Kaake Family Blog

I wanted to post this so I don't have to do the leg work year after year.  lol!  Hopefully this helps someone else out too.   Please note I do not have pies, or rolls listed.  That's because they will be brought by a family member.  Adjust accordingly. Don't be too shy to ask guests to bring something to contribute to the meal.  Keep in mind that out of town guests should bring things that don't need refrigeration.  Items could include pies, rolls, drinks, paper products (plates, cups, napkins), canned or bottled beverages, etc... I like having a master list ready so I can slowly start buying non-perishable items starting a month before so the financial hit doesn't seem as bad.  That way I can also pick things up as they go on sale. Make sure to keep your list with you when you go shopping.  I have not added a shopping list here because I've already purchased several items.  Maybe I can update that later ;)  I also like to u...

I was reminded by my sister-in-law that we needed to start making these burritos again to make life a bit easier.  In the past we'd layer the ingredients.  I saw a video on youtube where a mom mixed all the ingredients together, then filled the burritos.  That's what we did with these.  We made 24 freezer burritos (large and stuffed) for only $15.29 which comes out to about $.64 each.  If you do not use meat and make your own beans, it would be even cheaper.  Also, if you use cheaper rice you'll save money. We're very particular to using basmati or jasmine rice.  These are so packed that they will feed one adult or two younger children per burrito.  Add a nice salad and you've got a pretty healthy meal! Ingredient Cost: 1 can tomatoes and chilies $.69 1/2 large package frozen chicken breasts $4 2 cans black beans $1.38 1 1/2 cups uncooked basmati rice $.75 chicken bullion and spices were all under $1.00 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese...

I made this up quick today and we love it.  This makes about 10 golf ball sized snack balls.  Pictures will come as soon as I can find my camera. :) Ingredients: 1 cup oats 1/2 cup almonds 1/2 cup peanut butter scant 1/3 cup honey dried coconut Directions: 1. Place nuts and oats in food processor and process till fine. 2. Add in peanut butter and honey and pulse just till ingredients come together. 3. If you want to be naughty, add about 1 tablespoon or so of chocolate chips in and knead in. 4. Form into golf ball sized balls (or whatever size you choose) and then roll in coconut.  Keep refrigerated.

I will be honest, I've had a hard time finding dressing recipes that I really like.  Thankfully, I've gotten a few thanks to my friends Kim and Jen as well as combining some good online recipes.  Hope you like them as well as I do.  They are frugal, healthy and yummy! Ranch Dressing and Dip  I think this tastes very similar to the ranch dressing from Logan's Roadhouse.   Ingredients: 1 cup mayonnaise 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 teaspoon dried chives or 1/2 tablespoon fresh, chopped 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon onion powder 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper milk or buttermilk  Directions: 1. In large bowl whisk together all ingredients with the exception to the milk or buttermilk.  This will make a dip. If you want dressing, just add a few drops of milk/buttermilk at a time till you reach your desired consistency.   2. Refrigerate at least 1/2 hour be...

Mmmm, Pumpkin Cheesecake with no guilt! Baby loves it!  Jon trying to make sure to eat it all quickly before brother asks for some.  lol! I found a recipe online that was changed up from a regular pumpkin cheesecake recipe.  I did a little changing of my own as you'll soon see.  This recipe was fabulous!  I would definitely use less butter for the crust next time but that's the only thing I'd change up other than the changes I've already made that you see below.  I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.  It's fabulous! Pumpkin Cheesecake by Miss Lizzy Ingredients Crust: 1 3/4 cups ground almond and/or almond meal (I used almonds and pecans. I also added in some salt) 3 tablespoons honey (optional - I did not add this) 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 stick melted salted butter Filling: 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature 1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk 1/4 cup ...

I'm getting out this old recipe to share with you all.  I've used it several times.  The only thing I don't add in is the celery salt.  I got this recipe off another site that I cannot seem to find at the moment.  Anyway, here it is.  It's not your average chicken soup recipe.  It's full of more flavor.  Below is the excerpt and health info the site I got this from. "Down through the ages, home-made chicken soup has been valued and appreciated for it’s soothing and healing qualities when it comes to colds and the flu. I decided to investigate what it is about chicken soup that makes the ailing patient feel better. Here’s what I came up with- ‘All research agrees that chicken soup helps break up congestion and eases the flow of nasal secretions. Many say it also inhibits white blood cells that trigger the inflammatory response (causing sore throats and the production of phlegm.) Chicken contains an amino acid called cysteine- released when you...

