Breakfast Meat Alternative: Beef Sausage Patties

I haven't posted here in a while because I've been preparing for our new arrival, and I usually just make small posts on Facebook for those interested. But since this post was getting lengthy, I thought it would be easier to read here.

I love bacon, like, A LOT!!! I sort of hate it as well, because it is so delicious, with anything, and I could easily sit and eat slice after slice. But I limit myself because I haven't found a healthy bacon within our budget. Working with a grocery budget means we don't eat perfectly...just the best we can afford. I save money by purchasing in bulk, a little shopping online, and shopping sales, BUT, buying local and sustainable is also very important to us. So we spend most of our grocery budget with local farmers through CSA and Meat Shares, and shopping farmers markets. At $10+/lb, local pastured pork bacon is NOT in my budget. My usual bacon (just regular conventionally-raised Costco bacon) has recently increased to $4/lb. I keep hoping to find something in-between, but no luck yet. My local Kroger sells Applegate and Coleman's bacon, which are in-between health-wise (Antibiotic-free, uncured, and Applegate is made from humanely-raised animals) but these are $11-$12/lb, more expensive than pastured bacon! I was quite disgusted on my most recent trip to Costco when my usual 4-lb pack of conventional bacon was $16! I told my husband, for $4 a pound, we can find a better alternative, a real meat to serve up along-side our eggs in the morning.

Say hello to my new breakfast meat...beef sausage! It's not grass-fed/pastured meat, but, it is a healthier alternative to my conventional bacon. Costco Organic Ground Beef is 85% with no antibiotics or added growth hormones. And, it's only 25 cents more per pound than conventional bacon! I took the pure beef and added 3 simple spices to create my own breakfast sausage, and I love it! This recipe is salty, but that's how I like my sausage. It also uses a lot of sage. So I would suggest starting a bit shy on both the salt and sage, mix well, and form a "sample" patty (just one small, thin patty to fry up and taste-test). That way, you can add more spices to suit your taste, before frying the whole batch. This recipe tasted like Jimmy Dean Sage sausage to me, but by taking a few minutes and adding our own ingredients, we can control exactly what goes into the meat...no Corn Syrup or refined sugars, Maple "Flavor" (which is made of 9 ingredients, including corn syrup), Dextrose, BHA, BHT, Natural Flavorings, MSG, or other questionable ingredients! I look forward to experimenting with different flavors...I'm thinking a real maple syrup sausage sounds delicious!

I went ahead and made a large batch of sausage. This should last all week in the fridge, or it can be frozen (cooked or uncooked patties).

Beef Sage Sausage:

• 2.67 lb Organic Ground Beef
• 8 tsp Rubbed Sage*
• 1.25 tsp Ground Thyme*
• 4 tsp Redmond's Real Salt

Combine everything well in a large bowl.
(*As mentioned above, this recipe may be too salty or sage-y for some of you, so I recommend you cut down on both the salt and sage at first, cook yourself a sample patty, adjust seasonings as desired, then proceed with the rest of the batch. I thought the amounts were great and really helped the beef taste more like pork sausage. Let me know if you make any adjustments that you like.)
Form small, thin patties and fry over medium heat. Cook a few minutes on each side til fully cooked.

Easy Broiled Salmon & Mashed Po-turnips

I first made this salmon a couple months ago, using a recipe I found in Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo. I picked up my copy at Costco. Her recipe uses rosemary, which was surprisingly good, but after eating it four times in a row, I was ready for something a little different. I didn't do anything fancy, I just skipped the rosemary and added black pepper. It is such an easy recipe, and I love how the salmon cooks under a Low Broil, firm and flaky. I don't think I'll ever go back to Bake for my salmon. For the mashed Po-turnips, I just eye-balled everything. It's the first mashed white anything that I've made without dairy, that I really liked. As soon as my youngest saw it on her plate, she said "I don't wike that!" Obviously, she remembered my last attempt at mashed turnips, which wasn't so great. That's why I decided to use half turnips and half potatoes this time, to tone down the strong turnip taste...that, and I needed to stretch the two turnips from last week's basket that I needed to use before tomorrow. My rule is that you have to try one good bite of everything on your plate. And she did. I got a "Not bad!" So here are the recipes. Hope you enjoy!

Lemon Broiled Salmon
1 lb wild salmon filet (whole or in portions), thawed
2 TB coconut oil (or FOC-fat of choice) 
1 lemon
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to low broil setting. Spread thin layer of coconut across bottom of baking dish. Place salmon in the dish and sprinkle with s&p. Add more pats of coconut oil on top of the salmon, and top with slices of lemon. Broil 10-12 minutes or til salmon is cooked to your liking.

Mashed Po-turnips
2 large turnips, peeled and chopped
2 large red potatoes (or equal to the amount of turnips), peeled and chopped
1 TB bacon fat (or FOC)
S&P
Garlic Powder
1/3 cup coconut milk (full fat, canned)

Add turnips and potatoes to boiling, salted water. Return to gentle boil and cook til tender (the turnips will probably take a little longer than the potatoes, that's fine). Drain well, and return to hot pot. Make sure the stove is turned off and place pot back on stove eye. This will help remove any excess water. Use a potato masher to smash the veggies. Add the bacon fat while potatoes are still hot and stir well. Season with s&p and garlic powder to your liking. Add about 1/3 cup coconut milk, or just enough to make the "potatoes" smooth and creamy. Stir well and serve hot.

