The Best Brownies - Ever! (GAPS, Paleo, Grain-free, Refined Sugar free, Gluten-free, Dairy-free)

A bold claim, I know! And I don’t just mean “the best brownies, considering they are GAPS/Paleo/Grain-free.” No, THE best brownies.

To quote my husband: “Whatever you had written down as the brownie recipe you were going to make for the rest of your life - scratch it and make these instead!”
Yep. And my husband does not follow a GAPS diet, or paleo or even grain-free, or gluten-free. He could eat any old brownie if he wanted to!

Somehow they manage to be fudgy and slightly cake-y at the same time! As far as I’m concerned - that’s pretty perfect!

This recipe started it’s life as one of Megan’s (a.k.a. Detoxinista) recipes for brownies made from almond pulp. Don’t know who that is? You are so missing out! She has a wonderful blog, full of awesome, healthy and oh so tasty recipes!

Anyway, after playing around with the recipe for a while, adjusting ingredients and amounts, I came up with a GAPSified version, that works really well, is packed with nutrition, doesn’t use a ton of almond flour, and, as mentioned above, is now our absolute favorite!

And they couldn’t be easier to make. Just dump everything in a bowl, whisk to combine, bake, done! And if you’ve done “specialty recipes” before, “quick and easy” is NOT a given!

 

Ingredients:

1/3 cup organic unsweetened applesauce (I use homemade)

1/4 cup ghee (or coconut oil)
1/3 cup raw honey*

1/3 cup date sugar (I use this one)

1/2 cup almond flour (I use Honeyville Almond Flour)

1/2 cup organic cocoa powder (I use this one)
2 tsp. organic vanilla extract
2 large eggs, pastured
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch of sea salt

*I use our local raw hickory honey - it is fairly thick, pretty mild in flavor but strong in sweetening power, even when baked. You may have to adjust your honey accordingly, depending on how it comes through once baked and how liquid it is. The closest commercially available honey that compares to my local ones in both flavor and consistency, is this one, another favorite of mine!

 

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Grease and line an 8”x8” dish or pan with parchment paper.
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl until an even and thick batter results.

Bake for 25 minutes, until the middle is no longer jiggley and the edges are pulling away from the sides of the pan.

Allow to cool before serving.

 

Note: For an extra decadent treat, frost with a little of this buttercream once completely cool. SO good!

Pin It

Homemade Ketchup (GAPS, Paleo, Refined Sugar Free)

 

Ingredients:

12 lbs. fresh tomatoes, quartered (for canned tomatoes, see note)
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium red pepper, diced
1/4 cup celery leaves or chopped celery stalks
1/4 cup of ghee (or butter - optional, but I would highly recommend it!)
1  1/4 cups apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice (if you are canning this is essential)
1 Ceylon cinnamon stick, broken up a bit
2 tsp whole cloves
about 7 whole allspice berries
2 garlic chive stems, with flower heads (or 1 clove of garlic - I can't use garlic due to husband's allergy)
1 cup pure honey (You may need more or less - somewhat depends on what kind of honey you have and how strongly it comes through)

1/2 cup date sugar

2-2  1/2 tbsp. herbamare (or sea salt)
1 small can of organic tomato paste

 

Preparation:

Combine tomatoes, onion, bell pepper,and celery in a large stockpot (mine is 9 quarts and it was just enough) Crush the tomatoes slightly with a potato masher to make enough liquid to cover the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until tomatoes are soft and falling apart, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, add the vinegar to a small saucepan. Add the spices and garlic (chive flower heads) and bring to a boil over high heat.
Remove from heat and let stand for about 30 minutes or so. Pour vinegar through a strainer into the tomato mix. Discard spices. Simmer tomatoes, for another 30 minutes.

The lid is off from now on.

In batches, run the tomato mixture through a food mill (fine disk) to remove seeds & skins. Or press through a sieve, or puree in a food processor then sieve.

