A kitchen where cheap and healthy meals are created. Feed a family of 4 paying less than $5.00 total. Some of my recipes are 10 minutes or less to cook, with about 5 minutes to prepare. However some are easy to prepare like my raw probiotic ferments, or Kombucha. Here you prepare and let time do the rest. No joke. WASTE NOT WANT NOT IS MY MOTTO:) Learn to cook without all recipe ingredients, and still come out with a great meal. Blessings:)
Here is a simple recipe using leftover okara.. Okara is the mashed soybeans strained after soybean milk is made. Today I made soymilk, and tofu, and I had about a pound of okara left over. You can cook with it but since I had prepared my soymilk in the VitaMix blender, it came out with a very nice silky texture. I didn't want to discard it since one of my motto's is "waste not want not", and my other motto is "food is medicine". So in my quest to find something tasty yet healthy I came up with this SWEET LEMON OKARA. So easy to make, let's do it.
Ingredients:
Mix all the ingredients well and microwave.
Okara 1 cup cooked and strained well
Lemon juice 2-3 tablespoons and or 1/2 teaspoon of grated lemon rind.
Sugar 2 tablespoons or (to taste, may use sweetener of your choice)
Tumeric 1 teaspoon
Coconut oil, or butter 1 tablespoon
Salt 1/2 teaspoon
Instructions:
Mix all the ingredients together in a microwave safe bowl, and put in the microwave for 5 minutes on high. Voila, it's done. This is very good hot, but can be served cold as well. It's very silky and pretty as well. I topped my scoop of okara with agave syrup. Healthy and delicious.Yum.
Haha. I told you it was easy. I used an ice cream scooper to serve.
Well, that's it for now, I just had to share the outcome of my Sweet Lemon Okara with you because it's delicious. Again, thank you for allowing me to be of service. Many blessings to all.
Sincerely,
Mary Helen
Mozzarella cheese made with gt Kombucha, nonfat powder milk,
your favorite oil, and a microwave. All done in less than
30 minutes
Why make mozzarella cheese from nonfat powdered milk? For one you have total control of the kind of oil being put in your body. Remember food is medicine. The wrong fats can hurt our body by clogging our arteries, etc. The good fats are healthy because they have a lot of nutrition that our body loves and readily absorbs. Good oils also makes a great intestinal cleaner by helping move and dissolve any encrusted matter in our colon. We need to keep our colon clean and healthy and oil is a good way to do this. My cardiologist told me to have a tablespoon of a healthy oil before each meal if I wanted to lose weight. It was years before I took his advice. He was right, I am slowly losing weight adding healthier oils to my diet. Homemade mozzarella cheese is a great way to oblige. Of course all in moderation right?
Mozzarella cheese is so easy to make and all it takes is a few ingredients that most kitchens might have on hand. NO RENNET TABLETS OR THERMOMETER NEEDED HERE! I prefer this nonfat powdered milk recipe because I get to control what goes in my body and I want to continue to remain diabetic free. With this recipe, I get to add the oil I choose to use. If I am going for Italian flavor, I would use extra virgin olive oil. If I am looking for a sandwich cheese flavor, I would add butter as my oil. If I want cheese and crackers I think I would go with grapeseed oil. You can use any oil. Peanut oil of course will give it a nutty flavor.They will all work fine. Ready? Its so easy. Here it goes...
Ingredients:
Warm water 3 cups
Nonfat powder milk 2 1/3 cups
Oil 1/2 cup of your favorite oil.
Apple cider vinegar or lemon juice, 1 cup (I used my gt kombucha with a ph of 2.5 and worked fine) Note any kind will work.
Sea Salt 1 teaspoon
Pot, stainless steel or glass greased well on the bottom and sides.
Bowl, microwave safe
Ice, two cups in two cups water for the cold set.
microwave oven
Instructions:
Mix warm water, oil with nonfat powder milk in blender.
Heat greased pot till it begins to smoke.
Add milk and stir the bottom to avoid burning on the bottom.
Add vinegar and stir to mix and let sit for 10 minutes.
