Some Oils that I am using now

Gone are the days of "vegetable oil" or "salad oil" and Crisco.

These days I have been using grapeseed oil, avocado oil, olive oil and I just recently purchased Coconut Oil to use instead of Crisco.

The grapeseed oil I like for salad dressings. It gives a nice nutty flavor. We enjoy this with raspberry basalmic vinegar (although apple cider vinegar would be healthier). I also use GSO for cooking for the nutty flavor and also because it has a high smoke point. It is low in saturated fat. One tablespoon has 10 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 3 grams of monounsaturated fat, only 1 gram of saturated fat and 0 grams of trans fat.

Avocado oil has a 'very high burn/smoke point of 520 degrees'. According to the label of Tree of Life brand, it can also be used for body care. Haven't tried that yet, but I know that GSO is also supposed to be good for your skin. In one tablespoon, Avocado oil has 10 grams of monounsaturated fat, 2 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 2 grams of saturated fat and 0 grams of trans fat.

Coconut Oil and other palm oils were once considered the demon of all fats, being mostly saturated, but now it is my understanding that saturated fats from vegetable sources are not the big problem! It is mainly the trans fats that come from the hydrogenation process that is done to make shortening and animal source saturated fats. Coconut oil has 12 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of polyunsaturated fat, 1 gram of monounsaturated fat and zero grams of TRANS fat per one tablespoon serving! The label on my jar of Spectrum organic Coconut Oil also promotes its use for healthy skin and hair.

Breakfast...

Here's a recipe for pancakes. This was an experiment and turned out pretty well, so I had to write it down. That is saying alot, since I have never considered anything but buttermilk pancakes worth bothering with.

1 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo and Fava Flour
1 T. baking powder
1 pinch kosher or sea salt

2 eggs, divided (preferably from your own free range hens).
1 T. Grapeseed oil
1 c. organic milk, more or less, to your desired consistency
A little Agave nectar to sweeten, if desired
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Mix dry ingredients together. Beat egg yolks, oil, and milk together. Blend together with dry ingredients. Beat egg whites to a soft peak then fold into batter. Coat a nonstick pan with a little grapeseed oil and a little butter to help brown the pancakes. Preheat pan to medium or just under medium then use enough batter to make pancakes about 6 or 7 inches in diameter. When lightly browned, turn and brown the other side. Serve with butter, homemade chunky cinnamon applesauce, unsweetened and splurge on a small spoonful of sour cream if desired.

This is grain free, gluten free, sucrose free and tastes pretty great! The grapeseed oil gives a nutty flavor that I like, but any other healthy oil can be substituted. I may try using organic yogurt and less milk in the batter next time.

Orchard Trees

There are a few orchard trees that we need to get planted. It could take some years before certain trees begin to bear very well. The longer we wait to get these in, then the longer it will be before we can enjoy the fruits (and nuts) of our labor! For starters:

Honey Crisp apple,and I would like to try Nova Spy apple,andSundance apple,
Walnuts (Carpathian Walnut, or Heartnut looks like a good possibility...eliminating the need for a Pecan and any other walnut maybe. I will look for the variety 'Walters' Read this article),
Hardy Pecan,
Hardy Almond (Read this article Are the almond and apricot different varieties of the same tree? I always thought the almond was developed from a peach!),
Elberta Peach,
Seedless Persimmon ( Fuyu Jiro Persimmon or Hachiya Persimmon look interesting if I cannot find a seedless),
a Sweet Cherry...

Heirloom Tomatoes

I would like trying mostly Heirloom tomatoes in the garden in 2009. I have grown heirlooms before, but never almost exclusively. I will need to think some more about whether I want to try and save seeds, as I will have a variety and I don't think that I will want to go to the trouble of trying to prevent cross pollination.

Since I am sure that a seed packet will have waaay more plants than I actually need, I may try starting enough to keep and some to sell. This way I can use that money for fresh seeds the following year.

I have grown Brandywine in the past. Last year it was Rutgers, Green Zebra and Old German. I really liked the Old German. It is a great slicing tomato, a very sweet and luscious fruit.

I have a new magazine that gives suggestions as to which varieties to use for which purpose. As soon as I settle on what recipes I will be canning next year, I will decide what seeds to order then.

