Phew, it's been a busy week!
No time for a childhood memories post today, just a quick question for any of you out there:
I really want to cook liver next week as part of my menu plan. But I have no idea how and I've never done it before. I just found very a reasonably priced source for bulk(ish) chicken livers at the farmer's market which are hormone / antibiotic free and I want to start using this healthy resource soon!
SO.... what does one do with liver?
Showing posts with label Cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cooking. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Tuesday Trimmings
I'm starting to like this catch-all post I started doing on Tuesdays. It's a nice way to write about all the random crap I've been up to without have to try and be organized about it. haha.
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My jars came yesterday! So last night I started my first batch of kombucha. I'm so excited I can hardly wait. Once we started drinking it a while ago, we realized it was too expensive to keep buying, but because of the health benefits (and because it's downright tasty!), we decided it was worthwhile to invest in making our own. My SCOBY is doing really well (yay) so I'm optimistic that this will be a success.
So far, I've spent
$2 on generic green tea
$3.50 on a bottle of starter kombucha
and $25.98 on two 1-gallon glass jars.
I'm starting off with making just one gallon to see how it goes and to see how fast we drink it.
1 gallon filtered water -- $15 / 100 = $0.15 ($15 is how much each filter costs)
4 tea bags -- $2 / 40 * 10 = $0.50
1 cup of sugar -- $2 / 12 = $0.18 (aprox)
So total cost for one gallon of kombucha, will be less than $1.00. Compared to a 16oz bottle for $3.50, I'd say that's quite a deal. Especially since it takes eight 16oz bottle to equal one gallon. 8 * $3.50 = $28.
Which means with my first gallon, I will just about break even with my start up costs.
After that, it's all gravy (erm, kombucha!).
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In other news, my fermented orange marmalade is done! It's pretty good, but not at all like what normal marmalade is like. It's kind of watery and not syrupy. It's vaguely sweet and orange-y at first, and then it's slightly salty, and then it's pretty bitter. But for some reason I think I really like it, even though it's definitely really bitter. The rinds have softened up so they're much more chew-able now, which is good.
I'm thinking about adding either maple syrup or more sugar to sweeten it up so my DH will also eat it. I think if I can balance the bitter / slightly salty flavor with a bit more sweetness, it will help him enjoy it. I want him to eat it because it's good for him, but let's be honest, if he doesn't eat it, I won't be that sad--more for me!
And, contrary to my belief, adding whey did not ruin it. I thought for sure, once I added the whey, that it would be awful and just taste like whey and nastiness, but I can't taste the whey at all! How cool is that? (you saw this coming) Whey cool.
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Oh, and I had another dinner success last night. Wild-caught salmon fried in a skillet with butter, topped with homemade BBQ sauce and served with green beans covered with butter. Yum! DH really enjoyed it and so did I.
-------
Other than adding more fermented foods to our diet, I'm sucking at my goals. I still have 6 days to get them done, so I might eek by, but... yeah, not holding my breath at this point. Aand, school is kicking my butt. And I don't really like work that much... And I don't even want to think about my grocery bill lately.
...But I made kombucha! and I guess for now, that's enough.
What about you? How are you doing with your New Year's goals?
--------
My jars came yesterday! So last night I started my first batch of kombucha. I'm so excited I can hardly wait. Once we started drinking it a while ago, we realized it was too expensive to keep buying, but because of the health benefits (and because it's downright tasty!), we decided it was worthwhile to invest in making our own. My SCOBY is doing really well (yay) so I'm optimistic that this will be a success.
So far, I've spent
$2 on generic green tea
$3.50 on a bottle of starter kombucha
and $25.98 on two 1-gallon glass jars.
I'm starting off with making just one gallon to see how it goes and to see how fast we drink it.
1 gallon filtered water -- $15 / 100 = $0.15 ($15 is how much each filter costs)
4 tea bags -- $2 / 40 * 10 = $0.50
1 cup of sugar -- $2 / 12 = $0.18 (aprox)
So total cost for one gallon of kombucha, will be less than $1.00. Compared to a 16oz bottle for $3.50, I'd say that's quite a deal. Especially since it takes eight 16oz bottle to equal one gallon. 8 * $3.50 = $28.
Which means with my first gallon, I will just about break even with my start up costs.
After that, it's all gravy (erm, kombucha!).
-------
In other news, my fermented orange marmalade is done! It's pretty good, but not at all like what normal marmalade is like. It's kind of watery and not syrupy. It's vaguely sweet and orange-y at first, and then it's slightly salty, and then it's pretty bitter. But for some reason I think I really like it, even though it's definitely really bitter. The rinds have softened up so they're much more chew-able now, which is good.
I'm thinking about adding either maple syrup or more sugar to sweeten it up so my DH will also eat it. I think if I can balance the bitter / slightly salty flavor with a bit more sweetness, it will help him enjoy it. I want him to eat it because it's good for him, but let's be honest, if he doesn't eat it, I won't be that sad--more for me!
And, contrary to my belief, adding whey did not ruin it. I thought for sure, once I added the whey, that it would be awful and just taste like whey and nastiness, but I can't taste the whey at all! How cool is that? (you saw this coming) Whey cool.
-------
Oh, and I had another dinner success last night. Wild-caught salmon fried in a skillet with butter, topped with homemade BBQ sauce and served with green beans covered with butter. Yum! DH really enjoyed it and so did I.
-------
Other than adding more fermented foods to our diet, I'm sucking at my goals. I still have 6 days to get them done, so I might eek by, but... yeah, not holding my breath at this point. Aand, school is kicking my butt. And I don't really like work that much... And I don't even want to think about my grocery bill lately.
...But I made kombucha! and I guess for now, that's enough.
What about you? How are you doing with your New Year's goals?
Monday, January 17, 2011
Monday Life Awareness
Well, it's a fact, I am crabby on Mondays. The weekend always goes too fast and I'm left staring at my phone asking why it is telling me to get up and go to work. Well, this prompted me to start focusing on being aware of all the good in my life. So every Monday, I'll be posting something that I am thankful for. Hopefully this will get me in the habit of being grateful even when I am cranky and hopefully will counteract the acute "case of the Mondays" I seem to contract every week.
Edit: So, I scheduled this for yesterday and then it didn't post! silly thing.
So, I feel particularly crabby. I didn't do hardly any of the stuff I was trying to accomplish this weekend. Boo. But, that's not what this post is about.
Today I am thankful for the aprons I got for Christmas. They have been a very useful gift. I asked my mom for one and she got me a full length blue one which is great for making bread because otherwise flower goes everywhere. But then at DH's family's Christmas, one of his aunts made me 3 pretty half-aprons. They are fun and good for everyday cooking.
All of them have been great because, as you probably know by now, I am a very messy cook. I practically have to change clothes after I make something, especially bread or chili. Now, I don't have to! I just take off the apron and voila! I'm not covered in food. :)
This is a fairly simple thing, but it's really made a difference in how I feel when I cook. I do love to cook, but I was getting frustrated because I was always getting covered in batter from the edge of the bowl or splashes of chili (like what happened tonight when I didn't wear an apron, ugh), or whatever food I was preparing. Now I can keep my hands a lot cleaner, too, because I can wipe them on the apron mid-task instead of trying to find a towel.
Yay, aprons.
Also, blueberries. I bought some on sale yesterday and they are very tasty.
What are you thankful for today?
Edit: So, I scheduled this for yesterday and then it didn't post! silly thing.
So, I feel particularly crabby. I didn't do hardly any of the stuff I was trying to accomplish this weekend. Boo. But, that's not what this post is about.
Today I am thankful for the aprons I got for Christmas. They have been a very useful gift. I asked my mom for one and she got me a full length blue one which is great for making bread because otherwise flower goes everywhere. But then at DH's family's Christmas, one of his aunts made me 3 pretty half-aprons. They are fun and good for everyday cooking.
