Prepare to Eat

Unprocessed: Day 31

2011-10-31T12:10:00.000-07:00

We have had many days of uninteresting-to-photograph (or eaten too quickly to think about it) meals, however unprocessed.

Here are some peaks at what I did manage to photograph:

Three potato saute, served with eggs

Unprocessed Rapadura cookies dipped in chocolate

The last standard harvest box of the season
(a Thanksgiving box will be coming)

Dinosaur kale, acorn squash, and seasoned chicken

Coconut Macaroons

Day Twenty: Dinner

2011-10-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight I decided to get creative. I saw this recipe for tomato paella and it got my wheels spinning. I wanted to try making something similar using finely diced chanterelles and criminis in place of rice (because I had a bunch I needed to use before we get more in tomorrows CSA box). Of course, I added parmasean.

I served salmon a top the tomato-mushroom dish, and had a fresh mushroom and green onion salad on the side.

As is typical when I serve fish (and all the kids finish their portion), we enjoyed dessert (homemade ice cream from raw cream and eggs)

Unprocessed: Day Twenty

2011-10-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

I am getting bad at updating about our meals this month!

Above are a few pictures I've taken since last I posted. Not seen are things like cinnamon-whipped cream and raw vanilla ice cream. Also not seen are the basics like our morning eggs on toast and lunch sandwiches and snacks (apples, carrots, popcorn with nutritional yeast). I have some extra pumpkin puree left from the pumpkins I roasted and we're looking forward to another pie. I also had fun making my husband some pumpkin spice syrup for his morning latte tweaking this recipe by substituting rapadura for the sugar and using 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, and a bit of grated fresh ginger for the pumpkin pie spice. I would recommend ground ginger in place of fresh, unless you are going to strain it.

I am just five weeks away from full term with this pregnancy. I have hit what I like to call the "roosting" phase. Which is much less productive than the "nesting" phase. That is to say, I am ready to spend most of my days sitting down and not busy about the kitchen (let alone chasing kids). This is not a very realistic desire, but it's there all the same. What I'd really like is wonderfully nutrient-dense foods that require no work. Since we cannot hire ourselves a professional, live-in, chef, this is not an option. Soup has been a great option. I can spend a bit of energy all at the same time and then have lots of leftovers. I can't think of another time we've eaten so much soup, but I've never before been pregnant in the fall either (three summer babies until now!).

Yesterday we spent the day with my mom at a holiday show my parents produce. That meant eating concession food. We found a burrito place that looked decent. My kids wanted the nacho's, and I was so busy coordinating the three of them and trying to specify toppings that the fake cheese on their nachos totally missed my radar. The funny part is that my kids thought it was gross, and my eldest spent most of his meal trying to scrap it all off. I am grateful for those little indicators that my little ones can actually taste the difference between real and fake food - and prefer the real.

Unprocessed: Day Fourteen

2011-10-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we had a busy day. Busy days are prone to what my friend Cherie might refer to as "indiscriminate eating." My mom was going to come over for lunch, but due to her schedule, she could only meet us for lunch at the Olive Garden by her office. I ordered soup and salad. However, having

"cheated" for lunch, and having eaten food that is just not as satisfying as a homemade meal, I was still hungry when we came home (and after walking the dog and putting my kids to nap). My husband's chocolate covered peanuts were calling to me and I was "indiscriminate" with them for the rest of the day.

Dinner went as planned, Salmon with soaked rice and kale.

This evening was pizza for dinner. After making dough, we had a lovely pizza with nitrate-free bacon and fresh pineapple and the rest of that tomato sauce I made on Wednesday - along with some mozzarella, of course.

Our CSA pick-up moved to today, as well, since the Sunday Market is now closed for the season. We have a beautiful array of produce and with the bounty I need to whip up a batch of root soup this weekend.

In other good food news, there was raw cream at our milk pick-up this week! I LOVE raw cream. Tomorrow, we will have raw ice cream and pumpkin pie. YUM.

Unprocessed: Day Twelve

2011-10-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

Today, my kids and I made a menu plan for the next week. Whenever the boys help me, I can be sure that spaghetti and meatballs will make the list, along with pizza. Then we went shopping for the ingredients we didn't have to fill out our menu plan (as well as a few staples I don't want to have to wait for until the next Azure Standard delivery)

My husband brought a few extra pineapples home the other day,

so I decided to try making pineapple vinegar to use for making cortido

(Latin American sauerkraut) later this week. Right now it looks like this:

Then, as promised to my 4-yr-old, spaghetti and meatballs. First I had to make the sauce.

Nothing beats heirloom tomato sauce from scratch,

and it gives me leftovers to use for the pizza requested for Friday night.

(not seen, the onions sauteing in my largest frying pan)

Dinner. It should have had a salad to keep it company, and some sauteed greens,

but pregnant mama's don't finish their best laid plans.

Uprocessed: Day Eleven

2011-10-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

Seems like Mondays are not good blogging days for me this month. The past several days have been full of good eating and lots of soup. Saturday I roasted a chicken and tried roasting my potatoes this fun way.

Of course, I made our salad dressing. This is such an easy way to cut out processed ingredients.

Salad dressing can be as easy as drizzling extra virgin olive oil and your favorite vinegar.

Or it can look like whisking up a mix as seen below

(freshly ground pepper, Celtic sea salt, lemon juice, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, flax seed oil, ground mustard, basil)

Sunday we went for easy and made our own chicken noodle soup for dinner.

Also on Sunday, I went to the Lake Forrest Park Farmer's Market (last market of the season) to pick up our CSA box from Garden Treasures. We decided that Full Circle Farms was not priced as competitively as a real CSA. I just didnt' know that you could join CSA's this late in the season. We have three more weeks and a bonus Thanksgiving box to anticipate.

Going to the market also doubled as some me-time. I discovered Third Place Books, found some used titles I've been looking for, and enjoyed a latte and uninterrupted reading. How does a latte fit into the unprocessed challenge? Well, depending on if the coffee itself qualifies (which, I believe it was locally roasted), I asked for whipping cream instead of milk. They look at you funny, but if you admit you're weird and high-maintenance and don't forget to tip, the baristas will be happy to accommodate you. Of course, you have to double-check that they don't use ultra-pasteurized whipping cream as that it really unfit for drinking.

At market, I treated myself to a $5 bouquet. I love market flowers! Flowers on the table is also my secret to a clean kitchen and table (because I don't want to detract from their beauty).

Last night I had a dear friend over for dinner with her girls and I didn't think to photograph dinner (nor our breakfast pancakes that morning). It was simple, butternut squash soup with a side salad and some grass-fed-buttered sourdough. I can't say her girls loved it, but my six-year-old did have a second bowl.

Tonight? We still have so many leftover soups that I think we'll be enjoying leftovers and I'll be taking it easy.

Unprocessed: Day Seven

2011-10-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

Gratefully, all the kitchen projects and food deliveries of late made cooking (and snacking) from whole foods easy today.

Ample Apples

Breakfast did involve yogurt, which is now suspect, but lunch was left-over steak slices sauteed with broccoli. Yum. I can't get enough red meat when I'm pregnant.

Tonight I made use of our delicious broth to make Egg Drop Soup (one of my favorite recipes by Food Renegade). It always sounds a little "blah" on the menu, but then the flavor wins me over. It wins my kids over too. Tonight, after my six-year-old took his first bite he quickly asked me if there would be enough for seconds.

Egg Drop Soup

As I type, I am still feeling hungry, and grateful that there is one Bavarian cream pot (from Day Five) left in the fridge....once I get the kids to bed!

Unprocessed: Day Six

2011-10-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

Major fail to report: Take-away pizza for dinner.

I didn't even think about it until after I ate a couple slices. I had big plans use my freshly concocted broth to make a delicious soup for dinner. Dinner, for us, is usually at 5:30 or 6. My husband called me at 3pm to tell me he'd be home in 20 minutes, and that he was not feeling well, and that he was bringing home pizza because he was famished and didn't want to wait until 5. "That's fine," I said, kinda planning to go ahead with my dinner plans anyway. Then, of course, my husband and children filled up on pizza, and expending my energy cooking for just me seemed silly. So I ate. My hesitancy to want to eat "Gourmet Pizza" had more to do with knowing how dissatisfying it would taste (my being spoiled with whole and organic foods now), and not needing any extra pounds in my third trimester. Only when I finished and started thinking about the rest of my evening did I even remember the unprocessed challenge. Let me just be honest - I'm not good at goal setting. I could blame my pregnancy brain, but I think it's just me.

Breakfast, lunch, and birthday brownies were all a success. Lunch consisted of our good broth with coconut milk, which my kids greedily gulped down and I think my mother even enjoyed.

The bounty found on our doorstep!

Today was also our first trial of a produce delivery company here called Full Circle. The produce was all beautiful and great quality, we're just not sure the quantity is worth the price. I'll compare to store prices this week and make a decision. Food dropped off at my door is a major perk at this point in my pregnancy, so I have to figure out what that is worth too.

In other news, my nuts finished dehydrating and there are plenty of brownies leftover, which should make for easy and unprocessed snacking for the next week.

What about you? What are your weak points in your battle to eat real food?

Unprocessed: Day Five

2011-10-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day in the kitchen. The morning started out with porridge, nice and simple. Then I realized it was an Azure Standard delivery day. I love Azure Standard. I wish I would have taken a picture of all the boxes that came to the house today (though more than half were for other people). For us, I realized, a 50 pound box of frozen chicken would be arriving. I had been meaning to make broth for weeks, and my carcasses had built up in the freezer. Time to clear them out!

Currently there are three large pots of broth simmering on my stove.

Since it's October, I decided I was mass producing witches brew:

Can't quite call it broth without chicken feet.

While I was busy about my kitchen, I decided to get around to soaking all the nuts I bought last week. Especially because I cannot make butternut squash soup later this week

without being able to add walnut butter

Of course, I also realized that tomorrow is my mother's birthday, and we have to have treats ready when she visits. I ground some spelt into flour and soaked it in buttermilk. You are looking at future brownies.

THEN we got the delightful news that a dear friend was in town today - on her birthday.

So I decided to make carob Bavarian cream pots

(with a hint of real chocolate and topped, for her, with candied orange peels

which don't usually pass my kitchen test, but for this birthday, I made an exception.)

Then at some point I realized I also ought to cook dinner, so I defrosted one of the Coho fillets that had just been delivered from Azure Standard, and we had Salmon, Thin potatoes, and sauteed broccoli and rainbow chard for dinner, followed, of course, by the cream pots. I forgot to find the camera by the time dinner was plated, so all you get to see is this lovely salmon skin.

At the grocery store this morning I faced another unprocessed challenge, yogurt. I have been buying Nancy's for a long time because it's the best, reliable brand I could find. But I think they use some powdered skim milk to help thicken - which is not unprocessed, and has oxidized cholesterol (think heart disease). Further, I do not know if they use homogenized milk, but as the cream does not sit at the top, I have to think so. I am going to call tomorrow to find out more details and start my search for a "purer" yogurt.

Unprocessed: Day Four

2011-10-04T13:35:00.000-07:00

This post is an update in the ongoing October Unprocessed challenge by Eating Rules. They are now up to 2,400 people who have signed up for the challenge!

Our weekend started off decently considering Saturdays have become my husband's day to be in charge of food. As convinced as he is of the value of eating whole foods, traditionally prepared, when it really comes down to it, convenience is still king. His convenience choices, however, get better and better all the time. With this pregnancy, he is also cooking more than ever before and learning that making good food doesn't have to take that much time. All that said, Saturday he brought home chicken strips for lunch, and I am sure whatever they were breaded in would not pass the kitchen test. The kids ate them, I took a bite, and then went and found our leftover chicken to snack on instead.

Saturday night he made us a chicken pasta with leftover chicken from a roast earlier in the week, some sauciness that he made himself with herbs and extra virgin olive oil, and brown rice pasta noodles. Sunday night was steak and the last of the summer squash. Monday was spiced ground beef (my kids LOVE this simple dish) and salad. I made maple and chocolate whipped cream for dessert (yum) the leftovers of which my kids *may* have eaten with their breakfast this morning.

Today for lunch: Steak salad (see recipe at the bottom of this post) with nectarine. It is always very satisfying and easy to make.

In the picture to the left you can see a little preview of things to come. We'll have acorn squash as a side dish this week, pumpkin pie as a dessert, and butternut squash as a main soup course with plenty of leftovers for easy lunches. I love cooking in the fall!

Breakfasts have been soaked oatmeal porridge,

homemade granola, eggs, or yogurt and raisins,

served, of course, with raw milk.

What about you? Are you staying unprocessed for October? My biggest commitment is not to buy any more of the sprouted bread we usually eat from Alvarado St. because it does contain soy lecithin (which I avoid as much as possible, but usually allow in this case for the convenience of not making bread). I'll have to explore my local bakery options for a good, true sourdough that only contains wheat, salt, water, and sourdough culture, hopefully with a nice long rise time. Or, I'll just have to get back into making my own loaves. What is your biggest hurdle to eating unprocessed foods?

October Unprocessed Challenge

2011-09-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've posted here, and even longer since I've posted anything regularly. So here is a bit of an adventure - for October I plan to post everyday. Wait, let's make that every week day. I have just discovered Eating RULES and his October Unprocessed challenge. For the most part, we strive to eat this way all year. But we are also normal human beings living in a big city, and have three little children, and I'm pregnant. All of these factors pull me away from doing everything in my kitchen from scratch. For October, I am going to put in a little more effort, and also attempt a daily (week-daily) report on how we're doing and what we're eating.

Intentional exceptions: Bread & Pasta. I just bought a couple loafs, and though I am in process of getting back to making all our own breads, at this point in my pregnancy, I need to be off my feet when I can. We also have brown rice pasta in our pantry, and it makes for easy dinners on busy days. Also, I know my husband won't be joining me with this commitment, so it is likely he will take my kids out for scones at some point this month. We also have a short trip out of town planned and a harvest party. I will do all I can for the road trip part, but we have no rules when other people feed us, and that will be true this month as well.

What about you? Are you up for the pledge? There are already 1500+ people who have signed the pledge. Last year this challenge even made the news. His "kitchen test" rules actually allow for a lot of ingredients you might not expect (like my bread and pasta), so you have little to hold you back.

I'd love to know if your joining the adventure.

Cauliflower and Sprouted Lentil Curried Soup

2011-01-30T15:16:00.000-08:00

I invented this recipe for my friend Susan, who wondered what to do with sprouted lentils. This soup is hearty and richly spiced. It pairs well with red meat. My soup-disliking husband even enjoyed it.

Cauliflower and Sprouted Lentil Curried Soup

Unassuming, but delicious

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
3-4 tbsp of butter or lard (if dairy-free)
1 large onion, chopped
4 celery sticks, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small head of cauliflower chopped
4-6 loose cups of sprouted lentils (you can follow the first 4 steps of my "How To Sprout Your Own Grains")
Curry spice blend (I use cloves, white peppercorns, green peppercorns, black peppercorns, fenugreek, fennel, ground turmeric, coriander, cumin seeds, ground ginger and a dash of ground cinnamon - see photo of whole spices)
4-6 cups homemade chicken broth
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

The whole spices I use for my curry blend

Directions:
Melt butter or lard in a heavy bottomed soup pot on medium.
Add onions, carrots, celery and cauliflower and cook slowly until softened, 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While the vegetables soften, combine your spices with mortar and pestle, unless you already have curry blend prepared. [Do not worry if they are not completely pulverized. You will blend the soup in the final step, and you will also enjoy the little bits of extra spice.]
Add lentils, curry spices, salt and pepper and stir until well-mixed with vegetables.
Add broth until it covers ingredients by an inch, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour
Puree with immersion blender and serve with creme fraiche.

Enjoy!

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This post is a part of Fight Back Fridays
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5-Ingredient Peppermint Patty Recipe

2010-12-20T21:23:00.000-08:00

I have long delayed in posting anything, let alone this promised post of my peppermint patty recipe. These are a delicious treat for any holiday gathering so this is a timely week to share. I still need some tricks to make them more attractive and soften more slowly, but I think that would require a candy mold (or perhaps a mini-ice cube tray?) and more work with my chocolate. For now, these work just fine and are quite simple. Feel free to adjust it to your liking (more coconut oil, less honey, etc). This is not chemistry (unless your chocolate seizes, but then you'll just have to put it aside for fudge making and start over).

Ingredients:
1 cup E.V. Coconut Oil
1/2 cup Raw Honey
2-3 ounces 100% Chocolate
2 tsp Peppermint Extract
2 tsp Vanilla Extract (or finely grated vanilla beans and a pinch of stevia powder)

Directions:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place in your freezer.

Begin slowly melting your chocolate and vanilla (or grated beans and stevia). My picture shows previously melted chocolate for I had made these two days in a row and I had leftover chocolate.

While you wait, mix the coconut oil, honey, and peppermint extract. I typically use a spoon, but your food processor or a fork would be fine too. Mix it until there are no remaining clumps of coconut oil (clumping will depend on the temperature in the room and of the utensils).

Spoon 1Tbsp dollops of coconut oil mixture onto the frozen baking sheet. Then return to freezer.

Make sure chocolate is smooth and well-combined with vanilla extract. Unfortunately for this post, I was making soup at the same time I was photographing this recipe, and the added moisture in the air caused my chocolate to seize batch after batch until I realized it was the soup and not me (our house was built in the 1920's and has no fan in the kitchen). I now have some fudge recipes to invent and will have to wait on updating these photos. So below, you can see my seized chocolate =(

Once coconut dollops have frozen dip them quickly in the chocolate mixture and cover as evenly as possible (I like to put the bumpy side down first, swirl it around, then flip). Coconut oil transfers temperature quickly, thus it cools and hardens quickly, but will also start melting quickly, so work quickly. Do not stress, however, for unless your house temp is over 76 degrees f. the coconut oil, even if soft, will still be solid.

