Happy, um, yeah.

So remember I posted that I'm not going to worry about money until the day it runs out? We're two weeks away. I'm wondering if I should start looking for a job now. It's not likely the tax refund will be here by then, and the few bits of cash we are expecting are taking longer than we expected.

Moving on.

We had some yummy food yesterday. We had a turkey salad for lunch with the last of the frozen Thanksgiving turkey, mangoes and a salad dressing I made. The dressing was amazing, so I'm posting it for you.

Lime Ginger Dressing
Run a bunch of washed cilantro leaves through juicer. Peel and run a one-inch knob of ginger followed by a peeled lime. Mix with 3 tablespoons rice vinegar and 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. Particularly refreshing and warming at the same time.

For dinner we had a skillet gnocchi thing. I browned the gnocchi (yes, it was whole wheat, which made it taste a tad strange) and took it out of the pot. I browned up some olives and garlic in coconut oil, then tossed in a couple cans of cannelini beans, a couple cans of chopped tomatoes, some basil, oregano and marjoram. When it was simmering, I tossed in some spinach and let it simmer down a bit before I put the gnocchi back in. I served it topped with a sprinkle of mozzarella and a sprinkle of parmesan. Out of all that, the only thing I had to put on the shopping list was the gnocchi and spinach. The rest I had in the cupboard and garage. Nice. We had it with a big green salad and Kate made chocolate meringues for dessert.

As for the rest of the news, there isn't any. Still looking for a job, still hanging on, still freelancing. Still trying to stay calm.

Farewell to Georgia

Spending Christmas in Georgia with my family is always...interesting. The saddest thing, though, is that none of their good Georgia special produce is in season. But, I made do. When we got home, we had this special Farewell-to-Georgia dinner:
Those are pecan-crusted pork tenderloin medallions hiding under the delicious peach and onion relish. The peaches were frozen and the wonderful vidalia onions were jarred. The green beans and red potatoes were steamed and served with a little garlic butter toss.

Get it? Red potatoes and green beans - Christmasy! Pecans, vidalias and peaches - Georgian!

Okay, it's a stretch.

Shhh. Don't tell anyone because it's a secret. I'm on a diet. Seeing my mother at the holidays really put the fear of fat into me once again. Yeah, that whole, "diets don't work, you have to change your lifestyle" stuff isn't working for me, either. I started yesterday. I have freshly juiced veggies for breakfast, steamed veggies for lunch, and a reasonably-sized, balanced dinner. I'm trying the whole no-grain, no-bean, low starch thing, just to see how it goes. I walked 1/4 mile, which is 1/4 mile further than I've walked in months. We'll see how it goes. But keep it a secret, okay?

Stuff we are making

The kids love to do crafts, but the finances are very tight. I found some really cheap crafts for us to do this year and we are loving it!


These are snowflakes we made from Borax (have it on hand for laundry anyway), pipe cleaners and thread. Total cost was $2 for a package of pipe cleaners and they were ready overnight. You can read the instructions here.

I also found some really cheap fresh cranberries at the store and made these:


I boiled equal parts sugar and water to dissolve, let it cool for a bit (so the berries didn't pop) and added the berries. After soaking them overnight, I drained off the sugar water and rolled the berries in a little sugar. Doesn't it look like snow? They are tart-sour-sweet-yummy, too. Oh, and all those good antioxidants surely make up for the sugar, right? Who cares, it's Christmas!

We also made homemade marshmallows, which are yummy but not as fluffy as I'd like since I was using a hand mixer instead of a heavy-duty machine (my Bosch broke in our move here) and a trash bag wreath. I'll post pics of those in the next couple days.

Call to Arms: The Turkey Army

A treasured tradition in our house is the Thanksgiving Turkey Army. This year, we are making gift bags by writing "We are thankful for you" on some plain brown paper lunch sacks. We add some stamps, glitter, and a reason or two we are thankful for each neighbor and stuff the sack with one turkey for each member of the neighbor's family. Here's how we make the turkey army:




First you either make a batch of Rice Krispie Treats or (if you're easily overwhelmed like me) buy the pre-made treats. If you use the pre-made treats, cut each treat in half and mold into a ball.





