Egg Free, Dairy Free Liver Meatballs

Liver is an amazing superfood! It contains lots of vitamins and minerals, including zinc, iron, B vitamins, A vitamins, and folate. In our modern world, all of our livers are well taxed because of our exposure to chemicals. Anytime we know we need to support a particular organ, one of the best ways to do that is to consume the organ meat of the organ you’re trying to support.

You can spice your meatballs with anything you want but think of strong flavors. You want to neutralize the flavor of the liver.  You can also add any additional vegetables that you know your family likes. If you add additional vegetables like zucchini, eggplant or peppers and are finding the consistency of the meatball mixture to not be very sticky, you may want to add an egg to help bind everything together. Otherwise, these meatballs are egg free and dairy free!

This is a recipe that I recommend to a lot of moms! It’s a great way to help your kids eat a little bit of liver every day, which is the best way to eat liver. This recipe makes a lot of meatballs so you can freeze them and take out a few at a time to have for lunch or dinner.

Makes 27-30 Meatballs

Ingredients for Liver Meatballs:

• 2 lb ground beef

• ½ lb beef liver

• 2 carrots, about 1 cup grated

• ⅓ large white onion, about ⅔ a cup grated

• 6 large cloves of Garlic

• Oregano, 1 bunch Fresh or 1 tbsp Dried

• Basil, 1 bunch Fresh or 1 tbsp Dried

• ¼ - ½ tsp Pepper

• 2 tsp Salt

• 1 tbsp lard

Directions for Liver Meatballs:

For milder tasting liver, soak it in some kind of acid. Cover the liver in filtered water and then add the juice of one lemon or 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Leave to soak for 30 minutes. Be sure not to soak it for too long. The acid will break down the liver and start it “cooking” prematurely.

Preheat your oven to 375.

Grate your carrot, onion and garlic into very fine pieces. Add to a large bowl with ground beef. Add in oregano, basil and salt and pepper. Mix with your hands. 

Place your liver into a food processor once it has soaked. Pulse until smooth. Add to the bowl with the beef, vegetables and spices and mix again.

Spread lard onto the bottom of a glass oven safe casserole dish. 

Take a small handful of meat at a time and roll into a meatball. Continue to roll meatballs until you have filled your casserole dish. Keep consistency in the size and shape of your meatballs to ensure even cooking time.

Line meatballs, leaving some space between them.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Enjoy with spaghetti squash and make your own spaghetti sauce for a spaghetti night. Or enjoy with any variety of vegetables like brussels sprouts or broccoli!

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Egg Free, Dairy Free Liver Meatballs

prep time: cook time: total time:

ingredients:

• 2 lb ground beef
• ½ lb beef liver
• 2 carrots, about 1 cup grated
• ⅓ large white onion, about ⅔ a cup grated
• 6 large cloves of Garlic
• Oregano, 1 bunch Fresh or 1 tbsp Dried
• Basil, 1 bunch Fresh or 1 tbsp Dried
• ¼ - ½ tsp Pepper
• 2 tsp Salt
• 1 tbsp lard

instructions:

How to cook Egg Free, Dairy Free Liver Meatballs

1. For milder tasting liver, soak it in some kind of acid. Cover the liver in filtered water and then add the juice of one lemon or 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Leave to soak for 30 minutes. Be sure not to soak it for too long. The acid will break down the liver and start it “cooking” prematurely.
2. Preheat your oven to 375.
3. Grate your carrot, onion and garlic into very fine pieces. Add to a large bowl with ground beef. Add in oregano, basil and salt and pepper. Mix with your hands.
4. Place your liver into a food processor once it has soaked. Pulse until smooth. Add to the bowl with the beef, vegetables and spices and mix again.
5. Spread lard onto the bottom of a glass oven safe casserole dish.
6. Take a small handful of meat at a time and roll into a meatball. Continue to roll meatballs until you have filled your casserole dish. Keep consistency in the size and shape of your meatballs to ensure even cooking time.
7. Line meatballs, leaving some space between them.
8. Bake for 45 minutes.
9. Enjoy with spaghetti squash and make your own spaghetti sauce for a spaghetti night. Or enjoy with any variety of vegetables like brussels sprouts or broccoli!

