Delicious cultured and sprouted spelt pancakes, cooked in pastured beef tallow and filled with organic blueberries

Who doesn’t love pancakes?

On a Saturday morning, they are an absolute delight, topped with butter, yogurt, maple syrup, fresh fruit, honey, molasses…or enjoyed as-is!  And, if enough are prepared, they make an easy snack or a yummy breakfast reheated in the toaster oven the next day.  Who wouldn’t love that?

I expect you’ll love this recipe as much as we do, if you’re wishing for some pancakes, but would like a healthier version.  Using the principles of predigestion by fermentation, these pancakes are nutritious, filling and they keep the body’s energy more even than the usual pancake.  While they are not gluten-free, their carbohydrates have been broken down tremendously by way of fermentation, a la water kefir, my go-to homemade fermented beverage that has 101 uses.  This process makes the pancakes less of a blood sugar spike, especially when paired with lots of butter or whole fat yogurt.  Soaking the flour in water kefir also breaks down various anti-nutritients, helping you to get the most nutrition from the spelt. And from a flavor standpoint?  These have a similar flavor profile to sourdough–absolutely delicious!

And how the heck does one make pancakes from flour that is already wet?  Well, by way of mixing all the other ingredients and then incorporating them into the soaked and fermented flour, an even distribution of all ingredients is easily had. Just follow the directions below and enjoy!

Sprouted and Cultured Spelt Pancakes

• 2 1/2 cups Sprouted Spelt Flour
• 1-1 1/2 cups warm, filtered Water (105 degree Fahrenheit range)
• 1/2 cup fresh Water Kefir
• 1 1/2  cups Whole Milk, preferably raw
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup Ghee (clarified butter) or Coconut Oil
• 3 tablespoons Raw Sugar or Coconut Crystals
• 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
• 3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 tablespoon Real Vanilla Extract
• Fat or oil for the griddle (Pastured Lard, Coconut Oil, Pastured Tallow, Ghee)

The evening before you plan to make your pancakes, in a large, glass mixing bowl, add the warm water and water kefir to the flour.  Mix all ingredients well, then cover with a lid and set in a warm environment.  I use my yogurt maker, plugged in, with the the dome lid removed and the bowl resting in the top of the maker.  You could also use a dehydrator with the trays removed, and set to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  If you don’t have either of these, use a microwave (turned off!), oven (turned off!) or ice chest–what you need is an incubation chamber, and it should have at least a couple of bottles filled with hot water to keep the air temperature warm.  (The beneficial bacteria and yeast in the water kefir like a warm temperature to function and thrive, so keeping the air  warm will allow for more breakdown of the complex carbohydrates into simpler, easier to digest sugars.)  Plan to keep your flour soaking and fermenting in the range of 6-10 hours.

When you’ve finished the first stage of soaking and fermenting, you’ll likely notice a tart, lively smell as you remove the lid and see that the batter has risen–lacto-fermenation!  In a separate bowl, combine all the remaining dry ingredients and mix well.  In another bowl, add all the remaining wet ingredients and mix well.  Add the dry to the wet ingredients, mix well and incorporate them into the soaked flour.  You’ll likely notice the batter rising substantially as the baking soda comes into contact with the fermented grains.

Heat a griddle or frying pan to low-medium heat, and add your choice of oil or fat to coat the cooking surface.  Once a drop of batter bubbles on the oil, add a ladle of batter, letting it cook until bubbles appear throughout the pancake, then flip over.  These pancakes will be more moist than those made with dry flour, so be sure the heat isn’t too high so that the pancakes have an opportunity to cook through on both sides without burning.

Top immediately with butter  and any other accompaniments of your choice–maple syrup, yogurt, yacon syrup, molasses, fresh fruit are great choices.  Or, if you’d like to save them to reheat later, simply set them on a plate, and stack each with a piece of parchment paper between, to keep them from sticking to one another.  Store, covered, in the refrigerator and enjoy within a few days’ time.

Pancake ingredients, step one!
Water kefir, warm water and sprouted spelt flour.

Pouring in the water kefir to the flour and water.

Consistency of batter after water and water kefir have been added.

Sprouted spelt batter with water kefir, resting and warming on the yogurt maker.

Sprouted spelt pancake batter the next morning after a long, warm fermentation–notice how much it has risen overnight.  Thank you, beneficial bacteria and yeasts!

Sprouted spelt risen in the bowl, ready to add the other ingredients.