Now twist apart some Oreo cookies. You'll use half as the base and half as the tail. Use a little white frosting as "glue" to hold the ball onto the base and the tail onto the back of the ball.









Dip the flat, back side of the fat ends of three candy corn candies and arrange on the tail for "feathers."











One more candy corn for the head:










And voila! Your turkey army is ready to do battle!

Rescued Soup

I burned the sausage, but cut off the worst of the singed area and pressed on. Even the kids liked this, which is unusual, since they don't like soup.

I cubed four potatoes I got from the store as the locals aren't in yet and boiled them for about 20 minutes until they were good and soft. I drained them, but saved the boiling water. I tossed in some butter from local grassfed cows and mashed them smooth. In went the boiling water, some cooked and cut up cheddar bratwurst and the last of our locally grown kale. This simmered along for about 20 minutes until the kale was cooked down. I liked it without the brats, but the kids insisted on the meat. Very good.

100-yard challenge

I'd heard about the 100-mile challenge: eat only what grows within 100 miles of where you eat it. But I'd never heard of the 100-yard challenge until today. Our Homeowner's Association prevents us from putting in a full backyard garden like I've always dreamed of doing, and my physical state would not allow me much participation in its upkeep, but I think the idea of a Victory Garden is worthy of consideration. The challenge is not a commitment to eat three meals a day, seven days a week from one's own garden, only one meal a week. I could eat fresh tomatoes and tea made from the mint on my patio for lunch one day a week, easily.

One of my greatest challenges in life is moderation. I am a very black-and-white, all-or-nothing kind of thinker. I don't want a small patio garden, I want to plant my whole backyard in edibles. I don't want to agree to one meal once a week, I want to go all out. I don't want to "just" grind my own wheat and bake bread at home, I want to build my own house and get off the grid.

That is just SO not happening.

And I realize it. But I have to maintain my attitude that every bite of local food on my table improves my overall health, the health of my family, the economics of my city, the ecosystem, the farmer that grew it, and the world in general. I have limitations (and a man's got to know those, per Clint) of time, finances, pain and endurance, which dictate much of my life. I'd love to embark on a utopian dream of self-sustainability, but the inevitable setbacks and failure would dash my hopes and embitter my heart. The phrase "start small" has little meaning to me, but I'm working on it!

Last night's dinner was yummy.

That's locally grown broccoli, steamed just past raw. I love the leaves, they are richer in nutrients than the florets and don't make a mess between my teeth. The stems were so tender that they didn't even need peeling. This local variety was very delicately flavored, without the strong sulfuric flavor and odor of grocery store broccoli. Hm. I wonder if the sulfuric odor comes from travel and increased storage time.

The entree was storebought black beans and corn, cilantro from my patio garden, locally grown red bell pepper and green onions mixed in with storebought couscous. I made a bit of dressing with olive oil, lime, red wine vinegar and cumin, but what really boosted the taste was the spoonful of salsa on top. It was so good I had some more for breakfast!

I have an ice cream maker that has been run daily for the last couple weeks. It's not the old fashioned crank with ice and salt kind I used as a kid, but the kind with the tub that lives in the freezer until it hooks up to the electric base on the counter. I love it. Not only have we made fresh fruit sorbets, but we used it to quick-chill some lemonade when unexpected guests dropped by.

Last night, though, I used it to make the most wonderful ice cream. I got a vanilla custard going on the stove with local half and half and local whipping cream while I beat the yolks of some local eggs with sugar. I whisked it all together and warmed it until it got thick like a thin pudding, then refrigerated it until late afternoon. Before I started dinner, I put the custard cream into the frozen tub and started the motor. Rose chopped some local cherries (where did the cherry pitter go?) and I located some organic chocolate chips that we added when the ice cream was soft-serve consistency. I could NOT wait for the ice cream to harden in the freezer, so we ate it soft and creamy after dinner. It was marvelous. It was so rich and full of flavor that four tiny ounces really was a full serving! (I always laugh at the serving sizes on cartons of Ben and Jerry's. Yeah, like I'm really going to stop after four ounces.) Next time, I need to either find some miniature chips or give them a chop before adding them. They were just about twice as large as they needed to be.

