Well, I am at the three week mark in my grocery fast, and at the beginning of this week, I had only spent $35 (of the $50 I had budgeted for two weeks). (See Weeks 1 and 2 here.) I was encouraged about the dollar amount, but I was somewhat discouraged that it didn’t feel like any of our food stores were going down that quickly. That part didn’t really get any better during Weeks 3 and 4 as I went on a five day writing retreat and ate out each evening with my daughter (who was there for her master’s seminar) for my one meal a day. (Interested in OMAD–One Meal a Day??? Check out my Daily Intermittent Fasting videos, audios, slideshows, and posts here!). While I was gone writing, my husband did manage to use up veggies, broth, and tomato juice since he made himself vegetable soups every night! He didn’t use up any of the meat we had shredded and frozen the previous week, so our stores didn’t really get depleted. But…here is what we did use and do:

Holiday cookies in January? When you’re trying to empty the freezer, you bake them and take them!

1) Still trying to avoid the whole “I really want to make these bars with these ingredients” mindset,

so I took Christmas cookies to a dance, using up the dough balls I still had in the freezer. I was also careful to not throw away foods just because we were done having them for leftovers! I froze leftover mashed potatoes that I will use for Shepherd’s Pie and leftover egg casserole. Now the trick is to get into the freezer and use them!

6-acre grocery store during a grocery fast???!! What was I thinking!?

Huge reduced produce section gave me fresh produce to go with all the meats in my freezer!

I had $65 left and spent $66! Yay me!

2) At the end of my writing retreat, my daughter and I traveled home via Cincinnati, Ohio to the largest grocery store in the area

The 6-acre Jungle Jim’s. I tried to talk myself out of my grocery fast, noting that going there is a once-a-year-or-less event, but I really wanted to keep using my food stores. So….I decided to keep my list to a minimum, do some comparison shopping, look some of the foods I was after up on Amazon for future reference, and not buy anything extra pricey. As it turns out, I had $65 left for the month–and without even counting as I went, my total was $66!!! I was soooo excited! You can see my cart and grocery belt in the pics–I really cashed in on their huge reduced produce section! Ray Baby was snapping reduced green beans for hours during Sunday football the next day!

Nothing was wasted! If it didn’t get eaten, it was frozen for a later date!

3) As I mentioned, I have been trying to be super diligent about not just tossing a little of this or a little of that.

When we had seven kids at home, it felt like things just eventually got used up. Not the case with just two of us! So I cleaned out the fridge and made a great 7 Layer Salad for our grandson’s birthday party that everybody really loved–and true to not throwing out soft apples, I made Ray some apple salad.

Apple salad is a great way to use up soft apples!

Mayo-PB Apple Salad!

4) I used the veggies over the next two weeks and am happy to say that I didn’t throw any of them out–not even a soft green pepper!

Yay me! I made stir fried zucchini, peppers, onions, sprouts, and mushrooms (see steak picture). I made roasted green beans. I made salads. I made dip for fresh veggies. I just babied those produce items every day, using them to their fullest!

Parmesan green beans—my favorite snack to open my eating window each day!

7-Layer Salad is a great way to empty the fridge!

5) We had a unique problem that I knew we would have to face–we HAD to eat steak!

For five years, we had accumulated Omaha Steaks that our business received as gifts a couple of times a year. We didn’t really know how to make steaks! With seven kids on one income for over two dozen years, we never bought steaks. We used meat as more of a “condiment” in combination dishes–lasagna, chicken spaghetti, tuna casserole, enchiladas, etc. We didn’t serve that many meats as “per person” entrees (except chicken breasts…oh the chicken breasts! ha ha). So we dug in the freezer and committed ourselves to using them. We started with the most amazing Pan Fried Sirloin, which I was sooo happy with. I learned how to make steak–and make it really yummy tasting! Read all about that experience and the recipe here!

My first pan-fried steak was a huge success! Now I have to make steak every week for the rest of the grocery fast!

I ended the month on budget–with $25 a week average spent! And we ate like a queen and king! 🙂

Jason and I did a great job depleting the ice cream supplies!

P.S. What do you like to make to “use up” produce? What is your family’s favorite stir fried veggie combination?

The post Eight Week Grocery Fast – Weeks 3 and 4 appeared first on Character Ink.

Now that I am done homeschooling, I have been expanding my home business offerings. My husband and I are still writing and teaching parenting through Character Ink/Raising Kids With Character. I continue to write curriculum (including new downloadable products and finishing my Meaningful Composition series). I still teach Cottage Classes to homeschoolers one day a week. I added private students last year—and I love it! So much like my homeschooling days with my kids. This year I also added my Plexus supplement business.

But, when you’ve homeschooled for thirty-two years and filled nearly every minute of every week day with work you love (teaching my kids and being with them!), you just need even more work when you are in your mid-fifties! 🙂 So I have started a healthy living blog to share my sugar-free baking, healthy mixes, time management, and work-at-home secrets.

I would love to teach you there in addition to Character Ink! And to get you started, I have written a one-hundred page e-book that teaches readers how to cut sugar out of their family’s life—what to substitute when, where to purchase substitutions, how to use them, and more. It includes incremental recipes to get you started while you purchase few ingredients in the beginning (something crucial for new sugar-free/healthier cooks).

