Playing Catch-Up

Well folks, after an unreasonable amounts of phone calls and two shipping attempts, I FINALLY got my laptop up and running again.  Oh boy, have I missed it! And I've missed ya'll too.  So much to tell you about, so i won't delay.  Here goes:

NO MORE STORE BOUGHT BREAD

I have a bread machine and I've made a lot of things in it: pizza dough, jam, pie crusts, cookie dough, but since I first got it, I have only ever actually baked a loaf of bread in it once.  It was really very silly (and lazy) to keep buying bread though when I was totally capable of making it.  Still no incredible whole wheat recipes yet, but Nick is being a trooper and making do with what I've made thus far.  I'll be sure to share when I find one I like though. 

 

OUTING TO GIANT EAGLE MARKET DISTRICT, ROBINSON

I had heard many good things and we were in the area on shopping day.  I should point out that I didn't need anything exotic, just some basics.  I could have gotten everything on my list but the agave nectar in Dry Tavern.   I had expected to find, if nothing else, the full extent of the nature's basket line present there, in addition to a greater selection of other organic foods.  There was a great variety of ethnic & specialty items (much as one would have found at radicchio's before they closed) but no such luck on the Nature's Basket.  I was also diappointed in the freshness of their produce.  I did, however find Pistachio torrone, which totally made my day! Torrone is an Italian Honey-based nougat.  It's much yum.  <3

 

BUTTER DAY, HAND MIXER STYLE

My old college roomie, Cristy, commented on my first Butter post that she uses a hand mixer to make her butter.  This sounded like a good idea, since my food processor stunk like sour dairy for some time, despite being thoroughly cleaned by my loving hubby.  I did indeed wind up with butter, though it took a tad longer.  I was able to make a larger quantity in one batch because a mixing bowl doesn't have the liquid capacity problems that a food processor does.  The butter did not clump into a ball like in the food processor, so I had to watch carefully for the full separation of butter & buttermilk.  As the butter thickened, it really taxed the motor on my cheapo little hand mixer.  In all, the hand mixer is a totally viable solution, but in the future I think I'll stick with my food processor. 

 

RUTABAGA FRIES

Hello.  My name is Angela and I am addicted to potatoes.  Fired potatoes even more so, but all potatoes.  I have never met a potato substitute that even came close to the awesome yumminess, but they really probably shouldn't be quite as regularly present in my diet as they are.  I was reading a food blog on Yahoo (can't remember which) and the suggested that rutabaga fries were a great substitute that really looked like fries.  Having never tasted rutabaga, but having seen the yummy looking pictures, I decided to give it a shot.  I was disappointed in the rutabaga I got in Robinson (I'd seen better in washington) but all of it's bruises peeled off nicely. 

 

I tried to use my mandolin, with the wide julienne blade and the regular slicing blade set as wide as it'd go (the perfect setting for shoestring fries), but apparently rutabaga is too dense for a julienne blade.  It wouldn't go through.  (at this point my good camera died)

After much hand slicing, they smelled horribly of broccoli (I have to admit i put regular fries in as a back-up) but looked like the real deal.  (Real fries are on the right)

Honestly, they didn't go over very well in my house, but feel free to try them at yours!

NICK & I CELEBRATED OUR 3RD ANNIVERSARY

(lookie at my purty flowers)

 

Playing Catch-Up Part 2, tomorrow....

Did ya miss me?

Well folks, sorry for the extended absence. My still-under-warranty laptop's power cord has died and was supposed to have already been replaced, but alas, Walmart stinks! Guess thats why my laptop was >$300. My old gcc laptop is giving me my fix of internet, but it's not really equipped for regular blog posting, so it seems you all will ave to wait for my power cord with me. Don't give up on me. I promise i'll be back when my laptop is feeling better.

Pears!

