The Joys of Life

Valentine's Day Strawberry Stir-Fry

2012-02-14T13:33:00.000-08:00

So every so often, my chiropractor suggests I add certain foods to my diet. I have been off sugar for a little while now, meaning no fruit either. When she suggested strawberries, I was psyched. I put them in every dish imaginable, including lunch and dinner. That's right, I put it in my soup! (more on that later...) The other ingredients also dance the line between sweet and savory: fennel, coriander, basil, ginger. And, basmati rice is so sweet, I was still not sure if it was dinner or dessert!

Just in time for Valentine's Day...

Ingredients:
1 lb sausage links
1/2 c diced fennel
1 medium onion, diced
1 head baby bok choy, diced, tops reserved
1/2 cup dark rum
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 t dried sage
1 c brown basmati rice
2 c water
salt and pepper to taste

In a 1-qt saucepan, bring to a boil water and rice. Salt to taste. Turn down to a simmer and leave alone covered until all water is absorbed.
In a large pan, sear sausage links on both sides and then add enough water to come up 3/4 way of the sausage. cook until sausage is no longer pink inside, about 30 mins. Remove from pan and cut into 1/2" to 1/4" slices.
Simmer the empty pan until water is gone.
To the sausage drippings, add onion, fennel, and bok choy. Add more fat if necessary. Salt the vegetables so they sweat deliciously.
When the veggies are golden brown, deglaze the pan with the rum. Use a spoon or spatula to get every delicious sausage bit stuck to the bottom dissolved into the rum.
Return sausage to pan and add spices and strawberries.
Cover and cook on medium heat until the strawberries are no longer distinguishable and the whole dish turns pink. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Remove from heat, add the bok choy tops and cover until wilted.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

Homey Gravy Soup

2012-02-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

Don't be put off by the title. Gravies and soups come from the same ancestor, typically. That ancestor is the rue: a fat-flour mixture that makes otherwise watery dishes thick and rich and creamy. The question is how watery you want your meal, with gravies being a little thicker than soups. As you know, I have my daily soup rules (you can bet my gravy was made with a bone broth), and this one was absolutely comforting and luxurious. Perfect for that cold winter day. Puxatawny Phil saw his shadow, after all...

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken stock and water, salt and pepper to taste
1/2 chopped onion
1/4 cup cubed cooked chicken
1 c spinach
3 T gravy
1 T Brown Basmati rice
2 T Lentils
1 t Sage

Bring stock/water mixture, onions, rice, and lentils to a boil. Turn down to medium and cook until both are tender.
Add remaining ingredients and cook until warm, making sure all the gravy is dissolved.

Ladle into a bowl and enjoy.

How to make Delicious Rich Nutritious Stock

2012-02-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

Throw out the bouillon cubes! Better'n Bouillon is not the best! The most delicious sauces and soups come from real homemade stock. "But Jaye Anne," you say, "making homemade stock is a lot of work! And it's expensive! And how can I have real stock at a moment's notice... that's just ludicrous."

Oh do I have some exciting news for you! But first...

My mother-in-law loves to feed my daughter. Anything she will eat goes on her plate (she is in those, um, selective toddler years). One day I came to pick her up and she was eating ramen noodles. She was loving them! To be fair, I love ramen noodles. So salty, and extremely delicious with a generous sprinkling of cayenne pepper (or as my brother Nathan calls it, cai-yenne purperr). So I joined the feeding-my-daughter-ramen party (again, selective baby; mommy wants her to eat!).

One fine day, I looked at the ingredient list and BEHOLD! First ingredient was salt, second ingredient was Monosodium Glutamate. MSG!! A known neurotoxin! To my baby! Right then and there I vowed not to give her that flavoring packet and instead provide her with a soup base that was full of vitamins and minerals, and would improve her protein absorption. Enter bone broths.

Bone broths are not only nutritious and more delicious than food products, they are not as difficult to make and keep as one would expect. I will start with chicken (since that is the easiest one) and we will talk about others later. Also, don't be put off by the chicken feet. It is said that this is where Jewish chicken soup gets its magic...

