Flavorful Friday- Salmon Cakes Recipe!

Welcome to another edition of Flavorful Friday!

Today I'll be sharing my recipe for Salmon Cakes.  I made these earlier this week and my son was already begging for me to make them again before he had even finished his plate!  I thought that was a good enough reason to go ahead and post this today.  = )

Please comment below and let me know what you think of this recipe and how it goes in your own kitchen.  And remember to subscribe to get these posts delivered directly to your inbox each week!  (Note: some of my Android readers were not able to view the subscribe box unless they viewed in "web version", so check your viewing mode if you don't see the email entry box on the top right of the page.)

You can also now catch me on Facebook!  https://www.facebook.com/CountryMamaHippieChic

Yesterday I posted there a neat trick for keeping Parsley and Cilantro fresh, helpful since this recipe calls for fresh Parsley!

Have a blessed and beautiful week!

~Brandi

AKA Country Mama Hippie Chic

John 10:10 (NIV) 

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Salmon Cakes

Ingredients:

¼ Yellow Onion

4 Cloves of Fresh Garlic, peeled

10 Sprigs of Fresh Parsley, leaves only

1 tsp Coconut Oil

1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt

¼ tsp Ground Pepper Medley

¼ tsp Smoked Paprika

1- 5.65oz can of Wild Salmon, with skin and bones

1 Large Egg, room temperature

3 Tbsp Almond Meal

2 Tbsp Coconut Flour

½ C Coconut Oil

1 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Avocado, sliced and peeled

Instructions

Use a mini food processor/chopper to chop the onion, garlic and parsley together.  Transfer mix to a heated 6” cast-iron skillet along with about a teaspoon of Coconut Oil, Celtic Sea Salt, Smoked Paprika, and Ground Pepper Medley.  Sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  In the meantime, drain your can of salmon and then chop salmon, skin and bones, in the mini food processor, pulsing, and giving it a good shake between pulses.  You want to be careful not to liquefy it, but you do want to incorporate the skin and bones well into the salmon meat.  This will give you a crumbly salmon full of nutritional goodness! 

Pour processed salmon into a medium bowl.  Add Egg, Almond Meal, Coconut Flour, and sautéed mix and stir together well.  Let this sit for a few minutes while your oil heats in your pan.  This is a great time to do some clean up and make your “Creamy Fish Sauce”, too.

Add Coconut Oil and Olive Oil to an 8” cast iron skillet and heat over medium.  Test for readiness by getting a few drops of water on your hand and gently flicking them into the skillet.  If the oil pops, it’s ready.  Just be careful the oil doesn’t pop on you!

Form salmon mix into 6 small patties, about 2’ in diameter and ½” thick, by making balls and then flattening them in your hand.  Slowly lower 3 patties, one at a time, into the hot oil using a spatula; keeping fingers clear to avoid injury.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.  Then carefully flip each patty.  I like to use two spatulas for this job, one on top, one on the bottom, like a sandwich, to help them stay together while flipping.  Cook another 5 minutes or until golden brown and then remove to paper towels (2 should be plenty) to drain.  Place a lid over the cooked patties to help keep them warm.  Repeat cooking process for the remaining 3 patties.

Serve hot with Sliced Avocado and Creamy Fish Sauce (next recipe).

Optional Side Dishes:

Sautéed Collard or Mustard Greens with Almonds or Sesame Seeds

Creamy Fish Sauce

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp Mayonnaise (homemade preferred)

1 Tbsp Sour Cream (homemade preferred)

1 tsp Lemon Juice

¼ tsp Dried Dill Weed

¼ tsp Freeze Dried Chives

¼ tsp Onion Powder

¼ tsp Garlic Powder

Pinch of Celtic Sea Salt or to taste

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

Options:

·      Great on fish tacos, salmon cakes, tuna patties, grilled fish, and more!

·      You could also add Smoked Paprika if you like.

Name Change!

Quick post here.  After doing a lot of research and talking with attorneys who know things about things, I realized that I may not be able to pursue "crunchymamahippiechic" as an actual business name.  Today I changed the name and location of this blog to "countrymamahippiechic".  I'm actually really excited about this change as I believe it even better encapsulates the spirit of who I am and what this blog is about.  Thanks for sticking with me, and be sure to "follow" my blog to get updates on all the latest, including new recipes, natural hacks for life, and announcements concerning my upcoming cookbook!