You can get the free e-book here! Check out the blog while you are there—I already have some great info up to help you.

Question: What are your greatest frustrations in trying to cook and bake more healthfully for your family? How can I help you?

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The post New Healthy Living Blog and Free E-Book appeared first on Character Ink.

Hi there! I am in the process of moving my low-carb recipes in my low-carb mixes over to my health and wellness page, plexus to feel great. This brown sugar and powdered sugar post can be found over there. Thanks for joining me!

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The post Make Sugar-Free Confectioner’s Sugar (Powdered Sugar) and Brown Sugar appeared first on Character Ink.

If you follow our Crock Pot posts, you have read about the many soups and stews that I do for our lunch on the days that we teach classes. Our oldest son is soup-crazy, so I started the tradition for him as he comes to teach with me each week.

Classes are over for the summer, but I do want to continue the crock pot tradition because so many of the entrees in the crock pot are so simple–and one dish!

Today I did a beef roast, potatoes, carrots, and green beans in the crock pot. While I don’t have a specific recipe for you, I do have many tips and ideas for the weekly “meat and potatoes” meal that I do.

(See the notes in “Low Carb” and “Family-Friendly Low Carb” annotations beneath the “recipe” to make lower-carb, lower-glycemic number, more nutritious roasts and veggies. They will all use the same methodology that I am describing below.)

Here you go:

1. By knowing that one meal is going to be “meat and potatoes” (preferably all in one dish) meal, I know every week that one meal is “covered,” so to speak (without too much planning and thinking). (Listen to my podcast episode, “Five Tips to Become More Efficient in the Kitchen,” to learn about keeping ingredients on hand for a certain number of quick meals!) My meat and potatoes meals usually consist of one of the following:

~Cheesy potatoes with ham
~Beef roast with veggies (like above)
~Pork roast sided with potato wedges in oven or with the veggies in it (like above)
~Pork roast that is more of a sweet and sour type sided with rice (not true meat and potatoes!)
~Beef stew
~Chicken stew
~Meatloaf with whole potatoes and/or carrots and/or rutabagas and/or radishes around it
~Beef roast with mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower (seldom–too much extra work!)

Final product–beef roast with potatoes, carrots, and green beans

2. I almost always cook my roasts in cooking bags—even if they are in the crock pot. I don’t usually buy expensive cuts of meat, so the small price I am paying for the “oven cooking bag” helps make the meat more tender.

3. Sometimes if I find one of those pork roasts or corn beef roasts with the seasonings already in the packet or on the meat, I go for them! Something about knowing the meat is tenderized and seasoned makes that day’s main meal feel really easy!

4. I seldom cook my vegetables in with my meat. It sometimes tastes as though the potatoes are overcooked in order to get the meat done, etc. Thus, I always steam+ my veggies in the micro and add them to the oven bag (or dump the oven bag the last bit) during the last hour or two to mix flavors. (If you are not opposed to using a microwave oven, I encourage you to do more and more cooking in it. I put fresh veggies in (one type at a time), put a 1/4 cup of seasoned broth on them, and cover–and steam cook in the microwave until nearly done. I also do this on stir fry night for stir fried veggies, like carrots, that take longer to cook than the other stir fried veggies I am using.) +For potatoes, I often use my “potato trick.”

5. To make stews (chicken or beef), I cut up my meat and put it in the crock pot early in the day with either store bought soups or homemade soups and a small amount (cup or two, depending on size of crock and amount of meat) of rich broth. (If using canned broth, I add base to the broth to deepen the taste.) I also add onions, bay leaves, and other seasonings. This becomes my “starter” for my stews. Then later in the day, when the meat is nearly done, I add the steamed veggies as described above in number four.

6. The richest, best beef roast I make is rolled roast with mushroom soup, deep broth, onions, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Before I put the roast in that mixture, I rub it with a tablespoon or two of coffee, some garlic, and my All Purpose Seasoning Mix. This makes the best gravy ever!

I love having a day each week dedicated to “meat and veggies.” It fills my four guys up–and gives my mind a partial day off from thinking about dinner too much! Happy crocking!

Recipe Labels and Variations

Low Carb (LC): These can be very low carb if you switch up the veggies that you add. The lowest carb veggies that you might want in one of these dishes are rutabagas, radishes, Daikon radishes, onions, celery, and green beans. They rutabagas and radishes are good potato substitutes. I highly recommend that you pre-cook your rutabagas and radishes in deep broth with seasonings (either in the microwave or on the stove). I don’t fully cook my potatoes and/or radishes/rutabagas, but cook them about eighty percent done in the seasoned broth. Then they are ready to add to my meat near the end.

Family-Friendly Low Carb (FFLC): While white potatoes are high in carbs and high on the glycemic index, you can still make the “meat and veggies” types of meals on a healthier eating plan. For one thing, if you have small children or teens (who need the carbs), you can still use white potatoes, but also use carrots and green beans (and possibly make the ratio of potatoes to the others a little lower–fewer potatoes). Carrots have been villainized by the low carb industry for years, but carrots are only slightly higher in carbs than green beans (8 carbs per half cup vs. 4 carbs per half cup..compare to potatoes at 12 carbs per half cup). Also, when combining the three vegetables, your average carb count for the vegetable portion of the entree or stew is eight carbs, certainly a healthy number for most people who are not eating keto or extremely low carb.

