Mongolian Beef and Broccoli

We love PF Changs but it has always been difficult for me to create the same flavor at home.  And to do so would mean using a lot of unhealthy ingredients.  I've been working on a healthier version of this and finally have something that is delicious and *almost* completely healthy.  The only thing I haven't been able to replace is the brown sugar.  If I come up with a way to make this 100% sugar-free I'll post it right away!

Some of the changes I've made to the original recipes I've found for this include:

• I use coconut oil for frying and I do not recommend olive oil when cooking at a high heat such as this.  When you heat olive oil to its smoke point, the beneficial compounds in oil start to degrade, and potentially health-harming compounds form.  Coconut oil, however, is very healthy and works well for cooking with high heat.  If you do not have coconut oil, canola oil is an option.

• I have replaced soy sauce (which contains unhealthy ingredients, including gluten) with very healthy Liquid Aminos  Braggs is a good brand and you can find it at a local health food store, some grocery stores, or you can buy it here.  The flavor is a little different than soy sauce, so if you want to move your family to it slowly, you can use 1/2 soy sauce and 1/2 amino acids for this recipe.  When I did this, I used an organic version to avoid GMOs.
• I replaced corn starch with a gluten-free flour.

And now for the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4 TB olive oil
• 2 tsp Ginger, minced (you can use ground ginger if you do not have fresh available.)
• 5 Garlic cloves, finely chopped  (or use even more, garlic is a great immune system builder!)
• 1 cup Liquid Aminos
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 2 lb flank steak or sirloin, thinly sliced
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup gluten free flour (I use Trader Joes brand.)
• 2 cups broccoli and 1 cup snow peas (or green onions, or green beans) washed

Directions:

1. Cut flank steak into thin strips against the grain.  It is helpful to have the meant slightly frozen for easier slicing.  Place meat and flour in a bowl or bag and shake to coat with the flour.  Let the meat sit while you do step 2 below, so that the flour sticks well to the meat.
2. Heat olive oil gently in skillet over medium heat until hot, but not steaming.  Add ginger and garlic and let sizzle for 30 seconds, then add soy sauce.  Gradually add the brown sugar and let it dissolve while stirring.  Let the sauce come to a boil, then simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Put coconut oil in a skillet or wok and heat on medium-high until hot.  Add the meat to the wok and brown for about 4-5 minutes.  Remove the meat and drain it on paper towels or strainer.
4. Clean pan (or use another pan) to return the meat and cook on high for about 2 more minutes.  Add the sauce to the pan cook for another minute.  Add the broccoli, onions or other vegis and cook for 2-5 minutes longer (depending on how crispy you want the vegis to be.)
5. Remove from heat and serve on white rice.

Curing Your Own Ham

Recipe coming soon

Farm Style Homemade Barbecue Sauce

Sauce without all the bad stuff in it!

This sauce is a great alternative to the store-bought sauces containing lots of corn syrup typically!  This sauce is rich and tangy, and will keep in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks, I've kept it longer without an issue.

Ingredients:

2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion (chopped/diced)
4-5 gloves garlic (less if you prefer, but we love garlic!)
1/4 cup raw organic apple cider vinegar
2 T molasses
1 T Maple syrup
1 T honey
1/2 t. liquid smoke (optional)
1 6-ounce can organic tomato paste
1 t. ground cumin
2 t. chili powder
1 t. Celtic sea salt
1 1/2 cups water

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a medium or large pot.  Add the onions and cook over medium/low heat, stirring frequently, until they start to soften.  Then reduce the heat and cook for 10-15 min.  They are best if they are caramelized, but I usually don't wait that long!

Increase the heat and add the garlic, cooking for 1-2 minutes.  Add the water and then all the remaining ingredients, stir to combine well.  After it is well mixed, take a hand-held blender and puree the sauce.  This is optional, but it does create a thicker sauce as the onions add the thickness.  Also, this works well for children who don't like to see onions in their sauce!

Bring the sauce to a gentle boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until thick.  Stir occasionally and cook for 20 minutes.

Serve the sauce hot with whatever you like, add it as BBQ sauce during the last minutes of grilling. 

Enjoy!

Healthy Sourdough Bread

Coming Soon

Welcome and thanks for visiting!

We live on 20 acres in rural Farmington, MO.  We desire to raise our own food and share our abundance with others.

 

We believe that, as Christians, we are called to look different from the world.  This applies to all areas of our lives.  Even the food we eat. 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.   Romans 12:2

We believe that Satan looks for ways to destroy our faith as well as our bodies.  If we are not healthy or if we are consumed by our own illnesses or problems, then we will not be available to help others the way God calls us to. 

Today, most people are several generations removed from their food sources.  However, it is encouraging that there seems to be a movement starting that is shedding light on much of the food we eat.  Most people today would agree that processed foods are not good for us.  Most people know eating fast-food is not good for us.  But many are still unaware of how food in the grocery stores is grown or prepared.

