I've moved!

Well, thankfully not in real life. This blog has moved! The new home can be found at http://livinggracefully.wordpress.com/ where I share life stories about being a person, mother, parent; crafts I make; thoughts on living simply; and, of course food links and recipes.

Come on over!

Lasater Grasslands Beef

We recieved 72 lbs of beef to place in our small detached freezer this Wednesday from Lasater Grasslands Beef. They are a non certified organic Coloradan ranch specializing in Beef in all shapes and forms. They were written about in The Organic Cooks Bible and comes highly recommended from a variety of sources.

The Verdict (aka review of Lasater Grasslands Beef):

Pros -

• Great meat at a great price
• Smaller (much smaller) than a half a side of beef - it will actually FIT in our freezer
• Environmentally friendly, freezer paper wrapping
• Clearly labled packages
• Everything stayed frozen, even waiting all day for me to get home from work!

Cons -

• Some of the ground beef was banged up and the freezer paper was ripped
• Freezer paper wrapped meat is iffy to me - will it stand the test of time in the freezer?
• It still came out to $6.24 a pound for the meat. I get that's a good price for organic beef - BUT that's not as frugal as I would like it to be. And I can get organic, local ground beef for 3.75 a lb at a coop.
• It came in a styrofoam cooler - but it remained frozen - I just hate to put styrofoam into the landfill. :(

All, in all, I'm excited about our order and I KNOW we are doing the right thing for our family. It's just hard to shell out the money for good food - even knowing that we'll be eating less meat in the long run!


Amount of Beef we received this week - 2.12 = 2 lbs, 12 oz.

Box 1
Backribs 2.12
Short Ribs 2.01
Soup Bone 1.15
Chuck Roast 3.06
Rump Roast 3.09
Top Round 1.06
Stew Meat 1.01 1.01
New York Steak 0.09 0.1
Rib Eye 0.09 0.12
Ground Beef 15.15


Box2
Pikes Peak Roast 3.15
Pot Roast 3.12
English Roast 3.08
Top Round 1.02
Skirt Steak 0.15
Top Sirloin 0.15
Sirloin Tip 0.14
Soup Bone 1.11
New York Steak 0.1 0.1
Rib Eye 0.11 0.12
Ground Beef 17.01


I participated in the Nourishing Gourmet's Pennywise Platter and Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday!

Rhythm of the Home

I am constantly in search of articles, stories, blogs and activities that I, as a full time work out of the home mom can use to cherish my child and encourage creativity with her. I have started a schedule and have been using organization as tools to encourage her development. Our house is as natural and non commercial as I can stand - we try to limit her consumption, but that is difficult as *I* also have to limit my consumption! She paints on a weekly basis and takes part in science often, but I NEED more ideas for her to do. I need ideas on how to be a mindful parent. I need to remember that I don't need to consume. I need to connect with like minded parents. Rhythm of the Home provides that. When you have a moment, check them out - whether you have children or not. Many of the ideas can be used for anyone of any age!

Check their blog out right now - they are doing a cool giveaway!

Gluten Free Dairy Free Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients
1 32 oz package frozen hashbrowns
1 large onions/2 small onions browned in your choice of fat
1/2 lb sausage (I used a sweet breakfast sausage - I'd rather have used a savory) cooked

1 cup homemade stock WITH THE FAT (I used beef) - If no fat, use another source of fat for 2 TBS or so
1/2 cup milk substitute heated with the stock until reduced - 20 minutes or so over med heat.

1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp salt, 1 TSP all purpose spice rub mix
a big dash of hope

Food Inc

I will never look at food the same way again.

I have known for a while about the horrors associated with the food industry. Who HASN'T seen the bumper sticker for v*gans with the sick looking cow saying "EAT THIS". But it is so easy to just turn the other way. There are aisles of food - I've taken to believing that if I stick to the outside of the supermarket - meats and veggies mainly, I'd be missing out on all the crap that is in packaged candy, chips, sodas, etc.

I couldn't be more wrong. There is no reprieve from the repressive evils of the American food system. Do I sound dramatic? ;) Ok. This is a little dramatic. But, unfortunately, also true. Since we have gone gluten/dairy free, we've eaten more meat. And in doing so I've placed toxins like none other in my families bodies. Meat toxins.

