tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31885277348906210852024-03-13T01:47:06.852-07:00Nourishment... unadulterated.kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-92043754329298254832014-09-20T04:59:00.002-07:002014-09-30T02:42:27.642-07:00Planning a Weekend Cook-Up<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eating clean, healthy
food has always been a priority for us. I love to cook, so that's not
ever been the challenge, however, time often has been! For the past
several years, my goal has always been to prep like crazy on Sundays in
order to make the week easier. Well, that's great if we don't have
anything else going on, but the stress sneaks in when there are a
million other errands on the list, or we just want to spend the
afternoon with friends or be out and about.<br />This school year I
decided to have a different approach. I wanted to do just as much prep-
but less often. My goal is to only prep cook every 3-4 weeks, on a
weekend when we don't have much else going on. I definitely cook at
other times, so we have fresh meals to supplement, but when there isn't
time, I have an arsenal of options in the freezer! I've done 3 cook ups
so far, and I really think I'm onto something. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here's what happened this weekend:</span></span><br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Breakfast</span></span></h2>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">English Eggy Muffins</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">6 English Muffins, split; I've used Food for Life Gluten Free and Glutino muffins- both were awesome, so just use whatever you like best.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">6 eggs whisked with salt, pepper, and a splash of milk </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">2 cups of vegetables, pre-cooked; I'm liking kale and broccoli these days... but whatever you're in the mood for or have on hand will work</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">2 cups of pre-cooked meat; I used ham that I cooked up with an onion</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese- whatever you want to use is awesome</span></span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9iZp6GxuQrQ0l05p7PToLW9XrUClwjFTQSvAnrJiIu7cu9pAc47xMvnRxlqMmmzluY_rsv72WhowIuhMQ9y4UKWAeinDJrWrqCwW7aeAhSq6TakATAepEwNpzHGlzS4MgXSxhfRQcKPIF/s1600/DSCN1867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9iZp6GxuQrQ0l05p7PToLW9XrUClwjFTQSvAnrJiIu7cu9pAc47xMvnRxlqMmmzluY_rsv72WhowIuhMQ9y4UKWAeinDJrWrqCwW7aeAhSq6TakATAepEwNpzHGlzS4MgXSxhfRQcKPIF/s1600/DSCN1867.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Have everything ready for assembly.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Spray a large cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Dip each muffin half in the eggy mixture giving it time to soak everything in. Lay them out on the cookie try, then top with veg, meat, and cheese. Bake at 400 for 15 min or until the egg is set and they are lightly browning. Remove right away to a plate for cooling. Once they are cool, wrap each individually, put into a zip lock bag, and freeze! I keep plates at work and microwave them for a minute. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYqSD_rEyrJ9RvPxMT_6D2bCJm6n1R27PPw5BIy3dM4Cw77Ge4pkx4D3weIfSZwTyifLKk_IvvOsN4HP6Fc5KYf5COfbSyEM7b5TcuKCKx3-3ylh6dzkJjpWJNRGeww1K9u9UO2qFJ7ZMT/s1600/DSCN1872.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYqSD_rEyrJ9RvPxMT_6D2bCJm6n1R27PPw5BIy3dM4Cw77Ge4pkx4D3weIfSZwTyifLKk_IvvOsN4HP6Fc5KYf5COfbSyEM7b5TcuKCKx3-3ylh6dzkJjpWJNRGeww1K9u9UO2qFJ7ZMT/s1600/DSCN1872.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhErVi0MQHEkRugfFvnbopPA-P3D8NjBYkUuLaSkwyjXtkQuLK3jysvgozug3kiioRw8dXQ7a0M4Ecpp4e58upKVuNdF4WkFKJ3X20yq3VYEkk5FJM9UZdegGxI-yFAFyHhuoUKJWmnENql/s1600/DSCN1875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhErVi0MQHEkRugfFvnbopPA-P3D8NjBYkUuLaSkwyjXtkQuLK3jysvgozug3kiioRw8dXQ7a0M4Ecpp4e58upKVuNdF4WkFKJ3X20yq3VYEkk5FJM9UZdegGxI-yFAFyHhuoUKJWmnENql/s1600/DSCN1875.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWW7QMyVVafAINYSj8pVlzMpNONDed0PqKXrZvtQzIUHRMNQ_Eph1mQy18ncn-68iDR825Nw8Xh2hwKJZpHXzVUAwtv8zp3f-M0Wmr7uGE21hBD4ExC9-Ku_QLE0OHuIlqXijhGVE8fqI/s1600/DSCN1893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWW7QMyVVafAINYSj8pVlzMpNONDed0PqKXrZvtQzIUHRMNQ_Eph1mQy18ncn-68iDR825Nw8Xh2hwKJZpHXzVUAwtv8zp3f-M0Wmr7uGE21hBD4ExC9-Ku_QLE0OHuIlqXijhGVE8fqI/s1600/DSCN1893.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for the freezer! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lunch</span></span></h2>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">I bought a 1.5 pound
antibiotic and nitrite free ham nugget (I'm not sure why, but the word nugget
always makes me giggle) at Whole Foods to use for the breakfast muffins.
They sell them where they have pre-cooked packaged sausages. After
cutting up what I needed for the muffins, I cut up a second batch diced for a
future recipe, then cut the remainder into slices, which I weighed out in 2oz
portions. (17g protein!) I wrapped each in a little foil and then placed them all in a
zip lock. If you get them out the night before, you'll be set to make a
sandwich in the morning, or just throw it in your lunch box with a Baby Bell
and some crackers. I've done this same thing with a turkey breast sold in
the same section. <b>Instant lunch!</b></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Wedding Soup</b></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Whole Foods had a sale on grass fed beef for $4.99 (vs. $7.99) so we bought
10lbs. We used 3 pounds of it to make meatballs. Two pounds we
froze in bags of one pound each, and the 3rd pound we used for wedding soup.
I consulted Giada DeLaurentiis for her Italian expertise, but changed it up a
bit to make it my own.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">1 pound of meatballs (recipe below) rolled smaller than you would normal
meatballs, maybe 1/2- 3/4" in diameter</span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">3/4 pound of fresh
spinach, roughly chopped</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">12 cups chicken stock
(3 boxes- buy the case at Costco!)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">3/4 cup grated
Parmesan cheese</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">2 eggs</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">salt, pepper</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Pasta, optional (I
used about 1/2 cup gluten free Allenini, but next time, I'll just use 1/4 cup)
If you use pasta, use tiny itty bitty pastas.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_GKA4E2MAxQHtJSDOqr1-f75yTTkDI0sM-YaD-KeT6fQ-4tdiCf1-7nhOinoLygZJyI37TWTv6SfKfkrz4GW7kHyAdZ4i0aHFNmCRedMFtudfDbHrs59Mqsg17biqv00L9hhdchylZKYf/s1600/DSCN1900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_GKA4E2MAxQHtJSDOqr1-f75yTTkDI0sM-YaD-KeT6fQ-4tdiCf1-7nhOinoLygZJyI37TWTv6SfKfkrz4GW7kHyAdZ4i0aHFNmCRedMFtudfDbHrs59Mqsg17biqv00L9hhdchylZKYf/s1600/DSCN1900.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Bring 12 cups of chicken stock to a boil and add the meatballs, reducing the
heat a bit. Give them about 8-10 minutes to simmer before adding in the
spinach and pasta if you are using it. Once spinach is wilted, whisk the
two eggs with the Parmesan cheese and stir into the soup. Allow to simmer
for everything to come together and for the pasta to cook if you are using it. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">This soup is <span style="color: #674ea7;"><b>so delicious</b></span>! We ate it for dinner that night, saved enough for 2 lunches this
coming week, and still had 4 servings to freeze. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Meatballs</span></span></h3>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">
1 large yellow onion, grated</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">3 garlic cloves,
grated</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">3 eggs, whisked </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">1 1/2 cups grated
Parmesan cheese</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">3 slices of bread,
crusts removed, torn into tiny bits</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">3/4 cup finely chopped
fresh flat leaf parsley</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">3 tsp salt</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Freshly ground pepper,
some hot pepper flakes if you want... </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">3lbs 85% grass fed
beef. You need some fat in meatballs, if you do a leaner beef, I'd sub
some out with some pork, or if you use all lean, I'd add in some evoo.
That's my opinion on it anyway. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Giada
had an awesome, yet obvious,
tip. Put everything in a bowl except the meat and mix well. Then,
add the beef. Just mix until fairly well distributed. I'm always
worried about over working the beef when trying to incorporate all other
ingredients, but never thought of just mixing everything else
first?!?! </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAcjaGwze35vc-NuBmO-7tg1pOVYaFP1PKV2PR0Z7Ny9ol9HLPlGCqXxgdjxPF-RKmifgzDrZQfx4KwNvl6_LWpJHkcpsz4S5N6Y2JOSUoyo5lEIdRMV0dP1X4nzPg0icunZrfPtQ2LTzf/s1600/DSCN1894.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAcjaGwze35vc-NuBmO-7tg1pOVYaFP1PKV2PR0Z7Ny9ol9HLPlGCqXxgdjxPF-RKmifgzDrZQfx4KwNvl6_LWpJHkcpsz4S5N6Y2JOSUoyo5lEIdRMV0dP1X4nzPg0icunZrfPtQ2LTzf/s1600/DSCN1894.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who knew Date Night could be so productive?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">I highly suggest
making this amount of meatballs with some help... Make it <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;">date night</span></span> </span>in like we
did. We opened a really nice bottle of wine, put videos on vemo on apple
TV and had a blast. There may have been spontaneous dancing... the best
done by my very talented husband with a dish towel on his shoulder... and we
might have sung Katy Perry songs a bit too loudly. <span style="color: magenta;"> <b>I never said you
couldn't make food prep weekend super fun... </b></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: magenta;">
</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Score the beef into 3
fairly even sections and get out plates for each section. Roll, Roll,
Roll each section into the size you'd like. We did one section small for
the soup, and the other two more normal size meatballs for whatever they end up
in. They might end up in wedding soup as good as it is, I'll just have to
cook the meatballs longer. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Place the plates in
the freezer for about an hour, or until they are on their way to being frozen. Remove and place the 1/2 frozen
meatballs into separate freezer bags- pre-freezing will keep them from mushing
all together. If they stick to the plate, use a tea towel to help them
off. Get them right back in the freezer after bagging.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><b>OR</b></span> wake up at <b>2am</b>
remembering you never put them in freezer bags, stumble downstairs, remove from
the freezer and give them 5 min so you can GET them off the plates- work quickly- you don't want them to thaw
at all- and then bag and go back to bed. <span style="color: #674ea7;"><b>There are options.</b></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dinner</span></span></span></h2>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Both of these meals were inspired by Kirstin at kojo-designs.com. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">I've
not executed either of these meals yet, but... I did prepare a former
chicken freezer/crockpot meal the following day, and I'm a little
nervous. The chicken breast was so dry! Ew. I've slow cooked chicken
breast before, and it's been fine- but, never chicken that had been
frozen. I did thaw before cooking and cut back on the low cooking time
for that reason, but maybe not enough? A lunch time chat with some
other teachers confirmed that it's not just me having this issue.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">My
thoughts for future meals is to use high vs. low and to check the
chicken as I go, serving as soon as everything is cooked through,
hopefully this will keep it from overcooking, which I'm thinking COULD
be the issue.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">I also may just do what I've done before with freezer meals and thaw, then cook in a casserole vs. slow cooker.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Because, really? <span style="color: #674ea7;">Who is only away from their house for 6-8 hours anyway?</span>
I've been slow cooking freezer meals on Sundays in order to keep them
from overcooking (or trying...) and then we have them to warm up for the
week. If it's a busy weekend, we'll just have that for dinner that
evening too. If not, they are portioned out for a couple lunches, and
the rest in a large container to eat for a couple dinners that week. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">I
should add that when I have used chicken thighs, they are totally fine
and yummy- not dry at all- so there's that too. Depending on what
happens with these two meals, I may just switch to always using
thighs. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><b>One more tip</b>-
Our wonderful ESL teacher said she always subs 1/2 cup of OJ or apple
juice- depending on the recipe- for a 1/2 cup of whatever liquid chicken
or pork recipes call for when cooking. She said it will help tenderize
the meat. Thanks, Ginny! </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">If you have tips, pul-eeze share.<span style="color: black;"> That said... here is exactly what I did and my fingers are crossed that they will be awesome when prepared...</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***See updates at bottom of post! </span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="color: black;">Peanut-Braised Chicken</span></span></span></span></h3>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">In Freezer Bag:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">2lbs chicken, cubed</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">2 cups chopped onion</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">2 cups carrots, I matchstick cut them, but whatever</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">2 cups broccoli florets</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">zest of a lime and the juice</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">4 garlic cloves, minced</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">To Cook:</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">In crock pot:</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Whisk together:</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">2 T tamari (or soy sauce)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">2 T brown rice flour (or AP flour)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">3 T peanut butter</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">¾ cup chicken stock</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl39ZyF38exOhUpuhK0jtGBK6nvXWxMVERFCiq8p1aM0NEjzeP-CjRBCKL6DjCzpvt1w9wslFo4e3w0FXdz9W6ZnRHIkX9bbDdoEdo1Oreq3mJ0q608iLp-TjAfNcS1UVfhUEf6-A2WfqD/s1600/DSCN1907.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl39ZyF38exOhUpuhK0jtGBK6nvXWxMVERFCiq8p1aM0NEjzeP-CjRBCKL6DjCzpvt1w9wslFo4e3w0FXdz9W6ZnRHIkX9bbDdoEdo1Oreq3mJ0q608iLp-TjAfNcS1UVfhUEf6-A2WfqD/s1600/DSCN1907.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Cook
5-6 hours on low (I'm going to start checking the chicken for doneness
at 3 hours and go from there to try to serve (or remove from cooking)
as soon as it's done...)</span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">5 minutes before serving, stir in a can of coconut milk and a bag
of frozen peas. Serve as is, or over rice.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">R<span style="font-family: inherit;">osemary Honey <span style="font-family: inherit;">Chicken</span></span></span></span></span></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">In Freezer Bag:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">1.5 pounds chicken, cubed</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">⅓</span><span style="color: black;"> cup balsamic vinegar</span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">⅓</span><span style="color: black;"> cup honey</span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">⅓</span><span style="color: black;"> cup extra virgin olive oil</span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">3 T fresh rosemary, chopped</span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">1 t salt</span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Allow to marinate for several hours before placing in freezer.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">To Cook:</span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Thaw completely before cooking. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">In crock pot:</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">1 cup water and contents of bag</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">6-8 hours low, 3-4 hours high</span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqxd2P2XEbrj8in2VKFfIM8b8V2D44542P4WzCxySrMVqqncCRgeul_-hII2cXwEPwHA5YwVBHnacCRu4G4dUg4MFalnWc4WSPAFT1I4r-NHtAWhDB8o0b-vrWFNkqN43cF6SJGsOJZia/s1600/DSCN1913.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqxd2P2XEbrj8in2VKFfIM8b8V2D44542P4WzCxySrMVqqncCRgeul_-hII2cXwEPwHA5YwVBHnacCRu4G4dUg4MFalnWc4WSPAFT1I4r-NHtAWhDB8o0b-vrWFNkqN43cF6SJGsOJZia/s1600/DSCN1913.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Take out some liquid and whisk with a little cornstarch to thicken
sauce before serving if it’s too thin.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">I'm
not sure how I'm going to approach this one... I'll thaw it and
decide. I'm sort of thinking casserole and oven. I'll decide after
thawing if I should add water, but at the moment, I'm thinking no.
Maybe 400 for 30 min or so... until the chicken is 165 degrees.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">I imagine serving with roasted or mashed sweet potatoes and something green. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">COOK-UP TIPS</span></span></span></h2>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Menu planning</b>: Planning menu items that <b>share ingredients</b>
helps a lot when it comes to the grocery bill and to the convenience.
I've done better in the past, but here was my thinking on this weekend:</span></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">We had spinach
and kale chicken salads for 2 dinners this week, so that was an easy way
to use up the extra greens from the soup and breakfast. I used
broccoli to prepare breakfast and one dinner, and used extra for green
stuff for our lunches this week. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Both dinners used
chicken breast, so I planned fresh meals this week that would also use
chicken. I bought about 6lbs of chicken breast. Whole Foods has their
chicken at .50 less per pound when you buy family packs. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The ham for breakfast is cheaper when buying the nugget (hee hee) and allows for several more servings for lunches. </span></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Check
out what meat is going to be on sale when menu planning. As soon as I
knew I could get grass fed beef so cheaply, it made the meatball
decision come quickly- then the wedding soup. It can help you narrow
down what you want to make if you base it on what you can get the best
price on. Expect your grocery bill to be higher on cook up weeks, but know it will be much lower on off weeks! </span></span></div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVHp55zqAu1XMnV0BK4Ib1Qw_OotNx5HG3sSwxHlMjbq94hY0TygljKXGE5YJ1QolbvmJD1EiHN-6ZUzYF_NrBLrYqQUhf01ET8_9OFhUELYB2JrAQ_V-4JKNNOhBqEuN3JoiiRnWM4xE/s1600/DSCN1906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVHp55zqAu1XMnV0BK4Ib1Qw_OotNx5HG3sSwxHlMjbq94hY0TygljKXGE5YJ1QolbvmJD1EiHN-6ZUzYF_NrBLrYqQUhf01ET8_9OFhUELYB2JrAQ_V-4JKNNOhBqEuN3JoiiRnWM4xE/s1600/DSCN1906.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">When building your <span style="color: #674ea7;"><b>crock pot freezer meals</b></span>,
label your zip lock bags w/ the meal and even w cooking directions if
you choose. The date can be helpful too. Wh<span style="font-family: inherit;">at</span> I then do is take a
post-it and put it near each bag w/ everything that needs to be in the
bag. It makes it easier when you have a lot of ingredients that overlap
because you can do all of the chicken, then the onions, the carrots,
and so on. Make sure to have your kitchen scale nearby as well. </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I hope these recipes and ideas will inspire you to prep ahead so that you and your family can eat healthfully and happily- and most importantly- stress free! Enjoy! </span></span><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Grocery List</span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you would like <span style="font-family: inherit;">make the </span>exact<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">cook ahead</span></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">that </span>I did this weekend, <span style="font-family: inherit;">here is your grocery and<span style="font-family: inherit;"> pantry list<span style="font-family: inherit;"> all combined! </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Protein:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Black<span style="font-family: inherit;">forest Ham Nugg<span style="font-family: inherit;">et<span style="font-family: inherit;">- o<span style="font-family: inherit;">nly <span style="font-family: inherit;">2 cups worth if you don't want to have extra fo<span style="font-family: inherit;">r freezing for lun<span style="font-family: inherit;">ches</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3lbs Grass Fed Beef</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3.5lbs Chicken Breast</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">D<span style="font-family: inherit;">airy:</span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">11 eg<span style="font-family: inherit;">gs</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2 1/4 cups Parmesan<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Cheese</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 1/2 cups shre<span style="font-family: inherit;">dded <span style="font-family: inherit;">Cheese </span></span> </span></span> </span> </span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Produce:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 small bunch Dino kale- I really like Din<span style="font-family: inherit;">o kale b/c it's f<span style="font-family: inherit;">lat<span style="font-family: inherit;">ter and easier to work with, but <span style="font-family: inherit;">regular kale, or red kale... it doesn't matter<span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2-3 large broccoli florets</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2 large <span style="font-family: inherit;">yellow onions</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3/4 <span style="font-family: inherit;">lb <span style="font-family: inherit;">fresh spinach</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3-4 </span>large carrots</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 small bu<span style="font-family: inherit;">n<span style="font-family: inherit;">ch</span> rosemar<span style="font-family: inherit;">y </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 lime</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7 garlic cloves </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 bunch Italian Parsley </span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Grocery:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 pack of 6 English Muffins</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1<span style="font-family: inherit;">3 cups chicken stock</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1/2 cup tiny pasta </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 can coconut milk </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pan<span style="font-family: inherit;">try/<span style="font-family: inherit;">Refri<span style="font-family: inherit;">gerator:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Milk </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3 slices bread</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tamari or soy sauce</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3 T pea<span style="font-family: inherit;">nut butter</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3 TBSP flou<span style="font-family: inherit;">r</span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Honey</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ba<span style="font-family: inherit;">lsamic Vinegar</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Extra Virgin Olive Oil </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sa<span style="font-family: inherit;">lt and <span style="font-family: inherit;">Pepper</span></span> </span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"><b>UPDATE: </b>I have prepared both <span style="font-family: inherit;">fro<span style="font-family: inherit;">zen <span style="font-family: inherit;">meals- and I decided against the crock pot in both situations<span style="font-family: inherit;"> after reading TONS of information about crock pots and chicken breasts<span style="font-family: inherit;">. <span style="font-family: inherit;">A summary from all of my research: <span style="font-family: inherit;">Just don't do it. Chic<span style="font-family: inherit;">ken breast simply doesn't have enough connective tissue, so it's going to pretty much al<span style="font-family: inherit;">ways overcook and dry <span style="font-family: inherit;">out in the crock pot. Stick to legs and thigh<span style="font-family: inherit;">s. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For the Peanut <span style="font-family: inherit;">Braised Ch<span style="font-family: inherit;">ick<span style="font-family: inherit;">en: I defr<span style="font-family: inherit;">os<span style="font-family: inherit;">ted it completely, then dump<span style="font-family: inherit;">ed the entire thing in a large non-stick <span style="font-family: inherit;">saute pan<span style="font-family: inherit;"> that I'd prepared with a<span style="font-family: inherit;"> TBSP or so<span style="font-family: inherit;"> of EVOO. <span style="font-family: inherit;">I prepared the ingredients to add- stock, tamari, <span style="font-family: inherit;">p<span style="font-family: inherit;">ea<span style="font-family: inherit;">nut butter, and rice flour- then add<span style="font-family: inherit;">ed that to the <span style="font-family: inherit;">ingr<span style="font-family: inherit;">edients</span></span>. I cover<span style="font-family: inherit;">ed and allow<span style="font-family: inherit;">e<span style="font-family: inherit;">d it to simmer for about 15 minutes<span style="font-family: inherit;">, stirring occasionally<span style="font-family: inherit;">. It looked a lit<span style="font-family: inherit;">tle <span style="font-family: inherit;">odd, but I was <span style="font-family: inherit;">staying positive! </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As soon as the<span style="font-family: inherit;"> chicken was done, I added 1/2 a can of coconut <span style="font-family: inherit;">CREAM<span style="font-family: inherit;">-</span> I only had cream on hand- so- if I were to use coconut milk, I think I'd have just<span style="font-family: inherit;"> used <span style="font-family: inherit;">1/<span style="font-family: inherit;">2 of the stock<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">. After a tast<span style="font-family: inherit;">e test... <span style="font-family: inherit;">a turn or two of tamari in the pan</span>, 2 more TBSP of p<span style="font-family: inherit;">ea<span style="font-family: inherit;">nut butter, and <span style="font-family: inherit;">1/3 of a <span style="font-family: inherit;">jar of green chile paste. FOR REAL... <span style="font-family: inherit;">this is<span style="font-family: inherit;"> SUPER good, but it<span style="font-family: inherit;"> needs some chile paste, or <span style="font-family: inherit;">it'<span style="font-family: inherit;">s just too mil<span style="font-family: inherit;">d. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I also added in the p<span style="font-family: inherit;">eas- about <span style="font-family: inherit;">1/2 bag seemed r<span style="font-family: inherit;">ight to me. We s<span style="font-family: inherit;">erved it over <span style="font-family: inherit;">a little rice and topped it with chopped cash<span style="font-family: inherit;">ews. SERIOUSLY, this <span style="font-family: inherit;">is so freaking amazingly awesome and good... Scott is already asking when I am making it <span style="font-family: inherit;">again<span style="font-family: inherit;">! </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>I've had leftovers <span style="font-family: inherit;">once already and it's <span style="font-family: inherit;">one of those meals that only gets better. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For the <span style="font-family: inherit;">Honey Rosemary Chicken<span style="font-family: inherit;">: I defrosted it completely<span style="font-family: inherit;">, then baked it in a casserol<span style="font-family: inherit;">e on <span style="font-family: inherit;">350 for <span style="font-family: inherit;">30</span> minutes. I did not add any additional liquid. <span style="font-family: inherit;">The sauce is delicious<span style="font-family: inherit;">. I still think I cooked it for too long <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">because</span> the <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">chicken</span> was still a lit<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">tle</span> dry. The chicken in cut into small chun<span style="font-family: inherit;">ks, so I probably could have pulled back on the time 5-10 minutes. I would make <span style="font-family: inherit;">this again, though. <span style="font-family: inherit;">I do think I would like it better with thigh<span style="font-family: inherit;">s. The sauce would ju<span style="font-family: inherit;">st be <span style="font-family: inherit;">better with <span style="font-family: inherit;">chicken thigh<span style="font-family: inherit;">s in my opinion. T<span style="font-family: inherit;">h<span style="font-family: inherit;">is would also make <span style="font-family: inherit;">preparing in t<span style="font-family: inherit;">he crock pot an option. We ate it with <span style="font-family: inherit;">roasted sweet potatoes and <span style="font-family: inherit;">green beans from the <span style="font-family: inherit;">farmer's market.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ENJOY! </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-6668586794276796962014-01-21T11:19:00.000-08:002014-10-03T16:32:55.134-07:00Roast a Chicken, Create Stock, Mash a Rutabaga... I've wanted to make my own stock for a very long time, even when the only stock I'd have considered making would be veggie. It's one of those things that seems (is) so easy, but that I just never did. <br />
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I've recently learned that bone broth is a great source of a couple amino acids: proline and glycine. Apparently, we can make both of them on our own, but it's more efficient if we get them from our diets. I've always loved really brothy soups, so the thought of sipping my own rich stock as a snack or part of a meal was even more appealing after learning the health benefits of doing so. <br />
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To make chicken stock, I'd need bones and bits. This meant that my other contemplation of roasting a whole chicken was going to have to happen as well. <br />
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So, first up: Dinner.<br />
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<b>Roasted Whole Chicken</b> <br />
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I read a lot of recipes for roasting chicken, but they were all pretty fussy. I decided to keep it simple for my first go-round. <br />
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I bought a 4lb chicken at Whole Foods. I made my wonderful husband deal with unwrapping it and taking out the envelope of bits. I put the envelope of bits into a ziplock and into the fridge for their moment the following day. Next, I asked him to stuff the cavity with a lemon and an onion that I'd quartered, as well as about six garlic cloves. Next, I brushed a roasting dish with grass-fed butter and once I (he) got the chicken settled, I liberally brushed it with the butter as well. I followed with a heavy seasoning of salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Into the oven- I don't think it could be any easier.<br />
375F for about 80 minutes. You want to go about 20 minutes per pound, and your meat thermometer should read 165F. I checked it at 60 minutes, but it needed the full 80. Make sure you don't hit bone when you take the temperature. <a href="http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/36d5ee97-4fff-47aa-be42-fd4ca7216588/thermometer_in_whole_chicken.jpg?MOD=AJPERES" target="_blank">Here's a picture</a> of where you should place the thermometer.<br />
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After you have dinner, pick the chicken clean and store the leftovers for soup or chicken salad or for midnight snacks. This is SO much easier to do when the chicken is warm, so it's worth doing even if you'd rather just put it away and watch a movie. Leave the carcass in the roasting pan. Remove the lemons, but you can leave the other aromatics. Wrap the dish and put in the fridge for the next day.<br />
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***Auto-immune friendly if alternate fat was used to brush over chicken. Bacon fat would be yummy. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scott did a great job stuffing in all the aromatics!</td></tr>
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When the chicken was about 45 minutes away from being ready, I started the Rutabaga Broccoli mash. I saw this idea in a cookbook I was perusing at Barnes and Noble, but I cannot remember which one to give credit. I didn't write down the recipe, so this is what I did with the idea.<br />
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<b>Rutabaga Broccoli Mash</b> <br />
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1 medium rutabaga, peeled and diced into about 1" cubes<br />
chicken or veggie stock (or water) <br />
1-2 cups of steamed brocolli florets, chopped<br />
(2 small crowns, cut into florets and put in a covered pan with a bit of stock or water and salt. Cook until tender over medium heat) <br />
1 TBSP half and half (had I had a can of coconut milk already opened, I'd have preferred to use that, but I didn't and didn't want to open one for such a small amount)<br />
1 TBSP ghee (you could use grass-fed butter or coconut oil instead) <br />
1 garlic clove, pressed<br />
1 TBSP dried chives<br />
salt and pepper to taste<br />
***Auto-immune friendly if coconut milk and oil are used<br />
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Place the diced rutabaga into a small sauce pot and cover with stock or water. Cover and bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer for about 30 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain and return to pot. Using a potato masher, mash rutabaga and add in all additional ingredients. Combine and season to taste.<br />
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This turned out so well, totally surpassed my expectations. This would be good beside any protein, but would also be a hearty addition to a vegetarian plate, or as a base under a lentil dal or bean stew.<br />
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Dinner was delicious. Even more exciting was that I was going to make stock the next day as a result of this awesome meal!<br />
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<b>Chicken Stock</b><br />
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I think you could add/omit pretty easily here... I love bay, so I added 3 bay leaves, but if you love thyme, a bunch of thyme would be good too. And I think any root veggies or squash would work. I don't think you could do much to mess it up considering you will strain everything out in the end. <b> </b><br />
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1 chicken carcass and bones<br />
1 envelope of the innards and bits<br />
2 medium carrots, chopped into a few pieces<br />
4 stalks of celery- ideally the leaves from the heart of celery too, chopped into a few pieces<br />
1 medium onion- I had 1/2 of a yellow and 1/2 of a red, so I just used those<br />
5 garlic cloves, or more if you aren't using the ones you roasted with<br />
3 bay leaves<br />
good pinch of salt<br />
Filtered water <br />
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Once you get everything into a heavy bottomed dutch oven, (I used a 7qt) cover with the filtered water and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat and simmer for at least 6 hours, uncovering for the last hour. You can let it go longer if you want. For like a day or two if you really want to.<br />
When it's done, strain from one pot into another with a mesh strainer. Discard the bits, or eat some of them as Scott did, and once it's a little cooled, transfer the stock to containers.<br />
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The next day, there will be a layer of fat on top of the stock. That's totally ok, it's super good for you. Once it warms it will be perfectly smooth and velvety. I warmed some up in a small coffee cup to sip one day, and on another I warmed it on the stove and added some of the leftover chicken and a couple tablespoons of tiny tiny circle corn pastas to make a soup. I plan to have a little each day, but it could easily be frozen for your next pot of soup. I couldn't help but think just how rich a smooth butternut squash soup would be with this as the base... and that could happen because after this weekend, I no longer fear roasting whole chickens or making stock- in fact, I have NO idea why I was ever intimidated because both really require so little from the cook. <br />
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<br />kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-58606341317568757362014-01-19T16:04:00.001-08:002014-10-03T16:49:20.542-07:00AIP Rant and Plantain Crackers<i>Disclaimer: I really have to tell you- I sorted out a lot writing this post. This is the crap I've been thinking about constantly for days and days and getting it down has been incredibly therapeutic. That said... unless you are going through auto-immune issues, you may cry from boredom. So, if AIP isn't your thing, just scroll down and take note of the incredible crackers I made. </i> <br />
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I'm so type A. I'm so black or white, this or that. I've been like this my whole life, and even though it's been many years since I realized this about myself and am able to (mostly) pinpoint when I might be in a negative zone of this personality trait, it still happens. Like constantly.<br />
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My moving toward an Auto-Immune Protocol (AIP) diet has been no different. I was cool being 80/20 there for a bit, but once the new year hit, I thought I was ready for the next big step. And when I wasn't, it really... I guess it hurt my feelings? I felt like I was failing myself. <br />
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So, then the stress and anxiety over failing set in. Of course it did.<br />
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When it comes to auto-immune symptoms, mine are few compared to many. I battle with anxiety and depression, but have a generally good handle on it. (Thank you to my gym addiction and to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gaia-Herbs-Siberian-Rhodiola-capsules/dp/B000QYHWJM" target="_blank">Rhodiola</a>.) I have the joint pain thing, but keeping nightshades- tomatoes mainly- out of my diet and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gaia-Herbs-Turmeric-Supreme-Capsule/dp/B0036THLWM/ref=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1390165376&sr=1-2&keywords=tumeric+gaia" target="_blank">Turmeric</a> supplements in my diet seems to be key. There's my vitiligo... which thankfully has grown slowly over the past 11 years... and it's not super noticeable with my pale skin.<br />
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Nothing is out of control, and this is why I wanted so badly to commit to AIP because I don't want it to get out of control. Through reading, I am learning that many auto-immune women (where are the men?! I know they exist, but they don't write about it.) were like me- until they had children. And after giving birth, all hell broke loose. Interesting because it was only after having me that my mom's vitiligo spread like wild fire, although she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 16. Giving birth doesn't seem to be in my future, but it doesn't mean I couldn't experience more serious symptoms as I age because aging seems to be bringing additional mild symptoms. <br />
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When I realized I just wasn't ready, I spent a lot of time thinking. I know I'm willful. I know I can do things I decide to do, so it was perplexing. I don't have some great reason as to why I felt like I couldn't do it other than I really love some of the foods that aren't included in AIP. I love cooking and I love to eat. I love going to great restaurants and having new food experiences. I love the social aspect of food. Whatever reason, thinking of giving foods up was stressful and anxiety causing and that's really SO not the goal. If eating an AIP diet was going to cause me so much issue, wasn't it sort of counter-productive? I also found the more I read, the more caught up I got, and it just all ended up increasing my anxiety. I need to pull back a bit. <br />
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Maybe I can take baby steps, though? Or not. I don't know, but... here is a run down of the AIP no-no's that I am finding issue with and my thoughts for improvement. <br />
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1. Corn. I heart popcorn and tortilla chips and corn tortillas... When you eat gluten free, you get really close with corn. You kinda know it's wrong, but, you just can't help yourself. Corn is the bad boy you hate to love... <br />
Fix- Cut out popcorn as a snack on a regular and put in "treat" category. Cut down on tortilla chips. I need to go from having a handful a few times a week to having a handful maybe once a week- and more importantly- be sure to only buy non-GMO. So long Frito Lay Cantina... you will be greatly missed. Green Mountain Gringo are really good, though. (ok, I'm sort of lying.) <br />
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2. Coffee. Holy Hell. I was all on board using coconut creamer and still keeping the coffee for a bit, but cutting down. Cutting down is going ok... but, eff coconut creamer (see #3). I can't lie to myself anymore, it's not half and half. Coffee as a morning ritual is also something that's important to me. Although I love tea and drink it daily, I really love having coffee in the morning. <br />
Fix- Having one small cup of organic coffee per day with organic grass-fed half and half. One day a week I get a Starbucks treat- which is just an Americano, light water, with cream... but still. I know too much coffee whacks out my system. <br />
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3. Dairy. Half and half, ranch, and sour cream really, really get me. And cheese to an extent, but I leave it alone more easily than the other three. Sometimes. <br />
Fix- Organic and grass fed as much as possible. My goal is to make my own Mayo and then my own ranch with coconut milk. That's on the list. One day. For now, I buy the cleanest ranch I can find and continue to cut it with homemade balsamic vinaigrette on my salads. <br />
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4. Nuts. Larabars, almond milk, almonds on my salads, almond meal and flour in gluten free baking, almond butter... need I go on? And then there are peanuts and cashews on curries... <br />
Fix- I got nothin' on this right now. Moving on.<br />
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5. Eggs. I'm skeptical if I really even need to eliminate eggs because eggs make me feel really good when I eat them. I buy organic, local eggs hatched from free roaming happy hens. They're fantastic and have almost orange yolks that are delicious. The downside is that hens, when given the freedom to hatch as they'd like and to do their thing, don't always produce eggs. This means that sometimes you can't buy them.<br />
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6. Nightshades. Not a huge issue. I've cut back substantially when I made the connection to my joint pain and it's not been that hard. I seem to be okay with nightshades if I just have a few bites here and there. Tomatoes seem to bother me the most... and really hot peppers.<br />
Fix- I've stopped making tomato based food and I don't eat nearly the amount of peppers I used to... <br />
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7. Alcohol. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a drink beside my computer at the moment. To give myself some credit, it's only because I opened a lovely craft cider (Potter's Sorachi Ace) on Friday, and if I don't finish it, it will go to waste. It's too expensive (and delicious) to go to waste.<br />
Fix- As a general rule, I am limiting drinks to twice/week and no more than two drinks each time. This is an improvement, even if that is hard to believe. I went 10 days without a drink and I will admit- that was really difficult. Soda water with some lime or pomegranate juice is helpful though. For some reason, that really does work if it's a Friday night and I don't want to drink but I feel deserving. (Why do I feel I DESERVE a drink? hmmmm.) <br />
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8. Chocolate. So, sad, right? <br />
Fix-Green and Black's Organic 85% Dark Chocolate... it's always been my favorite, so now it should be my only. (And maybe dipped in organic freshly ground peanut butter occasionally... the horror.) <br />
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9. Beans and Legumes. Not too much of an issue outside of hummus- also hitting a seed here with the tahini made from sesame seeds. But, I am not missing beans much and haven't had them in some time- outside of hummus. But, then there is lentil soup... with bacon and spinach and carrots... <br />
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10. Rice. I love rice chex. But, I can go without eating cereal pretty easily. Just once in awhile... once in awhile, I HAVE to have cereal- and not always with milk. I just like to snack on it. (I could add in gluten free certified oats/granola to the cereal issue too.) I also use rice chex for breading and binding. Rice crackers are pretty freaking great too. And I just like rice.<br />
Fix- I don't have any ideas when it comes to just eating rice once in awhile or with cereal, but... I can learn about alternate binders and make my own crackers occasionally... which leads to... <br />
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<b>Finally- a recipe! Thanks for sticking with me. </b> <br />
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<a href="http://www.thepaleomom.com/" target="_blank">thepaleomom</a> is a great site. She's super smart and has great recipes and ideas. I need to stop reading her articles on auto-immunity right now, but I am glad to know she is there when I am ready. I may or may not have wanted to strangle her when she said my body could think coffee is gluten, but, she means well.<br />
These crackers are her recipe and you can find it <a href="http://www.thepaleomom.com/2012/09/plantain-crackers-nut-free-egg-free.html" target="_blank">here</a>. She also talks at length about plantains in youtube video at the end of the post. I knew jack about plaintains, so that was helpful for me.<br />
I've wanted to make these for awhile now, but the plantains I bought initially weren't green enough. So, then I had to let them sit for a week or so, and then I made her <a href="http://www.thepaleomom.com/2012/05/recipe-plantain-pancakes-with-maple.html" target="_blank">plaintain pancakes</a> once they were super ripe. Each weekend I would look for green plantains, but they were never green enough. <br />
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At Whole Foods yesterday, I finally found GREEN plantains! <br />
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<br />
<b>Plantain Crackers</b><br />
<br />
2 large GREEN plantains, peeled (see her video if you are like me and clueless about how to go about this.) It should produce 2 cups once pureed. I thought mine looked like 2 cups, but I didn't measure it. She says give or take 1/4 cup and I really felt good about it.<br />
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted <br />
1/2 tsp salt (I thought, this is it? What about some garlic? Chives? Something? Nah. Doesn't need it. On. Point.)<br />
<br />
Place the peeled plantains cut into chunks, along with the melted coconut oil and salt into a food processor. You will need to process it for a good 2 minutes, but stop it now and again to scrape the sides. When its enough, it should look like hummus. Ironically.<br />
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Line a large cookie sheet with parchment and pour out the batter. Use a spatula to patiently spread it out to pretty much fill the sheet. Once you get it pretty good, you really have to have a light hand to spread it the rest of the way. It's sort of calming.<br />
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You bake it for 10 minutes on 300, then taken it out and score with pizza cutter. Back in. She says 50-55 minutes, but also that she's gone up to 70 minutes. I went a full 70 and then turned my broiler on high for about 3 minutes. They seemed really oily and I wasn't sure that was ok, but. They're fine. I pulled them out and got them onto a cooling rack pretty quickly.<br />
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The cooler they get, the crunchier they are. Crazy good. Really, you're going to love them and be super excited.<br />
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Although they are fabulous just on their own, I should probably let you know how well they pair with <a href="http://cavafoods.com/products/kalamata-hummus" target="_blank">Cava Mezze Kalamata Hummus</a>...<br />
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one step at a time, indeed. <br />
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<br />kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-76981042523565018442014-01-04T03:52:00.004-08:002014-01-04T03:53:16.780-08:00Break the FastFor those of you who know me, you know I'm in bed by 7:30-8:00pm and up around 3:45am when Siri so kindly wakes me- or I wake myself, which is more common these days. This is an odd schedule to most, and I definitely take some slack about my retirement schedule, but it really works for me. More so than I could have ever imagined. <br />
<br />
I actually have Hurricane Irene to thank for all of this. In August of 2011, we lost power for 6 days. Neighbors had power (how lovely it was of them to keep their curtains and blinds wide open with every light in their house on and TVs taunting us...) but, our little row of homes did not. This happened to coincide with the first work week back to school, and showering and getting presentable was necessary. So, I went to the gym to get ready. And I figured if I'm going to go to the gym, I might as well do something while I'm there. And my new routine was born.<br />
