How Much Does Produce Cost in Alaska? & Blender Minestrone

Can YOU guess how much this pile of produce cost? Minus the 4 pluots I ate in the car... and the squash was a different purchase. I guess I should mention that this is all organic, and those are Valencia oranges, and Pluots. I still have produce to order from Juneau. It comes out to about the same,  (freight from Juneau vs. markup in town), I just have more options.

I've got to wait for most of it to 'ripen,' but that will help me control myself. I've been low on produce for a few days, nursing a couple grapefruits and luckily picking from my garden.

On another note! I just LOVE tomatoes. It's always been a favorite. If you do not feel like cooking, chopping, and barely feel like chewing, I've got a great recipe for you! Almost any veggie works!

Blender Minestrone
Veggies:
2-3 Tomatoes
1/4 of Red Pepper
1 Carrot
2 inch piece Zucchini
1 inch piece Red Cabbage
Couple slivers of Onion
1 Garlic Clove
Half handful Parsley (or fresh basil)

Spices:
Pinch Tarragon (totally makes it)
Dash or two of oregano/basil/garlic powder/black pepper
Salt as needed
Dash of Cayenne (as finishing touch-just my thing)

Place tomatoes, parsley, red pepper and carrot in blender. Blend well, but not completely smooth, you want tiny carrot chunks.
Pulse/chop in the rest of the ingredients (so you have slightly larger chunks).

If you have a high powered blender, you can leave it on stir for a while to warm it up.  Otherwise, transfer to a pot, gently warm on low heat.

This soup is a little on the thin side. Two options to thicken:
1) If you have any last season tomatoes jarred, they have this canned consistency that is great for thickening (or just use a good quality canned stewed/diced etc).
2) I like to add a touch (1/8 cup or so) of almond milk once the soup is warm and directly into my bowl (as opposed to in the pot).

SO easy. And it is very satisfying. Change up the spices to your liking. Serve with love! Shown served with my Rosemary Grissini Crackers (recipe coming soon!).

V-5 Veggie Fusion & other Detox Fun!

Calli Cinnamon Detox

Still detoxing. It's fun. Once you get past the first two days. I eat all day, so it's hard for me not to be able to snack. Once I'm past that, I can see how some people fast forever (like 92 days.. like Angela Stokes). Okay, maaybe not. The longest I've ever detoxed (or juice feasted/fasted) is 2 weeks, The last 4 days I remember I was sick of juice. Here, I don't think I could afford to keep enough produce around to go even that long, so I've been supplementing with other liquids, Calli Tea and homemade Kombucha. The Calli tea I have is Cinnamon and it is palatable, but definitely tastes like tonic. I like to add oranges to it (which IS a little pulpy/solids..but good enough for me). I've been really going through my ready Kombucha (and I have 15 Scobys!). I have a couple different blends and 'flavors' right now. My favorite is Raspberry Green Tea. Just green tea with dried raspberries. Although I do a secondary fermentation before bottling my kombucha, I think the raspberries give the culture a little boost of sugar to digest. They also make the tea a beautiful bright pink.

Raspberry Kombucha

 After grocery shopping, it's been really hard to resist snacking on all our yummy fruit! And, I thinned a bajillion beet green yesterday and I just want to eat them! I'm going to break my fast tonight or tomorrow morning so I can protein carb load.

Rainbow of Health!

Here is a recipe for my favorite way to drink a V-8 kind of juice (without the salt and that cold veggie soup thing):

V-5 Veggie Fusion
3 Tomatoes
2 Carrots
1 Celery Rib
1 Handful Parsley (no need to pick off leaves-whole thing)
1 Clove Garlic
1 1-inch piece Jalepeno (mine are frozen, works fine)
1 Handful Spinach or mixed greens

Juice (or blend on high speed, then strain with mesh/fine colander). I put this on ice usually because I forget to refrigerate the tomatoes beforehand. I like this drink cold. So one trick is to refrigerate all the ingredients beforehand. Trust me on the garlic and jalepeno. SO good! I always want to make more! I can't wait until our tomatoes are ready! Then I won't feel so gluttonous using 3 on one drink!

