Super Easy Hollandaise Sauce

Fun!

We had a very fabulous little brunch get together this weekend and I decided to make a sausage hash, topped with fried eggs and hollandaise sauce. I chose not to take pictures because I was sure it was going to turn out horrible, go figure.

Anyway, I was prepared to put some blood, sweat and tears into the sauce (not literally, of course, that goes by another name, surely). I bought waaay too many eggs, figuring I'd make attempt after attempt at it.

Instead, I rocked that sauce in one easy go, if I do say so myself. I found and used this recipe for Julia Child's method- using a blender. I have to say it was the easiest thing ever. Seriously. You have no excuses- go make some hollandaise!

Easy Blender Hollandaise Sauce

Enjoy!
-m

p.s. Have you heard of bromosas!? Craziness.

Egg Salad with Cucumber

I love egg salad. Love love love. I always have. And while it is usually seen in a sandwich, I honestly prefer it by itself. Seriously- not just because I'm giving wheat free a try, but I always have. When I was in elementary school, the teachers told my mom that I wasn't eating my lunch. They had seen me throwing away my sandwiches, or so they thought. Turns out I was just gobbling up the delicious insides and throwing the bread out.

The only thing that bothers me about egg salad is that I think it gets eaten up way too quickly. I wanted to find a way to make it last a bit longer and make it, can I say, heartier? more refreshing? crunchier? It fits all those bills.

chopped English cucumber 

 I will admit that my egg salad is pretty basic. I do not add mustard to it (eek. no thanks) or vinegar or really anything other than mayo, eggs, green onions and some seasonings. You can make your egg salad however you please and add the cucumbers as you are mixing it all up!

Now I'm wondering how I can add to tuna salad as well! Any other ideas?

Egg Salad 

ingredients

5 boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise, add more or less to taste
1 green onion, chopped
1/2 English cucumber, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (English cucumbers do not need to be peeled)
salt and pepper to taste

Boil eggs, peel and chop into bite size pieces in a medium bowl. Add the mayonnaise, cucumber and green onion and mix.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!
-m

Juice

Love the glass? I got it from this etsy seller!

I have a confession to make. Well, two:

1) I watched this food documentary and loved it, it was amazing and it led me to watching a few more. I started with hungry for change. This was an amazing thing to watch, I wish I could find it online for you to see easier than having to purchase it, but it was worth it. I loved the emphasis on finding balancing and accepting yourself but being aware of the food we eat and what we are told about nutrition. I highly reccomend it.
After watching it, I had to watch Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead as well, and thought that while it wasn't as good as the previous movie, it was well done and I did do the most rational thing after watching it- I spent days researching juicers and went out and bought one.

So there is confession number 2

2) I bought a juicer and have used it almost everyday and I love to itty bitty pieces. When I nearly broke the darn thing and couldn't use it for a week, I almost lost my mind. I love this thing. I went with the omega 8004 because it can do so much and as mentioned before, I spent days researching things and this one seemed to be a favorite. It is already one of my most favorite things. I brought it with me on vacation! (and then nearly broke the thing, yadda yadda).

There are many people out there now touting the juice thing. They have been for years! and I have been listening! Well, sort of. Want to hear a funny story? Too bad, I'm gonna tell it. It's quick!

I tried a juice 'cleanse' a year ago. It was so easy, I felt great, I didn't know what the hype was about. I drank as much juice as I wanted for 3 days, and I never felt bad. It was at about day three, after 3 cartons of orange juice and 3 jugs of apple juice and one v8 that I realized, as I reread an article on the wonders of juicing, that they meant homemade mostly vegetable juice. Oops! I didn't own a juicer, so I just jumped off that wagon.

Now, back to today. I drink a mean green juice nearly every stinkin' day and I love it. I make a big batch of it every morning and have it with some scrambled eggs for breakfast. Then I take the leftovers with me to have with my lunch. It grosses everyone in the staff room out and I love that. :)

Also, all the leftover pulp is a great addition to my compost bin. Lovely!
  
