Jeff's Peculiar Corn and Bean Muffins

I am largely a creature of culinary habit.  I find something that I like, and I stick with it.  For instance, almost every week I prepare a dozen of My Favorite Muffins (see earlier post), and I take a couple to work each day for my coffee break.  I do vary that muffin recipe a bit from time to time, but mostly in terms of what kind of berries I use.

Today I was out of cranberries, and rather than just substituting another berry I decided to go for a more savory muffin.  I assessed what I had on hand, and the recipe below is what I came up with.  They are kind of strange, but I like them.

(I use all organic ingredients, where possible.)

• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 1 15 oz can pureed sweet potato
• 3 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup corn meal
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup dilly beans, chopped
• 3 red pepper stuffed green olives, sliced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine the banana, sweet potato, syrup and vinegar in a medium mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients (I like to use a wire whisk for this).

Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix together.

Fold in the beans and olives.

Spoon into a dozen standard muffin cups (which these days seem to be called "large").

Bake for 22 minutes.

Homemade Mouthwash

Is mouthwash necessary?  Probably not, but I find that I like the clean, fresh feel of my mouth after using it.  I've used a few different natural brands over the years, but recently decided to try making my own.  There were a few reasons that I decided to give this a try:

1. I am gradually trying to reduce the amount of excess packaging in my life, especially plastic packaging.
2. I always read ingredient lists, and even the natural brands tend to include one or more ingredients that I do not recognize and/or have doubts about.
3. It sounded like fun.

So, I bought some lovely 16 oz. glass bottles with secure metal lids, a few essential oils and some xylitol, and proceeded to create my first homemade mouthwash.  (This recipe is based entirely on what I have found that I personally like in various mouthwashes that I've used.  I do not know that, or claim that, it has any particular health benefits.)

• 16 oz. distilled water
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. xylitol
• 5 drops spearmint essential oil
• 3 drops cinnamon essential oil
• 1 drop lemon essential oil
• 30 drops of trace mineral drops

I shook it well and have been using if for the past couple of weeks.  I tend to shake it before each use, but I'm not sure that is necessary.  I was quite surprised to see no signs of separation after the first shake—neither sedimentation of the powdered ingredients nor floating of the oils.

My very first impression of this was, "Wow, cinnamon!"  I find that I like the amount of zing that it has, though.  Also, while I don't think that anyone who is accustomed to standard commercial mouthwash would find this sweet, I'm thinking that I'm going to halve the xylitol in the next batch, because I do sometimes find this notably sweet.

Of my various DIY experiments to date, this one is the least time consuming, and one of the most immediately successful.  What's next?  Maybe mixing my own dentifrice....

Okara, okara...

For some time my soy milk of choice has been Westsoy Organic Unsweetened.  I like the flavor, and the fact that it has no additives.  However, they recently changed their packaging.  They now have an "easy open" spout.  Well, it is fairly easy to open—you twist the cap off and you're done—but it is not a spout that I care for.  If I try to pour slowly and carefully, the soy milk runs down the side of the carton.  If I try to pour less carefully, the soy milk glugs out and splashes all over the place.

Now, my locality does not offer recycling of these aseptic containers.  For that reason and others I've long been thinking that I should make my own soy milk.  The new Westsoy spout (also used by Pacific, another brand which I like) finally pushed me over the edge.  I bought some reusable glass bottles, some organic soybeans, and a Soyajoy G4 Soy Milk Maker.

A few days ago I made my first batch of soy milk.  It was surprisingly easy, and I am satisfied with the results.  There was one thing that I hadn't really thought about in advance, though: okara.

Okara is the soy pulp that is left over when you strain the soy milk.  It is apparently quite nutritious, with fiber and an amino acid profile that is even more optimal than the soy milk (or any tofu that might be made from the soy milk, for that matter).  But what, exactly, should I do with it?

Apparently one thing that you can do with it is dry it and grind it and use it to replace some of the flour in baked goods.  I'll probably try that at some point, but I wasn't ready for my first adventure in drying just yet.  I decided to try using it in some patties for sandwiches.

I mashed some garbanzos, then smooshed in the okara, some peanut butter, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, sesame and sunflower seeds, onion and garlic powder, fresh ground pepper, parsley and some Ozuké Kale & Collards Kimchi (which doesn't taste much like kimchi, to me, but is delicious).  I then formed this mixture into patties and baked them until I thought that they were "done".

