Foodie Friday: Slurp, Crunch and Chew

Slurp:

Japanese Sweet Potato Soup

We had this soup with some oven roasted chicken and roasted eggplant for dinner on Sunday. The Japanese Sweet potatoes give it a roasted chestnut flavor that is oh so yummy.

A recipe of sorts as I'm taking a guess at what Stephen tossed together in the pot:


Rich and Creamy Japanese Sweet Potato Soup

ghee or butter to cook the leeks and veggies
4 Japanese sweet potatoes - peeled and rough chopped
3 leek whites - cleaned and roughly chopped - great tips on how to clean leeks here
2 carrots roughly chopped
a teaspoon or so of chicken better than bullion  - This stuff is salty so a little goes a long way.  I noticed at my local market that they do have a lower sodium version that I want to give a try. I also noticed it contains sugar so maybe I need to make more chicken stock.
6 cups water or stock to cover the potatoes and leeks
salt and pepper to taste
A little bit of milk or cream about 1 cup

Saute the leeks in some ghee or butter, then add the sweet potatoes and carrots.  Then cover with water and bullion or stock.  Let cook until soft.  Run though a food mill or use a hand blender.  Add some cream or milk at the end.

Crunch:

Sweet Potato Chips

I followed the directions I found here which has you cook them at 400 deg for a short period of time.  I sliced mine up in my food processor which worked fine.  I forgot to salt mine and wish I had.  They were good but I think salted a head time they would have been better.  They didn't get as crunchy as I would have liked.  Oddly the got a bit crunchier after I took them out of the oven. Next time I'm trying a lower temperature for longer and see how that works.

Chew:

Monday's dinner: Dad's Pork Chops topped with some kale chips, roasted okra, feta-basil-garlic-tomato salad

This was my first time cooking up pork chops in a long, long time.  I was a vegetarian for several years.  Even though I've been an omnivore again for quite some time,  I avoid cooking cooking meat and let my husband Stephen be the adventurous one.  Since I do most of the cooking during the week and our current diet require more meat protien I need to just do it.  So I did.  The chops turned out good and would have been even better if I had cooked them a little less.  It was a tasty meal anyways.

Feta-garlic-basil-tomato salad
One pint cherry tomatoes chopped
purple basil as much or as little as you want
2 cloves garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste
a drizzle or so of olive oil
top with feta when you serve

Bon Appetite!

Foodie Friday: Another Mexi Meal and Veggies

1/2 cup red beans
2 oz of  Local Marquez Lamb and Beef Sausage -  No sugar!
This sausage is good even better than the chorizo.  My go to way to cook this and any similar sausage it to pan brown it with a little oil then put it into 350 deg oven for about 20 min.
1 cup steamed yuppie veggies (see below)
topped with some of the husk cherry salsa




Yuppie Veggies include: carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and until summer is over local zucchini.  We stole the veggie mix name and idea from the no longer in operation Paradise Bakery & Cafe. If any of you local and far remember the goodness of the cafe you can now prepare it in your own home with their cookbook!

We eat these veggies either steamed or sauteed with many of our meals.  Sometimes I jazz it up with a basil vinaigrette or top with some pesto.   Since it's all cut up there is no excuse not to eat veggies every day. We go through about 2 heads of cauliflower and broccoli, 3-4 carrots and 3-5 zucchinis each week.  That's in addition to all the other veggies we eat during the week like okra, eggplant, green beans etc.  If the kids start eating as much veggies as my husband and I are we will need even more.

Monday Musing: Food Rules

I came across this list recently on a message board. I don't agree with everything on the list.  The main reason I don't like is how it's phrased in the negative.  I do like the idea of creating some food rules to live by.  Although I am in weight loss mode I want to have some patterns set in motion so I can maintain my goal weight. 

1. We should not live to eat, but eat to live.
2. We should not focus on deriving pleasure from eating.
3. We should not indulge at any meal.
4. We should not reward ourselves with food.
5. We should not pamper our moods with food.
6. We should not feel deserving of food in excess of needs.
7. We should not sacrifice our food quality due to time restraint.
8. We should not view a craving as something normal and give in to it as though it has to be attended too...
9. We should not starve ourselves to a point of destruction.
10. We should not deprive ourselves from proper nutrition.

So below I changed it up a bit and came up with some rules I'd like to live by. My rules are in black. 

