Cast Iron Mac & Cheese: real comfort food

Did you notice? Plus Other Good Stuff is now plusothergoodstuff.com! You'll be seeing some more changes in the coming weeks, I hope, so stick with me and enjoy the ride. :)

 

When you need something a little more exciting than my Easy Mac & Cheese, but still not very time consuming, try this delicious twist. It's just as satisfying as baked mac & cheese, but super fast because the "baking" happens under the broiler for 4-6 minutes! Feel free to alter the spices to your liking and add different veggies as desired!

You'll need a deep iron skillet for this recipe. Here's the one I use. 

Cast Iron Mac & Cheese

(inspired by Parents Need to Eat Too)

One package of brown rice pasta (or pasta of choice)
3-4 organic hot dogs (optional)
1/2 c. organic frozen spinach (the kind in a bag, not a box), or a couple handfuls of fresh greens such as spinach, Swiss chard or kale
3 T. grass-fed butter
1 1/2 c. whole milk
1 t. mustard powder
1/2 t. smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 t. unrefined sea salt
dash milk curry powder
2 1/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 T. organic unbleached flour, or sprouted whole grain flour

1. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water. If your hot dogs are frozen (we keep a couple packages in the freezer and just take out what we need), throw them into the boiling water to heat them. Add your greens toward the end of the cooking time (just a couple minutes for spinach, 3-4 minutes for chard, 5 minutes or so for kale). When the pasta and greens are done, drain and set aside. Let the hot dogs cool, and then slice them into pieces.
2. While the pasta is cooking, preheat your broiler. Heat a deep iron skillet until very hot.
3. Melt the butter in the hot skillet. Add the milk and spices. Add 2 cups of the cheese, a handful add a time, whisking to melt.
4. Sift the flour over the cheese sauce, a tablespoon at a time (I don't have a sifter, so I use a fine mesh strainer and just tap the side of it to sprinkle the flour in), whisking the sauce until smooth after each addition. The sauce should be nice and thick when you're done adding flour.
5. Add the cooked pasta and greens, and cut-up hot dogs. Stir to thoroughly coat the pasta with sauce.
6. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and broil for 4-6 minutes, until the top is nicely browned.

What do you cook when you want something fast and really, really delicious?

 

**This is part of the following real food and healthy living link-ups: Real Food Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, Healthy2Day Wednesday, Thank Your Body Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday


Like what you just read? Subscribe so you don't miss a thing! 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Purchasing through them supports Plus Other Good Stuff. Thanks!

Quick & Nourishing Lunch Idea: Cheesy Veggie Quinoa

On days when we don't have any leftovers, and we're out of bread or don't feel like tuna again, I'm stumped for what to eat for lunch. I need something fast and easy that will sustain us until dinner, or at least until a mid-afternoon snack. 

This quinoa is perfect for those days. It cooks in just 15 minutes, during which you can unload the dishwasher, sweep the kitchen floor, or play with your kids. Using organic frozen vegetables means you don't have to chop or wash anything; just dump it in.

And I love having another way to get quinoa into our diet, since this pseudo-grain is higher in protein than any "real" grains out there. I choose to soak it to reduce anti-nutrients like phytic acid (even though it's not a grain, it's a seed, so it still contains phytic acid which binds to minerals and prevents our bodies from absorbing them). But don't be scared; soaking quinoa is really easy! 

If you're pantry's a little bare and you know you need something to eat for lunch tomorrow, soak some quinoa before you go to bed and lunch will come together in minutes!

Cheesy Veggie Quinoa

(Serves 2-3 for lunch)
Ingredients:
1 c. quinoa, rinsed in a fine-mesh sieve
1 T. apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
filtered water to cover
1.5 c. homemade chicken stock
1/2 t. unrefined sea salt, plus more to taste
1.5 -2 c. organic frozen veggies: I used broccoli, spinach, and grated carrots (I grated & froze those myself when I had a lot of carrots to use up; they're great to throw in soups or whatever for an extra veggie punch)
spices of your choice: I sprinkled in garlic powder, ground mustard, and nutmeg
cheese: as much as looks good to you, I used about 1/2 a cup of Dubliner

Directions:

1. The night before, combine rinsed quinoa, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice, and filtered water to cover in a medium saucepan. Allow to soak overnight at room temperature. (a warm place is best, like in the oven with the light on or next to a warm crock pot).
2. The next day at lunch time, drain and rinse the quinoa again, and return to the pot with the chicken stock and salt.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook covered for 10 minutes.
4. Add the frozen vegetables and spices, stir, cover, and cook for 5 minutes or until veggies are done.
5. Add grated cheese and stir to combine. Serve and enjoy your easy, delicious, filling, nutritious lunch!

This is part of: Thank Your Body Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Simple Meals Friday

Like what you just read? Subscribe so you don't miss a thing! 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Meal Plan December 3-9

 

Many of my meals this week come from Our 10 Favorite Simple Meals that I posted last week.  Check it out and share your own favorite simple meals in the comments!

Breakfasts this week will be oatmeal (I make a lot on Monday at eat it for a few days, storing the pot with leftovers in the fridge), fried eggs with sauteed greens and toast, and hopefully a batch of homemade breakfast sausage.

