Pennette with Cauliflower Ragu

This recipe is courtesy of Mario Batali by way of Reader's Digest May 2010. 
My children do not like cauliflower and I do.  I also got two or three heads of it from my produce co-op.  We never know what we are going to get and that is what came that week.  I was desperate for a way to prepare this food that I love so my kids would eat it.  I have tried the usual steamed with cheese sauce-boring, dipped in ranch-boring, and just eating it.  Nothing would get them to ingest it until now. 
The rule in our house is that you have to try it no matter how yucky you think it looks.  So I made the recipe and it was a vegetable miracle!   They not only ate it but asked for seconds.  Add it doesn't look yucky.  So, here it is and I hope you have the same success.

Ingredients:
1 medium cauliflower (about 2lbs)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Medium white onion, cut into 1/4 inch dices
3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
flaky sea salt
1 1/2 to 2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
6 T unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces-I only used 4 T to cut out some of the fat
1 lb pennette pasta or other pasta like it
3/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano plus extra for serving-I used the grated parmesean cheese I had in my fridge.
1/2 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs, sauteed in 1 T olive oil until golden brown-I left these off. 
1 1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary

Proceedure:
1.  Halve cauliflower.  Remove leaves and cut out core and reserve.  Cut cauliflower into small bite-size flourets, reserving stalks.  Chop core, leaves, and stalks.
2.Combine oil, onion, garlic, and cauliflower core, leaves, and stalks in large pot, season with sea salt, and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until leaves are just beginning to wilt, about 3 minutes.  Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until leaves are just tender, 18 to 20 minutes. 
3.  Add cauliflower florets, red pepper flakes, and 1 cup water and bring to simmer over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to gentle simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is almost falling apart, 22 to 25 minutes.  Add butter, stirring gently until it melts; season well with sea salt.  Remove from heat. 
4.  Bring 6 quarts water to boil in large pot and add 3 T kosher salt.  Drop in pasta cook until just al dente. 
5.  Drain pasta, reserving about 2/3 cup pasta water.  Add pasta and 1/3 cup reserved water to ragu.  Toss over medium heat until pasta is well coated.  (add more pasta water to thin sauce).  Stir in cheese.
6.  Transfer pasta to serving bowl, sprinkle with bread crumbs and rosemary, and serve with additional grated cheese. 

We didn't need that anyway!

My streak is over.  I have gone for months and not broken, permanently damage, injured or otherwise harmed myself or others.  However, I suffer from the same monthly weakness that all women everywhere are afflicted with and throw in no sleep and a tiff with the hubby and I am officially dangerous.
Last Saturday I got up early to go work at the produce co-op I am a member of.  The trade off for helping is that you get to have an extra piece of fruit or a veggie.  The work is invigorating especially because it is the cheapest way to buy produce and you feel so darn good about it.  The price is amazing and I revel in frugality.
My son and I got into our van and I started pulling out and realized too late that I had parked over a little too much to the left.  It is amazing how you can normally use multiple parts of your body at one time.  But, when you realize you are going to do something wrong your commitment to isolate the offending body part seems to increase to really drive the point home that damage will be done.  In this case it was my foot on the gas pedal.  I knew I was too close yet I punched it harder and went even faster out of the garage so as to ensure maximum damage.  I am not sure what came over me but it was probably panic. 
My side mirror made a shatter crunch noise and my son looked at me like he was bracing for me to really loose it.  I figured there were worse things going on in the world than me cracking the frame on my mirror so I said, "CRAP!" and sat there for a minute before we went on our way.  I looked at him and reminded him that it is just a mirror and things like this happen.  There is only so much time in this life and I choose not to devote any more of it to this particular incident.  I am happy to say that it was a good lesson for me to teach my son.  You have to pick your battles and decide what you are going to devote energy too.  I can't go back in time and fix the mirror but I can move forward and when we have the money, repair it.
After examining the mirror more closely, I noticed I was able to click it back together and you can't really tell there is a crack there now.  Hurray for small miracles.  The garage door is not damaged either.  So how do I prevent another one of these incidents?  You may think it is don't drive large vehicles when I am crazed to begin with, but I think the take away is simply slow down and pay attention. 
I casually told my husband later that day and then quickly walked away.  I figured if I acted like I didn't care, then maybe he wouldn't either.  It is like ripping off a bandaid, you have to be quick.  He cared, but I wasn't there to witness how much.  He hasn't mentioned it at all since so I figure the issue is officially dead.