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Chocolate Fudge Made with Coconut

GAPS Legal Chocolate Peppermint Coconut Fudge and Citrus Coconut Fudge

The GAPS Legal Fudge is a delicious holiday recipe and easy to share with family and friends! This recipe comes together quickly, besides the melting of the coconut butter and oil. I like making this recipe on a snowy day because it’s fun to chill the pans in a snowbank! It makes me feel like a pioneer.

For the citrus fudge, you can use any citrus you like. I prefer orange. You can also use all shredded coconut if you like. I prefer a little crunch in my fudge and like to add the flakes.You can make these flavors on their own and keep them separate. However, I prefer the two flavors together.

To combine the flavors, make the chocolate peppermint fudge first and put it in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill rapidly while you make the citrus fudge. Once chilled, pour the citrus fudge over the top and chill again.The fudge keeps for quite a while and doesn’t melt easily at room temperature. Even so, storing in the fridge is best.Enjoy!

Chocolate Peppermint Coconut Fudge

Ingredients for chocolate peppermint coconut fudge

• ½ cup coconut butter

• ½ cup coconut oil

• ½ cup cocoa powder

• ½ cup honey

• 2 tsp peppermint extract or 2 drops peppermint oil

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 3/4 cup shredded coconut

• ¼ cup coconut flakes

Directions for chocolate peppermint coconut fudge

Melt coconut butter on medium heat by adding water to the bottom of a pot and placing jar on top. Or add jar and water to crockpot and heat for two hours until melted.

Melt coconut oil in a separate pot. Crush coconut flakes into smaller pieces.

Combine coconut butter, coconut oil, cocoa powder, honey, peppermint, vanilla, shredded coconut and coconut flakes into a food processor.

Spread mixture into a pan.Chill for 30 minutes.

Add hot water to the sink. Float pan in mixture approx 1 minute until mixture releases from sides. Dip a knife in hot water then slice fudge into pieces.

How to Make Citrus coconut Fudge

Ingredients for citrus coconut fudge

• ½ cup coconut butter

• ½ cup coconut oil

• ⅓ cup raw honey

• 1 tbsp citrus zest

• 2 tbs citrus juice

• 3/4 cup shredded coconut

• ¼ cup Coconut Flakes

Directions for citrus coconut fudge

Melt coconut butter on medium heat by adding water to the bottom of a pot and placing jar on top. Or add jar and water to crockpot and heat for two hours until melted. Melt coconut oil in a separate pot.

Combine coconut butter, coconut oil, cocoa powder, honey, peppermint, and vanilla into a food processor.

Spread mixture into a pan.Chill for 30 minutes.

Add hot water to the sink. Float pan in mixture approx 1 minute until mixture releases from sides. Dip a knife in hot water then slice fudge into pieces.

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Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

Author: Amy Mihaly

prep time: cook time: total time:

ingredients:

• ½ cup coconut butter
• ½ cup coconut oil
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• ½ cup honey
• 2 tsp peppermint extract or 2 drops peppermint oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut
• ¼ cup coconut flakes

instructions:

How to cook Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

1. Melt coconut butter on medium heat by adding water to the bottom of a pot and placing jar on top. Or add jar and water to crockpot and heat for two hours until melted.
2. Melt coconut oil in a separate pot. Crush coconut flakes into smaller pieces.
3. Combine coconut butter, coconut oil, cocoa powder, honey, peppermint, vanilla, shredded coconut and coconut flakes into a food processor.
4. Spread mixture into a pan.Chill for 30 minutes.
5. Add hot water to the sink. Float pan in mixture approx 1 minute until mixture releases from sides. Dip a knife in hot water then slice fudge into pieces.

