Food swaps! Trade your homegrown fruit for something you need!

If you have a fruit tree of any kind, you are probably faced with a surplus of fruit every season and have no idea what to do with it. Well waste no more! People across the globe with excess food items are getting together to exchange their excess goods by participating in food swaps, all thanks to the Food Swap Network(FSN). FSN is a nonprofit organization that provides a central place in which people can connect with others in their town, to barter their own excess goods with others who have excess goods.  The goods can range from things like homemade pickles, preserves, oils, and honey, to things like advocado's, lemons, veggies, herbs and eggs. How awesome would it be to trade your apples for fresh free range eggs?!  So if you have lemons or apples that go to waste every year because you cant eat them all, you may want to check out the local food swap club in your area.  FSN has more than 125 swaps around the world. If your city doesn't have one you could always start one. Go online now to sign up for your first swap: http://www.foodswapnetwork.com/

What would be your dream swap? I'd love to get some fresh eggs, or some kumquats!
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Berbere Chicken

Berbere Chicken

I am always searching for new ways to reinvent chicken dinners. I ran across a recipe for berbere chicken years ago and I have been making it ever since. The recipe I originally had for berbere had spices that are not available here in the states so I made some adjustments and came up with this blend of spices. Berbere is an Moroccan/Ethiopian spice blend. The list of spices for this blend is pretty long, but every spice adds to the flavor profile of this dish, and the final result is a flavor explosion  in your mouth after every bite.  I love making this Berbere spice blend because my house always smells amazing after doing it. The smell certainly gets me excited about the dinner to come.  Most of the work for this dish involves toasting the spices. So if you can do this ahead of time, then half the work of making this dish is done. I throw all the spices in a dry cast iron skillet and let the magic that comes from toasting spices occur.  After I toast the spices, I put them in a spice grinder. If you're using all powdered spices, then you can skip this step. But I wouldn't, even when I use powdered spices, I throw them in my spice grinder. I find that doing so really opens up the flavors of the spices even more. The recipe for the spice blend makes enough for several batches of Berbere chicken. Just store any unused berbere spice in an air tight container for up to 3 months. This dish is full of flavor and pairs well with roasted veggies of any kind.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons of Paprika I used a smoked
1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon of ground ginger
1 tablespoon of cumin seeds or ground cumin
1teaspoon of ground turmeric
1teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of fenugreek powder, or seeds
1 teaspoon of coriander
6 cardmom pods or 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of allspice
1/2 teaspoon of black peppercorns
8 whole cloves
6 Organic chicken legs
2 tablespoons of organic olive oil

Directions for spice blend:
Place all the spices in a dry cast iron skillet and cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly until toasted about 3-5 minutes. Cool completely  place all ingredients in a spice grinder or blender until finely ground. Transfer to an air tight storage container for up to 3 months.

Directions for chicken:
Preheat the oven to 375F. Generously season chicken legs with sea salt , then sprinkle with Berbere spice and pat the mixture in.

 Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet, add the chicken legs and brown without disturbing 3-4 minutes on each side. Transfer the skillet with the browned legs to the oven.

Let cook until chicken has cooked through entirely about 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and serve with lemon slices.

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Graham Crackers

Cinnamon Graham Crackers

Going into the store now a days is quite a test of wills between me and my daughter. She is always asking to have the box of cookies/crackers/treats with the picture of Elmo on it.  I find myself trying to avoid that aisle all together, but the marketers have this kind of stuff all figured out--smart bastards-- they put those products on the same aisle as the children's vitamins and hygene products, so it's almost unavoidable! Luckily for now my daughter has a short attention span, so I find that if I just let her play with the box while we are in the store, and give her an apple just before we leave the store, I can get out of the store without buying the box of treats, which she probably won't eat anyway. It's tough but us moms have skills too you smart alec marketers! Have you ever read the ingredients on some of these snacks? If you have then you probably know that they're full of things that are hard to spell, and that probably aren't good for you.  I wanted to buy my daughter some healthy graham crackers to go along with some marshmallows that I made. But I read the ingredients on a box at the store, and not one of the boxes contained actual graham flour. Weird, considering the crackers are named for the use of that very flour.  So I bought some graham flour, and set out to make my own.  You can find graham flour at Whole foods, or on Amazon. It's pretty inexpensive, about $3 for enough flour to make at least 10 batches of these crackers. If you consider that 1 box of graham crackers is $4 then you know you're saving! You can play around with the use of the second flour in this recipe, as I did.  I made these with all purpose, coconut, and spelt flour.  I can tell you that the difference in taste is hard to decipher.  The coconut flour definitely took some fidgeting with, because it absorbs so much liquid, so I had to add much more water to that batch. But whatever flour you decide to use, just know that the final product will still be delicious.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of graham flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of spelt or all purpose flour
1/4 cup of coconut sugar, or maple sugar, or organic cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons of  chilled butter, cut and cubed
3 tablespoons of water
1 tablespoon of molasses
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Equipment needed:
Parchment paper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place all of the dry ingredients into your food processor and pulse to combine. Add in the butter and pulse until mixture resembles course corn meal.

