Honey, Honey!

Jeremy and I checked on our bees on Monday.   We were looking for one thing--Honey!  We added a superstructure on top of the two hive bodies when we got back from vacation.  The honey from the supers is what we will extract and harvest for our own use.

The bees had been busy drawing comb on the new frames in the super.  It always takes them longer the first year because they have to form all new honeycomb,  Later years they have a base layer of honeycomb to just add on to so they can get started with the honey-making sooner. 

We saw the very first two cells of capped honey in the super.  The bees won't cap it until it until it's ready.  They fan it with their wings to evaporate excess water which would cause the honey to ferment.  When it's ready they know, and then they cap it.

I'll admit I was a little disappointed that there wasn't any more capped honey already.

But then we started inspecting the other hive bodies and found that the upper hive body was entirely filled with capped honey!  That's good for a number of reasons.  First we know that they will have enough food this winter.  Second, we know that from here on out, for the rest of the summer, the bees are working for us!  So we will definitely be getting honey this year. 

We had been looking for honey because our friends were going to do some extracting that night.  They sell at the farmers' market and were running low on honey for sale.  So despite not having honey of our own to harvest --yet-- Jeremy and I each took turns heading down to work with our friends to begin learning to process of extraction.

Since it really was helpful to have a few hours of help, they gave Jeremy a quart of honey for his time.  The boys wanted to try some right away, but since it was bedtime we suggested they wait until the next day.  We didn't have any bread for toast, but I'm an Arizona girl, and I can't think of anything better to enjoy golden raw honey on than hot fresh Indian fry bread!

When I was little living up in the White Mountains we called them "Navajo Tacos" because they would serve the fry bread topped with beans, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes with a dollop of sour cream on top.  They would serve them in the lodge at the ski slopes we went to on the reservation.  After skiing we were always hungry enough for the taco version, but the dessert version of the fry bread with honey drizzled on top can't be beat for a sweet treat.

My mom got her recipe for fry bread from the newspaper in AZ.  Sometimes newspaper recipes can turn out the very best!  This is one of those times.  So here is my mom's Indian Fry Bread Recipe, and.  Don't forget to follow all hot oil kitchen safety rules--especially with kids around.   

Indian Fry Bread
Serves 8

4 cups flour
1 Tbl baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 Tbl powdered milk
1 1/4 -1 1/2 cups warm water
Shortening or other frying oil

Melt shortening or other oil in a large skillet, dutch oven,  or wok.  (Should be at least 3/4 inch of oil.)  Heat to 500*F.

Meanwhile, combine flour, baking powder, salt and milk powder in large mixing bowl.  (You can do this by hand or with a dough hook.)  Gradually stir in warm water.  Mix until dough forms a ball and comes clean from edge of bowl.  Knead until elastic.  Divide dough into 8 pieces.  Pat into circles and roll to 1/4 inch thickness.  

Slip one dough circle into hot fat.  Turn once when underside is brown.  Remove from oil, drain on paper towels.  Repeat with remaining dough.

Local Burger

Yesterday we visited a restaurant that's been on our list to visit for four years.  Its called Local Burger, and the food they serve is all  --you guessed it-- local.

The restaurant is about an hour and a half away from us in Lawrence, but we were driving out there to see a pediatric dentist for Owen, so we stopped on by.
 

The have profiles up on the local Kansas ranches that they get each of their proteins on the menu from.  They have grass-fed beef, elk, buffalo, turkey/chicken and pork.  The buns are made locally from organic Kansas flour, the cheese is made in Kansas, and the produce is all local and organic. 

And it was delicious.

They also had coloring pages for the boys of the former lives of their lunch--happy animals on the Kansas prairie-with identifiable native flora as well. 

And the place was breastfeeding friendly for Wyatt and me if needed,  because what's breast milk after all, if it isn't guaranteed local?!

I hope you enjoyed this weeks installment of Real Food Friday.  Here's the most recent issue of the seasonal food and food storage hybrid newsletter that I compile for the ladies at church.


In The Season Thereof -June July

Really Real

Owen has been obsessed with an idea lately.  We try to encourage any interest the boys show towards food or cooking and Owen was obsessed with making homemade orange sherbet.  We watched Alton Brown make it on Good Eats and since then Owen asked about it almost daily.