The resulting patties tasted great, but were very crumbly.  The greatest care was required to transfer a couple intact from the baking sheet to a couple of toasted slices of bread for sandwiches.  None of the remaining four patties made it off of the pan in one piece.  (I plan to use them as a crumble over rice and vegetables.)

So, my first stab at doing something with okara was by no means a total loss, but I definitely need to work on finding a patty mixture with a better texture, and maybe try cooking them on a non-stick griddle rather than in the oven.

Update, 8/16/2015:  To date, my favorite thing to do with okara is mix a heaping spoonful of it into my morning porridge.  I've not yet had the time and patience to experiment with more burger recipes.  Maybe I'll try adding it to some sort of vegetarian loaf entree next....

My Favorite Muffins

I take some variation of this recipe to work with me daily to enjoy with my morning coffee.  The original inspiration was from a recipe in Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health, edited by Gene Stone: Blueberry Oat Breakfast Muffins by Julieanna Hever, but they morphed quite a bit as I experimented to find my perfect muffin.

Makes 12 standard size muffins.

(I use all organic ingredients.)

• 1 cup whole oat flour
• 1/2 cup whole spelt flour
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1 banana
• 1 15 oz. can sweet potato purée
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp. lemon extract
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a mixing bowl, mash the banana.  Add the sweet potato, maple syrup and extracts and mix together.

In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients (I like to use a wire whisk).  If the banana is particularly large and/or ripe, you might want to increase the amount of flour slightly.

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well combined.

Fold the raisins and cranberries into the batter.

Spoon into 12 muffin cups.  These will come out of a non-stick muffin tin easily with a knife around the edge after a few minutes cooling, though to help contain exploding cranberry goo, I usually line the tin with parchment paper cups.

Bake for 22 minutes.  (Tops should be lightly browned.  Any peaks will be dark brown.)

Allow to cool and firm in the tin for 5 to 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.  (Don't leave them too long in the tin or the bottoms will get soggy from steam.)

Seams, I Have Much to Learn

Last weekend I finally pulled the sewing machine out of the box for the first time.  It is a "Brother XR9500PRW Limited Edition Project Runway Sewing Machine with 100 Built-in Stitches and Quilting Table".  Wow.  I have never seen the show Project Runway.  I did not buy this sewing machine for its very long name.  I purchased it because A) it had a lot of positive reviews online and B) it was inexpensive.

I had perused the owner's manual, and I popped in the instructional DVD for initial setup.  I am not usually a fan of instructional videos, but in this case I found it very helpful.  There were a couple of points during the threading process when I had to refer to the instruction book and view the section of the DVD multiple times before I managed to figure out exactly where to put the thread.  That being said, once I managed to understand, things did make sense, and I gather that this machine has some non-standard features for ease of use (rapid winding and loading of the bobbin, needle threader, etc.).  I have never used any other sewing machine, so I cannot compare, but I suspect that this one, despite my initial struggles, probably is relatively easy to use.

So, once I had the thing threaded I did a little test sewing on an old shirt/rag with fabric similar to one of the shirts that I needed to mend.  Aside from just getting a feel for how the thing worked, I experimented with different settings for the stitch length to match the existing stitching on the shirt.  I thought that I needed a pretty low setting, as the stitches looked very close to me, but I was amazed by how close the stitches were when I set the machine on 1.  There was virtually no space between stitches!  I ended up at 2.5 (which was, perhaps not coincidentally, the default setting).

Once I felt that I had a feel for the process, I picked up the first shirt I intended to mend.  Right, I needed to pin it first.  Okay, fine.  I laid the shirt out, grabbed some pins, did my best to align the yoke and the main part of the shirt, and stuck some pins in it.  Next I needed to decide the best way to get the part that I needed to sew into the machine.  I did not have too much trouble with that.  Then it was time to sew.  I lowered the presser foot, then the needle.  Perfect!  Exactly where I wanted it.  I slowly depressed the foot pedal and fed the shirt through, gradually increasing the speed (though never getting up to top speed) until I got to the end of the part I needed to mend.  Finally, I raised the needle and the presser foot, drew the shirt out of the machine, cut the threads, and turned the shirt over to draw the top thread ends through and tie off.

It was at this point that I realized two things:

First, I had done a poor job of pinning.  The two pieces that I had been trying to align were not quite properly aligned at one point (though close enough that I was not bothered much).  Worse, though, was the fact that there was a third piece of fabric on the inside of the shirt which I should have been lining up during the pinning process, as well, which I had not even noticed!  By sheer luck, I had caught enough of it for it to be secure.  Unlike the slight misalignment on the outside, this would have been clearly visible, but since it is on the inside I decided that it was good enough.