Lunches will be leftovers, hummus, egg salad with homemade mayo, and pizza balls.

Rodriguez Family Meal Plan November 12-18 

  

Monday: Big Pot of Beans with chips, salsa, cheese, avocado
prep: thaw & cook chicken for later in the week

Tuesday: Use leftover beans to make Mexican Chicken, Bean & Rice Skillet (recipe coming soon)

Wednesday: Leftovers (Wednesday is our Sabbath)

Thursday: Pasta with cream sauce, mushrooms, peas, and chicken; salad with homemade dressing
prep: thaw beef

Friday: Crazy Good Coffee Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, and My Favorite Kale (recipe coming soon)

Saturday: Baked Potato Soup
prep: soak waffle batter

Sunday: Oatmeal Pecan Waffles from Festive Traditions

 

What are you having for dinner this week?

I'm sharing this with Modern Alternative Kitchen's Meal Plan Link-Up, and Menu Plan Monday @ Orgjunkie.com.

Like what you just read? Subscribe so you don't miss a thing! 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Meal Plan November 12-18 + Quick Lunch Ideas

The stress of a husband in grad school continues. So we're pressing on, rejoicing in small peaceful moments, and trying with all our might to have a Sabbath. We're working on making Wednesdays that day, so you'll see leftovers scheduled on that night. If we have no leftovers, we will pull something out of the freezer or eat out.

For now, I've mostly given up planning our lunches and breakfasts. I'll make a big batch of oatmeal on Monday, which we'll eat for a few days, and the rest of the week will be fried eggs or french toast.

As for lunches, I'm putting a list of ideas on the fridge, and when we don't have leftovers to heat up, I'll make one of them. Here's my list. What do you do for a quick lunch?

Quick Lunch Ideas

• Tuna Salad
• Egg Salad
• Grilled Cheese (with pulled chicken, if we have any)
• Hummus or Bean Dip (with beans from the freezer or canned in a pinch)
• Mac & Cheese
• Pita or English Muffin Pizzas

And here's our tentative dinner plan for the week.

Rodriguez Family Meal Plan November 12-18 

 

Monday: Oven Baked Chicken, roasted cauliflower & broccoli
prep: thaw hamburger meat

Tuesday: Burgers, whole grain buns, root veggie chips, Bubbies Pickles
prep: make breakfast burritos to freeze

Wednesday: Leftovers
prep: soak lentils, thaw salmon

Thursday: Salmon with Lentils, dinner rolls, salad with homemade dressing
prep: soak beans

Friday: Big Pot of Beans with chips, salsa, cheese, avocado
prep: thaw chicken, soak dough for pizza balls

Saturday: Slow Cooker Roast Chicken with Gravy, roasted root vegetables
Lunch: Pizza Balls (freeze the rest for quick lunches later)
prep: soak waffle batter

Sunday: Oatmeal Pecan Waffles (from an e-book I can't wait to tell you about!), bacon
Breakfast: Breakfast Casserole from Real {Fast} Food (I think this will be our solution for a quick but hearty breakfast on Sunday mornings. With a long morning at church we need to be well fed!)

 

What are you having for dinner this week?

I'm sharing this with Modern Alternative Kitchen's Meal Plan Link-Up, and Menu Plan Monday @ Orgjunkie.com.

Like what you just read? Subscribe so you don't miss a thing! 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. 

Recipes by the Soup Goddess: Minestrone

If you want to learn more about delicious, nourishing, real food without the guilt trip for everything you're not doing right, hit that "like" button on the right, and subscribe to my posts by e-mail or reader feed so you don't miss anything. Thanks for stopping by!

This is the second soup in this series, Recipes by the Soup Goddess. The Soup Goddess is my mom, and she's not really a goddess, but she is a pretty gifted woman. And one of her gifts is making soup.

When I think about this soup, I remember a time during the first year I was off of meal plan at college and cooking for myself. My mom came for a visit and brought with her a gallon sized freezer bag full of this soup, complete with a little baggie of grated Parmesan. I don't remember much of what I ate that year, but I had virtually no cooking experience and that soup was a bright spot in a dark culinary period.

This is a great soup to make in late summer or early fall, when vegetables like green beans and zucchini can still be found in your garden or at your farmer's market. 

Happy Summer Vegetable Salad

If you want to learn more about delicious, nourishing, real food without the guilt trip for everything you're not doing right, hit that "like" button on the right, and subscribe to my posts by e-mail or reader feed so you don't miss anything. Thanks for stopping by!

Corn, Green Beans, Tomatoes, Basil, and Feta. Can you say yum?

My favorite kind of recipe is one that evolves from random bits of things I have lying around. I wasn't sure what to do with a few ears of leftover corn, or the small handful of green beans I harvested from my very neglected patio garden. Then I remembered the vibrant tomatoes my aunt brought me from her garden, and the feta that has been in the fridge for awhile and surely should be eaten. Add to it a handful of basil (the one plant on my patio that is thriving despite my neglect), some quality olive oil and red wine vinegar, and this salad was born. One bite and I knew it was a keeper.

Basil-Lime Avocado Salad Dressing

If you want to learn more about delicious, nourishing, real food without the guilt trip for everything you're not doing right, hit that "like" button on the right, and subscribe to my posts by e-mail or reader feed so you don't miss anything. Thanks for stopping by!

