Battered & Baked Cod

7  small filets of Cod

Wet mixture

• 2 Tbs Starch (Tapioca, Arrowroot or Potato Starch)
• 1 Cup Milk (Dairy or Nondairy) 
• 1/3 Cup Whey or water
• 12 Tbs Butter or Coconut Oil
• 1 tsp dried minced garlic or fresh
Breading
• 1 Cup Tapioca (Or Arrowroot or Potato Starch)
• 1 Cup Almond Meal or Any nut meal
• 2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Paprika
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a bowl combine 2 tbsp tapioca starch and milk & whey, mix until there are no clumps of starch. Add in minced garlic.
3. In another bowl combine breading ingredients.
4. Heat a pan over low heat with the butter, once it melts, add in wet mixture.
5. Whisk continually until it thickens. It should go from liquid to almost cake batter.
6. Remove from heat, and pour into a pie pan or shallow dish, long enough to fit fish fillets.
7. Drop fillets into wet mixture and then heavily dredge in breading mixture; remove from breading, place in the wet mixture and then into the breading.
8. Repeat until both fillets have been coated twice.
9. Place on parchment lined baking sheet.
10. Place fish in oven for 20 minutes.
11. Broil on high for 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown.

Notes

*I used the rest the leftover batter to bread okra. I put the wet & dry together, coated the okra, separated it and put it on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Cooked 16 minutes.

Gluten & Egg Free cornbread

2 Tbs baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups ground corn flour
1 cup potato flour
1/2 cup almond meal plus 1tbsp
1/2 cup rice flour
2 tsp sea salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
4 Tbs maple syrup
2/3 cup organic unsweetened plain apple sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1tbsp italian spices
2 tsp mince garlic
1/2 cup onions

Mix the dry ingredients except spices. Mix the wet ingredients. Then mix together should come out smelling like bread dough and feeling like bread dough. Line a cake pan 13x9 cake pan with parchment paper. Kneed in the spices, garlic, & onions. Spread in pan, Bake 375 degrees for 30 mins

Ginger Tamari Kale chips

Lacinto Kale
Salt
Ginger Powder
Gluten Free Tamari
Organic Coconut Oil

Strip kale from central stem, soak in cool water, dry in salad spinner. coat in ginger powder, salt, coconut oil and tamari. Cook at 275 for 15 to 20 minutes.

Vegan, Egg Free Ice Cream

1 can coconut milk
3 bananas extra ripe
1/8 cup maple syrup
1/2 an avocado
1tsp vanilla

Food process all ingredients until it becomes a thick soup. Pour into
ice maker 10 to 12 min. (I have a cuisinart). I also added gluten free Annie's gingersnap bunnies. Super tasty. At least my 2 yr old says so.

Backyard update...

What my garden looks like as of this post.

A lot has changed in the backyard from it's mostly dirt and ligustrum status to the idea of a garden of low maintenance natives to raised beds to now.

First year in the house, figuring out the best paths in the backyard.

Fall 2009 was a great time in my garden. Spring while I was very pregnant everything went to flower and I had some really pretty crimson clover. Some native plants didn't make it through the summer, others flourished, and some I finally figured out were actually short-lived perennials. A lot managed to live through 2011 and I moved the raised beds a couple of times. Quite a few things died since I had a baby whose care took most of my time. I killed the roses that were passed on to me and then one I bought. I also killed the blackberries plants I tried to plant as well as the Fig tree. I also changed a lot that year or maybe just rediscovered myself.

Late Fall 2012, not much is growing  because I didn't water enough. My kid is building her own mini-garden

 My daughter is now almost a preschooler. Spring 2013 has been really successful in my garden. I'm trying to grow stuff that I had failed at up to now. I was inspired because I had volunteer spaghetti and butternut squash summer 2012. We really enjoyed the 6 small small spaghetti squash and the one butternut squash we ate before the squash vine borers destroyed the plants. My little one loved the winter squash. The only other crop that did well was the okra. The fall there was no rain and I just couldn't manage to water though I planted a lot. Not much of it came up. In the early spring, I planted a fig tree, a pineapple guava, a white turks cap bush and a fuyu persimmon. Two of which were gifts. Having these fruit trees and bushes has inspired me to water on a regular basis and we have gotten more rain this spring.

