Creamy Turkey Wild Rice Soup - Gluten Free

Sunday afternoon I prepared our 15lb turkey I had just bought the day before from a local farmer at the farmers market. I buy a turkey every year, no matter if we are celebrating Thanksgiving at home or not. That's because this is the only time of year I can buy my free-range, organic, heirloom turkey from the farmer who provides us with the majority of our meat. I have been buying our meat from Farm On Wheels for probably 5 years now, and continue to love what they have to offer. Their beef is from grass-fed cows, their chickens really do run outside and get to eat worms and other grub and are never fed soy, plus they have pork, goose and duck to choose from too. If you live in the Twin Cities area you can check out Farm On Wheels at the year-round St. Paul Farmers market.

We are heading to four families' home this year, so I won't need our turkey. Normally I'd freeze the beautiful bird, but it looked like it was going to taste so good that we decided to go ahead and make it and freeze the cooked meat instead of the whole uncooked bird. I used an adaption of an Alton Brown recipe on Food Network,  which turned out excellent. I did change the brine just a bit and lowered my cooking temperature for the second part to 325°F, taking into consideration that this heirloom bread of turkey was going to be leaner than the standard turkeys at the grocery store.

It only made natural sense to go ahead and make my family's favorite soup on Monday night. With snow on the ground and the 50 degree days gone for the moment, a warm bowl of soup was perfect for a healthy, filling dinner. I have about 12 more pounds of cooked turkey now in my deep freeze and I think I can safely say that this soup will be gracing our evening table quite a bit this winter.

 Note on the lemon juice and arrowroot in this recipe.

In this soup I add, when I have it, the juice of one lemon. This makes the soup a little brighter which can be a nice contrast to the cream. Normally lemon will make milk curdle, but I haven't had a problem with that in this soup. I also use arrowroot for the thickener, instead of flour. If you wanted to add flour instead you can, but you would want to do it differently. How I'd add flour is by making a roux. First melt 4 tbsp. of butter in a small frying pan. Add 1/4 cup flour (or up to 1/2 cup if you want a very thick soup, although you may want to add more butter) and cook the flour and butter for a couple of minutes over medium heat stirring constantly. You don't want the butter/flour to brown at all. You want to be getting rid of the raw flour taste. Then thin the roux with a couple tablespoons of broth from your soup. Add it to the soup at the same time you'd add the arrowroot. Arrowroot has a very different nature than flour. You want to be careful to not overcook it or it will actually lose its thickening capability. It adds very little flavor and no color, even though it's white. I don't make this soup extremely thick and creamy. If you like a really creamy soup, double the arrowroot and water.

A Healthy and Delicious Vegetable Rice Medley

I've been wanting to put this post up for a while, but every time I've made this dish, without fail, I'm running way behind in my day and run out of time to do the pictures or I do them too quickly and they don't turn out. Luckily I make this dish a lot! Probably because my 2 year old loves it and it's a great substitute for bread in our dinner meal. I don't know about you all, but I like to have some type of bread with my dinner meal. However, my son is showing possible signs of gluten intolerance, so I'm trying to cut back on our consumption of wheat. Believe it or not, we actually don't eat that much wheat, at least not in comparison to most, despite my recent posts.

Rice is a great alternative to bread and it fills you up in the same way. Plus, in this dish you get tons of great vegetables and I cook the rice in broth. It's packed with nutrition. That's my type of dish!

You can make this recipe with frozen or fresh vegetables. If you don't want to slave over the stove, use frozen, simply because they are already cut up and ready to go. It doesn't take long to prep fresh vegetables and I personally prefer fresh, but there are those days... You can also use the rice of your choice, although brown rice is more healthy than white. I usually use a long grain brown rice. The only rice I'd strongly recommend not using is any type of instant rice. I know, I know, it's so much easier to make the instant stuff, but I kind of equate it to eating rice shaped Styrofoam. Harsh, but it's important to make every meal count for nutrition and cooking regular rice isn't harder, it just takes a bit longer and it's worth it for the extra nutrition.

