Category: Recipes

Turkey Tracks: Recipes

I’m late to the party on making blender drinks, I think.

But when I got so sick about a month ago now and couldn’t eat, blender drinks were the way back to getting sufficient calories, thanks to suggestions from my homeopath.

What I like about my blender drinks, rather than juicing, is that one is eating the WHOLE food, and the fiber from the pulp is needed in one’s gut.

You can use a high-speed blender or, even, a food processor to reduce your ingredients to a drinkable or spoonable texture. The more water one adds, the thinner the texture.

I err on the side of more veggies and less fruit. Too much fruit is too much fructose sugar, so while I want the vitamins and fiber, I don’t want to overload on sugar. Of course many of the veggies I love also have sugars included. But on days I make or have blender drinks stored, they can be used as a dessert.

Note that I can’t do citrus, but that YOU could–and the addition of orange, lemon, or lime, would make your blender drink have a sparkly taste–or so I imagine.

AND, I use organic ingredients.

I have frozen local organic blueberries, so I start with a half cup of those. And, an apple I’ve seeded but not peeled. I have some frozen peach slices from a neighbor’s gift of fresh peaches last summer. And, I froze a bag of my raspberries last summer as well. I limit fruit to 1 1/2 to 2 cups–and a big blender batch makes enough of these drinks for two days. (I wouldn’t keep drinks longer than that I think.)

For veggies, anything goes: carrots, beets, celery, cucumber, bell peppers (red pepper has a lot of vitamin c) the leaves of greens (kale, chard, lettuces, a wedge of cabbage), leftover cooked broccoli and/or cauliflower. Use what you have on hand.

Add a chunk of ginger–for me about 1/4 inch thick and the size of a quarter.

And, I’ll confess I’ll sometimes add just a dollop of maple syrup (dissolves more easily than honey)–which gives a base note that is lovely. But if you want to use local raw honey (a tablespoon a day is a good health measure), that would be lovely too.

At first I kept the mixture in my blender in the refrigerator so I could re-whirl it before pouring into a glass, but I discovered along the way that if I just poured the original mixture into glasses and covered them with the silicon covers I like, it is easy enough to just remix the drink with a spoon. And, I could grab a drink without the to-do of remixing in the blender container, which was now clean and stored.

The stretchy round silicon covers have reduced the use of plastic in my kitchen down to almost no use. These lids are not expensive, and the sizes range from very small (a soda can or a can of Bar Keepers or Comet) to ones that will cover a fairly large bowl. A quick check on Amazon also showed that now some rectangle lids are available. The lids can go into the dishwasher and be used in a microwave.

Hmmm. Rectangular lids will have to wait until I’ve made it to Charleston, though. And maybe in that more urban environment, silicon products will be in local stores.

Note: pure silicon does not show any white when you pinch it. The color is true throughout.

Back in August when I was waiting for Jackpot to arrive in Maine, I tried out the cauliflower crust pizza idea I’ve heard about for years. Since I can’t eat gluten, I can’t eat pizza. Sadly. I love pizza.

I think I didn’t add enough egg—and the cauliflower base was still maybe too wet—which another egg would probably have “fixed.” Also, I cooked first before pulsing in my food processor. I had some basil leaves, so that’s what the dark spots are in this “dough.” I added some herbs and garlic as well. One spreads a circle on parchment, bakes at 350 for a bit and then uses the parchment to turn over the slab and bake it on the other side until it is browner. I used TWO sheets of parchment that way. The upper side was too wet to turn over without more parchment help.

I felt like each side baked a long time (30+ minutes) before the crust started to get a little brown.

Here’s the final product—and it was delicious. I ate one half and reheated the other half for supper. It reheated well.

The thinly sliced veggies on top of chicken pieces and with all topped by mozzarella cheese were nicely tender, so that part worked, but I was right at the line between ready and too done.

I will try out this idea one day soon again—and with a dryer base mix and more eggs, I expect a quicker baking time. And maybe I’ll pulse the cauliflower raw before steaming so the mixture can be put in a towel and wrung out.

Here’s a screenshot of one of the online recipes I found. This one does NOT flip the base to cook both sides before adding toppings—and I think one would need to do that.

Yesterday I bought a beautiful golden cauliflower and roasted it today—alongside a baby bok choy sliced and drizzled with cream.