My parents have two Bartlett pear trees in their back yard.  Every year, it goes something like this: The trees blossom and grow and ripen.  My dad gets excited, my mom hardly notices.  The pears start to fall and my dad, the middle of 5 kids, picks till his little heart is content, assuming that my mother will jump at the idea of pies and jams and such to preserve the food like his mother did.  My mom is an amazing homemaker & wife, but she's just not that interested in the waste or saving money, she has the luxury of not having to be.  So the pears sit.  And rot.  And  attract fruit flies, which upsets my mother.  It's ugly. 

This year, in a heroic effort to keep the peace (not to mention get a ton of free organic pears), I decided to do something about it.  On Monday, the 4 of us (My Parents & Nick & I) had a pear cleaning party and I made 20+ jars of freezer jam (admittedly using instant pectin and white sugar, not the best stuff for you, but the pears had already started to go bad.  It was a time thing.)  You can also make completely pectin-free jam in your bread machine, if it has a setting.  If it does, there will be a recipe in the manual.  That's not to say that pectin is bad.  You can actually extract your own from apples or crabapples, which aren't good for much else. Instant pectin has some added preservatives though.  I also froze some wedges to turn into pies in the future. 

Today I made unsweetened pear sauce (like apple sauce, only not) in the crock pot.  I just cleaned the pears & wedged them & tossed them in the crock pot on high with some lemon juice.  Once there was a considerable amount of liquid gathered in the pot (about 3 hours) I  processed them and put them back on low for another hour.  I then poured it into sterilized jars and lids & boiled for 20 min.  I'm waiting to hear the pop pop pop of vacuuming jars serenade me tonight.

RICH Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream (without a machine!)

Low(er) Fat, Organic & Agave Sweetened

To quote my mom "After the day I've had, you have no idea how good something chocolate that tastes like tequila sounds." 

Of course, it doesn't taste like tequila.  Blue Agave is indeed the plant tequila is made from and its syrup, WHEN PROPERLY PROCESSED has a very low glycemic index and load.  That means it doesn't impact your blood sugar in the dramatic way that most sugars do.  It's 1.4x as sweet as regular sugar and, with the right finagling, can be used in almost any application you would use white granulated sugar for. 

I have a bad habit of not cooking with a recipe.  I created this one from two recipes I found on the Internet (brave, considering I've never made ice cream before).  I gained quite a bit of inspiration from a few of David Lebovitz's Ice Cream Recipes & Methods.  That in mind, I'm not claiming this is the best ice cream on the planet, merely what I made.  I made it super rich so that a small amount would be satisfying.  This is a long process, I was up all night because I couldn't wait until Saturday to do it.  This made enough to fill my 1.88 pt container from pistachio gelato very full.  I'd say almost 2 pts. 

RECIPE
5 egg yolks
2/3 c. organic cocoa powder
3 c. Milk, divided (I used skim hormone-free because that's what I had, but the thicker the better in actuality)
1 c. Organic Peanut Butter
9 oz. Agave Nectar ( I used just over half of a 17 oz. Bottle)

In a sauce pot, warm agave nectar & peanut butter, mix thoroughly. 

In a sauce pot, warm 1 1/2 c. Milk and mix in cocoa powder.  Combine "Hot Chocolate" with "Sweet Peanut Butter"

Beat egg yolks.  Warm remaining milk and slowly mix into egg yolks. 

Combine all ingredients in sauce pot and warm on low heat until thickened. 

Pour into freezer & mixer-proof container and place in refrigerator to cool. 

When completely cooled, place in the freezer.  Remove and mix thoroughly with a hand mixer every 30 minutes until you are satisfied with its thickness.  Then put it in a freezer container and enjoy!

 

The freezing method can be used on any custard-based ice cream recipe. 

