Cold Suppers: Chicken Ceasar Salad

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This refreshing meal is low calorie and  full of protein and veggies.  Serve wtih fresh fruit.

In a pretty bowl combine the first 5 ingredients.  Serve with dressing on the side and fresh parmesan.

1 head Romaine Lettuce, chopped

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 small can of black olives (whole or sliced), drained

1 tomato sliced, or a handful of grape tomatoes

2 cups lowfat garlic and onion croutons (see recipe below)

2 cups of roughly chopped chicken (use the leftovers from a roasted chicken dinner or grill 1 lb of chicken breast sprinkled with lemon pepper)

Reduced Calorie Ceasar Dressing Mix:

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Combine all and store in a snack size baggie in the fridge.  When ready to make dressing, mix 1/2 cup mayonnaise with 1/2 cup plain yogurt and contents of mix.  Blend well.  If dressing is too thick, add a little skim milk or lemon juice until it reaches desired consistency.

Bread Machine Lowfat Garlic and Onion croutons:

The secret to these croutons is baking the flavors into the bread!  This reduces the need for the oil to stick the flavors to the bread.  Bake this flavorful bread in the bread machine overnight.  Then in the morning, slice and toast in the oven before the house heats up.

1.5 cups water

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1/4 cup honey

4.25 cups whole wheat flour (fresh ground hard white wheat is my favorite)

2 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed.  Bake on the whole wheat cycle.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When bread is cool, slice the bread into cubes and place in a single layer on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Spritz with olive oil, or non-stick cooking spray.  Sprinkle lightly with salt if desired.  Toast for 12-15 minutes or until bread is golden brown.  Place on a cooling rack.  Bread will crisp as it cools.

More Solar Cooking

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When solar cooking, keep in mind that protective eyewear (sunglasses) are a really good idea.  Also, if children will be nearby, remind them that this not to look at the glare.

Here’s a solar cooking video from Minnesota.  Roberta roasts a chicken and bakes cornbread in her solar oven.  The worst part about this is having to go outside to set it up and check it, brrr!  But if she can do it on a -10 degree day, then cooking on a pleasant summer afternoon should be a piece of cake. http://youtu.be/aJ22QCAqFCc

Here’s another type of cooker, with a parabolic mirror–that made a really fast grilled cheese sandwich.  http://youtu.be/aJ22QCAqFCc

Other Solar Cookers

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There are other ways to cook with the sun than in a cardboard box. 

Here’s an open reflector.  This one can be purchased on ebay for about $30. 

http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Windshield_Shade_Solar_Cooker

This one is made from a reflective windshield covers (the kind designed to keep your car cooler in the summer.)

http://solarcooking.org/plans/newpanel.htm

Here’s a page for making a similar style reflector from cardboard and foil.

This oven is also for sale on ebay for around $50.  It fascinates me because it folds down very compactly–perfect for those with small amounts of storage space.

And here’s a video of a man sun roasting a 6 lb chicken in Ontario Canada on a windy day in February!  He paid so much for his supplies for his slow cooker that he could have purchased this one and come out ahead (since his didn’t turn out as well as he had hoped.)  But I love that it shows you don’ t have to live in Arizona to cook with the sun.

The Solar Oven

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We’ve all heard the phrase, “It’s so hot you could cook an egg on the sidewalk.”  But cooking with the heat from the sun is not a cliche.  With about $5 in materials you can create a solar powered oven that will bake bread, cook a casserole, or even boil water.  For 3rd world areas where cooking fuel is scarce, solar ovens can give natives a way to purify their water.  For the rest of us, solar ovens offer a cost effective way to cook our summer meals without heating up the kitchen.

Solar Oven cooking times resemble those of an electric crock pot, but will vary based on the cloud coverage and time of day.  If your box is well insulated, the outside temperature is not as crucial as how direct are the sun’s rays. It helps to invest in an inexpensive oven thermometer positioned so you can read the temperature without lifting the lid.  Also helpful are black or dark pans that aren’t reflective. 

I’ve searched the web for the best online instructions for building yoru own solar cooker.  Try it with cardboard and plastic first and if you like it, you can build a more permanent model from wood, metal hinges, and glass.  Click the photos to go to the instructions.

