Salad Shooter - A Review

In a previous life I owned a food processor. It was not the food processor that I would have chosen for myself. In fact, it was supposed to be for my mother-in-law, but when Rat was packing his bags, he couldn't fit it in his luggage, and so I inherited it.

It was nice when I had large shredding or slicing jobs to do, but it was so bulky and difficult to wash that I hardly ever wanted to use it. A lot of things I would rather hand grate than have to pull down that monstrosity of a machine and have it take up one level of the dish washer afterwards. After a couple years of use, one of the plastic pieces cracked and the lid would no longer click in place, so that you had to hold the lid on with one hand when using it. I used it less and less, and hated the space it took up in my cupboard. It got sloughed off in the next move, and I was happy to be rid of it.

However, every time I would make Gajar Halwa (which requires a lot of grated carrot), I would long for some gadget that would make the grating go quicker and less painful. I knew I didn't want another bulky food processor, but all of the mini food processors seemed to only be capable of chopping and grinding; I wanted something that could shred and slice. Finally, I came across the salad shooter. I liked it's small size and that it had multiple discs available that could slice, shred, and even ripple slice.  I got the regular model with the slice and shred cones. I use it mostly for shredding and it has been awesome for making my own hash browns, shredding my own cheese, and shredding carrots for Gajar Halwa. I would like to get the ripple slice cone someday and make my own rippled beet and potato chips. Best of all, the parts take up hardly any room in the dishwasher, and the whole contraption fits in a small kitchen drawer.

Last night, I made Maamidikaaya Annam (raw mango rice) for dinner and fell in love with my Salad Shooter all over again; it quickly shredded the two mangos and a whole coconut.

Save Money on Spices

When I first started cooking for myself in college, nothing burned a hole in my wallet faster than picking a recipe that required me to buy a new spice. And when you are just beginning cooking in life, just about every recipe requires that you acquire a new spice. 

One trick I wish I had known about at the beginning of my culinary endeavors, is buying spices from the Indian store. Indian grocers sell spices in large quantities and for a fraction of the price that you will pay at your local grocery chain store. Spices in Western grocers are generally sold in 1-2 oz bottles, whereas in Indian grocers, they are generally sold in sizes vearying from 1/4 lb to 1 lb, often for the same price that you paid for that measly 1 oz at Star Market or Kroger. I swear Indians must be laughing themselves silly when they see American spices. The downside is not all spices will be available at the Indian grocer, but you can count on Turmeric, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Nutmeg, Mace, Cumin, Mustard Seed, Red Chilis, Fennel, and Fenugreek, among others. Side note: Indians also use a lot of nuts, so this can be a great source for pistachios (pista), almonds (badam), cashews (Caju) and Peanuts (groundnut). 

Another trick is to buy fresh herbs or herb plants from the market and dehydrate them yourself. If you are like me, you find yourself constantly throwing out some slimey parsley or cilantro. Next time throw half of the bunch in the dehydrator right away (you know you aren't actually going to finish it all, don't kid yourself). Often times you can find a potted herb at the store for $2 or $3, so don't spend $4 on that 1.2 oz bottle of McCormick Rosemary, buy the plant and dehydrate your own. As a bonus with perrenial plants, such as rosemary and sage, if you can manage to keep the plant alive you will have a nearly indefinite supply and realize the savings many times over.

Besides the cost savings, there are many other benefits to making your own spices. It allows you to be creative: Buy a chocolate mint plant or pineapple sage plant, dehydrate it, and add it to your arsenal of spices. These spices won't be available from the grocery store and can add a new twist and personal touch to your recipes. Making your own spices also allows you to have fresher and more potent spices. To maintain optimal potency, spices should be replenished every six months. You have no idea how long that ground cardamom has been sitting on the store shelf, make your own and enjoy the freshness. Also organic spices can be difficult to find and expensive to procur. Making your own can save money and keep pesticides off your table.

Sloppy Jill's

I would spend much less time cooking if food manufacturers would quit stuffing everything full of HFC and hydrogenated oils (also artificial flavors and colors, what the hell is Yellow 5 Lake?!).

Lately, I've been doing a lot of back to basics cooking: spaghetti, tacos, stroganoff, etc. One of my favorite dinners is Sloppy Joes. I have fond childhood memories of Sloppy Joes. One of the great things about Sloppy Joes (which I didn't appreciate as a kid) are they are so simple to make. Get your can of Manwhich, some ground beef (which there was almost always some in the freezer), and some buns and you were in business. Some cheese to go on top was also awesome, but not necessary.

