Food Friday: Millet Loaf from Forks over Knives

For ages I have been longing to make a millet loaf.  When I was at Parkview Medical Center's Lifestyle Choices program they gave us a recipe which I made once at home. It was fabulous.  Sadly, at the time I wanted to make this a month or two ago I could not find the recipe.  So...Google being a person's best friend sometimes, I searched and found this recipe.

Because I was awake at 1:00 o'clock, and 2:00 o'clock, and 3:00 o'clock, I decided to start this recipe for a meal tomorrow.  I did some things differently, as usual...

In a medium saucepan I placed 3/4 cup uncooked millet and 2 1/2 cups of vegetable broth I had made earlier in the week.  On top of that I chopped 1 medium red onion.  Covered the pot and brought to a boil.  When the millet and onions was boiling, I stirred it, turned the heat to low and covered it.  The recipe said to let cook for 20-25 minutes until tender.  I let it cook for 25 minutes then shut off the heat.  As it turns out, (by this time it was 4:00 o'clock) it really was not "tender/cooked" but I thought possibly there was residual heat and liquid enough that they would finish the job while I went back to bed. 

At 8:30 AM when I arrived back in the kitchen I discovered that my hope on the prior situation had been vain...still not quite cooked.  (I found another recipe that has you cook the millet for 40 minutes so clearly 20-25 won't do the trick...).

In a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup I placed 1/2 cup hot water and almost 3 Tablespoons of red miso.  After stirring well I dumped in the last of the nutritional yeast in the labeled jar--about 1/3 cup, 1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage, 1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated garlic,  2 large pinches thyme, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper,  1/2 cup ketchup, and about 1/4 more hot water that I used to rinse out the ketchup bottle.  These ingredients were stirred until they were smooth (the miso took a little doing to get smooth) then poured into the saucepan of cooled cooked millet and onions.  I stirred with a spoon for a while then washed my hands again and used the old one-two to get the mixture well combined.  (The cooled millet tended to clump, which would not have been agreeable for the palate.)

When this was all mixed, I smushed it into a glass loaf pan, covered with more ketchup, and cooked it for 30 minutes, or so--because I forgot to set the timer and just guessed--then removed from the oven.  It looked good enough.  After an hour I cut out a little bit to taste.  It is okay but I am betting Dear One will prefer whatever else I put on the table for dinner.  Since I am writing this days before posting, I will be able to give a Dear One update.

The ironic thing is that I found the Parkview Millet Loaf recipe while I was going through papers in an effort to hoe out the desktop after having put the above millet loaf in the oven.  I remember the Parkview loaf as being so good I could have eaten the whole loaf in one sitting.  Well, at least mentally I could have done that.  I am now trying to get away from eating "the whole thing" in the interest of making a real change in health over the next few months.

Paper Crafting Boxes

Some time ago I knitted up some kitchen scrubbies for some dearly loved young people as a wedding gift.  For some reason I could not get it together to make the boxes to put them into for presentation.  Finally I did.  This is what they are:

The box on the left with the owl with pink dress is a purse-like box open at the sides.  The yellow box is a hinged box with flaps.  The butterfly box in the pillow shaped box.  They were all pretty easy to make as long as you have a sharp cutting blade and a bone folder for scoring.

And yesterday I finally put them in the mail nearly four months after the marriage....

Munchie Monday: Cherry Pie Filling Smoothie

We had some things in the refrigerator that needed using up...such as some cherry pie filling.  Since Dear One is rather a fan of breakfast and not at all averse to smoothies, I decided to give it a try.

This was the smoothie:

1 cup pineapple juice (well, the juice that was leftover from draining canned pineapple for ambrosia salad)
1 cup cherry pie filling
3 frozen sliced bananas

Put the pineapple juice in the blender first, then the pie filling, and finally the frozen bananas.  Blend on high speed for a minute or until lovely and smooth.

This made two tall glasses.  I had one sip and put it aside.  Dear One sucked his right down!  He loved it, I guess...so I handed him my glass which he took with a smile.  This smoothie was some sweet.  WAY too sweet for me.  Almost made me gag.

For myself, I needed something a little better for my taste buds.  I got out sauerkraut, sautéed kale and onions, and two pieces of Whole Foods Market Sesame Tofu from the salad bar which I broke into pieces.  Two minutes in the microwave and I was in heaven.

Natural Wonders All Around Us

It is always wonderful to wake up each morning and find something new and beautiful outside.  Those large nests in the tree outside our door are apparently squirrel nests.  That is quite interesting to me, especially since I saw a bird yank something away for the top nest and was reminded of the books by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown that feature cats and dogs!  You might not see the connection but I can imagine a bird stealing a feather from the squirrel nest to add to her own nest.  They might be having a heated conversation just like Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker do in the series about Harry and her adventures solving murders in Virginia.

