Microwave Mug Muffins

Yesterday I was suffering from "Emptyfridge-itis".  It's been a busy week around here, and I was running low on groceries and pantry items.  Trying to come up with a healthful, gluten free breakfast, when you are running low on ingredients, was a huge challenge.

So I decided to do some quick research.  I googled microwave gluten free muffins, and came up with a winner!  I found it at Spark Recipes, and although it was the first time I tried a recipe from that site, I was encouraged.  The recipe I found used ingredients that I actually had on hand.  It was also a super quick recipe, I mean it took me about 3 minutes to make, start to finish. 

This recipe is for a Flax Muffin in a Mug.  Now, let me tell you, these are not pretty muffins.  After all, there is no browning involved.  These are dense muffins, in fact, I was nearly full after eating half of it.  It satisfied my husband, in fact, he was amazed that we had something bread-like in only a minute or so of cooking.

This is the picture from the original poster.  See, not pretty, but VERY filling and tasty.

This is my take on the recipe, follow the above link for the original.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1/8 C. ground flaxmeal
• 1/8 C gluten free flour (I used a combo of almond, teff and gluten free oats)
• 1/2 - 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (you need to use it for more things than pumpkin pie!)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp sugar, stevia crystals, honey, agave nectar or Splenda

Optional:

2 TBS or your favorite mix ins.  I used coconut and almonds.  Try blueberries, other berries, banana, craisins, raisins, dates, granola, chocolate chips... you name it!

Directions:

Spray a mug with your favorite non stick spray.  I used a vegetable spray.  Microwave the coconut oil for a few seconds to melt it.  Swirl it around the mug.  In a small bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and mix.  Pour the melted coconut oil into the bowl and mix it in as well.  Add the batter to the mug, and microwave for one minute.  The original recipe calls for mixing it all in the mug, but I didn't want mine to stick, so I did it in a separate bowl.  You can try it either way.

Be careful, try 45 seconds and if it isn't done, try adding 5 seconds at a time until it is done. Every microwave is different, so you may have to "play" with the recipe. It took mine 80 seconds.

When muffin is done, turn it out onto a plate, slice in half and top with your favorite jam, or low fat cream cheese.  Or, you can just eat it straight from the mug.  It's yours, have it the way you like it!  Mine tasted like a bran muffin because of the teff flour.  It was so filling. 


I hope you try this!

Another Meatless Monday

Here it is again, Monday!

For nearly the past year, I have been practicing Meatless Monday at home.  There have been several weeks where it wasn't practical, but I do make a concerted effort to observe my self-imposed dietary restriction.  I like to go meatless at least once a week, it's good for your heart, and good on the budget.

My 14 year old son gets a kick out of keeping me in line.  Whenever I make dinner on Monday, he gives me the third degree about what I am making.  "Is that meatless Mom? Did you put meat in that?"

He is the most adventurous of my kids when it comes to trying different foods.  His list of likes is way longer than his dislikes.  He gives me a bit of an ego, because he absolutely LOVES everything I make.  Between him and my hubby, I can do no wrong in the kitchen. My girls like my cooking too, but they are harsher critics.  My middle child is the only one that is even remotely picky.  She has a textural issue with raw tomatoes, and mushrooms cooked or raw.

I grew up in a large family.  Picky eating was not allowed.  If dinner was on the table, you ate what was served, and you liked it!  There was no coddling of delicate taste buds.  Well, not that I ever noticed.  For me, meals were always an occasion to celebrate.  My son feels the same way, and I love that he does.

So, since today is Meatless Monday, I have to find something fun to cook, something different.  I don't usually do a pure vegan dinner, with specialty products.  Everything I cook is easy to get at your regular grocery store. I do tend to lean towards legumes.  I have fallen in love with Indian food lately, something spicy is always good.

That's it!  Chickpea Stew is the answer.  It has tomatoes, but my teenaged daughter will eat it if they are stewed.  It is rich, spicy, fulfilling, healthy and meatless.   Everything we look for.

