Breakfast

My new doctor I'm seeing recommends cutting out my only carbs; oatmeal and potatoes (not together of course). So my question? WHAT THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST?!? Especially since Sunny's chickens are molting and I have no eggs. So here are 3 recipes he gave me that I thought I'd pass along.

1. Smoothie - apple, raw milk, eggs. (He said about 1 or 2 apples and 3 to 4 eggs, but really, to your liking).

2. Steamed apples with raw milk. (He recommends Golden Delicious)

3. Museli (adapted) - grated apple (core included), lemon juice, chopped almond, raw yogurt.

Well, #3 I've eaten before and it's good, but I'll comment on how the other two taste...
As a side note about yogurt, I don't remember what N.T. says, but I just remember being confused by the recipe, so I'll tell you how he said to do it.

1 cup yogurt with a quart to 1/2 gallon raw milk and mix it in a bowl and set it in the oven with the light on overnight. About 8 inches away from the light.

Sounds easier than my yogurt machine.

By the way, Cream of Vegetable Soup in N.T. is delicious. Everyone go try it. I LOVED it!

Pizza Leftovers

When Clark and I have leftovers we make a pizza out of them. It's a great way to get creative.

Sprouted Tortillas
left over meat, shredded (we usually use chicken)
left over vegetable (we've even used broccoli before, very good)
garlic
onions
seasonings
cheese (we love it with comte or cantal)

Basically throw whatever on a tortilla and broil the cheese. Fresh oregano is key!

For example, this what our pizza had on it tonight.

Sprouted tortilla with a thin layer of homemade mayonnaise (Clark had homemade salad dressing instead), sliced garlic, sliced onions, shredded chicken, chopped fresh oregano, thyme, cooked spinach. We covered with tons of kerrygold cheddar and broiled it.

Breakfast & Sandwiches

We just made a delicious breakfast I thought I'd share. When we cooked our oatmeal we threw in thick chunks of Fuji apples with the water as it boiled. We sweetened it with cinnamon and nutmeg. Today we fried it and drizzled it with Strauss Yogurt. Normally when I make fried oatmeal I put yogurt and applesauce on top with lots of cinnamon.

We also cut some apples up in thick rings and fried them in butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg (we're on a nutmeg kick right now).

Clark smashed up some cooked sweet potatoes, added some eggs, fried that and sprinkled cheese on top. (I thought it sounded disgusting, but it was actually really good)


Last week we made mayonnaise and tried it out on chicken salad sandwiches. Very good! Instead of celery and grapes we put in tons of green onions and thickly chopped up garlic. We added lots of rosemary and fresh oregano and put it on the Berlin bread. Very good!

Stuff We Eat Around Here, Fall Edition

I wanted to share some of the stuff we've been eating.

Gelatin-rich stock:  we save every bone in a bag in the freezer until we're ready to make stock.  Cooked bones work best, imparting a rich flavor.

Butternut squash soup:  the only conversion here is to use your own homemade gelatin-rich broth, and to add some cream at the end to the soup mixture, plus a dollop of sour cream on top.

Tacos:  no lean ground beef here!  I recommend sprouted corn tortillas, or some other sprouted grain tortilla, heated on a cast iron pan.  Lots of real garlic and onion in the taco meat.  Lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes or salsa, and full-fat cheese.

Steak:  Try to get bone-in.  Mike salts them with sea salt, then lets them sit covered on the counter for an hour before cooking.  This allows the meat to come up to room temperature and makes for a juicy steak.  We eat ours pretty rare - the outside is well-cooked, but not very far into the thickness of the meat.

Slow-cooked roasts:  make sure they are bone-in and have a good layer of fat!  I recommend enamel cast iron pots.  You can brown on the stovetop, then transfer to the oven.

Greens:  we use the Julia Child method of preparing spinach, kale, dandelion greens, or sweet potato greens.  This involves blanching the greens, squeezing the water out, chopping them, then sauteeing them a little with butter.  The blanching takes out some of the bitterness, and the butter helps you absorb the nutrients.  Collards I treat specially, though, boiling them for a while with some ham hock or uncured bacon.  They need more boiling than most other greens, they're so thick.  Kale actually needs more than a blanch, too - boil for a few minutes.

Quiche:  use the Julia Child recipe with your favorite crust (or no crust).  There's really no reason to convert this Julia Child recipe!  I'll find the page number and specific cookbook sometime.  My favorite is leek.

Sweet potatoes:  no need to add sugar - they're already sweet!  Bake , steam, or boil and mix with butter and spices.

