recipes – Page 4 – Peaceful Reader

What's up?

Boy did May fly by or what? I cannot believe the last time I posted we were in Green Bay, WI. Since that wonderful trip we’ve had many graduation open houses (lots of food), baby showers (more food), and two weddings (more food and drink). For all this extra food and drink one might hope I’d done extra yoga. Sadly no. I’m too tired from all that extra food and drink and over scheduling.

I hosted book club two weeks ago, in fact the day after we returned from Green Bay. I like to host book club with something special and this time in connection with our book, The Snow Child, I made adult snow cones. If you’ve read this book you know the two mothers in the book often relax together with some homemade hootch and I replicated that idea with my own. I took a little from several different online recipes, waded through many snow cone pins and came up with a basil-infused simple syrup, mixed with a lemon-lime vodka and a twist of raspberry puree mix to give it a two-toned affect. Groovy Girl churned snow from ice cubes in a borrowed snow cone maker and I layered the mixture over. We had about six or seven pre-made drinks served in martini glasses and waiting in the freezer for the guests to arrive. This made it easy to hand them out as people shed their coats. We’d also stock piled some extra “snow” so all I had to do was pour over the lemon-lime mixture and the fruit puree.

{source}

I did not take any pictures although I should have. The book club members said they liked them and asked for more. We had a great time discussing this book as we sipped our icy drinks. We all liked the fairy tale quality mixed with the harsh background of 1930″s Alaska. I look forward to more from Eowyn Ivey. According to Good Reads she has another book in the works, something to do with wolves. I hope that is another fairy tale connection.

{King Arthur Flour}

I also hosted the first annual Memorial Day waffle breakfast for my friends Rocky and Mary Kay. The greatest part of hosting a casual brunch is that I stayed in my red plaid flannel pajamas for pretty much the whole day. I’m not one to wear my comfy’s all over town EVER but on a day off from school it just felt right. The waffles were delicious. My kids are little foodies when it comes to waffle or pancake toppings. The middle of the table was filled with fresh whipped cream, syrup, my Pampered Chef sprinkler filled with powdered sugar, peanut butter, TJ’s chocolate almond spread, a cinnamon shaker, and a bowl of sliced, fresh strawberries with just a little bit of sugar sprinkled on top. Oh, the possibilities were endless and you needed to have more than one waffle to try new combinations. The perfect a accompaniment was our white wine and orange juice mimosas served in new glasses, a gift from MK.

So we’ve been doing a lot of eating around here. I have a hard core yoga boot camp planned for this week to counterattack. Now that I’m technically done with school I can focus on other projects for a bit. {jumping up and down mentally for the end of this school year}

After The Snow Child I read the ARC of The Real Boy by Anne Ursu (loved it) and Defending Jacob by William Landry (excellent mystery!) -all reviews to come. My summer plan includes more reading mixed with my yoga boot camp.

Happy June!

Weekend Cooking; Will the real meat please stand up…

Last night as I made this recipe pulled from the pages of the May 2013 Food Network Magazine I pondered the life cycle of meat in recent history. My mom is a major carnivore and like many moms of the 70’s most of her meals centered around meat. As I gently folded the onions, celery, eggs, and breadcrumbs into the ground meat I contemplated the meat we ate growing up, which made me ponder how the industry has changed and morphed it into something dirty. Raising cattle on a farm is no longer how we get the meat that sits in the grocery store case for purchase.

I paid $5.00 a pound for the meat I was now kneading; organic local farm raised beef but I know back in the day organic wasn’t available and my mom probably bought it straight from the meat counter at our local Piggly Wiggly. I believe it was real meat back then; no feedlot, no pink slime, no ammonia baths, no canibal cows, just happy bovines out there in the field. Cows were given antibiotics when they were sick not to combat every day life in the feedlot. Yes, they still went to a slaughter house (horrible in itself) but we didn’t “cleanse” the meat of E-coli or salmonella because it wasn’t dirty. We dirtied the meat when fast food needed massive pounds of meat to be sold at super low prices. Since then all they’ve done is continue to dirty it to make more money for our faster lifestyle like this “miracle decision” by BPI owner Eldon N. Roth to use previously unusable beef drippings, clean them using ammonia gas, and add them in as a filler to hamburger all over the country:

“The company says its processed beef, a mashlike substance frozen into blocks or chips, is used in a majority of the hamburger sold nationwide. But it has remained little known outside industry and government circles. Federal officials agreed to the company’s request that the ammonia be classified as a “processing agent” and not an ingredient that would be listed on labels.” (NY Times)

It is time for everyone to understand more about your food. It is worth it to buy from a local farmer to get real meat, to find real food. Our long term health and well-being is at risk if we don’t pay attention.

