Making Soured Milk

I was late getting out to milk on Saturday morning. Kev and I didn't get home until 1:20am and then dh woke with a start at 6am asking, "How did THAT happen?" He always panics a bit when he wakes up so late and the sun is shining so brightly. He's normally out of bed by 2:30am. Most people's eyes widen at the thought of getting up so early.

But you know, it's not that hard to get up at 2:30am when you go to bed at 6 or 7pm. And when you repeatedly get up at 2:30am, it's easy to go to bed at 6 or 7pm. You are ready for bed by that time, trust me.

Even though we "slept in" we were dragging from lack of sleep, I got less than five hours and it's pretty hard for me to cope on so few hours. We lolly-gagged around and finally made our way out to milk. Since it had rained very hard on Friday night, I figured there would be millions upon millions of flies, especially since it is The Time of the Flies.

Amazingly, there were only two or three flies hanging around and they didn't even harrass me or the girls while I milked. The previous day I'd forgotten some milk in a plastic bucket and it smelled delicious. No really. Raw milk doesn't go rotten or putrid like pasteurized or homogenized milk. I remember the first time I soured milk on purpose. I was afraid I was going to get food poisoning and be sick for days. But if you think about it, what's yogurt? Simply soured milk, the only difference is specific bacteria is added to turn the milk into yogurt.

So I decided to try a new experiment. Usually when the urge strikes to make yogurt and/or soured milk, I get out my yogurt maker. A time or two I've put a gallon of milk on the dryer which sits outside on the back porch, to let it sour. After it curdles, I strain it and it makes the most fantastic cream cheese.

My new experiment was to try making yogurt without using the yogurt maker. I strained the milk, mixed in some Fage (the MOST delicious yogurt and given to us free) for starter and set it on the dryer which is outside on the porch.

Twelve hours later, the yogurt was not yet yogurt. I think it wasn't hot enough out. Although my yogurt maker stays at a constant 125°F, yogurt can be made at a lower temperature. In fact, making it at a lower temperature creates a more nutritious product, especially when you start out with raw milk.

In the picture above, the jar on the right holds the yogurt, the jar on the left is plain milk.

Fermented foods are an important component to our diets as they provide friendly bacteria which helps our digestive systems to work effectively.

The big rage seems to be fiber, fiber, fiber. While fiber is important, it can wreak havoc on your digestive system and cause major problems if you get too much of it. Sometimes the problem is not a need for fiber, but for fermented foods, especially if you take antibiotics. Foods which will add friendly bacteria to your digestive system, and help your body get all the nutrients it can from the foods you eat. Of course, that depends on if the food you eat has nutritional content. If you're living off Pop Tarts, McDoubles and slushees, you are probably starving in a nutritional sense. Sometimes I think it's pretty fantastic how our bodies can survive on the foods we ingest.

The next morning, Sunday, I checked my concoctions. The yogurt was indeed yogurt, and the sour milk had separated into curds and whey.

I strained out the whey and gave it to the chickens, and was left with what looked to be sour cream. A little bit lumpy, but it had a delicious and rich salty taste, nonetheless. I used some of it to make homemade ranch dressing along with some of my homemade yogurt and it just made the taste.

I'm glad my experiment worked out!

DISCLAIMER: Now remember, do NOT try this with store bought milk that has been pasteurized and homogenized. It will not sour naturally, because all of the natural bacteria that causes it to sour and taste delicious has been killed. Homogenized and pasteurized store bought milk WILL turn putrid and nasty, and if you could get past the stink and slime to ingest it you would undoubtedly become very sick.

Until next time.

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My Monkey Bowls

They aren't exactly like the ones that Pioneer Woman has, but they are close enough. And they only cost $0.25 each (on clearance) from a restaurant supplier. I bought four of them and also a few others that are clear glass. But I really like these ones and think I might go back and buy another dollar or two's worth.

They are perfect for a little side serving.

The salad in the bowls is one homegrown cucumber sliced into half moons, one homegrown tomato, 1 slice of onion, diced finely, one small clove of garlic crushed, 1 dollop of plain yogurt, pepper and salt. Very tasty and relatively low calorie.

Until next time.

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Pork Stuffed Eggplant

For dinner last night I made something we've never tried before. Stuffed eggplant. The original recipe is here, but as is normal for me I could not follow the recipe entirely.

Here is the original recipe, I'll follow with my version.

Pork-Stuffed Eggplant

1 medium eggplant
1/2 pound lean ground pork
1 small green pepper, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup water
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 medium tomato, coarsely chopped

1. Wash eggplant and cut in half lengthwise. Remove pulp, leaving the eggplant shell about 1/4-inch thick. Cut pulp into 1/2-inch cubes. Set shells and pulp aside.
2. In a large skillet cook ground pork, green pepper, onion and garlic till pork is browned; drain excess drippings.
3. Add eggplant pulp, water, oregano and pepper; cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove from heat and stir in tomato. Spoon mixture into eggplant shells. Place in a 12x8x2-inch baking dish.
5. Bake in a 350 degree F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through.

