A friend (yes, I have one…. maybe two) and I talked the other day about canned vegetables. (Note to self: Clue right there about lack of friends – could it be your stimulating conversational skills? I mean really! Can’t you think of something else to talk about besides canned vegetables?) We discussed that they are higher in carbohydrates than fresh or frozen because there is added sugar in them. I am not sure why they add sugar to canned vegetables but apparently they do. (Quick- run to the pantry and read some labels- I’ll wait.) Personally, I buy fresh or frozen pretty much exclusively because I prefer the taste.
Fast forward to the next day when I was making a Three Bean Salad to take to pot luck. I tried a new recipe and I liked it but will have to fiddle with it because it had a lot of sugar in it. There I go again- fiddling with a recipe! Anyway, because I have such an interesting life, I stopped to read the label on the dark red kidney beans (Great Value- because I am cheap thrifty.) First ingredient: prepared kidney beans. No surprise there.
#2- water
#3- cane syrup- what? why?
#4- salt- I knew there is lots of salt in canned beans.
#5- high fructose corn syrup!! Why?
There were more things added that help promote color retention- I probably really don’t want to know about them.
But why the sugary stuff added? I mean, kidney beans? Sweet?
I rinse them before adding them to things in hopes of reducing the salt content and so I hope it helps with the sugar too but how much have they absorbed sitting in the can?
Sigh. So, I’ll have to read more labels in the store and suck it up and buy more expensive brands.
Or go all homestead like and boil up my own.
There has been a group of mothers meeting on Friday afternoons and I have been invited to attend. It’s nice because they are all homeschool families and one of the families has older daughters who take the kids downstairs to play while the mothers talk upstairs. To give you a hint as to how many kids are there- I will just say we have the smallest family. I am so excited that I am included- old fuddy duddy me who was starting to wonder about her friend shortage. It’s easy to take that kind of thing personally. So, as you can imagine I’ve been enjoying these times.
Last week, we had company coming for dinner but I really wanted to go to the Mom’s meeting. It’s in the afternoons and we don’t get home until 4:30 or so. It was great incentive to get the house all clean on Thursday and make up the Enchilada casserole and bean salad (and clean up) on Friday morning. I made Spanish Rice and a lettuce salad after I got home. It turned out well and I was pretty puffed up.
I had also invited Master Bill and his lovely wife over for a meal after Church on Sunday. Just feeling that hospitality spirit, I guess. I was having troubles figuring out what to fix. It needed to be fast, as we all would be hungry. Also, since we hadn’t made it to the store in ages, it had to be made from stuff on hand. Hmmm. Well, there was lots of Enchilada casserole and Spanish Rice left over… it would be quick to heat up. So it was settled, I fed my Pastor and his wife leftovers. It does not in any way reflect how much esteem I have for them. Except for the copious snowfall it worked out pretty well. As he ate our leftovers Master Bill kept saying how good it was. I didn’t take it to heart because I knew that I could feed that man slop with a side of swill and he would compliment me on it.
This Friday we didn’t have company coming but I did plan ahead and loaded up one of The Col.’s favorite meals into the Crockpot. When we got home we had tender pork chops and potatoes ready for us.
I have been so pleased with myself that my shoulder hurts from patting myself on the back.
I took Crack to our Church Pot Luck today. It’s really good.
I read recipes and go to many recipe sites on the Internet. I often get a chuckle from the reviews that are left about the recipes. They say something like this:
“I absolutely LOVED this recipe! I fixed it last night and OMG everyone GUSHED about it! I followed the recipe exactly except I didn’t have ingredient A so I substituted B, threw in some C because I had it on hand and I didn’t have any D so left it out. I also cooked it in the oven instead of on the stove. It turned out great! Would make it again!”
Is this still the same recipe? Can you make that many changes and still get the same thing?
I did the same thing last night- no, not leaving a review but in how I changed a recipe. Oh, I mean, I followed it exactly. I was vastly amused at myself. But I am easily entertained.
The background: we are watching our weight- and it’s not a pretty sight. The Col. had been eating plenty due to several circumstances where he had to eat out. So when I asked him what kind of soup he wanted for dinner, it being Wednesday the soup night, he answered Cabbage Soup. Probably as a joke but also thinking he wouldn’t like it and therefore wouldn’t eat too much. He don’t know me very well, do he? I took the challenge and ran with it.
