Kaake Family Blog

I made this up a couple years ago and it has def. been a summer favorite for me as well as for my kids.  If you can't drink black tea because of the caffeine (or other reasons), give this a try. Ingredients: 3 parts red raspberry leaf tea (not raspberry flavored) 1 part peppermint tea water Directions: 1. Steep tea as your normally would.  For me I use enough boiled water for a 2 quart pitcher.  I usually add in 6 Red Raspberry tea bags and 2 Peppermint Tea Bags.  If I have bulk, each tea bag itself usually contains about 1 teaspoon of loose tea.  I steep for 10 - 15 minutes, then take the tea bags out. 2. Add sweetener to taste - honey, stevia, etc... 3. Chill. It's that simple. What you're left with is a refreshing glass of tea for those hot summer days.  Below are some benefits of each of these teas.  Use caution when drinking peppermint tea while pregnant.  Spearmint is generally a better option. Red Raspberry Leaf Pepper...

I threw this together tonight and we liked it so well I thought I'd copy the recipe down.  This works great if you have some leftover steamed broccoli and leftover chicken.  The quality of the chicken broth makes all the difference.  If your chicken broth does not contain sodium, you will want to add some. Ingredients: 1 cup basmati rice, rinsed 1/2 large onion, chopped 1 tablespoon butter 1 1/2 cups chicken broth - I used water with a heaping tablespoon of Better Than Bouillon 1 cup finely chopped cooked broccoli 3 tablespoons freshly shredded parmesan cheese 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese Directions: 1. Saute rice and onion in butter till onion is translucent.  Make sure rice does not get too brown. 2. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or till rice is just tender. Keep lid covered till rice is done. 3. Turn off heat and mix in the cheese, broccoli and chicken. You can either eat this immedi...

I looked for pictures online and this one looks most like mine.  It was especially awesome that it was on a raw organic site!  You can find this picture here .  Always want to give credit where credit is due. Anyway, I was inspired tonight from a post I read from my favorite health food store.   They have a banana and pb shake.   I called them to see if they were still open to pick one up for myself, but alas they weren't.  So...I got out my blender and started experimenting  It turned out pretty good!  Measurements below are not exact.  If I would have thought enough ahead I would have gotten some cream out of the fridge and whipped it up with some stevia to put on top. Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie Ingredients: 1 frozen banana 1/4-1/2 cup water 1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter. 1 tablespoon honey (or to taste) cocoa powder to taste. Directions: 1. Blend and enjoy!

Above picture taken from http://www.necksecret.com/Bellicon_Rebounders.html Anyone with fatigue problems are told to make sure to get in some good but low impact exercise.  While we know this to be true, sometimes with fatigue issues you can make your fatigue problem much worse by exercising.  While studying up on the lymphatic system and what it does for the body, I decided I would start to try lymphasizing (rebounding).  I have not done regular exercise in about 2 years since my health took a not so fun turn.  That said, before then I LOVED to do Tae Boe.  While not totally consistent, I loved the workout.  However, at this point in my life, that's not an option.  Here I will share with you some information on rebounding as well as what I personally do. Changes I've already seen in the past couple weeks: 1. More endurance during the day. 2. More stamina during my workout. The below video is what I used in the beginning and now model my wor...

Does that make sense? The thought I'm trying to convey here is making up food ahead of time for those times when you need something quick to grab. When I got my car, I was running a lot more than usual and eating out a lot more. So not worth my budget or my health. Here are a couple things I have made in the past few days to get ahead of the game. Both are SO yummy! (picture borrowed) Baked Oatmeal - I got this recipe from my friend Jennifer. You bake it, eat a single portion and refrigerate the rest. I like it leftover cold or warm. It's especially good warm with vanilla yogurt on the top. Oh and this oatmeal is not your usual baked oatmeal. It's more like a very moist cake. Very flavorful unlike most of them. This can be eaten by itself and enjoyed immensely. Ingredients: 6 cups oats 4 t baking powder 1-2 t cinnamon 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups buttermilk, rice milk, soy milk, etc.. 4 eggs 3/4 cup oil 1 cup honey 1 t. vanilla 3 cups fresh fruit or fr...

