My Family's Spring Diet

When I blogged a few months ago about My Family's Winter Diet, I promised to share what our Spring, Summer, and Fall diets look like as well. We are still primarily eating a nutrient-dense diet, but rather than aiming for perfection, I am aiming for an unstressed, maintainable diet that my family can eat for many years to come. We do eat somewhat seasonally, so our diet changes a bit with the seasons to reflect which fruits and vegetables are in season.  

Each Saturday morning, I spend a few hours in the kitchen preparing baked goods for the coming week. Typically, this includes making one custard cake (clafoutis), one or two batches of muffins, and perhaps some cookies or waffles to freeze. By preparing these items on the weekend, our breakfasts throughout the weekdays are very quick-and-easy. Here is a snapshot of our Spring diet.

Breakfast

• Since I wake up early, I often eat two breakfasts. My first breakfast is generally simple, followed by a more substantial breakfast a couple hours later. 
• This Spring, my first breakfast is often one of the following along with a glass of raw milk: 

• Cranberry orange morning round with butter and cream cheese
• Lemon raspberry muffins
• Blueberry muffins 

• My second breakfast is most often sprouted whole wheat or white sourdough toast with eggs and frozen veggie mix sauteed in butter, usually with a glass of raw milk. I have a dose of extra-virgin cod liver oil with my second breakfast perhaps once a week (as determined by when I feel a craving for it). At this time of year, I spend so much time outside that I don't seem to crave cod liver oil as much as I do during the winter months, so I reduce how often I take it to match my desire. 

• My husband eats homemade custard cake for breakfast 6 days of the week every week. (He likes eating the same thing over and over; I can't stand doing that!) In the spring, I most often make one of the following custard cakes for him to have for breakfast each week:  
• Triple berry custard cake 
• Banana clafoutis
• Applesauce custard cake
• This Spring, my 6-year old son often eats one of the following, sometimes with an egg, and always with a glass of raw milk:

• Cranberry orange morning round with butter
• Apple cinnamon morning round with butter and honey
• 7 sprouted grains cinnamon raisin bread with butter, cream cheese, and honey
• My 9-year-old daughter often has one of the following for breakfast this Spring, sometimes with an egg, alongside a glass of raw milk. 
• Blueberry banana grain-free muffin 
• Raspberry chocolate grain-free muffins (or strawberry chocolate muffins using the same recipe with strawberries instead of raspberries)
• Whole milk yogurt with honey and/or fruit 

 

Lunch

• My husband takes frozen homemade leftovers to work for lunch everyday, which he re-heats in a toaster oven.  This Spring, his favorite leftover lunches are:
• Cheesy hashbrown casserole
• Shepherd pie with green beans and mushrooms (made with only beef since I don't generally have ground lamb available)
• Beef and beans

• This Spring, the lunches my children and I are eating most often are:
• Cheesy scrambled egg sandwiches, with mayonnaise, served on sprouted whole wheat bread or gluten-free waffle
• Lunchmeat rolls with cheddar cheese, homemade honey mustard, and fermented pickles, with a side of avocado oil chips or crackers (Absolutely gluten-free flatbread is a great, grain-free option that we all enjoy)
• Leftover soup (from the freezer)
• Canned sardines, served with buttered crackers or sourdough toast (or waffle for my daughter)

 

Snacks and Desserts

• The only snacks my kids are allowed between breakfast and lunch is fruits or veggies, which they have to get for themselves. That makes it where they are certain to be hungry at lunch (whereas previously when they were allowed more-filling snack options, they often didn't eat well at lunch). In the spring, their fruit and veggie snack options are:
• Fresh seasonal fruit, including strawberries and apricots
• Bubbies fermented dill pickles 
• Carrots
• Dried fruit, such as Just Bananas or Just Fruit Salad
• Dried Just Peas
• My husband typically has one of the following snacks while at work:

• Kind bars
• Granola bars
• Salted, roasted cashews
• Banana chips
• Perhaps 40-50% of the time, the kids will have a small snack after our afternoon Quiet Time, usually consisting of nuts, fruit, or cookies (such as butter shortbread or chocolate macaroons). I am always ravenous when I wake from my daily nap, so I always have an afternoon snack such as plain whole-milk yogurt, butter shortbread, apple and cheese, etc.
• The kids and my husband have a snack before bed every night; usually fruit, fried fruit, yogurt, or applesauce. About twice per week they will have dessert such as ice cream or cookies. I'm not generally hungry after dinner, so I don't usually eat anything before bed.
• Perhaps once a week, my husband and I will each have a package of Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.

 

Drinks 

The drinks we consume the vast majority of the time are:

• Raw milk
• Homemade triple berry kombucha
• Fresh-squeezed lemon or lime juice in sparkling spring water
• Homemade soda

 

