Earthly Eating

1. Beef and Carrot Stew with Beer
Serves: 6

2 tbs, peanut oil
1 3-lb. boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
2 cups chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, smashed with a knife
4 tsp. chopped fresh sage and rosemary
2 tbs. tomato paste
2 tbs. all-purpose flour
1 12-ounce bottle of dark beer like a stout
1 14-ounce can beef broth, low sodium
1 lb. baby carrots with greens attached, and peeled

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper. Working in batches, add to the pot and sauté until they are browned, should take about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer to a bowl and add the onions, garlic and herbs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and sauté the onion till it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and flour and stir for 1 minute. Add the beef and stir until thick and smooth, scraping the up the browned bits about 2 minutes. Add the broth and then the beef with any juices. Bring to a simmer. Cover partially and reduce the heat to medium-low, simmer for 45 minutes. Add carrots and simmer partially covered until the beef and carrots are tender, stirring occasionally about 45 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper before serving.

2. Carrot Salad with Creamy Lemon, and Chive Dressing
Serves: 4 to 6

2 tbs, fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. honey
3 tbs., extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup plain while-milk yogurt (Such as Greek-style)
3 cups chopped fresh grated peeled carrots (about 15 ounces)
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Whisk lemon juice and honey in a medium bowl. Gradually add the oil then the yogurt. Mix in the carrots and chives. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the almonds over the salad and serve.
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Earthly Eating Recipe

Maple-Glazed Bundt Cakes
Makes: 6 cakes

Canola Cooking Spray
1 cup unbleached all-=purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 large egg
1/2 cup vanilla or plain yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
4 tbs. canola oil or melted unsalted butter

*for the maple glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbs, pure maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and coat a 6-section mini Bundt cake pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, vanilla, maple syrup and oil. Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into the well and stir until the wet ingredients are moistened, but still a little lumpy. Don not over mix this.

Divide the batter in the Bundt pans and bake about 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan on a rack for a few minutes then turn out of the pan and cool completely on the rack.

Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cakes and serve.

Happy Eating!

This treats are so fun to make, that your kids will love the fact that they will be able to eat something they helped make. And what they don’t know is all of these treats are good for them too.

1. Ants and the logs:

• Ants On A Log: Clery pieces (any desired length), top celery with peanut butter and add on a few raisins.

• Ants On A Slippery Log: Mix peanut butter with apple butter, fill celery pieces with the filling and top with grated carrots and raisins.

• Ants On A Cement Log: Take cream cheese and fill celery pieces, top with chunks of apple or other fruits. Dried, crushed bananas work great.

• Ants On A Colored Cement Log: Mix the cream cheese with a few drops of vanilla extract (pure) and fill the celery pieces, then top with granola.

• Ants On An Island: Mix a few drops of Worcestershire sauce with cream cheese and fill celery pieces. Top the filling with a sprinkle of sunflower seeds.

• Then have fun with your kids while they try to find more combos to add to the ant farm of celery foods.

2. Candy fake out:

1 package of dried apricots
1 1/2 cups grated coconut
2 tablespoons honey

Chop the apricots in a food processor and mix with 1 cup of coconut and the honey. Form into balls and roll in remaining coconut. Then refrigerate.

3. Dating Penguins:

Slice dates open vertically and stuff with cream cheese. Use a sliver of carrots fro the beak and little pieces of date for the eyes or even use raisins.

4. Veggie roll:

Start by wrapping a whole-wheat tortilla in a paper towel and microwaving it for 15 seconds. Spread with cream cheese, or sprinkle grates cheese all over it. Add shredded carrot, lettuce leaves, celery, leftover vegetables, etc. And roll it up. You can pop it in the microwave for an additional 15 seconds if you want it to be a heated veggie roll.

5. Smooth freezing:

Pour smoothie mix into 3-ounce paper cups, cover with plastic wrap and insert a wooden stick. Freeze for at least 8 hours before cutting or tearing the paper cup away from the frozen delight.

6. Clear it away trail mixer:

Throw open the cupboards and toss together cereal, crackers, chocloate chips, nuts, popcorn, etc. Anything goes and everything will go.

7. Crayon colored smoothies:

2 cups ice
1 cup yogurt
some fruits (such as a couple bananas, or strawberries or even a can of fruit packed in its own juice will work)
1 cup liquid (like milk or juice or even flavored water)

Put all the ingreidents into a blender and mix on high for 1 minute. Serves 4

**Are you itching to sew something but don’t know where to start. Summer Minor over at Creative Mom Cafe has just the solution for you. She has a list of things to start sewing from another web link. Read what the list is and how you can get started sewing today.**
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Earthly Eating Recipe:

Rosy Pickled Turnips
Serves: Makes 4 pints

1 beet (3 inches in diameter) or a small can of beets
3 1/2 cups hot water
7 tbs. picking salt
1 1/4 cup white vinegar
4 turnips about 3 inches in diameter
8 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved

Cook the washed, unpeeled beet in 2 inches of water in a small saucepan for 20 minutes. Cool, peel and cut into 1 inch pieces. Set aside. Dissolve salt in hot water, then stir in vinegar. Peel turnips and cut into 1 inch pieces. Place turnips, beet and garlic in clean, 1 pint canning jars, and cover with salt water. Screw on clean canning lids. Kept at room temperature, these pickled turnips are ready to eat in 3 days.

