Katya4me

At our local international market, in the Latin American aisle.

Up till this month, I'd always associated lo mein as being a carryout recipe, and not something to make at home. Turns out it's really easy and very tasty, which I found out when we made chicken lo mein last weekend.

We made Peruvian-Style Grilled-Chicken Sandwiches but my husband can't do cilantro, so we made Aji Amarillo Sauce to go with it instead. We bought Aji Amarillo paste because finding the fresh peppers locally wasn't happening, and it turned out really well. Both recipes are keepers.

Since I picked back up, I've made about 10 batches. So far, the apple with mulling spices is probably my favorite but I do find myself frequently reaching for ginger. I'm stocking up a bit for Christmas (my family loves kombucha) and so I've got 12 bottles in the fridge now and I picked up some blood oranges for this week's batch. Peach ginger Kiwi aloe w/ bee pollen Turmeric and candied ginger Good combo and carbonated well. Canned pineapple and mint OMG, intense carbonation after 3 days, not too sweet Apple Spice Apple with mulling spices, very nice flavor Pear Very ripe pear slices, cloudy and good Ginger Juice Acai Juice Nice flavor, mild carbonation Blueberry apple w/ tarragon & mint Freeze-dried pear w/ rosemary Herbal flavor is stronger than the fruit but I like it.

We've been working on cleaning out the pantry and freezer recently. Looking at things to use up, I had red lentils, rice and some frozen stew beef. I was in the mood for Ethiopian, so I made Ethiopian Beef Stew Key Wat with the lentil stew as suggested and served it over rice. I did the beef in the Instant Pot and the lentils on the stove since lentils cook so quickly.

I took a bit of a break over the summer, but just started a new batch of kombucha. Peach ginger in 2 bottles and kiwi aloe with bee pollen in the 3rd bottle. As a side note, if you're in the DC area and would like a jun kombucha SCOBY, let me know as I have several right now but will be throwing them away in about a week.

I saw this recipe recently for Filipino ground beef omelette. I decided to give it a try and on Sunday, fried up a lb. of ground beef w/ a can of diced tomatoes, 1 diced onion, garlic and frozen mixed veggies. Once that was cooled, I popped it in the fridge for the next morning. Each morning, I've been scrambling up an egg and adding a bit of the beef mixture to make a fritter and it's delicious and easy.

Kombucha at it's simplest is fermented tea and definitely can upset your system if you have too much. I'm not as big a fan of regular kombucha, which has a black tea base, but enjoy jun kombucha, which is made from green tea. Some folks rave about the supposed health effects, others call out the minimal alcohol content. Me, I'm in it for taste.

Based on this post, we made the Shaking tofu recipe the same way last night but we had no leftovers. My husband isn't a fan of watercress, so he really liked this with baby spring greens. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

We had some really ripe bananas and blueberries hanging out, so I made oat blender pancakes for breakfast today.

Dinner tonight was halloumi hummus bowls with farro.

Hubby made a vegetarian lentil shepherd pie from The Kitchn and it was delicious.

We got a refurbed Vitamix, so I decided to try a new recipe. We made blender gluten-free banana oat pancakes and they turned out very well and very tasty.

We went to Far East Restaurant in Rockville on NY Day and it was enjoyable.

I had some items that needed to be used up, specifically 2 chicken breasts, a bag of small potatoes and a 1/2 cup of heavy creamy. I boiled the potatoes then mashed them with their skins on and added some of the cream instead of milk with the butter. Then I cut up and sauteed the chicken breasts, added some pesto and the rest of the heavy cream. I was very happy with how it came together and tasted.

We were at the farmer's market the other day and one of the booth's was giving out samples of black bean soup. I wasn't in the mood for it right then, but I came home and decided it needed to be made this weekend. I used this recipe and it turned out really well: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/instant-pot-black-bean-soup

Tonight was leftover butternut squash curry with couscous. My husband made it using this recipe: https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/slow-cooker-thai-butternut-squash-curry/ I think he was a bit overzealous with the red curry paste as it's got a nice kick.

