About two weeks ago, my 11-year old son Mikah asked, “Mom, what’s mac and cheese?”

11 years old and he doesn’t know about mac and cheese? That’s part good and part bad.

The good — he doesn’t know about the K-word mac and cheese.

The bad? He didn’t know about homemade, real food macaroni cheese, which is a thousand times better. 

(Actually, he has had real macaroni and cheese — but he was too young to remember it.)

I knew what I must do. Macaroni and cheese was going back on the menu — real food style.

Homemade, Real Food Macaroni and Cheese

• 1 pound brown rice noodles of your favorite shape — I like the Tinkyada brand
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup cream or whole milk
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 4 organic, grass-fed, nitrate-free hot dogs (like these from Applegate Farms — optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• sea salt* (optional)

Boil the noodles in salty water according to the package directions. Tinkyada pasta takes 15 to 18 minutes to cook, which is longer than other noodles, but they have a great texture and hold up well, so I like them best. Drain, then rinse in cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.

Cut the hot dogs in half lengthwise, then cut in 1/4″ slices.

In a medium pot over medium-low heat, melt butter. Add cream, cheese, and hot dog pieces. Stir constantly while cheese is melting. Add noodles. Let all warm thoroughly. Add pepper and additional salt (if needed*). Stir, then serve.

No need to say enjoy — you will.

*The noodles are salty if boiled in salty water. The cheese is salty. The butter is salty (if salted butter). And the hot dogs are salty. So…. additional salt is not usually necessary.

Have you made or enjoyed real food macaroni and cheese? How do you make yours?

I’m sharing this recipe with Simple Lives Thursday and Pennywise Platter Thursday.

We often eat lunch with my friend Jami and her kids on our days in town. I try to bring something to contribute, while she always provides a nourishing main dish. We love making a stop for good food, fellowship, and rest, especially on our long errand days.

Jami loves nachos. She’s eaten them all her life, especially the take-out kind. As a stay-at-home mom eating real foods, she figured she had to find a way to keep eating them — at home and healthy. So she did.

We were playing a game during one visit, and nachos came up, and of course we all said how much we wanted to eat them. Jami said she’d make them for us soon, and I said we should make them using the best tortilla chips ever (my specialty).

And this week, we did! They were awesome. The video above shows how we did it. After editing, it is only a minute long, so even if you’re not usually a video watcher, I think you can fit this one in.

Here are some quick print instructions.

How to Make Nachos

Start with sourdough crepes and fry them according to these instructions: The Best Homemade Tortilla Chips. Ever.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Carefully spread out chips on in a single layer on a baking tray. Then add a second layer of chips, filling up all the holes in the first layer. Jami says to do this so every chip gets toppings on it, and no toppings fall through. It really worked!

We topped with shredded cheese (we used some of my homemade cheddar), green onions, seasoned beef, salsa (dripped out so it is not so wet), and more shredded cheese. And a sprinkling of green onions on top for color — another of Jami’s tips to make these nachos better than your average homemade nachos.

Use whatever toppings you’ve got — we often use refried beans, diced onions, sliced olives… whatever you’ve got. Load them up!

Bake until cheese is bubbly and golden. Serve! Or, let them cool just a bit and then top with cultured dairy, like sour cream or soft raw cheese. Probiotic nachos.

Do you make homemade nachos? What are your favorite toppings?

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This post is shared with Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, and Fight Back Friday.

My son Mikah loves, loves, loves lentil sprouts! He got it from my dad. When my mom and dad go on road trips, my dad keeps his sprouts going. He makes stops to rinse and drain sprouts just like he used to make potty stops for us when we were growing up.

I remember vividly the day Mikah fell in love with lentil sprouts. We were in San Fransisco visiting my sister and my parents were there, too. My dad had his bag of sprouts along (of course). He sat on the front steps munching them. Mikah was maybe 3 or 4, something like that. He said, “What’s that, Sido?” (Sido is grandfather in Arabic.) Of course Sido shared. And that was the end of that. Or rather, the beginning, of Mikah’s love for sprouts — especially lentil.

Mikah has been wanting sprouts lately, but I haven’t been getting them going. So he started them himself about a week ago, and he’s been rinsing and caring for them daily. And making our dinner salads with them. (He’s 11.) Here’s his recipe. We hope you enjoy it! (Also check out Erin’s Lentil Slaw, plus two other recipes for sprouted lentils.)

