Creamed Peas on Toast

I've still been sick.  Getting tired of it!  It's hard to think of good, easy meals that I feel like eating.  Today, I thought of a childhood favourite, creamed peas on toast.  I have made it once as an adult, the way I knew how.  A can of mushy peas heated with some flour to make a sauce.  With some things, you can't go back.  Mainly because what may of tasted great as a kid may not be so good when you're grown up.  Once when I was on a liquid diet for a stomach problem, I pureed a can of peas and it was the best thing I ever consumed!  Of course, hunger was a great seasoning when you have gone days on just clear liquids, lol!

I decided to shake it up a bit.  Of course, I used homemade rustic soaked brown bread for the toast instead of the "classic" white toast.  Adds a lot of body.  But the creamed peas, mmmm!  Today, they stole the show :)

This goes together really fast.  It is something that is good even without the toast!  It is too bad I cannot find my camera is it was a lovely meal in taste and sight :)

Creamed Peas on Toast

3 cups of peas (I used frozen but fresh would be good too!)
1 cup of milk (or more if you like a lot of sauce)
1/3-1/2 cup cream cheese (depending on how rich you want it)
1/2 cup chopped onion (red, spanish or sweet)
1 tsp arrowroot powder (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Put peas and milk in a pot and bring to just below the boiling point.  Turn down the heat and add the cream cheese and onion.  Stir until melted and let simmer for a few minutes.  If there is a lot of liquid, add the arrowroot powder to make a thick creamy sauce.  Season to taste.  Serve ladled on slices of toasted bread.

Note, if you do not like a strong onion flavor, you could either omit the onions or you could sautee them in butter before adding the other ingredients.  I love raw onions and in ours they were just slightly cooked.

Gluten Free Mac and Cheese

Kraft Dinner, not Gluten Free, or healthy for that matter!

Here in Canada we call it Kraft Dinner.  It is a staple in most homes.  They come up with clever ways to make it look better....Kraft Dinner with Whole Wheat!  Kraft Dinner Smart!  I imagine there will be new versions soon.

At my kids school, so many kids were bringing the small containers of them where you add water and cook they had to send a letter home asking parents not to bring them as they were clogging up the lines to reheat things in the microwave (I figure the kids have little enough time to eat that I send things in thermoses or  things that don't need to be heated).

Unfortuntately, this is one of Shaylee's favorite foods.  She often asks for it.  We never ate it a lot, maybe once or twice a month, but more than I liked.  We would often go months without it but it is one of those fast easy foods so I always had a box or two kicking around, even if Shaylee and Mark were the only ones who ate it.  I even used it as a math lesson last year where we would take a box, weigh it into serving size portions so we could cook just a small amount when Shay was the only one who ate it at all.

Anyway, that is behind us now that we're eating gluten free.  I don't have to feel bad giving her an inferior food with food like substances in it because now I can make something a little more nutritious.  Well, I guess the gluten free version isn't the most healthy food on earth but it is miles better than a chemical cheese product with funky noodles.

Her main requirement was that it not be stringy, like when you eat pizza and you get those long stretchy strands of cheese.  I made baked macaroni and cheese before and she didn't like that.

I used brown rice macaroni for this.  I had trouble cooking it as it kept boiling over, even when I only had enough water to just cover the noodles.  Then I had to add more water so it could cook enough.  I even drained them at one point when I thought they would be done and they weren't .  I bought them in bulk so I had no instructions.  In the end, it all came together.  Even though the noodles were very mushy, it was still tasty.

Shaylee claimed to like it but she didn't eat much saying she would rather have white cheese next time.  Sigh.  I thought it was pretty good!  (not low carb but I needed to try it out ;) ).

Gluten Free Macaroni and Cheese

• 1 cup brown rice elbow macaroni
• 1/2 cup grated cheese of choice
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1 tsp arrowroot flour (or other starch, optional)

Served with a side of pan fried haddock, mmmmm!

Cook macaroni according to package instruction or until done.  Rinse well with cold water.  Put back on the stove on medium.  Add cheese, milk, butter and salt.  Heat until cheese and butter are melted.  If it is runny, you may add the arrowroot flour to thicken it.

