Maintaing vegetables for longer than a week, my strategies....

My family participates in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program with a local, organic farm.  This means we get farm fresh, local produce every other week.  It also means that I am charged with the mission to keep our produce fresh as long as possible.  Let's face it, produce is not cheap and when you try to preserve it for any length of time, it is frustrating when it goes bad.  I have tried multiple ways to care for our produce, I have read blog posts, I have bought 'bags' touting their greatness is preserving produce, but my current system has worked for us better than any other.

I realize this system may not be for everyone, even I have issues with the fact that we use plastic bags.  Our family tries to reduce our waste as much as possible and we have attempted to remove most plastic products from our home.  To help with the waste issue, I wash our plastic bags and dry them out so we can use them again and again and again......  I also use paper towels in our plastic bags to catch any moisture.  To offset this potential waste, I made paper towels from cloth that we use and wash (these double as napkins and rags for cleaning up).  It's not a perfect system, but it has saved me from frustration and ruined vegetables multiple times.

I keep onions and garlic in this bag on the counter.  Onions should be kept away from other vegetables, you don't want your carrots tasting like onion, do you?  The refrigerator really isn't the best place to store onions, I've read it changes the flavor of them.  Onions also give off something that can speed up the spoiling process for other produce.  I definitely don't want to speed that process up!



These are the vegetables I put in the refrigerator.  There are others, but these are the ones from our CSA this week.  I put them in bags with a paper towel and then make sure the air is out of the bag and it is sealed well.  You'll see I have broccoli, carrots, parsnips, spinach, and kale in these bags.  I try to put the hardier vegetables in the same bag (parsnips and carrots are together).  The spinach and kale are together, notice the spinach is on top because it tends to go bad before the kale.  I use the spinach first and then attack the kale.  I use mesh bags for items like beets and cabbage.  Beets will go soft in the mesh bags, but it takes a while for that to happen.  We will either roast, dehydrate, or juice them before that happens.  The brussels sprouts are still on the stalk (LOVE THIS) and will be eaten tonight.  Finally, notice the bag labeled "For Broth".  In this bag, I have carrot tops and we will add to it throughout the weeks until we are ready to make bone broth (we waste very little).  I also fill bags up with beet greens to stick in the freezer for smoothies and freeze herbs to use later (although now I have a dehydrator, I may start dehydrating them).



See these beauties?  I bought this entire bag of bananas for $.99 because they were starting to go 'bad'.  I put them all in the freezer and will use them for smoothies in the coming weeks!  SCORE!


I have a bowl on our counter that has our winter squash and potatoes/yams.  This helps me remember to use these.  As the seasons begin to change, I'll post more pictures of the different storage methods we use for our vegetables.  What are some tips you have to share?  I would love to hear them!

Roasted Italian Spaghetti Squash Casserole



My family eats pretty healthy.  We buy the majority of our vegetables from the local farmer’s market.  We try to eat organic.  We try to eat what is in season.  However, I feel like I can definitely do a better job of sneaking more vegetables into our meals.  I am also very aware of how much my son LOVES carbs, any and all carbs.  He has been known to sift through meals to find only the pieces of pasta, even with high levels of encouragement to eat everything else.  He is not easily fooled either.  On the nights when I have tried a ‘pasta’  dishes with strictly spaghetti squash or zucchini pasta, he catches on rather quickly.  My thought with this dish was to begin introducing more vegetables while reducing our consumption of pasta. 

I also struggle with substituting spaghetti squash for pasta because I miss the texture and spaghetti squash seems to make things more ‘juicy’.  I like thick and hearty pasta dishes and feel that spaghetti squash tends to thin sauces too much. 

I decided to use spaghetti squash and our typical brown rice pasta to give my son the pasta he loves and give me the texture.  I then added nutritional yeast to thicken the sauce and add a ‘cheesy’ flavor.  I didn’t know how ‘creamy’ the dish would turn out, nor how the different flavors and textures would work together.  This dish was a hit with everyone in the family, definitely kid approved!

