Monthly Archives: September 2011

Almond Crusted Baked Cod

Our kids have not liked all the new “Paleo friendly” food we’ve been trying the past few weeks.  Like tonight for instance, we had acorn squash stuffed with sausage and lots of goodies, sounds delicious right?! Well, I will just say that one of the children mysteriously turned up sick before dinner, and a few of the children were complaining about hunger pangs before bedtime :) But Chris and I liked it!

Well, this Cod was NOT one of those :) They loved it, and were begging for more! It’s always a sigh of relief when the kids like dinner, and two of those kids who loved it, normally don’t like fish, so it was a win, win!

Almond Crusted Wild caught Cod

Almond Crusted Baked Cod Continue reading

Big Changes…New Life of Paleo

Just a little review, most of the recipes that I’m doing right now are “Paleo” which means, no grains, no (or very little) sweeteners, and very little carbs. Chris and I have tried lots of diets over the years but we’ve never really found one that we really feel like we can live with, I lost weight while on the Raw Food Detox Diet but I found it a very difficult way of life, I was constantly hungry and always very shaky. Recently I’ve tried Weight Watchers, and while I did lose a little weight, I was always hungry, and always thinking about what I could eat next.

Chris and I have been eating Paleo for about a month and a half, here are the pros: 1. We’ve both lost weight, he has lost at least 20 lbs, and I have lost about 12 lbs. 2. We’re not hungry all the time, I can eat breakfast and realize I need to eat again around noon and haven’t been distracted by hunger for half the morning. 3. The food is really good! Even without all the grains and things that we love, we are learning to leave those things out and honestly don’t really miss it that much.  4. I’m starting to feel very hopeful about losing the weight I’ve gained over the past six pregnancies, it’s very encouraging! And I’ve found some treats that are healthy that we all love! Here are the Cons: 1. It is a more expensive way of eating, but I think once you get the hang of it and get into a groove it’s definitely affordable. Carbs tend to be pretty cheap, but they are also the problem foods in my case and eliminating them is the best way to get the weight off!  2. More food prep, it takes time. I’m making paleo mayo, almond flour, and a few other things along with the veggie prepping for cooking, but it’s worth it!

Overall thoughts about the Paleo Diet, I love it. I see us eating this way for weightloss and then adding more Nourishing Traditions foods, soaked oats, and sourdough bread, as well as occasional soaked pancakes. It’s doable, and that is saying a lot for a family of 8, 9 with my mom who lives with us!

Crockpot Spiced Chicken

It’s that time of the year again, when my crockpot gets tons of use. I just love that I can throw a bunch of stuff in there and it almost always turns out beautifully! This is a new one that was inspired by a recipe in my Everyday Paleo book. They call for a whole chicken which I did not have, so I’m using a bunch of bone-in chicken thighs but I think you can use just about any part with the skin on. Hope you’re inspired!

Spiced chicken, and our first big puzzle!!
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Dirty Dozen, Clean 15 lists for 2011

I heard about this list from the “Latest in Paleo” podcast I’ve been listening to, I’m thinking I might print the list and keep it in my purse for when I’m at the grocery store trying decide if I want to spend the extra bucks on organic onions :)

This is a list of unorganic fruits and vegetables that have been found to have the most pesticides on them in the store. You might want to avoid buying these in the non-organic section. This list is know as the “Dirty Dozen” and is in order from dirtiest to cleanest.

1. apples
2. celery
3. strawberries
4. peaches
5. spinach
6. nectarines, imported
7. grapes, imported
8. sweet bell peppers
9. potatoes
10. blueberries, domestic
11. lettuce
12. kale collard greens

Enjoying some sweet carrots from our garden :)

And this is a list of unorganic fruits and veggies, (cleanest to dirtiest). This list is known as “Clean 15″

1. onions
2. sweet corn
3. pineapples
4. avocado
5. asparagus
6. sweet peas
7. mangoes
8. eggplant
9. cantaloupe, domestic
10. kiwi
11. cabbage
12. watermelon
13. sweet potatoes
14. grapefruit
15. mushrooms

Thought this was pretty interesting and useful. I’m thankful, after reading that apples have the MOST pesticides, that we have our own bountiful apple trees! Anyway, just a little food for thought.

Green Tomatoes – Help!!

Random- oatmeal, green tomatoes, and kombucha

Aren’t these beautiful?! I got them from my sweet neighbor who didn’t want them to go to the slugs so he picked them. His tomato vines were too heavy so they were dragging on the ground the slugs were gettin’ em! But I have no idea what to do with them, anyone have a tip they’d like to pass along? :) Thanks!

Kombucha

A week into our first batch of kombucha which is basically fermented tea. Once it’s done fermenting you take the mushroom off the top and put it in another container with some of the tea, and put the fermented tea in the fridge. kombucha is a very good for your digestive system and is a great way to get some of those healthy probiotics. I’m excited to try it. We used Mango black tea but you can use any kind of tea, and there are tons of recipes out there, you just have to find someone with a “mother” so you can start your own. It’s very expensive to buy in the store, and I’m sure they legally have to kill most of the good bacteria before they sell it to you so it seems a little pointless to buy it from the store ;)

Here’s a picture of our kombucha after about six days fermenting. Very exciting, should be ready in a few more days. I’m definitely not an expert yet so I’ll not be posting detailed instructions until I have a little more experience under my belt :)

Random- oatmeal, green tomatoes, and kombucha

Going on a Journey…Finding a New Me vs. Food

Chris and I have been married for nearly 10 years now. It’s hard to believe, 10 years! It seems like just yesterday I found myself in our, my, very first kitchen. I really had dreamed of being a homemaker all my life. I can still remember the excitement I felt, unpacking all those new dishes we had gotten from our generous guests who had attended our wedding. All the shiny silverware, the untouched utensils, pots and pans, and the precious pig shaped cutting board hand made by John Morrison, he and his wife died in a car accident just a year and a half after we were married. I still think of him often when I use it.

And there I was, apron on, ready to make our little home. Or was I? Oh wait a minute, I don’t really know how to cook do I? So I made a lot of tuna melts (I still make them today and we love them:). I’m thankful my husband was used to a diet of processed food and take out for the few years before we married, because his standards were pretty low in the gourmet food department, so pretty much anything I cooked up, he ate and seemed pretty happy about it. Of course, there were always those meals that didn’t even come close to being super tasty, like my first try at enchiladas. Let’s just say, they weren’t his mamas enchiladas! But over the years I’ve learned a lot about cooking, I can follow a recipe pretty well and usually when I follow it, if it was a good recipe to start with, it turns out pretty good :) Continue reading