After a week of bizarre and record breaking weather, Iowa is perfectly in the 60's and 70's. Last Tuesday's 97 degree day (the one where we swooned in the green house -- gasping for air and water) was followed by a weekend that hit high 30's in the evenings. Really.
Today will be another day at the organic farm. I'm so looking forward to it. It may be my last organic garden adventure for a bit since the other helper should be back next week. And last night, after we had to shop for a washing machine. (BUNNY TRAIL ) UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Don't you just hate being grown-up sometimes? 
Sheesh.
When we were kids money grew on trees and appliances were just there to make our parent's lives easier -- and more importantly, ours. The machine we are replacing is one that was a used one, and last year it took a powder... the repairman, after collecting his $50.00 service call fee, switched out a belt, and gave it a test drive. UGH. It then began leaking and he pointed out the heavy duty plastic drum that had a small leak.
He basically said that $50.00 was too much to invest and he was really sorry it was non-refundable. Rob actually gorilla glued a chunk of plastic over the leak. The dang thing was working, leak-free, until it stopped spinning and agitating last week. It's time to retire it. Forever. At least we got a year out of it before it tanked.
Back to the garden talk... after the washing machine hunt, we walked around our own little piece of agriculture. Our blueberry bushes are decked out in white flowery buds and my folks bought us an apple tree for mother and father's day. Our raspberries look like they are really going to come through with a yield this year. Rob wants to add another four-by-four section to the garden, cut out some tree branches that have made our main garden a little shady in spots, and add another row of stones at the base of the main garden for a tomato bed.
One of the things the organic farmers mentioned to 24 was that placing potatoes, eggplant and tomatoes in the same spot 
year after year is not good. They need to be rotated or the yield starts to suffer. Apparently they release something into the ground that makes future crops suffer. So. We will be planting tomatoes and eggplant in different spots and skipping the potatoes this year. They weren't worth it last year. As in we got a handful, if that.
After we are done at the organic garden, 24 and I have been given honey-do lists for what we can do to help Rob out since this weekend the garden will be going in. In July I'm going to be happy, happy, joy, joy when we start hauling in delicious produce.
And, lest you think I won't be trying any new recipes for awhile. Ha. We just got some information about tempeh.... what is that? you might ask. Fermented tofu...more or less.....you, of course, will be hearing about that.
Another kind of weird twist on recipes....is there any other kind in the Klepfer house?
"Chicken Salad"
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup non dairy plain yogurt
2 TBSP finely minced celery
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP mustard
1 1/2 cups of finely diced seitan.
Mix and use as you would any chicken salad. The picture has sprouts and extra mustard should you be concerned.... and the bread was rosemary from the garden bread that 24 baked. Pretty tasty.
Seitan recipe.
1 cup vital wheat gluten
3 TBSP nutritional yeast
1 tsp onion or garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon basil, or cilantro or cumin
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable broth (or mixture of veggie broth and amino acids or soy or hot sauce to taste)
2 TBSP tahini,, hummus or almond butter
Mix tahini or almond butter into broth, stir until butter breaks down.
Mix all dry ingredients together, very well.
Pour liquid into dry ingredients and mix well. When it's hard to stir, use hands, knead until elasticy. Then pat dough into large rectangle (makes about a 9x9 pan's worth. Spray or lightly grease a cookie sheet. Then cut dough into small to smaller pieces. (For chick
en salad, cut to size of small crouton). For other recipes where you will be using this as chicken, cut in small cubes or strips. Place all on the cookie sheet, bake at 400 for 15 minutes, turning once in the middle. It will look and taste densely breadlike (because it pretty much is) but when saturated with a sauce or dressing it takes on a chicken-like density. You can refrigerate the extras for another meal.
And here's a link to a delicious award winning "brownie" dessert that I didn't tweak one iota. Yum.
So Blogger was seriously misbehaving. Hope yesterday's post comes back.
But. Here is a delici
ous pie recipe. I don't LOVE pie. And as far as pie choices...rhubarb would not be my first.
24 made this and I felt I should try it. Oh MY. It is delish.
Rhubarb Oh My Pie
4 c chopped fruit
3/4 c sugar
Mix fruit with sugar set aside.
After fruit has sat a hour. Mix in 3 heaping tablespoons of flour mix let sit.
Crust
1 c oil (coconut)
3 c flour
4 Tablespoon coconut milk
1 tsp salt
4 Tablespoon sugar
Mix all dry ingredients. Add liquid then mix with a fork.
Press crust dough into pie pan. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour into bottom of crust dump in fruit mix. Crumble remainder crust dough on top and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 for 45 mins.
The rhubarb, waiting to be encased in pastry.
Some of the blogs we frequent for inspiration and the "what in the world do we do with ________?" moments.
We've visited each of these and found at least one recipe we decided to make and hang onto. Not that everything is going to be fabulous...got to account for tastebud differences. But these sites are generous with recipes and some of the pictures are beautiful.