Return pulp to the stockpot, add tomato puree, lemon juice and ghee and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until the volume is reduced by about half, and the texture is about the thickness of a thick tomato sauce. Takes about 3 hours at a gentle simmer. You can turn the heat up higher to shorten the simmer time, but you will need to be close by to stir frequently.

Prepare canner, jars and lids.

Blend tomato pulp with an immersion blender or puree in a food processor/blender. Return to stockpot, add honey, date sugar & salt, and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

Simmer, stirring occasionally - I would really recommend using splatter guard if you have one, at this point!

Just keep simmering away until it is just a little thinner than you want the final product to be, (ketchup will further thicken when cold.)

If you're canning, fill hot jars to ½-inch headspace, wipe rims, affix lids and process in a boiling water bath for about 20 min.

Or you can freeze the ketchup.

 

Notes:

1.) If using canned tomatoes, use 6 x 28 oz. cans and omit the food mill step, as skins have already been removed.
2.) If you're not canning the ketchup (or you are pressure canning it,) you can omit the lemon juice and replace with 1/4 c of ACV. The lemon juice is just to keep the home canning safe.

Pin It

Homemade Ham (GAPS, gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar free, preservative free)

 

 

Ingredients:

6 lbs. or so of Pork loin (excess fat removed)

3/4  gallon water

3/4 - 1 cup Himalayan sea salt

1 cup raw honey 

1 tbsp. dried sage

1 tbsp. dried thyme

8 whole peppercorns
1 cup  fresh celery juice (optional)

1 l prepared water kefir (also optional, but does help to prepare pork properly) - or more water + 1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar or lemon juice

 

Preparation:

Place the water, salt, sage, thyme and peppercorns into a saucepan. Heat and  stir until salt is dissolved. Let it cool until just barely warm, then add 1 cup of raw honey. Stir until dissolved.
Let it cool all the way to room temperature, then add 1 bottle of homemade water kefir - this is less for flavor and more for the acid base to properly prepare pork, even though the flavor does contribute.  I love using homemade water kefir root beer in this!

Add the fresh celery juice  too. Stir to combine.

Note that celery juice does contain some natural nitrates, so if you are trying to avoid them, omit the celery juice. I am adding it for flavor, more than anything else.

I cut the loin into about 3 -4 pieces - they brine and smoke more evenly that way.

Place each piece in a gallon zip lock bag, divide brine amongst it.

 

 

I like to place my bags in a little box or basket, so they are pushed together a little more. The brine rises and  covers all the meat. That way you don't have to turn the meat.  If you don’t do it this way, turn the meat once a day, so all the sides get brined evenly.

 

Place in the fridge and let it brine for 3-4 days.

Remove meat from brine and rinse well. Pat it really dry.

 

{A double batch, just before smoking.}

I hickory smoke it for 3.5-4 hrs. at 200 F until the internal temp is 150F.

 

 

{All done! Now just cooling down before slicing and freezing!}

Let it cool and slice/shave it thinly (with a deli slicer!)

 

{Yum!}

 

Store in the refrigerator. Unlike the commercial ham, this will not keep nearly as long, even when refrigerated, since we have no preservatives. Treat it like you would any other cooked meat.
I find that slicing one of the pieces and keeping it in the fridge, while freezing the others and then taking them out one by one as we slice and eat it, works well!

Pin It

Salted Caramel Ice Cream (GAPS, SCD, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar Free)

This is not your run-of-the-mill caramel ice cream. It has a very satisfying honey flavor with a hint of salted caramel, enveloped in a rich and velvety ice cream texture.

And, this ice cream is scoop-able right out of the freezer!

My children have declared it “the best ice cream you ever made.” That is high praise, especially since they love all the other ice creams I have made before!

 

 

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of pure honey

2 tbsp. water

1 can of  Coconut milk 

1/2 tsp pink Himalayan sea salt

4 egg yolks (fresh, preferably from pastured chickens) room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup of cultured cream (I make mine from raw milk, culturing it for 24 hrs. with some milk kefir grains)

 

Preparation:

Place the honey and the water in a pan. Let it cook to 240 F (soft boil stage) on your candy thermometer. This takes about 8-10 minutes.
Then, carefully, add 1 can of coconut milk and 1/2 tsp of sea salt and stir to combine.

