This is a great favorite with all of the kids right now.

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground pork

6 apples- minus some nibbling by the kids- cored and sliced

1 onion- diced

2 celery sticks-chopped

spoonful of oil

2 T lavender flowers

sprinkle of kelp (optional, I add a sprinkle of kelp to most things I cook for the trace minerals)

1 tsp each ground rosemary, cloves and sage

pinch of crushed red pepper

salt and pepper to taste

maple syrup

Gently melt oil (I use coconut) in a skillet, add onions and celery, with a sprinkle of salt, and cook until onions are soft and translucent.  Add in pork and all of the spices.  Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly until pork is cooked through.

Line a baking pan with the apple slices, there is no need to grease the pan.  Layer the cooked pork and all of the juices on top of the apples.  Drizzle the top with syrup.

Bake at 375 for approximately 25 minutes.

This is the right amount for my family.  Adjust the proportions however you see fit for yours.

One morning, when I was very ill and not interested in food much at all, I woke up with this combination of ingredients in mind that I felt like I could actually willingly eat.  The kids went out and harvested what bits of kale they could that were sticking out above the snow.  And Steve mixed up the salad, just the way I asked.

healing salad

Start with fresh kale, torn into quite small pieces, in a bowl.  Add a bit of olive oil, a splash of balsamic or apple cider vinegar and an optional sprinkle of fine sea salt.  Massage them all together.  Toss with grated carrot, apple chunks and raisins.  When I made it again last week (as pictured above) I added some ripe pear as well.  So simple.  So good.

We’ve been eating so much squash lately it’s ridiculous.  If we’re not careful I think we might all turn orange.  I’m in the middle of doing the Whole30.  Which isn’t really far off from how I usually eat, with a couple of exceptions.  Including strictly avoiding all sweeteners.  After a very busy end of summer/beginning of fall, I just felt like my poor body needed a rest before heading into the holiday season.  There are some people, you know, who’s bodies can tolerate just about anything and years of abuse add up to just about nothing.  I’m kind of like the opposite of those people.  Just the tiniest bit of over-indulgence does me in.  Sometimes for a long time.  And I’m too darn busy for a broken body, so great care must be taken in it’s upkeep.  Right now that means a diet free of dairy, grains, legumes, food additives, nightshades and sweeteners of all kinds.

But back to the food.  The good stuff.  The stuff I *can* eat.  I needed some new ideas in the world of squash preparation.  My sweet neighbor inspired some experimenting which resulted in a whole new-to-me favorite.  Whenever I make these, the Wee Girl stands by the counter eating them all before I have the chance to bring them to the table.

As usual, the process is simple….

cut your squash in half and scoop out the seeds

slice into pieces about a 1/4″ thick

arrange on a cookie sheet, in a single layer with several gobs of coconut oil and a good sprinkle of salt on top

bake in an over preheated to 375 until done

You can serve them when they are just soft, but we like them to get a bit browned and crisp around the edges.  Leaving on the skin makes them especially nice with a mix of crisp and chewy that is most satisfying.  Also the combination of being a bit fatty and sweet makes them seem like a very great treat to me just now.  You don’t have to flip them as they cook, but they will turn out much, much nicer if you do.  And this my friends is why there are never any cookie sheets clean in my house!

This year I’ve also started using a new to me method of saving fresh herbs.  I’m still utilizing all of my fall back methods, but I think this one is a nice little change of pace.  I put my fresh clean herbs in the Vita-Mix (you could us a food processor or blender, basically use whatever you would make pesto in) with a bit of olive oil and blitz them to make a sort of thick, chunky paste.  Then I spoon it out into ice-cube trays to freeze.  Once frozen the cubes can be moved to a freezer safe storage container (jars, bags, what have you).  Pictured above are some of my cilantro cubes.  I think these will be very nice to have for adding a quick bit of flavor and summery freshness to soups, sauces, greens, on top of chicken…really the options are endless.

What’s cooking in your kitchen these days?

at the moment.  It seems to be all that  I want just now.  It’s a simplified version of a recipe sent to me by some friends.  Theirs is fancier and fabulous, but I’ve heard a rumor that they might be starting a new food blog, so I’ll let them share it when the time comes.

My quickie version:

chicken thighs, quartered lemons, olives with their juices, lots of crushed garlic, salt and pepper

You’ll have to settle for a ready to go into the oven picture because once it came out, it went right into my mouth without any time for a photo.