Serves 2.

Nutrition Facts
Calories 290 calories
Protein 28 grams
Fat 9 grams
Sodium 55 milligrams
Cholesterol 70 milligrams
Saturated Fat 3 grams
Carbohydrates 26 grams
Fiber 8 grams


Okay, here's my version:

4 small Lavender Touch eggplants
1 Tablespoon butter
1 pound lean ground pork
1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon mild chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1. Wash eggplants and cut in half lengthwise. Remove pulp, leaving the eggplant shell about 1/4-inch thick. Cut pulp into 1/2-inch cubes. Set shells and pulp aside.
2. In a large skillet melt butter, add ground pork, red pepper, onion and garlic and cook till pork is browned.
3. Add eggplant pulp, water, oregano, onion powder, chili powder, garlic powder and pepper; cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove from heat. Spoon mixture into eggplant shells. Place in a 12x8x2-inch baking dish.
5. Bake in a 350 degree F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Shells should be cooked and soft.

Serves 4.

I really liked this recipe. Dh had purchased the pork from the discount section and it was only ninety-nine cents and while cooking didn't smell so wonderful. But after seasoning and baking, it didn't have the smell and tasted great.

Kev wasn't home to try them. Ds1 took three of them and put mustard on top of them. They weren't too bad with the mustard on top.

Until next time.

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Meatballs

I made meatballs for dinner on Friday night.

No pictures of the meatballs because they actually fell apart while cooking in the sauce. Well, most of them did, and I didn't think it was photo worthy.

I used this recipe found on About.com: Chili Meatballs.

Only I was unable to follow the recipe (as is customary for me - either I'm missing one ingredient or I have too much meat to use, it's always something).

Here is the original recipe. I'll list the recipe again with my modifications.

Ingredients:

* Meatballs:
* 1 pound lean ground beef
* 1/2 pound ground pork, or more ground beef
* 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
* 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
* 1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper, red or green
* 1/4 cup ketchup
* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 large egg, slightly beaten
* 1 teaspoon chili powder
* 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf oregano
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 3/4 to 1 cup fine dry bread crumbs
* .
* Sauce:
* 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) zesty chili style diced tomatoes
* 1 teaspoon chili powder
* 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

Preparation:
Line a shallow baking pan with foil. Heat oven to 425°.

Combine the meatball ingredients, adding enough bread crumbs to make a firm mixture. Shape into 1- to 1 1/2-inch meatballs and arrange in one layer in the prepared pan. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove and turn the meatballs; return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, combine the sauce ingredients in a large saucepan. With a slotted spoon or tongs, add the meatballs to the sauce. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with hot cooked rice, with freshly baked cornbread and cooked beans on the side, if desired.
Serves 6.


Modified version:

Ingredients:

* Meatballs:
* 2 pounds 9 ounces lean ground beef
* 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
* 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
* 1 medium sized finely chopped red bell pepper
* 1/4 cup tomato sauce
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 large egg, slightly beaten
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf oregano
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups fine bread crumbs (week old break, whole wheat 9 grain style, kind of dried out, freshly ground in food processor)
* lemon zest from two lemons (Kev's addition to the recipe)


* Sauce:
* 1 large can 28 ounce petite diced tomatoes
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 4 cans (8 ounces) tomato sauce
* 1 teaspoon oregano, basil and thyme
* 1 onion chopped
* 5 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

Preparation:
Combine the meatball ingredients, adding enough bread crumbs to make a firm mixture.

Shape into 1- to 1 1/2-inch meatballs.

Fry meatballs in fat of your choice. I used a couple of tablespoons of butter.

Meanwhile, combine the sauce ingredients in a large saucepan, heat until boiling and simmer for 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon or tongs, add the meatballs to the sauce. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

We decided to serve our meatballs and sauce over whole wheat spaghetti. Dh didn't like the sweet taste to the meatballs, which was obviously brought on by the addition of brown sugar which I added to tomato sauce, since I didn't have any ketchup on hand. I used mild chili powder, which to my tastebuds added no "spicy" taste whatsoever. We are refraining from using our hot chili powder since it causes dh to have heartburn during the night.

I also made some delicious garlic butter, and thanks again to Mrs. Datadyne for the fresh garden addition, Italian parsley. Kev brought it home from church at least two weeks ago, and I had not used it yet. But look how fresh and lovely it still looked! I'm sure much due to Mrs. Datadyne having wrapped the parsley in a moist paper towel and then inside a baggie.

Butter topped by seven cloves of garlic put through the garlic press, topped by one tablespoon of finely chopped garden fresh parsley.

The end result. It was delicious.

Until next time.

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Artichokes. I Love Them.

Last week dh came home with three magnificent artichokes. Ninety-nine cents each, which is a great deal.