 

Chickpea Stew

Ingredients:

•  olive oil
• 3 stalks celery sliced
• 2 onions diced
• 6 carrots sliced or diced
• 2 turnips peeled and diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and minced

• 1 6 oz can of tomato paste
• 1 Tbs yellow mustard seeds
• 3 Tbs Moroccan seasoning (or curry powder)
• 1 Tbs cumin
• 1 Tbs  garam masala

• 4 cans of chickpeas rinsed and drained
• 1 container vegetable broth
• 2 16 oz cans of diced or crushed tomatoes (or one of each)
• 2 bunches kale, cut off the stems and chopped roughly
• 1Tbs sugar (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

In a large stewpot, heat  2-3 Tbs olive oil on med-high heat.  Add the rest of the first 7 ingredients and cook until the onions soften.  Add the next 5 ingredients and stir to coat with the seasonings and tomato paste.  Cook for 5 minutes, to lightly toast the spices and tomato paste.

Cook the veggies, tomato paste and spices for 5 minutes. This picture was taken right before I added the tomato paste.

I have a neat trick to help you get the tomato paste out of the can with less waste.  Using your can opener, open the top and bottom of the can.  Remove the metal from the bottom, and using the top lid as a plunger, push the paste out.  Remove the top and discard.  How easy is that?

Remove top and bottom, use top lid as a plunger.

So easy! 

Now add the remaining ingredients.  You may or may not need sugar, it depends upon the tomatoes.  Sometimes just a little sugar can balance out the acid of the tomatoes.  Wait to add sugar until you are done cooking.  Taste and then add if you need it. 

Stir, cover, and simmer on med-low for 30 minutes. If the carrots and turnips aren't cooked through, cook another 15 minutes or so.

Be sure to taste after the 30 minutes for seasoning.  This is where you would add sugar if needed.  Sometimes you may need to add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice if the acid level is not to your liking.  I prefer it slightly sweet, slightly tangy.  My tomatoes today were acidic, so I balanced it with the sugar.

You can add chili powder, or chilies if you like it spicy.  This time I left it mild.  Serve with pita bread or crackers for dipping. 

Cut the kale at an angle, cutting the greens from the stems.  Rotate the stems so you can cut off the majority of the greens.  You can clean them the old fashioned way, by tearing the greens off the stems, but I actually like some stems in the stew, it adds another texture.

Be sure to drain and rinse your chickpeas.  They come in a liquid that is fairly slimy and not pleasant.

Our dog, Miss Taterbug, or Tater for short.  She gets all my carrot ends and tops. If I don't share with her, she pouts. Ha!

Pam's Black Bean and Corn Salad

I love the desert and all it's beauty.  I have lived in a desert, nearly all my life.  I currently reside in Goodyear, Arizona.  It is desert, but it is also an agricultural center in what we call "The Valley of the Sun".   I am surrounded by fields of cotton, chilies, corn, and flowers.  So even though the land around me may be different shades of brown, there are gorgeous patches of green. 

With all of this, you get heat.  Yes, it is hot in Arizona.  It makes you thank God for air conditioning.  I once heard a comedian, new to Arizona, say that he sweated in places on his body he didn't know could sweat just getting out of a car.  It's true, we have a dry heat, but it doesn't take long for your clothes to become sweat soaked in 112 degree temps.

Even still, I love my home state.  Those 112 degree days aren't that many.  The benefits of having abundant produce available year round, mild winters, and gorgeous sunsets makes up for the heat in my opinion.

When the summer is here, and it's too hot to cook something heavy, I like to make salads.  One of the favorites in our home is my black bean and corn salad.  It is one of the most flexible dishes I make.

We use it as salsa, or a stand alone salad.  We eat it on tacos, in burritos, on Mexican pizzas, or on top of baked potatoes.  It's wonderful cold, but just as delightful hot.  It can be spicy, or mild.  The leftovers, if you are lucky to have any, can be blended up into a bean dip.

