A new piece for my Copper Kitchen

I've wanted both a copper whisk and a twisty whisk for a long time, so tonight, i made one that was both!

Let's Talk About Eggs

We buy cage-free, hormone-free, certified humane brown eggs in recycled packaging. As simple as eggs sound, there can definitely be a learning curve, so let's talk about eggs:

Scrambling
I am definitely a fan of the omelette. Arguably the easiest way to do eggs, I add sundried tomato and basil to my eggs and add the to a hot pan with a little oil.  I also like to put a lid on it to help them along before flipping. In my experience, a bigger spatula is always better.

Sundried tomato and basil omelette with sour cream and finishing salt

Hardboiling
Hard boiling is one of those things that can be very easy to mess up. I like to follow this method: for perfect eggs everytime:
-Use older eggs (so they will be easier to peel)
-Cover eggs with 1-2 inches of water.
-Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and cover the pot with a lid. Let the eggs sit in the hot pot on the (off)burner for 10-12 minutes. Longer is ok as it is difficult to overcook the yolks this way. Drain and rinse with cold water. Dry and store covered in the refrigerator. Eat within 5 days.


Poaching
Poached eggs are by far my favorite. Poached eggs are traditionally served runny and are just sooooo pretty on the plate. I have tried ladles, molds, and parachuting (in a deep steamer pot), but my favorite (and the prettiest) is the vortex method:
-Fill a pot with water and add 2TBS of vinegar.
-Bring the water to a rolling boil and then lower the heat to a simmer (so the water isn't churning)
-Crack your egg into a small bowl
-Using a spoon (or i like to use a chopstick) begin stirring circles around the edge of the pan, creating a vortex
-While keeping the vortex going with one hand, Pour the egg down the middle of that tornado and stop stirring. The vortex will keep the whites centered in the pan as they cook for 1-2 minutes.
-Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.

Fluffy Poached egg on a bagel with Old Bay Seasoning and Balsamic Caviar.

We don't use teflon in our house, but they do make special poached egg pans that put out a beautiful poached egg if you want to take the skill set out of the equation

Eggplant w/ Carmelized Shallot

I have never been a very big fan of eggplant, BUT that's what's in season right now in our CSA box so when I was looking for a fast side dish to go with my protein this evening, i grabbed the eggplant off the counter and went to town. To be fair, I floured and pan-fried it, but you could substitute a gluten-free flour and/or bake the eggplant if that is your preference.

This is pan-fried eggplant topped with carmelized shallots and crabcake

-1 small eggplant, cut into 1/4" thick slices
-1/2 c flour- seasoned to your liking
-1/2 cup milk or cream
-1-2 Shallots sliced

Dredge the eggplant slices in cream and flour twice. Pour 2TBS of oil (we don't use soy in our house so for us it's usually olive or peanut oil- remember that olive oil has a low smoking point) into a hot pan and fry the eggplant about 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to papertowels to drain and carmelize shallots in the same pan. Top with finishing salt.

Eating Local & Sustainable

We do our best to eat with the seasons, but there are a few things we do that aren't necessarily mainstream so I thought I'd share.

Growing Our Own
It was always important to us to have land. We own 1.22 acres in a suburban area near to cities and surrounded by farmland. We are not -by far- avid gardeners, but you'll find that gardens tend to succeed with very little help. We buy organic plants/seeds when we can and we don't weed nearly as often as we should. We also have a variety of fruit trees around the property and our neighbor has a small orchard so lots of that produce to go around. Our gardens are lined with railroad ties (which we order from the local farmstore and have delivered) We live in PA-zone 6.

Things that grow super easily:

• Herbs: my strategy with the herb garden is fill it with so much stuff that the weeds don't really have a chance. It works fairly well and we weed it about 2 times a year: spring and midsummer. I don't like to weed in the fall because i find the overgrowth helps protect the plants from snow and what dies is much easier to rip out dead than when it was alive. Most herbs also get gorgeous flowers which bees love and helps to keep the pollination strong in your yard. Our herb garden contains sage(indigo flowers), pineapple sage(red flowers), tarragon(yellow flowers), a variety of basil (purple flowers), lemon verbena, lemon balm(white), mint(white and purple), lemongrass, cilantro, thyme(purple), oregano, garlic and chives(white flowers). I keep strawberries in the middle(which helps keeps the birds off!) and my lemongrass in the strawberries (so i don't mistake it for a weed). Most herbs come back year after year! We also plant parsley with our butterfly bushes because butterflies love it!
• Vegetables: Small plants generally survive better than seeds planted directly in the ground. We grow squash, zucchini, sugar peas, brussel sprouts, asparagus, and lots of tomatoes every year. We sometimes grow potatoes, onions, spinach, kale (i actually had a kale plant come back...),cauliflower, broccoli, pumpkins, melons, sweet corn, turnips, beets, greenbeans, cucumbers, and carrots, but as they require replanting each year i don't always plant the same things :) The plants mentioned at the beginning are my never fails, and some of them don't even need to be replanted each year. My sister grows swiss chard and hops (for beer!) in addition to everything we grow.
• Fruit: We are fortunate to have a lot of land but even a little land can hold a tree or two. We have a peaches, nectarines, plums, asian pears, cherries, figs, black walnuts, and honeycrisp apples. We also have blackberries and blueberries. Most fruit trees grow to be about 8-10 feet tall and need about 10feet spacing from one tree to another. The first year we had some issues with nourishment- which we remedied by sprinkling epsom salt(magnesium stearate-NOT table salt) at the bases in the spring. We have owned our home for 3 summers and we have a steady stream of peaches, nectarines, pears, and apples and hope to have our plums, figs, and cherries next year. Fruit trees grow very fast. :) Our neighbor's orchard offers us a variety of plums, apples, pears, english walnuts, and raspberries and also allows us to purchase one tree where you would otherwise need pollinators. One of our little chuckles is that we keep a potted lemon tree. It has to be kept indoors in wintertime, but the flowers smell delightful and we get a few lemons each year. Most of our trees were around 5 feet tall when purchased and produced fruit by the second year.

CSA-Crop Share Arrangement

This was our first year participating in a crop share. In most crop shares, you contribute a set amount of money to help a farm kickstart their planting season and you receive a box of seasonal produce from the farm each week for ~5-6months. It comes out to ~$20/box and is always local, seasonal, sustainable. Since we were participating this year, i didn't plant any leafy greens because as long as they're in season, they're in the box. 

Farm-to-Table Restaurants
If you are fortunate enough to live close to a city, farm-to-table restaurants are catching on quickly. They source locally, plan menus seasonally, and are often paleo friendly. Here in Central Pennsylvania we have found a smattering of great farm-to-table restaurants in lancaster and harrisburg. We like John J. Jeffries, Pour on Prince, Home 231, Smoke, and new ones are opening in our area this fall!

How we cook Salmon

Growing up, I really hated salmon. It's still a hit or miss experience when dining out, because Salmon can be VERY fishy/stinky if prepared improperly. So here are some tips and tricks for cooking salmon properly, so you can enjoy it as intended.

Couldn't resist tasting before the photo op. This is a 1/4lb wild caught salmon served with homegrown blue potatoes(with thyme and butter) and local green beans

• Always buy fresh. We live across the street from a grocery store which makes this easier
• Know your portion. We portion at around 1/4lb so while wild caught salmon costs ~$12/lb, it costs us $6 for dinner.
• Always dry off fish before cooking it in oil. Water and hot oil are not a good combination.
• Black Walnut oil helps negate that fishy flavor. Our local grocery stores sell this. Since I use it mostly for cooking fish, i keep it in the fridge. It remains liquid in the fridge.
• The skin scrapes right off after you cook it. I like to put mine in the pan skin side down first so i can remove the skin while the other side is cooking. We give the crispy skin to our dog as a special treat.
• Cook salmon 5-7 minutes or to a doneness of your liking
• Salmon is versatile and pairs well with many flavors. It goes great with fruity dressings or with dill and cream, and is a favorite in our house.

Homemade Pierogi

Salmon pierogi up top, mushroom pierogi on the bottom

I have yet to find frozen pierogi without soy in them. By making them myself, i not only get to cut all the crap out, but i get to make some pretty unique fillings since pierogi ARE dumplings. The recipe below comes from a genuine Polish friend who taught me how to make them during a summer stay in the U.S.

Pierogi Dough

-2cups Flour (i haven't tried wheat or rice flour, but they would probably substitute fine)
-3Tbs Olive Oil
-1/2-3/4c Warm Water
-Dash of Salt

This is basically pie dough, which is crumbled and mixed on a countertop with your hands like any other pie dough. This can be difficult to get thin enough, so divide your dough in 2 and cover the extra to keep it from drying out while you roll it as thin as you can, around 1/16th of an inch is ideal. Use a glass or large round cookie cutter to cut your circles. I find a goblet to be slightly smaller than a pint but still a great size. Take the extra dough, add a little water, and re-roll it once. The dough gets tougher with each rolling so it is just not worth it a second time. You should get about 3 dozen circles from 1 batch of dough.

