AUTHENTIC HOMEMADE

Natural Food Coloring- update with supplies for homemade/ DIY

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:50:00 +0000

Well, I have just found a great source for supplies I was looking for, beet powder, green matcha tea, even orange peel powder! All of these are great ways to naturally color your frostings, decorating sugars, and lots of other foods- plus- they are all completely fresh, organic and sourced sustainably! And as if that wasn't enough, amny of these also add a unique flavor to your items (matcha especially is one of the hottest flavors right now in baking.) Just check out Mountain Rose Herbs, you can also go right to their herb section here.

I have bought many of these items myself, and can wholeheartedly recommend the company. They really go out of their way to source the best possible products, and the customer service is great. They even have pictures and complete information on all of their herbs! I also buy many of their other items for facial care, and use them in my natural beauty products.

Soaked and Sprouted Flour Cakes

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 22:12:00 +0000

Well, so far I have tried out two sprouted flour cakes, and two where I soaked the flour. I have another one to try out tomorrow, and then I will be posting on my results!
Can't wait to share with you all...
Also looking forward to my new Challenge, pushed back a bit but still upcoming, hopefully by April!
Shelley

Natural Food Coloring

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:40:00 +0000

For an update with supplies to make homemade food coloring, please see this post.

Well, I have busy experimenting and researching cake recipes, and have some fun fails under my belt, which you can see soon at my other blog. Almost as important, I want to ensure that the cake looks as good as it tastes. Unfortunately, most decorating techniques call for coloring the frostings and marzipan with regular food color. Obviously, this will not be acceptable for me. So, after a lot of research (googling!) I have found several natural options.

Buy premade, naturally derived food colorings. Choices are:

SeelectTea choices of many colors of natural coloring, and two organic choices (orange and yellow)
Nature's Flavors again, many color options, and organic yellow, orange, brown, and purple/red
India Tree- their Nature's Colors line has three colors (red, yellow, blue) which they say can be mixed to create the other colors. Also, they carry decorative sugars dyed with these natural colors, which are however coated with the carnauba wax. These are available through Amazon: India Tree Natural Decorating Colours.

Make your own colors (which I will most likely do)

Links to help and give you some ideas for coloring:

Eyecandy Blog- Coloring Chocolate, but many of the ideas will work for frosting and marzipan, I think. Also, a post on using red cabbage to make red, purple, or blue.
Re-Nest Blog- 4 Coloring Choices
An article here, with information also given in a NYT article, talks about bakers using beet powder to substitute for artificial coloring in Red Velvet cake.

Basically, for making your own colors, choices appear to be:

Red/ Pink- beet, paprika, red berries, red cabbage (acidic)

Orange- orange zest, tumeric

Yellow- tumeric, saffron, possibly lemon zest?

Green- macha (green tea), spinach, other green leaf items?, avocado

Blue- blueberry, cornflower, red cabbage (in alkaline)

Purple- blueberries (with red berries or beet if needed), red cabbage

Brown- caramel, chocolate (obviously!)

I did make a pink color with a raspberry juice two years ago for Christmas cookies, and it turned out quite nice. So far, I have done one experiment, using a royal frosting (same as I made for those cookies, I figured I should try it with a frosting I knew could work before ruining my buttercream.)

The picture is from a test I did yesterday. The colors were made from orange zest, parsley (dried, I wanted to use mint but I didn't have any!) and blueberries (frozen). The orange tasted delicious, but I really was aiming for a peach color. Next time I will add a bit of pink. The green turned out a lovely moss/ leaf green, and tasted kind of like grass. Actually not bad, though I think if the mint makes a similar color that flavor would be an improvement! Lastly, the surprise loser was the blueberry.

It made an odd seafoam green/ gray color, and when I tried to add more juice (I had been squeezing the defrosted skins) the frosting became super watery. I did add some raspberry juice (from defrosted berries) and I did get more of the lavender shade I wanted. The texture was, however, ruined.

I will be experimenting more, and will keep updating with my progress (or lack thereof!)

Do you use natural or even homemade food coloring? Let me know how it works, or any ideas ou have for me!

Shelley

Back from the Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:35:00 +0000

I hope you all had a wonderful season! I am looking forward to some new projects here, and on my other blogs. On that note, I would like to introduce you to my newest site: Green Handcrafts. I have increased my Etsy shop, and this blog is about sharing all my eco-friendly crafting projects. The shop is also a new avenue I set up to allow me to give more to my chosen charities. I am donating a minimum of 10% of proceeds shop-wide to a monthly charity. Please see my store for more details.

Here at Authentic Homemade, I hope to be more consistent in sharing recipes and 'real food' news with you. I love sharing with all of you, and want to thank you for coming on this journey with me.

Shelley

An overdue update

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:41:00 +0000

Between school, the holiday season, and my computers crashing :( it has been a crazy long time since I've written here. I hope to share some recipes with you this week, but for now I want to share this two posts at Passionate Homemaking. This topic has been on my own mind alot, and I hope it might help anyone who feels overwhelmed at times (like me!)

Balancing Nutrition and Priorities: Part 1 and Part 2

Until next time,
Shelley

GAPS preparation update

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:49:00 +0000

It’s been a while, last time I posted I mentioned that I intended to start the GAPS diet. I have been mostly grain and sugar free since that time. I did cheat a few times, especially on the sugar- going to my mom’s house is just a pitfall for me (and it’s refined sugar to boot. Yikes!)

