Battle Chicken!

It's been a while since a blog post I know. I've been working, working, working and soon the wedding season will be over only to begin doll making season! We picked up our last of the chicken CSA from The Wooly Pig and put the 11 chickens in the deep freezer for the winter. We don't intend to buy any meat this winter. We were telling our good friend Eric Leon, owner of Forbidden City Asian Bistro in MIddletown, CT about the chickens. Because they cost more than conventional chickens, he wanted to see if there was a difference in flavor and texture. He prepared two equally sized chickens ( one of them was our chicken ) and cooked them in a way that was traditional Malaysian and would not disguise the flavor. They were boiled, rapidly chilled and then air cooled. They were then chopped up and served with cucumber, rice and traditional sauces for dipping.

THE BATTLE:

 Here are both chickens. The one without the head is ours. Our chicken is a pasture raised, organic, non-GMO fed chicken. The opponent chicken is a cage free chicken.

 Chef is cutting up the chicken.

 

Eric invited two of his friends to join us. They did not know about the chicken battle. Here is what the dishes looked like prior to eating.

 They were identical in appearance. We ate our chicken first. The meat was sweet, tender, fresh tasting and juicy.  Everyone was enjoying it. The second chicken came out and everyone dug in but immediately noticed a difference in the flavor of the chicken. It was still tender and juicy but there was no sweetness.  There was a " chicken" flavor that was less appealing and I noticed that right away.  Everyone wanted more of chicken number 1. By the end of the dinner, restaurant employees were trying to rationalize the higher cost and figuring out how to get some for themselves.  

THE VERDICT: 

The organic, non-GMO, pasture raised chicken which was $3 more per lb. was victorious. Delicious. No comparison. Thank you Wooly Pig for your awesome chickens! They are worth every penny. 

There was indeed more to our wonderful meal.  Eric made us KangKong with Sambal and a curry dish. Many wines and Saki were had and we ended our meal with delicious sesame balls. 

 KangKong is a type of Asian water spinach.

 Delicious curry dish

Sesame balls 

A happy Eric enjoying our appreciation for his food. 

Three month running hiatus and now what?

I have struggled with right sided knee pain for a few months. Before that I was running 5K 3-4 times per week.  I wasn't running with any goal in mind, just for fun and fitness.  We live in a VERY hilly area and the hills are more like small mountains, which has always made running a challenge for me.  I became very used to the hills and so that made my running on flat ground a breeze, but with that came some knee strain and then it was all aggravated by an actual fall onto the knee which was not related to running at all. I was planning on running in the Cape Cod half marathon which took place a couple of weeks ago, but could not train for it.
For me, the biggest fear of not running is losing all the fitness I have gained over the last year. Remembering that I couldn't run to the mailbox initially and worked myself up to running four small distance races per week! So now the procrastination builds as I worry about how difficult that first run is going to be again. This only causes more time to go by and before you know it, it's three months and I've lost a good amount of muscle. During this time I also lost weight.  Some of it I'm sure is from the muscle loss but my diet has remained very healthy and wholesome and has not allowed me to put any weight back on.  Nutrition is always the most important thing in my mind, exercise is only secondary.  I've been able to maintain a certain level of fitness and health just through diet alone and this hiatus has helped me prove that.
So today I put on my running sneakers and heart monitor and headed out the door.  I warmed up longer than usual ( about 20 min) and then hit the road. I ran my usual run and all it's hills.  Here are the differences I noticed:

Three months ago:

5K on hilly terrain average time 22 minutes
Heart rate on flat areas 110 bpm
Heart rate on hills 145 bpm
(My aerobic threshold is 160 bpm)
No walking or resting
No pain, shin splints or side stitches

Today:

5K on hilly terrain average time 33 minutes
Heart rate on flat areas 130 bpm
Heart rate on hills 160 bpm at aerobic threshold
No resting, walked briefly up part of a large hill
No pain, no shin splints, no side stitch

A certain amount of fitness has been lost but I feel confident that I can slowly build back up to where I was.  That is not even really a goal for me, the true goal is to physically leave the house and move my body! I feel great post run and I am over the anxiety of how that first time back out is going to be. I will of course listen to my body and take it easy. Hopefully I'll be running a half in the spring and if not, I will still have the benefits of regular exercise.

