I stumbled across this post today and wanted to share it. This post neatly summed up why Shawn and I work so hard out here on this property. This is what we're working toward:
http://southernsustainabilityandsimplicity.blogspot.com/2012/03/homemakers-home.html#comment-form
Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Affording the GAPS Diet Grocery Bill
Today I received this comment on my post about Sam's Autism Improvement on Video:
Anonymous said...
Hi Janice.
I have just seen this link posted on a Facebook page. I'm really curious about how this works.
My son is 6 and he has Aspergers. I have tried homeopathy but it didn't work.
He has a good diet but due to his condition I am unable to work, and we live on just my partners wage, therefore don't have money to buy organic etc foods...
I'd love some advice on how to get started xx
I figured I would just put my answer in its own blog post since it's likely to get a little lengthy!
First of all, like yours, our family is a one-income family. So, I hope that our family's experience will be useful to you.
I know this is obvious, but I'm going to point it out anyway. The first thing our family did to free up funds for increased food costs was to look at other areas of our budget. We had to figure out what areas could be decreased so that our grocery budget could increase. For instance, we do not pay for any TV service whatsoever. Doing without a cable/satellite bill and other things like trash service have freed up money that can now go towards good quality foods. So, first of all I'd look to find other areas of your budget that can be reassigned.
After analyzing and making changes to the budget, we had to go through and define our priorities. While I would love to eat only all organic fruits and vegetables and only pastured meat and only grass-fed dairy and only local raw honey and..you get the idea. Realistically I purchase my fruits and vegetables SOME organic and SOME conventional. For our meat I purchase SOME pastured and SOME conventional. I have to make some concessions because we just can't afford to do everything perfect. So, I would suggest that your family decide what is your highest priority and make decisions accordingly.
Here's were I currently acquire our foods:
Meats
I purchase chicken in bulk once a year from a farm that raises pastured poultry. I buy one year's worth all at once because there's a huge cost savings by buying in bulk.
I purchase conventionally-raised local pork from a local butcher. I buy 1/2 a pig at a time, again for the cost savings. (Would love to have pastured pork, but it's very hard to find and also very expensive. Priorities..)
I purchase hormone/antibiotic free beef that is grass/hay fed (no grain) from a friend. I purchase 1/2 a cow at a time, again for the cost savings.
We raise our own rabbits and butcher them ourselves for meat.
My husband will be deer hunting this year and will (Lord willing) get one or two deer.
Fats
Whenever we purchase our beef and pork, I always ask to be given the fat from the animal. Then I render the fat myself in order to get a lot of good lard and tallow. The processors that I use don't charge any extra for providing the fat.
I purchase my pure olive oil and extra virgin olive oil from Sam's Club. It's not organic, but it's what we can afford. (Obviously, this is lower on my list of priorities.)
I bought my coconut oil in bulk from Nutiva. I think I purchased something like 10 or 12 gallons last time in order to get the best discounts and free shipping.
Finally, whenever I cook any meats, I always save the fats. We make burger patties and I save the fat to add to mashed cauliflower. We cook bacon and I save the fat to season green beans. We bake a pork loin roast and I save the fat to scramble eggs in the next morning. I roast a chicken and I save the fat to add into soups. Nothing gets wasted.
Fruits and Vegetables
Oh, there's so many sources for these foods. Of course we grow some of our own in our garden and orchard. However, we don't yet come anywhere near providing all of our own fruits and vegetables. I still purchase a lot.
I purchase non-organic avocados ($0.69 each), lemons ($0.25 each), and cauliflower ($1.99 each) from Aldi. They have great, low prices on their conventionally grown produce.
I purchase organic carrots from Kroger. I can get 5 pounds for $4.99 usually, but this week they were on sale for $3.99! I haven't found anyone else that beats their prices on organic carrots.
I purchase non-organic brussel sprouts ($4.97 for 2 pounds) and mushrooms ($3.98 for 24 ounces) from Sam's Club. I also get organic baby carrots ($3.98 for 3 pounds) and organic spinach ($3.97 for 1 pound) from Sam's Club.
Each month I place an order with Azure Standard. Having them deliver locally has been a huge blessing for our family. Every month I purchase all of my organic frozen green beans, broccoli, and peas in bulk. I also get organic onions and organic miniature pickling cucumbers for all the fermented pickles we consume. This next month they have a great deal on butternut squash. It's not perfect quality so it's sold at a discounted rate. I don't care if my squash looks pretty or not, so I'm stocking up by buying 40 pounds. Keeping an eye out on those good deals and stocking up then really does save our family quite a bit of money.
I also utilize our local Farmer's Market. This summer I was able to purchase a lot of organic green peppers. It's so difficult to find organic green peppers in stores, so I snatched up whatever I could find at the Farmer's Market. Then I dehydrated the green peppers. I now have enough organic green peppers to last our family until next year's growing season.
I know there are other foods that I haven't listed, but you get the idea. Basically, I make a point to keep track of food prices so I can recognize a good deal. Whenever I run across a good deal, I stock up. Yes, it costs more one time, but then you don't have to buy any more for quite a while. Also, our family has found that buying good quality food motivates us to learn to provide it for ourselves. I see how much money I spend each month on produce and it spurs me on to produce a larger, more successful garden.
It also takes time to research and find new sources for good quality foods. You may have to settle for conventionally-raised beef until you can find a source for good quality beef. Networking with other like-minded families can be beneficial. I've come across many resources this way that I wouldn't have discovered myself. It's great when friends contact me to let me know that they've found a good sale. Oftentimes, a group of friends can make a bulk purchase together in order to receive a discount and then divide everything up amongst themselves.
Ultimately, I think the best thing is just to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Small, continuous improvements will eventually get you somewhere. At least you're moving in the right direction.
Anyway...Anonymous, I hope that helps get you started. If I can help in any way, please don't hesitate to contact me.
(This post is proud to be part of Real Food Wednesday.)
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/11/real-food-wednesday-11092011.html
Anonymous said...
Hi Janice.
I have just seen this link posted on a Facebook page. I'm really curious about how this works.
My son is 6 and he has Aspergers. I have tried homeopathy but it didn't work.
He has a good diet but due to his condition I am unable to work, and we live on just my partners wage, therefore don't have money to buy organic etc foods...
I'd love some advice on how to get started xx
I figured I would just put my answer in its own blog post since it's likely to get a little lengthy!
First of all, like yours, our family is a one-income family. So, I hope that our family's experience will be useful to you.
I know this is obvious, but I'm going to point it out anyway. The first thing our family did to free up funds for increased food costs was to look at other areas of our budget. We had to figure out what areas could be decreased so that our grocery budget could increase. For instance, we do not pay for any TV service whatsoever. Doing without a cable/satellite bill and other things like trash service have freed up money that can now go towards good quality foods. So, first of all I'd look to find other areas of your budget that can be reassigned.
After analyzing and making changes to the budget, we had to go through and define our priorities. While I would love to eat only all organic fruits and vegetables and only pastured meat and only grass-fed dairy and only local raw honey and..you get the idea. Realistically I purchase my fruits and vegetables SOME organic and SOME conventional. For our meat I purchase SOME pastured and SOME conventional. I have to make some concessions because we just can't afford to do everything perfect. So, I would suggest that your family decide what is your highest priority and make decisions accordingly.
Here's were I currently acquire our foods:
Meats
I purchase chicken in bulk once a year from a farm that raises pastured poultry. I buy one year's worth all at once because there's a huge cost savings by buying in bulk.
I purchase conventionally-raised local pork from a local butcher. I buy 1/2 a pig at a time, again for the cost savings. (Would love to have pastured pork, but it's very hard to find and also very expensive. Priorities..)
I purchase hormone/antibiotic free beef that is grass/hay fed (no grain) from a friend. I purchase 1/2 a cow at a time, again for the cost savings.
We raise our own rabbits and butcher them ourselves for meat.
