Many people who are just starting out on SCD don't realize why it's so important to make your own foods. Why can't we just trust that the applesauce is 100 percent apples? Or that juice is 100 percent juice? Or canned tomatoes?
There are a variety of laws which allow manufacturers to add things to products without telling you, or to conveniently leave out things that are dangerous. A contributor on the Pecanbread Yahoo! group recently said that Elaine Gottschall, who wrote Breaking the Vicious Cycle, had seen this firsthand. In the manufacturing process, it is accepted practice to add sugars to certain batches of tomato products in order to 'balance' the flavor -- without listing it on the label. That is why canned tomato products are illegal.
I have been trying to research food law, without much success, but I did come across something interesting. In March of 2006, the House passed a controversial food safety bill that would nullify state laws, which in many cases are stronger than what the FDA has in place.
For example, Prop 65, which was passed in California in 1986, would have been nullified. The proposition requires labeling on foods and products that contain carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) or potential carcinogens.
Due to that legislation, bottled water companies cut arsenic levels. Bakers stopped using potassium bromate, a potential carcinogen which is banned in many countries, in their products. States stepped up, and our food supply is safer (at least in California) because companies were afraid of being slapped with that label.
The bill passed the House with flying colors. Of course the food lobby was delighted. Luckily, the bill's run through the Senate was not successful.
As I find out more about food labeling laws, I will keep you all posted.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
And another marathon...
Sunday was my cooking marathon day, since we had just returned from our trip to Idaho.
I did something new, my dear readers. I set off the carbon monoxide detector!
Now, it wasn't anything serious. I live in an apartment with a broken oven. Only two burners work, and the oven part is missing half the seal, so there's a lot of heat (and presumably gas) leakage. And since the apartment is small, the CO detector is like four feet away from the oven, which you probably should not do.
I had been running the oven for somewhere in the neighborhood of...oh, six hours I guess? I boiled two big pans of veggies, one of carrots and one of beans while I baked a double batch of almond butter brownies in the oven. I then made two pans of egg bread. After that, I made two meatloaves. Oh all right, I'll post the recipe, but it really wasn't anything special. Note to everybody: Don't use cheap ground beef. Just don't. You will be much happier if you use something better than that. Don't be like me.
After the meatloaves were done, I started a pan of cooked pineapple. And that was when the CO detector went bleepity bleep, with a reading of 51. That is not that dangerous of a reading, but we dutifully shut off the oven and opened the door, and soon enough it dropped back down to 30 parts of death or whatever.
So. A shorter marathon cooking session, but a marathon nonetheless.
And! I have a surprise for you! I do I do I do. I am taking the plunge and making YOGURT RIGHT NOW! OMG I KNOW RIGHT? :)
So I will definitely post about that experience when it's done...which should be somewhere around midnight tomorrow. I had poor timing, but where I am suffering, you will not! For you will learn from the error of my ways, because I shall tell you about the error of mine!
Isn't this fun? It is, isn't it?
Seriously. I love it!
I did something new, my dear readers. I set off the carbon monoxide detector!
Now, it wasn't anything serious. I live in an apartment with a broken oven. Only two burners work, and the oven part is missing half the seal, so there's a lot of heat (and presumably gas) leakage. And since the apartment is small, the CO detector is like four feet away from the oven, which you probably should not do.
I had been running the oven for somewhere in the neighborhood of...oh, six hours I guess? I boiled two big pans of veggies, one of carrots and one of beans while I baked a double batch of almond butter brownies in the oven. I then made two pans of egg bread. After that, I made two meatloaves. Oh all right, I'll post the recipe, but it really wasn't anything special. Note to everybody: Don't use cheap ground beef. Just don't. You will be much happier if you use something better than that. Don't be like me.
STAGE ONE MEATLOAF
2 cups green beans, water squeezed out (after measuring)
2 cups carrots, water squeezed out (after measuring)
1 to 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 egg
1 tsp salt
Garlic cloves and onion
Mix with hands. Yes, it will be wet. Pat into a loaf shape and place into a pan that can catch the grease and/or water. I used a Pyrex dish and a LOT of liquid came out of these puppies, but I also used cheap meat so that may have something to do with it. So be warned.
