Starting Seeds Indoors

Last year we had a lot of success starting seeds indoors (I was a little too eager when I transplanted, but that is another story).  You can read a short post about my seeds last year here.  This year we have started a number of seeds in our dining room already.  Instead of using fancy trays from the garden center like I did last year we opted for inexpensive and sturdy 9"x13" disposable casserole dishes with plastic lids.  These are a handy size as far as portability, they are also lightweight, sturdy, and deep, plus the plastic lids make a perfect little green house for seed germination!

1.  Fill trays with seed starting mix about 2"-2 1/2" deep.  

2. Moisten soil.

3. Poke holes in soil with the eraser end of a pencil.  For small seeds plant 2 or 3 per hole, 1 per hole for larger seeds about 1" apart (you can also refer to package directions for spacing).

4. Sprinkle 1/2" of soil on top when you've planted all your seeds and gently firm the soil with a flat, heavy object or the palm of your hand so that the surface is covered and even.

5.  Place lid on and keep in a warm place that gets plenty of sunlight (between 70 and 75F degrees for germination and 60-70F degrees after germination).

6. Once your seeds have sprouted you can remove the lid.

7. Poke holes in the bottom of the trays with a small, sharp, pointed object and then place the lid beneath the trays so that you can bottom-water as needed.

8. The first leaves on your seedlings are seed leaves, which are food storage cells.  Once your seedlings develop true leaves you can begin fertilizing. 

9. When you water mix in a diluted amount of natural fertilizer (1/4 strength).  We are using sea kelp to fertilize out seedlings, but some other alternatives would be fish emulsion or vermicompost tea.

I will be posting follow-ups about transplanting to peat-pots, "hardening off", and finally moving to the garden, so stay tuned!

What I Made for Dinner Last Night

Presenting...what I made for dinner last night.  I really didn't know what to title this recipe.  It has a decidedly Thai flavor to it because of the broth and coconut milk but there really isn't anything traditionally Thai about it (at least if there is it was completely accidental).  What happened is that I had this box of Thai Coconut Curry Culinary Broth made by College Inn.  They started carrying this at our Commissary and although I am usually stubbornly committed to USDA organic chicken, beef, and vegetable stocks, if I'm buying boxed stock, I picked it up a couple weeks ago and it was amazing.

So I had this box of stock and I had a can of coconut milk and I thought, what can I make?  Soup.  It's winter, so I wanted something hearty (also I feed a Marine at my dinner table, so if I'm going to make a soup I better make soup, if ya' know what I mean).  I had potatoes and after that I threw in almost every leftover vegetable I had in the fridge and some cubed ham to keep the Marine happy (I think this would have been great with chopped, cooked chicken breasts or leftover, shredded rotisserie chicken as well but I didn't have any of those meat options.  It would also be fine meatless!)

My husband and I have head colds this week so I thought this soup would be perfect since it is packed full of antioxidant-rich, vitamin laden veggies, as well as having chicken stock (would be a better immune-system booster if made from scratch), and coconut milk.  Coconuts have so many amazing health benefits, one of which is that they boost the immune system!  You can read more here and here.  Coconut oil is also amazing, especially for beauty products.

Now, back to the soup.  It was really easy to whip together in 30 minutes and really yummy.

2 Tbsp.butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 leek, dark green leaves removed, cleaned and sliced thinly
Approx. 1 cup matchstick carrots
Approx. 1 cup broccoli florets (chopped into bit-size pieces)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-1 inch cubes
1 8oz. ham steak, rind removed, cubed (or chopped, cooked chicken breast, or leftover shredded rotisserie chicken)
1 Tbsp. flour
1 box College Inn Thai Coconut Curry Culinary Broth
1 can Coconut Milk
Dash whole cream (you can omit if you don't want dairy)
Salt to taste

*This is quite mild, with the only spices being the ones already in the broth, you could spice it up with a dash of cayenne pepper if that suits your taste.

Melt butter and olive oil in heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat.  Add leek and saute approx. 3-5 minutes.  Add carrots, broccoli, and potatoes.  Saute until vegetables begin to soften.  Add flour and stir for 1 minutes until vegetables are evenly coated.  Add ham and stir to combine.  Slowly add broth, stirring constantly.  Bring soup to a boil over medium heat, stirring, then reduce heat to medium-low and cover (venting the lid a little).  Let simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.  Add coconut milk, drizzle in a little whole cream, and salt to taste.

Serve with freshly-baked bread, we ate it with Ciabatta bread and it was sooooo good soaking the broth up with the warm Ciabatta.