I came up with a new granola recipe I like even more.  I hope you like it as much as I do.  I tasted it before it put it in the oven and was afraid it would never get to the oven . lol!  Enjoy! Granola Recipe: Ingredients: 4 cups oats 1 cup almonds 1 cup pecans 1 cup sunflower seeds 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut 1/3 cup coconut oil or a combination of coconut and olive oil 1/4 cup honey 1/4 cup maple syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon salt Directions: 1. Combine all dry ingredients and stir well. 2. Add in all wet ingredients and stir well. 3. Pour into a greased pan and bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes.   4. Take out of the oven, stir and put back in for 10 more minutes or till golden. I haven't tried these variations but they should work pretty well.  To make pb granola stir in 1/2 cup pb and cut oil down to 1/8 cup.  Add no spices. For Cherry almond use no s...

This is my first year hot water bath canning.  To my surprise and delight, it all turned out great!  The salsa tastes amazing and the seals all sealed!  Enjoy! Ingredients: 5 lbs chopped and seeded tomatoes - I used mostly roma 1lb hot peppers, halved and seeded - I used several jalapeno's, and 2-3 ancho pepers 2 green peppers - quartered and seeded 1lb sweet onion peeled and quartered 1 cup white vinegar 1 lime, juiced 1 Tablespoon cumin powder 3 Tablespoons dried parsley 1 Tablespoon pink Himalayan sea salt 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper 4 garlic cloves peeled and minced 6 oz tomato paste Directions: 1. Dice about 1/3 - 1/2 the tomatoes by hand.  Put the rest in a food processor and pulse process just till they are in pieces but not too long otherwise you'll make tomato juice. 2. Put the peppers in a food processor and pulse a few times till they are in little pieces but not a paste.  The same with the onions. 3. Put all ingredients ...

My daughter is going to be having a Mall Day followed by a Spa Party on Saturday.  We thought having ice cream would be fun in the evening.  I'm trying to make as many things as naturally as possible so the girls can see they can have fun, eat good food and eat healthily as well.  Here is a recipe I tweaked a bit.  You might want to cut down on it just a bit.  I followed the initial recipe I found online but added in the vanilla and butter which helped a lot.  As you can see it's very fudgy.  Here goes. Ingredients: 1 cup cocoa  1 cup maple syrup 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup water 1/2 - 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 tablespoon butter Directions: 1. Combine cocoa, syrup, salt and water and bring to a boil.   2. Turn heat down to a simmer for 5 minutes stirring constantly.   3. Take off heat and add in the butter and vanilla.  Stir well. 4. Use immediately or store in refrigerator till ready to use.

This is my first year making freezer salsa.  I hope to eventually make some canned salsa since I saw online frozen will only last about 3 months.  Anyway, this is a combination of a couple recipes I found online.  The kids and I love it!  It's just spicy enough to say "oh, that's a bit spicy", but not too much.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  I also hope we enjoy it after it's frozen. Freezer Salsa Ingredients: 6-9 cups quartered and peeled roma tomatoes (look online how to get the skins off easier in boiled water) 2 large onions, quartered 2 bell peppers of your color, seeded and quartered 4 jalapeno peppers seeded and halved 2 ancho peppers 3 cloves garlic, skinned 1/3 cup white vinegar 1 tablespoon oil juice of 1/2 lime (or a smidgen more) 1 tablespoon honey 1-2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less to taste. Directions: 1. Process all veggies a bit at a time in food processor till in ...

Above is my sweet Lyshie having some of her mums cookie. I have found a few recipes that I meshed together into this cookie recipe.  Be forewarned, this is not a sweet cookie recipe.  Please adjust accordingly if you want a sweet cookie. Ingredients: 3 cups almond flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 tablespoons ginger 1/4 cup oil 1/4 cup molasses 1/2 cup maple syrup 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest Directions: 1. In large owl combine flour, salt, soda and ginger. 2. In medium bowl combine oil, molasses, maple syrup and lemon zest. 3. Mix wet ingredients into dry. 4. Refrigerate dough for 1/2 - 1 hour. 5. Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough onto parchment lined baking sheet. 6. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes or until tops start to crack. 7. Cool and serve.

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!

