and Thieves. I commonly use essential oils to aid us in a variety of medical complaints from upset stomach, fever, antiseptic, cold, and cough. The Mothering webpage on Essential Oils for Children is a great guide to common oils and ailments.

I also added items necessary for long term disasters: such as towels, blankets, and boots. My boots are steel toe work boots (A requirement for CERT members). There is also a small emergency stove (it has special pellets that will burn for about 30 min-1 hr and heat 1 pot/pan), a camping cookware kit (bought at a garage sale), utensils, water filtration kit, and cleaning/toiletry supplies. Though I tried not to pack anything that needs batteries, I still added some to our kit. Also, you must be able to store all garbage/waste in a contained unit – so as not to contaminate any clean water, soil, etc. So you’ll need to keep extra garbage bags, zip baggies, etc in your kit. You should also consider storing some cash and vital information in your kit, as well. Scan copies of insurance policies, clear photos of loved ones, identification, and other vital records on a disk, flash drive, or store a paper copy. This might expedite any aid that you might need for medical attention, restoring your home or car, or to help you find a loved one. I have one friend who also has a flash drive full of important files and pictures.

Since we have kids, I also stored 2 extra flashlights for them and extra toys. I chose a Tangram set because it’s good for all ages. There will be times when we will want to have something we can do. Plus, we have a puzzle, stuffed animal, play dough, and bubbles.

In order to save room, I used space saver bags for big items. I was able to use a jumbo sized bag and store a large queen size blanket, 2 smaller blankets (for the kids to use), 2 towels, and 2 dishcloths in the fraction of space it would have taken otherwise. I used another space saver bag to store all of our clothes. Plus, the bags keep them water proof and safe from dirt, bugs, etc. I also vacuumed sealed any foods that needed it. I’d bought some dried foods in bulk and split them among family members for their kits, so I vacuum sealed those to keep them dry. Also, some foods will last a long time, as long as they stay dry or air tight. Many store bought packages are fine, but in some cases – I just wanted the added protection. Its better to be safe than sorry later. In many cases, just storing store bought packages in zip bags is enough.

This is what our kit looks packed and ready to go. I tried to pack it with the 1st items I might need on top. Our work gloves, boots, flashlight/radio, first aid, and food are easily accessible. I also put like items in bags – preferably clear zip bags if they fit, so it would be easier to find.

All GO and Emergency Kits should be considered a work in progress. I add and remove items when needed. Recently, I got a bunch of small samples of soaps, cleaning liquids (like dishwashing, laundry, etc) and added those to our kit. Depending on how you pack your kits, you should review them at least every year, if not every 6 months. You need to make sure the food, water, and/or clothes, prescriptions, etc have stored are still good. For us, I also have to make sure that the clothes and shoes for my kids stay current enough, too. If you have pets or others you must care for, please remember to pack accordingly for them also!

GO and Emergency Kits are essential for peace of mind. In case of emergency, the last thing you need is to be scared or concerned that you don’t have the essentials to survive. It was amazing how many essentials I grabbed from spare items we had around the house. It seemed daunting at first, but it didn’t take long to get everything together once I got my bin and just did it. I highly encourage everyone to make their kits now. You never know when you might need it!

Also, by making all 3 of these, I am now adding another pro-biotic in our diet. You can buy yogurt that have additional pro-biotics added, but it also has additional sweeteners and flavors. We sweeten our yogurt with fruit and maple syrup. Yum!

I am a raw milk drinker. If you read the Breakfast post I refer to above, you will know that I love organic, grass fed milk. By pasteurizing milk, enzymes that make the milk nutritious are destroyed. A great book that explains a lot about raw milk and pastuerization is History of Raw Milk.

However, you do not need to use raw milk. The only thing you can NOT use is Ultra Pasteurized milk. Due to how it is pasteurized (super high temp, super fast), almost all the enzymes are killed and it will not work. (On a catty note, if you are drinking milk for it’s nutritional value – and you can’t use ultra pasteurized milk to make any cultured products, maybe there’s something wrong with it? Hmmm)

Buttermilk
I make a quart of buttermilk at a time. To make buttermilk, you need cultured buttermilk. You can buy any brand, lowfat or skim (I have NEVER found whole milk buttermilk – which is what we make, since I feed my kids whole milk only).

So, to make buttermilk – you take 1 part buttermilk and 3 parts milk, stir/shake it up, and let it sit at room temp for 24-48 hrs or until thick.

I use a quart mason jar with cup marks on the side. I fill it with 1 cup of buttermilk (homemade from the last batch or from a store carton) and then fill the rest of the mason jar with milk. I put the lid on and shake it. Then I sit it on the counter for at least 1 day and when I notice it’s thickened – I put it in the fridge. According to Wild Fermentation, homemade buttermilk can last months!

Sour Cream
Sour Cream is made the exact same way as buttermilk EXCEPT using cream instead of milk! Technically, I believe what you end up with is in between a true sour cream (which uses special cultures) and a creme fraiche…but to someone like me it’s pretty close and it tastes pretty darn good.

Now, I don’t use sour cream as much as I use buttermilk, so I make it in pint jars. I put a 1/2 cup of buttermilk in the jar, fill the rest up with cream, tighten the lid, and shake. Then I leave on the counter at room temp until thickened – approx. 1-2 days.

Recently we made a ranch style dressing and I had no problem with our kids dipping veggies and even home made fries in it because – hey, they were getting an additional pro biotic.

Yogurt
So let me start by saying, I heat my milk to between 140-165F degrees. I know I use raw milk, and I know I talk about not pasteurizing milk, but I have also found that milk not heated to at least 140-160 degrees makes yogurt that’s too runny for my family.

I keep below 160F degrees because, technically, I’m not heating the milk high enough to actually “pasteurize” the milk (though, I am still killing enzymes). I know a lot of people who buy organic pasteurized milk to make yogurt because it’s cheaper than buying raw milk and they heat the milk anyway. For me, I figure I’m not heating the milk for that long and that high, so I may lose enzymes, but not as many as if I were using already pasteurized milk and then heating it again.

