When last I looked, this was the "Soil, Compost, and Mulch" forum. As with each forum on GardenWeb the purpose of this forum is as follows: "This forum is for the discussion of all aspects of soil--including topics like creating a healthy, balanced soil, methods of composting and using mulches effectively." There is no mention of organics or anything related to organic gardening. Thus, those who choose to use synthetic fertilizers, GM seed, or any other form of synthetic chemicals are welcomed to post on this forum. While I may not agree with their gardening/farming practices, their techniques work just as well if not better when combined with soil, compost, or mulch. Those who use synthetics have offered many a good, informative, and if one has an open mind, different direction that could be taken to a given conversation on this forum. Their knowledge has always been much welcomed within the community, for their solutions can be "converted" into organic solutions if dogma is kept out of the conversation. Living in a farming community, I have no choice but to learn how to deal with people/farmers who use synthetics. Each year my compost tea brewer has to be cranked up to counteract some synthetic spray that has invaded my "airspace". Yet, each year more and more of these synthetic inclined neighbors make their way to my home to get a "lil-bit of that good smellin dirt that grows such good maters". Toleration of differences and insight into how to deal with those things that cant be controlled can and does allow for a very productive organic garden I create each year. Perfect it may not be, but satisfying to ones spirit it is to do ones best Blutranes

Holy expletive. The Center for Media and Democracy has this to say about the U.S. Composting Council (USCC): [Here's the link]: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=US_Composting_Council [Quote]: "The US Composting Council (USCC) is a front group for dumping sewage sludge onto gardens and farms. It sponsors the ironically titled International Compost Awareness Week; the irony is that the buyer of compost is not "aware" that USCC puts their seal on sewage sludge-derived "compost." It describes itself as a national trade and professional organization with over 600 members including Synagro, compost manufacturers, local government, equipment suppliers and others. It promotes "compost" manufactured with sewage sludge.[1] As a promoter of "biosolids," the sludge industry PR term for sewage sludge dumped on farms and gardens, it works closely with BioCycle magazine, Water Environment Federation, Kellogg Garden Products, and other promoters of growing food in sewage sludge." [End of quote] Further down the page in the link above, the Center says this: [Quote]: "USCC Behind 'Compost Awareness Week' International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) is a yearly PR campaign by the US Composting Council to promote dumping sewage sludge on gardens and farms. Jeff [Z.] of the giant Los Angeles, CA, Inland Empire Utility Agency (IEUA) coordinates the program for the USCC. IEUA supplies the sewage sludge "compost" that is resold by the Kellogg Garden Products company." "In April 2010, the U.S. Composting Council sent a letter of support to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission in favor of its sewage sludge compost giveaway program.[3] In the letter, the U.S. Composting Council says sewage sludge composts "provide many benefits while being safe for use." ======== "Seal of Testing Assurance (STA) One of USCC's main programs is its Seal of Testing Assurance (STA) for compost products.[4] The STA program, developed in 2000, requires regular testing of compost products by "certified" labs. The testing is relatively minimal and the standards are designed to allow for certification of products containing sewage sludge." [End of quote] Now the last sentence above unnerved me, because a local St. Louis company from which I intend to buy 3 cubic yards of compost later this Spring promotes on their web site that they are STA-certified. On the phone, the local St. Louis company (which I will NOT name here) says they do NOT use treated sewage sludge (aka "biosolids") in their compost. I sure hope that's true, or I'll have to find another source of compost this spring.

