Buttered Leeks

The first time I heard about leeks as a side dish, I thought how could that possibly be good? Leeks are part of the onion family after all. But the leeks come bundled together in bunches of three and the Potato Leek soup I made the other day only need half a leek. I didn't want the rest to go to waste. I decided to try out this easy side dish and discovered I really, really like it! Then again it uses a lot of butter so what isn't to like! But don't worry, Butter is actually good for you, despite the reputation it has gotten  in the past couple of decades. Real butter from grass fed cows is high in vitamins A, D and E. And despite what our culture tells us, you don't get fat off fat. Well, real fat that is. People gain weight from margarine, canola oil and other industrial oils. Real fat is used as energy and doesn't get stored in your body as fat. Gotta hand it to those marketers at Crisco for misleading the public about Real Fat! So make this yummy dish, and use a high quality real butter and enjoy every delicious bite. By the way the darker yellow your butter the healthier it is. By the way... Land O'Lakes may make "real" butter, but it isn't a grass fed butter.
-Amanda

Buttered Leeks

1-2 leeks (I used 1 and the half one I had left over)
6 tbsp of butter
1/2 tsp thyme
sea salt and pepper

Cut your leeks up, I cut mine in half lengthwise and then cut them in half again. We decided that the pieces were too big, so cutting them smaller would probably be better. However you cut them, after cutting you need to put them in a big bowl or sink of water and swish them around. Leeks grow up through dirt and dirt gets trapped in their tight leaves. Shake, pat or salad spin them dry.

Melt butter in a large skillet. Place leeks in and stir until they start to get wilty on medium heat. Add thyme, salt and pepper and cover. Cook on low for about 10 minutes until they are soft. Serve!

Homemade Dog Biscuits

I like having the girls in the kitchen with me cooking when I'm not in a hurry trying to get dinner on the table. Making dog biscuits is just like making cookies (actually these are completely edible for humans.) But making them for your dog, the dog gets to eat them instead of having a ton of cookies for your kids to eat (or you!) And believe me, the thought of making a special treat for their puppy and giving it to him was enough of a treat for the girls they weren't even thinking of cookies for themselves! For more pictures of the girls making the cookies check out Ditt & Dott.
-Amanda

Homemade Doggie Treat Biscuits

1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
lemon zest from 1 lemon
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp coconut oil (or olive oil)
1/4 to 1/2 cup water

Mix flour, brown sugar, and lemon zest together in a large bowl. If you are using coconut oil, melt it in a small bowl. Pour into the flour. Then melt the peanut butter in that small bowl. The oil will help the peanut butter slide right out into the flour bowl. Add vanilla and 1/4 cup of the water. Stir with a wooden spoon. Add a bit more water if needed until a ball of dough forms. Roll out and cut into cookie shapes. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes.

Thank You to my Followers!

I can't believe my cooking blog has 39 followers. It is so exciting to see that number grow. Every time I get a comment and every time I get a new follower I get excited. I started this blog mostly as a documentation of the foods I eat and the recipes I made. The joke in my marriage is that I can't cook the same meal twice. And it is true! Everytime I make something I'm always tweaking it or subbing some ingredient or other. A few times my husband would tell me, "This is GREAT just the way it is! Please write it down so you can make it this way again!"

Well I never would take the time to write it down and the next time I'd make that dish hubby would sigh and say this is good, but man, last time it was so great! (Of course sometimes the new version really was better!) So I decided one day to finally start writing things down. Then I got a few followers and that was fun. Next I had friends and family tell me that they loved getting recipe ideas from me. I started this blog almost exactly 2 years ago and it is fun to look back at all the fun I've had and how much I've learned with cooking over the past two years. It's neat to see the phases I have been through too. From following a low-calorie/high fiber diet (read here why I no longer believe that is healthy) to being lost about health and just cooking whatever I wanted, from learning how to make homemade breads (here was my first bread!) and now following the principles of the Real Food movement set forth by the Weston A. Price Foundation.

