Butternut Squash Soup

Best.Butternut.Squash.Soup.Evah. I have to re-post because I can never find where I left this one. 

I just have to write this down now so I don't forget.  Seriously, I wanted to drink this soup with a straw it was so dern good. Ok, I actually did take a small sip with a straw. 

Whaa....I couldn't find my spoon and it was there.  It was clean.  Don't judge.

Note: I like to microwave the squash for about 8 minutes to soften them up.  It makes it easier to peel and cube. 

Ingredients

2 butternut squashes peeled & cubed (about 8ish cups)

2 onions chopped

1 big carrot chopped

1 apple peeled and cubed

3 T. butter

5 c chicken broth 

3/4 c. half and half

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Melt the butter on med high heat and sauté the squash, onions, carrots and apple for about 12 minutes.
2. Pour in the chicken broth  and bring to a boil.
3. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.
4. Blend with a emulsion blender 
5. Stir in the half and half.
6. Salt & pepper to taste.

Makes 12 cups.

Friday's Drawers: POPCORN!

What a treat this week with real, not pre-packaged, powder coated microwave popcorn! 

And lil sweet peppers!

And oranges!

And more crazy looking rainbow carrots!

But still the highlight was the popcorn.  I asked the kids what they wanted for dinner.  Chicken and popcorn!

So, Izzy and I took the kernels off the cob. Our thumbs were a little sore doing it this way. So we balanced it over the bowl and popped them off into the little bowl.

The newletter this week came with a "Perfect Popcorn" recipe so that is what we did....

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_popcorn/

Ingredients
3 Tbsp canola, peanut or grapeseed oil (we used canola)
1/3 cup of high quality popcorn kernels
1 3-quart covered saucepan
2 Tbsp or more (to taste) of butter
Salt to taste

Directions

Heat the oil in a 3-quart saucepan on medium high heat. Put 3 or 4 popcorn kernels into the oil and cover
the pan. When the kernels pop, add the rest of the 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover,
remove from heat and count 30 seconds. (And yup we counted out loud with the kids.) This method first heats the oil to the right temperature, then waiting 30 seconds brings all of the other kernels to a near-popping
temperature so that when they are put back on the heat, they all pop at about the same time. Return the pan to the heat. The popcorn should begin popping soon, and all at once. Once the popping starts in earnest, gently shake the pan by moving it back and forth over the burner. Try to keep the lid slightly ajar to let the steam from the popcorn release (the popcorn will be drier and crisper). Once the popping slows to several seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid, and dump the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl. With this technique, nearly all of the kernels pop and nothing burns.

Here is the full share this week.

• Broccoli, Bryson Farms, Florida
• Rainbow Carrots, Atlas Farm, South Deerfield
• Pineapple Orange, Eagles’ Next Grove, Florida
• Green Beans, Pero Farm. Florida
• Romaine Lettuce, Lady Moon, Florida
• Mustard Greens, Lady Moon, Florida
• Mini Sweet Peppers, Pero Farms, Florida
• Popcorn (transitional), Enterprise Farm
• Covington Sweet Potatoes, ECO, N. Carolina
• Plum Tomatoes, Lady Moon, Florida

Here was the other recipe that I think we'll try this week and see how it is....that is if we don't eat up the broccoli before I get to it!

Broccoli Sweet Potato Soup

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed 

2 medium onions, chopped

6-8 cloves of garlic 

1 tablespoon oil

1 bunch broccoli , split in florets 

1 cup milk

Water ( just enough to cover veggies) 

1 vegetable boullion cube (optional)

salt & black pepper 

1 tsp powdered sage

1 tbsp thyme 

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp dried rosemary 

4 tbsp fresh parsley or cilantro (optional)

can be served with croutons and cheese (optional)

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally until

translucent. Add sweet potatoes and herbs. Add enough liquid to cover and boullion and bring to

a boil. Lower heat and simmer 10 minutes or until sweet potato is cooked. Use some liquid from the

soup to boil broccoli in the separate pot. Puree sweet potatoes soup in blender. Stir in soy milk and

broccoli. If the soup is too thin, discard the liquid you used to boil broccoli, otherwise add it back to

the soup. Bring to boil and simmer for several minutes.