Sprouted Spelt Pancakes

Every once and a while I am in the mood for pancakes but I hardly ever eat them.  I avoid them because I always feel gross and super crampy afterwards. I decided to experiment with a few ingredients this morning and these were really great! They were the perfect consistency and I know that I am getting nutrients and beneficial fats and carbs from my breakfast. Here are my all vegan pancakes:

1 cup organic sprouted spelt flour
1 cup organic almond milk unsweetened
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
2 tbsp of aluminum free baking powder
1 tsp cold pressed organic sunflower seed oil

Mix ingredients together and beat with a whisk. Use a small amount of coconut oil to line your pan and on a medium to high heat, pour your batter in large spoon fulls to the size you like your pancakes. When bubbling through, flip and cook on other side. About 3 minutes per side.

For topping:

Real deal Maple syrup. The real stuff that came out of the tree, not a corn syrup product.
add fruit ( optional)

 Delicious!!!!! And you don't have to feel gross.

One Stop Shopping

It's been a while since I blogged for several reasons.  The wedding season was upon me and through the fall I have been photographing beautiful weddings and spending 40 hours per week with edits.  I have also been backed up on my Fleecy Feetsie orders. If you didn't know, I make needle felted sculptures of all animals but mostly dogs and out of their own hair mixed with wool. They are extremely time consuming but I love making them. When I am making a deceased dog, It is almost spiritual.  I know that I am holding what is probably the last little part of him or her and I feel very honored. Besides my full time jobs, we were away in Nova Scotia celebrating our first wedding anniversary at the same place where we honeymooned. We stayed at the Trout Point Lodge in East Kemptville, NS.  You have probably never heard of it because it is an Eco resort that is so remote, so untouched, so away from everything else in the world.  I will start with the Trout Point Lodge because it is actually pertinent to this blog and the entire concept of eating clean and naturally from the earth. The lodge basically consists of a main log building which is cozy and beautiful and on the premises there are other cabins and homes with bedrooms and shared common space. They light a beautiful fire at night on the Tusket River where you can enjoy a drink or a dip in the cedar wood fired hot tub. Seriously, you are in the middle of deep wilderness and the only place that mainland NS moose call home. All  meals at the Trout Point Lodge are made there by their Chef who forages many of the ingredients or grows them in their own garden. All meat is sourced  or fished locally and smoked trout is a staple there. The staff is wonderful and allow use of their bikes, kayaks etc for your own exploration.  There are many hikes you can take and the lodge is considered a geographical dark sky area so stargazing is perfect here. The meals are always fabulous. We know we are eating clean there except for dessert of course which we did have plenty of.  Oh and did I mention that we drank a ton of wine? Oh well, it's a vacation. You can always walk or kayak off whatever you eat anyway as there is very little Internet access and absolutely no cell signal.  The staff is always ultra accommodating and although the place and space is very organic, we feel luxurious when we are there. We had in room massages and since there were no other guests sharing our gorgeous home in the woods, we had the place to ourselves for the second year in a row.

We knew that once we left the lodge and headed to our family home in Port Lorne, Nova Scotia we would have to find a way to source the best food possible for the week. Luckily this was not a problem. We decided to visit a friend of mine, Jill, who was the previous owner of our home.  She lives just down the road and has always been a farm girl like myself. I wasn't sure what she was raising now but we stopped in just to say hello. She and her husband naturally raise cattle, chickens and sheep. We left their house with a beautiful 7 lb chicken, ground beef and 2 dozen eggs. Oh yeah, as we were leaving the " fish guy" was spotted across the road at a neighbor's house and we called him over.  From him we bought a bunch of fresh Haddock fillets  and smoked Kippers which we found out are Herring. We were all set for the week but what good is a banquet of food without sharing it with those around you? So Jill and her husband Elgie joined us for the very large roasted chicken and we had a great time washing it down with lots of good wine and yes! The wine was organic!
Joe and I have tried several organic wines and frankly they have all sucked. We are wine people. We love good wine and admittedly some expensive ones.  So any ol' organic wine that tastes like vinegar just does not work for us. But we found one that was different! At the Trout Point Lodge we were poured some red wine with our lunch and we LOVED it. To our surprise it was organic and from California. It's Bonterra and we particularly loved the Cab Savignon 2011. We found it and brought home many bottles. It was $22 in Nova Scotia but we found it in the duty free New Hampshire liquor store for $14. Good deal! We stocked up and have plenty to share.  Coming for dinner? I'll get into wines in another blog post, but for now, I can tell you that we liked this one.