My husband will be deer hunting this year and will (Lord willing) get one or two deer.
Fats
Whenever we purchase our beef and pork, I always ask to be given the fat from the animal. Then I render the fat myself in order to get a lot of good lard and tallow. The processors that I use don't charge any extra for providing the fat.
I purchase my pure olive oil and extra virgin olive oil from Sam's Club. It's not organic, but it's what we can afford. (Obviously, this is lower on my list of priorities.)
I bought my coconut oil in bulk from Nutiva. I think I purchased something like 10 or 12 gallons last time in order to get the best discounts and free shipping.
Finally, whenever I cook any meats, I always save the fats. We make burger patties and I save the fat to add to mashed cauliflower. We cook bacon and I save the fat to season green beans. We bake a pork loin roast and I save the fat to scramble eggs in the next morning. I roast a chicken and I save the fat to add into soups. Nothing gets wasted.
Fruits and Vegetables
Oh, there's so many sources for these foods. Of course we grow some of our own in our garden and orchard. However, we don't yet come anywhere near providing all of our own fruits and vegetables. I still purchase a lot.
I purchase non-organic avocados ($0.69 each), lemons ($0.25 each), and cauliflower ($1.99 each) from Aldi. They have great, low prices on their conventionally grown produce.
I purchase organic carrots from Kroger. I can get 5 pounds for $4.99 usually, but this week they were on sale for $3.99! I haven't found anyone else that beats their prices on organic carrots.
I purchase non-organic brussel sprouts ($4.97 for 2 pounds) and mushrooms ($3.98 for 24 ounces) from Sam's Club. I also get organic baby carrots ($3.98 for 3 pounds) and organic spinach ($3.97 for 1 pound) from Sam's Club.
Each month I place an order with Azure Standard. Having them deliver locally has been a huge blessing for our family. Every month I purchase all of my organic frozen green beans, broccoli, and peas in bulk. I also get organic onions and organic miniature pickling cucumbers for all the fermented pickles we consume. This next month they have a great deal on butternut squash. It's not perfect quality so it's sold at a discounted rate. I don't care if my squash looks pretty or not, so I'm stocking up by buying 40 pounds. Keeping an eye out on those good deals and stocking up then really does save our family quite a bit of money.
I also utilize our local Farmer's Market. This summer I was able to purchase a lot of organic green peppers. It's so difficult to find organic green peppers in stores, so I snatched up whatever I could find at the Farmer's Market. Then I dehydrated the green peppers. I now have enough organic green peppers to last our family until next year's growing season.
I know there are other foods that I haven't listed, but you get the idea. Basically, I make a point to keep track of food prices so I can recognize a good deal. Whenever I run across a good deal, I stock up. Yes, it costs more one time, but then you don't have to buy any more for quite a while. Also, our family has found that buying good quality food motivates us to learn to provide it for ourselves. I see how much money I spend each month on produce and it spurs me on to produce a larger, more successful garden.
It also takes time to research and find new sources for good quality foods. You may have to settle for conventionally-raised beef until you can find a source for good quality beef. Networking with other like-minded families can be beneficial. I've come across many resources this way that I wouldn't have discovered myself. It's great when friends contact me to let me know that they've found a good sale. Oftentimes, a group of friends can make a bulk purchase together in order to receive a discount and then divide everything up amongst themselves.
Ultimately, I think the best thing is just to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Small, continuous improvements will eventually get you somewhere. At least you're moving in the right direction.
Anyway...Anonymous, I hope that helps get you started. If I can help in any way, please don't hesitate to contact me.
(This post is proud to be part of Real Food Wednesday.)
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/11/real-food-wednesday-11092011.html
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Amazed at the Blog Visits
I continue to be amazed at the number of people that are visiting my blog in order to see the videos of Sam's autism improvement. Just yesterday I had visitors come here from:
British Columbia, Canada
Newfoundland, Canada
Alabama, U.S.
Illinois, U.S.
Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Georgia, U.S.
Ar Riyad, Saudi Arabia
Virginia, U.S.
Ash Sharqiyah, Saudi Arabia
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Buskerud, Norway
Gullbringusysla, Iceland
Texas, U.S.
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Wisconsin, U.S.
New Hampshire, U.S.
Budapest, Hungary
All of the above visitors looked at the posts of Sam's autism videos. In addition to that, in the past week I've had visitors from Brazil, Denmark, India, Australia, Netherlands, Poland, Philippines, Hong Kong, London, California, Washington, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Ohio come here looking for GAPS recipes and autism resources.
It's neat to see the international autism sites that have posted Sam's videos. The only words I can read on the sites are "autism" and "SAHMville," but then I see Sam's smiling face on there as well. He doesn't realize how big of an impact he's having on people around the world.
British Columbia, Canada
Newfoundland, Canada
Alabama, U.S.
Illinois, U.S.
Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Georgia, U.S.
Ar Riyad, Saudi Arabia
Virginia, U.S.
Ash Sharqiyah, Saudi Arabia
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Buskerud, Norway
Gullbringusysla, Iceland
Texas, U.S.
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Wisconsin, U.S.
New Hampshire, U.S.
Budapest, Hungary
All of the above visitors looked at the posts of Sam's autism videos. In addition to that, in the past week I've had visitors from Brazil, Denmark, India, Australia, Netherlands, Poland, Philippines, Hong Kong, London, California, Washington, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Ohio come here looking for GAPS recipes and autism resources.
It's neat to see the international autism sites that have posted Sam's videos. The only words I can read on the sites are "autism" and "SAHMville," but then I see Sam's smiling face on there as well. He doesn't realize how big of an impact he's having on people around the world.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
GAPS-Friendly Spanish Squash
I recently stumbled across a yummy recipe on allrecipes.com. Of course I changed it up a little bit to fit our diet. We really liked it so I thought I'd share it today.
My version calls for:
2 pounds of ground beef
2-3 Tbsp. of fat (tallow or lard)
3 yellow squash, sliced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced (I also added 3 small sweet peppers from our garden this time.)
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
Sea salt and pepper to taste
1. In large skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef.
2. While beef is cooking, place fat in another large skillet. When fat is melted and hot, add squash, onion, and green pepper. Saute until tender. **See note below**
3. When vegetables are tender, add them to the ground beef. Then also add tomatoes and spices to ground beef.
4. Mix together and cook for 5-10 minutes until tomatoes are soft and everything is heated through.
**This can easily be a one-pot meal. It's not really necessary to cook the vegetables separately. The first time I made this I cooked everything together in one skillet. It still tasted great. However, the squash got very "smooshy" when it cooked with the beef. By cooking the vegetables in a separate skillet, the "smooshiness" is avoided.**
Enjoy!
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/08/real-food-wednesday-8242011.html
My version calls for:
2 pounds of ground beef
2-3 Tbsp. of fat (tallow or lard)
3 yellow squash, sliced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced (I also added 3 small sweet peppers from our garden this time.)
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
Sea salt and pepper to taste
1. In large skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef.
2. While beef is cooking, place fat in another large skillet. When fat is melted and hot, add squash, onion, and green pepper. Saute until tender. **See note below**
3. When vegetables are tender, add them to the ground beef. Then also add tomatoes and spices to ground beef.
4. Mix together and cook for 5-10 minutes until tomatoes are soft and everything is heated through.
**This can easily be a one-pot meal. It's not really necessary to cook the vegetables separately. The first time I made this I cooked everything together in one skillet. It still tasted great. However, the squash got very "smooshy" when it cooked with the beef. By cooking the vegetables in a separate skillet, the "smooshiness" is avoided.**
Enjoy!
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/08/real-food-wednesday-8242011.html
Saturday, May 14, 2011
My Interview On Blog Talk Radio
Today I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Starlene Stewart. Starlene has an online radio program about the GAPS diet. Several weeks ago she asked me to be a guest on her show and today was the big interview day. I was so nervous at first, but Starlene is very easy to talk to, so my anxiety disappeared pretty quickly.
