Vanisle_BC
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Re: Let's talk recipes -- are you as random as I am?

Any Scots on here who make skirlie? I loved it when my mother made it 3/4 century ago. She's gone & left no recipe. I tried making it yesterday form online recipes but it turned out awful and is now making compost. The oats (Irish steel cut) stayed hard despite several additions of water - not in any recipe - and extended cooking. My guess is I should have used a finer oatmeal. I think there's one sold here, called Scotch Oats (Duh!) . The only other option might be a very long pre-soak of the steel-cut. I'm pretty sure my mother didn't use rolled oats for skirlie. They would be too mushy. In my recollection the consistency was similar to mashed potato.

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applestar
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I don’t know if this will help — I don’t know what that is, but I like steel-cut oats. The recipe I learned starts with dry roasting in the pan while shaking the pan or stirring with a wooden spoon. Once more-or-less evenly toasted and fragrant, add the water according to recipe — and watch out for the sizzle and blast of steam.

I’ll dig out the details if you want.

Vanisle_BC
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applestar wrote:
Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:10 pm
I don’t know if this will help — I don’t know what that is, but I like steel-cut oats. The recipe I learned starts with dry roasting in the pan while shaking the pan or stirring with a wooden spoon. Once more-or-less evenly toasted and fragrant, add the water according to recipe — and watch out for the sizzle and blast of steam.

I’ll dig out the details if you want.
That's interesting. Does the dish have a name; what's the texture when it's done? The oats I have are about 1-2mm in size. Skirlie is a very basic 'comfort food' made of oats & onions fried in suet, butter or some other fat, with optional veg/meat additions ad lib. The texture should be like mashed potato with a slightly gritty mouthfeel.

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Steel cut oats absorb about 3 c water, so you'll want a little more for a porridge. Whole oats about 2 1/2 c, since there's more airspace, between the grains. And it cooks quickly in a pressure cooker - 3-5 minutes, not including heat up, and de-pressurizing.

Vanisle_BC
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Skirlie is not like porridge. Almost none of the online recipes use water - only fats: Except what I call the 'cheffy' one or two, adding stocks and other ingredients to make it sound a bit more upscale and less cholesterol-y.

I suspect it's made with true ground oatmeal, not rolled flakes or coarse steel-cut 'grit.'

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applestar
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I’m cooking porridge.

I’m thinking you might get the different results if you either pre-toast the steelcut oats either dry or with some of the fat. I used to toast with a small pat of butter first, but found out that this coats the individual grains and can prevent thorough absorption of water. Dry toasting results in softer/mushier mouthfeel, butter toasting leaves chewy bits. I actually do both depending on what I’m in the mood for, but illustrated dry toasting since that was "conceptually" an improved method.

Either method should cause somewhat explosive "concussion" to the grains and make them cook faster and more thoroughly.

If you are not using water at all in your recipe, maybe heat the oil first and then sprinkle them in — this might create a somewhat popcorn like effect?

Alternatively, if you have a coffee grinder or food processor, you could pulverize the steel cut oats into finer meal.

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I made a lentil soup today in the IP, with a small amount of bacon, plus some smoked paprika, for a little more smoke flavor. Had the usual onions and garlic in it, plus two cut up carrots, and the rest of the butternut squash from a couple nights ago, and some bay and rosemary . It has brown lentils and channa dal, plus some oat groats, about half as much as the lentils.
ImageLentil soup, with some butternut squash and oat groats. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Earlier, I made a coleslaw from some of that cheap cabbage I got. It is based on the Haitian cole slaw, from an early Milk Street magazine, and the habaneros in it is what piqued my interest! However, it only had 2 c of shredded cabbage, and 1 shredded carrot, which I doubled for the same amount of dressing, and it is still very hot, even to me! And the habaneros I used were frozen, and they seem to loose some heat, during the freezing season. I guess what they used was a mild variety! It is still very good, but too hot, for most.
ImageHaitian cole slaw, from Milk Street, showing the cabbage, julienned carrots, and dressing. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished Haitian cole slaw. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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Today I made a batch of my favorite Szechwan eggplant dish, with some of that dried eggplant, plus some unusual ingredients I have never put in this dish.

