investmentcooking.com

If you have been attempting to eat healthy for very long I am sure that fat is one of the biggest things you have avoided in your diet. We have been told for the past 20 years that fat is bad. That fat makes you fat. Yet when you look to see all the people who have switched to a low fat diet do you see healthy people? I dare say you have not. In the last couple of years new diets have come on the scene such as Atkins and South Beach that have lead to a new approach to eating which includes healthy fats. The trouble with fat is not all encompassing. It is the type of fat which is the problem. Bad fats inhibit your body’s ability to function properly, can cause cancer and can make you fat. Good fats will satiate your hunger, provide resources for your body to run properly, and help you absorb important vitamins and minerals from your foods.

So what are the healthy fats and which are the ones to avoid?

Healthy fats are:
Virgin Coconut Oil
Butter (preferably organic from grass fed cows)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Cold Pressed Flax Seed Oil
Tallow
Lard
Palm Oil (Spectrum makes a great shortening with palm oil)
Marine Oils (i.e. cod liver oil).

Fats to avoid are:
any hydrogenated oils
Soy, corn and safflower oils
Cottonseed oil
Canola oil
All fats heated to very high temperatures in processing and frying

Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) is a wonderful fat that has antimicrobial, anticancer properties. Its health benefits have been recognized for centuries by many other cultures. It is easy to digest and contains lauric acid which is found in breast milk. When it is 76 degrees or warmer this oil is perfectly clear when the temperature falls lower than 76 it becomes a pure white solid. Although it is a saturated fat, it is only a medium chain fatty acid which is what makes it so easy to digest. For more specific information about the chemical structure of VCO and other fats please see the books listed below.

Instead of relying on carbohydrates to fill your hunger use proteins and good fats which will keep you satiated longer and give your body more of what it needs to be healthy. Whole grains, fruits and vegetables do have an important place in your diet but without the proteins and fats you will not be able to absorb the vitamins from those foods and you will still be hungry. (This usually translates into eating too much!)

VCO is easy to incorporate into your diet. You can use VCO to replace butter in most recipes with great results. Add a tablespoon to your smoothies or in a cup of tea. We love to make popcorn on the stove using VCO as the oil and then top with melted butter and sea salt. Delicious!

Here are some recipes to get you started.

Recipes:

Coconut Chicken Strips

Chocolate Drop Cookies

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

Sources for Coconut Oil:

Wilderness Family Naturals

This company provides several great coconut products. They sell some of the best organic virgin coconut oil from the Philippines and it comes in glass jars instead of plastic containers. I highly recommend this company!

Books:

Eat Fat, Lose Fat

This book has 3 different meal plans including for changing the way you eat: One for losing weight, one for good health and one for healing. It is a very practical way to introduce the Nourishing Traditions methods into your daily habits.

Nourishing Traditions

By Sally Fallon with Mary G. Enig, Ph.D.

The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats

This amazing cookbook/encyclopedia has been a wonderful addition to our library. It is filled with information about the kinds of foods that sustained generations before us. This book has over 700 recipes and an education on what to eat and how to prepare it. I highly recommend this book if you want to be challenged in your quest to feed your family healthy foods that will sustain them and generations to come. There is a huge chapter on fats in it as well.

The Coconut Oil Miracle by Bruce Fife

This informative book expounds on the health of the peoples who regularly consume coconut oil. It also discusses the battle that has taken place in our country over what are considered healthy fats. This is a must read!

One of the best tools for investment cooking is a crock-pot. With this simple appliance you can get lots of work done with very little effort. It usually takes 15 minutes of prep time to prepare a meal for the crockpot and you can choose when the best time is for you. I usually prepare dinner just after lunch. It is amazing how much better the evening goes when dinner is all ready. Crockpots are especially useful for making beans, cooking whole chickens, a roast or soups. They are an inexpensive tool especially when you consider what a difference they can make in the time it takes to prepare a meal. Almost every time I use my crockpot I have enough for 2 to 3 meals which is even better!

If you do not already own a crockpot may I suggest you look for one that has a removable crock. This makes it so much easier to clean! I see that they now have ones with timers which would be wonderful! I would make sure and get a larger version so you can have plenty for additional meals. Mine is a 5 quart and I love it!

General Tips for using a Crockpot:

Fill it 2/3 full for the best results. More than that and it won’t cook properly; less it will cook too fast.

