Sunday, June 03, 2007

Bonding

Two boys bonding after surgery. One with a broken finger and had to have it operated on to screw the bones back together. The other went in the day after to get neutered. They make a lovely pair don't you think. The bandages on the hand are now a florescent orange cast.

FOOD:

I was at the store looking for canned vegetarian baked beans, but couldn't find any so I decided to make a double batch of Dreena's black strap molasses baked beans in the crock pot and decided to can several jars of it in my pressure cooker. I got 7 pint jars plus enough to eat for a meal, 2 jars did not seal correctly so I stuck them in the freezer to use first when I am ready for some more beans. While I was at it I canned my own chickpeas. I soak them overnight, change the water, bring them to a boil, and fill the jars 2/3 full before adding water and salt. Lid them and process for 1/ 1/2 hour at 10 lbs pressure. The clear jars allow me to see that the chickpea water turns to gel when it cools.

FAMILY LIFE ...

DH is the sound man for a Christian band called Piercing The Darkness. This past Friday evening they played for an event called JUNE JAM at an amphitheatre .... an out door concert in the middle of the forest. I thought it would be an awesome place for a music video with the lush greenery around.

City Wide Garage Sales were also this weekend in our town. I picked up this unique, brand new microwave cooking dish made by Tupperware. All of it's attachments (sold separately) and a cookbook were included. Supposedly one can cook a three course meal (including pasta in the water) all at the same time. After looking at the cookbook a bit I'm pretty impressed with the possibilities. I hope to show something impressive after spending a whopping $10 on this gadget ... the receipt was in the bag and the whole set cost $70 ... this was in it's original wrapping unopened. The entertainment value of trying this out will surely will be worth my money, hopefully I even be able to tell you it was a real steal!


GARDEN ...

I have been harvesting spinach and edible pod peas, Sugar Anne type, they have a plump pod . I like these better than other types of edible pod peas (aka snow peas).

To use these up I made a wrap using some thin sliced seitan, herbed tofutti soy cream cheese and thin slices tomato (purchased from the market not local) along side of the baked beans and peas. The peas were raw and fresh picked form the garden, I love the way they taste without dressing. I also made a schzeuan veggie stir fry. I didn't want to wait the 45 minutes to make brown rice so I served this over a microwaved red potato.
My stir fry consists of carrots, mushrooms, purple cabbage, onion, garlic, and a homemade schzeuan sauce. I finished this meal with a fruit smoothie and was very satisfied.

I have been drinking a lot of iced herbal fruity teas from celestial seasoning. My favorite is the peach, but black cherry and raspberry are good too.


In the mood to bake again, I also made some whole grain (white wheat) bread dough with wheat Bulgar and sunflower seeds added. The last bit of dough was formed into cinnamon rolls starring chocolate chips. This time I chose to bake the rolls in muffin cups, they turned out well .... err, so I heard I actually didn't get one of these.

LAST MY FAVORITE ....

My herb garden. This is how it looks a week ago, but I have several seeds planted that are just beginning to break through the ground right now. I have dill, thyme, Italian basil, chives, rosemary, radish, sunflowers (these will get big so I will only allow 2 but mainly for looks), English breakfast radish, and an early girl tomato plant because I had one left over and didn't want to waste it.

I love this time of year. I hope everyone is enjoying it. We have not yet hit high temperatures. It has been getting into the 70's by day and down to the 50's at night.

22 comments:

KleoPatra said...

Aw, the boys! That's a sweet, sad shot. They're lucky to have you around to watch over and protect them.

I've had the Heinz vegetarian baked beans and also Bush's veg baked beans and they are just WAY too sweet for me. And me with my sweet tooth, Dori... but in beans, too much sweetness doesn't work for my palate. i imagine using blackstrap molasses would be a much better flavouring for the beans. Dreena has super recipes so i'm sure these were wonderful! Way to can yer chickpeas, btw, that's "kissing two birds with one tone"...

Concert looks like it was in a super cool venue. How fab to hear music in the forest. Wonder what the animals were thinking! Cacophony? An episode of "Squirrels Gone Wild" perchance?

City Wide Garage Sales?? Not sure what that is but if it's a garage sale, i'm all over it. Sounds like it was a grand adventures. i am a garage sale groupie. i have to be careful because i'm a collector of way too many "tchotchkes" (Yiddish for knick-knacks)... Anyway, i love a good bargain and i'm stoked for you to fund the cool Tupperware stufferware for the nice price! Way to go, Dori!

Mmmmmmm... pea pods. Such a welcome snack. What you did sounds superb and looks delicious. Nice herbal tea there. Celestial Seasonings have the neatest boxes. i have about 20 of them and i like to look at them for their sayings and their artwork...

Did someone say cinnamon rolls starring chocolate chips? AHHHHHHHHH!!! Yummerz! You know i can never make bread with Mattie around. She has a real problem with bread. i have never seen a dog freak out like she does around bread. The other night at my parents' house, she jumped up as close as she could to their dining room table (set up for my nephew's b'day party) and somehow managed to pull down a whole challah (Jewish sweet egg bread) with her mouth and started to eat it. i grabbed it before she could do TOO much "damage." Fortunately, my family thought it was funny and no one was mad... Your loaf is so hearty looking!!!

Am excited to see your herb garden as it starts to turn into something BIG. Hope you will keep updating us. And is that a bird bath in there???

theONLYtania said...

Wait, what happened to his finger?? Well, a big get better soon to him! To both of them!!
Your wraps always look really great.. you've got some wrapping skills.
And that's so cool about doing cinnamon rolls in muffin cups.. I want to make some soon, maybe I will have to try that!

