Slow Food

I am a big fan of the slow food movement. After all, I absolutely love food. Well, good food. I can fore go eating if my only choices are fast food. (Which is really not good for me or the people around me.) There have been many a night where something like crackers have been dinner because nothing else in the house was good.

But back to the slow food movement. It's an organization dedicated to preserving traditional food. I can get on board with that! Additionally, they believe that the best way to preserve traditional breeds that are going extinct is to get people to eat them. Sounds counter intuitive, yet increase demand and supply will increase.

I have bought Heritage Turkeys for Thanksgiving in the past. In fact, one Thanksgiving I cooked a heritage turkey, a traditional turkey and a wild turkey so we could taste-test them side by side. Let me tell you, that heritage turkey made me a believer. It actually had flavor and texture, and you know - that turkey could still actually have sex (well before they killed it for us).

I would raise heritage breed turkeys and chickens if it wasn't for that whole plucking thing. I've already done it and it does not hold good memories for me. It might be different now that I am an adult and it would feed me and my children...hhhmmm

However, one of my problems is that I am impatient. This too might be an understatement, but there it is. It's not that I don't cook from scratch; most everything I do cook is from scratch. I can whip up a fresh tomato sauce in slightly more time than it takes to open a can, but most of my meals in the past 8 years (since I got pregnant the first time), have been of the 30 minute variety. A few of them go longer, but really it's all about getting a good dinner on the table as fast as possible.

Again, this is not to say, that they are not fresh - just fast.

As we are getting home from the conciliatory ice cream after stitches this morning, my sister tells me that we have a ton of eggplant. My eggplants are planted in the strip between my driveway and my neighbors yard and she normally parks on that side of the driveway. So, apparently it was time to make eggplant Parmesan.

This is not a quick dish. This takes slicing eggplant, draining in salt, dredging, frying, baking, making tomato sauce...Today it was even slower since halfway through I realized we were out of pasta.

Completely out.

No pasta of any kind in the house.

I really don't understand how this is possible, but it happened.

I used to make my own pasta in college and this was hands down every one's favorite dish of mine. There is nothing like fresh pasta. And surprisingly, it is extremely easy albeit extremely messy to do.

The dough takes about 3 minutes. I figured the boys would help roll it and cut it in my pasta machine - no problem. Except the pasta machine that I haven't used since college, doesn't really cut the dough. More of an imprint really.

So, now I have been cooking for almost 2 hours. And we have pasta looking type stuff. More of sheets with spaghetti imprints and globs of dough. We put it in the boiling water, waited about a minute and drained it. I threw on the eggplant, a little extra sauce and served the boys. Ryan said it was the best meal he had ever eaten and could I make this every night? Max said yum, but halfway through decided he didn't like the purple skin; but he ate everything else as long as it wasn't purple.

The good point of all this is that our meal completely came out of my garden! This made me so happy and willing to take the time to do this. (I also made another one to put in the freezer.) Everything except the oil and the flour - I grew!

Lately, I have been feeling frustrated and sad regarding my gardening capabilities. I have thought that if my family was dependent on me and my garden for food - we'd be starving. But tonight, tonight we had tomatoes, garlic, onions, basil, oregano, eggplant, eggs and an old pasta machine for the most unbelievable pasta ever!!! This was slow food. And it was good.

But now I have flour over every surface of the kitchen and dining room...

Bran Muffins

I really enjoy a good bran muffin. I know that some people believe that is an oxymoron, however if they are made right they can be light and wonderful. However, I don't like raisins, especially in food. They remind me of flies. I know that I have a weird texture thing, but i just can't get over it. I don't even like oatmeal raisin cookies. Now, give me the chance to inhale an oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and look out...

I found a recipe on line for six week bran muffins. This particular recipe uses bran cereal, which I happened to have on hand from Trader Joe's (I love their bran cereal not to be confused with flakes and raisins). I understand that it costs less not to use cereal in a recipe, but I have yet to find a way to make these without it...I am trying.

I was going to have a ton of people in my house in addition to the ton that already live here and I thought I would whip up a batch of these and at least be off the hook for breakfast and snacks. (I also happen to love these muffins and have been known to eat them for several meals throughout the day.) After all, the recipe make 18 dozen, which is why the name is 6 week bran muffins - the batter is supposed to last in your fridge for six weeks. I just want to know who has a large enough refrigerator to hold this sheer amount of batter? I usually cut the recipe in fourths or at least a third which the site that I get this recipe from, will cut the ingredients for you so you don't have to do the math (very nice when you are making these at 11 at night)!

But when I got on line to retrieve my favorite recipe, the site was down. I couldn't find the same recipe anywhere! I ended up making some that were similar, but definitely not as good. So I cut the recipe in half and have decided to post it here so I will always have it, Internet or not!

