Family Updates and A Namaste Foods Cookbook

A lot of things going on in our family recently, the oldest graduated from Elementary School (tears).  The youngest has had a lot of tummy problems later, causing us to eliminate dairy for a while in our home.  I hope this helps her and yet does not get permanently added to our "NO" list.  Eliminating Soy, Wheat, Peanuts, and Tree Nuts feels like quite enough for now. Presently, we are trying coconut milk until her tummy problems can be solved.  I'm finally getting a handle on all of our food options with a business opportunity to boot.  The gardens are looking great right now, the rains have wrecked havoc on our home but been great for the farm.  A lot going on in our family, but that doesn't get in the way of what I have to share with everyone..
Recently, I received a shipment from Namaste Foods, LLC of products for an upcoming charity health carnival for our group "Gluten & Allergy Free KY" is attending.  How excited was I to see their first-ever cookbook?  It's title is "Simple Pleasures Gluten-free Cookbook" and I was thoroughly thrilled to dive in and check out the recipes.  I knew this cookbook was going to be great when the first recipe was apple fritters, the way to this KY mom's heart.  The cookbook is separated into Breads & Breakfasts, Savory Soups & Salads, Main Dishes, and Desserts; all of which involve a Namaste Foods mix.  You can definitely tell that a lot of creativity went into planning these recipes.  From the Perfect Piroshkis to the Luscious Lemon Cake, these recipes sound like a lot of fun to start playing with.  I highly recommend checking out this recipe book.  I love the mixes and are ready to share with my support group all the goodies I have received.

A Farm-Life Update with a Cheesecake Bites Recipe

It has been a very busy couple of weeks on the farm.  I have really gotten into cooking again; making cheesecake bites, corn dogs, cracker stix.  All wheat, soy, peanut, and tree nut free!  My daughter’s teacher has been on top of things with information regarding classroom treats, allowing me to be on top of it as well.  It has been great!  There’s not any stress when you know what’s expected.  I have found a new pizza crust mix that I am in love with thanks to our local health food store, it’s called Chebe.  I also bought the cinnamon roll mix and am looking forward to trying my hand at maple bacon cinnamon rolls with a little sweet and savory.  Sounds yummy just thinking about it.  My cheesecake bites came out wonderfully, they currently have a home in a giant freezer bag to allow us to keep and enjoy them for as long as possible.  We have had a lot of fun with themed dinners around our house.  The other day we had a diner-themed dinner with homemade corn dogs, cheese fries, and milkshakes.  It definitely wasn’t the healthiest meal in the world, but so what!  We had a blast eating and playing a mean game of go fish!  I have been milking my Nubian, Heidi, for a week now.  There’s nothing better to me than making cheese, yogurt, butter, and ice cream from farm-fresh, sustainable ingredients.  With the additions of my herb garden, orchard, and vegetable garden the flavors are limitless.  Two roosters from our farm are currently being prepared to use as sausage for our family; they are super flavorful with some of our rosemary in my garden.  I know a farm lifestyle can be overwhelming to some.  For us, it’s a lifestyle choice to provide for our family as sustainably and organic as possible.  We have seen dramatic changes in our daughter and her health.  When we initially began as a treatment for her autism, we saw results.  Since expanding our changes to limit her food allergies as well, our family has never been healthier.  I may be “jinxing” this as I say it, but we haven’t dealt with ear infections, strep throat, or the flu like others have.  The only health challenges we have had is sinus and allergy problems as the weather changes from one extreme to the next.  Which, living in Kentucky, happens on a daily basis at times.  Below I have listed our cheesecake bites recipe.

Cheesecake Bites

1 recipe for vanilla bean cheesecake without the crust.

Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Prepare cheesecake batter and spoon into mini-muffin tin; filling ¾ way full.  Place muffin tin in water bath and cook at 300 degrees for 20 minutes.  Turn oven off, do not open door.  Allow cakes to reduce heat slowly.  Remove from oven and sit on counter to cool to room temperature.  When room temperature, use butter knife to remove cakes onto platter.  Once all the cheesecakes have been made; place platter in refrigerator to allow to cool.  They will be easier to dip in chocolate if firmer.  Melt Enjoy Life chocolate chips in double boiler on stove top, dip cakes in chocolate and place on wax paper until cooled. 

These make a great treat.  Time consuming to make but worth it.  I fix on a rainy day and place in freezer bag until ready.

Snow Days and a Brownie Recipe

Hello Everyone!! I have missed everyone and I hope you are all staying warm and healthy. We have had a lot of snow in our area and no school at all this week. Luckily, we have plenty of four-wheel drive vehicles that have not limited our capability of reaching the grocery store. I’ve been baking quite a bit. I love it, it’s calming to create yummy desserts from scratch or build upon a simple mix. I would love to start creating the bakery treats for the public. I’ve been doing a little bit for close friends and family who want to eat healthier this new year. Maybe soon, I can advertise in my town. Who knows? Our family has been super busy adding on and remodeling our home. I want our house to look like it’s been here for a hundred years, the devil is in the details. I’ve been choosing historically accurate paint and moldings and my husband has been doing everything himself. Who knew he would be so good at designing and building cabinets. I think he’s found a new hobby. We’ve had to make sure all of our animals are staying healthy and warm. I have a goat due to kid this month and I’m just praying all of this snow will be gone before Heidi goes into labor. I’m looking forward to milking her but not in this cold, snowy weather. The milk would probably freeze before I got it to the house. At the encouragement of my “tweeps”, I am including a simple brownie recipe that I built upon a package mix for a quick treat.


Quick Chocolate Sunbutter Cream Cheese Brownies


1 package Bob’s Red Mill Brownie Mix
1 cup sunbutter
1 package of cream cheese
1 tbs. honey
1 egg
1 ½ sticks melted butter


Combine in mixer the brownie mix, egg, and melted butter; set aside. To a small saucepan over low heat combine cream cheese, honey, and sunbutter; melt to combine well. To a greased 9x13 pan add half of brownie mixture to make complete layer. Dot sunbutter mixture over layer and finish with adding last half of brownie mixture. Using a butter knife, make sure to marble sunbutter mixture through out brownie batter. Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

A Gift from Rudi's

I was so excited when the UPS delivery man made a surprise appearance in our driveway.  He came bearing gifts!  He came bearing allergy-friendly food gifts!  Imagine my delight at the opening of a Rudi's gluten-free bakery box with presents inside.  Our family stumbled across Rudi's orginial sandwich bread once upon a time and it became a fast favorite.  Though not easy to come by in our area, we visit the natural foods stores enough to regularly keep our freezer in stock.  Within our Rudi's present came the gift of their Multi-grain bread.  We had not tried this before.  Needless to say, my daughter has a new favorite.  She likes the texture of the multi-grain bread much better than any other bread she has tried.  It's music to my ears!  Not only did we receive a free loaf in the box, but we also received a coupon for an additional loaf at no charge.  They provided literature of their spread the bread campaign as well, have you heard?  For every $1 coupon downloaded from their site; Rudi's will make a donation to the Celiac Disease Foundation.  How awesome is that?  I host a support group for our local residents whom are already big fans of Rudi's and are also excited to be supporting such a great cause while getting a reward themselves.  You can't get much better than that!  I look forward to also being able to try the cinnamon raisin bread along with the bread pudding recipe they sent.  Bread pudding has always been a past family favorite and I look forward to retrying for my allergy aware family.  It's nice to know some family traditions can still stay the same with just a little bit of tweaking.

