Crab Fritters and Avocado Salsa!

*I am posting this out of turn, but I just couldn't wait to put it up here!*

Crab Fritters with Avocado Salsa

Organic Seasonal Cookbook by Liz Franklin – pg. 79

Autumn - Serves 4

Ingredients:

Crab Fritters:

• 2 cups lightly cooked corn kernels
• scant ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 10 ½ oz cooked white crabmeat
• 1 small bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 3-4 tbsp grapeseed oil (or any other oil that has a high smoke point)
• salt and pepper
• lime wedges, for serving

Avocado Salsa:

• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 firm but ripe avocado
• 1 firm but ripe mango
• 4 firm but ripe tomatoes
• juice and finely grated rind of 2 limes
• 1 large bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. First make the salsa. Put the onion in a bowl. Remove the stalks and seeds from the bell peppers, and cut the flesh into ½ inch dice. Add to the onion. Peel the avocado and mango, then remove the pits and cut the flesh into ½ inch dice and add to the other ingredients. Stir in the lime juice and rind and cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Put the corn kernels, flour, and eggs in a separate bowl and stir until well mixed. Lightly fold in the crabmeat and parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Heat the oil in a large skilled over medium-high-heat. Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the hot oil and cook in batches for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until crips and golden. Remove and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with the salsa and serve with the lime wedges.

Variation:

For salsa with a little more bite, add a small finely chopped red chile or a shake or two of Tabasco sauce.

Tips:

• Tossing the ingredients for the salsa into a food processor is much faster, I recommend this when there are hungry bellies waiting for dinner.
• Purchase a fruit juicer, the glass kind that has the reservoir to catch the juice - juice by hand, not by machine. You will get so much more juice than if you squeeze the limes.
• Do half of the parsley and see how much it takes up in the batter, add little by little after that. I had too much parsley from one bunch, so just be aware.
• Please do not use Olive Oil as your frying Oil... or canola or vegetable for that matter. Best try to use grapeseed, sunflower, safflower, or any other oil that has a high "smoke point" - we have no need to make our food carcinogenic. 
• I used a tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop my batter and plop it into the pan. With a large sautee pan you can plop about 4-5 at a time to fry. That makes the process much faster... particularly useful, again, if you have hungry bellies waiting. The tablespoon was a perfect size, squishing it down to be more flat once it was in the pan.
• Eat!!

With Love,

~Birdie

Spaghetti with Fresh Pea Pesto and Fava Beans

It was delicious!

Spaghetti with Fresh Pea Pesto and Fava Beans –

Organic Seasonal Cookbook by Liz Franklin - pg. 63

Summer

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Pea Pesto:

3 cups fresh shelled peas

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3 ½ oz Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated, plus extra, shaved, for serving

2/3 cup blanched almonds, chopped

pinch of sugar

Spaghetti:

9 oz shelled fava beans

1 lb dried spaghetti

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. For the pesto, cook the peas in a saucepan of boiling water for 2-3 minutes, or until just tender. Drain and transfer to a blender or food processor. Add the oil, garlic, and Parmesan cheese and process to a coarse paste. Add the almonds and process again. Add the sugar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Blanch the fava beans in a saucepan of salted boiling water until just tender. Drain and let cool. Peel off the dull skins.
3. Cook the spaghetti in a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water according to the package directions, or until al dente. Drain, then stir in the fava beans and toss with the pesto. Add a good coarse grinding of pepper and serve immediately with shavings of parmesan cheese.
   
   
   
   
   Yum,
   ~Birdie

Watermelon Smoothies and Other Delicious Things

Well, for some amazingly wonderful reason, Beau's lovely sister... AKA my sister-in-law... decided to come over yesterday to make us dinner. Obviously I am not going to object. She made a yummy meal of mushroom rice with a shrimp, hummus, bell pepper, and spinach pita. It was scrumptious. She also brought a watermelon for us to munch on for dessert. We were too stuffed, however, to break into it so we saved it for later... which brings me to this post.


