Tomato and basil pasta

My basil plant it doing awesome so this recipe works out great to use up some fresh basil!

I may have licked my plate.... maybe... I don't think anyone was looking to confirm.

This recipe is dairy, gluten & nut free. So you can serve it to any audience. Including kids cause mine loved it!

2 1/2 cups brown rice noodles (tinkyada)
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
2 tsp  minced garlic
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 -14oz can diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup fresh Basil (about 2-3 Tbsp when minced)
1 Tbsp chives, minced
1/4 tsp Thyme
1 tsp oregano
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp sea salt
Dash of red pepper flakes

Cook pasta according to packaging.

Sauté onion, garlic and carrot in olive oil for about 7 min over medium heat.

Add in mushrooms, Thyme, oregano, basil, chives and cook another 8 min.

Place the rest if the ingredients in pan and let it cook uncovered for another 10 min on medium- high to let some of the liquid evaporate.

Mix together with noodles and enjoy.

Try not to be too sad when there's not leftovers.

Goat milk ricotta cheese

Here is a recipe I have shared before but it is worth sharing again because now is prime milking time after all the goats have had their babies and milk is in abundance

This recipe is so easy! I love it!

You need:
1gallon Goats milk
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Bring your milk to 175° on medium heat. You want to warm slowly so you don't burn the milk. Remove from heat, add vinegar and stir. You will see the milk start to separate. Strain milk thru cheese cloth or a cotton dish towel, a strainer will work too but you may lose some of your cheese.
Done!

Now season as you wish!
Italian seasoning
Raspberry chipotle sauce

Options are endless!
We love to season it and eat it on crackers or spaghetti!

Enjoy!

Healthy? Probiotic?

Kefir, a funny word, but it has started to become very popular as people are finding huge benifits not limited to increased energy, clearing up constipation and acne, and decreased sicknesses throughout the year as well as the length/ downtime when you do get sick.
It is so easy to make and with the right information you can skip the learning curve.
You can buy it in the store or you can save some pennies and make it yourself. All you need is a cup of milk and 2 tsp of kefir grains.

 The reason kefir is so benificial is because of the Probiotics it produces. Antibiotics kill the natural flora in the body and Probiotics build it back up in which time it helps with digestion and the whole host of problems that can come from Digestive issues.

The grains are Probiotic and when placed in the milk it will consume the lactose  (milk sugar) and give you probiotics that are so amazing that I am sure you will be surprised.

I find this lady amusing and fun to follow!
She has many recipes for using Probiotics in everyday life, which is the best way to go while trying to find health while living life at the same time.
http://www.culturedfoodlife.com/the-trilogy/kefir/what-is-kefir/

I make about 1 cup and put it in smoothies with a little bit of honey. When I do that I don't have a problem getting overwhelmed. I have to smile as my kids get a dose and don't even know it.

Can healthy = tasty?

If you're going to eat healthy it might as well taste good! While a lot of eating a cleaner diet doesn't always appeal to your taste buds if you are use to eating all the bold flavors of salt and sugar in the american diet.
With eating healthy you find an appreciation for the finer things in life. The subtle flavors in cooking or the amazing benefits of knowing at the end of the day that you didn't just eat... You fed your body what it needs to be nourished and thrive.
After eating pizza I want to lay down and take a nap, but with just a few extra healthy choices a day I can have the ability to take my little boy to the park.
Join me while we learn just a little more at a time!

Here is a recipe that is amazingly both tasty and healthy. I have personally made it a couple of times just this week because I have been so excited about how good it taste for something so healthy.

Almonds are so good for you! And if your looking for gluten free then try this!

Almond Flour Muffins

1 cup blanched almond flour
2 large eggs
2 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Optional-1/8 cup fresh blue berries or dried cranberries
In a medium bowl, combine almond flour and baking soda
In a large bowl combine eggs, honey and vinegar
Stir dry ingredients into wet, mixing until combined
Scoop about ¼ cup of batter at a time into a paper lined muffin pan
Bake at 350° for 15 minutes (17 min if you add fresh fruit), until slightly browned around the edges
Cool in the pan for ½ hour
Serve with butter and raspberry jam






Revised from Elens pantry

Zucchini anyone?

This is now one of my favorite recipes! My husband is actually excited to come home and eat zucchini!
If you're like me, ...you can doing it with a little boy crying while he is clutched to your pant leg.
But there is a sense of achievement of getting something done other than diaper changes!!

