We biked to Bible Study today (4 miles round trip), and I began musing about what it would be like to take a biking trip to somewhere with Mane. I mean, to actually go camping or vacationing someplace. There are lots of near and far suburbs, many along the river or near lakes. I figure that Mane could, potentially, bike about 12 miles in a day right now, maybe more, but we have to think about making it back home, too. By next summer, I assume she'll have more speed and endurance. I wonder if she could make it to 20 miles in a day.
I found a very cool looking website called Cyclopath that helps you find bike routes if you know where you want to go. It took some searching, but I actually found the link to Cyclopath on the Metro Transit website. Helpful people. It looks like it would be roughly 28 miles to the Baker Park Reserve Campground, which is park of the Three Rivers Park District . I can dream right? Nearly 30 miles is an awfully long ride.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Rice & Beans
Tonight we'll be having rice & refried beans with all the fixings!
Rice
Put two cups of rice in a pot with 8 cups of liquid. I typically use a mix of homemade chicken broth & water OR I use Pacific brand tomato and red pepper soup with water.
Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring frequently!
Beans
Place 2 cups of dry pinto or black beans in the crockpot and fill the rest of the pot with water. Set the crockpot on high for 3 hours, until beans are splitting open.
Burn an onion in a pan with oil (corn or olive). Remove the burned onion and allow the oil to cool some. Pour the [drained] beans into the pan & mash with a potato masher. Add water to desired consistency. Add about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of salt according to taste.
Eat rice and beans with tortillas, avocado, lettuce, salsa, tomato, jalepeno, Mexican Farmer cheese, table cream or sour cream, and whatever other fixings you happen to enjoy!
Rice
Put two cups of rice in a pot with 8 cups of liquid. I typically use a mix of homemade chicken broth & water OR I use Pacific brand tomato and red pepper soup with water.
Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring frequently!
Beans
Place 2 cups of dry pinto or black beans in the crockpot and fill the rest of the pot with water. Set the crockpot on high for 3 hours, until beans are splitting open.
Burn an onion in a pan with oil (corn or olive). Remove the burned onion and allow the oil to cool some. Pour the [drained] beans into the pan & mash with a potato masher. Add water to desired consistency. Add about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of salt according to taste.
Eat rice and beans with tortillas, avocado, lettuce, salsa, tomato, jalepeno, Mexican Farmer cheese, table cream or sour cream, and whatever other fixings you happen to enjoy!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Borscht & Bread
As a favor to some of my gluten free friends, I've decided to include dinner recipes in my blog whenever I'm making something I haven't posted about already. This means there will be lots of recipes to begin with, and then they'll taper off after a while!
So, tonight, because autumn has arrived, and we have a craving for stew, I'm making beet soup, known to the Russians as borscht. I make this in the crockpot, and I make no claims that it is authentically Russian.
Beet Soup
Place in the crockpot:
1.5 pounds beef stew meat
4 - 5 diced medium potatoes
4 - 5 diced beets
1/2 head of cabbage
1 medium sauted onion
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar (Braggs & Heinz are both gluten free)
1 T brown sugar
some dollops of butter over the top
Cook on high until the meat is brown - about 2 hours.
Cook on low for about another 4 hours until the vegetables are soft.
Serve with sour cream and gluten free bread!
Gluten Free Bread
Wisk together wet ingredients:
1 1/2 cups water
3 eggs
1 t. vinegar (Heinz is gluten free)
3 T oil (I used olive oil.)
In a separate bowl mix:
3 1/4 cups brown rice flour
3 T sugar (I use sucanat.)
1 1/2 t. xanthan gum (This stuff is expensive, but most recipes call for very little, and it's what makes gluten free foods stick together.)
1 1/2 t. salt
1 packet of Red Star active dry yeast
Pour wet and dry ingredients into bread machine according to bread machine instructions. I always do wet on the bottom & dry on the top, but different machines have different instructions. I use the 2 lb light loaf setting, but some machines actually have a gluten free setting, and I'm sure that would be faster. Gluten free bread does not need to rise twice like regular bread, but I don't have any other options on my machine.
Check the bread in the first 5-6 minutes. It should look like thick cake batter. If it's very sticky, add water by tablespoons. I find that how much water I need differs from season to season here in MN.
Let it cool entirely, and then store it in a gallon sized bag. It's easier to slice after it's been in the bag for a few hours because the little bit of condensation softens the crust.
Enjoy!
So, tonight, because autumn has arrived, and we have a craving for stew, I'm making beet soup, known to the Russians as borscht. I make this in the crockpot, and I make no claims that it is authentically Russian.
Beet Soup
Place in the crockpot:
1.5 pounds beef stew meat
4 - 5 diced medium potatoes
4 - 5 diced beets
1/2 head of cabbage
1 medium sauted onion
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar (Braggs & Heinz are both gluten free)
1 T brown sugar
some dollops of butter over the top
Cook on high until the meat is brown - about 2 hours.
Cook on low for about another 4 hours until the vegetables are soft.
Serve with sour cream and gluten free bread!
Gluten Free Bread
Wisk together wet ingredients:
1 1/2 cups water
3 eggs
1 t. vinegar (Heinz is gluten free)
3 T oil (I used olive oil.)
In a separate bowl mix:
3 1/4 cups brown rice flour
3 T sugar (I use sucanat.)
1 1/2 t. xanthan gum (This stuff is expensive, but most recipes call for very little, and it's what makes gluten free foods stick together.)
