Archive for June, 2008

Organic chicken recipe-

Ok, I though this would be a nice mix of recipes for you to try out over the weekend. Let me know how they work out for you! Now this is something which nearly everyone likes and is easy to do too!

Chicken liver pate

Ingredients

butter, one finely sliced onion, two cloves of garlic finely sliced, two sprigs of thyme, quarter kg organic chicken livers and salt and pepper to taste, cooking sherry and bread slices.

Preparation

1. Soften the onion and garlic using about a teaspoon of butter. Then add the thyme and livers till the livers are cooked through and have turned a nice dark woodsy brown.

2. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a food processor after removing the thyme twig. Use only the leaves of the thyme for a richer taste and about two teaspoons of butter to smoothen out the pate.

3. Melt some more butter and brown some thyme leaves in it and then spoon over the pate which you have stored in an appropriate container.  Serve  with toast points and pickles.

Apple Sauce Blueberry Mini Muffins

Preheat oven to 350° F. Oil the muffin tin. Combine all dry ingredients and blueberries in a medium mixing bowl and mix. Combine all wet ingredients and mix. Combine dry and wet ingredients and mix well. Spoon the batter into the oiled muffin sections, and bake for 25 minutes. After 20 minutes, test for doneness with a toothpick periodically. When toothpick comes out clean the muffins are done. Note: Makes 24 mini muffins or 12 regular size muffins. If making regular sized muffins, bake 30 to 35 minutes. Variation: Eden Organic Dried Cranberries can be substituted for blueberries, and any variety of Eden Organic Apple Sauce can be substituted for plain.

Quinoa Cranberry Salad with Garbanzo Beans & Pumpkin Seeds

Place quinoa, water and salt in a small saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the flame to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. While the quinoa is cooking slice the vegetables, blanch the peas and place in a mixing bowl with the cranberries, pumpkin seeds and garbanzo beans. Prepare the dressing by mixing in a small bowl of measuring cup. When the quinoa is done, fluff to cool. When cool place in the mixing bowl and pour the dressing over. Toss to mix. Serve as is on a bed of lettuce or refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving on a bed of lettuce.

Quinoa Cranberry Salad with Garbanzo Beans & Pumpkin Seeds

Place quinoa, water and salt in a small saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the flame to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. While the quinoa is cooking slice the vegetables, blanch the peas and place in a mixing bowl with the cranberries, pumpkin seeds and garbanzo beans. Prepare the dressing by mixing in a small bowl of messuring cup. When the quinoa is done, fluff to cool. When cool place in the mixing bowl and pour the dressing over. Toss to mix. Serve as is or refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

Grow your herbs in a window pot organically!

I love using fresh herbs to garnish my food. Growing organic herbs is the best way to have fresh herbs for your kitchen pot. If you want to have a good herb garden find out which herbs you would like to have to use commonly.

• Almost all herbs like a well watered mildly sunny place to grow.You can try companion growing or combining different patches of herbs to confuse insects and preserve your garden.
• Grow your herbs by the season they flourish in and then lay in a sufficient store for the rainy season. For the delicate herbs like lavender and dill select areas where you can control weather conditions well.
  
• Get good quality soil as well fertilized soil will get you a healthier plant with a better immune system and better yield. Add organic fertilizers like compost tea or diluted fish emulsion to help your herbs to grow.
  
• Don’t pinch off herbs till you have a good growth on your herbs. When you do need herbs harvest them early on a summer morning when the the essential oils in them are full.
• Don’t cut off more than one third of the plant for your kitchen use. And hang sticky bars to keep pests at bay.
  

The organic pesticides guide!

Other than that you can also use a whole variety of newer variety of completely natural pesticides which will help you to grow organic produce for your own needs.

Diatomaceous earth- is a really abrasive powder found in tooth powder and made from the fossils of diatoms which are really tiny sea creatures. As the powder is really sharp it works with the action of slicing open the exoskeletons of insects which crawl in your garden soil. Once the exoskeletons of any animal is destroyed the animal gradually loses water and dies. You can use this variety of pest deterrent for insects like slugs, millipedes,earwigs, centipedes, cockroaches, silver fish and ants for indoors as well as the outdoors. As the pesticide works mechanically, the insects do not resistant to it and the you can use it again and again.

Garlic based insecticide and pesticides- are the next best things for you to use as pest deterrents. You can use these pesticides to preserve your fruits, vegetables, herbs and other plants. You can use the natural garlic you have with you or use a commercially prepared mixture from an organic manufacturer. A cheaper alternative is to manufacture the mixture at home as follows. Mix up one un peeled onion and one un peeled garlic in to small slivers and then add about one teaspoon of red pepper to boil it in three pints water. Cook for more than 20 minutes on low heat. When the spray cools put in to glass jars and you can store it for more than one month. Dilute the combination with one teaspoon of mixture in one liter of water for best results.

As the number of organic pesticides are really too many to have in a single article this will be a continuing series, so keep in touch.

Using Organic pesticides

The whole basis of organic foods is based on the understanding that almost all synthetically made pesticides, hormones and pesticides are banned from use in organic food farming. As a result the dangerous chemicals are not included into your food and don’t end up harming your body and your health.

But how is is possible for farmers to save their hard earned crops using no pesticides? Very easily using something called as Natural organic pest control. If you have been planning to get your tiny home garden converted to a completely organic patch then here’s something you can try to keep your food pesticide free.

Using companion planting is one really great technique that most farmers use to save their produce and the concept is really simple. Companion planting is a process in which different and specific plant combinations are grown to keep pests away as well as increase the strength of a plants’ immune system.

This is a really great way to make sure your plants are safe although you won’t get 100% pest free plants. The best companion plants are available as a complete listing on www.attra.org. I’m not really sure how this works but it seems to be effective to both varieties of plants to save then from pests.

Buckwheat with Sauerkraut & Dried Mushrooms

Heat oil in a medium saucepan and sauté the onions for 3 to 4 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce flame to medium-low and simmer 20 minutes. Mix and serve. Makes a great stuffing for cabbage and pierogi (Polish stuffed dumplings). As a variation add chopped cabbage, kale, or collard greens the last several minutes.

Is vegan food worth it?

The debate is always there regarding the worth of vegan food. For consumers who were not willing to eat food which was prepared using pesticides and fertilizers or genetically altered produce and irradiated meats, organic food was the best option. But the cost faction was always there!

For example, the definition of organic was according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture standards, 2002, National Organic Program, that all organic produce is grown with completely natural methods using no pesticides or fertilizers or synthetic ingredients or even sewage sludge. All most all organic produce like , meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products are not supposed to be provided antibiotics or growth hormones and are not in pens for grazing. As a result you can just imagine the manual labor required to get you healthy and pest free food.

This reflects in the food with a pound of conventional potatoes costing 69 cents when normally produced and $1.49 when its grown organically and 99 cents when its sold as health food!But scientists are not satisfied with the claim that organic food is really more  healthy and are claiming that the extra prices are really a ploy to hood wink customers to pay more for a simple tag!