Category Archives: Life Untangling

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Gluten Free and Dairy Free

So now I’m trying another layer of cooking-challenge.

Not to make my life more complicated.  Please don’t even joke about that.

I have reason to believe it will improve my health.  So I’m making trial of it.

Back a year and a half ago, when I dove into GF cooking in earnest, I was told to cut dairy as well, but both beginnings was to much of a burden. Now that I’ve (somewhat) mastered cooking gluten free, I feel I have the margin to add dairy free.

My blog-hunt has been for recipes that avoid milk without going “all the way” vegan by cutting all the eggs, which we have a bunch of and I want to include.

Here’s what I’ve got so far

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Myers-Briggs and Why it Matters

I’ve referenced M-B a load of times in conversations since March, and figured it was worth while to take a moment to say why. As well as update those who’ve fallen through the cracks.

That is to say, anyone who’s missed out on my jiffy-summaries in real life.

To begin with, I really like what Camile had to say about this being a valuable exercise. It’s not just splitting hairs and certainly not setting up a hierarchy.

But I have one huge reason why I love the framing power of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

The #1 Reason:

It is a vocabulary.

Language is the best way ever discovered of imposing order on reality.  And by having this vocabulary (especially when having it as a shared vocabulary) people can save so. much. time– and emotional angst– that can be better spent on real things, rather than misunderstandings.

Continue reading →

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White Chili

This is one of my *favorite* meals.

It makes both a nice white chili that you can “fancy up” with any veggies (I like to mix in yellow tomatoes and yellow peppers) or dairy (sour cream, cheese) you want to add, and I’ll also use it for “instant” taco salad, pouring a cup over a bowl of greens and corn chips.

I swear the kids will learn to eat it someday, just on continual exposure.

I make this “huge” in my 8-quart pot. Starting out you might be more comfortable cutting this in half.

  • 2 lbs chopped chicken (~1-inch chunks)
  • 1 large diced onion
  • 1½ t garlic powder (or diced garlic cloves to taste: 2-3 cloves)

Saute chicken, onion and garlic till chicken is cooked and onion is soft (if using chicken thighs the existing fat is enough, otherwise you’ll need to add a tablespoon of butter or olive oil to saute in).

Add the remaining ingredients:

  • 1 quart chicken broth (the amount is negotiable.  I use 1-qt home canned, which is probably closer to 3½ cups)
  • 4 cans white beans (I use 2 Qt-jar home canned– again, weight will vary, but I’m satisfied with the volume) rinsed and drained
  • 2 7oz cans diced green chilies
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne (optional, and I reduce or leave out for the kids)

Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Remove from heat. Mix in 1-2 cups sour cream (or plain yogurt) if desired.

Simple-simple and sooo good.

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VICTORY!

Two nights ago we had one of those moments that, as parents, you wonder if they’ll ever come.

On Monday night all three children ate rabbit for dinner. Two of them requested more quinoa, and the one who refused quinoa ate double helpings of the spinach/pear/feta salad.

For dessert they all ate double helpings of spice-cake muffins sprinkled with powdered sugar, requesting the leftovers for breakfast; and those were held together with broccoli and carrot purees.

This came after a pancake victory last week where a buckwheat-heavy recipe was eagerly consumed and declared *delicious* by the entire family (when a year ago buckwheat was too strong for anybody but me).

It’s times like these when I feel a huge relief: we really are changing, growing, transforming our tastes and habits.

We may be slow, but persistence really seems to mean something in real life.

 

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Seasons Change

 

I think this time of year is the hardest for me.

I’ll have to double check this at -40°, and sometime between January and February, when I’ve been out of the sun for my longest stretch.

I’m speaking of these weeks surrounding the solid freeze-up. At no other time of year is 35-40 degrees F so cold.  In February it’s outright balmy, I don’t want a coat, and can never understand why my teeth start chattering when I’ve been outside too long.

Water freezes over night, so I have to judge whether to give critters water in cold bowls, or wait til the water thaws in the afternoon.

