Chicken Stock

I'm having one of the those days. You know, where you wake up just a wee bit too early(5:45 am thankyouChunks) and nothing feels quite right? This feeling is usually accompanied by an extreme bout of laziness on my part. Which, is why I'm blogging :) I cleaned ALL day yesterday, and I feel like I can't even tell! That drives me crazy. I baked cookies, loaded and unloaded the dishes twice, did 5 loads of laundry(and put it all away), and cleaned the master bedroom and closet (which for those of you who know me personally, know that that means that there were clothes covering literally every surface of the room including the floor). Oh, and I washed my kitchen floor on my hands and knees. So, in my mind, I get to sit here today and blog. Only problem is, the kitchen is dirty again and I have a babysitter coming in 3 1/2 hours and for some reason I always feel that my house needs to be in pristine order before she comes. Looks like I need to get up...

I've been wanting to make chicken stock since I got here. But, I needed to save up enough bones first, which I talked about here. I don't know why, but there is something so satisfying to me about homemade stock. I love seeing it in my freezer almost as much as I love eating it. It just feels so homey. In order to make a good stock you'll need the following:

a large stock pot(mine is a 12 quart, but 16 would be best)
4-6 lbs of chicken bones including necks, backs and feet (gizzards optional)
2 medium yellow onions-leave the skin on, diced
8 medium carrots-washed very well, skin on, diced
6 celery stalks including leaves, diced
10 sprigs of thyme
pepper
2 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic, diced
a splash of white vinegar
salt
I prefer to use all organic ingredients, including the chicken. I'm making the stock for flavor and also for the immune boosting power that it contains. For me, pesticides aren't included in that and I rather skip the work and buy a box of stock for $1.99, but that's just me.

 Put all the chicken in first, then cover with veggies and fill with cold water and add seasonings and vinegar.

Bring to a boil and let it boil for about 30 minutes. Turn down and keep at a constant simmer for the next 12-14 hours. Make sure you keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't boil.

 See the frothy bubbles? Skim that off every hour or so. That is the muck from the inside of the bones and you don't want it in your final stock.

When the water gets low, refill as needed.

After 12-14 hours, remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh colander or cloth twice. Allow to cool a bit, then place in the fridge overnight. In the morning scrape off some of the fat layer. Leave some fat because that is where a lot of the immune-enhancing properties live. Place in jars and freeze.

 This is what it should look like once it's been double strained.

So satisfying to see it all lined up in jars like that! This recipe (in a 12 qt pot) makes about 4 quarts of stock once strained. It takes a long time, but is so worth it!

Cha-cha-cha Chicken

Isn't this supposed to be a craft blog too???
I know, I know...Things have been crazy around here lately and I'm in the middle of a quilt (tutorial coming soon). Once I'm close to finishing a quilt I can't focus on anything else. It's as though all my creative energy is swallowed or something. But, I HAVE to cook everyday, so it's easy to blog recipes instead. I promise, the craftiness is coming.
Today is about chicken. Or, more specifically, a whole chicken. People are intimidated by cooking whole chickens and I'm really not sure why. Whenever I say I made one, people look at me in awe. The funny thing is, it's my easy dinner! It's my go to for not knowing what to make, or when I don't have a lot of time to prep, and I always cook one up after someone has just had a baby. The only thing that I can figure, is that people don't understand how to cook a whole chicken. If people knew how effortless it truly is, I think they'd be considerably less impressed by me.
I've been wanting to make chicken stock since November, but I was moving mid December, so I waited. Once I got here, I had to save up enough bones, so I waited some more. I almost have enough and today is one of those days where I can tell that the kids (or at least SweetPea) are going to be in total meltdown mode by 5. So, I stopped by the store, picked up a chicken and voila! dinner! The cool thing about a whole chicken is that there isn't much prep and you can do the small amount of prep that there is in the morning while the kids are in a good mood and then keep it in your fridge all day. Put it in the oven at 4 o'clock and you'll have dinner around 6. It's just so easy and also pretty cheap. AND it's free of gluten and dairy. This tutorial has A LOT of pictures annd at the end I'll walk you through an easy way to carve it.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
1/4 stick of butter (or vegan margarine)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 rosemary
a plastic baggie
a roasting pan