Dairy-free Pizza!

*Be sure to see my updates below.
FINALLY!!! A successful, dairy-free, no-fork-needed pizza! This thing was so good, I am just tickled to death! I have looked at many "Paleo" pizza recipes, all of which still used cheese in the crust. That's not Paleo. But titles aside, my family just doesn't do well with any dairy, so we avoid it as much as possible. Therefore, we haven't had a good pizza for some time now. I do love the breakfast pizza, but it just ain't the same. We have tried the popular "riced" cauliflower crusts, but the crusts were bland and soft. We haven't been successful, until today. I used a combination of several different recipes that I liked, this one probably being my favorite, and made it my own by using broccoli and changing up the spices a bit. I made riced cauliflower using this method. It totally works, but I over-blended, and mine turned out more like grits than rice. (BTW, we totally made "grits" with some of that!) I only had 1 cup of the leftover riced cauliflower, but, I had lots of fresh broccoli. I thought to myself, broccoli is so similar to cauliflower, it just has to work. And it did! You could probably use either cauliflower or broccoli or a combination of both as i did. I do plan on trying just broccoli in the next few days and will definitely post how that comes out. I used the same ricing method on the broccoli, except I "pulsed" this time, instead of "blending", and it turned out quite nicely. Here's what that looked like:

My only complaint about this crust was that it was too salty, so I've adjusted the recipe down by half. This was attempted as a half recipe, just in case it sucked, and so this yields one 8" pizza. Also, I played it safe by cooking at a lower temp, and it seemed to take forever to get the crust done enough. I think it could probably be cooked at a higher temp and for a shorter time. I will make those adjustments as I cook more of this (which will be soon!). But for now, here's my current version:

8" Dairy-Free Pizza Crust:
1 c riced cauliflower (see notes above)
1 c riced broccoli
1 pastured egg, beaten
1/4 tsp Redmond's Real Salt
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 TB almond meal
2 dashes garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350°. Place riced veggies into a clean kitchen towel, about a cup at a time, and wring out all the excess water. Place into a mixing bowl and add all the remaining ingredients.

Mix well.

 Transfer mixture to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use the back of a tablespoon to form. Use a second piece of parchment paper to top the mixture and flatten as desired. Mine was maybe 1/4" thick, or less.

(So, here's the part that needs some work, but...it does work as indicated. Just be patient with me, and your crust!) Bake the crust for 30 minutes, WITH THE PARCHMENT PAPER ON BOTTOM AND TOP OF THE CRUST, as a "parchment sandwich". After 30 minutes, remove the top parchment paper and put the crust back in the oven for 10 minutes, uncovered. Then I upped the temp to 400° for another 10 minutes. By this point the crust was finally starting to brown on the edges and was mostly dry, so I turned to Broil on Low for 1-2 minutes, til it was slightly browned. Whatever temp you decide to try, just make sure your crust is fairly dry before topping, so you don't end up with a soggy crust. I went as long as I could without burning the edges. (Please leave comments if y'all have success at different temps and times!)

Then top as desired. I used Victoria (Unsweetened) Marinara Sauce from Costco, organic baby spinach, turkey sausage, and olives. Place back in the oven just long enough to heat the toppings through. (By this point I was starving, so I went 450° for 4-5 minutes.

In the end, I was so happy with this pizza. The center was still a little soft, but it was mostly firm, and the edges crispy. I was able to slice and pick it up just like a "normal" pizza, even with those heavy toppings. The girls agreed that it was very good and are ready to make more! I hope you guys enjoy the recipe as much as we did. Let me know how yours turns out!

UPDATE 12/18/12:

Here's our second dairy-free pizza experiment, a doubled pepperoni lovers made with broccoli and no cauliflower. It was just as good!

Family Size Dairy-Free Pizza Crust:

4 c riced broccoli (see video link above)

2 pastured eggs, beaten

1/2 tsp Redmond's Real Salt

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/4 c almond meal

4 dashes garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400°. Place riced broccoli into a clean kitchen towel, about a cup at a time, and wring out all the excess water. Place into a mixing bowl and add all the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Transfer mixture to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use a rubber spatula to spread as evenly as possible. Use a second piece of parchment paper to top the mixture and flatten, if needed. Mine was maybe 1/4" thick, or so. 

Bake the crust for 40 minutes, or til crust is mostly browned, WITH THE PARCHMENT PAPER ON BOTTOM AND TOP OF THE CRUST, as a "parchment sandwich". Then, remove the top parchment paper and put the crust back in the oven for approximately 10 minutes, uncovered, until the crust is as done as you like. Make sure the crust is fairly dry before topping, so you don't end up with a soggy pizza. We went as long as we could without burning the edges. Then top as desired. We used Victoria (Unsweetened) Marinara Sauce from Costco, Boar's Head pepperoni, and Italian Seasoning. Place back in the oven just long enough to heat the toppings through, about 5 minutes.

My family has agreed that this pizza definitely works for us! We get our pizza fix with a crust that actually tastes and feels like a pizza crust. Now, it's certainly not your chewy New York pizza dough, but that's sort of the point for us. We feel terrible after eating flour and cheese, so this is the next best thing! Hope you enjoy!

