neurodivergent cooking : wheat flour and acorn squash edition

 I bought a bag of whole wheat flour last August - and have finally used it up and bought another.  I scored some pad thai sauce and another acorn type squash at the same time.  I've been eating a lot of acorn squash, as well.  I cook with what I have - and the leftovers of cans that I opened for one thing in the fridge get used to make the next recipe etc.  We've saved some bacon grease recently and I've used a bit of it here and there instead of butter or oil.

 

 Neurodivergent cooking : wheat flour and acorn squash edition

 

Simple Whole Wheat pancake / flatbread

1 cup whole wheat flour 

some salt and garlic parmesan seasoning mixed through the flour 

2 large eggs (we have chickens, so I use all the eggs I can)

a splash of milk to make the right consistency of pancake batter

 

butter and heat a small pan

cook in two to four portions to make flatbread pancakes.

simple - easy, when they begin to bubble up and the edges are firm, flip them over, and store them in a glass container for a few days to eat with soup and sauces.

 

The excellent encuacadora sauce : (full of peanuts) 

1 large guajillo chile, with seeds, stem discarded, torn up 

five spice powder (cinnamon, garlic, cloves, ginger, black pepper) 

bit balsamic vinegar

bit of brown sugar (optional)

bit plus a bit of olive oil 

honey roasted peanuts, a few tablespoons or so, ground up

frozen chopped onion, to equal peanuts, ground up 

1/2 small can of tomato paste

1/2 small can of tomato sauce

heat that all up together and mix through blender well at end

 

 black bean 'meatloaf'  I've been thinking about doing this for a good while, but I didn't want to fry it in oil - so I finally got my thoughts together today with the rest of my cooked carrot in the fridge and put it together - it was really good, and both of my dogs wanted me to give them the entire second half (which I didn't - I put it away for later) :) 

1/2 can of black beans - put in the grinder

a few tablespoons, 3 to 4, of cooked canned carrot

1/2 a stack of saltine crackers, crushed up

spices (I used al pastor seasoning and brown mustard and some orange/beef seasoning)

extra black pepper

1 large egg

whole wheat flour to make the proper consistency

1 tablespoon of bacon grease mixed throughout

spoon into a greased ceramic pan and make a smooth top  

cook uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes (I used our toaster oven) 

 

 

use a small brush to put olive oil on the orange parts of the squash

acorn squash and rice congee (this was SO good I couldn't believe it was easy)

roast, mash and store acorn squash (cut open, scrape out seeds, cut into pieces, brush them with olive oil and roast at 350 to 400 degrees until a fork goes in nicely, let cool a bit, scrape squash from rind with a spoon and store in a glass container)

add cooked rice to acorn squash in 1 to .5 quantities, add a raw egg, cook over medium heat or in a microwave stirring often until egg is completely cooked, add a bit of soy sauce and mayonnaise on either side of the dish to eat if you wish 

 

rutabaga and carrot soup with kielbasa, fresh garlic and onion

chopped and cut up a rutabaga  boiled with kielbasa and onions and some bland summer squash for body - blended that and it was still a bit thin and watery - then I read that carrots are an excellent addition to 'swede' rutabaga soup, so I used the second half of the batch with 2 cloves of fresh garlic and 1/2 a can of cooked carrot - brought that to a boil and then blended that together - and that was so much better!  Still not as good as the turnip soup the other day - but still pretty good.

The garden on April 9th during the COVID-19 lockdown

It is my garden philosophy that I don't have to pull every single weed.  I don't use mulch, and I tend to let the garden lead me where it may... which some years means harvesting the fruits of the greenhouse plants, and the first flush of seeds from the heirloom beans to save - then letting the rest go by the wayside...  Other years I'm out there every other day making soup from every little bit I can scrounge.  Every year is different. I'm thinking this will probably be one of the latter years, with everything going on.

This year I have changed up the infrastructure a little.  That circle of bricks to the right in the bottom picture was there maybe seven years ago?  But the raised bed was not there until three years ago.  The time felt right to put it back, and I even put up a bean fence and put the Mayflower beans next to it.

