27 May 2015

The Best Web Posting I've Ever Seen!

24 Must-See Diagrams That Will Make Eating Healthy Super Easy

1. For fruit-ophiles.

Photos by Grace Hitchcock for PopSugar / Via popsugar.com
Some diets require precision. Yes, even fruit portions.

2. For 5-minute dinners that are sure to be healthy.

Women’s Health / Via womenshealthmag.com
For more information on what makes these meals so easy: What Nutritionists Eat When They Only Have 5 Minutes to Prep a Meal, via Women’s Health.

3. For when you’re doing the caveman diet.

Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed / Via buzzfeed.com
This food guide will help you maneuver the Paleo way of life.

4. For picking the perfect avocado.

Northwest Edible Life / Via nwedible.com
Look, ma! A life hack! More on this here.

5. For smoothies fit for royalty.

Lexi / Lexi’s Clean Kitchen / Via lexiscleankitchen.com
Smoothies should be considered cheat food: they’re so easy to make, super healthy, and also taste amazing! Visit Lexi’s Clean Kitchen to read more about them.

6. For smoothies that you have no excuse not to make.

Daily Burn / Via dailyburn.com
It will almost be like you’re not even trying. And oh, did we tell you that there are 8 MORE healthy smoothie recipes that only use three ingredients? YOU’RE WELCOME.

7. For the new “It” food, the Mason jar salad!

Beth / Eat Within Your Means / Via eatwithinyourmeans.com

8. For tea so excellent you’ll forget other liquids exist.

utilityjournal.com
What’s a coffee? You can read about the various kinds of teas here.

9. For soup that’s healthy and oh so delicious.

Shape / Via shape.com
Impress your mom without batting an eyelash: these soups are all just different twists to the same basic recipe. Read more at All Souped Up, via Shape.

10. For making the salad dressing of gods.

Kath Eats Real Food / Via katheats.com
Your friends will constantly hound you for the recipes. Check out DIY Salad Dressing for more information plus a bit extra…yummy salads!

11. For when you’re treating your lovely self to a night in.

Greatist / Via greatist.com
Who says cooking for one can’t be fun? Throw away those frozen dinners, stat! You can find the recipes at The Ultimate Healthy Grocery List When You’re Cooking for One, via Greatist.

12. For yummy-fying grains.

PopSugar / Via popsugar.com
There are other grains aside from rice and quinoa, people! Push the envelope and make it your resolution to try more of them this year. How to Cook Grains atPopSugar will teach you more.

13. For making “guesstimation” of portion sizes a thing of the past.

Guard Your Health Campaign / Via guardyourhealth.com
Did you know that your hand is the easiest way to measure a half-cup or three ounces of your food? Yaaaaaaas.

14. For vegetarians looking for other sources of protein.

greatist.com
That means all vegetarians. Info, recipes, and more recipes at at 12 Complete Proteins Vegetarians Need to Know About, via Greatist.

15. For spotting the hidden sugars in your food.

Women’s Health / Via womenshealthmag.com
Sugar is a clever little thing, and most Americans get way too much of it (between two and three times the recommended amount!). So get informed, read through the ingredients to make sure you’re not getting any more than you should. Check out 56 Different Names for Sugar, viaWomen’s Health for more.

16. For knowing your nuts.

For getting your nuts straight.
Life by Daily Burn / Via dailyburn.com
These make really healthy snacks! You can put them in little Zip-lock bags to munch on throughout the day.

17. For the definitive ranking of all the veggies.

pinterest.com
Treat yo’ self! To only the healthiest vegetables, that is.

18. For DIY hummus that’s as awesome as your Lebanese college roommate’s grandmother’s.

Shape / Via shape.com
Okay so maybe her recipe is still waaaay better, but at the very least it’ll make you feel more Bohemian. And give you lots of hipster cred, too. Pop over to 13 Different Ways to Make Hummus for more.

19. For marinating your meat to utter perfection.

BuzzFeed / Via buzzfeed.com
Come on, we all know marinating can make or break a meat recipe. Get your meals closer to restaurant level by reading How to Marinate and Make Better Food.

20. For substituting bad ingredients with the good.

For healthy recipe substitutions.
Greatist / Via greatist.com
Good news for all sweets lovers: You can still make and eat the fluffiest, yummiest baked desserts without the self-loathing that comes afterwards. Congratulations! More about these here: 83 Healthy Recipe Substitutions, via Greatist.

21. For fans of salad in search of more adventure.

Prevention / Via prevention.com
If you’re the type who lives, breathes, and eats salads, but are tired of having the same thing errrday, then this is for you: Salads That’ll Make You Love Lunch Again, via Prevention.

22. For when you want to be up close and personal with your vitamins.

hellawella.com
Get intimate with your letters.