Add dairy products and frozen vegetables in the last 30 minutes of cooking.

Don’t lift the lid! You lose 30 minutes of cooking time each time you lift the lid to check on the food.

When cooking vegetables with a large piece of meat make sure to put the veggies on the bottom so they will cook faster. They generally take longer to cook than meat does.

Browning meats before adding them to the crockpot adds to the flavor and look of the meal.

Reduce the liquid of recipes you are adapting to about 1 cup. Because of the way crockpots work less liquid is evaporated during cooking and it captures the juices from the foods you are cooking.

I hope you will take your crockpot out of the cupboard and put it to work for you.

Following are some recipes to get you started.

Recipes:

Whole Chicken

This is a great way to have cooked chicken for other recipes.

1 roasting chicken (thawed or frozen)
1 onion
1 celery rib
4 cloves garlic
Salt & Pepper

Rinse and dry the chicken. Cut up the onion and put half of it on the bottom of the crockpot. Put the rest of the onion, the celery and garlic cloves inside the cavity of the chicken. Salt & pepper the outside to taste. Put it in the crockpot. (If the chicken is frozen put a 1/2 cup of water in the bottom of the crockpot to act as a buffer.) Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8-9 hours.

Basic Bean Preparation

5 cups (aprox. 2 pounds) of Northern, navy, pinto or black beans
3 quarts Warm filtered water
4 tablespoons of whey (the clear liquid that separates from plain yogurt or raw milk) or lemon juice

Rinse the beans and put them in a bowl. Cover with warm water & add whey or lemon juice. Cover the bowl and leave overnight. Drain and rinse. Place in the crock-pot on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours until desired consistency.

Cool and bag for the freezer.

White Chicken Chili

5 cups white beans, cooked
2 cups chicken, cooked and cut into bite sized pieces
1 onion, chopped and sautéed
2 cloves, minced garlic
1 can chopped green chilies
2 t cumin
1 t white pepper
1 t salt
1 quart of chicken broth

Garnishes:

Sour Cream
Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded
Tortilla Chips

Throw all of the ingredients (except the garnishes) in the crockpot. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Serve with a nice green salad and garnishes. Everyone in my family loves this recipe (especially with the cheese and sour cream)!

Man has eaten some form of bread since he was forced out of the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:19 says, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The Bible mentions bread specifically 330 times. It is a vital part of our diet. Then why do so many people seem to have trouble when they eat bread? Why do all of the fad diets tell us we should stop eating bread and that gluten-free diets are healthiest? Could it be that the bread that is found in most homes today is not the nutrient dense food of our ancestors? We as a civilization have taken a wonderful food, removed all of its nutritional value and then called it bad. Let us go back to our ancestors and find how they created a life sustaining food instead of a health hazard for their daily sustenance.

The flour used to make breads was not a refined and processed flour that we see today instead the whole grain was ground into fine flour that was then made into bread. There are many grains that are easily available to us to make bread today as in yesteryear. The most popular, of course, is wheat. The best wheat for bread is hard winter wheat. You can also make wonderful bread from spelt and Kamut. For more variety you can replace 1/3 to ¼ the total amount of flour with other grains such as barley, oats, or rye.

Whole grain breads are a great way to add nutrition to your diet. They are delicious, inexpensive and are packed in vitamins. Whole wheat flour (especially when freshly ground) contains the following nutrients: thiamine (B-1), riboflavin (B-2), niacin (B-3), pyridoxine (B-6), choline, folic acid, pantothenic acid, vitamin E, chromium, manganese, selenium, zinc, iron, cobalt, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, molybdenum, copper and fiber. When wheat flour is refined and turned into white flour the loss of these nutrients is between 16-89% depending on the nutrient.

To get the most nutrition possible for your time and money you need to grind your grain fresh or find a store that will grind it fresh for you. Within 72 hours of being milled grains lose much of their nutrients and start going rancid. Always store flours in the refrigerator or freeze and use them within 2-3 months. Bring the flour to room temperature before using for the best results.

We are blessed in that we don’t have to get out a stone to grind our grain. There are appliances now to help us in our work. I highly recommend investing in a grain mill and a bread making/kneading machine if at all possible. It takes me around 30 minutes to prepare enough bread to feed our family of 7 for a week using these tools.  This is investment cooking at its best!