Also See:  http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/radabaugh30.html and http://articles.cnn.com/2009-04-09/tech/solar.oven.global.warming_1_cardboard-solar-box-cookers-international-simple/2?_s=PM:TECH

Solar Cooking fascinates me, and tomorrow I’ll show you some other types of solar cookers, plus show you the most affordable places to buy your own if crafting isn’t your thing.

The Summer Grill

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Cooking outdoors on a grill gives great flavor to food, reduces fat, and prevents heating up the kitchen.  If you have a covered porch to grill on, a summer shower doesn’t have to stop your cooking plans.  We enjoy our gas grill but the most economical way to grill is in a traditional fire grill (Like a Weber), with coals made from fallen wood that has been allowed to cook down into coals.

When you think about a grill, what foods do you think of most?  The first thing that popped into my mind was BBQ chicken, then hot dogs and hamburgers.  But there’s even more that can be cooked on a grill, including stew and pizza!

To make the most of your grilled foods, consider marinating them.  There are lots of commercial marinaids available for sale, but homemade ones are easy, cost effective and delicious.  Marinades typically have oil, an acid ingredient like vinegar, pineapple or lemon juice, and herbs and spices.    I’ve found that I can replace the oil with water which saves money and calories.  We didn’t notice a difference in flavor. 

You can marinate meat or vegetables, just don’t marinate them together.  To marinate, mix all ingredients, pour over the food in a zipper seal bag and store in the refrigerator overnight.  Flip the bag over and continue to marinate until time to grill.  Discard raw meat marinades after use.  If you’d like to brush the meat with marinade as it cooks, save some separately before you marinate the food to keep it from getting contaminated.

Here’s my favorite chicken marinade recipe:

3/4 cup water or oil

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup vinegar (red wine or rice vinegars are nice)

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

Favorite Fajita Marinade

2 Tablespoons oil

2 Tablespoons lemon or lime juice

1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt

1 1/2 teaspoons oregano

1 1/2 teapspoons cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon paprika

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Zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables to grill.  We like to slice it thick (about 3/8″) and marinate it in low calorie Italian dressing before grilling.

We’ve also grilled corn on the cob:  http://whatscookingamerica.net/Vegetables/GrillingCorn.htm

http://www.backyardandbbq.com/easy-grilled-pizza/186

Here are some links for grilled pizza instructions:  http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2008/05/how-to-make-grilled-pizza-tips.html and http://pizzatherapy.com/grilling.htm

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Photo Source: Food Network

Or try making your own individual meal packets in foil and grilling them.  We love hamburger patties with carrots, potatoes, green beans, garlic and salt.  Or fish with carrots, zucchini, onions and lemon pepper.

The Summer Slow Cooker

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Slow cooking uses less energy than a traditional oven because there is less space to heat up, it is better insulated, and once it reaches temperature requires little to maintain it.  When you use a slow cooker instead of an oven your air conditioning bills will be lower too.

When it’s hot, lighter dishes are more appealing.  Our bodies use less energy since we are not working as hard to keep warm, and we can eat fewer calories.  Dishes that feature clear broth are better than creamy dishes, and even better are dishes that can be served cold once they are cooked through.

Balance a hot main dish with lots of cold side dishes, such as fresh fruit, veggie sticks, lettuce salad, pasta salad, or gelatin.

Here are some summer recipe ideas for the Slow Cooker;

1.  Cook a chicken rubbed with herbs in the slow cooker, then debone and use for cold chicken salad sanwiches, top a lettuce salad with chicken pieces, or use the sliced breast meat for deli style sandwiches.

2.  Did you know eggs can be boiled overnight in a slow cooker?  The whites may absorb some pigment from the shell, but the flavor remains the same.  Try this recipe:  http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/538/HardBoiled_Eggs56347.shtml Use your cold hard boiled eggs to make egg salad, eat them peeled with a little salt and pepper, or slice them to add protein to a lettuce salad.