The American desire for convenience and our very busy lives can keep us from eating in a way that prevents disease.  Of course we live in a fallen world so we will always battle some illness.  However, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!  Our world seems much more focused on “cures” rather than “prevention.”  For some it may seem much easier to rush the children from one activity to another and then stop at a fast-food restaurant, than it is to return to the kitchen with our families and make home-cooked meal. 

Many don’t see the outward signs of sickness in their families so they don't move toward a healthy lifestyle until a crisis happens.  It is actually because of our daughter’s illness that we began our journey to better food. We are living proof that God can take what was intended for bad, and use it for good!

We are now finding the joy of returning to the kitchen.  Instead of running the children here and there, we spend more time together learning to raise food, cook and we are enjoying serving and hospitality.  And it’s about more than just food.  It is working together in the kitchen, spending time with each other and learning new skills for life.  We are not perfect, but it is our desire to honor God, educate ourselves on healthy food, and then share that information with others.  (Yes, we still crave some stuff that is bad for us. The lust of the flesh!)

 

Besides food and farm....  We purpose to tell others what Jesus has done for us and what He can do for them.  We are also passionate about encouraging families to be strong in the Lord and to love one another.  It is God who has has called us to this place and we endeavor to shine His light any way we can.

 

We thank Him for all we’ve been able to do thus far and look forward to serving our fellow Christians and our community as He allows!

Thanks for stopping by!

Homemade Soaps

My mom, aka: "Mama K" makes the most amazing soaps!  And now they are available to purchase.  If you're looking for a natural solution to store bought soaps, want a better value for your money or are struggling with skin sensitivities or eczema, these are for you.  For $1.00 per ounce, you get a bar that will last much longer than a store bought bar.  In fact, I've found that one 4 oz. bar of this soap lasts me about 3-4 times as long as a similar size store bought brand!  This is because it is not filled with air, fillers or preservatives.

 

Lavender Soap Ingredients:

Olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil, lavender essential oil, sodium hydroxide.

 

Lemon Soap Ingredients:

Olive oil, lard, coconut oil, castor oil, lemon essential oil, sodium hydroxide.

 

Plain (no scent) Soap Ingredients:

Olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, castor oil, jojoba oil.  (Although no scent is added, these bars have a fresh, natural smell to them.)  Too bad this isn't 'scratch-and-sniff'!!

 

Orange Sunrise Soap Ingredients:

Coconut oil, castor oil, orange essential oil, paprika infused in olive oil (for color), sodium hydroxide.

 

Grapefruit Soap Ingredients:

Distilled water, lard, olive oil, castor oil, grapefruit essential oil, sodium hydroxide.

 

Ylang Ylang Soap Ingredients: (only a few left of these!)

Olive, palm, coconut, jojoba and castor oils, and ylang ylang essential oil, sodium hydroxide.

 

Goat Milk Soap Ingredients:

Raw goat milk, Olive oil, coconut oil, sodium hydroxide.

 

Bug-Away Soap Ingredients: (Repels mosquitos and smells great!)

Olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, castor oil, also citronella, lemon, lavender and cedar leaf oils, sodium hydroxide.

 

*New* Orange Patchouli

Avocado oil, castor oil, coconut oil, olive oil, orange and patchouli scents, sodium hydroxide.

 

*New* Fresh Air

Beef tallow, olive oil, castor oil, coconut oil, fresh air scent, sodium hydroxide.

Beef tallow makes an excellent soap.  Read more about why here.

 

*New* Aloe Vera

Wonderful for the skin!  Read more about aloe vera here. 

Castor oil, coconut oil, olive oil, aloe vera, sodium hydroxide.  (No scent and no color.)

 

*New* Woodland

The men in your life may like this one! 

Castor oil, coconut oil, olive oil, sandalwood, patchouli, lavender and cedar leaf essential oils, sodium hydroxide.

 

Cost:  $2.00 - 5.00 for each bar  (Sold by the size, $1.00 per ounce.)

 

Each bar is approximately 4-5 oz.  We have a few smaller sizes occasionally available as well.  Typical grocery store bars of soap are less than 4 oz. 

 

We use simple packaging and basic, natural soap shapes.  By not purchasing expensive molds, we pass the savings along to you.

 

 

Why buy homemade soaps instead of commercial soaps?

 

It probably isn't a big surprise that the majority of soaps that are sold in stores contain a large amount of chemicals that most of us have never even heard of. If you are concerned about the toxins that your family uses in your home, then you might want to consider switching to organic soap as a healthier alternative.

 

We first learned about the need to eliminate these toxins as we struggled to improve my daughter's health conditions, one of which was eczema.

 

By using organic soap, we can potentially avoid, or at least reduce, many common skin problems. Organic soap contains ingredients that have been produced without using herbicides, chemical fertilizers, or pesticides.

Commercial soaps are hard on regular skin, and worse if you have sensitive skin. The chemicals used to make and enhance these products actually dry and damage skin. Regular soaps will remove naturally present glycerin and instead include harsh substances like dyes, synthetic fragrances and preservatives. Is it any wonder that some people are medically required to switch to natural soaps? Some of the possible skin conditions that may cause you to switch to natural soaps include, chronically dry skin, allergic reactions after a bath or an itch that scratching doesn't seem to relieve.