I am happy to share that this Sunday will be my first day on the intro diet for GAPS. I am hoping this stage won’t take me too long to complete. (Though I do love a good meat stock… no, really I do! I even had one for breakfast the other day just to prepare, and it was rather satisfying. I am glad that I chose to do this in the fall, though- good weather!)

Some of the dishes I have had to get ready will be featured recipes coming up soon:

Salmon with Zucchini Pancakes and Tartar Sauce- this was so good I had it twice in a row when I first started the preparation diet

Fruit Breakfast Muffins- delicious and moist

Curried Squash Soup- a unique flavor take on the autumn classic

I am excited to start this experiment, and will be posting on the details over the next few weeks and months. So far, so good (though I do still crave some warm sourdough baguette with butter!) And then, I am a bit concerned about the chocolate- still haven’t been able to cut that- I guess a few more days for me and we will see how that goes…

Going GAPS- Preparation

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:31:00 +0000

So I have been attempting grain-free (and it hasn't been easy- probably part of the reason it's been so long since I posted!) I thought about doing GAPS to heal my digestive issues, among other problems, but it seemed too difficult. However, I have decided to buckle down and try it. (Plus, Mr. Shelley accidently threw out my sourdough starter that I had been reviving, so…) I am going to spend a few weeks in a "preparation" for GAPS diet. I am hoping that by slowly reducing some of the non-GAPS ingredients I can diminish the toxin release when I start the Introduction phase. Here are my plans:

Stop the natural sugar- only honey for now.
Completely remove all grains- not looking forward to this!
Let go of my favorite food, chocolate- this will be the worst!
No more fruit- also not fun.

I am hoping by this point, I will have Baby Boy fully weaned, and can start the Introduction diet. Other preparations include starting some broth for the freezer, stocking up on some nut flour for the later phases, and increasing my fermented food intake. Also, need to find a good price on eggs!

I will be posting on this once or twice a week, in addition to my other kitchen adventures. I look forward to getting back to my regular blogging routine now that summer is almost done and I have started classes again.

I am happy to share this at Real Food Wednesdays.

Simplifying Your Cookbook

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:19:00 +0000

As part of my Simplifying Real Food series, I thought it would be a good idea to post on keeping a household cookbook. I used to keep new recipe ideas in my household binder, but decided when revising my systems to start keeping these in my household cookbook. This started as something my Mom made for me a few years ago. It has in almost all of her recipes, and some from my Dad and other people that I remember from my childhood. My mother organized it by subjects, which worked very well for many years. As time has gone on, and I have added more of my own recipes in, the book has become quite unwieldy. I wanted to share with all of you how to set up your own household cookbook, or organize and simplify one you already have.

Get together all of your families' favorite recipes, and separate them by categories
(i.e. breakfasts, soups, salads, poultry, desserts, breads, etc.) A good folder to use is a 3-ring binder, but many other options are great too- use whatever will be best for your family.
I like to include some blank pages at the end of each section, so I always have an easy spot to write in new recipes. Also, you might want to put in some plastic sleeves so you can slip in recipes that you clip out from magazines or papers.
Consider a section for new recipes you want to try, and then if your family likes them you can just move them to the proper spot. This way your book doesn't have recipes throughout you're not sure if you like or not.
I also like to have a page or two in the front, with tips and notes. This is for things like soaking times for grains, quick substitutions for ingredients, measurement conversions, etc.

I hope these ideas give you some ideas for how to simplify your Home Cookbook. Also, consider a spot for a list of extra-favorite meals, and quick meals. This will help when your meal planning, and also if something comes up and you're in a time crunch. And check out MakeAHomeMom for Simplifying Your Kitchen.

I am happy to share this at Real Food Wednesday.

Peeling Hard-Boiled Eggs- Tips and Tricks

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:48:00 +0000

So I use hardboiled eggs for everything- we love them as a quick meal, deviled (especially for parties!) and Mr. Shelley can eat them by the dozen when they're pickled. However, I have always had trouble peeling them. This problem has gotten worse now that we are buying farm-fresh eggs- these are almost impossible to peel well, even with running cold water. And you know how much I hate wasting all that water!
About a week ago, I had an idea that I thought might work. After the eggs were boiled, I let them sit for a minute. Then, I soaked them in a small bowl of cold water for about 3-4 minutes. I then cracked both ends, and ran the eggs around on the counter to crack the whole shell. I put the eggs in a container, and chilled them in the fridge for about 4 hours. When I took them out I peeled them, starting with the one end where the air bubble was. I made sure to peel off the skin too to start. Some of them still got a bit difficult and I did run them with a bit of cold water, but most did not require this. This technique made peeling those stubborn eggs super easy and there was very little "gouging" of the egg white, so they looked really great too!
I am happy to share this at Kitchen Tip Tuesday, Works For Me Wednesday and Real Food Wednesday.

Green Beans with Savory

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:28:00 +0000

I am waiting to post on Simplifying Your Cookbook until Monday, my bush beans have come in so well, and I wanted to share this delicious family recipe that I'll be using tonight!

