The Lewis & Clark Cookbook ~ A Book Review (Rave)

We are enjoying the bounty of mixed greens from the garden .. including edible weeds (lambs quarter).

 Today's harvest was turned into cream of sorrel soup and a lovely mixed green salad .. accompanied with chicken patties (similar to crab cakes).

The Youngin' ate four plates of salad .. he's still a growing teen.

The soup recipe came from this book, The Lewis & Clark Cookbook .. picked up yesterday at a neighbor's garage sale for 25 cents.  Ha, if you look at the price on Amazon at over $3,000 .. one might think I got a great bargain.  Someone either made a mistake .. or just doesn't want to part with the cookbook.  Ebay sells it for about $12.    The book contains historic recipes from the Corps of Discovery & Thomas Jefferson.  First published in 2002, the book is delightfully woven with hand penned notes written by Lewis and Clark.  Wouldn't it be fun to host a meal and use just this cookbook?

Sunday ~ the clouds roll in and out.  Right now it's clouding up and wanting to storm.  Yesterday there was a break from the rain .. and the neighborhood was abuzz with lawn mowers.  Today the Mr. is trimming.

Time to scoot and clean up the kitchen.  Then I'll put on a nice old fashioned movie .. boy meets girl .. prairie romance.  

What's up in your world?

Revisiting Pizza

Alternative Pizza Pie ~ GF

I've been experimenting with wheat free pizza.  Even bought a bag of gluten free mix you can use to make pizza dough.  It didn't fare well with the youngin' .. made his stomach extremely bloated.  So back to the drawing board.

Fiddling around in the kitchen one day, I came up with a delicious 'crust' for his pizza pie.

For a 6"x 9" glass baking dish.  Preheat oven to 350F.

Ingredients:

Crust ~
2 eggs.
1/3-1/2 cup of cooked brown rice
1/3 cup cheese

Toppings ~
1/2 c marinara sauce
fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup browned sausage, or cooked meat
diced red onion
sliced mushroom
extra cheese for topping
(whatever you like to put on your pizza)

Directions:

Grease the baking dish.  Add the two eggs and cooked brown rice, stirring until mixed well then evenly spread.  Bake in preheated oven about 8-10 minutes, until eggs are set.  Remove from oven and top with 1/3 cup of grated cheese.  Return to the oven for another minute or two until cheese is melted.  Remove from oven and top with marinara sauce and toppings, using the extra grated cheese for the final topping.  Return to the oven and bake an additional 10-12 minutes until bubbly.  Let pizza set for a few minutes before scoring with a spatula and removing slices from the pan.

I made a super deluxe baking pan, double this size, for company last week ~ it was a GIANT hit.  If you like cold pizza the next day, this will satisfy your craving.

Weekend Reads ... And Thinking Outside The (Cereal) Box

In the ongoing gut healing process, after eliminating 95% of our grains, one has to think differently about the 'champion of breakfast' choice of food. Today's fancy was in the form of a quickly assembled Italian style STOUP (Rachel Ray's slang for thinner than stew ~ thicker than soup meal).  With the garden producing cool weather crops .. spinach, bok choy, kale, herbs .. the dish was easy to assemble.  On hand in the freezer I keep cooked chicken meat packed in broth and jars of chicken broth as fast food.  If you're going to eat soup for breakfast .. just set out the frozen items before bed.

Our forage into the garden produced beautiful yields of vitamin/mineral/enzyme rich goods.  One secret to help keep the enzymes active is to add them at the end of the short cooking process .. leaving them somewhat tender~crispy.  Remember .. the meat has already been cooked.

To a large stock pot I added the thawed chicken meat and broth, bringing both to a slight simmer.   Carrots were added to give a little extra cooking time.  Mineral rich sea salt and pepper were added .. then half of the freshly picked/chopped herbs and some freshly pressed garlic.  A cup of leftover cooked brown rice was added .. then the chopped fresh greens (spinach, bok choy, kale, etc.) with a brief simmer of 1-2 minutes max.  Before serving I tossed in the rest of the chopped herbs and topped each serving bowl with a squeeze of myer lemon juice.  The chicken meat and little bit of rice made the meal satisfying and filling.  Gelatin rich chicken broth can resurrect the dead!

Measurements ... not an exact science .. perhaps 1 cup of chicken meat and 6-8 cups of stock.  1-1/2 quarts of chopped greens .. salt/pepper to taste.  1/2 cup of diced herbs such a dill, thyme, common oregano (mild), marjoram), 1 cup of cooked brown rice ... splash of fresh lemon juice .. a piece of peel for the pot .. 2 cloves of garlic.

Soup for breakfast ... now we're talking!

What's your favorite non modern-traditional breakfast food?

Weekend reads:

Foodcyclist.com ( cooking with chicken liver, heads and feet and the many health benefits) .. oh, my!

Getting A Real Education ~ Rural Revolution

16 Things That affect Your Gut Bacteria/Marks Daily Apple

What Wheat?

I know the newest fad diet is going gluten free.  Our special needs son seems to have benefited from eliminating gluten AND limiting starches in general from his diet.  GONE are eczema, seborrhea dermatitis, excess bloating, headaches and the moody blues.  He did not test positive for celiac disease .. but with having so many colon and gut surgeries, he suffered from, perhaps, a permeable gut with some leakage .. causing havoc with his health.  On Thursday, I will officially be his legal guardian and can obtain his latest medical records to take a peek at his white blood count.  In years past, it was seriously low, not from cancer, but from 'unknown' factors .. he was labeled as having leukopenia.  Last year's count was finally at the bottom end of normal .. hoping for improvement once again.  

Having changed our diet to almost zero processed (manufactured) foods, increasing fermented foods, supplementing with magnesium and cod liver oil .. has boosted our immunity.  It has not happened overnight .. but has been an accumulated effect over the past several years.  Trial and error .. adjusting this and that .. eliminating processed foods .. and finally one day waking up without aches and pains that require this and that medication.  If you're on the fence about changing your diet to include less processed .. and increasing more fresh fruits/vegetables, organic meats/antibiotic free ... thinking they are more expensive, think again at the cost of having to ... down the road .. fuel ill health requiring prescription medications.  Food for thought.

Disclaimer:  Do not take this as personal medical advice .. this is what is working with our family ... I am not a medical doctor.

How Cooking Can Change Your Life

Well ... Here's a great video from Michael Pollan about the benefits of home cooking.

Enjoy!

Mrs. Mac

After Months Of ....

glitches with my Windows 8 using IE and Firefox, I switched to Google Chrome .. and it's working great.  Prior to the switch my browser would stall and stammer for a bit.  Has anyone else had such a problem?  What browser do you use?

Summer Time

I'm still writing .. just in a different format.  I've joined two organizations that keep me busy with reports, newsletter articles, minutes and meetings.  That leaves my mind 'spent' for everyday blog writing.  We are under full sail with wedding plans ~ invites get mailed out this week. 



The bride-to-be and her fiancé

My folks just left after visiting for a week. 

Peony bouquet from the yard ~ 2014

Yesterday we had a family BBQ complete with grandkids, uncles, grand and great grandparents.  A delicious baby .. and an active seven year old.  Badminton on the front lawn.  Oh, and the most deliciously moist Texas sheet cake for dessert; the bride-to-be would like it served at her wedding! 

My heart will always yearn to blog .. and so I leave you with this tidbit .. peek .. into a life lived to the fullest.