So now that I have completely confused you with technicalities – here’s what I do. I take a quart jar and a pot of water. You don’t need a lot of water, you are simply using a double broiler technique. I fill the jar full of milk (4 cups), put the jar in the pot of water, and turn the stove to medium.

I heat the milk, and when it’s somewhere between 145-160F degrees, I take the pot off the water, and let it cool down to 110F degrees. Once the milk reaches 110F, I pour out a bit into a cup and add yogurt starter or 2 tablespoons of plain whole milk yogurt. I stir this quickly, not trying to mix it all in completely, and then pour this back into the jar. Stir again, quickly and not trying to completely incorporate everything. The cultures will do all the work. Then you just want the milk to incubate (stay at approx 110F degrees) for about 6-8 hrs. After that, you refrigerate for about 8hrs until its set.

I have a Salton yogurt maker where I incubate the yogurt. I usually make yogurt at night, sometimes while also putting the kids to bed. Making yogurt is great because it doesn’t have to be exact, which is why I give such a temperature range. It also takes sometime for the milk to cool down back to 110F degrees, so I have time to help the kids get ready for bed, etc. The other great thing, is there is no stirring or needing to watch the milk. When the milk starts to cool off, a skin will form on the top of the milk and you can scrape that off, but that’s about all you need to do. After you add the cultures or existing yogurt to the milk, you just put it into the yogurt maker. The hardest part is for me to remember to take the yogurt out of the yogurt maker and put it into the fridge.

Now you don’t need to have a yogurt maker. I have heard of people putting the warmed milk, wrapped in a towel, in the oven with the pilot light on, using a crock pot full of water, a heating pad, and using a cooler filled with hot water. Basically, as long as you can keep the milk at about 110F degrees, it all works. I bought a yogurt maker because it was easier for me.

If you want to use raw milk and you want to keep it “raw”, you don’t heat the milk more than 110F degrees. When it hits this temperature, you simply add the cultures or yogurt and follow the info above. However, and this is a HUGE however for me, the yogurt is on the runnier side. It’s between a store bought yogurt and a smoothie. My kids don’t like it, so I don’t bother.

Yogurt Cultures
You can use any plain store bought yogurt, as long as it has active cultures. Once you start making yogurt, you can keep a little on the side and continue using that; however, after awhile you will notice your yogurt is a little more runny and you will want to get some store bought yogurt.

There are also cultures you can buy. Yogourmet yogurt cultures are sold at many supermarkets, including the Kroger’s and Earthfare I used to go to in Knoxville, TN and Whole Foods (almost every WF I’ve been in sells it). There are a variety of cultures out there. I have found that my favorite cultures are from Dairy Connection. I find that the ABY-2C cultures are very thick and creamy, which is more like store bought yogurt. Though, recently I have been considering trying a few other cultures I’ve read about.

Runny Yogurt
If your yogurt doesn’t turn out, don’t throw it out! Inevitably, you will have a runny batch. It just happens. I tend to turn it into yogurt cheese or use it in cooking. There are tons of ways to use yogurt that you might not find edible as “yogurt”. Also, yogurt gets runnier the more you handle it. So, if you stir yogurt a lot, or you scoop small spoonfuls out of the jar each time – the yogurt will get runnier.

Yogurt Cheese
I love yogurt cheese. I use it as a substitute for cream cheese and for goat cheese. It’s got a creamy consistency, but it’s also tart. To make yogurt cheese, take a few layers of cheese cloth and pour the yogurt into it. Allow the yogurt to drain. You can save the whey and use it for soaking grains/beans, as a plant food, or even to drink. I gather the ends of the cheese cloth, rubber band it shut and hang it over the sink to allow all of the liquid to drain off for a couple of hours. This will make the yogurt cheese for a ball and I store it in the fridge. I think it’s great on bagels and crackers. You can add spices, but I like it plain.

I try to have black beans, kidney beans, and chickpeas (garbanzo) beans on hand at all times. I am extremely concerned about chemicals leaching from packaging. So, I buy dried beans (instead of precooked, canned ones), grains, or rice and I immediately transfer them to glass jars. But keeping my pantry stocked with beans that are ready to go means that I have to make them in bulk. After each batch – I freeze them into smaller servings to use in the future. Freezing beans can them a bit mushy – so I slightly undercook them to avoid this.

Soaking Beans
I soak all my beans the same way. The main reason to soak beans is break down some of the polysaccharides that can contribute to “social distress.”

Before I go to bed, I put the beans in a big bowl with lots of water and a little bit of whey (about 1 tbl). I just skim the whey off my yogurt. You can use lemon juice instead (you just want something slightly acidic). You want the beans to soak for at least 12-24 hrs. If you following, Nourishing Traditions, you’ll want to soak the beans until they just start to sprout (changing the water daily) – taking about 1-2 days.

Black Beans and Kidney Beans
When I cook up black beans and kidney beans – I often am lazy and combine them when cooking, since I use them in so many of the same recipes. I use tomato sauce and chicken broth as the liquid (1/2 and 1/2). This way, they have additional flavor. I rinse my soaked beans, add them to the slow cooker, and add enough liquid that the beans are covered by at least 3″ of liquid. Then I cook on high for 6 hrs, usually while I’m at work.

I usually take a portion of them (keep them in the crock pot) and turn them immediately into chili – just add some more tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder (at least 1 tbl, but to taste), a dash of hot sauce (or a chili pepper), and some stewed meat. Turn the crock pot back onto high for at least 6 hrs.

I save the rest of the beans by freezing them into small serving size portions. I have a great silicon tray that freezes 4oz cubes. After they are frozen, I stick them in zip lock bags for future use: nachos, tacos, and a plethora of easy to make Mexican dishes.

Chickpeas
Chickpeas, also called garbanzo beans, are great for salads and hummus. We eat A LOT of hummus. My kids love to dip and hummus is a great option. Chickpeas are very high in protein, which is great because my kids are not huge meat eaters.

