Good Food Friday: Tacos!

I really wanted to post about my newest favorite soup...

... but I'm sure you are getting tired of all my recipes needing a bowl and spoon. So I'm doing my next favorite super quick supper: tacos! I can feed my entire family (husband with bottomless stomach, 3 boys with a hollow leg, 2 itty bitty girls and myself) on one pound of ground meat. Seriously! Want to know my secret? Beans. They are amazing are they not? Inexpensive but when combined with meat and spices, well, it is darn close to magic what they can accomplish. And instead of prepackaged taco seasoning, I throw together my own, thank you very much. The funny thing is, this is also my recipe for chili, just add onions, fresh peppers and a couple cans of chopped tomatoes and let it sit in a crock pot for an afternoon.

Meat and Bean Tacos

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground meat ( I use turkey or beef)
• 4 cups of great northern beans, soaked overnight and cooked for two hours (or canned)
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp paprika (or chili powder)
• 2 huge cloves garlic
• a couple of pinches of red pepper flakes

Directions:

• Saute meat until no longer pink. Add beans.
• Combine spices in a bowl and add a bit of water and stir.

spices without water

spices with water

• Add spices to meat and bean mixture. Serve when heated through. Serve with brown rice, spinach, salsa, sour cream, cheese, shredded carrots... really any vegetable!

Yesterday's supper? Burrito bowl!

Okay, on second thought, that does require a bowl and spoon. So since I already broke my own rule for this post I might as well give you the recipe for my new favorite soup, too. Coincidently, this is what I had for lunch yesterday. Oh so good!

Chinese Lettuce Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 mushrooms (very thinly sliced)
• 1 carrot (very thinly sliced)
• 1 handful spinach (don't you love my precise measurements?)
• bunch of chives (or scallions)
• Bragg Liquid Aminos or soy sauce

the chives are from my garden

Directions:

• In a wok, heat oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms, carrot, and chives. Cook, stirring constantly until mushroom are slightly brown and carrots begin to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Add 3-4 cups of water. Add Braggs Liquid Aminos, about 3 turns around the wok, or to taste. Simmer until heated through. Sometimes I add a few drops of sesame seed oil for that truly authentic Asian flavor. You can also serve it with cubed tofu or chicken.

I enjoyed it with a few shrimp. Such a treat!

.......................................................................

Besides all the cooking taking place in my kitchen, there is TONS happening outside of my kitchen window. Can't wait to share some finished projects with you.

See you next week with photos of the amazing progress taking place in the backyard, despite the soggy ground and gray skies. It looks like spring is coming after all!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joining up again with all our lovely neighbors over at Farm Friend and Farm Girl Friday. Welcome back to all our friends and perhaps new visitors! If you like us and have a Facebook account won't you take a moment to "Like us" on Facebook? On our Two Blue Houses Facebook page we often share pictures and other things we don't post on the blog. You can also follow us via Newtworked Blogs and get just the quick up to the minute post updates.  Not into all that crazy social networking? If you scroll to the bottom of our blog you can submit your email address for daily or weekly blog updates. This week we also had a cultured (fermented) vegetable recipe. Look around we are so glad you stopped by!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You have to check out this amazing T-shirt by Jackie. She updated a simple black T-shirt in the simplest way, but it is so beautiful. It is so adorable; I think I am in love! - Lauren

Canning Jars

These arrived today. A friend of my mother's has TONS of canning jars. I have another box of quart jars sitting in my living room. I think I am love.

I also gave away my first batch of lemon flavored kefir water! On Thursday my first batch of milk kefir should be done. I am a bit more nervous about that... knowing if it is "ready". Seems almost to easy. I have been reading and thinking a lot about diet change and what that commitment would look like. I keep hoping with this garden season I will finally have the means to drastically change and improve my diet but we are so water logged it is hard to know if we will even have a garden season.

I requested a book from my library, "Wild Fermentation" by Sandor Ellix Katz. I am excited to see what I can learn about fermenting food. I continue to find evidence that fermented food is good for a candida sufferer. 

Pressing on my Heart

I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How could you argue with the words and logic of Martin Luther King, Jr.? You can't. He gave his life for what he believed... I have debated if I should say something or not regarding the death of Osama Bin Laden. A former professor posted the above quote on his Facebook wall. That is exactly how I feel. I am not anti-American. I am not forgetting what was lost. I remember quite vividly the chaos, pain, heartache, heroism and patriotism around the tragic events of September 11, 2001. However, God will not allow my heart to cheer over the death of that sad, angry, lost man. No. Without Jesus as His Savior, Osama Bin Laden is forever separated from God. How much more sad can that be? What he orchestrated was disgusting and evil but I will not raise my glass to his death any more than I would to a person's death on death row. It seems unchristian.

"Revenge is mine declares the Lord"... no matter how just it might be.

Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. - Romans 12:19

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please forgive me if I offended you. It would never be my intent. God Bless

Preserving Food: Lactic Fermentation

Finished jars now they only need to ferment for 5 to 7 days.

Several months ago, I stumbled across lactic fermenting. Honestly, I had no idea what that was. I had been planning on canning this fall. I knew about freezing and drying food but other traditional methods of food preservation I really never thought about. My Aunt Sue kept telling me about fermenting and how wonderful it was. I should tell you that my family, especially my Aunt Sue, has long been followers of healthy "alternatives". Vitamins, avoiding white sugar, probiotics, filtered water via osmosis, mineral make up, sometimes trendy diets, etc. Some of it has gone by the wayside but most of it is a great way to live a healthier life.