I do have to chop up the produce to juice it in my particular juicer, but it takes no time at all. I love the flexibility of the juice recipe- just use what you have! Or follow one of the hundreds of recipes online

Want to read more about juicing? Here are some places to start:

hungry for change
runner's world
goop 

Green Juice
makes one big ol' cup and little cup leftover (or three small cups or enough to share if you want) 

ingredients

1 cucumuber
1 small apple
1/4 lemon, peeled
1 cup kale
5 stalks of celery 

Put it all in the juicer! That's it. :)

Enjoy!
-m

Pesto Garlic Bread

Summer is finally here! Our last school day was Friday, and while I was sad to say goodbye to the students, I am so grateful for some time to myself. The past three weeks have been so nutty- I swear I've had more sugar in the past month than I've had in the past 12 months. I feel a bit out of whack, but looking forward to a restful and restorative summer.

I'm sure I'll share more about that later, but for now I'm going to share something that..isn't quite restorative.

Hm, well, it restored my beliefs in homemade compound butters!

I bought this cookbook a few months ago and this jumped right out at me. Certain parties in this household love buttery, cheesy garlic bread. Like, love love love. I'm ambivalent, I prefer pizza if I'm going to go all bread and cheese. But I do like to see everyone smile so, I'm often on the lookout for a good garlic bread for those fancy dinners I sometimes like to prepare at home when I'm sick of restaurants. It happens!

This recipe is good for two loaves of your favorite bread- I like a good whole grain bread. You can bake one up and freeze the other for a quick side dish.

This bread was rated as a top 5 contender for favorite things made in my kitchen. Seriously. Make it. Make someone's day (maybe your own!) and save that leftover basil butter, you'll thank me later.

Pesto Garlic Bread
By Tyler Florence 

ingredients

1 pound butter
1/2  bunch of fresh basil
10-15 garlic cloves
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 loaves of crusty bread
sea salt
pepper

Put all the ingredients (except the bread, duh) in a food processor (or blender, as I did) and whip it up until it is all mixed up and creates a gorgeous basil butter.

Next, slice the bread almost all the way down, leaving the slices hanging together (see photo above). Butter the bread by spreading basil butter between each slice of both loaves, then spreading the remaining butter on the tops of the loaves. Honestly, I end up with a good 1/2 cup left and I freeze it and cook up veggies with it later. Yum.

Wrap both loaves with foil and either bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or freeze for up to a month. When you take it out of the freezer, simply bake it at 350 for 30-40 minutes (mine tends to take longer than the suggested 30 minutes). Let it cool a bit before slicing again and serving.

Enjoy! 
-m  

Olive Oil Popcorn!

Sometimes the blog posts write themselves. I cook, I snap some pictures, I type a bit and boom. It's a fun process. Other times life gets stuck in what feels like a mad dash to some unseen finish line. In this mad dash I imagine I'm a horse, because I think horses look better running than I do, and I've got those horse blinders on, because it works for the metaphor. I seem to be stuck in a mad dash toward the end of the school year. I'm on hyper drive. Wait, that doesn't work with the horse thing. Oh well, I'm a sci-fy horse or something.

Either way, I'm neglecting my blog posts when I should be focusing on them most. It's not very balanced of me to be 99% work and 1% things that make me happy. And blogging makes me happy. It's a combination of the things I love to do in my free time: write, cook, eat and take pictures.

So, with that being said, here is one of my favorite things to make. It takes about 3 minutes total and gives you a great, healthy snack that everyone will want to gobble up.

We don't have a lot of stereotypical snack foods in our house. We rarely have crackers or chips but we do seem to crave some crunch once in a while. That is where this popcorn comes in handy. It is so very inexpensive (something like $2 for a bag that lasts us for months) and easy to make. I can't handle the chemical taste of microwave popcorn, so this popcorn is ideal.

I started making popcorn on the stove years ago when I was doing weight watchers. I wanted a healthy snack that was low points, and this olive oil popcorn seemed perfect. The only problem- I really stunk at making popcorn on the stove. It would end up chewy or burned. Gross.

After much trial and error, and asking anyone who would listen, I found a strategy that works for me. If I want popcorn for one, I use a small pot. If I want popcorn for a crowd, I use a stockpot. I usually use the big ol' pot and store the leftovers- they last all week. Here's the basic process:

I realized that my popcorn was getting chewy because I put the lid on right after turning on the heat, which was a mistake.  Now, I pour in the olive oil- enough to cover the bottom of the pan I'm using. I pour in the popcorn and mix it up with the olive oil. Then, I turn on the heat (high) and wiggle the pan around until the kernels turn golden. Once that happens, I put the lid on like this:

Also, I pick up the lid every ten seconds or so to release more of the steam. I leave the heat on for about 45-60 seconds. But not much longer, otherwise it will burn. Then I turn it off, let if sit for a minute or so and then take off the lid and pour it into a big bowl. I often toss a hot piece of sort of bland popcorn into my mouth at this point, and always regret it. Wait until you've seasoned it. I like to use olive oil spray and kosher salt. I spray and toss the salt on, then mix the popcorn around the large bowl. I may or may not do this a few times.