Peel the garlic cloves and then stick little pieces of them all over the meatloaf, deep enough so they stay, but not so deep you can't pick them out later, because you can't eat garlic on stage one. Your meatloaf will look like a multicolored porcupine, and your family members will likely mock you. That is OK.
Quarter the onion and liberally cover the entire meatloaf in onion pieces.
Bake at 400 degrees for an hour or until it looks done. Pull out the garlic and strip off the onion pieces before you eat it!! On stage one you can't eat that stuff. No, not even the crispy pieces. No. NO!
Mine took longer but I was sharing oven space with another meatloaf and a lasagna for hubby, so it was more like 90 minutes.
It will still need more salt, in my opinion. And you can serve it with SCD ketchup, which also has salt. So yay.
After the meatloaves were done, I started a pan of cooked pineapple. And that was when the CO detector went bleepity bleep, with a reading of 51. That is not that dangerous of a reading, but we dutifully shut off the oven and opened the door, and soon enough it dropped back down to 30 parts of death or whatever.
So. A shorter marathon cooking session, but a marathon nonetheless.
And! I have a surprise for you! I do I do I do. I am taking the plunge and making YOGURT RIGHT NOW! OMG I KNOW RIGHT? :)
So I will definitely post about that experience when it's done...which should be somewhere around midnight tomorrow. I had poor timing, but where I am suffering, you will not! For you will learn from the error of my ways, because I shall tell you about the error of mine!
Isn't this fun? It is, isn't it?
Seriously. I love it!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Organization is a nice thing.
So as you may have noticed, I just made two new posts that have all the recipes I personally have been using so far.
In the Stage One list, I added a new recipe too, for a spinach frittata. Clark loves it!
I also put links in the side bar so the recipes are easily findable. OK? OK.
Now I go sleepy time now? Maybe? The trip to Idaho was rough, but the food stuff went off without a hitch. Huzzah.
Night, peeps!
In the Stage One list, I added a new recipe too, for a spinach frittata. Clark loves it!
I also put links in the side bar so the recipes are easily findable. OK? OK.
Now I go sleepy time now? Maybe? The trip to Idaho was rough, but the food stuff went off without a hitch. Huzzah.
Night, peeps!
STAGE TWO: Recipes
Same deal. I link, you visit, everybody's happy. Mkay? Mkay.
The Pecanbread Food Stages Chart! if you're interested.
************
PINEAPPLE (EGG FREE)
Fresh pineapple spears or cut up yourself
Water
Pyrex dish
Put some water in the bottom of the Pyrex dish. Not too much. Cover the Pyrex dish and cook at 400 degrees for 2 hours.
I cooked it uncovered, but I wasn't thrilled by how dry the parts not under water looked. That's why I put that you should cover it, because I should have! I turned the parts halfway through. You don't have to do that. But you can if you want.
**************
SCD KETCHUP (my version, EGG FREE)
6 cups tomato juice (one big can)
1/2 cup white distilled vinegar
Mix the tomato juice and vinegar. Simmer until thickened. Add the honey and complete the cooking. Pour into a jar and refrigerate.
I put the juice and vinegar in my largest saucepan, with the lid on slightly askew. I simmer on medium heat for about an hour, checking on it every so often. I understand that Le Creuset type pans work well for this sort of thing. When I'm rich I will let you know. LOL.
***************
ALMOND BUTTER BROWNIES (my version) (CAN BE EGG FREE)
1 c almond butter
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 egg (or 1/4 cup legal applesauce) (OR USE EGG REPLACER BELOW)
1/2 tsp SCD legal vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda (OMIT IF USING EGG REPLACER)
1/3 cup honey (1/4 cup is about the minimum you can use and still have it taste somewhat sweet)
Mix by hand (it will get thick). Using a spatula, scrape it out of the bowl into an 8" square pyrex dish (no oil necessary). Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until browned at the edges.
EGG REPLACER (from PECANBREAD)
1 1/2 TBL water
1 1/2 TBL oil
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vinegar (I did not use this for the brownies)
***************
ASIAN DIPPING SAUCE (EGG FREE)
1/2 c almond butter
3 TBSP honey
2 TBSP coriander
3 TBSP oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin (optional)
Mix and eat with chicken, or chicken and cooked pineapple. I think it is super tasty. Yay.
