Just wanted to let y'all know that Pear Honey goes wonderfully with cinnamon-ginger pancakes! Yum!

I saw a recipe for slow-cooker beef stew. The concept was not new to to me but the recipe sounded so good that I decided to make it tonight. Poor planning, on my part caused me to have to "adapt" it, just a tad. =)  I didn't have all the ingredients and I didn't have enough time.

The missing ingredients weren't that hard to get around, actually. We didn't have stew meat, but we did have fajita strips. I went out to the garden and dug up some potatoes. I replaced some of the beef broth with wine and some with water. Also, I changed a few things to suit our preferences - less tomato paste and upped the amount of veggies.

The time issue was solved buy using a technique I often use when making stew on the stovetop. And that is, I roast the veggies in the oven, before adding them to the rest. Not only does this speed things up, but it adds color and flavor to the veggies.

So now I will try to get this into a recipe format so you can try it out and see your family enjoys it as much as mine did.

Fast, Slow-Cooked Beef Stew

1 lb stew meat (or fajita strips)
2 Tbs steak seasoning (recipe below)
All-purpose flour, as needed (about a cup)
6 or 7 medium potatoes (or as many as you care to dig)
6 or 7 carrots
1 large onion, chopped
~3.5 oz of tomato paste (I buy this paste because it comes in a jar so I don't have to use it all at once)
2 cups of red wine
3 to 4 cups  of water
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste

Spread out the beef and pat it dry with a paper towel (it doesn't have to be bone-dry). Season with steak seasoning and toss in flour to coat. Heat a few tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the meat, a few pieces at a time, adding more oil if needed. As you remove the browned meat, put it in the crockpot.

Once all the beef has been browned and removed, put the chopped onions in the skillet and cook until tender. Stir in the tomato paste and the wine and scrape up any browned bits. Simmer for couple minutes and then into the crockpot that goes too. Add about 3 cups of water, thyme, and bay leaf. Turn crockpot on low.

Meanwhile dig some potatoes, or just retrieve them from your pantry. Wash and cut them into about 2 inch cubes (peel or don't peel - it's up to you), and peel and slice the carrots. Put the potatoes and carrots into a large baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and season liberally with salt and pepper. Bake at 400º until they are just tender and have begun to brown (do not overcook).

Stir the potatoes and carrots into the meat mixture in the crockpot. Add more salt, pepper, or water, if needed, and cook on low for about 3 hours, or until veggies are cooked through. Serve with buttered bread.

Steak Seasoning

2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp (that's a good sized pinch) coriander

This is the best steak seasoning I have ever had anywhere. I make up a large batch of this to have on hand. Besides using it on steak, roasts, and beef for stew, get some extra thin-sliced steak from your butcher and season with this mix before pan frying, for the best cheese steak sandwich you'll ever make at home. Yum!

I looked at several recipes online and after checking with my mom (an experienced canner) I didn't follow any of the recipes. Here's what I did...

Peeled and cut up a bunch of slightly overripe pears, tossed them (with the peelings) in a really big pot and barely covered them with water. Brought this to a boil and then covered and simmered until the pears were mushy.

Used a potato masher to break up the pears and simmered for about another 20 mintutes. Strained this thru a cotton cloth [flat cotton diapers (not prefold) are great for this and you can by them cheap at Walmart] and measured the resulting liquid.

For the first batch, I had 10 cups. This went into a stainless steel pot and half that amount of sugar was added. So for 10 cups of juice I added 5 cups of sugar. I also added about 1/8 to 1/4 of a cup of lemon juice (to taste) and a teaspoon of vanilla (again, to taste). Brought this to a boil and simmered on med-low until it was as thick I liked. You can test for this by spooning a little on a saucer and sticking it in the fridge to cool down and then see if it is as thick as you want.

For the second batch I had 8 cups of juice so I added 4 cups of sugar, the lemon and vanilla, and it was cooked in the crockpot, on high, with the top off and an cloth draped over it. It took longer to get thick but I didn't have to stand and stir it toward the end, to keep it from burning.

For both batches, as soon as they were ready and still good and hot (keep them on low while you work) I ladled them into hot sterilized jars, wiped the rim, set the lids (these were kept ready in *very* HOT water) and screwed down the rings. Then I put the jars together on a towel and draped another towel over them so they would cool down slowly. Mom always does this and says it helps them seal better. They all sealed perfectly.

So there you have it. Not quite a recipe, but certainly a method you can follow to make your own Pear Honey. And it is SO worth it. Yum! See for yourself.

