Paneer

I guess at some point I'm going to need to explain how I'm no longer vegan. How that happened and why....  But for now, please enjoy some pictures of the paneer I made today using Raw Milk from Pokrov Farms. 

Ingredients:
1/2 gallon Raw Milk
1/3 C Lemon Juice

Simmer the milk till it's JUST boiling. turn off heat. Stir in lemon juice slowly.

Then this will happen: the curds will form.

Pour into a strainer in the sink lined with cheesecloth.

Squeeze it out and shake off for about 3 min

Fold up firmly in a towel

Press between 2 boards for 2 hours. I put a gallon of milk on top of this

Done! Prepare using a tomato based curry gravy and add peas. Or use it for whatever Paneer recipe you like :-)

2 Bite Sushi Sammies

I promise, I completely came up with this idea on my own. It all started when I saw these at Uwajimaya

 we've had these little Nori snacks before. But I noticed they had rolled a little rice inside in the picture! "Yum!" I thought!














I made Baked Tofu,
and Sushi Rice. Also stir fried up some zucchini, yellow pepper, and carrots

 Each person got their own pack of nori
and a plate of goodies:

 Stack it up

Roll it!

Nothing pleases me like when my kids EAT and enjoy, and ask for more!

Sushi Rice

I learned my method from Just Bento and I must give credit. However, I don't have a rice cooker and I want my blog post to contain more than just a link so I'm going to show a step by step of how I do it.

2 cups calrose rice
2.25 cups water


Rinse the rice in a strainer inside a bowl. Stir the rice around with your hand, change the water twice.

Empty the bowl and let the rice rest in the strainer for 1 hour

Pour the rice into the cooking pot and add the water. Let this sit for one hour.

Turn the burner on high for 4 min. When the timer goes off, give it a quick stir. Then cover, reduce heat to low (2 on my stove) for 14 min. When that timer goes off, turn off the heat, set the timer for 5 min again, and leave it--still without removing the lid.

After that 5 minutes dings, cut it out using a fork or rice paddle, into your bowl.

Mix together: 3Tbsp rice vinegar, 1Tbsp sugar, 1tsp salt. Pour that mixture over the rice and then cut/fold the rice using your rice paddle. I don't have a rice paddle so I use a big flat-ish metal spoon I have. Works fine. You just don't want to use a wooden spoon! don't stir, you must cut & fold :-)

Baking Tofu

Baked Tofu is easy and everyone in my house likes it SO much this way. I love 2 kinds of tofu best: OTA Extra firm & Wildwood Sprouted Extra firm. OTA is local (Portland), non GMO, and Organic. Firm, mild, a great basic tofu. I also REALLY love Wildwood Sprouted tofu's. Here's some info on regular VS sprouted Tofu. Basically, sprouted is much better for you, but it's also much higher in calories and fat. I LOVE the texture the best though.

Basic Baked Tofu method:

First, cut the tofu thinly, then lay them out on a dish towel, cover with a dishtowel, and apply weight to it for 20 min or so. This gets out any excess fluid.
Then, Marinade (I just use tamari) your tofu for around 40 min, flipping 1/2 way thru.

Bake in the oven at 350 for 40 min, flipping 1/2 way thru

White Bean & Kale Soup

1/2 white onion diced small
1.5 Cup diced/chopped carrot
3 - 4 celery stalks chopped
4 cups mushroom broth
5 cans great northern white beans
4 big leaves of Lacinato Kale
fresh oregano if you can get it
1/2 lemon, juiced

Put the first 3 ingredients in a big pot and JUST cover with broth. set to simmer. Meanwhile, open, drain and rinse 3 of the cans of beans. Put the cleaned beans in your blender, pour in some broth, till it comes about half way up the beans in the blender. I used my magic bullet and did this in 2 batches. Blend till smooth-ish, add to simmering veggies. Add the rest of the broth to the pot. Chop up your kale, and oregano and add them to the pot. Open, drain and rinse the other 2 cans of beans and add them whole to the soup. Squeeze your 1/2 lemon over it. Low boil simmer for around 15 min