****************
BEEFY SPINACH WITH MUSHROOMS (STAGE TWO) (EGG FREE)
1 pound frozen spinach
8 oz white button mushrooms
1 pound ground beef
1 onion
6-7 garlic cloves
1 cup SCD ketchup
In a large saucepan, put the frozen spinach, mushrooms, garlic, and onion (quartered) with 2-3 cups of water. Cook until the water has reduced about half. Add the beef and cook through, reducing the liquid as much as possible. When it's done, stir in 1 cup of SCD ketchup. Add more ketchup if you like!
*******************
ROAST GARLIC (STAGE TWO)
Take a large head of garlic and break it apart. You don't have to, but I think it makes things easier. Bigger cloves are easier to work with, too.
Take the big cloves and gather them up in a piece of foil. Don't peel them!
Bake at 400 degrees for about 45-50 minutes.
Wait until they are cool. Then, using a pair of kitchen shears, cut one end off each clove and squeeze out the garlic paste. You can use this in any recipe you want.
**********************
TURKEY MUSHROOM SOUP (STAGE TWO) (EGG FREE)
3-4 pounds turkey parts (I used thighs and drummettes)
2 large onions
7-8 garlic cloves
1-2 pounds baby carrots
4 stalks celery
1 pound frozen spinach
8 oz white button mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp sage
2 tsp salt
In a large stock pot, put the turkey parts on the bottom. Add the onions (quartered), garlic cloves, carrots, and celery (cut into 2-3 inch pieces). Add water to cover and simmer for four hours.
Add the frozen spinach and mushrooms, adding more water to cover. Add sage and salt. Cook for one more hour. Cool and remove the meat from the bones before storing. Also don't forget to remove the onion and celery, as this is stage two.
**********************
SPINACH AND MUSHROOM MEATLOAF (STAGE TWO) (EGG FREE)
2 pounds ground beef
1 pound spinach
8 oz button mushrooms, chopped
1 cup dry red wine
1 large onion, quartered
5-6 garlic cloves
SCD ketchup
In a large saucepan, cook the spinach, mushrooms, garlic, onion, and red wine with 2 cups of water. Simmer until the liquid is completely gone. This will take a while -- probably about an hour. Some alcohol will remain in the dish, but not much -- about 25 percent at most (the equivalent of 1/4 cup of wine), and remember, this is spread out into two meatloaves. If you don't want to do this, try 1/2 cup Welch's grape juice instead. Tell me how it turns out. :)
Dump the mixture into a large mixing bowl and let it cool. Add the ground beef and mix together by hand until the vegetables are well incorporated. Separate the mixture and form into two loaves. Pour SCD ketchup on top to cover. Bake in a Pyrex dish at 400 degrees for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Makes two loaves.
I think the SCD ketchup is important to this recipe to keep the spinach from drying out on the outside. Clark loves this meatloaf, and I thought it was pretty good too.
***********************
BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP (STAGE TWO) (EGG FREE)
3-4 pounds butternut squash
2 cups SCD legal applesauce
3-4 roasted garlic cloves (a paste)
1 cup water
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp coriander
1/8 tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
Bake the butternut squash in the oven until done. You can bake the squash whole if you like for about two hours at 400 degrees. Remove from oven, cut open if you haven't already, and let cool until you can handle it easily.
Put the cooked squash in your blender with the applesauce, water, garlic paste, cinnamon, coriander, cloves, and salt. Blend until well combined.
I tried it with ginger the time I made it before this time, but I didn't like it. I couldn't find my nutmeg so I will try that at some point too. Probably 1/2 teaspoon would be good.
******************
ALMOND MILK (EGG FREE)
ALMOND MILK
1 cup almonds
water
Put the almonds in the blender. Add water to the four cup mark. Blend for 10 minutes.
I strained the almond pulp through a clean bandana. It worked very well. Do not try coffee filters. They will rip.
****************
The Pecanbread Food Stages Chart! if you're interested.
************
PINEAPPLE (EGG FREE)
Fresh pineapple spears or cut up yourself
Water
Pyrex dish
Put some water in the bottom of the Pyrex dish. Not too much. Cover the Pyrex dish and cook at 400 degrees for 2 hours.
I cooked it uncovered, but I wasn't thrilled by how dry the parts not under water looked. That's why I put that you should cover it, because I should have! I turned the parts halfway through. You don't have to do that. But you can if you want.
