Our Backyard Homestead

Grow Kale - No Garden Necessary

While we are thrilled with our move this summer, I was very sad to leave my garden behind.  For five years I poured precious time and energy, not to mention lots of sweat and chigger bites, into building that garden.  When we made the decision to move in June, I stopped attending to the garden completely and focused on the details of moving.  Despite a very dry summer, my garden lived on without me!  I was so pleased this fall when we put the house on the market to have just enough growing in the garden to hopefully make it a selling point rather than an eyesore.  I had a few tomato plants, a couple peppers, lots of basil, onions and kale-mighty, impressive kale!!

I stopped by the house last week to pick a little kale and brought home two huge shopping bags full!  I would have easily spent $30 to buy that much organic kale from the grocery store!  The only effort I put in was planting it last March and watering until it was established.  Well there was that tiny detail of picking off the caterpillars that were calling the kale home, but they left more than enough to share and the chickens were happy with their little protein feast now that grasshoppers are in short supply. 

When in the course of human events does a mother have to scold her children for eating too much kale?  Never?!  Well that is until I made kale chips and my children inhaled them.  Kids, REALLY, you are going to get upset tummies from eating that.much.kale, at least in one sitting.  Yeah, we are pretty crazy in this house.

Kale chips are extremely easy to make.  Simply wash up your kale, making sure to diligently remove all green caterpillars that might be hiding in all those curls (if you buy your kale from the grocery, you can skip the caterpillar step!).  Pull out the stem and tear into about 2 inch pieces.  I then put it in a bowl and toss with olive oil.  Spread on a parchment lined cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt.  I baked mine at 375 for 5-10 minutes, watching carefully and turning about midway through.  Remove when starting to brown and turning crispy.  Amazingly, I only over baked one batch of the many that I did.  Even more amazing was to take them to a party that evening assuming I would be laughed out of the room with my crazy kale chips.  Not only were they well received, but I returned with an empty bowl and everyone was asking how to make them!

Now about the title of this blog entry.  As my picture clearly shows, this kale was grown in my garden.  However, have you noticed the nurseries are selling lots of kale right now?  They are selling an ornamental variety and while google tells me the ornamental type can be eaten, the eating varieties are preferred.  The main difference in the eating varieties and the ornamentals is the height.  Why not slip an edible variety right into your current landscaping?  I am so amazed by its hardiness this summer and it loves the cold more than the heat.   If it turns out to be a few inches taller than its ornamental cousin, even the strictest of the HOA police would likely be fooled!  I stopped by Marshall Grain on Friday and picked up a few more kale and Swiss chard plants that will hopefully provide us with kale chips and greens for juicing all winter long.

Grain Free Lasagna

For the first time since I began gardening, I have managed to get enough ahead of the squash bugs to have a successful zucchini harvest.  Now, compared to books I have read which mention drowning in zucchini and not being able to even give it away, I am by no means a smashing success, but we are being rewarded with 3-5 zucchinis every day or two for the past two weeks!  In looking for creative ways to use it, I made lasagna at the beginning of the month using thin zucchini slices as our noodles.  It tasted fabulous, but was quite watery.  Thus began my quest for the perfect lasagne.

When two large zucchinis came in from the garden on Monday, I knew they were perfect for a second attempt.  As I brainstormed on how to eliminate some of the moisture, it hit me, the dehydrator!!  I used my mandoline slicer to cut the zucchinis into long, thin strips and then put them in the dehydrator for about 2 hours at 135℉.  I have never dried zucchini, but I would guess they were about halfway to being dry when I took them out.

The dehydrated zucchini worked perfectly!  Our lasagna set up just like it would have had we used traditional lasagna noodles.  The dish had a wonderful sweetness created only by the mix of vegetables that were added.  I don't think there has been a better received meal that I have made since we went grain free!

If you don't have a dehydrator, I would guess that drying the zucchini in a very low oven for a few hours would work the same.  The first time I attempted the lasagna, I read recommendations on several websites of using salt to draw out the water in the zucchini.  I didn't want my lasagna to taste super salty, so I skipped this step and dealt with the excess liquid.  Dehydrating the zucchini first is an extra step, but one that is very much worth it in my book!  Don't let the long list of ingredients or the extra steps keep you from trying it out, you wouldn't have to add everything, but I wanted to load it up with as many healthy veggies as I could.   I also sautéed most everything first to help cut down on the liquid and to improve the flavor.

