New recipes

I've been on a total cooking rampage lately.  Despite how limited my time has become with the start of school, I'm trying to find as many new recipes as possible.  I came across Homemade while looking through some cookbooks Amazon suggested.  It's a beautiful book full of great recipes, exactly what I look for in a cookbook.  This last week I made fondue and limoncello and both turned out beautifully.

Sundays tend to be the fancy brunch day, so yesterday, I made crepes for breakfast and considering the ample amount of leftovers, I put together a savory zucchini brie filling and had more crepes for dinner!  I altered a spinach and brie filling recipe from Culinarious and want to share.

Zucchini Brie Crepe Filling

1 large zucchini

3 tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic

1/2 yellow onion

2 tbsp flour

1 cup milk

1/2 lb brie, rind removed

salt and pepper to taste

Wash and grate zucchini and set aside.  Heat 1 Tbsp butter in a deep-sided pan and sauté the garlic and onion until onion is translucent. Add the zucchini, and stir until heated thoroughly. Remove zucchini mixture and set aside.

Using the same pan, melt the butter, then add the flour to make a paste.  Cook until bubbling being careful not to let it brown.  Pour in the milk, dissolving the paste, and stir in the cheese. Allow the cheese to melt, then add the zucchini and season with salt and pepper. If you need to thicken, dissolve a few teaspoons flour in equal part milk, and stir into the mixture.  Spoon mixture onto warm crepes and enjoy!

What we're eating this week//3

A little late in getting this put up, but (just spelled butter) better late than never!  

With my trip coming up, we're trying to keep our spending more limited, so I'm pulling out the lentils, pasta and pinto beans that have been sitting in the cupboard.  Also, we're eating lots of green salad, since I found a tub of greens for a good price.  And as you can see, there is going to be lots of yogurt eating this week :).  

How do you cut back grocery spending?

What We're Eating This Week//2

Realizing that I haven't been sharing many regular fun photos for best of the best, but the reality of the matter is, I haven't been trying very hard to take many photos.  I'll get back to it, I know I will.

I received a lot of positive feedback from my menu plan the last time I posted, so I think I'll make it a regular deal as long as I've got a menu to share.  Several people asked for recipes, but I take them out of cookbooks (shocking, I know) but I'll share some as I can.

You'll note that I don't plan for a typical Monday-Sunday.  I refuse to grocery shop on the weekends, so I shop on Monday.  We finally found a Farmer's Market that works for our location and time but it's on Thursday, so you may see the days change pretty soon.

Anyway--here's what we're eating this upcoming week!

Recipe//Avocado, Bean and Corn Salad

I've been a little absent lately.  After browsing the web so much, I begin to feel a little overwhelmed by the amount of information and great things available.  There are times when I think I don't have much to offer, that everything is a little unoriginal.  I'm not very good at coming up with ideas on my own, as I need a little creative nudge most of the time.

I've realized I'm a creative cooker, though.  Everyone knows about my lack of ability to correctly utilize a cookbook.  I love having them there, but I'm not very good at using them.  I may not come up with some crazy new recipe, but I make a lot of original dishes.  So perhaps I'm not creative outside the kitchen, but there is something about me that is unique.

Here's a delicious salad/dip recipe for your next summery event!

Avocado, Bean and Corn Salad

Ingredients

2 Avocados

1 15.5oz can Corn, drained

1 15.5oz can Black Beans, drained

2 large Tomatoes

1 small Onion

1/2 cup chopped Cilantro

5 cloves Garlic

2 Limes

1 tsp Chili Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper 

Directions

Chop avocados, tomatoes and onion and place in a medium bowl with corn, black beans and cilantro.  Mince garlic cloves and place in bowl.  Roll the limes to soften, then quarter them and squeeze over the bowl to get all the juice out of the fruit.  Add chili powder, salt and pepper and stir until well mixed.  Chill and serve either as a salad or with tortilla chips to dip.

