Recipe: Blackberry and Goat Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

While I haven't been trolling the Epicurious website like I used to do, I do obsessively read their tweets, and when they had an article on cinnamon rolls, I was intrigued enough to say aloud, "Who would make cinnamon rolls with cream cheese?? I want to make cinnamon rolls, but I don't think we have enough powdered sugar."

The boyfriend, who happened to overhear, replied, "Didn't you just buy some goat cheese? Use that."

I had, in fact, just purchased a pound of goat cheese so when I woke up bright and early Saturday morning, I had an idea of what to do. I say that I had an idea because I was fully planning on making standard cinnamon rolls with a glaze when I discovered that we were totally and completely out of powdered sugar.

So I turned to the goat cheese. 

I was afraid the goat cheese would be too overpowering so I added the only fruit in the apartment: blackberry preserves.

It was amazing. But it did diminish the taste of the goat cheese. If you're a fan of goat cheese, I'd double what's below. If you're hesitant on the goat cheese, just go with the recipe recommendation and you'll be fine.

Ingredients

For the dough:

3 cups flour
1 yeast packet
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
2.5 tbsp butter
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup water 

1 egg

For the filling:

6 tbsp blackberry preserve 

1 tsp cinnamon
Chopped pecans, about 1/2 cup
4 tbsp melted butter
4 tbsp sugar

 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

Preparation
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Set aside.

Melt the butter, milk, and water on the stovetop until the butter is completely melted. Combine with the flour mixture. Add the egg.

You should have a soft dough - non crumbling or sticky. Add flour or water to adjust as necessary.

Knead the dough for several minutes, then let the dough rest for about half an hour.

With a separate mixing bowl, begin to make the filling. Combine the melted butter, blackberry preserves, cinnamon, pecans, sugar, and crumbled goat cheese. Set aside.

Roll out your dough into a rectangular shape so that the dough is about 1/4" thick. Be sure to trim the edges so it's uniform.

Pour your filling mixture onto the dough and spread it around until it is evenly distributed. It should not be thick.

Beginning at one corner, tightly roll the dough until you have a log.

Cut your cinnamon rolls the thickness you prefer (I usually get about 8 of them), and place them in a buttered pan. Cover and let them rise for another 45-60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375.

Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool, and enjoy!

Recipe: Grape, Goat Cheese, and Caramelized Onion Galette

All over the world, people in various cultures are taught that they must do a certain something in order to achieve prosperity for the new year. Growing up in Tennessee, I was taught that I should have black eyed peas - not that I ever did.

I'm sure you've heard of the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes, one for each of the 12 strikes at midnight. I've heard variations on the tale, including that each grape represents a month for the new year. Sweet grapes represent a great month, and sour or bitter grapes represent a bad month. While I think that could end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy, I also don't relish the idea of cramming grapes into my mouth - you don't have much time in between chimes!

The French have a lovely tradition of eating grapes with champagne, but I thought a grape galette would be nicer.

My mother cooks breakfast for us children the mornings of major holidays. Typically it's fairly simple pancakes and bacon, but last year she switched it up and bought some lovely pastries, filled with caramelized onions and brie. I figured grapes could be incorporated, along with some goat cheese since I didn't have any brie.

And I was right! This galette doesn't hold it's shape all too well, but it's delicious and sweet and a bit sour, and I'm happy to make this a New Year's tradition in my household.

Ingredients

1 pie crust 

1 cup caramelized onions (or 1 large yellow onion)
3 cups grapes, cut in half
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1 cup crumbled goat cheese

Preparation

If you need to caramelize your onions, start that first. If you're not sure where to begin, TheKitchn has an amazing guide up. You can also make this ahead of time, but it should take up to an hour.

You'll also need pie crust, which can also be made ahead of time.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, add the caramelized onions, the grapes, the rosemary, and the goat cheese and mix.

Roll out your crust so that it's about 1/8" thick. Add the mixture into the middle, and begin folding the pastry edges over the mixture to form the galette.

Bake 30 minutes. Let cool 30-45 minutes. Enjoy!

Recipe: Sweet Potato Burger with Avocado and Feta Cream Sauce

I have been trying for over a year now to make a proper veggie burger. And by proper, I mean that I wanted it to be vegetarian, not processed, able to hold its shape, and filling. I experimented a lot with quinoa and black bean burgers, and I could never get it quite right when I realized that sweet potato burgers could be a thing. After all, why do sweet potatoes have to only be relegated to desserts?

With some inspiration from How Sweet Eats, I set out to make my own version. There are lots of fermented goodies in my toppings, but I have alternatives as well.

Boyfriend review: Wow, this could be in a restaurant! I mean, your stuff is good and you should open your own restaurant, but a lot of it is weird. But this, this could be on a menu.

