Random Food Fridays - Smoothie Madness

Berry Breakfast Smoothie:

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 banana, peeled

1 Satsuma Mandarin orange, peeled

1 Kiwi, peeled

1 medium carrot, cut into chunks

Hand full of greens

1 cup frozen Berry mix 

1 tsp. Honey

400 Calories

It has been a while. I thought things would slow down after the holidays, but, not so much. I have been cooking, just not much that is new. Somehow, Winter seems to inspire old favorites rather than intense creativity. I have been cooking and eating well, but simply. My two new favorite things, that I have been eating for almost two weeks straight are smoothies and this soup from Undercover Caterer. These delicious smoothies are brought to you through the magic of Vitamix.

 Smoothie Station

I've been tracking combinations and calories.

I've been thinking about a juicer or mega-blender for a while. I really like juices and often enjoy juices when out and about. I had a pretty poor juicer years ago. I really hated all the waste and that so much fiber was discarded. (I know now that the pulp can be made into crackers or other creative goods.) My friends, Laura and Paula have both a top-of-the-line juicer and a Vitamix. I asked to borrow their Vitamix for a week to see if it would be a worthwhile investment for Mr. Dwayne and myself, and, boy-howdy, is it ever! 

 Pineapple Breakfast Smoothie:

2 Spears fresh pineapple, peeled

1 Satsuma Mandarin orange, peeled

1/2 banana, peeled

1 Kiwi, peeled

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 tsp. Vanilla 

1 tsp. Honey

4 Ice cubes

320 Calories

Mr. Dwayne and I have traded in our regular breakfasts for daily smoothies. Our most repeated smoothie is the Berry Breakfast Smoothie, shown above. It is yummy and chock full of things that are super good for you. I add a handful of greens and some carrots to mine, but Mr. Dwayne is enjoying the fruit without the veg. I can tell a slight difference in the texture, but the taste is the same.

 Yum!

I feel great. Really! I have not given up coffee, but I no longer need coffee to start my day. I have gone from one cup in the AM and one in the PM to just one, mid-day. Unlike many meals, these never make me feel sleepy or weighed-down. Even if it is only my belief making me feel great, I accept. Because many of these are not low in calories, they are not a beverage to have along side a meal, but are a meal in themselves, especially if you include a little protein and fat. 

 Green Fruit and Veg Smoothie begins...

1/2 Avocado, peeled

1/2 banana, peeled

1 Satsuma Mandarin orange, peeled

Hand full of greens

1 Spear fresh pineapple, peeled

1 tsp. Honey

300 Calories

 Green Fruit and Veg Smoothie, completed.

 Good things make good smoothies.

This smoothie is more like a slushy. It is tangy and delicious and joy inducing. This one is a beverage and doesn't have many more calories than a can of soda while packing a giant mountain of nutrient density. Blue berries and lime are a great combination. The addition of my own elderberry syrup is the sweetener and an immune enhancer. The cherry-chia komucha adds protein and probiotics. This is really, really good. If you try one thing on this page, I suggest that this be the one.

Immunity Berry Slushy

1/2 cup Cherry-chia kombucha

2 tbsp. Elderberry Syrup

1/2 cup Blueberries

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1 cup Ice cubes
145 calories

If you have a powerful blender, or a Vitamix, you already know how to do the blending - Start slow, push things down into the blades. When things are chunky, but liquid, turn up the speed and process on high for a minute or two. I usually process a little longer for things with tough seeds, like blackberries. 

You can use fresh or frozen fruit, or a combination. Put the non-frozen and liquid stuff in first, otherwise the frozen stuff freezes your liquid. 

Try to find some big, re-usable straws. 

Wash everything ASAP. You'll thank me in the morning.

Happy Everything, with the Best Coconut Candies

We've had a very good Christmas. As for many people, for us the holidays are bitter sweet this year. We have loved ones who are suffering and fading, and it's awfully hard to watch. But, we do the best we can and we show up. Loving someone who is suffering can open one's heart in new ways. It can be fatiguing, but I know that our loving presence helps when nothing else seems possible.

Mix the candy and scoop onto parchment, then chill.

