I had about a half a pound of ground grassfed beef in the freezer. It really wasn’t enough to make burgers, and Roberto has been craving meatballs lately. So I decided to make some pasta with red sauce and mini meatballs.

In my constant quest for pasta that is good for you, and doesn’t make me symptomatic, I came across another option from DeBoles– my favorite pasta company. Most of their pastas are made with a flour other than or in addition to wheat. I have had 100% corn (my favorite), and a Jerusalem artichoke/semolina mix, and now Ancient Grain. Ancient Grain is a mixture of organic spelt, quinoa and amaranth, along with organic whole grain semolina and organic whole grain durum. It packs 32 grams of whole grains per serving, and cooks up just like regular pasta.

Due to my issues with grains, I don’t cook pasta very often. But every once in a while it is nice to have a nice steaming bowl of pasta with red sauce, and for those occasions, I am thankful that I have these ready made pastas available. When I eat it, I try to eat more sauce than pasta, actually!

I wanted to make a nice sauce to go with it. Roberto, being Italian and a lover of pasta, does eat it more often than I do. For those occasions, he goes with a nice local organic jarred sauce. There was about a half a jar left of sauce in the fridge and a ¾ can of tomato paste. So this is a leftover queen recipe for sure! I added to those the mini meatballs, onions, garlic, wine and dried porcini mushrooms from Marx Foods. There is a giveaway of these porcini mushrooms (and morels) going on over at The Foodie Blogroll this month. So if you haven’t commented over there to win, please do! The mushrooms are excellent and added an amazing depth of flavor to my sauce with a mere pinch or two of the small broken bits and powder at the bottom of the bag. The sauce turned out dark and thick, perfect for coating the penne. With a nice crumble of soft goat cheese and a quick grate of Parmiggiano cheese on top, it was a great and extremely flavorful winter meal.

The other wonderful thing about this dish besides the wonderful flavor, is that it is also extremely inexpensive and would serve a family nicely with a side salad. This is a great way to stretch your grassfed beef, if you are worried about cost. This dish serves 4, and was about $1.75 per serving.

INGREDIENTS:

½ lb of grassfed ground beef, formed into bite sized meatballs
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 TBS fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup red wine
1 ½ cups red sauce (from a jar)
¾ can of tomato paste
½ tomato paste can of water
2 TBS of dried porcini mushroom powder and small bits
1 box of De Boles Ancient Grain Pasta
cheese to top with – use whatever you have available!

METHOD:

In a large skillet, with a lid, over medium heat, place the mini meatballs in the pan with enough room in between them that they are not touching each other. Brown on all sides, with the lid on to avoid splattering. Add the onion and garlic and cook with the meat for about 2-3 minutes. Add the fresh thyme, and salt and pepper. Then add the wine, sauce, tomato paste water, and dried mushrooms. Stir together, cover pan, and cook over low-medium heat for about 15 minutes. Check every 5 minutes or so for liquid. Add more water if sauce gets too dry. In the meantime, heat water for pasta and cook according to the package directions.

Before topping pasta with sauce, add a nice drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil to the sauce and mix in. Then top the cooked pasta with the sauce, and add cheese on top, if desired.

(Jenn with Rocio of Applecheek Farm AT Applecheek Farm)

Recently when we were in Vermont finalizing some things before the big move this April, we were able to take in another wonderful Localvore Dinner at Applecheek Farm. We went to our first Localvore Dinner when we were in Vermont last November, and it was a fun night filled with great food and music. So we were looking forward to being able to attend another one during this visit to Northern Vermont.

Between the months of November and February, I have become Twitter and Facebook buddies with the folks at Applecheek, and have really enjoyed getting to know Rocio and John better through our internet connection, at the dinners, and during frequent stops to the farm when we have been in town. The internet is really an amazing tool for networking with other people who are passionate about the same things you are, and those Applecheekers are certainly passionate about local, sustainable agriculture, something I am becoming increasingly passionate about. Roberto and I are looking forward to learning more about the farm, and all the wonderful things they offer there once we are living in Vermont.

Going to Localvore Dinners at Applecheek is a way to meet and chat with your neighbors while dining on foods produced locally by your neighbors. This time we had a great time meeting Rocio and John’s children, as well as some other neighbors doing interesting things, like Nathan of FollowNathan.org(definitely check him out – he rode almost 5,000 across country on a bike learning about sustainable agriculture – talk about cool neighbors!). There is always local music, and before the dinner starts, there is always a short talk about what is new at the farm, and new in agriculture that affects everyone, both locally and at the national level. This last evening we were happy to hear that the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) bill was not passed and to learn more about the Consumer-Farmer Alliance that is working together to keep sustainable agriculture alive while giving the consumer(as opposed to the government) the right to decide what products (like raw milk products) they want to purchase from local farms. It is always informative and a great way to learn more about how you can participate in Farm to Table initiatives.

As interesting as those talks always are, we all look forward to the delicious food that Chef Jason from JDC (Just Delicious Catering) cooks up!!! Applecheek is a real family farm and has been in the Clark family for generations. Chef Jason is the brother of John. John runs the farm operations and Jason is the chef!

