It's week 37 of this edition of Pierogie Pregnancy! While my two previous children were not early by any means (39 weeks and 41 weeks), a little spot in my mind remains open to the idea that I just might have a baby boy in my arms in a week or two. Cue mind-splosion.
Nesting has been in full bore for about 2-3 weeks and I've been diligently knocking off items on my "end of pregnancy to do list," which I purposefully kept simple. Enjoy my baby showers, have my much anticipated special run Natibaby carrier arrive, refinish a dresser for baby boy, prepare our guest room for about 6 weeks worth of guests, get the big sisters into their swanky new bunk bed and truly the most important and probably time consuming task - organize all the baby things.
Having 3 kids in the span of 5 years does help you stream line a lot of things. Through baby #2 I quickly realized what worked for us and what I don't really need to hold on to. Hallelujah for consignment sales! I have been able to periodically destash baby items through out the years and recoup some cash and valuable space thanks to those. But, even though it's only been 3 years since my last pregnancy, some fun new items come onto the market that weren't on my radar before. So let me share with you a few of the new products that have caught my eye and landed on my "pre-baby product list."
The Dockatot was something that kept popping up on my facebook feed and I was really intrigued by the idea. We are a bed-sharing family and I typically sleep with my kids full-time until they are night weaned; around 18 months. We practice safe sleep methods that are essential for bed-sharing and thus there aren't a whole lot of products that fit in for making any of it easier. The Dockatot is an all cotton sleeping pad with bolstered sides, which creates a safe microclimate for the baby. A concern I had with bed sharing with the baby this time around is that in the last year we have switched to an all-foam, no spring mattress and that doesn't provide air circulation as well as it should for bed sharing. I'm excited to share our full review once baby is here! Already shopping? Save $10 on DockaTot here.
And while we're on the topic of safe sleep, I wanted to mention that I've been doing a ton of research on mattresses and safe materials for children ever since we upgraded our 5 and 3 year old daughters from two toddler beds to their "you'll have this until you move out" bed set - a twin over full bunk. Buying the bed frame was the easy part; the hardest part was finding that balance between comfort, quality of materials, affordability and safety in the mattresses! We found My Green Mattress to fit all of those qualifiers! Even though it's not exactly a traditional "pre-baby" item, everyone goes mattress shopping and at some point you'll definitely be asking yourself the same questions when shopping for your children's mattresses that I did- so stay tuned for that update as well! Already shopping? Save 5% on any My Green Mattress using code WELCOME5.
How do you take care of your body immediately following birth? With my last child I experienced an interesting tear that made me so so thankful that I decided to give cloth menstrual pads a try. Cloth pads, or mama cloth, are really easy to use especially when you are already cloth diapering your baby. You just wash your pads along with the diapers (pre-rinse if that's important to you). Oko Creations has your back (well, bottom). I've reviewed their pads in the past and they still are my favorite pads to buy. The material is the most absorbent I've ever used and the quality is amazing.
One of my favorite gifts from my baby shower was not for baby at all...it's all for me! Well, and the family. Have you jumped on the instant-pot train? I have never cooked with a pressure cooker but a few of my friends of 2+ kids have raved that this is the must have item for streamlining family meals. Several of my gal pals pooled together and gifted one for our family. I'm so excited to try out new recipes! So far I've tried Beef Stroganoff, shredded chicken, white sticky rice (ahhhhhhmaaaaaaaaayzzzzing) and Mexican Rice (honestly, I prefer my old school dutch oven way though). Apparently one can make creme brulee using an IP so that is certainly going to happen in my near future! I'm thinking it'll either be a "my baby is late, leave me alone" or "he's here!!" dessert.
It's really interesting how one's parenting transforms over several children. For my first daughter - a stroller was a believed must have. Everyone needs a stroller for their baby, right? We used our stroller a lot as we lived in neighborhoods that had sidewalks and we took family strolls quite often. With baby #2, I was getting more into babywearing and she rode in the stroller very rarely - she always preferred uppies and the stroller became our diaper bag carrier whenever we were out on trips. With baby #3, living in the country without sidewalks in sight, and having more or less streamlined my diaper bag to the bare essentials, we are actually selling our stroller and just babywearing exclusively. Over the last couple years I've gotten into woven wraps and have always loved soft structured carriers so this time I jumped in on a very special co-op through Natibaby and got a SSC in standard and toddler size of the Seattle skyline! Squeee!! Are you expecting? What are a few of your must haves that you're excited about?
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Some of the products are upcoming collaborations that will be featured on The Pierogie Mama in the future. I receive items in exchange for my honest review, but no other compensation was provided. All opinions are my own.
Fresh chicken breasts are only $1.69 / lb! Use promo code WAYBACK. Valid until 11:59pm PST 8/9/17. Sign up for Zaycon Fresh to get your unbelievably fresh meat!