Store-Bought-Stella (SBS): How can a Stella make this home-made meal type each week and not spend too much time? Few ideas: (1) Buy roast seasoning packets (some come with the bags), so that seasoning time is greatly reduces, and you don’t have to think about what seasonings to use; (2) Use canned, store-bought soups for parts of the liquid and to make no-mix creamy gravies at the end; (3) Use Veg-All canned large stew vegetables in place of the veggies. No chopping, cleaning, or cutting. Just be sure to add them near the end and in the liquid/broth, so that they are well seasoned. (4) Use store-bought baby carrots and frozen green beans. Use the deeply-seasoned broth and zap them in the micro before adding to the meat/cooking bag.

Homemade Hannah (HH): This is very homemade! You can make this completely whole-foods as written above. You can also make your own soups to add creaminess to the final product (or to make a stew rather than roast). You can also make your own seasoning combinations, such as my Italian Dressing Mix or All Purpose Seasoning Mix.

Freezer Cooking (FC): This is one of those “have these ingredients on hand each week to make this type of dish” recipe rather than a freezer entree. However, you could create a “meal starter” packet with meats and vegetables: (1) Place the piece of meat in freezer bag and pour seasoned broth over it (not covering it; just as described in “recipe” above); (2) Toss frozen green beans and frozen carrots and frozen onions all in another bag with some seasoned broth. (Or cook baby carrots til nearly done and toss with frozen green beans and onions with seasonings.); (3) Put the two bags down in a larger bag and label. To use, defrost in bags. Put meat and liquid into cooking bag and cook as directed in “recipe.” Add pre-cooked veggies bag of ingredients in towards the end (as described above). In this way, you do have a “freezer starter”–and it is all one dish, full meal! (Love that part!)

Oldie Goldie Family Recipes (OG): I have done my roasts as described in this post ever since I can remember. I learned the coffee granules trick twenty-five years ago, and a deep, seasoned roast with the gravy made from that soup/coffee/broth combination is always on our Christmas day menu!

Trim Healthy Mama (THM): Most meats that are good as roasts/stews are more fatty than the typical E meal for THM, so under nearly all circumstances, this would be an S meal. You need to tweak the veggies to keep the carbs at five to six grams or so. If you find meats that are under six or seven grams of fat (i.e. lean pork roasts or if you want to do a skinless “chicken roast,” you could use more carby vegetables and create an E crock pot “roast and veggies” entree.

Sugar Free (SF): No sugar added! Be sure to check your cans if adding canned soups, sauces, or veggies to your entree.

Gluten Free (GF): This can definitely be-free if using the gluten-free seasoning mixes and no soups that contain gluten-laiden thickeners.

Low Carb Mixes (LCM): This “recipe” doesn’t necessarily call for one of my mixes, but I use my All Purpose Seasoning Mix in my roasts/stews.

The post Crock Pot Tuesday: Beef and Pork Roasts in the Crock Pot appeared first on Character Ink.

I have been building up my repertoire of mixes lately. (Check out my Basic Low Carb Flour Mix, All Purpose Seasoning Mix, and BBQ Base mixes!)

If you are low carbing, you will want to be careful of seasoning mixes and packets. Many have thickening agents (i.e. arrowroot or cornstarch); others have anti-clumping properties, which can add carbohydrates to the total. Of course, many of us home cooks have been doing many homemade things for years and years—including sauces, seasoning mixes, and more—in an effort to either save money or be able to put into our foods exactly what we want (and know what that is!).

Regardless of your reason for using homemade mixes and seasonings, I think you will agree that every home cook needs an Italian Dressing Mix in her cupboards!

I “developed” this recipe by combining some ingredients from the “Make a Mix Cookery” cookbook (though it doesn’t have the seasoning mix itself), a knock off “Good Season” dressing mix, and a couple of other from Pinterest. I knew it needed some red pepper flakes for some kick—and I can never use too much basil in my cooking! Also, some do not have any sweetener in them at all, which I think is a mistake in such a “spicy” dressing and mix.

If you want to become a “make-a-mix” cook, then this is the the book for you! You can see how worn out mine is—and this is my third copy! See that little sticky note? That is from a dozen years ago! It makes me smile…

Of course, this mix can be used to make salad dressing (Olive Garden knock off recipe here!). But there are so many other uses for this!

Homemade croutons!

Just like my all purpose and BBQ sauce base, I constantly use it as a seasoning mix blend (another step or two I can eliminate when cooking—not having to get out ten spices at one time). Oh, and of course, for marinades. I love to marinate—or even marinate and then stick the entire bag in the freezer for a quick freezer entrée later.
I will be posting many recipes with this mix—including Philly Cheesesteak Casserole, Homemade Croutons (oh my word!), Cracker Barrel Grilled Chicken Tenderloins, steak salad, kielbasa stir fry, and Creamy Crock Pot Chicken Breasts. And some marinades. So stay tuned!