Dori said...

Hi Kleo, yes that is a bird bath. We have the best fed and cleanest birds around. DH had a gramma who loved and studied birds nd then shared her passion with her grandchildren. He feeds them and knows which ones are visiting.

Matt broke his finger when he fell playing a game at youth group. He actually had a splint on for three weeks and then an x-ray revealed that the break was not healing properly. In the surgery the bone was re broken and then fixed.

Anonymous said...

You're such a good mommy caretaker. Your new doggy friend looks like he's made himself right at home. I like Dreena's baked beans. They're much better than the store-bought version. I agree with Kleo. Those are always WAY too sweet for me. Your garage sale find looks like a lot of fun to try. I have a microwave steamer I picked up at a garage sale about 8 years ago and I use it all the time. It's awesome. It only takes 3 mintues to get perfectly al dente veggies. I'm excited to see how your Tupperware gadget works. I'm jealous of your garden. Last year my herbs took off like weeds and this year they're not growing much at all. It has been unseasonally hot and dry and I think that might have something to do with it. I'm going to have to turn on the drip system more frequently I think. I really want a big bushy basil plant. Great idea with the cinnamon rolls. I haven't had cinnamon rolls since becoming vegan. I liked them with the cream cheese frosting and I have yet to purchase the Toffutti kind because I think it's ridiculously expensive (about $4 here).

MeloMeals said...

Poor Matthew!... and I love the dog pic too... they look like they are total buds.

Your bread looks amazing.. as well as the canned beans... and the pea pods.. yum!

Tracy said...

That puppy is so lucky to have found you! Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
And I love to see pics of other folks going camping....I don't know why, it must be the voyeur in me~

Crystal said...

Wow - you sure are productive. It's so funny how a craving for baked beans turns into jarring 7 of them. Good for you!

Is spinach hard to grow and harvest? We're thinking of adding it to our container gardens next year since our lettuce is thriving.

-Crystal

Anonymous said...

Poor Matthew! i wish that he get well fast! and the puppy too.
the food looks good.

Rachel said...

Hi Dori,
Its good to see a fellow mid-westerner! We have had so much rain here recently (I am NOT complaining, because in August it will be miserable) I haven't been able to plant much garden. But your's inspires me! Finally got tomatoes in the ground this weekend.

Shananigans said...

Hope both Matt and the pup are on the mend. I should look into making my own baked beans, the store bought ones are loaded with sugar. I like them best with mac n cheese. Or of course with “hot dogs”. Great garage sale find, I think my mom actually has that set, or something very similar. I am looking forward to putting some herbs in pots out back once we are a little more settled in our new place, your garden pictures are always an inspiration.

erica said...

Oh, once again I thought I left a comment and it didn't stick.

The herb garden looks good, but the picture is so tiny I can't see it well. Hey - what happens if I don't pick all the radishes? Do they rot in the ground? I planted way more radishes than I need. I suppose I could just give them away.

Anonymous said...

"The other went in the day after to get neutered. "
Am I SO glad you included a photo ! LOL I have a slow connection and for a moment there I had a very puzzled look on my face LOL

Love your herb garden !

urban vegan said...

Hope the broken bones mend up quickly. I enjoyed reading your industrious post--you are a prolific woman, Dori--always industrious. Just as I did last year, I am gardening vicariously through your post.

laura k said...

Wonderful post - I hope both of your boys recover swiftly. The canning sounds fascinating, as usual, as well as your herb garden which I envy so much! I love celestial seasonings herbal teas too. Have you tried blueberry? It's fantastic over ice.

Kate said...

Aww your poor boys! All your baked goods look great!

Carrie™ said...

What a great find at the garage sale. I will be curious to read your review. How were Dreena's beans? I have that recipe marked as a 'must try' in my book. The pic of your garden looks so lush and green! Your lawn looks great. We've had super hot temps and very little rain. My lawn is brown and crunchy. Not very pleasing to the eye. Hope your son and pup heal up fast!

Jackie said...

AH the poor boys. Hope they are more comfortable now. You are really having finger trouble lately.

The herb garden looking good and wow what a fab lawn. Because my winter windowsill is now filled with sun my rosemary, aloe vera, basil and thyme are going mad. The aloe vera comes in handy for our dry, dry winters.

Great to hear about the new Tupperware, will have to wait a couple of years until our factory gets the moulds but something to look forward to.

Jennifer C. said...

Dori,

The amount you are able to accomplish is amazing! I am in awe of you!

Congrats on Ricky, he looks like he'll be a good addition to your family.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and visiting!

Jennifer

Catherine Weber said...

Dori, someday, I'm going to come and visit you and have you show me how to use a pressure-canner. (Someday when I have a fabulous garden and all sorts of storage space!) Sigh.

P.S. I'm back posting -- just couldn't stay away!

KleoPatra said...

Dori... where are you!? Missing you!!

KleoPatra said...

Thanks for checkin' in... as for your post at my blog (thanks for visiting!!) i knew you meant adoption not auction!! :o) Ah, our English language... just a few letters' difference and a whole new world of meanings open up?

It sounds like you had a great time at the PALS event. i'm lovin' what you did!!

Hope you have a terrific vacation, Dori. i have been missing you and will wait on pins & needles for your next post here on your blog!

*HUGS*

bazu said...

I hope both your boys are feeling better by now. I'm catching up on blogs, and am glad to see your little slice of heaven is doing well (the garden, that is!)