Recipe//Cucumber Tomato Salad

I love tomatoes.  Love love love them.  I think we go through 5-10 tomatoes per week, depending on what we're eating.  Often I'm eating these tomatoes in a simple salad for lunch time, sticking them on a pizza or garnishing a green salad. 

Here is an original recipe, that actually ended up on my menu planner for the week as "Tomato salad" but I decided I wanted cucumbers with it, too.

Ingredients

2 Tomatoes

1/2 Cucumber

1/2 Sweet Onion

Dressing

1/8 cup  Plain Yogurt

1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tsp Dill Weed

1 Tsp Agave 

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Chop tomato, cucumber and onion and place in a medium bowl.  Place dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until well blended.  Add to vegetables and mix well.  Serve chilled.

What we're eating this week

I have tried meal planning in the past and I just wasn't very successful at it.  Mostly it was because I was dealing with school and work so my time was much more limited than it is now.  Lately I've noticed that the way I used to shop and cook (buy a variety of produce, grains and proteins and figure it out as the week went along) just wasn't working out.  I found a lot of excuses to not cook and sometimes we would be doing things like eating green beans every day for a week.

So this week, there is a little kitchen reform going on.  I'm actually planning it all out.  I don't plan lunches because those always consist of leftovers.

How do you plan your meals?  Do you plan them or just go with it?

Pizza Friday //3// + Pesto Recipe

Yesterday was pizza night, as you all probably know from here and here.  I've been on the hunt for a really good pizza crust recipe and have had no luck for months--until last night!  After going to CPK, I realized that their pizza crust was what I was looking for.  Something thin, but not like a cracker and also not for a gigantic pizza.  I googled CPK pizza crust recipe and got exactly what I needed.  The end result was perfect.

I also wanted to try my hand at making pesto, since I have that lovely basil plant in the backyard, but didn't have any parmesan.  I did, however, have a ton of feta, so I did a little pesto research and came up with a recipe of my own that I think worked out pretty well.  The end result pizza was pesto, a sprinkle of mozzarella, mushrooms, spinach and avocado--a total success, in my opinion.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feta Pesto
For approximately one cup pesto

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups rinsed basil, tightly packed
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup feta
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 - 1 tsp sea salt*
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions

Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and purée until smooth.  Enjoy immediately or store in an airtight container for one week.

*note: Feta is already quite salty, so take it easy on the salt.  If you are particularly salt sensitive, I suggest you either start with 1/2 teaspoon or none at all and go from there.  Nothing is worse than too much salt ruining a recipe.

In my kitchen

Banana chocolate chip bread. 

Mushroom soup recipe.

The refrigerator pickles are ready to eat.

California scramble.

After recovering from being sick, I've been getting back into the swing of things around the house, which includes cooking and baking again.  I didn't really cook anything for a week, but instead found whatever might sound good if I just heated it up or didn't eat at all.  Leftover ice cream from Erik's birthday tended to be my food of choice.  


But sometimes I still like an easy food, especially for breakfast.  Here's an original recipe for a delicious, protein-dense morning bite to eat.  Serve with a side of fruit for a well-rounded start to the day.


California Scramble


Ingredients
2 eggs
1/8 of an avocado, chopped
1/2 large tomato, chopped
1/8 cup feta, crumbled
Salt and pepper to taste


Heat greased skillet on medium heat.  Add eggs and scramble in pan.  When eggs are just about cooked so they still are a little liquidy, add avocado, tomato and feta.  Mix in with the eggs and cook for 30 seconds - 1 minute longer, depending on how cooked you like your scrambled eggs to be.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

From scratch

My week has already started off incredibly productive.  One of my favorite things about the move is all the time I finally have to explore cooking and making as much as I can from scratch.  I've already shared a few things, but this week is the week when things are really getting serious.  

Cheese.

Pickles.

Yogurt.

Ice cream.

Strawberry jam.

Birthday cake.

Ant killer.

