Bountiful Baskets

We woke up bright and early this Saturday morning to go and pick up our first ever bountiful basket. 

We had no idea what to expect, but we were surprised by the length of the line waiting to pick up their produce. I think there were more people because they were offering a flat of strawberries for $11.

Since it was our first time, we had to pay a small ($3.50) fee so our total came out to $19.50, but from now on it'll be $15.

We got:

3 bunches of broccoli

about 1.5 lbs string beans

1 pineapple

strawberries

1 mango

1 baby watermelon

4 tomatoes

2 cucumbers

3 lbs of apples

green cauliflower

6 bananas

Not a bad deal for $15!

Food Fridays: Brownies

Am I the only one that makes things from scratch simply so I can justify wearing a cute apron?

Last night I made brownies, and couldn't help but be giddy over the fact that this will probably be our family's go to brownie recipe. The one I'll make the kiddos for Sunday desserts.

They turned out chewy, moist, crunchy (but not hard) and just super.

- 1 stick butter (8 tbsp)

- 1/2 C. brown sugar

- 1 C white sugar

- 2 Large Eggs

- 3/4 C flour

- 1/2 C cocoa

- pinch salt

-generous tbsp vanilla

Melt butter. Add sugars. Add Eggs, flour, cocoa, salt and vanilla , mix the hecka out of it. Grease pan or use parchment paper. Bake 20-25 min at 390 degrees in an 8" square baking dish.

The original recipe says to let it cool for an hour - overnight, I'm amending that to say, eat rapidly as soon as your mouth can stand the heat.

Greek Yogurt "Aoili"

In the middle of nowhere, (you know the one located in the Columbia River Gorge on the Washington side?) There is a little town called Bingen and in that little town there is the most amazing pizza (ahem, all local ingredient, brick oven, sustainable pizza) place I have ever been to, The Solstice Wood Fire Cafe.

Aside from the amazing, and unique pizza offerings, they have wonderful bread and side dishes--seasonally offered. One summer when I found myself in the cafe's cozy grasps, I ordered the seasonal veggies with aioli. 

I had never heard of aioli, so I asked my waitress who all but made it in front of me to give me the details of what is in it. In short, it's a fancy mayonnaise. But, oh buddy, does it taste goood.

(Un)fortunately, Russ and I are on our whole better-eating-as-a-lifestyle-not-a-diet...life...and so huge globs of mayonnaise (fancy as they may be) aren't really friendly for a veggie topper.

So! Tonight, I whipped up a little healthier version to accompany dinner (slow roasted cherry tomatoes and basil, with lemon chicken and couscous--much easier than it sounds!)

The trick is to use greek yogurt instead of mayo.

Greek Yogurt Aioli

(These measurements are pretty rough, play with it and the herbs to suit your taste)

2 tbs Plain Greek Yogurt

1/2 tbs Lemon Juice

2 Tbs Olive Oil

1 1/2 tsp smashed garlic

1 giant leaf minced basil

salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything into a little bowl, whisk, whisk, whisk, end up with a slightly runny concoction and pour over any assortment of veggies or vegetable thick dishes. Also makes a great salad dressing

....and let's be honest, anything fancy sounding that is super easy and delicious? 

For the win. 

If you are curious about a traditional Aioli Recipe, you can find the one pictured below, here.

My favorite bread recipe

I love baking bread. 

Yea, you read that right. 

I LOVE it. 

I began baking bread about 2 years ago and now I go through phases where I have two fresh loaves every week (or as needed).

The recipe I use makes two loaves, and since I'm a firm believer that home baked bread is best during the first two days, I'll often give away my second loaf so I have an excuse to bake more fresh bread during the week. (and, let's be honest, so I don't eat two loaves of bread to myself in a week)

Without further ado, here is my (still adapting) go to bread recipe:

2 cups warm water 

(110 degrees, or if you don't have a thermometer, I just make sure the water is a little warm to the touch, not hot or you will kill the yeast)

1/3 c sugar (I have also used honey here)

1 1/2 tbs dry yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1/3 cup ground flax seed

5 2/3 cup bread flour (I prefer wheat)

(this recipe will not work as is with regular flour)

1. In a large bowl dissolve sugar into water until the water is almost clear. Add the yeast and let proof until creamy and foamy looking (I usually set a timer for 7 minutes so I'm not tempted to stir or mess with it before it's ready).

2. Mix salt and oil into yeast. Mix in flour and flax in one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. 

(fun fact, the act of kneading bread actually activates the gluten in the flour and causes it to form elastic web looking patterns that hold air and make your bread wonderfully fluffy, so the more air, the fluffier your bread, hence the saying "the more you love your family the more you knead your bread")

3. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a warm damp cloth and let rise until doubled or 1 hour.

