Lorae Bowden

A plug for Homemade Applesauce - and a bit of Zucchini Advice

2011-10-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

I think the smell of cooking apples is the epitome of fall. I spent this week making applesauce - pretty easy and VERY yummy. (And a great, cheap first food for babies. My kids' first solid food experiences involved hefty amounts of instant oatmeal mixed with homemade applesauce.)
Apples are plentiful in the fall. Even if you don't own an apple tree, chances are you know someone who does, and is willing to share if you pick. Craigslist and the classifieds are also good places to look. Many people will offer apples for free to those who will come pick.
Applesauce can be made a variety of ways and with a variety of flavors. I keep it simple - no spices, maybe a bit of sugar if needed; it can always be spiced later.
Making applesauce doesn't require any major equipment at all - just peel, core, cook the apples, mash them and freeze.
I bottle my sauce. Since I make it in quantity, I use a Victorio strainer. It is an ingenious pioneer contraption. I quarter the apples, cook them, and them run them through the strainer, and the strainer pushes sauce through a sieve while sending the peels, seeds and stems out another side. I lucked out and found an ancient one at a second hand store for a couple of dollars. They can also be bought (see Amazon) for a bit of an investment (but worth it if you make a lot). No peeling or coring!
Applesauce can then be spiced or sweetened if you choose, put in jars and processed in a water bath canner.
Some good instructions and pictures of the whole process can be found here.

And now for a zucchini tidbit: I learned the hard way that zucchini peels should not be frozen. If you want to grate and freeze zucchini for use in breads and soups all year, PEEL it first. Zucchini and yellow summer squash freeze well for year-round use. Just peel, grate, and freeze in ziploc bags of a cup or two. I left the peels on one year, and they NEVER soften. We had zucchini bread with horribly hard crunchy peels. I also tried it in quiche - and ruined the quiche. Of course, maybe I'm the only one who doesn't know this. I mentioned my experience once in a group of women, and got "the look" from all of them, which meant, "You're kidding that you didn't know that, right?"

Perfect Fall Days and Perfect Pot Pie

2011-10-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a perfect day. I spent most of the day in the kitchen making apple pie and a delicious apple, onion, sausage, sweet potato pot pie. I turned on some good music, the kids helped me, and we had the day to cut, peel, mix, and savor the good smells. The weather was cool and gray - perfect for a cozy day of baking.
While homemade crusts and pies are pretty labor-intensive, and I don't feel like spending every day in the kitchen, it was invigorating to be relaxed and at home and domestic.
I am so glad I am able to be at home to experience days like yesterday. They make me happy to be alive, be a mom, and know how to cook from scratch. Plus, I got compliments from my husband and kids all evening. Should I get mercenary and mention that the whole wonderful day of baking cost around $5? Yay for homemaking! Yay for being a mom! Yay for ovens and rolling pins and fall days!
And here's the most delicious pot pie you will ever taste:

Turkey, Onion, and Apple Pot Pie

Recipe from Sunset Magazine

Ingredients

· 2 onions (1 lb. total)

· 2 Golden Delicious apples (1 lb. total)

· 1 or 2 yams (1 lb. total)

· 1 tablespoon butter or margarine

· 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey or turkey sausage patties