Created using The Recipes Generator

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Citrus Coconut Fudge

Author: Amy Mihaly

prep time: cook time: total time:

ingredients:

• ½ cup coconut butter
• ½ cup coconut oil
• ⅓ cup raw honey
• 1 tbsp citrus zest
• 2 tbs citrus juice
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut
• ¼ cup Coconut Flakes

instructions:

How to cook Citrus Coconut Fudge

1. Melt coconut butter on medium heat by adding water to the bottom of a pot and placing jar on top. Or add jar and water to crockpot and heat for two hours until melted. Melt coconut oil in a separate pot.
2. Combine coconut butter, coconut oil, cocoa powder, honey, peppermint, and vanilla into a food processor.
3. Spread mixture into a pan. Chill for 30 minutes.
4. Add hot water to the sink. Float pan in mixture approx 1 minute until mixture releases from sides. Dip a knife in hot water then slice fudge into pieces.

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GAPS Friendly Waffle Recipe

Recently the idea struck me to try to make a GAPS waffle. I had made many GAPS pancakes, so I thought maybe it could be done. And it turns out... it can! It was not a simple task, however.

The ratios are fairly different than a GAPS pancake... for one thing, putting in too many eggs caused it to overflow and made quite a mess. But after some trial and error I found a recipe that is delicious, and delivered consistent results (which is a big deal when cooking without flour).

I was also excited to make this a dairy-free recipe (except for the whey). Unfortunately, I can't make it nut free, the almond butter is essential! I hope you enjoy them!

GAPS Friendly Waffles

(makes about 8 waffle squares or 2 full-size waffles)

GAPs legal waffle Batter Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked butternut squash

• 4 TBS fermented almond butter (see note)

• 1 TBS melted lard

• 2 eggs

• ¼ tsp sea salt

Additional Ingredients

• About ¼ cup melted lard or butter to grease the waffle iron

Tools for gaps legal waffles

• Food processor or high-powered blender

• Waffle iron

• Chopsticks (this is very helpful to get the waffles off in one piece)

Directions for gaps legal waffles

This recipe is quick to put together if you do a little prep work first!

Prep the Fermented Almond Butter:
At least 24 hours in advance, ferment the almond butter. Add 2 TBS whey to 1 cup almond butter. Stir. Leave at room temperature for 24 hours. This will keep in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.

Prep the Butternut Squash:
Cut the butternut squash in half and place face down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 min until soft. Remove the squash flesh and place in a bowl.

For the GAPS Waffles:
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until very smooth and mixed.

I recommend pouring the mixture into a bag and using it like a pastry bag. The more quickly you can get the waffle batter on the iron and close the lid, the better it turns out!

When everything is ready, and the waffle iron is hot, use the pastry brush to spread fat on the upper and lower waffle irons. Do this as quickly as possible.

Add batter to the waffle iron, then close the lid.

There is a lot of moisture in this recipe, so expect a lot of steam!

Wait for the green light to go on, and then another 30 seconds or so.

Slowly open the waffle iron.

Remove the waffles from the iron, using the chopstick in the groves in any areas it is sticking.Top with fried eggs, honey, date syrup, berries, homemade whipped cream, or anything you want to!

Enjoy!

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GAPS Friendly Waffle Recipe

Author: Amy Mihaly, Be Well Clinic

prep time: cook time: total time:

ingredients:

Waffle Batter Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked butternut squash
• 4 TBS fermented almond butter (see note)
• 1 TBS melted lard
• 2 eggs
• ¼ tsp sea salt

Additional Ingredients

• About ¼ cup melted lard or butter to grease the waffle iron

Tools Needed

• Food processor or high-powered blender
• Waffle iron
• Chopsticks (this is very helpful to get the waffles off in one piece)

instructions:

How to cook GAPS Friendly Waffle Recipe

1. This recipe is quick to put together if you do a little prep work first!
2. Prep the Fermented Almond Butter:
3. At least 24 hours in advance, ferment the almond butter. Add 2 TBS whey to 1 cup almond butter. Stir. Leave at room temperature for 24 hours. This will keep in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.
4. Prep the Butternut Squash:
5. Cut the butternut squash in half and place face down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 min until soft. Remove the squash flesh and place in a bowl.
6. For the GAPS Waffles:
7. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until very smooth and mixed.
8. I recommend pouring the mixture into a bag and using it like a pastry bag. The more quickly you can get the waffle batter on the iron and close the lid, the better it turns out!
9. When everything is ready, and the waffle iron is hot, use the pastry brush to spread fat on the upper and lower waffle irons. Do this as quickly as possible.
10. Add batter to the waffle iron, then close the lid.
11. There is a lot of moisture in this recipe, so expect a lot of steam!
12. Wait for the green light to go on, and then another 30 seconds or so.
13. Slowly open the waffle iron.
14. Remove the waffles from the iron, using the chopstick in the groves in any areas it is sticking. Top with fried eggs, honey, date syrup, berries, homemade whipped cream, or anything you want to!

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GAPS Friendly Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe

Strawberry rhubarb pie has always been one of my favorites! In the past I have modified recipes to make a strawberry rhubarb dessert, but this year I decided I wanted to use my growing knowledge and skill in the kitchen and make a delicious GAPS-legal pie. My added challenges? I wanted to make it with a fermented almond crust, and use a different sweetener than honey. Finally, I wanted to have a modification that made not only GAPS legal, but dairy-free, nut-free and egg-free.

Overall, I would call the experiment a success. But to get that success I had to make more multiples of this recipe than I ever have for any previous recipe I've posted. Because of the crust. Not that my "tester" friends and family complained.

Turns out almond flour crust doesn't play nice with a wetter pie filling. Actually, the problem is that it plays too nice! It wants to combine with the filling; get up close and personal. Not what a pie crust is supposed to do. I did not fully overcome the pie-crust conundrum, but every recipe I made turned out delicious. So instead of chocking it up as a "failed recipe," I decided to share with you what I made... a good pie that happens to have a crust with boundary issues! And, of course, I will share the modified recipe for egg-free, nut-free, dairy-free strawberry rhubarb dessert. Keep reading!

Ingredients FOr Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

For the Pie Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups almond flour

• 1/4 cup whey (enough to moisten)

• 1/2 cup room-temperature butter (or lard)

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

For the Filling:

• 3 1/2 cups rhubarb pieces

• 2 1/2 cups sliced strawberries

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup date syrup (I use this one)

• 2 TBS gelatin dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water

• Optional: zest from 1/2 lemon

Directions for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Mix almond flour and whey together. Cover and leave on the counter for 24 hours to ferment.

After 24 hours, this mixture keeps in the fridge for up to 1 week.

To the fermented flour mixture, add butter or lard and sea salt. Mix well, getting all clumps out.

Then butter a pie pan well. Press the crust mixture into the pan and form a crust using your fingers.

Bake at 400° for 5-8 minutes until a little dry and just turning brown.  

Combine all ingredients for the filling. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until the juices increase.

Add the filling to your pre-baked crust.

Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes until light brown.

Directions for Strawberry Rhubarb Dessert

A delicious nut free alternative served hot or at room temperature!

Mix the filling the same, except add 2 additional TBS of gelatin and dissolve in 1/2 cup of hot water.

Let the filling sit for 5-10 minutes to let the flavors mix.

Line muffin tins.

Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes until the tops are just browning.

Serve warm or room temperature. These gooey treats are a bit messy, so eat with a spoon. They are delicious!  

Enjoy!

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Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Author: Amy Mihaly, Be Well Clinic

prep time: cook time: total time:

ingredients:

For the Pie Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/4 cup whey (enough to moisten)
• 1/2 cup room-temperature butter (or lard)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

For the Filling:

• 3 1/2 cups rhubarb pieces
• 2 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup date syrup (I use this one)
• 2 TBS gelatin dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
• Optional: zest from 1/2 lemon

instructions:

How to cook Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

24 Hours Before

1. Mix almond flour and whey together. Cover and leave on the counter for 24 hours to ferment.
2. After 24 hours, this mixture keeps in the fridge for up to 1 week.

