Jul 30, 2009

The "Dog Days" of Summer

Here in WA we've had record breaking temps. It's been miserably hot for us PNW peeps and likely even more so for our furry pets. I have 3 dogs, one who is quite fuzzy and having a hard time in this heat. For a nice cool treat in the summer, I like to buy some organic low-sodium chicken broth (or beef if you prefer) and freeze it in ice cube trays, then store them in a container. The dogs LOVE these and they gobble them up which makes me feel like they are getting more liquids and nice treat they enjoy. We've labled one of our ice cube trays with "C" in permanent marker so that we know that's the chicken tray for the dogs and nothing else. But this isn't necessary.
Another ice cold treat I've made for my dogs are these really great yogurt ice cubes that I found the recipe for in Modern Dog magazine last year. They really like these as well, but they are a teensy bit more time consuming than the broth version. Either one I am sure will get your pups attention. Try it! And if your pets really like them and you want to have a bit more fun, then get one these and freeze them in it.


1 large container of plain yogurt or vanilla yogurt (1 litre/32 ounces)
1 ripe banana
2 tablespoons peanut butter, with no added salt or sugar
 2 tablespoons honey


Blend ingredients, using a food processor or blender. Freeze in ice cube trays, and then transfer to Ziploc freezer bags, for easy storage. A large measuring cup, makes filling trays, cups, or molds, very easy. Frosty Paws are great for teething puppies.


On another note let's not forget that we don't want to cook in the house when it's this hot outside! Because where I live, most of us don't have air conditioning so when it's this hot (which is usually not often, with the exception of this summer) you don't even want to cook something on the stove let alone in the oven. I've been making this recipe for a few years now, and I have to admit the first time I made them I wasn't so sure about these pieces of plain tofu in the wraps. I don't mind tofu mixed into recipes, usually cooked, but plain and cold? not usually what I want. Well, I learned my lesson cause these are SO delicious and perfect for hot summer nights or days. You don't even notice the tofu with all the other textures going on in these wraps. My husband even loves these as much as I, which is even more unusual for him considering the tofu factor I mentioned before.
I usually skip the peanuts, but if you want them throw them in there. Try them, I swear you will probably like them a lot if you like any kind of Asian lettuce wraps, the sauce is outrageously good, and if the kids don't want the tofu, they can skip that part. There's still plenty of good stuff in them.

Vegetable and Tofu Lettuce Wraps with Miso Sambal


In this appetizer, the fresh flavors of the vegetables come alive with the spicy, gingery sambal. This popular Indonesian condiment takes on many variations of the basic combination of chiles, brown sugar, and salt. Prepare a double batch, and serve the extra with fish. The creamy texture of the avocado pieces and tofu slices are a pleasant contrast to the crisp vegetables.


Miso sambal: 
2 tablespoons chile paste with garlic (such as Sambal oelek)
2 tablespoons chopped peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons white miso (soybean paste)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dark sesame oil


Wraps:
1 cup matchstick-cut English cucumber
1/2 cup cilantro sprigs
2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts
1 (12.3-ounce) package reduced-fat firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
1/2 avocado, peeled and thinly sliced
12 large Boston lettuce leaves


To prepare miso sambal, combine the first 6 ingredients in a blender, and process until smooth. To prepare wraps, divide cucumber, cilantro, peanuts, tofu, and avocado evenly among lettuce leaves. Drizzle each with about 1 1/2 teaspoons sambal; roll up.


Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 wraps) CALORIES 106 (51% from fat); FAT 6g (sat 0.9g,mono 2.9g,poly 1.5g); IRON 1.1mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 27mg; CARBOHYDRATE 8.5g; SODIUM 261mg; PROTEIN 5.5g; FIBER 1.5g Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2005


****NOTE I like to experiment with this recipe a little, like trying other veggies in them. I add shredded carrots almost every time, once I sliced fresh snap peas and threw them in the wraps too. Both are great with these!

Jul 23, 2009

Cleaning my Disgusting Refrigerator, the natural way

OK, being a chef at home has many perks for my husband and my dogs... and my friends.. ha ha but one of the not good things is that my fridge is a mess. I hate to clean and after hours of cooking the last thing I want to do is clean the fridge. My husband is fairly lazy about cleaning things himself and he seems to think the kitchen is my domain so he is afraid to throw anything away. This leads to many things lurking in the corners of our fridge for a long time and then the other stuff that drips, sticks and floats around in there after time... well you get the idea, it's not pretty. Not pretty at all.
I've been procrastinating cleaning it, or I should say WE have been but a recent email from the Gorgeously Green guru with a recipe for a natural fridge cleaner motivated me (and if you sign up on her page you get a weekly recipe too!) . I just happened to have the ingredients in my home, but they are surely not hard to find for most people. What i found interesting was that the oils together smelled very similar to pinesol! It was so funny to me, but not as strong smelling and the smell does not linger after you done cleaning.
The other thing is that after 3 hours of cleaning the fridge with this stuff, my husband doesn't recognize our fridge. He said "it's bright and I can't find anything" because so much stuff got tossed, recycled, etc... our fridge is now user friendly to outside world. So I can say with great confidence that this stuff rocks and you should try it. I think they included the tea tree because of the antiseptic properties and I am not sure why the grapefruit is there except on a hunch that it also has them. Either way, try it out, I think you will be very pleased as I was.

FRIDGE CLEANER
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup warm water
1 tbsp baking soda
10 drops tea tree oil

In a large 4-cup measuring jug, combine all ingredients. Simply dip a rag into the fridge cleaner, wring it out and get to work wiping out all those nooks and crannies.

*You will be able to find these essential oils at most health food stores, or you can order excellent oils from http://m1e.net/c?87069779-RmUPGNYGCCJfw%404289599-6IVX3PuBIhvhE

Jul 2, 2009

OK! OKAY!!!

So.....I've been neglecting this place lately. Got too busy in the garden this spring and let it slip....as my etsy stores are closing soon (really they will) I am thinking of transitioning this blog into something of a gardening/cooking/ adventuring blog with a few eco-friendly snippets here and there.... but we'll see I am not making any commitments at this point and I am sure no one is waiting with baited breath or anything fancy like that.....