Tag Archives: healthy fats

October 1, 2012 · 21:53

Food. Good.

Who doesn’t love food?  Boy, oh, Boy.   There are  a lot of things I can’t or shouldn’t eat.  I stay true to those “rules” most of the time.  When you can’t eat the easy stuff, the convenient stuff, you figure out ways to make the wholesome stuff taste good.   As I have said in the past, my cooking is very simple, using few ingredients since most ingredients do not work for my health.

Whole foods.  The name of the game.   Pops and I wonder sometimes why we bother going out.  Our food here is always better than even the finest diners.  Why?  Fresh.  Local.  Homegrown.  Organic.  Simple.  Unprocessed.  REAL FOOD.    I do miss bread though.  A lot.  I am bankin’ on sourdough bread next to my bed when I am in heaven.  You watch.   With butter.

What makes fine restaurants so good?  They keep their recipes simple, fresh, and high quality ingredients.

Tonight we had scrumptuous munchuous.  Man, it  was good.   And simple as it gets.  HEALTHY.

PORK TENDERLOIN

Sprinkle tenderloin with fresh basil, coarse sea salt,  minced garlic.  put several slices of bacon over top and drizzle with olive oil.  Pop in oven 375 degrees for an hour.  Done. Perfect.  Delectable.

Remember……where the pork and bacon comes from makes HUGE difference in flavor AND health.

GREEN BEANS
Sautee in generous amount of Ghee (clarified butter) fresh green beans, chopped sweet red pepper, onion.  I don’t boil or steam beans first.  Done.  Perfect.  Delectable.

NOW……for a secret yummy…..

Since sugar…and dairy…and gluten…and, and, and,…. are no nos, I am continually experimenting to get a dessert acceptable for us (me).  Try to make a dessert without the above ingredients.  Impossible, right?  Darn near.  Well,  yes, it is impossible.   But we can make significant improvements on the status quo.  So, usually I end up making a fruit thing.  A crisp, or cobbler.  But fruit being the base.  I use the minimum sugar (organic coconut palm unrefined sugar) that I can get away with.  About 1/3 -1/2 cup for a 9 x 13 pan. of whatever I am making.     We top with ice cream (coconut milk based for me and ice cream with the least amount of ingredients for others).  And then,  a bit of home-made caramel sauce  drizzled on top.  THAT is the secret yummy.  Oh my goodness.

The best flavor IN THIS WORLD.

I make it with the whole she-bang.  But I use the better ingredients.  Every little bit helps.

EASY CARAMEL SAUCE

1 C.  organic coconut palm sugar

1/2 C.   organic heavy whipping cream

4 T organic butter

Pinch of sea salt

1 t. vanilla

Heat on med low heat the first three ingredients.  Whisking continuously until all is melted and thickening.  5-7 minutes.  Make sure granules are dissolved.   Add salt and vanilla stir and put in jar.

We wait for weekend night to enjoy our very special  yummy treat.  Since the sugar thing has to be few a far between for me, dessert is very special and we like to make that a part of a wonderful night home on the weekend.

Enjoy!

On a different note…I was driving home one night last week at dusk and a fog came rolling in that was wild.  It was deep blue.  Like an ice fog or somethin’ .   That is what it looked like to me.  It was warm out but it look like an ice fog sheet.  I know that doesn’t make sense.  But I took a picture with my phone and the contrast of the fog and my headlights was very cool.

By the way, I did not manipulate this photo.  The contrast was really quite something.

This was with headlights off:

I find great joy in the atmosphere.  Dont you?

You have yerself a great Tuesday.

God bless,

Karen

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July 15, 2012 · 21:59

“You Cant Always Get What You Want, But If You Try Sometime

..You just might find, you get what you need.”

Words sung by the beloved Rolling Stones.

Can’t  speak of them without paying homage to them, now can I?

I did not take this photo, although it would have been pretty cool if I had.

Not sure there is anyone out there who hasn’t sung that  tune under their breath at some point or another to themselves or directed at someone else.   I think I walked away from my kids on numerous occasions hummin’ the tune.   It’s easy to sing it about someone else but it stings when you have to sing it to yourself.

