The playmat has landed!

I am SO excited!  The playmat that I designed for Henry just arrived!  It's a snow (or cold, rather) day from work and he's napping so I ripped open the package and took some pictures of it.  It is amazing.  Yeah, it could use a good ironing but whatever.

The fabric is cotton twill and the cars on it will be part of his Christmas present (he's getting some plan city cars).

 

I can't wait to give it to him!!

-Meghan

More Whole Wheat

One whole wheat switch that I have been resisting is pasta.  In the past whole wheat pasta has always been too bland and heavy for me.  Just not the right texture.  

Anyway, I had been resisting the change, but I recently bought some organic 100% whole wheat pasta that claimed to be light tasting.  It actually was much better than I remember the whole wheat pastas of the past being!  But just in case I was planning on trying to add flavor to the dish in other ways.  I also like to try to maximize my vegetable intake at most meals.

My husband does not like as many veggies as me, so I cooked the veggies separately and added them to the sauce at the end.  I put browned ground beef and sauteed mushrooms into all of the sauce.  Then I also added sauteed yellow squash, onion, and red pepper to my sauce.  I topped it off with some Parmesan cheese and some fresh organic basil from my herb garden, and it turned out to be a delicious dinner!

- Laura

Homemade 100% Whole Wheat Bread

In my quest to eliminate or at least greatly reduce my white flour and sugar intake I have started making my own 100% whole wheat bread.  I have found that it is hard to find bread that is 100% whole wheat without any preservatives.  The brands that I have found are usually very dense and sometimes a little bit too hardy tasting.

I decided to start making my own so that I will know exactly what is going in to the bread.  However, as always, limited time is an issue for me.  So I found a recipe in the same 5 minute bread book that I posted about earlier.

I would post the recipe, but I do not want to break any copyright laws.  However, the bread has very few ingredients and is simple to mix and bake.  The only ingredients are whole wheat flour, honey, oil, yeast, milk and salt.

I mix up the bread and bake it on Sunday evenings, and then it lasts for the remainder of the week.  I have been experimenting with the recipe a little bit over the past few weeks.  I have added flaxmeal, whole flax seeds, oatmeal, and walnuts.  The flaxmeal I substituted for an equal amount of flour so that it would not change the ratio of dry to wet ingredients.  All of the other items I just added in addition to the regular recipe.  So far all of the additions have turned out fine.  The bread is a little bit dense, but has a great slightly sweet flavor to it.

I am hoping that I can soon start grinding my own flour rather than buying it in bulk from my local natural food store.

It is good with all kinds of toppings. . . 

PB&J, ham and cheese, 

chicken salad,
 

 avocado and cheese. 

 No matter what kind of sandwich, it makes for a great little lunch! 

Hmmm, I guess that I was feeling very orange today!  

- Laura

Freecycle!

My parents are avid bikers.  My mom has been searching garage sales for a bike trailer for my niece for a long time.  I recently saw one listed on freecycle.  Usually any kind of kids stuff goes really fast, so I was surprised when it was still available.  When I picked it up it was a little bit bigger and older than I expected.  From the mid to late 90's.  My mom was a little bit unsure about it because it is open on top which could lead to flying debris.

So then my dad suggested that it could be used for trips to the grocery store.  That did not make a lot of sense for my mom because she would have to ride down a busy street.  I realized that it would be perfect for me!  I live about a mile or so from a forest preserve with about an 8 mile bike trail loop.  At the opposite end of the loop is a small offshoot that leads straight to my local natural food store.  I always felt bad shopping here because this store is about twice as far of a drive as my closest conventional grocery store.  This solves my guilt problem because now I am getting exercise and not having to drive at all.

So last week I strapped my reusable bags into the trailer and headed to the store.  Not a bad view for a ride to the grocery store right? 

It is about a 5 mile ride to the store in each direction.  I made it!

I loaded my bags full of groceries back into the trailer and headed home. 

I am actually kind of looking forward to going to the grocery store this week.

- Laura

Sundays. . .

