Old-School Fermented Dill-Pickle Relish

If your a regular around these parts then I don't have to tell you how much I LOVE pickles, and all things pickled.  You may have noticed a bit of a change around Neo-Homesteading. Over the past year I have taken to real, traditional, and even some paleo-style food. Although I always strive to make food homemade, I'm overhauling my house even further. (realistically) I'm trying to limit grains and sugar, and as always I am willing to balance and compromise when necessary. I've made the best fridge pickles, I've even beer battered and fried some pickles, but sweet pickle relish is an absolute staple in my  home. I am really trying to find a healthier, but still happy-lifestyle that suits my families nutritional needs. (and wants) Modifying, substituting, swapping and enriching our lives with nutrition. It is a big monumental task when you have the pissy palate posse to accommodate. Well my friends, I am up for the challenge. It's been a process over the past four ten years, and this year is just one step a little further outside of the comfort zone. I started off at the age of 17, it was just Steve and me in our tiny Philadelphia apartment. By the time I was 18, I was knocked up. {Insert shotgun wedding here.}  All I knew how to make was instant mashed potatoes and grilled chicken. Cats' secret recipe included hot sauce and Italian dressing. I transitioned to semi-homemade, making a few recipes from scratch in between. Finally, I threw away boxed mixes entirely. I boycotted processed foods, and within the past four years we have stopped buying many, many items. We stopped eating out, (mostly) we made a lifestyle choice for ourselves, and we and have stuck with it. (It helps that chunk can't even boil water.)

Naturally Fermented Dill-Relish & Homemade Sweet Pickle Relish

I am authentically happy when Riley asks, "whats a bagel bite?" A good trip to the store is a trip where my son and/or husband says "yeah, yeah chemicals, sugar, zombie food, cancer, fat, dead whatever" and proceeds to place an item back onto the shelf. Like any other family we are a unique breed, we are part pudgy and moderately grumpy, but we do regularly make better choices... sometimes. Every member of this circus act plays a critical role in the balance of our universe. Compromise is always a necessity. I have a taste for traditional, real, unprocessed food. Whether its piece of fried chicken (liver) , or fermented salsa, I make it here and that's what matters to me. They really want certain things, if there is a balance between bad, good, better and best, then I am happy to accommodate. Relish is something that I happen to be very keen on. I grew up with this recipe for sweet pickle relish. Every spoon full is a happy, satisfying memory. I have eaten plenty of jars with a spoon, in one sitting. So it is important to share that with my family. They love it, and deserve to have things that truly make them happy. This recipe is a new version of the old, an entirely different treat that I CAN eat by the spoon full without thinking I just added a bowl of sugar to my butt's zip code. 

Seasonal eating is all the rage. Over the past few years I have told myself that relish was to be made only in summer time. That is when produce is its best, and cheapest right? Well here in the Pocono's I've found that a cucumber, is a cucumber, is a cucumber. They are consistently expensive. So I ask myself: "Self- Is it better to buy produce out of season, or to buy sweet relish off the shelf?" I think it is better to give my family something homemade that is special to me. Which leads me to dill pickle relish. Previously dill relish was the only relish I would purchase from the store because I simply never thought to make it myself. I tried making naturally sour pickles and it was a DISASTER. So I kept on avoiding pickling my own cucumbers. My favorite brand or relish runs around $5 a jar. Bubbie's products are naturally fermented and really great. If I HAVE to buy pickles or relish, that stuff is great. I came across a plethora of great recipes on Paleo Diet Lifestyle, and first on my to-do list was Lacto-Fermented Cucumber Relish. As they say, the rest is history folks. Slightly modified this recipe is as good, or maybe even better than Bubbie's. A bit more seasoning, with the benefit of fresh live, and active cultures. It is easily half the cost to boot. Naturally fermented cucumbers, no longer scare me. (as much) This is seriously a traditional, old-school, old timey delight. Perfectly sour, and of course a nutrient dense power house.

Raw Chocolate, Banana & Avocado Pudding

Quite often when I think of "healthy," or nourishing food I rarely think of dessert. For as long as ...ever dessert has been flour, sugar, butter more flour or sugar, oh and maybe some fruit in there somewhere. (Fruit is healthy right?) In my house this is is especially true when my husband is involved. He is an absolute chocoholic and he can not live without desserts. Although I generally don't have an itching for sweets or chocolate, now and then I do like something semi-sweet and luxurious. 

My goal for the year is to basically set some higher standards. I am raising the bar. I hope by the end of this new year that I can look back and say "More often than not my boys were with me." Un-processing my home undoubtedly has its challenges, and I'm always working to find a balance. Instead of setting some vanity driven goal for the year, I decided for myself that I simply wanted to feel better. I want to feel better over all. I want to be healthier and much less tired, cranky, depressed, or lets just say it... homicidal. This year I will not blame others for my dull and mediocre existence, this year I will do more to feel in control of my our health and well being. 