The Next Day

1. To the fermented flour mixture, add butter or lard and sea salt. Mix well, getting all clumps out.
2. Then butter a pie pan well. Press the crust mixture into the pan and form a crust using your fingers.
3. Bake at 400° for 5-8 minutes until a little dry and just turning brown.
4. Combine all ingredients for the filling. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until the juices increase.
5. Add the filling to your pre-baked crust.
6. Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes until light brown.

Created using The Recipes Generator

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Strawberry Rhubarb Dessert

Author: Amy Mihaly, Be Well Clinic

prep time: cook time: total time:

ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups rhubarb pieces
• 2 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup date syrup (I use this one)
• 2 TBS gelatin dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
• Optional: zest from 1/2 lemon

instructions:

How to cook Strawberry Rhubarb Dessert

1. Mix the filling the same, except add 2 additional TBS of gelatin and dissolve in 1/2 cup of hot water.
2. Let the filling sit for 5-10 minutes to let the flavors mix.
3. Line muffin tins.
4. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes until the tops are just browning.
5. Serve warm or room temperature. These gooey treats are a bit messy, so eat with a spoon. They are delicious!

Created using The Recipes Generator

Homemade Red Hots {GAPS Legal}

I have been getting more bold in the kitchen, and this December I decided to create alternative recipes featuring some of my favorite Christmas cookies. To enjoy.

I decided on my first cookie to make, Christmas Wreath cookies. And as I was running through my ingredients and working out substitutions I came to the decorative red hots.

And I was faced with a dilemma... could I create a red hot, or should I simply bite the bullet and just use traditional red hots. Maybe I could even find a healthy brand...

But my all-or-nothing attitude kicked in. If I was going to do this, I was going to do it right.

And that meant making red hots. From scratch. A quick search revealed that it was possible... in essence red hots are a sugar brittle flavored with spices, like cinnamon.

I knew how to make candy out of honey. This could work.

It did work. But I'll admit that when I make the Christmas Wreaths in the future I may use boughten red hots... and tell people they are just for decoration and to pick them off.  

Because making homemade red hots is a labor of love. There is no other way to put it. But being able to put healthy, three ingredient red hots on your Christmas cookies is amazing! And if you don't care if they are rounded into tiny, holly-berry decorative balls, then this is a really easy candy to make!  

GAPS Legal Homemade Red Hots / Cinnamon Hard Candy

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup water

• 1 cup honey

• 1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1 package natural red coloring (I used this one)

Directions:

Combine the honey and water on the stovetop in a medium saucepan, stirring frequently.

You want to heat it at a temperature that is not too hot that it burns, but if it's too low it will take forever to get to temperature.

You're going to have to find your heat sweet spot. It should take between 5-10 minutes to get to soft ball stage, if it's taking longer, turn it up!

Soft ball stage occurs around 235°. If you don't have a thermometer available, you can drip some into a clear glass of cold water. It will form into a little ball upon hitting the water. For a little harder candy (I recommend this), let it go a minute or two after you hit the soft-ball stage.  

After whisking thoroughly, pour the liquid onto some parchment paper to cool When it has cooled enough to touch (doesn't take very long), then use well buttered fingers to form tiny little balls

Not tolerating butter? Any fat will do—the key is to prevent sticking!

Roll those little suckers quickly... after a while the candy will get too hard to work with. You can reheat it to soften in up, but believe me, you will be ready to stop rolling balls. Better yet, recruit a friend (or two) to roll with you!

Set the balls in a cold place (outside works for us right now!) When they are hard, gather them up and store them in a container in the fridge. This prevents the balls from clumping.   This candy could be made into any size (I only chose red hot size because of the Christmas wreath cookies)... or simply cooled and broken into pieces. It is a delicious treat!

Enjoy!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Your trust is important. I only recommend products I trust. 

