Vegetable Boullion

 

 This is a vegetarian recipe for a broth that tastes like chicken! Thanks nutritional yeast!

 

Ingredients

 

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

3 Tablespoons onion powder

2 Tablespoons garlic powder

2 Tablespoons dried parsley

1 Tablespoon celery seed (or 2 Tablespoons celery powder)

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons ground white pepper

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground thyme

1/2 teaspoon ground sage

1/4 teaspoon ground rosemary 

 

Process

 

 Combine all the ingredients in a mason jar. Screw on an air tight cap. Shake vigorously to combine. Store in a cool dry place. 

 

How to use:

 1. 1 tablespoon to 2 cups water for broth. 

Home made Sour cream!

 

You can make your own sour cream at home! Now I just need to cost compare. You will make it in a mason jar. 

 

Ingredients

 12 oz (1.5 cups) heavy cream

3 Tablespoons lemon Juice 

 

 

Process 

1. In the mason jar, mix the ingredients thuroughly

2. Cover with a breathable paper towel cover,   seal it off with a hair tie or rubber band. 

3. On the cover write the time you made it. 

4. Set it on the kitchen counter for 24 hours. 

5. Next day, stir well and store it in the fridge.   

Homemade Taco Seasoning

 

Our final homemade market staple of this theme is perfect for a Tuesday! Taco Tuesday is a regular occasion in this house and I am all over this recipe!

 

Taco Seasoning Mix

Ingredients

½ cup chili powder

⅓ cup cumin

2 Tablespoons paprika

2 Tablespoons salt

2 Tablespoons black pepper

1 Tablespoon & 1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon & 1 teaspoon onion powder

1 Tablespoon & 1 teaspoon oregano

Process

Mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight container in a cool dry place. 

When ready to use, season your taco meat with 2 Tablespoons of the mixture. 

 

 

 

Homemade Chicken Boullion

 

Our next market Staple to make at home is for bouillon! But I am not sure if it is as good as the staple we use, pictured above. 

 

 Homemade Chicken Bouillon

Ingredients

100 grams chicken bone broth powder

17 grams nutritional yeast

39 grams salt

1 Tablespoon & 1 teaspoon onion powder

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon celery seed

Process

1. Combine all ingredients  in a mason jar and mix thoroughly. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place.

2. When ready to use, mix 1 &  ¼ teaspoon mixture with 1 cup hot water to make 1 cup of broth. 

 

Maple Syrup Yield!

I think I can spare some for presents! :D

Want to make your own yogurt?

I do!
Someday...
I will...
from the milk of my goats.
Anyway...
This nifty article is quite timely!
I've been really into Greek Yogurt this winter.
From The New York Times:

The Minimalist By MARK BITTMAN

A Recipe Secret Wrapped in a Towel

"Producing yogurt cheese is quite simple. It takes a couple of hours, but your presence is required only for minutes. All you do is strain some of the water out of yogurt, until it reaches the thickness you want. For straining, I recommend a colander or coarse strainer lined with a clean cotton dish towel of fairly fine weave, what used to be called flour sack. (Many recipes suggest the use of cheesecloth, but you’d have to use about 10 layers for the same results.) Dump a quart (or whatever quantity you like) of yogurt in there, set the colander over a bowl in the refrigerator, twist or tie the top of the towel, and wait.

To speed the process, squeeze every now and then, or don’t bother. When the yogurt has reached the consistency of sour cream, twist and squeeze once more and scoop out the yogurt, which will have been reduced in volume by about half. (I suppose you could save and drink the yogurt-water, or cook with it, but I don’t.) Store the thickened yogurt in a covered container and use it within a week or so for best quality."

Homemade Fruit Fly traps

The season is here, just as those tomatoes start ripening in the garden and are brought into the house, those fruit flies find their way in. Unless the late blight has it's way with my tomatoes this year, I have a lot more tomatoes on their way inside. So last night, SP made our first fruit fly trap of the season. Here's how you do it.

Materials
1 liter plastic bottle
scissors
tape
red wine or juice

Process

1. Cut the top of the bottle off (from the point it starts to taper)
2. Place top down inside the bottom and tape cut edges together.
3. Pour a small amount of wine in the bottom.
   
4. Set out next to bowl of fruit or tomatoes.
   
5. Periodically, place a hand or a piece of paper over the top and tap the bottle ensuring that the flies go downwards to their inevitable deaths.
   

Voila!

Local and Homemade Buttermilk

While this economy has forced us to move away from organic milks and lean more heavily on the local Oakhurst or Cabot dairies, I was delighted to find at our local Hannaford, buttermilk from Kate's! It's a new product for her!

But, if you want to make something that calls for Buttermilk and you don't have it, here's what you can do to make it.

Buttermilk in a Pinch

• 1 Tablespoon Lemon juice PER 1 Cup of milk.
• Whisk together and let stand 10 minutes.

Voila!

Home Made Easter Eggs

I was looking for homemade Easter Egg dyes to accompany my food coloring options. With a tight budget these days, and a lot of our meals coming from what we have on hand in the freezer or pantry, I will be adding a few of these ideas for my Easter eggs as well.

BLUE: Make a Blueberry Dye using 1 cup of mashed blueberries.
GREEN: Make a Spinach Leaf Dye using 1 cup of chopped spinach.
YELLOW: Make a Ground Turmeric Dye using 3-4 Tbsp. of ground turmeric.
BROWN: Make a Coffee Dye substituting 1 quart of brewed black coffee for 1 quart water.