Check out those pastured egg yolks. They are almost orange!

I love my standard Balsamic Vinaigrette, but sometimes it's nice to have something different atop my plate of greens. This unique and nutritious dressing was delicious with a salad of romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red onion, radishes, bacon, and hard boiled eggs.

Why make your own dressing? 

 

Homemade salad dressing is easier than you think! With just a few basic ingredients you can whip up something much tastier and healthier than anything that comes in a bottle. Trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup and polyunsaturated oils? Make this easy change to improve your family's health, and you might just end up enjoying salads more, too!

French Onion Quesadillas

If you want to learn more about delicious, nourishing, real food without the guilt trip for everything you're not doing right, hit that "like" button on the right, and subscribe to my posts by e-mail or reader feed so you don't miss anything. Thanks for stopping by!

French Onion Quesadilla on a Sourdough Tortilla

 

I'm sometimes skeptical when I come across a dish that is posing as something else. You know what I'm talking about: "Taco Pizza." "BLT Salad." "Baked Potato Soup." "Pot Pie Chicken Salad." I usually say that I'd rather just eat the food that it's trying to be. But these quesadillas are a blessed exception to that rule. Clearly, they are not authentic in any way. But man are they good. And they make a stinkin' easy lunch.

Meal Plan August 6-12

If you want to learn more about delicious, nourishing, real food without the guilt trip for everything you're not doing right, hit that "like" button on the right, and subscribe to my posts by e-mail or reader feed so you don't miss anything. Thanks for stopping by!

Leftover Steak Salad with Bleu Cheese Dressing

We're still keeping it simple around here with lots of salads, built-in leftovers, and food pulled from the freezer. Check out this meal plan for fast, easy meal ideas!

Meal Plan for August 6-12

Monday
Breakfast: Eggs fried in coconut oil, buttered sourdough toast, kombucha
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Sourdough crepes filled with sauteed veggies, ricotta, and herbs

Tuesday
Breakfast: yogurt, granola, hard boiled eggs
Lunch: Hummus toasts (hummus, sliced tomato, and cheese on sourdough toast, melted under the broiler)
Dinner: French onion quesadillas (sourdough tortillas filled with Swiss cheese and caramelized onions, idea from this book), cole slaw

Wednesday
Breakfast: French Toast Frittata, raw milk
Lunch: Egg salad sandwiches
Dinner: BLT salad with avocado dressing, soaked whole wheat artisan bread

Thursday
Breakfast: slow cooked steel cut oatmeal (idea also from this book) with butter and real maple syrup
Lunch: Leftover Egg Salad
Dinner: Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas, guacamole

Friday
Breakfast: Veggie-Egg Scramble with buttered toast
Lunch: Big Salad with hard boiled egg, white beans, tuna, lots of vegetables, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette
Dinner: Leftover Enchiladas

Saturday
Breakfast: Sourdough pancakes, homemade chicken sausage (make extra to freeze)
Lunch: Mac & Cheese
Dinner: Hamburgers on whole wheat buns, oven fries, corn on the cob

Sunday
Breakfast: Yogurt, granola, hard boiled eggs
Lunch: Grilled Cheese with Asparagus soup from the freezer
Dinner: Leftovers or freezer meal

What are you eating this week? 

 

I'm linking this up to the following real food carnivals: Modern Alternative Kitchen's Monday Meal Plan, Monday Mania, Hearth and Soul, Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Healthy 2 Day Wednesday

Recipes by the Soup Goddess: Tomato Soup

If you want to learn more about delicious, nourishing, real food without the guilt trip for everything you're not doing right, hit that "like" button on the right, and subscribe to my posts by e-mail or reader feed so you don't miss anything. Thanks for stopping by!

This is the first recipe in my new series, Recipes by the Soup Goddess! This tomato soup is like nothing you've ever tasted, especially if you grew up on Campbell's. Seasoned with loads of fresh basil and chock full of nutrients, it's totally worth the effort of peeling and seeding fresh tomatoes from your garden. 

We like to serve it with pesto grilled cheese sandwiches, made with homemade pesto that we froze last summer in ice cube trays.

The makings of a great grilled cheese: sprouted bread, fancy cheese, and a cube of pesto from the freezer.

It makes a big Dutch oven full: enough to eat, share, and have leftovers! (We like to freeze the leftovers for a summery treat in the dead of winter.)

Tips for Success from the Soup Goddess

1. Fresh basil is key. Don't be shy!

2. Blend to the thickness you like. She likes hers a bit chunky.

3. Freshly grated Parmesan sprinkled on top is The Upgrade. (She always has an Upgrade.) She likes to grate hers on a microplane.

4. As always, remember this Soup Goddess secret: "Taste, sprinkle, taste, sprinkle, taste."

The cheese oozing out the bottom is Dill Havarti.