Authentic HomemadeTortillas

Last night I attended a Relief Society meeting and learned how to make authentic, traditional tortillas.  This recipe is too good not to pass on.  You will never buy tortillas again!  This recipe can utilize wheat or white flour, what ever you choose.
I made homemade tortillas once and they were an huge failure.  Every time I tried to roll the dough out, it would shrink back.  Last night I learned that the gluten needs to be broken down so that the dough is relaxed enough to roll flat.  When you make up the dough and try to work it immediately, the gluten just develops more, and the process fails.  Any creation you make with dough is about chemistry.  If you follow the chemical process correctly, you will have success every time. 
Try different types of fat in yours.  I like to use my own rendered lard but coconut oil gives it a nice flavor too. 
Thanks for the recipe Leah!
Ingredients:
**3 Cups of Flour-Whole Wheat or Bread Flour or go 1/2 and 1/2 for added nutrients.  The kids will never know!
**1 1/2 Cups of Plain Yogurt at room temperature-I use greek yogurt for a better dough and flavor-Homemade Yogurt
3 T Olive Oil, coconut oil, or rendered lard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
This recipe will make 8-10 burrito size tortillas.

Procedure:  Total time to roll out and cook about 30 minutes per batch.
Combine dry ingredients and wisk together in a mixing bowl-a bowl that has a cover is preferred.
Add oil and yogurt and mix with your hand in bowl until the dough is formed and all the dry ingredients are combined. I mixed my dough in my Bosch mixer and it worked great too and no messy hands.  I used the dough hook.  A Kitchenaid mixer could be used with the dough hook as well.( I find the Kitchenaid really makes short work of mixing.  It also allows you to see if the dough is too sticky.  If it is, add a little more flour until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.  You still want it a little sticky.)
Leave in the bowl and place the cover on it and put it on the counter overnight (12 hours).   If you don't have time to get to the dough right away, then put it in the fridge till you are ready.  Only leave the dough for a day in the fridge.  It becomes too difficult to handle after that because the yogurt cultures continue to break down the gluten in the flour. 

After removing from the fridge, let it sit out on the counter, covered to take the chill off the dough.

 

On a floured surface, roll the dough out like this and then cut into even pieces.  

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to desired thickness and diameter.  I recommend you roll them out very thin. Use about 2-3 oz of dough per tortilla.  The more you make these, you will work out the thickness you like.

-While you are rolling out the dough, heat an electric skillet or a large skillet on the stove.
-Put the rolled out dough directly in the dry pan or on the dry skillet and let cook for about 1 minute on the first side and 30 seconds when you flip it.  I set my skillet at about 375 degrees and after you flip it the tortilla will get large bubbles in it as it cooks.  This is normal.  Don't use any oil.   You don't want them crispy.  You want them to be soft and pliable for use with burritos or soft tacos.  You can fry them after you cook them if you want to have tacos or tostadas.
-Let them cool slightly on a plate on the counter.  As the pile gets bigger I will flip the pile over so the bottom tortillas don't get too soggy and the top tortillas don't dry out.
-When they are almost cooled but still slightly warm, put them in a bag for storage.  The slight warmth will create steam in the bag and the tortillas will soften slightly if they are dry on the edges at all.  

-These can be frozen for later use or used immediately.  Any leftovers will keep in the fridge, but the longer they sit in the fridge the more they will dry out.  I usually leave them on the counter just like I would a loaf of bread.  Refrigeration dries out any kind of bread

**I tried all purpose flour and still struggled with the shrink back problem slightly.  If you use a high gluten flour then the breakdown of the gluten seems to be more effective.  The all purpose flour tortillas still tasted great if that is the only kind of flour you have.