Six Week Bran Muffins (With my changes)

3 cups boiling water
3 cups whole bran cereal (I substitute 1 cup cereal for 1 cup bran)
1-1/2 cups shortening (I use butter)
4-1/2 cups white sugar (I have reduced the sugar and added molasses, which tastes awesome but not everybody has molasses on hand...not really sure why I do, but I do...)
6 eggs
6 cups buttermilk (I never have buttermilk on hand, but I usually do have plain yogurt, so I use 3 cups plain yogurt and 3 cups milk instead)
7-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (For half of the flour, I use a mix of flours including oat flour, whole wheat, and brown rice. I try to keep at least half all-purpose flour to keep the gluten high enough not to have a hockey puck.)
2 tablespoons and 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
6 cups whole bran cereal (I substitute a cup or two with oats)

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, add boiling water to the first 3 cups of bran cereal, cool.
Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and buttermilk together. Add to bran mixture. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Fold in the 6 cups of bran cereal. Stir only until moistened.
Bake in a preheated 425 degree F (220 degree C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes. (I also sprinkle on top some oatmeal and a little brown sugar, makes a nice crust the punks absolutely love!)

Cooking with Kids

Last night my kids helped me cook dinner. This isn't unusual for our family, and in fact they help me cook a lot.

This dinner was special for me since most of it came out of our garden and they were so excited.

They cut up the tomatoes, the mozzarella and the basil for our tomato salad. Then they put in a little salt, some balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The really fun part was when they were tasting it to decide if it needed anything else and to make sure the proportions were right.

They stood there next to each other discussing whether or not it had enough vinegar or just needed more salt. I was so proud and excited. Maybe this is something that shouldn't get me excited and happy, but they are 5 and 7. They were eating tomatoes and wanted more!

Then I dug up a few potatoes, gently boiled them until tender. Ryan put butter and a little cream and slightly mushed them around. Max tasted to see if they needed some salt.

Starwberry Jam

One of the advantages of living in the Central Valley of California, is that we have amazing produce. I have five fruit stands within 2 miles of my house, and I'm sure there are probably more - I just don't drive that way. I picked this up and within one day everything was melting into juice. So, I chopped up all the strawberries and made strawberry jam. It's never to early to start making Christmas presents. Although, I don't think there is any way this jam will make it to Christmas. I have almost finished the runt which is really interferring in my no-wheat diet!

I chopped up 6 pints of strawberries...

added 2 1/2 cups of sugar...

Add cooked until it gelled...put it into pint jars, boiled for 10 minutes in a water bath and was rewarded with the sweet sounds of the lids sucking down as I was leaving the kitchen. I hadn't even cleaned the kitchen, so it was really within a minute of taking them out of the water.





My grandmother used to love caning. Apparantly it was the only thing she liked to do in the house. My mom would tell me as we were caning that her mom said it was the only think she did around the house that lasted more than a day. I never met my grandmother, but I really understand her sentiments!

Egg Casserole

Jenna -

Here is the recipe for the Egg Casserole:

Melt 1 stick of butter in a large casserole dish

Combine:

10 eggs beaten

1 pint of cottage cheese

1 pound of Monterrey Jack (really and cheese you like)

1 pound of cooked meat (I use ham, but any breakfasty meat will do)

1 small can of green chilies

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. flour

Pour mixture into baking dish, cover and let sit in refrigerator overnight. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. If you have an over like mine that isn't always accurate, might take a few more minutes. It should be slightly, turning golden brown on top and eggs not runny. Let sit for about 10-15 minutes to set up. I have also cut the butter down to half and it turned out fine. You'll understand when you take it out of the oven and realize that your arteries could clog just by looking!

Ice Cream

“Mom, do you have a recipe you use for your ice cream?”

“Yes.”


“Would you share it with me?”


“Sure. I take some eggs, some milk, some cream or half and half, sugar, flour, salt and vanilla. Mix it up and pour it in the ice cream maker.”


“Gee, considering I haven’t done this before, I’m not sure that helps much.”


“Why not?”


“Ok. How much sugar? How many eggs? How much milk?”


“Just throw some together, taste it to see if you need to add anything.”


“Ok, why the flour?”


“It makes it smoother. I’d probably only put in a tablespoon or so.”


Strange as this conversation is – this is how I learned to cook. And for most things if I call my mom and ask, these are the kinds of recipes I get. These are also the kinds of recipes I give other people when they ask. Well, you take a little of this and a little of that until it looks right…Right now, I am officially apologizing to everyone who has ever called and asked for me to share a recipe especially those of you who would be self proclaimed non-chefs.



So, I did what my mom told me to. I used 2 eggs (fresh from my chickens), about a cup of sugar, some heavy cream (left over from the most amazing mushroom cream sauce I made the other night), milk, salt, flour and vanilla.


