Go-Go-Gadgets!

     Cooking from scratch three times a day can be a full time job.  Part of the reason I chose "pioneer" for my blog name is how much I feel like the pioneer women who ventured into the west.  Back then they did not have the conveniences we have today.  No microwaves, boxed foods, instant potatoes or instant rice.  In fact, what processed foods they did have were the a special treat, more expensive and hard to come by, not the norm.  They cooked from scratch with what they had, and they did it by hand.

     Thankfully I do not have to do it all by hand.  I have some handy dandy gadgets I use in  my kitchen.  These gadgets have been so helpful in keeping me sane.  Unfortunately there are some gadgets that are more of a pain to use than are worth the time.  I will give you my tried and true gadgets and one gadget that is not worth all the hype.

     First must have gadget if you are doing GAPS is a FOOD PROCESSOR.  Hands down this is the most labor saving device in my kitchen.  The first food processor I owned was a waste of time and  money, though.  It was an Oster product.  While the Oster company was very helpful in replacing the machine every time it broke (three times before I gave up on them), it was a complete nightmare to deal with it.  I am hard on appliances in general, I do not always know my own strength, but this machine never lasted very long in my kitchen.  I have a Cuisinart now.  Wonderful machine.  I am hard on it as well, and so is the resident dishwasher (my oldest son).  The replacement parts are pricey, but this machine saves me so much time.  In the beginning when we ate nothing but soup every meal, it was a must (probably why we needed replacement parts after 6 months).  Now that we eat more variety of things it is not as necessary.  Sometimes, for smaller jobs, it is easier to pull out a trusty sharp knife and cut my onion, rather than have to wash all the parts to the food processor.  I also have a very old mini food processor that is still going strong.  I got it from my grandmother when she changed the colors in her kitchen, and went with a bright red one instead.  This thing has got to be twenty years old, and it is more powerful than my Cuisinart!  I love it, and it is especially handy for little jobs like mayonnaise, chopped nuts or herbs.

     The next things to invest in for the kitchen are a good quality set of knives, cutting boards and a knife sharpener.  While knives might not be considered a gadget- as in machine, they are a MUST in the kitchen if you are going to do GAPS.  I have tried to cut onions with varying degrees of sharpness on my knife.  I have also tried cutting onion with a serrated knife.  It is so much easier and quicker to cut something with a sharp plain blade than a serrated blade.  If my knife is at its sharpest I will be able to cut my onion like butter.  REALLY!  I keep a V-shaped knife sharpener handy so I can sharpen a knife blade before I use it.  If you keep on top of sharpening your knives you will end up saving yourself time and labor in cutting things.

     A crock pot is next on the list of must have gadgets in the kitchen.  I have two (and a roaster oven as well).  The crock pot is so useful, I wish I had one in every size.  Being able to start something in the crock pot and walk away for hours is a serious convenience that pioneer women did not have (electricity in general, actually).  I make a lot of different things with my crock pot.  I use to make yogurt (now I have a yogurt maker that my husband bought me).  I use it to make bone broth.  I use it when I need to make a meal for dinner, but I will not be around to start it later (like beans or roasts with vegetables).  I also like to make apple butter (and similar things) with it.  When we first started GAPS Intro. diet I had a chicken going in the crock pot constantly.  I would take one out and serve it up (giving everyone a large mug of broth) and start another one.  It was important to have hot broth available at all times in the beginning.  With my roaster oven I make apple sauce, cook three chickens at a time (for long trips or when I will not be able to cook for a day or so), cook large amounts of pie pumpkins for freezing and roast large turkeys (to name a few).