Ways to get informed:

NY Times article about ammonia gassed meat from Beef Products Inc. (BPI).
Lunch Wars by Amy Kalafa
Super Size Me by Morgan Spurlock
Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution video about ammonia washing
The Truth about Food by Robert Kenner video on Lip

Okay now that I’ve scared the crap out of you or informed you, however you want to look at it I have a recipe to share. This meatloaf recipe comes from the Fun Cooking; Kids’ Meal

Turkey Meatloaf TV Dinner
(adapted)

1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
1 small onion, grated
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup organic ketchup
1 T chopped fresh parsley
kosher salt and ground pepper
2 tsp soy sauce/tamari sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1. Make the meatloaf; preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray (I make my own from a mister). Put the turkey, onion, breadcrumbs, celery, egg, 2 T ketchup, parsley, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste in bowl. Mix with your hands until just combined, then transfer to loaf pan.

2. Combine remaining ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce in a small bowl; spread two T. of this mixture over the meatloaf. Bake until the top begins to brown, about 30 minutes, then spread the remaining mixture over the top again and continue to bake for 15-20 more minutes. Thermometer will register 165 degrees when finished.

The article pairs this with mashed potatoes and peas; I did a scalloped potato recipe and broccoli. It was all good. Also I cannot find good turkey meat so I used ground beef but it was good quality. Use what you have, love what you make. Be present.

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking from Beth Fish Reads. Click her link to find many other joyful posts about the wonders of food.

Weekend Cooking; A little of this, A little of that…

(chickpea mixture)

It’s been a crazy week here what with the book fair which meant two late conference nights at school. I’ve survived though and did have the gift of Friday off to recover. For two weeks I’ve worked on one recipe though which is pretty much too long of a turn around time for me. When I ordered magazines this year for school I ordered two family friendly magazines; Family Fun and Kiwi. Family Fun is more geared toward crafting and is quite popular with students. Myself, I LOVE Kiwi magazine though but probably won’t order it again for the library. It is really more of a serious organic parenting magazine; great for me, not so great for students as they don’t need to read articles about best methods for breast feeding! I had to cut that article out censoring myself.

(moist but no tails)

While browsing through the February/March Kiwi, before I defaced it, I found this article, a better burger by Caroline Shannon-Karasik with detailed directions on sprouting chickpeas to make a delicious veggie burger. We’ve sprouted other seeds and nuts so I thought chickpeas would be no big deal. That was two weeks ago. I started them the night of Groovy Girl’s sleepover when we made the snow ice cream and watched the Oscars. I laid them out and kept them moist and those little garbanzos still took their sweet time. At the beginning of this week we noticed tails sprouting out. Hallelujah!

Here’s the recipe:

Sprouted Chickpea vegetable burgers
adapted from Kiwi Feb/March issue

1 cup sprouted chickpeas
6-10 fresh basil leaves
1 large farm fresh egg
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced finely
1 stalk celery, diced finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T flat leaf parsely, chopped
1/4 whole wheat breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp sea salt
Dash of ground black pepper
1 T olive oil
4 whole grain fresh buns
mayo, ketchup, lettuce, or any other burger toppings.
We had lettuce, tomato, and TJ’s wasabi mayo.

Many of their recipes give hands-on directions for parents and children to do together. Great idea but I’m going to simplify that for space and time. Just know this is a great recipe to have little hands to help.