A couple of days ago, a friend brought me a bag of root veggies that his daughter gave him - a large rutabaga, 2 types of medium sized radishes - a green and purple - and some Jerusalem artichokes. She belongs to some weekly produce mailing, and I guess this week was root veggies. And he didn't even know what they were! :lol:

I have used large radishes, like daikons, in many cooked dishes, so I cut one of the green ones up into chunks, and a few of the Jerusalem artichokes, as well. I cooked the dish, as usual, then cooked the eggplant covered for 5 minutes, then the other veggies the last 10 minutes, and they cooked well, but not mushy. The radish was mild flavored, the JA a little stronger, but both were very good. But then, I like just about anything with Szechwan flavoring!

All of the scallions were from the garden, overwintered.
ImageSzechwan eggplant ingredients, with a couple more veggies. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageSzechwan eggplant, cooked 5 minutes before adding the cut up radish, and Jerusalem artichoke. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageSzechwan eggplant and veggies, covered to steam 10 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageLeftover Szechwan eggplant dish, showing the green radish and Jerusalem artichoke. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

pepperhead212
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First time I have cooked much lately, due to all the garden work - just ate small salads and the like, plus those things in my freezer - I put a dent in that! Today, I made a mushroom barley soup; since Aldi had mushrooms on sale this week, I got a pound of them, and made this. It was my basic mushroom barley soup, starting by soaking 3/4 oz dried boletus, which I cleaned the grit out of, minced them up, then used the soaking and cleaning water in the soup. In some ghee in the Instant Pot, I sautéed some onions and carrots, then added some garlic and fresh rosemary, minced together. I also put something non-traditional in, just to use up the last two in the fridge - some baby bok choy, which I diced up, and added at the same time as the garlic. I added the water, and a quart of chicken broth, plus some white miso, and a little light soy sauce, plus a cup of pearl barley, and the minced up boletus. I brought it to the boil on high sauté, then off, then low pressure cooked for 30 min., releasing pressure naturally. While cooking, I washed and cut up the mushrooms, then cooked them using the ATK method, steaming, then browning in a small amount of oil. When the pressure was released, I added 1/4 c of red lentils to the soup, to thicken it, as it was a little thin, then added the mushrooms, and 12 oz. of cooked, shredded turkey, that had been frozen. I adjusted the salt with a little more light soy, added about 20 grinds of black pepper, then I simmered this on slow cook high, for about 15 minutes, at which time it was much thicker, and the lentils had more or less dissolved. Turned out great, and now I have a lot of leftovers for these nice days ahead!
ImageMushroom barley soup, after adding the mushrooms and the cooked turkey, to cook a while longer. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished mushroom barley soup. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

imafan26
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Looks so good. I just had a salad for dinner and all this food is making me hungry again. I picked the salad bowl lettuce from my garden and had a tomato and some wine poached chicken breast I made the other day. I had a raspberry vinagrette with it. The cats were also hungry after dinner so I gave them a piece of poached chicken and they gobbled that up as well. I saved the poaching broth so I am thinking I can make a chicken vegetable soup with it.

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I threw together a one dish meal in the Instant Pot - a gumbo style dish, with some of the same seasonings that I put in jambalaya, but without the shrimp, and some whole wheat and channa dal added, in place of the usual white rice. I had a 10 oz pack of turkey kielbasa, which I used in place of the ham or andouille, and I added some chipotle, for more of that smoky flavor. I had a large bell pepper, that I had to use, plus the usual onion, garlic, and celery, plus thyme, bay, and cloves, for seasoning, then cooked about 7 or 8 minutes in the olive oil, in sauté mode. Then I added a cup each of kamut and channa dal, and 5 c water, salt to taste, and set it on slow cook/high mode for 4 hours - default time, but it needed about 1/2 hr longer. The dal broke down enough to thicken it slightly, and the kamut still had a slight bite to it.
ImageUnnamed creole type dish, cooked in the Instant Pot. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageUnnamed creole type dish, ready to eat. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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Last night, a friend brought me over some nice looking tomatoes - something that I never buy, but he couldn't wait, and had to have "one of those things I make" with them. Today, I saw that Israeli feta in the fridge that I hadn't tried yet, so I made a favorite of mine, that he also likes - the lentil salad, with the tomatoes and feta, plus a lot of cilantro and garlic chives. The different thing I used in it this time was really good - some toasted whole oats. It got a little overcooked, but next time I'll know to put it in for less time at the end.