Here's the link to the interview. It's right at an hour long.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gapsjourney/2011/05/14/janice--son-with-autism-healing-with-gaps-diet-1
Starlene is also doing GAPS. Her blog documenting her journey can be found at:
http://gapsdietjourney.com/
Here's the link to the interview. It's right at an hour long.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gapsjourney/2011/05/14/janice--son-with-autism-healing-with-gaps-diet-1
Starlene is also doing GAPS. Her blog documenting her journey can be found at:
http://gapsdietjourney.com/
Friday, March 18, 2011
In Case You Missed It..My Interview with Cheeseslave
Even though this happened a month ago, I never did get around to linking it up from my blog. So, in case some haven't already seen it, I wanted to post about my interview with Cheeseslave.
After seeing Sam's videos on my blog, Ann Marie from the Cheeseslave blog asked to interview me. I agreed and here is the resulting post from her blog:
http://www.cheeseslave.com/2011/02/16/autism-recovery-with-the-gaps-diet-one-mothers-story/
The response from that post was phenomenal. My little blog had visitors from all over the world. I went from averaging 20 visitors a day to over 1300 a day. Since then I've discovered Sam's story being linked up on numerous other websites, including some in other languages!
The most amazing part of the entire ordeal was reading the comments from those that found hope in seeing Sam's videos. I think it's very easy to brush off someone's claims that a dietary change can effect neurological function, but actually SEEING change on video really makes a statement that's harder to refute.
Finding the GAPS diet has been such a blessing to our family. Being able to share our experience with others only blessed our family further. Thank you to Cheeseslave for getting our story out to a wider audience and thank you to the many other bloggers/facebookers (is that a word?) that have shared Sam's story online.
After seeing Sam's videos on my blog, Ann Marie from the Cheeseslave blog asked to interview me. I agreed and here is the resulting post from her blog:
http://www.cheeseslave.com/2011/02/16/autism-recovery-with-the-gaps-diet-one-mothers-story/
The response from that post was phenomenal. My little blog had visitors from all over the world. I went from averaging 20 visitors a day to over 1300 a day. Since then I've discovered Sam's story being linked up on numerous other websites, including some in other languages!
The most amazing part of the entire ordeal was reading the comments from those that found hope in seeing Sam's videos. I think it's very easy to brush off someone's claims that a dietary change can effect neurological function, but actually SEEING change on video really makes a statement that's harder to refute.
Finding the GAPS diet has been such a blessing to our family. Being able to share our experience with others only blessed our family further. Thank you to Cheeseslave for getting our story out to a wider audience and thank you to the many other bloggers/facebookers (is that a word?) that have shared Sam's story online.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
GAPS Pumpkin Muffins and Cupcakes
We started our adventure on the GAPS diet a week and a half ago. Well, right off the bat we had a birthday party to attend, so I had to come up with a safe birthday treat for my children. Fortunately, I was able to take our GAPS pumpkin muffins and have them serve double-duty for the birthday party. Here's what I did:
Pumpkin Muffins - Makes 2 dozen
12 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 cup honey
1-1/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins or use muffin papers. Whisk together first five ingredients, then add in melted coconut oil by slowly drizzling it into the bowl, whisking as you add it. (Doing it this way keeps the melted coconut oil from cooling too quickly and turning clumpy.) Add cinnamon and nutmeg to taste. Spoon into muffin pans and bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick in the center comes out clean.
Hint: If you used muffin papers (which I do because I only have aluminum muffin pans) be sure to let your muffins cool for a few minutes before peeling the papers off. If you choose to eat them immediately, the papers will stick to the super-hot muffins and you'll end up having to spoon your sticky muffin mess out of the paper...I know this from experience!
So, the morning of the birthday party I made Pumpkin Muffins and we ate a dozen of them for breakfast. The kids loved them, no surprise there.
Then I took the remaining dozen and topped them with this frosting recipe:
http://www.healthhomehappy.com/2010/10/simple-meringue-frosting-refined-sugar-free.html
Finally, I sprinkled a little cinnamon on top of the frosting to make them pretty. They were a huge hit! The pumpkin keeps the muffins/cupcakes SOOO moist.
These would be perfect for all the parties that happen this time of year. If you do try the recipe, let me know what you think!
This post is proud to be part of Real Food Wednesday at
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/10/real-food-wednesday-102010.html
Pumpkin Muffins - Makes 2 dozen
12 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 cup honey
1-1/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins or use muffin papers. Whisk together first five ingredients, then add in melted coconut oil by slowly drizzling it into the bowl, whisking as you add it. (Doing it this way keeps the melted coconut oil from cooling too quickly and turning clumpy.) Add cinnamon and nutmeg to taste. Spoon into muffin pans and bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick in the center comes out clean.
Hint: If you used muffin papers (which I do because I only have aluminum muffin pans) be sure to let your muffins cool for a few minutes before peeling the papers off. If you choose to eat them immediately, the papers will stick to the super-hot muffins and you'll end up having to spoon your sticky muffin mess out of the paper...I know this from experience!
So, the morning of the birthday party I made Pumpkin Muffins and we ate a dozen of them for breakfast. The kids loved them, no surprise there.
Then I took the remaining dozen and topped them with this frosting recipe:
http://www.healthhomehappy.com/2010/10/simple-meringue-frosting-refined-sugar-free.html
Finally, I sprinkled a little cinnamon on top of the frosting to make them pretty. They were a huge hit! The pumpkin keeps the muffins/cupcakes SOOO moist.
These would be perfect for all the parties that happen this time of year. If you do try the recipe, let me know what you think!
This post is proud to be part of Real Food Wednesday at
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/10/real-food-wednesday-102010.html
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Why You Should Avoid Artificial Food
PLEASE open up the link below.
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/09/got-petroleum.html
It's a link to a blog that I view on a regular basis. The post goes over a science experiment that a teenager did. The teen took wheat berries and soaked them in different mixtures before planting them. She used different food colorings, aspartame, and finally a control group in water. Then she planted the wheat and monitored the growth progress of each. It's amazing to see in the photograghs how food colorings and aspartame effected the growth of the wheat.
So, my question is...if simple wheat berries are effected this negatively by artificial dyes and sweeteners, what does that mean it is currently doing to your body?
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/09/got-petroleum.html
It's a link to a blog that I view on a regular basis. The post goes over a science experiment that a teenager did. The teen took wheat berries and soaked them in different mixtures before planting them. She used different food colorings, aspartame, and finally a control group in water. Then she planted the wheat and monitored the growth progress of each. It's amazing to see in the photograghs how food colorings and aspartame effected the growth of the wheat.
So, my question is...if simple wheat berries are effected this negatively by artificial dyes and sweeteners, what does that mean it is currently doing to your body?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Our Favorite Chili Recipe
A while back a good friend shared her chili recipe with me. Ever since then, it's been our family's favorite. Those of you that know my husband, know that he's a picky eater. There are several things that he doesn't like to eat and soup is one of them. He likes his chili to be nice and thick, definitely NOT soup-like. This recipe even gets Shawn's approval!
Here's our favorite chili recipe:
2/3 c. dry pinto beans
2/3 c. dry red beans or kidney beans
2 lbs. ground beef
1 c. onion, diced
2 tsp. garlic, minced
1/4 c. green pepper, diced
1/3 c. chili powder
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
8 oz. can tomato sauce
1-1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 c. shredded spinach
The night before, sort dry beans, place in pot, and cover with warm water. Let soak for 12-24 hours. The next day, after soaking period has lapsed, drain, rinse, place back in pot and add water to cover beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for approximately two hours or until beans are soft.
After beans are cooked, begin browning ground beef with onion and garlic. Drain if necessary. Combine all ingredients together and simmer until done.
