Caldio: Mexican Beef Stew

My first experience with Caldio, a lovely long simmered green chile beef stew, came from my husbands grandmother. Or grandmothers, as we like to say. His maternal grandmother is a twin, we love the grandmothers Leta and Lena and count them both as our grandmothers or great-grandmothers. They are fabulous cooks and make chiles rellanos that can make you cry, if you're feeling vulnerable that is. This was my first taste of their cooking, I didn't know what to expect, and I was completely delighted with it.

I finally decided to take a crack at making my own version of Caldio. This is pretty darn close and pretty damn tasty. You could easily substitute cut stew meat to speed up the process but don't cut down on the cooking time, the stew meat needs to simmer and get tender. Also a quick note on the heat of the chiles, if you like it hot please do use hot chiles and hot salsa to your liking.

Caldio
1-2 pounds chuck roast
2 TBSP cooking oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
1/4 cup cold coffee
8 cups water-more as needed
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounces of salsa, mild
2 pounds potatoes, cut to bite size--I used the last of my homegrown potatoes so I had red and white potatoes
8 ounces of mild green fire roasted chiles
1 bunch of cilantro, stems removed,
juice of half of a lemon
green onion tops--for garnish

cut the chuck roast into bite size pieces, pat dry
allow to dry while heating the oil
heat the oil over medium high heat in a 4 quart dutch oven
add the dried meat in batches, browning each batch quite well
when the last batch is almost done browning add the onions
cook for about 5 minutes or so
then add the garlic, cook and stir for a minute more
add all the meat back to the pot
then add the coffee and water to deglaze the pan
scrape all the good browned bits up, add the salt then cover and simmer for 2-3 hours
check on the meat occasionally making sure it never cooks dry, add more water as needed
after the meat has stewed for several hours and is nice and tender add the salsa and the potatoes
add more water as needed to cover the potatoes
chop the chiles and finely chopped the cilantro
add them both to the soup
simmer for another hour
add the lemon juice and taste for salt, add more as needed
serve with chopped green onion snipped over the top

love in bowl

Peace and Love--

Just Another Meatless Monday #45 Vegetarian Lettuce Boats

I was making another batch of the Vegan Meat Substitute today when I got really inspired to whip up a couple of lettuce wraps. I rustled up a package of romaine hearts from the fridge, used some winter salsa and made a couple of 'meat' filled boats topped with salsa. I decided what they really needed was a drizzle of easy peanut sauce so I mixed up a quick batch of peanut sauce too. My husband eating a regular flour tortilla burrito looked on enviously so I shared with him. On his next burrito he added a dash of peanut sauce, he said it was great, I was too satisfied with my vegetarian lettuce boats to try his. We'll take his word on it, he has good taste, he married me. HA!

Vegetarian Lettuce Boats-serves two
8 romaine leaves
2 cups Vegan Meat Substitute

Winter Salsa

Quick Peanut Sauce

wash and dry your lettuce leaves, cut off about 1 inch on the bottom
lay them on a plate
quickly heat the 'meat' in a frying pan, stirring as needed
divide the meat evenly into the lettuce leaves
serve with sauces

The Winter Salsa and Peanut Sauce can be subbed out for your favorite sauce of course. They will both last in the fridge for 3-4 days so if you make them you'll have delicious sauces to use. The peanut sauce can be made with milk but then it wouldn't be completely vegan, just an FYI there.

The Penny Worthy Project

This is a thrifty living link up, how do you live a thrifty life? Creating? Cooking? Thrifting? Eating on a budget? Let's share our tips, tricks and crafts with the world. If you don't have anything to share well then read, enjoy and get inspired.

A couple of quick stops in Anchorage on the way to the Anchorage Folk Festival produced a few great finds yesterday. First though the Anchorage Folk Festival was AMAZING, 6 days of musical acts every 15 minutes. Plus workshops, like beginner musical instruments and happy yoga. We watched for a couple hours for FREE and got completely inspired to get us all playing instruments and making music. I have a mandolin I need to learn to play and the middle boy wants to play violin so bad we have decided to get him one and start lessons.