1 1/2 t. salt
1 packet of Red Star active dry yeast
Pour wet and dry ingredients into bread machine according to bread machine instructions. I always do wet on the bottom & dry on the top, but different machines have different instructions. I use the 2 lb light loaf setting, but some machines actually have a gluten free setting, and I'm sure that would be faster. Gluten free bread does not need to rise twice like regular bread, but I don't have any other options on my machine.
Check the bread in the first 5-6 minutes. It should look like thick cake batter. If it's very sticky, add water by tablespoons. I find that how much water I need differs from season to season here in MN.
Let it cool entirely, and then store it in a gallon sized bag. It's easier to slice after it's been in the bag for a few hours because the little bit of condensation softens the crust.
Enjoy!
A Bike Named Martha
As much fun as it was, I've decided that I don't really need or want a separate blog about biking. So, I've moved all the contents from A Bike Named Martha to this blog, The Midnight Cafe. If you want to read posts about biking, you can scroll down the left sidebar and click on "biking." I am totally in love with the title "A Bike Named Martha," though, so I'm keeping the space there. I just might change my mind at some point, and I want to know that Martha is still waiting for me. ;)
You can still read about our homeschooling journey at Peregrin House, as homeschooling really does need its own separate blog.
Thanks for reading!
You can still read about our homeschooling journey at Peregrin House, as homeschooling really does need its own separate blog.
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Compost & Trash
I know you're all waiting with bated breath to hear about No Impact Man, but I find that I'm not particularly inspired to write about it....not because it wasn't inspiring, but because I want you to go see it for yourself. If you're in Minneapolis, it opens at the Lagoon Theater on October 2nd. If you're elsewhere, you'll have to check the website: No Impact Man. If you're looking for inspiration without seeing the film, you could check out Colin Beaven's blog. It's listed in my sidebar as "No Impact Man."
Suffice it to say that I did leave the theater with some of the inspiration I was looking for, and I'll be blogging about the changes we're making here at our house as they happen. Right now I'm looking into the best means of composting our kitchen scraps. I'm looking into vermicompost, which is, essentially, using red worms to quickly turn kitchen scraps back into earth OR a regular backyard compost bin. For Minneapolis (and the surrounding area) Eureka Recycling is an excellent resource for learning how to follow the green mantra, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." They have an upcoming workshop on "The End of Waste," as well as workshops on both types of composting and turning trash into art.
One thought that I took away from the film was this: Sometimes we waste a lot of time and energy trying to figure out which is the lesser of two evils (think paper or plastic?) when really we can avoid the whole conflict by going without either. Sometimes it's not a question of whether or not we can live without something; it's a matter of just going without and seeing what happens. We in America think there are an awful lot of things we can't live without, but when it really comes right down to it, if we gave those things up, we'd find a way to survive. I think sometimes what makes us most unwilling to change is being different, being afraid of what other people will say, being worried about having guests over or turning our children into freaks. I've often said that I wonder how we'd all live if we weren't so afraid. This is just another area that begs that question. And then what if a few of us made some changes and then others followed suit and then we all lived differently together?
Suffice it to say that I did leave the theater with some of the inspiration I was looking for, and I'll be blogging about the changes we're making here at our house as they happen. Right now I'm looking into the best means of composting our kitchen scraps. I'm looking into vermicompost, which is, essentially, using red worms to quickly turn kitchen scraps back into earth OR a regular backyard compost bin. For Minneapolis (and the surrounding area) Eureka Recycling is an excellent resource for learning how to follow the green mantra, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." They have an upcoming workshop on "The End of Waste," as well as workshops on both types of composting and turning trash into art.
One thought that I took away from the film was this: Sometimes we waste a lot of time and energy trying to figure out which is the lesser of two evils (think paper or plastic?) when really we can avoid the whole conflict by going without either. Sometimes it's not a question of whether or not we can live without something; it's a matter of just going without and seeing what happens. We in America think there are an awful lot of things we can't live without, but when it really comes right down to it, if we gave those things up, we'd find a way to survive. I think sometimes what makes us most unwilling to change is being different, being afraid of what other people will say, being worried about having guests over or turning our children into freaks. I've often said that I wonder how we'd all live if we weren't so afraid. This is just another area that begs that question. And then what if a few of us made some changes and then others followed suit and then we all lived differently together?
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Day 31 - Bicycle Blog
Biked to Bible Study this morning and then to the park before returning home. I think that still puts us at about 4 miles today. Not much else to say.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Day 30 - Bicycle Blog
2 miles today - to the clinic and to Target. I really, really didn't want to bike, and the car was staring me in the face. Mane was whining and fussing about leaving the house, and I almost offered to drive the car if it would make her feel better when she said, "Can we at least take our bikes?" To which I replied, "Of course, that was the plan all along." ;)
We spent a long and tiring weekend making trips to the hospital to see my uncle. He's fine now. The story is long and doesn't belong in this blog. In any case, we drove/rode in cars a ridiculous number of times to ridiculously close places because we were doing the hospital thing. I did, however, convince my aunt that 4 blocks is not really that far to walk for lunch. We walked the 4 blocks there and back, and I felt I had at least done something for the planet.
We spent a long and tiring weekend making trips to the hospital to see my uncle. He's fine now. The story is long and doesn't belong in this blog. In any case, we drove/rode in cars a ridiculous number of times to ridiculously close places because we were doing the hospital thing. I did, however, convince my aunt that 4 blocks is not really that far to walk for lunch. We walked the 4 blocks there and back, and I felt I had at least done something for the planet.
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