The tomatoes weren't bad, for store-bought, and he was surprised to hear me say that! :()
ImageLentil salad by pepperhead212, on Flickr

imafan26
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Thanks for the timely okra recipes. I just harvested the first four okra. When I get a few more I will have a few more options.

Vanisle_BC
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We had a meal of rice & chilli that for some reason turned out short on flavour and a bit stodgy. There was enough left over for another meal (of course!). I added a jar of our home canned tomatoes - Black Krim with basil & garlic - and Tabasco ' to taste'. That's all it took and the result was excellent.

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Gary350
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This is a very good quick easy 3 minute breakfast. Put, biscuit, potatoes, sausage, on pan place is 475° oven then go do something else for 20 minutes. Return, turn cast iron skillet on high, put garden onion tops in 1 scrambled egg, pour egg into hot skillet wait 1 minute then flip egg over. While egg cooks 1 more minute put home made Black Raspberry Jam on biscuit with sausage on the plate with potatoes. Fold egg omelet with cheese then place it on the plate too. Not counting the 20 minute wait for the oven cook this only takes 3 minutes to make.
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Gary350
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We made garden pizza for dinner. Wife bought a pre made crust now all we do is put on the toppings then bake it in the oven 450° until done.

My 1/2 is, green color with lots of onion tops diced, pepperonis, garlic, onion, Italian sausage, pizza sauce, cheese.

Wife's 1/2 is, pizza sauce, garlic, onion, Italian sausage, lots of cheese. Wife had no onion tops.

We finally learned quick easy way to make very good pizza sauce. Slice & dice tomatoes put them in a colander, seeds, jell, juice runs out through holes. Bring tomatoes to a boil with, Italian seasoning, bay leaf, salt, pepper, garlic, onion, pinch of red pepper to taste. Electric mixer makes pulp become liquid. Pour into colander again liquid pulp runs out through holes, skins stay in colander. Put a clean bed sheet over some boards outside in the sun pour pulp on bed sheet & liquid runs away. When pulp is thickness you like pizza sauce is finished.

Here is a tomato paste video, not the video I wanted, better video can not be found at the moment without more searching but you get the idea in the first few minutes of the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vJObBzu29o
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pepperhead212
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Today is NATIONAL CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM DAY! So I made a little over a quart of chocolate yogurt mix, which I'll be finishing tomorrow - I try not to make things in the Vitamix that will make that much noise this late at night, as a courtesy to my neighbors. But it's in the freezer, and I'll finish it tomorrow.

I based it on a recipe by foodnetwork:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/healthyeats ... zen-yogurt

However, I reduced the sugar by half, and added 10 drops of stevia liquid. And I added 1/4 tsp xantham gum instead of cornstarch, used 72% chocolate, instead of chips, and added 3 tb cocoa, instead of 2. And I only used 2 c yogurt, but 1 1/2 c milk. And I'll be basically making a smoothie, after thawing the frozen block some - usually, I'd do it after freezing 3-4 hrs., but it's too late.
ImageMilk in Vitamix, dissolving sugar, before adding the cocoa. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageCocoa and vanilla added to milk, ready to drizzle in the melted chocolate. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageMelted chocolate, ready to drizzle into the blender, while running. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageAfter adding the melted chocolate, before adding the thickened yogurt. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Image2 c yogurt, with just over 1/2 c whey removed. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished mix, after adding 1/4 tsp xantham gum, to the running blender. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's the mix, ready to freeze. Doesn't look as dark here, due to the bubbles and the overhead light. But it does have a strong chocolate flavor.
ImageFinished chocolate yogurt, ready to go into the freezer. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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Here's that chocolate yogurt I made yesterday. I thawed it on the counter until I could cut it in chunks, then I put it in the Vitamix, and blended it smooth. I quickly put it back in the freezer. I cleaned out the VM, and had that half cup or so tonight. It is delicious, but next time, I'll put even more chocolate in it.
ImageFrozen yogurt, in Vitamix. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFrozen yogurt blended smooth in the Vitamix. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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I made a favorite summer food of mine for lunch today - Gazpacho! Surprisingly, this is one of those things made with fresh tomatoes that is almost as good when made with frozen tomatoes, as fresh ones, since it is blended up - with most things calling for fresh tomatoes, they are mushy, of course, and the skin slips off, plus they are watery.

