Holidays...

It is the time of year that everyone starts to shout about family time, being thankful, being generous and kind…yada yada yada.

I know that those are all good things, but why do we wait until the end of the year to start pontificating about what we should be doing all year long? It is human nature to start reminiscing at certain milestones and it is my opinion that as we reflect on the past year we think about our regrets and shortcomings throughout the first 11 months and we want to make up for it with peace on Earth and stuff like that.

Don’t get me wrong, I want peace on Earth, but I want it all year. I am not perfect. I have issues with bad drivers, and people who don’t say thank you when you hold the door for them, I cuss (a lot, man do I love cussing), and have a million other things that I can improve upon. My point is that I am working on those daily and not waiting until the end of the year, the winter solstice, the new year, etc. to make a change. I am starting with the man in the mirror… (props to the king of pop). So continue to give to charity and help your fellow man. It is as simple as a smile to the homeless person on the corner or taking someone’s grocery basket back to the store for them. Gestures do not have to be grandiose to be effective; you just have to start somewhere.

So bake some cookies and take them to someone who could use a treat, then sit and have a cup of coffee and enjoy each other’s company and then do it again next month or two months from now. Don’t wait until next holiday season. Life is too short and you never know what lies ahead for you or the ones you love.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (adapted from Claire Robinson’s version)

1 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place the racks in the upper and lower third of the oven.

In a medium bowl, mix the peanut butter, sugar, vanilla and egg until well combined. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the mixture about 1 inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Flatten the mounds with the tines of a fork, making a crosshatch pattern on the cookies. Sprinkle coarse salt on top of the cookies.

Bake until golden around the edges, about 10 minutes, switching the position of the sheets halfway through baking. Transfer to racks to cool. Repeat with the remaining dough

I wish you all many blessings now and in the coming year.

Trace

Pumpkin everywhere…

Pumpkin everywhere…

It is that time of year where pumpkin starts showing up in everything. Bread, cookies,

lattes, candles, candy, noodles, marshmallows, arghhh. The frustrating thing is that

most of the time the pumpkin flavored foods do not include any pumpkin at all. They

usually have pumpkin pie spice, or artificial pumpkin flavoring, but no squash at all!

This recipe however is chock full o’ pumpkin.

Grain free pumpkin and spice pancakes. This is a primal inspired recipe that I adapted

from several recipes I found on the World Wide Web, and it is a variation of the grain

free banana pancakes recipe that I posted before.

Pumpkin pancakes

4 eggs

½ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Pinch of salt

Butter (for the griddle)

Combine the first four ingredients until well blended. Heat griddle or skillet to medium

heat, brush with butter. Scoop about 1/3 cup of batter on to griddle. Cook until golden

on the bottom and slightly opaque in the center and around the edges. Flip, brown on

the other side, and serve.

I served with pumpkin pie spiced honey butter, sliced tangerines, and bacon (of course).

Now go cook something..

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The curious case of the missing apples...

If you come to visit me at work, you will notice that I always have a bowl of apples. I like apples, I use them to cut down on my temptation to choose candy or other less healthy snacks, and I am always willing to share.

So I buy two 3 pound bags of apples every two weeks when we do our grocery shopping and I leave one bag at home and take one bag to work, but this last shopping trip I could not find the bag to take to work.

Where could it be? I finally resigned myself to the fact that somehow they must have been thrown away... they were nowhere to be found... until yesterday.

I went downstairs to our freezer to pick out meat to be thawed for our weekly dinner and in the top corner of the freezer was a bag of gala apples, frozen solid.

Awesome... Applecicles! (I might patent that)... What was I going to do... when they thawed they would be mushy and no one likes mushy apples... unless they are in applesauce!

So let them rest until they were soft enough to core, and then I roughly chopped them. A medium size pot with about 3/4 cup of water, 3 lbs of chopped frozen apples, a couple of drops of pure cinnamon oil, and a generous sprinkling of really good cinnamon (from Orr's Trading Company), and a little bit of time was all that was needed to make delicious applesauce.

After the mixture cooked on low for about an hour, I used my immersion blender to blend the mixture to a nice chunky consistency.

Delicious, no sugar added, applesauce. Which was the perfect ingredient for these delicious grain free muffins from the Civilized Caveman http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/grain-free-goodies/apple-mug-muffin-in-2-minutes/.

Instead of turning lemons into lemonade, I turned frozen apples in apple muffins...

Go cook something! Trace

Burritos, breakfast burritos…

With the kids back in school it is time to evaluate how we are fueling their minds and bodies. When they are home for the summer, if they do not get enough food for breakfast they can walk into the kitchen and get a snack. In school they need to be fed and out the door and most times are not getting any other sustenance until lunch time. 