And let me hear from you!  This page is all about YOU, so tell me what you would like to hear!  From food and cooking, to using natural "cures" for everyday woes.  What would you like to hear from this God-loving, natural, barefoot, earth mama, country lovin' hippie girl?  I'm all ears!

~Brandi

Flavorful Friday- Broccoli and Shrimp Recipe!

Welcome to Flavorful Friday!  This is where I will share a great and healthy recipe with you to try out in the coming week.  Be sure to comment here and let me know how it goes!  And now that I have the link fixed, you can even sign up to receive these and other posts directly in your inbox, how cool is that?!

After receiving wonderful response from my Facebook post, as well as at my own kitchen table, I thought this week I would bring you my new Broccoli and Shrimp recipe!  My husband, who is a total foodie and spent 4 years living and learning to cook in Italy, says this is "at least as good as anything I ever had in Italy."  Wow!  I am honored!  From him, that is really saying something.

There are many variations and options on this dish to make it fit your personal needs and tastes, and feel free to experiment beyond my suggestions as well.  This is a really basic and easy recipe that anybody can do, and it's sure to impress!

Happy Crunching!

~Brandi

Broccoli and Shrimp

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1- 14 oz Bag of Frozen Broccoli Florets

2 Tbsp Butter

1/8 tsp Celtic Sea Salt

¼ tsp Red Chili Flakes

2 Tbsp Minced Garlic from a jar

1 Pint of Grape Tomatoes- sliced

1- 12 oz Bag of Frozen Extra Small Shrimp- thawed

1-4 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese as topping

Instructions:

Preheat an 8-10 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Add Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Frozen Broccoli Florets to pan and stir to coat broccoli in oil.  Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add Butter, Celtic Sea Salt, Red Chili Flakes, and Minced Garlic to pan and stir.  Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add Grape Tomatoes and Extra Small Shrimp to pan and stir.  Sauté 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until food is hot throughout.

Serve hot and top each portion with grated Parmesan Cheese!

Serves about 4.

Optional:

•  You can leave off the Red Chili Flakes to make a mild dish.  When preparing this for our family, I use a 6-inch cast iron skillet for our son’s portion.
•  You can leave off the Parmesan Cheese and Butter for a dairy free version.
• Adding chopped Fresh Spinach leaves provides more vitamins and an extra layer of flavor.  Add these when you add the tomatoes and shrimp.  Doing this will also increase either your number of portions or portion sizes.
• Add fresh basil leaves when you add the butter, salt, chili flakes and garlic for an extra punch of flavor and minerals.
• You can serve this atop your favorite pasta or spaghetti squash as well.
• This dish could be make with pre-cooked chicken or beef cubes instead of shrimp.

Tags: Fast, Easy, Low-Carb, Gluten-Free, Paleo, Healthy, Recipe, Dinner, Shrimp, Broccoli, Wow

Debut of Flavorful Fridays- Roasted Chicken Recipe!

Happy back to school week!  With school back in session, many families are now getting back into routines, including regular family meals at the dinner table.  To help you keep things fresh and interesting, as well as healthy while sticking to your budget, I am happy to announce the debut of Flavorful Fridays!  Once a week, and generally on Friday, I will be posting a family-friendly and fully gluten free recipe that you can try out.  Be sure to "follow" this blog so you won't miss out on any of these delicious recipes!  Most of these recipes will be my own creations, and I would love your feedback on them as I work on writing my very own cookbook (details to come)!  I will also occasionally feature recipes from blogs I love, and guest contributors from the community.  If you have a healthy and gluten free recipe that you would like for me to consider, email it to me at bouncybrandi at gmail dot com.

I've been spending a lot of time out on a local farm with my family lately, and we have been blessed to be able to bring home frozen Organic Free Range Chickens!  Many thanks to Peter and Katherine at Stonefield Organic Farm for your friendship, your generosity and your willingness to teach me and my family the ways of the farm.  You'll be hearing more from me in weeks to come about the value of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farms and the importance of eating fresh, organic foods, but for now, you can contact them with any questions at 734.395.8955.