1. Put the recommended amount of fruit, vegetable or spice in the pot.
2. Add about 1 cup of water per 1 cup of food, and 2 Tbsp. of white vinegar to pot (water level should be about 1" above ingredients).
3. Bring to a boil, lower heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Strain out excess ingredients with a cheesecloth or coffee filter for a smooth liquid dye.
5. Let cool to room temperature before dyeing eggs.

3 bags of Wyman's berries...

...yielded 6 jars of jam! The baby has been yammering all afternoon, "I want jelly! I want jelly!" which either means he can not handle one more peanut butter and (local) honey sandwich, or else I make the best darn jam in the whole wide world. I am going with the latter, because my house smelled lusciously of raspberry-blueberry-strawberry-blackberry-sugar simmer and boil that even SP came home and said wow! Now, watching those six jar cooling on the counter, I too can not wait until breakfast so I can sample it, and maybe, just maybe, I will make another loaf of acorn bread tomorrow and discover that I really have created my own piece of heaven on earth!

Homemade Baby Wipes

Our good friends just had a baby girl named Asher, who is having some sensitivity to wipes. I offered to change her diaper this morning, and when Dad handed me one wet paper towel and one dry paper towel, I remembered that I too had used paper towels for a sensitive child. I went and quickly dug up my old homemade baby wipes recipe and realized that that was one of my earlier efforts in sustainability. So in honor of Asher, I can't think of a a better post for today than this recipe.

Ingredients

1 3-quart lidded plastic container (like Rubbermaid or Tupperware)

1 roll of paper towels

1 Tablespoon any baby shampoo

2 Tablespoons any baby oil

1.5 cups boiling hot water

Process

• Cut paper towel roll in half. (you will use 1/2 per recipe so reserve second half for next time)
• Place half of roll, cut side down, in the plastic container. (do not remove cardboard center)
• In a bowl, combine all ingredients.
• Slowly poor over 1/2 paper towel roll.
• Put lid on, and let towels thoroughly absorb liquid.
• Remove cardboard center and enjoy many happy diaper changes.

Making your own Mozzarella

I saw this article in January's Gourmet magazine and now know that I will start making my own cheese sooner than I thought. In case you find yourself ready for such an endeavor, I hand you this article in the hopes that it inspires you to do something more sustainable than buying plastic wrapped mozzarella. All you need to buy is salt, citric acid, rennet, cheesecloth, a thermometer and milk.

Make your own Mozzarella

The Recipe.

• 1 gallon whole milk
• 1 1/8 teaspoon citric acid
• 1/4 tablet rennet, crushed
• 1/4 cup warm water

• Equipment:

  cheesecloth; kitchen string

• Heat milk and citric acid to 88°F in a 7- to 8-qt heavy pot over low heat, stirring occasionally, then maintain a temperature of 88 to 91°F on an instant-read thermometer, returning to and removing from heat as necessary, for 1 hour. (Mixture will begin to curdle.)
• Dissolve rennet in warm water, then stir into milk mixture. Let stand, uncovered, maintaining 88 to 91°F, until the consistency of soft pudding, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Using a long knife, make cuts across stiffened milk mixture at 1/2-inch intervals, reaching down to bottom of pot, then make similar cuts in stiffened milk mixture to form a crosshatch pattern (small squares) on top. Let stand, undisturbed, 5 minutes. Keeping temperature between 88 and 91°F (reheat when necessary over very low heat), gently stir curds every 10 minutes for 30 minutes, then let curds stand, uncovered and undisturbed, maintaining temperature, 30 minutes more.
• Line a large sieve with cheesecloth and set over a bowl. Using a ladle or slotted spoon, transfer curds to center of cheesecloth. Gather sides up over curds to form a sack and tie sides together with a long piece of string as close to curds as possible but without squeezing curds. Suspend sack from a knob or cupboard handle, using string, at least 4 inches from bottom of bowl (sack should not sit in any whey that accumulates; if necessary, discard whey as it accumulates). Let hang 3 hours at room temperature.
• Heat a large pot of heavily salted water (1/3 cup salt for 5 qt water) to 170°F. Place one fourth of the curds in a shallow bowl, then ladle about 6 cups hot water over curds and let stand until curds start to meld together, about 2 minutes. Gather curds together with a slotted spoon and remove from water. Working over the bowl of hot water, gently fold the mass of curds over itself in your hands, stretching as you fold. Reheat in hot water as necessary (3 to 5 times) to maintain temperature, folding and stretching until curds become a smooth and elastic disk.
• Form into a ball by tucking outside into center, then pinch edges together. Place mozzarella in cool water to cool completely before eating. Make remaining cheese in same manner, reusing hot salted water for subsequent batches.

Cooks’ notes:

• Curds can be made and drained in cheesecloth (3 hours) 1 day ahead, then chilled in a resealable bag.
• Mozzarella is best the day it is made but can be kept, covered with water, in refrigerator up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

I have to buy jelly today.

I am officially out of jelly but will proudly go buy jelly tonight while B is at hockey. Why would I feel proud about that? Well, because of all the apple preserves and jelly's I made this fall, I have supplied 5 months of sustainable PB&J's. It makes me smile to have accomplished that with three young kids. On tonight's grocery list, I added a big bag of the frozen Wyman's blueberries. I need to make more jelly and fill up all the empty jars I have brought back down to the basement!

http://www.wymans.biz/about/sustainability.php