Fill a steamer pot with an inch of water and steam sprouted peas for 10 minutes or until tender. While the chickpeas steam carefully pull basil leaves off the stems and roughly chop the leaves. Place cooled chickpeas into food processor with egg. (after processing chickpea mixture I added another medium sized egg-it just seemed like it needed it for moisture). Use a spatula to scrape the mixture into a medium bowl. Add the basil, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, and parsley to the chickpea mixture. Then add breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper. Stir all ingredients until well-combined.

Take a palm-sized handful in your clean hands and work it into a flat, circular patty. Place it on a plate and repeat to make 3 more burgers. Pour olive oil (I used coconut oil) into skillet and place over medium heat. Add the patties, cooking about 5-6 minutes on each side. Carefully remove the patties and place on whole grain bun.

Sounds easy, right? Hmm maybe, except my burgers didn’t not stay together very well in my skillet. It helped once they started cooking. While I know there are added health benefits from eating sprouted beans that step made the recipe too difficult. Next time I would cook the chickpeas making them softer to work with and more paste-like. And I would add sprouts to the table array of toppings.

What did my family think, you ask? Everyone liked them except Groovy Girl. She thought they tasted sour. She still wanted to eat the bun (carb girl) though but dad wouldn’t let her; he ate her burger bun and all. She ended up making herself a grilled cheese with sprouts on it in the toaster oven. So she still ate something sprouted…win, win! We don’t usually let them eat something else but this seemed like a reasonable trade-off and she was willing to make it herself.

(Our chili)

I also made a meat-less version of Katie Workman’s chili recipe; I did everything she did but I added soaked kidney beans and a large can of rinsed black beans to the pot. We had it for dinner on Sunday night with homemade Angel Biscuits and again we had it on Wednesday with homemade cornbread-I just used the recipe on the side of the corn meal container as I was rushed for time.

I am headed down to my fancy basement yoga studio to get my Namaste on but then after that I am making these Smitten Kitchen brownies. I also made these brownies with this frosting last Sunday to serve at our teacher look-see for the book fair. I left a few at home for my treat-deprived kids and Teenage Boy had this to say after eating one; “While I was eating that brownie mom; I realized you found it, you really found it, the perfect brownie recipe!” Why thank you, son! What a great week. How about you?

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads weekend cooking meme. Click her link to find many other food-related posts with wonderful recipes.

Weekend Cooking; Carrots

[source]

I made this dish, going for something healthy, for a church potluck. I wanted something different as our potlucks are known for their incredible outlay of food; a ridiculous amount of food {not all of it healthy]. While writing last weekend’s post I spent a large amount of time slowly browsing through The Grit Cookbook. The recipe introduction says “This is one of those dishes that is greater than the sum of its parts. Such gigantic flavor from so few ingredients! But look closely-one of them is Grit Vinaigrette. That it explains it all!” I’d thought I’d cut corners and just use a Newman’s Own vinaigrette from my own fridge. Until I read that sentence a few times.

Perfect description for this amazing carrot yumminess. Give it a try. Really. It is so delicious.

Pecan Pesto Carrot Salad (28)

1 small fistful of fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup chopped pecans

3 T freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 tsp sugar

Extra-virgin olive oil

5 cups finely shredded carrots

1/4 cup Grit Vinaigrette

2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp salt

Combine basil, pecans, cheese, and sugar in a food processor. Slowly add enough olive oil to make a pesto and blend until smooth. Combine pesto with remaining ingredients, stir together well. Cover and refrigerate. Serve well chilled or over salad greens.

Grit Vinaigrette (12)

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 T red wine vinegar

2 T balsamic vinegar

6 T finely minced red onion

2 small garlic cloves, chopped

1 T sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Large pinch fresh parsley

Larch pinch fresh basil

Large pinch fresh or dried oregano

Large pinch fresh or dried thyme

1 cup soybean oil

Combine all ingredients except oil in a blender or food processor and mix well. Continue blending while adding oil in a slow, steady stream until smooth and thick. Use immediately or store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Yields 2 cups

I didn’t have soybean oil so I used olive oil. The recipe serves six, I doubled it and the bowl was empty. I will definitely make this again. It would also be perfect for a picnic or as part of a fantastic veggie sandwich.

This post is my contribution to Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Click her link to find many other food related posts including her review of a teen vegetarian cookbook,

Now I’m off to the public library’s annual book sale where I’m going to stuff a bag full of books.

