Make Your Own Instant Oatmeal

OK, I found an awesome idea on Endless Crafting, one of the many blogs I follow.  This fits so well with my whole homemade is best ideal that I just have to share it - Homemade Instant Oatmeal.  Natalie's recipe is simple and I can't believe it's never occurred to me to do this before.  This would certainly be less expensive than the prepackaged instant as well. 

I love oatmeal in the morning.  My kids and husband do not, but I keep hoping the kids will come around.  Mornings are generally pretty busy with getting ready for school etc. so instant oatmeal is very convenient.  Quaker's Maple & Brown Sugar is my preferred flavor and is what I currently have in the cupboard.  A quick look at the ingredients tells me that Quaker is the least offensive of the major brands for instant oatmeal. 

However, it still has artificial flavors and caramel color.  I generally like to avoid the artificial stuff when I can.  It also lists salt and guar gum.  I don't have anything against salt or guar gum per say; both are natural ingredients.  However, there is more of each of these per package than there is oat flour.  This just seems wrong.  I suspect that the guar gum is used as a thickening agent and it must cheaper than oat flour because they use more of it.  Call me odd, but I think I would rather be eating oats in my oat meal instead of crushed guar beans. 

As soon as I use up the stuff in my cabinet, I'll be giving Natalie's Homemade Instant Oatmeal a try.  I am not sure why the powdered milk is in there, except perhaps to make it a 'just add water item'.  Perhaps I can leave the powdered milk out and just use regular milk to make it instead.

Mama Hynek's Game Chili

It's that time of year again.  Hubby and FIL have been on their annual water fowl hunt and I now have fresh goose and duck in the freezer.  I did something a little different this year; I put part of these birds through the meat grinder and divided them into 1 pound packages.  So now I have 5 pounds of ground goose and 5 pounds of ground duck in the freezer in addition to 2 whole geese and 7 mostly whole mallards. 

In the past, I have always put the meat through the grinder on an as needed basis, which is a bit of a hassle if you have to let it thaw first.  It was not as convenient to use said water fowl meat as a substitute in recipes that call for ground beef.  Wait!  Before roll your eyes and make that 'yuck' face, let me assure you that it tastes just fine and the consistency/texture in the recipe is no different.  Goose and duck meat are a fatty dark meat with a nice robust flavor that works well in recipes like lasagna, spaghetti, and chili.  I even took some of the goose and made them into hamburger patties last week.  They tasted great to Hubby and I and the kids ate them without comment.   

I will make one comment with regard to ducks - their flavor varies greatly with species or perhaps the diets of said species.  Mud hens taste like mud and I don't recommend them.  Mallards, on the other hand, are quite yummy and I highly recommend them.

At the beginning of each hunting season, I rummage around in the deep freeze to locate those packages of frozen game meat that always seems to fall the the back bottom corner, hidden under the frozen veggies, where time and freezer burn would eventually make them inedible if I didn't do such periodic rummaging.  I managed to dig out the remaining 3 pounds of goose meat from last year which I wanted to use up before we added the newly harvested water fowl to the freezer. 

The best way to use up three pounds of meat that I know of is to make chili.  So I ground up what was left of last year's goose and got out my huge stock pot (not merely large but huge!).  I don't normally follow a recipe when I make chili but in the interest of refining my process, I wrote down what I did this time.  If you're interested, here it is. 

I warn you in advance this makes a lot of chili!  I always freeze the majority of it in 1 quart containers so I can pull them out as needed.  This batch made enough to feed a family of four for two suppers and freeze 7 quarts. 

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Mama Hynek's Game Chili

3 lbs ground goose, duck, or venison (or some combination thereof)
4 tbs olive oil
1 16-oz bag pinto beans
1 16-oz bag black beans
1 16-oz bag kidney beans
10 cups water
2 medium onions, chopped
4 6-oz cans tomato paste
4 4-oz cans diced green chilies
1/2 tbs garlic powder
1/2 tbs cumin
6 tbs chili powder
1 tbs Morton's Nature's Seasons Blend (this is a salt, pepper, etc. spice blend)
1 tbs oregano

Soak beans overnight in water with 3 tbs of baking soda dissolved in it.  Rinse well and repeat for two more nights. Pour out the soak water.  (Believe me you don't want to cook with it.  Just as FYI - most people soak their beans for one night but I have found that soaking for three nights with baking soda does a much better job of reducing gas issues.)

In huge stock pot, put olive oil in the bottom.  Add ground game meat and brown it completely.  Add onion.  Add soaked beans and water.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Add tomato paste, green chilies, and spices. Stir well, cover, and bring to a boil again.  Reduce heat and simmer for at least 4 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.  Serve over rice and garnish with cheddar cheese, if desired.

"I Want to Fly!"

 We live in a place that is blessed with birds.  My oldest son loves them, especially the hawks and eagles that we see all the time.  He wants so much to soar with them and gazes after them longingly.  He always says, "I don't have wings, Mommy.  How come I don't have wings?"  How do you explain evolution to a 5 year old?  The only response I can give him is, "Man has been wishing for wings ever since the dawn of time when he saw his first bird, Monkey Boy.  The dream of flying is the main reason that gliders, airplanes, and helicopters were invented."  Then, being a typical mom, I always add, "You do well in school and you can learn to fly some day if you want to."  Internally, I am thinking, "Geeezz, how are we ever going to afford flying lessons for him?"  But I never say this aloud.  If his avid desire to fly persists into his 'tween and 'teen years and his grades in school are good, then I will find a way to make it happen, some how.

The other day, he tied a red bandanna around his neck.  "Mommy, look at my cape!  Now I can go fly."  Then he went bounding out into the yard.  It was a windy day and his 'cape' fluttered out behind him.  He closed his eyes, faced the wind, held up his arms like Superman, and jumped...and jumped...and jumped....  Then, muttering about needing more lift, he tried jumping off the back steps.  Eventually, he came inside, tears running down his face, grabbed my hand and pulled me outside.  "Mommy, how come I can't fly with my cape?  Look...see?  It doesn't work."  He demonstrated.  Then he looked up at the red-tailed hawk that happened to be hovering over head and said, "Mommy, I want to fly like that."  I gathered him into my lap, dried his tears, and we watched the hawk together, talking about how much fun it must be to soar like a hawk.  "Some day, Monkey Boy....  Some day when you are a little older, we'll find a way to get you some flying lessons if that is what you really want."  He went to sit in the grass and watch the hawk some more as I went in to make supper.  "I am going to fly someday, Mommy."  I know you will, my sweet boy, I know you will.

The Eagle and the Hawk

I am the eagle, I live in high country,
In rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky,
I am the hawk and there's blood on my feathers,
But time is still turning, they soon will be dry,
And all those who see me, and all who believe in me,
Share in the freedom I feel when I fly!

Come dance with the west wind,
And touch all the mountain tops,
Sail o'er the canyons, and up to the stars,
And reach for the heavens, and hope for the future,
And all that we can be, not what we are.

                                      — John Denver