All the ingredients for the pancakes–delicious and nutritious!

Dry ingredients with wet ingredients, added to the soaked and fermented flour.

Consistency of batter as it’s ready to cook…notice the bubbles of activity from the baking soda working on the fermented grains.

Pancake ready to flip–notice the bubbles.

Crispy on the edges, delicious on the inside…perfect sprouted and cultured spelt pancake!

Papaya, avocado, pumpkin seeds and cayenne topping fresh greens from our spring garden. Absolutely heavenly drizzled with walnut oil and fresh lime juice.

It’s getting hot here in the desert, and we have many months of high temperatures ahead of us.  It feels good to move into the lighter faire of fresh fruits and vegetables when the weather warms–wonderful, juicy sustenance, but grounded with a drizzle of rich oil and soaked and dehydrated seeds.

Here’s an easy, fresh and nutritious salad that will be a light meal on its own, a perfect side to grilled fish or chicken, or paired with an assorted raw cheese plate. It is rich in digestion-supporting enzymes, thanks in large part to the Hawaiian papaya.  Included is sliced avocado–it’s mellow butteriness is like a soft pillow to the gentle sweetness of the papaya.  Topped with soaked and dehydrated pumpkin seeds and raw walnut oil, these simple ingredients will surprisingly deliver on sustained energy until your next meal.  Seasoned only with fresh lime juice, coarsely-ground sea salt and a dash of cayenne pepper, it is a flavor profile that puts me in a Mexico state of mind.

Avocado and Papaya Salad

Serves 2

• 2 cups fresh Green Leaf Lettuce or Bibb Lettuce, roughly chopped and divided to 2 bowls
• 1 ripe Avocado, cut into 1/2″ slices, divided
• 1 cup ripe Papaya, cut into 1/2″ slices, divided
• 1/4-1/2  cup Raw Pumpkin Seeds (preferably soaked and dehydrated), divided
• 1 Lime, sliced and divided
• 1/4 cup raw Walnut Oil (Extra Virgin Olive Oil will do, as well), divided
• Cayenne Pepper
• Coarsely ground Sea Salt

Divide the lettuce between two bowls.  Top each with the avocado and papaya slices and sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds.  Drizzle with  walnut oil and top with sea salt and a dash of cayenne pepper.  Serve with fresh lime wedges and enjoy immediately.

Polenta before soaking and mild fermentation

One of the terrific things about being part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program is that your hand is sometimes forced to get creative with ingredients you might not have otherwise chosen.  In this instance, my inspiration was field garlic and Swiss chard.  Thankfully I had some corn grits (polenta) stored in the freezer, as well as raw Parmesan cheese and smokehouse pastured beef bacon from another local source here in our desert hamlet.  And, not surprisingly, there was bone broth, too–this time, pastured chicken.

So, with a little forethought to begin soaking the grits this morning in warm water with fresh water kefir, we were able to enjoy an excellent meal this evening (just perfect for an al fresco meal on the back patio before we hit the triple-digits on the thermometer!)  I paired this with a fresh, simple salad of various lettuces from our garden and steamed beets, topped with balsamic vinegar, olive oil  and chopped garlic.

Parmesan Polenta with Bacon and Greens

Serves 6 as an entree

To prepare polenta:

• 1 1/2 Corn Grits (Polenta)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Sea Salt
• 2  cups warm, filtered, dechlorinated Water (approximately 105 degrees Fahrenheit)
• 1 cup fresh Water Kefir

Combine all ingredients in a glass or ceramic bowl and stir well to incorporate.  There should be about 1/8″-1/4″ of the water/water kefir over the top of the polenta.  Cover and store in a warm spot (I set mine on top of the yogurt maker–turned on–to help maintain a gentle, warm heat to encourage mild fermentation of the grain.  You could also set the bowl in a dehydrator set around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or in an ice chest or oven–turned off–with a couple of bottles filled with hot water.)  Allow to rest undisturbed for at least eight hours, until you see the little bubbles of fermentation and there is a mild tart scent. When this point has been reached, begin preparing the rest of the recipe.

