fullofstitches.com Blog

Ben introduced me to a food-tracking service online. I’m trying to work on my nutrition a bit, so I’m giving it a go. The Daily Plate lets me enter the food I eat, I can even dig a little and find ways to enter healthy whole foods (like adding ‘recipes’ and using the ‘fix’ button to enter info that actually pertains to the foods I use -like “whole wheat, whole-grain” instead of just “whole wheat flour”). Most ‘recipes’ has the ingredients spelled out, so something like the first ‘whole wheat flour’ shows that it’s someone’s mix, not real whole wheat flour! I’m going to play with it awhile.. doesn’t look like there are many NT-style eaters on there, but I may have just not found them yet.

Really, I have been knitting… I’ve got a heel on one of my Scherherazade’s Slippers..

Yesterday, we went to the store after picking up TJ from class. I’ve been wanting to start cooking lamb occasionally, but at $20-30 per pound for some of the ‘classier’ looking cuts… well, I’m not willing to try at this point. We wandered by the meat counter and, lo and behold, leg of lamb’s on sale for four bucks a pound. That’s about the same as getting boneless skinless chicken around here. I snatched one up!

We picked up the farm box and headed home so I could get it in the oven. I pulled out my Nourishing Traditions cookbook and looked through the lamb recipes. I settled on Stuffed Leg of Lamb (p.344) and started substituting. I hadn’t thought to have her remove the bone for me, so I had to do that myself (not exactly a work of art, but I’ve got lamb leg bone in the freezer for next time I make stock). I’m out of onions, so I used up last week’s leeks, 2 in the stuffing and one in the pan. I couldn’t find the pecans, so I used walnuts. Last week’s spinach is long gone (so good), so I used the fresh turnip greens from this week’s box. Mint came in the box! Perfect! I wanted the oranges in the box for dessert, so used the ones we had picked up at Safeway for in the recipe. There’s no vermouth in the pantry (can you believe that?), so I used some Bare Foot something or other that’s in the fridge from … umm.. how long’s it been there? And, I’m out of beef stock. Or so I thought, turns out there was just over a cup left in the freezer, so I made up the other 2 cups with water and bouillon. I tossed a few potatoes in the oven for the last hour as a side.

All in all, the lamb looked good and cooked thoroughly waiting for Ben to arrive. He had a somewhat last-minute emergency with the server and was about an hour or so late. I started plating the children’s food just before he came home. I dished out the green beans and potatoes and took that to the table. BB looked at the roast and said, “I no like that chicken, I no eat that chicken!” I sliced off a portion and chopped it small with her screeching in the background, put about a teaspoon’s worth on each of the girls’ plates and Ben arrived. Suddenly, the girls just couldn’t get enough of “that chicken” and dinner went really well for awhile. Everyone was really tired, though, so I had to set an end time and send them off to bed.

Lot’s of food posts this week! Here’s another:

I went for making a healthy lunch for TJ today. He gave me input (which shapes for rice, no PB to dip the carrots in), and I went from there.

The brown rice packs into the molds really nicely! Here’s MissA’s rice star from last night:

I came across organic blueberries on sale at the store today. I bought two of the precious tiny containers. They are so full of flavor! MissC wanted to gobble them up, too! After we’d eaten most of the first container, I remembered my mini pie pans and searched out a recipe. This one sounded good and quartered it -there’s only a little over a cup of berries left. I found I’m out of cinnamon as I was mixing - kinda too late.. oh well, we’ll see how nutmeg holds its own.

I was so tired and need to study. I sent a text to Ben that at 6 I would be going on break. He and the children would be on their own. I threw some potatoes in the oven and was about to gather my things when MissB pulled out the mini-pie tins and MissA asked if we could have pot pies for dinner.

Ah, I have pie crust in the fridge (store bought for just such a moment). Veggies abound since the CSA has started up again, and TJ pulled a radish from the garden. And, there’s chicken stock in the freezer (my bad. I meant to cool it off quickly and forgot about it!).

I pulled a few potatoes back out of the oven and chopped up the vegetables - broccoli, celery, squash, radish and potatoes - and tossed them together. I double-bagged the bowl shaped broth and smashed it on the pavement, then put a few big chunks in a pot (~2-3 cups). When it melted, I added flour (maybe 2 Tbsp, could’ve used at least 1/4 cup) and let that boil till it reduced a bit, and added a dash of thyme and basil. The girls helped me place the crusts in the pans and poke them with forks. Then I filled the pie pans with veggies to just under the rim (no higher than the liquid level will be, the filling above the gravy may not cook) and poured the broth over them. The potatoes came out of the oven just before the pies were ready to go in. I think they cooked about 30 min, maybe just under.

I made it like 2 days on the sugar-free thing. No, I’m not substituting chemicals for sugar, though I’m not against minimal natural sweeteners. Then came Valentine’s Day and the man got me not one, not two, but Three pies. I had at least a slice a day (maybe two or three) to help get through them.. Yesterday, our wheat berries arrived and I ground some up and made chocolate chip cookies.