I saw those tomatoes in my freezer, and realized that I had to use them, since this year's crop will be starting soon! So I thawed a 4 lb bag of frozen grapes, and drained maybe 1 1/2 c water from them this morning. I blended the other ing together in the Vitamix, with a few tomatoes, to circulate it, put that in the large bowl, then blended the tomatoes in two more batches. To help thicken it, I added about 1 tb chia seeds to each batch, let them gel about 5 minutes, then blended on high, and also added a generous 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum while running, to each batch. Works even better than the traditional "stale bread", which I never have around anymore. I added the sherry vinegar, then the olive oil to the last batch, adding it slowly, while running, to emulsify. Then I mixed it all up in the 8 qt bowl, and poured it into this 4 qt bowl, which it just fit into! It chilled in the fridge, while I cut up the toppings. That is the only thing missing when making this with frozen tomatoes - some diced fresh tomatoes. But the rest is there.
ImageAlmost 4 qts of gazpacho, using up 4 lbs of tomatoes from last season. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I'll eat this again for dinner, and probably for breakfast!

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I made some curry today - something I started by taking an old rutabaga out of the fridge, which was actually growing sprouts! I got almost 1 1/2 lbs diced flesh from it, and I have been having a craving for some curry, after seeing some photos a couple of nights ago.

Almost a one dish meal in the Instant Pot - also had to make the tarka in that small saucepan. I started with some chopped onion in some ghee on sauté mode, and after about 10 min, added a lot of garlic, plus some tomato paste, a little over a tb of sambar masala, and cooked another 2 minutes, then added some water, to deglaze, and added the remainder of 6 c water. Then I added 3/4 c each channa dal and moong dal (the split, but not dehulled type, so the skin is still on them), and about a cup of steel cut oats; not traditional, but wanted to use up the little bit from the new package that wouldn't fit in the quart jar. I cooked these for 1 1/2 hours on med-slow cook, then added the diced rutabaga, and cooked another hour. Then I added a lb of diced, boneless chicken thighs, and a tb of the garam masala I just made, and about 1 1/2 c yogurt, which I blended with 3/4 tsp xanthan gum - this kept it from curdling, while cooking. After this, the rutabaga was just right. I added another tsp of the new garam masala, and about 1/2 c chopped cilantro, and cooked about 5 minutes, while making the tarka.

The tarka was 2 tsp mustard seed, popped in 2 tb oil, then 2 tsp cumin seed and 8 dried chiles, cooked until peppers brown, then 1/2 tsp asafoetida and about 20 curry leaves, cooked briefly, cooked briefly, then dumped in the curry. This tempering takes under a minute, start to finish.
ImageRutabaga/chicken curry, being made in the Instant Pot. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageIngredients for the tarka, for the rutabaga curry. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished tarka, ready to stir into the rutabaga curry, to cook about 5 minutes more. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished rutabaga/chicken curry. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

imafan26
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I have some tomatoes, green beans, long beans, okra, upo gourd, semposai, eggplant,daikon, perpetual spinach, beets, and kale. I am thinking I can put some of these and the wild bitter melon leaves maybe in a soup. It would be similar to diningdeng, a Filipino recipe that pretty much uses whatever vegetables that are available. I have made this soup before but with moringa leaves, swamp cabbage, kabocha, and bitter melon. I use lechon pork (crispy roast pork) or shrimp for the protein. Fish can also be used, but I don't really like fish soup.