On this night the menu was the following:

* Homemade Kimchee made with veggies from the chef’s garden – I found it perfectly spiced and crunchy

* Poutine – a French Canadian specialty of French fried potatoes and homemade gravy with cheese curds from just across the border (literally 20 miles) in Quebec. This was the BIG hit of the night. Our whole table was talking about it.

* Root Vegetable Cassoulet made with veggies from the chef’s garden – Delicious!

* VT Soy Tofu Skewers marinated in Rock Art Brewery Beer (made one town over) and spices – I didn’t try it, due to my soy allergy, but it looks like others enjoyed it!

* Turkey Casserole with Herb and Cheddar Crust made from Applecheek Farms turkey and veggies from the chef’s garden – fantastic! I am a HUGE fan of Applecheek’s turkeys ***

* Cheddar Ale Soup – chock full of delicious farm fresh potatoes and local cheese

* Carrot Cake with Crème Fraîche Icing – a wonderful way to end the night with a nice glass of raw milk!

* Farm fresh Raw Milk, Hot Apple Cider and Water to drink

You can also BYO to the Applecheek dinners. Roberto and I decided to try a bottle of Otter Creek’s Russian Stout. Otter Creek is a brewery in Middlebury VT. It is a historic beer that was made in England especially for the Russian Czars. It is a beautiful robust and dark beer with distinct chocolate notes. It was a great choice with this wonderfully hearty winter dinner.

There was a pretty big snowstorm up on the hill that night and the wind was blowing in gusts as you looked out the windows during dinner. But the hall was warm, full of music, laughter and the perfect comfort foods, keeping the chill out.

We had a great night chatting with everyone at our table, and even got the opportunity at the end of the night to enjoy some of John’s homebrew – a wonderful fermented maple sap drink that he made using ancient brewing techniques. Something I am also interested in trying my hand at somewhere down the road.

My wheels are turning – I am thinking perhaps making elderberry mead from our own bees and elderberries (that we still don’t have, but hopefully will one day)….but that is what happens when you are out in the country, your life has more space for learning new hobbies and skills, and the sky is the limit.

Cooler temperatures really do require comforting and hearty foods. Sometimes the simplest of ingredients can truly make the most satisfying of meals. Plus you don’t have to sacrifice good nutrition or big bucks in the process. Those are all qualities of a winning meal in my book!

I am a big fan of beans. I really could eat them everyday, they are so versatile and packed with nutrients. But, I know not everyone likes beans as much as I do…I had some leftover cooked Borlotti beans from Rancho Gordo that I got in San Francisco during the Foodbuzz Food Blogger’s Festival.  I needed to use them up, so I asked Roberto how he would like them to be prepared. He asked for “Cowboy Beans”. This comes from his growing up in Italy and watching old American Westerns on TV. In many of the movies, there were scenes of cowboys eating baked beans from a can. So as a child he always wanted to know what those cowboy beans tasted like. He tells me that he never imagined them tasting as good as when I make them. What a sweet husband I have.

I love baked beans, and we make them often at home. My grandmother was famous for her beans. I guess it is a family thing!

My most recent rendition of cowboy beans also included carrots, and potatoes, to stretch the recipe and make extra for leftovers. I slow cooked them with smoked polish sausage. A perfect winter time meal!

INGREDIENTS:

1 strip of bacon, chopped
½ a large onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 small potatoes, chopped
4 small carrots, chopped
1 cup of leftover beans
1 can of tomato paste
1 empty tomato paste can full of water
dash of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 TBS maple sugar or syrup
salt & pepper to taste
1 package of smoked Polish sausage (or any kind of sausage), cut into smaller chunks

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a dutch oven, or large oven proof pot add the bacon and brown. Add onion, garlic, potatoes and carrots, and sautee for about 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly. Once the veggies are getting browned, add the beans, tomato paste, water, BBQ sauce, maple and seasoning. Stir until veggies are coated with the sauce. Then add the sausage and put the lid on the pot. Cook at 350 for about an hour. Check to see if more liquid needs to be added. If so, add more water – and then check your seasoning. Cook for another 30 minutes. You can keep the pot simmering at a lower temperature, like 200 F, to keep warm until you are ready to serve. Just keep checking your liquid amounts.

Serves 4 big portions. Less than $3 per serving.

Today I want to share with you my consistent kitchen disaster: Pancakes! I know, it is funny to imagine that anybody could have a pancake disaster, but I am here to confess that making pancakes has always brought disastrous results for me in the kitchen.

If I make them from a mix, things go pretty well, even if I soak that mix overnight. But if I try to make them from scratch using the same ingredients that are in the mix, things just get really screwy. Why? You tell me.

