Chicken Tikka Masala from the cookbook Curry Cuisine and Check out Artistta on Cheeseslave!

Wow, life has been incredibly busy as of late. Every time I think I might have a moment to write a blog post, a new things gets piled on and I'm once again off and distracted. I'm not particularly a fan of things being this busy, but alas there is not much I can do about it, except trust the Lord and know that He'll provide if I just take things one step at a time.

We are quickly moving towards the end of our rental lease at our town home (it's up at the end of Sept.) Yesterday there were three showings and thankfully one of the people decided to rent our place. Hurray! No more cleaning for showings. Don't get me wrong I love a clean house, but with two toddlers who's sole mission in life is to pull as much stuff out as possible and better yet bring the outdoors indoors (like dumping sand all over themselves and the carpet), trying to keep a place clean and tidy for showings is exhausting. We have also been looking at homes and researching like crazy. Because we are looking to move out of the cities and have more land to start living a more self sustained lifestyle, the house hunting has lead to many late nights. The driving alone has taken close to an hour one way to get to an area we can come close to affording while still allowing my husband to work in town (this area would be about 40 min. from his job). Hopefully this week, perhaps even today, we are going to put an offer in on a foreclosed home that has 7 beautiful acres with it. It's all in God's hands, as we hope that the bank will come down in price and accept our offer.

In the coming weeks I'll fill you all in on some of the other activities that have been going on, including some things about the movie Farmageddon. Stay tuned because it's exciting!

Today my blog is being featured on Cheeseslave! So cool! Well, at least for me. ;-) Check out the post and take a tour of my kitchen with Ann Marie. In the post I mention one of my families new favorite dishes in Chicken Tikka Masala. This recipe comes from the cookbook Curry Cuisine I picked up at the library and frankly I love the cookbook so much I keep renewing it. I think I am going to have to add it to my permanent cookbook collection.

What You'll Need

Serves 4

6 boned chicken thighs (1½lb or 675g)

Juice from 2 limes

1 tsp paprika

1½ tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp coriander seeds

2 shallots, roughly chopped

4 large garlic cloves, peeled, smashed and chopped

1½" (4-cm) piece of fresh ginger root, roughly chopped

2 green chilies, seeds removed and roughly chopped

4½ oz (125 g) plain yogurt 

(the recipe calls for Greek yogurt, but I used my homemade stuff)

½ tsp ground garam masala 

1 tbsp vegetable oil 

(I used coconut oil) 

For the Sauce

14 oz (400 g) canned chopped tomatoes

1 rounded tsp tomato paste

handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped 

(I didn't have this and can say the recipe was still excellent) 

1¼" (3-cm) piece of fresh ginger root, grated

1 tsp lime juice

1/2 tsp  cane sugar

3 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

Note: I always use organic ingredients and free-range/grass fed meat for all my recipes.

Getting Started

1. Slice your chicken thighs into 1" chunks, then in a large bowl, combine with lime juice and paprika. 

2. In a small pan, roast the cumin seeds over medium-high heat for about 1 minute. Shake the pan or stir the seeds to keep them from burning. Allow the seeds to cool on a plate, then grind them into a fine powder using a pestle, spice mill or coffee grinder.

3. Place shallots, garlic, ginger and chilies into a food processor. Drain any juice from the chicken mixture you made above and add it to the shallot mixture. Process until smooth.

4. Pour mixture into a bowl and add the yogurt, garam masala and half of the ground coriander seeds and cumin powder. Pour this mixture over top of the chicken pieces, making sure each piece gets well coated.

5. Cover the chicken mixture with a plate or plastic wrap and allow it to marinade overnight. If possible, try and stir it a couple of times to redistribute the marinade.

6. Place a broiler pan under your oven broiler and preheat (I placed my pan about 3/4 of the way up from the bottom of the oven), then arrange chicken pieces on the hot pan. Drizzle with the 1 tbsp of oil and broil the chicken for about 5 minutes on each side.

7. Once chicken is cooked, pour any excess cooking juices into a bowl. Skim off any fat that floats to the top. Place chicken pieces into a bowl and cover to keep warm while you make the sauce.

8. In a blender or food processor, combine tomatoes, tomato paste, coriander leaves, ginger, lime juice, sugar and remaining cumin and coriander powder. Blend until smooth.

9. In a pan, melt the butter, then add the tomato mixture you just blended and the cream. Bring to a simmer then add (straining if necessary) the reserved cooking juices from the chicken. Add the chicken pieces and reheat to piping hot!

Serve immediately with with Indian flat bread and enjoy!

Chicken Hearts and Liver -They really are delicious and healthy too!

Now don't make a disgusted look with your face when you read that title. Chicken hearts and liver are extremely tasty and are actually one of my family's favorite meals. I make this dish every week. My two year old loves both and it's an excellent way to get extra iron and protein in him. We started feeding our son liver around the age of one and he's been hooked ever since. I love that he loves food like this.

If you're acquainted to the typical beef liver and onions dish that many people grew up with, you might not have the fondest memories of eating liver. Frankly, I'm really not a fan of beef liver with onions. Although I do like beef liver when prepared certain ways, there is no doubt that it has a strong flavor. I started eating liver regularly when I was pregnant with my son. I was doing my best to keep my iron levels up because I had encountered anemia issues in the past and I didn't want to have to go on an iron supplement. I started eating liver once to twice a week and I've never had an iron issue since.

In the past I always ate beef liver until my lovely meat farmer, Linda from Farm on Wheels, introduced me to chicken liver (and duck and goose liver too). She told me it had a much milder flavor than beef liver and generally people (especially children) found it more palatable. Well, who isn't for that? So I gave it a whirl and loved it. Around the same time we also had begun eating beef heart. That started because I was trying to find the cheapest cuts of meat possible since we were on an extremely tight budget (the heart was only about $3 a pound). After getting past the initial strangeness of eating heart, we realized we really loved it. Once again it was only natural to go ahead and try chicken hearts. Beef heart is great, but chicken hearts are awesome!

Okay, so if you are still a little leery about trying these two items perhaps their health benefits might persuade you to do so. If you aren't familiar with some of these vitamins and minerals, click their name and you'll be taken to a link with more information on them.

Beef and chicken heart are a good source of protein, CoQ10 (check out this article CoEnzyme Q10 for Healthy Hearts), riboflavin, folate, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid, zinc, selenium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, copper and manganese.

Beef and chicken liver are a good source of thiamin, zinc, copper and manganese, and a very good source of protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid, iron, phosphorus and selenium.

How I Prepare Chicken Heart and Liver
As far as a recipe goes, sorry there isn't one, at least not a specific one with everything measured out. My favorite way to prepare chicken heart and liver is with salt, garlic powder and onion powder. It's easy, simple and delicious. I occasionally also toss the liver with a little flour with the salt, garlic and onion powder mixed in -- just enough to coat it.


To cook them, heat over medium to medium-high heat a couple teaspoons of oil in a heavy skillet. I like to use coconut or olive oil and my cast iron skillet. First toss in your chicken hearts and cook them for 3-4 minutes or until they are beginning to brown.


Then add your liver and cook them 5-10 minutes more or until they are no longer pink inside.


Serve immediately and enjoy!