Consumable Earth – Kamloops

I actually have two freezers, the one above my fridge and a second upright. Whenever people come over one of the most common questions I get is, “How come you have two fridges?”

As I learn to do things differently I think I will eventually perhaps get rid of the second upright but for now I freeze a lot of things that I make and then store for later. I’m a busy single mom what can I say!

• Giant ziplock bag of blueberries
• Giant ziplock bag of cherries
• Huge bag of mixed vegetables for stirfries (beans, carrots, brocoli, peas)
• Various jars of nuts & seeds currently:
  pine nuts, hemp seeds, chopped almonds, chopped walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds

In the big freezer:

• Homemade vegetarian wontons
• Homemade vegetarian chili
• Bags of chopped spinach & kale
• Large bags of apricots I have to make into jam
• Flat bread
• Perogies from Salmon Arm (if anyone knows how to reliably make these PLEASE come to my house!)
• Various teas
• Another huge bag of mixed beans

Points of pain: Glass doesn’t freeze so well if the contents are liquid or anything but dry.

In the winter or rather end of autumn I made a lot of soup and will freeze it into yogurt containers. I also have been known to stock up on bread and store it in the freezer as well.

For my son breakfast means one thing. Granola, yogurt and berries. That is ‘breakfast’ and when he says, “Mom I want ‘breakfast’” he means “Mom I want granola with yogurt and berries”. He is my youngest and I suppose by the time he was born my eating habits had somewhat evolved to the point that this was simply what we ate for breakfast.

And for all general purposes that is what we eat for breakfast every day. I have started to make my own granola I buy a 25lb bag of organic mixed grain flakes from Nutters (one of my fav stores in Kamloops), we buy bakers honey from a local honey farm and I always have a good supply of various nuts and seeds which get thrown in randomly for each batch.

We buy berries when they are in season down at the farmers market and preserve them for when there are no fresh berries. Blueberries and cranberries (from the lower mainland) get frozen, strawberries and raspberries are dehydrated. Recently my son has discovered that blackberry jam in his yogurt and granola is even more delicious than fresh or preserved berries!

I haven’t gotten to the yogurt part yet. I have a friend who makes his own yogurt (Johnathan you are AWESOME!) and from what I hear it is relatively simple and this is what we will eventually do. What I really want is to own a dairy cow with a small group of people so that we can make yogurt and cheeses from fresh whole milk. That is a side project idea that hasn’t come to fruition yet but will soon enough!

Of course we sometimes have pancakes or crepes as they are called made from organic spelt, honey, butter and milk with fresh fruit compote or some jam. Sometimes it’s omlettes made from free range eggs stuffed with fresh produce and cheese are another fun thing for days when we have a bit more time or are feeling adventurous!

I will be sure to post recipes later on, I honestly just wing it most of the time so I don’t nessecarily have exact proportions.

Ok it’s later and I found this recipe that is pretty close to what I do. Except of course I don’t bother with fruit at all after it comes out of the oven because we add it later.

Melinda’s Homemade Granola Recipe

2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup peanuts or toasted almonds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup coconut (I always use unsweetened, but you can go for the sweetened kind if you’d like)
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (I often omit this ingredient, as I tend to forget to buy it)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried fruit (dried apricots, craisins and dried apple are all delicious choices)
scant 1/4 cup cooking oil (not olive)
1/2 cup honey

1. Mix the oat, nuts and grains in a large bowl.
2. Measure oil into the measuring cup and swirl it around before pouring into bowl.
3. Then measure out the honey in the same, unwashed cup. The oil will help the honey exit the cup.
4. Toss everything together until evenly coated and then pour out into a baking pan. I use a large roasting pan, as it keeps everything contained. A cookie sheet with a lip also works, but you have to stir it slightly more carefully if you use that.
5. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, turning it with a spatula every ten minutes or so. You want everything to be an even golden brown.
6. When it is finished cooking, returned the baked granola to the mixing bowl, add the raisins and fruit and stir to combine. Stir gently several times as it cooks, so that it doesn’t clump together too much.
7. Enjoy!