I got the original recipe here: http://vegan-magic.blogspot.com/2012/06/bean-and-lentil-loaf-low-fat-gluten.html where credit is given to Anne Sheasby's book "High fibre cooking". Here is the version I did tonight, written as for a non-cook as much as possible: Food Processor, scale, large mixing bowl, strainer or slotted spoon, two pots, mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons, wooden spoon or other cooking spoon, 9" loaf pan (mine is shiny aluminum), prep bowls, cutting board and knife, pastry brush (preferably silicone) Dry Garbanzo beans, about 200 g cooked weight Dry beans (black eyed peas tonight, white or black beans another time), about 200 g cooked weight 400 g cooked weight dried green lentils 1 onion, about the size of a fist, chopped 2 stalks of celery, chopped 1 large or 4 small cloves of garlic, squished and chopped or pressed Oil for sauteing (I use Extra Light Olive Oil) Carrots, about 8 peeled baby or one large 1/2 c. walnut pieces 1/2 c. almond meal 2 TBSP tapioca starch 2 TBSP ground flax seeds 1/2 cup crumbs (better idea than rice) 3-4-ish TBSP Simply Heinz tomato ketchup (if you're picky--any would do), plus more for brushing on later Be generous on the measures with the spices. Not heaping, but a little rondure. :) 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1/2 tsp chili powder 1/2 tsp chipotle powder 1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika 1/2 tsp black pepper, not too fine 1/2 tsp Morton's table salt (I say go for the iodine when cooking because who wants goiter?) 1 very very generous tsp dried basil 1 tsp dried thyme Day before: Rinse and sort beans, well. Put beans in a heavy pot, cover with water, bring briefly to a boil and let cool, then put in fridge overnight. Day of:Pour off some of the bean water until it's only about a third of the way up. Bring to a moving simmer and cook the beans through to tender. Should take about the time it takes for the water to boil off/be absorbed. About 20 minutes. Add back more bean water if needed. Rinse and sort lentils, well. Cook about a cup of lentils to 3-4 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until they puff up. Saute onions and celery. When the onions start going transparent, add the garlic. Continue to cook until soft but not carmelized (brown). Put the walnut pieces in the food processor and pulse until small. Add the almond meal and pulse a few more times to mix. Put nut mixture in mixing bowl. Put carrots in food processor and pulse until small but not minced and loosing their water. Add to mixing bowl. Add the crumbs to the mixing bowl. Measure and combine in a prep bowl: seasonings, spices, herbs, flaxseed and tapioca (i.e., the small amounts of dry stuff). Mix well with a fork. Set oven to 350 degrees F. Drain both the beans and lentils. Measure out 400 grams of the lentils and 400 grams of the beans. Put equal portions in the food processor with a portion of the sauteed mixture equal to the proportion of the beans/lentils. That is, if you're putting in a third of the beans and a third of the lentils, use a third of the sauteed vegetables. Turn on the FP and let it run until a paste develops. Scrape down the sides once or twice. It's done when looking from the top (lid off) it seems well blended and doesn't have big pieces of anything showing. About the texture of stiff hummus. Empty into mixing bowl and repeat until done. Mix the contents of the bowl with your wooden spoon until everything is well distributed. Add the ketchup, and mix. Pour the spice mixture all around the bowl so that it's well spread out, and mix bringing the outside edges in, until all the spice mix is well mixed in and distributed. If you think it needs more color, add another squirt of ketchup. Prepare the loaf pan by generously oiling it (or spray oil). Not enough oil for puddles, but so there's lots on the sides and bottom. Don't do this ahead or the oil will all run down. The oil is for making the crust as much as keeping the loaf from sticking. Put the bean mixture in the pan and smooth the top. Try to get the sides not to stick up so they won't burn. Place in the middle of a 350 degree oven on convection/bake if you have it, or else convection or bake. Set the timer for 45 minutes. If the top is at all dry looking, use your pastry brush to cover it with a thin layer of ketchup. Bake a further 10-15 minutes. When it's ready the edges will just be getting dark and will be pulling away from the sides of the pan. Remove from oven and put on a rack. Let it cool and rest for at least 20 minutes. When the pan's edges are cool enough to touch, place your plate over the pan, grab the edges of both and invert. Garnish as you please. A scalloped or serrated knife will probably cut the cleanest, or choose a thin blade. Just don't press down so hard it squishes. Since I wasn't having company, I went for the practical and unmolded my loaf onto the top of a long Ziploc container. That made it easy to just put the container over the loaf for storage in the fridge. Edit: Left off the lentils from the ingredients. This post was edited by plllog on Tue, May 6, 14 at 1:10

