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Recipe: Homemade Grass-fed Cream Cheese

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Organic Grass-fed Homemade Cream Cheese

One of the things I was happy to have back in my life post-vegan days… dairy (this is an understatement for my husband). Specifically though, it’s grass-fed only. Happy cows, Happy earth, Happy Me.

This includes cream cheese.

Here’s an easy recipe for making it. It’s creamy, tangy, full of flavor, and downright refreshing.

Some people call this yogurt cheese, but I call it cream cheese because when you use Straus whole-fat yogurt, it tastes and feels like creamy cream cheese. Get some Straus and begin (I buy mine at Whole Foods Market or Sprouts Market).

The gist of it goes like this. Strain the whey off grass-fed whole-fat yogurt (save the whey for other recipes or soaking nuts/oats, etc). I prefer Straus brand because of the flavor, and I like the company.

Easy and empowering. Tastes better than what you can buy, too. It’s the freshness I think. No added preservatives.

Straining yogurt for cream cheese

Get a quart of grass-fed whole-fat yogurt (like I wrote, I prefer Straus for extra “cream cheese-y flavor”). Strain it through a thin tea towel, over a mesh strainer, and into a bowl. Get that? You have a bowl, with a strainer in it, with a tea towel in the strainer, with the yogurt in the tea towel.

Cover the strainer with a plate or something. Let it set like this for a few hours on the counter.

Then, carefully pull the corners and sides of the towel up and tie the ends around a wood spoon (or similar device). It should look like a stork carrying a baby-type of thing. Gently remove the towel with the yogurt and transfer it to an empty water pitcher, with a large enough opening where the towel can hang suspended inside the pitcher.

So, picture in your mind… the wood spoon has the towel hanging from it (ends tied onto it) so that the yogurt is hanging in the towel, like a weight. This is inside a large vessel or vase of some sort with the wooden spoon crossed over the top rim, so the towel can hang inside the pitcher, suspended, letting the whey drip more and not touch the whey that accumulates in the bottom of the vessel. The weight of the yogurt will cause it to drip whey off the yogurt, leaving you with cream cheese.

Transfer this nifty contraption into the fridge overnight.

It should feel firm at this point and stopped dripping. Remove the towel and open it up on a counter. Scrape off the cream cheese and transfer it to a container with a lid. You just made cream cheese. This will last for up to a month in the refrigerator but of course you’ll have eaten it long before then.

Enjoy!

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Eye Lashes – The Fake Ones (Guest Post From Mom)

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Fake eyelashes – all you need

(A guest post from my mom)

One of my New Years resolutions is to do something for myself that I used to do.  I used to wear fake eyelashes and I loved them. A few years ago, I read an interview of Carrie Underwood. She stated that her fake eyelashes were the most important makeup application she does.  If she had to choose only one application…whether lipstick, blush, eyeshadow, she would pick fake eyelashes.  After that article, I kept thinking how I loved wearing them, too.

I started wearing them at the age of 20, a few weeks before my wedding.  The honeymoon was a cheap trip to northern Michigan.  No great restaurants for 100 miles in any direction.  But who thinks of food when you’re on your honeymoon?  I would NOW but I didn’t then. But even if roughing it in northern Michigan, looking good is what I wanted.

On the first morning, my husband was in the bathroom.  I slowly got out of bed and looked back at the sheets and saw a huge black spider.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… a spider…. Oh my God!!!”

The bathroom door flew open and there he stood buck naked.  “A what?”

“A spider. Kill it… just kill it. Let’s get out of here.”

He got close to it, picked it up and turned to me. In the palm of his hand was my eyelash rolled into a ball.

That didn’t stop me, I kept wearing them everyday.

The first dinner party we had I wore really long lashes. I didn’t know that extreme oven heat would frizzle them.  When I opened the oven door my lashes kinked up. Picture pubic hair as eyelashes. Everyone was seated at the table and I sat down smiling and said, “Everyone dig in.”

When I looked up everyone started to laugh.

“What happened to your eyelashes?” everyone said.

“I have no idea…. but I will be right back.”  When I looked in the mirror, it looked like spiders on my eyelids. I pulled them off and went back to my guests.

I wore them for years after that and decided to buy them again last week.  After watching a YouTube demo and learning a few pointers, I was ready to put them on.  The first day was very uplifting. That night I carefully took them off and laid them on the bathroom counter. Over the past few days the eyelashes moved around on the counter, but I always found them.

Today was different… ONE WAS MISSING. I looked everywhere and couldn’t find it. There was no time to look any more. This morning my husband and I planned to visit estate sales in our area.  One of our favorite things to do. He grabbed the legal pad where I list all the addresses, and we were out the door. By 7:00am we were  in line waiting with at least 100 other people.  The premise is… first in gets the first pick.  Today was a good day… we were 2nd in line.  As we waited, we talked and laughed with people.

We were in line 10 minutes when I felt someone touch my hair. I turned to look and heard a woman say to me, “Don’t move you have something in your hair.”

“It’s probably food.” I said.  My hair is long and blond. I could feel her doing something back there.

“I don’t know what this is…. oh wait… I think I have it…. it’s aaaah… I’m not sure.”

In the palm of her hand, there it was… my eyelash.

“I’ve been looking for that… It’s my eyelash. This is the second time in my life a fake eyelash has ended up in a strange place.”

“What’s the first???” I heard from someone in line.