You absolutely must try this salad.

Ingredients:

• 3 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 or 2  cans of corn, drained (or you can use 2-3 fresh cobs of corn, kernels cut off)
• 1/2 medium red onion diced
• 4-5 green onions diced (I use the whole green onion, it's your choice)
• 2-3 roma tomatoes diced (I like romas because they have less juice)
• 1 jalapeno seeded, minced (totally optional)
• 1 /2 to 1 cup fresh cilantro (I use a ton of cilantro because I love it, you can omit, or use another herb such as parsley or basil)
• salt
• pepper

Dressing:

• juice of 2 limes
• 1-2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tsp cumin 

Cut the corn off the cob if you are using fresh corn.  I do this by inverting a small bowl inside a large bowl.  I prop the cob on the small bowl, then cut down the cob, letting all the corn fall into the bowl.  If you do this first, while your beans are draining, you can use the same large bowl to mix everything in.   

Rinse and drain your black beans.  Add them to the large mixing bowl.  The amount of corn you use is up to your taste.  I like more beans than corn.  I also prefer to use fresh uncooked corn for the crunch and sweetness.  If you don't have fresh corn available, go ahead and use canned corn.  I have also used canned hominy before and it was just as good.

When you dice the tomatoes, cut them in half and lightly squeeze the seeds and juice out.  Or run your fingertip through the center to scrape them out.  You don't want the salad to be too watery.

When you dice the jalapeno, cut the top off, slice it in half lengthwise, and using a small spoon, scrape out the seeds and white membrane and discard them.  Then cut lengthwise into julienne and dice.  If you prefer spicier food, keep the membrane.  If you don't like spicy, omit the jalapeno.


Add all the other vegetables and the cilantro and lightly mix.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Remember you are making a dressing, so don't over salt.


Mix your dressing in a separate cup or bowl.  You don't want a lot of dressing, because the salad is much better when it isn't watery.  I use a Pyrex measuring cup and a fork to whisk it.  Some limes have less juice than others, so it is entirely dependent upon that how many limes you need.  Sometimes I use red wine vinegar instead of lime, you can use that or lemon.  


I prefer the dressing to be on the tart side, so I use at least 2:1 lime juice to oil.  Add all the dressing ingredients to the cup and mix with your fork.  Taste it to see if you need more oil, or more vinegar.  I like mine to be sour/sweet/savory all at the same time.  It is a matter of taste.  


Always taste your food.  


Pour the dressing on the salad, mix, and refrigerate.  Mix before serving.  You can make this the day before, it tastes great as leftovers.  You can adjust this and add different things to it.  I have added crumbled Mexican cotija cheese (similar to feta), diced jicama, diced avocado, hominy, and even bacon bits.


The leftovers make a most excellent bean dip for Super Bowl parties.  Just puree it in the blender, add a little water or olive oil if you need to for smoothness.  Serve with tortilla chips.

This is the salad stuffed into a baked potato.

Greek Lemon Chicken soup

Sometimes soup is just exactly what you need.  

This soup is so comforting, so creamy and lemony, bright and full of chicken flavor.  It is a favorite in Greek restaurants and homes, and I know why!  When I make a pot of this, my family go crazy for it.  Especially my husband.  He really enjoys this soup. 

Ingredients

• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• meat of 3 chicken breasts shredded
• 1 cup long grain rice
• 2 eggs
• juice and zest of 3 lemons
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped herbs (I used sage, you can use thyme, parsley or sage)
• salt and pepper to taste

Bring chicken broth, and bay leaf to a simmer. Add chicken breasts, cover and gently simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Remove chicken breasts, let cool slightly and pull or cut chicken into thin strips. Set aside. (If you don't want to cook the chicken in the broth, you can use a roasted chicken and shred the meat. I honestly made fresh chicken broth because I had the time. You can do this with store bought broth, make life easy!)


