From scratch....nutritious and delicious....Sue Gregg.

Not long after our oldest was born, we began to be concerned about the quality and safety of what we were feeding both her and us. Not that we thought anyone was deliberately poisoning us.... two people who really had never given food more consideration than where and when the next meal was suddenly had a huge reason to care where our food had come from and just exactly how it got into the shape in which we ate it. We began to read up on the subject, and words and phrases like "natural", "organic", and "partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil" began to creep into our dinnertime conversation. In the years since, we've run a pretty wide gamut of shopping and eating practices and have learned through analysis of labels and price tags what works for us as a family. I love how many of our mainstream grocery stores are adding "green" items to their shelves, and I enjoy shopping around to find the best deals on the kind of food I want to feed my family. As we learn and the kids' grow, the items on our shelves and in the refrigerator may change, and we've learned the advantage of keeping compromise and "sometimes-foods" (like cheese enchiladas and hamburgers) in our deck of options.

What it really comes down to for me as the mom, cook, and dishwasher still at this point, is this....I want to find that balance between what is most healthy and nutritious and what these people will actually pick up the fork to eat. So......when I received an email about reviewing a Sue Gregg recipe and cookbook, I was intrigued by what I read. My oldest daughter and I sat down to choose an initial recipe to try out from the ones offered for taste testing on the website, and she took about three seconds to pick out the yogurt pie recipe. We went down the list of ingredients, mentally gauging what items I had and what I'd need to buy and how involved the whole process looked. Totally seemed doable.

Then, the worst cold this side of a northern blizzard hit my bunch. I mean, high nighttime fevers, matted eyes, sore throats, coughing bouts to compete with a hailstorm, and absolutely no appetite. What an eternal two weeks I've had! Those of us with multiple children understand how what would take one child to recover from takes that amount times about two and a half (considering overlapping sick kids) for a family with three to emerge from. The joy I felt when the first began to recover was almost overshadowed by the dark circles and glassy eyes I observed as the third began to wilt. Anyway, none of them have really had much of an appetite for more than crackers and liquids despite my best efforts over the past week.

But today is our first fever-free day for ALL THREE! And these folks are starting to express a little interest in food, so today was the day for our yogurt pie. As I gathered and mixed ingredients, I kept the website up in order to steal glances at the steps and photos. By the way, normally I have plenty of folks wanting to help in the kitchen, and the format of this recipe would provide opportunities for both my second grader, an independent reader, and my first grader, who is almost there, to help me read the recipe. I found the process very simple to understand, and very straightforward.

While I am used to cooking with whole foods and natural ingredients, I had never made a pie like this one. The whole process of getting it ready to pour into the crust took all of ten minutes, just the amount of time called for for the crust to chill in the freezer. Quite convenient. And the ingredients were not difficult to locate. The only one that I was unable to locate in one mainstream grocery store here was the all natural graham crackers, such as the Midel brand, but our discount health food store here carries them. Pause for a shamefaced confession here.....I bought the regular ones simply because with sick people depending on me I needed to consolidate all my shopping into one place this week. I did check to make sure they at least contained some whole grain value.

Anyhow, after letting it chill, it was time to face the judges. I was a little concerned about our youngest's reaction--he's not big on multiple textures in his desserts--but he gobbled it up. Both the girls liked it as well, and they offered more coherent insight into their opinions about it. Both said it was the "lemony" flavor of the pineapple/yogurt combination that they really liked, and the oldest shared that buttery, soft crust was a big plus. Everyone agreed it should make repeat appearances at our table. As for me, the ease of preparation already had me leaning toward liking it, and tasting it confirmed that. This yogurt pie has a lightly rich flavor in a smooth, well-gelled form. The homemade, real butter crust contributes way more to the overall taste than store-bought crust, as the butter makes its presence known in your mouth. After our taste test experience, it was gratifying to put enough back into the frig to cover dessert for two meals for our bunch. The balance between nutrition and cost per serving is always a priority for me when choosing what to serve.

The following suggestion was, I'm sure, inadvertently omitted from the directions on the website, so I will take the liberty of letting you know.

For those of us who believe in taste testing throughout the preparation of desserts, let me assure you this one is one you'll want to be extra sneaky about in order to avoid having to allow others to help you in "licking the bowl". If you have a crew helping you, be sure to have extra spoons ready. And you might want to reduce the amount that goes in the dish by a few spoonfuls, just so you have a little more to spoon out of the bowl.

I'll be honest...sometimes I find myself intimidated by this genre of cooking. While I've learned a lot, I still have a long way to go, but this recipe was practical and realistic for this homeschooling, housecleaning, budgetwatching mom. I hope to try more from the cookbooks of Sue Gregg. And there is a wide variety of resources to choose from, including Introducing Whole Food Cooking, Meals in Minutes, and a cooking curriculum designed for young cooks, Cooking With Children...plus so much more. Mrs. Gregg also has a number of recipes online available for testing, free, to provide the opportunity to see if they work for your family before you purchase a cookbook. So, there's no risk in heading over to check it all out at the Sue Gregg website. In fact, if you head over there, you're bound to be encouraged by her desire to be a witness for Christ even through her cookbooks and cooking resources. You can't beat nourishing to the body and soul all at once.

So many of us today are more aware of what we are actually putting into the mouths of our families and want to make that as wholesome as we can within the the scope of what is available and affordable. The resources available through the Sue Gregg website can help make that desire a reachable daily goal.