3.  Mexican style food is a warm weather favorite.  Even though the spices can heat up your mouth, they often have cold companions such as salsa, avocado, and shredded lettuce that balance the temperatures.  Plus our bodies require more salt when it’s hot which make nacho chips even more appealing.  One of our favorite dishes is Chalupa which is a beef or pork roast slow cooked with beans and spices then served like a taco salad with lots of cold companions.  Here’s a recipe:  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pork-chalupas/Detail.aspx or you can find my favorite take on the chalupa in my cookbook: Slow and Savory Suppers

If you can’t stand the heat…

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It’s warming up around here.  Today it’s supposed to be in the 90’s in Kansas City and yesterday it was almost that hot.  Our neighbors are opening up their pools and I’m starting to think of lovely warm weather meals like cold chicken salad in whole wheat pitas and fruit kabbos.

There’s nothing that heats up the heart of the home like cooking a big meal, but there are ways to minimize the heat while still getting a traditional meal on the table.  I’ll give a quick list of ideas and then take each one in more detail over the next few days.  Cooking to minimize heat, also minimizes energy and cost.  It’s a win-win!

1.  Use a slow cooker.  For even less heat in the house, plug in the slow cooker outside in a covered porch.

2.  Use an outdoor grill

3.  Use a fire pit

4.  Use a solar oven

5.  Use a reflector hot plate

6.  Prepare cold meals

Grant’s Birth Story

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I’m going to warn you up front that this story may have more detail than you’d like to read.  But I hope my experience helps someone else who has a childbirth outside her hopes and plans.

I was due with Grant on April 18th and all my measurements were on target with that date.  I gained a whopping 50lbs with this pregnancy and a good percentage of that was in the last 6 weeks.  I lost my mucus plug at 35 weeks was 50% effaced and started to dialate a little.  I continued to experience long periods of contractions from that time forward that would eventually stop without helping to progress labor any.  At 41 weeks I was exhausted from being up at night with contractions, yet hadn’t dialted or effaced any more for all the work.  5 of  my 6  babies had been induced by AROM near 42 weeks, mainly because I have so much amniotic fluid that it prevents the contractions from putting pressure on the cervix.

The day before my 41st week appointment, I felt Grant move in a big way and then all the kicking was down low instead of high like the rest of my pregnancy.  I was afraid that he had turned breech and was upset with myself for not letting the midwife induce me earlier when he was positioned correctly.  But at my appointment she felt that he was head down and I didn’t worry as much.  I decided to schedule the induction for the next day.  Normally my inductions only require AROM (arificial rupture of membranes) which removes the pocket of water and allows my contractions to be effective.

This time my midwife wasn’t sure this would be enough.  She started talking about pitocin and cervidil, two drugs I’d never used before.  I was anxious about it, becuase I wanted a natural delivery.  I wasn’t confident I would be able to deliver without pain medication if they administered pitocin.

Darren took me to dinner at Smokehouse Bar-B-Q, the same restaurant he took me to the day I found out we were expecting Heidi, our first.  We went to the hospital from the restaurant to start cervidil to help the cervix ripen.  They offered me a sleeping pill since this process can start early labor which would keep me up all night, but I didn’t take it for fear that it would make the baby sleepy too.

I was up all night listening to the heart monitor for the baby.  Grant’s heartbeat seemed to be unusually slow and would slow even more during a contraction.  The nurses would run in and out during the night messing with the monitor to make sure it was reading correctly.  Finally they rolled me to my right side instead of the customary left and Grant’s heartbeat came closer to normal.  The cord and placenta were on the left side and when I lay that way it reduced his oxygen supply. 

During that long night, I tested the idea that I might not be bringing  a baby home with me.  My own blood pressure was taken every 15 minutes or so and hovered around 90/50 which is low even for me.  I was afraid to go to sleep, wondering if I would be able to wake up.

In the morning, they broke my water and instead of Grant’s head moving down into position, it floated up and away.  The midwife kept her fingers in place to prevent the cord from prolapsing down while the labor nurse pushed on my stomach to force Grant’s head down.  When they were satisfied, they got me up to walk around.  My contractions started coming stronger, but not strong enough and at several points I leaned against the wall to cry.  Something was wrong…I could feel it.

After an hour, they brought me back to the room for fetal monitoring and to check my progress.  When the labor nurse checked the cervix and for Grant’s head, she felt something else…a foot.  Grant had positioned himself sideways in the womb to make more room for his foot by his ear, which explains why all the kicking was down low.  This took the pressure off the cervix again and made the contractions ineffective.

