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BLT Stuffed Tomatoes

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I’ve been craving BLTs.  We’ve got fresh tomatoes and bacon in the freezer.  We also have fresh cucumbers.  While it isn’t called for in the recipe, you could use cucumber in place of the green onions, too, or mix cucumber and romaine.

Bacon, lettuce and tomato is a classic combination.  This recipe has a nice presentation and eliminates the carbs from the bread.  This also makes for a quick meal if you cook and crumble the bacon ahead and store it in the fridge or freezer.  If I have a recipe calling for a slice or two of bacon, I cook the whole pound and put the excess in the freezer for the next time I need some.

The leftover bacon grease can be used as the fat in seasoning vegetables or to fry eggs for a savory recipe.  Never throw out the bacon fat, it’s useful for many different meals.
[Read more…] about BLT Stuffed Tomatoes

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‘Fast Food’ Breakfasts

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One of the main complaints about Traditional Foods meals is the amount of time needed to plan and assemble the meals. Sometimes it seems like every ingredient needs advance preparation. There are a variety of strategies to combat this problem. Making a menu plan with a preparation schedule is extremely important. Batch cooking tried-and-true recipes is another essential tool, to have leftovers or freeze the excess for another meal.

By far, the hardest meal to deal with for many is breakfast. It’s not that the planning ahead or cooking is difficult. The issue is that for most people, mornings are the most hectic part of the day. Many moms tell me they throw up their hands and give in to their children’s pleas for a bowl of cereal (with raw milk) when the alarm doesn’t go off or another mishap happens that cuts into the amount of time set aside to get ready. How many mornings have you had the dryer eat your clothing, the baby spit up on your only clean top or the wild hunt for the missing toddler shoe that got up and walked off by itself?

The best way I have found to circumvent these mornings is [Read more…] about ‘Fast Food’ Breakfasts

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Baby Steps- changing to healthier fats

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If you’re wishing to change to a traditional foods diet, one of the first changes to make is the type of fat you are using.

  • Shortening- if you’re new to baking your own goodies, the best substitute for shortening in baked goods is Spectrum’s palm oil shortening.  Butter will also work where the fat is cut into flour in order to create a flaky structure in a baked good.  Make sure the butter is cold before you cut it in.  If you are dairy free and making something with enough substance to hold its own structure, such as biscuits, coconut oil will work.  Again, cut it in cold.  Coconut oil will also work for any baked good cooked in a baking dish, since you don’t need to worry about the spreading issue.  Coconut oil will not work in cookies, as the low melting point makes them spread too thin and merge with each other.  Lard can also work as the fat in some pastries, such as pie crusts, for savory dishes.
  • Liquid oils- liquid oils such as vegetable oil, canola oil or soy oil can be exchanged with butter or coconut oil.  You can also use lard or tallow, depending on the dish.  If the flavor of the dish blends well with those fats, it works great.  Tallow, in particular, has a strong flavor and smell and must be used carefully to disguise it or your kids will likely reject it on smell alone.  The first time I used tallow, my husband walked into the house and exclaimed, “WHAT is that smell?!?”
  • Peanut oil- for frying.  If you’re doing french fries, lard and tallow work great.  Coconut oil also does well to fry foods.
  • Olive oil- olive oil is great in unheated applications.  It’s great for drizzling on finished dishes or for salad dressings.  However, because olive oil has a low smoke point, you should use oils appropriate for heat in cooked applications.  The best two options are coconut oil and butter.  You can also use the Spectrum palm oil shortening in heated applications.
  • Margarine- switch to butter.
  • Bacon fat-  Keep using it.  It’s great to put into vegetable dishes for flavor.  You can not absorb the nutrients in vegetables without some fat with them.  Do your best to source a quality bacon that doesn’t have nitrates and nitrites.  I prefer Applegate Farms when I can’t get a locally produced bacon.
  • Mayonnaise- switch to a quality one made with good oils, or make your own at home.  Wilderness Family Naturals makes a mayo with good oils, and is the one I recommend.  WAPF recommends Delouis Fils.
  • Lard- commercially available lards are preserved with BHT and other chemicals.  If at all possible, get lard from a local farmer who raises their hogs on pasture.  You can also make your own lard at home.

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KerryAnn Foster runs Cooking Traditional Foods, the longest running Traditional Foods Menu Mailer on the internet. KerryAnn has over nine years of traditional foods experience and is a former Weston A. Price Foundation chapter leader. Founded in 2005, CTF helps you feed your family nourishing foods they will love. Each mailer contains one soup, five dinners, one breakfast, on dessert and extras. You can learn more about our Menu Mailers at the CTF website. For a free sample Menu Mailer, join our mailing list. You can also join our forum to chat with other traditional foodists and learn more.

