Brooding On

CrockPot Italian Chicken

Okay, this picture doesn't do this dish justice, so maybe just ignore the photo.  This great-tasting recipe is super easy for two reasons:
1. it's made in the CrockPot
2. It has 4 ingredients total

I have Rachael, a friend and fellow mom in the local mom social group that Little Boy and I attend, to thank for inspiring this great dinner.  Many thanks, Rachael!

Start with a chicken.  Don't be afraid.  Embarrassingly, I didn't know how to properly cut up a whole chicken into the 8 principle cuts: 2 thighs, 2 wings, 2 legs, 2 breasts.  I turned to Google and found this great video.  If you, too, are ill-equipped, no one has to know.  Just check out the link and consider yourself educated.  If you just aren't sure about dealing with the whole bird, you can always just throw in a few chicken breasts, (you weenie!).

Plop your 8 chicken pieces into the CrockPot and cover it with a bottle of your favorite Italian dressing.  If you've got all day to let it cook, cook on low.  If you only have 4 hours or so, cook on high. 
An hour before dinnertime, pick your bones out (there should just be 6, if you've cut it up right) and throw in a block of cream cheese.  I actually used 8 oz. of my homemade goat cheese which easily subs in for ricotta and cream cheese in recipes.

Cook up some rice on the stovetop. 

**For perfect rice everytime, make it Mamaw Carroll style:
Bring water, a dab of oil, and a dab of vinegar to a boil (use plenty of water, you'll be draining it off).  Add rice, bring back to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook for 20 minutes.  Drain.  Rinse.  Drain again. Voila!  Perfect rice!  Everytime!

Serve chicken mixture atop the rice.  Yummmmm!

Shopper's Guide to Pesticides

The Evironmental Working Group has released two lists that can be very helpful for us food shoppers. 

First, the Dirty Dozen Plus (the last two are new to the list this year ;)

This is a list of the fruits and veggies that typically have the most pesticide residues and are most important to buy organic.

1.  Apples
2. Celery
3. Sweet bell peppers (all colors other than green)
4. Peaches
5. Strawberries
6. Nectarines (imported)
7. Grapes
8. Spinach
9.  Lettuce
10. Cucumbers
11.  Blueberries (domestic)
12. Potatoes
13.  Green Beans
14.  Kale / Collard Greens

If you're looking at this list and thinking, "that's pretty much my entire shopping list for the produce section!" -- join the crowd!  Here locally, we don't have as many organic options as those in bigger cities, but this list can still inform our eating.  If we're buying from a non-organic farmer's market, we can ask the growers what types of pesticides they use.  A lot of times, local farmers are growing plants from non-organic seeds using organic methods.  Or, they've just not gone through the process of getting certified organic and thus can't advertise their produce as such. 

Or, when planning your own backyard organic garden, be sure to include as many of the items from the above list as possible to cut down on the pesticides you're bringing to the table.

The second list, the Clean 15, lists those fruits and veggies that are typically lowest in pesticides.

1. Onions
2. Sweet Corn
3. Pineapples
4. Avocado
5. Cabbage
6. Sweat peas
7. Asparagus
8. Mangoes
9. Eggplant
10. Kiwi
11.  Cantaloupe (domestic)
12. Sweet potatoes
13. Grapefruit
14. Watermelon
15.  Mushrooms

Not only are organics had to find around here, they are also expensive as compared to the non-organic varieties.  Use the list above to decided when to skip the organic label and save a little moolah without stocking up on pesticides in the process. 

For the original article that informed this post, check out http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/

Tomato Canning Party

Sam, my Father-in-Law, brought by this huge box and 3 bags full of tomatoes.  Yea!  Our garden has produced enough to keep us in BLT sandwiches but hasn't provided enough for canning, so I was thrilled with this great gift!

I quickly took John up on his offer to help, and we got to work once the kids were all in bed.