Roasted Vegetables

During the summer, my favorite go-to for quick and tasty vegetables was roasting. Once again, roasting has come to the rescue for my starchy Fall vegetables. I don't feel as well when I eat a lot of carbs earlier in the day, so I try to eat these starchier foods later in the day. Some evenings, I just don't feel like being creative or even having to think too much about supper. So, I've been roasting away the past week or so. Each time, I was surprised how well the veggies came out. I think roasting really brings out good flavors in vegetables. Add a healthy fat, some simple seasonings, and you're good to go. I kept the same basic routine: peel, chop, s&p, coconut oil, and bake. That's it. So far, it has worked on everything. Here's what I've tried:

Roasted Turnips/Rutabagas
Wash well. Remove leaves (save greens for a sautee) and roots (compost). Use a vegetable peeler to remove outer layer of rutabagas (you can leave the outer layer on the turnips). Chop into bite-sized pieces. Spread across a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Pour on 2-3 TB melted coconut oil and toss to coat. Spread evenly. Bake 450° for 45 minutes or til fork-tender. Serve warm.

*We tore these up. The rutabagas were slightly sweet and no one hesitated with the turnips mixed in. (My girls, who eat almost anything, did NOT like my mashed turnips last week, so I was glad to see them enjoy them cooked a different way.)

Roasted Beets
Wash beets to remove all dirt. Remove leaves (save greens for a saute) and roots (compost). Use a vegetable peeler to remove outer layer of beets. Chop into bite-sized pieces. Spread across a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Pour on 2-3 TB melted coconut oil and toss to coat. Spread evenly. Bake 450° for 45 minutes or til fork-tender. Serve right away.

*These are my second favorite way to eat beets (beet chips are still #1). These were buttery and sweet and almost tasted like candy. The caramelized edges were like chewing sugar...yum!

Roasted Butternut Squash
Use a vegetable peeler to remove outer layer of butternut squash. Use a knife to remove top stem and bottom to creat a flat surface. Stand squash right-side up and cut in half lengthwise. Scooop out seeds and strings with a tablespoon. Chop into bite-sized pieces. Spread across a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Pour on 2-3 TB melted coconut oil and toss to coat. Spread evenly. Bake 450° for 45 minutes or til fork-tender. Serve hot!

*These did not crisp and only slightly browned, but, they were SO tender and SO SWEET (mine had been sitting in my dark cabinet for a week and was plenty ripe). I totally over-did it tonight on these things, opting for seconds instead of dessert.

Roasted Potatoes
(Sorry, I forgot to photograph!)
Peel and chop potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Spread across a baking sheet. Finely chop a small onion and add to the potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika, pepper, and plenty of salt. Pour on 2-3 TB melted coconut oil and toss to coat. Spread evenly. Bake 450° for 45 minutes or til browned and fork-tender. Cool slightly before serving.

*Normally, I just roast potatoes with bacon grease or other animal fat I have on hand, but I figured I'd try my luck with coconut oil this time, and I think they turned out wonderfully. The potatoes didn't burn, the edges crisped, and the onions were a perfect flavor compliment.

I've also heard cauliflower roasted with garlic powder and evoo was really good. I'll be trying that when I get more cauliflower! Do y'all have any favorite roasted veggies?

Sloppy Joes

Homemade sloppy joes are easy to prepare and much healthier than the canned stuff. I looked up the Del Monte ingredients online and used that as a guide to make my own version without corn syrup! I'd planned to use a touch of honey to slightly sweetened the sauce, but after tasting, I decided it was good without it and left it alone. Keith said he thought it was sweet enough, probably because of the organic tomatoes. They really do have much more flavor over conventional tomato products. If you have fresh peppers, they would be wonderful added to this! Hope you enjoy!

Sloppy Joes

• 2 lb grass-fed beef
• 1 medium diced onion
• 14 oz can organic diced tomatoes, drained
• 1.5 (15 oz) cans organic tomato sauce
• 1 TB dried oregano
• 1 TB dried parsley
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp pink salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper

Brown beef. Add onions and cook til tender. Add everything else, stir well, heat through, and simmer. Serve on lettuce or leaves of choice. 

We used lightly steamed cabbage leaves from our CSA basket and added a few olives for a healthy fat.

Cabbage Taco Wraps

Earlier in the week, I used one of my organic chickens from Costco to make chicken stock,

mild chicken taco meat, and chicken salad. I went with taco meat so I could use up the tomatillos left over from my previous basket. I've been staring at that delicious taco meat in my fridge with nothing to wrap around it. I didn't receive any lettuce or spinach in this week's CSA basket (the baskets are always a surprise...love that!), but I figured cabbage might do the job well enough. And, it did! So here's what I came up with:


Chicken Taco Meat

• 4 c pulled chicken (cooked)
• 4 tomatillos, roasted
• 2 tsp taco seasoning
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 TB extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 can unsweetened organic tomato sauce
• 1/4 c Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Add roasted tomatillos, taco seasoning, chili powder, and ground cumin to blender and pulse til desired consistency, whether chunky or smooth. Heat oil in a large pot. Add the tomatillo mixture, tomato sauce, and salsa to the pot and combine. Add the cooked chicken, salt and pepper. Stir well and heat through. Simmer for another 10 minutes and adjust seasonings, if desired.