23. For remembering the superfoods alphabet.

For remembering all your superfoods.
Greatist / Via greatist.com
Too, too easy. You can do this in your sleep. Find out more in detail at The Healthiest Superfoods, A – Z, via Greatist.

24. For proper superfood storage.

For how to store all your healthy foods.


http://pulptastic.com/24-must-see-diagrams-will-make-eating-healthy-super-easy/

04 May 2015

Recipes XXVII: Tatter Tacos?!

I feel like a fiddle-head fern, unfurling for the first time after a long snowy winter. My world was turned upside down from September to now. I packed all of my belongings. We sold all of our furniture. I left familiar landscape and roads for uncharted territory. I finally got my wish to move back to New England but it didn't come without immense growing pains. As I explained to my husband, it's like wearing a new shoe. You like the shoe but it keep rubbing your feet and giving you painful blisters. That is my life right now. I'm a city girl living in the county. The toughness has cause some of my resistant at the battle of the bulge to weaken. I'm resolved not to get back to where I was in July 2013. A low calorie but satisfying recipe I give you tonight is;

Tatter Tacos

Makes 4
311 calories/ serving

4 tennis ball sized red potatoes
4 tablespoons of sour cream
1/4 cup Nutritional yeast
1 cup dry TVP
1 package taco seasoning.

Bake the potatoes until easy to slice through. Prepare the TVP and cook the TVP.
Place one potato in 4 bowls. Cube and mash the potatoes to be face up. Spread 1 tablespoon of sour cream on top of the potato. Sprinkle Nutritional yeast on the sour cream. Top with 1/2 cup of re-hydrated TVP. Serve piping hot!

21 November 2014

Sake Process Pictures

Lovely look at the moto

Steaming 5 pounds of rice

The moto bucket

Bamboo steamer getting burned!

Gallon +1 cup of water for the 5 pounds of rice

Fermentation: 3 Weeks

Yesterday there was a mild fiasco with my ale pale. The spout decide it would be good to start leaking the precious sake on the floor. Much to my dismay and my dog's glee. With the help of my spouse, we transferred the ~3 gallons of sake mash into a big mouth bubbler. I sampled some of the brew and it is fabulous tasting. Sweet, alcoholic, floral, yeasty. I moved the bottle to attic. My thoughts being the outdoor temps are around 30-40 degrees and ambient building temperature ~65 degrees. I figure that should be somewhere around 50 degrees.

The bottle will sit for roughly three weeks, undisturbed. On December 9th, I will start Yodan. Because I am unrealistically ambitious, I am planning on starting another batch on Thanksgiving weekend.
I took this picture as fast as I could !
It's cold!

18 November 2014

Tomezoe:Sake

Tomezoe started this morning with the addition of 20 oz of more koji. This evening I set aside the final five pounds of rice (10 cups) to soak. Tomorrow night I will steam the soaked rice in batches. I'm really getting my money's worth on this steamer. I think I've learned the best approach for this steamer too. The steamer must be propped on the edge of a large water filled pan. Soaking the cheese cloth or fabric before putting the rice on top prevents it from sticking.

Newsflash: I tasted the moto this evening and it tastes amazing! Sweet, yeasty, floral. I am beside myself with joy. I can hardly wait to get to Yodan.

I plan on starting another batch on Thanksgiving weekend and another on Christmas weekend.

Interesting note:
At the time, sake was brewed only 5 times a year. Each sake, brewed in different season, had its name and were called "Shinsyu", "Aisyu", "Kanmaezake", "Kanzake" and "Haruzake". "Shinsyu" was brewed around the autumn equinoctial week. "Aisyu" was brewed in the season between "Shinsyu" and "Kanmaezake". "Kanmaezake" was literally brewed just before winter. "Kanzake" was brewed in the depth of winter, and "Haruzake" was brewed in spring. Not surprisingly, it was hard to beat "Kanzake" for its quality and flavor. kikusui-sake
Sake and Rice

 In this vein, my batch would be classified as "Aisy" sake. I started it after the first day of Fall and before the first day of Winter. My Christmas brew will be "Kanmaezake". I'm curious to see how these all compare.

17 November 2014

Nakazoe: Sake

Nakazoe began this morning with the addition of more koji (aspergillus covered rice). When I arrived home, I began steaming the 6 cups of rice for the moto and the 2nd addition-Nakazoe. If you think 6 cups is a lot, just wait until Wednesday. I will be steaming 5 pounds of rice! 

When I cracked the lid this evening to add the steamed rice and water, the moto was happily bubbling and emitting pleasant odors. The rice in the moto has maintained its shape. I wondered if it would melt down into a goo. The smells are still yeasty, fruity, and sweet. I tasted it again, not something ready to be drunk yet. 