Last week I worked on many of my new goals.  First, to get more organized and plan and cook ahead on Sundays to prepare for the week.  That has been going pretty well so far.  Last week I made a quadruple recipe of chili which was plenty to eat on the nights that I had class after work, and to freeze a whole bunch.  Here is what is waiting for me in the freezer for the next time that I do not have time to cook on Sunday. 

I also made some oatmeal to bring to work in the morning and eat for breakfast.

Then I tried a new whole grain this week (or tried to anyway).  I bought some whole red wheat berries at the store.  I was going to try to grind them up and add them to my whole wheat flour to bake bread (more on the bread later this week.)

  

I thought that if I put them in the food processor that should be able to grind them up no problem. 

Here they are after processing. . .

Hmmm, I guess that I really do need to get a grain mill.  Any suggestions on good ones?

- Laura

Stovetop wild rice and bulgar wheat

I found a recipe online for a stovetop grain meal and I modified it some.  I am nearly 100% certain it was from Better Homes and Gardens.

But, I was most excited because I wanted to cook bulgar wheat.  I just like saying the word "bulgar" and I had no idea what the wheat actually was.

From the awesome wikipedia I gathered:

"1 cup of dry bulgur contains approximately:^[3]

• Energy: 2003 kJ (479 kcal)
• Dietary fiber: 25.6 g
• Protein: 17.21 g
• Carbohydrate: 69 g whereof 0.8 g sugars
• Fat: 1.86 g whereof 0.2 g saturated fat
• Potassium: 574 mg
• Iron: 3.44 mg

• Glycemic Index: 46^[4]"

That's a lot of protein for a little grain!  It does look a bit like the corn-based kitty litter we use (yuck) but has a great taste.  Kind of nutty and chewy.

Here is what we made with it, excuse the photos, my camera is out of commission (boo!) so these are all from my iphone.  Which is really hard to use when you are also holding a kid who wants to THROW MUSHROOMS ON DINNER.  Really, it was pretty exciting throwing those mushrooms with "little rocks" into the big pot.

Recipe Parts:

1.  Cut up an onion and cook it in 1T or so olive oil until it gets that sweet onion smell and starts to sweat and look clear.

2.  Then dump that onion, 1 cup of apple juice and 2 cups of stock (I used vegetable stock) into a big pot with a half cup of rinsed wild rice.

3.  Bring those things to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.  Pronounce "simmer" like "simmah" for full effect.

4.  Once that' all simmered out, add a few cups of chopped mushrooms and a half cup of bulgar wheat and keep it simmering for another 10 minutes or so.

                                               

5. Pull it off the heat and add a chopped red pepper and some parsley.  Once it's cooled top with feta cheese.

                                             

My husband thinks a chicken breast would have been good with it.  I found that I felt pretty full after just having that bowl.  Next time I will definitely be doubling the recipe.

-Meghan

Book Review

I am glad that NerdyArtist asked what book I am reading about processed foods.  That gives me an excuse to tell you about it!  The book is called In Defense of Food:  An Eater's Manifesto.  It is by Michael Pollan.  He also wrote The Omnivore's dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.  I have not read the omnivore's dilemma, but have heard good things about it.  In defense of food is a follow up book, but you do not need to read the omnivore's dilemma in order to follow in defense of food.

Here are my thoughts on the book.  I am only about half way through it (maybe I will have time to finish it over winter break?)  So far, I really like the way that it is written.  It seems very well researched, and is written in a way that the average person can understand.  The basic message is that many of our modern diseases came about at the same time that processed foods (especially white flour and sugar) came around.  While these new processed foods have made our lives much more convenient, and have given foods longer shelf lives they have also become so dominant in our diets that we do not eat enough "real food" and therefore are becoming malnourished.  I was interested in a study he talked about where children in families with low socio-economic status are being both overfed, and undernourished.  Processed foods are cheaper so that is what they are eating.  He focuses on the importance of eating real whole foods rather than what he calls food-like substances.  I like the book because it is not written by a scientist or politician or anyone with an agenda.  He is a journalist who is interested in how our diets have changed (and become significantly less healthy) over the past century or so.  Of course after the research he does believe that our diets need an overhaul, but really who wouldn't?  The good news is that he is not trying to sell you diet plans, or shakes, or any other accessories to go with the book.  At the end of the book there are some basic guidelines to follow in your own way to become more healthy.  Unfortunately, I have not gotten to those yet, so I guess that is all I can really say about it. 

