This and That

Sometimes I take photos and they never get put into the blog. It happens a lot. Usually I have things to say and the random ones don't get posted. Or they are taken with a post in mind, but then I don't write the post. They eventually get moved into into the old photos folder and forgotten. I was about to do this today, but figured I'd just do a random post. As frankly I have nothing to write about right now. The garden is quiet. All I do is take down the old corn stalks and weed. Ok maybe the weeding is wishful thinking. But I swear I'll get out and do some soon.

This one is for Susie. I told her some days I just want to eat melted cheddar on rye bread. So some days I do. This was dinner. When I go lazy like this I feed my husband a low fat pulled chicken*. I can't eat pulled chicken as I can't eat BBQ sauce. But I always have some in the freezer. I also have premade turkey and bean chili for him. That way when I want what he can't eat, he can eat what I can't eat. It seems to work.

*Pulled chicken is so easy to make too. When I make roast chicken, I roast a couple of extra breasts. Once it is cooked I debone it and toss it into the crockpot with some BBQ sauce. I cook it for a few hours like that. Part way through I pull the chicken apart with a pair of forks. I freeze them in muffin trays which if piled high makes a good serving size. Once frozen I dip the bottom into hot water for a few seconds and they come right out. I store them in a ziplock bag.

I usually make bread one loaf at a time. I use the second pan upside down over the top when it rises to keep it moist. I've never been into the damp towel method as it always sticks for me and my bread might deflate a bit. But now that I can't eat store bought sliced bread (it usually has soy in it which I can't eat), I find that I had better have sliced bread in my freezer at all times. So I've been making the loaves two at a time. I've obviously found other ways to let the dough rise and stay moist. The above method even lets me see how far it has risen which is a bonus.

I make two kinds of sliced bread. One is a 100% whole wheat bread dough (above) which is great with almond butter. Yum. It is a take off on a King Arthur recipe. But the toast with melted cheese on top requires a rye bread, which right now is just 67% whole grain. That one is a take off on Dave's rye bread.

Isn't he pretty? And I'm amazed how well he blends in. I've found quite a few in my garden this year. Most of them are green like the one above, but I saw one that was brown in the corn. I just hope he isn't hunting the bees and wasps above his head on the garlic chive flowers. I know they will eat all bugs, both good and bad. I wish I had the gumption to move him to a place with an aphid problem (do they eat aphids?). But I find him a bit scary as he is so big.