Not all GNC’s are Created Equal

Until i started this green little experiment, I had never set foot in a GNC.  It seemed like a place for the muscle-bound and gullible.  I probably would have never set foot in one, except that I read around the interwebz that GNC sell essential oils.  The only GNC I was *consciously* aware of in Washington, was the on in the mall.  I went to the GNC in the mall, and it was exactly as i expected.  A body-builder store with a grand total of 4 varieties of essential oil.  I didn't think any more about it until Nick & I went to Giant Eagle at midnight this weekend and, as we were driving by, I spotted the big red lights of an (obviously closed) GNC.  I knew it was there.  I drive by it a couple times a week, and I never thought about it.  This GNC was a whole 'nother planet! It's walls were lined with the usual vitamins, but front & center was basically an organic pantry!  All sorts of stuff, some of which i was having a hard time finding, right in front of me, not to mention probably 30+ varieties of essential oil. It wasn't all food either, there was also a very nice selection of personal care items.  Guess who has a new customer?!?!

Extra Bonus: Pictures of my newly moved laundry room. 

BEFORE

Basically, an empty mud room with cupboards at the end. 

AFTER

Once Sadie is old enough, her crate will be replaced by a bench & coat hooks and an elevated shoe shelf (since I'm not sure she'll ever outgrow her love of shoes!  That's why they're on the counter)

Products I Like: Feminine Hygiene

Needless to say, I won't be plastering this post all over facebook.  If you're a guy and the title didn't scare you silly, I recommend you quit while you're ahead.  Nonetheless, as a woman, menstruation is something we have to deal with.  Regularly.  There are about 85 million menstruating women in the US, each of whom will use approx. 17,000 disposable products in her lifetime.  Each of those products is chemical-ridden, wrapped in plastic, and, in the case of tampons, comes with an applicator as well.  Holy garbage!  Not to mention that, when disposed of "properly", they fill our landfills with bio-waste, and, when flushed, clog drains and septic systems.  75% of all blocked drains are caused by flushing sanitary products. 
I've always been a tampon girl and *sheepish admittance* have always been a flusher (sorry about the pipes, mom!) .  I was just so grossed out by the alternative, it was bad enough to have the applicator & wrapper in the trash, having to cover it up like my mother taught me to ( I stopped doing that at home pretty quickly, it seemed silly).  Like so many things in my life lately though, they had to go.   The create a TON of trash, usually contain dioxin and who knows what else (they don't have to tell you) , dry you out, cause TSS, and they're expensive.  
First I looked into sea sponges.  Not my thing.  They're very natural (and historic), but they require a LOT of care and washing, if you choose to install a string it can rip them, and they need to be replaced every 6 months. 

Then I looked into menstrual cups.  They hold the flow in a cup, instead of absorbing it, so there is no risk of TSS and no drying out.  For the same reason, they only need to be changed every 12 hours, except during the heaviest of flows.  You only need one, care is very manageable, and they last up to 10 years.  At $40, it probably will save you around $800 in its lifetime.  This is also an ideal solution if you're going to be backpacking (no garbage to pack out) or traveling in a country where feminine hygiene products are unavailable.   There are a TON of brands out there and they aren't all the same sizes.  There are even websites dedicated to describing the sizes and fits of the different brands.  The one thing they all have in common is that, in the US, they are really only available online.  I went with the Lunette (model 2) because it seemed the most straight-forward, size-wise.  There is definitely a learning curve, so it requires some patience, but on the whole I think it was worth learning to get the hang of.  The #1 lesson I learned from my trial ? MAKE SURE the suction seal has broken before you try to remove it, you'll be glad you did.  (ouch!)

If pads are more your pace, there are a number of quality cloth pad makers, including Glad Rags and PIMPS (Party In My PantS).

Part of the Patchwork Living Blogging Bee

Free Organic Shampoo & Conditioner

(Don't you just love the chibby bottles?)

 

Renpure organic shampoo is offering a free trial to those who buy it.  All you do is save your receipt and send it in with the tag on the bottle.  The form doesn't say anything about a limit, but I got separate receipts just to be on the safe side.  I found these guys at the Giant Eagle in Dry Tavern, PA of all places.  The renpure website has a list of retailers, but it doesn't seem difficult to locate it.