Back-to-Basics

Cooking Dried Beans and Lentils on the Stove Top

March 31, 2020 by Sylvia Rose Leave a Comment

Cooking dried beans and lentils is one of those kitchen skills everyone should have under their belt. Learn all about the virtues of cooking dried beans and why it’s so much healthier to use dried beans instead of canned.

WELCOME TO MY FRUGAL KITCHEN

In true vintage fashion, my kitchen is a frugal one.

I’m bursting with frugal kitchen tips, like making homemade broth from kitchen scraps and saving apple peels and cores to make apple cider vinegar.

Cooking dried beans instead of buying cans is yet another way I’m able to flex my frugal superpowers.

The cost-savings are considerable, especially when you purchase dried beans and lentils in bulk.

What’s more, did you know that dried beans are healthier than canned beans, too?

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Savoury Steel-Cut Oats Breakfast Bowl Recipe

March 27, 2020 by Sylvia Rose 1 Comment

These savoury steel-cut oats are fermented overnight for an almost creamy mouthfeel, a quicker cooking time, and easier digestibility. Learn how to make this easy breakfast bowl and how to tweak it for endless variations.

Savoury steel-cut oats first appeared on my radar a few years ago.

In full transparency, I was a major skeptic and didn’t buy into them at first.

They sounded too weird to even comprehend!

Can you blame me?

I grew up with steaming pots of cinnamon raisin oatmeal, or oats with dried cranberries, pepitas and maple syrup.

Oatmeal was always sweetened, so I closed myself off to experimenting with a savoury alternative.

Something happened, though.

I switched from rolled oats to steel-cut oats for their nutritional content.

This simple alteration to one of my favourite breakfast meals meant I was open enough to test the waters with savoury oats, and that’s exactly what I did.

My favourite part about this breakfast dish is that it’s a vessel for what I would normally serve with toast.

Most of us know that oats are more filling than bread, but with oats, you can go even crazier than just the typical bacon and eggs accompaniment.

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Lacto-Fermented Chilli Lemon Carrot Sticks

February 21, 2020 by Sylvia Rose Leave a Comment

Tangy lacto-fermented chilli lemon carrot sticks make a tasty probiotic-rich snack and have just enough kick. Learn how to make this easy small-batch ferment and prepare yourself to get addicted!

making lacto-fermented chilli lemon carrot sticks

FERMENTED CARROTS: THE PERFECT SNACK

Not to knock regular carrot sticks, but lacto-fermented chilli lemon carrot sticks are a whole other ball game.

Do you know how carrots are brimming with vitamins? Well, fermenting them not only gives carrots a vitamin booster but also enriches them with probiotics.

Probiotics are key for a healthy gut and help to strengthen the immune system. Also, did I mention that they’re more delicious?

Lacto-fermented chilli lemon carrot sticks are still raw, which is why there are so many amazing benefits. Depending on how long you ferment them, the carrot sticks retain their crunch factor but are easier to chew.

My toddler has a hard time eating regular carrot sticks, but he has no problem when they’re fermented. In fact, he likes them more! And why wouldn’t he? They’re tangy and flavourful.

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Old-Fashioned Skills We Should Reclaim

February 18, 2020 by Sylvia Rose 14 Comments

Here are 15 old-fashioned skills worth keeping alive to start saving money and become more self-sufficient. How many are you proficient at?

harvesting herbs practicing old-fashioned skills

OLD-FASHIONED SKILLS FOR ENRICHING YOUR LIFE

I don’t know about you, but I’m a strong advocate for simple living.

While there’s nothing simple about simple living, it does come with a reward.

Simple, old-fashioned living is about self-sufficiency, gratitude, and connection.

Here are 15 old-fashioned skills we should learn to live more simply and abundantly.

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How to Make Old-Fashioned Sauerkraut from Scratch (A Beginner’s Guide)

January 31, 2020 by Sylvia Rose 32 Comments

Jar packed with raw sauerkraut submerged in brine for fermentation"

Before modern conveniences like refrigerators and freezers found a place in every home, folks needed a way to preserve their harvest. While root cellars were excellent for storing potatoes, squash and other hardy produce, a lot would have gone to waste without a means of preservation.

Fermentation is an art that goes way back and is a means to preserve produce, dairy, and even fish. Today it’s a skill that is slowly being reclaimed, although in some parts of the world it still lives strong (ex. Korea’s totally healthy obsession with kimchi). While you can ferment pretty much anything, today we’ll be looking at how to make sauerkraut from scratch.

Related: How to Make Milk Kefir

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Easy One Jar Dilly Beans Recipe

October 25, 2019 by Sylvia Rose 9 Comments

These one jar dilly beans are spicy, snappy and sour. Use them to take your cocktails up a notch, enliven your charcuterie boards, or for a cheeky out-of-the-jar snack.

MAKING ONE JAR DILLY BEANS

One jar dilly beans came about when I had a straggler harvest of beans in the garden and didn’t know what to do with them.

Green beans and yellow beans made an appearance at what seemed like every other meal that summer, but I never had enough to line my pantry with jars of dilly beans like I was hoping.

Staring at that bowlful of late harvest beans, the idea came to make a single jar that would go into my fridge straight away.

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