A day in the Life of a "Make Ahead Cook"

0800

 The beets and rhubarb have dried from their washing on the counter overnight. I'm roasting them with carrots, shallots, a pear, goat cheese, and walnuts for supper this eve. This recipe, (without the fennel - cause I don't have any right now)

I've done my morning blood sugar testing and  taken my insulin. Now for coffee and a brief bit of socialising in a chat room over breakfast. (A very nice fruit and cheese plate)

Am I officially a "foodie"?

Someone mentions craving pho, and that sounds delish, so, I decide it would be a great idea to make up a pot!

Off to the freezer to see if I've got enough soup bones and such to make a good broth. I do, so I get to work. The bones are saved from previous meals. Smoked pork, chops,  beef roast,  steaks, etc. I also save veggie bits - celery ends, onion and garlic tops and skins, bell pepper stems and seeds, leaves or stalks that aren't good enough for using in a regular meal, etc. They will all have a second "life" in making a wonderfully flavourful bone and vegetable broth.

 First, to sauté the garlic, ginger, anise, cardamom, and veggie ends and pieces for the broth. I would normally put the fish sauce in now too, only, since I'm cooking the beets above it, and don't want that flavour added to the beets, I'll wait to do that.

  Next, since I like to pre cook the beets some in the Instant pot and peel them after, I go ahead and put them on the steamer insert on top of the veggies, and add enough water to soften them up. This will add a nice flavour to the broth, I think. I've used the beet water as a base for bone broth and soups plenty of times before. Never tried it for pho. Not precisely traditional. It should be interesting though.

In the meantime, I cut up the rhubarb and shallots, set them aside for later, and go back to some other household tasks.

 Once the beets are done, it's time to take them out to let them cool...

... Then toss the bones, salt, and fish sauce in the pot, along with the drippings from last night's beef roast.

 

 90 minutes, plus natural pressure release time in the Instant pot produces the same, delicious broth which used to take 4-12 hours simmering on the stove! It's a wonderful improvement!! No stirring, no monitoring. I just "set it and forget it" and come back to it later in the day.


That's about the time I decide that this would make a great blog entry, to give an idea of how this "make ahead" cooking can work, even if you're not willing or able to devote a full day or three every month to making an entire month's worth of meals to freeze ahead. This is a few meal's worth in almost the same amount of time it would take to make just one meal!

Fast forward to the afternoon. Lunch was a couple hours ago. (roast beef sandwiches from lst night's roast on fresh baked, rustic bread. OH yeah!)

 The beets are cooled and I'm taking a break from other duties, so I toss the rhubarb and shallots in olive oil and honey (even with the sweetness of the pears, the rhubarb needs a bit of honey to "tame" it.),

 

 I pop that in the oven for a bit whilst peeling and slicing the beets, and coring and slicing the pear.




Of course, I save the beet ends and skin too - they're going in the dog food! (more on that later).

Back to other things as I wait 'til time to add the rest of the ingredients to the roasting pan. I've got some more produce from my weekly Terra Organics delivery to sort, wash, and put away, and a couple recipes to type out before I forget what went into them.

It's getting on toward evening now.
Next up: add the beets, pear, nuts, and goat cheese to the shallots and rhubarb, toss it a bit, and back in the oven for its final stretch. This gives me just enough time before supper's ready to strain and decant the pho broth into the broth jug for another day or few (it's a lot of broth!)
Then I put the bones and scraps back into the pot, along with the beet skins and ends with more water and some rice and oats for some tasty, home made dog food in the coming days.

Now, the food is ready and that's good, cause all these amazing smells have been driving me insane ALL day.

Roasted Rhubarb & Beets with Goat Cheese & Walnuts

YUM!

Pewdipie plays South Park - The Stick of Truth

I watched all of these, and it's completely awesome and hilarious! I want to play this game now!

Nalgene bottles really ARE all they're cracked up to be!

Who knew?
Well, OK.. Technically, a lot of people knew this already, but I was pretty sceptical for many, many years. I ended up getting an old one given to me several years back though, and, since it was purple, and a decent, sturdy container, I kept it. I even filled it with water, as an emergency backup to my backup drinking water I keep in my van, figuring that it could at least be used for extreme need. 