With an entire watermelon to eat between two people I wanted to get creative in how we would eat it and not waste it... because... honestly... sometimes we do that... 

So, tonight after our rice and steamed veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots) dinner I cut up the watermelon, threw it in the blender and made a few things to last us the week. Waste not, want not... that is becoming our motto... among other things.

I knew we wanted smoothies, so I took out the ice trays and set them on the table - then I noticed that one of the ice trays was almost empty (two cubes left)... which led me to watermelon ice cubes for our water during the week - yummy and refreshing!

Then I realized there was a lot of melon when you pureed it... so I poured some into a recycled juice jar we had on hand and put it in the fridge... watermelon juice... just add some water to cut the sweetness and you have yummy water throughout the day!

Lastly, I added the ice, blended, and made the smoothies for us to drink as dessert.

Who says eating healthy has to be gross? I'd say we spoiled ourselves!

Have a Watermelon Kind of Weekend,
~Birdie

One in Every Household

I'm an herbalist. I love tea. I drink herbal tea. I am currently drinking tea. It is a healthy addiction. And a delicious one.


To help enable my addiction I have sought out and purchased a French Press so that I can brew a nice big pot of herbal loose leaf tea. It is absolutely perfect. Every household should have one. You can use it for tea and coffee among other things, I am sure. 

My French Press is from Ikea. I chose Ikea because the French Press is not cheap. Starbucks sells them for upwards near $40. Ikea sells them for $12. That decision is simple.

My tea: Raspberry Leaf and Ginger Root tea. Freshly brewed, put in the fridge, and later consumed with ice cube companions. 

Do You Have Your's Yet?
~Birdie

Restaurant Styled Organic Salsa.... mmmm...

There is this blog that I follow pretty much religiously. I think she is the pips. This Pioneer gal is my role model. She home schools her kids, lives on a huge cattle ranch, has a hunky husband (just like me!), has two bassett hounds and is equally obsessed with them as I am with Izzie, and she cooks, writes books, gardens, and eats delicious food. She is awesome. 


While stalking... I mean.... perusing her website I stumbled across her recipe for home made restaurant styled salsa. It seems that she is just as picky and obsessive about salsa as I am. I gave the recipe a shot a few months back and it was pretty spot on. I am a spicy kind of girl, so I added some extra kick to mine to satisfy my needs. 

Flash forward to now. While at the grocery store this morning I was struck with inspiration to make it again. Few things compare to delicious home made salsa! This time, knowing now what I know, I bought organic veggies. Yum! 

I have been trying to learn how to do things from scratch when cooking so instead of using out of the can ingredients like she suggests I bought some roma tomatoes and tossed them into a pot of water and set it to boil.

I sent my cilantro, jalapenos, and onion through my food processor and waited for the tomatoes to be soft enough to turn into tomatoey mush. 

With the tomatoes ready to make said mush. I tossed them into the food processor and made mush.

Combine all the ingredients. Throw in the spices that she suggests (mmmm cumin) and give it a stir. Because I made such a large batch I had to up the ante on the spices to make sure it all came out right. I love that I have been cooking for long enough that my measuring spoons are pretty much dust collectors. A dash of this, pinch of that, glob of this... that's how it works these days. 

After mixing the ingredients together I tossed it back into the pot to simmer. Roasted salsa is so delicious... mmmmm..... 

Once it is nice and toasty, you let it cool a moment, plop some in a nifty bowl, and dig in. As for me... I canned the rest - Three 16 oz. mason jars of salsa to put up on the shelf. Yum.

Siesta Time!
~ Birdie


Neat little find: GMO Free tortilla chips! It's a good day.

Also. Izzie isn't a fan of the pressure cooker.

Sad eyes.

Ada, however, doesn't care.

Please note my little darling's tongue... which is sticking out. That is how much she cares.

BBQ Black Bean and Corn Pizza - Revised

We started cooking tonight what has now become a staple for our household. The delicious BBQ Pizza. Mmmm... so scrumptious. So easy to make! I have had the chance to make the pizza a few times now and with each time I have slowly improved upon and customized the once "out of the book" recipe. 


