Growing health food plants- How to make so-so food taste delicious-(newer post)

Tomorrow is another cooking day. My stews have to be one of the slowest meals i've ever cooked. The 8 qt pot makes 12 meals. 3 qt pot, which i cook at the same time, makes 4 meals. While this SLOW cooking takes lots of time, it is only once in 4 days. the other days i just reheat in the microwave. I don't notice any drop in quality reheated. Freezing does drop it down a bit, so i try to avoid freezing any. All meals have something added at serving, like half an orange, banana, mango. If i run out of fruit, half a home baked roll, maybe with grape jelly and pb.
And i sure don't suggest you start with an 8 qt pot :lol: 2-3 qt is plenty until you find that delicious combo that makes you want to scale up. Could even take samples to a restaurant and offer to supply them with a tasty dish at a wholesale price many times your cost 8)
Happy New Year 8)
 
by Matt Gruber » Jan 02 2023 3:23pm

Tomorrow is another cooking day. My stews have to be one of the slowest meals i've ever cooked. The 8 qt pot makes 12 meals. 3 qt pot, which i cook at the same time, makes 4 meals. While this SLOW cooking takes lots of time, it is only once in 4 days. the other days i just reheat in the microwave. I don't notice any drop in quality reheated. Freezing does drop it down a bit, so i try to avoid freezing any. All meals have something added at serving, like half an orange, banana, mango. If i run out of fruit, half a home baked roll, maybe with grape jelly and pb.
And i sure don't suggest you start with an 8 qt pot :lol: 2-3 qt is plenty until you find that delicious combo that makes you want to scale up. Could even take samples to a restaurant and offer to supply them with a tasty dish at a wholesale price many times your cost 8)
Happy New Year 8)
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Looks like you have it figured out. Like the 7-9 (different )bean bags. I don't eat enough beans, everyone needs the fiber. Black beans have become my favorite. Was trying to make black bean burgers a few years ago. Like lentils with garlic.

Keep up the good work. :)
 
Got tired of the sweet potatoes yesterday(been eating them every stew since thanksgiving). switched to carrots, on sale at DG 2 lbs $1. Added the 4 oz tomato paste :bigthumb: half the bag of carrots.
Picked fresh broccoli today 8) steamed it 8 minutes and added 1/2 to the stew, it was so good, i had another bowl 10 min later :D you know you reached "delicious" when you go back for seconds at 10 am. :bolt:
 
picked a garden beet and put it in the stew :bigthumb: flavor is so intense, i froze half of it for future breakfasts, half an oz each. in oatmeal.
lady gave me 16 garlic to grow. a dozen popped up, but they take 8-9 months. will be out of beets by then. always a new flavor coming soon. i never grew garlic before.
 
To grow delicious vegetables, the plant needs just the right amount of fertilizer. How to test it? With an ohmmeter. That is what i'm going to try.
Test: 2 month old tomato plant in 18 gallon bin. no drain holes, but has pipe with water level dipstick. Added 2 bare wires that go to DVM. on 200k scale, plain water is infinity. Added 1/2t 10-10-10 and 4 hours later was 59-69k ohms 🍅
 
so i was at publix and i saw a bunch of 3 beets for 3.49. HUGE beets with tops weigh 4lbs 6 ounces. some guys say big beets are woody and crappy;
BUT these are tender and delicious, taste like candy.
must be sugar beets LOL and the greens taste great too, better than spinach.
i have grown some beets and they were smaller and not as good.
so always look around the grocery store for fresh produce :bigthumb:
 
Fastest growing tomato plants that i've ever seen. Gardeners Delight from Dollar General. only .25 for a pack.
seeds germanated in 2-3 days. 60 days to huge plant 4' high x 3' wide, in an 18 gal bin.
Cut off a stalk, grew roots in 2-3 days (others take 2 weeks).
give them a try :bigthumb:
 
Roselle Hibicus- the leaves have a delicious fruity flavor. I've been adding half a pound to my stew, and give them half an hour to cook.:bigthumb: EASY to grow. Have a plant in an old Coleman cooler (has wheels), it is huge 7 feet tall x 6' wide. I eat the top leaves so I won't have to use a ladder. It drinks about 2+ gallons a day and loves the hot sun. I'm waiting for the fruit.
 
got near 10 lbs of the Roselle fruit.
taste even better than the leaves.
I cooked them for 1 minute and froze it in a ice cube tray that makes tiny cubes. So anytime I get bored with a dish, I add 2 cubes :bigthumb:
 
tomatillos taste like you mixed a grape, a mild pepper and citrus :bigthumb:
the plant makes a paper like bag that protects the fruit from bugs.birds, etc. at first it quickly grows a big empty bag, then as it grows the fruit fills up the bag, and bursts through, telling you "eat me".
here are some of my plants:
 

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When I was a kid in gradeschool in rural texas, they served those (and okra, and some little whole pepper) pickled in (separate) jars, on all the tables in the school lunchroom. I never could bring myself to try those.

My mom had the plants in the garden and made assorted types of "goulash" with them that was ok (but we were very poor so anything to eat full meals of was acceptable)
 
I never liked pickled anything.
fresh is best :bigthumb:
 
peppers, onions, and tomatillos :bigthumb:
 

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