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Square Sourdough “Starter” Biscuits Recipe

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My biscuits may be square, but they’re easy. :)

Last year I tried to make my own organic sourdough bread at home. My efforts were less than stellar. Way less. I knew that it’d have a fairly steep learning curve, but it didn’t help matters that I tried to alter the recipes to suit my health-insane ways (like using einkorn flour, etc). I basically hung up my bread-making apron. For the time.

A year later, I decided to try makeing my own sourdough bread again (there is no “try”)…

because…

  1. I’m inspired to save the money by making my own (the wonderful bread I was buying was $7 a loaf and required driving almost 40 minutes). My new frugality-is-cool mindset didn’t sit well with that.
  2. I found a recipe that looked decidedly easy, if only I’d just follow the damn directions as they were.

I was game.

Long story short (I’ll share the long story later, in another post) – I’m still working on the bread. It hasn’t been easy, but we’re happily eating the mistakes, as I learn to adapt the recipe to my current environment (summer in Arizona <— hot).

When making sourdough bread, there is plenty of leftover sourdough “starter” to either use for baking something else or throwing it away.

I decided to bake with it.

Enter: Square Sourdough “Starter” Biscuits Recipe

Obviously, you need sourdough starter to make these, which I’m guessing most of you don’t have. So, I’d recommend “trying” the recipe with grass-fed whole-fat milk, Greek yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk etc. Maybe a mix of two, if you’re inclined. I’m pretty confident they’ll be tasty no matter which way you go as they’re pretty forgiving.

The great thing is there’s no need to roll them out. Why bother? I keep it simple when it comes to cooking.

Just Real-Food here.

Ingredients:

  • 12.5 ounces organic white flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 13 to 14 ounces sourdough starter (or milk / yogurt / sour cream / buttermilk)
  • 4 ounces (1/2 cup) melted butter, ghee, or refined coconut oil
  • extra melted butter or oil for greasing the baking dish

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Get out an 8×8 baking dish and grease it with plenty of melted butter.
  3. In a medium to large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add the sourdough starter and melted butter (or oil). Stir together well, until incorporated, using your hands if necessary, but no need to over-mix.
  4. Transfer the dough to the greased baking dish and squish/spread it in to fit. As you do this, you might get some melted butter/oil creeping up the sides of the baking dish – encourage this – and brush it (using your hand is fine) across the top of the dough.
  5. Bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy with softened butter and raw honey drizzled on top.

PS My next experiment will be mixing Dr. Cowan’s famous vegetable powders to give the biscuits a veggie kick. Stay tuned.

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Blender Banana Bread (Gluten-Free Recipe)

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Yeah, I’m blending my banana bread ingredients.

If I can do everything in one appliance, then I’m game. In fact, I often try to do just that – kind of a challenge to myself.

Enter: Blender Banana Bread 

I blend it all and bake it.

Wait… I guess that’s two appliances (blender and toaster oven – f*#k – I thought I was on to something here). Oh well, you get the drift. Minimal use of appliances, bowls, etc.

And, it’s easy.

Gluten-free banana bread.

 

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons coconut oil or grass-fed ghee, melted*
  • 3 ripe bananas, peeled
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 2 eggs
  • 6 tablespoons honey, maple syrup, or sweetener of choice
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Optional ingredients:

  • 1 to 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
  • 2 to 3 grinds fresh black pepper (helps body assimilate turmeric better)
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • cocoa powder
  • chopped nuts (for stirring in post blending)

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. (I love my toaster oven.)
  2. Lightly grease your banana bread loaf-pan (I use coconut oil).
  3. Add all of the ingredients to the blender. Blend. Pour batter into loaf pan.
  4. Bake 35 to 45 minutes – give or take 5 minutes. You know the drill, stick a knife in. Does it come out clean? Done. Not clean? Not done.
  5. Let the luscious loaf cool in the loaf pan. Eat. Eat. Eat.
Banana bread was never so easy

*  Technically, this could require yet another appliance if it’s not already soft and liquid-y. But if you’re in my hot home right now, saving money by not blasting the a/c, then it’s totally melted for you and waiting to use.