Healthy Brownie Waffles

I was going to post this tomorrow but it's too good not to share.  Healthy.  Brownie.  Waffles.  Three words that most people love.  So can brownies be healthy?  Waffles?  Sure, why not!  This is the same recipe I posted earlier with a slightly different method.  Mark thought it was a totally different recipe even though I only added cocoa.

I was asked to share this with the blog Food With Kid Appeal and I am more than happy to!  While I am always interested in things that I like to eat, I am always on the hunt for things that the kids will like.  It is even more challenging now that we are doing our gluten free trial.  Waffles are one of those things that are quick to put together and are always good.  Chocolate adds an extra specialness to them.  Ethan loved them and for him to love something makes me very happy :).  Shaylee said she liked the other ones better but I suggested making marbled ones some day and both the kids cheered.  Yay!

Chocolate Brownie Waffles


1/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp maple sugar or honey (mix sugar with dry and honey with wet)
6 eggs
1tbsp vanilla
4 tbsp  melted butter or coconut oil (or a combination of the two)

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Add the eggs, one by one, mixing thoroughly between each egg. Add vanilla and melted butter (and honey, if using) and continue mixing until well combined.  Let sit 5-10 minutes to allow the coconut flour to absorb the wet ingredients.  Let your waffle iron heat during this time.  Cook as per iron instructions or to desired doneness.  Serve with your favorite toppings.  We used real maple syrup but whipped cream and/or berries would be a nice addition.  So would a chocolate sauce or banana slices, or a combination of all of the above!  It would make a nice dessert as well as a main dish.

Enjoy!

Part of It's a Keeper, Simple Lives Thursday, Real Food Wednesday and Pennywise Platter

Coconut Flour Waffles

My kids love waffles.  They are easy and delicious.  Going gluten free, I wondered how I would make them.  I looked at tons of recipes and to be honest, I don't want to be cooking with lots of different starches and flour of this and that.  I want simple.  Many gluten free recipes call for a ton of ingredients and aren't very nutritious due to all the starch and type of flours used.

I saw a coconut flour recipe before but lost it so I googled and found one here.  It certainly looks really good so I gave it a try.  It was spectacular!  It rose to fluffy proportions, it got slightly crispy on the outside and best of all, the kids loved them!  Ding ding, we have a winner!  Best of all, it has lots of eggs, which are sometimes hard to get into the kids.  I want them to have more fat and protein since they are always hungry and those two things help with that.

So here is my take on the recipe:

Coconut Flour Waffles

4 tablespoons melted butter 

6 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2tbsp vanilla (I love vanilla!)

1/3 cup maple sugar or honey

1/3 cup coconut flour plus a tablespoon or two to thicken if too runny

Blend these ingredients well.  I used beaters but a blender would work well too.  Let sit for 5 or so minutes while your waffle iron is heating up to help thicken.  If it is still runny (mine was), add another tablespoon or two of coconut flour.  Cook on the waffle iron until risen and cooked to desired texture.  Serve and enjoy!  Makes 6 square waffles.  Note, I do not have a picture since they got gobbled up so fast, but they looked like normal waffles.  Also, this could be low carb with the subtraction of the sweetener.  Yum!

I am going to try a chocolate version.  I read how some people replace 1/2 cup of flour with cocoa powder in their waffle recipes but since you don't use much coconut flour, I will probably just add a couple of tablespoons, maybe instead of the extra coconut flour.  It is meant to be like a brownie.  Sounds yummy!

Creamy Beef

I didn't know what to call this but this is the best way to describe it.  Beefy.  Creamy.  YUMMY!!!

I made a roast in the crockpot a few days ago that was very yummy, cooked with garlic and onions (no, I'm not really following my meal plan but that's ok).  I made a gravy with arrowroot flour and saved what was left with the shredded leftover beef.  I had an idea of what I wanted to make and that is what I wanted to have for supper tonight but I invited Dad over on the spur of the moment for supper tonight and found myself at 6pm figuring out how to make enough food for everyone since there wasn't much beef left (not quite 2 cups but we were all starving!) but it needed to get used up.  Whew, what a long run on sentence!! I was in bit of a panic.