I have loved artichokes since I was a young girl and my mom and I used to share them. Sometimes I would come home for lunch, since we lived right next door, and we'd have something special, like artichokes. I don't think any of my other six siblings got to come home for lunch.

A couple of months ago, while at the grocery store, a lady passed by with eight artichokes in her basket. They looked like the one in the photo below.


Kind of fat and rounded looking. She said these were the best kind to get and she doesn't see them often, so that's why she was buying so many.

The other thing you want to look for it a thick stem. When the stem is thicker, you end up with more heart, which is the best part of all.


It's very easy to make artichokes. Rinse them in cool water, I like to open the leaves at the outer edges a little bit and rinse inside, to remove any sand. Trim the end of the stem, leaving one inch.

Place a steamer into a pan and add about one inch of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until done. This takes 30 to 40 minutes. You can tell when the artichokes are done by sticking a fork into the bottom of the artichoke. Right above the stem, but below the leaves. Also, when you push against a leaf with a fork and it separates from the artichoke easily, it is done. If it doesn't pull away easily, it's not done yet.

Allow the artichokes to cool for about 10 minutes before eating. Pull off a leaf and dip it into butter, or dip of your choice (I have heard of other people using mayonnaise). Rake the tender bottom of the leaf across your bottom teeth. Continue pulling off leaves until you get down to the very thin and pointy leaves which cover the heart. Pull those little leaves off and discard. Remove the choke by scraping with a spoon carefully until the heart is revealed. The most delicious part of the artichoke. After the choke is removed, slather with butter and salt.

Mmmmmmm....

Until next time.

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I Just Had Something Delicious

I'm feeling much better today. Since I shrunk my stomach not eating for over a day I'm trying an experiment to see if I can somehow train myself to eat less food. I know I eat too much, food is just too darn delicious.

Last weekend - has it really been a whole week? Anyway, last weekend I decided it was time to get the spinach out of the bed it was in, it is getting warm in the daytime and it was probably ready to bolt any second. I also harvested about a dozen baby beets and some Swiss Chard because it was crowding the cucumbers. The cucumbers were hardly growing due to not getting any sunlight and I think I wasn't getting enough water to them either. You know now that I think about it, I think I might have done that work in the garden on Friday. Well, no matter. I washed up the beets and spinach and put it into grocery bags and popped them into the fridge. Where they have sat all week long, waiting to be eaten. I'm making them for dinner tonight, to go with the chicken breasts I've thawed out.

I've made this twice in the last couple of days, this delicious little lunch idea I came up with. I made 2 cups of rice on Thursday so I would have some to go with my broth [broth - bone broth - bone broth helps tooth remineralization - oh no - dentist appointment this week - anxiety - stress - will the dentist get mad at me if I tell him to leave my tooth alone - should I cancel my appointment - again - should I just go and see what he says - calm down - stop worrying - he's a nice guy - but he might get mad - where was I] when my stomach was not feeling right.

Here's what I made:

Beet Greens and Brown Rice

1 T. butter
12 beet green leaves
2-3 Tablespoons water
1/2 cup cooked rice
Salt, pepper to taste

Cut off the beet if there is one attached to your beet green leaves. (Save for a later meal). Put the tablespoon butter in a cast iron skillet and start heating it up. Chop the stems of the beet greens into inch long pieces and put them into the melted butter. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add 2-3 tablespoons water. Cut the rest of the greens into larger pieces, about 2 inches wide. When the stems looked a darker red then their original bright fuschia red (another minute or so) put in the rest of the beet greens. Put a tight fitting lid on the skillet and let cook 2-3 minutes. Remove lid, stir, add in one-half cup of cooked brown short grain rice. Stir to heat the rice. Salt and pepper to taste. Beet greens are naturally salty so taste before adding salt.

This was really delicious.

I didn't think I'd feel up to gardening this weekend since being sick, but I seem to have bounced back pretty good. I actually got some work accomplished in the garden this weekend. I pulled weeds that had cropped up in several areas, including some that were fairly big and already gone to seed. The chickens really appreciated those. Some of these were in the gopher's garden bed and I'd been leaving them there for him to eat so he would hopefully leave MY vegetables alone. Some were growing in between the chicken wire of the pallet bed so I had to cut through the wire to get the weeds out. I pulled out a broccoli that was flowering. No sense in trying to save its seeds as it was a hybrid variety (the babies of hybrid's seeds don't grow up to be like the plant you had but often like one parent or the other of the hybrid seed - as me if you want to know more). I found some straw-like hay nearby the goat pen that was totally perfect for using as mulch in the beds. It is getting warmer and I want the soil to have a good covering so the ground stays moist longer. I utilized the straw for the eggplant bed, the tomato bed, and one of the green bean beds. I used this straw-like material in the potato cage also. Let's see. I got the zinnia bed dug out, underlayed with chicken wire, got the bricks around the bed and the seeds planted. I also planted marigolds in the zinnia bed. Eight sunflowers have germinated and are getting their first true leaves. The squash I transplanted a week ago is still alive. The basil is still alive, but not doing too well. I hope it will be able to snap out of it.

