DIY Wednesday: Date Sugar

September 16, 2015September 16, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Sugar has been getting a lot of attention lately. Really, it’s always gotten some type of attention. Is it good or bad? Are there better or healthier sugars? Are no calorie sweeteners ruining our health? Will you die immediately if you have one of your grandma’s famous chocolate chip cookies?

There are so many opinions, studies, research, and questions swirling around sugar lately as more and more people are trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle. I don’t have all the answers about sugar, but I can share my experience/relationship with sugar.

When I totally changed the way I ate a few years ago, I cut out refined sugar. No more white sugar or brown sugar. I relied mostly on honey as a sweetener, but for a long time I avoided anything sweet other than fruit. That worked for a little while and eventually I didn’t crave sugar like I used to but every now and then I wanted something sweet. At first I thought that was a weakness on my part, but I’ve learned that it’s ok to crave things and to address those cravings in the way that makes me feel best. I still avoid refined sugar, but I use things like honey, molasses, and maple syrup as sweeteners when I’m baking and cooking.

Today’s DIY is all about another type of sweetener, date sugar. I’ve seen it in stores like Whole Foods and usually it’s really expensive for a small amount. When I saw that dates were the only ingredient, I figured I could make my own. A quick search on Google confirmed that it is a thing and you can make your own date sugar. I like this sweetener because it isn’t a liquid sweetener like honey or syrup. It doesn’t dissolve in liquid like white sugar, but it does add a really nice caramel flavor. You can use this in oatmeal in place of brown sugar, in baked goods, or even in coffee or tea if you don’t mind the grainy bits. I also like this sweetener because it offers all the nutritional benefits of dates while adding a sweet flavor.

DIY Date Sugar

20 Medjool dates, pitted and sliced in half

Preheat oven to 250 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.
Arrange the sliced dates on the sheet and bake in the oven for 2-3 hours checking every so often to make sure the dates don’t burn.
Turn off the oven and let the dates sit in the oven for another few hours or overnight until the are completely hard.
Once the dates are cooled and hardened, put them into a blender or food processor and grind until you have a fairly fine powder.

Keep your date sugar in an airtight container and store it in the fridge or freezer if you aren’t going to be using it right away.

Told you this one was easy! Now remember, the one thing about sugar I can tell you is that sugar is sugar. Your body can’t tell the difference between high fructose corn syrup or date sugar. It’s ok to have a sweet treat now and then but don’t make this the basis of everything you put in your mouth. It’s all about balance people!

Hope you have a great Wednesday and tell me, what’s your favorite sweetener?

DIY Wednesday: Fruit Roll-Ups

September 9, 2015September 9, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Back in grade school, having the latest “cool” snack in your lunch was a big deal. At lunch time, we would eagerly rip open our lunch boxes to see what treasures our moms had packed. Lunchables were always a hit, fruit gushers, dunkaroos, marshmallow fluff sandwiches, and a can of soda made you a god. Yes, it was a weird time.

I rarely had any of the packaged snacks that other kids in my class had. Not only did my mom think they were nutritionally void and classified them as junk food (she was 100% right), but they were also expensive. Every once in awhile she would put a treat into our lunches and my sister and I got to feel cool for the day. Again, it was a weird time.

Looking back, I might have felt left out at the time but I think my mom did me a huge favor. She taught me that food should not only be inexpensive, but it should serve some nutritional purpose. It was also ok to have the occasional treat. It’s those food beliefs that are the backbone of my thoughts on food now.

With those beliefs in mind, I try to find/make snacks that aren’t just glorified junk food. While I might not be able to recreate fruit gushers or dunkaroos, there are some snacks that can be made with real food.

Remember fruit roll-ups? The store bought versions have a ton of sugar and dyes added in and rarely have any actual fruit in them. You can totally make your own fruit roll-ups with less sugar, actual fruit, and cheaper than the ones on the shelves. There are quite a few recipes/methods out there, but this is the one that I found worked best in my oven. You might have to experiment with cooking times and temperatures based on your oven. It takes less than 20 minutes to put everything together and while the cook time is a few hours, it’s all hands off and very simple.