My Mamaw Carroll taught me how to can tomatoes just like she does it.  I felt like I was on a cooking show as I taught John how to do each step of the process.  :)

It's messy business.  In fact, if I'd taken pics at the height of messiness, they'd rival the gore involved in this past week's chicken slaughter post.

What could have been drudgery was actually a lot of fun since we were working together.

Mmmmm.  They whole house smelled so great!

We made it through the box but still have the 3 bags of tomatoes to go.  Perhaps we'll have another canning party tomorrow night.  Yep, we're wild and crazy over here!

Goat Milk Bounty

For whatever reason, our milk production has not been in line with our milk consumption lately, and I'm up to my ears in cheese, yogurt, and milk. 

Though I hope to be able to sell some of these items in the future, for now I'd just like to give some of this goodness away to whoever might be interested in trying it.

Here's what I can offer this week:

1. Pasteurized Milk-- pure and simple.  Bring me a mason jar or pitcher, and we'll fill you up.  For the benefits of goat milk, check out this past post

2. Plain goat milk yogurt -- this stuff is my weakness.  My favorite breakfast is granola, yogurt, fresh berries, and honey.  Yumm!  Of course, Greek yogurt is a very popular (and expensive) healthy ingredient for making salad dressings and all kinds of things, and this yogurt makes a great substitute in those recipes.

3.  Goat cheese -- the kind I have made right now is spreadable and great on a cracker or broiled atop a sliced garden-fresh tomato or crumbled up in a pasta salad with tomato and basil (I could go on and on).  I have green onion flavor and herbs de provence flavor both available right now (John prefers the onion; I prefer the herb.  That said, you really can't go wrong, they're both great!)

4.  Strawberry frozen yogurt -- this stuff is so good that if you're within driving distance and don't come try some, you're just off your rocker. ;)

Of course, all of this stuff requires constant refrigeration, so it cannot be mailed.  But, if anyone local would like to give some of these great goat products a try, message me or come on over.  You can even meet the goat that provided the goodness, if you'd like.  She's a real sweetheart.  :)

Fruity Chicken Salad Sandwiches

So, I've still got some shredded, cooked chicken in the fridge from the first of our backyard chickens to makes its way to the table.  Determined that this animal not have given its life in vain (it's interesting how slaughtering the chicken yourself will make you much less willing to let the leftovers go bad in the fridge), I sought to find a good recipe for a chicken salad for my lunch plate.  As I'm a sucker for a fruity chicken salad (a la Arby's), I was thrilled to find this recipe, which was just too yummy not to share.
Throw the following into a bowl:
1 c. cooked, shredded chicken
2/3 c. seedless grapes, halved
1 large peach, chopped (about 3/4 c.)
1 medium stalk celery, diced (about 1/2 c.)
1 tsp. chopped fresh or 1/2 tsp. dried mint

Then mix your dressing:
1/3 c. fat-free yogurt
2 Tbs. fat-free mayonnaise

Start by just adding 1/2 the dressing to the salad.  Then, add more to reach the desired consistency.  Chill for 30 minutes or so.  My ingredients were already chilled, so I didn't chill the salad.  It was excellent, but I suspect the mint flavor would've been more present if the flavors had had some fridge time to meld.  (John likes to mock me for how I like to give my cooking flavors time to "meld," but I really do think there's something to it.)



Slap that salad onto some toasted whole-grain bread, add some Veggie Straws (or your favorite chip), and you've got one delicious lunch!

Now, seems like as good a time as any to confess my latest addiction.  I just realized that my Veggie Straw obsession had reached the point of addiction when at the store this week I went ahead and bought a bag even though I already had 1 1/2 bags in the pantry at home.  Why?  "Just in case."  In case of what?  The zombie apocalypse my high school students used to warn me about?  Anyway, if you haven't had a chance to try them, you really should.  (If you don't like them, feel free to deposit the remainder of your bag on my front porch.)  On your local grocery store chip aisle, look up high (very high -- so high that I, a very tall gal, have to stand tippy-toe to reach them) near the other specialty/healthy chips.

