Spice Rack & Bulk Foods

Today I'm going to talk about the secret of my kitchen.  What makes all the delicious meals here in the Busy Beaver Household.

Its the ingredients!

My array of spices, real butter, fresh eggs and other ingredients that I get from Spice Rack & Bulk Foods.
A local dry goods store.

I first saw them at 2nd St. Market, a local farmers market in an old train depot.  They then expanded to a store in my hometown. EVEN BETTER! It's on the way home from work, so I can get any missing ingredients from there on my way home.

Now, I haven't bought traditional store bought eggs in years. In fact, I can't stand the taste of eggs from my grocery store anymore. That's because I've been buying my eggs from Spice Rack, and they are just better!
They are fresher, and I believe they are pasture/grass fed. No matter how they do it, the eggs just taste awesome.

Then there's the butter! Amish roll butter to be exact. I don't know about you, but real butter makes everything taste better.
In fact, I only cook with olive oil and butter. No margarine in this house.

I use instant oatmeal, raw sugar and dried apples from there to make my own instant oatmeal.  This is much cheaper than the packets.

Their quinoa and chia seeds are at the best prices I've seen around town!

There's cheddar cheese powder for popcorn, instant yeast, flour. Anything you could possibly need for baking, even rarer items like arrow root powder.

I won't list every single item, as you can see the list can be quite exhaustive... but I will say, they are my GO TO place for spices and seasoning. In fact we'll be going there soon to get the ingredients for my son to refill his container of baby bam.

Oh! And my 10+ rated bbq  chicken seasoning (per my foodie Aiden) comes from mixing the honey bbq seasoning and rotisserie chicken blend spice together... absolutely delicious!

If you've ever wanted to try to make something you're not familiar with, like curry, you'll find the ingredients there!

Their spices are the freshest and best bargain around! Absolutely perfect for attempting the latest recipe.
They've also partnered with other local businesses to bring fresh bread and pastries and the latest eco-friend gear!

If you're in the Dayton area, definitely check them out! You won't regret it!

Yup! Even Castile Soap!

Cinnamon sticks to stir your hot chocolate!

My son's favorite snack!

Foodie Friday: Meatloaf cupcakes.

Meatloaf is a wonderful tasty dinner, but with just two of us in the household, making a whole one seems such a waste.
So this week I tried something I had heard about.

Meatloaf cooked in a muffin or cupcake pan.

You can also think of this as really big meatballs.
This makes about 6 meat-cakes (I know horrible name, still trying out different options)
1 lb of ground beef/chuck
1/2 package of dried soup mix
1/2 cup of crushed saltines
1 egg

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.  I used my hands to make sure it was well mixed.

Spray the cupcake pan with oil.  I have a wonderful misto oil sprayer.  It uses oil I already have and makes it into a fine mist. The Misto Oil Sprayer!

Form balls out of the meatloaf, large enough to fit into the pan, but not overflow too much.

Next cook at 350 degrees farenheit for about 1/2 an hour.  Adjust cooking time as needed for your oven.

My son was wary at first since it didn't look like normal meatloaf, but once you add ketchup to the plate, it was all good.  1-2 cupcakes as a serving.  I was able to freeze the remaining cupcakes for quick dinners in the future.

CSA Today! 10-2-14

Another wonderful delivery today.  To bad I didn't get home til 730 to open it up.  :) It's been that kind of week. 

Fresh from the farm: Green Beans, Turnips, tomatoes, parsnip, mizuna,beets,  and eggplant!

From wholesale: grapes, oranges, pears and kiwi!

I really don't mind the organic wholesale at all.  It adds a little variety when Ohio has such a picky climate.  Really, where else can I get kiwi?

Plus it saves me a trip to the store for fruit!

I'm going to be selfish and keep those kiwi with me. I'll take them to work and not share with my son :)  (he doesn't care for them anyway).

CSA Today! 9-25-14

I apologize for missing last week.  I had a bad case of vertigo that sent me to bed early.

But back at it again!  Had a wonderful delivery today! 

Fresh From the farm: Pack Choi, Tomatoes, Beets, Turnips, peppers, yellow squash, and arugula!

From Wholesale:  Bananas, grapes and a wonderful cabbage! 

I can't wait to make soup! I love to make cabbage soup! OR even recently I tried some corned beef soup... I'm anxious to give it a try in my crock pot!

I love the veggies I've been getting, but I had so many tomatoes that I couldn't use them all up. I've tossed a few into my compost pile, and tons in the freezer!  I'll have a chance to make tomato sauce this winter.  

