Posts Tagged ‘ cooking ’

Guest Post: Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

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Guest Post: Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

When I posted about switching from boxed and canned goods to homemade alternatives, Heather Anderson, who blogs at A Mother’s Calling, commented: …The one thing I had a hard time replacing in casseroles and soups was cream of mushroom soup. But I found a great recipe that works great for me, so no more cream of mushroom cans from the store. Well, you know I had to ask Heather about her substitute. She kindly agreed to share her recipe here as a guest post. Thanks, Heather! I have been on a real food journey for over twenty years now, and I am always looking for ways to make inexpensive, healthy versions of things that sit on many people’s pantry shelves. In the last couple of years I have become even more concerned with where my food comes from. Is it sustainably grown? Is my money benefitting the farmer that produced the food or a bunch of middlemen and marketers? By making my own versions of products, not only do I cut down on packaging, I know exactly what my family and I are eating. One of my favorite and most versatile substitutes is for Cream of Mushroom Soup. This...

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Soup Smarts

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Soup Smarts

When it’s time to clean up after dinner, we often have small amounts of vegetables or sauces left in the pan. Not quite enough for a leftover lunch, but enough that I don’t want to waste it. Instead of storing these little bits in the fridge, only to throw it out a couple of weeks later once it’s gotten suitably moldy, I keep a container in the freezer where I collect these odds and ends. Green beans, sliced onions, mushrooms, pasta in marinara sauce – it all gets tossed into the same container. When I use a jar of marinara sauce, I rinse the jar with a little bit of water and pour it into my freezer soup pot. When I make pesto sauce, I add a cup of water to the blender and run it to clean off the remaining sauce and I pour in, too. The trick is to make sure you’re not mixing flavors. I wouldn’t, for instance, mix leftover enchilada sauce in the same container that I’ve saved pesto. Instead, I keep an “Italian style” container and another for “Mexican style” flavors. When I make soup, I simply add my container of leftover bits (never...

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Use Your Spatula

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Use Your Spatula

Don’t count on a butter knife or spoon to get the last little bits of food (think: peanut butter and applesauce) out of the container. When you think you’ve gleaned the last of the tasty goodness from the jar, grab a spatula (those pictured are silicone with bamboo handles) and give it another go. Surprise! You’ve stretched that jar of peanut butter one sandwich further.

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Setting Goals for our Food Consumption

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Since our move to this house almost a year ago, I’m still working to get a garden growing. Without the garden, I don’t have my usual stash of preserved foods so it’s quite a bit more difficult for me to produce a completely homegrown meal. We’re working on it, but we’re not there yet. Instead of feeling unsuccessful at our attempts in better self-sufficiency, I’ve set a goal of including at least one ingredient from our yard/garden in every dinner I prepare. If that’s just not possible, I try to include something that’s been grown locally. It’s a small step, but one worth taking. My family has come to expect my dinnertime report: Taco night: “The green onions and avocados came from the garden, the tomatoes are from the farmers market, and the beef is local and grass fed.” Pizza night: “The arugula, green onions, and basil came from the garden. The mushrooms are locally grown, from the farmers market.” Breakfast for dinner night: “The eggs are from our chickens and the sweet bread for the French toast is from Punalu‘u Bake Shop.” It’s casual, not a boardroom style report, but it’s enough to make my family think regularly...

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Put a Lid on It

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Put a Lid on It

When you’re cooking on the stove top you can cut your cooking time and/or energy use by up to 75 percent just by using a tight fitting lid says Richard Ehrlich, author of The Green Kitchen. Boiling water? Warming soup? Put a lid on it! I use a lid on almost everything I cook to save energy, but it also helps to save time – and who couldn’t use more of that?

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Welcome

It’s one thing to think, “Hey, I’d love to be more self-sufficient!” and quite another to implement a lifestyle change that might require learning some new skills.

Attainable Sustainable is about bridging the gap between wanting change and making it happen without becoming overwhelmed. Nobody’s saying you have to go get a tractor and a cow. Attainable Sustainable is about discovering – one step at a time – how to make changes in your life to support a sustainable lifestyle.

The Author

Kris Bordessa has been gardening for most of her life. She's been authoring books and writing features for the past ten years or so. It's about time she combined the two, don't you think? [More about the author]