Often I am asked how do I save money for my family. Our food budget is something that I rarely skimp on because I think it's one of the best investments we can make for ourselves. However, there are a ton of ways to be able to save money without skimping on quality.
I learned about Zaycon Fresh a few years ago and am a believer! We order chicken breast, chicken fritters, pork tenderloins, wild Alaskan Salmon and a few other meat products. The chicken breast comes fresh and straight from the farmer, so it ends up being a lot fresher than what you buy at the grocery store. For example, my last case of Zaycon Fresh chicken breast had a bar code with a time stamp for the butcher date that was 3 days prior to my receiving it. I recently went to my local grocery store to see what their time frame is - and their chicken was 15 days old and also had 3% water injected. It's really not much of a discussion on which chicken I prefer to buy! What is Zaycon Fresh? It's super easy. You sign up, enter in your zip code and it will populate "events" near you. Each event will bring fresh or frozen meets to an agreed upon place and time. You place your order for what you'd like and then on the day of the event you bring your order slip and they put your case of bulk meats in the trunk of your car for you. You don't even have to get out of the car! Throughout the year they will offer different products; such as delicious bacon, fresh ground beef, fresh chicken breasts, frozen breaded chicken fritters (I like to make this), select steaks, even turkey and ham! Our all time favorite is their salmon. They are constantly adding more. When you sign up, they'll send you non-spammy newsletters letting you know what they're adding, great recipe ideas and you can refer friends to get credit for your next purchase. Truly, I haven't bought meat any other way for a long time now.
Ok but then the question comes up with what do I do with 40 lbs of fresh chicken breast? Friends, let me show you what I did for this last order, which I am using to prepare for Baby Boy due this summer. First, when I receive my chicken I cut it down to different sizes to help spread the meat a little further. Each lobe of chicken breast becomes a cut of breast, a tender and I slice the breast to an even thickness and save the top portion as a "cheek," which is great as Chicken Parmesan Cutlets. For our family of 2 adults and 2 small kids I package a dinner meal either as 2 breasts, 5 tenders or 6 cutlets. I also use a Foodsaver instead of freezer bags. For each of the recipes below I used 1/4 c of marinade per "dinner package." Some of the recipes are larger than others so adjust the ratios as you need. Without further adieu, here are my most recently used recipes: Brown Sugar Balsamic Chicken
Chicken Enchiladas 1 large can of enchilada sauce directions: boil your chicken breasts, shred them either with forks or with the paddle attachment on your kitchen aid, pour the sauce in! Freeze the meat as is or prep into enchiladas and freeze individually.
Tangy Teriyaki: 2T of grated fresh ginger 1/4 cup Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce makes enough for 2 breasts
"Hawaiian Style" / Moana1 can of sliced pineapple 2 cups of orange juice 4T ketchup 4T soy sauce 1/4 cup brown sugar 2T of grated fresh ginger 1/4 c olive oil 1/4 c Balsamic Vinegar
Tangy BBQ
1/2 c Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
4T ketchup
2Tbrown sugar
4T balsamic vinegar
1 cup chicken stock
Lime Sweet Thai Chili1 c stock 1 bottle sweet thai chili sauce
1/4 c lime juice
Spiced Rub with Apple Cider Vinegar2t paprika 1t chili powder 1t cumin 1t thyme 1t salt 1t garlic powder 1t pepper 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar Mix all of the ingredients, pour over 12 chicken breasts and rub it in. It should be a loose paste.
Disclaimer: This is a post about raising turkeys for Thanksgiving. Yes, we slaughtered our own turkeys. Due to the nature of this post, the very end will describe the process, but I did not include pictures of the process (mainly because I didn't really think to take any).
This year we moved to our dream home, a modern "homestead" of sorts, and so many of my husband's and my goals are coming to fruition. We have just over 5 1/2 acres of space that's a range of flat usable yard, terraced paths where we built our chicken coop and plan to grow a vegetable garden, an established apple and pear tree, trails to run our quad and dogs on, a creek, a separate mother in law building with garage space for the hubby and so much more. The house is beautiful, built as though someone had us in mind. I could literally go on about all of our plans for this piece of heaven, but today I'm going to write about our experience with raising turkeys for the first time.
For the last three years I've raised close to three dozen chickens of various stages (this year was my first with chicks - The Pierogie Peepers) and we decided that we also wanted to give turkeys a try. I had only tasted an all organic pastured Thanksgiving turkey once, though it was long before I even cared about what that truly meant, but both my husband and I knew that this was something that a lot of people raved about so we decided to give it a try and see if it was something for us.