 

Now, time to eat it! If you are looking for a more hearty snack, mix in some trail mix (I love this) or you can use this popcorn to make any recipe calling for popcorn- caramel corn anyone? Or just leave as is for a great movie snack. Not gonna lie, I have snuck this into movie theaters. 

Olive Oil Popcorn

ingredients

olive oil
popcorn
kosher salt

Grab a large pan and drizzle enough olive oil to almost cover the bottom. Pour in the popcorn, just enough to form one layer on the bottom of the pan. Stir it around to cover each kernel in oil. Turn on the heat to high, leave the lid off, and wiggle the pan around to begin the cooking process. When all the kernels go from opaque to golden, you are ready for the lid. Put the lid on and let the popcorn pop. Release the steam frequently by lifting the lid up slightly.

Let the popcorn pop with the heat on for about 45-60 seconds, then turn off the heat and let it sit for a minute or so. Pour the cooked popcorn into a large bowl and spray with olive oil spray (lightly) and sprinkle with salt. Repeat this process one or two more times, depending on your seasoning preferences.

The leftover popcorn should last for up to 5 days in an air tight container. Makes a great snack for afternoons or with lunch!

Enjoy!
-m

Spicy Sausage Cabbage Soup

Sometimes it seems to me that life is a bunch of befores and afters. Often little befores, before I bought my first real purse (a satchel!) and after, where nothing else compares and the canvas bags of yore are used for grocery shopping. I think we have a habit (the royal 'we', were I include everyone and no one all at once) of over emphasizing some befores & afters. We fantasize about how different life will be after we ____ (fill in the blank: start that new diet, buy that new car, move out, move in, start dating). Sometimes rightfully so, but more often the resulting 'after' is remarkably similar to the life before. And often again, we go through a before and after, a transition of sorts, without even recognizing it! How crazy is life? So. Crazy.

Here is my example. I have fantasized much about life's transitions and what a fabulous new thing is waiting for me as soon as I make my way from before to after. Most of the time though, I end up in nearly the same patterns and life doesn't change too much. It can be disappointing. Can't it?

I've spent a lot of time focusing on what's next, I just purchased a fabulous juicer and expect life to change very dramatically from here on out, but I seem to have missed a transition I didn't even know was occurring. I've gone from someone who buys pre-made soups to someone who can whip one up with what's on hand.

Hollah!

No, really though. How and when did this happen? Also, please tell me there is a soup boon occurring because I swear I see homemade soup recipes all around me.

I made this soup recently, I've made about a half dozen times, and Dylan asked me where I got the recipe from. I looked at him and thought long and hard about it. Where did this recipe come from? I looked around. No cookbook, no printout. Just the ordinary mess of prep work gone mad; casings of sausage on the meat cutting board, ends of chopped cabbage rolling about and mingling with carrot bits and pieces. I didn't have a recipe. How quaint.




Now, I can see how those of you who rock this kind of thing all the time may not be amazed. That's fine, I accept that. But I just realized you can make pretzels and wheat thins at home if I wanted to. And somewhere in the past six months I learned how to make soups from scratch with and without a recipe. What, what? Seriously. I did that.



It's all a part of this big transition I'm finding myself going through. My unprocessed food love affair. This recipe does include sausage, spicy delicious Italian sausage, and while I go all organic and buy the good stuff, you can use whatever type of sausage you are comfortable with. I am sure some guru's of unprocessed foods may not be fond of sausage, but the flavors- oh the flavors. Read the ingredients: avoid additives  like nitrates, flavorings, etc. to keep it unprocessed.

This soup is adored in this household. Adored. It's not the prettiest thing to hit the plate, but who the heck cares.



