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First of all, I use coconut oil for, I don't know, EVERYTHING! For every recipe that uses oil, I use coconut oil. I pour it into smoothies. I used to melt it in my coffee. (I just stopped drinking coffee this week so.... I am still missing it TOO much!
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Just thinking about that rich, creamy aroma. With raw cream and honey.... YUM! But coconut I CAN HAVE SO.....) I scramble eggs in it. Fry chicken in it.... You get the idea!Posted in Recipes
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I entered this cheesecake in a cheesecake contest at our local farmer's market but it only got honorable mention. This recipe is very different from traditional cheesecake. It is light and fluffy. I love it! It is also high in protein and a good source of calcium. This recipe is adapted from the Ricotta cake recipe in the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 4 large eggs, separated 4 cups ricotta cheese 3/4 cup sugar, sucanat, or 1/2 cup honey 1/3 cup white or sprouted wheat pastry flour 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 tsp almond extract dash of salt 1/2 tsp orange rind 1 tsp lemon rind 1/2-1/4 golden raisins, soaked in hot water for 15 min. and drained 1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds DIRECTIONS Grease a 10 inch springform pan and dust with ground almonds. Beat egg whites until stiff. Beat in a separate bowl, ricotta, yolks, sweetener of choice and flour. Beat well. Stir in extracts, salt, rinds, almonds and raisins. Gently fold in beaten egg whites. Gently pour into springform pan. Bake 50 minutes. Turn over off and open the door. Leave the cake in oven another 15 minutes. Cool completely before refrigerating. (Best served chilled.)
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I'm looking forward to a delicious week! Take a look! MONDAY breakfast- chocolate chip muffins, yogurt lunch- salami sandwiches, carrots and dip, strawberries dinner- beef tacos w/lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese, Mexi-rice, refried beans, corn (gmo free!) TUESDAY breakfast- toast with sausage gravy, orange juice lunch- quesadillas with leftovers from yesterday's dinner!, apples, cucumbers and carrots dinner- pork chops, rice pilaf, garlic spinach, applesauce WEDNESDAY breakfast- Swedish waffles with homemade berry syrup, bacon lunch- vegetable soup, grilled cheese, pears and apples dinner- roast chicken, potatoes, roasted root veggies, applesauce THURSDAY breakfast- homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal lunch- (on the run) walking apple salad, leftover muffins/rolls, carrots, celery, cukes, cheese cubes, trail mix dinner- slow cooked stew, applesauce, fresh bread FRIDAY breakfast- On the Go Pancakes (delicious oatmeal pancake recipe!), butter, honey, orange juice lunch- yogurt parfait with fruit and granola, slices of salami and cheese rolled in lettuce dinner- sourdough pizza (one pepperoni, one cheese, one spinach and garlic), simple lettuce salad, fruit pizza for dessert SATURDAY breakfast- granola with milk or orange julius smoothies (if I get a new blender!) lunch- leftover pizza, clementines dinner- curried chicken soup, pita chips, hummus, carrots, celery and cukes SUNDAY breakfast- Southern breakfast (eggs, biscuits and sausage gravy), orange juice lunch- chili in slow cooker, corn bread, cheese cubes, fruit salad dinner- pancakes, smoothies or fresh, raw juice from juicer, fried ham slices |
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No, I'm not actually advocating eating rice three times a day. However, an article I read in our local paper really inspired me about the versatility of rice. Also, rice is very nutritious, especially brown rice since it is a whole grain. Rice is gluten free and has a lower amount of phytates than other grains so it doesn't absolutely need to be soaked, although soaking a shorter period of time or cooking gently for 2 hours or more will neutralize some of the phytates. So I thought I'd share some recipes or meal ideas highlighting rice! BREAKFAST The most important meal of the day. Not many people think of rice for breakfast but it is very easy, nutritious and delicious! Start early and cook your rice slowly in water or in 1/2 water, 1/2 coconut milk. Simmer for 2 hours (make sure you have enough liquid- check often!) Then, stir in butter, maple syrup or sweetener of choice, and cream (preferably raw- not ultapasteurized). Sprinkle with nutmed and cinnamon. Or just stir in vanilla yogurt. It makes a delicious change from ordinary hot breakfast cereals! LUNCH Rice is easy to use in salads instead of pasta. If you have leftover rice, add chopped tomatoes, chunks of mozzarella or cheddar, cucumbers, fresh mint, and chopped red onion. Squeeze lemon juice over all and sprinkle with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. Easy to add cold chicken chunks, too! Or use leftover cold rice mixed with canned tuna and a small amount of plain yogurt to stuff tomatoes for a salad. I like to mix my tuna and rice with salsa, then stuff the tomato. So good! One of my favorite rice dishes is Rice Lentil Polou from The New Laurel's Kitchen cookbook by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinder, and Brian Ruppenthal. I start by soaking the rice and lentils (amounts below) for about 6-7 hours just covered with water and 2 Tablespoons whey. Then, follow the recipe: 1/2 medium onion 1 Tablesoon oil (I use coconut oil) 1 cup brown rice (soaked) 1 Tablespoon tomato paste 2-1/2 cups water or stock of choice (chicken is good) 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 cup lentils (soaked) 1 teaspoon salt (I use sea salt) 1/2 cup raisins (1/2 cup pine nuts or chopped almonds) Chop onion and saute in oil until soft. Add rice and stir for several minutes. Combine tomato paste with water and cinnamon. Add this mixture, along with the rinsed lentils, to the rice. Bring to a boil, cover tightly, turn heat very low and simmer for 30 minutes. Preheat over to 350F. Stir in salt, raisins, and nuts. The mixture should still have a little water; if not, add 1/4 cup. (If too watery, I remove a bit, too.) Place in a greased baking dish. Cover and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Serves 4 to 6. DINNER Many