Image by Mostly Muppet

 Imagine what it would be like for a 13 year old girl to lose all the hair on the top of her head…and, in addition, have fingernails that looked like they’ve been rubbed with sand paper.  This happened to my daughter and is what started our journey on a gluten free diet.

You can read the rest of this story in my post Getting Started Gluten Free at Modern Alternative Mama.  It gives practical advice, cautions, and a recipe for those interested in starting a gluten free diet.

 Image by Fil.Al

 Shared at Waste Want Not Wednesday, Gluten Free Fridays

How about a new twist on chocolate bark?  This memorable dessert uses fresh fruit instead of dried.  It pairs salty, sweet, spicy and tangy flavors with the contrasting textures of smooth chocolate, crunchy seeds and juicy fruit.

This has become my go-to party dessert.  It’s a snap to prepare and makes a lovely presentation.

I discovered this recipe on the Fine Cooking website.  As with all recipes I come  across my first thoughts are, “How can I make this healthier?” and “How can I make this less expensive.”

This time of year you might be able to find a good price on organic dark chocolate with 60% or more cacao, but if not, and you want to go a cheaper route, semi sweet chocolate chips work just fine.  When I make this with chocolate chips I estimate 7 ounces of chips from the bag then add 3 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate.  This makes it less sweet and ups the cocoa content.  If you like the sweetness level of semi sweet chocolate chips then use 10 oz of the chocolate chips.

The down side to regular chocolate chips is the soy lecithin and the sugar.  Both of these ingredients are likely genetically modified.  Most beet sugar is from genetically modified organisms, so unless the label specifically states that it contains cane sugar I assume it is from genetically modified beets.  Buying organic chocolate chips costs more, but you avoid the GMOs.

Chocolate varies in it’s antioxidant content. To choose chocolate with the most antioxidents, look for a higher percentage of cocoa.  The higher the cocoa the higher the antioxidents.  Also, the higher the percentage of cocoa, the lower the percentage of sugar.

Candied ginger is an expensive ingredient if you have to go out and buy a package just to use 1 -2 tablespoons for this recipe.  Although I prefer candied ginger because of it’s chewy texture, I’ve tried substituting coarsely grated fresh ginger in this recipe and it worked out just fine.  Grated fresh ginger would be a cheaper alternative if you don’t have candied ginger on hand.  Years ago I learned that candied ginger is easy to make.  I can make it for 20% of what I’d pay to buy it ready made.  Some day I’ll post a tutorial on how I make candied ginger.

Lucky you if you live in a warm climate where pomegranates grow!  They are probably less expensive.  In my neck of the north woods they cost $1.50-2.00 each and go on sale for a buck.  Though I haven’t seen them on sale in February if you still have the January 13 Smart Source coupon inserts from your newspaper you can find a 50¢ coupon for fresh Pom Wonderful pomegranates that is good until March 31.

Pomegranate Ginger Chocolate Bark waiting to harden.

Pomegranate and Ginger Chocolate Bark

10 oz bittersweet chocolate, broken into 1-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 – 2 tablespoons minced candied ginger
1 cup pomegranate seeds

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.  Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or a heavy bottom pan.

Gently stir in the salt, candied ginger and half the pomegranate seeds.  Working quickly scrape the chocolate mixture onto the parchment and spread it to an 8 x 10 inch rectangle.

Sprinkle the remaining seeds over the top of the chocolate and press them in a bit if necessary.  Refrigerate 30 minutes, or until it is hard.  Break the bark into  pieces and serve.

Recipe Notes:

A friend added 1 teaspoon grated orange rind to this recipe, giving it a hint of citrus.  It was a nice addition.

I mince the candied ginger fairly coarse.  If it’s finely minced you miss the flavor burst of biting into a chunk of ginger.  It’s a personal preference.

This post has been shared at Crayon Marks and Tiger Stripes, Gastromonical Sovereignty, Tasty Traditions

 Image by The Delicious Life

 Don’t you just love it when a food that is extremely healthy  is also cheap?  Such is the case for cabbage.

I’ve written about the anti-cancer properties and other health promoting benefits of this humble vegetable at Modern Alternative Kitchen today.  Click on over to learn more and get my favorite cabbage soup recipe,  Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup.

Savoy Cabbage

Image by Nick Saltmarsh

I finally took the plunge and tried my hand at fermenting vegetables.  Are you like I was… knowing your family would benefit from all the probiotic goodness of fermented vegetables, but putting off learning to ferment your own?  What was I afraid of?  It’s just salt and veggies, after all.  I was afraid that I had to do it right.

Well, I’m here to tell you, I did not do it right.

But, guess what?  It turned out fine, even with my mistakes!  It’s actually a very simple process.  You probably won’t make any mistakes, but even if you do , you’ll find out there is some leeway.  Reading Preserving Vegetables through Fermentation: A Primer will give you an overview of the process.

