Noelle likes Good Food

For those of you that read this blog, you know that I get my beef from a local farmer. More specifically,  from  Indian Creek Angus  (click on the link to see their Facebook page!), based out of Carnesville. If anyone is looking for a source for pasture raised beef, theirs is wonderful!!  In one of my orders I had a few packages of beef necks and I had NO clue what to do with them. Based on cooking stew meat, I knew enough that they should be seared and simmered in liquid on medium to low heat for several hours.  It just so happens that my Mom got me a RED 6 qt enameled dutch oven for christmas! I knew that I wanted to christen my new pot by cooking up beef neck-bone stew and do a little kitchen experimenting :). Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the process. But here is what I did… I defrosted the package, which contained 3 neck bones with a good bit of meat. I seared them on a cast iron skillet (I was afraid to do the heavy searing in m...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year. Chris and I are both enjoying our school break with the opportunity to spend time together and with family. I love this time of year! In preparing for Christmas day, sometimes it is hard to find ideas for gifts that are meaningful yet practical and useful. Chris and I teamed up with my sister Anna for gift-giving this year. I wanted to share what we did, and maybe give you some ideas for next year :).  Several people on our list got a bag of sourdough english muffins .  The bags were decorated beautifully by Anna. They said 'Best when toasted and served as a sandwich or topped with your favorite spread'.  Some people got pans of sweet potato sourdough cinnamon rolls.  We spread them out.  Then topped them with sugar and cinnamon. Then we used floss to slice them into perfect cinnamon roll circles :).  Two of...

From as far back as I can remember I struggled with chronic binge eating. Especially once I lived on my own and started eating meals alone. I never threw up, though many times I wished I could after eating such large amounts of food. It was a constant cycle of setting limits and boundaries, obsessing over food, eating way too much and then feeling ashamed and guilty afterwards. Eating was a way of coping when I was stressed, bored, or sad. I thought that I would never change, and I feared that I would always be a failure. The funny thing about fear is that it defines the boundaries of our life. The more afraid we are of failing the more power we give that fear and it can easily take over our lives. I thought the solution of making food my idol was just having enough willpower to withstand the cravings. Of course this never worked. The many years I spent overeating is proof of the fact that sheer willpower is not enough to transform a lifestyle. Just so you know, self-depracation i...

Are you ready for this? It is the easiest recipe ever!  Put a layer of garlic cloves in a crockpot. I used 3 cups of cloves. Pour in enough olive oil to cover the garlic and cook on low for 3 hours. Then strain out the garlic. Sorry that this picture is SUPER dark. It is dark in our kitchen and I am also taking a picture of a black crockpot. You will be rewarded with a jar of delicious roasted garlic.  And a jar of garlic infused olive oil.  WOAH. This stuff is good.  The garlic cloves are great just smushed onto a piece of bread. So far, based on what I have tried, they are also delectable mixed into green beans, mixed in ground beef for hamburgers, mashed into mashed potatoes, and in soup. The infused oil is great for sautéing vegetables and spreading on pizza dough before baking. This is only the start. I am sure I will find many many more uses for these wonderful ingredients. I am making sure to feed lots of garlic to Chr...

Happy Thanksgiving! Albeit a bit late. I hope your Thanksgiving day was full of thankfulness, family and lots of yummy food! Chris and I ate lunch with Chris' family and we had a wonderful day. This year, my husband and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary the day before Thanksgiving. I will take you through our anniversary and Thanksgiving with a few pictures :). On Wednesday morning we slept in and then Chris worked on a quick project after breakfast while I made the cheesecake for Thursday. He converted his fog machine into a low fogger (where the fog stays close to the floor instead of dispersing into the air) for a production at church.  The cooler gets filled with ice and when the fog comes into contact with the cold it causes the fog to stay low to the ground as it comes out the other side.  Getting his camera ready to record a demo. It worked! During testing we didn't have any ice, so he took out all the frozen vegetables from our freez...

I finished my detox yesterday. Though, I liked how I was eating so much that the only thing I did differently was have a cup of coffee blended with coconut oil in the morning and a gluten free spritz cookie that my sister-in-law gave me after dinner :). I like how this way of eating makes me feel and I want to continue in the same way and really moderate my intake of sugar so I don't go overboard again :).  Now, onto the garden. As wonderful as it feels when things start growing in the garden, that is only half the battle. The other half is making sure it is harvested and processed before it goes bad. Sometimes I am better at this than others. Though I have to say, the threat of impending frost is a good motivator and 3 weeks ago I finally went out and harvested the rest of my stevia and peppers. The stevia was bundled with yarn and hung from the window and hanging fruit basket.  My kitchen was a very happy place while my stevia dried. I love having gre...