Low Carb Bread

Nothings better than homemade bread.  But sadly that is a no no when on a low carb or gluten free diet.  Here is a great recipe I came up with to fill the void!  You can tweek it to suit your taste.

3 eggs
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp liquid stevia
6 T. ground flax seed (like a whole wheat flour consistency)
3/4 cup finely shredded cheese (I have used cheddar, and homemade ricotta which is much drier than store bought ricotta...you can change up the cheese)

mix all very well.  Melt 3 tsp of butter in a glass baking dish, pour the mixture on melted butter.  Microwave for 2 to 2 1/2 mins.  Check the center with a knife. If not gooey then it's ready.  It still runny in the center microwave longer until it is set.  remove from the pan when cool enough to handle. Cut into squares and then slice in 1/2 to make a great sandwich bun...otherwise eat with pleasure and no guilt.

Apple Pie Fruit Roll Up (Leather)

My kids love this...so do I!  It tastes just like my homemade apple pie.  Sweet and tart and very appley.

My recipe:

1 quart of peeled and cored apple pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar  (more or less to your taste)
1 T. of Cinnamon  (also adjust to your taste)

Put all into your blender or food processor and blend until as smooth as baby food.
Pour onto the drying sheets for a dehydrator, set on fruit or 135 degrees, and it should be dry in 6 hours or so.  Test by pressing the center, and it should be dry and not tacky if ready
Allow to cool to room temp..then gently lift off in one sheet.  Cut with sizers or pizza cutter, and roll up if you want to.  I don't bother since my kids eat it up so quickly!  It will store for a long time if you vacuum seal it or refrigerate it.

If you don't own a dehydrator, you could also dry it in the oven if you can get the temp set low enough.  Mine won't, so I invested in a nice dehydrator and I do NOT regret it.  I use it almost every day for something.

you can use this same formula to try other fruits, like cherry, strawberry, mixed berries etc.  You can add banana to sweeten if you don't want to add sugar...but you will taste banana.  Have fun experimenting.

MeatZa PizZa Slider

1 LB LEAN GROUND BEEF (for 4 double sliders)

A DOZEN SLICES OF PEPPERONI

MOZZARELLA & PARMESAN CHEESES

ITALIAN SPICES

MARINARA SAUCE  (maybe a cup or so)

ONION & GARLIC POWDER OR SALT (lightly sprinkled over entire 1lb of meat in pan.)

 SALT & PEPPER (omit salt if you used onion or garlic salts)

I have a method that you may like to try or just fry your 8 small patties like you normally do.  I like to place the entire lb of meat into the cast iron pan.  I take a small pastry roller and roll the raw meat like dough, to a thickness of no more than 1/2 inch.  I season the meat after it's good and flat.    After the bottom is seared, I cut the meat into 8 equal sections, then flip them and season that side with the onion  & garlic powder and s&p.  Let it cook until almost done, then top each patty with marinara sauce, which was canned this summer, then a heap of shredded mozz (or a generous slice) then the pepperonis (I like to saute them a little first), then the parm chesse. Place one patty on the other for a double burger.  In another pan or griddle, butter some bread rounds (cut out of homemade, buttered bread) with a biscuit or round cookie cutter (a canning lid works in a pinch) and grill them on one side until toasty and delicious looking.  I'm sure you can figure the rest...enjoy with lots of napkins!

Use your imagination for a variety of toppings...peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives...go for it!

BACONAISE

The delicious Condiment that may just shorten your life by a few years...but it will totally be worth it when you taste this on a cheeseburger or....anything!

WHEN YOU NEED TO TASTE BACON...ON EVERYTHING!

Now I realize that not everyone has a vat of bacon drippings just sitting around with nothing to do.  BUT...if you religiously save that precious grease from every BLT, or weekend breakfast, adding to the jar in the fridge each time, you should be able to pull off this amazing condiment off in a few weeks of saving up.  (You could also reduce the recipe by 1/2 to get there faster!)

Here ya go:

In your food processor or blender, add 2 farm fresh eggs (don't use the nasty store eggs ewww!)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

2 T White vinegar

Blend this until mixed well, on a lower setting on your machine.  I have a Vitamix and use about a 3 on it.

2 C. Bacon drippings melted

Open the top and slowly drizzle melted but not HOT bacon drippings (I strained mine first to keep the burnt bits out, but hey, I'm not going to judge...it's totally your call)

Keep blending or processing while drizzling until the consistency is like pudding...or mayo! Cuz it is.

Store in a container in the fridge and put it on everything you can think of.  

Glorious Healthy Beef Tallow!

I embarked on the age old method of rendering and preserving an all natural fat for cooking, baking, and soap making.  Using the fat, or suet, from around the beef kidneys from a beef we recently had butchered, I ended up with 6 lbs of pure white fat with no smell to it whatsoever.  It has a very low burn point, so it makes the best french fries you will EVER taste...yes, better than peanut oil.   This is similar to leaf lard from hogs, but you sure get more for your efforts.

