I'm Still Here! And Cooking Again......

If you read my regular blog, you know that our 4 year old was quite sick with pneumonia last week and some very kind friends took it upon themselves to bring us several meals so that I could focus my attention on our Little Man and not have to cook. Yippee!!!! Thank God for friends! It was a huge blessing and gave me a much appreciated break from the kitchen.

Little Man is now on the mend and I am back in the kitchen. :-)

Today got away from us, school-wise, and we are still finishing up work as I type, so I swapped Tuesday and Thursday night's dinner plans and we are once again having our new standby, taco style lentils and rice. I need a little more time in the afternoon for a brand new recipe, so Lord willing that will happen on Thursday. Check back later for the verdict on my attempt at vegetarian burgers!

Food Co-op

Last week I spent $77 on bulk food from the wholesale distributor we buy from in our state. Here is my order:

You can see a 50# bag of Prairie Gold wheat berries in the background ($27.50). In the front, from top to bottom are:

5# bag of quinoa ($13.75)
5# bag of flax seeds ($10.75 - used in my bread)
5# bag of navy beans ($7.50)
5# bag of green lentils ($7.00)

Not pictured:

A small bag of dried tart cherries to sprinkle on our salads ($11.00).



These bags will last a good long time and are all things we use regularly now, with the exception of quinoa which I am just starting to use. I still have a good amount of black beans, split green peas, red lentils, and kidney beans left, so only had to buy some navy beans. Our wholesale distributor is not technically a food co-op, but operates similarly to food co-ops ~ for truck delivery to one location a minimum order of $400 is required, so several families go in together on one order and the food is delivered to one person's house and distrubuted from there. Buying healthy dry goods in bulk this way has saved us hundreds of dollars over the years! To find a food co-op in your state, go here.

Yet Another Post about Yogurt!

I think I may have finally discovered the secret to getting the right consistency when I make yogurt in the crockpot! After many, many attempts (all of which produced varying degrees of yogurt drinks rather than gelled yogurt, and all of which my children drank) I finally awoke to nicely gelled yogurt after letting it sit the requisite 8 hours wrapped in towels (for original posting of the crockpot yogurt recipe, go here). The only thing I did differently from the original recipe was adding plain gel at the 5 1/2 hour mark. I added two packets which is about 2-3 T. I was able to spoon out 2 1/2 quarts of nicely gelled plain yogurt, and I decided to add flavoring one serving at a time since blending flavoring in to the whole batch has always destroyed the gel consistency.

I put some yogurt in a small bowl, sprinkled a little bit of sugar on it, and poured in some pureed strawberries which I'd pureed in my one cup food processor. I was afraid to do anything more vigorous than stirring, for fear of destroying the yogurt consistency, so we ended up with yogurt that looked sortof chunky like cottage cheese, but was NOT runny, and it had a delicious strawberry flavor!


Son L deemed it "the best yogurt I've ever had!!", sons G and C liked it equally well with store bought yogurt, and daughter G said she liked it but it was still just a tad "bitter". I may not have added the same amount of sugar to each serving, but I'm trying to wean them off the sugar anyway, so maybe it will be an acquired taste? Anyway, it was pretty popular and today I'm fixing it with pureed blueberries. The children have always loved blueberry yogurt so I'm hoping for more rave reviews!

Italian Pinto Bean Soup

This dish needs a fancier name because it was really good. I mean, REALLY good! Italian Pinto Bean Soup just doesn't do it justice. At the very least I think I would call it "Italian Sausage and Bean Soup". The sausage gave it a really yummy flavor and added some "oomph" to the soup. The entire family loved it and I found myself wishing that I'd doubled the recipe. It is another one from Crystal at the Family Homestead.

Italian Pinto Bean Soup

4 cups dry pinto beans (or about 3-4 cans of prepared beans from the store)
water for soaking (if you start with dry beans)
8 cups water for cooking
1 T salt
1/2 to 1 pound sausage (leave out for a vegetarian meal. I used bratwurst from the freezer and just squeezed the sausage out of their little bratwurst casings)
olive oil (if not using sausage)
1 small or medium onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic (I used 1 tsp garlic powder instead - I need to buy a new garlic press!)
1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
1 T Italian seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

If you start with dry beans:

The night before, put the beans in a large pot and cover well with water. Let them soak overnight. In the morning, drain the water that they soaked in and then add the 8 cups of fresh water you will cook them in. Add salt to the beans and cook until soft. Once the beans are cooked you can drain the water, cool and then freeze them for later use, or set them aside still in the water to make the soup that same day.

If you start with canned beans:

Cook sausage along with onion, garlic, and optional green pepper. If you are not using sausage, cook the onion, garlic and green pepper in a bit of olive oil until soft. Then add the sausage/veggie mixture to the cooked beans in a soup pot. Add the remaining ingredients and heat until the cheese is melted and the flavors are blended. In individual bowls, garnish with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese on top.

Verdict: Absolutely delicious! A couple of the children picked out the green peppers, but that was it. It had my husband and I craving more. Will definitely make again!

Crockpot Beans and Rice

This is another recipe from Stephanie at crockpot365. It looked pretty good on her blog, and since we have lots of beans and brown rice in the house, I decided to give it a try. No offense to Stephanie, but it was a flop at my house. Not bad tasting, just really, really bland. My sweet husband and children, however, are totally on board with my experimentation and with eating whatever is set before them, so they all bravely ate it. C was the only one who LOVED it, telling me enthusiastically, "Mommy! You should make this again!" (well sweetie, you are welcome to all the leftovers!) I share it in hopes that you will get better mileage from it at your house, and because I said in my sidebar that I'd share flops too. :-)

Crockpot Beans and Rice

1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 cup brown rice
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp salt (I would add more)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (I would add more)
1/2 T dried onion flakes (I would add a full T)

Put the 1 T olive oil in the bottom of your crockpot and add the rice. Swirl the rice around in the olive oil until it is coated nicely. Drain and rinse the beans, then add them. Drain the tomatoes, saving the juice. Add them to your pot. You will need 2 cups of liquid, so add water to whatever amount of tomato juice you reserved so that you have 2 cups total of liquid. Add to pot. Add seasonings, stir well, and cover. Cook on low for about 6 hours or on high for 3-4. If you use white rice rather than brown it will be done faster, so be sure to check.

Verdict: If I am desperate for a meal sometime I will venture to make this again with LOTS more seasonings!