Spelt waffles with strawberry sauce

These are uh-may-zing. They aren't my version of soaked waffles, but they are still awesome. I can't believe how good they taste! And definitely a hit with Owen too of course. This is a decent sized recipe. We had leftovers and could've forzen them for later in the week but they didn't last long enough.

Ingredients:

3 C spelt flour

1 T baking powder

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 C rapadura (I used a tiny bit less than 1/4 C cause I knew they'd be covered in sauce)

1/4 C melted pastured butter

3 pastured eggs

1 1/2 C raw milk

1 1/4 C kefir

1 T vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients together in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Combine the two and stir just until mixed. My batter came out too thick for our waffle machine so I added some coconut milk until it reached the right consistency.

Pour in waffle iron, cook, serve with butter and strawberry sauce!!

All I did to make the sauce was chop some strawberries (maybe 2ish cups?) and put in a small sauce pan with a bit of water. Added about a teaspoon of raw honey to sweeten and boiled it down. Throw in the food processor and pulse for about 10 seconds.

Menu, week of 3/27

We are foregoing our weekly cooking of a whole chicken and trying to "cook from the pantry" this week since we have a ton of odds and ends that need to be used up. Looks like it's (nearly) a meatless week!

Sunday

Dinner- chicken pot pie, salad, strawberries/cantaloupe & cream

Monday

Breakfast- soaked spelt waffles with strawberry jam

Lunch- leftover pot pie, salad

Dinner- lentil tacos, spanish rice, refried pinto beans

Tuesday

Breakfast- soaked oatmeal, raw milk

Lunch- veggie quesadillas, fruit kabobs

Dinner- almond crusted fish, grilled veggies/bell peppers, wild rice

Wednesday

Breakfast- spinach & cheese quiche, fruit, raw milk

Lunch- veggie burgers on sprouted sourdough, veggie sticks

Dinner- leftover lentil tacos

Thursday

Breakfast- smoothies

Lunch- pancake sammies, veggie sticks, cheese sticks

Dinner- black bean/barley burritos, spanish rice

Friday

Breakfast- eggs w/cheese, fruit/yogurt

Lunch- leftover black bean/barley burritos

Dinner- pasta w/grilled veggies, salad

Saturday

Breakfast- soaked spelt pancakes w/strawberry jam, eggs/cheese

Lunch- black bean/barley "taco salad"

Dinner- tuna panini, grilled bell peppers , strawberries & cream

Sunday

Breakfast- soaked oatmeal, raw milk

Lunch- tuna over salad, veggie sticks, fruit

Dinner- ?

Homemade goodies for this week: strawberry jam, ketchup, sourdough crackers, graham crackers, croutons, almond flour bread

Snacks for this week:

fruit kabobs

yogurt+raw honey+fruit

deviled eggs

veggie sticks w/hummus

Crackers w/veggie cream cheese dip

raw milk cheese sticks

Yummy deviled eggs

Super simple recipe, super good eggs! Measurements are approximate since I just threw stuff together.

Ingredients:

hard boiled eggs (I used about 7 in this recipe)

1 T mayo

1 T dijon mustard

1 T garlic hummus

1 T sweet relish

salt/pepper to taste

dash of paprika

Remove cooked yolks from the eggs, mash them and mix everything together. Fill the egg whites with the yolk mixture and enjoy!

**all condiments (except the mustard) are homemade. Recipes for those to follow later on

Easy peasy black bean soup

This stuff is GOOD! And so easy! It's a huge hit at our house, even with Owen

Ingredients:

1 lb black beans (soaked and cooked) OR 2 cans black beans

1 C cooked corn (or 1 can)

1 C chunky salsa (I made my own but you can use any kind!)

3 cloves garlic

1 onion

2 tsp cumin (more or less)

salt to taste

1.5 C chicken broth

Juice of 1 lime

Sour cream/cilantro (for garnishing)

Saute onions and garlic in some coconut oil until soft. Throw everything in the slow cooker (except for the corn) and cook on low for 3 hours. After 3 hours, use an immersion blender or potato masher to smash the beans and thicken the soup. Add the corn and cook for 1 more hour. Garnish each bowl with a spoonful of sour cream and some cilantro, serve and enjoy!

