Natural Chow

Healthy Dorito Flavored Popcorn

March 7, 2014 by Margaret Anne 68 Comments

Do you ever find yourself staring longingly at the bottles and bottles of soft drinks that line the shelves in grocery stores? Or maybe you’ re one of the one’s that gaze at the seemingly enormous chips and dip aisle.

The right amount of temptation and lack of common sense can sometimes push me to make a bad decision. I’m not perfect by any means, but that doesn’t mean I should shatter my values just because I was tempted.

While making good decisions when grocery shopping may not be the easiest thing in the world, it is among the most necessary. That means skipping things like candy bars, highly processed crackers, and soda pop.

So, is there a way to satisfy your cravings without buying processed or refined-sugar-filled “foods”? Of course!

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Whole Wheat Cranberry Orange Scones

March 1, 2014 by Margaret Anne 20 Comments

I’ve never really been a real fan of orange. I mean, I know it’s healthy and all, but I could never stand the flavor. It was always just too much for me. Too tangy, too concentrated, too MESSY. It wasn’t until a few months ago when I began to come out of my shell and enter the world of orange. I have a orange themed blog for crying out loud!

So I’m trying a few orange things, like orange juice, eating oranges (in season of course), and these amazing whole wheat cranberry orange scones.

The last time I made scones was back in December when I made these garlic and cheese scones. Let’s just say, I’m more likely to make cranberry orange scones when I get another scones request from my family. Not that I don’t love garlic and cheese scones. Because I do, with a passion. It’s just that these scones are, well, out of this world amazing.

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Spring Cleaning (+ 12 Homemade All-Natural Cleaners)

February 28, 2014 by Margaret Anne 4 Comments

As winter begins to come to end, my family has a hard time getting into the spring cleaning mood. But me? I’m the one in the family that can’t wait to pull out the homemade cleaners, dusters, and whip out the fanny packs. The reason? I l-o-v-e organizing. With a passion. So when it’s time to get the house cleaned out, I like to lead the pack, motivate people, and downright get some work done.

I understand that isn’t exactly spring in some parts of the world quite yet, but in the southeast, usually by February and March, the temperatures get into the 60’s. So, it seems appropriate to start planning for spring cleaning right about now. If you want to simplify the task of spring cleaning in your house, read on.

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Slow Cooker Shrimp Creole

February 26, 2014 by Margaret Anne 2 Comments

Most nights, for things to go smoothly, dinner needs to be served and eaten by 5:30 pm. But lately, mostly because of the sickness going through my house, dinner is being served at 6:45, an hour and fifteen minutes later than it should be. When the cooks lose track of time because they’re doing things like tended to the sick and washing dishes, dinner just seems like another thing added to the plate (ha!). And when you’re helping 5 kids with their studies every day (they’re homeschooled), it’s seems like I never have a free moment to myself. To relax, have a sip of tea, kick my feet up. So a slow cooker kind of meal is exactly what I need to keep my days on track and my dinners tasty.

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Easy Kale Blueberry and Banana Smoothie

February 25, 2014 by Margaret Anne 3 Comments

Nine times out of ten, I don’t want to just have oatmeal for breakfast.

I know there’s about a thousand ways to make oatmeal more interesting, but that doesn’t mean that everyone in my family will consume and enjoy each and every way I attempt to prepare it. So I usually end up making something like muffins or pancakes (the norm around these parts).

Still, I get complaints like “I’m still hungry” or “feed me, woman” and even “I’m starving, give me more NOW!”. I don’t know about you, but when it’s 7:30 in the morning, my first instinct is the urge to smack someone upside the head. My conscience usually restrains me from making that decision though.

Anyways, I don’t think it’s a good idea for growing children to fill up on bread-y foods. It seems the only logical option would be to include a side dish to things like muffins or pancakes. Revolutionary, I know.

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