Recently I bought some buckwheat flour. Most of the Buckwheat Pancake mixes have some whole wheat flout in them, and even though I soak the mix overnight, I wanted to make a pancake that was truly wheat and rice free. I tried to make the recipe that was on the back of the package of flour, which called for whole wheat flour. Instead, I substituted coconut flour for the wheat. The recipe required overnight soaking, which I thought was great, since I do that anyway. It also used yeast, which I thought was weird…but I followed the directions, and then added some kefir (in the amount of water that was asked). I fear that is where I went wrong. I reckon that the yeast and bacteria in the kefir battled it out against each other all night and ended up killing each other off.

In the morning, the batter was really dry and had a funny almost fluffy consistency. So I added some water. The batter just kept soaking up the water, never reaching a thinner consistency. It was looking funky, so I added an egg, since most pancake recipes call for eggs – and I thought it might help the batter with the consistency and at least bind it all together, so I could cook them up.

I heated up my cast iron pan, added some butter to the pan, and tried to make a pancake. All it did was burn on the outside and remain raw inside. I tried again and again, but all I managed to do was smoke up the kitchen (setting off the fire alarms and everything), and allow frustration to set in.

I generally am not a pancake fan, preferring savory breakfasts, but sometimes I get a craving for them. Due to my problems digesting grains, I need to soak the flour, which means I have to wait until the next day to actually make the pancakes. So by the next morning, I really want them! So when I use all these ingredients to make the batter, and have to wait and it still doesn’t work out, it is upsetting and extremely frustrating!!!! It’s not like I can just whip up a new batch and try again…I would have to wait another day!

So I wanted to turn this disaster into a positive experience. I poured all the leftover batter into the cast iron skillet and threw it in the oven, hoping to make a pan-cake out of it. It baked at 350 F for almost 2 hours before the middle was cooked through. I took it out, and tried a bite. It was so bad, I literally could not swallow it. I had to spit it out, and dump the whole mess into the compost bin (the nice little blue bin in the photo). Un-salvageable DISASTER.

So I am asking all of my faithful readers, especially those who are into traditional foods and gluten free cooking: Do you have a recipe for a non-wheat, non-rice pancake or crepe that can be soaked with kefir or yogurt over night, that tastes great and is easy to make the next morning?

Help! I am desperate!!!

On another note, please remember that through the end of this month, all the proceeds of the sale of my e-book – The Secret Energy of Love Through Food will be going to Haiti Relief efforts. You only have a few days to take advantage of this sweet deal!

(Sunshine with Toad Hollow Goat Milk Caramel and Mary Joy with none other than Ben & Jerry’s!)

As many of you know, I am part of a fabulous group of ladies, who love food, in Saint Augustine. Every month we hold an all out foodie event, that we call, Ladies Supper Club. Each month, on a rotating basis, one of us hosts and picks the theme or main dish for the month, then each of the women is assigned a dish – welcome cocktail, appetizer, soup or salad, veggie side, non-veggie side, dessert and wine. We let our creative juices flow, and come to the dinner with dishes based on our best interpretation of the theme. We have had some really memorable themes, like Blueberries, Cooking with Julia Child, Tamale Fiesta, etc. I really love spending time with these ladies each month and seeing what creations everyone comes up with. We all lead busy lives, and it is nice to have scheduled time to come together each month, and spend time finding out what has been going on in each others’ lives over the last month. I am really going to miss these ladies when we move to Vermont. Ladies Supper Club was a great way for me to meet some wonderful women in Saint Augustine. Who knows, maybe I will start one, in the Great White North.

In January, it was my turn to host. Last January, I hosted a Moroccan inspired meal, which I was happy to learn was memorable for the ladies. We had a great time feasting on spiced foods, and worked off some of the meal later by blasting the music, and having an impromptu bellydancing dance party!

This month, in honor of our upcoming move to Vermont, I decided to make the theme none other than Vermont. I have an awesome cookbook called Dishing Up Vermont 145 Authentic Recipes from Green Mountain State, by Tracey Medeiros. The book contains 145 authentic recipes from the Green Mountain State. Contributors are various restaurant proprietors, chefs, bed & breakfast owners and farmers who are all inspired by the bounty of food available in this beautiful state. This is a cookbook of local and seasonal foods. Something I am very passionate about. So I decided to choose a recipe from this book for Ladies Supper Club.

(Brie Stuffed Chicken, with a Pear and Cider Sauce – and Apple Pie for dessert!!!)

The dish I choose to prepare was Brie-stuffed Chicken Breasts in Pear and Cider Sauce. This dish is from The Dorset Inn. I was really intrigued by the flavors, and you can never go wrong with Brie, especially in my Supper Club group! I sent my choice for a main dish around to all the girls a few weeks in advance, and looked forward to what everyone would bring to dinner!

(Old Vermont Cocktail)

When the ladies got to my house, they were all carrying bags of food! For our welcome cocktail we had a maple syrup and bitters cocktail, which was reminiscent of curry (weird, but actually quite tasty). To eat along with the cocktails we had a yummy brie dip, the recipe from a Vermont B & B. The soup was a cheddar ale. We had delicious roasted root veggies and fresh baked rolls to accompany the chicken. For dessert, homemade apple pie with Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream (3 flavors) and Toad Hollow Goat’s Milk Caramel ( This is to die for!).