Add in the wet ingredients and process until dough becomes a ball.

Roll dough out between to pieces of parchment paper until dough is about 1/8 inch thick.

Remove top layer of parchment and cut out shapes or use a pastry flute or knife to cut out 2.5 inch squares.

Remove any excess dough and set aside so that you can roll it again. Place the parchment paper with the cut out crackers onto a cookie sheet, and bake for 15 minutes, turning them mid-way, bake until they are golden brown and the edges are firm. Be careful to check on these often they burn easily. Repeat this process with any remaining dough. Let the crackers cool on a cookie rack, and then enjoy!

Okay give me your best grocery shopping with little ones tips, I really need them!!

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Homemade Marshmallows

Homemade Marshmallows

Becoming a parent has afforded me the benefit of seeing the world anew.  I love watching my daughter get such pleasure from the smallest of things. Interacting with her reminds me of all the fun I had as a kid, and all the things that brought me pleasure; like having cookouts, going to the beach with my family, eating ice cream, candy, s'mores and toasted marshmallows. I want her to have all of those same pleasures, but without all the additives, and sugar. This is every moms wish I suppose. Some of us just give in and buy the box of cookies, and others like myself let the guilt eat us and try to offer our children other alternatives. Last week I was feeling very nostalgic and I wanted to let my daughter have a s'more. I could have bought store bought marshmallows, and graham crackers, but both are super easy to make, at home. So I decided to give them both a go, (recipe for the graham crackers coming soon).  This recipe for marshmallows is actually pretty good for you.  I used an organic grass-fed gelatin, which is composed of the amino acids, glycine and proline. These amino acids are great for over all immune health, and they are required for proper skin, hair, and nail growth. They also aid in digestion. These marshmallows contain no refined sugar. I used maple sugar, but you could use, agave, honey, coconut sugar, all are great options. Even if you use white table sugar, these will still be preservative free and very, very good! If you are like me and love marshmallow fluff, then dig into the finished product right away! It's super gooey and delicious! If messy isn't your thing, then wait and let them set.

Makes
45 marshmallows

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15
Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
1 and 1/4 Tablespoons of unflavored grass-fed gelatin
1 cup of maple sugar
1/2 cup of cold  water divided
1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon of sea salt

Equipment
A stand mixer or hand mixer

Directions:
Line a 13 by 9 inch baking pan with foil:

Pour 1/4 cup of the water into mixer bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let sit until gelatin becomes very firm about 15 minutes:

Meanwhile,  add sugar, the remaining water and salt to a pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook gently swirling the pan until the sugar has dissolved completely and the temperature reaches 240 degrees, about 6-8 minutes:

Turn the mixer on low  and slowly add the hot sugar mixture to the gelatin:

Once the sugar mixture is added, turn the mixer on high. Beat until firm peaks form, and the mixture is very thick about 10-12 minutes:

Pour out into a foil lined pan. Smooth out, and enjoy immediately, or cover and allow to set at room temperature over night.

When you are ready, you can cut out cute shapes like I did, or just squares.  I lightly dusted a cutting board with some cornstarch, and turned the marshmallow slab out onto the cutting board.  Then I spayed my cookie cutters with coconut oil, and made these lovely shapes:

These go great with graham crackers and chocolate, or in my recipe for Banana Marshmallow Split!