~~Now when your son is down for a nap you can type up the rest of the recipe~~

This recipe is great for zucchini season when you have a ton of zucchini laying around!!! You can really only make zucchini bread so many time in one week!!!

 

 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups spaghetti or pizza sauce
• 4 (31 oz total) medium zucchini
• 1 tsp oil
• 1/2 small onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 14 oz lean Italian turkey sausage, removed from casing (or pork sausage is awesome too)
• 1/2 cup part skim shredded mozzarella
• 1/8 cup fresh Parmesan cheese (or grated)

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

Preheat oven to 400°. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and using a spoon or melon baller, scoop out flesh, leaving 1/4" thick. Chop the scooped out flesh of the zucchini in small pieces and set aside.

Drop zucchini halves in boiling water and cook 2 minute. Remove from water.

Place 1/4 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 12" baking dish, and place zucchini halves cut side up.

In a large saute pan, brown sausage, breaking up as it cooks into smaller pieces until browned; set aside. Heat oil and add onion, garlic and bell pepper. Cook on a medium-low heat for about 2-3 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add chopped zucchini, season with salt and pepper and cook about 2-3 minutes. Combine with sausage and cook a few more minutes.

 

Using a spoon, fill each hollowed zucchini with 1/3 cup cooked sausage, pressing firmly. Top each with 2 tablespoons each of sauce, 1 tablespoon each of shredded mozzarella cheese and 1 teaspoon each of parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes until cheese is melted and zucchini is cooked through.

 

Goat milk vs Baby formula

If your familiar with Dr. Wallach's work then you know the desperately saddening fact for parents that have infants and toddlers. Infant formulas have close to no nutritional value for our children. As a matter of fact it has less minerals then Dog Food. There are 90 essential nutrients that our bodies need for optimal health, Dog food contains 40, rat food contains 28, and our baby formula has 12. That didn't hit me so hard till now that I have my son and my milk supply is going down so I was faced with fact that I needed to give him something else to help him grow. Let me tell you how good it feels to put your baby on something when you know your dog is better off.
So what other options do we have other then letting our kids play in the dog bowl? Cow milk? I hope not! Milk is perfect for the offspring is was created for. A momma cow makes milk for a baby cow that starts off at 100lbs and is designed to turn a 100lb calf into a 1,000lb cow. The protein content (among many other things) is off the charts compared to human milk.
Goats milk however is amazingly comparable to breast milk. Like humans, a baby goat starts off at about 7 to 8lb and grows to a 100- 150lb adult! The consistency and nutrition is so close to breast milk that I know that the Lord was thinking of mothers like me when he made it!



I have spent a lot of time on my knees and researching the best options for what I can give my son.
Here is the recipe for what I have found works the best.
4oz(1/2 c.) Goats Milk
2oz(1/4 c.) Distilled Water
2 tsp Brown rice syrup
1/2 tsp Coconut Oil
1/16 tsp Unsulphured blackstrap molasses

Heat up distilled water in a pan and then add it to a jar with the brown rice syrup, coconut oil and molasses. Stir well to combine. Then add the goats milk.

Here's a video of milking our goat straight into my sons bottle because he was crying and we didn't have the milk pan with us.

Homemade Ricotta cheese from goats milk

This recipe is so easy I love it!

You need:
1gallon Goats milk
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Bring your milk to 175° on medium heat. You want to warm slowly so you don't burn the milk. Remove from heat, add vinegar and stir. You will see the milk start to separate. Strain milk thru cheese cloth or a cotton dish towel, a strainer will work too but you may lose some of your cheese.
Done!

Now season as you wish!
Italian seasoning
Raspberry chipotle sauce

Options are endless!
We love to season it and eat it on crackers or spaghetti!

Enjoy!

Best Salad Ever

Best Salad!!

 

So I went to Chick-fil-A and got there chicken nuggets! YUMM!

Then I put together a salad using organic lettuce from my mother in laws garden!!

Can anyone guess how many veggies are on this salad?

7 Veggies, 1 fruit, and protein (egg and chicken!)

Lettuce, cucumber, radishes, celery, carrot, tomato, bell pepper, kiwi, and some

pepper jack cheese for flavor!!

Used a mustard and honey dressing.- check the calories in mustard... 0 !

Pretty much amazing!!