 

Because the farmer's market season was over in Nova Scotia, we had to shop at the grocery store. They had a very small section of organic produce and so I had to limit us to the few vegetables they had.  We were able to get mushrooms, limes, lemons, broccoli, peppers, celery, carrots and potatoes.  I figured I could make lots of meals with the various veggies we had, plus we still had to get our lobster from our own fisherman at the wharf behind our house. Between the chicken, beef, lobster, Haddock, Herring, veggies, starches, 2 dozen eggs, black rice and quinoa pasta we purchased we were all set for a week of meals.  Our alternative would have been to eat out every night and enjoy the delicious fried scallops and Haddie bits that are ubiquitious here in the Annapolis Valley.  It would have been really yummy,  but we would have come back 10 lbs heavier. Here is a photo of our backyard and the wharf where the lobster fisherman come in everyday with the most amazing and sweetest tasting Bay of Fundy treasure. No lobster can ever compare. 

 I came back 2 lbs heavier than when I left.  I also didn't move much while we were there. I really did just curl up and read most of the week. So for the feasting that was done, not bad.  It was mostly water retention and the day after we were back I realized that I actually lost weight. Eating clean and chemical free keeps your metabolism working properly and so I enjoyed stuffing my face with real food.

Canning tomatoes the Italian way

I remember canning tomatoes as a kid and loved the fresh taste of the home grown tomato sauce all winter long.  There was a sweetness that I loved but I remembered the taste being so simple and fresh. Just a few ingredients and it was the best sauce ever. So I asked my mother how to do it since I couldn't remember. Canning always freaks me out because I think I am going to contaminate something and kill my whole family with one meal. I made sure I did it right and I still have some small air bubbles in my sauce, but I don't think it will be a problem. As a test, I used one tonight and it was perfect. Maybe a little thin. I could have cooked it down some more, but the flavor was there. I used a 35lb box of tomatoes SAN MARZANO.  These are a type of Roma tomato that create a superior sauce.  They don't taste like much raw, but when cooked, the sweetness and flavor of these tomatoes are the best for sauce. I paid $16 for the box and in retrospect, should have gotten at least one more box. I made a small batch, very small. 35 lbs yielded 7 quarts of sauce. So I'll be back next weekend to get more and do this again.

What you will need:

Tomatoes
Canning jars and lids
Fresh basil leaves
A food mill or electric tomato press
Several LARGE pots, one or two for cooking tomatoes and one for canning.
A canning rack and tongs
Kosher coarse salt
Canning funnel


First, wash the tomatoes. Lay them somewhere to dry.

 Get every little bit of surface dirt off. After they dry get a very sharp knife ready for a lengthy cutting session.

Quarter each tomato and remove any parts that are not ripened. I should mention that you want to use tomatoes that are ripe but NOT over ripened, spoiled or mushy.  This can contaminate your yield. Remove yellow or hard parts that are not ripe and any blemishes. They should look like this when you are done.

 Aren't those beautiful??

Next, heat a very large pot or two pots if you don't have one pot that is large enough and put in the tomatoes.  No water or oil. Just hot pot and tomatoes.  Add salt. About 6 tbspn
 for every 35 lbs. Once boiling, reduce to simmer and let them cook down until they are soft and the skins are peeling off.  About 30 minutes.
Here is what they look like while cooking. 