I have a small farm with a gluten free bakery and sell at the local farmers market. Nothing I make has corn syrup, artificial flavors or colors, or weird chemicals. I estimate that of all the visitors we get at the market, 20% buy from me and they are not all celiacs or have a true wheat allergy. Some of my customers have jumped on the bandwagon, so to speak, of the GF fad. They include those with autistic children, or arthritis, cirrhosis, IBS, lupus, or chemotherapy reactions. Many have other allergies that I also create tasty treats without - dairy, eggs, soy, tree nuts, peanuts. Others just say they feel better and I do agree that they are probably looking at what junk they have been eating and are making changes overall to their diet. That is a good thing and we little local farmers are benefiting from that - not the conglomerates. Some people just buy from me because it all tastes good, and don't care if it is GF or not. As for the GF stuff on the shelves that the major food mfg are producing they are using just different chemicals than their regular chemically enhanced wheat based stuff. Truly most are awful. But, having been working on baking GF for 5 years, I have developed quite a few treats that taste good and are equivalent to their wheat counterparts. Because I can eat wheat, what I make has to taste like it does and believe me I have thrown out lots of inedible GF baked goods. However, white GF bread will never, ever taste like Wonder Bread, but there are good tasting white breads while the sourdough and quasi-rye GF breads do taste quite similar to wheat/rye breads and waffles and pancakes are very close, especially when you add pecans. There are also many treats that have been out there for many years that never had wheat in them anyway and are just now being labeled as GF - Pavlova and meringues, Brazilian butter cookies (Maizena), and all candy and fudge. etc. I have a theory that the wheat I ate as a kid in the 40's and 50's was not what is growing in the fields today. Hybridization, chemical fertilization, tinkering with GMO's, and a raft of questionable long term effects of pesticides and herbicides have produced a wheat that is not at all what it once was and genetically has been proven to be just that - not "wheat". Something I tell people who ask what gluten free means is, "All those lovely vegetables, fruits, meats, eggs, and cheese you are buying at the farmers market do not contain gluten so you are already buying gluten free without knowing it. But, when you add bread, cupcakes, muffins, pizza, pasta, sub rolls, beer, and the famous Southern biscuits with breaded fried chicken, you are consuming wheat and that contains the gluten that some people are avoiding by eating gluten-free." I do hope people are becoming more conscious of gluten free eating, if nothing more than to be aware of how much junk is on the grocery shelves and in the restaurant's and fast foods' meals. Gluten free eating out is impossible as there is a lot of cross contamination with wheat in restaurant kitchens - residual on pans and in bowls, and even floating in the air, so it is just not safe for those with celiac disease. Nancy Annie - you will never have a good brownie that is made from black beans. It is just not a good substitute and beans belong in soup and tacos, not treats. My recipe uses cornstarch instead of wheat or beans so try this - GF Fudgey Brownie Recipe Altered from the recipe in the book Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz Line 8"sq pan with sprayed foil or parchment with overhang on both sides to lift out. Micro 6Tblsp butter with 12oz chocolate chips for 2 min, stir with wooden spoon and micro another 1 or 2 min until partially melted. Stir with spoon to complete the melting - do not over micro or it will be stiff and off tasting. Stir in 3/4 C sugar, 1tsp vanilla extract. Then, beat in 3 eggs just to incorporated. In a bowl mix together 1/3C cornstarch, 1/4C unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2tsp cinnamon, 1/2tsp salt. (I also add a couple shakes of fine black pepper because I like that tang with all my chocolate treats.) Stir dry ingredients into wet, about 2 minutes, using a wooden spoon not a hand mixer. Option: Add 1C coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts. Bake 350F 20 minutes and check with toothpick - if it looks wet continue baking checking at 5 min intervals until toothpick is mostly dry but don't over bake or they will be hard. Touching the top with fingertips to test does not work with this recipe as it is not springy like cake. Let cool in pan on a rack, then lift out to cool completely before cutting (using a pizza cutter makes nicer edges than a knife). Nancy