Katie's Paper Treats

     I love to make things with paper.  I enjoy making cards, decoupaging and scrap-booking, mostly.  Recently I started having fun designing things on the computer.  Although I do not have any fancy computer software, I still have a lot of fun.  The other day I was inspired by a note pad I found at Target.

     I know it only cost a dollar, but every dollar adds up when I am in those few "money saving" isles when you first walk in the doors of Target.  After ten minutes I have fifteen $1 items, and I am spending more money than I intended to.  In all actuality, I probably would have bought this note pad anyway, except that I had five at home already, and I was trying to be good.  So I quick snapped a picture for future inspiration, and practiced some self control.

     Today I stumbled upon the picture and decided to try to design one similar.  I know I normally post things about GAPS and healthy living on this blog, but being the pink pioneer girl is not limited to just food.  So, here is my notepad!

       
     Ta da!  Here it is for printing.

     When I print my own list pads I like to print twenty or so pages, cute them to the same size, and use a binder clip to keep them all together.  The nice thing about using a binder clip is if you have multiple lists you can rearrange them in a different order, or pull a fresh one out, and place it on top, with out losing track of them.  It works really well when you are planning a trip or something that takes multiple lists.

     If you want to print some the best way to go about it is to copy the picture and paste it in a word document.  You will probably need to re-size the picture to the document page.  If you want to make it even lighter, you can set your printer setting to "fast draft".

Manic Monday- Acorn Squash Mash Up

     It is Monday, and I am playing catch up.  Mondays are always like that around here, it seems.  I try to take it easy on Sundays, spending time with the kids, relaxing, reading my Bible.  I do not make the kids do their chores on Sundays, either.  So, I am never really surprised that Monday is kind of a crazy day.  I do not mind the crazy so much, but I do end up scrambling to put food on the table.

     Today, for lunch, I took a cast iron skillet of bones  and drippings (from a roasted chicken) I had tossed in the fridge (so I did not waste the bones, but I did not have time to do anything with them at the time) and put a cup of water in it and heated it on the stove.  I poured the flavorful liquid into another cast iron skillet, and cooked some diced up onions on high.  When the onions were cooked, I scooped out the flesh of an acorn squash I had left over in the fridge into the skillet.  I mashed it along with the liquid and onions with a potato masher.  I let it get hot, and stirred it.  It smelled like Thanksgiving Day!  And it tasted like it too.  I had to share the recipe.

     When you are cooking through out the week, it is not a bad idea to cook extra every now and then, so you have some left over for days like Manic Monday.  I cook acorn squash whole, in the oven.  I place five or six in a large roast pan for an hour and a half at 350 degrees.  If I have one left over, I put it in the fridge for just an occasion like today.

     Keeping extras of chopped vegetables can come in handy too.  If you have the time, everything is already dirty form chopping for the meal.  Chop up an extra onion and put it in the fridge.  I have my daughter peel a two pound bag of carrots every day.  Some days we do not eat carrots (though, usually the kids eat them for snacks), but I always have carrots ready to throw into a dish.

     You can never have too many vegetables ready to go.  In the past I have even come home from the store and chopped up every vegetable I have, so it was ready to go in the fridge.  This takes a lot of time, but can save you time when you need it.  Food for thought.

 Acorn Squash Mash Up

Things you need:
medium sized skillet
1 large acorn squash, cooked
half of onion
1 cup chicken broth, or half a cup of chicken drippings from a chicken roast

Directions:
1. Heat broth or chicken drippings in skillet with onion, until onion is tender.
2. Scoop out flesh of acorn squash and mash in skillet with onion and broth.
3. Stir frequently, until hot.
4. Serve.

Stage 3- Avocado!

     Things are getting really exciting now.  It has been forty days of Stage 1 and 2, for me.  Part of me is shocked it has been so long, and part of me feels like I have been doing this forever.  (Or as my six year old would say, "A thousand years.")  It really feels good to be moving along now.  Again, it is tempting to jump right in, but from experience I know that slow is best.

STAGE 3
Everything from Stage 1
-Homemade meat or fish broth
-Homemade soup
-Meat and vegetables that have been boiled and cooked thoroughly
-Homemade yogurt or kefir (in soups and broth, if tolerated)
-Juice from your homemade sauerkraut, fermented vegetables or vegetable medley
-Ginger tea with a little honey

Everything from Stage 2
-Raw organic egg yolks and soft boiled eggs
-Roasts made with meats and vegetables
-Fermented Fish or Gravlax
-Homemade ghee

Add ripe avocado
Start by mashing it into soups, starting from 1 teaspoon and gradually increasing.

Add nut pancakes
Start with one pancake a day and gradually increasing. (See below for recipe.)

Try eggs scrambled with plenty of ghee, goose fat or duck fat.
You can eat it with avocado (if tolerated) and cooked vegetables, as well.

Add actual sauerkraut or fermented vegetables.
Start with a small amount and gradually increase to 1 tablespoon of sauerkraut or fermented vegetables per meal.

Katie's Nut Pancakes

Things you will need:
Cast Iron Skillet
Metal Spatula
Food processor
Big bowl and spoon or Stand mixer
2 cups raw nuts, pre-soaked (at least 24 hours) and drained 
4 eggs
1 small acorn squash, cooked well, so flesh is nice and tender, blended or mashed
1/2 cup honey
Ghee or animal fat

Directions:

1. Place skillet over medium/low heat and allow to get hot while you mix your ingredients.

2. In a food processor, process nuts until they look like almond meal and start sticking, like almond butter.  Place nuts in a bowl.

3. Add eggs, squash and honey to nuts and mix.

4. Add a small amount of fat to pan, and pour 1/4 cup of batter on to skillet.

5. Next comes the tricky part...when do you flip them?  Every stove and pan is different, it seems, and I can not give you an exact amount of time.  I can describe a ready to flip pancake, though.  The edges should look a bit firm, like they will not break apart when  you try to flip it.  Also, look for a few bubbles (too many, and you are probably burning the pancake).  Another trick is to slightly lift the pancake to see if it is burning.  Try not to do this too much, though.

     You really do not want to eat burnt pancakes, so be prepared to cook them slower and longer than you may want to.  I still have not completely mastered this.  I know that the batter should be more runny than not, and the pan should be medium to low heat, and do not ever leave the kitchen.  I am a terrible long distance cook, and will leave the kitchen for just a second and come back to burned pancakes.  Nut pancakes take a lot of patience.  At this point, though, they are well worth it!  Make a big batch and freeze them.  Then you can throw them in the toaster whenever you want a snack.

     Another trick, for the days where I just am out of patience, is to use the oven.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Take a cake pan or glass baking dish and place it in the oven with a few table spoons of ghee or fat.  When the fat has melted, pull the dish out and smear the fat all around.  Pour the batter into the dish, and bake until it is firm in the middle.