Is anyone else on the smoothie train? It's healthier than the gravy train, for sure.
It's not that I don't like vegetables, but for some reason I have to consciously remind myself to put more in our diets. We don't eat a lot of salad but we eat steamed broccoli nearly every meal. I get plenty of veggies at lunch at school, but I still have been looking for easy ways to get some veggies in the diet.
Enter smoothies. Seriously, I pack so much spinach or kale, zucchini, banana, apple, etc into a smoothie and I think I'm having dessert. Seriously, you can put zucchini in a smoothie and you won't notice. Sounds weird, but give it a shot!
Costco was carrying plain, non-fat, Greek yogurt this week too. So now I've added that to the experience and boy is it tasty! We use a handful of frozen mixed berries, some OJ, whatever other fruits/veggies are lying around, load it up with spinach, and blend. Add to that some yogurt and yum!
My new experiment is going to be to use frozen spinach instead of fresh. It's about 2.5 times cheaper and it will last longer. We'll see how that works. If it does, it'll cut down on the cost of the smoothies for sure.
The other thing is bread. I was always intimidated by making bread. I figured I need a stand mixer and fancy equipment. Nah!
Maggie and I have both been trying the crusty breads you make in a dutch oven lately. Boy does that make a tasty crust! You've gotta try it.
I made one yesterday/today that is really, really simple but it's gooood. The only catch is that you need to start the dough a day ahead. If you're like me, it's rare that you think ahead far enough to do that. Well I'm going to try to start making it a point to think ahead.
All I did yesterday was mix the following in a bowl...
3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 t. yeast
1 3/4 t. salt
Then add 1.5c water and mix it around until it's shaggy (it'll be sort of wet). Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit out on your counter for 12-18 hours. The next day, preheat oven and dutch oven to 450 for half an hour. While the oven is preheating, form dough into a ball/mound on a heavily floured surface. Let it sit for 30 minutes. I put it on parchment paper here so that it'd be easy to transfer.
When everything is preheated, carefully place the mound/ball into the dutch oven, put the lid on and bake for 30 minutes. Then take the lid off and bake for another 15.
Seriously, it's the best crust! Maggie has been experimenting with sourdough versions of this that I'm gonna try next.
Woo!
Molly
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Giardiniera
We have been enjoying our pickled hot peppers so much I got a hankering to try my hand at making giardiniera. For my first try, I took guidance from a recipe on the internet It came out good, good enough to warrant a second try, but needing some tweaks: the hot peppers I used weren't really very hot, so it had almost no heat; we thought the recipe used too much vinegar and not enough salt; couldn't really get any sense of the garlic; etc.
Today, I tried my second batch. One change was to use a wider variety of veg than before and to make the veg more colorful, so I added a red bell pepper and some pearl onions. I upgraded half of the green pepper rings from cubanelle (not really hot) to jalepeno (should be hot but this one didn't really taste all that hot to me). I did not take the centers out of the jalepno rings because I thought they looked pretty this way and hoped that the seeds would provide some extra heat. Then, just to overdo it, I added a dried Thai pepper to each jar. Here is the veg cut up waiting to be added to the jars:
For process, I started with 5 cups of water heated to a boil, added the garlic cloves, and simmered for 5 minutes (per the internet recipe; I skipped this step last time and could not taste the garlic). Fished the garlic out of the water and added the cloves to the bottom of two quart mason jars. I then added 1/4 cup Kosher salt to the water and packed the jars while the salt dissolved. I put one Thai pepper on the bottom of each jar with the garlic and tried to mix up the rest as nicely and as tightly packed as possible. Then to each jar I added:
1/2 t Dill Seed
1/4 t Pink Peppercorns
1/4 t Black Peppercorns
1/2 t Celery Seed
1/2 t Coriander Seed
1/4 t Yellow Mustard Seed
1/4 t Black Mustard Seed
1 Juniper Berry
I jiggled and shook the jars to get the seeds to flow down and distribute.
With the salt dissolved, I added 1 cup distilled white vinegar to the brine and returned it to a boil. Next, I filled the jars with the boiling brine. Next, put lids on and jiggle the jars to get air bubbles to float to the top, refill with brine, repeat as many times as necessary to get the air pockets out. At the end, I filled the jars to just overflowing, floated the jar lids on the liquid, and screwed the rings on. Brine runs over the side as the lids tighten down. As this is filled to the tippy top when hot, the liquid contracts and draws a vacuum as it cools. The hot brine cooks the veg slightly so let them sit and cool gradually. For storage, these must be refrigerated; this is not a reliable preserving process. The internet recipe suggests these will last for up to 3 month in the refrigerator but I doubt 2 quarts will last that long in this house.