We hit a a church rummage sale, where we scored a basket full of wooden marble maze pieces:

 it took a bit of picking but we rounded up all scattered pieces.
and some pick up sticks for Union's class at school.

4 dollars for all of it.

After the AFF we split up for a bit, I dropped the guys off at the hobby store and I went to Salvation Army. Late in the day means nothing left right? Wrong. Look at this! I love this teapot. It is missing it's lid but that's fine with me.

After Christmas it's time for a decoration reset. So I set this up the other day from little treasures I found all year.

We worked diligently on the studio and started to move stuff in. Only to realize we REALLY needed to paint the floor. Here it is with the couch and bookcases in already. We'll paint one side and then move the couch and bookcases to the other side and paint again. Chug chug chug almost done.

what's under the drop cloth?

vintage red couch to lounge on

We also made some Fizzy Bath Bombs this week in anticipation of giving homemade tokens of affection to the ones we love. These are what they look like wrapped and ready to give.

 They are easy enough to make with kids as young as five and they'll enjoy washing the bowl when you're done too.

Peace and Love--

Banana Roll

Yes, Banana Roll. It's what happens when you have more "just about to go bad bananas" than you can use. It's what happens when you find a pack of cream cheese in the fridge. It's what happens because it's Manifest Destiny.

Very similar to the Pumpkin Roll, different flavors, same filling, completely delicious. This is of course best kept in the freezer and thawed for a few minutes before slicing. If you don't keep it frozen when you slice it, it will crush.

Banana Roll
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3 very ripe bananas, mashed with a potato masher
BEST Cream Cheese Frosting--recipe below

heat oven to 375°

grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan, line with wax paper

grease and flour paper 

sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar and set aside 

stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl
beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick
beat in mashed bananas
stir in flour mixture
spread evenly into prepared pan
bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched
immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel
carefully peel off paper, roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end
cool on wire rack

carefully unroll cake
spread frosting over cake
re-roll the cake then wrap in plastic wrap and freeze
when ready to serve remove from the freezer let sit for 5-10 minutes then slice and serve
 

BEST Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

6 Tablespoons butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract until smooth,
beat in 2 cups powdered sugar, granulated sugar
add more powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached

 So buy too many over ripe bananas and whip up one of these babies, you'll love it. Your family will too, if they get any of it.
Peace and Love--

Roasted Parsnips and Carrots

Hands down best way to eat parsnips. I actually bought them to make a soup, forgot them until Stephanie reminded me of them and then I was glad they are a hardy winter vegetable. They last! The other day on our girls day out parsnips came up, yes we talk about good food, a lot. Right them I remembered the bag tucked in my fridge dull of parsnips. I was gung-ho soup but then Steph was talking root vegetable puree with real cream and the soup dribbled right out of my head. Even while eating a steaming bowl of Pho across from Steph eating Tom Yum out of a CAULDRON (Honest to God!) I was thinking about parsnips.

Roasted Winter Vegetables--oven 350˚
8-10 large parsnips
6 large carrots
1/4 olive oil
1 tsp sea salt

peel the parsnips and carrots
chop into bite size pieces
pour in a 9x13
pour the oil over them
toss to coat
sprinkle on salt
bake for 40-50 minutes until soft and caramelized
eat as soon as possible

If you have leftovers feel free to puree them, add a bit of cream, a sprinkle of cheese, a little bit of oven time and have yourself a good old gratinee. You won't be sorry.

Sorry couldn't resit gratuitous yellow dog shot, but whoa look at those floors they need refinishing. GULP.
Peace and Love--

Fizzy Bath Bombs

finished bath bomb drying in late afternoon sun

This recipe is an old favorite, I found it in this book Restoring Yourself with Essential Oils about 8 years ago. I made them feverishly for a while then had a baby or two and haven't made them since. Go figure. I thought these might be fun to make for valentine treats to hand out instead of candy or with candy. Make sure to label not for eating, they smell great and more than one person has taken a bite unwittingly. Really they only do it once and then they get it.