I am always searching for ways to bring some small pleasure to the people I love. For my mom-in-law, who can be lost and frightened in her dementia, I try to bring eye contact, smiles and hugs. I agree with her and nod and tell her that we will always love her and keep her safe. That's all we can do. For my father-in-law, who cares for her, we come and share a meal and easy conversation. We are patiently waiting for him to allow us to give him a break. Meanwhile, we just show up with love and whatever normalcy we can bring.

Once chilled, melt the chocolate and butter. Roll the balls smooth.

My mom has had a hard couple of years providing care for her own mom, my Grandma Betty. I love them both so much. My mom has health issues that often cause her a great deal of pain. When I visit, I try to convince her that she is a princess and she should allow me to do the work, chores and lifting. She tries to remember, but like me, she likes to do things for herself and she likes to do things for others. These coconut candies are her favorite. When I asked her if she would like them again this Christmas, her eye brows lifted in keen interest. When she bites into them, her eye lids flutter and she makes happy noises. This is just about enough present for me - to know that through this simple gift I've given her the opportunity for days of pure pleasure. For me, this is part of the magic of cooking. There is care and nourishment, but there is also the gift of pleasure. 

I hope that all of you who peek in on my little blog experience joy and pleasure this Holiday Season. No matter how we celebrate, we can all share the joy of Winter's sparkling lights and knowing that the longest night of the year has passed and we are now heading steadily back into the growing light of Spring. May Peace be with you.

Carefully dip the balls in the melted chocolate, one at a time,
and place on clean parchment.

Chill again, melt more chocolate and give them their second dip.

Mom's present, before we broke into them and helped her enjoy them.

Coconut Candies

For the candy:

14 oz. dry, shredded and sweetened coconut

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk (7 ounces)

2 tbsp. soft  butter

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Stir all the candy ingredients together in a bowl until well combines. Use a teaspoon or 1 tbsp. cookie scoop to portion the candy out onto a parchment paper lined cook sheet. Place in the refrigerator for a few hours or over night, until they are set. 

For the coating:

2 10 oz. bags of dark chocolate chips (I like at least 60% cacao), divided

2 tbsp. butter, divided

Place one bag of chocolate chips and 1 tbsp. of butter into the top of a double boiler. Gently melt the chocolate over water that barely simmering. Make sure the bottom of the top part of the double boiler does not touch the water. If the chocolate gets too hot, it will "break" and look curdled. Stir the chocolate until very smooth. While the chocolate is melting, roll the balls between your hands so that all the little coconut shreds will be tucked-in. Dip the candies, one at a time, into the chocolate. Carefully lift them out of the chocolate and let them drain for a bit. Place back onto a new sheet of parchment. Then they are all done, place them back in the fridge. While they are chilling, melt the second bag of chocolate chips and the remaining butter. When melter, did each ball again, one at a time and place back onto the parchment to harden. When all the balls have had their second coat of chocolate, place them back in the fridge and chill until they can be easily handled and put on a tray for gifting. 

Makes about 2 dozen.

Random Food Fridays - Cream of Carrot and Fennel Soup

This latest soup is the result of my CSA box. Winter brings lettuces, carrots, fennel, greens, oranges and apples. Not all of those ended up in this soup. Carrots and fennel are the star.

Fennel has a flavor and fragrance similar to licorice. It's pretty good raw, especially with oranges. But that is not my favorite way to enjoy it. Fennel becomes rich and sweet and mild when cooked. It is a great addition to a gratin or a soup. If you've never tried fennel, you should give it a go!

Cream of Carrot and Fennel Soup
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 leek, chopped (be sure to wash out any sand)
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced thin
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
4 cups diced carrots
1 tbsp. fresh chopped tarragon, or 1 tsp. dry tarragon
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parley
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup half and half
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Place a large pot over a medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the leeks, celery and fennel and sweat them down until they are translucent. Add the remaining vegetables and herbs and stir to combine. Add the chicken broth. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the carrots are very tender. Use a hand-held blender to puree the soup. There will a few chunks. If you want this soup very smooth, puree in batches in a blender or food processor. Stir in the half and half. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Makes about 10 cups.

Random Food Fridays - Breakfast Rice

So, as you can see, it's pretty hard to make rice pudding look exciting and pretty. You'll just have to take my word for it - This stuff is good!