 

Roasted Spaghetti Squash Italian Casserole (Serves 6-8)

2 spaghetti squash (I didn’t weigh mine but they were medium in size)
Olive oil (preferably in a Mist-O spray bottle)
1 lb grass-fed beef
1 – 1.5 C clean spaghetti sauce
1-2 C chopped spinach
6-8 oz baby portabella mushrooms (diced)
1 small to medium onion, chopped
Garlic powder
1-2 TBS oregano
¼ C Nutritional Yeast (plus more for the top if you want)
4 oz whole wheat or gluten free pasta (optional)
Salt to taste
 

Preheat oven to 400.  Slice spaghetti squash in half length-wise and put on a cookie sheet cut side up.  Spray with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder (to your liking).  Roast the squash in the oven for 50 minutes, or until you can easily stick a fork in the squash.

 

This is what spaghetti squash looks like after roasting/baking.  It should be easy to remove the 'meat' of the squash for your dish.  You may want to use two forks to separate the pieces and avoid any large clumps of squash.

While the squash is roasting, sauté the onion in a skillet (I used cast iron) with a little olive oil.  Sprinkle with a little salt (1/2 tsp) to ‘sweat’ the onion.  Once the onion is opaque add ground beef and cook thoroughly. (Now is also a good time to cook your pasta according to the package if you are using it.) Add mushrooms and some garlic powder (1/2 to 1 tsp or to taste) to the mixture and sauté for 5 minutes.  Add your spaghetti sauce and cook for 3 more minutes.  You may need to turn off this mixture for a little while as your spaghetti squash continues to roast.  If you turn the heat off, turn it back on when the squash is finished.  Add the spaghetti squash to the pan along with the spinach and cook until the spinach begins to wilt.  I used two forks to separate the different pieces of my spaghetti squash; I wanted it throughout the dish and not in lumps.   Add the pasta and the nutritional yeast, combine all ingredients thoroughly. 

Place all ingredients in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes (top with additional nutritional yeast if desired).  The reason I used a cast iron skillet is so I would not need to transfer ingredients from one dish to another for baking.  However, if you do not have an oven-safe skillet, you will need to transfer this to a baking dish.  I would add a little olive oil on the bottom to prevent sticking. 

My husband and I added red pepper flakes to ours and some Celtic salt.  Please add additional spices as you see fit.  This dish was creamy and delicious.  It is definitely something we will have again.

Finished product!

Dripping Springs Vanilla Extract, Why Not....

Homemade vanilla extract is so easy to make and you can be sure there are no added ingredients (caramel coloring anyone?).  Now that we make homemade almond milk we go through quite a bit of vanilla extract.  It's more cost efficient for us to make it at home.  We use vodka and vanilla beans we bought from amazon and pour them in old vanilla extract bottles.  Let the bottles sit for a while, the longer the better, and you've got extract.  I made this batch on April 17 and it's ready to go now (June 15)!  I always have extra batches waiting while I'm using the current batch.  I cut my vanilla beans in half and then split them before putting them in the jar.  I use 2-6 beans depending on the size of my jar.

We do tailor this to fit the needs of our family, for example, my husband is gluten free so we use a gluten free vodka!

April 2014

June 2014

Sugar and Spice....

In one of my first posts I wrote about the extra ingredients you can find in your spice cabinet.  It truly is amazing how many of our foods have hidden preservatives and sugars.  My husband and I read ingredient labels very carefully, including those on our spices. It is difficult to find spices that do not contain additional ingredients and do not cost an arm and a leg.  Therefore, we have started grinding our own spices.  

Depending on the spice, we use either our Vitamix or a coffee grinder for spices.

We grind our own cinnamon and it is DELICIOUS!  It really tastes better than the cinnamon found in the store.  

                  

We also grind cumin, coriander, cloves, and black peppercorns in our spice grinder.  

