The Indigenous Day Report

Clover & Catnip tea with lavender

My day of indigenous eating has been going well.  After breakfast, I made herbal tea with red clover blossoms, catnip sprigs and a stalk of lavender -- all herbs growing just outside my kitchen doorstep --which yielded a refreshingly minty tea to sip while snacking on juicy sweet Poona Kheera cucumbers.

Poona Kheera cucumbers

When I set the challenge for myself, I had forgotten the sourdough bread dough I had made yesterday and left to rise for a baking today.  I have been cultivating the wild starter for over a week -- from nothing more than water, and whole wheat flour.  I fed it daily, adding water and flour, and when we had mashed potatoes for dinner, I used the leftover potato water to help supercharge the yeast.  I had to taste a slice right out of the oven -- sooo sour, but with a soft, moist crumb and a hard, crunchy crust.  A taste I enjoyed in my lunchtime hunger.  My husband and daughter gamely tried the bread, but opted for less sour tasting cloverleaf rolls for their bread.  The dog loved the hunks the rest of the family tasted and couldn't finish!

The yeast and potato water are all from Hawk's Hill, and the butter I put on the bread is at least local! The rich sourdoughy taste fills in remarkably for cheese and junk food at the same time.  It was a guilty pleasure today to sneak back into the kitchen and nibble another slice and a half of the cooled, cheesy-flavored bread.

 For lunch I made a quick soup from chopped potatoes cooked in tomato juice.  When the potatoes were done, I added a quart of zucchini and yellow squashes, sauteed with onion slices and rosemary in olive oil, leftover from dinner a few nights ago.  The tomato juice, squashes and onions added a delectable sweetness, and the potatoes stuck to my ribs until dinner.  My True Love even filled a bowl and joined me at the picnic table to lunch in the fresh autumn air.

Dinner:

These were the materials on hand for dinner:

So ratatouille was clearly called for.  I sauteed up some onions and garlic, then added the peppers you see in the bowl above, then the tomatoes, a medium-sized zucchini, chopped, and finally, the 3 little eggplants, chopped.  Simmered with basil, salt and pepper, the classic French stew was delicious and rich without a hint of bitterness at all.  

Finished ratatouille

I snuck one more slice of sourdough bread -- couldn't keep out of it, and it gave me a feeling of eating something more substantial than just veggies.  So good.  Topped it all off with a slice of cantaloupe melon.  Yum.  I feel stuffed full of good food, without any desire for dessert.  

Not a bad day of eating.  And, I used up some of the produce that has crowded my kitchen counter for days.  It was also a super cheap day of eating, as the only foods that had to be purchased at the store included whole wheat flour, some olive oil, 4 tea bags, and a smidge of salt and pepper.  I ate for less than a dollar, and I've got loads of leftovers for tomorrow.  Thanks, garden!

By focusing my attention on the foods that have come from Hawk's Hill and not on whatever my whim of the moment was, I also ended up only eating very healthy foods.  Not a gram of refined sugar, nary a bit of white flour, and no preservatives or additives went down the hatch with my body fuel today.  I feel close to the earth, grateful for the work of the plants that are feeding me, and like I know what that keen look in a chickadee's eye means --we are both alive and alert on this big green earth.  You could live like this.

Thanks to you for following my adventure!

Betsy