1. We should not live to eat, but eat to live.

1. Eat to Live.

2. We should not focus on deriving pleasure from eating.

2. Enjoy eating simply.  Everyday fair can be tasty and enjoyable.

3. We should not indulge at any meal.

3. Eat until I'm satisfied.  I'm eating smaller amounts. I'd like to get smaller plates.

4. We should not reward ourselves with food.
5. We should not pamper our moods with food.

4. Enjoy on occasion decadent, rich, flavorful foods I really want. This is when a cheat day is helpful or what I plan to call indulgence day. I like the idea of calling it an indulgent day as opposed to a cheat day because cheat sounds like I am doing something bad.  I don't think eating something rich or sweet occasionally is bad.  During the week I'm not being good I'm just enjoying my simpler yet tasty food. 

6. We should not feel deserving of food in excess of needs.

See number 3

7. We should not sacrifice our food quality due to time restraint.

5. Make time for making real food.

8. We should not view a craving as something normal and give in to it as though it has to be attended too...

Seen number 3 and 4

9. We should not starve ourselves to a point of destruction.

6. Eat satisfying, simple and healthy meals daily.  My goals is 3 meals a day with minimal snacking.

10. We should not deprive ourselves from proper nutrition.

See number 6

7. Only eat when I'm hungry.  

One more time all in one place:


1. Eat to Live.

2. Enjoy eating simply.  Everyday fair can be tasty and enjoyable.

3. Eat until I'm satisfied.  I'm eating smaller amounts. I'd like to get smaller plates.

4. Enjoy on occasion decadent, rich, flavorful foods I really want. This is when a cheat day is helpful or what I plan to call indulgence day. I like the idea of calling it an indulgent day as opposed to a cheat day because cheat sounds like I am doing something bad.  I don't think eating something rich or sweet occasionally is bad.  During the week I'm not being good I'm just enjoying my simpler yet tasty food. 

5. Make time for making real food.

6. Eat satisfying, simple and healthy meals daily.  My goals is 3 meals a day with minimal snacking.

7. Only eat when I'm hungry.  


Do you have any food rules?   Michael Pollan has some good food rules here and here.

Sunday Book Review: French Women Don't Get Fat

I've heard in the news that French women don't get fat or we should eat more like the the French or eat a Mediterranean diet. I'm never sure what that actually means.




After reading French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano I know! I'm being a bit facetious here ya'll.  Mireille shares her experience of gaining a 20 lbs in the US when she was an exchange student. How their family doctor who she fondly calls Dr. Miracle helped her get back on track.

What I took away from the book is to really enjoy your food.  We should do more than eat to live. This insight is the best part of the book.  So she encourages you to eat flavorful healthy meals.
   
Her diet plan as such is divided into four phases.

Phase One:  For 3 weeks pay attention to what and how eat.  Like do you snack, skip meals, indulges in lots of sweets?

Looking back I snacked a lot.  I was skipping breakfast.  Eating more sweets than I needed and possibly enjoyed.   My food was pretty joyless most days of the week.

One thing I've found because I did choose to take out dairy with my diet is I don't miss it with my mexi-bowl lunches at all. I find some avocado much more decadent.  I love cheese best melted in an omelet or a small bites of a rich cheddar sans crackers or bread.  

I don't miss the corn chips either.  I do miss the crunchiness so I am trying to find other tastier healthy crunchy things to enjoy. Like kale chips.

The weekend before she recommends eating leeks and broth for 48 hours and a jump start to the changes.  I don't see that as particularly unique. I remember women in my family doing all salads for  a weekend.

Phase Two Re-casting:  This can last one to three months.  Start eating three meals a day. Look at your habits. What could you give up completely? I managed to cut back on my coffee so I have removed over 1/2 cup a milk I used to drink every day.  I don't eat grains 6 days a week for now mostly to see how I feel.  I'd say one of my biggest offenders are breads. pasta and corn chips.

I don't really miss basic medium grain brown rice all that much.  I'd love a little basmati rice with some curries again on occasion.  I've found I much more enjoy Silva's corn chips then the organic ones.  So maybe on occasion I will indulge in a bit with some fresh salsa.

During this phase she recommends a day for indulgence(s).  Over time, she suggests, you need this less as and less as you figure out how to compensate during the week. Her suggestions seem very familiar to the things I learned in Mindless Eating. She's never really clear to me on what compensating means.

The thing I found a bit lacking in the book is a clearer idea of how much to eat. I know this is different for everyone. Her book French Women for all Seasons as some better examples as well as the French I Women Don't get Fat website.  When I look at the amounts I get the impression she is a rather pewit woman.

Phase Three Stabilization:  Here you might look to see if there are things you could cut back even more or not.  Now you can start changing things up and add some indulgences now and then.


