Old Fashioned Potato Soup

Old Fashioned Potato Soup

An easy recipe for an inviting comfort food, where you don’t have to look far from your kitchen to gather up the ingredients needed.

Boil and mash with fork when tender:

• 3 Cups potatoes (clean, peeled, and diced)

• Water (just enough to barely cover potatoes)

In another pan, saute:

• 3/4 Cup onion

• 2 Tablespoons butter

Add:

• 2 Tablespoons flour

• 2 Cups milk

Add this to hot potato mixture.

Season with salt, pepper, and parsley flakes.

Pour into bowls and top with bacon and shredded cheddar cheese.

Enjoy!

Variations:

• Can boil in chicken broth instead of water

• Can add minced garlic near completion of sauteing onions

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Chocolate Syrup

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

We have been using this delicious recipe for about 15 years now. It is so easy and no special ingredients are needed. A definite keeper for Moms who want a quick treat for the kids.

• 1 cup cocoa

• 1 1/2 cups sugar

• 1 cup water

• 2 teaspoons vanilla

• dash of salt

  Mix sugar, salt, and cocoa in a pan.

  Stir in water.

  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

  Boil slowly for 3 minutes.

  Remove from heat and cool.

  Add vanilla.

  Refrigerate in a glass jar with lid.

  Can add to cold or hot milk or ice cream.

Study Shows Full Fat Milk Is The Best

We recently got this e-mail from the place where we buy our organic chicken feed. It is always encouraging to have news like this, as we work to produce a product that is healthy for our consumers.

P.S. The artwork is theirs.

VIDEO - Boiled Custard

Moving from the North to the South really opened our eyes to foods that go with certain territories. Having never heard of Boiled Custard until moving to Kentucky, we quickly decided this southern treat would be a keeper in our recipe book.

BOILED CUSTARD

• 1 Quart milk

• 3 Eggs - separated

• 1/2 Cup cold milk

• 1 Cup sugar

• 1 Teaspoon vanilla

• Pinch salt

Heat quart of milk in a double boiler (hot but not boiling water), stirring occasionally.

When warm, add beaten egg yolks mixed with 1/2 cup milk, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, beat egg whites with pinch of salt until foamy. Then beat in sugar until stiff.

Add this mixture to heated milk and eggs.

Cook (about 5 to 10 minutes) until thick (between 160 to 180 degrees).

Stir in vanilla.

Cool and refrigerate until cold.

Enjoy.

P.S. For those of you who are not eating sugar, go ahead and give it a try using your alternatives!

VIDEO - Fresh Green Bean Dish

When I was a young girl, my mom taught me how to can green beans. After I got married, I planted a garden and continued to can green beans for my family. I’m surprised, though, that I never really thought of fixing fresh green beans. But a few years ago, I tried it and was amazed that I had found another easy and healthy dish to feed my family. Watch this simple instruction video and then check out the recipe below to see just how easily you can create this delicious side dish.

FRESH GREEN BEANS

• Snip and wash beans.

• Place in frying pan.

• Add 1/4 inch water.

• Cover and boil about 5 minutes, checking a few times to make sure there is still some water in the pan.

• Remove lid and stir a few minutes until water has evaporated.

• Turn down heat a little and add butter, onions, and garlic, to taste.

• Stir and cook for another five minutes.

• Add some salt for flavor.

• Enjoy!

VIDEO - Making Yogurt

Yogurt is easy to make and quite economical too. Once a week you can spend a few minutes making a week’s worth of this nutritious food for your entire family. Once you have an initial starter (getting it from a friend, using store bought yogurt, or creating your own from a purchased starter packet), the only ingredient you will need for continuous batches of yogurt is milk. I recommend a starter packet, as this should give you clean living bacteria to begin with. I have purchased my starters from cheese supply stores, like leeners.com or cheesemaking.com. Just follow the directions on the packet to create your first batch of yogurt. Basically you will heat a quart of milk, mix in the starter, incubate this, and put it into the refrigerator to have your first batch of yogurt. To begin making successive batches of yogurt with a mother culture, you will need to save a portion of this freshly made yogurt for your next batch. Watch my video below to see the process of how I make yogurt using fresh milk and my mother culture of yogurt.

This is pretty much the standard way of making yogurt. The way to incubate it differs according to what works best for you. If using a cooler and heating pad doesn’t work, I encourage you to be creative or check the internet to find the best fit for you. It certainly is worth it to find a way to make this nutritious and delicious beverage for you to enjoy.

Some additional notes:

—If taken care of, a mother culture can last a long time. But it can become weak with time or it can get contaminated. One way to tell a new starter is needed is if, considering that all other things are done properly, the yogurt starts to continually taste a little too sour for eating. Then it’s time to create a new mother culture.

—If the yogurt has separated when taken out of the cooler, it may have been incubated too long or at too high of a temperature. Just make adjustments when making the next batch.

—Homemade yogurt tends to be a little runnier than store bought since it does not contain any additives. You can add gelatin or powdered milk to thicken it. Also, initially heating the milk to 180 degrees and then letting it cool to 110 degrees before adding the starter may help with thickening (as this changes the protein structure).

— It is a real treat to drain the whey from the yogurt to have a Greek-style yogurt. You can use the whey for other purposes.

EASY STEPS TO MAKE YOGURT

• In a saucepan heat milk to 110 degrees—the amount you want to eat plus some to use as mother culture for your next batch of yogurt.

• Stir in mother culture-1/4 cup per quart of milk heated.

• Pour into clean glass jars and screw on lids.

