Lentil And Rice Stew

When temps are this low (-12F this morning in Minnesota), a nice, hot bowl of stew helps to keep you warm. There is just something comforting about spooning up that hot stew and tasting all the flavors that come together after cooking for awhile.

While I usually think of stews as having some kind of meat in them, this version is vegan. I do cook a lot of vegan meals because meat tends to be expensive. If you would like to add meat, andouille sausage would be a great addition to this stew. A whole pot of this stew cost me about $1.50 because all the veggies were free.

I had a bunch of veggies that I wanted to use up from last week's load while helping Sister's Camelot and what better to use them in a stew! I just decide to use whatever I had and throw them in the pot. Had two sweet potatoes, carrots, onion and some garlic. A friend of mine had given me some veggie stock last year and I had one more jar so I threw that in. Lentils and rice are always something I have in my pantry. This time, I used some brown lentils, but I also have some green lentils. I wouldn't recommend using red lentils for this stew.



Lentil and Rice Stew

1 cup lentils
1 cup rice (either brown or white)
1 15 oz can of stewed tomatoes
1 6oz can of tomato paste
1 quart jar of veggie stock
3 cups water
1 large onion
1 or 2 sweet potatoes
2 cups of chopped carrots
5 cloves garlic (or to taste)
cumin to taste
turmeric to taste
pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste (optional)

Dump everything into a stockpot and bring to a boil. Lower temperature and let simmer until rice and lentils are done, adding water if necessary. If you like, you can cook this down until it is thick and use as a filling in a burrito.

Free Food

When you don't have much money to spend and you're on a tight budget, you may not get enough fruits and veggies in your diet. That's one of the issues that I'm facing now as it is less expensive to buy a bag of grains that will last a while rather than veggies you need to eat within a week.

As a veggie lover, I make sure to include them in my diet. However, veggies tend to be the most expensive part of my meal. Looking for creative solutions, I was talking with a friend recently and she suggested that I check out Sisters' Camelot in Minneapolis.

Sisters' Camelot collects organic fruits and veggies from distributors and farmers markets and distributes it for free. Yes, organic veggies for free! After they pick the food up, the group of volunteers decide on a place to park their bus and invites people to take what veggies they need.

I decided to check it out, and ended up with a box of veggies to take home! Kale, avocados, lime, bananas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes and green onion and more.

I loved volunteering and it felt good to to help out. I am going to continue to volunteer until I find a full time jobs this will help me to get fresh fruits and veggies.

Beverages In Food Storage

If you had to live off your food storage for a while, it would be a good thing to have beverages included in that food storage, right? Have you ever thought about what beverages would you want to store?

No one wants to just drink water all the time, so it is good to have a variety to drink as well as the variety you store for your food. If I didn't have some of these in storage, I'd mostly be drinking water.

This is what I currently have in my pantry:

Almond Milk: I use this for smoothies, in hot cereal, and "cream" for coffee. I don't generally drink it plain unless I get chocolate flavored.

Coffee: Generally there is not too much coffee in my pantry as I don't want it to get stale. I usually have 2 or 3 cans.

Ginger Soda: I don't drink much soda, but ginger soda is the exception. My favorite is Ginger Ale by Bruce Cost.

Hot Chocolate: Best drink for cold days! Store bought and homemade mix. Also have some "fancy" hot chocolates with flavors, like salted caramel from Starbucks. If it's in my pantry, it will be without marshmallows.

Juices: Mostly organic and in glass. Apple, grape, mango, and more.

Lemonade: In glass. Some Limeade too.

Powdered Milk: Use this in baking and for making my homemade powdered hot chocolate mix.

Tea: I love tea! The more varieties, the better!

Water: Drinking water, distilled, and sparkling water. I used the distilled for use with my neti pot. I use the sparkling water to mix with juice.


What beverages do you have stored in your pantry?

Kimchi Fried Rice And Fermented Foods

One can hardly get bored with food storage when this tasty treat can be made.

Towards the end of the growing season, I was able to buy two napa cabbages for $1 each. I love kimchi and wanted to make some to last the next few months. Perfect timing and price. The spicy, fermented Korean sauerkraut has a flavor that is to die for. At least, I think so.

Fermenting foods is a great way to preserve them and to make some foods edible that wouldn't normally be edible. Wines, Beer, bread, yogurt, various vegetables and shark are all foods that are fermented. Yes, shark. I tried it while in Iceland a few years ago. That is one fermented food that is not for me. It's got to be an acquired taste. Anyway...