I think that's all. I am planning to go out there later this afternoon and harvest some to share with my coworkers. I need to pick Swiss Chard, beets, and kale. It occurred to me that the beets take much less time to mature when the weather is warmer. Even though it is okay to plant them in September through the winter, they grow so slowly. It usually takes them 5 months to produce the root. Also, this is one of the only times I've planted beets in late winter/early spring. So it is interesting to see how well they are doing. Now I just have to be careful about getting them harvested before they bolt. And also I am doing some overhead watering and I have had to deal with blue mold in the past with beets. The overhead watering apparently encourages the blue mold because of the leaves getting wet. It's really bad to water overhead later in the day. Early in the morning is safer, but there is still that danger. Once they have blue mold, the beet leaves taste horrible. You can still eat the beets and they taste fine, but the leaves taste awful if they have blue mold.

Here's the new zinnia/marigold bed. I can't wait to see the colorful flowers blooming here!


Until next time.

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Cranberry Chocolate Bread Pudding

I have just come in from looking at the garden, I am so happy to see all the new babies. It rained yesterday and really hard during the night, and again this morning at 6am it was pouring buckets. The earth is saturated. If it rains again, our wash will fill and be running. I love the rain. Yesterday Kev came to work with me and we stayed in town to go to Wednesday night Bible study. On the way there, we saw a gorgeous rainbow. It was a double rainbow which circled the sky and we could see clearly one end to the other. Kev took a few shots. It was so brilliant - the photos can't do it justice. Here's a picture - it came out gold-tinted so it's photoshopped.

Kev wanted me to make my bread pudding, my Pioneer Woman knock off. I didn't realize he wanted it on the dinner table so I got yammered at (by Kev and the dh) for twenty minutes when I had a piece of it for breakfast.


I changed the recipe again. Here's what I did this time:

2 eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups milk
1 cup sugar (cut down from 1 1/4 cup)
3 1/2 to 5 cups wheat challah bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/3 cup almonds, chopped finely
1 handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 handful of fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat together eggs, butter, vanilla, and milk. Add sugar and mix until sugar is dissolved. Arrange bread cubes tightly in a nine-inch baking dish. Pour liquid over the bread, making sure you get all of it good and soaked. Sprinkle chocolate chips and cranberries on the top. Take a spoon and smash the bread cubes down so they soak up some of the liquid. Sprinkle walnuts all over and bake for 55 to 70 minutes, or until crust is golden brown all over the top.

In the previous recipe, at 55 minutes, there was still liquid in the center. So I took the dish out and used a spoon to mash down so that the liquid seeped throughout the bread. I cooked it for another 25 minutes and then it was done.

The bread I used today was a loaf of artisan wheat challah bread that's been in the freezer for several months. I got it from work (we get food donations). I think the bread was drier, or maybe because it was wheat? I did use 5 cups of cubed bread. At any rate, when I checked it at 55 minutes, it was puffy and light. We also got a big donation of almonds a few months ago, so I used those instead of walnuts.

I poured some heavy cream over it. It was delicious.

Until next time.

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Homemade Big Macs

Kev really outdoes himself some days.

Dh and I had to go into town last Friday, and while we were out we bought some fresh ground hamburger so we could have hamburgers for dinner.

After we got home, while we were out milking, Kev grilled the burgers and proceeded to make homemade Big Macs.

I guess the most important ingredient is the "secret sauce". Here is Top Secret Recipe's attempt at the clone.

I'm going to type it in just in case the Internet loses it:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 T. French dressing
• 4 t. sweet pickle relish
• 1 T. finely minced white onion
• 1 t. white vinegar
• 1 t. sugar
• 1/8 t. salt
  

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well.

2. Place sauce in a covered container and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight, so that the flavors blend. Stir the sauce a couple of times as it chills.

Makes about 3/4 cup.

Awesome.

Until next time.

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Like Manna From Heaven

I always thought the expression "like manna from heaven" meant the food was delicious beyond words. Exodus 16:31 tells us a bit about what manna looked and tasted like, as does Numbers 11:7.

Exodus 16:31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

Numbers 11:7 And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.

However, the Israelites started getting hungry for other things:

Numbers 11:4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

Numbers 11:5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

Numbers 11:6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

So I guess manna wasn't delicious beyond words, I guess not when it's all you've eaten for forty years in a row.

Exodus 16:35 And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.

At any rate, to get back to the title of my post... let's go with manna being delicious beyond words. Just humor me.

I had insomnia last night, and I know I've written before, even within the last ten days that my insomnia is often caused by hunger that does not exhibit itself physically.

Sometimes I'm just stubborn and don't want to eat anything, even though I know if I do, I will almost certainly be able to get back to sleep. I woke up at 1:30 and laid there about 15 minutes before deciding to get up and get something done on the computer that I've been needing to do. Something that will organize a part of my life and should make it easier.

