August- September
Hello lovely humans… it has been way to long since I last posted. I had been busy moving countries, packing up a home, unpacking a home, craving for some bits of sanity, crawling after a crawler, changing diapers, reading in bits and pieces… I didn’t cook for a while, or at least nothing too fancy, since we were in the midst of packing. Then I didn’t cook for a while because we were in the midst of unpacking! And then I started to cook up a storm!
- Bone Broth. – this is my staple for the freezer. I absolutely love this. I also love giving it to my baby since it contains iron, collagen (good for bone growth!), amonst other things. It also heals the gut lining and is amazing for the immune system. I drink a cup a day in the winter and whenever I feel like I’ll get a cold. I drink it like my tea or coffee.
- 1-2 pounds of bones (I use grass-fed, organic, beef)
- liver (if you can find it, also grass-fed, organic) – it adds lots of iron! (no worries about flavour) – this is optional
- 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar – it helps take out all the good stuff from the bones.
- garlic cloves – I don’t chop them, and sometimes, when I’m in a hurry, I don’t even peel them!
- Onion
- Carrots – always buy organic and wash them. I don’t even bother peeling them.
- Celery – also organic. Celery is part of the dirty dozen, so it’s better to be safe.
- About 3-4 teaspoons of sea salt
- A few peppercorn
- Optional: ginger, turmeric, herbs and spices.
I put it in my slow cooker with water to the top and leave it for at least 3 days. Once it’s done you strain the liquid and put it in a container. You put the container in the fridge and let it sit. The fat will congeal at the top, so you can scoop it out and use it to cook! (this is schmaltz!) then you divide it in containers and freeze. Use as needed. I have a batch going on weekly because I never want to run out.
- Chocolate, Bean, Chili cookies! – I’d been meaning to make these for a while. I always like to have healthy snacks around for both me and my baby. I sometimes forget to eat and then feel the pangs and don’t know where to turn. These are a perfect low-glycemic sweet snack with loads of protein and folic acid.
- Hack – I doubled the recipe, as usual. I hate having something delicious I made run out! I didn’t have the chili she asked for so I put red pepper flakes instead. My oven has a choice of convection, so I put that setting and let the cookies stay for 22 minutes instead of 15. The 15 wasn’t enough. They are absolutely delicious. Next time I might add cocoa nibs for the fun of it. And maybe cinnamon since I love cinnamon.
- More cookies! Cashew ones this time around. – I love this recipe. The first time I made it I was out of coconut sugar so I used maple syrup and the texture of the cookies was superb. I had also made the cashew butter from scratch (just a long time in the food processor!) this time I used butter form the store and coconut sugar. Last time I added a bit of almond flour for texture, and this time too, but they became too crumbly. Don’t get me wrong, they are delicious! But for having in a bag, too messy. Next time I will definitely only use maple syrup.
- Crackers galore! – this is one of my staples and go to. I always have these around and always have these in my diaper bag. My little one has become a big fan and since they have loads of sesame seeds (calcium galore!) and other kinds of seeds (good fat and omegas) and psyllium husk (good fibre) they become a great snack for both of us. They are a little time consuming to prepare as you need to wait for them to dry, then put in the oven, turn after a while, etc. but they are completely worth it. I always triple the recipe!
- Sweet potato balls – isn’t everything more delicious in balls? Ha. I had sweet potatoes. I made this recipe. I changed it up a bit. Of course.
- Hack – I baked all the sweet potatoes I had. Instead of the chickpea flour, I used almond flour. I also used lentils from a lentil salad I had leftover. I did cover the balls in black and white sesame seeds. These balls are full of all that is good and delicious. And lots of garlic! They are super filling and I have a feeling they will be lunch for the next few days! #vivaleleftovers
- Fish Casserole – I had a lot of red peppers. I had to make a fast dinner. I also had a bit of red tomato sauce leftover from a party. I sautéed some onions, then added the red peppers. Left them for a while. Added the tomato sauce. Garlic? Always garlic! A little bit of water. Then added four tilapia filets from the local fishmonger. I covered the fish with the sauce and covered the pan. White fish is very easy to see when it is done, a few minutes later, it was! I made bulgur as we almost always have some kind of grain with our dinner. Bulgur seemed like a good choice for this kind of fish. Would not hesitate to try it again with any kind of veggies I have floating around.
- Granola galore! – I love granola. So does my husband. So does my baby. So does the world. I have made many different recipes and hacked and experimented once more. This time I used a recipe from her book, which is quite similar to this one.
- Hack – in the recipe it only mentions almonds. I included walnuts, cashews, brazil nuts, so on and so forth. I also tripled the recipe. When my husband saw the quantity he was a bit shocked. He wasn’t so much once he tasted it. He’s already asked me to make more! 😉 also, I didn’t measure much. I just added everything into the food processor to chop it up a bit and then mixed it with the maple syrup and the coconut oil. If I felt it wasn’t wet enough (it doesn’t need to be soaking wet, but a bit moist), then I would add a bit more. I also tasted here and there to make sure it didn’t get too sweet.