Friday's Drawers: Silky, Smooth....

Best.Butternut.Squash.Soup.Evah.

I just have to write this down now so I don't forget.  Seriously, I wanted to drink this soup with a straw it was so dern good.

Ok, I actually did take a small sip with a straw. 

Whaa....I couldn't find my spoon and it was there.  It was clean.  Don't judge.

Ingredients

2 butternut squashes peeled & cubed (about 8ish cups)

2 onions chopped

1 big carrot chopped

1 apple peeled and cubed

3 T. butter

5 c chicken broth 

3/4 c. half and half

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Melt the butter on med high heat and sauté the squash, onions, carrots and apple for about 12 minutes.
2. Pour in the chicken broth  and bring to a boil.
3. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.
4. Blend with a emulsion blender 
5. Stir in the half and half.
6. Salt & pepper to taste.

Makes 12 cups.

Notes:

Chicken Broth - I used my homemade broth - simmered chicken parts, leeks, onions, garlic, carrots, celery, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper

Emulsion blender - best investment ever for soups and post run smoothies...I use a Cuisinart. Local peeps, I get Bed Bath & Beyond 20% off coupons all the time.  E me if you want one.  The coupon I mean.

You can lighten this up by only doing 2 T of butter and 1/2 c of half and half, but I tried it with a little less and wanted it just a touch creamier.  

Oh yeah, and here is this week's share.

Romaine, kale, spinach, baby bok choy
buttercup squash, onions, green peppers
sweet potatoes, (no clue), apples, potatoes

I am so psyched for the return of the sweet potato.  There was something I was thinking of making with those as soon as they made their fine return and for the life of me I cannot remember right now.  

If anyone has a clue what that big 'ol white thing is in the middle, please fill me in.  It looks too big to be a parsnip and was such a solid white inside. It wasn't on the list that I could tell and it is new to me. 

Buttercup squash is a new one to me too. I think I have an untried recipe for those.  Though I am thinking about using the same recipe above for one or two of those ugly bad boys. Note to self....need more carrots.

Guess I have me some cooking to do....

Grilled Eggplant with Ricotta and Grilled Tomato-Basil Relish, or not.

I had every intention of making this mouth-watering educing recipe last night when BAM (not the grill exploding). The grill was leaking gas. 

Why?  Why grill gods?  You teamed up with the let's-mess-with-Christy's-plans gods again didn't you. I think you two need a break, or nap. Go talk to Angry Jeep for a bit and let me and my plans be. 

Since David really didn't want me to blow me or the house up (even though my stubbornness had us try the grill no less than 3 times before calling it a day) I had to improvise. 

Everything was already prepped for the grill, so it was either be cooked or be compost.  Ok, I wouldn't go that far.  

So I turned on the stove in the (uggghhh) 90 degree weather. 

And it was worth it. Yum! 

 

CSA Rosa Eggplant, perfect for the grill...or not grilled dish

Supposed to be char grilled.  But oh well.

Eggplant in pan. Not the grill. Argh.

Tomato Basil relish - doesn't look as appetizing in the pic.
(I wish I could take better food photos)

The Dish. Delish.

The next plan is to get the connector tube fixed. It really isn't worth blowing up everything just to grill some eggplant.Ya think? 

Good on the stove, but I bet even better on the grill.  Here is the real recipe.

