What Have We Been Eating?

 

 

Grain-Free French Toast

This is some delicious grain-free French toast!! Mmmmm-Mmm!
The recipe is super easy: basically just make a normal French toast batter from eggs, coconut milk and cinnamon and dredge some coconut bread (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/coconut-flour/) in it. Fry it in ghee, and serve with maple syrup!!

Getting Ready (a bit late) for Flu/Cold Season

In getting ready for cold and flu season (although I know I am a bit late! blame the pregnancy) I am making some Fire Cider a.k.a Master Tonic and just for fun some delicious Ginger, Fennel Syrup. There are many other ways to prepare for this season: eat healthily, make plenty of bone broth and consume regularily, get as much sunshine as possible, exercise, drink herbal teas etc. What are your secrets to avoiding the cold/flu?

Here is the recipe for Fire Cider (I am going to make 1/2 gallon): Only get fresh/organic if possible…

• 1 part garlic
• 1 part spicy onion
• 1 part ginger
• 1 part horseradish
• 1 part pepper (cayenne, jalapeno, habanero, serrano etc.)
• raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar

Directions:

1. Grate/chop all of your fresh ingredients.
2. Fill a jar 3/4 full with them.
3. Pour the apple cider vinegar over everything and fill to the top.
4. Set in a dark place or paper bag for 14 days and shake whenever you pass by it.
5. After 14 days, strain and enjoy!
6. To use: take about 1-2 tablespoons daily as a preventative tonic.

You can also save the herbs that you have strained out and use them with honey and lemon or whatever you choose as a salad dressing or marinade, or any other crazy concoction that you come up with!

This second recipe I found here. And boy oh boy is it delicious!

Cold and Flu Cough Syrup

2 cups water
2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
2 tablespoons fennel seeds

Simmer herbs and water on low heat until water volume is one cup. Strain out and discard herbs. Add ½ cup honey and store in the refrigerator. Take 1 tablespoon three times a day at the onset of cold symptoms.
Shelf life: 3 months stored fridge

Also: Just made a HUGE pot of chicken soup with tons of garlic, onions, cayenne and ginger in it! I will freeze this in double serving portions, so that we have a quick, tasty and healthful cold remedy/meal on hand!!!

Get Cultured: Probiotic Recipes!

Check out this awesome FREE little e-book from the Nourished Kitchen!

It has a few wonderful looking fermented food recipes that I can’t wait to try. Will definitely post about how they turn out!

Frozen Grape Obsession

Just thought I would stop in and talk about my favorite summertime treat! It is super simple and yummy!

I buy a bag of fresh organic grapes and wash them. Then once they are dry I toss the bag into the freezer, and YUM! They freeze  and make perfect little round popsicles that satisfy wonderfully on a hot day!

These are a favorite snack right now… try it!

Decadent Chocolate Cake GF and CF

So the other night was my mother-in-laws’ birthday and so I made this scrumptious concoction! I used this recipe from Elana’s Pantry (thank you Elana) but tweaked it a bit to fit our tastes. I also added a strawberry whipped cream filling which was absolutely delicious if I do say so myself… My cake looks nothing like Elana’s, but it was still sooo yummy and perfect for the occasion!

Ingredients: (Cake)

• 3/4 c. coconut flour
• 1/2 c. cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 10 eggs (yes… 10!)
• 1 c. coconut oil
• 1 c. rapadura
• 1/2 c. honey
• 1 tbs. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. orange zest

Directions: (Cake)

1. In a small bowl combine flour, cacao, salt and baking soda.
2. In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer, blend eggs, oil, sugar, honey, vanilla and orange zest.
3. Add dry ingredients into large bowl and continue to blend.
4. Butter (2) 9 inch round cake pans and dust with coconut flour.
5. Pour batter into pans and bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes.
6. Remove from oven, allow to cool completely then remove from pans.

Ingredients: (Filling)

• 1 c. whipping cream (not ultra-pasteurized)
• 1/2 c. strawberry puree (puree 4-5 large strawberries in blender or with a stick blender)
• 1 1/2 tbs. rapadura or honey (opt.)
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: (Filling)

1. Whip cream into stiff peaks.
2. Mix sugar with your strawberry puree and add to the whipped cream.
3. Whip and add vanilla.
4. Spread between layers of cooled cake.

Ingredients: (Frosting)

• 1 c. dark chocolate bar, broken into peices ( I used 78% dark)
• 1/2 c. coconut oil
• 2 tbs. honey
• 1 tbs. vanilla
• pinch of salt

Directions: (Frosting)

1. Melt chocolate and oil over a low heat.
2. Remove from heat and add honey, vanilla and salt.
3. Stir to combine. Let cool a bit and pour over top of cake, letting it dribble down the sides.