Our Tropical Feast

We had a very yummy dinner last night. Some (but not all) of it was local, but I have to admit I imported for this meal and it was delicious.

We had pork tenderloin, rubbed with cinnamon, cumin, chili powder and pepper, seared in a hot skillet, then rubbed with brown sugar and baked until done. I served it on top of a salad of Napa cabbage mixed with baby spinach and tossed with red bell peppers. I made a dressing in the blender for the salad of one zested and three juiced limes, dijon, curry powder and a mango. That's sliced carambola (starfruit) and orange for garnish. Dessert was so simple - I cut up and blended a pineapple, threw in the juice of one lemon and a handful of brown sugar. I put it in the ice cream maker to freeze while I cooked everything else. While setting the table, Christy was inspired by our tropical theme and added mint stems and sliced lemons to the water and mint stems to the sorbet.

The grocery store provided the pork, sugar, and spices, Napa cabbage and spinach, carambola and mango and pineapple. The lemons, limes, orange, and bell peppers were locally grown and the mint was from my own patio garden. The water was local, from our tap with a good filtering system. :D

The kids loved this meal, most of them even ate the salad. I had one complaint about the sorbet from the child who dislikes pineapple, and John dumped the green "stuff" out of his water very dramatically.

Buttery Melty Goodness

I'm one of those strange birds that wants to taste what they're eating. Weird, huh? So, I don't use salt when I'm cooking (unless, like for baking, it's necessary for some required chemical reaction), but leave the salt shaker on the table for everyone to use as they see fit. Another example: I despise cooking oil in my baked goods. Even if it is flavorless, even if it is yummy, it adds calories to a product that just doesn't need it!

This morning's breakfast was coffee cake. I used just the plain old basic recipe, flour, baking powder and soda, salt, an egg, some honey, a little buttermilk, cinnamon, all the usual suspects. I left out the 1/2 cup of oil they wanted me to add (blech) and put used applesauce instead (yes, ALL applesauce.) But then when I got the batter in the pan, I thought about what it would taste like and my reaction to reach for the butter dish for that hefty sensation and rich flavor that would be missing. Instead, I heeded the call of the Amish and cut up a couple tablespoons of butter into tiny little chunks and pushed it into the batter before baking it. The cake baked, the butter created tiny craters of buttery melty goodness, and the cake was just right. And to me, a couple small chunks of butter is better than 1/2 cup of tasteless oil any day of the week.

Is coffee cake a local, seasonal food? Not this one. But the wheat was freshly ground from wheat berries purchased at Whole Foods, if that counts. The buttermilk came from the grocery store, but from a dairy in my state. The butter, well, there's nothing local about Land O'Lakes. But I did ask my CSA dairy agent if they could bring me a pound of raw local butter to their next drop. I can't wait!

Wish I had a grill

My kale leaf experiment turned out great. I washed the leaves and removed the center stem, then patted them dry. I have one of those pump-up mister bottles full of olive oil, and I used that to spray a thin coating of oil on each leaf front and back. I put them under the broiler for about five minutes until they got all dry and crispy on the first side, then turned them over to get crispy on the second side. The second side took only about two minutes. I sprinkled them with some salt and they were delicious! I imagine they would be even better grilled outdoors.

We keep meaning to get a grill, but hubby doesn't grill and I have a hard time justifying such a large expense for cooking. I've never had one I liked to clean, and have had many that were just cleaning nightmares.

Oh, but fresh veggies on a grill. Mmmm. What a wonderful meal!

Meat on a Stick

What is it about the combination of kids and summer that screams for simple food that you can eat in motion? My kids will eat something on a stick that they wouldn't touch on a plate. Here's an example:
This is what we had for dinner last night. I took some bamboo skewers and soaked them in water while I marinated a pound of (deeply discounted, thank you) rib eye steak that I'd cut into one-inch pieces in some vinegar. About a half hour later I cut up mushrooms, zucchini, red bell pepper and kale. I put some water on to boil while I assembled the kabobs, then put the orzo in to boil. I brushed the kabobs with a little olive oil and broiled them about five minutes, turned them once, then another five. The kids kept theirs on the stick, pushing the food up and biting it off one bite at a time. It was so much fun they even suffered through that "leafy green stuff" to get to the chunks of veggies they much prefer. We adults pushed the goodies off on top of the orzo, as is pictured above (on the Christmas plates, Christmas in July? Didn't think about that.)

