Warming Up a Rainy/ Snowy Day

Snowy Rain on Knapp Street

Yes, it's raining again today - it even snowed.  That makes almost a week of rainy, cold days.  I think I could stand one or the other but getting the rain and the cold at the same time is pretty miserable.  We can expect more of this with global warming, I understand.

But let's be positive!  The rainy/ snowy/ cool weather got me to finally do a project I've been saying all winter that I'm going to do - make Granola!  I'm not sure of the carbon impact of making granola at home.  It does, after all, entail heating up the oven.  I expect it's more efficient for great big companies to toast those oats than it is for everyone in the U.S. to toast their own.  On the other hand, look at all of that garbage that gets eliminated - a box and a plastic bag (and maybe another plastic carrying bag from the store) for every 14 oz. or so of granola- and maybe less gas expended in delivery.  That's what I'm thinking of when I decided to finally make my own today.

Here is today's batch:

Granola Right Out of the Oven
Oven temp:  300,  cooking time:  1/2 hour

And here are the benefits I see to home made granola:

• It's an easy project to do with a three year old.  Andres got to pour and stir all of the ingredients and we didn't worry about measuring.
• It filled the house with a wonderful aroma thanks to the vanilla and coconut we added.
• It tastes great.
• I think it has less sugar than the store bought stuff.  Tastes that way, anyway - just sweet enough, but not too sweet.
• You can put about anything you want into your granola.   We used what was in the fridge and on the shelf:  oats, some sesame seeds, walnuts and almonds - raisins - coconut, vanilla, wheat germ, honey and a little sesame oil to smooth out the honey. (I added the raisins after baking.)
• It warmed the house up to have that oven on - particularly since I opened the door every 10 minutes during the 1/2 hour cooking time to give the oats a stir.
• I'm reducing waste - no more cardboard boxes and plastic bags from the prepackaged kind.

One word of warning, if you want to try granola on your own, remember to stir it often!

I still remember my first batch of granola, back in my college/ hippie days (I was never technically a hippy because I didn't own a pair of jeans or one of those cute long flowery dresses, but close to the earth was popular back then too, and making your own granola was kind of expected.)  I shared a house with a few other students, and the granola was a joint effort, but I must have been in charge.  That first batch - full of wonderful nuts and dried fruits - was fondly dubbed Christy's Hard As Nails Granola.  I didn't stir it while it was cooking and the honey congealed the oats into hard, barely chewable, clumps.  Ah well, it tasted good anyway.

15 Things You Will (Almost) Never Throw Away Again

So much of what we talk about reducing our carbon footprint our parents would have just called thrifty - or necessary.  At last night's Timely Topics presentation, Kit talked about growing up in a family that had a big garden because the produce was a necessity to supplement their small income.  Besides eating and growing vegetables, they also practiced frugality with their food - waste not, want not.

Kit shared tips for ways she uses up the parts of vegetables that we perhaps throw away.  I must admit that I throw away a lot of vegetable scraps, peelings and ends and feel bad about it, particularly in the winter when the compost bin is buried under several feet of frozen snow.  I've already forgotten most of Kit's quickly shared tips but luckily, when I got home I sat down to read one of Cathy's handouts - a past edition of "Mix" a Twin Cities Coop publication - and there was a great review of the book "An Everlasting Meal" by Tamar Adler.  The article was by Tricia Cornell (Minnesota author) and included a great sidebar titled "15 Things You'll (Almost) Never Throw Away Again.  Thanks Tamar and Tricia.  I'm now going to share a bit of your wisdom.

15 Things You'll (Almost) Never Throw Away Again

1.  Leek Tops.  Cook with other vegetables or meat for broth.  Add to a pot of beans.

2.  Parsley stems.  Chop finely for tabouli.  Use to brighten stews.

3.  Chard stems.  Cover in vinegar and spices to make quick refrigerator pickles.

4.  Kale and collard stems.  Use in vegetable stock.  Boil and blitz with garlic and oil to make pesto.

5.  Onion skins.  Save and dry to color eggs.  Add to vegetable stock or to pots of beans.

6.  Carrot tops.  Blend with plenty of oil, garlic and salt for a universal green sauce.

7.  Radish, turnip and beet greens.  Saute.  Douse with vinegar.  Enjoy.

8.  Tomato seeds.  Push through a sieve to catch the flavorful juices.  Shake with Tobasco and salt.  Drink.

9.  Potato peels.  Scrub clean and deep fry for a crispy snack.

10.  Broccoli stems and leaves.  Roast or saute along with florets.

11.  Cauliflower cores.  Boil for soup or mash with oil and cheese.

12.  Bones.  Save raw and cooked bones separately in the freezer.  Simmer for stock when you have a big batch.

13.  Stale bread.  Grind or grate to thicken soups and stews.  Cube for croutons.

14.  Bean cooking water.  Season and drink on its own.  Use as a soup base.

15.  Brine from pickles and olives, oil from tuna and sardines.  Use to launch vinaigrette or dress cold roasted vegetables.

Here is something I have been doing this year with vegetable peelings:  put them in a zip lock bag in the freezer and when there is enough, make a vegetable stock. This isn't particularly recommended for cabbage and broccoli, but works well with onion skins, potato and carrot peels, herbs etc.  I don't tend to do this when I'm not using organic produce because I worry about pesticide residue - so there is one more reason to bite the bullet and buy organic produce.

So what are your tried and true tricks to use up everything?

And why is it important?  Again, the methane gas from our landfills is a huge, huge contributor to climate warming.  We just need to reduce, reduce,  reduce our waste.  I hear of people who have hardly any garbage.  It can be done.  I'm still working on it.