There are definitely some things that I want.  I want real bad.  And it has become obvious to me that I (and our society as a whole) have a hard time differentiating between  wants and needs.  I say “need” a lot.    I need to take a shower.  I need new sheets.  I need to eat dessert.  I need to cut the grass. I need to comb my hair.  I need to hem my pants.  I need to buy more spatulas to add to my other 5 because I may need to flip 6 things at once.    These aren’t real needs, are they?   I think we say “need” to convince ourselves of the urgency of our wants.  We learn when we are toddlers to interject  that urgent word to be taken seriously.  I NEEEEEED that cookie!!!!!!

Ok.. So what do I want so badly today?  MILK!!!!!  I know I don’t NEED milk because I have gone 7 years without it and have felt great.  In fact, I have felt better living without it than living with it.  But my mind has convinced me that I need it.  I yearn for it.  The honest truth is I would love a tall glass of cold, cold milk.  I miss it.  And I’d like to see it in my life again.  No big deal.  So why have I gone to such great lengths to touch it to my lips again?  Maybe I’m OCD.  Who knows.

I cannot tolerate cow dairy.   I figured that out 7 years ago.  Felt sick from it for 30 years prior to the discovery.  But, hey, who’s counting?   When we bought the property 5 years ago, I began planning our dairy goat venture.  5 years of research led me down the road to buying 3 goats.  2 does and 1 buck.  I had the set up for many years of milk production to fill my tummy with yummy thick 6.5% butterfat milk.   COULD NOT WAIT.  Got the girls pregnant.  Waited patiently, then impatiently for many more months than it should have taken for these little kiddies to be born.  The day arrived.

I began milking the two does several weeks ago.  Between the two of them I got about 6 ounces.  Ok.  That’s ok, I thought.  We’ll get there.  I brought the milk in, strained it, plunged it in ice water then stuck it in the fridge.  I am a huge advocate of raw milk.  Many medicinal qualities and unbelievable amount of nutrients that are killed through pasteurization.  (I will tell that story another day). I wanted those nutrients.!!!   I wanted my body to feel what it was like to have those intense nutrients.  The milk tasted U.N.B.E.L.I.E.V.A.B.L.E.

Two days into the milking, I began to get the same symptoms that I get with cow milk.  Respiratory infection symptoms.  By the way,  this has nothing to do with raw milk.  I got the same symptoms from pasteurized milk.  There is enough difference in goat milk and cow milk I was hoping that difference was going to be the difference for me.

I have “leaky gut syndrome”  (I know, sounds gross.)  which is where the intestinal wall is weak in some places and undigested proteins from foods leak out into the blood stream and poison the body.  The intestinal wall can heal and people can resume foods but mine must not be healed completely.  And may never.    Lots of foods can do this and manifest itself in many ways in the body creating symptoms of illness that may not seem related to food.  We think that all food problems will only be felt in the stomach.

Our bodies can be compromised and weakened by many things we consume.  Processed foods.  Chemicals.  Alcohol.  Sugar.  Gluten.    And then, if compromised, the foods that can wreak havoc are corn, gluten, dairy, tomatoes, and nuts.  Probably meat for some people.  Things that are more complicated in nature that take extra time,  energy  and enzymes to digest.

So……. I have 6 goats.  And I can’t drink the milk.  Got goats?  Got milk?   Yes.   And since I haven’t gotten more than 6 ounces at a time and everyone else here can drink cow dairy, I am baggin’ the dairy thing.  (I think…)  I am very disappointed as I have spent an enormous amount of time learning, dreaming,  planning, etc.  and I am at a loss.  I feel really sad that I didn’t get what I want.   My plan did not work out.  Maybe I shouldn’t put so much stock into “my” plan.   My warped mind still keeps trying to figure this out.  I think, surely, I can get this thing to work in my favor.  When you spend so much time working toward something it should work, right?  That’s what I think.   But I’m afraid it is not to be.

But I always get what I need.  Thank God for that.

God bless,

Karen

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July 10, 2012 · 05:00

Omega What?

Omega 3.  What is it?  We are reading it on a  lot of labels, aren’t we?  Omega 6.  Same thing.  What the heck?  Why does it matter?  Sometimes I think the “whoe’er out there”  just makes this stuff up.     (I wont go there…I want to be positive)

But we DO need to talk about the Omega 6’s and 3’s.

Omega 6 AND 3 are fatty acids that we need for a healthy body.  Our body does not make them.  We  get them through our foods.  Once consumed, they are converted into the building blocks for hormones that control immune function, blood clotting, and cell growth as well as components of cell membranes.  In my book, important stuff.