I took a recipe that I had found here for Kohlsuppe-Cabbage Soup. The basic recipe is this:
- Put the chopped cabbage and the broth in the crockpot, on high; simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
- In a sauté pan, cook the bacon slices until crisp; remove, chop roughly, and set aside.
- Sauté the onion in the bacon drippings until soft.
- Add the chopped bacon, onion, potato, and salt and pepper to the crockpot.
- Cook on high for an additional 1 to 1 1/2 hours hours, until the cabbage reaches the texture you prefer.
- Serve with a dollop of sour cream.
- Notes: would also be good with some dill weed or caraway added, or even kielbasa slices, if you like; I also added a 1 once cube of concentrated frozen duck stock, but as most folks don’t have it in their freezer I didn’t include it in the ingredient list; you could simmer this in a heavy pot on the stove for an hour instead of the crockpot, too.
Since I was starting to cook it at about 4:30 in the afternoon there was no way I could use the crockpot, so that was out. But the recipe does say that it could be cooked on the stove for an hour – so I didn’t stray too far that way. Then I looked at the methodology and decided that if I used a separate pan to saute the bacon and onion in then there would be another dirty pan to wash. Bad idea. Also the voices of the cooks at America’s Test Kitchen, one of my favorite TV shows, kept telling me to layer or build flavor. So I fried the bacon (already cut up) in my cast iron dutch oven, drained some of the fat and then cooked the onion (way more than 1/2 a cup) for awhile. Then I added the potatoes, letting them brown a little. Then the cabbage and let it brown and cook down. I put in two minced garlic cloves. After I could smell the garlic I added some chicken stock and stirred up the brown bits on the bottom. I didn’t have enough chicken stock so I added some water with a bit of chicken base (kind of like bullion). That still wasn’t enough so I added a pint of frozen turkey stock I had in the freezer. I was afraid too much chicken base would make it too salty. Then let it simmer awhile.
And guess what? It was good! The Col. took two helpings. 🙂 But at about 170 calories a serving he could afford to do that. Ha! How’s that for following a recipe?
I sniveled after it died. Whined when I had none. But have been fairly quiet about the replacement. Yes, I am revisiting the microwave issue. The new one is a GE Sensor Microwave Oven and overall, good. It has taken a while to get used to The New Guy on the Block after having the same one for 16 years. It’s more powerful than the old one so it’s taking practice to figure out how long to leave things in there without reducing them to molten, rubber objects. One lid has been “re-shaped”, shall we say, but we have not melted any containers, which is a good thing. Probably what I don’t like about it the most is that a person has to press “Time Cook” when a time less or more than a straight number is wanted. Did that make sense? If I want to heat something for 25 seconds (which I often do because I am horrible about finishing that last swallow of coffee and I don’t want it cold or boiling, thank you) I have to press “Time Cook” before I press the 2. If I press the 2 first then it turns on automatically for a two minute run. Grrrr! Also if you wanted to heat something for 1 minute 15 seconds, the “Time Cook” would have to be pressed first. Rather inconvenient if you ask me. There is a “Add 30 seconds” button which is nice and I use it quite a bit. I find that with the high power, I don’t need to heat things for very long and that makes the auto option on the numbers not at all handy. The defrost works well- which is a good thing as well as I plan ahead for dinner. (Hmm, it’s 3 o’clock, what’s for dinner? Girl! It’s too early to think about- keep blogging!) The popcorn button runs too short so I stand there and listen to it popping merrily away with 15 seconds left and just KNOW that there will tons of un-popped kernels left if I let it stop so I push that handy “Add 30 seconds” button but don’t let it run till the end of that! Did that once, burned popcorn anyone?
We recently acquired a new bread machine- ahem, excuse me a new “bread bakery”. Fancy, huh? It’s a very nice model that will hopefully last longer than a year or two, like the old one. It’s a Zojirushi– try saying that fast! It has a traditional shaped bread loaf pan and two kneading paddles in it. It can make a two pound loaf. So far it’s worked well. I wasn’t happy with the whole wheat recipe provided by the company- the top was flat and bumpy- not smooth. I am in the process of trying other whole wheat recipes most of which are turning out smooth on top but not rounded like a ‘real’ loaf would be. A small complaint because the texture and taste are good. I’ll keep fiddling with it. I was without a bread machine for a few months and found I really missed it.I’m just too lazy to make it by hand. I like having whole wheat bread without preservatives in it to feed my family (doesn’t that sound high and mighty!). Also, being that I am cheap thrifty, I think it will cost less in the long run for bread. One Christmas I used the other bread machine to make Cinnamon Swirl bread for The Col.’s co-workers (small loaves). I think they enjoyed it- and if they didn’t I never heard about it so they just may get it again someday.