Dinner

• I make a from-scratch dinner meal about 2-3 times per week (and I always make a large portion so there will be enough to freeze for my husband's lunches, or for us to have as leftovers). I can't stand eating the same thing two days in a row, so I plan to eat leftovers a few days later, or freeze them for a future use. This Spring, as the temperature is warming up, we move away from soup and onto other foods. The dinners I'm making most-often are:
• Parmesan fried chicken
• Parmesan fried chicken
• Parmesan fried chicken (no, this isn't a typo: my family loves this chicken recipe so much that I am making it often)
• Ground beef taco meat served as tacos or taco salad
• Side dishes I've been making most often this Spring are:
• Butter smash boiled potatoes (I haven't blogged this recipe, but I will if there is interest)
• Coleslaw with cabbage, carrots, and celery (I could blog this recipe, too)
• Roasted potatoes
• Simple buttered veggies with frozen peas or broccoli 
• Green salad with lettuce, cheese, carrots, celery, and homemade ranch dressing
• Carrot sticks with homemade ranch dressing
• On days when I don't make a from-scratch dinner, we have leftovers or dinners which include some already-prepared ingredients (which I consider to be compromise dinners). The ingredients in our compromise dinners aren't absolutely perfect, but they are pretty good, and incorporating these items into our diets allows for busy days when I don't have hours to spend in the kitchen. Our most commonly-consumed compromise dinners this  Spring are:

• Pizza made with Against the Grain crust, quick-and-easy homemade pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and sauteed mushrooms
• Nitrate-free sausages such as kielbasa or hot dogs, served with frozen sweet potato fries or chips, and fermented pickles
• Tuna salad or chicken salad sandwiches, made with canned tuna or chicken, served with kettle chips and fermented pickles
• We eat out at a restaurant about 2-3 times per month. We also often eat Sunday dinner at my mom's house, and are often blessed with leftovers to often bring home which will make for an easy meal some other day of the week.

 

 

 

Do you find it helpful or interesting to see what we're eating?  What are your favorite Spring meals? 

 

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Egg-In-a-Nest: A Favorite Breakfast!

One of our favorite breakfasts is Egg-In-a-Nest.  I rediscovered this wonderful food a few months ago
thanks to a visit from my father-in-law. Egg-In-a-Nest combines eggs and toast into one scrumptious combination.

If I serve my children fried eggs for breakfast, my daughter is likely to leave most of the yolk untouched and my son is likely to leave much of the egg white uneaten. I love that, when I make Egg-In-a-Nest for breakfast, my kids will both easily eat a whole egg.

Egg-In-a-Nest
Serves 2

• two slices of bread (I use either sourdough or sprouted whole-grain bread; for my daughter, I use a homemade gluten-free soaked freezer waffle)
• butter, at room temperature 
• 2 eggs, preferably from pastured hens
• fine-ground celtic sea salt  

1. Carefully cut a hole in the middle of each slice of bread. This can be accomplished with a sharp knife or biscuit cutter.  Don't stress if the bread rips a bit; the egg will "glue" it back together for you later on.
2. Butter both sides of the bread and the round pieces that were cut from the bread. 
3. Warm a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
4. Place the two slices of bread and the two round pieces into the skillet and cook until lightly browned. Flip them all over and cook until lightly browned. Remove the round pieces from the skillet, but leave the bread-with-holes in the skillet.
5. Add a little pat of butter into each hole in the bread.  Once it is melted, crack an egg into each hole.
6. Allow the eggs to cook until the whites are set. It will take longer than it usually does when frying an egg, because of the bread.
7. Once the egg whites are set, flip each piece of bread over to cook the other side of the egg. I like to melt a little more butter for each one, to make sure the eggs don't stick to the pan.
8. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until the egg white is fully cooked.
9. Serve each Egg-In-a-Nest alongside with the round pieces. I like to add jam to the round pieces, which my children then dip in their egg yolks. Yum!

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Slow Cooker Roasted Chicken (grain-free : nutrient-dense : gluten-free : GAPS : primal)

During the hot summer months, I try to minimize the amount of heat I generate in the kitchen. So instead of using the oven, which heats up the whole kitchen, I use the slow cooker to roast chicken.  The slow cooker can even be placed outside on a covered porch if I really want to prevent any more heat in the kitchen.

I love the ease of roasting chicken in the slow cooker, and the delicious, juicy meat that results. Chicken roasted in the slow cooker does not have crispy skin, but the meat is very moist and flavorful.

Slow Cooker Roasted Chicken

• one large white onion, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup vermouth* or dry white wine (or substitute water)
• 1/2 tsp celtic sea salt
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3-pound whole chicken, preferably pastured or free-range
• 1 Tb celtic sea salt
• 3/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 2 Tb softened butter, preferably nutrient-dense

1. About 8-10 hours before dinner, add the onion, vermouth, and 1/2 tsp salt to the slow cooker. Cook on HIGH. (If you don't plan to consume the onions along with the chicken, or if you don't mind the onions being a bit crunchy, you could do all of this at the same time as the next step.)
2. Six hours before dinner, it is time to add the chicken and spices. Sprinkle the garlic, bay leaves, and thyme over the onions in the bottom of the slow cooker. 
3. Wash the chicken well inside and out with plenty of water. Pat dry. 
4. Gently lift the skin from over the chicken breast and push the butter in between the skin and the breast. The butter will melt over the chicken breasts while they cook, making them very moist and yummy.
5. Season the chicken inside and out with one Tb of salt and 3/4 tsp pepper. Place the chicken on top of the onions/spices in the slow cooker.
6. Cook on LOW for about 5 hours, or until the internal temperature of the chicken has reached 170 degrees. If you cook the chicken too long, it will be dry and overdone.
7. About 40-60 minutes before dinner, pull the chicken out of the slow cooker and place it in a large bowl. Allow to cool enough that you can handle the chicken without burning yourself. 
8. Carve the chicken. Set the carcass and any chewy bits/tendons aside; if desired they can be used to start a pot of broth cooking after dinner. Slice the chicken. 
9. Nestle the chicken back down into the juices in the slow cooker. Reduce the heat to WARM and allow the chicken to soak up the flavorful juices for 20-40 minutes.
10. Serve and enjoy! Crispy fried potatoes and caramelized green beans compliment the chicken nicely.

