Product Review - Steel Cut Oats!

I ordered the Westwind steel cut oats from LVL a long, long time ago. Like two months ago. They have been sitting in my pantry, not because I don't like them, I LOVE oatmeal, but because it takes 40 minute to cook them!

For my One Local Summer meal last week I decided to try to beat the system, making a double batch and storing it in the fridge in a resealable container. The last few mornings I have been scooping a single serving into a cereal bowl, microwaving them topped with a homemade blueberry sauce using berries my boys picked from a local U-Pick. Fast, delicious and healthy!

My double batch recipe is two cups of oats to 8 cups of water brought to a boil and simmered for 35-40 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. This makes thicker oats, we prefer them that way, but if you like thinner oats use 9 cups of water. Cool for 10-15 minutes stirring a few times. Transfer to a resealable container and store in the refrigerator to enjoy this healthy breakfast all week long - and it will only take a few second to prepare!

You can read the whole post about eating a healthy breakfast and doing it locally here.

One Local Summer Check In!

So, how are you all doing? Too busy enjoying local produce from the Farmer's Markets and your garden to check in with your local meal? Me too! Things have been busy in our household with summer camps, vacation planning and all around just being outdoors soaking up the sunshine.

Last week when we had a couple of cool days I decided to make some chili for my One Local Summer Challenge. Remember, if you make an all local meal feature it here on the the LVL blog or email it to me and I will post it for you! If you are looking for some great recipes and delicious ideas from the One Local Summer Challenge, you can always visit the Farm To Philly site for more drooling! No licking your computer screen please, it's not local! :o)

Here is my white bean chicken chili with yellow summer squash and smoked Gouda. You can see the whole post by clicking here (the recipe is in the comments section). Can anyone identify the white containers used to store the excess soup for the freezer? I am betting that they look familiar to a few LVL members!

Chicken - Crestwick Farms

Stock - Homemade

Squash, onion, garlic - Farmer's Market

White Navy Beans - Hampshire Farms

Gouda - Grassfields Organics

Flour - Westwind Mill

Cream - Calder's Dairy

Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, Chile Powder - Not Local

Sweetening One Local Michigan Summer

Our attempts to document our version of “one local Michigan summer” is off to a slow and pathetic start due to the long interruption of power at the Whitfield house and the resulting disheveled schedules not to mention we're really bad at taking pictures and even worse at taking the time to write a blog entry. What seemed easy when we signed up for it now seems a bit challenging under these circumstances however, rest assured we're giving it the old college try - even if local means slapping a couple poached eggs on a plate courtesy of five cage free/free ranging hens loving life 50 feet from our back door. In the mean time, please accept this suggestion from Whitfield Apiaries (the Simply Raw Honey people) to help you meet your goals of eating “local” this summer.

Honey has been used for centuries as a natural sweetener and was a much coveted staple known to be present in every king or pharaoh’s pantry. Whatever happened to honey as our preferred sweetener? That is another story but for now, pure, naturally produced honey combined with local flour from Westwind Milling Co. is a sure way to complement those “local Michigan summer” meals with your favorite baked sweets.

To make the substitution, simply follow these guidelines that have been tried and proven for years by the food scientists at the National Honey Board. You can make good recipes even better using local, naturally produced honey:

• Substitute honey for up to half the sugar called for in the recipe. With a little experimentation, honey can replace all the sugar in certain recipes.
• Reduce the liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup for each cup of honey used.
• Add ½ teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey used.
• Reduce oven temperature by 25 deg F to prevent over-browning.
• Remember, honey has a higher sweetening power than sugar. It will take less to sweeten your recipe.
• For easy measuring and fast clean-up, coat measuring cups and spoons with oil before measuring honey.
• 12 oz honey equals 1 cup.

If all this brings back bad memories of high school chemistry class, go to The National Honey Board and pick from the 1400 proven recipes offered. This is one of the best honey information resource for consumers, food industry professionals and beekeepers alike.

Best of luck with your “one local Michigan summer” and let Honey make your good food even better.

Bryan & Judy
Whitfield Apiaries
Ortonville, MI

One Local Michigan Summer - Week 2

Here we are, the second week of our challenge. A few storms, a couple power outages - nothing can keep us down! Here are the submissions:

Lisa made Father's Day a local affair with waffles, berries, syrup and a frittata - Oh my! I am guessing my husband wishes he was at her house! Read all about it (and see it too!) here. And, Lisa also made a yummy salad for lunch last week, which you can read and see here.
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The eco 'burban mom (that's me!) made an egg salad sandwich on a pita with a local beer on the side - yes, you read that right - beer. From Atwater Brewery in Detroit folks, totally local and part of the challenge! You can read all about it and sneak a peek at my beer here.
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Julie, our fearless LVL leader, rocked this challenge more than once this week and even sent in journal style food entries. Now, stop making us all look bad Jules! And, send us a picture so we can drool along with you!! ;o)

Thursday, June 12th - Manoomin Wild Rice (this is ok as a local ingredient, right? Let me know if not), served with olive oil (Organic, Fair Trade Holy Land Olive Oil!) and sprinkled with Redmond Sea Salt (from ancient sea beds in Utah).I was planning to have a smoothie with frozen blueberries I put up last summer from BlueRidge Organic Blueberry Farm in Capac, local raw milk from my cow share, raw egg from East River Organic in Snover, and frozen organic tart cherries from North Star Organic in Traverse City--but I got lazy, and had a cup of Leelanau Licorice tea (licorice root and peppermint from Light of Day Organics in Traverse City, which is also certified biodynamic) sweetened with honey from John Simmons' organic grain farm in North Branch. I usually use Whitfield Apiaries' honey, but John gave this honey to me as a gift, and I go back and forth between the two. :)

