Homemade

Clean Fridge Payoff

by ladypbwiggins

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One of the dreaded but necessary jobs in the kitchen is to clean out your refrigerator. Let’s face it. Food can die on the shelf in the back of the refrigerator. The crisper drawers can be a veggie graveyard too. Sometimes food begins to go south faster than anticipated.

Yesterday was the attack day. This time I put a big soup pot on the stove and all of the almost gone veggies went into it. I had too-ripe tomatoes and mixed veggie leftovers to add. The cauliflower and cabbage were still good but not enough for a meal. I threw in a few green onions, some organic no-salt seasoning and water into the pot. I let it come to an almost boil and then turned it down to simmer most of the day. My results: a clean fridge and this bounty of veggie broth. Clean, cheap and no preservatives. Feeling good.

Back In The Lab -Homemade Meatless Meat

by ladypbwiggins

Tonight (Tuesday) I went back to the lab, finally. The last year or so I have been buying Plant-based meat substitutes, (that usually means processed soy). It is expensive and I discovered through experience, causes weight gain. I thought if they can make it so can I. Tonight was the night.

I decided to try making crumbles for tacos. I marinated TVP in a Mexican spiced marinade. I added vital wheat gluten and put it in a skillet to cook like ground beef. Added a little salt to taste.

The next part of the experiment was a homemade corn tortilla baked in a tostada shell. Once I began I discovered I didn’t have very much Masa. I ground corn meal but it wasn’t as fine as masa. I used it anyway. Worked out okay. Will be better next time.

So here is dinner. Homemade tostada shell with home cooked black beans, marinated homemade meatless crumbles, lettuce and tomato topped with nutritional yeast.

Homemade means from scratch.

Looking Back to Find Gems

by ladypbwiggins

Sometimes looking back over old posts remind you of the reasons you’re doing certain things now. My husband nor I are gluten intolerant so why do I have a gluten-free vegan cookbook? When did no oil cooking become important and why?

I wasn’t looking for these answers but I stumbled over the post that gave them. It was simple. His cardiologist instructed us to do that. I also unearthed The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook that is plant-based and oil free. I purchased this at the beginning of our journey 3 years ago after watching an Engine 2 video.
I read through it and now I am adding the recipes to my re-energized food preparation  experiences.

My own recipe – Catsup and Hot Sauce

by ladypbwiggins

Catsup and hot sauce back in the light. This will be the last post about this, at least until my tomatoes and peppers mature. ♥

Hot Sauce

Simply roasted serrano peppers, one roasted cherry hot pepper (good flavor not hot), a pinch of cayenne and white vinegar. I pureed everything, seeds and skins included. Very good but not as hot as I wanted. It has a delayed spicy kick so taste a little at a time.

Catsup

Roasted tomatoes, one roasted cherry hot pepper, apple cider vinegar, one garlic clove, 1 tsp tomato paste and a drizzle of oil for smoothness. Puree (skins and seeds) and enjoy. Hmm.

I know I didn’t give many directions. That’s because I went back to my roots and did a “that’s about right” measuring method. Have fun. I did.

What I’ve Been Up To

by ladypbwiggins

Like any scientific endeavor, food scientist must spend some time in research. I decided to save myself some time with making my own condiments. I know there have to be food techs out there that have published their findings. I found two that seemed promising. They were

Homemade Condiments: Artisan Recipes Using Fresh, Natural Ingredients
Homemade Condiments: Artisan Recipes Using Fresh, Natural Ingredients by Jessica Harlan
and
The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples
The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples by Miyoko Schinner

Unfortunately, the first one was out of stock. I purchased the second and I have been very pleased with the information contained in the book.

I have been interested in vegan and gluten-free cooking, so this book provided vegan options. In one place I can find instructions for condiments and sauces. There are explanations regarding seaweed, tempeh, and soup concentrates. I am most excited about the vegan cheese recipes. The instructions are clear.There are also recipes that use the items.

I also discovered another book that I will mention here but it deserves its own post. It is The Healthy Mind Cookbook. God knows my mind needs all the help I can get.

To My Tortilla Making New Friends

by ladypbwiggins

You will be my new friends if you help me with my homemade tortillas. My daughter-in-law and I spent some time together making our first homemade tortilla. It was really a funny experience. She had broken her glasses and couldn’t read the instructions and I had injured my hand an couldn’t manipulate the dough. We jokingly called this time, the Blind and Maimed Hour. Nevertheless, we made the tortillas. They tasted good and fulfilled the purpose but we were not satisfied. We used the instructions on the Masa Harina bag. It was simply the flour and water. The tortilla press I own did not make them flat enough so we used a rolling pin. Then we placed them on the grill where they didn’t hold together when folded. (We were making tacos)

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So to my new friends, how do I keep them moist and held together? If I get this right, I may almost never buy tortillas again. It was really easy. I like easy and quick.

What is this?

by ladypbwiggins

20160115_131340 (2)What is this?

It’s a little jar of successful goodness!

For weeks I had been thinking about the ease or dis-ease of making my own condiments. I watched those chefs on the Food Network make sauces and it didn’t look so hard. I quickly followed that thought with, “You are not a professional chef and you don’t even like to cook.” I chickened out and bought the organic ketchup from my favorite store, The Organic Roots.  The desire to make my own resurfaced as I thumbed through the Daniel Plan Cookbook. Lo and behold there it was: a homemade ketchup recipe. I have had this book for  months and I didn’t notice the recipe. So here is my version

The recipe called for 1 cup of sun-dried tomatoes. I didn’t have enough so I used organic tomato paste and organic Roma tomatoes. All ingredients are certified organic unless otherwise stated.

6 Roma tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato paste.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of agave  (I didn’t have raw honey)

1 teaspoon of sea salt

I threw all ingredients in the Vitamix. Blended on high until smooth.

It’s homemade ketchup.

One more thing off the grocery list except in emergencies.

Note. The consistency is thicker than the ketchup in the store. It was also sweeter. It didn’t hve that tangy taste. Store in the refrigerator. There are no preservatives. I plan to make it again and use the sun-dried tomatoes and add a little onion and garlic. I’ll let you know what happens.