Green beans:  sautee in olive oil, butter, or lard until they crinkle.

Tomato and avocado with olive oil and salt:  mmm!

Apples!  No cooking required.

Pinto beans for any meal, even breakfast:  soak with a little vinegar (I use Bragg's raw apple cider vinegar) in a warm place overnight, rinse, then cook in the crockpot on low.  Make "refried beans" - put some with their liquid in a small skillet with a bit of lard and maybe a spoonful of broth.  Mash up a bit with a fork after they simmer, then add cheese.

Sauerkraut:  Bubbie's is lacto-fermented, though they heat it up a little before canning it to kill some of the bacteria so it doesn't explode.  That is, if you're too busy to make your own, as I have been.

Butterscotch Ice Cream

I know Weston A. Price was not a fan of sugar, but this ice cream is so good!  I think all the cooked brown sugar, butter, and egg yolks give it a soft-sticky texture, compared to the usual texture of ice cream made with raw cream, which can be super-hard with ice crystals.  Hey, it's got brown sugar, it's got minerals :)  I asked Mike for a butterscotch-flavored ice cream, and he made up this fabulous recipe.  Technically, it's not converted from anything, unless you count "I want the butterscotch sauce to be IN my ice cream!"

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. salted butter (I use pasteurized, since it will be cooked; I'm sure you could use unsalted)

1.5 c brown sugar

1 c cream (I use pasteurized, since it will be cooked)

pinch salt

some milk if it seems too thick (maybe 1/2 c)

4 egg yolks

2 c raw cream

2 tsp vanilla (or just a splash, whatever)

ice cream maker (or whatever method you normally use to make ice cream)

In a small metal pot that you've already heated, add the butter and brown sugar.  Mix those with a spatula to incorporate.  Add the 1 cup of cream and pinch of salt.  Keep this at the lowest simmer you can where the mixture is still bubbling and foaming.  Cook until sugars caramelize and it has a butterscotch flavor.  The mixture will be thin.  If it seems a little sticky, add the milk to thin.  Remove from heat to cool a little.  This is approximately the same recipe you can use to make a butterscotch sauce.  It will thicken as it cools.

Next, scramble 4 egg yolks in a small bowl.  Add the mixture to the egg yolks without letting the egg yolks curdle (tempering): add a small amount of the still-hot mixture to the egg yolks, mix, then keep doing that until it's all mixed.  Put all of that back into the pot, and put it in the refrigerator to cool for a few hours.

Once the mixture is thoroughly chilled, stir in the one pint raw cream and the vanilla with a spatula.  Taste the batter (keeping in mind that it will taste a little less sweet once it's frozen) and adjust ingredients to your taste.  If you're going to use an ice cream maker, the mixture will receive additional stirring, so don't stir a lot at this point.

Churn the ice cream mixture in the ice cream maker.  Put into containers and freeze to ripen.

This makes a pretty sweet-sticky ice cream.  You could always add more raw cream to decrease the sweetness.  Or try soured cream instead of uncultured raw cream.  There's all kinds of flavorings you can add, too.

Chocolate

I'm not the biggest chocolate fan, but if you are going to eat it, this is the way to go! It's very delicious. This is a copy from an e-mail from a girl in my local chapter. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
4 T. Unsweetened, Organic Cocoa Powder
4 T. Virgin Coconut Oil (from WildernessFamilyNat urals.com)
3 T. Raw Honey

Just put ingredients in a blender and mix. I have that little Bullet
blender (as seen on TV), which is nice to contain the small amount of
ingredients.

You can use the chocolate as a warm sauce or you can pour it into a
mold and refrigerate it. I bought a miniature 12" chest of five
drawers at Michaels for $3.99 to use as a mold. I folded wax paper to
line each drawer and then poured the chocolate sauce into the drawers.
When the bars were set, I cut them into the small pieces that you saw.
Of course, you can probably buy real chocolate molds on eBay!

Most of you probably know the health benefits of these ingredients,
but here is some info anyway:

COCOA POWDER
One tablespoon of cocoa powder contains as many antioxidants as a cup
of green tea or a glass or red wine, according to Cornell University
researchers. Commercial chocolate is unhealthy because of the added
white sugar, the chemically-processe d oils, and the additives. Get
cocoa powder that is as close to being unsweetened, raw, organic, and
alkaline-free as possible.

