thoughtful consumption

Member packs

If you haven’t got your member pack yet, don’t panic! They’re being delivered several at a time over the next few weeks. Here are some better pictures of some of the items in the member pack.

goats' milk soap sampler

3 lip balms

Mint syrup

I enjoy fresh mint in my tea, but I didn’t think I could get through all of the spearmint and peppermint I’d picked up last week. So I made mint syrup. It only takes a tiny bit – maybe a quarter of a teaspoon – to sweeten and perk up a cup of tea. The first time I added way too much, and my tea tasted like chewing gum! But just a little bit is really nice especially in the afternoon. And it keeps me from running through my honey too quickly.

Not very green but full of minty goodness!

Steamed veggies and feta cheese

For our supper last night, we had steamed peapods and beets (the orange things) with crumbled feta cheese. The beets were baked a few days ago, so I got one out of the fridge and sliced it. It worked out well because the peapods and the cooked beets both only needed a minute or two in the steamer. All I added to the veggies was some Jane’s Krazy Salt and the feta cheese.

The other part of the meal is leftover pita crisps we made last week with oregano, rosemary, and green onions. Reheated pita crisps are good, but I guess it’s more accurate to call them pita chews.

Lentils, leeks, savory, and rice grits

I was pleased to find this recipe that calls for leeks and savory. However, it seems silly to me to add sausage on top of lentils, so I just served the lentils with rice grits instead.

I chopped up the leeks like green onions starting at the white end and going up to where the leaves started flaring. Maybe I went into the green parts a little too far, but I hated to waste them.

Lentils are a funny food. I’d never say lentils taste great, but they are really satisfying and leave you feeling well fed.

(The wine doesn't hurt, either.)

Pecans

We finally shelled all our pecans this week. I made some candied pecans according to this recipe. (I doubled the egg whites and cinnamon and added two teaspoons of vanilla.) These are so good it’s not even funny. And pretty easy to make once the pecans are shelled. We’re snacking on the bigger pieces, and we’ll put the little crumbles in salads or on ice cream. (I am not a gifted pecan sheller, so we have lots of crumbles.)

Look ma, no meat!

With pecans, lentils, leeks, peapods, and beets, who needs hamburgers? I have no intention of becoming vegetarian, but everything we’ve enjoyed making and eating this week has been meat-free. It’s pretty easy to do when you have such good stuff to start with.