I'm glad to see some greens come back into season, and get some variety in the box!

I've never used turnips before, I'll have to think of something to do with them.

CSA Today! 9-11-14

So, I'm guilty.  Guilty of being lazy and letting some of my wonderful veggies go bad.  I've had to throw out 2 little boxes full of tomatoes, because I just couldn't get to them fast enough.  I have even more tomatoes in today's delivery though.  I should be able to use these up. I see more freezer tomato paste in the future. 

Not to mention something with bell peppers in it.

Fresh from the Farm: Tomatoes (LOADS of them), green peppers, gourd, banana peppers, fresh dill and some kind of small dark green melon (watermelon?)

From wholesale: some bananas, and apples!

I at least did manage to use up some zucchini this week!  

I also came up with an ingenious way to get rid of excess veggies!  I had a garage sale last week, and was able to get rid of 3 ziploc bags full of potatoes!  So managed to get rid of veggies I couldn't eat and make money off them at the same time!  I believe the buyer was going to make potato salad.  I should have done that with my tomatoes. :)

CSA Today! 9-4-14

Another week, chock full of activities.  And more wonderful veggies.

Fresh From the Farm:  Radishes, potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, green peppers, hot pepper?, corn and beets.

No wholesale: all fresh farm veggies

So all these wonderful veggies, I vow to use them this week. I feel so guilty about last week's veggies.  I let them sit around the house all week and didn't use them.  My tomatoes started to go bad, my cucumbers did go bad (they were sitting in the tomato juices). I should have used them up, but I was busy with beginning school stuff, and prepping for yet another garage sale, and sending out massive amounts of resume/job applications, in addition to kung fu, and cub scouts.  This is the Busy Beaver mom blog for a reason!

So I vow this week/weekend I'll actually use them. First step accomplished. I put them away instead of just sitting them on the counter. :)

Next step will be tomorrow night. I foresee a zucchini radish tomato saute with some rice or quinoa for dinner before cub scouts.

CSA Today! 8-28-14

Another Thursday, another delivery!

Fresh From the Farm:  Carrots, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes :), and purslane.  I'd heard of purslane, but didn't really know what it was.

From wholesale:  Bananas!  

I needed the bananas. They are a staple in my house.  One of my favorite ways to use overripe bananas is to blend them with a couple tablespoons of honey and then freeze it.  Great for a couple of bites of a sweet frozen treat without the extra calories of ice cream.

I've got to freeze all these carrots, but I forsee lots of yummy carrot soup this winter!

Evidently purslane is wonderful for you, full of omega 3 fatty acids, and vitamins.

I'll have to try it out!

CSA Today! 8-21-14

Another wonderful delivery from my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription with Fulton Farms!

A pint of Tomatoes to anyone who can guess how many tomatoes I now have!
Ha Ha Ha.... Anything to use up some of these tomatoes before they go bad.
We've been eating tomatoes with breakfast, lunch and dinner.  It's AWESOME that I have a son who loves to eat tomatoes raw. I also see more tomato sauce in my future. Maybe I need to start experimenting in making ketchup.

under all those veggies are more tomatoes!

Fresh from the farm:
Corn, carrots, beet, squash, green peppers, green beans, dill, tomatoes, potatoes

From Wholesale: Nothing!  My box was totally full of fresh local produce!

I've learned, that with veggies this fresh, they stay fresh longer than most grocery store vegetables.  However, fresh corn is better used sooner than later.  If I wait a week to eat the corn, it dries out ( I leave it out, not in the refrigerator.)  The pregnant squirrel in my yard loves me right now due to the corn I leave out for them!

My favorite way to prepare fresh sweet corn: shuck and clean the corn, then put the ears on a plate or other microwave friendly dish.  Microwave them for 1 minute per ear of corn. I usually only cook 1-2-3 ears at a time.  This leaves them slightly under cooked, so they are still plump and juicy, but piping hot.

I am definitely building up a freezer stash of carrots for carrot soup this winter!

CSA Today! 8-14-14

It's a wonderful thing that my son loves tomatoes! Seriously, he eats them like you would eat an apple.

This week's delivery was full of tomatoes!

Fresh from the farm this week:  4 boxes of tomatoes, some green peppers, corn, a beautiful zucchini, green beans and a watermelon.

From wholesale: bananas and a few apples.

Then of course I just returned from a short trip to North Carolina and visited a fabulous state run farmer's market.  There I acquired, fresh peaches, blueberries, cantaloupe, and figs.

I have no idea what to do with figs..... I've never had them outside of a fig newton.  But they are fascinating little fruits. I foresee a fig recipe in the future.

