"You're such a hippie!!"

...this was something I heard over and over when my Dad came to visit. I take it as a compliment. Some of you have had a few questions about this very strange lifestyle I have taken on (yes, I completely agree - it is slightly strange)... here's a website I found with a lot of good facts, information and even recipes - to quench a little of your curiosity - that is if you have the patience to take a little time and read.

http://www.ntptalk.com/

I've been considering creating an organic cooking blog to share my successful and tasty recipes that come out of the trial-and-error experience that is my cooking. I figure it is a good way to document the good stuff while SHARING the good stuff at the same time. What do you think?

I found this recipe and it looks so fabulous, I can't wait until I get home from St. George to try it out:



Spinach Pockets with Marinara
Please note that the dough needs to be mixed the night before and don't worry about making your dough look perfect; the uneveness and rustic quality of the dough lets everyone know that it's homemade. Make sure you use hard wheat flour, not soft or pastry, otherwise the dough will be too soft to work with. The dough ingredients are from Sally Fallon's book, Nourishing Traditions. yeilds 8-10

Yogurt dough:

1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 pound butter, softened
3 1/2 cups freshly milled, hard wheat flour
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

Filling:
1 pound spinach
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper chopped
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
1 cup fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes
olive oil, to brush on top
sea salt

Marinara:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
Italian seasoning
sea salt
honey

In a large mixing bowl, cream yogurt and butter. In a medium bowl, whisk together salt and flour. Turn mixer on the lowest speed and slowly add flour/salt combination until just incorporated. Turn mixer off and mix the last bits of flour in with a wooden spoon, or if you prefer, with your hands. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 12 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook spinach for about 2-3 minutes or until wilted. Pour spinach into a colander and squeeze excess juice out. In a large bowl combine spinach, parmesan cheese, garlic, bell pepper, eggs, salt, and mozzarella. Clear a large area on the counter and sprinkle flour on top. Take about a 1/4 cup of dough (I just approximate and pull off a large chunk) and roll out to about a 9-inch round. Place a scant 3 tablespoons of filling on one half of the dough round and fold dough in half. Beginning on one side of the dough, place your index finger down on the dough and gently wrap bottom layer of dough over the top of your finger. Press down to seal dough. Continue this around the entire edge of the dough until entirely sealed. Place pocket on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat until all pockets are formed. Brush each pocket with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

While pockets are baking pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into medium sauce pan. Add garlic and cook over medium heat until sizzling (do not let brown). Add 28 ounces of diced tomatoes, a few shakes of Italian seasoning, a teaspoon of sea salt and a small squirt of honey. Let simmer for about 10 minutes until thick. Serve in small bowls alongside pockets.

To freeze, cover and place in freezer before baking. To bake add about 10 minutes on to the baking time.