Do tell, what are some of your favorite childhood treats? Do you still eat them?

How to roast chicken-Steps to making the perfect roast chicken everytime!

Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken

Roasted chicken is universal. Almost every culture has some version of roasted chicken in their culinary history. However, as universal as roast chicken is, many still have a hard time making it. Just yesterday someone I follow posted a before and after picture of a roast chicken on Instagram. The bird was pasty before it went in the oven, and the bird was still pasty after it came out of the oven. I felt bad for this Instagramer because I've been there. The truth is that roasting a bird perfectly begins with steps that are made long before the bird goes in the oven. If you master these steps, I guarantee you that your roast chickens will come out of the oven, perfectly marinated, juicy and with a skin that is crackling and golden brown.

Step 1. Pick the right chicken! Organic, non GMO, and air chilled is the way to go! Why? Because conventional chickens are stored in salt water to plump them up before you buy them. A water logged chicken can taste good, but it will likely be harder to get a crispy crust on a water logged chicken, than one that is not water logged. Note: Read the label on the chicken, most chickens in the supermarket have  up to 4% retained water because they are dropped in a 34 degree chlorinated water bath before they are sold. Air chilled chickens are not exposed to water, so getting a crisp skin on an air chilled chicken is easier.

Step 2.  Brining! Most of you are probably thinking, "but you just said not to buy a water logged chicken, now you're telling me to brine it?!" I said it, and I meant it!  There are other ways to brine without water.
Salt brining. This will change your life! Salt brining literally is what it sounds like, you thoroughly salt the chicken, put it in a Zip-Loc and let it sit over night. Salt does two things, it retains moisture and it pulls out moisture. This is a wonderful thing for a small bird like a chicken, because it doesn't take longer than an hour to cook, so the amount of moisture it looses because of the salt brine is not significant enough for it to dry out. But it pulls out just enough moisture on the surface of the bird to make the skin crisp. At the same time it breaks down the protein, which means moist, tender, and well seasoned chicken!

Step 3. The skin needs to be rubbed with oil, not butter. Although butter tastes great, it contains 16-18% water and 80% fat. Water is an enemy to getting perfectly crispy skin on a roast chicken. If you want to use butter to flavor your chicken, then by all means do so. Just make sure to put the butter where it will do the most good..under the skin in the breast bone. If you want crisp brown skin, use oil, it does not contain water, it is 100% fat, so it will result in a chicken that is so beautifully brown, you may not want to cut it...note I said may not, after you get a whiff of the this delicious chicken all bets are off.

Step 4. Bake on a high temperature from the start. Most people reverse bake roast chickens, meaning they bake at a lower temperature for a longer period of time so the chicken doesn't dry out, and then blast it at the end on a higher temp in hopes of browning the skin.  Seems plausible enough but results are often not consistent. Take my advice, bake your chicken on 450 degrees farenheight for 45 minutes to 1 hour, your chicken will come out perfect every time.

Recipe for brine
1.5 tablespoons of Sea salt or kosher salt for every 1 pound bird.

Sprinkle the salt all over the bird, place in a large bag and let sit over night. When your ready to cook it, add the oil and any herb you want--rub with a little garlic, bake it for 45 minutes to one hour, and Wah-La perfectly roasted chicken!

Roasted Chicken with Lemon and Garlic

Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken

I love to roast chicken whole.  It is the epitomy of lazy cooking in my opinion, however, the payoff is amazing! You marinate the chicken, stick it in the oven for an hour, and you're done.  I've mastered the art of roast chicken.  My roast chicken is famous among my friends and family. Brining is the secret to perfectly roasted chicken, but I'll save that for a another post, (click Here to see that post). For now I'll just give you a recipe for perfectly roasted chicken.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time : 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour

Ingredients
1 Whole Organic non-GMO Chicken
4 cloves of garlic, pasted
The juice of 1 lemon
The zest of 1 lemon
Sea salt
Black pepper
2 Tablespoons of olive oil

Servings: 4-6

Directions:
In a small bowl add the pasted garlic, lemon zest and oil.

 Rub the the olive oil  mixture all over the Chicken, and season it generously with sea salt and pepper.