Chilly weather makes me think of soup!

Last week as the temperatures dropped down, giving me a reason to don gloves and my winter coat as I headed off in the morning, I dreamed of soup. I had lentils in my pantry and vegetables in the crisper. I have a usual lentil soup recipe but I wanted to try something different.

I pulled down Soup; A way of life by Barbara Kafka, one I don’t use often even though I love soup.

I found a delicious soup and I had most of the ingredients on hand.

Lentil Soup

(adapted)

1 T olive oil

2 strips of bacon, sliced into small pieces

3 large stalks of celery, chopped

3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into small chunks

1 small yellow onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, smashed, peeled, and minced

1 T cumin seeds, ground

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

3 cups vegetable stock (it called for beef but I still only ever have veg. on hand)

1 1/2 cup brown lentils, rinsed

1/2 cup coarsely chopped parsley

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil and bacon over medium high heat. Stir in the celery, carrots, and onions and saute a little to soften. Add garlic, cumin, and chili powder and stir to coat veggies.

Stir in the stock, 3 cups of water, and the lentils. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes, or until the lentils are soft.

Remove from the heat. In a food processor, puree about half the lentils. Stir the puree back into the pan, add the lemon juice, and black pepper. Heat thoroughly. Top each bowl with parsley sprigs. Can be served with soar cream dollop. Served with big chunky bread to dip.

The soup was delicious…for my husband and I. The kids noticed the kick right away and Teenage Boy managed to finish his bowl using the bread to absorb the heat but Groovy Girl, even after stirring in several heaps of sour cream, still couldn’t make it through. She ate two more slices of the fresh bread to compensate.

The recipe originally called for bacon rind with an explanation of what that was, but I had good, farm fresh bacon in my freezer so I used that instead which pleased the teenager a lot as he has come to believe that every meal should include meat. So much for his vegetarian start to life. He is very much in the growing stage though. Hungry all the time.

I made this one day and served it the next and so somehow completely skipped the blender part of this recipe. Next time I will do it because I know it would add a nice thickness to the soup. I also thought this would be wonderful over brown rice.

Now it is much warmer out and it may stay that way for the next couple of weeks but I’ll be ready when it decides to get cold on me again.

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads. Click on her link and find many other wonderful food-related posts. I’m not going to think about soup though again until the weather takes another dive.

Weekend Cooking; Market fresh produce with an easy recipe

Weekend Cooking:

It’s a busy day here in the Holt household. My husband is off doing a shoot for 3M and I’m diligently working on homework to finish my Fantasy Literature course for Fresno Pacific.We also have a casual wedding this evening.

I did sneak out early this morning to go to our beautiful Farmer’s Market which I missed while in Colorado.

I picked up two baby eggplants, a basket of okra, and a nice-looking cucumber. I’ve been making a lot of easy dishes using garden produce especially using the large box of tomatoes I carted home from my mom’s house.

I plan to make this eggplant recipe from The Chew; a cooking show my mom introduced me to. For dinner last night I whipped this recipe up created by me using lots of fresh produce.

Garden-Fresh Vegetables and Rice

1-2 T. of olive oil

1 yellow squash, diced without the inner seed section

1 small zucchini, diced

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

4-5 soft tomatoes, diced

1 can of garbanzo beans

Several large pinches of sea salt and curry powder

Fresh ground pepper

Cooked brown rice as much as will feed your family

Saute the zucchini and yellow squash in olive oil for a few minutes and then added the garlic. Continue to saute to soften the dreaded squashes that my children despise but will eat if cut small enough. Add the chopped tomatoes which will create a nice juice. Add the can of garbanzo beans and stir to mix. Sprinkle in sea salt, ground pepper and curry. Serve in low bowls over brown rice. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese, cilantro, or torn basil leaves. This is a perfect summer recipe because you can tailor it to what ever extra veggies you have on hand or what you find at the market. Spice it up with cumin or change the garbanzos to black beans for variety.

My husband just finished Ragbrai (the famous ride across Iowa) yesterday and he had three helpings. My kids each ate one bowl and the only complaint Groovy Girl had was that I hadn’t added enough tomatoes to her bowl. Enjoy!