On a recent morning we went outside and found our railing in a newly dressed state.  I found it beautiful.  Because it was so pretty I snapped a photo then used the uprights to hold onto on the way down the stairs so as not to displace the frost crystals.

It seems certain that late fall is in the air.  We have twice heard Canada geese honking overhead.  I expect they will come back to the ponds and meadow across from the office soon.  That will be a treat, though not as much as seeing the babies in the spring...

Munchie Monday: Brownie Bomb Bars

Here is a recipe I found months ago and was going to make for a departing dinner but a different dessert was decided on.  Finally I made it and have shared it around.

This is the process:

1.  In a 9 by 13 pan cook a box of brownie mix according to directions.  Let cool completely.  The "completely" is pretty important.

2.  Spread a container of Marshmallow Fluff over the cool brownies...a 198 gram jar or larger.

3.  In large microwave safe bowl place 2 cups of chocolate chips and 1 cup of peanut butter.  Heat for one minute, remove from microwave and stir.  Return to microwave for another minute, then remove and stir again. By this time the chips should have melted and combined nicely with the peanut butter.  If not,  return to microwave for another 30 seconds. 

4.  When the chocolate chip/peanut butter mixture is completely melted and combined, pour in 3 cups Rice Krispies and stir until well blended then spread on top of the marshmallow fluff.  Put in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

5.  Cut into 24-36 pieces.

Since I had a 10 by 14 (or maybe 16) pan handy, I doubled everything.  It still worked out.

You can see that I cut out along one edge (and threw the cut outs up on top of the bars) so it would be easier to get the rest of the bars out of the pan.  The marshmallow fluff is really sticky...in my opinion, and the Rice Krispie treat topping was too thick because of the doubling but they did taste good. I was able to restrain myself from eating more than one with no problem.  Really sweet.  I did think of scraping off the brownie bottoms and just eating those, but then instead I made some very tasty sesame ginger garlic sauce to eat on tofu and ate that instead.  Did NOT feel deprived at all.

Food Friday: Refrigerator Soup, More or Less

When we were growing up Mother used to take all the leftovers in the refrigerator that were on the verge and threw them into a big soup pot.  Those soups were absolutely delicious.  Of course, there was no way ever to duplicate them since there was no recipe...just a dib of this and a dab of that until the pot was full and ready to heat and eat.  Well, I just did the same thing, sort of.

We had carrots, celery, onions, broccoli, and other things in the refrigerator that needed to be used.  The next day was going to be very taxing to me physically so I wanted food ready the instant we got home. So I chopped vegetables and put them in the refrigerator overnight.  In the morning I added the dibs and dabs and started the Crockpot on Low and set it for 8 hours.  When I got home there was some truly delicious soup.  Even Dear One liked it.  He had arrived home an hour before I did and was sitting on the couch fat and happy after a big bowl of soup.  Well, definitely not fat, but doesn't that have a nice ring to it?!

What I did:

1/2 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
4 stalks celery, sliced
2 small russet potatoes, scrubbed and diced
1/2 large sweet onion, diced
1/2 large red onion, diced
1 head broccoli, chopped VERY fine.  No need to throw broccoli in anyone's unsuspecting face...!

These were stored in the refrigerator overnight.

Since I had almost 3 cups of Soy Curls that I had purchased at the New Seasons Market, I put them in a large pot,  put in 4 or 5 cups of water then stirred in 2 Tablespoons of the savory seasoning I blogged about some time ago plus 2 heaping Tablespoons of Better Than Bouillon Roasted Vegetable Base. I stirred this well then covered and let sit on the counter overnight.

In the morning I put the vegetables plus the Soy Curls and their broth into the Crockpot.  Way not enough ingredients so I took a half can of refried beans and stirred them in.  There was a 15-ounce can of diced fire-roasted tomatoes I tossed in, then a big jar of Salsa Verde.  I added a teaspoon of chili powder and a Tablespoon of granulated garlic.  When this was all nicely stirred, I added the last of the homemade vegetable broth and more water to bring it up to 3/4 full in the 7-quart Crockpot, turned it on low for 8 hours and walked the long way to the office.  I walked an even longer way home from the office and collapsed in my chair, too tired to eat but happy that Dear One pronounced the soup good.  After half an hour or so I had life enough to eat some. It was really good.

This soup had the most flavorful broth.  Soup is all about broth to me....

If you don't know what Soy Curls are, they are soy beans that have been cooked, cooled, then extruded into some sort of shape then dried.  They taste like nothing until you soak them in some sort of broth.  Then you can use them in many ways.  They have texture, unlike tofu, and are really worth trying.  You can make "chicken" salad with them.  You can make "tuna" salad with them.  You can make "beef stroganoff" with them.  So many things.  And don't mind a bit.

