Homemade Butter

I just made butter this morning. It takes about 15 minutes or so on a high speed in your mixer. I can't imagine how long it must have taken in the old days in a butter churn. I can see why butter must have been such a delicacy, it took so long to make. I had been wanting to make butter, just for fun to see how it would turn out, and was finally inspired to do so when I found this recipe.


I used 1 pint heavy whipping cream ultra pasteurized and I think it made about 1 cup butter and 1 cup buttermilk. It was fun:)

Chicken Curry

I tried a new recipe tonight of chicken curry with apples. I found the recipes at Linday's blog
It was really good and not too hard to make as it was my first time making curry. We ate ours over brown rice, served with salad and bread.

Chicken Curry

Makes 6-8 servings

This recipe extends for several meals at our home! It is very freezable as well! Serve a smaller portion, balanced with vegis and rice and/or naan and it will stretch quite a bit!

2-4 Chicken thighs, cut into chunks (depending on how much meat you would like!)
2 Tbsp whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp curry powder
4 Tbsp ginger, fresh and finely chopped
4-6 garlic cloves, fresh and finely chopped (start with four and add more as needed)
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 green apple, chopped
3 Tbsp curry powder
6 or more Tbsp whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp sea salt (lower this amount to 1-2 tsp if you are using canned chicken broth)
1 Tbsp rapadura or other natural sweetener
2 1/2 cups (or approx. 1 1/2 -15 oz cans) chicken broth
2 1/2 cans (14 oz) coconut milk

Combine chicken, 2 Tbsp of flour & 1 Tbsp of curry powder in a Ziploc or bowl to coat. Fry lightly in oil (preferably coconut oil) in a frying pan for just a few minutes until cooked. Set aside.

Combine fresh garlic, ginger, onion, apple, curry powder, flour, sweetener and salt in frying pan. Allow to fry under medium heat to mold the ingredients together (around 10 minutes), until onions are transparent, heated completely through. Add liquids - chicken broth & coconut milk, and stir frequently until heated through and thickened. Add more flour to thicken as needed. Add breaded chicken.

*note: I cut the recipe in half. I still used the same amount of chicken, but I did half of everything else and it still made alot. I just didn't have enough curry powder or coconut milk. I added ginger, salt and honey to taste. I also added sliced zucchini 5 minutes before serving. Very good! Thanks Lindsay!

Randomness Part 2

I've gotten SO behind on my laundry, it's bad. It's all clean but it's all in one big heap on the floor. I have gotten about half of it folded and my children are in bed and I wanted to write a bit before I went to bed. I'll finish the laundry tomorrow.

I am really enjoying life right now. I love not sweating everyday, as far as not living in humidity goes. Our church has a family camp this past weekend. We didn't camp, but we went on Saturday and just spent the day out there. It was so nice to be out in the country and enjoy the water and time with friends and family.

I am really just enjoying what God has given me to do; be a wife and homemaker and mama to my boys. I have my days though, last Friday was tough. I was SO tired during the day which made it so hard to do anything. I got angry way too many times and had to repent to my boys multiple times. It's hard when you're tired. No excuse though for a bad attitude. God is gracious and compassionate. He does not treat me that way. It's a good reminder to me of how I need to be toward my children and if not i just try to be quick to repent.

I love my kitchen. I spend a lot of time in it, )when I'm doing all the other things I have to do with two little boys). I enjoy experimenting with new ways to make our food more nutritious. One of the many ways which really doesn't require that much time at all, is by sprouting seeds (sunflower seeds are all I've done so far), lentils, and grains (I've done guinoa so far). Why Sprout? Well, " seeds are packed with nutrients, sprouted seeds are even better. As each grows, proteins, enzymes, vitamins and other nutrients increase whilst becoming more bioavailable. At the same time toxins and enzyme inhibitors are reduced, increasing digestibility." http://www.primalseeds.org/sprouting.htm
And sprouting is wonderful because when you're done you can put your spouts on salads and sandwhiches or anything else that you want. I haven't thought of tossing my lentil spouts into my green smoothies yet, don't know if I will...I just enjoy them on salads fine. Salads are wonderful, I just love them. I'm trying to eat them more often, I'm trying for one a day, but it doesn't always happen. Here are two pictures of my recent salads.

