Steak Marinade and Duck Fat French Fries

 It's almost a sin to eat steak on a paper plate, but my dishwasher is on the fritz and I'm just too spoiled to wash all my dishes by hand.

I had the girls plate their own food. Maddie very carefully lined up her grapes. She piled the french fries on top of the steak as if to hide it. Too bad when she finished her fries I saw all that steak sitting there. And they've eaten steak lots of times before but right now they are in a very picky stage of life. My mom bought me the duck fat for my birthday and I was excited to use it for the first time!
-Amanda

Steak Marinade 

(for one lonely steak)

1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp honey
a clove grated garlic
1 tsp basil
salt & pepper
a sprinkle of hot pepper flakes

Mix all ingredients in a shallow dish with edges. Marinade steak for at least 4 hours, flipping occasionally. Grill or broil.

Duck Fat French Fries

2 small potatoes
sea salt
duck fat

Cut potatoes into french fry shape. I used a mandolin.  Place in a bowl and toss with 2 tbsp of duck fat. Sprinkle with sea salt. Spread evenly on a cookie sheet and bake at 425 for 20 minutes or until crispy and golden.

Sugar Plums

I saw these sugar plums on Nourished Kitchen's blog a couple of days ago and knew I had to try them for my girls. They are basically dried fruit and nuts, both foods my girls love, how could they be bad? It was fun to read about the history of Sugar Plums on her blog too, so go check it out! She said you could roll them in powdered sugar, but they were so incredibly sweet from the dried fruit that didn't need any extra sugar! I used Crispy Nuts* instead of her freshly soaked nuts so I needed to add in a bit of water. I think a splash of rum would be a great grown-up version!
-Amanda

*Crispy Nuts- a recipe by Sally Fallon. Soaking your nuts in salt water gets rid of the phytic acid in the nuts, an anti-nutrient that is very hard to digest and isn't good for your body. Use about 1 tsp of salt per cup of nuts. Cover the nuts with filtered water and stir in salt. Let them soak for 24 hours. Drain, and spread out on a cookie sheet and bake at 150 (or as low as your oven goes) for 12 hours. Or use a dehydrator until they are completely dry and crispy.

Sugar Plums

1 cup walnuts
1/2 tsp salt
zest of 1 orange
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 corriander
1 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup apricots
1/2 cup pitted prunes

Soak nuts over night with salt. Or if you are using crispy nuts like I did, use 1/8-1/4 cup of water to help moisten the mixture. Then toss all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to mix. Then process for a couple of minutes until a paste forms. Using a 1 tbsp scooper, scoop out and form little balls using your hands. These are actually very sweet!

Cream of Roasted Garlic Soup

I'll be the first to admit that this soup needs a bit of help in the appearance department. The color didn't come out that pretty and I accidentally let my eggs curdle in it, which didn't help the situation. Otherwise the soup tasted awesome. Seriously awesome. I ended up using 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour to thicken the soup, I need to find a better way to thicken. Either more cauliflower to add more bulk or perhaps more egg yolks. I, personally do not like plain "cream of" soups, I like to have "chunks" in my soup, so I added some sauted mushrooms, bacon and diced chicken to give the soup bite.
-Amanda

Cream of Roasted Garlic Soup

4 strips of bacon
8-10 button mushrooms
2 tbsp oil (I used coconut oil, but butter or olive oil would be fine.)
2 HEADS of garlic. Not cloves, but the entire head of garlic. You want a about a cup-cup and half of whole, peeled garlic cloves
1/2 an onion
2 stalks of celery
Enough oil (I used ghee & olive oil) to halfway cover the garlic
1.5 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp chili flakes
32 oz chicken stock (I used homemade)
16 oz water
1 package of frozen cauliflower, you can use fresh too. Make sure the frozen package lists only cauliflower as an ingredient.
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup of flour
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 chicken breast previously cooked, and diced

Peel garlic and set aside. This took me about 15 minutes to do. Cut the bacon stips into pieces and saute in a soup pot until crispy. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon and put it in a small bowl leaving all of the bacon grease in the pot. Add chopped mushrooms. Saute until cooked through. I had to add 2 tbsp of coconut oil (or butter/ghee/olive oil) when the mushrooms got dry and started to stick. Add mushrooms to the bowl of bacon.

