#4 - stored

i found two quart sized mason jars in the closet, washed them off, and filled them with water for storage. i am also cleaning out various empty glass food jars we've collected (spaghetti sauce, lactofermented sauerkraut, honey, jam, peanut butter) via a water-and-baking-soda-in-the-sun method, and then i'll fill them with water for storage as well. baby steps.

week's menu - 5/3/08

Saturday - pizza on homemade ww focaccia bread. tomatoes, garlic, spinach, feta, onion, mushrooms.

Sunday - veggie kebabs under the broiler. cherry tomatoes, leeks, bell pepper, tofu, mushrooms.

Monday - felafel w/chopped salad: tomato, cucumber, onion, dill, lemon juice.

Tuesday - pasta salad. pasta, kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes, feta, bell pepper, fresh tomato, cucumber, olive oil, vinegar.

Wednesday - mexican black beans and rice. black beans, onion, tomato, rice.

Thursday - pasta with tahini-lemon sauce and spinach, broccoli.

Friday - popcorn. and asparagus in a cream sauce.

then on saturday we go food shopping again.

#6 - manage stores: on the shelves 5/2/08

we measured the dry goods and took stock of some of the canned goods on our shelves on friday night:

14 cups of rice
1 cup of kasha (ew)
2 1/3 cup bulgur wheat
1/4 cup brown flax seed
1+ cup quinoa
1 cup black eyed peas
1 cup red lentils
1/2- cup pinto beans
3 cups rotini
7 1/3 cups popcorn
2 cans refried beans (15oz each)
1 can green chilis (4oz)
1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
1 can tuna (6 oz) {note-we no longer eat fish...}
1 packet tuna (5oz)
~1/4 cup crisco {don't ask}
~15 oz NY honey
~10 oz french honey {was a gift}
~3 oz capers in salt
4 cups nutritional yeast

then we got tired of measuring. on saturday morning i took a look at what ELSE is on our shelves (without really measuring).

white sugar
brown sugar
confectioner's sugar
bread crumbs
TVP
baking cocoa powder
peppercorns
yeast
coffee beans (regular and decaf)
sucralose (splenda)
fish sauce
spirulina
3 packets Goya Sazon
1 box Fantastic Brand vegegarian chili
wasabi and sesame crackers
nacho flavor sunflower seeds (ew)
5 boxes jello (2 of which are sugar free)
sugarfree pancake syrup
1/4 bottle balsamic vinegar
>1 bottle cider vinegar
cooking sherry
sesame oil
burgundy cooking wine
rice wine vinegar
Tapatio hot sauce
1 bottle unopened yellow mustard
<1/2 gallon white vinegar

weekly update... just starting out

hmm… well, my “doing” is more likely to happen on the weekends than the weekdays, so i’m a bit short for this update BUT here we go:

planted: nothing since last weekend when we planted spinach, lettuces, basil, watermelon, peas, and onions.

harvested: nothing yet, but some of our lettuce and arugula have sprouted! and not only that, i can tell a difference between the two kinds of sprouts now (they’re in the same container). not quite to a point where i can tell which is which though…

preserved: nothing yet.

stored: also nothing since we do our shopping on the weekend.

prepped: considered water storage ideas, and will ask at juice/smoothie places for containers of some sort this weekend. also planning to gather buckets from the grocery store this weekend.

managed: will go through my stores tonight to see how much food we have in the house, precisely

cook something new: made two batches of tabbouli in the last week, and a killer pasta salad. also had sauteed asparagus with lemon butter and garlic over fresh pasta. yum. (i have a feeling this might become my favorite category.)

work on local food systems: not sure where to start on this one.

compost something: cleaned the kale and other things out of our veg drawer in the fridge. the compost pile got to eat them. i guess that may be “managing” too, eh?

learned a skill: i learned more about water-bath canning, in an intellectual way.