· 2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage

· 1 1/3 cups fat-skimmed chicken broth

· 2/3 cup apple juice

· 3 tablespoons cornstarch

· Salt and pepper

· 1 tablespoon whipping cream or beaten egg

· pastry for a nine inch pie

Preparation

Peel onions and thinly slice crosswise. Peel and core apples; thinly slice crosswise. Peel yams; cut in half lengthwise, then thinly slice crosswise. Melt butter in a 5- to 6-quart pan over high heat. Crumble turkey into pan; stir often until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Add onions, apples, yams, sage, and; cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Uncover, turn heat to high, and stir often until liquid is evaporated and onions begin to brown, about 5 minutes. In a small bowl, mix broth, juice, and cornstarch. Add to turkey mixture and stir until it boils and thickens. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste. Let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, 30 to 40 minutes. Spoon mixture into a shallow, round 1 1/2- to 2-quart casserole or a 10-inch pie pan that holds at least 6 cups. On a lightly floured board, roll pastry into a round about 2 inches wider than the diameter of the casserole or pie pan. Center pastry over filling; trim edges to overhang rim about 1 inch. Fold overhang under pastry flush with rim. Flute pastry firmly against casserole or pan rim and slash top decoratively. If desired, reroll pastry scraps, cut into decorative shapes, and lay on top of pie. Set pie on a foil-lined 12- by 15-inch baking sheet. Brush top with cream. Bake in a 375° regular or convection oven until pastry is well browned and filling is bubbling, 35 to 45 minutes. If crust rim darkens excessively before center browns, fold foil from sheet up to cover rim loosely. Spoon pastry and filling from casserole to serve. Yields 6-8 servings.

Notes: I add a bottom crust as well. I also omit the caraway seeds. This pie is a little work, but SO worth it!

Best Family Memories

2011-09-23T12:49:00.000-07:00

We had one of the best Family Nights ever last week. Monday evening we took the kids to a local trail to pick ripe wild berries for jamming. We divided into two teams - the Chokecherry team and the Rosehip team. After an hour of picking, we had a gallon of rosehips and over two gallons of chokecherries. The kids LOVED it. I think they would have picked for another hour if we had let them. I was in charge of the rosehip team, and ours were a little harder to find, but 4-year-old Ruth kept running up the trail ahead of us and shouting, "More rosehips!" whenever she found a new bush. I made jelly the next afternoon. When the kids got home from school, their first questions were, "Where is the jelly? May we try some? Of both kinds?"

We feel so blessed to live in a place where there is so much natural abundance. Living in Montana has given us a chance to take our children into nature and teach them about its bounties. We love hiking, and when we go, our favorite pastime is identifying the plants around us. A few weeks ago, while hiking a new trail, we discovered ripe wild currents. We emptied a water bottle and filled it with currents for jam.

As fall sets in, we have a shelf full of jelly for the coming year - chokecherry, rosehip, currant, huckleberry, and crabapple. The bonus - or maybe the ultimate blessing - is that we have children who appreciate nature, are familiar with it's usefulness, will preserve it, have learned valuable skills, and have made lifelong great family memories. And isn't that what it is really all about? Frugal living is ultimately the best way to live - for the earth, for our bank accounts, but mostly for our children.

A final note for the curious: Rosehip jelly doesn't taste like roses. It is fruity, unique, and one of our favorites!

Thank You, Couponer!

2011-09-12T16:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not a "Couponer." Besides not having the time or eating the foods most couponers buy, I have a whole soapbox about it. That aside, I have to say Thank You to some secret couponer benefactress.

Last week I went to the Rosauer's sale. (Who can pass up milk for $1.79/gallon?) I got my quota of milk and was walking past the cereal - which was also ALL on sale for $1.79/box. We don't eat a lot of cold cereal, so I don't spend hundreds of dollars on this sale. However, as I walked past, I noticed coupons sticking out of the shelf - a whole stack. I noticed several stacks of coupons sticking out along the whole cereal aisle. I looked more closely and could see that some devoted and benevolent couponer must have spent hours cutting coupons and then stuffed them into the shelves for other sale shoppers. Score! The bottom line is, I got 5 boxes of cereal at $1.79 each, plus two more dollars off ($6.95 total), thanks to a great coupon.

So, I DO use coupons - when they are convenient, are for something I use, and don't cost me time. Thank you, thank you to the anonymous couponer!

Back again!

2011-05-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not dead. Just spent the last semester editing a dissertation and helping my husband with job applications. The good news is, the cramming is over and he graduated! I'm now Mrs. Dr. Bowden.:) The other news is, the frugal living isn't over. Looking back, I don't know that is ever will be. There is so mach satisfaction in learning real cooking and preserving skills, and using them every day.

So the inspirational thought for the day is from C.S Lewis, "You find out the strength of the wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down." Frugal living can be hard, but is so strengthening and rewarding - which goes with my other inspirational thought from Adelle Davis, "We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are." My experience tells me that is so true. My family is so much more because of the way we have been privileged to live for the past several years. I will never regret this learning process.