Spicy Sausage Cabbage Soup
serves 4

ingredients

1 lb organic spicy Italian sausage
1/2 head of cabbage, chopped (or more or less depending on your preference)
2 carrots, chopped into 1/4 inch rounds
4 cups vegetable stock

1 tablespoon chopped chives (garnish)



Warm a large soup pot at medium high heat. Start prepping by removing the casings on the sausage (if it came in casings). I make a cut down the inside curve of the sausage and peel back the casing very gently. Then, crumble the sausage into the warm pot and brown for 4-5 minutes. I prefer a good browning, cook to your desired doneness as the sausage will finish cooking in the soup later. Remove the sausage from the pot, but leave the fat in the pan.

Toss in the cabbage and carrots and stir it up to coat the veggies with the fat. Let the flavors combine for 1-2 minutes, then pour the vegetable stock in and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the vegetables are a bit tender, about 5-6 minutes, and then toss gently place the sausage back in. Let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the sausage has cooked through. 

The soup is ready to go after the vegetables and sausage are cooked through. I often let it simmer for a bit longer to let all the flavors really combine or serve it the next day as it just gets better after a day. The spicy sausage creates a mild kick and if you are sensitive to spicy foods, substitute any other type of sausage you prefer.

Enjoy!
-m

Pan Fried Cod

Mmm.. lovely! Except that watery mashed cauliflower in the top right, ignore that mess. :)

How much do I love this pan fried cod? Let me count the ways..

1) Almond flour, oh so fabulous and hearty and nutty and..well, fabulous. Don't be afraid of almond flour.

2) Butter! You can't go wrong with butter. Good, wholesome butter. 

3) You can adjust the flavors to meet your particular fancy, I just love that.

4) Did I mention that I'm in awe of the almond flour? Because I was feeling mild trepidation towards covering some fish with ground up almonds, but fear not, it was delicious and more than holds a candle to a covered in white flour substitute. The almond flour has so much more substance, texture and flavor, I can hardly imagine using anything else at this point.

5) Did I mention the butter? because it deserves to be mentioned.

6) Guess what I will always have on hand from this point forward? Everything needed for this recipe.


Pan Fried Cod
adapted from Nourished Kitchen
serves 4

ingredients

3/4 cup almond flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if desired)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 lbs cod filets
1 egg, beaten
butter, for frying (1/4-1/2 cup)

Mix together all the dry ingredients and put them in a bowl, big enough to dredge the filets in. You can use any seasonings you desire, I loved the cayenne pepper but you might not.

Dip the cod filets in the egg, then cover in the filet with the seasoned almond flour. Cover the whole thing, you'll want it all on every surface.

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed skillet and fry the cod in the butter until cooked through and golden on both sides. Flip it once. This should take about 4 minutes per side, about.

Enjoy! 

Roasted Carrots

These roasted carrots are simply delightful.

Delightful and easy and sensationally tasty. If you'll indulge me, they smell vaguely tropical and have a kick of spice with each bite.

I don't have much of an anecdote to go with this post, other than to show you my new favorite blog/website Nourished Kitchen. 

It fits so well with my latest obsession: unprocessed, whole, natural foods.

Trying to plan before the meal plans

I even signed up (and paid the measly $10 a month) for their weekly meal plans. Seriously, I did that. It's so easy. They email me three great dinner meals (meat + veggies+ a salad usually, or so it seems) and a few other tasty things like baked fruit or soups.

So far we have eaten pot roast, broiled salmon, roasted chicken, pan fried cod and steak (I see that is all the meat, but whoa, it's good meat and easy). I've roasted broccoli, carrots and all manner of veggies. I've made countless (well, 5) salad dressings that were easy and delicious. I feel like I'm being spoiled and I'm the one doing all the cooking.

This is how I used to meal plan for the week. Now, I just open an email and print.

Maybe this seems nutty, paying someone to send you a weeks worth of recipes. I can see that. But, I spend so much time each week planning the next weeks meals and with trying to slowly stop eating processed, foods finding recipes has been more and more challenging. This was such a great, easy, delicious solution.

These roasted carrots are just one of the reasons I feel this website was a great discovery. I've made them three times now, and the first time I made them we ate them all before dinner was even served.

Roasted Carrots
from Nourished Kitchen

ingredients

8 carrots, scraped and sliced
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon honey
zest of 1 orange
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or more, if you are crazy like me)

Preheat your oven to 425.