Note: Do not add milk to make milk chocolate! Adding milk to the
chocolate cancels out the antioxidant effects, according to a study
published in the journal Nature. Researchers suggest that proteins in
the milk bind with the antioxidants, making them less easily absorbed
by the body.

COCONUT OIL
Lauric acid, the major fatty acid from the fat of the coconut, has
antiviral and antibacterial functions. Unprocessed coconut oil
contains no trans-fats and is a cholesterol- free food. Coconut oil is
also nature's richest source of MCTs, which raise the body's
metabolism, leading to weight loss.

RAW HONEY
Honey that is unheated still has its anti-bacterial, anti-viral
enzymes intact. Besides glucose and fructose, raw honey contains all
of the B-complex, A, C, D, E, and K vitamins, and trace minerals.

Liver Pate

This recipe is from this cookbook, the author has a blog here.

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh chicken livers
1/2 cup port wine
8 dried black Mission figs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced
2 small shallots, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme / 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1. Rinse the livers under cold water, drain, and remove any white
strands. Pat dry with paper towels. Combine the livers and port in a
small salad bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Set a fine-mesh
sieve over a second bowl and pour the livers and marinade into the
sieve, reserving the marinade.

2. Wash the first bowl you used. Put the figs in the bowl, cover
with hot water, and let stand as you go on with the recipe.

3. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium
heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 3 minutes, until
softened and fragrant. Add the livers, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and
pepper, and cook for 4 minutes, flipping the livers halfway through,
until the livers are browned on the outside, but still pink inside.
Add the reserved marinade, turn the heat up to medium-high, and cook
for 6 to 8 minutes, until most of the liquids have evaporated and the
livers are browned all over but still tender. Remove from heat,
discard the bay leaves, and let cool for 5 minutes.

4. Transfer the liver mixture to a food processor and process until
puréed. Add the remaining butter and pulse until smooth. Drain the
figs, pat dry with paper towels, cut in 1/4-inch pieces, and fold into
the liver mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning.

5. Pack into two 1-cup glass jars, making sure there are no pockets
of air. Place a small piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface
of the terrine, close the jars tightly, and refrigerate for at least 6
hours, and preferably overnight.

6. Bring to just under room temperature and serve. The terrine will
keep for up to 4 days, chilled, its surface covered with plastic wrap.

Variations: The terrine can be made with other dried fruits,
especially prunes and apricots. You can include walnuts or hazelnuts
in addition to, or instead of, fruit. For a chunkier texture, reserve
a few of the cooked livers before you purée the mixture: chop them
roughly, and fold them in as you add the fruits or nuts.

My notes:
- You don't have to dice up the butter - cutting into chunks is fine
- I don't dice the shallots or garlic, just slice it, because it gets
puréed in the food processor anyway
- I haven't had any thyme (hardy har har) on hand, but it's good
without it
- I don't wash the bowl - I just mess up more bowls

Duck with Duck Sauce

I found this recipe on cooks.com and didn't have anything and was in a huge hurry so I improvised.  I'll put the original recipe, I'm sure it tastes awesome if you have the right ingredients, and I'll put my substitutions in ()s.

Ingredients:

• 2 ducklings, quartered (I just had a bunch of wild duck breasts, enough to cover the bottom of 9x13 baking dish)
  
• salt (Celtic Sea Salt, of course)
  
• pepper (I didn't use any pepper)
  
• garlic powder (I did use powder but I'm sure minced garlic would be great)
  
• 2 cans chicken consomme (I had to look that up, basically it's a really strong and clarified meat broth.  I just used 2 1/2 cups chicken broth and let it boil down a little)
• 6 TBS sherry wine (I had no wine.  I had no grape juice.  I had some non-raw red wine vinegar so I threw in a dash, like a TBS, I didn't want it to be too vinegary)
• 4 c. strong orange juice or 6 oz of oj concentrate plus 12 oz of water (OJ concentrate is a BIG no-no, look here and scroll down to Orange Juice . . . but that's all I had. And I didn't add the water, it's already pretty watery)
• 4 TBS lemon juice (I only had about 2)
• 4 TBS current jelly (I used an all-natural mixed berry jelly that is sweetened with grape juice.)

Place duck quarters on rack in roasting pan (I used a 9x13 baking dish).  Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Roast, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until all the fat has melted off and duck is brown (breasts have little fat and cook quickly so I put it in the oven for about 20 minutes, a little fat had melted off). Pour off greases (I didn't).  