Divinity Escapades

2010-12-13T14:24:00.000-08:00

Divinity is a great Christmas candy - pretty easy to make and inexpensive as far as candy goes. I made some last week and the kids loved it. I should say that I am really not a candy chef - mostly because candy is a precise art and expensive enough that I can't afford to keep trying to perfect a failed recipe. On the other hand, my kids are pretty good at eating sugar - even if it doesn't look like the Better Homes and Gardens picture. Last week when I made divinity, I overcooked the sugar solution and ended up making suckers instead of divinity on the first try. I just added food coloring and some peppermint flavor to the sugar solution and poured it over popsicle sticks I put on a greased cookie sheet. The kids thought it was the best mistake in the world. I was able to save the egg whites for my second batch - which turned out OK. For a good divinity recipe and tips go to http://southernfood.about.com/od/candyrecipes/r/blbb355.htm

Fudge in a Bag

2010-11-30T12:11:00.000-08:00

Christmas baking time is here! At a class I gave a few weeks ago in Billings, one of the participants mentioned that she made fudge in a bag with her kids. Not only was it a great Christmas tradition, it kept them occupied and quiet for Family Councils and Family Home Evening lessons. Since I want occupied and quiet kids at FHE, I was intrigued and looked up the recipe. It's very simple - and inexpensive!:) Here's the link http://www.food.com/recipe/Fudge-in-a-Ziploc-Bag-293041 Try it and give me some feedback. How did it work for your family?

Yummy Yams

2010-11-19T08:20:00.000-08:00

Looking for a delicious alternative for run-of-the-mill candied yams? I found this recipe at Better Homes and Gardens, and it looked so good I had to try it. Delicious! We're having this for Thanksgiving. See the recipe at http://www.bhg.com/recipe/vegetables/florence-mamas-candied-yams/
On a personal note - I don't like candied yams. My mother always served a yummy Apples and Yams dish at Thanksgiving which is heavenly. It's my traditional yam dish as well, but I found this, and had to try it out. So this year we're having two yam dishes.:)
I did find an online recipe for Apples and Yams here http://thanksgiving.betterrecipes.com/yams-and-apples.html It doesn't have a picture or really comprehensive instructions. To add to it - Cook the yams in salted water for 25 minutes. Peel them and slice in half-moons that are 1/2 inch thick. In greased casserole alternate yam slices (standing up) and apple (peeled) sections between the yams. Pour the sauce over and spread to cover.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-16T12:10:00.000-08:00

Turkeys are 29 cents a pound at Safeway! I haven't seen a better (or even close) price elsewhere.

Also, I really liked this study on the Secrets of Low-Stress Families. Check it out at http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/seven-secrets-of-low-stress-families

Officially, cooking from scratch is a secret of low-stress families! Actually I believe it. Families that use pre-packaged foods spend just as much time in meal preparation as families that cook from scratch. That's been proven before in other studies. So if you're not saving time, isn't peeling carrots more relaxing than reading instructions and scheduling the microwave? Of course. What I don't know is - does cooking from scratch make us a low-stress family? Hmm....

If at First You Don't Succeed....

2010-10-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

So last night we had an "Appreciation Dinner" - meaning what we ate made us appreciate all the other dinners we've ever eaten. I really had all the best intentions, but the rice didn't cook right (actually not at all), and the fried apples and onions that sounded so delicious and cozy in "Little House on the Prairie" were definitely not delicious and cozy in the year 2010. The kids and Jared ate without complaint - oh, how I love them! They did ask if there was any dessert - meaning, "Is there incentive to eat this pile in front of us?" But I didn't even have any dessert.
They were all so stoic about it, and I just kept apologizing, until Jared consoled me by telling me that it was OK; every dinner doesn't have to be a success story. That meant a lot coming from him, considering that 1) he knows I have my share of dinner failures and then some, and 2) dinner is his only really good meal of the day (He eats oatmeal for breakfast and no lunch.).
The real point, though, is that he is right. Cooking from scratch to save money is not always a success story - and that's OK. I'm a better cook because I've learned from failure, and my family seems to get easily over the less-than-delicious meals with no negative side effects. We can't learn and be successful if we give up because of failure. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!!:)

