Brussels Sprouts with fennel and bacon!

I.  Love.  Brussels Sprouts!  I didn't used to love them, but now sometimes, I can't stop eating them!!!  I never ate them growing up and my first encounter with them was when I was an adult and I happened across them in the frozen veggie section.  I was making my own baby food at the time (trying to offer a variety of veggies so I wouldn't have a picky eater as he got older) and I made my oldest son Michael, some boiled and pureed frozen brussels sprouts that smelled like feet (GAG!!).  Poor sweet baby!  He ate them, but you could tell he didn't really want to!  Soooo, I decided to hang up my brussels sprouts cooking shoes for a while after that.  Ha!

.......Until........my dear friend Carla showed me the error of my brussels sprouts cooking ways (Thank you, thank you Carla!)!  Saute' them in coconut oil or butter, salt and pepper until they are cooked through.  Delicioso!!  So good!  Mike liked them too (which, he really likes all food, unless it's really, really bad......which thankfully has only happened once in our marriage) so that was a plus!  My kids?  Well, none of them have quite come around but I am working on converting them.  Michael may never come around since I tortured him with them when he was a baby, but we will see.....I'm gonna keep trying.  ;-)

Anyway, so I had gotten stuck in a rut.  Every few days we were having saute'd brussels sprouts and Mike requested that we take a break from eating them.....haha....oops!  So I waited a while and decided to look into other ways to cook them.  Then I decided I should make one up of my own.  I was inspired by a recipe I found in the 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook (affiliate link).

Here's what I came up with.....

Brussels Sprouts with Fennel and Bacon

1 Package Brussels Sprouts
1 Fennel Bulb
2 Tbsp coconut oil
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Juice from 1/2 of a lemon
4-6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

Slice the brussels sprouts and fennel bulb (keep the tops of the fennel for another recipe or put in the compost bin).  Melt coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, place brussels sprouts and fennel in the pan.  Sprinkle salt, garlic and pepper on top and stir to combine.  Saute' for a few minutes (about 3-5) and then squeeze the lemon on top and continue sauteing for about 10 minutes.  When the fennel is just about done, add chopped bacon and continue cooking until the bacon is warm and the fennel is tender (you want it to have a little bit of a bite to it....no mushy fennel) :)  Serve warm!

Yummy!!

I had to add this picture because while I was taking the picture of the dish,

 Ethan asked me to take a picture of his plate too.  haha.  

This is what was there....not very pretty, but he was pleased with it :)

(This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive monetary compensation)

Yummy Chicken :)

Well, this week has been full of cleaning, organizing and unpacking.......and then I look around and wonder what exactly I did (?!).  It's been one of those kinds of weeks.  Whew!!  One thing I did do relatively well was cook, which is a nice change from all the fast food (bunless burgers anyone?) and gluten free pizza we've eaten the last few weeks.  You can only do so much to make take out "healthier" so I'm glad to really be able to get back into my kitchen and create some delicious meals for my family.  In the last couple years, cooking has become my "outlet" and I love it....it's fun!

So this is a dish I made my family this week.  It's an easy chicken recipe with a little bit of tang and a little bit of spice; one of our favorites!  I hope you enjoy it too!!

Yummy Chicken

1/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted
1 Tbsp plain mustard
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp sage
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp salt
12 boneless skinless chicken thighs

Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Combine coconut oil, mustards and spices in a small bowl.  Place chicken in an oven safe dish and brush mixture over the chicken.  

Bake for 45 minutes or until a thermometer reaches 170 degrees.

House update

Well, it's been a little bit since I posted about the house, so I thought I'd share some of the work we'd done.  The pictures really don't do it justice, but everything is turning out beautifully!  We've had to break from working on the inside of the house because we need to get the outside ready for spring and for our new animals, so we've been working on getting fencing up and figuring out how everything will be set up.  There's gonna be a lot of trial and error when it comes to all that.....wish us luck!