As Promised . . . Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad

I realized something about myself today.  I love getting to set the table like this . . .
 . . . with a bowl in the center of the placemat.  More than likely, if the bowl is at the center, then the meal was probably pretty simple to put together.  It may even be a one-pot meal. Think about it -- you may fill a dinner plate with a meat from the grill, a side dish or two from the stove top, a bread from the oven, and a salad from the fridge.  That's a lot of juggling during meal prep time.  But, if the bowl is at the center, the meal is probably a soup or dinner salad and not much else is involved.

Which means that during the usually harried 4:00-5:00 hour, there can be a lot more general silliness, like this.  We were actually playing cards, but Girl 2 wanted us to make silly faces.  Somehow she looks more gangster than silly-little-girl, but, oh, well. 

So, when you're looking for something fresh and super easy to get to the table, try this: 
Southwest Chopped Chicken Salad

Throw all of the following into a big serving bowl:

2 c. shredded chicken (this was our first meal with our own backyard chicken!)
1 bell pepper, diced
1 can or 1 c. black beans (I used leftovers from last night's Spicy Black Bean Soup)
1 can or 1 c. sweet yellow corn
2 Roma-sized tomatoes, diced
4 green onions, sliced
1 head lettuce (whatever variety you like) chopped
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped

Mix up your dressing:
1/2 c. mayonnaise
2/3 c. Greek yogurt (or, in our case, goat milk yogurt)
1 Tbs. Ranch seasoning
1 Tbs. taco seasoning

Start by adding 1/2 your dressing to the salad mix.  Then, you can add more to achieve the desired consistency.  Top with some crushed tortilla chips for serving.

The pic above was of the salad dressed.

It's actually even prettier naked, don't you think? ;)

Backyard Chicken Broth

Backyard Chicken Broth . . . No, the broth is not made in a pot in the backyard.  The chicken used to make the broth, however, was raised there.  Yep, those chickens that we slaughtered on Saturday, that had been lined up in the refrigerator like little, um, chickens all in a row have now come out of their state of rigor and are ready to be frozen or eaten.

On slaughter day, as John was rinsing an already processed chicken with the hose, he said that he was playing a sappy movie-like montage of the chickens' lives through his mind:  we order them online and eagerly await their arrival . . .  they come in a tiny little box to our local post office, chirping away . . . we care for them diligently in the garage as they are too small and frail to live outside, Girl 2 handling them with such care . . . they grow big enough to move into the big tractor in the yard and are absolutely giddy with their fresh grass . . . they grow big enough that we can tell hens from roosters . . . the roosters begin stealing from us our precious hours of sleep as they crow at all hours . . . those roosters are skinned and disemboweled and being cleaned off by the garden hose.

That montage cannot be complete, though, until those chickens have made their way to our bellies.  So, I was very excited to finally have our backyard chicken make its way to the kitchen today.
I began by making a big pot of broth.  You know, its broth, so precise measurements are not really necessary.  A good cook will probably tell you that he/she just throws in a little of this and a little of that.  I, however, grow uncomfortable at the thought of cooking without precise measurements and would just about keel over without at least an ingredient list.  So for those of you who like a more concrete approach, here's what I threw into the stock pot:

the chicken, of course
minced garlic
carrots, in 2" pieces
onions, quartered
celery, in 2" pieces
a bay leaf
parsley
thyme

Then, I added water until the chicken was covered.  On the stove, simmer covered for an hour, skimming off any foam.  Then. remove the chicken, allow to cool enough to handle, pick the chicken clean of meat and toss the bones back into the broth. Cook on low (Crock Pot could be handy here) for another 1-3 hours.  Strain broth through colander and/or cheesecloth.  Store in the refrigerator for a week or so or freeze in baggies or process in mason jars for later use.

