Cranberry Relish

cranberry sauce

Why used canned cranberry sauce when it’s so easy to make it?! I like this recipe because you can create different varieties with it. You can add orange, pears and ginger if you like.

Recipe

1 (12 oz) bag of fresh cranberries

1 cup organic sugar

3/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Orange variation add 1 tablespoon orange zest and 2 tablespoons orange juice

Ginger Pear variation add 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 pears peeled and chopped

Place cranberries, sugar, water, salt and orange zest, ginger, cinnamon, and pears (if using) in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil and turn down to medium, let simmer until slightly thickened and cranberries have popped for about 10 minutes. Turn off heat and add the orange juice if using. Store in the fridge for up to a week before using.

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

Thanksgiving Spread

Here is a list of all our favorite Thanksgiving recipes in one place. Starters, desserts, sides and of course the turkey! We also like to serve cranberry juice, white grape juice, eggnog and raspberry jello with fresh raspberries inside and out, topped with whip cream.

Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey

Cranberry Relish

Batter Rolls

Stuffing

Sweet Potato Casserole

Fluffy Mashed Potatoes

French Green Beans with Caramelized Onions

Rosemary Glazed Carrots

Mom’s Clam Dip

Homemade Cheese Ball

Veggie Tray with Organic Ranch Dip

Pumpkin Pie

Brown Bag Apple Pie

Chocolate Caramel Silk Pie

Raspberry Chiffon Pie

 

Veggie Tray with Organic Ranch Dip (Paleo option)

veggie tray with dip

A great addition to any party or gathering. Fresh, healthy and delicious!

Recipe

Chopped vegetables like cucumbers, celery, peppers, carrots, radishes, tomatoes etc.

2 cloves garlic, crushed

3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 cups sour cream

OR

1 cup Avocado mayo

1/2 cup coconut milk

Blend together the ingredients with either the sour cream OR the mayo and coconut milk. Chill for an hour or up to 3 days. Arrange the veggies on the tray and serve with the dip.

Thanksgiving Stuffing with Sourdough Bread

Stuffing 3

I love this side for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner because I cook it in the crock pot, making it an easy side to leave for the most part to do its thing. You can use french or sourdough bread. I like to use my sourdough bread recipe.  It isn’t Thanksgiving dinner until I start smelling the butter, veggies and sage sauteing together! Yum!

Recipe

1 loaf of bread cubed into bite size pieces

2 onions diced

4 stalks of celery chopped

handful of fresh sage, chopped

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Sea salt and pepper

In a large skillet saute the onions, celery and sage with the butter, salt and pepper, stirring occasionally until the onions become translucent.

stuffing 2

Add the cranberries and cook for another minute. Place the cubed bread into the slow cooker with the onion mixture.  Distribute 1/2 cup chicken stock over the bread and toss to coat.

stuffing 1

Cook on low for 5-6 hours stirring every hour to prevent any burning. If it dries out too much add a bit more chicken stock. Serve warm.

Mom’s Sweet Potato Casserole

sweet potato casserole 4

We grew up eating this dish for every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. It is so sweetly delicious and very filling, almost like eating pie. It reminds me of Ruth’s Chris sweet potato side dish if you’ve had a chance to eat there. I like that this is one side I can make for Thanksgiving dinner ahead of time and even freeze if need be.

Recipe

For the Filling

10 medium or 6 large sweet potatoes

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

4 eggs

4 tablespoons cream or milk

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Score the sweet potatoes with a fork or knife. Place on rimmed baking sheet and bake until soft at 400 degrees for about 1 hour. Let cool slightly so you can handle them without burning yourself. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Remove skins from the potatoes and place in large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and whip with a hand held mixer. Place in a 9×13 baking dish.

sweet potato casserole 1

For the Topping

In a large bowl place 1 1/4 cups brown sugar, 1 stick of cold butter (1/2 cup), 6 tablespoons flour and cut the butter into the sugar and flour. Add 3/4 cup chopped pecans to the bowl and toss until incorporated. Sprinkle on top of the sweet potatoes.

