Lunches this week were mostly soups. I'm slowly using up the cabbage soup that I made last fall. I would happily eat this twice as many times if I had enough in the freezer. Also since it is premade it is an easy lunch. If nothing is in the fridge and I'm starving I can just grab cabbage soup.
Then I made some beef stew with a lot of vegetables from the freezer. In addition to the four cups of frozen veg you see here (grated zucchini, celery, and butternut squash), there were two onions from the garden.
I don't actually add a lot of beef to my stew compared to vegetables. I used a quart of beef stock and a half pound of stew beef. Unlike most people who keep their beef in large chunks, I cut mine into cubes about a centimeter wide. That way I get small cubes of beef in most bites. What gives the most texture to the soup is the mushrooms from the store that I mince up. But even when cooked for about two hours they have a bite to them.
Bean burgers with Boston baked beans, carrots, and pickles. This was the first jar of pickles I opened up and I'm declaring them a success. I used Pickle Crisp (calcium chloride) in my pickles for the first time. I usually don't like home canned spears as they are so mushy, but this worked. They were nicely crisp.
The cashew chicken actually had very few of my home preserved ingredients. Just garlic I think. Oh wait. And celery too.
I'm still working on finding a substitute for tomato based spaghetti sauce. I used a cheesy sauce this time. I love it as mac and cheese, but it didn't hold up to spaghetti. I'm thinking I should just make a batch of mac and cheese and freeze it as i love that. Then I could have it as my pasta when my husband has spaghetti. But he can't have the cheese and I can't have the tomatoes so we just aren't fitting in where pasta is concerned.
And in my attempt to get my husband to eat more salmon I tried making salmon patties for the first time. I fried them in olive oil. Olive oil has a low smoke point so you have to be careful not to get it too hot. But it works well once you learn how to do it - and use very high quality oil. Not adulterated oil. But you can taste if your olive oil is high quality or not. I picked the brand I like by a taste test.
Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to show off, add your name and link to Mr Linky below.
My local hardware store has a huge canning department. They sell a lot of interesting things. The pickles still aren't as good as the refrigerator pickles, but they are decent.
Great looking meals this week! We struggle with mushy pickles too. This year I'm going to try a few can of small whole pickles to see if they hold up better!
I can tell you're a chemist at heart. Discussions of CaCl2 (sorry, no subscript), smoke points, centimeter-sized pieces of beef and the continual experimentation to find a substitute for tomato sauce give you away! (My husband is a chemistry professor and I've taken quite a few chemistry courses).
If we were having a "normal" winter I would be eating a lot of soup too, but I'm in salad mode for lunch now and unless the weather changes significantly I'll probably stay in that mode. On the other hand, it's cool enough at night that we've been having soup/stew type dishes quite often.
I think one of the things I'm looking forward to the most this year is being able stockpile the freezer again. We used to freeze enough tomato sauce to last us all year. I never thought about freezing Asian greens but that would be a good idea too. I make those kinds of soups all the time and they are so simple to make, yet flavorful and hardy.
I loved the article about olive oil. I generally buy it by taste too, because even with the real stuff the taste varies so much. And I had to laugh about the nerdy comment. After years of IT work, I still slash my zeroes and zee's when I write. I know it looks strange but I can't seem to break the habit.
Your beef stew looks like burgoo to me, which is popular around here. It can be made with anything, but the kind I like is more like a stew with veggies and small bits of meat. Some people throw game meat in too, but usually it is beef.
Your meals are very inspirational as usual. Unfortunately, my storage is dwindling and potatoes are sprouting. I can’t wait until we begin harvesting fresh from the garden once again. I will be growing more Chinese cabbage this year since now I know it can be frozen. I can think of so many uses for it in winter meals.
Cabbage soup sounds like a wonderful way to put some of our storage heads to use. We've just started to use our freezer stores in earnest, though we've also plenty still in the root cellar to choose from.
Thanks as always for running Harvest Monday :) I don't often have it together to post on schedule but I managed it this week. Your salmon patties look good -- do you have a recipe or do you wing it?
I'm making recipe, but those two were my first experiments. I found out that my family tends to like the ones seasoned with mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Not the ones with Old Bay Seasoning. I'll be tweeking it until I find out what we like best.
No Harvest Monday entry from me this week, because I didn't harvest anything! I'm concentrating more on plans for the future: got some Broad Beans in; sowed some chillis, prepared a couple of the raised beds, ordered some new Enviromesh... etc
Can your husband not have dairy or is it just cream? I make a delicious spaghetti sauce with zucchini. You slowly fry a chopped onion on a very low heat until it's soft but not brown (I use a mix of olive oil and butter). Then add 2 or 3 grated zucchini a bit of salt and black pepper and a couple of cloves of chopped garlic and cook really slowly until they're soft too. Then finish off with a bit of cream and a few ladles of the pasta water to loosen it. You can add cheese but I like it without.
Great variety of meals! I have never had cabbage soup but yours looks so yummy! Is the recipe for that and your Boston Baked Bean patties on here somewhere? Nancy
Bean burgers: http://daphnesdandelions.blogspot.com/2012/10/preserving-eating-spending.html Cabbage soup: http://daphnesdandelions.blogspot.com/2009/10/chinese-cabbage-soup.html I don't think the Boston baked beans are in my blog anywhere though I could be mistaken.