I immediately threw 6 c. of broth into the Crock Pot to make Spicy Black Bean Soup for tonight. I know that seems a bit out of season, but we love it.  And, I thought that a soup would be a good test of how well the broth had turned out, as broth is kind of the main event in a soup.

The meat I picked off the bones today will go into tomorrow night's dinner, Southwest Chopped Chicken Salad.  (I could've sworn I'd already posted about this salad, but I can't seem to find it, so it'll probably be tomorrow's post.  Be sure to check back,  it's a great salad!  Unless, of course, I did already post it and you read about it then.  If that's the case, please send me a link.  :)

Forks Over Knives

I've been really enjoying some of the food/farming related documentaries available on Netflix's instant viewing.  Two that I've enjoyed are Forks Over Knives and Fresh (if you, like me, can't seem to get enough of good 'ole Joel Salatin, be sure to check out the latter :). 

But, I thought I'd share with you a couple of tidbits I gleaned from my viewing of the former.  

-- Americans are carrying an average of 23 extra pounds.

-- 40% of us are obese.

-- The average American consumes 147 lbs. of sugar per year.

--  1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with diabetes at some point during their lifetime.

These are staggering statistics.  The movie also provides a unique look at why we're facing this health crisis in the US.  And, interestingly, it doesn't place the blame on the individual.  In fact, the movie claims that we the people are the victims.  I'm not going to give it away though.  Just watch the movie.  ;)

Pasta Salad with Salami and Mozzarella

This cool, summer salad is a staple at our table, especially during this season when cherry tomatoes are plentiful.  It's delicious and has the added bonus of being one of the only dinner salads that our kids will eat (I think it's the salami that makes it so appealing; Girl 1 would be a vegetarian but for her love of all things pork!)

To make this salad, mix up the dressing in the bottom of your large serving bowl:
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. white whine vinegar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Then add the rest of your ingredients, toss, and serve!
8 oz. cooked pasta of your choice (we used penne this time, but we've also used gemelli and rotini in the past)
4 c. or so chopped spinach
1-1.5 c. halved cherry tomatoes
4-8 oz. cubed mozzarella (depending on how much cheese you like.  I was actually low on mozzarella, so we cut up string cheese :)
a few slices of sandwich-cut salami, cut into little triangles like pizza slices


Yummmm!

Because of the spinach, the salad doesn't keep for long as left-overs once it's been mixed up.  If you think you may not eat it all at dinner, consider mixing it all up without the spinach, putting spinach in the bottom of each serving bowl and topping with the rest of the ingredients.  Keeping the spinach out of the mix ensures that your salad will still taste great at lunch tomorrow. :)

Grilled Summer Vegetable Pasta

Okay, yes, there's a zucchini in this photo.  I will say, though, the zucchini plants are really slowing down, so the zucchini recipes may follow suit soon. ;)  There's a lot more than zucchini going on in this one, though.  This pasta was truly delicious! And, it uses a lot of what's in season right now.  In our area, you should be able to get your hands on local, fresh ingredients for this dish at your local farmer's market or watermelon stand. ;)
Ingredients:
8 oz. linguine, cooked according to package directions
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/3 c. coarsely chopped basil leaves (don't go with dried here.  It really matters sometimes, and this is one of those times.)
6 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 red bell pepper, quartered
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise
1 medium onion, cut into 1/2-inch slices
4 oz. chevre (goat) cheese, crumbled
1/3 c. shredded Parmesan cheese



Directions:
In large bowl, mix tomatoes, basil, 4 Tbs. olive oil, salt, and pepper; set aside (or take a photo, like I did, because it's just so pretty! Or, just periodically sniff it as you go about the rest of the prep work because it just smells so great -- I've been really craving a Caprese salad lately myself!)