Roasted vegetables are simple: mix olive oil, broth, and one of my seasoning mixes. Drizzle over veggies on a large roasting pan and roast! Try this Italian Dressing Mix or All Purpose Seasoning Mix or BBQ Base Mix!!!

Oh, for those just sticking their toes into the whole mix cookery, I have the half measurements in parentheses following each ingredient. You will wish you had doubled or tripled it—not halved it. But baby steps, right? 🙂

Mixes make dinners for family and friends a cinch to put together!

Let me know what you think—or if you tweak it, please share your tweaks with me and why you like it better. I’m always into learning!

Italian Dressing Mix

2015-08-03 08:06:11

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Ingredients

1. 2 TBSP dried basil (half 1 TBSP)
2. 2 TBSP dried parsley (half 1 TBSP)
3. 4 TBSP dried oregano (half 2 TBSP)
4. 2 TBSP garlic powder (half 1 TBSP)
5. 2 tsp dried rosemary (half 1 tsp)
6. 1 tsp dried thyme (half ½ tsp)
7. 2 TBSP onion powder (half 1 TBSP)
8. 2 tsp black pepper (half 1 tsp)
9. ½ tsp crushed red pepper (half ¼ tsp)
10. 2 TBSP bulk sweetener* (half 1 TBSP)
11. ½ tsp celery salt (half ¼ tsp)
12. 1 TBSP salt (half ½ TBSP)

Instructions

1. Combine all thoroughly.
2. Store in airtight container.
3. Use liberally!
4. Yields 1 cup.

Notes

1. Note: Amounts for half a recipe are listed after each ingredient.
2. Also, for uses in recipes that call for Italian Salad Dressing packets, 2 TBSP of this recipe is equivalent to one store-bought packet.

By Donna Reish

Character Ink https://characterinkblog.com/

*Any sugar-free bulk sweetener (granulated) that measures cup-for-cup like sugar will work this recipe. These include (but are not limited to) Swerve, Splenda, Erythritol, and Xylitol. You will have to convert the measurements if you use a Trim Healthy Mama sweetener, Pyure, Truvia, or granulated stevia. For more information about sweeteners, see this post.

Recipe Labels and Variations

Low Carb (LC): This is a very low carb recipe with no added carbs—assuming you use a zero net carb bulk sweetener like erythritol, xylitol, Truvia, Pyure, Splenda, etc.

Family-Friendly Low Carb (FFLC): The sweetener in this is minute, and nobody can tell this is a “low carb food”—for those trying to persuade their family to enjoy foods with few carbohydrates/lower on glycemic index.

Store-Bought-Stella (SBS): While there are many seasoning combinations out there for SBS’s, be sure that if you are concerned about carbs (and you don’t’ choose to make this one!) that you read the labels carefully. If you want to use the packets of Italian Dressing mix for the convenience, you may use it in all recipes on my blog that call for Italian Seasoning Mix!

Homemade Hannah (HH): This is very homemade! You can make this completely whole-foods as written above—or make it even more homemade by using your own dried herbs.

Trim Healthy Mama (THM): These could be used in an S setting or an E setting—no real carbs and no fat as it is given (the mix)! Use it on all of that protein in both meal types! If you use it as part of a rub or as part of a marinade without fat, you may have an E or a FP. If you use it as it is traditionally used (with olive oil), it is an S.

Sugar Free (SF): Sugar-free and healthy option!

Gluten Free (GF): No fillers so no concern about hidden gluten.

Low Carb Mixes (LCM): This is one of over two dozen of my low carb mixes that I will be bringing to the blog this summer (after eighteen months of testing them!). While the mixes say low carb, they have family-friendly options, gluten-free options, and just “regular” options. Mixes fit all cooking styles—I’ve been using mixes for twenty-five years this month!

Please note: I am an affiliate for these products that I recommend. If you purchase these items through my links, I will earn a commission, but you will not pay more when buying a product through my link. 🙂

The post Italian Dressing Mix appeared first on Character Ink.

Revolution rolls. Oopsie buns. Cloud bread. Variations of this bread/bun/roll are all over the internet. Some have said that Dr. Atkins himself invented the original recipe, the revolution roll.

I’m not sure where the recipes originated, but I do know that when I added a little bit of my Basic Flour Mix (or finely-ground almond flour, see note below), these “Not-So-Oopsie” Rolls had more structure, were less “wet” to hold as sandwiches, and tasted amazing!

I have to classify this bread as one of my low carb finds of the year. I didn’t have to tweak it for weeks and make twenty to thirty versions of it (like I did for pizza crust!). I didn’t have to figure out a way to mask some taste that I couldn’t stomach. It was “just right.”

Make extra and store them in the freezer to have on hand anytime!

This bread has a mild flavor—not too non-grain-flour-tasting yet not too airy. I am one of the pickiest eaters I know—seriously, we are talking three or four non-starchy vegetables, and that is it! So when I say that you need to make these every week and put them in your freezer, you can trust me!

(I tell my kids that these taste sort of like King’s Hawaiian rolls without the flour and without bread texture or really any texture {that is why they are sometimes called cloud rolls!}. They don’t really believe me!)