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Homemade Red Hots

Author: Amy Mihaly, Be Well Clinic

prep time: cook time: total time:

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup honey
• 1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 package natural red coloring (I usedthis one)

instructions:

How to cook Homemade Red Hots

1. Combine the honey and water on the stovetop in a medium saucepan, stirring frequently.
2. You want to heat it at a temperature that is not too hot that it burns, but if it's too low it will take forever to get to temperature.
3. You're going to have to find your heat sweet spot. It should take between 5-10 minutes to get to soft ball stage, if it's taking longer, turn it up!
4. Soft ball stage occurs around 235°. If you don't have a thermometer available, you can drip some into a clear glass of cold water. It will form into a little ball upon hitting the water. For a little harder candy (I recommend this), let it go a minute or two after you hit the soft-ball stage.
5. After whisking thoroughly, pour the liquid onto some parchment paper to cool When it has cooled enough to touch (doesn't take very long), then use well buttered fingers to form tiny little balls
6. Not tolerating butter? Any fat will do—the key is to prevent sticking!
7. Roll those little suckers quickly... after a while the candy will get too hard to work with. You can reheat it to soften in up, but believe me, you will be ready to stop rolling balls. Better yet, recruit a friend (or two) to roll with you!
8. Set the balls in a cold place (outside works for us right now!) When they are hard, gather them up and store them in a container in the fridge. This prevents the balls from clumping. This candy could be made into any size (I only chose red hot size because of the Christmas wreath cookies)... or simply cooled and broken into pieces. It is a delicious treat!
9. Enjoy!

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Fruit Chutney for your Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of the best things about November is the focus on being grateful and thankful. Everywhere you look there are posts and tweets showing gratitude. And we sure have a lot to be thankful for! Some things are so obvious we often forget to be thankful for. These are things like safe drinking water, warm houses, smart phones and electricity are so everyday for us that we forget how much we have.

Sometime this week, I encourage you to write a list of all the things you have to be thankful for. Don't feel silly including things like water, or your favorite pair of jeans. See how long you can make the list! Even if you don't feel like being thankful, I encourage you to do this exercise—gratitude changes our perception and experience of life, even if nothing is circumstantially different.

This is not to say that you don't have hard things in your life, or that you should pretend they aren't difficult. They are. Hard things are part of life and are very, very real. Remembering that there are good things in your life as well will help YOU through difficult situations.  

As you know, most of my posts (so far, at least) aren't recipes. But it's Thanksgiving! The start of holidays and delicious, rich, made-with-love food. Well this recipe is definitely delicious, rich and made-with-love!

I took the recipe out of Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Cambell-McBride. If you are following the GAPS diet this is legal on stage 5 or 6, when you are tolerating dried spices and peppercorns.

This recipe is very simple—chop and combine ingredients, simmer for a while, then store in jars. It would be a great recipe to make in a crockpot... you really could fix it and forget it! But simple doesn't mean plain. It's delicious and adds flavor to any meat you are eating. And I'm told, quite excellent with turkey!  

*This dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free, sugar-free recipe would be great for gifts as well—ladle into pint jars and add a bow!

Fruit Chutney

Makes 3-4 quarts

Ingredients

• 2 lbs dried dates (without stones, cut in half)

• 2 lbs cooking apples (about 7 cups of pieces)

• 1 lb plumbs (I used packaged prunes)

• 3 medium onions (about 3 cups, finely diced)

• 3 peppers (about 2 cups, finely diced)

• 2 cups raw apple cider vinegar

• 1-2 tsp whole peppercorns (freshly crushed)

• 1-2 tsp aromatic seeds (I used cumin and dill)

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1-2 tsp natural salt

Directions:

Cut dates in half (and remove stones (seeds) if needed)

Slowly boil the dates in about 1 cup of water in a large pot until soft (about 10 minutes)

If you live in Colorado like me, and don't use a lid (also like me), you may need to add extra water during this process.

When the dates are soft, turn off heat and mash them with a potato masher—they don't have to be perfectly smooth, just mashed.  

While you were softening the dates, I hope you were furiously chopping! I completely underestimated the time it was going to take to chop everything I needed for this recipe. If you want the process to go smoother, I would recommend chopping everything at the beginning. Then as soon as the dates are soft you can add the rest, stir occasionally, and walk away!

