Homemade Butter

Homemade...that word is like music to my ears.  Homemade Butter?  An orchestra!  And no, I didn't churn until my arms felt like they were going to fall off, I simply pressed a button!  Really!  I had my doubts, but it really was as easy as they say.

During my visit with Dr. Willard, we spoke briefly about making our own foods and he mentioned to me that the first time he made butter, he actually felt upset - that no one had ever shown him how easy it was!  I have felt like that over many things in the past few years.  It has become so easy for us to buy something in a jar, box, can, etc., that making home made staples has become a lost art.  The fact is, when we make our own foods at home, we know exactly what ingredients go into it.  And I have to say, the most important ingredient, which you won't find in many grocery store products: LOVE!  There is love in this butter, let me tell you!  I loved making it and we are loving eating it!

OK, it really is super easy.  There are a few simple steps.  Firstly, if you can buy fresh cream, do it.  I bought 39% organic cream.  No farm close by, but have it on my list of things to do to find somewhere to buy fresh cream so it could go straight from the farm into my kitchen.

homemade butter

500 ml heavy cream or whipping cream 

1. Pour cream in food processor.
2. Turn on high and go make coffee.   Come back 10 minutes later.
3. Turn off food processor and you will find that the solid and liquid have separated.
4. Pour out the liquid (this is buttermilk and can be used for other recipes)
5. Run butter under cold running water and press out all remaining buttermilk from the butter, until the water runs clear.  (Your butter won't spoil as fast if you are thorough with this step).
6. Alternatively to step 5, you can fill a large bowl with ice cold water and press the butter.  Drain and repeat until the water remains clear.
7. And there you have it!  You can add salt to it at this point if you like your butter salted.  Place in a jar and refrigerate.  This will last anywhere from 2-4 weeks in the refrigerator.  
8. I made two batches and froze one batch.  I thawed it and the texture was completely unchanged, so make lots and freeze!

There are other ways to make butter, which I haven't tried yet.  You can get the same results by using an electric mixer and a bowl instead of the food processor.  You can also simply shake the cream in a jar until it separates (tip: put a marble in for quicker results).

A great idea for kids is to do the jar/marble trick using baby food jars.  I'm thinking of buying a couple of baby food jars just for this reason!  I have no babies, but have a couple boys that could use some  exercise to make up for all the butter they've been eating ;)  If you work for it, you've earned it!  Will definitely post on it when we try.

Finishing Day#7 of the Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox today.  I have to say that the first few days were pretty rough.  My body must've required a lot of detoxing.  I was extremely tired with mental fogginess and headaches.  Today seems to have been better, most of the fog has lifted, so hopefully on the upswing from here!

I'll keep you posted on the D-Tox and for now, thank you for reading and happy butter-making!

My Go-To Salsa and Guacamole

I've posted a recipe of each before, however, this salsa and guacamole are the recipes that I make very regularly.  They are perfect food for serving when entertaining or bring along when going to watch the game at a friend's house.   It's also great to have this in the fridge for your daily chips and dip snacks!

These can also be integrated in other recipes: one of my favourites, a bowl of brown rice with black beans, topped with this fresh salsa.  I love a brown rice cake topped with salsa and guacamole!  Perfect for candida cleanse and Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox.  For Paleo, use these as the toppings for your lettuce wrap tacos and fajitas!

fresh salsa
3 cups roma tomatoes, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 jalapeño peppers, chopped
large handful cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste

• Put all ingredients except salt in a food processor and pulse until everything comes together to your preferred consistency.  Pour in a medium bowl and add salt to taste.

fresh guacamole
3 soft avocados
1 roma tomato, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup red onion, chopped finely
small handful cilantro, chopped
juice of 1/2 lime
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a medium bowl, mash avocados with potato masher.
2. Add tomato and garlic and mash so tomatoes get crushed.
3. Add red onion, cilantro and lime juice, mix well.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Beet Hummus

Time spent in the kitchen is what makes the holidays.  The wonderful food we prepare to share with family and friends over laughter and love.

Tonight, Christmas Eve will be spent following the tradition of the past few years of going to my sister's house where everyone brings appetizers, desserts and drinks.  The kids all look forward to this evening as do we.

