A few days ago I joined a “liver challenge” on the Traditional Foods Forum I frequent. It was started by a gal that was wanting to up her liver consumption for energy problems (B vitamins & iron), but couldn’t afford a quality liver supplement (yep, you can take liver in the form of pills). Really, liver (as a food) is such a great nutrient-dense food…and SO CHEAP. From a ‘supplement’ stand-point, it can make one downright giddy considering the savings.

However, most people don’t exactly have a TASTE for the meat. Lucky for me, I was blessed with a very impressionable personality, and began liking liver when I was 10. Exactly 10. We got to have a ‘big’ birthday party every 5 years, and on my 10th I had a slumber party, where I managed for the first time in my life to stay up “all night”. Needless to say, I took a big nap that next afternoon, and when my parents woke me for dinner they apparently did not REALLY wake me. We had liver & my mom noted that I was unusually quiet with a lack of grumbling about the dish, then went right back to bed. When i woke up later, asking when dinner was going to be, we realized i sleep-walked through dinner (not entirely surprising, i was a somewhat avid sleep walker/talker). Anyhow, my mom told me we had liver & that I liked it. I figured at that point, “oh, i guess i like liver now”. I’ve liked it ever since. So my “challenge” will be to cook it even though I’m the only one eating it. I’m not a fan of extra cooking JUST for one person.

So the ‘liver challenge’ is to aim for at least 2oz. of liver into your body each week. Until just a moment ago though, I thought it was each DAY. That’s a big difference. Some are going the ‘raw’ route, just slicing it up into pill-sized pieces & swallowing it raw (from organic/grassfed animals, frozen at least 14 days to kill parasites), others cooked. since I don’t trust my ‘source’, i’m going with cooked. Yesterday I cooked up a pound of chicken livers into some pate. I think i’ve eaten far more than 2oz thus far. it’s REALLY good. I got the recipe from KerryAnn’s Recipe Archive & made a few modifications b/c I didn’t have ALL ingredients on hand. Basically it was livers, bacon grease, onions, mayo & run through the food processor. mmm……I should probably ration it out or i’ll end up not fitting my jeans anymore. I’m all for “real” fats, but increased calories are increased calories and that is one high calorie snack!

Anyone want to join in? Anyone?……Bueller?…..Bueller?…. :enter chirping crickets:

I just filled up my enormous stock pot (which btw was a christmas gift from Nene a few years ago….thanks again nene! it gets used A LOT), with chicken bones to cook up some broth.  While doing this I was thinking about my friend, KerryAnn (ok, yes an INTERNET friend…but i HAVE talked to her on the phone before…that counts for something right?).  She really does a great service to those of us “menu-planning challenged” individuals, as well as being so available on her forum to hold your hand & walk you through learning to navigate these ‘forgotten roads’ of cooking from scratch (& makes all her recipes easily converted to gfcf to boot) & all things “natural living”.  I was already a “TF”-er (traditional food…er)  before I stumbled on her site, but in the past year of lurking around that forum I have learned & implemented so much more than I ever would have thought.  Anyhow, I just wanted to give a little “shout-out” to KerryAnn & let you know that she just completed a recipe book that would make a great gift for any “weirdo-health nuts” on your christmas lists (whether a “newbie” or an old-time veteran).

Menu Mailer Volume One Favorites
This 134-page, spiral-bound book contains 16 Mailers from Volume One that were customer favorites.  There are four mailers for each season.

Happy Cooking!

had this today..mmm…

2 cups steel cut oats

2 cups water

2 TBS yogurt, buttermilk, whey, or lemon juice

Mix together & sit 8-24 hours in a warm spot (as in, not in the fridge)

1 cup water (or for richer, cream, coconut mik, or any milk), plus more if you need to thin it

1 cup pumpkin

1-2 tsp cinnamon &/or pumpkin pie spice

warm the water (or milk) to boiling (or almost boiling), add soaked oatmeal & the remainder of ingredients, cook for about 5min +/-. Add more water or milk as need/desired to thin. If you used all water, adding butter or coconut oil adds creaminess.  Sweeten to taste with whatever sweetener you like.  I added 1/4 cup sucanat.