One of the difficulties I'm finding with local, seasonal eating is the lack of variety. We have been very spoiled by the grocery store: I can serve asparagus in November as easily as May. But in June, where I live, it's kale, kale, kale, kale and collards, collards, collards, collards. Coming up with ways to eat the same old thing in a new way has been a real challenge for me. Kale is not as bad, I have steamed it, braised it and boiled it, all with success. But this kabob thing was wonderful! The kale came out almost as substantial on the tongue as a meringue, and crispy like a chip! I'm going to try broiling some large leaves today: flat and sprayed with a fine mist of olive oil. Sprinkled with a little salt it should make a really yummy afternoon snack!

We have been notified by the CSA that today is our last shipment of collards, and just in time. I finally found a single recipe that doesn't involve hocks, garlic and lemon juice, and I will be making that tonight. I hope it will be as successful as the kabobs.

Oh yeah. Oh YEAH.

Now, here's something I could eat for breakfast almost every day. Our plan is to make these weekly, changing up the fruit each time so we don't get bored.

Breakfast Bars
Preheat oven to 325°. In a bowl, combine 1 cup rolled oats, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (the shelled, unroasted kind - I find them at the health food section of the store), and 1/4 cup dried cherries (this part would change weekly.) In a separate small bowl, combine 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup applesauce, 1/4 cup honey, and 3 tablespoons OJ. Add to the oat mixture and stir it around. Take 1/2 cup out of the oat mixture and press the rest into a pan-sprayed 8x8 pan. Back in your small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons OJ and 1/2 cup fruit-only cherry (again, changing with the dried fruit) preserves. spread that evenly over the oat mixture in the pan, then sprinkle on the reserved oats, pressing it in lightly with your fingers. Bake 35 minutes until golden brown. Cool and cut into 8 bars.

Delish! We had cherry this morning, but we're going to try every flavor of fruit-only jam they make one delicious panful a week!

Littlest's favorite lunch

I hate feeding the kids from cans, but every so often we have to clean out the pantry. I don't normally buy a lot of canned fruit, but when there are a lot of fruit cans and it's lunchtime, my littlest will always ask for "fruit salad." By that, she means she wants to make pictures with the fruit, then eat it. For example, this "Ladybug on Hand,"


"Happy Face"

and "Duck".




I don't see the duck so much.

Cold Comfort Lunch

We're still fighting this cough thing. Now Blair says her upper teeth hurt when she bites down—a sinus infection? So, I dug out my nutritional materia medica and tossed together this lunch yesterday:

Cold Comfort Lunch
Chop 2 garlic cloves, set aside. Cook a pound of orzo in a quart of boiling vegetable broth for 5 minutes, remove from the heat and let it absorb the moisture while it cools. While that's all going on, chop a small onion, six shiitake mushrooms and eight green beans into tiny bites. Steam those with the garlic for 5 minutes, drain. Toss the veggies in a large bowl. Drain the orzo and add that to the bowl. In the pan you steamed the veggies over medium heat, toss 1/4 cup of pine nuts until toasty and light brown, but don't let them sit or they'll burn. Add those to the bowl. Strip the leaves from eight or nine stalks of fresh thyme, grate 2 carrots and add the thyme leaves and carrots to the bowl. In a separate small bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of vegetable broth and 1/4 cup raisins. Add that in and toss all together. Serve with a little parmesan on top.

Garlic and onion are prized for their immune-boosting and infection-killing abilities. Shiitake mushrooms have antiviral properties. Thyme is a miracle worker when it comes to calming coughs (we have a bowl of boiling water with thyme for the kids to "tent" their heads when they start coughing.) The fresh lemon juice is a great source of vitamin C, and raisins are alkaline. Orzo is filling, and the small pieces of veggies are easy to chew and nutritious, making this meal a real "comfort food" for when colds strike.