This is my version of Bunny Cake, a recipe given to me by a dear friend in the U.P. of Michigan, Jen Bach (hi, Jen!). It's called Bunny Cake because that is how some of her kids say Pannukakku. It makes a wonderfully delicious and easy breakfast! [Disclaimer: Even though I have kept the name, I do not claim that this is a propper Pannukakku.]

PANNUKAKKU (Finnish Pancake)
Pronounced "bun-a-guck-ooh"

1 stick butter
6 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 cups whole milk

In a 9x13 inch baking pan, melt the butter in the oven while it preheats to 375 degrees. Meanwhile, with electric mixer, beat eggs until blended and frothy. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until sugar is dissolved. In a separate bowl, stir salt into flour. Alternately add flour mixture and milk to egg mixture, mixing well between each addition. Add approximately 2/3 of the melted butter and mix in. Pour batter over the remaining butter in the pan.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. Serve warm.

In the photo above, it has been dusted with powdered sugar and topped with sour cream and homemade dewberry syrup. But I think my favorite way to eat it is with powdered sugar and fresh raspberries.

Ya' know I've got that Feedjit widget over in the side bar.... well I've noticed that a few of my repeat visitors arrive on the same page every time, a page other than the home page. And then they don't stay long. So I'm thinking some of you may have bookmarked my blog while you were viewing a category or a post. If that's the case, then when you show up it may look like I haven't posted anything new 'cause it's the same thing you were looking at the last time you were here. So if this is happening to you, [I'm posting this in as many catagories as I can so maybe you will see it] just click on the "Home" link in the menu at the top of the page to check for new posts.

I'd also like to invite y'all to look around the sidebar. I've added a link to a page where I will be adding videos and audios about Christianity, Health Issues, How-to, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I don't have much there yet, but I wanted you to be aware of it.

There's also a new gadget from Blogger called Followers. I didn't know what it was all about, but the description basically said it is for people who like like my blog, to let me know they are following it. It also lets folks who read my blog, find the blogs of other folks who read my blog.I figured that was cool so I added it.

Anyway, I want to encourage y'all to look around and take a little more time checking out the blog.

WR

We buy Celtic Sea Salt from The Grain & Salt Society and our latest order arrived yesterday. So I decided that, not only would I show you one of my antique store finds, I'd show you how I "prep" my salt.

First, today's favorite... This is an old general store "5 pounds" jar that I got for $5 at a really great junky little antique store (which I rarely get to shop at, let alone buy at). I love this jar!









We buy the salt in five pound bags, so this jar has been perfect for storing it.

When the salt arrives, it is still damp. When you put damp salt in a salt grinder it will clump. Not only that, but when you try to grind it will stick to the outside of the grinding mechanism and if you don't get it off it will clump up and dry hard.

So this is what I do... I cut open the bag and spread the salt out on the largest, rimmed, cookie sheet I have. Then I put it a warm oven for a few hours and stir it occasionally. When I think it's sufficiently dry, I take it out and let it come to room temperature.



Then I add powdered kelp.



I stir again, scoop it into the jar, and refill the salt grinder.



This time, I also put some in a jar for my Mom and Dad.



And here's that wonderful jar of salt.



WR

I read labels. Yep, I'm one of "those people". Ya' know, the ones you see in the grocery store, with a baby in the cart chewing on the handlebar, two other kids blocking the aisle by chasing each other around in circles screaming "I'm gonna to tickle you!", while she's distracted staring at the labels on the sour cream containers so she can find the one that just says, "Cream, Cultures".

We have been on the path to a healthier way of eating for a while now. And, even though we still aren't where we'd like to be, I thought I'd let you in on our plan to get there.

First, you have to understand that we believe the best food is real food. Real food may not be what you are used to thinking about when you think of health food. But nutrition is all about nutrients. We, as a society, seem to have lost sight of this very important fact.

We all know, at least superficially, that good health is dependent upon "good nutrition". But what that really means, is that your body relies on a steady supply of a wide variety of nutrients in order to properly function and repair itself. And the best place to get these nutrients, is from food. Specifically, nutrient-dense, real foods. Problem is, most of the food we eat here in the USA, especially the "health" foods, are either mostly devoid of usable nutrients, are "fortified" with a few synthetic nutrients that your body doesn't know what to do with, or they all contain the same few nutrients over and over again.

So, the goal we are moving toward, is to make every bite count by getting rid of the empty-calorie, processed junk and eating nutrient-dense, real foods.