Let it cook until the temperature goes back up to 190 - 200F.

It will look like sweetened condensed milk, but a bit more runny.
Remove from heat and let it cool down to room temp.

Then add 4 egg yolks, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 1/2 cups of cultured cream. Whisk together and process in the ice cream maker. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, that is fine. Whisk it a little longer to thoroughly incorporate the ingredients and whip in some air.  Then pour into a container and freeze over night.

If you are processing this in an ice cream maker, please note that this particular ice cream will stay really slushy and soft. It barely gets to soft serve stage, so just transfer it to your ice cream container and freeze at least over night.

Unlike other ice creams, this scoops right out of the freezer, so no need to set this ice cream out to thaw a bit before serving.

Enjoy!

Pin It

CRUNCHY Butternut Squash Chips (GAPS, SCD, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free)

This, my friends, is a bowl of truly crunchy heaven!

When you are on GAPS, or many other diets, you seriously lack the crunch factor. There is the odd crispy thing, but there is no real crunch crunch. There’s the kind of crunch you get from a cracker, or the crunch you get from dried zucchini chips (which is a little on the chewy/leathery side) and of course there is the crunch you get from a carrot - but there nothing close to the crunch you get from a potato chip or a tortilla chip.
Until you make these little babies!
They are truly crunchy. And delicious. And even though somewhat labor intensive, not hard to do!

My family really, REALLY likes these! Even the ones that aren’t doing GAPS! Who would have ever thought that my kids would beg me for butternut squash anything on a regular basis? Not me, but here we are!

So, let’s get started!

This recipe only has two ingredients. The recipe is not so much in the ingredients however, it is in the method.

It does help to have a dehydrator to make it easier to make these chips, but an oven works too.

Butternut Squash Chips

Ingredients:

1 Butternut squash, preferably one with a long, straight neck

Ghee, or frying oil of choice

Equipment: Potato peeler, Mandoline or other slicer (you need something that produces thin, even slices,) a dehydrator (or oven,) and means to deep or pan fry, kitchen tongs.

Method:

Slice the butternut squash just where it begins to bulge outwards.
That is where the seeds usually start. We want to use the top part for chips.

You can also use the bottom part for chips, however, they will end up being thin-ish half moon shapes.  I generally hollow out the bottom part and place it in the freezer. Once I have collected a few, I defrost and stuff them with meat and veggies for dinner. Not only does it taste delicious, it also looks really cute, prepared in it’s own little butternut squash bowl!

   

Peel the top part of the squash. You generally have to go over the same spot a couple of times to get to the bright orange flesh, with no whitish skin left, or the green veins that sometimes run under the skin.

Slice on a mandoline. I have tried several different thicknesses and personally I prefer 1/8 of an inch. They don’t take too long to dry and they still make a pretty sturdy chip.
You can go a little thinner or a little thicker, but I really wouldn’t go thicker than 1/4 inch, as the puffing up later will be impeded if the chip is too thick.

 

  

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and in batches, boil the squash slices. About 2 minutes per batch.

They should still be pretty firm when you pull them out and by no means cooked through. I use kitchen tongs to pull them out and they still stand up really well to that grabbing pressure. If they fall apart on you, you are cooking them for too long. We really just want to blanch them!
I usually blanch them in 4-5 batches. Make sure that you put them into the boiling water one by one, so none of them stick together going in!

Once blanched, layer them onto the trays of your dehydrator. I tend to wait until they have cooled down just enough for me to touch all the slices, then layer them in there. Process according to your dehydrator instructions until completely dry. Some will curl up, some won’t - it’s all good.

You can also lay them out in a single layer on cookie sheets and dry them on the lowest setting of your oven.

And this is what they will look like once done. Completely dry, somewhat hard, but in a leathery kind of way.

Now, the magic happens.
I have no photos of the actual frying process. There is a reason for that!