I made my foray into fermenting with just a half head of cabbage and one carrot to make a little bit of carroty sauerkraut.  I reasoned that if I messed up, or we didn’t like it, I haven’t wasted much.

I read a couple fermenting articles online before I started and learned that cutting the cabbage fine is a good idea.  You want to break as many of the vegetable’s cells as possible so they will release juice.  I sliced the cabbage to about 1/8 inch thick.

Using the Right Sized Bowl

Mistake #1 was putting my cabbage and grated carrot into too small a bowl. After adding the salt you massage the vegetables, breaking their cell walls and letting the salt draw moisture out.  You need a bowl big enough to accommodate both the veggies and your hands.  I transferred my grated vegetables to my biggest stainless steel mixing bowl.

Using the Right Salt

I had to figure out how much salt to use.  Most of the instructions I found recommended the amount of salt based on the weight of cabbage.  Not having a food scale, I guesstimated my cabbage to be around 2 pounds, and I was using half of it.  I used the recommendation found on the Wild Fermentation blog for 3 tablespoons salt to 5 pounds cabbage.  I added a scant 1/2 tablespoon of salt to my one pound of cabbage.

Mistake #2 was that I used regular iodized salt.  Iodine retards bacterial growth. Uh oh, this was a big mistake!  Fermentation is food preservation accomplished by growing bacteria.  The goal is to support the grow of lactic acid bacteria and inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause spoilage.

Next time I’ll use sea salt.  You can also use pickling salt or run-of-the-mill noniodized salt.  If I lived just a few miles from a grocery store I would have made a salt run, rinsed off the cabbage and started over.  But, I don’t.  So, I didn’t.  I carried on and hoped for the best.

As I massaged the the raw cabbage and carrots they began to get wet and stick to my hands.  I did this for 10 minutes.   My hands were tired and other tasks I needed to get done were racing through my mind.  I decided to let my cabbage set a while and see if the salt would draw out the liquid on it’s own.  The idea is to bring the liquid out of the plant cells into the bowl.  Eventually you need enough liquid to cover the veggies.

Using the Right Materials

Liquid that came out of the vegetables after massaging in salt and letting the vegetables set for a while.

Then, mistake #3 popped into my mind.  I remembered reading that you should use non metal equipment when fermenting because the acids created during fermentation corrode metal.   I moved the salted veggies back to my original glass bowl.  The bowl that had been too small at the beginning now worked, because enough juices had come out of the cabbage and reduced it’s volume.

I checked on the sauerkraut an hour later and sure enough the liquid had increased.  Not enough though, as it wasn’t covering the veggies.  I went back at it, this time with a potato masher.  Using a downward,circular, grinding motion I was able to extract more juice from the cabbage than I had extracted with my hands.

A potato masher drew out more liquid than massaging the vegetable pieces with my hands.

It was nearing dinner time and I needed to be done with this sauerkraut experiment.  Even though I didn’t think I had enough juice I began packing the vegetables in the jar…and guess what?  I had much more of the salty brine than I realized.

Packing the Jar 

I was surprised that half a head of cabbage and one carrot only yielded half a quart of sauerkraut.

As I packed the jar I smashed each handful of cabbage down tightly with my fist to force air out.  Oxygen is the enemy of anaerobic fermentation.  Oxygen causes the wrong kind of organisms to grow and hence, spoilage.  Keeping the vegetables entirely submerged in liquid keeps the oxygen away from the vegetables.

My cabbage and carrots were only submerged by about a quarter of an inch. The pictures I saw online showed an inch or more liquid on top.  I filled a  ziplock baggie with salty water (in case it leaked) and placed it on top of the veggies just to add a little more pressure and help keep the vegetables submerged.

Adding a baggie of salt water as a weight to keep the sauerkraut submerged.

The next morning before I strained my kefir I spooned out a few tablespoons of whey and added it to the sauerkraut.  Because the iodine salt mishap might stunt the growth of the desired bacteria, I figured adding a few teaspoons of lactobacillus rich whey might help.   I didn’t want to disturb the jar of sauerkraut and repack it all again, so I just poured the whey on top.

I only mentioned the mistakes that I’m aware of as I made my first attempt at fermenting.  There may be more, obvious to those who are experienced, and I welcome advice!  My hope is to encourage others to give fermentation a try, by showing that even though I had a major blunder with the salt I didn’t poison anyone.  My first batch tastes good and though it probably isn’t as rich in probiotics as it would have been had I used non-iodized salt, it is a start.   I’m off to try again!

Helpful links:

I wish I would have read these links before I tried my first ferment: Simple No Pound Sauerkraut, Vegetable Fermentation Further Simplified.

