Fall is in the air and anything with pumpkin spice is sounding super delicious!

This time of year always reminds me of elementary school and learning about Christopher Columbus and the Pilgrims and the delicious foods that come along with the harvest season.

Why was Columbus looking for a faster route to the East..Spices!  Spices were precious commodities and even used as currency in some civilizations.  Today we have easy access to almost any herb and spice ever discovered.  We can prepare food that tastes like it came from different cultures just by adding curtain spices and mixtures of spices.

Preparing your own spice mixes for dressings, dips, marinades and rubs is one of the easiest and most delicious ways to start saving money on your grocery bill.  But saving money is just the beginning, you will also avoid many harmful chemicals and additives found in most prepared foods.  If you're interested in learning more join me for my Spice it Up class.  Register at the right of the page under Foundation Classes.

This week I decided to make pumpkin pie...in the form of a smoothie, less time and work involved and you don't even have to chew either!

Here's the recipe for this delicious smoothie along with the Pumpkin Spice Blend recipe.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1/2 cup cooked pumpkin

1/2 avocado

2 cups milk (coconut, almond, any kind)

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 cup raw honey

2 Tbsp. hemp hearts, optional

ice

Place all ingredients into a blender and mix until smooth and creamy!

Pumpkin Spice Blend

4 Tbsp. cinnamon

4 tsp. ground nutmeg

4 tsp. ground ginger

3 tsp. allspice

Mix spices together and store in an air tight jar.

Double, triple, etc. this recipe so that you have enough for the holiday season.

No HFCS Caramel Corn

Summer reminds me of swimming for endless hours at my Gramma and Grandpa's pool, climbing their cherry tree and eating cherries until I thought I would explode, jumping on the trampoline and sleeping out under the stars.  But, summer wouldn't have been summer without Gramma's famous caramel popcorn.  When I got married that was one of the things I asked Gramma for, her caramel corn recipe.  Well, Gramma gave me her recipe and this is about how I remember it, "Pop your corn and then in a sauce pan add some Karo Syrup and a little of this, some of that, a sprinkle of this and a dash of that, mix it together and shape into popcorn balls.  That's the way Gramma cooked, "a little of this and a little of that."  That's  mostly how I do it too! But, I'm sad to say I never really made her delicious popcorn. 

One of the reasons was because the first ingredient I could remember was Karo Syrup.  HFCS is not something that I keep in my kitchen and not something I want to use to make a deliciously sweet treat.

Each year as summer rolls around and we go swimming, camping and picnicing in the park I wish I had a batch of caramel corn to take with us.  Well, this weekend that is just what I did.  By the way, caramel popcorn and American Fork canyon go great together!

Making caramel popcorn without High Fructose Corn Syrup (AKA: Karo Syrup) probably would have baffled my Gramma's mind...but that's what I had to do!

Careful it's delicious!  Be sure to make it when your family is around otherwise they won't even know it ever existed, trust me I almost ate the whole batch!

Caramel Popcorn Gramma would be proud of:

Air pop 2 batches of popcorn- my popper uses 1/2 cup dry kernels per batch

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sucanat

1/4 cup honey

2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

In a sauce pan over medium heat add butter and sucanat, melt together, stirring constantly.

Stir in honey and vanilla and allow to come to a boil, boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, add baking soda and stir for 2 minutes.  Add salt and stir until well combined.

Drizzle over popper corn and gently toss with a rubber spatula until nicely coated.

Shape into balls, be careful though it's still hot or pour out onto a baking sheet and allow to cool.

It's Time for a Real Food Revolution!

Do you realize that diseases that used to only manifest in the elderly are now prevalent in children and young adults?

One in four children have pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes, this is the type that is totally preventable!

In less than ten years the rate of young adults with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes has risen from 9% to 23%.  

Here is something else to think about, today 37% of kids at a normal weight have one or more cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol.  Did you read that?  Normal weight.  Doesn’t that make you wonder why?  Doesn’t that make you think, “what about all the overweight kids, what kind of risk factors are they facing?”

I believe that we need a revolution.  A Real Food Revolution!  It’s time that we take the advice of Hippocrates who knew long, long, long ago what works best for a healthy vibrant body: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

Did you know that in America we are currently raising the second generation of children who don’t know how tocook?  I am amazed when I hear people say they don’t cook.  I just can’t figure out what they eat, it baffles my mind to think that they open up a box or a package or that they go out to eat for every meal of every day.  To top it all off the average American child doesn’t know how to identify the most basic fruits and vegetables.  We are living in a sad state and it is absolutely time to change our lives now and for the future!

I’m ready to help you get on the path of the Real Food Revolution.  To cheer you on as you make 

changes in your lifestyle, changes that will bring a new sort of light into your life.  It’s time to be conscious about what you put into your body.  It’s time to know what your body needs and is really craving.

Join me on July 18th for my Real Food Revolution Class.  Come and share dinner with me as I teach you how to be conscious about what you put in your shopping cart, your pantry and into your mouth.  Real food is where it's at...health, vitality and life!

Class begins at 6:30 pm and ends around 8:30.  Come hungry for yummy food and food for thought.

Class is heald in my kitchen in Bountiful, Ut.  Information and directions will be sent to you upon registration.

Register by July 15th by clicking on the "pay now" button to the right under the Nourishing Families Foundation Class.

 It’s time.

Super Hero Habits Kids Class

Upcoming Foundation Class

Spices and Herbs have been used in foods since the beginning of time.  

Preparing your own spice mixes for dressings, dips, marinades and rubs, is one of the easiest and most delicious ways to start saving money on your grocery bill. 

But saving money is just the beginning, you will also avoid many harmful

 chemicals and additives found in most prepared foods.

This Nourishing Families Foundation Class will be held:

Thursday, March 14

6:30-8:30 p.m.

or

 Saturday, March 16

10:00-Noon

Tuition: $25

Tuition is due by March 11, 2013*

Register for this class in the box on the right.

*Class must have a minimum of 4 participants.