Best-Ever Tomato Soup  

Original Recipe by Sara Moulton, amended and upgraded by Linda Leeman

Ingredients:

• 4 T. butter
• a splash of olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 onion (medium or large), diced
• 3 carrots, finely diced
• ¼ c. flour (I've used all-purpose, but I bet sprouted would work well)
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 6 lbs fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (details below)
• 2 (28 oz.) cans pureed tomatoes, or more fresh tomatoes
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 4 c. homemade chicken broth
• 4 t. fresh thyme leaves (or 1-2 t. dry)
• 2 T. fresh basil, chopped
• 2 c. light cream or whole milk
• freshly grated Parmesan, for garnish

Directions:

1. To peel and seed the tomatoes, fill a large pot halfway full with water. Bring it to a boil, and carefully place the tomatoes in the pot. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon after less than a minute, or when you see some of the skins starting to break or wrinkle. Drain in a colander, and let cool. Slip the skins off, cut off the stem end with a serrated knife. Slice in half and remove the seeds, either by squeezing or scoping them out with your finger. Chop coarsely.

2. Melt the butter and olive oil in a Dutch oven or other large pot. Add the onion and carrot and cook over medium heat until almost tender. Add the garlic and continue cooking a few more minutes.   
3. Add the flour and cook, stirring, 1-2 minutes. Do not allow to brown. 

4. Add seeded and peeled tomatoes, canned tomatoes (if using), tomato paste, chicken broth, and salt and pepper to taste. 

5. Simmer, stirring every few minutes, for 30 minutes or longer (the longer it simmers the better it tastes). Halfway through simmering, add the fresh thyme. Toward the end of simmering, add the fresh basil. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

6.  Puree the soup (preferably with an immersion blender to avoid extra dishes and potentially squirting soup all over the kitchen!). The Soup Goddess prefers hers a little bit chunky.

7. Add the cream or milk and heat on low for a few minutes, tasting to adjust the seasonings one last time.
8. Serve with a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan and a grilled cheese sandwich.

A Few Notes

The last time I made this,  I used tomatoes I had frozen whole last summer. Did you know you could do that? When they thaw, the skins slip right off and you can cut and seed them as normal. It actually saves a step - you don't have to boil them first.

(My next contribution to Modern Alternative Kitchen is a post on Lazy Freezing Techniques like this one! Be sure to subscribe over there so you don't miss out!)

Tomatoes frozen whole with skins. Who knew!?

I also made use of my crock pot last time I made this. We were having some friends over for lunch after church on Sunday, so I went as far as step 4 above the night before, on the stovetop. Then I plopped the contents of the pot into my crock pot insert and stuck it in the fridge. In the morning before church, I turned it on high and it simmered for about three hours. When we got home I added the fresh basil and cream, pureed it, and seasoned to taste. It may have been my best batch ever!

Does it get any better than this?

This is part of Fight Back Friday, Monday Mania, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, and the Seasonal Recipe Round-Up for Tomatoes at GNOWFGLINS

 

Recipes by the Soup Goddess: A New Series

If you want to learn more about delicious, nourishing, real food without the guilt trip for everything you're not doing right, hit that "like" button on the right, and subscribe to my posts by e-mail or reader feed so you don't miss anything. Thanks for stopping by!

Best Ever Tomato Soup with Pesto Grilled Cheese

Summer seems a strange time to start a series about soup. But it's also the time when gardens start to overflow with fresh vegetables. One of the best ways I know of to use up fresh vegetables is to turn them into soup. And I happen to know a soup expert.

This is my mom, Linda.

Isn't she a good lookin' Grandma?

Her friends call her the Soup Goddess.

I'm not sure when it started. She has always been a good cook, but in the last ten years or so she has been perfecting the art of soup. Cream of Asparagus, Minestrone, Tomato, Ham and Potato, Split Pea, French Onion, Beef Barley, Chicken Corn Chowder, Broccoli Cheese, Turkey Dumpling, Wild Mushroom, Chicken with Wild Rice, Butternut Squash with Brie...are you getting hungry yet?

Momma's Minestrone

How many times have you been to a restaurant, ordered the soup, and thought, "Well, that was disappointing"? Or do you go through the effort of making soup from scratch at home and then think that it was just okay?

Butternut Squash Soup with Brie

Let the Soup Goddess teach you how to make soup. I'll be sharing her recipes here at Plus Other Good Stuff, as well as her secrets for how to achieve the tastiest soup!

We'll start with some summery recipes like Tomato Soup and Minestrone, and as fall approaches you better believe we're bustin' out the brie for the best squash soup ever! Yeah, get excited! 

Are you ready to learn how to make delicious, nutritious, satisfying, family-pleasing soups?

Real Food Cook-Out Menu

Garlic Herb Potato Salad - my favorite summer side dish!

I'm spending several days at my parents house while my husband is at a big long conference. I'm not doing much cooking while I'm here (what a nice break!), but yesterday my extended family got together for a cook-out, and I just HAD to share with you what we ate. It was so delicious and healthy and real!

Our Family Cook-out Menu

Grass-fed Hamburgers
Applegate Farms Organic Hot Dogs
Trader Joe's 100% Whole Wheat Buns
Garlic-Herb Potato Salad
Green Beans with Goat Cheese and Pine Nuts
Grilled Broccoli with lemon and thyme
Fruit Salad
Gluten-Free cupcakes (for the gluten-intolerant family members, but tasty enough for everyone to enjoy!)
"Bars" (a very unhealthy but totally delicious bar cookie that my family has been making for ages. I'm totally okay with compromising on this one because they are so darn good and it's a once in awhile kind of thing!)