When they are done, remove the pot and while still hot, ladle the tomatoes into your food mill.  I used an old school hand crank because I realized that my Kitchen Aid food mill attachment had holes that were way to small and literally made juice out of the tomatoes.  You need holes that allow for some pulp to pass through but separate the skins and most of the seeds. Here is my food mill.

Here is what I am ladling into my food mill

In the meanwhile, I have washed my canning jars in the dishwasher on the pot cycle and now have them in a large pot of boiling water sitting in a canning rack.  They are being sterilized. I also have my lids in another pot of boiling water.

After I have milled all the tomatoes I put them back on the stove to cook down a little. Not much or you will lose your fresh tomato taste. You only need to do this if it's too thin. Remember to NEVER add water.
When it's ready, remove the sterilized jars with canning tongs and place on a towel. Place a basil leaf in each jar. Fill each jar with the sauce using a canning funnel and leave about 1 inch of space at the top. use a plastic knife around the inside edges of the jar to release any small air bubbles. ( I forgot this step).
Place your sterilized lids on and screw ( not tight). Place those jars into your canning pot on the rack and boil for 45 minutes. This will remove the air and can them. If you don't have a rack, put your jars inside old tube socks to keep them from hitting each other while boiling to avoid breakage.

 

 

Remove once canned and let sit for 24 hours. You can remove the rings only, not the lids. The lids should be depressed in the center now. Date your sauce and store in a dark, non-drafty room. 

You will be so happy you did it!

Cooking for a 19 hour road trip

We are leaving for Nova Scotia early in the morning and the drive is long. We love the drive, it doesn't bother us. In fact, it's a part of the vacation and there is a great joy over driving past endless trees in northern Maine and New Brunswick. Joe and I don't eat fast food. We used to, but that was years ago and eating it now is impossible when we think about where the meat comes from and all of the food is genetically modified. When we plan for a long road trip, we cook everything we are going to need the day before. This saves money, ensures that we are eating healthy while we sit on our butts without movement for more than a day, and saves time. I try to make things that will still taste good if they are cold. Here is the menu for tomorrow's trip:

Roasted chicken drumsticks with baked garnet yams, gluten-free pasta with soft boiled duck eggs, sun gold tomatoes and pesto, balsamic roasted carrots and beets, eggplant and olive tapenade, celery sticks and fruit. 

It looks like a lot but only took about 1 hour total to make including prep time.  We will also be eating fruit as a snack during the ride.  I will pack some unsweetened applesauce too. The yams were still cooking when I took this shot. We usually find a nice little picnic spot to pull over at in Maine or NB and eat there. We bring our picnic bag with us which contains dishes, silverware and glasses. We are good to go and this is going to be yummy! 

The pesto and tapenade I usually cover with plastic wrap so that there is no oxidation, particularly with the pesto.  It is still fine if it turns brown, but is just visually unappealing to me. You can either cover with an inch of olive oil or do it this way.  The plastic wrap must touch the top of the pesto. I don't add the pesto to the pasta until we are about to eat it, because then I will have not way of preventing oxidation. So you will not see it on the pasta in the photos.

 

 

This all stacks up well in our large tote cooler back that I bought from Marshall's.  We throw a few ice packs in there and it stays nice and cold. Here is everything in it's final packing stage. Not bad!

GlGluten-free spiral pasta salad with sun gold tomatoes, duck eggs and pesto

 

1 package of fresh ( if you can find it) rice pasta.

1 bunch of some kind of cherry or grape tomato. 

2 duck, goose or chicken eggs soft boiled

1 cup of pesto ( see pesto recipe)

Boil 2 duck eggs and set aside to cool, then peel and halve. 

Boil salted water and add pasta.  Cook as per instructions. Strain and rinse with cold water, set aside. 

Mix pasta with tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper and top with pesto, mix well. Serve cold or skip the cold water rinse and serve hot. 