Vegan Yum Yum
Fat Free Vegan
Made Just Right
And here are some blogs we haven't done much but visit, some of what I see intrigues me.
Bittersweet Blog
Loves Veggies and Yoga
Your Vegan Mom
These are a few of our meals...
Potato Casserole
Salad w/ leafy lettuce, whatever veggies, fruit or nuts you like and w/ dressing of choice.
Almond Milk or Green Tea
Vegan Naan Pizza (Scroll down a bit. And use soy yogurt instead of reg...makes it vegan ).
Tomato Sauce...( scroll down)
Veggies: chopped olives, onion, garlic, peppers, eggplant, squash, mushrooms etc.
Add quinoa or brown rice if you want a little extra body/texture/protein.
Sprinkle with Daiya cheese.
I have a huge two burner griddle. I roll out a flat piece of naan and cook it on the stove top til it bubbles, then slide it under the broiler til it bubbles more. Then I add the sauce and veggies. Broil again. Add the cheese and broil til it bubbles.
If you ever go to a Farmer's Market and experience the temptation to complain about the price of organic food...don't.
I now have some insight into what kind of work brings food to our tables.
At 1:30 p.m. I entered a greenhouse. Not a big deal. Unless, said greenhouse is in the middle of a farm in the middle of a record breakingly hot day in May. The greenhouse increases the temperature by about 15 degrees, and this particular one also sported no ventilation save for two small "window
s" at the ends of the house. It was so hot in the greenhouse that stepping outside into the humid 87+ degrees felt like heaven on earth. Not kidding. I drank at least two quarts of water while cutting lettuce.
Cutting lettuce. A knife, gloves and a squat. Seven different kinds of lettuce, and brazings, and spinach. Then onto the garlic. We didn't have to pick asparagus or rhubarb, that had already been done. Three of us harvested leafy greens for 20 CSA boxes. For about three hours.
After three hours in the greenhouses, high tunnel and field we were able to wash and pack = fwo hours. So, five hours times three people to harvest and prep 20 boxes worth of fruit and veggies, plus half the time the farmer was helping. I'm talking a lot of man hours to bring a small box of produce to those who signed up. And that is just the harvesting....th
ere is the planting, the weeding, the watering. Oy. And the upkeep -- the 60-year-old female farmer spent the lettuce cutting time wiring a fence so she could plant more tomatoes.
Each pre-purchased full share (550.00 for the season = 22 weeks of produce) comes to approx $25.00 bucks a week. Hmmmm. Our hard earned box contained 4 pounds of pesticide/chemical-free produce, and a lot of sweat. Come July the boxes will be pounds and pounds of tomatoes and zucchini and cucumbers etc. I'm thinking that a CSA is a stinking bargain!
Seriously, the next time you meet an organic farmer, shake that farmer's hand and give them a double thumbs up. They EARN every dime they make.
It is supposed to reach 90 today.
So what I have committed to doing? This afternoon? In the hottest part of the day?
Helping at the organic farm. Today is pick, prep and box up the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares day. And one of the volunteers was unable to be there and 24 asked me to fill in and guess what I said?
In hindsight -- as I sit here and type this and already feel the humid/dense air of the early morning that should be crisp and cool since it's barely May -- wisdom would've checked the weather forecast before saying the Y-word.
But, being an Iowa girl, I can handle it. I'll pack some water in. Do a little whining, but power through it and hope I don't see the vultures circling. After all, I did do a few days of bean walking back in the day. I probably won't encounter any snakes, it'll be too darn hot for them. Right?
I made Seitan Thursday evening. This is a classic Vegan/Vegetarian stand-by we hadn't tried yet. And I was a little apprehensive. Yes. I know. Me apprehensive, the woman who has a mother hovering over fermenting liquid that she then drinks...
But seitan is a meat substitute made from wheat gluten. Think kind of like bread dough. Cooked, but in a stretchy way vs. fluffy, delicious bread way.
Weird. Really weird. But freakishly deliciously so.
Here is the recipe. Anyone with gluten issues will need to not want to try this at home. But. Hmmm. Dare I say it tastes like chicken?
I'm going to make this again with a Mexican bent and use it in fajitas. And then Xta has asked me to make over one of her favorite recipes that requires about a million spices. So once I get the seitan tricks down, I'm going to take her up on the request.
The next meat substitute item we need to attempt is tempeh. Oddly, this is an item that shouldn't be too odd for our experimental palettes since it is fermented soy. But again....I'm a little put off.
Hmmm. So I wondered if that's something I could do at home.
Uhhh. Not so much. But. I'll bet I can find it at TJ's or WF's. I'll let you know.
Sheesh.
year after year is not good. They need to be rotated or the yield starts to suffer. Apparently they release something into the ground that makes future crops suffer. So. We will be planting tomatoes and eggplant in different spots and skipping the potatoes this year. They weren't worth it last year. As in we got a handful, if that.