Place tray back in the freezer to re-set the dollops and quickly cool the chocolate. Enjoy!

Tips:
If taking to a gathering, I typically also freeze my serving dish to help keep them cool in transport. I like to use my corning-ware for this as I can freeze the lid as well. Usually, by the time they are being eaten they are the perfect temperature.

I wish I had information on how long these keep but they never last long around here. You can store them in the fridge or freezer.

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This post is a part of Real Food Wednesdays hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop and Fight Back Fridays hosted by Food Renegade.

Gluten-free, Dairy-free Desserts

2010-07-06T20:47:00.000-07:00

This week was filled with trying to create recipes to provide yummy treats while keeping gluten and dairy (and nut and egg white and soy) free.

Here were my attempts:

I adapted the cupcake recipe I made for my son's birthday last year. The gluten/dairy free ones are pictured on the right. I subbed a mix of brown rice flour and arrowroot powder, and used coconut oil and coconut milk instead of butter and milk. They were quite tasty, but it is important to make sure the gluten-free ones cool completely before eating, or else they are much too crumbly. Refrigeration helps too.

A coconut milk smoothie is my fall back quick fix for a snack (mind you I am still nursing, so I find myself in need of extra calories throughout the day). I blend coconut milk, some fresh and/or frozen fruit, and a spoon full of raw honey (not pictured). This photo was taken on the 4th of July, as it seemed quite festive.

This carob-coconut log recipe still needs work, but it involved buckwheat flour, coconut oil, rapadura, some salt, and coconut flakes.

This morning I decided to attempt some peppermint patties. Again, this recipe is a work in progress, but I hope to share it soon.

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This post is a part of Tuesday Twister hosted by GNOWFGLINS. What was twisting in your kitchen last week?
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Soaked Granola

2010-06-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

This week I experimented with a soaked granola technique I have been thinking about for quite some time. It worked well. My family enjoyed it as a snack and also loved it drowned with raw milk as cold cereal (which really never happens here) for the first few hot days of summer. Now I need to go start a new batch!

Soaked Granola

Ingredients:
Oats (gluten-free oats if need be)
Raw Almonds (if you can find them) prepared according to crispy almonds* recipe in Nourishing Traditions
Raisins
Raw Honey
Cinnamon (optional)
Any other desired ingredients (optional)

Directions:
Soak oats for 7 hours as follows, 1to1 oats and water, plus 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, buttermilk, lemon juice, or yogurt (I choose ACV because we are working with a dairy allergy right now, but I also find it does not turn the oats to mush as quickly as yogurt).
The oats will have absorbed most of the liquid, so place them, as is, in your dehydrator (or oven set at 150) until crisp.
Break up oats and place them in large bowl.
Chop up crispy almonds* in desired proportion to oats and add to bowl.
Add handfuls of raisins in desired proportion.
Sprinkle cinnamon generously (optional)
Add anything else that sounds good (unsweetened coconut flakes, other crispy nuts, banana chips, other dried fruits, homemade carob chips, perhaps some melted coconut oil if you want to add some fat content)
Add a large dollop of raw honey, enough to be worked in and make everything a little sticky. (At this point my husband looked at me and asked me if I knew what I was doing because he didn't think I was doing it right. I gave him a look that suggested he drop the commentary.)
Use a butter knife to cut the honey into the mix. Cut until everything is well mixed and coated with a thin layer of stickiness.
Place in a 350 degree oven on rimmed baking sheet (parchment lined) for 10 minutes or so (depending on how large a batch you have made and how cooked you would like your granola).
Remove and break up for storage or instant snacking.
Enjoy!

*For crispy almonds, find raw almonds (preferably skinless), soak in salt water (4 cups almonds, 1 tbsp sea salt, covered with filtered water) for 7-10 hours, then drain and dehydrate until crisp.

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This post is a part of Real Food Wednesdays hosted by Kelly The Kitchen Kop. For other recipes and inspiration, visit the carnival!
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Tuesday Twister: Gluten-free dinners and Granola

2010-06-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

With my husband out of town for the past 4 days, dinners have not been elaborate. A couple nights we simply chopped and salted cold (precooked) chicken meat, cubbed some cheese, and ate carrots with baba ganouj on the side. Read; It has not been picture worthy. I did remember to pull out the camera a few times over the last week, and here is what I caught.

Brown rice pasta with coconut oil fried shrimp, sprouted lentils, and goat cheese

Sprouted lentil soup with bacon and celery

Yes, it is summer and I made soup. I have not been able to drink raw milk with my daughter's allergies, so broth is my only calcium source at the moment!

Hence good, gelatinous broth was also a part of my last week and incorporated into just about everything.

Onion, cabbage, and beet greens sauted in bacon fat with left over steak slices (don't the beet greens - and reds - add such lovely color!?)

My fun recipe attempt this week was a soaked oat granola (recipe to follow tomorrow)

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This post is a part of Tuesday Twister by GNOWFGLINS. What was twisting in your kitchen last week?

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Nourishing Yumm Bowls with Homemade Sauce

2010-06-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

We recently discovered my 10-month-old has a slight allergy to wheat, dairy, soy, peanuts, walnuts, and egg whites. In my desperation to find something to feed myself in the days after this discovery, I determined to create a healthier version of Yumm sauce. Cafe Yumm is a popular "healthy" restaurant in my town. Their sauce is secret. The best knock-offs I could find online involved soy and canola oil. Ick. My recipe received a thumbs up from my husband, but sadly, made me realize I also have to add almonds to the allergy list.

Nourishing Yumm Sauce:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup almond meal from crispy almonds
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
2/3 cup soaked and long cooked garbanzo beans
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup lemon juice
4 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp homemade curry blend (freshly ground fenugreek, coriander, fennel and pepper mixed with turmeric powder)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup fresh cilantro

Directions:
Place all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. Tweek as much as you like to taste.

Nourishing Yumm Bowls (an easy to prepare lunch once you have your ingredients prepared in bulk):

Mix prepared basic black beans (according to instructions in NT, i.e. soaked) and prepared rice (also soaked) in a sauce pan to gently reheat.
Remove from heat and place in individual bowls.
Add several spoonfuls of nourishing Yumm sauce and mix well.
Top with diced tomatoes, sliced avocado, creme fraiche (unless you have a dairy allergy), and cilantro.
Optional, add lacto-fermented salsa.
Enjoy!

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This post is a part of Real Food Wednesdays hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop and Cheeseslave as well as Fight Back Fridays by Food Renegade
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Chocolate, Liver and Yumm Sauce, Oh My!

2010-06-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

I am long overdue for a report on the happenings in my new kitchen. Here is a little taste.

Top Row
*Strawberries galore for a catering event at my alma mater
*Salmon and Asparagus
*My own attempt at a more nourishing Yumm sauce (recipe to come soon).
*The homemade Yumm bowl
*Yumm bowls seen with hummus (top) and baba ganouj (bottom)

Middle Row
*Room for many fermenting projects, like souring flour for pancakes
*A collection of culturing wonders: orange marmalade, beet kvass (back), creme fraiche (front), salsa
*Delicious mushrooms and green onions (with a little white wine in the back ground) preparing to become...
*The best way I have ever tasted liver. I would go so far as to say I actually enjoy this. I can eat it daily. I should have tried this Nourishing Traditions recipe years ago.

Bottom Row
*Making my own chocolate mouse with coconut cream and raw honey
*Stuffed grape leaves (recipe in NT)
*Coconut milk smoothie (a regular occurrence around here lately)
*Steak "salad," also known as what-to-do-if-you-accidentally-bought-a-lean-steak-you-cannot-chew (see recipe below)

Steak "Salad" Recipe:
1. Unintentionally purchase <4% fat steak
2. Give up on steak you bought, seasoned, and slightly overcooked because you are accustomed to cooking meat with FAT.
3. Store steak in the refrigerator because you have a hard time throwing away food, even food you won't eat.
4. Forget your meal plan the next day, and wonder what is for dinner.
5. Remember tough steak.
6. Slice tough steak very thinly and then cut into 1 inch long bites
7. Drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and aged Balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, salt, freshly ground pepper, and a tiny bit of flax oil.
8. Eat
9. Marvel at how the added fat from the "salad" dressing allows you to chew and enjoy your previously abandoned steak.

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This post is a part of Tuesday Twister, hosted by GNOWFGLINS. What's twisting in your kitchen?
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Menu Plan Monday 6-7-10

2010-06-07T15:18:00.000-07:00

I am finally back in a full-sized kitchen and still reveling in the fact that I can bring multiple dishes to completion at the same time. It is a good feeling. So, along with a return to cooking, I should return to blogging about what I am cooking. Without further ado, here is the plan for the week.

Monday
B: Banana, porridge
L:Coconut milk smoothie,
D: Steak with dipping sauce, potatoes, salad with aged balsamic vinaigrette
Prep: Soak oats

Tuesday
B: Banana, porridge
L:Egg yolk, potato, bacon scramble
D:Roast Chicken, coconut rice, Salad
Prep: Make Baba Ganouj, soak chick peas, start Kombucha, start new sourdough mother, soak buckwheat and freshly ground amaranth

Wednesday
B: Pancakes (buckwheat and amaranth) with marmalade
L:Beans and Rice with creamed avocado sauce
D: Spaghetti with brown rice pasta
Prep: Cook chick peas,

Thursday
B: Coconut milk smoothie
L: Scramble
D: Lamb chops, ginger carrot and chick pea salad
Prep: Make hummus

Friday - In which I am catering a dessert reception in the evening and need to be able to feed myself quickly amidst prep work.
B: Egg yolk and potato scramble cooked in lots of bacon fat
L: Mediterranean feast (baba ganouj, hummus, dolmas)
D: Burger patties with rice and sauteed veggies
Prep: Soak rice AM, soak oats for porridge

Saturday - In which family is in town, and all plans are suspect
B: porridge
L: scramble
D: out?
Prep: Marinate roast

Sunday
B: Pancakes
L: Leftovers
D: Roast Beef stew, sauerkraut
Prep:

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This post is a part of Menu Plan Monday, hosted by OrgJunkie. Do you know what you're cooking this week?
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Salmon Dinners and Chocolate Cream Pots

2010-03-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

In a very sad turn (and bump) of events, I sent my lap top crashing to our tiled floor last night. Everything seemed fine, until I tried to shut it down. It had issues, and I manually forced it. This morning, there was no contact with the hard drive.

I called several places, only to learn that the only thing SURE to kill a hard drive is a fall (even of only a foot) onto a tile floor. One guy even told me that was actually how he ensured that hard drives were wiped when he recycles old notebooks.

While that may seem to having nothing to do with my kitchen, that hard drive had some truly lovely photos awaiting you for today's Tuesday Twister.

There was oriental salmon a top buttered and steamed asparagus one night.

There was leftover salmon, coconut soup the next night (with a picture I actually have because I shared it with Facebook - along with the recipe)

On a creative whim, I saved about 5 ounces of the heavy coconut cream from the coconut milk and decided to do something desserty with it. We ended up with banana-coconut chocolate cream pots (which, yes, I should probably have made with carob)

All of the above were new recipes, and simply delicious (am I the only one that wants to spell that with a "sh"). I wish I had pictures for you as well. Please believe that I was thinking of you.

To make up for it, here is an attempt at capturing my recipe for the cream pots (which I will figure out how to adjust for carob soon)

Banana Coconut Chocolate Cream Pots

Makes 4

5ish ounces of thick coconut cream, skimmed from a can of whole coconut milk
1 very soft banana
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate (I used Dagoba)
2-3 Tbsp raw honey
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
dash of vanilla extract and maple syrup

Add coconut cream and banana to food processor and blend well (or mix well by hand with a fork until smooth).
Then, place bowl over a sauce pan with a small amount of water.
Place chocolate and honey in the bowl and bring water to a simmer, Slowly melt the chocolate into the honey.
When completely combined, let cool slightly, then spatula mixture into food processor with the banana-coconut cream mixture, and blend until well combined (this might require using the spatula on the sides and mixing again. If working by hand, simply mix together until smooth)
Then, place whipping cream, vanilla and maple syrup in a bowl, and beat until thick.
Add chocolate mixture to whipped cream gently folding until well combined.
Place in 4 ramekin pots, and enjoy!

(This could easily be made ahead of time and served chilled)

Clams, Salsa, and Chicken Feet!

2010-03-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

I have never eaten clams before (not even chowder), but they were wild caught and looked interesting. I bought 4. Anyone who regularly eats clams, probably thinks me silly, buying 4 clams for a full family dinner. I wasn't sure they would go over well. I decided to make my own clam chowder, only to discover the recipe I found called for about 14 clams. Mine did not have 14, but was chowder and it contained clams. My children enjoyed watching the clams pop open when steamed, and have added the shells to their "nature" basket.

Fermenting salsa. I almost didn't buy the non-seasonal tomatoes, because they always disappoint me, but we have several Latin American themed meals coming up, and it just seemed like something we might need. The colors were a good reminder that the growing season IS upon us. I am thinking about CSA's, are you?

Since we moved back down to Eugene, I no longer have a good source of chicken feet. However, the farm where we get our real milk and pastured eggs DO kill some chickens from time to time, and I have requested that when they do, they freeze the feet for me. This means I have to prepare them myself (throw in boiling water for a little bit, pull out, and peel, you could also clip their nails off, but I don't). Right now, this foot (and several others...though not an even number....hmm?) is simmering in a chicken broth to be the labor drink for a friend's impending labor. Nothing says let's get ready for a new baby like peeling chicken feet.

Also, my husband was supposed to have a picture from his guys weekend of what they ate for dinner, something about rare steak, butter sauteed mushrooms over french-ed beans, and buttery scallops. I was so jealous, and all the other guys were worried their wives would be upset to know they ate such "bad" food. My husband was adamant that I would have been proud (and did I mention, jealous!)

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What was twisting in your kitchen this past week? Share it on Tuesday Twister at GNOWFGLINS
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Menu Plan Monday 3/8/10

2010-03-08T14:30:00.000-08:00

Monday
B: Bacon and Eggs
L: Yogurt with raw honey and fresh strawberries
D: Filets of Sole with cream sauce, crocked red potatoes, sauerkraut (though spring is coming, and I can almost taste the seasonal lettuces!)
Dessert: Black bean brownies and whipped cream!
Prep: Feed Sourdough mother, Prepare chicken feet and make broth for a friend's labor and postpartum meal care, grind sprouted wheat berries, make fermented salsa, soak quinoa PM, culture creme fraiche

Tuesday
B: Sprouted, cinnamon-raisin, French toast with 100% pure maple syrup
L: Yogurt with raw honey and sliced strawberries
D: Parmesan, bacon, onion, and herbed cream cheese quiche with sauteed spinach on the side
Prep: Make quiche dough AM (with my own rendered lard! and experimenting with sprouted soft wheat flour), feed sourdough mother, finish chicken broth, make sprouted bread, defrost ground lamb, tend sprouting quinoa

Wednesday (in which dinner must be simple as we have violin lessons in the afternoon)
B: Eggs and heavily-buttered, sprouted toast
L: Left over quiche
D: Spiced lamb with onions, carrots, on top of cooked, sprouted quinoa with a side of sauerkraut
Prep: Feed sourdough mother, defrost beef roast, soak oats with 1tbsp freshly ground wheat, soak chickpeas, start new batch of Kombucha

Thursday
B: Oatmeal porridge
L: Eggs and heavily-buttered, sprouted toast
D: Chicken enchilada's with tomatillo sauce, soaked rice, homemade re-fried beans, cortido, creme fraiche and fermented salsa
Prep: Soak rice AM, Feed sourdough mother, marinate beef roast in buttermilk, soak wheat berries, cook lemon and orange for marmalade cake, defrost liver, beef, and heart, cook chickpeas

Friday
B: Herbed cream cheese omelets
L: Left over enchiladas (if there are any) or yogurt and strawberries
D: Meatloaf (Meat = ground beef, liver, and heart), Carrot and chickpea salad
Dessert: Adapted Marmalade Cake (sprouted flour, sucanat, etc)
Prep: Make sourdough, Feed mother, soak oats with 1tbsp freshly ground wheat

Saturday (in which my mother is in town, and my husband and I get a dinner date for our 6th anniversary)
Brunch: Bacon, Poached eggs, Bearnaise sauce
D: We're out for dinner!
Prep: Bake sourdough, feed sourdough,

Sunday (in which we come home to the same old simple crocked dinner after church every week)
Brunch: Soaked Pancakes with 100% pure maple syrup
D: Roast beef with carrots, onions, and potatoes
Prep: Feed sourdough mother

Of course, there are snacks of apples, bananas (yes, we're back on bananas, they're just so good), oranges, and cheese.

There is also much drinking of raw milk and much sipping of Kombucha.

There may also be cookie making and who knows what else that might strike my fancy during the week.

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What are you eating this week? For more inspiration, visit menu-plan mondays at OrgJunkie.com
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Menu Plan - not so Monday

2010-03-02T21:16:00.000-08:00

A little late this week, but better late than never!