Really liked the cactus pear taste and came out a very vibrant pink color. This week I did fig with agave and it carbonated very well in addition to having a delicious flavor.

Made some ramen the other night that was fantastically easy and delicious: "30 Minute Thai Peanut Chicken Ramen" on halfbakedharvest.com

I've done hibiscus in the second fermentation but I stay conservative with the first fermentation.

Dinner last night was grilled chicken thighs with mushroom risotto made in the Instant Pot. I started the risotto and the cooking time was perfect as it finished right after I took the chicken off the grill. Little pepper, some Parmesan and dinner was served.

Interesting. I thought it may have been because rooibos is not made from tea leaves but I know you can make coffee kombucha, once you have converted the SCOBY.

Jun is way milder, less vinegary and has more carbonation than regular kombucha. I do like to mix it with OJ.

Ah, that is a bummer. My husband is not a fan so when I start to get too many bottles in the fridge, I share with friends and co-workers who enjoy the home-brew.

My little brother has been brewing regular kombucha for a while but it didn't sound particularly appealing to me, both flavor or process. Then he mentioned the jun variant and after researching it, sounded much more appealing. For those who are unfamiliar, the kombucha that you typically find has a based of black tea and white sugar whereas jun kombucha is brewed with green tea and honey. Jun kombucha also prefers a slightly lower temperature for fermenting, and takes only a week for the first fermentation. I started brewing jun kombucha back in April when my he gifted me with a SCOBY. Once I had that, I still needed a jar and then bottles for holding the finished product. I bought a 1 gallon ceramic jar w/ a spigot for convenience. Fill the jar with the brewed sweetened tea, add the extra water, top with the SCOBY and cover with a paper towel for a week. The instructions said to test the ph level, but after the first couple of batches, I stopped doing it as I was happy with the taste and the process. After a week, I take out the SCOBY along with a cup or so of the kombucha and set aside for the next batch. I drain into 3 big bottles with different flavoring agents added and leave them on the counter for another 3 days, after which I strain them into 6 small bottles and put them in the fridge, at which point, the fermentation process stops. I am a huge fan of variety and trying unique flavors that you can't buy at a grocery store, so I've been having a lot of fun trying different combinations. As of this weekend, I've tried 31 different combinations now and figured I should document for posterity and if anyone is curious or has recommendations on other combinations to try. Combination Thoughts Lychee & Vanilla Delicious, sweeter and mellower Chai Spices & Agave Very smooth, nice flavors Mint & Lime juice w/ Agave Great w/ Coconut Rum Rose Petal & Agave Delicious, great floral flavor Hibiscus Quite tangy Hibiscus & Ginger Tangy w/ some bite Apple & Cinnamon Light flavor but very good Dried Apple & Ginger Tastes sort of like mulled cider if it was made more with cranberry juice Blueberry & Basil Very good flavor Canned peaches First carbonation incident, sweet flavor, not repeated Strawberry & Basil Quite tart, not happy, carbonates well Raspberry Quite tart, not happy Pineapple Very tasty Cherry Good but a bit tangier than I like Cherry & Almond Bleh.... Dried Pear Not bad, but too bland on its own Dried Apple Not bad, but too bland on its own Freeze-dried blueberries Bleh, blue vinegar Turmeric, peppercorn and candied ginger Try fresh turmeric next time and cayenne Blueberry Peach Carbonates well, very tasty Blueberry Tarragon Pear ginger Very tasty Pineapple puree w/ coconut water Good but mild, no carbonation Dried orange with cacao nibs Not quite the flavor I was hoping for. Candied ginger Good mixed with OJ. Cherry plums Tasty Dried mandarin orange Tasty Mint No carbonation, needs other flavors Mangosteen vanilla Good but I like lychee better Cactus pear Chai Spices & Agave w/ freeze-dried pears If anyone else is brewing jun kombucha, I'd love to know and share ideas.