For the remainder of the recipe you’ll need:

• 4-5 cups Swiss Chard, sliced in 1/2″ strips
• 5-6 slices of pastured Beef Bacon or Pork Bacon, cut in 1/2″ slices
• 3 cups Chicken Broth, plus 1 additional cup, heated
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1/2 cup Field Garlic, chopped in 1/2″ pieces, or 4 Scallions, chopped in 1/2″ pieces with 3-4 cloves Garlic, minced finely
• Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
• Cherry or Plum Tomatoes, sliced, for garnish
• Freshly-chopped Basil Leaves and Lemon wedges, for garnish

In a 5-6 quart pot, combine soaked polenta with 3 cups of chicken broth over a medium heat and bring to a  mild simmer, stirring constantly from the bottom.  In about five minutes, you’ll notice the grits have firmed up substantially and the grain has softened.  Stir for another  five minutes or so and turn off the heat.

In a separate, large pan over medium heat, begin cooking the bacon.  Once it has begun to release its fat into the pan, add the field garlic or scallions/garlic, stirring occasionally to keep all ingredients from burning.  After a few minutes, once the garlic/onions have softened, add the Swiss chard and incorporate well into the mix.  Keep cooking and stirring periodically, until most of the moisture has evaporated off and the chard has softened.  Turn off heat and return to the polenta.

Resume a low heat under the polenta, which will have stiffened while cooling.  Add the Parmesan cheese and pour in an additional cup of hot chicken broth.  Stir all ingredients well to incorporate and to soften the polenta.  Spoon in the bacon and greens mixture and mix well into the polenta.  Remove from the heat and serve immediately with a garnish of fresh, sliced tomatoes, a sprinkling of basil leaves and a healthy squirt of lemon juice.

Store any remaining in a covered glass or ceramic bowl for up to three days in the refrigerator.

Pouring water kefir into the polenta to begin soaking and fermentation

Notice how there is a pooling of water over the soaking polenta–not too much, just about 1/8 of an inch

Using the yogurt maker to keep a gentle heat source under the soaking and fermenting polenta

The polenta after eight hours of soaking and mild fermentation–notice the little bubbles in the soaking water?

Polenta with 3 cups of chicken broth, just beginning to cook

Polenta after only 5 minutes of cooking–the soaking process definitely hastens the cooking time

Pastured beef bacon and field garlic sautéing

Freshly grated, raw Parmesan cheese

Notice the smoother consistency of the polenta once the Parmesan cheese and additional chicken broth have been added

Swiss chard sauted with pastured beef bacon and field garlic, ready to blend into the polenta

Prepared polenta with Swiss chard, pastured beef bacon and field garlic

Savory and nourishing white bean, sunhcoke and kale stew, topped with shavings of Parmesan cheese and freshly-ground pepper.

Having just returned from an enriching weekend at Systemic Formulas‘ headquarters in Utah, learning in-depth about the causes and effects of Leaky Gut Syndrome, as well as having the opportunity to share on the importance of cultured foods to recover from this very real and very damaging digestive concern, it just seems fitting to share a recipe on…sunchokes.

While this may seem a stretch, it’s really not.  After my presentation, I was gifted a bag of sunchokes (also known as Jerusalem artichokes) by a very thoughtful attendee, who’d brought them fresh from her father’s garden!  And, given that so much of what we taught and learned on over the weekend involved building and maintaining a healthy gut flora, the sunchokes were a very welcome gift.

Most are very aware that beneficial bacteria are an incredibly necessary component to our health and well-being.  In fact, the bacteria that reside in our bodies outnumber our cells by about 10 to 1!  Researchers have come to understand  that so much of what makes us human, from our emotional expression to how we feel in our bodies to how we relate to one another, is intensely dependent on the state of the bacteria that live in and on us.  (See the June 2012 edition of Scientific American magazine for more information.)  But these little powerhouses are no different than us–they need food to survive.  Enter the prebiotic.

Prebiotics are non-digestible components of foods that nourish these beneficial bacteria.  And when the bacteria are healthy and well-fed, we reap the benefits. Studies have shown a diet supplemented with prebiotics to be a boon to mineral absorption as well as the immune system; they show promise in improving regularity in bowel patterns and reducing inflammatory patterns of the bowel and decreasing the incidence of colorectal cancer;  they even appear to offer benefit in hypertensive patterns.*

But what does all this good news about prebiotics have to do with this recipe? Well, one of the main ingredients in this stew is the versatile and nutritious sunchoke.  I would enjoy it for its taste and texture alone, as it’s a delight raw with a sprinkle of sea salt, or sautéd in ghee, but its nutrition is the clincher.  It turns out that the sunchoke is a terrific source of a prebiotic called inulin, thus elevating this rather non-descript root vegetable to the ranks of superfood in my estimation.