All of them have been great because, as you probably know by now, I am a very messy cook. I practically have to change clothes after I make something, especially bread or chili. Now, I don't have to! I just take off the apron and voila! I'm not covered in food. :)
This is a fairly simple thing, but it's really made a difference in how I feel when I cook. I do love to cook, but I was getting frustrated because I was always getting covered in batter from the edge of the bowl or splashes of chili (like what happened tonight when I didn't wear an apron, ugh), or whatever food I was preparing. Now I can keep my hands a lot cleaner, too, because I can wipe them on the apron mid-task instead of trying to find a towel.
Yay, aprons.
Also, blueberries. I bought some on sale yesterday and they are very tasty.
What are you thankful for today?
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Debunk the Junk: Chicken Noodle Soup
Every so often I'm going to post about "Debunk the Junk." The idea of these posts will be to illustrate how I am replacing a particular modern food item with something much healthier and usually tastier.
This soup is really good and it's good for you. Of course, some of the stuff I did in prep for the soup is not necessary for the final product (making your own broth), but I think it makes it better (or at least more satisfying in the esteem sense, not the "I'm full" sense). This recipe isn't too hard to make. It takes a long time, but not much hands-on time. Not any more than many other meals.
Why?
Because canned soup has a ridiculous sodium content (and it's not even good salt), funky preservatives, most kinds have minimal veggies (and chicken for that matter), and the noodles are pasty slimy white things.
Overview
Make chicken stock from a small chicken (aka, a fryer). Mine was 3.5 lbs.
Chop a bunch of veggies; add a can of tomatoes and / or corn.
Add pasta and chicken last.
Salt & pepper to taste.
Ingredients
3.5 lbs fryer
15oz can of tomatoes and / or corn (I just used tomatoes)
4 or 5 carrots, 1 large onion, 6 celery stalks (could also add mushrooms)
salt & pepper
Directions
Make Stock
Boil whole fryer for an hour or two--until the meat is done.
Carefully remove fryer and pick all the meat off.
Chop up bones, cartilage, and skin and return to pot.
Add a couple tablespoons of vinegar.
Simmer overnight or all day (or both). The longer you simmer it the more nutrients and flavor you will get out of the bones.
Carefully strain shtuff out of broth (shtuff, not fat. keep the fat).
Putting it Together
Don't skimp on veggies! It gives so much rich flavor to the soup... yum (and it's good for you).
Pick vegetables that you like and chop to a size that you like. Celery, onions, carrots, and mushrooms are a pretty standard combo.
Give the veggies time to cook.
Salt & pepper to taste. I made about 5 quarts and I used about 1.5 tbsp of salt (I think). You can always add more so be careful.
Add the chicken the same time as the pasta. Overcooked chicken is nasty, so don't do it. Don't be that guy.
Let it cook till whenever.
It's really good with bread generously spread with butter.
Comments
I loved this soup! It's so comforting and filling and it tastes really good.
When simmering the bones, notice, "simmer," not "rolling boil." it should just barely be bubbling in the center of the pot. You don't want to wake up to a house fire.
When I took the fryer out of the pot, it completely disintegrated and splashed up all over the stove. I stuck a spoon into it's cavity and lifted up. I suggest getting a couple spatulas and going underneath the fryer and doing it that way.
Don't skimp on veggies! (I mean it).
For a fun twist, try making your own pasta, it's a blast and it tastes great.
You could also use rice or diced potatoes instead of pasta (or nothing).
You can feed the shtuff from straining the broth to cats, but be careful not to give it to dogs.
You can make the broth just from the bones and not the whole fryer, but you might need to save up bones from a few chickens or if you had a large chicken and not a fryer you would probably have enough.
This soup can be as brothy or hearty as you like. If you have the flu, a simple broth might be just the thing to settle your stomach. If you're craving some soup to get the chill off your bones, make a hearty, veggie filled soup with chunkier veggies / meat.
What do you think? Do think this recipe takes too long? What's your favorite soup recipe?
This soup is really good and it's good for you. Of course, some of the stuff I did in prep for the soup is not necessary for the final product (making your own broth), but I think it makes it better (or at least more satisfying in the esteem sense, not the "I'm full" sense). This recipe isn't too hard to make. It takes a long time, but not much hands-on time. Not any more than many other meals.
Why?
Because canned soup has a ridiculous sodium content (and it's not even good salt), funky preservatives, most kinds have minimal veggies (and chicken for that matter), and the noodles are pasty slimy white things.
Overview
Make chicken stock from a small chicken (aka, a fryer). Mine was 3.5 lbs.
Chop a bunch of veggies; add a can of tomatoes and / or corn.
Add pasta and chicken last.
Salt & pepper to taste.
Ingredients
3.5 lbs fryer
15oz can of tomatoes and / or corn (I just used tomatoes)
4 or 5 carrots, 1 large onion, 6 celery stalks (could also add mushrooms)
salt & pepper
Directions
Make Stock
Boil whole fryer for an hour or two--until the meat is done.
Carefully remove fryer and pick all the meat off.
Chop up bones, cartilage, and skin and return to pot.
Add a couple tablespoons of vinegar.
Simmer overnight or all day (or both). The longer you simmer it the more nutrients and flavor you will get out of the bones.
Carefully strain shtuff out of broth (shtuff, not fat. keep the fat).
Putting it Together
Don't skimp on veggies! It gives so much rich flavor to the soup... yum (and it's good for you).
Pick vegetables that you like and chop to a size that you like. Celery, onions, carrots, and mushrooms are a pretty standard combo.
Give the veggies time to cook.
Salt & pepper to taste. I made about 5 quarts and I used about 1.5 tbsp of salt (I think). You can always add more so be careful.
Add the chicken the same time as the pasta. Overcooked chicken is nasty, so don't do it. Don't be that guy.
Let it cook till whenever.
It's really good with bread generously spread with butter.
Comments
I loved this soup! It's so comforting and filling and it tastes really good.
When simmering the bones, notice, "simmer," not "rolling boil." it should just barely be bubbling in the center of the pot. You don't want to wake up to a house fire.
When I took the fryer out of the pot, it completely disintegrated and splashed up all over the stove. I stuck a spoon into it's cavity and lifted up. I suggest getting a couple spatulas and going underneath the fryer and doing it that way.
Don't skimp on veggies! (I mean it).
For a fun twist, try making your own pasta, it's a blast and it tastes great.
You could also use rice or diced potatoes instead of pasta (or nothing).
You can feed the shtuff from straining the broth to cats, but be careful not to give it to dogs.
You can make the broth just from the bones and not the whole fryer, but you might need to save up bones from a few chickens or if you had a large chicken and not a fryer you would probably have enough.
This soup can be as brothy or hearty as you like. If you have the flu, a simple broth might be just the thing to settle your stomach. If you're craving some soup to get the chill off your bones, make a hearty, veggie filled soup with chunkier veggies / meat.
What do you think? Do think this recipe takes too long? What's your favorite soup recipe?
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Tuesday Trimmings
Well, I have no particular agenda today, so I thought I'd give you random updates about what I have been cooking and scheming. I don't really know where else this stuff would go, hence the "trimmings." Lame, I know. Deal with it.
Cooking
I've actually started a number of cooking projects lately. :)
Sometime in the last week or so I turned almost 6 lbs of cabbage into sauerkraut. It's "sauering" on my counter as I write this. I love love love sauerkraut now, which is crazy because I used to think it terrible. The first time I made sauerkraut, I wasn't that crazy about it, so it languished in the back of my fridge for months until December when I pulled it out again and tried it and "yum" was the only word-sounding noise I could get out in between mouthfuls. So I now I am making a big batch and I am excited. I'm also a lot less paranoid about leaving food out on the counter this time around. (Eating fermented food cures you of some paranoia, apparently).