Beans with Savory

A traditional flavoring for green beans, especially wonderful as my Dad used to make- with ham.

1 pound green beans, trimmed
Water for steaming
3-4 Tablespoons butter
½ Tablespoon fresh summer savory (or ¾ teaspoon dried)
Salt and pepper to taste

Steam the beans in a steamer basket over water. Cook about 8-10 minutes until just barely fork-tender. Pour the water from the pan and add in the butter. (If using dried savory, put it in with the butter and cook for a minute.) Add in the beans and savory (if using fresh) and salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

I am happy to post this at Fight Back Friday.

No internet!

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:38:00 +0000

I apologize for being absent all week, we have had no internet connection and so I have been unable to post. I hope to have this fixed over this weekend. Look back next week for the posts why real food is accessible, as well as the newest Real Food Real Simple post including cooking tips! Thanks so much!

Real Food On A Real Budget Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:31:00 +0000

UPDATE- winner is Lauren. Congratulations and I will be sending your information to Stephanie!
I was very excited when Stephanie at Keeper Of The Home sent me a copy of her new book a while ago to review. Real Food on a Real Budget is something that I knew right away would be a great fit for us, as we are like I know many of you are trying our best to eat whole, traditionally prepared food while staying on a tight budget. *Though Stephanie asked me to review this book, I was not compensated for my opinion in any way, nor for sponsoring a giveaway.*
I read through the book quite quickly- it was more like sitting down to chat with a friend. This said, I was surprised by how much I learned- little tips were sprinkled throughout the book. I thought I was pretty solid on knowing how to save money while eating our real food, but this book taught me more than a few methods and tricks. From ways to stretch ingredients, to methods about growing and preserving your own food, this reads more like a complete guide on sustainability and homesteading than a simple "real food frugally" book. Stephanie has divided the book into sections, including a very detailed portion all about getting the most of your money buying real food from all different sources.
Here is how Stephanie has described how this book can help you to: (I am using her words because I couldn't think of a better way to describe it!)

save an average of 20-30% on their food budget ($100-$200 per month for most families), while at the same time serving better quality and more nutritionally dense foods

Some of the book's best features are:

Why, what and how to buy in bulk and what to do with all that food!
Which foods are both nutrient-dense, cost-effective, and how to work your diet around them.
Why cooking from scratch is key to eating real foods, how to find the time to do it, and how to use that time as effectively as possible.
Why you should purchase your foods seasonally and locally, preserve them for cheaper year-round eats, and even grow them yourself

Now, one of you will get to read this book too! Stephanie has generously provided a copy of her e-book as a giveaway. Entries for:

Visit Stephanie's introduction to her book at her blog, come back and comment on what sounds most interesting about this book to you.
Friend Keeper of the Home on Facebook
Follow Stephanie on Twitter
Subscribe to Keeper of the Home

Giveaway runs through Friday June 4- Tuesday June 8. I will announce the winner by Thursday.

Just can't wait for the giveaway to get your copy? Take advantage of Stephanie's special pricing right now- $6 off the e-book and $4 off the hard copy with FREE shipping!! Purchase your book here.

Please remember to keep one entry per each comment- it really helps keep it simple for me to randomly select a winner that way! Thank you.

I am happy to share this at Fight Back Friday!

Don't forget- last day to enter the giveaway for Real Food In Season is Friday June 4^th! Winners announced on Saturday June 5^th.

Freezer Cooking/ OAMC- Savory

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:41:00 +0000

So far we've been talking about the basics of freezer cooking and OAMC baking. Today is the final part of the segment, and we'll deal with the "savory meals"- the more usual type of freezer cooking. How can we eat real food and still take advantage of convenience foods? By making our own, of course! In addition to homemade pancakes, biscuits, bread and the like that you can make on a baking day, there is a great range of items to keep in the freezer to make your day-to-day time in the kitchen less.

First, keep this in mind: pre-marinated, or cooked, meats take the same amount of space as raw. If you can get your meat fresh instead of frozen, then marinate it and freeze, this allows you to skip a step later. You can often go right from the freezer to the slow-cooker, let the meat defrost then cook- just by taking the meat out of your freezer! Things like whole chicken can be broken down, with the meat cooked off- I like to use the breasts by breading them as for cutlets or even nuggets- the coating makes these freeze really well. They can be baked from frozen just like the ones from the store. The rest of the meat can be diced up and frozen on trays, then packed into containers. You can use this anyplace you would use cooked chicken- pasta, pizza, crepe dishes. Don't forget to make stock from the bones- freeze in ice cube trays then pack into containers so you can take out just a small amount as needed.

Beans, rice, and other grains (barley, kasha, etc.) can all be soaked as per traditional methods, cooked then frozen. Freeze flat on trays as you would berries, then pack into containers. Things that need to be wrapped in paper (meats, breads) can then be put into flat boxes or thrown in a large bin, to stack and make the most of freezer space. Not just for stock, ice cube trays can be used to freeze all sauces, or extras of tomato paste, etc. which can then be stored in small containers. I like to make a big bunch of white sauce (béchamel) or cheese sauce, then freeze for later. This goes great with those frozen veggies! If you freeze the sauce in ice cube tray you can throw it right in a pot with the veggies (and a small bit of water or stock) and cook them together.

