Food Friday: A New (To Me) Delicious Food

So many times since we have moved to the South I have heard of butter beans. This was new to me.  One day not so long ago I was in the bean section of the grocery store and happened to see "Seasoned Butter Beans".  They were not exorbitantly priced so I put the can in my cart.  When I got home I put it in the cupboard.  There it stayed.  Until today!

Today I spent some time with a dear friend.  We went to a farm stand she knew about which had good prices.  They had okra, also something I have heard a lot about since coming here, but also never eaten.  She told me that butter beans and okra are fabulous.  So we picked out five smallish okra and I took them home.

This is how I prepared butter beans and okra.  I do not know how you are supposed to do it, but this was my method.  And I LOVED them.  Dear One did not.  As you might expect.  It takes a while for him to come to love new things.  Except me.  He did rather love me from the beginning...! And still does forty-seven years later.

In a pot-in-pot in the Instant Pot I poured the can of butter beans and its seasoned liquor.  I finely chopped the okra then put it in with the butter beans to pressurize for 15 minutes.  I am certain Southern cooks will find that a travesty but that is what I did.  Boy, was it good!

NOTE:  If you don't know "pot-in-pot", this means you put the required amount of water in the liner bowl, insert the trivet, then put a smaller pot, bowl, or whatever, inside the Instant Pot liner bowl with the food and any liquid needed to cook it on top of the trivet.  Put on the lid and dial whatever pressure and time you need.  When the pressurizing is done and pressure has been released, use tongs to remove the "pot".  I use this for many different things when I don't want a huge amount of food.

A Big Knitting Needle Mess

How is it possible to have out so many knitting needles that you cannot even see the top of your desk?!  But that was the case a few days ago.  

When we were reading the scriptures we read that "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass".  I have always liked that scripture but have not been very good at implementing.  Now I am beginning to.  Well, I guess it is about time!!

An hour or so after taking the above picture I was able to take the below picture!  All the needles are stored in little zipper pouches and put into these giant loose leaf binders.  And even more news:  when I was out walking first thing this morning--it is recycling and trash day here--I found a tall slip plastic container with a screw-on lid that is perfect for straight needles.  When they are stored I will share that picture too, maybe.

Kitchen Corner

Finally I found some items to help me with kitchen corner storage!  The first thing I found was a little wooden box with handles which was the perfect size for quart jars.  (I like to store most things in glass.  They are easy to see that way AND if there are bugs, they have a hard time getting to the food inside.)

After searching all over for more little boxes, and even bigger boxes for the two-quart jars, I gave up.  Then one day I saw some crates on Michaels.com.  I measured the jars and found that these crates were the perfect size.  Sadly, when they came, only one of them fit the two-quart jars comfortably.  Their builders did not build them all the same size.  If they had been workers in the shop at the Brigham Young University theatre department, they would have been perfect.  At that shop when I was working there, there was only a 1/32" tolerance.  Things had to fit perfectly.  These crates don't but I made them work to some extent.

These are not perfect but they are good enough to make me happy until something else comes along on the horizon.  The idea had been to make shelves for the corner but Dear One was not enthusiastic at the time.  Well, this works so I will stick with it for now.

Birthday Cards from Gelli Prints

Sometimes a Gelli print comes out that pleases me so much that I am somewhat wroth to turn it into a card and send it away.  This is one of those cards I have held for several months.  I do love how the print came out. I especially like it with the matting behind it. 

 Today I sent it off in the mail.  I hope the person receiving it will love it, though I do not know the young person who is the recipient.  It is my wish that all the young people receiving the cards we send will know that they are thought of, even by strangers, and that perhaps they will have more hope in their lives.

In my view, the only fly in the ointment of making Gelli print cards is that no two cards are the same.  When one turns out well, it would be so great to be able to replicate it.  If someone knows how to do that, I hope you will share the information with me.

