~ Wild Rice Burgers ~

Despite my best efforts, I don't often get dinner together all at the same time especially the nights that Jake works. I get the main course done, then remember that I didn't make any veggies, get milk poured half way through supper, and yes, we can still have mangos, yogurt and granola for dessert (mustn't forget the important things).

These have become a favorite around here, even the little ones will eat them. They are super easy and since I had dinner on the table all at the same time I though I would share. Check out my post on lacto-fermented ketchup to go with these yummy burgers.

Main Course : Wild Rice Burgers
2 cups cooked wild rice
1 lb free range/organic ground meat, beef or venison
1/2 cup raw cheddar cheese
2 large free range eggs
2 tsp organic curry powder
1 tsp sea or Himalayan salt
dash of organic black pepper

Mix together in no particular order, if you don't want to use your hands a potato masher works great. I use a cast iron skillet to fry in (no Teflon, will leave that for another post), a little coconut oil in the bottom, cook for about 4 minutes a side, until they are nicely browned.

We use sprouted hamburger buns, lettuce & tomatoes, and homemade pickles for garnish. Last night I got 6 half pound patties and 2 quarter pound patties for the little ones. You can leave out the meat if you wish, they are just as good. Add 1/3 cup of crushed cracker to your pattie mix and then before you fry them coat each side with more cracker crumbs, cook until brown. These would also be wonderful served on a bed of lettuce if are gluten intolerant.

Veggies : Fresh Garden Asparagus & Simple Coleslaw This is the first year we have been able to pick asparagus, Zach was so excited. Steam crisp with a generous dollop of real butter. I shredded an small head of cabbage, added some shredded carrots and sliced almonds, made a batch of Russian dressing with the homemade mayo, little salt and pepper, it was yummy.

I also made a bag of organic tator tots (gag) but the kids really like them and now there is only one bag left and then there will be no more (yah!!) Next time I will make a pan of oven roasted potatoes with garlic, fresh chives, and onion.

To drink, a tall glass of raw whole milk we get fresh from a local farm or our cow when I am milking her. Yogurt and granola are pretty standard fair for dessert around here, one kid doesn't like yogurt or mango so he has just milk and granola. I have been known, on occasion, to buy a box of organic icecream sandwhiches, but even then they have to spilt it in fourths and we don't call it a treat. We call fresh fruit and veggies a treat around here. I refuse to set up my kids to think that anything sugar based is a "treat" when in reality it is harming their bodies and minds. We often discuss the chapter in Little House on the Prairie where Mary and Laura receive an orange for Christmas and why that was such a big deal. What do you consider a treat in your house? And what are you teaching your kids about the impact of food choices on their health and well being? This post is shared at:

Monday Mania

Tasty Tuesday

Real Food Wednesday

Simple Lives Thursday

Fight Back Friday

~ Gluten Free Brownies ~

These are super yummy and really easy to make!! I am re-posting this because I have made some changes! 

5 tbsp of raw organic carob powder + 5 tbsp of melted organic coconut oil, mixed
1/2 cup organic butter
2 organic free range eggs
1/2 cup of organic rapadura
1/2 rounded cup of organic sprouted almonds, processed into a fine flour
1/4 organic brown rice flour
1/2 tsp of fine sea salt
1/4 tsp non-aluminum baking powder
2 tsp real organic vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp organic orange extract

1/2 cup organic crispy pecans or almonds, broken into pieces

 Heat your oven to 350 degrees, I just dumped everything but the crispy nuts into my mixing bowl and mixed well. Gently stir in crispy nuts. Pour into a greased 9x9 pan. The batter will be thick so you may have to spread it out with a spatula. Don't over bake (33-35 minutes), these brownies are better on the gooey side rather than well done. Yum! I love the sweetness of the carob powder and orange together. These are a family favorite.


Recipe adapted from here.

This post is shared at:

Monday Mania

Real Food Wednesdays

Simple Lives Thursday

~ Carob Cherry Sourdough Breakfast Bread ~

After making way to much sourdough starter this morning I needed something to do with it. I had already started a double batch of bread and sourdough pretzels. The blueberry coffee cake in the cookbook looked good, but wasn't a sourdough recipe and because I missed the order this month I didn't have enough blueberries. I did have lots of frozen cherries and remembered seeing a post awhile back about chocolate cherry sourdough bread, but didn't have the recipe for it and didn't have the time to look for it. What to do?... Thus the idea for Carob Cherry Sourdough Breakfast Bread was born and I am so glad it was. It tops the Carob Zucchini Cake by far, in my opinion anyway.

1 c sourdough starter
1/4 c soft butter
3/4 c rapadura
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks
1/2 c milk
1/2 c carob powder
1/2 c sifted whole wheat flour to remove the bran
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 celtic sea salt
2 c frozen cherries, halved

Cream butter and sugar together and then beat in the eggs and milk. Add your starter and sifted flour, carob, salt, and soda. Mix very well. Gently fold in the cherries. Place batter into a greased and floured 8 inch square pan and allow to stand in a warm place for at least 20 minutes.