I got the book from my local library, (just another way to save money and be green at the same time!) but if you would like to purchase it you can click on the link below and it will take you right to the book listed on Amazon.com. 

How much!?

I went to my local natural food store this week.  I normally am not that careful about checking over my receipt (I know I should be).  But this week I happened to glance over it.  I bought one small butternut squash.  Here it is next to an average sized peach.

Now imagine my shock when I saw the price!  $9.49 for one small squash!?  I know that organic produce is a little bit more expensive than conventional, but this seemed a bit excessive. 

When I looked more closely I saw that the receipt said 4.77 lbs of butternut squash.  There is no way that is a four and three quarter pound squash!  So I took it back to the store and politely asked about it.  The woman working at customer service was very nice and apologetic.  She gave me a full refund for the squash, so basically I ended up with a free butternut squash. 

A happy ending.

- Laura

What in the world?

I came home last night to find something weird in the garden.  A lot of them.

This is what it looks like up close.  Any guesses?
-Meghan

The Garden in the Garden State: Trenton Farmer's Market

Laura and I are both out of town this weekend.  So, a big thanks to Carrie from The Hungry Hippo for helping us out and enjoying her local market!

Seriously, if you don't subscribe to her blog, do it now.  Her take on brunch had me laughing out loud.  Dig through a bit and find some good stuff.

From Carrie:

These days people will snort or scoff when referring to New Jersey as the Garden State.  They think of the Turnpike stretching across twelve lanes, cutting through the industrial cities of Newark and Elizabeth.  But that isn’t all there is to New Jersey.  Where I grew up, in the central part of the state, are acres and acres of farmland.  It’s been diminished somewhat since my childhood by housing developments, but the farms still cling to the land.  Tucked up in hills, down in valleys, around dusty corners of old country roads, in among the waving corn stalks, farms still sell direct to the customer from their own stands.  But New Jersey farms have long gathered to sell at the Trenton Farmer’s Market.  At the edge of a city better known for poverty and crime than delectable produce, the Market has been running since the 1930s.  How’s this for Garden State?

 ______

I'm not going to lie.  This is much different than the only part of New Jersey I have seen.  That would be Newark Airport, cause it's cheaper.  

To see what Carrie does with some of all of this produce, head over to The Hungry Hippo !

-Meghan

Sensory Market

I finally put my finger on why I love the market.  It isn't just the food, though that is pretty incredible.  It's the sensory stimulation.  We went a few hours later today (10am) and it was packed and they had sold out of some of our favorite things.  So I decided to let Henry wander and touch things and I would look for patterns and colors and light.

Looking behind the booths and down on the ground and up at the canopies was actually a lot of fun.

If you are getting a bit burnt out waiting for the tomatoes to come in, I really suggest trying to see and smell and touch everything else you have been seeing for the past few weeks.

-Meghan

Roots

Felt-O-Rama is on a one week hiatus...  Come back next week for a great felt project!  

I learned something interesting a few months ago from one of my co-workers.  She also has only a balcony (I like to refer to it as my half a yard) to garden on, but she has a great green thumb.

One day as we were discussing our gardens she told me that if you cut a piece of a plant off and put it in water it will soon start to grow new roots.

I thought this was pretty cool, and I wanted to try it.

A few weeks ago I was checking on my bean plants which are planted in a container on my balcony.  One of them seemed slumped over from a particularly windy night.  I tried to pull the plant back into an upright position.  The plant snapped right off near the bottom of the stalk.  I really did not think that I had pulled it that hard!

So I remembered what my co-worker had told me, and I decided to give it a try.  I put the bean plant in a glass of water.  After a few days the plant started to slump over a little bit.  I was getting worried that this was not going to work.  However, a few days after that the plant had little roots growing out from the bottom, and the rest of the plant had perked back up!

I left it about a week more so that the roots could grow a little bit longer...

And then I replanted it in the container that it had originally come from.

- Laura