Need suggestions on how to use these? I carry them in my lunch bag (I always carry a lunch/snack bag with low carb options in it) and pull one or two out whenever I get a sandwich from a fast-food place or even when I have a sit down lunch with friends or my kids. (I know a lot of people love the bun-less burgers or lettuce-wrapped sandwiches, but I like to feel like I am eating a real sandwich!) They make amazing buns for breakfast sandwiches. I don’t even drool over my son’s Mickey Dee’s bacon-egg-and-cheese biscuit any more. A turkey sausage patty (that I also pulled out of the freezer, pre-cooked and ready to go—are you seeing a theme here—low carb secret? Be prepared!) on one of these is a perfect breakfast. I really love all sandwiches on this.

I have been experimenting with making various sizes of these. I love to make mini ones to use for mini sausage breakfast sandwiches or mini chicken salad or chicken finger sandwiches. Perfect!

But savory isn’t the only use for these babies! Roll them in cinnamon-sugar (after baking or even when defrosted out of the freezer) and drizzle cream cheese frosting over them. Top them with sugar-free jam or no-sugar added pie filling. Sprinkle sugar-free chocolate chips over them, microwave until the chips are somewhat melted, and top with homemade whipped cream. Yum! Most recently, I have been making “jam sandwiches” out of two of them and packing them when I go teach. Makes me forget that I am on a “diet”!

An amazing low carb treat is this Not-So-Oopsie Bread toppied with my BEST Sugar-Free Strawberry Jam and whipped cream!

Yeah, you need to make these!

Not-So-Oopsie Rolls

2015-07-28 06:37:20

Yields 12

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Ingredients

1. 6 eggs, separated
2. ½ tsp cream of tartar alone
3. 4 TBSP cream cheese (half a bar), softened
4. 4 TBSP butter (half a stick), melted
5. 4 TBSP Basic Flour Mix* (or finely ground almond flour—see note)
6. 1 TBSP sugar-free bulk sweetener**
7. 1 tsp baking soda and ½ tsp cream of tartar mixed together
8. 1/3 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 F, and spray cooking spray on parchment that is placed on large cookie sheet(s) or jelly roll pans. (May omit parchment, but who doesn’t love using parchment?)
2. Separate egg whites from yolks.
3. Place whites in one mixing bowl, and yolks in another mixing bowl.
4. Add first cream of tartar (1/2 tsp) to egg whites and whip with stand mixer or hand mixer until stiff peaks form. (I love my Kitchen Aid for this—and most everything!) Set aside.
5. Beat egg yolks in separate mixing bowl.
6. To the beaten egg yolks, add softened cream cheese, melted butter, Basic Flour Mix*, bulk sweetener**, baking soda & cream of tartar mixture, and salt.
7. Beat this egg yolk mixture until thoroughly combined.
8. Gently fold egg yolk mixture into egg white mixture until combined (be careful not to stir or beat {should still be a whipped meringue texture}).
9. Spoon mixture mounds onto cookie sheet (twelve to fourteen total mounds).
10. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes convection (20 to 30 minutes regular), or until tops and edges are slightly browned. (Check at shortest cooking time.)

Character Ink https://characterinkblog.com/

*Basic Flour Mix—a non-grain flour, low carb flour mix. Find the recipe here. You may also use finely-ground almond flour by itself for this recipe, but the Basic Flour Mix combines non-grain, low carb flours so that no one type is too strong while still keeping a low carb count.
*Bulk sugar-free sweetener—sweeteners that can be used cup-for-cup like sugar work well in baked goods. These include THM Sweet Blend, erythritol, xyilitol, Splenda, and Swerve (or any combination thereof!). To learn more about choosing flours and sweeteners, check out my post “Low Carb Baking and Treat Making—What I Wish Someone Had Told Me.”

Recipe Labels and Variations

Low Carb (LC): This is a very low carb recipe with a potential of only ½ to one carb per roll depending on whether you use the Basic Flour Mix or almond flour and how many you make per recipe.

Family-Friendly Low Carb (FFLC): I can’t say much about how FFLC these are as I only share them with my husband since they are a little time-intensive (compared with, say, a muffin in a mug!). Both of us like these!

Store-Bought-Stella (SBS): To save money, some cooks might prefer to use Splenda rather than a natural (but more expensive) sweetener like erythritol or xylitol.

Homemade Hannah (HH): This is very homemade! You can make this completely whole-foods as written above.

Freezer Cooking (FC): This isn’t in my monthly freezer entrees because I make it nearly weekly! And yes, I do freeze them with parchment between them, and they turn out great!

Oldie Goldie Family Recipes (OG): I have just begun making these with our low carb cooking and baking over the past year; however, if you are looking for a way to get more protein into your kids (and have less carby breads) or a way to utilize eggs or feed your kids more eggs, this recipe would be a great family recipe. You could even use white, wheat, oat, or gluten-free flour in place of the extremely low carb Basic Flour Mix—and still have a bread that is much healthier and lower in carbohydrates than most breads.

Trim Healthy Mama (THM): These could be used in an S setting or an E setting (if lower fat cream cheese were used). I think that with fat-free cream cheese, with only 1/3 of an egg yolk per roll and 1 tsp of butter per roll, you might be able to use one of these as a fuel pull (especially if you make the smaller version ones).
Sugar Free (SF): Sugar-free and healthy sweetener options!