It was another great evening! Thanks ladies!

* Also, don’t forget to SPREAD THE LOVE THIS MONTH, purchase a copy of my e-book – The Secret Energy of Love Through Food! All proceeds during the month of February will go to Haiti Relief!

Brie-stuffed Chicken Breasts in Pear and Cider Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

Pear and Cider Sauce:
2 TBS unsalted butter
2 shallot heads, peeled and minced
3 ripe Bosc pears, peeled and cut into small chunks
4 fresh sage leaves
½ cup apple brandy ( I used bourbon, as that is what I had on hand)
3 cups fresh apple cider
salt & pepper

Brie Stuffing:
6 oz. Brie, cut into small pieces ( it says to remove the rind first, but I didn’t)
¼ tsp ground coriander
1 shallot head, peeled and minced
1 tsp minced parsley
salt & pepper

Chicken:
6- 4 oz. Boneless skinless chicken breast halves*
* For vegetarians, you can substitute Quorn patties.
2 TBS oil (I used olive oil)
½ cup all purpose flour
salt & pepper

METHOD:

1) Make the pear and cider sauce. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for about 3 minutes, or until soft and tender, stirring often. Add the pears and sage and toss quickly and briefly.

2) Remove the pan from the heat and add the brandy. Ignite with a burner or match and let the alcohol burn off. When the sauce begins to thicken and reduce, whisk in the cider. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer, whisking frequently. Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes , or until sauce thickens and reduces, whisking occasionally. Season with salt & pepper.

3) With a slotted spoon transfer the pears to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer pear puree back to the sauce and whisk until well combined and heated through. Discard the sage. Serve immediately, or place sauce in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.

4) Prepare the stuffing: Mix brie, coriander, shallot, parsley, salt & pepper to taste in a medium bowl.

5) Prepare the chicken: Preheat oven to 350F

6) Cut pockets in the chicken breast halves (cut a hole in the middle of the Quorn patties). You can also ask your butcher to do this for you. Starting at the center of the thickest part of the breast, insert a small sharp knife horizontally and cut , stopping about one inch from the opposite side. Do not cut all the way through the bottom. Open the incision with your fingers to create the pocket. Divide stuffing evenly and spoon into each pocket. This can be done a day ahead and refrigerated until ready for use.

7) Heat oil in a medium skillet ( I always recommend cast iron) over medium heat.

*8) Combine flour, and salt & pepper in a medium bowl. Dredge breast halves in the mixture, shaking off the excess and add to the skillet.

9) Brown the chicken in batches for about 4 minutes on each side. Then transfer to a small roasting pan. Roast the chicken in the oven for about 20 minutes, until cooked through. Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes before serving. I used a dutch oven, and so had to layer the chicken. I poured a layer of the pear sauce in between the layers.

10) Serve chicken with sauce.

* I skipped this step

This is a great dish to serve your loved one(s) for Valentine’s day. The flavors are unique, as are some of the ingredients which makes it a special kind of meal. Yet at the same time it is quite easy to prepare – the oven does most of the work. It is like fancied soul food.

Lately, I have been trying to familiarize myself with artisan brews. For years, like a lot of people, I thought I just didn’t like beer. But I have come to find that once in a while, I do enjoy a bit of the bubbly. I prefer unique brews, generally dark porters and stouts, and I love British style hard cider (which isn’t beer either…), but sometimes a lighter beer catches my fancy. I have always been fascinated with the Ancient world, especially in Northern Europe. The myths, stories and legends of Scotland, England, Ireland, Brittany in Northern France, and Scandinavia have always been my favorites. Of course due to my food obsession, I have also been curious about ancient feasts – the foods and cuisines.

Years ago I found an amazing ale, the likes of which has been made in Scotland for over 4,000 years. This ale is brewed with heather flowers and Scottish malt and has a very floral flavor. It is quite refreshing and crisp, and goes really well with roasted chicken. It can also be enjoyed on it’s own, or with really earthy cheeses, like raw cow or sheep milk cheeses, which often have a grassy quality to them.

In light of recently finding out a bit more about my biological ancestry, I decided that it would be fun to start exploring more of the foods and dishes of Northern Europe (perhaps that explains my long held fascination with that area of the world, and its history). I also happened upon a pack of Fraoch, Scottish Heather Ale,and felt inspired to make roasted whole chicken legs and root veggies with a heather ale sauce. In honor of our upcoming move to Vermont, I also added some maple syrup to enhance the sweetness of the ale, and used Herbs de Provence to enhance the floral qualities. I can honestly say the result was one of the best dishes I have made in a while. If I had known how good this was going to be, I would have made it for Valentine’s Day. It is definitely special enough for that. Thank you kitchen muses for this wonderful meal! Sometimes, hobbies and interest outside of the kitchen, can really inspire us, IN the kitchen. This dish is certainly a testament to that.

For dessert, be sure to try my Spicy Mayan Hot Chocolate . It is a recipe from my e-book The Secret Energy of Love Through Food .

Here is a sweet way that you can give a little this Valentine’s Day – I will be giving all the proceeds for the book, during the month of February, to blogger efforts on behalf of Haiti relief.