Until the afternoon doesn’t get warm enough to thaw the water.

Thursday’s high is supposed to be 35, which means manually watering the outdoor animals twice a day, to make sure they get enough.

Jay’s been building a small barn inside the big shed that’s behind our home.  I’ve been *so* impressed at how fast it’s going up, and thankful that in (probably) less than a week we’ll be bringing all our rabbits and chickens in “out of the cold.”

But building in the cold has its own challenges, in addition to this is happening around the edges of his regular full-time job.  Which means most of what he’s doing is not only in the cold, but it’s only lit by his headlamp, because there’s no electricity in the shed.

The stress was palpable off of him tonight, as we passed after the kids’ bedtime on our respective projects.  “Is there anything I can do to make your life less stressful?” I asked, bracing myself in case he needed to say “eat all the animals,” just to get it off his chest.

“No,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do.”

And as I walked away I realized there was something I could do.  Basically I needed to switch into winter mode and just buckle down for the new season.  Because my attitude and the energy I approach my tasks with really make a difference in the energy-level of my house.

So I wore a hat tonight while feeding the rabbits. And my light leather gloves; enough for brief work requiring dexterity.

And I was quite comfortable, thanks for asking.  So now I think I’ve officially made my transition.

Winter’s mostly here, but we’re mostly ready, and we’ll do fine.

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Potato Bake

An easy gluten free meal.

Potato Bake Ingredients:

  • 3 lbs potatoes
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons taco seasoning
  • 2½ teaspoons salt)
  • one can black beans
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • 1 lb canned meat (Optional. I home can meat– chicken and moose– for quick meals so I have pint and quart jars of the stuff. I expect most canned meat would make this prohibitively expensive)

Preheat oven to 400°.

Dice potatoes, rinse canned beans, and shred meat, if using.

In a 3+ quart bowl blend oil and spices then add meat and potatoes, tossing to coat with flavor.

Pour into 9×13 baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with all the black beans, then cover with foil or a silpat.

Cook 30-35 minutes covered, then remove the dish from the oven and the cover from the dish.

Add the cheese and return the dish, uncovered, to the oven at least 3-5 minutes, melting the cheese.

I prefer to leave it 10 minutes. The beans and cheese are toasted and I really enjoy the texture.

For 10 servings (a stripe down the middle, each half into five chunks)  each serving costs 240 calories or 6 Points-Plus points.

With the shredded chicken (or moose, in my case) points go up to 8 per serving or 336 calories.

This pairs very nicely with steamed broccoli and cauliflower, and and the meal sticks with you like, well, meat and potatoes.

I’ve noticed that some people seem afraid of (caloricly) high-cost food (POTATOES! CARBS! Run Away!), but what I’ve learned is whole foods like these provide longer-lasting energy, and since I don’t need snacks between meals, my points/calorie use is no higher: as long as I’m only eating to need.

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Encouraging Word

I got the nicest complement today from a friend who came for lunch.

You’re doing a lot of things, and doing them well.

I usually hear just the first part.  And so I blew it off, maybe too quickly, rather than reveling in it for a moment.

“You say that standing in the explosion of my living room.”

“I see clothes, food, tools; looks like a normal house to me.”

I felt an unspeakable gratitude, but couldn’t help adding, “Jay thinks we’re the only people who live like this.”

“He should pick up the milk this week,” she said, referring to the milk share we from one of their goats.  “Then he’ll see our place.”

~ ~ ~

But it’ll be me driving out to their place this week; Jay’s still up to his eyeballs & racing for the finish-line before his next big trip.

~ ~ ~

So, quick update, since I don’t know when I’ll write next.