Toss the carrots with the oil, honey, orange zest and red pepper flakes. Spread onto a baking sheet (lined with foil or parchment paper for easy cleaning) and roast for about 30 minutes, stirring once. 

Enjoy!
-m

Sweet Potato Muffins

About two years ago, I fell in love with roasted sweet potatoes. I had been avoiding eating them ever since every single health related magazine article said I just had to try this 'super food'. I prefer to come to ideas on my own, or at least convince myself that I did.

What a goof, I know. I used to tell my high school tennis coach that I enjoyed doing my backhand wrong. Yes, enjoyed. He would come over and try to correct my form and I would resist. I'd tell him to go away. And I wonder why I never did as well as I wanted to...

I firmly believed that eventually the right way would just miraculously come to me with one swing and I would forever be relieved of my wrongness. I see the error of my ways.. kind of. I'm still guilty of this stubbornness on occasion. Case in point, I probably should have tried sweet potatoes sooner.

Dates, dates, lovely dates. They add so much to these muffins!

I roast up a big bag of sweet potatoes fairly regularly, about once or twice a month. I eat them sometimes with my smoothie for breakfast, as an afternoon snack or with dinner. I just adore them. Their flavor is amazing to me- the wonderful not-quite-potato-more-like-squash texture and the natural sweetness. They are incredibly satisfying.

So aesthetically pleasing, no?

I've done all this roasting, but rarely do anything else with them. That's why this recipe has knocked my socks off something crazy. I've made it three times. I love it, but at first I thought I'd be the only one.

Do you see the chunks of sweet potato? The little bits of orange there at the bottom and top? No? Trust me, it's the best part.

I made mini versions of it the first time I made them, to share with some friends. They were gone so fast! Even when I said "whole wheat sweet potato muffins with dates".

Seriously.

People didn't run away screaming "What's wrong with you!?". I thought they might; the ingredients can sound a tad bit strange on their own, but just imagine each of those flavors mixed together and baked. Heavenly, eh? Well, so far, everyone I share these with just loves them.

These are great right out of the oven, but I usually make them for breakfast/morning snacks for the week. Even my picky husband gobbles them up, though I need to solve the 'sticks to the wrapper' problem as it really drives him bonkers.

Sweet Potato Muffins

adapted from Good to the Grain 


ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon all spice
2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted cold butter
2 large roasted sweet potatoes, about 3/4 lb (I sometimes use 4 small ones if that's what I bought)
1/4 cup sugar (or raw sugar)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup plain yogurt or kefir
6 large medjool dates, pitted and chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roast sweet potatoes on a baking sheet covered with parchment or foil. Roast for 1-1.5 hours, depending on their size. The bottoms should be dark and almost burnt looking and the juices should be caramelizing. After they have cooled, peel them and leave them in tact.

Lower the oven to 350 and grease your muffin pan. Use muffin liners if you wish, though they stick sometimes to the paper cups.

Sift the dry ingredients together. In a small bowl, mix the buttermilk and yogurt.

Add the butters and the sugars to a medium sized bowl and mix either with a standing mixer or by hand. Mix until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and just half of the sweet potatoes (yes! just half!) and mix until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. On low speed, add the dry ingredients until they are just partly combined. Follow this up by adding in the buttermilk mixture and mix until combined.

Add the dates and separate them over the surface so they don't all clump together. You want them spread throughout the batter. Next (my favorite part!), add the remaining sweet potatoes and mix until only barely combined- you want pockets of sweet potato in the batter. Scoop the batter into 10 muffin tins, skipping every other muffin cup if you want to keep the tops from touching as they bake.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the bottoms are dark and tops are springy to the touch. The author of the cookbook suggests placing the muffins on their sides to cool, as pictured above. They can be stored for 3 days or frozen for future enjoyment.

Enjoy!
-m

Smoothies Again!

As you may or may not know, I'm a big fan of a morning smoothie. Over the past eight months or so  I have had a smoothie for most of my breakfasts. You may also know that I'm a sucker for a good time saver. In fact, if you are holding out some great time saving secret you better tell me because if I discover it and find out you knew about it all along, well I will be mighty disgruntled for at least three whole minutes.