Wednesday
B: Eggs and heavily buttered toast =)
L: Leftover vegetable soup
D: Clam chowder (I'll probably alter this recipe)
Prep: Soak beans AM, soak oats PM, Make Latin American & regular Sauerkraut, Start new sourdough mother, defrost roast, soak wheat berries AM, tend wheat berries PM

Thursday
B: Oatmeal porridge (soaked with a tbsp fresh ground wheat for added phytase - stay tuned for a post on Phytates)
L: Egg salad sandwich
D: Roast Chicken
Prep: Feed sourdough, cook beans all day, marinate roast, tend sprouting wheat berries

Friday
B: Scrambled eggs
L: Yogurt with raisins
D: Dinner with friends (Mexican? I'll contribute re-fried beans, Latin American sauerkraut, and chismole)
Prep: re-fry beans AM, soak flour for pancakes, feed sourdough, dehydrate wheat berries

Saturday
Brunch: Pancakes!
D: Spinach and bacon Quiche with Parmesan
Prep: feed sourdough, grind flour & make English muffins

Sunday:
Brunch: Poached eggs and Bearnaise sauce over sprouted English muffins
D: Roast with potatoes, carrots, sauerkraut
Prep: feed sourdough, start roast AM

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What's on your menu this week? Visit Menu Plan Monday for more inspiration
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Tuesday Twister - Chocolate chips, Sprouted Bread, and Other Bloggers

2010-03-02T19:49:00.000-08:00

With sick kids and a job hunting husband, I needed chocolate this week. I substituted cacao powder for carob in this recipe, and ta-da! I have a good supply of chips in the refrigerator (perhaps as once life gets less hectic around here I can shift back to carob)

I finally got around to using all of my homemade sprouted flour to make the sprouted bread recipe Jenny shared on her blog Nourished Kitchen. Yum! I suggest cooking it 5 minutes longer, and/or leaving it to cool in the pan.

Sniffles in the house also means I made a large batch of Nourishing Traditions macaroons. This is my favorite way to get immune helping coconut into all of our bodies when we confront illness.

This didn't happen in MY kitchen, but I was blessed to be able to attend a fat rendering party with my local chapter of the Weston A Price Foundation and meet Wardeh in person! She was just as sweet as I imagined she would be. (from left to right, my daughter Penelope, myself, and Wardeh)

Also with us at the fat rendering event was my in-real-life friend, Sarah, who has started her own blog to capture all that she is learning about real food. (Sarah seen here stirring chopped fat...I think beef, but we had beef, lamb, and pork going, so I can't be too sure).

Wardeh also posted about this event with more detailed pictures of the rendering, check it out!

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What about you? What was twisting in your kitchen this week? This post is a part of Tuesday Twister hosted by GNOWFGLINS (Wardeh, seen above)

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How To Sprout Your Own Grains

2010-02-25T23:00:00.000-08:00

Sprouting your grains is quite easy, especially if it becomes part of your routine. Sprouting neutralizes enzyme-inhibitors and makes your grains more digestible. While I still recommend sourdough as the most nutrient-dense of breads, sprouted flour is a good alternative if you want a healthy bread fast (on this note, I no longer recommend all versions of Ezekiel 4:9 bread as most varieties use sprouted soy beans, here is more on avoiding soy). Sprouted flour is also wonderful for treats when soaking flour makes the flavor and consistency too far from the light cookie experience you are hoping for (like real milk's favorite cookie). Next on my list is to try a sprouted sourdough rye. Has anyone already tried this? If I work it out, I'll be sure to let you know.

Step One: Fill jar 1/3 full with choice of grain (this also applies to raw seeds, nuts, beans, legumes, etc). Fill to about twice the height with filtered water. Soak overnight (7-12 hours).

Step Two: Cap with sprouting lid (these should be relatively inexpensive, though in a pinch I have used cheese cloth, plastic mesh from fruit bags, and handkerchiefs)

Step Three: Rinse and drain 2-3 times a day, for 2-3 days. Sprouts are ready with they have reached about 1/4 inch long.

Step Four: Depending on what you are planning to do with your sprouts, move them to refrigerated storage (say if they are beans or lentils and you plan on adding them to salads or stir-frys), or, in the case of making sprouted flour, dehydrate the sprouted grains. I find these dry fairly quickly.

Step Five: Grind into flour! I do this with my coffee grinder as we do not yet have a grain mill. Now you have Bulgar flour which you can substitute in most recipes 1-to-1 for refined flour. It has a slightly grainier texture, but I have yet to hear anyone complain when it comes to sprouted grain cookies.

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This post is a part of Fight Back Friday's hosted by Food Renegade. Fight back by making it yourself!

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Real Food Trade: Quinoa instead of Cous Cous

2010-02-23T21:24:00.000-08:00

I remember my disappointment when I first learned, years ago, that cous cous was actually pasta rather than some lovely ancient grain. I was naive. When I rejected refined foods years ago, that meant giving up cous cous, which I had often relied on for a quick side course that was far easier to prepare than rice.

Recently, I did discover the actual ancient grain quinoa. I had ordered some to try, in bulk, from Azure Standard. I also had several friends who brought quinoa dishes to share while we were recovering from the birth of our third child. Of course, I thought they were bringing this new-fangled thing called "KEEN-wah". I would not like to admit how recently I discovered that the new-fangled "KEEN-wah" and my lovely ancient "Kwuh-NO-ah" were one and the same. Perhaps I am not the only one who has been confused by this?

The important thing to glean from this Quinoa (KEEN-wah) experience is this: I now have a cous cous replacement! The other night my husband brought home some lovely rib eye steak. I needed something simple to go along side it and I had just finished sprouting some quinoa that I was not sure how I would use. I decided to prepare it much like I used to do with cous cous. Namely, I brought a cup of water to boil, added 1 cup fresh sprouted quinoa (I had placed the finished sprouts in the refrigerator rather than dehydrating them), removed from heat, and let sit 5-10 minutes until the quinoa had cooked. Afterward, I added butter, sea salt, pepper, and herbs to taste. When the steak was done it was placed a top the quinoa along with some drippings.

Yum!

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This post is a part of Real Food Wednesday's hosted by Kelly The Kitchen Kop and Cheeseslave
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Tuesday Twister - English Muffins, Brownies, and Eggs Benedict

2010-02-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

Last week we discovered that a friend's recipe for English Muffins worked just fine with a trade for homemade sprouted flour and honey rather than sugar.

I was also inspired to try another friend's recipe for black bean brownies. Yes, brownies made with black beans. I first served them with whipped cream (seen left with husband's morning latte - yes, the also make a decent morning treat). I waited until my husband had finished his second helping before informing him they were made with black beans. I substituted sprouted flour for the ground almonds, Sucanat for the florida crystals, doubled the cocoa powder as I didn't have chocolate chips, and used baking soda rather than powder - but WOW were they delicious.

Above mentioned English muffins were perfect with nitrate-free bacon, Bearnaise sauce, spinach and a poached egg for a Sunday brunch. Yum.

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This post is a part of Tuesday Twister hosted by GNOWFGLINS
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Menu Plan Monday

2010-02-21T21:41:00.000-08:00

Monday
B: Oatmeal porridge
L: Fried eggs and sourdough
D: Roast, yams, steamed broccoli, sauerkraut
To Do: Feed sourdough mother

Tuesday
B: Yogurt with raisins
L: At friends'
D: Quiche & soup
To Do: Feed sourdough mother, make quiche dough

Wednesday
B: Scrambled eggs, sourdough,
L: Left-over soup and quiche,
D: Curried lentils over coconut rice, carrots vichi
To Do: soak rice in the AM, feed sourdough, start beef broth (third time's the charm?)

Thursday
B: Fried Eggs,
L: Grilled cheese sourdough, carrots
D: Mystery Meat Loaf (will I chop up some of the beef heart, or just stick with hidden liver?), sauerkraut
Dessert: Berry Pie with Cream
To Do: Feed sourdough, simmer beef broth

Friday
B: Yogurt with raisins
L: Egg salad sandwiches, carrots
D: Roast Chicken, potatoes, onion compote
To Do: Feed sourdough, soak flour for pancakes, simmer beef broth

Saturday
Brunch: Pancakes
D: Left-overs
To Do: Make sourdough, finish beef broth, make yogurt

Sunday
Brunch: Poached eggs over hashed browns

D: All-day beef stew
To Do: Feed sourdough

As usual we are also drinking delicious raw milk and home-brewed Kombucha.

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What are you eating this week? For more inspiration, visit Menu Plan Monday by Organizing Junkie
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Menu Plan Monday

2010-02-08T09:53:00.000-08:00

Last week my bone broth never got started (my current kitchen is very limited, and difficult to manage a burner for broth to simply simmer away for days). Nevertheless, I am going to attempt it again this week. Last week was also our first week of Suzuki violin, which made me realize Wednesday meals need to be cooking before we leave. This week I have adjusted. Also, the eggs Benedict brunch was SO very delicious, I have to make that again this week.

Monday
B: Sourdough rye with ample cultured butter, Banana,
L: Yogurt with raisins, fried eggs
D: Chicken burritos, Latin American sauerkraut,
Prep: Start beef bone broth, feed sourdough mother, soak wheat berries PM, marinate stew meat, soak flour for pizza

Tuesday
B: Scrambled eggs, banana,
L: Grilled cheese on sourdough, sauerkraut, apples, carrots,
D: Sourdough pizza,
Prep: Simmer beef bone broth, Make sourdough, tend sprouting wheat berries, soak flour for pancakes

Wednesday
B: Soured pancakes with real maple syrup
L: Egg salad sandwich, carrot, apple
D: Pot-roasted stew served with rice and sauerkraut,
Prep: Finish beef bone broth, feed sourdough mother, dehydrate sprouted wheat berries, defrost pot roast, soak oats with a small amount of freshly ground wheat (for phytase to help neutralize the phytates in the oats), soak lentils, Make quiche dough

Thursday
B: Oatmeal porridge with cinnamon and raisins,
L: Quiche,
D: Spiced (cumin and oregano) ground beef and liver, sauteed spinach, Roman Lentil Soup
Prep: Feed sourdough mother, ground sprouted wheat berries, soak flour for sourdough pizza, marinate pot roast in buttermilk

Friday
B: Fried Eggs and Bacon
L: Quiche and Roman Lentil Soup
D: Roast chicken with sauce, mashed yams, sauteed spinach
Prep: Feed sourdough mother, grind sprouted flour,

Saturday
B: Cream cheese omelets,
L: Chicken sandwiches, cheese sticks, apple slices,
D: Left-overs from the week,
Prep: Feed sourdough, make sprouted English muffins

Sunday
Brunch: Poached eggs with Bearnaise sauce on sprouted English muffins with bacon and steamed greens,
Snack: Cheese and apples, sourdough with butter,
D: Beef pot roast with potatoes and carrots,
Prep: Feed sourdough mother,

And, as always, we are drinking ample real milk and brewing Kombucha

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What are you eating this week? For inspiration, or to join us, visit Menu Plan Monday this week!
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Menu Plan Monday

2010-02-01T07:47:00.000-08:00

Last week, shortly after posting my menu plan, I read a post from Ann Marie at Cheeseslave about How To Cure Tooth Decay. At first I was completely discouraged, but then she kindly reminded all of us quick-to-comment, discouraged women, that this was advice for people battling tooth decay.

However, it also made me realize that I have settled into the easy routine of porridge every morning. Porridge every morning was a wonderfully healthful change from extruded, sugared, cold-cereal grains every morning when I began my food revolution 3 1/2 years ago, but I've gotten lazy and oats are quite inexpensive. Yet, we do not eat enough calcium rich food to be eating the amount of grains that we have been. My breakfast and lunch plans need help. We're almost at the end of our peanut butter right now and I do not see myself buying it again for a long, long time. Who among us, born in the 70's on, does not have tooth decay tendencies?

With that in mind, here is this Mondays menu plan (and truly, last weeks plan for breakfast and lunch was mainly scrapped).

Monday
B: Scrambled eggs, sourdough rye with ample butter, raw milk
L: Roast beef sandwiches, carrots, apples, raw milk
D: Roast chicken, potatoes "The Way", sauerkraut, sauteed spinach
Prep: Start beef bone broth, feed sourdough mother, make Latin American sauerkraut

Tuesday
B: Yogurt with raisins, banana, raw milk
L: Grilled cheese on sourdough, sauerkraut, apples, carrots, raw milk
D: Shrimp scampi over rice
Prep: Simmer beef bone broth, feed sourdough mother, soak rice early AM, soak wheat berries PM, defrost ground beef and liver for meatloaf

Wednesday
B: Soured pancakes, raw milk
L: Chicken salad sandwich, raw milk
D: Burritos with soaked rice and beans, Latin American sauerkraut, creme fraiche
Prep: Finish beef bone broth, feed sourdough mother, tend sprouting wheat berries, soak lentil, defrost pot roast

Thursday
B: Fried eggs, bacon, raw milk
L: Egg salad sandwiches, raw milk
D: Meatloaf (with hidden liver), roasted beets, sauerkraut, roman lentil soup
Prep: Feed sourdough mother, dehydrate sprouted wheat berries, soak flour for sourdough pizza, marinate pot roast in buttermilk

Friday
B: Sourdough french toast, raw milk
L: BLT's, cheese sticks, apple slices, raw milk
D: Sourdough pizza,
Prep: Feed sourdough mother, grind sprouted flour, soak oats

Saturday
B: Cream cheese omelets, raw milk
L: Oatmeal porridge, raw milk
D: Left-overs from the week, raw milk
Prep: Make sourdough, make sprouted English muffins

Sunday
Brunch: Poached eggs with Bearnaise sauce on sprouted English muffins, bacon, raw milk
Snack: Cheese and apples, sourdough with butter, raw milk
D: Beef roast with potatoes and carrots, raw milk
Prep: Feed sourdough mother,

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What are you eating this week? For inspiration, or to join us, visit Menu Plan Monday this week!
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28-Day Real Food Challenge

2010-01-29T10:08:00.000-08:00

Last year I did a series on bite-sized steps to a nutrient dense diet. I hope that it provided simple ways to change and form small habits that nourished you and your families.

This year I have not found a theme to propel me quite yet, but Jenny at The Nourished Kitchen is doing a 28-Day Real Food Challenge for the entire month of February. Check out her site for more information and sign up! Please let me know if you do so that I can make sure to look for you during the event.

Do you have real food questions? Feel free to contact me with them and I would be happy to do some research and get back to you. Mariannescrivner (at) gmail (dot) com

Menu Plan Monday!

2010-01-25T19:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, but we've moved and are somewhat settled, so it's back to menu planning!

Monday
B: Oatmeal porridge (with cinnamon, butter, and raisins), raw milk
L: Snack board (apple slices, cheese, buttered bread, crispy hazelnuts), raw milk
D: Steak, spiced and sprouted quinoa, carrot salad, raw milk
To Do: Soak oats for porridge, defrost liver, feed sourdough mother, make cookie dough,

Tuesday
B: Oatmeal porridge as usual, raw milk
L: PB&Honey, carrots, apple, raw milk
D: Quiche, salad, squash soup, raw milk
To Do: Soak oats for porridge, marinate roast in buttermilk and liver in lemon juice, bake cookies, grind flour, bake bread, soak garbanzo beans, make quiche & pie dough, feed sourdough, soak wheat berries, start a new batch of beet kvass

Wednesday
B: Oatmeal porridge as usual, raw milk
L: Leftover quiche, carrots, apples, raw milk
D: Liver & onions, sauteed spinach, leftover squash soup, raw milk
Dessert: Cranberry pear pie with whipped cream
To Do: Feed sourdough, soak oats for porridge, make sauerkraut, cook garbanzo beans, make sprouted flat bread, tend sprouting wheat berries, defrost ground lamb

Thursday
B: Oatmeal porridge as usual, raw milk
L: PB&Honey, apples, cheese, raw milk
D: Baba ganouj, hummus, sprouted flat bread, olives, lamb kebabs, raw milk
To Do: Make sourdough, soak oats for porridge, tend sprouting wheat berries

Friday
B: Oatmeal porridge as usual, raw milk
L: PB&Honey, Carrots, Raw milk,
D: Dinner at friends'
To Do: Feed sourdough, soak flour for pancakes,dehydrate wheat sprouts

Saturday
B: Soured pancakes, bananas, cream, raw milk
L: Snack board, raw milk
D: Roast with potatoes and carrots, salad, sauteed Brussels sprouts, raw milk
To Do: Feed sourdough mother

Sunday
B: Bacon and eggs, raw milk,
L: Roast sandwiches, raw milk
D: Leftovers from week, raw milk
To Do: Soak oats for porridge, feed sourdough mother

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What about you? Do you know what you're eating this week? For more inspiration, visit the carnival

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Raw Milk O's

2010-01-21T20:47:00.000-08:00

It is hard to be a raw milk lover who also occasionally craves things like Newman's O's (the organic, tastier version of an Oreo) because there really is something about milk's favorite cookie. I would not like to admit that my husband recently brought home a package that disappeared less than 24 hours later. There are 4 of us who have teeth, so it was not all me, but it did convict me that I needed to come up with a substitute so that my husband does not bring home such atrocities to our normal diet again.

After eating FAR too many Newman's O's FAR too quickly, I read the packaging to see just how bad it was. The package marketed their unusual choice of fat - organic palm fruit oil - which they state "Is lower in saturated fat than butter and has no cholesterol" (which they thought was a good thing). This was my "aha!" as to why I devoured SO MANY. They were not filling. The body registers fullness based on nutrient and fat content. A cookie should be rich, so that you do not eat eight and then call upon massive will power to stop! I decided I would make our own oreo's - and they would have butter!

Without further ado, here is my recipe (containing 3/4 pound of butter) (I ate two, with a glass of raw milk and was well satisfied):

Raw Milk's Favorite Cookie

Makes: 25-40 cookies depending on size.

The Cookie

1 1/4 cup sprouted flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (you could also use carob powder, but then add 1 tbsp chocolate extract with the egg and butter)

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 cup Rapadura (or sucanant)

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp butter, room temperature

1 large pastured egg

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the sprouted flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, sea salt, and Rapadura.

Beat in the butter and the egg. Continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass.

Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart.