At snack time, I didn't want the kids eating a bunch of immune-suppressing sugar, but they wanted something sweet. I also wanted a big nutritional "BANG" for those who are not feeling well enough to eat a lot. So of course, I turned to sweet potatoes! Ah, all that orangy goodness. You just can almost feel the beta carotene working its wonders on you. Of course, they taste great, or they wouldn't get eaten!

I just peeled and sliced 3 large sweet potatoes in 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices and tossed them in a big bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil. Onto a pan-sprayed cookie sheet, into a 500° oven for 20 minutes, and voila! Snacktime! They were crispy on the outside and sweet and chewy on the inside. Didn't even need salt.

I wanted something for dinner that would be soothing on upset tummies, cough-suppressing and warming, but not overly filling, and this chowder fit the bill.

I call it The More (Vegetables) The Merrier Chowder

I mixed together 3 cups of vegetable stock, a large chopped onion, a tablespoon of stripped thyme leaves, a teaspoon of cumin, 2 cloves of minced garlic and got it boiling. I turned the heat down to simmer and covered it for five minutes. I stripped a cob of corn and tossed that in with a handful of frozen peas, four stalks of chopped bok choy, three stalks of chopped celery, a chopped up red bell pepper, two chopped carrots and two chopped zucchini. I let it simmer for about 15 minutes while I put the bread in the oven to warm. Now, I'm not normally a fan of white bread, but this meal just screamed out for an Italian loaf and I didn't have a whole wheat one ready. In a separate bowl, I mixed together 3 cups of milk, three tablespoons of peanut butter and a dash of Tabasco. I added that to the soup and stirred it around. It was the perfect eating temperature almost immediately. We had elderberry preserves on the bread, well, the kids did. I dunked my bread in the chowder!

Kate was still hungry after dinner and wanted something sweet, so she put together this yummmmmmmy dessert:

The Cider House Pears

Boil a cup of apple cider with a 4-inch sprig of rosemary, cover and reduce heat to simmering. Add five sliced pears and simmer five minutes. We served it with whipped cream.
Yup, that's Kate's hand!

No fair, they get COOKIES for breakfast!

I've always wanted to be the "cool mom on the block." You know, the one where all the kids hang out. My mother was that mom. When someone's kid ran away from home, they'd call our house and my mother would be sitting at the kitchen table with them, listening to their troubles over cookies and milk. I don't envy her, though, because it got harder to send them back home once the kids got to be teenagers!

In my childhood mind, I imagined the "cool mom on the block" as someone who always had freshly baked cookies laying around. Not just for dessert and snack, though - all the time, even at breakfast.

I found this great cookie recipe and tweaked it for my family. We had cookies for breakfast this morning and it was easy. I loved them! The ginger warmed me up from the inside, perfect for a cool morning! The kids, well, let's just say they are more fond of their cold cereal than the exotic idea of cookies at 7AM!

Here's my recipe:

Breakfast Ginger Cookies

The night before, mix in one bowl 1 cup of pastry flour, 1 1/2 cups rolled oats, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, pinch salt. Cover that and leave it on the counter. In another bowl, mix up 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger, 1 egg, 2/3 cup milk, 1 tablespoon oil and 3 tablespoons cooking maple syrup. Cover that and leave it in the fridge overnight. Line your cookie sheet with parchment so it's all ready to go, and go to bed!

In the AM, preheat the oven to 375°. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until mixed. Drop the batter in 2-tablespoon-lumps onto a cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes. This batch made 1 dozen.



Snack today was a yummy dip with fresh-tasting basil. I didn't plan quite far enough in advance for this recipe. It would have been much better chilled until it thickened a little. But it's a grownup dish, unless your kids like green food.