Some benefits to eating fermented foods:

• They improve digestion
• Increased vitamin content
• Preserves the food that is fermented
• Increases flavor

While Kimchi is good right out of the fermenting container, I love making fried rice with it. Kimchi fried rice is slightly different than "regular" fried rice in that the egg is fried and placed on top. I love breaking into the yolk and watching it run through the rice and cabbage mixture.

Maybe I will post my recipe for kimchi someday, but for now, I will post my recipe for the fried rice. My recipe is heavy on the onion and garlic, as I like both. This is one serving.

Kimchi Fried Rice

3/4 cup of Kimchi
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp garlic
3/4 cup of day old brown rice
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 egg

Heat 1 tsp olive oil and add onion and garlic. When onion is tender, add Kimchi. Saute for a few minutes and then add rice and sesame oil to pan. Spread the mixture in the pan and let the bottom brown. Using another tsp of olive oil, fry the egg. Place egg on top of the cabbage and rice mixture and enjoy.

Banana Smoothie

After I had opened the carton of almond milk yesterday, I didn't want it to go to waste. And I'm notorious for letting dairy or dairy substitute products go to waste! Milk, butter and cheese are just something I don't use a lot. (If I buy a half gallon of milk, half of it will be sitting in my fridge a month later.)

It's one of the reasons that you'll find me using almond milk a lot. It's something that I can buy, place in my pantry and not worry about it going bad. I just have to remember to use it up within 7-10 days of opening it. 

After such a savory meal yesterday, I was craving something sweet. As bananas are inexpensive, they are one of the fresh items that are almost always on hand in my house. The bananas I have are getting to be too ripe to eat, so a perfect solution was to make a banana smoothie. There is no need to add any sugar to this smoothie, as the bananas and nutmeg are sweet tasting enough.

This was great as a dessert!

Banana Smoothie

2 medium bananas
3/4 cup almond milk
nutmeg to taste
cinnamon to taste.

Cornbread

Black Eyed Peas and Cornbread.

Cornbread goes well with many soups and chilis. I thought it might also go well with the black eyed peas I made yesterday. It will be a great way to use left overs.

In my version, I used whole wheat flour that was milled using a WonderMill. I also used polenta, which is a bit courser than cornmeal and the end product has a crunchy texture. I didn't have any milk on hand, but I did have some almond milk.

Sometimes, it's about using what you have on hand.

If you want, corn kernels and/or jalapenos can be added to the batter. Jalapeno cornbread is so good! I have some jalapenos but I'm saving them to add to venison chili sometime next week.

After pouring the batter, I realized the pans didn't get greased. Luckily, it came out of the pan fairly easily. I ate the cornbread with butter and honey. It turned out great but I would like to find a way to make it without butter.

Polenta, wheat and almond milk. All organic.

Cornbread

1 cup wheat flour
1 cup cornmeal or polenta
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup almond milk (or milk if you have some on hand)
1/2 cup butter

Preheat the oven to 375. Melt butter and let cool for a minute or so. Combine with sugar and eggs and beat until well blended. Add almond milk and baking soda and mix. Add cornmeal, flour, and salt and stir. Pour into a well greased 8X8 pan. Bake for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Black Eyed Peas

A few months ago, organic Black Eyed Peas were on sale at my local co-op. I decided to pick up a 25 lb bag because, well, it was a great price. But here's the thing - I've never prepared black eyed peas before in my life. It's time to find a few recipes and start using them up.

While looking for recipes, I found that there is a tradition to eat black eyed peas on New Years Day as a way to bring luck and prosperity in the new year. Perfect timing as we will be ringing in the New Year in a few days and this is a dish that I will be able to make for a gathering at a friend's house.

Looking at several recipes online, many of them use celery. Yuck. I can't stand celery, so modified the recipes that were found and made my own version. Some recipes also add either salt pork or bacon. Not having any on hand, this version is vegan.

Some people say to soak the beans overnight, but others say you don't have to do so with black eyed peas. I chose not to soak the beans.


 Black Eyed Peas

1 onion
1/2 cup dried bell pepper
1 tbsp olive oil or canola oil
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp black pepper
5 cups water
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups Black Eyed Peas
2 tsp salt


Soak dried bell peppers in water. Chop onion and garlic. Add olive oil to a stock pot. Saute onion and garlic for a few minutes, then add soaked bell pepper. Saute until tender. Add Black Eyed Peas, tomatoes, spices (except salt) and water to stock pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until desired tenderness. Add hot water as needed to keep the beans covered. When beans are tender, add salt (and more spices to taste preference) and cook for a few more minutes.

Serve with brown rice or corn bread.