Thyme for Roasted Garlic Chicken (Crockpot or Oven)

I LOVE garlic! I feel like I could never have too much garlic. I know some people who can't stand the smell or taste of garlic, but I love it. The smell is so warm and spicy... the taste is so rich and satisfying.

Yeah, I can't get enough of this wonderful, immune-boosting herb!

How many of you love a simple roasted chicken with lots of pepper, sea salt and a herb or two?

Now, take it a step further and add 30-40 cloves of garlic... Ahhh! The smells coming out of my oven was amazing.

The taste was indescribably gar-licious.

Of course, I had to save all that good fat in the bottom of my pot. I took all the garlic, fat drippings and mashed it up into a thick gravy-like sauce. I usually serve this over rice or baked potato wedges.

Oh man, I need to make some soon... but I will have to wait till Tobi is a little older. Don't want to make his little tummy gassy from all that garlic! LOL!

Thyme for Roasted Garlic Chicken

1 chicken (preferably free-ranged)

4-6 whole heads of garlic

several fresh thyme sprigs

sea salt and pepper

2-4 Tbsp coconut or olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 F

Break the heads of garlic. Crush them (using a rock is great) and peel the paper skin off. Stuff about 20 cloves of crushed garlic in the chicken. Put the rest under and on top of the chicken in a roasting pan or pot.

Pull the thyme leaves off the sprigs, but save a few still on the sprigs. Crush them with your fingers. Stuff some inside the chicken and sprinkle the rest over the chicken. Throw in some sprigs on top. (NOTE: If you don't have fresh thyme, dried works great OR/AND you can use your favorite choice of herb.)

Season with sea salt and fresh pepper to your liking. I always use a lot... especially on top where the skin will get crispy. SO YUMMY!

Pour oil over the chicken and cover.

Cook in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. If you would like the skin to be crispy (highly recommend it! It's my girls' favorite part), simply take the cover off and let it cook for another 30 minutes or so. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn!

If you are using the crockpot... do everything above and turn the cooker on low for 7-8 hours or 5-6 hours on high. If you desire to have that crispy skin... turn your oven on to 400 F and take the cover off the cooker. Let it cook until skin is crispy, about 30 minutes.

Next, either discard the thyme sprigs or pull the leaves off and sprinkle on the chicken. Put the chicken on a platter. Scoop out all the garlic and fat drippings. Put in a pan with the flame on low. Mash the garlic as much as you can and add in a little arrowroot or flour to thicken the sauce.

Serve with rice or potato wedges and a big salad!

Read More

New Online Lacto-Fermentation Class: Get Cultured!

Have you been aspired to learn how to make naturally fermented food, but don’t know where to start? Feel a little bemused? Intimidated? Overwhelmed?


Now you can overcome those feelings with this awesome online lacto-fermentation class, Get Cultured! How to Ferment Anything, done by Jenny of Nourished Kitchen.


Go Get Cultured!

Learn how to ferment/culture with dairy, coconut milk, veggies, fruit, grains, soybeans, meat, fish and much more!


Would it be wonderful to learn how to make homemade probiotic-rich ketchup, hot chili sauce, mayonnaise & barbecue sauce? How about some delicious sauerkraut & salsa? Cured meat & fish? Honey wine & Beet kvass? Sourdough? Fruit chutneys?


Click here to see the intensive list of lessons this class offers!


See for Yourself!

Want to make the foods you already eat even better? Want to enhance immunity and increase digestion? Fermentation, the same practice that gives yogurt its tartness and bread its rise, is the answer. The process of lactic-acid fermentation actually increases vitamins, enzymes and beneficial bacteria naturally present in all foods – improving flavor, enhancing digestion and boosting immunity. It’s a simple and easy solution that greatly improves the nutritive value of the foods we all consume. –Jenny of Nourished Kitchen

The Package

When you join this 13-week class, you will get full lifetime access to:
50 video tutorials
100 recipes
60 tutorials
Regular conference calls to get your questions answered


PLUS a free 36 page e-book, Get Cultured: Probiotic Recipe from the Nourished Kitchen, thrown in with the package!

Sign Up and Get Culturing!
Enrollment ends February 28th and class starts March 4th


Sign up with a one-time payment of $149 and get full lifetime access to all 13 classes, video lessons, recipes, online forum and regular conference calls to get your questions answered.