I also bought a bottle of kombucha and started growing my own SCOBY so I can make my own. If you don't know, kombucha is basically a superfood. It's filled with good bacteria for digestion (like yogurt) along with all kind of other stuff for energy, etc. It's really good for your liver. It's slightly carbonated and my husband says it tastes like beer (what? he's weird). Read more about this good stuff, here. Or you can google it and come up with hundreds of other sites. Unfortunately it takes like 3 weeks to grow a SCOBY so it will be at least that long before I can make my own. *Sad*
Just this weekend I made a huge pot of homemade chicken noodle soup with real bone broth that I left to simmer overnight on Saturday. The soup is delicious and hopefully just what the doctor ordered to help us sickies get over the rest of this annoying cold... Hmm, I should post a recipe.
A week or two ago I made pasta which turned out better than ever before. This is ironic since 2 things happened differently: for one, I set out to follow the directions, for two, life got in the way and I left it abandoned in the "resting" stage for about 6 times as long as the directions say to. Haha, I love irony. Seriously, best pasta I've made. So much flavor and it kept its shape really well even when being cooked extensively in soup. I'll be making more soon, I bet.
This weekend I made 2 casseroles and froze them for those "menu plan, menu shman." nights. It's a recipe I adapted from my mom--who knows where she got it. It's basically an egg and bread casserole, but with yummy things like mushrooms, cheese, and onions (and for me, spinach). I love it. I had a hard time not chowing on the filling when I was layering the casserole because it tastes sooo good. It turned out really well this time. (another recipe? ... Hmm)
This weekend I also made another loaf of sourdough bread, as well as quasi-sourdough sweet potato "quick-bread." It tastes amazing. This all started because I had half a sweet potato from like, 3 months ago that I put in the freezer with the intention of "getting around to it." Ha! Success.
Finally, this weekend, I made a half-batch of yogurt--Much more manageable. I'm doing it this way from now on. I also used the whisk attachment on my blender to mix in my yogurt starter and it was convenient. Good trick for next time.
^Most of the above things fall into my "continue eating better" annual goal DH and I set a week or two ago. A "sub-goal" beneath that was to eat more fermented foods--both sauerkraut and kombucha fall into that category, yeah! We noticed a huge difference in our digestion and general well-being when I bought several bottles of it from the store and were drinking it everyday. At a little over $3 per 16oz bottle though, it's definitely not in the budget. This was also one of my January goals. So far I think breaking down goals into "baby steps" to do each month is going to be great. Sauerkraut is great for you and it's also got good bacteria for digestion. It's also stupidly high in vitamin C, yay. And yogurt, well, that's another healthy food, especially since it's just milk, bacteria, and a little sugar.
Ah well, I was going to post about other stuff, but it looks like I've got more than enough random stuff to talk about just with food so I'll save the others for another day...
(This post wound up being much more focused and much longer than I was expecting...)
What about you? What cooking have you done?
Cooking
I've actually started a number of cooking projects lately. :)
Sometime in the last week or so I turned almost 6 lbs of cabbage into sauerkraut. It's "sauering" on my counter as I write this. I love love love sauerkraut now, which is crazy because I used to think it terrible. The first time I made sauerkraut, I wasn't that crazy about it, so it languished in the back of my fridge for months until December when I pulled it out again and tried it and "yum" was the only word-sounding noise I could get out in between mouthfuls. So I now I am making a big batch and I am excited. I'm also a lot less paranoid about leaving food out on the counter this time around. (Eating fermented food cures you of some paranoia, apparently).
I also bought a bottle of kombucha and started growing my own SCOBY so I can make my own. If you don't know, kombucha is basically a superfood. It's filled with good bacteria for digestion (like yogurt) along with all kind of other stuff for energy, etc. It's really good for your liver. It's slightly carbonated and my husband says it tastes like beer (what? he's weird). Read more about this good stuff, here. Or you can google it and come up with hundreds of other sites. Unfortunately it takes like 3 weeks to grow a SCOBY so it will be at least that long before I can make my own. *Sad*
Just this weekend I made a huge pot of homemade chicken noodle soup with real bone broth that I left to simmer overnight on Saturday. The soup is delicious and hopefully just what the doctor ordered to help us sickies get over the rest of this annoying cold... Hmm, I should post a recipe.
A week or two ago I made pasta which turned out better than ever before. This is ironic since 2 things happened differently: for one, I set out to follow the directions, for two, life got in the way and I left it abandoned in the "resting" stage for about 6 times as long as the directions say to. Haha, I love irony. Seriously, best pasta I've made. So much flavor and it kept its shape really well even when being cooked extensively in soup. I'll be making more soon, I bet.
This weekend I made 2 casseroles and froze them for those "menu plan, menu shman." nights. It's a recipe I adapted from my mom--who knows where she got it. It's basically an egg and bread casserole, but with yummy things like mushrooms, cheese, and onions (and for me, spinach). I love it. I had a hard time not chowing on the filling when I was layering the casserole because it tastes sooo good. It turned out really well this time. (another recipe? ... Hmm)
This weekend I also made another loaf of sourdough bread, as well as quasi-sourdough sweet potato "quick-bread." It tastes amazing. This all started because I had half a sweet potato from like, 3 months ago that I put in the freezer with the intention of "getting around to it." Ha! Success.
Finally, this weekend, I made a half-batch of yogurt--Much more manageable. I'm doing it this way from now on. I also used the whisk attachment on my blender to mix in my yogurt starter and it was convenient. Good trick for next time.
^Most of the above things fall into my "continue eating better" annual goal DH and I set a week or two ago. A "sub-goal" beneath that was to eat more fermented foods--both sauerkraut and kombucha fall into that category, yeah! We noticed a huge difference in our digestion and general well-being when I bought several bottles of it from the store and were drinking it everyday. At a little over $3 per 16oz bottle though, it's definitely not in the budget. This was also one of my January goals. So far I think breaking down goals into "baby steps" to do each month is going to be great. Sauerkraut is great for you and it's also got good bacteria for digestion. It's also stupidly high in vitamin C, yay. And yogurt, well, that's another healthy food, especially since it's just milk, bacteria, and a little sugar.
Ah well, I was going to post about other stuff, but it looks like I've got more than enough random stuff to talk about just with food so I'll save the others for another day...
(This post wound up being much more focused and much longer than I was expecting...)
What about you? What cooking have you done?
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Homemade Eggnog: This Will Change Your Life
Edit: I'm also tagging this as a "Debunk the Junk" post (which I haven't done one in forever) because I realized how much crap is in store-bought eggnog. Check out the higlights from the ingredients sometime (this is for Farmland Eggnog, others I'm sure are different): HFCS, corn starch, dried milk products, artificial flavors, annatto (to color it yellow)... I don't have anything wrong with drinking store-bought, but it's nice to know I can avoid some of the stuff I'm trying to avoid by making my own.
I've been wanting to make my own eggnog for ages. Ever since I learned you could make your own, I've wanted to. So yesterday at the grocery I made it a point to buy cream, also it was conveniently on sale (score!).
Tonight I found a recipe here and it was fantastic. It used raw eggs though, so be sure to use good quality eggs. If you're uncertain about the quality of your eggs, there are many comments to the instructions about how to "pasteurize" the eggs within their shells, still leaving a liquid egg (I think it's magic, personally), but some of the comments said it also damages some of the flavor / texture. I don't know, I used raw eggs and it worked fine for us.
The other thing I loved about this recipe is that it conveniently lists the ingredients for a big batch and a "single-serve" batch. hubby and I doubled the single batch and it was almost more than we could drink. It would have been enough for 3 people.
As far as homemade compared to store-bought, here are my thoughts:
It took less maybe ten minutes. It's actually faster to make than to go to the store and buy it.
It has a much richer and fluffier texture. You are essentially turning the egg whites into meringue and then folding it back in and it makes for a superb texture. It is so luxurious in the mouth.