Today's plan:

Make up from yesterday: muffins, cookies and biscuits- recipes later!
Cook chicken breasts- pounded and breaded for cutlets
Make chicken stock and white sauce
Cook beans, rice
Make baked oysters and chowder (these were a great present from my mom- she got them from a friend who got them fresh off the boat in Louisiana about a month ago!)
Make dried apples

This is a simple schedule to set up. Like yesterday, I start by feeding the sourdough to make my biscuits and muffins. Later the batters will get soaked, and baked before dinner. The chicken, stock, rice and chowder will get done during the naptimes, this is the part that takes the most of my attention. I can have the chicken fried, then in the oven to cook, as well as all the other items on the stove at the same time. The beans will go in the slow cooker early, on low for about 6 hours until they are just tender. Remember that these will most likely be cooked in another dish, so leave them lightly done now, otherwise they'll be mushy in the later dish. The apples will be dried in the dehydrator, this can obviously be done whenever. I do want to start them early enough so they'll be done before bed. Our dinner tonight is the baked oysters, so that won't get made until right before. I will bake the cookies right after dinner is done. This schedule means the oven will be on straight through the afternoon, so that I save some energy by having it keep up its heat. It also lets me have time during the day for my kids, because I'm doing the time-consuming things when they're sleeping.

Come back later for my update, and recipes. Follow along on Twitter here.

Don't forget- only three more days to enter the giveaway
for Real Food In Season e-cookbook! Over 50 recipes of seasonal, real food!

I am happy to share this at Real Food Wednesdays and Works For Me Wednesdays.

OAMC/ Freezer cooking- Baking Day

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:46:00 +0000

Today is my OAMC baking day- a day for me to make lots of bread, baked goods and easy breakfast items for the month. As we talked about in my introduction to real food freezer cooking yesterday, I usually divide two days of OAMC cooking into a savory day and a baking day. Often, the savory day is first, and the day before I prepare by soaking beans, rice, cooking meat so that I can make stock. Because of the holiday weekend, I was so busy I decided to just take out my sourdough starter and feed it. This took only a few minutes twice yesterday, and then again this morning. So, today will be a baking day, though somewhat simpler than they usually are (I'm still tired from driving around so much these past two days!) The first thing to do for an OAMC day is make your plan. We went over this a bit in yesterday's post, but now it's time to make a specific plan.

What I want to make:

Bread- sourdough baguettes
Bread- sandwich bread (I'll be trying a new recipe for a softer bread for making sandwiches)
Cookies- coconut macaroons- recipe later!
Brownies- black bean no-grain brownies
Muffins- lemon- poppy seed (a simple variation of my banana bread recipe)
English Muffins
Crepes- recipe later!

This is my plan, now I go to deciding when to make what, so that I have a kind of schedule for the day. I know that for the first two items, the breads, I'll need to make a sponge. These will get done first, so that I can have the sandwich one cooked before I go to bed, and the baguettes can chill overnight in the fridge before being baked first thing tomorrow. The Lemon-Poppyseed muffins and English Muffins can get made at the same time, they are both sourdough based and "soak" for about the same amount of time. Plus, they get cooked separately- muffins in the oven and English Muffins on the griddle- so I can be cooking them at the same time. I'll plan to do this when the kids are napping, and count backwards from then to decide when to start soaking them. Crepes also get made on the griddle (you can make them in a pan too, but only one at a time!), but I'll be using them for dinner. This means I'll start them right before dinner, after the English muffins. Cookies and brownies both get baked, and both are unsoaked (brownies are no-grain and the macaroons only use a small amount of sprouted flour.) These can be made after dinner (or really whenever I have a spare few minutes to mix them.)

The only other consideration is the stand mixer- I will need it to mix both bread batters, and will also use it for both muffins. (Brownies get made in a food processor, and the cookies are a light batter so I can use my hand mixer.) I don't like to have to clean the mixer more than once a twice, so I try to plan it that way. I will mix the baguette sponge first, then the other. After this is done I will do my first clean. Later, I'll make the baguette bread, then the sandwich bread. The English muffin batter can go in next, then with a good scraping down I can mix in the regular muffin batter. One last cleaning and I'm good!

Come back in the afternoon for a breakdown of my day
and recipes, or follow along on twitter!

UPDATED:

So here's how it went:

Bread- baguettes were delicious, other bread didn't turn out as well so tomorrow I'll be trying some other recipes. Brownies and English muffins- always great! Pushed back the muffins and cookies- just didn't have enough time (or flour!) today (maybe OAMC and potty-training don't go hand in hand…)

Day started with a sourdough feeding early this morning- around 6:30. This soaked for about 4 hours, then I made the sponge which sat for about 7 hours until a bit before 6 pm. English Muffins started soaking at 9 am.

Brownies got made early, about 12 pm- I wanted them as a treat for Big Boy. After this, the kids went for naps, and I made the English Muffins at about 3 pm.

For dinner, I realized I was low on the chicken I was planning for the crepes, so I made a pizza dough instead. It actually turned out better than my usual recipe- I will be trying it again later this week and hope to post it Friday or Saturday.

