Sour Cream

There are arguments for and against making dairy products that you can easily buy at the store. I can go to the store and purchase organic sour cream that has an appropriate list of ingredients, so why go to the trouble of making my own? Well, a few reasons. The biggest reason is just that I like doing this sort of thing. Making an entire meal from scratch for my family makes me happy. I also like showing my children how food is made and that it doesn't just magically come from the grocery store. Hands on activities like making sour cream are great because the kids have fun, learn something, and the result is a usable product. It isn't yet another piece of construction paper covered with marker scribbles that will end up in the recycling bin.

This is also a project that requires some patience on the part of the kids. This world is filled with instant gratification where we don't always get a lot of chances to learn patience. A project that requires us to wait for results is helpful in learning that good things, such as sour cream, really do come to those who wait. The anticipation and celebration when it turns out that everything went to plan is wonderful. 

Sour Cream

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup buttermilk

Put both ingredients into a jar with a lid then stir or shake it up a bit to mix everything up. Leave the jar out on the counter for about 24 hours. After 24 hours has passed the sour cream will be thick and delicious. Refrigerate to get it nice and cold before dinner and serve. The sour cream will keep in the fridge for a week. 

I have tried making this with 1/4 cup of vinegar instead of buttermilk and did not personally care for the results. It can be done, the taste is just different. 

Tortilla Soup

This is a great soup to make on a day that you have no time to mess around. It is also handy to make a couple of extra batches of and keep it in the freezer. I usually serve this with a quick salad, quiche or quesadillas.

This isn't truly tortilla soup because I don't make the little tortilla strips to add into it. I don't fry because I am pretty scared of getting burned and hate the mess. This recipe makes a spicy tomato soup. You can then add anything into it that you like. I usually have black beans, brown rice and shredded chicken available, but it is also great on it's own. My children love it with a dollop of sour cream and a little shredded cheese.

Tortilla Soup
- 1 jar/can of diced tomatoes
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 red or green bell pepper, chopped (I use frozen bell peppers and just use a handful)
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped (1/2 or none at all if you don't like spicy)
- salt and pepper to taste

In a medium sized pot over medium-high heat start with a drizzle of oil that is your choice. Put in the onions and cook for 2-3 minutes and stir frequently. Add the bell pepper and jalapeno, cooking for another 2 minutes until everything has softened up. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute (don't let it burn). Next add the tomatoes and broth, stir to combine, and then allow the soup to come to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Next pull out your immersion blender and puree everything to the texture of your liking. Alternatively you can use a food processor or blender. Just transfer the soup carefully (it will be hot!) in batches to be pureed.

Taste and season as needed with salt and pepper.

Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, shredded chicken, beans, avocados, lime wedges or anything else hanging out in your fridge.

Ladle into bowls and allow everyone to personalize it with the toppings or add-ins of their choice.

Enjoy!

Making cheese

I love all cheese. Well, all real cheese. Please do not use velveeta, american or cheese whiz around me. Those make me sad. Why eat those when you could be eating gorgonzola? Or a lovely chevre?

No matter how much I may be trying to shed a few of the pounds I have added over the last year and half I will still eat cheese. It is my opinion that food altered to be low fat food is not real, and that if you are trying to eat low fat then you should eat items that are naturally low fat. Fruits and veggies to be specific. I'm a "all in moderation" kind of person. So, we eat cheese.

This is an easy way to start making cheese. A simple cheese that you can easily flavor to lend it to the dish you are making. I love to cook chopped onions, garlic and spinach and mix them in with the cheese. You can then use it has a filling for stuffed shells, lasagna, a pizza pocket, etc.

Here is what you will need:

- 1 gallon of milk. Want to make cheese on a budget? Take a look to see if there are any gallons of organic/hormone free milk on sale because their expiration date is coming up soon. Make a batch when you get home and have lasagna for dinner.
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 2-3t sea salt
- Thermometer
- Colander
- Cheese cloth

This may be the easiest recipe of all time. Start of by pouring the milk into a large pot. I have only ever done this in a stainless steel pot, so that is what I recommend. Add the salt and stir. You can start with just 2t of salt and add more when flavoring the cheese later. Mix the salt well and put the pot on a burner set to medium heat.

When you make a little mess and spill salt while pouring it to measure make sure that you throw a bit of it over your left shoulder before you clean it up:

Heat the milk to 190 degrees, but do so with some patience. You don't want to burn the milk.

Once the milk hits 190 scoot the pot over to the next burner to take it off the heat. Stir in the vinegar and keep stirring until the curds start to separate.

The milk will separate into curds and whey. The curds are the milk solids, the whey is the liquid. The whey will be yellow, don't let that freak you out. Now walk away from the pot for 25-30 minutes. I know, I know - you want to go and stir it and see the magic happen. So do I, and I did the first few times I made it. It didn't cause any ill effects, except that I lost those 25 minutes to looking at a pot of curds and whey :) While you are waiting line a colander with cheesecloth.

After 25 minutes take the colander and put it over a bowl. This is so that when you dump the curds and whey in it the whey will be caught in the bowl. Save the whey for future use in a glass jar. After the majority of the whey has drained off it will look like this:

You can see that there is still whey in there. Pull up the corners of the cheese cloth together and give it a good squeeze. Then hang it from a wooden spoon placed across your pot or from your faucet to let the rest of the whey drip out. It usually takes 20-30 minutes.

