Pumpkin and Cranberries...

...are among so many things I am thankful for.  Family.  Friends.  My daughter's neologisms, like "who-body likes cheese?"  The smell of pine outside, of Betty Crocker's slow-cooker butternut soup with Neufchatel and thyme, my cat cuddling with me when he isn't wet.

Here's a recipe for a gluten-free stuffing alternative.  I also tried out my spring muffin recipe with cranberries instead of rhubarb and it was tart, yet flavorful.  Perhaps some orange zest...  I also used Stoneyfield Farm French vanilla yogurt.  Best of all, they're low in calories and quick to make, considering the bustle that for many has already begun.

Gluten-Free/Reduced Sodium/Vegan Option

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Pumpkin Polenta

Taste of Italy

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Prep: 10 minutes  Cook: 15 minutes  Makes 12 half-cup servings

1 tbs. olive oil

1 medium onion, diced 

1 tbs. Balsamic vinegar (use cider vinegar for sulfite 

   allergies) 

2 tbs. finely cut fresh sage (or 1 tbs. dried), divided

2 cups baked pumpkin (or one 15 oz. can, organic preferred)

1 cup reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth

32 oz. box of pre-cooked polenta, cut into 1/2” cubes 

     (about 5 cups)

Create layers of flavor in this quick side dish.  Heat oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan.  Add diced onions and cook five minutes, stirring frequently.  Add balsamic vinegar, stirring well, and cook three minutes.  Stir in 1 tbs. of sage and cook another two minutes.  Add remaining sage, pumpkin, polenta, and broth, mixing well.  Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until moisture is absorbed and onions are soft – about five minutes.  Serve as a side dish or use as stuffing.  This dish reheats well!  109 calories per half-cup serving.

Vegetarian

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Rhubarb Goldberg Machine 

Taste of Earth

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1/4 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1 cup strawberry yogurt*

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cup unbleached flour

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup rhubarb stalks, sliced 1/4” thick*

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)

This muffin has it all, but bakes light and refreshing.  Melt butter.  Whisk in eggs, then yogurt and buttermilk.  Sift dry ingredients.  Mix in rhubarb, oatmeal, and nuts.  Stir wet ingredients into dry until just moistened.  Fill 12 greased muffin tins.  Bake at 400ºF 20-25 minutes.

* Substitute plain or other yogurt flavors depending on fruit selected.  Try adding a teaspoon of vanilla or orange extract with blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, or strawberries, peeled apple or pear with cinnamon or ground ginger, or cherry with chocolate chips.

Meeting to find our next movers and shakers, we shared home-made soup, local bread, cider, and desserts.  Does the Food Pantry need some more peanut butter and boxes of stuffing?  Sure.  But hand-made treats are welcome too.   How will you feed the 14.5% of Americans that are food insecure?

Gluten-Free/Vegetarian/Vegan Option

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Borscht

Taste of the Ukraine

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Prep: 10 minutes  Cook:  25 minutes  Serves: 6 

1 onion, sliced thin

2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage

4 tbs. olive oil

2 cups peeled parsnips, sliced 1/4”

1 cup peeled Russett potato, sliced 1/4”

1 cup peeled beets, sliced thin

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth (gluten-free, if desired)

2 tbs. dark honey

2 tbs. cider vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbs. minced fresh mint or 1 tsp. dried

When CSAs give you roots, make something red.  Heat oil in Dutch oven or skillet and sauté onions and cabbage over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes.  Combine root vegetables and broth and bring to boil.  Add onions and cabbage and reduce to simmer, 20 minutes or until vegetables are soft.  Stir in honey, vinegar, salt, and mint.  Garnish individual servings with sour cream, if desired.