The reason is .... you need to be FAST. As in, split seconds fast, so there’s no way I could photograph and not have the chips burn.

I generally fry mine in a small pan with about an inch or so of ghee in it. You can use other oils or fats too. It all works.


Heat your fat to about 350-375 F.

Now, fry them, one by one. Yes, don’t be tempted to dump them all in, I guarantee you they will all burn as you can’t get them out fast enough.


So, one by one, using kitchen tongues again, place a dehydrated chip in the hot fat, almost instantly flip it around to the other side and them take it out. I am literally talking about a second on each side.
But in that second, magic happens. You will see the chip puff up, sometimes it will uncurl, and it will turn to a deep orange. Sometimes the color doesn’t look like it changed much, but it will continue cooking even after you pulled it out, so DO pull it out. They will turn into an orangey brown once they cool.


Place on a kitchen towel to drain the excess oil/fat.


Keep doing this, one by one.

If you leave them in to get really brown, they are still crispy, but the more “burnt” they become, the more bitter they will taste, and that’s not what we want. So, one second each side, remember?

See the difference in the photo below. The left one went too far, the right one is what you’re aiming for !

Below you can see how the chip changes from dehydrated state to fried state. See those lovely bubbles? That’s the crunch factor!

    

Dehydrated squash slice.                                     Fried chip from dehydrated slice.

And there you have it. I like to give a light shake of Herbamare over them and enjoy, either by themselves or with dips, salsa, as nachos, etc.

Yes,  these are a bit of work! But the good news is that because they are dehydrated, you don’t have to do ALL of the above every time you make them. You can make large batches of dehydrated slices and store them in an air tight container and fry them up pretty quickly whenever you want them!
And butternut squash season is coming, so they will be a lot cheaper too. Well worth stocking up on!

I generally store the dehydrated slices in an air-tight jar and then fry up as many as we will eat. However, if you are going to store the fried chips longer, make sure they're in an air-tight container or bag, otherwise they will lose some of their crunch!

Notes:

Since this is a little labor intensive, I did of course experiment with seemingly simpler ways. None of them worked out.
Here is what I’ve tried:

• I tried them fresh and fried, total flop. Literally. Nothing crispy about them at all!
• I tried them fresh (without the dehydrating step) both blanched and not blanched. Also didn’t work out. Except for making them paper thin ... but those don't hold up to much and they were quite hard to get to the right crispness without completely burning them. And no puffing up either.
• Tried them just soaked in water and then dehydrated and fried - got crispy and a little bit puffy but they also had an oddly bitter flavor, which I really didn’t care for!
  
  
  
  

Pin It

Chicken Broccoli Casserole (GAPS, SCD, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Low-Carb)

One of our favorite GAPS casseroles! It’s pretty quick and easy and my kids LOVE this one!

 

 

 

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

 

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cooked (rotisserie chicken, or cooked chicken from making stock)

1 onion, chopped

24 oz. organic Broccoli (fresh or frozen)

3/4 cup Honeyville Almond Flour
1 1/2 tsp Herbamare or sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup nutritional yeast ( I use Bragg’s Nutritional Yeast)
1/3 cup  Mayonnaise (I use homemade)
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 large eggs, preferably pastured
1 tbsp. pickle juice (or 2 tsp of lemon juice)
1/3 cup coconut milk ( I use  Natural Value Coconut Milk)

 

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Steam broccoli florets,  take the meat off the chicken and place in a large bowl.  Add the broccoli.

In a separate bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients.

Pour over the chicken and broccoli and mix until everything is well covered.

Pour into a greased baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and it’s set.

Enjoy!

Pin It

Easy Chicken Nuggets (With Many Variations) - GAPS friendly, Paleo, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Low Carb

We love these little un-breaded nuggets around here. They are tasty and dip-able, they freeze well and they warm up great in the toaster oven. They are also really tasty cold, straight out of the fridge or lunch box.
You can also make them into larger patties and enjoy them as a burger!

