..especially since I worked so hard to get all five of them planted this past weekend! It was a team effort actually that got 5 apple trees, 2 plum trees, 8 elderberries and 2 mulberry trees planted. So far everything from this planting looks like its doing well. After all the work everyone put in clearing, screening and digging they better do well!
On the other hand, I haven't seen so much as a sprout from my asparagus bed. It's really killing me.
My seedlings are coming up nicely but the vegetable garden beds remain to be done. I guess its next on my gardening to do list.
I made eye pillows for my yoga classes. They made their debut at yesterday's class. One of the women in the class insisted on buying one, even though I wasn't planning on selling them. Here's how to make your own. I skipped the lavender flowers and just used the essential oil and it worked out beautifully.
Showing posts with label fruits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fruits. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Darn It!
The humidity has finally let up after some rolicking thunderstorms last night. I don't know what insanity posessed me to garden yesterday but I paid for it all day today. Whenever the weather gets that hot an humid and I spend a long time outside, I wind up with virus-like symptoms. I must be a slow learner though, cause I do it at least once every year. Then again, it might have been the three bean salad I made for dinner last night...
Tonight, I've surrendered my cooking duties to my daughter. She can make whatever she wants as long as it doesn't heat up the house or make me feel worse.
Everything looks so lush after a big rain. Our raspberry patch is once again enormous. The berries aren't ripe yet but the bush is just laden with them. The currants and gooseberries are just beginning to ripen as well. It feels good to be growing some of our own food, even in this limited way. I keep looking at my houseplants thinking, wouldn't it make more sense if these were edible rather than ornamental? That's definitely something to investigate. I think the African violets and ivy are scared.
Darn it! Sometimes you have to. Have to what? Darn socks of course! I've put aside my log cabin blanket to sew up the holes in Jim's socks. It's those steel toed boots he wears for work that ruins them but a few stitches and they're good as new. It's not the most challenging of jobs but it is one that is easily accomplished.
Tonight, I've surrendered my cooking duties to my daughter. She can make whatever she wants as long as it doesn't heat up the house or make me feel worse.
Everything looks so lush after a big rain. Our raspberry patch is once again enormous. The berries aren't ripe yet but the bush is just laden with them. The currants and gooseberries are just beginning to ripen as well. It feels good to be growing some of our own food, even in this limited way. I keep looking at my houseplants thinking, wouldn't it make more sense if these were edible rather than ornamental? That's definitely something to investigate. I think the African violets and ivy are scared.
Darn it! Sometimes you have to. Have to what? Darn socks of course! I've put aside my log cabin blanket to sew up the holes in Jim's socks. It's those steel toed boots he wears for work that ruins them but a few stitches and they're good as new. It's not the most challenging of jobs but it is one that is easily accomplished.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
The Squishy Banana Conundrum Solved!
Kyle wanted tacos last night and he wanted to help in the kitchen. I took a break from my freezer diving activities to accomodate him. Since, seven year olds aren't the most efficient kitchen helpers, we kept things simple.
For the taco filling we diced some onions, grated some carrots and sauteed them both until the onions were limp. We added in some tvp, water, crushed tomato and taco seasoning (recipe courtesy of The Complete Tightwad Gazette) and let this all simmer while I tried my hand at making something resembling a tortilla.
I used my favorite crepe recipe as a jumping off point because all the tortilla recipes I found said you had to let the batter rest a few hours. I substituted cornmeal for 1/2 the flour but discovered after pouring my first one out that I needed some kind of binder to hold the wanna-be tortilla together. I added in 1/4 cup flaxseed meal and this solved the problem nicely.
We rounded out the meal with Spanish rice. Kyle was tickled and I even was able to sneek in some garlic scapes from the freezer.
Yesterday after school I was presented with the squishy banana conundrum yet again. For those of you without kids, this occurs when your child brings home a throroughly beat up banana he/she no longer wishes to eat. I try not to send bananas in for precisely this reason. But yesterday I had a stroke of genius and solved the banana conundrum once and for all. Gather round moms and dads, this one will make your day.
I announced that the banana in question was perfect for banana pudding. I had my son peel the squishy banana into a bowl with high sides and smash it the rest of the way with a fork. We added a tablespoon of carob powder and a tiny drizzle of maple syrup (you don't really need to add this but it adds "oo.." value from a kids perspective). Once my son mixed these in, we added 6 dark chocolate chips (I don't know how we arrived at 6 chips, I just didn't want to give him a lot and when I offered 6 he agreed). Viola, banana pudding!