Below is an excerpt from an excellent article about the health benefits of brown rice. I'd highly recommend reading it. I believe when we are armed with the right information we are more likely to pursue a healthier form of eating. It's easy for someone to tell you to eat a certain way because it's healthy, it's entirely another thing when you actually understand why what your eating is healthy.

"The difference between brown rice and white rice is not just color! A whole grain of rice has several layers. Only the outermost layer, the hull, is removed to produce what we call brown rice. This process is the least damaging to the nutritional value of the rice and avoids the unnecessary loss of nutrients that occurs with further processing. If brown rice is further milled to remove the bran and most of the germ layer, the result is a whiter rice, but also a rice that has lost many more nutrients. At this point, however, the rice is still unpolished, and it takes polishing to produce the white rice we are used to seeing. Polishing removes the aleurone layer of the grain-a layer filled with health-supportive, essential fats. Because these fats, once exposed to air by the refining process, are highly susceptible to oxidation, this layer is removed to extend the shelf life of the product. The resulting white rice is simply a refined starch that is largely bereft of its original nutrients.

Our food ranking system qualified brown rice as an excellent source of manganese, and a good source of the minerals selenium and magnesium. The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids. By law in the United States, fully milled and polished white rice must be 'enriched' with vitamins B1, B3, and iron. But the form of these nutrients when added back into the processed rice is not the same as in the original unprocessed version, and at least 11 lost nutrients are not replaced in any form even with rice 'enrichment.'"

~ www.whfoods.com, Brown Rice


What You'll Need - Serves 4-6

• Olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup brown rice
• 3+ cups of chicken, beef or vegetable broth
• 1 tsp of salt for unsalted broth plus more for seasoning with later
• 1 cup diced fresh fresh/frozen carrots
• 1 cup fresh/frozen green beans
• 1 cup onion chopped
• 1 cup cashews
• 1 tsp of dried thyme
• 3 cloves of smashed and diced garlic
• 1 cup fresh/frozen peas
• 1 cup fresh/frozen corn

• Skillet
• Pot with lid to cook rice in
• Sharp knife
• Stirring spoon

Getting Started
1. Cook your rice per directions on package, except use the broth as your liquid instead of water. If you are using unsalted broth add 1 tsp of salt to it for extra flavor. If you buy your rice in bulk, 1 1/2 cups of rice to 3 cups of broth usually works pretty good. An FYI... if you think you can try to speed up the cook time on brown rice by turning the heat up higher, forget it. I'm telling you this, because I've been guilty of trying to do this! Brown rice usually takes about 45 minutes to cook and you need to cook it at a simmer, otherwise you boil away all the liquid and will find yourself burning your rice on the bottom of the pot. No fun! If you know you'll be in a time crunch on the day you're going to make this dish, you can make the rice ahead of time and then re-heat it.

2. If using fresh vegetables, steam your carrot pieces, which shouldn't take long, probably 10 minutes at the most and they only need to be cooked until they are soft on the outside and a bit hard on the inside, i.e., al dente, because you'll cook them a bit more later. When the carrots are getting close to being done add your fresh green beans and let them finish steaming together, then set them aside.

3. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy bottom skillet (I like to use my Lodge cast iron skillet; it works great for recipes like this). Toss in your chopped onion and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes until onion has softened. Add your cashews and cook for a couple more minutes until the cashews start to turn brown/toasted on the outside.



4. For fresh vegetables: Add your garlic, thyme, cooked carrots, cooked green beans, fresh peas, fresh corn and a bit more olive oil if it's needed and saute over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes.

5. For frozen vegetables: Add your garlic, thyme, all your frozen vegetables and a bit more olive oil if it's needed and saute over medium-high heat until they are hot, about 3-5 minutes.

Note: If you are using a mixture of fresh and frozen vegetables, which I often do in the winter, simply make sure to add your frozen vegetables at the end and saute them for just a couple minutes. You don't want to overcook them.