Phase Four The Rest of Your Life:  Now you have found just the right amount of food you need and know the foods that you truly enjoy.


Lastly, get moving like a french woman.

So give it read.  Even if you don't want to lose weight she has some great recipes in it for croissants :)  That said I think I'd rather walk down to our local bakery and buy my croissants and walk home to enjoy it.  How very French of me ;)

Bonjour and Bon Apetit!

Sip It Saturday: A Double Pils and Roasted Okra

Last Saturday I indulged in a few beers.  I haven't any beer in several weeks and this was refreshing.  My husband makes fun of me these days as I tend to prefer the lighter less hoppy beers.  I think it's been the heat that did it too me.  Yet tastes do change.

I had one while I chatted with Stephen while he was preparing our dinner and another with this delicious meal.



Bunless burger topped with cheddar cheese and onions with a side of roasted okra.   I'm in love with roasted okra!

Roasted Okra
Pre-heat Oven to 425 Deg
Cut the okra 1/2 in or so.  About 1/2 to 1 cup per person
Drizzle with olive oil
toss with some salt, garlic and onion powder/granules.
Cook for about 12 minutes

Snack Time Crunch Time

I keep finding yummy things to make and share so I think I'll starting posting some Foodie Friday on Wednesday too.  I don't want anyone to miss out on the local farmers market bounty.

One of the things I like about about corn chips, pita chips, or wasabi peas are the crunch. Since I am abstaining from them at the moment I've been craving something to crunch and for some reason nuts and seeds just don't do it for me.   So when this buzzfeed link, 25 Baked Alternatives To Potato Chips And French Fries,  went across my facebook feed I had to take a look.  It was the answers to my crunchy craving.  So today I made kale chips and some zucchini chips too. 

The kale chips I cooked in my lower oven at 325 deg which is both convection and regular oven.  A fan goes on when it's just in the regular oven mode.  I think having that air circulation helped these crisp up.  I wonder if using convection would do even better?  I'm getting ahead of myself. 

I washed and veined the kale as a friend of mine said she found the veins didn't get very crispy.  Patted them dry and tossed them with some olive oil, salt, and garlic powder.  Basically cook until crisp.  I checked on mine every 5 minutes or so. They took about 10 plus minutes.



I tried this zucchini chip recipe.  As the recipe suggested do go light on the spices since the slices shrink quite a bit so it gets very concentrated.  So next time I plan to spice them near the end of the cooking to see if that helps. You cook these slowly at 225 deg for about an hour so plan ahead if you want some. 

These veggies chips are just the tip of the iceberg.  I can't wait to try some winter squash chips and maybe some beet chips too.  I'm not a beet fan.  Beets are so beety. I'm sure for a treat I'd love the ones here covered in bacon!

Foodie Friday: Bitchin' Kitchen!

One day when I sat down to knit on something I was in need of some entertainment.  Knitting is entertainment but not always enough entertainment.  There wasn't anything on my dvr queue to watch so I did a bit of surfing and found Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen.  At first I wasn't sure about this chick.  Is she for real? Nadia G and I are like opposites at least on the surface.  She's a rockin' young hipster and I love comfortable shoes. But she loves food and so do I.   So I fell in love with her rockin' self.  Even though she has issues with nerds she really is a nerd about food, although I think she might deny it. Maybe some of her wardrobe sense can rub off and I can become a stylin' hip mature broad ;)

Sadly, I can't watch the show since we canceled cable.  Before I lost cable I saved up several episodes on my dvr and had a Bitchin' Kitchen party to watch episodes with some of my favorite peeps.  You have to have some food at a bitch'n' kitchen party and some wine or bring or something.  So what if  the party started at 1pm in the afternoon.  A gals got to have fun sometime! 

I'm crossing my fingers that Bitchin' Kitchen will come out on dvd soon so I can have another party. For now I will have to settle for youtube videos to get my Nadia G fix. I will leave you with one more.  Some foodie ideas for Valentines Day.  Even better you get to met Hans and  the Spice Agent.

Now Go Rock Your Kitchen! 

Foodie Friday: Steak Tacos

 85% local dinner, sometime in 2010 that is!  I planned to post it but never did.  Maybe it can inspire you if you are in a food rut.  Might have to make changes because tomatoes and tomatillos aren't sadly not in season.  Bummer.  Cabbage is still easy to find and maybe some really good jarred salsa would do in a pinch.

Steak Taco's



12 plus ounces of Kansas Grass Fed Angus Flank Steak Cut with the grain. Marinated in lime juice, garlic, and cumin. Then cooked.