The directions from Dr. Natasha are:

Add everything else to the dates and simmer 1-1/2 hours on very low heat, stirring occasionally.

If you are like me and work better with a little note of panic, then by all means, chop furiously and add things as you chop. For all you step-by-steppers like me, below are pictures to show what I added.

Sterilize the jars.

Dr. Natasha recommends doing this in an oven. I had never done this but it seemed to work great! Place cold jars in a cold oven. Heat the oven to 250°F, then leave it at that temperature for 40 minutes to sterilize the jars. Pull the jars out of the oven one-by-one as you are ready to fill them so they stay hot. Use oven mitts!

Ladle the hot chutney into the jars.

A jar funnel is a lifesaver here!

I left just a little room for air, much less than my fermenting self wanted, but no jars exploded so it must be okay!

Wipe off any chutney on the rim of the jar. Then immediately seal the jar, tightening the lid.

Again, use an oven mitt—the jars are hot!  

Place the jar on the counter, some distance between them.

It's better to not move the jars until they are cool, so place them where you will not need to move them for many hours, overnight is better.

When cool, place the jars into the refrigerator.

This is not a fermented food, so it does require refrigeration.  

Serve with meats and fish. Good cold or warm.

It's delicious! I made this for our Thanksgiving feast in a few days, but tried it out with some chicken today. I enjoyed it thoroughly! I hope you enjoy it as well!

Onward!

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Fruit Chutney

Author: Amy Mihaly, Be Well Clinic

prep time: cook time: total time:

ingredients:

• 2 lbs dried dates (without stones, cut in half)
• 2 lbs cooking apples (about 7 cups of pieces)
• 1 lb plumbs (I used packaged prunes)
• 3 medium onions (about 3 cups, finely diced)
• 3 peppers (about 2 cups, finely diced)
• 2 cups raw apple cider vinegar
• 1-2 tsp whole peppercorns (freshly crushed)
• 1-2 tsp aromatic seeds (I used cumin and dill)
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1-2 tsp natural salt

instructions:

How to cook Fruit Chutney

1. Cut dates in half (and remove stones (seeds) if needed)
2. Slowly boil the dates in about 1 cup of water in a large pot until soft (about 10 minutes)
3. If you live in Colorado like me, and don't use a lid (also like me), you may need to add extra water during this process.
4. When the dates are soft, turn off heat and mash them with a potato masher—they don't have to be perfectly smooth, just mashed.
5. While you were softening the dates, I hope you were furiously chopping! I completely underestimated the time it was going to take to chop everything I needed for this recipe. If you want the process to go smoother, I would recommend chopping everything at the beginning. Then as soon as the dates are soft you can add the rest, stir occasionally, and walk away!
6. The directions from Dr. Natasha are:
7. Add everything else to the dates and simmer 1-1/2 hours on very low heat, stirring occasionally.
8. If you are like me and work better with a little note of panic, then by all means, chop furiously and add things as you chop. For all you step-by-steppers like me, below are pictures to show what I added.
9. Sterilize the jars.
10. Dr. Natasha recommends doing this in an oven. I had never done this but it seemed to work great! Place cold jars in a cold oven. Heat the oven to 250°F, then leave it at that temperature for 40 minutes to sterilize the jars. Pull the jars out of the oven one-by-one as you are ready to fill them so they stay hot. Use oven mitts!
11. Ladle the hot chutney into the jars.
12. A jar funnel is a lifesaver here!
13. I left just a little room for air, much less than my fermenting self wanted, but no jars exploded so it must be okay!
14. Wipe off any chutney on the rim of the jar. Then immediately seal the jar, tightening the lid.
15. Again, use an oven mitt—the jars are hot!
16. Place the jar on the counter, some distance between them.
17. It's better to not move the jars until they are cool, so place them where you will not need to move them for many hours, overnight is better.
18. When cool, place the jars into the refrigerator.
19. This is not a fermented food, so it does require refrigeration.
20. Serve with meats and fish. Good cold or warm.

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