When I want a quick, nourishing meal, duck liver gravy atop rice is a go to! This is super easy to make after cooking a duck for cassoulet. I can make some stock the day before and mix this up fast! How I do it: I pull the giblets out of the duck before cooking, then I make gravy on the side as I'm sauteeing the organs in some water (liver & heart -- sometimes there's a kidney in there, too). I use the neck for a little extra flavor, but it's too bony and too tedious to pu

*Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. I asked my local farmer if I could get a pig's head...and they delivered! I do like to actually make traditional foods, not just consume them or talk about it, haha. For example, pâté (my first post) stock, and gravy! So there I was with a pig's head, wondering what next?! You'd think I would have had a plan before I placed my order (lol), but I was insp

As I've been on my low ox journey, I've been implementing more and more of Sally Norton's tips. She shares about having a few pieces of crystallized ginger. Ginger is medium oxalate, so it's helpful in my transitioning phase. Do you know how hard it is to find candied ginger with only two ingredients: ginger & sugar?! Really challenging, so I made my own. I looked up a few recipes, but in true Nicole fashion, I gave it a rather uncalculated whirl. How I Did It: I used ab

*Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. Homemade nachos are such a great way to use leftovers and can totally transform them into something different! Topped with green onions and a squeeze of lime, yum! Here are a couple ways we do it: Base layer: -My favorite chips [these are the only ones we have in our house, they're traditionally processed (by nixtimalization) & tested for glyphosate]. Meat

*Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. Kossma Beauty sent me their Posey & Smudge tallow cream. If you've been here for any time, you know I am a fan of Kossma Beauty Products (Affiliate code: SATIATEDBLONDE)! I like to review all her new products on my site. She has made even more new ones since I got these, so be on the lookout for another post later this summer! If you want to see the othe

*Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. It's really hard to mess up a quiche, and I've been making them for so long, a lot of the proportions just get eyeballed. This quiche was a little different in that I made raw ice cream first, which meant I had a ton of egg whites on hand. Typically, I freeze the whites and give them to my dad as a "gift" to make angel food cake when I go back home (really

*Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. Mustard is one of my hubby's favorite condiments...and it's one of my favorite things to make! I've been making it for about five years now. In fact, I remember a lightbulb going off when I learned it was something I could make! Check out my first mustard making post here. Obviously, my ingredients and method have changed slightly, but one thing I love a

If you would have told me (even just three years ago) that one day I'd enjoy planting flowers and growing my own garden, I don't think I would have quite believed you. But, here we are...and I'm loving it! I plant seeds all year round in the intangible way (if you're picking up what I'm putting down, lol). But, the last two years I've also been planting physical seeds. Rest assured, I'll continue planting both. My husband picked out quite a few different seeds this year:

*Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. After making homemade chèvre, we used it right away in one of my hubby's creations...one of my favorite side dishes. We used red bell peppers & poblanos, stuffed the freshly made goat cheese into it, and broiled it all in the oven until everything got nice and toasty. This is what it looked like before I put it in the oven: Now, this is the key step that m

*This is a sponsored post (I was sent the chèvre culture) & uses affiliate links (see disclaimer at bottom of the page). That being said, I only share about products that I use personally! Have you ever wanted to make goat cheese at home? Cultures For Health has a chèvre kit that makes it so easy! Honestly, the hardest part was finding goat milk that wasn't ultra pasteurized! Read on to find out how simple it was (p.s. it is really easy, but it takes time, so I'm glad I

*Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. I don't like things to go to waste, so especially if it's something as nourishing as pig fat, you better believe I'm gonna at least try and make it! I've been on a pork rind post kick lately, if you haven't noticed. I shared my favorite store bought chicharrones, how I made my own at home, and this lard is a byproduct of the homemade ones. Yep, really! W

*Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. Okay, so not long after my pork rind taste test we were able to get some pig skin, so my homemade chicharrones dreams came true sooner than I expected! It was a long, laborious process that made a bit of a mess...but read 'til the end to see my final thoughts. The first step in the recipe I loosely followed was to cut the skin off of the fat. We got it as

*Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. I can honestly say I never thought I'd be doing a post on pork rinds! It wasn't until I started my low ox journey that I even considered these as an option. Now if I ate potato chips, these would be a good sub, and even still it is a nice crunchy snack to have on hand as a replacement for my sourdough crackers and sprouted grain pretzels (although I may st

*This post is for 21+ years old only. Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. Okay, so if the timing is right and I feel like a margarita, I'll have one with some tasty Mexican food. The thing is, I can't remember how long it's been since I've had a marg in a restaurant...but I do know it was bright green. Glow-in-the-dark green. And I couldn't drink it. Typically, when I eat out at restaurants

*Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. I grew up loving pot pies -- a savory pie with a creamy filling, and that buttery crust! It gives me that nice soup belly filling without being soup. My husband is fond of Fisherman's pie, which is similar, but with seafood inside. The cream and the crust are a real compliment to the ocean food! I generally followed the recipe here and used pie crust that

*Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. If you remember reading my recent organic apple fritters post, you may remember that cinnamon rolls were another one of my hubby's requests. I used the recipe from here, which is by far the best sourdough cinnamon roll recipe out there, and I've tried a lot of them! There were a couple tweaks, like how I always use glyphosate free flour (it's a pizza flou

I love shopping small as much as I can, but sometimes I need something fast and found some great natural fabrics recently that I wanted to share! Let's start with those comfy clothes! I had a pair of pants (from middle school, maybe?) that were my favorite. Black velvet and comfortable but literally the waistline was falling out of them. Besides that, they were all polyester. It's just so hard to replace with something new, especially when they were so comfortable. So, I

*Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. I truly enjoy finding new foods, especially with ingredients that pass my test! Check out these new-to-me foods: from traditionally prepared persimmons, to a sauce I never thought I'd like, and a unique citrus fruit! Hoshigake (hachiya, pictured above) - We are all familiar with Wagyu, the calves that drink beer and get massaged. But, did you know there ar

*Affiliate links & codes are used throughout this post; please see disclaimer at footer and thank you for your support. My husband made a recent request for three things: chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls, and apple fritters (and he told me not necessarily in that order). Apple fritters (and bear claws) have always been some of his favorites and I would much rather make them for him with nutritious ingredients, made with love, than have him pick one up somewhere fried i

*This is a sponsored post (I was sent the pie pan) & uses affiliate links (see disclaimer at bottom of the page). That being said, I only share about products that I use personally! The Pie Pan of all pie pans...I had honestly only used glass ones before, but wow! 360 cookware does it again! Check out the post I did about how impressed I was with their cookie tray, here. And I'll share a recap of why I love their products so much: - Certified Made in America - Uses surgic