The ice cream was awesome! Here's Ryan on top of the playhouse eating his...


I sliced fresh strawberries for mine...This is really yummy summer goodness!

Recipe: (Well, an approximate recipe)

Beat together:

2 eggs

1 cup sugar (or less if you like it less sweet. I actually prefer a little less)

1/2 - 3/4 heavy cream or half and half

1 - 2 teaspoons vanilla depending on taste

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon of flour if desired. (I made it both ways, since I had to turn around and make more the next day. I did notice with the flour it was a little smoother, but I like it either way. I am trying to limit our intake of wheat, so it's absolutely delicious without it.)

Enough milk to make 4 cups of liquid

Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze!

I have a quart size ice cream maker, so this is for that amount...change recipe as desired and feel free to add fresh fruit, caramel swirls....Also, this recipe is uncooked, so you are eating raw eggs. I have no problem eating raw eggs since they are in most of my favorite foods - hollandaise sauces, homemade mayonnaise, cookie dough, brownie batter...if this concerns you, you could always cook the mixture until it thickens a little and is hot but not boiling. This completely changes the texture and now you have a custard based ice cream recipe instead. A lot of people prefer this, but I love the simplicity and ease of having the mixture in the maker in a matter of minutes!

January Challenge

Well, January is over. I understand this is not a surprise since it is over a week into February now. However, I had challenged myself to no shopping during the month of January except for fresh veggies, eggs and milk. I wanted to clean out my freezer and pantry and see what I really ate. I also wanted to challenge myself again to not consuming things I really don't need in the first place. It is amazing after having done this a couple of times, how much I buy that I really don't need. It is also amazing to me how much I use "buying things" as an emotional crutch to feel better. In case anyone was following my January challenge, I'm posting an update on how the month went.

Surprisingly, the month went fairly well. I didn't have that many withdrawals (in fact, if I stay out of stores altogether, I don't even find the things that I didn't know that I always needed). I did have a few instances of running to the store, but that was mainly for convenience sake. I ran out of flour tortillas and that is just not acceptable in this house. We eat quesadillas at least 3-4 times a week and it is my standby, just picked up the kids and they must eat RIGHT NOW meal/snack. I also bought some lunch meat for Ryan's lunches. Again, this could have been avoided with better planning, but right now I am just trying to exist and get through the next few months with school.

I also bought a large sack of flour and instant yeast. I have been making my own bread, bran muffins and other yummy goodies since I'm on a baking kick. Also, making bread just tastes worlds away from the store bought stuff, is cheaper and is not considered purchasing. My trusty Food 4 Less down the street, doesn't carry large sacks of unbleached flour or instant yeast, so off to SaveMart I went. I haven't been in a one for a while and it was a little overwhelming. So much stuff! Where I used to go down every aisle to see what I might need and would spend over $100 a visit, in fact more like $200, I didn't even want to see what they had to offer. We didn't need it. But even sticking to the stuff on my list for things that Food 4 Less doesn't carry, it still cost $91!

I would like to reduce my need even further, but short of raising my own meat, I'm not sure I can right now. So, it is about using what I have and trying to plan my meals farther in advance! One of the things that I have learned from this challenge however, is that I really don't cook out of my pantry. Except for staples such as flour, sugar, rice and pasta, most of it is still in there.

Oh, I did make one major purchase this month - chicken fencing. Darrin built me a beautiful chicken run to keep the chickens out of the garden and off the patio (translation - no more chicken poop to step in). So far, the run is doing fairly well. We didn't put netting on top to see if the fence itself would keep them cooped up before we went to added expense. For the most part it does, but every couple of days one will fly over the fence and wander around waiting for the others to join her...

Feeding the Soul

I know that this most likely falls under the column of procrastination, but I have been cooking. A lot. Not just your average everyday, cooking for my family to survive cooking, but COOKING. I have been baking bread from scratch. (A wonderful, rustic, no-knead bread that is awesome with soup!) I have been making soup, making my own cheese, preserving things (my very generous mother, got us a Food Saver), and generally feeding my family really well. But more than that, I have been feeding my soul. There is something about cooking for me that makes me feel connected to what I'm eating and feel that is more nourishing to me than just opening up a package or stopping on the way home for take out. 

Since I am on a month of no buying, both of those options are severely limited for me. However, this whole cooking thing has been going on for a couple of months now. There is something about it that is self care and makes me happy.

I currently have bread rising in the oven (because with the heater turned down, it is too cold in my house) of a new recipe that I hope will be awesome! I have been looking for a great sandwhich loaf of bread. If you haven't noticed, bread is really expensive, especially semi-good bread. And then, it's really not that great. So, I would like to find a recipe that gives me really good, homemade bread that you just want to slather with butter and eat straight, or will make just about any sandwhich wonderful... Is that too much to ask? I hope not!