These are the kinds of things we eat at our house:

• Beef
• Chicken
• Pork
• Eggs
• Milk & dairy products
• Veggies
• Fruit
• Nuts & nut butters
• Whole grain bread, rice, and pasta
• Olive oil, coconut oil, butter
• Natural sweeteners

These are the things we normally try to avoid, or are working toward eliminating from our diet:

• Soy
• High fructose corn syrup
• Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated anything
• Oils processed with solvents or high heat
• Canola oil, Soybean oil, and Safflower oil in any form
• Highly processed or chemically preserved foods
• Artificial sweeteners, colors, and flavors
• White flour (bread, pasta, etc.)
• White rice
• Sugar

The veggies we eat are organic about 95% of the time, or they come from our garden.

We don't eat very much rice or pasta (pasta is basically just empty calories), but we do eat quite a bit of bread. I don't make our bread (SweetPea would like to learn how, though), but we buy only whole wheat bread with no high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or hydrogenated oils.

When we can, we travel about 1 1/2 to 2 hours (one way) to buy organically raised, grass-fed beef, beef liver, beef bones, and pork. But that's not as often as we would like because it is a long, expensive trip. The bones are for making beef broth/stock --a very healthy, nutrient-rich food.

The milk we drink is real milk, and we would like for more of our dairy products to be raw and organic.

We usually buy eggs that come from pastured or free-range hens. As for chicken meat, buying pastured chickens is just too expensive for us right now, so we would like to start raising our own chickens for meat and eggs. We've had a few laying hens in the past so that's no biggy. But we would have to learn how to "process" [slaughter & clean] chickens at home if we didn't want a meat locker telling us which parts of our own chickens we would be allowed to keep after they'd processed them. (They usually don't let you keep the feet, heads, etc. because they can sell these to ethnic markets and exporters.)

We want to do more wild harvesting of fruit, berries, and nuts, grow our own fruit trees and berry bushes (we have some planted but they're not producing, yet), and get our mature pecan trees to produce better. But even if they don't, with a little planning, we should be able to pick up all the pecans we want from some local trees we know about.

We need to eat a wider variety of meat --like lamb, game birds, more fish, and venison. The venison shouldn't be hard to find, here in the Southeast. But you pretty much have to be a hunter to get game birds inexpensively. And lamb may be a pipe dream, unless we raise our own. And though we do have the land to raise at least one lamb or miniature cow, none of us are familiar with animal husbandry so that's kind of a scary thought. LOL!

And I'm looking forward to adding tallow, schmaltz, and lard our list of cooking fats, but we haven't found affordable organic sources for them yet. I plan to ask the butcher about beef and pork fat the next time we make the trip. If I can get the raw fat from him then I will render it to make tallow and lard. To learn more about why we would include these supposedly unhealthy fats, click HERE.

The sweeteners we use are honey, maple syrup, molasses, stevia, and occasionally one of the varieties of unrefined sugar. Unrefined sugar isn't completely unrefined, it's just sugar that has not had all the molasses and nutrients removed in order to make it white and give it a more neutral flavor. It resembles brown sugar, but conventional brown sugar is just white sugar with some things added back in to make it brown and flavorful - it doesn't have the nutrients of the cane juice that it came from.

Another thing we need to eat more of is fermented and cultured foods. I used to make kombucha but I ruined the SCOBY's. Just recently, an OLF volunteered to send me some of her spares. So as soon as they arrive, I'll be in the 'bucha making bidness again!

We do eat organic, whole milk yogurt with live cultures, and I make kefir. I use the kefir in just about anything that I would use buttermilk in. But other than Pickle and myself, no one else in the family will drink it straight. Although, Rooster and SweetPea do get some in an occasional smoothie. So, I ought to get my act together and make some sauerkraut, more beet kvass, and try some of the recipes I have for fermented condiments and "pickled" veggies.

Now I must admit that during our yeast cleanse, things have been different. We buy stuff I would never normally buy, because it is "legal" on the diet, convenient, and keeps us all from feeling deprived. Also, Bull "has to have" sodas (I find myself craving them, too). So he brings home at least one 2 liter just about every weekend and we all partake. Usually he'll only bring home sodas that are made with sugar instead of HFCS. During the candida cleanse it has been only sodas sweetened with Splenda (which is one of those things I would normally avoid like the plague).

I know that some of the things I've talked about, need some 'splanin' but that will have to wait 'til another day and another post. I just wanted to get started on this topic and so this post is the first but not the last time I will talk about what I'm learning and trying to put into practice concerning real food and nutrition.