<br />
I could not believe the energy I had! Also, knowing my workout was behind me allowed me to feel like I could actually decompress after a day of 5th graders instead of trying to find one less shred of energy for going to the gym. Since getting our pup, I often come home and walk or run him, giving myself a little light activity at the end of the day without the stress of having to get an awesome workout in. It's been 2 1/2 years and it's positively the best health change I have made. And I can't even begin to tell you about the awesome community that exists at the gym at 5 in the morning. You wouldn't believe that many people could be that happy and that energized so early, but it's true. On the occasion I have gone at 4:30pm I have found the environment to be much colder, hostile, irritable... and that makes sense. Everyone just wants to go home, maybe? <br />
<br />
So what do I eat at 4am? Actually, not much. I'm still weening off coffee- this really is going to be the hardest for me, I believe... so, right now, coconut milk in my coffee is enough to get my system going. Once coffee is behind me, I believe I'll have a bite of something, but that's about all I can really handle in the morning. I've also discovered that- for me- I do better on an empty stomach at the gym. And it's not like I go and do 30 minutes on the eliptical and leave... I am either in a hard ass tabata spin class or I am on the floor lifting really heavy things and running sprints. Either way, a fairly empty belly seems to be fine for me. I've also worked on primal running- tapping into that part of the brain when you ran because you needed to protect yourself or get food- I think that's also easier when your body is gearing up for a meal. I think being a little hungry helps me to mentally get there when I am on a treadmill, in a gym, with Usher blasting through my headphones... <br />
<br />
I actually used to eat a decent sized breakfast- and then once I started to lift heavier I noticed I would get nauseous- which is why I stopped. Everyone is different. One guy I lift with has like 6 egg whites and a protein shake and oatmeal before coming in. Another HUGE guy I lift with only has a banana. Another has oatmeal, and then staggers protein for a couple of hours starting right after he leaves the gym. I don't know if there is a right and wrong. You can find articles that support each option. I've not had any trouble building muscle (I REALLY want to update my blog photo!!!) and I've put it all on since I've started morning workouts on an empty belly. So, take that for what it's worth, play around, and see what works best for you and makes you feel good.<br />
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Once I am showered and heading to school I am famished and ready to eat. I usually warm something up on my way to my classroom and am finishing my meal as my kids walk through the door. Most of the time I just have leftovers, (Mrs. Linham, are you eating GARLIC?!) but sometimes I really just want breakfast food. Peeking around on Paleo sites hasn't given me the inspiration and excitement I'd hoped for, but I did see a post for beef sausage and decided I could do something with that. Here it is.<br />
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<b>Breakfast Chicken Sausage Patties</b><br />
Makes about 12 patties<b> </b><br />
<br />
1 pound of ground chicken thighs<br />
1 medium apple, small dice<br />
1/4 cup onion, fine dice<br />
2 small garlic cloves, minced<br />
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme<br />
1-2 pinches of salt<br />
1 pinch of black pepper<br />
Coconut Oil<br />
<br />
Add about a tsp of coconut oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Add the apple, onion, 1 pinch of salt, pepper, and thyme. Cook until soft and fragrant. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Taste, remembering that you are adding a pound of chicken to it. I always am careful with salt, but add a bit more if needed for your taste. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit while you work on taking down Christmas decorations (so depressing). <br />
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Once it's cool enough to work with, add it to a bowl with the chicken, and mix until just combined.<br />
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Heat 2 tsp of coconut oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat (maybe just a hair higher). Form the chicken into patties that are about 2" in diameter and 1/2" thick. Once the oil is hot, put them down, but don't crowd them. They take about 4-5 minutes per side. Be patient, lower the heat if needed- the sugars from the apple will burn easily, so just watch your heat. Work in batches until cooking is complete. Add a bit more coconut oil if needed.<br />
When I think they are done- they should be firm as well- I just cut one open to double check and then eat that one first! I drained mine on a bit of paper towel before packing them away in Pyrex. When I am ready for one, I will just give it a bit of a saute, or even throw it in the microwave if I'm in a hurry.<br />
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My plan is to make a few pounds of this sausage at once and freeze them in individual servings for easy post-gym grub. I'll take some greens, or maybe just have some celery sticks and olives on the side to round out the meal. Or a banana like I did yesterday. The patties would also be good with a chunk of sweet potato. <br />
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If you think morning workouts are an impossibility, I challenge you to start thinking about it at least... Go in slowly, give it a few weeks to build up the time you spend there, adjusting your bedtime, etc. See how it goes. I know it's not for everyone, but there was a time when I didn't think it could possibly be for me, and I could not have been more wrong. <br />
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It's 6:45am on a Saturday morning as I type, and since my 24 hour gym closes overnight on Fridays and Saturdays, I have 15 minutes to get there and walk through the door right as they open... <br />
<br />kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-88119413687032897812013-12-26T11:27:00.001-08:002013-12-26T11:28:20.571-08:00Pie for Dinner<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It even looks cuddly. </td></tr>
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This meal is comfort. It's your favorite hoodie, your fuzziest socks, your most comfy quilt. It's been a couple of weeks since I made this and just thinking about it I have the urge to snuggle down with a hot cup of tea and lots of blankets and books.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Well-Fed-Paleo-Recipes-People/dp/061557226X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388085896&sr=8-1&keywords=well+fed" target="_blank">Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan</a> is a great cookbook. I love that she is all about buying and prepping food ahead, and that she thinks a lot like I do when it comes to food combining. I squealed with excitement when I saw that there is a section in the book that's just ideas for combining veggies and protein! I day dream about different combinations, and this book came at a time when I was ready for some new thoughts and inspiration. She also loves Eastern European food. In my opinion, that's the most comforting cuisine and is closest to how I define the food I grew up eating. I heart cabbage.<br />
And, she's a huge fan of Penzey's Spices.<br />
I do believe Ms. Joulwan and I could be friends. <br />
Her book also has pretty pictures and places for you to take your own notes! And I love the paper it's printed on. You should buy it. I bought it when Amazon sucked me into their free shipping with $35 (although that used to be $25, didn't it?) and so I had to buy something else to get the free shipping. Silly, but you've all done it too, right?<br />
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Shepard's Pie is a recipe from Well Fed. She uses ground lamb, but I went with beef, making this Cottage Pie instead. I followed her directions for the most part, adding more of this, less of that, making it work for us, but the base of this is not my recipe, however, it's so good that it needs to be shared in as many mediums as possible.<br />
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First of all, the mashed cauliflower is like... I really, I don't have words. It's the mashed cauliflower recipe you only wished existed. And it's forgiving. I've made it a few times now, and I don't measure anything, and it always works. You'll need one batch of this for the pie, so once it's made, just set it aside until needed.<br />
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1 large bag of frozen cauliflower<br />
1 garlic clove, crushed (I use more)<br />
1 1/2 TBSP coconut oil<br />
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk<br />
salt and pepper to taste<br />
chives if you wish<br />
<br />
Cook the cauliflower according to the package- I chose to steam/saute it with some chicken stock- until it's soft, but not overly cooked. Drain any extra liquid and transfer to a food processor. In a small pot, combine the oil, milk, garlic, salt and pepper, and heat it through a bit before adding it to the cauliflower and processing it all together until smooth. Add in chives and give a bit of a pulse to combine, or just use them as a garnish. <br />
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You can get the rest of the dish moving while your cauliflower is cooking.<br />
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1 heaping TBSP of coconut oil<br />
1 medium yellow onion, diced<br />
2 carrots, peeled and finely diced- I just used a handful of shredded carrots<br />
2 cloves of garlic (I used more)<br />
2 pounds of grass fed ground beef<br />
1 TBSP tomato paste- I think I used just a little more<br />
1 cup beef or chicken stock<br />
1 tsp coconut aminos (I'd say I went 2 tsp, you could use Tamari or even soy sauce if you wish) <br />
1 tsp dried rosemary (I definitely used more) <br />
1/2 tsp dried thyme (I used a bit more)<br />
3 egg whites<br />
paprika to garnish- I omitted this as I'd already thrown in a bit of nightshade action with the tomato paste.<br />
<br />
Oven will need to be preheated to 400 degrees.<br />
<br />
Heat a large skillet and add the coconut oil. Once it's melted, add the onion and carrot, salt and pepper, cover and allow to get soft, about 5 minutes. Add the beef (or lamb if you choose) and break it up into small pieces and cook until thoroughly done and browned.<br />
Melissa doesn't suggest doing this, and maybe with lamb it's not needed, but I found it necessary to drain off the excess grease. I used 85% lean, so I had some fat needing drained. I use the method my dad always used... you lean the pan and push the food to the upper side allowing the grease to fall, then spoon it out.<br />
Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Add tomato paste, stock, coconut aminos, rosemary, and thyme to the pan. Stir to combine and allow it some time to cook down until most of the liquid has evaporated. Set the pan aside and allow to cool a little, around 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.<br />
Beat the 3 egg whites until frothy and stir into the meat mixture.<br />
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<b>Assembling...</b><br />
<br />
You'll need a large casserole. Spread the meat mixture evenly, and then pour out the mashed cauliflower on top. Carefully. Then spread it with a very light hand evenly on top of the meat. Then, gently drag the tongs of a fork across to make criss crosses so it looks all pretty. Sprinkle with paprika if you like. Bake for 30 minutes or so, and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. Kale on the side was perfect. <br />
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So, that's it. The ultimate comfort food. When you're feeling all nesting like, make this. And even though it's really quite easy, it tastes complicated and special enough that I'd make it for guests too- as long as they don't mind if it's a yoga pants and fuzzy socks kind of get together. <br />
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<br />kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-51014801963118488932013-12-08T04:08:00.001-08:002013-12-08T04:08:21.759-08:00A week of food. For a really long time now, Sundays have been my cooking day. Until recently, I would just make something to eat on Sunday that could become leftovers later in the week. I might prep some veggies for the week, or perhaps bake some chicken. It stopped there.<br />
<br />
Shit has gotten serious now, though. I am trying to make sure we have dinners, breakfasts, lunches, and snacks for the week. I don't want to depend on Lara ALT bars or some of the other filler snacks, like popcorn or hummus that are not autoimmune friendly. <br />
<br />
This is what I did last Sunday: <br />
<br />
Cooked a pound of chicken breasts for salads and post-gym snacks<br />
Cooked a pound of bacon (Whole Foods thick cut dry rubbed) for the soup I was making, salads for the week, and for the bacon fat. <br />
Steamed a head of cauliflower and tons of broccoli (and used most for making a soup and put aside the rest for salads and snacks)<br />
Roasted a butternut squash (to be put together with other friends to create a meal)<br />
Steamed 2 heads of kale (soon to become besties w/ the butternut squash) <br />
Chopped an onion, parsnips, and Japanese sweet potatoes... Seared 2 large bone in pork chops and baked them with the veggies. (This will be 2 dinners for us and a lunch for one of us) <br />
<br />
<b>Let's Break it Down.</b><br />
<br />
I buy chicken (both breasts and thighs) at Whole Foods, in their 3+ pound family packages. When I get home, I break it down into 3 portions. I cut each breast in half and butterfly them, then freeze. Once thawed, I saute the chicken in coconut oil and spices. It goes into a container and into the fridge until it's needed. When I use the chicken for salads, I cut it into bite size pieces and saute the pieces in coconut oil until they get a little brown on all the edges. Just adds a little more flavor for the salads. As a snack, I just wrap a piece in foil and eat cold as is. <br />
<br />
For the bacon. I put the oven on 425 and cover a cookie sheet with foil. I lay out each slice and put it right in the oven for about 25 minutes until it's crispy. I lay it out on paper towel and reserve the grease in a ramekin and reserve for later recipes. I am sure to cover the ramekin with foil since Henry got up on the counter overnight one time when I didn't and well... that was the ONLY time in recent memory that he didn't whine for food all. day. long. I've started giving him a few drops on his food when I have it around. He's 12. It makes him happy. Once the bacon is cooled, I chop it into little pieces for the soup and for salads and a tiny piece or two for Simcoe's kong. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">High quality bacon is a must. No nitrates. Buy the best you can get your hands on. Worth it. </td></tr>
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Once I roasted the butternut squash (I use coconut oil to roast) and steamed the kale, I chopped up some leftover chicken sausage and added it all to a large saute pan along with some chopped garlic and a little chopped bacon. Once it came together, it went into a pyrex and into the fridge. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh, and I added some bacon to this too. When I commit to making a pound of bacon, it goes in almost everything. How can you argue with that logic? </td></tr>
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The above meal is what I'm really about for breakfast/lunch. 1 starchy veg, 1 green veg, 1 protein, fat and flavor. Each week I base this on what is on sale, what I have in the fridge/freezer, or I just start with something I am hungry for and go from there. <br />
<br />
The next 2 recipes come from/are inspired by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Paleo-Customized-Whole-Foods-Lifestyle/dp/1936608758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386240984&sr=8-1&keywords=practical+paleo" target="_blank">Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo.</a><br />
If you are considering cleaning up your diet, this book is pretty awesome. I don't like going around saying I am Paleo because I'm really not. I am certainly moving in that direction for my autoimmunity and for performance and for my overall feeling awesome, but I'm not comfortable with the label. (For some reason, I see a bunch of people at a Cross Fit gym sitting around drinking bone broth and degrading others for eating an occasional cracker?? Not a fair assessment, I'm sure... but that's the internet for you.) Not only does she provide an entire education on digestion and such, she has sections for whatever your health issues/goals may be and directs you in eating appropriately. Her recipes are also fantastic. Like with most recipes, I alter them a bit to make them my own and to make them work for me, but she has killer ideas. <br />
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The soup. <br />
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<b>Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup</b><br />
<b> </b> <br />
Honestly, this could not be easier and it is crazy delicious and filling for how little it is. I steamed the broccoli and cauliflower together with salt and pepper in a large soup pot with some chicken stock on the bottom. When it was soft, I blended it in batches with chicken stock until it had the consistency I wanted. Oh- I did roast some garlic (several cloves, EVOO, wrapped in foil, baked for about 20 minutes on 400 or so) to one of the batches. When it was all smooth I allowed it time in the soup pot to come together and to add in some additional salt and pepper. Into a pyrex and into the fridge. I will garnish all servings with some bacon crumbles. <br />
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Last is dinner.<br />
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<b>Spiced Pork Chops with Root Vegetables </b> <br />
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<br />
3 large parsnips, peeled and chopped into small pieces<br />
1 large onion, quartered, then halved will do<br />
3 Japanese sweet potatoes, cut into pieces- can be a bit larger than parsnips- the parsnips are the slowest cookers in this party.<br />
** Japanese sweet potatoes are pretty small, like a tiny regular variety sweet potato. You can easily omit them (Original recipe doesn't include them at all) or you could use 1 large regular variety sweet potato. I actually decided I wanted to add Brussels sprouts to this recipe, but it was the weekend after Thanksgiving and there were none to be found at Whole Foods or Kroger. But, I found the pretty blue sweet potatoes instead.**<br />
1 orange, peeled and cut into segments<br />
Bacon fat or coconut oil <br />
<br />
2 large bone in pork chops (Original recipe calls for a loin)<br />
Dry Rub made from:<br />
1 TBSP cumin<br />
1 TBSP corriander<br />
1 TBSP garlic powder <br />
1 tsp salt<br />
Bacon fat or coconut oil<br />
<br />
Oven to 375- or to 400 if you have mine. Put your chopped veggies and orange into large bowl and warm up a little bacon fat or coconut oil. Pour enough fat over the veg and mix well so they get all glisteny and happy and evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into a large roasting pan and get those into the oven for a 20 minute head start.<br />
<br />
Once the vegetables are going for about 15 minutes, dry off your pork chops with a paper towel and coat with the dry rub. Heat up a little more bacon fat in a saute pan over medium heat and when it's hot, place the chops down for about 2 minutes- don't touch! Give them a check- do you have you have a nice golden sear? You should. If not, go another minute, and then do the same thing on the other side.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nicely seared.</td></tr>
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After searing, pull out the vegetables and place the pork chops on top- and back into the oven. You want to go until the pork reaches a temp of 145. Don't have a meat thermometer? Me either. Mine died. I've asked Mr. Nourishment Unadulterated if he could remedy this at Christmas. I'm feeling hopeful. <br />
Instead, I went 30 minutes and gave them a check. They were good to go. You want them juicy and if it's a tiny bit pink, it's ok. If you're not cool with that, cook them a little longer. When you pull them out, they need to rest before you cut into them, so transfer them to a plate, and put your veg back in for about 5-10 minutes if they could use more time. It's always the damn parsnips. If all is well, let everything sit while you pour a glass of wine or pull up Real Housewives on the DVR. Go ahead, you know you want to. No judgement here since I'm likely watching too. <br />
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The chops I got were quite large, so we shared one for dinner that night and saved the other one. The next time we had it for dinner, I took all the meat off, cut it into bite size pieces and heated it up, along with the veg, in a non-stick with a little chicken stock. It ended up being enough for Mr. NU to take for lunch one day. 5 meals out of this. Nice. <br />
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<b>In a Day... </b><br />
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Here's how a typical day went for me after that huge Sunday prep...<br />
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I am at the gym by 5:20am or so. Although I get up about 4:00am, I don't eat before I work out. I discovered the power of this about a year ago. For me- and that is FOR ME- I'm not saying this is the right thing for everyone- my workouts are better on an empty stomach. I have more energy and push in me. I do have my coffee, and a change I have made is using coconut milk instead of dairy half and half. Baby steps. <br />
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<b>Breakfast </b> <br />
I usually don't eat until I get to school- I heat up breakfast around 7:45am before the students walk in. This week, most days I had the butternut squash/kale/chicken sausage combo. 5th graders smelling garlic first thing in the morning is funny- most of them are intrigued by the food I eat- asking questions, sharing their culinary adventures... I'm hopeful for the next generation and find it so awesome that my kids are open to foods outside of McDonalds and Poptarts. We talk about food and fitness a lot in Room 20. Sometimes we do pushups too. <br />
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<b>Snack</b><br />
Snack time in Room 20 is around 9:30-10:00. We usually have a working snack, so it depends what we've got going on. This week I was about some celery and olives. Have you had this combination? It is super good. I'd also have about 2-3 ounces of chicken breast cold. <b> </b><br />
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<b>Lunch</b><br />
We eat at 12:41pm. Yes, 12:4<b>1</b>. I do my best to judge the between recess and lunch read aloud chapters appropriately. That was easy with our last two read alouds- <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wonder-R-J-Palacio/dp/0375869026/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386503545&sr=8-1&keywords=wonder+by+rj+palacio" target="_blank">Wonder by RJ Palacio </a>(one of the best books you will ever read) and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Granny-Torrelli-Makes-Sharon-Creech/dp/0064409600/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386503622&sr=8-1&keywords=granny+torrelli+makes+soup" target="_blank">Granny Torelli Makes Soup </a>by the most amazing author ever, Sharon Creech. It's harder to judge the time now, though. We're reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tangerine-Edward-Bloor/dp/0152057803/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386503686&sr=8-1&keywords=tangerine+by+edward+bloor" target="_blank">Tangerine by Edward Bloor</a> and those chapters are crazy long. Those 15 minutes of read aloud each day might be my favorite, and I think my kids would agree. <br />
For my lunches this week, I went for the soup. It's always freezing in my room by mid-day, and usually in the teacher's lounge as well, so soup is nice. I'd follow with an apple or any of my celery or olives leftover from snack. On harder work out days, I'd also have a packet of tuna packed in olive oil. <br />
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<b>Dinner</b><br />
We did have the leftover pork, but we also did salads with the chicken a couple times this week. Just like the ones in my <a href="http://nourishmentunadulterated.blogspot.com/2013/11/autoimmune-blows.html" target="_blank">Autoimmune Blows</a> post. No egg this week, but bacon sprinkles instead. And chicken breast instead of thighs. Salads are a twice a week dinner in our house. It ensures we get some raw veg and it also makes planning fairly simple. I've also discovered that even when we think we're not in the mood for salads, as soon as they are made and we have a bite, we realize we are. <br />
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And now it's Sunday again... stay tuned for my next post, I got some good stuff cooking up today! <br />
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<br />kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-29573718147194517072013-11-28T17:01:00.002-08:002013-11-29T04:32:21.209-08:00Giving ThanksI started Thanksgiving at 3:30am when the alarm went off. Scott was heading to Atlanta, I was not. He was on the road by 4:00 am and I was walking through the doors of American Family Fitness at 4:30 am ready for a 20 minute Abs class and an hour of cycling with my favorite instructor, Joe. Tabata. Pyramids. Thankfully, he plays awesome videos and they take away a little of the pain. A great start to the day. What is there to be more thankful for than the ability to work out? It was also nice to visit with all of my gym friends who also live for early morning workouts... No one had to hurry off to work, and it was great to just chill in one of my favorite spaces without feeling rushed whatsoever. <br />