Oh and Adam Duritz: What? Yes. He was part of my week!

The last night of Ragbrai I met up with my husband and we saw The Counting Crows together. I still love Duritz’s hair (real or not). He was fun to watch and the music was fantastic!

Happy eating.

Weekend Cooking; Breakfast for dinner!

Meal planning has gone out the window during this busy summer but I’ve still crafted some inspiring dinners.

I had a bag of organic potatoes and some gorgeous farm eggs from my teaching friend John. Put them all together and you can make a wonderful crustless quiche! I sliced the potatoes and cooked them with a mix of unsalted butter and olive oil in my ever-so-useful Lodge cast iron skillet. I sauteed them for about 10-15 minutes, making sure to stir a few times. You can see the whites of the potato change color as it cooks. Once you think they’ve cooked enough then your ready for the eggs.

While the potatoes cooked I cracked a dozen eggs into a large bowl and whisked them with a big splash of milk. I added large sprinkles of sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and a seasoning salt from Penzey’s.

I was so into egg whisking I forgot to snap a photo but look at those beautiful shells.

I added some sour cream to the egg mix but you could also add cream cheese or goat cheese. I poured the egg mixture over the nicely browned potatoes in the skillet and let it bubble up all together. I let it sit on a low burner for a few minutes to cook underneath and then popped it into the broiler to finish off the top. Half way through I pulled the rack out and sprinkled grated mozzarella cheese on top.

This is what it looks like after sitting on the broiler. Watch it so it doesn’t get too brown. I sprinkled more cheese on it before taking it to the table. I used my pie cutter and a spatula and it came right out of the pan in nice pie pieces. There it is all dressed up with salsa, sprouts, a dab of sour cream on the top and a slice of toasted sour dough bread on the side. Should have had a slice of bacon on the side but it was probably already eaten! The four of us ate more than half of this for dinner with just a few slices for leftover lunch the next day. Salud!

These post is linked to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads. Click on her link about Dinner; A Love Story and see what other fantastic food-related posts she has linked to this Saturday.

Weekend Cooking; My favorite cookbooks.

My mom is going to be here tomorrow for Easter dinner. I’m Spring cleaning today. Deep down cleaning. Dusting, rearranging, organizing, dispelling clutter. Soon I’m going to vacuum all the pet hair. A natural offshoot of cleaning is to cull some of the old and this idea brought me to my cookbook cabinets. I blew a fine layer of dust about and took a long look.

I know I get many recipes from the internet; blogs and Pinterest and I do have several magazine subscriptions, thanks to my mom, but my cookbooks are somewhat sacred. Something my mother taught me. I don’t get rid of them easily and I don’t buy them very often. As I reorganized this cupboard (I tend to stuff printed recipes in randomly even though I have folders to put them in) I reflected on my top 5 favorites.

In particular order with recipe titles linked to my posted recipe:

The Healthy Kitchen; Recipes for a better body, life, and spirit by Andrew Weil, M.D. and Rosie Daly. (2002). This book has been so well loved it is coming apart at the binding. It splits open right at the Vegetable Lasagna recipe I’ve made dozens of times in the last 10 years. My other top recipes in this book include the Miso soup, Tomato, Corn, and Basil soup, Seared Salmon with orange glaze, and the Lemon cayenne tonic. Filled with pages of healthy information about spices, eating mindfully, and tips from both Weil and Daley I’ve learned plenty.

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. (1997). This one looks used as the top is peppered with post-it notes sticking out like a yellow mohawk. My favorites recipes include the page of peanut sauces, Thai tofu and Winter squash stew, and Sweet potato muffins with candied ginger. My mother-in-law gave me this book for Christmas one year and the inside front cover still holds the sticky note she included telling me how much use she thought I would get from this book. She was right.

Fresh from the vegetarian slow cooker by Robin Robertson. (2004). This one my mother-in-law also gave me when she gifted me with a new slow cooker. I’ve made the Caponata for book club, the No-Hurry Vegetable Curry, the light and easy vegetable stock, the Pintos Picadillo, and the Lentil Soup with Kale. Right now I have chili cooking in the same slow cooker and I’m excited for our chili and baked potatoes.