Directions:
Set oven to 425*
Take all of the organs out of the bird. Some companies do this for you and they are in a neat little bag on the side, but if not, just pull them out with your hands and discard or freeze for later. Rinse the chicken quickly in water and pat dry with a paper towel. Place the chicken face up in a roasting pan. It would be nice to use one with a rack, but I don't have one and you can use anything really. Mine looks like this:

 Face up means the breasts should be on top and the wings tips pointing at you. Give the bird a butter massage. That's right, slather her in butter--and don't forget her backside ;)

Put all those spices in the baggie and shake so they are all mixed together. If you have fresh spices, please use them, but I'm still waitng on my seeds, so I used dried. Sprinkle the spices all over the bird including the wings and thighs, which can easily be forgotten.

 Put the chicken in the oven, uncovered at 425* for 40 minutes. Then, turn the oven down to 350* and cook for another 60-80 minutes. Your chicken is done when the internal temperature is at 165* according to the USDA. I always just poke the thigh and it's done when the juices run clear. In my opinion, the USDA likes dry chicken breasts.

Carving the chicken:
It's really pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Professional chefs will probably cry at the directions I'm about to give you, but I'm self taught and this works great for me!

 First, find the breastbone of the bird. Take your carving fork and put in in the left breast and your carving knife slices right to the left of the breastbone. You want to go pretty deep and at a slight angle (see above picture). Once you've cut all the way through, there will be some still attached between the leg and breast--just cut that  and voila! Your breast is freeee!(i couldn't help myself).

 Next, cut off the wing. I cut it off the bird with the breast, but I can't really explain that, so...sorry

So next you want to cut just below the breast, where the thigh is connected.

 Find the joint, and cut really hard. The key with carving is to find where it would naturally bend and cut there. Your leg and thigh will come off in one piece. ^^Pictures of meat gross me out!

Repeat with the other side of the bird.

It was delicious!

Don't throw away the bones! A chicken stock recipe is coming soon, so pop them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. I usually serve this meal with roasted potatos and carrots, or sometimes I'll make gravy out of the juices and whip up some mashed potatos. The combinations are endless - everything goes with chicken!

Time for some change

I started going to a Bible Study group today at a friends church. It's a Beth Moore study about the book of James, and I have to say, I'm really excited! I've done one other Beth Moore study before and sometimes I was able to catch her on TV when I was at my moms (since we don't have cable) and I think she is just amazing. And her hair! I need hair like that;not one strand out of place.

Part of the study is memorizing the entire book of James, and I'm not too sure that's going to happen... I know, it's only 5 chapters, but that is 108 verses and 2,304 words in just 5 weeks. Yes, I looked it up. Not everyone is doing the memorization, I think I'll just start, and see how far I can actually get. I'll see how things go...

I've been thinking a lot about my spiritual life lately and I've realized a few things. I'm at a very difficult place(for me) at the moment that is going to take some work and effort on my part. You see, I don't have any "big" issues in my life. I'm not a drug addict, I'm not having an affair or battling some huge obvious thing that is separating me from God. But, I do have some stuff. The kind of stuff that is so seemingly small, that it's been ignored for years while I dealt with more "important" things in life. The kind of things that can be looked over because I'm human and God is a god of grace, and we all have flaws, right??? Well, it's time to deal with those things. It's time to say, "ok God, this is going to suck, and be painful but do what you gotta do because I want to TRULY live my life for you". And that means being uncomfortable. That means that I have let go of my pride and criticisms and trust that at the end of this season I'll be stronger in Him.

