Sunday, May 31, 2009

Looking For A Zebra in a Flock of Ducks

So, Tylor has been sick for 15 days. He is nauseous, dizzy (even laying down), no appetite (has lost 6 lbs so far), and food/liquid makes matters worse (doesn't matter what kind). We have been through one, "If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck then it's probably a duck.", visit to the doctor and two other, "Well, it's not (blank, blank or blank).". Tylor has taken blood being drawn to the Medieval Torture level involving two smallish women, two regular sized guys and an Uber-mom hauling, dragging, kicking (I have bruises to prove it!) and screaming bloody murder, and I do mean bloody murder, to get done. We have now moved on from lower intestinal virus (still possible) to hepititus (nope) to liver issues (none) and several other things that weren't imortant enough for me to remember to an ultra-sound this Tuesday of his gallbladder. I told him it was brain surgery next ... made him smile. So, I was wondering if in our wealth of knowledge anyone has any thoughts on Zebras?

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Report from the Bunker

Day 28

No "scurvy knaves" here.

We may not have much produce in the bunker yet...but we have a start. This morning I pulled up some radishes, snipped off some baby spinach leaves, pinched off some chives and then there's the parsley for garnish. Not too bad for someone with a "black thumb".

Only 4 days to go...including today.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

From Trash to Treasure


So, I got a call on Monday from a very thrifty friend of mine that she was wrapping up her garage sale & would I like to pick through a bit before she hauled it off to G-dub. Now, I don't know what this says about me, but whatever, I get a lot of free stuff because I am cheap. She had just been given a hand-me-down day bed from a family with 6 kids of which 4 had used it. It was a little too old-fashioned for her and missing a couple of bolts. Mind you, most of her wardrobe is from the '80s, & she carries it off. Ever the optimist, & knowing that a little black spray paint goes a long way, this is the result. I took the tacky brass off the bed and painted them silver with left over paint. Then roughed up the already roughed up '80's wood and gave it a new black shine. Total cost $10.22 for paint, $0 for bolts (because I am my father's daughter), $0 for the bed.
Niiiice!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Will Work for Pizza


We just got home from 8 or 9 hours of home and garden improvement - over at Stephanie's house. Nathan pressure washed the back deck and helped weed whack. Alex and Danny traded off mowing and weed whacking the back (and front) forty. I primed my little heart out in the back bedroom. The bedroom that has dark real wood horizontal paneling. Which I hate. Which I really hated doing the second coat. Steve installed a shelving system in the pantry. And then had to modify it after I pointed out that none of Stephanie's tall canisters would fit on the shelves. Danny removed the handles from the upper kitchen cupboards and pressure washed the front steps. Alex helped paint and then scrubbed the stove.

I was feeling mildly guilty for eating the Little Caesar's pizza that Cory brought home for lunch. But it didn't spoil my appetite. Yes, the pizza was not from "the bunker" - but we didn't ask to be fed - and I sort of feel we earned a meal.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Garden update



Hopefully the frost we had yesterday wasn't too bad - it doesn't look like anything died today...in the garden. The spinach and kale that I planted from seed are coming up just fine - I need to thin them out a bit.

I thinned my radishes a little today - they are starting to look like radishes...and taste like them too. I am not overly fond of radishes myself - if I eat one I better really be in the mood for it, cause I'll be tasting it the rest of the day. Right now I'm kinda looking forward to that - it's funny what a lack of fresh produce will do to a person.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Savoury Zuccinni Pancakes

Here is a super easy pancake recipe that is good and good for you. No picture now- we ate the evidence too quickly.

1-2 small zucchini (about 1/3 zucchini per pancake) shredded and drained.
2-3 lg eggs (proportions on these two is as you prefer- but zucchini should be the 2-1 fave here)
3 T chopped parsley or something green- I used dried cilantro-it was good-spinach would be good.
A little salt or season salt ( your choice).
A little black or white pepper-depending on who you're cooking for.
Finely chopped green onion ( or any other onion finely chopped).
( I can think of a lot other things I could add but I stopped here-this time)

Heat a good skillet with a little olive oil in it on medium, medium high. Pour batter out in pancake size dollops. Flatten a little and let cook until brown on the cooked side and pretty well cooked through. Flip and cook until brown on that side too.

At this point you can top it with a little parmesan cheese and eat it plain or top it with ranch dressing made with low fat sour cream (we chose this- it was great!)

Makes a great brunch, lunch , or even dinner.

Kitchen Science

We finished off a container of honey a couple of days ago - so I needed more. I have 2 half gallon containers of honey in our food storage - one was newish, the other oldish. The oldish one was nearly completely crystallized. I sort of dreaded spending a lot of time gently heating it so that the crystals would dissolve.

Then I had an idea. I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of it - but it still seemed pretty genius to me...put it in a crockpot. I put 3 jar rings in the bottom, loosened the lid on the honey, placed the honey container on top of the rings, then just filled it up with hot water and turned the dang thing to low. Worked like a charm. It took about 4 hours - give or take. I didn't have to constantly watch it - about once an hour I took it out and shook it up a little to see how it was doing.
Wahoo. Clear honey!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Hunker in the Bunker report


Day 16


We're past the half-way mark now. Supplies are holding out nicely - besides fresh milk and produce we're surviving quite well. I don't miss the milk (the boys might) - I do miss the produce (the boys might not).