While waiting, prepare the topping:

1/3 c rapadura
1/3 c sifted flour
1/3 c soaked and dehydrated oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup soft butter

Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon together and cut in butter. Gently mix in oats. Sprinkle on top of bread just before baking in a 375 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Do not under bake, it is moist but I cooked it until it pulled away from the pan. Wait until it cools to eat otherwise it will be a sticky mess.

**This post is part of **

Monday Mania @ The Healthy Home Economist

Tuesday Twister @ GNOWFGLINS

Real Food Wednesdays @ Kelly the Kitchen Kop

Simple Lives Thursday @ A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa

Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade

~ Carob Zucchini Cake ~

This post is included in the Whole Foods for the Holiday :: A Real Food Progressive Dinner :: Modern Alternative Mama is hosting Desserts and in Fight Back Friday at Food Renengade and Simple Lives Thursday  


Carob Zucchini Cake

 2 1/2 c organic whole wheat pastry flour
1 c water
1 c yogurt

3/4 c organic butter
1 1/3 c rapadura
3 organic eggs
10 oz of frozen grated zucchini
1/2 t sea salt
1/2 organic raw carob powder
2 1/2 t baking soda
1 t organic cinnamon
2 t organic vanilla
2 t organic orange extract

 The night before you want to make this cake, combine your flour, water, and yogurt. Cover with a towel and let sit 12 to 24 hours. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, vanilla, and orange extract. Add your soaked flour and other dry ingredients. Mix well. Stir in grated zucchini. Place batter into a 9x13 greased and floured cake pan. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

 This is one of our very favorites and it doesn't last long. I don't frost it, instead I whip up a batch of real cinnamon whipped cream.

  Cinnamon Whipped Cream
 2 c organic raw cream
1 tsp organic vanilla drizzle of honey or pinch of stevia
1 to 2 tsp organic cinnamon
 Beat cream until it makes soft folds, then add your vanilla, honey, and cinnamon

~ Venison Tacos ~

I made venison tacos tonight with the rest of the venison roast that my hubby smoked and they were so good. I love to make my own tortillas but when I can't we use Alvarado Bakery Sprouted Grain Tortillas. Some fresh green leaf lettace, a little colby-jack cheese, some homemade salsa, and...the best sour cream I have ever had, only it wasn't really sour cream. I made room temperture cultured yogurt and as it cultured all the cream rose to the top of the jar.

I love sour cream, I can eat it with a spoon and I am telling you, this was the best. The next time I make yogurt I am going to skim the cream off the milk, let it sit out and sour a bit more and then add the yogurt culture.

~ Kids and Food ~

On Sundays during children's church the kids are usually given a cookie, but because of our sensitivity to sugar I have been bringing a snack for my kids. Last Sunday I didn't make it downstairs before cookies were handed out but had a pleasant surprise in store for me. My older boys know that they need to past up the cookie, no matter how tempting it might be, but Grace, being like any good three year old hasn't quite made that step yet, or so I thought. All three of them passed up a cookie to wait for their snack from home even when 20 other kids were chowing down. I was so proud of them. When we started to make changes in our diet I included the kids. I have taught them how to read labels and how to calculate sugar content per serving. I know that most of the time I get eye rolls from adults, but today the boys played together all day with out one fight, not one. That included two lengthy board games and about three hours outside building a snow fort. Having that kind of love and peace in our house is so worth it and when we do have moments of discord, I can almost always trace it back to poor food choices which lead to poor personal choices.
Most people ask me how I get my kids to eat healthy foods. There are several things that I tell them.
(1) You have to lead by example. If you are chugging the soda and downing a bag of chips for lunch because you think you don't have enough time for a healthy lunch than you are shooting yourself in the foot. It really doesn't take that much time to grab something healthy if you make it available, which leads me to point number two.

(2) You are in charge at the grocery store. I have heard more than once the statement "My kid just has to have his pop everyday or he has a fit" Let him throw a fit. As a parent we are responsible for what our kids eat. Part of the reason he has a fit is because his brain it addicted to sugar like a cocaine addict is addicted to cocaine. Yes, sugar is that powerful. They also add trace amounts of MSG to sugar to make it even more addicting so that you will come back for more. If you can't pronounce it or it has food coloring in it, leave it on the shelf. Red #40 is banned in Europe because of it's highly carcinogenic properties but we use it in the US in almost every food product.

(3) Make food fun and involve your kids. That is Zach in the picture with his waffle man. They are whole wheat waffles with no added sugar. He has a small amount of honey butter on it but no maple syrup. We made faces with berries instead. Sometime we have peanut butter and bananas on them. We make the left overs into grilled cheese. Teach your kids about what they are eating, how it affects their bodies, and how they can make good choice about food. Praise them when they make a good choice about their food but don't get after them when they choose something that you wish they wouldn't have.