Keeping it Simple Saves Money

2010-10-12T11:46:00.000-07:00

I found this great blog posted a while ago. This lady talks about how we save money by keeping things basic and simple. This is a very enjoyable read - and goes along perfectly with my thoughts and how I feed my family. Check out the post at

frugalc.wordpress.com/2007/08/23/keep-it-simple-keep-it-basic/

Also, this weekend at the Bozeman LDS Stake Center is a Provident Living Expo from 10am-2pm. There will be lots of information on saving money in all areas of living. I will be doing a booth on food budgeting. (For example, did you know that cold cereal and milk cost over three times more than oatmeal and milk? You can save about $100 per year per person in your household if you make that simple switch! What are you going to do with all that extra money?:) Come check out all the fun stuff - plus lunch will be served! And if you have hubbies and boys, I hear the fire trucks will be there.:)

For Your Listening Pleasure

2010-09-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

A few months ago a good friend of mine, Quinn, put together a podcast of the "Oatmeal Story" from my book Centsible Meals. It was a great learning experience for me. I got to sit in a cool foam cubby with a big microphone while Quinn manned a console with tons of buttons and flashing lights. Quinn came to our house to tape the kids and Jared (who are also featured).
The "Oatmeal Story" is oft-repeated at our house - sometimes as a funny event and sometimes as a stern reminder. Our family definitely had fun trying out this media, and we really appreciate Quinn for working with our time schedule and dubious talent.
Click to listen to "Centsible Meals -- The Oatmeal Story"

Kids in the Kitchen

2010-09-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

Hey! Found this great article in LDS Living Magazine called Kids in the Kitchen...:) Read it at www.ldsliving.com. I hope this doesn't post on facebook 59 times like my last update. If it does, and anyone knows how to stop it, please let me know.

Jamming

2010-08-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

Jared and I went on a hike to celebrate our engagement anniversary. ( He proposed while taking me hiking.) We discovered service berries that were at peak ripeness. They make excellent jam, so we picked some - and realized we didn't have a container - or a bag - or a water bottle - or anything - to put them in. Jared is resourceful - and chivalrous - and volunteered to take off his sock to use as a berry holder. We picked berries all the way back down the mountain. A very fun, if not totally romantic, excursion. I made jam the next day and it is delicious. So I guess the tips we should glean from this are 1) celebrate all anniversaries, and 2) berry picking is a great family and couple activity this time of year and an inexpensive way to get yummy homemade jam for the winter.

Summer Savvy

2010-07-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

Summer is crazy, busy fun! Maybe it's just me, but I feel like I always plan a nice relaxing summer, and somehow it is non-stop. This year is no exception. We have been visiting friends and attending family reunions, and I wouldn't trade any of it for relaxation. (Although I wouldn't mind trying to add some relaxation.)
I taught some workshops in the cities we traveled in. I love the discussion and idea exchange in a good class! Others always have some great money-saving ideas. Here are a couple of my favorites:
A young mother of three in Lehi, Utah told me she has started making all her own bread. To keep her oven from heating her house in the summer, she bought a toaster oven at a second hand store and bakes her bread in it outside on her patio. Saves on her cooling bill!
I got to attend a class on making homemade ice cream in Casper, Wyoming. Our teacher said she uses a small vanilla pudding mix and mostly milk instead of buying pricey cream and half-and-half. Her samples were creamy and delicious! - a great class on a hot July day!
If you have summer-time money-saving tips, please comment and let us all in on your savvy ideas.:)

Snacking

2010-05-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

OK. It's been awhile since I last blogged. I'll admit I'm not much of a blogger yet, but I was really trying. Life gets crazy, but I'm back! (At least this week.) One of the things I advocate in my book, "Centsible Meals", is no snacking. We all know it's not necessary; that's not rocket science. But stopping is a whole other issue. I'm looking for readers to post ideas about quitting. What helps you stop? How do you sit at home all day next to the fridge and stay away? Personally, I find summer vacation redeeming for me. The kids come home and I have absolutely no time to myself to sneak snacks. Plus, I seem to use more calories in the summer when all seven kids are home ALL DAY. However, that doesn't always help me during the school year. Please share what helps you!