Late Winter/Early Spring 2013

Late Winter/Early Spring 2013

Salad Greens and Chiogga Beets from my Garden

A typical weekly bowl of Braising Greens.

 This is the best year yet for my backyard and garden and quite a few of the seeds I planted in the fall just waited 'till spring. I have managed to have two dishes of greens and one large salad every week which included beets for several weeks now and there is more to come from the garden. This year I got brave and am trying tomatillos, tomatoes, green peppers, basil, and cucumbers. Only the cucumbers are not doing well, so far though we did get to eat one pickling cucumber which was super tasty.  I have many random plants because my kid has to have seeds and plants anytime she goes to the plant nursery with me and as long as it is under a certain amount I can't resist buying them for her with the hopes she will be interested in the garden as well. We have volunteer summer squash, a zucchini type. I don't know how we ended up with it, but already have eaten more zucchini from it than all the years I've tried planting summer squash and I am seeing several small fruits that will mature in the next few weeks.  I also have two other volunteer melons or squash. No clue which since they are not fruiting yet. I am seeing a greater variety of insects, birds, and today a mouse. Mostly we have squirrels, including one living in our sycamore tree in the front yard which is going to eventually require us to cut it down. I suspect it is not only the squirrels digging in my garden, but mice. I know a lot of these new animals and bugs are due to the pecan crop we got in the fall which we harvested the majority of in October and some more in November and a few in December.  We still have some pecans that I am making pesto with this weekend. We also gave away several bags. Not sure I will be doing that this fall if we get another crop because I have this crazy idea that I want to be able to someday produce 75 to 80% of our food. I've read it is possible though not sure in Austin, Texas if it is...

I rechecked the same gardening books I liked from previous years and some new ones. Each time I learn something completely new like certain squash and melons can cross pollinate so watch were you plant them and if you want pure varieties only plant one variety each year.

I have finally apparently eradicated the poison oak because the bindweed, peppervine, carolina snailseed, hackberry and hedge parsley have completely taken over it's spot. Where the ligustrum used to be along the fence and then there was just emptiness has been taken over by volunteer pomegranate including a white/pale yellow variety. Looking forward to seeing if any of them are fruiting pomegranate or they are just ornamental. I suspect the pale yellow is an ornamental.

I have some new volunteer ornamental flowering plants (I think some people consider them weeds) and some of the wildflowers that I have planted for 4 yrs straight are finally coming up. Of course at this point I only know what a few of them are like the spiderwort, the standing cypress, and the wild chives. But that is one of the things I love about gardening is researching my garden mysteries. I just figured out that the plant that came up with the volunteer sunflowers last summer is amaranth and it is edible. I found one growing today and figured it out.

I'm keeping it this year because I think I may add in backyard chickens or rabbits and it will be a good source of grain one day. I also planted a good eating variety of amaranth though I have no clue since though I have had amaranth flour, I've never eaten amaranth leaves which are suppose to be like spinach. Well, I did taste a raw one today and it just tasted vaguely green grassy rather than like spinach. Next challenge is to cook some amaranth greens. I will be starting with the wild ones.

I love growing food. There is just something magical about it and it is tastier for many reason. I am really excited about growing varieties not found at stores because they don't keep well fresh. When I first started this adventure I stuck to things I knew I liked to eat and as time goes on I'm learning to like new things that I thought I didn't like beets because chiogga beets are not only pretty in my salads but so much tastier than the store variety.

I read about Ring Gardens in Dryland gardening and had to try it.

I can't resist  trying experimenting with new garden methods, in the beginning I thought I thought I would only be doing raised beds, but this year I've started an in ground bed, my own version of a hugulkultur bed, a tomato ring, and I trenched our compost in a style of double dug intensive bed and planted stuff over it. I'm also going to try to make a bean pole tent for my kid to play in. You can see the frame of it made out of bamboo stakes sourced from down the street.

