Raspberry Lemonade Smoothie

Meet my new favorite hot weather breakfast...and lunch....and dinner.....

Raspberry Lemonade Smoothie!

Ingredients per serving:
1 forage fed egg
1 cup lemonade
1 generous pinch salt
1/4-1 tsp cream of tartar
1 handful frozen red raspberries
sugar to taste **

**These raspberries are exceptional and don't really need extra sugar, but sometimes commercial berries need a little help.

Blend and pour immediately, fresh is best.

No Bake Cheesecake - GF

The original recipe: Rich No Bake Cheesecake

I replaced the whipping cream with sour cream, orange juice for the water in the filling.  The crust I made with cocoa butter (didn't have any butter) and chopped, dried coconut instead of crumbs and I added a little homemade baking powder. Oh and a little salt and cream of tartar, well, because I add it to almost everything.

Ingredients:

.5 cup orange juice
1 cup sugar
2 TBS unflavored beef gelatin
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 TBS cream of tartar

Dissolve gelatin in OJ, then add the rest of the ingredients from the above group.  Heat, while stirring, until the liquid become translucent.  Let cool a bit.


16 oz cream cheese (softened)
8-16 oz sour cream
1-2 TBS coconut oil (optional)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix the above ingredients in a blender or food processor, then add orange juice mix.

Crust: (Optional)
2 cups dried coconut, chopped fine in blender or food processor
1/2 cup cocoa butter
1 TBS arrowroot powder (optional?)
1/2 cup cane sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp baking soda

The To-Go Version

 Chop coconut as small as you can, then add in cocoa butter, then the rest of the ingredients.  Fill pie pan or spring form pan and bake at 350* F for 5 minutes.  Let cool completely. (If you make the crust first, you can stick it in the freezer to chill while prepping the filling.)

Put filling in crust and chill for about 2 hours.  The filling makes 1 large cheesecake in a spring form pan or 2 pies....or 1 pie and 4 individual serving sized crust-less cheesecakes for "To Go" food.

Future variations:

• Using baking chocolate in place of some of the fat in the crust, perhaps with butter.  The crust had an awesome flavor and texture, but was a little bit firm for cutting a bite off.  (The first piece I thought I cut lifted the WHOLE thing out of the pan.)  Butter would be a softer fat when chilled.
• Using rice flour in part or instead of coconut.  Every once in a while, the dried coconut taste was too strong or slightly "twangy."
• Omitting or reducing the sour cream to make a summer weight cheesecake.  The flavor was spectacular, worked well, but I wanted a little more "cheese" in the cheesecake.
• Cherries! (Does that really need explanation?)

UPDATE:
This makes a fabulous brownie topping at room temperature, just add extra OJ. Seriously, it's good.

See Ya In The Gumbo

Beet Pickled Eggs

The grass is popping and the chickens are laying, so fresh eggs are in abundance....yeah, taking over the fridge. I was inspired by the many GORGEOUS pictures of eggs pickled with beet juice...they look like a sunrise when cut open.

Ingredients:
Leftover beet juice or pickling liquid
ACV
Cane Sugar
Hard cooked Eggs
Sea Salt
Cream of Tartar
Pickling Spices (optional)

1. Cook eggs to the hard cooked stage and chill WELL, this can be done in advance.
2. Mix the ACV, juice, sugar, salt, cream of tartar and spices, if using, together in a pan. 
3. Adjust proportions to taste,  I like a sweet tart flavor with emphasis on sweet.  
4. Bring to a quick boil and let cool while peeling chilled eggs.
5. Layer eggs in a wide mouth jar and cover with warm beet juice.
6. Let sit, refrigerated, for a few days, at least.
7. Enjoy!

Update:  Taste test after 2 days soaking earns 2 thumbs up...even better than I expected!
(No picture available of one cut open, I couldn't wait to eat it.)

When 6-10 inches.... isn't

In any discussion of feeding a ruminant animal with grass (or hay), it is important to clarify the nature of the grass when grazed or cut for hay.  Grazing at 6-10 inches is a common recommendation for cool season grasses. Hay recommendations can vary significantly, but a lot of times the actual cutting is influenced more by the weather than the ideal cutting time. Beware of so called hay (straw) cut after the grass has matured and the seed combined for sale separately. My "ideal" is to graze and feed hay cut as close to the vegetative state as possible....without it being immature. (Immature is preferred for chickens.)

