Fruit and Yogurt Leather

I had a hunch that this would work but I was unsure until I saw a few blogs with recipes. Well I did a little experimenting and we have a delicious new on the go snack.

Fruit and Yogurt Leather
2 cups yogurt
1 cup fruit puree or fruit chunks

Blend ingredients together. Place on parchment paper on dehydrator sheets. I fold up the sides to make a little box when my puree is extremely liquid so it does not run off. Place the trays in the dehydrator at 135 F. I check on mine after about 4 hours but they usually need closer to 6. The longer you dehydrate the more crunchy they will be. Cut and peel off the parchment paper or roll the parchment and leather up and cut into strips. Store in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks. Ours never last more then a couple of days.

Honey, vanilla, and or spices can be added for different flavors.

Breakfast Custard

This dish has become one of our favorite breakfasts. It is a wonderful change from our regular eggs and sausage. I actually do not measure much when I cook and this is a great recipe for just mixing together. A little more or less of any of these ingredients does not make much of a difference. We find it delicious every time we make it.


Breakfast Custard
6 eggs
1/2 cup bone marrow
1 1/2 -2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup yogurt, sour cream, milk of any kind, or a combination of these
2 tbs- 1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp -1 tsp of any of the following spices
cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamon, or cloves

Place all ingredients in a large bowl (I love my 8 cup glass mixing bowl for this). I use my hand blender to mix it all together but a stand mixer or blender would work too. Pour mixture into 8 ramekins or small oven proof bowls. Then decided how much time you have and how you want to cook them.

Method 1. Stack the ramekins in a crockpot with enough water in the bottom to cover about halfway up the bottom dishes. Turn the crockpot on low for 8+ hours of cooking or High for 4-6 hours.

Method 2. Preheat oven to 350 F Make a water bath for the custard by place the ramekins in large baking dishes and fill with water about half way up the sides of the ramekins. Place in oven and bake for 30-40 min or until set.

Options

• If you do not have marrow on hand you can still make a delicious custard by just leaving it out. 
• Experiment with other purees such as butternut squash,  banana squash, apple or other fruits.
• If you would rather have a plain custard then you can replace the 2 cups of puree with yogurt or any type of milk instead. Adding another 2 tsp vanilla or 1 vanilla bean makes a plain custard extra special.

Pumpkin Bites

This is a recipe I adapted slightly from the Healthy Snack to Go book by Katie Kimball. My kids love them and we have even made it as our Halloween pumpkin pie during GAPS intro.

Pumpkin Bites
8 eggs
2 cups pumpkin
4 tsp cinnimon
1 tsp nutmeg
1-4 tbs honey or maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk or blend together all ingredients with an electric mixer, blender, or strong arm. Pour the mixture in to a greased 9x12 pan. Bake for 30-40 min. They are done when the center is set and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before slicing into little squares. Store in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. They can also be frozen.

Options
Use butternut squash or other pureed winter squash for the pumpkin (carrots or sweet potatoes might work as well).
Use any pumpkin spice you may like instead of the cinnamon and nutmeg
We have made it without any sweetener or spices during intro.
Add butter, whip cream, or yogurt as a topping.

GAPS Gravy

We top everything with our special gravy. The kids want it on everything and I do not mind because it has lots of good stuff in it. I have made it a ton of different ways it is always good.

Gravy

2 qts or so broth, or water and fat from cooking meat

1 head cauliflower or 2 cups summer squash or other non strong tasting veggie

1-2 onions

Fat, skin, marrow, or small meat left overs

Up to 2 tbs gelatin

1-2 tbs salt

Pepper, garlic, or other spices to taste

Bring everything to a boil and simmer for 10-20 min. Blend with immersion blender and reduce until desired consistency. It will thicken as it cools but when you warm it it will become liquid again. 

I use a lot of our left overs for this. If I boil some meatballs I will make gravy from that water. If I have left over fat from cooking I will throw it in the gravy. The possibilities are endless.

Meringues

I always have these in the pantry! They are super easy and the flavor combinations are endless. When we use egg yolks we freeze our whites in sets of 6 in small containers. When we want to make meringues we take out a container of yolks, they defrost on the counter in about an hour.

Meringues
6 Egg whites
Pinch of  salt
1 tbs - 1/4 Cup honey or maple syrup
1 Tbsp Vanilla

Beat the egg whites and salt with the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, until they form stiff peaks.  Add the honey and vanilla and beat until well mixed.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a spoon or pastry bag to put mounds of meringue on the baking sheets. Put both sheets in the oven. Bake in preheated oven at 170º-200ºF for 2 hours*. Rotate the baking sheets after 1 hour. 

*Use the lowest temperature setting your oven will do. The higher the temp the quicker they will cook or burn. Check on the meringues after 1 ½ hrs. They should be crispy and slightly browned. Very large meringues may take 3-4 hours or more.

Options

-¾ tsp cream of tarter

-3 Tbsp arrowroot powder

-Replace part or all of the vanilla with almond, peppermint or other extract

-Sprinkle with crushed chocolate, peppermint, or toffee before baking

-1-2 tsp pumpkin pie, apple pie, or gingerbread spice

- 3-4 tbs of lemon and 2 tbs poppy seeds

- 3-4 tbs of lime juice and 1 cup finely shredded coconut

- 2 tbs cocoa powder

- 3-4 tbs orange juice and the seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Chicken Chips

At one pint we had a huge amount of excess chicken from broth making. These are something I came up with to use up the chicken. I started with a recipe for chicken jerky and changed it to our liking.

Chicken Chips

2 lbs Cooked chicken or chicken parts and pieces

2 onions

2-3 clove garlic

2-4 cups cooked veggies

2 tsp salt

Any other spices or spice combinations you like

Puree all of the ingredients together into a thick paste. Add the veggies last to make sure you do not make the mixture to thin. Taste it for correct salt and spices.

Spread the mixture onto parchment or paraflez sheets to fit your dehydrator trays. Lightly run a pizza cutter over the puree to make strips.

Place in the dehydrator at about 110° for 5 hours. Check for crispiness and continue dehydrating until desired texture. After cooling store in an airtight container in pantry.