What does your family like to eat at cook-outs? Have any easy and healthy ideas to share?

 This is part of Real Food Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, and Simple Lives Thursday.

Hummus, Feta, and Radish Sandwich

I am very blessed that my husband comes home for lunch almost every weekday. Except Fridays. On Fridays, he goes out to lunch with his co-workers. I used to be sad about that. I get lonely during the day and it really feeds my spirit to have that hour with him in the middle of the day.

Recently, however, I realized that there is one benefit to having lunch without my husband: I can eat whatever I want! No, I don't mean secretly pigging out on ice cream or Hostess products. I mean I can eat leftover soup that he thought was gross, or have a big salad that he might not consider "substantial" enough. Or I can eat radishes. And lots of them.

When I was in kindergarten I checked out a book from the school library in which an old man tells a little girl, "Don't be saddish, have a radish!" We quoted that line often throughout my childhood, but it wasn't until recently that I began to truly appreciate radishes. Thinly sliced on salads and sandwiches, they really do have the ability to turn a sad mood into a happy one.

So yesterday when my hubby was eating Chinese food with the guys from work, I devoured this little creation. And it made me smile. I feel almost silly giving you these instructions on how to make a sandwich, but here they are, nonetheless. Try it!

Hummus, Feta, and Radish Sandwich

 

ingredients :
soaked, sprouted, or sourdough whole grain bread
grass-fed butter
hummus, preferably homemade
feta cheese
radishes, thinly sliced
homemade Greek Dressing
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

method :
Toast the bread. I made it open face but it would work as a traditional sandwich as well. Spread butter on the bread. Spread hummus on the bread. Sprinkle some crumbled feta on top of the hummus. Layer sliced radishes on top, and drizzle with the dressing. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top. Admire your creation and gobble it up before your husband comes home to see what you're eating!

P.S. I'm not gonna lie. My hummus was store-bought, preservatives and all. But what can I say, I just had a baby!

How do you like to eat radishes? And what do you eat when you don't have to worry about your spouse or children eating it?

Simple Meal: Saucy White Beans with Zucchini

*Update: I've entered this into the seasonal recipe round-up at GNOWFGLINS! Check it out for more great recipes to use zucchini and summer squash!*

As you learned in my last post, our family recently returned from a Fine Arts Camp where we taught middle-schoolers, chased our toddler through the woods, slept on two "twin" beds pushed together, and cooked real food without a kitchen (I know I didn't give you all those details in the last post, but I thought you'd enjoy hearing more about our time there).

Here is one of the very simple meals I made while we were there, using our new one-burner Coleman stove. As always with my recipes, amounts are approximate and can and should be altered according to your own tastes. It was a cinch to whip together with the few ingredients I brought (and yes, I brought fresh basil from the garden!). It would be realllllly good with sausage, I’m sure. J

Saucy White Beans with Zucchini

Ingredients:

2 T. butter

1 onion

1-2 zucchini

2-3 cups cooked white beans (great northern or cannelini)

garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste

1 c. pasta sauce (or as much as you want)

cheese to taste, shredded (I used Swiss and parmesan because that’s what I had)

fresh basil leaves, snipped into strips

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan.

2. Add the onion and cook until tender.

3. Add the zucchini, beans, and seasonings and cook covered over low heat, stirring every couple minutes, until zucchini is tender.

4. Add the sauce and stir to combine.

5. Add the cheese, stir, and cook a couple minutes to melt and heat through.

5. Stir in the basil.

6. Serve with extra parmesan cheese on top.

I’m sure this would be good over pasta (maybe use a little more sauce) or on toast, but I kept things simple and just ate it out of a bowl. It hit the spot and was super easy, even without a kitchen!

If you have a simple meal you've made lately (with or without a kitchen!), share it in the comments!

This is part of Real Food Wednesday and Pennywise Platter Thursday.

how we ate real food at camp, despite road blocks

A couple weeks ago, our family drove an hour north of us to spend 12 days teaching at a fine arts camp. We didn't hit any road blocks on the way there, but when we walked into our cabin there may as well have been a sign like this one:

As we've done in the past, I was planning on cooking most of our food using the little kitchenette that most cabins have (we’ve always had one before and this was our fourth year there); it’s a unit the size of an oven that has two burners, a sink, and a mini-fridge. There is food provided in the faculty cafeteria, but we can only take so much standard GFS fare: powdered eggs, iceberg lettuce with soybean oil-HFCS dressing, canned green beans and peas, white bread with margarine, pre-made lasagna, etc. We do our best to eat the food that most closely resembles real food when we do eat there, but it’s hard, and we just don’t feel well afterwards. In fact, a week after returning home, we still feel like our bodies are recovering from the few meals we ate there and the few meals we ate out when family came to visit. (I don’t know how the dance students dance all day while eating food that is supposedly even worse. No wonder so many of them get sick, injured, and exhausted!) I don’t want to be a food snob, and I was grateful some nights when I was too exhausted to cook that there was food to eat, but I just couldn't do three meals a day for 12 days there.