Strain soup and return to boil. Add rice and veggies and gently simmer for 20 minutes, then add chicken back to soup for another 5 minutes.


Whisk eggs until they are frothy, and whisk in lemon juice and zest. Add a cup of the hot soup to egg-lemon mixture, very slowly, whisking while you pour it in. Add another cup in the same manner. Take soup off the heat and add egg mixture to it. Add herbs, salt and pepper.


Cook's notes

I made twice this amount. I started by barely covering 3 carrots, an onion, a head of garlic, 2 celery stalks, 3 bay leaves, sage, and 5 huge chicken breasts on the bone with water. I slowly brought it to a boil, then turned it down and simmered for an hour or two. I took out the chicken, strained the broth, let the chicken cool and shredded it.


I then followed the above recipe, except double the amount. I used jasmine rice, you can use orzo pasta or whatever rice you want.


Enjoy!

Lentil Quinoa Soup

 We eat a lot of soup at our house.  It's easy, filling, and comforting.  We also like to do meatless Mondays, so I tend to turn to beans or lentils for those days.  This soup is mildly spicy, full of protein, and packed with flavor.  My family loves to eat it, especially if we have homemade flatbread along with it to dunk.  

I hope you try this, if you do, let me know what you think!





Lentil Quinoa Soup

2-3 TB olive oil
4 carrots
1 onion
2 celery stalks
3 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno
diced tomatoes (optional)
6-8 cups chicken, veggie or mushroom broth
2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1lb lentils rinsed
3/4 C of quinoa

Optional spices: 2 tsp of curry powder, 5 spice powder, coriander, or any combo of them.  I used 2tsp curry powder, 1 tsp of a spice mix that is a bit like 5 spice powder


If you have a food processor, or a mini prep, it makes this so much easier.  I did a rough chop on all the veg, and threw them in the food processor until it was diced really fine.  This is a lentil soup, so you don't want huge chunks of veggies, you want them tiny like the lentils. If you don't have a processor, just do your best to dice it fine. Also, the heat of the jalapeno is in the membrane and seeds, discard if you don't want heat.  This soup is mildly spicy.

In a large pot, on med heat, warm up the oil.  Reserving the tomatoes, add the diced veggies, jalapeno and spices.  Lightly salt the veggies, don't over salt. Let the veggies sweat until softened. 5-10 minutes on med heat.   Add the lentils and stir to coat them in the spices and veggies.  Add the broth.  You can use water in addition to broth, or instead of broth.  I used about 6 cups broth and 2 cups water.

Bring to boil, reduce to a simmer.  Add in the quinoa, and stir.  Partially cover the pot and let simmer 30-40 minutes. Stir every few minutes so they don't stick to the bottom.   Lentils don't take long to cook, but like other legumes, they are starchy and you want to watch them so they don't stick and burn.  Add the tomatoes after 20 minutes or so, so they don't over cook.

Taste, add salt as needed and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Oatmeal Redux

I love the weekend.  However, my husband has an early class, and one of my daughters usually works, so it gets hard to have a hot, healthy breakfast ready for the whole family.  It seems like we eat in shifts.  That is where the slow cooker oatmeal comes in handy!  

I know I already covered this once, but I wanted to try it again using the steel cut oats.  Let me tell you, it is so good!  I really like that all I have to do is toss a few things in the slow cooker, and breakfast is ready in the morning.

When I woke up today, I thought I smelled oatmeal cookies baking.  It was wonderful!  My hubby was able to have a bowl before school, so he felt energized and ready for the day.  My son was up and ready for a bowl too.  He is a nearly 6' tall 14 year old beanpole, and boy does he like to eat!  Getting enough food for him is a challenge lately.  He is always hungry.  My girls aren't huge eaters, but they do enjoy something other than cold cereal for breakfast.  They were thrilled with the oatmeal.  It makes for a great change.