Tomorrow we'll play a bit of catch up and I'll make my muffins and I might switch the crepes to biscuits- I just have a craving for them (with some nice grass-fed butter- yum!) The plan also includes a white sauce, chicken stock, some chicken freezer meals, white beans and rice. I'll be soaking the beans and rice tonight, and feeding my sourdough again for tomorrow.

Real Food- Freezer/OAMC Cooking

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:16:00 +0000

When taking all that time to soak, sprout, ferment your food according to traditional methods, is OAMC something that is not important for you? I hope not! I feel that this technique is a useful way to save some time and effort in your everyday cooking. One of the main aspects of the freezer for the average household is convenience foods- frozen waffles, pizzas, and chicken nuggets. For those of us who try to eat real food, the freezer is mainly a place to keep all that meat! (And some veggies we got over the summer from our gardens or famer's market.) That doesn't mean we can't take advantage of freezer cooking, either in a similar way to regular techniques (making meals and putting them in the freezer for that month) or another way (making extras of basic supplies for the freezer- tomato sauce, breads, stock, etc.)

For us, we mainly use the second method- making lots of real food basics for the next month or so. I don't always make all of them on my monthly OAMC days- sometimes later in the month I'm making a cheese sauce. I'll make three or four times of what I need for that meal, portion in into small containers or ice cube trays, and freeze it. (Ice cube trays work great for all sauces and stocks- it allows you to take out just a little for a small amount of gravy, or sauce.)

What I do is make a plan for my OAMC days- usually the first Monday and Tuesday a month, though sometimes I do it the first two days of a month depending on my schedule. My plan is different each month- but usually one day is a "baking day" when I make bread, muffins, cookies, etc. The other day will often be a "savory day" for such items as crackers, stocks, tomato sauce, rice, beans. How I pick is really simple- I look first at what items I'll need for the upcoming week. If I'm making lentil soup, then lentils need to get soaked and cooked. I'll plan to make about triple or so of what I need, so I'll have extra for a later time. This also goes if I'm making pizza- which I do most weeks. I'll make lots of sauce, for that month's pizzas, which can also be used in lasagnas, etc.

Baking days, as well as the "savory days" follow a simple plan- to use as much of the kitchen as possible. I'll have one or two things in the oven, a stock, sauce or soup on the stove, something cooking in the crockpot, and maybe even something cooking on the griddle. This way I can make the most of my time.

Come back Tuesday for a plan for my OAMC days this month.

Real Food In Season Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Mon, 31 May 2010 13:27:00 +0000

Congratulations to Angela, I will be contacting you to send you the cookbook!
Real Food In Season is finally here! And so is the first giveaway, right here at Authentic Homemade this week! Starting May 31, and running through Friday June 4^th, enter to win your copy of Real Food In Season. Entries for each of the following:

Comment and tell me why you would like this cookbook
Subscribe to AH (RSS in sidebar)
Follow me on twitter (also in sidebar)
Tweet about this giveaway.
Share this on facebook.
Follow Authentic Homemade in Google Friend Connect (sidebar again!)
Blog about this giveaway and comment with the link, or share it via email/ facebook if you don't have a blog

There will be giveaways on other blogs this month, I will be posting a list on Friday when I announce the winner. Make sure to leave your entries in the comments- one comment for each entry please, it is easier for me to enter them into a random selector that way. Thanks and best of luck!
Later today, come back for the introduction to Real Food OAMC! And tomorrow and Wednesday, come back and check out the process and recipes I'll be using, along with tips on how to make OAMC work for you!

Real Food Frugally

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:47:00 +0000

Real Food is often blasted as being impossibly expensive, out of the reach of regular people. I disagree. We are on a tight budget, and yet manage to eat real food. One of the main reasons I evolved are menu planning to a seasonal plan was because we already ate this way- buying food in season (or utilizing a home garden) is more less expensive than buying whatever you want whenever you want it. This is the truth of eating the way our grandmothers did.
Obviously, local and seasonal produce is cheaper than food grown hundreds of miles away and shipped over days or weeks to get to your market. How else can seasonal equal frugal? It's not as simple as going to the store and buying steaks for that night's dinner, but purchasing meat in bulk at it's time from the farm and storing it is much cheaper! If you can't store so much yourself, one option is to find other families/ people to go in on a bulk purchase with. (Not just for seasonal meat, this also works with other bulk purchases such as oils and grains from Amazon- see my resources.) Also, freezers can often be found cheap in classifieds.
Another way seasonal produce helps you save is my allowing you to can or preserve your own foods, saving plenty of money you might otherwise spend on organic, no refined-sugar-added jam, applesauce, or even lacto-fermented pickles (have you priced those at the health market? Ouch!)
What ways do you use seasonal buying to help save money and offset the cost of eating good-quality real food?
I am happy to share this at Fight Back Friday and Pennywise Platter Thursdays.
Be sure to check out MAHM today for the first-ever Thanksgiving Thursdays! And don't forget that on Monday May 31^st is the introduction and first giveaway of my new e-cookbook: Real Food In Season!

Menu Planning Made Simple- Seasonal Meals

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:06:00 +0000

Menu planning can make your life much easier and simpler. It will make your dinner preparation much calmer, since you know exactly what you'll be making you can start many meals earlier in the day before the rush. Especially if you make food with traditional techniques (soaking of the grains, sourdough breads, etc.) preparing things ahead of time is essential. For those on a budget, menu planning lets you prepare tough meats by marinating and slow-cooking, and dry beans and grains by soaking overnight. Tomorrow we will focus on simplifying your seasonal meal planning and making it more frugal. Today, I wanted to share some basics of menu planning made simple with seasonal meals.