Around 3:40am, Kev stumbled out of his room. He said something about food within an hour of getting up and mentioned cheese crisps. By that time I was starting to feel quite hungry. He decided against them, because we didn't have any hot sauce. But my mouth was already primed for a cheese crisp, and my stomach was getting more and more hungry by the minute.

I mentioned them again, and Kev decided to make us each a cheese crisp and a lovely bowl of leftover chili, with a plop of sour cream.

He brought mine to me, and I can't even begin to put into words how exquisitely delicious the combination was.

The most delicious taste is to drop a spoonful of chili onto the cheese crisp. Oh boy, oh boy. So yummy.

We finally found a chili recipe that we all love. We've made it several times since Kev found it. This is the original recipe: Flatlander Chili but as usual we made some changes to the ingredients.

Here's our version:

• 4 pounds lean ground beef
• 4 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomato
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 lbs dried beans, cooked (the guys use pintos)
  

1. Cook beans ahead of time (several hours).
   
2. Place ground beef in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
3. Add all ingredients to a large kettle. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Cheese Crisps (also known as Quesadillas)

Start with a clean cast iron skillet with just a tiny bit of butter to keep the tortilla from sticking. Place one tortilla in the skillet, add some shredded cheese and top with another tortilla. Cook over medium heat until lightly toasted on side, turn and cook on the other side.

Until next time.

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Warm Vanilla Milk

I couldn't sleep a few nights ago. I hate just lying there, wondering why I'm awake. Knowing I have to get up at a certain time. It was different during the years when I was a stay at home mom and had no set schedule.

I learned in my thirties that sometimes when I can't sleep it's because I'm hungry. Only I don't feel hungry at all. And in fact, the thought of putting food in my mouth is the last thing I'm interested in. I learned by trial and error if I just get up and eat something with protein: a hunk of cheese, a glass of milk, a couple of slices of ham or turkey, I'm able to go back to sleep. Even though food is the last thing on my mind, and even sounds repulsive. I believe I learned this because when I was a stay at home mom, I could be more flexible with my schedule. I could get up and read a book, wash dishes or get on the computer. And usually after being up for a couple of hours, finally, my stomach would start growling. Suddenly and voraciously.

One of my coworkers has diabetes and she says it can be a sign of low blood sugar to be hungry, but not feel hungry.

Anyway, the other night as I was lying there, unable to sleep, I reminded myself, "Self, you're probably hungry, you should get up and get something to snack on." Hot cocoa sounded good, and we had Ovaltine (I like to keep it on hand for a quick glass of cold chocolate goat's milk for breakfast). Only when I got up, I couldn't find the Ovaltine. It wasn't in the usual place, and wasn't in the pantry area either. That means it probably got left in the car. I'm not going out for Ovaltine at nearly midnight, so I thought of what else might sound appealing.

I decided on having what I will call Vanilla Milk. Here's the ingredients.

• 1 cup milk (obviously I used fresh goat's milk)
• 1 tsp. vanilla (homemade using vanilla beans and vodka)
• 1 tsp. butter
• 1 T. maple syrup

Heat until just warm.

If you like vanilla, you will love this.

Until next time.

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Migas Pioneer Woman Style

Kev made breakfast for us this morning. I was at IHOP yesterday for lunch with one of my coworkers and IHOP had Migas on the menu. It sounded so good, yet it would have never caught my eye had it not been for P-Dub's Migas recipe. I was very hungry when trying to decide what to have for lunch and finally decided on the Philly cheesesteak sandwich.

After I got home from work, dh and I went to pick up shred at the two credit unions so I could least have today off. I need at least one day at home to recuperate from the previous week and prepare for the coming week. Some people seem to thrive on being away from their home, but I have never been like that. We did a little bit of grocery shopping and I thought about the Migas again, and bought some of the ingredients I could remember.

I told Kev about it when we got home, and he looked up P-Dub's recipe, thought it sounded good enough to try for breakfast. I even bought black beans (they were on discount) and I didn't even remember those were part of P-Dub's recipe. I bought chorizo which was part of the IHOP ingredients.

Anyway, Kev did get up early and made us breakfast. He used P-Dub's recipe, but slightly altered.

Pioneer Woman's Migas
4 5 corn tortillas
Canola oil, coconut oil to fry tortillas
10 to 12 large farm fresh eggs of varying sizes
1/4 cup half & half heavy cream
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 red yellow bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
4 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped 1 can diced tomatoes
1 large to 2 pickled jalapeno, seeded and finely diced (leave white membranes if you like things spicy)
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, depending on your taste
1 cup grated Monterey Jack or Cotija cheese

Check PW's site for the rest of the cooking instructions.

This was a delicious breakfast. Kev says be sure to use some black pepper and salt.

Until next time.