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Gary350
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I cooked garden onion rings for dinner. Soon as I started slicing 3 onions wife left the house. She is right I need a military gas mask to slice these onions this is blinding. This is an old recipe from 40 years ago, tested & adjusted a few times over the years. I did not use the electric skillet oil started out too hot at first but later it was ok. We like Beer Batter best made with dark beer it has the best barley flavor.

1 Cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons Zatarains New Orleans Style Fish Fri Crispy Southern
1 tablespoon corn meal
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 jumbo size egg
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup of beer or 3/4 milk

Stir batter well then stir in as many onion rings as the bowl will hold.

Heats oil to 350° F start putting onions into the oil. Flip over to cook golden brown on both sides.
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imafan26
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I made a soup out of many of the vegetables I harvested. It came out surprisingly good. One of the okra was a bit over the hill and it was fibrous, but the rest were fine.
I made something similar to dinengding, a Filipino vegetable dish. I put in long beans, green beans, okra, tomato, snow peas, mushrooms, onion, and garlic. I simmered it in water flavored with chicken bouillon (I use herb ox since it contains no sodium) and a salt free sazon. I put in some lechon (roast pork with crispy skin) The roast pork and fish sauce was the source of the salt.

I forgot to put in eggplant and I did not put in the cabbage, sweet potato leaves, perpetual spinach, or kale. I had planned to put in one leafy vegetable. I did not put the upo in either since, the pot would have to have been bigger and I did not want to make enough for a week.

It came out pretty good. I am going to put some rice in the bowl and serve the soup over it so it will be more filling. I was hungry an hour later.

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Tonight I made my favorite Szechwan eggplant, this time using two eggplants plus that short bottle gourd, plus some ground venison, instead of pork, turkey, or beef, all of which I have used - everything was good! Instead of serving it with white rice, or pasta (things I have used countless times with it), I cooked up some spelt, and some channa dal, to make it more nutritious. I cooked 1 1/4 c spelt in the Instant Pot on low pressure for 15 min., then released the pressure. Then I added 1 1/2 c rinsed channa dal, and cooked at 5 min., then let the pressure release naturally. Then I rinsed all this in cool water, and drained, while I prepared the rest of the ingredients. Then, when the dish is finished in the wok, the spelt and lentils were stirred into it, until totally mixed.

ImageFinished Szechwan eggplant/bottle gourd. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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That's a bigger breakfast than I have. I have bacon and eggs almost every morning with some ketchup. If I want something else, I usually go to McDonald's and get a big breakfast with hotcakes. I don't make pancakes because it is hard for me to make just one or two. Leftover pancakes are a bit chewy. I like McDonald's hash browns as long as the oil is not old.

Once in a while, I do eat sausages with my eggs, but again there are more sausages than I can eat in a meal and that is something I don't really like to eat often.

I don't have a lot of bread in the house and I don't eat very much of it. I think my half loaf of bread has been in the freezer about 3 weeks now.

I do make omelettes, but when I do, I make three at a time and I have to eat them over a few days.

I like baking, but not cooking. If I have to cook, I want to make something once and be able to get several meals out of it.

Now, that I am back working, I eat out more often and cook even less. It is expensive to do it this way, but I actually have no space in my refrigerator or freezer to put anything else in it. I really need to use what is in there. I am also harvesting beans, okra, tomatoes, and cucumbers almost every day and those are piling up too.

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Gary350
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I have to eat high protein & low carbs for breakfast to keep my blood sugar good. I get tired of eating the same things so I do variety with the same stuff. I like bacon best but I won't pay $9 per package. Today is, sausage, egg, cheese, biscuit, blackberry jelly but today I used homemade bread instead of the biscuit. Today I fried potatoes in cast iron skillet to get them crispier instead of baking them in the oven. Scrambled egg is cooked like a pancake to fit the sandwich. Cheese is Colby Jack today. Some days I leave off the sausage. Some times I leave egg off. Some days I leave something off then double up on cheese. I can make it with chicken or ham too. A tablespoon of homemade blackberry jelly is very good on this. Sometimes I make gravy & pour it over the biscuit. Sometimes I make these all separate not a sandwich.
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imafan26
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I do better on a low carb diet too. Not just to control sugar, but to increase the diuresis from fat burning. It helps keep the swelling in my feet and lowers my blood pressure. I feel too tired eating less than 20 carbs, so I have increased the carbs to about 35. For the most part, unless I am eating out, I don't eat the white carbs like potatoes, bread, or rice very often. I agree the meals can get boring. I usually have bacon and eggs for breakfast. I use low sodium bacon. Lunch is a salad with some protein. Dinner could also be a salad or some protein with a cooked vegetable.