Dryer sheets.

The list is a little intimidating, but yesterday I tackled four of these things.  It's only Tuesday!  The cheese did not turn out well, so I will have to try again.  But three out four successes isn't too bad.

Here are a few photos from my adventures.

English muffins

Yesterday, I made a nice big batch of english muffins.  Erik usually eats bagels for breakfast, but this is something I can make and it's a little less calorie dense.  

It took me a while to find a good recipe.  My More-With-Less is missing, which is where I usually get the recipe and out of all the other cookbooks I have, there wasn't a single english muffin recipe in any one.  The recipe below is inspired by one from All Recipes that I adapted to my own likes.

English Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons white sugar + 1/2 teaspoon
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1/4 cup melted shortening
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in 2 teaspoons sugar, stirring until dissolved. Let cool until lukewarm. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water with 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine the milk, yeast mixture, shortening and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add salt and rest of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead 6-8 minutes. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size.
3. Punch down. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with biscuit cutter, drinking glass, or empty tuna can. Sprinkle waxed paper with cornmeal and set the rounds on this to rise. Dust tops of muffins with cornmeal also. Cover and let rise 1/2 hour.
4. Heat greased griddle. Carefully place english muffins on griddle 2-4 at a time, depending on griddle size.  Cook muffins on griddle about 10 minutes on each side on medium-low to medium heat.  You want to make sure the inside gets cooked, as well as the outside so slow cooking is best. Keep baked muffins in a warm oven until all have been cooked. Allow to cool and place in plastic bags for storage. Split and toast when ready to eat.

Simple Joys

I created this card to send off to a set of grandparents on Erik's side of the family.  We received a card from them last week and thought they might enjoy a return card.  I'm also trying to send out more cards and letters, so I rotate around to who gets a little "thinking of you" card or note.  

I love this stamp.  The saying pretty much sums up how I'm attempting to live life.  Here is one simple joy.

I made a zucchini and goat cheese frittata from a recipe in Sophie Dahl's book and we also enjoyed a little fruit salad made up of pears and strawberries.  Of course, a full french press of coffee was in attendance.

In my haste to get moving on the food before it got too cold, the photos got a little hazy, but I still love the look.  How can one deny the beautiful simplicity of this meal?  I truly enjoyed it.

Voluptuous Yummies

First, I want to make sure that everyone knows that these opinions are entirely my own and I purchased this book myself, with my own money.  I am not getting paid for this review.

I wrote spoke wrote briefly yesterday on Sophie Dahl's book Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights

but by the end of the day, there was so much to be felt and said about such a beautiful, quaint little cookbook.  So I go on, to share with you how this book affected me.

Sophie writes much of her own journey at finding a happy medium, enjoying food while not overindulging.  She is a semi-vegetarian, so her recipes are not meat-focused.  Organized by season, her recipes are simple, but have a decadent feel and are written with me precisely in mind, for I am not a good recipe follower.  I do not measure oil to sauté vegetables in so someone who uses the word "glug" to describe how much oil to use is suddenly my one true love.  The photos make me want to cook absolutely everything and her delightful way of writing makes me want to cook even more.  And, can I just say that with a title using the word "voluptuous" how can I not want to have it in my home?

When I was a very young girl, I wasn't quite sure how aware of one's eating I must be.  We often discussed "health foods" and that we should be eating skim milk and whatnot, but I don't really remember ever thinking that I should eat less.  Perhaps it was due to the many people in my family, but I always felt that if I like something, I had to eat as much of it as possible because it very well might be the last bite I had of that tasty bit of food.  This wasn't because there was a lack of food, just that there were many mouths who also enjoyed whatever I did, too.  The first time I realized there might be an issue was not when I tried on the women's size 12 jeans.  No, it was when I realized that all the other girls were far more petite than I was.  With the childbearing hips of a 30 year old woman (I mean no offense if you were to fit into that category), I was at the most awkward stage of 12.  

