Coconut Milk Ice-Cream!

I like this ice-cream either as "plain" vanilla, though really vanilla is hardly plain to me! The sweet vanilla bean background to the coconut is pretty damn awesome. I use a splash of sugar free torani vanilla bean flavor syrup, but if you want to be more dogmatic you could use a real vanilla bean and some honey, or as  little sugar as you like.

The strawberry version is equally good. I used to use a thawed, mashed up bag of frozen trader joe's strawberries per 2 cans of coconut milk with 1 tbs torani syrup, but since we've moved and there are no trader joe's, but there are lots of wonderful local farms I just chop some fresh berries, however many we happen to have or tastes good. If you use enough berries there is no need for sweetener.

The blueberry binge from last week has luckily not set off any major problems or continued binging, but I have found lots of delicious new treats featuring our leftover bounty. I am going to freeze several pounds on a baking sheet and them keep them in the freezer in a ziplock bag for future use in icecream (just tossed in the mixer with the coconut milk like the strawberry version) or, possibly heated for a bit to make them warm and syrupy and put the mess over some nice cold vanilla coconut ice-cream. (mmmm) Have I mentioned how happy I am having the fab pesticide free blueberry farm so close? Have I? Maybe we'll go picking more tomorrow...

Best Crunchy Walnut Dill Pepper Chicken Salad

Take your container of chicken bits from the previous day's Costco rotisserie.

Add mayo (homemade preferably) about 1/3 cup for our needs, but do it to your taste.

A bit of Dijon mustard, maybe 2 tsp.

Several strips of bell pepper (I keep sliced raw peppers in a baggy in the veg drawer for snacking) diced small.

A couple of tbs of very finely diced onion. (We picked up some fab sweet walla wallas last week at a farm-stand!)

1 handful walnuts, kind of squeezed so as to break them up into smallish pieces. (I really like the added crunch and it ups the omega 3's!)

As much dill as you wish to add. (You could use other herbs if you prefer, basil or tarragon might be nice.)

Fish Crackling

Or, salmon skin crisps as they actually came out!

Place leftover salmon skin on non-stick foil, place in 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

I think I did leave the tray in the oven just a little bit too long, the skin ended up just a bit darker and crunchier than I had hoped for, but I expect perfection next time at 5 minutes less. Still, the resulting fish crackers were very satisfying! (I've done this with chicken skin and the result was equally fantastic, better actually.)

Costco Rotisserie Chicken

A Costco rotisserie chicken for us usually entails the following:
1) lunch of mama salad plus 2 baby salads w/ chunks of dark meat and one breast or 1 leg per child & 1 breast for mama
2) Picking the meat off the chicken and saving the second breast for "he who prefers lean meat" to take to work with salad for lunch (This is usually done a couple of hours after lunch b/c whoever picks the chicken gets a lovely treat of munching on whatever skin wasn't finished at lunch and whatever bits are juicy and attractive)
3) Best Crunchy Walnut Dill Pepper Chicken Salad, recipe to follow.
4) Bone broth simmered down with the carcass and all the leftover gelatinous collagen bits, and the skin and fat that were not browned enough to be appetizing earlier, and a splash of vinegar.

I can't think of a better paleo "to-go" meal than this. We used to get take out when James was coming home from work late, but since going a bit stricter it has been quite difficult to find something that he can pick up. I usually do the Costco run in the morning and the kids and I have chicken for lunch but I will surely be requesting a dinner rotisserie pick up from now on!

Blueberry Binge

Who binges on blueberries? I do! That's who. We picked 11 pounds today of the most blueberry-ie tasting, hugest, awesome blueberries you can imagine. And then I ate most of them.

ok, ok, not really most of them, but a kind of obscene amount. And then I had an apple. And some Tuscan melon. (like a small cantaloupe) And banana.

Also ate some good protein, (eggs, kippers, pork) but really it was quite a fruity day. I am calling it a re-feed and forgetting about it.

We set up the dehydrator with apricots from our tree, and bing cherries from a few miles away, and then James pureed a bunch of apricots and blueberries and cherries with a tablespoon of local raw honey to make fruit leather. I am not interested in any of that so the higher sugar content per/ounce doesn't concern me greatly. I think James is going to take most of it to work for snacking, but I will let the kids have some too. I am looking forward to making some blueberry coconut ice-cream, and lots of other blueberry treasures, but will try hard to eat it in moderation. I expect the family to eat most of it so that shouldn't be terribly difficult.

ok, off to knit and watch Orient Express! (sooooo excited, love David Suchet!)

Beets in the Bag

Not sure how paleo modern beets are, but they are certainly tasty & beautiful! I have been prepping large batches of them lately by separating the greens and keeping the leaves that are in good shape, soaking in a big bowl, rinsing, spinning dry and stuffing into a gallon ziplock bag in the fridge until I am ready to cook them. I then wash the beets, and wrap up a few in a foil "bag" with no oil or seasoning or anything, and then stick in the grill whenever we next have some meat ready to go. I leave them in the hot grill for quite a while, perhaps 30-45 minutes? Turn the bags over once, and when cool (I just leave them to cool when I turn the grill off) I stick 'em in the fridge. There have been a couple of times where 1 bag leaked a bit so it might really be better to double the layer of foil, or stick them in another container.

When I have time (hah!) I can unwrap a packet of grill roasted beets and easily slip the skins off, chop roughly and drizzle with good extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and rice wine vinegar for a very tasty and refreshing summer side dish.

Blueberry Picking

I feel so lucky to live in this place surrounded by small farms and fruit growers. Growing up in NY I longed to live on a farm with animals, though of course now I appreciate all the local museums and subways, and not having had to get up early and feed the chickens, and well everything. (I kind of miss the city sometimes...) Since getting back home isn't really an option, we have chosen a location (at least for a couple of years) that is providing us with fantastic opportunities for local foods. We are in the middle of various apple orchards, cherries, pastured chickens, pigs and cows, I could go on. The cost of living is pretty darn cheap as well, so I have been able to indulge in seriously good eating along paleo lines for the past year. It's been fantastic for the kids as well, they have a place to play outside! And we go fruit picking, and for picnics and nature walks, and all kinds of great stuff. I am concerned that when we leave here I  will have a hard time adjusting, but so be it. In the mean time we enjoy what we have. Life is fleeting, according to the guy with the last of the garlic scapes at market last week.  ;-)

Today we picked a few pounds of blueberries, and ate most of it. Will have to go back on the weekend! Maybe with daddy's help we can get enough to last a week?