4th of July Cookout- Vegetarian Style

Fourth of July is quickly approaching. This is a time when many enjoy a holiday cookout. Whether you’re expecting vegetarian guests, you’ve just became vegetarian yourself, or you’d just like to add more meatless recipes to give some variety to your cookout menu, there are all kind of ways to prepare meatless options.

A clean and well lubricated grill is important for vegetarian style cookouts. This is because vegetarian foods are more fragile than meat and do not contain as much fat. You would not want your veggies sticking to the grill.

Traditionally, vegetables have been considered a side dish in most meals, but at a cookout they can take center stage as the entrée. Almost any kind of vegetable is great for grilling.

Complement your meal by serving them over pasta, rice or polenta. You can also make them into extraordinary sandwiches with a soy-based cheese and some freshly baked rolls or bread.

Cut the vegetables lengthwise into thin slices in the case of zucchini and eggplant, or into thick rings, in the case of onions, tomatoes and peppers. If you'd rather have your veggies in handy bite-size pieces for serving with pasta and the like, try using a special pan for the grill with small holes that keep the veggies from falling through the grill and being lost. And probably the easiest way to grill vegetables on the grill is shish-ka-bob style!

A veggie shish-ka-bob recipe that I came up with is arranged by putting a slice of yellow bell pepper, mushroom, chunk of potato, slice of onion, slice of carrot, slice of red bell pepper, slice of jalapeno, chunk of pineapple, chunk of potato, mushroom, slice of onion, slice of carrot, chuck of pineapple, slice of green bell pepper, slice of jalapeno. I then brush on a thin coat of honey, sprinkle on pepper spices and roast on the grill.

Don’t forget to balance out those grilled vegetables with some fresh fruit salads, perfectly chilled and juicy. Watermelon, strawberries, grapes, and citrus fruits all complement one another well in a delightful fruit salad prepared with non-dairy whipped cream.

Also use fruits to experiment with some fun smoothies and slushies for the kids – they’re fun and better for them than sugary sodas.

Charles

Homemade Organic Fungicides and Bug Repellants

If you are growing your own herbs for teas or spices or for natural home remedies, it is important to keep your plants healthy and protected from those little pests that like to destroy your hard work.

Since we are working toward keeping everything eco-friendly and healthy, that last thing we want to use on our plants are chemical sprays.

If you are going to use a commercial pesticide for your plants, ensure that it is organic in composition. If you want to stick to the format of home remedies and making things yourself, below are a few popular home concotions that will get the job done.

The following ingredients should be mixed in a spray bottle so that the solutions can be sprayed directly onto your plants to control fungus and disease:

Hydrogen Peroxide Spray: Mix 1 tablespoon per gallon of water.

Oil and Baking Soda Spray: 1/2 tablespoon of baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of cooking oil mixed in a quart of warm water.

Listerine Spray: 1 teaspoon of Listerine mixed into a quart of warm water.

The above sprays should be applied to your plants every ten days. It will help with the disease and fungus problems.

To help control insects, use the following recipes:

Insects can be controlled with a solution of soap and cooking oil. Mix 1/2 teaspoon of dishwashing liquid and a 1/4 teaspoon of cooking oil into a quart of warm water. Spray the underside and top of all the leaves. This will help stop most of the common pests that love to destroy your plants.

The spray should be applied every 10 days.

Insecticide Garlic Spray:

Ingredients: 1 Garlic Bulb, 2 Cups Water, 1 Gallon Water

To make take an entire garlic bulb and two cups of water and blend in blender. Mix at high speed for 1-2 minutes. Pour mixture into a container and set it aside for up to one day. Strain the liquid through a cheese cloth. Mix the liquid with one gallon of water. Apply liberally on top and bottom of leaves.

Tomato Leaf Insecticide:

Ingredients: 1 oz. tomato leaves; 1 quart water

Take one ounce of tomato leaves and add to one quart of water and blend thoroughly. Strain the resulting liquid and use to repel insects. This works well on white cabbage butterflies too.

There are hundreds of natural insecticides and fungicides that work just as well as their toxic chemical counterparts. So why use chemicals?


Charles

Drying Your Herbs

A simple process which takes us back in time is the technique our mothers and grandmothers used. They would use attic rafters or a back room on the north side of the house to dry their herbs. Their home was their work place and every possible space was used. All that was needed was an area with low light and an opened window for ventilation. Air conditioning, if available, was a bonus because it sped up the drying process by removing humidity.

Leaves should be dried while on the stems. Bundle your material and wrap a string around the bottom of the stems and then hang them upside down for drying. The bundles should be small for faster drying time and can be hung from rafters or on the wall using push pins. Large bundles take longer to dry and can collect a lot of dust or can become moldy.

Another method is to place the plant material loosely in a paper sack into which a good number of holes have been punched in the sides for ventilation. Tie the top with a string and hang to dry. This serves to keep the dust from the plant material and allows for something suitable for labeling.

Attach an identification tag on your materials that are drying so that you can identify them later. Some herbs can look the same once they have been dried.

Another great idea for drying small amounts of material is to place it into a wicker style basket that has been lined with paper towels. The basket can be placed on a table out of direct sunlight. The material should be fluffed every now and then to prevent settling.

Once dried, leaves are easily removed by stripping them from the stems. Sometimes you may have to grind the stems along with the leaves, such as the case with thyme. It can be tedious to strip its tiny leaves, so the dried stems and leaves are both ground for use. Try it both ways and see which you prefer.

To harvest seeds, such as dill, place a paper bag over the seed head, then snip from the plant. You should attempt to get the seeds just before they have turned completely dark, and they are still attached to the plant. Once they begin falling, they go rather quickly. If a few seeds fall from the head when it is gently tapped, then it is time to harvest.

Another method of drying a lot of material at one time is to do it in an electric oven. If your oven can maintain a temperature between 80-90 deg. F, then you can dry your herbs on a cookie sheet. I do not prefer this method because of the cost involved of running an electric oven. But, if you need to dry a lot of material quickly, then this method may be for you. The herb is dry and ready for storage when the leaves crackle between your fingers.

Ideally, you should invest in a dehydrator if you plan to store a great many herbs. This is almost essential for roots. Cut the roots into small pieces, or sliced thin. It also makes the whole harvest ready for storage in a very short time. Try to get one that will operate without heat or has a thermostat.

After approximately one year, dried herbs begin to lose their potency and flavor, so they should be replaced by a fresh harvest every year. Some herbs can last longer than one year. Most herbs can be placed in plastic bags and fresh frozen. Basil will develop a dark color, but the taste will be unaffected.

Charles