Then I became vegetarian, and I had to relearn how and what to eat. The hamburger in Sloppy Joes was replaced with the slightly costlier, but still tasty and convenient Veggie Crumbles (Morning Star being my brand of choice). ***Side note: Light Life Smart Ground does bad things to my digestive tract, I highly advise staying away from that stuff, especially if you are just trying on the vegetarian lifestyle.

Then I decided to try and eat healthier, avoiding HFC and hydrogenated oils. So Manwhich was out the window. I am sure that there is a healthier Sloppy Joe mix out there, but if there is it is not widely and easily available. I did not eat Sloppy Joes for a long time, I just gave the cans of Manwhich the same wistful glances that I had been giving the Smuckers Uncrustables.

Well, after tinkering with various recipes, I have come up with my own version of Sloppy Joes. It's not quite as convenient as using a can of Manwhich, but it's made in a crockpot so it requires little hands on attention. It also freezes well, so you can still enjoy those lazy dinner days.

Ingredients

    8 hamburger buns 

•     8 oz cheddar cheese (optional), shredded 
•     pickles (optional) 
•     1 Onion 
•     1 Bell Pepper 
•     1 cup TVP 
•     1 1/2 cup Vegetable Broth 
•     8 0z Tomato Sauce 
•     3 oz tomato paste 
•     1 T Brown Sugar 
•     1 T Onion Powder 
•     1 tsp Salt 
•     1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes 
•     1/2 tsp Garlic 
•     1/4 tsp Celery Seed 
•     1/4 tsp Chilli Powder 
•     1/4 tsp Mustard 

 

Directions

 

Finely chop onion and bell pepper.

Sauté onion and bell pepper in oil over medium heat for about five minutes.

Add all ingredients to crock pot, stir and cook on high 3-4 hrs.

Scoop filling on toasted buns and top with shredded cheddar and pickles if desired.

Old-Fashioned Marshmallows, Take One

Marshmallows, much like soda, used to have medicinal value. They were recommended to soothe a sore throat and treat coughs and heartburn.  And that's because they had marshmallow root in them.

Today's marshmallows, not only are missing their namesake ingredient, but additionally contain corn syrup, modified corn starch, and artificial flavors and colors (Blue 1, yum yum).

Even the vegan marshmallows like Dandies and Sweet & Sara contain corn syrup and don't appear to contain any marshmallow root. Is wanting a marshmallow with actual marshmallow in it asking for too much?

Unable to find authentic marshmallows for purchase, I have thought often about making my own, but I had no idea what besides marshmallow root and presumably sugar would go into an old-fashioned marshmallow. Well, lucky me, I stumbled across New Life On A Homstead's page which has two recipes for old-fashioned marshmallows. Today I attempted to make the second of the two recipes, because I have no idea what tragacanth is (sounds like the name of a Tolkein character)  and it was 13 bucks on Amazon.

The second recipe required: egg whites, vanilla extract, sugar, and ground marshmallow root. my marshmallow root was not already ground, so I ground some up the best I could with the coffee grinder.  

As far as taste, the batter was pretty pleasant tasting. I was a bit worried because if you have ever smelled marshmallow root, it is not the most appeasing of herbs, but the sugar,vanilla and egg whites managed to mellow the mallow.  I think this might make good marshmallow fluff, maybe it could be used in Rice Krispie treats.

Once I started baking, is when the trouble began. First off, the hour of cooking time is definitely over kill.  I think they should probably be pulled out at 20 minutes. I didn't follow the instructions to place the batter by the tsp onto a baking sheet. I just made one gigantic marshmallow because I had seen other marshmallow recipes which baked it as one piece and cut it up afterwards. I also stuck it in a bread pan instead of an actual baking dish because the amount of batter looked rather small and I was worried about my marshmallows being too thin. Next time, I would do an 8x8 baking pan because it seems like it does puff up in the oven. At 20 minutes mine looked like a nice soufflé and smelled amazing, but I was convinced that it had to go longer because the recipe gave a 1 hour cooking time. I pulled mine out after 35 minutes because it smelled like it were burning and it had collapsed on itself.

So they were not bad tasting (Lord Rat even ate some willingly), but they were not like any marshmallow I ever had. We did eat most of it before I could take a picture though. They were thin, a little burnt on top with a bottom layer that was a little gooey. I think the recipe has the potential to be tweaked though. 

Water Kefir

My Water Kefir grains finally arrived March 19th. I was very excited, but after reading the instructions, I realized that they needed to rehydrate in sugar water for 3-5 days. Bummer.

Making water kefir soda is about a four day process. The kefir grains need to sit in sugar water for one to two days. Then the kefir grains are strained from the sugar water solution. At this point whatever flavorings you are using (juice, tea, etc) are added to the sugar water solution. This mixture is bottled and left to sit at room temperature for one to two days. After that it is refrigerated and can be drunk at your leisure. The strained kefir grains are put immediately into a new batch of sugar water, so once you get the process started you will have new kefir soda every one to two days.

