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Using what We Have for Dinner

5/27/2016

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Bear here...  It's Friday!  Hoping I can blog about this and finish dinner before Theresa gets home.  Here we go... New pasta Ideas!
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The burdock root takes the longest, give it an extra 5 min. before adding the other root and the shrooms. (still have root left for another dish.)
Found old burdock root, wild salsify roots and bacon in the frige.  Unlike plants, green bacon needed to be thrown out, crud. That"s OK we have bacon or lamb fat in a cup by the stove... Hmm? Black furry stuff on the fat, throw that out too, double crud.  No problem, I can use the old stand bye of butter and olive oil. Dawn from work let me take some of her button mushrooms home, thanks Dawn. We also have garlic and chive blossoms in our yard. The only pasta we have are Udon (Asian) noodles, good enough.
   

The plan... Boil then cool the noodles while sauteing the burdock root, salsify and mushrooms.  When things look good add more butter some chopped garlic so the toppings will cover the noodles better. Last I will add the chive blossoms for little blasts of fresh onion flavor.

Everything smells and tastes good so far. Hmm?  Theresa is home early... So much for the finished food shot.... going to be good.

​Type at ya later.


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Kitchen Work for Guys

5/7/2016

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Bear here...

Doing a quick blog today. As you all know my typing sucks and is slow. I have to be quick because Theresa wants to go to some plant sales... who knows what we will find, I may actually help plant some of the stuff we buy ... oh, NOT the subject... Well... On to Shelf Chefing! (If interested check out Bear's Shelf Chefing page.)

I have been known to leave most of my dirty dishes laying around after I cook and after we eat because we go to bed early, sometimes this can happen for a few days in a row. Not the best idea when one wants to be a Level 4 Shelf Chef. So I have come up with a plan that can make doing dishes and most other house cleaning projects more fun and easier to get myself to do, even after getting home from a long day at work.

The cleaning man has two friends- loud music and beer!  Yep, BEER! (and mixed drinks also work). Crack open a beer to get you started. When you are done with the cleaning, finish the beer. Everything is better with good tunes so crank the music up. I recommend Godsmack, Disturbed or Nonpoint. If you are an older Shelf Chef there is Sammy Hagar, Metalica, Guns & Roses, Twisted Sister, AC/DC, etc... Try to get the work done by the end of the CD.  It helps me... just sayen.

Good cleaning.   Bear

Advanced Technique for the Nonworking Kitchen Faucet

Our kitchen faucet stopped working recently. We bought a new faucet, but haven't gotten around to seeing if we can figure out how to replace it (we aren't the best plumbers). So here's how a guy in the kitchen can do dishes without running water. It's kind of like camping in your house. ​
1. Put water in one pan for crud dishes (on left). Wipe off crud, put dishes in holding pan (right, with no water).
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2. Clean out crud pan.

​
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3. Get two or three pans of hot water from tub. Put soap in one of the tubs and use fork to agitate and make bubbles. Wash dishes in bubble pan, rinse in clean water...
​
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4. ... leave dishes to dry. If applicable, finish beer. Congratulations, you're done. (If you want to earn extra brownie points, put the dishes away when they're dry. For some reason, wives really like that. Just sayen...​)
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Anatomy of a Breakfast, or, How to Make a Meal Out of What You Have When Your Husband Uses Up All the Bacon

5/1/2016

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From Theresa:

It's early Saturday morning. I announce to Bear that I'm going to make eggs and bacon for breakfast, but when I peer into the refrigerator, I realize that he has used up all the bacon in a previous meal and neglected to thaw out more. (From Bear...  I'm getting the blame but not feeling too guilty.)

So plan B. I know we have a few very old potatoes in the cupboard. I pull them out, and see that they have started growing, but they're still edible. I cut them into thin slices and put them into our cast iron skillet, into which I have put in a generous amount of leftover bacon grease. 

I am thinking of my Mom, who passed on a few years ago. She made the most amazing fried potatoes. She actually peeled each potato, which I am too lazy to do, and then she was so skilled with her paring knife that you could almost see through her thin potato slices. I didn't inherit her slicing skill, but I do have her knife.

And although I loved my mother's meals and certainly got my appreciation of home cooked meals from her, I am not her, so I learned my own way of cooking. I'm looking at the frying potatoes, and although my mouth is salivating, I know that my system needs more vegetables and fiber, or I will regret having all that bacon grease.

I also pride myself on being able to create meals from whatever ingredients we have on hand so that nothing gets thrown out. Food is life- life that is taken from whatever we are eating and being given to us- so we shouldn't waste it.

I find mushrooms in the vegetable bin and part of a chopped up onion, and add those to the pan. I also bought a burdock root, to help my ailing liver. It's really good chopped thin, dunked in egg, and fried, so I think I'll put it the frying pan with the potatoes. But I also love eating salad with my breakfast eggs, and while I'm staring at the large burdock root I'm holding in my hand, I suddenly remember a workshop I took in which the instructor made a shredded carrot and burdock root salad. So the plan changes again.

I don't have any carrots, but there's one of last Fall's beets left from our attic root cellar, so I make Bear's beet and carrot slaw recipe, but with beet and burdock. The sesame oil dressing is really good, although I think the burdock is a little dry compared to carrots, so I add some fresh chopped parsley, which adds a wonderful flavor (it's really not just for garnish).

By now the mixture of potatoes and mushrooms has gotten brown and crispy, and the onions are translucent, so I stir up some eggs and pour it over the mixture. I add a generous amount of fresh pepper, and cook the eggs for a few minutes, stirring constantly. We like them slightly runny. When they're done, I add more fresh parsley, because it doesn't last long in the refrigerator.
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I toast some French bread we got from the bakery and pour a glass of organic milk from pasture raised cows, and we have a wonderful way to start our Saturday morning. It will nourish us much more than simple bacon and eggs (although if your husband hasn't used up all the bacon, I suggest crumbling it up and adding it to the eggs- it would taste wonderful amongst all the vegetables).

(From Bear...  Ooooo... She ends up making a good meal and I get the blame. Does that sound right to you?)
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A satisfying meal goes fast, although the satisfaction of using up some of the random vegetables we have in our refrigerator continues.

Hope you have some equally satisfying meals this week...
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