**************
SCD KETCHUP (my version, EGG FREE)
6 cups tomato juice (one big can)
1/2 cup white distilled vinegar
Mix the tomato juice and vinegar. Simmer until thickened. Add the honey and complete the cooking. Pour into a jar and refrigerate.
I put the juice and vinegar in my largest saucepan, with the lid on slightly askew. I simmer on medium heat for about an hour, checking on it every so often. I understand that Le Creuset type pans work well for this sort of thing. When I'm rich I will let you know. LOL.
***************
ALMOND BUTTER BROWNIES (my version) (CAN BE EGG FREE)
1 c almond butter
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 egg (or 1/4 cup legal applesauce) (OR USE EGG REPLACER BELOW)
1/2 tsp SCD legal vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda (OMIT IF USING EGG REPLACER)
1/3 cup honey (1/4 cup is about the minimum you can use and still have it taste somewhat sweet)
Mix by hand (it will get thick). Using a spatula, scrape it out of the bowl into an 8" square pyrex dish (no oil necessary). Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until browned at the edges.
EGG REPLACER (from PECANBREAD)
1 1/2 TBL water
1 1/2 TBL oil
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vinegar (I did not use this for the brownies)
***************
ASIAN DIPPING SAUCE (EGG FREE)
1/2 c almond butter
3 TBSP honey
2 TBSP coriander
3 TBSP oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin (optional)
Mix and eat with chicken, or chicken and cooked pineapple. I think it is super tasty. Yay.
****************
BEEFY SPINACH WITH MUSHROOMS (STAGE TWO) (EGG FREE)
1 pound frozen spinach
8 oz white button mushrooms
1 pound ground beef
1 onion
6-7 garlic cloves
1 cup SCD ketchup
In a large saucepan, put the frozen spinach, mushrooms, garlic, and onion (quartered) with 2-3 cups of water. Cook until the water has reduced about half. Add the beef and cook through, reducing the liquid as much as possible. When it's done, stir in 1 cup of SCD ketchup. Add more ketchup if you like!
*******************
ROAST GARLIC (STAGE TWO)
Take a large head of garlic and break it apart. You don't have to, but I think it makes things easier. Bigger cloves are easier to work with, too.
Take the big cloves and gather them up in a piece of foil. Don't peel them!
Bake at 400 degrees for about 45-50 minutes.
Wait until they are cool. Then, using a pair of kitchen shears, cut one end off each clove and squeeze out the garlic paste. You can use this in any recipe you want.
**********************
TURKEY MUSHROOM SOUP (STAGE TWO) (EGG FREE)
3-4 pounds turkey parts (I used thighs and drummettes)
2 large onions
7-8 garlic cloves
1-2 pounds baby carrots
4 stalks celery
1 pound frozen spinach
8 oz white button mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp sage
2 tsp salt
In a large stock pot, put the turkey parts on the bottom. Add the onions (quartered), garlic cloves, carrots, and celery (cut into 2-3 inch pieces). Add water to cover and simmer for four hours.
Add the frozen spinach and mushrooms, adding more water to cover. Add sage and salt. Cook for one more hour. Cool and remove the meat from the bones before storing. Also don't forget to remove the onion and celery, as this is stage two.
**********************
SPINACH AND MUSHROOM MEATLOAF (STAGE TWO) (EGG FREE)
2 pounds ground beef
1 pound spinach
8 oz button mushrooms, chopped
1 cup dry red wine
1 large onion, quartered
5-6 garlic cloves
SCD ketchup
In a large saucepan, cook the spinach, mushrooms, garlic, onion, and red wine with 2 cups of water. Simmer until the liquid is completely gone. This will take a while -- probably about an hour. Some alcohol will remain in the dish, but not much -- about 25 percent at most (the equivalent of 1/4 cup of wine), and remember, this is spread out into two meatloaves. If you don't want to do this, try 1/2 cup Welch's grape juice instead. Tell me how it turns out. :)
Dump the mixture into a large mixing bowl and let it cool. Add the ground beef and mix together by hand until the vegetables are well incorporated. Separate the mixture and form into two loaves. Pour SCD ketchup on top to cover. Bake in a Pyrex dish at 400 degrees for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Makes two loaves.
