Simple Vanilla or Chocolate Ice Cream

We LOVE ice cream!  For a rare and special treat, I got out an old ice cream maker I have had for 20 years (and had only used once) and made us some fresh, whole food ice cream!  These are simple ice creams without eggs or cooking.  They can be mixed up and processed in the ice cream maker in a matter of minutes.  Next, I plan to learn how to make a more complicated frozen custard, but for now, these are delicious!

Simple Vanilla Ice Cream 

1 1/2 cups whole milk, preferably raw
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, preferably raw
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup honey, raw
1 pinch salt

1. Whisk together ingredients.

2. Pour into ice cream machine and process according to machine's directions.

3. Pour into covered container and store in the freezer.

Simple Chocolate Ice Cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk, preferably raw
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, preferably raw
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup honey, raw
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pinch salt

1. Whisk ingredients together in a large bowl until cocoa powder is well incorporated. 

2. Pour into ice cream machine and process according to machine's directions.  (Ours takes 30 minutes.) 

3. Pour into a covered container and store in the freezer.  

Italian Sausage Seasoning Mix

This blend makes delicious Italian sausage!

4 teaspoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs, like McCormick's or your own blend
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
2 teaspoons paprika
3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1. Combine all the seasonings and store in a labeled and dated air tight container.

2. Combine 2 Tablespoons of the mixture with 1 pound of ground pork.

Notes: 

You can add some fennel seed if you like.  It is traditional in Italian sausage, but I hate it, so I leave it out. 

If you want spicier sausage, add more red pepper flakes. 

You can use this spice blend with any kind of ground meat: beef, chicken, turkey.

Italian Sausage Burgers with Spinach and Squash

This meal was a happy accident.  I had thawed some ground pork for dinner and had a few vegetables in the fridge that needed to be cooked: a spaghetti squash and some fresh spinach.  At the last minute, I decided to make the pork into Italian sausage patties. The rest is history.  It just turned out that these three components go perfectly together to create a delicious, cohesive meal that needs no other accompaniment.  I thought about adding some sort of sauce, but honestly, it was so yummy that it just didn't need it.  Parmesan cheese might go well and I plan to try that next time (We were out), but with or without, this combination will for sure be in our regular rotation of meals.  Delicious!


1 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons Italian sausage seasoning mix
1/2 spaghetti squash, cooked and shredded with a fork
1 bag fresh spinach
2 Tablespoons butter
salt
pepper
Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Bake the spaghetti squash in the oven, remove the flesh and put away half of it for another meal.

2. Stir a little salt, pepper and butter into the rest and set aside.

3. While the squash is baking, mix about 2 tablespoons of Italian sausage seasoning mix into the ground              pork.

4. Shape into 4 patties.

5. Cook pork patties how ever you'd like: grill, broil, skillet, griddle.

I made a double batch and cooked them on my griddle. 

6. While patties are cooking, heat up a skillet and melt some butter.

7. Add the whole bag of fresh spinach and some salt and pepper.

8. Saute spinach till tender.  Add a little water for steam if the skillet gets too dry.

9. Once all the components of the dinner are cooked, just assemble the meal by placing a serving of                   squash on the plate. Top that with 1/4th of the spinach and top that with a pork patty.

Servings: 4

Notes:
If you have kids that don't like spinach, just make some green beans or something for them.  That's what we do for Claire.  Broccoli also goes great with the sausage and squash.   Most kids will love the sausage!

Oven Roasted Cabbage Rounds

This is our favorite way to eat cabbage.  It is amazing when oven roasted like this.  You can add garlic, or red pepper flakes or any of your favorite seasonings, but I love it plain with salt and pepper with the subtle bacon-y flavor giving a perfect compliment to the sweetness of the cabbage.  This really is delicious!


1 small head of cabbage
2 tablespoons bacon grease, or other fat
salt
ground black pepper

1. Remove core and loose outer leaves from cabbage

2. Slice cabbage into 1/2 inch thick rounds.

3. Spread some bacon grease on the bottom of a cookie sheet. 

4. Place cabbage rounds on the sheet, dot each with more bacon grease and sprinkle with salt and                     pepper. 

5. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or so until cabbage is tender and outer edges are crispy,               flipping with a large spatula half way through cooking time. 

Serves 4 to 6

Fried Apples

Go ahead and make apple crisp or apple pie for special occasions, but for an everyday treat, keep it simple, and grain free with these Fried Apples!

2 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon honey, raw
3 Tablespoons walnuts, chopped

1. Peel,core and slice apples.

2. Melt butter in a skillet and add apples.  

3. Saute until apples are tender. 

4. Sprinkle with cinnamon and add honey.
(The honey is optional and not really necessary if you are using sweeter apples.  Granny Smiths will require a tiny bit of honey.)

5. Spoon apples into serving dishes and top with chopped walnuts. 

Serves 3

Cauliflower Fried "Rice"

This dish tastes just like fried rice!  We both loved it and will be making it often.  

Ted said, "Put a star by that one!" 

1 small  cauliflower, grated, stalk and all

6 slices bacon, diced small

2 large eggs, beaten

1/2 cup red onion, diced small

1 large carrot, quartered lengthwise and then slice thin

1/2 medium zucchini, cut into short matchsticks, or 1 cup peas

8 ounces shrimp, wild caught, cooked, pealed and deveined.  

2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, or more to taste, can substitute coconut aminos

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

salt , to taste

Make sure your washed cauliflower is completely dry.  Grate your cauliflower, stalk and all, in a food processor or with the large side of a cheese grater.  Set aside.

Dice the bacon and cook in a large skillet, on medium heat, till crispy.  Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside in a medium sized bowl.  

In the bacon grease, pour in scrambled eggs.  

Let the eggs flatten out and cook in a thin large circle.  Turn and when cooked through, remove to a cutting board.  Slice into thin strips and then cut into pieces.  Add the eggs to the bowl with the bacon.

Add more bacon grease or other fat if needed and saute the diced onion for a couple of minutes. 

Add the carrot and saute a couple of minutes more. 

Next add the zucchini and saute a couple of minutes more.  You want the onions soft and the carrot and zucchini tender but not mushy. 

Set all the vegetables aside in the bowl with the bacon and eggs.

Add more fat to the skillet if needed and add the riced cauliflower.  Cook on medium for about 7 minutes, stirring frequently, but also let it sit at times so some bits get browned and crispy. 

Toward the end of the 7 minutes, sprinkle in the soy sauce and seasonings.  

Finally, add all the pre-cooked ingredients and the shrimp into the pan and stir to heat through and combine. 

Servings: 4

Notes: 

You can use any type of onion, but the spiciness of the red onion really added to the dish. 

You can substitute cooked, diced chicken or pork for the shrimp. 

Use fresh ginger if you have it. 

This dish can be changed up depending on what vegetables you have on hand.  Any of these would be good: frozen green peas, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, green onions, bean sprouts, spinach, red cabbage. 

Try adding 1/2 teaspoon sesame seed oil. 

Ted tops this dish with Huy Fong Sriracha Sauce. 

Ted loves this sauce but it does have sugar in it.
We are using it up and looking for an alternative.
Use it sparingly, if at all, but does taste great on fried rice! 

Turnip Gratin

This Turnip Gratin recipe by Ree Drummund is really great!  It is rich, creamy and delicious.  I had never had Gruyere cheese before and I'm so glad I tried it! It's a special treat.  The sauce for this dish tastes a lot like an Alfredo sauce and seems appropriate for special occasions.  I plan to try making it next time with less butter and cream for a lighter, week night side dish.  I used only 4 ounces of Gruyere and it was plenty for flavor.  The day after I made this for dinner, I thawed some pre-cooked shrimp and plopped them in a bowl of left over turnip gratin for my lunch.  It was delicious!