Next I added the vinegar. REMOVE
FROM THE STOVE and
let it sit covered for 10 minutes.
The curds are floating
on top and have
separated most of
curds and whey.
Strain whey from the curds
Oops don't do this. I was
multi-tasking lol.
Transfer curds to a
microwavable bowl. Rinse
with warm water, being careful
not to lose the curds and they
will appear to liquify.
Heat for 1 minute in the
microwave. Drain whey,
and keep folding curds with a
utinsil because it is hot. Add Salt
and or spices now.
Continue microwaving in increments of 30 seconds
keeping it warm thus soft and workable,
draining whey each time. and
folding over until it somewhat
has a pull and a shine to it.
About 3 times.
Once it is done and shiny like this one,
put in a bowl of ice water to set. It's done.
Dry and store unused cheese in the
refrigerator, and enjoy
It's still warm in the center but looks good
enough to eat.
As you can see it melts very well. I topped my pita bread
with my melted mozzarella and my homemade
Chunky Tomato & Jalapeno Preserves. Yum.
Well that's about it for now. I truly hope you try this easy recipe. Be creative in the kitchen, and at the same time $ave $$$. Have fun, and be well. Remember food is medicine. Many blessing and thank you for letting me be of service.
I've been in the mood for some sweet and SPICY CHUNKY TOMATO AND JALAPENO PRESERVES. It's been a while since I have made it. It reminds me of my old cherry tomato patch back at my old home. I sure miss the home grown taste of fresh tomatoes. I used to make gift baskets and always had a jar of this in there. You cannot find these preserves in your local markets. You would have to pay a pretty price for just a few ounces of this at a specialty store. Here it cost me $3.00 for 28 ounces of my preserves. Right now I'm thinking of a grilled cheese sandwich with a smear of this inside, or with cheese and crackers. You can always multiply this recipe and can this for shelf storage using your favorite canning method and store this in your pantry or food storage.
Okay, ready? Lets do it.
Ingredients:
Tomatoes 16 oz of cooked and peeled
Jalapenos diced and seeded Use according to taste. (I used 1/3 pound and threw in some seeds. Hot! HOT! HOT!
Red onion 1 medium diced
Garlic 2 large cloves minced
Sugar 2 cups. (I used brown sugar, and yes it's a lot but that's why I make it hot to use less. Lol)
Lemon juice 1/2 cup
Salt 1/2 tablespoon
Pepper 1 teaspoon
1. Here I mashed whole cooked
tomatoes by hand leaving me with
chunky tomato pieces. Perfect.
2. Put all the ingredients in a
non aluminum pot and simmer on low.
Stirring occasionally, scraping the bottom,
making sure not to let it burn.
3. This has been reduced by about 2/3.
You can now see the tomatoes
have a translucent look like candy
and looks ready to eat
4. Voila!! Homemade Chunky Tomato & Jalapeno Preserves!!
Store this in the refrigerator, or you can can this for shelf storage.
See? So easy to make, it just took a few ingredients, low heat, time, and love. Nothing artificial here. Just a bunch of tomatoes full of lycopene and vitamin C. You get the Selenium in the jalapenos and onions. Then there's the natural antibiotics with the garlic. Yes, it's processed but you do get concentrated benefits of most of the nutrition here. Best of all, it tastes good, and is a delightful alternative to other jams, jellies, and preserves. I hope you like this recipe as well. Simple, cheap and delicious. It makes great gifts especially for the holidays in a gift basket with cheese and crackers.
Please feel free to share this blog as this is what I love to do...share. After all, when you are in service of others, your in service with our almighty Heavenly Father. I thank the Lord for all my many blessings.
Thank you for visiting my blog and for allowing me to be of service.
Many blessings to all,
A dairy-free, fat-free, low calorie iced mango dessert, serves 5-6, for under $1.00.
Summer is here and the heat is on. There are a variety of fruits in season, and mango is one of them. I found this one pound bag of 100 % mango pulp at the dollar store. Good deal as frozen is second best to fresh.