Hi Daphne, I'm an avid follower of your blog and I thought you might enjoy recipes from another blog I follow. I am not a vegan or a vegetarian but this woman's recipes will appease any foodie. I thought you might like her butternut squash linguine recipe as a substitute for night shades. Here's the link: http://cookieandkate.com/2014/creamy-vegan-butternut-squash-linguine-with-fried-sage/
Nice meals. Glad to learn that the secret to crisp homemade pickle is Pickle Crisp (calcium chloride). Do you get it from the grocery store.
ReplyDeleteMy local hardware store has a huge canning department. They sell a lot of interesting things. The pickles still aren't as good as the refrigerator pickles, but they are decent.
DeleteThe beef stew looks particularly good. I hope your husband liked the patties - I love most types of fish cakes.
ReplyDeleteI love soups for lunches. It just feels right. Lovely dishes this week!
ReplyDeleteGreat looking meals this week! We struggle with mushy pickles too. This year I'm going to try a few can of small whole pickles to see if they hold up better!
ReplyDeleteI can tell you're a chemist at heart. Discussions of CaCl2 (sorry, no subscript), smoke points, centimeter-sized pieces of beef and the continual experimentation to find a substitute for tomato sauce give you away! (My husband is a chemistry professor and I've taken quite a few chemistry courses).
ReplyDeleteI'm not as bad as the rest of my family. As a kid I always saw "water" written as H2O. We are a very nerdy family.
DeleteIf we were having a "normal" winter I would be eating a lot of soup too, but I'm in salad mode for lunch now and unless the weather changes significantly I'll probably stay in that mode. On the other hand, it's cool enough at night that we've been having soup/stew type dishes quite often.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the things I'm looking forward to the most this year is being able stockpile the freezer again. We used to freeze enough tomato sauce to last us all year. I never thought about freezing Asian greens but that would be a good idea too. I make those kinds of soups all the time and they are so simple to make, yet flavorful and hardy.
ReplyDeleteI loved the article about olive oil. I generally buy it by taste too, because even with the real stuff the taste varies so much. And I had to laugh about the nerdy comment. After years of IT work, I still slash my zeroes and zee's when I write. I know it looks strange but I can't seem to break the habit.
ReplyDeleteYour beef stew looks like burgoo to me, which is popular around here. It can be made with anything, but the kind I like is more like a stew with veggies and small bits of meat. Some people throw game meat in too, but usually it is beef.
These look delicious.
ReplyDeleteYour meals are very inspirational as usual. Unfortunately, my storage is dwindling and potatoes are sprouting. I can’t wait until we begin harvesting fresh from the garden once again. I will be growing more Chinese cabbage this year since now I know it can be frozen. I can think of so many uses for it in winter meals.
ReplyDeleteCabbage soup sounds like a wonderful way to put some of our storage heads to use. We've just started to use our freezer stores in earnest, though we've also plenty still in the root cellar to choose from.
ReplyDeleteThanks as always for running Harvest Monday :) I don't often have it together to post on schedule but I managed it this week. Your salmon patties look good -- do you have a recipe or do you wing it?
ReplyDeleteI'm making recipe, but those two were my first experiments. I found out that my family tends to like the ones seasoned with mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Not the ones with Old Bay Seasoning. I'll be tweeking it until I find out what we like best.
DeleteI love soups too
ReplyDeleteSoups and stews are my go to meals most of the time, your beef stew makes me hungry, it looks so delish.
ReplyDeleteNo Harvest Monday entry from me this week, because I didn't harvest anything! I'm concentrating more on plans for the future: got some Broad Beans in; sowed some chillis, prepared a couple of the raised beds, ordered some new Enviromesh... etc
ReplyDeleteCan your husband not have dairy or is it just cream? I make a delicious spaghetti sauce with zucchini. You slowly fry a chopped onion on a very low heat until it's soft but not brown (I use a mix of olive oil and butter). Then add 2 or 3 grated zucchini a bit of salt and black pepper and a couple of cloves of chopped garlic and cook really slowly until they're soft too. Then finish off with a bit of cream and a few ladles of the pasta water to loosen it. You can add cheese but I like it without.
ReplyDelete'Just cheese' rather
DeleteNo saturated fat well not much. So no cream, no butter, no cheese, no red meat.
DeleteHave you tried hummus dip as a pizza topping? Admittedly I always have it with a tomato paste as well but I think it's delicious!
ReplyDeleteNo I've never tried that.
DeleteGreat variety of meals! I have never had cabbage soup but yours looks so yummy! Is the recipe for that and your Boston Baked Bean patties on here somewhere? Nancy
ReplyDeleteBean burgers:
Deletehttp://daphnesdandelions.blogspot.com/2012/10/preserving-eating-spending.html
Cabbage soup:
http://daphnesdandelions.blogspot.com/2009/10/chinese-cabbage-soup.html
I don't think the Boston baked beans are in my blog anywhere though I could be mistaken.
Thanks but when I click on those sites there is nothing there. Nancy
DeleteYou have to cut and paste.
DeleteThanks. Got it! Thought I did that last night but might have done something wrong or maybe computer acting up. Maybe some of both! Nancy
DeleteHi Daphne, I'm an avid follower of your blog and I thought you might enjoy recipes from another blog I follow. I am not a vegan or a vegetarian but this woman's recipes will appease any foodie. I thought you might like her butternut squash linguine recipe as a substitute for night shades.
ReplyDeleteHere's the link:
http://cookieandkate.com/2014/creamy-vegan-butternut-squash-linguine-with-fried-sage/
Enjoy and stay warm!