**I tried using the cheap yogurt from the store and found that the dough was extremely sticky and required more flour to roll out. Plain yogurt has a high water content.   Using the Greek Yogurt solved this problem and made yummy tender tortillas.  If you use regular plain yogurt, you will need to strain off as much water as you can to make a thicker yogurt.  Take a large mesh strainer and line it with cheese cloth.  Then set it over a bowl and pour in the yogurt.  Let it sit for about 30 minutes on the counter and the excess water will drain off into the bowl.  You can also gather the cheesecloth up in a wad at the top and twist the top to extrude more water from the yogurt.  Don't twist too hard or yogurt will squirt everywhere.  Now you are ready to use it in the recipe.  
Why go to all this trouble?  Greek Yogurt costs much more than its plain counterpart.  If you want to save some money, go for the cheaper yogurt and drain it.  Anytime you are trying to save money, the trade off is time.  I find it worth it to trade a little time for the money I save.  To really save money, make your own yogurt.  It tastes so much better and is pennies on the dollar to do it.  Homemade Yogurt

Composting is Great

Composting your organic material is a great way to create fabulous soil and not dump more stuff into, well, the dump.  There are several ways to go about composting and many different containers and contraptions that can be purchased.  I have taken the easiest way possible and just devoted a corner of my yard to compost.  Basically, anything you peel, core, stem, etc. from the kitchen you can throw on your pile and let rot into glorious soil.  Also, ashes from a fireplace or outdoor firepit can be tossed on the pile too.  Don't put ashes from those quick burning logs-the chemicals are bad for your organic compost.  Also, any vitamins that have expired or are sitting in your cabinet not being taken can be added too.  They will add additional nutrients to your soil.  Also, add leaves or grass trimmings are good. 
Compost needs to remain moist in order to decompose.  It also needs to be turned and mixed up every five days or so to allow the stuff that is dry on top to mix with the wet underneath.  If it dries out in the summer, just wet it with the hose and mix it up to keep it moist.  As the organic material breaks down you will see the soil develop on the bottom of the pile.  To use the soil, simply separate the larger pieces from the dirt with a rake or pitch fork.  Many of the composting sites I have looked at recommend a two section composting pit.
One side is for the chunks and new additions, the other is for the soil that has broken down and is ready to use.  They build a corral of sorts separating the two sides and use a pitch fork to work the compost and separate it out.  http://www.planetnatural.com/site/buyers-guide.html  This is a good source for composting information. 
Compost takes several growing seasons to really become good soil so be patient and continue working it until you have some nice dark soil to use in your gardening.  If you continue to compost year after year, you can create enough of your own soil to save you money on potting/gardening soil in the years to come.  
** Word of warning:  Compost will attract flies-they are necessary for the breakdown of the material-so make sure you have it away from your house so you don't end up with a fly problem inside.  If you do try the tips in the Pesky Pests section of my blog.http://expandingfrosting.blogspot.com/search/label/Pesky%20Pests

Cooking Pasta Dishes

I never really understood why you add the pasta water to the pasta dish you just finished tossing together.  Now I know.  If you  cook your pasta the way we are supposed to, it should be a little underdone.  Then, before draining it, save 2 cups of pasta water and drain the rest.  As the pasta sits in the strainer, it will continue to cook a bit.  Then as you combine the pasta with whatever sauce you have made up, add the pasta water in small increments and it helps maintain the consistency of the sauce.  If you don't add the water as you toss, the pasta will draw whatever liquid is in the sauce out and dry out your creamy sauce.  You don't need to use all of the water, just use what you need to maintain the integrity of the dish. 