4. Punch down the dough, knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves and place in two oiled (I flour the bottoms after an unfortunate sticking incident) bread pans and let rise until 1 inch above the bread pan (at least a half hour)

bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

I like to cut little designs into the tops of my loaves so when I take them out of the oven, not only does my house smell like warm, yummy, bread but I feel extra fancy too. (Google image search if you need ideas)

If your bread isn't rising, your kitchen may be too cold; try turning on your oven and setting the bread on top of the burners (not above the one that exhausts heat from the oven itself, if your oven features this)

An interesting thing about this (if you don't use honey) the bread is technically vegan!

Whatcha cookin: Cilantro Lime Rice

In case you were wondering about the rice recipe I used on Valentines Day

Here it is!

Cilantro Lime Rice:

1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice

1 teaspoon butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 (15 ounce) can vegetable broth

1 cup water

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

4 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

directions:

In a a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 2 teaspoons of lime juice, broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, sugar, and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice. Serve warm.

thanks: Two Peas, for the recipe

Friday's Feedings

While walking down the frozen food isle at the grocery store, singing and maybe doing an awkward I-forget-I'm-surrounded-by-people dance I made eye contact with a woman I had just talked to about greek yogurt and she realized, before I did, that I was an awkward fool.

 In my new-found embarrassment I turned to the nearest freezer and began intently looking for something to save me. Brussels sprouts! Good enough! I threw them in my cart, smiled (again awkwardly, what is wrong with me?) and went on my way. 

When I got home and was putting everything away I picked up the sprouts and realized, I don't cook Brussels sprouts. oy. Lucky enough, there was a Brussels sprout recipe involving things in my cupboard:

Cauliflower and Brussels Sprout Gratin

Adapted from Ina Garten from Barefoot In Paris

3/4 head of cauliflower, cut into large florets

3/4 lb of brussels sprouts, trimmed, and quartered lengthwise through core

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups hot milk

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

a pinch of grated nutmeg

3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese, divided

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare a large bowl filled with ice water and ice.  Cook the cauliflower florets in a large pot of boiling salted water for 5 to 6 minutes, until tender but still firm. Drain. Throw the cooked cauliflower into the bowl of ice water to stop them from cooking any further.  Bring the pot back up to a boil and put in the quartered brussels sprouts and cook for 3-4 minutes.  The cauliflower should be completely cooled.  Drain them and set aside. After the brussels sprouts are done, throw them in the bowl of ice water and ice.

Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture and stir until it comes to a boil. Boil, whisking constantly, for 1 minute, or until thickened. Off the heat, add 1 teaspoon of salt, the pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup of the Gruyere, and the Parmesan.

Pour 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom of an 8 by 11 by 2-inch baking dish. Place the drained cauliflower and brussels sprouts on top and then spread the rest of the sauce evenly on top. Combine the bread crumbs with the remaining 1/4 cup of Gruyere and sprinkle on top. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over the gratin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is browned.

recipe adaptation found here.

Hey Good Lookin, Watcha got cookin...

Tonight's dinner recipe was a throw and go. 

I was on my way back from a decent sized fabric haul (pictures to come) when I realized I was hungry. 

Nay, STARVING!

I called the hubs and asked if he could put some noodles on to boil, and I would figure the rest out when I got home.

Here is what was thrown together (it ended up pretty darn good actually)

Cheesy Artichoke Heart Penne

2 cups Penne pasta (or whatever)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tbs butter

1 tbs dry parsley

salt/pepper

1/2 jar artichoke hearts - Roughly chopped

2 wedges of a melt-able cheese 

(like laughing cow, etc. I used Sonoma Jacks Parmesan peppercorn light cheese wedges)

1 tbs minced garlic (mmm garlic)

Cook the pasta up, strain it and put it back in the pot. Pour the olive oil over it and throw in the parsley and garlic (side note/rant: I use a lot of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but contrary to the annoyance that is Rachel Ray, I will NEVER refer to it is EVOO. Gag me!) and get the noodles all nice and coated, add butter and cheese while the noodles are still hot and stir/fold until melted. Salt and pepper that bad boy and add in the artichoke hearts.

Super easy, fairly healthy for a cheesy/creamy pasta. It would also be really good with some chicken, but I was being a lazy bum. We are vegetarians when we are lazy.

Quinoa; its whats for dinner

QUINOA CORN CHOWDER!


2 cups water
2cups milk
1/4 cup quinoa
1 tsp salt

1/2 cup potato, cubed
dash black pepper
2 tbs carrot, diced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup onion, chopped
butter

1 ½ cups corn (fresh, frozen or canned)  

Simmer quinoa, potato, carrot and onion until tender (about 15 minutes). Add corn. Bring back to boil and simmer another 5 minutes. Add milk. Bring just to a boil. Season to taste. Garnish with parsley and dab of butter. Serves 4-6. 

Or, if you are like me and completely space that you don't have corn, you can just substitute it for some mixed vegetables. Also, if you are like me, don't forget to put the 2 cups of milk in otherwise the quinoa will start to burn to the bottom of the pan. Oops.