Combine in a saucepan all the other ingredients and cook 10 minutes.  Pour sauce over duck and cover with foil (I dumped it all in the dish and covered with foil) Roast 1 hour at 350, basting frequently (no need to baste when it's swimming in sauce).  Uncover at the end to brown (I took off the foil about 1/2 way through).  Serve with a vegetable.  

Pumpkin Stuff

Like pumpkin stuff?  Me too!  This recipe for Pumpkin Atole was delicious:

Cut open the pumpkin and remove all seeds and guts. Slice pumpkin into several small pieces and boil in water until soft. Let pumpkin cool. If outer shell of the pumpkin is really tough, you may remove it or you can leave the shell on if you think it will blend well. (*Note: I left the shell on a few pieces and it added nice little darker orange specs to the drink, which I liked).

Place as much of the pumpkin in the blender as possible and blend with part of the water it was boiled in.   Mixture will be thick.   Pour pumpkin mixture back into pot and

 bring to boil with a cinnamon stick or two (I also added ground cloves). Stir often. Add Rapadura or Sucanat to taste. Then add raw milk to thin to your preferred thickness - the drink is meant to be somewhat thick. Stir until milk/pumpkin have blended and drink has heated through. Add a bit of vanilla 1/2 to 1 tsp. Serve warm.

I took the seeds and made my version of Pepitas (NT, 513).  I soaked the seeds in salt water overnight, drained and then placed on a stainless steel baking pan.  I then placed in a warm oven for about 12 hours.  When they are done I mix them with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle generously with sea salt.  I don't know why but I love them with the oil and salt, yummy.  Happy Fall!

Roasted Chicken

When I don't know what to make for dinner I always seem to fall back on this one.  It's easy, you can improvise with whatever you have in your fridge and I save the carcass for chicken stock.  

1 whole chicken

vegetables

a carb (i.e. potatoes, rice, bread)

any seasonings you prefer

Cut the backbone out of the chicken (I freeze the backbone along with the heart, liver, etc. and I also save the bones and the carcass so I can pull them out of the freezer when I'm ready to make chicken stock).  I place the chicken skin side up in a pyrex baking dish, push it down to flatten it (push hard, break bones) and tuck the wings behind the "neck" so they don't burn.  Then I generously sprinkle sea salt over the bird and anything else you might want.  Yesterday I squeezed lemon juice over it and threw in some chopped onion and a couple little pieces of butter.  I have drizzled molasses and soy sauce over the chicken or just sprinkled some oregano.  It tastes great with just plain salt as well.  

Then I place a piece of parchment over the chicken, and some tin foil over that (so the foil doesn't touch the chicken).  Place in a 350 degree oven for a couple of hours depending on how big the chicken is (1 hour for every pound??).  When there is 30-45 minutes left remove the foil and parchment to let the chicken brown.  

Cook up a vegetable, our recent favorite is sauteed zucchini as found in Nourishing Traditions pg. 410.  If you read the paragraph right under the ZUCCHINI heading, that's what we do.  If you want your zucchini even dryer you can salt it and let it stand but we never do (lazy).  Just add lemon juice and salt after it's cooked.  yum!  

To finish off the meal have some kind of a carb, I prefer unsoaked basic rice(NT, 466) but if I'm in a hurry mashed potatoes are my fall back.  Just boil some potatoes until soft (with or without skin), drain most of the water and add a lot of butter (like a cube).  Mash.  Add raw milk or cream to desired consistency.  If you like it smooth use beaters.  I add a little cream cheese or sour cream (it gives it a nice tang, I've never tried yogurt but I bet that would be good too), dried onion, minced garlic and dried parsley.  Enjoy!

Hamburgers

I made homemade hamburgers for the first time yesterday. Yum! That was a yummy, easy meal. There are directions in Nourishing Traditions, here's what I did:

1 lb ground buffalo

1/4 c. finely chopped onion

1 clove of garlic, minced

a drizzle of molasses

a pinch of cloves

a dash of raw vinegar

salt and pepper to taste 

Moosh them all together and pat into patties.  Heat a large skillet on the stove to about medium and cook for about 5 minutes on each side or until the patties are cooked medium rare.  Use whole grain buns or sprouted buns.  I used gluten-free buns I found Vitamin Cottage called Outside the Breadbox just to see what they tasted like.  I don't really know Sally Fallon's take on brown rice flour based breads, I was just curious how it tasted.  It was pretty good.  You can use the Nourishing Traditions recipes for mayo, mustard and ketchup.  Throw on some raw cheese and a slice of tomato, delicious!  Makes about 5 mini burgers.

