Thai Coconut Soup

I hosted a Girl's Night at my house the other day.  It was a lot of fun.  There was food, movies, nail polish, games, and drinks all ready (ok, mostly ready) when the ladies arrived.  However, the only thing we did was eat the food, drink water (most of the ladies were pregnant) and talk until midnight.  Next time, I won't have anything else planned but just good food as we all ate a lot.
Here is what my sister made for the evening (as I was busy making Cheesy Potato Soup and Dinner Rolls):

Thai Coconut Soup (also known as Tom Ka Gai)
Warning: I've never measured anything in this recipe and my sister and I make it slightly differently.  Use the recipe as a guideline only.
1/2 onion-chopped
1 garlic clove-chopped
1-2 carrots (depending on the size)  
1/2 cup-red bell pepper-chopped
1/2 of an anaheim chili-chopped  
1 chicken breast
some tofu if you'd like extra protein (don't worry, it won't taste like tofu, it will taste like soup)
2-3 cups chicken stock (or just 2-3 cups of water and 3 t. chicken Better than Bouillon )
1 can coconut milk
dime size bunch of rice noodles
some: salt, pepper, lime juice, white sugar or palm sugar, soy sauce, ginger, and red pepper flakes if you want it spicier
1/4 bunch of cilantro-chopped


Saute the onions, then add the garlic and chicken (maybe with some salt and pepper).  Cook until the chicken is cooked and then remove the chicken breast and chop it .  Add the carrots, red bell pepper, anaheim chili, and chicken stock. Cooked covered until carrots are semi soft (they'll continue cooking as you finish up the soup so be careful not to overcook them).  In the meantime, use another pot to cook the rice noodles according to package directions (you could also use rice if you didn't have rice noodles).  When the carrots are soft, add the tofu, chopped chicken, coconut milk, and noodles.  Now comes the fun part.  Get a tasting spoon ready and taste often during the seasoning of the soup.  Squeeze some lime, 1 T. sugar, 1 t. soy sauce, 1/8 t. ginger, and red pepper flakes if you dare...taste it.  Oh, and don't forget to throw in the cilantro.  Now, maybe it needs some more lime, maybe some sugar, try a little more soy sauce.  Maybe you need some salt or for a richer taste, throw in a little more chicken better than bouillon.  Taste again! Be creative! Throw some more of whatever is your go-to seasoning for fixing soup.  Taste again.  Eventually it will be just the way you like it and you'll eat the whole pot of soup. That's ok; this soup is pretty healthy.
P.S. This is a gluten free recipe and can easily be made into a vegetarian dish as well.

Kombucha Troubleshooting

Its exciting to see other people have fun with microorganisms.  It makes them change their opinion on how weird I might be sometimes with my own bug fun.  However, whenever starting a new hobby there are always questions that need answering.  There is by no mean quantifiable evidence to support these answers but they work for me and hopefully they will work for you too!

Does Kombucha tea have alcohol in it?
-Sorta.  It usually has under 0.5% so it can be considered "non-alcoholic."  If you brew your kombucha tea at home and cover it with a cloth verses an air tight seal, you should have less than 0.5% of alcohol in your tea.  The SCOBY does produce alcohol, but it then changes that alcohol to a healthy acid.  A while ago, there an issue with some commercial bottles exceeding 0.5% and had to be taken off the shelf. 

What do I do if my Kombucha grows mold?
-THROW IT OUT! I'm sorry. I know that is not what you wanted to hear; the truth hurts.

How do I prevent mold?
-Clean everything with distilled white vinegar (not the dishwasher).  Ferment kombucha tea between 70-85 degrees F.  Add a little extra distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar to your batch (I do about a 1/2 cup for 4 gallon batch).

Stay tuned on how to flavor your Kombucha tea!

Its Time for SEEDS!!!!

 Its about 2 months until the frost season finishes at my house and I'm determined to start all my own plants from seeds this year for my garden.  The last several attempts have not been quite so successful.  Apparently even if it is really warm outside (like the middle of summer), small seeds don't like it.  They either get too cold at night or get too hot during the day or get too dried out.  Seeds also like the best soil that you have to ofter them (I'm talking top of the line stuff, not the dirt that's out in your yard).  They are fragile little things and get stubborn when they don't get enough nutrients.  This year I will succeed (and I did)!
Note: Seeds have absolutely no problem sown directly in my garden.  However, by the time the frost season ends and I plant the seeds it is two late.

First of all, I actually bought some organic potting soil.  Potting soil is good for when you actually have potted plants since it has more nutrients than garden soil and will keep your plants nice and happy.
Secondly, I've allowed my seeds to take up residence in the house (along with the beer, kombucha, sour dough, and water kefir).  I found the perfect spot for them by a window that gets sun for at least 6 hours every day.
Thirdly, I have a spray bottle of water right next to the tray of plants, which makes it very convenient to keep the seeds well hydrated.

Things you'll need to start your own plants:
-organic potting soil
-spray bottle (for water)
-plastic cups (the cheapest is the best)
-tray
-seeds
-plastic wrap

Fill a tray with plastic cups, cut a couple of slits in the bottom, and label with a permanent marker.