I want to let out a big thank you to all of my followers. You all mean a lot to me. Like I said, I love reading your comments and hearing if you've made some version of one of my meals. If I've inspired you to try something new, I love hearing about that too. Even if you tried something and it failed (I've had plenty of failed experiments too!) please take a moment to share with me! If you enjoy reading The Frickin Chicken, I'd love for you to share it with your family and friends. And I did start a Facebook page a bit ago. Please join me on Facebook where the conversation is picking up! If you haven't ever read about how The Frickin Chicken got its name, it's a funny short story and you can read it here.
-Amanda

Lacto-Fermented Hot Sauce

Ever since learning about Lacto-Fermented foods and the nutritional benefits that fermented foods provide, I've been so excited to learn new recipes. Creating lacto-fermented foods is so incredibly easy, the hardest part is to get over the fact that most of us were raised to fear bacteria. For some reason we all know that yogurt is good for us because it has "live-active cultures." Well, I'm learning how to put those "live-active cultures" in ketchup, hot sauce, mayonnaise, pickles, pickled vegetables and more. Those live-active cultures are also known as probiotics and they help keep the flora in our guts in balance. They aide in digestion and they help fight off common colds.

I got this recipe from The Nourished Kitchen, where she made her sauce with scotch bonnets. Her hot sauce is just that HOT! I used jalepenos so mine should be called more of a "mild" sauce. I also passed my sauce through a very fine sieve so it is more liquidy than hers. All of this is to your preferences and it is fun to experiment. You are left over with chili paste, that would be great to use in marinades, stir-frys and such. Remember heating anything that you lacto-ferment over 110 degrees kills the good bacterias and enzymes, but sometimes lacto-fermenting is just used as a way of preservation. The chili paste, once fermented will last months in your fridge.
-Amanda

Lacto-Fermented Hot Sauce

3 lbs of chilis (I think I only used two, but these types of recipes are very forgiving!)
3-6 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp of sugar
2 tsp of sea salt
1/4 cup of whey

Cut off the stems of your chilis and place them in a food processor. Throw in your garlic cloves and pulse until you get a pasty texture. Add the salt, sugar and whey and process a few more times to mix. Transfer to a glass jar and let sit on the counter for 4-5 days until you see some bubble action. Strain using a mesh strainer and you have hot sauce and chili paste!

10 minute Creamy Chicken Soup

This was a fast soup to throw together. I did already have a grilled chicken breast in the refridgerator so that is what made it so fast. When I make homemade stock, I like to store a lot of it in ice cube trays (after they freeze I tranfer to a freezer safe bag.) This way I have small portions of stock to add to sauces and gravies easily! I only made one portion of this soup, but feel free to double as necessary!
-Amanda

10 minute Creamy Chicken Soup

1-2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp butter
4-5 button or cremini mushrooms
handful of frozen peas
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup (or a few ice cubes) of homemade chicken stock
1/2 chicken breast, cooked and diced
freshly grated parmesan
1 tbsp fresh parsley
salt and lots of pepper (I actually added more pepper after the photo was taken, I liked the kick it gave the broth.)

Quickly mince some garlic and throw it in a small pot with the butter on medium heat, you don't want to burn the garlic. Chop mushrooms and add to the garlic. Turn up heat a bit and saute until mushrooms are nice and brown on the edges. Add handful of peas. Pour in your cream and chicken stock. If you are using stock in ice cube format, go ahead and throw them in frozen and just cook until they blend. Add cooked chicken and continue to cook until chicken is warmed through. Salt & Pepper and garnish with parmesan and parsley.

Garlic Snapper

I've got fish on the brain since it's lent. Last Sunday I was shopping at Sprouts and I saw this fresh snapper on Managers Special and I grabbed it up. I wasn't thinking it all the way through. One being there was only two fillets in the package and my girls LOVE fish so they'll eat an entire fillet between the two of them. Second it was fresh fish, and Friday is a long way off from Sunday. So I cooked it up tonight, I gave it to the girls and my hubby and I made a smoothie for myself, which I was kinda craving anyway. I'm sure this would taste great with catfish and tilapia too!
-Amanda

Garlic Snapper

2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2-3 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp finely minced fresh parsley
1/4 tsp cajun seasoning
salt and pepper

Melt butter in a skillet. I use cast iron which is pretty much non-stick. Add garlic, worcestershire sauce and cajun seasoning. Salt and pepper the fish fillets and add them to the skillet. Cook about 8 minutes per side on med-low. Covering the pan to help it cook through. Serve when fish flakes easily apart with a fork.

Breakfast Blueberry Crepes

I made the girls breakfast crepes this morning. Although they are so good they could be dessert crepes too! For two crepes I took about an two ounces of cream cheese, a big dollop of cottage cheese, a tbsp of honey and a tablespoon or two of heavy cream. I put all of that in a mini food processor (I love my magic bullet!) with a splash of vanilla and a few sprinkles of cinnamon. After blending it, I added a couple handfuls of blueberries and stirred gently. Divide the filling between the two crepes and fold. Serve cold or warm in microwave for 30-45 seconds.

-Amanda