Ingredients

3 medium sweet potatoes

1 cup of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1/3 cup bread crumbs

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 large egg

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

olive oil

bread rolls (I used challah bread rolls - found in the bakery)

Sauce:

1/4 cup feta, crumbled

2-5 tbsps milk kefir (or yogurt)

1 tsp fermented garlic (or roasted garlic)

Toppings:

fermented onions and peppers (or regular onions and peppers)

avocado

Preparation
Clean sweet potatoes and stab with a fork a couple of times before placing them in the oven. Roast at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Once they're finished, let them cool a bit before separating the skins. They should come right off - I sliced off an end and squeezed the innards into a mixing bowl. If you're having issues, feel free to toss into a blender (along with the beans) to speeds things up.

Add in the beans, bread crumbs, flour, egg, and spices and mix. Place in the freezer while you make the sauce: combine the crumbled feta and the fermented garlic. Pour just enough milk kefir (or yogurt) to cover. The sauce will still be chunky, as the cheese is chunky.

To cook the burgers, heat a skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil to the pan. Form patties with the mix - I take a large spoonful and put it in the skillet. Then, with my spoon, I flatten it out and, if necessary, correct the shape. Sometimes you may need to add a bit more; you should be able to judge the right size and shape of your own patty.

Cook on each side for about 5 minutes, until browned.

While the patty is cooking, toast your burger buns.

After toasting, I took part of an avocado and spread it on like butter. The other side of the bun got a nice heaping of the sauce we made.

Add the burger when it's ready and top with your choice of veggies. I added fermented onions and jalapenos.

Serves 6.

Recipe: Apple Pie with Gruyere Crust

 One of the perks of living in the northeast are the amazing apple orchards that let you go in and pick apples each fall. It's become a fall tradition to rent a car and drive out to the countryside and return stuffed with apple cider, apple cider donuts, and lots and lost of apples.

A photo posted by Kristin (@kristincreates) on Oct 10, 2014 at 1:47pm PDT

And, for me at least, whenever I get apples, I think of apple pie. Which makes me think of Pushing Daisies, a dark comedy with a silly premise. You know what pie is mentioned most on the show? (Or at least most in my memories?)

Apple pie with gruyere baked into the crust.

Typically something like this would be rather daunting, but at a book fair on the street, I found this wonderful book called How to Build a Better Pie, by Millicent Souris. While I tend to modify the recipes in her book (and I think there's a typo in the basic crust recipe about salt!), I absolutely love how down to earth the tone is.

I've always felt like pies were an undertaking, especially rolling out the dough, and something that should only be accomplished when you have lots of time and space - and maybe someone to clean up after you! But Millicent points out that pies were designed to be simple, and designed to be quickly made, without all the fancy gadgets we think of as necessary in today's kitchen.

Thinking about how many people have baked pies before me has really encouraged my pie baking, and it really shaped this recipe, as I made several attempts before finding one that I just loved. Luckily, I brought back plenty of apples from the orchard.

(Don't worry, no complaints were had as I tested out different recipes!)

Ingredients
Pie Crust
1.5 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3 tsp sugar
12 tbsp cold, unsalted butter
1/2 cup shredded gruyere
cold water

Apple Filling
4-5 apples (I used braeburn)
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp thickener (I use flour - but you can also use cornstarch or arrowroot)

Preparation
Pie Crust
Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Slice the cold butter into chunks and mix it into the flour with your hands, being careful not to let the butter break down too much. You want it to have larger chunks, as it will make the pie crust flakier. Add in the gruyere cheese and mix.

Slowly add cold water. There are always suggestions, but I always find myself going over. I add in cold water about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing carefully and thoroughly. Add in enough so that the dough sticks together, but you also don't want the dough to be too wet - so it shouldn't stick to your hands either. If you find that you added too much water, add more flour back in.

When you're satisfied with your dough, separate it into 2 flattened circles. Wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Apple Filling
Thinly slice the apples and add them in a large mixing bowl. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and your choice of thickener and toss with the apples. If you're not making the pie right away, add some lemon juice to preserve the color of the apples, though that's completely unnecessary.

Preheat the oven to 400.

Roll out one ball of dough and fit it to your pan. I tend to roll out the dough as flat as I want it to be, then place it carefully in my pan. I'll cut off the excess dough (and freeze and reserve for galettes) and crimp the edges of the pan. Place in the fridge for a bit if the dough becomes too warm.

Pour your apple filling into the pan.

Roll out the 2nd dough ball and place it on top. I made a lattice pie crust, but if you just want to place the entire thing on top, go ahead, but remember to cut in 3 or 4 ventilation slits.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Cool for one hour.

Recipe: Spicy Bruschetta

I can't even tell you why I made this dish originally. I don't really care for tomatoes, nor do I like making side dishes. Or even flavorings. (Mostly, I'm just lazy.)

Spicy Bruschetta on toast, with cheese

But when I made the first batch, I had so much of it and it was so spicy that I had to do something with it to get rid of it. I then discovered that this is the most perfect addition to most meals, and as the recipe has evolved over the years, I've grown more and more attached to it. 