I wish I had some pictures of Shiloh's room, but alas, that was a complete fail.  I'm not sure if it was the glitter paint, or the glitter painter (me!) but it turned out splotchy.  So, we are going to try a different technique that my friend (thanks Carla!) tried on her daughter's wall.  She said it turned out great, so as soon as we get this fencing done and I get over to home depot to get the supplies, I'll get it done and will post a picture!  

We also ordered bunk beds for the boy's room, so once those come in and I get their room all situated, I'll post pictures of that too.  I'm so ready for my house to not be full of boxes!!

Ok, so here are some pics!!

This is our dining room.  The green really isn't as green as it comes across in the picture.  It's more of a muted sage color, not this strange green that it looks like.  This is so far my very favorite room!  It is beautiful and I love it!  I can't wait to get a table and chairs for it and get it finished up (right now it's full of boxes).

This is a ceiling fan we installed in the living room (thank you Lori and David for the gift card!!).  LOTS of light in this house!  No more shadows for us!

This is my lovely clock my mother in law Dru bought for me!  We never knew what time it was so she got this for me and I love it!  It fits perfectly with the feel and design of the house.

This is the living room.....please excuse the boxes and the toys on the floor, and whatever that is on the couch!  LOL!  We have since hung the tv on the wall.  OH!  And that stove in the corner....wow!  It puts off so much heat and provides a nice and cozy atmosphere.  I love it!

My laundry room.  Once I get this completed I will be in love!  My sweet father in law, George, painted it for me and I love the color!!  I can't wait to get it finished.....a folding counter and a place to hang the clothes out of the dryer.....Yay!

I found this picture at walmart for $4.97!  What a deal!  haha!  

This is very true for our house!

Here's my sink, my picture and my clock!  

This is my home school room.  I am very please with how the room turned out and how Michael is doing in school.  He's so smart and just soaks up everything he learns!  He is so excited about learning and says he loves school!  I'm one proud mama!

This is a portion of the fence Mike and his dad put up.  

They did such a good job!  I am very proud!

Hard at work!!

Cutting branches!  

I was so nervous watching him doing this!!  

He finished up with all of his appendages intact!!

Stopping for a break.

What a cutie pie!

Watching her big brothers.

Ethan's turn to cut branches!

I love his expression in this one!!

Pretty sunset.  I love it here!

Well, that's all I have for now.  Not a whole lot that is completed, but some progress!!  Thanks for reading!  

Baked Grapefruit

I've been thinking.....there's a lot of things to talk about going on in my life, so I am thinking that I will make two posts; one with a recipe and one with an update on life happenings.  Let me know if you like that better or if you prefer it combined.  I want you to keep reading and happy, so whichever you all prefer, that's what I will do.

A few years ago, Mike took me to a bed and breakfast in Bowie, Tx for my birthday.  It was a wonderful weekend of fun and relaxing (with a quick trip to winstar....I WON!!), but one of the best things that I took away from the weekend was a delicious addition to our breakfast one morning; a baked grapefruit.  I am not a huge fan of grapefruit.  I think it is bitter and is definitely not first (or even 10th) in the lineup of fruits I enjoy eating.  HOWEVER, this grapefruit was yummy!  So, I set out to recreate what our sweet hostess made for us that weekend.

Here's what I came up with!!

BAKED GRAPEFRUIT


1 Grapefruit cut in half
2 tsp butter or coconut oil
1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon (to taste...I prefer closer to 1/2)
2 tsp honey or coconut sugar
1 tsp Rum or Bourbon (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 350.
2.  With a small knife, cut around each little segment of the grapefruit.  This will allow for the flavors to sink down through the whole fruit rather than just sitting on top, plus it will help it come out easier when you eat it (thanks mom for this tip!)
3.  Place grapefruit on baking sheet
4.  Starting with the butter/coconut oil, layer the remaining ingredients on top of the grapefruit pieces (dividing evenly between the two halves)
5.  Place in oven and bake for about 20 minutes.  When it is done, some of the
juices will be on the bottom of the pan, pour back over the top of the grapefruit.
6.  Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Lemon Extract and a brief house update

My sweet and wonderful in-laws were here for the past almost-month helping with the house renovations and with my kids (I got to go shopping alone!!! and get Starbucks every day....sorry Mike...there's just something about their coffee that is so addicting!).  Not only is the house better than I imagined, I feel more relaxed than I have since Shiloh was born.  It was wonderful!!

