Hey Laura, What...?

I make soup (usually beans, sometimes minestrone if we have leftover veggies ailing in the fridge) and bread almost every Friday, and by the end of the week it is really nice to have the work done for me. Most weeks I make cornbread (my family’s favorite) or quick biscuits, but sometimes I’ll stir up a batch of dough from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day and we’ll have hot loaves of bread to share with our neighbors and enjoy with butter and honey that night.

I never measure when I’m making bean soup, and I often end up soaking way too many beans. Lately, I’ve started purposefully prepping too many so that I can freeze some soaked beans for later, thus cutting down my meal prep time by...

Are you a parent like me, who grazes off the kids’ scraps and inadvertently consumes a whole meal’s worth of calories off of the “crumbs,” before even sitting down to your own actual meal?

I discovered a new lunch time hack last week. When I cut the crusts off my kids’ ham sandwiches, I added some cheese (they’re dairy free, but I’m not!) wrapped them up in big crunchy leaves of Romaine lettuce, and sat down to the table right away with my very own “Crust Wraps.”

These delicious, inside-out “mini-sandwiches” are a perfect answer to wasted crust and extra calories. Don’t they look delicious?

About five months ago, my husband quit his job. With no other job prospects on the horizon, it was quite a leap of faith. But we knew it was the leap to make.

The only reason we could walk away was because we have always lived below our means and made savings a priority.

This has been true from the time we were first married and were hovering around the poverty line, living in a stranger’s basement in Nebraska and standing in the weekly charity food line at our church. We couldn’t put away much, but we scrupulously stayed within, if not under, our budget; we never went into debt and we often were able to put a bit into our savings account.

As our income grew, we kept our budget much...

I know I have not originated this recipe, but all the variations I’ve seen congregated in my subconscious as I put this delightful little treat together yesterday afternoon (and again today because it is just that good).

It really is delicious - creamy, rich, sweet, and filling. It’s by no means a “Health Drink” but it certainly scratches the milkshake itch without being quite so devastating to your waistline!

Cinnamon Banana Date Smoothie

1 frozen banana
1/2 c plain yogurt (I used nice thick Greek yogurt; if you don’t, you might want to reduce your milk a bit)
1/2 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or whatever you have on hand)
4 dates, pitted
1.5 TB peanut butter
1-2 tsp cinnamon (I...

I was recently fortunate enough to receive a fabulous sample pack of agave nectars from Wholesome Sweeteners to review with my moms’ group and on my blog. I have been using agave nectar for a couple years now, but they are introducing some new products that have me (and my kids) all kinds of excited!

Before I get into the review, let me say a little about agave nectar and sugary stuff in general.

Hey Laura, what about sugar?
Sugar is sugar is sugar is sugar. It is an empty carbohydrate that is not meant to be a quality food substance. Sugar should be a treat, a flourish, a small part of your well balanced diet. Just because a sugar is “all natural” or “organic” or “raw” or “low glycemic”...

My whole family has been varying degrees of sick this week.

My 6 year old kicked it off with a crazy, croup-like cough that kept us both up basically all night the first night. Honestly, nothing I tried worked for her that night (and believe me, I subjected her to all kinds of crazy stuff!). Cold air from the open window alternating with the warm moist air from a bowl of steaming water helped keep the cough at bay for about 10 minutes at a time. But that was it. It was a long, long night.

The next day, I called my naturopath who said, “Yup, it’s a nasty cough that has lingered for a lot of my patients. Keep doing what you’re doing!” Not the panacea I was hoping to get from her, but...

I have been a great source of consternation to my family for the past year of pancake breakfasts. See, I just never bother to write down the recipe. I just sort of put whatever flours I feel like into my Vitamix and whiz them up with enough liquids and an egg or two to make a serviceable batter.

Most of the time, the results weren’t that bad. Sometimes they were great, and only very rarely I’d have to throw a whole batch away and start over.

But there was no consistency, because I never found anything that was really worth making again. Even if they were good at breakfast, the pancakes didn’t keep well. They were also never fluffy “diner style” pancakes. Not always a lead brick, but...