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And now the yummy part... A day of indulgence... Autoimmune who?! <br />
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I came home and made a Thanksgiving brunch for one. A slice of toasted Udi's with cream cheese, chicken and apple sausage, and an egg cooked over medium. For dessert, I pulled out a pumpkin scone from the freezer that I'd baked last month with a strong cup of coffee on the side. It is Thanksgiving after all. I get all my baking recipes from The Gluten Free Goddess and you can get that amazing recipe <a href="http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2009/11/pumpkin-scones-with-maple-nutmeg-icing.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Next came a rest and some reading time before delving into cooking up my signature Thanksgiving dishes. Sadly, I wasn't spending this Thanksgiving with my man, but I am grateful to have been invited to the home of very sweet friends.<br />
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First up are my potatoes. They are sweet and savory and perfectly creamy. Everything you want beside a slice of perfectly cooked turkey. This recipe has its roots so deep I can't even begin. It goes way back to Amber and me and has had various versions... This is where I'm at with it at the moment... <br />
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<h3>
<b>Sweet and Savory Mashers. </b></h3>
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<br />
3-4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed<br />
2 TBSP coconut oil, melted in the microwave for 15 seconds<br />
3 TBSP butter, split<br />
2 TBSP half and half<br />
2 TBSP fresh rosemary, finely chopped<br />
1/2 cup sliced shallots <br />
Salt and Pepper to taste<br />
<br />
Preheat the oven to 425. Toss the cubed sweet potatoes with the coconut oil and season well with salt. Place them in an even layer on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Every oven is different, and I end up putting mine up to 450 for the last 10 minutes or so. You want them to be well done, very soft, falling apart, with some brown bits here and there. While the potatoes are roasting, place 1 TBSP of the butter in a small saute pan over medium heat. When it's bubbly, add the sliced shallots with some salt and pepper. Cook low and slow until well caramelized. Don't be afraid to add a few splashes of chicken stock if deglazing is needed. Set aside when done.<br />
After you pull the sweet potatoes out of the oven, put them in a pot along with the butter, cream, rosemary, and shallots. Give them a good mix and keep them on low stirring occasionally until you are ready to serve. Freaking Amazeballs. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Or more cream and butter. Today, it's okay. <br />
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<h3>
<b>Caramelized Onion Stuffing.</b></h3>
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Are you ready for this? The first time I put this together I thought I might die. I've been making it every year since. It's heaven. HEAVEN. I really should make it more than just Thanksgiving. It would be an amazing side dish to any protein.<br />
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At the point I was making this, I was running around my kitchen like a mad women to get everything ready and over to my friend's on time, so I have no pictures. Honestly, it looks like stuffing. You are intelligent and I think you can get by without a picture on this one. <br />
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Preheat the oven to 375.<br />
<br />
First, you need to get the onions going. In the end, you want about a cup of caramelized onions, so go with about 3 large yellow onions, sliced. Add 1 TBSP of butter and a TBSP of EVOO to a large saute pan. When it's hot, add the onions. Turn down the heat. Go low and slow for about 40 minutes to an hour. If deglazing is needed, pour in a little chicken stock. See my post on onions <a href="http://nourishmentunadulterated.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-homage-to-greatest-vegetable-ever.html" target="_blank">here</a> for more details and pictures of making caramelized onions. Set them aside when they are done. They should look like this:<br />
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While the onions are doing their thing and getting all perfect and sweet and lovely...<br />
<br />
1/2 stick butter<br />
1 cup celery, chopped<br />
1 cup onion, chopped<br />
Salt and pepper <br />
1 TBSP fresh thyme<br />
1 TBSP fresh sage, chopped<br />
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock <br />
<br />
2 eggs, beaten<br />
2 TBSP parsley, chopped<br />
<br />
1 loaf of Udi's White Bread, left out for a few hours, then cubed<br />
<br />
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese<br />
Aforementioned 1 cup caramelized onions<br />
<br />
Melt the butter in a large saute pan. Add the celery and onion, salt and pepper, and cook until soft. Add the sage and thyme and give them a few more minutes, then add the broth. Bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn the burner off and allow to cool while you do the following:<br />
<br />
Whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl and add the parsley and bread. Stir to combine. When the broth veggie mixture is not simmering hot, add to the bread along with the caramelized onions and Parmesan cheese and mix well.<br />
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Butter a 8 x 11 baking dish. Pour the stuffing mixture into the dish and top with a bit more Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, covered, then uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.<br />
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Lovelies, your days of Stove Top are so very over.<br />
<br />
My last endeavor was an <b>Apple Crisp</b>, once again, all credit goes to Karina at Gluten Free Goddess. You can find that recipe <a href="http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2011/09/karinas-gluten-free-apple-crisp.html" target="_blank">here</a>. It was phenomenal. Even my non-dessert friend finished his full portion. That was an enormous complement! I served it with vanilla ice cream and it was apple pie perfection. That's definitely happening again. <br />
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Xandy and Roger were wonderful hosts and Simcoe and I had a wonderful time. I loved that Xandy had a Tree of Thanks on the table and we all filled out what we were thankful for. Here are mine:<br />
<br />
Scott... to be married to my best friend.<br />
The ability to lift, run, and cycle.<br />
Our furry babies, Simcoe and Henry.<br />
Great Friends. <br />
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See the little tags of thanks? How cute, right? And the food... Everything was so freaking good. <br />
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My night is ending with a glass of Cabernet and a little red furry on my lap. I am hoping I can pull it together at midnight to score a couple good deals on 6pm.com, but at the moment, I am not feeling super confident. I am confident, however, that my tail will be at the gym tomorrow working that enormous plate of food off my behind. I'm okay with that. <br />
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Happy Thanksgiving!!! <br />
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<br />kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-50900391634326623072013-11-24T09:29:00.002-08:002013-11-24T12:23:34.073-08:00Autoimmune BlowsMy constant evolution with the food I use to fuel my body and my workouts continues. I need to write it out, document the changes I feel, and hopefully figure some things out along the way. I'm hoping for the experiences of others as well, because who can do this alone? <br />
<br />
Somewhere along the journey of losing 100 pounds, I realized I was never going to exist on chee-tos, Totino pizza rolls, and ginger ale ever again. Along the way, a little at a time, my diet become more and more clean, more real, more whole. It has left the inner parts of the grocery store and made it to mainly to the perimeter. For some time now, I've made food. From real, mainly organic, ingredients. For about 6 years I was vegetarian. Next, the whole joint super inflamed thing started becoming an issue a couple of years ago, and I gave up gluten.<br />
<br />
Umm.... We won't talk about when I'm on vacation. Or a couple months ago when I basically had a short hiatus that may or may not have included an entire Fried Talapia Reuben at Tarrant's Cafe. I just read <a href="http://nourishmentunadulterated.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-blog-gets-make-over.html" target="_blank">this post</a> from when I first became gluten free and if my Then Self read this Now Self's current post she would be very disappointed. <br />
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I had actually started eating seafood occasionally when I gave up gluten, but without the gluten to help source my protein, I began eating meat again. Eating meat feels good to my body. Surprisingly so. Physically at least. Ethically I still fight it a bit. <br />
<br />
Not having gluten in my life is ok. Overall, I don't miss it that much when cooking. The gluten I use in cooking has been easy to replace. (The oh so versatile Rice Chex...) Eating out is more difficult, but I make it work. Overall, it's just not that bad, but I'm not celiac. If I have gluten in a sauce or give into temptation and have a bite of something I will not be running to the toilet. I am fairy certain the inside of my body would not agree with that statement, but I don't fall to terrible immediate symptoms like some. Admittedly, I sometimes don't want to ask 500 questions of a server. Sometimes I don't want to appear rude to a host. And I guess sometimes I am just weak and want a Reuben. I feel for those who don't have that freedom. <br />
<br />
That all said, it's time for the next step of taking control over this wonderful autoimmune body of mine. I swear I practically cry every time I read all the foods those with autoimmune issues should avoid. Y'all ready? Imagine Paleo but a million times more restrictive. Here goes: Grains (as in ALL of them- rice, corn, wheat, the lot.), beans, legumes, eggs, dairy, nuts, seeds, sugar, every vegetable oil outside of coconut and olive, chocolate, caffeine, coffee, alcohol (um, have you met me?!), nightshade vegetables, and possibly FODMAPs. (They include onions. If you have read <a href="http://nourishmentunadulterated.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-homage-to-greatest-vegetable-ever.html" target="_blank">my very first post</a>, or know me at all... no. Can't be, will not be me.) <br />
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Effing REALLY?!<br />
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I started reading about it in much more depth only about a month ago. I feel so behind. At that time, I was miserable. Yes, there was my gluten downfall- and I should say it was just a few meals, not like I was eating it daily, but I was feeling so bad, even though it'd been a month or so since my escapade. EVERYTHING in my body was aching and hurting beyond recent memory. And it was not because I like to lift heavy things at the gym. I felt like I was on fire. Sitting at Barnes and Noble (latte in hand, obviously) with hips so sore it hurt to sit and the middle of my back burning through my skin, I realized I felt just like I did 100 pounds ago. Lost and confused and not knowing where to start. So, I decided to start where I started 100 pounds ago. With one thing at a time. One change at a time.<br />
<br />
I thought a lot about what foods I'd been eating that had been different. Obviously, the few cheats with gluten, but I'd done that before and not felt THIS bad. So, what was different? Tomatoes. It was the cusp of fall and I had been absolutely about some meatballs and sauce. And tomato based soups, chili, and things like enchilada casserole. I'd been cooking with tomatoes every weekend and eating those leftovers all week long consistently for about a month. I don't dislike fresh tomatoes, but I don't seek them out, so I don't take in nearly as much of them in the summer months. I figured it seemed most logical to start by cutting out nightshades.<br />
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Nightshades include tomatoes, white potatoes (not sweet thank you sweet Jesus), eggplant, and... so sadly, peppers. All peppers. EVERY single one of them. That's where it hurts. (At least peppercorns are safe.) A quick Google will give you loads of info on how these veggies contain alkaloids, which are basically poison to folks with sensitivities. The alkaloids in nightshades has been connected to chronic joint pain and inflammation. <br />
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In my reading, I have noted that tomatoes seem to be the biggest offenders of those with nightshade issues, just like gluten is to those with grain allergies. I've also read that some people can tolerate very small doses of nightshades, while others can tolerate none. I felt like I should be hopeful for the membership into the first group. With this thought in mind, I have had the following small amounts of nightshades in the past month: I used a jalapeno in some guacamole, prepared Curry (cayenne) in the recipe I'm posting today, taken a few bites of hash browns when we went out for breakfast, enjoyed an olive tapenade a friend brought over that had a bit of tomato in it, and indulged in the paprika that was sprinkled on the NOT roasted red pepper hummus I purchased. <br />
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It's not been so bad. And the best part? I feel freaking awesome. Like the best I have felt in a very long time. Not only am I not feeling like a hot little inflamed mess, even the chronic black circles under my eyes (due to my cockroach poop allergies, according to the Doc) are lightening a bit, mentally I feel more clear- fewer anxious and depressed feelings, my knee joints aren't popping constantly, and my workouts have been fierce. Oh, and the best part may be not having to put a hot wash cloth on my lower back to loosen it enough so I can bend down to brush my teeth in the mornings. I think I'm onto something.<br />
The idea is to eliminate all nightshades for 4-6 weeks, then go on a nightshade binge for a day to see what happens in the following 2-3 days. This would then prove your sensitivity. I can see it now. Gluten free pizza for breakfast piled high w/ caramelized green peppers, spicy meatballs in a rich tomato sauce for lunch, and a crock pot full of chili topped with jalapenos for dinner. I don't think I would plan a day out like that for real- although quite fun to imagine- but I am sure I will eventually give in to going to dinner at Maya, or will just absolutely not be able to take another minute without a a cheesy gooey tomatoey pasta casserole... and then we'll see what happens. At the moment, I am feeling really good, so I'm just going to try to go with that. <br />
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How I have treated this month with nightshades is close to how I am treating my overall approach to the autoimmune diet. 80% good... 20% still adapting. <br />
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My thought about how I will approach my posts, for awhile anyway, is to take the full day around a recipe I want to post and use it as a snapshot of my progress- or lack there of, perhaps.<br />
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This is what I ate Thursday... please excuse not only the poor photo quality, but also the somewhat cheesy, yet terribly convenient, photo collage. I aim to do better. But I still might keep the collages. They are crazy fun to make. <br />
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Breakfast: Banana- because wow. Look at that pathetic little guy. Needed eaten. I also had sauerkraut, and hash (I know it looks like ass, but I promise it's swoon worthy... please give the recipe below a chance...)<br />
Snack: Green tea (switching to decaf...), and an almond and coconut energy bite<br />
Lunch: Chicken thigh, sweet mashed potato, broccoli simply seasoned with only salt and pepper<br />
Snack: Hash<br />
Pre-dinner: Thursday evening cocktail: Vodka, soda water, lime juice, splash of cranberry<br />
Dinner: Salad w/ Romaine, spinach, avocado, onion, carrots, cucumber, slivered almonds, broccoli, cauliflower, chicken thigh, homemade balsamic dressing, and a drizzle of Simply Dressed Feta dressing. And a sweet potato and bacon autoimmune diet friendly biscuit.<br />
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Lots of stuff here that has me on the right track... the 80%... The 20%... Almonds... agave in the energy bite... Vodka and cranberry... Feta dressing drizzle... And I absolutely had coffee w/ half and half that morning, but you all know what a cup of coffee looks like. I will pat myself on the back for the fact that I am cutting back. My coffee cup as I type is half full and cold. And I will do everything in my power to not stop at Starbucks later or grab a coffee at Whole Foods while I shop. We'll see how it goes. I just can't completely promise. Overall, this day is probably a bit better than 80%. I'm sure I'll make up for that on the weekend. <br />
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Promise me you'll try this hash even if it's not pretty. It's super good and comes together in a second once you have the squash roasted. I made it on a Sunday to fuel us through the week for breakfasts, lunches, and snacks, but it's fast enough that it would actually be great for a weeknight dinner. Especially easy if the squash was roasted over the weekend prior, and I do love a good weekend food prep for the week ahead! <br />
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<b>Beef and Butternut Squash Hash</b><br />
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Preheat oven to 400. <br />
<br />
Coconut oil<br />
1 medium onion, chopped<br />
Handful of shredded carrots <br />
1 pound grass fed ground beef<br />
1 medium butternut squash <br />
Your favorite Curry- I used Penzey's Vindaloo <br />
<br />
Cut the ends from the squash and peel. Slice the squash in half and dig out all of the seeds. Cut in cubes and put the cubes in a bowl. Take about a TBSP of coconut oil and give it a quick melt in the microwave. Pour a tiny bit at a time over the squash and toss until all the cubes are glistening and happy. Pour them out onto a cookie sheet and bake them for about 30 minutes or so. Give them a stir once in awhile if your oven is like mine and the back right corner- even though it's convection- holds a hot spot. You want the squash to be soft and easy to eat. Maybe some little brown bits here and there.<br />
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In a saute pan over medium heat, use any remaining coconut oil from before and add a bit more to get a shy TBSP. Add chopped onion and carrot and let them have some time to cook down with some salt and pepper. At this point, I add about 1 TBSP of curry and allow it make the house smell super good. Once the spices have a few moments, add the beef and garlic. Cook until the beef is browned, then add the butternut squash and another TBSP (or to taste) of your curry. Combine well and give the hash a little time to come together and get well acquainted on a low heat. <br />
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That's it. Eat from it all week.<br />
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If you haven't cooked with coconut oil before, please note that your leftovers will have bits of white- that's the coconut oil. It just hardens again from your fridge. It's all good. It will melt when you warm it up.<br />
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If you made it this far, thanks for reading... if you are battling any of this same mess, please leave me a comment or contact me. I could really use some of your thoughts, advice, and support. And your autoimmune friendly recipes are always welcome!<br />
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<br />kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-77348860521851737202012-09-16T05:26:00.002-07:002012-09-16T05:32:25.625-07:00It's been too long.It's been forever. Well over a year. Since I last posted, Scott and I not only got married, but have celebrated our one year anniversary. Life has been good, and I am thankful and feel incredibly blessed to have my marriage, my health, our pets Henry and Simcoe, and our cozy little home.<br />
<br />
I haven't gotten away from cooking at all... but for some reason, I just got away from writing about what I cook.<br />
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It took chili to bring me back in... and here is why. Every single time I make chili, I stress out a bit. It's Scott's favorite. He'd be happy if I made it every weekend. He never wants me to invite anyone over when I make it, and he always looks into the 7 quart pot that is usually quite close to full and asks if that's all I am making. So I don't want it to just be good. I want to make a killer chili. I set off each time by consulting new recipes. I then throw something together that is inspired by those recipes as well as our own tastes. But I'm never totally satisfied. There always feels like something is... slightly off or unbalanced... even though it's usually quite good and well received. I just always feel it's full potential has not yet been attained. <br />
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Yesterday, boys and girls. It happened.<br />
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I refused to over think it. I decided just to go with it. Funny how that same philosophy so often turns out to be the best way to approach many things in life, yet, I usually don't proceed that way. Will I ever learn? <br />
<br />
So I must document how following that instinct panned out. I must write out this recipe now so that I don't forget what happened. This is the recipe I will build upon. This is the killer chili I knew I could make.<br />
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If you know me or read my posts- when I write them that is, then you know, I'm not big on measuring... but, I'm going to do the best I can so future me can have a chance at recreating one of the best dishes I may have ever made.<br />
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Part One. Sauce.<br />
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One issue I've had is the backbone of the chili. It's never rich enough. And how can I fix that? Butter. I decided to make a thicker version of the homemade enchilada sauce I often make. Here's what I did:<br />
<br />
About 3 TBSP butter, melted, a little bubbly. About 5 TBSP brown rice flour, cooked for a couple minutes to make the roux. I then added a 15oz can of tomato sauce, as well as 2 1/2 cups or so of chicken stock, salt, and lots of chili spices... and I have no idea how much... I just added until it seemed a little too seasoned so that it would be enough to later carry through the veggies, meat, and beans. I used probably even amounts of Penzey's Chili 3000 and their Medium Hot Chili Powder... possibly 2 TBSP each? Total guess, could have been more... or maybe less? I threw in maybe a TBSP of Penzey's Arizona Dreaming, and probably a couple TBSPs of cumin. A little of this, a little more of that... I stopped when it tasted right. I let it all simmer and thicken a bit.<br />
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Side note on Penzey's Arizona Dreaming: It's freaking so good. If you aren't lucky enough to have a <a href="http://www.penzeys.com/">Penzey's</a> near you, place a mail order and be sure to just go ahead and buy at least the 4oz bag, because you will use this spice mix often. It's basically ancho chili powder, onion, garlic, paprika, lemon peel, chipotle and jalapeno pepper, and cocoa. I mean, what can I even say about that? <br />
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Part Two. The base.<br />
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2 medium onions, some peppers: 2 large jalapenos, a poblano, a hatch, and 2 habaneros, 5 cloves of garlic all sweated down in a good glug of EVOO and a heavy pinch of salt. As soon as they got going a bit, I put in a pound of grass fed 85% ground beef, as well as 2 links of pork chorizo. The 2 links weighed about 3/4 of a pound, and I had the butcher at Whole Foods remove the casings for me. I let it all cook down happily together until the meat was just cooked through. I then added: 1 can of Amy's Refried Beans with Green Chilis, a can of black beans, and a can of pinto beans. In went the prepared sauce and about 3/4 of a 28oz can of fire roasted crushed tomatoes.<br />
I had the seasoning and heat spot on. The tomatoes gave it the acidic balance it needed, and the backbone you ask? Totally rich tomatoey heaven. I was all smiles. I gave it about 30 minutes to cook on low before we dug in. We like to top our chili with sharp cheddar, sour cream, and jalapenos. Scott also add an ingenious idea when consuming his 2nd bowl: Crushed tortilla chips on the bottom. I knew I married him for good reason. <br />
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I may experiment a bit more with some of the leftovers by going Cincinnati style... I'm going to cook some tagliatelle gluten free pasta I have in the pantry, toss it with a little of the leftover crushed tomatoes to keep it moist, put it in a casserole dish, top it with the chili and cheddar cheeses and bake it of until it's all bubbly. I'm pretty excited. If it's awesome, I'll add a picture in. As for breakfast today, eggs with chili sounds pretty damn good. <br />
