Design

This has been an exciting week kitchen wise .  First with the arrival of our green coffee beans .. then the wheat grinder .. and today my supply of Tattler reusable canning lids.  Come payday I'm off the get the wheat berries and give fresh ground wheat a try.  I had such a nice quantity of milk kefir grains ( see previous post ) that I started to research about using them to make flavored water kefir.  The grains were divided:  half continue to make milk kefir .. and the other half have been designated for water.  So far I'm on my second quart of fermenting the water variety.  I used fresh organic ginger and some organic lemon peel to flavor the first batch .. it came out very refreshing .. now to try it on the family :).  The second batch I hope to flavor with some tangerines.  Soon I'll post some pictures with directions.  The seeds that were sprouted earlier this week are ready to use in salads .. and I'll start on a second batch to ...

Turkey sandwich meat .. photo by Mrs. Mac I'm getting the hang of cooking from scratch.  Making as much from my little kitchen laboratory as possible.  With the food budget money this month I splurged and bought a 18 pound minimally processed .. small farm .. turkey.  It was expensive at $56 .. the price you pay for having plain turkey without all the additives.  This turkey was dissected and made into TEN different turkey products packaged for quick use from the fridge and freezer. Cajun (spicy) style roasted turkey breast ... photo by Mrs. Mac Some of the broth, meat & gravy .. photo by Mrs. Mac Cajun style breast meat roasted .. sliced thin for SANDWICHES ... 3 pounds 6 quarts stock for SOUPS 2 half pints of rich pan drippings for GRAVY 3 quarts meat for use in CASSEROLES  and TURKEY SALAD Legs and wings baked TERIYAKI style for dinner and lunch (8 pieces) Leftover teriyaki chopped for use in FRIED RICE neck bones, heart, liver pressure CANNED as a ...

bread ready for final rise .. by Mrs. Mac Hubby is reading ' Food Rules ' and ' The Omnivore's Dilemma ' .. both books by Michael Pollan .  I think I will be writing out the food rules on little 3x5 index cards and drilling him ..  maybe even add a few of my own rules.  It's a step in the right direction.  Yesterday .. he mentioned he'd like to learn to make bread.  There's always hope of reforming a 'Wonder (white squishy) Bread' boy, eh? :) Today is our monthly budget day.  This, again, is an area hubby wants to gain knowledge of the process .. Oh, yes, he sees the end result .. no debt .. nutritious food on the table .. his cash envelopes filled.  But he is wise to see how it's done and to have a look-see at all the budget categories.  Just knowing that he wants to try and eat healthier when away from home .. or when I am out of town .. and how to manage the finances .. is music to my heart.  homemade bread .. by Mrs. Mac This week in the...

To break up the winter doldrums, today I'm going to try a periodic piece about how I think 'grandma' would have found/fixed/made a solution to a basic need during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today's problem .. oldest son is sick with a sore throat AND an empty pantry.  Calling me .. he asked if I had anything to eat that would not hurt his throat when swallowing .  He is used to buying canned soups .. which I don't buy.  Not having a tremendous amount of time I threw together something nutritious and comforting that my grandma would have made. Gr-gr-grandma Minnie Turkey Spatzen Soup : (small German dumplings) 1 quart turkey stock (I keep homemade on hand in the refrigerator and freezer .. grandma would have canned it for shelf storage) 1/4 cup each chopped - onion, carrot, celery salt & pepper to taste dumpling dough as follows -  one egg, 1/4 cup water, 3/4 cup cake flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp double acting baking powder (organic), a small pinc...

Big gains.  It's hard to remember shopping with store coupons for ready made food products.  Our food bill was about double what it is now.  The change to eating whole foods started off slowly and has snowballed.  A little step here and there has added up to a total makeover with more changes to follow .  Having a set amount of cash to shop with each month, slowly stocking up on single item pantry/freezer goods (flour, eggs, veggies, meat .. etc) .. makes for quick meal preparation and planning.  Purchasing went from several times a week to once or twice a month.  Honestly .. yesterday was big shopping day for the month of November.  Our budget is $400 cash (family of four); this does not include much meat as that is separately budgeted and purchased from a local ranch each summer and kept in a chest freezer.  Having a well stocked pantry, I came home with only four bags of grocery staples.  Milk, cheese, spices, potatoes, ...

Nearing the end of gardening season. Storing (drying) food for winter's use. ... is slowly taking place in the western world.  Perhaps from shoddy goods, a desire for better health, knowledge of big ag's poisonous onslaught, enlightenment of how our food is produced, a desire for REAL FOOD, these and many more reasons (economic) people are sharpening their gardening 'tools' and rethinking how to live a better life.  A life apart from the entanglement of BIG BOX companies that produce FAKE FOOD.  Food that robs the very life from a person's health at the cost of the all mighty buck.  Well .. the buck stops here with my family.  We need to educate and nurture our loved ones back into the 'fold' with good food .. not just served up at the table on a Sunday afternoon .. but how to make better choices when eating and living each day .. even in this fast paced, out of control work system many of us are in.  Standing together, we CAN knit our families a better fu...

I have been so pleased in recent months to see the number of women making their way .. or deciding from the get-go to be keepers at home.  With that said, there are still areas in my own home that need work.  Organic Fruit Snack (barely touched while I was away)! Earlier this month I was gone for nearly four days.  While I was pleased to have the family step up and take care of our youngest (disabled) child, it came at a cost meal wise.  Without my influence let's just say that highly processed foods were consumed.  It would have been best to have had some home made freezer meals available (that was not the case) .. and my family saw this as an 'opportunity' to eat junk.  I must continually teach my family about the importance of good quality food.  When 'mom' is gone, no one seems to care or make the effort to prepare nutritious meals.  More work and training needs to take place about the benefits of good nutrition, and ... yes, while junk food m...

If our western society would dump cheaply processed foods, supersized portions, excess sugar and white flour, and anything remotely modified ... get out and work in the garden, mowing the lawn, walking the dog ... moving ... and last but not least .. let common sense be the rule of the day instead of the governments stupid food pyramid, the population would be headed down a healthier path. Things to chuck out of your pantry: Any snack that comes in a box.  Replace with a piece of fruit or veggies and a good dip ... or just skip the snack. Cake mixes and frosting in a can.  Cake should be a once in a while treat .. not something every day of the week.  Making a cake from scratch is not that difficult.  Take time to bake your own. Anything that says 'Helper' ... such as in hamburger.  It's much healthier to just keep good food items stocked in the pantry and fridge or freezer to make your own quick meal. Learn to cook.  It's not that difficult.  Practice...