PS. Notice anything new? I’m sure you did. My blog has a facelift. It’s about time. It’s now mobile-friendly, too. In truth, it’s not completed yet as I have some very minor changes to make, like adding photos to the header and changing out some of the affiliate ads.

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Here’s How I Added Protein Without Meat to Dinner

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No meat, but has still protein. 
I usually like making pasta with grass-fed ground beef but there was none to be had tonight.

I wanted a protein boost in our dinner though. 

Here’s what I did.

I made pasta (gluten-free) with marinara (organic, from a jar) using my Instant Pot (as always – see how this 15-minute meal works here).

In my Instant Pot I also added spinach (some protein) plus Dr. Cowan’s Veggie Powders (1 tablespoon mixed) and butter to the noodles and sauce. (Don’t forget 1 to 1.5 cups water.)

I cooked it on LOW for five minutes. 

Once I quick released it, I added 6 to 8 tablespoons hemp seeds (protein) and raw mozzarella cheese (protein).

Pasta… come to mama.
Awesome.

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Apocalypse Bean Soup Recipe

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Apocalypse Bean Soup

I’d written recently how we are finding ways to save money because we are headed toward the bliss of financial independence! Whoohoo!

One way to support our goal is being mindful when buying groceries. In my former days I had a habit of stocking up on things, food especially. In fact there was a time we had two refrigerator/freezer combos PLUS a huge stand alone freezer. Ya sure would think we were some hard-core preppers although we weren’t really. I don’t think?

These are new days though! And my passion for minimalism stretches to the pantry. It’s probably how I lost a couple pounds so easily. 

Well, we were running low on food yesterday and I wanted to hold off on shopping for a couple days. 

Challenge was that Mr. Pantry and Ms. Refrigerator looked like the apocalypse. 

Ok bean soup it is. I had a couple stalks of celery left, half a bell pepper, half a bulb of fennel, one red onion (a whole one! Yay!), plus…. 

drumroll please…. Dr. Cowan’s veggie powder. (That’s an affiliate code which doesn’t cost you anything extra but supports my writing. Thanks!) I’m so happy I have these veggie powders in my pantry for the times I run out of fresh veggies. Just add a tablespoon to amp up the nutrition and flavor of pretty much anything (including desserts!). 

I LOVE these Veggie Powders.

Plus, I added cumin, paprika, turmeric, salt, and black pepper. 

Oh. And butter! Gotta add grass-fed butter. 

Still though… pretty boring. It needed more heartiness. Hmmmmmm. 

I headed back to dive the depths of my apocalyptic pantry and refrigerator shelves. They were so empty I could practically crawl in them. (Tee-hee)

What’d ya know? 

I found a few things. 

I came out with sunflower seeds, raisins, mustard, and half a jar of pineapple salsa. I added them to the soup. 

Whoohoo!

My Apocalypse Bean Soup, actually, was hearty and damn tasty. I’m going to remember this recipe for future use. 

This recipe’s a keeper.

Oh… and OF COURSE I USED MY AWESOME INSTANT POT to make this (that’s an affiliate link too… same drill as above. Thank you!). 

I use my Instant Pot every day. It helps my family eat WAY more veggies. 

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Instant Pot Pasta – 15 Minute Meal in One Pot!

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Instant Pot Pasta. One pot. Too easy!

 

I’m back at it again. Sharing another fantastic meal to make in the Instant Pot. 

I LOVE MY INSTANT POT! (that’s me screaming)

Regular readers of my blog know this, because I frequently gush about this magical kitchen robot. 

Ok, it’s not magical, but it makes me feel like I’m living a magical life from all the free time I have since I’m not spending it cooking all the time. (Mostly) hands-free cooking. Yes Yes Yes.

My family eats damn near ALL of our meals at home. That’s a lot of time in the kitchen … unless you have a brilliant Instant Pot. I have since talked a few people into buying Instant Pots, and they, too, don’t know how they lived without one.

Easy to use. Quick cooking. Nutritious. Easy to clean.