Grilled Eggplant with Fresh Ricotta and Grilled Tomato-Basil Relish

Adapted from Bobby Flay, 2007

Ingredients for the grilled tomato-basil relish:
8 ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise 5 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 small red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil plus fresh
leaves, for garnish

Ingredients for the eggplant:
8 slices (2 medium eggplants, ends trimmed and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch thick slices)
6 tablespoons olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper
16 ounces ricotta 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions for the grilled tomato-basil relish:
Heat your grill to high.
Place the tomatoes in a bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil and season with salt and pepper.
Place tomatoes on the grill and grill until charred on all sides, and just cooked through, about
10 minutes. Remove from the grill and coarsely chop.
Put the chopped tomatoes in a bowl, add the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil, onion, vinegar and
basil and gently mix until combined. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
Can be made 4 hours in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Directions for the eggplant:
Heat your grill to high.
Brush eggplant slices on both sides with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the slices
on the grill and grill until golden brown and slightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn over and continue
grilling until just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes.
Stir together the ricotta and parsley in a medium bowl and
season with salt and pepper.
Place the grilled eggplant on a large platter and top each
slice with a heaping tablespoon of the ricotta and a heaping
tablespoon of the tomato relish.

Callaloo, Strange Callaloo

I love soup. I used to eat Progressive Soup (Thanks editor Rob! If only there WAS a progressive soup.) Progresso Soup a lot. A.Lot. I would stash a few cans and a big 'ol mug in my desk drawer and on those days that I would forget frozen my box of Lean Cuisine, or just cuz, I would have some soup. Oh, Chickarina how I loved you. And Wedding Day! Ever want to get yourself off those cans, first read the salt content. 630mg (29% for the day!) Yea, that is just for ONE serving. Double it and that is what I was ingesting. Regularly. Thinking about it now, makes my skin feel tight.

These days I try to make my own soup. Red Lentil Chard still tops the charts in our household, but I ams always up to try something new. So when we got Callaloo also known as amaranth in our share this week, I looked up a 4 1/2 star rated soup on allrecipes.com and said what the heck...(but fyi, I did change out the salted beef for bacon. I just can't leave well enough alone. But hey, we had some in the fridge.)

Off to the store...

Shallots. Check. (Never bought these before.  THAT's what they look like.  Like little red onions.)

Chile peper.  I hope a jalepeno is the same thing, because that is what I got.

Okra.  Couldn't find it since, um I didn't know what it looked like.  I read the signs...but wow.  A very nice RocheBros worker got me a bag, said she LOVES okra and told me how she cooks them up (Good thing too, because she got me WAY more than the cup I needed.) 

Crab meat.  Holy Crap!  6oz. for almost 9 bucks??? Do I go imitation?  No, get the good stuff.  Actual food.  Michael Pollan eat your heart out.  I followed another one of your food rules. Sigh. 

Ok ready to cook.     

Got everything ready and then read this: "Puree the soup in a blender or food processor." 

I have a wonderful Cuisinart.  I love it. Really.  But here is the thing.  All these wonderful ingredients...puréed like baby food?  I don't know about you, but that feels like a total waste to me.  I mean, the whole reason SlimFast sucked was that I actually like to chew my food.  Ok.  SlimFast sucked for a lot more reasons than that.  But I digress.

Yet I did it, I gave the recipe a chance. Cuisinart-ed the sucker out of it. 

Cooked. puréed. 

And you know what.  It IS really good.  This is one flavorful soup.  It doesn't look beautiful...sort of green monster-ish. But it is quite tasty.   

Maybe next time for kicks, I'll only purée half so I still get to chew some of that $22 lb crab meat.  

Callaloo Soup

1 pound callaloo leaves or spinach

6 cups chicken stock

1 onion, chopped

4 strips of bacon

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

6 tablespoons minced shallots

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1 green chile pepper, chopped

1 cup okra

1/2 pound crabmeat

Directions

Remove the thick stems of the callaloo leaves, chop roughly, and put into a large saucepan. Add the chicken stock, onion, bacon, black pepper, shallots, thyme, chili pepper, and crab meat. Cover, and simmer until meat is tender, about 35 minutes.

Add the okra, and cook for 8 minutes.

Remove the chili pepper. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor. Reheat, and adjust seasonings.

Oh, and for the record.  I got about 10 bowls of soup out of this recipe which cost about $12 to make.  That means, it was still cheaper than the Progresso soups I used to get on sale for $1.25 each.  Cheapassmama booyah!

