Chicken Noodle Soup Success

Tonight Cody and I made our first homemade chicken noodle soup and it was fantastic!  I had big plans to freeze a bunch of it, but I suspect it won't make it past tomorrow's lunch.  The best part is how easy and economical it is.

Yesterday we picked up a pastured chicken from a local store and roasted it.  Then put some potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic in the bottom of a pot with a bit of some homemade stock and placed the chicken on top, bottom side up.  Brush the chicken with some melted butter and sprinkle with salt, pepper, basil and thyme (or stuff some fresh basil and thyme inside).  Cook at 375 for about and hour and then take the chicken out and flip it to be breast side up.  Brush this side with butter, sprinkle with spices and then bake approximately another hour.  Let the chicken rest and enjoy!

After you've enjoyed your chicken, take the rest of the meat off the bones and store in the fridge to add to the soup later.  Place all the bones & chicken scraps in a pot, add about 4 liters of water, some carrots, onion, celery and 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar (this helps to draw the minerals out of the bones).  We also added two chicken feet and a couple of bay leaves.  Let set for about an hour, bring to a boil, skim of the foam that rises, reduce to a simmer and cover.  Then let it simmer 3-24 hours.  I usually try to go as close to 24 hours as possible.  Sally Fallon recommends adding a bunch of fresh parsley in 10 minutes before you're done, but I didn't do it this time.  Now you have a homemade and nutritious bone broth!  At this point you could freeze it if you just want some broth.  When I freeze broth I do some in jars and some in ice cube trays, then I have small amounts to add things like veggies.

Once your broth is done, strain it with a fine strainer and put it back in a pot.  Add the chicken, some carrots, celery, onions, plenty of good sea salt, pepper and spices (I used oregano, basil and thyme).  At this point I let it simmer for a bit and then added cooked brown rice noodles and some fresh parsley, I really like the freshness the parsley added.

And that's it!  Super easy, tasty and cost effective!  The only problem is that it is so tasty that it may be tricky to freeze some before you eat it all.

Happy Holidays!

 Photo courtesy of HikingArtist.com

I was planning on getting a post in before Christmas holidays but between being sick and leaving earlier than we expected for our trip home it didn't quite happen...

I want to wish all of you a wonderful Christmas, New Year's and a fantastic 2011!

See you again in the New Year :)

My Kitchen Goal for December

My kitchen goal for November was to try soaking grains before cooking them.  I was out of town for most of the month, so I didn’t get around to much cooking, but I am happy to say that I did succeed.  Last month I made homemade tortillas (twice) and homemade banana bread muffins.  The grains for both of these recipes were soaked in water with some kefir water added instead of whey (I still haven’t been able to get my buttermilk culture starter to work).  I never got around to making the soaked oatmeal recipe but will definitely do that soon!  A lot of stores near me have also started carrying a brand of organic and sprouted bread which is fantastic.  We have now tried their bread and bagels and really enjoyed them.  Eventually I’ll make our bread but until then they are a much better substitute!

Since November was so hectic I plan to get a little more relaxation in this month before we head out of town again.  My kitchen goal for December is to replace the treats I normally send with Cody to give to his coworkers with healthier versions, hopefully they won’t be disappointed!  Instead of my normal chocolate chip cookies, which wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for all the refined sugar, I think I’ll try sending sugar cookies, gingerbread men and chocolate-coconut truffles (all from Nourished Kitchen’s Happy & Healthy Holidays e-course).

This post is part of Kelly the Kitchen Kop's monthly kitchen goals.

My Babywearing Confession

When I was pregnant I decided that I wanted to babywear, it felt natural to me to keep my baby close and convenient as well.  The more I researched the benefits, the more important it became to me.  But things didn’t end up working quite as I had hoped.  Kaiden never really enjoyed being worn and to this day is usually only happy for 5-10 minutes in a carrier. 

It’s funny because for the first couple of months of Kaiden’s life he was hardly put down because he just wasn’t happy if he wasn’t in someone’s arms.  I didn’t mind, I love snuggling with him and I was lucky that Cody was home for the first 6 weeks to help me out.  But you would think that he would love being worn, nope, apparently it’s just not the same as being held on my shoulder.  He even went through a stage where he loved being carried like a sack of potatoes!

Now that he’s a little bit older, his favorite place is still in our arms but he now also enjoys his stroller.  I can’t lie, it makes me a little sad that he’ll go for long walks in his stroller, even sleep in it, but he can’t make it more than 10 minutes being worn.