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Weed Soup

I planted my garden about a month ago but most of my seeds didn't germinate. What did germinate was a lot of weeds. I started wondering if they were edible. I nonchalantly toss them to the chickens which attack them with gusto. I've written about Malva in my garden before and I know it is edible. And the other weed was one that I've seen at the local grocery stores that cater to the Hispanic population. I finally figured out it is purslane. I had a hard time finding photos of the variety of purslane that is in my garden so I decided to take a bunch in all stages of growth and put them onto my Flickr account.

And then tonight, I made Weed Soup. I looked at a few recipes today that call for purslane, but here's what I came up with on my own. I am very pleased with this combination of ingredients, although the green chili will make the soup have "heat" to it.

Weed Soup

1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon butter
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1/4 cup barley
1/2 cup lentils
1 green chili pepper, diced
Hefty bunch of parslane, chopped

Saute the onion in butter until transparent. Pour in chicken broth, lentils, barley and green chili pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes. Add the chopped purslane and simmer for 10-15 minutes longer. Next time I'll chop the stems into shorter pieces. Also, I'll avoid using the stem closest to the root as some of the pieces of stem were a little tough, kind of like asparagus can be sometimes. I just chewed up the tougher pieces to get all the good out of them and then removed the fibrous pieces from my mouth. Into a napkin, of course.

Purslane is good for you, here's a quote: "It was one of the most important of the wild plant foods for the native peoples of the Southwest — Pueblo, Zuni, Navajo, Hopi, Tohono O'odom and others. The seed, ground and added to breads and stews, brought valuable protein to the diet. The leaves and stems are rich in nutrients. One cup of the leaves (100 grams) contains iron, vitamin A, calcium, vitamins C and E, phosphorus, zinc, magnesium, manganese and silica."

According to this site purslane is packed with omega 3 fatty acids and one cup has only seven calories.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Until next time.

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Baked Spinach with Eggs

Our hens are beginning to lay with fervor! Back in March we ordered some pullets and they are now mature enough to begin laying. Along with our older hens, we are getting ten to sixteen eggs again. Time to start using more eggs in our meals.

Last night I tried this recipe, Baked Spinach and Eggs. I love spinach and this recipe turned out to be a winner.

The original recipe is linked above, but I altered it slightly.


1/4 cup butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound frozen spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided use
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 large eggs
1/4 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish, I used a 9" x 9" square glass dish.

2. In a cast iron skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes to soften. Add spinach and salt. Reduce heat to low. Cover and steam for 10 minutes; remove from heat.

3. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese in the bottom of prepared baking dish. Spoon in spinach mixture and sprinkle with paprika, pepper and nutmeg.

4. In a medium bowl, beat together egg and milk; pour over spinach mixture. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake until the cheese bubbles, about 20-30 minutes. Let stand at least 5 minutes before cutting.

I heated up the leftover pieces this morning in the toaster oven.

Until next time.

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Carrot Spice Muffins

I cannot believe I haven't blogged about this long time favorite: Carrot Spice Muffins. I had a better photo, taken when they were fresh out of the oven, but between my camera cards and Kev's, we can't seem to locate the photo, so this is the one I took while we were at camp.

When we went to camp a couple of weeks ago, I got up early so I could make a batch of these goodies to share.

I've been making them since my sister Dee Elle discovered them many years ago when our children were very young. She went on a muffin making spree and I think she tried every muffin recipe in the cookbook. The recipe comes from the La Leche League International Cookbook Whole Foods for the Whole Family. My version was published in 1981 with ISBN 0-912500-09-3.

Carrot Spice Muffins

• 1-1/2 c. whole wheat flour (I ground the summer wheat berries that morning, which dh recently acquired, so the flour would be full of nutrition)
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. sea salt
• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t. ground nutmeg (freshly ground with microplane)
• 1/8 t. ground ginger (I actually couldn't find ground ginger, so I omitted this item)
• 1/8 t. allspice
• 1/3 c. honey
• 1/2 c. yogurt (luckily I had fresh-made yogurt from our goat's milk on hand)
• 1/3 c. butter
• 1/2 t. vanilla (I make my own vanilla)
• 1-1/2 c. grated carrots
• 1/2 c. raisins (I bought golden raisins because I like those in these muffins over the dark raisins)
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
  

Measure dry ingredients into a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients in another bowl with carrots, raisins and nuts. Add to dry mix, stirring only until flour is moistened. Place in greased muffin tins and bake for 15 minutes at 400°F. Makes 1 dozen muffins.

Until next time.

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Chicken Salad

I was on for kitchen duty last Saturday. Ever since Ree over at The Pioneer Woman posted her Chicken Salad recipe I've been wanting to make some type of chicken salad for dinner.

She puts grapes in her chicken salad. I've never done that before, but since my tastebuds seem to be changing, it actually sounded good.

I didn't use Ree's chicken salad recipe though. Here's what I did...

First I prepared some boneless, skinless chicken breasts. They were on sale at Safeway for $1.69 a pound, so $5.07 for the bag.