people serve rice plain with meals. Usually with a sauce to hide it's "blandness". But the wide variety of rices available make this sauce largely unnecessary. Brown rice and wild rice have a nuttiness that is greatly complemented by being cooked in beef broth. And mushrooms and onions are a wonderful earthy addition to these rices. I also like to half the simmering time of brown rice that I've cooked in beef broth. I then add parmesan cheese and sauteed onions and bake it for 40 minutes, covered for a cheesy rice side dish. Sticky jasmine and basmati rices are deliciously suited to curries with pinapples, raisins, and coconut milk. DESSERT For an easy dessert, combine equal amounts of cooked rice and milk or coconut milk and a pat of butter or coconut milk. Simmer, stirring constantly until thickened. Sweeten with maple syrup. I like this with raisins cooked in. Then stir unsweetened, finely chopped coconut into the "pudding." Whip some raw cream and fold it and some chopped pineapples in for a really special treat. Use the fruits that you like and see what you come up with. Strawberries would be lucious with basmati rice pudding. Or try apples and cinnamon. The results are really up to you! Hope you all enjoy looking at the possiblities of rice with me! Now get cooking! Eat well! Live well!
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Thank you for doing this, Cheeseslave!!!! I love sharing recipes! I love GARLIC. With LEMON. With Spinach. So last night, we had Italian Chicken (adapted from a recipe at Allrecipes if you want to look it up.) I baked 6 organic chicken breasts with a sauce of olive oil, onions, garlic, oregano, apple cider vinegar and juice on one lemon. Sprinkled with HImalayan sea salt and pepper, basting chicken periodically for the hour it bakes. (I fry potatoes in coconut oil to serve with it. Really yummy!) Anyway, the recipe I want to share is easy to adapt. But I cut up the leftover chicken from last night (so I get two meals out of one), frying it in a little coconut oil and leftover sauce. I then turned off the heat and threw in about a handful of fresh baby spinach. My daughter made some organic orzo (but you could use any kind of small noodle). We stirred the orzo into the spinach chicken mixture. Wow. It was sooooo good! I sprinkled parmesan on the top of mine. I don't know exactly how much the recipe cost but since I re-used the sauce and made sure the leftover chicken was used up, I feel like it was pretty frugal. Another easy way to be frugal is to make "rubber chicken." Roast an organic chicken one night. Then, throw the carcass into a pot with water to make soup! Simmer 24 hours optimally. The great thing is, you can vary the type of soup you make by the flavor/herbs of your roast chicken. My kids love curry chicken which turns into curried chicken soup. Italian or Greek chicken can become an Italian wedding-type soup with spinach, garlic and lemon. And homemade soup is soooooooo good for you! And deliciously warming this time of year! |
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I tweaked this recipe after using one from the alchemist's blog. It is located here with pictures! http://thealchemistblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/homemade-all-natural-chocolate-syrup/ Here's what I did: 3/4 cup dutch process cocoa; 1/4 cup raw cacao, powdered 1 cup sucanat (or rapadura) 1/8 tsp sea salt 1-1/2 c water 1/4 tsp vanilla stevita (liquid) or to taste Whisk everything until mixed. Turn the heat up to medium, stirring the whole time. When it achieves a boil, stir constantly and boil for about 5 minutes. I let mine go longer just like the alchemist! Probably about 7 minutes until it was deliciously fudgey. It was phenomenal on ice cream and made rich, rich chocolate milk. Next time, I am going to try milk chocolate stevia drops..... Or maybe orange..... Or mint extract...... The possiblities are endless! AND NO CORN SYRUP!!!! |
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My kids love crackers. And I just could never find any with healthy oils and soaked grains. Previously, I made crackers in the past (think tried once YEARS AGO!). But they were not well received. Well, I love my sourdough started and stumbled across this recipe online. It is AMAZING! Like a really delicious wheat thin. Well, much better actually. So I am sharing this recipe with you all! Thank you, Jessica Prentice, for this great recipe! 1 cup Sourdough, fed with whole grain flour, such as wheat, spelt or kamut flour 1/4 cup Lard rendered from local, free range pork fat, or coconut oil (I used the coconut oil) 1/4 cup Sprouted spelt flour or unbleached white flour, or as much as you need to make a stiff dough + extra for rolling (I just used regular spelt and a little white. Mine did take quite a bit more flour than this but it was damp here yesterday) 1/2 tsp Sea salt 1/4 tsp Baking soda Olive oil for brushing Coarse salt (such as kosher salt) for sprinkling on top (I just brushed with more coconut oil and used more pink salt) In a large bowl, combine sourdough and the lard and mix thoroughly. (I melted my coconut oil before mixing). Mix the salt and baking soda in with the 1/4 cup flour and add to the sourdough mixture. Knead it all together in the bowl, adding as much flour as necessary to make a stiff dough. All the dough to rest for about 10 minutes. Preheat the oven tho 350 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Take a small portion of the dough (about 1/4 cup) and roll it out on a floured board using a rolling pin, adding flour if it's too sticky, until it is very thin. (I just rolled my 1/4 of the dough out onto a greased silpat mat and cut with a pizza cutter. I like my crackers thin, and I didn't want to have to move them!) Cut into cracker shapes using a dough cutter or a sharp knife. Transert he crackers to the sheet pan adn bursh with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Repeat with another 1/4 cup of dough until the sheet pan in filled with crackers. Bake crackers in batches as necessary for 15-20 minutes or until just golden brown. Copy right Jessica Prentice 2005 If you want healthy crackers, please try this recipe! It was easy and delicious. I am already planning all sorts of variations. If you can make cut-out cookies, you can make these crackers. They really are good!
