Salad Dressing

I made a new salad dressing today: tahini, soy sauce, and yellow mustard.  Mix proportions to your liking.  Pretty tasty!

Smoothies

Almond milk in a smoothie just doesn't taste as good as coconut milk in a smoothie.  I need to buy more coconut milk.

Kombucha

I bottled my kombucha!  It's nice and fizzy but little too much vinegar. But I still like :)

Do you ask why a duck quacks?...

Then why ask why a bitch is bitchy.  It's good know who your friends are who your frenemies are.  Here are some more texts from my best frenemy.

Raw challenge: Day 3

Cravings are gone!  And I'm full of energy!  No midday slump after lunch! :) :)

Raw challenge: Day 2

So second day of being raw.  Cravings are gone.  And I was less hungry throughout the day, those I'm starving now, so I guess I should go to sleep, can't feel hungry when you're asleep :)

Raw Challenge: Day 1

I've decided to try to follow a raw diet for a month (who know if I'll even last that long), hence the blender and dehydrator.  Today was day 1.  I succeeded!  I ate a smoothie with coconut milk for breakfast, a Waldorf sans dressing for lunch, lightly dehydrated mushrooms tossed with olive oil, garlic, celery, lemon juice, and topped with a raw marinara sauce for dinner.  I snacked on almonds, raisins, a banana, an apple, and coconut milk.  I'm sooooo hungry.  And I really really want some bread or cheese, or a pizza, or a burger or juicy stake...mmm...stake....

Look what I found...dehydrator recipes!!!

Dehydrator recipes!!!  Pizza, bread, onions, chips!!!!
http://www.nourishingtreasures.com/index.php/2012/10/25/101-dehydrator-recipes-raw-corn-chips/

Blender

I bought the Ninja blender today and made a smoothie.  That thing is loud!!  But powerful!  And I can knead dough too!  It's got a blender, food processor with dough hook, and 3 travel size mugs ^v^

Dehydrator...found and acquired!

I finally bought my dehydrator!!  Looking forward to using it!

Chicago Pizza

Chicago pizzas should not be made in such a way that you can easily, without mess, pick up the pizza with your hand without it falling apart.
http://www.thefrisky.com/2013-06-11/the-8-stages-of-eating-chicago-style-deep-dish-pizza-for-the-first-time/

Dehydrators

I've been thinking about getting a dehydrator for a while now and I think I'll finally take the plunge.  Here's a useful article in case you too are thinking about purchasing one:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/six-top-food-dehydrators-for-every-budget.html

Yogurt 2.0

I just finished making yogurt using my yogurt maker and using the instructions the yogurt maker gave, room temp milk and room temp yogurt.  It tastes pretty good and a hell of a lot easier to clean up, no scrubbing, just washing a mixing bowl.  I think I shall continue making yogurt this way :)

How many pickles did Peter Piper pick?

I made my first batch of lacto-fermented green tomatoes!  They are fermenting as I type and should be ready by Sunday.  I followed this recipe and added garlic, cuz I love garlic :)

Broccoli salad sans mayonnaise

Here's a modified broccoli salad recipe:

Broccoli
Cauliflower
Shredded carrots
Red onions
Crumbled walnuts

Dressing:
Yogurt
Dijon mustard
I'm not a huge fan of Dijon mustard, so I added just a tip of a teaspoon for a slight hint of Dijon taste.  Add mustard to taste.

In a pickle now

I'm thinking of starting pickling.  I'd like to pickle cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, and turnips.  But, I don't want to use vinegar.  Here's a great website for that:
http://www.perfectpickler.com/what-are-brine-pickles/

Here are others:
http://honest-food.net/2012/05/20/pickled-carrots-recipe/
http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/08/how-to-make-pickled-red-tomatoes-canning-summer.html

New England lobster and clam bake

I had make a lobster dinner for someone tonight, and no I didn't lose a bet, so I decided to go all out and have a traditional New England lobster bake.  A few things I found out about lobster while searching for recipes and serving suggestions:

1. Lobster used to be considered a poor man's food
2. As a result many of the traditional side dishes are also poor man's food
3. A New England lobster clam bake is like a good old fashioned BBQ anywhere else in the country
4. Clams are soooo easy to cook!
5. Doing everything at home cost about $20/person
6. I want to do this again!
7. Making a baked potato is really easy too!
8. A large baked potato (pre toppings) can have as many calories as a 6oz sirloin steak

Ok, so here's what I did:

Kombucha

So, a friend is trying to get me into making kombucha now.  So that would be yogurt, cheese, butter, bread, jams, pickles, and kombucha.  I should just go live with the Amish.

Liquid soap

Making liquid soap doesn't seem that hard, maybe I'll try it next month:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Liquid-Soap
http://chickensintheroad.com/house/crafts/how-to-make-liquid-soap/

Home made vs. store bought

Since I my yogurt turned out well and I loved the process, I decided to see what other things I can make at home that would be cheaper than store bought.  Here are some sites with recipes on what to make and how to make them, the vanilla extract was most interesting to me:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2011/11/buy-or-make-what-food-staples-are-cheaper-to-make-at-home/

http://www.rd.com/slideshows/15-foods-you-should-never-buy-again/

http://slowmama.com/fooddrink/make-or-buy/

And this great cheese making website:
http://curd-nerd.com/home-cheese-making-cheaper/

I've made cheese, butter, and bread before.  I think I'll try pickling and preserving.