Ferry in WA 2010

 Our little town has been recently blessed with the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry service. Well, it is a blessing at times. On ferry days it's definitely a bit noisier than usual. We see cars and people we don't recognize and no one waves back at you. For a few months a year, the ferry will be coming twice a week! Leaving on Monday afternoon, coming back Wednesday afternoon. We shop all day on the Tuesday in between. The deal with the ferry is you can bring your vehicle, load it up in Juneau, then bring it back, with absolutely no charge on freight (as long as your car dimensions do not change, ie. lumber longer than your vehicle. On the small aircraft that service our town, you get 70lbs of freight, every lb thereafter is $0.40 per pound and you have to be able to fit it into plane (no furniture etc). Until this last year, the only way to get anything here was by plane or lightweight (a sloooow cargo service heavily used to get mail, Uhauls, etc. to Alaska).

Not all boxes are as they seem....

As nice and inexpensive (well-less expensive) as using the ferry is, I found myself wondering why in the world we put ourselves through this. It's madness, it's tiring, it drains your account. A 25lb bag of duck feed for example is $26. We pay .40 cents a lb just to get it here. When you are ordering 10 bags, plus dog food, it really adds up. And that is just for the animals. It's only $15 for a 50 lb bag of the same feed in the lower 48 (according to my research). Yes, back to wondering why we live like this... oh yeah, it's Alaska! Imagine what the first Alaskans had to do to survive! Groceries are a luxury! (and so is Alaskan Beer!-says the hubs).

Any Funny Caption Ideas?

Fiddlehead Dessert

So, in Alaska, everything comes in season a bit later. Last week was the prime time for picking Fiddleheads. Fiddleheads are first 'sprout' of a plant, that will unravel into a beautiful fern. They are tender and the flavor reminds me of young Asparagus. The most common (the ones I know anyway) are Ostrich, Royal and Cinnamon. The latter look very similar to me. We bushwhacked to a peak for the views a few days ago, and picked fiddleheads along the way for 'dessert'. They were just right. A couple more days and we would have missed the young ones!

Royal Fern? A little too mature for picking..

Freshly Picked

Cooking on the GSI set

 

Basic BackCountry FiddleHeads:
Bowlful of Fiddleheads
1 Tbs Butter (This was tasty, but I prefer olive oil)
1-2 Tsp Dried Garlic slices (or fresh if you are home)
Salt and Pepper to taste

You can rinse your Fiddleheads (if at home). Ours were pretty clean, so I didn't waste the water. Heat up the butter in the pan, add Fiddleheads, once the pan is hot. About halfway through cooking add garlic, stir, add salt and pepper to taste! That's it! They have such an amazing flavor. One spice combo that may be tasty with this is mustard seeds and thyme or maybe a touch of allspice and ginger. Just an idea if you are making them at home.

Lil Baby Fern

These were so tasty and it was a real treat to eat some fresh veggies!

What wild foods have you tried? Ever pick anything camping that made you sick?

Mexi Spice Carrot Hummus & Wild Rice Collard Wrap

The Flight Path My Produce Makes

Here in Alaska, produce can be a challenge to get. And once you receive your produce, it may or may not be 'good.' Ordering in season definitely helps. 

Here is my latest produce order story: Last Thursday, I updated my produce list in Word as usual,  and faxed it in. The Safeway I order from shops for me (charges a minimal fee) and takes my produce to the airport. The airline then flies my food over and I pay bush shipping and freight costs to them. Well, first of all my card was undercharged by about $60, so I knew that once again, I wasn't getting everything on the list (they rarely call to discuss the order). This time I sadly did not receive: chard, kale, collards, cherries, among a few other things. At least I got in spinach. Not to delay the story any longer, but an example of how it goes here is the grapes I ordered were $17 (for 2lbs) and the apricots I ordered were $14 (for 2 lbs). Now the grapes aren't in season, but I love them so much. They normally come in squashed and 'bad' and become treats for my chickens. The grapes came in delicious and perfect this time (so happy), but the apricots are tasteless, the 3 apricots out of the bunch that weren't rotten all the way through. Last weeks apricots were SO amazing, so I ordered double, paid more, but got less in the end.

Anyway! We had quite a bit of snow, no planes came or went from Friday to Sunday afternoon. I spend about $100-$150 a week on produce. I can 't remember how much I used to spend in the lower 48.. so it's hard for me to know if that's a lot.  Of course in the summer, root vegetables are very easy to grow here and I have a better chance at produce that is in season in WA and shipped to Juneau. There are ways to eat local here. Fish, Moose, berries etc. I'm just frustrated I can't get leafy greens half the time, the other half of the time, not one grocery store in Juneau will have say beets, my favorite.