Anyway, I want to share this very lite mango refreshing Dairy-Free dessert. Lite, because it has NO-FAT AND IS LOW IN SUGAR. Besides low in calories it cost less than $1.00 to make, and serves 5-6 servings. It only takes minutes to prepare, and there is nothing artificial about this right?
I'd say this is healthier than any other store or restaurant product similar to this homemade dessert. Where else can you really control the fat/sugar content? Nowhere unless you pay for it in a specialty health shop.
Here is how I did it and this is what I used...
Ingredients:
Mango 1/3 pound of fresh or frozen
Ice 3-4 cups
Water 1 cup
Sugar 2-3 tablespoons ( Yes you can substitute)
Vanilla 1 teaspoon
Lemon Juice 1 teaspoon
Blender capable of pulverizing ice. I use my Vita-Mix.
Put all the ingredients in the blender on high, till the desired thickness is achieved. Serve immediately as it will begin to melt. This is when the straw comes in handy. Slurp. Yum.
So here you have it. I hope you like this recipe. I am sure your loved ones will. If you like my blog please feel to share and tell your friends about it. I do have healthy,simple, tasty, and cheap recipes here on this site. In this day and age, with the high cost of living, along with medical illnesses we need all the help we can get.
Thank you for allowing me to be of service. I thank the Lord for all that I do.
VERY EASY LOW-FAT CARAMEL SAUCE DONE IN 20 MINUTES.
Here is a lowfat caramel I make using only 2 1/2 tablespoons of butter. Not bad since the regular caramel recipes uses over a cup of butter/margarine. Yuck, margarine... artery clogging gunk in my opinion. I rarely buy store bought sweeets or candy because, I have no control over the fats and sugars or the quality or preservatives used to be able for the sweet to remain on the stores shelves for long periods of time. This recipes renders two cups of delicious dark caramel. Dark because I used dark brown organic sugar. I plan on using 1/4 of this to make oatmeal and almond rolls. I add anything to make it healthier, yet delicious. But that's another recipe. lol. You can use it as a sauce, dip apples, drizzle on cakes, cookies, ice cream, yogurt, or your favorite smoothie or iced coffee if you drink coffee. It's so easy, and costs no more than $2.00 to make. Here goes.
Ingredients:
Sugar 2 cups (I used dark brown organic but white will work and should give you a lighter color)
Water 1/2 cup
Powdered Milk 1/2 cup (dairy or non dairy)
Butter 2-3 tablespoons
Salt 1 teaspoon
Stainless steel pot is preferred
Flat bottom spoon better for stirring the bottom of the pan to avoid burning and or bad flavor.
Cold plate. store in refrigerator or freezer until ready to use
Brown sugar, powdered milk, water, butter
and vanilla. Just add some love
First, I put the water to boil, then add all the ingredients and stir until it is all dissolved. I put heat on medium low and let it low boil stirring once until the water has evaporated. It is not necessary to add the water but I do because it gives me time to prepare the other ingredients without constantly watching it the first few minutes or until the water has evaporated.
Add all ingredients. Stir until dissolved
on medium low heat for a low boil.
Stir once the first 5 minutes
So at 10 minutes it has thickened up but I want to be able to work with it and want it thicker so I can roll in other ingredients and make sweet healthier edibles. It is now that you take the plate out of the refrigerator. Drop a spoonful o the cold plate swirl it a bit to help it cool off. It should instantly cool and harden. Draw a line through the middle with a spoon. You can see how thick it is. This is when you will decide to cook it more or stop. Remember, the longer you cook it, the longer you have to stir. I don't want to sound repetitive but I just want to emphasize to keep stirring. lol.
It's almost done... keep stirring so the
bottom does not build up and burn.
This is at 15 minutes.
This was 10 minutes at low boil.
(medium low heat). Great for sauce.
I want it thicker, So another
10 minutes at same temperature
It all depends on how thick you want your caramel. The thicker, chewier, you want your caramel, the longer you would have to cook it. Careful, use my 10, 20 minute pictures as a guideline if you like. Note the longer you cook it the longer you have to stir the bottom to avoid the bottom from burning.