*I love to use vermouth, as it doesn't go bad like unused wine. Vermouth is shelf stable, can be used in place of dry white wine in cooking, and can be stored at room temperature indefinitely.

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Top 10 Easy Lunches

Although my children and I are at home for lunch most days, lunch preparation still needs to be quick and easy. We are so busy with schooling, my homeopathy practice, and homemaking that I like our lunches to be simple yet satisfying. While some of our favorite easy lunches do require a small amount of cooking, others would be easily packable for school or picnics as well.

Packable Easy Lunches

Liver Pate on Crackers or Toast
This simple lunch is an easy way to incorporate the top superfood (liver) into our diets. Our local healthfood store carries two different types of liver pate, and they are fantastic. (Our favorite one is Duck Liver Mousse with Cognac.) My son and I, especially, enjoy eating pate regularly. I simply spread some pate over crackers or toasted, buttered sourdough bread. Bread and Butter Pickles make a great complement and round out this lunch. 

Chopped Salad with Seasonal Veggies
In the warm months, especially, I often rely on a quick salad for my lunch. One specific combination that I enjoy is Lemon Basil Chopped Summer Salad.  I also enjoy combining any veggies I have on hand with chunks of fresh mozarella, such as bell peppers, pickled beets, tomatoes, grilled artichokes, and avocado.  Topped with just a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt & pepper as a dressing, served with a few crackers on the side: this is one of my staple lunches for the warm months.  

Apple, Nut Butter, Cheese, and Crackers

A very simple lunch that my children both enjoy is sliced apple served with cheddar cheese, nut butter, and crackers. My daughter is still not tolerating gluten well, but she has been enjoying gluten-free buckwheat crackers lately. For nut butter, we use either homemade nut butter made from crispy nuts, or our favorite store-bought organic dark-roasted peanut butter. 

Lunchmeat Rolls

Back in our grain-free diet days, we started eating turkey or ham rolls as an easy meal. These have remained on our easy lunch menu ever since. To make a roll, I lay out a slice of lunchmeat flat. Then I top the meat with a small slice of cheddar cheese, a slice of fermented dill pickle, a drizzle of homemade honey mustard (which is just a 50/50 mix of raw honey and Natural Value Dijon mustard), and a little lettuce. Then I just roll it all up. If we are taking these to-go, I may use toothpicks to keep the roll-ups from unrolling. We typically eat ham or turkey rolls with a side of our favorite chips.

 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were always my favorite lunch as a child, and I am glad that these days I am able to share that with my own children. To make these sandwiches even healthier, I spread softened nutrient-dense butter on the bread before adding the peanut butter and all-fruit jam. 

My daughter enjoys her PB&J on a toasted homemade gluten-free waffle (which I make in bulk once every 4-6 weeks and freeze in pairs for easy use). My son enjoys his PB&J on lightly toasted sourdough bread. (If I am going to be packing these sandwiches to-go, I toast the bread and waffle a bit extra so they won't get too mushy in the intervening hours before lunch.)

Ants on a Log

Another simple lunch that my children both enjoy (and can make themselves) is Ants on a Log. This is made by smearing nut butter onto celery sticks (which become the “logs”), and then topping the nut butter with raisins (which are the “ants”). My daughter sometimes objects to the stringiness of celery, in which case I may make her ants on a log with carrots or buckwheat crackers instead of celery.

Tuna Salad Sandwich

Everyone in my family loves tuna salad sandwiches. I make a very simple tuna salad by combining the following:

• 12-ounce can of wild-caught albacore tuna 
• 2/3 cup of mayonnaise (we have been LOVING Sir Kensington mayo since I don't have time to make homemade these days) 
• 2 small or 1 large chopped fermented dill pickle
• 1/4 tsp fine-ground celtic sea salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper

To make the sandwiches, I simply top toasted, buttered bread (or homemade gluten-free waffle for my daughter) with the tuna salad, and serve it with our favorite chips. Yum!

Easy Lunches That Require a Little Cooking

Grilled Cheese Surprise

Grilled cheese is another classic lunch that we enjoy. I make our grilled cheese sandwiches with crusty sourdough bread (or on a homemade gluten-free waffle for my daughter). I butter the outside of the bread so it will brown up nice and crispy when I cook it in a cast-iron skillet. (When using a waffle for a grilled cheese sandwich, it is essential to cook it longer over lower heat so the waffle does not burn.) 

Our basic grilled cheese sandwich is made with just cheddar cheese. However, I also like to fancy it up sometimes by adding one or two of these surprise ingredients:

• thinly sliced apple
  
• mayonnaise and/or spicy brown mustard
  
• apple and hardwood smoked gouda cheese
  
• a dab of cream cheese in the middle of the sandwich
  
• a slice of turkey or ham lunch meat
  

Leftovers
One of the easiest lunches is leftovers. Whenever possible, while making dinner I will make extra portions to freeze. I freeze the leftovers in 2-cup glass bowls that can be re-warmed in a toaster oven. My husband takes these frozen lunches to work every day, and since I freeze meals every week he always has at least a few different options to choose from. I also occasionally eat these frozen meals for lunch at home.