Kids in the Kitchen

2010-02-26T14:13:00.000-08:00

My tip and post for the week is an article that's in Montana Parent Magazine - the new March issue. The article is titled "Kids in the Kitchen" and discusses the advantages of teaching our kids how to cook. Of course, one of the advantages is that families save money when kids know how to cook, but there are also lots of other great reasons to teach this skill. In the article I also give ideas for how to involve kids at all ages and stages. If you want to save more money, make a picky eater happy, and give your kids something productive to do in the kitchen, check out http://www.mtparent.com/!

Inexpensive and Yummy Muesli

2010-02-18T12:54:00.000-08:00

I love granola and muesli, but I never buy either - way too pricey. Instead, we make our own! For a bowlful of delicious muesli put small handfulls each of homemade granola (see recipe on my website), cornflakes, regular uncooked rolled oats, and raisins in a bowl. If you have it, replace raisins with fresh fruit. Add milk or yogurt and enjoy! My kids think this is the best treat in the world (almost).

How to Stick to a Budget

2010-02-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

Some tips for sticking to a budget from money guru Dave Ramsey! I have done all of these, and I know they work!

1.Make sure you write it down. Give every dollar a name on paper. Spend your income on paper before you actually spend it.

2.Stay away from places that tempt you to spend. If you are overspending, you need to buckle down and get serious. It’s a sign of maturity when you delay pleasure today so that you can ensure a better tomorrow.

3.Use Dave’s envelope system to help you spend cash in line with your budget. Take some envelopes, write the budget categories on the envelopes, and use only the allotted money to purchase specific things. When an envelope is empty, don’t buy anything else in that budget category.

4.Stay motivated! Don’t give up! A budget gives you hope that your money situation can and will get better. Dwelling on the failures of the past, or fearing that you will never get to the end, will steal your hope. To avoid this, break your plan down into smaller goals. You can change your financial picture. You can change your life.

Recordkeeping = Big Money Savings

2010-01-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

Here's a cool fact from yesterday's TV show:

(CBS) In the final installment of "The Early Show"'s "Five Ways To Boost" series, financial contributor Ray Martin and Farnoosh Torabi, author of "You're So Money: Live Rich Even When You're Not," showed how you can boost your finances, including getting some quick cash into your pocket.

Martin said to increase cash in your house you first need to measure and manage your money.

He explained, "The only way to really get a sense of where your spend your money and then make moves to keep more of it is to measure where it is going. And you know the saying: 'If you don't measure it you can't manage it!'"

Martin suggested starting an Excel spreadsheet for your family or by downloading one of the free budget worksheets on the Internet. Type "budget worksheets free" into Google, he said, and you'll get 191,000 results. Also, check out online expenses tracking websites Wesabe.com and Mint.com.

Martin said when he's heard from people who start tracking their expenses, they start saving $500 to $1,000 a month.

The biggest savings, Martin said, can come from getting a handle on out-of-control grocery costs through better meal planning and buying in bulk and on sale. (See why I liked this?)

Martin said, "The point here is this: Don't ignore the little expenses, because those little expenses really add up."

What to do with Leftovers!?

2010-01-28T13:38:00.000-08:00

Tonight we are having leftovers. There isn't enough of any one thing to have another complete meal with it, so we are going to the Bowden Bistro for dinner. I've made up some simple menus so the kids can choose what they want to eat. Catch - the menu item names, like "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride", have absolutely nothing to do with the food they represent. The kids will be choosing fun names and have no clue what they are ordering. This should be a fun way to get rid of ALL the leftovers sitting in my fridge. Any other fun ideas for finishing off those little containers taking up space in the fridge? Leave a comment!

National Oatmeal Month!

2010-01-19T08:06:00.000-08:00

We eat oatmeal. It's easy to make. It's warm on cold mornings. It's cheap and filling for all the little mouths we feed. It helps us appreciate the finer things in life. In honor of National Oatmeal Month, I'm posting some "add-ins" we've used to lend variety to our plentiful oatmeal mornings.