I find these recipes for this authentic English meal online.  I hope the recipes I chose were truly authentic.  Anyway...our family loved our meal!  I definitely plan on making this again.  I didn't have any course mustard for the gravy so I left that out. Toad in the Hole 6 medium sized sausage links (my dear friend told me that bratwurst was a good equivalent.  I got uncooked) 1 c. flour 1/2 tsp. salt (to 1 teaspoon) 2 eggs 1 c. milk 4 tbsp. oil (or 2-3) Cook your sausages in a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally until cooked through. Blend flour, salt, eggs, milk together until very smooth, scraping bowl occasionally (a blender also works well for this). Heat oven to 450 degrees. Measure oil into 8 x 8 x 2 inch square Pyrex pan. Heat for 2 minutes. Add sausages to oil in bottom of pan (be careful-- the oil may spit) Pour batter into pan and bake for 20-30 minutes. Do not open door. Serve immediately, with gravy if desired. (ma...

My mother made these from as long as I could remember while growing  up.  I was shocked that it was almost impossible to find this recipe online.  So, not only am I posting these here to share with you, but to also make sure I always have a copy of this wonderful recipe.   I hope you had a lovely and peaceful Christmas! Purdue Spiced Nuts Ingredients: 3-4 cups walnuts, pecans or both 1 egg white slightly beaten 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoon cinnamon Directions: 1. Put egg white and nuts in a bowl and stir well till all nuts are covered with egg white. 2. Add sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Stir till the nuts are well coated with this mixture. 3. Remove excess sugar mixture through sieve and spread nuts on baking sheet.   4. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes or till nuts are dry.    Store in airtight container.

I got this idea from a blog online.  You can find her post in it's entirety here .  While coming closer and closer to Christ's birth, we are working hard at trying to make sure we are focused on the reason we are celebrating Christmas; Jesus birth.  Tonight I plan to have a Jewish style dinner with my family. For our dinner: pita bread hummus dates almonds lentil soup grape juice Dessert: Honey cake Music: http://www.youtube.com/user/felsefetor#p/u/2/CwV7dxR_UlM   (we're using this solely for the music) Costume: dressing up in robes and sandals Misc: basin for hand washing use oil lamp sitting down and eating our food on the coffee table

Tuna macaroni salad is one of my favorite main dish salads. I used to look and look for the perfect recipe until not too long ago. I was at a local health food store and asked them what they used for their dressing. Their reply, "mayonnaise". How simple! Here's our now favorite and simple recipe. Tuna Macaroni Salad Ingredients: cooked, drained and cooled noodles frozen peas, cooked and cooled mayoonaise hard boiled egg, chopped sweet onion, minced canned tuna drained shredded cheddar cheese, optional canned and drained tuna pepper Directions: 1. Mix all ingredients together. Add enough mayo to make everything moist. Simple and divine! It's best the second day. You may need to add just a bit more mayo the next day. If you need to garnish, this would look lovely in a cupped whole lettuce leaf (as the bowl) with the salad in the center and sprinkled lightly with paprika.

A friend made mention not long ago that onion soup is great for colds. I knew eating onions and garlic was good for them but never put two and two together. I LOVE French Onion soup but had never found that one recipe....TILL NOW. Here is my yummy adapted French Onion Soup recipe. The recipes I saw online mostly had sugar or wine in them. Since I don't want to use sugar and I don't have wine in the house, here's what I came up with. I think it turned out very nice. Ingredients: 4 cups thinly sliced vidalia onions 1/4 cup butter 4 cups beef broth pepper to taste french bread swiss cheese Directions: 1. Melt butter in pan and add onions. Cook slowly over a medium/low heat for 20-30 minutes till almost carmalized. 2. Add in pepper and beef broth and bring to a boil. 3. Reduce heat to simmer and simmer for 20 minutes. 4. If desired, slice french bread and put on baking pan. Top with shredded cheese and broil till cheese is a bit bubbly. Add on the top ...

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. Sore throat, tired, runny nose - yeah a cold. I wanted something yummy, soothing and healthy at the same time. I found this wonderful recipe on My Years Without Sugar . In it she had a lovely recipe that I will post below. In the future, I would add a bit more honey and a bit less cacao. I also used 1/3 cup coconut milk (thai canned coconut milk) and 2/3 cup boiling water. Another thing to mention is coconut milk, raw honey and cacao are all so healthy for you and touted as superfoods. Drink up to health and tasty goodness! Coconut Milk Hot Chocolate 1/3 cup coconut milk 2/3 cup boiling water 2 heaping spoons of pure cocoa 1 small spoonfull honey (or more for sweeter) dash of vanilla To my french press I added the coconut milk then stirred in cocoa and vanilla. After pouring in the boiling water, I stirred in the honey and then pumped my French press to mix and make it frothy.

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...