Feel free to half the recipe below - it makes a LOT of nuggets. I tend to cook for several meals at once and freeze, so I don’t have to make the effort as often!

They are easy to make and you don’t have to deal with breading them. You could also just bake these in the oven, but we love them pan fried with a little ghee around here, as they get a nice little crust around them, which just adds to the deliciousness!

Unfortunately my digital camera card is currently inaccessible, so this post is without food photos today, but I will either take new ones the next time I make these, or get them off the card one way or another!

 

Easy Chicken Nuggets

Makes about 55-60 chicken nuggets

Ingredients:

3 large eggs, preferably pastured

3 tbsp. coconut flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill Organic coconut flour)

3 tbsp. almond flour (I use Honeyville almond flour)

4 lbs. of ground chicken (or ground turkey) - they also work with pork or a mix of the three

2 tbsp. ghee - mayonnaise or coconut oil work too!

• Seasonings of choice. I usually use the following:

1 tbsp.  Herbamare or sea salt

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg or mace

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

 

Ghee or oil/fat of choice for cooking the nuggets.

 

Preparation:

In a large bowl, combine eggs, coconut flour, almond flour and seasonings (salt, herbs, onion powder, paprika, cumin, etc.) The resulting paste should be about the consistency of soaked bread crumbs. If it's too dry, add a little water. Then mix in the ghee (you can also use left-over mayo.)

Add the ground meat and with your hands, combine everything well.

Take about 1 tbsp. sized balls of the meat mix, flatten them a little to make a nugget shape and fry them in batches in a frying pan with 1 tbsp. of ghee or oil of choice until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Fry them up in batches and don’t crowd the pan!

Serve with gaps friendly ketchup ;)

 

Notes and Variations:

- You can omit the coconut flour, even thought that will change the texture a little.

- You can also omit the almond flour and use either all coconut flour or another nut or seeds flour - again the texture will be slightly different though.

- They can be baked or even deep fried in some healthy oil!  Bake in a pre-heated 375 F oven for 20 minutes, or until done.

- For buffalo chicken nuggets,  add 1 tbsp. of Frank’s Original  Hot Sauce to the meat mix. Bake or fry the nuggets. Mix 1/3 cup of Frank’s Original  Hot Sauce and 1/4 cup of melted butter or ghee and heat until just warm and combined. 
After you baked your chicken nuggets for 15 minutes (or fried them in a pan to almost done), dip the nuggets into the butter/hot sauce mix and either place back on your baking sheet or back in the pan. Bake for another 5 minutes, or if frying in a pan, give them another minute or so on each side.

- If you are really looking for a breaded chicken nugget, prepare the meat mix as above, then mix the following in a bowl for your nugget coating:

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup ground white chia seeds
• 1/2 tsp Herbamare or sea salt
• 1/2 tsp onion or garlic  powder
  

Once you shaped your nuggets, gently roll them in the breading mix and ensure they are evenly coated. Place them on a silpad or parchment paper and bake as instructed above. The “breaded” variety is better baked than pan fried.
You can use the buffalo sauce instructions on the breaded nuggets too.

 

Can’t find ground chicken or can’t find the kind of chicken you would like to use, ground?

Grind your own!

I grind mine with the meat grinder attachment of my kitchen aid.  I use this one.
However,  you can also grind chicken in your food processor.

 

Here is how!

• If you are starting with fresh chicken, cut it into one inch cubes and place them on a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper. Make sure the meat is not touching each other. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes.
• If you are starting with frozen chicken, let it thaw just a little bit, then slice into one inch cubes with a large knife. I find that chicken is often sliced much easier while still somewhat frozen!
• We need the meat to be semi-frozen, as it will enable the food processor to chop more evenly, otherwise you end up with chicken mush.
• Now fill the food processor about half full and  PULSE the meat cubes until you have about the consistency of ground meat. 
  Really, PULSE, don’t let it run!  And make sure you work in small batches.
• Pick out any larger remaining pieces and pulse those again.
• Either use straight away or, if you started with fresh chicken, freeze for future use.
  