Last Night's Fights

Well, everyone, I get the worst mom in the world award!  Thank you.  Thank you.  When I picked my daughter up from school yesterday, her head was itchy.  Of course my first fear is the dreaded "L" word.  Upon checking, I just noticed some redness; no big deal just dry skin.  She takes after me and this harsh winter has not been friendly to our skin; or so I thought.  "Get your homework finished and eat this early dinner, you've got soccer practice tonight."  And off we go an hour later to a facility 30 minutes away for some good ol' indoor soccer.  When we leave I notice her face is really red.  "Wow, you really got a workout."  Uh-Oh, silly mommy, look closer!  By the time we made the trip back home she was broke out in welts and urticaria from head to toe.  Hello, I'm a nurse and I'm still an idiot.  My husband immediately jerked off her clothes and started a warm bath because she felt she was on fire.  I, on the other hand, was running frantically to my bathroom to grab the benadryl.  Needless to say that within an hour, she was fine.  I, however, suck!  Yes, I made a good recovery with the Benadryl-and-game-of-hokey-pokey-while-I-combed-her-hair-to-prevent-her-from-scratching-her-skin-off-until-the-meds-kicked-in.  After all was said and done I wanted to drink a bottle, yes bottle, of my husbands wine and cry myself to sleep.  Pity party, I know.  So silly, but at the time, so scary.  This morning we are back on track.  I politely, yes I promise I was polite, alerted the teacher to last nights armageddon and asked that she watch out for further instances.  Maybe we'll have a good rest of week and mommy can not become a lush.  As I leave you, I ponder this.."What would Lorelai Gilmore do?"

A New Food Allergy Outlook

I have reached the point in this food allergy awareness lifestyle that no one else really cares.  And that’s okay.  I’m not going to worry about everyone else and making them aware of what is around them.  I was always the coach/mom who asked if any of the kiddos had food allergies before my own child actually had them.  Looking back, I realize the only reason I asked then was because of my own trials growing up.  I grew up in a town even more rural than where I currently live and I had a ton of food allergies.  I remember having the allergy shots everyday after school; I was always allergy aware.  Now that I have a child of my own with food allergies I am even more aware and a lot more educated and up-to-date on our options.  I am still currently looking to advocate within our school system for at least one allergy-friendly meal per week; perhaps vegetarian.  But I am not going to be the person to rise upon my soap box preaching to the mere, unrelenting, uneducated mortals.  Okay, maybe I won’t go quite that far.  There are a ton of options out there for our family.  We made the transition as a family, you see.  I only cook for the whole family, no separate meals here.  My son still has pizza rolls in the freezer and regular whole wheat bread, but my daughter has her Rudi’s sandwich bread in the freezer along with her Udi’s frozen pizza crust.  I naturally pack her lunch daily for school along with her snacks for after-school activities.  Her teacher notifies me of any parties or upcoming events in the classroom so that I bring her food comparable to her classmates.  This way, no one feels left out.  I don’t worry about how other people feel about it anymore.  My daughter is now comfortable enough with her allergies that she doesn’t eat anything I did not bring her and no longer feels as if she misses out on anything.  Unfortunately, she has not been invited to a birthday party all year because of the other parents’ fear.  How ridiculous for them.  I don’t think my daughter notices because she is luckily very busy with year-round soccer and her horses.  There is actually only one parent within the class who bothers to even recognize her dietary restrictions and we are thankful to her for it.  Luckily, we went to high school together and our girls are within a month apart.  For the Halloween and Christmas parties this year; she brought goodie bags for the class and had stickers, necklaces, toys, etc. in my daughters’.  She felt special for having a bag a little different.  Thank goodness for those parents.  Thank goodness for the ones who make a point to recognize their child’s friends and lifestyles.  I have also tried to always be that parent who remembers “Tommy” doesn’t eat meat or “Abby” doesn’t like cake, etc.  The problem at our school is that it is always the same group of us parents who do everything at the school from the book fair to field day.  One parent once made the comment that a lot of parents don’t get involved because they are too busy being a kid themselves; I’ve found it sadly true.

