The Portland Greenstag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-18816412014-10-24T13:02:52-07:00Real food from around the world on a budget.TypePadSlow Cooker Chicken Stocktag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a011570c7bdcf970b019aff762118970b2014-10-24T13:02:52-07:002014-10-24T13:17:48-07:00Chicken stock is super easy to make, and when you make it on your own, it does not need to have a long list of additives, salt and preservatives to make it taste great. If you have never made chicken stock, you may be pleasantly suprised to find just how easy it is to do on an otherwise busy day. As we go into the fall and winter months, bone broths are readily used in my house to help prevent and nourish sickness. They are any easy, inexpensive way to get the necessary minerals from bones, cartilage, marrow and vegetables...KatEasy Oyakodon Recipetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a011570c7bdcf970b01a73ddfcdaf970d2014-07-15T08:16:25-07:002014-07-15T08:16:25-07:00Literally translated to mean parent-child rice bowl, the name 'oyakodon' illustrates so perfectly the beauty of the Japanese language. Against American favorites like meatloaf, hamburgers and hot dogs, oyakodon is just as bluntly honest, while still kind of poetic. Oyakodon consists of mother -- chicken -- and child -- egg -- served atop top rice. This classic homestyle dish is comfort food to the max. I first enjoyed this with a good friend at a tiny little shack of a place near his home in Northern Japan's Iwate prefecture nearly 14 years ago. Like many amazing eateries in Japan, the...KatJapanese-Style Slow Cooker Currytag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a011570c7bdcf970b019b002df14a970d2013-10-31T11:47:39-07:002013-10-31T11:47:39-07:00When I lived in Japan, I quickly learned how good Japanese curry is. Widely available all over the country in fast-foodish curry restaurants, Japanese curry is the ultimate comfort food. Unlike Indian or African curries, it is rarely ever spicy. Even if it is called "spicy," it barely has any bite. Instead it is warm, slightly sweet and soothing as can be with its thick brown fragrant goodness. Cubes to make Japanese-style curry are available in the Asian food section of most grocery stores, or in Asian food stores themselves. These are realy simple to make and only require that...KatPreserving the Harvest: Pestotag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a011570c7bdcf970b019aff1542a5970d2013-09-20T03:43:00-07:002013-09-18T22:46:25-07:00Pesto is an inexpensive and quick dinner maker. If you want to put up some pesto for later, make it now while basil is plentiful and save yourself the trouble later. Make a big batch now and have pesto for meals for the entire winter. Grab a bunch of basil from the farmer's market, farm stand or grocery store. I have about 20 basil plants at my community garden plot and they have been helping to fill out my freezer basil section. Otherwise, I find bunches of basil at the farm market for about $2.50 to $3. Add some olive...KatSlow Cooker Tomato Souptag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a011570c7bdcf970b019aff763db7970c2013-09-19T03:33:00-07:002014-06-19T08:18:34-07:00Cold and wet weather is on its way in the Northwest, and I am stocking up on soup. I feel like I have been on the verge of getting sick for weeks with the weather fluctuating from 90s and sun to 60s and rain every few days. Soup has been on the menu for at least one meal a day for nearly a week now. Natural for this time of year, I am completely overrun with tomatoes. And I am beginning to figure out my preserving plan for the even greater number of green tomatoes that will soon have to...KatKombucha-Battered Green Beans with Lemon Aoilitag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a011570c7bdcf970b019104d8bd08970c2013-09-10T09:18:05-07:002013-09-10T09:14:35-07:00Yeah, I rolled my eyes at that title too. But suprisingly, it is kind of delicious and freakishly addictive. If you are not living in the Northwest where home kombucha production is off the charts and people are always offering you a scoby, you may be wondering what I am talking about. Kombucha is a probiotic drink made by fermenting sweetened tea using a "mother" (scoby) to transform it into a fizzy beverage that tastes very little like the original tea. Lauded as being good for the gut, this is widely sold where I live and now replaces many chilled...KatTomato Canning Marathontag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a011570c7bdcf970b019aff374354970b2013-09-05T23:16:20-07:002013-09-05T23:16:20-07:00This past weekend I had a canning marathon with my brother and his girlfriend. We busted out 32 jars of salsa, 10 pints of tomato sauce, 5 quarts of seasoned tomato sauce, 8 pints of tomato jam and 5 quarter pints of tomato paste plus a lot more for the freezer. Once the weekend was over, I made 6 quarts of tomato basil soup from some leftover tomatoes. I still have 20 pounds (and a whole garden of ripening tomatoes) leftover and next up is ketchup. It is a busy season for me right now and I don't have a...KatSimple Kale Chipstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a011570c7bdcf970b0192ac99f408970d2013-08-18T06:00:00-07:002013-08-17T23:03:31-07:00I recently came into a large amount of random kale that I hadn't planned for. With my different gardens busting at the seams with greens, I had to do something with this lovely kale I had sitting in my fridge. That is when I decided to make kale chips. I have been off the dried vegetables since my dehydrator broke last year and had not really given a lot of thought to low-temperature oven cooking until a few weeks ago when said kale landed in my refrigerator. So I revisted kale chips real simple-like in the oven. It worked out...KatOh Wait, I Lied...I Have More Zucchini Recipestag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a011570c7bdcf970b019104c741f9970c2013-08-16T16:51:50-07:002014-03-25T12:00:56-07:00We went away for the weekend and came home to a bulging garden of ripeness. The kids were so excited to pick all the tomatoes and peppers that it took them a few minutes to notice the increased size of our zucchini. They literally shrieked when they saw our three whoppers! All in all, we came home with this: I have been back on zucchini bread-making and I also made a dish of the classic zucchini cheese bake I grew up with. This is super easy, real food and filled with cheesy, ricey, beefy goodness. Oh, and there is zucchini...KatGreen Salsa Recipetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a011570c7bdcf970b0192ac676924970d2013-08-06T17:10:05-07:002013-08-06T17:11:03-07:00We have had a continuous tomatillo harvest this summer and have been making large amounts of green salsa lately. This is so easy to make that I can't believe I haven't done it before now. I generally make loads and loads of tomato salsa and then some canned green salsa made out of unripe tomatoes, but have never made fresh fresh green salsa until a few weeks ago. And wow, is it great! And easy! My boys love taking the husks off the tomatillos, leaving me with very little work. We have been making a double batch at least once...Kat