Pesto

2 cups of fresh basil leaves

1 oz. chopped raw milk cheese ( you can omit if you don't consume dairy)

1/4 cup of pine nuts

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

1 clove raw garlic

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Blend all of the above in a food processor until mostly smooth and use immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Balsamic Roasted Carrots and Beets

5 Carrots

5 Beets

Extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

Cut veggies to size you like. Preheat over to 375 degrees and place peeled vegetables on a foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle oil and vinegar over veggies. Add salt and pepper. Cook for 45 minutes. 

Eggplant and Olive Tapenade

 

2 of the long and small eggplant varieties

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp capers

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1/2 pitted green olives

Salt and pepper

Juice of half a lemon

In a 360 degree preheated oven, roast the eggplants and garlic cloves on a foil lined baking dish for 35 minutes. Drizzle with oil and some salt first. 

Once eggplant and garlic is done, mix with all other ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

It's that easy! This is great with bread, crackers, veggies, you name it! I especially love it with falafel.

This kind of chicken is hard to find!

I have to start this off with a funny skit from the show "Portlandia" that my friend Jess made me watch.  When I told her that Joe and I want to know where our chicken comes from when we eat out, she put this on for me and it was perfect:

How I wish someone would bring us a portfolio of our chicken! But then we probably wouldn't be able to enjoy our meal after seeing the little cutie.  We do look for some information on the meat source or we ask.  Eric Leong, owner of Forbidden City Bistro in Middletown, CT  shares with us where his food comes from.  Eric sources organic and at least pasture raised chicken when possible. He is always looking for the freshest alternative and is very open about the wonderful dishes created in his restaurant.  Another restaurant we frequent is the "Oyster Club" in Mystic, CT.  They are a pioneer restaurant for the Farm to Table movement in Connecticut.  They source their food fresh daily from only local farmers for all produce and meat.  When we eat out at these establishments, we can eat with a clean conscience.

We have looked at the pros and cons of poultry from various providers. We have found what we believe to be one of the few if not the only poultry farm that is doing it all perfectly here in CT. What is important to us is that our chickens are:

1. Pasture raised.  This means feeding on grass and bugs in open air, freely, walking in a pasture setting, on grass, in the sunlight.  This is not to be confused with the abused label of being free ranged, which means they only need to be exposed to the outdoors.  This has been taken advantage of by some farms which still house most of their chickens indoors with a small fenced opening to the outdoors.

2. Organically fed. 

3. Organically fed non-GMO feed. 

4. Processed on the farm site and sold directly to customers via market or CSA. 

5. Never antibiotics or hormones

Believe it or not, these four things are hard to find in a chicken farm. We were very excited to meet Nichki Carangelo of The Wooly Pig .Their chicken  is DELICIOUS!!! and we feel so great about eating it. 

If you are not aware of what is happening all across the country  at chicken farms which supply most of our grocery stores and fast food restaurants with poultry, you will be shocked to learn the truth. If you watch the documentary Food Inc. you may never eat chicken or beef again. 

Why the ag-gag law doesn't allow video or photography inside chicken farms

My Personal 15 Commandments of Health and Weight Loss

Today I visited my Doctor for routine stuff.  He's a very personable guy who will sit and chit chat for an extended amount of time about absolutely nothing.  He usually walks into the room already in mid-sentence about something he will spend the next half hour talking about.  When he walked into the room, he was actually speechless.  He just looked at me for a very long time and then said: " didn't you look very different the last time I saw you not all that long ago?". He looked down at my chart and showed me that I was 148 lbs the last time I was there about 6 months ago.  I weighed in at 120 lbs today.  One year ago during my visit, I weighed in at 154 lbs, my all time heaviest.  I guess the changes are shocking if you haven't seen me in a while. I told him all about my diet changes, my running, my triathlon training and it dawned on me that I have worked very hard to get to this point.  Not to see the scale go down, because I don't care about that, but to feel really good and strong. I know that the dietary changes are accountable for 90% of the progress. I haven't lifted a weight in months, but I have more muscle. I feel comfortable in clothing, I can run long and fast, I can cycle and I can swim.  One year ago, I could not do any of this. It took years of unhealthy eating and sedentary lifestyle to get to my unhealthiest moment. It has taken me about two years in total to get to where I am now.  I like to think of this as the half way mark, with even more improved fitness in the future.  My goals for next year are to complete an Olympic Triathlon and to complete a half-marathon this fall. By setting goals for myself, I am motivated to work hard.  For any of you struggling with weight and sluggishness do not expect rapid changes. If you are on any "diet" right now, I promise you, it will be short lived. 

