12.13.2014

Christmas Fruit


We were assigned to bring some fruit to a Christmas party and you know those neat fancy fruit trees?

I wanted to make one of those, but it failed because I didn't have enough fruit!

Being that the one grocery store in our area never has a good selection and worse since it's winter the pickings were slim, oh so very slim.

I have these cute little mini cookie cutters and so I used them for the pineapple and made this fun fruit salad.

It was worth the $6 I paid for the 1lb of strawberries, I guess :)

12.08.2014

A Few More...


A few more dishes I've been able to tolerate.

My favorite bone broth soup.

We saved our organic turkey carcass and all the bones from Thanksgiving and I made this broth.

Added some carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, white turkey meat, and sea salt.

Super good :)



Also, this bell pepper mix with some wild caught white fish.

Fried in some ghee (grass-fed clarified butter). Spiced with sea salt, basil, turmeric, and ginger.

Very tasty!

And always remember...


:)

12.04.2014

The Pumpkin Pie Post



I am so happy to say that this pie was delicious!

As I am able to introduce and eat more things I was really looking forward to making this.

Against All Grain has some wonderful foods that I've been able to tolerate.

I used her Honey Graham Cracker Pie Crust or in my case....

Maple Syrup Graham Cracker Pie Crust because I can not have honey.

I also used fresh "Pie Pumpkin" and cut it up, baked it, and pureed it myself.

I feel like "The Little Red Hen."

Which is totally a good thing!


Graham Cracker Pie Crust
AUTHOR: Danielle Walker - AgainstAllGrain.com

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons coconut flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
  • 1/4 cup honey *or maple syrup
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

  1. Mix the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
  2. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
  3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix until combined.
  4. Using your fingers, press the dough evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie or tart pan.


Against All Grain does have a pumpkin pie filling, but I used Food Babes "Healthy Pumpkin Pie w/ Coconut Whipped Cream"filling...
Ingredients
  • ½ cup coconut palm sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 can (15 oz.) 100% Pure Pumpkin
  • 1 can (13.5 oz.) full fat coconut milk
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine all filling ingredients in a bowl and puree with a stand or hand mixer.
  3. Pour filling ingredients into pie shell.
  4. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (or longer) or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.
  5. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
  6. Top with whipped cream before serving.
Notes
Filling may yield two pies depending on your pie dish or crust.


Then top it off with some beautiful coconut whipped cream!

Coconut Whip Cream:
1. The most important thing to do is put a can of full-fat coconut milk in the fridge overnight.
2. All the fat will solidify at the top of the can.
3. To open the can turn it upside down where the cream isn't sitting, heavy side on bottom and then open it up with a can opener.
4. Pour out coconut water into another container to save if you want.
5. Scrap out the cream into a mixing bowl.
6. Add some kind of sweetener...white sugar, powdered sugar, maple syrup, honey, agave, etc.
7. Beat/whip it together with a mixer.
8. Taste test and sweeten to your liking.

Enjoy a delicious healthy pumpkin pie!

Thanksgiving Dinner!


What else could be better than Pumpkin Pie at Thanksgiving?!

Well, I guess the Turkey, surfing, rolls, vegetable dishes, cornbread, and other pies too :)

But, this pumpkin pie was special because I was able to eat it!

It's a Paleo pie and was awesome.


Onto the main event!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I cooked just about everything from scratch and was in the kitchen from morning 'til late afternoon.

Whew! It's a good thing my hubby took care of our yummy organic turkey!


I had lots and lots of help from my kids and family too, thank goodness.

I made this Sourdough, Wild Mushroom, & Bacon Stuffing.
I bought an organic rosemary sourdough loaf at Wholefoods and wow,
it smelled delicious!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 pounds sourdough bread, crusts trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 12 cups)
  • 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 pound oyster mushrooms, coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 4 tablespoons canola oil, divided
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3/4 pound slab bacon, cut into 1/2-inch dice
  • 1 large Spanish onion, finely diced
  • 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 3 to 5 cups homemade chicken stock or low sodium canned chicken broth
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

  • Spread the bread onto a large baking sheet (or 2 smaller baking sheets) in an even layer and bake, stirring a few times, until lightly golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove and let cool. Once cooled, put the cubes into a very large bowl.