Foodie Friday: Let's Salsa!

As I posted yesterday I have a plethora of tomatoes and green peppers.  I managed to find some time today to utilize as many veggies as I could.

You can see in the picture just how many tomatoes, peppers and onions there are. (4 boxes of tomatoes)

So here's what I did to make salsa today.

First the easiest way to skin tomatoes..... heat up some water.  It doesn't need to be boiling, just nice and hot.  Simmer the tomatoes for about 1-2 minutes each and remove the tomatoes from the water and into another bowl.
(You can also submerge them in cold water to keep them from cooking in the heat after you've removed them.)

Next, undress the tomatoes.   Sorry, I just had to say that. It was running through my head while peeling the tomatoes, because the skins came off as easy as taking a t shirt off on a hot day.

I used most of the tomatoes for the salsa, but saved a good amount to make spaghetti sauce as well. (Told you I have a lot of tomatoes!)

*  7 cups of chopped tomatoes
*  3 cups of chopped peppers (all mild- just whatever came in my weekly delivery)
*  2 cups of chopped onions
*  10 chopped garlic cloves

All of these chopped as fine as I could.  My technique definitely improved as I continued to chop.

peppers, onions, garlic (before tomatoes)

Place all ingredients in a pot and cook over low to medium heat.  I don't recommend boiling, but just heating up to incorporate all the flavors  and cook the peppers until soft..

I intended to only cook for about 15-20 minutes, but I went and ate dinner.  So it cooked for about 35-40 minutes.... oops. Like I said though, keep it on low-medium heat.  Luckily it wasn't ruined at all.

 Season to taste. I added the following:  (ALL Measurements are approximate - cooking is always an experiment for me :)  )

*  1 teaspoon pepper
*  3 teaspoons salt
*  1 Tablespoon garlic powder
*  1 small habanero pepper, finely chopped
*  1 packet of domino's red peppers ( you know that stuff that comes with pizza that no one uses :)  )

Looks pretty good if I do say so myself.  I have small canning jars that  I plan to put it in and then freeze. (They are freezable) This is because I'm still not confident enough for true canning.  I can't wait to try this out on chips!

This made about 6 cups of salsa, and took me about 2.5 hours to make.  Most of that time was prepping the veggies....

CSA Today! 8-7-14

This is the first year of having the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) service.  My box of fresh veggies every week delivered to my house is a wonderful sight.

The biggest challenge to overcome, is somehow using them all up before they go bad.

I've managed to freeze, plant, give away or use most of the veggies.  However, some have managed to go bad before I can get to them.

This latest delivery of more peppers and even more tomatoes, wow. Definitely have to make salsa tomorrow, or else I'm going to have a load of rotten veggies on my hands.

One of the tomatoes I received today was as big as a softball, no kidding!

You can see the softball sized tomato in the middle, directly above the squash.

Fresh from the farm: Peppers (not sure how hot), Tomatoes (tons of them- you can see 3 boxes of them inside the picture), squash, onions, dill, carrots, corn, potatoes, beans, and watermelon!

So tomorrow's feature:  Salsa Recipe!

CSA Today! 7-31-14

I'm loving summer! Look at all these fresh veggies from the farm!

From the farm: TONS of tomatoes (3 little boxes), a large amount of mandrake carrots ( I call them mandrake because they look like a pair of legs :)  ), squash, zucchini, onions, cucumbers, beets, dill, green peppers.

From organic wholesale: 3 apples and 4 bananas.

Seeing as I'm getting tomatoes from my own garden this summer as well, and still have some left over, I gave my mom 2 boxes of tomatoes.

Now, beets, I have never been a huge fan of them.  My son loves them though.  So I gave most of them to my mom so she can make pickled beets and eggs for him, while I kept a few to experiment cooking with.

CSA Today! 7-24-14

It's been a very busy week!  We've had cub scout day camp all week, which me as a volunteer , makes for one tired momma by the time I get to sit down.

Regardless, here's today's veggie delivery update!

Fresh From the Farm:  Tomatoes, Carrots, Beets, Corn , cucumbers, zucchini, squash, green beans, a whole bunch of potatoes.

From organic wholesale: Bananas, apples

Once again, way too many awesome fresh veggies for me to use alone.  Time to strengthen the 'ol community and give some extras away!

In addition, I harvested from my own garden as well!

Some hot peppers, purple cherry tomatoes and purple full size tomato.  I have so many tomatoes, they are weighing down my plants and breaking limbs off.  The majority are still green though, since we haven't had our typical July temperatures.  