Adapted from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon

simmering the chicken carcass

Ingredients:

One whole chicken
1/2 cup vinegar of any type
2 onions, quartered, skins left on
1 bunch celery, rinsed and roughly chopped, including tops and bottom
1 bunch parsley
about 6 cloves garlic, cut in half and skin left on
2 chicken feet (optional)
Filtered water (tons--probably around 20+cups)
Sea Salt (try pink Himalayan) and pepper

Place chicken on a roasting pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in a 350-degree oven about 1 hour or until juices run clear. Pick the meat off the chicken and save for a casserole or chicken soup or some other delicious food. If you are starting with a carcass, you can skip this step.

Put all picked bones in a large stock pot. Pour vinegar over bones and add just enough water to cover them. Let sit for 1/2 an hour.

Add more water to fill the pot (leave at least an inch from the top) and put on medium heat. It may take awhile to come to a simmer.

Skim off any foam that rises to the top. The foam will produce off flavors and make your broth not as tasty.

After skimming, add vegetables except parsley. Let simmer, covered 12-24 hours. The burner should be hot enough that there are bubbles coming up from the bottom, but not so hot that the bubbles push stuff around much.
10 minutes before you turn off the stock, add chopped parsley.
Turn off burner and strain bones and veggies out.
You can go through the bones once again and pick out any more meat to be used for soup (it's pretty much tasteless unless it's in a soup)
Add salt to taste.

This soup has tons of minerals in it with the added benefit of improving your protein absorption and usage, due to the gelatin in it.
Now let's talk about the money.
One chicken: about $6. This is not necessarily fair because you are getting a meal or two out of the meat itself. You would have thrown the bones away anyway.
celery: $2
parsley: $1
onions, garlic, water and salt: I'm going to go with about $2 total.
So 20+ cups broth costs about $10 if you don't use the chicken meat. If you use the chicken meat for something else, then about $4.
Bouillon costs at least that much for 20+ cubes.

Now this discussion on money is useless if it is going to go bad in your fridge (it will keep about a week in the refrigerator). Luckily, broth is easily frozen into whatever increments you desire or require for your meal. If you don't have much space in your freezer, you can boil it down to a gel, refrigerate it like Jello, and cut it into pieces and freeze them individually or in ice cube trays. Now there's a cube that's good for you!

Open-faced Burgers

2012-02-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

Here I was with another pound of hamburger meat staring me in the face. My stomach was stroganoff'd-, and spaghetti with meat sauced-out, and meat loaf would take too long. I was starving. Tacos and burgers seemed boring, and chili... well, see my above note on length of cook time.

There was an episode of "Man v Food" where Adam went to some dive in some town and they had these curious-looking burgers. They were very thin, with onions mashed into them as they cooked. It looked delicious. Thankfully, my pound of hamburger and my angry stomach somehow pulled this episode from the recesses of my brain. It was delicious-- salty and cheesy and most importantly, onion-y. I imagine next time I will try doing this method with sliders :-)

Ingredients:

1 lb ground meat (I used 80/20)
1 medium onion, minced as small as possible
2 thick slices of whole wheat bread (try this bread)
Butter
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 avocado
salt and pepper

Sprinkle salt and pepper into the meat and mash it up. Using about 1/8 lb at a time, make very thin patties that almost don't stay together when picked up.
On a hot skillet, make small piles of onion. Place the thin patties on top and sprinkle a few more onion pieces. Using a spatula, press the patties down into the onion. Cook 1-2 min each side in this manner.
Melt cheese over patties.
In another pan, melt about 1-2 T butter. Cook the bread in it until all the butter is absorbed.
Mash 1/2 an avocado over each slice of bread. Sprinkle salt over avocado.
Layer about 3 patties on each slice of bread.
Enjoy!

Oh and BTW my stomach was no longer angry at me!