Being Honest, Penn State, and Bounty Hunters

I’ll be honest: Without cable, an I-Pad or I-Pod, second car, the latest toys, etc., buying most things second hand, growing and preserving our own food, working full-time as a teacher and picking up odd jobs, I still don’t make enough to live on.  Without my husband’s disability check, we’d lose the house.  But I believe in my work and we manage.  Someone on Facebook posted, “Why is it easier to believe 150,000,000 million people are lazy rather than 400 people are greedy?”  As the saying goes, evil triumphs when good people do nothing.  Just look at Penn State.

Every spring, my family cleans the trash from the woods behind us.  It’s worse now (in November) than I’ve even seen it.  The poem I wrote about these woods, which was just released in the anthology What’s Nature Got to Do With Me?  Staying Wildly Sane In a Mad World, is now covered with water bottles from the kids who play baseball there, beer cans and power drinks flooding into the dry river that goes through the trees, the path torn up by ATVs, evidence of fires, burnt spray cans, and a collection of huge rocks that looked almost sacred now covered in graffiti.

Water bottles.  Only 23% get recycled each year.  Many that are recycled only go on to become even cheaper plastics that cannot be reused.  Cleaning up the problem is not the solution.  Giving people the tools to do so might be.  My family studies tae kwon do at Mastery Martial Arts.  We love it there.  Often, it is hard.  We do it anyway, because we know we will be better for it.  People were filling the waste baskets with water bottles.  My husband and I brought in a huge recycling container, clearly labeled with the lesson of the month: Respect for the World.  We take it home to recycle on our curb once or twice a week, as there’s no pick-up there.  We even suggested Mastery make their own water bottle available along with all their other gear, and lo-  it’s even in my favorite color, burnt orange.  We bought two.

Now the greater problem: Why don’t businesses have recycling pick-up?  I got an apology letter from the land fill about the stench of late.  The site they’re using should have been closed 10 years ago, but people keep making trash.  Burying it in soil (I can think of better uses for soil) and drilling wells are a short-term solution for the fact people and corporations produce too much trash.  The 99% had to stop buying stuff, stuff in too much packaging, stuff that’s going to get used once, stuff made to break quickly so you go out to buy more stuff.  We need to tell our representatives we don’t want a society that makes it hard to live green, and to live well.

I was frustrated with frequently being in situations where I was required to get something done and not given the tools to do it with.  Sometimes people tell me, “I love what you do.  I wish I had the time.”  You need to make what you value a priority, or you don’t value it.  I don’t spend every night cooking, but I make enough for reheating when I do.  Once, pressed for time and starving, I even ate a processed frozen burrito (ick!  my husband gets them) while spending the hour it took to make real food.  Some of the changes we’ve made have actually saved us time.  Switching to cloth napkins, buying or growing food without packaging, composting, and producing less trash overall, we only generate one brown paper bag of trash a week.  Less time taking the trash out.

I still get frustrated I’m not making a difference with my changes, or by setting an example or offering this blog.  Then after my art opening at First UU in Providence, I listened to Brother David Andrews, CSC, and a Senior Representative at Food and Water Watch, and learned of his and others’ role in stopping governments from having corporations control small farmers in poor countries, with efforts like taking to representatives and sending emails with 8000 other people.  Then there was a speaker from Southside Community Land Trust (must get her name), now in it’s 30th year.  She’s been involved with the organization 8 years.  I just learned about them 3 years ago.  Now there are 37 community gardens in Providence, and growing!  It’s hard to see the long-term difference when you manage only your own garden and a school one, but there you are, a start.  I see more school gardens, more victory gardens, more anti-corporation gardens.  Start ordering those seeds.  It can start with something that tiny.

Oh, and bounty hunters...  A reward for every head captured and consumed.  Broccoli heads, that is.  The reward?  Calcium, vitamin C, and fiber.  Your kids should like this one too!