I often get ask if I hide veggies in their food, like puree squash in the mac and cheese. I don't because I want them to like a food for its own taste and texture. I want them to learn to try new things and learn to like others. If they don't learn these valuable skills when they are young they will be lost as adults when it come to healthy food choices. Zach's favorite vegetable is steamed broccoli, that its, no butter, nothing and he asks for it. They no longer will eat white pasta or rice because it is to starchy and bland.

One of the best books I have read lately is Little Sugar Addicts. If you have a child that has several melt downs per day then this book is for you. I have one child that is hyperactive and one child with high functioning autism (both were fully vaccinated) and when I watch what they eat they don't have any behavioral problems, not one. They are happy, healthy, peaceful loving kids, so it makes all the extra work worth it.

~ Sweet Potato Pie ~

This post is part of The Nourishing Gourmet's: Whole Foods for the Holidays: Side Dish Carnival

 This has got to be one of my most favorite dishes in the whole wide world. I eat it for breakfast its that good. When I was little the sweet potatoes were always candied, with those gross little marshmallows on top and no one could ever figure out why I wouldn't eat them. "They are good, they are like candy"

Even has a five year old I knew that candy was not supposed to be a side dish. I don't have a picture for you just yet, the last one was devoured by the members of our 4H club at the Thanksgiving Family Dinner before I got a picture of it.

 9" baked ww pie shell or coconut crust (1/2 cup melted butter and 2 cups unsweetened coconut meat, finely shredded;mix and bake at 300 for 30 minutes)
5 cups of mash sweet potatoes or winter squash or mixture of both
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup rapadura sugar or honey
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp unsulphured molasses
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp all spice

2 tbsp butter
3/4 cup crispy pecans

 Bake sweet potatoes and/or squash till tender. Use food processor to blend until smooth, add everything else but the extra butter and pecans. Pour into pie shell. Melt butter and pour over top. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Enjoy!

~ Creamy Onion Dressing ~

My hubby always takes a salad with him to work so I try and make new dressing so that he doesn't have to have the same thing everyday. This was one of my best if I do say so myself, the onion didn't overpower, it was a bit like a fancy ranch.

1/2 cup of your homemade mayo
1/4 cup plain yogurt, we use Nancy's Whole Milk Plain Yogurt, it is thick like sour cream.
1-2 small green onions, chopped fine
2 tsp coconut aminos or tamari
1/2 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp each sea salt, basil, paprika few dashes of cayenne or more if you like a little zip

Mix together and chill if you have time. Even if you don't usually use cayenne, put a dash in there anyway. Cayenne is great for your circulatory system. The advantage to making your own dressings is that they are not filled to the brim with preservative or additives, you save money, and they taste so much better. Citric Acid is used quite a bit in food as a way to preserve naturally, but almost all citric acid comes from China and is made of GMO corn, not something you want to be eating even in moderation. Health Benefits of Cayenne Pepper

~ Homemade Mayonnaise ~

The is nothing better than homemade mayo, once you have had it, the stuff in the jar just doesn't cut it. Homemade mayo is also much more cost effective and healthier. This recipe comes from Laurel's Kitchen and makes 1 1/4 cup

1 pasture raised egg
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp organic mustard powder
2 tbsp of raw organic apple cider vinegar
1 cup organic sunflower oil

Place egg, salt, mustard powder, apple cider vinegar, and 1/4 cup of oil in blender. Blend on low speed, uncovered and steadily pour the remaining oil in. That's it, simple as can be. If it curdles, remove mayo from blender, add another egg and slowly pour the mayo back into the blender.

Once you get the basic recipe down, try adding fresh herbs and some garlic to it, tuna salad will never be the same with Homemade Herb Mayo. You can also use it in any homemade dressing recipe to get a creamy texture. I am also working on a couple of dressing recipes for those soon to be summer salads, so stay tuned.

*For those of you worried about using raw eggs, please read this article before you dismiss the idea of eating raw eggs.

~ Whole Wheat Pumpkin Scones ~

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Scones
2 cups organic sprouted whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup organic rapadura
1 tbsp organic cinnamon
1/2 tsp organic nutmeg
1/2 tsp organic ginger
1/4 tsp organic cloves
2 organic free range eggs
1/2 tbsp organic vanilla extract
1/2 cup organic pumpkin puree
1 tbsp organic raw heavy cream
1/2 cup cold organic butter or coconut oil

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Mix together the pumpkin, cream, vanilla, and one egg and place in the refrigerator while getting the dry stuff ready. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and sugar, stir in the spices. Using a pastry blender work in the cold butter or coconut oil until crumbly and sandy looking. Mix the cold wet ingredients into the dry just until combined. Dough will be sticky but roll out onto a lightly floured surface and make a 7 inch square, quarter with a large knife and then cut each quarter into fours. Beat remaining egg and brush tops of scones, bake until lightly brown on bottom, about 16 minutes, don't over cook or they will become dry. Place on wire rack to cool, these are really yummy and I can't wait to make some more.

