Category Archives: Kitchen Tips and Tricks

Make Your Own Lactose-free Pizza with Real Cheese

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Meghan Slocum • 11 Comments

Pizza has been one of my big pregnancy cravings. Unfortunately, satisfying that craving has not been as easy as calling for take-out. Even though I’m no longer grain-free, I’m still lactose-free because I’m pretty sure I’m lactose intolerant. While butter, aged cheeses and my homemade yogurt and kefir don’t give me any trouble, I’ve experienced intestinal upset from as little as half a tablespoon of commercial sour cream. Lactose just doesn’t seem to agree with me—so I knew that if I really wanted pizza, it would have to be a lactose-free pizza.

I’d experimented with lactose-free pizza during my two plus years on the GAPS diet, but I eventually gave up my search because aged cheeses like cheddar, Monterey jack, and Parmesan just weren’t giving me the taste and texture I was looking for.…

Filed Under: Kitchen Tips and Tricks

How I Got My Chicken Stock to Gel

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Meghan Slocum • 16 Comments

If you’ve delved very far into the world of stock-making, you know that gelling is one of the signs of a good stock. Gelling means that your stock contains ample amounts of gelatin, a substance that is so valuable for both digestive healing and general well-being. Which brings me to a confession: although I’ve been making chicken stock regularly for more than two years now, my stock doesn’t usually gel.

The exception is if I add chicken feet, which are so rich in gelatin that they impart some gel to just about any stock they’re included in. Whenever I make chicken stock with just raw chickens and/or roasted chicken carcasses, however, my stock remains liquid even after it’s been thoroughly chilled.…

Filed Under: Kitchen Tips and Tricks

Save Time with Bulk Cooking: The Grain Free Freezer Cooking Guide from Health, Home and Happiness

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Meghan Slocum • 2 Comments

Cooking real food for the last three years has forced me to develop some strategies for saving time and energy in my kitchen. One of my best strategies is cooking in bulk and cooking for my freezer. When I take extra time to prepare a lot of food at once, I get to enjoy several days of easy meals and snacks, perfect for those times when I don’t have time to cook or even just don’t feel like being in the kitchen.

Getting started in bulk cooking was really challenging for me, though, which is why I’m so happy to share a new e-book on this topic, the Grain Free Freezer Cooking Guide from Cara Faus at Health, Home and Happiness.…

Filed Under: GAPS Diet, Kitchen Tips and Tricks

How to Use Coconut Oil in Your Kitchen

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Meghan Slocum • 19 Comments

How to use coconut oil | Coconut oil cooking | How to eat coconut oil | Coconut oil uses

Since coconut oil offers such fantastic health benefits, I try to work it into our diet as much as possible. These days we go through cups and cups of coconut oil every month. Back when I was first getting into traditional foods, however, I remember that I had a hard time figuring out just what to do with coconut oil. Unlike more commonplace traditional foods, adding coconut oil to your diet can be a bit of a learning curve. Here’s how I like to use coconut oil in my kitchen.

Virgin vs. Refined Coconut Oil

First off, you should know that there are two different types of coconut oil: virgin coconut oil and refined coconut oil.…

Filed Under: Kitchen Tips and Tricks

Tips for Using Stevia and How to Substitute Stevia for Honey

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Meghan Slocum • 19 Comments

If you’ve looked through many of my recipes, you may have noticed that I often use stevia. I like stevia because it allows us to enjoy sweet things while minimizing our intake of added sugars. Unfortunately, stevia is more complicated to use than other alternative sweeteners. Stevia’s sweetness is much more concentrated than other sweeteners, and since sweetness also varies between brands, there’s no standard way to convert conventional recipes into stevia recipes. When I first started using stevia, I couldn’t find many stevia recipes or resources so was left to flounder about on my own.

Fortunately, all of that floundering led to a lot of experimentation which eventually taught us how to best use stevia in our kitchen.…

Filed Under: Kitchen Tips and Tricks