6. Finally, add your cooked rice and approx. 1 tablespoon of olive oil and saute everything together for about 1 minute. Dish it up and enjoy!

This dish is best hot, but can be eaten at room temperature too, for instance if you wanted to take it to a potluck. It also makes great leftovers!

Chicken Broth - Tradition with Cooking

I like to think of chicken broth as "super food". This extremely nutritious food is the base to many dishes. It's worth it to make extra and stick it in the freezer so you always have some on hand.

Most of us have heard about eating chicken soup or broth when we're sick. That's not just an old-wives tale, there is actually something to it. Sally Fallon Morell writes of the benefits of broth in her article Broth is Beautiful:

"Science validates what our grandmothers knew. Rich homemade chicken broths help cure colds. Stock contains minerals in a form the body can absorb easily—not just calcium but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals. It contains the broken down material from cartilage and tendons--stuff like chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, now sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain."

If broth making becomes a part of your normal cooking routine, which I truly hope it will, I'd highly recommend finding a farmer you can purchase your meat directly from. Build a relationship with them and ask them how they feed and take care of their animals throughout the year. In cold weather climates like Minnesota, feed and care can drastically change during the winter. Also, when you purchase directly from the farmer you have a much better selection of cuts of meat and you are able to purchase those now-rare items like chicken feet, necks, and backs. Chicken necks, backs and feet make fabulous broth and can be much cheaper to purchase than a whole chicken. Not too long ago, we would never have wasted any section of the animal, now we only see the popular and prime cuts of meat at our local stores while the rest of the animal goes by the way-side. It's sad, plus you lose all the nutritious benefits from these harder-to-find items. I have been going to the same farmer, Farm on Wheels, for my meat for about 4 years now. I'm able to get organic, grass fed meat all year, because they're at the year-round St. Paul Farmers Market. What is also great is they know their facts and have been very helpful in giving me helpful hints and ideas on how to prepare different cuts of meat and ways to make broth.

One helpful hint that was passed on to me by Linda Noble of Farm on Wheels is save your bones! For instance, if you make a roast chicken, save the carcass, stick it in the freezer until you are making your next batch of broth. Also, if you make broth with a whole chicken, save the bones and throw them into your next batch of broth. I'd only make broth from the same bones twice. If you cook your broth for long enough (12 to 24 hours) you'll probably want to pitch the bones as they will have most likely deteriorated and most, if not all the minerals will be gone from them.

If you are on a tight budget, but are still wanting to make wholesome food from scratch, knowing tips like these can really help. My rule of thumb is don't let anything go to waste if you don't have to. Learn to be creative in the kitchen and your dollar will go much farther.


What You'll Need

• 1 whole organic, free-range chicken (2-4 lbs) and/or a combination of chicken necks, backs, feet, gizzards and left-over bones
• 4 quarts cold filtered water
• 2-3 tablespoons white or apple cider vinegar
• 1 large organic onion chopped in large chunks
• 2-4 peeled organic carrots chopped in large chunks
• 3-5 organic celery stalks chopped in large chunks
• 1 bunch of fresh organic parsley

• Large stock pot - six quarts or larger
• spoon for skimming
• Mesh strainer or regular strainer lined with cheese cloth
• Large bowl
• Containers for storing broth

Getting Started

Put all your ingredients into your stock pot, cover with lid and allow to sit for 30 - 60 minutes. Then bring you water to a boil and skim off any scum that rises to the top.




Cover your pot and turn the heat down so your broth just barely simmers. Keep broth at a low simmer for a minimum of 6 hours and preferably all day or up to 24 hours. It's amazing the difference you'll get in your broth the longer it cooks. I almost always let my broth simmer for 24 hours.

Note, if you are noticing your liquid disappearing too much, add some more water and turn your stove down lower.

Once the broth is done, I like to let it cool for an hour or so in the pot. This really just keeps me from accidentally burning myself during the next step.