And in this recipe, it is paired with other foods that further enhance and benefit gut function and form.  The pastured bone broth is rich in GI-soothing and nourishing gelatin.  The beans have been soaked and mildly fermented, making their stored nutrition much more digestible and bioavailable.  Even the onion is an additional source of prebiotics, too.

So, enjoy the savory flavors of this very nutritious stew.  It is well-accompanied by a chunk of fermented grain bread slathered in butter, and like most soups and stews, tastes its very best a day after preparation, when the flavors have had an opportunity to meld.  And as you indulge your tastebuds, you can feel good about all the good you are doing for the bacteria in your belly!

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaky_gut

White Bean, Sunchoke and Kale Stew

Makes approximately 10-12 servings

• 2 cups White Beans (Flageolet or Great Northern are good choices), sorted, rinsed and soaked overnight **
• 2 quarts plus 2 cups Pastured Beef Bone Broth
• 3 cups Kale, washed and coarsely chopped
• 2 cups Sunchokes, washed and cut into 1/2″ wedges
• 2 large Portabella Mushrooms, sliced in 1/2″ chunks
• 1 small Yellow Onion, diced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Rosemary Leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground Sage Leaf
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Fresh, raw Parmesan Cheese, shaved, for topping the finished stew

**I like to soak my beans in warm water (105-110 degree Fahrenheit range), with a splash of water kefir to prime the culturing pump.  For this recipe of 2 cups of dry beans, place the beans in a glass bowl, cover them with 6-8 cups of warm, chlorine-free water and 2-3 tablespoons of water kefir.   Next, cover the bowl and rest it on top of a yogurt maker that has been turned on, or inside a dehydrator set at 105 degrees, to keep the fermentation process very active (if you don’t have either of these devices, you can place the bowl inside an ice chest that has two or three large jars filled with hot water).  Check periodically to ensure the beans are staying submerged under the water.  After 24 hours or so, gentle fermentation is happening, and small sprouts are generally visible from the beans, which should be at least double their original size.  Rinse the beans and they are now ready for cooking.

Add the broth and soaked beans to a large stock pot, and set on a medium heat. Once a gentle boil is reached, reduce heat to a mild simmer and add onion, rosemary and sage.  Cook for about 20 minutes, then add the remainder of the ingredients and cook for an additional 45 minutes to an hour, until the beans and sunchokes have softened.

Ladle into soup bowls, top with a twist of freshly-ground black pepper and shavings of Parmesan cheese.  Store additional stew in a covered glass or ceramic bowl in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Wedges of sunchokes, fresh from the garden

White beans before soaking and fermentation

White beans that have been soaking and mildly fermenting for 24 hours…notice the little bubbles of fermentation? These are ready to rinse and put to use.

Beans that have just begun to sprout from the long, warm soaking.

It may not look like much, but the fermentation and culturing happening here fuels our kitchen!  Shown here:  water kefir, ginger bug brew, raw milk yogurt in yogurt maker, sprouted brown rice incubating in second yogurt maker and fermenting with added water kefir.

I’ve been in the very good habit lately of leaning heavily on lacto-fermentation to pre-digest the foods our family eats.  Culturing, fermenting, sourdough-ing, kraut-ing…our kitchen has been a hotbed of activity, but not always a lot of elbow grease on the family’s part.

After spending the better part of this last year reading and re-reading The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz, I’ve felt compelled and encouraged to just sit back and let the bacteria do a lion’s share of the digestive work, so we don’t have to.  (The digestive equivalent of comfortably reclining, quaffing champagne and noshing bon-bons.)

And it has been a good move!

We had decided some time back to work on incorporating some grains back into our months’-long grain-free diet, and as with any move to eat grains, we did so with the expectation that they would always be properly-prepared by a long, warm-water soak before cooking.  The removal of various anti-nutrients by this simple first step is paramount to getting more nutrition from the grains, and mitigating the mineral- and protein-leaching that consuming unsoaked grains can lead to.

But adding in a little fresh culture to that warm, long watery soak–by way of  whey from yogurt or kefir, or a splash of water kefir–provided  the additional benefit of allowing the cultures to pre-digest the complex carbohydrates in the grains, leaving us with much more digestible simple sugars.  Yay!  And everything took on that wonderful, slightly-tart flavor of sourdough (and once a palate gets a taste for sourdough, anything less tastes bland and simple)–Yay again!  But possibly best of all, the grains didn’t feel like a brick in our bellies–even pancakes and hot cereal have been very well-digested, where we are full, but not at all bloated or logy.  Yay!

