Vegetarian Frugal Housewife

“Self-education is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself, cut medical bills, and live a healthier and happier life.”
~Walt Stoll, M.D.

I recently wrote a post about the multiple uses of Stinging Nettle and I thought that it would be a good idea to follow that up by introducing you to some ways of making your own herbal medicines at home.

By far the most well-known and popular way of taking herbs is as a tea. But a very close second is the use of herbal tinctures.

A tincture is an alcoholic or acidic extract of an herb, used to concentrate the herb’s potency in a non-volatile and ingestible liquid that can be preserved for a long period of time before use.

Tinctures are often made with herbs gathered fresh in the wild, though a tincture made from a dried herb is also medicinally of high potency.

Always store tinctures in a dark, glass container to keep them pure protect them from premature degradation via sunlight. Many people keep tinctures in a dosage bottle with a squeezable dropper-top, as this makes for easier administration to the patient.

Treatment can safely be assumed to be one-dropper full 2-3 times per day. You can mix the tincture with water, juice or tea to lessen the bitter taste.

Herbal tinctures can be made in any good sized glass jar, a pickle jar is ideal. Herbs tend to be sold by the ounce and you need enough to fill your tincturing jar half way. I usually use either one or two cups. For smaller batches you can use as little as four tablespoons full.

Tinctures can be made from virtually any non-toxic herb and also from a mixture of herbs for the purposes of treating either general or very specific ailments. *Making a tincture using a powdered herb can be quote frustrating and messy, but it is doable with a bit of perseverance and patience.

It is typical to use either vodka or white vinegar as the extractive compound. The preference is really just based on taste, choose whichever one you wish.

Always buy your dried herbs from an organic source if possible and, when using fresh herbs, always be sure that you are collecting your medicinals from a location that is at least 15 feet from any roadway.

For the sake of example, we will say that we’re making a tincture of St. John’s Wort. St. John’s Wort is an excellent immune booster and has been proven to successfully treat even the most severe cases of depression. You can collect it’s yellow flowers from early-June to early-July in the northern hemisphere. (You need to collect A LOT of them.)

Tincturing Herbs

Ingredients:

Clean glass jar with a tight-fitting top
2 cups of fresh or dried St. John’s Wort flowers
2 cups of vodka or white vinegar *or enough to completely cover your herbs in the jar
A dark, cool storage place
A piece of loose-weave muslin cloth or cheesecloth
An elastic
Smaller, storage bottles (with or without dropper tops)

1. Measure out your herbs and place them in the jar.

2. Pour in enough vodka/vinegar to completely cover the herbs. (Ratio tends to be 1:1)

3. Tightly cap the jar and shake it a bit. Label the jar with the contents and a date one-month into the future.

4. Place the jar right-side up in a dark, cool cupboard (not in the fridge.)

5. Write in your calender to shake and flip the jar in 14-days.

6. At one-month, remove the jar from the cabinet and strain by placing the cheesecloth over the top of the jar and securing it with an elastic band.

7. Pour the strained contents into a spouted measuring cup and then fill your dosage bottles.

8. Always label each bottle with the contents and date of expiry, usually two years in the future.

~ Don’t worry, be healthy :)

“Variety’s the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavor. ”
~William Cowper, 18th-Century Poet

Now that we have talked about dry goods, in Stocking Up: The Vegetarian Dry Cupboard, we should look at what items you use to spice up your dishes. There are many different choices out their for flavourings but I will just highlight the most commonly used items in basic vegetarian cooking.

As they hail from so many different regions around the world, spices, herbs and sauces can be used to make a dish seem exotic and rare or familiar and comforting. Using a different combination of flavours, you can make the same dish taste entirely different, thus making your recipe collection even larger and more versatile.

The more flavours, spices and such that you keep around, the easier it will be to come up with an original meal at a moment’s notice. So, try new flavours often and keep a fully stocked spice rack at all times. You can be frugal in which ingredients you choose to keep in your stock, but always supplement by being generous with your investment in herbs and spices, etc.

