Lately I’ve been making a quiche on the weekend and reheating a piece each morning in the toaster oven for breakfast and I am loving that. Faster than making scrambled eggs and bacon for myself on a work morning, with fewer dishes and pans to deal with after.

I’ve been making the quiche crustless (shall I call it a “criche”?), partly to avoid the work of making a crust, and partly because I’m limiting carbs a bit lately. And I don’t have any special quiche pan, so I’ve just been making it in a square casserole dish. It turns out great. Depending on my schedule I either bake it on the weekend or prep the parts and combine and bake it Monday morning.

Then the rest just stays in the casserole dish in the fridge and each morning I put a piece on the pan in my toaster oven, cover it with foil (which I think would help keep it from drying out, but I don’t know if it’s truly necessary). About 15 minutes at 300 degrees and it’s ready to eat. Really tastes just as good warmed up as it did fresh from the oven!

Here’s the recipe for the first criche I tried…other variations to follow as I come up with them!

This recipe for crustless quiche with ham, asparagus, and cheese is adapted from the Pinch My Salt blog. Her recipe is adapted from The All Purpose Joy of Cooking.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter, preferably pastured (find sources of raw pastured butter)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion or 1 leek, cut in half and rinsed well to remove grit between the layers, and thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)
• 1 bunch (about a half pound) asparagus, rinsed, stemmed,* and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup cubed ham, preferably from pastured pigs
• 1 cup shredded cheese (Swiss, Emmentaler, or Gruyere are good), preferably pastured (where to buy cheese)
• 4 large eggs, preferably pastured
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, preferably pastured (find sources of raw pastured cream)
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (where to buy salt & spices)
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste

*To “stem” asparagus, hold each spear on either end. Bend the root end until it snaps, and throw that part in the compost bin. Wherever it snaps off is just right–the tougher, woody stem part will break away, leaving the tender shoot that’s good to eat! Read more about asparagus here.

Directions

1. Preheat oven: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Prep pan: Grease a 9″x9″x2″ square casserole dish well with butter (or you can use a quiche dish or 10″ pie plate).
3. Prep the add-ins: Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onion or leeks, and saute for a few minutes until softened, stirring occasionally. Add chopped asparagus, and cook until just tender, turning occasionally (about 5-7 minutes). Remove from heat. Add cubed ham to the pan and toss to combine. Turn mixture into the greased dish and sprinkle the shredded cheese over that.
4. Prep the quiche base: In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the cream, salt, and pepper. Pour this mixture over the fillings in  the dish. Place quiche in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

This is the basic routine for making one of these criches…preheat oven, grease pan, get your add-ins ready and put them in the pan, and then pour your egg-cream mixture over that and bake. When I post other criche variations you’ll see similar instructions.

Make-ahead directions: You can prep the add-ins and quiche base and put them in separate containers in your fridge. When ready to cook, preheat your oven, grease your pan, pour in the add-ins and egg-cream mixture and bake.

Reheating directions: I have found this reheats beautifully. I put a piece on my toaster oven tray and reheat for about 15 minutes at 300 degrees. I put a piece of foil over it, thinking it will keep it more moist–this may not be necessary.

Serves 6-9 (I cut the quiche in my 9″ square casserole dish into 9 pieces–3×3–that I think are just right for breakfast. However if you use a different dish or are just hungrier you might cut it into fewer pieces).

Looking for other breakfast ideas? Try my Grain-Free Omelet Muffins too!

The post Crustless Quiche with Ham, Asparagus, and Cheese appeared first on Farm Food Blog.

Special for spring–This week only, Village Green Network is running a special on a huge ebook bundle by many of their awesome real food bloggers. I have some of these ebooks, each of which is easily worth the price of the whole bundle of 30!

There are real food and nutrition primers for those just starting out, focused cookbooks on special topics like almond flour desserts or crockpot meals, books on metabolism, child care, curing eczema, planning your garden–quite the variety, all in handy ebook form you can read on your ereader, computer, smartphone, or tablet.

Check it out!

Click here to get 30 books for only $39!

That’s less than $1.50 per book or a savings of over 90%!