Hummus is extremely easy to make. I use a hand held mixer, like the Braun, and do everything in a mason jar (make sure that the hand held mixer fits in the mouth of the jar). I fill the jar about 1/2-3/4 full of chickpeas – using a little of the liquid that I made the chickpeas in (I freeze the chickpeas in a little of the original cooking liquid and let them defrost in the jar). I throw a spoonful of tahini sauce in (this is to taste, so you may want to start off with a little less. I also know a mom that uses peanut butter instead with great success). I squeeze a 1/2 a lemon in (again to taste, if it’s a small lemon – you may need to use the entire thing). Add a clove of garlic, a dash of paprika and a dash of chili pepper. I pour olive oil in the jar – just to below covering the beans. Then I puree. If it’s too thick, I add a little olive oil. I also add salt (use more salt than you think – about a tsp at least). Hummus is extremely easy. You do everything to taste. If it gets to runny – just add more chickpeas. If it’s too thick – add more olive oil or even water (chicken broth is also great). If you like it a bit more tangy – add lemon. If it’s too bland, add more tahini.

If you’re one that really needs a recipe – Here’s a Hummus Recipe that seems pretty good.

My kids also really like chickpeas with veggies. I’ve mentioned before that I do keep bags of frozen mixed veggies in the freezer at all times. This is really great when I’m pressed for time, but want to make sure they eat veggies. I get an organic mix of carrots, peas, corn, and green beans. My daughter LOVES when I mix the chickpeas with veggies and add a little salt, pepper, and seasonings (I use a mixed spice blend called Herby from Frontier). My kids would eat this as is, but add a little pasta or rice and some cheese and you have a simple one pot meal.

It took me years to finally start cooking beans (instead of just buying the cans), but it’s easy, tastes better, and takes very little effort. It also saves tons of money. I know canned beans are cheap, but dried beans are cheaper! Give it a try.

I’m proud to say I became an official CERT member. CERT, Community Emergency Response Team is a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) program. It focuses on teaching citizens on how to handle disaster/emergency situations and how they can help themselves, their families, and their communities in case of a disaster.

The reason I joined CERT was a selfish one. I have 2 kids and most of my family (mom, dad, brother, grandmothers, aunts/uncles, niece/nephews) all live within 20 minutes of me. If an emergency occurred, I wanted to be in a position to be able to make sure we all got any help we needed. But, what I learned goes so beyond that.

For those that are just starting to (or haven’t even started to) think about emergency preparedness, check out my post Are You Prepared? I provide valuable information on how to get started and the things you will want to know and do in case of an emergency.

CERT is hard core! For the last 5 weeks, I spent every Friday evening from 6:30-9:30pm learning everything from triage, assisting in medical treatment, fire safety, search and rescue, and terrorism. The classes culminated in a 4 hr exercise/final where I had to put out a fire, search a building, assess injuries, and help lift a dumpster off a body. I had to finish 24 hrs of intense lectures and training in order to become certified.

Each class started with some basic reminders. -Your own safety is #1; Always work with a buddy; only do what you have been trained to do; wear safety equipment (hard hat, goggles, mask-N95, gloves, boots); think and size up the scene before acting; hazardous materials mean stay uphill; upwind, and upstream; provide the greatest good for the greatest number; use your creativity to: adapt, improvise, and overcome.

What I learned in each class always gave me so much to think about. How a single person could help a whole neighborhood, save lives, or be of valuable assistance during an emergency is astounding. I must admit, I never thought about how the police, fire dept, or medical services reacted during an emergency. How difficult it is for them to help everyone and how inundated they get with requests. How they have to sort through all the requests to decide which ones have priority, etc. By becoming a CERT member, I now have the ability to assess an emergency for myself, my family, and even my community.

The final 4 hrs was back to back simulations of different situations and studies where we had to apply what we learned.

Fire

Many fires are preventable: Avoid the “electrical octopus” – don’t plug in tons of items into one place. Don’t run cords under carpets. Replace broken or frayed cords. Maintain appliances.

Check your smoke detectors twice a year (a good time is when daylight saving occurs). One very important thing I learned is that when a smoke detector goes off, you have approx. 2 minutes to leave! That’s it. By 10 minutes, your house could be completely in flames and your exits might be blocked. Do not try to collect valuables or even put on clothes – just get out! This is another reason a go kit is so vital!

Fires spread quickly. Do NOT fight a fire if it’s bigger than a wastebasket!

Know the types of fire: A- ordinary combustible, B- Flammable and combustible liquids, C- Energized electrical equipment, D- Combustible metals

If you have a fire extinguisher, make sure you are using the right type of extinguisher for type of fire. Each fire extinguisher will have a recommended use on the label. Ex. Recommended 3A 40B:C (10lb)
the 3A stands for equivalent of gallons of “water” (3A is 3 gallons), the 40B:C stands for square feet and type of fire (40 square ft, flammable liquids and electric). If you are getting a fire extinguisher for your home, it might be best to get an ABC (fights all 3 common types of household fires) extinguisher. Though, for our kitchen, we have a kitchen fire extinguisher. Most fire extinguishers, when used, emit a chemical that is NOT food safe. This kitchen fire extinguisher uses a sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) powder that is non toxic and easy to clean up.

When fighting a fire, it’s important to try to have a buddy. One person will have all eyes on the fire, the buddy will be checking everything else – reviewing the scene (above, around, below). When using a fire extinguisher – remember PASS. Pull, Aim, Squeeze, and Sweep. It’s important to pull the pin out (otherwise, the fire extinguisher won’t work), to aim at the fire first, to squeeze the trigger, and to use a sweeping motion to put the fire out. Fire extinguishers usually only last 15 seconds. If you can’t put the fire out in that time period, you need to evacuate immediately.

Triage
Until CERT, I never thought about what triage really was and what it meant. Sure, I’ve watched enough hospital drama shows to know what the word meant, but what does it mean in action.

