Green Options

I recently stumbled upon a great recipe for Spaghetti Squash Pancakes from Mollie Katzen’s book, The Vegetable Dishes I Can’t Live Without. It’s a winner. Although the original recipe calls for spaghetti squash (quite delicious) and gives the option of using all-purpose flour or rice flour, the recipe can accommodate any kind of squash and a variety of gluten-free flours. The topping possibilities are also endless, giving you the option to play with flavor combinations. Happy eating!

Recipe for Gluten-free Squash Pancakes (adapted from Mollie Katzen’s The Vegetable Dishes I Can’t Live Without):

Do you know what you’re having for dinner today — or “supper” as we say here in Wisconsin? Don’t panic if you don’t know.  You’re not alone.  Up to one third of Americans don’t know what they will be eating for supper on any given day, an underlying cause of relying on prepared food fast high in convenience and packaging and low in nutrients and local food connections.

However we slice it, our busy, chaotic, modern lifestyles generally leave us low on time and quality food options.  I seem to live on either extreme:  either I’m working and writing from my farm, Inn Serendipity, with a freezer full of preserved garden goodies to eat, or I’m in town all day running through a laundry list of errands or taking a road trip into Chicago, undoubtedly skipping a meal and ending up famished.  And crabby.

A little planning goes along way in keeping well fueled on the road.  Here’s three tips for easy green meals to go, and a recipe for Stuffed Roti (pronounced “row-tee”) with Chickpea Filling, a hearty Caribbean-inspired sandwich stuffed with curried veggies, potatoes and chickpeas that can be readily noshed with one hand just about anywhere:

1.  Pack for Portability

The best to-go meals can be eaten anywhere, no silverware needed or overflowing special sauces needed.  With the dough wrapped around the roti filling, this sandwich serves as the industrial sandwich wrap.  These rotis taste good hot or cold – when possible I do like to microwave them piping hot and wrap in foil to keep them warm “to go.”

Lesson number one about trading urban living for rural Green Acres:  You give up that perpetual buffet of authentic ethnic food options.  While just about half the U.S. population lives in rural areas, most restaurant options reflect a bland line of fast food restaurants and heat-and-serve diners.

But when we moved to our Wisconsin farm over a decade ago from Chicago and opened our B&B, Inn Serendipity, this lack of international booty didn’t qualify as a deterring fork in our road toward sustainable living in the country.  We life gives you a lack of pad Thai, curry or sushi, you simply learn to make your own.

Here’s the good part:  many ethnic specialties root in relatively simple recipes and techniques.  Sometimes centuries old, these culinary traditions lasted both due to three factors:  good taste, use of available, local ingredients and ease of preparation.  A quick Internet search harvests multiple recipe options and information for just about whatever you want to cook up, transforming even our country kitchen on County Road P into an international dining mecca.

Case in point:  Naan, that Indian flatbread staple.  We needed to add a dash of flavor to the last of our rutabagas in the root cellar, so my husband John started sautéing them into an Indian-style curry.  Bread made a natural accompaniment, with no ethnic markets or Joe, the Trader to be found within an hour’s drive. 

After the rocky economy and related bumps along the way in 2009, everyone is looking for a smoother New Year.  Indulge your guests this evening with a toast with Homemade Irish Cream, a creamy indulgence that makes any worries melt away.  At least, shall we say, for the moment.

I confess, for a celebratory toast I’m always partial to something sweet.  But as I started reading labels of my favorite commercial liquors I realized how much of that sweetness came from high fructose corn syrup and other additives.  With that motivation, I started experimenting with various homespun versions on our B&B guests at Inn Serendipity (didn’t need to twist any arms there), and this Irish Cream (kind of like a Baileys) quickly became the house favorite.

By controlling the ingredients that go in the drink, you can opt for better quality items like organic cream (I use Organic Valley), fair trade cocoa (our B&B orders cocoa from Equal Exchange by the case), and sugar (we buy bulk from Wholesome Sweeteners).  Skimp a little on the whiskey if you need to.  A cheap variety would work just as well as it will be masked by the other flavors.

Here’s the recipe (from our Inn Serendipity B&B cookbook, Edible Earth), with a toast to a smooth 2010!

[Recycled Ornament Tree based on a tutorial from Indie Fixx]

The gifts are all gifted, and maybe the ambitious among you have even recycled your Christmas tree already. Here’s your chance to show off all of your holiday hard work! We’d love to see your handmade gifts and decor. Feel free to share away in the comments!