 Fill them, making sure all the edges are pinched well (forking the edge is a great failsafe) and boil them for about 10 minutes or 5 minutes past when they float. The thicker your dough was, the longer they will take to boil. Drain on a tea towel.

You can eat them right then, or freeze them for later. To freeze them, you want to lay them out on waxed paper on a sheet that fits in your freezer (a smaller sized cookie sheet fits in mine) and freeze them individually so they don't stick together. Once frozen, you can toss them all in a ziplock bag and store them. As Americans, we like to eat them fried up/sauteed in a pan with a little butter. Don't thaw them out, just throw them right into the skillet.

Fillings:
These are homemade so you can fill them with whatever you want!We fill them with:

*Crumbled Salmon sauteed with dill and cream
*Minced Wild Mushroom and tarragon
*Geleed Blueberries with honey (puree, reduce, and chill for a gelee like consistency)
*Spiced and Sweetened Pumpkin (tossed in cinnamon sugar after)
*Traditional Mashed Potatoes with Cheese and Onion

The runnier fillings can make the pierogi harder to stuff. I recommend chilling when you can, and pinching the outer corners of the pierogi prior to filling when you can't. When freezing multiple flavors, i like to do different edges on each type of pierogi so i can mix them together and still make sure everyone gets some of each.

Blueberry Pierogi with Cream

Honeyed Cayenne Chicken

This is a dish that I've made for years (pre-diet) and a favorite in our house. I have put all the ingredients into a pyrex and baked it for ~15 minutes in the past, but since I've been cooking up chicken breasts once a week to keep in the fridge, I just left 2 in the pan to make dinner tonight.

• 1 boneless chicken breast per person
• 1 Tbs floral "blossom" honey (orange blossom, cherry blossom, plum blossom, etc)
• Cayenne Pepper to taste

In a pan, cook chicken til done. Lower to med-low heat. Sprinkle chicken liberally with cayenne pepper. Add Tbs of honey and allow to melt. As it melts, flip the chicken over in it to coat. Serve warm.


*You can use other honeys, but I find floral honeys to add extra dimension, be less cloyingly sweet, and smell divine when cooking. 


Sidedish;
This week I served this with sliced button mushrooms and bokchoy, sautéed in olive oil with montreal steak seasoning.

Acorn Squash Soup

Roasted squash has the texture of mashed potatoes and the sweet nuttiness of pumpkin pie. This was my first foray into Acorn Squash and I found it surprisingly easy. Start by cutting your squash in half, scooping out the seeds and roasting it cut side down at 400* for ~30-40 minutes. Let it cool for 20 minutes.

Scoop your squash into a medium-large saucepan with a spoon. *If you do not have an immersion blender (I bought mine for $15 on amazon and I love it), put these items directly into a food processor instead of the pan. It should scoop out very easily and leave you with a clean shell. Top with 1 carton of chicken stock (we buy organic and read the ingredients labels, but you can make your own or use veggie stock). Add 1 tsp cinnamon. We also added 1/2 tsp cayenne for a little kick. Use your immersion blender to puree til smooth. This is going to be very thick on its own. If you'd like a bisque, you can add cream but it really doesn't need it. Heat through at medium heat and reduce to a simmer. Serve whenever you're ready to eat it.

Panna Cotta/Flan

I've been craving pudding lately, but haven't really been keeping liquid dairy in the house (I didn't eliminate dairy for my healthy gut diet, but I have primarily cut it back to cheese with very occasional yogurt, sour cream, or butter) and if you've ever made real custard- the whole egg thing is kind of a pain in the ass. I was a big fan of instant pudding pre-diet so I wanted something just as easy as instant pudding, if not as fast. I adapted this Coconut Panna Cotta recipe for my pudding and was pretty pleased with the results. It uses gelatin (remember how great gelatin is for you! healthy amino acids and anti-inflammatory properties!) and texture-wise comes out similar to flan.