So, I cut up a few onions and sliced about 3/4lbs of mushrooms.  I sauteed these in butter then added the beef and leftover "gravy" (it was kind of runny at this point so if you just wanted to add a cup of broth, it would work).  I then added half a cup of cream cheese and let it heat until it melted through.  Soooo good!  Even Dad, who never comments or says anything is good said it was good!  And there was enough!  I made everyone else mashed potatoes and corn to go with it and a big bowl of coleslaw, which I had a hearty portion of.  It was so good there was none left to take a picture of (and I always feel weird taking pictures of food when there are people around).

A very quick, simple, easy dish that dresses up leftovers good enough for company!

Salisbury Steak

Jenny at the Nourished Kitchen recently posted a recipe for Salisbury Steak.  I was intrigued because I always loved those frozen dinners and it was the only way I could ever find this dish.  Why it didn't occur to me to make it is beyond me.

Her recipe is far more developed than what I made as I did not do a reduction sauce.  I didn't have any broth and we don't have wine (and de-alcoholized wine wasn't appealing to me).  I also used organic mini-bella mushrooms instead of wild ones as I did not want this lunch costing us $20+.  I was quite surprised that the organic mushrooms were the same price as the regular ones ($3), although both are grown without pesticides, so I wonder what the difference is.  With the beef being $2.50 a pound, for us it is a relatively inexpensive meal and it would go well with rice, potatoes or noodles of choice (we had it plain).  The meat could also be stretched with soaked oatmeal or sourdough bread crumbs or another traditionally prepared starch.

So basically, visit Jenny's site if you want the full flavor experience of a well bodied salisbury steak.  Check my recipe out for a quick and cheap version ;)

Quick and Easy Salisbury Steak

2tbsp. butter
1lbs grass fed beef
1/2 tsp. sea salt

2-4 tbsp. butter
1/2 lbs mushrooms, chopped or sliced
1 cup chopped onions

Salisbury Steak on our fancy second hand Tupperware plates.

Melt butter in frying pan.  Form beef into 4 or more patties and fry until done.  Remove patties and add butter to frying pan.  Use it to loosen any yummy bits of beef left in pan and to well coat the pan.  Add the mushrooms and onions, stir to coat with butter and gently cook until onions are done to desired texture (I like mine a little crispy).  Serve patties with mushroom onion mix on top.  Yum!

Mark and I thought this was very good!  We actually used all the mushroom onion mix on our two patties since we didn't eat it with anything so I have two burger patties for another meal.  Total cost of this meal for me was about $6.50 and we get two meals out of it (not including what I use for the other meal).  We could not eat out for that and this is mostly organic, locally grown/produced goodness.

Delicious!


This post is a part of  Tuesday Twister@ GNOWFGLINS

Happy Halloween!

Now, for something different, here are the kids and I enjoying some homemade honey popcorn. Please excuse the picture; I took it with my webcam and it was night but at least you get to kind of see me and my cute kids :)

It was supposed to be popcorn balls but it cooled off too fast and was too hard to form into balls. The kids were bringing it to a party so we broke it up and put it in little baggies. It was still very yummy and I will probably make it to put in the kids lunches for a treat sometime. It was quick to make and I know the kids like it. I may also try it with vanilla some time.

Honey Popcorn (Balls)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

2 tablespoons of butter

10 cups freshly popped popcorn (remove any unpopped kernals)

salt to taste

Bring the sugar, honey and butter to a boil. Pour over the popcorn with salt to taste (if you want a bit of salt, which I find makes it a bit tastier) and stir it around. When it is cool enough to handle (but not set!), butter your hands and form into balls. Place on parchment paper covered cookie sheets and wrap as desired when cooled. If you don't want balls, it would be best to spread on cookie sheets when coated and break up when hardened.

Unbaked Pirate Cookies

Imagine my surprise when I discovered these are not common everywhere! They are one of my absolute favorite all time cookies. Kraft Pirate cookies. Ours were only 99 cents a box, dangerous, especially when you read the ingredients . Hmmmm. Can we do better at home?
Well, the story behind my recipe is that one morning before school, Ethan wanted a Pirate cookie. I thought since his school is nut free, it would be a bad idea since he'd go to school smelling of peanut butter and he would have the oils on his hands. He wanted it after school. There was only one left. I completely forgot he wanted it and ate it. Yes. Bad Mommy :(. That was weeks ago and I still haven't heard the end of it.
So yesterday I told him I would make peanut butter cookies. When I was a kid, my mom made cookies called P-oaties but apparently nothing like that exists on the internet that I can find. It is basically an oatmeal peanut butter cookie, sometimes made with chocolate chips.