Coat eggplant, bell pepper, zucchini, and onion with a mixture of garlic and 2 Tbs. oil and grill over medium heat for 8-12 minutes or until desired tenderness.

Coarsely chop vegetables; add to tomato mixture.  Gently stir in chevre.

Place cooked linguine in the bottom of serving dish, top with vegetable mixture and Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!  We've made a lot of veggie pastas, but this one has two great things going for it. 
1.  I love basil.  The fresh basil makes this one great.
2. The grilled flavor really adds something nice to the mix.

Enjoy!

Zucchini Boats

"Are they like ants on a log?" my kids wanted to know.  Well, not exactly.  So, what is it?  This is perhaps the yummiest zucchini recipe yet!  And, it spruces up plain-'ole zucchini with the addition of summer-sweet cherry tomatoes!  This was also my first opportunity to use the goat milk mozzarella I slaved over for an entire morning last week -- if I do not get quicker and better at making it, I vow never again to complain about the cost of semi-soft/hard cheeses.

1. Cut your zucchini in half lengthwise and trim a little off the bottoms so that the boats don't rock while in the baking dish.
2. Scoop out the center where the seeds are with a spoon.
3.  Brush the surface with a mixture of crushed garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
4. Arrange halved cherry tomatoes into the grooves and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
5.  Bake in a 350-degree oven for 30-40 minutes, until desired tenderness is reached.
6.  Remove from oven and place shredded mozzarella in between the tomatoes.  Place under the broiler for 3-5 minutes, until cheese is golden and bubbling.
7.  Sprinkle with grated Paremsan and serve!.

Doesn't that look delicious!

Homemade Yogurt Popsicles

Are you hot yet?  These popsicles are a great way to cool off without all the guilt involved with traditional syrupy, sugary popsicles.  Sweetened with honey and fruit and full of the probiotic properties of yogurt, this is an all-natural snack you can feel good feeding to your kiddos (and enjoying yourself)!
This yummy recipe comes from another blog I read (you should check it out; she really does a great job!)
Step 1:  Gather your ingredients --
1 c. yogurt (store-bought or homemade from your dairy goat's milk . . . you know, whichever ;)
1/4 c. honey
1 lb. fresh fruit (we used strawberries and cherries)
1 Tbs. vanilla (optional)
Plastic popsicle molds

Step 2:  Dump ingredients into a food processor or blender and process/blend until smooth.   (As pictured, I used a food processor, but, in hindsight, I'd recommend a blender because it's easier to pour out of -- see photo below).

Step 3:  Pour into your popsicle molds (then clean up the mess, if you're as messy in the kitchen as I tend to be).

Step 4:  Freeze for a few hours, then enjoy with a cutie pie like the one pictured here.  :)

Note: Don't expect these to taste as sweet as your last sugar-laden popsicle.  If they aren't sweet enough for your liking, try subbing in 1/2 can of fat free sweetened condensed milk for the honey next time.

A Remedy for Zucchini Ears


Got zucchini coming out of your ears?  Not that it's not a great look for you, but should you decide that it's not exactly the look you're going for, try this:

Grilled Veggies with Mustard Dip

Ingredients for Mustard Dip:
2/3 c. fat free yogurt
1/3 c. fat free sour cream
1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh parsley (I used 1/2 Tbs. dried parsley)
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic salt

Ingredients for Kabobs:
1 bell pepper, cut into 6 strips, then cut into thirds
1 zucchini, cut diagonally into 1/2 inch slices
8 oz.  fresh whole mushrooms
9 large cherry tomatoes
2 Tbs. olive oil

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix dip ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Heat gril.  On skewers, thread vegetables so that one kind of veggie is on the same skewer.  Leave space between each piece.  Brush with olive oil.

Place skewers of bell pepper and zucchini on grill over medium heat.  Cover grill and cook about 5 minutes.  Add skewers of mushrooms and tomatoes.  Cover grill and cook an additionaly 4-5 minutes, carfully turning skewers every couple of minutes.  Remove veggies from skewers to serving plate.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with dip.  (The dip really makes it!)