I think the SCD ketchup is important to this recipe to keep the spinach from drying out on the outside. Clark loves this meatloaf, and I thought it was pretty good too.
***********************
BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP (STAGE TWO) (EGG FREE)
3-4 pounds butternut squash
2 cups SCD legal applesauce
3-4 roasted garlic cloves (a paste)
1 cup water
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp coriander
1/8 tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
Bake the butternut squash in the oven until done. You can bake the squash whole if you like for about two hours at 400 degrees. Remove from oven, cut open if you haven't already, and let cool until you can handle it easily.
Put the cooked squash in your blender with the applesauce, water, garlic paste, cinnamon, coriander, cloves, and salt. Blend until well combined.
I tried it with ginger the time I made it before this time, but I didn't like it. I couldn't find my nutmeg so I will try that at some point too. Probably 1/2 teaspoon would be good.
******************
ALMOND MILK (EGG FREE)
ALMOND MILK
1 cup almonds
water
Put the almonds in the blender. Add water to the four cup mark. Blend for 10 minutes.
I strained the almond pulp through a clean bandana. It worked very well. Do not try coffee filters. They will rip.
****************
STAGE ONE: Recipes
I will edit this as I go, and link to it in the sidebar. OK? OK.
The Pecanbread Food Stages Chart! if you're interested.
NOTE: HOW TO COOK VEGGIES
Veggies should be very soft. Yes, some people do cook carrots for four hours. In my experience, that hasn't been necessary. I boil large quantities of baby carrots usually for an hour, 90 minutes tops. I check them with a butter knife. If I can easily slice one with a butter knife while it's floating in the boiling water, they're done.
*********
CHICKEN SOUP (mostly from BTVC, EGG FREE)
Chicken legs and thighs, about 4 pounds or so
Ten peeled carrots or 1-2 pounds of baby carrots
1-2 onions
5-6 garlic cloves
4-5 stalks of celery
Get a big pot and fill it halfway with the chicken parts. Add peeled or baby carrots, chopped onion, garlic cloves, and celery. Fill pot with water until it almost covers the contents of the pot, but not quite as more water will cook out at the start.
Put a lid on it and simmer for 4 hours. You'll need to check it and add more water as it cooks. Take the meat off the bones, and throw away the onions, garlic, and celery on stage one because you can't eat it. On stage two you can leave the garlic in but you still have to throw away the other stuff.
After making the soup in this way, I added a teaspoon of sea salt and a teaspoon of sage. Next time I'll try adding the sage ahead of time, but spices sort of vanish when you cook something for four hours, so I'm not sure if it will make a difference. I ended up with a lot more chicken than necessary, so I separated out some of it to use for chicken salad later in the week.
************
SAFE MAYONNAISE WITH PASTEURIZED EGG WHITES
1/4 cup egg white (egg white ONLY in the carton)
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp vinegar
3/4 cup oil (approximate)
ear plugs (you can thank me later)
Dump the egg white, ground mustard, salt, and vinegar into your blender. Put your ear plugs on. Turn the blender on to HIGH and start adding the oil slowly. How slowly? Add it at a speed where you think you will possibly never ever be done with the mayo.
Keep adding it slowly, until the mixture starts to emulsify. If you look inside, at the beginning you will be able to see right to the bottom of the blender. Staring at the blade is kind of scary, so look away now and then.
You'll notice a difference in the sound as the mayo starts to glop together. Keep adding the oil slowly until it has glopped together to the point where you can't see the blade anymore - or if you can, it's intermittent.
Then stop the blender and you will have mayo! Safe mayo! Germ free mayo!
I have successfully doubled this recipe in the blender, and now that's the only way I'll make it.
Keeps for a week in the fridge, as long as you always dip into it with clean utensils. Safety first!
**************
CARROT PANCAKES
1 1/2 cups well cooked baby carrots (water squeezed out, seriously)
4 eggs
1 tsp SCD legal vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon (you should test this as a food)
4 tsp honey (optional)
1/4 tsp sea salt
Mash up the carrots with the other ingredients until it's as smooth as you'd like, or you can puree it. Fry in a skillet with a small amount of oil.
Makes about 9 pancakes.