*I did get the original recipe from somewhere else in cyberspace but couldn't find were. My adjustments where only with the types of ingredient used, not the amount of ingredient*

~ MMM...Biscuits ~

Seriously, it took me less time to make biscuits from scratch yesterday than it would have taken me to open a package of Pillsbury dough and they were about a hundred times better. Once you get the hang of it, cooking from scratch is actually faster than fooling around with a box meal, all it takes is a little practice.

Here's the recipe: Drop Biscuits

2 cups organic sprouted whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbsp organic rapadura sugar
3 tsp of non-aluminum baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup of organic coconut or palm oil
1 cup of organic milk

Heat oven to 450 degrees and grease a large cookie sheet. Mix dry ingredients together in bowl and cut in coconut oil with a pastry blender until you have fine crumbs. Stir in milk until dough is soft and sticky.
I used my tbsp to put 12 dollops of dough on my pan. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly brown on top and bottom. Serve with some honey butter and just see how long they last, mine lasted about 7 minutes with six of us.

~ Taco Seasoning ~

I stopped buying packets of taco seasoning a long time ago because I have a sensitivity to MSG and I didn't like all of the extra "things" i.e. chemicals that they put in a seemingly simple spice packet.

Here is a recipe for taco seasoning that is super easy and green. Why green you ask? By going to your local coop and buying spices out of the bulk jars you are minimizing the amount of packaging that goes into the landfill and you are getting fresher spices. Simple bring your own containers and have them weighed prior to filling. Canning jars work great for this, get the ones with wide mouths on them and then filling them is easy. Generally spices are also cheaper this way because you are only paying for spice, not the jar that it came in.

When you get home you can use a bigger canning jar to make a large batch of taco seasoning so that it is ready any time you need it.
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp roasted garlic granules
1 tsp mined dried onion
1 tsp each cumin, paprika, and salt
1 tsp of chipolte seasoning
pinch of cayeene pepper

Mix with meat and then add 1 tsp of arrowroot powder and a half of cup of water. Simmer until water has been absorbed.

~ Veggie Soup ~

I am still trying to work out the kinks of my new blog, but in the mean time I though it would be fun to share a new recipe with you. It has been cold here, really cold, like -25 cold, so soup always seems to fill up a belly nicely when it is this cold. Here's the kicker, I am not talking about opening up a can and dumping a gluey, globby substance into a pan, we are talking from scratch. Stay with me, you can do it, I promise. Cooking is an art, God gave us the best stuff on earth, so keep it simple and you can't go wrong. I don't really have a recipe, I just look to see what I have fresh and what I have in the freezer from last years harvest. All of the ingredients I use are organic or sustainably harvested.

A great base to get started with for basic vegetable soup is:

1/2 onion, red or white
3 carrots (don't peel, just dice or shred, which ever you prefer)
2 stalks of celery
1-2 tsp of garlic
1 medium potato, yukon golds are my favorite

Toss it all into a pot, (I received a enameled cast iron 6 qt pot for Christmas and I think I am in love) with a little butter or oil, and yes I said butter. Despite all the controversy, butter is way better for you than margarine. I have a great recipe to make you own margarine that I will share a bit later.

If you use olive oil, coat your veggies in it and then heat them up. If you heat olive oil up to much you destroy all the good stuff in it that you are using it for. I don't turn my heat up past medium and I cook the veggies for about 10 minutes.

When I was digging around in the freezer I found some cubes of baby food that I have made and never used, so, they went in the pot too. The cubes were carrots, so they gave the soup a sweet taste and the puree thickened it slightly. I also had half of a zucchini in the fridge so that went in the pot as well. I used green beans, peas, a palm full of marjoram leaves and thyme, salt and pepper to taste.

Now add your stock, about two quarts. Bone broths are the best, they will look like jello in your fridge. If you want to keep it vegetarian, then add vegetable broth or water. Bring this to a boil and then if you want to add 1 cup of whole barley uncooked, do it now. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes. Stir, adjust your seasonings and simmer for another 45 minutes.

That's it, your done. I have even made this in the crock pot and it turned out just as good. If you are a meat eater then add your preferred meat when you stir and adjust your seasonings. There, see, simple as can be! Don't settle for goo out of a can when you can have something delicious and nutritious instead. Served with homemade whole wheat bread and you have one kicker of a meal. Have questions? Just email me! I am sorry I don't have a photo for you, my family ate it before I could get a picture of it.