I salted and added some Italian herb mixture and drizzled the cauliflower with some of my Organic Roots olive oil—adding only a tiny bit to the bok choy. I roasted at 400 for 15 minutes and turned everything with a spatula—then added a piece of cooked chicken breast from last night to reheat it. I put some cream on the chicken, too, to keep it moist.

Dinner (the middle of the day) was so lovely on a truly rainy day—and there are leftovers for supper.

I am grateful for the rain. I think my water pressure might have been lower than I like as it has been beautiful, but very dry.

Jackpot had a nice visit to the vet, where he always sees other dogs which makes him so happy. They took blood for his DNA test, and that got mailed this morning. They also gave him his second deworming pill and cut his nails.

I so hope this is the LAST deworming he will need.

He seems to be taking the rainy day in stride. It really is just pouring rain and is a big storm. Maybe we can walk by late afternoon. That would be nice for both of us.

Turkey Tracks: July 10, 2022

A Treasure at the Belfast Coop

A few weeks ago, while shopping for the recent family visit at the Belfast Coop (the neighboring town to the north), I saw, in the freezer section, frozen sliced OKRA.

I LOVE OKRA.

And most here in Maine have no idea what okra is, nevermind how to cook it.

I bought two packages and couldn’t wait to get home to cook some. It was as delicious as I recalled.

Imagine my surprise (not) when I was there yesterday, and there was a sale sign on the frozen okra packages. I bought four more packages and probably should have taken all that was left.

Again, I came right home to cook some for my dinner (in the middle of the day).

I also came home with a spaghetti squash—so I halved it, seeded it, and roasted it cut side down on a flat pan lined with parchment paper—using the convection oven to increase the cooking time—set at 350 degrees. I added my leftover chicken drumsticks during the last 10 minutes and turned off the convection. If you have not cooked spaghetti squash before, when it is soft/tender, turn it over and take a spoon and scoop out the squash meat, which breaks into the strands you see in the above picture. (Some use this squash like a spaghetti and top it with savory tomato sauce.)

Meanwhile, the okra only needed to be reheated in water. Stop when the water simmers to a boil, drain, and butter and salt.

Look at that pretty okra—so green, with its soft white seeds in the middle.

Now is when I should tell you that my Georgia grandfather did NOT like okra. He said he didn’t want to eat anything that swallowed before he was ready to swallow. Okra is soft and is slippery. I like it best just cooked until tender (I’d leave it whole) and after draining, topped with butter and salt/pepper. My grandmother on my father’s side, who lived in Oklahoma, used to pan fry her okra after dredging it in cornmeal. That’s good, too, but way more work. Okra is often stewed with fresh tomatoes—and is often present in gumbo. Okra and tomato is a lovely combo.

Today after digging up a whole bed of daffodils that need dividing as they are no longer robustly blooming, my mind turned to my leftover okra.

First, here’s the garden project, so you can see I worked up an appetite. The earth is very dry as we need rain. And I’m not finished, but it’s hot now and I was hungry.

And by the way, the lettuce needs to be pulled and shared with friends as the heat is bringing on its bolting. I’ve been eating out of this cold frame daily since April. I’ll replant with Masai filet bush beans which when they get rolling will give me tiny, sweet filet beans until a frost kills them.

Here’s my dinner at noon: reheated spaghetti squash and the okra, a fresh salad that includes a neighbor’s gift of sugar snap peas (delicious raw), and two grilled lamb chops. (The remaining two will be eaten with salad I already made for supper.)

I’ll read a little now and make a coffee, rest a bit, and will again tackle the daffodil project when shade hits the front yard.

The reward will be finishing a job I’ve wanted to avoid, a shower, and a little sewing time—with supper and hand-sewing all organized to enjoy while watching some tv.

Turkey Tracks: June 16, 2022

Chicken Salad Bliss!

I started thinking about chicken salad yesterday while weeding in the garden.

I had just bought that morning a whole chicken that I was going to roast today.

But then the idea of chicken salad started roaming around in my head.

So, this morning I started making…chicken salad.

First, the chicken went into a pot deep enough to cover the chicken with water. And I threw in some hunks of celery, carrots, and onion. And, some salt. When the pot water came to a soft boil, I turned down the heat and cooked the chicken at a soft boil for 35 minutes.

Then I turned it off and went to Fresh Off the Farm for some soy-free eggs (Misty Farms, local peeps) and fresh celery. I should have added in some Italian parsley, but I didn’t think of that while in the store. I can also add some if I want. Or I could add some of those little green peas I seem to be craving.