It tastes pretty much the same. Granted, it's been a few weeks since I've had store-bought, but I feel like it's a creamy, rich, sweet, nutmeg taste that is comparable to each other. Maybe I'm mistaken tho. It is nice that you get to control the spices you want in it. We went just for the nutmeg, but you could easily add cinnamon or allspice or ginger... whatever floats your boat (or eggnog, in this case).
Here is the recipe, as we used it, which made enough for about 3 people
Ingredients
2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup sugar for egg yolk (this was too much for our tasted, I would try 2-3 tbsps instead)
2 tbsps sugar for egg white (this seemed good because you don't want the fluff to be bland)
1/2 tsp of vanilla
a few good shakes of nutmeg (I didn't measure but I'm guessing 1/4 to 1/2 tsp)
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup whole milk
Directions
Mix with a whisk egg yolks, sugar for yolks, vanilla, nutmeg, milk, and cream.
beat whites until soft peaks, add sugar, beat until stiff peaks.
fold whites into yolk mixture.
Comments
Remember, you can always add more nutmeg, never less. Add a little and then work your way up. Also people can sprinkle it into their individual cups and then each person can like the flavor.
Like I said in the ingredients list, we thought 1/4 cup sugar made the base a little too sweet, but obviously what tastes good to us will be different than what you like.
I love, love, love how easy this was to make. I was expecting some complicated series of double-boiler catastrophes ending in a burned sticky mess. I was so glad this recipe was so simple!
I've been wanting to make my own eggnog for ages. Ever since I learned you could make your own, I've wanted to. So yesterday at the grocery I made it a point to buy cream, also it was conveniently on sale (score!).
Tonight I found a recipe here and it was fantastic. It used raw eggs though, so be sure to use good quality eggs. If you're uncertain about the quality of your eggs, there are many comments to the instructions about how to "pasteurize" the eggs within their shells, still leaving a liquid egg (I think it's magic, personally), but some of the comments said it also damages some of the flavor / texture. I don't know, I used raw eggs and it worked fine for us.
The other thing I loved about this recipe is that it conveniently lists the ingredients for a big batch and a "single-serve" batch. hubby and I doubled the single batch and it was almost more than we could drink. It would have been enough for 3 people.
As far as homemade compared to store-bought, here are my thoughts:
It took less maybe ten minutes. It's actually faster to make than to go to the store and buy it.
It has a much richer and fluffier texture. You are essentially turning the egg whites into meringue and then folding it back in and it makes for a superb texture. It is so luxurious in the mouth.
It tastes pretty much the same. Granted, it's been a few weeks since I've had store-bought, but I feel like it's a creamy, rich, sweet, nutmeg taste that is comparable to each other. Maybe I'm mistaken tho. It is nice that you get to control the spices you want in it. We went just for the nutmeg, but you could easily add cinnamon or allspice or ginger... whatever floats your boat (or eggnog, in this case).
Here is the recipe, as we used it, which made enough for about 3 people
Ingredients
2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup sugar for egg yolk (this was too much for our tasted, I would try 2-3 tbsps instead)
2 tbsps sugar for egg white (this seemed good because you don't want the fluff to be bland)
1/2 tsp of vanilla
a few good shakes of nutmeg (I didn't measure but I'm guessing 1/4 to 1/2 tsp)
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup whole milk
Directions
Mix with a whisk egg yolks, sugar for yolks, vanilla, nutmeg, milk, and cream.
beat whites until soft peaks, add sugar, beat until stiff peaks.
fold whites into yolk mixture.
Comments
Remember, you can always add more nutmeg, never less. Add a little and then work your way up. Also people can sprinkle it into their individual cups and then each person can like the flavor.
Like I said in the ingredients list, we thought 1/4 cup sugar made the base a little too sweet, but obviously what tastes good to us will be different than what you like.
I love, love, love how easy this was to make. I was expecting some complicated series of double-boiler catastrophes ending in a burned sticky mess. I was so glad this recipe was so simple!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Sourdough!
Well,
In my absence, I've started making sourdough. So far, I've made a whole wheat sourdough loaf right now I have sourdough cinnamon rolls rising. I can't wait. Part of my food waste these past two weeks has been from my failed sourdough attempt, but all in all I think I wasted only 2-3 cups on my first attempt. I switched to using whole wheat flour (which supposedly has a higher wild yeast content) and I haven't had any problems since.
So far my starter is only about 10-11 days old, but it already makes such good flavor. The bread I made tasted soo good, if a little dense. I've already shared my sourdough starter and a piece of the bread I made with a person from work and she is now making sourdough today. Score, helping spread healthy eats.
It was actually really fun for me to make my own sourdough starter--I felt like a scientist with this goopy, bubbly, alive mess in this jar. It's also a little bit like a pet right now. Because it's such a new starter, I have to feed it every day while it develops flavor, etc. It's really intriguing.
I might post later about how to make a sourdough starter and the health benefits of sourdough, but for now, I've got to go put my cinnamon rolls in the oven!
In my absence, I've started making sourdough. So far, I've made a whole wheat sourdough loaf right now I have sourdough cinnamon rolls rising. I can't wait. Part of my food waste these past two weeks has been from my failed sourdough attempt, but all in all I think I wasted only 2-3 cups on my first attempt. I switched to using whole wheat flour (which supposedly has a higher wild yeast content) and I haven't had any problems since.
So far my starter is only about 10-11 days old, but it already makes such good flavor. The bread I made tasted soo good, if a little dense. I've already shared my sourdough starter and a piece of the bread I made with a person from work and she is now making sourdough today. Score, helping spread healthy eats.
It was actually really fun for me to make my own sourdough starter--I felt like a scientist with this goopy, bubbly, alive mess in this jar. It's also a little bit like a pet right now. Because it's such a new starter, I have to feed it every day while it develops flavor, etc. It's really intriguing.
I might post later about how to make a sourdough starter and the health benefits of sourdough, but for now, I've got to go put my cinnamon rolls in the oven!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Food Waste Friday and a Recipe
My Food Waste
This week I haven't wasted anything! I've been so excited about my food waste lately. I've been really keeping it under control. Food waste shouldn't be a problem coming up soon because I'll be trying to eat as cheaply as possible to make up for already blowing my November grocery budget.
Red Beans and Rice
Last night we had one of my favorite dishes of all time: Red beans and brown rice. I make it with bacon, lots and lots of onions, Frank's Red Hot, and Worcestershire Sauce, with a little bit of brown sugar thrown in. Delicious! The original recipe I found online (sorry I can't remember where) had about 5 different kinds of meat which I thought was a bit excessive. So I kept my favorite, lol. It's just such an awesome blend of sweet and spicy with a bit of a vinegar tang.
Here's what you need:
About a cup plus a little bit extra of dried red beans, soaked
2 med / small onions or 1 big onion.. or 2 big onions.. I like lots of onion!
1/2-3/4 diced raw bacon. It's easier to chop if frozen, and it cooks into this wonderful soft bacon-ey awesomeness when chopped before being cooked.
um, 1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot, 2-3 TBSP of Worcestershire Sauce, and 1-2 TBSP of brown sugar.
How to Make:
Cook the red beans, keeping the liquid as well.
Cook the rice
cook bacon while you chop onions, add onions.
cook until tender but not super tender
add red beans and liquid (helps with the awesome sauce)
add seasonings
How to Eat:
Serve over some of that awesome rice you just made!!!
This week I haven't wasted anything! I've been so excited about my food waste lately. I've been really keeping it under control. Food waste shouldn't be a problem coming up soon because I'll be trying to eat as cheaply as possible to make up for already blowing my November grocery budget.
Red Beans and Rice
Last night we had one of my favorite dishes of all time: Red beans and brown rice. I make it with bacon, lots and lots of onions, Frank's Red Hot, and Worcestershire Sauce, with a little bit of brown sugar thrown in. Delicious! The original recipe I found online (sorry I can't remember where) had about 5 different kinds of meat which I thought was a bit excessive. So I kept my favorite, lol. It's just such an awesome blend of sweet and spicy with a bit of a vinegar tang.