And now on with today's recipe, inspired by the farm!

Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

One Whole Roasting Chicken, 3-4 pounds, thawed in refrigerator, innards removed

(Free Range Organic preferred)

2 Tbsp Butter, softened

2 tsp Celtic Sea Salt

¼ - ½ tsp Ground Pepper Medley

1 tsp Herbes de Provence

½ tsp Onion Powder

2 Tbsp Butter, sliced into several pieces

1 Small Yellow Onion, sliced

8-10 Garlic Cloves, peeled

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Set aside softened Butter in a small bowl.

Mix in another small bowl Celtic Sea Salt, Ground Pepper Medley, Herbes de Provence and Onion Powder and set aside.

Place the Butter slices across the bottom of a large lidded Roasting Pan.  Spread the Onion slices across the bottom of the pan on top of the Butter.  Place the Garlic Cloves around the perimeter of the pan.

Place chicken on a plate or in a glass casserole dish.  Using your hands, spread the Softened Butter all over the outside of the Chicken.  Using your hands, sprinkle and/or rub the seasoning mix all over the outside of the Chicken.

Place seasoned Whole Roasting Chicken in the Roasting Pan atop the butter and onions.  Cover and cook for 45 minutes.

Remove Roasting Pan from oven.  Using tongs to grab the outside of the Chicken, and inserting a long handled plastic spoon in the inside cavity, turn your chicken once, like on a rotisserie, placing it back in the pan with the side that had been the bottom now on top (this is not as tricky as it sounds.)  Replace lid and put chicken back in over to cook for another 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and insert meat thermometer into chicken breast to check for doneness.  Thermometer should easily reach 180 degrees Fahrenheit.  If it does not reach 180, replace lid and cook for another 10 minutes.

Let chicken rest for 5 minutes, uncovered, and then remove from roasting pan and place on serving dish, or carve and serve.  (Note: I like to use my hands and pull all the meat off the bones instead of trying to use a knife, seems way easier to me.)  Include 2-3 Garlic Cloves per person when serving.

Serving suggestion: Serve with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Sesame Collard Greens.  (Recipes for these will be included in my cookbook!)

Happy Crunching!

~crunchymamahippechic

(AKA Brandi)

Gluten Free Fabulous Juicer Pulp Muffins

Gluten Free Fabulous Juicer Pulp Muffins

Dry Ingredients:
1 C organic buckwheat flour
1/4 C sorghum flour
1/2 C almond flour
1/2 C organic coconut flour
1 C gluten free rolled oats
4 tsp unmodified potato starch
2 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Celtic sea salt
1/4 tsp ground mace
2 tsp organic cinnamon
1/4 C raw walnuts, chopped
1/4 C raw almonds, chopped
1/4 C roasted salted pepitas, chopped
1/4 C roasted salted sunflower seeds, chopped

Wet Ingredients:
1 large ripe banana, peeled and mashed
2 Cups juicer pulp (I use whatever I have, a combo of fruits and veggies)
1 Tbsp organic salted butter, softened
2-3 Tbsp chia seeds, soaked in filtered water to cover
4 Tbsp organic raw honey
2 Tbsp Blackstrap molasses
1 Tbsp organic grade B maple syrup
1/2 C organic whole milk plain yogurt
1/4 C organic whole milk plain kefir
1 tsp organic vanilla extract
3 organic eggs, room temperature

Unsalted butter to grease pans.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Remove eggs and butter from refrigerator and set them on the counter to warm.

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Optional step: Mix all wet ingredients except eggs in a high powered blender such as a Vitamix to puree the pulp.  You can skip this step, you'll just end up with stringy pulp in your muffins which is fine, really.

Use a hand-held mixer on low to medium speed to blend all wet ingredients, including eggs in a bowl.  Adding only one to two ingredients at a time works well.

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet mixture, blending periodically on low-medium speed to fully incorporate.  Note: do not over blend!  Gluten free dough and batter do not like to be over-handled and will yield a dense finished product.

Allow batter to "rest" for a few minutes while you butter your pans for baking.
With this recipe I use:
1 24-cup mini-muffin pan- buttered
1 6x4x2" mini-loaf pan- buttered
1 10x6" cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, spread batter to even depth, about 1/4" to make a "bar".