Half will go to H2Ope for Haiti (a way to raise funds to supply water to Haiti by BloggerAid-CFF) and the other half will go to

Stir It  28 for Haiti

So please buy a copy today!  And please spread the word! This is a perfect cookbook  for Valentine’s Day and any day to share a delicious meal with any loved one!

You can also send a donation directly to Stir It 28 by going to Bren’s blog There is a Paypal donation box on the upper right hand side and to H2ope for Haiti by going to this Justgiving Page .

Recipe under the cut…

Roasted Chicken with Heather Ale & Herbs de Provence

Serves 4 – Even a meal like this is under $5 per serving, and that includes a bottle of heather ale to enjoy along with 2 of the servings!

INGREDIENTS:

3 organic whole chicken legs, skin on
1 TBS butter
1 shallot head, peeled and thinly sliced
5 large cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
½ bottle of Fraoch Heather Ale
10 small potatoes (red or white), chopped
1 large sweet potato, chopped
5 carrots, thickly sliced
1 TBS mustard
1 TBS pure 100% Maple syrup
2 tsp Herbs de Provence
salt & pepper to taste

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Season the chicken on both sides with Herbs de Provence and salt and pepper. Brown chicken in a skillet (cast iron is the best for this), skin side down. Meanwhile, in a dutch oven, or stovetop proof roasting pan, sautee the shallots and garlic in the butter. Place a layer of potatoes on top of the shallots and garlic, season with salt, pepper and Herbs de Provence. Once the chicken has been browned on both sides, place legs in the dutch oven in one layer, spread a layer of mustard on top of the chicken legs, and then drizzle with ½ the maple syrup. Place carrots on top of chicken and season. Brown the rest of the potatoes in batches in the chicken fat left in the skillet. Once they are browned, pour them on top of the carrots and season. The final step is to pour over the ½ bottle of heather ale. Place lid on the dutch oven or roasting pan and place in the oven, and roast for about an hour. Then remove the lid, and roast another 20 minutes, to reduce some of the liquid.

In my last post I talked about how you can eat organic and healthy on the cheap. If you missed that post, please check it out for some tips and links to some great recipes – that do not take a lot of effort in the kitchen, but will be much more nutritious, and less expensive for you than fast food or freezer meals!

Here is an awesome recipe for a lentil loaf – made with leftovers and pantry staples. This was a truly great meal, especially for this time of year, when we are yearning for comfort food, that “sticks to your ribs”. The flavors were really good in the loaf – bringing lentils to life with the addition of zing from sun-dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers. Adding a delicious and savory sauce for on top, takes this meal from humble to fantastic! I served it w/ sautéed dinosaur kale with onions, garlic and a sprinkle of fresh meyer lemon juice.

This is a great vegetarian meal for those who don’t normally eat vegetarian – or for your veggie friends! It is also gluten-free. So I hope you enjoy it! Here’s to great health and great food!

For the next few weeks I am going to be focusing on some other real life things and projects. I am still around, and plan to keep posting, but maybe not as regularly as usual.

Lentil Loaf with Sweet Tomato Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups red lentils, sprouted and cooked until tender
(why do I soak/sprout? )
½ small yellow onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 TBS olive oil
salt & pepper
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp dried thyme
½ cup, shredded cheddar and parmesan, tightly packed
1 egg, scrambled
¼ cup jarred roasted red peppers, chopped
2 TBS sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil
1 TBS dijon or spicy mustard

For sauce:
½ can tomato paste
splash of red wine
1 TBS maple syrup or sugar
pinch of dried thyme
salt & pepper

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a skillet sauté onion, carrot and garlic in olive oil until tender. In a large bowl mix veggies with lentils and all the other loaf ingredients. Place in a lightly oiled (or buttered) loaf pan. Cook loaf for about 30-40 minutes, until heated through.
While the loaf is cooking, make the sauce. In a small saucepan, stir all ingredients together, and cook over medium heat until cooked through. Serve spooned over top of sliced pieces of the loaf. Serves 4 (large potions).

Someone told me recently that although the food on my blog looks good, they would never be able to afford the way I eat. I was shocked by that statement. But realized that unless you really break things down, it can look expensive and even daunting to cook with organic and local food. Here is a beautiful example – a root vegetable tart that my mom made for us when we were visiting a few weeks ago. It was delicious – roasted veggies, with goat cheese crumbles in pie crust. Quick, delicious and healthy – and lots of leftovers!

In my last post, I talked about how you can make an awesome Shepard’s or Cottage Pie (depending in the meat, I found out – thanks Donald! ) with all the best ingredients, like grassfed beef and organic vegetables for under $3 per hefty serving.