Finally, we make our own homemade chili powder from chili pods found in the Mexican section of the grocery store.  To make a milder chili powder, remove the seeds.  For medium spice, leave a few seeds, and for hot, leave all off the seeds in the pod.  

My family and friends benefit from our clean eating lifestyle as well; ground cinnamon in a cute jar makes a thoughtful and delicious gift.        

Grinding your own spices is easy and cuts down on the cost of buying organic spices from the store.  

When we have more kitchen space, I look forward to having a beautiful spice box on my counter for my spices.  For the time being, I store them in repurposed jars and other containers.  

   

This is one simple change you can make in a short amount of time.  

Get grinding!

Rich and Warm Pasta Sauce

Growing up my favorite meal was my mom's homemade spaghetti and meatballs.  My mom let the sauce simmer on the stove all day which made the house smell beautiful.  If rich and warm had a smell, it would definitely smell like my mom's pasta sauce.  When spaghetti and meatballs were on the menu, we snacked all day long on the sauce.  If you were lucky, you got to try the sauce with a little piece of meatball.  We had to be careful not to eat too much so that we could actually eat dinner.  On those special nights, we ate and ate and ate until we could eat no more.  After shoving a few 'last bites' in, we finally gave up, said we were finished, unbuttoned our pants, and praised my mom for making the "best batch of sauce so far".  Then we did it all over again the next day with the leftovers.

We even had spaghetti and meatballs with homemade pizza as our Christmas Eve dinner, we loved it that much.

The recipe actually came from my paternal grandmother.  I'm not sure where she got it, it could possibly be a very old family recipe.  Either way, it is delicious and I'm happy to share my version of a Blount family favorite (and now an O'Toole favorite), my grandmother and mother's Rich and Warm Pasta Sauce.

You will need:

1 chopped onion (red or yellow depending on your preference)
2 jars/cans of tomato paste
4 cans of diced/chopped tomatoes (I use two boxes of chopped tomatoes)
at least 4 cloves of garlic, chopped (I use more, but I LOVE garlic)
1 Tbs olive oil
1-2 Tbs fresh basil, chopped
1-2 Tbs Italian seasoning, divided
1 Tbs balsamic vinaigrette
Pinch of cayenne pepper

The Process

In a stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and sauté until transparent (7-10 minutes stirring occasionally).  Add garlic and half of the Italian seasoning, sauté for 2-3 minutes stirring frequently.  Add tomato paste and diced tomatoes.  Let ingredients simmer on the stove for at least 30 minutes and as long at 4 hours.  Add remaining ingredients, stir, and let simmer for an additional 10 minutes or longer. You will need to add salt if you use tomatoes that do not have salt added.

It's that simple!  This quick and clean sauce works well on pasta, spaghetti squash, pizza, and any other dish requiring a rich pasta sauce.  I always have the ingredients on hand because I can make this in a pinch and it's always a hit!

I hope you LOVE this recipe as much as I do.

This is the brand of tomatoes we usually use.

This is the new brand we tried for this sauce.  

Baked Green Tomatoes and Zucchini

Fried Baked Green Tomatoes and Zucchini

I have never had fried green tomatoes and had no interest in trying them until I went through my Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) box from the Farmer’s Market.  With my box came four green tomatoes.  I briefly thought about exchanging them for something different, but one of the reasons we buy our CSA is to be more adventurous and try new vegetables.  So, I told Owen those would stay in our ‘home’ bag and he promptly plopped them in the bag.  I knew I wanted to make fried green tomatoes, but I also knew I wanted them to be clean and baked instead of fried.  I randomly chose a recipe from www.allisonskinnyjeans.com and began to adapt it to fit our dietary preferences and needs.  This meant omitting the Panko Bread Crumbs, parmesan cheese, egg beaters, and canned olive oil cooking spray.  I then began creating a recipe that turned out absolutely delicious, I could NOT stop eating the tomatoes and zucchini.