Reduced Fat and Sodium/Vegetarian Option

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Broccoli Bounty

Taste of America’s South

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4 cups fresh or frozen broccoli pieces, steamed

4 cups cooked rice or pasta

2 cups shredded cheese (local cheddar or Cabot's)

2 tbs. unsalted butter, divided

1 tbs. flour

1 cup reduced fat/low sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup 1% local milk

1 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper

1 tsp. Bell’s Seasoning

1/4 cup Panko flakes

This can be made in late summer with fresh broccoli or anytime with blanched and frozen broccoli.  This dish is high in calcium, both from the dairy and broccoli, and a hit with kids.  Steam broccoli until tender and cook rice.  Melt 1 tbs. butter in sauce pan over medium heat.  Whisk in flour and stir continuously one minute.  Slowly pour in broth and milk, along with seasonings.  Stir in broccoli,rice or pasta, and cheese, mixing well.  Transfer to casserole dish.  Sprinkle with Panko flakes and dot with remainder of butter.  Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes, until bubbly and golden.

There are other alternatives

I discovered, wanting to go all out on the exception to the rule with sugar-bombs from a box cupcakes with spooky frosting.  Cue classmate with severe dairy and peanut allergies.  No cupcakes allowed.  So Family Fun saved the day, with this healthy idea:

The classmate got a separate one with hummus instead of spinach dip and pretzels.  I made graves from carrots instead of the wheat thins in the recipe.  Broccoli bushes.  Boiled egg ghosts with black olive faces.

Last weekend, we made lucrative trades, exchanging our plethora of salsas and ketchup for muffins, apple pumpkin butter, different jams, and sweets at the request of my spouse.  The next RI Food Swap should be in January.  I'll post when I know the details.

Last CSA this week.  Kale again.  Kale in home fries.  Kale in soup.  Sautéed kale with garlic.  Kale for the pets.  Kale for wall-paper.  You get the point.  Anyway, we also got Sfumata (?) eggplant, beets, radish, turnip, a new squash, and cranberry beans.  Here's how I used the cranberry beans with the corn I boiled and froze a few weeks ago.

Vegetarian Option

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Corn & Bean Chowder

Taste of Tex-Mex New England

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Prep: 15 minutes  Cook: 35 minutes  Makes 10 servings 

2 tbs. butter or olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 tbs. whole wheat flour

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 cups low-fat milk

4 potatoes, washed and diced with skins on

1 cup carrots, cut into half-moons

1 cup fresh cranberry beans

3 cups fresh-cooked or frozen corn

10 sliced of bacon, cooked well and drained (optional)

3 tbs. chopped fresh parsley or cilantro

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cayenne

1 tsp. cumin

1 tbs. brown sugar

1 cup half-and-half or light cream

Melt butter or heat oil over medium heat in large stock pot.  Sauté onions five minutes.  Stir in flour, cooking two minutes.  Slowly pour in broth and milk.  Add potatoes and carrots and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook 15 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.  Meanwhile, bring water to boil in sauce pan.  Cook cranberry beans until just soft, about 20-25 minutes.  Reserve.  Add corn and mix with immersion blender (or run half of mixture through blender and return to stock pot).  Crumble in bacon, the stir in beans, herbs, spices, and cream.  Serve immediately.

Remember, Remember...To Eat Veggies in November!

In less time than it takes to be married to Kim Kardashian, you too can devote your time to something actually worthwhile: Eating healthy, locally, and in season.  All these ingredients aside from the rice and salt came within 100 miles, the carrot and parsley from my own front yard.  Waiting your carrots until after the first frost helps them sweeten, because the root converts starches into sugar in reaction to the cold.  Fill with rice stuffing, then scoop out the acorn squash as you eat it for a fun mix of textures.  Gluten-free and vegan!  I used yet more of my hen of the woods mushroom, but any Asian mushroom works well.  Rehydrate dried mushrooms in boiling water first, using the water in place of some of the vegetable stock or to keep the vegetables from sticking in the sauté pan.  

