Apple Onion Crepes:

Crepes- 6 eggs, dash sea salt

Filling-

• 1 apple, chopped finely
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tbsp butter (preferably grass-fed raw)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup homemade creme fraiche (or sour cream or plain yogurt)

Topping – 1/2 cup creme fraiche (or sour cream or plain yogurt), 1/4 cup maple syrup

Directions:

Grease pan with butter, coconut oil, or lard.  Beat eggs and salt, place 1/8 cup at a time into pan and quickly tilt pan or spread with a spoon to achieve a round shape about 6 inches or so in diameter.  Cook well on each side and pile on a plate (can keep these warm in the oven).  This will make about 18 crepes.

Grease pan again and saute onion until about partially opaque, add apple.  Saute together until both start to caramelize together well.  Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple syrup, then remove from heat.  Add butter, and when cooled  more, the creme fraiche.  Spoon a large spoonful into each crepe and roll.

For topping, mix the creme fraiche and maple syrup until smooth.  Drizzle or plop on each crepe and enjoy!

butternut tomato bisque

I finally found a way to get my non-soup-eating child to eat soup.  The answer: Butternut Tomato Bisque!

I didn’t have much in the house to make for lunch on this rainy cold Monday.  I had an old huge butternut squash I needed to use soon.  A few simple ingredients later- Voila!  Delicious salty-sweet, hearty soup even a soup-hater would love!!

Butternut Tomato Bisque

• 1 quart chicken or beef stock
• 1 butternut squash (about 2 1/2 cups), seeded
• 1 small can tomato paste or reg. can tomato sauce
• 1 cup cream (preferably grassfed, raw)
• 4 tbsp butter (preferably grassfed, raw)
• 1 tsp each dried basil, oregano, thyme
• Sea salt to taste

Slice butternut squash into several large chunks.  Place in covered pot with your stock and simmer together until squash is very soft.  Remove skin from the squash chunks.  Add tomato paste or sauce, herbs and salt.  Simmer 10-20 minutes, then remove from heat.  When it is cooler (about 10 min), add the butter to melt.  Then add the cream and puree everything using an immersion blender.  Garnish with creme fraiche!

This would be super-yummy without the tomato too I bet.  We would have dipped our grilled cheese sandwiches in this if we were doing grains right now- but will keep it in mind for that later.

As a change from our usual eggs and bacon, this morning I made coconut flour pancakes with chocolate cream syrup – the kids were in pure heaven.  Gaps-legal of course as we are all following the gaps diet (not intro), a nice change from nut-flour pancakes, and full of good bacteria!  I am always looking for delicious ways to get more good bacteria in the kids, and this is definitely one of their faves.

I modified the coconut flour pancake recipe from cheeseslave, then added a probiotic-filled topping:

Coconut Flour Pancakes with Chocolate Cream Syrup

Pancake Ingredients:

• 4 eggs (from our pastured chickens)
• 3 tablespoons melted raw butter (grassfed) or organic coconut oil
• 3 tablespoons raw milk or cream (grass-fed)
• pinch stevia powder
• 3 tablespoons coconut flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (aluminum-free)

Syrup Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup organic maple syrup (grade B is best)
• 1/2 cup homemade creme fraiche (cultured raw cream)
• 3 tablespoons organic cocoa powder
• 1 raw egg yolk (optional)

Directions:

For pancakes, mix the wet ingredients plus the stevia.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until the lumps are gone.  Cook on a cast-iron skillet with butter or coconut oil to grease if necessary.

For syrup, whisk together the syrup, creme fraiche, and cocoa powder until smooth.  You can also add an egg yolk for extra nutrition, but this will cause the syrup to crystallize some so it won’t be as smooth.  If the syrup is too thick to pour (and you care), you can add some milk, cream, or even more maple syrup to thin.

Eat pancakes with plenty of raw butter and topped with the syrup!  Watch them disappear before your eyes like magic!

This also makes an excellent dessert, by rolling the pancakes containing the butter and syrup, securing with a toothpick, then adding homemade whipped cream and drizzling it all with the syrup- mmmmmmm.

I made a double-batch of the pancakes so we could have leftovers for lunch/snack sandwiches- a huge time-saver and one of our staples.  We will probably fill them with homemade cream cheese (from homemade raw milk yogurt) and some raw honey.

Enjoy!!

The answer: KID SALSA.  Super simple.  The same recipe, minus the heat.  And minus some of the cilantro too.  The kids eat it on eggs and dip cheese sticks, veggie sticks, nut crackers, chips, anything we think of.  I add a little to some of their cooled soups, to guacamole, on their hamburgers, and many other things.  They get millions of beneficial bacteria and of course, flavor.  As they get older I will probably start adding a little jalapeno and build up from there.  You’d be surprised though how the onion, garlic and herbs provide a wonderful flavor on their own.

Don’t assume this means you need to eat your salsa without the heat!  I love heat in my salsa too!  You can make the regular salsa easily at the same time (don’t forget to label it well), or even ferment just the jalepenos in a separate jar (you will get your heat but the flavors won’t taste as blended).

KID SALSA RECIPE

(adapted from Nourishing Traditions cookbook by Sally Fallon)

• 4-6 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 small onion, very finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro (or 1 tsp dried), finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
• juice of 2 lemons (or 2 Tbsp lemon juice)
• 1 Tbsp sea salt
• 4 Tbsp whey

Directions:
Mix all ingredients and place in a quart-sized, wide-mouth mason jar.  Press down lightly to remove air bubbles, and add filtered or spring water if needed to cover the vegetables completely with liquid.  The top of the vegetables should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar, as it will expand during fermentation.  Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 2-3 days before placing in fridge.  It will get better with age and last months (if you can keep from eating it all before then!).

You’ll notice I don’t peel or seed the tomatoes as in the NT recipe.  This way is much faster, I usually don’t have to add any more liquid, and my family loves the results!  Enjoy!

Our combined recipe knowledge of what works for us and our families, through years of trial and error creating delicious but still healthy meals (from pleasing toddlers to preparing large holiday meals), could probably fill volumes.  It is a continual learning process, and we hope to share some of our experiences and recipes so that others can glean ideas, and maybe even share some of their own!

Eating real food is a topic that has also led to so many other topics…from attachment parenting to using natural hair and skin products, from raising chickens in our backyard to attempting to be waste/plastic-free.  Who knew?

Lots of great things to come!