Tag: real food (Page 11 of 20)

Gluten-Free Peanut Cookies

March 22, 2011 / Lindsey / 2 Comments

I tried out a new recipe today, based on the recipe for my favorite Almond Thumbprint Cookies, and it turned out great! If you like classic peanut butter cookies, you’ll love these.

Check it out:

Gluten-Free Peanut Cookies

1 1/2 cups peanuts (I used roasted/unsalted)

1/2 cup melted coconut oil or butter (I like to use 1/4 cup coconut oil & 1/4 cup yogurt or kefir to make these a little less rich for my tummy)

1 1/4 cups arrowroot powder* (start with 1 cup and add more if needed)

1/2 cup sucanat (or a little more if you like)

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

Place the peanuts into a food processor or blender and pulse to a fine meal (but not into peanut butter).

Transfer peanut meal into a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, and mix well. As mentioned above, start with 1 cup of arrowroot and add more if needed; I always have to add the extra 1/4 cup. The dough should form a nice ball and not be overly sticky.

Form dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on an oiled cookie sheet. On each cookie, make the classic crosshatch pattern with a fork.

Bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes, or until cookies are very lightly browned on the bottom and hold together when you lift them up with a metal spatula.

You’ll want to remove your cookies from the cookie sheet without too much delay. If they cool down and then seem to be glued to the cookie sheet, place them back into the oven to warm up again, and then they’ll be easier to remove.

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*Curious about arrowroot? It’s actually not a refined product despite the look of it. It’s the dried, powdered root of a tropical plant that only grows in tidal flats where sea minerals are available. It’s therefore rich in trace minerals and in calcium ash (calcium chloride), which makes it easily digestible. In addition, the calcium ash in arrowroot is very important for maintaining the proper acid-alkali balances in the human body. The downside is its price — $5.35 for a 1lb 4oz bag at our local health food store; however if you have a local Asian store, check with them — I’ve discovered that our local Asian store carries arrowroot for only $2.95/lb!

It’s Been Busy at the Homestead!

March 10, 2011 / Lindsey / 2 Comments

So busy!! Since quitting my job, I am so busy!! Busy doing the life I had been putting off for all that time. My, how good that feels.

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Here are some random pictures from yesterday & today:

Inside the grain & legume cupboard in late afternoon. (I love the old fashioned jars — they’ve been in the family a long time, and they give me a homey feeling!)

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I just finished reading this inspiring book about how “the rest of the world” deals with diapers (hint: they don’t use ’em!) and how we westerners can have diaper-free babies, too. This is a must-read for new parents — or even better, before they become parents! Click here for a short synopsis of Natural Infant Hygiene (being diaper-free), written by the author of the book.

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The parsley in the kitchen window looks so pretty in the sun!

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Homemade organic applesauce ready for the freezer. I gobble this stuff up, especially when I warm it up on the stove and add cinnamon & cream!

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2 jars of freshly made chicken bone broth, cooked way down and concentrated…now ready to pop into the freezer. Also, brown rice that’s been soaked overnight and is ready to cook, and raw pumpkin seeds that were soaked overnight in salt water, and are drying. (I love to snack on them and add them to soaked oatmeal!)

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Went to the health food store yesterday (our favorite — Natural Grocers, aka Vitamin Cottage) and got some good stuff at reasonable prices. Everything’s organic except the chocolate and peanuts. Lettuce ($1.99), cilantro ($1.39), seedless tangerines ($1.79/lb on sale), Cara Cara oranges ($1.59/lb on sale), Food for Life sprouted grain tortillas ($2.65 for 6 large), raw cheddar ($3.49 on sale), peanuts ($2.33 for 1 lb), brown rice ($1.99 for 2 lbs, on sale), Kalona Supernatural whole milk ($3.69 for 1/2 gallon – to make kefir), Kalona Supernatural whipping cream ($5.79/quart), Chocolove 70% cocoa chocolate bar (the best-tasting brand and incidentally the cheapest…$1.49 on sale), and two “$1 grab-bags” — one with carrots and celery for juicing, and the other with 3 lbs of bananas at the perfect stage of ripeness to cut up and freeze for smoothies!

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Frozen banana slices for smoothies…ready to be transferred to a freezer bag:

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Then I made a delicious dessert of a sliced banana sauteed in coconut oil with a bit of maple syrup. A favorite!!

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Also made a yummy snack (called a “cheese circle” in my family when I was little!) of cheese melted over a sprouted grain tortilla, topped with Penzey’s Zatar seasoning and Smoked Spanish Paprika. Dynamite! (I make these circles in a cast iron skillet, over medium-low heat, covering the skillet with a cookie sheet until the cheese is melted, then adding seasoning. And normally, I use only 1/4 or 1/2 of a big tortilla at a time!)

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What’s been keeping you busy lately?