From here you have options. You could use moistened hands and slightly flatten the dough. I used our hand tamper for the espresso machine and placed another buttered sheet of parchment paper (or a free butter wrapper, since there were plenty about) on top of the cookie and gently smooshed them flat. This also allowed me to make them all approximately the same size (judging by the tamper).

Bake for 9 minutes at 375 F. Set on a rack to cool.

The Filling

7/8 cup (14 tbsp) room-temperature butter

1 cup arrowroot powder

1 cup raw honey

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or for other flavors, try 1 tsp vanilla plus 1 tsp peppermint, chocolate, hazelnut, or orange, etc.)

Place honey and arrowroot powder in a medium bowl and slowly mix together. When well blended, add butter and mix with an electric mixer until smooth. Then blend in extract.

To make a cookie, add dollops of cream into the center of a cookie. Place a similarly sized cookie on top of the cream. Lightly twist and press to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. (note: the filling will set up better when chilled - if you can wait for it)

Enjoy!

Store extra in refrigerator or freezer (Be sure to save some to enjoy with homemade raw ice cream!)

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This post is a part of Fight Back Fridays hosted by Food Renegade
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Spinach & Portabella Fettuccine

2010-01-13T17:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a lovely local and seasonal recipe we created tonight.

Spinach & Portabella Fettuccine with Spinach Salad on the side

Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2 (+ 2 small children)

Pasta Ingredients:
4 Tbsp butter + more as you feel inspired
1 Large leek chopped
1-2 Cloves garlic chopped or minced
1/2 Bunch spinach, washed, trimmed, coarsely chopped
2 Portabella mushrooms, sliced and coarsely chopped
Sea Salt
1-2 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
Sprouted fettuccine (or other preferred noodle) (we use a small quantity per topping)
Parmesan

Salad Ingredients:
1/2 Bunch spinach, washed, and trimmed
1 Carrot thinly chopped
Handful crispy walnuts (soaked, and raw roasted according to the recipe in NT)
Small handful cranberries
Chevre (soft goat cheese)
Balsamic & extra virgin olive oil
Sea Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Melt butter in saute pan over medium heat, add leek and let soften.
Add garlic, let saute one minute.
Add spinach and saute until just wilted
Add Portabella mushrooms and saute until soft
Season with sea salt to taste and toss.
Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, toss, and set aside, off heat, to amalgamate.
Bring water to boil and prepare pasta according to instructions.
While waiting prepare salad by tossing ingredients together
Toss with spinach and mushroom "sauce" and dust with Parmesan

Enjoy!

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This post is a part of Real Food Wednesdays hosted by Cheeseslave and Kelly The Kitchen Kop
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Cost:
Local portabella mushrooms - $3.45
Local, dried, raw cranberries - $.80
Local, organic, leek - $1.10
Local, organic, spinach - $3.00
Sprouted fettuccine - $1.00
Butter and seasonings - $.80
Local walnuts - $.10
Chevre - $1.00
Total - $11.25 - Which fed 2 adults and 2 children
(I feel compelled to note that this seems over-priced to me. We enjoyed a gift certificate to a local foods program, and have thoroughly enjoyed it, however, I think the prices are quite high compared to my usual sources)

Update

2010-01-09T18:40:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the blog silence! We are in the middle of moving. Soon I will have reports on what's twisting in my new, temporary, TINY kitchen. I will not be thwarted.

Until then, let me know what your food resolutions are for the new year? I think I'll be joining Alex in trying to only eat meat of known origin (MOKO), as well as documenting every dollar we spend on food.

Last year I enjoyed doing the series on bite-sized steps to a nutrient dense diet. What would you like from Prepare To Eat in 2010? Feel free to let me know, or contact me by email at Mariannescrivner (at) gmail (dot) com.

Happy New Year!

Tuesday Twister - Mainly Cookies

2009-12-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Click on the photo for a larger view of the details. Suffice it to say there has been much cookie making this month (a batch or two I forgot to photograph too). I have been so happy to discover I can grind very small batches of sprouted wheat berries in my coffee grinder. Enough for cookie making and a homemade loaf of 100% sprouted bread.

However, I still would rather have a grain mill of my own! Hope you entered the giveaway!

What about you? What happened in your kitchen last week? Care to share? Join us for Tuesday Twister next week.

For more inspiration see today's list of Tuesday Twisters and see what's twisting in other real-foodies kitchens.

Real Milk Survey

2009-12-11T21:50:00.000-08:00

If you are a real milk drinker (or would like to be one), please take one minute today for a confidential raw milk survey.

Thank you!

Grain Mill Giveaway

2009-12-11T08:19:00.000-08:00

The Nourishing Gourmet is hosting an amazing giveaway for a Wonder Mill Grain Mill from The Urban Homemaker. This is a $260 value. Also, just for entering the contest you get to download an e-book on bread making for beginners (a $10 value).

GO ENTER! (Visit the "amazing giveaway" link above, and then follow the link from there)

December Challenge: It's Up to You!

2009-12-03T20:24:00.000-08:00

I have really enjoyed the monthly challenge series over the last 12 months. This month is the last challenge associated with last December's post about bite-size steps to a nutrient-dense diet. The challenge this month is to take a look at the products you still purchase already made from the store. Is there something you could experiment with replacing? For me it was switching to homemade crackers. Next on my list is my own ketchup. I think if I were to step it up, it might be coming up with my own sprouted grain pasta noodles....but that will be on the back burner for a long while, I think.

What about you? What are you still buying and thinking "I wonder if I could make that?" Somewhere between all the cookie making and gift wrapping this month, give it a try and let me know!

Also, did you find these challenges helpful? What would you like to see more of or less of on this blog? I have plans to spend more time here in 2010 and have ideas on how I would like to develop it, but I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to leave comments here or to email me at mariannescrivner (at) gmail (dot) com.

Tuesday Twister - Soup making and Shrimp Butter

2009-11-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

The last two weeks I have been consumed with warding off serious illness. It is a good thing I had taken my own advice and stocked up on stock as soup was the go to meal most of the time.

Here's what I caught on film (from left to right)

Top Row:
One of the last seasonal salads from our CSA box for this year (hosting bell peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, carrots, and field greens with a homemade dressing).
Beet Kvass fermenting (seen with a bowl full of squash, mainly from our garden, and our thankfulness tree in the background)
Kombucha fermenting (mmm, fizzy goodness and giver of needed immune boosting)
Freshly shelled organic walnuts from our CSA soaking in a salt solution (more are soaking as I type, though these are from the farm that provides our delicious raw milk and pastured chicken eggs)

Middle Row:
Oatmeal porridge breakfast feast complete with above mentioned milk and a pot of peppermint tea.
What would have been macaroons if I had enough shredded coconut meat, but instead were meringues with a hint of coconut. Meringues in our home are always sweetened with organic pure maple syrup.
Soup: Winter Root Soup (recipe can be found in Nourishing Traditions) with the exact proportions of ingredients provided in our CSA box that were called for in the recipe. Amazing. Seen here with more homemade creme fraiche and a sprig of thyme for decor.
Bar of carob before being chilled and cut into "chips" (you should be seeing the application of said chips in next week's twister).

Bottom Row:
Soup: Fennel soup (recipe also in N.T.), also served with creme fraiche and with a sprig of fennel for appeal (and content hint).
Fennel soup seen with steamed, buttered and salted Kale, and more of the salad from row one.
Shrimp broth. This was a torturous favorite for the cats. It was a first for me, and a first trip to the Asian grocer down the street with my four year old who declared loudly "Mommy, it's squishy in here!" because the isles are much smaller than in our American stores. There is much more food per square foot!
Shrimp butter, frozen in ice cube trays and then stored in a bag in the freezer (watch for a Creole shrimp casserole next week!)

What about you? What happened in your kitchen last week? Care to share? Join us for Tuesday Twister next week. I always find that photographing my meals helps keep my accountable to make something fresh, nutrient-dense, and attractive.

For more inspiration see today's list of Tuesday Twisters and see what's twisting in other real-foodies kitchens.

Tuesday Twister 11.10.09

2009-11-10T13:00:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered a few food blogs that participate in GNOWFGLINS' "Tuesday Twister" as a weekly picture show of notable things that happened in their kitchens over the last week. Though I have not taken many food photos during the last week, I thought I would start playing today anyway.

First a huge batch of broth, complete with chicken feet. Then, it was soup making.

Pictured left is a Roman Lentil Soup, made with fresh onions and carrots from our CSA box, as well as locally grown lentils, and homemade broth. Served with home-cultured creme fraiche and a sprig of parsley (also from CSA box).

I also made a lovely cream of broccoli that did not get photographed.

Today I will be making another soup recipe, which hopefully I will remember to photograph and share for next week (with the other happenings in my kitchen!).

What about you? What is happening in your kitchen? Care to share? Join us for Tuesday Twister next week. I always find that photographing my meals helps keep my accountable to make something fresh, nutrient-dense, and attractive.

For more inspiration see today's list of Tuesday Twisters and see what's twisting in other real-foodies kitchens.

November Challenge: Make Your Own Broth

2009-11-04T15:13:00.001-08:00

"Good broth resurrects the dead" - African proverb

The leaves are falling, the air is crisping, and in my house, the broth is simmering. November is an ideal time to start experimenting with your own broth. If there was ever a month in which I could eat soup every day, it is November. Broth is inexpensive to make while adding 5-star richness to the meals you serve at home. It is additionally great on its own to help kick a cold or flu.

I use stock (or broth) primarily for soups and sauces. Any high caliber restaurant does the same thing. If you have fallen in love with a soup or sauce when eating out, it is probably because they make their own stock.

Stock refers to a liquid made for its own sake from whole ingredients (for example making chicken stock with whole chickens and using the cooked meat for something else later), whereas broth typically refers to liquid made from "leftovers". Broth is usually what simmers here because I use leftover chicken carcasses rather than a fresh bird, though I always add fresh feet and necks as well as fresh vegetables (following the bone broth recipes in Nourishing Traditions by Sallon Fallon)

Making broth from your leftover carcasses is economical and adds value to your original purchase. Also, consuming stocks and broths allows your body to utilize proteins better so that you do not need to eat as much meat to gain the same benefit, which can save you even more.

Challenge Level One:

With Thanksgiving approaching, I challenge you to make your own stock and boil down a 5-star sauce from the turkey drippings. With cold and flu season upon us, I encourage you to stock up on stock. Keep it in the freezer to have on hand when the sniffles come. The gelatin and nutrients in broth are also good for numerous other health problems (especially digestive ones).

Challenge Level Two:

If you take the plunge and experiment with making your own broth, write about it! Or if you regularly make your own broth, share a recipe or write a reflection spurred from the simmering brew, and let me know by leaving a link in the comment section.

Bucket-Of-Fat Give-away!

2009-10-30T08:47:00.001-07:00

Kelly the Kitchen Kop is promoting a give-away from U.S. Wellness Meats for a huge bucket of rendered tallow. This is a healthy fat for deep frying and the secret to amazingly flaky pie crusts. Consider this the first post in a series on getting ready for Thanksgiving and the holidays.

Visit Kelly's post to enter (up to 7 ways to enter), while I keep my fingers crossed that it's me!

October Challenge: Home Brew Kombucha

2009-10-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

October usually means more time indoors. It is a darker time in our house and a time of more consistent temperatures as we turn the heat back on. Often October signifies the return of comfort foods and a return to the kitchen after a long summer spent cooking outside and making meals with minimal prep.

As you shuffle back into a darker kitchen and spend a little more time actually using your kitchen this fall, I have an easy challenge for you, brew some kombucha. This is an incredibly simple and incredibly healthy drink to make. You can refer to my "ode to kombucha" and preparation instructions or read my additional thoughts on brewing kvasses, but I will also provide some simple instructions here.

You will need:
A glass or stainless steel container suitable for holding a gallon of liquid
A towel
A dark place with a fairly steady temperature of around 72 degrees F (I use a paper bag turned upside down over my kombucha jars atop the refrigerator)

Ingredients:
4 organic black tea bags (or 4 small black tea nests if using Pu-erh)
1 cup sugar (yes, refined sugar)
3 qts filtered water
Kombucha "mushroom" and 1/2 cup starter (kombucha from a previous batch)

You should really use organic tea as it does not contain formaldehyde or any of the other strange chemicals often used in making non-organic black teas. Refined sugar is the best sugar to feed the culture. You also want filtered water because most tap waters contain chlorine, which can kill your starter culture.

Instructions:
Bring water to a boil. Add sugar and completely dissolve. Remove from heat and add tea bags. Let steep until room temperature. Remove tea and pour into fermenting container (or strain into container if using loose leaf tea). Pour in 1/2 cup kombucha from a previous batch and top with "mushroom". Let sit anywhere from 7-21 days. It is ready when it is tangy, slightly fizzy, and has no taste of tea remaining. This will fluctuate depending on kitchen and weather conditions. Once done, pour into jars and place in cold storage.

Each time you make kombucha your "mushroom" will make a "baby", which is simply another layer of mushroom atop the starter mushroom. You can allow these to continue multiplying and they might help your previous batches finish faster. You can also pull the new layer off and pass it onto a friend. To double the batch you do not need a second mushroom, but simply double everything else including the starter liquid.

You can further experiment with adding flavors, once made, and bottling them and letting them have a second fermentation on the counter for a couple of days to get fizzy again. You can also make kombucha with other teas and sugars, however, the recipe I am sharing is designed to give the highest quantity of gluchronic acid, which is what gives kombucha its remarkable health benefits. I cannot speak to the benefits of the drink when not made with black tea and sugar.

Rest assured, the fermentation process transforms the caffeine from the tea as well as the sugar into gluchronic acid, so there is no concern about giving this drink to children. However, I will say that it can have the same effect as black tea in staining your teeth. So if pearly whites are important to you, make sure to drink water afterward, or brush your teeth the same as you would after drinking tea or coffee.

Challenge Level One:
Locate a kombucha culture and take inventory to see if you have the equipment. You can often find cultures from friends who brew kombucha and I have even seen them advertised on Craigslist. However, if you do not have a friend who brews and need a reliable source, Cultures For Health can ship you one anywhere in the US.

Challenge Level Two:
Take the plunge and make some! It is inexpensive and not a large time investment. Besides, you might like it and your gut will thank you. It is also handy to have as we enter "cold and flu" season as it is a significant immune booster and detoxifier.

Challenge Level Three:
If you are already a kombucha brewer, try brewing something else. Try a true ginger beer or ginger ale, or better yet get started on some homemade sparkling apple cider for Thanksgiving next month. Whatever you do, tell me about it here!

For the Love of Food

2009-09-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

Local and organic.
It does not get better.

Lunch

Dinner

Can you name all the vegetables seen above?

September Challenge: Switch to Real Milk

2009-09-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not putting the challenge out there earlier this month. The challenge is simple, switch to raw milk (or at least find some and try it). However, I am working on an article that would provide help to locate raw milk near you and reasons why it is worth switching.

In the mean time, do you already drink raw milk? If not, what is holding you back?

In Non-Food News

2009-08-22T20:17:00.001-07:00

Our third baby arrived on Thursday (needless to say that my menu planning went mainly to waste, though my husband did cook us the roast). Meals every other day from our church will start tomorrow and last for three weeks. As much as I love cooking, eating without preparation is pretty nice too.

Marination Idea: Flat Steak

2009-08-18T17:09:00.000-07:00

This works great for flat iron steak, or any long thin (and tough) piece of meat (seen here is a "round" steak).

Puncture meat all over with a fork. Cover with sea salt, pepper, and whatever herbs sound good to you (here I have used basil just dried from the garden), as well as extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I also added some raw apple cider vinegar.

Let sit at least 15 minutes, and up to an hour (but cover with something to keep bugs and dust away).

Broil for 5 minutes and let stand for 5 minutes (based on 1" thickness), or grill for 2.5 minutes per side and then let stand 5 minutes .

You can slice this into steak servings, cut it thin for fajitas, and make sure to save any leftovers for steak Caesar salad later.

CSA Report: 3rd Week of August

2009-08-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

Not pictured: A lovely 100yr old variety of muskmelon that was quickly devoured for dessert

Menu Plan Monday

2009-08-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

I am trying to restore some routines before the baby comes, so I am launching again into Menu Plan Monday's hosted by orgjunkie.com. Our CSA box came today, as well as our grocery delivery from Azure Standard, so I am working with a decently stocked pantry. However, we are still on a bit of a pantry challenge this summer trying to see how well we can live off the cow we bought last spring, our CSA box, and our weekly trip to the farm for raw milk and eggs. Please keep that in mind as there is nothing but beef, veggies, and eggs on the menu because a lot of our meals look a little like the photo below.