Wanna see what's in my drawers? - Watermelon and Callaloo

Friday Farm Share Post!  This week we had a 100% Local Box! I love when we have a total local farm share week. Especially during the Loving Local Blogathon Week!   But hmmm....there are things in there I haven't seen before.  Interesting....

Callaloo, Salad Mix, Basil, Watermelon, Yellow Onions, Rosa Bianca Eggplant, Loose Beets, Green Bell Pepper, Heirloom Tomatoes, Cucumber

The first thing we dug into last night was the watermelon. Seriously.  The best tasting watermelon since my little water babies I grew when I was 10 years old.  So sweet!  Screw Michael Pollan's Food Rule # whatever (Eat at the table)...I ate this bad boy at the counter.  Down to the rind. O.M.G.  Heaven.  Slllluuurp!

Enterprise Farms, please more of these next week and the week after and the week after that....please. :)

I really think watermelon should have seeds.  Don't you?

Now...about that Callaloo, that big leafy bunch in our share this week...Yes, I had to google. And guess what came up...Jimmy Buffett.  Wha????

Callaloo

Callaloo, Strange Calaloo

Mysterious curious roux

Try as you might to avoid the hoodoo

Sooner of later we're all in the stew

We got Crab and pigtail

Squid ink and fish scale

Okra and daheen leaves

Chitchat and chatter

Fill up the platter

With a garnish of pure make believe

--Jimmy Buffet

What is this interesting green?  And I don't mean Parrot heads..... Callaloo people.  Callaloo. 

According to my sources, um...wikipedia....it is a leaf vegetable (also a dish)  from the Caribbean served in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, with variants in Barbados, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Grenada, Dominica, Saint Lucia and the Virgin Islands. It is often pared with okra, meat, lobster, crab and coconut milk.  

I found a recipe on allrecipes.com that I am going to try to make this week. ..I'll keep you posted!

Callaloo Soup

Ingredients
1 pound callaloo leaves or spinach
6 cups chicken stock
1 onion, chopped
1/2 pound salt beef, fat removed and diced
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons minced shallots
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 green chile pepper, chopped
1 cup okra
1/2 pound crabmeat

Directions
Remove the thick stems of the callaloo leaves, chop roughly, and put into a large saucepan. Add the chicken stock, onion, beef, black pepper, shallots, thyme, chili pepper, and crab meat. Cover, and simmer until meat is tender, about 35 minutes.
Add the okra, and cook for 8 minutes.
Remove the chili pepper. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor. Reheat, and adjust seasonings.

Time to put on some calypso and start cookin'!  

This post is part of Loving Local, a blogathon to support Mass Farmers Markets, a non-profit that helps farmer's markets. The blogathon was the idea of Tinky over at In Our Grandmothers' Kitchens. 

Blogathon! and Eggplant Update

My sister-in-law, Jen pointed me to the Loving Local: Celebrating the Flavors of Massachusetts, so decided to partcipate in their Blogathon this week as part of a week long celebration of Farmer's Markets.  

Check them out! There are a lot of cool recipes and food finds there.

 

Disclaimer: We actually don't shop farmer's markets all that much, but we do get a CSA box year-round and our CSA farm DOES go to the Somerville and Dedham farmer's markets all the time.  Oh and if you ARE interested in a fall share, Enterprise is taking new applications for their fall/winter share.  

Earlier this week I told you about the rather um...interesting looking Asian eggplants  (right hand corner) that we got in our CSA, well here is what we did with them. 

First I cut them up into circles, salted them up and put them in the fridge to sweat.  Rinsed, dried and sautéed them in a little cannola oil with some red onions from our CSA and garlic.  

I added some of the CSA green peppers, tomatoes. 

Added my favorite sauce (yeah, I know it isn't from the framer's market, but ya gotta love TJ's!) and a few pieces of pineapple. 

Served it up over rice.

Containerized for future lunches and dinners.

Yum!  I've been eating it for the last few days along with my favorite soup red lentil soup made with the kale back there.

And I thought dandelions were only good for making wishes....

Our CSA started back up this week after a 1-week hiatus. 

