Blog entry January 2010

It's always nice to bring a little gift when you are invited to someone's house.  A local market had a large selection of homemade mixes sold in colorful fabric bags and I was inspired. It would be really simple to make a small drawstring bag from fabric scraps and use it to hold a bag of homemade mix.  Just mix a recipe with dry ingredients only and place in a plastic bag.  Put the plastic bag into the cloth bag and enclose a small card with directions.

Pizza Dough

3-4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons yeast
2 tablespoons agave  or honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Conventional pizza topped with tomato sauce and cheese is a standard favorite, but you can make gourmet pizza that will impress dinner guests and have way more nutrition than the old standard.

Here are some things to consider:

You want a pizza that isn't going to be hard to eat. Two things contribute to ease of eating. The sauce and the cheese. If you don't want to use tomato sauce, try pesto, white sauce or a tapenade. Taco sauce, bar-b-que sauce, mustard and hoisin sauce can be used if you looking for something really different.

I confess I rarely use a recipe when making burgers or croquettes. If you make your burgers without eggs you can taste the mix and add ingredients until it is seasoned to your liking. One time I actually kept track of what I did and the burgers were fantastic. Here is my recipe, but feel free to alter to your taste.

Tofu Burgers

Maple Walnut Pie

Here is a simple recipe for a pie every bit as decadent as pecan pie, but made with walnuts.

1 pre-made pie crust (bottom only)
2 cups walnuts
4 eggs
3/4 cup maple syrup
dash lemon juice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Spread walnuts over unbaked crust. Put remaining ingredients in blender and blend well. Pour the batter over the nuts and bake in a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes at 375°.

Anyone else have a membership in Calvert Farm fall CSA?  We are having a blast finding recipes for all these great veggies.  Would love to swap and share with others.  Here is one I found for Kale that was wonderul. 

Spicy Parmesan Green Beans and Kale

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time:
Cook Time: 15 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 6 to 8 servings

Alas...in my never ending quest for ways to use up old bananas, I offer:

Banana Muffins

Beat together:

½ cup butter or margarine
½ cup maple sugar or dehydrated cane juice

Add and mix well:

2 tbsp. maple syrup
1 egg
1 tsp. baking soda, dissolved in 1 tbsp. hot water
1 cup mashed bananas

In a separate bowl or container, mix together:

1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
¼ tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

This may not be the best time of year for finding good slicing tomatoes, but there are some tasty ways to make use of tomatoes when they are out of season. My favorite way is to make Oven Roasted Tomatoes.  Roasting produces a semi-dry tomato with a concentrated flavor and a chewy texture. It fares nicely in pasta and grain dishes. Pureed, they make a lovely base for roasted tomato soup.

 
Oven Roasted Tomatoes

4 ripe Roma tomatoes
Sea salt
Olive oil

Making Your Own Maple Sugar

Making maple sugar is pretty simple. You just need to cook the water out of the syrup. To make one cup of maple sugar, start with a cup of syrup. Pour into a pot and simmer over low heat for about 25-30 minutes. Stir, stir, stir. (And did I mention you should stir?) You especially need to stir near the end. The syrup will become foamy. When it seems as though the syrup is all foam, pour into a ceramic bowl. If it collapses, you are not done cooking and back into the pan it goes.

Scalloped Potatoes

6 cups scrubbed red or yellow potatoes (you may peel if you wish)
Flour (a few tablespoons on a small plate)
6 tbsp. butter or margarine
2 tbsp. chopped chives (optional)
2 ½ cups milk or soymilk
2 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Currant Scones

With tea or with coffee, these scones are perfect!

Combine:

2 cups w.w. pastry flour
2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. groung nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt

Cube:

4 oz. cold butter (or margarine)

Work butter into flour mixture with hands until small pea sized pieces have formed.

Stir in:

1 cup currants

Whisk together:

1 egg yolk
3/4 cup milk (or soymilk)
1/4 cup maple syrup

I'll be the first to admit that tempeh is not very appealing as far as looks go. In fact, it sometimes just looks like it is old and moldy! It does also have a slight bitterness to it that can be cooked out or disguised with flavoring.

Tempeh can be fried, baked, marinated or grilled. It makes a great protein base in recipes like Tempeh Parmesan or Tempeh Reuben sandwiches. You can crumble it, saute it in oil, add seasonings and use as a base for patties, toss into chili or hash, even make it into a paté.

Here is a recipe for a quick and easy tempeh dish:

Polenta is a coarsely ground cornmeal that is cooked into a mush and used in savory and sweet recipes. It can be eaten in this mushy stage or it can be made ahead of time, left to solidify so that it can be shaped, baked or fried.

The following recipe makes a nice plain polenta. You can jazz it up at the end by adding herbs, spices, cheese or  butter.

Polenta

8 c. water
1 tsp. salt
2 c. polenta

It is pretty easy to make your own lip balm at home. Save up your used lip balm tubes and small containers or purchase new ones. It is inexpensive and makes a lovely little gift.

Per household - Multiple animals: dogs $20/day for first dog, each additional dog $5; cats $5/day

Per household - Just cats: $10 per day, each additional cat up to 2 cats ~FREE~, over 3 cats total - $5

Will also care for birds, fish, hamsters, etc.

Will walk, feed, water, give meds

Will take in mail/packages, water plants, change lighting at night and/or shades, and any other light requests you might have

Local (Fairfield),  have references, past dog boarding service

As Kermit said-”It’s not easy being green!” But, once you get into the habit, it just becomes your lifestyle. Here are some little ways to be green at home:

To use less dental floss- instead of cutting off enough to wrap around your hands, cut a smaller amount and tie the ends together. It will be easy to hold the floss taut and you can just rotate it to get to a clean spot when needed.

It's getting easier to be green! If you are interested in socially responsible buying and investing, you may want to check out this web-site:

http://www.greenamericatoday.org/

Co-op America is a non-profit organization that operates with these goals in mind:

From their website...

• Empowering individuals to make purchasing and investing choices that promote social justice and environmental sustainability;

I have started keeping a tote bag in my car with several sizes of containers. When I go to a restaurant, I take my tote with me and then I can take my leftovers home in my reusable containers. If you use stackable containers, the tote won’t take up much room in the trunk.

It also helps to have someone in the family who is willing to go out to the car and get the containers when you forget to bring them in!

No- they are not exactly falafels…you don’t even fry them, but you serve them the same way…in a pita with lettuce, tomato and yogurt dressing.

Ingredients:
1 small onion, minced
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
olive or sesame oil
2 lbs. tofu, squeezed in a clean tea towel to remove excess water
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp. tahini
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. tamari
1 tsp.salt