I cannot even describe how delicious it turned out.  It tastes so orange and it tastes so clear.  As I was eating it I was thinking about how so many people and us included just don't even know what the "real thing" tastes like.  And I wondered if we sat a bunch of people down in a room and fed them the real thing if they wouldn't just instantly be converted to real food because they simply hadn't known what they had been missing?

Unfortunately for some people their taste buds have been assaulted with too much added salt, and too much added sugar, and too many artificial "natural flavorings"  for so long they can overlook real food upon first re-taste.   But I've seen my homemade chocolate pudding rock people's worlds before, and I'm going to bet that this orange sherbet would do the same.

It sure rocked mine.

Herb Garden Recipes: Dill and Sage

A month ago we planted herbs in a pot on the front porch.  They've filled out so much that it was time to start cooking with them.   Our front porch kitchen garden pot includes rosemary dill and sage.  It's visually interesting to plant herbs with different textures next to each other--these three fit the bill.

Dill is an herb I had to reintroduce myself to when I became an adult.  I remember not particularly liking it (more specifically: what was made with it--probably more specifically: potato salad).  I'm happy to have a number of recipes now in which I really like the dill.  The first is what I like to call:

Cool and Creamy Cucumber Salad

2 cucumbers
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Peel cucumbers (at least partially--I usually just peel a few strips off leaving it with circus stripes of green--then you get some added fiber an nutrients from the peel but it's not too scratchy in the mouth) slice thin and set aside.  Stir all remaining ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Add the cucumbers and stir until the cucumbers are completely covered.  Serve cold immediately or after an hour or two in the fridge. 

We really enjoy this cool summer salad.  I didn't take a picture of the cucumber salad before we ate it--but since I only had one cucumber we had leftover dressing.  We used it to dip fresh vegetables in and it was delicious.

When I served the cucumber salad.  Owen asked me, "Mom, is there grass in this?"  I told him "No, it's fresh dill from our herb garden."  To which he replied, "OK," and then proceeded to eat his salad.

Another thing we had this week for dinner was Pasta with Walnuts Butter and Sage:

The recipe for this was in my January recipe newsletter, for "nut season".  Its a very light sauce and the sage and lemon juice give it a very fresh taste. 

These two recipes have been favorites for a few years.  Hopefully this summer we can find some new favorites as well as our herb garden continues to produce.

Late Spring Seasonal Food

Spring is upon us.  I'm getting excited for more produce at the market, and hopefully some in my backyard as well. 

Enjoy these seasonal recipes for March and April. 
In the Season Thereof -March April

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas

I generally am not interested in "vegetarian" dishes. Large chunks of tofu or textured vegetable protein marinated in sauces and pretending to be meat. What I am interested in are delicious vegetable-based dishes with interesting and fresh ingredients and flavors that are so satisfying that meat isn't a necessary addition, nor is it missed at all.

These enchiladas fall under that category. We love sweet potatoes. If you trust the CDC's information it's among the most nutritious foods in the vegetable kingdom.  I just know that sweet potatoes are delicious real food that my kids enjoy as much as I do.  And being from Arizona I have a monthly recommended allowance of Southwestern Tex-Mex food, and if I don't meet that requirement I start to get cranky and mopey.  So this recipe is good in our home for many reasons. 

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas

1 pound sweet potatoes peeled and diced, 1/2 inch cubes
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp ketchup or tomato sauce
1 can (1 3/4 cup) black beans, drained
1 4 oz can diced green chilies
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
12 corn tortillas
Large (28 oz) can green enchilada sauce
Monterrey Jack Cheese, as desired

 In a bowl, toss diced sweet potatoes, cumin, chili powder, salt, and ketchup.  Spread on an oiled baking sheet. Cook 25 min at 425° or until golden and tender.

Combine the black beans, green chilis, and chopped cilantro with the potatoes.

I started doing a simplified layered enchilada to save time (and curses at cracking tortillas).  Spread some green enchilada sauce on bottom of a 9X13 pan. Lay out 6 corn tortillas on the bottom overlapping a bit and curling up the edges of the pan a bit.  Add the bean mixture, spreading it out over the tortillas. Sprinkle with some cheese.  Pour some enchilada sauce over the bean mixture.  Top with the remaining 6 tortillas.  Top with more cheese and sauce. Bake about 20 min at 350° until hot and bubbly . (Adapted from recipe here.)

When they come out they look like regular mushy enchiladas--but this is an appetizing picture of the pre-baked enchiladas before I put the top layer of tortillas on.  I love the orange sweet potatoes--great natural color always makes food more appetizing.