I try to keep some in the fridge at all times now, and if I do run out, it's a really quick recipe to make.

Side dish, with stuffed peppers

Mixed into pasta, with goat cheese sauce

Vegetable soup, with mung beans

Ingredients

3-4 large tomatoes

2-3 medium red onions

4 tbsps olive oil

2  tbsps dried thyme

1 tbsp paprika

1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper

3 cloves of garlic, diced

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Chop the tomatoes and the red onions and add to a large mixing bowl. Add in the olive oil, garlic, and spices. Mix well.

Pour the mixture into an oven safe pan, and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, stir the mixture, and then bake for another 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Fermented Potatoes

I am a huge fan of potatoes in all forms, and I think most people would agree with me. A few years ago I noticed that potatoes, again in all forms, began to upset my stomach and caused bloating. I was forced to limit my intake on that deliciousness.

However, I have found something that helps!

It's fermenting, of course.

(And no, we're not making vodka today.)

When you soak potatoes in salt water, you lower the starch in them considerably. You also lower the amount of acrylamide, which is a "heat reduced reaction between sugar (glucose, sucrose, and fuctose) and asparagine." This reaction causes the potatoes to brown, and also, just so you know, is a carcinogen. Fermenting can reduce the carginogen by up to 90% - you can read more about that here. (And on a more positive note, they're unlikely to burn in the oven!)

And apparently, the brine leftover is great for starching clothing, as reported over on the Pickl-It blog.

Of course, as you're typically going to be either baking or frying the potatoes, you'll lose a lot of the probiotic benefits due to the heat, but it will be easier to digest and you'll be less likely to have negative health risks so it's worth it.

Ingredients
potatoes
salt
water

Preparation
Gently wash your fresh potatoes and cut them into the desired shape. As I was making french fries, I made sliced them, but you could leave them whole if you'd like.

Add your potatoes to your container.

Prepare a salt brine. I used a 2% brine. (If you're using unsure how much salt to use for your size container, the Probiotic Jar has an excellent chart at the bottom of this page.)

Add your salt brine to the container with the potatoes. Cover and let it sit for 1-3 days.

Once you're ready to use them, drain the potatoes from the brine and pat dry. Either fry or bake your potatoes, as you would normally.

I baked mine at 350 degress for 30 minutes. I then added a bit of Parmesan cheese and thyme for half. The other half just get my homemade ketchup. Enjoy!

Recipe: Verde Sauce

I was first introduced to tomatillos a few years ago; before that I had never even heard of them!

In case you're new to them like me, tomatillos are small and green; they look sort of like tomatoes with a paper husk around them. If you're picking some up, make sure the husk is good quality, and make sure the tomatillo is firm when you give it a little squeeze.

Verde sauce is one of my favorite spicy sauces. It can be added to pretty much whatever you can think of in terms of meats, especially Mexican dishes, like enchiladas, etc - but sometimes I love to mix it with pasta and make a creamy pasta sauce.

This is pretty easy to make, and the recipe yields about 2 quarts of green sauce.

Ingredients
1 large onion, minced

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced

2 green bell peppers, chopped

1-2 jalapenos, chopped

6 tomatillos, husked and quartered

1 bunch cilantro

1.5 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1.5 tsp cumin

4 cups water

olive oil

Preparation

Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat.

Saute onions until soft and lightly browned, about 3-6 minutes.

While onions and garlic are sauteing, combine tomatillos, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro in a blender. Process until smooth.

Add tomatillo mixture to onions. Add garlic, water, salt, pepper, and cumin.

Bring to a boil, then cover and turn heat down. Simmer for 45 minutes. 

Serve and enjoy!

Recipe: Perfect Drop Biscuits

I have been working on perfecting this biscuit recipe. Every weekend, I make a slightly different version, and then I force my friends and family to eat it and tell me what they think. It's really hard work, but it's worth it. 

The good news is that this recipe is amazing! It's a bit rich because of the butter, and I thought about cutting a bit of the butter out, but then I came to senses.

This biscuit recipe is perfectly fluffy and practically melts in your mouth. I want to write more words and wonderful adjectives to describe how happy you'll be when you place this in your mouth, but I think that sentence says it all.

I cannot vouch for the recipe if you use margarine, as I think the butter plays a huge role. I use grass fed butter and it's incredible, though I understand not everyone has access to such deliciousness.

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsps baking powder
1.5 sticks (or 12 tbsps) of butter
1 egg
1 cup of milk

Preparation
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix your dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder) together in a large mixing bowl.

Cut the butter into small pieces and mix it in with your dry ingredients. I prefer to use my hands to gently knead the butter in. As it melts with the dry ingredients, it creates clumps of flour. You want the butter mostly mixed in, but some larger pieces are okay as well.

Add the egg and the milk and mix well. You should have a wet mixture, but it should still be able to hold its form.

Knead a few times. (I'm lazy and like to just squish it a bit in the bowl so that I know it's been mixed really well.)