An article of the different stages of grass growth:  Developmental Phases of Grass

By the way, these pictures were taken of the LAWN, not the pasture.  The grazing goal was to trim, not maximize production.

This grass technically falls in the 6-10 inches category,  but the most nutritious part has already been grazed.

This grass is 10-12 inches and has already been grazed as well.  The remaining grass is "stemmy" and over mature.  Percentage of  stems is something to watch for when buying hay as well.

Barn Hop
Simple Lives Thursday

All Flesh is Grass

The remainder of Winter Stockpile...Take half, leave half allows for quicker regrowth when spring weather comes again.  All the girls agree, stockpile is better than hay!

Opal (LaMancha) and Tinkerbelle (Jersey)

Miss Swiss (Braunvieh)

Cocoa (Brown Swiss/Jersey)

Timkerbelle AKA Pocket

Barn Hop

Orange Brittle - homemade hard candy

3 cups cane sugar
1 cup water
pinch of sea salt
a dash or 2 of liquid minerals
a drop of orange essential oil
3 tbs cream of tartar
1 stick of butter

Cook until temp reaches 302* .....an hour or 2...I didn't keep track....just kept stirring occasionally. Let cool in a shallow,  level pan, I used a broiler pan.  Break apart when completely cool.


See Ya In The Gumbo
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Hearth and Soul Hop
Made from Scratch Tuesday
Totally Tasty Tuesdays

French Onion Style Potato Soup

Comfort food that travels well too.  I took some with me in a thermos and ate it  about 6-8 hours later.  Some of the cheese had dissolved into the broth...all the better, but I still had yummy clumps of melted cheese too.

Ingredients:
Homemade Beef Broth
Potatoes
Gelatin
Cheese
Salt
Pepper
Cane Sugar (optional)


I save all my leftover bones in freezer bags, along with onion skins.  When I have gathered enough to make a batch of broth, I just dump the bag into a pot, add some water and ACV and cook low and slow for a while.  This time I used my crock pot so I wouldn't take up stove space. Broth is done when I have time to strain and put away.  This batch was especially onion heavy in relation to the bones.  The smell throughout the house was wonderful.

I filled a pot with peeled and cubed potatoes (shredded would work too), then covered with the onion rich beef broth, salt and a little extra water to cover.  I brought to a boil, then simmered for 40-50 minutes...so an hour in total.  I added some gelatin towards the end and corrected the seasoning with a little more salt and a touch of pepper.  I ladled into bowl and topped with freshly shredded Swiss Cheese.  Oh yeah......

Pan Fried Beets with or without Egg

Pan Fried Beets

Fresh is best for this recipe, but canned would work too.


Heat up some coconut oil with a little butter or bacon grease, if desired. 

1. Add chopped beets, onions an potatoes.  
2. Salt generously.  
3. Cook until tender.  
4. Add a dash or so of fresh ground pepper.
5. Add a dash of ACV or other vinegar (optional)

Eggs and Beets

If you don't need "pretty" add an egg or 2. 

It looks kind of scary but the taste is wonderful!

Peppermint Stick Ice Milk

I discovered some sugar based peppermint candies with real peppermint oil.

Score!

So here it is, one of my all time favorite frozen desserts, modified from the Joy of Cooking:

1/5 lbs peppermint sticks/candies/pieces
4 cups fresh, whole milk
dark chocolate chips (optional)
2 finger pinch of sea salt

Mix ingredients together and let candies dissolve....a few hours or overnight. Add chocolate chips as needed, I used the "Enjoy Life" semisweets....no soy lecithin. Freeze in ice cream maker and serve.

Chunky Tomato Soup

Ingredients:
Leftover Creamy Orzo with Tomatoes
1 can of Tomatoes and chilies
Chicken tidbits, OG (optional)
2 TBS beef gelatin
2 TBS cane sugar
1 TBS cream of tartar
Milk
Sea salt


Leftovers don't have to be "old" to be used, it's actually better if they aren't.  We ate the Orzo for one meal, then it got re-purposed for the very next meal. Ketchup Boy hates tomatoes (no, I haven't figured that one out yet....) but begrudgingly admitted he really liked this.

See Ya In The Gumbo
Ingredient Spotlight : Tomatoes