Fizzy Bath Bombs-Adapted from Restore Yourself with Essential Oils

1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup citric acid
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup lavender blossoms
5-7 drops lavender oil
spritzer bottle of water

mix the first 3 ingredients
add the herbs and the oil drops
stir to combine
spritz lightly with water,stir and spritz again
test out the mixture it should start to hold together after 2-3 mists
if it holds together pack it into an ice cream scoop and gently tap it out onto the palm of you hand
if it breaks apart mist the whole batch again and repeat the trial run
once the initial bath bomb hold together make the other bath bombs
and gently lay them on waxed paper to dry
they will dry in about 24 hours
then carefully wrap in cellophane and tie with raffia or other ribbon
I usually buy my ribbon and cellophane in thrift stores making them really inexpensive and thrifted too
I craft up some sort of thrifted tag with these directions on it:
add to bath water before or during bath for a burst of effervescence

citric acid can be found in the bulk spice section at most markets

post first spritz

little boys getting in on the fun

holding together pretty well

  







These can be made with an infinite combination of herbs, dried flowers and essential oils, like eucalyptus and chopped rosemary or peppermint and dried mint, orange oil and some orange zest? Have fun, play around. You can also add food color to part of the mix and then mix it in, this makes a nice pale bath colored bomb.When you spritz them with water they fizz just a little, don't worry that's just the natural reaction of citric acid mixing with the baking soda (think kid volcano). They will fizz a bit but won't be ruined by it, getting wet is what holds them together. Have fun.




Peace and Love--

Mr. Bento Giveaway Winner

Sorry meant to include this is the pudding post but I got so cranked up about losing the traditions of cooking and real food I completely forgot. Lame, I know.

The winner of the Mr. Bento

is Jennie!

Jennie said...
On the blog roll.

http://www.makingahomeandfamily.com


Drop me an email so we can get this out to you! Thanks everybody for entering and playing along. It was fun.

Peace and Love--

Homemade Chocolate Pudding

Yes, I have conquered a fear, homemade pudding, now that I've made it I can't really remember what made me so wary. I asked my mom if she had ever made pudding NOT from a box, her answer was never. My grandmother probably made pudding from scratch as a young girl but my mom doesn't remember homemade pudding being made when she was growing. Except plum pudding but that's a completely different beast altogether right there.

There is a generational gap in our country, you want pudding you need a box of mix and some milk, voila pudding! My mother made pudding that way, her mother at some point switched to making pudding that way and the technique and know how is lost. This can actually be applied to many foods that come in convenient packages. Rice-a-Roni only broken spaghetti and rice. Mac and Cheese, uh yeah orange cheese sauce and noodles. Cocoa is unsweetened cocoa powder, milk and sugar. The convenience of the packages makes us forget there are other ways to go. We as a nation forgot we can cook without a box because we never learned. An entire generation, in some cases two, were raised without basic food preparation knowledge. I think everything you can buy in a handy package of instant goodness can be made from scratch. And if not do I really need it? Because if I can't whip up ____in my kitchen from conventional ingredients do I really need it? And yes I am talking about myself too because believe it or not I still buy food in boxes, just not chocolate pudding anymore.