So I packed ingredients for several simple meals, along with the bare minimum in cooking equipment: our iron skillet, two saucepans, a couple utensils, a small strainer, a cheese grater, and our blender (I couldn’t go two weeks in the summertime without a smoothie!). We packed our small cooler full to the brim with raw milk, butter, pastured eggs, fresh produce, kombucha, cheese, yogurt, and cooked chicken and white beans. And of course our cod liver oil!

But we had an unpleasant surprise when we walked into our cabin. No mini-kitchen! No stove! No sink! And a fridge so tiny it could barely hold half of what we brought! ARGH!

Here is where the sink was supposed to be hooked up. :(

It was not a happy moment. I was not prepared to eat crappy food for two weeks. Nor did I want all the food we brought to go bad. So after I recovered from the initial shock, I went to Meijer looking for a hot plate, thinking if I could just have a way to heat one pot, we'd be fine.

Apparently they don’t sell hot plates.

So I bought a camp stove instead.

We have never really felt like we were "camping" at Blue Lake. Though the cabins are junky (ours was full of broken furniture when we got there...), they have indoor plumbing and well, usually a mini kitchen. :( You don't get wet when it rains, so it can't possibly be real camping. But cooking outside sure made it feel like camping!

As for the lack of fridge space, some stuff stayed in the cooler and I rotated the cold packs (which was difficult considering how small the "freezer" compartment in the fridge was). A few days in we had eaten enough food that most of it fit, and we kept a couple things in the fridge at the dance building.

Here's the fridge with our dishes on top of it because there was no where else to put them.

We washed our dishes in this tiny bathroom sink:

And we made an impromptu pantry by bringing some shelves in from the bedroom. (Notice the toddler-friendly lower shelves and all the glass jars on the top shelf!)

So we made it work. But boy was I happy to return to my own kitchen, small as it is, after 12 days of that!

Since the stove only has one burner (it was the least expensive model), one pot meals were a must. Here are a few of the meals we ate (some cooked on that little camp stove, atop a crooked picnic table, and some that required no cooking):

Breakfast

1. Fried Eggs and Toast (with the toast cooked in the pan next to the eggs, and lotsa butter)
2. Oatmeal (with an egg in it!)
3. Toast with Peanut Butter and homemade strawberry jam (toasted in the skillet, of course)

Lunch/Dinner

1. Chicken Salad (made with the cooked chicken I brought)
2. Shredded chicken sandwiches (on sourdough bread with sharp cheddar, mustard, and homemade mayo)
3. Chicken Pesto Pasta
4. Saucy White Beans with Zucchini (recipe coming!)
5. Pizza toasts (sourdough bread, spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, and melted cheese, served open face)
6. Mujadareh (rice and lentils with spiced caramelized onions)

Snacks

1. Crackers and Cheese
2. Fruit Smoothies
3. Homemade Granola
4. Raw Milk and Chocolate Zucchini Cake (I made it the day before we left and we savored the leftovers for a few days)

I hope you are encouraged that you can a) Cook real food even with very limited equipment and space, and b) Choose to eat real food even when fake food is readily available and free. The free food is not really worth the cost your body pays. (Except when it involves relationships with people; I always want to be able to eat what is put in front of me - and even enjoy it! - to show love to those around me, real food or not.)

We are glad to be home, caught up with laundry, and jumping back into the school year. You can expect less blogging from me than I was able to do in the summer due to a toddler who makes computer usage difficult, and my husband taking the laptop to class most days. But I'll try to keep giving you all sorts of good stuff!

Have you ever cooked real food in the midst of less than ideal circumstances? Tell us about it!

Easy Change #5: find lunch meat alternatives

Welcome back to my Easy Changes You Can Make Today series! It's been awhile, but I'm back with another small change you can make to help you and your family become healthier people! (Did you miss the other Easy Changes? Check them out here!)

This series is all about taking small steps toward a healthier diet. Depending on your current relationship with pre-sliced deli meats, this step may feel like more of a medium sized step. But be encouraged: I'm not going to suggest you never eat lunch meat again. This blog is not about judgement, it's about the joy of real food.

But before we get to the happy part - the mouthwatering lunch-meatless options that await you - we have to talk about why we might want to stop relying on this very convenient convenience food. So here goes...

Three Reasons to Avoid Conventional Lunch Meat 

 

1. You don't know how the animals were raised.

And if you don’t know, you can assume it’s probably not good. Too many animals in a small space, with no access to the outdoors, fed GMO grain and soy, getting pumped full of hormones and antibiotics…it’s a sad story. And it makes the meat you eat a lot less nutritious. I used to think that meat was meat, but it's just not true. Corn-fed meat, unlike its distant cousin grass-fed meat (or pastured chicken/turkey) has a ratio of omega-6’s to omega 3’s that is extremely out of balance. Chickens were meant to eat bugs! Cows were meant to eat grass! Pigs were meant to roll around in the mud! If animals are living in the great outdoors they are healthier and don’t need a constant stream of antibiotics to keep them “healthy.” Unfortunately most of the lunch meat you see in the store (unless it is grass-fed or from a reputable organic farm) is factory farmed. No, thank you. This reason alone is enough to dissuade me, but here are a couple more good reasons... 

2. It contains nitrates or nitrites.

See Thursday's post on what these are and why we might want to avoid them. The jury is out but I'd rather play it safe whenever I can. 