Daily Green Juice

2012-02-08T11:54:00.000-08:00

I'm going to admit it. I got a nasty hand fungus. I believe it survived a lot of natural and unnatural selection at a laboratory where I was growing some worms for science. We had to put antifungals in the growth media, although these chemicals did not work for every fungus. We had a rampant fungus outbreak just about the time I got this cute "pet." That was over a year ago. I tried the OTC stuff, but as you can imagine, it didn't work. This wasn't a garden-variety animal. Fortunately, it does not seem to be contagious. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to get rid of it with pharmaceuticals. I eventually gave up for awhile when my chiropractor noticed it. She recommended many different things, all of which I tried and am still trying. They are seeming to work, which is good. One offhand comment she made, though, made me go overboard and sent my hand into a state which I was not sure it would return from. Fortunately, it did.

She said, "oh, garlic will kill just about anything." This, I thought, was the answer! After a few weeks of trying a little shaved garlic on it here and there, I saw it improving drastically. Well, if a little works, then a lot will get rid of it once and for all! Right? I grated the garlic all over the rash and wrapped it in medical tape. Six hours later, I took the tape off and it was the most disgusting rash I had ever seen. There were actual boils. I have never seen a real boil before. If you want to see a picture, look here. I am not going to assume everyone can stomach something like that. I personally thought it looked pretty cool, being a science nerd, but it was definitely the grossest thing I have witnessed in real life.

So the next thing my chiropractor said to me was "don't do that again. Let's take a gentle approach." Gentle approach does not quite go with my personality, but my sledgehammer angle definitely made things ugly. I'm pretty sure I pissed off my fungus with all that garlic. She suggested my low sugar/ increased greens diet. She recommended a juice of kale, green apple, celery, and ginger twice per day. This is much more palatable than the carrot, garlic, ginger, celery, and onion juice I was making. I drink this morning and night, and make sure I have some greens in-between. It's still hard, but my hand has improved drastically in the three weeks I have been doing this.

So without further ado:

1 cup kale
2 stalks celery
1 quarter-sized round of ginger about 1/4" thick
1/4 organic green apple
1/3 cup water

Juice all ingredients and pour the water in last to get every drop of juice out. Pour into a cup and skim the foam off. Enjoy!

Are you "should-ing" yourself?

2012-02-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I find myself saying "should." As in, "I should drink more water," or "I should exercise." Phrases like these are almost always followed by a mental "but I don't want to, so I won't or I don't." The should introduces self-judgement and scorn. The later mental note brings indulgence. The two together cause guilt, a highly praised nasty emotion that starts an emotional debt we often don't repay or forgive.

Guilt is something we want other people to feel when we feel wronged. Something about someone saying "I feel so bad about that..." settles some sort of emotional exchange in us when they are blamed for our own discomfort. In this case it is ourselves who are the wronger and the wronged. Guilt makes us feel better and worse here.

Fortunately, debts can be settled one of two ways. They can be repaid or they can be forgiven. Luckily, you both own and owe this debt and can choose either way to resolve it.

So the next time you find yourself saying "should," catch yourself and deal with these emotions up front. Why "should" you? What are your other options? If you think this is something needed, why don't you do this? If you can answer these questions truthfully, you will eventually come to a decision on what you are going to do from now on. It could mean putting exercise on hold for awhile or starting right away. Whatever you decide, enjoy it as much as you can and your wants and needs will align more and more.

"Should-ing" yourself causes a mess that only you can clean up and no one else can really know about. Although sometimes (in extreme cases) it is a necessary removal of waste, and makes you feel better. Sounds a lot like sh***ing yourself...

Not a counselor, but just my $.02

Pepitas and Sunflower seeds

2012-02-01T07:36:00.000-08:00

I'm always looking for a good snack. I love these because they are crunchy, salty, and leave no mess! And I can grab them any time!

Adapted from Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions

Ingredients:
1 c. Hulled sunflower seeds
1 c. Hulled pumpkin seeds
Filtered water
Sea salt

Place the seeds in an airtight container that holds at least 4 cups. Add seeds and fill to the top with water.
Add sea salt and mix until the water is extremely salty.
Close lid and leave 24 hours. Water may get murky and seeds will expand.
Strain the seeds and rinse. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 150 for 6-12 hours or until the seeds are completely dry and crunchy again. Flip them around during the process to ensure even drying.
Store in an airtight container.