Making Weeknights Easier

Well, the cold has slowly but surely made it’s way around our house this past week.  Hopefully, the worst is now over.  I find myself having a hard time sleeping at night after catering to the kids all day, maybe I’m just too tired to sleep.  I have discovered some new takes on some traditional casseroles and soups this past week.  I made up a fabulous cheeseburger casserole that was a big hit with my family as well as a take on the traditional Italian wedding soup.  I also made a great discovery with a sunbutter chocolate chip cookie for my family; my kids call them mookies (half muffin, half cookie).  The recipe has kept great in the freezer.  I was excited to find none of them turned green.  I never knew, before attempting these recipes anyway, that chlorophyll could react with baking soda to turn the cookies or muffins green.  I discovered it on my first attempt at the muffin aspect of the cookies.  After researching the final green product, I cut the baking soda and baking powder by half and made “mookies”.  My next big step is to make my first pie crust and I still want to make homemade pasta again.  Homemade pasta is the only thing I miss from our days filled with gluten, I’ve tried a couple of times with the pasta dough just breaking apart.  I will conquer the homemade pasta before it’s over!  Right now, our family is looking forward to some warmer weather and the activities that follow.  My oldest Nubian, Heidi, is due to have her babies at the end of February; something we are excited about.  I miss my goat milk.  I love the routine of milking in the mornings, making homemade cheese and yogurt, and my family is looking forward to the ice cream.  For those of you who have never tried raw milk or goat’s milk at all; it has a great flavor.  The milk is not as fatty as cow’s milk, and a lot of people whom are lactose intolerant can tolerate goat milk.  The butter is actually white and very creamy.  Luckily, we are not a dairy free household.  I do plan to also clean up my greenhouse before January is over.  I have an even larger garden planned for this year.  Now more than ever, I appreciate growing our own fruits and vegetables.  Not only is it much more economic but also healthier.  This year will be my first attempt at growing grains; I plan on trying Quinoa.  I’m not sure how it will turn out and look forward to hearing your welcome advice.  For now, I thought I would pass along the cheeseburger casserole recipe.  We were lucky enough to have some fresh thick cut bacon and homemade garlic pickles as additions.  Let me know what your yummy additions will be.  I made this recipe up on a weeknight last week.  I made a HUGE batch hoping to have enough to freeze for another night, not so lucky due to everyone demanding the leftovers the very next night.  Oh well, at least I have a new family favorite to add and hopefully you will, too.

Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole

Elbow macaroni

1 lb. ground beef

5 strips bacon cut-up

2 green onions chopped

6 dill pickle slices chopped

½ stick butter

4-5 tbs. potato starch

1 lb. bag shredded cheddar cheese with ½ cup reserved

2 cups milk

2 heaping tbs sour cream

2 tsp ground mustard

Salt & pepper to taste

Cook beef and bacon; drain and set aside.  Cook macaroni; set aside.  Add potato starch to melted butter one tablespoon at a time whisking well.  Add milk to melted butter, continue whisking.  Add cheese; whisk until melted and starts to thicken.  Add ground mustard, sour cream, salt and pepper; combining well.  Combine macaroni, beef mixture, onions, and pickles.  Stir to combine.  Add to large baking dish and top with remaining cheese.  Place in preheated 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, which is just long enough to toss a salad!

Allergy-Friendly Jalapeno Poppers

What a busy week!  With the snow finally melting away, we have planned and started more changes within our home.  It’s hard work to pick out the proper paint color.  With these plans and purchases we have ate pretty simply.  Lots of soups and tapas for the family; and they have LOVED it!  I love experimenting and creating new recipes with allergy friendly ingredients.  I say allergy friendly due to the fact that we do enjoy dairy.  I have dairy goats that help provide for my family.  I love making my own butter, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream.  It’s even easier to create these with the help of my favorite kitchen aid mixer, and I can always count on my husband to “gift” me with new attachments.  One of our favorite new, quick recipes is for jalapeno poppers.  They are historically infamous in our home but took a backseat when the allergies came along.  Now, I can make them allergy friendly with a just a couple of tweaks.  First of all, don’t use cream cheese; it will melt right out even if you try freezing first.  Trust me, I tried it.  We use hard, sharp cheddar.  It gives great flavor and can stand up to the oven.  I included a picture of before the oven, but the family attacked with such fierceness that none survived for a post picture.  Their reasoning was that I could always make more...