Salmon with Tartar Sauce

My husband and daughter are not big fans of salmon, but my son and I both love it. Lunch is a great time for us to enjoy salmon, when I can easily make something else for my daughter. (Dinnertime is a no-substitution meal for us; everyone is expected to contentedly eat whatever I make for dinner so my best bet is to not make salmon for dinner.) Although there are many more complicated ways to make salmon, at lunch I like to make it very simply by pan-searing it in refined coconut oil in a skillet on the stovetop.

We live far away from the ocean, and the best wild-caught salmon we can obtain is frozen. I simply rinse the salmon to melt the ice that usually coats it, then pat it dry with a paper towel. I season the salmon with salt and then cook it for about 4-5 minutes per side over medium heat. I love the way the skin gets crispy with this cooking method.

While the salmon cooks, I make a simple tartar sauce as a condiment. My son and I will typically eat the salmon with a piece of buttered toast or salad as an easy side dish.
 

Egg, Toast, and Caramelized Veggies
One of my favorite simple meals is fried eggs with toast and caramelized veggies. This is a great meal for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. To make caramelized veggies, I simply saute frozen veggies in plenty of butter on medium-high heat, stirring often so they won't burn. My method for perfect fried eggs is as follows:

• I like to cook my eggs in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. The trick to preventing the eggs from sticking is to melt plenty of butter in the skillet, swirl it around well, and then add the eggs once the skillet is rather warm. Do NOT add eggs to a cool cast-iron skillet, else they will stick! I use about 2 tsp of butter per egg. 
• Fry the eggs over medium heat in the melted butter. To make sure the yolks won't break, I wait to flip the eggs until the whites are well set.  I then give the skillet a gentle shake to loosen the eggs before flipping them. 
• I have one very small cast iron skillet that is perfectly sized to fry one or two eggs, and with a quick toss of the wrist I can flip the eggs without having to dirty a spatula.  My kids love to watch me do this, and they call it my magic trick.  If you're not feeling brave enough to flip eggs in that way, use a plastic spatula instead. (Flipping eggs is one of the rare uses for my nylon spatula; I prefer not to use plastic in any heated applications, but I find that my metal spatula breaks the egg yolks very frequently.)
• As soon as I flip the egg(s), I turn off the heat and let the eggs cook for just a few seconds in the residual heat left in the skillet. Don't leave them too long, else the yolk will cook completely.
• Sprinkle some celtic sea salt over each egg before serving.

What are your favorite easy lunches?

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Make Your Own Pumpkin Puree

With Halloween and Thanksgiving just around the corner, it's time to make pumpkin puree.  Homemade pumpkin puree is much more tasty than the canned variety. 

My method for homemade pumpkin puree is simple: bake whole, scoop, and puree!  Each year, I make lots of pumpkin puree, to be stored in the freezer.  Lots of pumpkin pie clafoutis, pumpkin spice bread, and pumpkin crumble will keep us happy over the winter.

You can use any type of winter squash you like, such as pumpkin, hubbard squash, and butternut squash. My favorite type of pumpkin to use for puree is NOT the sugar pie pumpkin. It is actually a variety of pumpkin called the Long Island Cheese. This pumpkin has vibrant orange flesh and excellent sweet flavor.

Recipe: Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Baking whole pumpkins is the easiest way to cook them. It does take a while, but it is so much easier than trying to cut up a raw pumpkin as they are VERY hard before they are cooked. 

1. Place the whole pumpkins on your oven rack. I place a cookie sheet underneath just in case of any drips.  
2. Bake for several hours at 200 degrees F.  A ten pound pumpkin will take about 3 hours to cook.  Larger pumpkins will take closer to 4 hours. A small pie pumpkin should be done in 1-2 hours. 
3. To test for doneness, wrap your hands with a dish towel and gently squeeze the pumpkins.  Check them on multiple sides (and you may even need to rotate the pumpkins partway through if you cook more than one at a time, like I do). If the pumpkins are soft enough to squeeze a bit, then they are done!
4. Remove from the oven and place on a cookie sheet or large baking tray (such as a 9X13 glass dish). Carefully use a knife to make a slice down one side of the pumpkin, slicing all the way down to the bottom. This allows the water and heat in the pumpkin to be released.  Let cool for awhile.
5. Once cool enough to touch, finish cutting the pumpkin in half. This is amazingly easy to do since the pumpkin has already been cooked. Scoop out and discard the seeds and stringy bits.  
6. Being careful to not get any of the skin, scoop the soft flesh out with a spoon and place it into a food processor.  Let the food processor whir the flesh to make a beautiful puree. This may take several batches depending on the size of your pumpkin and food processor.
7. Store the puree in airtight containers.  Keep it in the fridge if it will be used in the next few days. Otherwise, store it in the freezer, where it will last for many months.  

What are your favorite ways to use pumpkin puree?

Transitioning Away From Plastic Children's Dishes

When my first child started eating solids, I purposely didn't buy any plastic dishes or cups, preferring instead to use glass dishes and metal sippy cups. As time went on and another baby came, some plastic dishes started turning up in our house as gifts and we bought some plastic cups that came with straws and lids for the convenience of letting the kids have drinks that wouldn't spill easily.

When we recently moved to our new home, I realized that I hated the plastic dishes because they seemed to create more work for me.  I never wanted to put them in the dishwasher, so they all had to hand-washed, and the plastic cups had a lip that would always remain full of water even in the drying rack, so they would never dry properly.  So I decided to take the plunge and get rid of all the plastic dishes.