Another Cookbook

I came across an article about a cook book that I'm highly considering buying. Some of these recipes sound good including Bone Marrow Tacos! The Amazon link is HERE.

Dutch Baby Pancakes

I tried Dutch Baby Pancakes the other day and it was good. We served it with fresh cut peaches and homemade yogurt with a sprinkle of nutmeg. It was delicious!

Page 479 in N.T.

My Personal Tip: Make sure the amount you cook never exceeds 1 1/2 cups. It's not good thick.

Beef Back Ribs with Red Wine Sauce

I could never find a good recipe for beef back ribs (I want to put them in my beef stock and still use the meat) so I made up my own.  The sauce is from "Nourishing Tradition's" Filet of Beef recipe.  Yummy!  We usually eat it with Yukon Gold potatoes baked or boiled and a salad.  

4 lbs beef back ribs

2 qts beef stock (I've used chicken stock)

2 cups red wine (I substitute grape juice and a little vinegar)

2 TBS gelatin (optional)

Sea Salt

Lightly brown ribs in a pan, discard fat.  In a large pot add stock and ribs and bring to a rolling boil.  Reduce to a very low simmer and cover tightly for 1 1/2 - 4 hours.  Remove ribs and place on a rack to drain.  Sprinkle ribs with salt and let stand.  Meanwhile, spoon off any excess fat in stock and bring stock back to a rolling boil.  Add wine and gelatin, and boil uncovered until sauce is reduced to about 1 cup, skimming frequently - this may take as long as 1 hour.  About 10 minutes before sauce is done place ribs in a 250 degree oven to warm them. The sauce should be thickened and shiny, about the consistency of maple syrup.  If the sauce gets too thick, thin with a little water.  Taste sauce before you season it - but you may not need salt.  Serve the ribs with sauce, I usually have the sauce on the side and let everyone dribble as much as they want over the ribs (it's a reduction so a little sauce goes a long way).  Serves 4.

Steamed Fish with Tomato Vinaigrette

This is probably our favorite fish recipe, we serve it with the rice recipe in Nourishing Traditions where the rice is cooked for a long period of time in chicken stock.  Yummy!

1 TBS Dijon mustard
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
2 TBS finely chopped scallions (or onion)
2 TBS freshly chopped coriander (or 1 TBS ground)
Pinch red hot pepper flakes (optional)
3 TBS raw rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
½ c diced and peeled tomatoes
2 TBS grated ginger
1 TBS raw soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
4 fish fillets (about 6 oz)(red snapper, sea bass or salmon)
4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried

Put the mustard and vinegar into a mixing bowl, add the oil, whisking in vigorously. Stir in remaining ingredients except the thyme and fish. Keep the sauce at room temp. Pour water into a steamer. Place the fillets on the steamer rack.  Do not preheat the water.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste. Place 1 sprig of fresh thyme on each fillet and cover the steamer and turn on the heat. When the water begins to boil, steam for about 4 minutes. Do not overcook. Remove the thyme sprigs. Serve immediately with sauce spooned over the fillets.

Mulligatawny Soup

This is from a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, we had it for dinner tonight.  So yummy!  It wasn't too hard to convert, it's got amazing flavor, and both my kids devoured it!  I had to cook up some chicken but it would be great with leftover baked chicken.  Don't use leftover stock meat, it just mushes up.  Enjoy!

1/3 cup long grain brown rice

1 TBS each butter and olive oil

2 1/2 cups homemade chicken broth 

7 1/2 oz diced canned organic tomatoes

1/4 c. chopped onion

1 tsp curry powder (a little more if you like)

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper (or to taste)

1/8 tsp ground mace or nutmeg

Sea salt to taste 

1 cup chopped apples (2 small)

1 cup chopped carrots (2 med.)

1/2 cup chopped celery (1 stalk)

1/4 cup organic raisins

1 TBS freshly snipped parsley

1 tsp lemon juice (a couple good squeezes)

1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken or turkey

Heat butter and olive oil in a pot.  Saute rice, stirring constantly, until rice turns milky.  Add broth, tomatoes (including juice), onion, curry, salt, pepper, and mace or nutmeg.  Note: the original recipe didn't call for salt but the broth was canned so don't be stingy.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to the lowest possible heat and cover tightly for 1 1/2-2 hours.  Add remaining ingredients, except chicken, and bring back to a simmer.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, add chicken or turkey, heat through, and serve.  Makes about 6 cups, serves about 4.