With a spoon, get a heaping amount of dough and plop it into your oven-safe pan. (I LOVE cooking mine in cast iron.) The dough makes about 7-8 large biscuits.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

(And if you want to add goat cheese and honey blueberries and syrup like I did - go right ahead, it's delicious!)

Recipe: Homemade Deodorant/Antiperspirant (that Works!)

The very first "crunchy" skincare product I ever made was deodorant. My work contract had just ended and I didn't have anything lined up right after, which meant at least a week off of work, which was plenty of time to test out some homemade deodorant.

I'm not going to lie. I had an odor problem. And a sweating problem. My deodorant would last maybe an hour two, sometimes half a day. I used prescription strength. I even asked my doctor for botox injections in my armpits. He laughed and said no. (Jerk.) So I just carried anti-antiperspirant deodorant in my purse and re-applied whenever I could.

I was not excited to try out homemade deodorant, but I figured I'd give it a shot. And I only gave it a shot because another stinky sweater at Crunchy Betty, like myself, wrote a post about homemade deodorant being better than traditional deodorant. And not just better, but AMAZING.

So I tried it out one of her recipes. The first day I had to reapply mid-day. And after that? No problems whatsoever. I've never been stinky since. I've never had to reapply mid-day.

As for the awful underarm wetness I used to have, and I'm talking completely soaked and ultimately stained shirts, I've never had a problem with that either. I'm not saying there isn't some wetness. It's hard to avoid when it's 100 degrees outside, but I don't have underarm wetness just walking down the street anymore. I don't have to toss shirts. I don't have to worry about anything getting stained. I feel amazing.

And you can too!

Another note on this amazing concoction: I've always had rather rough feeling, generally bumpy armpits. I hated raising my hand if I wasn't wearing sleeves of some kind (and even then, I tended to avoid it because God knows what you could smell). After using my homemade version, I have silky smooth pits.

A quick word about rashes and bumps: They do happen, especially if you're allergic to the ingredients. I find that when I don't mix all of the ingredients as well I should, I'll get too much of a certain ingredient on my skin and it will cause problems. For example, too much coconut oil not mixed properly with arrowroot powder and baking soda causes my pores to clog. Too much baking soda in a clump causes my skin to turn red.

For me, I find it's easily avoidable as long as I mix well. I have also found that cornstarch (which can be substituted for arrowroot powder) is not something my skin likes and it gets sore and red and a layer will peel off. It's nasty. But I have no problems with the arrowroot powder so it's worth it to me to seek it out in stores or online and pay a little extra.

If you're new to the crunchy lifestyle, as I was, it can be a little expensive to buy your ingredients, but you'll have them on hand to make many, many batches and, if you do make other crunchy cosmetics and household items, you'll find that the items overlap.

So it's expensive at first, but really cheap if you stick with it. I think I paid $30 for the 3 ingredients, and I've only had to replace the coconut oil in two years, and that's because I use coconut oil all the time!

Ingredients
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
5 tablespoons coconut oil
5-10 drops essential oils (my favorite is lavender!)

Preparation
Mix dry ingredients together.

If your coconut oil is solid, heat it on the stove until it's liquid. Add in the liquefied coconut oil. Add in the essential oils of your choice. Stir well.

For storage, you can keep this in a container and use an applicator to apply. I actually kept the last deodorant container I bought. I cleaned it, rinsed it out, and I pour my homemade deodorant into that so I can roll it on per usual.

Because this has coconut oil in it and coconut oil liquefies at room temperature (and way over - for those of us living without central air conditioning!), I keep my deodorant in the fridge. It's really easy to put it on in the morning when I'm getting ready for the day and I don't have to deal with a mess in the bathroom.

When I'm traveling and don't have access to a traveling fridge, I keep it in a small container and carry an applicator. It may sound complicated, but it's pretty simple and part of my routine now.

Recipe: Summer Frittata

While I'm not typically a fan of eggs by themselves and egg-heavy food items like an omelette or certain types of quiche, I do really love a frittata in the summer time with lots of fresh produce.

Look at all the delicious summer squash!

In case you're not sure what exactly a frittata is, let me explain. (It's okay, I didn't know what they were until I read the French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook!) Essentially, you mix eggs with veg, cheese, meat, whatever you desire. You cook it a bit on the stove before popping it in the oven or under the broiler to finish.

A quiche, just for comparison, usually has a crust and some type of milk or cream added to the mix.

So to sum up: it's a quick, easy, and a delicious breakfast!

Ingredients
5 eggs
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 small yellow squash, chopped
2 tbsps fresh parsley
5 stalks of kale, chopped
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
salt and pepper
olive oil
1/2 cup parmesan, grated

Ingredients
Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and beat with a fork.

Add the squash, kale,

goat cheese, and parsely. Stir to combine.

Heat the olive oil in an oven safe pan over medium heat. Preheat the broiler.