• 1 can of Coconut Milk
• ~1tsp Gelatin (I use grass fed gelatin but I wouldn't stress over that too much)
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1-2 tsp of Honey

Dump the coconut milk into a pan and sprinkle the gelatin over top. You can stir or not stir but let it sit while the gelatin softens. (I don't stir because gelatin always kind of glops at this stage and I prefer the glop floating on top rather than sticking to the bottom). After 5 minutes, turn on the heat, stir it all together, add in the other ingredients (I also like to add cinnamon which gives it a bread pudding flavor) and stir until everything is melted and incorporated and STEAMY. Turn off the heat and let it sit for about 10 minutes before pouring it into containers (this recipe is about 3-4 quarter cup servings. I like to pour it into mason jars because they have their own lids). This does take several hours to chill so you don't get to enjoy it right away like instant pudding, but it tastes great and would make an excellent custard pie poured over fresh berries.

Thai Lettuce Wraps & Cucumber Salad

For The Wraps:
Time to prepare: ~15-20 minutes

• 2 large lettuce leaves per person (I use iceberg, but romaine or bib would work too)
• 2 Tbs of Cooking Oil (For thai food, I love to start with Ziggy Marley's Coco'Mon coconut oil in ginger lemon)
• 2 Tbs julienned carrots
• 2 Tbs shredded cabbage
• ~ 1/2 tsp Garam Masala seasoning from my Curried Squash recipe
• 1/2 tsp honey(or to taste)
• 2 Tbs cashews or peanuts
• 1 Chicken Breast per person, diced
• 1 Tbs Chopped cilantro
• 1 Tbs Chopped Basil

Melt the oil in a large skillet. Add seasoning and sautee til fragrant. Add in honey, nuts, carrots, and cabbage. Cook for 1 minute to start veggies to soften. Add chicken, Coat in sauce (which is oily to keep it from sticking to the pan) and cover, letting it steam, stirring occasionally until cooked thoroughly. Lay out your leaves on a plate, 2 leaves deep to help with tearing issues. Pile Thai chicken in the center and garnish with basil and cilantro. Wrap it up and devour!


Cucumber Salad
Time to prepare: ~5-10 minutes. I prepared this while the oil was heating and while the chicken was coking. it was finished before I filled my wraps

• 2 cucumbers, spiraled or slices (I spiral mine on basically an apple-corer-peeler-slicer)
• 1 Tbs peanut butter- melted
• 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil (I keep this in the cupboard because I love Asian cooking)
• 2 Tbs Apple Cider Vinegar

Toss all ingredients together and serve immediately. You can also use this sauce for "Asian slaw" with cabbage and carrots

Crab Cakes

Time to prepare: ~25 minutes

• 1 small container of jumbo lump or special mix crab meat
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 tsp Brown Mustard
• 1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 2 Tbs Almond Flour

Mix ingredients until fully coated. Shape fist-sized crab cakes, compressing with hands and squeezing out excess fluid. Makes 3 medium- 2 large crab cakes. Place on a baking sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes at 400*F. Serve over greens with a poached egg and a dusting of cayenne pepper.


*Baking will allow these to cook fully and hold their shape better than sautee-ing in a pan will

Chicken Soup

This is a fast and easy chicken soup that serves 4. We eat half and freeze half. Try purple carrots for a fun pick-me-up for the little ones!
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2 Stalks Celery, chopped
1-2 Carrots, sliced
1/2 Onion, diced
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 Carton Organic Chicken Stock (read ingredients labels)
2 Boneless Chicken Breasts- diced
Salt to taste
2 Stalks Bok Choy (flavor of turnip, texture of celery)


In Medium saucepan, sautee carrots, celery, onions, salt and pepper. In a separate sautee pan, pre-cook chicken. When onions are translucent, pour chicken stock over veggies and stir. Simmer for approx. 10-20 minutes. Add Chicken and bok choy before serving.

The Best Paleo/GAPS Bread

At the beginning of an unprocessed diet, the hardest thing to give up is bread. My favorite bread substitute recipe comes from Deliciously Organic/The Unprocessed Kitchen and used nut butter and gelatin to give it texture. This recipe makes a large loaf. For a small pan (4x7 which is not a common size pan) cut recipe in half or just click the link to the original recipe at deliciously organic. The small batch makes 2 mini loaves, which are perfect for breakfast with apple butter, and bakes for 25-30minutes

• 1 cup cashews 
• 3 cups almond flour
• 4 tablespoons coconut flour
• <1 1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 1teaspoon Sea Salt (I use Himalayan Pink)
• 3 teaspoons baking soda

• 8 Eggs
• 
 8tablespoons melted coconut oil
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Instructions

-Place cashews and 1/2 cup water in a blender/food processor and let soak for 30 minutes.

-Preheat oven to 325ºF. *This is a lower temp than linked recipe to accommodate for longer cook time.