Tomatillo Salsa


Local Roasted tomatillos, one ear
local sweet corn, small onion, local purple pepper, salt. This was so good it didn't last for dinner. So I made some Pica Da Gillo to make up for it. 2 Local tomatoes, 2-3 gloves crushed garlic, one ear local sweet corn, one small onion, one local anaheim pepper, salt.



Marinated Red Onions: vinegar, sugar and red pepper flakes or jalapeno for spice.  Cabbage slaw:  cabbage of course, grated carrots, vinegar, salt.

Food Glorious Food!

We harvested some Sugar Snap Peas and some Snow Peas. We took advantage of Pendleton Farm's free pick Fridays. We pick the peas then they keep half and we keep half for free.



The girl kid made sure we harvested one more batch of asparagus. When I got home I looked over our sad strawberry patch and found about quart of fresh berries too.

Dinner is Prepared!

Smoked Chicken Wings from the wings we have been saving up for about 6 weeks or so plus a few more from the store. Also starring: Black and Corn Salsa, Cream cheese dip, Carrots, Hummus, and Chips. There was also a hot dipping sauce for the wings that was even too hot for this family. Everything else was fantastic!



We worked up an appetite picking strawberries.



We picked pounds and pounds of strawberries about 19 pounds in all. It's a lot but it didn't take all that long to do about 45 minutes.



The container on the left was for strawberry shortcake. The rest will be for jams and smoothies and more.



Have some short cake!

Nom, Nom, Nom...

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza!



Black olives and sauted red peppers on homemade crust. Yummy melted cheese goodness. There was yummy pizza for all that's just one of the pizzas Stephen and I shared. Then for breakfast Waffles.



Multigrain waffles with hand whipped egg whites and yummy local berries. I finally got the farmers market in time to snag the berries. Let me tell you people are serious about their berries.

Nom, Nom, Nom.

Sort of Sweet & Spicy Peanut Pasta Stir Fry

I say sort of because I didn't use pasta and didn't use peanuts. I made this before exactly and it's fabulous. My favorite part is the sauce. I followed the recipe from the February 2010 Merc Newsletter. Follow the link, down load the February 2010 Newsletter. Recipe is on page 7.

I followed the sauce recipe exactly.






I added some cabbage so there would be plenty of leftovers. I added some green onions on top after it was cooked because we had some from the farmers market that needed eatin'





Finally I steamed up some Edamame to top it with on the table since I didn't have any peanuts. My original plan was to have a bit of sliced beef in the stir fry but I forgot to thaw it soooo beef was not for dinner.



No pics of it all together. We ate it over rice rather than on noodles but it is really good over noodles. Try it you'll like!

Veggie Sushi and Fancy Onigiri

We've been eating lots more meals for both lunch and dinner. Mostly in the effort to save money. The time we get together as a family is bonus. On Tuesday we made veggie sushi together and some onigiri. Much eating and laughter ensued.

Sushi and Onigiri


Veggie Ingredients: nori, sushi rice, carrots, red pepper, avocado and cream cheese.

I'm informed byt the girl kid that the onigiri is not fancy it's what you would find in a kids lunch. I think it's pretty fancy compared to your basic onigiri triangle or ball. She made the onigiri and I think it looks really pretty. So there ;)

Ita daki mas! (ee-tah dahki maas - I think that's close for the sounds) - I'm ready to eat!

Pesto Quinoa Salad

I interrupt Knit and Crochet Blog Week with a recipe because food is good for you! (To be honest I won't answer the rest of the questions because I just really don't want to.)




Spinach pesto
One bunch spinach
6 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 cup olive oil more or less - I started with 1/4 cup this bunch of spinach was on the large size so I needed more
a pinch of fresh basil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup toasted walnuts

Blend all ingredients up in your favorite food preprocessor.

Pesto Quinoa Salad - Serves one 1-2
1/4 - 1/2 cup cooked red quinoa
1/4 - 1/2 cup broccoli cut small
1 T shallot only because I had some and it need to be used up
1/4 -1/2 cup carrots diced
small amount mesculan salad greens
a dollop of pesto

I steamed the carrots and broccoli just a bit to make them more tender.

I mixed the quinoa and the veggies in a bowl, topped it with a bit of fresh salad greens and a dollop of pesto.

Hmmm, Hmmm, Good!

More Flower Woo

More yummy flower goodness.



This time to pretty up some salad and soup.



Some pretty flowers in the garden too.


The violets in their natural habitat.



Phlox and more phlox.