I trimmed the fat and other weird stuff from the chicken breast. I sprinkled salt and pepper on each piece as I laid them into a bowl and then let them set for a while.

I grilled the chicken breasts. I love grilling. Especially when it means I don't have to heat up the house cooking. It rained for a few minutes on Saturday, the sun was shining and it was pouring rain. So it was not too terribly hot out when I grilled. Kev received it as a gift for Christmas in 2006 from his granny and grandpa (dh's parents).

Next I made a salad.

5 leaves of red leaf lettuce, washed and torn into bits
1/2 a head of iceberg lettuce, washed and torn into bits
1 cucumber, halved and sliced
2 avocados, diced

We had red grapes on hand, so I cut a bunch of those in half.

Then I made homemade Ranch dressing.

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup homemade plain yogurt
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon granulated onion powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
salt and pepper to taste

I tossed the lettuce, avocado and cucumber.

I put some salad in individuals bowls, then cut some chicken breast into strips and added that into the bowl, then tossed in some red grapes.

Lastly I spooned some Ranch dressing over the salad.

Very delicious. Everyone was impressed and there was even a bowl leftover for my lunch Sunday after church.

Until next time.

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Mmmmm, Liverwurst

A post à la The Pioneer Woman Cooks.

Growing up I hated liver. Despised it. I think a good deal of the problem is the way my momma prepared and served it. I won't go into details as I'm sure if you are a liver hater you have more than enough memories without my adding any. I will say that it was my stepfather's favorite meal, served alongside mustard greens, cornbread and black-eyed peas. All with no butter, mind you. It was the driest combination of foods you could put together on a plate.

Anyway, in my teen years, I lived with a foster family and the mother prepared liver very occasionally, but it was much more tolerable prepared by her recipe. First off, she bought baby beef liver (my mother didn't) and she'd boil it in oil with onions. It was actually edible. This woman also loved liverwurst and braunschweiger, which I think are the same thing. Basically it's pork liver, similar to pâté. Now when people hear pâté, they think that's something special. But it's just a meat paste; pâté de foie gras is made from goose liver.

As a child, I vowed I would never buy liver, nor have it in my home. I'm sure I lumped liverwurst in there, too. But when I came to the theory of Nourishing Traditions and Weston A. Price Foundation, and found that liver is considered a superfood, I began to rethink my childhood vow. I still have a hard time eating liver, but I think more often about having it. I also look forward to the times we butcher as liver tastes better fresh.

A couple of months ago, my boss brought in some braunschweiger to share since she can't eat the whole roll by herself and her hubby doesn't care for it. Several of us were lucky enough to partake in the feast of liverwurst sandwiches and I had forgotten how much I really enjoy it. I decided to buy a roll yesterday and I can take it in to share with my boss.

But enough of the tittle-tattle*, on with my post!

First, the cast of characters:
Rye bread, yellow mustard, mayonnaise, Braunschweiger, Muenster cheese and onion.

Slice right through the packaging, oops, I forgot I'm not supposed to use my favorite, recently sharpened knife for cutting meat. Apparently this is the VEGETABLE knife, according to Kev.

I continued slicing after switching to the MEAT knife.

Arrange the slices onto your rye bread.

Slather mayonnaise on top of the liverwurst, then layer some thinly sliced onions. Sweet onions grow very well in Arizona, did you know that? But I digress. On the other slice of bread, squirt out some mustard, then one slice of Muenster. Why Muenster? I don't know, I just thought it would taste good. Then some more onions. Mmmm.

And there you have it: Liverwurst Sandwich on Rye with Muenster and onions.

A slice of pickle goes exceptionally well with this sandwich. This sandwich is amazingly delicious.

I'm going to be a hero at work next Tuesday morning. :-)

Until next time.
*The Word of the Day on August 9th, 2008: tittle-tattle.

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Zucchini Soup

This is one of my favorite things to have for breakfast on the weekend.

Ingredients:
Two medium sized zucchini, sliced 1" thick
1/2 cup milk
butter
cheddar cheese, shredded
salt
pepper

Place in a pan with an inch of water at the bottom. Cook for 15-20 minutes on medium heat until you can push through the edge of one of the slices easily. Basically you want the zucchini to be soft enough that you can easily mash it with a fork.

When it's done, drain off the water. Add in 1/2 cup milk, butter, shredded cheddar cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.




Until next time.

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Today I Feel Like Cooking

I feel a little bit more energetic today, and decided to try using up as much of the day's milk as I could. We got almost one gallon for the house milk, so I took my cultures out of the freezer to see if there was anything simple. I decided to make a quart of buttermilk and three cups of sour cream. The sour cream culture calls for light cream or half and half, but I have tried using milk in the past and it turned out just a little runny - it's supposed to make a quart, so I'm going to try using only three cups and see if it thickens up better.

I've got a piece of London Broil thawing on the counter. I'm thinking something with curry powder, but not sure what yet. Do mangoes and curry powder go together?