Monday
B: Eggs and buttered toast, raw milk
L: Individual "pizzas" (bread, tomatoes, hormone and nitrate free pepperoni, and mozzarella), plums from the back yard, raw milk, kombucha
D: Burger patties, fresh salad, sauted zuchinni, raw milk
Dessert: Muskmelon and nectarines
To Do: Soak oats for porridge, defrost roast, culture buttermilk,

Tuesday
B: Oatmeal porridge with raisins, cinnamon and nectarines, raw milk
L: PB&Honey, carrots, nectarine, raw milk, kombucha
D: Steak, salad, sauteed chard, raw milk
To Do: Start new batch of Kombucha, soak oats for porridge, marinate roast in buttermilk, soak flour for bread, start new sourdough mother, make quiche & pie dough, start another batch of beet kvass, culture sour cream

Wednesday
B: Oatmeal porridge with raisins, cinnamon, and butter, fresh squeezed orange juice, raw milk
L: PB&Honey, nectarines, carrots, raw milk, kombucha
D: Quiche, Salad, sauted greens, raw milk
Dessert: Nectarine pie
To Do: Soak flour for orange cake, make bread, separate cream cheese and whey, feed sourdough, soak oats for porridge, soak flour for pizza, preserve garden beans and sauerkraut, start beef bone broth, make mayonnaise

Thursday
B: Oatmeal porridge with raisins, cinnamon, and butter, raw milk
L: Grilled cheese, carrots, nectarine, raw milk, kombucha
D: Pizza, potato salad, Steamed salted and buttered yellow wax beans, raw milk
To Do: Make pizza sauce, feed sourdough, soak oats for porridge, cook and begin fermenting orange cake

Friday
B: Oatmeal porridge with raisins, cinnamon, and butter, raw milk
L: PB&Honey, Carrots, Nectarine, Raw milk, Kombucha
D: Roast with potatoes and carrots, salad, sauted zucchini, raw milk
To Do: Soak flour for Carrot Cake, Feed sourdough, soak oats for porridge, make ice cream, make tart dough

Saturday (Soren's 4th birthday party & some friends' wedding)
B: Oatmeal porridge with raisins, cinnamon, and butter, raw milk, orange juice
L: Pizza, potato salad, carrot cake, orange cake, strawberry tart, ice cream, raw milk, kombucha
D: Eat at friend's wedding
To Do: morning: Cook Carrot cake, make cream cheese icing, assemble tart, feed sourdough mother

Sunday
B: Eggs, sauted zucchini, hash browns, raw milk, orange juice
L: Leftovers from week
D: Steak, salad, slow roasted beets
To Do: Soak oats for porridge, feed sourdough mother

August Challenge: Marinate!

2009-08-10T18:02:00.001-07:00

In keeping with last December's "bite-sized steps to a nutrient dense diet" this month's challenge is to develop the habit of marinating your meats, especially red meats. August is a busy and lazy month. As such any new "challenges" should be low-key. Marination is not time, nor labor, intensive, but like so many aspects of traditional cooking, it is forethought intensive.

For example, I have a pot roast that I punctured all over with my meat thermometer marinating in homemade buttermilk right now. It has been marinating for nearly two days, and I plan to cook the roast tomorrow. Some things take less time. I typically marinate steaks or ground meats at room temperature in olive oil and vinegar with spices for 15-45 minutes on the counter. Lamb shanks and some roasts I leave in a nice red wine for 12-24 hours.

The science behind marination is that raw and cultured mediums (buttermilk, extra virgin olive oil, vinegars, wine) will start eating, or pre-digesting, the meat for you which leaves less digestion work for your body to absorb the nutrients. Additionally, it imparts flavor and tenderizes the meat making it more satisfying on the palate. Marination is a not-so-secret technique of all good cooks. Biting into something flavorful, tender, and easy on the stomach later leaves any guest wanting to eat from your table again.

There is also creative joy when blending various herbs and spices to compliment meats. One of my favorite discoveries is cumin, fennel, salt and pepper in an olive oil base on lamb or pork chops. Let it sit for 15-30 minutes on the counter and then scrape off the fennel and broil them (or pan fry) for 4 minutes a side (estimated for a 1" thick cut).

Challenge for the month:
Plan for marination. Try something new or use your nose to create a new blend that gets your mouth watering in anticipation. Do you already have a favorite marinade? Please share it!

Sauerkraut: How To

2009-07-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

Sauerkraut is incredibly simple. I am posting instructions quickly and hope to follow up with pictures soon. We had technical issues this month, so I apologize for how belated this post is.

You will need the following:
A large bowl you can pound in
A pounding pestle (I use the pestle from my mortar and pestle - but I am saving for a real kraut pounder available through our Eugene chapter of the Weston A Price Foundation)
Quart mason jar (you can do larger or smaller depending on how quickly you will go through the sauerkraut once opened)

1 Medium Cabbage
1 Tbsp Caraway seeds
1 Tbsp Sea Salt
4 Tbsp Whey (or 1 additional tbsp salt)

Core and thinly shred the cabbage. I do this with a large serrated chopping knife. I had purchased a mandolin type shredder but found it was more trouble that it was worth and it did not shred fine enough, so I returned it and went back to using my knife.

In a large bowl, combine shredded cabbage, caraway seeds, sea salt, and whey (or additional salt). Pound with pestle or wooded pounder (or whatever else you might find - like a meat hammer), for 10 minutes to release juices.

Place in quart mason jar and press down firmly with pounder/pestle until the juices well cover the top of the sauerkraut (leave 1" of room before the top of the jar as it will expand during fermentation). Cover jar very tightly and keep at room for about 3 days (more or less depending on temperature - ideal is 72 degrees) before transferring to cold storage (like the top shelf of your refrigerator -shooting for 40 degrees). You can eat it immediately after this, but it will also improve in flavor with age (some say it takes 6 months for sauerkraut's flavors to fully develop).

The lovely thing about naturally fermenting food is that your nose will tell you when it has gone bad so that you have no need to fear botulism. Further, naturally fermented foods are full of lactobacilli which enhances the foods digestibility as well as increases the vitamin levels. Additionally, these foods are living and full of enzymes, natural antibiotics and anti carcinogens. These foods will promote health gut flora which is at the foundation of all good health.

For more on fermenting you own foods please take a look at the following links:
Cheeseslave: Ten reasons to eat fermented foods
Food Renegade: How to make Sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables
Wild Fermentation
Portland Preserve
Sauerkraut: The Miracle Cabbage
and of course, many fermented recipes can be found in Nourishing Traditions

CSA Report: 2st Week of July

2009-07-13T22:11:00.000-07:00

Mystery item:

We have received this several times and still have not figured out what it is. Tastes a little like leafy peas...but we don't know. Do you?

July Challenge: Make your own Sauerkraut

2009-07-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

The growing season is in full swing, and we have been delighted by the large cabbages in our farm box the last couple weeks. Now is the time to utilize garden abundance to preserve foods for the winter.

In keeping with that idea, the challenge for this month is to make your own sauerkraut. This is actually a very simple and rewarding task that will also be good practice for other traditional preserving later in the harvest season (I am thinking salsa, chutneys, etc).

This challenge is simple, try preserving sauerkraut traditionally (this means fermenting with salt or whey rather than "pickling" in vinegar). If you are already a preserver, study your harvests (or u-pick options) and see if you can figure out how much you would have to preserve to last you through the next season. I noticed that bulk cabbage is on a great special right now through Azure Standard, and since our own cabbage does not seem to have taken well in the garden this year, a bulk order may be in store this month for us.

I will post a photo-how-to in the next week on making sauerkraut, and you can see how simple it is, even without fancy equipment. I will also share tips for some tasty variations (like latin American sauerkraut).

Other things you are inspired to preserve this month? Please share in the comment section!

Healthy Desserts: Quick Compromise Cupcakes

2009-06-18T16:19:00.001-07:00

My youngest son turned 2 yesterday. We had just returned from a trip out of town but I really wanted to bring something for celebration to my eldest son's soccer class (filled with lots of mutual friends and little siblings who watch). This gave me about an hour to come up with something. Sadly, not enough time to soak or sprout and grains. However, if a pie can have unbleached white flour for the crust, then surely some birthday cupcakes can have un-soaked, non-sprouted, whole spelt flour.

Quick Compromise Carob Cupcakes
makes 12

Cake Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole spelt flour (use sprouted flour to remove the compromise! Though be prepared to use more milk)
1 cup milk
1 cup rapadura
1/3 cup carob powder
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp chocolate extract (optional)
1 tsp vinegar

Topping Ingredients:
1-2 cups heavy whipping cream (not ultra-pasteurized)
pinch of stevia powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 350. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with a hand-held mixer. Divide into muffin tray lined with baking cups and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from tray immediately and let cool on wire racks. In the mean time, whip cream until soft peaks form, add stevia and vanilla extract and whip until cream is quite thick (but not butter). Place a dollop of cream on each cup cake and enjoy!

One of the moms commented on how "organic" these cupcakes look. Organic in the sense of simple and from the earth, not necessarily that they looked certifiable =) I enjoyed the novelty of cupcakes with cream rather than frosting as well, and the kids all thought it was grand (and no one seemed to mind the carob!)

CSA Report: 3rd Week of June

2009-06-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

Please forgive the horrible image quality

Flowers and Food!

Healthy Desserts: Lemon Merengue Pie

2009-06-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

This is a lovely cold dessert for warm summer nights.

Have a partially-baked pie crust ready (partially bake by placing in cold oven set to 300 for 15 minutes)

In a sauce pan, combine grated rind of 2 lemons, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 3/4 cup pure maple syrup, and a mixture of 4 tbsp Arrowroot powder with 6 tbsp water. Cook this mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly until well combined and thickened (it will not thicken into jelly until it cooks in the pie and cools). Let the mixture cool and then beat in 3 egg yolks and 1 tbsp butter.

Meanwhile, beat 4 egg whites (or more) with a pinch of sea salt until softly stiff. Mix in 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and 2-4 tbsp Rapadura and beat until stiff

Pour lemon filling into the partially baked crust and top carefully with the meringue, sealing in the pie from the crust.

Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes. Let cool completely before serving, this pie tastes even better after it has been kept in the refrigerator over night.

CSA Report: 2nd Week of June

2009-06-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

Mystery item:

Turns out to be anise flavored Fennel!

Great Give-a-way

2009-06-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

New Urban Habitat is hosting a great give-a-way this week. It is for the book The Backyard Homestead. This is a great resource for gardening and seed saving. This book will teach you to maximize the most local food source possible - your own backyard "farm".

Enter for a chance to win!

June Challenge: Kick the Sugar Blues

2009-06-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

I think summer is the perfect time to wean yourself off refined sweeteners. There are so many lovely and naturally sweet options available. June begins berry season, and I already have plans to do some picking next week. For the U-Pick options in your area, peruse Pick Your Own.

Why kick sugar? Refined sugar is not a food, regardless of how much more "natural" it is than the packaged chemical substitutes. The process sugar cane is taken through to produce that white stuff we Americans are so addicted to is the same process that opium poppies are taken through to produce heroine. This is not a food; it is a drug.

Like all drugs, when you ingest sugar it has profound effects on your body. The moment your body registers that you've eaten sugar, it tells your body to fuel itself on the sugar and carbs rather than burn fat for energy (want to loose a couple pounds for the summer? Cut white sugar and white flour!). Here are some other interesting links on removing sugar from your diet.

Sugar picks you up and lets you down ("sugar blues"). It interferes with clear mental processing, natural energy, and normal body rhythms. It is unquestionably linked as a cause of diabetes (along with refined flour). It is addictive! The more you eat, the more you crave. Further, it does nothing to satisfy. Your body registers fullness on fat content and nutrient-density. Sugary snacks will only leave you hungry for more as your body will not recognize that you gave it something to feed itself. Before you reach for that sweet snack, opt for a big glass of raw milk first, or some buttered toast with honey.

William Dufty's "Sugar Blues" converted me nearly overnight. I literally went through my cupboards and threw away anything with any form of sugar or high fructose corn syrup on the label (ketchup, mayo, cereal, bread, you name it!).

However, I know for many people cold turkey is rarely an option. I had also just discovered I was pregnant with my second child, which was a large motivator for me. As with any drug addiction, it is the first few days that are the most difficult. For me, this is why removing everything from my house was a good first step. You will also need something to replace the sugar. Even if you are still eating far too many natural sweeteners while you transition, they will not give you the same addiction problems as they are actually foods. After you transition you will naturally wean yourself down to healthy levels of natural sweets.

For those not interested in cold-turkey sugar abandonment, this article provides great baby-steps towards transitioning sugar out of your life.

Challenge Level One:
Pay close attention to what your actual sugar intake is for this month. Write it down. 100 years ago the average American ate roughly 5 pounds of refined sugar per person per year. Now, the average American consumes 175 pounds of sugar per year. That is alarming! Read labels on EVERYTHING and make a list of all the places sugar is hiding in your diet (remember, look at the ingredient list, not the grams listed on the "nutrition" panel).

Challenge Level Two:
Purchase William Dufty's "Sugar Blues" or check it out from the library and put it on your early summer reading list. It might change your life. OR Read the above mentioned article on transitioning sugar out of your life and see how many of the steps you can implement in June. Let me know!

Challenge Level Three:
See if you can go the whole month sugar free. Gorge on fresh berries, substitute with raw honey, pure maple syrup, stevia powder, Rapadura, and Molasses. There are candies and chocolates you can buy - but still read the ingredients! Some of the alternate flavors use different sweeteners.

In order to help you this month, I will try to post a dessert recipe each week (or more often!). I will be catering a graduation reception mid-month and will be crafting several desserts for the celebration so it should be easy to share some of that goodness here (though it is likely I will also provide some sugared pies since it is for such a large group and I have not been asked to cater it in the Weston A. Price style).

CSA Report: 1st Week of June

2009-06-02T13:49:00.001-07:00

This week's CSA box provided (from left to right in 4 rows)

Top "Row": Red Leaf Lettuce Head, Green Leaf Lettuce Head
Second "Row": Purple Kale, Dill, Cilantro, Chard
Third "Row": Radishes, Garlic Snapes, Purple and Green Kohlrabi
Fourth "Row": Large bag of Spinach, Zuchini, Cucumber, Rainbow Chard

The garlic snapes were new to me. I had to look up "curly long green things" on google, which produced this page that enlightened me and provided recipie ideas.

I thought they looked lovely as as a centerpiece,

But decided they were even tastier as a "pesto"

Raw Garlic Snape Pesto (as per the website mentioned above)
1 bunch garlic snapes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup freshly grated raw Parmesan cheese

Process garlic snapes and olive oil in food processor until well combined and transfer to a serving bowl. Fold in Parmesan by hand.

Everyone raved about the pesto (children included)! It served as as topping for the roasted chicken last night, and as a sandwich base for leftover chicken sandwiches today. It would also be lovely with chips or crackers and I might have enough left over to experiment with it in a salad dressing for tonight. YUM.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-06-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

Here is the meal plan for this week after perusing the pantry and our CSA box.

Monday
B: Scrambled Eggs and toast, raw milk
L: PB&Honey, carrots, raw milk
D: Roasted Chicken with gravy (little bits of liver hidden here), Fresh green salad, Sauteed Kale, Raw Garlic Snape Pesto, raw milk.
Dessert: Lemon Merengue Pie
To Do: Soak peanuts, begin buttermilk marinade for roast, marinate stew meat, make pie crust + extra for later, soak oats

Tuesday
B: Oatmeal porridge (with butter, cinnamon & raisins), raw milk
L: Chicken sandwiches with garlic snape pesto spread, carrots, raw milk
D: Potluck! Contributing "all day" beef stew and a large green salad
To Do: Begin dehydrating peanuts, soak flour for buttermilk bread, feed sourdough mother, soak oats

Wednesday
B: Oatmeal porridge (with butter, cinnamon & raisins), raw milk
L: Chicken sandwiches, carrots, raw milk
D: Beef Roast, Mashed Yams, Sauteed Chard, Green Salad, raw milk
To Do: Make Buttermilk bread, feed sourdough mother, make coconut "white fudge", soak oats

Thursday
B: Oatmeal porridge (with butter, cinnamon & raisins), raw milk
L: Roast beef sandwiches, carrots, raw milk
D: Spinach Quiche, Green Salad, raw milk
To Do: Soak wheat berries, make yogurt, make homemade dill mayonnaise, soak oats

Friday
B: Oatmeal porridge (with butter, cinnamon & raisins), raw milk
L: Quiche, Salad, Raw milk
D: Burgers, Steamed Kohlrabi, Green Salad, Raw milk
To Do: Rinse and continue soaking wheat berries, start new batch of Kombucha, soak flour for pancakes

Saturday
B: Soured Pancakes, raw milk
L: Fritattas, raw milk
D: Leftovers from week with Green Salad and sauteed Chard, raw milk
To Do: Make zarathustra crackers, make creme fraiche

Sunday
B: Eggs and toast, raw milk
L: PB&Honey, raw milk
D: Burritos, Rice, Cilantro salad, raw milk
To Do: Soak rice in AM, soak oats

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This post is participating in Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.org
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CSA Report: 4th Week of May

2009-05-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

CSA is Community Supported Agriculture. I am fortunate enough to live in an area where local farms and CSA programs abound. When I lived in Portland, I discovered that CSA's fill up by January at the latest. Here in Eugene, there is a bit more time, but they still fill before the growing season begins. If you live anywhere near farm land, I would wager there are farms doing CSA near you. For a helpful place to start looking, check out Local Harvest.

Their are many lovely perks from being a part of a CSA. I LOVE supporting my local farms, eating local produce, and eating seasonally. I enjoy having new vegetables to master in the kitchen (who knew we all LOVE the parsnip). This is real food grown naturally by the real earth. It is nutrient-dense, and it tastes superior to it's off-season, non-organic counterparts. Additionally, it is fresh, it doesn't travel far, there is not much packaging and it is cheaper than buying from the farmers market or grocery store. If there is an abundance of a harvest, you enjoy a share of that surplus (my fingers are crossed for this to happen with strawberries this year).

The drawbacks, for those thinking about switching, is that you are at the mercy of the farms harvest, if a crop fails, you absorb that loss along with the farmer (though I have never experienced that), further, you are constrained by what is seasonal. Most americans have lost all connection with eating foods according to season (instead have we have substituted sports to feel in tune with the changing seasons?), so for someone transitioning to CSA for produce, it might be a major change to your menu repetoir (like our current abundance of lettuces). The biggest hurdle, for people with limited cash flow (like ourselves) is that most require payment for the season up front. However, do not let that deter you, for farmers are realizing that the more they can work to divide up the payments, the easier this is on gaining customers. We were fortunate enough to find one here that allows you to pay week by week, though it remains a full season committment to do so.