I buy my grain from a Azure Standard or Wheat Montana. The grain to me in 25 lb or 50 lb bags depending on the type of grain. The cost is a lot cheaper than getting it from the bulk bins at Sprouts or Whole Foods. I pay just over $1/pound including shipping for my grains. One recipe that produces 4-5 loaves of bread needs about 3 ½ pounds of grain. I store my grains in food storage buckets with gamma lids that securely seal the buckets. Whole grains can be kept for at least a year if they are kept dry and at room temperature or below.

Making my own whole grain bread costs me less than $2 a loaf. At the health stores around here the same bread costs between $3-4 per loaf. Besides when there is bread on the table the rest of our food goes a lot further which saves money as well.

With a little practice you can invest some time in preparing homemade bread and reap great health for your whole family.

Recipes:

Our Daily Bread

Makes 6 Loaves

Ingredients

Place 10 cups of flour into mixer bowl with kneading arm. Add dry yeast, vital wheat gluten, and Vitamin C. Pulse to mix well.

Add water and mix for 1 minute. Turn off mixer, cover and let sponge for at least 15 minutes for lighter bread.

When the sponging is finished, add oil, honey and salt.

Turn mixer on and quickly add remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough form a ball and cleans the side of the bowl. The amount of flour needed may vary.

Knead 7-10 minutes. (If kneading by hand, knead for 12-15 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.)

Grease pans - 4? x 8 1/2? pans work best - I use olive oil

Divide dough into equal portions

flatten dough out into a rectangle

Fold dough into thirds

Fold into final third

Fold dough into thirds going the other way

Shape dough into loaf shape

here's what the loaf should look like

Place the dough in the greased pan

Repeat until you have 6 loaves of bread

Cover pans and let rise until almost double, approximately 20-30 minutes.

This is just right

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes until loaves are golden brown.

Rub butter on tops of loaves and let them rest in the pans for 10-15 minutes.

Remove from pans and let cool on a rack on their sides.

Enjoy! Keep in the extra loaves in the freezer not the refrigerator for best results.

Alternative:

You can freeze this dough to have on hand for fresh baked bread on another day as well. Just grease the inside of a gallon freezer bad and add the dough. When you are ready to use it take it out and let it thaw, then shape, let it rise and bake.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

Yeast Breads by Sue Gregg

This is a great cookbook with lots of techniques explained and diagrams to show you how to make wonderful breads.

Set For Life by Jane Merrill & Karen Sunderland

Although I do not agree with all of the premises these authors make in their book, their bread section is outstanding! They give several wonderful recipes for whole grain bread and rolls.

Are you looking to add more whole grains and vitamin filled foods to your diet? Breakfast is one of the easiest meals to increase your intake of whole grains and wonderfully healthy and delicious foods. The biggest dilemma with incorporating whole foods into your breakfast menu is planning. If you are used to pouring yourself a bowl of processed cereal eating and going it is going to take some effort on your part to change but it is so worth it! You will feel fuller and get so many more vitamins and minerals from preparing your own food. Plus you can control how much sugar and other items go into your food.

Using whole grains for breakfast can stretch your budget while adding vital nutrients to your meal. There are lots of choices: barley, cream of brown rice, buckwheat, cornmeal in the form of Polenta, cracked Kamut, cream of millet, oatmeal, steel cut oats, quinoa, cream of rye, whole spelt, or whole wheat. This is a great way to expand your grains. The grains can be cooked whole, cracked, rolled, as flakes or as a flour. They contain lots of B vitamins, folic acid, vitamin E, zinc, iron, potassium, calcium and more! Talk about taking a multivitamin and these are a lot easier to swallow too!

In order to get the most nutrition from your cereal both Sue Gregg and Sally Fallon recommend soaking, fermenting or sprouting your grain before eating them.

Here is what Sue Gregg has to say about it:

Soaking, fermenting, or sprouting the grain before cooking or baking will neutralize the phytic acid, releasing nutrients for absorption. This process allows enzymes, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to not only neutralize the phytic acid, but also to break down complex starches, irritating tannins and difficult-to-digest proteins including gluten. For many, this may lessen their sensitivity or allergic reactions to particular grains. Everyone will benefit, nevertheless, from the release of nutrients and greater ease of digestion.