I have evidence to support that claim, I truly do. When I was about 20, just trying to make everything work as a preschool teacher and a full time college student, I felt so overwhelmed by household duties. All that cleaning and cooking and bill paying was just dreadful. Cleaning was especially awful because of our horrible hard water. The ring in the bathtub was so incredibly disgusting. I had never seen anything like that nasty bathtub ring. At first I was sure something was wrong with the bathtub, not with my cleaning routine. When it finally dawned on me that the filthy, white and yet brown, rough ring around the tub was caused by my water and my washing, well I was infinitely grossed out.

I resolved to clean it up right quick and be done with it forever. I would be a preventative cleaner, proactive not reactive. I tried every cleaner I could reasonably afford. I used lemon juice and baking soda and all manner of household combinations. I even resorted to scrapping it with a soup spoon. In the end, that spoon was the only thing that left a dent- and that was more literal than figurative. I was near my wits end, almost a year of trying fruitlessly to clean this stubborn ring, when one of my coworkers just happened to mention her undying love for the mr. clean magic eraser. She proudly mentioned its wonderful ability to clean her bathroom to a sprightly shimmer. I could hardly believe her, I was so skeptical of the commercial's claims. I realize now that I should have been happy to hear this. Thrilled. Ecstatic. Enthralled. But my very first thought was that she had been holding out on me. She had this amazing secret and was scrubbing away her bathtub ring within minutes while I grabbed my trusty soup spoon and spent what felt like hours chipping away at those hard water deposits. About three minutes later, after much brooding and begrudgingly nodding as the conversation moved forward, I decided I had to try this thing out. I did and it was awesome and although I now buy the target version of this wondrous scrubber, I'm grateful for that conversation but now I know to ask in advance.

Speaking of asking, any ideas on how to get a floor to sweep itself? Or how to get Shelby to wipe her own paws after running through the muddy backyard?

Well, this is my newest trick and I'm here to share. My morning smoothie revamped. About a month or so ago I was tempted by the idea of buying a large case of Odwalla premade smoothies from Costco. I saw the big box of them and thought of all the time I would save each morning (about 3 minutes, yeah, seriously, three whole minutes my friend). Then I took one look at the ingredients (sugar! yikes!) and put that thought out of my mind. Instead, I decided to make an entire batch of smoothies for the week on that Sunday night. And I did just that. But by friday the top of my smoothie had a brown tint and tasted vaguely of bad bananas. Um. gross. You should have seen the look on my students' faces as I tried to swallow that initial Friday-old-banana-yuckiness. I must have had quite a look on my face too, it was a priceless moment. We laughed. I threw the smoothie away.

For the past few weeks I have been trying to figure out how to make the smoothies ahead of time but retain their fresh Monday/Tuesday look and taste. The answer was in my backyard: lemons. So simple!

That's my freshly squeezed lemon juice in the jar up front. So many lemons, so little time..

Here's how I work it:
1) Fill up your blender with an assortment of fruit and maybe some greens. I prefer 3 fairly fresh bananas, about one bag of frozen berries, 1/3 bag of frozen spinach and some blueberries.
2) Pour in some liquid, about halfway filling up the blender. I used some beet/carrot juice and some pomegranate juice and a little citrus juice of your choice. 
3) Let it sit for a bit, an hour or two, to make it easier to blend.
4) Get your jars ready!
5) Blend up the smoothie and pour equal amounts in each jar.
6) Pour about a tablespoon of lemon juice on the top of each smoothie before placing the lid on top.
7) Place them all in the fridge and enjoy three more minutes of blissful coffee sipping in the morning!

Tips:
1) I have found that using fresher bananas results in a fresher taste come Friday
2) Orange juice seems to work well in place of the lemon juice
3) Wash out the jar as soon as you get home, wooowweee does mold grow fast in those suckers

I have been making my smoothies each Sunday night this way for about three weeks and so far, so good. I added apples and pineapples and loved it. I also added coconut oil and did not love it. Live and learn!

Enjoy!
-m

Chocolate Chocolate Cookies

I have a hard time with balance, not as in I fall down the stairs (though my wii fit thought I might, and said so frequently), but just within myself. I'm very critical of myself (aren't we all?) and I tend to think in terms of one thing versus another, right or wrong, healthy or unhealthy, runner or walker- there is no blurring of lines in my mind. Either it is, or I am, or it isn't, and I'm not.  I'm realizing this makes my internal dialogue very bipolar and manic. One minute everything is great and I'm just dandy and the next minute everything I thought a minute ago is held in question.