3. It's wasteful.

You get a small amount of meat in a plastic package that comes from petroleum, often can’t be recycled, and doesn’t biodegrade. Convenient? Yes. But not exactly earth friendly. 

(Side note: I met someone last night who is majoring in Package Engineering. Fascinating! He mentioned that one aspect of his field is trying to get the job done with less packaging. Even in our fallen system of processed and packaged everything, I'm grateful that there are people trying to design packaging that uses less resources!)

So, if you’re not going to eat lunch meat all the time, what do you eat for lunch?? I’ve got all sorts of easy lunch ideas to help you out! They might take a little longer to prepare than slapping some ham between two slices of Wonderbread, but they are ever-so-delicious and WAY more nutritious, too.
 

Ten Alternatives to Conventional Lunch Meat

 

1. Tuna or salmon salad.

Though I'm not thrilled that salmon and tuna come in a can lined with BPA and who knows what else, it's a compromise I choose to make. We eat tuna or salmon salad once a week or so for a quick lunch. Just open the can and mix with a little mayo (homemade is best!) or plain yogurt if you’re in a pinch (or a combination - the yogurt is great for digestion!) Add some chopped celery and something onion-y (chopped onion, scallions, or chives). A bit of mustard, squeeze of lemon juice, and you’re done! Fresh herbs like parsley and thyme take it to the next level. 

2. Chicken salad.

Got leftover meat from roasting a chicken? Shred the meat and use the same technique as above, or try my Shallot Cranberry Chicken Salad. Or skip the “salad” part and just shred some chicken and throw it on a sandwich with some cheese and veggies.

3. Egg Salad.

Hard boil some eggs and plunge into cold water. Peel and chop. Add the same ingredients you would add to tuna salad, plus some paprika and parsley if you have it.

4. Deviled eggs.

These are an Easter tradition in my family, and we devour them! But they work great as a simple lunch, too. Here is a simple recipe. 

5. Hummus or other bean spread.

These are satisfying, inexpensive, and delicious! Try my recipes for Hummus, Roasted Garlic Black Bean Dip, and White Bean Dip with Garlic Scapes (even if you don’t have garlic scapes).
 

6. Quesadillas

Buy some traditionally prepared corn tortillas (we get El Milagro brand from our local Mexican grocery), or make some sprouted, soaked, or sourdough tortillas. Add some muenster cheese, fold in half, and cook in an iron skillet until the cheese melts. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, and/or salsa. If you had beans for dinner the night before, just reheat them on the stove in a saucepan to round out the meal. I also keep a couple cans of black beans handy for emergency lunches (like when the menu plan says "leftovers" but somehow there aren't any).
 

7. Grilled cheese and veggies sandwiches.

You know how to make grilled cheese, right? (Make sure you butter the bread!) If you want to take it to the next level, sauté some mushrooms, onions, and/or bell peppers and throw those into your sandwich, too! We also make a big batch of pesto every summer and freeze it in ice cube trays. Pesto grilled cheese is a definite favorite around here! Or skip the grilling and just eat a cheese sandwich. In that case, add some tomato, lettuce, and avocado. Yum!

8. Nut Butter Sandwiches.

Simple enough. Just be sure to buy all-natural peanut or almond butter with no added partially hydrogenated oils or sugar. (We LOVE Trader Joe’s Almond Butter.) Even better, make your own with soaked and dried nuts. I’ll do that some day, when I have a powerful food processor. Add some local raw honey or homemade jam and you've got a filling lunch and a slightly sweet treat all in one!

9. Leftovers.

This is our favorite thing to eat for lunch. Reheat some of last night’s dinner (preferably on the stove or in the oven/toaster oven). Or eat it cold! 

10. Nitrate/nitrite free, sustainably raised lunch meat

If you absolutely HAVE to have lunch meat, you can find healthy versions. Applegate Farms makes organic, nitrate free deli meats (and other cured meats like hot dogs and bacon!). They are more expensive, but if you only buy them occasionally and you save money by buying less processed food in general, perhaps you can fit it into your budget. There are certainly times in life where lunch meat can be a life saver!

11. Make your own lunch meat! The Nourishing Gourmet has a recipe for homemade chicken lunch meat that looks delicious! 

 

What’s your favorite simple and lunch meat-free lunch?

This is part of Fight Back Friday and Monday Mania.

Words of the Day: Nitrate and Nitrite

Part of your journey towards eating real food is discovering what your food is made up of - both good stuff and bad stuff. Once you tune in to labels and learn where your food comes from, you can simplify by buying more foods with fewer ingredients, and getting as much as you can from local farmers.

Today and tomorrow we're talking lunch meat. Tomorrow I'll be discussing alternatives to nitrate-ridden, factory-farmed lunch meats. In preparation for that, let's talk about nitrates and nitrites.

First, please know that I am not a scientist, nor do I claim to have all the answers. I'm just a wife and mom trying to feed my family as healthfully as possible.

Nitrate and nitrite are chemicals that are used in the curing process in lunch meats, bacon, pepperoni, ham, and hot dogs.

According to the Applegate Farms FAQ's: "Nitrates (NO3) are naturally occurring compounds that are created when plants break down nitrogen during photosynthesis. When nitrates come in contact with certain bacteria they break down into nitrites."