The addition of the shredded spinach thows some extra nutrition into the dish, plus I think it makes it looks prettier with the flecks of green in there! If you like your chili to be "soupier" than we do, then you could simply add in more tomato sauce. However, Shawn loves this chili because it makes the best Frito Chili Pies. This is the way he prefers his chili: Fritos covered with chili, then topped with shredded grassfed raw cheddar cheese.
This was the perfect meal for the small-scale camping trip he had with the kids this past weekend.
This post is proud to be part of Real Food Wednesday with Kelly the Kitchen Kop
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/09/real-food-wednesday-91510.html
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Shawn's Favorite Meal
Last night I made Shawn's favorite meal for supper. I figured I'd share it with you all today since it's such a big hit at our house. I enjoy serving this to my family since it employs so many aspects of a healthy, traditional diet: grassfed beef, animal fat, soaked rice, soaked beans, organic vegetables, etc.
Shawn's favorite meal consists of Spanish rice, refried beans, and guacamole with tortilla chips. A disclaimer on the Guacamole recipe though...I don't use a recipe to make the dip. I just throw everything into a bowl, so my measurements on the recipe are just estimates where I "eyeballed" what I seemed to be putting in the bowl.
Spanish Rice
1 cup uncooked brown rice
2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp. acidic medium (whey, yogurt, kefir or buttermilk)
2 Tbsp. lard or tallow
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped green pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
1 cup frozen corn
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
2-3/4 cups water
Chili powder, salt, pepper, and cumin to taste
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Place rice, 2 cups warm water, and acidic medium in covered dish and leave in warm place for at least 7 hours.
Later, after soaking time has finished:
In large skillet over medium heat, heat fat until melted and hot. Strain rice from acidic water. Add rice, onion, green pepper, and garlic to hot fat. Saute for 5 minutes or until onions are tender. Add the ground beef and cook until browned.
Add corn, tomatoes, and water. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 50 minutes or until rice is cooked. Season with chili powder, salt, pepper, and cumin to taste. Add freshly chopped cilantro and stir.
Crockpot Refried Beans
3 cups pinto beans
8-1/2 cups water
1 onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
The night before, place 3 cups dry pinto beans in a pot. Cover beans with warm water and allow to soak 12-24 hours. After soaking, drain water, rinse, and place in crockpot. Add all other ingredients and cook on high for 8 hours. Drain out most of the water. Mash beans, adding some liquid back in if needed. Can be portioned out and frozen for later use.
Guacamole
4 ripe avocados
1 lemon or lime, juiced
1 tsp. sea salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c. onion, minced
1 Tbsp. cumin
1/3 c. fresh cilantro, minced
Combine avocados, lemon/lime juice, and sea salt. Mash together with potato masher. Add other ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate one hour for flavors to blend.
We add good, pastured, raw cheddar cheese to the crockpot refried beans. We do eat our guacamole with tortilla chips purchased from the store. The best that we are able to find are organic, non-GMO chips that are fried in sunflower, safflower and/or canola oil. I'm not to the point of making my own tortilla chips yet, so this is what we use now!
I hope you enjoy this meal as much as my family does!
This post is proud to be a part of Real Food Wednesday with Kelly the Kitchen Kop
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/09/real-food-wednesday-9810.html
Shawn's favorite meal consists of Spanish rice, refried beans, and guacamole with tortilla chips. A disclaimer on the Guacamole recipe though...I don't use a recipe to make the dip. I just throw everything into a bowl, so my measurements on the recipe are just estimates where I "eyeballed" what I seemed to be putting in the bowl.
Spanish Rice
1 cup uncooked brown rice
2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp. acidic medium (whey, yogurt, kefir or buttermilk)
2 Tbsp. lard or tallow
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped green pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
1 cup frozen corn
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
2-3/4 cups water
Chili powder, salt, pepper, and cumin to taste
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Place rice, 2 cups warm water, and acidic medium in covered dish and leave in warm place for at least 7 hours.
Later, after soaking time has finished:
In large skillet over medium heat, heat fat until melted and hot. Strain rice from acidic water. Add rice, onion, green pepper, and garlic to hot fat. Saute for 5 minutes or until onions are tender. Add the ground beef and cook until browned.
Add corn, tomatoes, and water. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 50 minutes or until rice is cooked. Season with chili powder, salt, pepper, and cumin to taste. Add freshly chopped cilantro and stir.
Crockpot Refried Beans
3 cups pinto beans
8-1/2 cups water
1 onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
The night before, place 3 cups dry pinto beans in a pot. Cover beans with warm water and allow to soak 12-24 hours. After soaking, drain water, rinse, and place in crockpot. Add all other ingredients and cook on high for 8 hours. Drain out most of the water. Mash beans, adding some liquid back in if needed. Can be portioned out and frozen for later use.
Guacamole
4 ripe avocados
1 lemon or lime, juiced
1 tsp. sea salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c. onion, minced
1 Tbsp. cumin
1/3 c. fresh cilantro, minced
Combine avocados, lemon/lime juice, and sea salt. Mash together with potato masher. Add other ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate one hour for flavors to blend.
We add good, pastured, raw cheddar cheese to the crockpot refried beans. We do eat our guacamole with tortilla chips purchased from the store. The best that we are able to find are organic, non-GMO chips that are fried in sunflower, safflower and/or canola oil. I'm not to the point of making my own tortilla chips yet, so this is what we use now!
I hope you enjoy this meal as much as my family does!
This post is proud to be a part of Real Food Wednesday with Kelly the Kitchen Kop
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/09/real-food-wednesday-9810.html
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Does Prepping Mean We Don't Trust God?
I came across a wonderful post that addresses the above question.
http://autonomy-and-faith-collide.blogspot.com/2010/07/time-to-load-up-pantry-past-time.html#comment-form
I agree with her assertion that Scripture calls us to be prepared.
I do believe that God wants us to be prudent in our decisions concerning the future. I believe that Proverbs 31:21 points out that one of my duties as a woman is to ensure that our family is prepared. That verse states:
"She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is clothed with scarlet."
To me, this means that I should take precautions before an event occurs so that my household has nothing to fear. Now, whether that event is an ice storm or an economic collapse..the premise is still the same. I have a Scriptual obligation to make sure my family is prepared.
Just some thoughts..things to think about...
http://autonomy-and-faith-collide.blogspot.com/2010/07/time-to-load-up-pantry-past-time.html#comment-form
I agree with her assertion that Scripture calls us to be prepared.
I do believe that God wants us to be prudent in our decisions concerning the future. I believe that Proverbs 31:21 points out that one of my duties as a woman is to ensure that our family is prepared. That verse states:
"She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is clothed with scarlet."
To me, this means that I should take precautions before an event occurs so that my household has nothing to fear. Now, whether that event is an ice storm or an economic collapse..the premise is still the same. I have a Scriptual obligation to make sure my family is prepared.
Just some thoughts..things to think about...
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Sharing Something With You
I found this blog post and enjoyed it very much. Like the author, I've found that becoming more self-sufficient and firm in my beliefs has been very empowering. Anyhow, I wanted to pass it along in the hopes that you would enjoy it too.
http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2010/06/dont-be-scared.html
http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2010/06/dont-be-scared.html
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A WAP Birthday Treat
Yesterday was Sam's 5th birthday and also the first time I had to consider incorporating the Weston A. Price food guidelines into our menu. I did find a wonderful recipe for a Brownie Pudding Cake (you know, the brownie with the gooey fudgy chocolate sauce underneath...yum!) that called for soaking the grains and used real food in the ingredients. The recipe can be found here:
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2009/06/brownie-pudding-cake-dairy-free-and-soaked.html
The only alteration I made was, in the first six ingredients when it calls for 1/2 cup of non-dairy milk, I just used 1/2 cup plain 'ol raw milk. It turned out wonderfully! I purchased some Breyer's All Natural French Vanilla ice cream and served it with the warm brownie pudding cake. Sam was excited with his birthday treat. Andrew loved it. The messy picture on my previous post is Andrew after devouring the brownie pudding cake.
