Beans!

My blogging friend Katie, over at Kitchen Stewardship, is having an

Octoberfest Carnival of Super Foods

this month! She'll be hosting a carnival a week focusing on various nourishing and healthy foods for your family. From recipes to tips, she's got it all!

Today, the first day of the carnival, we're focusing on bean and legume recipes and I'm sharing:

Three Sisters Chili

Three Bean Turkey Chili, and

Super Fresh and Tasty Lentil Salad

which use beans and legumes as their primary ingredients, plus, the following recipes include beans as a secondary ingredient

Green Chile Chicken Tortilla Soup

Cajun Chicken and Sausage Casserole with Dirty Brown Rice

Taco Casserole with Spanish Brown Rice, and

Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole

And, if you're just looking for a crunchy, savory snack, try my

Crispy Roasted Chickpeas

Frankly, I'm a bit surprised by how many recipes I have featuring beans and legumes on my blog, but no matter, they are for good reason and I'm excited to take part in this series of carnivals! Visit Kitchen Stewardship for more frugal, healthy bean recipes as part of the October Fest Carnival of Super Foods. Next week’s theme: Broth/Stock Recipes.Please, go check out the other contributors (and comment on the recipes you'd like to make or have made! I'd love to hear your feedback!) Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Sourdough Pancakes

I have recently found a gem of a cookbook. A gem that I already had on my bookshelf. Alaska Sourdough by Ruth Allman. This is a great book for anyone with starter in the fridge that is wanting to begin using it in everyday life. Alaska Sourdough has a ton of recipes for easy, basic recipes from pancakes to muffins to potato bread to pretzels to cakes. All using sourdough. Though it is not my favorite for rustic sourdough bread (I prefer Nancy Silverton's Breads from the La Brea Bakery for that) it is a perfect book for filling out a meal, from corn muffins to go with chili to cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. Plus, I appreciate that it uses everyday ingredients and measurements, making sourdough achievable for the average cook.

My son loves pancakes. And I don't make them very often because I prefer he doesn't start the day with carbs covered in sugar. BUT I do make them from time to time. And I feel great making them from sourdough. I made up this batch of Apple Cinnamon pancakes this weekend for him and, with the fruit mixed into the batter, all it really needed was a bit of melted butter and a squirt of raw honey, and he was set for the day. A Sunday specialty, we made these up as the first sign of autumn was upon us! They filled us up nicely for a day of yard work and gardening, getting everything cut back for the winter and summer spent plants out of the beds. Yum!

By the way, I love the way she recommends adds the baking soda into the batter. At the very end and, since this recipe only contains starter (which makes it faster and easier than even a dry pancake mix! And ten times tastier and better for you!), without any other dry flour mixed in, it deliciously foams up making the lightest, fluffiest pancakes ever. This is my new favorite method for sourdough pancakes; I'm not looking back.

Apple Cinnamon Sourdough Pancakes

from Alaska Sourdough by Ruth Allman*

makes about 12-15 6"-pancakes

Basic Sourdough Hotcakes

2 cups sourdough starter, fed the day before and at room temperature

1 egg

4 Tablespoons melted butter, cooled

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 scant teaspoon of baking soda

1 Tablespoon warm water

To Basic Sourdough Hotcake Recipe, add:

1 cup finely diced apples, dusted generously with

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

In a bowl that holds a minimum of six cups (or three times larger than the amount of starter you're starting with, if you're doubling or tripling this recipe) add starter, eggs, butter, sugar and salt. If you're adding in the apples or another addition, add them in at this time and stir thoroughly to combine.

Heat a griddle up to medium high heat. Heat your oven to a low temp and put a plate in there to hold the pancakes that you've made while you continue to cook, so that they are all hot when you bring them to the table.

Now, just before you are ready to cook (this is important!) stir the baking soda into the water to dissolve in a small cup. Add to the batter and gently fold in. Immediately, it will begin to foam and will at least double in volume (which is why you need the big bowl to start with! I mixed mine in a bit too small of a bowl this weekend, but I've now learned! See to the left what it will look like). Once thoroughly folded in (do not beat, do not mix, be very gentle!) ladle the batter onto the griddle in roughly 1/3 to 1/2-cup quantities and cook as normal, turning once the first side is a medium brown.

Be advised, if you are used to cooking pancakes from a dry mix and knowing to turn once you see bubbles on top, you will have to be a bit more careful as this batter inherently has bubbles in it at all times. I've found they're ready to flip after about a minute.

Enjoy with fruit preserves, maple syrup or honey, or your other favorite pancake topping!

*Please be advised, the recipe ingredients and quantities are from the cookbook as noted. The instructions written above are all me.

** And Oh Yes. I know you're wishing you had my awesome striped rental-house kitchen wallpaper and faux wood countertops. I'm bringing retro back! Just keeping it real folks, that is really my kitchen. My wallpaper. And my coffee. Oh! And my starter back there in the shallow bowl; I'd just fed it after I made the batter . . .

Sourdough Cheese Crackers

I don't even know what to tell you about these crackers except that you really must make them immediately. They are addicting. Buttery. Slight twang from the sourdough. Nicely cheesey without cloyingly so. So yummy.





I originally wanted to develop a recipe for a good cheese cracker for my son, and in the interim found my new favorite thing. These are so good. Trust me. Go, make them now.

Sourdough Cheese Crackers

makes about 6 dozen 1" diameter crackers

• 1-1/2 sticks cold butter (3/4 cup)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 to 1-1/4 Cup sourdough starter, freshly fed and room temperature
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika*

In a food processor, pulse the butter, flour and dry spices together until it looks mealy. Add cheese and just pulse to combine. Add sourdough starter, a cup first and if you need a teensy bit more, go ahead and add it. (My starter is fairly wet, like a thick batter, and I feed it a 1/1 ratio by volume of flour and water.) Stop mixing once the dough has formed a ball in the processor and the dough feels soft and a little sticky.

Divide the dough into three parts and, using three sheets of waxed paper, roll dough up into a tube (roughly 1 to 1-1/2" in diameter) in the paper and refrigerate until firm and ready to bake.

To bake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Using one roll of dough at a time (keeping the others cool in the fridge) unwrap and, with a serrated knife, cut the roll into 1/6th inch rounds and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Take care to saw the log with the knife, rather than pressing down to cut as it will keep the crackers rounder.

Leave a little space between each cracker as they will spread a little bit during baking, but you do not need to leave as much space as you would for, say, cookies. Maybe an inch or so on all sides.

Bake for 16-18 minutes until golden brown on the top and the bottoms are nicely toasted. Allow to cool briefly and enjoy!

I bet you can't eat just one. . . .

*Next time I'm going to sub out mustard powder for the paprika. . . I'll let you know how it goes!

This post is written in conjunction with Fight Back Friday!

Jalapenos en Escabeche - a Lacto-Fermented Treat!

There are two standards of quality for me when it comes to a good Mexican restaurant.

First, refried beans. Beans must be offered and they must be refried. Not black beans, not some low-cholesterol offering, but real refried beans, preferably cooked in lard and topped with queso fresco must be served. You got bad beans? I won't be returning.

Second, escabeche. If I go to a taco stand or Mexican restaurant and they have a little bowl of escabeche on the table or included with their salsa selection I'm a happy girl. I know I'm in.

I'd rather frequent a sketchy Mexican restaurant with good beans and escabeche than a beautiful one that markets their black bean wraps with avocado puree and fishbowls of margaritas, thank you very much.

Which leads me to this recipe! Escabeche, or jalapenos en Escabeche are basically a Mexican pickled jalapeno. Far better than those little Nacho rings you buy in the store, escabeche is flavored with onions and garlic, frequently carrots, sometimes radishes or cauliflower, and is a pickled treat that I love to snack on.

This year I grew jalapenos in my garden, and found that I had too many to merely eat (especially since I cook for a toddler, and am nursing an infant. Not too much overtly spicy stuff happening around here) so went looking for a solution. I found several pickled jalapeno and jalapeno ring recipes online, but as I don't have access to a canner this year (and only had enough jalapenos to make a small batch) I didn't want to go through the trouble of canning them. As I enjoyed lacto-fermenting salsas last summer, I thought I'd try my hand with the same technique for escabeche, and I am in love!!

I love snacking on the carrots that have been soaking in the spicy brine, while my husband prefers the peppers. I made this batch with a mix of majority jalapenos with a few sweeter peppers thrown in that were in my fridge. Make sure that you use fresh, firm peppers when you make this. Enjoy on the side of a Mexican dinner, or straight from the jar.

Lacto-Fermented Escabeche

makes about 4 pints

• 4 cups of sliced hot and sweet peppers (for me, this was about two large sweet red peppers - the long skinny kind, not bell, 12 jalapenos and one banana pepper)
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into 1/4" ovals
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 of a medium sized onion, sliced into half rounds and separated
• 1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
• 1 Tablespoon sea salt
• 4 Tablespoons fresh whey
• water

Special Equipment: Plastic Gloves, Clean jars and clean jar lids

First, put on your gloves. Seriously, put them on. I bought a box of 50 gloves at the pharmacy in my local grocery store for about $5.00. If you don't want your hands burning for the next three days and/or have to do things with your fingers that you don't want jalapeno juice soaked into them (such as changing your contacts, being a baby's chew toy, etc.) put on some gloves.

There, you can't say I didn't warn you.

Second, with your gloves on, slice up your peppers and place them in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients except for water and mix with your hands. Allow to set for a few minutes.

Into your clean jars (still wearing your gloves!!) start bottling your vegetables. Push down gently, but firmly on the vegetables to push in a little bit more until they just reach the lower lip of the jar, about 1/2" from the top. Continue until you have all of your vegetables in jars (don't worry if the last jar isn't quite full), making sure you have a fairly even mix of peppers, carrots and the peppercorns are evenly distributed. Press down on the vegetables in all the jars once more.

Now, to each jar, add a little water (filtered is best, but I just used the stuff out of the tap) to fill the space in between the peppers and to just cover them. Make sure that the veggies are submerged. Cap and keep on your counter for about two days before transferring to cold storage. Allow the flavors to mingle for about a week before tasting. The flavor will be of a traditional cooked jalapeno en escabeche, but much fresher and crisper.

Enjoy within six months!

This post is written in conjunction with Fight Back Friday!

Happy Autumn!

Happy Autumn from Our Family to Yours!

Menu Planning Monday

We are still doing a primal/grain-free/low-carb menu plan around here. I've lost a few more pounds and hope to continue down that path as I get closer to my pre-pregnancy weight! Here's my plan for the week . . .

Sunday Dinner - Grilled Sirloin steak with Crudite Platter (i.e. baby carrots, cucumber and fresh tomatoes served with homemade ranch)

Monday Dinner - Pan-seared pork chops with apples and sage served with roasted acorn squash with parmesan and a green salad
To Do - Make a new batch of mayonnaise

Tuesday Dinner - Roast chicken (thighs and breasts, bone-in, skin-on) with Green Beans with Balsamic Tomatoes and Bacon
To Do - Save leftover skin and bones, etc. of chicken for chicken stock in the crockpot. Toss in some vinegar to soak until the morning.

Wednesday Dinner - Leftovers
To do - Make chicken salad (with apples, celery and green onion and homemade mayo) for lunches and a batch of chicken stock in the crockpot today

Thursday Dinner - Pipirrana Chopped Summer Salad from mediterranean Fresh by Joyce Goldstein
To Do - Make a batch of yogurt in the crock pot

Friday Dinner - Bratwurst with homemade, lacto-fermented sauerkraut and roasted fingerling potatoes
To Do - Relax!

Saturday Dinner - Still pending . . . depends on the weather!

Sunday Dinner - Dinner with in-laws at their home.

Breakfasts are normally Green Smoothies or Scrambled Eggs
Lunches are leftovers or made from leftovers (i.e. Chicken Salad with tomatoes, made from the previous roast chicken)
Snacks include veggies and homemade ranch dressing, hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, fresh fruit and cheddar cheese

For more menu plans, check out Organizing Junkie! Have a great week!

Daybook

Daybook for Today, September 19, 2009

Outside my Window... I see the smoke from the smoker starting up. T. is making ribs today as we're having friends over to watch the game - our first guests who aren't related to us!

I am thinking... that I am tired. And that, from blog reading, so are a lot of other ladies. Thinking it might be time to rethink how we do things around here so mama gets some independent time. I just want to finish a magazine article in one sitting every once in a while.

From the school room... Lloyd began learning about scissors this week. It looks like we've been having surprise party after surprise party from the dining room into the kitchen and living room. Little scraps of paper confetti abounds. He is loving learning how to cut and I've been surprised how quickly he figured out the mechanics of scissors.

I see snowflakes in my future this Winter!

I am thankful... for my two beautiful boys. They bring me such joy.

From the kitchen... Bacon and eggs for breakfast, smoked baby back ribs with homemade barbecue sauce, sourdough cornbread muffins (an experiment today) and green salad for lunch and homemade peanut butter cookies for dessert. Yum.

I am creating...sewing ideas. I made my first project this week and the sewing bug is back!

I am wearing... pyjamas still.

I am reading... Dumbing Us Down; The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto, and Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman

I am hearing. . . Luke gurgle and play away in his bouncy seat. T. and Lloyd are playing trains upstairs before they head down for breakfast.

Around the house... We welcome Autumn! Squash and apples and pine cones used as decor, some new fall-ish flowers, and I've finally begun work on my picture wall.

One of my favorite things... is weekends with the men in my life.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ...

• Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a new mama of two.
  
• Trip to the park to meet friends!
• Reading, Sewing, Crafting . . .
  

A Picture Thought to share (above) -Happy Husker Saturday from the Guys in Red!

Have a great day!

Gratuitous Cute Photo of the Little One

Four and a half months old. And loving his Exersaucer!

Three Sisters Chili

I was inspired recently when reading this article on Companion Planning your Garden on Lylah's blog. As a novice gardener, I've learned a lot this season and am already planning ahead for next and love Lylah's blog and this particular article for information and inspiration! In the article, the authors discuss plants that benefit each other when planted near or in companion to each other, and also discuss the trinity of squash, corn and beans that the native Americans called the "Three Sisters." Not only are they companion plants, but together create a perfect protein and were major sources of Native American menus, in all parts of the country.

As one of three girls (the original Three Sisters, above - I'm in the middle), I loved the name in and of itself! As I had planned on making up a batch of chili, and had corn and tomatoes and pattypan squash in my fridge that needed cleaning out and using up, I decided to just wing it and came up with this inspired dish. It was fantastic! The squash soaked up the flavors of the chili and added a welcome texture (make sure that you cut up the squash into about bean size so it doesn't overwhelm your bites), the corn added a sweetness that curbed the fat and spice of a traditional chili and altogether it made a great one pot dinner, full of extra vegetable goodness and a great way to stretch a few pounds of meat!

I loved this with cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Three Sisters Chili
serves six heartily, with leftovers

• 2 pounds ground beef (I use ground chuck which has about an 80-85% lean content. Since you are sauteeing a large quantity of vegetables without any additional fat, I prefer ground chuck over ground round, which is leaner and typically more expensive.)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 large bell pepper, chopped
• 4 cups cooked pinto beans (the equivalent of about 1-1/2 cups dry beans, cooked, or 3 cans of beans)
• 3 cups summer squash, chopped in about 1/4-1/2" dice
• 3 ears of corn, kernels cut off (about 2 cups)
• 1 quart of canned diced tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 Tablespoon cumin
• 1-1/2 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 Tablespoon cayenne powder
• 1/2 Tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon sea salt

In a large pan, brown ground beef with onions and bell pepper. Once browned and vegetables are soft, add garlic, beans and squash. Stir in spices and corn. Add tomatoes and tomato paste and up to 2 cups of water, if needed, for consistency.

Allow to simmer for an hour. Taste for seasoning, adjust and then enjoy!

Please excuse the picture . . . brown doesn't photograph well, especially on a cloudy day! But it was delicious!

This post is written in conjunction with Real Food Wednesday's.

Daybook

Daybook for Today, September 9, 2009

Outside my Window... it is dark and about 10:00pm.

I am thinking... that I can't believe I'll be thirty in just a few days (Sunday)!

From the school room... We are supposedly starting the Alphabet Path this week, but Lloyd was sick Friday and Saturday so we didn't make it to the library to pick up our books until today. . . we are having fun coloring on coloring pages with items that begin with the letter A including Apples, angels and airplanes.

I'm thinking about putting together a cornmeal or salt tray to begin practicing letter formation with fingers. I'm also thinking about getting or beginning to use sandpaper letters.

I am thankful... for my two beautiful boys.

From the kitchen... I'm making my first batch of kombucha. My scoby is finally large enough!

I am creating...sewing ideas. I just found my sewing machine and hope to get it humming this autumn.

I am wearing... Black three-quarter length shirt, tan slacks, bare feet

I am reading... I just picked up some fantastic cookbooks that I'm loving from the library. I'm studying Spanish and Portuguese cooking and am loving Jonathan Waxman's A Great American Cook. Getting lots of inspiration. I also picked up a Kurt Vonnegut and a David Foster Wallace book, a bit of light reading, perhaps?

I am hearing. . . Grey Gardens. Watching it while T. is away in NYC. It's not exactly his style of movie.

Around the house... I'm hoping to decorate for autumn tomorrow. Apples and turning leaves, here we come!

One of my favorite things... is picnics in the park. I found my picnic blanket today and hope to take advantage of it in the next few days!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ...

• Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a new mama of two. With T., with Lloyd, and with myself.
• Trip to the park to meet friends!
• My Birthday!
  

A Picture Thought to share (above) - The artist at work. Lloyd with his sidewalk chalk.

Have a great day!

Quick and Easy Play Dough

I love making up a quick batch of this no-cook play dough whenever Lloyd wants to "help" in the kitchen, but I'm doing something that would be best to keep toddler's hands out of.

I like to scent my play dough with various spices, cinnamon is my favorite, but it can be left unscented as well.

This dough only lasts a few days (for a longer lasting recipe, try this cooked version), but at pennies to produce, it is a great way to keep little ones occupied and happy. Get out your little rolling pins, butter knives and seasonal cookie cutters and have fun!

Quick and Easy Play Dough
enough for one small child

1/2 cup white flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon or other spice or extract, optional*
1 teaspoon of any additional smoosh-ins, (glitter is fun), optional
2 Tablespoons salt
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
2+ Tablespoons water
a few drops of food coloring

In a bowl, stir together all dry ingredients; flour, scented spice of your choice, salt and any dry smoosh-ins, like glitter. In a small cup, whisk together all wet ingredients.

Make sure that you add the food coloring to the liquid ingredients for thorough color saturation. If you forget and add it to the dough afterwards, it will be streaky, like marble. Which is fun on it's own, but won't mix in thoroughly.

Little by little, add the liquids to the dry mixture, stirring with a spoon and then smooshing with your hands. Add extra water, if necessary, to create the consistency you want.

Hand over to your little one and watch him have fun!

*If you want to scent the play dough with a liquid extract, simply add it to the water and stir in with wet ingredients rather than dry.

Enjoy!

How YOU doing? aka What I've been up to this week . . .

I made a batch of Minestrone Soup, and I finally took pictures of it and updated my post! Doesn't that just look yum?

Oh, and when I made the soup, I also made up a batch of Sourdough Focaccia and took pictures of it and updated that post too! Yum. We finished the bread up as salami sandwiches over last weekend. Amazing.

And I've been reading. A lot. Some books I'm loving (from the library) include:

• Elements of Organic Gardening by HRH Prince Charles - I am shocked by how much I'm learning from this book. At first I thought it might be kind of a fluff book, a typical celebrity-written book, but HRH really knows what he is doing and is passionate about organic gardening. Did you know there were two varieties of compost? Anaerobic and Aerobic? I didn't. But do now. And I love seeing how they train fruit trees to both utilize space as well as make beautiful bowers. Very inspirational on making a beautiful, useful, organic garden.
• Kitchen Literacy by Ann Vilesis - This reads like a college paper or treatise, but it is very interesting. Talks about how the rise of urban centers has changed and affected our food culture. It's amazing how much has changed over the last two hundred years. I'm still working my way through this. Picking it up every few days and reading a few pages or a chapter and then putting it down again.
• Nancy Silverton's Breads from La Brea Bakery - which I LOVE. Will be doing a Book Review for this soon as it directly correlates to this blog!
• The September Issue of Vogue. Because I have to. It's tradition. Since I was twelve.
  
• Twelve Months of Monastery Soups - Another book that I've been wanting to read for about a year. Another book I'll be reviewing.

Frankly, I am so impressed with the Omaha Public Library's Cookbook section! They have a lot of very, very good titles. Whoever buys for them is a cook. It's apparent. and it gives me the opportunity to test out a cookbook before I decide to buy it for my collection! Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a book junkie, I have a hard time keeping a budget for books; I'm loving the library for this very reason!

I'm also working on starting our home pre-school Alphabet Path next week! Except that Lloyd now knows and can identify all the letters and their sounds (Thanks Tad!). Earlier than I thought. So I'm having to revamp and advancing my plans a bit but I'm picking up books this weekend at the library for the first few weeks worth of letters and I'm thinking about apple-licious recipes. Has anyone tried the Apple Bread from Apples for Jam? That is in the running . . .

Have a lovely Labor Day weekend! We'll see you next week!

Please excuse the absence . . .

It's been a crazy week around here. T., my husband, has been working diligently on a big project at work. Basically, if it goes through, his work will be used to make an $800 million international investment decision for his company (which, by the way, he's only worked at for about three months!). Which means that he has been home before 10:00 pm only once this week.

So I've been home alone with both boys 24-7. A ravenous, breast-feeding four month old and my toddler has decided to not nap the past two days. And I decided to start a new exercise regime.

You could say I've had my hands full.

So, any blogging time has been pretty much null this week. I'm hoping to be able to do some serious writing this weekend when I have extra help around (and an extra day with my husband!). I have several recipes to type up, pictures to upload, that herb tutorial I hinted at a few weeks ago and some new blog topics I want to hash out. I love writing here, love my readers, and have recently been really inspired with new ideas and topics that I've been thinking about. I appreciate your patience and look forward to sharing more soon!

Oh. And . . . T. is scheduled to be in NYC all next week, Tuesday through Friday, so please pray for me and my sanity! I'm sure we'll be eating popcorn and cheese for dinner at least once next week!