Grain Free Lasagna with Zucchini Noodles

• 2 medium to large zucchinis, sliced into long strips with a mandolin slicer
• 1 jar Bionaturae tomato paste
• 15 ounces Ricotta Cheese (beware, most have added starch)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese
• 1.5 lbs ground beef
• 1 large red bell pepper, roasted or sautéed
• 1-2 large onion, sauteed
• 8 ounces sliced mushrooms, sautéed
• 2-3 cups fresh spinach
• 1 cup fresh basil or 1/2 cup pesto
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsp garlic powder*
• 2 tsp onion powder*
• 1 tsp salt
• pepper to taste

1. Mandoline slice your zucchini.  I did not use the thinnest setting, nor the thickest.  Dehydrate as described above.
2. Sauté onions, peppers and mushrooms.  I roasted the peppers in a little coconut oil in the pan I was planning to cook the lasagna in.  Set aside.  I also kept all of the veggies separate so that I could make distinct layers.  You could be a little less OCD than I was and mix them up!
3. Using the pan already dirty from sautéing the veggies, brown the hamburger.  Because I use pastured beef, I do not drain off any fat since there is very little to drain.  Remove from heat and add tomato paste and seasonings.
4. Mix ricotta, egg and Parmesan.
5. Grease lasagna pan.  I used a slightly smaller than 9x13 pan.  Add layer of  zucchini and then layer remaining ingredients in any order.  Divide cheese and meat for a total of 4 layers.
6. My order of layers was roughly, zucchini, spinach, 1/2 of onions, 1/2 of meat, zucchini, basil or pesto, mushrooms, 1/2 of cheese, peppers, meat, cheese and finally topped with mozzarella cheese.

*Anyone avoiding starches should be careful in consideration of these two additions.  They are a source of starch, but seem to be tolerated in our household.

The little bit of juice in the picture is more from the meat than the zucchini.  I should have waited until it cooled more to take a picture because the little bit of leftovers had no moisture at all when I dished them into a storage container.

May have been a little more effort than many of our weekday dinners, but a great meal for an adorable birthday boy seemed like a good idea.  Since we all liked it so much and since the garden continues to reward us with zucchini, the efforts will be repeated and soon!

We celebrated with a grain free rhubarb crumble.  I won't be sharing a recipe for that because it was not quite the success I was looking for.

The birthday boy was happy with his "cake" and we managed to polish it off with no problems.

Meatza Pizza Pie

Last week I had some extra kids staying with me and had a bit of a panic when I realized that I was all out of our "normal" lunch options, ie nitrate free organic hot dogs.  I had some already cooked ground beef in the freezer and started brainstorming on what I could do with it.  The result was a pizza-ish creation.  My kids wanted to try it again, but this time with more pizza like toppings.  The second attempt was better, but still somewhat lacking. 

As they say, the third time is the charm!  Last night I tweaked the spices and we had the closest thing to pizza that we have had since going grain free.  There are several grain free crust recipes out there, but I don't think any of us missed the crust a bit.  I like that this is quick and easy to throw together and I only dirtied one pan!!

We have been flirting with adding some dairy back in to the diet, but it appears that, for now, it should continue to be on a very limited basis.  A little cheese to make this yummy dinner was worth making the exception.  The kids came up with the name of the recipe.  I added the "pie" since the first time I made it, I baked it in my pie pan.  I discovered that my cast iron pan is perfect to make it a one dish meal, so if you have pan that can go from stovetop to oven, give it a try and enjoy a dish or five less to wash.

Meatza Pizza Pie

• 1.5 pounds lean hamburger (preferable to use grassfed beef)
• 7 ounce jar tomato paste (see note)
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsp garlic powder*
• 2 tsp onion powder*
• 1 tsp salt
• pepper to taste

Toppings:

• nitrate free pepperoni
• sautéed onion
• sautéed red bell pepper
• sliced black olives
• grated cheese (I used Kerrygold Dubliner cheese and it was an excellent alternative to mozzarella)

To go with the one pan method, sauté red bell pepper and onion in a little coconut oil until soft.  Transfer to a bowl and then brown hamburger meat.  Turn burner off, but continue to prepare on the warm burner to keep it hot.  If using grass fed beef, there should be no need to drain the meat because there is very little fat.  If there is excessive fat, you would want to drain off.  Add the spices to the meat and mix well.  Stir in tomato paste.  I used about 1 tbsp of water to get all of the paste out of the jar and thin it slightly.

Press meat into bottom of pan or transfer to pie plate to form the crust.  Add desired toppings and bake at 400℉ until cheese is beginning to brown, 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

*Anyone avoiding starches should be careful in consideration of these two additions.  They are a source of starch, but seem to be tolerated in our household.

