Slow foods are on the docket right now - what are slow foods you ask? 

Without looking up the definition officially, we are saying they are un-processed foods that 

are cooked as closely to their natural state as possible.  That's NOT to say some of this isn't processed - it is but from farm fresh or fresh ingredients as much as possible.  Can you make it yourself without a list of 

ingredients you cannot even pronounce?  Then it's probably a slow food. Yes, some of the ingredients were bought at a store but the point is, I could have made it with something from home. 

First up is the Italian white bean and sausage soup.  

2cans (or your own cooked white beans) 

2 potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks,

1 onion, diced, 

2 Cloves of garlic minced

2 TBSP EVOO (extra virgin Olive Oil)

1 lb of Italian Sausage (yes, homemade is best but I bought mine from a butcher who makes their fresh with NO artificial ingredients. Just meat and spices) 

1 carton of Chicken broth (I used my own from a chicken I boiled) 

1 bunch of fresh spinach (picked from the garden is best. 

Salt and pepper to taste.

Sautee the onions and garlic in Olive oil, add the potatoes. Separately cook the meat and add to the 

onions, garlic and potatoes.  Add broth and cook until potatoes are tender. 

Then add beans and spinach, Salt and Pepper.

I have posted this recipe before - it is NOT my creation. Here is the link: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2010/10/quinoa-salad-with-pears-and-baby.html 

This one again is even better with homegrown and fresh picked but it you don't have it, It's still 

worth buying the ingredients and making it - GOOD!!!!

Lastly, a very simple dish using a homegrown Spaghetti squash, and some garden fresh homemade

Pesto.  Cook the Squash by piercing the flesh with a knife, throwing it in the 

oven and baking on 350* for about 45 minutes.  Cut open, remove seeds and spoon the 

innards into a bowl.  Add your fresh pesto, salt and pepper and eat.  

This is so yummy!!!!!  

I encourage everyone to shop as much as possible at Farmer's Markets - support your local farmers and producers and stop sending your money overseas!!!!

Creamy Pesto Chicken/Asparagus/mushroom Fettucini Alfredo

Well, I've searched high and low for my camara because personally - I think this is a meal worth seeing. But, Alas, It is missing. Tonight's dinner is a compilation of a recipe I found and then I added a bunch of stuff. And yes, It's Gluten Free, Corn free and uses goat milk cream.

This one is so good. I'm thinking I need to make it again SOON!

1 Package of Tinkyada brand Fettucini (follow package directions)

2 chicken breast cooked and cut into bite sized pieces

1 bunch of asparagus, cleaned, ends cut off and cut into bite sized pieces.

1/2 red onion, diced.

2 TBSP Olive Oil

1 C. chopped mushrooms

1 C. Cream (milk is fine too)

1TBSP Tapioca flour

2 TBSP Pesto (jarred or homemade!)

1/2 C. of shredded parmesan cheese

1 jar of marinated artichoke hearts.

Add EVOO to pan and put in onions, Asparagus and sautee. When the veggies are soft add mushrooms, cream, pesto and tapioca flour. Add Parmesan cheese . Then toss with the fettucini. Add jar of Artichoke hears, salt and pepper to taste. ENJOY with your favorite salad! YUM.

Buy it Local, Grow it yourself, eat what you grow!

If you are following this blog you are probably interested in several things. Growing some of your own food, buying locally grown food, cooking that which you grow or buy! I have been on this kick for a while now and really would like to encourage more people to take a step to grow a little more of what they will use. There are so many EASY ways to start!!!

We started gardening when our oldest was born (she's now 17) so she's sort of used to this way of life. She thinks we are a bit wacky but she doesn't give us too hard of a time for growing, raising our own food too much! She's even been known to sit munching on a bowl of homegrown baby carrots while doing her schoolwork! SHHH~ don't tell her I told you!

When we moved to our current property (our 1/2 acre of heaven in Central NM) my goal was to convert it to being as productive as I could - Edible landscaping, goats, chickens, bees. I'm happy to say that after 8 years, we are well on our way. WE still have a long way to go but I love the luxury of pretty much eating something daily that we produced off our land. We drink the milk and make cheese and soap from our tiny herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats. We eat eggs from our little flock of chickens and have managed to raise a few for meat as well. We have been planting trees and garden areas for most all of the 8 years we've been here and it's a trip bringing in something from the yard and figuring out a meal....The less I have to go to the grocery store, the better.

I think I am out to prove something - that you can feed your family (maybe not completely) off of a small parcel of land. YOU can eat a majority of stuff that you produced yourself and you do not need acres and acres to do so!!!! I guess I'm not the only crazy wannabe farm girl out there. Just within the past month I've heard of several such similar situations: Recently I saw a post on Laptop Lunches for a challenge for a diet called 100 Mile Diet. Basically - eating for one month only food that is produced within 1oo miles of your house.....Oh my! Also followed the plight of the Julie http://oakparkhatesveggies.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/my-pyrrhic-victory/ who was being prosecuted for growing veggies in her yard. I even found out there is a name for folks like me (Educated women who opt out of the rat race to raise children, animals and their own food) Femivores. This movement seems to be gaining steam. I am a regular at the Los Lunas Farmer's Market selling our homemade goat milk soaps as well as anything we produce on the farm that I cannot can, freeze or eat!!!!