Reasons Why Glass is Better

• Health: Glass dishes are superior to plastic from a health standpoint. Plasticizers such as BPA are suspected to have damaging effects on brain, behavior, and prostate for fetuses, infants, and children.  BPA is also a prime suspect in the rise of early puberty in girls, as BPA mimics estrogen in the body. Additionally, BPA has been linked to obesity. It is well-known that plasticizers such as BPA in plastic wrap and dishes can leach into foods, especially in the presence of heat. Studies have shown that most plastics labelled as BPA-free still leach plasticizers into food.

• Smell: One of the things that always bothered me about plastic dishes was their propensity to grab onto the smell of foods. I could wash a plastic dish over and over in hot soapy water, yet there would still be a residual smell. Glass dishes never have this problem. 

• Cleaning Ease: Glass is so much easier to clean than plastic.  If something is stuck on glass, I can use a scrubby pad, whereas with plastic I would worry about scratching up the surface.  And I love that glass can be washed in the dishwasher with no issues.

Won't Glass Break Too Easily?

Back when I was still working outside the home and pumping breastmilk for my infant daughter, I used glass baby bottles.  Frequently, people would express concern that the glass bottles would break too easily.  This was something I was concerned about too when we first started using bottles, but my fears were quickly alleviated by one experience: one of the glass baby bottles was accidentally knocked out of the dish drainer and fell down onto our ceramic tile floor; the bottle did not break or even crack. So I realized early on that some glass dishes are very strong and somewhat break-resistant.

Besides baby bottles, there are plenty of other break-resistant glass dishes as well.  At the dinner table, I don't worry too much about using our typical glass plates and cups. Early on, we taught both of our kids to be gentle with glass dishes.  But I do also have other break-resistant glass dishes that the kids use whenever they will be eating away from the table, such as when they want to take snacks out into the back yard.  

What About Non-Spillable Drinks?

For road trips or lengthy park days, my kids use stainless steel Thermos Funtainers, which have an integrated straw. These work great because they keep milk cold even in the summer heat.

Around the house, though, I don't let my kids use the Thermoses because I find them cumbersome to clean. The one type of plastic dish I was tempted to keep around was a plastic cup with tight-fitting lid. My kids used these cups frequently when they wanted to take a drink outside, and I liked not having to worry about them spilling their drinks. However, I have come up with a solution that works really well (although not perfectly spill-proof): glass mason jars with screw-on plastic lids. A 1/4-inch drill bit works perfectly for making a straw hole in the plastic lids. 

Glass Dishes for Kids

The glass dishes I have found to be the best and most durable for kid-use are:

• Porcelain ramekins - My kids use porcelain ramekins every day for most meals, along with kid-sized Oneida silverware.  Ramekins are perfectly sized for kid-size portions of food and, since they are intended for oven use, they are very durable and chip-resistant. My kids also use these bowls when they want to take a snack outside.
• Mason jars with drilled plastic lids and metal straws - When a cup with a lid is desired (such as for drinking smoothies or when my kids will be taking a drink outside), I like to use 8-ounce mason jars.  Since they are intended for canning, mason jars are rather durable. For lids, I drill 1/4-inch holes in plastic lids (and the drinks won't really be touching the lids anyway unless the cup gets tipped over).  Since my kids like to use straws, we have a set of reuseable dishwasher-safe metal straws that fit into the drilled holes in the lids. If you prefer to buy a lid instead of drilling your own, there is also a Cuppow lid that can be used with Mason jars.
• Pampered Chef or Corelle dishes - Having some break-resistant dishes on-hand can really help ease the worries over whether the kids will break the dishes.  We have some Pampered Chef Simple Additions plates and bowls that are very durable and chip-resistant.  Corelle also makes lightweight, chip- and break-resistant glass dishes that are great for kids.
• Glass baby bottles - For babies, glass baby bottles work wonderfully. I pumped milk directly into these bottles and stored them in the freezer as well. We used glass baby bottles for 15 months, and none of the bottles were ever broken or cracked. 
• Glass sippy cups - Once they were toddlers, my kids used this glass sippy cup which includes a silicone sleeve to prevent breakage. Most often, we just used the lid from this which would fit onto any standard mason jar. A newer, more affordable solution is the Cuppow lid, although I haven't tried it myself.
  

My kids have never broken any of these dishes.  Of course, you should use common sense to decide whether or not glass dishes would work well for your own kids, given their personalities and temperaments.  I love knowing that my kids are using healthy dishes with the convenience of being able to wash them all in the dishwasher. 

Do you use glass dishes for your kids? Please share any tips you have!

 

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The Easy Way to Tell if Your Butter is Nutrient-Dense

Left - Conventional Butter, Right - Grassfed Organic Butter

Butter is one of our most prized, health-promoting foods. Butter is a great source of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2 (referred to as Activator X by Weston Price).  In the article The Skinny on Fats, Mary Enig and Sally Fallon describe that butter is a great source of "true vitamin A or retinol, vitamin D, vitamin K and vitamin E as well as all their naturally occurring cofactors needed to obtain maximum effect...Vitamins A and D are essential for growth, for healthy bones, for proper development of the brain and nervous systems and for normal sexual development."