Gluten-Free/Vegan/Wild Option

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Stuffed Squash

Taste of Earth

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Prep: 10 minutes  Cook:  40 minutes  Serves: 4

2 tbs. olive oil, divided

2 acorn squash

1 cup brown rice

1 cup vegetable stock

1 cup apple cider

1 cup finely chopped Asian mushrooms (wild option: 

     hen of the woods mushrooms – cook thoroughly)

1 cup grated organic carrots

1/2 cup diced red onion

1/2 cup finely chopped kale

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Preheat oven to 400ºF.  Cut squash in half, scoop out seeds and strings, and brush with 1 tbs. olive oil.  Place cut ends down in baking dish and cook 35-40 minutes.  Meanwhile, combine rice, stock, and cider in sauce  pan.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer, cooking 40 minutes, or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.  While that simmers, heat remaining oil in large cast iron skillet or sauté pan.  Sauté mushrooms, onion, and carrots over med-low heat until onions are translucent, about ten minutes.  Add kale and cook five more minutes.  Stir in salt, then mix thoroughly with rice.  Divide mixture between squash halves, garnishing with parsley, if desired.  Serve immediately, but squash may be very hot.

Truly Terrifying Treats

Ready to dive into your Halloween candy?  Not me.  PGPR?  Vanillin?  TBHQ?   Those are the ingredients found in many chocolate products, including Twix, Mounds, Reese’s, and Hershey’s.  My kid’s pre-school gave us a box of these petroleum and lighter-fluid-filled products to sell to raise money.  (I will be making alternative suggestions for next year’s fund-raiser.)

PGPR, or polyglycerol polyricinoleate, is derived from castor oil and replaces cocoa butter.  That doesn’t sound too bad, aside from cheapening the product, except cocoa butter is where the phenols (potent antioxidants) and the stearic acid come from.  These  prevent cholesterol from building up in arteries and increase the good LDL in the blood.  Beware of health labels touting dark chocolate as an antioxidant if they’ve replaced the cocoa butter with castor oil.  Wikipedia details this: 

• Castor oil and its derivatives have applications in the manufacturing of soaps, lubricants, hydraulic and brake fluids, paints, dyes, coatings, inks, cold resistant plastics, waxes and polishes, nylon, pharmaceuticals and perfumes.[5]  
• The castor seed contains ricin, a toxic protein. Harvesting castor beans is not without risk.[6] Allergenic compounds found on the plant surface can cause permanent nerve damage, making the harvest of castor beans a human health risk. India, Brazil, and China are the major crop producers, and the workers suffer harmful side effects from working with these plants.[7] These health issues, in addition to concerns about the toxic byproduct (ricin) from castor oil production, have encouraged the quest for alternative sources for hydroxy fatty acids.[8][9] 
• Alternatively, some researchers are trying to genetically modify the castor plant to prevent the synthesis of ricin.[10]”   

Vanillin  is our next villain.  Beside being a cheap imitation of vanilla, is a petroleum product.  It is made from guaiacol – a petrochemical, because it’s cheaper.  It’s supposedly safe, but how much petroleum is safe to consume?  Think about it: If most of what you eat comes from processed foods, what artificial and chemically-derived ingredients are building up in your system?  How can a combination of these additives, used to make “food” cheaper to produce and last longer, effect your health?

Finally, what is TBHQ?  Officially, Tertiary Butylhydroquinone.  In plain English, it’s lighter fluid.  The FDA allows foods to contain up to 0.02% TBHQ in the total oils.  This is not just a candy additive to prevent rancidity, but found in processed foods, convenience foods, and McDonald’s chicken nuggets.  Natural News states:

• Consuming high doses (between 1 and 4 grams) of TBHQ can cause nausea, delirium, collapse, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and vomiting. 
• There are also suggestions that it may lead to hyperactivity in children as well as asthma, rhinitis and dermatitis. It may also further aggravate ADHD symptoms and cause restlessness. 
• Long term, high doses of TBHQ in laboratory animals have shown a tendency for them to develop cancerous precursors in their stomachs, as well as cause DNA damage to them. It is also suggested that it may be responsible for affecting estrogen levels in women.