About the tomato paste, I have started using jarred tomato products after reading more and more about the effects of BPA.  Canned tomatoes are known source of BPA exposure:

Beyond baby bottles, BPA is widely used in the linings of food and beverage cans. In many cases, particularly where the can’s contents are acidic or corrosive, as with tomato sauce or soda, researchers have found that the BPA leaches out of the can lining and into the food…and into the bodies of people who consume the products. In fact, BPA can be found in the bodies of some 90 percent of Americans.

You can read more about BPA in this article where I found the above quote.  The more I learn about BPA, the more angry it makes me.  When I found a jarred option for tomato products, I was glad to have the option of using tomato sauces again.  

 

Pumpkin Pie Custard, It's what's for Breakfast

Pumpkin contains starch, though of the winter squash family, appears to be lowest in starch content.  We have not eaten much of it in the past few months as we have tried to be quite strict on a no starch diet.  However, after 2.5 months of very careful avoidance, we are cautiously attempting small trials.  With four egg yolks to use from our delicious pot pie last night, I got to wondering about making a custard type breakfast.  Pumpkin custard just sounded like it would be yummy. 

Of all of the meals that have required reinventing, breakfast has been the easiest and yet the hardest.  Eggs.every.day is not my love.  While we are getting creative in how to eat them, I grew up on cereal, and I miss variety at breakfast.  I don't want to use almond flour on too regular of a basis (because of high ratio of omega 6s) and am not sure how well coconut flour is being tolerated, so muffins, pancakes and the like are not something we do regularly.

This morning's custard was just the variety we needed.  Eggs very much in disguise and with delicious pumpkin.  Perfection!  I made it with the yolks because they needed to be used, in the future, I will attempt with 4 whole eggs.

Pumpkin Pie Custard

• 1  1/4 cup pumpkin
• 3/4 cup coconut milk, canned
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 freshly ground nutmeg (so worth the effort of freshly grinding!)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract

Mix pumpkin and spices.  Mix in coconut milk, syrup, vanilla and almond extract.  Whisk eggs in separate bowl and mix well with pumpkin mixture.

Place 6 ramekins/custard cups in large Pyrex pan.  Fill cups with custard mix. 

Add very hot water to larger Pyrex pan, filling about 2 inches or to the same height as the custard.  I waited to add the water until I had my pan in the oven.  I used my electric kettle to fill with almost boiling water.

Bake at 325 for 45-60 minutes until firm and a knife inserted comes out clean.  Cool and enjoy hot or cold!

On a somewhat related note, I just have to mention how impressed I was to have purchased some new Pyrex cups and discover that they are still made in America!  Not often do I find a product stamped "Made in USA" and it makes me thrilled to support Pyrex!  I have since checked every Pyrex item that I own and it appears that every last thing is made in the USA.  As much as I would love to go out and find some cute ramekins, I think I will stick with my American made Pyrex cups.

 

 

Chicken pot pie - Starch free style

In honor of Pi day yesterday, we ate all things pie.  We started with one of my old childhood favorites, Impossible Pie.  While a fun way to start the day, this recipe will require some more tweaking to convert it successfully into our grain-free, starch-free lifestyle.  I will be sure to share if we have a success.

We decided that dinner should be chicken pot pie, though I had no idea how we would accomplish this to fit within our dietary needs.  After checking out a few Paleo recipes, I took inspiration from a few and guessed a bit as to how we could make it without starch.  Our results were lovely and enjoyed by the entire family!  I used veggies that I had on hand and was a little afraid that the Swiss chard might be too strong, but it was a wonderful addition.

Starch Free Chicken Pot Pie

Filling:

• 3 carrots, sliced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1.5 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 onion chopped
• 4 cups chopped Swiss chard, stems included
• 2 cups cooked chicken
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. dried thyme
• 3 tbsp. coconut oil
• 3 cups broth
• 2 tbsp. coconut flour
• salt and pepper to taste

Crust:

• 1 cup almond flour
• 4 egg whites
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2-1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Instructions:

Saute all veggies in coconut oil, minus chard leaves.  If using chard stems (which I highly recommend) add stems with other veggies.  Saute until soft, 10-15 minutes.  Add chard leaves and garlic, saute for additional 5 minutes, covered but stirring often to keep garlic from burning.  Add thyme, salt and pepper.  Stir and add broth, leaving about 1/2 cup to mix with coconut flour.  Simmer until broth is hot.  Mix remaining broth and coconut flour well and slowly add to pan, stirring after every addition.  Simmer until broth reduces, was still a bit runny.

Pastry Topping:

While broth is simmering, mix up the topping.  In a bowl, mix coconut oil, almond flour, soda and salt.  In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites and vinegar.  Whisk egg whites mix into flour mix.