First the basic recipe:
Boil 4 cups water in a saucepan. Add 2 1/3 cups oatmeal and turn the stove off but leave the pan on the burner. In about five minutes, stir in 1/3 cup brown sugar. Enjoy! Serves 6-8.

Some add-ins we have liked:
-stir in 1/2 cup peanut butter with the brown sugar
-stir in 1 T cocoa with the brown sugar
-cook oats in apple juice instead of water and add 1 chopped apple with the oats; leave out sugar
-add 1 t. cinnamon with the brown sugar
-add 3/4 cup raisins with or without the sugar

Enjoy your homemade variety pak oatmeal this month!

Is It Worth It?

2010-01-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

There's a fine line between saving money and making the savings worth the effort. Today I made date newtons - a week-long process. Right there you may be on the verge of thinking, "She's crazy." Let me tell you just how crazy I am. This experiment is the result of three personal weaknesses - 1) I have a hard time passing up a good deal, 2) I like dates, and 3) I really like fig newtons.

Two weeks ago I found dates on clearance at the store for 50 cents a pound. I like dates. They are generally expensive and out of my budget. These were on sale for obvious reasons - age and dryness being two of them. I bought them anyway, convinced that I could turn them into something delicious, because I really like dates.

At home they sat in my fridge for a week. I was busy with Christmas. Jared observed them and asked if he should throw away the ancient dates. I informed him I was going to make something delicious out of them. Last Thursday I pulled them out to use. Stuffed dates were not going to be an option. These wonderful dates were going to have to be cooked to oblivion before they would be soft enough to eat. I put them in a pan on the stove just covered with water and a little sugar, and cooked them for several hours while I thought about what to make with them.

Fig newtons! I love fig newtons and they are also usually out of my budget. Dates are like figs, right? After cooking down several hours, they were soft and gooey - perfect for a filling. I looked up a fig newton recipe on the internet that seemed like it would work.

New Year's Eve found me sitting at the table for a couple of hours peeling and seeding gooey dates. Did I mention I like dates? Kids are wonderful. They thought it was a great activity - plus it kept them occupied until midnight when we could say, "Happy New Year. We let you stay up until 12. Good night." Peeling boiled, sugared dates is now on my top ten list of "Messy Projects." Mashing them with the potato masher turned out to be another fun kid project.

Today I made the dough - not too complicated. It was the consistency of stiff pie dough, and needed to be rolled out very thin. It took me a good hour, but I didn't mind because strength training is one of my New Year's resolutions. Then I cut the dough in strips, put filling in the middle, rolled the long side edges over top, and baked them edges-side down on a cookie sheet. After baking and cooling, I cut them into newtons, and let the kids try them. Pretty good. I won't enter them in the county fair, but at least they're edible.

So now I'm lookinig back over the process, and realizing that I paid $1 for the dates, spent several hours on the cookies, and that Smith's has a decent-sized package of Fig Newtons for under $2 that taste a whole lot better than what is sitting on my kitchen counter. I'm asking myself, did I learn anything? Yes. Was it fun? Yes. Was it too much work? Yes. Will I ever do it again? No. I very much believe in "Waste not, want not," but sometimes it's hard to define the parameters. Next time I see dates on clearance for obvious reasons, it will be slightly easier to quell my desire to get in on a good deal.

Deseret Book

2009-12-29T11:25:00.000-08:00

I just got my Deseret Book flyer in the mail Saturday - and my book is there! Very exciting day! I guess you could even say I'm the centerfold - along with several other cookbooks that ended up right in the middle of the flyer.:) This flyer is going in my permanent file. Maybe somday I will have wall space to frame and hang it next to the reciept my brother sent me of my first book sale.

Crazy Fun Christmas Baking

2009-12-23T08:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas is here and life has gone crazy. The kids are out of school this week, and begged for a goodie baking day. I like baking and cooking, and I certainly like eating sweets - but seven kids, hot appliances, and precise recipes scare me when they are all together in one little kitchen. To calm myself, I invited two friends over (who don't have kids) to help with the chaos. We all had a sticky, noisy blast baking and talking and keeping kids involved. Today's project is driving goodie plates around to those we love and admire who need more sugar in their lives.