Hamburger Woes

I have been working hard researching where our meat comes from and deciding whether or not I want to continue ingesting the poison the USDA has stamped its approval on.  I recently learned that most of the hamburger sold at grocery stores and to fast food restaurants has a fat component that should have been left on the cutting room floor. 
Following is something everyone should read about.  Our family has made a commitment to never eat at fast food joints again.  We are buying only organic meats and milk, free of antibiotics and hormones.  And we refuse to contribute our dollars to the killing of Americans through horrible diets anymore.
Do the research yourself.  You will be horrified at what you have been thinking was safe all these years.  I have learned that what the food companies have foremost on their agendas isn't the health and well being of the people who consume what they make.  It is their wallets.   I suppose I always knew it, and just didn't want to believe it.  I will eat their food no more!

Would You Soak Your Beef in Ammonia?

March 27, 2010
Salem, Massachusetts

By Inger Pols

---

Stranger than Science Fiction

The Money Trail

The Food-Safety Disconnect

---

When will we realize that while budgets are tight, some savings are simply too costly to justify.

Take this story from the New York Times published in December of 2009.

Once upon a time, there was a beef processing company called Beef
Products Inc. looking to make more money (not unusual). It wanted to find a way to take the fatty meat trimmings (which could only be sold for pet food or cooking oil) and create a product they could use to enter the hamburger business

But the trimmings were susceptible to contamination by E. coli and salmonella, so the company had to find a way to treat the meat scraps so that they would be safe from contamination.

So Beef Products developed a process to treat the meat with ammonia. Yes, ammonia.

Untreated meat has a natural ammonia level that rates about 6 on the pH scale, similar to milk or rain water. But this company found that if they treated the beef with an ammonia process that resulted in changing the pH level to about 10 (an alkalinity that surpasses the range of most foods), they could kill the E.coli and salmonella.


Pink Slime

So the company took their study to the U.S.D.A., which was concerned about E. coli and salmonella. One former U.S.D.A. microbiologist admitted that he and several scientists were concerned that no independent validation of safety had been provided. Another, Gerald Zirnstein said the processed beef looked like “pink slime” and went on to say “I do not consider the stuff to be ground beef, and I consider allowing it in ground beef to be a form of fraudulent labeling.” 

But in the end, the U.S.D.A. not only approved the ammonia-processed meat, they were so pleased with the performance of the ammonia process that they exempted the company from routine testing of the hamburger meat!

A top lawyer and lobbyist for the meat industry argued on Beef Products’ behalf that another company had just received approval to not disclose a chemical used in treating poultry, so therefore this company shouldn’t have to disclose the use of ammonia. He won.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the ammonia process.


The Money Trail

So the Beef Products sold its ammonia treated meat to McDonalds, Burger King and all the other fast food chains, as well as to many grocery stores.

And the Agriculture Marketing Service, the U.S.D.A. division that is responsible for buying food for school lunches, overcame initial objections and decided to use the ammonia-processed meat too because it saved three cents a pound off the cost of making ground beef. Last year, the company sold about 5.5 million pounds of the ammonia-processed meat to schools alone. 

Beef Products, which does not disclose its earnings, generated an estimated $440 million dollars a year in additional revenue from the trimmings previously unfit for human consumption.

And we, as consumers, would probably never have known about this at all, had it not been for a problem.

The ammonia process left the meat smelling pungently of ammonia, even as the company produced a taste test saying that some school children preferred the taste of burgers with more of the ammonia processed meat.

In Georgia, officials returned 7,000 pounds of the meat to the company after smelling a “very strong odor of ammonia” in the meat being used to make meatloaf for state prisons. (They did not know about the ammonia process, because it was not on the label, so they assumed the meat had been tainted.) They noted in their complaint, according to the New York Times, that the “level of ammonia in the beef was similar to levels found in the contamination incidents involving chicken and milk that had sickened schoolchildren.”

Beef Products told the U.S.D.A. that the ammonia-treated meat was safe and when it was diluted with other ground beef. The U.S.D.A. accepted this conclusion, so the company was off the hook.

But others complained about the smell, too.


Vulnerable to Contamination

So the company had to do something and it released new research showing that E. coli and salmonella were undetectable at pH levels of 8.5. That enabled it to reduce the level of ammonia and lessen the smell.  So Beef Products altered the process to lower the pH level, though the company would not reveal to exactly what level.  (Samples that the New York Times collected showed a pH as low as 7.75, below their revised test minimum.)

