Gifts for the Gardener: Seed Starter Set

Recycling is great! But reusing something is even better. So when I stumbled across a link for making your own seed starter pots at You Grow Girl, I decided to adapt it slightly and make some to use and some to give as gifts. This is an excellent project for children.

Now, seed starter kits are not expensive in general. I think I paid $6-8 for mine last year. The problem is that unless you are a commercial gardener, you don't need to start all of your seeds at the same time, but I was forced to use this bulky "greenhouse" kit for several months. These little homemade pots are sturdy and you can use as many/few as you need. They are fully biodegradable and can be planted directly into a pot or the garden.

Step One: Save your toilet paper rolls. I also save the plastic pots and trays for seedlings, so I have one below that we are going to fill up for Grandpa! You could also use/make a box or any container you like.

Simple materials: Scissors, TP rolls, some kind of container

Step Two: Cut each roll in half, then fold in half to crease. Then fold in half again so you make "corners" for the roll.  I flattened each roll twice on the table.

You want a squarish shape.

Step Three: Cut a groove halfway up your pot on each corner and in between each corner.

Ready for folding.

Step Four: Fold each flap down firmly, allowing them to overlap slightly. 

Press well to make a strong crease. This will allow them to sit flat when filled with soil.

Step Five: Flip the roll and push the folded flaps halfway up, allowing them to interlock.  DO NOT USE TAPE!! Tape is not biodegradable. The interlocking design provides all the support these little pots need.

Finished pots, ready to fill.

Step Six: Fill pots with soil. You can buy prepared soil or make your own.  I had a bag downstairs so that is what we used.

A cookie sheet helps contain spills.

Voila! A personal and useful gift for anyone who likes to grow things.

Pancakes for Dinner

Because it's easy, quick, can be made sweet or savory, and fun to make with your kids.

Easy Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour -- I use 1/2 unbleached white and 1/2 white wheat. Feel free to add a Tbsp. or so of flax meal, or tweak to suit your tastes.
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Extras
Fruity: 1 ripe banana, mashed; 1/4 cup applesauce; 1-2 TBSP low-sugar preserves; cinnamon (to taste)
Sweet: Chocolate chips and nuts
Savory: 1 shredded carrot and/or zucchini (squeeze out water before adding); 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions
Heat griddle to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons butter; whisk to combine. Batter should have small to medium lumps. Add "extras" and mix to combine.

Grease griddle. I prefer bacon grease (just a touch), but you can use butter or cooking spray. Pour batter on griddle in the size you want and cook until pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around edges, then flip over. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.

Serve warm with applesauce. For sweet/fruity pancakes add maple syrup; for savory pancakes try a little sour cream and chives on top.

A half-gallon of yogurt is too much!

Peach yogurt made with plain yogurt and Amish preserves.

About a year ago, I happened upon a few intrepid bloggers who had successfully made yogurt at home...in the crock pot.  This idea appealed to me immediately because it meant I did not have to buy a specialized appliance. So, I tried it and it really worked!  The only problem is that a half-gallon of milk makes a half-gallon of yogurt, which is an awful lot to eat in 7-10 days.

Even though I strain half of it to make "yogurt cheese" (can be used as a sour cream substitute), I was still tossing a lot of it.  I'm all for making all-natural, preservative-free, HFCS-free food, but it pains me to throw away food.  It feels actively ungrateful.  So, since I loved the homemade yogurt, I had to make about half as much.

Finally, I bit the bullet and purchased a small, 1.5-quart crock pot to make a smaller batch.  Yes, I realize that I went out and bought an appliance *just* to make yogurt, but at least it can be used for other things.  Incidentally, while reading the reviews, I realized I could also use this to make oatmeal/hot cereals overnight, so if anyone has a wonderful oatmeal/quinoa breakfast, please let me know. 

With the smaller crock, I had to tweak the timing slightly because it heats differently, but basically the milk needs to heat up to 180 (without boiling) and then down to about 112. You can either use a freeze-dried starter or some yogurt with active cultures, either from a batch you've already made or just some Dannon or Stonyfield organic -- as long as it says "with active, live cultures" it will work.  I have used both, but keep some Yogourmet on hand in case we've eaten up all the yogurt.  There will be no further mention of yogurt being allowed to spoil!

Yogurt is easy.  Pour one quart of milk (that's four cups) into the small crock.  One of these days I'm going to start using liters and grams and see if anyone notices.  Turn it on Low for 3 hours, then unplug and turn off for 2 hours.  Remove about a half-cup of milk to mix with your starter.  The Yogourmet is premeasured for one quart.  If using yogurt, use about 1/4 cup.  Whisk those together well, then add back into the crock and whisk well.  Cover and let sit at least 4-5 hours, or overnight.  I did cover the crock with a towel, but I'm not sure it's necessary; I won't use it in the summer.  After it's thickened, refrigerate until cold, then pour off any whey.  If you like, you can further strain with a cheesecloth-lined sieve for a thicker yogurt.  You can also add some powdered milk when you add the starter for a thicker end product.  Experiment!

Line a mesh strainer with cheesecloth, add yogurt and fold remaining cloth gently over the top.  Let sit in fridge for a few hours or overnight and enjoy a thick, Greek-style yogurt that is hard to differentiate from sour cream.

