Beet Kvass:My first batch

I recently found a recipe for beet kvass--a fermented beet drink. I'm so excited about this as beets have so much nutrition and tons of vitamins. To see the benefits of beets, fermentation and beet kvass, see this post.

Recipe:
2 quart jar with lid
3 medium beets, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 tsp of sea salt
2 tsp of whey (or just double the salt instead of using whey)
1 lemon sliced
Chopped ginger
Filtered water

Put all ingredients into jar and fill with filtered water. Leave on counter for at least 2 days. Longer for more fermentation. I'm planning to leave 2 days and test. But probably will leave 3. After you've got it like you want it, put it in the frige.

The original recipe I saw didn't have ginger or lemons. Someone suggested those. I was going to add tumeric as well. I thought I had some but I didn't.

The beet greens I'm looking forward to juicing when my juicer comes Monday!!! (Hopefully Monday!!)

Homemade tortillas and hummus

Okay, yum! For real. I decided the other day that I needed to make more use of my dehydrator so I came up with a tortilla recipe. Yes, all by myself. (I'm a little proud because it was so good!) Here's the recipe if you're interested.

Yellow pepper quinoa tortillas:

2 cups cooked quinoa
2 yellow peppers cut into strips
1/4 cup chia seeds
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

I halfed the recipe and put half of it in the food processor at a time until the yellow pepper is all mixed in. Spread thinly over paraflex sheets or parchment paper and put in dehydrator at 135 degrees for 3 1/2 hours. I wanted to try with red peppers but I only had one.

One of the tortillas was a little crunchy (probably a little thin) so I broke it up into chips and ate it with salsa!!

Then I made zucchini hummus today. If you've never made it, here's the recipe I use:

Raw Zucchini Hummus Recipe

For this recipe you will need:

Vita-mix (I think it works best for this recipe)
3-4 medium zucchini’s
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c lemon juice
1/2 c + 2 T of raw organic tahini
1.5 t salt
2 t cumin
4 cloves of garlic
Paprika to garnish

Cut up zucchini and blend them first then add everything else.

So for lunch I was so excited to try my creation!! I thickly spread the hummus over a tortilla, added tomatoes, lettuce and turkey. It was so flavorful. Better than I even expected!!!

Broiled Sole with buttery sauce

I should've taken a picture of the fish! I'm so bad about that!! But I didn't. So I'll just have to tell you what I did with it! :) I bought frozen sole (wild caught) from Trader Joe's. It was quite inexpensive, and I'm trusting that it was wild caught like it claimed!! Next time I'll buy two packs. It was just enough for our family with one, but I'm sure my husband and oldest would've eaten plenty more if given the chance! Plus, Cedar didn't eat tonight because he was sick.

So here's what I did. It was simple and fast and turned out really yummy!

1 pkg. frozen wild caught or fresh wild caught sole (or other mild white fish)--a little over a pound.
4 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup white wine
juice of one lemon
thyme to taste
Melt butter and whisk last four ingredients together for sauce.

Line pan with raised sides with aluminum foil. Place fish (fresh or defrosted) over foil. Pour buttery sauce over fish. Place in broiler for 10-12 minutes or until fish is flaky.

Perfectly light, yummy and healthy!

Heavenly Healthy Waffles

I know "heavenly" and "healthy" are not too often used in the same title for waffles!! But you can be sure it's deserved here. I made these babies last night for our small group, and they were a hit. They are grain-free, dairy-free, and sweetened with only a touch of honey. Cedar and I finished off the last two this morning!! We ate them up with a serving of the raspberries from the bushes in our backyard!! Can't beat that! These waffles would be delicious with homemade whipped cream (made from coconut whipping cream, of course.) But we just used butter and pure maple syrup last night. This morning Cedar and I had them with butter and agave. Any way you have them--they are delish!! Here's my adapted version of this recipe (with a few changes for the better--IMO)

3 cups almond flour
4 eggs, whisked
1 1/4 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 Tbs arrowroot flour
3 Tbs honey
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Whisk together eggs and milk. Add almond flour and mix well. Stir in shredded coconut, arrowroot flour and the rest of the ingredients. My mixture was too thick to pour so I spooned it onto the hot waffle iron. But if you want to add more milk, feel free!

Meatballs!!