This bundle has 30 ebooks written by top Real Food and Natural Health bloggers, including:

• Grain-Free Breads, Snacks & Desserts by Jill Tieman of Real Food Forager
• DIY Natural Household Cleaners by Matt and Betsy Jabs of DIY Natural
• The Eczema Cure by Emily Bartlett of Holistic Squid
• Get Your Fats Straight by Sarah Pope of Healthy Home Economist
• Nourished Baby (Completely Revised) by Heather Dessinger of Mommypotamus
• Skintervention by Liz Wolfe of Cave Girl Eats
• Real Food Nutrition FOR KIDS! by Kristen Michaelis of Food Renegade
• Grain-free Desserts by Jennifer McGruther of Nourished Kitchen
• Your Custom Homestead by Jill Winger of The Prairie Homestead
• Awaken: 30+ Egg-Free and Grain-Free Breakfasts by Karen Sorenson of Living Low Carb One Day At a Time
• Eat For Heat by Matt Stone of 180 Degree Health
• Diet Recovery 2 (Completely Revised) by Matt Stone of 180 Degree Health
• Real Food For Real Life by Emily Benfit of Butter Believer
• Indulge and
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  Heal: 40 Treats Without Grains, Dairy, Nuts and Refined Sugar by Lauren Geersten of Empowered Sustenance

• The Homemade Handbook by Lindsey Gremont of Homemade Mommy
• Fast Paleo Top 100 of 2012 by James Gregory of Fast Paleo
• From Your Freezer To Your Family: Slow Cooker Freezer Recipes eCookbook by Stephanie Brandt Cornais of Mama & Baby Love
• The Nourished Metabolism by Elizabeth Walling of The Nourished Life
• Real Food Ingredient Guide by Kelly the Kitchen Kop
• Real Food 101 by Kendahl Millecam of Our Nourishing Roots
• The Almond Flour Sweet Treats Cookbook by Stacey Duncan of Nourished For Free
• Toxic Free: 70 Recipes for a Toxic-free Home by Robin Konie of Thank Your Body
• Nourishing Our Children by Sandrine Love of Nourishing Our Children
• Indulge: 70 Grain-free Desserts by Carol Lovett of Ditch the Wheat
• Simple Natural Health by Nina Nelson of Shalom Mama
• Afternoon Tea: Grain, Nut, Dairy and Refined Sugar-Free by Suzanne Perazzini of Strands of My Life
• Toadally Primal Smoothies by Todd Dosenberry of Primal Toad
• Garden and Preservation Planner by Brenda Scott of Well Fed Homestead
• Restocking the Pantry by Kresha Faber of Nourishing Joy
• The Grain Free Lunch Box by Jolene Sloam of Yummy Inspirations

Click here to see all the books that are included!

This bundle is on sale for this week only, April 17-23, 2013.  Compatible with your Kindle, iPad, iPhone or computer.

Click here to get 30 books for only $39!

The post Get 30 Healthy Living Ebooks for $39! appeared first on Farm Food Blog.

Among the many offerings from my Amish farm buying club, I'd considered trying the domestic rabbit raised by one of the farmer's sons, and finally bought one. But it sat in my freezer for quite a while–until today that is. Well, three days ago anyway, when I put it in the fridge to thaw. But it went into the slowcooker today and I had it for dinner tonight.

I looked at number of recipes before settling on this one: http://www.food.com/recipe/rabbit-hunter-s-style-203224?oc=linkback. I've copied it below with additional notes of my own. I knew rabbit was quite lean, and so I thought a recipe with added fat, cooked slowly, would viagra online help ensure it would be tender and flavorful. And it is, that! I am not sure I'd pick rabbit over beef or chicken, but it was good, and satisfying, and I'll enjoy the leftovers tomorrow. And it was fun to try a new meat.

As noted below, I found this link for How to Cut Up a Rabbit useful, and I learned a new term, silver skin. I had dealt with this thin connective tissue on beef before, but didn't know what it was called. There's a fair amount on a rabbit, and it's best to cut it away as much as you can. It shrinks in cooking, pulling at the muscle tissue so your pieces of meat look funny, and becoming unpleasantly chewy to boot. I didn't have too much trouble getting most of it off. A sharp knife is your best friend. See photo of me removing some of the silver skin below.

Another thing How to Cut Up a Rabbit told me is that rabbit fat has an unpleasant taste. I decided to take the hunter's word for it, and removed most of the fat that came off easily (although I didn't make a fetish of getting every last bit off). I was bummed to hear this–can any readers confirm that this is true? (Does wild or domestic rabbit make a difference here?) Rabbit is already lean, so I hated to remove what fat was there, because (usually) fat helps the flavor, and importantly, it provides fat-soluble vitamins that help you assimilate the protein and minerals in meat. Without adequate fat, when you eat meat, your body will rob fat-soluble vitamins from its reserves. American Indians knew if hunting was poor and all they could catch was rabbits (or other very lean meat), they'd soon develop “rabbit starvation.” So, while I removed most of the visible fat, I was generous with the added bacon fat.