THE IMPORTANT THING IS that it needs to be in balance in our bodies to work properly.   THE TYPICAL AMERICAN IS NOT BALANCED.   The ideal ratio is 2:1 (omega 6: omega 3). The typical American has a ratio of 20:1.  Not good.

What happens when we are out of balance with our 6’s and our 3’s?  Well….  This is what my research turns up:

The imbalance causes an inflammatory environment causing chronic conditions such as asthma, allergies, diabetes and arthritis.   As well as heart problems and depression.    That is not good.

****What may seem really bizarre is that many people who eat very healthily can be susceptible to these chronic diseases because they are out of balance.

What we have to remember is that Omega 6  is necessary and good ONLY if it is balanced with the omega 3.

So what foods have omega 6 and what foods have omega 3,  you ask?

Omega-6

Vegetable oils: grape seed, cottonseed, safflower, corn and sunflower oils.

Processed foods.  Most made with very cheap oils.

Grains

Meat

Dairy

As you can see many of these items are good for us.  And that is not the issue.  The issue is keeping all in balance.

Omega-3

Flax seed/oil

Cod liver oil and fish oil ( the label above is THE BEST you can buy.)

Walnuts

Beans (not all beans are rich in omega-3.  Some are more than others.

Fish

Olive, macadamia, avocado and coconut oils.

Grass fed meat and chickens.

Free range eggs

So while it is not necessary to refrain from the omega-6 rich foods, it is vital that you add more of the omega -3 rich foods with it.

How to balance:

Eat walnuts instead of almonds, every other time.  Don’t forget to soak and dry first both almonds and walnuts!  Almonds are very high in 6 while walnuts are high is 3.

Eat fish more often.

Take cod liver oil or fish oil. Fermented is the best kind and can be purchased online.  I buy a year supply at a time.

Switch oils. Remember oils come in many different forms.  Lots and lots of processed food uses oils.  Including anything that tries to look or act like butter.

DONT EAT PROCESSED FOODS!!!!!

Eat less grains and eat more beans.

Drizzle flaxseed oil on foods high in omega-6

Chronic diseases are ruling our culture and our health care.

Take great care of yourself!

God bless,

Karen

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June 24, 2012 · 22:43

Call In The Recipes

My brain wavin’

Here is the dilemma….  I cook every night.  I never use recipes.  I can’t/shouldn’t eat most of what is out there so I make up stuff.  All the wonderful recipes on Epicurious, Food Network, or what else….Allrecipes.com.  Oh and Paula Deen.  Poor thing.    Her french toast made with Crispy Creme doughnuts wont work for me.  Although it sounds SOOO good.  Can I just have A bite!  Please?   You know where they are and we will leave them be.   Cause I can’t eat them.

I am all about cookie and other baking recipes.  I am constantly trying to get down recipes that are the least damaging to my system.  So it is a trial and error effort.  I’ll get there.  And I AM getting there.  My family is really enjoying them at this point.   That is good for  YOU to know.  That means I am making progress.

Where am I going with this?   The recipes I post are simple.  and in rough measurements since I make up a lot.   Recipes with lots of gobbleygook have too many ingredients that are not good for me and in many cases for you too.  So what you will mostly find here is good whole real food prepared simply.  AND sweet recipes that have been experimented upon with some decent success.  AND other things.  what?

Trust me on some of this stuff.  Because  my family is “normal” not a freak like me.  And they love it.  Even da babae.

On a side note….The photo above was taken by my son when he was showing me cool things my camera can do.  I have used a few photos so far in this blog that are not mine.  Ex.  the twinkie, the cow bones, etc.  It freaks my brain.   Its like posting a painting of someone else’s and calling it mine.  I know it’s just a twinkie.  But I am going to try REAL hard to post only photos that come from my camera.  Beware.  People want food pics when they see a recipe.  I will make a sincere effort going forward.    That will be a hard one to remember.

Mix Veggies on Rice

There. We have a cabbage. That I took the photo of.

Serves 4

It is a delightfully sweet taste sensation

1 head of cabbage chopped organic

1 sweet red pepper chopped organic

1/2 onion chopped  organic (do I need to  keep saying that?)

a couple of carrots   orga….

a couple of teaspoon Cumin

a couple of  Tablespoons of Ghee or butter

a splash or two of hot sauce.