Jalapeno Poppers

Chosen amount of Jalapenos.  10-20 for a gathering of less than 10 people

1 block of Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Sliced Bacon

Snap stems off of jalapenos.  Cut jalapenos in half and scrape seeds out and rinse jalapeno boats off to remove excess seeds.  Cut pieces of cheese to fit into jalapenos and wrap with bacon in single layer.  Place on a rack sitting within a baking dish to capture grease away from poppers.  Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  Last, place oven on low broil setting to just finish top of bacon.  It is sooo delicious! 

Simpli: A Review

Happy New Year!!  I plan to get a lot accomplished this year.  I have had many things “in the work” this past year and now is the perfect time to push forward.  This blog will begin the year with a review.  I was recently contacted by Simpli to sample and review their apricot oatmeal.  Here is what Simpli had to say about what makes their oatmeal so special.

·        Instantly adds much-needed fiber to gluten free diets.

·        Only four ingredients – oats, apricots, sugar, and salt.

·        Intensely flavored oats from Scandinavia.

·        Delicately dried and diced fresh apricots.

·        Zero cholesterol, additives, or preservatives.

·        Every ingredient is GMO free.

·        Certified gluten free: ELISA R 5 tested

·        Delicious treat for celiac disease sufferers and those on vegetarian and vegan diets.

Our first try with the oatmeal was not a huge success; add hot water and stir.  The second try was better with hot milk.  I also combined it with pancake mix and made the best pancakes for a cold morning.  I have to say our third try is a favorite with my family.  The company offers many great recipes for their oatmeal and also has GF whole oat flour coming soon.  I look forward to trying all that Simpli has to offer our family and I encourage you to do the same.  I like the idea that Simpli really is simple, you see what you get.  Outside of making it ourselves that is hard to come by. 

Post-Christmas

Christmas is over!  I’m happy and sad about it.  I’m happy that all the extra goodies are out of the house because I am not strong enough to say no.  I’m sad because it is a beautiful time of year, I love the holidays.  The generosity, family, and love of friends, neighbors, and complete strangers seem to be more noticeable during the holidays.  This was our family’s first allergy-friendly holiday; hence the blog abandonment.  With all of the classroom, neighbor, and family parties; I felt a bit overwhelmed.  Things turned out really, really good with the baking aspect of the holidays.  I also learned that not sticking with tradition in the food department turned out really good.  Instead of the traditional side dishes of our family with the array of casseroles; I opted out.  I did make the mac-n-cheese, my son and husband would have been thoroughly disappointed if I hadn’t.  I also made stuffed mushrooms and allergy-friendly jalapeno poppers.  Oh yes I did and I will again.  One of my new favorite recipes is for the chocolate fudge I made.  It was a lot easier than I expected and very handy for all of the parties. 

The Best Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients

·                                 2 bags of enjoy life chocolate chips

·                                 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk.

·                                 1/4 teaspoon fine kosher salt.

·                                 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract.

Directions

In a heavy bottom saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate chips with the sweetened condensed milk and the salt. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla. Spread evenly into a foil-lined 8 or 9-inch square pan. Chill for 3 hours, or until firm. Remove the fudge from the pan and place onto a cutting board. Remove the foil from the bottom of the fudge and cut into squares.