Food quality is a topic I am seriously passionate about. I believe it is important and a right for everyone to have healthy food available to them. But starting on this journey can be a challenge and like everyone, it was a process for me when I first started. I pride myself in being able to put good, wholesome and nourishing meals on the table while staying within a very conservative budget. It is one of the ways I like to challenge myself in the kitchen. This is something I have been passionate about for a long time, check out my post from 2 years ago, about the cost difference between shopping at the farmers market vs. the grocery store. I know that there are not farmer’s markets in every area, but even if you have to drive 30 minutes – it might be worth the time and extra gas money in the long run. If you can’t find one in your area – Start a Container Garden, it is easy, economical and fun, especially if you have kids!

I have been hearing a lot of conversations lately online, in real life and in the media about how it is hard to afford to eat good food in this economy. I agree, this is a hard time for a lot of us, and I don’t want to make light of people’s very real struggles. That said, I really do believe that you can eat good food for less than a meal at a fast food restaurant, and even cheaper and healthier than the frozen food section of your grocery store, especially over time.

What does that mean? Well say a fast food meal is $3/per person if you use the dollar menu – you can get a burger, fries and a drink for $3. That is still more than most of my meals because in your own kitchen you can stretch meat and veggies and make enough ahead for leftovers (making more of something like a casserole, takes the same time and effort as making enough for one meal – and it saves you time later). This is especially true if you are cooking for a family. Burgers and fries for 4 is about $12 a mealtime for the whole family. It is hard to stretch a fast food meal or have leftovers, so once you eat the $12 worth of food it is gone. Not so with cooking at home and having leftovers.

But the deal is, you have to be willing to cook. You have to make food from scratch. That is where you have to make your stand and your change and take better care of yourself and family. People seem to equate scratch with spending hours in the kitchen, just like equating organic with expensive.  However, this is not true. By making your own yogurt and cheese, which literally takes minutes, you can actually SAVE money by eating organic – as the cost to make your own, is significantly cheaper than buying it from the store. It doesn’t have to take over your life or mean hours in the kitchen everyday! All you need is some planning. Once you have done it a few times, it becomes second nature!

Here are several posts to help you with scheduling that into a busy lifestyle & some quick starter meal ideas:

Making Your Own Convenience Food

Making Your Own Bread

Making Your Own Dairy Products

Three Easy and Healthy Breakfast Options

2 for 1 Chicken

Beans and Rice -The Ultimate Leftover Meal

Eating on the Fly: Acorn Squash with Sausage Stuffing

Recently I was at the grocery store. I had just stocked up on frozen organic berries for smoothies and organic meat (they were on sale) and I was getting all my dairy to make cheese, yogurt and kefir for the week (not a farmers market week). The woman in front of me had her cart, which was not as full as mine, with frozen dinners, boxed lasagna, bags of frozen meals – where you add your own meat, soda and a few organic veggies (she was trying)– enough food for maybe a week of meals. I made sure to take note of her total. When my cart was rung up, my bill was only $2 more than hers. I had loads of fruits and veggies, grassfed beef, organic meats, frozen organic berries, eggs, dairy and pantry staples – things I would be using over the next several weeks. I make sure to stock up my pantry and freezer with good healthy staples during sales – especially on the highest ticket items, like meat. I also visit my health food store and do the same – especially grains, lentils and flours.

I really think there is something here. But you have to do your research and make a schedule. Yes, on the surface, it may seem like eating organic is expensive – and it is if you are going for pre-packaged organic foods. But that is not what I am advocating here. I am advocating you to have fun in the kitchen, prepare whole foods and feed your family healthy and nutritious meals for less than the cost of eating every meal out, or takeout, or from the frozen food section. Try it yourself and see what happens!

Shepard’s pie has got to be one of the most comforting meals around. I love this dish, and this is THE BEST one I have ever made. The most rewarding thing for me, since I have started cooking exclusively with Happy Meat, and local and organic vegetables, is when I make simple dishes like this, that I have always loved and made a billion times before, and realize how much better it tastes when you are using the freshest and best ingredients you can find.

Ingredients really do matter – not just in terms of health, but also in terms of taste. It really does take it up to a whole new level. I can attest to this, because even Roberto, can taste the difference. He will marvel at how good it tastes, and wonder how it can be so, since I used the same ingredients – and then he will realize that it is because the quality of the ingredients have changed since the last time I have made this. Lately he has been saying that everything I cook is the best thing he has ever tasted! Now, I know I am a good cook, but I can’t take all the credit.

Making a dish like Shepard’s pie, doesn’t take much effort – and the cost is minimal – even when you use the best of ingredients. All it costs you is about 10 – 15 minutes of prep time. The rest of the work is done in the oven, or on the stovetop, where you don’t have to do anything, but smell how good it is!

This meal is less than $3 per person – and that is with a hefty man-sized portion. Less than a fast food meal, or something out of a box or a bag – way better for you too, and I guarantee a thousand times tastier. Even your kids will love this one! This meal can serve six, but Roberto and I ate half each – divided over 2 meals – and that was under $3 per serving. Seriously.

Treat yourself to something good and hearty tonight!