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I've quite enjoyed my culinary writing time today. I need to get back to this hobby. It's fun. No need to wait 18 months before posting again... <br />
<br />kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-37262376413486547142011-05-29T06:32:00.000-07:002012-07-23T07:30:50.388-07:00New Friends<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0fbCrB-USXjgG-B5Qup7pdYr8Bxb9_bb83_m9B1U_0TtE87qqS5pSCjRUJUbNqy3zs4babxRE2Oc9-UJ_o50XEzY0aE2BuYlocsgPi2YMxtWUd-oAKfsPLdo-_tJUMlwb0RfyDqRl5ayR/s1600/IMG_2761.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612157550564031106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0fbCrB-USXjgG-B5Qup7pdYr8Bxb9_bb83_m9B1U_0TtE87qqS5pSCjRUJUbNqy3zs4babxRE2Oc9-UJ_o50XEzY0aE2BuYlocsgPi2YMxtWUd-oAKfsPLdo-_tJUMlwb0RfyDqRl5ayR/s320/IMG_2761.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: normal;">Arugula and Robust beside the bowl of mango salsa</span></div>
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Dinner is served... it looks a little messy on the plate, but that's ok because it tasted super good.</div>
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A couple weekends ago, Scott and I stopped into <a href="http://www.capitalalehouse.com/locations/innsbrook.php">Capital Ale House</a> around 4pm after a day of wedding shopping and errands. We sat at the outside bar. I got my Stoli and soda water, and Scott took 30 minutes and inquiry with the bartender before choosing from their 275 beers on offer. It was relaxing and a great way to end a busy day. We listened to another conversation happening at the bar about beer and food pairings, we watched the baby ducks and their momma walking around the patio area, we tried to decide what we'd do for dinner... <br />
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That's when a guy came out to the bar and sat in one of the 2 chairs to my left. He very sweetly asked if I'd mind moving my purse, as a friend was joining him. I told him that my bag needed its own chair. He had a quick and clever comeback. The bantering only continued when his friend arrived wearing a DARE t-shirt. (Can you believe it's called PEAK now?) We'd had several laughs with these guys before we even knew their names. Travis had been the first to arrive, and his friend was Mike. Instantly, we were into full blown discussions, and Scott and I ordered another round.</div>
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The rounds kept coming, the conversation never died down, and it was 10 o'clock before our little party broke up. Numbers were exchanged, and intentions for hanging out again soon were shared. </div>
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Fast forward 2 weeks, several food texting conversations, and emails about lesson plans. We were all at Capital Ale House again in the late afternoon enjoying the gorgeous weather. After 2 rounds and a couple of hours, we knew we should make a move. The last time we hung out, no one was feeling all that awesome the next day. So, food. Let's cook food. We suggested they come to the house for dinner. Mike and I are the foodies of the group, so the planning was all us. We were good with that. Mike and I instantly started throwing out ideas... tilapia? chicken? olive tapenade? citrus? roasted potatoes? In about 5 minutes we settled on something that would be fairly easy and economical. We'd saute some chicken up (We don't have a grill yet, sadly) and top it with a mango salsa. We'd roast some potatoes- let's do fingerling!- and add in some onions and garlic. An arugula salad on the side and we'd have a simple meal. Mike and I took off for Whole Foods while Travis and Scott stayed back to finish their <a href="http://www.schlafly.com/">Schlafly American Pale Ales</a>. </div>
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Mango, lime, red onion, cilantro, jalepeno, garlic, avocado, chicken, potatoes, a nice cheese, and we were out the door and on our way to meet Travis and Scott at the house. Mike got to work on potatoes right away, slicing them lengthwise, and adding in the garlic and EVOO. I was on veg prep, so I threw the onions into the mix. My salsa was coming along. I diced up the mango- which was so sweet and perfect, some red onion, a jalepeno, some tomato, avocado, and cilantro. I added some black beans I'd had in the fridge, and seasoned it with salt, pepper, cumin, and Mexican oregano. While I was at it, I sliced some red onion and tomato for the salad. Potatoes were in the oven, and Mike got to work on the protein. He added EVOO and butter in the heavy saute pan, followed by the bite size tenders that would work their way into a nice shred ready to be topped by the salsa. I made a quick dressing for the arugula with a pressed garlic clove, balsamic vinegar, EVOO, Dijon, salt, and pepper. When the potatoes and chicken were done, I tossed some dressing, the cheese, and arugula in a big bowl, so we could easily top it with the veggies and nuts. </div>
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Dinner was served and everyone was happy. We had a great time. Travis and Mike are the kind of people you want to meet. Easy-going, funny, unpretentious, and real. Mike and I have made many plans for future meals, and I'm pretty sure Scott and Travis will be happy to eat what we make. This should ensure many more good times together and I'm very good with that.</div>kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-27999396316775650332011-05-22T05:15:00.000-07:002011-05-29T08:30:03.659-07:00White ChiLightning<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60WSDl6zU1bfahcufnELcI3xhPu2IvnJjCZg2GAAzR3gQgRDFwt7bo2KduaYqLhys9LbZyV8lnRO2I1pWFtYf0IvaK0JaiNjlUvWPHSDf6mekjwfWKsZbgiWyKCCRDHaPpvuXjhUHfGWb/s1600/IMG_2697.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60WSDl6zU1bfahcufnELcI3xhPu2IvnJjCZg2GAAzR3gQgRDFwt7bo2KduaYqLhys9LbZyV8lnRO2I1pWFtYf0IvaK0JaiNjlUvWPHSDf6mekjwfWKsZbgiWyKCCRDHaPpvuXjhUHfGWb/s320/IMG_2697.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611745970008897170" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: left;">Last Saturday, Scott and I spent a good few hours at <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/">Barnes and Noble</a>. He was leaving for <a href="http://www.explorestlouis.com/">St. Louis</a> Sunday afternoon and had a lot of work to do. I did no work- even though I had a bag full of papers to grade- but, instead took the time to just write, read, and research. Eventually, we got hungry and I started thinking about dinner. I wanted something super comforting, and since it was going on 6 o'clock, I needed something that wouldn't take hours to prepare. I was at a good place for inspiration, and when looking through <a href="http://www.chefmagazine.com/index.html">Chef Magazine</a>, I saw a bowl of red chili. Instantly, I thought of something I'd oddly craved for years, but have never eaten before in my life. White Chicken Chili. I'd thought about making it several times with Quorn, but never did. Now that I was working some meat back into my menu, it was time. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>I spent a little time looking through cookbooks, and also did a little online searching until I'd taken all I'd seen, added my own preferences, and came up with the recipe I would use. I made my grocery list, and we hit up the Martin's that was right next door. <div><br /></div><div>When we got home, I started by chopping the organically vegetarian anti-biotic free chicken tenders into small bite size pieces and dropped them into my sturdy saute pan with about 3 TBSP of EVOO. Next, I added a chopped yellow onion and about 6 large garlic cloves that I put through a press. I cooked it until the chicken wasn't pink anymore and the onion and six cloves of garlic were filling the air with promise. Time to take it off the heat. I stirred it with a wooden spoon the whole time, and that helped shred the chicken a bit for me. </div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl_8_9jWKzn4o74c1RjGU-V5-Todvf-EDoB3kZK20pw4wR32UABlQpRE2p-QO1840T3byStGabmYGZxT2yAwGgny5FnUTdEpQq0bwQL7hbbBl6HorlokxiWA6Nhx0SEMSu_TE_qr0wB9rj/s320/IMG_2686.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611744929250927714" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2PiCkrFPkA-xHgaLdPAEmdcfKGHaykfZsSBQwazOctj6Cane0BryCNSNuliXwBHQXAKb6FPMktomF_Q2fZAJT1femiXNB8yTQvdC6BBQMixU0gqGZb48JASVrJL6pia2BxoFru0CPxZ4z/s1600/IMG_2688.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2PiCkrFPkA-xHgaLdPAEmdcfKGHaykfZsSBQwazOctj6Cane0BryCNSNuliXwBHQXAKb6FPMktomF_Q2fZAJT1femiXNB8yTQvdC6BBQMixU0gqGZb48JASVrJL6pia2BxoFru0CPxZ4z/s320/IMG_2688.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611744926440516466" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div>Next came out my Le Cresuet. I put in another TBSP of EVOO along with about a teaspoon of coriander and 2 heaping teaspoons of cumin. I let the spices soak up the oil and toast a bit before adding 3 finely diced jalepanos. I actually planned to put one habanero and one jalepeno in this chili, but Martin's had no habaneros. Next was a chopped anaheim- I wanted to use a poblano, but again, Martin's had none. The japs and anaheim did the job just fine.</div><div><br /></div><div>I added about 3/4 of a box of vegetable stock. (I imagine chicken stock might add more depth, but I'm not all gung ho about eating meat, so I'd prefer to use veggie stock, even if I am cooking meat. This is the first time I cooked chicken in almost 10 years. It was a little weird for me.) I juiced a lime and added the juice. I let all of this come to a boil for about 10 minutes before adding about a cup of frozen baby sweet corn kernels, two cans of rinsed navy beans, and the chicken/onion/garlic mixture. I let it come to a nice rolling boil before I backed it off to a simmer. I gave it about 25 minutes to do its thing before adding a handful of chopped cilantro. Heat off.</div><div><br /></div><div>When it cooled a bit and was ready to serve, I ladled a huge servings into my favorite soup bowls, which had belonged to Grandma Phoebe. I topped the chili with some jalapeno jack cheese, some sour cream, chopped tomatoes, and a few cilantro leaves. We had a some <a href="http://www.snydersofhanover.com/Products/Cid/7/Prid/277/">Snyder's White Corn Tortilla Chips</a> on the side. The chili was delicious and every bit as comforting as I needed it to be. The heat was just enough, the balance came with the cilantro and lime juice, and the sour cream and Jalapeno Jack completed the texture. Scott was happy, and as he filled his bowl with a second helping, I felt sure he'd return to me from the Midwest. </div><div><br /></div><div>I also think I finally understand the previously inexplicable cravings I had for this dish, and am quite sure I will want it again very soon. </div>kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-70797775751389213702011-05-02T16:33:00.000-07:002011-05-08T17:16:17.461-07:00Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizuR03FLsJoaroZDDNZ_fFvLDBjjoYHHWd8R3DfZiOeWxvX6szz64ZQyDpyXmO2munb6KMU-4tD0A1drdvspq7P-zF1qEUsCTxaaXCpHcYQjJL6BN3bzlJK9OPZ7U3PRCsQbZL6t7iW3dN/s1600/IMG_2645.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizuR03FLsJoaroZDDNZ_fFvLDBjjoYHHWd8R3DfZiOeWxvX6szz64ZQyDpyXmO2munb6KMU-4tD0A1drdvspq7P-zF1qEUsCTxaaXCpHcYQjJL6BN3bzlJK9OPZ7U3PRCsQbZL6t7iW3dN/s320/IMG_2645.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603014162594693442" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLunTi8ln7_M2O9ZUmqpyRosJR8S9BY-jruzzhmty7lerWVYeWqWr0F2IBvaTYxHz7KhNsNwiZ5lFO2j_PKN81cD9ESj1l_XwDSU9Op6A1WPCQOnLb3evpt_4vRbD-5wmZ-Kar282JI3J4/s1600/IMG_2648.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLunTi8ln7_M2O9ZUmqpyRosJR8S9BY-jruzzhmty7lerWVYeWqWr0F2IBvaTYxHz7KhNsNwiZ5lFO2j_PKN81cD9ESj1l_XwDSU9Op6A1WPCQOnLb3evpt_4vRbD-5wmZ-Kar282JI3J4/s320/IMG_2648.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603014158577495362" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18ssRv1C8hPeZXPHMKkYLh1Sd3oSUEFbI2IazbPSoc06TvriLoHPKOq7bNjGHiIt3cdzaqJDX-qsk_mWDFsBm3ZXPMzpwV5I5ieEdSq1JPPHQGAhPzGhYni053up9iy_vZZDTDtD2WTN6/s1600/IMG_2649.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18ssRv1C8hPeZXPHMKkYLh1Sd3oSUEFbI2IazbPSoc06TvriLoHPKOq7bNjGHiIt3cdzaqJDX-qsk_mWDFsBm3ZXPMzpwV5I5ieEdSq1JPPHQGAhPzGhYni053up9iy_vZZDTDtD2WTN6/s320/IMG_2649.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603014151076044690" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikRBk8eIAdDucV0Vfc87cFhfmf5NRnJaH_L6ID9wJVpQLYZJJcq-8YbtX8lqQYl2h6pyyBCkQ_sky6WhjL1DVef2i1ajLon8NM5W86xyEvL0WrBZIlRYl7KyBWTaQl5r_BEPryLv43XCOR/s1600/IMG_2655.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikRBk8eIAdDucV0Vfc87cFhfmf5NRnJaH_L6ID9wJVpQLYZJJcq-8YbtX8lqQYl2h6pyyBCkQ_sky6WhjL1DVef2i1ajLon8NM5W86xyEvL0WrBZIlRYl7KyBWTaQl5r_BEPryLv43XCOR/s320/IMG_2655.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603014151236186882" border="0" /></a><br />We spend a lot of money on groceries.<br /><br />Everyone says that eating healthy really costs more, because, well, it does. Buying local free range organically and vegetarian fed chicken eggs for $5/dozen is simply more expensive than... well, I don't know. How much are the battery house torture chamber eggs? I really have no idea, but I'm guessing it's a lot less than $5. Eating gluten free doesn't help matters either. Although I had one little success with bread, I'm no where near depending on myself completely, and my current loaf of choice is nearly $6. Add organic dairy, fruits, and veggies to the list, and oh! Don't forget Scott's 6-pack of micro brews and it's easy to see how groceries top our list of expenses.<br /><br />We have been well aware of this for quite some time, but have decided it's worth it. It's just worth it. Some people must have expensive brand name jeans or shoes. Some people like to always drive a new car. Others put a lot of money toward their hobbies or collections. It all boils down to priority. And whatever your priority is- good on you. You have to live for what makes you happy. If you're really lucky, and maybe you are- you can have it all. We're doing okay, but we're not that lucky- we have to choose.<br /><br />Eating well makes us happy. We choose food.<br /><br />(It works out that eating healthy doubles as my hobby since I love to cook the healthy food we buy. See? I'm doubling up- that certainly must save money!)<br /><br />That said, we do have a wedding coming up and I have been trying not to allow the grocery bill to get any more out of hand. This means going to food that will go far. When I plan my meals at the beginning of the week, I always start with what I have on hand. On Sunday, my goal was also to see how far I could make every meal stretch. How could I use the same ingredients in several meals?<br /><br />I started with a can of black beans sitting at attention in the pantry. I decided that spicy black beans would be a good place to start. I'd need to buy a red and yellow pepper- I put those on the <a href="http://www.traderjoes.com/">Trader Joe's</a> list- they are always cheapest there. I already had onions, of course, and there was already a bag of frozen corn in the freezer. I'd buy a couple Romas and we'd be good to go. Salsa, sour cream, and tortilla chips are all staples for us, so we'd have all the needed accompaniments. The best news was that I knew there would be leftover beans. I already decided how to use them and that would be for breakfast cuddled inside a nice thin omelet. They could stand in place of that expensive GF bread! My guess was that I'd have enough leftover for 2 days worth of breakfasts for Scott and me.<br /><br />I knew I wouldn't need 2 entire peppers in my black beans, so I thought of how else I could use them. I decided I could caramelize them with a bigger onion than I needed for the beans, then I could use some of those to top a pizza since I had a GF crust in the freezer I wanted to use up so I can make my own. (Not a huge fan of what I bought, but it was a 2 pack...) and I'd use the rest to make a jarred pasta sauce more interesting. I had a jar of <a href="http://organicvillefoods.com/category/products/pasta-sauces/">Organicville</a><a href="http://organicvillefoods.com/category/products/pasta-sauces/"> sauce</a> I'd bought for back up when it was on sale. (Making your own is super easy, and cheaper, but come on, we all need a jarred sauce in the pantry!) I also had a free bag of corn pasta to use from the beverage manager at <a href="http://www.maggianos.com/en/Pages/home.aspx">Maggiano's</a>. He's super sweet and we had a long GF conversation when I was in last week. He gave me a bag to try. How nice was that?<br /><br />I now had 3 dinners and 2 breakfasts going from the inspiration of a $1.20 can of beans.<br /><br />Time to cook. I chopped a large yellow onion and both peppers and got them started with some evoo, salt, and pepper. I cooked them low and slow until they were brown and gorgeous. I removed a little more than half to use for the pizza and for the sauce. I added a handful of frozen corn. The water from the ice, along with a few TBSP from my glass, deglazed the pan perfectly. I added a bay leaf. I let the corn cook for a few minutes, then added some spice. Obviously, I love <a href="http://www.penzeys.com/">Penzey's</a>, but these exact spices aren't necessary. I threw in two Chili Piquin peppers- tiny little dried peppers that pack a huge heat punch, a few shakes of Adobo powder, some Ancho Chile Powder, a little Chipotle Powder, and why not? Some of their Arizona Dreaming blend... it's so good... It's got several spices creating its perfection, but cumin, oregano, and lemon stand out. I added a bit of this and a bit of that until I liked the balance. If you're not lucky enough to live near a Penzey's and don't have time for their awesome mail order, just use some cumin, chile powder, and chopped jarred jalapenos. I let the spices toast and when it started to get a little dry, I added the two chopped Roma tomatoes and the black beans and just let it simmer for a bit while I waited for Scott to get home from playing basketball.<br /><br />When it was time to eat, I piled a little of the beans on my plate, put a few chips on the side with some salsa and sour cream. I did buy a treat at the store... avocados were on sale, and they are so good and so good for you... I just couldn't resist. I cubed it up right in the skin and flaked it on to our plates. It would be perfect on the eggs too.<br /><br />I dug in and yummm... cheap can be so good. The best part was that there was enough leftover for 4 small omelets, and I also had the rest of the onions and peppers in the fridge waiting for their moment. I don't think our grocery bill is declining greatly any time soon, but it is oddly satisfying to know how far I could stretch a can of beans, an onion, and 2 bell peppers. Maybe one day I'll eat this well AND buy clothes that aren't on the Target clearance rack. Until then, I choose food.kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-87434586365846823462011-05-01T13:34:00.000-07:002011-05-08T17:14:30.472-07:00My first loaf of bread- ever. And it's gluten free.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqsbsg0zDpgQ93jfjY7Kuvab149taPzYMjFH1Bc52zl0WNYS_taNOKoyugQETI5kTZqA9uWd3Bhcfn-eJ02NE6jOxPL59Qy6jGcUo6dgX2T06-l-oO_tcFHJAfHs0JcSfBdbCrzvxazFQ7/s1600/IMG_2621.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqsbsg0zDpgQ93jfjY7Kuvab149taPzYMjFH1Bc52zl0WNYS_taNOKoyugQETI5kTZqA9uWd3Bhcfn-eJ02NE6jOxPL59Qy6jGcUo6dgX2T06-l-oO_tcFHJAfHs0JcSfBdbCrzvxazFQ7/s320/IMG_2621.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601891900055985554" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1D_Ctv_blLeyTyiwPnf-KPGiL17E7TYNjwVGgR3E5S2G6A8PM37Js_4TII4OCLdPPiBY-HFq6TIWtQrzvGWkENgBnrSEFwyw9GTsijOlkMzwa2Y81NjW-QHr9Jfb3e6d55a-8KoQLk93d/s1600/IMG_2626.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1D_Ctv_blLeyTyiwPnf-KPGiL17E7TYNjwVGgR3E5S2G6A8PM37Js_4TII4OCLdPPiBY-HFq6TIWtQrzvGWkENgBnrSEFwyw9GTsijOlkMzwa2Y81NjW-QHr9Jfb3e6d55a-8KoQLk93d/s320/IMG_2626.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601891888285194498" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFoIO7gWBZolMTTLs8VUnFcrO5a8cRtJ6_yMmigRGSKIU-XnzkiOVK4XrBYeSc0Z4pqHyP7xIkqjw5vnjnwzlKMifoCZwnD4WmH8OS4mb15eTYhy3fTCURT330b2KomkyMZrh02bCv7DG/s1600/IMG_2634.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFoIO7gWBZolMTTLs8VUnFcrO5a8cRtJ6_yMmigRGSKIU-XnzkiOVK4XrBYeSc0Z4pqHyP7xIkqjw5vnjnwzlKMifoCZwnD4WmH8OS4mb15eTYhy3fTCURT330b2KomkyMZrh02bCv7DG/s320/IMG_2634.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601891885024235490" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhkYDtYTYZFg3GZwCuJay4hSrJ3C2-T6AudKe-IWFO1MPxmH244x4I8fOT8vuBEf18urlGQ4azcp4CEsfGkMUPOk3bQWxq4fPhMkAoP7W0_oGs4dDi2ldmshpT3RICQov7qJdsEtrNvW_5/s1600/IMG_2639.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhkYDtYTYZFg3GZwCuJay4hSrJ3C2-T6AudKe-IWFO1MPxmH244x4I8fOT8vuBEf18urlGQ4azcp4CEsfGkMUPOk3bQWxq4fPhMkAoP7W0_oGs4dDi2ldmshpT3RICQov7qJdsEtrNvW_5/s320/IMG_2639.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601891882107895986" border="0" /></a><br />A favorite childhood memory is breakfast at Grandma Phoebe's house. She'd cut a sinfully thick slice of her homemade rye bread, toast it perfectly, and slather it with butter. It was heaven.<br /><br />I have her recipe, but I never baked a loaf. I've never baked a loaf of bread that wasn't a quick bread. I've always wanted to, but I never did. My grandma would spend full days baking bread and rolls. I've been there, I've helped her, I've watched the entire process, but I just never had the courage to try it myself. I'm not afraid of all baking. Cookies? No problem. I'll bust out biscotti and complicated cookies at Christmas time that get rave reviews. But bread? That's a whole new ball game. And I won't even comment here on cake.<br /><br />After a couple weeks of eating gluten free frozen bread products void of protein and fiber, I had a realization. The reason I never baked before was because the Universe had plans. I needed to wait to learn to bake until now. I had to learn how to bake in a totally different way than Grandma. I had to learn to bake gluten free because this is now my path. And so began endless amounts of reading and learning about different flour combinations and starches... which ones were highest in protein, which were highest in fiber, and how to use those in proportion to the starches and flours that don't offer as much on the nutrition end, but are needed to create a tasty end product.<br /><br />I happened upon <a href="http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/">Karina's Kitchen</a>. I learned a lot on her blog not just about gluten free baking, but about gluten free living. Unless you just came out from under a rock, if you have any food sensitivities at all, I am sure you know exactly who she is. I spent a lot of time just browsing her recipes and her thoughts and learning from her immense experience. I loved that she had some of the same feelings I had about flours. She most often uses sorghum, millet, almond, and buckwheat- and those were all high on my list and in my pantry waiting for me.<br /><br />Suddenly, my computer lit up and fireworks began to explode. Karina had a recipe for Ryeless Rye bread. REALLY? I could possibly taste something like the heaven Grandma used to make for me? This could happen? Reading the recipe only made me more excited. She used sorghum and millet, which would make this bread much healthier than the loaf currently in my freezer, and the caraway seeds were practically calling my name.<br /><br />When we went to Penzey's this weekend, I went straight for the caraway seeds and inhaled the sample jar deeply. I just didn't want to be disappointed. I mean, really, I have never baked bread before and now I suddenly think I'm going to pull off a gluten free loaf? I talked myself down off the ledge. If it sucked, I'd chuck it. I'd try again. I'd get it right. Unless I wanted to depend on store brand nutritionally challenged gluten free bread forever, I'd have to.<br /><br />Here is the link to <a href="http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2009/02/gluten-free-rye-bread-recipe-seriously.html">Karina's Ryeless Rye Bread</a>.<br /><br />For now, I hid within the safety of following her recipe almost to the T. I did use 2 eggs versus the egg replacer. I didn't use sesame seeds on top, but instead more caraway like Grandma did. At the moment I was sprinkling the caraway seeds on top, I felt her presence as I often do when I'm in the kitchen. I was once again reminded how much I love that cooking keeps me so close to my family who I miss so much.<br /><br />My bread took about 40 minutes to bake. It was golden on top and fell right out of the baking pan. I devoured the end slice immediately. I slathered on some Earth Balance and dug in. Scott was napping on the couch and I thought my smile might wake him up. It was so yummy. It was as close as I could have ever hoped. I went right back for a second slice, which I popped in the toaster. When it was ready it woke Scott up. I was happy to share and to see him join in my excitement upon his first bite. I'd done it! I baked bread and it was good!<br /><br />I'm excited to move forward. I want to explore bread. I want to decide on the combination I like best and that I feel is most healthy for me. I want to make baguette and pizza crusts... breakfasts breads and dinner rolls... I want to make biscotti nearly as good as I always have with wheat flour and maybe even a cake one day... Today was a great start and I am crazy excited to keep going.<br /><br />Becoming gluten free is going to allow me to learn so much. I don't for one second want to feel sorry for myself or be depressed because I can't have something. I want to make anything I used to eat. And I want it to be as close to, or even better, than I ever remember it being.kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-89450470897708531562011-05-01T11:39:00.000-07:002011-06-19T07:22:05.221-07:00I need a snack.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR43L5B7VrGAp6aRtyCcU_IOj1qZmGLtMww7lq4udfXwf_TARyUzLTXpBIvyAupUHNEFumF8fN4td1q73xEVNfDNoY0yDbg3VCNfpx6K0cBVEPPlQ012dIhyphenhyphenC3DgdsQ02YGQF2txYNaAd4/s1600/IMG_2624.