But in doing so, this left the fatty meat scraps more vulnerable to contamination.

And that is where the company surfaced on the public radar.

School lunch program testing revealed E. coli and salmonella dozens of times in Beef Products’ meat. Back-to-back incidents in August of last year determined that two 27,000-pound batches of the meat were contaminated, but thankfully they were caught before the meat was consumed by school children.

Last July, salmonella concerns resulted in a temporary ban of Beef Products’ meat by school officials in Kansas. It was the third time in three years the company’s meat had been banned. But the processing facility remained open and continued to supply other customers (including fast food restaurants and grocery stores) with meat even though they couldn’t sell to schools during that time.

When the New York Times broke the story and presented the U.S.D.A. with the information, its top officials said that they did not know what their peers in the lunch program had known for years.

The agriculture department responded and revoked Beef Products’ freedom from routine testing. It also reversed its policy about pathogens: Because this beef was supposedly pathogen free, it was not included in recalls, even when pathogens were found in tainted hamburgers!


Food Safety Disconnect: What is Wrong?

While in a way I feel we should cheer that there was a response as a result of the NY Times investigation, it’s clear that there is a disconnect between the various divisions of government, and that this lack of communication and knowledge exchange is hindering public safety.

But more than that, I am concerned that we as a public have become too comfortable with scandal and no longer react.

I am not sure what aspect of this story bothers me most:

The fact that ammonia is being injected into meat;

The fact that the process of injecting ammonia into substandard previously inedible meat makes it then acceptable;

The fact that despite no outside substantiation that this process is safe, it was approved;

The fact that because it is seemingly safe, it is exempt from any further testing;

The fact that this meat is being consumed by school children as part of hot lunch programs in order to save pennies;

The fact that government agencies—and branches of the same agency—don’t talk to each other;

(When that happens in corporations, we consider them dysfunctional and they usually don’t stick around long.)

The fact that the company continued to sell the meat to other customers even after contamination was confirmed by one customer;

That there is no real recourse to be taken against this company and it continues on as before selling its ammonia-laden meat, although now it is no longer exempt from testing;

Or that when all of this comes to light, we read it and move on.

I feel outraged that we are allowing substandard food products to replace real food in our diets. Is this what we want to eat?

Are we OK letting accountants make food decisions, so that saving three cents becomes more important than health and wellness?

It strikes me that it is not dissimilar to the situation in the automobile industry in America. I remember being in a meeting 20 years ago in which there was a discussion on saving a half a cent on a screw that would last through warranty (hopefully) versus spending an extra half a cent for a more expensive screw that would last 10+ years.

It took awhile, but car manufacturers finally realized that they needed to take a more holistic view: That there were other costs associated with choosing the less expensive screw. Things changed when the decisions were no longer made solely by the bean counters.

When will we take a more holistic view of our food choices and realize that while budgets are tight, some savings are simply too costly to justify?

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
2 Quarts or 8 cups of homemade chicken stock http://expandingfrosting.blogspot.com/2010/03/homemade-chicken-stock-and-bouillon.html
1 Quart of water
1 lb of cooked and shredded chicken meat from chicken stock production
Cooked Carrots reserved from when you made the chicken stock or 1 lb of carrots sliced into bite size chunks
5-6 Ribs of raw celery left over from chicken stock production.  Slice into bite size pieces and add to soup.
Salt and pepper to taste
8-10 oz Favorite dry noodle/pasta

Procedure:

Publish Post

Heat liquid on high until boiling.
Add fresh celery and noodles and cook until tender.
Add cooked carrots and shredded chicken
Heat through, add salt and pepper if needed or some of your homemade bouillon if you want more flavor.
Enjoy!

Cooking time is about 30 minutes start to finish if you use left over carrots and precooked chicken from chicken stock production. 