*running around the room waving hands in the air* 

We are now into the "local" CSA for the next 20-someodd weeks. And I'll give you one guess what was included in this week's share.  

I'll give you a hint.  It's not easy being...

Carrots. Ok, yes we got crunchy carrots, plump potatoes, bright blueberries, tasty tomatoes, bunched beets, lively lettuce, sultry salad (can salad be sultry? how about savory salad...though I feel sultry after eating said savory salad, but only after I evacuate the dancefloor if you know what I mean.  whoa! TMI! I think I don't seem so sultry anymore.), back to food...and yes, we got green greens.  

*best Gomer Pyle voice* 

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

Before you even ask....I was born in the 70's.  It's called syndication, people.  

Ok, so we got greens. Don't get me wrong, I like greens. Really. But dandelion greens? Yeah, never made those before. So after googling, I found out a couple things:

1. You can actually eat dandelion greens. Who knew?  (Did you ever eat grass as a kid...and I don't mean in brownies *ahem*...I mean grass, grass.  I remember it tasting like onions. I think I just admitted to eating grass as a kid. And brownies.)

2. Every part of the dandelion is edible. I just thought you made a wish when you blew the little seeds into the neighbors lawns annoying the crap out of them for spreading weeds.

According to About.com: 

• Dandelion root can be roasted as a coffee-substitute, or boiled and stir-fried as a cooked vegetable.
• Dandelion flower can be made into a wine, or boiled and stir-fried as a cooked vegetable.
• Dandelion greens (i.e., the leaves) can be boiled, as you would spinach, and used as a cooked vegetable, in sandwiches or as a salad green with some "bite."

I tried the leaves raw and they were a little bitter for me. Sooooo I decided to make my own green concoction that I've made with kale and chard with pretty good success.  

I don't even have a title for it. Staples with Greens I guess.  Or maybe meat, potatoes, apples, and greens. Oh my.

Ingredients

Ham steak chopped into bite sized pieces or TJs turkey sausage

Potatoes

Apples (granny smith or gala)

Lemon juice (if you use granny smith)

Splash of Apple cider vinegar

1/4 c. brown sugar

Buttah

Greens of whatever variety

Salt/pepper to taste

Directions

Chop potatoes in bite-sized pieces. Cook with boiling water until tender. 

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the greens.

De-stem and tear the greens in bite sized pieces. Blanch (boil with the potatoes) for a few minutes until limp, but still holding their color.  

In a sauté pan, melt some of the butter and add the ham and apples for a few minutes.  Then add the greens and potatoes in with the rest of the butter. 

Add the brown sugar, cider vinegar, salt and pepper and let simmer for a few minutes. 

This dish is one of those things that I wouldn't really add to a recipe book. It is tasty, don't get me wrong.  I mean, I've made it at least 3 times in the last couple months with various greens. It is a very "whole-foody" type of dish. The ingredients make it good. 


And it's as easy to make as say....brownies.  :)

Oh Boy, Tatsoi

The beauty of a CSA is that I get to try foods that I've never heard before.  Like a lot.  

This week we had Tatsoi in our weekly share. Yeah, this one I had to look up too. I snapped a pic for you.

According to The Kitchen Dictionary on Recipezaar.com, Tatsoi is a dark green Asian salad green that has a spoon like shape, a pleasant and sweet aroma flavor tlike a mild mustard flavor, similar to bok choi. It's generally eaten raw, but may be added to soups at the end of the cooking period. When tatsoi is mixed with other greens it enhances the flavor and nutritional value. Tatsoi may not be available in your regular grocery store. Specialty markets may carry it, or it can be grown from seeds, in warmer climates.

Rather than add it to a soup and I wasn't ready to add it to a salad, I decided to stir fry it with some mushrooms, butter and penne pasta.  Delish! 

Ingredients
1 box of cooked penne pasta
4 T butter
2 c mushrooms
2 bunches of tatsoi
Parmesan cheese


While the pasta is cooking, saute the mushrooms in 2T or so of butter. Once they are soft add the tatsoi for about 2 minutes until they are wilted. Add the pasta and the remaining butter in.  Toss and eat.  YUM!