Triage, in simple terms, is the quickest medical assessment used for a large group of people. As an example in our class, we simulated a bus accident. We had to assess all the passengers as quickly as we could. What I learned is that it is common to just jump right in and start checking on people. However, it’s vital to review the entire situation. Is the bus safe? What happens if I jump right in and the bus catches on fire, becomes unstable, etc? I could endanger my life or worse. I could make the situation even more dangerous for everyone. If triage is possible, you always want to work with a buddy or 2. Try to get anyone who can leave the situation on their own to do so. You may ask 1 or 2 of the least injured to stay with you (as your buddies) to help you while checking on other victims. Then you start at point A (the closest point to you) and you work your way to point B – do not deviate. You always start where you are. This is the most efficient method. There will be people screaming, people begging you to rush to them, but you can’t – otherwise, you may miss someone or get off track. By starting at point A and going to every person, you have a better chance of helping everyone. You also don’t actually medically treat anyone, unless you can do it within a few seconds (tilt someone’s head so they can breath, put pressure on an open wound, etc). You are simply there to assess and record the situation. If necessary, your buddy may be able to stay with a person to help apply pressure on a wound, keep someone’s head tilted, etc. Real medical assistance will be on it’s way. In triage, you are only there to ensure that everyone is prioritized so that those that need the most medical attention are seen first. You are also finding out how many people are injured and the severity of injuries, so that sufficient help can be requested. There is a color/lettering system used in triage to help code medical need. Medical need is categorized by: dead (black/V), immediate (red/I), delayed (yellow/D), and minor (green/M).

Physical Assessment
After triage, victims will be moved by medical professionals to areas based on medical need. Often times, in large disasters, tarps at the site are used for medical evaluation. Usually, these tarps are the color of each category. There will be times that CERT members will have to assist with physical assessment. We are not there to medically treat persons, but to find out specifics for medical professionals so they can treat persons quicker. We were taught to assess a person from head to toe, check for injuries and to provide information so that they can get treated efficiently and prioritized by need.

Search and Rescue
During disasters, there will be times when CERT members will perform search and rescue. The best example would be during an earthquake. Police and Fire Departments will have their hands full handling immediate emergencies and will not be able to check neighborhoods for damage. CERT teams may be requested to ensure neighborhoods are safe and if there are persons injured that can’t seek help or may be trapped inside homes/buildings.

The first thing we learned is that you never perform search and rescue without a buddy or group. You will always need one person who stands guard (they can see if there is anything that may happen to a building, they can request help if the person searching also gets trapped, etc). You must always assess the situation before entering. What day or time of day is it? What type of building? Where is the building? All of these play a factor in what you may find inside a building. A school on Sunday would be less likely to have persons inside, but a church might have injured persons. You would check the church first. Buildings are assessed as heavy, moderate, or light damage. If a building has heavy damage – CERT members do not enter. We are not trained to handle heavily damaged buildings and could get injured or cause further damage.

After assessing damage, search and rescue is very methodical. You record when you enter a building and how many persons entered. You start from where you are and work systematically thru a building. i.e. – go from right to left in a building, staying to the outer perimeter and working your way in. You inform the team member(s) who stays outside the building where you are at all times. You record and inform if you find anyone and their condition (using triage). If you find any hazards that are extreme (gas, chemical, fire, unstable building, etc) you leave immediately. If you are able to go through the entire building, when you exit – you record what time you left and the conditions inside. There is a code and system for recording this as well.

If you are in a disaster, you can also help search and rescue. If no one is hurt in your home, put a white flag outside somewhere visible – usually near the front door. A white flag can be a white t-shirt, pillow case, etc. Anything so that people will know you are safe. If someone is injured in your home and you can not leave them, put a red flag out. Rescuers will know to send assistance immediately to your home.

Cribbing
What is cribbing? It’s a method for being able to lift heavy objects. If something heavy fell during a disaster and pinned a person, cribbing would be the fastest and most effective way to try to lift an object so that a person may be extracted.

I had never heard of the term cribbing before and it was fascinating to see it in action. During our final exercises, we were required to lift a dumpster off a “person”. Typically, cribbing is 4×4 cut to approx. 24″. However, in an emergency – any wood will do. Worst case scenario – you can even use fencing, etc. However, in most neighborhoods, there will be loose lumber at several persons home.

We started by watching firemen show us proper technique. You need to look at what you are lifting to decide how it’s best to raise the object. It’s important to have 3 points of contact, in order for whatever you are lifting to have stability (otherwise, it may topple/collapse and hurt someone else). You use the 4×4 to create tiers that will be able to fit under whatever needs to be lifted. You use pieces of 4×4 cut in a diagonal (large shims) to wedge under. It’s important to take the time to make sure your cribbing is correct. You want to make sure that none of the wood used in cribbing is askew or not directly on top of the one before it. Take the time to line up all the wood pieces properly. It may seem like you should hurry, but you need to ensure that your cribbing will not fall and cause further injury.

The best tool for lifting to use is a 50″ crowbar. You create cribbing for the crowbar so that you can have enough leverage to lift a heavy object. You may have to continue building cribbing to have enough leverage to get a person out safely and have enough clearance to do so. In our practice, we raised the dumpster about 2 feet off the ground and had to rebuild our cribbing twice. You must have constant communication with your team. You may not be able to see the entire area or who is moving/lifting what. You need to be aware of the situation because it is easy for a heavy item to become unbalanced during the course of a lift. It was amazing how easy it was to lift the dumpster by using cribbing. Even I could easily do it!

Every class brought so much new information and practical application. There is quite a bit that I learned that I didn’t mention in this post and I must admit that I’m still processing all the information that I have learned. The amazing thing is that CERT classes are usually free! This is vital information that could save your life.

The extra cool thing is that I got issued a hard hat, vest and am certified as a CERT member. This means that I am registered as a Disaster Service Worker (DSW) and am provided the same privileges as such, as long as I work within the scope of what I have been requested/trained to do.