We enjoyed this as a vegetarian meal, but you could always add a skewer of chicken chunks.  This meal is a great way to use some in-season veggies.  We don't actually have bell peppers and tomatoes ready at our house yet, but they are plentiful at the farmer's market.


"This Is the Best Dessert I've Ever Had!"

Yep.  My husband actually made this exclamation at dinner last night.  Let's hear it again, shall we:
"This is the best dessert I've ever had!"

Wow!  And, I made it! 

Now, if you have an icecream maker, go get it.  Seriously.  Right now.  You'll be glad you did.  I'll wait for you to get back. 





Got it?  You won't be sorry.  This recipe for Strawberry Frozen Yogurt is AMAZING and so easy!

Ingredients:
2 c. fat free plain yogurt (I used the goat milk yogurt that I make, but store-bought should work fine)
2 c. pureed fresh strawberries
1 can fat free sweetened condensed milk
1 c. fat free milk (I used goat milk, of course)
3 tsp. vanilla (I actually left out the vanilla. I wish I could say it was a stylistic choice, but actually I just forgot it!   It turned out SO good without it, but I'll probably add it next time.)

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Fill the cylinder of your ice cream maker and freeze according to the machine's directions.  When finished, place the cylinder in the freezer for a couple hours.  At serving time, set out a few minutes to soften.




This actually firmed up much better than traditional homemade ice cream.  I suspect that you could substitute other fruits for the pureed strawberries.   Peaches are still in season and would probably be yummy.  I'm thinking that'll be my next one to try!

Canning Tip

Following on the heels of yesterday's post, here's a canning tip for you:  remove the rings for storage.  Yep, that's right.  The rings are really only necessary during processing.  After that, the seal is doing all the work, so they're unnecessary.  Leaving them on often results in unwanted rust in the grooves, a result of water from the processing just sitting there for a lengthy period of time. 

So, go ahead.  Let your jars go topless!  Yes, it looks weird.  But think of the money you'll save (okay, it may only be a few dollars, but still).  You really only need enough rings to fit on however many jars you'll be processing at one time.  And, they'll last virtually forever since they won't be accumulating rust in the grooves.


Garden Goodness: Now and Later

It's like Christmas around here.  Today, I used my pressure canner that I got for Christmas for the first time!
When you're hoping your garden will provide as much of your family's diet as possible, tough choices are involved.  This is our first harvested mess of green beans.  We won't be eating them fresh, though.
We currently have zucchini coming out of our ears (keep checking back for more zucchini recipes).  And, (other than freezing a few shredded cups for future zucchini bread), we tend to eat our zucchini in ways that rely on fresh-picked zucchini.  I've blanched zucchini and squash in the past, and it just sat in the freezer until I eventually threw it out because we just don't eat our squash that way.  

So, zucchini now.  Green beans later.   We may eventually eat some fresh green beans, but since we tend to use our green beans as a replacement for grocery-store canned beans, most of our green beans will find their way to the mason jars and feed us this winter when garden-fresh zucchini is a thing of the past.

The instruction booklet was a little overwhelming, but once I'd read it through, actual operation was pretty easy.

Food for later!

Frozen Berry Pie

This pie is a favorite at our house.  In fact, it leaves Little Boy chanting, "Pie! Pie! Pie! Pie!" at the dinner table.  It's pretty versatile, too, since it can be made with a combination of types of berries, and they can be either frozen or fresh.  So, if your husband is prone to coming home from work weilding a 5 lb. bag of blackberries (as mine did last week), you're all set.

Our strawberry plants have been surprising us with some late berries, and MeeMee brought us some blueberries, so I went ahead and froze 3 extra bags with a 2-cup mix of blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries.  Now, all I'll have to do is thaw them, and they're ready for pie!

