I got a mixer, I got a mixer, I got a mixer, I got a mixer

Yea. I got a mixer. The kitchen tractor. Finally. I have been nagging Clyde for 2 whole years about it, and so he said "lets go get it". We got a 5 Qt. one from cosco. I can't wait to get the pasta making attachment. I think the reason clyde finally caved is that he is currently prescribed opiates for his wisdom tooth pain, so he is more suggestive. but whatever, I finally got a mixer.
Here is how it went down:
I am blurry because I am jumping up and down.





Here it is on our counter next to our new espresso/coffee maker which we love (the magic bullet is in the middle because it always has to represent as the REAL kitchen tractor)



Today is sunday, which is already bread making day. I followed the recipe in the book, it went like this:

Kitchenaid bread:
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
2 cups hot water
2 packs of Active dry yeast
5-6 cups whole wheat flour (I only used 5)
3/4 cup powdered milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup oil
(Instead of 5 cups flour, I substituted 1/2 a cup of 6 grain cereal that I grinded in the greatest magic bullet. Usually I will also do another 1/2 cup of a mix of grinded flax and sunflower seeds, but clyde is afraid they may get into his tooth hole)

Dissolve 1 tablespoon of brown sugar in all of the water and yeast until the yeast rises. this takes about 10 minutes.
Put 4 cups of flour, the powdered milk, the rest of the brown sugar, and salt in the mixer. attach the kneading hook. turn the mixer on to the kneading speed and mix a few seconds. while its kneading add yeast liquid and oil. let it mix for about 2 min longer, may have to stop and scrape. Gradually add in the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time ( allowing it to be completely mixed in between half cups) until it doesn't stick to the side of the bowl. At that point let it go a few more minutes.
Put into an oiled bowl and let rise about an hour. I put the oven on 400, left it on a few minutes (it never even reached 400) , turned it off and put the bread in there.
After an hour cut the bread in half and put it in two loaf pans, or like I used to do, a loaf pan and shape one in an oval and put it on a flat pan. Let rise another hour.
After that put in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the temp to 350 for another 20 or so minutes.
its not as good as my old bread, but I will adjust.
here it is:


Take it out of the pan so that it doesn't get soggy.

I also made roti, but it doesn't mix well in the mixer, so I wouldn't suggest it.
Roti
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (but you can just use 2 cups all purpose if you want )
1 teaspoon of salt
Mix these together
Add 2 tablespoons olive oil
Mix
add 3/4 up hot water.
Mix into ball o' dough.
Its sticky. Then I heat up my pan on about 5-7. Med - med. high heat. I use cast iron with no oil. My Teflon did well for this with no oil, but my aluminum (?) metal pans they just stick to with no oil. But if you use oil they turn out crispy. So I take out small balls of dough. really small. smaller than the falafel. I use a wine bottle for a rolling pin for this because it makes it easy to hold one side of the dough while rolling, because you want it pretty thin. Recently I have made it less thin, like maybe the thickness of a tortilla. and about the size of a small tortilla. So when your done you pretty much have a tortilla, which i have used as replacement when I didn't feel like making this bread, but this bread is better. They cook really quick, just a few seconds on each side, and they get bubbles of air on them while cooking. they are good.

I have been putting them on wax paper and inside a plastic bag in the freezer, they last.

Last I made pizza tonight. (to use the mixer again) We had good toppings:
zucchini cut thin, garlic, onions that were sauted, black olives, broccoli, spinach, and mozzarella cheese. I used the frozen sauce from last sunday. it was good.



I had the thick crust on the right










I'll come back to the pizza dough in the mixer recipe, because I did not do it right.
Here is the old way:

Pizza dough:
1 and 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
2 and 1/4 cup all purpose flour (I use half wheat and it works)
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Put yeast in a small bowl and cover it with 1/4 cup of the hot water. Let it sit until its all yeasty, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile mix dry ingredients.
When ready add yeast mix, oil, and rest of the water.
mix and kneed on floured surface about 3-5 minutes.
put into an oiled bowl, make sure its covered with oil, and let it sit for an hour.

