Our Daily Bread (Part II)

My first bread...

I started to make bread out of frustration. I couldn't find a fresh bread that was made out of flour, yeast, water and salt. Optional is a little sugar and oil. I was lost in the ingredients list of store bought bread.  I went on-line to find out what type of the ingredients are added in the bread making process.  

Just to name a few:

Azodicarbonamide - dough conditioner. Small detail - it is "banned from use in Europe because studies showed it could cause asthma or allergic reactions".
Monocalcium phosphate - "a leavening agent and preservative".
Calcium propionate - "a preservative that inhibits mold and bacterial growth. Considered safe, but in the early 1990′s it was linked to attention deficit disorder in children".
High-fructose corn syrup - no comments on that.
Mono and di-glycerides, ethoxylated mono and di-glycerides - who knows where this come from!
Read about The Top 20 Ingredients Used in Bread  here:
http://blog.fooducate.com/2010/11/04/the-top-20-ingredients-used-in-bread-miniseries-part-3/

Some interesting information about bread ingredients is posted here:
http://markalexanderbain.suite101.com/give-us-our-daily-bread-a76760

And here is another one:

"Did you know that L-cysteine, a common dough conditioner, flavor enhancer in human and pet foods, and precursor in some dietary supplements, is most often derived from human hair or duck feathers, and to a lesser extent from pigs' bristles and hooves?"
Read more here:
http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/faqingredients.htm#cystine

http://naturalnews.com/032718_L-cysteine_commercial_bread.html

I had enough. I rolled my sleeves, and went from the  research mode into the baking mode.
And my bread making journey began.

Next post - easy bread recipe, just like grandma use to make.

Until next time,
Cowboy Country Vegetarian

Our Daily Bread

I grew up with a home made bread. Every Friday my grandma would start the dough, she would knead it a few times before the dusk and leave it overnight to raise.
Early Saturday morning she would start preparing the oven, and form the loaves. No matter how late I was up a night before, I didn't miss the baking morning. Grandma would give me my very own piece of dough and I would make my very own loaf.
When bread was set in the oven, she spent some time with me to chat and laugh. Grandma would hold me on her laps and tell me her stories.
And then the proudest moment arrived: time to take the bread out of the oven. My job was to brush each loaf with some water. I didn't know why it was done, but I dutifully applied a little water on each loaf.
Then was the hardest time... letting the bread to rest and to cool down. Can you imagine sitting in that room filled with aroma of freshly baked breads and not be able to try it? And I was only six years old...  
But waiting was rewarding, when grandma  set the table with fresh sour cream, milk and a loaf of freshly baked savory bread, that was made with dill and leak. Just like this one. Mmm, it tastes good...

One year ago I started to make my own bread.
I didn't have a recipe but I remembered the feeling of my grandma's dough. Those childhood memories helped me to re-create the daily bread.

Keep reading for the recipes...

Until next time,
Cowboy Country Vegetarian

What's for lunch?

It is funny how everyone in my family opens that fridge with hope to find a treasure, perhaps?! My son opens that fridge every 5 minutes and I keep telling him that nothing changed there since he last opened it. He says "I know". So each time I ask him, smiling, what is he looking for than? He says his usual "I don't know, something". And we laugh.


This morning I opened that fridge looking for something too. I didn't know what I was looking for, I just  stared at it for a short time. I guess, I did an assessment...:)
But I did find something: a couple of eggplants  were hiding behind a bag of kale. Ah-ha! I had 30 minutes until I had to drive my son to school, so I just cubed those eggplants, salted and left it to sweat. After we had our berry cereal and cup of tea, I dried the eggplants with paper towel, sprinkled it with olive oil, dry dill, granulated garlic and popped it in the oven, preheated to 375F. I set the timer for 25 minutes, asked my Virtuozo (my husband) to turn it off if he leaves before I come back, and was on my way to the school.


When I came back and opened the door, a pleasant smell of dill-garlic aroma filled my kitchen and made me smile.   Mmmm... I turned the eggplants, and let it roast for another 5 minutes.  I wasn't sure what I am going to do with it yet, so I just set it on a plate to cool down and left for the yoga class.


What's for lunch? - I thought driving home from the yoga?  Then I remembered my eggplants! I also had some mashed potatoes with yams, some kale and tomatoes. And for lunch was this beauty:

Until next time,
Cowboy country Vegetarian

Taste of Fort Smith

Yesterday we had an  event Taste of Fort Smith. I took my chances, paid $15, and went hungry, thinking: will I have some food to eat? Well, we live in the cowboy country, where meat is essential food on everyone table, or plate.  And what a celebration of meat it was!
However, after I walked by all 30 or so vendors, I had  on my plate bruschetta, some strawberries, lentil, humus and a slice of pumpkin pie.  To my surprise... it is possible to be a vegetarian in cowboy country.