Watching this video of Sandor Katz preparing fermented vegetables and seeing how simple it is gave me the push I needed to give fermenting a try.

 This post was shared at: Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Wheat Free Wednesday, Allergy Free Wednesday, Gluten Free Wednesdays, EOA, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday

I’m sure I’m not the only one to whom hot chocolate is a big time comfort food. It brings back memories of Mom serving up steaming mugs at the kitchen table after sledding, and, as a young teen sitting next to the jukebox at the neighborhood ski lodge with my friends singing along to “American Pie” over a cup of hot chocolate.

This recipe for Thick and Creamy Mayan Hot Chocolate is not your mom’s hot chocolate…unless of course you happen to be Mayan.  A surprise ingredient is added that gives it extra body.  I’ll give you a hint…it’s high in beta carotene.

I’m sharing the recipe and secret ingredient at Learning and Yearning today.  Click here to check it out.

This post was shared at Gluten Free Fridays, Foodtastic Friday and Friends, Gallery of Favorites, Foodie Friday, Pity Party, Weekend Potluck, Inspire Me Fridays, Saturday Night Special, Show and Tell Saturday, Melt In Your mouth Monday, Make the Scene Monday, Sunday School Blog Carnival, Clever Chicks, Inspire me Monday, Gluten Free Monday, Fat Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Tasteful Tuesday, Allergy Free Wednesday, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday

This post was featured at:

Entertaining friends and family over the holidays is a highlight of the season, but it can get expensive to serve dinner to a large group.  One way I’ve found to cut costs is to serve something that doesn’t involve meat as the main ingredient.  Top-your-own style bars  lend themselves well to this idea.

We’ve hosted or attended parties with potato bars, burrito/taco bars, pancake bars and ice cream bars.  In my experience guests like these type of dinners because they can create a meal to suit their own fancy….Hop over to Modern Alternative Kitchen where you’ll find the rest of my post sharing an idea for low cost entertaining.

Load up on your favorite potato toppings.

This post was shared at Flaunt It Friday, Freaky Friday

In need of a frugal little gift for someone who likes to cook?  Check your garden. Any cook would love to receive a pot of herbs she can snip in the midst of winter when her garden is covered in snow.

Most of the perennial herbs in my garden look rather sad right now, but I did find a few small parsley plants to pot up for some foodie friends.

I had cut all the leaves off this parsley plant about 2 weeks before this picture was taken.

I potted up four parsley plants, cut off the old stems and set them in a sunny window for a couple weeks.

Hopefully you’ll find some herb plants in your garden that don’t need to grow two weeks in the house like mine did.

According to Organic Gardening the best herbs for transplanting indoors are parsley, thyme, chives and mint.

A word of caution… attempting to be frugal I planted some herbs in pots last year using my garden soil and compost. Halfway through the winter I noticed aphids on the herbs.  Be sure to use commercial potting soil to avoid an insect infestation.

Plant your herbs in a pot with drainage holes, then set that in a decorative pot.  If you don’t have decorative pots on hand check the dollar store.  I have found cute pots there on many occasions.

For the cost of a little potting soil, a decorative pot and 20 minutes time, you can bless someone with a thoughtful, flavorful gift they can use for months.

Do you have some fast or frugal gift ideas?  We’d love to about hear them!

This post was shared at Small Footprint Fridays, Freaky Fridays, Flaunt It Friday

It’s hunting season in our neck of the woods and time to give thanks for more meat for the freezer. Swiss Steak is just about our favorite way to eat venison. Pounding the meat, and cooking it in tomatoes both serve to tenderize it. Venison Swiss Steak makes a hearty winter meal and is really great served with mashed potatoes.

Venison Swiss Steak

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of boneless venison steak
• 1 cup of arrowroot (or flour) seasoned with sea salt and pepper
• lard or coconut oil
• 4 cups of chili sauce*

Procedure:

Dredge the meat in the seasoned arrowroot. Using a meat tenderizer, pound the steak until it is approximately 1/4″ thick, adding more arrowroot as necessary. Brown both sides of the meat in lard or coconut oil in a heavy skillet which has been heated to medium-high. As each piece is browned, add it to an oven proof casserole dish. Pour the 4 cups of chili sauce over the meat. Cover and bake in a 325 degree oven for 1 1/2 – 2 hours until the meat is tender.

*I use chili sauce which I have canned using the recipe from my 1972 Ball Blue Book using apple cider vinegar and organic sugar. You may find a very similar recipe here.

Kristel adding some comments here in italics.  I wish I had home canned chili sauce in my pantry like Susan.  Since I don’t,  I used the recipe from her link as a guide and  mixed together my own version of chili sauce.  It was delish!   