Eat well! Live well! ~Mel |
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My two youngest and I caught obnoxious colds last weekend and are still a bit under the weather. So our menu has been reduced to sandwiches and chicken soup and whatever my older two can scrounge up for Daddy. So if you are so inclined (or are ill as well!) here's a recipe for chicken soup from Jordan Rubin that will hopefully speed up the healing process! COLD and FLU Bustin' Spicy Chicken Soup Ingredients: 1 whole organic, free range chicken 2-4 chicken feet (optional) 3-4 quarts cold filtered water 1 T raw apple cider vinegar 4 medium sized, coarsely chopped onions 8 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped 6 celery stalks, coarsely chopped 2-4 chopped zuchinis 4-6 T extra virgin coconut oil 1 bunch parsley 5 garlic cloves 4 inches grated ginger 2-4 T Celtic Sea Salt 1/4-1/2 t cayenne pepper Directions: If you are unsing a whole chicken, remove fat glands and the gizzards from the cavity. GBy all means, use chicken feet if you can find them. Place chicken or chicken pieces in a large stainless steel pot with the water, vinegar, and all the vegetables except parsley. Let stand for ten minutes before heating. Brind to a boil and remove scum that rises to the top. Cover and cook for twelve to twenty-four hours. The longer you cook the stock, the more healing it will be. About fifteen minutes before finishing the stock, add parsley. This will impart additional mineral ions to the broth. Remove from heat and take out chicken and the chicken feet. Let it cool and remove chicken meat fromthe carcass, discarding the bones and the feet. Drop the meat back into the soup. (This recipe is from The Great Physician's Rx for Colds and Flu by Jordan Rubin with Joseph Brasco, M.D.) |
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This is too good to be healthy! But it is! It makes it so easy to get your daily dose of coconut oil. I've been reading Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig. And this recipe is definitely NT even if it's not found in the book! I love cooking healthy- soaking my grains, making sourdough, experimenting with fermented foods. I made some delicious honey-kefir cheese this morning for toast. Sooo good on sourdough! Anyway, that is what I have been up to lately- reading nutrition books! I just started Sweet Deception by Dr. Mercola. Now, my daughter is reading it, too! And faster than I am, I might add! We are using these books as part of our health curriculum. They are really opening our eyes to good nutrition! Sooooo! Without further ado, the FUDGE RECIPE! Mix 1 cup coconut oil with 1 cup cocoa or carob powder. Heat gently in a double boiler or in a metal bowl over a simmering pan of water. Add 1/2 cup raw honey
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The mother of a friend of my mom's (whew!) shared this recipe. After trying some of the bars, I had to have the recipe. And that seems to be the way with these cookies. The original recipe called for seperating the dough into strips and then baking and cutting them. But I just press them onto a big cookie sheet/jelly roll pan (15x17). I've also frosted them with a simple powdered sugar glaze after baking but my favorite way is to sprinkle the bars with cinnamon and sugar before baking. The sugar gets all crystallized and crunchy! Yummy! And the added bonus is they make the house smell absolutely wonderful! So without further ado, Bonnie's Ginger Strips~
Preheat oven to 375 F. Cream sugar and shortening. Stir in molasses and egg. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. (You may want to mix with your hands.) Press onto a greased jelly-roll pan with damp fingers- keeps you from sticking to the dough. Sprinkle with extra cinnamon and sugar if desired. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool and enjoy!!!!!
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This recipe is a favorite with my kids! It's great for summer since you don't have to bake them!
2-1/2 cups granulated sugar 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup margarine or butter 1/2 cup milk/soy milk 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter/soy butter/almond butter 3 cups quick cooking rolled oats, uncooked
Heat first four ingredients in med saucepan. Bring to a boil; boil for one minute. (Use a timer!) Remove from heat. Stir in choice of nut butter, oats and vanilla. Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper or aluminum foil. Let cool. For speedy results, cool in fridge! Then, enjoy! |