Place all the garlic, chopped onion and celery in the pot. Add enough oil to about halfway cover the garlic. Simmer on low heat for at least 30 minutes stirring frequently. You cannot rush this step. This is the pan roasting of the garlic. If you go to high of heat, the garlic will burn. You almost can't go too slow. When the garlic starts to turn a golden brown it is okay to continue, but the longer and slower you cook the more sweet and developed the flavor will be. Add the thyme, salt, pepper and chili flakes.

Add chicken stock, water and cauliflower to the pot and bring to a boil. When cauliflower has softened use a stick blender to puree the soup. If you don't have a stick blender you can use a regular blender being careful of the heat. In a medium bowl beat egg yolks. Add a bit of the soup to temper the eggs. Keep adding a little soup at a time until eggs are as hot as the soup. Pour the egg and soup mixture back into the pot. Put 1/4 cup of wheat flour in the now empty egg bowl. Add some soup to it and whisk until there is no lumps. Add the flour mixture back into the soup. Bring to a rolling boil.

Remove from heat, stir in heavy cream, chicken, mushrooms and bacon. Serve!

Chicken Pot Pie Stew

I forgot to take a picture of this before I ate it, so this is a picture of the leftovers! This soup is so warm and cozy. The broth is drinkable, rich and delicious. What gave me the idea for this soup was a chicken pot pie. I'm eating low carb right now so I didn't want to make a real chicken pot pie, but I was wanting those flavors. As I was making the "pot pie insides" I spontaneously decided to make it a soup, by adding a lot more liquid. I'm so glad I did, this was terrific! I used a lot of seasonings, but use any combination of the ones I list according to your preferences. I was going to add fresh parsley at the end, but I forgot to add it! I'll add some in for the leftovers, parsley is full of great vitamins!
-Amanda

Chicken Pot Pie Stew

2 chicken breasts, previously cooked
4 tbsp butter or ghee, split
1.5 cups of chopped mushrooms
1 small onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup heavy cream
4 cups chicken stock (I use homemade)
salt, pepper
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
pinch of tarragon (this is a strong spice)
pinch of dill

In a large soup pot, melt two tablespoons of ghee or butter. Add diced carrot, onion and celery. Cook on a low heat until carrots begin to get soft. Add in garlic and mushrooms. Continue to cook on med-low until mushrooms are cooked through. Add all the spices. Add two more tablespoons of butter or ghee and stir until melted. Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and stir until the flour is wet from the butter and coats the vegetables. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the heavy cream. Right before serving, add the chicken and peas, cooking long enough to defrost the peas. Enjoy!

Bacon and Spinach Quiche

I attended a brunch playdate with some of my fellow moms of multiples yesterday and I brought this Bacon and Spinach Quiche for everyone to try. I almost forgot to snap a photo, but made everyone stop for a quick shot!
-Amanda

Bacon and Spinach Quiche

1 lb of bacon (nitrate free!)
1 bag of loosely frozen spinach (I find this is better than the frozen box spinach because you don't have to thaw and squeeze all the liquid out.) Fresh spinach would work perfectly fine too!
1.5 cups of heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of cheese (swiss or cheddar)
6 eggs from free range chickens
1 crust*

Roll crust out and place it in a pie dish. Stick it back in the refridgerator to stay cold. Cook bacon using your favorite method. I found that if you have the Pampered Chef Bar Stoneware, it cooks bacon great in the oven and you don't have to turn it. Just lay the bacon out on the stoneware and bake at 400 for 25 minutes for crispy bacon. Let bacon cool. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and heavy cream. Add salt and pepper. Grate your cheese and have it ready. Remove pie shell from refridgerator and layer bacon, spinach, cheese, and then again with another layer of bacon, spinach and cheese. If you have the loose spinach, you can place it frozen in the dish. Pour egg mixture over the layers and shake to make sure it gets evenly distributed. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Crust

8 tbsp butter
1 cup flour (I used white wheat)
1 tsp salt
4 ice cold tbsp of water

Place butter in freezer for 15 minutes. Put flour in food processor and add salt. Pulse to mix. Remove butter and cube it into small pieces. Add to food processor and pulse 6-8 times until the butter is pea sized in the flour. Add 1 tbsp of ice cold water at a time pulse until dough starts ball up and pull away from sides of processor. Pour dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Refrigerate 1 hour before rolling it out.

