Odd Times

I’ve been doing a lot of gardening and keeping busy to take my mind off the crazy happenings of the world. COVID 19 has put a wrench in a lot of my life plans but has made it a lot easier for me to catch up on gardening and yard work.

The best thing to do now is stay, not necessarily inside, but in your home vicinity. Find a project to get done, do some gardening, or just sit outside on your porch. Despite the fear, I’m attempting to stay positive by doing the things I didn’t have time for before all this.

I’ll try to post as many projects as I can to aid in the efforts of boredom that some people might be feeling. In my life, nothing is ever boring and I never get bored. Hopefully inspiration will strike and I’ll have loads to share.

Stay safe, stay healthy.

 

Allergies to wheat and corn?

I’ve been dealing with a bit of an allergy problem since mid December. I’ve been getting hives in combination with acid reflux. My blood tests show an allergy to wheat, corn and an entire list of other foods. I’m a little shocked, since I haven’t had many food reactions since I was young, besides soy. I’ve always been allergic to soy.

And everything has corn and soy in it!!! It’s a bit frustrating to find foods like bread and pasta, since many wheat alternatives are made with corn or soy products. I don’t eat pasta much, but how am I going to enjoy a good cheesy mac and cheese?

My solution: I’m going to venture into baking my own breads and sweets with rice flour or some other alternatives. It’s going to be interesting but something I’ve done in the past for others.

If anyone else out there has the same issues of sudden allergies as an adult, I want to know. What are your secrets when baking? What alternatives do you use? Did the allergy go away? Let me know!

Green Beans

Green beans are a yummy snack and a great addition to any meal. If you like a good crunch, raw is the way to go. My favorite garden vegetable is fresh green beans and I eat them right in the garden.

Last summer I got these nice big bean bushes (pictured below) from seeds bought in the store. I collected the seeds left over and planted them a few days ago. Lets see how they turn out this year!

Quick Purple Cabbage Kale Salad

 

1 Small Purple Cabbage Head

3 Cups Chopped Kale

2 Carrots

1 Lemon

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt & Black Pepper

Chop the cabbage, kale, and carrots. Add to a large bowl. Squeeze 1 lemon, add oil, add salt and pepper to taste. Toss and serve. Crunchy and quick!

Hello Hot Stuff

Last week, in my attempt to make spicy fermented pickles (say that 3 times real fast), I decided to pick some hot peppers from my garden. What I didn’t know, was these peppers were Serrano peppers and not Jalapenos, as I thought they were. They look very similar.

The last time I cut a jalapeno (store bought), I didn’t wear any gloves because it was very mild. My garden peppers, however, are not! I didn’t wear gloves this time and ended up with an intense burn on my hands that lasted hours. I tried everything from milk to apple cider vinegar. Nothing except ice would do anything.

I finally gave up and decided to drink some nettle tea, which has allergy and pain relieving properties. I drink it for allergy relief. Low and behold, the burning stopped. I don’t know if it was the tea, or just the pepper wearing off, but whatever it was, the burning finally stopped. Maybe the tea worked it’s magic and helped me out.

In the end I learned one very important thing, always wear gloves or protective gear when cutting hot peppers, no matter how mild you think it may be!

 

Sorrel

I have some sorrel growing near my dads garlic field and around our property. It’s a wild edible plant my parents grew up with in Ukraine. When I was a kid, we had it growing in our garden wild and now we have it growing here wild. My mom always called it bunny food, because it’s what rabbits like to eat in the wild.

Sorrel is an edible herb. There are many different types of sorrel and many different uses for it. It grows all over the place here in the northeast United States. It can also be a weed, growing around your garden.

We have sheep sorrel and common wood sorrel. Wood sorrel leaves resemble clover leaves and have yellow or white blooms. Sheep sorrel have reddish/yellow blooms and the leaves resemble a sword.  The leaves of both are a wonderful addition to any salad or soup. The leaves have a nice lemony sour flavor without being too harsh like a lemon. You can eat it raw or cook with it. It’s always a nice snack for me when I’m walking around my yard.

Common Wood Sorrel Flower

Common Wood Sorrel

Common Wood Sorrel

Sheep Sorrel

Basil Salsa

 

 

Beware, cutting tomatoes is messy!

I’ve been having a really huge crazing for some salsa, but hate buying the store stuff. It has all types of preservatives and random stuff in it, so I decided to make my own. I came up with this randomly. It tastes fantastic and I would definitely use it at a party or as a snack. It’s good as a side dish with lunch or dinner too.

