Smorgasbord Food Column – Carol Taylor’s Green Kitchen – March 2021 – #Crumpets, #Baking Soda, #Minced Garlic and Egg Boxes uses.

Hello and welcome to Carol Taylor’s Green Kitchen I cannot begin to tell you how delighted I am to be back with a brand- new column at Smorgasbord Magazine… and how welcome you are making me feel.

I am passionate about cooking from scratch using fresh ingredients, the environment and ensuring that the food I make for my family is clean and as chemical free as it can possible be…I would also love to know that instead of counting calories and cost that more people counted chemicals as it is the chemicals in processed foods which affect our health and wellbeing.

Just to recap for those who are new here…This monthly post will cover sustainability, news on food production…changes for the better and maybe a villain or three…haha, a recipe or two including some plant- based recipes, hints and tips on making my household a little greener…aka recycling and composting.

It isn’t easy …in theory we know what we should do …THEREFORE I have looked at what I can do gradually…every small change is a bonus.

This Month’s Recipe…Pikelets/crumpets

There is nothing like a hot buttered crumpet on a cold day…or any day come to that…I have happy memories of toasting mine on an open fire when I was a child a memory which I hope to rekindle next time I go to the village… there is nothing like toast or crumpets cooked over an open flame.

This recipe came about when a C02 shortage affected the production of crumpets. Leaving some people bereft as if they couldn’t get their crumpets.

Hopefully it will also make you smile as I had one of my kitchen disasters…image provided…c02-shortage-cant-get-your-crumpets-recipe-here/

Did you know?

It’s a given that processed foods can save you a little time. But what you gain in convenience, you lose in money, environmental impact and maybe even health.
That’s because processed foods require more labour to convert them from their natural state to something that fits in a box, bag or tub.

You’re also paying for the chemicals added to the processed food to keep them fresh.
You’re paying for the packaging, too, which is totally worthless once you get it home. Indeed, $1 out of every $11 you spend at the grocery store you spend on packaging you throw away.

I will give you a simple example…Baking Powder…

Not all brands of Baking Powder are aluminium free…Baking Powder is a combination of baking soda, cream of tartar and cornstarch or arrowroot powder.

It is also an effective replacement for yeast…a chemical leavening agent that makes your baked goods rise by increasing the volume and lightens the texture.

Healthwise many studies link aluminium to diseases like Alzheimer’s…many cheap baking powders contain fillers and gluten free ones can be a lot more expensive…

All it takes to make your own is 3 white powders so please check your labels I have often picked up the wrong white powder…you will need…

• 2 parts Cream of Tartar
• 1 part Baking Soda
• 1 part arrowroot/corn flour

That’s it just measure and mix the 3 together …I used a tbsp and then seal tightly in a glass jar. The arrowroot/corn flour is added to stop clumping as if you just stored the baking soda and cream of tartar yes it would do the job but it would clump as those of you who use baking know that baking soda does just that.

Ready to use and no fillers or aluminium. Which means that is one more chemical eliminated from our diets…

Does it matter?

You are reading a recipe which says “minced garlic” …you have garlic paste, you could chuck in the whole clove or crush it…couldn’t you?

It’s the same ingredient after all garlic is garlic…Garlic contains alliinase that is activated when the cloves inner flesh is exposed to air…this creates the garlic smell we know and love.

However, the more you slice, dice or mince garlic the more alliinase is released thus creating a stronger more pungent flavour.

Dishes which rely on a bold garlic flavour often call for minced garlic when we roast our winter veggies, we add the whole cloves which then provides a subtler and sweeter taste which is why I roast garlic and add to my garlic mayo and I also roast garlic when I am making soup and tomato sauces…a more mellow flavour.

So yes, if a recipe says minced garlic you know it will have that pungent garlic taste which us garlic lovers enjoy…minced garlic it is…

Growing Your Own…

One of the comments on another post of mine last week was that many people work and have a family and are maybe too tired to grow their own herbs and maybe vegetables…I get that I really do I have always juggled work and bringing up a family…6 kids to be accurate and no it isn’t easy…at one point a few herbs on the windowsill was all I could manage…But that’s fine it is a start…a few veggies among the flowers or a hanging basket with strawberry plants was a big favourite with the kids…Give the kids a little space and a few packets of seeds or seedlings they will love it and stop mithering you…they may get dirty but hey ho a shower works wonders…

Egg Boxes and Egg Shells…make wonderful homes to start your seeds…even an empty cardboard toilet roll …we all have them in our homes no need to go and buy non buy non-biodegradable seed posts.

Make ideal seed trays and the beauty of the cardboard egg trays and boxes is that once the seedlings are ready to transplant just make a few holes in the bottom and plant the whole thing the roots will be able to spread and grow…

Egg shell are also another little vessel for a seed…

If anyone has some hints and tips on how you grow your own please share…we are in this together…

Covid-19…has rampaged through the world…many have unfortunately died, many have lost their jobs, schools have had to close…BUT there have been positives…This is one of them…

Sustainability is on the agenda…Food and jobs are on the agenda…a healthy world is on the agenda…

Are you ready to join me in making your kitchen and garden a little greener, are you ready to cook from scratch more often and to count chemicals instead of calories and cost?  Love Carol xx

About Carol Taylor

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetables ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use have to improve our health and wellbeing.

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: Amazon US

Connect to Carol – Blog: Carol Cooks 2 – Twitter: @CarolCooksTwo – Facebook: Carol Taylor

 

My thanks to Carol for another wonderful post about how we can make a big difference to our health and that of the environment.. do head over to her blog to follow her and take your appetite… thanks Sally.