Not Yo' Grannies Butter

Not Yo' Grannies Butter

Here's what you need:

• Whole Cream, whipping cream (any cream with high fat content)
• Food Processor 
• Salt (Optional)
• Herbs and Spices (If you want to flavour it)
• Colander 
• Sink of cold water
• Jar or butter dish

Here's how you do it:

Pour cream into food processor (watch for that little line that says fill or max or else you could end up with milk EVERYWHERE). 

Turn processor on start at low then up to high. 

Let 'er buck. 

As you work through the stages you will make whipped cream, keep going past that. All of a sudden you will here the change it will sound really wet. It should look like this:

Butter solids separated

Next carefully pour the milk out into a separate container.
Pour butter solids into the colander in the sink full of cold water. MAKE SURE THE SINK IS FULL OF COLD WATER or you can end yup with a big greasy mess.

Butter!

Now time to get your hands dirty, squish, squeeze, pull and mash any remaining milk out of the butter.
Empty sink refill with clean water.
Continue mashing, squishing and squeezing until water remains clear.
Put butter into a bowl if you're flavouring. Roasted garlic and herb is super rad.

BAM! Not Yo' Grannies Butta

We made Mamavation's 100+ Healthy Mom Blog List!

WE DID IT! We made "Mamavation's 100+ Healthy Mom Blogs" list - we are #93.

Make sure to check out the link below to read about all the amazing mom blogs out there who are making our world a better place.

Moms For Real Food Initiative made Mamavation's 100+ Healthy Mom Blog List

Make Your Own Kombucha Recipe

WHAT IS IT??

“Kombucha is a variety of fermented, lightly effervescent sweetened black or green tea drinks that are commonly intended as functional beverages for their supposed health benefits. Kombucha is produced by fermenting tea using a "symbiotic colony" of bacteria and yeast”

It also helps reduce candida yeast and overgrowth of bacteria that is harmful to your organs and mental health. Many people attest to it clearing up physical pain of the guts and digestive, to clearing brain fog and lethargy associated with mental health and auto-immune disorders.

The term Kombucha and SCOBY were both coined in the 90's by an amazing guy named Len Porzio - you can check out his site here, to gain some more useful information!

HOW DOES IT FERMENT AND GROW??

It uses a mushroom-like, flat disk of culture called a SCOBY.

S.C.O.B.Y.
Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast

S.C.O.B.Y.

WHY SHOULD I DRINK THIS STUFF??

One word: probiotic culture. You know that yogurt you eat? Ya, that's a probiotic culture too! But even better as it is dairy free.

The Mother of all BBQ

It's the end of summer. It's stupid hot out and that leads to one of 3 things in this house smoothies, salads or BBQ everything. Here is my fast take on grilling up some fabulous food.

Before you fire up the BBQ put a little olive oil on a paper towel and rub it all over your grill. It stops everything from sticking and puts perfect grill marks on your food. 

Now fire it up. Our grill has a thermometer at the base of the lid, on each grill, so it's a more accurate temperature reading on what the grill temperature actually is.  

Get your grill really hot. Turn down the temp once you put your food on the grill or you'll end up with raw in the middle burnt hockey pucks.

Meat- You're going to need something for meat. Steak wrapped in bacon, chicken wrapped in bacon. See the theme? Everything is better with a little bacon! Flip your meat

Veggies- Well now this opens a whole weird and crazy world of grilling awesomeness! Our current favourite is sweet potato medallions tossed in olive oil sprinkled with a little salt and pepper. We were at the end of our Kohut Corn we picked last fall so it was already shucked. 

You can grill pretty much everything. We have cut heads of romaine lettuce in half oiled it and slapped it on the grill and it was AMAZING. Seriously try it! 

I'm a sucker for fresh veggies so I usually have some raw, freshness to top off the meal. Tomatoes drizzled with olive oil sprinkled with a little salt and pepper is perfect. 

Tips: Keep your flavours simple. Always use condiments. Horseradish Aioli is amazing on steak and easy to make. Kick it up and try something new.

German Bundt Cake Revisited!

