Random Things to do on a Saturday Afternoon

Recipes aren't just for food. Recipes can be for just about anything like making a liquid fertilizer from concentrate to making foamy soap. Today, I'm doing both. One is because my veggie garden is in full swing and needs some nitrogen to make everything ginormous! Two, because my foaming soap dispenser needs to be refilled.

Now, there isn't much else to say about the garden other than to post pictures. Will do that in the next post. This post is all about making soap.

I confess that I'm addicted to blogs. I don't know why. Perhaps because they're short and my attention span is short. Perhaps it's because the writing is down to earth, most of the time. And perhaps it's because blogs provide endless opportunities for projects that I can do. I'm not arty or crafty, but I can make foaming soap! For great frugal project reading I recommend: Room Farm. I'm dieing to try some of these (GF Vanilla Extract, here I come!) For great homemade cleansers, Healthy Vegan Blog fills all my needs.

My first attempt at homemade cleansers was homemade Foamy Soap (recipe here). For those more adventurous than I, and those not allergic to almonds, you can also try Fancy Homemade Foaming Hand Soap.

The basic principle of the recipe is this: 1 part castile soap to 4 parts water. You can also add in essential oils to make fun scents. I used Trader Joes Pure Castile Soap, filtered water (because homemade soap deserves better than straight up tap) and tea tree essential oil (tea tree oil is reputed to have natural antibacterial/antifungal properties).

I mixed up a half cup of water, two tablespoons of soap, and a few drops of tea tree oil in a half pint mason jar, screwed on the lid, shook the heck out of it and used a funnel to pour it into my foamy soap container.

Which brings me to the most important part of this recipe: equipment! Foamy soap containers are different from regular soap dispensers. They are meant to make soap come out as a foam rather than a liquid:

I used one from Ballard Organics, a local soap making company. I've also heard that Kiss My Face makes them. After refilling, screw back on the lid, pump and enjoy the foam!

Now some of you are probably going, why would you do this! It's an easy way to save money. When I originally bought my container, I paid about $6 with tax. Normally, I use Trader Joes Handsoap in the clear bottle with a purple label. It costs $2.99 plus tax. It also uses a plastic container. Even if I refill the TJ's handsoap container, I still am using straight soap. TJ's castille soap was $3.49 plus tax for 347 ML. I used 30 ML of soap (aprox. $.35), $.000001 in water, and maybe $.25 worth of essential oils. That makes my foamy soap cost about $.600001 per refill. Versus $2.99 for TJ's soap or $6 for Ballard Organics soap. When you think about it, for the Ballard Organics's soap, you're paying like $2 for ingredients, packaging, and distribution, and $4 for water. foamy soap makers have a great money making scheme going!

Enjoy your foamy soap!

Baking Update

Yikes!  Where has the time gone?  It seems like it was just last night that I posted the first baking post.  And it's really been two weeks.  

Since my last post, I have started my latest science project (since GF baking really is more about science and less about "cooking":  Karina's English Muffin Recipe.  They were pretty close to the real thing.  They even had nooks and crannys for butter.  Perhaps that was what was missing - butter.  I baked and ate about half of them.  I ate two straight out of the oven and two were used for English Muffin Sandwiches (to be soon described in another post) and I froze four, unbaked.  Those are still in the freezer hopefully to be baked soon.  I'll let you know how that goes.  I made my usual change to a Karina recipe; I subbed brown rice flour for the millet.  To be quite honest I don't have the time, energy, or space for another GF flour.  I have brown and sweet and white rice, buckwheat, sorghum, teff, tapioca, cornmeal, potato starch, corn starch, and lotus starch (a whole nother post as well).  I simply don't have room in my fridge to store the flour, nor do I have the brain capacity to remember how much millet I have left.  Just not going to happen.