- Blend cashews until smooth, scraping down the sides a few times to ensure all cashews are pureed. Transfer to mixing bowl

-Add almond flour, coconut flour, gelatin, salt, baking soda, eggs, butter, honey and cider vinegar to the cashew mixture. Mix until smooth 

-Pour batter into oiled loaf pan and loosely shield the top with aluminum foil

- Bake for ~60-70 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

*Because this is a doubled recipe, edges tend to cook before center. If the outside is "crusty", remove a small piece of "crust' before testing for accurate done-ness

 Cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the outer edges of the bread and then invert bread onto a cooling rack and remove from loaf pan. Serve smeared with unsweetened apple butter for a delicious treat.

Steak Fajita w/ Cherry Chipotle Salsa

I usually just eat this out of a bowl, but lettuce is a good handheld wrap as are the coconut paleo wraps.


6-8 oz Steak- we usually choose a grass fed flat/flank steak or a sirloin. Slice into strips
1/2 Onion- peeled and sliced 
1/4 c Sliced Mushrooms
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes 


Add all ingredients to pan or marinate steak in advance. When steak is half-cooked, add 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar to the pan. Cook steak to desired done-ness.




Cherry Chipotle Salsa
In a blender, combine:


2-3 Chipotle Peppers
1 Clove Garlic
1 tsp Honey
1 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbs diced Onion
1/4 c Basil Leaves
1+ c Black Cherries


Serve fajitas in a bowl or diet-friendly wrap of your choosing topped with salsa, cilantro, and julienned cabbage for crunch

Easy Peasy Guacamole

I generally am not a fan of guacamole. I don't particularly care for avocados. However, my husband loves guacamole and so I started making it for him and found that- SURPRISE- I like my own guacamole where I control what gets added to the mix based on my own flavor preferences. The best part? I mix this all in a plastic zip bag. I wrote measurements but honestly it's more a shake of this a scoop of that. 

• ~3 Ripe Avocados- cut in half, and scoop meat out with a spoon. It should come out whole
• 1/2 tsp Hot Sauce of choice -OR- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp Lime Juice
• 1/4 tsp Cumin (what makes tacos taste like tacos)
• 1/4 tsp Garlic
• 1 Tbs Sour Cream (optional
• 1 Tbs Cilantro-chopped (optional. Add to bag just before eating

Place all ingredients in a plastic zip bag and squeeze most of the air out before sealing. Smush it all up with your hands until smooth. If your avocado wasn't quite ripe enough, you can use a rolling pin. If you want to eat it right then, eat directly from bag or snip of a corner of the bag and squeeze guacamole into a bowl. Since corn is a grain, serve with veggies or vegetable chips (like squash or beet chips). I sometimes cheat with plantain chips for dipping which ARE starchy but also high in vitamins A & C. 


If you are NOT going to eat immediately, squish all of the guacamole to one end of the bag and try to get any extra air out before resealing. Avocados oxidize quickly (they turn brown) so you want to expose as little of it to air as possible. The color change can be off-putting but there is nothing wrong with your guacamole and it will still taste great!

Pot de Creme

This dessert is rich and delicious and super easy. I make it about once a week and store it in the fridge where it can satisfy a sweets craving.

• 1c Coconut Milk -hot but not boiling (use just the solids from the can if it is separated)
• 6oz Chocolate- chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Almond Extract (or orange or mint- just make sure it's an extract)
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Stack the chocolate, eggs, and extracts in a blender. In a personal blender, make sure the wet ingredients are closest to the blade. Blend til chocolate is ground and incorporated. Pour scalded coconut milk into blender (the heat is going to cook the eggs.) and blend til smooth. Pour into cups and chill for 1+hours. Makes about 4 quarter cup servings.

Homemade Chocolate

Homemade chocolate is better for you because it doesn't contain things like soy lecithin and absurd amounts of sugar. It also tastes better because you're using better ingredients. I use a chocolate bar mold I bought at a craft store which is 2- 6oz bars. Cacao Ingredients often come in blocks, which I grate and store in original packaging.


Basic Recipe:


1c Cacao Butter -OR- 2-3Tbs Coconut Oil or a combination of the two
1c Cacao Powder or grated Cacao Paste (They're basically the same thing)
2-4 Tbs Honey or to taste
1 Tbs Vanilla or other extract flavor


Melt oil/butter in a double boiler. Add cacao and honey til well combined and melty. Stir in flavors and pour into mold. Chill.