For example, I am trying my best to eat nutritious, wholesome foods. I try to share those things with you. In those moments I feel successful and healthy. I'm pleased as punch with myself and I feel motivated to continue moving forward with all my healthy endeavors. If I find myself aimlessly munching on something with unidentifiable ingredients or, as happened this past week, an ooey gooey delicious fried food dipped in some amazing sauce, well then I just feel crummy and I become immediately 'unhealthy' and unkind to myself.

This is no big, unusual thing. I hear there are a lot of people who are, like me, harder on themselves than they would be to even their nemesis (though my particular nemesis would be a photocopy machine and I do think terrible, terrible things about it. I'm not sure what I think matters to that particularly menacing and minute munching machine. Though, if it could scream, I'm sure I'd take all those hateful ideas about stripping it for parts back.).

My number one new years resolution (it takes me a while to decide these things) is to be as kind to myself as I would be to others. I'm hoping to start that off by working on my sense of balance, taking the good with the bad and living with it all. Admitting that there is no grey area in my mind, and also admitting that in life things are often blurry and yet oddly balanced. Balance. A little bit of that grey area. It's what I think I need. A bit of everything and some well rounded expectations of myself.

Three ways: rolled in sugar (little guys), rolled in chocolate chip type things (big ones) and just a plain cookie.

These chocolate cookies represent a sort of off kilter yet lovely balance to me. Isn't that poetic and fortunate? They are devilshly delicious; deep and dark and chocolatey in the most amazing way. Yet, they are made with a whole grain- spelt flour- and are almost utterly unprocessed. Does that make them healthy? Oh goodness no. But I feel a sense of both whole grain goodness and amazing worthwhile tastes in these beauts.

The reaction to these cookies blew me away, I'm keeping them on my rotation and definitely bringing them around whenever I think a dark, intense chocolatey cookie would balance a situation out.

rolled in little chocolate chips, these were good, but sugar was better!

Chocolate Chocolate Cookies
adapted from Good to the Grain

ingredients

8 ounces (2 sticks) of unsalted butter
16 ounces of dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), split into two groups (one for melting and one for chunks in the dough)
4 eggs
2 1/4 cups granulated or raw sugar (plus extra for finishing)
2 cups spelt flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt

To begin, melt the butter and half of the chocolate (8 ounces) in a double boiler or a microwave until they are melted together and mixed well.

Next, add the eggs and the sugar to a large bowl, or the bowl of a mixer if you are so fortunate, and mix well (high speed) for 3 minutes until it gets thick. Mix the warm chocolate in and use a spatula to get all the chocolate and egg/sugar off the sides of the bowl.

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl, pouring any leftover grains and bits back into the mix. Mix the dry ingredients with the chocolate mixture and stir well. Add the remaining chopped chocolate and continue mixing until everything is mixed well.

Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours and up to 3 days. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place parchment paper on your cookie sheets. Begin rolling the dough into large tablespoon sized balls, rolling them lightly in sugar before placing them on the cookie sheets. You can also roll them in cacao nibs, or leave them plain. I preferred the sugar.) Leave 2-3 inches between the cookies, as they will collide if you do not.

Bake the cookies for 15-19 minutes, until the edges are firm but the middle still soft. Cool on the parchment or a cooking rack.

Enjoy!
-m

Cheese Enchiladas

I have spent what feels like a very good amount of time lately at other people's houses cooking, eating and celebrating all kinds of wonderful things. It's been a hoot and while I'm totally exhausted (still) I came away with some interesting new insights. Really, I gained new, important, valuable, eye opening information whilst celebrating my holidays away.

lovely Christmas dinner table

This is what I mean about always learning, by the way. I'm completely enthralled with the act and idea of learning something new, no matter how inconsequential it may seem to anyone else. For example, I recently made tamales at a good friend's house. This is the same fabulously roomy (space! What a hot commodity!) kitchen that housed our Wednesday Thanksgiving this year and where I spent a good day making ninjabread men in ugly sweaters (see pic below if you don't believe me). I noticed the same thing on all occasions- cleaning as you go. It happens. Seriously, I saw it.