Place the chicken in a 450F degree oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Remove once the chicken has cooked through and the skin is crispy and golden brown. Pour the the lemon juice over the chicken, let rest for 10 minutes and serve.

Do you have any tips for roasting chicken? 

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Banana Marshmallow Split!

Banana Marshmallow Split

I wasn't going to post this on the blog, just because this is so easy to make, it barely needs directions. I made this dessert after making a fresh batch of marshmallows, I'll post the recipe for those soon. This is a super yummy single serve dessert that isn't involved at all. But it's so yummy that you'll probably want to make it all the time. Sometimes I add peanut butter to this, or almond butter and sliced almonds. You can even add sliced strawberries if you want to make it fancy.

Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 7 Minutes

Ingredients:
1 Banana split down the middle
1-2 squares of a good quality chocolate (chopped into small pieces) ( I used 60% organic fair trade bittersweet chocolate)
4-6 miniature marshmallows
2-3 walnuts crushed

Equipment needed:
Foil

Serves: 1

Directions:

 Place the chocolate and marshmallows inside the slit banana:

Cover with foil. Bake in a 400F degree oven for 5 minutes:

Remove the banana peel. Place in a serving bowl, top with crushed walnuts and enjoy!

Share your favorite single serving dessert recipes? I'd love to try some new ones;-)

Pineapple fruit roll-ups

Pineapple Fruit Roll-Ups

Dried pineapple is one of my favorite low fat snacks. It's sweet, tangy, and addicting. Like a potato chip you can't eat just one. My daughter shares my love of dried pineapple, but dried pineapple rings are a bit harder for her to chew on her own. These fruit roll-ups are super easy for her to eat, and at the same time healthy. The added bonus of making these fruit roll-ups yourself, is that they do not contain any added sugar, additives, or preservatives, unlike the fruit leather you buy in the grocery store. This pineapple fruit roll-up is 100 percent fruit and nothing else, so they definitely are a snack that you can feel okay about giving your little ones. Start with a ripe pineapple and let your oven or dehydrator do the rest!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 4-6 hours
Total Time: 6 hours 5 minutes Ingredients:
1 ripe pineapple, skin removed and core disposed of. Note if you have a high powered blender like a Vitamix, you can leave the core in.

Equipment:
Blender
Parchment paper

Directions: Place pineapple in the blender, and blend until smooth:

Pour out onto parchment paper and smooth out evenly:

Place in oven on 135 degrees Fahrenheit, or the lowest setting on your oven. Let bake for 4-6 hours.


Remove from parchment paper,

 Roll, and enjoy!! If you like these try my recipe for Strawberry Fruit Roll-Up or my recipe for Tropical Punch Fruit Roll-Ups! Both are great low-fat, and low calorie snack options.

Lemon Herb Cauliflower "rice"

Lemon Cauliflower Herb "Rice" It Paleo, Gluten free, and Low-carb

As adventurous as my daughter is when it comes to food, she still struggles with textures. A meal for her can be made, or broken, if something is not the right texture for her. I'm constantly trying to introduce her to new foods, but at the same time give them to her in a way that she will except. Many foods that I give her end up on the floor if I get it wrong. I read somewhere that people on a low carb diet substitute cauliflower for grains and potatoes. I myself have had cauliflower mash and loved it. I decided to try to do a cauliflower rice to go along with a roast chicken I was making for dinner. It turned out to be a hit with her, and my husband loved it too. I added lemon and cilantro, but just like any rice, you can add what ever flavorings suit your fancy. This is both Cauliflower rice is Paleo, Gluten free, and low carb.

Prep Time: 3-5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 large cauliflower head, stems removed
1/4 cup of finely chopped onion
Zest of a lemon
 Juice of half a large lemon
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
Sea salt to taste
Tablespoon of chopped cilantro


Equipment needed:
Food processor

Directions:

Add the cauliflower florets to you're food processor and pulse until the cauliflower looks like this:

Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan, add the onion and cook until translucent.

Add in the cauliflower and lemon juice and zest, mix well.

Cover the pan and let cook for 3 minutes. Uncover the pan and cook an additional 2-3 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking, but allowing a little browning. Turn fire off, and add the chopped cilantro and serve. I didn't add the cilantro to her portion, again, textures.

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