Diametrically Different Diet

I've come to the realization, since moving here, that I'm eating much better than I ever did in Hamilton. Whereas in Hamilton, the grocery store always provided everything and I was tempted by perogies and soysages and salsa and super spirals, here the grocery store doesn't appeal. I guess that's half due to my frugality and desire to save money and half due to the limited selection. It's a long drive to an Ontario-scale grocery store (and I can't drive).

So I find myself eating relatively simple meals of beans, grains, sauerkraut and hot sauce (some things never change and at least it doesn't have any preservatives). I'm sprouting all the time and we eat sprouted salads and I make sprouted bean burgers often enough. I'm working on a recipe that will fool my sister into thinking it might actually be beef. I think I'll try using beet juice in the next batch.

But definitely the variety is lacking but really that's realistic in winter. If I live in Canada, I can't expect salads in February. Unless, I guess, I'm growing them indoors which we may do next year.

And I think my simple meals now will make the amazing variety of the summer all the better. Fresh salads. Steamed greens. Fresh berries. Excellent.

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In fermentation news:

My beer is carbonating nicely and I'm looking forward to trying some at Easter. I hope that it's good but I have another kit and I'm looking forward to starting it soon. It's a honey blond beer and I'm told it's a lot better tasting than my last batch will be.

We picked up some koji in Sydney yesterday. Our friend Mike is a Doctor of Chinese Medicine and has lots of interesting stuff. Koji, as far as I know, is moldy rice. Obviously though, not the kind of mould that's going to kill us. You use it to make many fermented East Asian foods like tamari. We're going to make a few gallons(!) of miso using it. Our organic soy beans are on the way too; they have to be organic since soy is one of the four major genetically modified foods (do you know the others?*). Miso will take a year to age properly so next spring we'll be up to our elbows in miso.

I've started making ginger beer. I remember my dad buying it for me when I was a little boy. I loved it, so strong and fizzy. Much better than pop, just harder to find. It's going to take a few weeks and I'm going to make it strong. I'll also have to plant some ginger and see if I can keep it going inside the house so I don't have to keep going to the store.

Last and definitely not least, I'm going to make injera, sour Ethiopian bread. The Bulk Barn actually sells teff flour which is the grain used in injera. I wonder if teff could be grown here in Cape Breton. We're going to have an Ethiopian Easter and surprise a friend who lived in Ethiopia once upon a time.

* Corn, soy, canola and cotton are the four major genetically modified foods. Take a look at your grocery cart, you'll find them in everything.