Once this realization hit me, I decided that perhaps it was time to go on a "diet."  I wanted to look better and try to fit in, for fitting in is my all-time favorite pastime.  For about a month or two I followed a little exchange diet that my mom had started up and felt pretty good about myself.  I'm not quite sure if I can remember where that got me, but it wasn't a bad experience.  If nothing else it taught me to pay attention to what I was eating.

And then I got a babysitting job, that was after my choir class.  I would walk every day for about 45 minutes to get there, pick up my young charge from preschool and walk us back to his home.  Suddenly, I dropped down to a size 4 and felt insanely excellent about my body size for the first time in years.

I've had many rocky ups and downs with my size, and how I feel about it.  As a once vegan for several years, I am very good at following strict rules.  Black and white serves me very well, it's the grey parts that become an issue.  For someone who studies Nutrition (nutritionists believe that moderation is the key to success), I'm not talented in the ways of "a little bit of everything."  When I first read French Women Don't Get Fat
I fell in love with the idea of enjoying little bits of things amongst a healthy dose of other good for you foods.  But I didn't know how to deal with this new-found freedom.  I overindulged and with the stress of a science degree, moving more than once, a wedding and other various life changes, the pounds just easily came on.  With a no-holds-bar outlook on food, I could eat anything!  But I was miserable.

Every since moving to Hawaii, I have slowly worked towards finding a middle ground through every area of my life, especially when it comes to food.  Losing weight has been a part of that journey, and not through some crazy diet with super restrictions.  No, it's been through eating some things now and some things a week from now.  It's been through smaller amounts and knowing that there will be some of it left if I want more later.

Miss Dahl's book rings true with me, and inspires me to cook beautifully and with an eye on moderation and no thought to cracking the dietary whip.  Such a delight.

A new kind of burger

Sometimes, it's really hard for a vegetarian to go "out" to eat.  Most of the time it's not bad at all but I'm often left with no option but the veggie burger.

That dreaded veggie burger.

It's not that they're always bad, but sometimes they get old.  And it's almost always a plain garden burger.  I like things that aren't pretending to be some weird version of meat, but rather something all it's own.

These burgers made up our dinner last night and even threw in some homemade hamburger buns.  It was a very domestic day :).  I had them for the first time at a friends' house and they were so delightful that I requested the recipe.  I would probably call them more of a lentil patty, just to get that whole hamburger expectation out of the way.  I've made them several times and tweaked the recipe just a tad to my own liking.

I'll share the recipe just so you can try it out! 

Palouse Burger

¾ cup dry lentils, well rinsed

2 1/2 cups water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 medium carrot, diced (we grated it)

2 teaspoons dried herb of choice

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon soy sauce, optional

3/4 cup rolled oats

3/4 bread crumbs

Place the lentils, water, and salt ion a saucepan, bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes until water is nearly gone and lentils are very soft with splitting skins.  Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine.  Sauté the onion and carrot in oil until soft, about five minutes.  Mix the lentils, onions, carrots, pepper, herb, and optional soy sauce in the large bowl, then mix in ½ cup ground oats and bread crumbs.  If it seems too mushy, add the last ¼ cup oats.

While still warm, form the lentil mixture into patties.  To cook, heat a bit of oil in a frying pan, place a burger on top, and fry until brown, 1-2 minutes.  Repeat on other side and serve.

ENJOY!

  

Pizza Friday #2

Pizza Friday has been successful so far.  Last week I made a mixed mushroom pizza from the Vegetarian Bible, a cookbook full of honestly good vegetable recipes my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas one year.

The recipe called for curd cheese, which I think actually meant quark.  Quark is something I tried in Germany, a little like sour cream or cream cheese.  There isn't a true equivalent in the U.S. so you have to go to a specialty store (i.e. health food store) and I just wasn't willing to do that last week so cream cheese it was.  