Regardless I began to research fermenting and discovered that it is an amazing way to add probiotics, good bacteria, to your diet (without spending tons of money on a supplement). I was sold. I won't bother now discussing in depth why I need large quantities of probiotics but if you are a suffer of candida like I am (three strains of the stuff live in my unhealthy gut) you need LOTS of good probiotics to fix yourself. I simply don't have the money for the store bought fixes, supplements, doctors (alternative or otherwise), etc.

Once I discovered fermenting it was like my eyes were open for the first time and I saw it everywhere. More than likely you know someone who ferments food, you ferment food, you have read about fermenting food, you buy fermented foods, and on and on. I am not on the cutting edge here but if you are ready to take the plunge here is how...

My Aunt Sue gathered two of her sisters (my mother & my Aunt Kathy) myself and my baby (baby's go everywhere mom goes) for a "CV Party" (Cultured Vegetable Party). We were all new at this and it made for a fun afternoon.

The sisters! Sue, Kathy, and Mary (my mom).

You need jars. These lovely jars are from Weck and they are completely beautiful. You don't need these pretty jars though. All you need is a canning jar. The problem is pressure can build up in the jar and potentially explode it, so if you use a canning jar don't pack it insanely full and occasionally release the pressure. You will find tutorials for using your average canning jar all over the internet. I want to ferment in quantity so I may in the future invest in an amazing stoneware fermenting crock but in the meantime I will consider investing these airlock lids that fit any wide mouth canning jar.

Weck jars and culture starters.

You need a recipe but once you get the hang of it fermenting is like cooking. You can make up your own. Most often cultured vegetables are a combination of cabbage and other vegetables and you pack them into a jar. You leave them at room temperature (72 degrees Fahrenheit) for three days or longer. Winter six or seven and summer as little as three or four. During the winter you can place the jars in a warmer place, inside a cooler chest (minus the ice), or wrap them in towels to keep things warm and fermenting. Once finished you place the jar in the refrigerator or some place cool to stop the fermenting. Properly fermented veggies can be stored for quite some time. Typically eight months and up.

The recipe we used:

3 heads green cabbage, shredded in a food processor (or shredded by hand)

1 bunch kale, chopped by hand

1 Tbsp. dill seeds

We used a combination of red and green cabbage. 
Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Remove several cups of this mixture and put into a blender. Add enough filtered water (don't have filtered water or water without chlorine so I boil my water and let it cool to room temp) to make a "brine" the consistency of a thick juice. Add blended brine back into bowl with all ingredients. Pack mixture down into your jars using your fist or potato masher. Leave about 2 inches of room at the top for veggies to expand. Roll up several cabbage leaves into a tight "log" and place thme on top to fill the remaining 2 inches of space. Clamp jar closed (or screw on lid). Leave at room temperature for at least 3 days to a week and then refrigerate to slow down the fermentation (it never completely stops but will continue to age... like wine).  

To use a culture starter:

If you aren't fermenting with salt or whey you need a culture starter for a better culture. Culture starters can be purchased online or at health food stores. Dissolve one or two packages of starter culture in 1 1/2 cup warm (90 degree) water. Add approximately 1 tsp. of some form of sugar to feed the starter (Rapadura, Sucanat, honey, Agave, EcoBLOOM, or other). Let starter/sugar mixture sit for about 20 minutes or longer while the L. Plantarum and other bacteria wake up and begin enjoying the sugar. Add this starter culture to the brine mixture.

Culture starter in water with EcoBLOOM.

All ingredients in one pot.

Brine.

Brine and ingredients.

Filling the jars and packing them down.

Cabbage roll.

Finished jars just need to ferment now.

Additional recipes and resources:

Nourished Kitchen

Body Ecology (I don't agree with her New Age beliefs but she has great recipes.)

Cooking God's Way

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome Barn Hop neighbors! Have you ever cultured veggies? Do you have a favorite recipe to share? Have you been thinking about fermenting as a way of food preserving? We would love to hear your stories. Thanks for stopping.

Broken Camera

Image Source

I have a sad announcement to make. Saturday while in the yard with the husband, baby, and dogs I dropped my little point and shoot camera. It fell from my hand as the dog ran by that I was just about to take a picture of. Baby in one hand and camera no longer in the other. Smack! Lens down into the mud. So that is what that little wrist band is for... I picked it up and my fears were confirmed. The lens wouldn't extend or retract. It would only make a sick turning motor sound. I had dented the delicate casing of the lens inhibiting it's movement.

Gary valiantly assured me that he could fix it. I knew in the pit of my stomach my camera was dead and my fears were confirmed as triage surgery was performed later that evening. Nope. It was done. Nuts, NUTS! What am I going to do?  A new camera is not in the budget folks. Not even the little $150-$200 dollar ones a friend suggested to me. We try to live on a budget and that is BIG money in a tight, one income, family of four budget.

Thankfully my parents have come to the rescue. We will borrow their camera until I have saved enough for my own. Apparently Wade's grandparents can't be without pictures of their grandson. I am so relieved. Today has been a hard day without my camera. I must have said a dozen times how I wish I could take a picture of this or that. Then I could show you the painted green house or the progress on the new chicken coop. Soon very soon I promise!

In my search regarding broken cameras I discovered some amazing uses for those poor cameras that can never be used again...

Camera herb garden

Airplants camera garden.

For all the how to's and ideas on where to get broken camera parts on the cheap visit Resurrect a Broken Camera as a Flowerpot at Photojojo.com.

I am not a photographer and I am not associated with Photojojo.com in anyway but I just love their gift shop! Such clever ideas, products, design, etc. Check out these travel mugs!

They come with a lid and all. Neat! And last but not least if I was rich and could afford the film (and camera)... 

I promise to have a camera back soon. Have you ever re-purposed something completely out of the box into something totally new?

I have thought that our family was pretty good at re-purposing but I am inspired to try to bring it to a new level.