I stopped cooking my caramel after 20 minutes to my desired texture in the first top picture. Make sure you store in a clean container, and put in the refrigerator. If I want to use it as a sauce you can reheat for 5 second increments in a microwave safe container to turn it back to a semi-liquid state, like to dip apples or cookies. However it is just like I wanted.
Well, one more time I hope you like my simple, delicious recipe. So easy, and so affordable to make. Why not treat your family and show them what you can do in the kitchen. True they will think it took hours to make and would appreciate every bite. But shhh, I'll never tell how easy it was.
I plan spooning it out cold and add crushed almonds and oats to make a breakfast bar. Yum right? In doing so means... less cholesterol, especially triglycerides. Hey if we are going to cheat, might as well as make it good. What are you going to do with your caramel sauce? I plan on figuring out how to make this in a canning jar so I can store this in the pantry and not the refrigerator. This would be a great food storage item. That too is another blog.
Please feel free to share. Thanks for visiting and many blessings:)
Pulverized dried cheddar cheese stored in a airtight
container.
Here is a very easy recipe I use often for dehydrating cheese without a dehydrator. I simply use my oven light. I found this 8 ounce block of 100 percent white cheddar cheese at the dollar store. That was a good find as they usually sell imitation cheese. And I only use the real cheese. I don't need it right now so I decided to save it for a rainy day. Anyway, here is how I do it.
Ingredients:
One block cheese, frozen and defrosted (frozen changes the texture and makes it easier to crumble once it has defrosted.)
1-2 large fine mesh screens. I used a large cooking splatter screen.
Oven with pilot light or oven light
drip pan or paper towels to catch oil drippings
paper towels to rub dried cheese to absorb any oils.
Clean storage container with tight fitting lid
Instructions:
Unwrap defrosted cheese and crumble as fine possible. Previously frozen cheese crumbles a lot easier.
Spread evenly on a mesh screen and put in the oven using either your oven light, or if you're lucky, a pilot light.
Take out after 15 hours and rub well with paper towels to absorb any excess oil. Careful, it should be dripping with oil.
Put back in the oven for another 15 hours or until dry.
15 hours drying white cheddar cheese after I rubbed them well with paper towels to absorb the excess oils, as it was very oily. Yay less calories.
Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Voila your done! Didn't I say it was easy? Homemade dried cheddar cheese. And to think I only paid a dollar for this 8 ounce container of dried cheddar cheese. Not bad right? I plan on making a white sauce with parsley and sprinkle some powdered cheese to make it white and cheesy. This would go great over some pasta, chicken, or vegetables like steamed broccoli. Yum. How about breadsticks rolled in cheese sprinkled with garlic and baked? Maybe on a salad? How would you use this dried cheese? Any suggestions?
Here is the end result of 30 hours of oven drying, and rubbing as much oil off and pulverizing it in the blender again
Well I thank you for allowing me to be of service. Many blessings,
This is what I do with day old bread that was reduced in price by 3/4 because it was made the day before. That's how I do it it these days. I got this large prepared garlic bread for 59 cents at the local market. Regularly $1.99. Not bad right? Especially if it could feed a family of 4 for about $2.00. I had some left-over spaghetti sauce (maybe 20 cents worth). So I will proceed.
Ingredients:
One garlic bread (split in half lenth-wise)
Parsley flakes 2 tablespoons (fresh if desired)
Spaghetti sauce 1/2 cup (or sliced tomatoes)
Dried parmesan cheese (mozzarella is fine)
Oregano (a pinch of dried crushed between your fingers on each half of bread)
Optional:
Add your favorite topping like mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, etc or meat.
Instructions:
Preheat oven 400
Scrape most of the butter off if there is an excess.
Sprinkle one tablespoon parsley on each half spreading on butter evenly.
Add Spaghetti sauce spreading evenly and carefully not to disturb the parsley.
Add cheese, again spreading evenly
Top with any of your favorite toppings.
Bake for 10 minutes. Wait a couple of minutes before slicing. So tasty, so easy and so cheap. I got the pepperoni at the dollar store and only used 1/3 of it. So bottom line this cost no more that $2.00 and would definitely serve 4. This would go great served with minestrone soup, or Italian salad.