Cabbage Taco Wraps

Preheat oven to 350°. Peel and wash about 6 cabbage leaves. Cut extra large leaves in half, along the stem. Remove the thickest part of the rib with a knife.

Center desired amount of meat along the center of each leaf. 

Lightly grease a large baking dish with evoo. Fold in sides of the cabbage leaf and roll up. Place in baking dish, seam side down.

Drizzle the wraps with evoo and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake 30 minutes at 350°, or til cabbage has reached your desired texture.

I really was surprised at how well these turned out. I think this would also be great with beef taco meat. We managed to save Keith a few for when he got home. He topped his with my homemade mayo for a little more fat and said they were awesome! 

Hope you enjoy!

Sweet Potato Hash Browns

Yesterday, lunch time rolled around before I'd received my CSA basket, so I didn't have much for veggie choices except some starchy stuff. My 4 year old looked in the fridge, grabbed a carrot, and told me that was what she wanted for lunch. Naturally, my 2 year old repeated. I said no, we aren't eating cold carrots on this cold day in this cold house. We need to cook something! So after "But, mom!", I plopped the girls on the counter, grabbed their two carrots and a sweet potato, and proceeded to peel and grate. As I grated, they ate shredded carrots, which bought me enough time to throw these awesome hash browns together. Admittedly, I was aiming for Vegetable Pancakes, but I was in a hurry and missed an egg, so they turned out more like hash browns (even better!). I didn't measure anything, so just eye ball this. I couldn't decide between salt or cinnamon, so I used both! Hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Sweet Potato Hash Browns

• 1 sweet potato, peeled & shredded
• 2 large carrots, peeled & shredded
• 1 pastured egg
• salt
• cinnamon
• pumpkin spice
• coconut oil (or grass-fed butter)

Take about 1 cup of shredded vegetables at a time, place in a dish towel, and squeeze out as much water as you can from the vegetables (I didn't get much water from these, but I still think it's a good idea to include this step and remove as much water as you can). Add to a large bowl, add egg, pumpkin spice, and cinnamon. Mix well. Heat skillet over Med to Med-Lo heat. Add a good coating of oil to the pan. Once oil is hot, add about 1/4 c of mixture into oil and lightly pat with fork into a small patty shape. Cook 3-4 minutes per side, or til nice and browned. Sprinkle with salt (optional) or more cinnamon. Serve hot. Makes 6-8 patties.

Chocolate Pudding

Here's an unbelievably simple Chocolate Pudding recipe I found here, that uses only a few ingredients to make a thick, delicious, and guilt-free pudding! I actually couldn't eat as much as I thought I would in one sitting, because the avocado fat is so satiating (a good thing). I'd love to make this in a chocolate pie. Hope you enjoy!

Chocolate Pudding 

• 2 avocados, ripe
• 2 medium bananas, ripe
• 6 TB unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 TB almond or coconut milk (optional)

Process the avocado and banana til smooth. Scrape down the sides of bowl/blender as necessary. Add cocoa powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and process again til smooth. If the mixture is too thick, you can add milk, 1 TB at a time to help blend. Refrigerate til ready to serve. You can add chopped nuts, if desired. Use within 2-3 days.

Butternut Squash Soup

Fall has always been my favorite season, but oh my goodness! This is the first year I've really been able to appreciate all the wonder foods Fall brings...apples, butternut squash, sweet potatoes...yummy! Lately, we've been getting 2 butternut squashes in each of our CSA baskets. I figured I'd try several different butternut squash recipes to help keep us from getting bored with them. So far, I've made about 4 batches of this soup (it is good, but dang, my girls tear it up!), butternut squash fries, butternut squash rounds, and butternut squash breakfast hash. My favorites are the soup and the hash. The soup is smooth and warm, just right for these cool Fall days!

I found the original soup recipe at The Food Lovers Kitchen. I've made this soup with and without onion, and I didn't notice much difference in taste, but my husband says he could tell. I have so many onions to use, I decided to keep them in the recipe for now, and the added nutrients never hurts. I've also played with the spices a little, and this is the one I like best so far.

As for the chicken stock, I was running low on my homemade stock, so I've been supplementing with Swanson 100% Natural Chicken Broth (no MSG) that has been in my cabinet since last year. I did pick up 2 organic chickens from Costco this weekend, so hopefully I'll get to make more stock soon. If I run out, I may have to look for some organic free range stock to get me by. Maybe Santa will bring me a new crockpot for Christmas!

Hope you enjoy!


Butternut Squash Soup

1 whole butternut squash, peeled and chopped (remove seeds and stringy pulp as well)
1 whole onion, chopped
1 quart organic chicken stock
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp himalayan pink salt
2 TB coconut oil

Sautee onion in coconut oil in a large pot. Add the spices and stir. Add butternut squash and pour in broth. Boil til squash is tender. Puree soup in food processor or blender til smooth. Garnish with sprinkle of pumpkin spice and/or cinnamon. Add a few chopped walnuts, if desired.