WR

Probiotics are a must, while on a Candida cleanse. You have to replace the Candida that you're killing off, with something that will compete against what remains and keep it at bay. Otherwise it will just keep growing back. I bought some probiotic supplements but I also make my own in the form of.... KEFIR!

Kefir is an odd word (but then, kefir is an odd beverage so it's only fitting). It doesn't follow English phonic rules. Of course, it's not an English word, so why should it?

When we try to apply our phonic rules to the word kefir we come up with kē'-fûr or KEE-fur. LOL! That sounds so funny to me! I'm a Southern gal, so I know what it's like to be laughed at for how you talk.... but, KEE-fur coming out of the mouths of otherwise very dignified folks, never fails to make me smirk. I sounds like a nickname I would have come up with in jr. high if I'd had any friends named Keith. "Hey! Keith... Keif-FEE... KEE-fur, meh man!"

But I've heard the correct pronunciation from a Russian acquaintance (also from recordings online) and apparently, it's pronounced with a short e and a short i sound, kě-fĭr' or keh-FEAR, with the emphasis on the second syllable. It sounds sort of mysterious and foreign, but pleasant. Not at all like an annoying nickname. LOL!

Well, enough of that...
Now, on to the kefir grains!

Beware: what you are about to see are kefir grains in their naked state... au naturel... nothin' on but a milk coat. Don't be afraid, they are harmless (and it is only a picture). In fact these ugly little fellows might become your best budd's. Some folks become very attached to their grains. I used to call mine Freddy, Fred, and Ed, but then they kept multiplying, so now I just call them The Bumpy Boys.

And these are they, er, them, er.... Here they are!

Or at least some of them. I recently decided to split up the gang and start making two batches at once. And so I photographed the process so I could do this little show and tell.

Now, on to the making of the kefir!
This is really simple, folks. Here's the equipment.

Kefir grains (in the Newman's Own jar), a clean spoon to get them out (oh, and a clean bowl, if you want to wash them --or take a picture of them), a clean jar for the new batch to percolate in, and milk (I use real milk and highly recommend it -- just look at the cream line on that milk! Yumm.).

After you've got all that together, fish out the grains with the clean spoon... [Now some folks are really upset at me right now 'cause I'm telling you that you can use a metal spoon. It's supposedly a no-no to let metal touch the grains. But I think that's been blown way out of proportion. Sure, it would be pretty dumb to store your kefir or kefir grains in a copper pot or some such thing --you'll kill 'em. But I don't think that a two second ride on a stainless steel spoon is going to leave a lasting impression on their health. Ok, now on with the show!]

...and either wash them off with filtered water (no chlorine! chlorine is used to kill microorganisms --Duh!) or just plop them in the clean jar. Some folks wash them every time. I washed them this time, but I usually don't. I read a study that said they are healthier and produce more probiotics if you don't wash them so often.

But let's say you washed them. Then, pour the milk in the jar up to where it starts to curve, and add the grains.

Put the lid on the jar, but don't tighten it too tight. You want air to be able to escape. And put the jar in a warm, but not hot, place. Shake the jar a few times in the next twenty-four hours (remember to tighten the lid first and loosen it after).

I usually leave the jar out for twelve hours, and then put it in the fridge for twelve, before using the kefir. But these two batches had to be left out longer because I was using fewer grains per batch.

The finished product should be slightly thick, kinda like a yogurt smoothie. And it will have a sharp taste, kinda like a mix between plain yogurt and buttermilk.

Now on to drinking the Kefir!
Here's a batch that's thru ripening. I had just poured some for Pickle and there he is drinking it.

Here's a picture to show you the characteristic pattern that forms when kefir washes down the sides of the jar.

Now on to more info!
Here's a website with more information about kefir than you ever wanted to know. Dom's Kefir In-Site

Here's to your health!
WR

Fried chicken and mashed potatoes just go together. And if you have any leftover, this is what you can do with them (Granny Trudy showed me this). It's so simple --this will be a short post.

If you have fried chicken strips, then just cut them into bite-sized pieces. If you have bone-in fried chicken, then pull it off the bone, trying to keep as much breading intact as you can (I also pull the crispy breading off the bones and add that to the meat). Then, cut it into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

Put about 3 TBSP of butter in a skillet on medium heat. After butter melts, add 2 TBSP flour. [These measurements will depend on how much chicken you have.] Mix it together and let it cook for a minute. Stir in milk and/or chicken stock, depending on what you have. Keep stirring 'til smooth but don't let it start thickening yet. Add the chicken and gently stir 'til the gravy is thickened and chicken is warmed thru. Season to taste. Spoon over warmed mashed potatoes.