Ingredients

• 1 2.5-3 lb rabbit (I had a 3.37 lb rabbit, and this recipe worked out fine)
• salt –where to buy salt
• freshly ground black pepper –where to buy spices
• 4 slices bacon (pastured), additional bacon drippings are also good (see intro notes above)
• 4 shallots (organic), chopped
• 3 garlic (organic) cloves, minced
• 2 T all-purpose flour (I would assume you can substitute arrowroot powder) –where to buy flour
• 1/2 c dry white wine (I did use white, but I bet red would be good as well)
• 8 oz tomato sauce (organic)
• 1/2 c water
• 1 t chopped fresh thyme (organic) (for dried you can use less, but I like a lot of seasoning. I had only dried and used a full teaspoon) –where to buy herbs & spices
• 1 t minced fresh basil (organic) (ditto above about using dried) –where to buy herbs & spices
• 1 1/2 c sliced fresh mushr
  The Power Of Positive Habits E-book.

  ooms (organic)

• 1/4 c chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (organic) for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Rinse the rabbit, pat dry, and cut into serving size pieces, removing as much of the silver skin as you can (I found How to Cut Up a Rabbit very helpful; see also intro notes above about removing the fat).
2. Season the rabbit liberally with salt and pepper and set aside.
3. Cook the bacon over med-high heat in a large skillet until crisp.
4. Remove the bacon to drain on paper towels (leaving the fat in the skillet), crumble, and set aside.
5. Add the rabbit pieces to the hot bacon fat and brown on all sides, then transfer them to your crockpot.
6. Add the shallots and garlic to the skillet (this is the point where I added extra bacon drippings I had on hand) and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
7. Sprinkle in the flour, then add the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
8. Pour in the tomato sauce, water, thyme, and basil and bring to a boil.
9. Pour the sauce over the rabbit; cover and cook on high for 2 hours.
10. Add the mushrooms to the crockpot; cover and continue cooking on high for an additional 1 ½ to 3 hours, until the rabbit is very tender and falling off the bone. (I was out of the house for more than three hours, and it seemed perfect when I got home slipping off the bone.)
11. Adjust seasonings
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    to taste; garnish with chopped parsley and crumbled bacon.

Above, the whole rabbit, rinsed and patted dry. Not shown, the liver and tiny heart. As usual, my cat turned up his nose at those.	I've cut off the legs, and removed some of the body cavity fat and one kidney. You can see the other kidney in the body cavity.
Here you can see me pulling some of the silver skin away from the back.	I'm using kitchen shears to cut the thin belly piece away from the back.
Here's all the pieces. At the top, l-r: some fat and the hind legs and forelegs. Second row, a pile of silver skin and the kidneys and the two thin pieces of belly. Third row, the loin cut into three pieces through the spine. Fourth row (bottom), the rib cage and two odd pieces that are kind of upper fore-leg and back meat.	The man of the house kindly cut open the package of bacon for me while my hands were full of rabbit.
The rabbit pieces browning in the bacon fat.	The rabbit in the bottom of the crockpot, with the sauce poured over, ready to start cooking.

The post Crockpot Hunter-Style Rabbit Stew appeared first on Farm Food Blog.

Another reliable presence at WAPF Conference is Dave Wetzel, a WAPF chapter leader from Nebraska, and owner of Green Pasture.

Dave is responsible for bringing to market high-vitamin butter oil (HVBO), previously unavailable and still the only one on the market. HVBO works synergistically with cod liver oil (CLO) as practically an elixir of life.

Green Pasture also sources and sells one of the only CLOs that retains its natural levels of Vitamin A and Vitamin D. Almost all other brands remove the natural A and D and replace them with synthetic A and D

so they can label the CLO as having standardized levels of these vitamins.

Dave’s company has generously sponsored the WAPF conference for several years. He is a friendly guy who love to talk CLO. This year I met a couple of his sons, who wore cod hats and gave me CLO supplements each morning.

The post WAPF Conference Profiles: David Wetzel appeared first on Farm Food Blog.

A regular sight at WAPF conference is Sandeep Agarwal. A chapter leader in New Jersey, Sandeep and his family make and sell ghee through their company Pure Indian Foods.

Sandeep told me his wife makes ALL their ghee by hand in their commercial kitchen! I picked up a darling little set of six flavored ghees I’m looking forward to trying when I get home.

The post WAPF Conference Profiles: Sandeep Agarwal appeared first on Farm Food Blog.

It’s fun meeting my fellow Village Green Network bloggers in person after really only knowing them via our forum, Facebook, and

of course reading their blogs.