Sautee on med. heat for about 1/2 hour.  I usually cook until all is soft and a little of the cabbage and onion is  crusty brown.

Serve over brown long grain rice.  Makes a  nice meal.

Blueberry/Peach Crisp. My photo. I can do it.

YUMMY Blueberry/Peach  (or anything else) Crisp

Proven wonderful by normal people!  I have reduced the amount  of sweetness by at least half and it works well.  Serve it warm with ice cream.  We use natural vanilla ice cream always because it has the least amount of ingredients.  For people like me,  I use a coconut milk ice cream that is vanilla flavored or greek plain yogurt with a little stevia (natural sweetener).

1 pint blueberries

3 cut up peaches

1/4 cup of raw honey

2/3 cup flour  – don’t use bleached white flour.  Use the best flour you can get.  Or better yet use the gluten free recipe and give your body a rest from the wheat.  My people cannot tell the difference.(Gluten free people use  – split equally rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca flour and 3/4 t. xanthum gum)

1/3 cup coconut palm sugar. Regular brown sugar will work fine but……

1 t. cinnamon

1 cup of rolled organic oats

8 T.   butter  organic

1 cup chopped nuts.  Pecans or walnuts.  Soak your nuts ahead of time and dry in oven.

Put fruit in 9 x 9 pan and toss with honey

In a bowl put dry ingredients, mix.  Grate cold butter into mixture and add nuts and oats.  Mix all together and sprinkle over top of fruit.    Super Super  Duper!

See, I can put together a recipe.  Surprised even myself.

Two out of the 24 blueberries we got this year.

God bless,

Karen

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June 11, 2012 · 11:31

Is Sugar a Food Group?

You would think.         

Before I delve into the wonderful alternatives and healthier substitutes for sugar, I would like to preface this by explaining the ways you are consuming sugar without knowing it.    Some of the few:   Anything made with bread.   Sandwiches.    Alcohol.  Pizza.  Macaroni and Cheese.   Snack bars.   These are  “Simple Carbohydrates”.   A common thread here is processed food/starches.   These foods enter into our bodies  and then are  converted into sugar.  And our bodies have to process it in the same way as a candy bar basically.  After we complete a day of eating what we consider to be generally  healthy food,  we stretch our arms big and wide, and proud and say, “Yeah , a nice  dessert should  be in order after a day of  conscientious eating.”  And if you don’t know better, that seems totally logical.  I did FOR YEARS!     Often times by dessert time we have had more sugar than any other food group.

These simple carbs are processed.  They are sneaky.  We don’t know what they are doing  TO us.

Sugar is addictive and poisonous.

I am really not all bearer of bad news.  Really, I can be quite positive.  But this blog is about good whole foods.  Not poison.  I love sweets!  I spend a great deal of my time experimenting in an effort to enjoy without getting sick.   We all get sick from sugar.  All those nasty symptoms you feel on a daily basis can be attributed to sugar in most cases.  Headaches.  Colds.  Stomach aches.  diarrhea.  Constipation.

THOSE AILMENTS ARE NOT NORMAL!

That bears repeating.

THOSE AILMENTS ARE NOT NORMAL!

From there it can grow into Hypo/Hyperglycemia.  Diabetes.  Cancer.  Immune  Depression. Adrenal fatigue.  A host of others but we will leave it at that.  For many,  many people it has grown into those diseases.   No thank you.

OOOOKKKAAAYYYYY.

Not all is doomed.  Remember,  whole real foods is the key here.  And anytime we can REDUCE and IMPROVE the sweet intake, the less damage done.

This is about progress NOT perfection.

When we eat whole foods, we have a complete knowledge of how much sugar we are intaking.   And when we prepare our own foods we know as well.  Changing our eating habits is hard.  It takes effort.  We have  to decide to make our decisions thoughtfully and with a purpose.  I know for me, I have spent a good deal of my life just moving through life not giving thought to what I was eating, or where it came from or how it was processed.  I was really ignorant to that information.  That is not good.  We are only on this train once.  The trip should be awesome! Not short sighted.

HONEY
Whole food.  Honey can substituted in almost all cases.  It has many nutrients.
100% PURE MAPLE SUGAR
Whole Food.  It can be substituted in almost all cases.  It has many nutrients.

