Tasty Reds

Out first round of potatoes from the garden. Two plants gave us all this. And they were amazing!

Fresh and Homemade

This past weekend proved to be full of fresh and homemade surprises. My husband bottled his homemade strawberry wine and we decided to give it a try. Even though it’s “unaged”, it was terrific. Dry, mild,  and aromatic, the strawberry flavor was light and very enjoyable. It our opinion, it was a huge success and will be repeated next year. He’s thinking peach wine might be next on the agenda.

When I came home from work on Friday, not only was I surprise by a chilled bottle of strawberry wine, but a freshly baked loaf of baguette. I’m blessed with husband who has decided he likes baking! In order to round out the afternoon, a trip to the local farmer’s market- at this time of year, indulgence is super fresh produce from the local farmers market. The corn was turned into fresh corn cakes with ham, the tomato and zucchini part of a quick summer pasta sauce, and the blackberries went into a homemade pound cake.

We decided we wanted to try our hand at making our own pasta, so Sunday evening was experiment time. All it takes is some eggs and flour, and if you can make a pie crust, you can make pasta! Mix mix mix, knead, refrigerate, roll, and slice. I tossed together a quick farmer’s market/garden style sauce, some fresh parmesan, and this was amazing! I HIGHLY recommend anyone try making your own pasta, you will be very pleased with the results! It’s hearty, tasty, and the texture is terrific. AND, it even reheats well! I might even dare say it’s better the second time around! Of course, I have to credit Miss. Jenna Woginrich at Cold Antler Farm for trying the recipe. 🙂

To top the weekend off, my husband (despite his really strange milk phobias) agreed to willingly make the switch to raw milk. Thanks to our knowledge of WAAWWE, a store devoted to local, healthy, and humane food, we knew that the owner sells raw milk from her farm down the road. So after a short jaunt, we met up with Lisa Kaiman of Jersey Girls and purchased our first 1/2 gallon of raw milk. Free with the purchase was a healthy dose of milk and food talk, including topics that I am familiar with, but were new to my husband. We both were educated on a number of things, and my husband was so intrigued that I convinced him to watch Food, Inc. with me.  I was familiar with a lot of the information given, but a lot of it was new to me. I can add that movie to the list of things that continues to push me toward eating more sustainably! Interestingly enough, my husband was moved at the end of the film. He told me that he had expected all of the ethical and environmental impacts, that they were not a shock to him, but what scared him was the ability of Monsanto to patent a gene. He went on to explain to me all the future implications this could have for the patent of any genes, ownership of life, and a slew of ethical situations. I may even have him write a post for this blog, adding a new perspective for many of us. Personally, I was disturbed about the use of chemicals to “disinfect” food, the creation of “fillers”, and the super-resistant diseases coming from commercial farming practices. We have already switched over our beef, and we’ve been trying local pork and poultry and really like it. I think this film may have been the final push I needed to switch all of our meats over to local, grass-fed, and humane products.

Just beyond the weekend, Monday afternoon a co-worker of mine who lives just up the road told me that he has a huge collection of wild blackberry bushes on some of his land and he can’t manage to get to all of it, let alone pick them all. So, he told me to feel free to head up after I got out of work and help myself to whatever I could get at. Despite it being somewhat muggy, I convinced my husband to put on some jeans and a long sleeve shirt and tag along. We ended up with quite a bit, but boy, was it something rugged to get at them! We had to follow deer trails through an overgrown marshy area and let me tell you, some of those thorns were huge! I felt spoiled thinking about the farm berry picking I’m use to. But we kept picking until we couldn’t reach any more bushes. Not a bad haul for 30 minutes of prickly bushwhacking!

*Final Note: The raw milk is amazing. Even my husband likes it! He says it tastes less “milky” than store bought milk. It sounds kind of odd, but I get what he’s saying. It’s mild, sweet, and filling. Maybe I’m a werido, but I swear I can taste hints of fresh grass in it, and it lacks that sticky and shallow bitter aftertaste you get with store stuff. And the best part? It comes with cream. 🙂 Right now we’re mixing it in, but sometimes with my morning coffee, I don’t mix it up and get a nice shot of cream in my mug. Shhhh… don’t tell the hubbie I’m skimming his cream!! 🙂 If you are interesting in learning more about raw milk, Lisa has a nice article on her Jersey Girls site, and there are thousands of websites to search, all available at the click of a button.

Blueberries, Pickels, and Wine

After a long break, I’m slowly making my way back to this blog. This spring was pretty crazy with a lot of personal life changes. There was some family issues, a much needed job change, a well deserved vacation, a lot of gardening, and now, things are slowly quieting down. We’ve been keeping ourselves busy with all kinds of projects since April!