Spices, Flavourings and Sauces

Oils

Walnut Oil
Olive Oil
Basil Oil
Coconut Oil
Sesame Oil
Peanut Oil
Sunflower Oil

Flavourings

Yeast Extract
Malt Extract
Nutritional Yeast
Vegetable Bullion
Onion Broth

Vinegars

Cider Vinegar
Rice Vinegar
Balsamic Vinegar
White Vinegar
Red Wine Vinegar

Sauces

Peanut Sauce
Stir Fry Sauce
Sweet Chili Sauce
Soy Sauce (or Nama Shoyu)

Herbs

Thyme
Sage
Parsley
Mint
Basil
Rosemary
Oregano
Lemongrass
Bay Leaf
Lavendar
Summer Savory
Tarragon
Celery Seed
Marjoram
Chives

Spices

Turmeric
Nutmeg
Saffron
Curry
Anise Seed
Vanilla Pods
Cumin
Garam Masala
Cinnamon
Allspice
Whole Cloves
Ground Cloves
Chinese 5-Spice
Ginger
Garlic
Chili Powder
Cayenne Pepper
Paprika
Mustard

Other Ingredients

Honey
Lemon Juice
Vanilla Extract
Agave Syrup
Maple Syrup
Rose Water
Raw Sugar
Corn Starch
Raw Cacao Powder
Baking Soda
Baking Powder
Baker’s Yeast

~

There are so many more flavourings, spices and sauces out there. I have only mentioned a few of the most common. With at least half of these in your cupboard you will be able to quickly whip up, or experiment with, the bulk of vegetarian recipes that you find online or in a cookbook.

Have fun. Be spicy!

If you enjoyed this post, perhaps you'd like to buy me some tofu or make a tip jar donation.

“Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.”
~Sitting Bull, Chief of the Lakota Sioux

So many questions that I receive about vegetarianism revolve around what to actually eat. This does not surprise me. As humans we are creatures of habit, especially when it comes to eating. Having lived on a diet of meat and veg, or a diet of rice and beans or whatever we are accustomed to, we fail to realize that there are other (equally viable) ways of cooking and eating.

I get so many folks asking me, “what the heck do vegetarians eat?” And also, “what things should I have in my kitchen if I want to cook more vegetarian foods?” In response to those, sometimes cheeky and sometimes quite earnest, questions I thought I’d offer up a short series on Stocking the Vegetarian Kitchen.

For the first post, a quick glimpse into some, but by no means all, of the things that one might want to have in their vegetarian cupboard of dry goods.

You don’t need to run out and buy ALL of these ingredients the day that you decide to become vegetarian. Juts get them as you need them, for experimenting with new recipes. As you add to your cooking repertoire, you will come to know which items you should keep in stock.

The Vegetarian Dry Cupboard

Grains:

Barley
Brown Rice
Red Rice
Buckwheat
Quinoa
Amaranth
Rolled Oats
Whole Oats

Pastas:

Couscous
Semolina
Rice Noodles
Buckwheat Noodles
Penne (whole wheat)
Elbow Pasta (Whole wheat or corn)
Capellini Spaghetti

Beans (Legumes):

Red Kidney Beans
Green Peas
Black Beans
Lime Beans
Red Lentils
Black or Brown Lentils
Chickpeas

Nuts & Seeds:

Slivered Almonds
Whole Almonds
Flax Seeds
Crushed Walnuts
Peanuts (organic)
Hemp Seeds
Sesame Seeds
Sunflowers Seeds
Pecans
Poppy Seeds
Pine Nuts
Cashews

Dried Fruits & Veg:

Dried red chilis
Cranberries
Raisins or Sultanas
Golden Raisins
Dried Apricot
Blueberries
Dried onion

Canned Goods:

Corn
Peas
Spaghetti Sauce
Beans
Pickles
Apple Sauce
Pineapple Chunks
Coconut Milk
Bamboo Slices
Chopped Garlic

Flours, Etc:

Spelt Flour
Rice Flour
Whole Wheat Flour
Corn Meal
Corn Starch
Baking Powder
Baling Soda

Other Ingredients:

Regular TVP
Beef Flavoured TVP
Chicken Flavoured TVP

That should be enough to get you thinking about what lovely, healthy foods you can add to your collection that will shake up the dinner table a bit.