Things have been so mild, I'm getting another round of strawberries growing!  That is crazy!

CSA Today! 7-17-14

I'm so glad I got the small box of veggies!  With just my son and I in the household, we're having a difficult time eating all these wonderful veggies!  I seriously need to get down to business and make some pickles.

From the farm:  2 bunches of carrots, 2 zucchini, 1 squash, some small onions, green peppers (the small green tomato looking things), cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, and 3 ears of sweet corn!!!

From organic wholesale:  grapes, apples, and bananas.

I still have cucumbers leftover from prior weeks.  Truthfully, lots of veggies from last week. I need to do some serious cooking.   So, I think it's definitely time to make some pickles.

I'll have to be creative using the rest of these in recipes for the next week. :)

Foodie Friday: Cucumber -Chicken Salad with Bacon

Ok, so I'm not one of those people who think Bacon is the end-all wonder food that should be on anything.

But this chicken salad was definitely enhanced by a little bit of bacon :)

I was looking for a light lunch.
A quick inventory of the fridge for ingredients:
*   leftover rotisserie chicken
*   2.5 pieces of bacon leftover from breakfast
*  Some cucumbers that are going bad due to my fridge trying to freeze them
*  Some grapes ( I had to select the good ones, from the ones going bad)
*  and of course ever present mayo/miracle whip :)


So I chopped up 1 chicken breast (approximately 3/4 - 1 cup), added the 2.5 pieces of bacon (crumbled).   I could only use about 1/2 of my small cucumber due to freezing damage.  After removing the seeds, I managed to get about 1/4 cup of chopped cucumber.
Stir in about 2 healthy Tablespoons miracle whip (I use one made with olive oil and I love it).
I sprinkled a tad of garlic powder in for my personal preference, so of course season to taste.
( I LOVE Garlic!)
I added the grapes as a last minute touch, I wanted the burst of sweetness.  So I cut up about 8 small grapes.  Just enough to add oomph to the sandwich, without overpowering it.

This made about 3 sandwiches worth.  I guess I used about 2 Tablespoons of chicken salad on the sandwiches. You could probably stretch it out for 4 sandwiches.... I tend to be pretty heavy handed when making sandwiches.

The taste was a cross between chicken salad with grapes and cucumber sandwiches. Very Nummy!

Then I added a slice of fresh tomato to each sandwich.... absolutely wonderful. Nothing better than fresh veggies of the summer to add to a light summer sandwich.

CSA Today! 7-10-14

The summer veggies are starting to roll in!
Some fantastic zucchini, tomatoes and cucumbers!

still playing around with watermarks.... sorry!

From the farm:  Zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, banana peppers (i think) possibly chili peppers (or very small bell peppers :)  ), kohlrabi, cucumbers, cilantro.

From wholesale:  bananas, grapes, lemons

Why am I still getting wholesale you ask?  To round out the box.  Otherwise I'd have no fruit (other than technically the tomatoes... I know....)

I'm not complaining though, I like the bananas and grapes.  It saves me a trip to the grocery store.

I'm about to start battle on my refrigerator though... it gets too cold and ends up trying to freeze some of these wonderful veggies, thus ruining them.

And where has this summer gone?  I keep meaning to pickle some of these small cucumbers, but I never seem to have any time!  Maybe next week.

CSA Today! 7-3-14

Yipes! It's been a busy week.  Not a pleasant busy week however.... my dog went out and got skunked.  First time too.
So now the whole house reeks.  In case you wondered:  concentrated skunk odor smells like the strongest garlic smell you've ever encountered.... then multiply that by 100, then burn it.  Yup.. uber burnt garlic smell.  Stinks the nose and head.

Thank goodness for cooler than average temperatures, so I could open EVERY window in my house and activate all fans!

But I digress... you're all here for my latest CSA update!

The groceries are booming.  They could use a little rain at the farm (per the newsletter I get each week), but otherwise things are going well.

Fresh from the Farm:  2 bunches of carrots!, 4 large zucchini, 2 summer squash, the first bunch of tomatoes, cucumbers, green onion, fresh basil, kohlrabi

From organic wholesale:  bananas, strawberries, apples, grapes (to add variety)

I actually gave away 1 zucchini, the kohlrabi, and some basil tonight.  I still have 2 large zucchini in the fridge.  Plus I'm growing basil in my garden (although the one from the farm smells delightful).

Tomorrow I plan on giving my mom a bunch of carrots, a zucchini, and some apples.  Its wonderful that there's so many veggies that I just have to share!  That helps build community.