Not Your Mother’s Casseroles by Faith Durand. (2004) This one I actually bought myself and it is newer than the other three. The Baked Cheesy Chili Grits, the Simple Pot Bread, the Pot Chicken and Potatoes in Cinnamon-Saffron Milk, and the Baked Buttermilk Pancakes are all fantastic recipes from this book.

Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentis. (2005). My kids could eat buttered pasta every day of the week, making this book a perfect match for us. Now they love several of Giada’s pasta dishes, making it easy to upgrade their taste buds just a notch. I also started making my own pesto from her recipe and love it even more in the winter as a pull it out from the freezer. The Checca sauce is an easy summer favorite, the white bean dip with pita chips is perfect for happy hour, and the Lemon Spaghetti is too die for because I have a thing for lemons.

Now that I’ve made myself hungry by paging through my favorite cookbooks I realize I need to explore them more, perhaps challenge myself to choosing a recipe from one of them on a regular basis. I don’t want them to get old and dusty. Cookbooks are like friends, something I want my daughter to experience as well.

I happened upon an article in my Real Simple magazine and found this pie baker extraordinaire, Beth Howard of The World Needs More Pie. She lives just down the “road”, well, a few towns over but I’m thinking Summer ROAD TRIP. I want to check out her pies, she has a new cookbook out, and she lives in the American Gothic house in Eldon, Iowa.

Happy Cooking~
This post is linked to Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Click her link to find many other food-related posts from a wide variety of bloggers.

Weekend Cooking; Adzuki Beans

(Photo Credit)

In December I reviewed Moosewood Restaurant; Cooking for Health which I’d checked out from the library. When I had the book I wrote down a few recipes and hoped that I might get the book for Christmas. I bought the ingredients for one of the recipes using adzuki beans because I’d never heard of them. Luckily I found them in bulk at my local organic store and it seemed like a sign. Well, you know how things go. I had those adzuki beans in a canning jar and it was the holiday season and the days got away from me. I never made the recipe but still had the beautiful beans staring at me every time I opened my dry storage cupboard.

Last week I got inspired to use them but realized I hadn’t copied down the original recipe. I did what everyone does; I googled a new recipe and this is what I found at Healthy Green Kitchen, a new foodie blog for me! Winnie at HGK credits Ree Drummond (do I even have to say it…Pioneer Woman) for her recipe. I made them and we’ve been eating them all week in different easy meals.

Beans

adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond
Serves 8-10

ingredients:

*4 cups dried aduki beans (or pinto or another type of beans)
*4 slices organic uncured bacon, sliced into 1 inch pieces- optional; bacon lends a nice smoky saltiness but you can leave out for vegetarian beans
*filtered water
*1 teaspoon course sea salt or to taste
*1 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
*1 teaspoon garlic powder or to taste
*1 teaspoon chili powder or to taste

directions:

1. If not using aduki beans, it’s best to soak your beans overnight in a large pot covered with water. After they have soaked, drain them and rinse several times. If you are using the adzuki beans just go ahead and use them.

2. Place rinsed beans and bacon in a large pot on the stove. Pour water over the beans to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer.

3. Skim any foam that might rise to the top while cooking, and add additional water (or stock), if there does not seem to be enough liquid.

4. Cook until the beans are tender, about 1 1/2 hours (or as long as 3 hours for pinto and other beans).

5. Add the sea salt (don’t add too much if you’ve used stock) and pepper, plus the seasonings I mentioned (or others that you like) to taste. You can serve these in whole wheat or corn tortillas with the toppings of your choice: think grated raw cheese, fresh salsa, guacamole, organic sour cream, etc. Or have some in a bowl with a side of cornbread (I made a pretty good gluten-free one that you can see in the top picture). Fresh chopped tomato, cucumber, red pepper, and sliced avocado are also wonderful additions.

6. My favorite healthy way to eat these, though, is this: chop some collard greens very fine, add some olive oil and fresh lime juice, and mix with the beans, veggies, and salsa. Top with some green onions and minced cilantro- yum yum yum!

