Month: January 2014 (Page 1 of 2)

We got a reprieve for a few days from the bitter cold, but could we just have nice weather? Of course not. We got about 5 inches of snow dumped on us today. It actually snowed from before we got up until about 2:00, when the sun came out and it was beautiful, if a bit snowy. The roads were horrible until they got around and plowed, because no plowing had been going on all day since the snow was coming down so fast, there would be no point.  I managed not to get stuck as I drove around to lessons and choir and the such. But it was a little hairy.

Tomorrow we head down to Waukesha for the regular 3 month visit. The last time down was an extra visit to help my mom with some stuff. But now the toenails and hair need cutting and we have a few free days, so we are off. Hopefully the weather will be fine. (By the way, did you know that President Obama was in Waukesha today?)

I have a student who takes off and on along with home schooling. He is actually doing very well with that system. Anyway, they called the other day and he started up again today. So I am up to 19 students. I can’t wait to get one more, so I will actually be in the 20’s. I haven’t had that many students for quite a while!

But another student had to cancel because her dad couldn’t get the car started, so she couldn’t get here. I guess I’ll have to excuse her. There are 5 more scheduled for today, so we’ll see how many show up. I had one not call and not show up yesterday when school was cancelled, even though I’d sent a note home after that happened last time. Grrrrr…

I just walked on the stairstepper rather than going out for my afternoon walk. I really need the sunshine, but I can’t bring myself to go out in this cold. It just isn’t comfortable.

Here are some pix I took yesterday of the frost in the window.

School closed again today because of cold wind chills. It isn’t as windy right now as it was yesterday, but it is 17 below, and the wind could increase. I don’t plan to go out at all to walk today – I have class at the Center at 9:00, so I’ll head over for that. I do need to get my workout in!

I was really bummed yesterday, because it was blizzard conditions with the new 5 inches of snow and the high winds, plus I knew the cold was coming back. So, how did I fix it? I made chocolate chip cookies and we ate half of them. Needless to say, my weight is not down this week. But I did hit my lowest on Saturday, with a 7# loss from Jan. 1. Must get back on track, despite the AWFUL WEATHER.

I use the Mixmaster to make this.

Put 2 cups unbleached white flour in the mixing bowl and add 2 pkgs (or 4 1/2 tsp.) dry yeast. Stir it up.

Measure 2 cups very hot tap water. Add to it 1 tablespoon salt and about 3 tablespoons honey. Mix it up and pour it in the mixing bowl with the flour. Add 1/4 cup canola oil. Beat on high for 3 minutes.

While it is beating, dump in 1/2 cup flax seeds, 1/2 cup steel cut oats (oat groats),  1 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal, and 2 tablespoons wheat gluten. (The gluten helps all of this oatmeal raise).

On low, mix in as much of the remaining ingredients as you can – 1 to 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 – 2 cups unbleached white flour (I add the whole wheat first). Switch to the bread hook and see if it will knead. If it doesn’t (or when it doesn’t), dump it all out on the floured countertop and knead it. The total kneading time – dough hook and by hand – needs to be around 7 minutes. The time is not terribly crucial. You want it to be no longer sticky and no longer absorbing any more flour from the countertop, but not so dry that it doesn’t hold together. It should end up a nice, smooth, cohesive blob.

Put it in a greased bowl and cover it to raise. This is how I raise mine: I put the blob in a greased tupperware bowl with a cover, flip the blob over so the greasy bottom is now on top, put on the lid and squeeze out the extra air, then put the bowl in the oven, which is not turned on (of course!), but has the light turned on, as well as 3 or 4 coffee cups of boiling water set around the edges to warm it up a bit.  Let it raise until about double – about an hour to an hour and a half.

Divide the dough in two and shape each into a loaf and put in a standard sized greased loaf pan. Cover them with saran wrap and put back in the warm oven to raise again. (This takes about 45 minutes to an hour.) When it has raised so it is humped up over the top of the loaf pans, take them out of the oven, cover them with a towel, and preheat the oven to 375. Bake the loaves 35 minutes. Turn them out on a cooling rack and brush the tops with butter.