While it’s rare for my family to buy fast food (we prefer Wendy’s or Dunkin Donuts when we do need food on the run), I will not eat a fast food chicken nugget again or serve butane-tainted food to my family.  This does not make for a happy meal.

One way to avoid these toxins and support sustainability is to give out sustainable chocolate.    These chocolates have the cocoa butter and anti-oxidants without cutting down rain forests or supporting child labor.  Here are a few good brands: GREEN HALLOWEEN.  You could also give out  apples, toys, and home-made treats.  A little known fact: The first news story about the razor in the apple was faked, but it certainly helped the candy companies.  Why fear the food companies when we can fear each other?

12 Pound Mushroom and Firecrackers

I was in the neighborhood of ________________ to get some test done, and there, in the woods, a way off from the main street and away from any idling cars, was a a cream and brown cluster of coral-like growth.  It rose like ruffled feathers from the cool October earth, just over the lower trunk of an oak tree.  A few blades of grass had grown threw the spongy mass the size of a generous pillow.  It was a hen of the woods mushroom.  I sent my husband in to confirm, since he at least had had one course about mushrooming.  In the realm of safe bets, a misidentified hen of the woods would only taste bad and not kill us.  My husband cut it, placed it in a giant paper bag, and took it home.

It resided in our fridge for a few days while I fried up small pieces to try.  A centipede hid from the open-door light.  After two days of larger portions of a mild, chicken-like mushrooms and no ill-effects, we went for it.  I feared what we would find, after seeing the centipede.  And there were more of them.  But overall, this was a very clean mushroom!  I pulled out the grass.  There were a few pieces past their prime we cut away.  There was still a lot of mushroom left.  I washed and sliced a cup-full and sautéed them gently in butter over low heat, about ten minutes.  Much better than the quick fry I did earlier.  The rest of the mushroom was broken into pieces, frozen in bags, dried in the oven, and simmered into stock. The whole house smelled pleasantly of mushroom.  I made Chinese firecracker rolls, ate some, took some to a party, and some to church.  It should be noted again that eating misidentified mushrooms can lead to illness or death.  I've made this recipe with reconstituted shiitake mushrooms, which are also delicious.

Divide and Conquer

Sauté!

Stock!

Drying, 175ºF, about 24 hours

Dried and Ready for Storage

Vegetarian Option

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Firecracker Cabbage Rolls

Taste of China

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Prep: 20 minutes  Cook:  20 minutes  Makes: 20

2 tbs. cooking oil, divided

1 cup chopped, re-hydrated Asian mushrooms (wild option: 

     hen of the woods mushrooms – cook thoroughly)

1/2 pound ground turkey or pork (optional)

2 cups grated cabbage

1 cup grated organic carrots

1/4 cup diced onion

1 tbs. minced fennel leaf (or 1 tsp. fennel seed) 

20 sheets thawed phyllo dough

Chili paste:

2 Anaheim chiles, re-hydrated and chopped

1 tbs. cider vinegar

1 tbs. chile water

1 tsp. white sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Preheat oven to 375ºF.  Heat 1 tbs. oil in large sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Brown meat, if using.  Add mushrooms*, cabbage, carrots, onion, and fennel, cooking until vegetable are tender, 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Run chile mixture through food processor and stir into cabbage mix.  Fold phyllo sheets in half length-wise.  Place 2 tbs. cabbage mix on end of sheet and roll tightly to other end.  Twist ends to look like fire crackers.  Place each roll on greased cookie sheet.  Brush with remaining oil.  Bake at 375ºF 18-20 minutes, until golden.  Serve with extra chile sauce, if desired.

* If using fresh wild mushrooms, sauté over low heat in oil or butter until cooked thoroughly.