Chock full of Chard

We have more chard. Surprise surprise. I like chard, don't get me wrong, but I'm starting to run out of ideas. And if you know me, you know I do NOT like to waste food. So I found a new recipe that called for chard and I was determined to try it.

Except halfway through I realized I completely messed up.

Don't you hate that! Pissed doesn't even begin to describe. Poor David got the brunt of it.

Argh!  I had everything planned out; all our meals for the week. I committed to writing everything down to stay On Plan and within my points.

Thing is, one of the keys to weight loss (or weight maintaining) is to plan; if I don't plan my meals and workouts ahead of time, I end up making choices that don't always support my goals. For example, if I forget my breakfast, what choices do I have? Vending machine? Cafeteria? And if I go there I end up spending extra cash, go for the cheap danish and end up with the empty icky feeling by 10am after I come down from my sugar rush.

*step away from the danish*

Oh but it tastes so good going down!

Anyway, everything was going fine - I had an amazing run during my lunch to earn my APs (activity points), ate a little later and had a late snack so I wouldn't snack on the kids' dinner of ham fried rice.

I picked up local lemons and was ready to use up my CSA chard.

I started the lentils, the organic chicken broth, CSA carrots, spices and started sautéing the onions and realized the lentils weren't holding up.

Maybe this is a newbie mistake, but I suddenly relized that red lentils aren't the same as brown. Der. They were turning to mush.

Grumping through cooking the rest of the onions and tearing the pieces of chard (aggressively I might add), I was sure I screwed this dish up. David tried to console me.  I think I grumped at him some more.  I tasted it before I added the chard and it wasn't terrible - it was more like a thick soup base rather than bean soup.  So I added the chard, simmered it until the leaves softened and then added the lemon juice. When I sat down to eat it I could not believe my tastebuds! It actually worked!

I love my new mistake! Don't you love when that happens?

Here is the recipe for my delicous mistake

Lentil Chard Soup

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups dried lentils (I used red lentils, but recipe called for brown)
1 qt chicken broth
1 qt water
1 cup diced carrot
1 3/4 teaspoons sea salt
Dash of dried thyme
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 parsley sprigs chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped onion
1 teaspoon ground cumin
6 cups torn Swiss chard
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Combine lentils (sorted & washed), water, and next 6 ingredients (water through bay leaves) in a large Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes or until tender.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cumin; sauté 10 minutes or until browned. Stir onion mixture into lentil mixture.

Discard bay leaves.

Add chard to soup; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes or until chard is tender.

Remove soup from heat. Stir in lemon juice and pepper.

Makes 6 bowls of 1 1/3 cups soup.

Serve with 1 tablespoon of plain yogurt.

Adapted from Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2003

NI: 283cals/5.2fat/20g fiber/18.2g protein

Treating your roots

I'm clueless when it comes to hair coloring. The one or two times I did color my hair there was more dye on the towels then on my head.

The only roots I know how to treat are these babies. 

The turnip.  

(I admit, when I saw it in the CSA box, it took me a while to figure out what it was.) 

I read about "glazing" so I figured I would try it on these roots. 


Ingredients
turnips
2 T butter
1 1/2 T brown sugar
1/4 c. water

Cut up, boiled till soft...

and tossed with some water, melted butter and brown sugar....

turnips are quite tasty!

Give peas a chance. Or green beans.

Is there anything cuter?  

Most of these fresh veggies didn't even make it to the steamer. Some actually did. Thanks to a timely post from a WeWa invisipeep, we had a very tasty side dish.  

Ingredients

Green beans

Raw almond slivers

2 yellow onions

Butter

Olive oil 

Directions

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees 

1. Prep beans and throw them in to salted boiling water for 8 minutes 

2. Strain and rinse with COLD water to stop the cooking process 

3. Throw the almonds into a shallow pan for 15ish minutes to toast them 

4. You can use the same big pot you used to boil the beans... Add olive oil and 2-3 tbs of butter on med/hi heat. 

while that melts....