This is where I'm at so far:

Just before it went into the oven... mmmm...

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds prepared whole wheat pizza dough
• 16 oz bottle of Honey BBQ Sauce
• 1/2 cup corn kernels
• 1 cup spinach, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh sage, chopped
• 1 cup tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, diced
• 6 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 1/2 cup shrimp, cooked and chopped
• 1/2 tbs lemon pepper
• 1/2 tbs oregano
• 1/4 tbs cayenne pepper
• Some flour for the baking sheet

Process:

• Preheat oven to 350*.
• Combine all ingredients into a bowl except for: pizza dough, BBQ sauce, and flour.
• Mix ingredients and add 1/3 of the BBQ sauce to the ingredients mixture.
• Sprinkle Flour into a baking sheet (a regular cookie sheet works just fine).
• Spread dough on floured sheet to fill up the pan.
• Place in the oven for 10 minutes.
• Remove pan and flip the dough over.
• Spread 1/3 of the BBQ sauce onto the dough, evenly.
• Dump have of ingredients batch onto the dough and spread out evenly.
• Return to oven for 20-30 more minutes.
• Let cool.
• Cut, serve, and enjoy!

*This batch makes two pizzas, repeat process for second pizza.*


Very delicious! :)

Helpers are important.

Flowers are pleasant too...

We are becoming a dairy free house,
so we chose Lactose Free cheese.... It was pretty good.

Grandpa's bowl is also an integral part to this operation.

Add all the ingredients together.

Admire the deliciousness.

Mark it with a B.

Spread out the dough.

Put it in the oven for 10 minutes.

Mix in some BBQ Sauce.

Remove from oven and smother in BBQ Sauce.

Put half the batch onto the dough and let bake for 20-30 minutes. 

Give it a shot! You won't be disappointed,
~ Birdie!

Medicinal Roots - Week 1 Response

Question:
Here's a question straight from my facebook status:
I've been having throbbing headaches the last few days. I'm concerned that it is associated with a spider bite I got camping this weekend but I JUST started getting cramps so I now believe it has to do with PMS. It's very strange though, I have never had headaches with my menstrual cycle until this month. I do however, get terrible cramps that have been diminishing with the use of my birth control, although I'm bad about taking it every day at the same time.
What home remedies do you have for my PMS symptoms?


Answer:
If this is a new birth control pill that you have been prescribed, your headaches are likely coming from this. Your cramps may be less severe, but your headaches will likely become more frequent, especially pre-menstural. It is the curse that comes with the Pill. I had similar difficulties; painful, debilitating headaches the last 2-3 days before my period. I stopped taking the pill a month ago and my first cycle came and went with only 1 headache. I am hoping that next month I won't have any headaches since the chemicals from the drug will be out of my system. Since then, I have started working with a chemical free/natural way of preventing pregnancy that is widely used throughout the Catholic Church (I stumbled upon it during some personal research.) As for you, be sure to eat plenty of food that is rich in nutrients and iron. Also - try taking your pill every night just before you go to bed. This will help with timing - although timing won't cause any issues other than forgetfulness. If your symptoms continue, contact me and we will look deeper into your personal constitution (your chemical/bodily make-up). 


Iron Rich Foods:

• Red meat (Yes I just said red meat)
• Eggs - their yolks particularly
• Spinach
• Turkey
• Beans, lentils
• Artichokes
• Apricots

To help the Iron be better absorbed into your body, pair it with Vitamin C. 

Vitamin C Rich Foods:

• Bell Peppers
• Strawberries
• Broccoli
• Tomato
• Oranges

It is amazing how much our diet can affect our entire system. By making sure you are absorbing the proper amount of nutrients, especially during menstruation, we are able to exist pain and ailment free on a daily basis.

Herbal supplements you might want to try:

Cramping:

• Red Clover Tea
• Chamomile Tea
• Peppermint Tea
• Red Clover, Chamomile, Peppermint Tincture
• Cayenne Pepper ointment applied externally to lower stomach area.