Then it got misplaced. 

For over 5 years. 

I finally found it the other day, when my vehicle was partially dismantled, and was going to use the water for washing something. Out of curiosity, I smelled the water. It smelled fine. Now is when I should mention that I am severely picky about my drinking water. I am what is known as a "super smeller/taster". That means that even really good municipal tap water smells and tastes like a over-chlorinated  pool to me, nice, tasty filtered water that's been in a typical bike bottle even for 10 minutes is no longer at all tasty, and that even slightly stagnant water tastes and smells NASTY to me! More curious, I smelled it more, then, very cautiously, tried a sip. It seemed just fine, so I drank more. It still tasted great - just as good as it did when I first filled the bottle 5+ years before!

So, this bottle has been knocking around in a van all that time, and actually shows some wear on the outside. It looks like it got gouged and scraped pretty thoroughly at some point in there (it isn't dirty - those white marks are damage), but still maintained a perfect seal, only has slight cosmetic damage, and kept drinking water for even picky me tasting great that entire time! 

I'm sold!

My beliefs and spirituality

 

These are only a few of my beliefs, and I will be adding to this post in time.
 

I believe in living in accordance with nature, not trying to subvert or quash either the Earth/environment or my or others' natural tendencies in order to fit in with whatever happens to be the current societal standard.

I believe that there are very few truly "bad" people in the world and that the majority of people (and other beings) that commit harmful acts are doing so because they don't know how to do otherwise.
I am committed to doing all that I can to raise awareness and help as many as possible to learn to be beneficial members of the population.

That said, I am not so naive as to believe that those who present a danger to others should be allowed free reign to cause harm just because they don't know any better. Sometimes, the herd must be culled.

I believe in taking personal responsibility for all my thoughts, words, choices, actions, or lack of action, and feel that the world would be a better place if everyone else took responsibility for their own actions too.

I practise spirituality, rather than any particular religion.
   

Over the years, I have explored many different organized religions, atheism and a couple of cults. What I finally discovered is that there is no one "right" path, but that everyone has a specific path that is right for them. What's more, a person's path can contain spirituality, wisdom and philosophy from any number of different sources, and that it is no less valid as a belief system than a specific religion. Since then, I have encountered numerous people who have spirituality, but do not subscribe to any set religion, many of whom have mentored me in my spiritual path.

It is my firm belief that any and ALL religions, belief systems, spiritual, and philosophical paths can simultaneously be correct, and that none are intrinsically wrong or right, by themselves. They simply are.

I believe in the concept that GOD (Defined however a person wishes to define God(s)/Goddess(es)/Higher Power/Creative Forces/Cosmos/etc) is everything and everything is GOD, and that the Multiverse is vast enough to encompass all, without conflict. I believe that the seeming disparities between differing paths and beliefs are human made, due to our own limited understanding, but that the Divine surpasses all such differences, rendering them insignificant in the bigger picture.

In fact, the ONLY religious or belief concepts I reject are those based in hatred, bigotry, or intolerance of others, or the idea that any culture, beliefs, gender, identity, creed, consensual expressions of love or joy, skin colour, physicality, or anything else that is not actually causing objective harm to anyone is inherently inferior, superior, wrong, "sinful", or "bad".
If a person believes something is a sin, or wrong to do, they they should not do that thing, so as to follow their own belief, but should not presume to dictate what is wrong or sin for others.
Those things are a personal matter between each person and their own Higher Power(s). 

My own spiritual path is very eclectic, encompassing many elements from my Scottish/Norse, Irish and Cherokee heritage, as well as traditions, beliefs and practices from other North American tribes and various Eastern philosophies.

 

I strive to live in a manner which embraces Mindfulness, rigorous Honesty, Acceptance, Balance, Kindness, Compassion, and Truth, seeks to do that which is right and good, and to maintain conscious contact, through prayer, contemplation, and meditation, with GOD in all things. At any given time, GOD may express itself to me or be called upon, invoked, worshipped, prayed to, or understood in various forms, concepts, deities, etc, but for me, it all boils down to the same, innate, God Consciousness, of which everything is a part. God is All. I am God. God is I. You are God. God is You. We are God. God is Us. All is God.

I am

We Are 

God Is.