“Well… it was with my first husband.”  I looked over at my number-3 husband, Lynn.

“Go on,” he said, “You’ve gone them wondering.”

After I told them the story I said, “I’m not giving up. Tomorrow they go on again.”

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Greg’s Favorite: Egg Salad Pizza (Gluten-free)

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Egg Salad Pizza – want some?

I wanted an egg salad sandwich, but I didn’t have any sourdough bread. I settled on a pizza crust and created an egg salad “pizza” – which I’m guessing isn’t truly pizza (no red sauce or cheese), but you get the point. Baked crust topped with egg salad looks like a pizza-type meal.

Greg LOVED it. (Me, too.)

I used my favorite gluten-free crust that I buy by the box. It’s not organic – boohoo – but it’s tasty as F.

Really tasty gluten-free pizza crust

I made egg salad with pasture-raised eggs (the only eggs I’ll eat because the hens are treated very well and they have a lovely diet), Straus greek yogurt (my mayo replacement), mustard, salt, pepper, and a dash of citrus (or apple cider vinegar). Oftentimes I add Dr. Cowan’s Garden Vegetable powders (my favorite kitchen hack), and ground turmeric powder, garlic powder, onion powder, etc. Oh, maybe fresh herbs if I have (or dried).

The TOTALLY best way to make hard-cooked eggs is in a pressure cooker. The shells beg to be taken off – so easy. I put them in a pressure cooker (sitting on a trivet) with a cup of water. Turn it on to high pressure for 4 minutes. When the beep goes off, transfer to ice bath and peel shortly after. It’s so so so much easier than using the stove.

Get the pizza crust cooked, slather on a bit of grass-fed butter, slop on some egg salad. Eat. Eat. Eat.

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Recipe: Matcha Lime Mousse – Creamy and Zingy

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Matcha Lime Mousse – creamy and zingy.

Most of my creations come from trying to use whatever I have on hand … inspired by whatever I recently heard re health foods or food TV shows.

In an effort to use the avocados and limes plus getting polyphenols from matcha green tea… I made Matcha Lime Mousse.

I love matcha green tea powder so much I wrote a whole ebook with recipes using matcha – tons of polyphenols, health benefits, and the most amazing feeling in my mind when I consume it.

In hindsight, I’d use more ginger to get more ginger kick and ginger goodness.

Brain food.

Recipe: Matcha Lime Mousse

  • 3 medium avocados, peeled and pitted
  • 2 limes, juiced (about 1/4 cup juice) plus some zest
  • 1 to 1 1/2 inches fresh ginger, chopped
  • 1/4 cup raw honey or maple syrup (more to taste)
  • pinch sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon matcha green tea powder (or more)
  • 1/4 cup cold (or room temp) brewed green tea (or water)

Blend everything until smooth. I used a Blendtec high-powered blender although I prefer a Vita-mix.

Recipe yields about four servings.

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The Secret to Life: Fast Instant Pot Soup

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Instant Pot Soup

I love making soup in my Instant Pot because it’s fast, easy, and clean-up is a snap. Plus it helps me get my daily servings of vegetables, extra servings some days. #PolyphenolsForTheWin

It feels like I know something special. I have a magic key to success, health, life… I don’t know. But it can’t be this easy and still be nutritious. Can it? It’s so easy that I feel like I’m cheating.

It can be this easy. Indeed, it is.

This is a breakfast of champions. Or lunch. Or dinner.

If you don’t have an Instant Pot… get one. Especially for the fall when the temperature drops and you want nice warm soup all day long.

The basic rules:

  • Throw chopped veggies into Instant Pot (I like smaller chops to reduce cooking time)
  • Add grass-fed butter or other fat
  • Add salt and seasonings
  • Add liquid (water, tea, wine, broth, or a mix) – enough to reach the top of the vegetables is my M.O.
  • Turn the Instant Pot to LOW and set the timer for 5 minutes or less.
  • Quick release once the timer goes off. Use an immersion blender smooth it out.

See? Easy. No excuses now. (Oooh check it out… Instant Pot has another model from which to choose.)

After having a mug of the soup, I take the rest and store in thermoses. One for Greg, one for Kamea, and one for me. Makes it a great meal to take on the go, alongside some organic sourdough bread.

This particular recipe was made from foods that needed to be eaten, you know the type…

  • 1/2 bunch celery
  • 1 head cauliflower
  • Plenty of grass-fed butter (makes my soups creamy)
  • Sea salt
  • Dried, ground turmeric
  • Dried basil
  • Filtered Water
  • After cooking, I added olive oil (my latest obsession passion) and my favorite ->> Dr. Cowan’s Garden Vegetable Powders

PS. The other real secret to life? Meditation. Oh, and love. Wait, gratitude is the secret, too. Plus, hugs. I’m sure olive oil and chocolate and coffee are secrets to life, too. Did I leave any out? Yes, cinnamon.

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It Just Takes One Book…

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Always have a good book with you.

… to get a kid hooked.

For Kamea, that book was Because of Winn-Dixie.

The moment she opened it, and read the first paragraph, she was hooked.

She read it most of the day, saying happily to her iPad the next morning, “Sorry, iPad, but I’m going to read a book today!”

She kept reading…

and reading.

She’s hooked on reading, which is a dream for Greg and me because we love to read. We could sit in a cafe sipping coffee for hours while reading. We used to talk about how we were excited for the day when Kamea would, too, want to read for extended periods of time. That time is now.

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