Here's what you need:
About a cup plus a little bit extra of dried red beans, soaked
2 med / small onions or 1 big onion.. or 2 big onions.. I like lots of onion!
1/2-3/4 diced raw bacon. It's easier to chop if frozen, and it cooks into this wonderful soft bacon-ey awesomeness when chopped before being cooked.
um, 1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot, 2-3 TBSP of Worcestershire Sauce, and 1-2 TBSP of brown sugar.
How to Make:
Cook the red beans, keeping the liquid as well.
Cook the rice
cook bacon while you chop onions, add onions.
cook until tender but not super tender
add red beans and liquid (helps with the awesome sauce)
add seasonings
How to Eat:
Serve over some of that awesome rice you just made!!!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Day 11
I did awesome today.
I completed every one of my posture goals.
Cause I'm cool like that.
Except now it's super late and tomorrow's going to be exhausting and.... yeah.
PS, today I am feeling overwhelmed with the task of eating healthily. It seems like it will never be good enough or healthy enough or frugal enough.
For example, I use way too much white sugar. Argh. I'm trying but it's hard.
Does anyone have a good recipe for hot chocolate mix that doesn't use white sugar? Would maple syrup work? Currently I use 1:2 cocoa to sugar with a bit of cinnamon for something new. That's probably my highest intake of white sugar currently...
tired.....
I completed every one of my posture goals.
Cause I'm cool like that.
Except now it's super late and tomorrow's going to be exhausting and.... yeah.
PS, today I am feeling overwhelmed with the task of eating healthily. It seems like it will never be good enough or healthy enough or frugal enough.
For example, I use way too much white sugar. Argh. I'm trying but it's hard.
Does anyone have a good recipe for hot chocolate mix that doesn't use white sugar? Would maple syrup work? Currently I use 1:2 cocoa to sugar with a bit of cinnamon for something new. That's probably my highest intake of white sugar currently...
tired.....
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Why Did I Think this Was a Good Idea?
Hello Blogosphere,
So I had this great idea: What if I bake all day on Saturday! I could get so much done.
Well, I've gotten a lot done, but I'm tired. And I've still got a bunch of stuff to finish that's in the "halfway done" phase. I just put one loaf into the oven and I've got more dough rising. The only thing that keeps me working to get so much of this done is that when hubby gets home I want to be free to spend time with him and not have to still be cooking.
I have to keep reminding myself why I put so much effort into my food, sometimes.
1.) I'm striving to provide quality food for my family while on a budget. I don't want crazy chemicals like bleach or rBGH in my food.
2.) See above.
Haha, as you can see, I'm super-coherent right now. I've been learning a ton about food and I always am trying to improve our food while keeping it fun. I don't want to have lentils or black beans every single night--how dull!
Today I:
Baked 6 little rye buns which I am hoping turned out in spite of my errors.
Made a batch of spaghetti sauce.
Made a huge batch of granola! (the ! is because I'm very excited about this, in case you weren't sure)
I'm baking bread to freeze and use in a casserole later.
I've got dough for french bread rising to go with our soup later this week.
I've never worked with rye flour before and I'm almost certain I killed it. Which is sad because it's not the cheapest thing in the world. It was about $2.70 for just under 2lbs. I used most of it. It's awaiting judgement currently so I'll fill you in later.
The spaghetti tastes off so when I reheat it I'll probably tinker with it some more. I think it needs more garlic?
The granola! It turned out way better than I thought it would. I was skeptical because I've never made it before and also slightly intimidated (am I allowed to eat granola that didn't come pre-packaged? Isn't there a rule against that somewhere? lol) I used a recipe I found on Lauren's blog, here. You should go check it out because it's awesome. For some reason, though, I thought it would be a fantastic idea to cut and dry my own apples, a process I started last night which took... forever. And then when I got in a hurry it didn't work as well (go figure). I'm not sure I'll ever make my own apple chips again for this, but it's not necessary for great granola!
The sandwich (erm, casserole) bread looks very promising just now. I used my fancy new hand mixer that came with a bread hook attachment to knead it which resulted in much more developed gluten than I could ever get by hand with this dough. And I didn't have to add hardly any extra flour. I'm excited.
The french bread is the easiest bread I have ever made. It requires so little work because you don't have to knead it at all.
So that's my story today. Hope you enjoyed reading about my crazy adventures in the kitchen!
So I had this great idea: What if I bake all day on Saturday! I could get so much done.
Well, I've gotten a lot done, but I'm tired. And I've still got a bunch of stuff to finish that's in the "halfway done" phase. I just put one loaf into the oven and I've got more dough rising. The only thing that keeps me working to get so much of this done is that when hubby gets home I want to be free to spend time with him and not have to still be cooking.
I have to keep reminding myself why I put so much effort into my food, sometimes.
1.) I'm striving to provide quality food for my family while on a budget. I don't want crazy chemicals like bleach or rBGH in my food.
2.) See above.
Haha, as you can see, I'm super-coherent right now. I've been learning a ton about food and I always am trying to improve our food while keeping it fun. I don't want to have lentils or black beans every single night--how dull!
Today I:
Baked 6 little rye buns which I am hoping turned out in spite of my errors.
Made a batch of spaghetti sauce.
Made a huge batch of granola! (the ! is because I'm very excited about this, in case you weren't sure)
I'm baking bread to freeze and use in a casserole later.
I've got dough for french bread rising to go with our soup later this week.
I've never worked with rye flour before and I'm almost certain I killed it. Which is sad because it's not the cheapest thing in the world. It was about $2.70 for just under 2lbs. I used most of it. It's awaiting judgement currently so I'll fill you in later.
The spaghetti tastes off so when I reheat it I'll probably tinker with it some more. I think it needs more garlic?
The granola! It turned out way better than I thought it would. I was skeptical because I've never made it before and also slightly intimidated (am I allowed to eat granola that didn't come pre-packaged? Isn't there a rule against that somewhere? lol) I used a recipe I found on Lauren's blog, here. You should go check it out because it's awesome. For some reason, though, I thought it would be a fantastic idea to cut and dry my own apples, a process I started last night which took... forever. And then when I got in a hurry it didn't work as well (go figure). I'm not sure I'll ever make my own apple chips again for this, but it's not necessary for great granola!
The sandwich (erm, casserole) bread looks very promising just now. I used my fancy new hand mixer that came with a bread hook attachment to knead it which resulted in much more developed gluten than I could ever get by hand with this dough. And I didn't have to add hardly any extra flour. I'm excited.
The french bread is the easiest bread I have ever made. It requires so little work because you don't have to knead it at all.
So that's my story today. Hope you enjoyed reading about my crazy adventures in the kitchen!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Umm... What Is It?
Well, I don't know, but it sure was tasty!
I went into this meal on Thursday night thinking "I am attempting to use up some sauerkraut I made forever ago, so if it fails, it was food I already wasn't eating."
Ingredients
2 cups of that and chopped it up.
1/2 a large onion, chopped
a bit of red and green pepper I had chillin' in my fridge
a large can of tomato sauce
1/4 of a Polska Kielbasa sausage, chopped (not "coined") (a little more than 1/2 a cup)
Directions
I made this in a 5x9 bread pan
Mix all of that together and add a bit of vinegar, brown sugar, plain yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and we'll see what we have when it's done!
I cubed some bread I had in the fridge and coated it with melted butter and put it on top when it was already well heated through and cooked it about 15 minutes longer.
It was delicious! Next time I might serve it over pasta. I also liked the kielbasa in this a lot because even though I didn't add very much, it is a strongly flavored meat so you could definitely still taste it.
I went into this meal on Thursday night thinking "I am attempting to use up some sauerkraut I made forever ago, so if it fails, it was food I already wasn't eating."
