Puckering Pickles, Batman

Two weeks ago I started a batch of lacto-fermented pickles.  I carefully followed the recipe enclosed in the fermenting jar with air lock I bought recently.  With great anticipation I’ve awaited the day they would be ready to sample.  The child in me loves good pickle!   I had great hopes my pickles would turn out delectable, delicious and crisp.  Last night enough time had finally passed, and the moment of truth had arrived.  I popped open the jar and pulled out a pickle.  The center gave way to the pressure of the fork.  It was a mushy mess.  My pickles were a bomb…not to be confused with “the bomb”.   This morning I dumped them into my kitchen compost pot.

I wish I had taken a picture of the “pickles” in the fermenting jar, but I did not.  Initially the liquid in the jar was clear.  The end result liquid was very cloudy even before I transferred them into jars for storage.  (That’s my pretty and really yummy sauerkraut in the fermenting jar to the left.)

A mushy mess…so often bloggers share their successes.  It seems fair to share some of the failures, too.  These, my friends, were a failure.

I’m sure I will try to lacto-ferment pickles again, but I will search out a different recipe.  Once was enough for this one.  In the meantime, I’ll eat sauerkraut.

Until next time…

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.                (2 Corinthians 5:18)

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Skillet Spicy Chicken Over Brown Rice Pasta (Gluten-Free)

This simple dish turned out really good so I thought I would share.   It is something I just “threw” together, and I wrote it down after we ate, because both my husband and I would like to have it for supper again some time.  I served it with home-canned lima beans and a bottle of cherry water kefir.

Skillet Spicy Chicken Over Brown Rice Pasta

Olive Oil (Enough to keep chicken from sticking as it browns)
1 pound lean ground chicken
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper diced
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dry parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon  turmeric
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (I use unrefined Celtic.)

2 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon stevia powder
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (I use raw with mother.)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 (15 oz. can) diced tomatoes with juice

grated parmesan cheese

cooked gluten-free pasta (We used brown rice shells.)

In a heavy skillet brown ground chicken, onions, and peppers in a small amount of olive oil.  While browning the meat mixture, add parsley, cayenne, turmeric, black pepper and salt.

When meat mixture is cooked thoroughly and onion and peppers are tender, add remaining ingredients except for pasta and cheese and simmer on low heat for about half an hour.

Serve over cooked pasta shells and top with grated parmesan cheese.

If you try this recipe I would love to hear what how it went over at your house.

Until next time…

Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.  (2 Timothy 2:22)

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Stuffed Zucchini Boats – Yum

Fellow stitchers…if you have not commented on my Creative Stitchery Success Strip Giveaway post for a chance to win a set of your own, be sure to click on the giveaway button on the sidebar and leave a comment before noon on 8/15/13.  Don’t want to wait to see if you won…click on the link in the giveaway post and order a set from Robbie.  She has speedy service and the inventive strips are SO worth the price!

A week or so ago there was a recipe for stuffed zucchini circulating on Facebook that looked really good, and as an added bonus, it is gluten-free.  Sorting through the ingredients made it less appealing to me, because it called for ground beef.  I quit eating ground beef years ago so I substituted Perdue, lean ground chicken.  To a pound of ground chicken I added a medium chopped onion and half a diced green pepper and started browning it in a black iron skillet.  I used a little olive oil in the skillet, because lean ground chicken does not produce a lot of fat and I didn’t want it to stick.  As the chicken browned I seasoned it with Celtic sea salt, freshly ground pepper, a teaspoon of dried parsley, a quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and about two tablespoons of diced garlic.  (We like garlic!)

Browned chicken mixture…

While the meat was browning I cut four zucchinis in half length-wise and scooped the bulk of the flesh out leaving a hollowed “boat” shell.  (I chopped the zucchini flesh and added it to the meat mixture.)

Zucchini cut length-wise and hollowed out boat-style…I placed the zucchini halves on a foil covered cookie sheet.  (The foil is optional…I believe in making clean up as easy as possible.)

When the meat was well browned and the onions and peppers tender, I filled each zucchini half with an ample amount of the filling and topped it with grated parmesan cheese.

Ready for the oven…

I popped it into a 350 degree oven and baked it until the zucchini was tender and the parmesan was crisp.

Served with fresh corn cut off the cob and seasoned…

It was delicious, and my husband said it is a “do over”.  Just thought I’d share…if you try it, I’d love to hear how it went over at your house.

Until next time…

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.  (John 3:15)

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