For simplicity's sake, I decided to get turkey poults (the term for baby turkeys) from our local farm store, and they offered only one variety this year; broad breasted whites. Turkeys come in a huge variety of breeds and of the domesticated type you can divide them into two groups (just like chickens) - commercial and heritage breeds. A heritage breed bird is one that is considered old school; the breed was established prior to the 1950's (and hasn't been subject to the commercialized selective breeding), takes longer to mature and still mates naturally. A commercial breed is pretty much the opposite - a domesticated bird that has gone through the selective breeding process over generations, probably starting around the 1950's, to grow bigger, faster and easier. Broad breasted white turkeys fall into the commercial category. They mature in as little as 16 weeks! On the other hand, many heritage breed turkeys take well over a year to fully mature and reach their maximum size. Some people say that there is a marked difference between the taste of a commercial versus heritage bird, even those that are fed the exact same food and grew up side by side.
A broad breasted white turkey (which is the exact same thing as a broad breasted bronze, they are just different colors) was developed to grow a huge amount of breast meat. Because that's what we Americans love. The white color was developed because it looks more sterile. Commercial birds were bred to grow big and fast, so interestingly enough most of them have no idea how to mate and due to their size are incapable of it (even if they were given a life long enough to act). It's my understanding that all commercially hatched turkeys are a product of artificial insemination.
There are many reasons why you would choose between a heritage and commercial breed for poultry, but mainly what it came down to for us was that this was our first year (so we took what we could easily get), these birds were intended for Thanksgiving dinner so they did need to mature in a relatively short amount of time, and we were curious to see how big it really would get.
So on June 2 this year our little gang of three turkeys arrived at Two Tire Fire Farm and they were raised in the brooder next to The Pierogie Peepers (the 11 chicks that we got a few weeks earlier). In comparison to raising chicks, the poults were a lot more slow to get up to speed. They were about twice the size of a chick of the same age, but didn't have the inherent knowledge of how to eat or drink. Truly, people who raise turkeys will tell you that either you put a chicken chick or two with poults to show them the ropes, or you have to dip their beak into the food and water for a few days to show them. The phrase that turkeys are dumber than a box of rocks tends to be true in my experience.
We chose three turkeys because we wanted one for our Thanksgiving dinner, a friend asked us to raise one for them and I got a third one "just in case," because again.. turkeys aren't very smart and don't have the best resilience to disease and honestly, begin to look mighty tasty to predators once they get a bit of meat on them.
Before they were a month old it was pretty clear that we have one tom and two hens. I was really hoping that we had two toms so that the other family could have a nice big bird as well, because we had no clue on what to expect for how big they would get. They graduated from the brooder with a heat lamp by 5 weeks to living exclusively outside in a mobile turkey "tractor" (a pen that we can move around to give them free range of grasses, bugs and dirt but keep them protected).
I found that they really did not graze and forage on grass nearly as much as chickens would in that same space. It would take 2-3 days for them to eat all the grass in the footprint of their tractor whereas it would easily be done in a day with chickens. Turkeys, at least mine, were incredibly picky about their food. I had started to introduce leaves and fresh grass into their brooder at an early age, but they never cared for it. My chickens get tons of kitchen and veggie scraps in addition to their feed and getting to forage in their own tractor, but the turkeys really wouldn't touch it. On a really hot day I brought half a watermelon to them (a real treat!) and they cautiously circled it for hours. Had this been in the chicken pen - it wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes. Finally I dumped some of their pellet food on top of it and they tried it. ???
I found that it was incredibly difficult to source organic turkey feed in my area. It was completely unheard of. Raising an organic pastured turkey was my highest priority because I'm well aware of the benefits of this standard of food, although the cost is higher. I am thankful that this financial cost is something that we can afford because it's important to my husband and I.
A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on
I was lucky enough to find some organic meat chicken food ("fryer ration") and fed that to them until I found a feed store about 3 hours away (luckily, in the town that my parents live). The reason why choosing your feed for your turkeys is important is because of the protein level. More protein = faster growth, just like any other animal. Turkeys are recommended to have between 19% to 30% protein in their feed. Meat chicken feed tends to be at about 18-21%. However, more protein is not always better. If you feed any animal too much protein too fast they won't be able to healthily support their own weight. The horror stories that you hear about chicken production farms can be true - chickens whose legs break at the end of their life cycle because they simply cannot support their own weight. They've been stuffed too much. That was my fear for the turkeys. So I decided that a gradual increase in protein would be a safe bet. They were fed an 21% protein diet (on CHS Payback Organic Fryer) until they were about 12 weeks old, when I found that Modesto Mills has an organic turkey ration that is at 28%. At 19 weeks (about 5 weeks before slaughter) I added organic cracked corn into their diet, which is a "finisher." The finisher feed, in addition to the regular feed, helps finish off the meat but giving it an extra bit of fat which will add to the flavor. They got about 40 pounds of cracked corn in the final 5 weeks. The three turkeys went through 160 lbs of feed and 40 lbs of cracked corn in their 24 weeks of life.
