Sign Up For Spain in Iowa’s Traditional Menu Plan On A Budget! The First Two Weeks Are FREE!

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registration

It’s launch time!

The new Spain in Iowa membership site is done and the week 1 menu plan is ready for download.

You’ll find all the information you need by visiting, www.spain-in-iowa.com/menuplan.  Once you decide on a membership level and subscribe, you’ll automatically be emailed a username and login to get into the membership area.

By subscribing, the first two weeks of menu plans are free.

I’m excited to start this journey with you as we learn how to cook whole foods, in season, and on budget!

Since this is my very first product to offer at Spain in Iowa, I’m going to host a giveaway!

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Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup… In the Crockpot

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tuscan_soup

My favorite kind of dishes have always been one pot meals cooked low and slow.

This is especially true during the Winter time when simmering pots on the back burner fill my home with the aroma of humble ingredients softening to a delicate bite. As a young girl, heck… even today, cleaning my plate to a brilliant shine by mopping up the juices of a good braise, soup, or stew with thick crusty bread is my favorite part about a one pot meal.

To me, it’s liquid gold.

tuscan_soup4

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Ridiculously Good Lunches For Kids – Week 2

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I’m running a week behind, but as promised, I’m sharing with you week two of our ridiculously good lunches for kids.

As I talked about in my post, If French Kids Can Eat Everything, So Can Yours – How to Teach Your Kids to Eat Everything, I’ve completely changed up my kids lunches at home.

I’m no longer catering to them for lunch. Instead, I decided to feed my children more nutrient dense foods for lunch.  I don’t fuss or menu plan for this, I just use what I have on hand to make my kids meals that keep them satiated much longer than their lunches of before.  I intentionally include as many seasonal vegetables into the dishes as I can to keep their energy and immunity up.

They’ve been doing really well, especially little brother.  He’s usually the picky one of the group, but now that we’ve implemented “supper for lunch,” as he calls it, he’s been trying everything without fear.

Please remember, that when I make my lunches I don’t use precise measurements.  A bit of this, a bit of that kind of thing.

So here goes…

Week 2

Day 6: Orange Glazed Shrimp with Grilled Peppers

Orange Glazed Shrimp with Grilled Peppers

To make the glaze for the shrimp, I simply added some soy sauce to homemade orange marmalade and grilled everything on my cast iron grill.  They were good, but the boys much rather prefer gambas al ajillo. A simple saute with garlic in extra virgin olive oil.

I’m thinking I need to share my orange marmalade recipe.  We’re almost out ;)

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How To Make Your Own Homemade Organic Spaghetti or Pizza Sauce for $1 Plus Change!

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Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

My kids are just like any other kids – they love the red sauce.

For yesterday’s ridiculously good lunches for kids, I decided to make them some spaghetti.  As I usually do, I use what I have in my pantry and fridge to whip up a quick and easy nourishing lunch.

With a quick glance in the fridge I decided to brown some ground pork and saute some kale and baby portobello mushrooms (loaded with vitamin d) with garlic to add in the spaghetti. As I was about to start on the sauce, I kind of chuckled to myself thinking, “yeah, a homemade organic spaghetti sauce for just over $1.”

You know moms, that giddy feeling you get when you save money on incredibly good food.

These are the kind of tips I plan on sharing with all of you that subscribe to my menu plan starting next Tuesday.  My day to day food choices.  How I prepare them and how I save money on the best for my family.

So what’s my secret, how do I make my own simple, homemade organic spaghetti or pizza sauce for $1 plus change?

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Simple Lives Thursday, #131

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spaininiowa

It’s Simple Lives Thursday! My favorite day of the week where you share your tips and recipes for living a simple life. Whichever blog that you choose to link up your post, it will show up on all 4 sites! As a reminder, this blog hop is a way to share with many people your posts on what you are doing to live a simple life. Whether that’s gardening, raising urban chickens, homeschooling, sewing, making your own deodorant, or cleaning supplies… we want to know about it! If you’re into homeopathy, ways to save $ by conserving energy or other ways to live frugally… we want to know about it! If you bike, cook real food, homestead or farm… we want to know about it!

Your Hosts (for the time being, due to hosts taking breaks)

  1. Wardeh from GNOWFGLINS
  2. Alicia from Culinary Bliss
  3. Anette from Sustainable Eats
  4. Me!

Please read and follow the Simple Lives Thursday bloghop rules

1. If linking real, traditional and simple recipes, please make sure all ingredients used are whole. Such as whole grains, vegetables, legumes, meats, even sugar. In order to keep the integrity of “nourishing” food, we will delete any recipes that utilize processed, boxed foods. We are definitely not going to be ingredient policeman, however, please note that this is a hop hosted by advocates of the real, local and sustainable food movements.

2. Please link your posts back to one of the hosting blogs. This is a common blog hop courtesy. This link helps build the Simple Lives Thursday community by sending your readers to all of the other participants posts. We all end up sharing and learning from each other.

3. No giveaway away or otherwise primarily advertising oriented posts. Keep your topics to fit our simple living theme of “consume less, produce more.” We will delete posts that don’t fit.

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Homemade Raw Milk Ricotta Cheese – The Cheesiest New Year’s Resolution

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homemade raw milk ricotta cheese

Written by Jacquelyn of Little Owl Crunchy Momma

I was at a conference towards the end of December and the speaker asked the audience, “What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the term New Year’s Resolution“? An audience member raised there hand and said, “Hypocrites.”

Yikes.

That sounded a little harsh – dontcha think?

I guess I can understand it, though. Often the New Year’s Resolutions we hear about are those that are unattainable for most people; losing twenty pounds, saving money, quitting smoking, etc. Not that people can’t do these things. It’s just really hard. And often we fail.

So starting last year, I decided to look at New Year’s Resolutions differently. Not as a chance to start over or to become a new me, instead, to look at the New Year as a time to create for myself an attainable challenge.

The New Year gives me a whole year to figure out how to add a new skill, habit, or lifestyle choice on top of the good habits I have already established. I’m not starting over. I’m simply adding something new.

My Resolutions for 2012 were

Results from 2012 – Success.

For 2013, I have the cheesiest New Year’s Resolution. Yes, I am determined to learn to make my own cheese.

Starting with soft cheeses like ricotta and working my way to hard cheeses like cheddar or gouda. But wait, there is a catch. I want to make them all from raw milk. If you want to follow along on my journey this year please join me at LittleOwlCrunchyMomma or “like” my Facebook page.

So, to start off the year I am happy to be sharing with you my recipe for homemade raw milk ricotta cheese.

It’s easy and delicious and has only two ingredients!

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