Mikah’s Lentil Sprout Salad

• 4 cups lentil sprouts (directions are here or taught in Fundamentals eCourse)
• 1/8 red onion, finely diced or thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup sliced black olives
• other diced veggies, as you desire — like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers
• 1 clove garlic, crushed or 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup crumbled raw cheese — feta is really good!
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
• pinch black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil or 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped basil
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Toss all ingredients together and serve.

Do you like lentil sprouts? What do you make with them?

Please welcome Nikki from Project: Family Cookbook. I’ve been working on a big project myself, thus the lack of posts here for the past few months — more on that later. So Nikki volunteered this beautiful recipe to fill the gap. (Anyone else interested in guest posting? Contact me.) I’m so thankful — and so excited to make some of her Roma Fresca myself. Thanks, Nikki! –Wardeh

Salsa Fresca is one of my favorite condiments. I bought beautiful local ingredients and could not wait to go home and make it lacto-fermented. I quickly realized that I forgot to purchase any sort of pepper, be it Anaheim, jalapeno or even Bell. But I went ahead with my plan, as I did not want to lose any of the freshness of my Farmer’s Market produce. It turned out beautifully and my family loved it. The result? Roma Fresca. I could not be more excited to share it with you.

You need just a few ingredients:

• 5 large roma tomatoes (skins peeled*, seeded and chopped)
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced (you can use any onion, though sweet onions are easier on the eyes and taste just as good as a yellow onion)
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons whey
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon sea salt (first time making it do 1/2 tablespoon as it is easier to add then take away!)

*To peel tomatoes, submerge in boiling water for 5 seconds. This skin will peel off nicely.

Makes 1 quart. Add all ingredients to a large bowl. Lightly mash/pound to release juices. Stir well. Fill a wide-mouth quart jar. Leave out at room temperature overnight to allow fermentation to begin before placing in fridge.

Use Roma Fresca on top of steaks, fish, or chicken for a mouth watering combination. Also use it with chips as a mild salsa. This tastes fresh and wonderful and lasts for 1 to 2 months in cold storage.

I’m sharing this post in Pennywise Platter Thursday.

Green beans are in season! We love this easy and delicious green bean salad, flavored with lemon, garlic and olive oil. In this week’s free video, I make a delicious salad using the heirloom Spanish ‘miralda’ climbing beans, grown and seed-saved (for 20 years) by our friends the Olsons with whom we garden.

If you’re interested in the ‘miralda’ beans, Beth Olson says that the ‘musica’ climbing beans at reenesgarden.com are the same variety.

These ‘miralda’ beans are the best beans we’ve ever had. They’re flat, quite long, and very sweet and flavorful. They don’t preserve that well, so are best for fresh eating. (Think of the difference between fresh-eating cucumbers and picklers — same thing.)

We’re eating tons of these! I’ll snap a picture of the climbing vines when we pick more tomorrow. They’re really impressive and productive. I really can’t get over them; I’m constantly oohing and aahing. I bet I’m annoying! It’s amazing how little seeds can produce so much food and foliage. I praise the Lord for this bounty!

Want to see the recipe in print? Click here. It is a great salad to take to a picnic, potluck, or to serve alongside hamburgers. Pretty much goes with everything!

What’s your favorite way to serve green beans?

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I’m sharing this post in Simple Lives Thursday and Pennywise Platter Thursday.

When the warmer weather settles in — which it hasn’t quite here, still raining — I start making lots of cold grain salads. My favorite grain to use is quinoa. The salads are a satisfying, yet light and cool, main dish and can boast of including virtually anything you’ve got on hand.

We attended a Memorial Day picnic on Monday and I hemmed and hawed all weekend about what to take. See, I usually always take a quinoa salad and I thought maybe I should take something different for a change. But by Sunday night, true to form, I was rinsing and soaking the quinoa anyway.

We arrived at the picnic on Monday, the quinoa salad in hand, and one friend commented that she thought about bringing a quinoa salad but didn’t because she figured I was going to. Another friend said she had been looking forward to the quinoa salad I was sure to bring. They got me there. I guess I’ll stop fighting it and always bring one. People depend on it, see?

Spring Quinoa Salad

This is about half the amount I usually make, whether for gatherings or just for us. I like to have plenty to share and/or plenty of leftovers.

