Friday, February 14, 2014

pour some coconut yogurt on me







that was yesterday testing the whole shabang out.  oh mama i'm home.  

i was super excited the day i got my new yogurt maker at my bunny's suggestion... and super stoked to try it out.  why homemade coconut yogurt?  2 reasons: 1. mac tolerates and loves sheep's milk yogurt, but he is allergic to casein and i should really avoid it.  2. it's expensive at almost $6 bucks a pop for 16 oz!  we were going through 4 tubs a week and that adds UP fast per month.  so we figured the machine would pay for itself in less than two months when you figure the cost of buying the coconut milk and the other ingredients.    

so, i started experimenting:  the first batch was great but way too watery, second batch batch was grainy with too much arrowroot and didn't taste tart at all.  the 3rd batch was flat out gross (almond milk did not work).

wed was my 4th try. 




i wasn't having a very good day wednesday.  patience was not my middle name.  between trying to get the kids organized for dinner, evening activities and leaving to work at my pitching clinic... triple oyes. if you could get into my head, this is what it would have sounded like: 

"what the f am i doing!?  slaving away at this stupid homemade yogurt!?  who do i think i am?  i can't even find a decent recipe to follow online... argh... i'd like to take this gumption and stick it right up the yogurt maker's butt."

and then came a new day - to the mullies i say...


i finally got the swing of it!

homemade coconut yogurt
(i did find this article helpful!)

2 cans full fat coconut milk (i used organic)
1 can light coconut milk 
2 T arrowroot starch
2 tsp powdered pectin + 2 tsp calcium water (both provided in the box!) *key texture ingredient
1 packet yogo brand yogurt starter packet (or 4 tablets of pro-biotic powder, which is what i used in my first round and it worked great!... just open them up to get the powder!)
    
directions:
1.  combine and begin heating all three cans of coconut milk in a small saucepan until smooth. 
2.  once smooth, set aside 1/2 of milk & make the "slurry": mix the 2 cups of milk + 2 T arrowroot  mix 3.  heat to 180 degrees
4.  add slurry back to heated milk and fully incorporate
5.  let cool to 110 degrees
6.  take 2 c of milk and place in blender or nutribullet.  
5.  to the blender: add 2 tsp powdered pectin + 2 tsp calcium water + yogurt starter/pro-biotic powder and blend for at least 30 sec to make sure fully and utterly incorporated.
6.  add 2 cups back to the to the rest of the milk and mix thoroughly.  (if you have room in your blender mix it all together!)
7.  pour into your yogurt maker and enjoy the best damn coconut yogurt e.v.e.r.

strawberry-granola-coconut-yogurt parfaits with honey
layer the following:
yogurt
granola
cut strawberries
honey
and repeat

you could add in so many other wonderful things... blueberries, peaches, raspberries, bananas, oh my... knock your socks off!

here is the fam this morning for a v-day breakfast of champions.  i had two helpings:)






happy valentine's day my little love bugs.

cheers to getting some fabulous sexy sauce tonight:)

xoxo



ps









Wednesday, February 12, 2014

do you eat 200% natural?



rub that sleepy sand out of your eyes and watch one of the most hilarious videos i've.ever.seen:

the "natural effect"

gotta love it when humor can get you to start brushing your hair.

beep beep.



get your organic box-o-produce here.

xoxo

Monday, February 10, 2014

cook off your chili willies!




i mean helllleeeeerrrrrrs....

my crock is so good that i don't even enter my own chili cook off - i mean, i'd win it every year!  HA!

our 4th annual chili cook off was a smashing hit - i hope you super love the pics as much as i do.  

so get your peeps together and get your crocks rockin with some chili or soup! 

warm.it.up.chi-beria!!!    








super sangria 
(fills up my jug-a-lug)

3 bottles of shiraz
1 liter orange peach mango juice
1 cup apricot brandy
1 cup triple sec
2 cans orange la croix
2 cans peach pear la croix
sliced lemons and oranges
frozen raspberries (ooooops, they are still in my freezer... forgot em!!!)

combine all the liquors and chill.  right before serving, add the la croix and frozen raspberries.  
slice up lemons and oranges or whatever fruit you want and drink up!














the only way to announce the winners!  on top of the island!



the coveted apron WINNERS!!!!!

congrats to tanya on her 1st place chili: "chuck norris oatmeal" & to john on his 1st place soup: "shrimp gumbo".  john overwhelmingly received the most votes even after my pig of a husband ate all of the shrimp.


two claps for lisa, our 2nd place soup winner with her thai coconut lentil soup!


brett (on the right with my first apron ever made!), is the 2nd place chili winner with his delicious chili (the name is so creative that i can't write it down).  once again, he got to take home his prized shake weight:)  hee hee, keep pumping iron dude, perhaps you'll get a new apron someday!



meg and stace rocked the dessert out of the park... the name says it all!




oh what fun times!!!!

to all of you pluggin along on your 2014 food revolution resolutions so far... 

have you pitched out the fake food yet or WHAT!?!?!?!?

go on, get together with your friends and family and cook up some 

balls.out.food.


let it go and pitch it out!!!



xoxo


Monday, January 27, 2014

real food waterfalling into night class



my girlfriend catherine's personal family food change story prompted me to try it with abbie 1.5 years ago.  she successfully turned ADHD upside down with her son 7 years ago and passed that knowledge onto me when i was ready.  

her water drop ignited my waterfall.

last thursday night, she and i teamed up to give a short presentation on real food to an adult english language learning class (catherine has 1/2 of her face peaking out from the back row, HA!).  i am so happy we decided to take some last minute pics together with some of our new "real food" friends.  it was a wonderful night for everyone and we stayed longer than anticipated... which is always a good sign that it was fun and informative:)

catherine shared her story... then i shared mine.  she brought examples of store bought food, with and without harmful processed food ingredients like artificial color, added sugar and preservatives.  

we talked simply about the importance of educating ourselves, our family and friends about real food:
  • where does our food come from?
  • what is in our food?  label reading and food marketing
  • cook from scratch more often - get our kids involved!
  • bring food education back into our schools!
  • make a 10% change - food patriot buying power sends a signal to the market place that we.all.deserve.better.food!  
i shared some resources like the food revolution lake county, mundelein and food revolution latino facebook pages.  thank you chef maria elena (argentina), noelia fernandez (argentina) and caro jaime (el salvador) for doing such an incredible job admin'ing global latino community fb page.  ¡muchas gracias mi amigas!


i tell you what.. it's nostril-numbing cold here right now.  school has been cancelled for today and tomorrow already.  yowzas!

stay warm and cook something cozy!

xoxo


ps 

weekly meal plan update:


i made jamie o's pan baked hit 'n' run chicken recipe a few nights ago and it ROCKED.  (chris texted me at class to say so!)  sorry, forgot to take pics, but it turns out exactly like the lovely link pics - super easy - super tasty - super awesome!!!