I have children with different tastes. Some of you who personally know my children know this is an *understatement* about one of my children in particular!! :) Whenever I say "all my kids loved this" just know that that means 5 out of the 6 unless I specifically say HER!! So in this case--all of my kids loved these (except the one!) I have yet to find anything much beyond plain roasted chicken and peanut butter sandwiches for this one!! But anyway, my others devoured these. They made 24 good size meatballs. If you have a smaller family you can 1/2 the recipe or freeze them (I always love that option!!) I actually ended up freezing 7 of them. I figured I could give them to the kids as a quick meal one night when Jon and I are going out. They wouldn't be a whole meal for anyone (unless a couple of them were gone) but they would be some good protein!! So here they are--

The Meatballs
2 lbs. ground beef
1 lb. mild italian sausage
3 celery stalks, diced
1/4 white onion, diced (could use more, but my kids like lesser amounts of onion)
2 carrots, diced
3 eggs
1/2 cup almond meal
1 Tbs. dried oregano
1 Tbs. garlic powder
4 or 5 fresh basil leaves, chopped
pinch of cayenne pepper
sea salt and black pepper to taste

I put the celery, onion, and carrots in the food processor. It gives the taste and nutrition without the kids seeing the chunks of orange and such in the meatball!! :) Plus, it's a lot easier than dicing!! Also, next time I'll leave out the cayenne. I liked it, but it was a bit spicy for a couple of mine. Ones that would have probably eaten another one but just couldn't because it was spicy. :) This wasn't the case with the baby though. He ate two of them--spiciness and all!! Use your hands to mix all ingredients together. Form the mixture into large meatballs.  (I probably did between a golf ball and a baseball size.) Place them on the bottom of a crock pot, stacking if necessary. (I cooked them on the stovetop in a deep pan on low for about 2 hours.)


The Sauce
16 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 fresh tomato, chopped
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
5-6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
sea salt and pepper to taste

Cover the meatballs with the tomato sauce and cook 6-8 hours on low. (In the crock pot.)

Raw "dessert"

I made some raw cookies yesterday in the dehydrator. I got this dehydrator a few months ago and posted once on here about the fruit leathers we made. They weren't such a huge success because they were very tart. I guess I need to work on the sweetness without sugar!! But yesterday I wanted to try some cookies in the dehydrator. They are so yummy and healthy all at the same time. The kids love them!! And I can even give them to Cedar knowing that they are good for him--full of live enzymes.  I forgot to take pictures until I spread the mixture out on the paraflexx sheet so sorry. And, I never measure so sorry about that as well!!

Ingredients:

Sesame seeds

raw coconut

raw dates

I probably used about 1/2 cup of sesame seeds (maybe a little less) and soaked them in water (just enough to cover them) for about 2-3 hours. Sesame seeds don't get "gelatiny" in water the way flax seeds do but the water make them "sprouted" and keep them a little sticky. Spoon the sesame seeds out into a food processor, add coconut (maybe 1/4 cup?) and about 6 big dates. Add some water from the sesame seeds as needed to keep mixture moist and sticking together. Process until everything is mixed well. The only thing I'll do differently next time is probably make the dates into a "paste" in the vitamix first. The food processor left bigger chunks than I wanted, and even though the taste was even, I'd like for there to be a more even look to it--just aesthetically speaking.

Then I spread the mixture out on a "Paraflexx" sheet for the dehydrator.

Then I scored it with a knife into squares.

Then I put it in the dehydrator. Raw foods should not be cooked above 105-116 degrees (depending on who you ask.) But the air in the dehydrator can be higher than that the first couple of hours because it takes a while for it to get warmed up. So I put the temp dial on 145 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours. After that I turn it down to 105. From the charts and examples I've looked at, the temp of the food never gets above 90 degrees doing it this way--which is the important part anyway. This speeds up the process by hours depending on what you are drying. I put this in yesterday around 2:30 at 145 degrees.  After 1 1/2 hours I turned the temp to 105. I took them out last night before bed at around 11. I would have liked to have left it in another couple of hours but not all night so I decided to get it out then. The cookies are a tiny bit chewier than I would like--but I've had them that way out of the bag as well. I do like these pretty crunchy. But Breck, Cama-Jane and Cedar have loved them!! Below is my lunchtime "dessert" with almond butter and coffee!! Yummy!! Breck enjoyed them with almond butter as well, but CJ liked hers plain.

Happy Eating!!

Chicken Strips

So I've got another gluten free recipe. It's nothing earth shattering--just chicken strips!! :) But sometimes that's what I need--something easy and quick with not much thought. I hadn't tried them yet because I didn't know exactly what flours to use, but I just decided to go for it tonight. I mixed one part millet flour and one part sweet sorghum flour. I added celtic sea salt and Old Bay seasoning (yes, I checked, and it's gluten free as well.) I always dip my chicken in egg first to keep the batter on really well. I used sunflower oil in the deep fryer to fry them in. (Yes, I know deep frying is a horrible thing, but sometimes you just gotta fry something up!!) They were really good--especially with homemade honey mustard!!