• 4 cups soaked, cooked, and cooled quinoa (see grain soaking and cooking instructions here)
• 1 to 2 cups soaked, cooked, and cooled pinto beans (see bean soaking and cooking instructions here)
• 1 to 2 cups cooked, cold chicken, diced (see how to cook whole chickens in a crockpot here)
• 1/4 red onion, quartered and sliced thinly
• 1 to 2 cups spinach*, coarsely chopped
• 6 to 8 radishes, sliced thinly (not pictured)
• handful fresh basil, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup raw cheese, crumbled or diced (I used the no-tech Middle Eastern cheese in the Cultured Dairy & Basic Cheese eCourse)
• 1/2 cup+ extra virgin olive oil
• 2 to 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or lemon juice (optional)
• sea salt and pepper, to taste

Toss all ingredients together in a big bowl. Use more or less of any of them. Adjust seasonings. Give the flavors some time to mingle, in the refrigerator or at cool room temperature. Enjoy!

*If eating on a regular basis, spinach should be lightly steamed to reduce oxalic acid. But occasionally, we eat it raw.

Be sure to bookmark my garden quinoa salad, featuring deeper summer veggies. When the tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are out, there’s nothing like it! Speaking of gardens, you can pop over to Such Treasures to read my garden update.

Do you make cold grain salads? What do you put in them?

I shared this post in Simple Lives Thursday and Pennywise Platter Thursday.

Scraping the bottom of the jar. These naturally pickled radishes are that good. In about two weeks, we’ll be harvesting radishes from our garden and you know I’ll be making more. The brine — when beginning with red radishes — is just about the prettiest I’ve seen. And the nutrition? Can’t be beat.

Naturally preserved foods provide vitamins, enzymes, minerals, beneficial acids, and probiotics — what’s good for the gut is good for you. Read more about the benefits of lacto-fermentation (natural pickling) here and keep a look out for our 4th online class.

Shannon of Nourishing Days is graciously allowing me to share with you this adaptation of her lacto-fermented radish recipe. You can find the original recipe in her new Simple Food {for spring} cookbook. What I love about all Shannon’s cookbooks, including this newest one, is that she writes seasonal recipes that can be adapted to what you have on hand. That’s definitely how I like to cook!

Her recipes are simple and lovely — and delicious. The pickled radish recipe is a basic recipe, a formula. You can adapt it to your best-loved spices and herbs, and to seasonal ingredients. The following is my adaptation.

Naturally Pickled Radishes — Lacto-Fermented

• 3 bunches of radishes, ends chopped off and cut into quarters
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1″ ginger, cut up into chunks
• 1/4 cup whey, dripped out from plain yogurt or kefir with active cultures, or from raw cheesemaking
• 1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 cup+ water (approximately)

Yield: 1 quart. Adapted from Simple Food {for spring} by Shannon Stonger of Nourishing Days.

Put all ingredients (except salt and water) in a clean wide-mouth quart size jar.

Dissolve the salt in a cup of water — if necessary heat it and then cool it. Pour over all ingredients. Add additional water to cover all ingredients, but keeping below 1” from jar rim. Use a clean regular mouth jar lid to weight down ingredients below surface of liquid (otherwise they like to float up to the top). Cover jar tightly.

Let ferment at room temperature for 3 to 5 days. Taste to see where you like the texture and taste. Skim off any mold that accumulates on the surface. When done, transfer to the refrigerator or cool storage.

Check out Simple Food {for spring} for more seasonal recipes to help you get the most out of the bounty of spring! Beets, asparagus, eggs, spinach, dandelion greens, spring onions, peas and more make their appearance. Here’s the complete table of contents. I highly recommend this book for every kitchen that yearns for more seasonal cooking.

What are you harvesting this spring? Are you doing any natural pickling? What are some of your favorite spring foods to pickle?

Disclosure: As an affiliate of Nourishing Days, I will receive a commission on any purchases of Simple Food {for spring} that begin here. But I’d recommend Shannon’s work anyway. Thank you for supporting Nourishing Days and GNOWFGLINS with your purchase!

I shared this post with Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, and Pennywise Platter Thursday.

Yesterday, I made our family’s traditional hummus — a recipe handed down from my grandmother and namesake, Tata Wardeh, to my mother and then to me. However, there was a difference: this time I lacto-fermented it. Yeah, yeah, by now you know that I try to ferment just about everything.

To do this with hummus (or almost any other condiment), just switch out some of the liquid for whey and give the mixture an overnight sit at room temperature to complete a fermentation. The beneficial organisms in the whey have a bit of a feast on the sugars in the food, and proliferate throughout. The result in hummus is that the organisms make it a little “fluffy” or “bubbly” from the gases they produce.

I found that my digestive system likes lacto-fermented hummus better than the regular kind — because sometimes garbanzo beans (or chickpeas, as they are also called) can be more gas-producing than other beans.