In the last year, I've dismantled a lot of my old experiments which were not successful. The new ones are much more successful already. I'm also more accepting that I just like to experiment and even though I read a lot regarding certain garden theories just like in my cooking, art, and sewing I have a hard time following directions I just need to follow my bliss which will hopefully lead to lots of food to eat one day, regardless I will be happy digging in my garden.

Weeds in My Garden: Torilis Arvensis

I have this mass of tiny white flowers and was wondering if I should pull it up, so I took some to the Natural Gardener to ID. They told me it was a native Queen Anne's Lace which was one of three things I thought it could be all in the same family. Turns out it is actually Torilis Arvensis also known as Hedge Parsley also known as Sock Bane. Luckily, it is an annual and seems to be attracting bugs that would otherwise be eating my vegetables. Though, I am tempted to pull it up because I remember the sock bane part from last year.

Egg-Free, Corn-Free, Gluten-Free Simple Ice Cream

My 2.5 year-old gets sick eating certain foods, so I do a lot of experimenting in the kitchen. Finally came up with a simple ice cream recipe we both can eat. Yay.

Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream using the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker

1 cup raw milk cream
1 can coconut milk
1 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp vanilla

Stir ingredients well together.
20-25 mins in the ice cream maker and it is ready to serve. Best Ice Cream I've made so far.

Gluten and Egg Free Sesame Honey Spice Cookies

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup whey

3 tbls flax seed in 9 tbls water

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup coconut palm necter

1/8 cup honey

2 tbl molasses

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup potato flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1 cup almond meal

1 1/2 cups coconut flour

 2 tbl blood orange bitters or orange or lemon zest w/ juice (optional) 

1/2 cup hulled sesame seeds 

Preheat oven 350. Mix all dry ingredients together (except sesame seeds), mix all wet ingredients which includes flax seeds together. Wet ingredients should look like thin pancake batter. Add dry ingredients and mix. When batter forms a dough add sesame seeds. If batter is too wet add more almond meal, if too dry add whey.

Roll into balls and smash flat onto cookie sheet. cook 11 to 13 mins depending on if you want softer or firmer cookies. These came out really tasty. Still a little too sweet for me, but not by much.

Honey Cookies

2 sticks butter

1 cup honey (can also use 1/2 maple syrup or barley malt)
1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ea. cinnamon, cloves, allspice

1/2 cup potato flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1/4 cup arrowroot powder

1/4 cup oat flour

1 1/2 cups almond meal

2 cups rice flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbl blood orange bitters or orange or lemon zest w/ juice (optional)

In a saucepan, cook honey and butter together until it reaches the boiling point. Remove from heat and set aside to cool add bitters & vanilla.

Whisk or sift together flours, baking soda and spices until no streaks remain. Add sufficient flour to the honey and butter mixture to make a soft dough (about 3 3/4 cups).

If dough seems too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time. If dough seems too dry or dense, add a tablespoon of milk until dough is of a good consistency.

Form the dough into thin rolls, wrap in wax or parchment paper and chill thoroughly in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Even better if the next day or a couple of days later.

Slice into 1/8-inch thick slices and bake in a preheated 375°F oven for about 10 minutes or until done.

These came out great. My kid loves the raw cookie dough. So do other kids. My husband and all my kids friends loved these. I found them too sweet. I'm thinking about how to make them so that they are meant to be raw maybe with just almond meal & coconut flour or other nut flours...

Making Stuffed Animals

I found a few patterns to make a stuffed owl. I put them together and made my own pattern because my favorite didn't have wings or feet. I made one for my MIL and one for my kiddo's friend. For the child one, I added feet and a pocket in the back to hide stuff. This is my 2nd type of stuffed animal that I've made.

I started my work on stuffed animals by making pointy kitties.

Update Flourless Brownies

I got some nuts in bulk at the store and the brownies are even better wit this nut mixture. I also found a good replacement for the egg which my kiddo can't have.