****************
VEGGIE MUFFINS
2 cups pureed fruit or veggies (water squeezed out, seriously)
4 eggs
4 tsp oil (coconut was recommended; I used olive)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp honey (optional)
1/4 tsp sea salt
Mix together. Put in muffin tins with liners.
Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes. Makes 12.
******************
BANANA PANCAKES (multiple sources)
1 very ripe banana
1 egg
Mix, fry, eat.
******************
SALMON PATTIES
2 cans wild salmon, drained
5 eggs
1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
Mix, fry. It's not the best recipe, but it's OK when you have nothing else on hand. :)
************
The Pecanbread Food Stages Chart! if you're interested.
NOTE: HOW TO COOK VEGGIES
Veggies should be very soft. Yes, some people do cook carrots for four hours. In my experience, that hasn't been necessary. I boil large quantities of baby carrots usually for an hour, 90 minutes tops. I check them with a butter knife. If I can easily slice one with a butter knife while it's floating in the boiling water, they're done.
*********
CHICKEN SOUP (mostly from BTVC, EGG FREE)
Chicken legs and thighs, about 4 pounds or so
Ten peeled carrots or 1-2 pounds of baby carrots
1-2 onions
5-6 garlic cloves
4-5 stalks of celery
Get a big pot and fill it halfway with the chicken parts. Add peeled or baby carrots, chopped onion, garlic cloves, and celery. Fill pot with water until it almost covers the contents of the pot, but not quite as more water will cook out at the start.
Put a lid on it and simmer for 4 hours. You'll need to check it and add more water as it cooks. Take the meat off the bones, and throw away the onions, garlic, and celery on stage one because you can't eat it. On stage two you can leave the garlic in but you still have to throw away the other stuff.
After making the soup in this way, I added a teaspoon of sea salt and a teaspoon of sage. Next time I'll try adding the sage ahead of time, but spices sort of vanish when you cook something for four hours, so I'm not sure if it will make a difference. I ended up with a lot more chicken than necessary, so I separated out some of it to use for chicken salad later in the week.
************
SAFE MAYONNAISE WITH PASTEURIZED EGG WHITES
1/4 cup egg white (egg white ONLY in the carton)
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp vinegar
3/4 cup oil (approximate)
ear plugs (you can thank me later)
Dump the egg white, ground mustard, salt, and vinegar into your blender. Put your ear plugs on. Turn the blender on to HIGH and start adding the oil slowly. How slowly? Add it at a speed where you think you will possibly never ever be done with the mayo.
Keep adding it slowly, until the mixture starts to emulsify. If you look inside, at the beginning you will be able to see right to the bottom of the blender. Staring at the blade is kind of scary, so look away now and then.
You'll notice a difference in the sound as the mayo starts to glop together. Keep adding the oil slowly until it has glopped together to the point where you can't see the blade anymore - or if you can, it's intermittent.
Then stop the blender and you will have mayo! Safe mayo! Germ free mayo!
I have successfully doubled this recipe in the blender, and now that's the only way I'll make it.
Keeps for a week in the fridge, as long as you always dip into it with clean utensils. Safety first!
**************
CARROT PANCAKES
1 1/2 cups well cooked baby carrots (water squeezed out, seriously)
4 eggs
1 tsp SCD legal vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon (you should test this as a food)
4 tsp honey (optional)
1/4 tsp sea salt
Mash up the carrots with the other ingredients until it's as smooth as you'd like, or you can puree it. Fry in a skillet with a small amount of oil.
Makes about 9 pancakes.
****************
VEGGIE MUFFINS
2 cups pureed fruit or veggies (water squeezed out, seriously)
4 eggs
4 tsp oil (coconut was recommended; I used olive)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp honey (optional)
1/4 tsp sea salt
Mix together. Put in muffin tins with liners.
Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes. Makes 12.
******************
BANANA PANCAKES (multiple sources)
1 very ripe banana
1 egg
Mix, fry, eat.
******************
SALMON PATTIES
2 cans wild salmon, drained
5 eggs
1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
Mix, fry. It's not the best recipe, but it's OK when you have nothing else on hand. :)
************
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year! marathon cooking!
New Year's Eve was mostly uneventful. The husband and I settled down to watch a bunch of season 9 Seinfeld, which was a Merry Christmas to Us gift as a result of receiving gift cards. Whee!