Gluten Free (GF): This can definitely be gluten-free if using the gluten-free option of Basic Flour Mix and/or almond flour.

Low Carb Mixes (LCM): This recipe uses my Basic Flour Mix, a combination of low carb grain-less flours, such as almond flour, oat fiber, coconut flour, golden flax, protein powder, etc. This is a very low carb baking mix.

DISCLOSURE: I am an affiliate for these products that I recommend. If you purchase these items through my links, I will earn a commission, but you will not pay more when buying a product through my link. 🙂

The post Not-So-Oopsie Rolls appeared first on Character Ink.

Have you subscribed to our weekly newsletters yet?!  Here’s a peek at what you’ve missed! You can get weekly newsletters delivered to your inbox by signing up here 🙂

Over twenty-five years ago,  with four children eight and under, we learned the value of a timer. We began using them to teach our children time management. We would have them do various tasks and set the timer so that they could see how long things take when they really applied themselves. For example, in setting up their morning routine charts,  we would have them run and do each task that was going to be on their chart as we timed them, then when we made the charts, we would put the time that it should take (based on our timing session) in parentheses following each line item on the chart. (This also helped us to know what was reasonable to expect in a certain time period.)  Read More→

Donna Reish, author of forty curriculum books for homeschoolers and Christian schools and co-author/co-presenter of “Raising Kids With Character” Parenting Seminar (and blog), brings you another practical episode of Wondering Wednesday!

In this week’s episode, Donna explains her “cycle cooking” for freezer entrees and starters, including how to freeze entrees, how to freezer cook efficiently, how to utilize “meal starters” and “soup starters,” and much more. She takes the listener through all of her cycle types—shredded chicken, whole chicken breasts and fish pieces, crumbled ground meats, and shaped beef/roasts and teaches the ease in which a cook can get started and continue to fill the family freezer with meals.  Listen to the podcast HERE!

Subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes!

Making things with crepes or torts as the base is an amazing find for the low carber because these are either (1) easy to make (in the case of the crepes) or (2) easy to find (in the case of buying low carb tortillas). (Here are two of my faves to purchase: Mama Lupitas* (they are brownish but I like them best—and I usually prefer “white”—they have a more nutty taste and make better tort chips and crackers imho and Mission* (available in local stores too)—these are more acceptable to my teen sons.)  Get the recipe here!

*affiliate links

Our newsletter archives on the blog are now full-color, and clickable!  A great way to re-read old newsletters!  Click here to check it out 🙂

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The post This Week’s Character Ink! Newsletter {July 3, 2015} appeared first on Character Ink.

Have you subscribed to our weekly newsletters yet?!  Here’s a peek at what you’ve missed! You can get weekly newsletters delivered to your inbox by signing up here 🙂

One of my husband’s favorite stories to tell/points to make in our “Reaching the Heart of Your Teen” seminar/workshop is also the most fitting way to describe his parenting style. The story comes from the book of II Samuel and the point is found within the story of Absalom standing by the gate of the city…Read More→

Yes, you read that title right! Our twenty-one year old engaged son (soon to be married–in four months!) NEEDS his parents.

(As a side note, ever since we have had sixteen, eighteen, and twenty year olds, we have believed that sixteen to twenty is actually the highest need time for our kids in terms of parental guidance and input….but that is another post for another day.)

There are key things that we can do to help Jonathan be a great boyfriend, awesome fiance–and soon, fantastic husband!  Read More→

When I first began home schooling thirty years ago, I had just graduated with an elementary education degree. I had a one-year-old son, and we began home schooling my younger sister. Of course, coming right out of teacher’s college, I began doing things just like I would have done in my classroom. I soon discovered that all of the classroom things were not necessary – that those things were needed for mass education but not necessarily for one-on-one tutoring (or even small group instruction). Read More→

Wowsie, sometimes I really miss BBQ—you know the sweet, yet spicy/tangy, taste of BBQ ribs from Outback or pulled pork from a street vendor at the fair? And when I start feeling that way, I know that it is time to pull out my Sugar-Free Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce and make something yummy!

And in grilling season, this is just the perfect dish—without any of the guilt or sluggishness associated with sugar-laden BBQ sauces. Read More→

Donna Reish, author of forty curriculum books for homeschoolers and Christian schools and co-author/co-presenter of “Raising Kids With Character” Parenting Seminar (and blog), brings you a practical episode of Wondering Wednesday! In this week’s episode, Donna answers some of the questions that she is often asked about freezer cooking—with ten questions you want to ask yourself before you begin freezer cooking. Listen Here!→

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The post This Week’s Character Ink! Newsletter {June 25, 2015} appeared first on Character Ink.

Wowsie, sometimes I really miss BBQ—you know the sweet, yet spicy/tangy, taste of BBQ ribs from Outback or pulled pork from a street vendor at the fair? And when I start feeling that way, I know that it is time to pull out my Sugar-Free Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce and make something yummy!

And in grilling season, this is just the perfect dish—without any of the guilt or sluggishness associated with sugar-laden BBQ sauces (okay, and that sweet bread AND bloomin’ onion AND homemade croutons AND…you get the idea!).