My dilemma now is that we're supposed to have an informal birthday party for Sam this weekend. I'd like to make him a traditional birthday cake, but I haven't found any recipes for a cake from soaked grains. I'm so new to soaking grains that I don't feel confident in converting my tried-and-true non-soaked recipe. Does anyone know of a good cake recipe using soaked grains? Or can you give me a simple tutorial on how to convert my tried-and-true non-soaked recipe into a healthy soaked recipe?
Here's my non-soaked recipe in case it helps:
2-1/4 cups freshly ground soft white wheat
1 cup raw honey
3/4 cup cocoa
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, well whipped
1 cup milk
1/2 cup melted virgin coconut oil
3 tsp. vanilla
1 cup boiling water
Combine all ingredients except boiling water. Beat for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). In greased 9x13 pan, bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Frost with your favorite frosting.
Oh, I guess I also need to research frosting recipes that don't include powdered sugar!
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/03/real-food-wednesday-3910.html
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2009/06/brownie-pudding-cake-dairy-free-and-soaked.html
The only alteration I made was, in the first six ingredients when it calls for 1/2 cup of non-dairy milk, I just used 1/2 cup plain 'ol raw milk. It turned out wonderfully! I purchased some Breyer's All Natural French Vanilla ice cream and served it with the warm brownie pudding cake. Sam was excited with his birthday treat. Andrew loved it. The messy picture on my previous post is Andrew after devouring the brownie pudding cake.
My dilemma now is that we're supposed to have an informal birthday party for Sam this weekend. I'd like to make him a traditional birthday cake, but I haven't found any recipes for a cake from soaked grains. I'm so new to soaking grains that I don't feel confident in converting my tried-and-true non-soaked recipe. Does anyone know of a good cake recipe using soaked grains? Or can you give me a simple tutorial on how to convert my tried-and-true non-soaked recipe into a healthy soaked recipe?
Here's my non-soaked recipe in case it helps:
2-1/4 cups freshly ground soft white wheat
1 cup raw honey
3/4 cup cocoa
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, well whipped
1 cup milk
1/2 cup melted virgin coconut oil
3 tsp. vanilla
1 cup boiling water
Combine all ingredients except boiling water. Beat for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). In greased 9x13 pan, bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Frost with your favorite frosting.
Oh, I guess I also need to research frosting recipes that don't include powdered sugar!
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/03/real-food-wednesday-3910.html
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Gradual Change
Rhyah's comment in my last post got me to thinking..."How did we get to the point that we're at now?" I know that our changes in eating habits didn't happen overnight and Shawn certainly wasn't turning down Doritos at the beginning of this food conversion. So, I've been trying to think back...
I would have to say that our food conversion officially started on Christmas 2007. From my parents, I received the NutriMill grain mill, hard white wheat, hard red wheat, soft white wheat, Sucanat (to replace brown sugar), Sucanat with Honey (to replace white sugar), and some raw honey. Prior to receiving the grain mill, I would bake cakes, brownies, and waffles from scratch on occasion, but I was using bleached flour and white refined sugar. If I made pancakes it would've been from a box of mix bought from Aldi. I started playing around with my recipes and converting them over. After much trial and error, I eventually found a bread recipe using freshly ground hard white wheat that we all really enjoyed.
Shortly after that, I stopped purchasing artificially flavored pancake syrup and we started only using real maple syrup. Also, around this time (early 2008) I stopped purchasing margarine and switched over to plain ol' butter. At this point we were still eating boxed scalloped potatoes, boxed breakfast cereals, Hamburger Helper, canned beans, canned cream of mushroom/chicken soups, canned chili, Velveeta... There was still a lot of processed foods in our diet, most were bought from Aldi because I was trying to keep our food budget down. Later that year, I stopped purchasing microwave popcorn. Instead, we purchased a big bag of popcorn from Sam's Club and borrowed an old popcorn popper from my mom. The baby steps happened little by little.
We kept this pattern of eating for quite a while. I continued to bake a lot and alter my recipes to use freshly ground flour, Sucanat, and Sucanat with honey. I would make small changes..like making my own spaghetti sauce instead of buying it ready-made in a jar or finding a local source of raw honey instead of purchasing it online from another state.
When Andrew developed eczema around three months of age (around February 2009) I started researching how my diet could be effecting him. I was exclusively nursing at the time. Up until this point, I had never really thought about how the food we ate effected more than just our waistlines. I soaked up every bit of knowledge I could find on food allergies and food sensitivities. I started omitting certain foods from my diet in order to try to give my baby some relief from the itchy rash. First I gave up wheat, then I gave up wheat and dairy. I was willing to do anything to keep my baby from scratching himself until he bled.
So, while I was doing this trial and error change in my diet, the rest of the family kept on eating as normal. One day a friend of mine (Hi Amanda!) witnessed one of Sam's awful meltdowns. She knew that we had issues with Sam exhibiting autistic-like behaviors, one of which was the "meltdown over nothing" behavior that came on a daily basis. She recommended that we look into the Feingold Diet. I did, and when I read about the symptoms that could be helped, I cried. This diet gave me hope that I could help Sam through changing our eating habits.
So, in July 2009 the whole family switched over to the Feingold Diet. The Feingold Diet eliminated all artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives from our diet. In the beginning stages, it also eliminated salicylates. The changes we saw were amazing! We saw an immediate improvement in Sam. He no longer would wake up screaming from his naps and he was finally able to be fully potty-trained. The autistic-behaviors did not go away entirely, but they did noticably improve. Drew's eczema, however, went away totally and completely! We were only on the diet for a week before his skin was beautiful and clear. This was my turning point. It was easy for me to see how the food we eat can drastically effect so many aspects of our lives.
I became a woman on a mission. In the week before beginning the Feingold Diet, I was serving the kids Froot Loops and Sunny D Smoothies for breakfast. I'm not exaggerating at all here. I remember serving it to them and being proud that I had gotten the Froot Loops for free with coupons and I actually made money, using coupons, by buying the Sunny D Smoothies. This is when our family's eating went through drastic changes. I had made a lot of food from scratch before, but I did even MORE now. I started trying out recipes for homemade granola instead of purchasing boxed cereals. I started making our own lemonade instead of using the CountryTime drink mix. I stopped using the cream of whatever soups and started making my own. I stopped purchasing cans of chicken broth and made my own. I tried and succeeded in making homemade marshmallows so the kids would fit in at Vacation Bible School. I found organic lollipops online to have on hand for spur-of-the-moment treats. We ate out so much less since there were very few restaurants that offered food without artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives. Home-cooked meals that were made from scratch became our new normal.
After being on the Feingold Diet for a month or two, I also decided to remove MSG, corn syrup, and sodium benzoates from our diet. In my mind, it just started to make more sense to eat foods that had been messed with as little as possible. I could see that, when our family ate foods that were closest to God's design, we felt better and were healthier.
Around September 2009 I found a farm two hours away that offered raw milk. We started making the trip there and began purchasing raw milk, farm fresh eggs, and free-range antibiotic/hormone free chickens.
In October we purchased our first grass-fed beef.
In November I started purchasing things with the organic label...organic fruits and vegetables, organic coconut flakes and I made my first purchase of unrefined coconut oil. Up until this point I still considered and regularly used canola oil as a healthy oil. I also purchased some cod liver oil at this time.
In January 2010 I started trying to switch over my recipes from using white/brown refined sugar and instead using only raw honey or real maple syrup as my sweeteners. This is still an ongoing process. I also began researching and experimenting with culturing dairy.
In February 2010 I joined the Weston A. Price Foundation. I succeeded in making my own butter, buttermilk, cream cheese, and whey from the raw milk that we purchase from the farm.
Now we're at March 2010 and my goal for this month is to work at soaking grains before preparing them. I've already made soaked bread, muffins, and oats. Tonight I'll be trying to make soaked tortillas for the first time.