independence days

i'm joining in on sharon's challenge to create our own Independence Days by doing something every week from her seven categories:
1. plant something
2. harvest something
3. preserve something
4. prep something
5. cook something
6. manage your reserves
7. work on local food systems

i think key categories that appeal to me are the plant something, harvest something, preserve something, and prep something categories. i generally do cook a lot, trying new recipes and concoctions (though it gets a bit grueling in the summer with the kitchen heat... maybe i'll "prep" a solar oven for myself this year? thinking big ;) ).

i hope to check in here with my updates. kick me if i don't! (i know i've been avoiding blogger lately)

goin' on a midnight train to... ohio?

heading out for ohio this afternoon via amtrak. i packed a tote bag to bring with me, and most of it is either food or games/entertainment for the 24 hours of train trip that will take place tonight and monday. i hear the forecast is snooooowwwwww! maybe we can build a snowman :D

one local supper

thanks to a comment on my potatoes post for the idea here.

ingredients:
1 jar of lacto-fermented sauerkraut from hawthorne valley farms
1 package of sweet italian sausage from herondale farm
the rest of our potatoes from the csa (golden earthworm farm)
butter from ronnybrook farm
salt (non-local)
nutritional yeast (non-local... we had no parmesan cheese for topping)

step one: make large pot of mashed potatoes (peel potatoes, boil, drain, add salt and butter, mash, taste, add more salt and butter)

step two: remove casing from sausage and cook in skillet

step three: open sauerkraut jar

step four: layer in a casserole dish sauerkraut, then sausage, then mashed potatoes

step five: bake at 350 for roughly 35 minutes or until potatoes look mighty tasty

step six: sprinkle with nutritional yeast or parmesan cheese and dig in!

mmmmmmm... can't wait for leftovers for lunch today :)

i took my bread dough out to lunch this week (or, what sundays are for)

the purpose of a sunday is to get me ready for the coming week. i make sure i have enough clean clothes to keep me presentable. i make my kitchen look good enough to keep me from wincing when i turn the light on over the sink monday morning. i bake bread to see myself fed in the mornings.

yesterday we had plans for lunch. i did laundry early (presentably clothed - check) and started the bread. the problem with baking bread is that while it only takes a total of maybe an hour of "doing something", i have to be present for the whole five hours of the process of bread-creation because something needs to be done at least once an hour. so i brought my dough with us in the car out to lunch... seatbelted into the back seat ("it smells yeasty in here," says erin. "is that you in the back seat?"). i only had to leave the table once, to punch down the dough halfway through the rising. well done.

tome-ay-toes!

planted in quart-sized yogurt containers!

date: march 11, 2008
variety: big boy (from the mix of seeds we got for free from craigslist)
planted in: mixture of potting soil from last year plus miracle gro organic potting soil

package says 7-14 days to germination. we set them on the west-facing windowsill in our bedroom.

po-tay-toes

sharon's post yesterday about living the staple diet got me thinking about potatoes, since they'd likely be a staple food where i live. she had lots of ideas for ways to eat potatoes, and i think if i had enough potatoes to make it through the winter without them going musty-smelling, maybe i could do it? hmm... here's some potato-brainstorming:

- mashed with milk and butter and salt
- mashed potato cakes
- shepherd's pie (topped with mashed potatoes)
- mashed with cheese/garlic/horseradish/onions/herbs (clearly not all at once)
- colcannon (aka mashed with kale/spinach/chard/other green goodness)
- boiled with parsley and butter
- baked with toppings (cheese, broccoli, butter, herbs, yogurt, etc.)
- au gratin (is scalloped the same as au gratin?)
- fried breakfast potatoes with onions or onions and peppers
- roasted potatoes with rosemary and herbs
- roasted potatoes with other root vegetables
- soups: potato and leek/onion, chicken vegetable soup
- stews: potato lentil indian-style-stew-thing, winter vegetable stew, meat and veg stew

any other ideas out there? perhaps i'll consult allrecipes.com and the fatfreevegan.com