Since the last time I wrote:

  • We finished the rabbit set-up
  • Had our first litter of meat bunnies a week and a half ago
  • I plucked Serena (the wool rabbit) half bald. The top half.
    • Yes, it freaked me out to see the finished rabbit.
    • No, it’s not cruel; the hair only comes when it’s ready.  This is the first time she’s she’s shed like this since I got her in March.
  • Thursday I bought a “used” flock of Chickens.  Ten 15-month-old birds, already laying.
    • Six different breeds of hen
    • They threw in a rooster
      • Natasha wants to throw him back
      • I think he’s handsome, and better behaved than other roosters I’ve known.
    • A few of them have foot-issues (I believe the seller when she says she didn’t know.  None of my other chicken people knew what I was talking about or have noticed the thing before.)
      • One of the hens was effected enough I started giving her penicillin Friday and performed surgery today: opened three different places in her (MASSIVELY) swollen foot and forced out solidified results of infection.
        • (Sorry, should I have started that one out with a TMI warning? I tried to keep it as vague as possible.)
          • Believe me, I could say more.
      • Tried to repeat the procedure on another affected bird, but his case is less-advanced, and he wasn’t as patient a patient.  Maybe one has to be in a “this can’t be any worse” state before surgery isn’t worth reacting to.

So now we officially have chickens, ducks and rabbits on our little farm.

Before it even has a name.

Before we have a composting system figured out.

This land is all tailings, like I think I’ve said before.  No particularly good soil for growing. 

But here we are with all these animals putting out useful stuff that’s mixing with their bedding and dirt et. al., so I figure if we have a way of processing all this we won’t have to buy dirt whenever we get around to starting gardening.

Yeah.
I’m not really researching that.

Just recognizing that I should eventually, and knowing that my complete apathy toward such a critical element a soil is not laziness, but full-ness.

I’m doing a lot of things.  Doing them well, may it please God, but definitely reaching my limits.

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Half-set

Over the long weekend Jay built the two frames for our two 5-hole rabbit cages.

He also put in the chimney for our wood stove in its new location.  And while in the attic space under the roof he saw the charred evidence of a house fire.  Which answers my perennial question about how/why this old house (a log cabin, though you can’t tell from the inside or out) got a new floor and sheet-rocked walls.

We set the first giant cage in place late Monday night, but it was just yesterday I finished cleaning them out and transferring the “mythic” (Odin, Freya, Athena, etc.) set from their temporary place to the raised frame.  Freya and Ropa (short for Europa) were bred a couple weeks before I bought them and are due to kindle early next week.

Ropa’s been a bit of a snit, and was heavier than Freya, so I’m pretty sure Ropa’s preggers.  Not as sure about the older one, so it will be a wait-and-see again, like it was with Serena.

Yeah.  I’ve named them all.  It’s the best way I’ve found for keeping things straight in my head.  I don’t know how many the pantheon of Greek/Norse gods would work for, but for me it keeps the generations straight without even trying.

We’re officially “real” farmers now, though, because Hera broke her back somehow and while Jay was starting the cage frames I was skinning and butchering my first rabbit.

I also separated the drakes from the hens among the ducks, assured myself we have at least six hens (including the two named ducklings, thank God), and picked a drake to try out duck meat.

I skinned it rather than trying the scald/pluck method, and have to say that seems most practical.  And I’m really not doing much with cooking fat anyway, so saving the skin just seems like more effort than it’s worth right now.

So we’ve had duck and rabbit this week, and Jay was thankful to “reset” some negitive memories of both meats.

Next animal jobs are to clean up the 5-hole that was on the ground and split up the B-set (Buck, Bunnita, Buttercup) we got in May.

Jay and I are ready to see the guinea pigs leave now. We’re looking for the simplicity of only two types of animals; and having animals that can all make it outdoors in wire-bottom cages.

It’s amazing how much more relaxed Jay is without animals in the house.

So we’ve told the kids, but aren’t moving quickly.

Oh, and we accepted four lonely tomato plants along with a collection of seed-starting stuff (for next year, maybe), so I planted them one-to-a-pot in the half-barrel planters on the edges of the yard.  It will be interesting to see if they produce anything.  They’re surviving so far.