After Wednesday, Tomezoe, fermentation will commence for 2 weeks. The final step is Yodan. You will have to wait and see what happens in Yodan. 

Fun side note: my loving spouse returned from a trip to Maine and stopped in New Hampshire along the way. He acquired many bottles of different sakes for my drinking pleasure. I was so pleased. I sampled an aged, blended nigorizake. Blended sakes typically have fruits like plums or lychee added into the final product. I love the beautiful unfermented rice solids (Lees) suspended in this unique beverage. I'm starting to get really excited about the future prospects of this fermentation. 

15 November 2014

Hatsuzoe: Sake

If you are following along, the past two weeks the moto (mash) had no rice additions. The first week of November I stirred it twice a day. Last week I dropped the temperature to 50 degrees Fahrenheit and let it sit undisturbed. 

Hatsuzoe began yesterday evening. I added one cup of Koji and stirred it. Last night I soaked two and half cups of rice and steamed it this morning.  I feel like my bamboo steamer has a significant learning curve. The first addition of rice I steamed all stuck to the cheese cloth. This time the rice was a bit mushier than I would have preferred. 

Steaming Rice inside a pot
Today I will be stirring/agitating the moto every two hours and tomorrow I will soak more rice to for steaming. Monday begins Nakazoe. More rice and Koji is added to the moto. Fermentation is but a few days away. The process is lengthy but exciting. I tasted some today and the smell is on target for sake aroma but the taste is dry, fermented. Not something I'd want to pour in a glass and gulp down. I am excited to see how the rice characteristics pan out and create multidimensional flavors.


mmm...Future sake....

30 October 2014

New Fermentation Adventure

I was talking with a friend recently about all the wild and crazy fermented foods I have made. She was intrigued by what encouraged my  craziness  creativity. She asked if blogs or articles inspired me or if I just struck out on my own. I pondered the question for a moment and realized it was the latter. I get "hair brain" ideas about things I want to eat or replicate and I just go with it. 

So here you have it-my next adventure:
SAKE

An Ale Pale for Fermenting
1 Step and Star San: Two great bucket clearners
I was celebrating our fourth anniversary with my husband recently. We ordered a bottle of nigorizake to go with our love boat platter. It hit me! I have to make sake. The nigorizake was floral and sweet. I was in love with sake...and my husband, of course. He was incredibly supportive of the idea. He is a seasoned homebrewer, so he had the equipment I would need. 

The following entries will be a road map of my sake brewing experience. This is no sourdough bread culture or kombucha. This is a 45 day adventure with a bunch of steamed rice, cool water, koji (glorified mold) and sake #9 yeast.

Moto
Tonight, I have to soak 1.5 cups of rice and start .5 cup of koji liquid to sit overnight in the fridge. This is the moto or the mash. The moto creates the moromi which is a nine day process. I will be using Nishiki sushi rice and Cold Mountain Koji.

First addition of rice steaming away



29 July 2014

Recipes XXVI: Blueberry Pineapple Rustic Tart

Our CSA (community supported agriculture) was really laying the blueberries to us. I love blueberries. We had two pints and I wasn't sure we could eat all of those before they lost their luster. I had one jar of pineapple left from last year's canning extravaganza. A plan started a-brewin' in my mind. I thought the sweetness of the pineapple would meld well with the tartness of the blueberries. It worked! And it was a beautiful piece de resistance!


Blueberry Pineapple Rustic Tart

 Serves 8



Filling
2 pints of fresh blueberries
16 oz of crushed pineapple
4 tbsp corn starch
1/8 cup of turbinado

Crust
1 3/4 cups spelt, white/wheat, unbleached and/or wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
5 tbsp room temp butter
1/3-1/4 cup cold water
2 tbsp turbinado

Roll out crust into a circular shape. Flour lightly and place onto silicon baking sheet on pan. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Fill with the blueberry pineapple contents. While filling the center, start folding the edges of the crust over and pinching the seams shut. Place pan into oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven. Serving suggestion: dust with powdered sugar and a side of vanilla ice cream.

21 July 2014

Recipes XXV: Weeknight Soup

I was feeling under the weather this week and needed a pick me up of sorts. Chicken noodle soup is not vegetarian, so that wasn't happening. I rustled around in the cabinets. I literally whipped this up in a few minutes. It made for a perfect evening with a steady downpour of rain and snuggly blanket.



Weeknight Soup

2 servings | ~170 calories per serving

4 cups of water
5 oz mixed frozen Cascadian Farms veggies
Small handful of rice noodles
2 vegan not chick'n bouillon cubes such as Edward & Sons
Splash of olive oil
Fresh chopped rosemary
Dusting of poultry seasoning
2  crush cloves of garlic

Mix everything into a pot and boil for 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Serve piping hot with some garlic bread or a baked potato.