I’ve decide what I need is a plan: write out what I’m going to eat over the next 2 weeks, buy what will work, set aside money for the perishables for the second week, buy them then. The drawback for things like Saving Dinner is that one week comes to my budgeted amount for 2-3 weeks of food. And, that only covers dinners - not to mention breakfast and lunch, and -with children- snacks.

Thinking it over..

I picked up a new book, All New Square Foot Gardening, and it looks along the line of how I want to garden, just simplified. Saturday, Ben did some running around to get the supplies (vermiculite in the 3.5 cu ft bags can be ordered through Summer Winds in the Bay Area).

He built me 6 2×3 boxes. The boxes from last year will be great for carrots and other deep rooting plants.

I asked the man what he wants in the garden. He replied, “Potatoes.” Anything else, “Potatoes.. and beef.” Maybe next time we move.

Monday wasn’t day 1. I had a sip of hot cocoa.

Tuesday wasn’t day 1. I had a burger at In N Out and I’m sure there’s sugar in the bun.

Wednesday is day 1.
Breakfast: Grapenuts with raw milk
Lunch: Quiche (eggs, cheese, green peppers)

Now I’m hungry. Avoiding sugar means that I should focus on vegetables, dairy and meat. I’m thinking that a new routine is in order.

I set T.J. to getting the grapes ready for class tomorrow. He has to take in 3 cups for their Valentine’s Day party. I told the children that any left over they can eat. Then I turned around and there’s the baby coming out of the hallway sucking the toothpaste.
There’s fluoride in the toothpaste. Fluoride is highly poisonous. I’m hoping T.J.’s right and there was less than a 1/4 tube left before she got it. There’s maybe an ounce or so left now and every time she coughs I run out to see if she’s throwing up. Poison control suggested feed her cow’s milk or milk products, so she has a piece of cheese and had her first taste of cow milk.

T.J. was in tears that his sister may be injured by this. We took a quiet moment and prayed and I just held him. He’s such a sweet sensitive boy.

In September, I got a CSA box with wax beans. I knew they’d be so good if we just gobbled them up, but I wanted to test the idea of ‘putting up’ some things for when we don’t have the boxes. They were my first victims. I had ordered a copy of Making Sauerkraut and so I got to work.

I pulled them from the back of the fridge at lunch today. They looked okay, none of the white yeast like in one of the jars of carrots.. I opened up the jar: no foul odor. I pulled out a bean: still crisp (you just blanch them before pickling, so they don’t turn out limp), light fragrance. I bit into it: slightly sour, no tart, tangy, tasty. Good. MissA was in the room. She was given a bite. I told her it’s a little sour at first. She agreed (made a face), “Sour,” and I finished mine and told her, “Sour, but good.” She heartily agreed (probably glad at that point I’d only given her one little bite and it was over with.. She’s my picky eater).

I served them up with dinner. Only MissA didn’t want to eat hers. MissB is my veggie lover and TJ will generally eat anything. MissC didn’t like the yellow ones, but ate up several green beans. And, the hardest critic of all said he’d eat them in small amounts like that.

Now to get him to like sweet potatoes…

Yesterday, I bought a Cinderella pumpkin and used it to hold my stew (Mom’s recipe.. I can’t say more currently.. can’t even write the name..). We had a nice potluck. Afterward, I brought home my pumpkin and began chopping it up. For the stew, I had baked the pumpkin for an hour. Well, this pumpkin is so thick that had hardly cooked it! Out came the steamer pot. Mine is a nice double-steamer that Dad gave me in England. I filled the first layer with pumpkin, filled the second layer with pumpkin, put that in the fridge. Found some containers and filled them with pumpkin and went to bed.

At that point, I hadn’t cut up half the pumpkin.

This morning, I boiled the water in the pot and pulled out the steamers. They went for most of an hour and then I switched the layers so the top could cook better. I mixed my sour dough starter and ran out of flour… and walked to the store.

When I came home, the pumpkin was perfectly cooked. I pulled it off and finished my sourdough starter (it’s been going for about 2 weeks, soon I shall have sourdough!).

I pulled the half cooked pumpkin from the fridge and finished cubing it. Staring at all that pumpkin.. I searched for “pumpkin honey” online. First up, Pumpkin Honey Pie. Sounds good! Searched for a crust. Found several, but not exactly what i was looking for. So, for today, it was about 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup cold butter -cubed, 1/2 tsp salt, ~4Tbsp cold water. Mixed and stuck that in the fridge while I made the pie filling.

Once the pie was in the oven, I surveyed the kitchen. Needful of storage containers, I loaded and ran the dishwasher. Out came the old red check cookbook (mine’s about a 1983) and I flipped through the index. ‘Squash’ was mainly side dishes, so to ‘pumpkin’ I looked.

I whipped together Pumpkin Bars.. Though, they call for Cream Cheese Frosting and I’m out of powdered sugar.. Then it was on to Pumpkin Drop Cookies! Oops, out of raisins, but I can live with that.

Pause for Banana Smoothies.

Ben called. He’s coming home! We’ve mainly seen him as he left for work (or snoozed in the mornings) since last weekend. I think he made it in by 2AM this morning, one of the earlier nights.

Baby’s fed, time to make Macaroni and Cheese. Not Kraft, a real mac ‘n cheese casserole.