Spanish "Rice"

A friend of mine sent me this Spanish Rice recipe a while back, which uses cauliflower instead of rice...brilliant! I added ground beef to make this a one pot meal. I used maybe 1/3 of that huge cauliflower from yesterday's CSA Basket. After a rough chop on the cauliflower, I added a couple handfuls to my blender and pulsed to make the "rice". I used celery in place of peppers, and I used taco seasoning when I ran out of chili powder. I made 6 cups of riced cauliflower, so it took me a while to get the dish seasoned properly. As a result, I overcooked the cauliflower, but I still thought it turned out quite well, very similar to Spanish Rice. I love that I can make a double batch and have plenty of leftovers for the busy weekend. Hope you enjoy!

Spanish "Rice"

2 lb grass-fed beef
6 c riced cauliflower
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
3 TB bacon grease
pepper
1 tsp pink salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
4 tsp taco seasoning
3 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
2 1/2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes, (drain and reserve juice)
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

Brown beef and set aside. Melt fat in a large pot and saute onions until they begin to soften. Add celery, garlic, and spices. Stir thoroughly and allow to cook til softened. Add tomatoes and paste to pot and stir. Add beef back to the pot and mix well. (Add reserved tomato juice if mixture is too dry.) Once everything is mixed, add the cauliflower and continue to cook over Med heat, stirring often. Cook til cauliflower has reached the desired softness, about 5-10 minutes. If the cauliflower does not soften, you can add some of the reserved tomato juice and cover a few minutes.

Butternut Breakfast Hash

Happy Halloween! I found an awesome recipe on facebook this morning. The original recipe is found here. I wasn't looking for a new breakfast, but when I read the ingredients (bacon, butternut squash, apples, and onions), I had to try it. In fact, I still had butternut squash and onion left from my last CSA basket that I needed to use since my new share begins today, so this was perfect. This didn't take that long to make. I made a few small changes to the ingredients, but went almost exactly by the original poster's instructions. I think it was wonderful. The pan got cleaned out. This was my first hash, ever, and I will definitely have to experiment with more! Hope you enjoy!


Butternut Breakfast Hash

3 c butternut squash, diced
1 1/2 cups apples, diced 
1/2 medium onion, chopped
6 strips bacon
2 TB coconut oil 
salt & pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to broil. 

After prepping the ingredients, heat a large skillet over medium heat. 

While the skillet is heating up, spread the diced butternut squash out evenly onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Place under the broiler. Check and flip/stir the squash every 3-5 min til it just starts to brown in spots. Watch that it doesn't burn too much. Remove from the oven.  
Add the oil to the skillet and then the chopped onions, cook until they just start to caramelize then remove from the pan. 

Cut the bacon into bite-sized pieces and cook in the pan to your liking. 

If you feel there is too much fat left in the pan (for your taste) pour some of it out into a dish. Then add all the ingredients together...the squash, apples, cooked onion, and the bacon. Continue to cook and stir the hash until the apples just begin to soften. It helps to spread the hash evenly around the pan, then let it sit for a moment before continuing to flip/stir it around again. This will help it to 'brown' instead of steam itself, which could result in a soggy hash.

Remove from the heat. If desired, add salt & pepper. (We enjoyed ours without the s&p and with a side of eggs.)

CSA Basket & Easy Mustard Greens

This week's CSA basket from Sugarfoot Organic Farms includes mustard greens, potatoes, cucumbers, butternut squash, zucchini/squash, tomatillos, red cabbage, onions, green beans, and okra. Our fruit/nut share should be sweet potatoes (yay!), and we'll get those next week. Cost for this basket (including sweet potatoes) is $41.95. We paid for the 26-week season up front to receive the discount. We really enjoy every basket! It always kind of fun not knowing what we'll be getting, but we do know that everything is fresh, organic, and delicious!

By the time I got to working on my basket, the mustards were slightly wilted. I gave them a cold bath in the kitchen sink, and they were revivied in just a few minutes. It was pretty amazing. I had crisp leaves to chop for supper. I didn't want to cook them too much because they were so beautiful and crisp, but they are a little strong raw. In a medium pot, I boiled about an inch of water and added salt, pepper, and pork fat. Then, I piled in the chopped greens and let them cook over medium heat for just a few minutes. They were great! Not too strong and no bitterness.

This is the last share for this season and new shares begin next week. If you're interested in signing up, I believe there are a few days left to receive the discount...see the website for details. There are other farms who also participate in the CSA program, check out localharvest.org to find one in your area. We will continue to receive the large share, and we will also be getting fresh eggs!

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

I've been getting tomatillos in my CSA basket the past few weeks and have tried a few different recipes. They are quite citrus-y so I rather use them sparingly. My favorite way, so far, is as a salsa. I found the original recipe here, and of course, I've altered to our liking, which excludes cilantro, lime, and just used a tiny piece of hot pepper. If you like those things, then be sure to add them and adjust the ingredients to your liking. Roasting the tomatillos really seems to bring out more flavor. This is a pretty simple recipe that doesn't take a lot of time to make. I've had one jar of this salsa stored in my fridge for several weeks and it's doing great. I like to add about a 1/3 cup of it to taco meat for a delicious taco salad. If you have any tomatillo recipes, I'd love to read them!