I hope you enjoy this hearty, healthy, Thai-inspired winter soup!

Wordless Wednesday

Hello 2011!

Wow.  A total of 5 blog posts since my husband came home in August.  It will be a miracle if anyone is still reading. :)  There's really no excuse for that, but of course I'm going to make some!  Between hubby coming home from deployment, getting my birth doula certification, opening my photography business, and taking TWO lengthy car journeys over the holidays (NC to TX and three weeks later NC to Disney World, FL) I have been running low on time and energy!  Have I been faithfully photographing all of our meals? Absolutely.  Do I remember how the heck I made them?  Not so much.

Hopefully I will have a lot of posts to share in the coming months as winter melts away.  Yesterday we got our first egg of the season from one of our Easter Egger hens.  A large, blue beauty, and that means Spring is nigh!

On our way back from our whirlwind Disney weekend we stopped at a Florida citrus stand and picked up three itty-bitty citrus trees (orange, lemon, and lime).  These little cuties are gracing my kitchen table in 6" pots until they grow up.  I wanted to do something a little fun with them, especially since I am in the process of envisioning/realizing a kitchen re-design.  I painted the terracotta pots with blackboard paint so I could label the pots with chalk.  I think they turned out pretty darn cute and it only took all of 15 minutes!

If you've read this entire rant then you deserve a recipe, how about Fish Tacos with Tempura Battered Mahi-Mahi and Curried Yogurt in Warm Home-made Naan Bread?  Or a less length description would be: crazy delicious.

For the Naan Bread (from ManjulasKitchen.com):
2 cups of All Purpose flour (Plain flour or maida)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of baking soda
2 tablespoons of oil
2 1/2 tablespoons yogurt (curd or dahi)
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon of clear butter or ghee to butter the Naan
1/4 cup All Purpose flour for rolling

Dissolve active dry yeast in lukewarm water and let it sit for 10 minutes or until the mixture becomes frothy.  Add sugar, salt and baking soda to the flour and mix well.  Add the oil and yogurt mix, this will become crumbly dough.  Add the water/yeast mixture and make into soft dough. Note: after dough rise will become little softer.  Knead until the dough is smooth. Cover the dough and keep in a warm place for 3-4 hours. The dough should almost be double in volume.   

Heat the oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone for at least thirty minutes so stone is hot. Using a pizza stone will help to give naan close to same kind of heat as clay tandoor.

Next turn the oven to high broil.  Knead the dough for about two to three minutes and divide the dough into six equal parts.  Take each piece of dough, one at a time, and roll into 8-inch oval shape. Dust lightly with dry flour to help with the rolling.  Before putting the Naan in oven, lightly wet your hands and take the rolled Naan, and flipp them between your palms and place onto your baking/pizza stone into the oven.  You can place about 2 Naan on the baking/pizza stone at a time.

The Naan will take about 2 to 3 minutes to cook, depending upon your oven. After the Naan is baked(Naan should be golden brown color on top).  Take naan out of the oven and brush lightly with clear butter or ghee.   wait 2 to 3 minutes before baking the next batch of naan, it gives oven the chance to get heated again to max.


For the Mahi-Mahi:
4 Mahi-Mahi filets cut into "sticks"
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup ice-cold carbonated water (fizzy)
Oil for frying

Heat about 3 inches of oil in a frying pan.  While the oil heats mix flour and cornstarch together.  Slowly blend in the iced carbonated water until batter is the consistency of heavy cream (will be lumpy).

Salt your Mahi-Mahi sticks and dip in batter.  Fry until batter is golden on all sides, turning once, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

For the Curried Yogurt Sauce:
Whisk together:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder
Pinch salt
(You can adjust the seasonings in this to your taste, more chipotle chili powder=spicier, etc.)

To assemble the Fish Tacos:
Place Tempura-battered Mahi-Mahi in the center of warm Naan bread.  Top with shredded lettuce or cabbage, chopped tomatoes, and drizzle with curried yogurt sauce.  Roll and devour.

Other ideas:  Add corn kernels, red onion, cilantro, and/or a squeeze of lime juice.

iheartfaces Photo Challenge-Orange

This is a picture I took a couple weeks ago of my little man.  I love the color in this photo and I feel it captured him and the season so well.  I am entering it in this week's photo contest on iheartfaces.  The theme this week is "orange."  Click the link below to head over to iheartfaces and see more!

Saturday 11/13/10: I wanted to amend this post today to include the original, unedited version of the above photo.  My husband likes the unedited picture better and I like them both.  I like the dramatic effect of the edit, but I also like the softer features and colors of the original.  The photo below is SOOC.  :)