Cereal is most everyone’s go-to breakfast food, but in my opinion it is usually a very poor choice for sustained energy. Most breakfast cereals are very high in sugar and low in protein and complex carbohydrates… what that means is that the cereal burns off quickly and the body needs more fuel to keep going.

Think about a fireplace, you build the fire with logs because you want it to burn for a long time. Now picture the fireplace and build your fire with newspaper. It burns quickly and it is gone. They are related substances (newspaper is made from wood pulp), but the paper is processed and refined, the logs are natural and unrefined.  The paper represents simple carbs and the log represents complex carbs, protein, fat, etc.

What can we do to keep the fire stoked all morning until lunch? EAT REAL FOOD! I know everyone is busy, but we can do a few things to make it easier, quicker, and cheaper.

How about my breakfast burritos?

2 lbs breakfast sausage

1 dozen eggs

2 cups shredded cheese

16 flour tortillas

4 potatoes (diced)

Brown sausage and cook diced potatoes in the same skillet, drain excess grease and set aside. Scramble eggs. Mix sausage, potatoes, and eggs in large bowl (when all ingredients are cool).

Layout tortilla, spread a small handful of cheese and about a ¼ cup of the sausage mix on one side. Roll burrito from the filled side, folding in edges and continue the roll until it looks right. Freeze on a cookie sheet overnight and then transfer to a zip top bag for longer storage.

Make the burritos spicier; add onions or peppers or whatever.

Did I mention that these burritos with no artificial flavors, colors, or chemicals only cost about 88 cents each?

Check out my site at www.cookingwithtrace.com or catch me on Facebook! Go cook something!

Have you been to Spoons Bistro and Bakery?

You should check out this local gem. Not only do they have great food, but the proceeds go to an amazing cause. Spoons Bistro and Bakery is on the campus of HopeWest (formerly known as Hospice & Palliative Care of Western Colorado) at 3090 North 12^th street in Grand Junction. Downstairs from the hospice care center is a quaint little café with indoor and outdoor seating. You can visit during the day for breakfast or lunch and be treated to delicious comforting food made from real ingredients or you can visit Spoons After Dark for an upscale dinner that won’t break the bank.

Our family visited Spoons After Dark and we were amazed at the delicious choices offered. You have to realize that the kitchen prepares the meals for the Hospice Care Center upstairs… so the patients are treated to great food and their families can enjoy the same.

The small menu offered great choices such as Cavatappi Pasta & Pesto, Rosemary Chicken, Fresh Atlantic Salmon, Fresh Alaskan Halibut, or even a Petite Filet Mignon… but of course I ordered the Gourmet Petite Burger with sautéed mushrooms. 

My first thought was a 3 ounce burger? That is not going to be enough… but I wanted to keep an open mind. I chose 2 sides from an impressive list that includes soups, salads, mac and cheese, truffle fries and even grilled asparagus. The Sautéed Pear and Pecan salad was a delicious blend of seasonal greens topped with a fried goat cheese medallion (it’s not a salad until something is fried), candied pecans, sautéed pears, and a chef prepared pear dressing. My only note for the chef was that the delicious dressing was quick to pool at the bottom of the salad, but it was very tasty. My second side was a no fail option... Truffle Fries topped with parmesan cheese and parsley. Simple presentation with just the right amount of seasoning and they were the first to be snatched from my plate by my family. By the way the 3 ounce burger was the perfect size! 

Overall the meal was a success, one boy couldn’t finish his After Dark Three Chees Mac with giant fruit salad and the other boy was grinning because the Best Ever Chocolate Brownie was topped with real whipped cream and pieces of Enstrom’s toffee. The bill did not break the bank (but we ordered one of the least expensive options) and the best part is that proceeds from Spoons support the mission of HopeWest (formerly known as Hospice & Palliative Care of Western Colorado).

The amazing work that they are doing at the Hospice Care Center is invaluable for families going through the toughest times. The care center is a beautiful facility that allows families and patients to be comfortable during the last days. They provide so much comfort and support to the entire family that it is almost too good to be true. Check out their website at www.hospicewco.com.

Oh and did I mention that they have desserts and a coffee shop? Well you should check them out as too!

You can always find me at www.cookingwithtrace.com or on www.facebook.com/cookingwithtrace

Trace

Summer grilling, had me a blast…

Summer grilling, had me a blast…

I like to grill pretty much year round, but obviously summertime is primo for cooking outside. Not only can you keep the house from getting too hot, but you can also produce flavors unparalleled in the kitchen.