Black Bean and Avocado Recipe

Black Bean Avocad Salad recipe from "Oh She Glows"

I've gotten a couple of requests for recipes from my almost vegan recipe plan that I shared last month. Here's the Black Bean and Avocado Recipe.  I've pulled it from a blog called Oh She Glows which has lots of fun vegan recipes.  I've found that Pinterest is a great application for saving recipes.  I can search for ideas on the web and when I find one I like, Pin it to one of my boards of Pinterest where the photo from the recipe will show up.  Then I can just scroll through a bunch of pretty photos of things I've decided I'd like to try and when I choose one, click on it and it links me back to the site with the recipe (I usually have to click twice.  The first link goes to the photo and the second link goes to the original site.)

I've tried this recipe a couple of times.  It is so simple and uses ingredients we often have at home and it is just delicious as a salad, or a filling for a taco, for instance.

As far as how I'm doing on that menu planner, the answer is not so well.  That is the norm for me.  I'll spend a lot of time putting a menu together but when it is actually time to make a dinner, I go more by what is in the fridge than what is on the menu.  Never the less, I am getting back into the practice of cooking meat free (we had a month there where we ate a lot of meat) and I have used some of my planned recipes - or at least versions of them.  You know, I do feel better when I'm eating those whole grains, beans and vegetables.

Menu Planning For A Meat Free (almost) Diet

Lime black bean salad with avocado

My move to meat free and more healthy eating is slow, at best.  My main approach has been to just not buy meat.  However, I am not the only shopper in the family and the others don't show much compunction in that matter.  We have eaten a number of meatless meals over the last few months and I've tried new recipes - some of which I liked and some of which I didn't.  Still, there is always meat in the fridge and the freezer which makes me think I'm not helping global warming much, if at all.

With that in mind, I spent yesterday pouring over the recipes that I've used and liked and that fit into our eating patterns pretty well.  I organized them and put together a menu for 11 dinners and then I put together a shopping list for those 11 dinners.  Now I figure I can grab that shopping list, check off what we are missing, and be in a position to usually have the right ingredients around for anything on that list.  Therefore - no excuses!  HAH!  I know myself better.  I do the pouring over recipes and making menus bit - frequently.  But I was more thorough this time and I now have that shopping list, so wish me luck.

This took me a long time to put together, organize and make the shopping list. To spread the benefit around, I'll share it with you.  If you would like any of these recipes and/or a copy of the shopping list, let me know and I'll send it to you.

Here is the menu briefly:

1. Falafel with Tahini , Tabouli, Green Salad and Pickles (This recipe was a hit with the whole family)

2.  Mushroom and millet bowl, mixed greens with apples and walnuts, pumpkin spice muffins (I've tried the mushroom and millet bowl and it was fine.  We'll see if it grows on us.)

3. Bean Burgers, caramelized onions with beer, sweet potato fries and other green vegetable (I love bean - bean/mushroom burgers and am trying to perfect the recipe.  Same with sweet potato fries.)

4.  Salmon, broccoli, wild & brown rice pilaf and applesauce cake (It's not like me to make cake or cookies for dessert, but we all like to eat them.  I figure if I add a "healthy" dessert, it will replace the candy and make for a cooking activity on the days when the boys are home.

5.  Lentil vegetable soup, corn bread, kale & fruit salad (all really great recipes, though I haven't tried all three together before.)

6.  Fajita style vegies, avocado, lettuce, beans, rice (yes, we have to get a Mexican style dinner on the menu.  We love it.)

7.  Vietnamese salad with potstickers (Another recipe I'm working on.  I love the Vietnamese salads I've tried in restaurants.  Haven't gotten it right at home yet. So this may morph into potstickers with vegies and rice.)

8. Mushroom or other nice ravioli or tortillini with tomato sauce, onions and peppers, lime black bean salad with avacado, green salad (A quick dinner that even the boys will love (except the salad).

9.  Tofu stir fried rice with vegies - or maybe stir fried vegies with tofu, rice on the side. (We actually like tofu, but don't have many recipes where we use it.)

10.  Honey Lime quinoa with sweet potatoes, pan seared brussel sprouts with cranberries and pecans. (Two recipes that are really yummy that didn't quite fit into other menus, so I'll just make them a meal of their own.)

11.  Buckwheat pancakes with sweet potatoes, banana, raisins and walnts with fresh fruit and yogurt or fried apples  and (optional) sausage - real or vegan.  (This is a sneaky way to get fruit and vegetables into the grandkids.  They scarf these up.)

Knowing me, this exact menu will never actually  happen since we are a use up what is in the refrigerator kind of people, but I'll give it a good try when we get back from vacation.

Great Recipe for Lentil Soup

Lentil Vegetable Soup

I've been trying out vegetarian and vegan recipes.  My family puts up with me.  We still eat meat because I'm not the only one in the house who shops and we do have a freezer.  Still,  as I wade through recipes, I do come up with plenty that are quite tasty.  I use Pinterest to collect my recipes.  It is just so inspiring to look at the beautiful photos of how other people's recipes turn out.

Here's one for lentil soup that I tried last month and just loved.  It was so hearty and made me feel good to eat it, but I haven't tried it since.  This weekend I'll be at a cabin with friends eating and snowshoeing and reading and talking.  I'm going to make the lentil soup again.  We will have it with some corn bread, a nice hearty salad and a yummy sounding cake with icecream. Wish me luck.
Here's the recipe:
     Lentil Vegetable Soup Recipe

Here's a link to my Pinterest recipe to try collection and here is a link to my Tried and True Recipes collection.  It's smaller by far.   There are others I've tried and liked but they aren't on Pinterest yet. Maybe one of these days I'll take photos of my own - assuming I get any that look photogenic enough.