Gluten free breaded Grouper

I like to share gluten free meals sometimes when I find something that works for us and everyone likes. Tonight was one of those nights so I thought I would share. We were down at the park downtown for much of the afternoon. It was a beautiful, breezy 81 degrees here today--a much needed break from the low to mid 90's we've had lately. So the seven of us took a picnic to the park and had a nice day together. The playground was actually closed for painting over the next couple of weeks, but we ate, climbed trees, played shuffleboard and then played in the game room. So we were packing up to go home and thought about the fact that I had nothing planned for supper! I remembered the nice little fresh fish place that sells wild caught fish that they've caught that morning. My family (especially my oldest son) loves fish, but I don't cook it too often because I only want to cook wild caught. If you are not familiar with the dangers of farmed fish, please see here and here. Or just google it, and you'll get plenty of info! While wild caught is more expensive, I think after you've done a bit of research, you'll agree it's worth it!

So I went over the fish market and bought 1 1/2 lbs. of black grouper. Here's what I did with it. I didn't measure anything so I can't give any measurements, but I usually don't measure stuff so that's not unusual. I got my skillet ready with olive oil and a few squirts of lemon juice. In a bowl, I made a mixture of parmesan cheese, millet flour, thyme and oregano. I cut the fish into nice size fillets (because wild caught usually comes in bigger chunks--you'll need a good fillet knife) and coated them in the parmesan mixture. Then I placed them in the skillet. It took me two rounds to make all the fish. I try to only flip it once during the cooking time. Pan fry until flaky.

Along with the fish we had roasted red skinned potatoes roasted in olive oil, garlic salt, oregano and thyme. We also had chard sauteed with garlic and onions. I usually use fresh tomatoes and mushrooms in this saute, but I didn't have any. I thought I had some canned diced tomatoes, but I didn't so it ended up just the chard. I liked it, though, because the onions caramelized and it was yummy. The kids weren't as impressed, but they ate it. Cama-Jane loved it though because she slurped up every bit on her plate.

Each of the kids (except Liza-Hill, of course) had seconds of the fish and potatoes. Trand was very disappointed that everyone liked it so much because he was looking forward to eating everyone's share!

Yummy meal, healthy and gluten free!! Just my style!

Roasted pear and blueberry chicken salad

Tonight's supper (before the goat cheese--completely forgot to put it on!)

Roasted pear and blueberry chicken salad with raspberry walnut vinaigrette.

There is the completed salad!! So yummy!! 

Jon has started P90X again because he's gained back just about all the weight he lost last year!! Poor thing. He's just like me! All or nothing! So he's been up before the crack of dawn exercising like crazy (and puking like crazy) and trying to eat right again. Last time I got up and made omelets every morning for him, but last time I was sleeping a full nights sleep beforehand!! I average getting up at least twice a night these days so I'm not really raring to go cook breakfast for him a 7am. So I've been up at 7:30 to make him a protein smoothie and send him off to work. It works. I'm sure he'd much rather have the omelet, though. I'll have to do that on Saturday! :)

Cheesy drop biscuits

A friend of mine sent me this recipe the other day, and I decided to try it out. These were so yummy and even liked by [most of] my kids! I was even able to give Cedar his first pieces of bread because the recipe is with coconut flour--not a grain! He, of course, thought it was wonderful! We ate them with whole roasted chicken (plain, of course--my kids' favorite!), long grain brown rice (cooked in chicken stock makes it so much yummier) and roasted beets. It was nice to add some bread back into our gluten free meals. The boys especially made several comments about how long it had been since we'd had bread at a meal! :)

3 farm fresh eggs
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 C diced onions
1 C cheddar cheese
1/3 C coconut flour
1/4 C liquid ghee (I used melted butter instead)

Preheat oven to 400. Mix all ingredients, drop onto cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Recipe said it made 6 biscuits, but I got 8 really good sized ones. I don't know who's eating those huge 6 biscuits!! :)

The recipe also said to reheat them, you could fry them in coconut oil in a pan. I'm sure that would be good for breakfast, but we don't ever have leftovers at our house!!