The first stage of preparation in making whole grain porridges or baked recipes, is to soak the whole grains or whole grain flour in an acid medium such as buttermilk, yogurt, or other cultured milk, or in water with whey, lemon juice or vinegar added. As little as 7 hours soaking will neutralize a large portion of the phytic acid in grains. Twelve to 24 hours is even better with 24 hours yielding the best results.

The easiest way to do this is to start the night before. If you want to have oatmeal for breakfast after dinner measure out the oats, water and salt then add a tablespoon of whey* put a lid on it and leave it for the morning. In the morning add raisins and cinnamon if desired and cook the oats until finished. The oats cook up quicker and you can attain the most nutrition from your breakfast. (Don’t forget to serve them with a pat of butter, raw milk or some yogurt for the protein and fat to keep you fuller longer and add the yum factor.)

Sue Gregg’s Breakfasts cookbook contains several recipes for cooking the whole grains for breakfast and the two stage process for the hot cereal, pancakes, waffles and muffins. Read her Talking Pages report on the Two Stage Process that you can find at: http://www.suegregg.com/about/c.htm for more information.

I hope you will add whole grain breakfasts to your meal rotation!

*You can get whey from yogurt or raw milk by letting the yogurt or milk separate and then pour it into a strainer lined with cheesecloth set over a bowl. Tie the cheesecloth to a wooden spoon placed over the bowl. The whey (the clear liquid) will run into the bowl. Let it stand until it quits dripping.

Use the whey as a starter culture for lacto-fermented fruits and vegetables, soaking grains and legumes. The solid is cream cheese. We like to mix it with flavors like pineapple juice, cinnamon or honey or spices and serve it on crackers or celery sticks.

Recipes:

Baked Oatmeal is mostly prepared the night before and tastes delicious with the lemon curd recipe that follows.

Baked Oatmeal

2 cups  oatmeal
2 cups  milk
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil — (I use Virgin Coconut Oil)
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
cinnamon — to taste

dried fruit — to taste
nuts — to taste

Mix ingredients except baking powder and cinnamon together and pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Refrigerate overnight. Add the cinnamon & baking powder just before cooking

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes until edges are golden brown.

Serving Ideas:  Serve with milk, cream, applesauce, lemon curd or other fruit topping.

Lemon Curd

We make this delicious topping with lemons grown in our own backyard.

5 large egg yolks

2 cups sugar (I use Succant)

1 cup lemon juice (juice of 4 lemons)

Finely grated zest of the 4 lemons (I use a microplaner to help do this job)

¼ pound (1 stick) butter cut into pats

Combine all ingredients except the butter in the top of a heavy double boiler and place over a pot of boiling water. (Make sure the top pan doesn’t touch the water.) Whisk ingredients constantly or use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom until thickening begins to occur. (About 15 minutes)

Remove from heat and whisk the butter in one pat at a time. The curd should coat the spoon at this point.

Strain the curd into a cool bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and chill. (It will thicken as it chills.)

This keeps well for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Serving Ideas: Eat on biscuits, toast, make tarts, or serve on baked oatmeal.

After years of freezing foods these are some things that I have learned.

Foods that don’t freeze well:

• Raw salad vegetables

• Raw eggs in their shells or hard-boiled eggs (You can freeze egg whites separately.)

• Raw potatoes or boiled white potatoes (they turn black)

• Cottage Cheese

• Instant Rice

• Custard, cream or meringue pies

• Mayonnaise – It separates. It can be used limitedly mixed in with other ingredients in a sauce or casserole

• Sour cream – It becomes watery but can be used the same way as mayonnaise

• Deep Fried Foods become soggy

Foods That Change in the freezer:

• Gravies and sauces separate and will need to be recombined during reheating.

• Heavy Cream can be frozen but won’t whip.

• Milk can be frozen for drinking but will separate. Shake to recombine.

• Vegetables, pastas and grains are softer following freezing. Make sure to undercook them before freezing to help compensate.

• Cheeses often change texture. Hard cheeses become crumbly. They freeze best if grated before freezing and can be used in recipes but not for slicing

The method I’ve adapted in cooking is also known as once a month cooking but I found this terminology very limiting. I like to think of it as investment cooking instead. When I cook this way I am investing in my health, my time, and my family’s lives. There are three different methods of investment cooking that you can use to provide great meals for your family. Let’s look at each one today.