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR43L5B7VrGAp6aRtyCcU_IOj1qZmGLtMww7lq4udfXwf_TARyUzLTXpBIvyAupUHNEFumF8fN4td1q73xEVNfDNoY0yDbg3VCNfpx6K0cBVEPPlQ012dIhyphenhyphenC3DgdsQ02YGQF2txYNaAd4/s320/IMG_2624.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601892753823920690" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6twlUgKv13yAxHAruV7aVcD0Bf7GByXfHemmKAmciYGzJ4w-w2jOuddBVjr2hF_8ms9JWlwWBRy0t6z0Mddc-__6Ma6OVa2fzxf02Wcbbt0AljEHxomw-gjVD05hXsX316-DuymI5zaI1/s1600/IMG_2636.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6twlUgKv13yAxHAruV7aVcD0Bf7GByXfHemmKAmciYGzJ4w-w2jOuddBVjr2hF_8ms9JWlwWBRy0t6z0Mddc-__6Ma6OVa2fzxf02Wcbbt0AljEHxomw-gjVD05hXsX316-DuymI5zaI1/s320/IMG_2636.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601892754395635634" border="0" /></a><br />Aren't snacks every bit as important as meals? They get you through never ending mornings, give you the energy for the gym, make watching a movie just that much better, and are perfect with a cocktail and conversation...<br /><br />I've noticed magazines lately offering endless lists of healthy snacks. I love this. It makes me want to yell at random people, "Put down the 100 calorie pack of crap. Eating healthy snacks is easy. You will feel better. And damn it, you're smart enough to figure out your own reasonable portion!!!"<br /><br />Snacks for me usually hang out in the fruit and nut area during the week while I'm at school. Walnuts, pumpkin seeds, almonds, oranges, apple slices, pineapple, to name a few. <a href="http://www.larabar.com/">Larabars</a> have been a new favorite since going GF and I love their simple list of ingredients. (My favorite, peanut butter cookie, has simple dates, peanuts, and salt in the ingredient list.) At home, hummus goes without saying, and wouldn't be complete without the perfect companion. These days, I'm into Trader Joe's Baked Lentil Chips. Sometimes I go for a few <a href="http://www.snydersofhanover.com/Products/Cid/7/Prid/277/">Snyder's white corn tortilla chips</a> dunked in super spicy salsa. (Can you believe they have 40% less fat than most other tortilla chips and their texture is perfect?) When friends are over and a Stoli is in hand, olives are required. And popcorn during a movie should never come from the microwave.<br /><br />Upon reading through one of the previously mentioned snack lists, I came across kale chips. I've seen kale chips at Whole Foods pop up in the past month. They are a whopping $7 for what looks to be a couple handfuls. I searched Google and discovered just how easy they are to make. I followed the recipe from my favorite cooking couple, <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/patrick-and-gina-neely/index.html">The Neeley's</a>. (Seriously, I LOVE them.) I tore the leaves off the stalks of a bunch of kale and put them in the salad spinner. After a soak and spin, I laid the leaves out on a tea towel to air dry for about a half hour. I put them in a big bowl and used about a TBSP of evoo on the bunch. After a good toss to coat all the leaves evenly, I spread them out on parchment lined baking sheets. A little sea salt and freshly ground pepper led to them going into the oven on 300 for 25 minutes. When they came out, I sprinkled them with a bit of brown sugar and let them cool. I popped a couple in my mouth to try and had to come right back to my computer to avoid standing there eating both trays immediately. They are seriously amazing. Amazing. If you run screaming from greens, this is the recipe for you. Nothing about them feels green. A lovely way to sneak in some vitamin K and calcium. I apologize for not having a photo. I accidentally deleted it. Technology and I have come a long way, but we still have our moments. Picture gorgeous green leaves of crispy perfection and you pretty much have it.<br /><br />Next on the agenda was a trail mix I saw in Claire Robinson's (The "other" woman) cookbook. I put 2 cups of raw pumpkin seeds, a cup of raw slivered almonds, and a cup of sunflower seeds into a bowl with 3 TBSP of high grade maple syrup (she says 6 TBSP, and that just seems like a lot to me, but if you're a sweets person, it might be perfect) and a heavy sprinkle of sea salt. I tossed them to coat and spread them on 2 parchment lined baking sheets. I set the oven back to 300 and gave them about 20 minutes, stirring them every 5 minutes or so. I took them out of the oven to allow them to cool. I chopped up some tart dried cherries and half a bar of Green and Black's 85% dark chocolate and mixed it all together. Salty, sweet, chocolaty- <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> healthy.<br /><br />In the picture, there is also a pan of cooling walnuts I'd toasted a bit. I toast enough to get us through a couple weeks of snacks. They're so good all toasty, and Scott loves them on his cereal in the morning. I prefer them just as they are. Walnuts are incredible. I can be starving, but eat a few halves of walnuts and feel completely satisfied.<br /><br />These unadulterated snacks might not be as fast as opening a 100 calorie pack of Oreos, but they're close, and what they will provide will leave you much more nourished than the Oreos ever could.kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-79576723759315066802011-04-30T05:43:00.000-07:002013-11-22T14:37:34.693-08:00My blog gets a make-over.I really love that blogging is so darn easy. I love being able to take things I love so much- cooking, journaling, and photography- and put it all together in one little hobby. I've missed my hobby.<br />
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After my last post, I took lots of pictures. I think I have at least 5 meals of pictures on my camera... but, life was intense (marriage plans and moving through my year back to teaching) and sadly, none of my pictures ever got words to go with them.<br />
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Then came a big turn in my life... My severe hip pain has been going on for about 5 years off and on. I could live with it. It wasn't constant. Then, in the fall, my back started. And it was bad and it was constant. My hips got worse. Other joints began to inflame. I was waking up daily with my left ring finger locked the joint would be hurting so much... and my big toe- I honestly thought I had gout the joint hurt so badly it was often waking me up in the middle of the night!<br />
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When I couldn't get through a day of teaching because of my back, I ended up at <a href="http://www.westendchiro.com/">West End Chiropractors</a> and in front of Dr. Bryant Snyder. He's nice. He's cute. And as skeptical as I can be, I could feel he wanted to help me. I later found out he was a Duke fan, which only adds to the love I have for him! He did x-rays- my spine was a mess, my neck was a mess... but, it wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed. It was going to take time, but I would get better. The first thing he told me was no meds. I'm not a girl to pop pain pills all willy nilly, but I will admit, I'd been keeping Advil in business over the weeks prior. I was a little nervous. Ice rest heat was his fill in for my Advil. No gym for awhile. (This, of course, sent me into tears and brought on a huge bouts of anxiety...) And for a month or so, I'd have to see him 3 times a week.<br />
This part of the story could get very long, but I'll cut it down a bit. I saw Dr. S. for 3 times/week for 6 weeks or so. I started doing better. I could go for light walks. I cut back to twice a week, then to once a week, and was able to try out more and more at the gym.<br />
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Overall, however, Dr. S. wasn't thrilled with the fact that certain adjustments just weren't sticking. He asked me one day if I had an autoimmune disorders that I was aware of and if I knew what that meant. In fact, I did! My mother had vitiligo and I was diagnosed with it 12 years ago. I told Dr. S. about my mom... she had Type 1 Diabetes (Complications of which led to her early death at the young age of 52) also, which he informed me is also autoimmune.<br />
Dr. Snyder said we needed to talk. He was concerned about my body fighting itself on adjustments. He was concerned about my hip pain. (I filled him in on my toe and finger, which I hadn't yet done- it only supported his suspicions.) He told me I could actually have a gluten intolerance.<br />
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WHAT? Ok, so I knew from my initial research of vitiligo 12 years ago that some people thought there was a food allergy connection- that poor digestion and "leaky gut" had something to do with it. Was this what he was talking about? Dr. Snyder had me schedule a longer appointment for my next adjustment so he could teach me a little more. Of course, I went home and hungrily found all I could on food intolerance and autoimmune disorders. I have 2 autoimmune disorders, but I have a HUGE symptom of gluten intolerance, which has impeded me more than either disorder, and that is my joint pain. I really didn't like waking up feeling like I was twice my age, and I hated not understanding why. My research explained it and Dr. Snyder was there for me to fill in all the holes in my knowledge. It was a huge week for me. Was I going to have control over this? Could my mother have had control over all she suffered with? I knew if I didn't do something, my autoimmune response would likely only worsen. Was I going to sit around and wait for RA or MS?<br />
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It's like this in simple terms. If your body cannot digest gluten, it lets it seep out into your bloodstream. There the body thinks it's poison. The sticky evil gluten molecules find healthy tissues to stick to- and then your body kills the gluten- as well as the healthy tissues. This results in anything from Type 1 Diabetes to Exzema to IBS or Chron's to Vitiligo... or several other body fighting itself issues. Every one is different, which is why it's only now beginning to have some understanding... The medical model is starting to pay attention, but not fast enough. Dr. Snyder started paying attention because at 3 years of age, his little girl was suffering so badly with Exzema and was in so much pain, he was determined to find a way to help cure her. Now he helps his patients.<br />
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There are lots of tests I can take to learn the whole picture... and Dr. Snyder, of course, wants to see the whole picture, but he also understands I am preparing to get married, and that I am just the kind of girl who needs to take one thing at a time. He suggested I try a couple months gluten free- just to see what would happen.<br />
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I went home and finished up the pita chips and hummus we had. I sighed and said goodbye. I didn't think it would be terribly difficult, really... the pita chips I had were a treat... on a day to day basis, I don't eat a lot of processed wheat stuff. My kashi bar afternoon snack would need replaced. I guess I needed to get new bread, since my sprouted ezekial would no longer work alongside my morning egg... but, other than that... shouldn't be too hard.<br />
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And honestly, it wasn't. I had to do a lot of research, but I like to do that. I had to read labels carefully, but I like to do that. I saw it as a food challenge and I was up to it. It was just two months, I'd eat gluten again one day, right?<br />
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Um, no. I won't. I will never put another bite of gluten in my mouth I feel quite certain. After getting through a week of withdraw (I could post just about those interesting experiences... wow.) I was overwhelmed by the changes... since a couple of days of GF, my finger has not one single morning been locked or achy. My toe- nothing- I'm sleeping like a baby. My hips- my poor 80 year old hips? 80% better. My last few adjustments? :) :) I'm STICKING baby!!! Not to mention the 5lbs I dropped in a couple weeks (Dr. S. says I'm probably metabolizing better, and well, not being able to partake in most teacher lounge flour and sugar laden treats is helpful.) and without going into detail I will tell you my digestion is just happier overall. I feel like someone opened the curtains to a perfect spring day. I could hug Dr. Snyder's cute little neck for this. I know it's the start. I know it's the beginning of a long journey to understand what is going on with my body... I know I could have caisen and soy or even egg sensitivities. I know we need to understand how much damage might be done to my small intestine. My adreanal glands are a concern... I know I need to move forward with testing- and I'm going to. But I need to do one thing at a time... and since Gluten is the big gun, the general of food intolerance when you're autoimmune... I feel like I'm off to a good start. I need to take time to adjust to this. To listen to my body, to learn.<br />
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This is all why my blog is getting a make-over. My pantry is rid of whole grain pasta and all purpose flour. It's now stocked with corn pasta and lots of new to me gluten free flours and starches like sorghum and tapioca. My favorite protein sources- Quorn and Seitan- are gone and will be replaced with small portions of the highest quality meat I can buy. I'm ready to chronicle what works for me and how this whole experience is already changing my life.kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-87864280597499995172011-01-04T02:27:00.000-08:002011-05-08T17:16:28.403-07:00Tempeh it forward<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifTDGvLI6P55d_UpRVDqM_U9edgr1hAIr20orR0CGrdyZBWwF1UEb6POrRJBbCSj1K6jyk3G-Vfbl1RN_pztKY6a5wyjZqH-o4qZcFtFRx0tPdSuBdFGd30PINjbPLkkp7FlJvp4xtq6lE/s1600/IMG_2590.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifTDGvLI6P55d_UpRVDqM_U9edgr1hAIr20orR0CGrdyZBWwF1UEb6POrRJBbCSj1K6jyk3G-Vfbl1RN_pztKY6a5wyjZqH-o4qZcFtFRx0tPdSuBdFGd30PINjbPLkkp7FlJvp4xtq6lE/s320/IMG_2590.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559562585619334658" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkg8cxTkG_Ns5KICk1sqQswEotH3SWJ8eSCa6VBXcWN3SgoaUrQodDTw7XhCiFGrbe5fb_xA8s57zJm2QAPaBTKysTsKWqdo5x2BBCtdf4EV22UNjD_tgto-z2HOcCs1JYaP9XT_hdcsl/s1600/IMG_2588.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkg8cxTkG_Ns5KICk1sqQswEotH3SWJ8eSCa6VBXcWN3SgoaUrQodDTw7XhCiFGrbe5fb_xA8s57zJm2QAPaBTKysTsKWqdo5x2BBCtdf4EV22UNjD_tgto-z2HOcCs1JYaP9XT_hdcsl/s320/IMG_2588.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559562587515519170" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEU9oakWWPPg1UfvLLo3dpdICq38eXJbuyksEn9zX7HIbtC4bxizBFVxrgOYEfdZB1MwP5I1CfvinKua-dRNQRzt1-1_b0PLnjQ8H3AlDc7pZsqwUAUDi2eYiLOnPSDK8f1LU-jDaqgM8i/s1600/IMG_2599.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEU9oakWWPPg1UfvLLo3dpdICq38eXJbuyksEn9zX7HIbtC4bxizBFVxrgOYEfdZB1MwP5I1CfvinKua-dRNQRzt1-1_b0PLnjQ8H3AlDc7pZsqwUAUDi2eYiLOnPSDK8f1LU-jDaqgM8i/s320/IMG_2599.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559562583856656914" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Tempeh is a fermented Indonesian soy patty. That might not sound good, and the black spotted picture above might not make it look good... Trust me though, tempeh deserves a chance.<br /><br />Because tempeh is made by fermenting whole soy beans, it retains much more protein and a higher level fiber, vitamins, and minerals than its other popular soy sister, tofu. Phytic acid is also worth considering. Soy beans have a very high level of the stuff, and it keeps your body from absorbing certain minerals and vitamins- not only those from soy products, but from other things you eat with the soy products. This is a large part of the soy controversy. Tofu and soymilk retain almost 100% of their phytic acids when processed because unlike other beans, you can soak and soak soybeans and still not get rid of the stuff. Tempeh, however, with its fermentation process, actually loses almost half of its phytic acid. This goes for Miso and tamari as well. I'll save the other benefits of fermentation for another time... perhaps I need to make something with sauerkraut soon... I have been craving it since I skipped out on eating it at the New Year like my other Northern friends. Oh- and that black stuff? Nothing to worry about. It's totally normal. I promise. As long as your tempeh is in date and isn't green, your good. Grey and black are just fine.<br /><br />I used to make a bbq tempeh sandwich all the time. I'd used Amy's Maple Orgainc BBQ Sauce and it was good. I haven't made this dish in well over a year, though, and I decided to make my own sauce this time.<br /><br />I cracked open my brand new Vegan Soul Kitchen cookbook by Bryant Terry that Scott so thoughtfully gave me for Christmas. I was positive I'd find a great recipe- and I was correct. I followed Mr. Terry's advice, other than I chose not to use chipotle peppers... I like them, but just a little... to me, it can often over power and I didn't want a super strong chipotle flavor all through my sandwiches, so I opted out. I also didn't have enough cumin... MUST MUST MUST get to <a href="http://www.penzeys.com/">Penzey's</a> this weekend... so, instead, I used Arizona Dreaming- which is a spice blend <a href="http://www.penzeys.com/">Penzey's</a> was giving away during my last trip. It worked perfectly. It's a blend of ground ancho, onion, garlic, paprika, lemon, jalepenos, chipotle, cocoa.... it's good stuff.<br />I had so much confidence in the hot vegan chef that I decided to double the recipe. That, and the can of tomato sauce I bought was about twice what I needed and I didn't want to waste it. Into a sauce pan went 1/2 cup EVOO, 1/2 fresh lime juice, 1/2 cup Bragg's Aminos (it's just tamari/soy sauce basically- but healthier) 1/2 cup aqave necter, 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar (oh, I used 1/4c red, 1/4c cider b/c I didn't have enough red...), a 15oz can of tomato sauce, 1 TBSP cumin, 1 TBSP Arizona dreaming, 2 tsp thyme, 1/4 tsp cayenne, and 1 cup water. A good whisk and medium heat would lead this to a nice simmer... it needed about 30-40 minutes to reduce down to about half its size. Doubling was a good idea. It's sweet, it's got a vinegary bite, a bit of heat, the lime juice in the background... I've made a few bbq sauces before and this was the best. Last night, I cooked Quorn meatballs and sweet potato fries and drizzed the sauce over the whole plate- yum.<br /><br />I sliced a couple medium onions and a large green bell pepper. EVOO, salt, and low-medium heat for 40 minutes or so, and they would be caramelized heaven.<br /><br />Time to prep the tempeh. Tempeh comes in a brick. There are many brands, but I really like LightLife. Tempeh can also be combined with rice, other grains, or veggies. I like them all, and actually, I can't tell a big taste difference. Once you get the tempeh out of the packaging- never an easy feat- I always do the same thing:<br />I think tempeh can have a bitter odd flavor... and I found that if I boil it, it goes away. So, regardless of what I am doing with tempeh, I always start out by cutting it into 5 pieces, butterflying it, and boiling it for 10 minutes. Then, I drain it and let it cool. After that, options are endless. You can leave it as is and create little patties, you can cube it and shallow fry it, you can slice it thinner and make fajitas or stirfrys, you can crumble it to make sloppy joes or a bolognaise... you can fry, saute, bake, grill... you get the point- it's a versatile little fermented brick.<br /><br />From this point, it's just putting everything together. I crumbled the tempeh into the caramelized onions and green peppers, and added enough bbq sauce to give it a nice coat. The taste was on point. I gave it a bit of time to warm through all together while I toasted slices of Ezekial bread. I piled the bbq on top and drizzled a little ranch over the top. Wow... Thanks to that bbq recipe, these were, by far, the best bbq tempeh sandwiches I ever made.<br /><br />If you've never had tempeh, pick up a brick next time you're at the store. You'll find it at most urban grocery stores near the produce with tofu, fake meats, non-cheese cheeses... you know where I mean. It lasts for a couple of months, so you'll have time to get your confidence up and find the perfect recipe- although I highly recommend this one.kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-68974600766084946052011-01-02T15:46:00.000-08:002011-05-08T17:13:15.859-07:00cabbage cravings...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdc3FAoD2kw9KEVO0A2jgqLFR5Ovw1m0H2WJqoVzKkI5HBVxt35eMl61u-iwXiNzuQ_BStFrkCHVSBllCLuQWtV59jmDMx72YHEUWdr3Zidsp9hIF5kVWQVenGpuNOzjl34MmGkMLW5pE/s1600/IMG_2581.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdc3FAoD2kw9KEVO0A2jgqLFR5Ovw1m0H2WJqoVzKkI5HBVxt35eMl61u-iwXiNzuQ_BStFrkCHVSBllCLuQWtV59jmDMx72YHEUWdr3Zidsp9hIF5kVWQVenGpuNOzjl34MmGkMLW5pE/s320/IMG_2581.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557751031696178354" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-NRnq_jd9PWI-3M-0s3Lc5fY_JJE8PFhDGlgs0E5p5mzl1eyQs0pvUUSHq566AGXyygiByhAQ7Ij87dnW01VY7eRInq2okQ64XUhi6Le8U2lS0qNJJ4vSWp7axvt2SIYjpBL0tA6dF5La/s1600/IMG_2569.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-NRnq_jd9PWI-3M-0s3Lc5fY_JJE8PFhDGlgs0E5p5mzl1eyQs0pvUUSHq566AGXyygiByhAQ7Ij87dnW01VY7eRInq2okQ64XUhi6Le8U2lS0qNJJ4vSWp7axvt2SIYjpBL0tA6dF5La/s320/IMG_2569.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557751032237059090" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrr1Nan3_bPeyt02zmCFzsmdZ_Ex_lu-UGHSdEat7U30nmjBhFvbni5hxTCQBMNqw1iY9hQ_glOyq5RPpttIGwdEj3bDnPTjsh4QVdikabM-pGveeOhWbHTcSBKhy9td2GoDt2Oj86Ngz/s1600/IMG_2576.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrr1Nan3_bPeyt02zmCFzsmdZ_Ex_lu-UGHSdEat7U30nmjBhFvbni5hxTCQBMNqw1iY9hQ_glOyq5RPpttIGwdEj3bDnPTjsh4QVdikabM-pGveeOhWbHTcSBKhy9td2GoDt2Oj86Ngz/s320/IMG_2576.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557751037826682626" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVaZDqIhBEOgBhqEAJiSla-J5IHwU65NyJGkbdNI_DJF3dhoIJ52mZL2fYvoEDkWZ4HHOKb31cWi0l2wwJyGfCpS68OR8YMdsAc9yX2GVmOwLPCUnP-kfTyDdoNS1wvX0-DD7qor2MneH/s1600/IMG_2574.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVaZDqIhBEOgBhqEAJiSla-J5IHwU65NyJGkbdNI_DJF3dhoIJ52mZL2fYvoEDkWZ4HHOKb31cWi0l2wwJyGfCpS68OR8YMdsAc9yX2GVmOwLPCUnP-kfTyDdoNS1wvX0-DD7qor2MneH/s320/IMG_2574.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557751036218081810" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I crave cabbage. Yesterday, I braised red cabbage for lunch. Today I wanted cabbage soup.<br /><br />I recently purchased <span style="font-style: italic;">Love Soup</span> by Anna Thomas. I checked this book out of the library a few weeks ago and have been reading through the recipes as though they were chapters in a book. Anna Thomas wrote <span style="font-style: italic;">The Vegetarian Epicure</span> back in the day. If you're not familiar, it was before its time and is a classic. She wrote it when she was in college, which is only more impressive. <span style="font-style: italic;">Love Soup</span> was published much later, after her children were grown. It's a beautiful book, and I ordered my own copy from Amazon before returning the copy I'd borrowed.<br /><br />Much of her cooking is Eastern European inspired from her mother, and I adore Eastern European food. Growing up, my family ate a lot of cabbage dishes, goulash, pierogies, kielbasa... as did many of us reared in PA... so, her food speaks to me on a personal level as well.<br /><br />I opened her book first thing this morning when cabbage soup was calling my name... I remembered reading a recipe for caramelized cabbage soup and I was pretty sure that was what I would have on the stove for dinner that night. A quick read through the recipe sealed the deal.<br /><br />I quartered and cored a small green cabbage before slicing it thinly. The cabbage was probably about 2lbs. The recipe called for a pound, but I figured I'd cook it all. I'd give the soup all it could take and pack the rest up for a quick side dish later in the week. I threw it all in a large bowl and coated it lightly with EVOO. I spread it out on a cookie sheet, sprinkled it with some gray French sea salt and stuck it in a 375 degree oven. Every 10 minutes or so, I'd stir it around and in about 45 minutes or so, it was browned and about half its size. While it roasted, I had chopped an onion and a leak. I put about a a teaspoon of butter and a tablespoon of EVOO into my saute pan along with the two members of the Allium family and a sprinkle of the sea salt. The heat was medium low, and I knew it would be around 40 minutes of patience until they were golden brown and sweet.<br /><br />I chopped a Yukon potato, 2 carrots, and the innards of a stalk of celery. I love a new stalk of celery when I am making soup. The inside leaves are so tender and sweet, I always go for those first. Scott washed up the entire stalk for me, and I cut them into smaller sticks. We ended up putting some sunflower seed butter on a couple of the cut up sticks as an appetizer. I packed the rest for quick snacks throughout the week. I put 5 or so cups of veggie stock into my Le Creuset along with the chopped carrot, celery, and potato and brought it to a boil for about 20 minutes before adding in the caramelized onions and leeks and the roasted cabbage. I used almost all of the cabbage, but what is left will be perfect for my lunch later in the week. Anna Thomas suggests seasoning this soup with fresh dill and finishing the soup with milk. I didn't want to do that, even though I am positive it would be delicious. Instead, I seasoned with a little kosher salt and Alleppo pepper, which is from Turkey. You can get it at Penzey's. It's smoky, but with some heat, and I have found I adore it with cabbage, eggs, rice... I let it all cook down for another 2o minutes and the result was lovely.