We called for the elder’s from our church as described in James 5:14 to annoint with oil and pray for a healing.  Meanwhile the nurse tickled Grant’s foot on the inside while pressing on the outside to encourage him to pull his foot back.  This was most effectively done during a contraction which was very painful.   She suggested we try pitocin to make my contractions stronger which might make him uncomfortable enough to pull his foot back and straighten out in the womb. 

This was the beginning of my biggest fear.  Pitocin, leading to an epidural, leading to an ineffective labor and infant in distress, leading to a c-section.   But without trying all options, I was headed to a c-section any way.   I gave the okay to start the pitocin and the elder’s came to pray.  After they left, the nurse suggested I get on all fours and lay my head down on the bed.  She thought the change in gravity might inspire Grant to move.  This was a very uncomfortable way to labor, but after a few minutes I felt a huge movment in my womb. 

The nurse went to check my cervix again and when she inserted her fingers, he grabbed one of them with his fist.  He certainly had moved, just not in the way we had hoped.   I knew they would need to try manually adjusting his position again and the dread and fear of the pain made me wish for a c-section just to make it all end.

Then I thought about the epidural.  It would be better to have that in place already if we needed an emergency c-section.  Without it they would have to use a general anesthetic, admit me to the main portion of the hospital for recovery, Darren wouldn’t be allowed to join me for the surgery, and I would need to pump and dump my milk until the drugs were out of my system.  I started to ask questions about the epidural.  I found out that it doesn’t cross the placenta, it could cause my blood pressure to drop even lower (a concern that they would monitor closely), and that I would no longer be able to move about (a relief.)  I told her to request the anesthesiologist and then I cried.

I had to mourn the loss of the perfect labor I had dreamed about.  And relieve some of the stress of wondering if Grant and I would be okay.  It’s amazing what good a little cry can do to lift the spirits and bring on new resolve.  I knew God was with me and I tried not to think about the judgements of family who would not understand or approve of the medical choices I was making.

The epidural brought instant relief, both from pain and from anxiety. The nausea went away. I was able to think clearly and communicate with the medical staff.  I was instantly ready to face another labor and delivery if God chose to bless us with another child. 

I was nearly completely dialated at this point and Grant was still in a bad position.  The midwife decided to try one more thing.  She put on a long veterinary glove and reached her entire hand into my womb.  She was able with one hand to straighten out Grant’s arms and legs, pulling them back into position.  The labor nurse then pressed on the outside of my stomach to engage his head into the pelvis, hopefully locking him into place.  I couldn’t feel anything this time except for a little pressure.   It worked!  Grant’s heart rate improved, and they tucked me into bed for a nap.  I had been awake for nearly 30 hours by this time and had nothing to eat for a night and day.

After a little rest, Grant was born in just a few minutes.  Pushing was different with an epidural.  I had to concentrate to discern what was just pressure from Grant being so low and what was a true contraction.  When he was born, he was bluish purple and did not breathe without an oxygen mask and help from the nurses.   I did not feel strong enough to hold him, and was ready to give his care over to my husband and the nurses. After getting a good meal and nursing him for a few hours those feelings totally changed and I didn’t want to put him down.   I’m so thankful for the love of God that allowed me to endure the hard labor and that ultimately brought forth life.

I’m in Love Again

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I decided long ago that I cry so much during pregnancy because God is making my heart bigger.  I can’t explain to a mom of one how she will be able to love her second child (and her sixth) just as much as the first without reducing her love for the first at all.  I can only reassure her that it does happen.

I hope you will forgive my absense for the last week.  I had prepared my blog for a mid-April delivery and when I delivered so close to May, I was out of material.  I’m sure I could have found time to write something, but I didn’t want to.  I couldn’t tear myself away from this:

And even when he is in someone else’s arms, I can’t stop watching. She will be a beautiful mother, and is already so skilled with the babies.

And the youngest brother is learning how to care for babies too.  No jealousy yet…He has fallen in love too.  I’m sure the green moments will come, and I’m working up a plan to deal with it.  But for now, it’s lovely to see the brothers loving each other.

I’m all too aware how fast these baby days fly, and while I intend to pick up the pace here at the blog soon, I’m not in a hurry to do that.  This blog will keep, but baby Grant and the others will grow so fast.  I can’t miss a single moment!