Now, about the house.....here is a before and after picture of the kitchen in the house!  I am so excited about it!!!  

Before

After!!!  Yippee!!  

A few more things to do (painting cabinets, new cabinet drawer pulls and knobs, and backsplash), but it's so beautiful already!!  I love it!

Another wonderful gift Mike's parents gave us was a bunch of fresh picked lemons from their lemon tree.  And I mean A. Bunch (or maybe a bushel?  Anyone know how much a bushel is??)!

Anyway, glorious lemons!  They are so delicious!  So, Mike's mom juiced most of them and we froze the juice in ice cube trays.  So, I'm going to be making a lot of lemonade and recipes calling for lemons in the days and weeks to come. :)

Last year, Mike and I made our own vanilla extract.  It was so delicious and so easy!  I really recommend it!  So, Dru and I got to thinking.....why not make lemon extract?  So I googled it and found you make it the same way you make vanilla extract except with lemon rinds.  So, here you go....if you want to do vanilla, just replace the lemon rinds with 2 vanilla beans :)

Lemon Extract

8 oz jar 

The peels of 6 lemons

1c quality vodka

funnel

Peel the lemons with a vegetable peeler or a zester (I used a peeler because I didn't want a bunch of tiny pieces in my extract that I'd have to strain out).  Try to get as little as possible of the white part of the peel.  It is bitter so try and just get the yellow part.  

Place the peel into the jar and using the funnel, add your vodka.  It took just under a cup because I used an 8oz jar, so the lemons took up some space.  I just filled it as high as I could and called it a day.  

Now, about the vodka.  If you are gluten free, make sure you do your research.  There is a lot of conflicting information out there on whether the distillation process takes out the gluten or not, so to me, it's better to err on the side of caution.  It is a bit pricier but you can find vodka that is not made from wheat, barley or rye.  

**If you are making vanilla extract, then you can get a good quality bourbon instead of the vodka if you prefer and it makes a really good extract.  We did both and it was delicious.....I am not sure how it would taste with lemons though, so I'd probably stick with vodka on that.  

After adding the vodka, then close your jar and store in a dark place for 4-6 weeks.  It won't hurt if you store it longer; just make sure to shake the jars every few days or so.

And that's it!  Like my son Michael likes to say "Easy peasy lemon squeezy".  

Homemade Bone Broth....and a little house news

Ok, ok.....I know you've been waiting with bated breath (as have I!!) to know and see what that beautiful wood was being used for that I posted about in my last post.  Well, I can finally show you!  YAY!!!  It's done enough to get a picture, although the photos don't quite do it justice.

Here is our new almost completed dining room ceiling!!!

We've still got to complete the beams going to the sides, but I think this is just beautiful!  I huge shout out goes to Uncle Joe, Mike's Dad George, and to Mike!  They have worked themselves ragged to make our vision a reality!  I can't wait to see it fully completed!!  

.............So between the time I started this post and now, the ceiling was completed!  Here's the finished product!!!............Loooooove!

Anyway, I was planning on posting my way of making bone broth and my friend just happened to text me and ask me about it.  So, it turned out to be perfect timing.  A few things to know about bone broth.  Collagen/gelatin is very good for you.  It helps your nails, your hair, your skin, it helps seal a leaky gut (especially good for babies), and helps heal a damaged gut caused by food allergies or sensitivities.  I use it in many, many recipes (if the recipe calls for water or wine even, you can replace it with your broth if you'd like and it gives it great flavor!), I mix it in my baby's food, and we drink it warmed up in a coffee cup (it's surprisingly good this way).

This recipe is more of a "how to" rather than a measured out recipe because it's really going to be good pretty much no matter what you do to it.  So, I'll give you a guide as to what I do and you can tweak it and go from there.  