1 cup almonds 

1/2 cup Walnuts

1/2 cup pecans

1 tbsp milled flax seed

3 tbsp water

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup raw sugar

1 tsp of vanilla

1/2 tsp. of salt

1/2 tsp. of baking soda

1/2 cup of natural cocoa powder

1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Food process nuts until the sound changes and the pieces are as small as possible, add maple syrup, process more. Add sugar, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla and food process until smooth. Add milled flax seed or flax seed powder with 3 tbsp water. Food process more.  Fold in chocolate chips. Place in a small square baking pan and bake at 325 for 35 minutes.

These are dense brownies and they don't really rise at all. They also come out of the oven seemingly not done, but that means they are chewy. So much better than the first try.

Flourless Brownies

I can't have grains at all right now, but was dying for something sweet and chocolatey. This hits the spot.

1/2 cup almonds (dehydrated & roasted if possible)

3/4 cup raw tahini (sesame butter)

2 tbsp. coconut butter

1 egg

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 tbsp. raw sugar

1 tsp of vanilla

1/2 tsp. of salt

1/2 tsp. of baking soda

1/4 cup of natural cocoa powder

1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Food process almonds, tahini, and coconut butter, add maple syrup once almonds are crumbled. Add sugar, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla and food process until smooth. You can check sweetness at this point. Last add in egg and baking powder until smooth and thick. Fold in chocolate chips. Place in a small square baking pan and bake at 325 for 35 minutes.

These are dense brownies and they don't really rise at all. The recipe originally called for 1 cup of almond butter, but I think any kind of nut butter would work. I ended up adding a few things to make up for using the bitter tahini that was in my fridge. I might also use another egg next time.

Gluten-free Oat Biscuits

2 cups oat flour

3 cups Whey

3 tbsp Butter liquified

4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp salt

4 tsp rapadura sugar

1 cup coconut flour

Water as needed

Soak Oat Flout for 24 hrs in Whey. Drain off soaking liquid which should have settled on top. Add baking soda, salt, sugar, flour, butter, mix. Add water or chamomile tea (about 1tbsp) or enough so batter no longer crumbles. mix & let sit. Should have a bread like dough. Pinch off biscuit like pieces.

Bake 25 mins or so.

Bitter flavor, maybe more sugar? Great texture

Almond Coconut Cookies, Gluten Free/Egg Free

2 cups almond flour or ground soaked dehydrated almonds
1/2 cup shredded coconut
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup honey
3 tblsp butter
5 tblsp cane sugar 
1 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat oven 350 degrees.


Food process almonds. Mix with coconut, spices, and other dry ingredients. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix/food process until becomes doughy. Roll into small round balls and press down on cookie sheet.


Cook 9 to 11 mins. Let cool 10 mins.

Tutu Fun

In last few weeks several people have mentioned tutus to me, this last time I finally decided to see if I could make a tutu that we could afford. The last display of tutus I saw were really, really expensive, in the $100 range. I found some great blogs talking about no sew ones, so I figured I would try that first.
Tulle is not as expensive as I thought it would be considering how much tutus even at a big box store cost.  I got 9 yards of tulle in 3 colors, 5 yards of lavender, 2 yards of dark green, and 2 yards of fuchsia, for $13.  I only needed 6, but I got extra for mistakes. I repurposed two stretchy toddler short waistbands. The shorts were stained or had holes and were just waiting to be made into rags. With all that I made a short tutu and long tutu. It took me less than 3 hours with toddler interruptions.  They are super cute, so I will have to cut down on my complaints that I never get to buy cute stuff for my kiddo. They are also reversible, so will make great play clothes for my beginning dresser.

Simple Chicken Broth

When it comes to cooking, I think the simplest things are the hardest to make because there is no way to fix a true mistake. I've always had a hard time with simple recipes because you can't hide behind the spices.