WR

I just wanted to brag on my Princess (SweetPea). She is learning to cook and one of the things we are doing is reading a book called The Mary Frances Cook Book, written by Jane Eayre Fryer in 1912. The author wrote several books about the Mary Frances character that were aimed at teaching children different skills. So, of course the cookbook is about learning to cook. You can read it online at http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/html/books/book_64.cfm

Here is one of the recipes, from that book, that SweetPea made...

Hi Ms. Rose!
Sis told me you'd be popping in for some recipes so I thought I should post some.

Three Cheese Chicken Enchiladas
These are THE BEST!!! I got the recipe from Steph's Country Kitchen Goodness back before she bought into the "low fat is healthy" garbage and changed a lot of her recipes. But that's a rant for another day. LOL! These are soooo yummy!

1/3 cup olive oil
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas (preferably yellow corn tortillas, but white corn will do)
2 (10 oz) cans red enchilada sauce
3 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 or 3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onions

1. Heat oven to 350°.

2. In 8-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat until hot. With tongs, dip each tortilla in hot oil, turning quickly to soften, about 3 seconds; set aside.

3. In large bowl, stir together cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Stir in salt, cumin and pepper. Stir in chicken, 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, Cheddar cheese and green onions.

4. Pour enchilada sauce in shallow dish (pie plate works well). Dip tortillas in enchilada sauce to lightly coat. Place chicken mixture in tortilla; roll. Place tortillas, seam side down, in a lightly greased 13x9-inch baking dish. Cover with remaining enchilada sauce.

5. Bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle remaining Monterey Jack cheese over enchiladas and bake 3 minutes longer. Garnish with sour cream and/or guacamole, if desired.

I made this for the whole family a while back, and even the coconut-haters liked it.

When I was growing up, the best part of going to McDonald's was the fried apple pies! I was very disappointed when they switched to the baked ones they sell these days.

Well, an online friend turned me onto a homemade version [thanks HB!] and I cooked some up the other day. It's still not quite the same but it's as close as you're likely to get at home.

I bought some egg roll wrappers and apples in the organic section of the grocery store (the wrappers aren't organic, but are "all natural"). I chose Red Delicious apples, instead of a more traditional baking apple, because.... well, because they were cheaper. ;o)

Normally I would have peeled and sliced the apples, put them in a pot with a little honey, cinnamon, and lemon juice, and then cooked them down a little to make a pie filling. But because Red Delicious apples are not very firm, I decided not to cook them and simply tossed the slices in some lemon juice and cinnamon, then sprinkled a little sugar over them to pull out some moisture. I let them sit for a while and stirred them every once in a while to help with the "cooking" the sugar was doing.

Meanwhile, I pulled out the egg roll wrappers and filled a small baby food jar with water. I put some coconut oil in a pan and put it on med-high heat.

The next step was to assemble and fry! With my finger, I ran some water all around the edge of a wrapper and a line down the middle. Then placed a spoonful of apple filling on one half of the wrapper, folded the other half over it, and crimped all the way around with a fork. Poked a hole in the top of the pie (so it won't explode!) and deep fried it in the hot oil, turning once.

When it reached the golden brown and delicious stage on both sides, I took it out and let it drain on a paper towel (or you can do what my mom always did and drain on a brown paper bag).

That's it! Yummy!



WR

When I make chili I usually try to stretch it out over two or three meals. I start by getting out my favorite "No Beans", tomato-based chili recipe. Not that I follow it, but it is nice to have a frame of reference.

Then I make the chili but I leave out the tomatoes... well most of the tomatoes. I do add tomato paste or a small can of tomato sauce. And even though this leaves me with a lot less total mass in the pot, I still add the full measure of seasonings (and sometimes more). I also use beef broth to keep it loose enough to not stick and burn. What I end up with is a concentrated chili flavored meat mixture (chili starter).

Then I divide it up according to how many meals I have planned for it.

Some ideas are:

1. Chili, of course. :0) Just add a few cans of stewed tomatoes, kidney beans, and a little beef broth if you need it. Let it simmer for a while so the flavors can get to know each other better, and there you have it.
2. Chili Mac. Add some beef broth and a small can of tomatoes, drained, or tomato sauce, or ketchup - whatever you like (or you could leave it as is and just use less of it). Simmer. Add to your favorite mac n cheese recipe.
3. Chili cheese fries. Same as above. Then fry some fries, make a cheese sauce... you get the idea.
4. And an all time favorite - chili dogs.

WR