So although the boys still need their chip and sugar fixes, we've already made great progress. Chunk now reads ingredients on labels, and I even find myself explaining much less often why we don't want 40g of sugar in one snack. Although I do still get the "blah, blah, blah yeah, cancer whatever." I will take that as a success, because I get to save my lecture for something more useful. Like: "Why punching your brother is not funny." or- "why a flame thrower could not have saved the dinosaurs." or- "Why your brother does not really, actually, seriously, think getting punched is funny."

Well anyway, you get the point. Real food for real people means you make dessert. This is one snack that is delicious, nutrient dense and absolutely luxurious. Smooth and silky, chocolaty and rich. Avocado's are rich in healthy fats. They promote heart health, blood sugar regulation and they are tasty. Banana's have potassium, and fiber but are also said to be mood enhancers. Which leaves us with chocolate. It's rich with antioxidants and duh, its chocolate. The darker the better for you. For this recipe I used regular, every day cocoa powder. If I had dark chocolate powder on hand I would have used it for sure. I have made this dessert multiple ways. It can be served as a pudding, or even as a milkshake! I used frozen bananas for sweetness, coldness and texture. If you have an aversion to avocado I bet you could omit them or reduce the quantity. Serve with fresh or frozen berries for a burst of tart sweetness, add a dab of nut butter for a pop of protein and flavor. 

Cube Steaks with Fresh Peas, Mushrooms and Onions

Simple, fast and fresh, these are the meals that are often the most satisfying. Nothing extravagant or rare, just good quality ingredients to make the meal special. Fresh food is something I really enjoy, living in a somewhat rural setting, most often my produce is less than perfect. My fridge freezes every head of lettuce I put into it, and my grocery bills often suffer for this. I know the solution would be to buy less, and to go shopping more frequently but honestly? I can not commit. I hate going out, I hate traffic, stores, and rude, loud and/or stupid people. Man meat teases me because I complain when I have to "go out two days in a row," or even two days in one week. With homeschooling, house work and everything else going on, the task of wasting an entire day to traffic and shopping just overwhelms me. It's not as simple as grabbing some milk and eggs. It's getting ready, sitting in traffic, and shuffling through the store often forgetting why I was there in the first place. For me, it is at least a four hour process. By the time I get home my mind is shot and there is no shortage of work and preparation to be done. Put the groceries away, prepare whatever produce I have to (to prevent spoilage and wilting if possible), and finally make supper. 

Wait? Supper? Pfft, I don't think so. Homemade flat-bread pizza's, or fried eggs are my go-to last minute meal. Any complaints can be filed with the I don't care department. This year I am un-winding and letting go of my expectations of perfection. So this meal was a post apocalyptic lunch. A simple saute of fresh peas, mushrooms and onions with a little piece of cube steak that I scored on clearance. Perfect with homemade ketchup, and of course it is only better with a fried egg on top! 

Real Food for Real People, Ketchup (That tastes like Ketchup!)

In my home the word "balance" is a critical word that we refer to when deciding between good, better and best food choices. Real food for real people is just that, a balance of a variety of things. Balance is essential to every day life, and critical for a healthy body. Although an ideal diet would make up of no processed items, that just isn't realistic for my family and I'm sure many others as well. So I keep on truckin' and set out to modify what I can, and I live with the things I can't rip from their grip. Over the past few years I have set out to make as much from scratch as I can. Some recipes have been graciously accepted as standard, others have been left behind. I have tried many, many things that came out great but not "the same." When making things at home most people would think the goal is to make it better than store bought. In my house it is quite often, very much not the case. When I am making things I have to strive to replicate the store bought as close as I can otherwise it will go in the "good but different pile."

What I mean is, I have some picky, finicky, bitchy palates to please and if it isn't what they expect it sits in the fridge and rots away. So we move on about our lives and I think, "remember that time I made ketchup?" It was so good, spicy and bold, but everyone still reached for the regular stuff. Try, try again. I get up and do it again, always just waiting for some sort of complaint or criticism. So this my friends is what I came up with. A round two knock out! This recipe is not for the good but weird different pile, it is an absolute winner! I quote, "it tastes like ketchup." (Like really, real, really real ketchup?) Yes folks, it tastes like regular ketchup. My family accepted this recipe into their stomachs as an acceptable replacement to the store bought processed ketchup. No corn syrup, no sugar just pure, classic ketchup-y goodness that is naturally sweetened (or not) to your own taste.