Here’s Cara of Health, Home and Happiness, and Kendahl of Our Nourishing Roots!

Both have great recipes, GAPS info, and other great nutrient dense diet info.

The post WAPF Conference Profiles: Cara and Kendahl appeared first on Farm Food Blog.

I ran into fellow Village Green Network (formerly Real Food Media) blogger Raine Saunders of Agriculture Society.

Raine writes about sustainable agriculture and nutrient-dense traditional foods. Check out her current posts for

great info on GMOs.

The post WAPF Conference Profiles: Raine Saunders appeared first on Farm Food Blog.

I met LA chapter leader Victoria Bloch at the 2nd annual WAPF conference–my first–and have enjoyed catching up with her every year since.

It’s particularly great to see her here this year because of the trouble she and others had this year when the government raided Rawesome Foods again and simultaneously arrested Victoria, Sharon Palmer, and James Stewart.

After a MILLION dollar-plus effort, in which California attempted to charge them with, among other things, “conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor” (which is a felony!), Victoria accepted a deal to plead to one minor misdemeanor, paid a fine, and is free.

This is the state of our government. Going wildly overboard persecuting the purveyors of healthy

food using armed raids–when there have been NO complaints!

And clearly they had no case, or expected the defendants to roll over, despite the months and money spent on surveillance and planning their raid. (Sharon is also free on a misdemeanor plea, but James’ case is still pending.)

Victoria’s commitment to the movement has only been galvanized by her experience, and more people have been made aware of these issues and are speaking and acting out to support small scale sustainable agriculture and non-industrial food. Money well spent, California!

The post WAPF Conference Profiles: Victoria Bloch appeared first on Farm Food Blog.

Tonight’s theme is “Celebrate the Harvest,” and it’s fitting as we tuck in to meltingly good pork belly, beef short ribs, roasted vegetables, and apple cobbler. The food is all donated by farmers and ranchers–the produce organic, the animal foods pastured.

But it’s also a fitting theme as the speakers talk about the amazing work the Fund is doing, supporting farmers across the country who are under attack by out government.

They do not win every case, but they win some. And they keep farmers out of court simply by the threat of representing them for free. The state sometimes backs down rather than risk a lengthy and expensive case and the publicity Fund members and cialis WAPF members will bring to the case.

More and more people are becoming aware of food issues, and are flocking to small, local, sustainable farms. And they are speaking up when their access to such food is threatened by government under guide of protecting us. While, of course, Monsanto and other industrial food purveyors slowly poison us.

So we’re celebrating the harvest tonight–the harvest of years of grass roots organizing, fundraising, networking, and hard work. The harvest of farmers standing up to government oppression, and consumers standing at their farmers’ backs. Calling and writing to government officials, gathering to witness and videotape farm raids. Helping with farm chores and otherwise keeping farms and farm families together through the dark days of raids, seizures of property, court cases, and even jail time.

The stories of courage and perseverance are inspiring. The more of that we continue to harvest, the more we’ll have to celebrate. Perhaps one day we will at last no longer need the Fund. Such a day is a long way off, but every new member, every donation, every court case, and every bug of publicity for what the government is doing, takes us closer to that day!

The post Celebrate the Harvest appeared first on Farm Food Blog.

When I cook a chicken, I typically eat the tasty dark meat while it’s fresh and hot, and often use the less succulent breast meat for chicken salad. Here’s a recipe I made up recently that can be adjusted based on what you like and have on hand.

3 cups cooked, chopped chicken (preferably pastured)
1/2 cup sliced almonds –where to buy nuts
1/2 cup yellow raisins
1/2 diced red pepper
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced green, white, yellow, or red onion
1 tbsp curry powder, or to taste –where to buy spices
1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste –where to buy salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste –where to buy spices
3/4 cup mayonnaise made with healthy fats, or to taste –where to buy mayo

Mix all in a bowl and refrigerator

for a while–it takes a while for the curry powder to really blend with the mayo and other ingredients. Also, if your raisins are dry and hard they’ll be softened up from the moisture in a few hours.

Precision with the amounts is not required. You could sub other nuts for the almonds. You could use black raisins or dried cranberries or an apple instead of yellow raisins. You could leave out the onion, etc.

Serve with lettuce wraps or sprouted grain bread or crackers (where to buy bread & crackers).

I wish I had remembered to take a photo of this–I was just throwing it together while doing other food prep for the week, so didn’t take photos while making it. Then the next day, we ate it and it was so good–forgot all about taking a picture. Hence, just the old photo of dicing celery.

The post Curried Chicken Salad appeared first on Farm Food Blog.