Uncategorized – Page 868 – Plain and Not So Plain

homemade American cheese

amy / 08/28/2014

As you know, we have been diligently trying to rid ourselves of processed foods this past month. There is one food that I buy each month because it makes the best grill cheese sandwiches.

I know it is probably one of the worst foods that I like to have along with my coffee creamer. Technically I don’t even think you can consider it cheese. It is more of a scientific mix of milk, whey, milkfat, artificial flavorings, oh and dyes to give it that orange color.

But how can you make homemade tomato soup and NOT make grill cheese sandwiches??? When we make our sandwiches I add some “real” cheese along with the American cheese to make myself feel better about feeding it to my children. Why shouldn’t I just MAKE the American cheese myself? Well that is what I did this week.

You will need the following to make this:

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1 Tablespoon water
12 ounces of colby cheese, you can use cheddar if you like
1 Tablespoon dry milk powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons milk

In your food processor put your shredded cheese, powdered milk, salt, and cream of tartar. Pulse for a few seconds to combine the mixure.

In a saucepan bring your milk to a boil. Remove from heat.In a separate bowl sprinkle the gelatin into your water. Stir with a fork. After dissolved stir this into the milk until mixed well.

Slowly pour your milk mixture into your food processor and process until smooth.

It will take about 1 minute.

Transfer your mixture to a pan that you have lined with plastic wrap. You can use a bread pan, a square pan, even a plastic dish. Smooth down the top and spread out evenly in pan.

Cover with plastic wrap. In my photo, I doubled the recipe that is why it fits a square pan. Refrigerate for about 3 hours until completely hardened.

Enjoy it immediately. We sliced some off and made grilled cheese sandwiches and I didn’t even add any other cheese to it. Tastes delicious.

Eliminating Processed Foods Series—our month long challenge part 9

amy / 08/27/2014

We have been slowly chipping away and taking steps to rid ourselves from processed foods by making them ourselves. It is interesting because it does not cost me much more time to cook homemade healthy foods. I do when I am learning how to do something like make my own pantry staples–ranch mix, taco seasoning, etc. But after it is already made and I need to make more it really doesn’t take much time at all.

Our grocery bill has gone done significantly. I am definitely using up what foods we have in our pantry and freezer currently before buying more. Even though I shop each week and buy fresh fruits and veges usually about every 1 1/2 weeks, it hasn’t made our grocery budget higher.

One of the last things on our list was to make most of my grocery budget go to fresh fruits and vegetables.

This has been fairly easy right now. We have a local farmers market come to the area each week and I have been able to go and pick up in bulk items we can eat for the week. I was able to get 1/2 bushels of cucumbers and early apples and that is great snacking food for our family. It cost me $14 for a half bushel of apples but it has lasted us almost a week and a half for snacking on. If I bought 3 bags of Doritoes at the store it would cost me roughly the same and we would have devoured it in a sitting. I know in the weeks to come, apples will get even cheaper and we will be able to purchase bushels for fairly low price and have and endless supply of snacking.

Our progress to get rid of snacking 3 times a day has worked out greatly. The only person that I give a snack to in the morning between breakfast and lunch is the 2 and sometimes 3 year old. I can usually tell if they are exceptionally whiny that they just need something in their bellies.

For our afternoon snack, I usually just have the children grab an apple or whatever fruit we have on hand.

Our night time snack used to be popsicles but we have FINALLY eaten all of our popsicles that we made this summer. I only had to make 2 big batches of frozen treats but they lasted through many friends visiting and many nights of having a cool treat.

If I know the children did not eat much of their dinner, I might offer a banana, or some small snack before bedtime.

For the most part, if I know a child can go just a little bit longer till the next meal, I say, “well it is good you are hungry then I know you will eat most all of your dinner.”

Our last goal for foods was to replace our store bought meats/poultry with organic, farm raised, animal products.

We currently have chickens and ducks that we let graze on the land in our yard. This supplies us with an endless supply of eggs.

We don’t currently buy organic farm raised chicken or beef. We would like to look further into doing that in the near future. We don’t eat tons of meat and most of the meat that I do make, I add plant products to help stretch it such as bulgur burger.

In time, Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither will my food habits be changed all at once. It gives us something to look forward to doing.

Look for our last week of the month’s menu here.