The first night we had them with brown rice, chopped tomatoes, a little curry sauce and whole wheat wraps. In the middle of the week I had them on top of a green salad while my children ate pasta. Last night I turned the last of them into my food processor with a little water, fresh squeezed lime juice and a few diced tomatoes with juice and created a refried bean consistency. We had soft shell small tacos using the beans as our base with freshly shredded mozzarella, avocado, tomatoes, and green lettuce from our co-op. The beans were delicious! My kids didn’t even realize they were eating the leftover beans re-purposed!

Adzuki beans are flavorful and very useful as you don’t have to soak them at all. If you can find them in bulk-give them a try.

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking hosted at Beth Fish Reads. Pop over and see what other food-related bloggers are cooking up!

Weekend Cooking; The Geranium Farm Cookbook

by Barbara Cawthorne Crafton & 10,000 Geranium Farmers

(2006) 136 pages

At our church Christmas Bazaar we have a beautiful book table with used books from our members. It is a wonderful way to share and recycle the books we have read all year. We are a well-read and well-fed congregation as recipe books take up an entire table.

This year a had this one in my stack and my intention was to give it to my mother as she is a true cookbook collector. I read through it one night though and fell in love with the uncomplicated recipes. I love to read through the vignettes interspersed throughout the book as well. I loved this quote from one

Baking Friday Afternoon

I could hardly believe my ears: Rosie requested that we bake a pie on Friday afternoon. Always say yes when your teenager wants to do something with you-anything this side of legality. It could be years before it happens again. (48) ~ Barbara Cawthorne Crafton

Words of wisdom there!

I’ve made these two recipes from this book so far-both excellent.

Curried Olive Spread

1 block of cream cheese, light or otherwise
1 cup pitted, chopped green salad olives (more or less to taste and you can use exotic olives if you prefer)
1 T. curry (more or less to taste)

Cube the cream cheese, then put cheese and olives in a food processor. Blend until mixture is slightly lumpy. Stir in curry. Can be served immediately, but sitting in the fridge for an hour or so allows the flavors to blend. Serve with crackers, celery sticks, or toasted bread squares.

My grandmother gave me this recipe when I entered the working world. She told me there would be many occasions where I would be expected to bring an appetizer to a dinner, and this one was quick, easy, and tasted delicious. After all, she mused, working women were busy and didn’t have all day to create fabulous food...(108) ~ The Rev. Laurie Brock, Mobile, Alabama

Can’t resist grandmother advice either! I served this dip with a loaf of my fresh homemade bread. The dip made enough for leftovers and I’ve been eating that as a snack with gluten-free crackers all week.

Corn Spoon Bread

1 cup (organic) milk
1 T. (unsalted) butter
1 cup cornmeal
1 can creamed corn
2 eggs, separated
1 T. (sea) salt
1 T (freshly ground) black pepper

Scald the milk in a saucepan. Melt the butter into the milk. Add the cornmeal and cook until thick. Stir in the creamed corn. Beat the egg yolks with the salt and pepper. Stir the yolks into the corn mixture. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the corn mixture. pour into a well-greased quart baking dish. Bake at 350* for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a wooden skewer inserted int eh middle comes out clean. Serves 6-8
This is a favorite recipe of mine from my Indiana childhood. ~The Rev. Gerald W. Keucher, New York, NY (123)

I have a thing about creamed corn-a childhood food memory-so this appealed to me on that level. I made it for a church potluck and by the time I made it through the line it was gone, bowl scraped clean just as it should be at a potluck.

Link for Geranium Farm. This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Drop over and see what she is dishing about and many other food-related posts.

In other family news our new refrigerator has been ordered but is back-ordered. My hope is that it arrives somewhere in the vicinity of the first two weeks of Feb. Back order seems to happen with all appliance purchases now.
I’m reading Claire Marvel by John Burnham Schwartz – beautifully written, taking many post-it’s to mark my favorites.
I watched Burlesque last night and loved it-don’t know why it took me a year. Cher and Christina Aguilera were wonderful. I watched Eat, Pray, Love also yesterday and while it dragged in spots was uplifting to me. Made me savor my own loves. So decadent to watch two movies in one day-it was a “free” day in a way.