Munchie Monday: Sprouted Wheat Bread

Sometimes it takes fewer than a dozen tries to have something work out well!  That is always so nice.  This second loaf of sprouted wheat bread came out quite well.  I started the wheat soaking on Thursday and made the bread on Saturday morning.

Two cups of white winter wheat were sprouted for this loaf.  When it got to the point of kneading the dough I let it knead in the stand mixer for 35 minutes.  I could see the gluten strings forming, which gave me a certain amount of hope for the bread!

It really looks like a loaf of bread.  I baked it for almost 60 minutes.  When I checked the internal temperature it was well over 210 degrees F. which means it was overcooked. It should have been pulled out at 200 degrees F. I was so happy with the appearance that I was not going to complain about the overcooking.

Here is that same loaf sliced.  It looks pretty good, doesn't it?!  It tastes good, too, though it is quite possible I forgot to put in the salt...oh, well.  With peanut butter and fresh strawberry jam on it, there are no people turning up their noses!

Food Friday: Nice Vegetable Broth in the Instant Pot

This week I made some vegetable broth from actual vegetables.  What a beautiful broth it is!!

There is a big difference between the "scrap broth" that I usually make...and will continue to make...but this is so lovely I might make it again, too!

Carrots

Onions

Celery

Bay leaves

Put them in a large steamer basket in Instant Pot liner.  Fill 3/4 full with water.  Set on HIGH pressure for 8 minutes.   This is VASTLY different from my usual method.  Well, the timing, anyway.  I usually set the pot on HIGH for 58 minutes, then, if I don't have time to strain and bottle up, I just set it brewing again.  And sometimes even again and again!  Nice dark broth.  Pretty heavily-flavored.

Once the timer expires I let the Instant Pot reduce pressure naturally then lifted the steamer basket of vegetables out and strained the broth into two 2-quart jars.

As far as amounts of the ingredients for this particular batch of broth:  I just used what I had that was becoming limp and not so fun to eat fresh. I think there was a whole bag of baby carrots, half a bunch of celery, and two large Vidalia onions plus 2 bay leaves.

This broth is light and lovely. I can hardly wait to use it.  I was thinking I might use it to make miso soup tonight instead of using water but then realized I am fuller than a tick with other (mostly) good food so no need to add more to the belly.

If you make this, let me know how it turns out!

Sprouting Wheat

Bread is an addiction of mine.  I really love it.  I think my favorite breads are Lui Lui's crusty rolls dipped in their very flavorful olive oil (well, that is gone for the foreseeable future!), and garlic bread fresh out of the oven with lovely heavily garlicked butter greasing my fingers and tongue.  That, too, is on hold until the old body gets into reasonable condition.  Which will be a while!  Though progress is being made...!

Anyway, our daughter sent me a video on making bread from sprouted wheat.  Not bread from sprouted wheat flour, which is something I have made before, but bread from sprouted wheat.  That very night I put two cups of white winter wheat soaking.

The next morning this is what I saw:

See the little tiny white sprouts coming out the end of the kernels of wheat?!

This morning after watering the garden and harvesting tomatoes (which I had to pull out from under those horrid bugs that decimate almost perfectly ripe tomatoes...) and basil, I uncovered the sprouting wheat.  This is what I saw!--

Those baby sprouts are now toddlers!!  I am so thrilled.  Now it is time to get rolling on the bread but it will have to wait a while.  We are going on a junket so will make bread this afternoon in the heat!!!

UPDATE on the Zucchini counter pickles:  Robbie of Robbie and Gary Gardening in Southern California had made the pickles.  I had zucchini and followed suit.  She left hers to "work" on her counter for two days and mentioned maybe three days would be good.  Well, if three days is good, a week must be better.  Right?!  Totally wrong.  I opened them after a week and found nothing but mush.  Almost gagged me. Down the drain they went.

Since I don't learn very fast, I have some cucumber dill slices "processing" in the refrigerator...  Sadly, I did not make note of when I put them in the refrigerator (no counter time for these!) so am unsure about timing.  The recipe says one day to two weeks.  I guess I could check any time.  When I update with the bread situation I will pass along what happened to the dill slices.