The last item is not an appliance but it is a useful tool that is new to us- The Van. Overall we are pleased with it. The sliding doors are wonderful! It’s easy to reach the Girls and buckle them in. It’s comfortable. Things work in it. The fuel economy on long drives isn’t too bad- in town it leaves a little to be desired. After having diesels for so many years it’s a surprise to see such a difference. The ride is noisy and it lacks a certain…flash …but we’ll keep it.
I am a pantry type of person. I buy things on sale and stock the pantry. When I notice something is getting low, I write it on a list on the refrigerator. I even remember to take it with me once in awhile. We usually don’t have troubles with things going unused or spoiling because I buy what I know we will use. However, this past week, I have found myself in an uncomfortable position of being out of some very vital things. Things that this household can hardly live without- like tortillas! Then some basic staples- like sugar, flour and baking powder. I was going to make a dessert using zucchini (we do have an abundance of that!) for our Church Potluck but had to scrap ideas like Zucchini Chocolate cake and Zucchini brownies because of the lack of baking powder. I found a very nice looking Chocolate Zucchini Roll with no baking powder in it and scraped the last of my flour out of the bin- barely managing to have enough. It was tasty! Even got a request for the recipe. In Potluck Land that is a high complement!
But the lack of sugar is what has really thrown me for a loop. No, I don’t eat it from the canister! In fact I often go for a long time without opening the sugar container. But it’s awful hard to can things like peaches, jams and zucchini relish (did I mention we have lots copious amounts of zucchini?) without sugar. I ran out after the Chocolate Zucchini Roll but during a batch of Zucchini Relish- that batch will be a tad tangy! So I am at a stand still. Which is probably good because I needed to tend to some other things- one of which is making it so you can walk around in my kitchen without fear of sticking permanently in one location.
Col. Panic will be bringing some home with him and I’ll be able to make some more peach jam, zucchini relish and, maybe even, some zucchini jam. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it! You want some zucchini?
When we were cleaning out Brett’s Dad’s house after he died, I opened up the microwave to find a cup of coffee in it. He had evidently put one in there to warm up and forgot it. Whenever I would open up our microwave to find a coffee cup forgotten in there, I would think of him.
After it’s finished cooking/heating something, the new microwave will beep every minute or so to remind you that there is something still in it.
I think I’ll miss finding forgotten coffee mugs in it.
After whining for so many posts about the lack of a microwave, I thought I had better say something about the new one.
It’s here. It’s wonderful.
Hot coffee with a button push.
Sensor cooking- which seems to work pretty good so far.
Did I mention hot coffee?
I would say that it is smarter than me but that wouldn’t be true.
I had to tell it what time it was when I plugged it in.
“I miss the microwave!” said The Big Tall Guy after sipping his “too cold for him” coffee.
I nod my head in agreement.
BUT help is on the way. Thanks to the wonderful Internet and search engines he found the microwave that we wanted for $2.01 more than what we would have paid at a store PLUS free shipping! Yippee! It should be here on Thursday, after bouncing around Illinois it is on a truck hopefully sailing this direction.
It’s a good thing becuase The Man likes his coffee molten hot.
I had a hankering for popcorn.
In this modern age, how does one pop corn without a microwave?
I could pop it on the stove- I did have some regular popcorn in the pantry- old though it may be, but I decided to go a different route to avoid the oil. I dug around in the cupboard and hauled out the antiquated air popper. Yes, I am attached to old things. It still works and I had lovely popcorn. Oh, the inconvenience, she said with straight face.
We had leftovers last night. Thursday is the usual leftover night but we were on a fruitless hunt on that night. Just to show that I am not my mother, oops, not a total slave to routine; I had leftovers on the WRONG night. The problem was no microwave to heat the stuff up in. Do I sound like a broken record? Do you know what a record is? Normally we put what we want on our plate and then heat it up. But this time I heated it all up on the stove. Makes for lots of dirty dishes.
It’s not all bad; we have electricity and toilet paper, unlike No Impact Man.