sweet potato casserole 3

At this point you can cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for a day or in the freezer for up to a month.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve warm.

sweet potato casserole 2

Fluffy Mashed Potatoes

Fluffy mashed potatoes

We tend to think of Thanksgiving, Sunday dinner or other holidays when it comes to mashed potatoes. These do not disappoint. They are full of flavor and nice and fluffy! It’s really important to use Russet potatoes here. Yukon gold or Red tend to have a more glue like consistency.

Recipe

10 large Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

Once you have the potatoes peeled and chopped, rinse through a strainer to remove any excess starches. This will help keep them fluffy. Boil the prepared potatoes in a large pot with water just covering them. Crack the lid if it bubbles over. Once the potatoes are soft strain and put back in the pot. Add the sour cream, butter and salt and pepper to the pot and whip with a hand held mixer until nice and fluffy. Serve immediately.

French Green Beans with Caramelized Onions

French green beans with caramalized onions

This side is so yummy! The caramelized onions add so much flavor! We love to make these for holidays and special occasions.

Recipe

2 pounds french green beans

1/2 cup butter

4 large onions

Sea salt and pepper

Place the green beans in a large pot and fill half way with water. Place the lid on the pot and cook until tender. Cut the top of the onions and lay on cut side so the root side is facing up. Cut straight down through the onion. Then lay on side and cut thin half moon shaped slices.

Onion cut in half

Saute the onions with the butter, sea salt and pepper. Stirring occasionally in the beginning.

caramalized onion 1

Continue to stir regularly to keep the onions form burning. I like my onions just a little darker than the picture below.

caramalized onions

 

Strain the green beans and add put them in a serving dish. Add the onions and a little more butter. Check the seasonings. Serve immediately.

 

Rosemary Glazed Carrots

rosemary glazed carrots

A perfect side dish for Thanksgiving dinner or any other occasion. They are so good you may not have many left overs.

Recipe

2 pounds carrots, sliced

1 cup chicken broth

6 tablespoons organic sugar or honey

2 teaspoons rosemary, chopped

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Place carrots, chicken broth, salt and 4 tablespoons sugar in a large skillet. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer until the carrots are mostly done, about 5 minutes. Uncover and add the rosemary and the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. The liquid will reduce to about 1/4 cup as it finishes cooking. Stir in butter and lemon juice. Add any additional needed salt and peeper to taste. Cover until ready to serve.

 

Kimchi – Learning How To Make Fermented Foods

fermentation 2

Fermented foods are a big thing right now and rightfully so. Science is now finding more answers behind the microbiome and what it is all about. Did you know we are only 1% human?! The rest of us consist of bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa and they out number us 100:1. These little guys are critically important to the health or disease we experience in life. They are all speaking with our mitochondria to coordinate repair and growth within our cells that help to fight off disease. The microbiome is the control center of our body. For every 1 message our brain sends to the gut, our gut sends 9 to the brain. These messages control our stress response, brain hormone production, activation of the immune system and much more. We also know that more gaba and serotonin is made in the gut than in the brain effecting how we feel mentally, making our gut our second brain. If our microbiome is off it can impact our mood, create brain fog, anxiety, behavioral disorders and even trigger depression. This is why it’s so important to take care of these little guys and to replenish our gut with them daily. A great way to do this is to eat fermented foods. The fermented foods you make at home contain far more micro-organisms than a capsule you can buy in the store. Fermenting your food can save a lot of money in the long run and it tastes really good.

You can ferment just about anything, especially if you use a whey starter. A brine can also be used, but not for fruit. Before we get started there are some things you need to be aware of when fermenting food.

fermentation 1

 

These ferments will be lacto ferments made from lactobacilli, it occurs when yeasts and bacteria convert starches and sugars in foods into lactic acid. Lactic acid helps with blood circulation, prevents constipation, balances digestive acids and encourages good pancreatic function.