These were a very fun treat! The kids and I think they are much better than store bought. Dh even likes them. I used my homemade starter which you can find information for below. Sourdough English Muffins Makes about 12 1/2 C starter (mine is a 100% hydration white starter) 1 C milk 2-3/4 C AP flour 1 TBSP sugar 3/4 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda Semolina or cornmeal, for dusting Directions: 1. Combine starter, 2 C of flour and milk in a large bowl. Stir to combine, cover with plastic wrap, and leave out for 8 hours or overnight. 2. After the overnight rest, add remaining flour (I didn't add any), sugar, salt and baking soda and mix well. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 4-5 minutes. 3. Roll out to 3/4" and cut with a biscuit cutter into rounds. You can reroll the scraps, but you may need to let the dough rest before cutting more muffins from them. 4. Place muffins on a piece of parchment dusted with semolina and let rest for 45 minutes. ...

Yeah! We were able to drink our first batch of kefir from these particular grains. So yummy! Dom is the biggest kefir guru out there. Check the below link to see how to make your own kefir. It is very, very easy! The health benefits are so amazing, why not? http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html On to the kefir smoothie. We ended up making a very yummy kefir smoothie today. You can find the recipe below. Before I get to that, here are some health benefits of making your own (and drinking) kefir. "The benefits of consuming kefir regularly in the diet Easily digested, it cleanses the intestines, provides beneficial bacteria and yeast, vitamins and minerals, and complete proteins. Because kefir is such a balanced and nourishing food, it contributes to a healthy immune system and has been used to help patients suffering from AIDS, chronic fatigue syndrome, herpes, and cancer. Its tranquilizing effect on the nervous system has benefited many who suffer from...

This was something I threw together today in 10 minutes. IT was so yummy! The kids loved it as well. With it we had some leftover chicken rice and cheese soup. Perfect for this day! I however, was not able to take pictures because Matt had to take the camera to work today. So, the pix above is borrowed. Enjoy the recipe below! This is very satisfying, the flavor is very good and it's super easy to make. This is one of those perfect meals to make for an unexpected guest. I used some chicken I had cooked in the crockpot heavily seasoned with garlic powder. You could also use a rotisserie chicken. A lot of chicken caesar salad wraps have croutons in them. I didn't feel this needed it. This is great for those people who don't prefer spinach. Because it's mixed with a lot of chicken and some dressing (and of course a bit of cheese and onion), it's more like a lettuce most people are used to. The flavor of the spinach is not overwhelming. Chicken Casea...

I was contacted by Ryan from the Pom Wonderful company. If you're not familar with this company, please visit this link to learn more. They sell the highest quality pomegranate juice I've personally ever had as well as the best tasting. Imagine our excitement today when we went out to the mail and found a box of 6 - 8oz containers of Pom juice. The kids were very excited to try it. I must say I was a bit apprehensive because of another brand I had tried in the past. That other brand of pomegranate juice was not that good at all. In fact, I believe I dumped it down the drain. So as you can imagine, I was hoping this would be at least a bit better than the previous brand I had tried. I openend the first bottle and took a little sip. Then another and yet another. This juice is so yummy! It was a little sweet and a bit tart. The flavor was absolutely wonderful! Next up was the kids. As you can see in the pictures, they very much enjoyed it! They didn't wan...

Today was quite the fun, new experience. While we didn't quite get the taste we were hoping for, we had lots of fun. We're going to try more combinations in the future. Jon with the dough. Jon trying to knead the dough. Jon rolling out the dough. Dough that had been sprinkled with sea salt and dried onion flakes. Dough in the oven. The recipe we used is as follows. Jon's Crackers Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup water 1/3 cup evoo Directions: 1. Mix all together in a food processor - dry ingredients then slowly add in wet. Process for 1 minute after dough forms a ball. 2. Knead till dough is just elastic then cover and let rest 1/2 hour. 3. Roll out dough very thin. It will be easier if you cut dough into 3-4 pieces and work with only one piece at a time. 4. Put on pan, spray with just a bit of water (or get hand wet and rub over dough just a bit). Sprinkle with your fa...

I got this recipe from a dear friend, Jennifer Dagett (sp?). I was wanting a different recipe to try. I have a very yummy healthy granola bar recipe which I'll post here in a minute as well. HOwever, the same thing all the time was getting boring. She gave me this recipe and we LOVE it! We eat it cold after it's been baked and refrigerated, or warm with some vanilla yogurt on the top. Very yummy! I've only used frozen blueberries for the fruit thus far but hope to use other fruits in the future. Baked Oatmeal Ingredients: 6 cups oats 4 t baking powder 1-2 t cinnamon 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups buttermilk, rice milk, soy milk, etc.. 4 eggs 3/4 cup oil 1 cup honey 1 t. vanilla 3 cups fresh fruit or frozen 1 cup nuts 1. mix all and spread into 9x13. 2. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Cool and cut into squares. 3. You can make it up and freeze it with or without baking first. Next up we have some bread my husband has been making. This was h...