  
  

Pin It

Honey Sweetened Lemon Curd - The Quick And Easy Way (Dairy-Free, Refined Sugar Free, GAPS legal)

Do you love lemon curd? I do! And it can be such a nourishing treat, if you use the right ingredients!

Ah, but wait - it’s a pain to make. All the separating and stirring  and then you have to strain it, so you don’t have all the little bits of egg that seem to inevitably occur. And even if you’re willing to do all that,  you’re still left with all the egg whites in your fridge.

Not any more! Even though, you could make the GAPS legal nut thins with the left-over egg whites, but then what would you do with the left-over egg whites from your homemade mayo? *grin*
But I digress.

Below is a recipe that uses the whole egg and a method that has your lemon curd done with no bits, no straining and no separating of anything in about 10 minutes beginning to end. Well, maybe 15 minutes if you take a while squeezing those lemons!

And it is honey sweetened to boot!

Here we go!

Quick and Easy Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

• 4 medium sized, preferably pastured, eggs
• 1/4 cup of grass-fed butter (room temperature) or  organic expeller pressed coconut oil (this has no coconut flavor - if you use regular coconut oil it will have a coconut flavor)
• 1/3 cup raw honey
• 2 tsp lemon peel from organic lemon (or 1 tsp of organic lemon peel powder)
• 1/3 cup  of freshly squeezed organic lemon juice (bottled works too, in a pinch)

Preparation:

Add to a blender the eggs, the room temperature coconut oil or butter, if using, add the honey and the lemon peel. Quickly mix together for a couple of seconds, just until combined.

Add the lemon juice and give it a good whirl for a few second on high,  until well combined. The color will become a little lighter. But it really just takes a few seconds.

NOTE: When the mixture first comes out of the blender it will look all curdled and separated. Don’t worry about it. It will come together into a silky smooth curd once it gets warmed up. I promise!

Don’t worry about any foam you might have on top as you are heating up your curd - once it all gets warmed through, the foam will go away too.

Pour the mixture into a saucepan (I love using these ceramic coated saucepans - nothing sticks and clean up is WAY easy) and on medium high heat, under constant stirring, cook the mixture until it thickens.

Don’t walk away! This can happen quickly, and really, do keep stirring!

Once it thickens up, that is it! Perfectly smooth lemon curd.

Take it off the heat, fill curd into jars, let it cool, then place in the fridge! It will get a little more solid in the fridge.

Enjoy your silky smooth lemon curd!

Pin It

The Big 20/20 Event: Day 19: Jamie’s Bison Meatloaf

Welcome back to “The Big 20/20 Event” - I am so glad you’re joining us! We are almost at our last day of sharing 20 fantastic tutorials from a host of awesome contributors, for 20 days.  If you missed the previous tutorials in the 20/20 series, just click on 20/20 icon over on the side bar and it will take you to all tutorials, without having to scroll through all my blog posts!

Or, you could just sign up for my newsletter, as all my newsletter subscribers will receive a beautiful PDF eBook at the end of the event, showcasing all 20 tutorial projects to keep and peruse at your leisure!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Jamie’s Bison Meatloaf

 

This post is brought to you by the lovely Jamie.

 

Recently, I’ve gotten into organic eating and have begun fixing different meals at home. I’m not an expert chef by any means, but I am trying. :) This may not be the most original of meals, but I tried to put my own twist on an old favorite.

 

Here is what you’ll need:

 

• 1 lb. Bison meat (preferably grass-fed meat)

• 1 egg (we use cage-free eggs bought at a local market)

• 1/3 cup of breading

• 1/2 a spoonful of sea salt

• 1/2 a spoonful garlic herb seasoning

• 1/2 a spoonful turmeric

 

1) Mix all ingredients well in a glass baking bowl

 

2) Have your oven pre-heated to 350 degrees

 

3) Bake the meatloaf for 45 minutes-one hour and let sit a couple of minutes before serving (check online for proper temps and make sure your meat is at the proper temp before taking it out).