<br /><br />Scott compared it to the broth from a french onion soup. The caramelized onions and leeks had seemed to let go of the touch of butter I used on them, resulting in a rich and thick broth. We sopped it up with chunks of whole grain bread and each went back for a small second helping. It was perfect for this rainy day and cured my cabbage craving... at least until tomorrow.kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-5848225387220607742010-12-31T05:45:00.000-08:002011-05-08T17:13:26.901-07:00Butternut Heaven<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCwlsv-_c5WrDmfpf8ugTIBnHlEe-X8g5DoDalbhKc7oRzd5CumWMsvuXFPwXtScXzUiCnBBUF9wttTQk88PXBwVa1ELsk2zitnfFv2vxPjLvgOYZkLfb2kHDsYBxEalak2TbefdKVN8qg/s1600/IMG_2568.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCwlsv-_c5WrDmfpf8ugTIBnHlEe-X8g5DoDalbhKc7oRzd5CumWMsvuXFPwXtScXzUiCnBBUF9wttTQk88PXBwVa1ELsk2zitnfFv2vxPjLvgOYZkLfb2kHDsYBxEalak2TbefdKVN8qg/s320/IMG_2568.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556857301629485410" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7sllOyY0MAo2zEMioY377J6AxuF6A5wdQiw7i1Pqp53voKagG8r_ODhHmHRcalts5Uky2nncn09ZFdSowKAH6KknICOlpE2KjAxwWK0Pm-TONMqisvs2iW5RFFjMhBsmlsy4hOnuErhB/s1600/IMG_2564.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7sllOyY0MAo2zEMioY377J6AxuF6A5wdQiw7i1Pqp53voKagG8r_ODhHmHRcalts5Uky2nncn09ZFdSowKAH6KknICOlpE2KjAxwWK0Pm-TONMqisvs2iW5RFFjMhBsmlsy4hOnuErhB/s320/IMG_2564.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556857005742277298" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYuFqt_uXn-G_p51N6AjY-sIwTU-kF9HiNPTfKIaiH1voV0P1kmVVaYV3i3GH7ePI5P8T1U0nuvrF2pDLHqkLJUHZHQY5x62N6C4cZvGFKsinhAL9SulCMy2IHiBlKcgI6TgWE76aTkeHt/s1600/IMG_2566.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYuFqt_uXn-G_p51N6AjY-sIwTU-kF9HiNPTfKIaiH1voV0P1kmVVaYV3i3GH7ePI5P8T1U0nuvrF2pDLHqkLJUHZHQY5x62N6C4cZvGFKsinhAL9SulCMy2IHiBlKcgI6TgWE76aTkeHt/s320/IMG_2566.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556857006934616818" border="0" /></a><br />I bet you remember the first time you ate butternut squash soup. I just think it's one of those foods that do that to you... you take the first bite- not expecting much- but as soon as the first bite enters your mouth you realize something special is happening.<br />I was at Revelations- a restaurant that used to be where The Mix currently is in Greensboro. I had just stopped eating meat and seafood, and still wasn't sure what to do when I was out to eat... so, I ordered butternut squash soup for dinner. I remember being less than thrilled about my choice. But, what choice did I have? I had done this to myself...<br />Once I had that first bite, however, I realized the beginning of vegetarian bliss... it was just the start of being introduced to an endless amount of food I'd otherwise never take the time to notice...<br /><br />The richness of the squash, the sweetness of the supporting veggies, silkiness of the cream... all hosting seasonings beautifully... butternut squash soup has become something I crave. I have tried to make it before- in my food processor. DO NOT TRY THAT EVER! What a mess! I learned rather quickly that using something too liquidy in a food processor is not a good idea... and you might be thinking how obvious that is considering something more liquid should go into a blender, while things that are more dry go into a food processor... I learned said lesson that day.<br />It also should be noted that using a blender for HOT liquid can also cause quite a mess- although it's doable if you are careful... I wasn't and another kitchen disaster left me feeling over ever trying to make soups that required blending... an immersion blender was the only answer. And an immersion blender, I did not have for a very long time.<br />Scott is a great man and got me one for Christmas this year and there was not a doubt in my mind what I would make first! Upon my next trip to the store, I bought 2 small beautiful butternut squashes. I knew I had carrots, onions, garlic, milk, and veggie broth at home... I could make that work.<br /><br />First, I prepped the veggies for roasting... I coated quartered squashes, halved onions, peeled and quartered carrots, and a garlic bulb with EVOO and roasted them for about 40 minutes on 425 until the skins of the squash were golden brown and everything was soft. The house smelled so super good. When they were done, I sprinkled them with salt and pepper and gave them time to cool a bit on a plate. Into my soup pot went EVOO and a good amount of <a href="http://www.penzeys.com/">Penzy's</a> Balti seasoning and Penzy's Vietnamese Cinnamon. I gave the oil time to heat and roast the spices before adding almost an entire box of veggie stock- maybe about 3-31/2 cups? I'd only used some of the box for a sauce on Christmas... Next, I squeezed the garlic out of the bulb, threw in the carrots and onion, and dug the meat out of each quarter of squash. The heat was on low, and it was time to use my new toy! Immerse, Immerse, Immerse! Everything began to come together... the carrots were my favorite-when I would buzz them, it was like a carrot blood bath into the yellow of the squash! This was fun!<br />Once it was smooth, I turned the heat up a bit until it got to temperature, then I turned the heat off completely. I added a glug of milk and tasted... a little more Balti, a bit more cinnamon, a little mild kosher salt... and it was perfect. I was so happy.<br /><br />There were 2 biscuits left from Christmas Day, so I'd decided to turn them into crutons. I cubed them, put them in a small ziplock, added some EVOO, garlic powder, salt and pepper and shook to coat. They toasted up nicely in a 250 degree oven... excellent garnish.<br /><br />Thanks to Scott, I can now quickly whip up one of my very favorite soups anytime I wish... and if you have somehow put off trying butternut squash soup, I hope you will order it next time you see it on a menu... or just come over, and I will make it for you!kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-42679543362912327892010-12-27T04:59:00.000-08:002011-05-08T17:13:39.078-07:00All I Want for Christmas is Food.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxeBPGwUEaP73MUvMNAo-A5cikQ_cbxQKZ3olMI-TgXwh0JLqW2A5MEDklVRT0XoljRRyeGJ-d2JY3m3OlsNnqSB7HkhK4qJ_YZQ8XQh9emqCTvAaZja_GduZ2kK297VUfjVQpRZZJ56C8/s1600/IMG_2550.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxeBPGwUEaP73MUvMNAo-A5cikQ_cbxQKZ3olMI-TgXwh0JLqW2A5MEDklVRT0XoljRRyeGJ-d2JY3m3OlsNnqSB7HkhK4qJ_YZQ8XQh9emqCTvAaZja_GduZ2kK297VUfjVQpRZZJ56C8/s320/IMG_2550.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555846590191032242" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcRxyAMOXDIEDhaK9VNnFsfD9ccK44jznvQW0RD2reDFydwiKJ1gkxK4k7YUJfX2h7tZyE8CIgYlzw992uAkT0yrRoj5LxViTtXAwU6Zxh9fiEYMUs5ebnq5TE2N3ZV9T-Dyy2W-1hDxrB/s1600/IMG_2555.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcRxyAMOXDIEDhaK9VNnFsfD9ccK44jznvQW0RD2reDFydwiKJ1gkxK4k7YUJfX2h7tZyE8CIgYlzw992uAkT0yrRoj5LxViTtXAwU6Zxh9fiEYMUs5ebnq5TE2N3ZV9T-Dyy2W-1hDxrB/s320/IMG_2555.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555846583652008290" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtXymx0-AJvld5luajKqetEUKI10No5GcT_sL831NWEyfIVCpv2EvNiJW9f1GGBtEUBRevrHNWGd17V9rnErRNyoKbBSnqyZXF24VpcMMKXtPaGMuqNQl9F04cBtlXFHcunPgWz3bXg9hU/s1600/IMG_2558.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtXymx0-AJvld5luajKqetEUKI10No5GcT_sL831NWEyfIVCpv2EvNiJW9f1GGBtEUBRevrHNWGd17V9rnErRNyoKbBSnqyZXF24VpcMMKXtPaGMuqNQl9F04cBtlXFHcunPgWz3bXg9hU/s320/IMG_2558.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555846581587819378" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmyFnHlgjnxGOTTiZlbnV9Xt2-T0cZnDYL-kGQKrnv5Tx2dVZ6nKxWs52lOA-alD0arfjU3RmCZk276ejLBRr3QS-LqhN9vGrRGNJAv9es1TeSKSR94OKq-OWEwayz1In8ZBVhHihiFg4X/s1600/IMG_2560.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmyFnHlgjnxGOTTiZlbnV9Xt2-T0cZnDYL-kGQKrnv5Tx2dVZ6nKxWs52lOA-alD0arfjU3RmCZk276ejLBRr3QS-LqhN9vGrRGNJAv9es1TeSKSR94OKq-OWEwayz1In8ZBVhHihiFg4X/s320/IMG_2560.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555846574840811682" border="0" /></a><br />Deciding on the menu for the most important cooking day of the year is always the good kind of stressful.. do I try new things? Stick with tradition? Balancing flavors, keeping some semblance of nutrition... there are a lot of aspects which must be considered as I lay out a menu that will hopefully outdo years prior.<br /><br />It's just Scott and me on Christmas Day, and it is never anything short of magical. We sleep until we're ready to get up and open our stocking gifts while the coffee brews... Green and Black's 85% dark chocolate for me, Rocher truffles for him, new socks, silly gifts, it's so fun...<br /><br />A little Kaluha in the coffee, and it was time to make breakfast. I decided to make homemade biscuits for breakfast this year... I used Bobby Flay's recipe instead of Grandma Phoebe's- as hers calls for pure trans fats. I'm sure she'd understand the switch. Flour, loads of baking powder, salt, well over a stick of butter, and buttermilk... I really was worried I'd worked the flour too much- afraid they'd be like hockey pucks... but. They came out beautifully. Before putting them in the oven, I'd brushed the tops with half and half and sprinkled freshly ground black pepper on top. A fried egg, Port de Sol cheese, and a couple strips of Morning Star Farms Bacon and we were ready for meal #1. They didn't disappoint... gooey, crunchy, biscuity heaven. Yum.<br /><br />Time to open another gift. Hottie Bryant Terry's Vegan Soul Kitchen cookbook for me! I got Scott Michael Jackson Experience for Wii. My man has moves and loves him some MJ, so I knew this would be a hit. We made blood orange mimosas and set off to play- what a blast!!! We were laughing so hard and needed to rest after so much activity. I put beets in the oven to roast- just wrapped them in foil with plenty of EVOO, set the oven to 400 and we put in Scrooged- and passed out. Scott set his phone alarm for the hour the beets needed, so no burnt beets!<br /><br />It was time for lunch already! Not that we were hungry, but I don't think anyone gets hungry on Christmas Day, do they? I set to work on the stuffed zucchini. I've been making these on Christmas Day for years. They are the perfect lunch- still decadent, but packed with veggies, so at least there are some vitamins and minerals going on...<br />I halved the zucchinis, dug out the innards and set them aside. After brushing each half with EVOO, they went into the oven to roast until they were golden. In a sauce pan went EVOO, a chopped onion, 5 minced garlic cloves, and hot pepper flake. Once they were soft, I added the innards from the zucchini, a handful of chopped basil, and a can of diced tomatoes- the juice drained and reserved. Once the liquid cooked off the veggies, I deglazed the pan with a glug of nice Sauvignon Blanc... I gave that some time to cook off, and deglazed again with the reserved tomato juice. The stuffing was ready. In another small pan, a couple TBSP of butter and about a cup of whole wheat bread crumbs. When they were buttery and toasty, I added some additional pepper flake and chopped basil. The zucchini were ready and I filled each one with the stuffing and topped each with the bread crumb mixture and plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Back into the oven while I got the salad ready. My best quality EVOO, sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper... a good whisk to that... I added some into a large bowl with arugula and tossed. Big mounds of the arugula on our plates topped with slices of the roasted beets and blood orange segments... after our heavy breakfast, I was looking forward to some veg...<br /><br />After lunch, I made a vodka soda and Scott began to try to varied beers I'd put in his stocking that were now cold enough to drink. We drank and watched a couple of our favorite trash TV shows that we continually pause and add in our own commentary. Good times. We also polished off the very yummy homemade popcorn I'd made for our viewing of Miracle on 34th Street the night before.<br /><br />We opened a couple more gifts and I squealed with joy as I opened a Cuisenart hand blender with mini chopper and whisk attachment. I have been wanting one forever!!! Now I can make the butternut squash soup I've been craving!! I also have a small processor now and won't need to get out my HUGE processor just to make something small like pesto or tapenade. I was elated! Alton Brown would also be pleased at my man's ability to buy me a multi-tasker!<br /><br />The snow began to fall! What a treat! Snow in Virginia on Christmas Day!!!<br /><br />Dinner prep began with a dijon mustard sauce. I started with EVOO, minced garlic, and thyme- and then had to dump it and start again.... I walked away for all of 15 seconds and came back and my garlic had begun to brown... no good. Second time was much better. After the garlic was soft, I added a mixture of veggie broth and arrowroot (arrowroot is like cornstarch, basically...) and it began to thicken as soon as it hit the heat... I added a bit of the Sauvignon Blanc, lemon juice, tamari, pepper, and whole grain dijon mustard... brought it all to a boil until it was the right consistency, and set it aside to cool.<br />Into the oven to roast were Brussles sprouts and asparagus each lightly coated with EVOO. I added a bit of lemon juice, zest, and Penzy's Flordia Pepper to the asparagus. The Brussels would simply need salt before serving.<br />My chickpea cutlets begin by mashing the chickpeas with EVOO, then adding lemon juice, zest, sage, thyme, paprika, pepper, tamari, bread crumbs, and wheat gluten. I kneaded the mixture until it was combined and the gluten did it's thing making the mixture almost stretchy in a way... hard to describe...it's almost like stretchy play-dough... that doesnt sound appetizing, but they are so very good. I formed small patties and prepped a skillet with canola oil.<br />Baby Yukon potatoes were soft and ready. I drained them, put them back into the pot and added a little butter and some buttermilk along with salt and pepper. I gave them a rough mash and... omg, they were good. I let them stay warm on a back burner while I cooked the patties. The trick to a good veggie patty is low-medium heat and patience. You have to have the heat low enough that they will cook within without burning on the outside. They turned out perfectly.<br /><br />The Asparagus was still bright green and crisp, the Brussels were brown and crisp like Scott loves them, and potatoes were fluffy and buttery and topped with fresh chives, and the patties were golden. I had added a bit more broth to the sauce, let it get just above room temp, toasted a couple of biscuits... and dinner was served.<br />Scott had opened and poured the wine- a lovely Avenel Red Table wine from Napa that I'd bought him last year for Christmas- We have started a tradition where I buy him a good wine each year- and we save it for the following year's Christmas dinner. This one was smoky, but soft in the mouth and absolutely perfect for the meal.<br />We sat and ate slowly, talking about our childhoods, our future, how good the food was... it was perfect.<br />We ended our day of celebration by opening the rest of the gifts under the tree. I got purple patent Danskos!!! I was so excited I put them on immediately and ran around the house- they are too cute! Henry sat right between us while we opened- trying desperately to fit himself into a box that really didn't fit his girth... he's so funny.<br />When the gifts were opened and the wine was gone, the intensity of the day hit hard- we were exhausted! We fell asleep together on the couch reliving our day while the snow began to accumulate outside... I am really not sure I'll be outdoing myself next year because this entire day was nothing short of absolute perfection...kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-44344825745516523222010-11-15T02:50:00.000-08:002011-05-08T17:19:24.727-07:00Soup for Joyce<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX8fGtoat36Mv1BXOwej4o_5Xahj92cVLDXvX4Wk46hi10YCW6YDfJp-Wah0P8yfQLseWY-esVF8la0d337C67QEH9qtMEvIMRuyg4-lUXDRkFGNWPKDbqy-XM3yOgSyu1HTSsd_mYMY6O/s1600/IMG_2508.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX8fGtoat36Mv1BXOwej4o_5Xahj92cVLDXvX4Wk46hi10YCW6YDfJp-Wah0P8yfQLseWY-esVF8la0d337C67QEH9qtMEvIMRuyg4-lUXDRkFGNWPKDbqy-XM3yOgSyu1HTSsd_mYMY6O/s320/IMG_2508.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543073716311792242" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvVfVOqt18mOakAHIn2TfdCnm9eqtlr8ZuxaFZzL3HvfeGEI2vMNcYZxdyAf7Nz5VhzLXgoj3npoxb1irzpSb8cq-tzXD_y7cYGJDDt6ucaYdojnyG8bCRV12Omrnyl9YnKdSD2-UJJEd/s1600/IMG_2509.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvVfVOqt18mOakAHIn2TfdCnm9eqtlr8ZuxaFZzL3HvfeGEI2vMNcYZxdyAf7Nz5VhzLXgoj3npoxb1irzpSb8cq-tzXD_y7cYGJDDt6ucaYdojnyG8bCRV12Omrnyl9YnKdSD2-UJJEd/s320/IMG_2509.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543073684270027650" border="0" /></a><br />At the start of the school year, each grade level signed up to bring one of our staff, Joyce, dinner. Joyce is going through chemotherapy right now, and on the weeks she has treatments, we are all making sure she has a good dinner on the table the night before they begin. Being new at the school, I have only just met Joyce. It didn't take long, however, to see the compassion she has for the students, and the great knowledge she has from her years of experience.<br /><br />Joyce is our media specialist, and for anyone who is a teacher, you know this position is at the heart of the school's functional system. She has dropped everything to help me find a book, she has talked to our team at length about creating lessons to support our grade level's curriculum, and she has helped me out of technology jams more than once. All of this, while she is going through what must be a very difficult, scary, and challenging time in her life.<br /><br />I decided to make soup. Soup always builds me. It makes me feel nourished and stronger, and that's what I wanted for Joyce. I thought about exactly what kind of soup I would make for awhile... but, I ended up deciding on minestrone. A soup so simply stuffed with every possible vitamin- what else could be better?<br /><br />Soup is decidedly simple. It's one pot. It's chopping and some seasoning and some broth and it's eating. But, I had to put more than that into this pot of soup. Somehow, I had to get every positive thought, every ounce of strength, and every bit of extra energy I had into this soup. I started by chopping the freshest organic vegetables I could find.<br /><br />Leeks, green beans, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, yukon potatoes, zucchini. As I chopped, I thought about Joyce and thought about her full recovery. I saw her be able to stop wearing her handkerchief- which I must note- she rocks- I saw her with her family, I saw her busy putting away books, I saw her teaching media lessons, working with the 5th graders on morning announcements, and reading stories to the kindergarten students... I saw her strong.<br /><br />Into my Le Creuset all the veggies went along with a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil, a hearty couple pinches of salt, and a few grinds of pepper. I added in 2 bay leaves (this was a lot of veggies), a few pinches of thyme, a few shakes of ground fennel, and a few shakes of hot pepper flake. On medium, I allowed the veggies to sweat out and begin to soften. I also added a small rind I cut from a wedge of parmesan cheese.<br /><br />When they had about 10 minutes or so, I added in a bunch of chopped kale and a can of whole tomatoes with their juice. I gave the tomatoes a quick chop before adding them. I also added 4 cups of veggie stock, a can of cannelloni beans, and a couple handfuls of whole wheat orzo pasta. From here, it just needed time. I allowed it to come to a rolling boil for about 3 minutes, before backing it down to a slow simmer. About 20-30 minutes later, I scooped out bowls for Scott and I to have for dinner, and packed a large container to take to Joyce the next day.<br /><br />I also packed her a small container of basil pesto and some freshly grated parmesan cheese. Soup is great, but the garnishes make it fabulous. The pesto was extra special, as it was from a jar of homemade that Rachel gave me. She'd canned loads of pesto in August when her garden overflowed with basil.<br /><br />The soup was good. Really good. I hadn't made a minestrone in awhile and Scott and I were in heaven. It was tomatoey, brothy, veggie heaven. We ate it along with a chunk of sourdough bread, and I would allow the corner to soak up the soup until it was practically falling apart... delicious. I was happy that this was the meal I was passing on to Joyce and her husband.<br /><br />After I ate, I felt nourished and strong- and convinced Joyce would feel the same.kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-31392981579395949902010-06-07T07:30:00.000-07:002011-05-08T17:14:56.924-07:00Stuff Yo' Peppers!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO62PcERFMyr8PT6lD1mQk2lBEti3-cwhvLgQzny8A-B71mLx6iEunUF1PVGD8FuTX2n0dbOKlcUe5h1r59TbhFU-YR-Nx1bhXtFWRIeJLXi_4fGVrnfnglIreWU9Hb3MLwQhm3QphUQsK/s1600/IMG_2500.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO62PcERFMyr8PT6lD1mQk2lBEti3-cwhvLgQzny8A-B71mLx6iEunUF1PVGD8FuTX2n0dbOKlcUe5h1r59TbhFU-YR-Nx1bhXtFWRIeJLXi_4fGVrnfnglIreWU9Hb3MLwQhm3QphUQsK/s320/IMG_2500.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507469019680493874" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFyVcJz0svbtNZ62zDnWZUP8Y39qx5Gs2M2tArc9zlZSR913lo8ix5BsW-vgnaVHU69-fJvzXHeyvB-A18y77YYBRAGB2T47ehY3qNNcDyqy07lWAeoqneb4DR8Hy1VYVqsQ84r0zLQ4V9/s1600/IMG_2502.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFyVcJz0svbtNZ62zDnWZUP8Y39qx5Gs2M2tArc9zlZSR913lo8ix5BsW-vgnaVHU69-fJvzXHeyvB-A18y77YYBRAGB2T47ehY3qNNcDyqy07lWAeoqneb4DR8Hy1VYVqsQ84r0zLQ4V9/s320/IMG_2502.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507468860972018498" border="0" /></a><br />A dreary rainiy day makes it easy to want comfort food, but I had to choose something on the lighter side since I gained a few pounds my last few weeks at Hondos. (Why not have a drink 0r two every night with co-workers and eat french fries as if they were carrot sticks?!) Comfort food for most people includes the foods they grew up eating. For me, that would include lasagna, goulash, pigs in a blanket (NOT hot dogs wrapped in frozen bread dough, btw), fried chicken, ham and bean soup, stuffed peppers...<br /><br />Yes! Stuffed Peppers!!! We used to have them at home ALL the time. My dad would stuff green peppers with white rice, ground beef, onions, tomatoes... and then top it with a little cheddar cheese and bake them in a light tomato broth. I knew I could top the PA version by making it healthier and just as good (if not better!)<br /><br />I started by toasting some brown rice with a bit of evoo, then adding water and getting it to a simmer. I'd have used vegetable stock if I had any. In a saute pan, I added another glug of evoo and threw in a chopped onion, half of a diced red pepper, 4 minced garlic cloves, and a big handful of grape tomatoes that I'd quartered. I gave it time to get soft and just a little caramelized. I then diced 2 Quorn 'Turkey' burgers and added it to the veggies along with a generous amount of <a href="http://www.penzeys.com/">Penzey's</a> Spanish Smoked Paprika and some cumin. I coated all the veggies evenly while allowing the spices to toast up a bit. Then I added a few splashes of Habenero hot sauce for some heat. Next was a heaping tablespoon of tomato paste... I incorporated that into the mix to give it some heat and mellow it out some, then added water a little at a time until I had the consistency I wanted. I adjusted the seasonings with a little more salt, pepper, and hot sauce.<br /><br />When the rice was done, I added about a cup to the mix. I stirred it all together, tasted once more and was very happy with the outcome. I turned off the heat and just let it do it's thing for about 30 minutes while I puttered around and got the peppers ready. I cut the tops off 2 orange and 2 yellow bell peppers and hollowed them out. I coated my small Le Cresuet baking dish with a little evoo and set the peppers inside. Then, I spooned the mixture to fill each pepper and topped each with a small amount of shredded pepper jack cheese. I covered the dish with foil and placed it in a 400 degree oven while I worked on my "TRAILBLAZERS" sign for my new school. I quite like that as a mascot. I like that purple is the school color even more! When the peppers were soft, I removed the foil and allowed the cheese to brown just a little.<br /><br />When they were done, they were gooey and so so comforting! The paprika, cumin, and pepper jack cheese gave them a perfect smoky flavor and the hot sauce gave it a bit of heat... the peppers are sweet though, so the contrast was perfect! I had to blog about these quickly because I have to remember how I made them! I have to say I think I exceeded the PA version... they were definitely healthier and I must admit, I think I liked them better... So happy there are 2 leftover for our dinner tonight!kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-23480377950366193122010-05-21T06:28:00.001-07:002011-05-08T17:15:10.899-07:00Birthday Dinner<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggA4ojxT2SJCiDRkF69ohfNn8Lw2DyRI4LU4AGaUoFfJQeo07h70z5tDTR0OZa71Mfn_SzGDpTCdd1BMVuXjUuppnzW1Em3ReXCaI3fMx1dYty-FLrOUcvNCZLHdDFqLICqZiejGPfUMJT/s1600/IMG_2265.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggA4ojxT2SJCiDRkF69ohfNn8Lw2DyRI4LU4AGaUoFfJQeo07h70z5tDTR0OZa71Mfn_SzGDpTCdd1BMVuXjUuppnzW1Em3ReXCaI3fMx1dYty-FLrOUcvNCZLHdDFqLICqZiejGPfUMJT/s320/IMG_2265.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477064143689888658" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFZ7dGFyVMxvYLHgsJsFeDycQSJO21nVFl-8MTZaXKNvVwSO8jtc1v74_nt369w-G0gNvSvm3hL_NnkwzzBZhnYG1SrOKsRwtB_dHsct-rdqVx6n7_DNazc7hJnikpp8P5jKk1LK7VU49/s1600/IMG_2267.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFZ7dGFyVMxvYLHgsJsFeDycQSJO21nVFl-8MTZaXKNvVwSO8jtc1v74_nt369w-G0gNvSvm3hL_NnkwzzBZhnYG1SrOKsRwtB_dHsct-rdqVx6n7_DNazc7hJnikpp8P5jKk1LK7VU49/s320/IMG_2267.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477064138839187634" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnvttm2Eb3E4uzhiiy7bnMxKEtHX2x-ea7a9A-7s8HKPCf2l2-i85-gy6f0pfkk4Dt6m5AVmF5Kvn_ycdUUHhB44MvLKhDtxyRZCP9ScplJpMVo-IuUqInhbpQxKVfh-SDBzWQuhEQZsS3/s1600/IMG_2270.