Headaches:

• Skullcap, Peppermint, Feverfew Tea - or -
• Skullcap, Peppermint, Feverfew tincture (Availably for purchase May 1st)

PMS Mood Swings:

• Hawthorne and Motherswort Tincture (Also available May 1st)

Try this recipe to get a good dose of Iron and Vitamin C Rich foods:

Stuffed Bell Peppers:

Ingredients:

4-6 Bell Peppers (any color)

1/2 cup brown rice

1/4 finely chopped broccoli

1/3 cup corn

1/3 cup chopped spinach

1/2 lb. ground beef (preferably grass fed, locally purchased)

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

1 cup black beans

1/2 chopped yellow onion (optional)

1 lemon

16 oz marinara sauce

• Cook brown rice until tender. Preheat oven to 350*.
• Cut tops off of bell peppers and de-seed. Cut stem out of top of pepper, save top. Place peppers in a casserole dish.
• Combine onion and ground beef in a skillet. Cook until browned.
• Combine broccoli, corn, spinach, tomatoes, beans, and cooked onion and beef into a bowl. Pour marinara sauce into the bowl and mix. Squeeze lemon juice into the bowl, mix.
• Stuff bell peppers with the mix. 
• Cook in oven for 45 minutes.

Vegetables will still be crunchy, but this is a good thing. Crunch means vitality, vitality means life. We want to eat live foods, not dead ones to harvest as much nutrients out of them as possible.

If you add crumbled goat cheese on top... mmmm! 

Keep me posted,
~ Birdie

Blackbean and Corn BBQ Pizza

I discovered this recipe some time ago and I'm not really sure where I got it from. It is made for the BBQ grill, but I am slowly perfecting it for the oven. The recipe is as follows:

Yum!! Half chicken, half veggie.

Ingredients

• 1-2 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup canned black beans, rinsed
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels, (about 2 ears)
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal
• 1 pound prepared whole-wheat pizza dough
• 1/3 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen spinach, chopped and thawed
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella, preferably smoked mozzarella

Preparation



1. Preheat grill to medium.


2. Combine tomato, beans and corn in a medium bowl. Sprinkle cornmeal onto a large baking sheet. Stretch the dough into about a 12-inch circle and lay it on top of the cornmeal, coating the entire underside of the dough.


3. Transfer the crust from the baking sheet to the grill. Close the lid and cook until the crust is puffed and lightly browned on the bottom, 4 to 5 minutes.


4. Using a large spatula, flip the crust. Spread barbecue sauce on it and quickly sprinkle with the tomato mixture and cheese. Close the lid; grill until the cheese is melted and the bottom of the crust is browned, 4 to 5 minutes.
 
Nutrition



Per serving: 316 calories; 6 g fat (3 g sat, 0 g mono); 13 mg cholesterol; 48 g carbohydrates; 3 g added sugars; 14 g protein; 4 g fiber; 530 mg sodium; 94 mg potassium.


Nutrition Bonus: Calcium (15% dv).


3 Carbohydrate Serving


Exchanges: 3 starch, 3 medium-fat meat
 
Delicious!!!
 

For the oven, I preheat the oven to 350* and spread the dough out in a cookie sheet. I place the dough in the oven for about 5-10 minutes to let it cook. I take it out, flip the dough, and continue the process as it states in the above recipe. I also add some BBQ sauce to the tomato mix as it keeps it nice and moist while baking. Be careful not to add to much, otherwise it will be an overpowering taste. I then place it back into the oven and cook it for an additional 10-20 minutes, checking on it every so often to make sure it isn't getting burned. When it is ready to come out, I let it cool for a little bit and then start slicing! We like to dip it in ranch! Yum!!! (But it tastes great on its own!)
 

*For this batch Beau wanted chicken so I added some pre-cooked chicken breasts that he had picked up from the store the other night. I just mixed it in with the tomato mixture in a separate bowl and put it on the dough. Easy peasy.
 
Enjoy!
~ Birdie