The Pioneer Woman's Turnip Gratin

Apricot Cheese Bites

8 dried apricots
4 ounces cream cheese, full fat, cold!
1/8 teaspoon vanilla, optional
1 teaspoon honey, raw
almond flour or shredded coconut, unsweetened

1. Put apricots in food processor bowl and process till minced. 

2. Add remaining ingredients except almond flour and blend till very smooth. 

3. Taste the mixture for flavor.  Add another apricot or so if desired.  

4. Shape mixture into 1" balls and roll in almond flour or coconut. 

5. You may need to place the mixture back into the refrigerator or freezer to chill it and make it easier to            handle, before rolling into balls. 

6. Place balls on a plate and into the freezer for several hours.  Once frozen, store in the freezer in a                   baggie or plastic container.  

Notes: 

These are a yummy, quick snack to grab when you want something a little sweet. Just one or two will do the trick.  

If you love cinnamon, add a dash to the mixture before processing. 

Pumpkin Blueberry Pancakes

Nutrition packed pancakes for breakfast!  The eggs, pumpkin, blueberries and flax seed give you a great nutritional start to your day! 

4 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 Tablespoon raw honey or pure maple syrup

2 Tablespoons coconut flour

1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds, totally optional for nutrition

1 Tablespoon chia seeds, totally optional for nutrition

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon (Claire likes a lot of cinnamon!)

dash salt

1/2 cup blueberries

1 tablespoon coconut oil or butter

1. Mix wet ingredients into a bowl and whisk (except blueberries and oil). 

2. Whisk dry ingredients together in a bowl, then sift into wet ingredients. Whisk till well blended.

3. Heat oil on a griddle or heavy skillet.

4. Pour 1/4 cup measures of batter onto griddle.  

5. Plop several blueberries into each pancake if desired.  (I omit them for Claire.)

6. Cook till bubbles come up through the middle of the pancake. 

7. Flip with a large spatula and finish cooking.  

8. Be sure pancakes are well browned before turning. These will be darker than your normal pancakes.  

Makes six pancakes, 3 servings. 

VARIATION:

Pumpkin Banana Pancakes
Ted loves banana in his pancakes.  When I make them this way, I omit the honey/ maple syrup to help limit carbs and sweetness.  Everything else is the same.  You can add the blueberries or not depending on your tastes.

4 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 medium banana, mashed
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 tablespoon chia seeds, totally optional for nutrition
1 tablespoon ground flax seed, totally optional for nutrition
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash salt
1 tablespoon coconut oil, for frying

Notes:
Serve with berries or pure maple syrup.

You can use frozen blueberries right out of the bag, but be sure to allow the pancake to cook long enough as the cold berries slow down the cooking process.  You can also use fresh or thawed blueberries.

I have made these with half coconut flour and half garbanzo bean flour and they turned out wonderful.

We've recently tried adding chia seeds to the batter for additional nutrition.  They change the texture slightly.  Ted says he can't tell they are in there.  ClaireAnna won't eat them with chia seeds.

I make three batches of these up ahead of time and freeze in two pancake portions.  (Three batches is 1 whole small can of pumpkin and makes 9 servings of 2 pancakes each.)

The Bayou in Winter

Sniper and Joey and I hiked to the river today and did some exploring.  It was only in the thirties, but they didn't seem to mind the cold water at all, running in and out of it joyfully throughout the hike.  

You can click on the photos to see them in a larger frame.

The Illinois Bayou actually flows through our farm,
 lopping off this 10 acre section of woods that we have only stepped foot on twice.
Maybe someday, I'll talk Ted into helping me cut some horse trails through there.
Maybe not.....  

Creamy Yogurt Ranch Dip

3/4 cup yogurt, greek, full fat
3/4 cup sour cream, full fat
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried dill
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl with a rubber spatula.

2. Store in the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving.

Notes:

Excellent, nutritious dip for vegetables with added protein from the greek yogurt.  You could even make it will all greek yogurt if you wanted to. 

