Oh man, it's mid February and time to get some garden starts going! This weekend I sowed some seeds outside, as well as got some started under a grow light and heat pads in the basement. I'm excited, because I was able to save some tomato, spinach and arugula seeds from last year. I can't wait to see how they do. I've also included a lazy Sunday breakfast recipe!
Sunday's to do list:
Make Breakfast/ Beans
February's Garden
It came from the compost!
Breakfast/ Prep Menu:
Roasted Roots
Sun chokes, potatoes, celery root, golden beets, salt, rosemary, oil
Savory Pancakes and Gravy
Beanie oat pancakes with beanie gravy
White Beans
White beans, water, pressure cooker
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| Savory Pancakes with a Bean Gravy and Roasted Roots |
Roasted Roots
This is such an easy and delicious item this time of year. There are so many colorful and rich roots you can get locally, and roasting them with a bit of oil and salt is incredibly satisfying.
Today I used sun chokes, potatoes, celery root, and golden beets.
Preheat your oven to about 450. Chop all roots into bite size chunks. Add to pan with oil, salt, and finely chopped rosemary. Bake covered for 20-25 minutes. Once soft, uncover to crispen. Enjoy!
Beanie Pancakes
I love savory pancakes. This time I tried something new. I added oats to them. I think they're better with just flour and not oats (1 cup of flour instead of any oats), but here's the recipe:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2+ cup blended white beans
1/2+ cup water
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| Dry Ingredients |
Mix the beans with the water until smooth. Should have a milky consistency. Add the oil to the bean water mix. Add all dry ingredients together. Mix wets and dry's, and cook the cakes on a griddle. If you find you need more liquid, feather more white beans into it. It's a great way to sneak more protein into the cakes. You can use a white bean/water mix instead of milk in a lot of recipes.
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| White Bean/Water Mixture. |
Beanie Gravy
1/2 onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1/3 to 1/2 cup oil
2/3 cup flour
1/2+ cup blended white beans
1 cup+ water
2 tablespoons+ Soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
1 tablespoon mustard (optional)
In a sauce pan on low, add oil, finely chopped onions and pressed garlic. Let the onions and garlic sit and absorb the oil on low for a while. This probably goes against everything you've ever been taught, but it's a good thing. This gravy is made out of plants and not animal products. For it to be satisfying it needs a good amount of fat in it. As the garlic and onions absorb the oil, they will be little delicious fatty pockets in the gravy later.
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| Onions, Garlic, and Oil on low |
Add the blended white beans, to the water and whisk until smooth. After about 15-20 minutes, add the flour to the pan. Slowly add the bean/water making a roux. Add in the rest of the ingredients to taste. Serve over savory pancakes.
Beans and My Pressure Cooker
I'm still looking for that perfect ratio between water and beans so the water doesn't splatter everywhere when it's cooking. I know that 2 cups of dried beans with 5 cups of water will make a perfect pot of beans in 45 minutes. I also know that soaked beans only take 15 minutes to cook once pressure has been reached. Since that takes so much less time and gas, I am determined to find a perfect soaked bean to water ratio.
Today I tried 3 cups of died beans- which turned into 6 cups of soaked beans, to 4 cups of water. This is still too much water, and I again made a bit of a mess.
February's Garden
According to the Portland Nursery's planting calendar, I'm a little early for some of this. I've had friends that have started much of this stuff this early before. I'm always impressed in April when their gardens look like untamed forests, and mine still has cover crops on it. This year, I'm planting things early, too. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
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| Spinach Seeds from last years garden |
Back Yard Plan:
Spinach
Collards
Arugula
Red Kale
Lacinato Kale
Broccoli Raab
Cabbage
Golden Beets
Snow Peas
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| Basement Seed Setup |
The Basement Heat-Pad Plan:
Tomatoes
Eggplant
Bell Peppers
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| Prepping my backyard for a spring garden |
It Came From the Compost!
Since this fall, there's this plant that's been trying to grow in my compost. I wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed likely it was something I either ate already, or pulled so the plants next to it would get big. Anyways, every time I would add to my worm bucket, it would be trying to reach for the light with it's pale yellow leaves. Feeling a little guilty and wishing it would go away, I would always bury it back down only to find it reaching up with new yellow leaves the next time I opened the bucket.
Finally a few weeks ago, I decided to give this tenacious plant a chance. I pulled it out and planted it in a pot. It turns out, it was a golden beet, and it's really started to take off.
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| Golden Beet Plant from My Compost |
Since then, I've noticed other tips of golden beets growing in my compost. It turns out that when I buy golden beets from the coop, they have just loosely cut the greens off them. Most of those greens are still alive. Now every time I go and buy beets, I intentionally get the ones that have the liveliest buzzed greens still attached to them. Right now I have 5 beets that I've already eaten once, growing in little pots. They'll be strong little plants by the time I plant them outside, and in the mean time, I'm going to nibble off their greens!
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| Planting the Green Tops of Golden Beets |
What a score! Beets you can eat and then eat again!
This Week's Plastic Free Local Shopping List:
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| Golden Beets with live green tops, and Celery Root |
People's Coop:
Seeds!* (about) 3.50/packet
Sun Chokes 2/lb
Potatoes 1.49/lb
Golden Beets 2.49/lb
Celery Root 1.49/lb
Celery Root 1.49/lb
Bulk Oats 2.69/lb
Bulk Soy Sauce 3.99/lb
Onion 0.99/lb
Bulk White Beans 2.59/lb
New Seasons/Fred Meyers:
Flour** 5.49/10 lb
Sugar*** 2.88/4 lb
Salt 0.99/lb
Safflower Oil 8.99/740 ml
Lemon Juice 3.99/12.5 oz
Mustard 3.99/ 9 oz
Grow it at Home:
Rosemary
Spinach Seeds
Tomato Seeds
Arugula Seeds
Winter Pantry/ Not found Local Right Now:
Garlic
*On Seeds.
I like to buy seeds from the Territorial Seed Company, based out of Cottage Grove Oregon, or Uprising Seeds based in Bellingham Washington. Locally you can pick them up at The People's Coop, or The Portland Nursery.
** On Flour.
I bought this flour a long time ago, and it's just lasted a while. The next time I buy flour I intend to go to Bob's Red Mill in Milwaukie and buy a 50 pound bag in bulk.
***On Sugar.
Sugar is not the best ingredient for a lot of reasons. It has a nasty history, and it's not a great industry today. It's something I use pretty sparingly, although I know I could probably get my sugar from better sources. This Fred Meyer bag of sugar came in a paper bag. I bought it a long time ago and still have some. I don't know where I'll get more when I run out, but I hope I think about it well before I do.
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