The second thing that I realized was that I had not done a great job of guiding the shirt through the machine in a straight line.  Or, rather, I had guided it in a straight line, just not one which matched the original seam.  The starting point was correct, but the end point was about a millimeter or a millimeter and a half off.  Again, not obvious on casual inspection, so I let it go on this one.

All in all, I was not too impressed with my sewing ability, but was also not too dissatisfied with the results of my first attempt.  Still, I had other things to do, and really didn't fancy re-threading the machine immediately (the second shirt in need of mending needed different colored thread), so I put the machine away at that point.

Yesterday I pulled it out again.  Skipped the DVD this time, but did have to refer to the instruction manual twice to remind myself of one aspect of winding the bobbin, and of how to use the needle threader.  Not bad, next time I will probably remember.

The actual mending job initially looked easier.  This time it was a seam in the right sleeve.  It was actually a double seam, and both had come out for about a three to four inch length, but there was...looking up term...hmm...only finding brand names...an adhesive fabric ironed into the seam that was mostly holding it together still, so no need for pins.

However, I discovered this was not going to be as easy as I thought when I tried to get what I needed to sew into the machine.  That was quite a challenge, but I finally got it (I thought).  I sewed the first seam and removed it from the machine to see how I had done and to tie it off.  The good news was that I had done a much better job than last week of sewing along the line I was aiming for.  The bad news was that I had sewed the opposite side of the sleeve to this seam (closing the sleeve, basically).  I had to pull out four or five stitches from where I had started to free it up, but luckily I had started below where I needed to, so I was still okay.  I took even more care getting the sleeve into the machine for the second seam, and this time it went pretty close to perfectly.

So, not too bad.  I have rescued two fairly new shirts.  I am learning a new skill, and know that I will be able to mend my clothes going forward without too much difficulty.  I still think that it will be a long time before I am ready to try sewing a garment from scratch, but someday....

Cat Cravings, Part 2

It has gotten to the point that my cats get really angry at me if I don't add some sauerkraut to their evening feeding.  I make my own sauerkraut, and my favorite combination is cabbage, carrot and caraway seed.  Ish prefers the cabbage, while Aud loves the carrot—but both will eat either.  They also like it when I drip a little of the brine on their kibble.

Now, I know that the probiotics in natural sauerkraut are great for people, and I figured that they are probably good for cats, too.  But I also know that there are some foods that are good for us, but not for them (such as onions).  So I felt that if I was going to consider making sauerkraut a normal part of the kitty diet in this house, I should do a little research.

I'm happy to report that, so far, I've found no reports of kraut being bad for cats.  I have found numerous sources advocating fermented vegetables for feline (and canine) health.  Here are a couple:

Healthy Pets with Dr. Karen Becker

Pet Grub

The cats roll their eyes at me—they told me that sauerkraut was good for them.  *sigh*

Curious Cat Cravings

You know, one challenge that I never thought about when I decided to start exploring the world of fermentation was...cats.

There are two such beings who share my home with me.  Two young guys who are friendly, active, curious and almost completely recalcitrant.

They always take an interest in where I am and what I'm doing, including when I'm in the kitchen.  Most often, I can convince them that their help is not needed while I'm cooking or baking.  It might take a couple of rapid elevator rides from the counter to the floor, but they are bright fellows, and can take a hint—eventually.

But any cooperation with my desires that they might be willing to entertain is as nothing when compared to their desire to consume ferments.  Let me but take the top off of a jar of developing sauerkraut to press it back down beneath the brine and there is no keeping the cats away, short of locking them out of the kitchen.

Even worse is sourdough starter.  It is, to hear them tell it, the most delicious substance in the universe, manna from heaven, their very life's blood.  Usually when they find themselves locked on the other side of a door from me they might complain briefly, but will quickly settle down.  Not if the smell of sourdough starter is in the air.  In that case, it's meowing, howling, and banging against the door until I let them out.

And the complaints do not stop when I release them—unless, that is, I present each with a smear of sourdough starter on a saucer.  Then, all is forgiven.  They lap it up greedily, then switch saucers, each hoping the other missed a bacterium or two.  I guess that probiotics are good for kitties, too.

These are two of the most affectionate cats I have ever known.  Unlike some who share their homes with cats, I never fear that they will kill me in my sleep.  I know, however, that if I ever deprive them of sourdough, all bets are off.