This week we received:
A large bag of field greens
A large bag of spinach
A flat-leaf kale
Rainbow chard
Bunch of baby parsnips
Bunch of various radishes
Head of red leaf lettuce
Bunch of parsley
Collection of chive blossoms
A cucumber
Head of celery

I meant to take lovely photos of each of these items, but our box comes right before dinner on Monday nights, and many of the items get chopped up so fast there just is not time. I will try to be more dutiful with the camera next week.

Right now we are swimming in lettuces while I am really the only one in the family who enjoys them (actually, my eldest enjoys salad too, but he can only eat so much as a nearly 4-year-old. my two-year-old is still missing his back molars, so lettuce is a challenge. Husband will eat salad, but begrudgingly unless it's Caesar, though last nights was rich with bacon and sharp raw cheddar, which helped). I am glad that we began getting our CSA boxes before planting our garden this year (I was previously disappointed we did not plant earlier), as my original growing plans included many lettuces. We have now decided not to grow any lettuce, trusting the CSA box to keep us amply supplied with salad greens, and relying on the garden to supply me with harvests I can preserve for winter (and lettuce will not keep).

There will be more on the garden coming soon. Hopefully next week I will get back to Menu Plan Mondays which will be mapped out once we receive our harvest box.

Nutrient-Dense Bread Making: A Compromise

2009-05-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

In Sally Fallon's lovely cookbook, Nourishing Traditions, she offers a compromise for bread makers: Yeasted Buttermilk Bread. The flour is soaked, but the recipe still calls for yeast.

Yeast is a compromise because "active dry yeast" and the wild yeasts in the air that create a sourdough are not the same. Think of this difference: sourdough can take 4-12+ hours to double, and does not get punched down. That is because there are significantly less powerful yeasts at work. Further, many people use a packaged instant yeast for their bread making, which I have just discovered uses GMO's!

However, for someone transitioning to traditional foods, jumping straight to sourdough can be difficult both for flavor and for texture. Further, sometimes you need to make bread in between your sourdough cycle. We have found the Yeasted Buttermilk Bread to be delicious and easier on the stomach for my 2-year-old than commercially sprouted breads (you might note that I do not have any photos of the two loaves whole....we cannot resist this bread fresh from the oven, not even long enough to take a picture!).

Another perk: it is so easy!

Quick Directions:
Soak 4 cups whole grain flour (I use spelt) in 1 - 1.5 cups buttermilk on the counter for 12-24 hours (24 is best).
Place 1 tsp Active Dry Yeast in 1/4 cup warm filtered water with 2 tbsp honey. Mix well and let sit for 5 minutes.
Add 1 tbsp baking soda + 1 tsp sea salt to the yeast solution and mix well.
Divide soaked flour in half. Place half in food processor and combine with 1/2 cup whole grain flour (again, I use spelt), and half of the yeast solution.
Repeat with the other half of the soaked flour. Then slightly knead halves together and let rise in a bowl for 2 hours in a warm place.
Punch down and slightly knead (or process quickly again in the food processor in halves), divide in half, shape loaves, and place in buttered loaf pans. Let rise another 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
Place in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Turn out and let cool on wire racks. Enjoy!

Alternately, when you form your loaves, you can form them into about 24 little balls and stuff them into a 11-inch spring form pan for delicious yeasted buttermilk rolls.

When I was having sourdough starter issues here at the new house (which now seem to be resolved) I was making these buttermilk loafs every other day much to the satisfaction of the whole household and anyone who stopped by.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-05-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

It is Menu Plan Monday again. However, we are leaving for Portland in the middle of the week so the "plan" will be limited. The plan from Thursday night on will be to find inexpensive, nutrient-dense, GMO-free (as much as possible) food while living out of a hotel room for 5 days. Ha! Good luck to us! (and yes, I will be packing as much as I can to bring with us)

Monday
B: Banana, soaked oatmeal porridge with butter, raisins, and cinnamon, raw milk
L: PB Honey, carrots, apples, raw milk
D: Meatloaf, green salad, raw milk, kombucha
To Do: Feed sourdough mother, start beet kvass, soak oats for cookies, soak oats for porridge, dehydrate oats for cookies

Tuesday
B: Banana, soaked oatmeal porridge with butter, raisins, and cinnamon, raw milk
L: PB Honey, carrots, apples, raw milk, kombucha
D: Roast chicken, rice, salad, raw milk
To Do: Feed sourdough mother, make oatmeal cookies, soak oats for porridge

Wednesday
B: Banana, soaked oatmeal porridge with butter, raisins, and cinnamon, raw milk
L: Chicken soup with rice, raw milk, kombucha
D: Quiche, green salad, raw milk
To Do: Make sourdough, soak oats for porridge

Thursday
B: Banana, soaked oatmeal porridge with butter, raisins, and cinnamon, raw milk
L: PB Honey, carrot sticks, apple slices, kombucha, raw milk

PACK FOR THE WEEKEND: Raw milk, Beet Kvass, Sourdough loaves, leftover chicken, raw cheese, butter, leftover quiche, carrots, apples, bananas, oatmeal cookies, peanut butter.

Another Contest!

2009-05-07T21:34:00.001-07:00

Perhaps more useful than cultures (for those who are not home culturers), how does free non-GMO beef sound? The No GMO Challenge site is offering a giveaway to win $100 worth of meat (or anything else from U.S. Wellness Meats).

Check it out and sign up for the 30-day no GMO challenge (a requirement for entering the contest).

Menu Plan Monday

2009-05-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

This is the first week I am participating in the Menu Plan Monday blog carnival. I am hoping to do this weekly and have this replace the "A week in my kitchen" reports (which I have neglected this year). For other menu planning inspiration visit the link above.

Monday
B: Banana, soaked oatmeal porridge with butter, raisins, and cinnamon, raw milk
L: Roast beef sandwiches, apple slices, carrot sticks, raw milk
D: Roast Chicken, rice, green salad, raw milk, kombucha
To Do: Soak rice in AM, feed sourdough mother, soak flour for buttermilk bread, make yogurt, start beef broth, soak flour for pizza dough, start new kombucha batch, soak oats for porridge

Tuesday
B: Banana, soaked oatmeal porridge with butter, raisins, and cinnamon, raw milk
L: Chicken sandwiches, apple slices, carrot sticks, raw milk, kombucha
D: Potluck Night: Contribute pepperoni/veggie pizza and CB Pineapple pizza, raw milk
To Do: Make bread, make more pure yogurt starter, feed sourdough mother, soak oats for porridge

Wednesday
B: Banana, soaked oatmeal porridge with butter, raisins, and cinnamon, raw milk
L: Chicken soup w/rice, apple slices, raw milk, kombucha
D: Steak, green salad, garlic/broccoli/onion mashed potatoes, raw milk
To Do: Soak garbanzo beans, feed sourdough mother, soak flour for bread, finish beef broth, soak oats for porridge

Thursday
B: Banana, soaked oatmeal porridge with butter, raisins, and cinnamon, raw milk
L: Steak Caesar salad, apple, kombucha, raw milk
D: Bacon/Feta/Spinach Quiche, green salad, french onion soup, raw milk
To Do: Cook garbanzo beans, feed sourdough mother, make bread, make yogurt, soak oats for porridge

Friday
B: Banana, soaked oatmeal porridge with butter, raisins, and cinnamon, raw milk
L: Quiche and soup leftovers, raw milk, kombucha
D: Liver & onions, green salad, steamed veggies, raw milk
Dessert: Homemade ice cream
To Do: Soak flour for pancakes, make hummus, feed sourdough

Saturday
B: Soured pancakes w/pure maple syrup, eggs, raw milk
L: BLTs, apple, carrot, and cheese slices, raw milk, Kombucha
D: Leftovers from the week, raw milk
To Do: Make sourdough

Sunday
B: Soured pancakes w/pure maple syrup, eggs, raw milk
L: PB Honey, apple, carrot, and cheese slices, raw milk, kombucha
D: Meat Loaf, salad, steamed veggies, raw milk
To Do: Soak oats for porridge

May Challenge: Make Your Own Bread!

2009-05-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Home baked breads are a delicious treasure and a huge way to save money.

There are two brands of bread I approve of from the store. Both are sprouted and do not have sugar of high fructose corn syrups added. One is from Alvarado St. Bakery, and the other from Ezekiel 4:9 (which, unfortunately, does use soy). Both are usually priced $4-$5.50 per loaf! When I make bread at home, I usually spend $1 or less per loaf on the ingredients and there are no compromising additives.

Even if you are not ready to take the plunge to fully soured flours or sprouted grains, making your own bread is a great baby step towards a healthier diet as well as a step towards creating extra grocery money which you can redirect towards choosing organic, non-GMO foods.

Challenge Level One:
Make bread this month, any bread recipie that catches your eye.

Challenge Level Two:
For those of you who already make your own bread occasionally, step it up and spend the whole month making your own bread each week.

Challenge Level Three:
For those of you who already make all of your own bread, try making a true, traditional sourdough bread. I have previously given instructions for real sourdough, but I will be adding more bread recipes and tips as the month progresses.

If you take the challenge on any level and/or blog about doing it, please comment here and let me know!

Yogurt Review & Update

2009-04-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to post about my yogurt adventures for weeks now. I apologize!

Cultures For Health was so kind as to send my two yogurt samples, a Viili and a Matsoni. I was so excited to make raw milk yogurt that would be thick! The instructions tell you to start by making a "pure" starter, which requires pasteurizing some milk. This is required so that you do not have the naturally occurring, healthy bacteria in the milk competing with the culture for the yogurt.

So, I brought a cup of milk to 160 degrees

Then let it cool to room temp and separated it into two jars, labeled of course.

Then I mixed in the cultures and topped the jars with a paper towel (my cheesecloth was being used elsewhere).

Then I placed them in the oven with my oven light left on. They are far apart to avoid cross-contamination (though truly, I don't know if this is still too close since it is an enclosed space). I also traded their positions about half way through so that they would get the same heat (the top left being closest to the light).

After a day or so (I think it was 18 hours), they looked nice and thick with nothing running up the sides when turned. Oh I was excited.

Then, as per instructed, I let the cultures finish culturing with lids in the refrigerator for 6 more hours. Then I added the prescribed amount of starter to plain old cold raw milk from the refrigerator, and covered the jars in the same way, and placed them in the oven in the same way as the starter cultures with the oven light on. After 12 hours or so (it was left overnight), I had jars that looked like this:

Notice the separation at the bottom of the jar? I wasn't sure if this was okay. I used some cheesecloth to drain it a bit, and hoped for the best, but it was not thick like I had hoped. It sufficed for soaking oats for porridge.

I presumed that the oven light made it too hot for the cultures. So I used the rest of my starters to try again. This time leaving the oven light off.

(Now, I should mention, the instructions say that you can leave these on the counter in a warm room. However, there really are no warm rooms in my house if the weather is cold, as similarly, there are no cool rooms in my house if the weather is warm. Further, the kitchen is actually the draftiest place in our house. So, that is why I keep using my oven as an insulated space. Perhaps your house is warmer and you can just put them on top of your refrigerator.)

Well, this time I left the jars for 18 hours, and even closer to 24, and it looked like nothing happened at all. Just milk. Not a hint of thickness nor of separation. Ug. It happened over a couple cold days here, and perhaps it was just too cold to grow the cultures?

I really do believe making yogurt at home is simple and easy. I used to do it in our old house (though not raw). This house seems against me. I have trouble with my sourdough here as well. I do have high hopes that the summer will make things easier on me. Further, I am in the middle of attempt three at counter top yogurt. Wish me luck! I will update you as soon as I can.

If you have any tips, or if you have taken any of the dairy challenges this month, please share!

Earth Day and The No GMO Challenge

2009-04-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."

~Native American Proverb

I am taking the Earth Day "Just Say No to GMO's" challenge this month. More truly, I am taking this challenge for the rest of my life, and have already been living it for quite some time. However, it is nearly impossible to avoid if you eat out, or ever need a convenience food. So, for the next month, I will even be ruling out those exceptions.

Think that GMO's are no big deal, since the FDA approves of them, right? Cheeseslave and Food Renegade have already posted great info today on GMO's, so rather than repeat them, I suppose I will share this old quote from Accidental Hedonist instead:

"Once upon a time, in order for the FDA to determine if Monsanto's growth hormones were safe or not, Monsanto was required to submit a scientific report on that topic. Margaret Miller, one of Monsanto's researchers put the report together. Shortly before the report submission, Miller left Monsanto and was hired by the FDA. Her first job for the FDA was to determine whether or not to approve the report she wrote for Monsanto. Assisting Miller was another former Monsanto researcher, Susan Sechen.

The result? Monsanto approved its own report.

Doesn't that fill you with [feelings of] safety and joy?"

Here is what Monsanto claims on their website about their own ethical standards:

“Challenges that arise in the course of our business can be resolved consistent with all applicable laws and regulations, and with our high ethical standards, and still allow us to meet our business objectives if issues are identified early, addressed cooperatively, and solved thoughtfully.”
- Monsanto's Code of Business Conduct

Interesting that the only specific foundation they have for ethics in business is that they comply with laws and regulations. This is interesting since their own lobbying dollars and other forms of bribery are what influence may of those laws and regulations - and then they use the same staff in a revolving door with the FDA. How is this objective!?

Here is an interesting history I recently found on the company, and here is what wikipedia offers.

I cannot find it at the moment, but Dr. Mercola also had an article a while back about a new "mystery" disease that caused blue, white, and some other color long plastic threads that would come out of (and tear through) your body. The only good explanation for this condition is GMO's as they disrupt and modify cellular function (that is, after all, the objective of their use in the food supply).

GMO's are awful for the environment and dangerous for you. Take this challenge with me! The best way to know what you are eating is to make it from scratch, however, you can still avoid GMO's by purchasing organic prepared foods. Start reading labels. Know what you are eating.....after all, your body can only be built by what you put into it.

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This post is part of the Real Food Wednesday blog carnival hosted by Cheeseslave. For other stories, anecdotes, recipes, and posts relating to Real Food, go check it out!
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Giveaway Winner Announcement!

2009-04-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all who participated in Prepare To Eat's first giveaway and thanks most especially to Cultures for Health for the prize package.

I am excited to announce that Terri is our winner.

For everyone else, Cultures for Health will be offering 10% off all products (except the already very low price of their Excalibur dehydrators) for Prepare To Eat readers for the next week. Please use the coupon code P2E during checkout. The coupon will expire on April 23rd.

Cultures For Health Give-Away for Prepare To Eat Readers!

2009-04-10T11:07:00.000-07:00

Right now I am in the middle of preparing my yogurt starters for making raw milk yogurt, complements of Cultures For Health, and I am looking forward to giving you a full review as soon as the yogurts are done.

While you wait, I am pleased to announce that Cultures for Health is offering a special giveaway for Prepare To Eat’s readers this month in honor of the "Culture Your Own Dairy" challenge! The winner will receive a buttermilk culture, any yogurt starter of his/her choice, AND any sourdough starter of his/her choice mailed directly to you. This is a $39 value!

What does sourdough have to do with culturing your own dairy you ask? Nothing really, but it is a good preparation for next month's challenge, which will be to make your own bread.

Cultures For Health

If you are interested in culturing your own foods (kefir, sourdough breads, yogurt, buttermilk, kombucha) Cultures For Health makes locating a quality starter culture simple. Their cultures and starters are priced fairly, and they even ship internationally (aside from Kombucha). They offer 5 different yogurt starters, 17 different sourdough starters, as well as water kefir grains, kombucha mothers, buttermilk starter, dairy kefir grains and other supplies. If we were all neighbors, it would be easy to pass these treasures along as once you establish your culture it will keep for years (with good care) and you will be able to share. Though better than getting them from a neighbor, Cultures For Health includes comprehensive instructions for using your starters.

The Prize

* Buttermilk Culture
* Yogurt Starter of Your Choice
* Sourdough Starter of Your Choice

How to Enter

Anyone can enter, including international readers. You have up to 5 chances to enter, so please up your odds and enter multiple times!

First, visit Cultures for Health and sign up for the giveaway there, look around, then let me know which yogurt starter you would love to win and which sourdough starter makes you excited for next month's challenge.

For more chances to win,

* Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post and send me the link.
* Post about this giveaway on a message board or forum and send me the link.
* Mention this giveaway on Facebook and let me know
* Stumble this giveaway and let me know
* Tweet this giveaway and let me know

This should provide you with 6 possible entries!

The Announcement

The winner will be selected randomly by Cultures for Health next Friday afternoon (the 17th) and I will announce that winner shortly thereafter. Your prize package will be shipped by Cultures for Health directly!

Good Luck!

Our First Whole Cow!

2009-04-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

Monday evening we picked up our first entire cow's worth of beef. We had bought an 1/8 of a pastured cow a year and half ago, and simply showed up and took our box of beef. It lasted us 3 months.

When the farm where we purchase our pastured eggs and raw milk mentioned that they had a cow left a few months ago, I jumped and told her we'd take the whole thing (planning, of course, to split it up with some other families). My hope is that 1/2 a cow will provide us with beef for the year.

In case you've ever wondered just how much meat you'd get from one pastured Angus, I thought I would post the breakdown here, along with costs.

To begin, typically you agree with a farmer on a price per hanging weight of the cow. As it hangs and ages (typically over 10 days or so) the meat shrinks. I think this is because the fat dries out, so the less fatty the cow, the less weight lost (but we all love beef fat and think it is good for us, so I was not looking for a lean cow).