Nutrient-Dense Butter

To make sure that we are getting the most nutrition from our butter, I make sure to buy nutrient-dense butter.  The best butter is from cows that have been grazing on their natural diet of grass, rather than grains.  The easy way to tell if butter is nutrient-dense is to look at the color. 
While conventional butter looks almost white, nutrient-dense butter has a beautiful yellow color. This color indicates the presence of nutrients, especially carotene and vitamin A.  In Weston Price's studies, he found that Activator X (now known as Vitamin K2) "was only present when the animals were eating rapidly growing green grass. In most regions, this occurred in the spring and early fall."  In addition to having more nutrients, grassfed butter also has superior flavor.

Why We Eat Pasteurized Butter

I am sure that raw butter is nutritionally wonderful, but it is hard to find locally and extremely expensive ($14/pound). We consume lots of butter, and buying raw butter just does not fit into our budget. Additionally, I use a significant portion of our butter for cooking and baking, so the raw butter benefits would be lost in those uses anyway.

However, I feel confident that my family is still getting great nutrition from our pasteurized grassfed butter. The nutrients in butter are largely heat-stable. For instance, according to Chris Masterjohn, "everything I have read indicates that vitamin K is very heat-stable (though it can apparently incur losses from exposure to light)".  So we are still getting lots of nutrition from our butter, even though it is pasteurized.

Seasonal Differences

There are seasonal effects in the nutrient content of butter.  Butter has a deeper yellow color (and therefore more nutrients) in the warm months when the grass is growing rapidly. During the cold months, butter tends to have a lighter color, indicating that there are fewer nutrients present.

The three brands of grassfed butter I typically buy are Kalona Supernatural, Organic Valley, and KerryGold. During the winter, I find that KerryGold butter has the most dark yellow color, followed by Organic Valley and finally Kalona Supernatural.  From late-spring through Fall, all three of those brands have a nice yellow color, but the Kalona Supernatural butter has the deepest yellow color. 

Is your butter nutrient-dense? Do you typically use raw butter or pasteurized butter?

Homemade Freezer Waffles (soaked whole grain : gluten-free : nutrient-dense)

Freezer waffles are one of my family's staple breakfast foods.  We make a very big batch once every 4-6 weeks, and then we have the convenience of eating them for breakfast any time we'd like. Whether topped with butter and syrup, butter and jam, or even nut butter and jam, we all love to eat waffles for breakfast.

Years ago, I made freezer waffles from soaked spelt and soaked oatmeal.  Now that we avoid gluten and try to limit most grains (since they can cause behavior problems in our daughter), I developed a new freezer waffle recipe based on millet, arrowroot, and coconut flour.  Even though I use whole millet in this recipe, a grain grinder is NOT required as a blender works wonderfully to grind the millet.

These waffles hold together well and can be warmed in the toaster oven or toaster.  Like most freezer waffles, they need to be watched carefully to make sure they don't burn. I've given recipe amounts for the both the huge batch that I make as well as a smaller amount in case you want to start with less.

How to Make Bone Broth and My Favorite Glass Container for Freezing Broth

Bone broth is a wonderful superfood that was a critical part of many traditional diets.  I make sure we always have bone broth in the freezer, and use it liberally in cooking.  Besides using broth for soups, I also incorporate it into many recipes such as curry meatballs and veggies, braised cabbage and sausages, white beans, rice, and veggies such as beets and green beans.

When I first started making homemade broth over 6 years ago, I followed the recipe in Nourishing Traditions which uses uncooked chicken. But over time, I figured out a much more cost effective and easy method that uses a roasted chicken carcass. Then last year, I started to incorporate some ideas from Nourished Kitchen's post on perpetual broth into my usual method.  So now, I am able to make LOTS of bone broth with just one chicken carcass. 

How to Make Chicken Broth

1. Start by roasting a chicken and then picking the carcass clean. We love to eat roasted chicken.  After everyone has eaten their fill, I bring the chicken carcass to the table and pick the meat off the bones.  The meat gets stored in a glass container in the fridge to be used for another meal such as pizza or soup. 
2. Put the chicken carcass into the slow cooker. All of the bones, juices, leftover skin, and chewy bits go straight into the slow cooker. If I have any on-hand, I also add some chicken feet to the stockpot.
3. Add some fresh veggies and filtered water. For one chicken carcass, I usually throw in one quartered white onion and two carrots (peeled and cut into 2 or 3 chunks).  Add enough filtered water to cover it all. 
4. Turn the pot on LOW and cook for 15-24 hours. 
5. After the broth has cooked at least 15 hours, ladle and strain about half the liquid from the pot.  I especially try to make sure to get most of the fat out of the pot along with the liquid, as I don't think it is a good idea to let the fat keep cooking for an extended period of time. I pour the broth into glass jars for freezing (I talk more about that below).  Anytime after the 1st night of cooking, feel free to dip into the pot to get stock for any cooking needs, or even enjoy a nice warm cup of salted broth first thing in the morning. OPTIONAL: At this point, you could pull out the veggies and pick some more meat/skin off the carcass. There is quite a large amount of meat, skin, and connective tissue that was too tough to eat before making broth, but these parts are wonderfully tender after being simmered in the broth. Add a splash of broth and some salt and pepper to make a large bowl of soup (enough for 2-3 people). This soup can either be eaten right away, or stored in the fridge as an easy meal for later. 
6. Add more filtered water to the pot and cook the bones some more. And you can throw in some more fresh carrots and onions if you removed them during the previous step. Continue to cook on Low. 
7. Each day, ladle off some more broth and add fresh water. In this way, you can make lots and lots of broth with just one chicken carcass.  I usually continue this process for about 4-6 days to really stock up the freezer.  And, despite what you may think, the broth does not get watered down with this method.  The broth actually gets more and more rich as the days go by, peaking around day 4 or 5.  This is because the bones continue to break down into the broth over time.  I find that the broth made after the 2nd day has a very concentrated, rich flavor and a deeper brown color, so that I need to use only half as much in recipes (making up the balance with filtered water). 
8. Strain and freeze the broth (or store in the fridge if it will be used in the next few days). I do not skim the fat off the stock, as it makes the broth more nourishing and flavorful.