Meal planning for a month at a time was a little challenging at planning time, but it has saved me a lot more time and questions like "what's for dinner" are no longer a challenge. Have we stuck completely to the menu? No. But we have used it for nearly all of out dinners so far.

There have been some side benefits. We have used less gas this month - no shopping trips for food. Nathan told me he still has the same $3 in his wallet that he had at the beginning of the month. Danny has fallen in love with my homemade bread.

I am looking forward to June 1st. Maybe I'll start working on my grocery list next week.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Make A Mix

I've been making bread at least every other day. At least. In a effort to make it less of an effort, I decided to put together all the dry ingredients for our favorite bread. Now, when I have to make bread, I just pour the liquid ingredients in the bread machine, add the dry mix and top with yeast. After 2 1/2 hours in the bread machine the dough is ready to rise in pans for an hour, then bake at 350' for 30 minutes. Yes, 4 hours from start to finish, but the actual time I have to put in is about 10 minutes. Not too bad.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

ONE MORE FABULOUS BREAD RECIPE TO TRY



Since we've all been somewhat focused on bread lately, I offer this wonderful easy & very quick homemade bread recipe. START TO FINISH IN 1 HOUR! Really! This makes a very light & tasty bread whether you make it with white 'bread flour' or 100% whole wheat or 1/2 & 1/2. It rises fully and has a very tender texture. My dear friend Beth makes it and I spent time with her watching the method. EASY/SHMEZY! I use my Bosch (as does she), but it's not required. Everything goes into the bowl all at once! So here's the recipe & I'd love to hear how you all like it.
10 1/2 cups white BREAD FLOUR (NOT all-purpose)
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
3 rounded tablespoons SAF-INSTANT YEAST (must be saf instant)
2 eggs OR 3 Tablespoons liquid lecithin *
4 cups HOT tap water

Mix dry ingredients. Add eggs or lecithin and water. Mix for 1 minute & check consistency. If dough is too dry, add more water. Dough should be very sticky. Mix for 5 minutes. (do NOT add flour to the dough after it has finished mixing.) Spray counter & pans with Pam vegetable spray. Shape loaves & cover with dish towel. Let raise 25 minutes. Bake at 350' for 25 minutes. This recipe makes four loaves of bread.

*Squeeze or pour approximately 3 tablespoons of lecithin directly into the bowl...3 puddles approximately a 'quarter' size....Do not measure.

For whole wheat bread, use the same recipe but add one cup of applesauce as part of the hot tap water & add 1 additional tablespoon of lecithin (but not eggs). Mix for 10 minutes.

Lecithin is available at health food stores and Bosch/food store & bread making equipment stores. Check google for your local source.

Dad has fallen in love with this bread & just raves about it all the time.....and how easy can it be?

You cannot taste the applesauce in the whole wheat, but it does give it a very moist, tender texture.
Good luck!

ONE MORE THING! WE WISH YOU MOMS A VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY & KNOW YOU ARE LOVED MORE THAN YOU CAN KNOW. HAVE A TERRIFIC DAY!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Hunker in the Bunker report

It's been one week.

One week in the bunker. Prudence dictates that we take stock of our supplies.

Hmmm... we still have plenty of nearly everything. Nearly. We're a little lower on butter than I'd like to be - but as long as we're careful we should do just fine. I definitely think twice about using recipes that call for a lot of butter.

There are some things that I miss. They all fall under the heading of fresh produce. Bananas. Apples. Leafy greens. Tomatoes.

I have to be more aware of certain foods getting low - if I'm low on bread, I need to make more - sooner rather than later. I also need to keep an eye on how much milk is in the jug.

3 more weeks to go.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Soft and Delicious 2-hour Wheat Bread

Here is the bread recipe I promised Deb. I have made it many, many times and it is consistently good and soft ( not even I could mess it up). It makes about 4 loaves and freezes well. I used to make it entirely by hand, but a heavy duty mixer with a bread hook would probably speed things up a bit.

5 C warm water
2 T yeast
1/3 C honey
1/3 C potato flakes ( go food storage!)
1/3 C oil
2 eggs
1 T salt
4 C whole wheat flour
6-7 C Bread or All purpose Flour

Dissolve yeast per pkg instructions. Make a sponge using all ingredients ( preferably in order down to and including whole wheat flour and about 2 C other flour. Mix well. Let rest about 10 minutes. Add remaining flour gradually as needed to make a soft dough. Knead on floured surface. At this point the recipe says to cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double. I would usually put it in a large preheated* ceramic bowl, pour a little olive ( or other) oil in and turn 'til all is moistened with oil and let rise there, loosely covering with plastic wrap or tea towel. It just raises a little quicker that way. Punch down and then shape into 4 loaves: place in 4 greased bread pans. cover and let rise again until double.