Our cow had a hanging weight of 527 pounds and we had agreed to a price of $2.50 per pound hanging weight. The butcher said that our cow only lost about 25% of his weight (which was on the smaller side of weight loss?). That brought our grand total to $1,317.50 for the entire cow, which figures to about $3.33 per pound on average (though it also depends on your actual packages, some of my groupings have averaged under $3 a pound). Mind you this is for local, natural (not technically organic due to a some of the feed they get during winter), mainly-pastured beef. The equivalent in the grocery store would likely range from $5-$25 a pound depending on the cut. I am also unsure if the weight even includes all the items listed below under "other" as many people would not request those items.

What does that include, you ask?

Here's a photo of our upright freezer. I actually had already taken out a 1/8 portion + a little extra before the photo was taken, but you can see that it was full! I would say that 1 full cow just barely fits into a standard upright freezer.

This was our full inventory:

Tenderloin 3
Short Ribs 5
Stew Meat 6
Ground Beef 121 (1lb packages)

Roasts (3-4 pounds each)
Rump 3
Sirloin Tip 4
Cross Rib 4
Heel of Rump 4
Beef of Bone 6
Chuck 12
TOTAL ROASTS 33

Packaged Steaks (1.5" thick, 2 to a package)
Tri-Tip Steak 2
Flank 2
Sirloin Tip 6
Rib 8
T-Bone 8
Sirloin 9
Round 17
Tenderized Round 17
TOTAL STEAKS 69

Other
Liver 6
Heart 1
Tongue 1
Oxtail 1
Soup Bones 9 packages
Dog Bones 4 large bags (these would not have fit in the freezer, but gratefully, they were not for us)

We found out that a few of the other organ meats (sweetbreads, and perhaps something else) have to be requested before the animal is killed. I think they have to be harvested immediately, and it also depends on the age of the animal. So, for this time, we were unable to get them.

I requested our steaks 1.5" thick. Theoretically, we might have had "more" individually cut steaks had I requested them 1" thick, but I find it easier to prepare juicy rare steak if it is 1.5" thick, and then, hopefully, you might have leftovers to slice and add into other dishes (like a steak-strip Caesar salad). The lovely thing about coordinating buying an entire cow, is that I got to make those decisions! I also had to attempt to fairly divide the portions up (into 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and two 1/16 portions) and hope that our friends are all happy with their spoils.

I may have also found a contact for doing something similar with lamb (though our food budget will be quite tight for a while after stocking up!). In the past, I have also been part of bulk, direct-from farm, organic, pastured chicken buying. If you can find groups doing this, or take on the challenge of finding a good farm and other interested real foodies, it will certainly save you money and provide higher-quality meat in the long run. Spring is a great time to do this, as many people have a tax return to work with (however, the coordination work must take place earlier - during winter), but there are certainly animals being butchered all year round, so don't think you've missed out.

For contacts in your area, see the side bar of resources, or perhaps better yet, contact your local chapter leader of the Weston A Price Foundation.

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This post is part of the Real Food Wednesday blog carnival hosted by Cheeseslave. For other stories, anecdotes, recipes, and posts relating to Real Food, go check it out!
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How-To: Creme Fraiche

2009-04-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

This is Creme Fraiche the very easy way:

Ingredients:
Start with a pint of the best quality cream you can find (NO ultra-pasteurized cream). If you have it raw, all the better, but it is spring and the cream content of our milk is going down as the cows are now on pasture, so I cannot part with the cream from my milk.

Then, you are free to add 1 tbsp of either good quality commercial creme fraiche (as seen above), creme fraiche from a previous batch (so save some from this batch you are making), good quality commercial buttermilk, or your own homecultured buttermilk.

Mix it well, and cover it tightly.

Place it somewhere consistently warm for 20-24 hours, then chill (I have mine covered and labeled with a small paper bag on top of my refrigerator to help trap the heat as our kitchen is drafty).

The finished thick creme.

See, truly thick (I let mine go a few hours over 24 as well, so it's a bit extra thick).

April Challenge: Culture Your Own Dairy

2009-04-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

This month's challenge is to culture some of your own dairy products.

Here are some examples of what I have in mind:
Creme Fraiche
Buttermilk
Yogurt
Kefir
Cheese
Cream cheese

One of the things I love most about doing traditional food preparations myself is that it allows my little inner scientist some laboratory space. One of my girl friends mentioned how much she enjoyed stopping by my house because the kitchen was always filled with so many random "science projects". This is micro-biology at it's best.

For example, a recent picture of the top of my refrigerator (a warm spot in my house) holds lacto-fermenting beet kvass, Kombucha brewing in a large jar under the paper bag, a sourdough mother, oats soaking for the next morning, and I believe a buttermilk flour mixture soaking for another bread recipe.

But this month is about dairy. While there is a lot of good quality dairy available (at least here on the west coast), it is often quite pricey considering how inexpensive and easy it is to do at home.

Challenge Level One:
Just do some small "science project" and report back. Here are some recommendations on the easy scale:

Cream Cheese and Whey:
Line a strainer with a tea towel or a couple layers of cheese cloth and place over a bowl. Then dump in a quart a good quality yogurt and let the whey slowly drip out into the bowl for a few hours. Then get a wooden spoon and tie up the ends of the cloth around the spoon and let it hang and drip further. When the dripping stops (perhaps another hour or two), you are done. There is deliciously sour cream cheese in the cloth, and a supply of whey in the bowl. You can use the whey to soak your oats (since you're all soaking grains for breakfast now right =)) or for something more adventurous like lacto-fermenting some fruits or vegetables or making beet kvass.

Homemade Creme Fraiche
1 quart good quality cream (raw is best, but pasteurized will do - never buy ultra-pasteurized)
1 tbsp commercial buttermilk, or homemade whole milk buttermilk, or commercial creme fraiche, or creme fraiche from a previous batch (see how many options you have!)
Place cream in a clean glass container and add the buttermilk or creme fraiche. Stir well, cover tightly and place in a warm spot for 20-24 hours, then chill.
This is so simple and SO much cheaper than purchasing creme fraiche at the store.

Creme fraiche is a delicious topping for soups, "Mexican" food, and anything else you might ordinarily use sour cream to top. It is also a lovely base for quiche and several cakes (again, where the recipe might call for sour cream).

Challenge Level Two:
Make your own yogurt, and perhaps forgo buying yogurt from the store ever again (this is my own plan starting this month).

There are varying degrees of challenge to yogurt making, mainly depending on whether you are trying to make raw yogurt or not. I have failed and succeeded several times, and hope to thus be able to give good pointers.

The concept is rather simple, especially for non-raw yogurt.
Heat 1qt milk to 180 degrees, let cool to 110, then stir in 1/2 cup good quality yogurt (from store, or from previous batch), place in a glass, enamel, or stainless steel container and let sit in a warm oven overnight (warm = 150 degrees, or an oven left with the pilot light on). In the morning it should have "set up" and be thick, you can transfer to cold storage. For thicker yogurt you can soak up the extra whey, or tie it briefly in cheese cloth at the end to remove the whey.

I have had a harder time with raw milk yogurt. That is because you only heat it to 110 degrees (enzymes begin to die at a wet heat of 117 degrees - "coincidentally" the same degree point at which the nerves on the end of your finger will tell you a liquid is hot to the touch). Then you do a little yogurt starter dance by removing 2tbs of the warm milk and adding 1 tbs of of the yogurt. You stir well and place this in a wide mouth mason jar. Then you add 2 tbs + 2 tsp yogurt to the jar and stir well. Then you place this in a consistently warm place (95 degrees, like a dehydrator) for 8 hours and transfer.

The difficulty with raw milk yogurt is that the milk cultures war with the yogurt cultures, and sometimes the milk wins. Thus you have some kind of cultured milk, but nothing resembling the thick, creamy yogurt to which we are accustomed. Also, sometimes I have attempted to create too warm an "dehydrator" (by filling mason jars with boiling water and placing in a cooler with the jar of cultured milk) resulting in a weird separation of curds and whey (but not the desired "curds and whey" of nursery rhymes). This was because I have also had too cold a "dehydrator" resulting in it not setting up at all after 8 hours. Alas, raw yogurt has eluded me. I actually have had some success with a compromise of heating the raw milk to 130-135 and then letting it cool to 110 and then adding a dried yogurt culture and letting it sit 8-12 hours in an oven with the light kept on, but I have not kept this up to see if the culture remains intact batch after batch with this method.

To my glee, for "Culture Your Own Dairy" month, my new affiliate, Cultures For Health, has send me two dry yogurt cultures along with wonderfully comprehensive instructions for making it raw. Armed with these new cultures I can start fresh as well as provide you with a review of their product. I will be providing a photo how-to, as well as a review complete with a tasting panel that includes more judges than live in my house.

In case you are wondering what an affiliate means for this little blog, it means that if you were to decide to order something through Cultures For Health, and you did so by clicking on the little button on my side bar, I will actually get a percentage of the sale. Fun for me, but also, it is a company making cultures with traditional methods and without added "stabilizers" so I am happy to promote them.

I hope you'll have fun with this month's challenge. I also have planned an interview with cheese maker extraordinaire Scott Catino, who will hopefully give us novice home-dairy-culturers some tips on making our own cheeses at home. I think cheese making would count as taking the challenge to a third level.

Further! Stay tuned as my affiliate, Cultures For Health, is also generously providing Prepare To Eat with a free culture for one lucky reader. I will have info on the contest/giveaway later this month.

March Meals in Review

2009-03-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

An all green night (not St. Patty's)

Homemade jarred peaches (a gift) with homemade vanilla ice cream. Yum.

Classic stand-by.

Chicken Caesar salad, fresh made bread, transformed dipping crackers from sprouted pita pockets, and homemade hummus.

The "Yeasted Buttermilk Bread" from Nourishing Traditions. Warning, fresh from the over one could easily eat half a loaf themselves **ahem** not that I know that from experience.

Fritattas

Roasted Chicken, more bread, homemade cream cheese, salad, gravy sauce, and baked potatoes.

This involved sauteing onions and bacon in butter until soft, adding a lot of drained sauerkraut, some white wine and chicken broth and spices (cloves, salt, pepper, juniper berries, bay leaves) and letting it simmer for a couple hours, then adding potatoes and whole sausages and cooking an hour longer. Finally, slice the sausage, mix back in, and place in a serving dish. Salad on the side, but also delicious with a true sourdough rye.

Compromise: Berry Cobbler
After reading a children's book about making berry cobbler to attempt to bring a friend out of moping, we had to have some. 2 pound bag of local frozen berry mix, drizzled with maple syrup, topped with a refined-sugar free, but unbleached white flour full cookie, and heavy cream whipped with a pinch of stevia and vanilla extract. No moping here.

More ham this month than I've had all year: layered potato, ham, and three cheese comfort.

Challenge Report: Loving Our Liver!

2009-03-20T10:07:00.000-07:00

How is your liver loving going?

Here it turns out our cow will likely not be butchered until the end of the month, so I am waiting on my fresh, grass-fed, Angus liver (and heart, kidneys, and sweetbreads, not to mention MEAT and ample soup bones). Thus I am stuck with the same old routine of taking cod-liver oil and grating frozen chicken livers into other dishes. I am looking forward to meeting level three of my own challenge!

However, Sarah has shared a favorite recipe detailing how well she loves her liver. If you do take the challenge (at any level), please post a report and let me know so that I can link to you here. If you do not keep a blog, email me the report and I will also place it here. There is comfort in company.

Reports:
Sarah's Love of Liver

March Challenge: Love Your Liver!

2009-03-07T14:15:00.000-08:00

In difficult economic times it can seem easiest to let go of expensive food choices. If you are like me, budget constraints have you eating less meat. However, our bodies still need those good animal proteins. One solution, is to eat "less desirable" cuts and meats. Low on most people's preferred list is liver (and all organ meats). I think the apprehension has more to do with texture than taste, but it can be done! You too can learn to love your liver.

This is what Sally Fallon has to say about organ meats in the introduction to her chapter on it in Nourishing Traditions:

"Organ meats are extremely rich in fat-soluble vitamins A and D, as well as essential fatty acids, important very-long-chain superunsaturated fatty acids and the whole gamut of macro and trace minerals. Wild animals eat the organ meats of their kill first, thus showing a wisdom superior to our own"

Liver provides "copper, zinc, iron and vitamins A and D in abundance, but it is also a rich source of antioxidants - substances that help your own liver remove toxic substances from the body."

This month's challenge will come in various levels.

Challenge Level One:
For those to whom eating liver would really be a nightmare, I challenge you to purchase a high-quality cod-liver oil so that your body can at least begin to have the benefit of liver without directly eating it. All cod-liver oil is NOT created equal. The Weston A Price Foundation has approved the following sources:

"As of June 2007, we recommend the following brands of cod liver oil:

In Stores: Garden of Life, regular dose cod liver oil; Nordic Naturals Vitamin D Cod Liver Oil (not Nordic Naturals Regular Cod Liver Oil)

Online/Mail Order:

I personally buy from Radiant Life, as I think they have the best price.

Challenge Level Two:
Slip some liver, or other organ meat, into something you already eat. Finely chop some liver into gravies or sauces to accompany other meats. Mix some chopped liver into ground meat dishes.
Finely grate several tbsp liver (this works best if frozen) into rice while it cooks. Make a savory pate. Get creative and hide it somewhere.

Challenge Level Three:
Eat Liver as a main course! My own goal is to do this at least once this month, and hope to move my family towards eating liver as a meal once a week.

Some tips for preparation (also from Nourishing Traditions):

"Buy liver that is organic and very fresh. The butcher should remove the surrounding filament; otherwise the edges will curl when it is cooked. Liver should be sliced about 1/4-inch to 3/8-inch thick. All liver recipes will be greatly improved if the liver slices are first soaked in lemon juice for several hours. This draws out impurities and gives a nicer texture"

Some recipe ideas (also from N.T. - Have I strongly recommended this book yet?)
(serving 4)
1 1/2 pounds liver slices
juice of 2-3 lemons
1 cup unbleached flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper to dredge liver in
4 tbsp clarified butter or lard
4 cups finely sliced onions
2 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Marinate liver slices in lemon juice for several hours. Pat dry and dredge in flour mixture. Saute over high heat in a heavy skillet in the clarified butter or lard. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in oven. In a separate pan, saute onions in butter and oil over medium for 30 minutes until brown. Strew over liver and serve!

Alternately, saute a pound of fresh mushrooms to go atop the liver in stead of the onions.

Or, follow as before, but saute only until liver is just stiffening, then remove and brush with a mixture of Dijon, chopped shallots, parsley, and garlic, then dredge again through bread crumbs and place on oiled broiler pan, dribble with butter and broil 1-2 minutes, turn over, dribble more butter, broil again and serve.

Or, keep liver and onions warm in the oven, pour out the browning fat from the liver pan and add 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar + 4 cups beef stock. Bring to a boil and reduce by half. Add an arrowroot/water mixture tbsp by tbsp until desired thickness is reached.

Traditional cookbooks are a great source of other organ meat recipes, as are old American cookbooks. Liver used to be normal fare.

There is your challenge for the month! Please report back and share any recipes you love.

Meals in Review

2009-02-15T14:14:00.000-08:00

Though I have slacked on reporting on the happenings in my kitchen, there have still be happenings. So, to make up for the lack of a January report, here is at least a sampling of some of the meals enjoyed at my house in the last month.

My first attempt at homemade Samosas (a savory, filled pocket of goodness), with a tsatsiki sauce and carrot/chickpea salad on the side along with some sauerkraut.

One of my favorites, homemade pizza on a yogurt dough crust (chicken, onions, garlic, and broccoli buried under cheese, tomatoes and pineapple) with saved sauce from last summer's farm harvest.

Another experiment: A roast with chili sauce and Mexican rice (that did not photograph well, my apologies).

I love having stand-by, 30-minute meals to go to when I do not want to think. But notice the "watermelon" radish that mildly spiced up the salad. It was a lovely new discovery for us.

Another experiment: Gluten-free cupcakes (I used arrowroot powder). In my paranoia, I pulled them out of the oven too soon, but once I perfect this recipe I will make sure to post it (AND the butter-cream frosting that topped them).

Valentine's Day breakfast with soured pancakes, yum!

February Challenge: Dress it Yourself

2009-02-15T13:45:00.000-08:00

Making your own salad dressings is simple, cost-effective, and rewarding. Not only do you know exactly what is in your dressing, but you can also cater the blend and seasonings to match your main course. I typically only make enough for the night's meal (as olive oil gets quite hard in the refrigerator, and I never remember to take it out in time to return to room temperature before dinner). Once this becomes habit it takes all of 2 minutes to pour, shake, and dress. I use old glass spice jars to mix and shake. If you keep the top insert, it can also serve as a strainer for the smashed garlic.

As a very basic recipe, I do as follows (remember, dressings are totally subjective, use your nose and tongue to figure out what you like):

1 part vinegar (vary the vinegar to match your marinade/main course)
4-5 parts extra virgin olive oil
1 part flax oil (when I have it)
dollop of Dijon
squirt of lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
Herby blend to match dinner
smashed garlic clove
In season, a smashed berry or two

For creamy dressings, omit fruit, add an egg yolk, and add an anchovy or two and some grated Parmesan for Caesar (but this works best in slightly larger batches in your food processor. Caesar is the one dressing I don't mind saving in the fridge).

If you are feeling like you already soak your oats and make your own salad dressings and that my challenges are not challenging....just wait until March, which will be Love Your Liver Month. I will be challenged along with you then, but we are getting a full cow butchered to share with friends and I will get to keep the liver and put it to good use (I anticipate it being much larger than the chicken livers I am used to).

Preparing your own tomato seeds

2009-02-13T14:38:00.000-08:00

This will be our first year with a garden. I am quite excited. Right now I am experimenting with preparing our own seeds from real food! I bought every organic variety of tomato at the grocery store (Roma, slicing, small round, cherry). I also want to find some grape tomatoes and heirlooms....so we might have to buy some seeds.