Flame, smoke, marinades, rubs, and the list goes on. Even the simplest seasoning can be enhanced by the grill. Gas, charcoal, or hardwood it makes no difference, the idea of cooking outdoors like a caveman or cavewoman is all that matters.

I use a propane gas grill and I am still learning. I am a short order cook by nature and have very little patience for taking my time when it comes to getting food on my plate… but as I said I am learning.

I am learning to not turn the heat up to high, I am learning to keep one section of the grill as a warming area, I am learning to be let my food rest before serving… all things that improve the experience.

I recommend that you do some research, find a book, website, or a friend and start cooking. It is the best hobby in world because most of the time you can eat your mistakes.

My latest foray into grilled deliciousness was my own version of bacon cheeseburgers.

First I put raw bacon in my food processor and pulsed it until it was sorta like ground beef. Then I mixed the bacon with hamburger, Italian sausage, spices, and shredded cheese. The result was a burger that was out of this world.

Awesome bacon cheeseburgers

1 lb bacon ends and pieces (ground)

1 lb ground beef

1 lb mild Italian sausage

½ cup shredded cheese

Salt, pepper, granulated garlic to taste

Mix all ingredients together and form into patties, I like a little bigger burger so I weighed them to be 6 ounces.

Grill on medium heat until cooked through (the the pork sausage needs to be completely cooked).

Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think, or what you did different.

Connect with me at cookingwithtrace@gmail.com, www.cookingwithtrace.com, or comment www.facebook.com/cookingwithtrace.

Now go grill something! Trace

Unreal Candy giveaway from the Mommyhood Chronicles..

When I say unreal.. I am not using a superlative adjective, I am talking about the new candy from UNREAL brands. The UNREAL candy line does not include any chemicals, artificial colors, corn syrup, and excess sugar, and they taste great!

Our family is extremely sensitive to chemical food coloring. We are very aware of everything we consume to ensure that it does not creep into our diet...

Image courtesy of antpkr / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I was surprised at how many things have artificial food coloring:

Marshmallows
Macaroni and Cheese
Medicines (over the counter and prescription)
Toothpaste
Mouthwash
Pudding
Yogurt
and the list goes on...

There is a big debate on food coloring, in other countries they either use natural colors or they have to put a warning label on the food. What really frustrates me is the same companies that are making adjustments for other countries are still feeding us this poison and our Food and Drug Administration is condoning it...

Ok.. so much for my rant... I really hope you will check out this awesome candy and let me know what you think! 


Check out their website Get UNREAL and then head over to The Mommyhood Chronicles to enter her contest to enter to win!

Comment here or connect with me at www.facebook.com/cookingwithtrace

Trace

Not a post about food...

Adenocarcinoma - I hate that word...

Non-small cell carcinoma, stage 4, inoperable, all words that are on the list of words that I never want to hear again.

This past February my family heard all those words, and it sucked. My father was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer, and it was too late for him. There were options of chemotherapy, but it would only lengthen his life by the amount of time in treatment and
it would not be a quality time.

This type of cancer is not easily detected. My father complained for a couple of years about a cough, fatigue, some tightness in his lungs, etc. However, because he was a diabetic, heart patient (who smoked most of his life), he was checked for tumors and "spots" on his lungs and his complaints were chalked up to his lifestyle and history and rightly so. He was told to lose weight, take his medicine, and quit smoking.

It was not until his lungs filled with fluid several times, (at first diagnosed as pneumonia) that he was finally tested for a reason for the massive fluid.

Drains were surgically implanted, fluid was tested and pain meds were prescribed. When the tests came back, we heard snippets of a diagnosis, "with this type of cancer", "symptoms match stage 4 cancer", "in a patient with lung cancer", etc.

All these terms were mentioned in passing and never fully explained. Unfortunately my sister had already been down this road with her mother 18 months ago, and she caught on to what was happening and called hospice, set up camp in dad's house and prepared for the worst. When we finally were able to see a cancer specialist, the news was confirmed and our options were limited. We had questions. Why wasn't this caught sooner, given his symptoms and complaints? The doctor was very nice, compassionate, and realistic. He answered the questions we had, most of them I had downloaded from the American Cancer Society's website.

The American Cancer Society funds research to prevent cancer, to treat patients with cancer, and hopefully one day to cure cancer.

My father passed away about 6 weeks after diagnosis… the one thing that I can do is try to prevent anyone else ever hearing those terrible words “you have cancer”. 

Help me in my fight by visiting my website at www.cookingwithtrace.com and clicking on the Relay for Life banner at the top of the page. Plus you will get to see a picture of my father, sister, and some crazy fat red haired kid circa 1992… before I knew how to use hair products…