At one point last week, I counted 9 different ferments happening in our kitchen.  And while that certainly seems like a lot, it’s important to remember that the process of creating lacto-fermented foods requires time.  Rome may have not been built in a day, but culturing a quart of milk to become yogurt takes about a third of a day, and that’s a little longer than simply picking a container off the shelf at the grocery store.  But the benefits are innumerable if you do allow the time for your homegrown cultures to go to work for you.  Most commercially-prepared yogurt goes through a hastened culturing process, that does not allow for the more complete conversion of what are for many troublesome milk sugars (lactose)  into the gut-benefiting, probiotic bacteria.  And, if you have access to raw, grass-fed milk, then you are able to make a very nutritious food, indeed.

Similarly, making fermented veggies at home–most widely-known as sauerkraut–allows you to make a condiment teeming with beneficial bacteria, with the ingredients you choose.  Many people have issues with thyroid function–whether it be diagnosed or sub-clinical–and consuming raw sauerkraut of cabbage can actually further dampen thyroid function.  It turns out that the fermentation process does not degrade the thyroid-dampening effects of brassica-family vegetables, of which kale, cabbage, bok choy, cauliflower and many others belong.  Now, a little raw or fermented brassica veggies isn’t going to squelch most people’s thyroid activity.  But if a person is inclined to eat a few spoons’ full of fermented veggies in a day (read:  me), then, making a kraut that leans more heavily on other types of vegetation–zucchini and other summer squashes, carrots, cucumbers, onions, garlic, chard, lettuces–might be a good option.  Again, this just takes time to let those good bacteria do their good work for you.

And there are more ways we’ve been using the cultures…to make bread, to prepare beans for cooking, as a base for refreshing and calming drinks, in making pancakes, and even as skincare!  The ways to use them are only as limited as our ingredients on hand and our imaginations.  I’d love to hear from you on what you’re culturing and fermenting, what your favorite cultured foods are, how you’re using these foods in your life.  Please leave a comment or contact me–there is always more to learn and share!

Sprouted quinoa and grass-fed lamb bake, fresh from the oven

I’ll be the first to say that not every home has ground lamb ready to go in the freezer.  Pastured lamb is not as common in most kitchens as it once was. However, should you have the opportunity to purchase some, consider this recipe as an excellent way to put it to use.

And just because something doesn’t tend to be a regular part of our diet, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be.  Each food has its own unique nutrition profile, and consuming a variety of foods helps to keep us balanced and vibrant.  Dr. Jack Tips’ book, The Pro Vita Plan, speaks volumes about the importance of this practice.

And including a food as nutritious as pastured lamb in your diet is just a very good  idea.  Pastured meats tend to be much leaner than their lot-fed, grain-fed pastured counterparts, and the fat they do contain is much higher in Omega-3 fatty acids and much lower in Omega-6′s (fresh grass is over 60% Omega-3′s, and, like us, these animals are what they eat.)  Pastured lamb is also rich in Vitamin E and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a nutrient increasingly recognized for its anti-tumor, cardiovascular-supporting actions. (1)  US Wellness Meats is an excellent resource for pastured meats, shipped right to your door.

Another nutritional powerhouse in this recipe is soaked and sprouted quinoa, which I’ve cooked in grass-fed lamb bone broth.  Although quinoa is a food of the Andeas, and not the Mediterranean, it combines really well with the lamb.  If you wanted to be a real traditionalist, however, you could certainly substitute orzo or couscous, though I’d recommend soaking both beforehand.  Quinoa is gluten free, has its own healthy protein profile, and when it’s soaked and sprouted, many of the anti-nutrients found in all grains and seeds are broken down into easier to digest, less bothersome components (phytates, tannins and lectins, to name a few.)

I pair this with freshly made, plain yogurt and a bright green salad topped with raw garlic, cucumbers and ripe tomatoes, drizzled with olive oil, lemon juice and sea salt.  It’s wonderful reheated in the toaster oven, or broken into steaming bone broth, a la matzo ball soup.  The kids love it, and the grown-ups do too, so it’s great as a casserole to serve at a dinner party.  And, of course, it makes for a quick lunch later in the week!