Get one here! (<– that’s an affiliate link in case you didn’t know so it doesn’t cost you extra to buy through it but it gives my blog a little cha-ching – thank you!)

Here’s how I make a ridiculously delicious meal in 15 minutes with my Instant Pot.

Stirring in some grass-fed mozzarella

Ingredients

  • 2 to 4 tablespoons butter (grass-fed, unsalted)
  • 1 jar (25 oz or so) organic pasta sauce
  • 1 to 3 pinches sea salt
  • Dr. Cowan’s veggie powders, totally optional (affiliate link, same drill as above)
  • 1 box noodles (I like Jovial gluten-free)*
  • 1 to 2 cups filtered or spring water (or bone broth!)
  • Mozzarella cheese (grass-fed, organic)
  1. Get out your awesome Instant Pot. 
  2. Put the butter inside it. Add the sauce and the sea salt. Add Dr. Cowan’s veggie powders at this time if you’re using (I love these powders… see WHY here and get a coupon code for your first order.)
  3. Add the noodles. Add the water (the goal with the water is that you add at least a cup plus any extra needed to just about barely cover the noodles. It’s ok if they’re not submerged – I don’t submerge them all the way with a few peeking out).
  4. Put the lid on your trusty awesome Instant Pot. Set it to LOW pressure for 5-minutes (if your box listed cook time of 9 to 10 minutes – see note below).
  5. Go do something enjoyable because in about 15 minutes it’s all done (10 minutes to reach pressure, 5 minutes to cook).
  6. When the time is up, quick release the pressure. 
  7. Add plenty of cubed mozzarella for kick ass flavor.

* Tip for cooking noodles in the instant pot with respect to time and temperature: cook them for HALF the time listed on the box and cook them on LOW pressure. Therefore, if my box reads 10-minutes, I’ll cook on them on LOW for 5-minutes. If my box reads 9-minutes, then I’ll round up and cook them for 5-minutes on LOW pressure.

Extra tip: Oh, sometimes I add a pound of crumbled (grass-fed!) ground beef on top of the noodles. I don’t change anything else as this is enough time for me to cook the ground beef right along with everything else. I season the beef with sea salt, too.

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Golden Egg Salad in Pictures

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Let’s dive in. Golden Egg Salad.
I love egg salad. It’s creamy, a bit tangy, nourishing and full of flavor and satisfaction. 

Here’s how I made Golden Egg Salad the other night. 

I started by pressure cooking organic broccoli in my beloved Instant Pot, which effortlessly takes only a handful of minutes. 

Instant Pot broccoli. Easy!
While the broccoli is cooking, I get a bowl together with the dressing mixture. 

Egg Salad dressing goodies
For starters, I don’t like conventional mayo because they all have some kind of vegetable oil in it (canola or sunflower or soybean oil) of which I currently eschew. I’m not crazy about the primal mayos out there either. 

Instead, I love and always use Straus whole-fat Greek yogurt which is a kiss from heaven. It’s thick, rich, and tastes like cream cheese(?) to me. I use it in place of all things mayo and my gut thanks me as a result (boost of gut-health probiotic love). I can’t speak for other Greek yogurts though, as far as heavenly taste. 

To the bowl, I add:

I stir it all and look for more stuff to add texture and pizzazz to my egg salad. 

Oh. Whoops. I should mention that I already had my hard-cooked eggs made in my Instant Pot earlier today. Reason alone to buy an Instant Pot to make the perfect-every-time hard-boiled eggs. 

Ok so I found some red bell pepper and chopped it. 

I added sauerkraut and chopped bread-n-butter pickles (my favorite in egg salad).

Bell pepper for texture, brightness, and nutrition
Then I chopped the freshly cooked broccoli, added more Greek yogurt cuz you should make it really creamy. 

I need a bigger bowl.
Added the chopped eggs. 

Stirred it up and tasted. 

Almost perfect. 

Diced up an apple and added it. 

Now, it’s perfect. 

Oh yeah. Bring it.
Mmmmmmmm. 

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