Homemade Fruit Roll-Ups

1 to 2 cups fruit of your choice, chopped into small pieces (I used peaches)
lemon or lime juice (I used the juice from half a lime because that’s what I had)
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tbsp maple syrup (or honey)
water as needed

Put all of your chopped fruit into a medium saucepan and turn heat to medium-low.
As the fruit is cooking add in the lemon or lime juice and cinnamon to taste. Keep cooking until the fruit starts to break down. If the compote seems dry, add in a little water. You don’t want a super watery mixture, just enough to keep the fruit from sticking.
After about 15 minutes, remove the fruit from heat. Add in maple syrup to reach desired sweetness level. My fruit was really ripe so I only used 1 tbsp.
Now it’s time to puree the fruit. You can use an immersion blender, food processor, or regular blender. Whichever you choose, blend until it is completely smooth. You don’t want any chunks left.
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat. Do NOT use aluminum foil, it will just be a mess. Pour the fruit puree onto the sheet and spread into a thin layer. This part will take some time to spread everything out to the right height. You don’t want it too thick or it won’t cook right and if it’s too thin it won’t hold together. Take your time and you’ll get it.
Set your oven to the lowest setting, mine is 200, and cook for 3 to 4 hours. You’ll know it’s ready when it is no longer sticky or wet. Depending on how low your oven can go, this might take longer or shorter. Just occasionally check so it doesn’t turn into fruit brittle.
Once the fruit is done, slice it into strips and roll it up with a little bit of parchment paper. You can keep these in the fridge for up to a week and use them in lunches for a healthy and delicious snack!

DIY Wednesday: Homemade Mayo + An Egg Free Version

September 2, 2015September 2, 2015 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

Not many people know how mayonnaise is made. You just go to the store and buy a jar of it and go on with your day. I have never really been a big fan of mayo. It just had an odd taste to me and I preferred slathering my sandwiches in spicy mustard. Then one day, I needed mayonnaise for a potato salad I was making. I didn’t want to go and buy a whole jar just for one recipe so I started looking around to see what if there was anything I could substitute. That’s when I stumbled on a recipe for homemade mayo.

I was surprised that I could make my own mayonnaise. This was a few years ago, so I was still learning about how things were made and didn’t know that mayo was just an emulsion of eggs, oil, and seasonings. I bet that you have all the ingredients right now to make your own mayo. So I quickly whipped up a batch and to my surprise, I really liked the taste.

So today’s DIY is all about mayonnaise. It’s quick and cheap to make your own and you don’t have to worry about additives and preservatives that store brands use to make their product shelf stable. You can also play with your own seasonings and flavor your mayo with fresh herbs.

Don’t eat eggs? There is a version here for you too! Remember that aquafaba I was raving about a few months ago? Turns out you can make mayonnaise with it too! I tried it a few days ago and it turned out really well. Now eggless people can enjoy mayo on their sandwiches and in their recipes too!

Homemade Mayo

1 large egg
2/3 cup neutral tasting oil (I like avocado or safflower oil)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp spicy mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp herbs like dill, basil, oregano, or cilantro (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients except the herbs into a tall glass. Use an immersion blender to whip everything together. Once the mixture starts to get thick, slowly pull up the immersion blender to make sure everything is incorporated.
You could also do this in a blender. Place everything in the blender except the oil and the herbs. Start blending everything and slowly add in the oil until the mixture is nice and thick.
Stir in the herbs and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Eggless Mayo

This is the recipe that I used to make the eggless may and it worked great. I used less oil than the recipe calls for. The biggest key is to SLOWLY add the oil so you don’t end up with an oily, soupy mess.

That’s it. Just a few pantry items and you have delicious homemade mayo. Make sure that you choose a neutral oil so that you don’t have an odd tasting mayo. You can use this on sandwiches, in salads, as a marinade, and pretty much anywhere that you would use storebought mayo. Plus, it’s really cool to see the whole thing magically turn into mayo, kids would definitely love helping with this one.