I have never tried this before, but from what I have read, you can cut the tomatoes in half on the equator, squeeze out the juices and seeds, add some water, cover with plastic wrap, poke a small hole in the top, and let sit for several days removing the plastic once a day to stir the mixture (loosening all the seeds), and then drain and let completely dry out for several days. Then the seeds can be stored.

A fermentation process happens as you leave the seeds out, and this kills off any potential tomato diseases from ruining your seeds.

Soon we will plant our own starts and see what happens!

Poison with Poison?

2009-01-27T13:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry I still cannot offer you photos of food happenings in my kitchen, but I just read this post and wanted to pass on yet another reason to avoid HFCS and packaged food.

January Challenge: Soak the Oats!

2009-01-21T14:42:00.000-08:00

I received a lovely report from a friend who is converting with her husband to whole, local, farm foods and leaving a more standard American diet consisting of processed meats and refined foods (cereals, pasta, etc.). She additionally, like so many of us right now, has budget restrictions that had been preventing them from spending money on organic foods.

I shared a list of baby steps catered to her back in October (similar to the 12-steps I recently posted), and I just received an email that contained the following statement:

"Thanks so much for those tips you wrote out a while ago. I have gone over them about 4 times now and each time I find I've changed one more thing to fit what you said! I'm very very encouraged at the progress we're making and that in the process we're even managing to cut down on our grocery budget. Not sure how when I'm buying local, grass fed, higher cost per pound stuff, but it's working and I'm happy. Last week I got a whole chicken from the farm (some feathers still attached!) and I made a roast, liver pate, and tonight I'll make broth. I figured it provided about 8 meals total of just meat (mostly sandwiches) for only $22!"

The processed food industry has accomplished quite a feat in convincing us they are offering a cheaper and more convenient option. In my experience, it is so much cheaper to purchase purely whole foods and make things myself, that it allows us to upgrade to organic, pasture-fed, sustainably-farmed options across the board. This is helped tremendously by the fact that we use a bulk, natural food, delivery company (that serves over 15 states) for even better prices.

With that in mind, my challenge for January is to trade in cold cereal for soaked porridge. This will save you money AND nourish your body better. For us, this means Oats, but you can try Kamut, Spelt, Rye, Teff, Amaranth, Ground corn, or Quinoa. In fact, different grains offer different nutrients, so the more you mix it up the better. I am going to take my own challenge by adding an additional grain (or more) to our morning porridge.

I know most of my readers already do this or have begun this challenge already this month, but that makes my first challenge all the easier to complete, no?

The basic single-serving recipe is as follows:

1/2 cup warm filtered water
1/2 cup oats (kamut or spelt)
1 tbsp yogurt (whey, buttermilk, or kefir. For severe milk allergies, you can sub lemon juice of vinegar)

Mix together and soak overnight on the counter for 7-24 hours (longer = more sour). In the morning, bring 1/2 cup water to boil and add oats, reduce heat, and simmer several minutes.

Rye will require soaking on the longer side and adding more water.

Teff, Amaranth, and quinoa really need to soak for 24 hours.

Coarse ground corn should be soaked in lime water.

Enjoy!

Apologies!

2009-01-21T14:38:00.000-08:00

Moving, Holidays, unexpected house guests, and finding oneself in pregnancy-induced exhaustion is not a good combination for blogging.

However, things are settling back to normal, and I am just beginning to regain my energy, so have no fear, things should return to normal programing for February!

Christmas Dinner with Friends

2008-12-25T13:52:00.000-08:00

My contributions:

Steamed green beans tossed with ample sea salt and butter then topped with crispy shallots

Sweet potato puree (made with lemon rind and juice, and egg yolks, and butter)

Roasted turkey breast with gravy and stuffing (onion, sourdough bread crumbs, celery, spices, sauteed in butter)

Pumpkin Pie (with Rapadura to sweeten, and creme fraiche to thicken)

Pear-Cranberry Pie (with maple syrup to sweeten)

Their contributions:

Spiral ham

Garlic-mashed potatoes

Green salad

Asparagus spears

Fruit and cheese platter

My schedule:

11:15 Bring water to boil

11:30 Boil sweet potatoes

12:00 Peel sweet potatoes and blend with butter, egg yolk, lemon peel and juice, salt, and butter

12:15 Bake sweet potato puree for 30 min on 350

12:30 Prep turkey breast atop sliced onions in dutch oven

1:00 Put turkey in the oven, 1 hr at 375

1:15 Wash, de-string, and process green beans to be "frenched"

1:30 Make pie dough

2:00 Flip turkey breast to breast side up, baste with butter, salt and pepper, and bake another hour at 375.

2:15 Slowly brown shallots

2:30 Saute stuffing fixtures

2:45 Prepare cranberry pie filling and pumpkin pie filling (I had previously baked and pureed sugar pumpkins and froze)

3:00 Remove turkey from oven and dutch oven, and use juices to prepare gravy (add a little wine to loosen onions, add stock, and boil, boil, boil)

3:15 Steam beans, toss with butter, top with shallots

3:30 Strain gravy

3:45 Pack everything into car

4:00 Arrive, assemble, and bake pies during dinner

Finally a new lunch request!

2008-12-08T12:32:00.000-08:00

Somehow sprouted tuna pita pockets have become the latest lunch favorite (seen here with cheese, carrot sticks, apple slices, and some canned clams at the top right of the plate).

In My Kitchen: A Saturday in December

2008-12-06T19:31:00.000-08:00

Today in my kitchen I:

Made oatmeal porridge for breakfast and husband's latte.

Strained the cold water extract.

Lunched out of the house on bagels with salmon cream cheese.

Snacked on bread with butter, apples, oranges and carrots.

Defrosted beef and tomato sauce to make a meat sauce and added my leftover rice in lieu of pasta. Served with a salad and slice of buttered bread, and plenty of grated Parmesan cheese.

Soaked flour for pancakes tomorrow.

Fed the new sourdough starter.

Soaked garbanzo beans for hummus making.

In My Kitchen: A Friday in December

2008-12-05T22:11:00.000-08:00

Today in my kitchen I:

Made our oatmeal porridge and husband's latte.

Had leftover salmon salad and - wait for it - bread with butter, apple slices and cheese.

Snacked on oranges.

Made burgers patties from the previously marinated beef (marinated in a mix of olive oil, balsamic, and raw apple cider vinegar). Served them with butter-sauted cabbage, steamed kale, and full slices of Parmesan cheese. Chopped an accompanying salad with balsamic-Dijon vinaigrette, and re-heated the pea-rib-roast soup on the side. (My camera decided to run out of batteries, and we had company again for dinner, so my apologies for the lack of photo!)

Dessert was apples.

Soaked oats for tomorrow's breakfast.

Fed the new sourdough starter.

Soaked coffee for a new supply of cold water extract.

In My Kitchen: A Thursday in December

2008-12-04T10:04:00.001-08:00

Today in my kitchen I:

Made oatmeal porridge and husband's latte for breakfast.

Soaked split peas for the evening meal.

Had bread and butter again for lunch with some apple slices (you'd think I was neglecting these kids, but they have been requesting it this week and won't have anything else. Probably because I am not yet baking our own bread, so they are eating store bough "health" varieties that are pretty much the equivalent of cake for them).

Defrosted and began marinating ground beef for burgers tomorrow.

Snacked on crispy hazelnuts.

Started a new batch of kombucha.

Made a split pea soup and added chopped-up, leftover rib roast. Enjoyed with raw cheese.

Fed the new sourdough starter.

Soaked oats for tomorrow's breakfast.

In My Kitchen: A Wednesday in December

2008-12-03T20:20:00.000-08:00

Today in my kitchen I:

Made our strawberries and cream porridge and husband's latte.

Soaked rice for dinner.

Lunched on buttered bread, cheese, and pear slices.

Snacked on licorice treats.

Cooked rice, baked Salmon, and chopped a simple, two onion salad with apple-cider vinaigrette for dinner.

Nibbled some chocolate for dessert.

Soaked oats for tomorrow's breakfast.

Began a new sourdough starter (after a bit of an adventure, with the help of a friend, to find a source of bulk filtered water!).

Started a new batch of beet kvass.

Bite-size Steps to a Nutrient-Dense Diet

2008-12-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

I have received a few emails and questions about how to transition to a nutrient-dense diet. This has sparked me to present a "12-steps" for food. Even in my own process, there have been gradual steps toward better health. Some things were immediate (removal of sugar), but some things took longer (brewing my own Kombucha). All of my research and instruction into nutrient-dense food has come from the book Nourishing Traditions and the website provided by the Weston A Price Foundation.

Here are my suggestions:

1 - Remove all refined sugar (replace with raw honey, 100% pure maple syrup, stevia powder, Rapadura) and refined flours (most importantly white). Replace with soured or sprouted grains.

2 - Switch to raw milk. If this is not feasible, at least switch to organic, non-homogenized whole milk.

3 - Switch to soaked oats for most breakfasts. This will teach you about lacto-fermentation, as well as get you gradually weaned onto soured food, if you are not already.

4 - Make your own salad dressings (use raw products as much as possible. Make Caesar's once a week as they contain raw egg yolks and anchovies, which are both very nutritious)

5 - Make your own broth, and get in the habit regularly making broth/stock so that you can incorporate more soups and gravies into your meal plans.

6 - Learn to marinate and plan to slow roast your meats so that you can purchase the more economical cuts, and then upgrade to pasture-fed, organic with your savings. For the higher quality cuts (chops, steaks, etc) transition yourself to eating them rare.

7 - Brew some Kombucha. It may seems scary, but the "work" is quick and then it takes care of itself.

8 - Begin making your own bread. No sugars, no preservatives, no glue additives, etc. If you are not ready for traditional sourdough yet, there are other "compromise" breads that would still be steps in the right direction.

9 - Try making your own sauerkraut. This is a great next step in lacto-fermentation. Sauerkraut is a great condiment, and a small amount each day is wonderful for your gut. This is a good baby step towards experimenting with other lacto-fermented veggies and salsas as well.

10 - Make and culture your own dairy products! The easiest is probably creme fraiche. After you try this (and LOVE how delicious and cheap it is) try making your own yogurt. If you are daring, try cheese. Make your own ice cream, and load it up with raw egg yolks, and raw cream if you can.

11 - Incorporate liver (I know! Gasp!). The easiest way for us is grating it (frozen), or finely chopping it into gravies.

12 - Take a look at what else you buy "pre-made" at the store. Condiments? Crackers? Snacks? Dive in and learn to make it yourself.

Everything can be made from whole foods. Pretty soon you will have no need to walk down the store isles, as all of your purchases (if you do not get food direct from farms or through a company like Azure Standard) will be on the exterior walls.

I plan to focus on one of these "steps" each month with recipes and how-to's, though it may not be in this order.

Questions and comments are welcome as always!

In My Kitchen: A Tuesday in December

2008-12-02T22:06:00.000-08:00

Today in my kitchen I:

Made breakfast porridge and husband's latte.

Served bread and butter and leftover turkey for lunch.

Snacked on a pear and some licorice bites.

Made ice cream.

Roasted a chicken and some red potatoes for dinner and served them with Caesar, green salad, steamed and seasoned broccoli, and some thick turkey/chicken gravy and creme fraiche (though not pictured) to some dear friends who joined us for dinner and brought cheese and wine.

Enjoyed ice cream and dialog for dessert.

Soaked the oats for tomorrow's breakfast.

**A note to an astute follower: Yes, the chicken skin is beyond crispy. I am still adjusting to the oven in our new place, and it is not even, and tends towards hotter than the temperature control reports. As for the burnt shallots in yesterday's photo...that was just a very badly timed, but very necessary diaper change.**

Food for Thought: Investments

2008-12-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

Good eggs (by good I mean fresh with orange yolks and good integrity between the membranes) at market or from the store cost you $4 to $5 a dozen. Actually, I have never found eggs at the grocery store I consider "good" by the above description. I have seen "good" eggs for $5 a dozen at the farmer's market, or usually from $3-$5 direct from a farm (and then you have to factor in drive time, etc).

A good laying hen costs you $2-$5 and lays 4-7 eggs a week - less in the winter, more in the summer. Let's say roughly 20 dozen eggs per year, per bird. So, 3 birds would more than supply a dozen a week, and 4 birds would have you set (assuming you are a practicing omnivore and eggs are not your primary source of protein).

From what I can gather, 3-4 hens will need, in addition to free range and food scraps, 50 pounds of feed every 3-4 months. It seems a bag of feed is somewhere between $12-$15 dollars. I imagine it would be cheaper if you bought bulk single grains and mixed them yourself.

Let's price it on the upper end: $20 for four birds, $60 for a year's feed, say another $30 for treats, bedding, etc. That makes $110 for 80 dozen eggs, or $1.38 per dozen. The sites I looked at priced the dozens higher based on additional costs which made it more like $2.40 a dozen (um...still cheap!). Of course, there is the start-up cost of building them some sort of roost and run, the costs of which will vary depending on how much you want to find/reclaim and do yourself. So the first years might not be a savings if you wanted to "go all out" and build a beautiful hen house and buy expensive retail feed.

It seems to me that excessive grain costs are silly, as free-ranging hens would really be eating bugs and scraps from your own table. Can you buy bugs to feed hens? I do not know. I also read of additional costs if you raise the chicks with heat lamps yourself. I know that animal rescue centers and Craigslist offer full-grown laying hens for $4-$5 a hen. Then there is no concern about chicks dying, nor accidentally getting a rooster, as well as no additional costs of raising and feeding animals who are not laying.

I do not think there would be such a strong urban chicken movement if there were not cost incentives, so it seems to me backyard chicken farming is a good investment.

Thoughts? Corrections? I am just looking into the idea of urban chickens and do not claim any level of expertise here.

In My Kitchen: A Monday in December

2008-12-01T14:04:00.000-08:00

Today in my kitchen I:

Made breakfast porridge, again with strawberries and cream, and husband's latte.

Made a honey steamer as a treat for my eldest.

Scrambled eggs for lunch. (I am not back in my bread-making cycle yet, and bought the best, $4.50 loaf I could find hoping for left-over turkey sandwiches, only to bring the load home home and find the top completely molded over. Yuck. More reason to avoid the grocery store. I can make fresh and nutritionally superior bread for $1 a loaf!)

Snacked on nuts and licorice.

Made leftover-turkey salad with Dijon-anchovie vinaigrette topped with crispy shallots for dinner and butternut squash on the side.

Snacked on a well buttered sprouted wheat roll (we went back to the store, returned the spoiled loaf, and found the sprouted "peace bomb" to try from Dave's Killer Bread - I do still wish I was making my own already!) and chocolate.

Soaked oats for tomorrow's breakfast.

In My Kitchen: A Sunday nearly in December

2008-12-01T01:46:00.000-08:00

Today in my kitchen I:

Made breakfast porridge with strawberries and cream and a latte for Husband.

Brought home lunch from Cafe Yumm (not WAPF approved, but a whole lot better than fast food).

Snacked on carrots and pears.

Prepared a rib roast, served over onions compote, alongside baked potatoes, and a balsamic-vinaigrette salad.

Finished a large batch of turkey broth.

Snacked on crispy hazelnuts.

Soaked oats for tomorrow's breakfast.

Prepare To Eat is Back!

2008-11-30T12:30:00.000-08:00

You have my apologies for skipping November. A food blog that skips Thanksgiving ought to be fired. However, we very suddenly decided to move a couple hours south and there was too much going on to even cook decently, let alone blog about it. We moved two days before Thanksgiving and were blessed to be a part of a lovely celebration where I did not have to cook a thing! That said, I am already plotting for next year's menu. Hopefully Christmas dinner will make up for it.

Husband's Favorites

2008-10-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

Dinner:

Dessert:

The comforts of the season!

In My Kitchen: A Friday in October

2008-10-24T22:07:00.000-07:00

Today in my kitchen, I:

Made oatmeal porridge for breakfast with cinnamon, butter, and applesauce.

Made tuna sandwiches for lunch with carrot sticks.

Defrosted ground beef and tomato sauce from the freezer.

Started a new batch of Kombucha.

Made spaghetti sauce and pasta noodles (Ah! total compromise here, but I was leaving for a night off learning to hand sew dolls) along with a salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

Fed the sourdough mother.

Soaked coffee grounds for cold water extract.

In My Kitchen: A Thursday in October

2008-10-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

In my kitchen today, I:

Made oatmeal porridge for breakfast.

Made husband's latte.

Made PB-Honey sandwiches for lunch with liberty apples.

Snacked on leftover chicken salad.

Made a sauteed leek and fried potato dish with fried eggs on top for dinner (I am in desperate need of a grocery store trip...perhaps tonight. This is the off week for our grocery deliveries, and my pantry feels it).

~~Soaked flour in yogurt for pizza dough for tomorrow's dinner.~~ (I realized that I had no butter - see above mention of desperately needing to go to the store)

Fed the sourdough mother.

Soaked oats for tomorrow's breakfast.

In My Kitchen: A Wednesday in October

2008-10-22T18:19:00.001-07:00

Today in my kitchen, I:

Grabbed banana's and downed some milk on the way out the door to adventures before the milk adventure.

Served the boys goat milk yogurt and raisins for lunch (with a touch of maple syrup to take the edge off the extra sourness) with a little Liberty apple each.

Made myself oatmeal porridge with applesauce, butter, cinnamon and raisins.

Made a chunky chicken salad for dinner (I added chopped cold baked potatoes, for some reason whenever I do this, my husband loves to eat salad), with bread on the side.

Gave the boys applesauce for dessert.

Enjoyed vanilla ice cream topped with warm applesauce for dessert with Husband.

Fed the sourdough mother.

Soaked oats for tomorrow's breakfast.