These are the soy curls that have been soaking overnight and have plumped up beautifully. They were the last thing I threw into the pot before adding broth water to make lots more broth.

Nature All Around Us

Yesterday morning when I opened the door to head to the office I had to step back quickly!  There, right in the doorway, was a cobweb from upper right to the railing on the left and RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE WAS AN ARACHNID!  I screeched, but quietly of course, and then took a deep breath.

Since spiders are supposed to be outside, I don't do anything rash to them. In this case I reached up to where the web attached to the doorway and disconnected it.  Fortunately, rather than swing into the house and onto me, the creature hit the road to the railing. I was able to quickly go down the stairs and out of there.

Today it was very foggy when we opened the door. I had forgotten all about the creepy crawly from yesterday and just opened the door.  No problem.  I noted that all the leaves have fallen from the tree outside and three big nests are perfectly visible.

Also there was a dewy web with nobody home...at least I could not see any residents so it was fine.

How I love this beautiful world our Heavenly Father created for our enjoyment and learning.

Unfinished Knitting Project Restarted: Peacock's Tail Tablecloth

Years ago I got the bug to knit a giant lace doily to use as a table cloth as a gift for M.  As it got close
to the particular end date I had in mind, I could see I was not going to get through all 126 rounds so I just stopped and made an ending.  It was okay, but not great, but I sent it to her anyway.

A few years later I was visiting and asked to have it back so I could finish it properly.  She did give it back to me. The bag it was in has been hanging from my mother's slipper chair ever since, until last year when we packed up for our mission. I thought there would be lots of knitting time, for some unknown reason...so I brought it with us.  Finally, when I finished the previous project, I pulled out the tablecloth.  It took some doing to figure out where I left off but I finally did and now am knitting on Round 110.  It is slow going because of the thread size I am using and the pattern stitches. I can't wait to finish this round because there are then three rounds of plain knitting!!  I look forward to those even though there are many stitches.  At the end of Round 110 there will be 672 stitches.  There are several more pattern rounds with plain knitting interspersed.  I long for plain knitting rounds!!!

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Yes, I realize you cannot see what it will look like, but if you Google Peacock's Tail Doily (I think it is a Danish pattern) you will see lots of different designs.  This one has 16 feathers in the tail.

Mission Afghan: Completed!!!

Finally, a year after starting it, the mission afghan is done.

It turns out that I had gotten rather sick of this knitting project and just wanted it done so I did not continue on with stripes at the ends to make it longer as I had planned.  I just picked up stitches along the long side, knitted in garter stitch three plus garter ridges then bound off.  The ends were 140 live stitches on threads on each end so I picked up along the gray garter borders then knitted the live stitches, ending up with picking up the other long side garter ridges then knit three more garter ridges and bound off.  Did this on both ends then started weaving in the ends.

At this point I will make a confession. every other square had four long ends to weave in.  After a couple of rows of weaving in I was done with the weaving in.  Well, it was late at night and I wanted that sucker DONE.  So...what any lazy knitter might do, I just tied off the yarn with very sturdy knots and cut the extra yarn.  Since it is not a garment and the only one who will be annoyed by the knots is me, I decided it was okay.  We will find out if it is really okay the first time, or maybe second time, I have to wash it.  If the ends work loose, then it was a problem.  By then I will have probably made another blanket and will let this one go.

Happily unconscious unsuspecting napper.  I guess the blanket was successful.

Things I learned with this project:  how to make small parts into a large whole with no seams.  Bingo!  Sewing together is not my cup of tea.

Something I WANT to learn:  how to weave in the ends as you go.  Now that I think of it,  if I look at the Philosopher's Wool website and watch their videos again, I will be reminded how to do that.  When I was doing stranding years ago I remember it worked great.  I just didn't think of it at the beginning of this project.  Too bad...

The Gnome Project, So Far...

The gnome project is coming along.  Tonight I finished the last of the gray vests.  Well, finished is a little optimistic, but I DID finish the vest knitting.  The ends need to be woven in and the rest of the gnomes need to be knitted, dressed, and then prepared for shipping.

In the meantime, I will attach the gray yarn to the afghan sides and start the last of the knitting on the afghan. I want that baby to be done.  As soon as possible.  There are other projects I have in mind.  OR I could just rest...

Wildlife Near Us: Red Tail Hawk

We have had a red tail hawk perch in the tree outside the office window.  We first saw the hawk last fall when the leaves dropped.  We enjoyed him all winter.  On Monday I saw him again outside the window.  Then when I was walking home I saw him on this light pole.

So nice to se the hawk so close by.  Of course, when he, or she, saw me over his shoulder, he moved so I could not show the red tail.  Oh well.  This is a nice remembrance of him.