GERMAN BUNDT CAKE - REVISITED

Recipe by Tracy Loeppky©

Hi all! As you may, or may not have guessed, my lineage is German and Dutch. Many, many recipes have been taught to me by my Omas and Opa!

One of which is the classic German Bundt Cake.

Now - I will post the original recipe, and also list my alternative ingredients for people who like to have some choice in their baking.
Enjoy!

Wet

• 200 grams sugar (7 oz.)
• or Coconut or Berry sugar, you may also but this in half
• 1/2 lb. butter (8 oz, or 1 cup)
• Cream together

Add

• 4-5 Eggs
• 6 tbs milk
• or Almond milk
• For extra moistness add a splash of oil, or pudding mix (no added sugar mix)
• Vanilla Extract

Dry

• 500 grams Flour (17.6 oz, or 2 cups)
• or GF flour, Spouted Grain flour, but you may need to add additional moisture in the form of apples sauce, oil, or fruit
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 heaping tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup oil - must be a liquid oil
• (Any other dry ei. choice chips, raisins, nuts etc)

1. Add dry to wet
2. Mix well, scraping edges frequently.
3. Should be a thick, sticky and heavy texture. Not wet.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour, or until tester comes out dry.
5. I used a standard confectioners sugar icing. You may use whatever you like - or nothing at all!

I'm a 'City-Girl' Trying to be a 'Farm-Girl' But You Won't Let Me - An Open Letter

Hello Baby-Boomers,

I am what you call a 'City Girl'. And a 'Millennial'.
I am, however, an 'Old Millennial' at almost 32 years of age. I do relate to most Gen-Xrs better than most of my 'Generation'. I also do come from a long line of 'Educated City-Folk'. So by all rights of classification I am a 'Millennial City Girl'. Seriously, though, most Millennials scare me.

I am on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter (though Twitter isn't really my hotspot). Social media is a part of my existence. I can learn most anything I want on YouTube (like tiling a bathroom) or Google (How to de-skunk my dog). I do still enjoy the smell of new books and reread old favourites until the bindings fall apart. I am 'plugged in'. I am hardly reachable on my house phone (we only have it in case a babysitter doesn't have a cell). Call, text or instant message me, I have my cell phone basically everywhere I go. Never call me at home. I love alternative rock, classic rock, 90s punk and grunge, and even the occasional pop song.

I live in a 1960's bungalow in town with my 'picture family' of a husband, two kids and a dog, though I don't have a picket fence, yet. I even drive a mini-van. I love my Chucks, Birkenstocks and Lulu Yoga pants. I am first and foremost a 'City Slicker'.

Top Gardening and Plant Apps

We love our technology! 
Both Keri and I are hard-core Apple users and enjoy the pomp, circumstance and gadgetry involved! 
But we also love the simpler life like gardening, farming and Chickenry. (Yes, that is now a word)

So to help all you wonderful peeps out there who also love both sides of being a Techie Outdoorsman, these Apps are for you!

Top Herb, Gardening and Plant Identification Apps

About Herbs
$ - Free
Memorial Sloan Kettering Center
This App gives you images, common and Latin names of all edible plants. Its extremely easy to use, and list it all alphabetically. More than 200 plants to choose from, this is the most integrative app I've ever used.

Pork Loin Roast with Juniper Berries

Pork Loin Roast with Juniper Berries

  
This pork roast recipe is decadent, luscious, and makes the best reduction deglazing I’ve ever tasted! If you feel like having a “fancier” dinner, this is the roast for you!

Ingredients

• 1 pork loin roast (2 kg)
• 1/2 cup Olive oil
  

Who's Your Farmer? Hop Compost is Organic Compost GOLD!

We go visit farmers, and ask 10 questions, and then make a video ...

We begin our "Who's Your Farmer?" series with a different kind of farmer ... a "garbage" farmer. 
Well, to be fair, it's not conventional garbage, or compost, we're talking about. This is organic "craft compost", and it's {going to be} the best thing you can use in your garden or farm.

Keri and I visited Hop Compost in Calgary, AB, and spoke with Kevin Davies, the founder.