COCONUT PALM SUGAR
Whole food.  Has been dried to a granule.  It is granule like sugar and can be substituted  in all cases.  It very high in nutrients.  It is unrefined.  Organic.  Has not been processed.

STEVIA
It is from a plant found in South America.  It is very concentrated and is not good for baking.  I sweeten drinks or hot cereal with it.

DATES OR OTHER DRIED FRUIT THAT HAS NOT HAD SUGAR ADDED TO IT.
Sometimes I bake cookies and the complete source of sweetener will be dates.

Those are the five  I use exclusively.  I reduce  the amount called for always because I feel we WAY over sugar our foods.  So If a recipe calls for 1 cup, I will reduce it to 2/3.  If the recipe tastes sweet then next time I will reduce it down to 1/2 cup.  If that is satisfactory, then I will keep it there.

The sweeteners I have discussed above, I use sparingly.   They are not used on a daily basis.  We try to enjoy a dessert once a week.  Sometimes twice.

Sugars that talk a good line but I have learned are no- no are:

Agave –   It is processed and has been compared to corn syrup in its processing.

Brown Sugar  – is nothing but white sugar with Molasses added to it.  It is NOT healthier than white.  I think sometimes we think if something is brown, it is healthy.????  Like eggs.  Brown eggs come from certain breeds.  White eggs come from others.  No difference.

All the “natural” sugars. – Turbinado.  Sucanat Sugar.  Florida crystals.  They have all been refined and nutrients taken out.   Molasses has been added to make it look natural.

I have added molasses to sugar to make brown sugar before when I didn’t have brown sugar.  It is the same thing.

Molasses – is a “waste” product  from the processing of white can sugar.

The following recipe is wonderful.  I have taken a recipe that is predominately whole food.  I have cut ingredients to reduce sugar impact.  And they are delightful.

**Please note that I will never share a recipe with you that I have not shared with others and have received rave reviews.

The ingredients will surprise you.  And the results will even more!!!

BROWNIES

Preheat oven 325 degrees.

1 16 oz. jar salted almond butter.  organic.

2 eggs

2/3 cup raw honey (the recipe calls for 1 1/4 cup.  I reduced it as low as 1/2 cup.  not satisfying enough.  found satisfaction at 2/3 c. )

1 T Vanilla

1/2 c. cocoa powder. organic.  The only ingredient should be cocoa.

1/2 t. sea salt

1 t. baking soda

1 cup of dark chocolate chips. organic.   I use about 2/3 that.  Find the darkest chips you can find.  They will be the purest in form. ***** Remember when stuff is taken out, stuff is added to take its place.

1 cup of  walnuts or pecans.  organic (IF you can  buy raw, soak them in salt water over night and dry them in lowest temp in oven until crispy , usually about 24 hours.  I do this will all nuts and make about 3 lbs at a time and always have them on hand. This process removes harmful enzymes within the nut that wreaks havoc on our digestive system.  )

Blend each ingredient before adding the next.

Place in 9 x  13  glass or ceramic pan.  Bake 35-40 minutes.

Please let me know what you think of them!!  I would be interested in feedback.

God bless,

Karen

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June 4, 2012 · 05:00

Lighten Up! Why Don’t You…

….ON YOUR FAT FREE’S, YOUR “LIGHT” FOODS AND WHAT E’R.

Our poor food industry people have done such a number on us and it leaves me buggy eyed and confused (because it is SO hard to get my mind turned around facing the opposite direction).  I call them “poor”  because I feel sorry for them.  It is a sad state of affairs that the people we have come to entrust our health to have failed us.   I pray we can look beyond the greed and power and that some day they  will fall to their knees asking for help to see clearly .  Truly.  I pray that.  In the meantime, we must take the authority back.   Why is our health care in such a state of chaos?  Because our health has failed.  Why?  Because we consume massive amounts of chemicals, dyes, fake hormones, antibiotics, steroids, plastics, and on and on.  Even the vitamins that they put in our food after they squish the natural ones out through processing are fake.  Synthetic.  Lab made.

We make fun of the Twinkie.   I was not a chocolate fan growing up.  I LOVED Twinkies when I was little.  Probably still do!  It has a shelf life of a zillion years.  Based on the ingredients of many other yummy treats I have looked at today must also have a shelf life of the same number of years.  Why do they get such a bad rap?  They are so cute a fluffy.  And bouncy.  Yummo.