This recipe might look like it has a lot of steps, but take heart:

(1) You can omit the marinating if desired (especially if using bone-in chicken with skin and/or dark meat);

(2) If you have the BBQ Sauce Base in your pantry, making the BBQ sauce is really not any harder than mixing up any other one-bowl-one-whisk concoction. (So make that base!);

(3) You might not feel the need to pre-cook your chicken like I do. I get nervous about getting chicken done on the grill without precooking. That is a personal choice.

So…many steps or few—this chicken is worth the extra time to make amazing grilled BBQ chicken!

Grilled BBQ Chicken {Sugar-Free}

• Sugar-Free Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce (two times if you like things really saucy and you are going to marinate your chicken)
• 15 lbs mixed chicken pieces, bone in/skin on
• Monterey Marinade one time (if you want to marinate your chicken that day; if you are using skinless chicken rather than the skin on listed above, I recommend marinating)

Note: This can also be made in the oven. I would recommend baking it a hot oven then broiling at the end to get the BBQ sauce cooked into the skin just so!

Make BBQ sauce as directed here two times for fifteen pounds of saucy chicken.

Marinating and pre/cooking in the crock pot makes it super easy!

Optional: Save out one cup of the BBQ sauce and make Monterey Marinade if you will be marinating your chicken for a few hours ahead of time.

Optional: Make Monterey Marinade one time.

Optional: Place your chicken in a large bowl or huge crock pot insert and pour marinade over all. Let sit in fridge for an hour or more to marinate. (Do not marinate out on counter—even if your chicken is frozen as some will defrost sooner than others and you risk spoilage of the early-defrosted chicken.)

Optional: Place crock pot in the base and cook until internal temperature reaches 120 degrees or so. (For my super-hot crock pot, this is two hours on high followed by two hours on low.)

Note: I always start any chicken in the crock pot on high for an hour or two (even chicken I am shredding for casseroles, etc.,). I feel it is safer than having chicken in a warm environment for too long (rather than in a “cooking state,” which it gets into more quickly on high for an hour.

Optional: If you want to precook in the oven, that is another option, making sure it reaches the internal temperature listed.
Transfer chicken to grill and use a brush to slather the BBQ sauce over both sides of the chicken.
Cook on medium heat for twenty to forty minutes, depending on your grill and how precooked your meat was (longer if you did not precook!).
Turn frequently and sauce often. Chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. (I always use a meat thermometer for chicken—and I have been known to get my married kids meat thermometers every year for Christmas…you know, in case they lost last year’s!)

Recipe Labels and Variations

Low Carb (LC): Carbs are minimal (just from the tomato paste and a tiny bit from the broth and the molasses).

Family-Friendly Low Carb (FFLC): This does not taste the least bit sugar free or low carb! My “this is sugar-free, isn’t it, Mom?” adult kids all really enjoy it! And there is something wonderful about skin-on BBQ chicken—the way the BBQ sauce sticks to the skin. The way the skin crisps up on the grill. Yeah, this is yummy stuff!

Store-Bought-Stella (SBS):  Very homemade—but very worth it! Of course, SBS may also purchase store-bought sugar-free bbq sauce and use that in place of my homemade version. Just be sure you try it ahead of time as the store bought ones vary greatly in how “sugar-free” they taste!

Homemade Hannah (HH): Go on, Hannah, you know you want to do all the steps! 🙂
Freezer Cooking (FC): This chicken can be flash frozen after it is grilled and then dropped into zip-lock bags for one or two serving use. To flash-freeze, just place the finished chicken pieces on cookie sheets (I would line with parchment…always parchment!) and slide into the freezer. Leave there uncovered until chicken is frozen solid. Then remove and place in freezer bags or containers. To use, you would just defrost in a dish (if you defrost in the bag, all of your sauce will come off on the bag as it defrosts!) in the fridge, heat in the microwave or oven, and enjoy!

Oldie Goldie Family Recipes (OG): This “pre-cooking in a BBQ-based marinade” is how I have always fixed my BBQ chicken! Love that flavor infusion!

Trim Healthy Mama (THM): As it is written, this recipe is an S with the skin on the chicken (and the combination of dark meat and white meat) and with the oil in the marinade. To make this an E, you would need to be sure you do not marinate in oil (broth and BBQ base only) and you would need to use boneless, skinless breasts. I highly recommend marinating if you are using chicken without skin and/or white meat only.

Cycle Cooking (CYC): I don’t usually do BBQ chicken in my cycle cooking as grilling takes longer than a cycle cooking day allots!

Sugar Free (SF): Sugar-free and amazingly yummy!

Gluten Free (GF):  Be sure all of your products are gluten-free, and you will be great!

Low Carb Mixes (LCM): This uses my BBQ Sauce Base mix! Love my “Low Carb Mixes and Fast Fixes”!

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Once I got on to using crepes (and/or tortillas, depending on your preference) for so many things (advice from DJ Foodie of Low Carbing Among Friends), I went crazy! There are literally dozens of things to do with crepes (savory or sweet) and/or tortillas—low carb or other!