Bird Bath on the Deck Garden

A few weeks ago one of our lushly plumaged Red-Winged Black Birds noticed the "footstool" Dear One uses on the back porch.  The lid was full of water.  That beauty came to the Rubbermaid bucket and started splashing around in it!  It was so fun to watch the bird having a lot of fun.

Since that first time, we have watched him come many times.  One day after a long hot dry spell, the bird came, walked around in water that only came up to his ankles then flew off.  Now I go out every couple of days and pour water in the top off the bird-initiated bird bath so he can get his cooling-off done.

You can see the reflection of a tomato plant in the "bath".  You can also see that the yellow bell pepper plant is rather droopy.  It has been very dry and hot lately, though awfully humid all the same.

Munchie Monday: Strawberry Chocolate "Nice Cream"

Apparently 19 July is National Ice Cream Day.  In the days leading up to Ice Cream Day I saw several ice cream recipes.  The one we made was this one:

Strawberry Chocolate Nice Cream

3-4 bananas frozen in 1 inch chunks--about 3 cups or a little more
2 cups frozen strawberries
1 very soft, very ripe banana that needed to be used up
1 teaspoon maple syrup, if wanted
a few dark chocolate chips


Put the bananas, strawberries, and maple syrup in a food processor and process until soft-serve consistency.

LET FRUIT THAW FOR TEN MINUTES FIRST!!!!  I saw that mentioned, but was so souped up for the fruity treat on a very hot day that I tried it immediately.  BAD IDEA!!!  Let the frozen fruit thaw.

What happened was that after about 5 minutes of starting and stopping the food processor to scrape down the sides I finally gave it up and pulled out the VitaMix.  In less than a minute (and using the tamper because the fruit was still frozen) we had wonderful soft-serve dairy-free ice cream.  It was SO GOOD!

Sadly it went down the gullets before I got a picture.  The bowls looked very pretty with the strawberry pink deliciousness and a handful of chocolate chunks on top.

Try it. You will like it!

A Favorite Sight!

How I love to watch hummingbirds.  Years ago we went to New Mexico to visit friends there.  They had several large hummingbird feeders with LOTS of visiting eaters.  Those birds got into fierce fights. I had no idea they were so territorial.

We have two feeders out and try to keep them filled.  We have had at least two different hummers there before today when I think I saw a baby hummingbird!  So cool.

It is hard to see the bird but he is above the UPS truck(the picture is taken through the screen!).  This is the biggest bird.  I love to watch him eat.  The birds do not like it when bees come around but eventually the birds return.

The little guy today came at about dusk and really tanked up.  So sweet!

2020 Garden Coming Along

It is so wonderful to see progress in the garden.  Today there are blossoms!

These are potato blossoms after I hilled them up for the third time.  Well, "hilling them up" the way a novice potato gardener would do it. I don't know if it is the right way...!

Anyway, seeing the blossoms makes me think that perhaps there is something under the dirt.  I hope so.  These were not seed potatoes but were from sprouted potatoes in our potato bin.  Hoping for the best!

Sweet Washington Cherry Season

When we were on our mission in Oregon we had some of the best Washington sweet dark cherries ever. I think they were so good because they were almost right off the trees.  Dear friends brought us a box of them which we fully enjoyed.

One day at our daily office devotional meeting we had gone on to talk about more mundane casual things after a spiritually motivating time together and spoke about pitting the cherries.  Elder J mentioned a cherry pitter he had seen online that he thought was really nifty and suggested I look it up on Google.  The very next day he came into the office and handed one of them to me!!

He had been out on his daily walk and found it lying on the sidewalk. He picked it up and brought to me because he felt Heavenly Father had put it there for me.  Wasn't that the nicest thing!!

This little guy, who I call Mr. Smiling Cherry Head, works wonderfully well for pitting cherries.  In a moment you have a nice big bowl of them ready for chomping down on.  I bless Elder J every time I get Mr. Smiling Cherry Head out of the cupboard.  People are really so kind.  I want to be kind, too.

