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Not Yo Mama’s Potato Salad
I have a sensitive palate. It’s easily assaulted, intensely opinionated and it rarely fails me when trying to predict all the ingredients in a dish from a restaurant that I wish to duplicate at home. Because of this, I sheepishly admit that my homemade potato salad was rather simple and unassuming. I am a firm believer that simple food is good food. Taking a basic potato and using a few simple ingredients to enhance the flavor of the potato and make it shine is the mark of a good chef. While in culinary school I learned about a Student Culinary Competition Team that competed on a national level for the American Culinary…
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Sweet & Zesty BBQ Sauce
Let’s get, let’s get, let’s get, let’s get sauced! Let’s get, let’s get, let’s get, let’s get sauced! Does anyone else think Def Leppard may have chosen the wrong word for that song? I do. They could have had a #1 Summertime BBQ song had they chosen to sing about sauces vs. rocks. But I digress. I believe I’ve shared with you guys that finding condiments that taste good, have a decent mouth feel or texture, and don’t have a funky aftertaste has been somewhat of a struggle since starting our Real Food journey. I did find a great sauce from Outta The Park BBQ and I was able to make some really yummy BBQ Pulled…
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Mayo The Force Be With You
Life without Mayo? Pish- utter blasphemy if you ask me. When made with organic, pastured eggs, and fresh, organic ingredients, mayo can and should be a regular guest in your kitchen. Homemade mayo will elevate even the most basic of sandwiches and will delight your senses and excite your mouth. In short, you need to make this. It’s much easier than you think, and learning some basic emulsion making techniques will take you far in the kitchen. It will also come in handy when I start working more French recipes into this blog. Before I get into everything mayonnaisey I have to thank 7-year old Noah A., for coming up with the fantastic…
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Conquering Milk Kefir
I did it! I really did it! I seriously have no idea what I was so afraid of. Making milk Kefir was probably one of the easiest things I’ve ever done in the kitchen. If you can pour milk, you can make Kefir! In fact, you could do this with your eyes closed and one hand tied behind your back. Yeah, you’d make a mess but who doesn’t enjoy a good mess in the kitchen? A fellow food blogger was nice enough to mail me some Kefir grains. When they arrived in the mail I freaked out, and tossed them in the fridge. Admittedly I have no idea when I was planning on…
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Real Food Girl Presents: The Aliso Kitchen
Happy Monday Food Hippies! I hope you guys had a spectacular weekend and you’re all rested up ready to take on the adventures of a new week! Today marks the last guest post for a while here at Real Food Girl: Unmodified. I believe I’m feeling well enough to manage posting at least 3 times per week myself. I wanted to extend another gracious Thank-You to all the Food Bloggers that stepped up to help me out when I became ill. Your kindness and willingness to help truly blessed me and I know the Food Hippies got some great recipes and learned some new things from all of you! Thank you. You ladies…
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Real Food Strawberry Lemonade
Earlier in the week we had the heat on. I was even wearing long sleeves to bed. Over an 18-hour period we went from the low 40s to 99 degrees. Talk about insanity. That heat wave got me to thinking that it’s just about lemonade season and if it’s one thing you need to know about me, besides the fact that I believe that bacon is the answer to every question, it’s that I looove lemons. This means I love lemonade. I can’t get enough of the stuff. Each summer before I started learning about GMOs and Real Food I used to buy several containers of Minute Maid frozen concentrated lemonade. That stuff…
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Real Food Electrolyte Drink
Today I thought I’d put on my Scientist Girl Hat (and my Mechanic Girl Hat) and share with you some information about electrolytes. One of the symptoms of the Hypercalcemia that I’m dealing with is that my electrolytes are all out of whack. Additionally a result of the abnormal parathyroid hormone levels in my blood, my body isn’t able to regulate its electrical system at all- which causes extra stress on a person’s heart, kidney’s and pancreas. Your parathyroid glands control and help regulate your body’s electrical system so when those aren’t functioning properly, you can imagine how off-kilter things become. Think of it like this. Your car needs motor oil for the…
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Outta the Park BBQ Pulled Chicken… GMO-Free
A few months ago I was introduced to Beth, one of the owners of Outta the Park BBQ Sauce. I’d been commenting on my Facebook Page about how difficult it had been for TSM (The Stud Muffin) and I to find good tasting, organic condiments. We’d wasted close to a hundred dollars trying to find salad dressings we liked. I know, I know…I should make my own, but TSM and I don’t like the same types of dressings and I’ve never found a dressing that is comparable to that HFCS laden Western brand French dressing. But I digress. As I lamented about all the money we’d wasted trying to find decent tasting…
