Meat Salads
This chapter has a lot of great ideas and recipes, however most of them take too much preparation for daily lunch fare. Far too involved for a kidos lunch! My kids eat well, but not gourmet for lunch!
Continue reading “Nourishing Traditions Book Review: Part XXII – Meat Salads & South of the Border”
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In The Garden of Beasts
By Erik Larson
This is a long (375 pages – which is why there hasn’t been a book post in a while!) but intriguing book, especially if you find WWII history as interesting as I do. I don’t necessarily like books about war, but this period of US and world history definitely captures my attention. Part of it is the mere atrocities that occurred… what humans are capable of doing to one another and what nations will overlook merely because it’s too much effort or would be against their personal interests to stand against. Doing the right thing can be so confusing. Often it’s right in one view and not in another. Also, there are consequences to doing the right thing which in the end may not feel like the right thing at all. Continue reading “In The Garden of Beasts”
I LOVE this chapter. There are 55 pages of recipes! And I know I can get stuck in a rut of always making the same things and there is quite a wide variety of samplings of different veggies and how to prepare them. I’ve actually never made an artichoke before, can you believe it? And the recipe for them explains how to prepare, cook and serve them! That is exactly what I need for veggies I’m unfamiliar with! Continue reading “Nourishing Traditions Book Review – Part XXI: Catalog of Vegetables”
This time I’m going to combine two chapters together for a few different reasons. First off it’s taking FOREVER to get through this book, and while I’m enjoying it I will also be glad to finish! Also, the chapter on game is relatively short and I assume that most of us cook with beef and lamb without too much of a problem, so I didn’t think there would be a whole lot to comment on this chapter… but we will see how that turns out! It is usually the case that I find enough to talk about! Continue reading “Nourishing Traditions Book Review: Part XX – Game, Beef & Lamb”
My first thought is “YUCK. GROSS. NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS!” I can remember having liver and onions as a kid and it was dry and crumbly and I just couldn’t eat it, no matter how much I tried and no matter how much I wanted the dessert that was awarded if I cleaned my plate! Sometimes there was turkey liver, heart and giblets in the Thanksgiving gravy and I would opt for dry mashed potatoes before eating that! Tree Climber on the other hand had a totally different experience… Continue reading “Nourishing Traditions Book Review: Part XIX – Organ Meat”
Chicken is an easy winner in our house. It’s a favorite and simple to cook and cheaper than a lot of other cuts of meat. We usually purchase a whole chicken and use all of its parts. By roasting it whole we have one meal, then use the leftover meat for another meal. The bones then go in the crock pot with a few veggies to make some yummy stock!
I really love the fact that we can get three meals off of one bird! It is cost effective and yummy, but I also want to be cautious that we don’t eat too much of the same type of meat. I am a firm believer that all foods (natural, organic and wholesome) should be enjoyed in moderation.
This chapter addresses poultry… not just chicken specifically. I will say that I tend to opt towards chicken instead of other types of poultry. I definitely don’t enjoy turkey as much as chicken and usually only roast one around the holidays. I do like duck, however, I think I’ve only had it a few times in my life and have certainly never cooked it at home. However, it is becoming easier to obtain at farmers markets and local markets in the area.
There are a few recipes for Moroccan Style Chicken, Chicken with Sweet and Sour Sauce and Sesame Buffalo Wings which all look very appealing and tasty in this chapter! Fallon has also included a recipe on how to make breaded chicken breasts, but she uses whole grain bread which we don’t eat and a few other ingredients not on our diet as well.
I have made chicken fingers for the kids in the past which have turned out well and have been a huge hit. I’ve included my recipe for that below.
Chicken Fingers
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 cups (about) almond flour
1 eggInstructions:
Cut the chicken breasts into strips of desired widths
Rinse and dry
Dip in egg
Roll in almond flour
Place on non-stick baking sheet or [amazon_link id=”B00008T960″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]silpat[/amazon_link] and bake
Bake for about 20 minutes or until done at 350 degrees.
I also usually make a mixture of honey and homemade mustard for them to use as a dip or just homemade fermented ketchup. Always a hit and goes well with green beans and coconut flour bread or another side!
Do you have a favorite poultry recipe? Please share!
Fish is something new to our family! Growing up we didn’t eat much fish, probably because it was more expensive than other meats and probably because my grandmother didn’t cook fish! With my third pregnancy my midwife stressed the importance of eating fish especially when pregnant. I knew that it was important, but I just didn’t know how to cook it, where to purchase it, how to prepare it. It was a HUGE unknown for me! Continue reading “Nourishing Traditions Book Review: Part XVII – Fish”
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Unbroken A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
Laura Hillenbrand
WOW! Where do I even start? This biography is absolutely amazing! I learned so much by reading this. This book is well written and evoked many emotions: hope, sadness, anger,disbelief, and more. It also made me contemplate hatred, forgiveness and faith.
The book is about Louie Zamperini, an American who was raised in New York. He game from an Italian family of two sisters and a brother. He was quite the problem child, into mischief of every kind and often not caught. He could have been described as a bully, thief and general miscreant.