DIY Wednesday: Ginger Paste

August 26, 2015August 26, 2015 / ktbuchs87

This DIY post might be as simple as my homemade tortilla chips. I’m the type of cook who likes to use things like actual cloves of garlic when I’m making stuff. I know you can buy a jar of diced garlic at the store and it saves a lot of time and effort because you can just throw in the amount you need and move on.

I have nothing against jars of garlic, I just like peeling and chopping garlic myself. The one thing I do not like peeling and chopping myself?

Ginger.

Peeling it is a hassle. If you chop it the wrong way you get these weird hair looking things in it. It’s just a chore for me. I really love using fresh ginger though and I’m always tempted to buy those tubes of ginger paste at the store just to avoid the trouble. The one thing that stops me though is the price. Those tubes are like $3.00 and sometimes they have things other than just ginger in them. So I skip the tube and begrudgingly prepare my ginger myself.

Not anymore! Today I am going to show you how easy it is to make your own ginger paste and start adding it to everything you make. The best part? You only need two things and a blender. Awesome right?!

Ginger Paste

1 large knob of fresh ginger, about 2 cups roughly chopped
1/3 cup water

Peel the ginger. I use a vegetable peeler to do this because it’s easier than a knife. Try to get as much of the peel off as you can. If you can’t reach some places peel it a little after you chop it.
Chop the ginger into bite-size chunks and add to your blender. Pour in the water. Blend the ginger and water until it is in paste form and no big chunks remain.
Store the paste in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

That’s it! It is so simple and now I don’t have to go through the peeling and chopping every time I want to use fresh ginger. Just once and then I have a whole jar to use! You can also make a huge batch and freeze some of it so it is always on hand. Add this paste to marinades, sauces, stir fry, dips, or even add it to hot water for some ginger tea. So many uses!

Make sure that you are never without fresh ginger and have a jar of ginger paste always on hand.

DIY Wednesday: Simple Salsa

August 19, 2015August 19, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Ok, so Monday and Tuesday this week I was wracking my brain trying to think of a DIY post for you guys. I could not come up with one single thing. I was starting to worry that I was out of ideas and trying to scramble for something to post today. I even went as far as to ask Adam for some help.

Luckily, he pulled through like a champ. Actually his friend, Eric, came through like a champ but Adam was the middle man so we’ll give him a little credit. I asked Adam and he asked Eric if there was something that he usually bought at the store that he wanted to make at home to save money or make healthier. He came back with salsa.

Salsa! So simple yet I had completely overlooked it! I even thought I already had a recipe up on my blog but quickly found out I didn’t. So thank you ET for saving the day!

I haven’t bought salsa in a very long time because it is so easy to whip up your own. Plus my mother in law makes a mean salsa and always makes sure we have a jar or two. This is the very simple salsa I make whenever we have a Mexican feast, which is like every other weekend. What can I say? I like tacos!

This salsa isn’t fancy or have any exotic ingredients, it is something you can make quickly when you are in a pinch for salsa. It tastes awesome and because it is so simple you can always have some on hand. If you want to make it fancy you can add extra things like corn or black beans. You can control how spicy or mild it is as well as the consistency. Pretty much this salsa can be everything you want and nothing you don’t. Let’s make some salsa!

Simple Salsa

one 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes or 3-4 fresh tomatoes
2/3 cup diced onions
3 cloves garlic
1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, roughly chopped and seeds removed (you can leave the seeds in for a spicier salsa. You can also omit completely)
juice and zest of one lime
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 to 2 tsp salt
small handful of cilantro (more if you really like cilantro like me)

Roughly chop tomatoes and onion and add everything but the cilantro into a blender.
Blend until you reach your desired consistency. I like it fairly chopped but blend less for a more chunky salsa.
Taste and adjust any seasonings. Add in the cilantro and pulse a few times to mix it in.
Serve with homemade tortilla chips and enjoy!