I’ve tried different carriers and different positions, but have had no luck yet!  I am going to keep on trying because I am convinced that one day that he’ll grow into it and loving being worn.  At the end of the day I remind myself that being baby led means listening to your little one.  Maybe he will always prefer his stroller to any carrier and if that is the case, I am okay with it.

Super Easy Rib Recipe

As you know from previous posts I am a big fan of ribs so I thought I would share my favorite recipe as part of Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday.  The ribs turn out extremely tender and are super easy to make.

Ingredients:

Ribs, I usually use baby back ribs

Onion, skin on and cut in chunks

Garlic cloves, smashed

Nutmeg (I prefer freshly grated)

1 tbsp Pickling Spice, wrapped in cheese cloth

Salt and pepper

Your favorite BBQ sauce

If you are using baby back ribs, make sure to peel the skin like layer off the bottom if your butcher hasn’t done it for you, it makes a huge difference.  Put salt, pepper and nutmeg on both sides of the ribs and then place them in a pan.  Put the onion and garlic around the ribs in the pan, then fill with water to about half way up the ribs and put the pickling spice in.  Cover the pan with a lid or tin foil and bake in the oven.  I have baked it at 350F for 2.5 hours and 250F for 4 hours, both ways it turns out great but I think it has a more buttery texture at the lower temp. 

When the ribs are done you can take them out and add your BBQ sauce.  You can also wrap them in foil and put them on the BBQ at this point for a BBQ'd feel.  For a time saving tip, cook a bigger batch, add your BBQ sauce, wrap in foil and freeze.  Then when you want to cook them simply poke a couple holes in the tin foil and heat in the oven or on the BBQ.

Detoxifying the Kitchen

Detoxifying my home is something that has become more important to me since Kaiden’s arrival.  It was important before but now it’s extra important.  I’ve wanted to write about it for a while but it is a huge topic and can be overwhelming, so I decided to tackle it one area of the house at a time!  Today I’m going to write about detoxifying the kitchen as this seems to be the one room that requires to the most effort and money to me.  It is taking me a long time to reduce toxins in my kitchen and it is an ongoing battle!  Here are the steps I’ve taken or that I plan to take:

1.       Eliminating non-stick/Teflon and aluminum cookware – both of these are unsafe options for cooking.  Better options are stainless steel, ceramic, cast iron and enamelled cast iron.  So far I’ve gotten rid of all my non-stick cookware and am using stainless steel.  The only thing that I haven’t replaced is my frying pan... but hopefully Santa will bring me some enamelled cast iron cook ware!

2.       Plastic containers – with all the talk about BPAs we definitely know that it is possible for chemicals to leach from our plastic containers.  Eliminating plastic tupperware, baggies, etc and replacing with safer options such as glass containers and baggies with safer containers or reusable sandwich bags.  If you still have plastic containers (can’t lie, I still do) making sure to never put hot/warm food in them and never heat food in them is a good first step.

3.       Cleaning products – I am not a big fan of any anti-bacterial products and don’t use them in my kitchen or in my house (except for CleanWell which I use at diaper changes as there is no close sink).   Soap and water does a good job but it can be hard to find a truly green dish soap or cleaning product.  Right now my favourite dish soap is by Seventh Generation but I am also a big fan of the Miessence Bio-Pure cleaning concentrate which I’ve just started using.  And always remember that just because something says it is natural or organic doesn’t mean that it doesn’t contain synthetic chemicals.  The EWG has a useful resource for checking your products.

4.       Plastic utensils – similar to plastic containers, eliminating plastic utensils and replacing with better options such as wood or stainless steel.

5.        Bakeware – instead of using aluminum or silicone bakeware, switch to stainless steel.  I am still looking for a local source of stainless steel bakeware so I’m holding off on any purchases until then.

Those are a few steps that I know of for removing toxins from your kitchen.  I would love it if you would share some of your ideas as well!

My Kitchen Goal for November

I'm participating in Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Kitchen Goal of the Month for the first time.  I have read a lot about soaking grains and know that it makes the grains more digestible and nutritious.  Despite having every intention of soaking grains and trying to make my own bread, I haven't succeeded so far.  Since we have recently listed our home I don't think delving into the world of making my own bread is a good idea at the moment... but I can't see why I can't try soaking some rice or grains for things like oatmeal.

My goal for November is to make homemade whey & buttermilk and to start soaking my grains.  I am looking forward to filling my fridge with even more jars, this time filled with whey & buttermilk, and to try this baked oatmeal recipe!