I like to make this in the morning so I can put it into the fridge before bed.  If you're out of the house all day, you can certainly start it when you get home and add the starter before heading to bed...just remember to pop it into the fridge before you leave the next day.

I prefer low-sugar preserves to flavor/sweeten.  Trader Joe's has a great selection and Costco also offers an organic strawberry preserves with only 8g of sugar per tablespoon.  Vanilla is also a popular option.  If it's not sweet enough, I find that agave nectar mixes very easily with the yogurt.  Honey tends to solidify and sugar remains grainy.  

I haven't gone so far as to break down the "cost per portion," because Stephanie already did it! Making organic yogurt was $.02 per portion vs. $.27 per portion for YoBaby....that means YoBaby is almost 15 times more expensive than homemade and you can make it lactose, casein, dairy, soy, gluten, and any other allergen free.

Ruthlessly Purge Your Cookbook

Everyone should have a collection of "Tried and True Recipes"

It's funny how your favorite "go to" recipes can change.  I finally started my own recipe collection a few years ago and it had literally exploded out of its binder of late, despite repeated applications of duct tape.  I had been putting off purging and reorganizing because I couldn't find a replacement binder.  Mine has a little flap on the front that makes it easy to change the "cover page" and I use that to place the recipe I'm using so it doesn't get splatters or spills on it. After approximately two years of fruitless searches in various office supply stores, I remembered that we live in the Age of the Internet and found an exact replacement at Amazon.com.

Wilson-Jones "Smart View" Binder

The last time I reorganized my recipes was four years ago when I recognized a need to move away  from the time-intensive, fancy (and costly) meals that were a hallmark of our days as Childless Newlyweds. Ah memories of Friday nights with courses and cocktails! That first cookbook was organized primarily by main protein (Pork, Chicken, Beef, Fish, Vegetarian) and I don't search for meal ideas that way anymore.  Instead of looking for recipe ideas and then buying ingredients, I tend to look at what we have on hand and what we've gotten from our CSA and create meal plans around that.



I love making piles.

So, I pulled out my recipes and began to sort them into eight piles, grouping together things that seemed most alike and  tossing anything I hadn't made recently or didn't care to make any more.  A lot of recipes including "cream of" went into the recycle bin!  I continued to reshuffle things until I had eight piles that were roughly the same size.  I ended up with Soup, Veggie Main Dishes, Easy Meat/Slow Cook, Breads & Muffins, Summer, Winter, Apps & Desserts, and Holiday & Gifts.

Use Scotch tape to easily change categories when the need arises.

See that duct tape holding the old book together?  I should have taken a picture of the front -- it was more duct tape than binder.  One bit of foresight I had when I began my own Recipe Binder was to put a bit of Scotch tape on the main category page.  When changing categories I didn't have to toss the fully functional divider pages; instead I just pulled off the tape, put some new on there and wrote in new categories.

The interior pockets are used for the few recipes I have printed on cards that I'm too lazy to re-type and for recipes that I want to try but haven't yet.  Take a look at your own favorite recipes.  If the book is too full of things that are too complicated or have the wrong ingredients, you'll never use it.  Purge and organize to make it an easily-accessed source of inspiration for healthy and tasty meals!

Lint comes after Festivus and before Oyster

Anyone raised in a Catholic family is familiar with Lent, a forty-day period of penance, reflection and fasting leading up to the Easter celebration.  As a child, I thought Lent was kind of silly.  I didn't really understand how not eating chocolate had anything to do with Easter.  But as an adult, I began to appreciate the value of having this period in my life.  I began loosely observing Lent, most effectively by adding something (thus "giving up" time) instead of just stopping something.

When I finally left the Catholic church, I also left Lent behind me.  In recent years though, I've begun to try to find a way to incorporate this tradition back into my life.  I was initially inspired by Kevin Gillespie, who shared on Top Chef that he and his wife went full-on vegetarian each year for Lent.  I felt a twinge and realized that I missed the positive growth I had found during Lent. Then one of my neighbors announced she would disappear from Facebook "for a while," and I suddenly saw the obvious: I didn't have to do "Lent" to have a period of reflection.

And so, this year -- today, in fact -- Lint was born.  I had already decided to observe a 40-day period and said, "I should come up with my own name," when my husband immediately suggested "Lint" and once I stopped laughing, I knew it was the perfect moniker.  Instead of Fish Fridays, we do Meatless Mondays.  Observation of Lint in our home comes just after Festivus and is followed by Oyster; of course precisely where Lint falls on the calendar is a very personal choice, so timing varies greatly from one individual to another.

This year, I am giving up all adult cocktails, wine and beer, beginning today.  My husband plans to begin his Lint tomorrow.  I'm excited about my "Linten" journey and do plan to cap it off by eating Oysters, possibly with champagne!  It is my intention to use the next forty days to reflect on ways to be healthier, to give more of myself to my community and others and to make time for quiet and prayer in my daily life.  I will also practice discipline, self-denial during my own season of conversion and simplicity.

It doesn't matter if you're Catholic or Methodist, Pagan or Pastafarian.  Lint is for everyone!  Join me if you dare!

I'd love to know what others are giving up or doing for 40 days, whether it's Lint or Lent.