Munchie Monday: Quick and Easy Pickles

Robbie from Robbie and Gary Gardening on YouTube made some zucchini pickles the other day.

She took some fresh dill and placed it in the bottom of a clean pickle jar then inserted some spears of zucchini to fill the jar.  Next she poured in bottled water to fill the jar.

When the water covered the spears of zucchini, she poured the water out into a bowl and added salt and stirred until it was dissolved.  She then poured the water back into the jar and placed the lid lightly over the top and put the jar into a container so in case there was bubbling up, the bubbles would be contained.  In two days she had pickles which she then put in the refrigerator to enjoy at her leisure.

Well, that seemed like a good idea to me.

The only problem we had was that we only had dried dill weed in the house and no convenient access to fresh dill so I soldiered on with the dried dill.

These are the two jars of pickles as we started them.  We are hoping for the best. In addition to the dill weed, I put garlic cloves in the jars. Well, I am hoping for the best.  Dear One likes sweet pickles.  Maybe we will try them sometime.

Today I checked the jars of our pickles and find that they have begun bubbling.  I had planned to leave them there on the shelf and check them on the third day, so I will wait one more day then try a bite!

Food Friday: A Nice Supper

After a trip to the Flowers Farm where we picked up some gorgeous plump tomatoes among other things, I made a supper that included vegan ratatouille, marinated tofu steaks, and green salad and chopped tomatoes.  It was really good.

If you want to eat more plants,  you can make ratatouille by slicing zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, onions, and topping them with cherry tomatoes or even chunked up tomatoes and bake them/roast them for 45 minutes in a 400 degree F. oven.  If you are adventurous you can even slice some mushrooms and put on top.  The flavors all meld together and you don't really need any spices.  There is nothing like roasted cherry tomatoes!!!  Next time I go to a market that has cherry tomatoes I will probably get a big basketful and roast them.  Maybe with some rosemary, thyme, oregano, and even chives from the porch garden.

The marinated tofu steak can be marinated in your favorite marinade.  The one I used came from my daughter who made a fabulous fondue dinner for Father's Day which included cheese fondue, beef fondue, and chocolate fondue.  The tofu I used was super firm tofu from Trader Joe's but I just found some super firm tofu at Walmart. I did NOT clean them out, but I was tempted.

To make the tofu steaks, slice 1/4 inch thick slices from the short end of the drained tofu.  Place in a glass dish that has a cover and pour your marinade over it.  Flip the tofu over so all sides get marinade on them then cover and refrigerate overnight.  Put a drip pan under your air fryer basket then place the tofu steaks in the air fryer basket and push into the air fryer.  Air fry at 375 degrees F. for 15-16 minutes or until a crispy as you like.  I would have loved it to be way more crispy but since Dear One liked it, even ate THREE pieces, I will leave the time at 15 minutes!

Ratatouille on tofu steaks and chopped tomatoes on lettuce and mashed potatoes.  Really yummy supper.

Newsy Bits: Something Worth Watching

As you know, lately (the past few months) I have been very busy reading books and listening to webinars on health. I am sick of being sick, tired, and fighting with obesity, diabetes, and other things.  Books I have read include lots of Dr. Joel Fuhrman books,  Dr. Michael Greger's books (and those books are fat ones,  by the way), also The Pleasure Trap, Mastering Diabetes, the Healthspan Solution, Undo, The Natural Hygiene Handbook,  and many more.

Starting on 1 July I began participating in Chef AJ's (she has a YouTube channel with hundreds of useful recipe and interview videos) 14-day Kick the Sugar Challenge and on July 4 I started with the 4 of July Challenge with Dillon at Well Your World (on YouTube) which is 4 goals you set  where you do them 4 days a week for 4 weeks.  (This last one, honestly, I am failing because I lost the paper with my goals...SO I am working extra hard on the kicking sugar challenge and eating low fat.