I really should have seen this coming, but somehow, it took me by surprise. I've complained of being in a spiritual dry spell for so long, but I've also been walking in my own strength, which I'm now seeing is insufficient. It's funny. I was raised in the church, I like to think I have all the answers, I KNOW who my Savior is. But this was staring me right in the face and I missed it. Why? Because it's HARD! I don't want to change! I like being comfortable! I don't want to have to share Jesus with the grocery store clerk one day because I feel like Gods telling me to. I am never going to see the fullness of what God has for me and my children, until I allow Him to work in all the areas of my life, not just the bits and pieces.

I have to tell you, putting this out in blog-land is way out of my comfort zone. I don't even know if anyone even reads what I blog anyways (other than Jaclyn lol), but I'm doing it. Maybe it'll encourage someone to get a little deeper with God, cause I know I have to.

granola bars

Let me start by saying, I am not a granola person. Yes, I'm a bit of a hippie from time to time, but eating that dry mess of oats does not appeal to me. People are always trying to convince me that it's delicious and "tastes just like candy"...yeah, right. I'll stick to my m'nm's thankyouverymuch. The other day at our local farmers market I was handed a sample of granola that didn't contain soy, dairy, gluten, sugar or corn. Surprisingly I liked it! And even more to my surprise, so did my 2 yr old! I was sold. I payed the $8 (!!!!) for my 10 oz of granola and patted myself on the back for being so healthy. That was about 6 weeks ago and guess what is still on my pantry shelf? You guessed it, about 5 oz of granola. As it turns out, it really only tastes good in the sample size. Anytime I ate more than a small handful my mouth would turn to ash and I felt like I was going to puke. I decided, once again, that granola is not my thing. Until last week.

I was cruising the food network website and this sounded so good and I knew would be easy to tweak to make it gluten and dairy free with just a few variations. I wish I could say this was my recipe, but it's Ina Gartens+a little me :)

These actually ARE good! and they do kinda taste like candy! You don't have to believe me, but we love them. I think I'll have to make them weekly because this recipe made 16 and they're already almost gone just 4 days later! I love that SweetPea thinks she's getting a treat when there is so much good stuff in these too. After I cut them I put them in the freezer so that they'd stay good longer, but they get eaten so fast, I won't need to next time.

Here's the link to the original recipe if you want to check it out

And here is my version...enjoy!

• 2 cups gluten free rolled oats
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, loosely packed
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal
• 2/3 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons gluten free vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup raisins
• Enough oil to coat baking dish
• Parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Oil an 8 by 12-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.

Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl 

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Add remaining ingredients and stir well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

*Note: I used wax paper on accident beacuse I was in a hurry and didn't notice and it didn't peel off the backs. So, now you take a bite with bits of wax on the back...yummm! use parchment ;)

Garden Project Part I

We finally did it! For years we've been fantasizing about running away, growing our own produce, gathering eggs, milking our own cows and starting a commune "The Village" style (minus all the creepy parts). Well, ok, all we did was build a garden...but we do live on a commune (ok fine! It's a military base!)...but still, it's a step. Honestly, I don't know why we've been putting it off for so long, it was relatively cheap and pretty easy. We go to a farmers market every weekend and drop about $20 on fresh, organic produce and I always feel kinda let down when I get home. I spent $20 on 2 bunches of greens, a container of strawberries, and 5 tomatoes??? I always think, "There's got to be a better way". There is. Yes, it costs some money up front, and yes, it will be a lot of work. But, I think it will be rewarding to plant, water, weed and harvest from MY garden. I can watch my kids play in the yard while I care for MY garden. I can eat delicious fruits and vegetables from MY garden. It means alot.

All told, we spent $136. We spent $108 on buckets, cinder blocks, wood, soil, a shovel and rake and landscaping fabric. If you took your time, you could probably get free wood from craigslist, but we're impatient people. Then we spent another $28 on organic seeds, but you can do WAY better than that. We got a little overexcited the other night while dreaming of our luscious garden and bought way too many seeds from a very expensive online retailer and had to pay shipping. We've learned our lesson, and you could get a more reasonable amount of seeds for about $16.