How to Render Tallow

First you must obtain the suet.  Contact a local butcher and ask if they have any on hand, most will not, but will usually save it back from future slaughters and call when they have it.   Once you have it, keep it frozen until ready to render it.   When you are ready, just chop it into small pieces, and toss into a crock pot...set on high for a couple hours, then reduce to low for 4 more hours or so. 

Mash it with a potato masher to break up the fats that are still intact to help them melt faster.  When you feel there is more oil than bits of meat, gristle etc, then ladle it carefully into a paper towel lined colander/mesh strainer.  Return all the bits to the crock pot for a couple more hours on low...you will be surprised how much more oil will render out!  Repeat the straining.  When your oil is hot, pour into cake pans, loaf pan, whatever you have on hand.

I like the tin foil pans, they are flexible and easy to pop out the finished hardened tallow.  Once it's cooled to room temp and semi hard, put into the fridge or freezer to harden it.  Once it's hard, I remove it from the pan/mold and place into zip lock bags for the freezer.  Take out what you need for cooking or soap making and leave the rest in the freezer so it doesn't go rancid.


UPDATE:  I recently rendered the tallow from 4 cows, and netted close to 9 qts.  So I would estimate a couple qts per cow.
  Also, instead of freezing the tallow, I canned it...just pouring hot tallow oil into hot jars with heated lids and letting them self seal.

                  We Quit Cable & Satellite Dish Services

 

It can be done!  About 5 years ago or so, I wondered why we were paying for satellite dish service when there was absolutely nothing decent to watch on it.  The bill was outrageous...and for nothing!

I wondered why I couldn't watch movies and shows on the TV though the computer.  At the time, the TV set we owned didn't have the right connection. You need an HDMI port on the TV to run the HDMI cable from the computer to it.  We bought a nice plasma flat screen with the correct ports.  I then purchased a computer which I dedicated ONLY to TV watching and some casual web surfing. NO GAMES OR DOWNLOADS.  I wanted it to stay fast and not bogged down with junk.  After a few years...we needed the computer for the kids home school work...so I ended up getting a Roku box...which is NOT as fast and spiffy as using a computer...but way cheaper...$79.00 for it, vs. $350 or so for a computer.  You can decide which suits you best. (For the occasional movie, I will hook up the laptop if I can't access it via Roku.

Heres how to do it with a computer:  Make sure you have a HDMI cord, hook it up from a computer (laptop will work), get a wireless mouse and keyboard...and you can surf for shows from the couch! Just be sure to keep your virus protection up.

We signed up for Hulu.com  to watch TV shows that are pretty current, and if you want the lastest episodes right after they air...you can pay $7.99/month for HuluPlus.com...we also love YouTube for cheap entertainment.  We also use Amazon streaming for movie rentals. Roku has tons of movie channels as well.  If you get the box, you can scroll through them and set the ones you like on your home screen for easy access.
We also signed up for Netflix streaming  for $7.99 I think.  In addition to those...you can access the Discovery Channel, History Channel...any one with a website.. However, they do not post full episodes right away.  If you are hooked on something you might have to live without it for a while.  
For HBO/Showtime movies and series, as well as a ton of other shows...I watch them after they air, like the next day...at http://www.cokeandpopcorn.ch/tvsection.php   It's a little tricky...they have a million pop ups and tricky ways to get you to click on ads.  If you want the inside skinny on how to get around on the site...message me on FB and I will try to walk you through it.  But we have watched all the Game of Thrones episodes, Dexters, Downtown Abby's etc.  You CAN NOT access it though Roku though...only a computer.

My thinking...Roku is the way to go.  They are getting better and better with their channel selections too.  Music channels are awesome on there as well.  Some things are free, some are by subscription...you just need to pay attention.

Your TV is probably new enough that it has a digital antennae, which is going to pick up local networks for news etc.

 
 

 

Micro Dairy...back in business! 

      So maybe you've heard, I hurt my back in October, so I've been very limited in what I can and can not do.  It was all I could do to just get through each day for a while...then as I began to heal, my thought wandered to milking and making delicious dairy products for my family.  I didn't expect to have to milk Bossie until later this spring, and hoped I would be all healed up by then.  But, as life sometimes does, it threw a curve ball. Poor Bossie lost her calf in early January.  So...before I wanted to...we began milking her daily so she wouldn't dry up, leaving us without a source for fresh raw milk this year.  My dear husband helps each evening, so I don't have to lift anything when we milk.  Bossie is giving us 1 gallon per milking, which is enough for us to have a 1/2 gallon of ice cream, 2 lbs or more of fresh mozzarella, a couple cups of Ricotta, some cottage cheese, a couple gallons of 2% or so milk for drinking, and a lb or more of Farmer's Cheddar in a weeks time. That is plenty of dairy for anyone!  Once Goldie, our Jersey heifer calf is fresh, next summer, we will be drowning in milk!