Wheat-Free Chicken and Biscuits

I have not perfected the portions (as far as gravy to biscuits) yet, so you may have to tweak them a little.

What you'll need:

Gravy:
9 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons potato starch (or other thickener)
3 cups milk
3 cups chicken broth
6 teaspoons of garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

8 cutlet chicken breasts (3 or 4 regular breasts) or whatever part of the chicken you'd like to use

Biscuits:
3 cups flour (garbanzo bean flour makes a really good biscuit)
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
3/4 cup lard (butter probably would work)
1 cup milk

Cook chicken. I prefer to just cook it in some lard in the pan I make the gravy in, but you could bake it, too. Set aside.

Make biscuits. Preheat oven to 425F. Mix dry ingredients together and then cut in lard. Add milk and mix. Form biscuits, put on baking sheet and bake for 12-20 minutes.

Cut up chicken into bite sized pieces.

Melt butter over medium heat (be careful not to burn the butter). Stir in potato starch/thickener. Whisk in milk and broth. Whisk frequently until thickened and hot. Add chicken.

Place biscuit on plate and ladle chicken and gravy over it! Add a vegetable (we like green beans!) and ENJOY! :)

Cinnamuffins: AKA Snickerdoodle Muffins

These muffins I nicknamed Snickerdoodle muffins, because they remind me of the snickerdoodle cookies that I used to make as a pre/young teenager. These are very easy to make up and we make them regularly.

What you'll need:
1/4 cup olive or coconut oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 cup applesauce

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour (or whatever your favorite flour is)
1/2 tsp. soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup raisins

What to do:
Preheat oven to 375F degrees.

In medium bowl, mix oil, syrup and applesauce together:In small bowl, mix dry ingredients (excluding raisins):
Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and mix slightly. Add raisins:
Mix well:
Grease muffin tins (I like to use butter wrappers that I save in my fridge). Fill tins up:

Bake for 18-20 minutes:Let cool for 5-10 minutes, then take out and let cool on a wire rack (or if you can't resist, grab one and slice it in half and slather butter over it! ;))

ENJOY!

Peanut Butter Cookies

These cookies are a fairly recent addition to our "regular havin's", but they are SOOOO yummy!!

What you will need:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/4 cups peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup applesauce
3 eggs
1 Tbsp olive oil

2 1/2 cups brown rice flour (or whatever flour you'd like to use)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp of cream of tarter
1/2 tsp of salt
2 tsp baking soda

What to do:
Preheat oven to 350F

Put liquid ingredients in a bowl

Cream together

Add dry ingredients

Mix until combined

Make into balls and place on cookie sheet

Then criss-cross with a fork



Bake for 11 minutes (makes about 2 dozen cookies, total)

ENJOY!! :)

Roast Potatoes

Here's a very tasty side dish! We especially like it with seasoned chicken. Enjoy!

Set your oven to 400F.

Grab about 12-14 potatoes (less if you're using Russets).

Wash them off and cube them up and put them in a large bowl.


Pour 3/4 cup of olive oil on top. Put 1/2 cup of minced garlic in.



Add 3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) or salt and 4 tablespoons of Italian seasoning. Mix well.


Throw it in a 13"x9" pan (a jelly-roll pan works, too)


Put pan in oven and bake for 60-90 minutes.


These are a little on the "rare" side of things, I like them a bit browner, but to each her own ;) Enjoy!

What We Ate This Week 1/14-1/21

Friday:
Breakfast: Pancakes (brown rice flour) with real maple syrup and Nature's Place uncured bacon
Lunch: French fries (we were out shopping and this was a "tide-over" kind of meal!)
Dinner: Smoked pork chops from The Market Place, seasoned mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts (w/organic butter)

Saturday:
Breakfast: Eggs from our chickens, Jones' sausage links.
Lunch: Leftover roast potatoes
Dinner: Sirloin steak (broiled), macaroni and cheese (noodles, goat milk, cheese), kale sauted in butter and garlic
Evening Snack: Chocolate cookies (gluten-free, sweetened with applesauce and juice) and organic decaf coffee

Sunday:
Breakfast: Nature's Place uncured bacon, eggs
Lunch: leftovers from Sunday's supper
Dinner: Pizza (Chebe' mix, Price Chopper organic garlic pasta sauce on Tim and N's half, cheddar cheese, Hormel Natural Choice pepperoni, calamata olives, Italian sausage from The Market Place)
Evening Snack: Chocolate cookies (gluten-free, sweetened with applesauce and juice) and organic decaf coffee

Monday:
Breakfast: Jones' sausage links, eggs, and Landsberg rye bread (imported from Germany)
Lunch: leftover pizza
Afternoon snack: Handful of fresh cherries
Late afternoon snack: 6 dried cherries (no sugar added) and two squares of Lindt 90% dark chocolate
Dinner: Italian sausage, Chebe breadsticks (dipped in olive oil with Italian seasoning, garlic powder and salt), oven roasted cauliflower and broccoli (cauli and brocs mixed with olive oil and McCormick's Montreal Steak seasoning)
Evening Snack: Chocolate cookies (gluten-free, sweetened with applesauce and juice) and organic decaf coffee

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Jones' sausage roll, eggs, and Landsberg rye bread (imported from Germany)
Lunch: I can't remember! :P
Dinner: Smoked pork chops, garlic mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts
Evening Snack: Chocolate cookies (gluten-free, sweetened with applesauce and juice) and organic decaf coffee