The original recipe calls for steel cut oats, and I agree it is so much better.  It is nuttier, and has better texture and mouth-feel.  The quick oats became soggy, which isn't my thing.  They taste okay, but really, use the steel cut oats, they are sometimes called Irish Oatmeal.  I buy mine in bulk at a health food store, but I know they sell Irish Oatmeal at most grocery stores now.  I like to add quinoa to my oatmeal for the extra protein, if you don't want it, you don't need to add it. 

These are the dry ingredients in my slow cooker, before I added the water and sweetened condensed milk.

• Ingredients

   

• 8 cups water
• 2 cups steel-cut oats
• 1 cup quinoa 
• 2 Tbs flax seeds
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries/raisins/or any dried fruit you like
• 1/3 chopped nuts or coconut
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp cinnamon, or 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp salt

Preparation

1. Combine everything in a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker. Turn heat to low. Put the lid on and cook until the oats are tender and the porridge is creamy, 7 to 8 hours.  I put everything in before bed at 11pm, and it was ready when my husband woke at 6am. 

You can add milk and butter to it to serve, top with granola, berries or nuts.  I served it with a little butter on top for the kids, and plain for myself.  The sweetened condensed milk was all the sweetness it needed for my taste.  Cooking it all night makes it turn almost to caramel.

You can take this recipe and change it to suit your taste.  You can leave out the flax, fruit, quinoa and spices, or change it up however you like.  This makes a lot of oatmeal, you can try halving the recipe if you are feeding less people.  I need a ton to feed my son.  Other recipes call for milk and brown sugar, instead of the sweetened condensed milk.  You can try it that way too.  This is about what you like, have fun with it! 

In the morning it smelled so good!  It wasn't runny or soggy.  Just perfectly nutty, spicy, sweet oatmeal.

Some Helpful Tips

I am asked all the time, "how do you know what goes with what?"

I really don't know the answer to that.  Some of what I do just comes natural to me, like common sense.  Other things are from trying new foods, and experimenting with flavors.  I have been a "food fiddler" since I was little. 


For me, the greatest gift is seeing my family happy with the food I prepared for them.  It is the best feeling in the world.  The way I accomplish that is through my spices and herbs.  When I make a simple chili, it becomes more than that by the flavors I put together.  Chilies, cocoa, oregano, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper combine together to become one flavor.  Dried chilies all have different tastes, smells, and spice.  I combine several together to get a more rounded flavor.

Anyone can do it, it just takes knowing a few simple combinations.  You also have to like tasting things.  I happen to love that.  When you know what something tastes like, you can more easily combine it with something else.  Believe me, I have had some really awful combinations.  I tried to make a rub one time in my spice grinder and it tasted like soap.  Whatever it was I added to that was not a winner!

Cumin is a spice that goes well in Indian cuisine, Mexican cuisine, or Asian cuisine.  I personally love cilantro, and its seed coriander.  I feel that coriander and cumin love each other, and cilantro likes to go for a ride with them.  Coriander and cilantro have a  citrus flavor,  lemon and lime go well with them.  Cumin is smoky, earthy, and deep.  Cumin goes well with chilies as well.  Coriander and cilantro lift cumin up and brighten it.

Try using those three in your next stir fry.  Or the next time you grill chicken or pork.  You would be surprised at how much flavor they bring.  Make a marinade of soy sauce, citrus juice or vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, ginger,  salt, pepper, dijon mustard, cumin, and ground coriander.   Use it for chicken or pork.  Boil down the leftover marinade as a sauce.  You will love it!

Gluten Free Flat Bread

Last night, I was re-vamping some leftover curried lentils, and I decided we needed a gluten-free bread alternative to join the party.

So where did I look? Of course! Pinterest!  I found this Gluten free flatbread from http://glutenfreeday.com.  It looked so easy, and I had the ingredients on hand.

Of course I tweaked the recipe, mostly because I have teff flour on hand and wanted to use it.