Pecan Pie Sans Corn Syrup

Living in Turkey there are certain things that are hard (or simply not available) to purchase.  Corn syrup is one of those things.   I was actually pleased to make a pie without the corn syrup since it is really not healthy anyway.  The recipe still has sugar in it, but at least it is not corn syrup.  I had a little trouble finding a recipe with out corn syrup, but I figured they would exist since pecan pie was made before development of corn syrup.   The pie turned out beautifully, rich and gooey without that sickly sweet taste you find normally.   I found this recipe online at Allrecipes.  I doubled the recipe and just used one pie shell since I found it made a shallow pie.

-Jules

Pecan Pie Sans Corn Syrup 
Ingredients
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
In a large bowl, beat eggs until frothy, and stir in melted butter. Add the brown sugar, white sugar and the flour--mix well. Then add the milk, vanilla and nuts.
Pour into an unbaked 9-in pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until done.

Homemade Cold Breakfast Cereal

About a month ago or so, I read that boxed cereal isn't very good for your body. Once I read the article (and read the same info in some other places too.) I couldn't un-read it and pretend it wasn't true. I didn't want it to be true because I LOVE cereal. I grew up on bowls and bowls of cereal. My thinking is that it isn't so bad for you that you'll keel over and die immediately, because lets face it, most of us grew up eating lots of cereal and we are still here. But it's one of those things that when you find out something isn't good for your body and actually causes harm over the long haul it is best to eliminate it or at least reduce it in your diet.

John has the argument that convenience foods are just that, convenient. He says living with modern food and getting to enjoy other modern facets of life is worth some of the chemicals and such in processed foods. That is a very valid point. I believe that if you eat healthy, nutrient dense, non-chemical foods that you will have a better quality life. I've heard some people use an 80-20 rule. Eighty percent of the time eat nutrient dense foods and then 20 percent rely on convenience, restaurants or sweets. I think that is a good balance for my life. I also  really enjoy cooking from scratch and learning about healthy, nutritious foods. Some people say that science has given us ways to make food cheap and easy, but science has also given us a better understanding of why some of the foods and methods our great-great-great grandparents used worked the way they did. Our grandparents learned by trial and error passing down recipes and methods over the years. We now know why mixing whey in with your cucumbers makes a tasty pickle that is full of healthy probiotics. Our great-greats just knew that it'd make their cucumbers last through the winter!

I'm a bit off topic here. Back to the cereal. Basically to create cereal, manufactures super-heat the grains (wheat, corn, rice, etc.) and extrude them through machines. This super high heat makes the oils in the protein of the grains rancid. Anything rancid is VERY bad for you. Rancid foods create free-radicals in your body. Free radicals cause disease. So any chance you get to eliminate free-radicals in your body the better! That's why when I read that store bought cereal creates these free-radicals in your body, I decided I didn't want to eat it anymore. This was hard, and I actually bought a few boxes before I decided to find other things to eat instead. Then my mom came across a video on The Healthy Home Economists blog on how to make cereal from scratch. She grinds her own flour, which I will probably start doing at some point, but for now I just used store bought whole wheat flour. I also used my brand new excalibur dehydrator for the drying process. The end result tastes a lot like a Raisin Bran, if you add raisins to the dry cereal. (I'm not actually eating this cereal because I'm on a low-carb diet right now, but I made it for my girls to enjoy!)

Izzie and Maddie eating their homemade cereal with raisins and raw milk.

Cold Breakfast Cereal
(please visit The Healthy Home Economists Blog for a wonderful video tutorial.)

6 cups freshly ground flour
3 cups plain yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, or clabbered milk (use 3 cups water plus 2 TBL lemon juice or apple cider vinegar for dairy allergies)

Mix fresh flour and soaking medium of choice in a large, glass bowl.    Cover with a clean cloth and rubber band and leave on the counter for 24 hours.

After soaking is complete mix the following into the batter:

3/4 cup coconut or palm oil
1 cup Grade B maple syrup or honey (1/2 cup sweetener plus 5 drops stevia may be substituted)
1 Tsp sea salt
2 Tsp baking soda
1 Tsp vanilla extract
1 Tsp maple flavoring - I used almond extract because I didn't have maple flavoring.
1 TBL ground cinnamon

Mix these ingredients well into the soaked batter.   Pour into 2 – 9X13 pans and bake at 350F for about 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.   Do not overbake.
Let cool and crumble the coffee cake into small pieces and dehydrate on cookie sheets at 200F for about 12-18 hours. Turn cereal pieces every few hours to dry evenly. (I used a food dehydrator, set on 150 degrees overnight.)


Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.