A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on
We slaughtered them the Saturday before Thanksgiving. A friend who has several years of farming experience came to help out, as well as the husband of the family that we grew one of the turkeys for. Our local feed store rents a "poultry processing kit," which includes a stand, kill cones and basin, a scalder and a plucker. My husband had slaughtered turkeys and chickens "by hand" in the past and it was a time consuming process. The kit cut it down to processing 3 turkeys and 6 roosters in under 3 hours. Because of the ease of this process, the whole experience was quiet, humble, humane and respectful. I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch the process because I was worried that it would be too hard to watch, but it really wasn't that bad. I was the primary caretaker for the turkeys and was reminded every day that their lives have an expiration and that their sacrifice would be respected. At the last minute I decided that because I had taken on the responsibility of raising them I should see it through to the end. I watched; I don't think I will ever want to participate, but I'm glad that I know have an understanding of the process.
There are several ways to kill a bird, but the way that we did it was by placing the bird head first into the kill done and slitting the jugular and allowing the bird to bleed out. It only takes a few minutes and the bird does not struggle. After it is gone, you place it into the scalder to get the feathers to come off easily. Scalding the bird loosens the pores and regardless if you have to pluck by hand or have a machine that does it - it's easier. A plucker essentially looks like an open washing machine that spins the body around with some rubberized nubs that pull the feathers off for you. We placed two roosters at a time into the scalder and plucker but the turkeys were way too big.
After the feathers are removed you remove the head, then the neck, feet (we saved them for our dogs!) and internal organs. Because I was only watching, I can't give you a tutorial on what exactly to do. You then cool the body and you're good to go!
So what did our birds weigh in at? That was my most anticipated surprise!!
Our tom - 31 1/2 lb and the two hens were 21 and 22 lbs.
A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on
I brined it in a Costco brine mix (it had apples, cranberries, vanilla bean and other spices) for about 48 hours and I made an herbed garlic butter to slather on top and under the skin. It was stuffed with my mom's stuffing. For a bird that size we expected it to take just over 7 hours to cook at 350 degrees. So I prepped it the night before Thanksgiving and got up at 5am to put it in the oven. It ended up being ready (165 degrees at the thickest part of the thigh) almost an hour and a half early. THAT was a surprise! I read that pastured turkeys take a little bit less time but I wasn't expecting that big of a difference. The other two turkeys also took less time than expected.
And the verdict on the flavor? Even the most skeptical of family members (we invited almost 20 adults to get this bird eaten, after all!) agreed that this was much better than store bought. We still had a ton of left overs that were used for turkey sandwiches, pot pie and a few other things. I simmered the carcass to make broth that I pressure canned with a Black Friday purchase.
It's very likely that we'll grow a turkey or two every year from now on. They didn't take any more work than my chickens do and the pay off was worth it for us. It was very personally satisfying to see 6 months of work bring so much of our family together for a great meal and wonderful memories.
Ladies, I love me some chicken. It's the main meat that I cook with! Here's a round up of Pierogie Mama chicken recipes that you can find here on the blog. Thanks to Foster Farms for sponsoring this post - where you can find so many more delicious chicken recipes!
Having backyard chickens, I can go through feast and famine with eggs. Some weeks my family can't get enough of them and the girls can barely keep up production and other times they are popping those eggs out like clockwork but the fam is kind of over it. So what do I do with all those egg-stra eggs?
One of my favorites is a serious good old fashioned pound cake. This cake is dense, it reminds me of the Polish babka cakes that I get to enjoy every once in a while. It's perfect for pairing with an evening cup of tea with your bestie. Or, pretty much any other time of day.
My favorite part is the massive amount of eggs that it takes up! Because my eggs are from my own chickens who get to free range - meaning they go out into my yard and eat up bugs and weeds - the egg yolks are an intensely glorious orange and are packed full of protein. The natural color of those yolks makes this cake a deep yellow without having to use any food dye. This cake is legit!
I also adapted this recipe to use doTERRA lemon essential oil. This reciepe doesn't require you use to lemon essential oil; in fact you don't have to use lemon at all, but I like the depth of flavor that it adds. If using essential oils isn't for you, substitute the oil for the zest of one lemon in the icing.
Pound cake:
Ingredients:
1 lb of sugar (3 1/2 cups)
1 lb of butter, softened (4 sticks)
1 lb of flour (4 cups)
1 lb of eggs (10 eggs)
4 drops of doTERRA lemon essential oil
1 1/2 t almond extract
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl cream your 4 sticks of softened butter with 3 1/2 cups of sugar, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides.