A family weekend of tilling and planting everything from seed this year while has worked out a lot better than transplanting.

Two months into planting from seed, everything is looking amazing. The only problems that we are having at the moment are pumpkin arms going everywhere and the potatoes seem to have a little early blight issues.

We picked out first cukes today and they are amazing! These are supposed to be pickling cukes but they got forgotten under all the leaves and got a little bigger. It’s okay though, they still taste amazing! We’ve also been eating fresh green beans and Swiss chard.

My husband has been experimenting with making local fruit wines. This is our first 5 gallon batch of strawberry. Next up will be peach and then apple. 🙂 I can’t wait to try it!

We’ve been doing plenty of picking on our weekends. We’ve got several quarts of strawberries put away and now we’re working on blueberries. What a year for blueberries! They are so large, sweet, and plentiful this year! At $2 a pound, we got about 3 quarts for $7. They made some awesome muffins! Oh! Yes, I’ll have to post that recipe! How can you resist “healthy” muffins?

And as of today, we have been trying our hand at making pickles. Today it was traditional bread and butter pickles. We even have a fancy crinkle cutter which really makes these guys look like the real deal.

Frugal Food: Beef and Beans

My husband laughs at me for keeping the smallest bits of leftovers. I can’t help it! Why would you take something you’ve worked so hard for and just toss it? If I can’t get a full meal out of a little bit of leftover veggies, rice, or even meat, I’ll put it in Tupperware, label it, and put it in the freezer. Most items are destined to become future soups or stews, but you can get way more creative than that. About a month ago, a beef roast feed us a couple of meals, but after the second heating, there was very little left and it was starting to dry out. We really didn’t feel like having it again, and it was too dry for sandwiches. So, I cut it up into small pieces and put it in the freezer. And there stood my husband, shaking his head, “Just toss it hun, it ain’t worth saving. What are you going to do with it? Don’t you have enough scraps in the freezer?” But I just smiled and said, “You’ll see.”

Well, wasn’t it a few weeks later when I had some leftover tortillas, I found a use for those scraps. That bag of roast tidbits came out, got finely chopped up, tossed with some sautéed onions, garlic, chili powder, hot sauce, black beans…

…and became some terrific filling for beef and bean quesadillas! I always have an onion in the crisper and individually frozen portions of pre-cooked beans in the freezer. And who doesn’t have leftover cheese in their fridge? The meal didn’t cost me a dime because it was all leftovers and items I had on hand! We have a nifty little quesadilla maker someone got for us a couple of years ago, but a pan and a quick flip would be just as effective. Or, I could have used the same filling to make burritos.

I didn’t say a word about what was going in them to my husband. It wasn’t until after several happy bites and wondering where the beef came from that I smiled and told him it was his scraps he told me to throw out. He happily ate his words that night. Creative cooking from scraps is not only easy, it’s extremely cheap (free!) and delicious.

Anyone else have some favorite scrap recipes they like?

Wheat Sandwich Bread

Thanks to a little light reading of my new Michael Pollan books, along with some good talks with my husband, we have decided to start trying to change our diet. How? Eating more local foods (the switch to local beef and hopefully to all meats soon) and eating more whole foods. We’ve been cutting processed foods out of our diet one item at a time and replacing them with homemade versions. Although some of it can be challenging (snack foods remain the last item we’ll address) it’s working out pretty well. It helps that I love cooking and that every homemade version we make tastes 10x better than the store-bought junk.

The one item that remained a challenge was bread. Sounds funny, right? Well, my husband is very particular when it comes to his sandwich bread. He likes his bread really soft, but he likes wheat bread. So pretty much any homemade bread I’ve made in the past has been too dense. Sure, he’s liked it all, but it never passes the work week sandwich test-until now. Ryan came home from work today and this batch passed!

 How good was it? See that empty plate there? There was a sandwich on that at one time. And the fact that he likes it AND I like it and approve of it is HUGE! So without further ado, I’d like to share with you the ultimate, soft, sweet, light wheat sandwich bread!

Light Wheat Sandwich Bread
*All the credit goes to the amazing Beauty that Moves*

NOTE: This recipe has been adapted for a bread machine. If you are going to make this recipe by hand, please use the original recipe found at the “Beauty that Moves” link above.

1 1/3 c. warm water
1/3 c. honey (or sugar, or agave nectar, or anyone want to try maple syrup?)
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. sea salt (regular salt will work just as fine)
2 Tbsp + 2 tsp. vegetable oil
2 2/3 c. white bread flour
1 1/3 c. whole wheat flour

*Makes two loaves*

Add ingredients according to your bread machine’s instructions (usually liquids at the bottom, followed by additives, flour on top, then yeast on top of the flour in a depression). Select dough setting. As with any bread batch, watch it carefully. After a few minutes, check to see if you need to add a pinch more water or flour to allow one nice ball of dough to form. After the session is complete, turn dough out onto a floured surface. Cut into equal halves. Shape into loaves and put into two bread pans. Cover and let rise in a warm area about 30 minutes or until doubled in size. After, bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25 minutes.