People always talk about oatmeal as something that "sticks to your ribs." But I find that most cereals leave me searching for snacks by 10 AM. I wanted a hot cereal, but with ooomph! I remembered this yummy rice pudding, but wanted to make it again using fresh spices and less sugar. What a difference! I also made it a larger batch and reheated my serving each morning. You could make this vegan by using almond milk rather than regular milk. Do use the fresh spices. They are so warming and delightful on these wet and chilly mornings.

Breakfast Rice
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups cooked brown basmati rice
2 cups milk (I used non-fat)
1 stick cinnamon
2 big slices fresh ginger
4 green cardamom pods, whacked and cracked
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup toasted, slivered almonds

Place raisins in a heat-safe bowl or mug and top off with boiling water. Set aside.

Place the rice, milk, cinnamon stick and cardamom pods in a saute pan. Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until most of the milk is absorbed. Add the remaining ingredients except the almonds. Continue to simmer until the pudding reaches the desired consistency. Fish out the spices and add the almonds. Store in the fridge with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

This makes four generous breakfasts for me.

Update 1/28/13 - I just made this vegan, substituting the 2 cups of milk with 1 1/2 cups coconut water. Worked out just fine!

Cranberry Sauce with Quince and Ginger

We have had a great Thanksgiving. I hope you have too. I don't know about you, but every time we have a turkey feast, I wonder why we don't do it more often. It's really not that hard or complicated and then we eat yummy food for DAYS! One of my favorite post-turkey day meals is a lunch of turkey sliders on the rolls leftover from dinner. I never did get into putting stuffing on bread. Kinda redundant, right? But the cranberry - oh yeah!

Lucky for me, All Four Burners Can It Up is all about cranberries this month. This inspired me to search for a way to use cranberries with the quince I picked up from my "Quince Guy" at the farmers' market. I found this lovely recipe from Tigress. I cut it in half and altered it a little. Boy-Howdy, it's good. You can can this in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, but I knew we'd have no problems eating up. This sauce is more toothsome than most and I like that. Each berry, chunk of quince and nugget of candied ginger brings a new taste.

Cranberry Sauce with Quince and Ginger
1 lb. of quince that has been peeled and cut into half inch cubes
2 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 strips of orange zest
1 1/4 lbs. fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup Ginger People Ginger Chips

Place the quince, water, sugar, cinnamon and orange zest in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until the quince is tender and slightly pink. Add the cranberries and ginger chips and return to a boil. Cook until the cranberries have popped and it begins to thicken. This took about 15 minutes for me. Don't over cook this because quince and cranberries both have ton of pectin and getting a set is no problem. Remove the cinnamon stick and orange zest strips and store. Either process in a boiling water bath in clean hot jars for 10 minutes or place in your fridge. This made about 8 cups.

Enjoy!

Three Sisters Stew

Here's another soup for your consideration. One of my favorite cookbooks is the Farm Journal's Country Cook Book.  It is loaded with very tasty recipes and is a snap shot of mid-century and mid-continent America. If you want to know how to culture and churn butter, bake a cake or pit roast a whole cow, this book is for you. One of the funny things about these kinds of books is that they often talk about the "energy" in food, aka calories. I guess if you are working a farm instead of a desk, you need to make sure lots of calories get into your food. They have one recipe for Supper Waffles that includes a whole cup of melted butter! Now that's some energy!

One of my favorite recipes from this book is called Indian Beans. As this recipe is obviously not from India, I'm afraid the name is not so PC. However, the taste is delicious. They are rather like baked beans but seasoned with cinnamon, a little sugar and apple cider vinegar. This stew started out with these beans in mind.

Lucky me, I have some serious gardeners in my life. My friend, Miss Pauline, had just about the most amazing garden ever this spring. She brought me a whole cooler full of yummy veg - all organic and completely beautiful. Her gift to me included two sugar pie pumpkins. I've never cooked pumpkins before, but I love orange squashes. To prepare these, I cut them in half, scooped out the guts, cut the halves in half, rubbed with some oil and roasted in a 350 oven until tender. These took about 45 minutes. I like the caramel flavor that developed from the toasty parts.

After I let them cool, it was easy to use my fingers to pull off the shell and then I cut into chunks. For this stew, I used one quarter of a pumpkin. The rest was processed for pie. This pumpkin was less dense than butternut squash, but just as sweet. You could use either.

I named this Three Sisters Stew because I added corn and pumpkin to the original recipe. It is a Native American traditions to grow maize, beans and squash together. The maize would provide poles for climbing beans and the squash would grow around the bottom. Miss Pauline grew them this way. You should have seen some of the beautiful heirloom beans and corn she grew!