Some blue bells on there way out.

Kiwi and Wild Flower Fruit Salad

More flowers yum! Violets and Red Buds.



Organic Kiwis were on sale at my local market for 39 cents each as opposed to 69 cents each. So I bought a few. The green of the kiwis makes a great back drop for the pretty flowers.

Flower Salad for Lunch

Food from the backyard some of it considered weeds!



Salad mix came from the farmers market. The flowers in the salad came from the backyard: wild violets are the blue white flowers and the pinkish ones are redbud flowers. Eat up it's good for you!



The rest of the lunch was leftover Slower Cooker Barbecued Beef Brisket in the Spring 2010 issue of Cooks illustrated. It was goooood! Finally roasted sweet potatoes. I cut the sweet potatoes up then tossed them with garlic powder, onion powder, cumin and salt then cooked them in a 400 deg oven for 20 or more min. I actually meant to add a wee bit of chipotle powder but forgot.

Foodie Friday: Sausage Fry

Yummy sausage of your choice. I cooked up 4 Beelers Brats. I give them a quick brown on the stove then put them in 375 deg oven for about 20 minutes or so.

After the sausages were done I also started some Basmati rice. You can use any rice you want but Basmati sounded good to me. I went the extra step and toasted the grain in some olive oil before adding the water. Hmmm, It smells so good that way. If you haven't done this before add the clean Basmati rice to a bit of warmed olive oil and toast it until you smell popcorn. At least that's what toasted Basmati smells like to me. Then add the water. I do almost 2:1 water to grain. 1.5 cups of dry rice takes about 30 plus min to cook. I'm pretty cautious and check often after about 25 min. You know it's done when you lift the sauce pan and the rice doesn't slide down.

You can use really any veggies of your choice. I'd have added carrots to the mix but were are low and I want it for stir fry for our next meal.



2 onions thinly sliced
2 red peppers or peppers of you choice thinly sliced
1/2 cabbage thinly sliced
4 or more coarsely chopped toes of garlic

With luck this will serve 4 plus extra. Most likely the girl kid will only eat the veggies and the boy kid will refuse to try it. After fixing this up I really needed the carrots 2-3 or the rest of the head of cabbage to have the ratio of sausage to veggies I'd like.

While the sausages are cooking I prepare the veggies above. After the sausages are done I start cooking the veggies. Sometimes I wait until the husband gets home so the food is all warm and yummy and then he helps cook too.



Start by cooking the onions and when the look almost done I added the garlic. This was a new addition to my sausage fry. I haven't used garlic before but it sounded good tonight. Then add the peppers, then the cabbage. When things look almost cooked to your taste toss in the sausage I like to chop mine up before adding it. Then let it cook for a bit more with a lid so the sausage can add some flavor to the fry and warm up. Salt and pepper to taste while cooking or not.


Mea culpa for the blurry photo but it looks a wee bit tasty yes?


Serve up with the rice and optional sauce below.

3 tbl olive oil
2 tbl rice vinegar
1 tsp yellow mustard (I used dijon this time)
1 tsp tamari
1/2 tsp sugar or honey

I kind of like this sauce on the sweet side and use more honey than suggested above. This is the same sauce I use on the Chick Pea Potato Salad. I don't normaly use sauce on my sausage fry and depend on the flavor of the onion and sausage. Since the kids don't like the sausage there was a request for a sauce. So there ya go. I decided against a sweeter sauce and a drizzled it on the fry was really good.

Black Bean and Squash Burritos

I don't have a pretty picture of them but they are good. My daughter loved them so that makes them double good.

I loosely followed the recipe here. I used butternut squash because that's what I had. I peeled it before I baked it. I passed on the coriander but added a wee bit of chipolte chili powder. Just a pinch because it's spicy, if you like it hot feel free to add more.

Book Review: Serving Up the Harvest

If you are struggling with some new ways to cook up your local veggies I recommend purchasing Serving up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman. I've seen this book several times but kept passing it up because I didn't want to spend the money. So when Borderd sent me a 40% coupon I decided it was time. It's the kind of cook book I like. It gives you basic information in a new way that helps you expand your cooking knowledge. It's the book to grab when you have a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

The first half of the book she shares basic recipes to make a lo mein, stir fry, cheese sauce, pastry, etc. Then the rest of the book is ordered by the veggies seasons. Each vegetable has basic gardening information, basic cooking times and information, several tasty recipes, and a meal or two to make with it.

I have several of the recipes marked that I want to try and the ingredients list is easy to find. So I'm sure this is book that I will take off the shelf and actually use.