Enjoy! If anyone tries this, let me know what you think!

Frugal Food Friday: Kitchen Sink Soup

Frugal foods; because everyone’s wallet needs a helping hand now and again.

Frugal food is all about using every scrap of food that you have- and having it come out tasting good too!  One of the simplest and most sensible meals to make on a budget is soup. I don’t care who you are, you can  make healthy, delicious, wonderful soup for next to nothing!

My kitchen sink soup constantly changes depending on what I have on hand. This batch here consisted of leftover veggies found in the fridge (parsnip, carrots, kale, onion), freezer essentials (I always have frozen corn and beans on hand), and pantry supplies (brown rice, diced tomatoes, potatoes).  I didn’t have any homemade stock at the time, so I started with some sautéed onions in olive oil, added some garlic, the diced tomatoes, and some water. As the vegetables cooked, they all added their flavors to create a stock of sorts. Oh, and don’t forget to add your favorite herbs and spices. Anytime I’m making a soup or stew, I throw in a bay leaf and usually, some oregano. But put in whatever you like. And just as it’s finishing up, add your salt and pepper. That allows your flavors to develop and mix, allowing you to figure out at the end how much you may need. As for how much to make, don’t worry about making too much! The best thing about soup is that you can make a lot so you have leftovers for the week and to freeze for later. It’s great being able to reach in the freezer and pull out a meal that’s ready to go. Save yourself some time and freeze it in portions that are right for you (one serving, family serving, etc.).

Another time, I had some stock from a boiled ham dinner that I had frozen and used that for a soup base. I threw in some of the dinner’s leftover ham, lentils and barley from the cupboard, and mixed leftover veggies I had in the fridge that had seen better days, and let me tell you, THAT was good! If you ever are making a boiled ham dinner, do NOT throw that stock away! I can’t believe I’ve missed out on something as awesome as that!

That’s it. Soup doesn’t have to be well planned out. I’m sure if you ask your grandmother about making soup, she’ll tell you the same thing. It’s a beautiful meal that keeps you warm and uses whatever you have on hand. So stop worrying about what you need and plan a soup tonight with whatever you have on hand!

Satisfaction

A quick post just to announce how satisfied I was with last night’s first taste of beef. We decided to try the hamburger patties that came with the package on some homemade buns I made this weekend. With the first bite, I realized what I was eating, and it tasted great. Ladies and gentlemen, it tasted like beef. It was lean, strong, and beefy. To be honest, it reminded me more of a wild game taste than beef.  I’m going to let you in on a little secret: my husband is a supportive guy, but he’s not always willing to try anything that gets labeled “green”, “good for the environment”, or “animal friendly”. Actually, any use of those words with a product usually causes him to immediately be against it.  Yes, yes, I admit it, I married a Captain Planet villain of sorts (opposites attract, right?), so I have to be careful about what tangents I go off on and how I label something. But for him last night to make mention of how good it was, THAT means something! It’s a good change for us.

And as you’ve probably noticed, my blog appearance has changed, and I owe all that to my website guy. He made my header, and has spent many hours fiddling with the workings of annoying CSS programing that I don’t have the slightest idea about, all to create something unique for me. Thanks hun! Just goes to prove that Captain Planet villains aren’t all bad. 🙂

Winter Garden Planning

It’s the middle of winter, but I have spring greens on the brain. I can’t stop thinking about that newly tilled and expanded garden sitting under that layer of snow.

That fresh  upturned soil, I can’t wait to dig into it. Anyone want to share their choices for their garden this year? This is what we’re thinking of:
Veggies-
     String beans- “Provider” (new to us)
     Dry beans- “Jacob’s Cattle” (new to us)
     Carrots- “Danvers”
     Swiss Chard- “Ruby Red”
     Cucumbers- “National Pickling”
     Potatoes- “Red Norland” (new to us)
     Pumpkins- “New England Pie” (new to us)
     Turnip- “Joan Rutabaga”
Herbs-
     Basil
     Cilantro
     Oregano
Flowers-
     Purple Coneflower (new to us)
     Sunflowers

It looks like we’re trying a lot of new stuff this year, but we’re keeping all the successful crops from last year and replacing the not so lucky crops with the new guys. Plus, we have a lot more room than last year and look forward to working with more.

Team Violette-Giroux hard at work this past fall. I think they probably doubled the size of last year’s plot. You can see we don’t have a lot of space to work with (the large fields are not ours) but it’s more than what some people have, so we are working to make the best of it. Our first year was a rough one, but it hasn’t scared us away!

