The City Mouse in the Country

Hope is the poor man's bread. Somehow I started watching a video about "Poor Man's bread" that was bread made from various flours in the 1700's and early 1800's.  This popularity of this type of bread has waxed and waned in popularity at times when wheat production faltered for whatever reason. The history of bread is an interesting one and their have been lots of substitutes for wheat bread throughout times of drought or diseases; or when other issues like poor soil and wheat diseases affected production.  Wheat has always been the preferred crop when it came to bread. While wheat farming practices and yields have certainly increased since the late 1700's this most important of crops face new problems in a ever heating world. I started to wonder....could some of these substitutes make sense in today's world?  Or better yet, what about the world of tomorrow?  What would replace wheat bread if the crops failed today? Quick searches for things lik

  Without going into to much detail, I decided to leave my job at the beginning of September.  There are many reasons for this but for some time I've been feeling that my current position has not been the best fit for either the company or myself.    I did not feel like the company was listening to my concerns nor do I feel like they really cared for their employee's; despite a killer benefit package that I'll never see again.  Their technology was at least 20 years behind everyone else and  I believe that they really didn't have the best interests of their customers at heart. It's not all their fault.  I'm to blame too as it seems that I've not been living up to their goals and needs for the last year, and this is one of the reasons it's taken me so long to write this blog post. In addition to trying to find a new job before the end of the month, I've been dealing with anxiety and a mild case of depressio n.  Writing a blog that deals with nature,

Recently I've seen memes and posts over "banning" the gas range.   What I'll be referring to as the Gas Stove War.  It's silly really...but I understand it. For some, it must seem like government over reach.  We personally are moving from an electric stove to a propane stove because my wife wanted one (she's a former professional chef) as we finish the last bit of the kitchen remodel; and because this would mean drilling a hole though the house for the gas range the installation will occur in spring. Yes, I'm very aware of my hypocrisy over installing a gas stove for ourselves while understanding the move to ban or limit the use of electric stoves in other parts of the country.  Frankly if it was up to me, I would stay electric.   It's not up to me.  I also was not aware of the environmental concern regarding the gas range till recently. Long story short, this whole kerfuffle began about two years ago New York City moved to eliminate the use of gas sto

 I found myself wanting to make cheese the other night.  In particular, paneer cheese.  I've not made cheese in some time and it was for that reason that I decided to stay away from something a bit more complex like my beloved Amish Cup Cheese .  It's so simple that you could have it ready within a few hours. I wanted to make paneer for a couple of reasons but mostly because it's a simple cheese to make; only needing milk and an acid like vinegar or citric acid.  It's also used in a lot of Indian recipes, and I just happened to have a couple of jars of simmering sauces for two well known Indian recipes in my pantry.   Since I've been trying to eat more plant based or vegetarian dishes, paneer can be - and often is - used as a meat substitute.   Well many of these dishes are Indian, paneer can be used in a lot of different dishes as well.   As I've said before I'm more "plant based diet curious" than a vegetarian and there are various shades of &

I'm not a vegan.  I'm not even a vegetarian.   I am, for lack of a better word, "Plant based food curious." Like most people today, I got worried about my health.   A lifetime of bacon and cheesy poofs along with the traditional American hobbies of laying around on the couch pushed me close to the diabetic  range.  Heart disease runs in my family and after seeing what my wife has gone through with her diabetes and losing my mother to a heart attack...I started to seriously think about what I could do to improve my health.  Living through a pandemic didn't help either. The more I learned about diets and where food comes from, the more I realized that I could do lots of little things to help the planet too .  I'm proud to say that generally speaking I go at least two days out of week eating a vegan or vegetarian diet.    My interest in this type of food was sparked by my interest in cheese making , a hobby I picked up during the epidemic.  I read about how s

     I broke my own unwritten rule the other day.  Within the last year or so I decided that I was going to embrace a plant based diet because of health reasons.   Heart disease and high blood pressure runs in my family and, roughly two years ago, swelling in one of my legs put the fear of God into me.       As it happened it ended up being nothing but it did concern me.        So I gave up the sugary drinks for the most part and made other changes that I thought were needed, and that lead to my current semi plant based diet..  One of those changes was a pact that I made with myself.  If a restaurant offered a vegan or vegetarian option then I would order it.           Not only would I be doing something that (hopefully) was healthier but I would also be supporting the bottom line for those options.  We live in a world where the bottom line is king and if a vegan/vegetarian option makes a profit; then it's more likely to stay on the menu.            A funny thing happene