When I look and compare our family's current way of eating to the way we ate prior to December 2007, there's a drastic change. If I had made that change overnight, Shawn would probably be in a fetal position in the corner. However, by making this change gradually (it's been over two years!) it's easier to accept. The biggest issue for us is becoming accustomed to a new normal. I remember when I first started making bread from scratch..Shawn missed WonderBread terribly. Now, when I mention trying out a new bread recipe so I can make bread from soaked grains the first thing Shawn said was, "So, are we not going to be able to have your bread anymore? It's really good bread."
I try to imagine what our new normal will be a year from now.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday over at http://www.cheeseslave.com/2010/03/03/real-food-wednesday-march-3-2010/
I would have to say that our food conversion officially started on Christmas 2007. From my parents, I received the NutriMill grain mill, hard white wheat, hard red wheat, soft white wheat, Sucanat (to replace brown sugar), Sucanat with Honey (to replace white sugar), and some raw honey. Prior to receiving the grain mill, I would bake cakes, brownies, and waffles from scratch on occasion, but I was using bleached flour and white refined sugar. If I made pancakes it would've been from a box of mix bought from Aldi. I started playing around with my recipes and converting them over. After much trial and error, I eventually found a bread recipe using freshly ground hard white wheat that we all really enjoyed.
Shortly after that, I stopped purchasing artificially flavored pancake syrup and we started only using real maple syrup. Also, around this time (early 2008) I stopped purchasing margarine and switched over to plain ol' butter. At this point we were still eating boxed scalloped potatoes, boxed breakfast cereals, Hamburger Helper, canned beans, canned cream of mushroom/chicken soups, canned chili, Velveeta... There was still a lot of processed foods in our diet, most were bought from Aldi because I was trying to keep our food budget down. Later that year, I stopped purchasing microwave popcorn. Instead, we purchased a big bag of popcorn from Sam's Club and borrowed an old popcorn popper from my mom. The baby steps happened little by little.
We kept this pattern of eating for quite a while. I continued to bake a lot and alter my recipes to use freshly ground flour, Sucanat, and Sucanat with honey. I would make small changes..like making my own spaghetti sauce instead of buying it ready-made in a jar or finding a local source of raw honey instead of purchasing it online from another state.
When Andrew developed eczema around three months of age (around February 2009) I started researching how my diet could be effecting him. I was exclusively nursing at the time. Up until this point, I had never really thought about how the food we ate effected more than just our waistlines. I soaked up every bit of knowledge I could find on food allergies and food sensitivities. I started omitting certain foods from my diet in order to try to give my baby some relief from the itchy rash. First I gave up wheat, then I gave up wheat and dairy. I was willing to do anything to keep my baby from scratching himself until he bled.
So, while I was doing this trial and error change in my diet, the rest of the family kept on eating as normal. One day a friend of mine (Hi Amanda!) witnessed one of Sam's awful meltdowns. She knew that we had issues with Sam exhibiting autistic-like behaviors, one of which was the "meltdown over nothing" behavior that came on a daily basis. She recommended that we look into the Feingold Diet. I did, and when I read about the symptoms that could be helped, I cried. This diet gave me hope that I could help Sam through changing our eating habits.
So, in July 2009 the whole family switched over to the Feingold Diet. The Feingold Diet eliminated all artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives from our diet. In the beginning stages, it also eliminated salicylates. The changes we saw were amazing! We saw an immediate improvement in Sam. He no longer would wake up screaming from his naps and he was finally able to be fully potty-trained. The autistic-behaviors did not go away entirely, but they did noticably improve. Drew's eczema, however, went away totally and completely! We were only on the diet for a week before his skin was beautiful and clear. This was my turning point. It was easy for me to see how the food we eat can drastically effect so many aspects of our lives.
I became a woman on a mission. In the week before beginning the Feingold Diet, I was serving the kids Froot Loops and Sunny D Smoothies for breakfast. I'm not exaggerating at all here. I remember serving it to them and being proud that I had gotten the Froot Loops for free with coupons and I actually made money, using coupons, by buying the Sunny D Smoothies. This is when our family's eating went through drastic changes. I had made a lot of food from scratch before, but I did even MORE now. I started trying out recipes for homemade granola instead of purchasing boxed cereals. I started making our own lemonade instead of using the CountryTime drink mix. I stopped using the cream of whatever soups and started making my own. I stopped purchasing cans of chicken broth and made my own. I tried and succeeded in making homemade marshmallows so the kids would fit in at Vacation Bible School. I found organic lollipops online to have on hand for spur-of-the-moment treats. We ate out so much less since there were very few restaurants that offered food without artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives. Home-cooked meals that were made from scratch became our new normal.
After being on the Feingold Diet for a month or two, I also decided to remove MSG, corn syrup, and sodium benzoates from our diet. In my mind, it just started to make more sense to eat foods that had been messed with as little as possible. I could see that, when our family ate foods that were closest to God's design, we felt better and were healthier.
Around September 2009 I found a farm two hours away that offered raw milk. We started making the trip there and began purchasing raw milk, farm fresh eggs, and free-range antibiotic/hormone free chickens.
In October we purchased our first grass-fed beef.
In November I started purchasing things with the organic label...organic fruits and vegetables, organic coconut flakes and I made my first purchase of unrefined coconut oil. Up until this point I still considered and regularly used canola oil as a healthy oil. I also purchased some cod liver oil at this time.
In January 2010 I started trying to switch over my recipes from using white/brown refined sugar and instead using only raw honey or real maple syrup as my sweeteners. This is still an ongoing process. I also began researching and experimenting with culturing dairy.
In February 2010 I joined the Weston A. Price Foundation. I succeeded in making my own butter, buttermilk, cream cheese, and whey from the raw milk that we purchase from the farm.
Now we're at March 2010 and my goal for this month is to work at soaking grains before preparing them. I've already made soaked bread, muffins, and oats. Tonight I'll be trying to make soaked tortillas for the first time.
When I look and compare our family's current way of eating to the way we ate prior to December 2007, there's a drastic change. If I had made that change overnight, Shawn would probably be in a fetal position in the corner. However, by making this change gradually (it's been over two years!) it's easier to accept. The biggest issue for us is becoming accustomed to a new normal. I remember when I first started making bread from scratch..Shawn missed WonderBread terribly. Now, when I mention trying out a new bread recipe so I can make bread from soaked grains the first thing Shawn said was, "So, are we not going to be able to have your bread anymore? It's really good bread."
I try to imagine what our new normal will be a year from now.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday over at http://www.cheeseslave.com/2010/03/03/real-food-wednesday-march-3-2010/
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Real Food SUCCESSES!!!
Yay! I have successes to report for a change.
Some of you may remember a previous post where my attempt to make cream cheese and whey from our raw milk was a complete failure. Well, I took the advice from one of the comments and pulled the failure back out of the fridge. I combined what should have been my whey and cream cheese into one jar again and let it sit for another day. Wow, what a difference a day made! Apparently I hadn't let the milk separate enough before processing it the first time. Of course, I started processing it this time before I realized...Hey, I ought to take a picture of this!! So, this picture was taken after I had already started pouring off the whey. However, I hope you can still see a big blob of white that has solidified in the center of the jar. That's the cream cheese. The yellowish liquid surrounding it is the whey.
When I first separated the cream cheese from the whey, I thought the whey had a very soured smell to it. However, I recently opened the container to use it for soaking oatmeal and noticed that the soured smell wasn't so bad. So, I don't know if I'm just getting used to it or if the smell becomes more tolerable over time. I am VERY pleased to report that oatmeal soaked using whey doesn't have a soured taste to it. I was pretty worried about that. I now have a new recipe for oats! Yay success!
