Naturally Dyed Pink Frosting

We decided a week out from my daughter's birthday that we were going to do a little party with two of her friends.  The problem is that I don't know how to do anything 'little'.  Our playdate turned in to a full fledged Pinterest inspired party complete with tissue poms, tulle chairs, a Barbie 'theater', yummy food, and a Barbie cake!  

I struggled with the cake at first.  We try to keep our treats naturally sweetened, usually with honey or maple syrup.  I knew that I wanted her cake homemade and I found a lot of recipe possibilities.  The problem was that I didn't have a lot of time to experiment and see what would or wouldn't work in terms of baking it in to a tall Barbie cake.  I ended up making the King Arthur's Tender White Cake recipe using all organic ingredients. 

The one thing I didn't want to compromise on was our desire to keep artificial food dyes out of our food.  We've witnessed first hand in our family how Red-40 can affect a child's behavior and it was not pretty.   How would Barbie's skirt be pink though?!  Easy.  Beet juice!  I made a basic buttercream frosting out of butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract (soooo much sugar, eek!).  After it was all blended together I added in 1 tsp of beet juice from a freshly juiced beet.  It worked perfectly!  Thank goodness too since I finished frosting it 10 minutes before the party started.  Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator...

With Valentine's Day coming up this would be a perfect way to tint frosting without using artificial food dyes! 

My cake decorating skills might need a little work but my now 5 year old thought it was the best thing ever and that's the opinion that matters most! 

Pink Buttercream Frosting
8 Cups Sifted Organic Powdered Sugar
1 Pound Organic Unsalted Butter (4 sticks), softened to room temperature
2 Teaspoons Organic Vanilla Extract (check that the ingredients are only alcohol & vanilla beans!)
1 Teaspoon Beet Juice (I used our Jack LaLanne juicer to juice one peeled beet and it was plenty)

1. Add butter to stand mixer and beat on medium speed for a 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy
2. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on low speed until incorporated.  Scrape down sides after each addition.
3. Add in vanilla extract and beat on medium-high speed for a few minutes.  
4. Add in beet juice 1 teaspoon at a time until desired color is achieved.  I wanted a light pink so 1 teaspoon worked perfect.  Scrape down sides and mix well.  
5. If you're frosting is too thick for your needs you can add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is achieved.  

*This recipe makes a lot.  I had some left over after giving Barbie a thick coating to even out her skirt.  If you're doing a smaller cake or cupcakes you could probably get by with half of the recipe above.  

Inflammation & Our Need for Whole Foods

I watched a video clip by Susan Blum, MD, MPH last night and it was a good reminder of the concept that 'not all calories are created equal'. She discussed 100 calories from an organic apple vs 100 calories from a snack pack of pretzels and how they affect our bodies on a cellular level. (Confession: there was a time when I consumed 100 calorie pack snacks every.single.day!)

The food we eat imprints our cells with information. Healthy food, such as the apple, are like a green light to our cells and allow them to be healthy and function properly. Unhealthy foods, like the pretzels (and most other things in the standard American diet), send out a red light to our cells and can lead to poor cellular function that can damage our body and lead to negative side affects such as inflammation. 

Years upon years of poor diet choices can lead to a myriad of problems including chronic inflammation in our bodies which is evident through muscle pain (Fibromyalgia) and joint pain (Arthritis).  Chronic inflammation is problematic because it means that instead of the body healing, the immune system is essentially attacking itself.  Inflammation can also affect our body as a whole with symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue, and a feeling of puffiness.  This is why it is so important for us to remember that food is a source of nourishment and natural medicine for our body.  Be proactive!

The best thing you can do is spend the majority of your time grocery shopping in the (organic) produce aisle. Focus on whole foods - foods that are unprocessed, unrefined, and appear in their most pure form. I am always brought back to Michael Pollan's quote from his book Food Rules....

Salad in a Jar

I really enjoy a good salad but I'm not a fan of pulling out the cutting board each day and chopping up 56456 different types of vegetables.  I feel like I spend more time prepping the salad and making the dressing than I do actually sitting down to eat it.

Introduce: Salad in a Jar!  When I actually take the time to make these up I gladly enjoy salads for up to a week.  Mason jars work perfect for this.  The white storage jar lids pictured below are my favorite!

 

Since I knew I would eat these at home, I chose to use a smaller jar and leave out the lettuce and dressing until serving.  If you want to prep it all in the jar, make sure you put the dressing on the very bottom, then layer vegetables, followed by lettuce.  It's important that the dressing be on bottom and the lettuce always be on top. 

Veggies pictured above from bottom to top are: broccoli, red bell pepper, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms.

On a side note, I received a new dressing emulsifier for Christmas (thanks, mom!) and I'm really excited to try out one of the recipes on the side of the bottle, Cumin Vinaigrette.  Yum!


Disclaimer - The product link on this web page is an Amazon affiliate link.

Open Face Egg Sandwich

Today I was in need of a quick lunch.  I started to reach for a piece of bread to make toast and then remembered how quick, easy, and filling an open face egg sandwich can be!  We've had a great supply of lettuce in pots on our deck so it's nice to find uses for it other than salads too.

Side note, if I can grow lettuce in Alaska then surely you can grow it where you are!  We had good luck with Black Seeded Simpson, Cut & Come Again leaves, & Spinach.  Try it, it's fun :)

Ingredients:
1 slice of whole grain sprouted bread
1/2 tablespoon organic butter
1 organic egg
1 slice of organic cheese
1  leaf of lettuce
salsa or slice of tomato

Directions:

1. Toast bread in toaster
2. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat
3. Crack egg in to skillet, break yolk, season with salt and pepper
4. Cook until mostly set then flip to finish cooking on other side
5. I sliced off a little organic cheese and placed on top to melt
6. Place lettuce on toast, add egg, top with salsa or slice of tomato

Voila!  A quick and healthy snack or meal. 

Organic Grass Fed Ground Beef Jackpot

A couple of months ago, after watching some enlightening documentaries, we decided to cut meat out of our diet.  Not totally, we're definitely not vegetarians, and my carnivore-hunting husband could never commit to such a thing.  However, I quit buying commercially processed meat during my weekly shopping trips and I no longer build our meals around a meat source.

We still enjoy meat every once in a while which is how I stumbled upon this deal.  I added bison chili to our weekly meal plan and headed to the meat department.  I was immediately drawn to the sale tag in front of the organic grass fed ground beef.  At first I thought maybe it was a mistake so I asked the store employee walking by.  He confirmed the price and I started throwing pound after pound of meat in my cart.  I hit the Organic Grass Fed Ground Beef Jackpot!  Who cares that I haven't been cooking with meat much.  I couldn't pass up a good sale!  It was either $1.99/lb for beef or $9.99/lb for bison.  Yep, no question! 

So, now we have 25 pounds of beef in the freezer for our future enjoyment.  Score!