Add the mixture to the oven-safe pan. As the eggs cook, gently lift the edges up with a spatula and rotate the pan so that the uncooked eggs run underneath. Do this for the first 1-2 minutes, until the eggs begin to solidify. Once they have, cook for an additional 5-6 minutes until the eggs are set.

Cover the mixture in parmesan and place the pan under the broiler for 1-3 minutes. The eggs will puff up, and the cheese will melt and brown slightly.

Remove from the oven and enjoy!

Recipe: Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

I look forward to making this dessert every summer. I troll the farmer's markets carefully, always on the prowl for bright red rhubarb stalks that my grocery store never carries. I can usually spot one or two stands at the market who offer it, and usually the rhubarb is right next to the bright red, plump, and juicy strawberries that nature intended it to go with.

Okay, maybe this recipe isn't inspired by the heavens, but it's pretty close to perfect - and the fact that I can only have it a handful of times each summer just makes it all the sweeter!

Ingredients
3/4 cup of flour
2/3 cup of sugar, plus 1/2 cup
large pinch of salt
6 tbsps unsalted butter
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds or walnuts
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 pound of strawberries, hulled and quartered (about 3.5 cups)
12 ounces of rhubarb, ends trimmed, chopped

Preparation
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, 2/3 cup of sugar, and salt. Add the butter to the mixture, blending in with your fingertips until the mixture is clumpy. Mix in the oats and nuts.

Preheat the oven to 375.

In a separate mixing bowl, add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well. Add the strawberries and rhubarb and toss to coat with the sugar mixture.

Scrape the fruit into your baking dish until it covers the bottom evenly.  Sprinkle the oat topping evenly on top.

Bake until the filling bubbles up and over the oat topping, about 45 minutes.

Let cool for 15 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

Recipe: Spicy Bacon Jam

This post is a bit late, but since my Father's Day gift was a bit late (sorry, dad!), I suppose it's okay.

What do you get for the dad who doesn't like watching sports or playing golf? My father doesn't work in an office so ties and cuff links are out. His company is woodworking so buying tools is sort of like giving a housewife an iron. Not cool. (Also, I can't afford the tools he does want.) Oh, and he doesn't drink. Gifts can be hard.

So bacon jam has started popping up on menus here in NYC, and I knew after the third time I ordered it from yet another restaurant that I needed to make some and send it as a Father's Day gift.

I'm not going to lie, it's pretty incredible.

I decided to base my recipe off of Martha Stewart's recipe and while it doesn't look pretty, it's very tasty. There isn't any fruit in this so calling it jam is a bit of a misnomer, but it is sweet and it does have a jelly-like substance to it. The bacon is rendered so it isn't crunchy; typically I dislike non-crunchy bacon but it works perfectly with the texture.

So what does one do with bacon jam?

I suppose you could slap some on a piece of baguette, perhaps with a bit of brie cheese and eat it like that. I've been putting it as a condiment on my sandwiches - as you can see in the photos with  my cheddar, pepperjack, and avocado sandwiches.

I put it in pasta as well, which was good, but not as delicious as the sandwich. I'm looking forward to mixing some in with my eggs, as well as maybe stirring some into some fried potatoes!


Ingredients
1 pound sliced bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced
1 jalapeno
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
3 ounces pure maple syrup
3/4 cup brewed coffee

Preparation
In a large skillet over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, cook bacon until the fat has been rendered, about half an hour. If you haven't rendered bacon before, the goal is to turn the fatty parts of the bacon into liquid grease; you'll end up with a skillet of it!

With a slotted spoon, scoop out the bacon pieces, leaving the grease, and place bacon pieces on a paper towel.

Add onions and jalapeno and cook in the bacon grease for about 4-6 minutes. When onions have softened and are turning translucent, add the garlic, vinegar, sugar, syrup, and coffee and bring to a boil.

Boil for about 2 minutes and then add the bacon pieces back into the mixture.

Remove from heat and transfer mixture to a slow cooker. Cook uncovered on high for 4 hours, until liquid is syrupy.

Transfer to a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.

You can enjoy right away, otherwise store in the fridge.

Recipe: Homemade Toothpaste

So not only do I make most of my food from scratch (or try to, at least!), I also try to make most of my toiletries from scratch as well, for generally the same reason: I'm trying to cut out the high number of preservatives and potentially harmful ingredients I'm exposed to on a daily basis.

When I ran out of toothpaste one day, I figured I'd give toothpaste making a go.


After a bit of research, it turns out that we don't necessarily need to brush our teeth with anything other than water and a toothbrush. Flossing is much more important as we really need to get the food out from in between our teeth.

As you can imagine, my breath was awful so I gave up on that after a day.

So with a bit more research, I tried making a paste with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide and brushing with that. My breath was slightly better and, WOW, my teeth were sparkling white. After 2-3 days of this mixture, my teeth became very sensitive from the whitening.

I tried just baking soda by itself, but that is nasty. Also, it doesn't really neutralize bad breath. And if I remember correctly, just baking soda still leaves grit on your teeth. Gross.