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Ring in the New Year- Rumaki

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This year, I am most thankful to see 2010 leave.  Not for myself, as we did not experience upheaval, but because some dear friend’s lives have seen 2010 marked with death, sickness and tragedy.  I will gladly welcome 2011 as a fresh start, as I know they will.

I prefer to be asleep or close to it when the ball drops in Time’s Square. But I know many folks love a party, so the New Year’s mailer contained an assortment of party foods for New Year’s Eve.  If you’d like to purchase that issue, you can do so here.  This is a recipe from that mailer.  The mailer contains normal meal Monday through Thursday, Friday has appetizers and multiple desserts, all finger foods.  Saturday has a traditional New Year’s meal.

[Read more…] about Ring in the New Year- Rumaki

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Back to Basics Series

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The Back to Basics series is going quite well.  So far, we have covered nine weeks of basic recipes, including:

Family Favorite main dishes- apple and maple chicken, BBQ sauerkraut meatballs, chicken fajitas, pot pie, burrito beans, fish sticks, chicken fingers, French chicken, sweet and sour chicken and more
Family Favorite breakfasts- sweet sausage, fried oatmeal, puff pancakes, oven bacon and more
Family Favorite desserts- peanut butter cups, blondies, brownies, various puddings and custards, baked goods with hidden vegetables, ice cream, impossible pie
Family Favorite side dishes- mashed potatoes, sauteed greens, french fries from butternut squash and more
How to make spaghetti sauce and chili loaded with veggies
How to broil and grill a steak
How to prepare batches of meat for the freezer that will marinate as they thaw
How to make beef stew, stroganoff and beef roast in the oven and the crock-pot
How to make meatballs
How to make falafel and tahini salad dressing
How to roast a chicken in the oven and the crock-pot and make rubber chicken meals- stretching a roasted chicken into multiple meals
Hiding sauerkraut and liver in ground meat dishes
How to bake the side dish in with the main dish to save time and electricity
How to make meatloaf with hidden veggies and without using breadcrumbs
How to cook soaked beans with non-acidic seasonings to make a meal instead of pre-cooking them
How to make sauerkraut
How to soak grains and flour
How to make latkas and hash
How to cook dry beans in the crock-pot
How to make taco meat and taco seasoning mix
How to make a tamale pie with any filling
How to make pesto
How to make juicy, pan-seared chicken thighs and breasts
How to make cream of ____ soup, also called white sauce

And much, much more!

This series runs until New Years.  If you would like to join us, you can purchase the back issues and subscribe at the Menu Mailer website.

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KerryAnn Foster runs Cooking Traditional Foods, the longest running Traditional Foods Menu Mailer on the internet. KerryAnn has over nine years of traditional foods experience and is a former Weston A. Price Foundation chapter leader. Founded in 2005, CTF helps you feed your family nourishing foods they will love. Each mailer contains one soup, five dinners, one breakfast, on dessert and extras. You can learn more about our Menu Mailers at the CTF website. For a free sample Menu Mailer, join our mailing list. You can also join our forum to chat with other traditional foodists and learn more.

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Cheap Eats- Budget Breakfasts I: Latkas

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It seems so many are struggling with their finances right now.  My husband has been unemployed since May, so we know the struggle well.  I’d like to share some of the recipes we use to help keep the food costs down.  These prices are assuming that you are not buying in bulk and are shopping at a health food store.  I will be posting a series of recipes over the next few weeks.

 

Latkas (from the Menu Mailer, Volume 3 Week 20)

Total meal cost $1.25, 31 cents a serving without applesauce or sour cream and not reclaiming the oil

4 potatoes (30 cents) (can use up to 1 cup grated zucchini if on hand)
1 carrot, optional (10 cents)
1 onion (10 cents) or finely chopped, leftover green onion
1 egg (25 cents if you don’t have your own chickens)
1 Tbs flour of your choice (rice flour two cents)
½ tsp baking powder (1.4 cents, Bob’s Red Mill)
1 tsp salt (Redmond’s real salt, 5 cents when bought from Amazon)
dash pepper (a penny)
Oil for frying (40 cents, I use leftover bacon grease combined with coconut oil or Palm shortening and can reclaim the oil left for more frying later)

Grate the potato, carrot and onion and place into a colander to drain. Squeeze out as much moisture from the mixture as you can. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper until combined. Add the potato mixture and stir until combined. Add a little extra flour, if needed, to get the mixture to stick together.

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven by one-quarter inch over medium-high heat. Place 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture into the oil and spread it to make a circle. Fry for 4-5 minutes on each side or until browned and crispy. Add additional oil between batches if needed if the latkas absorb the oil. Serve immediately.

Serve with applesauce or sour cream.

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