I have been constantly making kefir since my kefir grains arrived.  I went with the low end of the rehydration range, only waiting three days before I started making water kefir with them.  In retrospect perhaps I should have waited longer.  I was very disappointed with the initial carbonation results in my first four batches, which were basically no carbonation at all.  Finally in the fifth batch I started having nice carbonation, when I opened the flip top bottles there was an audible pop and the kefir soda foamed up and shot out the top.  From what I have read, it appears kefir grains need to "rebalance" sometimes when they are getting used to a new water supply.

Another thing I noticed is that the first few batches of water kefir had a stronger taste and smell than subsequent batches. I experienced the same phenomenon with my Matsoni yogurt; it tasted a little funky until the fourth batch.  I am wondering if this is always a side effect of reviving dehydrated cultures. 

I have experimented with different flavors. So far the best has been adding Concord Grape juice in a ratio of 1 part juice to 2 parts kefir. The grape flavor covers up the weird kefir taste, and diluting the grape juice mellows the intense sweetness of the grape juice.  I also experimented with "kefir lemonade", by adding the juice of one lemon after the first ferment.  I was not a big fan of this concoction, the lemon did not cover up enough of the kefir taste, but this was one of my earlier batches, so I might try it again now that my kefir grains seem to have mellowed. I read somewhere that prune juice makes a Dr. Pepper like concoction. While pleasant tasting enough, the prune juice kefir in no way tasted like Dr. Pepper to me.  I also tried Grapefruit juice kefir, even though I read that citrus juices in kefir tend to produce weird stringy things. My grapefruit juice kefir did indeed have weird stringy things in it, and I also found that the grapefruit juice did not cover up that kefir taste well either.  I am thinking that cherry juice might work out pretty well, and now that I am getting carbonation I will try ginger ale and root beer soon. Currently I have hibiscus kefir going; it will be ready tomorrow. What is your favorite flavor of kefir?

Whey: Lacto-fermentation Fail

Unfortunately, my ginger bug passed away due to neglect: I forgot to feed it a few times and sometimes just fed it sugar because I didn't feel like cutting up ginger root.  

So, I decided to try making lacto-fermented soda the easy whey (pun intended).  I drained off half a cup of whey from the most recent batch of my Matsoni yogurt (I LOVE Mesophilic yogurt cultures), and added it to some sweetened ginger tea and waited for it to become fizzy.

Five days passed and it did not become fizzy, but it did become moldy. Perhaps I should have sterilized my jars directly before (they were run through the dishwasher, so I thought that was good enough). I had poured the mixture into four different jars and three ended up growing mold in them, which leads me to believe it was a problem with the whey.  Maybe I need to use whey from Bulgarian yogurt?

I did sample some of my concoction on day three even though it was not fizzy, it had a weird milky taste, not just the slight fermented taste that I had ended up with when making soda with my ginger bug.

I may try this experiment again in the future either using different whey or sterilizing the jars directly before.  Anyone have any success with making soda using whey?

I ordered some water kefir grains finally after reading about all the crazy health benefits of kefir, so I will be attempting kefir soda in the next few weeks. Wish me luck!

Fix That Creaky Cabinet

I had a Duh moment today as I was searching for WD40 on Google Shopping Express.  

For months the top pantry cabinet has had an awful creak. During the day, it doesn't bother me that much. However, at night it turns into a loud-mouthed tattle tale, informing everyone in the house if you are doing any late night snacking. 

Creaky hinge. I knew what I needed: WD40. It was a hard-coded response. I didn't even consider anything else. So, I kept on making mental notes (usually during a midnight cookie forage) to pick up some WD40, but somehow it never made it on to my actual to-do list.

I came this close to ordering some today. Then I started reading over the description, "...harmful or fatal if swallowed..." I shuddered at bringing another dangerous item that I would have to stoway far from the baby. I've had to move all my cleaning supplies from under the sink to the top cabinets. I use mostly natural cleaning products, but I still think it's not good if you chug down a bottle of Mrs. Meyers.

Anyway, I thought about it, and I'm like it's just a fine mist of oil.... I have oil...in fact, I have a Misto! So I got the Misto out of the cabinet and gave it a few pumps and sprayed away at the cabinet hinge. I swung the door open, the creak had notably decreased. A few more sprays and it was gone! Excellent, for a few cents worth of safflower oil, I had saved four bucks and had avoided bringing toxic substances into the home. I felt very accomplished. 

It's interesting to think how many "product needs" are just brainwashed into us. I wonder what else I don't need.