If you haven't, please see MakeAHomeMom for posts on seasonal meal planning and my monthly menu plan. I recently moved to using this plan, it has been a much simpler time each Friday when doing my menu planning for the week. I am able to just write in meals for the week based on my monthly plan. Having this based upon seasonal ingredients has allowed me to take advantage of ingredients that are fresh from my garden or the market, and the quality of these foods pushed me to use everything up before it gets wasted. When using this technique, make sure it is making your planning more simple and not more trouble.

I find that keeping my breakfasts and lunches fairly basic also keeps my planning easier. I usually alternate mornings as smoothies and baked oatmeal or sourdough pancakes. I can make enough oatmeal and pancakes for 2-3 breakfasts, so I am only cooking about half the days. Once a month I do a large baking day, usually with my OAMC days, and I'll make such things as muffins, scones, or even doughnuts! Come back on Sunday for an introduction to my OAMC segment, and on Monday and Tuesday for my OAMC plan (with recipes!) These breakfasts then get used up the week I make them, and extras will go into the freezer.

Lunches for us are usually leftovers or simple soups, or salads. We also have 'snack trays' with fruits or veggies and dip, or crackers. I do plan for Mr. Shelley's lunches, usually main dish salads or sandwiches as they travel well. Planning for all the meals for my week takes very little time, and it is a blessing to have this figured out before each day begins.

Seasonal planning really helps, as I can use up the fruits in smoothies or pancakes, and vegetables in soups or salads. Each Friday I can go to the garden and figure out what will be ready to harvest that next week. Then on Saturday I go to the market, and can buy whatever I need to supplement. I already have a list of what I need, depending on what's in my garden, pantry and freezer. This makes my shopping much easier.

Menu planning has always let me have an easier time when I need it most, at mealtimes. Since moving to a monthly seasonal based plan, I find I spend even less time and energy making my weekly plans and shopping for them. This is a definite help to me!

I am happy to share this at Real Food Wednesday and Kitchen Tip Tuesdays.

Making Real Food Really Easy

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Fri, 21 May 2010 11:18:00 +0000

When I first starting making food that was traditionally prepared, It seemed like it would be a lot of work. All the soaking, then cooking or drying… and then I started making my own sprouted flour- it was a real challenge at times. Like many others, my schedule already seemed full- and I was left wondering how I could make this a bit easier. Not that food should be easy, but it shouldn't be so difficult that people wanting to eat better don't even start, or quit after a few days. As we strive to eat like our grandmothers, remember that they also tried to be as efficient in the kitchen as possible. People had too many others things to do, and no modern conveniences like dishwashers, washing machines, stand mixers and food processors. They had to make their time count.

In corroboration with the Keep It Simple series at my other blog, Make A Home Mom, I have decided to spend the next two months sharing with you how I keep it simple while making real food. Included on May 31^st, June 1^st and 2^nd will be a special segment on OAMC (once a month cooking)/ Freezer cooking for Real Food! For an idea of how my OAMC cooking has looked, see this post at MAHM. May 31^st (Monday) will be an introduction, and I will lay out my plan. On Tuesday and Wednesday I will post on details (with recipes!) and tips on how to make the most of OAMC when making real food. Hint: it involves preparing a lot of basics, so that you can pull "convenience foods" right out of your freezer! Plus, additional tips for those of you who already have too much stuff- and not enough space- in your freezer. Thought you couldn't use OAMC? You can- I'll help show you how!

Next week will feature some posts on planning your meals based on a seasonal monthly plan. Be sure to subscribe now so you don't miss anything!

I am happy to share this at Fight Back Friday.

Real Food In Season

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Mon, 10 May 2010 12:38:00 +0000

Between writing up my March e-cookbook on seasonal spring meals and all the posting on gardening, I've been reminded how important it can be to cook using local, fresh and in season ingredients. This is the way people used to cook, before we were able to get asparagus in July and strawberries in November. Using fresh ingredients that haven't been shipped 300 miles means your food is more delicious, more sustainable and more frugal. Sounds good, right?
I am happy to announce that this month, my new e-cookbook will be available: Real Food In Season.
Real food, traditionally prepared. Grown at the time it was meant to be, and enjoyed fresh. All recipes are organized by seasons, and use in season vegetables, fruits, as well as meats for those of you who buy meat from the farm. Recipes have flexibility suggestions, helping you to substitute ingredients if you need.
Please subscribe to Authentic Homemade to get updates and find out when the giveaways for my book will be. If you are a food blogger and are interested in becoming an affiliate/ hosting a giveaway please contact me here.
For an idea of what seasonal cooking looks like, check out MakeAHomMom for my new seasonal meal plan.
UPDATED: Now available- giveaway has begun May 31! Check out the table of contents here.

CAFOs- why should you care?

