I found a local producer for organic non-GMO soybeans.  I drove out to Malta, IL to get a 50 lb. bag from Plapp Family Organics.  The price was reasonable and definitely a savings when compared to buying in smaller quantities from someone like Whole Foods.  A bag will fill two 5 Gal. buckets with a little over.  I don't anticipate any storage problems since I intend to use up the supply rather than keep it for long term storage.

I made my first batch of Tofu from the beans the other day and I'm quite happy with the result.  Nice flavor and form and my daughter Erin loved it.  She likes cubed slightly warmed Tofu as a night time snack before bed.   

I'm a big fan of the Mexican agua fresca Horchata, a rice/almond based drink.  I recently decided to try the progenitor of Mexican Horchata,  Tiger Nut Milk aka Horchata De Chufa, Chufas are the tubers of a nutsedge plant.  Normally here in the U.S., Chufa's are used as wild game feed.  Turkeys, deer, and raccoons go crazy over them.  They are even used as carp bait.  In Valencia, Spain, the tubers are mashed/blended into a paste, soaked in water with a cinnamon stick along with some sugar, and then the liquid is strained and served chilled.  Chufa's are high in Potassium and Iron, with no Sodium. 

The toughest part is trying to find a source for the Chufa's.  You pretty much have to mail order them (unless you're in Michigan or Connecticut).  I chose Cyprus Knee Chufa, but you could also use Glendale Enterprises.   Pricing is fairly reasonable, but you have to order a minimum of 5 to 10 lbs. usually and the shipping charges can raise the final price a bit.

I followed this recipe for the most part, except I chose to cook the liquid a bit to extract out more of the cinnamon flavor.  I was pleased with the result, a thicker drink than what you would normally get at a restaurant, and perhaps a bit darker (some of which is due to the cooking).  The cinnamon wasn't overpowering, the drink smooth and sweet and about the color of a heavily creamed coffee.

Here's a simple recipe for Mexican Horchata that you can whip up in a Vita-Mix.  The normal process for Horchata usually takes a long soaking period of the rice and a Cinnamon stick to extract out the full flavor and straining the result.  This recipe is a quick version using powdered Cinnamon and can be ready in minutes. The Vita-Mix blends so completely that straining really isn't needed. 

1 Cup Cooked Rice
4 Cups Water
1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon (or more to taste)
1/4 cup Blanched Almonds (optional)
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla

Blend on high speed for a  minute or two and then chill. 

We often take for granted what happens to our food before it gets to the table, the process that converts that quadruped into a nice package of ground up protein covered with shiny plastic.  We've been aware of BSE, also known as Mad Cow Disease for awhile now and hopefully have that under control.  What I'm not sure of is what we do when it comes to Produce.   

How many times have you stopped by that organic fruit stand and happily chomped away on some ripe and colorful ovoid of goodness?  Did the farmer wash his hands?  How was the crop watered?  The recent spinach E. coli contamination scare  just brings to the forefront what we should all be aware of in regards to food safety.   We assume that because it's nicely packaged, it's safe to eat.  Obviously not.  Unfortunately, even washing the produce in this case wouldn't help.  So what are we to do?

Well, you could cook the hell out of the spinach, creating something that only Popeye would eat out of a can, but what I would really like to see is a new food sanitizing package mark, which would indicate that the produce was run through either a UV based or Ozone based sanitizer along with new FDA guidelines in the processing and selling of major brand produce.

I just heard about Tall Grass Beef Company, a meat producer dedicated to producing beef grown naturally and free range, which according to them produces a more nutritional meat.  Not corn fed, but natural grass fed.  I'm anxious to try their product.   No fears of Mad Cow Disease (assuming the starter stock isn't pre-infected), no hormones, and except for that fateful end called Processing, a content herd.

Yum.