Place strainer into or over a large bowl. Slowly pour your broth through the strainer. Depending how large your bowl and strainer are, you may have to stop and empty your bowl a couple of times.

Allow your broth to completely cool then place in the refrigerator until chilled. If it's winter and you live in a Northern climate, stick it outside to chill, just don't forget about it or it will freeze (I've done that before). Once chilled, you should see a layer of hardened fat on the top of the broth, remove this fat layer and then portion the broth out into your storage containers. Refrigerate what you'll be using within the next couple of days and freeze the rest.

I keep my broth in glass containers in the fridge and plastic containers for the freezer. Freezing broth in glass can be done, but you need to leave plenty of clearance room, at least an inch, for the freezing broth to expand, also be very careful the glass containers don't clang against one another, they can easily be broken.

One final note, don't throw away the left over bones and vegetables quite yet. Check our my recipe for homemade dog treats. They're super easy to make and your dog will LOVE them!

Butternut Squash Soup

This is one of those perfect wintertime soups. It warms you up on the inside with a little kick from cayenne and finishes off with a bit of sweetness from fresh apples. Two winters ago, my husband and I were on an extremely tight budget and were doing all that we could to cut down our grocery expenses. While at the farmers market one Saturday, we found a vendor selling his winter squash in huge bags for only $15, I think there was over 20 squash in it. It was the end of the season (late fall) and he was trying to get rid of his produce. Lucky us! Hitting the farmers market at the end of the season is always a great time to get some extra good deals, just be prepared to spend time in the kitchen canning and freezing all the delicious foods you are able to find.

I love squash, but by the time we were about halfway through the bag and winter, I had about all I could handle of it! I did some digging on the internet and found this yummy recipe for squash soup. I thought I found it on Foodnetwork.com, but before putting this post together I went to go find it again and was unable to. It was a very easy recipe, so I looked at it once, and it stuck in my brain. I guess you could say this is my version of the soup, since I really don't recall all the specifics of the original recipe, however, it's still delicious!


What You'll Need: 4-6 servings

• 1 2 - 3 lb butternut or acorn squash
• 1 large red onion
• 3-4 small apples, I think in this batch I used Pink Lady, but any firm, mildly-sweet apple will work
• 1/8 teaspoon or less of cayenne pepper
• Chicken broth
• Cream to garnish with
• Olive oil
• Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper

• Large casserole dish or a large jelly roll pan
• sharp knife
• Vegetable peeler
• Regular or submersion blender
• Large pot to warm soup in
• Mixing spoon

Getting Started

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Peel your squash and apples with a vegetable peeler and/or a sharp knife. Cut the squash in half and remove seeds. Core the apples. Chop the squash, onion and apples into similar-sized pieces around 1" cubes. Place them in the casserole dish or jelly roll pan and pour several tablespoons of olive oil on them and toss/stir to make sure they are evenly coated. Sprinkle on a little salt and a dash of cayenne pepper.

Note: If kids are eating this soup and aren't fans of any type of spice, omit the cayenne. A little bit of cayenne goes a very long way in this soup and does add a "kick". Also, go more conservatively on the cayenne your first time making this, no more then an 1/8 teaspoon and probably only half of that. I very lightly sprinkle cayenne over top of the vegetables and have found that it gives it more then enough "kick". The goal isn't to make the soup spicy, but just add extra depth of flavor and a little extra warmth.



Place coated vegetables and fruit into preheated oven and roast for about 30 minutes or until soft. Stir every 10 - 15 minutes to make sure they cook evenly and don't stick.

Once done roasting, remove vegetables/fruit and allow to cool some. Fill your blender about 3/4 of the way with the veggies (you may have to do more than one batch), and pour the chicken broth on top. Add enough broth so you are able to easily process the veggies to a smooth, creamy consistency. Pour the soup into pot and heat to desired eating temperature. Thin with more broth to desired consistency. You can also add a cup of cream at this point to make an extra creamy soup. Season with salt and a bit of fresh cracked pepper.

Pour the soup into bowls and garnish with a little cream!