Five minutes before midnight, we stood out on our balcony. We could hear a few people counting down, and then a shout of "Happy New Year!" which might be the cutest thing I've ever heard on New Year's. Then there were a lot of bangs, some of which were undoubtedly people firing guns into the air, because I live in a slightly ghetto neighborhood in Los Angeles.
Ah well.
So I kissed my hubby and we went to bed.
Earlier in the evening, I cooked two pans of chicken breasts in preparation for the marathon of New Year's day. So at least I'd done that.
My darling Jeffrey let me sleep in (wonder of wonders!) and cooked Clark some eggs for breakfast. Whew. I staggered out and started figuring out what I was going to need to get done.
First: ketchup. I've given up on my stir-and-stir-till-I-go-insane method and tossed my largest stock pot on the burner with a full can of Campbell's tomato juice and 1/2 a cup of vinegar in it. Forgot to add a little honey. Oh well! Put the lid on slightly askew and left it to simmer.
Next I made mayo. My first batch failed. Don't add the oil so fast, people! It is so not worth it! To make up for the failed batch, I made another one. And then my ears were starting to hurt from the blender. So Jeffrey held his hands over my ears while I made the third batch. Whatta guy. I'm going to buy earplugs and I will encourage you all to do the same.
At this point I checked the ketchup and it was done. I ran a load of dishes too.
Third, a double batch of almond butter brownies. I don't like a double batch in a 9 x 13 pan. I don't know why, but I don't like the thickness of them. So I used my 8 x 8 pan and put six foil and three paper cupcake liners in a muffin pan and did it that way. While they were baking, we started packing and looking for clothing to bring to Idaho. We realized we had to do some laundry. In went a load of clothes.
The muffin-like ones kind of burned a little but they were still edible. The 8 x 8 pan was fine. Hooray. Out they came to sit on the counter.
I started to mix up some chicken salad from the mayo. I should have been making egg bread at that point but I got a little sidetracked. By then it was lunchtime anyway, so Clark got food and Jeffrey went to In-n-Out while I got my act together. Since Clark finished off the jello we had, I made a half batch of jello for dinner and stuck that in the fridge. Clark helpfully told me that I'd forgotten to put the clothes in the dryer.
You know, it's bad enough when they start getting bossy. It's even worse when they're right.
He then told me that I'd forgotten to 'do the lint' on the dryer. He was also right about that. -_- OK, so it's clear he's fully recovered from the candy cane incident!
I used all the egg whites that I had left over from the mayo to make myself a sort of omelette out of cooked pineapple and almond butter and salt. It was weird. No, that is not really a recipe. No, I am not sharing it. However I did play with the pineapple and I figured out that baking it (I did so last night) works pretty good.
I cooked it uncovered, but I wasn't thrilled by how dry the parts not under water looked. That's why I put that you should cover it, because I should have! I turned the parts halfway through. You don't have to do that. But you can if you want.
So. After eating we went out because we had to get travel bottles and soft sided coolers for our trip. We did that. OK. I got new jeans, yay! My other ones had a hole. By the crotch. And I couldn't find the patches that I'd used to patch all of my son's ripped pants. So I whined and complained and I got some clearance jeans as a result. Don't say complaining never gets you anything! :P
Home! We packed some more. I made two pans of egg bread. And then two more pans of egg bread. Clark is of course going out of his mind now because we are going to go on an AIRPLANE which in his mind is something like MEETING ELVIS should he have been born forty years earlier or so.
Then I hard boiled...11 eggs, and boiled more carrots, because I had run out.
Then I made a pan of hamburgers.
Got the monster to bed. He actually went to sleep. Hooray. I sat down and figured out most of my meals and exactly what I was going to carry on the plane. Got everything figured out reasonably, and also realized I should make some carrot pancakes. At least by then the carrots were done.
I made 15 carrot pancakes, and that was all I could make because the five dozen eggs I'd purchased were all gone, which signified the END of my cooking spree.
And here I am, done! Finally! And we get up at 4 a.m. so...I guess I'd better take a shower and get to bed soonish.
I am going to reorganize my recipes for YOU! Soon!