It has to be about more than “yummo” I am afraid.

So I spent too long ranting about things I like to rant about.  I have gotten side tracked.  Forgive me.

Did you know that when they advertise “light”  or  “1/2 the fat”  or “fat free”  they always have to add things to make up for the stuff they are removing?  Cant be as easy as taking out and still tasting good, right?  Dang the bad luck.

I list a few things here.  Dont feel you need to read the ingredients carefully.  I just want to give you an idea of what happens.

God knew exactly what he was doing when he provided these food items for us. He is awesome.

This is the greatest.  Enjoy this display of  I- don’t -even -know -what -you- would -call- it.

BUTTER –   Ingredients:  Sweet cream. (and salt if you choose)

BUTTER LIGHT  –  Ingredients:  Water, Butter, Canola, Buttermilk, Food  Starch,- Modified, Tapioca Maltodextrin, Salt, Distilled Monoglycerides, Lactic Acid, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate (preservatives), Natural Flavor, Xanthum Gum, PGPR, Beta Carotene (color)

Does than seem light to you?  Heavy to me.   Why doesn’t real butter have preservatives?  Are we actually preserving the junk we are adding to the butter?  Do those ingredients read “health” to you?

On to the next…….

EGG – Ingredients: an egg.

EGGBEATERS – Great way to lower cholesterol and what e’r cause egg is not good for you.  REALLY?  What IS all that stuff listed down here?  Dont let all that vitamin lookin’ stuff fool you, please.)

Ingredients:        Egg Whites, Less than 1%: Natural Flavor, Color (Includes Beta Carotene), Spices, Salt, Onion Powder, Vegetable Gums (Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum), Maltodextrin. Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium Sulfate, Iron (Ferric Phosphate), Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol Acetate), Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamine Mononitrate), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin D3

That is one honkin’ egg full of goodness and, well, …egg.

okay on to the next……

VANILLA YOGURT (popular brand) – Ingredients: Milk, Cream, Sugar, Tara Gum, Natural Flavor.

VANIILLA YOGURT 1/2 THE FAT–  Ingredients:  Skim Milk, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Cream, Whey, Mono and Diglycerides, Carob bean gum, Guar Gum, Natural Flavor, Carrageenan, Bitamin A Palmitate, Tara Gum.

VANILLA YOGURT  NO SUGAR ADDED  – Ingredients:  Skim milk, Cream, Polydestrose, Sorbitol, Maltodextrin (corn), Whey, Glycerin, Cellulose GEl, Mono and Diglycerides, Guar Gum, Tara Gum Xanthan Gum, Cullulose Gum, Carob Bean Gum, Natural Flavor, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose (Splenda) Vitamin A Palmitate, Annatto (for color)

You have all this in your pantry, right?

To make yogurt you just soak milk in a culture over night and you got it.  My body does not want all this stuff, I’m thinkin’.  It takes as fast to make yogurt as it takes to raise the carton up off the shelf.

HOMEMADE YOGURT

1/2 C.  of Organic Plain Whole Milk Yogurt.

1 Quart  Whole Organic Milk     “Pasteurized” .  If you cant find that use “Ultra Pasteurized”.

Gently heat milk up to 185 degrees and then cool to 110 degrees.  Stir in the yogurt.  Cover and place in warm oven 150 degrees or dehydrator,  or crockpot over night.  In morning put in fridge.  During the course of the day if any whey swims on top, just spoon it off and your yogurt will be thicker.

For the next batch use a 1/2 c. of the end of this batch for the starter for the next.  You only have to buy the yogurt one time.

Add fruit, granola, nuts, vanilla or any other delectable to your yogurt if you prefer.

God bless,

Karen

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May 25, 2012 · 13:09

6:38 am Wake Up Call – US GOVT.

While you may think that this farmer gets up at 5 a.m., I am here to tell you that is not the case.  Not until those goats that have been pregnant since September drop their kids in my lap.  Then I will need to get up at the crack of dawn.  Actually,  I have been “nesting” since September in anticipation of the delivery.   Trying to get rest before the sleepless nights.  Wait….I already don’t sleep at night.  I have noticed the goats seem to have been ordered bed rest.  They aren’t movin’ much this last week.  Maybe soon!