Homemade Chicken Stock and Bouillon

Chicken Stock is a must have in the kitchen and making it fresh is essential for better flavor and healthy eating.  Most chicken stock that can be purchased from the store is not only old, because it has been sitting on the store shelf, but it has mono-sodium glutamate in it or MSG.  This is a nasty food additive that is designed to make otherwise bland food taste better and last longer on the shelf.  The problem is that you compromise on freshness and MSG creates a chemical reaction in your brain that makes you want more and more and more.  MSG also contributes to belly fat and literally makes you fatter, faster.  So, we are trying our best to avoid it at our house.  It can cause a whole host of other health problems and it is worth it to avoid it at all costs. 
The cans that are used to process foods are also questionable.  The inside lining of the can is coated with something called BP-A.  This chemical has been in the news lately because the government is asking water bottle and baby bottle manufacturers to remove it from their plastics.  It causes serious health problems and combined with other chemicals we come in contact with daily, contributes to our overall decline in health.  But, like MSG, it is everywhere and just taking a multivitamin everyday won't make up for the negative impact of these chemicals in our bodies.  
Our ancestors used to make everything from scratch and it was very difficult and time consuming because they lacked modern technology.  We have such the advantage over our predecessors because of advancements in technology in food preparation.  Now, making your own food from scratch is easy and well worth the health benefits not to mention the savings over buying already processed foods.
Homemade chicken stock can be frozen or canned for later use.  I have done both and like them equally.  I will teach you how to freeze your stock in this post and if you want to know how to can it, just send me a comment and I will include that as well.

Equipment

A 16 Quart Heavy bottom stock pot

1 Quart liquid measuring cup

1 Long stirring spoon

Cutting Board

Good Chopping knife

Vegetable Peeler

A 16 quart mixing bowl to hold the strained stock and one smaller for the chicken

A mesh strainer

A soup ladle

Cheese cloth 
Quart size freezer bags

Ingredients

 2 Whole chickens-organic if you can find them

or

2- 4 packs of chicken pieces with the bones and skin on

1/2  bunch of celery

1 lb of carrots, you can use the baby carrots if you don't want to peel and chop carrots.

1 large onion or 2 small onions-choose your own kind of onion, it doesn't matter

2 heads of garlic peeled and smashed

1 generous handful of dried parsley-approximately 1/4 Cup

1 palm full of dried thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

Water

If you only have an 8 quart stock pot, then just cut the recipe in 1/2 or make it in two batches.

Instructions

Add:

1.  Chopped onion.

2.  Peeled and chopped carrots

3.  Peeled and smashed garlic-take the individual clove and smash with the flat side of the knife.  Place the knife flat on the clove of garlic with the blade away from you.  With your other hand flat above the knife, smash it down on the knife with your palm and the garlic will crush down allowing for easier removal of the paper covering.  Do this with all the garlic and add to the pot.  You don't want minced garlic for this recipe, just broken open cloves.

4.  Wash the celery and coarsely chop the celery heart, leaves and all and add to the pot.  5.  Save the remaining outer five or six ribs for chicken noodle soup. The link to the recipe is at the bottom.

6.  Add the herbs.  Cook all of the veggies together to soften just a bit before adding the chicken.

7.  Cut the chicken into pieces.  Don’t throw away any part because you will use it in the stock.  Brown the chicken slightly with all of the veggies about 3-4 minutes, turning regularly

8.  Pour in water up to an inch below the rim. Turn the heat on high to get the water heated up.  Add salt and pepper. 

9.  Turn the heat down to about medium to medium low and let it cook for at least one hour.

10.  After and hour, check the flavor of the stock and add salt and pepper to your liking. 

11.  The stock should be done after 1 hour, check the chicken to see if it comes off the bone easily.

12.  Turn off the heat and remove chicken from pot into bowl and let cool

13.  Strain off stock from the remaining vegetables into the large mixing bowl and put strained vegetables in your compost.http://expandingfrosting.blogspot.com/2010/04/composting-is-great.html

14.  Separate carrots from the strained vegetables and set aside to use in the chicken noodle soup-recipe link follows- http://expandingfrosting.blogspot.com/2010/03/homemade-chicken-noodle-soup.html.  Discard the rest of the strained vegetables.

