I love this info from www.homesteadingsurvival.com. This is a fab low cal substitue for oil in cooking. In the majority of recipes you can use applesauce to replace fat on an almost one to one substitution. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of oil for instance, you can use 1 cup of applesauce instead, especially in any baked goods recipe. Start with replacing ¼ a cup and increase to the entire amount. There is no need to alter the cooking time and your finished products will turn out nice and moist with great flavor and lower fat!
 

Vegetable Stew Recipe

Great way to use your garden veges, or veges from your local organic market. This 1930.s recipe is courtesy of www.cappersfarmer.com. It is time tested, harty and nutritious.

Here is the recipe. Or go to their site and check it out....

Vegetable Stew Recipe       

Version I
1/2 cup carrot
1 1/2 cups potatoes
1 cup lima beans
1 cup peas
1/4 cup onion
1/2 cup tomato
1 tablespoon butter
Version II2 sweet potatoes
1 small onion
1 1/2 cups green beans
1 cup corn
4 okra pods
1 large tomato
Salt and pepper
Version III
1 cup potato
1 cup tomatoes
1 onion
1/2 cup celery
1/2 cup carrots
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup cabbage
Version IV1/2 cup onion
1/2 cup potato
1/4 cup celery
1 1/2 cups tomato
1/3 cup carrot
1/2 cup chopped okra
Butter

Basic instructions for all versions: Wash all vegetables, peel those that need it, and shuck or shell corn, beans, and peas. Chop large vegetables into small pieces. Heat olive oil or bacon drippings in a large skillet and brown onions, carrots, celery, and the like. Add to slow cooker with remaining ingredients and 1/2 to 1 cup water or stock. Cook 2 to 4 hours until all the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally and making sure there is ample water at the bottom of the pot. Taste for seasonings and add salt, pepper, lemon juice, and/or any herbs you desire. Serve over rice, noodles, or cornbread.

Reprinted with permission from The Best of The Farmer’s Wife Cookbook edited by Melinda Keefe and Kari Cornell and published by Voyageur Press, 2010. Buy this book from our store: The Best of The Farmer’s Wife Cookbook.

Ready to purchase a plant that glows?

Anybody notice that I hate GMO food? Well here is a GMO plant that sounds fascinating. Glowing plants, yep genetic modification can do all sorts of things, but lets face it what Monsanto and friends are  doing is totally different, take ownership over all crops, etc. Check out this glowing plant, you can actually buy one. Is this type of genetic modification right or wrong, I don't know, its just kind of neat and at first glance it doesn't seem harmful, plus the company producing it, don't appear to be trying to take over the world, etc. Check it out on www.glowingplant.com. Who knows you may even decide to order one.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/antonyevans/glowing-plants-natural-lighting-with-no-electricit

 

Why seeds and growing your own is so essential: food just aint what it used to be.

Food really is not what it used to be; if you think food is not as tasty as it used to be, it's not your tastebuds, it really has been changed. This article about the supermarket tomatoes helps to shed light why tomatoes do not taste like they used to. Check it out on www.takepart.com.                                           

 

Ever wonder why it's just so difficult to find a supermarket tomato that tastes like, ya know, a tomato? Well, the superficiality of the American consumer hasn't helped.

 

Discovery News reports that a protein mutation in supermarket tomatoes provides beautiful but tasteless uniformity. And all signs point to tomato breeders for the genetic manipulation.

In an attempt to simultaneously ripen large quantities of tomatoes, breeders discovered they could manipulate one of the fruit's most important proteins; and in doing so the tomato industry was able to lower costs and increase efficiency.

 

But they also dramatically slashed the tomato's natural ability to do what it does best: photosynthesize. The result? Tomatoes that lack sugar and other delightful nutrients—in other words, their flavor.

 

 

9 Ways to Fix Our Food System

Discovery News has all of the great details behind why tomato industry breeders wanted to toy with Mother Nature in the first place. Head over to their site to dive into the fascinating story.

 

Of course, consumers will have an extremely difficult time differentiating between tomatoes with and without this mutation. It's great for the producer, but not so great for the consumer who craves a juicy, sweet tomato.

 

The obvious alternative to this conundrum? Go local. Your farmers market will provide the beautifully misshapen and deliciously flavorful tomatoes you naturally crave.