I think I experimented a bit more, but now I have this recipe that I love, adapted from Wellness Mama. My teeth feel clean, my breath smells great (generally speaking), and the calcium in this recipe potentially remineralizes teeth. (She explains how that works on her site.)

I'm not a dentist or a researcher so I'll not claim anything here, except my own experience. Between this toothpaste recipe and regular flossing, my teeth look and feel better than they ever have before.

Ingredients
5 parts calcium powder (dried, powdered eggshells will also work)
2 parts baking soda
3 parts xylitol
5 parts coconut oil
10-20 drops peppermint essential oil
5 drops orange essential oil

Note: I tend to use tablespoons for mine so it would 5 tbsps calcium powder, 2 tbsps, baking soda, etc.

Mix dry ingredients together.

Heat coconut oil if necessary until the oil liquefies. Add oil one part at a time until desired consistency. (I like about 5 tablespoons in mine; you may prefer more or less.)

Stir in essential oils.

Store and use!

I keep mine in a ceramic container in the bathroom. If it's just you and you're confident in your hygiene, you can just dip your toothbrush into it.

If there are multiple people in your household, you could add an applicator or try putting it in an icing/frosting tube and squeezing it out.

Recipe: Spinach Gnocchi in a Parmesan Butter Sauce

For lots of reasons, I've been rather lax about preparing meals lately. I'm not proud of it, and I've definitely not felt as amazing as I usually do BUT I'm still trying to eat as fresh and healthy as I can.

I came up with this dish due to lack of time and energy and it is very tasty and very rich considering the little effort that goes into it.  Because this is one of my last minute, go-to recipes, I don't have exact measurements or ingredients. I tend to make it with whatever I have on hand, and it's even tasty plain. Of course, I much prefer it with vegetables in it because it's much heartier and more filling, but use what you have on hand for this quick dish.

I found fresh (and affordable!) gnocchi with spinach ground into the pasta. So that's the base. I whipped up a quick butter sauce while the gnocchi was boiling. If you're feeling ambitious, toss fresh vegetables in the butter and saute them. If you're lazy and have fermented vegetables on hand, just wait until everything is ready and add a spoonful on top when it's finished baking. (You can guess which one I did...)

Ingredients
1 pound of gnocchi
3-4 tablespoons of butter
parmesan cheese

optional: shallots (or fermented onions), garlic, fresh spinach, bit of lemon juice (or zest of preserved lemons), chili flakes, salt, pepper

Preparation
Place a pot of water on the stove. Add the gnocchi once the water begins to boil. Keep an eye on it as it usually only takes 4 minutes.

Place your butter in a pan on the stove as well.

If you're using fresh produce, you'll need a bit more butter, it should be on medium heat, and you should begin sauteing. Start with the shallots/onions and saute until they're golden brown - about 4 minutes. If you have anything else crunchy you want to add, do it now. Otherwise, as the shallots/onions brown, add the rest of your ingredients: spinach, lemon juice/zest, garlic, and spices.

If you're not using fresh produce, keep your butter on low heat.

I like to add the cheese (after the veg have softened) and let it melt into the butter. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

As the gnocchi finishes (it will get all fluffy and float to the top of the pan), I add it to the sauce/veg mixture and saute it for a few more minutes.

Add the gnocchi and sauce to your bowl and let it cool for a moment or two. If you're using fermented veg, now would be the time to add it and stir it into the dish.

And there you go! Very simple and delicious.

Total time: 5-10 minutes
Serves: 2 people

Recipe: Cheesy Mexican Pasta

Sometimes I make kefir cheese, and I'm not really sure what to do with it. Sometimes it's too sour, sometimes it's too hard, and other time I don't have any herbs to mix with it - or bread, for that matter.

But then, sometimes, I stumble on brilliant websites that inspire me to create something fun and new!

When I make macaroni and cheese, I tend to favor the healthier versions... but if there isn't a ton of cheese, and if it's kefir cheese, well, I'm sure that's all right.

This is mostly made of fermented items. The sauce is added at the end to ensure a lot of the priobiotics (aka the good bacteria) survive and make it into your belly in one piece. Like my other fermented pasta sauce, the end result is warm enough to eat and enjoy - but nowhere near hot enough to burn your tongue. Just perfect!

Ingredients
bacon
pasta
8 oz kefir cheese (or cream cheese)
1.5 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 fermented jalapenos, sliced
2-3 rings of fermented onions, sliced
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon of garlic paste
scallions

Preparation
Place bacon in the oven. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until desired level of crispiness.

Boil water - and cook your pasta.

While pasta and bacon are cooking, combine the kefir cheese, cheddar cheese, and sliced jalapenos in a bowl. Mix well.

If you're not using fermented foods, saute the onions, garlic, and peppers per normal. Once they're soft enough to eat, let them cool and add them to the cheese mixture.

Once pasta is finished, drain and divide into bowls. Spoon a mixture of the cheese sauce into the bowl. It will slowly melt over the pasta. Stir to distribute the cheese evenly. Add bacon, garlic paste, and scallions on top. Enjoy!