First we decided what we wanted to grow, then we looked at our region and the climate and growing seasons, reevaluated based on that and mapped out our boxes. We'll be planting our tomatoes, green beans and strawberries in round planters with a big trellis on the backs. Basil, thyme and sage are going in a windowsill style planter. The actual boxes we made today are two 2'x4' boxes and will be the home of 18 onion plants, 32 carrots, 2 bell pepper plants, 2 watermelon vines, 1 summer squash, 1 butternut squash and 4 collard greens. Most of these will be planted in April, a few earlier, a few later. Lucky for us, we can plant carrots now! So, as soon as I get those seeds, we're ready to start.

Next, we took a trip to Home Depot to buy all of the supplies.

Our supplies:

- pine 2x12x12 that we had them cut down to two 4' lengths and two 2' lengths (2). You're supposed to use cedar or redwood because they won't rot as quickly, but we'll be using ours for 2 years tops, so we went the cheap route with pine.

-2x4 piece of plywood (2)

-DO NOT buy pressure treated wood. It's chock full of chemicals, and that's exactly what we're trying to avoid

-8 CMU blocks

-Soil: 1/3 blended compost, 1/3 Peat Moss, 1/3 Coarse Vermiculite

-Roll of Landscapers fabric

First, lay out two 2' lengths and two 4' lengths to form a rectangle and screw together

We used bracing in the corners ^^ because it's a raised box, but it isn't necessary if you're doing a box on the ground.

Next, screw  the 2x4 piece of plywood across the bottom of the box.

Screw holes every 2 inches all over the bottom of the box.

 Almost done! 

 Put the CMU blocks on the ground where you want your box to be and make sure it's nice and level.

^^ Aren't they precious?

Then, measure the landscaping fabric so that it goes up about an inch on each of the sides and staple into the bottom of the box.

 Add the 3 types of soil and mix it all up really well

Our little helper

I swear I took a picture of it completed, but apparently not. I'll get to it first thing tomorrow and post it. Anyways, now it's ready for planting! As soon as I get those seeds this week, I'll post with how it goes.

A little side note: If you've always wanted to do something like this, but haven't...DO IT! It was so much simpler than I thought and you can do it for a pretty reasonable amount of money. It will pay for itself in just one season. Happy Planting!

Cornbread

Inventing a good cornbread recipe has been a long road. I think this is the 6th or 7th time I've tried it. Some have been okay...others barely edible. Thankfully Mr. F is always gracious about my cooking experiments and eats it anyways with a sweet, "for gluten free, it's not too bad".

Not the answer I'm looking for.

I always know I hit the jackpot when he says something along the lines of, "are these gluten free?" Now that's what a girl likes to hear!

Here is a quick and simple cornbread recipe to compliment any chili or stew. Definitely not as fluffy as it's whole wheat counterpart, but really, what is?

Ingredients:

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/2 cup sorghum flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 tsp xanthan gum

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tb sugar

1/4 cup vegan butter, softened (I use Earth Balance)

1 cup Vanilla Almond Milk

2 eggs

Combine all of the dry ingredients and mix well

Add softened butter and stir with a fork until moist.

Beat eggs and milk together, add to batter and stir until well incorporated.

Grease muffin tins and add 1/2 cup of batter in each.

Cook at 400* for 21-23 minutes until knife comes out of center clean. Serve with honey.

what DO you eat??

I'm often asked the question, "what do you eat?" and I often find myself staring back at the person blankly thinking, "I have no idea". But the thing is, I never really feel like I'm lacking or missing out on something (unless I go out to fast food). For some reason, I just can't ever think of what to say. I've never been a casserole person, that just isn't how I cook-or even how I'd want to eat. Before I started this crazy lifestyle of gluten and dairy free, I didn't cover everything in cheese or cream sauce, so maybe that's why its been an easier transition for me than for others. Dinner is by far the easiest meal for me. Tonight I'm making a beef soup/stew in my pressure cooker. If you've never used a pressure cooker, let me just say,it's the greatest invention ever! You put your meal in it and in 20 minutes its fully cooked and tastes like it's been in a crock pot for the last 10 hours. I actually like it better than the crock pot because the meat is always so much more tender and juicier this way.