Organic potting soil ready for use

Fill cups with potting soil and lightly pat down the soil

Follow the directions on the seed packets for how deep to plant the seeds

Spray with water (morning and evening) and keep covered with plastic until the seeds sprout

Yay! Nice and moist. 

The seeds are just starting to sprout, so remove the plastic

Continue giving your plants water, a nice warm place to stay, and love and this is what you'll get after about 3 weeks

Currently I have red winter kale, spinach, sage, romaine lettuce, oregano, and butterhead lettuce ready to go in the ground.  I just planted the seeds for parsley, thyme, dill, lavender, basil, roma tomato, mortgage lifter tomato, cherokee purple tomato, orange sun sweet pepper, and greek pepperoncini.  I have rosemary, lemon verbena, thyme, sage, and mint still alive and beautiful in the garden.  This is a good start but I still have many plants to go, such as: more tomato plants, cucumber, more kinds of bell pepper, serrano chili, and anaheim chili (all of which I'll start as seeds), and zucchini, peas, green beans, sugar pie pumpkins, butternut squash, and maybe some strawberries (which I'll plant directly into the ground).

Whoa! I'll be busy this summer with planting and gardening.  Stay tuned for more tips on Liz's bits about plants!

Cheddar Cheese Sour Dough Bread

Forgive me for not having posted anything about sour dough before.  You probably already know that I'm obsessed with it.  I feed it every day and experiment with it often.  I'm still working on it though.  However, I have to share this recipe because it was soooo delicious.

I followed this recipe:
Night before (or 12 hours prior to the next step):
1 1/4 C. unbleached white flour
1 tsp salt (I like kosher salt)
1/2 C. cool water
1 C. sour dough starter (that has been well fed 8-12 hours prior to making bread)
Mix everything together until it is a stiff glob.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area for 12 hours.

In the morning (or after 12 hours), add:
1 1/4 C. warm water
3 1/2 C. unbleached white flour
Knead the dough until it become a nice ball.  If it needs a little more flour to prevent it from sticking to your hands, do so.  Be careful not to use too much flour as your dough will become stiff.  I tend to add a little bit of flour and the switch to oiling my hands so I can work the dough with ease.  Once the dough is kneaded and in a nice ball, place in oiled bowl and let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours.

After it has risen, flatten dough ball and add:
8oz grated sharp cheddar cheese (the sharpness of the cheese is the perfect match for the sourdough)
a little garlic oil (optional)-I just used a little bit of my favorite garlic garni seasoning 
Roll up dough and shape the way you'd like.  Place on parchment paper or silpat and allow to rise another 1-2 hours.

Here is my loaf ready to bake with a little garlic garni sprinkled on top.

Bake bread in a 425 degree F oven (preheated) for 30-45 min. or until it is golden in color and sounds hollow when thumped.  Recipe yields: 2 loaves (I halved the recipe and made only one).
Enjoy sliced with butter or like I did with jalapeno jelly, muenster cheese, and sliced turkey! YUM!

Time Snapshot:
12 hours
+2 hours for first rise
+2 hours for second rise 
+30-40min bake time
=approx 17 hours (but only about 5 min to prepare each step)

Note: This bread was really good right out of the oven.  However, it became more dense the more it cooled so I'll have to make this again to try and fix that glitch.

Roasted Chickpeas

I've decided that I'm a slow learner.  I have to be introduced to something or told about something many times before I actually adventure out and do it.  Recently, I've been hearing/reading/seeing different posts, recipes, etc about roasted chickpeas.  I think they are going to solve my problem of needing healthy snacks for when I work.  So, I'm finally going to try it and see what happens. 

Here are a couple of blogs I'm going to get my inspiration from:
-Crispy Roasted Chickpeas
-Sweet 'n' Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas

Hope someone else get inspired and makes these!

Beyond your wildest dreams!

No, this is not what you think.  Those are not raisins with white chocolate chips, but rather dried BLUEBERRIES with white chocolate chips.  It all came to me when I open up my pantry and there staring me in the face were both the white chocolate chips (I had bought to make another batch of peppermint bark) and dried blueberries (to throw into homemade granola but never did that either).  In an instant I decided that I had to make cookies. There were no other options.  These cookies almost beat out chocolate chip cookies for me, but for my sister, they won her over and she never looked back.  She even ate one before dinner, so watch out!

White Chocolate Blueberry Cookies

Mix together and set aside for a few minutes so the sugar can dissolve:
1 cup butter (melted)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar

Add (all at once and in this order):
1 tsp. vanilla
1 whole egg plus 1 egg yoke (if you like more cake-like cookies, go ahead and do 2 whole eggs)
2 1/4 cups white flour (sometimes I'll add an extra 1/4 cup, but no more than that)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
a bunch of dried blueberries and white chocolate (to your liking)

Stir until just mixed.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If you haven't eaten all the cookie dough yet, place small mounds of dough on cookie sheet and bake for about 8-12 min (I'm just guessing since I never actually time my cookies).

P.S. I never use more than one bowl and one spoon to make my cookies to save on dishes.  Do likewise and you'll never regret it.