The pictures do not show the last bit of what I did before sundown.  I was out in the garden at sunrise this morning -- and in the afternoon -- and at sundown, but not a lot of the time in between.  I sat for a while and knitted in the sunshine before noon :)

Before sundown I planted seven hills in the front of the long section.  Each hill has about five Kenearly Yellow Eye beans (bush) and a Zephyr hybrid squash seed or two on the right hand edge.  This is flying by the seat of my pants here.  It was about 6 pm and I looked over at the seed box and said 'ok, this is what is going down right now.'  Up until that very moment I was saying 'yes I will put the Zephyr somewhere' and 'yes I will put some sort of bush bean there, but I don't know what or how, yet.'

I took sixteen of the cement blocks and made Irene the start of a raised garden.

But, we are in the year of COVID-19, and the plan I had made to go back and get dirt at that garden center was upended by a new city ordinance pertaining to 'quarantine lockdown' someone posted about that is 'food, fuel and work only or be arrested'.. I'm sure that is a bit more than the actual law intends - they conveniently did not link to it - but I don't want to be subject to bad interpretations.. so now I'm avoiding that city like they must have wanted everyone to do.. right?  So that business I support doesn't get one of the few orders I might have done this year because of this? And it will probably all change again next week.  Last week they were still saying that garden plants were okay, but don't linger and don't browse.  This week, they've gone Machiavellian... but probably only according to people posting on Facebook who are a bit bored?  I'm not sure.  I'll remember this in a few years.

There is another store in the other town that not only has internet ordering (which the other one didn't - 'in store buy only'), but has curbside pickup without getting out of your car.  So I guess they get the money and we still get an extra vegetable bed for Grandma.

Who knows how 'essential' that is going to be this year, but in almost any year I would call it essential if someone wants to put the work into the soil for fresh food.

((climb down off the soapbox))

I guess I get a little worked up about gardens, and especially because without them, gardens that is, we are stuck buying everything out of a box that may or may not be there when we go to pick it up again.  We found that out a month ago - with all the empty shelves.  It's warm enough now (it wasn't then) so let's grow.

Jarrahdale blue pumpkin

Tonight was the night, the blue pumpkin was cut into.





The flesh smells slightly of watermelon. My first thought was cucumber, and then Mark said 'watermelon' and he was right. It tastes like a watermelon that had all of the sweet sucked out of it and just the fiber left. The flesh is thicker and harder than the Connecticut Field Pumpkins, and the seeds have to be dug out of the corners. The seeds are plump and seem to be full of meat (they are boiling and will bake later) and are a beautiful golden yellow color. All of these seeds came out of this one compact pumpkin. The cut in the surface and the slight 'mold' look to one spot on it had not affected the inside at all. Total it sat in the storage room for over a week between pulling it out of the garden and cutting it open.

After: The flesh was VERY dry.. may be good for processing into baked goods, but was not good at all for eating. The seeds seemed like they should have a lot of nut in them, and it can be very good, but it is smaller than it appears inside the husk and very hard to get out. I would need a nutcracker to get them out without tearing my fingernails up. I'm thinking this variety is not the one I need to grow next year, even though there was plenty of seed left to save some.

The Day after that: I'm a firm believer in trying something a few times. The cooked squash pieces improved greatly with being in the fridge for the night. I could eat one the next day for lunch with no trouble. I think the pairing of it with a plate of purple hulled peas (boiled, then salted) was part of making it so good, as well. The seeds are not an entire loss, either. The last pumpkin seeds peeled from top point down, and that method was NOT working on these seeds at all. I think I finally found a way that, although still slow, gets the entire meat out of this seed. It needs to be cracked at the bottom of the round, on the side, then peeled up towards the point. It sounds pitifully painstaking making this point at all - but if I had gotten the idea that the seeds may 'peel' differently I would not have tried to give up on them so quickly.

Overall: I give the pumpkin Jarrahdale a 7 out of 10, and may replant a plant of it next year.

notes

morning glories

Esme has been clean and dry for three days and two nights. That is no small feat. She has finally clicked with it. Last night and the night before she refused the diaper for bedtime, mostly because that MEANT bedtime, but she didn't wet the bed, either. I know it isn't 100%... won't tell myself it is, yet... but woohoo :)