I'm also looking forward to using the strawberries and some leftover blueberries for tomorrow's July 4th!

I did manage to use some of my broccoli before it went bad... just a simple steaming but it makes broccoli wonderful. Although I do cheat!  I just LOVE the ziploc steamer bags.  So easy for any veggie!

Once again, simple shortcuts.  To be eco-friendly, I do tend to use them at least 2 times before throwing them away.... I need to find an alternative way to steam in the microwave. :)

CSA Today! 6-26-14

Whew.  It's been another busy week here in the Beaver household.  We only had 2 weeks to get ready for a garage sale.  Today was the big opening day!

Needless to say, I'm exhausted.  But even though I've fallen behind in posting this week due to garage sale prep... I still want to make sure I update on what I received this week. 

 

Fresh from the farm:  cucumbers, carrots, dill, cabbage, green onion, green garlic, kale, kohlrabi, sugar snap peas, zucchini, squash

Wholesale organic:  apricots, strawberries, broccoli 

I even had extra zucchini on top of my box.  I guess its a good thing I love zucchini and squash.  So many carrots..... guess its time for carrot soup :)

and I can't way to make cabbage soup!  Maybe first thing Sunday, after this garage sale is all over with.

Foodie Friday: Cheese Please!

Ok, so I love goat cheese.  This has been a recent love (last 5 years or so).  But none the less I'm head over heels for that wonderful crumble.
Problem is, its so darn expensive!

So I decided to try a little experiment.  Make my own goat cheese.  :)

Now I've never made cheese of any kind before.... and didn't feel like investing in rennet or cultures.

I did lots of looking online for different recipes, and stumbled upon a couple that seemed rather quick and easy.

So here's my adaptation:

10 cups of goat milk   - Try not to get the ultra-pasteurized.  It will work but evidently regular                                                pasteurized is better. I'm trying for raw next time!
3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (try to get the juice and not the pulp!)

I ran out of lemons just under the mark :(

 So bring the 10 cups of goat milk to approximately 180 F (slowly, don't want to scald it!).  Little simmering bubbles will be forming but it won't be a boil.  I've seen recommendations for using a candy thermometer.  I don't have one so I used a meat thermometer to check to see if I was close to the temp. I tried to take a picture, but the steam kept fogging the lens.  I did this over medium heat, by the way.

Next, add the lemon juice and stir well.  Turn off the heat. I let it sit for about 1/2 an hour after that. I meant to get back to it quicker, but 6 year old boy called. :)

Set up some double layered cheese cloth (or in my case towels) over a colander and set the colander over a large pot.  Pour the liquid into the cloth.  The colander helps keep the shape as you pour.

I have 2 flour sack towels the 1st one is bundled then the 2nd one is wrapped around it.  I let it drain like this for a few minutes while I got a tall pot and a long handled spoon.  If you can, you want the bundle to hang, to allow the liquid to drain.  If you don't have a long handled spoon the colander will work.

I let the whole assembly sit for about 3-4 hours ( once again I was busy with other things).

The bottom of the pot was filled with clear liquid and left behind in the towels was the yummy, crumbly cheese!

I scooped out as much as I could, and put it in the fridge! I left the top off my container so it could dry out just a tiny bit more.  But I did sneak a quick taste.  I even had some store bought crumbles to compare it to.  It isn't quite as rich as chevre, but it was absolutely yummy.

I probably got about 2 cups of crumbles.  1 cup if you really compressed it.

I scooped out about 1/2 a cup of crumbles, and added about 3 tablespoons of honey and mixed well.

On a quick taste it was fantastic, but I'm waiting to put it on some toasted bread.

You can also add salt and garlic and other herbs season as you will.

CSA Today! 6-19-14

Well another fantastic CSA delivery today.

I was very pleased to see some asparagus in this delivery! I can't wait to eat it up! (It's behind the carrots in the picture.)

From the Farm:  Leeks, green garlic, kohlrabi, carrots, sugar snap peas, cabbage, broccoli and kale!

From wholesale: apples, bananas

I shouldn't really complain with how much kale I've been getting.  It will soon be gone with the summer heat moving in.  Then I will miss it.

I'm very happy to see the cabbage though.  I recently ate up the last of my frozen cabbage soup.  And I was wanting to make some more.

Out of our garden this week, we pulled the last of the radishes.  Its been so hot, that they were going to seed.  Most were stunted in growth, but we managed a few good ones.  They were added to the cabbage soup before dinner.

I'm anxious to try kohlrabi.  I've never cooked with it before, so this will be an experiment.