Today I have 3 real food recipes for babies to share with you.
6 Reasons Why I Am Not Paleo
The Paleo (Paleolithic) Diet is hot, hot, hot, but there are 6 reasons why I am not Paleo and today I’m going to tell you them.
Baked Breakfast Turkey Patties
What I want this morning is a gigantic bowl of bone broth and a couple Baked Breakfast Turkey Patties.
I’m heading to my commercial kitchen this morning, and this breakfast is the perfect one for the pre-car ride or to take with me (since everyone always wants to know about simple breakfasts-on-the-run).
You won’t need many things. In fact, you only need 5 main ingredients: an organic, free range egg, 1 pound ground Kosher turkey, 1 whole zucchini, fresh rosemary and fresh thyme.
Oh, and a mini brownie pan, too. I mean, I guess you could use whatever you wanted, but this is how they formed into perfectly sized “patties” for me.
Baked Breakfast Turkey Patties
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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush the mini brownie pan with Avocado Oil spray (or oil of your choice).
Peel and de-seed the zucchini and cut into a few pieces lengthwise.
Shred the zucchini in a food processor.
Note: Why zucchini? Well did you know that mashed zucchini can take the place of eggs in many recipes? I’ve never found it to be super effective, but I like to do it in recipes like this where I have a little egg (i.e. one) – and where adding zucchini would be an added recipe benefit.
Once the zucchini has been shredded, place all your ingredients in a bowl and mix together by hand.
Form the meat into “brownie patties,” and place the pan in the oven to bake for about 42 minutes.
Remove from the oven and enjoy immediately or save for later…..like me, today, on the run to my commercial kitchen to go a nut butter’ing!
Baked Breakfast Turkey Patties
Author: Sarah Kay Hoffman
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 9-12 patties
A simple, 5-ingredient breakfast patty that are perfect for those busy, on-the-go mornings. They are: gluten free, dairy free, soy free, corn free, sugar free, low-FODMAP, and Paleo.
Ingredients
- 1 egg, organic, free-range
- 1 pound Kosher ground turkey (I used full fat)
- 1 zucchini, peeled and de-seeded
- ½ Tbsp fresh rosemary
- ½ Tbsp fresh thyme
- ½ tsp sea salt
- Chosen Foods Avocado Oil spray (to gently brush your pan with)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Spray the mini brownie pan with Avocado Oil spray.
- Peel and de-seed the zucchini and cut into a few pieces lengthwise.
- Shred the zucchini in a food processor.
- Once the zucchini has been shredded, place all your ingredients in a bowl and mix together by hand.
- Form the meat into “brownie patties,” and place the pan in the oven to bake for about 42 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and enjoy immediately or save for later.
Xox,
SKH
Life is Too Short to Stuff Tradition in a Bottom Kitchen Drawer
I now fully believe that life is too short to stuff tradition in a bottom kitchen drawer.
My mother’s lifelong home and kitchen dreams are inspired by the Primitive style.
I’ve always known what mine are, but it wasn’t until Christmas this year when I was able to fully communicate and place a label on my own home and kitchen style. This label would be: A Traditional Foodie Kitchen.
My parents gifted me these for Christmas (handmade, not by them, but someone else in Minnesota):
And my cousin’s wife gifted me these (she made them by hand, by the way!):
These are not my first set of traditional kitchen towels. In fact, these would be sets number 4 and number 5.
Sets 1, 2 and 3 were given to me by my Grandmothers….one of which is still living, the other who is not.
I use these towels daily in my kitchen. I take that back, I use some of them daily in my kitchen.
I used sets number 1 and 2 so much that they are nearly completely worn out. By the time I got set number 3, I was so scared to use it because I didn’t want the memory of my Grandmothers to leave this house (ultimately, they do become so worn and stinky that the only option is to get rid of them).
Set 3 is still shiny and new, in a bottom drawer, just waiting to be used.
And then sets 4 and 5 came along, both of which also have great meaning to me.
I really don’t want to use these,
I told my mom.
When I use them, they get old and worn and then I have to throw them away.
She replied,
Oh, just use them. That’s what they were made for….so that you can enjoy them in your kitchen, daily,
Life is Too Short to Stuff Tradition in a Bottom Kitchen Drawer
In the days that followed, I thought about this.
I thought about the concept of my Traditional Foodie Kitchen, the wear and tear on my towels, what my towels signified years ago and what they signify today.
At the core, tradition means:
a way of thinking, behaving, or doing something that has been used by the people in a particular group, family, society, etc., for a long time
I want my kitchen to always embody this tradition, these ways, beliefs and practices that have been in our family for as long as I can remember.
From Grandma Jo’s Donuts to Grandma Verna’s homemade Chicken Dumpling Soup, I want to carry on the traditions forever (side note: I also want to carry on the traditions from Ryan’s side of the family. They have just as many wonderful traditions, deeply Norwegian-rooted).
Even more importantly, I want to carry on the love, conversations and authentic Midwestern values displayed in their kitchens. Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a day of cooking and baking in my kitchen with my Grandmothers.
My mother was right. I must use all sets and all towels.
Life is too short to stuff tradition in a bottom kitchen drawer somewhere with the hopes of keeping it fresh and clean.
Tradition is anything but fresh and clean. Tradition is faded, rustic, time-stamped and mostly……
Beautiful.
