I love cooking from scratch and yesterday I made lard.  Watch this quick video on how easy it is to make it.

Lard is a very healthy oil to cook with and makes food taste fantastic. It is my secret ingredient in a lot of my meals! I had a dinner party last week and the guests were just raving about my roasted potatoes and wanted my recipe (unfortunately I only had a very small piece). The recipe was absolutely delicious – thanks to the LARD! Sure you can substitute butter, but lard gives a very light and crisp texture to food that makes it so wonderful. This is why pastries are made with lard.

Lard is very healthy! It is a traditional fat that many grandmothers used to make and cook with. It is very heat stable, does not burn and does not oxidize easily. This is the reason lard will NOT give you heart disease.  Lard also contains vitamins D and E (Alpha Tocopherol).  Eating foods with healthy fats like lard will also help the body absorb fat soluble vitamins. And since Lard is fat, eating it will suppress hunger and appetite.

Making it at home is far superior to buying it in the store.  You can choose your source of fat and make sure that it is organic and raised in the fresh air and pasture.  Store bought lard is most likely hydrogenated so make sure to read the list of ingredients. It will probably not contain Vitamin D if the pigs have been deprived of sunshine.

Making organic lard is cheaper than butter. I can’t tell you how much I paid for this fat because it came with the half a pig that I purchased but I know that organic butter costs 9.50 per pound.  Using this lard is a great way to make my butter stretch a bit further as I substitute it in my recipes.

Comment and share your thoughts!

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Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I was looking for a good pumpkin pie recipe to use up the last pumpkin from our CSA share. I came up with this wonderful treat using Stevia Sugar. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Top it up with some whipped cream and it will melt in your mouth.

Low Carb Pumpkin Pie Recipe

8 Servings

Almond Crust

1 cup Almond Flour
2 tablespoons Butter
1/4 teaspoon Stevia Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

extra butter for greasing pie dish

Butter pie dish and set aside. Combine almond flour, butter, Stevia and vanilla. Pat down into pie dish.

Almond Crust: Calories 95.6, Total Fat 8.9 g, Total Carbohydrate 2.4 g, Dietary Fiber 1.4 g, Protein 2.6 g

Pumpkin Pie Filling

2 cups pumpkin puree
2 eggs
0.5 can coconut milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 inch fresh ginger (peeled)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cardomon pod
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1.5 tablespoon Stevia Sugar
1 Cup of Pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350F. Put all ingredients into a blender. Blend until smooth and spices are all mixed. Pour into pie shell. Add pecans on top of pie filling. Bake for 60-70min. To check the pie if it is ready to come out, insert a knife into and if it comes out clean then it is ready.
Let pie cool completely before cutting it.

Pumpkin Pie Filling: Calories 185.2, Total Fat 17 g, Total Carbohydrate 6.6 g, Dietary Fiber 2.2 g, Protein 3.6 g

To your health and wellness,

Catherine Osthaus

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