Its definitely a hit because its been made three times since yesterday. How's that for a simple desert?
For the taco filling we diced some onions, grated some carrots and sauteed them both until the onions were limp. We added in some tvp, water, crushed tomato and taco seasoning (recipe courtesy of The Complete Tightwad Gazette) and let this all simmer while I tried my hand at making something resembling a tortilla.
I used my favorite crepe recipe as a jumping off point because all the tortilla recipes I found said you had to let the batter rest a few hours. I substituted cornmeal for 1/2 the flour but discovered after pouring my first one out that I needed some kind of binder to hold the wanna-be tortilla together. I added in 1/4 cup flaxseed meal and this solved the problem nicely.
We rounded out the meal with Spanish rice. Kyle was tickled and I even was able to sneek in some garlic scapes from the freezer.
Yesterday after school I was presented with the squishy banana conundrum yet again. For those of you without kids, this occurs when your child brings home a throroughly beat up banana he/she no longer wishes to eat. I try not to send bananas in for precisely this reason. But yesterday I had a stroke of genius and solved the banana conundrum once and for all. Gather round moms and dads, this one will make your day.
I announced that the banana in question was perfect for banana pudding. I had my son peel the squishy banana into a bowl with high sides and smash it the rest of the way with a fork. We added a tablespoon of carob powder and a tiny drizzle of maple syrup (you don't really need to add this but it adds "oo.." value from a kids perspective). Once my son mixed these in, we added 6 dark chocolate chips (I don't know how we arrived at 6 chips, I just didn't want to give him a lot and when I offered 6 he agreed). Viola, banana pudding!
Its definitely a hit because its been made three times since yesterday. How's that for a simple desert?
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Successfully Using What's in the Freezer
Here's the ultimate tightwad, no additional energy expended way of keeping your coffee warm on a cold winter day.
But what, you may ask, is your coffe mug sitting on?
The wood stove of course! A girl's got to keep her coffee hot. BTW all you tea drinkers, I've put my tea bag into a mug of water and heated that here as well.
I thought I'd take a few moments and give a run down on how my efforts to use what was in the freezer were going. Before getting started I have to confess, I bought onions, carrots and four tomatoes.
I'm really pleased with the fig spice cake and the healthy fig date cookies that I made. The recipes were simple and everyone liked them. I'm itching to try Chile's fig butter recipe. It was in Thursday's comments but just in case you missed it, here it is. (And go check out her blog, NOW!!) Thanks for the recipe Chile!
Chile's Fig Butter
1/2 pound ripe figs
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 c water
1 1/2 c sugar
3/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp each: allspice, cinnamon, cloves
2 tsp vanilla
Wash figs, de-stem and quarter.
Simmer in water until soft.
Puree in blender.
Return to saucepan, using additional 1/2 c water to rinse out blender and add to pan.
Stir in sugar and dry spices.
Bring to a gentle boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
I loved the sweet and sour bean sprout recipe from the NY Times Natural Foods Cookbook. We ate it first as a side salad. The next night, I drained off the liquid, the sprouts leach water overnight like fresh cabbage in coleslaw, and used it to season some tvp. I served the tvp with the sprouts inside a crepe. It was easy and delicious. For family members who thought the combination of seasoned sprouts and seasoned tvp was too intense, I gave the option of using unseasoned sprouts.
Today I'm trying the broiled sprout patties. Overall, I'm thrilled with sprouting! It's easy to feel like you have a green thumb this way! If you haven't tried it, what are you waiting for??
The plethora of parsley in the freezer found its way into the vegetable broth recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance. It lends a buttery flavor to the finished broth. Of course, I used the veggies I had and left out the ones I didn't. I also left the veggies in, mashed them with a potato masher and served this as a soup with rice. Then I used the leftovers in split pea soup. Both were excellent.
But there was still more parsley in the freezer, so I made tabbouleh. Hence the four out of season tomatoes I bought which I fear I'm going to eco-hell for buying. The recipe I used called for pouring boiling water over the bulgur and letting it sit 45 minutes before draining. I had never done this but it worked perfectly. That's an energy saving cooking method I intend to use again. (BTW, on a similar not, Chile's method of letting steel cut oats soak overnight and then cooking only briefly in the morning is so superior to the crock pot method I've used. You really must try it.)
The tabbouleh was delicious as well. I served it with Navajo Fry Bread topped with sprouts and homemade hummus from the Vegan Lunchbox Cookbook. Its a slightly milder recipe than others out there but my family loves it.