I am sure her recipe works perfectly as it was, but I added a few things to mine.  I did 2/1 quinoa flour to teff.  I added a tsp of cumin, and after I spread it out thin, I sprinkled it with salt, pepper and Charnushka (nigella seeds).  My bread came out wonderfully aromatic, and was perfect with the curry.

This is the original recipe:
--------
Gluten free flatbread
- 1 cup quinoa flour
-1/2 -1 tsp salt
-1 tbls psyllium husk
-3/4 cup water
Preheat oven to 400 

Mix the salt, psyllium husk and flour together, add the water gradually so that it resembles a thick porridge, wait for a couple of minutes and then spread the batter on to a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes, the time depends on the flour you used and also on how thick you have spread it. The thinner it gets, the faster it bakes. When I’m in a hurry I usually spread the batter very thinly and it bakes in 10 minutes.
------

I recommend that you try it with the nigella seeds if you can find them.  I buy mine from Penzey's.  They add so much to crackers, flat breads and other breads like rye. 

National Pig in the Blanket Day

My kids love when I find obscure holidays to celebrate with them.  Such as National Grilled Cheese Day, or Pancake Day.  This happened to be National Pig in the Blanket Day, and you know I had to do something about it.

Pigs in the Blanket, for those of us not in the know, are sausages wrapped in dough, and baked.  

I happen to think that small food is cute, therefore more appetizing, so I decided to go with cheesy Lit'l Smokies as our sausage.  Cheap refrigerator biscuit dough was our blankets.

Now, if you want to bust out some homemade biscuit dough, be my guest.  I went for the easy option, since I was going for a quick weeknight meal.  You can choose any sausage or hotdog you like.  I love Lit'l Smokies because they are already cooked.  If you pick an uncooked product, for safety you should pre-cook them and let them cool before wrapping.

What I did is preheat the oven to 375. Then pop the biscuits out, cut each in half, and wrap each half around the smokie.  Place them on an ungreased cookie sheet, about half an inch to an inch apart.

They don't have to be pretty.  This is easy food.  The moisture from the smokies, helps seal the dough to them.  Just be sure to pinch the dough a bit to make sure they are sealed.  After you have as many rolled as you want, pop them into the oven for 15-20 minutes.  You want them to brown nicely, and the sausages to heat up.

While they are cooking, you can get together dipping sauces.  We like BBQ sauce, mustard, ketchup, or ranch dressing.  Tonight we had honey mustard salad dressing, and Awesomesauce.  Awesomesauce is my son's name for a sauce I created with half ketchup and half Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce.  It's sweet, mildly spicy, and perfect if you don't have BBQ sauce on hand.

We used a honey mustard salad dressing as a dipper, along with a 50/50 blend of sweet chili sauce and ketchup.

We really love having fun with food.  I try to serve the kids healthy foods the majority of the time. However, I also feel that as long as you do things in moderation, it's okay to splurge on higher calorie choices every once in awhile. 

These cuties would be perfect for a party, I bet you could even pre-roll and freeze ahead.  I will have to try that!  You could fancy them up, or just leave them the way they are.  I think they are pretty perfect as is. 

Let me know if you try this!

The piggies in blankets, brown and yummy!

This is my 16 year old daughter Autumn, she loved the piggies!

I served the piggies with potato salad and corn.  We like to eat off of cafeteria style plates sometimes.  It adds to the fun factor of mealtime.

Scottsdale Culinary Festival 2012

This last weekend, my hubby took me out to the Scottsdale Culinary Festival.  There were many fine establishments that participated.  We tried to avoid the big chain places, and target more of the local eateries and businesses.  It was very hot out, so it made it hard to want to try everything, but it was to support the arts, and we wanted to do our part.  There was a mini Expo as well as food, music, drinks, celebrity speakers and demos. 