Ingredients
2 cups of that and chopped it up.
1/2 a large onion, chopped
a bit of red and green pepper I had chillin' in my fridge
a large can of tomato sauce
1/4 of a Polska Kielbasa sausage, chopped (not "coined") (a little more than 1/2 a cup)
Directions
I made this in a 5x9 bread pan
Mix all of that together and add a bit of vinegar, brown sugar, plain yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and we'll see what we have when it's done!
I cubed some bread I had in the fridge and coated it with melted butter and put it on top when it was already well heated through and cooked it about 15 minutes longer.
It was delicious! Next time I might serve it over pasta. I also liked the kielbasa in this a lot because even though I didn't add very much, it is a strongly flavored meat so you could definitely still taste it.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Sad Little Squash... Sad Little Me...
Ugh.
I hate it when I am excited about a recipe and I put a lot of effort into it and it turns out like crap. I had this soup recipe from Whole Food's blog about a butternut squash puree soup and it sounded amazing! But when I cooked it all up and dished it out, it was plainer than plain could be. Nothing I did could give it flavor. I added red pepper flakes. Nothing. I added more red pepper flakes. Nothing. I added some random cheese (I bought the wrong kind), and that only made it worse. I tried adding a few olives to my bowl, yuck.
Neither of us could stomach it, although we both tried.
I really don't understand why it was such a failure. The only thing I'm really left with, I think, is using this bland puree soup in a quick-bread or something. I found a recipe for it, but I don't think the puree in the recipe also had things like onions, peppers, and carrots blended in.
That's the part that I really don't understand. I added all these tasty, flavorful veggies, and after pureeing it, all I tasted was a very faintly buttery carrot taste (not in a good way as in, yum, buttery carrots, more as in, ewww, flavorless carrots smeared with flavorless butter). The poblano pepper I added (including seeds)? Not a hint. I can still taste the heat even now on my fingers from chopping it hours earlier, but in the soup you couldn't even tell it was there.
I think next time I make this recipe, I will puree the squash, and leave the veggies intact. Maybe having a different texture to break things up would help. It might also protect the different flavors from getting swallowed up by the squash so much.
Anyway, whenever I have a cooking flop, it always makes me sad. I had grand plans for the chores I was going to get done tonight after dinner and now I just don't know if I feel up to them. I know it's silly, but I hate when a recipe goes awry.
I think I am going to turn this failure into quick-bread tomorrow, but if that also fails I don't know what I'll do. Maybe I'll order chinese food to make up for it. Or make brownies. That's always a safe cooking exploit to boost my confidence (and caffeination) after a failure.
In the mean time, I'm going to go try and find something productive to do (pointedly avoids looking at sink full of dirty dishes)... anything except that.
I hate it when I am excited about a recipe and I put a lot of effort into it and it turns out like crap. I had this soup recipe from Whole Food's blog about a butternut squash puree soup and it sounded amazing! But when I cooked it all up and dished it out, it was plainer than plain could be. Nothing I did could give it flavor. I added red pepper flakes. Nothing. I added more red pepper flakes. Nothing. I added some random cheese (I bought the wrong kind), and that only made it worse. I tried adding a few olives to my bowl, yuck.
Neither of us could stomach it, although we both tried.
I really don't understand why it was such a failure. The only thing I'm really left with, I think, is using this bland puree soup in a quick-bread or something. I found a recipe for it, but I don't think the puree in the recipe also had things like onions, peppers, and carrots blended in.
That's the part that I really don't understand. I added all these tasty, flavorful veggies, and after pureeing it, all I tasted was a very faintly buttery carrot taste (not in a good way as in, yum, buttery carrots, more as in, ewww, flavorless carrots smeared with flavorless butter). The poblano pepper I added (including seeds)? Not a hint. I can still taste the heat even now on my fingers from chopping it hours earlier, but in the soup you couldn't even tell it was there.
I think next time I make this recipe, I will puree the squash, and leave the veggies intact. Maybe having a different texture to break things up would help. It might also protect the different flavors from getting swallowed up by the squash so much.
Anyway, whenever I have a cooking flop, it always makes me sad. I had grand plans for the chores I was going to get done tonight after dinner and now I just don't know if I feel up to them. I know it's silly, but I hate when a recipe goes awry.
I think I am going to turn this failure into quick-bread tomorrow, but if that also fails I don't know what I'll do. Maybe I'll order chinese food to make up for it. Or make brownies. That's always a safe cooking exploit to boost my confidence (and caffeination) after a failure.
In the mean time, I'm going to go try and find something productive to do (pointedly avoids looking at sink full of dirty dishes)... anything except that.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
I Might Have a Small Problem
I think I like food a little too much. I realized it today. I look forward to menu-planning time. I get excited about what new things I will make. I'm eagerly anticipating the Spring when I will start my crazy process of growing my own food on my balcony. While I'm eating one meal, I think about how to use my leftovers for something else new and interesting (or I'll be excited that I'll have leftovers of the same thing to eat again!).
Today, I am dreaming what I will do with the 2lbs of chopped butternut squash I have sitting in my fridge from Monday's cooking adventure. I am also enjoying leftovers from said Monday adventure for my dinner, actually. I really wasn't expecting to like squash this much.
I found some good ideas from Whole Food's blog here. I'm thinking of doing their soup or their not-salad-even-though-it-sounds-and-looks-like-one option they suggested. Honestly I might have to freeze some of because it's just so much food. But after reading how long they can last before you cut them if you leave them in a cool dark place, I am also thinking of buying a few more before the season is over so I have them for a while. It's really high quality food.
I'm thinking I'm going to come up with something really tasty and bring it as a dish to family thanksgiving. This also gives me an excuse to buy more squash. I'm thinking of buying 3 or 4. Is that excessive? 2 for our own consumption, and 2 for thanksgiving cooking (I have 2 families so one for each).
Today, I am dreaming what I will do with the 2lbs of chopped butternut squash I have sitting in my fridge from Monday's cooking adventure. I am also enjoying leftovers from said Monday adventure for my dinner, actually. I really wasn't expecting to like squash this much.
I found some good ideas from Whole Food's blog here. I'm thinking of doing their soup or their not-salad-even-though-it-sounds-and-looks-like-one option they suggested. Honestly I might have to freeze some of because it's just so much food. But after reading how long they can last before you cut them if you leave them in a cool dark place, I am also thinking of buying a few more before the season is over so I have them for a while. It's really high quality food.
I'm thinking I'm going to come up with something really tasty and bring it as a dish to family thanksgiving. This also gives me an excuse to buy more squash. I'm thinking of buying 3 or 4. Is that excessive? 2 for our own consumption, and 2 for thanksgiving cooking (I have 2 families so one for each).
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Omelets for Dinner
Yup. You heard (read) me. Why? Because they are delicious!
I used some of my local, organic, free-range eggs (that really does sound pompous, doesn't it... I don't mean it to be). Anyway, coupled with a LOT of good quality veggies including red onion, red pepper, green pepper, banana pepper, mushrooms, and let's not forget, of course CHEDDAR CHEESE (yes I know it's not a veggie).
We made one large omelet to split between us. It took 4 eggs and probably somewhere between a cup and a cup and a half of veggies and about 3 oz of cheese.
It was a total success, fairly healthy, and quasi-vegetarian (do eggs count as meat?).
I used some of my local, organic, free-range eggs (that really does sound pompous, doesn't it... I don't mean it to be). Anyway, coupled with a LOT of good quality veggies including red onion, red pepper, green pepper, banana pepper, mushrooms, and let's not forget, of course CHEDDAR CHEESE (yes I know it's not a veggie).
We made one large omelet to split between us. It took 4 eggs and probably somewhere between a cup and a cup and a half of veggies and about 3 oz of cheese.
It was a total success, fairly healthy, and quasi-vegetarian (do eggs count as meat?).
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Yogurt, Cute Shoes, and Croutons
What do these three things have in common?