3. Add one egg at a time to your butter mix. Mix well and scrape down the sides often.
4. In 3 stages, add the 4 cups flour to your mixture.
5. Finally, add the 4 drops of doTERRA lemon essential oil and 1 1/2 teaspooons of almond extract.
6. Pour into a pre-greased 10 inch bundt pan.
7. Bake for 60 minutes, cover with tin foil and bake for a final 30 minutes.
8. Invert and allow to cool completely.
9. Glaze it! Recipe below.
Glaze recipe
Ingredients:
1 1/2 c powered sugar
3T heavy cream
1 T light corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 drops doTERRA lemon essential oil
Directions:
With a high speed mixer, blend all of the ingredients together. It should be fairly thick. Pour over your cake and allow to set.
Every 4 months, 80 lbs of chicken breast waits on my kitchen island. I spend a whole day, sometimes with my mother in law, sometimes by myself, processing all that meat into packages of unseasoned, marinated, shredded or ground meat. I have over 50 meals started, and it costs me $135.
I order a lot of my family's meat through Zaycon Fresh. The chicken breast comes fresh and straight from the farmer, so it ends up being a lot fresher than what you buy at the grocery store. For example, my last case of Zaycon Fresh chicken breast had a bar code with a time stamp for the butcher date that was 3 days prior to my receiving it. I recently went to my local grocery store to see what their time frame is - and their chicken was 15 days old and also had 3% water injected. It's really not much of a discussion on which chicken I prefer to buy!
So today I want to share with you one of the ways that I meal prep when I am processing all of this meat. When I prep the breasts to freeze I cut them into 3 separate ways (after trimming the fat off) - a tenderloin, a breast and a cutlet. A cutlet is made by laying the breast down on a cutting board and cutting through the middle of the breast, horizontally.
I like to make my cutlets really small; they are really more like a chicken coin than a true cutlet. It's about the size of your palm. Cutting that small bit off a breast makes the breast thickness more uniform so that it cooks easily and the "coins" are really tender. They are perfect for Chicken Parmesan Cutlets!
For the breading:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1 tablespoon of paprika
1 tablespoon mustard powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 beaten eggs
1/2 c of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
This will bread about 16 small chicken "coin" cutlets. 2-3 cutlets per adult is a standard serving. The remainder can be frozen between sheets of parchment paper and bagged in freezer bags once fully frozen.
Instructions:
1. Prepare three small mixing bowls. Fill one bowl with 3/4 cup flour, fill the second bowl with 1 1/2 cups of Panko, 1 T paprika, 1 T mustard powder, salt & pepper, and the third bowl with the beaten eggs. Set the 1/2 c of freshly grated Parmesan aside. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Dip each chicken cutlet first into the flour, then into the beaten eggs and then into the Panko mixture. *If you are prepping for a future meal, skip the baking portion and read the instructions at the end.*
3. Place onto a greased broiling pan or cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 425 degrees F and bake for 15-25 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked. Flip half way through.
5. Remove from the oven and give each cutlet a good sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. 6. Voila! I love to serve mine with my lazy girl gnocchi (using left over mashed potatoes!!) and spaghetti sauce.
**If you are going to freeze these, after step 2 place them in between two squares of parchment paper and freeze them on a cookie sheet. After they are frozen, store them in a freezer safe ziplock bag.**
Get started on saving your family money but not compromise the quality of your meat! Zaycon Fresh is where it's at. Sign up here! Also - check out my favorite Zaycon Fresh product - Wild Alaskan Salmon - and how I love to prepare it!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate links help keep this blog going and using them is at no cost to you! All images, opinions and the recipe are my own.
The Pierogie Mama and her family are off on a fabulous visit to Germany! Don't worry, we'll check in on the blog every once in a while and keep up on Instagram and Facebook too! And in the meantime, you'll get the chance to read a ton of posts written by some of my favorite people.
See you in the New Year. Don't miss out on this chance to win $20 Paypaltoo!
Everybody has their favorite pre-holiday breakfast pastry. From scones to breads, croissants to donuts – a baker’s arsenal has a limitless number of options!
Oh, and the flavors?!?! Blueberry, apple, pumpkin, chocolate, Bavarian cream, strawberry rhubarb – my mouth is just watering thinking of all the delicious combinations! Don’t even get me started on how adding “spiced” in front of any of these just opens up a whole new door to Flavortown!
When coming up with a home run recipe, my personal favorite must encompass all the best parts of the holidays. In a single bite I have got to experience sweetness and tanginess. While also getting a little bit of spice. Oh and there always has to be just a pinch of salt.
I think that I may have found perfection in my latest endeavor – the Cranana Muffin!