Chocolate Pudding
1/2 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups cream
1 1/2 cups milk
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1 TBSP butter

mix the dry ingredients in a 4 quart pan
mix the cream and the milk together
add one cup of the cream mixture to the cornstarch mixture, stir to until the lumps disappear
add the rest of the cream mixture
place the pan over medium heat cook whisking constantly for 5 minutes
add the chopped chocolate, stir until melted
remove from heat stir in the butter until melted
cover with plastic wrap right on the pudding to keep it from getting a skin
cool for 45 minutes then spoon into bowls and serve warm or cover and refrigerate

just off the heat about to be covered

cooled and ready for eating

A bit more work, but the results are worth it. My 7 year thought it was too chocolaty, there can be no such thing right? I mean really, silly boy. The other little boy refused it out right, thought it was lies and blasphemy to make pudding NOT from the box. Wow tough crowd, fortunately this meant my husband and I got to nibble on it for a couple days with no little boys demanding bites. After a day in the fridge it set up pretty firm, it was almost like eating a truffle without the the coating and no silly serving sizes.

Peace and Love--

Just Another Meatless Monday #44 Vegan Meat Substitute

This was a tasty thrifty way to eat vegetarian this week. I have a Gluten Free version for people who need it too. I'm often wary of meat replacements because they just never taste that great to me, but we all liked this recipe. It's super cheap to make, about 3-4 dollars a pan which breaks down into 4 meal sized servings and you can freeze it for later use.

Ground Meat Substitute
2 cups brown rice
2 cups green lentils

optional--1 tsp salt** I added salt because I used a homemade montreal steak seasoning without salt--cook first and add salt as needed later on in the process

2 TBSP Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup oatmeal
1/4 olive oil
1/2 cup high gluten flour

boil the rice, lentils, salt(if using) and seasonings in water to cover by 2 inches
bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer
cook until the rice and lentils are almost tender, I cooked them about 20-25 minutes
remove from heat, pour off any excess water, there wasn't any left in mine
add the oatmeal, olive oil and the flour, combine well
turn into a baking dish
bake for 1 hour at 300˚ stirring every 15 minutes or so

The Gluten Free version comes from Kristi at the Veggie Converter website. This is her recipe and I only add the smoked paprika because it tasted so good in the non Gluten Free version. Enjoy!

Gluten Free Ground Meat Substitute

2 C Brown rice
2 C Green lentils
2 Tbsp. Montreal steak seasoning
1 tsp salt** optional see note
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C diced sauteed or marinated mushrooms
1/4 C mashed potatoes
1 C rolled oats
boil the rice, lentils, salt and seasonings in water to cover by 2 inches
bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer

cook until the rice and lentils are almost tender, I cooked them about 20-25 minutes
remove from heat, pour off any excess water, there wasn't any left in mine
add the olive oil, mushrooms and mashed potatoes, combine well
turn into a baking dish
bake for 1 hour at 300˚ stirring every 15 minutes or so

Divide into four meals, freeze or refrigerate the packages. This can be browned before use, however I used it straight from the oven today to make some giant burritos, I have no complaints eating it this way.

 I think I finally found a way to enjoy green lentils! This is a delicious non processed, whole foods, meat replacement and I'm happy to add it to my arsenal of vegetarian recipes worth keeping.

I amended my original post to add a note about salt, I used a homemade version of montreal steak seasoning without salt. I added some salt and then added more as needed after baking it for a while.

This is the last day to enter the Mr. Bento giveaway, good luck!

Peace and Love--

The Penny Worthy Project

It's been an odd week for me, I won't try to hide it. I feel restless, out of sorts, shouty, just generally cranky. I guess it's cabin fever and I ought to get over myself, but excuse me while I wallow.

Maybe my thrifting level is too low? I did spend almost a whole day out shopping with a good friend of mine, we thrifted and hit the Lands End sale at Sears. I've taken a no buying retail pledge, but after weeks of looking for pants, jeans, slacks for our 7 year old I gave up and bought some on super sale at Sears. I don't like Sears, I won't buy anything else there but the Land's End clothing has such a great guarantee I felt it was a worthy investment. On sale for 15 dollars and then an extra 30% off, I bought him 3 pairs. The guarantee is what sold me, if they wear it out or ruin it Land's End replaces it. Period.