The camera is upstairs, otherwise i would’ve taken a picture & then likely never gotten around to writing this (with the whole ‘having to upload the picture’ thing..the excuse today is that ryan is doing web-work this weekend so he’s hogging the computer). Anyhow, wanted to share a recipe. The kids & I had Curry and Cranberry (turkey) Salad. Thanks google.

Of course I made some changes, so here’s “my” recipe:

4 cups cooked turkey (or chicken

2.5 cups (very finely diced) apple

3/4 cup cranberries

1 cup finely chopped celery

1 cup mayo

2TBS apple cider vinegar (or red wine)

1TBS lemon juice

spices: 1/2 tsp salt, 1TBS curry powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (+/-)

Dressing

In a large bowl thoroughly combine mayonnaise,  ginger, cayenne and  vinegar.

Mix

To the dressing, add the chicken and all other ingredients. Mix thoroughly so that ingredients are evenly distributed. Chill in the refrigerator for at least half an hour before serving. (says the ‘rules’ but i did not do this & it was great) I could’ve left out the salt since the turkey already has a hint of saltiness to it from the brine, but I forgot to account for that.

Even though it was a teensy bit on the salty side, it was as grace says, “dishis-oso” (delicioso). I had to cut myself off so there would be enough for lunches later in the week. The kids’ verdict: Grace hated it & refused to eat more than one required bite (no gagging though). Asher gave absolutely no complaint & ate his all up saying it was good. However, i think it would be more accurate to say he didn’t HATE it. Because he’s now at a place where he will out of obedience eat darn near anything we tell him he has to, but if it’s a hated food there will be a touch of complaining &/or asking of how much HAS to be eaten. Anyhow, he did none of that, but he did eat a tad slow & had a contemplative expression while chewing as if to say, “ok, it’s not GROSS…just keep chewing..”.

Ryan of course detests mayo & is not a “fan” of curry, so he had a more traditional post-thanksgiving lunch of a warm turkey sandwich that has all the sides (except stuffing) + cheese in it.

I just discovered a dangerous new dessert the other night. It was one of ‘those’ nights….opening & shutting the fridge & cupboard…leaving the kitchen, wandering back in…. willing some dark chocolate to magically appear somewhere. I had some cocoa powder….hot chocolate? No, not enough milk…& I don’t feel like the hassle of dirtying the pot, measuring spoons, whisk, mug ect. Perhaps a spoon of honey will suffice. I have some creamed raw honey on hand (like the really raw brand, but local). It’s like candy for sure. A spoonful later…no…that’s not chocolate.

Seriously considering making a trip to the grocery store (I’m already in PJ’s at this point).

wait.

Eyes resting on the cocoa powder. Back to the honey. cocoa powder…creamed honey….hmm…. yes. Chocolate Honey. Perfect.

2 tsp. (ish) raw creamed honey + 2 tsp (ish) Chatfield’s Unsweetened Alkaline-free cocoa powder. Mix in a small bowl/cup/plate or mouth (though the best results have been in a small bowl…less choking on cocoa powder).

How have I never thought of that before??

Today is Grace’s 2nd birthday. I can’t believe it. I don’t remember being this stunned at Asher’s 2nd. In fact I think I may have the tendency to rush him in my mind, thinking each milestone takes forever to arrive….somehow with Grace they creep up too quick.

I’ll let ryan, the mast photo-poster put up the birthday pics…I wanted to talk about the cake.

Last year I made basically banana bread (with extra sugar) into cupcakes & topped it with weird, to sweet, heavy cream cheese icing. Overall: far too sweet & kinda gross, definitely too heavy! The kids didn’t mind but when it comes to things with sugar, their opinion doesn’t really count…they’ll eat anything called “cake”. (ok…it won’t work for thing OBVIOUSLY not cake…like fruit or veggies).