This wondrous creation is not your typical muffin. Made with fresh cranberries and ripe bananas, the flavors burst in your mouth with every bite. The smell wafting from your oven will bring your children to the table, and your neighbors to the door. Beautiful bright red berries and gooey yellow banana bits call your name as you unwrap this oh so yummy treat.
Cranana Muffin Recipe
1 bag fresh cranberries 2 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups water 1/2 cup butter 3 eggs 2 1/4 cups flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 4-5 VERY ripe bananas (this is important)
- Preheat oven to 350° - Simmer water berries and 1/4 cups sugar for 3 to 6 minutes. Drain. - Cream butter and remaining sugar. - Add eggs one at a time. - Combined dry ingredients in separate bowl. - Mash bananas and add to dry ingredients with wet mixture. - Gently mix in cranberries. - Fill muffin cups just below cup line. - Bake for 12 to 15 minutes - Make sure to cool before serving.
This made 22 muffins for me, but I think next time I'll fill them fuller and should expect about 20 or so. They were really good split in half with a little butter. Don't miss Stacie's other guest post on the blog - a simple grazing breakfast line up!
NonProfit DBA by day, wife/mom/baker all the other hours - Stacie is a Washington State native, DC transplant, and lover of all things creative. Owner and head decorator of Enticing Icing Cupcakes, this mommy baker enjoys sharing her secrets to a sweet life. Check out more of her work at www.enticingicingcupcakes.com
Do you ever wish there was some way to naturally protect your family during cold and flu season? Before you rush out and get a flu shot, I’ve got some great tips to boost your immune system and fight off those pesky little germs!
But before I get into that, let me tell you a little about myself… My name is Erin Disch and I met Bianca through our local MOPs group! I am passionate about Jesus and the world, natural living, healthy cooking and all things artsy! I have been married for 13 years to my wonderful husband, Jimmy. I am a stay-at-home, homeschool mom to our three young boys. They are amazing and crazy and my house is never quiet, yet I wouldn’t change it for the world! I am so blessed!
Nearly 4 years ago, when I found out I was pregnant with our third child, I began seeing a naturopath doctor to help decrease my chances of developing severely high blood pressure that I had suffered from during my first two pregnancies. We had tinkered with several dietary things prior to this, but I would say this truly began our path to developing a natural lifestyle for our family. We switched to a clean eating, mostly organic diet, started exercising regularly (which I need to get back into the habit of doing again – ugh!), began seeking alternative medicine for health concerns, and eliminated chemicals in our home by switching to Norwex for cleaning. Along the way, I’ve learned a few tricks for helping our family to ward off, or at least shorten the length and severity of the cold and flu. Ready for the goods? OK. Here we go!
1.Consume Plenty of Probiotics
Did you know that 70-80% of your immune system is housed in your intestines where a vast collection of bacteria live? Bacteria line your intestines and help your body to digest food. Eating too much sugar or processed foods and not enough fiber and vegetables, as well as taking antibiotics can cause your gut flora to get out of whack. It’s important to keep the good bacteria in your gut at a healthy level to improve your immune system. There are a few ways that you can incorporate probiotics into your diet to get and maintain a healthy gut. Choose any or all of these to help boost your body’s germ fighting ability!
·Taking store bought probiotic supplements.
·Eating cultured dairy products like yogurt, buttermilk, kefir, and raw milk.
·Adding in fermented foods such as sauerkraut, pickles or other pickled vegetables.
·Drinking kombucha, a fermented tea – my personal favorite! You can buy it for $3-$4 a bottle or make your own for much less moolah. I follow this method. My favorite is to flavor it with fresh lemon chunks and raspberries when I bottle it for the second ferment. It becomes fizzy and is a super healthy substitute for soda. My whole family enjoys a glass every day! My 3 year old even threw a temper tantrum a couple weeks ago at 9:30 at night (2 hours after he was in bed) because he “needed a little cup of kombuchaaaa!” Oh boy. That child... At least it’s a healthy request, right?
2.Boost Your Immune System with Elderberry
Elderberries have been used for centuries as a folk remedy. They are packed with Vitamins A, D and C, antioxidants and bioflavonoids which can boost your immune system and protect your cells from being infected by cold and flu viruses!
Elderberry is usually taken as a tea or syrup. You can purchase elderberry syrup or make your own for far less money. I prefer to buy dried elderberries and make my own syrup. It’s as easy as simmering some dried elderberries in filtered water, straining them, and adding some raw honey once it cools a bit. Easy peasy.
This recipeis a powerhouse of immune boosting goodness! It includes fresh ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Ginger on its own can calm nausea, help inhibit the growth of bad bacteria and fight off rhinovirus, which can cause the common cold. Cinnamon is also great at fighting off various kinds of infections and has tons of antioxidants and polyphenols. Likewise, cloves have powerful antibacterial properties and can also help boost your immune system! Wahoo!
