Adventures in Simple Meals: Scratch Dumplings

1 cup flour

1.5 tea baking powder

.5 tea salt

2 tbsp shortening (I use palm shortening) or butter

1/3 cup milk

1 egg, beaten

Mix together in a bowl flour, baking powder and salt.  Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly/lumpy.  Pour in milk and egg, mix only until the flour is dampened.  Dough should be lumpy.  Drop by spoonfuls on top of boiling meat or soup (I've found a good strong simmer is good).  Cover with lid and steam 12 minutes without removing the cover.  Makes 6 dumplings.

Adventures in Making Yogurt - Version 1

This recipe is for 2 quarts drinkable yogurt or 1 quart thick yogurt + 1 quart whey.

What I used:

• 1 - medium sized cooler
• 5 - 1/2 gallon mason jars
• 1/2 gallon fresh milk
• 1/2 cup store bought plain organic yogurt (I used "Nancy's Organic Whole Milk Yogurt")
• Simple Thermometer
• Kitchen Thermometer (such as the kind you use for roasts)
• Hot tap water

Step One: Fill all 5 mason jars with hottest tap water possible,seal and place 4  of them in cooler with simple thermometer to regulate temperature.  Leave 5th one on the counter to warm remain warm.  While cooler is warming up inside....

Step Two: SLOWLY warm 1/2 gallon of milk on stove top until it reaches about 105 degrees, being careful not to go above 110 degrees.  *going over 110 compromises natural enzymes found in fresh milk - read more about all of that fun stuff HERE: http://nourishedkitchen.com/raw-milk-yogurt/

Step Three: Empty jar that was warming, pour most of warmed milk in pre-warmed jar, and using the last bit of milk to thin 1/2 cup store bought yogurt and pour that in with warmed milk.  Put on a tight lid and give it a shake.

Step Four: Check cooler temp (should have warmed up in there to about 110 degrees), if it's too hot, remove a jar of water and leave the lid open for about 30 seconds.  Close it up again, check the temp again in 5 minutes.  You want it to be about 110 degrees (give or take a few).  Add warmed jar of milk and yogurt mixture, close it up and DON'T OPEN IT AGAIN for at least 8 hours.

*if your cooler is not hot enough, maybe boil some water to fill one of the jars, add it to cooler, close and check temperature after 5 minutes.

Step Five: 8 hours later, open yogurt, give it a stir :) It should be about the thickness of a drinkable yogurt (or store bought kefir) - I haven't cultured it longer yet, but that might thicken it a bit more (above link recommends 8-12 hours).

FOR A THICKER YOGURT:

Place colander over a bowl, line it with a very thin kitchen towel or cheesecloth (I use what's called "flour sack towels"). 

Pour your yogurt into colander and let it strain in the fridge for a a few hours or overnight (I cover the top with plastic wrap).  The longer you let it drain, the thicker a yogurt you will get.  If you let it drip long enough you will get cream cheese :D which is tasty.  Overnight will yeild a nice thick yogurt like pictured above.  The liquid (whey) that drips out is highly useful in making other things - just google it.  

*straining the yogurt in a colander makes it easy to scoop out once it's done :)

** straining your yogurt will reduce the quantity - when I strained my yogurt overnight, I was left with 1 quart yogurt and 1 quart liquid whey.

Rice for breakfast!

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked brown rice

4 cups water

1/4 whey (or yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, lemon juice or vinegar)

1/4 cup butter

1-2 teaspoons sea salt or 1 teaspoon regular salt

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 cup brown sugar

The night before (or earlier) mix together 2 cups uncooked brown rice, 4 cups of water and 1/4 cup whey (or one of the other options) and leave in a warm place until morning.  Bring this mixtures to a boil on the stovetop - add 1/4 cup butter & salt - allow it to simmer covered on lowest possible heat for 45 minutes (you can skip this step by using leftover rice or soak your rice the previous morning and cooking it before going to bed).  Just before rice is done, mix together 3 eggs and 1 cup milk and beat the eggs.  Add to rice mixture and turn temperature on medium to medium low; stir well.  Then add the rest of the ingredients and let it cook, stirring regularly, for about 5 minutes more (to let eggs cook).  Serve as is or add nuts & fruit :).  In our house this is enough to feed 2 medium adults, 2 medium kids, 3 small kids and 1 baby - just barely lol.

Basic Vegetable Soup

I make this about once a weekish - it's healthy, filling and frugal! :)


Basic Vegetable Soup!

2 large cans petite diced tomatoes, garlic & olive oil seasoned

1 large onion -- chopped

4 cloves garlic -- peeled & whole

2-4 large carrots -- chopped

2 small celery stalks -- chopped

1 medium turnip, peeled & chopped

2 cups green beans -- cut in 1" pieces

6 cups broth (chicken, beef, or vegetable)

1/4 head cabbage -- chopped

4 small  potatoes, scrubbed & chopped

1 teaspoon thyme

2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)

1 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)

Throw it all in a pot and let it simmer at least an hour or more :)

This is the basic version - here are some variations we like a lot...

Replace cabbage with kale (several cups worth of chopped & rinsed - or just torn into pieces)

Add in 2-4 cans of beans (great northern, kidney & black beans all work well)

Ground beef is really good in this, as well as breakfast sauasge & italian sauasage.

Give it an "autumn flair" by doing sweet potatoes & squash instead of potatoes & a good dash of cinnamon

There are SOOO many things you can do with this basic recipe.  Add whatever you have on hand, if you're missing one veggie, use more of something else.  It ends up being delicious no matter what you do :)  A "short cut' you can do is used frozen green beans & already peeled baby carrots or frozen shopped carrots, really any frozen vegetables :).

Adapted from Leanne Ely's "basic veggie soup" - here are some variation ideas from her original recipe.

Now remember, don't do these to the whole pot of soup! Just the little bit you pull out to fix yourself for lunch, etc. so that you can do all the Quick Fixes.

Quick Fix #1: Tex Mex Veggie Soup. Add some (eyeball it--how much do you want?) canned black beans (drained and rinsed), a little bit of cumin and chopped cilantro. Top with some tortilla chips and cheese, or serve with a quesadilla.

Quick Fix #2: Tuscan Veggie Soup. Add some (eyeball it again) canned cannellini (white kidney beans) or white beans (drained and rinse), a little bit of Italian seasoning and some chopped kale. Cook till heated through and the kale is tender.

Quick Fix #3: Minestrone Veggie Soup. Add some cooked pasta, a little dried basil and top with a fresh grating of Parmesan cheese.

Quick Fix #4: Autumn Veggie Soup. Add some diced acorn squash or butternut squash, a handful of cooked brown rice, a sprinkling of nutmeg and some chopped parsley