So easy and simple!  Just throw it all in a dish an bake.  I like to make it in my cast iron with a vented lid.  It keeps just the right level of moisture without ending up soupy.  The lemons get so soft that you can eat them peels and all.  I think I could eat this for every meal just now.  This and that incredible local salad mix.  No boring all lettuce spring mix there!  We get pea greens and cuttings of baby mustard, several kinds of kale, broccoli sprouts, and all sorts of things, in a different mix each week.  Yes, I could survive, quite happily on these two things for quite some time, with the occasional cup of fresh ginger tea with honey as a treat in-between.

I’m bored with my blog layout.  It’s been exactly the same for a year now.  But I don’t have the time to putz with it.  I wish the blog fairies would swoop in and redesign it, make it all fresh and new for spring!

The fruits of summer, warmed, sweetened and spiced to create a winter time treat.  Much of the fruit that I froze during the warmer seasons has been prepared with way.

I take my frozen fruit and put it in a pot.  The one above was a mix of peaches, blueberries and strawberries.  I find that berries and stone fruits work particularly well.  Add a good, heavy drizzle of honey over top and slowly heat to melt.  Sprinkle with ginger and cinnamon.  Stir occasionally.  As everything starts to melt and juice collects in the bottom, but before the sauce gets hot, stir in a couple spoonfuls of arrowroot powder (or tapioca or kudzu or whatever makes you happy).  Make sure it is all dissolved.  You don’t want any gooey clumps!  As it heats, stir more frequently, until the sauce thickens.  Serve warm or cold.

Lunch one day last week.  With beans in lieu of eggs for those with allergies.

I like for the majority of the salads that I make to stand on their own, without dressing.  Also for them to be protein rich, a little fatty and filling.  And no I don’t worry about all of that fat in the least, to be perfectly honest.  Out of curiosity a couple of months ago I joined an online program where you could record your food intake in great detail and get the nutritional breakdown.  It gave you a set calorie goal.  You could set it for weight loss, gain or maintenance.  And even with it set so that I should supposedly be loosing 2 lbs a week, I could never even come close to the goal.  Without changing my eating habits at all and while being scrupulously accurate about what I was consuming, most days were around half the calories I was supposed to be consuming.  It’s eating low in sugars and carbs that makes the difference.  I don’t believe fat to be the demon that others think it is.  So, if I feel like, say, cooking my veggies in bacon grease to give them a rich flavor, I don’t think twice about it.  And I’m perfectly comfortable with that.

But back to the salad…I was actually really craving fat that day.  Something about the dark and damp and cold of winter, it seemed like just what I needed.  And eggs.  We don’t have them often, but from time to time, I really like some.  I remembered when I was little, my mother would sometimes make a different sort of egg-salad, mashing the hard boiled eggs with butter instead of the typical mayo concoction.  hmmm….

First I filled bowls with baby spinach.  I’m loving baby spinach right now.  Next I chopped up a whole bunch of leeks and sauteed them (yes, in a bit of bacon grease, it’s true!).  And generously layered that atop the spinach (all the kids deemed this their favorite part).  Then we topped the whole thing with hard-boiled eggs, mashed with salt, pepper and a bit of ghee.  While we don’t do well with dairy, everyone in the house seems to tolerate my home-made clarified butter fairly well.

The meal ended with everyone begging me to make it again soon.  The flavor combination was just right.  So nice when you can call a salad a treat!

I used to cook this in a covered crock in the oven, but more often then not now, I use the crockpot.  You can of course use either method!

Peel and cube whatever kind of squash you have around.  Slice the apples of your choice.  You can peel them as well, but I never bother.  You want about equal amounts squash and apple.  Layer them in your crockpot or baking dish.  As you can see from the picture above, I go right up to the top and then some.

Next add a couple of pats of butter, ghee or coconut oil, a spoonful of blackstrap molasses (about a tablespoon full for a whole crockpot), and a good glug or two of maple syrup (maybe a quarter cup?).  Top with a teaspoon or so of nutmeg and a pinch or two of allspice or clove.  Add half a cup or so of water, cover and cook.

I tend to cook it on low, overnight.  It wonderful at this time of year to wake up to the house smelling delicious and have something warm and spicy to serve along with breakfast.  Other days I might get it in early in the day, to go with dinner that night, especially if it’s going to be a busy afternoon.

