Barbecue Baked Potatoes

Baked potatoes are such an easy (cheap!) meal. Top them with a little meat and drizzle with barbecue sauce to make a delicious meal. I served these with soaked pinto beans and steamed broccoli.

Bake enough red-skin potatoes for your family (bake extras and use them for hash-browns!).

Brown 1 pound of hamburger meat (or use leftover brisket, leftover cooked chicken, sausage...).

Whip up a batch of Carolina Honey BBQ Sauce from Food.com.

1 cup ketchup
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium/high heat.
Whisk until smooth.
Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until mixture thickens.
Remove from heat and serve.

Split your potato open, add butter, salt and pepper to taste. Top with some meat and barbecue sauce and sprinkle with raw cheddar cheese. Serve soaked pinto beans and steamed broccoli alongside. Enjoy!

Guacamole!

A delicious way to eat RAW veggies!

2 large avocados
1 T. lemon or lime juice
2 tsp. minced onion flakes
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 C. chopped tomato
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 C. cilantro, chopped

Cut your avocados in half, remove the pit then scoop out the flesh. Place the avocado and remaining ingredients in a bowl and mash together with a fork. Cover and refrigerate until chilled before serving.

Guacamole is so good with some tortilla chips, spread on top of quesadillas, plopped on top of a taco salad, layered in the midst of your hamburger toppings...

Here's a bonus guacamole music video. Just because I like it.

Product Review: Sweet Creek Dill Pickles

I'm a pickle maniac. I love dill pickles, hot, spicy, garlicky, dill pickles. About a month ago I ran out of pickles that we had cultured from last summer's cucumbers. I don't like buying pickles from the store because they have preservatives (sodium benzoate) or food coloring or BOTH! I was pleased to see that Azure Standard carries organic pickles with no preservatives or food coloring. The only ones I have tried so far are Sweet Creek's Dill Pickles. I'll have to say I was disappointed. These pickles taste sweet (I assume because of the apple cider vinegar) and I don't like sweet pickles. They are fine on a sandwich, but I don't like to eat them straight out of the jar. If you like sweet pickles I'm sure these would be fine. Next time I'm going to order Sweet Creek's Chili Dills and see if I like them better. I'm also going to order some of Bubbie's Kosher Dill Pickles. Bubbie's brand are not organic, but they are still free of preservatives and food coloring.

INGREDIENTS: Organic Cucumbers, Filtered Water, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Organic Garlic, Sea Salt, Organic Spices.

Chili

Who doesn't love chili? Make it with your soaked beans for an even healthier dish!

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
2 T. chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 (15 oz) cans kidney or pinto beans, rinsed and drained, if desired

Cook beef, onion and garlic in soup pot until browned.

Stir in remaining ingredients except beans. Heat to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer 30 minutes or more.

Stir in beans, heat through.

I serve our chili with tortilla chips and grated raw cheddar. Yummy!

Ground Beef and Garbanzo Beans

This was a big hit with the whole family! Just some simple, filling comfort food that I found on Food.com. Soak those garbanzo beans first for an easy-to-digest meal.

1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 (15 ounce) cans garbanzo beans (you can substitute 1 15 oz can white kernel corn for 1 can garbanzo beans if you want)
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 bay leaves

4 cups water (or beef stock)
2 cups brown rice

Cook the rice, using water or beef stock, according to the package directions.

Brown the beef in a skillet with the onions and garlic. Add the remaining ingredients (except the rice). Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Serve over brown rice.

What Chicken Should I Buy? And Why?

I have always bought Tyson 100% Natural Chicken because it is hormone and steroid free. Did you know that it is illegal to use hormones and steroids in chicken production? That means ANY chicken you buy at the store should be hormone and steroid free. A chiropractor mentioned to me last week that the problem with chicken is the ANTIBIOTICS they use. If you don't already know, antibiotics are BAD! They are the opposite of PRObiotics. I read a couple of articles about Tyson and Pilgrim's Pride...

Right now I am happy to have Rosie, Organic Whole Chickens in my freezer. No drugs or antibiotics can be used when raising organic chicken. Organic, antibiotic-free chicken is expensive though. A whole, organic chicken costs $3.63/pound (compared to what I used to pay... $.89/pound)! Yeowch! Buying organic breasts or thighs will cost $5-6/pound. However, the added benefit of buying organic chicken is that their feed does NOT contain GMO corn and soy.

If you are looking for a "happy medium" I noticed today that Wal-Mart has Harvest Land chicken which is antibiotic-free! You can get a whole chicken for $1.37/pound (boneless, skinless chicken breasts were $4.78/pound). Here is a picture of their label so you can spot it easily:

Just say, "NO!" to antibiotics!!!

Math with Lemons

I like to drink lemon juice in my water first thing in the morning because of the benefits for the liver and as a digestion aid (You can read about this in Dr. Brantley's book The Cure). Juicing many lemons at one time and then freezing the juice in ice cube trays makes this an easy task on a busy morning. Just plop one lemon ice cube in a cup of water and drink upon waking.

I was almost out of my lemon ice cubes and ordered 2 lbs of organic lemons from Azure Standard this month. I just juiced the lemons and then measured it out to be 10 ounces of juice for $4.00. And guess what? I can buy 16 ounces of organic lemon juice for $4.05. Now you know what I'll be doing next month!

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

Here's another handy-dandy homemade mix! I found this on Food.com and it's just like the "real" thing, but without any MSG or other stuff. 2 1/2 tablespoons should equal a 1.25 ounce packet. I triple (or more) this recipe each time and store it in an air-tight container with the rest of my spices.

6 tsp chili powder
5 tsp paprika
4 1/2 tsp cumin
2 1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Soaking, Sprouting and Sourdough

Some of the recipes I will share with you on this blog include soaking (or sprouting) grains, nuts, or legumes before cooking with them. Also, I have already shared my recipe for sourdough bread. Below, I am including what Sally Fallon (author of Nourishing Traditions) says about the traditional method of preparing grains...

All grains contain phytic acid (an organic acid in which phosphorus is bound) in the outer layer or bran. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc in the intestinal tract and block absorption. This is why a diet high in unfermented whole grains may lead to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss. The modern misguided practice of consuming large amounts of unprocessed bran often improves colon transit time at first but may lead to irritable bowel syndrome and, in the long term, many other adverse effects. Soaking allows enzymes, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break down and neutralize phytic acid. As little as seven hours of soaking in warm acidulated water will neutralize a large portion of phytic acid in grains. The simple practice of soaking cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight will vastly improve their nutritional benefits.

There is a link on the right side of this blog where you can order Nourishing Traditions from Amazon.com. I highly recommend reading this cookbook. The first 71 pages are a wealth of knowledge and then she includes a few pages at the beginning of each category with even more fabulous stuff. I can't rave about it enough. Really fabulous!