Until next time,
Cowboy Country Vegetarian

It's Kale's Tuesday!

Kale from my garden.

"I want ... kale".
Strange, right? More "natural" is to want  burger, or big chunk of meat,or fires, or.... (fill the blank).

I had those times too until I realize that by eating unhealthy food I am hurting my body.
One chunk of unhealthy GMO grain-fed beef, slam!
A 700 calories burger in which only whole and close to natural ingredient was piece of iceberg salad, another slam! And another extra pounds that unmistakeably nested on my waist. Heavy dinner with pork chop, yet another slam! 
And where all this extra weight is coming from?

I dived into books, DVDs, and Internet for answers. Some of the foods I was eating actually were hurting me from the inside! Really? I would never hurt myself intentionally! But I did by putting into my body all of that unhealthy super processed chemically enhanced  something remotely resembling the food. 
I tortured myself instead of nurturing.

And then I went on a journey to re-discover the real taste of the real food, the smell of freshly picked cucumbers, the aroma of just cut herbs...
If I am what I eat, than I am all kale, collards, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, sprouts, apples, grapes, beets, peppers, cabbage, beans, grains, eggplants, and everything else that grows.
Shopping is so easy now: if it has too many ingredients and a very long shelf life, it stays on the shelf.  
I also cook with the real food only.

Aren't those cucumbers cute?!

Today I skipped the shopping and went to my  very small garden for a fresh food. I had kale, cucumber, and lettuce salad sprinkled with lemon juice, salt and pepper, and a home made eggplant pizza...

Until next time,
Cowboy Country Vegetarian

Food day

Celebrating The Food Day  with Garden salad ...

October 24, 2011 is the first annual Food Day.  Not just any food but safe and healthy food.

I am glad we have the day dedicated to the real food. 
The day to think about what we eat. The day to celebrate fresh fruits and vegetables from a local farmer's market. The day to bring whole grains and beans to the tables.
The day to turn our lives away from obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and all other medical conditions that are related to the diet.

and whole wheat piroshki with cabbage stuffing ... mmmm... good eats...

Food Day's goal is nothing less than to transform the American diet. - http://foodday.org/


Until next time,
Cowboy Country Vegetarian

Brussels Sprouts Soup

This time of the year in produce section of the stores you can find this miniature cabbages with  an unusual name Brussels sprouts. It is delicious and super healthy: Brussels sprouts are from  a very respectful family of cruciferous vegetables with it's fantastic benefits. I always buy a pound or two when I see it, and work around the ingredient. Today I made an easy soup, the kind my grandma use to make as a quick meal. Although she made it with a regular cabbage, I find that making it with baby cabbages is just as good.


***
My writing was interrupted by a thunderstorm, which in this parts of the country is earth shaking...  Can't get use to it.


***

Brussels sprouts soup

Ingredients:

• Brussels sprouts 1/2 lb
• Mushroom broth - 4-5 cups
• One medium size onion, chopped
• One Idaho potatoe or 3-4 baby Yukon gold (or any other potatoes),  cubed to 1/2 inches (1 cm) pieces
• One carrot, shredded
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dry dill
• 2-3 strings of fresh parsley
• 1 Cayenne pepper (fresh or dry).

1. Bring to a boil 2 cups (0,5 l) of water with one tsp of salt, add quartered Brussels sprouts, and boil for 2-3 minutes. I set a timer for this task. Then, remove Brussels sprouts from the pot, set aside.


2. In a soup pot preheat olive oil, add onions and saute on a medium-high heat for about 2-3 minutes. (Please, don't leave the kitchen and don't talk on a phone. Focus on your cooking.)
Stir the onions 3-4 times, then add Brussels sprouts to it and cook for another minute.

3. Add mushroom broth (or vegetable broth, or just plain water) and  potatoes.

4. Bring to a boil, stir and reduce heat to a medium and simmer for 15 minutes. Set the timer.

5.  15 minutes later, add carrots, and taste. Adjust flavor by adding salt, and herbs if you like it.

I add dry dill, fresh parsley, crushed Cayenne pepper from my garden.

6. Stir, and taste, taste, taste again! Turn off the heat. Let the soup rest for 10-15 minutes. Serve with a small dollop of sour cream or Veganaise.

It is delicious, even though it's not picture perfect...

Sometimes grandma made this soup with a corn meal. If you want to try it, add a Tablespoon of coarse corn meal when you add potatoes to the soup.

I still have some Brussels Sprouts left. It will go in my vegetarian variation of Polish Hunter's stew.
Keep reading my blog for the recipe.

Until next time,
Cowboy Country Vegetarian