hurricane food and falafel recipe

So I went to the grocers store on Monday, yesterday, to get famine food for the oncoming hurricane. It turns out to be very stressful going to the grocery store at the same time as every single other person. At least we were all clumped in the grocery store together instead of the highway trying to evacuate. Where do we evacuate to when on an island? At the grocery store people had their carts in the aisle way in order to check out. so you couldn't peruse the food. Which stressed me out, not being able to think about what should I get for a hurricane. I love this sort of thing usually, disaster planning that is. When given time. So I panicked and got some cans of beans and some candles. and some cereal bars. So I think I want to make a list for the next time this happens, I can get in and go. But I am having a hard time still. Such as: Should I get things that I have to add water to? Shouldn't I be conserving water in this type of situation? I saw people buying ramen and thought about how my survival handbook suggests adding things to getaway pack such as packages of instant mashed potatoes and those dried up soups, where you just add water and you get a very filling meal. It seemed to stress the idea of filling self up with little food. More cans, I guess, but if we have to flee up the mountain then we wont be able to carry them all if on foot. Dried fruit I should have gotten, but it was so expensive I didn't think it would be worth it. seeds, those are light and proteinous.
So trail mix. item one.
some cans of beans are good if we do have to stay home, but what to eat them with that would make a complete protein? I should have made some bread, and I thought about it but was unmotivated because we still have a whole loaf clyde made the other day. bread would also be hard to carry more than one loaf of, but a loaf would have been good and filling.
Loaf of bread and cans of beans. Item two.
real fruit would have been good for home too, because it doesn't have to be refrigerated. Like a bag of apples. and some bananas. some of those would have traveled well, and they provide a lot of water. What kind of vegetables do not have to be refrigerated? potatoes, and we can cook those on an open fire when wrapped in foil. but then we also have to have foil.
Fruit. Item three.
If we have to walk a long distance we are going to need more protein. I think some of those protein bars are a good idea, not just cereal bars, because cereal bars are mostly junk food. I should have optimized my bars for doing the most.
Protein bars. Item four.
and then the filling add water stuff, like the ramen and the dried potatoes and the soup containers.
Of course the hurricane hasn't taken out the power yet. Tonight we had falafel for dinner, which is the house favorite. I videotaped myself making it in short bursts.
Falafel:

1 can or 1 and 1/2 cups of chickpeas
two pieces of bread soaked in water, start soaking at the beginning
1/8 cup dried parsley or 1/4 cup real parsley
1/2 onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
hot sauce like sarachi or Tabasco, i just pour some in.
flour

So I cut the onion and garlic and put it in the magic bullet. If you don't have a magic bullet and have to use a blender then it really sucks. Magic bullets(M.B.) make it easy cause you can pick them up and shake them when they are blending, instead of having to stop the blender every three seconds cause the onions and garlic are not getting blended.
So then I pour the liquefied (if you have the M.B.) or chunky (blender) onions and garlic into my big mixing bowl. Then I add the parsley and the beans. Now if the beans are really soft you can just put them in and smash them with the bottom of a measuring cup and then a fork until they are mixed. If they are a little harder you may have to magic bullet them or blend them. I used to blend them, and so I hardly ever made falafel. Now I just pour my canned beans into a pan and cook them even longer and mash them. Couldn't be easier. So after mixing add the lemon juice, all the spices, and mix. Then squeeze the bread mixture out and put that in and stir. Maybe a food processor would make this way easier, putting in everything from the onions to the bread. I don't have a food processor, so its hard to say what they do.
so after you stir all of that together I put the oven on 375 degrees.
I get out a baking sheet and pour a good amount, maybe 2 or 3 tablespoons, on it and rub it around. Then I get some whole wheat flour, but it doesn't matter really what kind you use, and put it on a plate. just enough for dipping. then i start pulling balls of falafel out of the bowl and forming patties. we are not talking burger patties, more like meatball size. smaller meatballs, but not too small. I dip each side of the patty into the flour and put it on the baking sheet. half way thru this it all sticks to my hands. washing really helps, even if its inconvenient, it makes it easier in the long run.
Next they go into the over for ten minutes on each side on the center rack. They come out to get fried in olive oil on medium heat until they are crispy on both sides, it doesn't take long.

I make this with roti, which is middle eastern flat bread.
Roti
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (but you can just use 2 cups all purpose if you want )
1 teaspoon of salt
Mix these together
Add 2 tablespoons olive oil
Mix
add 3/4 up hot water.
Mix into ball o' dough.
Its sticky. Then I heat up my pan on about 5-7. Med - med. high heat. I use cast iron with no oil. My Teflon did well for this with no oil, but my aluminum (?) metal pans they just stick to with no oil. But if you use oil they turn out crispy. So I take out small balls of dough. really small. smaller than the falafel. I use a wine bottle for a rolling pin for this because it makes it easy to hold one side of the dough while rolling, because you want it pretty thin. Recently I have made it less thin, like maybe the thickness of a tortilla. and about the size of a small tortilla. So when your done you pretty much have a tortilla, which i have used as replacement when I didn't feel like making this bread, but this bread is better. They cook really quick, just a few seconds on each side, and they get bubbles of air on them while cooking. they are good.

I serve this meal up with some cabbage I cut up. I like using cabbage instead of lettuce, cause it lasts longer in the fridge and doesn't wilt quick and still has good nutrients. I also cut up carrots and mushrooms. we take roti and cover it in sour cream, then the raw veggies, then cheese, mostly mozzarella, and then the falafel. so good.