Two gluten free recipes

I thought I would share a couple of recipes that I use quite often. Whether you are living gluten free because of Celiac or intolerances, or if you just choose to live that way because it's a healthier lifestyle, these are two great recipes. The first is a yummy "dessert" smoothie. Usually I make my smoothies for the purpose of getting whole nutritious foods into my kids with fresh fruit, greens and vegetables. But sometimes I just really need a sweet snack--but I shouldn't be eating sugar with Cedar. Here's what I've come up with that's totally yummy, packed with protein, potassium and antioxidents, and gluten, dairy, yeast, and sugar free (except for the little amount of natural sugar in the banana.) The second is just a traditional white sauce that can be used in anything--chicken pot pie filling, used "alfredo" style with noodles, used to thicken soups, sauces and gravies, etc. Last night I just made the "filling" of chicken pot pie with chicken, white sauce, broccoli, carrots and mushrooms with no "pie" part! The kids love it!

Peanocolate Smoothie

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 banana
heaping spoonful of peanut butter (more if you want!) :)
1 Tbsp. raw cocao powder
1 tsp. stevia (or sweetened to your taste)
handful of ice cubes

Put all ingredients in a high powered blender and blend away! So yummy and creamy and SWEET!! Which is what I tend to crave--and that's hard when you're on a no sugar diet!!

"Un"Traditional White Sauce


4 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. tapioca flour
2 Tbsp. sorghum flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups milk (you can use dairy, goat, almond, rice, coconut--whatever--or use a mixture!!)

Melt butter in a saucepan on stove. Add flour one Tbsp. at a time, whisking immediately to keep from clumping. After mixture is creamy add one cup of milk, whisking until creamy. Then add the second cup of milk. Turn burner very low and let simmer for about 8 to 10 minutes, whisking occasionally. Mixture will thicken with time. For thicker sauce add less milk. Also, this is enough sauce for my size family. You could easily half this recipe. You can also use any kind of flour. I have just found that this works really well. I have wanted to use millet but haven't done that yet.

Pan Seared Grouper with Mango Salsa

I made a yummy dish tonight. My oldest loves fish and has been very disappointed lately with his lack of choices of food so I decided to get him some fish. I don't cook fish too often. That's not because I don't like it or don't know how. It's because I know that I should buy "wild caught" fish instead of "farmed" fish--which means waaaaay more money that I want to pay for it!! But I figured he was worth it so I got some today. Anyway, thought I would share the recipe because it was very good--and very easy!!

1 mango diced
1 papaya diced
3/4 - 1 C pineapple diced
1/2 red pepper diced (and sauteed)
2 tsp. diced jalepeno
fresh cilantro (I didn't put too much b/c my husband doesn't like it)
juice of two limes

Grouper filets
olive oil

Mix the first ingredients for the salsa and set aside.

Pour olive oil in cast iron pan. Sear filets about 3 -4 minutes on each side. Top with salsa and serve.

So yummy and good for you too!!

Almond Joy Pie

Here's a recipe that I "sort of" invented for a gluten free Thanksgiving pie. I had seen the ingredients but not in a pie, and I had no idea of the amounts! :) So #4 and I played and fiddled and tasted until we got it right. We had a great time!! :) And it was very yummy. So several people have asked me for the recipe, and I thought I'd just post it here. If you're gluten free or just want a healthier alternative this Christmas, here ya go. It's all raw except for the maple syrup--which I guess is debatable. I've heard that it is an ingredient in some raw cookbooks, but when I looked it up online most of what I found said it couldn't be raw because it is heated too much in the process of making it. For me, it wasn't a big deal either way because I'm not doing all raw right now anyway. Oh, and you can choose what kind of coconut you want. I just used already sweetened coconut because I didn't want to have to do one more step. But if you want to use unsweetened shredded coconut and sweeten it yourself, that would be great!! Let me know how you sweeten your coconut really well.

filling:
3/4 C coconut oil
3/4 C maple syrup
1 C raw cacoa powder
3 T raw honey
dash salt
shredded coconut

crust:
2 C almonds
1/2 C dates
1/4 C maple syrup

For filling, put all ingredients (except coconut) in a VitaMix or high powered blender and mix until smooth and creamy--about 30 to 45 seconds.

For crust, put all almonds (reserve 8 whole ones) into food processor and process on high until you get a powder. You may need to fish out a few big pieces and put them back in until they are all powdered. Do the same for the dates. Mix almond powder and date powder with maple syrup in a bowl. Press into a pie crust.

Sprinkle a layer of shredded coconut on top of the crust then pour the filling in. Sprinkle a thick layer of coconut on the top of the filling and then place 8 almonds around--one for each piece.