The Holy Trinity of Cooking



Beef Stew

Ingredients:

3 lb roast or stew meat cut into chunks

8 carrots peeled and chopped length wise

1 onion coarsely chopped

3 celery stalks chopped

2 cloves garlic peeled and minced

3 golden Yukon potatoes washed and chopped (skin on)

1 leek chopped

8 oz Baby Bella mushrooms sliced

1 packet onion soup mix***(see below)

2 cups green/brown lentils washed and sorted

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp sage

2 bay leaves

4 cups beef or vegetable stock(make sure it's gf)

1/8 cup gf brown rice flour

2 Tb olive oil

2-4 Tb potato starch or corn starch for thickening

1/4 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

***Onion soup mix IS NOT gluten free. Chunks is not bothered by the small amount of gluten contained in this recipe. However, others may not be able to handle it. Please be aware of this prior to cooking and sustitute 1 T dried onion flakes.

Directions:

Set your pressure cooker to the "brown" setting. Add 2 T olive oil and let it heat.

Place the meat and flour into a Ziploc bag, seal and shake until coated(I like to let SweetPea do this part). Add the meat to the cooker and brown. It doesn't need to be fully browned, you just want to get some color on it.

Next add lentils and seasonings. Follow by adding all of the vegetables, alternating, creating layers. Add beef broth. The exact amount will vary depending on the size of the pressure cooker. The liquid needs to cover at least 3/4 of the contents of the cooker minimum or it won't create enough steam to cook. Set the cooker to "pressure" and timer to 20 minutes. Be sure to lock the cooker.

When the timer goes off, grab a hand towel and slowly release the steam in short bursts until the pressure button is released. Remove all of the meat and veggies and set aside leaving all of the broth and juices in the cooker. Turn the cooker back to "brown" and add the starch to a 1/4 cup of water. Add the mixture to the broth in 1 Tb increments until a thick sauce forms. Adjust with water until it's the consistency you'd like and mix with the meat and veggies.Salt and Pepper to taste. I like to freeze the leftovers for a quick and easy lunch. Serve up into bowls with warm cornbread on the side.

Stew never looks very appetizing in pictures...bummer

***Onion soup mix IS NOT gluten free. Please be aware of this prior to cooking.

breakfast quinoa

Lets face it, quinoa is weird. It has a weird name, it looks kinda strange and the average American can't even pronounce it, let alone begin to fathom how to cook it. This is exactly how I felt about quinoa not so long ago. But, being gluten free requires you to be adventurous so I gave it a try. And you know what? I like it! What I like about it the most is how versatile it is. You can put quinoa on a salad, have it as a side dish, main dish, even eat it for breakfast.

Breakfast. Ah, such a difficult meal for me. Up until recently I couldn't eat eggs either and that was a real challenge! Eating eggs should've opened up a whole new world for me, but after 2 months of eggs every morning, it's time to move on. I know people who have no problem waking up to a bowl of gluten free chex with vanilla soy milk but I am NOT one of them. The very thought makes me gag a little. Breakfast quinoa is a good alternative to oats and, dare I say it...I think I like it better. To top it off, Quinoa takes half the cooking time of steel cut oats. Are you sold yet?? After you try this recipe, you will be.

 Ingredients:

1 cup Dairy Free Milk of choice. I prefer Vanilla Almond Milk

1/2 rinsed and drained quinoa

1 tsp brown sugar

dash of cinnamon

1/4 cup blueberries

Directions:

In a small saucepan, bring almond milk to a boil. Add quinoa and bring back up to a boil, then turn down heat to low and cover. Cook like this for about 12 minutes, or until more than half the milk is gone. 

 Try not to let this happen^^messy stuff

 Then add cinnamon and brown sugar. Put the lid back on and cook for another 7 minutes. When it's done it will have the texture of oatmeal. You know when quinoa is cooked because it will be see through with a half moon around the edge. If you're using fresh blueberries put them in and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

 Put it in a bowl with a little extra milk and you're done! You'll never eat oatmeal again.