Tips for Freezing  (and Thawing) Broth

I always freeze my broth in glass containers.  Plastic can leach into foods, especially with changes in temperature, so I don't use plastic for freezing broth. I've definitely had my share of glass jars that have cracked during freezing, but over time I have figured out the tricks to successfully freezing (and thawing) broth in glass jars.

• Leave plenty of head space.  As the broth freezes, it will expand, so it is important to leave plenty of space above the broth for expansion during freezing. A general rule is to make sure you leave more than 1-inch of space above the liquid in the jars.  You can see in the picture above that I have left lots of space for expansion during freezing.    
• Let the broth cool to room temperature on the counter without the lids on.  Once the jars are cool enough to touch comfortably, put the lids on and transfer them to the freezer. 
• Not all jars are created equally.  For freezing large quantities of broth (such as pints or quarts), I find that mason jars work best.  Other jars, such as the ones you buy containing coconut oil, are more likely to crack in the freezer.
• My favorite jars for freezing broth: tomato paste jars! These jars are great for many reasons: 
• Since I use plenty of tomato paste to make homemade ketchup, I always have plenty of these little jars around.
• These small jars don't seem to break as easily as bigger jars.  I've frozen hundreds of these little jars of broth, and only ever had one of them break (because it was overfilled).
• Small jars are easy to fit into little leftover spaces in the freezer.
• The amount of broth in small jars is perfect for when I just need a little bit of broth (such as when making caramelized green beans).  And of course, multiple small jars can be used when larger amounts of broth are needed.
• Small jars thaw very quickly, so even if I didn't plan ahead, I can still use homemade broth in my recipes.
• To thaw broth in glass jars:
• If you have time, thaw jars of broth in the fridge overnight.  
• In a pinch, it also works to thaw jars of broth in a big bowl of water.  The key to thawing jars in water is to make sure you do NOT use hot water initially.  Placing a frozen jar into hot water puts a big thermal shock on the glass, which can cause it to crack.  
• Start by placing the frozen jar into cool water.  Let it sit for about 10 minutes.
• Replace the cold water in the bowl with warm water and let it sit a few minutes. 
• Then you can put hot water into the bowl to speed things up.  
• There is no need to wait for the broth to completely thaw.  Just wait until there is enough thawed that the remaining chunk of frozen broth can come out into whatever you are cooking.

Do you have any tips for making and storing broth? 

This post is part of Pennywise Platter!

LEAVE THE BUTTER OUT! (on the counter, of course)

When we switched to using wholesome, healthy butter back in 2005, one of my biggest complaints was how hard it was to spread butter on bread, muffins, and waffles.  Luckily, a friend who had grown up eating butter told me the trick: leave the butter out on the counter!

What a perfect solution!  I always have a stick of butter in the butter dish on the counter.  It is always nice and soft, ready to slather on our morning waffles, muffins, or even sandwich bread. And for those of you wondering: no, the butter doesn't go bad on the counter!  Admittedly, a stick of butter never lasts us more than a week, but I know others who have left it out for over a week with no problem. 

I do not use one of those fancy butter keepers that have water in them, just a plain butter dish.  My butter dish happens to be metal, but glass is fine, too. I like to leave the butter stick in its wrapper, so that I don't have to clean the butter dish very often.  But I know plenty of others who go ahead and place the stick of butter directly on the butter dish.

A couple cautions:
1. If you buy RAW butter, I would not recommend leaving it out on the counter.  If you do, it will develop a much stronger, almost cheesy flavor over time. This is because the live enzymes in the raw butter are still working just as they would in making raw milk clabber on the counter.
2. If it is very hot in your house in the summer months, then your butter might melt and make a big mess.  This won't be a problem unless it gets upwards of 90 degrees in your house.

Double Cheese Burgers! (GAPS : primal : gluten-free : grain-free)

My family adores burgers.  I cook them in a skillet on the stovetop, and this week I made a new variation: double cheese burgers.  Rather than putting slices of cheese on top of the burgers like usual, I added some grated cheddar and Parmesan to the meat when I mixed it up and formed the patties.  These are super tasty, and everyone in the house raved about them.