I did find a green tee shirt at a thrift store

and 4 packs of notebook paper, some jeans and a Harry Potter book

and some duralene which appears to be drafting paper, looks like thick rice paper, I'm sure my valentines will have some of this in them somewhere.

 I found a KitchenAid, but didn't buy it I let my friend grab it up for a special present for someone.

I also worked on a meat replacement recipe today, thrifty and delicious. I think it costs about a dollar to make the whole pan, I'll figure it out and post it for Just Another Meatless Monday tomorrow. So come visit tomorrow for a vegan meat replacement and a gluten free version too.

Another thrifty little thing that happened was Christina of Dinner at Christina's gave me the Stylish Blogger award so I'll pass that on to some bloggers. It's a great little way to say I care without cluttering up someones house, no dusting of anything! I also have to share 7 random facts about myself:
1) my eyes turn different colors depending on my mood they are usually green but can turn blue and purplish BEWARE
2) I WANT to be a knitter but I'm not very good
3) I hate the word foodie
4) and nom
5) I have big feet
6) we just adopted another yellow lab, he's huge 
7) my studio is almost done, 1 coat of paint on the ceiling should do it

The folks who I'm passing this too:
Luna
Heather
Amanda
Valerie
Jennie
Gina
Van

to pass this on share 7 random facts and tag some bloggers you enjoy reading



Peace and Love--

The Price of Trendy

What is the price of trendy? Is there something wrong with it? Was my mother right, Calvin Klein jeans with orange stitching really didn't matter? As a mom I look around and see these trends flowing over the country and it kinda makes me sick to my stomach. Whats cool one moment is so gone, so over, so uncool the next. How can anyone keep up? Do we have to?

Lets look first at the price of trendy, it used to be there were 4 seasons of clothing, now every two weeks there are new collections at popular stores (Gymboree, Old Navy anyone?). Stores charge too much money for their cheap clothes that can't stand up to regular washing and drying. But that's ok because it will wear out and you'll need the next new thing. The last 'layering shirt' I bought had holes after 3 weeks. What happened to quality? Wait it's new and improved K-WALITY. So much better, no?

What if your job was to make these clothes. In a hot windowless building for 12 hours a day with fabrics full of chemicals. And I refer to job very loosely because most of the folks in those "job' situations have no other choice. They can't quit or stop working, they are owned lock stock and barrel by us and our lust for the newest and coolest. The 'trendy' imprisons people, that might be a problem right there.

Funny thing is we abolished slavery more than 100 years ago, except we still depend on it. We just outsourced it to those less fortunate or more desperate than Americans.

Imagine you are a VHS tape and along comes the DVD, unceremoniously you are dumped, no matter how faithful you have been, you are donated or worse yet, thrown out. So then the DVD reigns supreme until...BLUE RAY. Again like lemmings the American public ran to buy the next coolest thing, tossing or donating DVDs. What's next, better TVS? Oh wait like flat screens? Who's driving this lust for the newest and coolest, advertisers? Or the companies who need to make money?

I met a woman at a conference last fall and her entire blog, her WHOLE shtick was cupcakes. What happens when cupcakes are over and pie is the new next best thing. Will she switch to pie? Will she keep on with cupcakes? Interesting thought, I wonder why her mama never told her to think for herself.

I wanted to be trendy. Oh god how I wanted to be cool, trendy, popular but there was just no way I was ever going to be that. Fortunately I had a very good friend in high school who was the tallest girl in school. She was so good for me, we shaved our heads together, put boys in trash cans for fun and raised hell all in a very untrendy way. She probably saved me from myself.

So what is my point? Think for yourself. It means so much. Much more than you realize, your individuality is being bought and sold on the whim of advertisers and companies. We are leveraged squarely on the back of slavery. Slavery is NOT over, we depend very much on it. Oh and my mom was so so right Calvin Klein's with orange stitching are NOT important.

Love and Peace--

why should ANYONE have to stock up? it's like admitting your product is crap-well for 30 bucks it probably is