So good and very healthy. You can, however, omit any of the healthy things (flax seed, oat groats, gluten) if you don’t have them. You will just have to adjust by adding a bit more of the white flour at the end. You can even make it with just unbleached white flour, if you wish. And you could use 3 T sugar if you don’t have any honey.  The absolute minimum ingredients you need are the regular flour, yeast, warm water, salt, some kind of sweetener and some kind of oil. It will taste great however you make it!

Does anyone else think January is a very long month, in terms of the budget? We still have a whole week left until February, and already I’ve spent all of my grocery money, and almost all of the gas money and eating out money. There is a little left in miscellaneous, but there is a whole week left. URGH!

But we can eat bread. I made some more this morning and thought I’d post a picture. The little bumps are steel cut oats, that give it a little extra chew. It is honey/oat bread (my own special recipe!). I make it at least once a week.

Amy posted a few days ago about the challenge of buying organic. I just happened to get something in the mail today in an advertisement that listed the foods you should always buy organic because they have a high pesticide load, even after washing or peeling. They are:

apples

celery

cherry tomatoes

cucumbers

grapes

hot peppers

nectarines (imported)

peaches

potatoes

spinach

strawberries

sweet bell peppers

kale/collard greens

summer squash

That is a lot of things, but there is good news. Here are the things that you don’t need to bother to buy organic:

asparagus

avocado

cabbage

cantaloupe

corn

eggplant

grapefruit

kiwi

mangoes

mushrooms

onions

papayas

 pinapples

sweet peas (frozen)

sweet potatoes

Wouldn’t you know it – I eat more of the things on the top list, and I don’t think I buy any of them organic, except maybe spinach. I suppose if I even started buying one or two items organic, that would help somewhat. Other than that, I’ll have to count on my liver to remove the toxins!

I know – there is no alliteration there. It was Dad’s idea.

Anyway, I tried a good recipe I thought I’d share. I’m not really sure how kid-friendly it is, but kids should learn to eat beans when they are young, before they decide there is something wrong with them and refuse to eat them. Anyway, here it is:

Zesty Bean Posole (with changes I made in parentheses)

2 cans red beans (I used kidney beans)

2 cans hominy (I used whole kernel corn)

3 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (I used reconstituted powdered chicken broth)

16 oz. jar thick and chunky salsa  – your choice of hotness (I used mild and forgot to get thick and chunky, but then it had smaller onion pieces, which is good)

2 tsp. dried oregano, crushed (I used oregano powder)

1/2 cup whipping cream or half and half (I used low fat sour cream, because I had it)

2 T. flour

In a 4 quart slow cooker, combine hominy, beans, broth, salsa and oregano. Cover and cook on low 7 – 8 hours or on high for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. With 30 minutes of cooking left before you eat, turn it to high heat, if necessary. In a small bowl sir together cream and flour until smooth and stir this into the mixture in the cooker. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes until mixture is thickened.

We served ours with a little grated cheddar cheese on top.

It serves 6 and has 377 calories, 11 grams of fiber and 10 grams of protein per serving.  It must be about a two cup serving – it makes a lot!

It is still warm. Let the snow fall. Just don’t let the temps fall!

I shoveled about and inch and a half, then went out later for another half inch and again later for another. I’m going out in just a minute to get what has fallen in the past hour. I figure it is better to just keep up with it and it only takes about 10 minutes to do all my walks and keep a single path clear around this half of the block. It really is a pretty day. Probably not for driving, but I don’t have to go far.

Here is a website I just heard about that looks really fun. You can sign up for free (there are more expensive levels, though) and they tell you what to plant and when to plant it either indoors or outdoors in your area. You can do containers or a regular garden. Anyway, if you were thinking of gardening this coming year, check this out!

http://www.sproutrobot.com/

To get you in the mood, here are some pictures of growing things.  (Just so you aren’t confused, though, the site is for growing vegetables, not flowers!)

It is 20 degrees. And that is above zero, not below. We are almost 50 degrees warmer. Does that make a difference. I’d say!  🙂