Making food from Scratch!

A Story of Progressively Processed Eating Habits
The longer I worked full time, the more responsibilities I started to take on... the more processed food I started eating.  Pasta sauce, canned vegetables instead of fresh, packaged products... FAST FOOD!  I was tired, hurried, and frankly getting a bit lazy...

Since my diagnosis of  Meniere's Disease, I realize that EVERYTHING has tons of sodium! ...and I can't eat it. So I've started to make ALL my food.  Have any of you been to Fresh and Easy Market?  I found some great natural snacks without added sugar/salt/preservatives.  It's so much work, but now that I have to make my food, I'm getting creative and making/freezing things ahead.  Feels like my childhood in Oregon with all the canning and freezing.  Who woulda thought?  I'm right back to my hippie roots.  I'm even composting.. whoa.

A couple tips for going fresh:

Buy fresh chicken and separate/freeze it yourself.  Frozen chicken has added sodium!  Grrrrrr.  I didn't know at first, but my scientist sister-in-law clued me in.

Boil tomatoes, then when the skins "crack" take them out of the water and slip off the skin.  Load tomatoes back into the pot, simmer with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil, thyme, and oregano for about 40 min.  Let cool and then freeze in small containers.  Makes a great base for soups, crock pot dishes, or alone as spaghetti sauce.


Cut up potatoes, onions, tomatoes (or use the tomato base from above), garlic, parsnips, and carrots.  Place them on the bottom of the crock pot.  Put frozen chicken on top, then cook for about 4 hours on LOW.  If you try to cook on high, the chicken won't thaw properly and the veggies will be funky.  If you use thawed chicken, your veggies may not be done when the chicken is... I have accidentally left this dish on low for almost 8 hours and it was still tasty :) just a tad dry.  Serve over rice, brown if you have time to make it!


For tasty brown rice - saute the dry rice with seasoned oil (Target, randomly, has a nice selection of infused oils), garlic, and onions.  The rice will retain the flavor better than if you had added it to the water.  A lot of my dishes are served over rice to make them more filling. 


Ok, that's it for now... I'm hungry!  Enjoy your New Year's and eat some healthy food in between the parties :)

XOXO
Andrea