Lifetime access? Oh yeah! Once you are enrolled, you can go back through all 13 classes, video lessons and recipes as much as you want. Learn it all in your own pace!


$149? This is a sweet deal! For less than $12 per lesson, you can learn the art of lacto-fermentation right in your own kitchen. You will become a pro in no time! Remember, you will have full LIFETIME access to all 13 classes, video lessons and recipes with a FREE e-book thrown into the deal!


Psst! This is a special launch price… the price of the class will go up after this.


Can’t commit to 13 weeks? No worries! You can sign up for individual classes of your choice for only $20 each.


Save $20!
This is great! Jenny is offering you all a sweet discount. Use the coupon code: SOURPICKLES and get $20 off!


Now start culturing! The coupon expires February 19th and this is the one and only coupon code that will be offered for this class.


Sign up now and get culturing!

Read More

Chunky Monkey Muffins (Gluten-Free)

I am happy to FINALLY pull these yummy guys out of my files. These easy, delicious muffins are great to travel with! I’ve made these the last few times we’ve traveled and love how nutritious these guys are. Full of fiber and protein, yet lightly sweet to satisfy the sweet tooth… these muffins are fantastic alternatives to the awful, expensive airport food.


Dairy-free, sugar-free, gluten-free and wheat-free… these guys are so good that you wouldn’t even know that they are so healthy too! Each bite just simply melts in our mouths. The last time I made these guys… I chopped up some dark chocolate chips to throw in and it was the perfect touch. You can skip the chopping if you want small gobs of chocolate, but we like the tiny bits and how it spreads evenly throughout the muffins… giving us more chocolate with each mouthful :o)


I usually use coconut oil when I bake, but I have a bucket of palm shortening left from my review and wanted to try it out in baking. I noticed that these muffins were very moist and soft when I used the palm shortening… plus if you are not a big fan of the coconut flavor, palm shortening is a good alternative because it has no flavor.


I usually like to use very ripe bananas and only need 1/3 cup of the coconut sugar paste to lightly sweeten the muffins, but if the bananas are not very ripe… then I increase the sweetener little by little till I get the perfect amount of sweetness. You can use raw honey or other for your sweetener, but I love the coconut sugar for its caramel-like flavor, low GI count and rich source of vitamins and minerals… learn more about this fantastic sweetener!


Now, I want to go whip up a batch of these guys!

Chunky Monkey Muffins (Gluten-free)

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 6 eggs
• 1/3-1/2 cup coconut sugar paste or honey
• 1/3 cup melted palm shortening, coconut oil or butter
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup chopped crispy pecans
• 1/3 cup coconut flakes
• 1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 F and greased the muffin pans.

In a small bowl, mix together coconut flour, sea salt & baking soda. In a large bowl, mix together eggs, coconut sugar, palm shortening, vanilla. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet till thoroughly mixed. Fold in mashed bananas, pecans, coconut flakes and chocolate. Scoop batter into muffin tins to 3/4 full, top with more pecans (optional) and bake for 20-30 minutes. When done, let it cool and serve with a big glass of milk!

Please share with me some of your favorite traveling foods!! Hope you will enjoy these guys as much as we do. Let me know what you think and have a wonderful week! Hugs!

Read More

Finally! The Winners Are...

Hello everyone! I am FINALLY announcing the winners of the 3 giveaways that I did almost a year ago. SO SORRY that it took this long and hope it won't happen again! LOL!

The winner of the EcoUsable Giveaway is...

Rachel of jandrdeutscher@------------

Congratulations Rachel and hope you will enjoy the bottles like I do! They have kept us hydrated and healthy through Central America.

Next, the winner of the Heavenly Organics Giveaway is...

Katie of katherinemaestanley@-----------

I am thrilled that Katie won the giveaway... she is a sweet friend from way back when we worked together at Rancho Sordo Mudo. Katie, you MUST make the tres leches cake for the girls. I promise to post the recipe soon! Congratulations and hope you will enjoy the stuff like I did!

Last, the winner of the Action Baby Carrier Giveaway is...

Jessy of jessy.spencer@-----------

Congratulations Jessy and I know you will enjoy the carrier! I saw that they now have some new editions and prints.

Well, that's all of them... for now. I still have a couple more giveaways to post and wrap up. Hope to see you all there leaving your shouts and spreading the news!

Have a wonderful Sunday and new week ahead!

Read More