5. Slice onions in quarters then equal slices. Add to pot and stir often, you want them to carmelize in the butter. Season the onions with salt and pepper. 

6. the onions will take 10-15ish minutes to really caramelize 

fold the greenbeans, almonds & onions together.


*I* did end up eating both the raw beans as well as the cooked ones. She did make sure I took off all the pieces of onion.  We'll have to keep working on that one. 

Makin' Whoopie - Birthday Bash (Part Two)

Before the crème was the whoopie. (Isn't that always the way?)

*Ahem*

Whoopie pie. I mean Pumpkin.Whoopie.Pie.

For my first birthday make n' bake with my co-workers, I brought the big guns. Or at least the big mounds. And creamy filling.

No worries, unless you have the immaculate weight gain, you can look at this whoopie. If you actually make the whoopie, then you are on your own.  

What is it with treats like whoopie pies, ho-hos and ding-dongs with their suggestive names? Why would you want something that makes you horny and fat all at the same time?

Anywhoo....If you do decide to go all the way, and are of consenting age for whoopie pies, then here is the recipe.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (Thanks, Paige P. for sharing!)

Ingredients
2 sticks melted unsalted butter
2 cup packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs (room temp) slightly beaten
2 cups of canned 100% pure pumpkin puree (about 1 can)
2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoon of baking powder
2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon of salt
3 1/3 cup of flour

Filling
1 stick softened salted butter
1 box (8oz) cream cheese
1 box (16 oz) confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla

Whoopie pie Directions:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.
3. Using a small ice cream scoop (or tablespoon), drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Filling Directions:
1. While the pies are cooking, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners’ sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Mix on low speed until blended, then medium-high until mixed well.
2. Spread the flat side of the 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

Hints:
- Use canned 100% pure pumpkin – not pumpkin pie filling, which is sweetened and spiced.
- Drop mounds on both sheets before putting either in the oven to make sure you measured correctly and spread it evenly into 24 mounds.

The Tally: Abstinence really may be the best policy. BUT if you do go there...
634 cals/3g fiber/32g fat/8g of protein.

If you do bite it, write it. I don't judge. Besides, what a birthday without a little whoopie.

Is there an app for that?

Yesterday's decadent crème brûlée left me feeling like I needed a cleanse.  So, Part Two of the birthday bash will have to wait a day.  We *only* get 35 extra points a week.  We can't spend them all on desserts...

I need some for wine this weekend.  

*raising a glass*

Here's to a cleanse!... Cheers!  

There is something leafy in my box and I don't know what it is. (bottom left corner) hmmmm.

Amazon has this app for your phone where you can snap a picture of a product (say you are in BestBuy) and it will find it and give you their price and put it in your cart if you want....Welp, I think there should be one for vegetables too. 


Yo, iPhone people, is there an app for that?

And while you're at it, can you tell me an app as in appetizer for that green leafy thing?

No? 

Well, you are in luck, I have one for you....

Epilogue
That leafy green goodness is called Russian Kale. Apparently it is a form of cabbage, freezes well and actually tastes sweeter after a frost. Who knew? I think it is tasty with bacon. But what isn't tasty with bacon? Mmmmmm bacon.

So what did I do with this luscious leaf? I found a wonderful recipe in the Rodale Whole Foods cookbook.


Ingredients
1lb Russian Kale
3 slices of bacon, cut in 1/4" pieces
1 lg red onion
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1 c. water
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper

Directions
Steam the kale in batches if necessary, until wilted.  About 3 minutes.  Then set aside.
In the large skillet, cook the bacon until crisp, then transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper towel. 

Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook until soft, about 7 minutes.  Stir in the red pepper flakes. 

Add the kale, bacon, water, salt and black pepper.  Cook until the kale is tender, about 4 minutes. 

Easy peasey.  And tasty too!  I had this today for lunch over quinoa.


The Tally:  72 cals (woot!)/3g fiber/3g fat.  Total recipe cost: $2.70 or $0.68/serving.