Cooking with Liver, Yes Liver!

    The other day I attempted my first recipe including liver in it. I made meatballs for spaghetti sauce. It was a huge hit with the family. The hubby as well as the kids approved it and ate lots! Justin said if he didn't know there was liver in it he wouldn't have been able to tell. I am always happy when I can incorporate healthy good for you food into our daily diet. I must confess though I did not eat them as I do not like ground meat of any kind. It's just a texture thing. I will be trying more recipes in the coming month like fajitas or something where I can hide liver in with other shredded beef. Then I can get the benefits of the liver as well. I highly recommend finding a good reliable source of liver. We shop Whole Foods for ours as they give their meat ratings and have more reliable sources.  Fresh grass-fed would be nice but we have not found a local source yet! Liver is a good source of Vitamin A and Iron as well as other wonderful nutrients. (But as with everything health related I am not a doctor nor do I know it all, so do your research and consult who you need to.) The recipe I used was made up in my mind so it is one of those a little of this a little of that recipes. Below is how I prepared them.

Mommy's "Special" G-Free Meatball's :
3 small cuts of Liver (We used calf liver because that was our best option)
1 lb of Ground Beef
2 Large Carrots
2 Celery Stalks
Half of a Red Onion
3 or so Cloves of Garlic
Half of a Green Pepper
Few tablespoons of Ketchup of Choice (We used homemade)
1/4 cup or less of Dry Oatmeal
2 eggs
Splash of Worcestershire sauce
Spices of your choice (like Italian Seasoning, pinch chili powder, the skies the limit, whatever your family likes
Salt and pepper to taste
I took the veggies and put them in the food processor until they were tiny pieces. Then they went into a big bowl.  Then I put the Raw liver in the processor and ground till it was basically pudding. Then I put all the ingredients into a big bowl and mixed it all by hand. I scooped about 2 TBL of the meat mixture into balls and cooked them at 350 in mini muffin pans until browned and cooked through. Top with spaghetti sauce.
Give it a try I bet you will be surprised!

God Bless-
Joy

November...How fast you have flown by!

November happenings: Justin's birthday was at the beginning o f the month. We had a day just to celebrate him. Making him all his favorite meals and just loving on him. We had for breakfast Empanadas filled with sausage gravy and eggs. Lunch was a very wonderful recipe for Pumpkin Chowder. Dinner was Tator tot casserole. He also spent his birthday money from my family and got a fire pit. It was so wonderful to see the excitement in everyone enjoying the first fire. Below is a picture of Justin and the kids roasting marshmallows and a picture of the Pumpkin Chowder ingredients.

 

We spent a warm Nebraska afternoon taking a walk and then planting some crocus bulbs. The kids all pitched in and are very excited for them to grow in the spring.

This year for Thanksgiving my mother and brother that live in Wisconsin due to work had to come the week before Thanksgiving for their visit instead of on Thanksgiving. So we enjoyed their company and the kids kept them very busy. My brother rebuilt the wagon Gabe had when he was little and brought that with him. They worked on it together putting the wheels back on and taking the Little's on rides. We had a wonderful visit!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We had a great meal with just us. The menu was: Turkey, Cranberry Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes, Asparagus, Broccoli/Cauliflower and Cheese Sauce, Stuffing, Gravy, Pumpkin and Chocolate Pie with Homemade Raw milk whipped cream. Wow it was alot of food but it was so good! Afterwards we went for a walk. I am So Thankful the Lord has blessed me with such a wonderful family!

                                    
Next we are onto Christmas! Oh this truley is my most favorite time of year. We are having a Homemade Christmas this year. I cannot wait. Thanksgiving evening we put up the tree. The kids were so excited they couldn't wait. The Christmas spirit is alive and kicking in this house. Christmas movies and music are a staple. There isn't a moment when we aren't singing and dancing to Christmas music. Gensis has been running around the house carrying "baby Jesus" (her baby doll) wearing a towel pretending to be Mary. Below are the pictures of the tree decorating. Enjoy :)

God Bless,
  JOY

 

    

Thankful for a Beautiful Fall Day

  This morning turned out to be a wonderful day for yard work. We bundled all the kids up and got to it. Everyone pitched in raking, sweeping, bagging up and of course jumping into big piles of leaves. I was very proud of my oldest kids with how hard they worked without complaining a bit. Gabe and Genesis even mentioned how much fun they were having. Gideon ( 20 mths old) worked so very hard raking and picking up. Very busy into everyone's work. He earned an early snack break due to the fact he worked so hard he couldn't walk anymore. He sat in the stroller while we finished up. Thankfully Garin passed out in his car seat and snuggled in for a long nap. That allowed me to get in on the fun. It felt so good to get out in the sun and work. After a couple hours it was time to finish up and get the Little's to nap. Everyone grabbed bags and brought them to daddy's truck. Each child racing to make sure they got the chance to bring the most bags. I helped Gideon drag a few so he could join in on the fun. It brought great Joy to Justin and mines hearts to have everyone pull together to get the job done. Someday we will be doing this on our very own homestead, I cannot wait.  While they are napping I am blogging and cooking lunch. Homemade Gluten Free Chicken tenders, Potato wedges and from scratch Ketchup made by my wonderful hubby. It smells so good I cannot wait to try it! Praying everyone's November is Blessed and Everyone can Take time to enjoy the wonderful moments we share with our families! Happy November 1st.
                       God Bless,
                             JOY