It is only in the last month that I finally figured out how to make chicken broth the way I like it, simple. This is the flavor I remember from childhood. Most of the recipes I've come across seem to require celery, carrots, and whole hell of a lot of other things and they never seem to come out the way I remember chicken and rice soup tasting from childhood.  The quality of food isn't as good so maybe we use all these extra ingredients to hide the lack of flavor or maybe most taste buds have been adulterated so much most people can't taste simple recipes. My other speculation is that maybe everyone assumes that everyone else knows the simple recipes...

Recently in my quest to understand meat, I finally found a few recipes that talked about the simplest ways to cook meat.

So chicken broth. Start with a roasted chicken. Apparently roasting really brings out the flavor of the bones. I prefer my roast chicken very, very plain.

Cook a whole chicken for 2-2 1/2 hrs at 325.  Remove the skin and most of the meat. I leave a little meat on the bones because it is a pain to remove it all and it adds to the flavor. I leave the wings  alone also to add fat and flavor. Make sure to get out the lungs and other random innards that tend to be left.

Throw the wings and bones in a pot full of filtered water (turns out boiling concentrates fluoride and other not so great things in the water).

Add

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar (helps to melt the gelatin and other minerals into the broth)
1 piece of ginger (at least a 1 inch hunk pealed)
Salt
Onion

Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 3 to 4 hours. I think this timing tastes best and the soup will gel when cooled. Cooked too long you get more minerals, no gelling and  I like the flavor less. Granted, I'm really sensitive to minerals.

During the last hour I add...
a dash of oregano (great for colds and sore throats)
black pepper
rosemary
and more salt to taste.

I tend to just remove the bones rather than do a full straining of the broth for clarity.

For different flavors or more health benefits...
I add cut carrots occasionally. My kid loves carrots boiled to almost mush in chicken soup.
Daikon
Cayenne (great for illness like oregano is great for the throat)

Sardine Patties

Last year, I bought a lot of canned sardines, but I no longer like to eat them plain nor have I been able to find a mayo that doesn't upset my stomach. My favorite way to eat sardines was with capers, fresh diced onion, mayo, and a dab of mustard.

I tried making sardine patties tonight.

1/4 cup almond meal
1 tbsp mustard
1 egg
dried basil
black pepper
12 oz of sardines

Coconut oil for Frying.

Make sure the oil & pan are hot.  3 to 4 minutes each side. Flatten after the first side is cooked.

They came out pretty good, but they still needed something. So I ate one with ketchup. Will have to work on the seasoning. Tarter sauce would have been fab. Arg, still want mayo with my canned fish.

Truffle Fudge

I just made this truffle textured fudge from random ingredients in my pantry and fridge...

1 1/2 cups cocoa
1 cup coconut oil (liquified, but not warm)
1 stick of pastured butter
1 cup organic evaporated cane juice sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp high vitamin butter oil
3 dashes of celtic sea salt
Pinch of cinnamon

2 tbsp cream

2 tbsp sour cream

Put all the ingredients in a food processor except cream & sour cream. Process until smooth. Add cream & sour cream and process. It should be the consistency of  frosting. Put in a pan covered in wax paper, cover and cool several hours. 

My perfect carrier.

I saw a post on one of my mom lists about soft structured buckle carriers and someone mentioned they were selling a Babies Beyond Borders Mei Favorites Buckle Carrier. The wide straps made me want to try it. I'm happy to report no pain in left shoulder from wearing this carrier at all and it really does put most of the weight on your hips/legs. I got the toddler size that goes up to 50lbs. It fits both Manperson and myself with its 47" waist size. He likes it better too now that he has gotten into using the ergo sport and my one-year old actually brings it to us to carry her in. She fell asleep in it easily unlike the other buckle carriers we've used. I think because this one really supports her with it's extra long body, and when she is awake the fabric and style allow her to get her arms out.