Now to dig a little deeper and see what else is lurking in the freezer...
But what, you may ask, is your coffe mug sitting on?
The wood stove of course! A girl's got to keep her coffee hot. BTW all you tea drinkers, I've put my tea bag into a mug of water and heated that here as well.
I thought I'd take a few moments and give a run down on how my efforts to use what was in the freezer were going. Before getting started I have to confess, I bought onions, carrots and four tomatoes.
I'm really pleased with the fig spice cake and the healthy fig date cookies that I made. The recipes were simple and everyone liked them. I'm itching to try Chile's fig butter recipe. It was in Thursday's comments but just in case you missed it, here it is. (And go check out her blog, NOW!!) Thanks for the recipe Chile!
Chile's Fig Butter
1/2 pound ripe figs
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 c water
1 1/2 c sugar
3/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp each: allspice, cinnamon, cloves
2 tsp vanilla
Wash figs, de-stem and quarter.
Simmer in water until soft.
Puree in blender.
Return to saucepan, using additional 1/2 c water to rinse out blender and add to pan.
Stir in sugar and dry spices.
Bring to a gentle boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
I loved the sweet and sour bean sprout recipe from the NY Times Natural Foods Cookbook. We ate it first as a side salad. The next night, I drained off the liquid, the sprouts leach water overnight like fresh cabbage in coleslaw, and used it to season some tvp. I served the tvp with the sprouts inside a crepe. It was easy and delicious. For family members who thought the combination of seasoned sprouts and seasoned tvp was too intense, I gave the option of using unseasoned sprouts.
Today I'm trying the broiled sprout patties. Overall, I'm thrilled with sprouting! It's easy to feel like you have a green thumb this way! If you haven't tried it, what are you waiting for??
The plethora of parsley in the freezer found its way into the vegetable broth recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance. It lends a buttery flavor to the finished broth. Of course, I used the veggies I had and left out the ones I didn't. I also left the veggies in, mashed them with a potato masher and served this as a soup with rice. Then I used the leftovers in split pea soup. Both were excellent.
But there was still more parsley in the freezer, so I made tabbouleh. Hence the four out of season tomatoes I bought which I fear I'm going to eco-hell for buying. The recipe I used called for pouring boiling water over the bulgur and letting it sit 45 minutes before draining. I had never done this but it worked perfectly. That's an energy saving cooking method I intend to use again. (BTW, on a similar not, Chile's method of letting steel cut oats soak overnight and then cooking only briefly in the morning is so superior to the crock pot method I've used. You really must try it.)
The tabbouleh was delicious as well. I served it with Navajo Fry Bread topped with sprouts and homemade hummus from the Vegan Lunchbox Cookbook. Its a slightly milder recipe than others out there but my family loves it.
Now to dig a little deeper and see what else is lurking in the freezer...
Monday, October 01, 2007
Crabapple Success
I used some of the cooked crabapples in apple bread yesterday and the results were really good. I had initially added 1 cup of sugar to about 6 quarts of spiced crapapple butter. I personally thought they were still pretty tart, bordering on sour, although my son loved it.
The apple bread recipe I used called for 1 cup of sugar per loaf. Generally, I think that makes a loaf that is too sweet but in this case the proportions were just right. I'm excited about future crapapple endevours!
The apple bread recipe I used called for 1 cup of sugar per loaf. Generally, I think that makes a loaf that is too sweet but in this case the proportions were just right. I'm excited about future crapapple endevours!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
More on Apple Butter
Courtney asked about my apple butter recipe. I confess that I draw my apple butter inspiration from Barbara.
I love Chile's idea of straining the liquid out of the cooked apples before pureeing to cut down on cooking time (energy use). She says the liquid tastes like apple juice. What a great treat that would be for any little ones helping in the kitchen when you make apple butter. Its so brilliantly simple! Thanks Chile!
I got a lot of beets canned yesterday and I've got the dirty fingernails and purple cuticles to prove it. I have four mutantly large beets, each weighs in at about a pound and a half, that I plan to cut into fries, bake a bit and freeze for another time. They are really delicious this way and kids like them because they look like French Fries. Go figure.
I love Chile's idea of straining the liquid out of the cooked apples before pureeing to cut down on cooking time (energy use). She says the liquid tastes like apple juice. What a great treat that would be for any little ones helping in the kitchen when you make apple butter. Its so brilliantly simple! Thanks Chile!