INGREDIENTS:

5 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks – I used Idahos
water
butter
cream

8 oz. of reserved potato water
1 tsp better than bouillon, beef
(or you can use 8 oz. Homemade beef stock)
splash of wine or stout beer
1 TBS non-GMO cornstarch

1 lb of grassfed ground beef
2 carrots, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 small onion peeled and cut into small chunks
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup of mixed leftover roasted potatoes (sweet and white)
handful of corn
handful of peas
sage
thyme
salt & pepper
Malt vinegar

METHOD:

Boil the potatoes until tender. Reserve 8 oz.of potato water. Hand mash potatoes with butter and cream, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

If using better than bouillon instead of homemade, in a small saucepan, mix potato water and bouillon, and stir together. Heat over medium, and add a splash of red wine, or stout. Whisk in 1 TBS of corn starch, and keep whisking over heat until gravy thickens. Then set aside.

In a cast iron skillet place ground beef, carrots, onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat until eat begins to brown, and veggies start to soften. Then add your leftover veggies, corn, peas, and spices. Mix together. Pour gravy over top, and stir. Then dollop the mashed potatoes on top and spread evenly over the top of the other ingredients. Sprinkle a hearty bit of malt vinegar over top for that real pub taste!

Enjoy!

I have been playing with baking a lot lately. For a long time “carbs” and “grains” meant the same thing to me, in my mind. I don’t know why, but I blame the media and the “low carb craze”. So basically I have stopped listening to the media when it comes to my food choices and eat what feels the best to me, which has taken quite a bit of research and time. I recently took a DNA test, which I may talk about more on here (if you are facebook friends with me, I will be updating my results soon!), but the results showed that I had a low genetic probability to Celiac’s Disease, answering a question I have wondered about for nearly a decade.

However, just because I don’t have Celiac’s Disease doesn’t mean that wheat doesn’t affect me. For the past several months I have been soaking my flour in an acid, like whey, or homemade kefir or buttermilk for 24 hours before baking. I do this in order to break down the phytic acid that is in wheat, which makes wheat hard to digest for many people. I have found this to be very helpful with regard to the effects on my body that I usually attribute to wheat – like a “carb coma”. So recently I was looking through Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, to see what recipes they had for bread, and I found a recipe for Buttermilk Biscuits. I was very excited.

I was recently able to procure some Gjetost – a Norwegian brown cheese, commonly known as Brunost, which means “Brown Cheese”. It is generally a goat’s milk cheese (but there are cow, and mixed versions as well). Brunost is made by boiling a mixture of milk, cream and whey carefully for several hours so that the water evaporates. The heat turns the milk sugar into caramel which gives the cheese its characteristic taste. It is the most amazing cheese in the world. My favorite, and one that I ate several times a day when I lived in Norway. I used to love it on bread for breakfast and lunch, or on waffles, with a little raspberry jam for dessert. I thought these biscuits, slightly sweet, would be the perfect vehicle to eat this cheese, and I was right! They are also good with another Norwegian favorite (and one of mine) smoked salmon.

I really love the dough – it smells amazing and is a dream to work with. I have made these biscuits twice in the past week, and the second time, they were even better. I used the Parmigiano Reggiano Butter I talked about in my last post and it made so much difference. I also made sure the dough was thick enough when rolled out, and used a larger glass to cut them out – which made the resulting biscuits much more tender.

They are simple to make and delicious. Your house will smell like a bakery all day. I happened to have people come over in the evening both of the days that I baked them, and they both asked what I had been baking. So yeah, they are amazing. Try them today – and if you can find some brunost, slice some very thinly on top, using a cheese slicer and place a dollop of jam on top, and you will be in heaven.
I promise.

Buttermilk Biscuits
from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon

Makes about 1 dozen

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of unbleached white flour
2 cups of spelt, kamut, or whole wheat flour
1 cup buttermilk
4 TBS melted butter
1 ½ tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking soda
unbleached white flour

METHOD:

Mix flour with buttermilk and mix to form a thick dough. Cover and leave in a warm place (countertop) for 12 to 24 hours. Place in a food processor with the other ingredients, and process several minutes to knead. Remove dough to a well-floured pastry cloth or board and sprinkle with unbleached white flour to prevent sticking. Roll dough out to ¾ inch thickness. Cut biscuits with a glass and place on buttered baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes (my biscuits baked in about 15-20 minutes, so keep an eye on them!)

A few weeks ago, I got a nice package in the mail from Tropical Traditions. They are doing a giveaway this month on The Foodie Blogroll, and as the creator of that community, I often receive some nice perks for putting these giveaways on for the community. One of the delicious coconut items in the package was a bag of coconut flour (to see all the items, and for a chance to win them, click here). I was really excited to see coconut flour included in the package, as I have been working with a variety of Gluten Free and Grain Free flours lately.

I had some chicken tenderloins in the fridge, and thought it would be fun to make Coconut Chicken Tenders. I always have a bag of dessicated coconut in the pantry, and so with an egg I was ready to go.

I served it with a potato puree that I made in my Vitamix. I had intended to make mashed potatoes, but those blades are certainly powerful! So mashed becomes pureed! The puree turned out delicious and udderly (pun intended) creamy – a perfect accompaniment to the chicken.