The oddest thing has happened to me in the last couple of years. I remember when I was a child, the idea of pork chops and applesauce, or any kind of sweet sour meat was just disgusting and gross. But now, it tastes good to me.

I also decided to make Baked Maple Egg Custard. I was thinking about making a pudding to turn into ice cream, but I think I'm going to really start trying to avoid white flour and cornstarch. I am just too tired all the time for this to be normal, I seem to be affected by the foods I eat.


I'm thinking about trying these supplements:

Dr. Ron's Sea Vegetable Plus - Nutrients for a Healthy Thyroid
Doc's Best Multi - the next generation
And the adrenals formula on this page
Organ Delight
And the Thyroid supplement on this page

The only problem is they are crazy expensive!

Until next time.

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Muenster Cheese Day 2

I took the Muenster from its cheesecloth wrapping this morning and here it is.

Kev suggested that using 40 pounds worth of weights was not correct for such a small block of cheese.

Anyway, here it is as I'm unwrapping the cheesecloth.

On the plate, ready for salting.

We only have coarse ground sea salt so I crushed a tablespoon or so with a rolling pin and here's what it looks like. I think I might have put too much salt on it.

I'm off to milk.

Related Posts:
Muenster Cheese (Day 1)

10AM: I'm adding this picture a few hours after my post this morning - we've sampled some of the cheese. It is so delicious, I don't know if it is going to get a chance to age unless I hide it!!

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Muenster Cheese

I'm trying my hand at making a hard cheese. Muenster. One of my friends who raises goats has tried making it twice. It is incredibly simple to make! There are only three ingredients. Milk, rennet and salt. I usually get flustered about making cheese because they want you to use certain cultures, which I do have some on hand, but I am not sure how to use them correctly. It's like when the recipe calls for 1/2 tablet of rennet, but we have liquid rennet. Then I have to go see how much liquid rennet to use in place of the tablet.

I brought the milk in and strained it and found I had 3 quarts. When I brought the milk in it was almost at the required temperature of 88°F. I added a quart from yesterday and heated the milk back up.

After it reaches 88°F you let it set for 5 minutes. Then you take your 1/4 teaspoon of liquid rennet, mixed with 1/4 cup of water, and pour it into the milk. Use a whisk to make sure you get the rennet mixed in well. I also used bottled water, to make sure I wasn't adding any funky bacteria from our well water. Not that our water is bad, but sometimes it's best to use "clean" water so as to not add to the mix.

Cover and let set for one hour.

After one hour, test for a clean break in your curds. Cut with a sharp knife into 1 inch cubes. Heat the curds while mixing carefully.

Remove the curds and let the whey drain for 20 minutes. Then put the curds into a cheese press.

Cheese press?

Oops. I don't have a cheese press. So I set about looking on the Internet for how to make one of my own.

I found one by Mr. Fankhauser (quite a famous cheese maker on the Internet) and one by Ms. Molly from Fias Co Farms.

Between the two of those sites, I got the gist of what needed to be done to press the whey out of my cheese, so I went for a walk out on our property to see what I could come up with.

First I found two of these - 3" Black PVC Couplers, commonly used for septic lines. I was actually looking for 6" diameter, which is what Mr. Fankhauser recommends, but we didn't have any, at least not that I could locate.

Next, I found these 10# weights.

And finally, I found this old racquetball racquet.


After I drained my curds for 20 minutes, I molded them into a shape which would fit into the PVC coupler. First I put in a layer of cheesecloth.


Next I used a can of green chiles as the follower. I peeled the label off after I took this photograph.

Next, I placed a can of tuna on top. Now these couplers have an inner lip inside and the tuna can is too wide to go past that point, so you can only use the tuna can for pushing on the top half.

After an hour or so had passed, I discovered that my can of green chiles was too narrow and was allowing the cheese to squish up around the sides. So I found a lid that fit perfectly, and would still move down past the inner lip of the coupler.

The inner lip is shown here, and pointed out with arrows.

This lid is a much better follower than the can of green chiles.

Lionel gives his seal of approval. I realized my set up was too precarious just sitting on the counter, so I put it in a milk crate on the floor.


My forty pound "weight" at top, which is sitting on the can inside the PVC couplers, and the couplers are sitting on the racquetball racquet. The whole thing sits on a cake pan. For the sake of taking this photo, I placed the weights flush onto the PVC couplers. But after I put my setup back into the milk crate I put a tuna can inside so the weights are actually pressing on the can.

As the cheese presses down, I've had to use different size cans to make sure the weights are not sitting flush on top of the PVC couplers.

After the cheese has been pressed for 12 hours, I have to turn it upside down and press it in the other direction for another 12 hours. Then I am supposed to give it a fine coating of cheese salt, and cover with a plate so it doesn't dry out, and let it just set for at least one week before trying it.

I'll try to post more photos when I flip the curd for the second pressing.

Until next time.

Related Posts:
Muenster Cheese Day Two

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