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Have you tried any new real food recently?  I love to get new recipes.  Leave a comment here to share your real food recipes.

Real food is just what it sounds like: real ingredients, fruits, vegetables, milled grains, basic dairy products, things in forms close to the way they can be found in nature. (We don't  take ourselves too seriously --if a recipe is made from combining the  ingredients from six tin cans--we are probably not interested--but if  you have an ingredient here or there that is typically on the "do not  invite" list we'll still be your friends-- 'cause we do it too.)

If you've blogged your recipe grab a "Real Food Friday" badge for you post or sidebar and leave us a link in the comments.  If you don't blog.  Link to an online source of the recipe and leave a comment telling us about it.  See you back for the next Real Food Friday in a fortnight.



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In Season for February

I got a baby food freezer tray for Christmas from my brother and his wife. 

It makes the cutest little cubes of baby food.

Real food is colorful and appetizing, and when they eat real food as babies--kids will continue eating real food as they grow up. 

Sweet peas are a favorite around here.  I can't make a handful for the baby without bringing out a bowl for the brothers too!

Here's February's seasonal recipe newsletter.  Please Enjoy!

In The Season Thereof -February



*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Have you tried any new real food recently?  I love to get new recipes.  Leave a comment here to share your real food recipes.

Real food is just what it sounds like: real ingredients, fruits, vegetables, milled grains, basic dairy products, things in forms close to the way they can be found in nature. (We don't  take ourselves too seriously --if a recipe is made from combining the  ingredients from six tin cans--we are probably not interested--but if  you have an ingredient here or there that is typically on the "do not  invite" list we'll still be your friends-- 'cause we do it too.)

If you've blogged your recipe grab a "Real Food Friday" badge for you post or sidebar and leave us a link in the comments.  If you don't blog.  Link to an online source of the recipe and leave a comment telling us about it.  See you back for the next Real Food Friday in a fortnight.



<a href="http://www.jeanetics.net/search/label/Real%20Food%20Friday"><img alt="Rel Food Button" border="0" src="http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd213/nettebug84604/Blog/RealFood.jpg" /></a>

I Put the Yo in Yogurt

I am never am more dissatisfied than when standing in front of the yogurt section of the grocery store.  I really like yogurt, but I'm just less and less satisfied by the selection.  There was a brand we got for a few years that was really good.  It had live active cultures, lower amounts of sugar and only 3 natural fruit flavored varieties.  But eventually the product was moved out to make way for new product.  All that's left are "kid's" yogurts full of sugar, artificial colors and, stabilizers, or the "health" yogurt full of artificial sweeteners, unnatural fiber and whatever else is the "in" ingredient this month in health magazines.

So I've gotten increasingly more curious in making my own yogurt.  I've read the different techniques for jury rigged yogurt makers using crock pots or heating pads, but when I came across a thermostat-controlled yogurt-maker at the thrift store for $8.50 I had to get it.  I'm the type that will often try and "make do" with what I already have when trying something new--but when things go wrong you are left wondering if it was the makeshift parts that were wrong or the project itself was a bad idea.

Also, at a price of $8.50 if I don't like it I can just give it away again, and since I bought it used there's no consumer guilt. For the price of one movie ticket I can get my fill of kitchen experimentation and if I decide it's not for me--then no big loss.  

Luckily, it's been working out really well.   I've tried using store bought plain yogurt as a starter, and I ordered some powdered starter when I bought Jeremy's cheesemaking kit. (I picked up some buttermilk starter as well--might as well while I was already paying for shipping.)

Owen particularly loves the whole process--including choosing which kind of jam he wants to stir into his yogurt for extra flavoring. 

My homemade peach syrup is delicious in it as well (though next time I make that syrup I will be altering the recipe to add less vanilla--I think the canning intensifies the flavor).

Like a lot of other products--the consistency of homemade yogurt is different from that of store bought.  Most of the time we go through a transition period with change (no matter what kind) but then find that the change becomes the new "normal."  I'm waiting for Jonas to warm up to the yogurt a bit more.   He usually has a few bites and that's all, but Jeremy and I love it.  Jeremy says it reminds him of the yogurt in France. 

Europe also had delicious drinkable yogurt. We were wondering recently what we might do to produce some of that delicacy.  I love that Jeremy is and always has been a willing partner in crime within our kitchen.  It makes food a whole lot of fun. 


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Have you tried any new real food recently?  I love to get new recipes.  Leave a comment here to share your real food recipes.