Recipe: Fermented Jalapeno and Cayenne Peppers

I think I've made my position known here before: I am not a huge fan of spicy foods.

However, I make a lot of spicy food anyway because the boyfriend loves it. I'm slowly learning to love it, as apparently spicy food is an acquired taste, but often that means I have a lot of spicy peppers left over and I certainly don't like to eat them. While I did make hot sauce so he could season his food appropriately, I found another great fermenting idea to satisfy us both.

I started doing this last year when I noticed a lot of jalapenos on sale at the farmer's market for $1. Obviously I'm not going to use the entire bag in a week, so I decided to ferment them in brine.

In addition to the health benefits for fermenting (which, coincidentally, is the reason I pass these out to nauseous people), the peppers become a little softer and are a great snack. They also become a little more mellow and not as spicy so I can use a bit more in my food.

Even though the spice factor has been taken down a notch or two, if you're not used to spicy foods, I do NOT recommend drinking the brine. You could probably mix it with alcohol for a fun drink though.

For this I used jalapeno peppers and cayenne peppers.

Ingredients
A decent amount of peppers - enough to fit in your jar
Salt
Water
Optional: Garlic, Onions, Pepper, any other spices

Preparation
The amount of salt to water depends on the size of your container. I usually make a 2% brine, which is 1 tablespoon per quart of filtered water.

I fill the quart jar about halfway and add a tablespoon of salt. Dissolve the salt.

Gently rinse your peppers. Slice however you like and place them in the jar.

Pack the peppers (and other optional spices and flavorings) in until the jar is full - leave about an inch of room at the top. If necessary, add more filtered water until all the peppers are covered.

Because vegetables have a tendency to float, add a weight of some kind. Some people use rocks, glass balls, a small glass, a plastic bag filled with water - anything to keep the vegetables from popping up. I wedged a long piece of pepper under the mouth of the jar to keep everything down on the jar on the left.

Wait about a week, depending on the temperature of your home. Taste the peppers and if you love them, stick them in the fridge to slow down the fermentation. Enjoy!

Recipe: Preserved Lemons and Limes

Even though I enjoy experimenting with different ferments, I felt a little strange about this one. For those that don't know, preserved lemons and limes are preserved in salt. Like most fermented foods, the color dulls and the liquid becomes cloudy.

But the peel also becomes softened. You can eat the peel.

As someone who finds the taste of lemons and limes to be a bit overwhelming, I thought about skipping this one.

But articles kept popping up about it. I saw a lovely article on NPR about preserved lemons and how they should be preserved. Phickle exclaimed that preserved lemons were gold and could be used in almost any dish, from Middle Eastern to Italian. But I think what really convinced me was when Food in Jars pureed the preserved lemons for a versatile lemon sauce.

Because while I don't make a lot of Middle Eastern cuisine or drink salty Thai lemonade, I could really use some lemon sauce on hand for recipes that call for lemon juice or lemon zest. Because I rarely have any on hand, and when I do buy lemons, I always end up wasting part of them.

So I headed down to the organic store to pick up some lemons. I decided to do limes while I was at it, which was a bad idea. It was snowing and freezing outside and while I was preparing the limes, I just really wanted to make guacamole and margaritas. (It should warm up soon, right?!)

Anyway, I highly recommend these! I finally tried the peel last night and it was surprisingly delicious. I don't know if I would munch on lemon peels as a snack, but I can definitely see myself slicing them and sticking them in pasta. I think at some point I'll blend everything into a paste, but for now I love the juice and the peels. I especially love that I have lemons and limes on hand now!

Of course you can use your preserved lemons anywhere you use regular lemons and lemon juice: in salad dressings, stews, dips, pastas, etc.

I wrote the recipe below for lemons, but it's the same for limes.

Ingredients
5 lemons, or however many will fit in your jar
1-3 more lemons, for the extra juice
Lots of sea salt

Preparation
Place about a tablespoon of sea salt in the bottom of your jar.

Clean your lemons.

Slice the tops and bottoms off of the lemons.

Take a knife and cut an X shape into them about 3/4 of the way down - however be careful not to cut through the lemon entirely. Everything should still be connected.

Liberally salt the exposed flesh of the lemon. Place the salted lemon into the jar.

(In theory you should remove the seeds, but I gave up after removing a few. I can easily pick around them.)

Take a wooden spoon and gently mash the lemon in the jar. You're trying to juice the salted lemon and also make room for other lemons.

Repeat the above process, cramming as many lemons into the jar as you can.

Once your jar is full, squeeze the juice of the remaining lemons into it. You want the lemon peels underneath the juice.

Place a lid on your jar. Shake it once a day - and  remember to push the peels back under the lemon juice.

Leave it out for about a month (shaking it daily). The juice will thicken and begin to look cloudy. The peels will begin to soften and lose their bright color.

