Besides wishing I had bought more from this farmer, I am grateful I am done cracking them and have them safely stowed in our freezer.  We will run out by mid-summer at the rate we are going through them in our walnut-flour baking craze allowed in GAPs.

RECIPE:

Pesto Walnuts for Salads

Soak nuts 24 hours as per Nourishing Traditions directions on crispy nuts.  Dehydrate.

Toast some walnuts in low temp oven.  Take out and put in bowl. Add olive oil and stir to coat.  Add grated parmesan cheese, dried basil, and salt to taste and mix to combine.

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!

These little babies will be tossed into my food processor and then added to my 4 quarts of Kimchee today.  Instead of peeling each itty bitty carrot I scraped and brushed off what dirt I could, then not plan to worry about it.  What good are fermented vegies without a little dirt anyhow?  I will call it GAPs Friendly Kimchee (recipe courtesy of Nourishing Traditions).  Hopefully my husband won’t notice too much grit!

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.

Dear Mrs. XXX and Mrs. XXX,

It has come to my understanding that my daughter and her classmates receive candy and sweets as rewards for things at school.  I have to request that my daughter be excused from this practice.  I believe very strongly that this only hurts her mental and physical health. This might not be the case for other kids otherwise other parents probably would be complaining. We try very hard to only give our children healthy, wholesome, traditional unprocessed foods. By doing so we understand this goes against the norm and this has been a challenge we have had to overcome.

I haven’t wanted my daughter be considered “different” than her peers so I have been ignoring this since the first time she came home with it, but I can no longer allow the candy eating.  Since when is it okay to give food rewards in the first place?  Isn’t that a well known “no no” with today’s rising child obesity? I am not worried about obesity with my daughter but I see it all around me and it is horrifying.  I would be more then happy to donate trinket toys and stickers etc…. to serve as replacement for the candy rewards if that would be of use to you.

Please call or email me any time for any reason about this or any concerns you might have. #XXX-XXXX

Thank you for your dedication and all you do to inspire and teach my little girl, teaching is such a noble calling and must be rewarding.

Sincerely,

Jill XXX

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!!

Photo Credit: NPS/Michael Liang

Except that it begs other questions such as:  Whose science?  Who paid for the research? Problem is, I don’t have the answers.

I read voraciously all things health-related so I can’t always recall where I read or heard something groundbreaking.  As one ages, knowledge is filtered through many years of skepticism and experience.  I think the most needed tool or talent is being able to sort through all the claims, most of which are designed to sell some product.  And so I have become pretty darn shrewd at discriminating the difference.

Once the family has had time to adjust to the new normal of “What?? No more fast food ever again?” in baby steps, then the real work begins.  Not just the work in the kitchen, but the work in the mind.  Getting one’s head around becoming foodie outcasts in your family and friends’ circle takes time and patience.  And forgiveness.

Along the way many stages must be overcome: Anger at the lies we are told about how to achieve vibrant health. Impatience over why everyone doesn’t share our urgent angst that we are facing a health crisis in our nation. Frustration at being labeled fanatic because we say we know why people are getting so sick at younger and younger ages. Food that I prepare being eyed suspiciously at the table by my family and friends  who wonder what “healthy” foods I am trying to sneak into them this time.

I am finally at the point of realizing that none of these obstacles are as important as the threat of ill health facing my children, my grandchildren, and our nation.  Arriving at this conviction took time for me.  So my message is to please forgive yourself for the past and just look forward.  Fortify yourself and renew your conviction by reading uplifting stories of health regained.  Remember that once you have been given the knowledge, you are now responsible to keep it safe.  And whatever you do, use the strength that you are gaining to keep those oars firmly planted in the water!

~Cassie

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!

My life was changed forever as I started down the path of educating myself in healthy living as a responsible parent.  What my friends call “obsession with healthy food,” I call today’s necessary reality.

My goal is to personally honor the Creator’s plan for every single living, breathing human being: To share the joy of vibrant health as our ancestors did, enabling us to live productive and full lives unbeset by illness.

The movement toward healthier living is gaining steam worldwide, albeit too slowly for this impatient ol’ gramma.  But by telling our stories here, and by sharing what we have learned along the way, we three hope to make the path easier for all.  And if we can even make it fun, that’s just gravy (especially the yummy, full fat kind)!  So let’s get rockin’ & rollin’ (out the dough that is)!

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!