After using these natural soaps my mom began making, we never wanted to purchase a store-bought soap again.  There is really no comparison!

Read more about why to use "real" soap here.

 

 

 

 



 

Farm Fare: Recipes

Links to various recipes on this site:


Breakfast and Snacks:

Homemade Apple Spice Oatmeal

Healthy Sourdough Bread
Dinner:

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Mongolian Beef and Broccoli

Cure Your Own Ham

Soups:

Healthy Tomato Soup

Homemade Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Gluten-free, yucky-stuff free!)

Desserts:

Grain-Free Peach Cobbler

Homemade Apple Spice Oatmeal

This is my daughter's favorite fall breakfast:

1 cup organic oats (I purchase at the bulk bins in Whole Foods)
2 cups water

Step 1: Boil water and oats gently until most water is soaked up into oats.

Step 2: Lower the heat and add:

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (we use raw milk)
1 T butter (grass-fed, organic butter)

Step 3: Cook low until steaming.

Step 4: Add

1 Tb raw honey**
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla

Step 5: Cover and cook on low heat.

**If your children as used to packaged oatmeal that has lots of sugar - you can add some stevia to this to sweeten it up even more.  We find it plenty sweet just like it is!

Step 6:

Add the Cinnamon Apples

I simply cut up a whole apple into small pieces.  Add the apple, 1 Tb of butter, 2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon, and a little water to a pan.  Stir and cook until apples are softened.  Add these to the oatmeal and stir to combine.

Serve right away!

Contact Us

You can contact us at:

keithgeorgefamily@gmail.com

About Us

Welcome to our farm!

How did we go from city life to farming?

The short version:

We are a family of four, my husband and I are nearing 50.  We have two pre-teens and have always lived in a city.  When health issues for one of our children was identified, we began learning a lot about the food we ate and how that was impacting her.  We longed for a healthier lifestyle and the Lord directed us to the country.

We purpose to live debt-free, so we saved for years in order to purchase land and a home.

 

We have now moved out to rural Missouri, having only book-knowledge of how to farm in unconventional ways.  We have a lot to learn, so my husband is keeping his day job.  We are loving the idea of real food, family-integrated work and a life that is a bit slower! 

We have read every one of Joel Salatin's books - 3 times!  We are grateful for his amazing guidance on all issues of healthy farming practices.

 

The extended version:

I've heard many people say they dream of giving it all up and moving to the country. Few people actually do it, but we did!

 

Here's how it happened.

 

Around 2009, our daughter was incorrectly diagnosed with epilepsy.  Immediately we were told she must have anti-seizure meds and that they "definitely would not cause her any harm."  The anti-seizure meds stopped the symptoms only briefly and not completely.  As we studied and learned more, we found that these meds have many terrible side effects such as calcium deficiency and that they are very addictive.  Once on them, it is difficult to wean a person off of them.

 

God intervened.  He moved us from Minnesota to Missouri and the adventure began.  As we sought out other neurologists and started insisting that we did not want to keep adding to her cocktail of medicines.  Finally, one neurologist did some research and diagnosed her with Jeavon's Syndrome.  He then told us that no anti-seizure meds have been shown to help with this syndrome - yet he still encouraged us to give them to her.  Nope, that wasn't what we would do.

 

After doing much of my own research I learned about the Gut and Psychology Syndrome and a neurologist named Dr. Natasha McBride.  I also met three other moms who were battling the same symptoms my daughter was experiencing.  These three moms healed their children ... with food, not meds!  I found through my own research and the help of these moms, that my daughter has what is called "Sunflower Syndrome."  While I am not recommending that anyone ignore assistance from doctors, I AM suggesting that the food we eat makes a difference.  A big difference!

 

So off we went to eating a better way.  It was extreme.  It was hard.  It was totally against the norm.  Nothing that could be put in a box, jar or package could be eaten.  No processed foods.  It was like living as Laura Ingalls, except with a food processor and central heat.

It didn't take long for me to realize that nearly all of our "food" today is processed in some way!  I started making my own ketchup, mayonnaise, yogurt, etc.  We went for a long time without eating out because no restaurant food was safe for my daughter.  We were working on healing her from the inside out.

 

While we aren't as strict now, we have learned so much in this process.  God really did "turn it all to good" for us!

 

A Calling

 

We now realize just how few options there are for many when it comes to getting real food on the table.  We long to provide that for ourselves and someday, God-willing, provide it to other families as well!

 

Rather than complain about the poor food quality and the decline in America's health, we want to DO something about it. 

 

So we are starting our own farm where we hope to raise dairy cows, meat chickens, laying hens, pigs and cows.  We want to raise them in a sustainable, healthy way - improving the life and health of the animals, the land, and the people.

 

We hope to also provide information about how God intended these animals to be raised and share recipes and other ideas for thrifty, good and healing food!

 

Welcome to the farm!

 

   
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. - Psalm 119:105

  
Thank you for visiting!