His older brother Pete encouraged him to be a runner and helped him train and cheered him on. In highschool Louie developed a love of running and became very good at it. Good enough to go to the Olympics. He didn’t medal, but it was his first go and he was young and had many opportunities yet ahead of him… or so he thought. Life quickly changed.
The US was pulled into World War II and Louie signed up to serve. He was stationed in Hawaii on bombers, assisting with air raids in the Pacific. On a search and rescue mission his plane went down.
In God’s amazing grace he survived the crash with two fellow airmen and then survived 48 days at sea on a raft, often with sharks swimming around the rafts and bumping them hoping to get an easy meal. The men survived on rain water and the occasional fish or bird they could catch. They even survived a Japanese plane that flew overhead and shot at them, taking multiple passes over them.
They survived at sea, only to be washed ashore an island that was held by the japanese. Louis and his friend Phil (the other man didn’t survive long enough to make it to shore) were taken into custody and became POWs. They stayed on the island for a time and then were transferred to a POW camp in Japan.
The atrocities that they experienced were saddening. It is amazing what these men suffered and survived. I don’t want to give away the end of the book, but it is absolutely astounding. God used this man and his experiences in unbelievable ways.
There was a hold on this book at the library and now I know why. I wasn’t able to finish it the first time I checked it out and had to return it and be put on the waitlist again. It was well worth it. I would have liked to meet this man!
I know not every POW in WWII was able to survive as Zamperini did. After reading this book I have new sympathy, love, respect and renewed faith. I need to read more books about our military. They serve us in so many ways and definitely don’t get the respect or thanks they deserve. We have no idea what struggles they go through and survive. This book is an inspiration and I HIGHLY recommend you read it!
Raw Meat Appetizers
Ok Sally… I’ll go with you most of the way, but I think now you’ve gone too far! Raw meat appetizers? Those containing raw lamb, raw beef, raw fish? I’m not so sure about this! I’m not a huge fan of tartar and this goes a bit further than that!!!
Ok.. so I guess I do love me some high quality sushi! Mmmm… that, in my book, is a little piece of heaven! I could have sushi every day! I just wish it wasn’t so pricey, and no, I don’t count the sushi at the local chinese buffet as even edible.
But back to the raw lamb, beef and raw fish salads. I guess I shouldn’t judge. I guess I did have to try sushi for the first time at one point in my life and I guess I’m going to have to try a few of these. Any pointers? Any favorites for you?
As I also read additional information in this chapter about the benefits of the raw meats, it started to change my mind and convince me that the benefits are immense. The first being the need for vitamin B6. This vitamin is shown to increase fertility, but deficiencies can be severe. Some effects of low amounts of this nutrient include PMS, morning sickness, diabetes, heart disease, carpal tunnel, toxemia in pregnancy, asthma and some cancers and much more. That alone should be convincing enough… but not for me… still a little leary of flavor and texture!
Another bonus in my book, though!!!! Raw milk contains Vitamin B6! I’m ok so far! This isn’t helping in the decision to cut out dairy or not!
This will still take some contemplating and A LOT of courage! I’ll be sure to let all of you know if I take the dive!
Gourmet Appetizers
This chapter is just as it sounds… gourmet! The ingredients are way too expensive for our grocery budget, nor do I currently have dinner parties where these dishes would be appreciated. There was a time, but that was pre-kids with a dual income!
I really don’t bemoan the fact. I LOVE my life now and there will be a time when dinner parties may crop up on our calendar once again. I look forward to that, but I’m content with where we are currently! Also, a lot of these recipes use grains and dairy which we are trying to avoid at the moment. Possibly that will change and we may be able to test these out!
However, the side bars, once again provide a lot of very interesting information. I think I’ve mentioned vitamin B12 before and the fact that it can only be obtained from animal products. Fallon comes down pretty hard on vegetarians, stating that they harm themselves and their babies in utero or via breastfeeding becuase their children aren’t getting enough of the vitamin which is essential for brain growth and normal functioning. Even though seaweed does have vitamin B12 there have been studies to show that it doesn’t help to correct the deficiency.
Another excerpt talks about the benefits of goose and duck fat which seem to correspond with lower incidences of heart disease, along with eating foie gras. Of course this study was in frenchman, particularly those of the Gascony region. I’ve heard that there are some butchers in northern virginia that do sell duck fat. I’ve also heard that it is amazing and once tasting it and cooking with it there is no return! Dear hubby would love it if we ate foie gras weekly and I’m sure would be a fan of the duck fat as well. It is on my future to do list, which is so long it will probably be at least a year before it happens!
Anyway, another great chapter, with lots of interesting information. Take a look for yourself!
I’m not very sure how to summarize this chapter… it’s about soup! There are lots of recipes as to be expected in a cookbook… so that about sums it up! I would say most of the recipes appear to be simple and pretty basic, but of course nourishing and nutrient filled. Continue reading “Nourishing Traditions: Part XV – Soups”
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Striving to preserve what we have graciously been given.
Striving to preserve what we have graciously been given.
Green & Grateful 