Mediterranean Lamb Bake

• 1 pound ground Grass-Fed Lamb
• 2.5 cups soaked Quinoa, cooked (preferably in lamb or chicken broth)
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup Feta Cheese, preferably raw and grass-fed goat or sheep, crumbled
• Prepared Vegetables (I sliced Carrot, 1 sliced Zucchini, 1 diced medium Yellow Onion, 3 minced Garlic Cloves, 4 sliced Celery stalks) sauteed in 1 tablespoon Ghee or Butter until soft
• 2 tablespoons fresh Lemon Juice
• 2 tablespoons White Wine Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon fresh Mint Leaves, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

Grease an 8″ x 12″ baking dish with butter or ghee and scoop in the mixture.  Smooth with a spatula and place, uncovered, on the bottom rack of the oven.

Bake for 20 minutes, then increase oven heat to a high broil.  Place dish on a medium-high rack and broil for seven or eight minutes, or until the top gently browns.

Remove from the the oven and allow the dish to rest for ten minutes at room temperature before serving.  Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Sprouted quinoa and grass-fed lamb

Veggies sauteed in ghee, with herbs and lemon juice added just at the end

Top-browning under the broiler

Delicious Mediterranean-style baked lamb and sprouted quinoa, with fresh yogurt

(1)  Visit www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm for more information.

All the wonderful ingredients to make these delicious little turkey loaves

Another nutritious, grain-free, easy recipe to support you during a busy week!

Just because I have a family of four and a two-career household, it doesn’t mean that I’m any busier than most everyone else these days.  All of us have many things going on in our lives.  And I know that if we don’t have foods prepared and ready to go come meal times, our choices start looking rather paltry (and for us, eating common fast-food offerings is simply not a choice.)

So, here’s another recipe to prepare ahead of time (i.e., Sunday!), and keep it in the refrigerator for lunches, a quick snack or on top of a dinnertime salad, as you work through your week.

This recipe is delicious and easy…the hardest part will be steaming the spaghetti squash.  And, this isn’t “hard,” but it is a first step.  Save the remainder of the squash in the refrigerator, to sauté in ghee with fresh basil and garlic, and serve as a quick side dish to fresh salad and these little reheated “loaves” on a busy evening. These will also be making their way into my kids’ lunch boxes this week, paired with some fresh veggies, a hunk of raw cheese and coconut crackers.

I call these “pizza,” because they have that flavor profile.  But if you chose to use thyme, rosemary, sage, omit the tomato paste, and used a little Chèvre as the cheese, they would be more in the savory, Thanksgiving-ish category.  You could also shift them toward Mexico, keeping the tomato paste, garlic, onion and oregano, and adding cumin, cilantro and chipotle.   There are countless ways to make these fit your palate!

Mini Turkey Loaves

Makes 18 muffin-sized “loaves”

• 2 pounds Ground Turkey, preferably dark meat
• 1.5 cups cooked Spaghetti Squash, steamed and drained of excess water
• 3/4 cup frozen Spinach
• 3 cloves Garlic, finely minced
• 3 Eggs, beaten
• 1 cup Jack Cheese, preferably raw and grass-fed, shredded (Raw Parmesan would be great, too!)
• 1-7 oz. jar Tomato Paste, preferably salt-free
• 1/8 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 2.5 teaspoon Onion Powder
• 2.5 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 2 teaspoons Sea Salt
• 3  teaspoons dried Oregano Leaf
• Olive Oil or butter for greasing muffin tins

You’ll need muffin tins for 18 “loaves.”

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

Grease each tin’s cups with oil to prevent sticking.  Fill each to the top with the mixture, and smooth out the top with the back of a spoon.

Place on the middle rack in a well-heated oven.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool a few minutes to resorb any oils back into each loaf.

Store in a glass, ceramic or parchment-lined plastic container in the refrigerator and consume within three days.

Turkey “loaves” ready to bake

Baked and cooling in the muffin tins

On parchment and ready to store in the refrigerator

Grain-free turkey loaves ready to enjoy with homemade sauerkraut and fresh greens!

Nutritious, crispy, savory coconut flour crackers

I think most of us tend to think of coconut flour in the vein of the sweet delicacies, for which is so well-suited.  But when one uses a fair amount of coconut flour in cooking and baking (read: me), it is nice to diverge from the usual path.  And this recipe does just that, so delightfully, that you’ll forget you’re eating a cracker based in coconut!