Turnip Apple Slaw
Serves: 4

1 tbs. plain yogurt or kefir
2 tbs. soy or regular mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. freshly grated black pepper
1 tsp. honey
1 apple, quartered, cored and thinly sliced (use your grater’s flat blade)
2 turnips (3 inches in diameter), peeled and coarsley grated
1 scallion, finely chopped

Combine the yogurt, mayo, pepper and honey in a alrge bowl. Mix in the apple, turnips, and scallion. Chill before serving as a side dish or slathering onto burgers or sandwiches.

Happy Eating!

The basics in any lunch or any meal at all is the main building blocks of anyone’s diet plan. Once people grasp the understanding of what their bodies need and what they aren’t given it, the “diet” fads will go bye bye. Here are some main ideas to keep in mind when making healthy food decisions.

Whole grains, fruits and vegtables (one of each), calcium and lean protein are the components of a healthy lunch. And the USDA recommends the following:

• Six onces of grains: half of the daily intake should be whole grains, but 100% is best. Whole grains contain fiber and vitamins that refined grains do not. Choose whole grain products when buying breads, tortillas, pastas, and cereal. Serve brown rice, quinoa, whole barley, bulgar or buckwheat as well.

• Two and a half cups of vegetables and one and a half cups of fruits: Choose fresh and keep it varied, since different fruits and vegetables offer different vitamins and nutrients. Include fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors, and buy what’s in season: apples in autumn, oranges in winter. Shop local farmers markets or join a community suppoerted agriculture (CSA) co-op that arranges food deliveries from a local farm. And always buy organic.

• Three cups of milk for children two to eight years old: Try to include l;owfat milk and cheese, yogurt, non-genetically modified (non-GMO) calcium fortified soy or dark, leafy greens.

• Five ounces of lean protein: Use lean varieties of turkey, chicken and ham. Fatty fish such as fresh salmon and tuna are packed with healthy omega 3-fatty acids. Low-mercury canned tuna and antibiotic and hormone-free meats, both great choices, are cold in many supermarkets, even as store brands. If the animal source protein is a problem try legumes, non-GMO tofu and tempeh are great alternatives. (Source: KIWI 2007)

**Have you thought of your New Years resolution? Chuck Hinson over at Charlotte, NC blog here at 451 Press has listed his and it’s a mighty fine list at that. Read it here.**
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Earthly Eating Recipe

Creamy Rice Pudding
Serves: 8

1 1/2 quarts 2% milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup white rice
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine milk, sugar and rice in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a gently boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to simmer and cook uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. (The milk should just barely simmer, with bubbles breaking only at the outside edge of the surface. After an hour, the rice should be soft.)

Add raisins, increasse heat to medium heat, and cook, stirring frequently, until the rice has absorbed most of the rest of the milk, but not all, and the pudding is creamy (about 30 minutes longer).

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. When cool, pudding will thicken, but will be very creamy. Serve warm or well chilled.

Happy Eating!

Hardly an exotic vegetables, carrots are a favorite in th U.S. Whether your experience is limited to easy open packaged of baby carrots for a quick snack or includes digging in the dirt and grabbing a green top to unearth this orange find, almost everyone has enjoyed a carrot at one time or another. Nutritionally rich, this form of Queen Anne’s lace wildflower also is incredibly beneficial for the body.

Although all the carrot’s componenets including the greens and seeds, are edible, it’s the root that is the traditional favorite, due to its sweet taste and crunchy texture. It can be enjoyed in a variety of ways; raw, whole, chopped, grated, in salads, soups, and stews, broiled, fried, steamed, and in cakes and puddings as well. The carrots richness in vitamin A is joy to health because the nutrient is required for developing and maintaining cells. The vegetable also contains high levels of antioxidants, which help prevent free radical damage, as well as fiber, biotin, potassium, thiamine, and vitamins B-6, C and K.

One product that features the benefits for carrots as in a skin care form is Aubrey Organics. The surprisingly extraordianary carrot offers a rich variety of benefits, both through your stomach and on your skin. Boy, that will make you think twice when bitting into the next orange delight in your fridge.

Some fact about the carrot:

•The world’s largest carrot was grown in Plamer, Alaska, by John Evans in 1998, and it weighed 19 pounds.

•The average person consumes 10,866 in their lifetime overall.

•The voice of Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc) didn’t like carrots at all and would chew them for sound effect then spit them out when the scene was over.

•The last meal on the Titanic was a carrot dish that was creamed.

•The Carrot Capitol of the World is Holtsville, California.

**If you’re a country music fan and are keeping up with the latest from the stars, then check out Heather Scoville’s Country Music Herald here at 451 Press. There is a new album out by Josh Turner ‘Everything Is Fine.’ Read more about it here.**
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Earthly Eating Recipe:

Wishing For Summer Elxir
Serves 4 (8-oz. servings)

4 cups lemongrass tea
4 cups watermelon chunks
Juice of 5 lemons
Juice of 5 limes
2-4 tablespoons agave nectar (or 1 tbs. stevia) to taste

Prepare the tea using 4 lemongrass tea bags and 4 cups boiling water. Allow tea to cool. Blend with remaining ingredients until smooth, and enjoy. (The tea has also been know to awaken the third eye.)

Happy Eating!