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Cubed up potatoes fried in bacon grease seasoned with salt, garlic powder and Italian seasoning
Lunch: Rye Finn Crisp crackers, cheddar cheese, and green beans with butter, salt and garlic powder
Afternoon snack: 6 dried cherries (no sugar added) and two squares of Lindt 90% dark chocolate
Dinner: Chicken breasts (seasoned with garlic powder, salt, Italian seasoning and a titch of paprika), bread sticks (dipped in oil, etc) and spinach with butter and apple-cider vinegar.
Evening Snack: Honey-Nutmeg-Raisin cookies (gluten-free, sweetened with honey and raisins) and organic decaf coffee

Thursday:
Breakfast: Nature's Place uncured bacon, Bob's Red Mill Mighty Tasty Cereal with butter and maple syrup or raw honey
Lunch: Leftover chicken and organic carrots. Honey-Nutmeg-Raisin gluten-free cookie for dessert
Snack: cherries and chocolate
Dinner: Eye round beef roast, gravy (thickened with potato starch), mashed potatoes, and cauliflower
Evening Snack: Honey-Nutmeg-Raisin cookies (gluten-free, sweetened with honey and raisins) and organic decaf coffee

Two Hands

I keep waiting for a time to blog where I have two hands free to type, but Miss Elsa has other things to say about that! So I will just type with one hand.

I've decided to try to do a series on paper/disposable products and switching to more "green" options. I will also be covering the 'hows' and 'whys' of doing so.

Here is the list that I'd like to cover. Some we have not gotten rid of yet, but plan to! I will also note at this time that the only thing that we have TOTALLY done away with at the moment is tissues; mostly owing to the fact that Tim has always used handkerchiefs and I so very rarely need to blow my nose that I don't think I have EVER bought a box of tissues:

• Paper plates
• Paper towels
• Napkins
• Toilet Paper
• Nursing Pads
• Feminine Needs
• Diapers and Wipes
• Tissues
• Sandwich Bags

At this point, I'm still taking suggestions for blogging, so PLEASE, suggest away! :) Any questions that I can answer? Probably my best topics would be reenacting and natural living.

Cloth Diapering

This is in response to Jenny P's questions to mamas about cloth diapering.

We cloth diaper. I've gotten all my supplies at Green Mountain Diaper's. They are a Christian business and they'll even send you free books and such with your orders.

I started cloth diapering with my son (aged 2 1/2) a few weeks after he was born. He is potty trained now, though he still wears diapers at night. We now have a 6 month old girl who we've cloth diapered since the first week or two as well. So yes, with your first baby, I too, agree with Amy and Serena; disposable diapers for the first few weeks until you're ready to give it a try! Nursing is more important than cloth diapering! :)

I got three dozen yellow edge prefolds and I have used them from the NB stage to the toddler stage. I wash them about every 3 days. I do not use Snappis or anything like that. I just fold the prefolds into thirds and lay it in a Thirsties cover. I tried the Bummis Super Brite NB size but I found them to be too small with the prefolds. With Elsa, I went straight to the Thirsties XS/NB size. They worked GREAT! Both of my babies started out at about 7lbs and kinda skinny BUT they both got chubby fast! I also only get three wraps in each size. You'd reuse the cover if its just been peed in. If its been pooped in, then it will need to be diligently rinsed out and hung to dry.

In my 2 1/2 years of cloth diapering, I could probably count the times that I've had leaks on one hand and that's usually because it wasn't fastened quite right, etc--that's not counting an overnight diaper that didn't have a doubler (oops :P). I use doublers at night for Elsa that a friend gave me, though the GMD's hemp doublers look really nice! For Nathaniel (and when Elsa gets bigger) at night I use two diapers laid flat and then folded into thirds. I do not soak them or anything extra. We also don't have hot water to the washing machine and I haven't had any problem with that either.

I have two large wetbags--one for washing and one for dirty diapers. I have one wetbag for the diaper bag, but I'd like another one. I also have one of their changing pads which I love--again, I'd like another one.

If I missed anything, just ask! I love cloth diapering! It has saved us SOOO much money and I love the thought that I'm not putting horrible chemicals next to such sensitive skin!

I also posted some pictures and descriptions about the GMD prefolds and Thirsties covers which you can see here.

Ah Monday...

Mondays, Mondays. I really, officially hate Mondays. Except maybe holiday Mondays! ;) Poor Nathaniel is cutting a molar right now and he is pretty miserable with it. I also desperately needed and wanted a nap today but every time I was almost asleep a fly would buzz in my ear! OR then there was the few times that I was almost asleep and a mouse started chewing in the wall! I guess I was just not meant to go to sleep this afternoon! I had a good time snuggling up with "Meester" anyway! But Monday is almost over! Tuesdays are usually a nice day! So I will just look forward to that! :) For tomorrow, we are planning on going to a local farm that sells wonderful produce. We will get our produce for the week as well as some young chickens.

I have been reading The Makers Diet by Jordan Rubin (yes I put So Much More aside for a while since I own it and TMD is the library's). I am finding it an EXCELLENT read. It is VERY much the diet that we already follow, the biggest difference being that TMD followers do not eat pork (we do) and certain types of fish. It is biblically based (hence the name) but what I especially like about it is (so far) I have not gotten the feeling that he thinks that you can not have a healthy life or that you are a bad (or sinful) person if you do not follow this diet. I will review it more when I finish it! :)

WARNING!!!!

Warning -- to those of you who read this blog (if there ARE any?)-- I'm reading So Much More by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin, again. Its bound to make me rant soon! :D