For me, being a CERT member gives me that added comfort of knowing I’m a little better prepared. I did this for myself and my family. CERT reminds us that your safety is #1 and your family’s is #2. If you or your family is not safe, you will not be able to help others (you will be distracted, unfocused, etc). Now, I have more tools to try to keep my family safe and this will help me sleep better at night.

My graduating CERT class (I’m in the bottom row, middle)

What will you do in an emergency? How will you know your family and loved ones are safe? How will you handle the situation?

A great website to learn how you can get prepared is from 72hours.org

Make a Plan
Making a plan is the first step in getting prepared. It’s important for you to know who, what, where, when. Who will you want to know is safe, what will you do or where will you go, and when will you do or go where. Know where your main shelter is closest to your home and/or office. If an emergency happens, where will you tell your family to go – particularly your children. Most local phone lines will be down or only available to emergency personnel (police, fire, etc). Have an out of state contact that you and your family/loved ones can call. It is more likely that long distance will still be available. Also, texts have a better chance of being available. If you have an out of state contact, you can still find out who is safe and where they are. If you have a place you’ve designated as an emergency location, everyone can reconvene there and you will be able to reconnect with your family/loved ones quicker. Make sure to add any pets, etc in your emergency plan.

Also, plan what you will do if you are home and an emergency occurs. How will you get your family out the quickest. If you have children, it’s vital to also teaching them how they will get out as quickly as possible. My son is 4. There is no way he can open his window (let along reach to climb out) in an emergency. My husband and I will have to get him or have him come to us. Because of this, we have to plan accordingly.

Know your home and utilities
Know your home and where all of your utilities are: gas, water, and electric. Know how to turn them off. This is vital.

Take a walk around your house. Really look at it. What are hazards? Any trees that hang precariously over your home that could come down during earthquake, storm, etc? Any utility lines above your home/property that could come down? What if an earthquake, storm, etc hit – what would most likely be damaged? Are they preventable? Really think about this as you look at your home. If there are things that you can’t prevent now, you will know what to check immediately after a disaster does strike.

If something happens, you should know how to turn on and off all your utilities. Don’t expect someone to show up immediately to shut off your water if a water pipe bursts and starts flooding your house. Or if an electric line breaks – you need to know how to shut this off, so sparks don’t cause a fire in your home. If you live an apartment building, they should have an emergency plan – ask them what it is or where your utilities are, so you can take care of your place.

FYI: if you turn off your gas, your utility company HAS to be the one to turn it back on. So don’t turn it off unless there is a reason. To know if your gas is leaking- smell, listen, and see: smell for gas, listen to hear if gas is “hissing” and see if your meter is spinning rapidly (the dial will spin quickly or if you have a smart meter the digital numbers will be changing rapidly). Have a wrench tied to your meter. In an emergency, the last thing you want to do is rummage through your tools to look for one that will turn your gas off. I was able to buy a sturdy wrench (that even came with a zip tie and can turn off gas and water) for $5.99 at the hardware store. Also, try turning the valve slightly (again, don’t turn it completely off – just a little to make sure it can turn). Often, no ones touched the valves for so long they are practically rusted open and impossible to turn off.

Go Kits
The Go kit was one of the things that I thought about the longest. It should be, it’s your only chance to pack the things you may end up having if an emergency strikes.

Here’s a list of items you might consider for a kit from Ready.gov

I wanted our go kits to be practical, easy to carry/move, and have essentials (plus, a few comfort items). We try to eat very healthy. If you are in an emergency situation, your stress level is extremely high, you may have injuries, or your body is in a weakened state. Most emergency foods/drinks are heavy on preservatives and additives to keep it from going bad for long periods of time, but having bad, highly synthetic food will only increase your chance of illness. Sure, if it’s all we had to eat, I wouldn’t hesitate feeding this to my family, but this is not how we eat day to day and the food alone may end up causing us issues because we’re just not used to it to begin with. I took a look at the foods we do eat and found the ones that would last long term (at least 6 months, preferably a year) and started with those: homemade granola, homemade beef jerky, dried fruit and veggies, rice, beans, corn (popcorn can also be ground into flour and is a whole grain), energy bars that are organic, etc. I also found camping/backpackers food that were organic and preservative free. It’s definitely doable, if you look hard enough. Note: rice and beans are last resort, as they use a lot of water – which will be valuable during an emergency, but I still packed a little as a last resort.

Have at least 2 Go kits – 3 is even better.

1 kit will be by your bedside or easy to get to if a disaster strikes when you are sleeping. I’m in CA, so imagine an earthquake; I’m groggy, in my pj’s and I need to grab my family and get out of the house. I won’t have time to rummage around for my supplies. Having a backpack full of “stuff” is my best bet to get us out as quick as possible. I have shoes, clothes, minor medical supplies, and at least 1 day of food (plus a set of clothes for each of my kids). My husband has his own kit. If you had any medication, glasses, etc – you should have an extra set in this kit.

1 kit is in your car. You may not be home when disaster strikes. Or the disaster might happen when you are in your car. This kit is similar to the bedside kit.

1 kit is your “big” kit. This kit has at least 3 days worth of anything you might need. The best suggestion for this kit was to have it in a rolling garbage can that has a tight lid. Store this on the side of your house (preferably not visible to others or in direct sunlight). This is your real kit for emergencies.

Even in my small kits, I included a small ziplock bag full of legos for my son and a small doll for my daughter. They take up minimal space, but will be a huge comfort to both of them. My daughter is 16 months old. There is no way she would be able to walk long distances, so I added a wrap so I could bundle her to me (or my husband) but still have my hands free. I bought 5 yrds of a thin, lightweight, durable fabric and cut it in half (so it’s approx. 27″ wide). In an emergency, the fabric will be a cheap version of a Moby style wrap. Plus, I can always use the fabric as bandages or for warmth, if absolutely necessary. It cost me $10 and has multiple uses. I also used travel vacuum bags for all of our clothes. These are the bags that you can roll to squeeze the air out of to reduce space.