Ingredients: 

1 red or green pepper

1 or 2 jalapenos (1 for mild, 2 for hot)

6 to 8 vine ripe tomatoes

6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped

2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt (or any salt to taste). Pink salt is weaker than regular table salt. Add less with table or sea salt.

1 Tbsp turmeric

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp granulated garlic

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp lime juice

Any chip of your choice and some sour cream if desired.

Instructions: 

1. Grab a medium sized bowl, a cutting board, and a good knife for chopping. For the tomatoes, you want to use a knife with ridges. A smooth knife will be hard to chop tomatoes with.
2. Chop the tomatoes and peppers into small squares. Core the peppers to get rid of the seeds and white parts. You want the juice and seeds from the tomatoes, so add those to the bowl. Don’t worry about chopping perfect squares; all that matters is you get them to about less than half an inch. Add to the bowl.
3. Core and chop the jalapenos into small pieces. Remember, jalapenos are hot! Wear gloves or wash your hands thoroughly after cutting. Add to the bowl.
4. Peel and finely chop the garlic and fresh basil. Add to the bowl.
5. Add right into the bowl the black pepper, turmeric, granulated garlic, cayenne pepper, olive oil, and lime juice.
6. Add salt, mix everything well, pressing down with a large spoon to get the juice out of the tomatoes. Taste and add additional salt if desired.
7. Dip your chip of choice right in and enjoy!!!

Hint: Dip the chip in sour cream first and then the salsa. It tastes delicious!

 

 

 

Mustard Anyone?

So, I’m in love with the mustard I’ve planted. It’s plain old yellow mustard (better than the bottled stuff). It has a nice spicy bite to it and goes wonderfully raw with salads and sandwiches. You can add it in your cooking too. They also add beautiful yellow color to any vegetable garden. You can eat the entire thing. The leaves and flowers taste great! Stay calm and plant on!

Mustard

Mustard

An Uncanny Similarity

I was making breakfast for myself this morning and had a deja vu moment. I’m in love with the animated movie Howl’s Moving Castle and my pan and eggs reminded me of a scene in the movie, where Howl is making breakfast with bacon and eggs for everyone.

Mine is on the left, obviously. I don’t have a Calcifer heating the bottom of my pan, but the similarity is pretty funny. I don’t eat bacon, so there are mushrooms instead.

The end result of my meal was this:

I made sunny side up. I like mine a little over cooked, so what I do is turn the heat off and then just cover the pan for a few minutes until the yolk gets a white layer over them. I toasted some bread, added a little German butter (for flavor), and then topped it off with the eggs. I sprinkled salt, black pepper, turmeric, and sharp cheddar on top. The mushrooms have the same spice toppings. Add a cup of coffee and I’m good for at least 4 hours.

PS: I did not eat all 4 eggs. 2 eggs were for my dog because she needs her protein too.

 

Cupcakes From A Box

I randomly decided to make cupcakes tonight. I bought 2 boxes of Duncan Hines Caramel Apple cupcake the other day (it was on sale and comes with the frosting). I usually don’t bake from boxes, but this was an exception. Who doesn’t love apple and caramel? I love baking from scratch because you know what’s in your food, but sometimes you just need a quick snack.

There was no special occasion or reason, other than I just wanted some goddamn cupcakes.  I strangely enough don’t own a cupcake pan, so I had to improvise. I did find some foil cupcake tins in the pantry. I only found 7, but I do have glass containers that can go in the oven, so I used one to make the giant cupcake. Baking is all about improvising. I never have the right tools, but always manage to get it right. So, to anyone out there who is scared to try baking, don’t be. Experimenting and getting things wrong is part of life, but if you can get it wrong with flour and frosting, there’s nothing wrong about that.

They came out perfect, in terms cake and frosting. The decorating needs a little work, but I didn’t really try hard, so I wasn’t expecting them to look great. If you notice, there’s one missing. Well, that’s because I needed a taste before they had frosting on them. I just couldn’t help myself. I did sprinkle a little bit of pink salt on them to make it a salted caramel cupcake, but the frosting just took over the taste. It was extremely sweet, which I don’t care for and the apple and caramel flavor dissipated after adding the frosting.

Pros and cons of making cupcakes from a box:

Pros: It’s quick and easy and cupcakes come out close to perfect

Cons: You can’t control the sweetness, the frosting overpowered the entire cupcake, and all you taste is butter and sugar as apposed to the caramel and apple flavor.

My suggestion, take the time to make em from scratch. Everything just tastes better when you take the time to make it from beginning to end.  Quick and easy isn’t always the best way to go, especially when it comes to baking. I’ve learned that making things from scratch just tastes a whole lot better because you know what and how much you’re putting into whatever it is you are making. I guess I got a reminder of that tonight.