Tiny notes on the garden. I would like to position the beans between the zucchini and pumpkins next year - so they get more bees. The bees LOVE the squash flowers with all their pollen and the beans are probably getting some 'love' but not as much. Keeping the zucchini and pumpkins further apart will help with that cross-pollination thing I learned about the other day. I did not know that zucchinis and pumpkins were still close enough to crossbreed, like dogs and wolves. They are! Since I am saving pumpkin seeds I don't want to end up with a squashkin .. or do I? I'd have to meet a squashkin to find out. Pumpkins ARE squash... so... Also, I saw the wasps going from flower to flower in the purple hulled peas, which the bees seem to be leaving largely alone. Those cowpeas are producing pods while the black eyed peas (also cowpeas, and planted earlier) are doing very little. I am wondering if the wasps are pollinating the purple hulled peas just enough (bees are better at it, according to the articles I've read) to help or if they are keeping the bees from coming near those plants out of territorialism? I've read some articles and forum posts about cowpeas secreting sweet nectars to attract wasps, in order to protect themselves from being eaten by certain other bugs that would be present if the wasps were not nearby.


Jarrahdale blue pumpkin

I am awaiting the Jarrahdale to see how it tastes. The stem on it is not hard, yet... so it stays out there. There is another baby pumpkin started, and one more small grapefruit sized one turning orange. I finally have a Butternut squash started - hoping it grows to maturity. I think the extra butternuts in the valley which are flowering, but not doing much else, have helped to pollinate the one that is in the garden. Butternuts and pumpkins/zucchini do not cross, and may need more of their own kind to pollinate well. I've been cracking and eating the seeds out of the big pumpkin and they have been wonderful. I'd like to try the Kakai or Lady Godiva breed of pumpkin next year as the seeds do not have that woody hull around them. I am geeking out a bit on this stuff.. because I can. I even ordered a used pumpkin cookbook from Alibris!


a morning Pollywog

Garden and bee pictures

a pretty formation of squash leaves


a happy bee


The same happy bee, busy at his work

I've been out in the garden again for the morning. There is a massive hum out there, while the bees take their fill of the pollen in the squash flowers. I cut out two vines from the Connecticut Field pumpkins and threw them in the woods -- they were starting to wander where they were not wanted... the bees didn't like that much but didn't complain too heavily about it, either. Now it is just about 10 am and too hot to really be out there. Esme is playing in a mud puddle in the shade.. so I am letting her. If she was running around in the sun I would try to find another way to entertain her.

I planted the long radishes and the English daisy seeds. I put two black-eyed pea seeds (standard grocery store dry goods, I didn't buy them as seed) at the base of each of the row marker poles in the corn... if they grow it will be nice. If they do not grow, the rest still served their purpose as lunch. Also there was a poisonous hyacinth bean plant that a friend at work gave me... and I'm a little scared of. It gives large purple half-moon beans that can only be eaten when they are very small... and after that are poisonous. I put it in the corner of the fenced-in garden on it's own stake.

We have marigolds all over the garden, scattered at will from very cheap seed packets from our country store (15-20 cents each). When they bloom it will be gorgeous out there. The blooms on the beans and squash are very pretty in their own right. I caught some pictures of the bees inside the flowers.


Above is the portion of the garden that is NOT squash, corn, or beans. Tomatoes, peppers, a few flowers, marigolds, cucumbers, sunflowers and well.. okay there is some ornamental corn, gourds and (not sprouted) scarlet runner beans in the very back. So, yes there is some corn squash and beans here *ha*.


white flowers on the pinto bean plant


purple flowers on the provider green snap bean

Now I am off to get my simmering black eyed peas (with green beans and radishes) off the stove and see what can be done with the mixture. Esme is still running around outside. If she is good and gets cleaned up maybe I'll take her to the library?

Estimation: According to the online calendar, the black eyed peas would be maturing in the first week of August and/or up until the last week of September. (70-110 days from June 6, 2011) Because they are from the grocery and not an actual seed source, they may not flower and produce at all. I am guessing (because it does not say anywhere) the Shackamaxon pole beans are also about 100 days to drying time... which means I need to plant them soon instead of waiting until July.

April 14th was when we planted the pintos, green beans and Connecticut Field pumpkins (110 days). They should also come due sometime in mid-August. The turk's turbans (95d) and blue jarrahdale pumpkins (100d) were planted one and two weeks after the Connecticut Field pumpkins, respectively, and The very first green beans were on the 2nd of June. The first zucchini (2 inches long) was on the 4th of June. The carrots are not quite ready today.

Still on the list to plant: Calendula, Shackamaxon pole beans, more carrots?, experiment beans (brown and red with speckles from the dry soup mix).