As with my Raisin Bread recipe, this recipe uses soaked coconut flour as its base.  The lighter texture that comes from soaking in warm water, with a little whey from fresh kefir or yogurt, makes for an excellent cracker.  (For soaked coconut flour, use 2 cups warm water to 1 cup coconut flour–maybe more, if needed; you want the consistency to be like mashed potatoes–and add 1/4 cup of fresh whey.  Mix all well and keep at room temperature for at least 12 hours, lightly covered, stirring once or twice, before storing in the fridge or using in a recipe.)

My family is loving these little flatbread crackers–they’re great in the kids’ lunches with some raw cheese and grass-fed beef hot dogs, or with a salad at dinner, or just as a great, nutritious snack.  The savory flavor profile can be taken in many directions, based on your tastes–south of the border with chipotle powder and cumin, Italian with oregano, garlic and basil, barbecue with smoked sea salt, coconut crystals, cumin and chili powder.  You get the idea.

Here’s a good template to begin with, a flavor profile that is a great accompaniment to lots of dishes.

Savory Soaked Coconut Flour Flatbread Crackers

Makes 2 sheet pans’ worth of crackers

• 2 cups Soaked Coconut Flour
• 1/2 cup freshly ground Flax Meal
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup Ghee
• 1.5 teaspoons Sea Salt
• 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
• 2 teaspoons Onion Powder
• 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
• 1 teaspoon dried Oregano Leaves
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder

Preheat oven to 385 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine all ingredients and mix until well incorporated.

Take 2 baking sheets and line with parchment paper. Divide the mixture between the 2 sheets.  Take another sheet of parchment paper the length of each of the sheets, and cover the mixture.  Using a rolling pin, evenly compress the mixture across the length and width of the sheet, then repeat for the second sheet.  Remove the top sheet of parchment paper and discard.

Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to score the dough into 1″ crackers.

Place both sheets in the middle of the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.  Any edges or thinner spots will brown first, so remove these with a spatula, then replace the remainder in the oven until the rest have browned accordingly, likely just a few minutes longer.

Place hot crackers on a plate to cool, spaced from each other to keep humidity from forming that will cause sogginess.  Once cooled, place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.  Will keep for 5-6 days or longer, though the humidity of the refrigerator will begin to soften the crispiness.  To crisp again, simply place for a minute or so in a toaster oven.

Soaked coconut flour, the texture of stiff mashed potatoes

Freshly grated raw Parmesan cheese

Freshly ground flax meal

Delicious ghee

Parchment paper lining to sheet pans

Preparing to roll out dough

Scoring the dough

Edges browning and crisping!

 

Crispy, delicious, gluten-free, grain-free crackers!

Homemade, fruity and nutritious popsicles!

Living in the desert southwest, our family pines for something cool as the long days of summer seem to have no end.  Unfortunately, most of what’s available commercially is made with too much sugar, is full of artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners, or is just too lacking in nutrition.  Thankfully, making a dessert like this at home deals with all these concerns.  And how wonderful it is to use some organic berries–or other fruit!–as the base for this quick and satisfying treat.

You could use fresh or frozen organic fruit for this dessert–the options are only limited by what is available to you.  In this version, I used organic frozen berries…only because we’d eaten all the fresh ones!  And I just received fresh, raw, grass-fed cow’s cream from Miller’s Organic Farm, an Amish-run food co-op with the most incredible selection of whole, traditionally-prepared foods.

Whenever I get an ingredient like Miller’s cream in hand, my wheels start turning as to how I can use every last drop of it.  And making a dessert for the kids is a surefire way to make certain none goes to waste!

As mentioned, unlike most popsicles, this treat pulls no punches on nutrition.  In addition to the raw cream, I add coconut oil, raw whey, raw milk, and I sweeten with either a little honey or yacon syrup ,and some stevia.  The result is not overly-sweet, instead allowing all the flavors to shine together.

We have a popsicle mold, though you could certainly use this as a base for a homemade ice cream (in fact, because of the saturated fat content, just placing a bowl of this in the refrigerator will cause it to take on a firmer texture, delightful for scooping into a dish.)   For our popsicle mold (4 molds), this makes about 2-3 rounds of popsicles.  I store the additional mix in a glass jar in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, until we’re ready for another round.My husband also takes the leftovers from the glass jar in which its stored, and puts a couple spoonfuls into fresh yogurt at breakfast time.