I got a lot of beets canned yesterday and I've got the dirty fingernails and purple cuticles to prove it. I have four mutantly large beets, each weighs in at about a pound and a half, that I plan to cut into fries, bake a bit and freeze for another time. They are really delicious this way and kids like them because they look like French Fries. Go figure.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Don't Be Such a Crabapple!
Jim picked a huge bag of crabapples at my mom's house last weekend. Yesterday we finally began the business of cooking them. I'll be making them into a spicy apple butter since that seems to be the best use of them from everything I've read. Unlike my usual apple butter, this one will probably require some sweetener.
Yesterday I was able to rehabilitate some overcooked pasta by using it in a frittata recipe. It wasn't the angel hair pasta the recipe called for, it was ziti but we cut into into little pieces and it worked wonderfully. The last of the overcooked pasta will find its way into the minestrone soup that I'm cooking in the slow cooker today. I'll stir it in just before serving to avoid it just disintegrating.
I'll also be making some baba ganoush to use up some of my excess cooked eggplant. Its one of those dishes I've always wanted to try but never did.
Yesterday I was able to rehabilitate some overcooked pasta by using it in a frittata recipe. It wasn't the angel hair pasta the recipe called for, it was ziti but we cut into into little pieces and it worked wonderfully. The last of the overcooked pasta will find its way into the minestrone soup that I'm cooking in the slow cooker today. I'll stir it in just before serving to avoid it just disintegrating.
I'll also be making some baba ganoush to use up some of my excess cooked eggplant. Its one of those dishes I've always wanted to try but never did.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Apple Butter Pancakes
All those apples we picked last weekend inpsired me to make some Overnight Crock Pot Apple Butter. I doubled the amount of cinnamon and nutmeg that I used last time and the results were delicious. I also pureed the cooked apples before turning the crock pot up to high since everyone prefers a smoother apple butter.
This morning I used some of that apple butter to make Apple Butter Pancakes. I was making a quick, before work breakfast for Jim so its a very small recipe but I don't see why you couldn't double, triple or even quadruple it.
Katie's Apple Butter Pancakes
Combine:
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup flax seed meal
1/3 cup crushed walnuts
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp brown sugar
Add:
1 cup apple butter
enough plain soymilk to make it the right consistency
Cook on a hot griddle. If you went a little heavy on the soymilk, you might want to cover the pancakes while cooking to help avoid gooey middles.
We rarely use syrup on our pancakes. Instead we'll either eat them as is or top with apple butter or other fruit. In most cases, it doesn't even occur to my kids that they should ask for syrup with pancakes. I think this is one of the best things about a largely unprocessed, vegetarian diet. Your taste buds are more open to the nuances of the flavors of foods rather than the things we add to them, like syrup.
With obesity on the rise, the last thing we need to give our kids is more sugary (calorie laden) foods. To those of you new to a veg lifestyle or unprocessed foods, never fear, taste buds do change over time.
BTW, I've begun archiving my older posts by topic so keep an eye on the topic list on the left side of my blog. I've started at the oldest posts and will work my way forward but with 448 posts, this could take some time! Along the way I'm also adding in some links that were missing from the original posts. I was a little slow at learning how to add links. I hope this makes my blog more user friendly for everyone.
This morning I used some of that apple butter to make Apple Butter Pancakes. I was making a quick, before work breakfast for Jim so its a very small recipe but I don't see why you couldn't double, triple or even quadruple it.
Katie's Apple Butter Pancakes
Combine:
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup flax seed meal
1/3 cup crushed walnuts
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp brown sugar
Add:
1 cup apple butter
enough plain soymilk to make it the right consistency
Cook on a hot griddle. If you went a little heavy on the soymilk, you might want to cover the pancakes while cooking to help avoid gooey middles.
We rarely use syrup on our pancakes. Instead we'll either eat them as is or top with apple butter or other fruit. In most cases, it doesn't even occur to my kids that they should ask for syrup with pancakes. I think this is one of the best things about a largely unprocessed, vegetarian diet. Your taste buds are more open to the nuances of the flavors of foods rather than the things we add to them, like syrup.
With obesity on the rise, the last thing we need to give our kids is more sugary (calorie laden) foods. To those of you new to a veg lifestyle or unprocessed foods, never fear, taste buds do change over time.
BTW, I've begun archiving my older posts by topic so keep an eye on the topic list on the left side of my blog. I've started at the oldest posts and will work my way forward but with 448 posts, this could take some time! Along the way I'm also adding in some links that were missing from the original posts. I was a little slow at learning how to add links. I hope this makes my blog more user friendly for everyone.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)