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

• 1-2 lb tomatillos
• hot pepper (I used a small piece for a touch of heat)
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp pink salt
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 TB olive oil

Peel tomatillos and rinse to remove the sticky residue. Place tomatillos and pepper on a foil-lined baking sheet and place in oven 4" underneath broiler. Broil for 10 minutes, turning often, about every 3-4 minutes. Place pepper, garlic, salt, chili powder, and onion powder in a blender and process til smooth. Then add tomatillos (and cilantro, onion, and lime if using those). Pulse until roughly chopped, or more if you like. Stir in olive oil. I store mine in old salsa jars in the refrigerator.

Homemade Peanut Butter

As part of our journey to better health, we gave up legumes a while back. Giving up beans was quite easy, but one legume in particular was more difficult for us to let go: PEANUTS. We were on the fence about peanuts for quite some time. I've read that peanut butter can be great for weight loss. I certainly think it helped me make the transition to my new way of eating. But once we got closer to our health goals, we learned peanut butter may not be the best option.

For one, peanuts contain the potentially dangerous anti-nutrient lectins. Then there's the whole mold issue. Peanuts are especially susceptible to a mold that produces aflatoxin, which is a carcinogen. Peanuts are also one of the most common food allergens. The deciding factor in finally letting go of peanut butter was when my 4 year old broke out into hives within minutes of eating it. I haven't bought peanut butter since. I don't know why my child had that reaction, especially when she'd eaten peanut butter many times before, and has had a few times since. Maybe it was a contaminated batch (mold), or maybe we just eat too dog-gone much peanut butter. I'm looking at my SC Produce Availability Calendar, and it shows green peanuts in season from July-September, just 3 short months. Perhaps this is another reason we should be eating seasonal foods.

So, why in the world am I making homemade peanut butter today? Well, I received fresh, local, organic green peanuts in my CSA basket the past two weeks, and I wasn't about to let them waste. Truth is, I have missed peanut butter, and I think life is too short to never have it again. But if I'm gonna have it, I rather make it homemade and as nutritious as I can!

I found a recipe here, but changed things up a bit because I do not have a food processor, which would have saved me a lot of time. Nonetheless, my trusty Magic Bullet got the job done! I'm also excited to try these homemade Reese's Cups for Halloween!

Homemade Peanut Butter


Soaking:
Shell peanuts and place into a large bowl. Cover with water, plus another 2 cups. Add 1 TB salt (for every 4 cups of peanuts), stir and leave on counter to soak for 12 hours. Drain. Rinse well.

Dehydrating:
Spread peanuts onto a baking sheet and place in oven set to 155° to dry them (about 12 hours).

Roasting:
Preheat oven to 275°. Roast for 10 minutes or til slightly browned. Do not overcook, and remember they will continue to cook slighlty after removing from oven. (Trust your nose...when you smell them, take them out!) Allow to cool.

Processing:
(I used a Magic Bullet for this, so I found it best to mix in small batches.) Add 3 handfuls of roasted peanuts to the short cup. Add 2-3 dashes of salt. Attach the flat blade and blend. Open up, scrape down sides, and blend again. Repeat several times til the peanut butter becomes desired consistency. Store in refrigerator.

*This took some time in the Magic Bullet, so if you have a food processor, use it! You may not need the extra salt. I found the salt helped pull the moisture from the peanuts to make it a butter.



Here's batch #1 from last week:

I over-roasted and over-salted that first batch. 

Today, while making batch #2, I cut back on both the roasting and the salt. When I was finished, I combined both batches together and came out with this one:

 

I think this turned out quite well!

Breakfast Pizza Recipe

This is an awesome recipe I found on the Everyday Paleo site. I'd found this recipe months ago, but was skeptical on the egg and tomato combo. But, last night I wanted pizza, without a lot of fuss, so I finally gave this a try. Yes, we ate this for supper, not breakfast. Despite my slightly burning the bottom, this "pizza" turned out pretty awesome and quickly got gobbled up! My recipe is very similar to the original. Use whatever veggies you have and pile it up! You'll have to use a fork for this pizza, but it certainly works for us. Hope you enjoy!

Breakfast Pizza
Crust:
6 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp bacon grease
1.5 tsp minced garlic
1 TB dried basil
Sea salt, couple dashes
Black pepper, to taste

Toppings:
1/2 cup Muir Glen's Organic Tomato Basil sauce
1 lb ground pork sausage
Italian seasoning
5 slices Boar's Head sandwich pepperoni, chopped
1 zucchini, diced
1 sweet bell pepper, diced
1/2 can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup sliced black olives
Small onion, diced

Brown the sausage, drain fat if needed, and add plenty of Italian seasoning. Stir and set aside. In another skillet, heat the bacon grease over medium heat and add the minced garlic. Saute for 1 minute, do not burn. While the garlic is cooking, add the basil, sea salt, and pepper to the beaten eggs and mix well. Pour the egg mixture over the garlic in the skillet and turn the heat down to medium-low. Gently spread the garlic and basil, if needed. Cover and let cook for about 3 minutes, or until the bottom of the eggs are set and firm. Do not disturb the eggs while cooking. Remove lid and transfer the skillet to the oven and broil for another 3 minutes or until the top of the frittata is also firm. Remove from the oven. Evenly spread the marinara sauce on the egg "crust". Add the cooked sausage, pepperoni, and the rest of the vegetable toppings. Place the pizza back in the oven and under the broiler for about 5 minutes. Slice and serve immediately with a side of avocado slices.