Next up…Stocking up: Spices, Flavours & Sauces for the Veggie Cook

“Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.”
~William Arthur Ward, Author

When you walk around Great Britain you may enjoy the beauty of the green fields and the wonderfully maintained public footpaths. But, if you spend enough time in the outdoors, hiking, running, biking, you may have more than one painful run-in with the wild, spiny dragon known as Stinging Nettle.

I am a hiker and, though I am also an herbalist, I still can say that I truly HATE this herb. I wish that all the Stinging Nettle in Britain would shrivel up and die. At least, that is how I feel when I am exploring the wilds (especially at night, when you can’t see the stuff.) But when I am feeling under the weather, that nettle tea begins calling my name and, after I have drunk a cup or two, I am singing its praises on high!

Stinging Nettle, scientifically known as Urtica Dioica, grows wild in most temperate areas of the northern hemisphere, grows on stems that can reach six feet in height, has numerous toothed leaves that grow precisely opposite each other on the stem and have visible stingy hairs on the leaf surface.

Nettle usually grows in large, spreading clumps, in untended field boundaries, abandoned lots and on roadsides.

If a leaf is even gently brushed by human skin will instantly produce a sharp, burning sting. This sensation is usually followed by redness, swelling and eventually numbness, which lasts anywhere from 15 minutes to more than an hour. This is the feature which makes nettle so unpopular with outdoorsmen.

Nettle however is quite medicinal and can also be cooked and eaten, quite safely and with numerous health benefits.

Medicinal Uses of Nettle

Nettles are extremely high in vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. Nettles are abundant in vital nutrients, including vitamin C, vitamin A, iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and vitamin D (which is rare in plants.)

Nettle’s main functions are immune-supporting and digestive, including a reduction of inflammation, cleansing of toxins from the blood, an increase in healthy urination, anti-nausea, ease for indigestion, dilation of blood vessels, treatment for anaemia and much more. These activities combined make nettle a very powerful, yet gentle, body cleanser.

Not only does nettle remove toxins from the body, it is also used as nourishment for those with weak constitution. Nettle broth (ie. nettle tea) is often given to women and babies who have been through a rough birth or to people recovering from cancer who have problems with nausea.

Nettle can be eaten and used the same way that one would use cooked spinach leaves. It should be exposed to boiling water only for 10-30 seconds and never for more than 60, if benefits are to be retained. Ten seconds is enough to removing the stinging property form leaves. Roots are also used medicinally.

I recently had an encounter with poisonous mushrooms, while out exploring nature, having touched and held one that was highly toxic. The effects hit me within just a few minutes. As I arrived home, I felt dizzy, weak and nauseous as well as having blurry vision. But after a glass of water and two cups of nettle tea I was relieved and refreshed. Nettle is a wonderful healing agent!

Other Uses of Nettle

Even the gourmet vegetarian cook can give Nettle a try at home, just remember that, when gathering Nettle in the wild or from your local Farmer’s market, you should always wear thick gloves of either rubber or leather.

I found some great-looking recipes around the net that use Nettle. I think that the Nettle Fritters look scrumptious! But there can also be found recipes for Nettle Risotto, Nettle and Herb Dumplings, Nettle Polenta and Nettle Beer (a very traditional drink.)

An interesting, and even more unknown, fact about nettle is that it can be used to produce fabric. Nettle contains fibrous material much like another sustainable clothing fabric, hemp.