When I make mine, I prefer to simmer a couple of broken up cinnamon sticks and 5 whole cloves with the elderberries instead of ground spices so it doesn’t have the gritty texture of the ground spices in it. If you love ginger, the finer you mince it, the spicier it is. I keep mine in a mason jar in the fridge and we all take it daily during cold and flu season.
3.Take Advantage of Essential Oils
If you haven’t jumped on the essential oil train yet, here’s the skinny… Essential oils are concentrated, volatile, aromatic liquids that are obtained from plants. These oils have been used for their aromatic and healing benefits for hundreds of years.
There are quite a few companies out there that sell essential oils. This is a great article comparing the top 10 essential oils and is a great resource when choosing which brand to purchase. I personally use Plant Therapy oils, as I particularly like that they are high quality, fit my budget, and they have a whole line of “Kid Safe” synergies that, as the name suggests, are safe for use on children of all ages. Many people may not be aware that there are several oils that are not safe for children under 10, so please be careful which oils you choose to use. I encourage you to do some research and determine what you feel is best for your family.
Once you have your essential oils, there are several methods by which you can incorporate essential oils into your medicinal arsenal.
·Apply them topically being sure to dilute to a safe amount, as it is almost never safe to apply them undiluted. These single oils are great for fighting off germs, but there are also blends available from many oil companies. Again, please be safe with which oils you use on kids! I like to make roller bottles with fractionated coconut oil and Plant Therapy’s Germ Destroyer blend for our kids and the Germ Fighter blend (their version of Thieves) for my husband and I. We apply it to the bottoms of our feet, our chest and back when we are feeling under the weather.
·Inhaling oils by putting a couple drops on your pillow, tissue or aromatherapy necklace, using an aromatherapy inhaler, putting a few drops in a bowl of steaming water and deep breathing in the vapors, or by diffusing them. Diffusers work by creating a fine mist of the essential oils and dispersing them in the air making them more easily absorbed by your lungs. I have this diffuser and really like it for in our bedroom or smaller living spaces.
·Ingesting them. Although many people do ingest oils, our family does not. According to Robert Tisserand, a leading expert in aromatherapy and essential oil safety, there can be long term risksassociated with ingesting oils if you don’t “absolutely and totally know what you are doing.” Since I’m not a certified aromatherapist, I’ll stick to the other methods described above, just to be safe. But again, please look into this yourself and choose what you feel is safe for you!
So there you have it folks! I hope your family can benefit from incorporating one or more of these tricks into your home! Have a happy and healthy winter!
Quality meat is important to me, so I am excited to share this recipe using delicious organic chicken.
Summertime has hit and I've moved the majority of my cooking from the stove to the grill. We don't have AC so the inside temperatures get into the low 90's and there's no way that I'm turning on the stove to cook! Thankfully we have a decent grill on our back porch and my goal for creating a backyard oasis is in full swing, so dinners in the backyard are where you'll find us 6 out 7 evenings!
Today I'm going to share one of my time honored recipes with you - one that I started tooling around with when I was first married and now I've got it down pat. It's a combination of my two favorite dinner flavors - lime and cilantro!
Directions:
1. Combine the 1/2 cup of lime juice, 2 tablespoons of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper in bowl. Add the fresh Foster Farms chicken to the juice and allow it to marinade for 30 min to overnight.
2. I like to prepare mine on the grill, but you can also pan fry if you prefer. Cook until the juices run clear.
3. Chop the chicken into small bite size pieces and set aside in a serving bowl.
4. Slice the avocado, wash and chop the cilantro and set aside in serving bowls.
5. Warm up the corn tortillas, nobody likes stiff tortillas! (Here's how)
6. Serve up!
If you've followed along on The Pierogie Mama for a while, you'll know that I keep a small flock of backyard chickens for eggs. I've always been intentional about the food that I source for my family - but it's very a fine balance between cost, quality and sustainability. I try to eat seasonally and limit our greater world impact by buying in bulk. It's not easy and it doesn't always work out that way, but I know that doing my best is better than nothing! Having been a chicken mama for over a year, I've gotten a much better appreciation for these animals and am very mindful to teach my daughters that the eggs on their plate for breakfast didn't magically appear from thin air; and neither do any of the other ingredients that we are blessed to share at our table. My thought process isn't unique; in a recent study 85% of Millennial parents indicated that their criteria for buying meat and poultry has changed over the last several years, 42% cited having a child as the primary reason. When I buy any kind of meat I prioritize on buying organic or antibiotic free. I also want to rest assured that the animal was treated with respect during it's life and prepared for my table with dignity. That's why I chose Foster Farms Simply Raised for this meal. Simply Raised poultry never has any antibiotics, the chickens are fed an entirely vegetarian diet and are American Humane Certified. When the time of butcher comes, the meat is minimally processed without any additives, preservatives, steroids or hormones. It's also good to know that Simply Raised Foster Farms chickens are locally grown in the Pacific Northwest, so I'm not having to pay for transport time between the farm and the grocery store where I buy it. When it comes to store bought affordable chicken, you can't beat Foster Farms!