Middle Eastern-style Kale Soup

2012-01-30T19:06:00.000-08:00

Generally speaking, I like to have soup for lunch every day. My rules are this: 1. It must always start with a rich broth made from the bones of an animal (NO exceptions!) 2. It must have a whole grain and a legume, and 3. It must have some kind of green thrown in at the last minute. The most important rule, though, is that it must be creative and invented on the spot.

Because of my rules, I like to have pre-cut veggies on hand, and soaked beans and grains available to me at any time. Also because of my rules, I end up with some pretty interesting soups that I never could have planned out.

For example, today's soup came from the simple addition of Tahini as a thickener. I decided on this thickener because I heard it can be anti-fungal, and I am on a quest to get rid of this particular hand fungus. I believe I got it while working in a laboratory over a year ago and have been on a low/no-sugar diet ever since the beginning of the year. It's been improving, though I am always looking for some way to bolster my anti-fungus regimen.

But, as with my soup cooking, I digress. I will leave more details of that story for later. So I was on an anti-fungal quest with my tahini, and once I put it in, I realized where in the world I was going with this. The smell of sesame seeds and beans begged for some cumin and turmeric. I finished it off with some ginger and, of course, the obligatory greens. The result was spicy and peppery; a dense soup that offered tartness and earthiness. A resounding success!

Here is my soup for today:

2 cups broth (I used turkey)
2 T dry rice
2 T dried split peas
1 T tahini
1 cup kale
2 T Juicer pulp from this recipe (or 1 T grated ginger)
3 shakes cumin
2 shakes turmeric
1 shake paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:
1 T whey (or buttermilk)
a few sprigs pickled kale
a sprinkling of pepitas and sunflower seeds

In a 2-qt saucepan, heat the broth with the rice and peas. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until they are tender.
Add tahini and stir until thickened.
Add juicer pulp or ginger and stir.
Shake in spices and add kale. Remove from heat, stir, and cover a few minutes until kale is soft and buttery.
Pour in bowl and drizzle whey or buttermilk in. Garnish with pickled kale and seeds.
Enjoy!

Serves one very happy person.

Delicious Cornbread

2012-01-27T15:36:00.000-08:00

Today I made cornbread. Paula Deen inspired me via an old episode that played on an obscure country music channel. About a year and a half ago, I made the most delectable cornbread that anyone of my friends and family had ever tasted. I brought it to the Fourth of July party we were going to. I just practiced over three days and perfected it. It was salty and sweet; moist yet light. Just the right amount of cheese and some delightful corn niblets. And it was gluten-free! I made two batches of it, and because there was bacon fat in the batter, my friend's dog ate both of them at the party. Then, like an idiot, I did not write it down. I thought to myself, "I will definitely have no trouble remembering what I did. I'm that good." Pride comes before destruction, indeed. I have not been able to reproduce that bread quite as well since. Every time it's either too dry or under-seasoned, or not enough batter or who the heck knows what.

Until today. And today I made the closest version yet--though not quite perfect. It had moisture, texture, sweetness, and saltiness. It was light but not crumbly. Maybe soon I will get it to Forth of July deliciousness...

2 cups cornmeal
1.5 cups whole wheat flour (or oat flour for gluten-free)
1 cup plum jam (or some other type of jam)
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup creme fraiche (you can use sour cream)
1/2 cup lassi or yogurt
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
4 Tablespoons bacon fat or butter, divided
1 cup milk (roughly... depends on your weather)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt

Soak cornmeal in creme fraiche, lassi, and cream for 10 minutes. Mixture should resemble play-doh
Heat 2 tablespoons of fat or butter in a cast iron pan. Heat oven to 350.
mix salt, flour, cheese, and baking soda in a separate bowl. Add to cornmeal mixture
Add remaining fat, cheese, jam, and sugar and mix.
Add enough milk to allow mix to be wet but not runny. It should resemble thick pancake batter.
Pour into heated greased cast iron pan and bake 25-35 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

Breastmilk Cures Everything

2012-01-17T11:39:00.000-08:00

Breastmilk is full of antibodies and active, live immune cells. This makes it extremely useful for things other than just feeding babies. Just this week I used it to heal cuts and treat diaper rash. In the past, I have used it for other skin problems and even got rid of a sty with it. What can you think of to use it for?