The Queen Creek Olive Mill was in the Expo.  We fell in love with them!  They are a local, family owned company that grows and presses olives.  They make several products, and offer tours and have their own shop and restaurant.  We tried the fig balsamic vinegar and the blood orange olive oil.  We are definitely making plans to head out for a tour and lunch.  If you are in the Queen Creek Arizona area, you must check them out!

bNaked chocolates were another one of our favorites in the Expo. Gluten free chocolates, kicked up with spices.  We also tried one of their macaroons, they were very good.  I didn't try them until we got home, and they suffered a bit from the heat, but they were still quite yummy. I spoke with Sue, from bNaked, and she was very pleasant and knowledgeable.  She definitely lives a healthy lifestyle and is very passionate about bringing it to others.

We tried some kale chips, they were okay.  I was not thrilled with the gal giving me a spoonful of kale crumbs in the palm of my hand.  I didn't like having to lick crumbs off my hand. Maybe a little cup would have been a better way to hand these out?  Licking my palm is fine in private, but not a crowd.

The festival was held at the Scottsdale Civic Center.  It was beautiful.  Fountains, flowers, grass, and this little vegetable garden with amazing vegetables and herbs.  This is a pic of me and some of the prettiest (and biggest!) Swiss Chard I have ever seen.  I was definitely in my happy place.

Crust pizza, they sell artisan pizzas by the slice.  I didn't try them, but I spoke with many others that loved it.  I took the pic because it reminded me of my own homemade grilled pizza.  I will share the recipe with you soon.

Roka Akor Steak and Sushi were there with these huge grills set up. They were grilling steak and mushrooms.  Let me tell you, I got the giggles when trying these mushrooms.  I couldn't help myself!  They were the single best thing that I had eaten all day, and I would have been willing to keep eating til I split.  They were crimini mushrooms with soy garlic butter, grilled on skewers and so perfect! They gave me perma-grin.  I am not exaggerating. 

Jewel of the Crown Cuisine of India had a tent as well.  My hubby and I tried their sampler platter, and it was tasty.  I would have loved a roti or naan bread to sop up the sauce, but it was enjoyable.  There was a chicken tikka masala, a curried chickpea dish, a potato dish, and rice.  To be honest, it wasn't better than other Indian food I have tried, nor was it worse.  I thought perhaps they should have had more diversity in their dishes as a sample. They all had nearly the same sauce.

We tried a bbq joint, and were not happy with it.  They did a whole roasted hog, and claimed they had the best sauce.  The sauce was average, and the meat had no flavor.  It was disappointing.  Salt really helps your dish, why they didn't use any is beyond me.  You can't rely on sauce to do all the seasoning.  This is a prime example.  Sure it was juicy, but it was not impressive.

Q UP BBQ was on hand as one of the food trucks featured.  My husband tried a pulled pork sandwich, topped with a horseradish slaw.  From the bites I took, I didn't think it was amazing.  It was good, but not really better than what I make with a slow cooker.  I didn't get any smoke in it, but really, I would need to try it again to give it a fair judgement.

There were a bunch of grills set up, sliders seemed to be a popular item on the menus. I didn't try any, as we wanted to try new and different foods.  They sure smelled good!  Over all, the day was an amazing day.  The hubby and I enjoyed spending time together, even if it was hot out.  We kept hydrated, and I attempted to stay shady.  We didn't see any celebrities, but we had fun listening to music, trying fun foods, and enjoying each others company.

Slow-cooker oats

I knew yesterday was going to be a rush and hurry morning, so I experimented with slow-cooker oatmeal for breakfast.

The night before, I found several recipes on the web for it and decided to try it out with ingredients I had on hand. The recipes all called for steel cut oats, but I didn't have any. They all said not to use quick oats. That's all I had!

Oops.

So, I twisted things a bit and did a combo of quinoa and oats, dried cranberries, coconut, flax seeds, a can of sweetened condensed milk, instead of milk and sugar, and water and spices.

I agree that you should use steel cut oats, because my end product was a mess. It was so tasty, but I didn't care for the texture. I have no pics of it, but I plan to revisit this recipe again.