Homemade Bone Broth

4-6 lbs chicken, beef, and/or pork bones (you can use chicken feet, neck, marrow bones, steak bones, etc....you can separate them by animal or you can mix.  whatever you prefer)

1Tbsp apple cider vinegar 

2 carrots (you can even use baby carrots if that's all you've got) 

1 large onion

4-6 cloves of garlic

2 stalks of celery (leave on the tops...lots of good flavor)

salt and pepper to taste

a bunch of fresh herbs (I like either cilantro or thyme, or you could do a mixture like sage, rosemary, and thyme, etc)

So first of all you want your bones.  I like to use a mix of chicken and beef bones.  We generally purchase a half of a cow that has been butchered, so I have a ton of beef bones and then I save all my chicken bones from when I buy a whole chicken on sale or if I happen to buy bone-in chicken.  I cook whatever meat it is, take the meat off of the bones, and put the bones in the freezer until I am ready to use them.  You get a lot of extra flavor when the bones have been cooked.....it's especially delicious when you have cooked steak on the grill.  If you have fresh soup bones from the butcher, then you will want to sprinkle them with salt and pepper and roast them on 350 degrees for about  30 minutes before you start your broth.

Ok, so then I take the bones I want to use, put them in a large stock pot (do not use a cast iron pot for this.....we will be adding apple cider vinegar and it will be too acidic for your cast iron pot and will make your broth taste like metal.....stainless is probably your best bet here), and fill the pot 3/4 of the way full with water and turn the burner onto high.  Add the apple cider vinegar.

Then chop the carrots, onion, celery into large hunks and throw into the pot.  Then smash your garlic cloves, remove the peel, and add to the pot.  Add about a tsp of salt and about 1/2 a tsp pepper and bring to a boil.  Once you have a good rolling boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 3-4 hours (check your marrow bones and make sure the marrow has come out...the longer the better).




When you have about 10-15 minutes left, add your fresh herbs.  If you add these too early, the flavor can cook out, so you want to make sure you don't cook them too long.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  When you are happy with your flavor, get another large pot and set your colander in it.  Pour the broth in the colander and strain out the bones and the veggies.   Then, I take the broth and run it through a fine mesh strainer a few times to make sure I get all the little pieces out.  Serve immediately, use in a recipe, can it, or cool and store in the fridge or freezer.  Enjoy!

Progress and Baby food

I love this season in our lives.  Yes, it is stressful and hectic and there are days I want to just sit in the closet, eat chocolate and cry, but I really wouldn't have it any other way.  I love to see my children growing and learning and loving our new land.  I love to see my husband working on our new home and creating and turning it into our perfect place with our fingerprints on it.  I'm so excited about what is in store.

So, our property we bought has a quaint little ranch house on it that was in need of a lot of TLC.  It's an outdated home with paneling, walpaper, blue bathroom furniture (sink, tub, and even toilet!  like baby blue....whaaaaat?!  lol), and popcorn ceilings!  The hubs and his dad (and today Uncle Joe joined the party!) have been working diligently on prepping the house for bigger and better things.  I feel like we are on an episode of "Flip or Flop".  Here are a few pictures of some of the work.



Before of the living room.....popcorn, fake stone.....








paneling.....








Adios paneling!!














Hello, smooth ceilings!!

 

The kitchen before....florescent lighting and popcorn ceilings.....

And after.....can't wait for texture, recessed lighting and an island light!!  

 And this beautiful wood......well, I'm excited about this....but you'll have to wait to find out what it is for!  ;-)

Ok, so another milestone in our family is that my sweet girl has started baby food.  I wanted to let her follow baby led weaning and just give her chunks of food to gnaw on, but she is almost 7 months and still has no teeth, so I went with purees.  We don't do grains, so I skipped that and started her on avocado.  She liked it the first day.....the second, not so much.  So,  I made some sweet potatoes with homemade bone broth and she loves it!!  Plus, bone broth is great for aiding in the sealing of an infants leaky gut, so she's getting that in addition to flavor and good nutrients.  Tonight, I've steamed some carrots and will get those blended with some bone broth tonight.  Here is a video of my cutie pie trying out her first bites of food....enjoy!  (This is new for me and I'm not sure if the video will work.....hopefully it will!!)