You can cook a month’s worth of food in one day to stock up your freezer. In reality this takes three days of effort but one day of cooking. The first day you do your planning including what meals you want to prepare, create your shopping list and plan the best order to cook the items. On the second day you would do your grocery shopping. Finally on the third day you cook and assemble your meals. At the end of 6-8 hours you will able to put away 30-60 meals for your family’s consumption depending on your abilities and meal choices.

Another very efficient way of investment cooking is to do a mini-session based on one meat or base. This is a great method to use when chicken (or another staple) goes on sale. You stock up on that ingredient and cook as many meals as you can out of what you got. For example, if you bought chickens on sale you could make roasted chickens (use the cooked meat in other recipes), chicken soup, casseroles using chicken, and freeze chicken with marinade to grill later. You could also do a baking day making muffins, pancakes, waffles, cookies, etc. to stick in the freezer.

Finally, one of the easiest ways to start incorporating investment cooking into your life is by simply doubling or tripling a recipe as you make it and stick the extras in the freezer. When you are making French toast for breakfast, go ahead and make up a whole loaf of bread’s worth. Flash freeze and you’ll have a yummy breakfast another day that only needs to be warmed up in the toaster or microwave. If you are making spaghetti sauce, double it and freeze the extra for another night. It takes so little extra effort and the returns are tremendous.

I use all three of these methods throughout the year. When I’m making meals that are easy to double I take advantage of it and put some away for another meal. When I get meat on a good sale I will cook up a whole bunch for the freezer. Every so often I plan a cooking day and really fill up my freezer.

Recipe:

Here’s a great recipe I like to make when I get ground beef on sale.

Make-Ahead Meatballs

4 pounds lean ground beef — or pork or turkey or a combo

2 cups bread crumbs

1 cup onion – diced

1 tablespoon kosher salt

pepper to taste

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

4 eggs

2 cups tomato sauce

Mix all ingredients very well with your hands in a large bowl.

For Meatballs: Form approx. 180 meatballs (large walnut size). Place meatballs on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned and no longer pink in the center. Cool. Flash Freeze then bag in freezer bags.

To serve: thaw meatballs and bake at 350 for 10-20 minutes or heat in a sauce. (Spaghetti Sauce, Sweet & Sour, Stroganoff, BBQ, etc . . .)

For Meatloaf: Form into a loaf in a baking dish. Brush with favorite sauce. Bake at 350 for an hour or until no longer pink. Cool and chill. Slice meatloaf if desired.

Or freeze mixture raw, flattened out in a freezer bag, thaw and cook when desired.

NOTES:

To make meatballs of equal size:

1. Lightly pat mixture into a 1 inch thick rectangle (on wax paper).

2. Cut the rectangle into the same number of squares as meatballs in the recipe.

3. Gently roll each square into a ball.

(Be careful not to handle the meat too much.)

In this economic climate everyone is looking to see how they can cut their expenses and trying to eat healthy and save money at the same time takes some extra effort. Organic products are more expensive than regular grocery items especially if you buy them at the grocery store. There are no coupons to save you money and sometimes finding the items requires a trip to stores like Whole Foods or other natural food sources that aren’t known for their cheap prices. You are going to have to make choices. Your family only has so much to spend so what are the wisest choices you can make to eat the best?

First of all, pray that God will give you wisdom and the vision to see what your choices are. He will honor that request. We can not make eating healthy an idol in our lives. We should pursue good health so that we can better serve our God not so that we can have the perfect body and live without illness.

Eat seasonally. By eating seasonally you are gaining the best nutrient dense foods plus those foods are usually cheaper because they are bountiful. If you have a garden it is even easier to do this. Watch for new sources for great food. Food Co-ops like Bountiful Baskets or CSAs can offer you wonderful food for much lower prices.
Buy in bulk. I stock up on our main foods at Costco and from Azure Standard. Buying in larger quantities can save you lots of money. For example, I can buy 25 pounds of dried organic black beans for $1.00/pound, which makes about 100 cups of cooked beans. To buy one can of organic black beans it costs $1.43 for 1 ¾ cups of beans. For the cost of 1 can of prepared beans I can make over 6 cups of beans. Cooking beans is one of the easiest foods to prepare and one that my crock pot takes care of for me so it requires very little effort on my part. (See below for my recipe for cooking beans easily.) I usually fix a whole crock pot full and then freeze the extras in 2 cup portions for future meals.