As I was contemplating getting out of bed at 6:38 the phone rang  and the caller id read: US GOVT.  (Isn’t funny how that is always in caps? )   So my first thought, of course,  being the mommy that I am, was that they were calling to tell me that my son, who is in the ARMY,  had done something wrong or something had happened to him.   That is just where your mind goes when an office of authority calls you.  No…..It was the  US POST OFFICE in my little itty bitty town telling me that my chicks were in and come get them. Thank goodness that my boy is safe! He is.  He is on a pass this weekend having a ball not too far away from here.

When you order chicks on-line they come in the mail when the chicks are 1 day old.  They have enough nutrition stored up in their little bodies (One of God’s miracles among millions of others) to keep them flyin’ for a couple of days. 

They are alive and WELL! And yes,  they were hungry and were able to distinguish between the water, food and bedding.  Quickly, I might add.

We have somehow ended up with 64 birds here.  “How did this happen?”, the rooster said to the hen.  We don’t know.  But this gaggle of 26 that showed up here this morning are meat chickens.  Did you know that the chicken you buy at the store might be as young as 9 weeks?  They very well could  be younger than that.  I never would’ve thought…  We will keep ours for 12 weeks and that is o.l.d.  We are going to provide them a feed that is lower in protein to slow the growing rate down.  What happens to these poor chickens when they are allowed to grow too fast,  which is the case in ALL commercial outfits,  is their legs break under the weight of their bodies and they cannot walk.  ugh.  Dont want that to happen.  We are just venturing into meat territory and I don’t want anything scary to happen.  It is scary enough just raising the  stuff!

Speaking of meat chickens,  ever get tired of the same ol’ same ol’ barbecue chicken?   This is a wonderful change that DOESN’T INCLUDE SUGAR OR CORN SYRUP which is in almost every bottle of BBQ sauce:

This sauce is probably enough for 1 whole chicken.

1 stick Melted butter

a couple of T. Worcestershire sauce

lemon juice of 1 lemon

2 or 3 garlic cloves minced

melt and mix all together on stove top and baste chicken on the grill.  YUMMY.

Have a SUPER holiday weekend!

God bless,

Karen

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May 18, 2012 · 07:21

A Treasured Treat That Just Got Better

Good Morning!  Glorious day! And Happy Friday!

Let me introduce you to Ghee if you have not met her.  ( It is not the cat. The cat is Maggie.  She is just wishing you a beautiful day. )  Ghee is clarified butter.  She is great for cooking since  she has a high heat threshold, 485 degrees.  Compare that to 180 degrees for olive oil.  It is great to use for all types of cooking including baking.  It is casein and lactose free for those that have a sensitivity.  It does not need to be refrigerated although I do.  I don’t need to be refrigerated.  I refrigerate the ghee.

Every time I saute vegetables I get outstanding results.  Guests always comment on what ever food I cooked with Ghee.  It just gives them a yummy warm flavor.

It also has an alkalyzing affect on your body.  I will be going into alkaline vs. acidic environment soon.  We all have very acidic conditions and it is a breeding ground for all sorts of nonsense.

Yep! This would be corn. Can little people like us grow corn? We’ll find out!

When I eat movie theatre popcorn, I dont know about you,  but I leave feeling like I have been injected with tar or something.  I realize I eat a ton of it but the whole deal is terrifying.  Bad salt, bad oil, bad, bad.  The same goes for microwave popcorn.  It takes me a good 24  hours to recover.  It tastes great though, doesn’t it?  Anymore, that is not enough.  My food HAS  to have some redeeming quality.   I’m sure there is some dog food that tastes pretty good. That doesn’t mean I am going to eat it.   I am extremely tempted by the cookie and snack bar at Petco.  Those things have to taste good, right?  Maybe not…..

This popcorn will become your favorite popcorn  and you will want to watch movies JUST so you can make it!  Coconut oil makes it wonderful by itself and sometimes we do not butter it with ghee and it is delicious.  The fats that we use here are  completely beneficial for your precious body.

YUMMY POPCORN

Use  a heavy pot with lid on stove.

Heat on high 1-3 Tablespoons of Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil

Measure out 1/2 cup of preferably organic popcorn (many groceries sell it in bulk now)

Cook the popcorn the usual way on the stove on high.

Heat several tablespoons of ghee to top the popcorn.  Salt with Celtic sea salt or another of your favorite sea salt or seasoning.

Enjoy the movie!  If its good, let me know, I’ll watch.

God bless,

Karen

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