Friday, June 13 2008: Lunch Again, I won't be impressing anyone with my creativity here--I'm often looking for something quick and easy. Today's lunch was kefir I made from my raw cow's milk in St Johns...a very strong kefir, I might add...mixed with blueberries from Blueridge Organic Blueberry farm in Capac that I froze last summer and honey from Whitfield Apiaries in Brandon Twp. Not quite hitting the spot, I sliced up a Geronimo tomato from Zenner's hydroponic tomatoes up north...I'm not an advocate of hydroponics, as I feel food needs to grow in the ground, and the solution used to mix into the water is another layer of commercial production making what should be simple, complicated, but it was given to me as a sample. Why waste it? So, I chopped up the tomato and poured olive oil on it and sea salt and pepper. I wanted to drizzle some vinegar on it, too, but wasn't sure of its origin! STILL not quite satisfied, I eyed the organic white popcorn that Farmer Brown grew in the thumb, and John Simmons helped to separate and hull, popping it on the stove with olive oil and sea salting it. I topped it off with another cup of tea...the Relaxation Blend from Light of Day Organics in Traverse City, made from chamomile, spearmint, and raspberry leaf.

Saturday, June 14th - Rib Steak from East River Organic (Snover, approx 70 miles) pan-fried in lard from my pig, Our Farm and Dairy (St John's, approx 100 miles) seasoned with Redmond Sea Salt (Utah) and pepper (unknown origin)Sliced Geronimo tomato from Zenner Farms/Hydroponics (Kingsley, MI) drizzled with Holy Land Olive Oil (Palestine to CA to MI) seasoned with Redmond Sea Salt and pepperHomemade kefir Raw Milk from Our Farm and Dairy Frozen tart cherries from North Star Organics (Frankfort, MI) Maple Cream from Food for Thought (Honor, MI)
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We're still looking for more challenge participants! Join in, leave a comment here at this post, or to read about the challenge and rules, click the icon that says "One Local Michigan Summer" with the tomatoes in the right hand column and add your name there. We will sign you up and I will recap your meal every Sunday night, right here on the blog. Now, go get cooking! ~ Mandi

Are you gettin' local with it?

Sign ups for the One Local Michigan Summer are still going on, so if you want to get a chance at winning some of the fabulous prizes Miz Jules is giving away, get your name on the list and make sure to read the rules, email me your local meal of the week! Sign up here.

Just to show you how easy it can be... Here is my all local lunch from today. All 4 of my boys were gone, my husband had a lunch meeting and the dogs were sleeping. I had the kitchen all to myself...

• Eggs - East River Organics
• Butter - Calders
• Jam - Cherry Republic - Cherry Peach
• Bread - Westwind Milling
• Cheese - Gouda from Grassfields

Quick, easy and pretty darn good. See, you can do it. It's this easy - sign up and don't miss out on all the fun we will be having this summer! Read this blog post for the rules, leave your name and email address in the comments section, or email me (mmankvitz@yahoo.com) for more information. Come on, get local with it!

Want a Challenge?

The Eco 'Burban Mom - that's me, otherwise know as Mandi and a LVL club member, is challenging you all to a little fun this summer. I love challenges! I have bought nothing, cut the clutter, read great green books, been a giver and eaten local - all as part of a challenge sponsored by one of by blog pals. This month alone I am part of a bookworm challenge, a peak oil crisis challenge and One Local Summer.

For those new to One Local Summer - it's a nationwide challenge to cut carbon emissions and support local economy by asking each member to cook one local meal per week, all summer long. Absolutely fun and 100% delicious at the same time! At the end of the week, a regional sponsor will visit each of our blogs to read about our meal and recap the meal on the main website. We all get great ideas for meals and some new recipes and end up meeting some new friends who are all locavores, just like us.

Unfortunately, One Local Summer closed to new members last month, so I would like to create "One Local Michigan Summer" for all of us La Vida Local members. Here are the rules:

1. Create one ALL local meal each week.
2. This meal can be any meal, breakfast lunch or dinner.
3. Weeks run Sunday to Sunday - starting tomorrow June 1st, ending with the first Sunday in October - though sign up anytime during the summer, as it gets warmer, it will get easier!
4. All ingredients MUST be from our own state, or very close borders to IN, OH & Canada with the only exceptions being salt, spices, oil.
5. After you have cooked your meal, email me (mmankvitz@yahoo.com) with your meal story and maybe even a photo and recipe. Where did you get your ingredients, did you meet the farmer personally? What did your kids think? That sort of thing - funny stories, tips, new farms or even secret off the roadside blackberry patches. Whatever floats your boat.

6. I am going to go with the "beg for forgiveness instead of asking for permission" rule here and guessing that Julie and I can cook up a little prize for the member who contributes the most entries... Thanks, Jules! ;o)

At the end of each week, I will post a recap - right here on the La Vida Local Blog - of the meals, recipes and tips found and contributed by all of the members. I would assume we could all use some great local ingredient recipes and I am betting Julie wouldn't mind seeing all of her great products made into darn right tasty concoctions...

So, are you up for it? Are you game or just an organic, free range, local CHICKEN? Come on, I dare you... This will be fun and delicious! Just add your name and email address to the comments section following this post and I will put you on the list of participants.

One Local Michigan Summer has officially begun! For more information, email me or head on over to my blog and leave me a comment. Click the link above to visit One Local Summer too, they will have great recipes each week, if you need a little boost to get your local cooking skills humming!