Then I got busy. I realized I had to pick up the kids at their bus stop in 10 minutes. I looked for an unbaked recipe. They all had cocoa so I just omitted that. I also changed the ingredients around a little bit. Here is what I came up with and I will tell you what I would change for next time.
Unbaked Pirate Cookies

2 heaping half cups of honey (probably close to a cup and a half...too much!! see below)
1/2 cup butter, cut in small pieces
1/2 cup milk

Bring these three items to a boil and let boil for 3 minutes. Stir in the following:

pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup of peanut butter
splash of vanilla (1tbsp)
4 cups oatmeal

Mix well until the peanut butter is melted and it is well combined. Pour into silicone muffin liners or drop on parchment paper if not soupy. Chill.

Ok, these are super, super sweet. I should have just used 1/2 cup of honey. The recipes all called for 2 cups of sugar so I thought I would try to get close. Bad idea, too sweet, and I like sweet. Because of all the liquid, these were liquidy. I only had 4 cups of my Speerville organic Newfound oats left. Otherwise I would of just added enough so they would be like the drop cookie they were supposed to be. Next time, I will use a lot less honey as this was the big problem. They are delicious though but so sweet that when I tried to have a drink of milk after, I actually spit it out because it tasted bad from all the sweet on my tongue (note: the milk is good as I had some earlier).

All in all, once I got over the overpowering sweetness, they did taste like a pirate cookie! They didn't get too hard. I was suggesting to everyone to eat with a spoon since they were so gooey. I bought two more bags of oatmeal today so I will probably give them another whirl. However, I will probably make them with cocoa and not peanut butter so the kids can take them to school.

Part of Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS

Slacker!

I have been slack. I have had little to no motivation for much lately and for me, that's bad news. We were away for 3 days and eating junk, which in combination of the cruddy weather, have killed my motivation and energy levels. I need to pick myself up and get back on track.

I still have a backtrack of recipes and an adventure to blog about. I will say this, eating local is both fun and yummy! I live in such a great place and it is wonderful the things you can find if you only take the time to look.

In the meantime, here is a little recipe that I concocted. It is not entirely "real food" but it is something that is good and quick and satisfies a crave:

Zwieback Pizza

For each one:

1 zwieback (you could also use other things but this is what I had on hand)

1tbsp. pizza or spaghetti sauce

1 or 2 slices of pepperoni

a good sprinkling of mozzerella cheese

Top each zwieback as you would a pizza, make as many as you want depending on how many people are eating and how hungry they are. Place on a cookie sheet and bake under the broiler until the cheese is bubbly. When slightly cooled, enjoy! The top picture is my beautiful 6 year old daughter enjoying one :)

Not Keeping Up

I was hoping to post a recipe each day this week and while I have one, I didn't have the motivation to write. I have a pile of things backed up and I need to write them. Otherwise I will probably forget what I made and not make them again, lol!

Part of the reason is I take crappy pictures. I live somewhere that is gloomy most of the time, foggy and our apartment is dark. Flash pictures don't always come out the greatest and it's usually dark by the time we eat our evening meal (not outside but just how our apartment is situated and how it receives the sun).

So I will share a simple recipe that needs no picture because everyone has probably seen this before. The kids loved it, Mark and I loved it, simple, nourishing and so satisfying! It can be scaled up or down depending on your needs.

French Toast

2-4 pastured eggs

1/4 cup of cream

2 tsp organic cane sugar

8-10 slices of homemade soaked flour bread

1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/4 tsp nutmeg or cloves (optional)

butter for frying and serving

maple syrup for serving

Heat up your frying pan to medium heat. Beat the eggs, cream, sugar and spices until well mixed. Either dip or soak the slices of bread (depending on your preference). Lightly grease the frying pan with a quick pass of butter and lay slices of battered bread in pan. When golden brown, turn over and cook until done through. Repeat for remaining bread. Serve with butter and maple syrup. Yum!