Also...I recently made my own butter! I've been skimming the cream off the tops of our jars of milk. When I got enough to fill a pint mason jar I decided to process. I used the instructions from Mother Earth News.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/1978-03-01/How-To-Make-Butter.aspx
It took me 20 minutes of vigorous shaking, but this was the end result. (The jar contains the buttermilk that I poured off the butter.)
You might be able to see the consistency of the butter better here.
My butter didn't have that pretty yellow color to it. Unless someone else has any ideas, I'm going to contribute that to it being winter and the cows not having access to much fresh green grass. Anyway, I'll take white butter as opposed to paying $9.25 per pound for pastured yellow butter.
So, things are improving. I have recipes printed out for soaked wheat bread and soaked muffins and soaked tortillas, so those are going to be the next experiments in the kitchen. It's a slow process, but we're getting there!
For more information on Real Food, please check out Real Food Wednesday at
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/02/real-food-wednesday-22410.html
Some of you may remember a previous post where my attempt to make cream cheese and whey from our raw milk was a complete failure. Well, I took the advice from one of the comments and pulled the failure back out of the fridge. I combined what should have been my whey and cream cheese into one jar again and let it sit for another day. Wow, what a difference a day made! Apparently I hadn't let the milk separate enough before processing it the first time. Of course, I started processing it this time before I realized...Hey, I ought to take a picture of this!! So, this picture was taken after I had already started pouring off the whey. However, I hope you can still see a big blob of white that has solidified in the center of the jar. That's the cream cheese. The yellowish liquid surrounding it is the whey.
When I first separated the cream cheese from the whey, I thought the whey had a very soured smell to it. However, I recently opened the container to use it for soaking oatmeal and noticed that the soured smell wasn't so bad. So, I don't know if I'm just getting used to it or if the smell becomes more tolerable over time. I am VERY pleased to report that oatmeal soaked using whey doesn't have a soured taste to it. I was pretty worried about that. I now have a new recipe for oats! Yay success!
Also...I recently made my own butter! I've been skimming the cream off the tops of our jars of milk. When I got enough to fill a pint mason jar I decided to process. I used the instructions from Mother Earth News.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/1978-03-01/How-To-Make-Butter.aspx
It took me 20 minutes of vigorous shaking, but this was the end result. (The jar contains the buttermilk that I poured off the butter.)
You might be able to see the consistency of the butter better here.
My butter didn't have that pretty yellow color to it. Unless someone else has any ideas, I'm going to contribute that to it being winter and the cows not having access to much fresh green grass. Anyway, I'll take white butter as opposed to paying $9.25 per pound for pastured yellow butter.
So, things are improving. I have recipes printed out for soaked wheat bread and soaked muffins and soaked tortillas, so those are going to be the next experiments in the kitchen. It's a slow process, but we're getting there!
For more information on Real Food, please check out Real Food Wednesday at
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/02/real-food-wednesday-22410.html
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
I Still Don't Like Liver
I am still attempting to find a way to fix liver that could be remotely deemed as edible. So far I've attempted frying it and smothering it with tomato sauce. That didn't go over well. Yesterday I tried fixing it using Sally Fallon's recipe in Nourishing Traditions. I only made enough for myself because I knew that any additional servings would be wasted by the other members of my family. Here's what I did:
Mid-morning I took the sliced liver (from some great grass-fed beef we bought) and placed it in a bowl with the juice from two lemons. I set it aside and let it soak for about 2-1/2 hours. Here's what it looked like after soaking.
Then I removed the liver slices from the bowl and patted them dry. I put some leftover freshly ground wheat flour, Celtic sea salt, and pepper in a pan and battered the slices of liver. Then I placed them in a skillet with some lard. They only cooked for a short period of time. It really didn't take very long because the slices were pretty thin.
While those were cooking, I put some olive oil and grassfed butter in another skillet and began heating. I thinly sliced an onion and added it to the pan. I sauteed this for about 10 minutes. I know Nourishing Traditions says to cook for about 30 minutes, but my onions were starting to look burned, so I took them out early.
Then I placed the liver on a plate and covered them with onions. It looked really tasty I thought. I love onions, so I was looking forward to this meal.
I couldn't eat it. I took a couple bites and then ended up eating chili with Shawn and the kids. There was a strong lemon juice taste and, of course, the liver taste and texture were still there. I've read that you sometimes have to try a food numerous times before you start to like it. I can attest that it takes more than two times to enjoy liver. Maybe the third time's the charm...
This post has been linked to Real Food Wednesday at
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/02/real-food-wednesday-21010.html
Mid-morning I took the sliced liver (from some great grass-fed beef we bought) and placed it in a bowl with the juice from two lemons. I set it aside and let it soak for about 2-1/2 hours. Here's what it looked like after soaking.
Then I removed the liver slices from the bowl and patted them dry. I put some leftover freshly ground wheat flour, Celtic sea salt, and pepper in a pan and battered the slices of liver. Then I placed them in a skillet with some lard. They only cooked for a short period of time. It really didn't take very long because the slices were pretty thin.
While those were cooking, I put some olive oil and grassfed butter in another skillet and began heating. I thinly sliced an onion and added it to the pan. I sauteed this for about 10 minutes. I know Nourishing Traditions says to cook for about 30 minutes, but my onions were starting to look burned, so I took them out early.
Then I placed the liver on a plate and covered them with onions. It looked really tasty I thought. I love onions, so I was looking forward to this meal.
I couldn't eat it. I took a couple bites and then ended up eating chili with Shawn and the kids. There was a strong lemon juice taste and, of course, the liver taste and texture were still there. I've read that you sometimes have to try a food numerous times before you start to like it. I can attest that it takes more than two times to enjoy liver. Maybe the third time's the charm...
This post has been linked to Real Food Wednesday at
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/02/real-food-wednesday-21010.html
Friday, February 5, 2010
Blizzard Bloghop
I'm participating in the "Blizzard Bloghop" this weekend. This is a great way to meet fellow bloggers and introduce yourself to them. So, if you're interested in a one-stop-shop for a variety of blogs, then check out this blog for information on the Blizzard Bloghop!
http://www.household6diva.com/
Hi, I'm Janice. I am wife to Shawn and Momma to Sam, Sarah, and Andrew. Shawn and I have been married for 6-1/2 years. Sam is 4 years old, Sarah is 3, and Andrew is 14 months.
I only recently started this blog last fall. I created it to cover all dimensions of my life as a stay-at-home-mom. So far this blog has focused on:
Homesteading: At the time that I started this blog, we were shopping around for a homestead property. We've now been living on our dream property for about 7 weeks. We now live on 30 acres with an orchard, pond, two springs, garden, and barn/chicken coop.
Housekeeping: We try to live a simple lifestyle and part of that means that I make many of our family's cleaning products and personal care products. I share those non-food recipes that have worked well for me.
Cooking: We are transitioning into a more nourishing, more traditional, whole foods diet. I share the food successes and failures that come about while making this transition.
In the future, I see more blog posts about our first experiences on this homestead...planting our first garden here, our first harvest from our orchard, Shawn hunting on our property, our first batch of chickens this spring. I'm sure there will be many learning experiences to come!
I also see more posts about food-related topics. I'd like to get into culturing dairy, sprouting beans, soaking grains, and fermenting vegetables at some point this year and blog about those experiences.
I think there will be more posts concerning homeschooling. Of course we've been teaching the children since they've been born, but we are about to begin formally homeschooling this next year.
So, basically, this blog is my attempt to help others learn from my mistakes in SAHMville. My hope is that maybe by reading my posts, someone else can save time by bypassing an idea that's been an obvious failure for me and move on to an idea that I've had great success with.
I hope you'll take some time to look around see the overwhelming, adventurous, absolutely wonderful life that is SAHMville!
http://www.household6diva.com/
Hi, I'm Janice. I am wife to Shawn and Momma to Sam, Sarah, and Andrew. Shawn and I have been married for 6-1/2 years. Sam is 4 years old, Sarah is 3, and Andrew is 14 months.
