vegetable stock from food scraps

i always bought the powdered stock or the one in cubes from the supermarket and never even thought about it as something that was possible to make from scratch, until i read this blog post from these light foot steps!

i really cant believe we did not think of that earlier. it is so easy and in no way time consuming. also it saves you money and you can use all the food scraps that would otherwise go to the compost or garbage. so you are using "waste" to create food! (if you have a compost, you can even use them twice by making stock AND composting them)

focus on foods like carrot peels and greens, stalks of herbs, celery, potato peels, mushrooms, zucchini, green beans, peppers, garlic or onion skins and avoid vegetables that can turn bitter like turnips, cabbage, and brussel sprouts.

• we just started filling a 4l zip lock bag with all availible food scraps that seemed to fit. when it was full we put them in a large pot and covered them with water.

• we added some salt, garlic and herbs (bay leaves, thyme, parsley) to it to give it a more specific flavour.

• now bring it to a boil, let it simmer for about 45min and let it cool down before you strain out the vegetables. when it cooled down completely pour it into containers or zip lock bags and place them in the freezer. that's it!

shared in homestead barn hop 

pita bread in a pan!

credit: foodwishes.com

the last time i tried making pitas i made them in the oven and they were good but crunchy and went hard when they cooled down. so i kept looking for another way to bake them (i would have NEVER thought about baking them in a pan). and was very happy when chef john from foodwishes.com (i am following him on youtube for a while now) posted his version of pita bread. 

it is an easy recipe and the pitas are soft and even more tasty then the ones i used to get from the falafel guy around the corner. also they stay amazing without getting hard or stale. in fact they are so amazing that we usually eat all of them on the same day. so i cant really tell you how they do after several days.

at first you will need:

• 2 1/4 tsp of active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Then:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/4 to 2 cups all-purpose flour (depending on how sticky your dough is.

credit: foodwishes.com

1. add the yeast, the warm water (not too warm, test with your finger: if you can stand the heat - the yeast can) and one cup of flour. then mix it until well combined and let it sit for about 20 min or until it is bubbly.
2. after about 15-20 min add the salt and olive oil and mix again. now start adding the flour a bit at a time until your dough is slightly sticky but soft and workable dough.
3. i kneaded it for about 6 min on a lightly floured work surface (you can also use mixer)
4. now oil your bowl and turn the dough inside to coat it in olive oil. 
5. cover the bowl and let the dough double in size (this took mine about 2 hours)
6. take the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and pat it down into a rectangular shape. this allows you to cut it evenly into 8 small pieces.
7. form 8 small balls by folding the sides of the dough in underneath, cover them again and let them sit for about 30 min.
8. now roll them out one by one and let them sit for 5 more minutes. remember that you will fry them in a pan one by one so while you are grilling the first one the others can rise.
9. heat a pan with some olive oil and start grilling your pitas. they will take about 2-3 min on each side. don't worry they will poof and for that pocket all by themself =) 

i also tried making these pitas in the oven but they got crunchy as well -  so the pan it is!

do you have a good pita recipe?

alys fowlers edibe garden

peas and beans

several months ago when i was looking for more and more sources about small scale self sufficient gardens/farms i found these videos by the bbc with alys fowler.
salads

to me they are so enchanting. they show this almost magical little backyard full of flowers, vegetables, fuits and chicken; with alys and isobel enjoying every bit of it.
roots and leafy greens

i kept looking for more videos but there are only a few gardening videos made for the guardian or the bbc, there was never a second "season" of the edible garden. such a shame.

juicy fruits

i hope you enjoy them too. there are several small recipes squezed between all the gardening.

flowers and herbs

she also wrote several books about gardening and foraging that are available on amazon and many other places.

the winter larder