Here is a picture of my final product:
These have to work for a couple of days before they are ready to be eaten, so I will report back on the result when we get to taste them.
Today, I tried my second batch. One change was to use a wider variety of veg than before and to make the veg more colorful, so I added a red bell pepper and some pearl onions. I upgraded half of the green pepper rings from cubanelle (not really hot) to jalepeno (should be hot but this one didn't really taste all that hot to me). I did not take the centers out of the jalepno rings because I thought they looked pretty this way and hoped that the seeds would provide some extra heat. Then, just to overdo it, I added a dried Thai pepper to each jar. Here is the veg cut up waiting to be added to the jars:
For process, I started with 5 cups of water heated to a boil, added the garlic cloves, and simmered for 5 minutes (per the internet recipe; I skipped this step last time and could not taste the garlic). Fished the garlic out of the water and added the cloves to the bottom of two quart mason jars. I then added 1/4 cup Kosher salt to the water and packed the jars while the salt dissolved. I put one Thai pepper on the bottom of each jar with the garlic and tried to mix up the rest as nicely and as tightly packed as possible. Then to each jar I added:
1/2 t Dill Seed
1/4 t Pink Peppercorns
1/4 t Black Peppercorns
1/2 t Celery Seed
1/2 t Coriander Seed
1/4 t Yellow Mustard Seed
1/4 t Black Mustard Seed
1 Juniper Berry
I jiggled and shook the jars to get the seeds to flow down and distribute.
With the salt dissolved, I added 1 cup distilled white vinegar to the brine and returned it to a boil. Next, I filled the jars with the boiling brine. Next, put lids on and jiggle the jars to get air bubbles to float to the top, refill with brine, repeat as many times as necessary to get the air pockets out. At the end, I filled the jars to just overflowing, floated the jar lids on the liquid, and screwed the rings on. Brine runs over the side as the lids tighten down. As this is filled to the tippy top when hot, the liquid contracts and draws a vacuum as it cools. The hot brine cooks the veg slightly so let them sit and cool gradually. For storage, these must be refrigerated; this is not a reliable preserving process. The internet recipe suggests these will last for up to 3 month in the refrigerator but I doubt 2 quarts will last that long in this house.
Here is a picture of my final product:
These have to work for a couple of days before they are ready to be eaten, so I will report back on the result when we get to taste them.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Shredded Chicken Burritos
I can't remember if I've posted this before, but Maggie requested the "recipe," so here goes.
I hesitate to even call this a recipe, because it's so easy, but it's really great. It's definitely one of our regular meals especially when we're busy. We also like making it up and taking it camping cause the leftovers heat up easily.
Here's what ya need...
Chicken breasts (we use two, use how many you need to feed your fam)
Red salsa (a good amount, I probably use 1.5 cups, but I've never measured)
Corn (some, from a can or frozen)
Black beans (again, some from a can or your freezer)
Seasonings (take your pick, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, etc).
I usually put everything in the crock pot except for the chicken. Mix it all around to make sure it's evenly distributed. Then put the chicken in and make sure it's all covered up with the mixture.
Turn it on low and go to work.
When you get home, take the chicken breasts out and shred them. Put the shredded chicken back in and stir it all around.
When it's time for dinner, we serve it with tortillas and cheese, maybe avocado. You could throw it on rice or whatever. Fresh cilantro would be a nice touch.
Anyway, super simple, but so good!.
I hesitate to even call this a recipe, because it's so easy, but it's really great. It's definitely one of our regular meals especially when we're busy. We also like making it up and taking it camping cause the leftovers heat up easily.
Here's what ya need...
Chicken breasts (we use two, use how many you need to feed your fam)
Red salsa (a good amount, I probably use 1.5 cups, but I've never measured)
Corn (some, from a can or frozen)
Black beans (again, some from a can or your freezer)
Seasonings (take your pick, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, etc).
I usually put everything in the crock pot except for the chicken. Mix it all around to make sure it's evenly distributed. Then put the chicken in and make sure it's all covered up with the mixture.
Turn it on low and go to work.
When you get home, take the chicken breasts out and shred them. Put the shredded chicken back in and stir it all around.
When it's time for dinner, we serve it with tortillas and cheese, maybe avocado. You could throw it on rice or whatever. Fresh cilantro would be a nice touch.
Anyway, super simple, but so good!.
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