Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Local Check-In

It's been a bit since reporting on my local eating endeavors.  The good news is that eating locally isn't feeling like some big accomplishment right now.  It's just feeling like eating good food.   The bad news is that it doesn't feel very blog-worthy.  I'll have to work on that.   Anyways, here's some yummy stuff from last week.


I canned lots of Thai-style pickled green beans and cucumbers!  They had mint, lemongrass, ginger, garlic and chilies.


 Taco salad!  The easiest meal to eat locally: LaBore lettuce, Whole Grain Milling Co. chips and black beans, homemade local corn and tomato salsa.  Fantastic!



Local camping is tough.  I remember it being easier last year.  There were homemade granola and muffins with local ingredients,  pickles, sandwiches, etc.  I relied on some non-local staples like canned beans and TVP (textured vegetable protein) for chili, but used my home-canned tomatoes and WGM chips again here.

 Kinda looks like dog food on chips, but I assure you it was really good!  But we were really hungry after swimming and being lakeside for about 3 hours, so maybe it wasn't as good as I remembered???  I do know that it was filling as hell and warm on a really chilly evening!


I was weeding the garden a couple days ago and look what I saw: Trouble cat has taken to napping in the beets, carrots and garlic!  Must be cool among those plants because she didn't even move when I started snapping pictures of her.

Tonight I'll be at the Ramsey County Library talking about local foods for a Simple, Good and Tasty event.  Here's the link in case you're in the area.

6 comments:

Catherine Weber said...

I love Whole Grain Milling Co. chips, too! Mmmmmmmm.

Anonymous said...

I agree--eating local right now is a no-brainer. I am loving it!

I don't think anything you make could look like dog food, lol :-)

Good luck tonight! I don't think I can make it out to Roseville tonight after work, but it sounds very interesting.

Courtney

aimee said...

I can barely get my cat to come out from under the overgrown hostas! It's been very hot here and he is so cool and comfy under them! Your pickled beans sound yummy!

Eileen said...

Ooh, tasty! Do you have the Thai beans and pickles recipe posted anywhere? I would be all over that.

Anonymous said...

ok stupid question. How do you eat pickled beans?

Liz said...

Eileen: I don't think I do! But I took the basic dilly bean recipe here http://foodsnobberyhobbery.blogspot.com/2009/07/oh-yeah-recipe.html
and used mint and cilantro instead of dill. Then added a stalk of lemongrass to the jar. Kaffir lime leaves are nice, too.

Same adaptations with a basic (safe, tested) pickle recipe! Just be sure to only change minor ingredients like subing one fresh herb for another...no adjustments in vinegar or overall quantity of ingredients.

Thecrunchysoup: Oh, I eat them straight up! But they're also good chopped in pasta salad or even on a sandwich. But I'll sit and eat a whole jar by myself!