 

 

 

Jamie's Bio:

Jamie White is a music addict, book lover, pet servant & NaNoWriMo survivor. When she's not busy writing posts for CultureShock, she's taking pictures for her photo blog and spending time with her husband and pets. She released Stains on the Soul and Clutter via Pagan Writers Press in 2013.

Social Links:

www.jamielwhite.com

www.jbcultureshock.wordpress.com

www.jamiebmusingspics.wordpress.com

www.twitter.com/JamieWAuthor

www.facebook.com/AuthorJamieWhite

www.pinterest.com/AuthorJamieW/

www.plus.google.com/+JamieWhiteAuthor

www.youtube.com/user/Jamieavon77

www.plus.google.com/106849014174968997370/posts

www.jamiebmusings.tumblr.com

Pin It

The Big 20/20 Event: Day 6: Make Your Own Chicken Pad Thai

Welcome back to “The Big 20/20 Event” - I am so glad you’re joining us! We will be sharing 20 fantastic tutorials from a host of awesome contributors, for 20 days.
If you enjoy the tutorials, make sure you sign up for my newsletter, as all my newsletter subscribers will receive a beautiful PDF eBook at the end of the event, showcasing all 20 tutorial projects to keep and peruse at their leisure!
Here we go with our Day 6 tutorial.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Make Your Own Chicken Pad Thai

 

 

Hi! My name is Jacquie and I blog over at Confessions Of A College Angel. I am so happy to be a part of The Big 20/20 event!!

 

My how to is really yummy, How to make Chicken Pad Thai--- now this isn’t COMPLETELY the traditional version of Pad Thai, although I do LOVE that kind as well, this was made for a super picky eater, my fiancée Kensei and his even more picky of an eater Dad. I really hope you like this and give it a try!

 

What you will need:

• Pad Thai Noodles, (I found mine in the organic/gluten free isle of my local Kroger)
• 1 cup to 1 lb. of chopped chicken breast
• (I also added 4 gluten free all chicken organic chicken and pineapple sausages)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 a white onion or 3-5 green onions
• 1 egg per person eating
• carrots, bean sprouts, corn, broccoli any veggie you know that you  and your family will eat. (we used shredded carrots, bean sprouts and fire roasted corn)
• Roughly chopped peanuts (I put mine in a Ziploc bag and smacked them with a mason jar.)

For the sauce you will need--

• The Juice of 1 lime
• 3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce (from  Kroger’s Asian isle or your local Asian market)
• 4 tablespoons white sugar (I used 2 white and 2 brown)
• Crushed red pepper flakes to taste

So what do you do?

Start by cooking your rice noodles until they are almost done! I boiled some water, turned it off and let the noodles soak for 5 min)

 

 

Then Pour out the water and let the noodle's drain, you might want to run cold water over them to stop the cooking process.

 

 

While the noodles are draining, start chopping and cooking your meat--- when you cook the meat add 1 tablespoon of peanut or veg oil to the pan.

 

 

While the meat is cooking mix the sauce and set aside.

Once the meat is all cooked remove from the pan, add 1 more tablespoon oil, scramble eggs and cook until fluffy and broken up.

 

 

Remove egg from pan, add 1 more tablespoon oil and cook garlic, onions and veggies until slightly softened, then add the meat, scrambled eggs and noodles to pan, before pouring sauce over everything and stir frying for 2-3 min. If it looks dry you can add water, or I used a little Orange Juice for extra bright flavor.

 

 

Now you can eat!! I plated everyone up a small bowl topped with crushed peanuts and 3 wedges of limes for squeezing on top ( I love the flavor of lime in this dish!) What is your favorite Asian food? do you have a make at home recipe? I would love to know! Also if you try this please leave me a comment and let me know what you liked about it!!

A little more about Jacquie:

What inspires me

a. I am inspired by the little things in life, a good day, a hug or kiss from someone I love things like that. I have found there is just to many negative things to not pay attention and be inspired by all the small things!

