Archive for the ‘Grain Free’ Category

tonight the girl came down with a stomach bug. I keep our freezer stocked with homemade chicken stock always for emergencies like this. in our home chicken bone broth (stock) is considered a healing food. it fixes whatever ails ya. and frankly it’s comforting as well. Who doesn’t want a bowl of warm soup when they are on the mend?

every week I roast at minimum one organic chicken. we of course eat the meat for dinner, and then overnight I simmer the carcass (sometimes with onion) for stock for the week. with this stock we make rice, pasta dishes, indian dishes… just about everything. and occasionally the obvious – soup. if there is any left (rarely) we freeze it.

tonight I glanced in the fridge to see what I had on hand for a quick easy to digest healing dish.

• stock (with some sauteed veggies)
• rice
• egg

and so egg drop soup it was. ok so it wan’ts traditional of one country heh… but egg drop is a traditional soup in various parts of the world and of course the main ingredients – broth and eggs. the rest is purely local flair. for us it included jasmine rice. and it was best meal I’ve made in less than 10 mins in a long time.

Eli ate 4 bowls. I stopped him after that so he wouldn’t induce sickness. the rest of us liked it a lot too. why don’t I normally make this? who knows. but it’s a keeper. it’s going to be a regular staple in out home from now on.

and because this year I vowed to include more traditional Italian recipes into our diet (and let me tell you that’s not simple thing when you’re gluten and dairy free my friends) I looked up to find an Italian version…. so in honor of my husband’s heritage:

Stracciatella alla Romana

yeah… I think I just found my new favorite Italian cooking blog.

While this takes time, it takes very little effort. Beans are cheap, simple and really good as a meal with rice or as a side.

To soak beans:

• 1 bag of Pinto beans (or Kidney/Black)
• cover beans with water – (4 inches above beans as they will expand)
• 1TBSP whey or vinegar

soak beans over night in this mixture (atleast 8 hrs).

Rinse and put into crock pot and add one diced onion, and cover with fresh water.

cook on low in crock pot until beans are tender (approx 3-6 hrs). add salt and pepper to taste.

YUM!

** use chicken stock in place of cooking water for extra flavour and nutrition

**my all time favorite is half kidney, half pinto.

**this is great to add to chili or over rice

So easy and much cheaper them frozen bags of fries.

• 5lb bag of yukon golds
• olive oil
• seal salt
• garlic powder
• pepper
• parsley

chop potatoes into bite sized pieces (you can also cut them into “french fries”). toss them in a mixing bowl with just enough olive oil to thiny coat all of the pieces. spread onto baking sheet (or two!). add sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. sprinkle parlsey flakes for color.

bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes or until tender-brown.

makes 8-10 servings. (or 4 incredibly hungry LaFianza’s!) I often re-use leftovers in the next night’s meal (like chicken pot pie)

(not that I’m bragging… ’cause I wouldn’t do that!)

• 1 bundle of Fresh Asparagus (NOT frozen or canned)
• coconut oil/olive oil/ bacon drippings
• lots of sea salt
• a dash of garlic powder and pepper

make sure you buy the freshest asparagus you can. At the least the bottoms of the stems should be soaking in a small bit of water at the grocery – if they aren’t, pass them up. they will be woody and weedy.

trim woody ends off of aparagus. on a cooking sheet spread in one layer. drizzle or brush on oil of your choice and top with generous amounts of sea salt, and a dash of pepper and garlic powder.

bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until tender and slightly browned.

these are SO easy to make that we have asparagus at least once a week. it’s a totally underrated veggie!

This is something I make every week. sometimes I make a huge pot of it and keep it around to add to meals through out the week. it’s great in pastas, mexican dishes, rice, on top of steak or chicken and in meatloaf.  it’s SO good!

3-4  big Vidalia Onions

2 bags shredd carrots ( or shred about 3/4 small bag full of fresh carrots)

2 packages cremini mushrooms (or your favorite kind) sliced

Sea salt and pepper to taste

opt: a bag of fresh spinach, celery, garlic, green or red peppers

put cast iron or stainless steel high pan on medium-high , then add oil (we use coconut or olive). Only after the oil is warm add the onions and a good heaping bit of sea salt. (these veggies eat salt, so you will be surprised by how much you use!) once they turn translucent you may add the carrots and mushrooms. cook down to a nice saute.

tips:

*never put a saute in a cold pan or cold oil. always warm pan and oil throughly or you will end up with wet soggy steamed veggies instead of sauteed ones.

*if you want your onions carmelized, use less salt and oil, but keep a good eye on them so they don’t burn.

1 bag granny smith apples cored and sliced

1/2-1 cup honey

sea salt and cinnamon to taste

1 big cast iron dutch oven

simmer for about 30 mins. add water if needed.

this is the easiest thing in the world to make and almost every body loves it. you can saute the apples in butter, coconut oil or lard first if you want them more flavorful.

2 cans coconut milk
2/3  cup honey
1 tsp almond extract (I hate vanilla)
1/3 cup cocoa powder

follow your ice cream mixer’s directions and freeze for atleast an hour. it is SO good!

I stole this from the SCD book

• 1 squashed ripe banana
• 1 eggs
• butter or frying oil

scramble and fry in plenty of hot butter or oil. butter is best but we are dairy-free so we used coconut oil which burned a lot… next time i would try another oil. but the “pancakes” are fabulous!!

-

tip: make sure the bananas are very ripe or it will be terribly bitter!

• 1-2 zucchini shredded
• 4-6 eggs
• 1 sweet (vidallia) onion
• 1 pckg diced nitrate/nitrite-free turkey bacon
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Sauteed the onions and ham until onions are tender. add zucchini and saute until soft. whisk eggs to egg and scramble fry til hard. S&P to taste.