What's cooking?

Someone asked me recently what happened to my goal of cooking 52 new recipes this year.  That made me think how I haven't shared anything food related on here in a long while. I have been slowly working on my goal, even though I haven't shared them here. And many of them have turned out quite yummy! 

1.Fermented Veggies: I'm just starting to get hooked on these!  I had a cabbage, some golden beets, and green onion in the fridge which I tossed in a salt brine for a couple days. Seriously, it felt so empowering to be able to just toss veggies in for a couple days, see the bubbles rising up, and know that I was increasing the bacterial activity.  See this blog post for the books I've been reading about our gut microbiome system and how eating fermented foods really promotes overall health.

2.  Broccoli Cheddar Potato Soup: I have both the From Freezer to Cooker and From Freezer to Table books.  They both provide easy meals you can make and eat, or make and freeze for later. The first book provides options for the instant pot and the slow cooker.  This soup was family approved!

3. Buttermilk Biscuits and Sourdough Biscuits. 

While this may not fit in the new category this year, I have used them to invent a cream of chicken over buttermilk biscuits delicious dinner. Every recipe I've tried in the Prairie Homestead Cookbook has been delicious!  I love how the author uses real ingredients from her garden and homestead to create wholesome meals for her family. :-)  Here's the recipe from her site so you can try it too!  To substitute for the buttermilk (which I never have on hand), I add 1 or 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to regular milk for about ten minutes until it starts to curdle. 

https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2011/02/soaked-buttermilk-biscuits.html

4. Kimchi: Somethings I make are 'family approved' and other things are 'family tolerated'.  They tolerate the smell, that is. Kimchi is fabulous for the gut microbiome and I've heard that the combination of onion and Korean Red Pepper help to fight viruses. I'd love to try it again and adjust some of the seasoning.   Kimchi made with Korean Red Pepper. 

5. Sauerkraut: Being my first attempt to ever make sauerkraut, I learned some lessons in this process. Namely, don't shred your cabbage with the food processor.   It will be too small to stay under the brine, and will expose itself to oxygen and go bad. I'm hoping I'll be able to harvest cabbage from our garden this fall, and try this process again with better success. :-)