When I came home, I strained off the now-cooler broth and put it in a freezer container for a soup down the road. And when the chicken cooled a bit more, I took the meat off the bones with my hands—as I wanted a shredded look, not a chopped look.

Home-made mayo is dead easy to make in a blender. Break two eggs into the bottom of the blender, add about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of good mustard (or some acid like lemon juice or white vinegar), salt, whatever herbs you might like to add and turn on the blender. From the top, drizzle a really good olive oil in a stream into the mixture and stop when the mass congeals. It takes a little over a cup of olive oil—but how much can depend on how big the egg yolks are, among other things.

I cut some celery and onion fine and grated some carrot—amounts here depend on your own tastes, including the amounts of salt and mayo. (If you want less mayo in the salad than you made, stir in a little whey from your yogurt as it will ferment the mayo and preserve it.)

And here’s my salad—the parsley would have given it more color.

Along the way I blanched some collard leaves for 5 minutes in slowly boiling water and laid them into a bread dish, separated by paper towels. I used to take out the central stems, but I don’t any more.

Use the collard leaves as healthy, nutritious wraps.

And voila, here’s LUNCH.

You could slice the finished wraps into bit-size pieces if you want to do that.

And now I can’t wait until dinner time.

The wind is high as a storm is blowing in—and so far I’ve avoided going out to weed as I’ve been happily busy in the kitchen.

But now…

Turkey Tracks: June 11, 2022

Counting Veggies

When I grew up in the 1950’s a typical dinner meal my mother cooked had meat, a green veggie, a starch (veggie or rice), and a side salad of iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes. That description does not describe her awesome pot roast meal—but a salad would have accompanied it. The pot roast would have had meat, carrots, onions, and potatoes—so maybe the above description still sort of works if we count the side salad a ”green” veggie.

My mother’s parents lived in a small town in Georgia—Reynolds—and they had a farm outside town. The noon time dinner at my grandparents included many, many veggies from the farm garden—all cooked except for fresh sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. There was always meat, but dinner was a vegetable feast. Sometimes there were biscuits or the fried cornmeal pancakes that I dearly loved.

Over my lifetime, fresh raw veggies came into the markets and are enjoyed now virtually all year around. The side salad became a main course as a result.

Meanwhile, we’ve learned that eating a lot of veggies helps us in many ways—from nutrients to fiber. So, I have fun putting as many veggies as possible on my plate.

On Friday noon, while I grilled some local lamb chops, I chopped and started to stir fry vegetables I had on hand in beef tallow, with salt and herbs added. A small russet potato (they fry the best) cubed, half of a red pepper, a carrot, half of a zucchini, some chopped broccoli rabe, and some radicchio—the red that looks like cabbage—all went into the pan after the potato went first. Radicchio is a bitter green, and I eat it a lot both raw and cooked. I don’t know why I didn’t think to add onion. Onions contain sulfur which is a nutrient humans need and which isn’t always present in our onions due to the soil nutrient depletion Big AG’s farming methods have produced. I started chopping with the potato as I was hungry for pan-fried potato and it does need to go first as it takes longer to cook. But the veggie count is…SIX.

Here’s my lunch and dinner on Thursday—as when supper rolled around, I just reheated what I had cooked at noon for my dinner. Delicious!

Today I worked outside weeding all morning—and came in for lunch hungry and tired. I roasted twelve drumsticks: 4 for my meals today, 4 for the freezer, and 2 for tomorrow. They took 35 minutes in the convection oven at 350 degrees—with 5 minutes at a higher temperature to brown them off.

Meanwhile, I cooked some frozen green beans and corn. The plate below has lettuce from my garden, radicchio, onion, carrots, red pepper, cucumber, and green beans. That’s…SEVEN veggies and ONE GRAIN (the corn). And I need to replenish my celery—which would have made EIGHT veggies.

The salad is topped with dried dill, salt, and my Organic Roots olive oil. I was too hungry to get chives and their beautiful lavender flowers from the garden. Or, fresh tarragon and oregano. Next time.

And my salad for tonight is in the refrigerator ready to heat—though I’ll warm up the two drumsticks I mean to have with the salad. And I’ll slice up a whole apple for dessert with some organic mint tea.

AND, THE COLORS, THE COLORS; white, three greens, orange, two reds, and yellow.

My tummy is very happy after eating this beautiful salad.