One of the biggest things stressed to me was to have a whistle. I have it on my key chain. If something were to happen and I needed people to know where to find me, I could only scream for so long – but could use a whistle for a lot longer and a whistle is louder and easier to hear.

Also, try to always have at least a 1/2 tank of gas at all times. You never know when you may have to evacuate an area. A friend of mine had to evacuate when Katrina hit. All the gas stations ran out of gas. She was lucky enough that they could siphon gas from one car to fill the other, in able to leave town and get far enough away.

Making a plan, knowing your home and utilities, and preparing your go kits are all things you can do immediately. These simple things may save your life or someone you love.

If all of this is making you realize you are woefully unprepared or you realize that if an emergency occurs and you want to be able to take action – than CERT may be for you. I am the type of person that would have to know what happens next and how do I make sure myself and my family know what to do. CERT gave me the information, tools, and knowledge to be better prepared.

Dinner is the one meal we all sit at the table and eat together. When Marc and I found out how few people actually take the time to do this, we promised ourselves that we would try to eat together for as long as possible. We all have extremely busy schedules and with work – this can be a challenge, but we have found some great tricks along the way that I thought I’d share.

Let me first start by saying – we do NOT make more than 1 meal…meaning, I do not cook something different for the kids. Sometimes, we’ll dish their portions out and then add a little more spice to ours – but that’s almost it. The second things for us – you must try it, at least a few bites or don’t eat anything. If you truly hate it (adult or child) than you can have an alternative, but you CAN NOT say you won’t eat the dinner someone made without trying it. Period. Some people may gasp – let your child starve? But the reality (for us anyway) has been that our children will at least try every dish that they are offered. Again, they may not love it – but almost every meal is eaten. Since we have always had these “rules”, we haven’t had many issues with food and our kids are quite adventurous with food.

The biggest thing about cooking is to not be afraid to make it up as you go along. I would not say I am chef caliber, but I get by in the kitchen. At least 1 meal a week, we wing it. Throw stuff that we have lying around together and see what kind of concoction we can come up with. It definitely helps to have a well stocked pantry to do this and to have a few standbys in the wings, just in case. There is also nothing wrong with simple favorites, either. We have at least 1 or 2 of the same things each week. Why not? We all enjoy them and they are easy for us to make.

A Well Stocked Pantry
What’s a well stocked pantry? This is highly subjective, what I like may not be the same as others, but there are a few things that I think everyone would benefit from keeping on hand. I view a pantry as all items that we make sure we have on hand that can be thrown together with specific fresh ingredients to make a meal. For us, it’s rice, pasta, beans, grains (primarily wheat), eggs, milk, chicken broth, cheese, olive oil, and spices. If I’ve got these in the house – I can make several meals with no worries.

Having Favorites
It’s okay to have favorites. Hey, they’re your family’s classics. They tend to be easy to make, no fuss, and you know everyone will eat it. So why not?

Our family loves nachos. We probably make nachos at least 2-3 times a month. I take a square casserole dish, put organic tortilla chips on the bottom, add shredded cheese, beans, any meats that we might have (if we have any), veggies (usually almost anything that’s left over in the fridge that I want to use up – cut up fine or shredded or if I don’t have time, I use a frozen veggie mix), another layer of chips, cheese, and beans. I cook in the oven until the cheese is melted. Then we add some chopped tomatoes (or salsa, if Marc’s made any, since he makes the best salsa). It’s got beans for protein and veggies for vitamins. Sometimes, I’ll make corn tortillas (super easy, since corn tortillas are literally corn flour, water, and salt) and we’ll have tacos – using almost the same ingredients as nachos.

We also have favorite pasta dishes (Marc makes an awesome spaghetti sauce, where he adds shredded carrots and celery to it – and no one ever knows!) and rice dishes. All of our favorites are usually made on the nights when we ask each other, “what’s for dinner?” Usually, James will chime in with one of the favorites and we just go with it.

There’s also nothing wrong with a great antipasto platter. Some days, we just don’t feel like making a meal and would rather all pick at a bunch of different things. Cheese, sausage/salami (or other meat), crackers, olives, pickles, and some veggies: tomatoes, carrots, celery, etc are all you need nutritionally. We all gather around a big plate and dig in.

Making Extra
When we make things like a soup, sauce or beans (see my post on beans). I like to make extra to freeze.

Recently, I’ve been making a great Bolognese Sauce from Can You Freeze It? I have enough to make a great spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner, make a lasagna to freeze, and still have 2 more portions to freeze.

For the lasagna – take a small container of ricotta cheese, mix in an egg, 1-2 cloves of finely mince/diced garlic, 1/2 a finely diced onion. To 2 cups of tomato sauce (or Bolognese sauce) add 1 cup of broth or water. Add grated cheese and additional veggies (optional)

In a casserole dish, put a little sauce (it can be regular tomato sauce, if you don’t have the Bolgnese) on the bottom, then add a layer of lasagna noodles (uncooked), a layer of sauce (I like to put a thin layer over all the noodles, making sure they are completely covered – since they aren’t cooked), then a layer of ricotta, then a thin layer of grated cheese – keep layering for at least 3 layers. You can add veggies as a layer too. End with a layer of noodles covered in sauce. Over this, add a nice layer of grated cheese. I immediately freeze this until ready to use, thaw in fridge then cook at 350-375 for 45 min or until hot and cheese is bubbly.

Whenever we can, we will make twice as much as we can eat and freeze the 2nd portion for later. Since, we are still a young family, with only 2 eating adult portions, we don’t need to use anything larger than an 8×8 casserole dish. So recipes that say to use a 13×9 dish – I just separate into 2 casserole dishes and freeze the 2nd one. For those wanting even smaller portions, you can use a loaf pan and have servings perfect for 2.

We’re kind of bad about eating leftovers within the next day or 2, so by freezing the leftovers, we can have meals that seem new the following week – or even the following month.