This year, I was going to make two dips.  Well, two turned into many.  I made fruit salsa, guacamole, baked eggplant dip, sundried tomato hummus and last but not least, beet hummus.  This is simply a beautiful dip and if you love beets, you will love this dip!

beet hummus

2 cups chickpeas (if using canned, drain and rinse)
3 medium beets, roasted 
    - To roast, wrap unpeeled beets in tinfoil.  Place on baking sheet in 400 deg oven for one hour.       
      Remove from oven and let sit until cool.  Remove from foil, peel will slide of very easily.
1/4 cup tahini
5 cloves roasted garlic
    - Put a whole garlic bulb in the oven with your beets, unwrapped.  Take them out when soft, 30-40    
      minutes.
3 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Put all ingredients in food processor and pulse until desired consistency.
2. Serve with chips, crackers, rice cakes or as a side to mashed potatoes...yum!

Thank you to all who read this blog in 2012, last week marked the 1000th view,  and that was very exciting for me!  I love seeing how people from all over the world can come across this site: Canada, USA, Russia, Australia, Germany, Poland, UK, France, Ukraine and Israel.  From my kitchen to yours,  Happy and Safe Holidays to you and yours....Monique xox

Cranberry Sauce



Sugar-Free Cranberry Sauce



Oh how I love the holidays!  Spending time with the people we love, and most certainly surrounded by delicious food! 

For people with dietary restrictions, the holidays can sometimes be a little daunting because we are around so much food and in general, they're not the types of foods that people like us eat.  I have found it much easier year after year to simply bypass the flour and sugar treats and just stick with the things I know won't make me feel sick.  I'm always the happier for it when I feel well at the end of the day.

That being said, I still enjoy some indulgences and just have to make them " my style"!  I've got a few tricks up my sleeve this year and this Cranberry Sauce is one of them!  I made a turkey dinner last Sunday, I called it my Pre-Christmas Christmas Dinner and had my in-laws over to share this delicious meal.  So many components of a traditional turkey dinner are naturally gluten-free, the turkey, vegetables, gravy(thicken with something other than wheat flour) and cranberry sauce.  Now the stuffing, I haven't converted over to gluten-free yet.  I'm so attached to the good ol' family recipe.  It's one of the very few things that I will cook that's not gluten-free. 

Now let's talk about that cranberry sauce:  I love cranberry sauce.  The canned stuff, I'll eat it, but it's no match for the home-made cranberry sauce.  Since I started cooking Christmas dinner, I've always bought a bag of fresh cranberries and followed the instructions on the bag: one cup water and one cup sugar, add cranberries.  This year, I was thinking, there's no way that I can possibly make this recipe anymore!  It seems so wrong to add a cup of sugar when there are so many alternatives!  So this is my recipe for sugar-free cranberry sauce. I made it, we ALL loved it, and agreed that we would prefer to eat this over any other cranberry sauces we've had in the past as it is sweet but kept some of the tartness of the fruit, which is really lovely!

cranberry sauce

3 cups fresh cranberries (I would imagine that frozen cranberries, thawed, would yield the same result)
1/2 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed (appx 2 oranges)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup agave syrup (or use raw honey)

1. In a medium saucepan, bring water and orange juice to a boil. 
2. Add cranberries and agave syrup.
3. Bring up to boil again and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and let sit to cool.
5. Once cool, put in refrigerator.
6. Take it out about an hour before serving to get it to room temperature.

Tips to a successful Christmas dinner:

I remember the first Christmas dinner I cooked for family.  I was in the kitchen all day, completely stressed out and didn't get to do any visiting.  I felt jipped!  Over the years, I've become much more organized and I keep it simple.  Here is some of the pre-work you can do the day before:

1. Make cranberry sauce, put in fridge
2. Peel and chop potatoes, put in pot of cold water, ready to cook, put in fridge
3. Peel and chop carrots, put in pot of cold water, ready too cook, put in fridge

If your vegetables are organic, no need to peel them!  Except for potatoes if you want to make velvety mashed potatoes!

***HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND ENJOY YOUR TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS!***

Nut Butter

Homemade almond/pecan butter for dipping with my favourites: celery and apple

So the other day, I came across a recipe on how to make nut butter.  The instructions simply said put nuts in the food processor, turn food processor on, leave for 10 minutes, come back and it's done.  I had my doubts but decided to give it a go.  First, I used my roasted nuts, which are so completely packed with flavour!  I followed the instructions and abracadabra, had the best tasting almond butter I've EVER had!