• Place the jars in a cooler with a heating pad.

• Maintain a temperature of around 110 degrees for 4-6 hours.

• Remove from cooler and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.

• Eat within a week.

• Use mother culture for your next batch of yogurt.

Making Beef Bone Broth

I’d like to share this simple recipe that we use to make bone broth. I don’t know all the ins and outs of bone broth, but I do know it is known for its collagen content, which is good for inflammation, digestion, promoting healthy teeth, hair and bones, etc. This recipe may be a good place to start or maybe it will inspire you to research and find a recipe that is better suited for your family.

BEEF BONE BROTH

• Cook off roasts, steaks, or soup bones with water in a crock pot

• Use the meat and broth and place the rest back in the crock pot for a second cooking

• Add 2 Tablespoons Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (to draw out minerals from the bones)

• Add water to 2 inches from the top of crock pot

• Let sit for 20 minutes

• Turn on high until it starts to simmer

• Turn to low and cook for 24-48 hours

• Turn off crock pot

• Cool slightly

• Strain Broth

• Can refrigerate for several days or freeze for an extended time.

• Can add to other soups, stews, or season it to drink by itself

Homemade Cream Pie Recipe

Here’s a delicious recipe that we have been making with our milk for many years. When we need to have several kinds of desserts for a larger gathering, we start with bulking the basic recipe (except for the chocolate) and then separating it to make different flavors. This works well in saving time when you want a little variety.

Vanilla Cream Pie

• Combine in a medium saucepan:
  3/4 c. sugar 
  1/4 c. + 2 t. cornstarch
  1/8 t. salt

• Combine & slowly add to sugar mixture:
  3 egg yolks, beaten
  3 c. milk

• Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute.

• Remove from heat.

• Add:
  1 1/2 T. butter
  1 1/2 t. vanilla

• Pour into a baked 9 inch pie crust.

• Cover with wax paper and refrigerate until chilled.

• Remove wax paper.

• Top with whipped cream. (Recipe below)

WHIPPED CREAM

• Beat until foamy:
  1 1/2 c. heavy cream

• Add:
  1/2 c. powdered sugar 
  1 t. vanilla
  pinch of salt

• Continue beating until stiff.

• Spread over chilled pie.

• Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Variations:
Chocolate cream: add 1/4 c. cocoa to dry ingredients.
Banana cream: slice 2 small bananas in pie shell before adding filling.
Coconut cream: add 1/2 c. flaked coconut and 1/2 t. coconut extract with the vanilla. Sprinkle 1/4 cup (or more!) toasted coconut on top of whipped cream.

Beef Lentil Rice Casserole Recipe

As we continue to make bone broth this season, one simple recipe our family enjoys is:

BEEF LENTIL RICE CASSEROLE

• 3 cups beef bone broth (or regular broth)

• 1 cup cut up beef (cooked)

• 3/4 cup lentils (dry)

• 1/2 cup brown rice (uncooked)

• 1 chopped onion (or 1/4 dry)

• 3 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)

• 1/2 teaspoon basil

• 1 teaspoon oregano

• 1 1/2 t. salt

Combine in 9x9 glass casserole dish with lid. Bake (covered) @ 350 for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until finished. Last 1/2 hour top with cheddar or mozzarella cheese. If you have a larger family, you can double recipe in a 13x9 dish.

VIDEO - Making Milk Kefir

Kefir is a healthy fermented dairy product. And it is so easy to make. The only thing needed is milk and kefir grains. These really aren’t grains, but a living source of beneficial bacteria and yeast.

My delightful journey with kefir began when a friend gave me some grains in a jar of milk. I wanted the grains to start working right away, so I put the jar in the cupboard. The reason I did this is because kefir grains begin to ferment at room temperature. And for best results, I avoided drafts and direct sunlight. I did not screw on the plastic lid, but just let it sit loosely on the top. My kefir took about 24 hours to ferment. I did this on a daily basis and because these grains grew in the process, within a month I had enough of this healthy probiotic drink for the entire family to consume.

Watch this quick video on the steps I go through every day to make Kefir.

Easy steps to make kefir:

1. Place jar of kefir grains with milk (ratio of 1-2 tablespoons of grains to 1 cup of milk) in cupboard for 24 hours to ferment.

2. Remove from cupboard and strain grains from kefir. If you notice a separation of the whey, just give it a shake before straining. It may be an indication that you may need to cut back on fermentation time, put your kefir in a cooler spot to ferment, or decrease your number of grains to milk ratio.

3. Place grains back in a jar, add proper amount of fresh cold milk and begin the process over again. Make sure you keep a proper ratio of grains to milk. You can eat the excess grains, share them with a friend, or feed them to your animals.

4. Enjoy the milk kefir that was just separated from the grains.

The grains are a living bacteria and need to feed off the lactose in milk. Therefore if I am not going to be consuming kefir for a while, I want to slow down the fermentation process. So rather than putting the jar of grains and cold milk in the cupboard, I put the jar in the refrigerator. It can be stored this way for up to a week. If longer storage time is needed, I add more than the normal amount of milk, so my kefir will have plenty of food. It may be a little sluggish when I first start to use it again, but after a few days it should be back to normal.

I have also tried what is called a double fermentation. This is letting the strained kefir sit at room temperature for another 24 hours (with a loose lid). This further reduces the lactose content, taking away sourness, and supposedly increasing b vitamins and probiotics.

So you can see that milk kefir is so easy to make. Go ahead and give it a try. You can drink it as it is, create a favorite smoothie, or use it in a recipe.