Whisking the night away...

Sunday, we got together with some friends for some good company and football.

As we hustled home from church to get something whipped up to bring to the shindig, the only things I could find in our cupboard were along the line of dried beans, jello, pesto sauce and a cake mix.

I quickly remembered a fast cake mix cookie recipe (1 box of cake mix, two eggs, 1/2 cup oil BAM)
and threw that together.

Unfortunately I suffer from "oh, these didn't take very much effort?" / "oh, so you didn't make these from scratch? hmm and you're a wife you say?" fears. Yea, unrealistic/lamesauce, I know this.

Que the jello, I figured somehow, somewhere, someone had to have come up with a frosting recipe with jello. As always, I was right.

Combine 1 pckg Jello
(select a flavor that best pleases your palate, as the recipe says)
2/3 c sugar (yeaaa)
1 egg white (that's healthy, right?)
and
1 tsp vanilla.

Stir until combined and then add in 1/2 c boiling water.

....

Here is where I must suggest a caution.
If you do not have a blender, beater, mixer, overly-obliging/buff husband with mad whisking skills :

... You may want to splurge on a canned frosting.

We took turns whisking the high-heavens out of this concoction for 7 minutes. I do realize this doesn't sound like a long time; but, oh... trust me. It was.

Our arms were so pumped, and it didn't even get fluffy! So we ended up just drizzling it over the top more like an icing than a frosting. Which left us with over half of the bowl left.

Who knew baking could be so intense?

Alligator Pears

Our local grocery store is having a sale on avocados 

(2 for $1, yea that's dirt cheap for around these parts)

Which lead to us eating guacamole sandwiches at the Cohen's house after playing tennis this morning. 

Which then lead to us picking up some avocados from the store.

Which lead to an amazing discovery ...

(although this is probably already widely known...)

Avocados are DELICIOUS with pesto.

We made some garden pasta, threw in some chicken, pesto and a diced up avocados.

Heavenly.

Did I just put honey on that?...

Successful last minute dinner was had by all (except Jebby, he just ate cat food) 

within 15 minutes of starting. 

Granted, it was just a salad.

But the chicken was good!

I wasn't sure what to make for dinner, so I peeked into my spice cabinet and in the back noticed a bottle of balsamic vinegar that I had bought to roast some cauliflower and Parmesan with. 

I decided to try my luck and popped on over to the computer and googled "balsamic chicken" I found several kosher/vegan/crazy expensive recipes and then stumbled upon one that I felt I could reduce down enough to just throw in the pan and serve with a spring salad mix.

So if you ever find yourself with balsamic vinegar and chicken, throw some along with olive oil and rough cut garlic into a pan sprinkle with salt and pepper then give a quick swirl of honey. I slapped a raspberry-walnut dressing (my favorite) and some Jalapeno cheddar crackers on the side and ended up with:

Two full bellies 

a happy husband

 minimal clean-up (which husband volunteered for anyway because I've been a grump) 

and a chicken dish that tastes similar to a lighter teriyaki 

So glad I put my 'I-really-don't-feel-like-cooking-but-we-have-to-eat' lazy frozen skillet dinner back in the freezer and tried my luck. 

What in-a-pinch recipes have you come up with?

Good Food (poor pictures)

 For FHE on Monday, we sat down and talked about ways that we can be healthier, not just to lose weight, but to establish a better lifestyle that we can solidify before we have kids.

We made a couple small goals like; drink enough water, watch our salt intake, exercise more and learn more about the things we eat.

Here are a couple of the things we came up with, food-wise.

Monday, we made some killer carrot/onion/ginger soup in the crock pot:

Grand total for the entire crock pot full of soup: 

600 calories for Four servings!

We then re-used the left over soup in a small stew with a mixed green salad.

We are big fans of spinach and mixed greens (and sprouts! We put them on everything)

Total dinner calories with crackers: 550

 Today, we polished off the rest of our salad with some tomato-basil feta cheese, raspberry walnut vinaigrette

a cup of milk and a slice of wheat bread:

Calorie total: 414

We have found the trick to eating (and really enjoying) salads is to make good ones! None of that empty ice burg lettuce or fake cheese shreds!

We have also been using this website to keep track of things like our food, activity, and water intake.  It gives us a better idea of what we are (or aren't) doing for our bodies when we eat what we do and live like we do.

The fun thing about it, is it gives you a letter grade at the end of the day and several different charts and graphs and little goals to keep you motivated. We also downloaded the app on our phones for the site which links our free accounts.

We've been having fun with it, now everyday planning out meals is like a puzzle to figure out which pieces need to go together (and taste good!) to get us our daily recommended amounts of carbs, proteins, vitamins and minerals etc, all while staying under the recommended amounts of fats, sodium and other such stuff! Its great because we aren't on a diet, we are just eating healthier!

If you have any cheap, easy, healthy meals you like to make, let us know!