Today I stumbled across this book (gotta have it!!!) and this blog (glad I found it!!!). Please go there an check it out if you would like to join in this movement....and If I win the book - Sweet! I'm going to hopefully get it anyway because it looks awesome and I hope will help me on the way to accomplish my own 1/2 acre of production! I would LOVE to do what this gal has done!!!!!

http://permaculture-media-download.blogspot.com/2011/08/book-giveaway-quarter-acre-farm.html

cheese Adventures: Bocconcini

Today I found a recipe on Giada De Laurentis Food Network site - marinated Bocconcini. What is Bocconcini you ask? It is "little ball" of mozarella cheese. Yet another way of enjoying your cheese!!!!!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/marinated-bocconcini-recipe/index.html

so today I went out and picked the fresh herbs out of the garden and made my own homemade Bocconcini. Now, you ask - what am I supposed to do with the cheese once I've made it? Well, that's easy - eat it of course. But if you prefer to use it in a recipe then here you go - it's not mine but it sounds so yummy and with heirloom tomatoes about to be (hopefully) abundantly available - it should be pretty easy to make! Just visit you local grower's market or health food store and buy some yummy heirloom tomatoes and make this lovely salad:http://laurasbestrecipes.com/salads/

Cheese Adventures Make My Tastebuds SING!

Having an abundance of fresh creamy goat milk means a lot of cheese needs to be made and we can have fun creating new cheesy goodness. I told you all I'd update you on the fun things we made with the cheese rolls (Mozzarella rolled into a sheet, filled and then rolled up and cut like pinwheels. Well, We've made the proscuitto, sundried tomato and basil and few times and I never tire of that one. We've made Italian meats and cheese with Prosciutto and salami as well as artichokes and olives (wasn't my favorite - too salty so I may have to modify the way I make it) The Italian meat was good but my new favorite taste sensation is: Proscuitto, Basil and Fig. Okay - sounds wierd but I was surfing some food blogs and found one about a cheese and fig sandwich with Italian bread and basil/pesto on it and the lightbulb went on......Oh yeah, it's GOOD!
there are of course other fun things to be made with OTHER goat milk products - like yogurt. This is a Tex Mex potato salad that I found on another blog; laurasbestrecipes.com. But modified for my tastebuds. This, my friends is delish! I made it with both sweet potatoes and white potatoes (I think Yukon Gold would have been better but I had none on hand) Chipotle Mayo/yogurt dressing (3 TBSP chipotle with adobo paste, 1 C Mayo, 1 C. Yogurt and 2 TBSP spicy mustard) chopped tomatoes, chopped up cilantro and a chopped up red onion and some garlic(minced). I think I could eat this by myself in one sitting but yeah, probably will have to share at the BBQ.
Lastly, Caprese salad. This has always been one of my favs. What more could you ask for - Fresh Tomatoes from the garden, Fresh Homemade Mozzarella, Fresh Basil from the garden, a Balsamic Vinegar reduction with some cracked pepper to top it all off?UM - NOTHING! I would love to take credit for this lovely dish but I have to give credit where credit is due - Thank you Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/06/caprese-salad/

for sharing this lovely dish on your blog. My tastebuds are singing today - Cheese Adventures ROCK!

The Cheese Adventure takes a turn for the SWEETER!

The sweet tooth came out today. I was sitting around wondering what to do with some sweet chevre and got an idea - can you make truffles out of chevre. The answer is YES! I found a few recipes online but decided to go my own route. I had already made some Chevre with agave nectar, orange flavoring and orange peels. (about 1 C of Chevre with 1/2 tsp flavoring and 1/2 tsp. dried orange peel).
So I heated up the Milk chocolate I had left over from the Valentine's chocolates I'd made.
And Dipped them. then sprinkled a tiny bit of sea salt on top (if you've never had sea salt with your chocolate - do not knock it till you try it! HEAVENLY!) I think the ONLY thing that could have made these little gems better is having dark chocolate instead of Milk chocolate! OH YEAH! The most amazing part is how easy this was. NOW I'm thinking what yummy flavors one could make with this chevre deal......lavender, peppermint, strawberry, how about a fig, stuffed with sweet chevre, dipped in chocolate! Let the sweet side of cheese adventures.....begin!

A continuation of the Cheese Adventures

Well, who says I cannot combine my food adventures. Tonight we decided to go on a little journey to France in our culinary adventures and because there is CHEESE involved - yes, it's part of our cheese adventures as well. Tonight is also a vegetarian meal so for those of you doing the veg thing - this one's for you too! First up is Asparagus with bleu cheese and pinon nuts. I'm not sure this is really French but I figure with the Bleu Cheese, why not? EASY to make and the only things I can think of to make this EASY side dish better would be HOME made bleu cheese (maybe someday!) and HOME grown asparagus - again - maybe someday since I planted my first root stock this year. I roasted the asparagus with Olive oil and salt/pepper and then sprinkled pine nuts and bleu cheese on top right toward the end. see - EASY!

Next up is a lovely French Cucumber salad - again easy and oh so yummy. Funny thing is there isn't much difference between this salad and our favorite Cucumber Soup - except maybe a blender. This salad is nothing more than cucumbers, salt, pepper, 1 Tsp lemon juice and 1 C. Greek style yogurt. Also I added some mint leaves chopped up to make it have a bit more zing. YUM! IF you don't like mint leaves I bet you could substitute a myriad of other yummy herbs: lemon thyme, chives, or even dill.
Lastly is my family's favorite cold or hot soup - Potato Leek soup (hot) or Vicchisoise (cold) on a hot summer day - COLD is the way to go. make it early in the morning and refrigerate! After a long hot day, this will hit the spot! It is simple to make: 3 good sized leeks chopped up and washed, then sauteed in EVOO, Then peel and add about 5 - 6 good sized potatoes. Add stock - I used vegetable stock for this but you can use chicken also. Then cook until potatoes are nice and soft. Add Creme Fraische or milk if you don't have CF. Blend and add salt and pepper to taste. We are adding French Bread with Chevre cheese (ooh more french! more cheese!) and pickled beets. I think the only thing this meal is missing is Creme Brulee........