Basil Satin Dip

Bring a pot of water about six inches deep to boil and toss in 10.5 ounces of reduced fat tofu. Take off the heat and let it sit there for two minutes, then pour off the water and sit the tofu on a couple paper towels to drain a little. (This blanching process takes a lot of the soy flavor out of the tofu.) Toss into a blender with a tablespoon of miso (I like light miso, but it's a flavor choice, try red, too), 2 teaspoons of tahini, 1 teaspoon of grainy mustard (I don't like the really hot stuff, but something along the lines of Grey Poupon is delicious) 1/4 cup fresh, washed and blotted dry basil leaves, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 clove garlic. Blend that until it's smooth and satiny. Ooh, with whole wheat crackers...Yum!


And, here I go again with the purple veggies. This was more interesting-looking than just weird though, it was more a two-tone dish, so the purple cauliflower didn't look quite so strange with the green broccoli. Hubby even ate this, which is high praise for a recipe containing a cruciferous veggie.

Broc and Cauli Salad

Cut a head of cauliflower and a pound of broccoli into florets. Peel and chop the stems of the broccoli. Steam for 7 or 8 minutes and drain. While it's steaming, finely mince a clove of garlic and a couple scallions. In a small pan on medium high heat, swirl a teaspoon of oil until fragrant. Add a teaspoon coriander, the garlic and scallions. Saute, stirring for 2 minutes or so until fragrant. The seeds might jump around a bit, and that's fine. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool down a bit before adding 2 teaspoon minced fresh dill (or 1 teaspoon dried) and 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt. Pat the veggies dry, add the dressing and toss. Chill for about an hour (or longer) to let the flavors marry.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

I'm not normally a fan of stuffed peppers. We have corn allergies here, and polenta just never did anything for me. But tonight for dinner we had these lovely peppers:

I chose a mixture of red and yellow mostly because I could only find two red peppers that were fresh enough, and supplemented with yellow to make up the rest I needed.

Here's what I did:
I cored and seeded 4 large bell peppers and sliced them in half. I sliced from top to bottom so they'd be long and flat rather than across the "equator" because I thought that shape would be easier for the kids to handle. I parboiled the halves in boiling water for 3 minutes and drained them. I minced a garlic clove and let it "sit" open to air while I prepped more.

In a small saucepan, I mixed together 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, 1 bay leaf and 1 cup couscous. That came to a boil and I turned it off while I chopped and dropped these in the pan: 1 grated carrot, 1/2 cup finely chopped arugula, 2 minced green onions, 8 chopped green olives, 1/4 cup salsa (I just love Muir Glen mild.) I stirred it all around and by now the couscous had soaked up all the broth, so I tossed out the bay leaf, mixed in the garlic and loaded up the pepper halves with this concoction. Last, I topped each pepper with a slice of mozzarella (because the kids will eat just about anything with cheese on it.)

Very simple, easy, and delicious! Once oldest daughter got over me "ruining" the peppers by cooking them, she even enjoyed them!

Mmmmm Yummy Meals, Mommy!

I never claimed to be much of a cook. But I can read a mean recipe. I'm also a horrid klutz in the kitchen, burning or cutting myself during almost every meal preparation attempt. For these and financial reasons (do you think it's right that "real" foods - fresh fruits and veggies - are so much more expensive than overprocessed junk like boxed mac and cheese? I sure don't) I've been taking the slacker approach to meals lately. It's been fun, tossing something in the oven and walking away without searching for the first aid kit. But alas, our health is declining and waist size increasing, so it's once again time for some real food.

One of the keys to feeding our rather large crew on the smallest possible budget is frequent, small meals. That means, unfortunately, mom's in the kitchen every other day almost nonstop. But, that other day is easier.

Breakfast was a pretty good oven pancake. It was just a couple eggs, a dash of milk and a cup of flour (I mixed up a little pastry flour, a little regular flour and a pinch of flaxseed meal) tossed in the oven to puff for 20 minutes at 450°. This option is great because I don't have to stand over the stove and flip pancakes! We topped them with a syrup I made by putting fresh raspberries, frozen wild blueberries and a little apple juice in the blender. When I heated it up, it thickened just a little and was SO good.

While that was in the oven, I stirred together the muffins for morning snack. We had them with ginger tea at 10 when I got back from Walgreens (where I purchased gauze, medical tape, burn cream and bandaids, for the burns I received while making the stupid oven pancake.) Oh, they were so good!