The kids tend to eat it as it is, but I like to mash everything up on my plate with a fork so that all of the flavors get mixed together.  I think there is too much goodness that gets lost in the juices other wise.  But this may just be my own personal quirk.

This “recipe” comes from the realms of family tradition.  This Italian soup was my grandfather’s specialty, and the way that we always started our Thanksgiving meal.

When I mention escarole, many people have no earthly clue what I’m talking about.  Some have thought that I meant escargot, but I assure you, this dish has nothing to do with snails!  Escarole is a bunchy green variety of endive.  Our CSA offers escarole for only one week.  And when they do, I make escarole soup.

I think there are fancier ways to prepare this soup and some day I might experiment with that, but this very simple version is how I’ve always had it.

I start with a pot of well salted, home-made chicken broth.  While the broth is heating, I make a tray full of mini-meatballs.  These are just beef, because that’s what I happened to have.  I know that my mother does half beef and half pork when she makes this.  You can make it with whatever variety of meatball pleases you.  Cook your meatballs.  You want them to be at least most of the way, if not all the way done.  When the meatballs are done and the broth is hot, transfer the balls into the broth.  Then add lots of washed and chopped escarole.  Cook it until the escarole wilts, then serve it with fresh grated Parmesan (though the Parmesan of my childhood generally came from a green can).  We don’t usually eat milk products at home, with the exception of home-made ghee.  Occasionally we have a bit as a treat when we are out.  But for this once a year passing on of a tradition, I make an exception and eat my soup and think of my grandfather and all of my extended family.  And I wonder if someday, maybe just once a year, my children will serve the same meal to their own children and grandchildren as well.

This one sort of strays from the simple philosophy just a bit.  It’s still pretty basic and easy to make, but it’s a little more processed then most of the recipes I’ll be sharing here.  It’s a great family favorite.  I regularly get requests from extended family and friends to make it as well.  And I had a request to share it here, so here goes.

I’m going to start by saying that I never measure the ingredients for this.  Last time I made it, I tried to get general measurements to share with you here.  Also, I cook large.  Really large.  For one thing we have a decent sized family.  And you know that old adage about the way growing boys eat?  So not a joke.  Or an exaggeration.  In fact, in my experience, everyone has been down-playing it all this time.  And since this is a favored dish, they go at it with an extra will.  Secondly, I like leftovers.  They make for a quick, easy, and nourishing lunch during the busy home-schooling day.  The more days a week that I can just pop something in the oven or re-heat it on the stove, the better.

Generally this amount serves as dinner for the 6 of us one night and either breakfast or lunch for the children and I later in the week.

Chicken Dippers

I start with 3 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast and chop it into strips.

I dip each piece individually into a bowl of water, then dredge it in my flour mix.

For the flour mix, I use potato flour.  You can use any flour here and it will turn out delicious, but I’ve found potato flour to be particularly good.  The flavor combination is excellent and it makes a really nice, crisp coating.  To coat this much chicken, I use around 2 1/2 cups of flour, mixed with a tablespoon or so of sea salt and maybe 2 teaspoons of either chili powder or cayenne pepper (you’ll have to experiment with this depending on how spicy you like things.  This is just about right for my family and gives a nice color to the finished chicken as well).

I cook this in two cast iron skillets at once, to save time.  Start by heating the oil of your choice in the skillet.  It should be enough to completely cover the bottom of the pan.    Using tongs, arrange the flour coated chicken in a single layer in your preheated pan.  I keep the burner at about a medium heat for the entire cooking process.  Cook until nice and browned on one side and then flip and cook the same on the other side.  Remove the cooked pieces to a platter (you can drain them on something if you like) and repeat the process with the remaining chicken.

My kids call these chicken dippers because they like to dip them in mustard to eat.  They like them cold as leftovers too, so they make a good picnic food.  Enjoy!

Thinly slice your yams and coat them with oil and spices.  You can also peel them before slicing, but I never bother.  This time I used chili powder and ginger and that was a particularly pleasant flavor combination.  Don’t forget the salt.  Arrange them in a single layer on a cookie sheet (or cookie sheets, if you are making many).  Bake at 450 until they are browned on one side, maybe 15 minutes?  Flip them and cook until brown all over.  Enjoy!