Leave a comment below telling me what kind of side you'd choose to go along with these tacos - I'm always drawing a blank! And let me know if you've also tried Foster Farms chicken.
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Foster Farms. All opinions expressed were my own.
Unless you are, or are friends with, a fisherman, good salmon is really hard to find. Especially outside of the Pacific Northwest. I count myself as very fortunate as sometimes being the very blessed recipient of a friend's end of the day catch. There are so very few things better in this world than salmon caught that day. But most of us don't ever get that.
In my humble opinion a very close second to fresh caught salmon, and light years beyond what you'll find at the store, is Zaycon Fresh's Wild Sockey Salmon filets. I've ordered 3 cases (25 lbs each) in the last year. This allows me to cook salmon almost weekly and on a budget!
"Wild" seafood is also somewhat of a hot topic right now. I'm always researching my food to make
sure that I am, at the very least, aware of what is the quality of the food I purchase. The price of Zaycon Fresh's salmon can't be beat, and I was initially a little wary about it. I bought my first case,
fell in love with my first filet and started to do a little bit of digging on it. Was it really what it's advertised to be? I contacted the fishery, using the clearly marked label on my case that I received, and was able to track down where my salmon had been caught and when. Isn't that pretty awesome that in this day and age we can find that information?
What is Zaycon Fresh? It's super easy. You sign up, enter in your zip code and it will populate "events" near you. Each event will bring fresh or frozen meets to an agreed upon place and time. You place your order for what you'd like and then on the day of the event you bring your order slip and they put your case of bulk meats in the trunk of your car for you. You don't even have to get out of the car! Throughout the year they will offer different products; such as delicious bacon, fresh ground beef, fresh chicken breasts, frozen breaded chicken fritters (I like to make this), select steaks, even turkey and ham around the holidays! They are constantly adding more.
When you sign up, they'll send you non-spammy newsletters letting you know what they're adding, great recipe ideas and you can refer friends to get credit for your next purchase. Truly, I haven't bought meat any other way for a long time now.
And now, on to my two favorite ways to prepare salmon these days. YUM! When you thaw a filet, cut it in half and reserve one half for the second recipe below. Now you can have salmon twice in one week!
Honey Lemon Baked Salmon
This is my favorite go-to. It's easy, I have all of the ingredients on hand and it goes with most sides.
Half a salmon filet, thawed.
3T cup of honey
1T minced garlic
1T lemon pepper seasoning
juice from 1/4 of a fresh lemon
1. Warm the honey briefly in the microwave (about 10 seconds should be enough). Mix in garlic, lemon pepper and lemon juice.
2. Line a baking dish with tin foil. Place the fish, skin down, in the baking dish. Pour the honey mixture over top. Allow to marinate for 20 minutes, up to 24 hours in the fridge. Prior to baking, spoon the marinate back over top of the salmon again.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Bake the salmon until it flakes easily with a fork, about 8 minutes. Most recommend about 4-6 minutes per 1/2 inch of thickness.
Thai Inspired Salmon
This recipe is adapted from ifood real. I went out on a limb and thought that spicey salmon might be tasty. We gave it a shot for my birthday dinner and it was a hit. The marinade is great for chicken too!
Half a salmon filet, thawed
1/2 cup Thai sauce, recipe below
To prepare Thai sauce:
1/2 cup maple syrup (the real kind, if you can get it)
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce (I use Sun Luck brand)
1/4 cup of water
1 T cornstarch
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Mix all of the ingredients until combined. Add to a small saucepan and cook until boiling. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Allow to cool before pouring onto fresh meat. Refrigerate leftovers.
To prepare the salmon:
1. Pour 1/2 cup of the cooled Thai sauce over the uncooked salmon. Allow to marinate for at least two hours.
2. Before cooking, coat the meat again with the marinade sauce.
3. Broil or grill until the meat flakes easily with a fork. My favorite is to grill it!
Honorable mention: Cilantro Salmon burgers by Alaska from Scratch. Oh lawd, it's changed my opinion on burgers.
So are you ready to order some salmon? If you're interested in learning more about how to determine if your salmon is truly wild, sustainably caught and basically not messing around, here are some resources:
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Signing up for a Zaycon Fresh account is free, but you'll be amazed at the quality of all the different kinds of meats and products you can find through them. If you loved this post and want to learn more about Zaycon Fresh - feel free to sign up using my referral code. I'll get a tiny kickback and you'll get a ton of delicious meat to stock your freezer!