Real food is just what it sounds like: real ingredients, fruits, vegetables, milled grains, basic dairy products, things in forms close to the way they can be found in nature. (We don't  take ourselves too seriously --if a recipe is made from combining the  ingredients from six tin cans--we are probably not interested--but if  you have an ingredient here or there that is typically on the "do not  invite" list we'll still be your friends-- 'cause we do it too.)

If you've blogged your recipe grab a "Real Food Friday" badge for you post or sidebar and leave us a link in the comments.  If you don't blog.  Link to an online source of the recipe and leave a comment telling us about it.  See you back for the next Real Food Friday in a fortnight.



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In the Season Thereof

I've been asked to put together a small newsletter for the women's organization at church. It's part real food, and part food storage, and part not trying to be intimidating--but trying to be inspiring nonetheless. . .

I put in two main dish recipes, a side dish and dessert.  The dessert is the only one that is not really "real food" in my opinion, but it's been a favorite at a few activities around here so I put that recipe in to get people excited about cooking and the recipes.  The side dish is also good for those who feel uneasy fully committing to the type of food I'm recommending. 

We ate both of the main dishes listed this week. Typing up the recipes made me want them.   I really hope these recipes will be useful--and even empowering--to at least some of the women.  That's the idea at least.  And will share them here monthly as well.

In The Season Thereof -January

Real Food Takes a Trip

I got a lot of slack on vacation about my "Real Food" standards. Christmas wasn't as bad because my whole side of the family was living out of hotel rooms, but Thanksgiving at my parent's house was another story.

I bought a package of individually wrapped slices of American cheese on hamburger night.  I bought them specifically with my husband in mind because he was the one getting dragged to my parents' house and he occasionally likes to savor =snort= the comfort food tastes of his childhood.  So, yes, it was sarcastically suggested that I highlight that product for my Real Food Friday feature.  (Insert: unenthusiastic "ha ha.")

I also got slack about the "really healthy" marshmallow pops I made for my brother's engagement party.

Healthy nothin'.  They were just plain adorable.

I mean look at them!  And even Michael Pollin say's you can eat special occasion foods on special occasions. . . Though he does say you should still make them yourself. . . moving on:

My whole point is this is why I don't like labeling myself because then all of the sudden everyone else looks at you in the light of that label. (And judge you accordingly.)

So to set the labeling record straight, I like to think of myself as a Real Foods Activist not so much a Real Food Purist.  I think real food is very important, and not as impossible to come by as some people think, but I don't always eat it.  And so for fun, and to make anyone who could be feeling intimidated by the real food challenge feel a bit better I will share what we took for snacks on our road trip on Christmas break. 

I could have homemade all kinds of "real" snacks and packed them with dry ice in a cooler for our two-day drive but I didn't--I was too busy finishing up last-minute Christmas presents.  But I also didn't use it as an excuse to buy the junkiest junk I could find in the store.  I think I came up with a good balance and everyone involved was satisfied.

From left to right we have sourdough pretzel sticks, dried banana slices, a tube of banana "puffs" for the baby, beef jerky, plain popcorn, honey-mustard pretzels (they sounded really good, but were probably the worst thing in the bag), apricot fruit leathers, fig newtons, and craisins. We last took two bottles of 100% juice that we poured into individual bottles on the trip and a bag of apples and oranges.   

Really I don't think we did too bad, and it was definitely more "real" than the food we ate at the stops along the way.  So how was your holiday eating?  Any tips for eating real on vacation?


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Have you tried any new real food recently?  I love to get new recipes.  Link up here to share your real food recipes.

Real food is just what it sounds like: real ingredients, fruits, vegetables, milled grains, basic dairy products, things in forms close  to the way they can be found in nature. (We don't  take ourselves too seriously --if a recipe is made from combining the  ingredients from six tin cans--we are probably not interested--but if  you have an ingredient here or there that is typically on the "do not  invite" list we'll still be your friends-- 'cause we do it too.)

If you've blogged your recipe grab a "Real Food Friday" badge for you post or sidebar and leave us a link.  If you don't blog.  Link to an online source of the recipe and leave a comment on this post telling us about it.  I'll leave the linky open all weekend, and see you back for the next Real Food Friday in a fortnight.



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Real Baby Food

Babies are the easiest category of people to feed real food to. It's also a lot less complicated than people make it out to be.