Well, I'm not really sure, except that they were a part of my day. Also, tasty soup.
I made my first big batch of yogurt--almost a whole gallon. I didn't have enough jars to use the whole gallon. Actually, I probably could have fit the whole thing, but I didn't know how much space I would lose when I added my starter so I over estimated and my jar for my starter next time was only 2/3 full). My hubby was so funny when I was making it. He was on his computer, watching with half an eye, if you will, and randomly interjecting with insight like "is it yogurt yet?" He eventually got up to see what it was I was doing and was very surprised at the simplicity.
"So all you did was heat up milk, add yogurt, and now the whole thing's yogurt?"
"Yup."
"Wow, that's so cool."
That's almost verbatim what happened (but my memory sucks so... maybe this didn't happen at all.. *twitch*).
By the way, this yogurt may be my best batch yet. I haven't tasted it yet, but as I was pulling it out of the cooler today, I noticed it was much firmer than the last batch when I took it out of the cooler. I turned the jar on it's side before putting it in the fridge and it only started to pull away from the side of the jar when it was completely horizontal. This was the jar of starter so it wasn't all the way full so it wasn't like it just didn't have anywhere to go.
We went to Walmart to get shoes for hubby today. So of course, bearing the burden along with him, I looked at shoes and, in order to fully understand his pain, even tried some on. :) I found a super cute pair of... ok, I'm a bit embarrassed, brown loafers and they were soooooooooo comfortable. Seriously. They were also leather, which doesn't matter at all, but was kind of cool. But they were $30. So rather than give into spontaneous purchases, I used my willpower to put them back in their little box and back into their little piece of shelf. But I want them. And if, in a week, I still want them, I may go back and buy them.
Croutons. are. tasty. But they are so overpriced. So this is my second attempt at making them by hand. This time was much better. A bit heavy on the garlic, but in a salad, I think it will be a good contrast. i used half a loaf of the french bread I made last week and put them in a bag so I could shake them up with the olive oil / spices combo to coat them. It sort of worked. I baked them on a much lower temp this time and it worked much better. They are really good!
Ok, that's about it for now. Now I have to try to be productive for an hour or so until bed time.
Well, I'm not really sure, except that they were a part of my day. Also, tasty soup.
I made my first big batch of yogurt--almost a whole gallon. I didn't have enough jars to use the whole gallon. Actually, I probably could have fit the whole thing, but I didn't know how much space I would lose when I added my starter so I over estimated and my jar for my starter next time was only 2/3 full). My hubby was so funny when I was making it. He was on his computer, watching with half an eye, if you will, and randomly interjecting with insight like "is it yogurt yet?" He eventually got up to see what it was I was doing and was very surprised at the simplicity.
"So all you did was heat up milk, add yogurt, and now the whole thing's yogurt?"
"Yup."
"Wow, that's so cool."
That's almost verbatim what happened (but my memory sucks so... maybe this didn't happen at all.. *twitch*).
By the way, this yogurt may be my best batch yet. I haven't tasted it yet, but as I was pulling it out of the cooler today, I noticed it was much firmer than the last batch when I took it out of the cooler. I turned the jar on it's side before putting it in the fridge and it only started to pull away from the side of the jar when it was completely horizontal. This was the jar of starter so it wasn't all the way full so it wasn't like it just didn't have anywhere to go.
We went to Walmart to get shoes for hubby today. So of course, bearing the burden along with him, I looked at shoes and, in order to fully understand his pain, even tried some on. :) I found a super cute pair of... ok, I'm a bit embarrassed, brown loafers and they were soooooooooo comfortable. Seriously. They were also leather, which doesn't matter at all, but was kind of cool. But they were $30. So rather than give into spontaneous purchases, I used my willpower to put them back in their little box and back into their little piece of shelf. But I want them. And if, in a week, I still want them, I may go back and buy them.
Croutons. are. tasty. But they are so overpriced. So this is my second attempt at making them by hand. This time was much better. A bit heavy on the garlic, but in a salad, I think it will be a good contrast. i used half a loaf of the french bread I made last week and put them in a bag so I could shake them up with the olive oil / spices combo to coat them. It sort of worked. I baked them on a much lower temp this time and it worked much better. They are really good!
Ok, that's about it for now. Now I have to try to be productive for an hour or so until bed time.
Monday, October 11, 2010
PS!
Yogurt Phase of Step 2 is now complete!!!!
I will probably talk about this more after this week, but my yogurt is awesome.
I will probably talk about this more after this week, but my yogurt is awesome.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Step 2: Organic Eggs, Yogurt, and Butter
Step 1 was organic milk. After much ridiculosity, I finally bought my milk and I love knowing that I've cut out one more source of bad things in our food. In just that short time we've already used almost a whole gallon -- can you tell I was in milk withdraw from not having it for a week?
Step 2 is to continue down the dairy path: Eggs, Yogurt, and Butter.
Eggs
I actually just used my first organic egg last night in some scrambled eggs I made myself for dinner. The awesomeness that is Whole Foods makes it so easy to get these products that I want. I bought these eggs from a local farmer (ok, so about 100 miles away, not great, but not terrible), through Whole Foods. It was just easy. They look so much different than store-bought. I mean, apart from the fact that they are brown. They're not perfectly shaped, some are smaller or larger. They have these fun little speckles on the shells. Generally the eggs were actually larger than the normal "grade a large eggs" from the store which I thought was interesting.
Yogurt
So far, I really want to make my own. My first attempt didn't go so well. You can read about my ultra noob-ness here. Really, who knew?
When I have my first solid (get it?) success at yogurt, I will consider step 2 essentially complete. I expect I will only continue to improve my yogurt-making skills, but currently I definitely can see I need to work on it.
Butter
I just opened my last box of regular butter, so probably soon I will switch to organic butter. Once again I am going with Organic Valley brand. They sell it at Whole Foods which makes it easier for me.I might even buy some at the store today when we go.
Stay tuned for step 3: Chicken.
PS, random funness, I posted this at 10am on 10/10/10. mwhahaha.
Step 2 is to continue down the dairy path: Eggs, Yogurt, and Butter.
Eggs
I actually just used my first organic egg last night in some scrambled eggs I made myself for dinner. The awesomeness that is Whole Foods makes it so easy to get these products that I want. I bought these eggs from a local farmer (ok, so about 100 miles away, not great, but not terrible), through Whole Foods. It was just easy. They look so much different than store-bought. I mean, apart from the fact that they are brown. They're not perfectly shaped, some are smaller or larger. They have these fun little speckles on the shells. Generally the eggs were actually larger than the normal "grade a large eggs" from the store which I thought was interesting.
Yogurt
So far, I really want to make my own. My first attempt didn't go so well. You can read about my ultra noob-ness here. Really, who knew?
When I have my first solid (get it?) success at yogurt, I will consider step 2 essentially complete. I expect I will only continue to improve my yogurt-making skills, but currently I definitely can see I need to work on it.
Butter
I just opened my last box of regular butter, so probably soon I will switch to organic butter. Once again I am going with Organic Valley brand. They sell it at Whole Foods which makes it easier for me.I might even buy some at the store today when we go.
Stay tuned for step 3: Chicken.
PS, random funness, I posted this at 10am on 10/10/10. mwhahaha.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Yogurt Fail-Sauce
Wel'p.
My poor yogurt I made this week wasn't meant to be.
At first, it didn't really ever "gel." So I finally had the guts to open a jar of it thursday night and realized it gelled a little bit, but it was still really runny. It tasted ok but wasn't quite sweet enough for my tasted. So I thought, hey, I'll just reheat it and add more yogurt starter, and do it all over again now that I have a thermometer. This should be cake. Riight.