Refreshing Citrus Salad

February 27, 2011 / Lindsey / 0 Comments

I concocted this salad a couple days ago and have enjoyed it for lunch each day since! I just love the taste of it, and the macadamia oil really makes it special.
I wouldn’t normally have macadamia oil on hand since I’m not that gourmet, but I bought it several months ago for making mayonnaise. I’d read that it’s a “good neutral oil” for mayo, except in my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth! It has a prominent macadamia flavor which I really didn’t like in the mayonnaise, but in this salad it really shines.

Lindsey’s Citrus Salad

Lettuce

Cilantro (I love cilantro so I put about 2/3 lettuce and 1/3 cilantro in my salad)

Mandarin orange, fresh, sliced (click here for a good way to slice it)

Avocado chunks

Toasted nuts (macadamias, pecans, almonds, or other)

Macadamia nut oil

Fresh lemon juice

Salt & Freshly ground pepper to taste

Chop the lettuce and cilantro into small pieces and add the mandarin slices, avocado chunks, and toasted nuts. Drizzle fresh lemon juice and macadamia oil over the salad, in approximately equal amounts or to taste. Shake salt & cracked pepper over the salad. Toss and eat immediately with a spoon!

(Tip: If the lettuce and toppings are in small enough pieces, it’s much easier to eat a salad with a spoon than with a fork.)

Juice Your Kitchen Scraps!

February 22, 2011 / Lindsey / 6 Comments

I was inspired today by this post about raw vegetable juices over at Wooly Moss Roots. I’ve never been into juicing because separating the fiber from the juice just doesn’t seem natural, and it’s not the ideal way to consume vegetables according to what I’ve read. But then I’ve also read that as long as juicing is used in addition to your regular consumption of fruits and vegetables, it can actually be a very good way to boost your intake of vitamins and minerals. I can certainly see both sides of the story.

We actually have a juicer already (it came with my Hubby), so today I decided to go for it. I used some kitchen scraps that would’ve otherwise gotten tossed (cilantro and parsley stems, a mandarin orange with very tough membranes, and spent beet chunks from making beet kvass), as well as a carrot and some celery. It turned out pretty well! I was especially thrilled to be juicing the last drops of lacto-fermented, enzyme-rich goodness out of those beets! (I’ll share my beet kvass recipe soon. We love beet kvass in this household!)

Remembering that all those vitamins and minerals would probably need some fat in order to be absorbed properly, I added some grassfed whipping cream in a ratio of about 3 or 4 parts juice to 1 part cream.

OH YEA.

The cream was the key. Better nutrient absorption, better taste!

I even felt a sort of…uplift…after drinking this raw veggie juice. And I loved how it was such a clean, light way to start the day!

What’s your opinion about juicing? If you juice, what are your favorite veggie combos?

Pretty layers of juice!

A Valentine Delight: Almond Thumbprint Cookies

February 11, 2011 / Lindsey / 2 Comments

Almond Thumbprint Cookies, (c) The Herbangardener

Almond Thumbprint Cookies with homemade wild grape jam

Actually, these grain-free yummies are excellent at any time of the year, but for Valentine’s Day, fill them with any type of pink, red, or purple fruit jam. They are so good!

This recipe is based on the one from p. 528 of my favorite cookbook, Nourishing Traditions. Makes about 24 cookies.

Almond Thumbprint Cookies

1 1/2 cups whole almonds

1/2 cup melted coconut oil or butter (I like to use 1/4 cup coconut oil & 1/4 cup yogurt or kefir to make them a little less rich for my tummy)

1 1/4 cups arrowroot powder* (start with 1 cup and add more if needed)

Rounded 1/2 cup sucanat

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

Fruit jam of your choice

Place the almonds into a food processor or blender and pulse to a fine meal. Transfer almond meal into a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, and mix well. As mentioned above, start with 1 cup of arrowroot and add more if needed; I always have to add the extra 1/4 cup. The dough should be very nice and workable — not overly sticky.

Form dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on an oiled cookie sheet. Make a thumb print in each cookie and fill the indentation with jam.

Bake at 325° for 20-30 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned on the bottom. I’ve both under-baked and over-baked these, and they’re good no matter what; however I’ve noticed that if they’re under-baked they do tend to fall apart a little more easily.

Cool a bit and remove from the cookie sheet while still warm. If they seem to be glued to the cookie sheet, place them back into the oven to warm up again, and then they’ll be easier to remove.

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*Curious about arrowroot? It’s actually not a refined product despite the look of it. It’s the dried, powdered root of a tropical plant that only grows in tidal flats where sea minerals are available. It’s therefore rich in trace minerals and in calcium ash (calcium chloride), which makes it easily digestible. In addition, the calcium ash in arrowroot is very important for maintaining the proper acid-alkali balances in the human body. Its downside is the price — $5.35 for a 1lb 4oz bag at our local health food store.