You can leave it out at room temperature or place it in the fridge if you'd prefer. If you leave it out, just remember to make sure that the lemon peels are covered.

And enjoy! You have lots of lemons on hand for quite awhile!

Recipe: Spicy Brown Mustard from Scotch Ale

Mustard is a new friend of mine. Growing up I hated it - or at least I hated yellow mustard, which was really all that was offered to me since I was a child.

Recently I started to experiment with different types and I came to really love the spicy condiment. Then I started buying whole mustard seeds to flavor some of my ferments.

So of course the next step became to make and ferment my own mustard. I found a fun recipe for Spicy Stout Mustard over at Inspired Mama Musings. I modified based on ingredients I had on hand and I have to say that this is probably the best mustard I've ever had.

It's spicy. It's tangy. It's perfect on sandwiches. My only complaint is that it's so flavorful that if I put it on something plain and boring (like a turkey sandwich), it completely overtakes the flavor. But I think that just means I need to step up my sandwich game, right?

Ingredients
1.5 cups whole mustard seeds
6 ounces beer - I used Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale
4 ounces balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp tumeric, nutmeg, cinnamon
2 whole cloves
1 tsp honey (raw if you have it)

Preparation
Combine your ingredients in a glass jar and stir.

Cover and place the jar in a dark place and sit until the mustard seeds have absorbed all the liquid, about 1-2 days.

In case you're not sure, my mustard seeds were actually spilling out of the top because there was no more room for them once they absorbed the liquid!

Place contents in a blender and process until smooth. Not all of your mustard seeds will blend perfectly, and that's okay. Because the seeds absorbed the liquid, they're soft.

After blending, store in the fridge for 6-8 months. Enjoy!

Recipe: Fermented Garlic Paste

I love garlic.

Before I started fermenting, I would cook garlic in everything. When I discovered that garlic is antibacterial and antiviral, I started eating it raw to get rid of my colds (which works for about 12 hours, by the way, but still it's generally better than most OTC medicine).

But then I fermented garlic, and yes, I feel I have stepped my garlic game up in a serious way.

I just sort of made this one up as I couldn't really find any garlic paste recipes out there that I liked. It's really simple. Some people leave it to sit out for 6-12 weeks, but I got impatient and sampled it after a week. It's strong and absolutely incredible.

Maybe don't attempt this if you don't like garlic.

But then again, I've heard people say that fermenting garlic makes it much more mild. Maybe those are the people that let it ferment for 6-12 weeks.

Ingredients
Lots of garlic
Sea salt
Filtered water

Preparation
Peel all the garlic. I know a lot of people who claim this youtube video is helpful, but it did not help me. I peeled it all by hand, and I started to question whether it was all worth it. Trust me, I'd peel more if I had to.

Dissolve your sea salt in the filtered water to make your brine. I used a 2% brine or about 1 tablespoon of sea salt.

Add the garlic to the brine and let it sit for about a week. Blend it up when you're ready to eat it.

Have someone ready and waiting when you swoon the first time you smell it. Be prepared to put it on everything!

Recipe: Avocado Cream Pasta with Bacon

This is the perfect recipe when it's warm out. Or whenever, really. I found the inspiration for this recipe at the Realistic Nutritionist and I've been making my own version ever since.

This recipe involves an avocado cream sauce with pasta. I substitute milk kefir for cream which gives it another level of flavor. However, it's tricky to warm this up without burning the avocado (or the cream/kefir) which is why I tend to only make this during the summer months. 

My trick, in case, you're having problems yourself, is to time the pasta and bacon to finish at the same time and then add the sauce - the sauce warms up a bit because of the hot pasta and bacon and it all evens out in your mouth.

Ingredients

2 avocados

1-2 cups of milk kefir (or cream)

small squeeze of lime or lemon 

4 pieces of bacon

1 small onion (or 3 shallots)

Monterrey Jack cheese

Cheddar cheese

garlic paste (or 3-4 garlic cloves)

1 tsp pepper flakes (or cayenne pepper)

salt

pepper

oil 

2-3 cups cooked pasta

Preparation

Cook your pasta. 

Cook your bacon. (I prefer to put mine in the oven at 400 for 15-20 minutes.)

Put some oil in a pan and saute your onions. If you're using garlic cloves, add  them to the pan after a few minutes as well. Cook until the onions are translucent - about 5 minutes.

While everything is heating up, peel your avocado and scoop it into a blender or food processor. Add the milk kefir/cream, a squeeze of a lemon or lime, and a teaspoon of hot pepper flakes.

When the onion mixture has finished, add it to the blender and pulse until smooth. If you want your sauce a little thinner, add more kefir/cream.

When the pasta is finished, spoon it into your bowl. Pour the sauce on top. Crumble your bacon and add it on top as well. Top it off with some cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.

If you're using garlic paste, put a small bit on top - perhaps a quarter of a teaspoon.

Enjoy! 

Total time: 30 minutes
Serving: 2-3 people

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