I tie mine to my faucet with one knot and then put the ends into a chip clip to keep it from slipping.

After you have let all of the whey drip away you will have a ball of cheese.

Now throw it into a container and stick it in the fridge for eating later. Or, go ahead and mix things into it. Honey and nuts, roasted garlic, mushrooms... really anything goes here.

Food, not food and quiche

First, let me say that my children have eaten more than a few boxes of macaroni and cheese. They have also eaten food from a drive-thru and my daughter will eat any type of candy offered. My son has a slightly more discerning pallet and only likes chocolate candy. That all being said, when I feed my family I try to feed them real food.

But, what is real food? There are a lot of different books, blogs and sites out there with different information on this subject. There is that great Michael Pollen quote "Don't eat anything that your great-great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food". I like the quote but I am not 100% successful in living by it (right now there is an emergency box of macaroni and cheese in my cabinet).

Here is what we try to do in our house: Eat as many veggies and fruits as we can in our diet daily, only eat ethically raised meats, try to use only organic food, make it from scratch if at all feasible, avoid white flour and avoid anything labeled "low fat". Attempting to eat this way is complicated by money. Where I live in Washington state it is much more expensive to eat real food than to go the processed middle of the grocery store route. We are on a tight budget for three reasons: 1) I am staying home with the kids for a year, 2) I am married to a social worker and 3) that social worker I married is the cheapest person you will ever meet in your life.

I feed our family of four on a budget of $100 per week. To make sure that I stay on this budget I use cash. At the beginning of each month I pull my grocery budget out of the bank in cash and put it in an envelope that I keep in the kitchen. If I go over budget then I am dipping into the coming week's money, so I better be sure it is a good idea. There are three strategies that I use to keep on budget:

1 - Meal plan. I know, this is not fun and feels stifling in the creativity department. There are benefits though. You know what to expect through the week and you can set expectations for your family by posting the meal plan. I plan 4 meals per week. The other nights we eat leftovers or whip something up last minute. If I planned more than 4 meals per week we would waste a lot of food by throwing away leftovers we can't through.
2 - Stay on list. I take a list with me shopping and I shop alone. I do not go off list unless I am under budget and there is an amazing sale. I have my list, and pen to check things off, and a calculator or keep a tally going while I shop. Remember, I am on a cash budget. I really don't want to show up at check-out and have to put things back because I went over the $100 I brought with me.
3 - Batch cooking. I read the blogs where people cook a months worth of meals over one weekend and freeze them. I used to dream of being that organized, but that is just never going to happen. I will, however, make a double batch of something when the ingredients are well priced and put one batch in the freezer. I do this for soups, lasagna, ravioli, and pizza pockets in my house. This will help if you are a little over budget on you groceries and need something to help float you on a tight week. It also helps when there is absolutely no way you will have time/desire/ability to cook and still need to feed your family without hitting a restaurant (wouldn't you rather do that when you have a sitter anyways?).

Now that I think about it, if I had to add a fourth strategy it would to by to ALWAYS have eggs in the house. With eggs anything is possible. A poached egg with toast, quiche, breakfast burrito, etc...

So, with that I will leave you with a recipe for my standby quiche. It helps if you make a keep a couple of pie crusts frozen handy for days that you need a quick meal. Add a salad or a bowl of soup for a crowd pleasing supper.

Spinach and Cheese Quiche (a loved flavor combo in my house)
- 1/2 recipe of pie dough (made with white whole wheat flour, recipe to come soon)
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup milk/cream (whatever type you keep in your fridge)
- 1/2lb fresh spinach (or 5 big handfuls)
- 1/2-1 cup cheese. You can do chedder, feta, gorgonzola, parmesan, or whatever else you have on hand.
- Salt and pepper to taste

Make the pie dough. Roll out half the recipe and put into a pie plate. Put the pie plate in the fridge while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.

Start by washing your spinach. Drain off excess water, but don't worry about getting all of it off. Throw the spinach into a pan and put over medium heat. The water on the spinach allows you to skip butter or oil to saute the spinach. If you have dry spinach use a small pat of butter of a drizzle of olive oil to cook the spinach in. Cook the spinach until it has all wilted and remove from pan to a cutting board. Roughly chop the spinach and allow to sit and cool.

In the meantime crack 4 eggs into a bowl. I always add the eggs first in case a bit of shell gets in there. It is easier to fish out the shell when it isn't hidden by the milk. Add milk, salt and pepper. Whisk the ingredients.

Pull the pie crust out of the fridge and sprinkle half the cheese on the bottom of the crust. Next, spread the chopped spinach on top of the cheese then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of the spinach. Finish by pouring the egg mixture on top. Put into an over heated to 350 for 40-50 minutes. I always start checking at 35 minutes so that I don't overcook it. Take it out when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Here is what I love about quiche: you can put anything in there. Broccoli, caramelized onions, leftover taco ingredients... Really whatever is in your fridge. The only thing you really need is a crust, and the mixture of 4 eggs and a cup of milk to pour over whatever you put into the crust.