hiatus? what hiatus?

Woah. It seems like ages since I wrote last. Let me tell you, the two months before your wedding will suck up a lot of the extra time you thought you had. I wasn’t running around like a maniac, but the the last-minute lists and preparations for the family visit consumed an awful lot of my brain capacity. But I’m back with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and plenty of ideas to share. I plan to write a recap of the eco-conscious aspects of our wedding and mini-honeymoon, as soon as I’ve compiled some photos to accompany the words.

But in the meantime, my goal is to post more often and report on the little things I aim to accomplish in the “reuse” and “reduce” categories.

A few unrelated acts of note:

• I’ve made the switch to bulk shopping at Mississippi Market, and I totally love it. Granted, it isn’t as though I’ve never bought anything in bulk, but I’m referring to household items, such as dish soap, laundry detergent and household cleaner, in addition to food. I really don’t know why I didn’t start sooner. The one bulk item that I’m psyched to refill? Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap. Seriously.
• I’m still making my own peanut butter. I buy peanuts (in bulk!), toss them in the food processor with a little cane sugar and a teeny drizzle of canola oil, and voila. I love that the flavor is just a tad different every time I make it.
• I’m done buying jarred tomato sauce. The first batch of sauce I made last week has convinced me that homemade is the way to go. Plus, a big batch in the crockpot yields at least six full servings for the two of us, and it cost me less than buying two jars of the off-the-shelf stuff.
• We finally (finally!) started composting. I went to Home Depot and bought a Rubbermaid trash barrel, and drilled some small holes in the bottom, sides and top. Bingo. Homemade compost bin. Done, and done.
• We mulched our front and back yards to keep our native landscaping happy and healthy. We don’t water on a regular basis during the summer, mostly for energy- and water-usage reasons, so the mulch will help keep the precious moisture in the ground. Next spring’s project is a rain barrel.

Today’s good deed at work: I offered to take home the office’s household-cleaner spray bottles and refill them with Restore multipurpose cleaner in bulk at Mississippi Market. I grabbed a bottle of the stuff to clean my desk this morning and noticed it was almost empty. And the light bulb went off. There’s no sense in tossing the spray nozzle and recycling the bottle when I can refill them on one of my regular shopping trips.

experiment with local fare gone right!

Rarely do I get a creative spark when it comes to mixing flavors and ideas for dinner. Tonight’s fare was certainly an exception. The best part? I made the meal entirely from local food! The bonus: a gorgeous, flavorful, colorful plate of pork, carrots and fennel.

I scoured the fridge for some marinade ideas and found some Annie’s organic teriyaki marinade — so I cheated on the pasture-raised Minnesota pork with store-bought marinade. Hopefully I can be forgiven. But I needed to devote my attention to the vegetable accompaniment: sauteed carrot ribbons and fennel. My friend Andrea sent me the recipe since I needed something to do with the organic fennel from last week’s CSA box. I also had fresh carrots on hand, recently purchased from the St. Paul Farmer’s Market on Saturday. (Simply saute the carrots and fennel in 2 tsp of olive oil, with a dash of red pepper flakes, for about 10 minutes.)

I wasn’t exactly sure how to create a “carrot ribbon,” so I simply pushed harder than usual with the vegetable peeler to create longer, thin slices of carrot. It seemed to do the trick, and I was sauteeing in no time:

I marinated the pork for about 40 minutes, then tossed it and the marinade in a saute pan for 12 minutes — adding the marinade to the pan helped keep the pork juicy and moist.

And I was right about the flavor combination: the hint of licorice in the fennel and the sweetness of the carrots paired wonderfully with the teriyaki-drowned pork. For once, I, Ms. Picky Pants, found myself piling all of the ingredients onto the same forkful, it was that good. Doug and I celebrated the delicious meal with a glass of crisp, fruity pinot grigio. Magnifico.

The finished product:

organic mac ‘n’ cheese

It may not be difficult to find organic ingredients for macaroni and cheese, but I decided tonight to take my standard recipe up a notch and go organic. I’ve slightly modified, several times, an Alton Brown recipe I found on foodnetwork.com to see what works for my taste, so most of this recipe is Alton’s, but I’ve left a few things out and added my own twists. Tonight’s version was the creamiest I’ve ever made, and all of the organic ingredients came from Kowalski’s and Whole Foods. Even the goldfish crackers (or duck-shaped, as is the case with the 360 brand) are organic.

Be forewarned: This is not a reduced- or low-fat recipe. It’s the real deal.

Organic Baked Macaroni and Cheese
(Makes 6 to 8 servings)

1/2 pound elbow macaroni (tonight I used chiocciole, a snail-shell-shaped pasta)
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp powdered mustard
3 cups whole milk
1/2 tsp paprika
1 large egg
8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4 oz. asiago cheese, shredded
1 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
3/4 cup crushed cheddar goldfish crackers (borrowed this idea from an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives)

Preheat oven to 350.

Boil pasta in salted water to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard; keep it moving for about 5 minutes. Make sure it’s free of lumps. Stir in the milk and paprika. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of both cheeses. Add the salt and pepper. (The mixture should be thick.) Fold in the macaroni, and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese and crushed goldfish crackers.

Bake 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!