This is a MUST try recipe:

Ingredients:
2 green tomatoes
2 zucchini
¾ C almond meal (see my homemade milk post on how to make your own)
¼ C coconut flour
½ C Nutritional Yeast
4 whole eggs
Homemade olive oil spray or olive oil in a Mist-O

PLUS a secret ingredient, ¼ C of my homemade ranch dip seasoning

Homemade Ranch Dip Seasoning
2 Tbs salt
1 C dried onion

7 Tbs parsley

Mix together in a container so you can save it to have on hand when you need/want ranch dip or extra flavor (it's delish mixed in grass-fed beef for hamburgers)!

Bonus Recipe: To make ranch dip out of the seasoning mix 1 Tbs seasoning with 1 C sour cream and enjoy!

Process:

Preheat oven to 425

Prepare a cookie sheet by placing a cooling rack on top of it and spraying the rack with olive oil or use a broiler pan – something that will allow the zucchini to cook on both sides in the oven.  You may use a cookie sheet without a cooling rack, but you will need to flip the veggies halfway through the cooking process.

Wash and slice the tomatoes and zucchini; try to slice them evenly 

                I sliced my zucchini in half and then into thirds lengthwise

Wisk the eggs in a bowl or shallow dish

Combine the almond meal, coconut flour, nutritional yeast, and ranch dip seasoning in another bowl

Put a few Tbs of the dry mixture on a plate or in a shallow dish – add to it when needed

                If you use it all at once, it will become gooey and won’t stick to your veggies

Dip the tomatoes/zucchini in the eggs and then rolls in the dry mixture

Place coated veggies on the cooling rack/cookie sheet

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes and then either rotate the cookie sheet or flip the veggies depending on what you are using

After rotating or flipping, bake for an additional 10-12 minutes

Zucchini cut in half and then lengthwise into thirds

Breaded and ready to go!

These are on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet.

These are on our roasting pan.

Baked and ready to be devoured!

Mmmm..goodness!

ENJOY these tasty little veggie treats!  We thought they were so delicious that they are on the menu again tonight.  I’m also excited that I have two tomatoes left and am hoping we have more in our CSA next weekend!

To reheat, I put the veggies back on the cooling rack and into a 325 degree oven for 10-15 minutes!

Happy Days Cove BBQ Sauce

Happy Days Cove is a house on the north shore of Lake Travis, TX, where my husband spent many summers and weekends.  It's a beautiful home and my husband has fond memories of exploring the woods, skiing in the lake, sleeping in one room with his siblings, and family dinners.  My family now has the pleasure of visiting Happy Days Cove as often as we want/can; it's only a 45 minute drive from our house.  The memories our son creates there will be different from his dad's, the community has more homes and fewer woods, the lake is too low to launch the boat, and the bunk beds have been replaced by a home office.  Owen will remember riding his bike to the park, looking at the moon with his grandparents, sleeping in the back bedroom, and the family dinners.  We have smoked pork tenderloin with Happy Days Cove BBQ Sauce.  Today, I'm going to share with you all my father-in-law's wonderfully simple and delicious Happy Days Cove BBQ Sauce recipe (adapted to meet the dietary preferences of our family).

1 medium red onion, coarsely chopped
2 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs ground black pepper
2 Tbs chili powder
3/4 C organic Coconut Palm Sugar
1/2 C Bragg Liquid Aminos
40 oz bottle of ketchup (we use organic ketchup with few ingredients) - save the bottle
40 oz water

In a five-quart Dutch oven, sauté the onions and olive oil over medium heat until plump.  Add ketchup, black pepper, olive oil, chili powder, and sugar and mix thoroughly.  Add the water and mix thoroughly.  Add the Liquid Aminos and, again, mix thoroughly.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 45 minutes.

You can adjust the pepper and chili powder to your heat and taste preference.  We make this in large batches and can it using a water bath (even if you don't have a pressure canner).

Get out with your grill, this wonderful BBQ sauce, and make some memories!

Mmmmm....