Getting Ready to Change-Up the Holiday Dinner

My plan for today is to finish my Christmas shopping, Yay me!  My husband is leaving the store early so that we can head out of town to where the larger stores are.  I’m hoping to finish up both of my kids and the grandparents.  Everyone else is getting gift cards!  Then I will be able to turn my attention to our Christmas menu.  I’ve decided to change it up a bit.  I felt we went a little over-the-top with Thanksgiving, I wanted to curve away from the traditional menu a bit.  I can’t curve away too much, though.  My husband’s family is very old-fashioned.  It’s one of many things that I love about them.  They have taught me so much about our hobby farm and the ways things were done “back then”.  I made a beautiful pork tenderloin the other night with a cranberry chutney, so good.  It was so good that it got me thinking, “why not have something like this for Christmas”.  Then the wheels started turning!  My husband, son, and I love mushrooms.  Daughter can’t stand them and the rest of the family haven’t really had them.  Why not make stuffed mushrooms?  To include a favorite of my daughter and some other family members I also plan to make cheese stuffed, bacon-wrapped jalapenos.  Are you as excited as we are?  I’m looking forward to changing it up a bit.  We plan to keep some of the more “traditional” menu items such as the baked ham, macaroni and cheese, and deviled eggs.  Those are a must for the brother-in-law.  I have a busy weekend ahead for wrapping presents and getting ready for the classroom holiday parties.  I’m lucky this year because both kids are having pizza parties.  Thanks to Udi’s frozen pizza crusts, It’s a snap!  All I have to do then is make sure she has a few sweet treats to match her friends.  Thanks to Enjoy Life candy bars it is much easier.  I’ve decided to include my recipe for the pork tenderloin with cranberry chutney.  Enjoy!

Pork Tenderloin with Cranberry Chutney

Preheated oven to 350 degrees

Cranberry Chutney

1 can whole cranberry sauce

¼ cup maple syrup

Dash of cinnamon

Over low heat to reduce and thicken.

Pork Tenderloin

Baking dish

Place pork tenderloin in baking dish.  Cover top with ½ cranberry chutney.  Pour 1-1/2 cups apple cider around tenderloin.  Bake uncovered for 40 minutes.  Take out and leave alone for at least 10 minutes to allow meat to rest.  Serve other ½ of cranberry chutney alongside pork tenderloin.

 

Snow Day in Kentucky

It’s snowing in Kentucky!  We received a couple of inches all day Sunday, therefore school is out for Monday.  So silly, but too many side roads that school buses can’t visit; or so they claim.  Being snowed in on Sunday was a great day to veg out!  We laid around and watched movies and ate fun food.  We finally watched “Grown Ups”, it was cute.  The kids and my husband begged for buffalo chicken dip, so I made it.  Super easy with my little crock pot.  Put it in and walk-away.  Stir to combine it all, and add as much or as little hot sauce as you like.  Today the kids lasted a whole 20 minutes outside sledding.  The wind chill made it feel like -5 degrees; or so the news said.  I am suffering for veg-out day yesterday by having to clean house and do the laundry, Yay me!.  Anyway, here’s a great buffalo chicken dip recipe.  We use the Mission Tortilla Chips because they don’t have soy.  My daughter also loves the Garden of Eatin’ blue corn tortilla chips.  You can’t go wrong with a good warm dip.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 cans of chicken drained (8 oz, I think)

2pkgs 8 oz. cream cheese

1 cup ranch dressing (our house Annie’s Cowgirl Ranch)

¼ cup hot sauce (we use Frank’s). or to taste because I usually add a little more.

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients into a small crock-pot and melt.  Eat with tortilla chips or whatever you like.  We use this as appetizers for parties with celery.

Vegetarian on the Farm

Once a week I prepare a vegetarian meal for my family.  It’s a lot easier and more frequent in the spring, summer, and fall with all of our fresh produce in the gardens.  You can’t beat a fresh salad or pasta dish.  Our vegetarian menu is a lot different during the winter months.  The family expects warm, hearty dishes on the dinner table.  One way I can’t go wrong is with my eggplant parmesan.  My husband loves eggplant, it’s always his request when we plan the garden; that and lima beans, which I refuse.  I can’t help it, I do not like lima beans at all.  Meatless meals are a great idea for growing families.  It’s a good way to get a lot of good proteins, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.  I’ve found that if we include meat in a meal, the veggies become second choice.  Along with a meatless meal at least once a week, I only prepare dessert once a week.  If my family had dessert on a nightly basis we would all be rolling everywhere because we wouldn’t be able to walk.  I have found it a lot easier to prepare more of an ethnic menu on our vegetarian nights, lots of rice, pasta, etc.  It’s easier to go around the world when dealing with food allergies, period.  With this post I have included my version of eggplant parmesan.  Sometimes I leave the skin on and sometimes I don’t.  It is healthier to leave it on.  I pair this with a salad or simple, steamed veggies like broccoli. 