Put your freezer to good use. When you are able to get a good deal on produce, preserve as much as you can for the future. I also like to buy big bags of frozen veggies from Costco for quick meals. They have more and more organic choices and for feeding the family it is much more efficient to buy the large bags for several meals then to buy the small bags at the grocery store.

Be creative in using your leftovers. I like to make soup with some of the bits and pieces left over from other meals. It is like making a meal for free when you can use the leftovers.

Make sure your meals include whole grains and beans. Not only will you get wonderful nutrients from these foods but tummies will fill up and not require so much of the more expensive foods. Make sure to soak your grains with whey or lemon juice whenever possible to make them more digestible.
Find a farmer’s market or participate in community supported agriculture. A great source to find the ones in your area is www.localharvest.org.

Be a good steward of the budget you have for food and be creative in finding ways to obtain your food and you will be able to eat healthier for a lot less. May God bless your efforts!

Recipes:

Beans:
5 cups of black beans (or most other beans: kidney, navy, or pinto)
3 quarts Warm filtered water
4 tablespoons of whey (the clear liquid that separates from plain yogurt or raw milk) or lemon juice

Rinse the beans and put them in a bowl. Cover with warm water & add whey or lemon juice. Cover the bowl and leave overnight. Drain and rinse. Place in the crock-pot on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours until desired consistency.

Cool and bag for the freezer.

This recipe is from Sue Gregg’s Soups and Muffins Cookbook.

Black Bean Chowder

From Soups & Muffins p. 82

Serves 8 to 10 About 14 Cups
1. Bring water to a boil with rice and potatoes; lower heat to a very gentle boil, uncovered for 30 minutes:
2 1/2 quarts water
1/4 cup brown rice, uncooked
2 medium potatoes, unpeeled or peeled, cubed

2. In a separate pan sauté vegetables in oil:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped or1/4 cup dried green pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

3. After potatoes and rice have cooked a full 30 minutes, add remaining ingredients and continue a very gentle boil about 1 hour until chowder is slightly thickened:
sautéed vegetables
15 oz. can black beans, undrained (I use my cooked beans from the freezer)
15 1/4 oz. can kidney beans, undrained
16 oz can Vegetarian Beans in Tomato Sauce
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 teaspoon ground cumin seed
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
3 tablespoons Sue’s Kitchen Magic Seasoning

4. Remove bay leaf. Top each bowl of soup, as desired, with:
grated cheddar cheese,
chopped fresh parsley or cilantro

The holidays are upon us. I love this time of year. I love baking and having friends and family over to share in the bounty that God has supplied us with.

Are you ready for the holidays? I love this time of year. I love baking and having friends and family over to share in the bounty that God has supplied us with. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Every year we make a Thanksgiving Tree.  It is wonderful to focus on the things that God has blessed us with and give him the glory.
Investment cooking can help you to make the most of your time during the holiday season. Look at your menu. What could you make ahead of time? Are there things you could prepare early so that the stress of preparing a huge meal doesn’t interfere with the purpose of the holiday? Did you know that there are many foods you can make ahead for your holiday celebrations? In the recipe section you will find a great recipe for mashed potatoes that you can make ahead of time. Another benefit of making the potatoes this way is that they will actually stay hot through the meal instead of getting cold. The dough for the rolls can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator or you can freeze the dough and then take it out the night before to thaw in the refrigerator. It will take a little longer to rise but the rolls will still turn out delicious! Pie crusts can also be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator or freezer until you are ready to use them.

Make sure to allow plenty of time for your turkey to thaw. This will take up to 3 days in the refrigerator. If it is still partially frozen Thursday morning let it sit in the sink with cool running water to finish the thawing.

Here’s our Thanksgiving Menu for this year:

Roast Turkey in Brine
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Stuffing
Sweet Potatoes
Smothered Green Beans
Orange Cranberry Sauce (My MIL’s specialty)
Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie

May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration and never forget our Creator to whom we should address our thanks every day and not just on Thanksgiving.

