Tomato experiment

Yesterday I tried making marinara sauce from four ripe tomatoes that I had. It came out okay, but there wasn't a lot of it and there were a lot of seeds, which I don't care for. I had blanched the tomatoes (first time I've ever blanched anything) and that worked out great. So I took the sauce and blended it. It came out fairly thick but more like creamy soup than sauce. So I put it in the fridge.

This evening, I added some water, tomato paste and nutritional yeast. Heated that then added some frozen steamed kale. Then some cooked brown rice. It was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. But it was fun trying!

I need to find a 'cheez' sauce to make mac and cheese with. I don't care so much about the taste as the creaminess. I don't want a grainy feel to it.

Barbara

Trying recipes

Did a bit of cooking on Saturday. Tried some receipes from Table for Two by Jo Stepaniak. The thousand island dressing was very good and my partner liked it.

The corn and potato chowder was good, if a bit bland. I've never had chowder of any sort before, so I'm not really sure what it should taste like.

And then I tried a baked macaroni and vegetable casserole. It was okay, but not creamy enough. I have another sauce I'll try with it next time.

All of her recipes are vegan.

Barbara

Misc food things

Bought some fresh green beans and steamed them with some dill weed. Added some already cooked corn. Very tasty.

I've started saving the heels of the bread to make croutons with eventually.

I'm going to try steaming then freezing kale. I've never done that before, but I have quite a lot hanging around.

Barbara

What gift to ask for?

I need some help. I can ask for one thing for Christmas, whatever I want (within reason). I'd like to get something for the kitchen. Either cookware (a pot or pan) or an appliance.

Now, this year I bought a Nesco 6 qt roaster/slow cooker, and a Waring Pro blender. So I'm set with that.

Can you suggest a favorite skillet? or small appliance? A good quality mixer for instance. (all I have is a cheap handheld one).

And I would want to use it to help make good healthy food. Whole foods, grains, bread, veggies.

I do also have a food processor and a bread machine, but both are put away due to lack of counter space. And I also have 3 large stock pots, so I don't need that either.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!!!

Barbara

Quinoa and veggie soup

Inspired by the ever talented frugalveggiemama, I threw together a soup of sorts today.

I had made some veggie stock a month ago and froze it in fairly small containers. I took one out, and put it in a sauce pan to melt. Added some spices to it. Then I added some more water, maybe about a cup. Cut up a carrot and a stalk of celery. Cooked that for a few minutes then put in about a half cup of quinoa. I had bought a box from Trader Joes. I found out afterwards that I was supposed to rinse it, but there was no bitter taste, so I guess I lucked out. I also added some fresh kale leaves, chopped. I've never had kale cooked, just steamed.

I brought it to a boil, turned it down to low and simmered for 15 minutes. When I checked, the quinoa was cooked and it was a soup. However, I couldn't eat it then, I had to go pick up my partner. I took it off the heat and left the cover on.

She was late getting out as usual. So I heated it a little bit. It had absorbed some of the liquid while it was sitting. Not quite soup, not quite porridge either. Anyway, it was very tasty. I enjoyed the veggies, which all got cooked just right, not mushy. And I enjoyed the kale cooked that way as well. My partner tried a little bit and liked it.

So, quinoa and veggie soup came out pretty good. :-)

Barbara

Bread success!

I made bread Saturday morning. It worked out great! No holes in the middle, high and light, it even had some oven spring. I followed Ruthies ideas, although I'm still hoping she'll post her bread recipe. I cut honey down from 4 tbl to 2 and used 2 tbl olive oil. I also mixed in more flour before turning it out to knead. I do it all by hand, so I'm getting quite a workout!

But I am thrilled that it came out so well! It's slicing good, I'm using a bread slicing guide thing I picked up at Goodwill.

My partner and I are going to go to the Wal-Mart Supercenter up in Vancouver to pick up staples and some things for Thanksgiving. We don't buy meat there, we are dubious about it's quality. But from my price book, most things are cheaper at Wal-Mart, even at regular grocery stores best sale prices.

Barbara

Found a deal

I'm not sure it's exactly frugal but anyway. Yesterday I went to the mall to do some writing. I'm doing National Novel Writing Month for the third time this year. I always park by the Barnes & Noble. I stopped into their music section to see if they had any Christmas music on sale that I might like.

I didn't find anything there, but I also looked at the new age section. I found a John Tesh 'Worship at Red Rocks' cd. 12 songs on it. and it was $16.99. Average price these days for a music CD. Both my partner and myself enjoy praise and worship songs. I kept looking and found a 'Worship at Red Rocks Platinum'. I'm thinking, oh boy, this is going to be expensive. To my surprise, it was priced at only $12.99. It had the same cd as the first one I saw, PLUS a second music cd with 10 more songs, PLUS the DVD of the concert with a few extras on it. I thought this was a great deal. I have a Barnes and Noble ten percent discount card, so for eleven bucks and change I got 2 music cds and a DVD, which we will both enjoy. I play music on my computer at night when we are both at our respective computers.

I'm happy about the purchase.

Barbara

Shopping

I picked up a bunch of apples so I can make more apple crisp and apple butter. My partner just loves the apple butter. I may need to learn to can so we can make apple butter for presents next year.

I also picked up ten pounds of russets for a good price. I'm going to try to make potato soup, among other things, from them. I also need to cook up some brown rice and make bread. My partner goes to work tomorrow and for once I won't be driving her there. So I'll have most of the day to cook.

I'm just hoping the bread turns out better this time.

Barbara

Blueberries

I made oatmeal for breakfast this morning. I had bought frozen unsweetened blueberries, since they are out of season. Boy were they tart! I guess I'll try some stevia on top of them before tossing them into the oatmeal. They definitely need more sweetness.

Barbara