Well, on the bright side of things; those grapes are delicious! And not having produce even Saturday, forced me to be creative with what I had left. A few collards leaves and a few carrots among my produce drawers. I invented some carrot 'hummus' wrapped it in a collard leaf with some wild rice I had sprouted and drizzled some hot pepper oil on top. Voila! It was delicious! & Nutritious~

Mexi Spice Carrot Hummus & Wild Rice Collard Wrap
2 carrots
1 Tbs tahini
2 dashes Cumin and Chipotle powder
1-2 grinds of salt
2 collards, stem carefully cut out
1/4 cup wild rice (soaked/sprouted) or reg rice, whatever you want!
1 Tbs Hot Pepper Oil (easy to make, take ground red pepper, like the pizza shaker kind, mix 1 tbs to 2 tbs oil and let sit at least 15 minutes.. after a week or so it is really strong and beautiful)

Process the carrot, tahini, spices and salt until smooth(ish) then spoon onto the end of a collard leaf, spoon on some rice (or whatever veggie) and roll up, cut in half.. drizzle with oil, Enjoy!

Beet Chocolate Cake

Also thought I'd share the delicious (naughty) dessert I indulged in every day for 4 days last week (while I waited out the frostbite warning advisory-I'd like to keep my eyelids and nose thank you).  I made up for it with XT. Vegan Beet Chocolate Cake. "Enough Said" as they say... Well, but I have to say YUM! Of course I had tiny pieces. The body runs better without flour and sugar.

I jumped right back in to running, but not my routine. I found fun ways to get back out there. Running Sunday to a craft (bati) party, with an iron strapped to my camelbak; taking a needed rest yesterday and today running to the post office with my orders and taking the long way back. Fun, and it was double duty!

Super Woman Pom/Cran Juice & Bald Eagles in AK

Deliciously Detoxifying!

I'll start off with this awesome recipe for anytime juice. It can be a bit tart. You can always add another apple. I personally like beets and apples alone. I tried it with this and it took away the fabulous flavors of the pomegranate and cranberries. I like tart juice and this is actually pretty sweet, but you can always add another half an apple. Enjoy you Super Woman detox power! Whoo!

1 pomegranate, seeded
    1 to 1-1/2 cups fresh cranberries
    1 apple (red/gala/pink lady-any sweet variety-not grannies; optional)
    1 beet (optional)

Directions:
1. In a juicer, process pomegranate seeds, then cranberries, then apple, then beet. (The order doesn't really matter, but if you use a beet, add it last to push any pulp through.)
Makes: 1 serving, Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes

Bald Eagle/Beartrack Mts

Onto running yesterday. It was fairly clear out. I could actually see the mountains. My dog and I have spooked a G. Blue Heron a few days in a row while running past a creek.. and I still haven't managed to get my camera out in time! However, I was able to catch a snapshot of this bald eagle when we broke through the treeline towards the beach.

My legs were pretty fatigued yesterday. I think the weekend and lack of sleep caught up with me. It's easy to not go running today. But I know I'll be so glad I did!  I never wish I hadn't.

Moose on the Trail

Here is a moose track. I'm a size 10 shoe!

Spiced Pomegranate Avocado Salad

My first post!

This is a delicious way to enjoy pomegranate arils. The salty/cumin spiciness seems to continually reset your taste buds making the pomegranate flavor more intense than ever. The juice bursting in your mouth is a welcome calm to the medley.

    1/2 pomegranate, seeded
    1/2 avocado, sliced or cubed
    1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

    Dressing:
    2 to 3 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil
    2 to 3 tablespoons lime juice
    1/2 to 1 teaspoon cumin, to taste
    1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In a bowl, place avocado and pomegranate seeds. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

2. In separate bowl, whisk all dressing ingredients with fork in bowl or use a food processor.

3. Drizzle dressing over bowl of pomegranate/avocado and enjoy!

I always have leftover dressing.. so perhaps double the salad ingredients.. the dressing keeps well. My husband eats this as a dip with seedy tortillas (like the Food Should Taste Good brand). Delicious!

 RUN:

This morning's run was hot! 32 degrees and I had to take my gloves off after about 1 mile. Even though I decreased layers according to the temp, after the many mornings of -2 to 5,  icy lashes and frozen snot; 32 felt like a sauna in my jacket. My doggy companion must have been heating up too, she stopped, dropped and rolled in the fresh powder!