          Recently I went out to eat with friends and I order a vegetarian option.   After getting playfully teased about eating rabbit food, the conversation turned to eating healthy, and the expenses of trying to maintain a healthy diet.     We also talked about gardening, canning, and the fact that they felt things were going to get much, much worse with the American economy.     While I am far from being a survivalist, I can honestly say that one of the reasons I want to learn to garden, to forage and store my own food is because I don't like where we as a country and as a planet are going.   No, this isn't a political blog, my concerns are more food availability and environmentally based then they are political.        If the pandemic showed us anything, it's that the supply chain can be interrupted and supplies can become diminished rather quickly.   Plus when costs raise, a common reaction is to save money where and how you can.   In this case, I'm in the perfect

     So I got back from the doctor's the other day.  He was happy with my progress as my weight was down, my blood pressure was down and that affected every thing else that we were worried about, like my blood sugar.    I'm still not exercising the way that he wants me to do...but honestly I have a lot of life changes going on as it is, and I don't need another source of stress in my world right now.  I am also lazy.     I am however fascinated in the change that I've experienced since trying to eat healthier or a Plant Based diet.   I still eat meat, and most likely always will, but I find myself craving something like a full rich salad more than a steak.   Or something with a meat substitute like paneer or tofu or seitan .  I've not tried anything made with tempeh yet but I'm looking forward to that day.       I actually find myself craving something plant based, so much so that I've gone out of my way to buy it.   My energy level seems a little better

      I'm done with this series after this.   I'm still trying to eat more plant based items and I do have a few more products stored in the fridge and freezer, but I find that I'm limited on what's available to me here in the country.   The only supermarket that sells vegan/vegetarian items near me regularly is Aldi's and the selection varies week to week.      While I enjoy Aldi's items I really don't want this series to turn into just being about the products of one store.   That being said, I've been able to find items from Beyond Meat, Impossible foods, the Jackfruit Company,  and other products at other stores, but not on a regular basis.     So I'm trying to eat healthier and plant based where ever and when ever I can.   It's simply a matter of being able to do what I can do and when I can do it, for example the other night I stopped at Burger King and ordered their impossible burger not because I wanted it so much as it was the only c

    When I was a young man, I was surrounded by dogs.  In fact, it always seemed like dogs were just part of my growing up.  Buttons was a toy collie mix who loved to run after rabbits and to this day my dad and I laugh at a slow motion chase scene that was out of a cartoon.         She spotted the rabbit in the high grass of our neighbors home...she looked at my dad quizzically.   "Go" he said and she was off.   Chasing after this poor bunny.   Buttons was able to catch up to the rabbit on the straightway, but didn't have the cornering ability of the rabbit.  Well this rabbit decided to run directly towards my dad and I as we stood near our home...the dog so close that we wondered what Buttons would do if she caught the rabbit.     Bugs the bunny got so close to the house that he jumped and bounded off the wall, that's where things went into slo-mo and become a cartoon.  Buttons applied the breaks her tongue flapping as she leaned as far back as she could her front l

     Thanks to the wonders of algorithms if I try to eat a little healthier or try to eat a bit more plant based, my social media feeds (have you checked out our Facebook page yet) explodes in a variety of articles and recipes.  Which I don't mind so much in that I like to learn about different things that interest me.   What I do mind is that I have more than one interest and my feed is full of nothing but vegan and plant based info now.        For example, Kentucky Fried Chicken's new plant based nuggets.  No, I've not tried them yet but I'm planning on it.  My social media feeds are full of stories, reviews and general information about this one product right now.      Any company that is offering plant based foods I think deserves kudo's and our cash; because if they see it's a profitable market, they will continue to support it.   It's not a bad thing as such, although please note that KFC's plant based offering is technically not vegan or vegetar

      I watch way to much Food Network .  When I was given the opportunity to buy some quail eggs recently, I could not pass them up. Where I have had quail in my life - it reminds me more of duck than chicken since the meat tends to be darker - I've never had quail eggs.  The hedonist in me demanded that I buy them.  Plus they came from a local breeder with a good reputation.       I am slowly but surely moving towards a plant based diet, but I'm not willing to give up all animal products yet.        Quail eggs are tiny, it takes about 2 to 5 quail eggs to equal the same amount of chicken eggs (depending on several factors) but, generally speaking, the quail egg tends to be a healthier (and more expensive) choice.      Let's talk about the cost first before I get into nutritional value and what I decided to do with these little beauties.   I paid five dollars for 24 eggs.  That works out to be roughly 21 cents per egg.     Now the average cost for a dozen chicken eggs is $