Transfer filling to oven safe pan, or use oven safe pan to saute in like I did.  Spoon topping gently on top in small batches and then spread to cover the top. 

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until topping is golden brown. 

Notes:

• Be sure to save the extremely nutritious egg yolks for use in another recipe.
• If starches are safe, using arrowroot or some other form of starch would help the filling be a little thicker/creamier.  The coconut flour worked and the taste was great, but there are some things that starch free cooking just can't recreate to perfection.
• We served with green beans sauteed in bacon fat.  Add in a few cloves of minced garlic in the last few minutes of cooking for a delicious touch.  Sprinkle with a bit of sea salt and enjoy!

 

 

Carrot pulp, Cranberry Muffins ~ Grain and Dairy Free

We have been happily juicing since August (more on that soon) but I hate it that all of the pulp goes to feed the chickens or the compost pile.  Better than the trash can, yes, but I keep thinking that we should be using it.  The past few weeks, I have been segregating my carrot pulp from the rest and have been experimenting with muffins.  It took a few batches to get it right, but I think we have finally achieved a winner!  Since I am worried that I am going to loose the sheet of paper that my notes are written on, I thought I would share on the blog.

Carrot Pulp, Cranberry Muffins

• 1 large banana, well mashed
• 2 c. carrot pulp, any large chunks removed
• 4 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp olive or melted coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 2 Tbsp coconut flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup cranberries (we use frozen)

Mix wet ingredients well.  Add in dry ingredients and stir until well incorporated.  Batter will be very thick.  Stir in cranberries and fill muffin pan.  Be sure to grease pan if you do not use paper liners.  Fill muffin cups nearly full.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

 

And now a few notes and the picture how to:

• I wanted a recipe that mixed the grain free "flour" options.  I do not love coconut flour only baked goods and almond flour is so expensive not to mention extremely nutrient dense.  The carrot pulp is also quite dry and functions somewhat like a flour in this mix.  The cranberries add moisture as the muffins bake.
• Grain free recipes tend to be more dense and do not rise much.  Because we are starch free, we cannot use baking powder. 
• I think that some sunflower seeds, walnuts or pecans would be a lovely addition.  However, I am met with resistance from a few children.
• Ginger would likely be a nice addition, however, it contains starch.  We will test this soon and hopefully ginger can migrate into the safe category.
• Of note for anyone strictly starch free, the banana is also to be avoided in a strict non-starch diet.  We eliminated them for a while, but it seems that they are not problematic.  The riper the banana, the less starch it will contain.

Batter:

Before baking:

Finished baking. They do rise a little and might even pass for a grain filled muffin, but so much better for you!

My favorite baking cups!  These brands of unbleached liners are much like using parchment paper.  Baked goods do not stick much, if all to the paper.   I can't decide which brand I like better.  Beyond Gourmet fit in the pan better, but if you attempt to pull a hot muffin out, they stick a bit, much like normal paper liners.  The If You Care brand is amazing at how it does not stick to the muffin AT ALL!  However, they are oddly shaped, almost as if they are stretched out and then bunch up in the muffin pan and create a gap in an otherwise perfect muffin.  I thought it was just a bad box that I bought on clearance but it has been quite consistent of every box used since.

The flours mix nicely to create a very palatable texture.

 

Dairy and egg free waffles

I decided that today would be the day for our first trial of a gluten containing grain.  We attempted lactose free organic kefir over the weekend and it seemed to be tolerated, though The Garden Girl was especially grumpy and full of complaints on Sunday.  Could just be because she was up well past her bedtime on Saturday night, but it was enough of a behavior change, that I opted to wait another week or two before trying kefir again.

The kids have really been missing bread, so after over a month without any gluten containing grains, we tried spelt this morning.  My dilemma was how to make something yummy for breakfast without using dairy or eggs.  My attempt at waffles was shockingly good!  I want to do more research on chia seeds, but I tried them as a replacement for eggs and honestly I don't think I would have believed they were dairy and egg free had I not made them myself.  The chia seeds worked very well!

The Starvation Diet Waffles

• 1 3/4 cup  coconut milk (the beverage variety, not the can)
• 1/4 cup water with 1 TBSP chia seeds (set aside for at least 15 minutes until gel forms)
• 2 TBSP olive oil (I don't measure, just do two quick pours)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 TBSP raw honey
• 2 cups spelt (other flours could be used)

Add all above ingredients to blender and mix.

• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder

While blender is running, add the soda, salt and baking powder all at once and mix briefly.

Bake waffles to desired crispness.