Greetings Reader!
So, today I got up around 8:30 and started up on my weekend cleaning list. I won't bore you with all the details, but I do have a confession to make. I hate taking compost out to the compost bin. I have no explanation for this, other than I am lazy and I hate stepping in dog poop, which invariably happens when walking in my backyard. So, instead of taking my compost outside when the jar gets full, I dump it in plastic grocery bags and put it in the freezer. I use a bag until it gets full, and then I start another. Sometimes if a head of cauliflower goes bad, I just stick the whole thing in the freezer. Go ahead, judge me for my laziness. But anyway, I decided to take the many bags of frozen compost outside today. I figured if I wanted it to decompose in time for spring, the freezer was a bad place to keep it. Yeah yeah yeah.
So after dumping all the compost, my freezer looked empty and sad. The only thing left in there were blueberries from last summer and some other fruit for smoothie making. So, I decided I would fill it with a supply of homemade seitan!
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| This is the log o'seitan "resting" |
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| After it rested, I sliced it, and it looked like gingerbread |
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This is after boiling it for an hour or so.
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| The texture is not the best. I should have used a recipe |
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In other news, I have decided to start an experiment. I am going to give up shampoo. Or try to. We will see if this solves some of my hair woes, which are too numerous and boring to go into. Here is a pic of the results after the first shower without shampoo...for comparison down the road:
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| Not bad, eh? Let's see if I leave a grease spot on my pillow tonight. |
And because everyone loves pictures, and because I don't have anything else to say, here is one for fun:
Compost. Seitan. No shampoo.
ReplyDeleteDirty hippy.
We used to freeze the compostables when it was farther to walk to the compost bin. I recall it making a mess of the freezer. Now we use a small bucket and keep it on the floor next to the trash can.
ReplyDeleteWe have some friends who recently tried the no shampoo experiment. I haven't heard a report back from them but they were pretty excited about it.
Have you tried making the seitan lunch meat logs?
I try to make sure there isn't anything too wet in the compost before I put it in the freezer...and check to make sure there are no holes in the bag. I made that mistake only once. I have a jar/bucket that I put my compost in, and it lives in the fridge until it fills, then is transferred to the freezer. Not the best system, but it seems to be working ok.
ReplyDeleteIf you find out anything about the no shampoo thing, let me know.
Are those logs the ones that you bake? I tried that once but the inside was still gooey. I guess my log was either too big or I didn't cook it long enough. I liked the texture of the part that cooked through though.
Yes, the logs you bake! You have to bake 'em for a long time at 300. I think I usually bake for 45 minutes, then flip and bake for another 45. That's for a log with a diameter of between 2-2.5 inches. I can double-check my recipe if you're interested in trying it again. My recipe makes two logs of that size. I use one right away and freeze the other.
ReplyDeleteThe next time I make seitan I am definitely going to bake it. I froze half of this batch of seitan but I am not looking forward to eating it. The stuff I ate just fell apart, I couldn't even stir fry it. bleh. Know any good recipes for mushy seitan?
ReplyDeleteStick it in the food processor and grind it up then fry it with onions, garlic, and BBQ sauce. Slap it on a bun and enjoy. Although I seem to remember you not being into sloppy jane?
ReplyDeleteI made a seitan log today. Wrap in parchment paper and foil, bake at 325 for 90 minutes with one flip halfway through. 3 cups gluten, 1.5 cups water, nutch, garlic powder, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce, tamari, tomato paste, liquid smoke.