Ovis Hill Trip & Skillet Collards

Here's our latest trip to Ovis Hill Market:

8 Dozen Pastured Eggs @ $4 ea
Fresh Organic Collards $4
Fresh Organic Sweet Potatoes $2.99/lb
Pastured Pork (Sun-Dried Tomato & Basil links and ground) $7.99/lb
Grass-fed Beef $5.89/lb
Pastured Lamb Soup Bones $2/lb
Pastured Chicken Backs & Necks $1.25/lb
Total $131

This is more than I usually spend at the market, but when the pork is available, we buy extra since often times it is either limited or sold out. And, it tastes amazing! It reminds us of the good sausage we used to eat when we were little, and we are so happy that our children get to experience "real" sausage, too. It's probably the most expensive meat we buy, so we try to make it last. The lamb bones and chicken parts are for making bone broths (super-cheap way to get in awesome nutrition). We purchased a half beef share last month, but still ran out of hamburger. I don't mind picking up extra of that since it runs about the same price as the beef share.

Skillet Collard Greens
The Collards were fantastic! I cooked them very simply. I double-washed them in a sink full of water. Then I removed the stems by holding the stem in one hand and stripping the leaf down with the other hand. I rolled up a stack of 6-8 leaves and cut into slices (about 3/4" or so). Heat skillet over medium heat, add 2-3 TB bacon grease, add the greens, season with pepper, garlic powder, and a little salt. Cook 5-10 minutes, depending on how you like them cooked, stirring occasionally. I'm not sure what variety these were, they did look different from the ones I grew up eating, and they were not bitter at all. Didn't need sugar or vinegar. I hope to get more of these on the next trip cause they were so good!

Butternut Squash Fries

Here's a yummy butternut squash recipe that I found on the Sugarfoot Organic Farms website. These are very similar to sweet potato fries, sweet and a little salty. I used coconut oil to bring out the buttery flavor and make them a little sweeter. I went ahead and used a whole butternut squash to make enough for afternoon snack and supper. This made 4 small batches in my toaster oven (my oven was occupied). I tried a few different cuts and found the best ones were shaped like shoestring fries, but a little bigger, and cutting them with square ends helps them to cook evenly. (You can see the best fries in the bottom of the picture, and the small overcooked ones in the back.) After cooking, I sprinkled with a little cinnamon.

Butternut Squash Fries

• Butternut Squash
• Salt
• Coconut Oil
• Cinnamon (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°. Peel butternut squash. Slice in half length-wise and de-seed. Cut into french fry shapes. Use 1-2 TB coconut oil to grease foil-lined baking sheet (for easy clean up). Add half the fries and toss to lightly coat with the oil. Spread evenly and sprinkle with a little salt. Bake for 40 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and crispy. Flip fries halfway through. Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired. Makes 2 batches.

US Wellness Meats & Homemade Chicken Nuggets

We get great beef through our meat share from Ovis Hill, as well as occasional pastured pork, but we need a bit more variety. I've tried different cuts of chicken, pastured and conventional, but I just don't have a taste for chicken anymore. Not sure why that is, but my husband feels the same.

Our first order from US Wellness Meats was for 12 lbs of ground "Compassionate Certified" pork. We have really been enjoying that. My favorite way to cook it is as pork burgers/patties, seasoned with s&p, thyme, oregano, parsley, basil, and sage. The ground pork is about 72%, so we get a lot of fat off it, but that's certainly not wasted in this house. We save that fat for roasting vegetables or frying eggs.

We like US Wellness meats because all animals are raised pastured/grass-fed, are antibiotic and hormone free, are treated as humanely as possible, and the meat is healthy and tasty. We decided to try a few different meats for our second order. We bought poultry, a few quick meal items, and a snack item. I'll be sure to let y'all know how everything turns out. As with all US Wellness Meats orders, there is a 7 lb and $75 minimum, as well as a $7.50 handling charge. I used a discount code I'd received by e-mail. Shipments arrive (very quickly) by Fedex and still frozen. If you wanna check out the website, I have a referral link on the right-hand side of this page. Here is our latest US Wellness Meats order:

• 4 lb Ground Turkey - Antibiotic Free From Birth   @ $6.25 = $25.00
• 3 lb Ground Chicken - Antibiotic Free From Birth   @ $6.03 = $18.09
• 1 Beef Snack Sticks Nitrate and MSG Free   @ $5.59 = $5.59
• 1 Chicken Apple Sausage Links   @ $6.83 = $6.83
• 1 lb Ground Pork  @ $6.17 = $6.17 Ground Lamb $0*
• 1 Sugar Free Garlic Beef  Franks   @ $6.96 = $6.96

Sub-Total: $68.64 $62.47
Shipping: $7.50 (Standard)
Total: $76.14 $69.97

*There was a packing error, and we received ground lamb instead of ground pork. I e-mailed the company, and within a few hours, I received an apology and credit for the error. Mistakes happen, but how well the company resolves any issues is what matters to me. I was very pleased with how well this was handled.