This is another soup that starts with dried beans. Do not fear the beans! Here are the simple steps for making dried beans fit easily into your busy life:

1. Measure, sort and wash - No kidding - I've found bean shaped rocks many a time.
2. Soak - You have two ways to go with this - Overnight soak - Place beans in lots of water and place in the fridge overnight. Drain and begin your recipe with new water. Quick soak - Place beans in a pan with cold water to cover by about two inches. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cover. Let stand 1 hour. Drain and begin your recipe with new water.
3. Cook - There are also two ways to cook - Stove top - Add beans and water to a pan with a heavy bottom and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until tender. Crock Pot - Add beans and water to crock pot and cook on high for about 4 hours for larger beans like pintos or chick peas. 

Tips -

• If you cook on the stove top, keep an eye on it! I've had beans foam over and put out my gas burner. (This is why I love the Crock Pot!)
• Do not add salt or acid foods until after the beans have already become tender. Salt and acid can inhibit the beans cooking correctly.

Three Sisters Stew

1 lb. dry pinto or pink beans (I used a combo)

3 quarts water

1 small onion, diced

1 cup diced celery

1/2 cup diced peppers (I used gypsy peppers)

1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 cup diced ham

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

3 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 cup sweet corn kernels 

3 cups cooked and cubed pumpkin or squash

Use one of the soaking methods above. Drain and cook the beans in 3 quarts of water, using one of the cooking methods used above. When beans are tender, add remaining ingredients except for corn and pumpkin and simmer, uncovered until it reaches desired thickness. This will take longer in the crock pot. Before serving, add the corn and pumpkin and heat through. Adjust seasoning and serve.

This makes a lot, but will depend on how long you cook after adding the veg. My recipe, pictured above, made about 9 cups. I like mine with a shot of Tapatio.

Random Food Fridays - Chick Pea Curry

Chick Pea Curry was last Sunday's project. I like to go to the farmers' market on Sunday morning and do food prep in the afternoon. It's enjoyable and I have a much better chance of eating a healthy lunch during my work days. Somehow, making a sandwich is just beyond me in the morning. For me, mornings are slow and gentle and, often, not timely. Pre-packed lunches can really save the day.

From left to right -
garlic, sweet potatoes, ginger, turnips, red bell pepper, gypsy peppers, eggplant, shallot, curry powder, coconut milk, chick peas,
diced tomatoes 

Not pictured - Magic (as in magically delicious)

This curry is a hybrid of Indian and Thai curry flavors. I've used a combo of late Summer and early Winter produce. (I guess that would be Fall, technically.) We're getting the last good tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, but sweet potatoes and turnips are now on the scene. I used chick peas and served this with brown basmati rice for a complete protein. I usually use red Thai curry past with coconut milk and diced tomatoes. This time I tried a curry blend I picked up from a vendor at the Auburn Farmers' Market. It turned out delicious!

Like any soup or stew, curry dishes are infinitely variable. Use the veg you like. Use the protein you like. Use the level of spice you like. Eat a healthy lunch every day!

Chick Pea Curry
1 tbsp. coconut oil

1 to 2 cloves of garlic, diced small
1 tsp. fresh grated ginger
1 to 3 tsp. of curry powder (might want to add one at a time)

2 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes
1 cup turnips, cubed
1/2 of one red bell pepper, seeded, cored and cubed
2 gypsy peppers, seeded, cored and cubed
1 cup eggplant, cubed
1 large shallot, sliced (or any kind of onion you like, of course)
2 cups cooked chick peas
1 can coconut milk
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. salt (for the curry, not the boiling water)

Cooked brown basmati rice for serving
Cilantro for garnish

In a large soup pot, boil the sweet potatoes and turnips in salted boiling water until just tender - about 5 minutes. Drain.

Dry the same pot and replace over the flame. Reduce heat to medium and add the coconut oil. When the oil has melted, add the garlic, ginger and curry powder. Stir quickly to prevent from scorching. Add the peppers, egg plant and shallots. Stir to coat. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the rice and cilantro. Check the spice level and add more curry powder, if desired. Simmer gently until the veggies are done to your liking. Serve with rice and cilantro.

Make 6 servings