Bake at 350' for 30-40 minutes. Put hot bread on a towel and thoroughly cover with towels for a nice soft crust. Be sure to have it completely cooled before freezing.

*fill the ceramic bowl with very hot water after making the sponge. Drain and dry before putting bread dough in to rise.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Beef Stew-ish

I tried a new crockpot recipe the other day. It was sorta like Beef Stragonoff using stew meat. I love pre-cubed stew meat and it's pretty cheap. So here it is:

--2 lbs stew meat
--2 T butter
--1/4 cup soy milk
--1 T gluten free worcestershire sauce
--1 T black pepper
--2 T dried minced onion
--1/4 cup beef broth
--1/2 t kosher salt
--1 t herbs de provence
--1/2 block of cream cheese (not pictured)

Cook on low for 10 hours.

I changed it a bunch and would have added one more ingredient. Keep the butter and the worchestershire sauce, pepper, onion, add au jus (instead of beef broth because that's what I had), salt, some oregano, and I didn't add but would have added one can of Cream of Chicken soup to thicken this up a bit. Add sour cream to it at the end and pour on cooked noodles. Made it in the morning and ate it in the evening. Pretty good and I really like slow cooking stew meat. Everyone liked it but the sauce was thin.

Did I mention that it threw together in 5 minutes?

Dutch Bread II

I gave Sherri's Dutch Crunch Bread recipe a whirl. I have to admit to some skepticism. There was nothing magic in the ingredients....so......
Before putting in the oven- is this what it's supposed to look like?

After baking for 30 minutes.

I was still skeptical. Sure, it looked good, but that's not why we make bread. It's got to taste good and have great texture.

Verdict:
Surprisingly good. I will definitely try this again. I'm not totally in love with the crunchy topping - so I might try it without - but the rest reminded me of kaiser rolls (which I love). The crunchy topping was a little too crunchy for me - but that may have been because my home ground rice flour was coarser than store bought.

I will make these into rolls next time instead of loaves. I might try adding crushed garlic, rosemary, thyme and basil (the seasonings in my Garlic Herb Bread).

Thank you Sherri!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Hunker in the Bunker report


(shhh. keep your voice down).

Day 4 in the bunker.
Supplies are holding out well. We shared a meal made with some of our storage yesterday with a young mother and her children (Cory is in Washington D.C. - secret mission). Tonight we have guests again. How long will our food hold out?

Actually, we're doing fine so far. That's not too surprising - I'll be more interested in seeing how we are doing after a couple of weeks of no shopping.

I can already see that we are going through jam at a much higher rate than previously. That's due to the increased frequency of having warm, homemade bread coming out of the oven. Butter and honey are likewise going a little faster. I'm a little concerned about the butter. When it's gone, it's gone.

A friend of mine at church told me that she had ordered a can of dehydrated butter. It sounds weird, but hey...if it's any good I'd be willing to give it a go. Unfortunately she hasn't opened it to try it out. Has anyone else tried it? I'd like to know if it's any good...or just a good "idea" (better in thought than in actual practice).

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Pita Bread Machine Recipe

When Mom gave me her fresh ground wheat flour, I used it on a recipe for pita bread. When you partner with the bread machine, making pita bread isn't much harder than making rolls. I found that my pockets puffed more reliably if I only stretched them out to six inch rounds. Any thin "windows" in the dough will prevent it rising.
If you are using the pockets promptly (i.e.-your gyros are already hot and tzatziki mixed) you can probably skip the wet towel, but if they sit out they will become brittle and not slice neatly.
This Pita Bread Machine Recipe is from associatedcontent.com. The white pita bread recipe is listed on the first page, the whole wheat is on the second page.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Gardening Wannabes

We (I'm using the "royal we") put "dirt" in our first planter today. First, Steve leveled the dirt that was already in it. Then he had Danny spread a layer of newspapers to help keep down weeds.
Next, it was time to make the planting mix. Peat moss, compost(s), vermiculite and perlite were mixed together in a secret combination. Well, I guess it's not too secret - Steve would be happy to share it...

To mix all that stuff, Steve dumped it on a large tarp and then he and the boys turned it. After turning it and mixing, it was then time to dump it in the planting bed.

Now we just have to figure out what all to plant...I feel some impulse shopping coming on. Any suggestions?

Calling All Gardners (or wannabes)

I do not have a green thumb, but I'd like to give it a go this year. This is one area on the side of the house that gets morning sun, what should I attempt to plant here? The kids have already started harvesting the weeds as you can see.
Michael is on board with tearing out some rosebushes and putting in some railroad ties to square off an area for a garden. So, do we make it one railroad height or two? It's right next to the walkway, will that be awkward? How deep does the dirt need to be? This will have full afternoon sun.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

And so it begins....

Day 1

In the bunker. Our supplies are cut off. We now have to make do with what we have. I can already tell I'm going to miss fresh produce. Hopefully that will give me more incentive to work on the garden - really try and get stuff to grow.

Tonight's menu: Indonesian pork roast, rice, Chinese vegetables.