Tentative menu- Week of 3/20

Sunday

Dinner- chicken gumbo, salad

Monday

Breakfast- banana bread, fruit/yogurt

Lunch- cream cheese/pb&j pinwheels, veggie sticks

Dinner- sweet potato enchiladas, spanish rice, cucumber salad

Tuesday

Breakfast- soaked oatmeal, raw milk

Lunch- tuna on crackers, fruit/veggie sticks

Dinner- black bean soup, salad

Wednesday

Breakfast- smoothies

Lunch- leftover black bean soup, fruit

Dinner- fish w/lemon and capers, potatoes, mixed veggies

Thursday

Breakfast- eggs/cheese, fruit/yogurt

Lunch- veggie quesadilla, fruit

Dinner- leftover enchiladas

Friday

Breakfast- smoothies

Lunch- left over chicken gumbo, veggie sticks/fruit

Dinner- (Breakfast for dinner!) Pancakes, eggs w/cheese, fruit

Saturday

Breakfast- soaked oatmeal, fruit, raw milk

Lunch- Chicken salad sandwiches, veggie sticks

Dinner- Out

Sunday

Breakfast- soaked spelt strawberry waffles, yogurt

Lunch- chicken salad over lettuce, fruit

Dinner- ?

Snacks for the week:

zucchini coins

homemade sourdough crackers

baked sweet potato chips

homemade graham crackers

raw milk cheese sticks

banana bread

apples/bananas with peanut butter

fruit kabobs

yogurt+ raw honey+ fruit

Kefir smoothie

I'm on a roll today posting recipes! I apologize for the lack of pictures. Owen has this smoothie for breakfast almost every morning, he absolutely loves it. I just throw stuff into the blender, so these measurements are approximate! I make it and split it between the 3 of us- it makes about 3 small servings.

Ingredients:

1/2 C qephor (qephor is organic pastures brand kefir- any brand will do)

1/2 C plain yogurt

1 T raw honey

handful fresh blueberries

handful of frozen fruit (we use strawberries/mangoes)

1 T coconut oil

1 tsp kelp granules or powder

additional liquid added to desired consistency (we use a bit of raw milk or coconut milk)

Throw everything in the blender and blend until smooth!

Homemade "croutons"

If you have old bread you need to get rid of, this is the perfect recipe. These are so good! They are perfect on a salad as "croutons," as a cracker with tuna, or just plain as a snack! Owen likes to snack on them by themselves, the flavor is really good.

Ingredients:

Day old bread (I use sprouted sourdough)

olive oil

sea salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut the bread into 1 inch strips (or you can cut them into cubes if you want them more like croutons). Mix olive oil, sea salt/pepper (to taste) in a small bowl. Brush both sides of the bread with the olive oil mixture and lay on a baking tray. I always cover mine with parchment paper... makes clean up super easy. Bake at 350 for about 25 min. You can turn them half way through baking if you'd like, but mine turned out fine without turning them. Enjoy!

Grain-free banana chocolate chip bread

Ingredients:

2 1/2 C almond flour

1/2 C coconut flour

1/2 C dark chocolate chips

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder

1/4 C rapadura

1/4 C coconut oil

3 pastured eggs

1 T vanilla

2 large mashed bananas (I used huge ones!)

Preheat oven to 350

Combine wet ingredients in a mixing bowl.. In separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Mix the 2 thoroughly with a spoon. Pour into loaf pan. Bake for 30-40 min (mine took about 35). I removed the bread and placed on a cooling rack so that it wouldn't continue to cook in the pan. Cool and serve!

Menu! Week of 3/14

I will post recipes this week, I promise. But for now I'll just post our tentative weekly menu!

Monday

Breakfast- soaked oatmeal, kefir smoothie

Lunch- veggie quesadilla, fruit

Dinner- Chicken gumbo, salad

Tuesday

Breakfast- eggs/raw milk cheese, yogurt

Lunch- salmon croquettes, veggies/fruit

Dinner- @ Gary's parents

Wednesday

Breakfast- peanut butter/banana kefir smoothie

Lunch- leftover gumbo

Dinner- Jambalaya

Thursday

Breakfast- soaked oatmeal, raw milk

Lunch- left over jambalaya, canteloupe

Dinner- tuna panini, grilled veggies

Friday

Breakfast- yogurt w/nutty granola, fruit

Lunch- Tuna salad, fruit

Dinner- BBQ chicken pizza

Saturday

Breakfast- sourdough pancakes w/blueberry sauce, yogurt, fruit

Lunch- grilled cheese, fruit

Dinner- leftovers

Snacks for the week:

sweet beet cookies

sweet potato muffins

fruit kabobs

yogurt+fruit+raw honey

veggie cream cheess+crackers

banana dog bites

Banana w/peanut butter

My first GOOD fermented food!