Summer Peach Chicken with spicy mixed grains

2012-01-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

My mom always says I could cook a meal with roadkill and a few things from the pantry. While I have never actually cooked roadkill (or any other strange protein for that matter), I do enjoy the journey of making a dish as I am creating it. Hopefully I will be better at remembering them now.

Summer Peach Chicken
This is a light chicken dish I came up with after being inspired by an episode of Rachael Ray. Luckily, I had everything I needed on hand. I like to pre-portion my meats into freezer bags for easy marinading and freezing. I love mixing the sweet with the spicy, and this is a great way to kick off the summer!

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts
1/2 peach, sliced
1 TBSP coconut oil
1/2 c white wine
For the marinade:
2 tsp cumin
2 shakes turmeric
2-3 shakes cayenne pepper
1 TBSP parsley
2 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp pepper
1 TBSP molasses
1/4 c sugar

Pound chicken breasts until thin and tender. Mix all marinade ingredients and chicken. Set aside 30 mins.
Heat oil on medium-high in a pan and place breasts in. Sear one side 2-3 minutes and then turn. Add diced onion and peach slices and brown them while the second side cooks. Add wine and reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through, 5-10 minutes.

Spicy Mixed Grains
This dish is about exploring new grains. I am not a carb-lover. I generally tend to find them to be bland and mushy. I love the varied textures of this dish that come from the mixed grains and fruit and vegetables. A few words on nutrition: quinoa is a delicious seed that is the only vegetable source of complete, high-quality protein. It provides a nice crunch even when it is fully cooked.

Coconut oil, though higher in saturated fats than olive oil, still has a ton of unsaturated fat, and the saturated fat in coconut oil is an improvement from animal saturated fats. I won't get into the details, but they are also alleged to be anti-microbial in nature. Just make sure you buy extra-virgin, and from a reputable source. If it still makes you uncomfortable, then go ahead and use your extra-virgin olive oil.

Ingredients:
3 c chicken broth
1 c white wine
1 TBSP molasses
1 cinnamon stick
3-4 shakes cayenne pepper
1/2 peach, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 TBSP coconut oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/4 c Farro
1/4 c Wheat Berries
1/4 c Quinoa
1/2 c rice
1/2 c lentils

In a 2-quart saucepan, put chicken broth, cinnamon stick, molasses, peach and cayenne pepper. Simmer 10-15 minutes.
In a dry, hot pan, toast the Farro, wheat berries, quinoa, and rice until it looks a little dark and smells nutty (about 5 minutes). The quinoa will pop sporadically. Keep turning the grains so they cook evenly. push the grains to one side and add the oil with the onion and celery. Mix together and add the wine. Reduce heat and cook until wine is nearly gone.
Remove cinnamon stick from the pot and pour contents of the pan (grains and veggies) into the chicken stock. Add the lentils.
Cook until water is mostly absorbed and each type of grain is tender. Remove from heat and mix in tomato. Serve.

I had this with a mixed salad with a few peaches and balsamic vinegar on top. It was so good we were fighting over the leftovers for lunch!

Perspective... or not?

2012-01-16T11:37:00.000-08:00

We all have cycles of up and down. People always say that we need the down cycles of bad times to keep the good times in perspective. I have been learning that the bad or dark times are not about perspective. Those times I learn where my weaknesses are, and when I fix them the good times come in and are are severalfold better than the last good times were. Doesn't that sound so much better than perspective?