This week I have been listening to Dr. John McDougall's Dietary Therapy Course videos.  There are ten of them, each an hour or so long.  He is  speaking to healthcare workers but the information he gives is totally understandable by non-medical people like me.  I have listened to four of them and have made a firm commitment to move all fat out of my diet.  There is still plenty of fat in the starchy and non-starchy vegetables I am eating so I will not be missing any important dietary nutrients.  This same eating pattern is full of protein and calcium and other nutrients so I am deficient in nothing.

To me it is stunning that the cure for diabetes has been known since the early 1900's and yet I have not been treated that way. I have been treated with drugs, and insulin, and MORE drugs...all of which make it nearly impossible to lose the weight that is so bad for my health.

By changing my diet to all plants and no added oils, my weight is finally moving in the right direction.  This morning I weighed less than I weighed when I went to study in Toulouse, France for the fall term in 1993.  Of course, I still have another 150 pounds to go but I have been making progress and I feel good about this.

All this I am telling you because these lectures by Dr. McDougall are free until August 1.  If you (or anyone you love) are struggling with any health problems, he probably covers the subject during his lectures.  It would be worth watching them.  I really hope you do.  Better than watching TV in the evening....

Go to drmcdougall.com and click on Programs. In the drop-down menu choose Dr. McDougall's Dietary Therapy. You have to sign up, but it is free until the end of July.   It will be eye-opening.

In 8 days I have lost 7 pounds.  Makes me happy, and may I say there is nothing like a little success to keep one on track!!!

There are so many people I love who read this blog.  I hope you will listen and learn from Dr. McDougall.  These changes are not easy but the result of a happy healthy life are worth the effort.  I am completely convinced of this.  And doing it myself.

Fourth of July in SC!

In Vermont we have wonderful fireworks displays on the 3rd, 4th, even 5th of July each year in the various towns celebrating the birth of our magnificent country.  In South Carolina where we now live, it was markedly different.  At least this year it was!

Starting a week or more before the Fourth we could hear fireworks explosions during the evenings, and even later into the night.  On the 3rd there were lots of fireworks going off in our complex until quite late.  On the Fourth there were fireworks EVERYWHERE!  Even right across the street from us.  They lasted how long I don't know because I finally fell asleep well after 11:00 PM.

Pretty stunning.  Loud and beautiful.  Dear One watched from the wicker couch on our front porch.  Sometimes he watched the firecrackers head straight for our house, and even hit the roof before bouncing off.  No, actually, they did not set the house on fire, but this was a concern.  We are pretty sure our neighbors DO like us, but then....well, you never know.

The next morning I went out to water the plants on the deck and there was a spent rocket.  At least I hope it is spent.  I did not touch it...but one of will have to soon!

Recycling Project: Floor Mat

We have found some scraps of carpeting from one of the new houses in the development.  Well, actually, I was on another dump-picking run early one morning and brought home a roll of it.  The two small rectangles went into the man cave (so-called!) to protect our own carpet from sweaty feet.  The long strip of carpeting went into the garage.  It is a very nice addition there!

As it happens, I spend a great deal of time at the table in the workroom and my feet are often really hot from the outside work.  I thought I might use some of the bed sheet strips I had made several months ago since the crocheted rug they had been prepared for was not moving along very fast.

To make this floor mat,  I took four strips of about 1 1/2" wide bed sheets and folded them over.  With a biggish crochet hook (maybe a K?) and two strands of worsted weight cotton yarn I worked single crochets around the folded strips.  When I got to the end of a row (as wide as I thought it should be), I worked two more single crochets then folded the strips back the other direction, inserted the crochet hook into the previous row's single crochet under both strands and worked single crochets all the way back. 

When I had had enough of this crocheting, and also because basically I was out of fabric strips and did not want to stop to tear more, I just decided it was a floor runner, not a floor mat or rug!