Meats
We are not huge meat eaters. I was a vegetarian for almost 18 years. When I decided to eat meats again, we agreed we’d primarily eat only pastured beef and poultry. For us, meats and poultry make up no more than 1/3 of a meal. This was considered standard, but in recent years Americans have made meats/poultry the main item and vegetables secondary, if non existent in their meals.

When I make chicken, I tend to roast a whole bird. It’s way more cost effective and super easy. Sometimes, we even cook 2 birds at the same time (same temp/same time as cooking 1). I use a simple salt/butter rub and that’s it. A whole chicken can be turned into at least 2-3 meals. I usually roast a chicken on a weekend night. I sometimes make mashed potatoes and I ALWAYS make gravy. Right after we eat, I shred the chicken for leftovers. I load the crock pot with the carcass, giblets, veggies, dash of apple cider vinegar, and water and start making a bone broth. The Benefits of Bone Broth are so much better than any plain chicken stock you could every have (and please do not even suggest using a canned/boxed/cubed stock!

With the shredded chicken I will do one of two things. I will take a casserole dish and make a freezer dish. I usually start with a layer of rice, a layer of shredded chicken, a layer of veggies (this is also a great use for mixed frozen veggies), a layer of gravy, and a layer of cheese. When we’re ready to eat it, I just thaw it in the fridge and then throw it in the oven until warmed through (usually at 375 for 45 mins).

I will also throw the shredded chicken into pasta or in a Mexican dish: nachos, tacos, etc.

We do basically the same thing with beef. I tend to make roasts and the left overs get turned into casseroles similar to the chicken one, shredded into Mexican dishes, or turned into sandwiches for lunch. Marc will also make us a yummy Thai beef salad, too. Marc isn’t a huge fan of pork (except Bacon), so we don’t cook pork that much, if at all.

I also found that ground beef is very quick and user friendly. I’ll make a batch of meatballs and freeze the extras for later. When I make meatballs, I wing it. I use the food processor and turn a slice of bread into crumbs, and then throw a carrot, a stalk of celery, and little parsley into it and shred them very fine. I take the bread crumbs, shredded veggies, 1lb ground beef, and an egg and mix them together. Then I wet my hands and roll out meatballs. I bake them (sometimes I sear them on the stove first) and then save 1/2 for later.

We tend to make burgers a few times a month, too. We also cook up at least 1lb of ground beef with some chili seasonings and use it in a variety of meals. It’s great to add to spaghetti sauce, it’s great in tacos, on nachos, and in sloppy joes.

Since we add meat and poultry to dishes, we tend to not eat as much as if it were the main meal with everything as side dishes. This not only saves on time, but also on cost.

Fish is the only dish we eat where we don’t tend to have leftovers, but it’s also the one I cook the least. I am concerned about mercury levels and, lets face it, fish can be intimidating. Marc makes an awesome ceviche, which is a treat for when it’s just us (I’m not comfortable letting the kids eat ceviche yet, as they are still so young). I finally just started making a simple baked fish dish where I would get a white fish (primarily tilapia)- and season with lemon, salt, and lemon pepper. We also love shrimp. We often get frozen shrimp and throw it in rice dishes and pasta dishes.

While writing this, I realized – I really don’t use recipes much. Or I read a recipe, get the gist of it and then wing it. It’s just hard to come home at 6pm and get a recipe and start making something. So we just go by taste or with pre made meals. I also have a great husband that does the cooking at least a few days a week. By sharing the duties, we’ve been able to ensure that we can all sit down together and enjoy.

We cleaned up the garden and this is what we were able to pick this weekend. Yum!

This was our first year with a front yard garden and, as I’ve said before, it was awesome. I have truly loved it. I have been extremely thankful that we got so much out of it, as so many people I know were not as successful, due to the weather.

The main thing that saved us was the soil. Since it was a new garden, we invested and got amazing soil and compost from Lynso Garden Materials. We did equal parts Lyngso Nursery mix, Essential Soil mix, and Diestal Structure compost. It cost us $176 plus a truck fee (we rented one of their trucks), but it was definitely worth it. We put so much work into making the raised beds that I would have been really sad if our garden had failed.

We have been composting at home for over a year and I will be adding that to the raised beds soon. Thankfully, we live in CA – so I am already planning and planting our fall garden. I have garlic, onions, potatoes, carrots, snap peas, kale, and cabbage that I plan on planting.

We still have tons of tomatoes and peppers growing. Cucumbers, broccoli, and carrots are still coming up, but not as vigorously as before. Also, we now have a watermelon – the first of the season! Hopefully, our Indian summer will be just warm enough for it to grow and ripen.

All in all, our front yard garden project was the best thing we did this summer! Can’t wait to continue…

One of the best compliments we receive is that our 4 year old son is a great eater. He actually prefers veggies and fruits and eats a lot. He’s as adventurous as you can hope a 4 year old would be and will at least try a bite of anything new. This is something our family has agreed upon – all of us – we don’t have to finish any dish, but you must at least try a few bites of anything new.

I was really surprised when his preschool teacher informed me that food was one of the biggest issues they have at the school. Many kids don’t eat, are picky, or have bad foods provided. I found out that one of the biggest questions parents have for the teacher is – what should I pack for my child to eat? What is quick, easy, nutritious, and that my kids will eat?

From talking to his teacher, some of the biggest issues parents have when it comes to lunch are: needs to be quick and easy to make, not the same thing every day, and what to make that is both healthy and will be eaten. We got extremely lucky – I bought a laptop lunch box when my son started preschool. It isn’t necessarily the lunch box that makes our son eat his lunch, but it is the style of lunch box. It’s a bento box. It’s a 4 compartment unit that all fits in a lunch box case. We now have a few different lunch box/carriers that he takes to school because of wash and use, but we still adhere to the bento style. I recently read an article in a magazine where a mom lamented on the bento style. Her daughter was picky and lunches were uneaten – for almost the entire year. After reading the article, I realized – it wasn’t the bento style, it was the lunch making experience that was setting her and her daughter over the edge.