When I am working, my diet does go out the window. I end up eating fast food a lot which has all the things I should not have like salt, fried foods that are high fat and high carb. It usually means that I will start to retain water again and get more short of breath with activity. My work schedule has odd hours so I have weird meal times. A lot of times I am not hungry and I can go with two meals a day. It makes meal planning hard. I am usually too tired to cook after work even if there is food in the frig.

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Gary350
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imafan26 wrote:
Mon Jul 05, 2021 3:46 am
I do better on a low carb diet too. Not just to control sugar, but to increase the diuresis from fat burning. It helps keep the swelling in my feet and lowers my blood pressure. I feel too tired eating less than 20 carbs, so I have increased the carbs to about 35. For the most part, unless I am eating out, I don't eat the white carbs like potatoes, bread, or rice very often. I agree the meals can get boring. I usually have bacon and eggs for breakfast. I use low sodium bacon. Lunch is a salad with some protein. Dinner could also be a salad or some protein with a cooked vegetable.

When I am working, my diet does go out the window. I end up eating fast food a lot which has all the things I should not have like salt, fried foods that are high fat and high carb. It usually means that I will start to retain water again and get more short of breath with activity. My work schedule has odd hours so I have weird meal times. A lot of times I am not hungry and I can go with two meals a day. It makes meal planning hard. I am usually too tired to cook after work even if there is food in the frig.
Doctors have always said, salt increases your blood pressure, that is not true. Salt makes you dehydrate and dehydration causes high blood pressure. Salt, sugar, soft drinks, coffee, several other things will make you dehydrate that will make you have high blood pressure. Drink LOTS of water it keeps blood pressure lower & blood sugar low. Sleeping will make you have high blood pressure, you breath out about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water sleeping. If you wake up middle of the night drink 1/2 glass of water then go back to sleep. White potatoes have 2 times more carbs than red potatoes. White sweet potatoes taste like red potatoes with almost no carbs. We stopped cooking with factory oil now we cook with real butter our cholesterol has dropped 80 points. I am taking no pills, wife has to take pills but she also has to watch what she eats. Wife eats 1/2 cup of cottage cheese before bed that keeps her blood sugar under control all night. We all need to experiment to learn what works for us. Yes food gets very boring I have not eaten a good donut in about 2 years until yesterday I ate 1 then later ate 1 more that made me feel terrible all day.

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I should drink more water. I just don't. The body always tries to preserve salt and a couple of my medications have side effects that actually cause salt and water retention. Dehydration makes me feel dizzy and I will have cramping from salt shifting but I ate potato chips the other day, (the whole thing), and it made it harder to breathe so now, I am hitting the diuretics again. Normally, if I cook, I eat less salt because I use salt substitutes and low salt or unsalted ingredients as much as possible. Eating out though, is definitely bad. High salt, high saturated fat and fried foods means a lot of transfat as well. I try to reduce the white foods as much as possible so I rarely have them. I actually don't like most salty food (except potato chips and li hing mui which I should not have. ) Low sodium, I can live with. Salt free, is a little hard to take. I just try to limit the amount of salt in a day to about 1500 mg or less. It means when I am really good, I have to keep up with a food journal and yes, it makes for very boring meals. I used to eat more cottage cheese, but it is actually one of the limited foods because of the high salt, and I am so lactose intolerant. It is relatively low fat, high protein, and not bad on carbs, but feta cheese is a better choice for me. I can't eat too much of that either because all cheeses are relatively high in salt.

Yesterday, I grilled some pork loin chops, made some instant mashed potatoes without salt and used unsalted butter. I did make a mushroom gravy (that did have salt because it was from a gravy mix, but I put more water in it.) I harvested some green beans, okra, and snow peas so I microwaved them in water and had it for lunch. I had enough left over so I have a second meal in the frig for tonight.