Where do I get my ideas from?

a. I tend to find something I like and want to recreate it at home. I have a lot of trial and error but somethings urn out better than what I had in mind to start.

What is my biggest dream for my future?

a. Currently getting married and starting a family.

 

Jacquie's Bio:

I am Jacquie and I blog over at Confessions Of A College Angel. My blog is all about life through my eyes as a full time college student with a full time job, who just recently moved to a new city transferred universities and lives with her boyfriend. I am a little bit of a dork, a geek and a nerd, I love photography, in fact, that is my major. I also love to read and cook. My blog is a little bit about everything! I hope you come and check it out!!

Pin It

The Big 20/20 Event: Day 1: Make Your Own Honeyed Mead

Today we’re kicking off “The Big 20/20 Event! I’m so happy you are joining us!

Over the next 20 days, we will be sharing 20 fantastic tutorials from a host of awesome contributors.

If you enjoy the tutorials, make sure you sign up for my newsletter, as all my newsletter subscribers will receive a beautiful PDF eBook at the end of the event, showcasing all 20 tutorial projects to keep and peruse at their leisure!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

But now, without further ado, our first contribution to the event:

 

Make Your Own Honeyed Mead

 

 

Hello there lovelies! I hope you are well, wherever in the world you are joining us from and WELCOME TO OUR BIG 20/20 EVENT!

I am so looking forward to sharing with you a whole series of 20 tutorials from a whole team of talented creatives, including myself.

As the organizer of the event, I thought it only fair that I kick things off with my own tutorial. It is a recipe I based on one in the above spell book and was something that was completely new to me.

 

Let's make some Honeyed Mead together. The perfect drink to accompany Game Of Thrones :)

Here's the how-to:

 

 

You will need: honey, boiled water, tin foil or cling film, cinnamon, mixed spice, yeast, bottles to put your mead in when it's finished.

 

 

1. Squeeze out a good helping of honey, covering the bottom of a good sized pan.

 

 

Here's how much honey I used - that was a full 375g bottle!

 

 

2. Fill up the pan with your boiled water and give it a good stir so the honey isn't all caught up at the bottom of the pan.

 

 

3. Heat and stir frequently. It needs to be heated for about 5 minutes in total.

 

 

4. Get your easy bake yeast ready alongside your spices.

 

 

5. Add a good sprinkle of cinnamon and all spice and stir well.

 

 

6. Add in a packet of yeast and stir well.

 

 

 

7. Cover with foil/cling film and place in a cool dark place for 7 days, allowing it to brew.

 

 

I gave mine a quick check after the 7 days were up. You don't have to!

 

 

8. Place in the fridge for a further 3 days and allow the sediment to settle at the bottom.

 

 

9. Remove from the fridge.

 

 

10. Strain out the liquid through a sieve into a pouring jug.

 

 

11. Pour into your empty bottle. (NB Make sure it is cleaned well in hot soapy water)

 

 

We poured out a little sample at this point, just to see what it was like. It was a sweet drink, which tasted a lot like those posh elderflower cordials you sometimes buy at county fairs and markets. Yum! My husband loved it!

 

 

 

12. Next, I labeled the bottles (you can do this beforehand if you'd like). I cut the labels to size after I printed them.

 

 

13. Then used a good coat of mod podge to seal them onto the glass.

 

 

I made labels for the back and the front of my bottles. If you'd like to use my labels, you can download them to print here.

 

 

 

14. Smooth out your labels.

 

 

15. Leave the glue to dry.

 

 

Ta-da! Your mead is packaged and ready. We did have a taste immediately, but we then bottled up our mead and have put it away for the recommended fermenting time (anywhere between 3 and 7 months). We're wondering if it will be more potent by then?!

 

Sarah Leonard is a curious soul, who lives a magical creative life with her kitties and her husband. She runs an Etsy store full to the brim with artistic curiosities, and writes regularly on her blog A Cat-Like Curiosity. She is also the founder of The Curiously Gorgeous Sisterhood, a gorgeous community full of light, life and inspiration.

Pin It