Eggplant Parmesan

1 medium eggplant – cut into ¼ -1/2 inch slices.

1 egg

¼ cup milk

1 tsp hot sauce.

*combine egg, milk, and hot sauce and whisk together to make egg wash.  Add sliced eggplant to egg wash. 

2 cups allergy-friendly Italian style bread crumbs.

1 lb. can Delmonte diced tomatoes with basil and heat over medium heat.

2 cups shredded parmesan cheese.

Remove eggplant from egg wash into bread crumbs.  Add to greasesd rack resting inside baking pan.  Cook until browned; about 20 minutes.  Remove from rack and place in bottom of baking dish, top with tomato sauce and cheese.  Heat until cheese melted and heated through.

Cold Weather on the Farm and in the Kitchen

I have now officially started feeding my goats in the evening.  For the past two days, I have been bombarded by guineas and chickens when I feed them in the morning.  It’s ridiculous, aren’t they supposed to be afraid of me?  Therefore, I am changing it up.  The milk goats will be fed in the evening when the birds go to roost, and I will continue to throw their corn out in the mornings.  Silly, isn’t it?  But that’s part of it.  It’s getting a lot colder here in Kentucky, time for me to put the herbs to bed for the winter.  I’ll rake leaves up and cover the herb beds this week.  We’ve already winterized the well house, or I should say my husband and father-in-law did.  And next month I’ll start a few spring goodies in the greenhouse.  It’s always nice to get a head start.  We’re lucky that since hunting season is still going, we’ve had a lot of fresh meat to put up.  This year I plan to attempt rabbit sausage.  I’m excited about it; I’ve already planned to possibly add sage or rosemary?  Not sure, yet.  With this time of the year also come hearty dinners for the family.  I’m excited to share this shrimp and grits recipe.  Even though we are located in Western Kentucky, I love Cajun-style cuisine.  My dad worked for the union when I was growing up and we moved around a lot.  For a while, we lived in Louisiana; my mother hated it.  She loved the sights, but disliked the unfamiliarity of it with the food and language.  She learned to absolutely love the food and still continues to favor red beans and rice to this day.   I, also, love anything with rice and beans, and anything truly southern; which is exactly what shrimp and grits is to me.  My husband didn’t grow up eating a lot of the food that he now enjoys, my children will definitely be able to say that we went for it with eclectic, ethnic, and traditional foods. 

Shrimp & Grits

1 lb shrimp cleaned, deveined, I cut the tails off

¾ cups grits

1 ½ cups water or stock

1 ½ cups milk or heavy cream plus extra if needed.

2 tbs butter divided

¼ tsp salt

1 small onion chopped

1 green bell pepper chopped

1 small tomato seeded and chopped

2 cups shredded cheese

Cajun seasoning or make your own

1 tbs butter to skillet to cook onions and peppers until a little more than translucent.  Add seasoning to shrimp and coat well, set aside.  Add water or stock to pot and bring to boil, add grits, milk, and butter while continuously stirring.  Reduce heat to medium-low.  Cook 5 minutes or until thickened.  Add shredded cheese and stir until combined and cheese melted. May need to add extra milk or cream to keep desired consistency.  Add shrimp and chopped tomatoes to onions and peppers and cook until shrimp is just done

( pink and starts to curl).  Spoon cheesy grits into bowl and add desired shrimp mixture and enjoy.

