I’m avoiding going to stores. Given I’ve got an auto-immune disorder, I’m diabetic, and I’m on several medicines that reduce my immune system to barely anything, the thought of going into stores right now makes me itchy. Thanks to my food storage and weekly porch deliveries from Smith Brothers Farms, I don’t have to go to the store very often. But the one thing we often need is fresh greens. I use a lot of kale in soups, we eat salads, and fresh spinach is always great to have on hand. Avoiding stores means that when we run out, it’s not easy to get more. Thanks to Chelsea from the Little Mountain Ranch YouTube channel, I have found a solution that is working wonderfully.
cooking
Shabbos Shakshuka!
I finally made Shashuka – the delicious, tomato-y, eggy dish originating from North Africa and eaten by Jews across the globe – for Shabbos morning breakfast and it was deee-lish!
After looking at a bunch of recipes online, I did what I do best – I threw something together, and I’m very happy with my first try.
Challah-lujah
When I started making challah nine months ago, I did so because it was one way that I could acknowledge and participate in this faith with which I was falling in love.
I wasn’t new to bread making. About eight years ago, I was very much on a homemaking kick and wanted to do as much as I could from scratch. I made bread every week and even made homemade dog biscuits for the dogs every Saturday. Over time I got away from it because, let’s face it, making bread can be a real pain in the tuchus. And I’m not a neat cook. Making bread usually meant flour everywhere – even places where it made no sense as to why flour ended up there at all.
So when it came time to start making challah, I cheated. I’d buy frozen yeast rolls, let them thaw and raise, and then I’d roll them out and make challah rolls. From there, I used those pre-made yeast rolls and started braiding a small challah loaf.
In the kitchen: Smoky Lemon Chicken Stew
This recipe is AIP (autoimmune protocol) friendly. All ingredients are rough-chopped, taking into account that many people on the AIP diet, as I am, suffer from joint-related illnesses, making it hard to spend time finely dicing veggies. An added bonus is that this recipe is also kosher if you follow Jewish dietary laws.
This was made utilizing leftover chicken that had been smoked/grilled the previous evening. We have a Char-Broil Tru-Infrared Grill/Smoker/Roaster and it has literally changed the way we eat. We grill out practically every day, have become wood chip connoisseurs (hickory is the way to go if you’re curious), and are always experimenting with grilling. If it can be put on a grate, wrapped in foil, or put on a skewer, we’re going to grill it!
Clean out the Cupboards Cabbage Soup
We are (prayerfully, hopefully, God-willing) closing on our house a month from tomorrow, which means it’s time to pack. It also means that I need to use up everything in my cupboards, fridge, and freezer, because even though we’re only moving 50.4 miles away, I’m not moving our food. Continue reading
Falling in love with a house that isn’t mine (yet)
Home buying is hard…emotionally. After a whirlwind weekend where we looked at 11 houses and discovered a possible meth lab in the woods behind a cabin that I was absolutely enamored with, we settled on a beautiful little house in Port Orchard, Washington. Continue reading
My favorite food on the planet
I’ve been a salmon addict ever since I first started coming to Seattle for training and would eat at restaurants where I would get perfectly seared salmon filets. I relished the flavors – wood/fire smoke, lemon, that crunchy bite from the caramelization – bursting on my tongue. It was worlds away from the canned salmon patties I ate while growing up back in Indiana. Now that I live here in the Pacific Northwest, where fresh fish is in abundance, I’ve become absolutely addicted to Steelhead Trout. (And no canned salmon will ever get within 20 feet of my lips again!)
Simply delicious breakfasts: Baked Oatmeal
This is one of my favorite recipes. Simple, delicious, and soooo good cold mornings! I’ve modified it from the original one I found to make it tastier and to serve a smaller family.
Life on Wild Hare Farm 