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Stopping at a gift shop and grocery in Grant Village, we were surprised to find they offered potatoes, onions, and bananas at a good price, as well as organic grapes and local wines. They even had stickers denoting some locally sourced products. So there is good food in Yellowstone! 
Now that summer is in full-swing, it’s time to take advantage of the season! That means making use of all the seasonal produce we can get our hands on, but it also means making quick and affordable meals that you can take on-the-go. 
Around the time the chicks turned four weeks old, things started to get really hairy … err, feathery around here. They weren’t the fluffy chicks they once were; down had been replaced with real feathers, and the girls had a new set of priorities. Mainly using those new wings to launch themselves to the highest available perch, where they sat and preened their pretty little feathers. 
Egg salad is my ultimate quick lunch. Got eggs? Got bread? Good to go! It takes little more than ten minutes to make enough egg salad for two with leftovers. 
These past few weeks have been a flurry of activity in our little house. As we shake off the shreds of winter to welcome in spring, the birdsong outside our window is echoed by an entirely new sound inside – the nearly constant chirping coming from a box in the corner of our living room. 
About two years ago I started experimenting with making my own sandwich bread. I knew it wasn’t too difficult to put out a nice fluffy loaf of white bread (and I think I might’ve once or twice) but if Wonder Bread is what I really wanted then I wouldn’t be making my own bread in the first place. From the start I knew that this mission was all about incorporating whole grains. I want to bring bread back to the basics: handmade, unrefined (or less so), and healthy. Oh, and I want it to taste good too. 
What I mean to talk about is seafood, even though we hardly ever eat it at our house. In landlocked Montana the fresh stuff is impossible to get, and it’s so hard to know whether your fish is coming from a sustainable source. (Unless you catch it yourself, which we sometimes do and, if you can, I recommend it!) 
Do we need industrial agriculture to feed the world? A while ago I came across a video online that answered this question. The answer, I was happy to find, was a resounding “No!” So often the argument against organic food is “you can’t feed the world that way,” and here the truth was being spoken so plainly, I felt that if everyone could see it we wouldn’t be arguing anymore. 
This recipe is a little overdue considering we’re long past pumpkin season, but I figured it’s OK because I still have canned pumpkin in my cupboard (I bought a bunch while it was cheap). I can get a batch of granola and a small batch of cookies out of one can. Fresh pureed pumpkin is even better, and if you have some of that on hand I envy you. If however you have some canned on hand, you should try making this! It’s almost like eating pumpkin pie for breakfast. 
I opted to use crimson lentils for this dal, and I’m glad I did – the result was this delicious, bright yellow dish that is pleasing to look at and fun to eat. Yes it’s essentially lentil mush, but the prettiest tastiest lentil mush you ever did see. |
 Montana Organic Association Annual Conference
Click for more information here. Daryl Lasilla: Montana Grain Farmer
Daryl Lasilla, grain farmer, grows buckwheat, barley, spelt, and lentils in just outside of Great Falls, in north central Montana. Daryl has befuddled his neighbors growing conventional grain; especially when his organic spelt tops 4 1/2 feet high! Bonus Video:Dr. Jill Clapperton on Soil Health
Dr. Jill Clapperton, soil scientist, says that farmers need to focus on building diversity of organisms within soils. Poor soil biology produces poor crops in terms of both crop yields and nutrient content. Click here to see more videos. |
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