My yummy milkshake

2011-11-10T21:53:00.001-08:00

So yes, I am nursing two babies now and I need all the nutrients and calories I can get (especially protein and fat!). I am particularly loving eating in the Nourishing Traditions way. This is my favorite milkshake. I have it at least twice a day. It is important that the milk be non-homogenized at least (raw is preferable if you can get it!), and the eggs cage-free. Cooking the eggs kills the enzymes that help us digest foods, particularly fats and cholesterol. Also, the yolk makes the shake super creamy.

My milkshake:

1 raw egg
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup half and half
1 scoop vanilla whey protein
1/4 cup kefir

Place all ingredients in a shaker, or if you are fancy, a blender with some ice.

Shake or blend away and enjoy!

It's so yummy, IMO

Natural Thoughts, IMO

2011-11-10T21:51:00.000-08:00

Did you know that men have 9 holes in their bodies and women have 10? These can be categorized into senses (eyes, ears, nose), reproduction (as you can guess), elimination, and food intake (mouth). That's it. The body protects itself so much that it has specific reasons for holes. There is only one hole that is intended for things to fully enter the body and be utilized by the body: the mouth.

It is a protective issue because whatever enters the body can enter for harm or for good. Foods that we eat become part of us. They are building blocks of our bodies whether we are still growing or not. Do you want to build your body with foods that major companies want to sell you or with what your body was hoping to receive? The body is intelligent; it will use whatever we eat to the best of its ability to build and repair. Matter has limitations, and the body cannot use essential nutrients that are not there or are not in an available state for utilization.

But that's just IMO
Jaye Anne

Oh my gosh! Double Birthday!

2011-06-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

So last week was my first run-in with the double birthday week yet. My daughter's birthday (she turned 1!) is the day after mine, so we had two separate parties, both being fairly large. It's good to have friends who will come over for two very busy, very hot parties.

Being 7 months pregnant with a now-one-year-old has shown some different and interesting challenges. These challenges have particularly affected my brainspace lately. My husband threw me a surprise birthday party. His ruse was that we were going to dinner and my mom was going to watch the baby. We went to drop off the baby, and "surprise!" I was surprised and mostly confused. I thought, "how rude, doesn't my mom know we are going to dinner?" Then after a long pause, I thought to myself, "no, I think we will stay for this nice party." It took me 10 minutes to realize that my husband had been in on it the whole time! Little to no oxygen is getting to that so-called intelligent brain of mine...

Saturday, we threw the baby a birthday party, and it was so hot. Needless to say, I checked out right before the party started... Like I said, it's good to have such great friends who not only put up with me but also help out when I need it.

Find your Qi-cken

2011-06-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

I really love cooking. It provides me a feeling of calm when I am in the kitchen creating a tasty meal. When the food has come out delicious beyond how I imagined, I feel like there is magic in my hands. I have a feeling of communion with the food.

I think that is part of why living with my in-laws was so difficult. In someone else's house, the kitchen is not my own. I had to work within the unknown boundaries of another. As my mom likes to say, "there can never be more than two boobs in a kitchen." (which is either one woman or two men...) There is this unspoken, primal territorial tension between women when cooking that transcends cultural and language lines.

But I digress. There is so much uncontrollable change going on in this time of life that it is more important than ever to have a creative outlet. Creativity, by definition, is controlled by you. Whether it is cooking, writing, coding, or creating workouts, there needs to be some sort of outlet that makes you feel "in the zone." Be careful not to let it become an escape from the scary, tumultuous real life, but keep a balance of being stressed out and feeling creatively accomplished.

While you may not be able to control the uncontrollable, it is important to revel in those things that make you feel good. Be well!

Heather Mae

2011-06-05T15:33:00.000-07:00

It has been a Heather Mae weekend. She had two shows, and I really enjoyed both of them. Her project, "A Year of Songs" was showcased in both of her shows. Her voice is so soulful and warm and the songs she writes are just so passionate I couldn't help but stop and listen and just feel it. She is going on tour this summer and I can't wait to see her play again.

Her project is displayed here. http://www.heathermaefoard.com/fr_intro.cfm

Enjoy!