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Wed, 05 May 2010 12:57:00 +0000

This week Katie at Kitchen Stewardship has a post in her Get the Junk Out carnival by Kelly the Kitchen Kop on CAFOs. This topic is really close to my heart, and I think the most important thing is to share the message on why we should strive to support local small-scale farms. Yes, we know the meat is better for us, and the farms are better for the environment- but do other people? How many people have you shared your knowledge with? I have succeeded in getting my mom interested- no easy task. She certainly believes in the message, but cares most about being able to afford the food, and how it tastes. So I used the points of how much better grass-fed and pastured food tastes, and that if you buy it in bulk it can be fairly cost efficient. Now I have her buying pastured chicken from the store (which is not cost-efficient!) and agreeing to go in with me on a pork purchase this fall.

I think that sharing why we go through the effort of buying this meat is important. The more people who support small local farms the better- so I urge you to share your story with as many people as possible. I shared it with my entire class at school as I wrote one of my required papers on why small farms are better than CAFOs- read it here.

I am happy to share this post at Real Food Wednesdays, and be sure to check out the post on CAFOs.

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:51:00 +0000

One of my favorite fresh spring vegetables (actually, of vegetables in general) is asparagus. I love it cooked just about any way and even raw, but a few years ago I started roasting it in the oven. This really brings out the flavor. The roasted asparagus is delicious plain with butter as a side, or in crepes. But the best way is in a quiche. Cooked in a pie crust, this is a great and frugal lunch or dinner, served with a simple salad.

For more real food- seasonally- recipes I will be introducing my newest e-cookbook: Real Food In Season in late May- just in time for the beginning of the garden (or famers market) harvest!

Also, the March installment in my e-cookbook series will feature a sneak peek at some seasonal spring recipes!

Roasted Asparagus Quiche

4-5 asparagus spears, trimmed

Oil

Salt and pepper

Roast asparagus, coated with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste, in a 375- 400° oven for 15-20 minutes. Cool, chop into 1 inch pieces.

¼- ½ cup cheese (if desired- I like cheddar or jack)

1 ¼ cup milk

¾ cup cream

2 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350°. Put the asparagus and cheese if using on the pre-baked pie crust.*Beat the milk, cream and eggs together well. Pour gently in the crust. Bake for about 40-45 minutes. Let quiche sit for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

I am happy to share this at Fight Back Friday, Real Food Wednesday and Pennywise Platter Thursday.

*Techniques

Pre-baking pie shells (also called blind-baking)

When you are using a pie crust that has certain fillings (usually wet, loose fillings like custards, etc.) the recipe might call for pre-baking or "blind baking" the crust. This is achieved by baking the crust in a 325-350° oven for about 7 minutes. The purpose is to set the crust so it doesn't absorb the filling as it cooks, resulting in a soggy crust and dry filling.

Despite tradition, you do not need pie weights (or beans in foil!), you can poke the crust before baking with a fork. Be sure to not prick the holes all the way through to the pie pan, just a bit to allow the steam to escape the crust as it cooks. When you take it out you may also poke through and 'pop' any bubbles that formed before filling.

Sometimes this technique can result in the crust on the rim getting too brown when it is baking with the filling in. You may cover the rim with a strip of foil, or crust shields to avoid this if desired.

In my kitchen (and garden)

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:39:00 +0000

Well, I'm still busy thanks to classes and all the attempts at organizing the house before the summer so we can finally do some renovations. My time in the kitchen (and here!) has been lacking, especially as I have been putting so much time into my garden. This is something I'm really looking forward to, as it will produce so much fresh food for my kitchen.

This week my mine new product has been homemade farmers cheese from the farm fresh raw milk we get. In the past I've made buttermilk and yogurt, but the curds never set enough for cheese. This time I left it out a extra day. It still didn't look right, but when I drained it in the cheesecloth it changed into a great ricotta- like texture: fluffy and somewhat dry. I'll admit I didn't like the flavor straight, but will add some salt and herbs to it and use as a spread.

Next week I'll be trying some flavored versions of my sourdough bread: look for attempts at cheddar bread, olive bread, and rosemary/ roasted garlic bread. Also, as classes wind down only 2 weeks left! I'll be able to post more often again. Come back tomorrow for a great 'food in season' recipe and an introduction to my newest e-cookbook Real Food- In Season, coming next month!

I am happy to share this at Tuesday Twister.

Sourdough Boules

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:14:00 +0000

Ahh, the elusive goal of all home bakers— that perfectly 'bakery style' boule. Now, back in the day before I heard of traditional food; when I still used yeast from the grocery and baked with half white and half regular wheat because I hadn't learned about the antinutrients in grains I made some fine breads. However, once venturing into sourdough breads, I learned the true definition of failure. Nothing, it seemed, could make my sourdough breads even remotely bakery-style. They were more masonry-style— as in rocks.

I took a break from trying to make these breads, and concentrated on the much easier quickbreads style: baking doughnuts, muffins, crackers, and lots more. But I was still on the lookout for any recipe that could produce a decent loaf. I stumbled upon this post at Sarah's Musings, where she talks about finding this post on baking great sourdough loafs. Suddenly, I had it- it wasn't my recipe so much as the technique. I gave it a try, and couldn't believe the results!