ENJOY!

Hamburger Pockets

My husband had a Hamburger Helper and Pillsbury Dough version of these as a child that his mom made. Apparently they were his absolute favorite meal! So, of course I had to try to make a version of them! They are not quite as light and fluffy as the ones he remembers as a child, but they got his stamp of approval anyhow! (by the way, this is his picture cause he insisted I put these on the blog )

These are also a great thing to make a bunch of in advance and freeze. You can also make them anyway you like! Just play with the ingredients and have fun!

Dough Ingredients: (From Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon)

• 3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. yogurt or kefir
• 1/2 c. butter (she calls for 1 c. but always use less as butter is expensive)
• 2 tsp. sea salt

1. Cream yogurt and butter and blend in flour and salt.
2. Cover and leave of counter overnight.
3. The next day prepare your filling.

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 lb. grass-fed ground beef or other meat
• 1 tbs. butter
• 1 carrot, minced
• 1 stalk celery, minced
• 1/2 small onion, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 2 c. grated cheese

1. Melt butter in a skillet and add veggies. Saute until soft.
2. Add meat and brown. Add spices.
3. Take pieces of dough and roll out on a floured surface into an oblong shape.
4. Put filling and a handful of cheese on one half of the dough and then fold the dough over and pinch the sides together, creating closed pocket!
5. Repeat until dough and filling is gone.
6. Place the pockets on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Yum! A great way to use up your leftovers!

Kalua Pork (slow cooked pork)

This is not my pic, as ours was eaten too quickly!

This is a delicious recipe that hails traditionally from Hawaii.

Typically, a large pit is dug in the ground, and lava rocks are heated over an open flame until they are extremely hot. The rocks are placed in the pit, which is lined with greenery such as banana leaves or ti leaves (they insulate, aid the steaming process, and add flavor). A cleaned whole pig (seasoned with Hawaiian sea salt) is placed inside the hot pit and then covered with more greenery for insulation and flavor – it is then covered with a protective covering, more soil, and left to cook through the day (about 8 hours). http://www.ikonaedizioni.com/2007/11/02/traditional-kalua-pig-cooking-in-hawaii/

Anyone who grew up in Hawaii is definitely familiar with this dish and it is one of my husbands favorites! However, I cook it a little differently, as you may have imagined. It is a super simple recipe with an extremely long cooking time! You need a crock-pot for this one, unless you want to adapt it to a dutch oven and cook it in the oven.

I serve this dish with brown rice from Sally Fallon’s “Nourishing Traditions” and a brilliant cabbage salad that can be found here -She forgets to mention to add a tbs. or so of black sesame seeds! They are so pretty and yummy!

Ingredients:

• 1 pork shoulder or butt (about 6 lbs.)
• 1 tbs. sea salt
• 1 tbs. liquid smoke (I used the kind that had only 2 ingredients).

Directions:

1. With a fork, poke holes all over your pork shoulder.
2. Rub salt and smoke all over the roast.
3. Stick the shoulder into the crock-pot and cook on low for 16-20 hours, flipping midway.
4. If there were bones take them out.
5. Shred the meat with a fork and mix drippings back in.
6. Serve over rice and cabbage salad!

Apple Pie Slaw

My husband insisted that I put this up on the blog after we had it for dessert the other night! I hope you enjoy it as much as he did!

Ingredients:

• 3 apples, chopped or diced
• 1/4 c. raisins
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 c. dates
• 1/4 c. water
• 2 tbs. lemon juice
• whipped cream or ice-cream for topping

Directions:

• Toss together the apples, raisins and cinnamon.
• In a blender, blend the dates, water and lemon juice until it forms a paste.
• Toss into the apple mixture.
• Top with whipped cream or ice-cream!

You could alsouse this as a topping for waffles or pancakes (as we sis this morning) or anything else you want!!

How to Freeze Home-Made Broths

This is my contribution to the Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter Thursdays!

Reusing chicken carcasses or leftover bones is a wonderfully frugal way to save money and make delicious nourishing broths for your family. But how does one store all that broth?

I used to have a really hard time storing broth in my freezer because I would never know if I would come back to a freezer full of broken glass jars! So here is a little tip I came up with:

I found silicon muffin tins at Goodwill and have been using them to freeze my broths! They are unbreakable and the broth ends up in perfect little serving sizes!

Procedure:

1. Pour the broth into your silicon muffin tin (be sure to place the muffin tin on a cookie sheet so all the broth doesn’t spill out when you lift the tin).
2. Put in freezer over night.
3. Pop out the perfect little “broth muffins” and store in an airtight gallon sized container (I used a zip-lock bag here). 
4. Presto! No broken jars and the perfect amount of nourishing broth to add to your dishes!