I also had a good opportunity to use my oregano plant for the sauce!  I was such a happy camper out there clipping away a few sprigs.  How nice to be able to use your own fresh herbs that you've been growing yourself.  Herb gardens are something I would definitely suggest to anyone.

Have a fabulous Thursday!

Pizza Friday's

What is it about Friday's that just scream pizza?  I know growing up we often had our pizza day on Friday, and lots of other people do the same thing.  Perhaps it's a celebration of the weekend, to feel good about all the hard work we did during the week.  Whatever it may be, I am happy to make it tradition in our home.

The recipe I chose was Basil Tomato Pizza from the "Mennonite Girls Can Cook" cookbook, a bridal shower gift from my aunt (the baking stone I used was from her too :) ).  I was actually able to find the recipe on their blog, so now you can try the recipe out if you would like!

First, the pizza dough recipe is great!  It makes enough for two medium pizzas, so I put half the dough in the freezer for next week.  Adding a cup of whole wheat flour gives the dough a little more "health" so you're not eating only refined flour.  I also didn't let it rise quite so long (20 minutes) so the dough would be a little thinner.  

It's a white sauce based pizza instead of tomato sauce.  Erik and I don't like tomato sauce pizza as much as a white sauce, so I was happy to try this recipe out even though white sauce means far more calories (it's the weekend!).  There is a lot of chopped fresh basil and garlic, making the sauce more than just something to stick the toppings to.  It becomes a topping!  The only odd part about the sauce is the use of mayo.  I used Veganaisse, a vegan mayo substitute--I still maintain a lot of the habits I picked up over the years I was vegan.  

The rest of the pizza is loads of tomatoes and cheese.  I found some fresh mozzarella on discount because it was going to expire in a few days.  If you ever use fresh mozzarella, try to dry it a little beforehand.  It's full of liquid and will make a huge mess when you're baking the pizza.

All in all, this was a great recipe and will probably do some variation of it again in the future.

Any pizza or other food traditions in your home?

Week in review

Here are some of my favorite random photo moments that couldn't each make up the subject of a blog post, but are great things about this week.

1.  Husband and I went for a long walk last night and these beautiful flowers were all over the place!  I just had to pick a few up and put them in a bowl full of water for the coffee table.  

2.  This was probably my favorite outfit of the week, but I had a hard time getting any good pictures.  I'm trying to work with outside, but the lighting.... it's an issue, to say the least.  But now you can see my backyard!

What I'm wearing:

Dress: Shabby Apple

Top: Urban Outfitters

Belt: Ruche

Shoes: Payless

3.  My cucumber plants (from seed, mind you) are what I'm most proud of growing right now.  It's totally doing what it's supposed to do!  I've never had something from seed grow so well before.  I cannot wait for some fresh cucumbers.. Mmmm.

4.  Best lunch.  A little bosc pear, sheep brie, rosemary baguette slices and (of course) a bit o' coffee.  No, I'm most certainly not eating off a yogurt lid..  Again.

5.  Even though this tomato plant already had some baby tomatoes on it when I purchased it, I'm pretty proud to see I haven't killed them yet.  And there are even more buds all over!  Tomatoes are probably the best thing in the "vegetable" section (I won't call them fruit today) and taste better when fresh from the garden instead of from the supermarket.

Happy Friday!

One skillet meal

Considering the fact that I'll be without decent kitchen supplies for another week, I wanted to post some "cooking a meal from one skillet and putting it into a bowl" pictures.

I usually sauté the most tough vegetable first, in this case, the potatoes.  Once I finished with that, I split those potatoes into two bowls.

Chopped up a leek and some cabbage, which were both nearing expiration dates and cooked those.

Nothing like a tablespoon or two of bleu cheese dressing to add just the tiniest bit of flavor and make it feel a little "creamy."

For dessert, a bosc pear with a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of feta.  Since we don't have plates, washed yogurt lids are a great substitute.

We eat outside every day--it's where are only table is located!  Happy Friday :).