15.  The stock needs to cool and then be refrigerated so the fat will separate from the stock.  I usually put some plastic wrap over the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight.

16.  The chicken just needs to be removed from the bone, I shred it into medium side pieces and then throw away the cooked bones.

17.  Measure out 1/2 pound to one pounds of meat and store in ziplock bags in the freezer for future use.  They are ready to go when you need chicken for any recipe-enchiladas, chicken noodle soup, etc.

Once the fat has solidified on top of the stock, it can easily be removed and portioned out for bouillon.  There are two ways to store it.  Use ice cube trays to freeze it in or just put all of it into a ziplock bag and freeze as a sheet.  Break off what you need when a recipe calls for chicken bouillon.  I like the ice cube trays because it is a closer measure to a store bought bouillon cube.  Store bought bouillon is seasoned animal fat.  Your homemade version has only the pure ingredients you added and no MSG or other weird chemicals.

The chicken stock is now ready to freeze.  Measure out 1 cup (8 oz) portions into ziplock freezer bags and freeze for future use.  This recipe makes about 12 quarts of stock.  It should last a long time and you have bouillon and cooked chicken ready to go for future recipes.

Oatmeal and Honey Spa Facial Treatment From Your Kitchen

You don't have to spend a lot of money to get great results when it comes to skin care.  There are many foods in your kitchen that will help you retain that youthful glow and very little effort is required.  After some research, I have come up with a great mask for all skin types that helps keep your skin clean and soft.  I have been using it everyday this week to see what kind of results I could achieve.  I really didn't have any expectations and have had to tweak the recipe to get the right consistency for easier spreading.  I have been blown away by the results!  After one week my skin looks cleaner, pores are smaller and my overall color is more even.  I haven't noticed any change in my wrinkles but the clarity of my skin is so much better I don't care.  I figure, with continued use, I could see some improvement in the wrinkles too.
I wear the mask in the morning after I drop the kids off to school.  I put it on and do housework, ecetera.  I keep it on for at least 30 minutes up to one hour.  You can wear it at night too before bed.  Basically, you just want it to completely dry on your face before washing it off.  I correlate it to my shower for easier removal.  For those of you looking for a quick fix for your skin, there is no such thing.  There will always be a time commitment for anything worth while.  And going natural, will always be better than using chemicals. 
I have used this now regularly for a couple of weeks and found that while my skin did feel wonderful after the facial, I noticed it was cleaning my skin so well that I was breaking out.  This is normal when you do facials like this every day.  I have decided to limit it to once or twice a week to keep my skin looking bright and feeling soft but to minimize the breakouts as it pulls all the dirt out.  I also have done it at night and then in the morning and think I prefer doing it in the morning.  For some reason, doing it at night made my skin feel irritated the next day.  However, if I did the facial in the morning, I didn't have those issues.  Hmmm?  
Recipe:
1 whole large egg
1 T Honey
4 Large Capsules of Flax Seed Oil=about 1/4 tsp of oil
   If you don't have Flax Seed Oil, use olive oil.  I have Flax Seed Oil capsules from Costco.  You can find
   it at just about any grocery or natural foods market.
3-4 T Oat Flour-either purchase oat flour or make your own.  Put regular oatmeal in a blender or grain mill and process until it is a fine powder.  You want to get the oats milled as finely as possible so the face mask is smooth, not chunky.  I mix 1 cup of oats to make about 1 1/2 to 2 cups flour and then save it in a small container.
Instructions:
1.  Place a wet washcloth on the counter and then put a small mixing bowl on top of it.  The washcloth provides traction for the bowl so the whisking doesn't move the bowl all over the place.
2.  Mix the egg, honey and flax seed oil together in the bowl with a wisk until well combined.
3.  Put the egg mixture in a tupperware container reserving 1 T in the bowl.
4. To the 1 T of the egg mixture, begin whisking in the oat flour 1 T at a time until the mixture resembles a thick cake batter.  If it is too runny, it won't stay on your face and if it is too thick it will clump up.
5.  Save the remaining egg mixture and oat flour in separate containers for use during the rest of the week.  the eggs should last in the fridge for up to one week, perhaps two.  Don't combine them until you are ready to use them.
6.  Take a one inch pastry brush or flat make up brush and brush the mixture on your face.  Be sure to cover your entire face.  You can go right under your eyes and I also do down my neck.
7.  Let the mask dry on your face completely and then rinse with warm water and a wash cloth.
8.  Let the warm wash cloth loosen the mask before you begin wiping it off.  I find rinsing in the shower with a wash cloth easiest.
9.  Apply your day or night cream after and then make-up if you wear it.
10.  Your skin should feel soft and smooth and the overall tone should begin to even out with continued use.  Your pores will begin to clean out and should reduce in size over time as well.   The jury is still out on the wrinkles, but I will let you know.
11.  These are all natural ingredients and there are no allergy or sensitivity issues with these items.   I don't know if allergies regarding consumption of foods applies to topical applications of the same products.  Only you can decide that.

