Recently on the Facebook CTF page, someone mentioned a new dairy-free cheese on the market that melts and strings like real cheese. Since I’ve been working on developing a variety of pizza crusts, I decided to look into it. [Read more…] about Review- Daiya Dairy-Free Cheese
breakfast
Curried Pumpkin Soup
On the Facebook page for Cooking Traditional Foods, I often post what I’m cooking, along with reminders to do things like thaw your meat and soak your grains. Today I mentioned that I’m making curried pumpkin soup in preparation for the power outage that is expected. Several people requested the recipe, so I decided to post it here.
Beginning tonight and through Tuesday, we’re expecting ice and snow. I’m preparing four day’s worth of food. I’ve also made potato soup and I’m making chili, cornbread, some brownies and possibly some baked goods for breakfast later today.
This soup is insanely good. The combination of pumpkin, coriander, coconut milk and curry is beyond fabulous. Don’t skimp on the rapadura, it offsets the spiciness and really makes the flavor pop. If I could only have two soups in my life, this would be one of my choices.
Chicken Mole
This recipe was requested over on the CTF Facebook page. If you use Facebook, come over over and join us. I post daily reminders about thawing meats, soaking grains and planning your meals. It’s great if you’re in a meal-cooking rut or need some inspiration, because many folks post what they’re fixing for meals and snacks, too. I mentioned testing a chicken mole recipe and someone asked me to post it.
Chicken Mole
From the Menu Mailer
[Read more…] about Chicken Mole
Real Food Storage- Deep Pantry Principles for Traditional Foodists
Our Food Storage 101 article on our website was so popular, we decided to expand it into a blog series! Over the next several weeks, we will walk you through the whys and hows of food storage, whether you wish to have a week or a year of food on hand.
Why Should I Store Food?
There are many reasons why people choose to practice some form of food storage, and none of them are wrong. So many people are concerned right now. Since I began working with food storage in 2007, I have seen many reasons to choose to stock a deep pantry.
- You wish to be prepared for a hurricane, a snow storm or an extended power outage.
- While you might currently have a stable job, you know that unemployment is over 10% nationally, topping 15% in some areas. A recent Gallup poll showed that under-employment was at 19%. You aren’t currently dealing with unemployment, but you’re concerned it might be around the corner.
- You’re looking to wisely invest your tax refund, knowing that currently the rising price of food is outpacing the interest rate, so the purchase of bulk food at a discounted price is a doubly wise investment of your funds.
- You are a family facing unemployment or struggling through under-employment, or you are facing the end of your unemployment checks.
- You don’t wish to have to purchase food on a credit card if you’re unemployed.
- You currently know a family who is forced to choose between food and housing or food and heat due to a limited income.
- You’re not particularly interested in food storage, but you’ve decided that buying in bulk is the best way to cut your whole-foods based budget.
- You have food allergies, and you know that you would not be able to sustain your family between the offerings of a food bank and food stamps should something happen to your income.
- You have food allergies, and you desperately need to bring down the grocery bill.
- Due to being self-employed, you would not qualify for food stamps in an emergency.
- You hate shopping and would rather shop less, or you live miles from convenient shopping locations.
- You wish to leave the food at the food bank for those who are less fortunate than you.
- You’ve read about the potential looming food shortages from the floods in many countries and droughts this year. Multiple countries have suffered flooding or freak snow and freezing weather in the last few months, and their effects on the price of food has been in the news.
- You’ve met a family who sustained themselves with their food storage after a job loss or other tragedy. If you are a forum member, you know that last year we sustained ourselves for eleven months on food storage while my husband went through unemployment.
- You see the need to not be a burden on others should an emergency occur, so that those who are less fortunate or can not prepare can utilize the food banks without you also needing to go there. This creates less of a burden on the safety nets meant to help families through a crisis.
- You are trying to return to a more sustainable food production cycle in your own family, beginning a homestead or a hobby farm.
- You are looking to unplug from a modern life-style.
- You wish to save money by only purchasing fresh and in-season.