We steam and puree vegetables to make homemade baby food and store the extras in the freezer. The bottles of natural unsweetened applesauce from the grocery store are great for babies if you don't want to make your own and is still a better deal than the small jars. For Wyatt we've even made him homemade rice cereal. We sent brown rice through the wheat grinder and then cooked it like creamy wheat, another option is to cook up a batch of rice first and then puree it.

The thing that I have noticed with my babies is that they don't actually like "baby food" for too long before they are ready to move on.  I don't push them to eat too much baby food so that we don't compromise the nursing relationship, so by the time they are getting used to eating "people food" and moving on to larger portions they are ready to move on to finger food. 

The next step is to take the vegetables that would have been cooked and pureed and simply cook them.  Little diced sweet potato, squash, and carrots are great baby food.  The baby picks it up and basically mashes it to a pulp before it reaches his mouth--then gums it and swallows it down. 

We feel good about peas right now as well as cubed bananas (of course never leave an eating baby unattended, and always assure that your chosen source of medical advice --not me-- deems the food appropriate for your baby's stage).  And eventually we'll move on to add plain beans and chunks of cheese. We also start feeding them oatmeal and other hot grain cereals just like the rest of the family. Raisins are good once babies have a nice set of teeth. 

Moving quickly along to include foods with textures other than just smooth-puree is good to help babies be open to trying new things.  And the most important thing is to never stop giving them the vegetables they've been eating all along. 

When we could tell Wyatt was ready for some food of the teething biscuit variety I started looking for recipes. I found some recipes on this baby food website which is also where we got the info on making the rice cereal.  I wanted a non-wheat recipe, no extra sugar, and having no eggs was a good thing too.

The recipe we tried out recently --Oat and Banana Drops-- was a hit.  It made a biscuit that was soft and mushy in the baby's mouth (as opposed to the type that is hard and dissolves as the baby sucks on it).  They were delicious--tasting similar to a banana-walnut-type muffin but with 753 less calories a piece and containing only happy baby ingredients.  And they made for one satisfied baby.

This is the only picture I have because the entire family ate up the half batch within 12 hours.  (Had to let the baby share his nourishing snack with the rest of us--we need it too!)



Oat and Banana Drops -- Baby Biscuit Recipe:


1 c quick oats
1 c ground oats (oat flour)
1/4 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1 t baking powder
1 c (2-3) ripe bananas, mashed
1 t vanilla extract
3 T oil


Mix dry ingredients together, set aside.  Mix wet ingredients, pour into to dry mixture. Drop by the spoonful onto parchment paper or greased baking sheet, or use a piping bag to make long bars. Bake 12-15 min at 350.

This is (before cooking) how I made mine.  Wyatt likes to be able to grab on and have something sticking out of his fist to chew on.  This was a half batch and made 16.  A full batch should make about 32 bars or 64 drops and should hopefully last more than a day. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Have you tried anything new recently?  I love to get new recipes.  Link up here to share your real food recipes.

Real food is just what it sounds like: real ingredients, fruits, vegetables, milled grains, basic dairy products, things in forms close  to the way they can be found in nature. (We don't  take ourselves too seriously --if a recipe is made from combining the  ingredients from six tin cans--we are probably not interested--but if  you have an ingredient here or there that is typically on the "do not  invite" list we'll still be your friends-- 'cause we do it too.)

If you've blogged your recipe grab a "Real Food Friday" badge for you post or sidebar and leave us a link.  If you don't blog.  Link to an online source of the recipe and leave a comment on this post telling us about it.  I'll leave the linky open all weekend, and see you back for the next Real Food Friday in a fortnight.



<a href="http://www.jeanetics.net/search/label/Real%20Food%20Friday"><img alt="Rel Food Button" border="0" src="http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd213/nettebug84604/Blog/RealFood.jpg" /></a>  

Real Food Friday- Fall Dinner

One of the things about eating real food is that deep down it means eating more "seasonally" as well. But Why not?  People wear seasonal clothes.  People participate in different sports seasonally.  So why do people have a problem with not being able to eat a fresh strawberry smoothie for breakfast 12 months a year?  You can--but that's not very sustainable, often uses questionable farming practices, and is an awfully expensive way to eat as well.  Besides being cheaper--eating seasonably is fun as well, and part of some of our favorite holiday traditions. . .

Ham at Easter.  Corn on the cob for the 4th of July.  Pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.  A Christmas orange in the bottom of your stocking.  Eating seasonally isn't taking the freedom out of life-- it's adding to the fun of life.