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Xox,
SKH
Intro to Ghee Butter
Ghee butter is really lovely, so I wanted to put together a little post with an intro to Ghee Butter.
Intro to Ghee Butter
At our local health food store, the Ghee Butter is kept on a shelf. In the Gutsy household, we keep ours in the fridge.
What is Ghee Butter?
Ghee is a clarified butter, which is simply butter that has been melted over low heat for an extended period of time, eliminates more of the moisture and causes the milk solids to caramelize. Once caramelized (and cooled) the top layer is eventually skimmed off. This layer (yes, the pure fat) is the Ghee.
Why is Organic Ghee Butter in my fridge?
- The process of cooking off the milk solids burns off most of the lactose found in normal butter. Since I only do Raw Dairy now, this is my alternative option to dairy and butter if/when we are out of raw butter.
- I love the taste, which is slightly nutty and a little different from regular butter.
- Long life. Ghee can last for several weeks in your pantry or six+ months in the fridge (which is where I keep mine).
What brand of Organic Ghee Butter and where to find?
I get my Organic Ghee Butter from two main sources: Amazon + Whole Foods. Here are the brands I like:
Recipes
I was first introduced to Ghee Butter a few years back with an Indian recipe. This is how Ghee is “typically” used. It is not only for Indian recipes, though, as it adapts well to most cooking and baking recipes.
- lemon curd
- Wild Salmon on a Bed of Spaghetti Squash Smothered in Lemon-Garlic Caper Sauce
- Roasted, Flavored Nuts
Xox,
SKH
Beware the Labels
Food labels are a thing, but you need to beware the labels.
I was perusing my Facebook feed recently when I stumbled upon a new business in town with delicious sweets. My eyes widened when I saw the following:
local fresh product, preservative free candies and sweet treats
Perfect.
I jumped over to their company Facebook page to learn more.
That was really as far as I needed to go. Their Facebook cover photo said it all, including items like C&H Pure Cane Sugar and Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Morsels.
Immediately, I wondered what exactly they meant by “local fresh product.” Does “local fresh product” now mean,
“I made it in my kitchen. I bought it from my local Safeway. I’m local to me, and if people within 15 miles of me buy it then they, too, are receiving local, fresh product?”
And then I wondered what “preservative free” meant. Does “preservative free” now mean,
I didn’t add in any extra preservatives in the form of additional ingredients?
So I asked some friends via my Facebook Page what those terms mean to them. Here were the responses:
- Made or grown locally and no extra crap added
- No preservatives or unhealthy additives
- Made or harvested locally and contains nothing to make it have a long life….to me it does not mean chemical free or organic
- Grown locally and not altered in any way after harvest???
- Made locally, no chemicals
- Does not come from a box or package, and has no expiration date or mascot LOL
- Hopefully, it means “good food & no crap in it”
Let’s discuss.
Beware the Labels
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For the record, before I continue, here is the ingredient list for those Nestle Morsels used above:
SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE, COCOA BUTTER, MILKFAT, SOY LECITHIN, NATURAL FLAVORS)
{Insert sarcasm} Seems pretty local, fresh and preservative free to me. {Insert frustration}
What ARE Natural Flavors anyway?!
I’ve been thinking about this all week. Heck, I’ve been thinking about this since 2011 when on February 22, 2011, I wrote, “Ingredient(s) vs Ingredients.”
If you don’t care about what goes into your food, then you won’t care about labels like “local,” “natural” and “preservative free” and thus, this topic is irrelevant to you.
But if you do care (and this is most of you reading this right now) then you must understand that just because something is labeled with a hot, trendy and healthy “buzzword,” more often than not it’s simply not so.
The USDA must certify a product in order for it to be Certified USDA Organic.
There is no such thing for “local,” “natural,” “preservative and additive free” and much more.
How do I know this? Because I, too, am a food entrepreneur. I am developing A LOVING SPOON, LLC nut butters. I have done my research, and know what consumers want to see from a “buzzworthy-label” perspective. Even still, I am having a very hard time using any of these words — because they have lost their meaning.
When you read an ingredient list after seeing any of the healthy buzzwords, you should be thinking things such as….
Okay, there are chocolate chips in this product. What kind of chocolate chips? What do those chocolate chips consist of?
The truth is that a chocolate chip is not just a chocolate chip.
A chocolate chip is made by combining all of the ingredients mentioned above. And from there, you must break it down even more. What made up that “sugar?” Or the “chocolate?” There are likely sub-ingredients to all of them.
Literally, I could go on and on and on about this topic. It’s a hot topic for me since I’m in the industry and I am so passionate about the products I am producing. When I say that I use Organic, 100% Cacao Nibs, this is what it means:
The only ingredient is the 100% Cacao Nib. This nib has been sourced from a superior place and it is certified organic, raw and kosher. There is nothing else added to this bean.
Do I care if companies like this example exist? Absolutely not. Am I judging you if you choose to eat things like that? In no way, shape or form.
My job is to educate you so you know the truth and so that you can make the best decisions for you.
My job is to ensure that my clients are eating the foods that are healing their guts; not the foods that appear to do so.
Beware the labels.
I’m so passionate about this that if you have specific questions around this topic, please feel free to comment below or contact me. I’m happy to do more follow up posts on this.
Xox,
SKH