I also completed a science projection:  Biscuits! from Hey, that tastes good!  In my last post, I had mentioned how fantastic tasting these were.  I have since discovered that they have amazing super powers beyond just tasting fantastic.  The unbaked dough also happens to freeze well and bake up tasting and looking as fantastic as the original.  Imagine the potential!  You can make a double or triple batch of the dough and freeze the majority unbaked.  Then, whenever you feel like freshly baked biscuits, you can have them with minimal effort and dishes.  I'm in love.  If I could, I think I would marry these biscuits.  

The only prep prior to freezing is cutting them into squares.  I froze about half the squares in a recipe.  When I was ready for biscuits round two, I popped them out of the freezer and onto a baking sheet.  Into the oven they went at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes.  When you bake frozen goods, you should always lower the temperature by at least 25 degrees lower than the recipe says, and plan to bake them for a longer time.  I had to pull the smaller biscuits out early (because mine were not sized equally) but they all tasted fantastic.  

I hope you enjoy these biscuits as much as I do.

Baking up a storm!

According to the husband, I am constantly cooking up a storm.  He is right; I do cook a lot.  And the kitchen does sometimes look like a storm hit it, after I'm done.  Lately, I've been baking up a storm.  I've been craving soft, warm moist baked things that don't taste like rubber or crumble to nothingness on the first bite.   Can you blame me?

Here's what I've been baking:

Biscuits!  Recipe from Hey that tastes good!:  http://www.heythattastesgood.com/2008/12/biscuits.html

I made them vegan by using shortening and hemp milk.  Fantastic.  Even the hubby liked them.

Karina's Delicious Gluten Free Bread, from Karina's Kitchen:

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2009/02/delicious-gluten-free-bread.html

I use brown rice flour instead of millet flour, and everything else stays the same.  Except, I do not have a bread machine, so into the oven it goes.  Scroll down to the bottom of the recipe for the non-bread machine instructions.  Great bread, and it still tastes decent after a week in the fridge.

Cinnamon Apple Muffins, also from Karina's Kitchen: 

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2008/11/cinnamon-apple-muffins.html

Great tasting muffin, and freezes well.  Omitted the nuts and the allspice, simply because when I made these, I was craving muffins but in no mood to run to the store to get all the ingredients.

Pumpkin Pecan Cookies, also from Karina's Kitchen:

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2008/11/pumpkin-pecan-cookies.html

I swear I am not virtually stalking Karina.  Really!  I omitted the nuts on both versions (I really should go to the store sometime) and used homemade pumpkin puree rather than canned.  Version 1 had chocolate chips from Enjoy Life and version two had dried cranberries.  Both were great, but I preferred the chocolate ones.  I think there is a chocoholic gene in my family!

Hamburger and Hotdog Buns from Celiac.com:  http://www.celiac.com/articles/404/1/Hamburger-or-Hot-Dog-Buns-Gluten-Free/Page1.html

Made both hamburger buns and hot dog buns.  The dough is very forgiving.  On the hamburger version, I messed up the measurements on the dry ingredients and I baked them at the wrong temperature.  They still came out okay.  I used Egg Replacer instead of the eggs and hemp milk instead of regular milk.  Good, non-crumbly buns!

Let me know what you've been baking.  I'm always on the look out for new ways to mess up the clean kitchen!

Good News!

My pistachios are not part of the pistachio recall.   That doesn't mean yours are safe to eat though.  

This is the email I got from Whole Paycheck:

Thank you for your email. Our Food Safety team is looking at all areas of our business, the FDA is investigating and we will continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds. At this time we have recalled

Flavor Tree In-Shell Salted Pistachios 16 oz with Best Before dates of 07/21/2009, 08/12/2009 & 10/16/2009 ONLY
365 Pistachios dry roasted & salted (In-Shell) 16oz with Best Before dates of 07/08/2009 GL1, 07/08/2009 GL2, & 11/27/2009 GL1 (other lot codes are not affected).

Please contact your local store regarding any bulk pistachios you may have purchased, since these items are sourced regionally.