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnvttm2Eb3E4uzhiiy7bnMxKEtHX2x-ea7a9A-7s8HKPCf2l2-i85-gy6f0pfkk4Dt6m5AVmF5Kvn_ycdUUHhB44MvLKhDtxyRZCP9ScplJpMVo-IuUqInhbpQxKVfh-SDBzWQuhEQZsS3/s320/IMG_2270.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477064131016753986" border="0" /></a><br />When I was growing up, we ate dinner pretty much every Saturday night with family. It was a mix of family, but it was perfect. It was my mom's brother, Frank, his wife, Carol, and their two boys, Travis and Jason. My Aunt Carol's dad, Ray, and her Aunt, Fay, were always there as well, along with my parents and my Dad's mother, Phoebe. Other random friends and family could also show up on any given weekend. We would eat and usually play Trivia Pursuit, or other games, afterward. Even as I got older, I loved these dinners. Mom and Dad would request that I wait until after dinner and visiting for awhile before I went off with my friends. I never minded a bit and some of my favorite growing up memories are these dinners.<br /><br />Well, when it was your birthday, you got to pick what you wanted- the whole thing- from start to dessert. It was fantastic. I usually chose beef on wick and french fries or spaghetti with Italian sausage. I remember that Travis always chose pancakes and Jason always wanted my mom's pineapple upside down cake. Funny I don't recall what the adults ever wanted. Travis and Jason and I were 3 peas in a pod growing up. They are 6 and 8 years younger than me, respectively, but they lived 2 houses away and were my brothers full stop. Travis is a father now, and Jason's been to Iraq 3 times. How'd we grow up so fast?<br /><br />I digress. This post is really actually about Scott's birthday dinner... I got a little sidetracked by my memories.<br /><br />I didn't give Scott a choice of what he wanted me to cook because since starting his new job, I think this was one of his busiest weeks. He was up at 4 or 5 in the morning every day and traveling around with another sales guy and working until quite late in the evening. I also worked every single night and before his birthday at dinner time on a Thursday, hadn't seen him awake since Sunday afternoon. So, I was going to pick for him.<br /><br />It was a random assortment of food, but it actually came together rather well. Brussels sprouts were the easiest choice. He didn't know how much he loved them until I roasted them once for him. Now he asks for them all the time. For potatoes, I decided on making homemade potato chips and blue cheese dressing since homemade potato chips in any form on restaurant menus always has him wanting some (even if I'm stubborn and don't give in most of the time) and he especially likes the ones from Harper's in Greensboro that are served with a blue cheese dressing. I chose Salmon because we needed a protein and it's been awhile since I've made it. To personalize it a bit more, I did bread and pan fry it. Every guy likes fried stuff and Scott is no exception. I slaked on dessert mainly because I did not want to have leftovers taunting us! Thank you Whole Foods for the lovely cupcakes!<br /><br />Prep on the salmon and Brussels really isn't that exciting or difficult, so I'll focus on the chips. I used my mandolin on a fairly thin setting to slice a huge russet potato. I used russet because they have a lot of natural sugars and therefore get really brown just like we like them. (My dad and I used to literally ruin bags of chips fighting over the "burned" ones! If only Utz made their bag of russet kettle chips back in the day... a whole bag of "burned" chips... it's heaven.) I put all the sliced potatoes in a tea towel and dried off the excess water. I set the oven on 400 and placed the cookie sheets inside to get hot. When the oven was ready, I covered the cookie sheets with parchment and brushed the paper with canola oil. I spread out the chips in one layer and gave the tops another brushing of oil. After that, I just had to keep my eye on them and flip them when they were golden. I guess it took about 10 min on the first side and just a few on the second. I worked in batches until they were all done. As soon as I removed them, I placed them on paper towels to remove the excess oil and gave them a generous sprinkling of salt. For the blue cheese dip, I mixed about a half cup of a Danish blue cheese, some Duke's mayonnaise, sour cream, a little milk, a few dashes of pikka peppa, (think Worcestershire) and salt and pepper. After some counter time to come together, it was perfect.<br /><br />With all the fried foods, it wasn't long before we were full and there were loads of leftovers! If you saw my status update on Facebook, you know how the reheating of the leftover chips ended... we decided the toaster oven would crisp the chips back up... and that it did when the entire thing caught on fire. Thankfully, Scott had his eye on things and the fire did not spread beyond the toaster oven itself, but it did create enough smoke to set off the fire alarm! We were bummed that we didn't get to eat the leftover chips.<br /><br />I wonder what Scott will cook me for my birthday? :)kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-23662834115882489862010-04-25T08:07:00.000-07:002011-05-08T17:15:28.013-07:00Friday Night In<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PuNFr98Ix6DmZQQMO5SMZYvhO6coDq5Nwlh8vkfKBaH8dGGYYObT-h_Eta0Z4JbR8M1nlx6pVCBRmGpR9MfDo72bcU-wLx462XopzglGHPLjkT6RB0f54Hj5k2lDcH5zLCdj-RiblZyJ/s1600/IMG_2216.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PuNFr98Ix6DmZQQMO5SMZYvhO6coDq5Nwlh8vkfKBaH8dGGYYObT-h_Eta0Z4JbR8M1nlx6pVCBRmGpR9MfDo72bcU-wLx462XopzglGHPLjkT6RB0f54Hj5k2lDcH5zLCdj-RiblZyJ/s320/IMG_2216.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464105697992247330" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvXSbgZ0Toupqo42qLW32X_MlESek75K10VC_voPZCL4o6hhpKjWnyuUirRwgPI6dqs5NzPgy8_QLe53-IRu191hPAuWAEt_Xzvlk3D7uRAlxHZBXmx-IrlUipevEgqsxqewaeW7FZhVL/s1600/IMG_2187.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvXSbgZ0Toupqo42qLW32X_MlESek75K10VC_voPZCL4o6hhpKjWnyuUirRwgPI6dqs5NzPgy8_QLe53-IRu191hPAuWAEt_Xzvlk3D7uRAlxHZBXmx-IrlUipevEgqsxqewaeW7FZhVL/s320/IMG_2187.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464105691273640210" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbr-Q7ZZhwzMKpDUEH0nFLwocKeBvw5rhWIMvzxXnKVV70kVu04qDOzoP8Q1QOn_PLXUmxEEqn-MS43C-261J7T1WnaB4W-lBCQ5JGdzOV62XmXrIUHCO9jEJnk_AWLRTKBK1IznGCYIpM/s1600/IMG_2193.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbr-Q7ZZhwzMKpDUEH0nFLwocKeBvw5rhWIMvzxXnKVV70kVu04qDOzoP8Q1QOn_PLXUmxEEqn-MS43C-261J7T1WnaB4W-lBCQ5JGdzOV62XmXrIUHCO9jEJnk_AWLRTKBK1IznGCYIpM/s320/IMG_2193.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464105690483113810" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNvsOzDwhBMFNA_S3JLzQZyYo2fJNWxCmqucJp5XrW5k0POZBdWvVMunzr2X_qf_TxVms6l8Xr8uc9ggjDhvP-QdkIpH7YahUDfj9OnCawd_9K5dS27SB0fyvUqomuI5V3t0J7gYSxRXi/s1600/IMG_2188.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNvsOzDwhBMFNA_S3JLzQZyYo2fJNWxCmqucJp5XrW5k0POZBdWvVMunzr2X_qf_TxVms6l8Xr8uc9ggjDhvP-QdkIpH7YahUDfj9OnCawd_9K5dS27SB0fyvUqomuI5V3t0J7gYSxRXi/s320/IMG_2188.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464105680445122226" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-MGk-tFNmNnVq_K7D3IdBoeIDOEFdzfcEmF68gp_eGUT2SxjckkGy1YLEQ9UbEPQSeppIGNEuN7U_5gfpmWJngXeMx9cL1t6TvuJuaB-2dOdjfk-NzYjrL37OgLJ3CZwnIMDWdxJV6nc3/s1600/IMG_2199.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-MGk-tFNmNnVq_K7D3IdBoeIDOEFdzfcEmF68gp_eGUT2SxjckkGy1YLEQ9UbEPQSeppIGNEuN7U_5gfpmWJngXeMx9cL1t6TvuJuaB-2dOdjfk-NzYjrL37OgLJ3CZwnIMDWdxJV6nc3/s320/IMG_2199.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464105673391333106" border="0" /></a><br />Jason and Melissa are friends we've made in our building, and after spending a few nights together heading out and about for food and drinks, we decided to have a night in. We thought we'd play games- I'd make some food to munch on and they would bring the drinks.<br /><br />Well, games never happened, which is not surprising considering the strength of Jason's cocktails and the fact that the four of us don't shut up long enough to actually get out a game to play. Five hours into our evening we realized it actually just felt like half that time. This is a nice discovery to make with new friends.<br /><br />Jason made two different cocktails. One was called a Transfusion and was 1 part vodka, 1 part grape juice, and 1 part ginger ale. It was fantastic. On the second round, we used a little soda water to lighten the grape juice flavor. The other drink (in picture) was 2 parts Absolute Acai, a touch of simple syrup and lemon juice, and topped with blueberries and mint. It packed quite a punch as you might imagine.<br /><br />Dinner was on me. Initially, I was just going to make some heavy snacks, but pizza was calling since JB's recent post. I made the dough from Tyler Florence's recipe this time. I will use it again. The only change I made was using a lot more evoo- that tip being from Amber- she says you can't use too much, so I was generous throughout the entire process. The crust was crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle- perfect. It was also much thinner than the crust I made on my last attempt and this is an improvement in my book.<br /><br />For the tomato sauce, I used a can of tomato paste, a few glugs of evoo, water, oregano, fennel, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flake, and two garlic cloves that I grated with my microplane. I made it in the morning and gave it all day to sit on the counter and blend and blend it did- quite nicely in fact.<br /><br />I roasted broccoli, zucchini, squash, asparagus, a red, yellow, and orange bell pepper, a head of garlic cloves, and a red onion. I just chopped them all into big pieces, coated with evoo, and roasted them on 425 til they were golden sweet delicious. After allowing them to cool a bit, I prepared them to top the pizza by giving them a really good coarse chop.<br /><br />I layered the sauce, veggies, and- STOP. WHOLE MILK MOZZARELLA. The 2% part skim crap you buy in a bag is disgusting in comparison. I can't even remember when/who/how I was enlightened to only use whole milk mozz, but I am thankful for the experience. (I buy the big pack, grate it all in my food processor and freeze half) I finished topping the crust with some freshly grated aged Parmesan and into the oven it went. When it came out, I garnished with chopped scallions and of course- my homemade ranch dressing. Please see my AMB post for that recipe... it blows everyone away- and Jason and Melissa were no exception.<br /><br />For dessert, I made chocolate peanut butter swirl brownies. I really like baking, I just don't do much of it. I have a cook's mind, not a baker's, and all the exactness is just too much for me sometimes. I used a recipe from my Martha Stewart holiday magazine. It's my go to for cookies/bars, etc... the empire that is Martha has never let me down. The chocolate part was bittersweet chocolate, butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs, and flour. The peanut butter part was peanut butter, butter, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla. With Haagen Dazs, whipped cream, and some candied cashews I had in the pantry, it made for a terrific late night snack.<br /><br />The food was a hit- everything was just really super good. Melissa fretted about how much I had done until I convinced her that nothing makes me happier. I love it so much... really. Having Jason and Melissa as new fans of my cooking is also quite nice. They offered to always bring the drinks. Deal. Maybe next time we'll actually play a game.kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-80185876251479968292010-04-13T07:27:00.000-07:002011-05-08T17:15:51.386-07:00Egg it up.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZlLWmmHOP9RDhK9IJo1xuZg9qwKk5lGqX7hvgji4MzkK1bW5gRD2tki4GP7wuchVoF0vZY0354rCFzi5MVblhGH8zXEuXe41vn_F7S8ThdxRP5F91BTxxR65peSDctkO0zML383LoflSZ/s1600/IMG_2182.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZlLWmmHOP9RDhK9IJo1xuZg9qwKk5lGqX7hvgji4MzkK1bW5gRD2tki4GP7wuchVoF0vZY0354rCFzi5MVblhGH8zXEuXe41vn_F7S8ThdxRP5F91BTxxR65peSDctkO0zML383LoflSZ/s320/IMG_2182.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460388621387709330" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcGZHsuaZRK5Xmh8Y1FUjk9MR3PH0tiQiLdiiJ-gt3KIVSXjm7kotSSX1HVfO9AiVq2V9yth6197Z1O8xWFDTI6eP9u81R2K3maZfVuN5YyL-lNRj8R7HIzDZiat6w8z-RfFPhQpWtaAW/s1600/IMG_2179.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcGZHsuaZRK5Xmh8Y1FUjk9MR3PH0tiQiLdiiJ-gt3KIVSXjm7kotSSX1HVfO9AiVq2V9yth6197Z1O8xWFDTI6eP9u81R2K3maZfVuN5YyL-lNRj8R7HIzDZiat6w8z-RfFPhQpWtaAW/s320/IMG_2179.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460388619710397474" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7Z0C60ptejpqSVAc9rciLNIpe5bdguG3BM3RV_ssXU6_OgbV-CeO-BkwOR9nVolbUOfmdM9SjARrCMcKyiBx-kd5aOPP60h2hdRDgviEklTRAzk_jJDHbzZaKX7-FpWbocrZpD_7q5RE/s1600/IMG_2133.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7Z0C60ptejpqSVAc9rciLNIpe5bdguG3BM3RV_ssXU6_OgbV-CeO-BkwOR9nVolbUOfmdM9SjARrCMcKyiBx-kd5aOPP60h2hdRDgviEklTRAzk_jJDHbzZaKX7-FpWbocrZpD_7q5RE/s320/IMG_2133.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460388607373510354" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicW7zdr7WCO97Sb6MHI-WWBq4lZJS_QtAGmItV4QxlnZmR6XXhFEJU4zDyYjE3e8xfVNoGtzVJ84M-Rs2Ke6Cr4kXjftCqL9AY0jXVHx1333bDFXuOgaxlrjkWWI4G2OpCN_5T1KVsw44N/s1600/IMG_2185.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicW7zdr7WCO97Sb6MHI-WWBq4lZJS_QtAGmItV4QxlnZmR6XXhFEJU4zDyYjE3e8xfVNoGtzVJ84M-Rs2Ke6Cr4kXjftCqL9AY0jXVHx1333bDFXuOgaxlrjkWWI4G2OpCN_5T1KVsw44N/s320/IMG_2185.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460388634341266194" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipW_k7p0CnDloIldsHAilhla170N8awNNdxKDh-3ZHD4vhSxAtx7PyGnKKoBsHC6F6oEoerNiGt_sHTcLLsOjeewI9cbDqXRYYQKCWERwklvi4Can5Msh1KIK3SvFsb4VxDzC2AcWY5mVk/s1600/IMG_2186.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipW_k7p0CnDloIldsHAilhla170N8awNNdxKDh-3ZHD4vhSxAtx7PyGnKKoBsHC6F6oEoerNiGt_sHTcLLsOjeewI9cbDqXRYYQKCWERwklvi4Can5Msh1KIK3SvFsb4VxDzC2AcWY5mVk/s320/IMG_2186.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460388632602399538" border="0" /></a><br />I really enjoy eggs. I always have, but I went a good long while without eating them. I'm glad I got over that. Eggs have been a very controversial topic over the years, but it seems it has settled down. Most nutritionists say one egg per day will not elevate cholesterol- if you don't follow it with loads of other high cholesterol foods and if high cholesterol isn't a problem for you. An egg has 270mg of cholesterol and we're supposed to keep it under 300mg per day.<br /><br />When you just use the whites- which I do about half of the time- you get plenty of protein, but not much else. When you include the yolk, yes, you get cholesterol and fat, but you also get a ton (around 25% or more of your daily value) of Vitamin B6 and B12, folate, Riboflavin, Vitamins A and D, Selenium, and Phosphorus and quite a few others...<br />For more <a href="http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/111/2">go here</a>.<br /><br />I've done my research on the purchasing of eggs and feel it more than necessary to be very picky. This also tends to mean I buy the most expensive- it's more than worth it. Not only do they taste a million times better, but it is much, much more humane. I won't go into detail about why battery cages (you know, where they are all cramped and can't move) are so horrible, I enjoy writing my blog and thinking of the research I've done and what I've learned brings tears to my eyes and I'm not even actually typing it. Spend a second looking it up- The Human Society has good information. Parts of Europe have already banned battery caging. Hopefully we will follow suit.<br /><br />Cage Free isn't always cruelty free either, but it's a better bet. They can at least lay their eggs in nests and spread their wings. Know your company. I've found Organic Valley to have a very good reputation from my research. I also prefer the chickens be fed an organic vegetarian diet and I get all of that with Organic Valley. I'd eventually just like to find a farmer I can buy from directly.<br /><br />So, that said, here are some ways I prepare eggs... I'm not going to go into technique, because honestly, it's just practice and every one likes their eggs a little differently anyway. Eggs are super fun to cook- I was surprised when I heard Bobby Flay say eggs were his favorite food to cook because I really just thought it was me being sort of... I don't know- fascinated with everything? :)<br /><br />The top picture is a fried egg. I love fried eggs. Sometimes I just smash one up with a fork and put it on toast. But, I really love to put fried eggs over food. Here I put it on top a garden burger on Ezekiel bread. Romaine and Duke's brought it all together. Putting fried eggs over leftovers for breakfast is awesome. My favorite is any type of tomatoey pasta warmed up in the skillet so it gets a bit of crust... and then a fried egg on top... omg, tomato eggy pasta heaven. Try it on something you have leftover in the fridge right now- I promise, it will rock... I've never been let down and I have tried it on a lot of different foods.<br /><br />Next is an omelet. Most of the time when I make omelets or scrambles, I use like 2 whole eggs to 1 egg white. For this particular omelet, I'd sauteed jalapenos, tomatoes, and onions. I'd also crisped up some Tofurky Italian Deli slices. My daddy taught me everything I know about making omelets. And rule #1 is that you ALWAYS cook everything you put in an omelet first. He was very persistent about this rule and after having a few in restaurants where they do not follow this procedure, I more than agree on its importance. For the cheese, I used a pepper jack. They were spicy and perfect for a morning following a few margaritas.<br /><br />I will also say this about omelets. Beat the hell out of the eggs with a splash of cream or milk. You have to get some air into it and you have to have the whites and yolks come together for a nice even light yellow color. Watch some You Tube videos on the details if you are not comfortable with making omelets- they aren't hard, it's just practice and a good pan.<br /><br />Up next was a soft scramble. I follow the same prep as mentioned about omelets- the cream and the whisking is also important here. I put smoked salmon and cream cheese in this scramble and topped it with fresh scallions and lots of smoked paprika. Killer.<br /><br />The last picture is a rougher scramble. I used a smaller whole egg to egg white ratio b/c I was only cooking for myself, so it was one to one. I'd sauteed a bunch of veggies, reserving most for other uses, but leaving some in the pan for my current breakfast situation. I added in the egg and let it sit much longer than I would for a soft scramble. Once the egg browned a bit- I just like this consistency sometimes- I broke it all up and let it finish cooking. I ate rye toast slathered with Earth Balance alongside and it was heavenly.<br /><br />Eggs are just such a great food companion. There is so much you can do with eggs. So many ways to prepare them. You can put anything in a scramble, omelet, or fritatta. You can put a fried egg on whatever you'd like or just eat it alone. Hard boiled and soft boiled just make salads more dynamic and interesting- no matter what other ingredients are along for the ride. Eggs are often called the perfect food because of their vitamin and mineral makeup and because they have all 9 amino acids, but I'm not sure that's the only reason.kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188527734890621085.post-37504785385466027172010-04-08T19:50:00.000-07:002011-05-08T17:16:47.816-07:00Taco Night in 1241<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh49au62rnTtMg-55GbeSwU2YzbNV8M2SHq9EqRji-jRyz8gv_iY3wynGzMMuidPO0W5iwG04yDGz1Qc98HtEqFWrQTh1SFoVZtbIsynGDHwgLiEAihBx9q6UbU2Bst2Yx_-Q5vejTUNIL9/s1600/IMG_2163.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh49au62rnTtMg-55GbeSwU2YzbNV8M2SHq9EqRji-jRyz8gv_iY3wynGzMMuidPO0W5iwG04yDGz1Qc98HtEqFWrQTh1SFoVZtbIsynGDHwgLiEAihBx9q6UbU2Bst2Yx_-Q5vejTUNIL9/s320/IMG_2163.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457974837598700626" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvf1xnx5VYfmpQ5xa7cCWQW-g6I_a0nRgs3jumPx7INQ0yE2YFq-Z3xb-ZvoLnO-fvSKSGNVGU911N2dnUT-gMp7_LVNc3-Kas9lMuc0vL0kjRMV1zVdWXPKy8KOIHpeP_6zfc-4ZbM0ZY/s1600/IMG_2168.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvf1xnx5VYfmpQ5xa7cCWQW-g6I_a0nRgs3jumPx7INQ0yE2YFq-Z3xb-ZvoLnO-fvSKSGNVGU911N2dnUT-gMp7_LVNc3-Kas9lMuc0vL0kjRMV1zVdWXPKy8KOIHpeP_6zfc-4ZbM0ZY/s320/IMG_2168.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457974835227915442" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyHpbr49uVHetEoVJEwgk9ygmM_-ZEVqaobmPMRY9ft7tDLG15WR4k5Z1zbJyZ1d9y1xRr3fmXbUjCpSoFByY92chXAde_9k8wIlI_6QCT41kuUyXCwOKDYE69stbksNJlrPzIOrqptFTD/s1600/IMG_2171.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyHpbr49uVHetEoVJEwgk9ygmM_-ZEVqaobmPMRY9ft7tDLG15WR4k5Z1zbJyZ1d9y1xRr3fmXbUjCpSoFByY92chXAde_9k8wIlI_6QCT41kuUyXCwOKDYE69stbksNJlrPzIOrqptFTD/s320/IMG_2171.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457974829711727010" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDu7daBqXcNstemtKcGjQsEda7BHUdjjDoHLvNyP-xwi2aNJrFxGaOzc7iw458nF89LuNvucf-j2MUDdQK-TGNnR3abRWUeFoXud5c-P1TRMP4RWrXvVlAQBI4Tt38M_LONlG7YqnE8rio/s1600/IMG_2173.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDu7daBqXcNstemtKcGjQsEda7BHUdjjDoHLvNyP-xwi2aNJrFxGaOzc7iw458nF89LuNvucf-j2MUDdQK-TGNnR3abRWUeFoXud5c-P1TRMP4RWrXvVlAQBI4Tt38M_LONlG7YqnE8rio/s320/IMG_2173.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457974818167519970" border="0" /></a><br />Even though Trader Joe's is a 2 minute walk from my apartment, I don't go too often. I love it there, but it's more of a novelty grocery store vs. the place where you pick up your weekly groceries. When we go, we spend a lot (not that it's expensive!) on stuff we probably really didn't need, but is super fun to have around. I mean, I can buy some of the basics that I need there, but I inevitably end up with things like Baked Jalapeno Corn Puffs and such.<br /><br />The other day I had a huge craving for Pizza Fusion's previously mentioned roasted beet salad, so we popped in there, ordered it to go, then did some shopping at Trader Joe's while it was being prepared. This led to the discovery of their soy chorizo. I said I would make some tacos one night soon. The chorizo was sold in one large link, just like the real stuff. We wondered if removing the casing would allow it to crumble as the real stuff would...<br /><br />I started thinking about these tacos and I decided I was going to make my own corn tortillas. Could it be that hard? If I messed it up, we could always just have taco salads, right?<br /><br />I went right to the source of all that is Mexican cooking- Mr. Rick Bayless. The man is not only an amazing chef who specializes in Mexican cuisine, he is an absolute presence. Even from seeing him only on TV, you can tell you'd be better just for knowing him.<br /><br />Well, corn tortillas really were no big deal. Unless you were going to grind your own corn, and that was not what I was going to do. You only need masa flour. A tortilla press would be great, but a rolling pin would work. I have Grandma Phoebe's rolling pin, so I was ready.<br /><br />A cup of the masa flour, some water, some salt. You mix it with your hands, then divide it into 8 balls. Keeping a wet tea towel over them is crucial. You must cut a large plastic zip lock bag on 3 sides so it's like a book and you put the ball of dough in between when you roll it out. I heeded the warning: Don't even consider not using the bag. This is apparently the way it is done. Even if you use a press. After a circle is rolled out, (well, mine weren't exactly circles- the pic I'm including in the blog was honestly the best one!) it goes in a dry skillet for a minute on each side and that's IT!!! SO easy! Next time I might make them bigger, but they were sort of cute all tiny too. As I did each one, I added it to the pile I had wrapped in another wet tea towel. When I prepared everything else, I would warm them in the microwave before serving. They were tasty- way better than any I'd purchased from the store. I would be making my own from now on.<br /><br />I made some pico de gallo with exactly what is in pico de gallo. I decided to stay true to form. Mr. Bayless says this is called Salsa Mexicana and that we're the silly ones who gave it the head of the chicken name. I make salsa often, and I always find when I just stick to the simple ingredients in Salsa Mexicana I am most pleased. Yellow onion, plum tomatoes (seeds squeezed out), jalapenos, lime juice, and cilantro, and salt.<br /><br />Next up was the Soy Chorizo. I expected it would taste pretty good, and I figured I'd doctor it up to make it taste really good. I sauteed some yellow chopped onion in a good bit of evoo until they were soft, then added in the chorizo. It did crumble easily outside of the casing. I let it warm through just enough for a tasting and exclaimed, "HOLY HELL!! THIS STUFF IS FREAKING GOOD!" I may have used curse words. I made Scott try it right away. He yelled about it too. I honestly was way impressed. Other than the onions and salt I added to them, I didn't touch it. It was fantastic as it was... perfectly spiced.<br /><br />I shredded some romaine lettuce, got out the pepper jack cheese we also purchased at Trader Joe's, and sour cream. I wrapped the tortillas up in the wet tea towel and put them in the microwave for 20 seconds. They were pliable and soft and ready to be topped with lots of goodness.<br /><br />If you have a Trader Joe's near you, buy the soy chorizo, I don't care if you are fine eating the real thing- just buy it anyway. It really is crazy good. I believe I might become a more frequent Trader Joe's shopper based on this ingredient alone. If this means I buy a tub of chocolate cat shaped cookies and blue cheese frozen pizza as well, then so be it.kimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18084959583705952635noreply@blogger.com2