JOT #40: Homemade tahini (for kale chips!)

It's been a while since I made kale chips, so when I saw the vendor at the farmer's market who carries the cheap but perfect curly kale, I grabbed two bunches. I was ready to crisp them up when I remembered: I'm out of tahini. A quick search later turned up this recipe at Cinnamon...

JOT #38: Steaming

Steaming food is another great way to lock in nutrients without a lot of added fat, with the benefit that you also use less water. Simple ways of steaming include in an electric rice cooker, which often comes with a steamer basket. If you don't use yours, you're just wasting all that perfectly good steam....

JOT #37: Fermenting

Many things can be fermented: yeast is fermented into bread, apple cider fermented into vinegar, grape juice into wine, soy into miso. In India, we traditionally ferment a finely-ground batter of rice and blackgram (urad) lentils to make idlis and dosas. Milk also ferments into yogurt, cheese ages, kimchi ripens, kefir cultures, and beer brews....

JOT #36: An ounce of prevention…

It's been at least 2 years since Little One and I have taken antibiotics. We're not against them inherently, they do save lives and are necessary to help prevent the spread of so many diseases. The same is true of so many other medications. When Little One was barely one, we had a scare of...

JOT #35: Homemade noodles

Once a week, we have noodles for lunch or dinner. Not pasta, but noodles. The distinction is in the seasonings - usually asian-inspired, with vegetables and some spiciness and most often some soy or similar sauce, with or without tofu. But many of the noodles (Top Ramen, Maggie) not only contain MSG but are not...

JOT #34: Amazing reusables

I've talked a bit about cool reusable things, like handkerchiefs and baby wipes and napkins, but here are some even more inspired things that can reduce your use of disposable products even further: tea bags - Loose-leaf tea is the most eco-friendly, or herbs from your garden. A strainer often works, but when it doesn't,...

JOT #33: Share the bounty

A group of lovely people I know had the brilliant idea of sharing produce from their gardens! Now they organize a monthly share of produce in our area: people bring in their fruits, vegetables, seedlings, seeds, garden tools, books, even preserves and anything else garden-related (or sometimes not!) for all to share. Each person takes...

JOT #32: Re-cycle

I'm back to using the bicycle after a holiday hiatus. I'm taking the Little One to preschool regularly now, and life has changed. In a bike, you can't be listening to music or snacking on breakfast, making a last-minute phone call. If you want to talk to each other, you have to yell and can't...

JOT #31: What’s new?

A while ago, I posted about being on the Compact - a pledge for a year not to buy anything new (but for certain exceptions). More or less, this has now become a family philosophy. Even my die-hard Gap-loving DH now shops for dress shirts at the thrift shop (doesn't he look handsome in his...

JOT #30: Tortoise cooking

The hare was fast, but napped and made a last minute dash for the finish line. The tortoise was slow, and steady, and won the race. A familiar story in my kitchen, where an hour before dinner, I might scream, "Aah! Dinner!" and scramble to make something presentable before Little One comes whining for milk...