We recently made our annual dinner in a pumpkin. And the fall weather was beautiful enough to eat out of doors. 

I made two pumpkins since we were having guests. 

We also enjoyed sparkling apple juice, and apple slices.

And a home baked pumpkin pie topped with fresh cream for dessert. 

Dinner in a pumpkin would be a strange thing to eat in the spring, but we do look forward to eating it each year, in the fall.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

I love to get new recipes.  Link up here to share your real food recipes.

Real food is just what it sounds like: real ingredients, fruits, vegetables, milled grains, basic dairy products, things in forms close to the way they can be found in nature. (We don't take ourselves too seriously --if a recipe is made from combining the ingredients from six tin cans--we are probably not interested.  But if you have an ingredient here or there that is typically on the "do not invite" list we'll still be your friends-- 'cause we do it too.)

If you've blogged your recipe grab a "Real Food Friday" badge for you post or sidebar and leave us a link.  If you don't blog.  Link to an online source of the recipe and leave a comment on this post telling us about it.  I'll leave the linky open all weekend, and see you back for the next Real Food Friday in a fortnight.



<a href="http://www.jeanetics.net/search/label/Real%20Food%20Friday"><img alt="Rel Food Button" border="0" src="http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd213/nettebug84604/Blog/RealFood.jpg" /></a>

Real Food Friday

In Radical Homemakers the author mentions an essential skill for modern homemakers as "rediscovering the taste of real food." It's an interesting notion to think about.  The prepared foods these days are full of salt sugar and artificial flavorings.  In essence we forget what real food is supposed to taste like.

I remember one time when I was pregnant with Owen I was hanging out with my teenage brother Mark and my mom at a college church function.  It was a dinner where they had Cosco rolls and a big tub of margarine.

---Now, I respect my mother for trying to raise us on good food.  Michael Pollan talks about how our mothers didn't have nearly the amount of choice that we do today regarding real food.  But regardless of that my mother cooked mostly from scratch and provided us with a variety of fruits and vegetables to eat.  So as her children we know what real food looks like.---

Eating his margarined-up roll my brother asked "How come the fake stuff tastes sooo good?"  And it's true.  Fake food is manufactured to appeal to our taste buds.  But in reality our taste buds are being over-saturated with salt and sugar-with some artificial flavors thrown in as well.  Even wheat bread these days is sweetened with HFCS.  We aren't actually tasting the taste of real foods anywhere.

I suggested a recipe to my sister the other day for roasted fall vegetables.  She told me afterwards that after a few bites she and her husband said to each other, "Meh, it's OK. . ."

But then she said as they continued eating they actually ended up thinking they liked it quite a bit more--they just needed time to get used to the flavors and have them meld in their mouths a bit more. 

We had the roasted vegetables on top of spinach with crumbled goat cheese on top.  Soo delicious--but different.  It doesn't taste like frozen lasagna.  The flavors are mellow and subtle.  You do have to get used to them, introduce yourself to real flavors that occur in nature, and get over a dependence on so much salt.

I'll admit that part of the reason I like real food is because I like the taste, and part of the reason is because I value real food and so I get a satisfaction from eating it that isn't related to taste.  It's a feeling of virtue for eating something I know is so good for me, and it's a feeling of well-being that comes because I (at least in that meal) am living life according to my ideals.

In some real food- taste trumps virtue, but in other foods I still rely heavily on the fact that I know the food is good for me to get me to muscle through the taste. 
. 

 

The next day we ate the roasted vegetables on pizza.  Our kids will eat anything when it's on pizza.  Pizza is a comfort food.  It can be a nice gateway to real foods (or it can be some of the poorest excuses for food you put in your body--but it's your choice). 

So here is Real Food Friday--it's an invitation, but it's also a challenge.  Get outside your comfort zone, make some food--real food.  It's satisfying to make and healthy to eat. 

Here is my contribution-- one last variation we didn't get to is puree-ing the vegetables with some lemon juice --and chicken stock if you like it thinner-- making it a roasted vegetable soup. 

Roasted Fall Vegetables:
1 lb butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound red potatoes scrubbed, and quartered
2 small red onions peeled and quartered
1/2 pound carrots halved lengthwise and cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 sprig rosemary
salt and pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 450*  Pile vegetables on a large sheet pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss to coat.  Add garlic and rosemary to pan.  Roast until vegetables are tender and starting to brown, 40-50 minutes, tossing the vegetables halfway through.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

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