Tomato- UIUC
Tomato Plant Problems FAQ
Pruning Tomatoes- Fine Gardening magazine

Thinking about what to put by for one year.

Herbs from garden: rosemary, basil, thyme, oregano, garlic, garlic chives, mint, parsley, sage,
vitex, lavender, horehound, catnip, saffron, bay laurel...all dried or frozen.
Find good recipes for rubs, marinades, Bouquet Garni, other various blends...

Applesauce- chunky cinnamon, no sugar added
Apple juice- no sugar added
Apple Pie filling- experiment with agave nectar, stevia
Dried apple slices

Strawberries-frozen whole
Strawberry freezer jam- try using agave nectar
Strawberry-rhubarb pie filling
Rhubarb- freeze
Cherries- B.D.
Raspberry freezer jam- try using agave nectar

Peaches, canned halves, dried
pears, canned halves
persimmons- freeze pulp in pints or dried

Tomatoes-
stewed whole in juice, 15-25 quarts
spaghetti sauce, 15 quarts
puree, 15 quarts
seasoned sauce 7-15 quarts
juice, 36-48 quarts
V-6 +/- (garden juice blend- tomato, carrots, celery, green pepper, onion, parsley)
Ketchup- 6 pints
Chili Sauce-6 pints
Red Hot sauce, (tomatoes, hot red peppers)

Bread and Butter pickles- 6 pints
Grandma’s freezer pickles- 6 pints
Okra pickles-6 pints
Pickled Three Bean Salad-6 pints

How is chutney served? Chow-chow? Victoria Sauce?

Sauerkraut- 6 pints
Freezer slaw-5 pints

Chicken stock- 25 quarts (as much as possible- use old hens)
Beef Stock-25 quarts (as much as possible)
Pork tenderloin
Beef stew meat
Chicken, boned
Beef jerky (use lean cuts, i.e. round, flank or sirloin tips)

Asparagus- frozen pack
Okra, hot pack
Green beans, young whole, hot pack
Green peas, 10-12 pints
Chili con carne
Sweet potatoes- dried
Sweet Potato pie filling, 2-4 quarts

Winter squash- butternut, acorn- season, then preserve whole in cool storage

Using and keeping extra eggs:
Pasta
Lemon Curd

In the spring I will order 15-20 geese, 2 or 3 Kentucky Bourbon Red turkeys, 25 rock-cornish chickens. These will go in the freezer. Also buy a side of beef. Organic, grass fed and finished. If we make it to Alaska this year, we will have salmon and halibut for the freezer. I will also order 3 or 4 white leghorn pullets for eggs.

National Center for Home Food Preservation
Wise Methods of Canning Vegetables- AL Cooperative Extension

The Plan

The goal is to build up my knowledge and skills in food growing, processing for storage and then daily preparation of meals for our overall health. In all the years past I have tried to steer towards a more healthy diet, but have never devoted myself to creating an actual roadmap.

A rough sketch of what I have in mind:

*List my sources for food-
My garden,local farmers' markets, orchards, grocery stores, co-ops

*Think about what kinds of foods I am buying that I should be growing and preserving myself.

*Acquire the tools that I lack to turn my kitchen into a 'Harvest Kitchen':
-another pressure canner, a food mill, many more mason jars; quart, pint, half pint, a large stainless steel stockpot, an harvest table with drawers and shelf, a good quality food dehydrator, food processor, new large stainless steel farm sink, how-to books...

*Renovate the closet by the back door into a functional pantry.

*Install more shelf space and bins in cellar.

*Streamline the information, resources that I have on hand in the form of notes, printouts, cookbooks, recipe cards, etc. Take the tough leap and get rid of stuff that will serve no good purpose for our healthy living goals. Collect tasty and healthy recipes (yes, there are enough tasty AND healthy foods to keep us satisfied).

*Think about how much of each type of preserved foods that I should put up for one year.

*Organize this Blog into seasons. I should be able to refer back to this at any time to remind myself what I should be doing when: browsing seed catalogs, starting plants, harvesting, preserving the harvest, meal planning, etc. I will edit, add, delete any post, at any time as need be without apology.