About Snacks

A LOT of people have asked, since we've changed our eating habits, about snacks.  I definitely remember, when we often attempted to eat a low fat, calorie restricted diet, how hungry we got between meals and how much we relied on snacks to get us through to the next meal.  Since switching to a higher fat, low carb diet, we have been amazed to find that snacks are just not a very important part of our eating plan.  We don't need them.  When you eat enough good quality protein and fat at a particular meal, it really does carry you over to the next one.  You just don't get very hungry in between.  Ted and I have both found that we often don't even want to eat between meals.  Just try getting hungry before lunch after eating this for breakfast!  However, there are times when one is delayed, for some reason or another, from eating at the normal time or when one has been particularly active, that hunger does set in before a regular meal can be eaten.  

The problem becomes convenience.  Healthy snacks are not very convenient. Gone are the days of grabbing some crackers, chips or pretzels.  There really aren't many store bought, packaged snacks that are good for you.  Below is a list of the things we usually eat as snacks. We try to have several of them in stock and prepared.  Some of them are somewhat portable.  You can always take along a baggie of nuts.   I'm on the look out for other recipes and snack ideas and will update this post as I find them.  The two main rules about snacks that we try to follow are these: 1. We always make sure that a snack includes a protein.  2. We don't eat starchy carbs for snacks. 

• Raw vegetables with home made hummus or other bean dip 
• Raw vegetables with home made yogurt/ sour cream ranch dip (recipe coming soon)
• Raw vegetables alone or with an ounce of nuts
• Plain, full fat greek yogurt blended with fruit (raw nuts optional, drizzle of honey optional)
• 1/2 cup full fat cottage cheese and 1/2 cup cut up fruit
• A piece of fruit and an ounce of raw nuts
• An apple dipped in sugar free peanut or almond butter
• A piece of fruit and an ounce of cheese
• a hard boiled egg (or homemade deviled eggs with homemade mayo!)
• Boil up a dozen eggs on Sunday afternoon and have them handy all week.
• a hamburger patty
• I keep pre-cooked, grilled ground beef patties individually wrapped in the freezer.
• a grilled chicken breast
• I keep pre-cooked, grilled chicken breasts, individually wrapped, in the freezer.
• A small serving of last night's left overs
• A small salad with some protein on it (cheese, nuts, sunflower seeds, bacon, chicken, tuna)
• a pouch of wild caught tuna (add some homemade mayo or olive oil if desired)
• a pouch of wild caught salmon (add some homemade mayo or olive oil if desired)
• A bowl of soup (freeze individual portions of your homemade soups).

We do have "dessert" on occasion in the evening, after dinner.  It is usually fruit in some way with some sort of protein (usually nuts).  If it is a "real" dessert that I have made, like my Peanut Butter Banana Brownies,  we make sure there is protein in it (these brownies have eggs, flax seed and nut butter and sometimes walnuts!) or we'll eat nuts along side it.  We never eat a fruit or sweet without that all important protein to help regulate and mitigate the insulin response! 

Random Kitchen Tips

Most of these tips are things I have gleaned from others and have found very useful.  I'm just passing them on.  

Money Stretchers

• Grate up the stalks of your broccoli and put them in soups, chili, and stews or in this recipe.  They are free and packed full of fiber and nutrition so this is a Nutrition Packer tip also!
• Save your bacon grease in a glass container in the fridge and use it for cooking.  It's FREE! And contrary to long held popular belief, perfectly healthy! 

Time Savers:

• Anytime you make mashed sweet potatoes, mashed rutabagas or mashed butternut squash, make lots extra and freeze in single serving portions.  These things freeze VERY well and make the perfect side dish to a quick lunch or dinner when you've run out of time.
• Chop onions and bell peppers up ahead and freeze them in appropriate amounts.  I put some 1/2 cup portions in snack baggies for scrambled eggs and some 1 cup portions in plastic freezer containers for use in recipes.  I use a chopper like this and I am done in no time. 
  

Nutrition Packers:

• Put cubed or whole radishes in soups, casseroles and stews.  Once cooked, they loose their red color and spicy flavor and it's hard to tell that they are not potatoes or turnips.  They are packed with nutrition too! 
• Grate radishes into salads.  Even picky eaters won't notice.  
• Add a tablespoon or two of ground flax seed to almost anything: pancakes, oatmeal, baked goods or soups and casseroles. 
• Grate a carrot into almost any meal to add nutrition and low calorie fiber: soups, chili, really, anything. 

Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

If you don't like Brussels Sprouts, it's probably because you've never had them cooked properly.  Roasted in the oven is the way to go!  They taste fresh, salty and crunchy and to top it off, they are really, really good for you! Give this recipe a try.

1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprout, fresh
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Wash the Brussels sprouts and dry them or let them dry.  Cut off the brown ends and remove any                  yellow outer leaves.  Green loose leaves are okay.

2. Cut the sprouts in half and put them in a shallow roasting pan.  You can leave the very small ones                   whole.

3. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to combine, then spread out into a single layer.

4. If there are loose leaves, include them.  They will become delicious, crispy, brown sprout chips!

5. Roast in the over at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or so.  Check every 10 minutes and toss to make sure         they are browning evenly.

6. Serve immediately.

Servings: 6

Delicious! 

Notes: To make these fancier, you can add half of a chopped onion and/ or 4 slices thick-cut, chopped, raw bacon.  Just sprinkle them both over the layer of sprouts.  Use less oil if you are adding the bacon.  Once you stir after the first 10 minutes, the bacon grease will make it up.

Quick Salmon Patties

5 ounces salmon, 2 - 5 ounce envelopes, drained
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup shallots, minced
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup hemp seeds (or 2 T coconut flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 dashes hot sauce, or to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil, or coconut oil
2 tablespoons butter

1. Heat oil and butter in a heavy skillet on med/low.

2. Mix all remaining ingredients together in a bowl.

3. Shape mixture into about 6 patties.  They will be wet and not old a shape very well, but with patience, it         works.  I place them, one at a time, on a spatula and slide them into the simmering oil.

4. Make sure butter/ oil is just simmering and there is a nice slow bubbling around the patties.

5. Simmer till a nice, crisp, golden color is achieved on the first side.  Then turn and repeat on the other              side.

Mashed Rutabaga

2 large rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1/2 cup milk chocolate, or half and half
4 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Peel the turnips and cut into 1" cubes. 

2. Place them in a large sauce pan and cover with water.  

3. Bring them to a boil and then simmer, covered, until easily pierced with a fork, about 35 mintues. 

4. Drain rutabaga and puree with a stick blender or by hand with a potato masher.  Get them very                     smooth. 

5. Warm the milk and melt the butter together in a glass bowl in the microwave or in a saucepan on the              stove. 

6. Add the butter and milk, salt and pepper to the rutabaga and stir well to combine.  

7. Serve with crispy shallots if desired. 

This recipe was adapted from this one by Ina Garten. 

Crispy Shallots

These are delicious little crispy onion ringlets that add flavor and crunch to anything.  I first made them to go over the mashed rutabaga when I made this recipe by Ina Garten.  I plan to make lots of these to spark up just about any dish!

1 1/2 cups olive oil, or a mix of olive and coconut oil or lard.
3 tablespoons butter
5 large shallots, peeled and sliced into thin rings

1. In a saucepan, heat the oil and butter over medium-low heat until it begins to bubble. 

2. Reduce hte heat to low and add the shallots.  

3. Cook until they are a rich golden brown, 30 - 40 minutes. 

4. Stir the shallots occasionally while they are cooking to make sure they brown evenly. 

5. Remove the shallots from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  

6. Once they have dried and crisped, in about 15 minutes, they can be stored in a cool place, covered, for         several days.  

7. Serve at room temperature. 

Notes: 

Serve over mashed rutabaga or on any other vegetable or meat.  

Use like French's fried onions. 

Bone Broth Every Week - Easy Peasy!

This is how I make sure we get our bone broth in every week.  This method is really so easy there's no excuses not to have homemade bone broth for your family regularly!  And if you follow the steps in order, you will have two night's dinners cooked as you go!

Here is a great blog post about the health benefits of bone broth and also links to how this blogger makes and stores both chicken and beef broth.

And here is a great article by Sally Fallon about the health benefits of bone broth.