The movie.... Well, Food Inc. was vastly entertaining. It was educational, but it also (I have to tell the truth) viewed a little like a scare tactic film. "Let's be as bold, loud and scary and get people to change their ways." I would have rather have more documentary and intelligent conversation than scare tactics. But I get where they are coming from. I highly doubt I would be writing this right now if I didn't feel an immediate sense of urgency from the film. That urgency comes from being saddened and sickened from the film.

I know I will be making a change in my life. I hope you'll at least watch the film and make a decision for yourself.

How to create a "healthy" recipe

What is my definition of "healthy"? What are my restrictions? What is the top of my list right now of things to change about mydiet? What am I willing to do without? Those are just some of the things I think about when I try to take a gluten free/casein free recipe and work it into a more "traditional foods" recipe.

Take my blondies that I wrote about in an earlier post. Here's the original recipe - here's what I ended up using. I happen to love sweet things. And I just found out about some sort of dairy intolerance through an elimination diet. And I also know that if I don't have something sweet I will cheat on my diet. So I make brownies. I have a (great in my opinion) recipe for black bean brownies which I love - but I don't feel decadent while eating them. So I took an old recipe that I love and switched it around. Here's what I thought about while trying to figure out the recipe.

1. The first thing that popped out at me was the oil. "Hey, I can get coconut oil in there!"
2. I figured I could switch a starch - I switched potato starch for arrowroot. In my "healthy eating book" arrowroot is a better starch - I'm not all knowing so feel free to correct my assumption!
3. I did NOT want to attempt different sugars this time. Next time, I'm planning on on lowering the liquids and upping the agave nectar/honey. This time, it was important to me to have a sweet, yummy, gooey decadent treat. I was not willing to give that up.
4. My dietary restrictions were met - the recipe was already gluten/casein free. Yay.

Those are just some of my thoughts on the matter - feel free to share your own!
This is posted at Real Food Wednesday! Take a look!

Fudgy Blondies

When my family first became gluten free, I LIVED for Karina. I lusted after her life and loved her more sweetly than any lover can love someone. Because when your life is turned upside down, you have no choice anymore. Karina gave me choice. Even better than that, Karina understood my life. Now, as my family is gluten AND dairy free, Karina is a lovely go to. These Fudgy blondies are not healthy. They have to much refined sugar (albeit BROWN sugar - I plan on trying these with different sugars, but I deviated so much from the original recipe, I didn't want to try something new. Here's the original recipe. Here's my modifications taken mostly from the original recipe.

1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup gf oat flour
1/2 cup arrowroot
1/4 cup tapioca
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup Coconut oil
1 1/2 cups organic light brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons raw agave nectar
5-6 tablespoons milk - I had almond so I used almond milk- as needed
1 egg

Add the wet ingredients into the dry mix and stir till well combined. If the dough is way too stiff, add one tablespoon of rice milk at a time to soften. Add a spoon at a time until the dough holds together- it should be sturdy and glossy.
To Make Vanilla Brownies: Plop the dough (recipe above) into a 9x13-inch baking pan lined with greased foil, and spread the dough evenly. Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 22 to 25 minutes, until the center is firm to the touch and a wooden pick inserted into the brownies emerges clean.Makes 18 generous brownies.

Thanksgiving Food 2009

Thanksgiving is almost here. We are blessed to be able to have our small family all together, with C NOT working tomorrow - it's a first. Thanksgiving with 3 people is a simple affair, we'll have plenty of leftovers, lots of love and thankfulness to share. I got a start on the meal today, making the pie in advance, as well as the bread, and croutons for the stuffing/dress. I wanted to do the cranberry sauce, and maybe the yams, but decided to start work on some of the handmade gifts I'm making for Christmas.

Our menu consists of:
Once I decide recipes I'll post the recipes here! Not great for this year, but at least I'll know where to look for next year!

Turkey
Dressing/Stuffing made with homemade bread
Homemade bread (what an amazing recipe!)
Homemade cranberry sauce
potatoes (C REALLY wants them....)
Yams with homemade marshmallows
green beans - one way or another. I haven't decided what to do with them
And PUMPKIN PIE!