*My favorite recipe is a 1:1 ratio of cocoa butter to cocoa paste. I source from nuts.com and pay $32 for 2 lbs of chocolate which comes out to ~$3 per 6oz bar which is about on par for gourmet chocolate. Flavor-wise, i love adding almond or orange extracts to my chocolate. For a harder bar, use a little less cocoa butter and a little more cocoa paste.




*Coconut oil is generally liquid at room temperature and melts almost instantly with body heat. Chocolate made with coconut oil with have similar melting points and needs to be kept cold. Cacao Butter also has a relatively low melting point, but is not liquid at room temperature.




For a chewy freezer treat, mix equal parts coconut manna (coconut butter or crème- basically finely ground coconut with some oils still added) and cacao paste with honey to sweeten and pour into individual portion sizes (like a silicone mini muffin pan) and keep in freezer. It will remain chewy straight from the freezer and makes a great treat, but I do not use it for baking/recipes.

Curried Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash is a sweet, slightly nutty and delicious healthy food you'll want to try at least once. You can google how to microwave it, but since we don't use a microwave in our house, I'll give you the traditional recipe. Hyperlinks are to recipes I've used, but posted here are my tweaks and how I make it.


Step 1: Prepare your squash

• Cut the squash in half lengthwise (this is actually kind of hard, and I make DH do it every time)
• Scoop out ALL the seeds and that stringy pulpy innard stuff. You can strain the seeds and roast them later if you want.
• Drizzle the inside of the squash with olive oil and make sure all the cut sides have been coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place cut side/flat side down on a baking sheet.
• Bake at 375*F for 1 hour. It really doesn't need watched
• Remove from oven and gently scrape out squash meat with a fork. It will separate into strands like spaghetti.

Step 2: CHOOSE A RECIPE!!!
Once you have the squash cooked, you can prepare it however you want. Add marinara and meatballs, make a Primavera like my good friend, Nik, or my favorite- Curry


I usually like to start making the sauce ~5-10 minutes before I pull the squash out of the oven.

• Heat 1Tbs of oil in a pan. I like to use Ziggy Marley's Coco'Mon Lemon Ginger Coconut Oil in this recipe.
• Add 1-2 tsps. of grated ginger or gingerpowder and 1 tsp of garam masala spice to the oil. Heat a minute until fragrant.
• Stir in 2Tbs of Lemon Juice and 1-2Tbs of Honey.
• Pour over spaghetti squash and toss with cilantro. Serve

You can buy garam masala seasoning, but it's really expensive and pretty easy to make at home. I made it with spices I had in my cupboard. It doesn't need to be perfect but make sure everything you put in it gets well blended. The recipe below is based on what comes in a store bought spice rack and in my cupboard. Substitute seed or powder based on what you have. Blend in a personal blender or spice grinder and store in a mason jar in your spice cupboard. Makes ~1/4 cup

• 1Tbs of Coriander Seed
• 1 tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 tsp Ground Cardamom
• 1 tsp Peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp Fennel Seed (which I didn't have when I made mine- still great)
• 1/2 tsp Mustard Seed
• 1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
• 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 tsp Turmeric

Mexican Hot Chocolate (Homemade and Instant)

I spent roughly 3 months on an unprocessed diet for allergies, and this hot cocoa is paleo/gaps friendly AND delicious!


 In a standard cup (~10oz cup), combine:


1Tbs Cacao Powder
1Tbs Honey
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
Cayenne Pepper (to taste- a small shake is good or you can leave it out)


Top with hot water or heated milk of your choice.
Stir & enjoy!

"Scratch" Eating

In our house, we believe eating to be one of the great pleasures in life, and "banning" entire food groups to generally just not be very fun, and so "Scratch" eating was born. This lifestyle operates on 2 basic principles: Everything in Moderation & Know What You're Eating. We eat organic, free-range, hormone-free, wild-caught, nitrate-free, and FRESH for as many things as we can. We don't eat anything with soy in it (because it is SO BAD for you!) and we avoid corn-syrup because it is just added unnecessarily to way too many things. Basically, everything we eat is made from scratch. We make it, which means we control the ingredients, and we feel like that's a pretty great principle in eating.

Part of scratch cooking is learning to love your kitchen. This blog is called The Copper Kitchen, because as a metalsmith, metal and especially copper holds a special place in my heart and my kitchen reflects that. From painted walls and copper backsplash to decaled appliances and spraypainting a trashcan, i made my kitchen one of my favorite rooms in the house and I encourage you to do the same!