Feel free to use any nut, raw or roasted, and try any combination of your favourites.

Candida Diet: serving suggestion - spread nut butter on a brown rice cake and top with fresh berries (if allowed small amounts of low-sugar fruit)

Paleo Diet: I have recently started following the Paleo diet and love this snack with the almond/pecan butter used as a dip for celery and apple slices.  The roasted pecans add even more sweetness to the butter....yummm!


almond/pecan butter

roasted almonds 

1. Place almonds in a single layer on cookie sheet.
2. Roast in oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
3. Remove from oven and pour into a plate to cool

roasted pecans

1. Place pecans in a single layer on cookie sheet.
2. Roast in oven at 350 degrees for 13 minutes. (yes, 2 minutes less than the almonds)
3. Remove from oven and pour into a plate to cool

Once the nuts are cooled, put in the food processor (I used 2 cups of each) and leave for 10 minutes.  Pour into container or jar and refrigerate.  I've always hated having to mix in the hard almond paste from the bottom of the jar with the top layer of oil, when it comes to store-bought almond butter.  I find it messy, and depending on the brand, almost impossible.  I'll never have to do it again!  

If anyone comes up with some really tasty combinations, please leave a comment.  I'm sure hazelnuts would be heavenly!

Guacamole

The possibilities are endless with this yummy guacamole!

It's been a busy time enjoying the last long weekend of the summer and having my son go back to school this year.  He's returning to school after a 1 year travelling hiatus and going to French immersion for the first time!  It's back to making lunches, checking backpacks, homework, early bedtimes, early wake-ups, basically mega-organizing for parents again once again.

Times like this make me go back to the basics and this guacamole recipe is one of them.   This famous Mexican recipe can be used as a dip for corn chips, rice cakes and vegetables and can also be used as a condiment for quesadillas, tacos, fajitas, burgers, hot dogs, wraps, sandwiches and whatever else you can think up!  So make a big batch, put it in the fridge, and it'll be gone before you know it!

We've all heard that avocados have healthy fats.  That means that they have a high mono and polyunsaturated fat content.  The more of this type of fat we eat, the less we crave the unhealthy fats.  And that's not even counting the 20 or so vitamins and minerals this wonderful fruit has to offer!

guacamole
4 large avocados
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tomatoes, diced

1. Put avocados in food processor and mix until velvety smooth.
2. Add the onion, cilantro, and lime juice to the food processor and mix some more until well blended.
3.  Spoon mixture in a small bowl and add the cumin, salt, pepper and tomatoes.
4. Mix with a spoon until everything is mixed.
5. Store in refrigerator.

     Makes 2 cups

Note: If you're not a fan of cumin, just leave it out.  Sometimes I make it without the cumin for a different flavour.  I've also added one chopped jalapeno (with seeds) to the food processor mix for a spicy and delicious result!

Mayonnaise

Jan 29/13: I'm just adding a note to this mayo recipe to indicate that due to the coconut oil, the mayo will harden some in the refrigerator.  If you are not using it all at once (like in a large potato salad), let it get to room temperature before using.  I'll be posting another mayo recipe shortly, which can be refrigerated and doesn't harden.

I've found that making mayonnaise is not only easier than I thought, but it can taste much better than store-bought.  Not to mention so much healthier:  you can even enjoy it while on the candida cleanse!

There are a couple of must-do's to make a nice thick mayonnaise:  when adding the oil, start with drops, working slowly up to a thin stream after a couple minutes, and keep adding at this pace until all the oil has been blended.  It should take between 5-10 minutes.  Set your blender on low or aerate.  Blending on high will not allow your mayonnaise to thicken.  Also, it's a lot less messy if you use a cup with a spout to pour the oil in the blender.

We use this mayonnaise for sandwiches, salads and as a dip.  Everyone should try making mayo at least once!

Note: Because of the coconut oil, this will harden in the fridge.  This has a nice flavour as it doesn't have a strong olive oil taste, but put it on the counter for a bit before using, if it's been in the fridge.

mayonnaise
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted 
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Quickly blend together the eggs, lemon juice, ground mustard, salt and pepper (black pepper is fine, if you don't mind the black specks in your mayo).  
2. With the blender on the low setting, slowly add the oil until everything is well blended.  
3. Place in the refrigerator, in an airtight container for 5-7 days.

Makes 1 cup