Another Year, New Foods

With the new year, I made a (sort of) resolution. Try some new things, foodwise. New recipes, new ingredients, new ways to cut costs, cut fat, cut preservatives. I even got Jonathan involved - I told him as his resolution, he should try something new every week. His take on this isn't quite what I had in mind - he told me that eating bow-tie shaped pasta was trying something new. Well, okay. The one shape of pasta he'd never tried before. Sigh. But it's a start. Last night he tried my homemade veggie soup, but only a little broth, and then he stopped because there were "too many things floating in it." That would've been basil and thyme. Heavy sigh. One day at the time!

But for me and Mark, there will be some new stuff, starting with my brand-new sourdough starter! Well, brand-new is kind of a misnomer. This strain of sourdough is actually almost 250 years old! My friend ordered the starter, then split it out and gave me some - and that's her cute little crock in the first pic. You keep it in the crock in the fridge, and every week or so you feed it and it's always ready to be made into breads, waffles, whatever. She just gave it to me the week before Christmas, and so far, I made regular sourdough which we ate for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and yesterday, I made a half whole wheat/half regular sourdough which we ate with our soup last night. Yum. The second pic is one of the loaves from yesterday, which will be part of our dinner tonight! It's fascinating. I've read stories about women of yore who nursed their little sourdough starter through wars, moves, harsh winters....and they made bread for their families everyday. No, they didn't have the cool dough hook attachment on their electric mixer to knead the stuff..ahem...but still. It feels colonial!

If anyone's interested, try the King Arthur Bread Company website. They sell the starter as well as the crocks and have a bunch of recipes to get started. If you live in LaVale, I'll be happy to pass along some of my starter! Actually, I'd be delighted --- makes me feel like a frontier woman!

Next up....quinoa. I've been reading about this super-protein for a few weeks now and I'm ready to give it a try. Got a few recipes in mind.

So while not actually a resolution, more like....a continuation of the way I want to live that kind of started last summer. Eating lower on the food chain - cutting out the middle man as much as possible. Buying local and organic. Getting the kids interested in better choices. Although I don't serve packaged foods as rule here at home, the kids still haven't grasped the concept, so we'll try to work on that!

Meanwhile, I'm off to order my own sourdough crock!