This is a good quick meal that most people generally have the ingredients for on hand. When I made it for the kids one night, I only managed to get one slice because they gobbled it right down. It's nice to have some quick ideas on hand because everyone has those nights where everything is rushed, there is nothing prepared, no meat thawed, no time, ect...

100th Post!

Wow, 100 posts in this blog. Yay me!

I do not have a Monday Market Report today because I haven't been keeping track. Bad me. I didn't go to the farmers market and I have been trying to only buy necessities (eggs, milk, salad/veggies). I will not be buying much this week either as we will be away for the weekend.

For my 100th post, I have a very yummy meal to share. There is a little story behind it. I was making banana bread for the kids lunches so I thought I would use the extra space in the oven to bake some buttercup squash that was starting to get some bad spots. I then decided to make some curried drummies for snacks (the drummies from turkey wings baked with curry powder) and a small pork roast. When the squash was done, I was thinking of all the yummy pumpkin pie recipes I have been reading lately and since the banana bread wasn't quite done, I made a pumpkin custard, but with buttercup squash instead. The roast got overcooked and I had to do something with it. I was thinking of when we were at Acadian Maple, how all the maple seasonings were just maple sugar, salt and something else, either pepper, chili powder, ect...

The result for supper was maple pepper pork with buttercup squash custard! It was sooo good. The pork got really crispy and tasty without being overly sweet. Mark really liked the custard because I didn't make it very spicy (I prefer spicy personally). It worked well as a side dish and would be wonderful as a dessert with a dollop of whipped cream!

Maple Pepper Pork

1 small tenderloin pork roast (already cooked) or 2 cups of leftover pork

2 tablespoons of butter

salt to taste

generous shake of pepper

1-2 teaspoons maple sugar

Cut the pork into bite sized pieces or shred. Melt the butter in the frying pan over medium-high heat (not too hot though) then add the pork. Cook for a few minutes until heated through, turning once or twice. Add the seasonings and maple sugar. Cook for a few minutes more until the pork is well coated and crispy.

Buttercup Squash Custard

1/2 medium sized buttercup squash, roasted (baked in moderate oven until tender. You may also substitute other kinds of squash or use pumpkin. I didn't measure but I weighed the squash and it was 300g after I scooped it out of the shell)

1 can coconut milk (the full fat kind)

4 eggs

1/3 cup honey (local raw)

1/3 cup maple syrup (b-grade)

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. all spice

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash the squash then add the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Pour into a casserole dish (I used a bundt pan) and bake for about 30 minutes, until it is set but still jiggles a little bit. May be served warm or cool.

Part of Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet!

Beef Stew

One of the dishes made with our market food was beef stew. I made this a little differently than usual since it was a small amount and I wanted to make it fast. We finally tried the King Limousin beef and it was good. It is grass fed and pastured. She said they take them right off the meadow when it comes time for slaughtering (not a nice visual, but it is what I'm looking for). No antibiotics or hormones and they are now a registered organic beef farm, although their first batch of organic beef won't be on the market until next year. Their cows are still all raised the same though.

So it was $3.25 for a pound of stewing meat, which is fairly comparable to what you buy in the grocery store. It was very lean and a little tough, but that is probably because I cooked it too fast. Stewing meat is best cooked long and slow. We were just too hungry!

So I browned one pound of stewing meat in a little bacon fat.

Meanwhile, I washed, peeled and sliced 5 carrots, 2 parsnips, an onion and a leek (you can add what you like, whatever is in season. I added most of the leek greens about 5 minutes before the stew was done).

After the meat was done browning, about the time I was done the veggies, I added the vegetables, a couple cups of water, a sprinkle of sea salt, covered and let simmer for about 25 minutes or so until all the vegetables were tender.

Oh, I also cut the beef in smaller pieces after adding the vegetables but you can do this before adding them or even before cooking. I just hate cutting raw meat. You can leave it in big chunks if you like but it will take longer to cook.

I then added a tablespoon of cornstarch to a cup of water, mixed well and added to the frying pan, stirred well to make sure it mixed well to make a thin gravy. You can add more cornstarch if you want a thicker gravy or even use a different thickener all together or just leave it soupy.

Serve with homemade bread!

I will soon be posting my bread recipe. I've made it several times now and it is the best one I've used!