Based on the Laptop lunch box – this Bento style is 4 compartments which we divide into 4 different food categories. In my son’s lunch, he gets a fruit, a veggie, a main item (sandwich, grain, pasta, etc), and an “anything goes” item. By thinking in this way, lunch becomes so much easier. I have heard many parents complain that their kids just don’t like fruit or veggies. But, maybe there a few that they’ll eat. Or maybe you can convince them to eat them. Many kids love to dip – why not pack carrot sticks with hummus or salad dressing to dip? Or what about celery sticks with cream cheese or peanut butter? Start by thinking of veggies and fruits your kids will eat. Picking easy to pack items for each category makes it quick. For instance, one day may be strawberries, a pickle and cherry tomatoes, sandwich (homemade bread, homemade jam, and sunflower butter – since his school is nut free), and the anything goes – a hardboiled egg for protein. In this lunch, the hardest part is washing the strawberries and tomatoes, peeling an egg, and making a pb&j (sub for the sunflower butter if you’re needing nut free).

We also use simple snap & lock style containers too. Again, just use each container like you would a section of a bento. Even leftovers work great. We love Mexican food and when we go out for burritos, I take the leftovers and scooped the inside into a container so he has rice, beans, salsa and guacamole as his main item. Mexican food is also great because of all the hidden veggies (tomatoes, corn, avocado – I throw any veggie that can be cut small in that I’ve got in the house) and the beans for protein. Almost all kids love it and it’s easy to pack and eat at room temperature. Quesadillas, wraps, and burritos are great. I have found that it’s a good idea to toast the wrap or burrito a little (I just pop them into my toaster oven). This helps prevent them from getting soggy before lunchtime.

My son also loves pickles and I count that as a veggie. Naturally fermented pickles (not made using vinegar) are also probiotics, which gives him an extra nutritional boost. I try to make sure we eat at least one food that’s a probiotic every day: yogurt, pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, etc.

Almost any leftover works – when we roast a chicken, I save a drumstick for his lunch the next day. He loves to eat drumsticks –so this is quick and easy, but you could also just cut up some leftover chicken too. Same would go for any roast, casserole, etc. When we make hamburgers or meatballs, we’ll make some just the size for his lunch container to take the next day.

Dried fruit and veggies are another great option. Many kids like them and they don’t view them as “fruit and veggies”. We also love Just Tomatoes fruit and veggies. The crunchy corn and peas are a huge hit. The peas are like wasabi peas without the spice and the corn is like corn nuts without the seasoning and preservatives. Their fruit is yummy too. They are all freeze dried –so all the fruit and veggies retain a crunchiness you don’t find in dried fruit. The strawberries are like candy. Since they are 100% fruit or veggie with no preservatives/additives, I often add them to his lunch when I feel he could use another snack or is lacking in a fruit/veggie in any of the “sections”.

Another quick main meal we make is rice or pasta mixed with veggies. I admit – I buy frozen bags of organic mixed veggies. They’re awesome. The veggies are cut very small (also great for my 14 mo old daughter) and they work well in tons of dishes. I’m Asian and we constantly have rice in the rice maker. I’ll take rice; throw some mixed veggies in, a little butter and seasonings and mix. My son also loves kimchi – so I’ll mix a little in too. Plus, we get some naturally fermented tofu from the farmer’s market and so I’ll add some too. I don’t have to cook anything. If we have leftover pasta from dinner – I’ll warm the pasta, mix in some of the mixed veggies, butter, and seasonings. Both are super easy to put together in the morning.

Of course, we have stand bys for each category – but we try to mix it up just enough that our son isn’t eating the same exact thing every day. There are some things that he wouldn’t mind eating everyday – strawberries, hard boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes – which we do pack a lot for him. Why not? They are still great foods for him to eat. We also include our son in the lunch making process. Almost every morning, we ask him what he wants or prefers – sandwich or rice, etc. We also let him know if we’re sending him to school with something he loves; so, he’ll be excited for it. I have discovered that my son almost prefers his most foods room temp to cold rather than hot, which is great for packed lunches. We do have some awesome stainless steel insulated containers for warm foods, but we use them about 2-3 times a month because of time in the morning. What we stay away from are processed foods. I couldn’t believe how many 100 calorie snack packs I see in other kid’s lunches. Or worse – Doritos and Cheetos – which both contain MSG!

To make it easy for us, we came up with an unwritten list of favorites in each category.

Fruit: Grapes, strawberries, plums, pluots, apples, peaches, nectarines, and super easy – dried fruit: raisins, apricots, banana chips, etc

Veggies: cherry tomatoes, peas, broccoli, carrots, corn, pickles, even salsa – this is not including the mixed veggies I tend to throw in many of the “main meals” we make

Main meal: sandwich: meat and cheese or sunflower butter/jam – we toast the bread so it doesn’t get soggy, pasta with veggies, rice with veggies, chicken over rice or pasta (with mixed veggies in it), pita & hummus (kids love to dip), cheese/meat/crackers (think antipasta platter), and dinner leftovers.

Anything goes: anything from above works, crackers, popcorn (remember it’s a whole grain), hard boiled egg, string cheese, yogurt, and sometimes we even do cookies (usually homemade)

By creating lunches thinking this way – it’s easy for us to be able to share lunch duty. My husband and I take turns and we both know that our son will have a balanced diet. Even when you’re pressed for time, there are super quickies in each category that don’t need any prep work. When my daughter was born, my mom had to help out and it was easy for her to make his lunch, too. Explaining that he needed a veggie, a fruit, a main item, and an anything goes was all I needed to say and know he’d get a good meal.

Let’s face it, most of us don’t pre-make lunch the night before and are running late in the mornings. Using this method to creating lunch makes it so much faster, plus guarantees that the food you are still sending your child to school with is nutritious, yummy, and a balanced meal.