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Gary350
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Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

This morning I made toasted home made bread with 1 scrambled egg & Colby cheese. I am so tired of eating the same thing every morning today I put off eating breakfast for 2 hours. When I get hungry enough I could eat a bowl of dry watermelon seeds.
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pepperhead212
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I actually made this sambar for Sunday, and took most of it over to a friend's house. I made it with two bottle gourds and one eggplant, a large onion, and a small amount of cooked, shredded turkey, that I had in the freezer. They made some flatbreads to go with it, and we made some sort of quick pickles, with two of the bitter melons I took over. Funny thing - the lady is Indian, but I'm taking them these Indian ingredients from my garden, and she's asking me how to make them! She says she remembers some of the dishes that her GM used to make, but not the actual recipes.

I made this with moong dal, as the legume, and I put some quinoa in it, for more nutrition - much of what the black specks are. The rest is the mustard seed in the tarka, added at the end.
ImageA sambar, made with a couple of bottle gourds, an eggplant, and some cooked, shredded turkey. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

pepperhead212
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Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b

I made my first pasta salad of the summer, with the raw tomatoes, garlic, and basil, and olive oil, this time with some anchovies chopped up in it, as well. I also put some cooked kamut (just to use up the last half cup in the jar), and a can of cannellini, and a can of black beans, rinsed. When the pasta was finished, I put these other 3 ingredients in, just to heat them up, then drained all of it, and combined it with the raw tomato mix. One of my favorite summertime dishes.

Image3 lbs tomatoes, diced up, salted and drained, with a lot of garlic, anchovies, and some olive oil. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageBasil, and a little bit of Thai basil, ready to cut up for adding to the tomatoes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFirst pasta salad of the season, using tomatoes, garlic, and basils, from this season. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

pepperhead212
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Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b

It has been so hot here lately that I really haven't wanted to do much cooking lately! However, yesterday I mixed up a large amount of that pasta salad, similar to last time, using up almost 3 lbs of tomatoes, a lot of basil, and some garlic, kalamata olives, anchovies, and some olive oil. I also added some cooked green beans, and a can of red kidney beans. I had to mix this in an 8 qt bowl, as I have about an 4 qt bowl leftover!
ImagePasta salad, with 2 beans, tomatoes, basil, garlic, kalamata olives, and anchovies. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Earlier, I made an Indian type dish, to use up a generous amount of okra I have harvested, getting about 4-5 per day. I put it in the wok, on the induction burner, and stirred occasionally, while getting everything measured out for my pickling, then snacked on it, while finishing the pickling.
ImageSome Indian spices, cooked with some onion and garlic, ready for the okra. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished okra slices, sort of dry fried about 12 minutes, with the onion and tarka spices. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's the pickles I made:
ImagePickles made on 8-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

HoneyBerry
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Location: Zone 8A Western Washington State

I have some tough radishes. I think they were left in the ground too long. Is there a way to cook them, or should I throw them out. They look nice, but they are tough and hard to cut with a knife.

pepperhead212
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HB, You could try a recipe in which the radishes are cooked, like turnips.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I am eating a lot of smoothies this week. I just had some teeth pulled, most of them molars. In a couple of months I have to pull more of them. I have to radically change what and how I eat. For now I can only have cold foods for a few days and pureed food for a while after that. I am making a lot of smoothies.

They are quite filling, but I am also lactose intolerant so it is causing some issues there. I am using almond milk but, some of the shake bases, have milk.

I have added bananas, avocado, peanut butter, almond butter, blueberries and strawberries to the shakes to change the flavors. I know I can put kale in the shakes, but can I put bok choy and chard in them as well?

Yesterday I made a potato mac salad and blended it to a puree. It looked nasty but it tasted the same.

