Door decs

Since the majority of the people that read this live halfway across the country, I thought I would show you what you would see if you came a knocking on our door:

A close up of the flowers I made-from scratch!

Crockpot Chicken

Last week I was researching the best way to cook a whole chicken, as I had not had a lot of luck in the past with the conventional oven method (pretty sure I had salmonella for about 10 days last July). I found an article about how to cook a chicken in the crockpot...and then how to make your own homemade stock from said chicken. Easy peasy-and the chicken was super moist and the broth about a hundred times better than store bought! Here is how I did it:

1. Buy a whole chicken (preferably free-range and organic). Put it in the crockpot for 7 hours on low. Don't add any water, but you can add s&p, paprika, or whatever other spices you like. I just did it up plain as I wanted the freedom to use the chicken however I deemed necessary for future meals.

2. After the 7 hour mark, pull the chicken out (carefully as the meat all wants to fall off the bone), let cool enough to handle. There should be about 1-2 inches of chicken juices left in the crockpot. As you debone the chicken, throw the skin and the bones back into the crockpot. (I cut or broke the smaller bones to get out as much of the good marrow into the broth as possible). Add 5 cups of water. Throw in a carrot, some celery, some onions...whatever you have laying around. Set the crockpot on low overnight (I did ten hours).

3. Wake up to a glorious smelling house. YUMMY! Strain all the veggies/bones/skins out and put the broth into your (freezer safe) containers. I used mason jars and got FIVE pints out of this batch! Let them cool completely, skim and discard fat off top-put the lids on and pop them in the freezer. Here is what my finished product looked like:

Look at the color! 

I used my first jar of chicken broth last night and it was SO GOOD-I really noticed a difference in flavor!
So, with the crockpot chicken, on the first day I made my mom's chicken pot pie...one of our faves! I froze the rest of the shredded chicken (about 3 cups). Last night I pulled out about 1 1/2 cups to make delicious Chicken and White Bean enchiladas...oh they were so good, and I found the recipe on skinnytaste.com but you can link up to it here. 
Looking for other ways to use crockpot chicken? Try a fellow BGHS Alum's recipe for chicken salad here.
Happy cooking!!

St. Patty's traditions-old and new

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite food days of the year. Can you guess why? Corned beef, of course! I l-o-v-e corned beef. Def one of my top 5 all time favorite foods. Luckily, hubs is completely on board so he encourages the twice yearly consumption (the other day being new years day). This also had its downside as he makes me share the leftovers. Boo. Anywho. This year I served organic cabbage (steamed lightly) and the. most. amazing. whole wheat Guinness bread. OMGosh. This is amazingly delicious and I highly recommend you plan to make this ASAP.

I lifted the recipe from thischickcooks.net, a really fun whole foods cooking blog that I follow. Here is the recipe this chick uses, but it looks like she snagged it from allrecipes.com:

Guinness Bread

1 cup regular rolled oats, plus extra to sprinkle on top

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup melted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

12 ounce bottle Guinness ( its a stout beer)

Preheat oven to 425. Grease an 8 inch pan (I used my cast iron skillet). Mix together dry ingredients. In a seperate bowl combine wet ingredients  Pour the flour mixture into the beer mixture and stir just until mixed. Pour the batter into the baking pan and sprinkle the top with oats.

Bake at 425 for about 25 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake an additional 20-25 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the bread cool in the oven with the door open for 30 minutes. Source: Allrecipes.com

I followed this recipe verbatim. And guess what happened? A large portion of the cake ended up on the 'floor' of the oven and actually burst into flames. PANIC ATTACK ensued. (a moment of silence for all of the deliciousness that was diminished to ashes...). Next time (and there wil be a next time!), I will bake in a regular loaf pan. It would probably even work as muffins, but the baking time would have to be adjusted.

I love trying new recipes, and hubs and I def agree-add this one to the yearly traditional St. Patty's Day meal!

Crafty Tuesday

I have been a busy little bee lately in the crafting department. Invites for sis's BP, her shower, making her guestbook, working on my own cards, baby project for my new "niece" Anna Elise (can't wait to meet you little miss!) and creating a few gifts for sis along the way. I can't show some of the stuff until after her wedding, but for now-here are some cards I have made:

The cutest thing since sliced bread...

at least, WE think so! :)

Java loves to crawl on our backs, shoulders, necks...he is a climber and a snuggler! I love to curl up to read a book with him tucked into my side! He is SO PRESH. And he is a really, REALLY good dog. I don't want to say it too loudly...but...he is pretty much potty-trained, and has been for about 10 days now (he has been home with us for 3 weeks). He knows the routine, he sleeps through the night, he doesn't destroy the house or tear stuff up...so far, the biggest issue we have with him is his nipping when we are playing. He has his first (of 6) obedience classes starting next week, so we are hoping to learn how to get him to stop with that. Otherwise, we are pretty darn happy with our little addition!

If he knew how much publicity he was getting on this blog, he would be digging it-he is an attention hog, for sure!

Keeping it REAL

I have been putting a post together in my head regarding the food choices that hubs and I make and our philosophy on food. We are very passionate about the 90/10 rule (eat REAL food 90% of the time, and for the other 10%-leave it open to eating in restaurants, people's homes, etc.), as well as a balanced diet high in protein. We eat a lot of grass-fed beef, organic/free-range chicken/eggs, wild fish (never farmed...I just threw up in my mouth a little thinking about salmon force-fed corn and soy...barf!), whole grains, organic fruit (in moderation), loads of organic veggies, raw dairy when we can get it-organic full fat when we can't. I love to bake but have cut back on that tremendously-and when I do, it is with coconut flour, coconut oil, and the good ingredients I listed above (use sucanat, maple syrup (from Gpa V's farm!) or raw honey for sweetener. Any who...I came across this blog post today from one of my most favorite sites for recipes-Heavenly Homemakers, and felt that they did a better job summing up my thoughts that I could. Check it out and let me know your thoughts!!

REAL Food...click here!

Pinterest Recipes

Today, I want to share some recipes that I have made off of Pinterest. For those of you that have Pinterest, you can check out my board titled "Recipes I have tried," but for those of you who don't (MMF and MOM!) here are the links to the recipes as well as my critics review.

Thai coconut Curry Shrimp-you find the recipe here. This was delicious and a nice change of pace from the usual, although it was slightly spicy. Next time I will only use about 1/2 T. of red curry paste.

Mongolian Beef-YUMMY! Even better than what you can find at most restaurants, IMHO. Find the recipe here.

Creamy Mushroom and Roasted cauliflower soup. A great way to use up some delicious organic mushrooms and cauliflower from our organic produce co-op. This is a great comfort food dish, and a chunk of crusty bread would be a great accompaniment! Check it out!

Finally, our dessert! Salted Caramel Pretzel bark. I made this for a party I hosted a few weeks ago, and to say it was a hit, well...that would be an understatement! The recipe is not correct though...the butter/sugar mixture needs to be boiled for 7 minutes, not 3, in order for it to properly harden when set. Make it yourself, it's super easy-see for yourself here!

And that, ladies and gents, are just a few of the recipes I have tried off of Pinterest. I saw someone's FB status the other day-look at the 3rd recipe I have tried from Pinterest. Really? 3? Amateur. As of today, I have made 31 recipes off of Pinterest. 31! The 'unhealthy' stuff I have made for parties or to take to church, or delivered to new moms in the area, and the healthy stuff for me and G. Some have been flops, but others (like the four I shared today) were awesome!