This carrier has the multi-adjustable straps like the Boba, but they are wider and more comfortable. They are super lightly padded so it is not a pain to put other things on my shoulders over the carrier straps which was a problem with Ergo and Boba with their heavy padding and the wideness of the straps as well as the super wide waist pad distributes weight even better which means I really am mostly using my legs. It comes with an adjustable chest strap, but I don't really it need all that often which is a first with this type of carrier. The wide straps seem to keep it from sliding off my shoulders. It also comes with a small pouch. You can roll the body of the carrier and snap it to your waist when not in use. This is a feature I didn't mention with the beco butterfly that I loved. This carrier has arms straps with the ability to be crossed for greater support and size adjustment. Since I got mine used, I didn't get a mesh bag or instruction booklet that a new one would come with. Even better of all the carriers I've tired this one cost the least new.  If I had gotten mine new, I would have totally gotten a custom design, though their are really great colors to choose from, the most of any of the carriers. If you are going all organic they don't have that option, but these are fair trade and made by a group of women.

Soft Structured Baby Carrier Comparison

I've now had the chance to try several soft structured baby carriers which are a must if you have a kiddo who is over 20lbs. I have shoulder/back issues which includes limited flexibility in my shoulders and am also a big-chested, larger than average woman.  My child is also bigger than average and has a long torso. Her growth recently slowed down enough so that she is actually now on the growth charts. Below is a more indepth comparison of the 3 different styles of ergos and the boba that I wish I could have found online before I went to the trouble of buying and trying all of them. I also tried the Beco Butterfly 2 but due to less padding in the shoulders, a thinner waist strap it does not distribute a toddlers weight well enough for me, though it is great for learning how to back carrier, once you are comfortable with a back carry the Beco becomes rather inconvenient with it's complicated baby pocket. The other soft structured carrier I got the chance to try at my local babywearers meeting was a pikkolo which lacks a chest strap has flimsiest waist belt of all  making it the least ergonomic and for the price just really isn't up to par with the other soft structured carriers.

The ergo classic/organic is not really made for the larger person, so you generally have to buy a waist extension if your waist is over a certain size (43"). My waist size is 44.5" which meant for the ergo classic I bought I had to buy the extender which allowed for another 8", but was kind of cumbersome when one only needs another 2". The ergo performance also worked better for me than the classic and goes up to 48"in the waist, but the shoulder straps are too thin. The performance also kept my kiddo from leaning back as far as in the ergo classic which can 'cause balance issues. I found that of the ergos the ergo sport worked best for me for 4 reasons the shoulder straps were similar to the classic so they really helped you adjust your child's weight to be carried on your hips, the extended waist size, it seems to sit higher on my kiddo so there was less lean back of and the flexibility of the fabric which though the straps became easily twisted allowed for easily moving my kiddo to a back carry without requiring much shoulder flexibility.

I also recently did a side by side comparison for a month between the Boba and the Ergo Sport as well as a week also with the Ergo Classic. I find the Boba to be a superior carrier when you need to position weight more on your hips. The Boba has a better waist strap which adjusts from 28" to 56" it is also wider which provides more support and clasps in the center rather than off to the side like the ergos do. All the straps on the Boba are adjustable from both sides which is super convenient. The Boba is definitely hands down better than the Ergo Classic because of strap adjustability and support since the height of the body keeps your kiddo from effecting your balance two much. Sadly, the ergo sport works better for my body due to the flexibleness & slight stretch in the fabric, the boba fabric is cotton and stiffer though lighter than the ergo classic fabric, and the narrower upper body profile which allows it to sit on my shoulders in the perfect spot.

My dream carrier would be a Boba with a narrower upper body profile, a little bit more stretch in the fabric, and slightly more padding in the shoulders. Meanwhile, I'm using an ergo sport because it works best for me, though I will be recommending the Boba more.

If you plan on buying any of these carriers, REI is the best place to buy a new Ergo carrier due to a liberal return policy though your color choices will be limited. The Boba on the other hand should be bought directly from the company online as they have a 60 day return policy. The Beco Butterly is best bought at Baby Earth since they also have a nice return policy.

I highly recommend trying the carriers for yourself after trying many different types of  including  several types of Mei Tai's, Moby, Baby K'Tan, and Black Panda Pocket Wrap (similar to the Sleepy Wrap) all of which are more for the under 20lb baby and some are more for small infants,  you will find that different carriers work for better for different body types both your body type and your child's.