Pictured above are what several of my pals got this year: jars of curried lentil soup mix. Here’s how you make it:

Life flies past us so quickly, and sometimes I’m certain the sound of the wind is actually the sound of life flying by.  That’s the way it’s felt lately; a whirling blur, a constant hum, non-stop motion.  Since my last post in August, I’ve gone on a 14-state road trip, moved from the East Coast back to my beautiful California, and re-entered the corporate world after a year-long hiatus.  My husband quit his job to launch a graphic design business, we found a goat living on our new property, summer faded away into the brilliance of autumn, and I discovered almond flour.

Yes, that’s it.  I discovered almond flour. Extraordinary, delicious, versatile almond flour.

It’s not cheap — I paid about $35 for 5 pounds from my local co-op — but I’ve never enjoyed gluten-free baked goods more.  A single cup of almond flour provides the following nutrients:

• 140% of the RDA for vitamin E
• 80% of the RDA for magnesium
• 60% of the RDA for phosphorus
• 48% of the RDA for protein
• 32% of the RDA of calcium
• 16% of the RDA for folic acid

There’s more.  Almond flour also makes the best banana-nut bread/muffins ever.

As the colder November winds start to blow here on our Wisconsin farm and B&B, Inn Serendipity, I feel a breeze of bittersweet. As I look at the pumpkins, potatoes and other root crops stacked up for the winter, I crave something else:  One last taste of crunchy, flavorful garden fresh.

That’s when these Fall Finale Muffins show up on our breakfast table.  Grab the last of the apples and pair them with shredded carrots for a hearty, healthy muffin packed with a nutritional boost.  Because of the high amounts of fresh carrots and apples, along with dried cranberries and nuts, these muffins take on more of a crunchy produce feel than a typical bread-like muffin.  Fall bounty you can hold in your hand.

Make an extra batch as these freeze surprisingly well.  Here’s the recipe:

The weather is getting colder, and we have a handmade holiday on our minds! Handmade gifts have heart, are better for the environment, and, if you opt to buy, it supports independent artists!

If you want to have a totally handmade holiday, now is the time to get started. Over the next couple of months, we’ll be posting about recycled gifts and giftwrap you can make yourself and great handmade finds for sale!

When my pal Jes from Cupcake Punk posted about making her own apple butter, I just new this was the perfect holiday food gift! We’re all about mason jars full of tasty treats around the holidays, and you know we’re into canning around here, so this seemed just perfect! Not only is apple butter a crowd pleaser, but since apples are in season right now, you can probably find local ones pretty easily!

Today is National Sandwich Day, supposedly because November 3rd marks the birthday of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. Legend has it that Montagu ordered his servant to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread so Montagu could eat one-handed while gambling.

While I’ve yet to be convinced that National Sandwich Day wasn’t created to sell more sliced bread, the holiday is still a good excuse to make [...]

I confess: rutabagas overwhelm me. Turnips come in a close second. As these hefty big root crops pile up on the counter here at Inn Serendipity, I realize I need an easy cooking plan.

Fall crops – from butternuts to beets – require taking out the big sharp knives, the cutting boards, and usually can’t go from garden to plate in ten minutes or less. (Case in point: the yummy, yet rather complex, Beet Burger recipe I wrote about last week). But there’s a reason for that: these types of fall vegetables are meant to store and be savored through the winter months, particularly here in through our Wisconsin winters. Tougher skins and harder insides hold up to seasonal and local eating booty through our lean Midwest growing months, providing the opportunity to still eat fresh year round.

Consider this Roasted Root Vegetable recipe my point of entry into the winter cooking season. Cooked in olive oil with some simple seasonings, this recipe showcases the distinct, hearty flavors of root vegetables. Potato recipes get temporarily bumped off the breakfast plate at Inn Serendipity this time of year as this flavorful, unusual recipe prompts folks to rethink their assumptions about rutabagas and other roots.

Roasted Root Vegetables (Vegan)

Apples are not only delicious and an easy snack, but also very healthy in numerous ways. What are the main benefits of eating apples? What are some great apple recipes?

Apples are a great source of dietary fiber. As a result, they are believed to reduce the risk of some cancers, they improve the functioning of the intestines, eliminate cholesterol from the digestive tract, cleanse the lungs and colon, and help to prevent and potentially cure appendicitis.

Apples are linked to a reduced risk of prostate cancer, stroke, asthma and Type 2 diabetes. Moreover, as Healing with Whole Foods reports, due to all the pectin apples contain, they can help to reduce blood cholesterol and remove toxic metals from the body such as lead and mercury. In addition, apples are also found to play a very beneficial role in cleansing the liver.

I love to eat apples with peanut butter. It’s one of my favorite breakfast combinations. But here are a couple of interesting apple recipes that go beyond my apple and peanut butter dish. Enjoy a rice casserole with apples or apple noodle pasta for lunch or dinner sometime!