All pistachio related recall information will be posted on our website at http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2009/04/pistachio-manufacturer-recall/

Kind regards,

-(Very nice customer service person at Whole Paycheck)

Mine have a different "Best Before" date, so I've been chowing down.

Pistachios

I've been craving pistachios lately.  I'm not even that fond of them.  There is a reason to why I crave them, but be advised that it's a long story.  In October, I was on a business trip, working the registration desk at a conference.  Another person there, who was working the same desk, left an almost full bag of roasted pistachios under the counter (distributed under the 365 brand by Whole Paycheck).  She lives in Seattle, but doesn't work at my office.  I figured I'd run into her at some point, so I brought the bag home.  I've seen her a few times since then, but never with advance notice, so I've never given them back.  

Last week, the hubby was looking for something to snack on, so I pulled out the bag.  And then I started snacking on them.  Even though I don't really like them.

Then, the pistachio recall happened.  I emailed Whole Paycheck immediately to find out if these pistachios were also recalled a few days ago, and I still haven't heard back, so I don't know if they're safe.  I totally understand that under our current food system, it takes a million years to track down the source of food (it shouldn't, but that's a whole nother post!).  So, these pistachios sit on my desk, staring at me every time I use the computer, begging me to eat them.  And, for some reason, they sound really good.  I think it's only because they are there, and I can't have them, that I crave them.  

Right now, they're calling my name, "Christina, eat me!  Eat me!  What are the odds I'll make you sick?"

I have to go away now, simply because I can't handle the siren song.

Chicken Broth

You could say I'm a bit of a recipe-aholic!  I love to read different recipes, and I collect them by the hundreds, even recipes I know I'll never make.  One must have fifty different salsa recipes!While recipe hunting this week, I read two on nytimes.com.  One was a pork shoulder recipe, and the other was a chicken pasta recipe.  While reading the recipes, I became annoyed at the waste of the authors.  In both recipes, the authors indicated that cooks should discard perfectly good parts.  I'm not sure why it upset me so much - it could perfectly well be hormones - but I felt that the authors should encourage their audiences to not only reduce waste in the kitchen but also to use solid bases in recipes, like using homemade chicken stock.  Making your own chicken stock isn't nearly as difficult as it sounds, it's also a million dollars cheaper than buying stock in the long run, and you have complete control over the ingredients.  Packaged foods that have "spices" listed as an ingredient usually have gluten, soy, or msg in them.  Plus, it tastes fantastic. Packaged stock taste like dishwater in comparison.
Here is my super easy recipe for chicken stock:
Chicken bones, skin, fat, blood, ect  (to acquire this, keep a bowl or bag in your freezer.  When cooking chicken, place either cooked or uncooked chicken "waste" in the bag.  When you have enough to fill your crock pot, get ready to make stock)
Vegetable peelings (you should not use vegetables that are rotting or gross.  You can use things like carrot peels, celery leaves, onion and garlic paper, ect.  Make sure to use mild flavored vegetables like carrots, celery, summer squash, baby turnips, mild greens like spinach, ect.  You can save your veggie scraps in the same bag as the chicken parts)
One small onion chopped
2-3 peppercorns
Herbs (like parsley, bay leaf, celery seed, chive.  Use small amounts and experiment)
Dump everything into your crock pot and turn to high.  Add enough water to cover the chicken.  You want the crockpot to be at least 3/4 full, or it won't run properly.  I use a 3 quart crockpotand it holds one picked-clean chicken carcass, a cup or so of vegetable scraps, and a small onion.  If you have a larger crockpot, I envy you.  Use a larger onion and more scraps. 
Cover, bring to a simmer, and let simmer for at least 8 hours or overnight.  I like to start mine right before bed and leave running all night.  
When done, turn crockpot off and remove lid.  Let sit for 30 minutes or so, until the pot is somewhat cool.
Place a very large bowl in your sink and place a colander inside.  Carefully (using good hot pads) dump the stock from the crockpot into the bowl.  Pick up colander, and let drain for a minute.  Press a large spoon against the cooked scraps until the remaining liquid is drained.  Discard scraps (If you live in Seattle, you can add the scraps to your yard waste bin).
Place bowl in the fridge for several hours, until the stock thickens and the fat has solidified on the top.  Using a large metal spoon, scrape off the fat .  If you'd like, you can save the fat in a glass jar.  Keep it in your fridge for a month or in the freezer for 3 months.  It tastes fantastic on toast, or as the primary fat used in homemade french fries.
You can use the broth right away, or it will keep in the fridge for about a week.  You can also freeze the broth.  It should keep at least 4 months.  I like to freeze mine in ice cube trays, which are about 2 tablespoons for each cube.  I've also seen people freeze broth in their muffin pans, which are about 2/3 cup per cube.  You can also freeze in plastic bags or containers.
I'll post pictures the next time I make broth.
Enjoy!

Maui

Vacationing with multiple food allergies is a nightmare.  At least for us, when we're on vacation we are more active and adventurous than normal.  We've hiked, kayaked, and snorkeled across parts of three countries now.  We need to feel great every day!  Thus, we must find a way to eliminate any chance of food contamination when traveling.  The simple solution?  Rent a condo!  This was our first big vacation in a condo, and we loved it.  I'm not sure we'll ever return to hotels.  

 

The best part about our condo on Maui was the view.  I'm not sure most restaurants on Maui could guarantee us this kind of show:

The second best part of having a condo is an opportunity to really sample the local foods.  I'm not talking about a bite of poi and poke at a luau.  I'm talking about real, locally-grown, heirloom fruits, vegetables, and meats.   Across the street from our condo was a daily produce stand with a wild variety of fresh summer produce.  That's right, in January we were eating local zucchini, green beans, tomatoes, eggplant, purple sweet potatoes, and strawberries.  Plus, we had our fill of local heirloom bananas called apple bananas, strawberry papaya (a non-GMO papaya variety.  Most other varieties have been corrupted by GMO varieties planted), pineapple, passion fruit, star fruit, and mango.  And then there was the citrus, like pomegranates, limes, lemons, and oranges.  In short, I'm ready to move.

 

The kitchen was well equipped, for a rental kitchen, right down to the metal garlic press.  One item missing in particular was a metal loaf pan.  They only had glass.  This is why I don't recommend baking bread in a glass pan:

To be fair, the oven was also broken.  But still, bread should never look like that after being in an oven for two hours.  The oven also ruined the brownies.  It was sad:

But, we survived without baked goods for the trip.  The meal list:

 

Spaghetti with GF pasta 

 

Tacos with sprouted corn tortillas

 

Stirfry with brown rice - without soy sauce :(

 

Fresh grilled Mahi Mahi with grilled vegetables and sweet potatoes

 

Fresh grilled Walu with grilled vegetables

 

The meal list starts with meals we commonly eat at home, and slowly shifts towards less common meals made with readily available foods on Maui.  Eating tacos is great, unless the tortillas cost more than the meat.  And let me tell you about insane food prices!  I paid $13/lbs for "natural" chicken breasts.  Ouch.  Thankfully, neither of us can digest milk.  That saved us $8 a gallon.  By eating simple meals with all local ingredients, we were able to stick to our food budget. 

 

Most every day was started with a fresh fruit smoothie, made with whatever fruit we had on hand.  Fresh banana was almost always an ingredient and coconut milk made regular appearances:

Lunch was usually a salad, except for the last day.  I went all out and made a pasta salad with grilled eggplant, grilled tomatoes, and steamed green beans (and EVOO and lots of garlic).  I topped it with a hunk of leftover Walu.  Fantastic!

 

Dinner was always started after a long walk on the beach at sunset.  We were completely spoiled.  I'm so ready to move.

 

Of course, I forgot to take pictures of most of the meals, so I can only leave you with this to inspire jealousy:

I'm counting down the days until strawberry season.  The Wenatchee farmers promised me some in April.  We'll see if that happens.