I couldn't wait to make homemade nuggets with my new ground chicken. This was so easy. I seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and salt. Be generous with the seasonings (except the salt). Add an egg. Knead all together and form into nugget shapes. Drop into skillet of hot coconut oil. Fry a few minutes on each side, til browned and doesn't stick to pan, and done all the way through. My egg was extra large, so my mixture was soft. Rather than adding a thickener, I just used an ice cream scoop to drop in nugget-sized amounts into the hot oil, and pressed lightly when turned.

We loved them, and I hope you do as well!

Ground chicken verdict: Two thumbs up! The meat is clean. It tastes like white meat, but isn't bland or dry. It's moist and tender like darker meat, but without the dark taste. It's nice to have found chicken meat I really like. This is a keeper for us.

Homemade Dark Chocolate Recipe

I believe a key role in my fat loss success was understanding that insulin is a fat storing hormone, and that as long as I was eating foods that caused insulin spikes, I could not (and did not) lose any fat. But just as soon as I started keeping my insulin at bay, the weight started falling off and my overall health improved. For me, these insulin-spiking foods included wheat products, added sweeteners, high-fructose fruits, and starchy foods. I also avoided all grains. Getting the right fats into my diet was another important step towards good health.

After losing most of my excess body fat, I have slowly started adding a few small indulgences back into my diet. By indulgences, I don't mean processed junk. I mean foods that still follow our dietary lifestyle of whole and clean eating, some of which I avoided in order to lose fat. I'm talking about starchy foods like potatoes and bananas, and fruits with higher amounts of fructose, like grapes and apples.

Another indulgence I discovered was good dark chocolate. As I wrote in a previous post, good dark chocolate should have a high cocoa, high fat, and low sugar content. My favorite store-bought chocolate is Green & Black's Organic Dark Chocolate, which has an 85% cocoa content. I have never in my life been a dark chocolate fan, but my tastes sure have changed, and I quickly fell in love. These bars run $3.27 when not on sale. My husband prefers 90% cocoa content, so I usually bought him Lindt or Ghirardelli for $1.99, often on sale. While it didn't seem like a lot of money, I figured we were spending over $21 a month just on chocolate. I knew we could find a cheaper way. And of course, since these are shelf-stable bars, there were still a couple of questionable ingredients.  I knew we could find a healthier way.

To save money and enjoy guilt-free dark-chocolate, I decided to try my hand at homemade chocolate. I looked online at tons of recipes, and they varied greatly in the proportions of fat, cacao, and sugar. I got frustrated and just decided to jump in and see how it went. My first batch was a lot of tweaking, adding coconut milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and it turned out decent, I guess, but I certainly wasn't happy with it. So this past weekend, after we finished homemade bar #1, I took out my scribbled notes and began again. I kept it simple and was very pleased with how well the bar #2 came out on the first try. Keith tasted and agreed it tasted good as it was, so I decided to leave it alone, for now. We both agreed it tastes pretty darn close to the G&B 85% bar! It is SO much cheaper. I bought the coconut oil and cacao powder on sale, and for $1.92, we have approximately 2 homemade dark chocolate bars. I love that this can be made with simple ingredients and we get to control the amount of sugar that goes into it.

***Please keep in mind that we like our bars DARK and with very little sugar, so this recipe isn't gonna work for everyone. But the process is pretty simple, so give it a try and adjust to your liking.

Homemade Dark Chocolate

• 1/4 cup Raw Cacao Powder
• 1/2 cup Virgin Coconut Oil
• 1 tsp Local, Raw Honey

I used my Magic Bullet for this recipe. Add cacao powder to the tall cup. Add the coconut oil (no need to melt). Then add the honey. Attach the cross-blade and mix for about 30 seconds. Open up, scrape down sides with rubber spatula, reattach cross-blade and mix for another 30 seconds. Once again, open up, scrape down sides with rubber spatula, reattach cross-blade and mix for a final 30 seconds til everything is very well mixed together. Pour into a glass dish and refrigerate. You may also use ice trays to make individual pieces of chocolate. After about 10 minutes, remove chocolate from the fridge and score. Place back into fridge for another 10 minutes, or until well set. Use a fork to cut and remove a piece of chocolate along the scores (scoring seems to make removing chocolates easier). I like my pieces plain or with a little coconut oil on top. Keep refrigerated.

Hope you enjoy!

Baked Brussels Sprouts

This recipe is a huge hit in our house! We've already made three batches in less than a week! It goes particularly great with meatloaf...an awesome combination! I found the original recipes for both here. I used the Brussels sprouts I bought at Costco, which were only $4.29 for 2 lbs (enough for 2 batches). Just one serving (5 sprouts) has 120% of the RDA of Vitamin C! My husband also noted these weren't bitter. And to hear my 2 year old ask, "Mom, may I have more Brussel sprouts?" just warms my heart! We LOVE them and hope you do as well!

Baked Brussels Sprouts

• 5 slices thick bacon
• 1 lb fresh Brussels sprouts
• extra virgin olive oil
• pepper
• salt (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Cook bacon and roughly chop. Steam the Brussels sprouts for 4 minutes. Remove thick stem and quarter the sprouts. Add bacon and sprouts to a large glass baking dish. Season with pepper, to taste, and drizzle liberally with EVOO (Remember: fat is not the enemy!). Toss to coat and bake for 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes. Sprinkle with salt, if desired.