Our absolute favorite Christmas treat for the last several years is Cranberry Bread. I get lots of friends every year who request the recipe. It's easy, inexpensive to make, and not too sweet. The recipe is on the back of the Ocean Spray cranberry bag, but I'm planning on posting it on my website ASAP so you can all access it and make some before cranberries and oranges go out of season. Watch for cranberries on clearance. They freeze well and are really good for you!

Book Released!

2009-12-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

It's official! "Centsibe Meals" is released and available at bookstores! Tuesday the 8th was the actual date, and of course, it was the one day in weeks I had no internet access. I wanted to tell the whole world, but had to settle for making myself a cake, and announcing it to the kids - who were as excited as kids can be who don't really have a clue about why this is such a big deal. After all, their world did not drastically change - except that they got cake. Yum! So start looking for "Centsible Meals" in bookstores around you! Ask and it shall be ordered in!

Christmas Baking is Coming!

2009-12-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

Had a great Thanksgiving with my sister, her husband and eight kids. Fifteen kids and four adults all under the same roof for a few days - and we all had loads of fun! Now we are officially in the thick of the
Christmas rush. Seems like everyone tries to get their "event" in the first two weeks of December to "avoid the crazyness of the last two weeks." My calendar is chock full this week and we have nothing happening the week before Christmas. Maybe it will stay that way and we can enjoy baking and relaxing that week. :) There were so many good grocery deals before Thanksgiving, that I've been laying low for the last little while. Next week I'll go on the actual "Christmas Baking Shopping Trip" and try to get everything so we can be indoors and enjoy the zero degree weather we've been having.

Website is Up!

2009-11-20T14:57:00.000-08:00

My website is FINALLY up and running! For a computer illiterate like me, this has been a huge undertaking and very time consuming. But..success! Please check it out at http://www.loraebowden.com/ and give me feedback and suggestions.

Also, check out the recipes I posted there. Two are my favorite yam recipes. The Apple and Yam is perfect for your Thanksgiving feast. The Apple, Onion, Sausage Pot Pie is fantastic for Fall - a definite comfort food. They take a little time but are REALLY worth it - so yummy! I promise they will become family favorites for you, too. Also, after much trial and error, I have come up with a delicious granola recipe. I won't claim it is absolutely perfect - mostly because I think every recipe can be tweaked and be good or better - but let's just say I couldn't stop eating it when it came out of the oven. Dangerous for a diet, but very healthy, simple, and cost-effective!

Yams

2009-11-13T10:43:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about yams this week. What a great food! I always stock up around now because yams go on sale for Thanksgiving and they can be used in so many great recipes. Sweet potatoes and yams are interchangeable, so don't stress about which is which at the grocery store; get the least expensive. I like them boiled or baked with butter and salt - just like a baked potato. They are also good as sweet potato fries, in pies, in casseroles, in cookies, and loads of other recipes. Check out a good recipe site like www.recipezaar.com. The Dr. Gourmet link also had a roasted yam recipe that looked delicious. Look up www.drgourmet.com/recipes/extras/roastedyams.shtml. I'm going to try it! Comment here on this or other yam recipes you love.

My Family

2009-11-05T13:31:00.000-08:00

At Glacier National Park.We had so much fun and the weather was perfect!

Keeping up

2009-11-05T13:17:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to look all professional and knowing on this blog, but I really have no clue what I'm doing. Obviously technology is advancing faster than I am - so here's to jumping in late in the game. My publisher informed me I "absolutely must have an on-line presence" so here I am simply because of my book. There's definitely ulterior motive here. Why else would I try to facebook and keep track of 300 friends along with my own kids? I will admit it's been a steep learning curve - but fun - and seriously time-consuming - but REALLY fun. Maybe soon there will be a website, too...

2009-11-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

My first book is now available for sale! It will be officially in stock on December 8th, 2009. Pre-order it at Amazon.com or request it at your local bookstore or library. I thought it was going to be later, so I'm thrilled it will be available for Christmas gift giving - and an inexpensive gift, too - something I like.:)