(So if you are not a low carber but just trying to make things more healthfully for your family, read on….using healthy crepes and torts is a great way to reduce white flour and high carb/starchy use and feed your kids healthier options without their knowing it! 🙂 )

Making things with crepes or torts as the base is an amazing find for the low carber because these are either (1) easy to make (in the case of the crepes) or (2) easy to find (in the case of buying low carb tortillas). (Here are two of my faves to purchase: Mama Lupitas (they are brownish but I like them best—and I usually prefer “white”—they have a more nutty taste and make better tort chips and crackers imho and Mission (available in local stores too)—these are more acceptable to my teen sons.)

Low Carb Pizzadillas!

I will be sharing the dozens of ways I use the crepes and torts (see using crepes as noodles here)  on the blog in the future, but today I bring you a super alternative to frozen pizza for your family! (My teen and college sons will eat this readily for a party/movie night—that is a really good sign!)

You cannot pick this dish up like you can pizza or even quesadillas simply because it is too chock full of yumminess. But it is worth all the messiness and utensil-needing!

Here’s the scoop (very loosely!)

•Crepes or tortillas

•Pizza or marinara sauce

•Pizza ingredients: cheeses, veggies, meats (precooked)…whatever you like

1. Place one crepe or tort on a baking dish sprayed (and I use parchment…always parchment…no time for messy dishes!).

2. Put sauce on that crepe (according to how saucy you like your pizza).

3. Put pizza ingredients on top of sauce.

4. Top with another crepe or tort.

5. Bake at 375 for about 15 to 20 minutes convection (20 to 25 regular) until filling is gooey and crepes are golden.

6. Remove from oven and slice with pizza cutter into fourths. Serve with forks! 🙂

Recipe Labels and Variations

Low Carb (LC): With the homemade low carb crepes, this is an extremely low carb dish. I would guess that with those, a full double-crepe pizzadilla (which would be a lot of food!) to be one-twentieth of a personal pizza carb count! They are extremely low carb and quick to make. Depending on which low carb tortilla you use, the carb count on the torts alone (two per huge double tort pizzadilla!) would still only be between six and twelve net carbs. Technically, depending on how full you fill the crepes/torts, a full pizzadilla (with two crepes/torts) is probably two servings anyway….very filling. So yes, very low carb!

Family-Friendly Low Carb (FFLC): This is one of my MOST family-friendly low carb recipes—especially with store bought, slightly higher carb torts (Mission). It is still going to be probably one tenth of a personal pan pizza carb-wise, so the carbs are still low even with the store bought, white torts. But the real kicker here is how “un-low-carb” this dish tastes. (Yes, that is a word when you are trying to feed teen and college boys!) Nutshell: low carb and kids love these!

Store-Bought-Stella (SBS): You Stellas are in business here….you can quite literally buy everything in this dish and simply spend ten minutes assembling a bunch of them! Low carb tortillas; pre-cooked crumbled or link sausage; pepperoni;  pre-chopped onions, peppers, and mushrooms; shredded cheeses; jarred pizza sauce. Go make this!

Homemade Hannah (HH): For you Homemade Hannah’s out there, try the homemade low carb crepe recipe! It is a homemade treat that gives homemade cooks a lot of homemade options! (Emphasis on the “homemade” there!)

 Freezer Cooking (FC): I definitely use my freezer cooking skills to do prep work for this. In other words, I always have these things for this dish in my freezer: crepes (just make and stack in a plastic bowl with parchment between…always parchment…) and freeze; pre-cooked hamburger or ground turkey; pre-made sausage patties or links that I cut up for dishes like this one; and more. Other variations of this use other freezer items I have on hand: taco meat for tacodillas (!); shredded chicken and pre-cooked chicken chunks for Alfredo-dillas (okay, getting a little carried away here!); etc. Somehow I always dovetail all new recipes with my long-term-love-affair with freezer cooking!

 Oldie Goldie Family Recipes (OG): While this is not an Oldie Goldie recipe, it is a whole lot easier than my OG homemade pizzas!

 Trim Healthy Mama (THM): This is a definite S entrée for THM’s. And depending on which base you use and what your fillings are, you could probably even make it an E—with low fat meats, low fat cheeses, and the right fat count base. I could see making this an easy E with shredded chicken, veggies, and Laughing Cow cheese.

 Cycle Cooking (CYC):  Just like my Freezer Cooking, this is not in a “cycle,” so to speak, but I do the various meats and even the torts in my cycles. Ground beef and taco meat are in my crumbled beef cycle. Shredded chicken in my Shredded Chicken Cycle; chicken chunks in my Chicken Breast Cycle; and the crepes in my Basic Flour Mix Cycle. Cycle cooking, along with Freezer Cooking, makes everything faster!

 Sugar Free (SF): No sugar in the crepes or torts to speak of. Definitely choose a low sugar pizza sauce or marinara (i.e. not the luscious, sugar-laden Prego!). My experience has been that lower sugar sauces are often found in glass jars (i.e. often more expensive, lesser known brands) and generic brands. Check them out!

 Gluten Free (GF):  The gluten-free option for this recipe is to make the crepes using the Basic Flour Mix Gluten-Free option. Very doable!

 Low Carb Mixes (LCM):  The crepes are made using the Basic Low Carb Flour Mix. Love my Low Carb Mixes!

DISCLOSURE: I am an affiliate for these products that I recommend. If you purchase these items through my links, I will earn a commission, but you will not pay more when buying a product through my link. 🙂

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