So nitrates are "naturally occurring." They aren't just in cured meats; they are also found in vegetables and in our water. Our body naturally converts some of them into nitrites. This is not harmful. Nitrites turn into nitric oxide which can lower blood pressure and reduce inflammation. (source)

But sodium nitrite is added to cured meats.

From a report on Nitrite in Meat by the University of Minnesota:

Sodium nitrite, rather than sodium nitrate, is most commonly used for curing (although in some products, such as country ham, sodium nitrate is used because of the long aging period). In a series of normal reactions, nitrite is converted to nitric oxide. Nitric oxide combines with myoglobin, the pigment responsible for the natural red color of uncured meat. They form nitric oxide myoglobin, which is a deep red color (as in uncooked dry sausage) that changes to the characteristic bright pink normally associated with cured and smoked meat (such as wieners and ham) when heated during the smoking process.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but part of what I'm reading here is that when we consume naturally occurring nitrates, the process of nitrate>nitrite>nitric oxide happens in our bodies. When nitrate or nitrite is added to meat, that process happens during the curing of the meat.

Foods can be cured using salt and naturally occurring nitrates such as those found in celery juice and sea salt, but adding nitrate or nitrite is supposed to help prevent botulism and makes the meat a brighter red color. These curing agents also give the characteristic cured meat flavor we are used to. Apparently their naturally occurring cousins just don't cut it (even though, for thousands of years, people just used salt to preserve meat). No botulism and more appealing food sound like good things, but there is a potential problem in using nitrate or nitrite in the curing process. These chemicals can form nitrosamine, a known carcinogen. Yuck.

Now, I simply don't know if there is a difference in how our body deals with nitrate and nitrite depending on whether it comes as an isolated chemical or in the form of celery juice and sea salt. But I certainly like the idea of it coming from real food. (How's that for scientific?)

My mother-in-law (a very wise woman!) always made sure her boys drank some orange juice if they were eating cured meats containing nitrate or nitrite. The vitamin C, if consumed at the same time as nitrate, prevents your body from forming nitrosamines during digestion! You could also eat an orange or grapefruit or tomato with your meal for the same effect. And apparently the FDA requires that ascorbic acid be added to cured meat for that purpose. (Wow, go FDA! It's not every day that I say that...)

So, the jury is still out on how harmful these suckers are. I'm choosing to avoid them if possible, but that won't stop me from ordering bacon with my eggs at a restaurant (preferably one that uses meat and eggs from local, sustainable farms.) Whatever you may think of this nitrate business, there may be other reasons to think twice about grabbing that package of honey ham at the grocery store. We'll talk about that tomorrow, and I'll give you some simple ideas for lunch meat alternatives. See you then!

This is part of Simple Lives Thursday. Check it out!

White Bean Dip with Garlic Scapes

Yesterday I cooked the first dish of the season for our CSA share from Eighth Day Farm. I'm acting as "chef" for the season, whipping up dishes for members to try, using the veggies they're receiving each particular week. We're hoping this will help people learn what to do with unfamiliar vegetables, and give them some fresh ideas when they get zucchini for the sixth week in a row. :)

The season has started out a bit light, due to heavy rains rotting out a lot of their crops. I feel so bad for these poor farmers who are having a rough start to the season. But it makes me grateful for Community Supported Agriculture; by paying at the beginning of the season, members are supporting the farmers in good times and in bad. You might think, "Whoa, that's risky!" And, it is. It helps when you know and trust your farmer. I know they are working hard and doing their best, and I want to help them make it. Because in this world of industrial farming and depleted soil, we need farmers who are doing what they are doing!

So, despite a table holding only a basket of garlic scapes, I wanted Eighth Day's members to be able to cook something delicious this week.

Hold up, Garlic WHAT?

Garlic Scapes! They are amazing! These fellers shoot out from the garlic plant during the spring and form a gorgeous curlicue. If you harvest them, they help the garlic grow better. They taste like garlic (big surprise) but a bit milder. You can chop them up and use them as you would garlic, in any recipe. Here is a recipe that showcases their delicious pungency without being overpowering. It's very tasty with homemade crackers, which I'll post a recipe for another time.

Notes: Quantities are totally up to you. Taste as you go, and you will have success! Using three or four garlic scapes yields a comfortably strong garlic taste (in my opinion) on the day you make it, and it gets more garlicky over time. If you're not sure you like a strong garlic taste, use one or two.

White Bean Dip with Garlic Scapes

3-4 Garlic Scapes (or a couple cloves of garlic), roughly chopped

Juice of 1 lemon (to taste)

Salt and Pepper to taste, start with 1/2 t. salt and a several grinds of pepper

2 cups cooked white beans (great northern or cannellini)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (to achieve desired consistency)

In your food processor, combine chopped garlic scapes, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Process until scapes are finely chopped. Add beans and process to combine. Add a few tablespoons of water if it seems dry, and then add enough olive oil to achieve a dip-like consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more lemon juice, salt, or pepper to taste. Serve with crackers or veggies for dipping.

Have you ever cooked with garlic scapes? What did you think?

This is part of Real Food Wednesday. Check it out for great real food recipes and ideas!