Hemp clothes are becoming more and more popular nowadays as we all grow in our awareness of the effect that human consumption has upon the Earth’s natural resources. Being frugal does not simply mean being more guarded about how you spend your own money but about how you spend the vital resources of the planet as well.

It would be interesting to see the demand for nettle increase and the demand for lycra decrease. Some students in England have recently completed a project which involved the design of clothing made from Nettle fibre and the results were quite wonderful.

There is also a German has recently revived the ancient technique for producing fine and coarse cloths from Stinging Nettle, he sells his products, which include sheets and pillowcases, on the German language website Nettle World.

If you are looking for something new to add to your plate or your frugal medicine cabinet, I think nettle should be it!

Nettle is quite an interesting plant, for all that it can provide us with. Maybe Mother Nature really did give it those stinging bits to remind us to respect it more. ;)

“The more you eat, the less flavor; the less you eat, the more flavor.”
~Chinese Proverb

Big hit at lunchtime today (or as the British call it: dinner.)

We have been trying to eat lighter meals that are still filled with fresh and healthy goodness.

In that spirit, and also inspired by my recent purchase of several different kinds of Asian noodles, I attempted to recreate one of those lovely noodle soups that you generally find in Chinese and Japanese restaurants. Serge seems to think the result was more Japanese in nature.

The cooking, once I had decided on all of the ingredients, was so fast that those seated at the table awaiting a meal must have wondered if the soup came out of a can.

Nope, it is all freshly assembled, I swear!

Though I haven’t eaten them in years, I can promise all of you comfort and convenience foodies out there that this noodle bowl is as good, okay let me say it: MUCH BETTER, than those packaged ramen noodles with the flavoring pouch. But just as simple and speedy!

Cook this one up to eat by itself or with some steamed dumplings. Either way it is super-easy, quick and filled with subtle flavors.

Serves Two.

Eastern Zen Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

5 small Mushrooms, cut in large slices
1/3 of a Zucchini, cut in rounds and then quartered
1/2 of a small Onion, sliced into thin rounds and then cut in half
7 or 8 small broccoli flowers, cut in half
2 tbsp Sunflower Seeds
1 tbsp Yeast Extract
1/2 tbsp Malt Extract or Nutritional Yeast
1/8 cup of soy sauce, or 1/4 cup if you really love it
1 tbsp chopped Chives or Scallions
1 clove of Garlic, chopped fine
1 inch-long piece of Ginger, chopped fine
1 whole Clove
1/2 tsp Chinese 5-spice mix
Salt & Pepper to taste
Olive oil
3 cups Water
A skillet or frying pan
A medium sauce pan

1. In a saucepan, heat the water on medium with one whole clove in it for flavor.

2. At the same time begin frying the onions, zucchini, garlic, ginger, and chives in olive oil.

3. When the water is getting warm, remove the clove then add and dissolve the yeast and malt extracts as well as the soy sauce.

4. Continue frying the vegetables, adding the mushrooms, broccoli and Chinese Five-spice mix.

5. When water is boiling test your broth for flavor, adding more soy sauce if necessary, then add your choice of Asian noodles.

6. After the noodles, add your fried vegetables etc…

7. Cook for three minutes.

8. Serve, using a fork to add equal noodles to each serving bowl, then ladling the veggie and broth mixture over them.

~

When deciding how much noodles to add it can be tricky. Use your common sense. Remember: you are making a nice watery soup, not dry noodles.

If you are wondering, Chinese 5-Spice is quite a common thing in Britain, you can buy a jar in the spice aisle of any supermarket. I have never seen it in the United States, though you may find it in a Chinese Market or you can mix some up yourself fairly easily and keep it in a jar if you do a lot of Asian-inspired cooking.

In serving the noodle soup, add just enough broth to cover the noodles. Asian noodle bowls frequently have more noodles and less broth. Though if you like it to be more even, or slightly more watery, then feel free.

These are fun with chopsticks and/or those lovely renge spoons.