When fermenting foods, both beneficial (bacteria, yeasts and mold) and spoiling organisms can ferment our foods. We don’t want the latter to happen so it’s important to facilitate the right conditions for beneficial organisms to thrive and crowd out the ones we don’t want.

Creating the perfect environment – Salt brine is the most common way to protect food as it ferments. Reasonable amounts with pure water create a safe place for bacteria to thrive. Too salty and they can’t survive. Whey is another good kick start culture that contain a high population of good bacteria.

Eliminate oxygen exposure by covering food with a weight or water and then a tight lid or airlock. Airlocks allow gases to escape preventing exploding jars while keeping the exposure to air and spoilage organisms out. This works for fruits, veggies and meats. Sourdough requires some oxygen.

Increased acidity can also help like lemon juice and vinegar.

Use organic foods whenever possible. Microbes can die from the pesticides used on crops. Think about what pesticides do to the micro-organisms in our soil?… This is one reason why we don’t have as much nutritional value in our modern food today.

Use clean jars, tools and utensils. Do not use corrosive metals like aluminum and even stainless steel. Glass or ceramic jars or crocs are best. Amazon is a great resource.

Do not use table iodized salt. Use unrefined sea salts in grey or pink color that contain trace minerals which are good for the organisms.

Use your nose to smell the fermented food. It should always smell pleasing. Anything that is repugnant, throw out. There is a difference between sour and spoiled or rotting. It is unmistakable.

If your ferment creates gas or bloating you haven’t fermented it long enough… so it is fermenting in your gut. Just pull it out of cold storage and let it finish fermenting. Sometimes eating fermented foods can cause die off symptoms of the not so friendly micro-organisms found in the body. Back off a little, but keep eating the good stuff. Those symptoms should only last a few days to a few weeks.

Let’s get started!

Kimchi

Recipe

Whey Starter: – Strain 1 quart yogurt through double layered cheese cloth fitted into a mesh strainer. Place in fridge and let strain for a day. Eat the “Greek” yogurt and save the whey in a container kept in the fridge for later use.

Brine Starter – Combine 6 tablespoons of fine sea salt or 9 tablespoons of course sea salt in 8 cups of chlorine free water. Allow to sit on the counter for a few hours until the salt is dissolved or heat the salt and water in a large pot until the salt is dissolved. Keep in a jar until needed.

Kimchi

1 small head of cabbage (green or purple), shredded or chopped
1 bunch on green onions (about 6-8)
1 cup shredded carrots
1 tablespoon fresh chopped or grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, crushed
½ tsp dried red pepper flakes (optional)
½ tablespoon of sea salt
¼  cup whey starter

Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl, cover with a tea towel and let sit for 30 minutes until the salt pulls the liquid out of the veggies. About half way through pound the veggies to release more water. Transfer to a wide mouth mason quart jar and pack tightly as you fill. Place your weight on top if using and make sure liquid is covering the veggies. Leave a 1” space at the top. Cover tightly with lid or airlock. If using a lid only be sure to burp your ferment a few times a day to prevent explosion. Leave at room temp for 5-7 days. When the ferment is starting to bubble a bit that is when it is ready. Keep in fridge if not using right away.

Garlic and Basil Tomato Pasta

Garlic and Basil Tomato PastaSimple and fast!  This is a great recipe for using all those fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden!

Recipe

1 pound uncooked whole wheat pasta (I like angel hair)

4-5 pounds tomatoes, large or cherry cut in half or bite size chunks

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

1/2 cup fresh chopped basil

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

Cook your noodles following the directions on the package.  In the meantime, chop the tomatoes, garlic and basil and place in large bowl with oil and butter.  Remove the noodles from the pot and strain.  Pour them while still hot over the tomato, basil mixture and let melt the butter.   Add salt and pepper to taste and the cheese.  Toss well and serve.