Creamy-fruity Popsicles

Makes about 1 quart of popsicle mix

• 1 cup organic, frozen Raspberries
• 1 cup organic, frozen Blueberries
• 1 cup Cream, preferably raw
• 1/2 cup fresh, raw Whey (optional–may instead use water kefir, plain yogurt or plain kefir)
• 1 cup organic, whole-fat Milk, preferably raw
• 2/3 cup Unrefined Coconut Oil
• 3 tablespoons Yacon Syrup or Raw Honey
• 4 servings Stevia
• 1.5 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• Popsicle Molds

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor.  (Because of the saturated fat in the oil, if using frozen or very cold fruit, consider allowing some time to thaw before blending so the motor doesn’t work as hard.)  Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze for 2 hours before serving.  Or, store mixture in a glass, ceramic or stainless steel bowl in the refrigerator to enjoy as a soft “ice cream.”  Consume within 3 days if refrigerated; up to a month in the freezer.

Ingredients for popsicles–lots of healthy fats!

Cream with coconut oil, vanilla and yacon syrup

Consistency rather thick from the cold fruit and coconut oil

Easy-to-use popsicle molds

Popsicles ready to freeze and enjoy!

I’ve gotten into the (good) habit of soaking most of the flours we eat, and that is including coconut.  Doing so unleashes enzymatic activity within the flour, making all components more digestible and bio-available, while breaking down tough-to-digest “anti-nutrients” like tannins, phytates and difficult proteins.  And, when a little bit of a culture is added (such as a couple tablespoons of fresh whey from cheese or yogurt making), the beneficial bacteria have an opportunity to further break down the complex carbohydrates, using them as a fuel source…and, in turn, helping to reduce the carbohydrate load of the food being consumed.  A total win-win!

And, as mentioned, I’ve even been soaking coconut flour, the darling of many nutritional pundits these days.  I do it for the reasons just stated, and also because I like what it does to the texture of the flour once I’m actually using it, say, in pancakes, or as in this recipe, a quick bread.  Because coconut flour is so hydrophilic, the end products with it can be on the dry side.  When the flour is well-saturated, though, by pre-soaking, the end result is very moist.  So, I’ve found it’s worth the effort, for all the right reasons!

When I soak my flour, I start with about one cup of flour, to which I add warm (110 degrees Fahrenheit, or so) water–usually 2-3 times the amount of flour.  I add it slowly, and incorporate it well, before adding more.  The texture should be like mashed potatoes.

Not mashed potatoes…soaked coconut flour!

Once the consistency is right, then I’ll add about two tablespoons of whey, which I also mix in well.  Then I cover everything and leave it at room temperature for about 24 hours, stirring occasionally.  At the end of this time, I put it in a glass bowl and store it in the refrigerator for up to a week, using it as needed for the afore-mentioned pancakes, and quick breads.  The inherent anti-pathogenic qualities of coconut allows this to keep longer than most flours that have been soaked–again, another bonus!

This recipe makes a very moist quick bread that is not overly sweet.  I use freshly ground flax seed as a binding agent, thus reducing the amount of eggs usually needed when working with non-gluten flours.  Stores beautifully  in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Cinnamon Raisin Soaked Coconut Flour Bread

Makes 1 8″ x 4″ Pan

• 2 cups Soaked Coconut Flour, room temperature
• 1/2 cup freshly ground Flax Seeds
• 4 beaten Eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 4 tablespoons Raw Coconut Sugar
• 3 spoons Stevia
• 1/2 cup ghee, butter or coconut oil, plus oil for baking pan, room temperature
• 1/3 cup Raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Blend flour with flax, sea salt, spices, baking soda, sugar and stevia.  Add the beaten eggs and oil, then add raisins.  Mix all ingredients together well, then spoon into the oiled baking pan.  Smooth the top, and bake in the middle rack in the oven

Bake uncovered for 35 minutes, or until knife inserted in the middle comes clean.  Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature before slicing, as the saturated fat content of the bread will help to give it body once cooled.  Store any uneaten portions in the refrigerator.

Soaked coconut flour

Flax seeds about to be ground in coffee grinder

Incorporating oils (I used Blue Breeze coconut ghee from Green Pastures)

Consistency just before transferring to pan

Bread uncooked, ready for the oven

Bread fresh from the oven!

Bread cooled and ready to enjoy