This salad has romaine, lentil sprouts, sliced almonds that have been soaked for 12 hours. "Almonds are usually difficult for most people to digest because of an enzyme-inhibiting substance in their brown coating. Soaking or sprouting removes this inhibitor so that the enzymes secreted during digestion can do their job."(source) I also added apple slices and I think that is it. Salads have endless possibilities.This Salad below has romaine lettuce, shredded beets, red pepper, shredded zucchini, chicken breast meat, with a red wine vinegrette dressing. Dressing: Red wine vinegar, crushed black pepper, crushed garlic, basil and oil. So good! The bread is whole wheat rye with garlic basil butter. Among other things I've added coconut oil to my kitchen essentials. (I don't know why it suddenly changed to blue and underlined, I can't figure it out). I encourage you to do some research if you don't know about it, it's really fascinating.

http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/index.htm

black is back!

well, i think I'm done for tonight

Healthy Dessert

I just made this really yummy but very healthy pear crisp that I got from world's healthiest foods site. It doesn't have any sugar or flour, I was impressed with how it turned out.
Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4 d'anjou pears
• 3 cups water
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• ½ cup apple juice, divided in half
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2/3 cup almonds
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup rolled oats
• 1½ TBS chopped fresh ginger
• 1 TBS honey

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
   
2. Place water and lemon juice in bowl.
   
3. Cut pears into quarters, cut out core and slice ¼ inch thick. As you do this place the pear slices in water with lemon juice to keep from turning brown.
   
4. Drain and toss pears with cinnamon and ¼ cup of the apple juice.
   
5. Place almonds, oats, raisins and ginger in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until well ground and mixed. Place in a bowl and add honey and rest of apple juice. Mix well.
   
6. Place pears in an 8x8 baking dish and cover with topping. Bake for about 35 minutes until pears are bubbling.
   

Serves 4

Peppermint Bark

I just made some of this peppermint bark yesterday and it turned out great. I put it in the freezer for like 10 mimutes to speed up the cooling process. It made quite a bit and I was pleased with how easy it was.

Makes 1 1/4 pounds

If you don’t have a double boiler, use a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water.

1 pound white chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces 6-7 med- large candy canes 1/4 teaspoon peppermint oil 1. Set out a baking sheet, either a non-stick, or lightly greased 2. In the top of a double boiler, melt white chocolate, stirring constantly. 3. With a chef’s knife or meat tenderizer, cut or pound candy canes into 1/4-inch pieces. 4. Stir pieces of candy canes and peppermint oil into the melted chocolate. Remove from heat, and pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet; spread evenly. Chill until firm, 25 to 30 minutes. Break into pieces, and serve. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Minestrone Soup

I love allrecipes.com, I have found many great recipes that are quick, easy and healthy too. I just made some minestrone soup last night and it was yummy!
I found this at allrecipes.com but I altered it a little bit, so here is my version of minestrone soup: feeds 3-4


INGREDIENTS

* 24 oz. chicken broth (I used some homemade broth)
* 1 can (14.5 oz.)diced stewed tomatoes
* 1/2 to 1 can(14.5) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 can (15 ounce) garbanzo beans (chickpeas) or pinto beans
* 1 cup frozen cubed hash brown potatoes, thawed (I didn't add the potatoes, I cooked brown rice separately and then when I served the soup I put some rice in the bottom of the bowl and poured the soup over it).
* 1-1/2 teaspoons dried minced onion
* 1-1/2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
* 1/2 teaspoon salt(i used celery salt, either works)
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder(i used real garlic, crushed)
* 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
* 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
* 1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed (I didn't add peas, but I chopped up a whole carrot and added that instead)


DIRECTIONS

1. In a slow cooker, combine the first 13 ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

This soup is awesome because you can add whatever other veggies you have on hand. I also sprinkled some shredded mozzarella cheese on top. Along with the soup we had homemade biscuits.