100% Whole Grain 3 Seed Loaf

Bread is one of those things which, commercially, is not readily available:

1. Vegan (no whey, honey, butter, milk, etc.).
2. Without added oil.
3. Without refined sugar.
4. 100% whole grain.

And, furthermore, it's not easy to find a bread machine recipe which meets those requirements, either.  So bread is one of the things that I've been doing a lot of experimenting with in the last few months.

Before I started experimenting with sourdough (which presents its own challenges for bread machine baking), I was experimenting with yeast breads, and this is, to date, my favorite.  It's good for sandwiches and wonderful sliced thick and toasted.  I've never weighed the loaf, but this must be at least two pounds, maybe two and a half.

• 415 grams water
• 30 grams agave nectar
• 20 grams blackstrap molasses
• 460 grams whole wheat flour
• 237 grams whole spelt flour
• 25 grams vital wheat gluten
• 10 grams salt
• 7 grams active dry yeast
• 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
• 1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
• 2 Tbsp. sunflower seeds

Add all liquid ingredients to the bread machine pan first.

Carefully add all dry ingredients except for the yeast, with the aim of having the flour mostly floating upon the water.

Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the active dry yeast to it, making sure it does not come into contact with the wet ingredients.

Select the appropriate cycle for whole grain breads.  On my machine that is "Regular Wheat".  Start the machine.

When the "Add" signal sounds (or near the end of the kneading cycle, if your machine does not signal for added ingredients) add the seeds.

When cycle completes, turn the bread out onto a cooling rack and cool for at least one hour before slicing.

I allow the loaf to thoroughly cool on the rack and then store it in my counter-top bread bin, where it remains reasonably fresh for up to a week in winter, and for 3 or 4 days in summer.  After those points, if this bread remains unrefrigerated I inevitably see mold develop.

(I prepare this in a Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Breadmaker.)

Accepting Responsibility

I'm not sure where this one's going to go.  The name is inspired by a couple of areas in which I've started experimenting recently—sourdough, sauerkraut and other ferments; and sewing.

The sewing thing is new.  I've always been fine with sewing buttons back on shirts or doing very minor sewing repairs by hand, but lately I've had several shirts that were only a couple of months old lose inches of seams.  Obviously I need to find new brands of shirts to buy, but these shirts were not particularly cheap.  I decided that I needed to learn to re-seam my own shirts, so I bought an inexpensive sewing machine.  Who knows, maybe someday I'll try sewing a garment from scratch.  That won't be soon.

I've had rosacea for a few years, and while I'm pretty much used to it now, I can't say that I would mind if it were to diminish.  So when I saw a reference somewhere, late last summer, to probiotics possibly being good for rosacea, I was perfectly willing to add some kimchi and sauerkraut to my diet and see what happened.  At the very least, I figured, I'd end up with a healthier gut.  Well, I discovered that I love sauerkraut (and I quite like kimchi, too, though in more limited contexts).  I also discovered that buying organic, natural, probiotic sauerkraut is somewhat expensive.  So I started making my own.

Only a short while after I decided to investigate probiotics, Netflix recommended a movie to me called Forks Over Knives.  The summary said something about plant-based diets, a subject which certainly interests me, as I've been vegan for 21 years, and vegetarian for 34 years.  I watched it and was inspired.  It led to me reading The China Study by T. Colin Campbell & Thomas M. Campbell and Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Caldwell Esselstyn.  All of these have a very strong emphasis on health, which is something that has not, historically, been much of a concern for me in my diet.  I also watched another movie, Planeat, which covers much of the same material as Forks Over Knives, but with more of an environmental emphasis, which very much appealed to me.

Anyway, the upshot of all of that is that last autumn I changed my diet.  I started making every effort to eliminate added oils and other highly processed foods (like refined sugar, white flour, etc.) from my diet.  Still vegan, of course, and retaining my strong preference for organically grown produce.  What I found—and I suppose this shouldn't have surprised me—is that this means preparing pretty much all of my own food.  I don't always make everything completely from scratch.  There are packaged organic, whole wheat pastas and a couple of oil-free pasta sauces that work for me, for instance.  By and large, though, I cook a lot, now.

This isn't going to be a cooking blog.  I am no gourmet chef, and my own tastes are fairly simple.  But what I think that I will include here are any successful experiments.  Things that I had trouble finding recipes for, and managed to cobble together myself, to my own satisfaction.  I do not necessarily expect anything that I post here to appeal to you, gentle reader, but perhaps you'll at least find a jumping off point for creating something that you will love.

So I guess that what I'm planning to write about here is accepting responsibility for my own health, for my own food, for my own clothes—for my own life.