This is how it went down: 

We prepped.
Then someone jumped in and washed everything we just used to prep. There were 4 or 5 of us, so those extra hands were nice, but on the day I was making cookies and just one other person was prepping and cooking wildly, then she did all the cleaning solo. 
Then we cooked some of the previously prepped stuff.
Then, like magic, someone cleaned it all up!*

When we sat down to eat, everything was cleaned and the kitchen was immaculate. It was impressive, to say the least. 

*Yes, sometimes it was me, but mostly it was not. I just stared in awe.

ninja bread men in ugly sweaters

I have heard about such things occuring, but I have never experienced them myself (or I wasn't paying attention, my mom's kitchen never seemed messy but I was probably off in la-la land while all that cleaning occurred) I cook mostly at home, alone in my decently sized but relatively tiny kitchen and I just make one mess after another. It's kind of how I seem to roll through life, leaving organized chaos in my midst. I know where it all is, but it looks kinda nutty to the casual observer.
Dylan is always commenting on my ability to take a spotless kitchen and go all tasmanian devil on it with one fail swoop of my wooden spoon.

It's a bit demoralizing, really. I never want to cook after I've spent a good chunk of time scrubbing the kitchen down. And cooking is what I really love to do. It's quite a conundrum.

This is when my frozen meals really blow my mind. I have about twenty frozen soups and pastas ready for just this moment, when my kitchen looks great and I'm spent and I do not particularly like to get takeout or eat out on week nights. I used to throw down some delicious frozen meals from trader joes on nights like this, but I feel a little better about the stuff I make myself. We do the occasional gnocchi, no lie, but I know all the ingredients in my frozen potato leek soup and that soothes my weary soul (ha! weary. a bit dramatic, I know).

homemade enchilada sauce

Here is one of our favorite meals I keep in the freezer. Just a note: it's such a fabulous recipe that I never get a chance to take a picture of the final result... how unsatisfying, I'm so very sorry. You'll just have to make it yourself to see what it looks like I guess. Then take a picture and send it to me so I have a frame of reference, ok?

These enchiladas were inspired by the Pioneer Woman's recipe for sour cream enchiladas. The only real change is the fact that I didn't like the ingredients in the enchilada sauce, so I made my own- dag nabbit.
I got this step, adding a bit of sauce to the mixture going in, from the custodian at my school. She gave me what is probably a killer enchilada recipe, but I haven't tried it yet because I'm so in love with this one. Soon! Soon.

By the way,  I'm under no delusion that these are 'healthy'. They are super tasty and satisfying and a great treat for after you've rolled out all the sod for your backyard (finally! yes! That happened! And I made enchiladas to celebrate! I love exclamation points! and cheese.)

Step by Step: Filling and rolling your enchiladas

Doing all these steps within the pan itself is genius and I thank my school custodian again for that tip. Makes so much sense! It's the kind of thing I might never ever think of myself.

Whenever I make these, I double the batch and make some more to freeze- though this batch makes two little 9x9 freezer trays pretty easily. This way, we never run out. Oh yeah. Enchiladas, always at hand. It's just how things work over here. 

Cheese Enchiladas
serves 6 (or two very hungry people twice with leftovers!)

inspired by the Pioneer Woman's Sour Cream Enchiladas 


print this recipe 

ingredients

2 15oz cans of tomato sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon+ chili powder (adjust to your taste)
1/2 tablespoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups sour cream
2 1/2 - 3 cups grated cheese (cheddar or jack work well)
about 1 cup chopped scallions
12 corn tortillas (or a flour/corn hybrid- I love those)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Get your 9x13 baking pan ready. 


Put the two cans of tomato sauce in a medium sauce pan over medium high/medium heat. Add the oil and the seasonings and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until the sauce retains that dark red color you know you're waiting for, about 10 minutes.
Mix the grated cheese, scallions and sour cream in a medium sized bowl. Add a dollop of the enchilada sauce and mix together.

Get your set up just right, I prefer to heat the tortillas up in the sauce as opposed to in oil, but you can use oil if you wish. I have a small frying pan loaded with some sauce heating up to about medium. Then I add the tortilla for a quick bath in the sauce, flip it over after about 15 seconds and then toss it in the 9 x 13 in pan, where you intend for it to end up, and fill it and roll it right in there. Continue with the rest of the enchiladas. Top with extra sauce and cheese and bake until the cheese is bubbly, 15-20 minutes.


Enjoy!
-m