One note about the pickling spices in the chili sauce I made.  I scoured my spice cupboard as I don’t know what is in pickling spice.  I found a spice blend labeled “Mixed Spices.”  It’s been in my cupboard since my grandma died when  I helped clean out her kitchen.  She died in 1996!  I’m sure it has lost a lot of flavor in 16 years, but it still added great zest to the sauce.  Yes, go ahead and call me a pack rat, but tonight I was glad I never threw them out!

Sixteen+ years and still kick’in out flavor!

My ancient spice blend contains coriander, mustard seed, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, allspice, bay leaves, cloves, red pepper, celery seed, nutmeg and cardamon.  I ground the spices in a coffee grinder and threw them right in the sauce.  The directions say to put the spices in a spice bag and remove them after simmering.  If I ever make this with fresh spices  I will still grind them up, but use less.  Those spices were the secret ingredient that made the chili sauce so delectable.

Chili Sauce for Venison Swiss Steak

1 quart home canned tomatoes
1 cup diced onion
1/4 cup dehydrated green and red peppers (about 1/2 cup fresh peppers)
1/16 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons pickling spice 
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 cup white vinegar 

Grind the pickling spices and red pepper in a coffee grinder.  Mix all the ingredients.  Follow the directions for Venison Swiss Steak above.

Chili sauce in the making.

If you haven’t yet read about my first solo deer processing experience, you might like seeing how I filled my freezer with more than 35 pounds of grass fed meat absolutely free.

If you didn’t win, but would like to purchase the ebook Healthy Traditions: A Real Food Guide to the Holidays, enter coupon code Frugalista25 for a 25% discount.  With the coupon code you’ll get the book for $5.96 instead of the regular price of $7.95.   The coupon code expires on Dec 12.

Is it your goal to eat healthy food?  Would you like to know how to prepare traditional favorites in a healthful manner?  If so, you will like Festive Traditions: A Real Food Guide for the Holidays, the new ebook by Jill Marks and other contributors from Modern Alternative Kitchen.  You can enter the drawing below until December 7 to win your own copy.

Festive Traditions is a trove of practical, real food recipes. It contains health–ified versions of traditional holiday fare like Green Bean Casserole and Buck Eyes, but it also contains recipes I would make for everyday meals such as Crockpot Beef Stroganoff and Cheesey Potatoes.  Check out the table of contents.

As a gluten free cook I could serve most of these delicious recipes to my family of celiacs.  Each recipe is identified as to being free of gluten, nuts or dairy. Cooks who will be hosting gluten free family and friends will find this to be a very helpful resource.

I’ve already made two recipes from the book.  Being a ginger lover I made Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger Cream and Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal (to which I added extra ginger!).  My family enjoyed both recipes.

The Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal starts with a bed of oats, nuts and spices that is topped a layer of pumpkin pie custard.  The dish goes together quickly, but if you need it to be super quick, do most of the preparation the night before.  I  mixed the wet and dry ingredients separately and refrigerated the wet until morning.

It was a snap to put it together and pop it in the oven the next morning.  The only problem is, I got distracted…

Just so you know, it still tastes good even if you mix the ingredients all together instead of baking the pumpkin oatmeal in two layers as stated in the recipe directions.  Can’t wait to try the recipe again the right way!

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal the way I made it, all stirred together. Next time I will make it properly by pouring the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients.

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

1 c. pureed pumpkin
1 large egg
2 T. butter, melted (I used coconut oil)
2 tsp. vanilla
1½ c. milk
½ c. maple syrup (I used 1/4 cup honey.  I don’t like it so sweet.)
2 c. gluten-free rolled oats
½ c. chopped pecans (I used walnuts because they’re cheaper.)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sea salt (I used 1/2 teaspoon and mixed it with liquid ingredients.)
2 tsp. organic pumpkin pie spice
2 T. pumpkin seeds, optional (I didn’t use them.)

Preheat oven to 375°.  Grease an 8×8 baking dish and set aside.

Mix together the oats, nuts, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.  Pour mixture into the prepared dish.

In a blender or bowl, beat pumpkin, egg, melted butter, vanilla, milk, and maple syrup.  Beat until mixture is well blended.

Pour pumpkin mixture over oat mixture.  If desired sprinkle pumpkin
seeds on top. Bake for 35-45 minutes, serve warm.

Makes 6 – 8 servings.

Recipe Notes:

This recipe can easily be doubled and baked in a 13×9 pan to serve a
larger crowd. Allow an extra 5-15 minutes for baking.

Update- after making this recipe several times now, I cut the salt in half and mix it in with the liquid ingredients.  When I’ve mixed it in with the dry ingredients it seems to all settle in one spot and create salty tasting pockets.

We like the pumpkin oatmeal best served in a bowl with milk poured on top.  I recently served this at my teenager’s slumber party.  They loved it!

Table of contents for Festive Traditions: A Real Food Guide to the Holidays .

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