See ya next week. :)
Five minutes before midnight, we stood out on our balcony. We could hear a few people counting down, and then a shout of "Happy New Year!" which might be the cutest thing I've ever heard on New Year's. Then there were a lot of bangs, some of which were undoubtedly people firing guns into the air, because I live in a slightly ghetto neighborhood in Los Angeles.
Ah well.
So I kissed my hubby and we went to bed.
Earlier in the evening, I cooked two pans of chicken breasts in preparation for the marathon of New Year's day. So at least I'd done that.
My darling Jeffrey let me sleep in (wonder of wonders!) and cooked Clark some eggs for breakfast. Whew. I staggered out and started figuring out what I was going to need to get done.
First: ketchup. I've given up on my stir-and-stir-till-I-go-insane method and tossed my largest stock pot on the burner with a full can of Campbell's tomato juice and 1/2 a cup of vinegar in it. Forgot to add a little honey. Oh well! Put the lid on slightly askew and left it to simmer.
Next I made mayo. My first batch failed. Don't add the oil so fast, people! It is so not worth it! To make up for the failed batch, I made another one. And then my ears were starting to hurt from the blender. So Jeffrey held his hands over my ears while I made the third batch. Whatta guy. I'm going to buy earplugs and I will encourage you all to do the same.
At this point I checked the ketchup and it was done. I ran a load of dishes too.
Third, a double batch of almond butter brownies. I don't like a double batch in a 9 x 13 pan. I don't know why, but I don't like the thickness of them. So I used my 8 x 8 pan and put six foil and three paper cupcake liners in a muffin pan and did it that way. While they were baking, we started packing and looking for clothing to bring to Idaho. We realized we had to do some laundry. In went a load of clothes.
The muffin-like ones kind of burned a little but they were still edible. The 8 x 8 pan was fine. Hooray. Out they came to sit on the counter.
I started to mix up some chicken salad from the mayo. I should have been making egg bread at that point but I got a little sidetracked. By then it was lunchtime anyway, so Clark got food and Jeffrey went to In-n-Out while I got my act together. Since Clark finished off the jello we had, I made a half batch of jello for dinner and stuck that in the fridge. Clark helpfully told me that I'd forgotten to put the clothes in the dryer.
You know, it's bad enough when they start getting bossy. It's even worse when they're right.
He then told me that I'd forgotten to 'do the lint' on the dryer. He was also right about that. -_- OK, so it's clear he's fully recovered from the candy cane incident!
I used all the egg whites that I had left over from the mayo to make myself a sort of omelette out of cooked pineapple and almond butter and salt. It was weird. No, that is not really a recipe. No, I am not sharing it. However I did play with the pineapple and I figured out that baking it (I did so last night) works pretty good.
PINEAPPLE
Fresh pineapple spears or cut up yourself
Water
Pyrex dish
Put some water in the bottom of the Pyrex dish. Not too much. Cover the Pyrex dish and cook at 400 degrees for 2 hours.
I cooked it uncovered, but I wasn't thrilled by how dry the parts not under water looked. That's why I put that you should cover it, because I should have! I turned the parts halfway through. You don't have to do that. But you can if you want.
So. After eating we went out because we had to get travel bottles and soft sided coolers for our trip. We did that. OK. I got new jeans, yay! My other ones had a hole. By the crotch. And I couldn't find the patches that I'd used to patch all of my son's ripped pants. So I whined and complained and I got some clearance jeans as a result. Don't say complaining never gets you anything! :P
Home! We packed some more. I made two pans of egg bread. And then two more pans of egg bread. Clark is of course going out of his mind now because we are going to go on an AIRPLANE which in his mind is something like MEETING ELVIS should he have been born forty years earlier or so.
Then I hard boiled...11 eggs, and boiled more carrots, because I had run out.
Then I made a pan of hamburgers.
Got the monster to bed. He actually went to sleep. Hooray. I sat down and figured out most of my meals and exactly what I was going to carry on the plane. Got everything figured out reasonably, and also realized I should make some carrot pancakes. At least by then the carrots were done.
I made 15 carrot pancakes, and that was all I could make because the five dozen eggs I'd purchased were all gone, which signified the END of my cooking spree.
And here I am, done! Finally! And we get up at 4 a.m. so...I guess I'd better take a shower and get to bed soonish.
I am going to reorganize my recipes for YOU! Soon!
See ya next week. :)
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