Salsa! Every other fermented veggie I made has turned out awful! I made the salsa and after it was done sitting out at room temp, stuck it in the fridge and forgot about it. I was getting ready to throw it out last weekend cause I figured it would taste just as bad as the others, but for some reason decided to try a little before tossing it. It was great! Gary was scared to try it, but did anyway, and his response was "meh... its not bad." Well, when I got home that evening, he said "your salsa is really good on burritos!" So, there you have it.

Ingredients:

4 medium tomatoes, peeled/seeded/diced (to peel them, throw them in boiling water for a few seconds and the skin will come right off)

2 small onions, diced

3/4 C chopped chili pepper (optional, I didn't use this)

8 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 tsp oregano

juice of 2 lemons

1 T celtic sea salt

4 T whey

1/4 C filtered water (more or less.... as much as you need to fill the jar)

Put all ingredients in a quart sized mason jar, push everything down. Make sure to leave 1 inch of space between salsa/top of jar. Let sit at room temperature for 2 days. Store in refrigerator.

(Salsa is pictured in my default picture)

Tentative menu for week of 3/7

Got this week's menu planned and I've pretty much stayed on track since the weekend so the outlook is good! Here it is:

Monday

Breakfast- pancake muffins, blueberries

Lunch- pb& j pinwheels, veggie sticks/hummus

Dinner- walnut chicken, wild rice, asparagus

Tuesday

Breakfast- almond flour pancakes with blueberry sauce, fruit

Lunch- grilled cheese on sprouted sourdough, veggie sticks

Dinner- almond crusted salmon, baked potato, mixed veggies

Wednesday

Breakfast- sprouted wheat french toast sticks, fruit/yogurt

Lunch- veggie quesadilla, veggie sticks

Dinner- fish tacos, pinto beans

Thursday

Breakfast- eggs with raw milk cheese, fruit

Lunch- leftover fish tacos

Dinner- coconut flour pizzas, salad

Friday

Breakfast- soaked oatmeal with fruit/yogurt

Lunch- mini pizzas, veggie sticks

Dinner- lentil burritos

Saturday

Breakfast- pancakes, eggs with raw milk cheese, O'brian potatoes

Lunch- tuna over salad with homemade croutons, fruit

Dinner- veggie pot pies, salad

Sunday

Breakfast- baked oatmeal, fruit/yogurt

Lunch- pancake sammies, veggie sticks

Dinner- Chicken gumbo

Snacks:

fruit kabobs/mixed fruit salad

yogurt

homemade grahams

veggie sticks dipped in veggie cream cheese

banana dogs

nutty granola

sweet beet cookies

Homemade graham crackers!!

These things are so good and they really taste like graham crackers (even better)!! I don't like Owen to eat cookies, but this is an alternative that I'm okay with! This recipe makes a LOT, so I baked half of the dough and froze the other half for later use. Recipe taken from Weelicious, but I made some changes. Here it is!

Ingredients:

1 C spelt flour

1 1/2 C unbleached white flour

1/2 C rapadura

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 C chilled pastured butter (cubed)

1/4 C raw honey

1/4 C water

Preheat oven to 350. Combine first 6 ingredients in food processor. Add butter and pulse until it resembles coarse meal. Add honey/water and mix until combined. Remove and place dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Roll dough out until 1/4 inch thick. Cut into squares or fun shapes and bake for 15-20 min. Cool and serve.

Chicken tortilla soup

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil

1 onion, diced
salt to taste

1 tsp pepper
1 bell pepper (I used half red/half yellow)
5 cloves garlic, minced (I like a lot of garlic!)
2 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

1.5 C black beans
4 C chicken broth (I used the bone broth from the pastured chicken I made and it was amazing)
1 tsp bay leaf (mine is chopped/dried. You can use 1 bay leaf and just take it out after it's done cooking)

1 tsp parsley
1 1/2 C frozen corn
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes (I used Muir Glen fire roasted)

1 tsp powdered ancho chile (optional but it added a nice flavor)
1 lb cooked, shredded pastured chicken

Optional garnish:

Juice of 1 lime
Sprouted corn tortilla strips (I fried them in some coconut oil to turn them into chips)

sour cream

Saute the onion in the olive oil for about 4 minutes. Add bell pepper, cumin and garlic and saute for another 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20-30 min. Garnish with sour cream, tortilla chips and lime juice

Sorry for the terrible pictures, took them with my phone because it was faster.

Homemade tortilla chips: