food

Menu planning: 4 Moms, 35 Kids

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April 8, 2010 by kimc 22 Comments

Oh my. Menu planning? Whose idea was this? er…um…why don’t you go see how the other 3 moms feed their crew:

But you’re not going to let me off the hook that easily, are you? Neither does my family.

Like much of life, our menu was far more organized when all the children were little and everything hinged upon Yours Truly getting it all done. If I didn’t have a plan, eating became tricky to say the least.

Now I have 6 understudies in the kitchen, and among us we have a good streak of creativity. If we fail to plan, we can usually come up with a quick and appetizing meal nonetheless. I’m not recommending our method menu planning, nor am I excusing it. I’m just telling it like it is.

It could also be that after 12 or 15 years of more structured menu planning, I have learned to plan subconsciously. When I shop, I have an actual list and a general sort of menu either in writing or in mind, so even when there’s no written plan there are meals in the fridge, freezer and pantry. Are you buying any of this, or should I stop now?

You’re buying it? Good. So am I. Hopefully my husband and kids are buying it too.

So…here are some of the meals that commonly land on our menu.

Breakfasts:

Homemade granola with lots of nuts for high-protein staying power
Oatmeal (often with apples and lots of cinnamon)
Pancakes – made from scratch, of course. We quadruple the recipe from my old Better Homes cookbook, to make just enough for me and the kids after hubby has gone to work.
Eggs (fresh from the chicken house) and toast from homemade whole wheat bread
Baked oatmeal (again, usually with lots of apples and cinnamon)
Egg burritos (egg, cheese and occasionally sausage in a tortilla)
Banana bread and milk – sometimes with walnuts to boost the protein content, and usually with peanut butter for the same reason.
Breakfast in a bowl (grits, eggs, cheese, sausage)
Sausage gravy, biscuits, and eggs (generally only on weekends). May also include grits, to be eaten with butter, salt and pepper – never sweetened. We’re southerners, after all.
Cold pizza (a Saturday morning tradition)
Kefir - this is new for us, but hubby and I often start our day with a cup of kefir. Several of the kids have also developed a taste for it.

Lunch:

Leftovers – always high on the list.
Grilled cheese sandwiches – cheddar cheese on whole wheat bread, made with real butter. mmmm!
Fried rice – leftover rice with any veggies we have on hand, plus several eggs and some soy sauce.
Peanut butter-banana smoothies – We peel browning bananas and freeze in large ziplock bags. For a cold delicious thoroughly nutritious lunch, blend 2 frozen bananas, a scoop of peanut butter, and some milk. Now we often use kefir instead of milk for a nice tang.
Peanut butter & jelly rollups – on tortillas instead of bread. Usually for the little ones when the bigger ones eat leftovers.
Nachos – spread tortilla chips on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with grated cheddar and bake for a few minutes til cheese is melted. Dip in salsa. For single servings, a plate in the microwave works just fine. When you shop at Costco, tortilla chips and grated cheddar are surprisingly affordable.
Ramen noodles. It’s true. I confess.
More fun and easy lunches here and here, though those are older posts and our menu has evolved over time.

Snacks:

Tomatoes – we often serve up and demolish entire plates of quartered tomatoes
Fruit – whatever varieties we have on hand, usually purchased wholesale by the case and likewise eaten by the case.
Banana smoothies – as on the lunch menu above, but we often leave out the peanut butter if we’re not using these as a meal.
Cheese quesadillas – just cheddar cheese melted in a tortilla.
Carrot sticks, with or without dip
Frozen peas, straight from the bag. Are we weird?
anything fast & easy from the lunch list above

Dinner (nearly always includes a salad):

Taco salad
Jambalaya
Mexican casserole
Chicken pot pie
Homemade pizza on Fridays. Every Friday. Without fail. No exceptions allowed.
Beans, rice & cornbread – usually with sausage in the beans.
Fajitas – with preseasoned fajita meat bought on sale. :)
Burritos – taco meat, bean & cheese, plus lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, and sour cream if we have it.
Enchiladas or enchilada casserole
Spaghetti
Beef stroganoff
Sloppy joes
Baked herb chicken
Taco chicken
Ham/potato chowder
Chili over rice
Misc. creamy, cheesy noodle creations with meat or poultry of some sort

Above all, we try to operate in a “what do I have in my hand” mode. Although I don’t empty my pantry every week, I do try to be mindful of what I already have and buy ingredients to go with those items so that we rotate our stock and regularly – or eventually – use nearly everything we have.

4moms35kids Menu planning: 4 Moms, 35 Kids

Upcoming topics for 4 Moms 35 Kids

April 15 Cooking from scratch – what you make from scratch and how you get it all done
April 22 Recipe swap – We’ll all post a couple of our favorite, budget friendly, feed a crowd recipes and a Mr. Linky so that readers can participate by contributing their own recipes. When you share your link on one of our blogs, it will show up on all 4! How fun is that?!

Past topics:

March 18 - Live-blog day, in which all 4 of us live-blog a real day in our home. Find out what we really do all day. It’s our own reality show, just for you. Who needs TV?
March 25 – Outings with only little ones. Mom’s rules of order, and how notto become the poster family for birth control.
April 1 - A baker’s dozen for managing the food budget: budgeting in the kitchen to feed a crowd.

Filed Under: 4 moms 35 kids, food

4 Moms 35 Kids: a baker’s dozen for managing the food budget

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April 1, 2010 by kimc 30 Comments

See how the other 3 moms pinch a dollar til it squeals:

Headmistress (The Common Room): The Growing Family Beats the Incredible Shrinking Dollar

Connie (Smockity Frocks): Grocery Budgets

Kimberly (Raising Olives): Feeding Your Family on a Budget

According to our illustrious government, the average American household consists of 2.5 people, who spend $511/month on food. That works out to just over $200/month for each person. Granted, a fair portion of this (nearly 45%) is spent eating out rather than in, but there’s a lesson there: #1 way to save on groceries: Eat in.

There are a lot of other ways that the more thrifty shoppers among us keep the food budget under control: some shop at 9 competing grocery stores; some stack coupons and deals obsessively, getting paid to shop during their best outings; some sing the merits of Angel Food Ministries; some grow enormous gardens or get free produce from the gardens and orchards of others.

For one reason or another (do you really want to hear my long list of ready excuses?) none of these are good choices for us right now. However, saving money is nearly always a good choice for a large family, and so we work to keep our food budget under control in other ways.

I shared 10 basic tips to cut your grocery bill over on Frugal Hacks, but will give you the more chatty and less formal version here and now.

I’d be hard-pressed to tell you exactly what our household spends on groceries, since in addition to 11 people we’re also feeding 25 chickens, 2 dogs (plus 9 puppies right now!), and one very large cat. Our “food budget” also includes paper products – mainly toilet paper, and a LOT of it – personal hygiene, household items, clothes, and nearly anything that can be purchased at WalMart.

With all those disclaimers in place, my “food budget” including all of the above is $900/month. I would estimate that the actual vittles cost us $700-750/month. This is not a barebones beans-n-rice diet. We eat meat every night of the week, and we are hearty eaters. We also eat produce by the wholesale case. I usually buy over 100 lbs. of produce in a single trip. Never mind about teenage boys; try feeding a herd of hungry Coghlans for a week.

Over the years, we have developed some habits that keep the cost manageable. Some are newer habits, while others are well-established.

Have a list, a target price and some flexibility. I know what I’m willing to pay for the items on my list, and when I find a really good sale I stock up – even if it means going over budget this week. I know I’ll save over the upcoming weeks. If I can’t find a fair price, I revise my list.
Do your homework: I try to make sure I know the regular prices of the items I buy so I don’t get fooled by “specials” in the weekly grocery flyer.
No prepared or highly processed foods. This year, we’ve even replaced our summertime breakfast cereals (always purchased at 10 cents/oz or less) with homemade granola. We do still stoop to the occasional case of ramen noodles, but I hardly consider them food. The kids often eat them uncooked, so they’re more like really cheap snack crackers in really fun shapes.
Homemade bread, from fresh-ground whole wheat. Not as cheap as white bread from the store, but much more filling and nutritious, so we get more for our money.
Cook from scratch. It’s probably a no-brainer for most of us and it overlaps a lot with #3 above, but this one alone will take you a long way. We cook our beans from scratch. We don’t buy pancake mix, cocoa mix, enchilada sauce, mac-n-cheese, cornbread mix, cake mix, canned biscuits, etc. All of these are better and cheaper made from scratch. An added bonus to cooking from scratch: we generate far less trash and my grocery shopping is greatly simplified (i.e. my list is much shorter).
Don’t use coupons. I won’t say they’re never worth it, but in our area coupons are invariably for overpriced name brands on products that I don’t buy. ”Save $1″ doesn’t save me anything if it’s money I wouldn’t have spent in the first place.
Shop wholesale. I make a trip downtown every few weeks to buy produce by the case from the local wholesale company that supplies many of the restaurants, hotels and even grocery stores in San Antonio. Many moms swear by restaurant supply stores as well. You may have similar options in your town. Ask around. Search via the web or the old fashioned yellow pages.
Costco (or Sam’s Club). Thanks to Costco, cheese is an inexpensive source of protein in our house. We use a shocking amount. This is also where we buy yeast, spices, real butter, flour, sugar, nuts, coffee, tortilla chips, and a few other staples.
Eggs. Another inexpensive source of protein. We have chickens now, and eat ~18-20 eggs/day. We have to buy feed for our chickens to supplement our scraps and their foraging so the eggs aren’t entirely free, but they’re cheaper, fresher and better than store-bought.
Avoid excessive sweets. Yes, even homemade sweets can add significantly to the budget. Chocolate chips and butter, and other ingredients add up quickly and don’t provide a lot of nutrition.
Buy the specials, especially meat. I never pay over $2/lb for meat (that’s for boneless, skinless, super lean and otherwise special stuff) and usually buy it for much less. When I find a really great deal, I buy 50-100 lbs. We eat a lot of chicken, pork and ground beef, with occasional ham, roasts, and sausages.
Eat produce in season, and eat it abundantly. I used to think that produce was expensive, but I’ve learned that’s not necessarily true. We buy what’s cheap, not just whatever sounds good or looks appetizing today. This may occasionally mean our only fruit is bananas or but we have plenty of variety over the course of the year. Our salads one week may have little more than greens and red cabbage, but the next week we will have a veggie tray every night because something came into season.
Buy in bulk - but always with caution, watching the unit price so I don’t get fooled by a big package that ends up costing more per ounce than 4 small ones.

There. A baker’s dozen of tips for saving money in the kitchen. Appropriate, don’t you think? What would you add?

4moms35kids 4 Moms 35 Kids: a bakers dozen for managing the food budget

Upcoming topics for 4 Moms 35 Kids

April 8 Menu planning/shopping
April 15 Cooking from scratch – what you make from scratch and how you get it all done
April 22 Recipe swap – We’ll all post a couple of our favorite, budget friendly, feed a crowd recipes and a Mr. Linky so that readers can participate by contributing their own recipes. When you share your link on one of our blogs, it will show up on all 4! How fun is that?!

Past topics:

March 18 - Live-blog day, in which all 4 of us live-blog a real day in our home. Find out what we really do all day. It’s our own reality show, just for you. Who needs TV?
March 25 – Outings with only little ones. Mom’s rules of order, and how not to become the poster family for birth control.

Filed Under: 4 moms 35 kids, big family, food Tagged With: food budget

Granola, homeschooler style

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March 15, 2010 by kimc 31 Comments

Now that the weather is warmer we’re beginning to crave cold cereal again. It’s a summertime tradition in our house, and summer lasts a loooong time here in south Texas.

But we’re also eating much healthier and cheaper these days, and I find myself choking a bit even on the very cheapest prepared cereals. Besides, they just don’t keep a person full. We find ourselves needing a second breakfast an hour later, and there’s nothing cheap about eating the same meal twice.

And so I’m trying my hand again at granola. In typical homeschooler style, I can’t just find and follow a recipe. I have to find 10 recipes and study the proportions of oats to other dry ingredients, dry ingredients to moist, oil to sweetener, etc. Then I combine them to suit our taste, budget, pantry and whims.

Here is the recipe for what is now in my oven, preserved here for either repetition or mockery, depending upon the results. update: The recipe was a hit. The amounts below have been tweaked slightly to make it even more perfect.

Granola

8 cups oats
2 cups nuts (slivered almonds and/or walnuts are what we use because they’re cheap at Costco)
3 cups add’l dry ingredients such as flax seed (the first flax seed I’ve ever owned, bought just for granola), TVP (bought on a whim at the bulk food store because it’s cheap, high in protein and looks a lot like the sort of thing you’d expect to find in granola), raw wheat germ, or just more oats.
1 ½ tsp. salt
2 tbs. cinnamon
1 cup honey (do you really think I measured this?)
1 cup oil and/or butter
raisins, coconut or other dried fruit if desired (add after cooking & cooling)

Stir together dry ingredients. Heat honey and oil together and add to dry ingredients, stirring to combine thoroughly.

Divide onto 2 large cookie sheets and cook 20-30 minutes at 325 degrees, stirring once or twice. Cool on sheets, add dried fruit if desired, and store in an airtight container.

What do you think, granola makers of the world? Will it work? Smells good, looks good, tasted good before it went in the oven…but my kids still remember our last homemade granola. It was hard as a rock, and I have no clue what recipe I used.

Filed Under: crunchy stuff, food, mom is neurotic

Food log, day 1

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March 8, 2010 by kimc 11 Comments

My midwife asked me to keep a food log for her. She wants complete records for everything I eat for 5 days, though not necessarily consecutive days. She was a little amused when I pointed out that there was only room for 3 meals and 4 snacks each day. I guess I can use the back of the sheet.

Today seems like a good time to start because my chocolate stash is gone. Well, except for the last bit of Starbucks Java Chip ice cream. Oh, and that Hershey’s bar I bought for hubby’s lunch a looooong time ago. I keep forgetting to put it in the bag, and today I saw it peeking out of a basket on top of my dresser. er…hi, hunney…I love you…

Just because I’m such a terribly interesting person, I’m going to share it here. Actually, I’m going to keep track here because it’s a plausible excuse to be on the computer. Not that I generally wait for an excuse, but it’s always nice when one is offered.

If you’re really interested in what I eat and how much, feel free to check back throughout the day for updates.

Breakfast:

Sausage, egg & cheese on an English muffin – we don’t normally eat like this. Hubby bought and prepared a special Sunday breakfast and I ate some of the leftovers today. Also, I don’t normally eat a hearty breakfast but I was sick yesterday and didn’t eat much, so I woke up hungry. See? Excuses already. I told you I liked them.

Snacks:

10:00 AM

Cocoa-mocha (cocoa with instant coffee added) – unsolicited and made from scratch by a sweet daughter.

1:00 PM

Kefir, very lightly sweetened with honey - Oops. I got busy on our tax return (done! woo hoo!) and missed my second morning snack, and elevensies, and second breakfast. The kefir took care of my grumbling belly before the blood sugar sky dive event began. I’ll still need something more substantial soon.

Lunch (2:00 PM):

1/2 cup macaroni & cheese – homemade, from scratch. A stroke of genius by one of my girls.

1 cup steamed broccoli w/homemade cheese sauce – these girls are making me look good!

Snacks:

4:00 PM

6 tortilla chips & salsa, 1/2 oz of cheddar cheese

5:00 PM

16 oz. milk

Dinner:

Hamburger stroganoff (made from scratch; no cream soup) served over rice; spinach salad; crock pot applesauce (just apples, spices and a bit of water, cooked til soft)

Filed Under: food, pregnancy/labor

I have happy kefir

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February 23, 2010 by kimc 3 Comments

Our kefir grains have been growing and thriving in store-bought homogenized milk with absolutely no pampering. I might not be able to keep a green plant alive, but my kefir grains love me. We’ve been able to share with 4 people so far, and have enough to make a half gallon at a time now.

We’re making our half gallon about 3 times/week, but we got a little ahead of ourselves over the weekend. Hubby and I forgot to drink it every morning and evening, and the kids forgot to drink it entirely. We gave some to the chickens today because it was several days old and the flavor and consistency had changed – it was getting thin, yeasty and carbonated.

If you’re more experienced in kefir than I am, you know how foolish this was.

A little googling today taught me that kefir can be substituted for buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt in nearly any recipe. I had heard this already and we’re not afraid to tinker with recipes (recipe? what’s a recipe?), but somehow it failed to sink in.

This means it can be used in bread dough (we make all our own bread), pancakes (we love pancakes), cornbread and other quick breads (we make quick breads all the time), banana smoothies (I have 2 or 3 gallons of ripe bananas in the freezer)…

Here are more recipes than I’ll ever try: Got Kefir?

If I ever pour kefir in the compost bucket again, somebody smack me.

Filed Under: crunchy stuff, food

Homemade sausage seasoning

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January 25, 2010 by kimc 12 Comments

Over the summer, we found lean delicious pork loin on sale for just $1/lb several times. Each time, we bought 50-100 lbs. and ground it 15# at a time into the best homemade sausage ever. In the search for the perfect seasoning, I developed this recipe from a combination of several others including these. I’m finally saving my personal recipe here so I don’t have to recreate it every time the need arises. Ironic since we’re down to our last 15 lbs. Maybe it will go on sale again next summer. mmm, sausage.

I’m sure it would be great for seasoning ground turkey as well, so maybe there’s a use for it while we’re waiting for the lil spring piggies to grow.

Breakfast Sausage Seasoning

seasons 5 lbs.

2 Tbs. salt
2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbs. sage
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. garlic
1/2 – 1 tsp. cayenne (we like ours on the spicy side, but we try to keep it tame enough for the chilluns)
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 1/2 Tbs. sugar

Just combine and mix thoroughly into ground meat. Tastes best if you let the flavors blend a bit before cooking and serving. We bag ours and freeze.

We’re eating this today as biscuits and gravy.

Filed Under: food

Cocoa mix – from scratch

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January 18, 2010 by kimc 10 Comments

There are plenty of recipes out there for hot chocolate or cocoa mixes – by the way, does anyone know the difference between hot chocolate and cocoa? – but this is just what I mixed up to speed the process of making it from scratch. It’s so simple, the only reason you might want a more complicated mix is if you don’t want to keep fresh milk on hand.

Cocoa from scratch Mix

makes 60-70 servings

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt
opt: 1/2 cup instant coffee

Mix and store in a jar. To make cocoa, put one heaping teaspoon in a mug. Add just enough water to moisten. Stir to make a paste and microwave 15 seconds. Stir in1 cup milk and microwave to desired temperature.

See? What could be easier?

Filed Under: food

On Thursday’s menu

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November 25, 2009 by kimc 15 Comments

For dinner:

Brined turkey, our first ever – defrosting now; will put it in the brine tonight. Anyone want to recommend a recipe?
Gravy – We always do this from scratch anyway, but I hear that drippings from brined turkey make the best gravy ever.
Homemade whole berry cranberry sauce – Our third year to make this. Easy and delicious, made by Megan again this year and already chilling in the fridge. The jellied stuff in the can doesn’t even sound good any more.
Smoked turkey – not really necessary, but tis the season for special treats.
Buttery crescent rolls – done, courtesy of Deanna, and waiting for their turn in the oven.
Dressing – a combination of bread and corn bread, since we can’t seem to decide on a favorite. Megan made the cornbread; I’ll assemble the dressing in the morning with cornbread, dark rye, homemade whole wheat and whatever else comes into my hand.
Mashed potatoes – maybe with cream cheese and/or sour cream, to make them special.
Mashed sweet potatoes – just because we love them. Already done and in the fridge because we needed to cook the sweet potatoes for a pie, below.
Rudy’s style creamed corn – because there’s nothing more special. If you don’t live near a Rudy’s, you probably don’t know what you’re missing. Try it homemade. We’ll be assembling this tomorrow.
Homemade applesauce – Yesterday we made our first batch of crockpot applesauce. Easy and delicious, with no sugar added. We used a combination of granny smith for tartness and rome beauty for sweetness. Just peel, core and slice, add a bit of water and cook on high til soft enough to mash. We actually made 2 full batches so there’s plenty to go with tomorrow’s dinner.

For dessert, to be shared at my parents’ house:

2 apple pies - handcrafted by Lydia, with granny smith apples to make them sweet/tart and flavorful! Done and waiting.
Sweet potato pie – partly because I forgot to buy pumpkin, but it worked out beautifully because a friend just happened to send me a link to the recipe she was planning to use, and because we were already cooking some for tomorrow’s dinner. Megan made this. Waiting for its turn in the oven.
Pecan pie - a tradition we would never dare skip, even the year we’re bold enough to forgo the green bean casserole. Made by Lydia. In the oven as I type.
Layered Turtle Cheesecake – a new one for us. With chocolate, caramel sauce, pecans, and 4 packs of cream cheese, we can hardly go wrong! This one is in the oven right now.

I’m so thankful for all my kitchen helpers! What’s on your menu? How much are you doing ahead?

Filed Under: birthdays/holidays, food

Homemade flour tortillas

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November 23, 2009 by kimc 25 Comments

edited to add tortilla-making photos

I would really love to tell you about Saturday’s football game, but that’s not happening today. I can’t see the camera from where I’m sitting, and you don’t want the post without pictures. Instead, you get to hear about what’s happening here today.

What’s happening today? My 4 biggest helpers are gone and my back hurts. I’ve made bread (from fresh-ground whole wheat), washed diapers, rearranged two rooms in my house and acted as slave-driver to my remaining helpers for most of the day and there’s still a lot left on the to-do list. I didn’t mean for that to sound so whiny – I don’t feel as whiny as that sounded. I simply feel like staying in this chair for a little bit, and that’s exactly what I’ll do.

So instead of the really exciting football game in which hubby had the bloodiest and most glorious injury on the field and went right back in for more, you get to hear about tortillas.

We eat a lot of flour tortillas, and WalMart seems to have discontinued the ones I buy. The cheapest ones, of course. Years ago, when we had a respectable number of children, we used to make our own at home using my mother-in-law’s recipe. Our recipe has more fat than most and is very similar to pie crust. It took a bit of practice to get them right, but it wasn’t a big deal to roll out a batch of 8 and they were absolutely delicious. Now that there are 11 of us, 8 doesn’t go far. We need almost 3 dozen if want burritos for dinner. 20 will do it for breakfast burritos. Up north good tortillas were hard to get, but down here it’s not a big deal. Needless to say, we haven’t rolled our own for many years.

But when I couldn’t find the el cheapo ones that I liked, I suddenly thought to check the price on a tortilla press. I found a two-fer deal on Ebay and split with a friend to get my own brand cast iron new tortilla press for $15 including shipping. I wasn’t entirely sure it would work for flour tortillas – some say only corn tortillas can be pressed – but it did! We doubled the recipe below and pressed and cooked 18 homemade flour tortillas in less than 10 minutes, and that included the time to train the 5, 8, and 9yo, letting them do several on their own. They came out thicker than the rolled ones until we realized we should divide the dough into smaller pieces, but it was just as easy as I had hoped, and they tasted just as good as I remembered. We ate all 18 in about 10 minutes too.

Are you ready for the recipe? If you don’t have a tortilla press, just roll them out. It’s much like rolling pie crust. Roll from the center in all directions, use plenty of flour, and rotate frequently to keep it from sticking. Don’t panic if they look like your 5yo rolled them out. You don’t have to serve them to company. Just eat them before anyone sees!

Homemade Flour Tortillas

makes 8 large or 12-16 small

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup oil

Stir together flour and salt. Add water and oil, stirring until well combined. Knead until smooth, about 50 times. Divide into desired number of pieces, cover and let rest 10 minutes.

Roll out on floured surface or press in a tortilla press. If using a tortilla press, divide into 12 or 16 pieces instead of 8.

Cook on a hot dry griddle or skillet about 30-60 seconds on each side, just until light brown spots begin to appear. Now try to eat just one while they’re still hot off the griddle.

Filed Under: food

Beans. Bleh.

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October 21, 2009 by kimc 29 Comments

If you’ve been reading our blog for long enough, you know I tend to blog less when I have morning sickness. There’s a reason for that.

Beans for breakfast. Beans for lunch. Beans for dinner. Lord, help me to be thankful for beans.

I blogged recently about the bean cure for morning sickness and I have to admit it really seems to be working for me. At nearly 9 weeks, I have only thrown up once or twice. This is absolutely unprecedented. I know that the baby is still going strong because I’m tired all the time, my last pregnancy test was a fast strong positive, and I feel rotten if I try to eat normally.

I know it probably won’t work for everyone, but I have always thrown up a lot of bile. If that describes your morning sickness, you should really give this a shot.

But I’m really tired of beans.

First, because I was feeling so good, I tried to eat more normal foods with small servings of beans regularly throughout the day. I felt rotten, even when I had plenty of protein. Then I tried to stretch the theory by eating very low fat foods that are high in soluble fiber – apples, brown rice, lean meat, veggies. That’s when I got sick.

Pinto beans seem to be the gold standard. I tried black beans, but they were so heavy I felt very “ugh” after eating them. Butter beans and garbanzo beans just didn’t sit well. I still plan to try lentils, which have far more soluble fiber than pintos.

Now I’m back to beans. Beans in the morning, beans at noontime, beans for dinner. Maybe an apple or some salad, but no dressing cuz that makes me sick. I’m thankful not to be throwing up. I just need to keep reminding myself of that.

So how many ways can we serve beans without losing the low fat, high fiber benefits?

Bean soup
Bean quesadillas
Bean burritos
Tortilla chips and refried bean dip (I know, the chips will have some fat)

Now do you see why I tend to be quiet when I’m sick? Are you really having fun here? Me neither. Let’s go read somebody else’s blog. What’s your current favorite?

Filed Under: blogging & technology, food, pregnancy/labor

The bean cure

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October 13, 2009 by kimc 36 Comments

Well, maybe I shouldn’t quite proclaim it a cure yet, but I’m certainly hopeful. Remember this old post about the connection between morning sickness and old bile? I thought the comments at the time were pretty evenly divided, but when I looked today they seemed very encouraging overall.

The theory as I understand it is old bile causes the nausea. Bile helps us digest, but it also absorbs toxins and eventually becomes rather toxic itself. This is because bile is recycled, picking up more and more toxins with each cycle unless it is passed with soluble fiber. Pregnancy hormones cause the body to produce even more bile, compounding the problem. The proposed solution is to eat plenty of soluble fiber, which binds with the bile and causes it to be passed instead of recycled. Specifically, the proposed solution is to eat legumes, by far the best source of soluble fiber.

Even a few bites of beans will help with a wave of nausea almost immediately, and the relief can (Karen Hurd says) last 1-4 hours. They should be eaten as often as necessary, starting first thing in the morning. As an added bonus, Karen says that a woman with morning sickness typically won’t experience – well, that unpleasant little side effect of beans because she has so much bile to aid in digestion.

Now I have to add a bit of my own experience. We normally eat beans once or twice/week, but have eaten them far more over the last summer. I remembered the possibility that they might help with morning sickness, so as soon as I learned I was pregnant I made a point of eating at least one serving each day.

Based on the theory, it seems that there could be both a cumulative effect and an immediate effect. What I mean is, it probably helps that I’ve been eating more beans this year, but eating them now should help too.

I know it’s early, but I have always, with just one exception, vomited and felt very nauseated all day long by this point in a pregnancy. It was the same with The Boy as with all the girls. The only exception was with Bethany, but my hormones were running low with her: even though my midwife confirmed my dates, I was 7 weeks along before I got a positive pregnancy test with Bethany.

This time is different so far. Until 7 weeks, I had only the mildest hint of nausea. Over the weekend, I forgot to eat beans daily and began feeling markedly more queasy. I don’t think it’s psychosomatic (all in my head) because I didn’t put the facts together until a reader mentioned it.

Yesterday I ate 2 servings of beans and felt much better – again, the nausea was present but retreated to the background. Today, I have tried to stretch the last cup of beans by eating just a bite or two whenever queasiness threatens. So far, so good! I’m having typical first trimester sleepiness, but almost none of the sickness that I have always experienced.

Needless to say, there’s a fresh batch of beans simmering in the crockpot.

And – ugh – I’m off to refill my mug o’ beans.

Filed Under: food, pregnancy/labor

The good side of WalMart

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August 14, 2009 by kimc 9 Comments

It’s Friday so I”m out getting groceries today. Consequently, you won’t be seeing much from me today. With an hour commute each way to and from town, groceries are an all-day affair.

If you’re wondering why you’re hearing from me right now, we just stopped in at Vision Forum for a brief nursing break and a visit with hubby. We’ll be back again when it’s time to pick him up and head home. I like this Friday routine. :)

I learned something good about WalMart today. I know a lot of people think poorly of WalMart for a variety of reasons, so it’s nice to have something nice to say about them.

I asked if they had any food-waste that I could have for my chickens, and they said no. I’m a big girl. I can take no for an answer. But here’s what I really appreciated: the manager came out to explain to me exactly what happens to each type of waste!

The meat is pulled and frozen on the sell-by date, while it is actually still safe to eat for several more days. They donate it to a local food pantry.
Unsold bakery/deli goods are also donated to a local distribution for the poor.
Any produce that goes bad before being sold is collected for a local wildlife preserve.

I was impressed. I’m not an environmentalist, but I do think we need to exercise good stewardship over the resources God gives us. This sounds like an excellent example.

I was even more impressed with the level of customer service displayed by the manager. She could have just had someone tell me no, but she took time out of her day to explain why my request was being refused.

Isn’t it refreshing when somebody can tell you no in a way that actually makes you glad?

Filed Under: crunchy stuff, food, frugal

Homemade Starbucks-style frappuccinos

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August 10, 2009 by kimc 31 Comments

If you love Starbucks but can’t afford the habit, try my addiction instead. We’ve been sipping homemade cold coffee that tastes like the Starbucks-in-a-bottle for years, but now we’re taking it to a new level.

With our new blender (courtesy of Swagbucks), we are now serving them frozen. There are some definite perks to forgoing the a/c in South Texas. I have the perfect excuse to sip these treats all day long!

Each of my daughters seems to find her own area of expertise in the kitchen, and 11yo Megan has become our blender-meister. Here is the recipe she has developed for fraps.

Starbucks-style Frappuccino

makes 2 grande (16 oz each)

3 cups ice
1 1/2 Tbs. instant coffee - I use decaf. A good national brand tastes best, but even the cheap stuff will make you regret you ever paid $4 for a frap.
3 Tbs. granulated sugar
2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup heavy cream - Not strictly necessary, but makes it even yummier. Try this at your own risk.

Blend til smooth and enjoy. Drink with a straw. Remember to share, because this was 2 large servings.

options:

Mocha: add 2 Tbs. of unsweetened cocoa powder.
Java Chip: blend in chocolate chips
Caramel Macchiato: replace the sugar with a 1/3 cup of caramel sauce.
Get really fancy and top it with real whipped cream.
Try drinking it all yourself.

Filed Under: food, frugal

…and I liked it!

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July 26, 2009 by Deanna 5 Comments

Posted by: Deanna

This past Wednesday, I was sitting in Costco with Mom, Dad, and The Boy eating a pizza. A big pizza. Fully 15 inches in diameter.

I was starving and I had used my considerable powers of eloquence to convince Mom to let Dad and I split the cost of a pizza. Mom had been all for waiting ’til we got home and having grilled cheese (sigh) , but Dad was starving too so he told me to go order the pizza while he and Mom checked out.

So far so good.

Apparently though, 6 pm is a pizza rush hour. I knew there was no way that whoever yelled it out was going to say Deanna right, so I gave my name as Diane. (I really hate doing that. Why can’t people just write it the way it sounds and say it right?) Then the cashier said, “20 minutes.”

For a second I considered canceling the order, but decided not to. I had ordered pizza, and by George I was going to have it!

Dad was in favor of canceling the order when he heard it, but between us, Mom and I managed to convince him otherwise. It didn’t end up taking a full 20 min and in due time we were sitting round the table. But then The Boy needed to go potty. So Dad volunteered to take him in The Man Bathroom.

Which left Mom and I sitting together with over half of a 15 inch pizza. At first we didn’t think much about the looks. then one lady rather pointedly adjusted her glasses at us. I looked at Mom. And grinned.

Mom was a little sheepish over it, but I was having a ball! It was fun to try and guess exactly what kind of look we were getting. For example, a trio of rather glamorous women were clearly thinking “You Pigs.” One teenage boy I saw had nothing but admiration in his eyes. The man sitting facing me 3 tables away was the funniest though. His eyes were the size of plates, and I saw mingled envy and disgust writ large therein.

I kept wishing I had the guts to say things like, “What?! We’re hungry OK?!!?” and I kept heaving huge sighs and reaching for another piece whenever I got a particularly shocked look. It didn’t work after Dad came back though.

I guess I’m a bigger ham than I thought, because I wasn’t the least bit embarrassed. I liked it.

Filed Under: Everyday life, food, fun

Delicious, sweet, cold, strawberry-banana smoothies.

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July 21, 2009 by Deanna 5 Comments

Posted by: Deanna

For lunch today.

Take about 10 frozen strawberries, 3 cups of ice, 4 cups of milk, 4 bananas, and let her rip!

DSC00858 Medium 201x300 Delicious, sweet, cold, strawberry banana smoothies.

Then sample it of course.

DSC00853 Medium 300x201 Delicious, sweet, cold, strawberry banana smoothies.

What? The level of the smoothie went down 2 inches in these pictures you say?

well…

DSC00867 Medium 300x201 Delicious, sweet, cold, strawberry banana smoothies.

We couldn’t very well serve it without tasting. Cook’s perogative you know.

Jealous yet?

Filed Under: Everyday life, food

Summer cooking: are you hot?

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July 19, 2009 by kimc 16 Comments

People keep saying this summer is a scorcher, but when I step outside I don’t notice a big difference.

Maybe that’s because we’re living without air conditioning in South Texas, where it has been 100 degrees nearly every day. We are doing this because it is saving us roughly $200/month. Honestly, it’s not as bad as it sounds. The human body is an amazing creation, and we have acclimated rather well, I think. We have also learned some new tricks, or at least improved upon our old tricks.

I think it should be obvious that one lifestyle choice – living without a/c – begets other lifestyle choices. We don’t cook in the house.

We do use the toaster and the microwave in the house, and we even boil water for the French press, but that’s all. Instead of heating up the house, we cook outside. Believe me, the house is hot enough already!

Instead of the oven, we use the roaster.
Instead of pots on the stovetop, we use the crockpot.
Instead of the griddle on the stovetop, we use our snazzy new enormous electric griddle, purchased with Amazon gift cards earned from Swagbucks. Can you see me smiling? That baby has room for 12 pancakes, 12 slices of french toast, or 12 grilled cheese sandwiches! Tonight, we had pork loin, sliced and breaded and fried. mmmm. 8 lbs. of tender, juicy spicy pig was done to perfection in a flash, thanks to Deanna. She cooked on the deck, and we ate on the deck.
Instead of cooking hot food, we can now make smoothies in our new blender, also courtesy of Swagbucks.
Or we enjoy sandwiches, salads, veggie trays, and fresh fruit. I think we’re averaging 5-6 large watermelons/week. No, I’m not kidding.

How are you staying cool this summer?

Filed Under: food, frugal

Update: our trip in a nutshell

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July 6, 2009 by kimc 4 Comments

We have had such a wonderful whirlwind weekend that I hardly know how to condense it. There’s no way I can do justice to each of our wonderful hosts along the way – Samantha, Kelly & Andrea, Jeanna, Paulette, Jack & Grace. Each worked tirelessly to make us feel so very welcome and treated us like royalty.

Samantha gave us a full tour of her farm, where they are doing everything we have considered doing but they’re light years ahead of us: blackberries, figs, pomegranates, poultry, milk goats, meat rabbits. Samantha and her daughter Greta fed us lavishly and sent us off with pounds and pounds of fresh-picked blackberries, along with a bundle of lavender that is now scenting our condo. Good thing, too. This place was a little stinky when we got here.

Kelly & Andrea greeted us with the aroma of fresh-baked zucchini bread wafting out the front door! We played pictionary, admired their chickens (can’t wait for our pullets to start laying!), ate a sumptuous dinner of grilled chicken (thank you, Mrs. Reins!) with more side dishes than I could count, spent hours talking, and chose a winner for their drawing. Breakfast included fried potatoes that were good enough to inspire me to try my hand at making them again. mmmm. There was also some amazing marionberry jam from Oregon on homemade bread, and too many other treats to list.

Jeanna and her family made us feel like old friends as soon as we walked through the door. They were ready with ice breakers and had the brilliant idea to play our favorite game of Spoons as we began lunch so that those eliminated first could get lunch one at a time – no lines! We felt completely at ease and I think everyone had a great time during our short visit. She is a great hostess: she had a full lunch waiting for us, and had the great idea of putting all the condiments and fixin’s on a tray in the fridge so she could get everything out in one trip to the fridge. What a pro! After eating, the kids played with legos and talked endlessly. When I realized we were 20 minutes late for our next engagement, we said hasty goodbyes and they sent us off with a big bag of legos and a big plate of zuchini bread!

Our next engagement was the get-together Paulette had arranged at her church. There we met Connie of Smockity Frocks and Karen – not to mention meeting Paulette in real life for the first time. Our 22 children must have hit it off, because we hardly heard from any of them the whole time we were there! Check out the pics on Smockity Frocks, because I think we totally forgot to take pictures all weekend.

Paulette was so sweet that after all her work, she sent us off with a gift. Two gifts, if you count the chocolate. She knows me too well. My weekend was sadly chocolate-deficient, and so was I. I definitely count the chocolate.

After the get-together, we swung up to visit hubby’s aunts, uncle and cousin – again, no photos – and then headed down to Weatherford to join Jack & Grace. Their pastor was having a 4th of July party on the 3rd of July and we were allowed to crash it. Their pastor sure knows how to put on a party! The food was fab, and there was singing, dancing and karaoke. Melissa wowed us with her sultry voice, and the fireworks were quite possibly the best privately funded display I’ve seen.

Back at Jack & Grace’s house, we had a good night’s sleep followed by a delightful breakfast. Grace made a pot of decaf just for me. The girls got to check for eggs and help milk the cow, and Grace sent us off with a big jar of milk and a bag of chocolate chip cookies. Instead of sweet fellowship with new friends, this time we enjoyed sweet fellowship with old friends. I enjoyed my time with them so much, I left my garment bag there with all of my clothes. I just wanted an excuse to visit again, you see. Ahem.

And then we left. 9 hours on the road, 1 hour off, and we were here. The views for the last 2 hours were glorious and amazing! We wove through the Ozark Mountains, up and down the steep and windy roads, with sheer drop offs and few guardrails, lakes shining in all the valleys. Our path meandered among the quaint and rustic inns of Eureka Springs, through a tunnel, across a long bridge. We made good time, and are now enjoying the company of my parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, grandparents, aunt, uncles, cousins, and best of all: hubby, who joined us Sunday afternoon.

Life is good.

Filed Under: family, food, friends

Chickens: what do you know?

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May 17, 2009 by kimc 23 Comments

We now have chickens. This isn’t exactly our first time, but it’s exciting! My parents had chickens when I was a kid, and hubby’s family had them when he was younger, but this is our first time to be the parents in a chicken-owning household. Now we get to point toward the chicken coop and say, “Hey kids, go take care of the chickens,” and tell everyone how easy they are to take care of. At least, that’s the way I’m envisioning it. We’ll see how that works out.

Our flock so far is made up of 15 pullets, a 10-12 week old mixture of laying or dual purpose breeds which we found on craigslist. The seller told us that she has at least 25 breeds, and she thinks the ones we have include barred holland, cream brabanters, long tail, rhode island red, hamburgs, campines, americana, dark brahamas, and australorps. We’ll take a good look and work on identifying the individuals over the next few days.

Our chicken house is nearly finished, but in the meantime they are in rabbit cages hanging from the joists under our house. It’s cool and shady, so they should be very comfortable. For now they have a bag of feed, but once they can start ranging we plan to feed them our own abundant scraps plus whatever we can beg from the grocery store or produce terminal. I’m guessing they’ll still need some commercial feed to provide a well-balanced diet. Am I right?

Here’s where I would love to have your advice. What is the best book to get us started? What are your best tips? What did you learn the hard way? Any and all input is invited. Tell me everything you know about raising chickens for eggs!

Filed Under: crunchy stuff, food

Adventures in sprouting

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April 27, 2009 by kimc 2 Comments

Heather asked about our new sprouting ventures. We’re hardly experts, but you knew that already. Nonetheless, I’m glad to share what I’ve learned so far.

We ordered some seeds and an inexpensive sprouting jar from Lucky Vitamin, who had the best price around and flat $4.99 shipping. I was really waiting for my Easy Sprouter to arrive from Marci’s Amazing Graze Farm general store, but I suspected we would want more than one sprouter anyway.

LENTILS

As it turned out, the Easy Sprouter arrived before the seeds. No problem – the instructions said that lentils were ideal for beginners, and we had some in the pantry! I put 1/2 cup in the sprouter and let them soak in warm water. Just before bed, I drained them. The directions said that when you use the Easy Sprouter rinsing is not necessary for most sprouts, including lentils, so we just watched and waited. By the following evening we had tiny sprouts! It was that easy. We started nibbling right away, and had eaten all of them before the next day was out.

To my surprise, they got rave reviews from all of the children – we agreed that they tasted a lot like fresh raw green beans, a rare treat in our house. Who knew raw lentils could be so good? Needless to say, we started another batch right away. The second batch was just as successful as the first, and gone just as quickly. If they ever last more than 24 hours, we can store for 1-2 weeks in the fridge right in the sprouter. I am in love with my Easy Sprouter!

WHEAT

I took a good look at the design of the Easy Sprouter and made a rough copy out of 2 containers, in which to try some additional sprouts. We started some wheat sprouts next, but these didn’t germinate. I’m not sure if it’s because my sprouter was inferior (it was, but is that why these sprouts failed?), or because the seeds themselves were too old – I suspect they are at least 10 years old. At any rate, they just got soft and started to smell suspicious after 2 days, so we tossed them. I’ll try again in the Easy Sprouter, and if those fail I’ll try with fresh seeds.

ALMONDS

Next, I used my fabricated sprouter to make some almond soaks since they sounded fast and easy and we had raw almonds on hand. These are like sprouts, but they don’t actually grow roots. These were very simple, but got mixed reviews. I enjoyed them along with some of the kids, but others just wrinkled their noses and refused to eat more than one, or even declined to try a single one. Those of us who ate them agreed that they tasted almost identical to raw coconut. I thought they were very good.

SALAD MIX

When our seed order arrived with the big sprouting jar, I immediately started a mix of clover, alfalfa, fenugreek and radish. Since I’m using a simple jar & screen, I had to remember to rinse and drain 2-3 times/day. The results look and taste a bit like alfalfa, but definitely different. They have a stronger, slightly spicy flavor and are thicker. We used some in salad and nibbled some plain, but this was a big batch – most of it is still in the refrigerator.

BEANS

I also soaked 2 lbs. of white & navy beans and let them sprout for 24 hours before cooking in the crock. I’m hoping that it will make them more digestible. That remains to be seen.

AND MORE…

We still plan to try: raw sunflowers, raw peanuts, mung beans…oh, and alfalfa sprouts, eventually. FYI, Charity left some information warning against a toxin found in alfalfa sprouts, but I don’t think we’ll be eating enough of any one sprout to worry about this. You can probably tell that alfalfa sprouts have far more competition now than they did when we, er, sprouted the idea. Sorry. Bad joke, but quite honestly the idea of sprouting a wide variety of seeds is really growing on me. It’s taken root in our household. Even hubby has expressed a seed of interest.

Filed Under: crunchy stuff, food

What we’re doing

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April 22, 2009 by kimc 5 Comments

Eating homemade yogurt with breakfast, incubated outside yesterday in the warm spring sun.

Munching on our first-ever lentil sprouts, tasty after just 36 hours but still growing in our new Easy Sprouter. (more on that soon!)

Waiting for our rolls to finish cooking in the solar oven – half white flour, half freshly ground whole wheat. I actually planned ahead and had dough mixed, shaped, raised and in the oven before 10 o’clock!

Finishing up school for some, starting for others.

Getting ready to go to town for 9 – count ‘em, nine dentist appointments. We’d better get brushing.

Will the rolls be done before we have to leave? Probably not. Sigh. I forgot we’d be leaving in just over 2 hours, and it didn’t help that the wind blew off the top of the oven. Even when I plan ahead, I don’t plan ahead. Maybe they’ll be done enough to use as brown-n-serve rolls.

Filed Under: crunchy stuff, Everyday life, food

Breakfast today: German Apple Cake

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April 20, 2009 by kimc 9 Comments

This is from the cookbook Tastes of Country, which I received as a gift from my sweet grandma after I raved about her copy. It’s one of those sweet old-fashioned cookbooks comprised of the author’s own favorite recipes and notes about the friends and family who provided the recipes over the years. I have changed it a bit here and there, and my own notes are in parentheses.

The recipe below makes a delicious, heavy batter that is just enough to hold together all the apples.

GERMAN APPLE CAKE

2 large or 3 small eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar (we use brown)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour (Whole wheat works nicely, though I’m sure the author intended for us to use white.)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
4 cups apples, peeled and thinly sliced (5-6 medium, but we like to use even more if we have them. If you don’t have the Pampered Chef Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer or something else like it, you have my pity.)
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts, opt. (my kids complain about the walnuts, and strangely enough I usually indulge them in this. I love walnuts with apples, but this cake is wonderful even without them.)

Beat eggs and oil until smooth and thick. Add remaining ingredients except apples and mix well. Taste it. No – don’t! Hurry and gently stir in apples before you are tempted to eat all the thick, dark, rich batter. Pour into a greased 9×13 and bake 45-60 minutes at 350.

Eat warm with a fork, straight from the pan if you don’t intend to share. Not that I recommend doing so. I’m just saying.

The recipe suggests topping the cake with cream cheese icing, which is lovely but not necessary.

Filed Under: food Tagged With: recipes

Mad Scientist Mom

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April 19, 2009 by kimc 9 Comments

I’ve started some sourdough starter. I tried to convince myself that it’s a crunchy sort of thing to do, not needing store-bought yeast anymore, but really I just love sourdough. And I like the idea of having something strangely alive bubbling on my countertop.

There’s also something nostalgic about it. My girls keep telling me a little story about Betsy Ross’s dough starter:

When she was a girl, Betsy Ross was making bread for her mother. Like most women of her time, Mrs. Ross had a lump of starter that had belonged to her mother. Every time they made bread, they would save a small piece as starter for the next time. Each family’s starter often went back for generations.

After the bread was finished, young Betsy couldn’t find her starter for the next time and suddenly couldn’t remember if she had reserved any. She looked everywhere. Poor Betsy was distraught at the thought that her family’s starter was gone, never to be recovered. They could beg some starter from a neighbor, but each family’s starter was unique and her family’s bread would never taste the same again.

Finally, Betsy turned over the kneading bowl and breathed a sigh of relief. Her precious lump lay there, just as she had left it.

See? Maybe someday my great-grandchildren will treasure a lump of my starter. This could be an historic day.

I searched the internet and wasn’t surprised to learn that there are a hundred theories and a thousand methods for getting your own sourdough starter going. I also asked Marci about hers, but in my characteristically impatient spontaneous manner I didn’t wait for her answer. I used this recipe for my first attempt. I read enough to know I shouldn’t be surprised or disappointed if the first attempt turns foul and toxic, but it’s easy enough to start over if necessary.

In spite of the fact that some say do not use yeast, I decided to start with this recipe because the author says that it works faster. I’m using fresh ground whole wheat flour because I read somewhere else that it’s a good source of the particular bacteria required by sourdough, though the same site recommended switching over to all-purpose flour for subsequent feedings once the new pet has acquired life. [long evil mad scientist laugh, trailing off into the night]

Filed Under: food, mom is neurotic

My solar oven…

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April 14, 2009 by kimc 4 Comments

…like most of my projects, did not turn out looking just like the photos. I rushed a bit, didn’t quite read all the instructions to the very end, didn’t take the time to follow the instructions precisely, and didn’t quite have all the right materials.

So I’m really curious how my dinner rolls will turn out. 40 minutes and counting…I figured in south Texas, we had a bit of leeway. We could probably just set the food out in the sun and it would cook. We’ll see if I took too many liberties, because we already know that the technology is sound. A friend of mine has brownies to prove it.

Sorry, no photos. Can’t find the cable. Don’t want to look harder. Anyway, my solar oven is not as pretty as the two my friend made. Furthermore, I smell my backup rolls in the electric oven, and I suddenly have something more important to do than hunt electronics accessories.

Filed Under: food

I need your input: sprouting

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April 13, 2009 by kimc 20 Comments

We’re getting crunchier by the moment. I ground my own wheat today and made bread and English muffins. We started building a solar oven this morning, though we need another box to make the lid. Hubby expressed an interest in trying my baking soda/cornstarch/tea tree oil deodorant. I’ve even been thinking about trying my hand at sourdough so I’m not entirely dependent upon store-bought yeast. Well, OK. I really just love sourdough bread. The yeast thing was totally an excuse.

I’m ready now to revisit sprouting, but I desperately want your input before I spend too much money on sprouty gadgets that will make you all laugh and shake your collective head at me.

My mom has a Sprout Master which she absolutely loves. She says she struggled with mold and slime when she used jars and cheesecloth, but her Sprout Master has been pure plastic perfection. It’s not cheap, but perfection rarely is, even when it’s made of plastic.

Have you tried sprouting seeds? What do you use? What problems have you experienced, and did you find an easy solution?

Which sprouts do you eat raw, and which are better cooked?

Where do you buy your seeds?

I’m all ears. Tell me everything you know.

Filed Under: crunchy stuff, food

How does my garden grow?

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April 2, 2009 by kimc 13 Comments

Let me count the ways.

It’s not the most beautiful sight: the containers are rather disorderly because we were preparing for a possible frost when the photo above was taken. Also notice the door/windbreak. Rather, please don’t notice it. Let’s talk about the plants instead.

Our homemade earthboxes seem to be working very well, both the buckets and the tub variety. Most of our plants are growing and thriving except for a few glaring failures which I try to explain below. We’ve only watered once or twice/week so far, and the soil seems to maintain a good level of moisture.

We’ll start at the lower left, but skip past my 2 empty “earthbuckets” which will probably hold some sort of large slicing variety of tomato. Bell peppers are labelled, 4 small new transplants. I bought the very last 9-pack at WalMart and gave 5 to my mom and sister. I still need some jalepenos for hubby, though I’m not quite sure where they will go yet. Probably more 5 gallon earth buckets.

After that, we have the container of failed cucumbers. I replanted these just after the photo was taken, so hopefully we’ll have something to show in a week or two.

In the corner, we have 2 containers of strawberry plants. I started out with 12 plants but 5 died right away. The rest are thriving. We have pinched off the blossoms diligently to let them devote their strength and energy to growing now, so we’ll have a bigger crop of berries later on. I haven’t decided yet if we’ll replace the 5 that died, since I probably shouldn’t have planted quite so many in the first place.

Next, we have tomatoes: 2 Romas, 2 Sweet One Hundreds. These have grown a lot since I put them out, and are trying to blossom too. We’re picking blossoms off almost daily, but might leave some to develop very soon.

To the right of the tomato buckets, you can see 2 containers of green beans (an heirloom bush variety – Contender, I think?) and 2 containers of peas. The beans are doing very nicely. I only hope I planted enough.

The peas – not so good. There are 2 varieties, one of them with edible pods. I foolishly neglected to note which was which, and one container has failed to germinate. This means that unless you can really tell by the amount of time to harvest (56 days vs. 70 days) we’ll have to taste a pod and decide just how edible it is. I hope, hope, hope it’s the edible pod variety. Quite honestly, I only planted the others because that’s what I found on my first trip to the store. Either way, I’ll need to provide something for these to climb very soon.

The smaller oblong containers in front contain edible flowers, lettuce (small and sad, and growing very slowly), spinach, and Swiss chard. The round pots are not part of the garden: a mum, a poinsetta that might be dead already though I’m hoping it comes back, and boganvia from my brother-in-law’s wedding last May. I nearly killed it several times, but it keeps coming back. I like stubborn plants.

I also have a large pot that I divided into 4 compartments with cardboard. This is holding 4 new cuttings from my mom’s fig tree. If you think they look sad, don’t worry. It’s normal for most or all of the leaves to drop off. In fact, we pulled most of them off to lighten the load while the branches are trying to grow roots. I’m really hoping my air layerings take off, but these cuttings will be the backup plan. If they survive, that is.

Now, are you wondering about the plants that failed so quickly? My earth boxes were fairly easy to make, but once I done with basic construction I got excited and didn’t follow the directions very well. I didn’t fill them to the very brim with dampened potting mix. Instead, I filled them to a reasonable level with very dry mix. Then I rushed ahead to planting, and placed 2 cups of fertilizer in a row down the middle or side, as directed.

Do you see a problem yet? Since the potting mix was dry, I had to water it thoroughly from the top at first. I learned this the hard way after waiting 4 days for moisture to wick up from the bottom. When I watered thoroughly from the top, I think I dissolved a good bit of the fertilizer right into the germinating seeds – too much of a good thing. The few that survived long enough to struggle to the surface looked distinctly burned. A second problem was that the level of soil dropped significantly once it was dampened. This seems to give the seedling trouble finding an opening, make them more susceptible to wind, and probably allows rain to puddle under the plastic, dissolving more fertilizer than is good for them.

Filed Under: crunchy stuff, food, frugal

The Boy cooks

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March 18, 2009 by kimc 13 Comments

We spent today working outside. Some of the children began by clearing the woods below the house, and others helped me paint the west end of the house and misc. pieces of siding and soffit. Two of the big girls left to help my sister with some packing and spring cleaning, and the rest of us carried on. All in all it was a productive day.

The Boy, being too young to wield a paintbrush, wandered about doing boyish things. He climbed trees. He banged trees with a hammer. He dragged small branches through the woods. He watched us, and hung about us. He asked for lunch, but it wasn’t time to eat yet. He practiced peeing outdoors. He climbed the oak tree with steps nailed onto it. Hey, who put nails in an oak?!

And finally, he quietly disappeared.

I wondered aloud where he was and how long he had been gone. Did he go in the house? Natalie had just gone in the house, so I wasn’t too concerned, but I joked a bit with the girls about the possibilities. “He was asking for food, and he wants eggs every day. What if Natalie finds him cooking himself an egg?”

Guess what? Natalie came out not a minute later, with a Very Important Question for me. “Mom, would Perry get salmonella if he ate a raw egg?”

Yes, he made himself an egg. Sort of. He dished himself a bowl of leftover grits, then neatly cracked an egg into a pan. Without turning on the stove (whew!) he “cooked” his egg, then poured it over the grits. Yummy. He ate it. He really wanted seconds, but Natalie arrived in time to put a quick end to that.

I briefly considered worrying about salmonella, then decided not to. If he gets sick in the next day or three, we’ll know why. If not, why worry? Besides, I’m sure he’s eaten far worse pathogens. He’s a boy, after all, and we all know where his hands have been.

PS. It turns out we were right not to worry. 50 million to one odds against death by egg-born salmonella? He’s got a better shot at winning the lottery, and he’s never even bought a ticket.

Filed Under: Boys, food

I am a bad person

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March 16, 2009 by kimc 17 Comments

Wanna be like me?

Send your children out on an errand.
Put one pat of butter in a cereal bowl. Eye it closely and decide it’s too small. Take a little more. If your butter is cold and hard, nuke it for a few seconds.
Add a similar amount of brown sugar. Mash them and mix them with a fork.
Now take an amount of flour equal to the butter and sugar together. Mix it in with your fork.
Add a generous portion of broken or chopped walnuts to justify what you’re doing. Just think all that protein and amino-healthy-somesuch fatty acids. The more, the better. You want to be healthy, don’t you? So you can serve your family better?
Listen carefully. Are the kids home?
Run for the bathroom. Stay in there while you enjoy your cookie dough – er, healthy snack. Rustle a magazine every now and then, and allow the children to draw their own conclusions.
Disguise the empty bowl and fork in the folds of your skirt as you emerge, maintaining eye contact with the children while you edge toward the sink.

Filed Under: food, humor, mom is neurotic

Why you shouldn’t put too much mustard on your sandwich.

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March 9, 2009 by Deanna 17 Comments

Warning, this post is entirely the product of my imagination, so if you are allergic to silliness I seriously recommend that you scroll down and read something else.

One day I was making myself a sandwich. Not any ordinary sandwich mind you, but a delicious, mouth watering, BLT with lovely thick strips of crispy bacon, and colby-jack cheese. But right as I laid the top piece of bread on and prepared to take a bite I heard a voice.

“Don’t you dare,” it said.

I looked around, and didn’t see anyone talking to me. My mom and dad were working online and my siblings were eating boring old peanut butter and jelly, so I assumed that I wasn’t actually being addressed. I lifted the sandwich and prepared to bite again.

“I’m warning you,” the voice came again.

I jumped and looked at my sandwich. I thought in alarm “Surely not…the voice can’t be coming from the sandwich itself?” Feeling rather silly I made sure no one was looking and whispered to the sandwich, “Hello?”

“What?” There was no doubt. My sandwich was indeed talking to me.

I glanced around guiltily and seeing nobody watching I whispered again to the sandwich.

“What are you warning me against?”

“Eating me, of course. I would think that at least was obvious.”

“Why shouldn’t I eat you?”

“Because I told you not to, moron.”

“Excuse me? I just put you together I’ll have you know, and I intend to eat you as soon as we finish this conversation.”

(I must admit, I felt rather stupid, having an argument with a sandwich, crispy bacon notwithstanding.)

The sandwich continued rather smugly, I must say.

“Well you go ahead and do that, smart alec but I wonder, how you will like biting something as it talks to you, or perhaps even…screams for help?”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, what if I just throw you away?”

“And waste all this crispy bacon, and colby jack cheese, slathered in mustard and mayo? I don’t think so.”

“Well, what do you expect me to do with you, if not eat you or throw you away?”

“Well, I’ve always wanted to see Hawaii…”

“This is stupid. Always? You didn’t even exist ten minutes ago!”

“Yeah, so? Who says I can’t have my own ambitions just because I’m a young sandwich?”

I groaned, “This is ridiculous.”

“Why?”

“Hawaii?!? Next you’ll probably want me to send you to the president.”

“Why not? I think I would be fun to see him jump when his sandwich talks to him. I mean, you jumped. Why wouldn’t he?”

“I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

Just then Dad walked over and said “ooh Deanna, thanks for making this sandwich for me.” Before I could warn him, he picked it up and took a bite. He chewed, and then handed the sandwich back to me. “Thanks Nonna, I was just kidding. By the way you put a LOT of mustard on there.” I smiled at the irony,

“Yes, it was a bit…saucy, wasn’t it?”

This post is part of this week’s Homeschool Kids Write project. Go see more!

Filed Under: food, fun, homeschooling, humor, Kid Comedy

Our garden so far

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March 5, 2009 by kimc 17 Comments

I mentioned that we built some homemade Earth Boxes – self watering containers for growing garden vegetables. We decided to grow our garden on the deck because we have a bumper crock of rocks and deer. Neither is conducive to growing a productive garden. We used these plans with 18 gallon plastic totes, and began to wing it once we understood what we were doing.

So far, we have:

1 container of bush beans – 20 plants total. These are a heritage variety, so we can save seeds for next year.
1 container of peas (half sugar snaps, half alaska, both bush varieties) – 16 plants total
2 containers of cucumbers, again a bush variety. I know we’ll have to provide support for some of our plants eventually but I’m trying to skirt the issue for as long as possible. 8 plants total
2 containers of strawberries – 12 plants total
Roma tomato plants: 2 in 5 gallon buckets, made into self-watering containers from the plans above.
Sweet One Hundred tomato plants, 2 of these in 5 gallon buckets as above. We hope to eat these like candy this summer.
Some Simpson Lettuce and another variety of lettuce in a long narrow flower box just inside the dining room window. I’m hoping to grow greens indoors through the summer, where they will stay cool enough not to bolt in the summer heat. Am I too optimistic for a beginner? I’ll be starting more greens soon, some indoors and some outdoors. I’ll protect them with a bit of shade once the weather turns hot.
Naturtium, an edible flower that reportedly helps discourage certain insect pests and will beautify our deck garden since the plastic tubs are not exactly doing the beautification job.

I still need to buy pepper plants. We want sweet bells and jalapenos; we’ll have to be careful not to let them cross-polinate! I also have seeds for Swiss Chard (which I’m told is very tolerant of summer heat), a heat-resistant type of spinach, mint, and chives. There’s more on my list, but I’m not about to go find my purse and dig out the list. You’ve heard enough, haven’t you?

What do you think is missing from my garden? Keep in mind I’m in the San Antonio area: long, hot dry summer! What’s in yours? And tell the truth, how am I going to be disappointed? Too much? Too little? Bad choices? What would you do differently?

Filed Under: crunchy stuff, food, frugal Tagged With: container gardening, earth box, food, garden, produce, self watering containers, swc, vegetables

Chicken Pot Pie

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January 15, 2009 by kimc 7 Comments

Forgive my absence, but I’ve been over on the Frugal Hacks Forum. Am I right to feel that the administrator ought to have the highest number of posts? When I enabled the stats at the bottom of the page, suddenly everyone could see how many times I had posted and it became obvious that certain members are even more excited about it than I am. Now I feel something akin to ovarian guilt – like I have to catch up. Just try and talk me out of it, really, because I’m not sure I can keep up.

Here’s a little something to make it up to you. My recipe for Chicken Pot Pie. I guess it’s pretty good, because there’s never leftovers and the kids beg for it all the time. I like it because (aside from the pie crust) it’s fast, flexible and easy. And because it’s good. Really good.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 onion, chopped. Don’t skip it. You’ll never know what you’re missing, and you’ll go away thinking this recipe was ok but nothing special.
2 Tbs. butter, because everything is better with butter.
3-4 carrots, in bite-sized pieces
4-5 diced potatoes. We don’t bother to peel ours. I’ve convinced the kids that it’s weird to peel potatoes.
2-3 cups diced cooked chicken. Whatever you’ve got. I’m totally guessing on all the quantities here.
1 large (28 oz?) can cream of chicken soup
1-2 Tbs chicken bouilion base. That yellow paste in the jar, or a small handful of salty cubes. Just do it quick, when nobody’s looking.

Saute the onion in butter. Add carrots, potatoes, and just enough water to nearly cover them. Simmer 15 minutes or til carrots are nearly done. Do not drain. Add remaining ingredients and heat thoroughly.

Pour into two large pie pans lined with crust, and top with – well, with a top crust. You knew that, right? Cut some slits in the top, and consider using a cookie cutter to add a couple of cute cutouts to the top to make it look special because it is. Bake at 325 for, oh, about an hour, til the crust looks nice and golden. Or a little hotter for not so long. Really, this is easy. You can do it.

variations:

I make mine in a 9×13, but still with enough crust to line 2 pie pans, top and bottom.

If I’m in a hurry, I use canned or frozen veggies. With canned, just use the liquid from the can instead of water.

If my chicken isn’t already cooked, I cut it in small bites and saute with the onion.

If I’m out of cream of chicken soup, I’ll add some flour and milk after I saute the onion and make a white sauce for the base. The carrots and potatoes will have to be simmered separately in this case.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: blogging & technology, food, mom is neurotic