In 2009, our family sustained a major hit in the form of income loss when my husband, along with 90% of his co-workers, were laid off. Three months prior, everyone in the company had taken a salary reduction in a move to delay those lay-offs. We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know the day. Thankfully, we had one year of food storage in place when the lay-off happened. [Read more…] about Real Food Storage- Deep Pantry Principles for Traditional Foodists
Herbal Remedies- Sage for Runny Nose
While searching online for herb remedies, I saw sage as a runny nose remedy on many web sites in every form from tinctures to elixirs to teas. I tried it last night, and it worked well. TOO well. I took about one teaspoon crushed sage mixed into a little raw honey. It dried my sinuses out until they ached and I couldn’t breathe out of my nose on one side! I considered it to be a good trade considering what I had been experiencing and using a neti pot helped considerably with the discomfort. It fixed my runny nose for several hours, well into the night. It also stopped the coughing from post-nasal drip which in turn helped my sore throat, which was a huge blessing.
This morning, I gave each of the kids a pinch and I took two pinches mixed into a tiny amount of raw honey. Neither of the kids complained about taking it like that. I suspected they’d object to the tea, so this was a great solution. It is working extremely well, with no dryness or discomfort. I imagine if your runny nose was severe, you’d need a higher dose. Most websites recommended dosing it two to three times a day. I will experiment today with how often I need to dose me and the kids to be effective without drying us out. I am especially anxious to see how well it works to stop post-nasal drip that causes my kids to cough at night. I’ve been getting up twice a night to give them Ivy Calm for multiple nights now, and if this works I will switch to this instead as it is much cheaper.
Last year before Thanksgiving, I had ordered a one-pound bag of rubbed sage from Frontier, not realizing that it would be cups and cups of sage! So now I am glad to have one more use for this herb. I’ve been using sage tincture as an ingredient in mouthwash, and I believe now that I will make an elixir of it, too.
WARNING: Sage is a drying herb. If you are nursing, it will reduce or stop your milk supply. I would avoid it entirely while nursing, especially if your supply is borderline. It is also listed as a uterine stimulant and an herb to be avoided during pregnancy. However, I have seen no warning to avoid a culinary dose of this herb during pregnancy, so please do your own homework before considering this remedy if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Shared at Nourishing Treasures and Wildcrafting Wednesday.
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Dollars to Donuts
We recently had a day that needed a special breakfast but I was having trouble coming up with the right thing to fix. I started brainstorming out loud with my better half, from across the room. We both buried ourselves into Google on our respective computers, looking for a good recipe to try. The word ‘donut’ fell out. We both smiled. We have had donuts only a couple of times since we went gluten-free. I have purchased the Kinninnick donuts twice from the salvage for special occasions, when we could get a box for $1. But I don’t like to use them often, because they contain ingredients that aren’t real food.
The ingredients in Kinninnick vanilla donuts are
Icing (sugar, water, glucose, vanilla), Sugar, White Rice Flour, Tapioca Starch, Water, Whole Eggs, Sweet Rice Flour, Palm Fruit Oil (non hydrogenated), Frutooligosaccharide, Yeast, Pea Protein, Egg Whites, Xanthan Gum, Fruit Concentrate (dextrose, dextrin, fibre), Salt, Rice Bran Extract, Cellulose, KinnActive Baking Powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, pea starch, mono calcium phosphate), Glucono Delta Lactone, Sodium Bicarbonate, Nutmeg
Last time I checked, I wasn’t able to grow lactone or pyropho… pyra…… in my back yard. Yeah. And, for sake of comparison, here’s the ingredients in a Dunkin’ Donut:
Donut: Enriched Unbleached Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron as Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamin Mononitrate, Enzyme, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Palm Oil, Water, Dextrose, Soybean Oil, Whey (a milk derivative), Skim Milk, Yeast, Contains less than 2% of the following: Salt, Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda), Defatted Soy Flour, Wheat Starch, Mono and Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Cellulose Gum, Soy Lecithin, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Artificial Flavor, Sodium Caseinate (a milk derivative), Enzyme, Colored with (Turmeric and Annatto Extracts, Beta Carotene), Eggs; Crunch Topping: Sugar, Coconut, Yellow Corn Flour, Caramel Color, BHT (antioxidant); Glaze: Sugar, Water, Maltodextrin, Contains 2% or less of the following: Mono and Diglycerides, Agar, Cellulose Gum, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Artificial Flavor; Apple Filling: Water, Sugar Syrup, Corn Syrup, Evaporated Apples, Modified Food Starch, Contains 2% or less of the following: Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate (Preservatives), Salt, Cinnamon, Malic Acid, Nutmeg.
I don’t think I need to say much about that list, it speaks for itself. And Krispy Kreme won’t even give an ingredient list online that I could find. Just a statement that they don’t use trans-fats in their shortening blend. Ahem.
So I set out to make healthy donuts my kids would love. [Read more…] about Dollars to Donuts