Produce in Season in May

Black:  These foods are not in season in Utah this month but are in season elsewhere and can be imported from other states.  Red:  These foods are in season in Utah.
Aritichokes
Cabbage
Corn
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Onions
Potatoes
Cucumbers
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Papaya
Pinapple
Asparagus
Arugula
Fava Beans
Radishes
Rhubarb
Spinich
Peas

Produce in Season in April

Black:  These foods are not in season in Utah this month but are in season elsewhere and can be imported from other states.  Red:  These foods are in season in Utah.
Mushrooms
Green Onions
Radishes
Rhubarb
Spinich
Artichokes
Cabbage
Asparagus
Grapefruit
Pinapple
Strawberries
Bananas
Arugula
Peas

How to Prevent the Aluminum Foil from Sticking

Spray the bottom of the foil with cooking spray before covering your cherished cheese covered dish.  When you are ready to unveil your baked creation, the foil will come right off and leave a beautifully melted masterpiece to enjoy. 

Amazing Uses for Coffee Filters

A friend sent me this email about all the wonderful uses of coffee filters.  Be aware, coffee filters are also graded for quality and chemical safety.  If you choose to utilize the food applications for coffee filters, be sure you are getting some that are not chlorine bleached.  This will filter into your food and is not safe for consumption.  I found a website that outlines the safe coffee filters on the market.  I have highlighted the tips that I think are most useful.  The others you can take or leave. 

http://www.greenyour.com/lifestyle/food-drink/coffee/tips/choose-reusable-or-recycled-coffee-filters

COFFEE FILTERS

Coffee  filters .... Who knew!   And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing even the large ones.
1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the  microwave.   Coffee filters make excellent covers.
2.. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome....  Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.
3.  Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.
4.  Filter broken cork from wine.  If you break the cork when opening a wine  bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.
5..  Protect a cast-iron skillet.  Place a coffee filter in the  skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.
6.  Apply shoe polish.  Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.
7.  Recycle frying oil.  After frying, strain oil through a sieve  lined with a coffee filter.
8.  Weigh chopped foods.  Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a  kitchen scale.
9.  Hold tacos.  Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.
10.  Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot.  Line a plant  pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through  the drainage holes.
11.  Prevent a Popsicle from dripping.  Poke one or two holes as  needed in a coffee filter.
12.  Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows?  Use  strips of coffee filters.
13.  Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken  fingers, etc on them.  It soaks out all the grease.
14.  Keep in the bathroom.  They make great "razor nick  fixers."
15.   As a sewing backing.  Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.
16.  Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.
17.  Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.
18.  Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car..
19.  Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.
20.  Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies..  Saves on having extra bowls to wash.
21.  Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.
22.  Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.
23.  Use them to sprout seeds..  Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.
24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers.  Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in  phone book..
25.  Use as a disposable "snack bowl" for popcorn, chips, etc.