Local Beef

This weekend my husband and I made the change to local beef. We found Black Watch Farm, a local farm about 20 minutes down the road that raises Highland Cattle. We placed a mixed order of about 20 lbs. of beef, then went down to pick it up on Saturday.

So why did we decide to make the change?
1.) Dissatisfaction– I’m dissatisfied with our current food system. I am sick of having to worry about the food in my freezer  there is a nationwide beef recall and the fact there have been times where I had to throw away meat because of contamination risks. I’m dissatisfied with the way the beef gets to my table, with the hell beef cattle go through just so they can make it alive to the slaughterhouse. (I will not go into graphic detail here, but look into it and you’ll see what I am referring to.) I’m sick of not knowing where my food comes from, what it had to eat, how it lived, etc. Our whole system is messed up, and this is just one more tiny step I can take in the right direction.
2.) Health– I’m a meat eater, and although I know it’s healthier in many respects and better for the environment to be a vegetarian, I’m always going to eat meat. So, the least I can do is to make sure the meat I am eating is the best I can get. The beef we bought is leaner than store-bought beef (90%), lower in cholesterol, and the cows are grass-fed meaning more Omega-3 and more nutrition.
3.) Local Support– I’m supporting local business at it’s best. I’m not giving my hard-earned dollars to the supermarket which then allows that money to trickle down through stacks of middlemen, all taking their cut, leaving the actually producer with a ridiculously small and unfair part of what I originally paid. Instead, I’m giving a fair price directly to the producer, helping support our local economy and farmers. Where you spend your food dollars translates into a vote for what you support.
4.) Environmentally Friendly- Because I’m buying my beef locally, I’ve substantially reduced the food miles my beef consumed to get to my plate. I’ve cut out all the massive energy consumption of transportation from across the country. And it’s as animal friendly as you can get for eating meat- the animals no doubt live healthy and respectful lives.
5.) Economical– Although it may initially seem more expensive than what you might be able to get at the supermarket when it’s on sale, the more you buy, the less you pay. At $75 for 20 lbs. of beef, I was paying $3.75 a lb. That may seem high for ground beef, but consider I also got stew beef, several different steak cuts, burgers, nitrate-free hotdogs, and a beautiful roast. Try finding a tasty, safe, grass-fed cut for less in your supermarket. You wont. With the gift of our freezer chest for Christmas, we’re able to store the surplus with ease.

And now, with all the beef, a huge local turkey, two hams, extra chicken, and a basket full of summer strawberries, our freezer is half full. With the thought of my husband’s “Furlough Fridays” of this past summer still fresh in my mind, that we have so much at hand is a huge relief.

Pumpkin Time of Year

Even though they adorn our homes as decorations this time of year, pumpkins are so much more than that- they’re food! My goal for this autumn was to learn how to cook and enjoy pumpkins, and I have. Although I have not done the obvious of making pumpkin pie from the real thing, we have been enjoying it as a side dish with suppers (add a little butter and brown sugar, yum) and I’ve made some amazing muffins! They are so good, I decided to share it here. The original recipe came from a co-op flyer last year and they said it came from Farmer’s Market Foods. I have since adjusted it to our liking and hopefully to yours too!

Pumpkin Muffins
Makes 20 regular muffins, but easily cut in half (which I do)

2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour (feel free to sub. your ratio of flour types to your liking so long as you get 2 1/2 cups)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
3 eggs
2 c. pumpkin puree (2 cups of the real stuff = one can of pumpkin)
3/4 cup oil (or subs. with 3/4 c. unsweetened apple sauce)
1/2 c. walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift together all dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside.  In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and then add pumpkin and stir until well combined. Add the oil gradually to the egg/pumpkin mixture, stirring well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix- but don’t over mix. Fold in your walnuts.

Grease and flour (or use paper liners if you want) your muffin tins then fill 3/4 full. Bake 30 minutes or until tops are firm.

 With all that delicious pumpkin, don’t forget about your seeds! Although they can be a pain to remove from the pile of slimy pumpkin guts, they are a highly nutritious (and really tasty and addictive) snack. Rinse and dry them thoroughly over night (sometimes it might take longer) then toss in olive oil and salt, spread on a baking sheet, and bake for one hour, tossing every 15-20 mins in a 250 degree F oven. We have made several different batches this year, experimenting with flavors. One we tossed in a little melted unsalted butter and sugar for something sweet, and another was a salt and crushed pepper mix (my husband favorite). We realized the sweet batch was a little blah, so we mixed it with the salted ones and I’ve really enjoyed the sweet and salty mix. After they have fully cooled, store them in an airtight container.

*Salt and pepper, salted, and sweet and salty mix*