Recipes:

ROAST TURKEY IN BRINE

1 14 pound frozen turkey
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1 gallon iced water
1 red apple — sliced
1/2 onion — sliced
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves garlic
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
butter

Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stock pot and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5 gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, garlic, cinnamon stick and cup of water in a small pan and cook until steeped about 15 minutes)

Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine. Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with butter. Roast on lowest level of the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14-16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

Source:
“adapted from Good Eats (Food Network)”
Copyright:
“1999″
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Light Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

By: Krystal Bickel

10 cups whole wheat (or spelt) flour — freshly ground
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/8 teaspoon Vitamin C granules
3 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 cups kefir (you can use more water or regular milk if you don’t have kefir)
1 ½ cups water — warm
2/3 cup virgin coconut oil (or olive oil)
1/2 cup honey
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon sea salt

Mix 5 cups flour, vital wheat gluten, Vitamin C, and yeast in mixer bowl.

Add water, kefir, oil & honey. Mix well for 1-2 minutes. Turn off and sponge for 15 minutes.

Add eggs and salt.

Turn on mixer, add flour 1 cup at a time until dough forms a ball and cleans side of bowl.

Knead for 5-6 minutes for soft dough.

Shape dough into rolls. Let rise until very light.

Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Do not over bake.

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Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

Recipe By: Tara Wohlenhaus & Nanci Slagle
The Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 Day Gourmet

5 pounds potatoes
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons butter — melted
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup almonds — sliced (optional)
paprika

Peel & quarter potatoes. Place potatoes in a saucepan and cover completely with water. Bring to a boil, and then gently cook until tender. Drain well.

In a large bowl, combine potatoes, cream cheese, egg, garlic powder & salt. Mash well by hand or with an electric mixer.

Spoon potatoes into a greased 3 qt casserole or 9×13 pan. Drizzle or brush melted butter over potatoes. Sprinkle with almonds if desired and paprika.

Refrigerate for up to 2 days or label and freeze for later.
To serve: thaw completely. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes until top is golden.
Serving Ideas: Optional Toppings or Stir Ins:
1/4 cup crumbled, crisp bacon
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

Holiday Freezer Cookbook
From 30 Day Gourmet

Holiday Freezer Cooking (Downloadable eBook for only $6.95) is a unique system for assembling and freezing your entire holiday meal, as well as appetizers and breakfast/brunch foods, ahead of time. No more all night cooking! Make dinner when YOU have the time! These traditional feasts serve 6 to 36 guests without the traditional hassles.

The 12-Week Holiday Planner for the Christian Family
(Includes The Glorious Coming: A Jesse Tree Advent Celebration devotionals!)

A couple years ago I found this wonderful ebook written by Sheri Graham and is called The 12-Week Holiday Planner for the Christian Family. It contains all the forms you need to prepare for this holiday season so that they will be what you want them to be plus you will have a record for future years. Even though we have less than 12 weeks to go, this planner can help make your holidays successful. I am loving my copy!

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
Psalms 95:1-6

Here in Phoenix we have a wonderful co-op run by two amazing moms called Bountiful Baskets. Every other week you contribute via their website and on Saturday morning you go to a site to pick up your baskets of fruit and vegetables. They have an organic version for $25 and a conventional version for $15 on opposite weekends. Because of the size of our family we need 2 of the organic baskets and then we share some of it with my in-laws.

They also have some great opportunities for extra produce from time to time. For example, I was able to buy 2 bushels (38 pounds) of Honey Crisp Apples for $24.50/bushel! They were delicious! Earlier this year we were able to buy cases of peaches and pears too all for great prices.

I am learning to can and I’ll try to get some pictures of what I’ve canned so far this fall up soon. I’ve been saving a lot of money buying our produce this way plus it keeps me out of the store so I save money that way too.

Investment Cooking is a way of preparing meals by organizing your shopping, preparations and cooking in the most efficient way. You can simply double or triple the meal you are preparing for dinner tonight and put the other meal(s) in the freezer for another night. You can organize a cooking session based on a protein that you found on sale such as making several meals featuring chicken. Finally, you can devote an entire day to cooking resulting in a month or more of food ready and waiting in your freezer. Other names for investment cooking are bulk cooking, cooking for the freezer, or once a month cooking.
What are Whole Foods?

Whole foods are foods that are found as close to nature as possible. They include but are not limited to: freshly ground whole grains, purified water, beans, organic fruits and vegetables, “clean animals” as commanded in Leviticus 11 such as chicken, fish, beef, and venison, honey, unrefined oils such as olive oil and virgin coconut oil, butter, eggs, dairy products (preferably raw and certified), yogurt, kefir and other cultured dairy products, whole grains such as wheat, corn, spelt, barley, brown rice and many others.