I stocked up on some canned soups that are not chunky like tomato, cream of chicken and mushroom. I also got some canned pumpkin and sweet potatoes to make soup with them as well. I need more pureed soup ideas. I am not really a soup person, even when I eat ramen, I only eat the noodles and not the soup, so this is a radical change for me and I have to get used to it. Right now, I can't have anything spicy or chunky because of the hole from the wisdom tooth that was removed and because the gums are still a bit swollen. I haven't tried any of the soups yet and have stuck to just cold foods for now. Warm, not hot foods, would be the next step.

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

- Bok Choi would be good in korean style cold summer radish/daikon and chinese cabbage broth. I believe the broth uses kezuribushi (dried fish shavings) — but you could just use Hondashi. If pureeing for fiber etc, rather than straining for clear broth, run it through a food mill to remove the really stringy stuff for smoother mouthfeel. This is good with any of the clear noodles — shirataki, rice, bean, sweet potato starch, etc. if you can eat those.

- I’ve found that smoothies with non-dairy milk is just as easy to make simply starting by blender pureeing the milk ingredient— soaked rice, oats, nuts, etc. then straining at whatever mesh level you can drink — for smoothies, less finely strained “milk” helps to thicken and adds to the nutrient level anyhow.

- I usually press out as much liquid as I can, then freeze what’s left in the strainer to add to breads and muffins later.

- don’t forget chia seeds or flax seeds to thicken smoothies

- Try the peanut butter with pumpkin or sweet potato purée and veg or chicken stock for thick hot “creamy” soup.

- you could purée swiss chard leaves as substitute for spinach in Greek style lemony green soup. You can make this “egg drop” style and slurp down the egg without chewing.

- you can also make non-fruity smoothie with cucumbers and greens plus lime or lemon. I’ve ALSO done this with yogurt / kefir and mint for a sort of “drinkable” Tzatziki

- for LAZY summer cold noodle soup, try just adding a glug of rice vinegar and brewed mirin to the chilled ramen broth

- if you have excess of fruits or veg, you could also make infused water… smoothie.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Thanks for the ideas. It will be helpful. I can actually eat soup, I just never really have liked it. I don't usually eat soups in general because of the salt. I do like Asian soups. The tips about straining the residues will come in handy. I only have to do that until things have healed and their is no risk of pieces getting stuck where they shouldn't. It would be fine later as long as the pieces don't need much chewing. Right now the pasta has to be short so I can do crushed ramen. No slurping is allowed and no straws. I really miss the diet cola the most, and I can't have that either.

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Gary350
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I am having garden FUN for breakfast. This morning I am making a country style omelet. Be sure to add 1 teaspoon of water to 1 egg that makes it impossible to burn the egg. I added, red bell pepper, onion, Gouda cheese to the egg. 1/2 teaspoon of butter in a cast iron skillet heat until skillet is hot enough to start smoking. Turn off the heat then pour in the scrambled egg. Cook a few minutes on 1 side until golden brown color. Flip egg over cook other side. Add filling if you want then fold into omelet shape. I put thin sliced tomatoes in omelet today. Sausage biscuit has home made jelly inside. Today I cheated and cooked grocery store potatoes, garden hash browns potatoes take longer to cook golden brown I am being lazy, I want a quick easy 5 minute breakfast. Biscuit, sausage, potatoes, baked in the oven 20 minutes while I was off doing something else.
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pepperhead212
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Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b

https://lidiasitaly.com/recipes/spaghet ... trapanese/

I made this pesto today, almost doubling the recipe, and using 20 oz of small ziti and 12 oz of precooked red beans, added to the pasta water at the end, to heat them up, before draining. Upon tasting it for salt, I thought that it had enough salt, but needed some acid - even with all those tomatoes, it didn't have enough. So I stirred in about 1/2 tsp citric acid, and it added just enough - about 2 tb lemon juice would do about the same. I also added more basil, when blending, until it tasted about right - 12 large leaves is sort of a vague term.

The 1 tsp of pepper flakes I used was barely noticeable, so I topped it with more!
ImageCherry Tomato Pesto Trapanese by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImagePasta and red beans, to mix with pesto Trapanese. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageGrated pecorino, ready to stir into the pasta and beans, with the pesto already mixed in. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImagePasta with Thai red beans, with Lidia's Pesto Trapanese. by pepperhead212, on Flickr



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