This year, added to my obsession with trying to turn food items that are by default unhealthy into healthy(ish) treats is the pressure of it being gluten & casein free (google it if you don’t know what they mean).

I did some internet reading & opinion asking…and i finally settled on a cake recipe taken off the Tropical Traditions website and an icing recipe taken off one of my favorite gluten-free blogs, everythingfreeeating.

I was going to go w/a more traditional gluten-free cake but i’ve found coconut flour recipes to be less oddly textured than the normal gluten-free recipes that require starch flours. This did not fail us for sure. Though the icing may not have been QUITE sweet enough for the average bear, i would still feel confident to serve this to non-health-nut guests. Due to the cocoa powder used (Chatfield’s) , it had a definite dark chocolate essence to it, vs. uber-sweet milk chocolate. Since i’ve been converted to the “dark-side”, this was heavenly for me. Unfortunately ryan’s not a fan of coconut, but since he’s not much for dessert anyway, i decided to not cater to his palate (sorry ryan). Here’s my versions of the recipes below:

Coconut Flour Chocolate cupcakes (I didn’t actually change this recipe at all)
1/2 cup coconut oil (i used expeller pressed)
1/4 cup coconut milk (or heavy cream if you’re not dairy-free)
1/4 cup cocoa powder (..heaping 1/4 cup)
9 eggs (yes…9…)
1.5 cups sucanat
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sifted coconut flour (i actually followed the rules & sifted. figured dana would be proud)
3/4 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder

Melt coconut oil in a saucepan over low heat (or live in central FL & it will never reach a solid state anyway). Add cocoa powder and coconut milk and mix together. Remove from heat and set aside. In a bowl, mix together eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Stir in cocoa mixture. Combine coconut flour w/baking powder and whisk into batter until there are no lumps. Pour batter into muffin forms. Bake at 350 for 30min or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool & cover w/frosting as desired.

Sin On a Spoon Icing (my take on it)
4.5 TBS Ghee (or butter if you’re not casein-free)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 TBS coconut milk (or heavy cream)
3 TBS agave nectar (or honey or 8 drops liquid stevia…haven’t tried the stevia myself as i’ve had bad experiences w/stevia + chocolate)
2 tsp. lecithin (i did not plan in advance, so had to buy some from the local whole-foods. Which of course only had soy lecithin. I’m usually anti-soy, but i made an exception here due to the fact that i didn’t have time to wait for egg or sunflower based lecithin to be shipped from an online store).

Blend ghee in mixer on high till soft. Pour in coconut milk, lecithin and sweetner, whipping until blended. On stir setting add cocoa powder, turning speed up to high as the powder becomes incorporated. Mix until the desired consistency, adding more lecithin if necessary to emulsify the ghee and coconut milk.

I sprinkled some unsweetened shredded coconut on top for the coconut-likers in the house. The kids & I definitely enjoyed what Grace called “cacawate cake”…and I did notice that ryan ate his cupcake as well….coconut flour & all. ooh, if you’re really daring, chocolate chips in the cake would be pretty awesome i think.

Seems I’m lacking in the “deep thoughts” department lately. They seem to come in waves.

Anyhow, I discovered a delicious new recipe that I tried yesterday for the first time. If you tell Asher we’re having Chinese for dinner that means sesame chicken from a restaurant. He thinks that the chicken is not chicken, but “chinese”. This recipe came out just like that & when i told Grace to eat her chicken Asher said, “That’s not chicken, it’s chinese!” Does his lack of culture alarm you?

Now, I feel the need for a disclaimer, due to the large amt. of sugar & the fact that the chicken is deep fried (not concerned about fat in the slightest, but rather extreme high-heat cooking), i do NOT consider this a ‘healthy’ dish, but rather a MUCH better alternative to take-out.