Double Cheese Burgers
Serves 4-5

• one pound ground beef, preferably from grassfed cows (we ask our butcher for 80/20 mix)
• 3/4 cup packed shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 tsp celtic sea salt
• pinch freshly ground pepper 
• 1/2 Tb refined coconut oil 
• 1/2 Tb butter, preferably from grassfed cows
• condiments of your choice, such as mayo, ketchup, and mustard

1. Put the the ground beef, cheeses, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.  Use your hands to mix the ingredients together.  Then form the patties.  I make 4 grown-up burgers and 4 mini kid burgers with the amount in this recipe. 
2. Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat.  I use a 12-inch stainless steel skillet to cook these, but cast iron would work too. Add the refined coconut oil and butter to the pan and swirl it around to coat the bottom.
3. Place your burger patties into the oil/butter mixture.  If you have a splatter screen, cover the skillet to reduce the mess on the stove. Resist the urge to move the patties around, and just let them cook for about 3-4 minutes. 
4. Flip the burgers, and feel free to add a bit more butter and oil if needed. Cover once again with the splatter screen and cook some more (about 2 more minutes for a medium-rare burger or longer if you like your burgers more well-done). If you are making any miniature burgers for the kids, only cook the second side for about 1 minute.
5. Turn off heat, and set the burgers aside to rest for a few minutes and allow the juices to settle back into the meat.  If you eat them right away, you'll lose most of the juice on your plate.
6. While the burgers rest, scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the hot skillet.  These are very tasty, so I like to add a few bits to each plate. 
7. Then, pour a bit of water into the still-hot skillet and scrape the bottom a bit with a spatula.  This will make clean-up MUCH easier after dinner. 
8. Top the burgers with a smear of homemade mayonnaise and serve them with your favorite condiments.  We all liked them with just mayo and some pickle slices on the side. A side salad and perhaps some sliced avocado would also pair nicely.

Lessons Learned as a Baker

Back in the late 90's while I was going to college, I had my first real experience cooking when I worked as a baker in a coffee shop.  The daily menu included lots of breakfast items like scones and muffins, plus desserts such as cookies, cakes, cheesecakes, and pies.  Oh, and yummy quiches, like green chile chicken quiche.

While I was developing my latest cookie recipe a few weeks ago, I was musing that many of the techniques I use today for baking were taught to me back in the coffee shop.  And then I thought that some of you readers might benefit from learning some of these techniques in case your own cooking education has been limited.

• Measure carefully for baking - When cooking on the stovetop, I rarely measure ingredients (unless I am developing a recipe for the blog). However, for baking, it is very important to carefully measure ingredients.  The proportions of the ingredients in baked goods can make a big difference in the end result.  When measuring ingredients, make sure to flatten them out so that they are nice and level with the top of the measuring cup or spoon. I love to use a Measure All Cup for measuring thick ingredients like honey and nut butter.
• After mixing ingredients, don't clean utensils by banging them on the rim of the bowl - The process of mixing allows air to be incorporated into baked goods, which can make them more light and fluffy.  If you try to clean the batter off of your utensils by banging them on the rim of the bowl, you may force some of the air back out of the baked goods and end up with a more dense item.
• Don't open the oven door very often - As they heat up, many baked goods rise to create a more fluffy result.  Opening the oven door can jiggle the baked goods and cause them to "fall" (where they lose all of that nice rise they achieved while being heated). It is especially critical to make sure you don't open the oven door much when cooking items with runny batter, such as cakes and cheesecakes.

• Watch cookies carefully - Cookies can very quickly go from nice and chewy to crunchy and overdone if they are cooked just a tad longer.  There is about a 2 minute window when they will be perfect, so watch them closely and check them frequently towards the end of their cook-time. If I am using a new cookie recipe, I will start checking them about 3-5 minutes before the time listed in the recipe.  And if you start another batch of cookies immediately on an already-warmed cookie sheet, they will cook a few minutes quicker than the first batch.
• Salt is key to enhancing flavor of sweet baked goods - One of the best ways to make desserts taste better is to add an extra pinch of salt.  Salt really does bring out the sweet flavors.  And anytime I use a sweet recipe that does not call for any salt, I make sure to add some anyway.
• When using a stand mixer, make sure to scrape the sides and bottom occasionally - Stand mixers are great, especially for mixing cookies and cheesecakes.  However, any time you use a stand mixer, make sure you occasionally stop the machine and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula.  Otherwise, you may end up with some little unmixed clumps in the final baked goods.  
• Feel free to experiment with different fruits and spices, but be very careful about adjusting amounts of flour/sweetener/liquids/leavening agents (such as baking soda and baking powder) - You can very easily experiment with the flavor of baked goods by changing the fruit or spices used.  In some recipes, you can even use widely varying amounts of fruit and still end up with a good product (for instance, zucchini bread cooks well whether I use two small zucchinis or one HUGE one).  But be very careful about experimenting with the amounts of flour, sweetener, liquids, and leavening agents.

• Break eggs into a separate cup - Occasionally, you may end up with a bit of egg shell in in with your eggs.  If you make sure to break the eggs into a separate cup, you'll be able to easily remove any shell that has fallen in without losing it into the recipe. I like to use a glass measuring cup for my eggs so they can be easily poured into the recipe.
• Use a stand mixer for granola, whipped cream, cookies and cheesecakes - A stand mixer works especially well for mixing thick batters (such as cookies and granola) as well as batters that require lots of mixing (like cheesecakes, whipped cream, and macaroons).  A stand mixer also makes it easy to add ingredients while the mixer is running, and you can mix as long as necessary without your wrist getting tired from holding a mixer or whisk.
• Make every drop count with a spatula - A fairly large amount of ingredients can be left clinging to the side of a bowl as you scoop or pour the batter out.  Use a silicone spatula to scrape the bowl and you will be amazed at how much batter comes out! But then the trick is to still leave a little for the kids to lick off :)

 What are some of your tips and tricks for baking?