Ingredients:
1 graham cracker crust
2 c. berries (fresh or frozen)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (we use Fat Free)
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tub Cool Whip (once again, we use Fat Free)

Directions:
1. Place fruit (thaw first if using frozen fruit), condensed milk, and lemon juice in food processor or blender and process until smooth. 
2. Pour into pie crust and put in freezer until firm (a couple hours).  Then, cover with Cool Whip and freeze again until firm. 

You can set it out to thaw for a few minutes before serving.  We like ours nearly solid, though.  Thanks to cousin Bethany for giving us this recipe a few years back.  We make it all the time!  Not that you'll be able to resist eating it, but this pie will keep well in the freezer for a long time, so consider making the most of your effort and making two -- one for now, one for later.

I forgot to take a picture last night when I served it, so I had to go cut another slice just now.  Oh, well.  ;)  Oh, and you think that looks like a big slice?  Maybe my dessert plates are just really small.  Yes, that's it, I have very small dessert plates. 

Thinking Outside the Can

During the school year, Little Boy and I are usually content to scrounge around in the fridge for leftovers at lunchtime.  Lately, though, with the girls home from school for the summer, I've needed a more formal plan for lunches.  It seems I've really hit on something with this alphabet pasta!

I've recently started purchasing lots of organic flours, beans, pastas, and other dry goods through a co-op that orders every 2 months.  Click here to see the company's website.    So far, I've really been pleased with the quality of their products.  My breads have never been better!   

My kids often get a hankerin' for chicken noodle soup or spaghettios from a can.  I don't exactly love all the ingredients found in those cans, so I thought I'd try to recreate those dishes using ingredients that sit a bit better with me. 

Country Life Natural Foods sells this organic, whole-wheat alphabet pasta for $1.80 per pound -- a great deal, really.  But, they sell it in 10 lb. packages!  I included the carton of broth for perspecitve -- it's a lot of pasta! 

So, I've got two kids who love their noodles with chicken broth and a third who'd rather have her alphabets with tomato sauce.  Not a problem!  I can just cook up a big batch of pasta early in the week, then add whatever sauce I'd like at serving time.  We've had chicken noodle soup:  just add organic chicken broth, diced carrots, some chopped chicken leftover from last night's rotisserie, or whatever other wholesome ingredient you can think of.  Or, we've added our favorite jarred pasta sauce -- much tastier than the sauce in the canned pasta!  You could even melt a little cheese, and you'd be thinking outside the blue box, too!

I know this seems like common sense.  But, it's been such a revelation to me.  I love that with a little forethought, everyone can be happy with what's for lunch!

(If you live around and would like the skinny on how to get into the 2 month rotation through the co-op, shoot me a message :)

When Life Gives You Zucchini . . .

You know what they say . .

When life gives you zucchini, make quiche! 

What?  You've never heard that one?

Anyway.  Life has definitely given us zucchini, so in an effort to do something a little different with it, we tried this recipe.  Maybe you'd like to try it, too.  :)

Ingredients:
4 c. thinly slice zucchini
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 Tbs. butter
2 eggs
2 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. each garlic powder, dried basil, and dried oregano
2 c. (8 oz.) shredded or crumbled cheese (We used 1 c. mozzarella with 1 c. crumbled goat cheese because that's what we had on hand.  Other cheeses to try would be Monterrey Jack or Gouda.)
2 tsp. dijon mustard
1 pastry shell (unbaked)

Directions:
1.  In a large skillet, saute the zucchini and onion in butter until tender. 
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, parsley, salt, garlic powder, basil, oregano, and pepper.  Stir in cheese and zucchini mixture.
3.  Spread mustard over pastry shell; add filling.
4.  Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.