     I have a few little gadgets that make life easier, that I would highly recommend.  A salad spinner is so helpful, especially if you are growing and eating your own lettuce.  It is also very useful for freezing green beans.  An egg slicer is something we use a lot, as well.  We actually have two of them.  Each family member can cut their own eggs for salads.  It also makes quick work of egg salads and other type recipes with hard boiled eggs.  A metal mesh strainer is a must.  I have a few colanders, and they are great for rinsing and draining beans and vegetables, but they are all plastic.  They also have bigger holes.  A metal mesh strainer is perfect for straining broth.  An Asian Strainer is another gift I received from my husband, and I use it nearly every day.  It is so helpful for straining bones and things out of pots, or scooping many different things.  Another must have in the kitchen is a metal funnel along with canning jars of various sizes.  I am always pouring one thing or another into jars, and the funnel helps minimize the spills.  You do not want to use plastic if you are doing hot things.  A recent find (from a dear friend of  mine) is a garlic peeler.  It is almost the length of  my hand, a small silicone tube.  I put a piece of garlic into it and roll it around on the counter, and with in seconds the garlic has been peeled.  Then all I do is shake out the garlic, and it comes out with out its peel!  GENIUS!

     Lastly, one specific gadget I do not use that often, my juicer.  Juicing is a part of the diet, and I did do it for a good month or so in the beginning.  Unfortunately they are a pain to clean, and unless you plan to juice every day for the rest of your life, they may not be worth your time and money.  The one I have works really well, but like I said, is a pain to clean, so I rarely use it.  Another thing about juicing and kids is the amount of carrots they will drink, but will not eat!  I could juice a two pound bag of carrots for each kid, and they would still want more.  However, they would never eat that many carrots.  It seems a waste to me, and just another thing to have to prepare (clean, peel and or cut).  I have used three different kinds of juicers, and none of them were super easy to use and/or clean.

     I am so thankful to have access to such conveniences.  Of course, there are conveniences that I have not mentioned that pioneer women did not have like running water, indoor plumbing, refrigerators and gas stoves.  I am thankful for those as well.  I could not imagine having to draw water from a well and bring it to the house for soup every meal!  While I am thankful for the things I am learning that take me back to those pioneer days, I am still content to live in this time period with all of its conveniences.

       

Let's Get Cooking, Mom

     Abigail has been begging me all summer for cooking lessons.  This makes me laugh because what she does not realize is I am always teaching her things in the kitchen.  She is very used to being in the kitchen, and very helpful.  However, I did not want to discourage her, and I liked her enthusiasm, so I said, "Sure!  We will have cooking lessons this coming school year."

     My biggest challenge was finding a cook book we could work from that would be easy to tweak the recipes.  I found this book- Kids' Fun & Healthy Cookbook by DK, at our local library.  The first fifteen pages of the book talk about the different food groups, and how to eat healthy.  I had to correct a few things, like the negative view on fats (you know the thing that helps with brain development and function, just to name a few- see here for more info), but other than that, it was good info, presented in a good way for the kids to understand.

     Abigail read the first fifteen pages, and the "Breakfast" section and then chose a recipe to try.  She chose Strawberry Yogurt Crunch.  We had to tweak it a bit (the main ingredient, strawberries, was not available organically, and since they are a very pesticide rich berry, we opted for our local blueberries), but it turned out delicious.  So we ended up with a new recipe, and we called it GAPS Blueberry Yogurt Crunch.

GAPS Blueberry Yogurt Crunch
*recipe serves 2

Things you will need:
1 cup blueberries
2/3 cup chopped almonds (not to fine)
3 tbsp sunflower seeds
3 tbsp pumpkin seeds
3 tbsp honey
1 cup plain yogurt
cast iron skillet
2 small glasses (or glass bowls)

Directions:

1. Warm cast iron skillet on stove by setting the heat to medium.  After 30 seconds to a full minute, place chopped almonds in skillet.  Stir almonds occasionally with wooden spoon, so they do not burn.

2. After 3 minutes, add the sunflower and pumpkin seeds and let them toast for 2 more minutes. (Note, the pumpkin seeds will pop a bit.)

3. Remove the skillet from the heat and drizzle the honey over mixture.  Stir until everything is mixed well.  It will be hot, let it cool a bit.

4. Layer the nut/seed mixture in the glasses with blueberries and yogurt in between.  There should be 6 layers total, nuts, yogurt, berries, nuts, yogurt and finally berries on top.  Putting it in glasses is especially pretty.

Here is a picture of my very proud little chef; she layered the layers her self.