The darker flecks in my hummus are the result of using an Indian relation of chickpeas/garbanzos — the Chana Dal bean (and more info here at Azure Standard). They’re smaller with darker skins. I don’t bother to remove skins from garbanzo beans; that’s just too much work!

I highly recommend using toasted sesame tahini. Toasting is another means of reducing phytic acid in seeds, and it gives the hummus a darker, roasted flavor. Love it!

Our Family’s Traditional Hummus — Lacto-Fermented

• 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• 3 rounded tablespoons roasted sesame tahini
• juice from 1 lemon
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup whey — with active cultures, such as from dripping off plain yogurt or kefir, or from raw cheesemaking

Put all ingredients in blender or food processor. Adjust water to desired consistency. Blend to make a smooth, thick, but sorta chunky paste. Transfer to an air-tight container and leave out at room temperature overnight, 7 to 12 hours. Transfer to refrigerator.

When serving, garnish with paprika, parsley and/or extra virgin olive oil. Pictured with sprouted spelt crackers.

How you eat your hummus? This morning, I served it with sprouted crackers, Middle Eastern cheese, two fried eggs, and kefir and fruit. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

We are very excited to be gardening this year! Not on our place, but at friends’. When I went there early this week for planning, she sent me home with a box full of beautiful rainbow chard.

To be honest, I have never served dark leafy greens much — and the last time was so long ago that I didn’t know whether my family would care for it this time. But they did like it, and very much! We ate this easy side dish with two dinners, and there was still chard to feed Gracie, our Jersey.

The best method for eating and preparing dark leafy greens — such as chard, spinach and beet greens — is a light steaming. When raw, these vegetables contain oxalic acid which blocks calcium and iron absorption, and light cooking serves to neutralize some of the oxalic acid while retaining the vitamins and minerals.

I save the addition of feta for when the steamed chard has cooled somewhat — so the beneficial organisms in my raw feta cheese don’t die. (Next week, the feta cheese lesson goes up in the Cultured Dairy & Basic Cheese eCourse.)

Feta & Chard

• 7 to 9 large leaves of rainbow chard – washed, dried and cut up (even stems)
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• sea salt, pepper and dried, powdered garlic
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (preferably raw) — learn how to make your own in the Cultured Dairy & Basic Cheese eCourse

Steam the chard until just wilted, yet still colorful. Discard the cooking water (it contains the oxalic acid) and transfer the chard to a serving bowl. Drizzle on melted butter. Sprinkle with seasonings. Toss and adjust seasonings to taste. When cooled, toss with feta cheese. Serve and enjoy!

How do you serve dark leafy greens?

Don’t forget! The giveaway for “Sourdough A to Z” eBook wraps up this evening and I’ll announce the winners tomorrow morning. Also, Monday is the last day to purchase the eBook and get the free thank you video.

Since many were so intrigued and interested in the red palm oil I use to pop popcorn, I thought I would share another very flavorful use of this great traditional oil — refried quinoa (or any grain).

I am a huge fan of quinoa, while my son and husband are just so-so about it. However, if I refry the quinoa in a flavorful oil such as red palm oil, they love it. Love it. The flavor just pops! Not to mention the color.

This is a super easy recipe to make. You can use it as a warm side dish with roasted chicken or meatballs, or as the base for a cold grain salad*. The key is to use thoroughly cooled, cooked quinoa when refrying — so as to preserve the integrity of each beautiful grain. (Who likes mushed up quinoa, or any grain for that matter?)

If you don’t have red palm oil, use coconut oil or any other traditional fat to boost the flavor when refrying any grain.

Refried Quinoa

• 1/4 cup red palm oil (or other traditional fat)
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 5 to 6 cups cooked and thoroughly cooled quinoa (or other grain) — see how to cook whole grains
• sea salt and pepper, to taste

In a cast iron skillet over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic in the oil until soft.

Add the quinoa and mix in gently, without mashing up the beautiful grains. Bring all to a warm temperature. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and serve!

*If using for a cold grain salad, you don’t need to do any of this warm — just make sure the red palm oil is liquid before stirring it into the cold, cooked quinoa.

I hope you’ll like this — I can’t imagine how anyone wouldn’t. What fat and/or seasonings do you use to refry grains?

A few announcements: The deadline for the “Sourdough A to Z” eBook giveaway has been extended to next Friday. Also, I’ll be the guest on two radio shows next week, one on Monday evening (talking about sourdough) and one on Wednesday late morning/early afternoon (talking about cultured dairy). Links to those will be forthcoming… I’d love to have you listen in — but if you can’t make it, I’ll let you know when the mp3 recordings are available afterward for download.