Watch the YouTube video interview with Kevin - and prepare yourself - you will learn things about compost, compost fertilizer, and conventional fertilizer you haven't heard before! 
The amazing process which Kevin and the team at Hop Compost have devised is the stuff of legends. In fact, we believe that hop compost is at the forefront of a new organic compost and fertilizer era.

A FEW FACTS

• Since 2015, their debut year, Hop Compost has diverted 2,029,000 pounds of waste from local landfills. This has saved over 5,200,000 pounds of emissions, 65,000 cubic feet of land, and 507,000 liters of water.

• HOP compost has 7.6 times the nutrient value compared to conventional compost.

• Using a closed loop of organic farmers and vendors ensures Hop Compost's top quality 

• Grow Calgary - the largest urban farm in Canada - by using Hop Compost announced their crop yields are rising enough to be able to donate an additional 1125 meals to food banks 
  

  

Canada's large cities will soon run out of landfill space:

• Calgary has 18 years left

• Vancouver has 4 years left

• Toronto has 0 years -a they transport their garbage to Michigan

• 1/3 of most landfills are comprised of COMPOSTABLE material

Conventional FERTILIZER

•  Is poisonous to animals and humans

• Has been proven to be toxic atmospherically*

• Areas which use high amounts of conventional chemical fertilizer have an increase in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma & brain cancer*

• Heavy use of chemical fertilizer pollutes the air much like smoking*

*Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma stats: American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Brain cancer stats: Boston University, School of Public Health

".. I would say organic is possible...a lot of people have been making the same purchase decisions that they’ve just inherited through generations. It seems like a natural move to go into a green center and buy a chemical fertilizer .."

Please watch the video and read the transcribed interview below.

MFRFI: What do you do here at Hop Compost?

Kevin: 

Economic Struggles and Encouragment From the Past!

Once Upon a Time, The Government Encouraged Self-Sufficiency ......

Now, they require our dependency, through GMO crops, GMO seed patent laws, fast foods, regulations on raw milk/eggs/meats, taxation, flu shots - and the list goes on.

With the economy, especially in Alberta, being extremely tight and most of us balancing a budget tighter than bankers fist, we need hope. Hope that even though things are tough, they weren't as tough as Wartimes - and even THAT wasn't s bad as the Dirty 30's depression.

So what did folks do? They grew. And they shared. Then they survived. So too shall we!

I came across these War Time posters from the US, and suddenly realized - holy crap - in just over 50 years we've come full circle in our mindset ... and that is ALL it is: a mindset!

Living Right, Living in Balance, takes patience and hard work.

Tuna Helper From Scratch

Tuna Helper From Scratch! 

Ahh the aroma of simmering hamburger and tuna helper! It's the stuff of legends, no?

But, if you're like me, there is now a big red X over it on my shopping list due to the enormous amounts of MSG, sugar and other multi-syllabic chemicals.

So. I've taken all my favorite Helper recipes and replicated them.

Tuna Helper Scratch Style

Ingredients

Factory Farmer Exposes Industry

Factory Farmer of 22 Years Exposes the Truthful Horrors of the Industry.

When CompassionUSA got the call from Craig Watts, they were shocked. 

Not only is the factory farm normally restricted and off limits to the public, but certainly a no-go for farm animal rights advocates, like CompassionUSA.

You may wonder why he made that call,  since factory farms such as Perdue claim complete transparency in their practices. 

This video, produced by CompassionUSA and narrated by a Perdue contract factory farmer, Craig Watts show precisely why.

It also shows why groups like Moms For Real Food Initiative promote and educate consumers to seek out and buy from small, local and sustainable farms - going to them, seeing the animals KNOWING where their food comes from.

If we all start doing this, it will stop the horrid conditions seen in this video.

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew Recipe

Mmmmmm Comfort Food.
For us beef stew, like chicken soup, is good for the soul! Sometimes though, our preparation is a little wanting ... as in, I totally forgot to take anything out to thaw.
#AmIRight ???

So - that is where the handy dandy pressure cooker comes in handy! We use the Fagor Pressure Canner that also doubles as a regular pressure cooker.