Lilian's Recipe and Food for thought!

The Background

During some of my pregnancies, a treat was a (naturally) decaf espresso breve drink from a coffee shop.  I'm no coffee connoisseur, but I do know that Breve means; made with steamed Creme rather than the usual 2% or whole milk.  I was surprised by the response often - "definitely NOT a diet drink", said in a sing-song voice of the server, or "oh, YOU can do that because you are pregnant" (did they know that I would indeed have mine Breve when I'm NOT pregnant from time to time?  Oh How I love writings like Nourishing Traditions that say it like it REALLY is; The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats!  Or the truth about FAT in Mary Enig's Eat Fat Lose Fat.  I will not claim to know all about diet, INDEED we are ALWAYS learning!  I did have the privilege of growing up in a home, where my mother jumped from one fad diet to the next, and we learned the science behind it and experienced the success' and failures.  I am of the opinion that although I believe good whole fats like, animal, raw dairy, and coconut/palm/olive oil is of utmost importance to the young and adults in their child bearing years, I have also seen that a raw vegan diet does very well for some women who are close to menopause and folks fighting cancer!

When we started eating animal fats, then came the question, organic?  The funny thing is that the more you learn about food, real food, natural food, how it is grown and raised....it is incredible how you can walk into a supermarket and realise how very little REAL food is being supplied there.  Just over a year ago, my husband and I took the Maximized Living (Great Information here) 6wk course, and one of the observations revealed was that if you are considering organic and the cost - to choose organic meat before you reach for the organic veggies.  Because pound for pound, considering what the animal ate - how chemical laden was his food?   I am an advocate for both!We rarely will buy certified organic!  It is difficult and expensive for some farmers to maintain their certification.  We buy local, from "grassroots" farmers who are raising and growing food naturally and organically without the certification.  Certified would be lovely - but it is a little more rare to find where we live.  While the fact that my chickens are ALWAYS whole,  I do sometimes miss making up a dish that requires only chicken thighs/breasts.  But I know I'm feeding my family nutritiously dense food - healing and immune boosting!  I should also mention that these farm free range chickens are like little turkeys!

 The above recipe is from my friend Lilian!  In the past I made embarrassing batches of gravy when I cooked a roast or a chicken - so when Lilian was over AND I was cooking a chicken, she came to my rescue.  Now my gravies have transformed and have received winning reviews, thanks to Lilian!  I had her copy it in one of my more-often-used cook books, for a quick find.   I'm still new to this kitchen thing!

All I do need now is a real gravy boat (is that what it is called a boat?), rather than the creamer that we presently use!  And it all comes back to creme!  I'd love to hear anyone else's passed on recipes!?