You can check out the link above for the ‘real’ recipe, but this is how i tweaked it to make it a little more “traditional foods”-friendly (i.e. as healthy as i could get it while still tasting like ‘chinese’):

1 Pkg chicken thighs (I used thighs b/c 1. it’s cheaper & 2. take-out is dark meat)

Marinade:
2TBS tamari (or soy sauce)
1TBS red wine
splash of sesame oil
2TBS flour of your choice (I used millet)
2TBS arrowroot
2TBS chicken stock (or water)
1/4 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp coconut oil

Sauce
1.5 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup white vinegar (i didn’t have rice vinegar on hand)
1/4 cup arrowroot
1 cup sucanat (I used sucanat with honey this time, but will try sucanat next time)
2TBS tamari (or soy sauce)
2TBS sesame oil
1 tsp chili sauce (i couldn’t find paste, just sauce “with garlic”)
1 garlic clove, pressed

Cooking
Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes (mine were smaller i think)

mix marinade ingreidients and marinate the chicken for at least 20 min (i did it a few hours)

Mix together the sauce ingredients & pour them into a small pot & bring to a light boil, stirring continuously (it will turn to a thick syrup/gell-like state). Turn heat down to low & cover, keeping warm while you are deep-frying the chicken.

Heat 3 cups expeller pressed coconut oil in wok (no idea on temp, i don’t have a deep fryer or thermometer)

Add the marinated chicken pieces a few at a time, and deep-fry till golden brown. Drain on paper towels and then place in warmed oven to keep warm till all the chicken is finished (it took me an hour to fry it all). Repeat w/remainder of chicken.

Just before you are finished deep-frying, bring the sauce back up to a boil.

Place the chicken on a large platter (uh,i used a small mixing bowl) & pour the sauce over. Sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds, serve over rice & broccoli.

I ended up with a lot of leftover sauce & almost not enough chicken for us all. next time i’ll use more chicken (i like leftovers).

Also, for the “local readers” I would like to order sucanat from the co-op this month. I can get it for $1.98 (or something close to that, under $2)/lb vs. the nearly $5/lb it is at the grocery store. Problem is I have to order 25# of it. I do have a 5 gal. bucket that is unoccupied that can deal with the bulk, but I’d rather not spend $50 on sugar this month. So if anyone would like to go in on some with me, please let me know (also if you have a food or baby scale that would be helpful).

I went to a “cooking with coconut flour” seminar saturday morning. It was pretty fun. The seminar pretty much had ZERO to do with cooking (uh…why i went) but rather the benefits of coconut & info on the presenters farm (& holistic farming practices ect.). It was funny sitting there realizing that (assuming i was capable of forming a coherent thought “public speaking” & not passing out from nerves) I could’ve given the seminar, lol. Pretty funny considering I used to buy Gordon’s fish & thought that was a legitmate good home-cooked meal. But i digress. While the content wasn’t what i was hoping for, i did meet a few cool people and made a really fun foodie/faith connection with a woman I sat next to.

I also came away with an amazing cookie recipe. She passed them out to taste during the presentation & I was overjoyed to find that I had all the necessary ingredients at home. Asher and I cooked some up right after lunch. Oh they’re heavenly (assuming you like coconut which I discovered today Ryan does not. another “wow what a terrible wife I am” moment that after 7.5 yrs i managed to not notice a dislike for coconut).

Coconut Macaroons

2 egg whites
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sucanat (I saw some at Publix the other day, so it’s becoming more avail. looks like)
2.5 cups UNSWEETENED shredded coconut

Whip egg whites with vanilla & salt till stiff. Add sucanat. Fold in coconut & drop onto cookie sheet (not sure if it’s supposed to be greased or not, i did grease mine). Bake @ 350 for 15-18min.

A tip she gave me was after they’re cooled, to freeze them, then thaw & it will yeild a much chewier version, as they come out crunchy. I guess they come out crunchy when cooled anyway, asher and I ate some pretty much immediately & they were pretty chewy I thought.

They taste a lot like Samoas (girl scout cookies). Mmmmm…..They’re also really filling but that did not stop me from eating 3.5 & now i feel like i have a brick in my stomach but still want more. Ah, sugar.

Now to go google to see if i can find the recipe she uses for coconut flour zucchini bread (bread products with no grain flour? i’m intrigued).