  • Increase the heat to 375 degrees F. Combine the mushrooms in a large baking dish or baking sheet, toss with 3 tablespoons of the oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven, stirring several times, until soft and golden brown, about 25 minutes.

  • While the mushrooms are roasting, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of the canola oil in a large high-sided saute pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and the fat has rendered, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels.

  • Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the rendered fat in the saute pan and place back on the stove over high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add 3 cups of the chicken stock and the herbs, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer.

  • Add the mushrooms to the bread, and then add the onion/stock mixture, egg, salt and pepper, and gently stir until combined. The dressing should be very wet, add more stock as needed. Scrape the mixture into a buttered 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue baking until the top is golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay



My father in-law did the brussels sprouts, I don't know what he put in it, but it was good!

Here's a recipe from my previous brussel sprout dish...

I threw together this dish by chopping up...

Fresh Garlic, minced
Onions, diced
Potatoes, peeled and cubed
Brussel Sprouts, bottoms cut off
and cut in half

I started to pre cook the sausage in a pan on the stove, but didn't cook all the way because it would cook longer in the oven.

I put everything in a big bowl and added sea salt (I like Redmonds), peppercorn (from the pepper grinder), and Italian Herb Seasoning, and then drizzled plenty plenty of oil all over and mixed it all together.

Preheat oven 400 deg or so for 30-40 mins.


Can't forget the cornbread and rolls!

I just used an easy cornbread recipe here and oh my goodness the rolls...

This was my first time making rolls, quite daunting, and after all the…

Mixing
Kneading
Rolling
Etc.

There was lots of time waiting for them to rise.

And hoping they'd turn out!!

I had the help of my little sous chef, so all in all they didn't turn out bad, but I'll get it right one day!

Can you guess the secret ingredient in just about every dish?

Ryan says, "It starts with "B" and ends with "utter"!"

Yep....


B-U-T-T-E-R

And lots of it!

Lots of healthy organic grass-fed butter that is.


In the pie crust along there is 4 sticks of it!

Luckily, my littlest was my apple pie helper!

He was so cute slicing the apples, juicing the lemon, and mixing the sugar.

We named it after him :)


Sadly the pie didn't turn out like I was hoping for due to various reasons, but just throw down some vanilla ice cream and it's all good!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

12.03.2014

Macadamia Waffles



Macadamia Waffles
AUTHOR: Danielle Walker - AgainstAllGrain.com
SERVES: 6

Ingredients:

For the Syrup
  • 2 peaches, pitted and sliced
  • 2 plums, pitted and sliced
  • ½ cup cherries, pitted (frozen or fresh)
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions:

  1. Place all of the syrup ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat while you prepare the waffles, or about 15 minutes. Keep it at a low but constant boil to bring out the juices from the fruit and reduce the syrup.
  2. Preheat a waffle iron to the lowest setting.
  3. Add all of the ingredients to a blender, making sure to put the liquids at the bottom for easier blending.
  4. Blend on low for 30 seconds, then increase the strength to high and continue blending until completely smooth, about another 30 seconds. If you do not have a high-speed blender, it may take a bit longer and a couple of times of pushing the batter down the side of the jar with a spatula.
  5. Spoon the batter into the waffle iron, filling half way full and spreading evenly over the mold.
  6. Cook on the low setting for 45 seconds to a minute, until the steam stops rising from the machine and the waffles easily release with a fork. Keep the waffles in a warm oven while you finish the batter.
  7. Allow the syrup to cool and thicken for 15 minutes before serving.


I change up this recipe a little bit by adding ghee instead of coconut oil and I don't melt it. And I can't do honey, so I add 1 1/2 tablespoon of organic maple syrup. And I don't add the vanilla extract, just to take out unneeded things for myself. I also don't do the fruit syrup. I just "butter" it with some ghee, which is clarified butter. Soon, enough I'll try some blueberries.

They are a bit more delicate and fall apart easier than regular glutenous flours for breads.

These are seriously my favorite. Enjoy!

I also highly recommend Danielle Walker's Cookbooks they are excellent...


Found here and here at Amazon. :)