Here's how I do it:
1. Slow cook a whole chicken in your crock pot on day 1.  Have chicken and what ever side dishes you want for dinner that night.  (I also make this with rabbit and turkey.)



If you have a large family and eat a whole chicken at one meal, put two or even three whole chickens into an inexpensive roaster like the one below, (You can buy them for only twelve bucks here.) and slow cook them, covered, in the oven at 250 degrees.

These are two very large chickens, going into a low oven. 

2. After dinner, debone the chicken(s) and throw the carcass(s) back into the crock pot or roaster with the original juices, some coarsely chopped onions, celery, carrots, 2 T apple cider vinegar (per chicken), and what ever seasonings and herbs you like.  There are many recipes on the internet. I tend to use rosemary, thyme, bay leaves and black pepper.  You can leave a little meat on the carcass to add flavor to your stock.  Add enough water to just barely cover the bones and slow cook over night or longer (If using the roaster, bake at 200 degrees).  (I don't bother with skimming my broth.  I'm not going for perfectly clear stock to serve to company.) Save your left over deboned chicken meat in a container in the fridge.  

After my stock cooked for 12 hours, I took it out
added my herbs and spices.  Then I popped it back
into the oven for another 12 hours. 

3.  In the morning or later that day, strain the stock and discard all the bones and veggies.  Put the stock in the fridge.  

4.  The next evening, or even a few nights later, skim your stock of the fat that has collected at the top.  This is Schmaltz and it is excellent for cooking.  Melt the fat in a narrow jar (I use the microwave) and let it separate.  Then use a turkey baster to collect the pure fat and put it into a class container.  Store this in the refrigerator indefinitely.  (Can also be frozen if you have more than you will use in a few months.)

 5. For the soup, put some stock in a pot with the left over chicken meat and what ever vegetables you like in your chicken soup.  This soup will be ready to eat in only a few minutes, as soon as the veggies are tender.  

Here's my recipe for Chicken Vegetable Soup.  

6.   Freeze what ever bone broth you have left over in mason jars or other containers. 

Of course you don't have to do this every week, but the point is that it is simple enough to do so, especially since you end up with at least two meals cooked as you go.  You can certainly use the left over deboned chicken meat and the new, homemade stock in any other recipe.  

The Days Past Are More

By Lisa Marie Harmon

I want nothing

What I have and what I lack

Are equally nothing

Right now

With eyes closed

I stop

And seek only to be closer

I cling to his body

And soak in the peace of our oneness

Absorbing the heat he radiates

I press into him

Closer

And kiss his forehead

I hear his heart beat

Feel his breath

And press closer

I want to keep him

To stop him from leaving me

I can’t

He will leave me

Or… I will leave him

I want nothing

Just to keep now

To be Us

His grey beard betrays me

The days past are more

I press closer

And will it to stop

And know that it never will

So I stop

And hold tightly

And breathe him in

With eyes closed

I quietly feel him

And think nothing

But know deeply

That for this moment

We are Us

And I want nothing

Crispy Turnip Fries

These "fries" are delicious and flavorful.  I make Spicy Parsnip Fries which are very similar and also delicious but different enough to keep both recipes to accompany different types of meals.

3 pounds turnips, peeled
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly grease. 

2. Peel the turnips and cut into french fry-sized sticks, about 1/3 by 4 inches. 

3. Place into a large bowl and toss with the oil to coat. 

4. Mix the seasonings in a small bowl and then sprinkle on the turnips and toss with a rubber spatula. 

5. Next sprinkle on the parmesan cheese and again, toss to coat. 

6. Spread the turnips out onto the baking sheet.  

7. Bake in preheated oven until the outside is crispy and the inside is tender, about 20 minutes.  (Turn once or twice.)

8. Check on them often, they can get dark quickly. 

9. Serve immediately.  

Servings: 6

Notes: You can make these with parsnips also or even a mixture of half of each parsnips and turnips. 

You can make these more like steak fries by cutting the turnips into 1/2 inch wedges and baking at 475 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes, flipping half way through.