Allergy Free Kitchen Chicken

I am so much more comfortable in my kitchen.  Those first few months were really tough!  It’s great to make the leap and make your kitchen an allergy free kitchen; catered to your food allergies.  The only food with allergies are the few goodies my son really enjoys.  The rest of the time, the only ingredients I have to choose from are those the entire family can enjoy.  It’s wonderful not to feel overwhelmed or stressed looking through ingredients, not to mention the huge health benefits for the entire family.  Everything in the kitchen is a lot more colorful.  Today is a Monday in Kentucky.  It is snowing and 20 degrees outside.  I actually wore my coveralls when I went to the barn to feed this morning.  The chickens and guineas attacked the feed for my goats which makes me have to feed again this evening once they go to roost and the milk goats can eat the feed.  Ahh, life on the farm!  I have a full day of laundry for the family and I have to make about 3 pounds worth of chicken nuggets for my daughter.  I make a huge batch at one time and keep in a huge freezer bag, that way I have enough to allow me not to make them but once every couple of months.  Her school has chicken nugget day every Wednesday.  Since I’m cooking with chicken all day, I might as well carry it through for tonight.  But I’m looking for an easier recipe since I can see how much I have to do today.  One easy recipe I made up one weeknight was a “potato chip chicken”.  I had chicken to cook, but was really wanting to do something completely different with it.  I had a full bag of potato chips in the pantry, so why not?  My husband and kids ended up loving it.  It’s not something I have made very often, because we don’t keep a lot of potato chips in the house.  I have found it so much easier to make sure my family are making good food choices, I don’t buy the junk.  This way, if they really want cookies, potato chips, etc., we have to make them.  I find they appreciate them much more when we make them homemade, plus I know what the ingredients are, and we aren’t having them on a daily basis.  It’s a win-win situation.  I am excited to share this super simple potato chip chicken recipe.

Potato Chip Chicken

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in half or tenderloins

3 eggs

¼ cup milk

Salt

Pepper

Hot sauce

4 cups crushed allergy free potato chips ( I use Wavy Lay’s)

Combine in bowl: 3 eggs, ¼ cup milk, dash of salt, pepper, and hot sauce.  Flatten chicken with smooth side of meat tenderizer to ¼ inch thickness.  Add chicken to egg wash and then coat with crushed potato chips.  Add to medium high skillet to brown on both sides.  Tip:  when chicken is placed in skillet do not turn but once to help prevent potato chips from falling off.

I discovered this recipe on a whim when I couldn’t decide what to do with my chicken.  It ended up being a huge hit with my family!

A Different Kinda Pumpkin Recipe

I have come up with a great recipe of meatballs with pumpkin puree, believe it or not.  They are incredibly yummy and very tender.  I came upon this recipe because I had just enough pumpkin puree leftover to make something really yummy, but not enough to warrant keeping.  This particular day, my husband and son were gone deer hunting while my daughter and I spent some quality time in the kitchen.  She recently turned eight years old and is very interested in learning about her newly diagnosed food allergies.  We look through cookbooks and try to think of different foods to prepare that will be easy on her dietary restrictions.  On this cold, cloudy day we decided pasta and meatballs were such a food.  We prepared spaghetti style rice noodles, meatballs with pumpkin puree, and a brown butter sage sauce.  Needless to say, dinner was very rich and filling.  The pumpkin was not overpowering at all, and added a very velvety texture to the already tender meatballs.  My daughter went out to our herb garden and gathered a number of sage leaves to prepare flavored oil; we appreciated the brown butter sage sauce more! 

Pumpkin Meatballs

3 lbs ground beef 80/20

½ tsp ground sage

Small onion chopped and browned in skillet.  I use my iron skillet

2 tbs. pumpkin puree

3 eggs

½ cup allergy free bread crumbs

Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix to combine.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll out meatballs to a little larger than golf balls.  Brown in same skillet as onions was done in.  Brown on two sides and add to baking dish in oven and cook until done – about 20 minutes.  I combine with pasta and a brown butter sage sauce.