Lunch was Mochi Soup and Potato Pie. Now, mochi is just rice starch, made from rice and water, nothing funky there. I didn't make the mochi myself, but bought a cake at the health food store and grated it into the soup. The soup got thick and yummy very quickly without the addition of milk. And I want to warn you: the Potato Pie looks very strange because I used purple potatoes! When I bought the potatoes, I didn't remember what I wanted to use them for, and got these cute little purple potatoes. They don't really "go" with the green of the dill and parsley, though, unless you're into green and purple. They didn't taste purple at all, just like regular potatoes!





While the soup was simmering happily and the Potato Pie was baking its little heart out, I toasted a cup almonds in a dry saute pan until they got really fragrant. I moved them off the heat and tossed in a few teaspoons of tamari soy sauce and minced fresh oregano. The kids can nibble on those for snack this afternoon when the munchies hit. Well, all except youngest who's allergic to almonds and middle who has braces, that is.




We aren't a family of soup eaters. It's taken me 17 years to get my oldest girl interested in anything liquid and warm (other than hot cocoa), but the kids all liked this Mochi Soup recipe and I sure like having veggies on the table at lunch rather than the PB & honey of late.

A note on ingredients: I use only freshly home-milled whole wheat flour, extra-virgin olive oil, grade B for cooking maple syrup and sea salt unless I say specifically otherwise in a recipe. Lemongrass is a wonderfully aromatic herb I find in the produce section at the store by the other fresh herbs. I like to snip it with scissors to use it in tea or cooking because it's a little too woody for my knives. As for veggies, frozen is better than canned if fresh is out of season. I don't like buying fresh veggies out of season because of the price and the negative impact I have heard they have on the environment and economy. We use cow's milk, mostly for cooking, because we have allergies to many other milk alternatives but we very rarely will just drink a glass of milk.

Here are my recipes:

Bran Muffins (makes 12)
Start out by making two cups of lemongrass tea. Combine 3/4C all bran cereal, 1/2C rolled oats, 1C brewed lemongrass tea and 1/2C milk. Let that sit for a minute to soften up while you grate a one-inch knob of ginger onto a piece of cheesecloth. Now, to the cereal, add 1C pastry flour 1t baking powder and 1t baking soda. In another small bowl, combine 2T oil and 1/4C maple syrup. Take the ginger and twist the cheesecloth around and around and around, and squeeze the juice into the small bowl. Toss the ginger pulp. Stir the liquids in the small bowl well then pour over the bran mixture. Add 1/2C chopped dates, 1/2C grated carrot, 1t minced lemongrass. Bake for 20 minutes at 400°. Oh, that other cup of lemongrass tea? Drink it with a tiny drizzle of honey while you wait for the muffins to cook.

Mochi Soup (made enough to feed 8 of us)
In a 3 quart pot, combine 8C vegetable stock, 1C corn kernels, 1C green beans cut into one-inch lengths, 2 minced shallots and bring it all to a nice, rolling boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover loosely and simmer 15 minutes. Grate in 6 mochi cakes and simmer another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. I served this with a sprinkling of fresh dill on top.

Dilly Potato Pie (made about 8 half-cup servings)
Start out by mincing a clove of garlic. Let it sit out in the air until you need it. (It increases the health benefits to let garlic air a bit.) Clean your potatoes, either scrubbing or peeling (I'm a scrubber, myself.) Cut them into 2-inch chunks and steam them until they are soft, about 10 minutes. Take a masher to them and pulverize them to your preferred level of mash. Chop half a small onion (we're not big onion eaters) and add that and the garlic to the potatoes. Chop up 1 1/2C watercress, 1/4C parsley (I like Italian, but curly works too), 1T fresh dill and toss those in with the potatoes. Stir together 3 eggs, 1/4C milk, 2t oil and a pinch of salt, and add to potatoes. Now plop those ole taters in a casserole dish (2 quart worked for me) and bake it for 30 minutes at 350°. I served these with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. My kids will eat darned near anything covered in Parmesan.