Melissa Jones

I had some ground lamb on hand, when I found this recipe and remembered the keema from a nearby Indian recipe. My sons ate some, even the peas and veggies, and liked it. It was a bit spicy for my 2 year old, but he didn't complain. It was pretty easy, I simplified the recipe a bit as I have a nice curry powder that includes all the spices from the original version. I had a late start on dinner, after a day of gardening and cleaning, so simple was good.

INDIAN KEEMA
Adapted from COOKS.COM

1 tbsp. macadamia nut oil (was peanut)
3/4 c. chopped onion
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. fresh grated ginger
2 tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1 lb. ground lamb
1 c. tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp. lime juice (I only had lemon, it worked ok)
3/4 tsp. agave nectar (was 1 tsp. sugar)
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional, I added mine at the table)
1 c. peas, fresh or frozen
2 c. cooked rice (basmati)

Saute onion in the oil. Add spices and lamb. When meat is browned, add tomatoes, lime juice, agave and red pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add peas and serve over rice. Serves 4.

My oldest son has been sick this last week, and I haven't been taking care of myself. The result of that is a head cold for myself, and a refrigerator full of good food I neglected to cook yet...until today.

Breakfast Hash:

For breakfast I found a bag of jerusalem artichokes that was crying out to be eaten. I scrubbed them, trimmed off the eyes and cut surfaces, dunked them in lemon water, and sliced them thin with the food processor (they break apart too easily to cut thin by hand, but the food processor did well). I have to confess that this recipe was inspired in part by eating avoids/toxins at PF Chang's in the form of Dali Chicken...which is a bit too spicy for me, but I was intrigued by it, with its thin sliced potatoes that aren't cooked to the soggy stage. So, I tossed the sliced sunchokes (2 or 3 kiwi sized chokes) into warmed olive oil in a frying pan. After a while, when they started to cook through a tiny bit, I added chopped onions, and cooked until it all started to soften. Then I added sliced mushrooms, let them absorb some oil, and added eggs, which I scrambled in with it all. Add red pepper flakes to taste. Once the eggs are almost past slimey stage, add some baby spinach, and cook until spinach is soft. You could add just about any veggie, I used what I had on hand.

Lunch Turkey Noodle soup:

I had set aside the remaining sunchokes, onions and mushrooms, so I used them with lunch. I also had found some yam pasta in the refrigerator section of an asian market. I didn't know what to expect of it, but I had to try it, so I drained and rinsed it, added it to a saucepan with some olive oil, then sprinkled on some ume plum vinegar (one of my favorite new seasonings). Then I added some cubed turkey tenderloin, and let it brown a bit, then added the veggies and some turkey broth. I let it all simmer until I was sure the turkey was done. You can add red pepper flakes to this as well. It cried out for sliced green onions on top, but I didn't have any, fresh parsley would also probably be good. You could use celery instead of sunchokes, and any compliant broth, etc. The yam noodles remind me of the rice sticks in Hawaiian Chicken Long Rice. They don't get as big and soggy, but they're pretty clear. I'll definitely get more of those. My 2 year old likes them too. They also come with seaweed in the noodles, but for my first try, I went for plain.

I like this soup! I guess it's overkill to have a potato and a noodle in the same dish, but they aren't real potatoes or real noodles, both could be considered a vegetable, so I think it works. It would be easier to eat with smaller pieces of jerusalem artichokes.

P.S. if you haven't eaten much inulin or jerusalem artichokes before, you may not want to eat it twice in the first day as it can cause gas initially.

Today I picked up my first bulk shipment from Azure Standard. They deliver by freight truck to most of the western US, and UPS many of their items nationwide. The prices are good, and the delivery fee is quite small, compared to shipping by UPS, which I've done a couple times.

My husband gave me a bigger grocery budget this month, to stock up on a few things. With 3 out of 4 of us requiring special GF diets, we don't want to be left at the mercy of others or the government if there were a shortage or natural disaster. They don't often distribute gluten free MREs We hadn't beefed up our storage for almost 10 years.

The other benefit of ordering in bulk is the prices. My boy's favorite GF bread was about half the price per loaf that the HFS charges. So, if you know what you like and what you'll eat, buying in bulk is a great option. Just make sure you like it first, as you don't want a case of something you don't end up liking.

Amazon.com also has some good bulk deals, and you can often get free shipping.

Now I just need to make sure I use (rotate) it, especially the brown rice that has the shortest shelf life. I also got large bags of whole quinoa, teff and millet. More baking lies in my future! My husband tried steamed quinoa at Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco, and he liked it, so hopefully the boys will like it too.

On Mother's Day I noticed that some of the seeds I planted are starting to sprout! That was a nice way to start the day. I try to just relax on Mother's day and make it fun for my kids. My five year old is old enough to understand it and gave me quite a few little surprises throughout the day. My husband helped our 2 year old to make me a card at church nursery. It was a good day. My biggest and best present was a long nap...just what I always want!

Now my spring garden bed is filled in, and I'm finishing the second bed. I had to dig into the ground a bit for it, to get it level, but it's all put in place now, minus the soil. I'm waiting for a windless day to mix and add the Mel's mix. Today I planted most of the Jerusalem Artichokes on the hill, and saved a few for a couple squares in the second garden bed. I also made it to Ikea to buy some cheap terra cotta pots so I can line up my tomatoes along the slope next to the tall back fence. My heirloom tomato starts are still alive and slowly growing, so maybe they'll do well, I also have some more guaranteed hybrid types to put in, just in case.

I tried some turnip greens from the grocery store today for the first time. I figured I ought to try them if I'm going to be growing them. I like them quite well. They're similar to collards, and more exciting than spinach. They'd be great as a wrap for something like cabbage rolls or Dolma. (I think cabbage and grape leaves are both black dots for gatherers).

I even found some Seven Top turnip seeds at a local nursery, that are solely for producing turnip greens, so that was a nice surprise. I couldn't find them online at the places I was ordering other seeds, so I thought I'd have to compromise and get regular turnip seeds. They'd make ok greens, but I'm only interested in the greens so I'm happy to find some just for greens.

I didn't actually need to order as many seeds online as I did. I've found the variety of seeds in the local nurseries to be quite adequate, and it's easier to tell that it will grow well in my area. Even the grocery store down the street had seeds for Bright Lights Swiss Chard, which saved me a trip back to the nursery after I changed my mind and decided I wanted them afterall. Next year, I'll probably have enough seeds saved from this year (both from the packets I bought and some I'll collect from the plants). I'm keeping them all in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator, so they'll keep well. I had been keeping them in my garage, but the older ones still germinated well.

I've always spent a lot of time analyzing things, trying to figure out why I cheat and eat foods that are in no way good for me. This week I've been reading "Stop Whining, Start Living" by Dr. Laura. I've come to the conclusion, after listening to a caller with a similar problem on her show today, that I am in control of my life and what I eat. Some people just inherently know that, others of us, like myself, forget all too often.

I am in control of what I choose to eat, and my choices will affect the choices my children learn to make... that's a big responsibility. Not to mention the fact that I want to be around and healthy enough to enjoy seeing my boys grow up, and eventually enjoy being a grandma.

I did pretty well today. Honestly, my avoids were 2 grams of avocado, 2 tiny sips of root beer, and 3 grams of dark chocolate. Not too bad, and it'll get better. May the scale be my honest friend again.