It works just fine.  Once I do stop forward progress on other projects, I will tear more strips and add to the width of the mat.  It does work just fine now, but would be better another section or two larger.

Munchie Monday: Sweet Corn Burger

We have been enjoying fresh sweet corn lately.  Because we were going to the home of friends to celebrate the Fourth, we thought we would take sweet corn in the Instant Pot.  Because I had only ever cooked 3 ears of corn at a time, I wanted to do a run-through with a dozen ears, just in case.  Of course,  we are all older folk and few older folk eat more than one ear of corn, but I wanted to be prepared.

When we did the dry run, we had quite a bit of corn left over so I used our handy dandy OXO corn cutter and cut the corn off the cob.  At that point I finely diced a sweet onion and water-sautéed it then threw the onion in the bowl of cut corn.  Oh, and I REALLY finely diced five or six mushrooms and cooked them with the onions.

To the vegetables I added a teaspoon of garlic granules, a teaspoon of onion granules, a teaspoon of smoked paprika, and a few shakes of chili powder along with 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and two eggs.  Oh, and a little ground black pepper, maybe half a teaspoon full. When they were all stirred together I used a 1/2 cup portion scoop and put the globs of corn burger on a Silpat lined baking sheet, gently patted the piles down into burger-sized shapes and put them in to bake in the preheated 400 degree F. oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes I flipped them and cooked for another 30 minutes.

These made really tasty corn burgers, along with a little catsup.  Still working on not putting salt on food, so the catsup helped.  They were somewhat crispy and held together really well.

Dear One felt they were possibly burned, but managed to eat three of them.  So did I!  Mine was consumed along with a luscious Cherokee Purple tomato we had picked up at the Dorr Farm.  Our own Cherokee Purples did not make it, though I am watering the heck out of the remaining greenery and have some hope of resurrecting the plant!

Thursday Thoughts: Peace and Good Works

As I was reading the scriptures this morning a thought crossed my mind (possibly because in the background I could hear the news cast to which Dear One was listening):  what if instead of all the "bad news" the media was having such a great time "reporting", what if instead they spent three months actually reporting good news.  And publishing peace.

What if the reporters went around finding all the myriad good works people are performing?  What if they reported all the wonderful peaceful times in small towns and cities around this country and around the world?

What would happen if all we heard were these good works?  I think people's minds would rest easier.

Personally, I would prefer this.

Hat Knitting: Irish Eyes Beret

This past week I was given some yarn to knit a hat for someone as a gift to a third person.  Miraculously I was able to complete the project in time for the giving.

The pattern was found originally on Ravelry.com and is called Irish Eyes Beret.  The sister who asked for the hat to be prepared did not want the bobbles which made the hat a cinch to knit.  Here are the general directions:

1.  Cast on 88 stitches and rib K1, P1 for 10 rounds.
2. Increase round: K1, M1 around (132 stitches on needle--by the way, the ribbing is in a US size 5 16-inch circular needle and the increase round was on US size 7 24-inch circular needle).
3.  Knit plain (this is what I did. The bobbles are in the pattern) for about 21 rounds.
4. Begin decreasing by K10, SSK around. At this point I put in stitch markers after the SSK each time.  This way I never had to think again about when to SSK.  I felt pretty smart about that!

This is the beret with the decrease stitch markers in place.  I hope I remember to do this every time I make a hat from now on...!

5. Knit the decrease round then knit one round plain. Do this until you have decreased 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 2, 1, and finally a K2tog round.  Be sure to knit the plain round after each decreasing round.
6. Switch to double pointed needles when there are too few stitches to continue on the circular needle.
7. Break yarn, leaving a good amount.  Insert the tail through those last few stitches on the needles (I think there were 8 or so stitches at this point...) and pull tight.  Tie off the yarn and weave in ends.
8.  Your hat is ready to block if you used wool or ready to wear if not.

It looks like a plate when finished!  This is what the sister wanted...a "flat" hat.

Sadly, I don't seem to find the finished hat picture on my phone camera, so you will just have to imagine it.