The cooking process did not leave me hopeful. First, all of the whey got cooked out of it. So it was all these little curds, almost like cottage cheese, only not as pretty, in a pale yellowy liquid. I let it cool to the proper temp and then blended it very thoroughly on the "liquefy" setting on my blender. It seemed to help. I added more starter and a bit more sugar and blended it more. Then I poured it in the jars and let it rest in the coolers.
Friday morning I got out my Frankenstein jars of yogurt and I knew my hopes were dashed. Of course, it had re-separated. It was the right sweetness this time, but it had a nasty grainy texture. I just couldn't eat it. I feel bad because I could at least eat it the way it turned out the first time. Plus I had no idea that a second cooking would completely kill the homogenizing that they do to milk.
So I threw it away. Sad day.
Tomorrow we're going to the store to get more milk and I'm going to make a smaller batch so that if it fails again I won't waste quite as much milk. I am really hoping I get it right this time as I don't have too much starter left. I think it will work. I think with a thermometer for the first cooking, everything should be fine.
Lesson Learned: Don't ever, EVER try to re-cook a failed batch of yogurt. It's nasty.
My poor yogurt I made this week wasn't meant to be.
At first, it didn't really ever "gel." So I finally had the guts to open a jar of it thursday night and realized it gelled a little bit, but it was still really runny. It tasted ok but wasn't quite sweet enough for my tasted. So I thought, hey, I'll just reheat it and add more yogurt starter, and do it all over again now that I have a thermometer. This should be cake. Riight.
The cooking process did not leave me hopeful. First, all of the whey got cooked out of it. So it was all these little curds, almost like cottage cheese, only not as pretty, in a pale yellowy liquid. I let it cool to the proper temp and then blended it very thoroughly on the "liquefy" setting on my blender. It seemed to help. I added more starter and a bit more sugar and blended it more. Then I poured it in the jars and let it rest in the coolers.
Friday morning I got out my Frankenstein jars of yogurt and I knew my hopes were dashed. Of course, it had re-separated. It was the right sweetness this time, but it had a nasty grainy texture. I just couldn't eat it. I feel bad because I could at least eat it the way it turned out the first time. Plus I had no idea that a second cooking would completely kill the homogenizing that they do to milk.
So I threw it away. Sad day.
Tomorrow we're going to the store to get more milk and I'm going to make a smaller batch so that if it fails again I won't waste quite as much milk. I am really hoping I get it right this time as I don't have too much starter left. I think it will work. I think with a thermometer for the first cooking, everything should be fine.
Lesson Learned: Don't ever, EVER try to re-cook a failed batch of yogurt. It's nasty.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
I'm Glad I Burnt Dinner
I haven't burnt food in a long time. Not since I've been on my own. Sure, growing up, with a sad little gas stove that never had the correct air / fuel ratio, with crummy pots an pans, I used to burn stuff. It didn't help that mom was hyper-paranoid about disease from raw meat. I was supposed to burn it. I know, right? Most of our meat, especially pork products, were usually well blackened. MMmmhmm, tasty char.
But seriously, I haven't burnt food in years. I've got my little electric stove which always produces consistent heat and the oven's the same way. Last summer I spent $100 on a good teflon set of skillets / pots. I've overcooked things a bit here and there, but it was still edible, just a bit chewy / rubbery. And even then, it's not that often.
Last night, I burnt about 8 oz of black beans. I'm not really to upset about wasting it, even though I do hate wasting food, because it was only about $0.60 worth of food. Plus, I don't want to go on feeling guilty after something has happened. I do that enough anyways on different stuff.
Anyway, that's only half the story.
The other half of the story is that I'm actually happy that I burnt those silly beans. For $0.60 in wasted food, I got the chance to spend the whole night with my hubby. This is a rare treat with our busy lives. I wasn't up for cooking anything else, so I asked if we could go to Chipotle. We still had money in our eat-out budget (even though, as sad as this sounds, we've eaten out 3 times now since the beginning of the month. Ack), so we went for it.
We got to just talk about different stuff that's been going on, talk about our plans, etc. We got to plan at least a bit of our weekend (which never happens and I like to plan, heh). Friday night we're going to a friend's place to grill out / chill out. but besides that, it was just nice to actually get to talk to each other. Then we got home and got to continue spending time together just talking and cuddling. It was fantastic. I love my hubby.
so yep, I'm really glad I burnt dinner.
But seriously, I haven't burnt food in years. I've got my little electric stove which always produces consistent heat and the oven's the same way. Last summer I spent $100 on a good teflon set of skillets / pots. I've overcooked things a bit here and there, but it was still edible, just a bit chewy / rubbery. And even then, it's not that often.
Last night, I burnt about 8 oz of black beans. I'm not really to upset about wasting it, even though I do hate wasting food, because it was only about $0.60 worth of food. Plus, I don't want to go on feeling guilty after something has happened. I do that enough anyways on different stuff.
Anyway, that's only half the story.
The other half of the story is that I'm actually happy that I burnt those silly beans. For $0.60 in wasted food, I got the chance to spend the whole night with my hubby. This is a rare treat with our busy lives. I wasn't up for cooking anything else, so I asked if we could go to Chipotle. We still had money in our eat-out budget (even though, as sad as this sounds, we've eaten out 3 times now since the beginning of the month. Ack), so we went for it.
We got to just talk about different stuff that's been going on, talk about our plans, etc. We got to plan at least a bit of our weekend (which never happens and I like to plan, heh). Friday night we're going to a friend's place to grill out / chill out. but besides that, it was just nice to actually get to talk to each other. Then we got home and got to continue spending time together just talking and cuddling. It was fantastic. I love my hubby.
so yep, I'm really glad I burnt dinner.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Stuff I want to Cook / Bake Soon
ww bagels
soft pretzels
apple pie
more different kinds of homemade pasta
honey cakes
rye rolls / bread
some kind of cheese / veg (spinach?) stuffed pasta
more bean-based dishes
more meatless dishes
hummus
cheesy potato soup
pot roast
Sigh... most of these I can't even think about making till after this week. Which is ok, because I'm using up some of the older random food I have lying around. After that, I can buy stuff to restock.
The biggest thing is that I know this month I will have to get creative, as we spent a lot of our grocery / household budget already and bought hardly any food. We still have a few more things to buy that will come out of this budget as well that are not food.
It shouldn't be too bad. I've already resigned myself to the fact that I'm probably not buying any more meat until next month's budget, so we will be living off what we have left until then. I don't want to buy cheap meat anymore that has all those crazy hormones. So I will wait patiently and plan every penny.
And I will enjoy my beans this month. :)
PS, DH and I went to Whole Foods for the first time and he actually liked the store! Even though it is "a hippie store." We made fun of the imported water from Norway together (seriously! Talk about food miles. Not Cool, Whole Foods) and sampled some awesome cheese together. It was a good time and I don't think he was turned off to the store because we only spent about $30 there!
soft pretzels
apple pie
more different kinds of homemade pasta
honey cakes
rye rolls / bread
some kind of cheese / veg (spinach?) stuffed pasta
more bean-based dishes
more meatless dishes
hummus
cheesy potato soup
pot roast
Sigh... most of these I can't even think about making till after this week. Which is ok, because I'm using up some of the older random food I have lying around. After that, I can buy stuff to restock.
The biggest thing is that I know this month I will have to get creative, as we spent a lot of our grocery / household budget already and bought hardly any food. We still have a few more things to buy that will come out of this budget as well that are not food.
It shouldn't be too bad. I've already resigned myself to the fact that I'm probably not buying any more meat until next month's budget, so we will be living off what we have left until then. I don't want to buy cheap meat anymore that has all those crazy hormones. So I will wait patiently and plan every penny.
And I will enjoy my beans this month. :)
PS, DH and I went to Whole Foods for the first time and he actually liked the store! Even though it is "a hippie store." We made fun of the imported water from Norway together (seriously! Talk about food miles. Not Cool, Whole Foods) and sampled some awesome cheese together. It was a good time and I don't think he was turned off to the store because we only spent about $30 there!
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