My kids ate it all. They scarfed it up so fast I did not have time to snap pics. The smell taunted them, and as soon as I had bowls on the counter ready to scoop, they snatched them up!

Definitely worth doing again!   Overnight oatmeal recipe.

Please bear with me...

My blog is still under construction. More to come soon!

Until then, enjoy my girl kitty Loki, in her favorite box.

Gluten Free Brownies

I made these a few weeks ago following a pin from Pinterest

I could not believe the crumb I got from these. They were so rich, so chocolatey. My kids have demanded I make them again and again.

I followed the recipe from Pinterest mostly. I did some tweaks, and it worked for us. I used half brown sugar, a quarter white sugar, and a quarter stevia. I added a tsp of baking powder, and half a cup of almond meal. I also sprinkled the top with a little bit more almond meal.

I did not use chocolate chips, however, it would be good. I just didn't have any on hand.

Ingredients

• 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup white sugar (I did 1/5 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup stevia, 1/4 cup sugar)
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
• 1/2 cup almond meal (plus a tbs for the top)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.

Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, sugar, baking powder, almond meal and instant coffee in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and tbs of almond meal over the top of the mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.

You can double the recipe, use a bigger pan. We also tried coconut in the mix, and sprinkled on top. This recipe is flexible. Next time we are going to try with peanut butter chips and banana.

The first of many.

My first blog post, how daunting!

I am a fan of food, and I try to bring that love of food to my friends and family.  I think my constant Facebook posts about food is starting to annoy some people, but when you love something, you want to share.

I was sitting on my couch, thinking about all the fun recipes I try from Pinterest and other websites, and how good they turn out for me.  I almost always tweak things, and when I get a winner, I want to shout it from the rooftops.

One of my recent favorites was a pin from Pinterest, Lentil Cakes with Pesto.  It looked so good to my gluten free mindset, that I wanted to try it out.  We do meatless Mondays at our house, and it seemed like a nice alternative.

I needed to take it down from fancy town though, to make my kids interested in it.  So I turned it into lentil burgers.  I changed the recipe a bit, but it worked really well. 

Lentil Patties (makes 18 cakes)

• 1 lb dried lentils
• 1 cup dried quinoa
• water to cover
• 1 TBS oil or your choice (I used coconut oil)
• 1 red onion diced
• 2 cups pre-shredded cole slaw veggies (I used leftovers, you can omit of you don't have)
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup cheese or your choice (I used feta crumbles leftover in the fridge)
• 3 eggs (lightly whisked)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garam masala (or Chinese 5 spice)
• 1 tsp turmeric

Soak lentils, and quinoa in water. I soaked mine for 9 hours, you can soak yours 9-24 hours.  I was in a hurry, and didn't want to wait a day. 

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Pour soaked lentils and quinoa into a pot with water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until lentils are tender but not mushy, the quinoa will have sprouted in the soaking liquid. 
3. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and vegetables.  Cook until lightly browned.  I liked the flavor caramelizing did for the end product.  
4. Strain any remaining liquid from the lentils and quinoa. Pour half of the mixture into a bowl. Let cool.  Pour the other half into a food processor, do not pulse yet.
5. Add the browned veggies to the food processor and pulse until it becomes a paste, the consistency of hummus. Let it cool.
6. Combine the paste with the lentil/quinoa mixture.  Add the seasonings, and whisked eggs.
7. Using the lid of a mayo jar, lined with plastic wrap and sprayed with oil, fill with lentil mixture and press to form a patty. Repeat as many times necessary.  If you don't have a mayo lid, form the patties by hand.  I just love to use the mayo lid because it forms perfect serving sizes for burgers.  Place patties on a baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake for 30 minutes.

The patties were moist inside.  Not pasty or dry.  Crisp outside, and boy were they filling.  I ended up freezing the leftovers, and we ate them the next day as Veggie Chiliburgers.  My kids really liked them, and I can't wait to make them again.

Let me know if you try them!