Dried Winter Squash

 My friend brought me a giant squash picked from her garden in the fall.  We enjoy eating squash, but it was more then we could eat before it went bad.  What do you do with extra fresh cut squash?  My friend had the perfect solution, you dry it.  You peel the squash, and then slice it thinly, hopefully with an electric food slicer, or food processor, and then you spread it on dehydrator sheets and dry it. It took around 24 hours for it to dry at 115 degrees in my dehydrator.  One have of that giant squash made 1 gallon of dried, squash chips.  I actually enjoy eating them just like that.  But I am really looking forward to to putting a handful in each pot of vegetable soup I make, without having to peel and cut a squash first. 

And then next fall I'll know what to do with winter squash from my garden.

Pineapple Pomegranate Oatmeal

I made something new for breakfast this morning.  Since my 14 year old son gave it "high compliments," (Direct quote), I thought some of you might be interested too.  I call it Pineapple Pomegranate Oatmeal

Pineapple Pomegranate Oatmeal

Cook enough oatmeal for your family or follow these instructions for a family of four.

Place the following ingredients in a saucepan and cover with a lid:

3 cups of water
1/2 cup raisins

Bring the water to a boil on high. 
Add 2 cups of old fashioned rolled oats (gluten-free if needed)

Stir.  Put the lid back on.  Then turn the heat down to low.  Let it set there for around 10 minutes. 

Take off the heat.  Put in a pretty dish.  Stir in:
- some pineapple tidbits, or fresh chopped pineapple,
- some walnut pieces
- pomegranate seeds

Serve with a gratitude, a smile and a non-dairy milk of choice.

Note:  There is an easy way to get pomegranate seeds out of that funny red ball without a huge mess.  This short video tells you how.  It's our method of choice now.

Foreign Vegetable Supper

I am writing about our time on the island of Guam on my other blog.  Usually I write about food only on this blog, but this supper seemed that it might  be of interest to my main blog readers.  If you'd like to find out what kind of foreign vegetables we ate for supper, head over to my other blog for a look.

Sorghum Rice Loaf - Gluten-free, Not Vegan, Bread

 I am on the island of Guam for the next three months.  Before we came, I wondered how we were going to live, and eat gluten-free.  Would we only have rice available?  The good news is that there are many gluten-free food available on Guam.  They aren't always cheap, but Payless Grocery Store at the Micronesia Mall has a large health food section, and many gluten free items.  A month before we came, I placed an order with Azure Standard and had it shipped to the island.  It arrived in excellent condition just about the time we arrived.  So I have gluten-free oats, sorghum flour, and brown rice flour to bake with.  I found flax seed on island.  My mom mailed me a tiny amount of Xantham gum, so I might use that sometime.

I googled some bread recipes to see what I could bake with what I have available.  I tweaked my first experiment, and came up with this recipe.  I am compromising on my vegan ideals, and using eggs whites in the recipe so we have a good rise and texture.  At home I often use Udi's bread, which also has eggs, so I decided that might help my bread too.  It does make a difference.  Though I think I still prefer my more complicated bread that is on this blog, Barbara's Almost Whole Wheat, Gluten-free Bread, it has more ingredients then I have here.

We took this bread with us on a camp out this weekend at the beach, and enjoyed it with peanut butter for one breakfast, dipped in mashed bananas and soymilk and fried as french toast for the second breakfast, and as the buns for homemade burgers one night.  Out of the four loaves I made last week, there is only one loaf left.  I guess I will have to make some more this week.

Sorghum, Rice Loaf -Gluten-free, not Vegan, Bread
Makes 2 medium Loaves

Step 1:  Mix the following ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2  cups of brown rice flour
2 cups sorghum flour
2 cups tapioca starch
1.5 teaspoons salt
8 teaspoons yeast
4 Tablespoons psylium seed husks (I used Metamucial with the shortest ingredient list, including only psylium seed husks, citric acid, and   . )
1 Tablespoon sugar

Step 2:  Blend in a blender, then add to the dry mixture
1/2 cup flax seed
1 cup warm water

Step 3:  Combine and add to the dry mixture
3 cups very warm, but not hot water
4 egg whites
1 Tablespoon oil

Step 4:  Mix together the dry and wet ingredients until completely mixed, then mix by hand for 2 - 3 more minutes.

Step 5:  Divide the dough, and spread into two, medium sized loaf pans.  Spray them if they are not tefflon.  Let the loaves rise for 30 minutes.

Step 6:  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Place the loaves into the oven and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove from the pans and cool.