Real Food from Azure Standard

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Meghan Slocum • 10 Comments

One of the hardest parts of switching to real food is finding affordable places to buy that food. I really enjoy sharing the good deals I get at Costco, so today I thought I’d share another resource in my real food arsenal: Azure Standard.

How Azure Standard Works

Azure Standard is natural and organic foods retailer that delivers food by truck to pickup locations across the western United States. At the moment they deliver to most states west of Missouri, as well as to a few more eastern states.…

Filed Under: Shopping for Real Food

How to Make Kombucha

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Meghan Slocum • 15 Comments

Kombucha is a delicious fermented beverage made from sweetened tea. Like milk kefir and water kefir, kombucha contains beneficial yeasts and bacteria that can help improve your digestion and boost your immune system. Even better, however, is the fact that kombucha is very enjoyable to drink! I love that kombucha adds some healthy variety to my drink options.

While you can purchase bottled kombucha in health food stores, I highly recommend making your own as the cost savings are huge for a minimal amount of work on your part.

If you’ve tried store-bought kombucha before and didn’t find it to your liking, it may still be worth trying to make your own as you can wildly vary the taste of your kombucha depending on what flavoring agents you decide to add after the initial fermenting process is complete.…

Filed Under: Real Food Recipes

Thai Peanut Sauce

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Meghan Slocum • 9 Comments

This Thai peanut sauce is rich, creamy, and deliciously peanut-y. We enjoy it spooned over meat and vegetable stir-fries, but I’m sure it would also make a lovely dip for vegetables, and perhaps even work well as as spread on wraps or sandwiches. It’s very easy to mix up, so don’t be shy about experimenting with plenty of different uses. 🙂

A Couple Notes on Ingredients

I use coconut cream in this recipe because that’s what we keep on hand at all times in lieu of coconut milk. (Coconut cream has a higher fat content than coconut milk, and since I pay the same price for both, it’s essentially like getting more of the good stuff for less.) If you can’t find straight coconut cream, you could scoop out the coconut cream from the top of a refrigerated can or carton of coconut milk.…

Filed Under: Real Food Recipes

Things I Loved in June

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Meghan Slocum • 2 Comments

Aside from the fact that it’s far too hot here, June was a good month for me. Here are a few things I loved at home and around the blogosphere over the last month.

Great Things at Home

Watching our garden grow and grow. We are consistently enjoying lettuce and basil and have started to get a few sugar snap peas. The tomatoes are growing by leaps and bounds, although it will be quite a while before any of those are ready to harvest. I really need to do another garden update post, because just about everything is humongous compared to what it looked like a month ago!…

Filed Under: News and Updates

How to Make Mayonnaise

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Meghan Slocum • 14 Comments

Mayonnaise is one of those foods that I refuse to buy in stores. We try our best to stay away from unhealthy industrial vegetable oils (like soy, corn, canola, safflower, etc.) and I have yet to find a mayonnaise that contains none of those oils. So, if I want to eat mayonnaise I have to make it myself. Luckily, making your own mayonnaise is quite simple.

I haven’t eaten commercial mayonnaise in years, so I can’t say how closely this homemade mayonnaise recipe replicates store-bought versions. We find it completely delicious, though, and love eating it with homemade chicken or tuna salad.…

Filed Under: Real Food Recipes