I only recently started this blog last fall. I created it to cover all dimensions of my life as a stay-at-home-mom. So far this blog has focused on:
Homesteading: At the time that I started this blog, we were shopping around for a homestead property. We've now been living on our dream property for about 7 weeks. We now live on 30 acres with an orchard, pond, two springs, garden, and barn/chicken coop.
Housekeeping: We try to live a simple lifestyle and part of that means that I make many of our family's cleaning products and personal care products. I share those non-food recipes that have worked well for me.
Cooking: We are transitioning into a more nourishing, more traditional, whole foods diet. I share the food successes and failures that come about while making this transition.
In the future, I see more blog posts about our first experiences on this homestead...planting our first garden here, our first harvest from our orchard, Shawn hunting on our property, our first batch of chickens this spring. I'm sure there will be many learning experiences to come!
I also see more posts about food-related topics. I'd like to get into culturing dairy, sprouting beans, soaking grains, and fermenting vegetables at some point this year and blog about those experiences.
I think there will be more posts concerning homeschooling. Of course we've been teaching the children since they've been born, but we are about to begin formally homeschooling this next year.
So, basically, this blog is my attempt to help others learn from my mistakes in SAHMville. My hope is that maybe by reading my posts, someone else can save time by bypassing an idea that's been an obvious failure for me and move on to an idea that I've had great success with.
I hope you'll take some time to look around see the overwhelming, adventurous, absolutely wonderful life that is SAHMville!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
A Real Food Failure
My first attempt at making cream cheese and whey from raw cow's milk did not go so well. I'll spell out my journey and maybe someone out there can tell me where I went wrong! I used the recipe from the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.
Everything started fine. Sam and I placed a half gallon jar of raw milk on the counter and started the wait.
After three days of sitting on the counter, the cream is very separate from the milk, but I'm still unsure whether it's ready or not, so I wait another day. The recipe does say "1-4 days" after all, so I continue to wait.
After a full 4 days have passed, I decide to go ahead and attempt processing my cream cheese and whey. I got my large strainer and lined it with a clean and relatively thin dish towel. I tried really hard to only use glass containers to collect the whey, but I didn't have anything that would hold all of it. So, I ended up using a plastic pitcher in the end.
This is what was passing through the strainer.
I removed the strainer and tied the corners of the dishtowel to a wooden utensil and let the dishtowel hang until nothing else was dripping.
This is what I ended up with: a whole lot of liquid and very little cream cheese. The recipe said that I should've ended with about 5 cups of whey and 2 cups of cream cheese.
This picture's not great, but it might give you a better idea of the consistency of my "cream cheese."
I fear that I just ended up letting my milk spoil on the counter and then proceeded in separating the soured milk from the cream. The end result doesn't exactly stink, but it also doesn't smell real tasty either!
Does anyone have an idea on what I did wrong? I'd really like to start soaking oats and making fermented ketchup, but I need whey to do those things.
It's a constant learning process, but I'm stubborn enough to keep on trying!
Also, if you'd like to see posts of real food successes, then I suggest that you visit this site:
http://www.cheeseslave.com/2010/01/20/real-food-wednesday-january-20-2010/
Everything started fine. Sam and I placed a half gallon jar of raw milk on the counter and started the wait.
After three days of sitting on the counter, the cream is very separate from the milk, but I'm still unsure whether it's ready or not, so I wait another day. The recipe does say "1-4 days" after all, so I continue to wait.
After a full 4 days have passed, I decide to go ahead and attempt processing my cream cheese and whey. I got my large strainer and lined it with a clean and relatively thin dish towel. I tried really hard to only use glass containers to collect the whey, but I didn't have anything that would hold all of it. So, I ended up using a plastic pitcher in the end.
This is what was passing through the strainer.
I removed the strainer and tied the corners of the dishtowel to a wooden utensil and let the dishtowel hang until nothing else was dripping.
This is what I ended up with: a whole lot of liquid and very little cream cheese. The recipe said that I should've ended with about 5 cups of whey and 2 cups of cream cheese.
This picture's not great, but it might give you a better idea of the consistency of my "cream cheese."
I fear that I just ended up letting my milk spoil on the counter and then proceeded in separating the soured milk from the cream. The end result doesn't exactly stink, but it also doesn't smell real tasty either!
Does anyone have an idea on what I did wrong? I'd really like to start soaking oats and making fermented ketchup, but I need whey to do those things.
It's a constant learning process, but I'm stubborn enough to keep on trying!
Also, if you'd like to see posts of real food successes, then I suggest that you visit this site:
http://www.cheeseslave.com/2010/01/20/real-food-wednesday-january-20-2010/
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Growing Herbs Indoors
I absolutely love that I have several herbs growing in my kitchen. My mom gave me one of the kits for my last birthday and I just love it, love it, love it. The kit contained seeds for chives, cilantro, parsley, thyme, and basil. I use the herbs regularly. Before receiving my birthday gift, I don't think I had ever used a fresh herb. All of my cooking had been with dried herbs, which tasted good, but I just love being able to cut fresh herbs and put them right in a dish. The color and flavor that they give a dish makes the time spent tending to them worth it.
Here's a photo of my chives, thyme, and parsley. Besides being tasty, they make a great decoration too...I think so at least.
Ok, so here's my awful little secret. I think I may be killing off my cilantro and basil. Don't tell my mom though.
My cilantro was always pretty finicky. It started off looking ok, but has gone downhill ever since. My basil used to be absolutely gorgeous. It was full and deep green. Granted, I did use some recently to put in spaghetti sauce, so that accounts for some of the thinness, but not all of it. I was really feeling badly about murdering these plants when I read part of one of my favorite blogs recently. This is one of the "healthy eating" blogs I like to visit:
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/01/monday-morning-mix-up-11810.html
She mentioned that she was having difficulty with her basil and cilantro as well. So, I looked through the comments there and got several really good ideas on things I can do to salvage what's left of my basil and cilantro. I've rotated the herb rack so that the two ailing herbs are facing the dining room door so they'll get more sunlight. I'm also going to put some used coffee grounds on the soil to see if that helps.
So, I'll keep you updated if my herbs recover (because I know everyone is waiting with anticipation over this) or if they will end up added to the compost pile.
Here's a photo of my chives, thyme, and parsley. Besides being tasty, they make a great decoration too...I think so at least.
Ok, so here's my awful little secret. I think I may be killing off my cilantro and basil. Don't tell my mom though.
My cilantro was always pretty finicky. It started off looking ok, but has gone downhill ever since. My basil used to be absolutely gorgeous. It was full and deep green. Granted, I did use some recently to put in spaghetti sauce, so that accounts for some of the thinness, but not all of it. I was really feeling badly about murdering these plants when I read part of one of my favorite blogs recently. This is one of the "healthy eating" blogs I like to visit:
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/01/monday-morning-mix-up-11810.html
She mentioned that she was having difficulty with her basil and cilantro as well. So, I looked through the comments there and got several really good ideas on things I can do to salvage what's left of my basil and cilantro. I've rotated the herb rack so that the two ailing herbs are facing the dining room door so they'll get more sunlight. I'm also going to put some used coffee grounds on the soil to see if that helps.
So, I'll keep you updated if my herbs recover (because I know everyone is waiting with anticipation over this) or if they will end up added to the compost pile.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Sharing Another Blog With You
I read through a blog post today that I found very enjoyable. I wanted to share it with you too.
http://matronofhusbandry.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/why-food/
This family owns an 180 acre farm in the Pacific Northwest. They raise most of their own food and live a homesteader lifestyle. I really enjoy seeing the beautiful pictures that are posted. I hope you enjoy the blog as well!
http://matronofhusbandry.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/why-food/
This family owns an 180 acre farm in the Pacific Northwest. They raise most of their own food and live a homesteader lifestyle. I really enjoy seeing the beautiful pictures that are posted. I hope you enjoy the blog as well!
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