Reasons we loved this:

1.  Well, um, it was delicious.  That's got to be the #1 reason.
2.  It uses things we've got fresh right now from the backyard:  zucchini, onion, egg, and goat cheese.
3.  It could be frozen.  Yep, you read that right.  Because this quiche doesn't contain milk or cream like many quiches, it will keep well in the freezer.  If you want to save your quiche for later (or double up the recipe to have one now and one later; or to take later on to a potluck; or to take to your friend who just had a baby; etc.), just assemble quiche by following steps 1-3 above, then cover and freeze for up to 2 months.  To use the frozen quiche, thaw it in the refrigerator.  Then, bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 50-55 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from the original at www.tasteofhome.com.

Eggs: Pastured vs. Free Range

So, are the eggs you're eating from chickens that are Pastured?  Or, are they labeled Free Range?  Why should you even care?  Mother Earth News has a great little article that decodes some of these terms.  First, though, let's establish why you should even care about these labels. Consider this excerpt from the article:

"Conventional egg production — that is to say, the vast majority of egg production in the United States — is not a pretty business. Laying hens are crammed five or six to a cage in stacked rows of cages designed for automated feeding, watering and egg-collecting. As many as 100,000 birds can be confined in a single warehouse, each bird with less than 67 square inches, about two-thirds the size of a sheet of paper, to call its own. The crowded conditions lead to cannibalism and other destructive behavior, so the birds’ beaks are cut off at an early age, a procedure that could be likened to cutting off a child’s finger tips, in terms of its impact on the animals’ dexterity and sensory experience. The industry favors windowless warehouses with prolonged artificial light to stimulate maximum egg-laying. When egg production drops off, food is withheld as a way of sending the birds into a forced molt followed by another round of egg laying before being disposed of.
The adoption of practices like these has paralleled the spread of salmonella as a bacterial contaminant in eggs — the reason you’re cautioned not to eat raw cookie dough or Caesar dressing anymore. Crowded conditions, genetic uniformity and the widespread use of antibiotics in industrial agriculture favor the development of new and potentially more devastating pathogens."

Convinced?  Okay.  Let's define some of those labels you'll see on supermarket cartons. 

1.  Cage-free.  This is a popular one right now.  This basically means that the chickens are not kept in tiny cages their entire lives and are instead allowed to move about in large warehouses.  They are probably not allowed any fresh air or outdoor access.

2.  Free Range.  Originally intended to mean what it sounds like it should mean, this term has become a bit corrupted over the past few years.  These chickens are allowed some outdoor access.  However, that outdoor space may not be pasture.  It may be dirt floor or even concrete. 

3.  Pastured.  This term has arisen recently (since the term free range has become so abused).  Free Range was originally intended to mean that chickens were allowed access to fresh air AND fresh grassy ground.  Since, producers have come to use free range to simply mean access to any type of outdoor space, the term pastured has come into play.  A pastured chicken has access to all the grass, weeds, insects, and worms that make her eggs or meat more nutritious and safe for us to consume.  Pastured chickens may be truly free to roam anywhere their little chicken hearts desire, or they may be penned in some way to protect them from predators and moved frequently to fresh patches of ground (as they are at our house).

So, pastured chickens are also free range, but a free range chicken may not be pastured.  Follow?
Now, it should be stated that NONE of these 3 terms is actually regulated by any food authority.  That is, of course, why some terms become corrupted and new ones arise to fill in the gaps. 

What about Certified Organic eggs?  Well, at least someone is regulating the use of this term!  The USDA makes sure that eggs bearing this label come from chickens who've been fed an organic, vegetarian feed, are antibiotic-free and cage-free, and allowed at least some access to fresh air (how much time spent in and the conditions of the outdoor space are still "hotly debated").  These chickens may have been debeaked or starved in order to force them into molting.

So, if you aren't able to maintain your own pastured flock in your backyard, I'd advise you to look for the Pastured label first!  You'll know whether it's the real deal by the color of the yolk.  Eggs from truly pastured hens will be bright orange in color and have an excellent taste that you'll recognize as different from it's lackluster competitors.