Cook mini muffins and "bar" for 25 minutes or until golden brown and mostly firm to touch.
Cook mini-loaf for 40 minutes or until golden brown and mostly firm to touch.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for no more than 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.  Gluten free breads will get too spongy and soggy if left in the pan too long.
Cut the bar into squares or rectangles.  Allow to cool fully and then store wrapped in a towel, or in a tupperware with the lid sitting on top but not attached, or in a plastic storage bag not sealed.  These need to breathe or they will get too soggy.  You can also cool them in a freezer safe bag in the refrigerator and then transfer in the freezer.  Thaw on the counter a few hours or the night before eating.

Serving suggestions:
-All by themselves!
-With raw, spreadable honey
-With jelly, jam, or preserves
-With your favorite nut butter
-Loaf can be cut and then use butter to make skillet toast, top with nut/seed butter (sun butter is fantastic!) and serve with milk kefir, a fried egg, and a small side of fruit for a complete and yummy breakfast!

Bone Broth Recipe

By popular demand, here is how I make Bone Broth (also known as Soup Stock) from scratch!

Enjoy and bon appetit!

I would love to hear creative ways you use this recipe in your kitchen, feel free to send me an email at bouncybrandi at gmail dot com or leave a comment below.

And remember to follow my blog for more recipes and random thoughts and tidbits from the crunchy side of life.

Happy crunching!

~Brandi

Bone Broth:

I like to make my bone broth using both beef and chicken bones.  This recipe is loosely adapted from one that my nutritionist gave me years ago.  For the best results, use organic produce and organic free-range beef and chicken whenever possible.

Ingredients:

• ·      The bones of one chicken (Make sure to debone it by hand and not with your mouth, to avoid germy contamination.  You may include the skin as well, and leave on little bits of chicken if you like for more nutrients and flavor.)
• ·      About a pound of beef soup bones or meaty bones or marrow bones, or a combination thereof
• ·      Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar
• ·      The inner pieces of a stalk of celery, all the ones you may not normally eat by themselves, leafy tops included
• ·      A few carrots, or a large handful of baby cut carrots
• ·      One medium onion (I use yellow, but you could use whatever you like)
• ·      One half to one head of garlic
• ·      Celtic Sea Salt to taste
• ·      Fresh course ground pepper medley to taste
• ·      One bunch fresh parsley (at the end)

Place bones in large pot (the biggest one you have, mine is 6 quart).  Add about ¼ cup of Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar (the kind with “the Mother” in it.)  Add enough filtered water to cover the bones.  Cover and let sit about half an hour, while you wash and chop your vegetables.

Rough chop celery, carrots, and onion.  Smash garlic cloves to release their flavor and goodness, you may also cut them in half if you like.  Add all veggies to pot with bones and cover with filtered water, leaving 1 inch between the top of the water and the top of the pot.  Bring to boil and then use a strainer spoon to remove the scum that rises to the top.  Add Sea Salt and Pepper.  Reduce heat to the lowest setting and cover.  Let simmer, stirring occasionally, for 24-72 hours. 

Ten minutes before you are done, rinse the entire bunch of fresh parsley and add it to the pot, stirring it into the mix. 

Remove from heat and let cool about half an hour.  Use slotted spoon to remove the large chunks of veggies and bones from the pot and dispose of these.  Then pour remaining contents of pot through a fine mesh metal strainer.  I strain into a 3 quart saucepan.  Cover and refrigerate over night.  The next day, remove the fat that has risen to the top and you are done!  (Or, if you need more fats in your diet, you may leave the fat if you like.)

Bone broth may be used right away to make any kind of soup or beans, or you can freeze or refrigerate it for later use.  I generally make one pot of soup right away, and then freeze the rest.  Ice cube trays are perfect for this job!  Simply fill the trays (I used two) and freeze overnight.  Then remove the cubes and put them in a freezer safe plastic bag.  These are great for adding nutrition and flavor to practically any recipe!  Examples: sauted veggies, boiled veggies, scrambled eggs, sauces, soups, beans.  You can also add a cube or two to a cup of warmed water for a comforting and nutritious boost when you feel tired and wore down or when you are getting sick.  The possibilities are endless!