Another before and after. Both with my sister Tanya.

Here is my approach to weight loss and improved health:

1. If it's in a box or can, don't buy it.
2. Rid your home for good of all processed food.
3. If you consume poultry or red meat, know your source. Only eat animals that are grass-fed, hormone and antibiotic free and that do not eat GMO feed.
3. Only eat wild caught fish
4. Eat wild meats in place of beef or poultry if possible such as venison, guinea hen, pheasant, rabbit.
5. Omit all dairy
6. Try to cook everything yourself and from scratch
7. Only buy organic produce and fruit.
8. Only buy non-GMO products
9. Eat all and every vegetable you can find especially green leafy ones.
10. Prepare foods for the winter by canning in the summer
11. Limit your grains to ancient ones. Quinoa, Amaranth, Black rice etc.
12. Exercise!
13. Feed everyone in your home the same way.
14. Never deprive yourself of your favorite treats, once and a while they are ok.

15. Never get mad at yourself for messing up. Start over.

Broiled Egglplant with Cilantro Tahini Sauce YUM!

This really easy dish is so good, so so good.  In about 30 minutes it's done and the prep time is almost nothing. 

You will need: ( for 2 people)

1 Eggplant cut in half. Experiment here and try different kinds of eggplants. There is a huge variety at our Farmer's Market.
1 cup of fresh cilantro. Smell it in the store, if you don't get that fresh cilantro smell right away, get it somewhere else.
1 cup of fresh mint leaves
5 cloves of garlic
3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp Tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp honey
Kosher salt and pepper


To make the absolutely yummy sauce ( do not make this on a date night.  It is really garlicky. It also has a little kick to it so if you don't like a lot of garlic, cut back to 3 cloves).

In a food processor, puree the cilantro, oil, mint, garlic, lemon, tahini, honey, salt and pepper until mostly smooth.  It should be a pesto consistency. If it's too thick, add more oil

Put this aside in the fridge.

Cut an eggplant in half  and lightly salt them. Place on foil in a 400 degree pre-heated oven on broil.
 ( Alternatively you can grill the halves outdoors). 
After about 15 minutes, flip the eggplant halves over and cook the other sides for another 14 minutes.
After removing from oven, make sure they are cooked all the way through by inserting a fork into the middle to check for softness.

Spoon the sauce over the top and enjoy!!!!!

Eco-friendly Organic Dog Beds

While scouring the Internet for dog beds that are easy to wash ( all in one piece), easy to throw down anywhere ( car or trip) and odor resistant, I came up with these.  The problem I have now with dog beds, is that they look worse after multiple washes, stain easily or are just to cumbersome to throw in back of my Toyota Vensa.  These beds seem to have it all and I love the fact that some of them are naturally antimicrobial and odor resistant.  Comes in handy in a house of 4! I finally managed to get them all in one place the other day.

1. Tuckered out with hemp by West Paw. West Paw
$89.00
I really like the fact this it is a one piece bed with bolster pillow. Looks very easy to throw in the wash and it's pretty attractive looking too. I will be ordering this one. 

2. West Paw also makes the Eco Nap bed which is even better for a car for travel.  It is priced really well and I love the colors and patterns this comes in. Starting at $29.00.

3. Crypton known for it's impermeable and odor resistant fabrics have a whole pet bed line that is pretty impressive. I liked this flat roll up travel bed.  It's Eco-friendly, moisture, odor and bacteria resistant. Dog Eared Bed starts at $82.00.

 

4. The Harry Barker Hemp Bedroll is another great travel bed that can roll up easily. This one is constructed of hemp and comes in great colored stripe patterns. Starts at $68.00.

Oh Lothario.  He will still probably end up sleeping on the concrete.