I used a special butter in the puree. Delitia Parmigiano Reggiano Butter is made from the cream left over from Parmigiano Reggiano cheese production. It is a delicious, delicate and flavorful butter – with a Parmigiano Reggiano quality to it. If you happen upon some, it is worth trying. It is certainly not local to me, but the quality of Italian dairy products is known the world over.

Coconut Chicken Tenders

INGREDIENTS:

6 chicken tenderloins

1 egg, scrambled

1/8 cup coconut flour

¼ cup dessicated coconut

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Rinse and pat dry the chicken tenderloins. Dip them in the egg, and then the mixture of the flour and coconut. Place them on a cookie sheet and cook for 25 minutes – turning halfway through. Serve with potato puree.

Potato Puree

INGREDIENTS:

4 Idaho potatoes, boiled until soft

1- inch slice of Delitia Parmigiano Reggiano Butter

dash of heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

Place all the ingredients in the Vitamix, and blend until smooth.

Brunello di Montalcino is a very special wine variety made in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is known the world over as being a very good wine. Our friends Erin and Chris, who lived for a year in Florence, had a bottle that they wanted to share with us. They had fond memories of a night in Florence that they spent with friends savoring a bottle of this wine, and wanted to spend another evening like that with us! So of course we were game and very excited to taste wine from a very different bracket than what we are used to.

Since they were bringing such a nice bottle, I offered to find some tasty morsels to go along with the wine, so we could have a proper Aperitivo – or the Italian version of Happy Hour! If you would like to learn more about Aperitivo, please check out Ms. Adventures in Italy. Sarah has a great passion for Aperitivo and has great tips on how you can have your own – or where to go for the best ones in her hometown of Milano!

I knew this was a special wine, so I enlisted the help of a professional to come up with food ideas to compliment it. With the help of my buddy, Vince DiPiazza (no known relation – though I am sure there is one somehow, not many of us DiPiazza’s in the world) from D’Italia – an online specialty store of food products from Italy, we came up with a menu of aperitivi, or small plates:

Variety of cheeses of different flavor profiles served with Rosemary Grissini and Garbanzo Crackers

Parmigiano-Reggiano is Italy’s most famous cheese, known as Parmesan in the English language. We know it well as a cheese for grating on top of pasta. However, if you eat it in cubes, it is a whole other experience. The cheese is made from raw cow’s milk, it is then put into a brine bath for 20-25 days to absorb salt, and then aged for 12 months. My favorite part (and Erin’s too) are the little crunchies you get in a good Parmigiano – the crunchies are bits of crystallized salt.

Morbier is a raw cow’s milk cheese from France. It is a Gruyère-like cheese with a vein of ash running through its middle. The two layers of the cheese originally came from two milkings, one in the morning and one in the evening, over it with a protective thin layer of tasteless ash, both to prevent it from both drying out and to keep away the flies. The next day, they would add the leftover curd from the morning milking and production. The result was a two-layered cheese.

Goat Fromage Blanc is from a batch of the pasteurized goat milk cheese that I made recently. I added some basil and a little dried dill – as well as a few sun-dried tomatoes (Vince said they pair well with Brunello) stirred in.

Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar is one of our favorite cheeses, and we decided to add it at the last minute. It never tastes the same from one batch to the next. It is the cheese variety that Cabot used to sell to hunters and truckers…on their way out of town. Chris said it tasted like ham to him, which as a vegetarian, was a weird experience. This cheese is amazing paired with a sweet bread and butter style pickle.

Miscellaneous Treats

Sautéed Mushrooms
Hummus
Assorted Nuts
Assorted Olives
Pickles

Dessert

French Truffles
Chocolate covered mint cremes

*********************************

The Tasting :

When Erin and Chris arrived we opened the bottle to give it about 20 minutes to breathe. We decided to do the tasting in two stages, the first without food, and then one with food. We each had a piece of paper and a pen. We spent about 5-10 minutes sniffing and tasting the wine, and individually writing our impressions of both the nose and the taste without sharing.

NOSE:

Erin: cheese – brie, sweet chocolate, metal
Chris: robust, dank – wet wood or earth, finishes smoky
Roberto: cherries
Jenn: woody, tannins, blackberry/cherry

TASTE:

Erin: milk chocolate, cheddar, old smoke – like what your clothes smell like after a BBQ or fire
Chris: pungent, truffles, finishes with citrus (mild burn, fruity end) and something like ginger, but not quite ginger
Roberto: old fermenting cherries, blueberry and ends with citrus
Jenn: black pepper, herbal/smoky, cherry

After we shared our observations, we found it interesting that both the guys had noticed a citrus end, while the ladies had both noticed a smoky taste. Is it coincidence, or do males and females taste wine differently?

Once we headed over to the food, and had a second glass with food, we all agreed that the wine tasted much sweeter, and it was at that point that Erin and I noticed a bit of a citrus taste.

It was a really fun night. I can’t say that I have ever really enjoyed wine in this way, and I think it is a really great way to spend the evening with friends. We decided we had so much fun, that we definitely need to do it again, with different wines and food pairings.