Some of the things I learned:

You must support sourdough batters. They are more wet, more slack, and less stable than yeast-risen doughs. If you don't support them they flop and expand out instead of up. Put them in a loaf pan, or improvise a banneton or a baguette pan.
As stated above, good doughs should be wet. Don't add too much flour to your batter.
The easiest tip to accomplish that will produce the biggest difference in results in my opinion is the autolyze. This baker's term just means that you delay adding salt to the dough. The recipe linked to above includes this step. Basically you just mix the other ingredients, knead the dough for a few minutes, and let sit for about half an hour before adding in the salt and finishing the kneading.

Most importantly, practice! It sounds too easy, but the more times you make a bad loaf (turn these into breadcrumbs or croutons!) the better your chances of making a good loaf the next time. There are some great resources out there in addition to the ones I've mentioned above:

Sourdough Home

Breadtopia

Freshloaf

I am happy to share this at Pennywise Platter Thursday and Fight Back Friday. For more frugal food tips, see MakeAHomeMom for gardening and seedlings information.

Sourdough Recipes

noreply@blogger.com (mahmommy) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:29:00 +0000

Here are some of my favorite sourdough recipes. Super easy, and requring little or no sponging and rising time, these recipes are a great use for extra starter that you have from feeding it up for other recipes. Some tips for the recipes below (and sourdough in general)

The time that dough is rising depends not just on the amount of starter in the recipe but also room temperature. Lower temperatures mean longer rises.
Longer rises due to above will result in more sour dough in the finished product. If you want a less sour product, add more starter (will rise faster) and put the sponge or batter in a warmer area.
Doubling in sourdough is subjective. I usually do not see a true "double," try looking instead for the dough to rise about 1 1/2 times the initial batter.

Finally, don't be afraid to play around with the recipes and make them your own- these are all fairly forgiving.

Sourdough Pancakes
These are so easy, and use no additional flour so are quite good for you as well.

1 cup starter

1/4 cup milk (if your starter is very thick)
1 egg, beaten
1 Tablespoon syrup, honey or other sweetener
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (optional but makes the pancakes light and fluffy)

Simply mix all the ingredients together well. Cook right away. (If you want to hold the batter, simply mix the ingredients but postpone adding in the baking soda until right before you are ready to cook. Batter will keep well for up to a day in the fridge.)

If you want fruit pancakes, I recommend adding it after you have poured the pancakes. While they are cooking on the first side, put in the fruit and let cook. Then flip and cook as usual. Another way is to lightly flour the fruit (such as blueberries) before adding into the batter- but I still find the fruit tends to be unevenly distributed in the pancakes.

Sourdough Banana Muffins/Bread
This is an easy recipe that can be altered to your tastes.

3/4 cup starter (fed earlier and doubled in size)
1/4 cup milk
2 cups flour

Mix together above ingredients. Let sponge sit for about 2-4 hours out, or in fridge up to 12 hours.
Butter a 9X4 loaf pan, or a muffin sheet. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sucanat (may substitute honey or other sweetener but batter will be moister)
2 ripe bananas, chopped finely or mashed
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional, substitute cloves, nutmeg)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Mix together the eggs and sugar until light in color and well blended. Stir egg mixture into the batter, mixing well. Add in the bananas and spices, combine thoroughly. (Batter may be made up to this point and left for up to a few hours, although bananas may become discolored. Once you add in the soda, batter should be baked right away.) Add in the baking soda, mixing well. Pour batter into pan, bake for 45-55 minutes for loaf, or 20-30 minutes for muffins. Check at the earliest time with a toothpick. Bread is done when the pick comes out clean with no moist crumb attached.

This recipe may be changed to your tastes. Simply omit the bananas, and replace with other cooked or raw fruit. Or try lemon or orange bread- add in 2-3 Tablespoons melted butter and 1 1/2 Tablespoons organic citrus zest and 1/2 teaspoon real extract, if desired.

Sourdough Fluffy Doughnuts
This recipe is slightly adapted from Adventures in Sourdough, a book from the 70's with a fantastic range of sourdough recipes and lots of basic tips and information on baking with sourdough. This recipe makes delicious doughnuts.

1 1/2 cups starter
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk (at or close to room temperature is best, so the butter doesn't clump)
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour (I like 1/2 wheat pastry flour and 1/2 regular wheat flour, or all "soft" white wheat)
1/3 cup sucanat
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Add the starter, eggs, milk, butter and vanilla to a large bowl, and mix together thoroughly. Mix in 2 cups of the flour, and the remaining ingredients, to the batter. Knead for a few minutes, adding in the extra 1/2 cup of flour as needed. Proof the dough in a greased bowl for 2-5 hours (the warmer the temperature the less time this will take and the less tangy the dough will become. I find that at from 65-70 F this will take about 3-4 hours.)
When dough has doubled, carefully remove it from the bowl, and roll out on a well-floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness. Treat the dough gently, this will ensure the lightness and "fluffiness" of the finished doughnut.
Cut the doughnuts out, and put on a floured baking sheet or on parchment paper. Proof for an extra 1- 2 hours.
Preheat hot fat for frying (I like a mixture of ghee and coconut oil) to 350 F. Fry doughnuts about 1-2 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove from fat, drain, and finish with cinnamon sugar while warm or let cool and finish with sugar glaze or melted chocolate. When cooled you may also pipe in whipped cream, thick custard or fruit preserves.

I am happy to share this at Real Food Wednesdays.