Guinness Beef Stew

See, my problem is that I'm not the one who cooks. My husband is. How can I be on a food blog if I don't cook? Except, I love to eat... so there you go.

Well last night Noah made Beef and Guinness Stew which is a recipe featured in this month's issue of Cooking Light.

This is where I cut and paste and give credit where it's due

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon butter, divided
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 pounds boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 5 cups chopped onion (about 3 onions)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 4 cups fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
• 1 (11.2-ounce) bottle Guinness Draught
• 1 tablespoon raisins
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices carrot (about 8 ounces)
• 1 1/2 cups (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices parsnip (about 8 ounces)
• 1 cup (1/2-inch) cubed peeled turnip (about 8 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons butter to pan. Place flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt; dredge beef in flour. Add half of beef to pan; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove beef from pan with a slotted spoon. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons butter, and beef.

2. Add onion to pan; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomato paste; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in broth and beer, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Return meat to pan. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, raisins, caraway seeds, and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Uncover and bring to a boil. Cook 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrot, parsnip, and turnip. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and bring to a boil; cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with parsley.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

365

Fat:

19.4g (sat 6.8g,mono 8.6g,poly 1.7g)

Protein:

25.3g

Carbohydrate:

18.8g

Fiber:

3.6g

Cholesterol:

62mg

Iron:

2.6mg

Sodium:

454mg

Calcium:

52mg

Margaret M. Johnson, Cooking Light, MARCH 2010



Ok - so this was so delicious. I know like half of you are vegetarians, but for those who aren't - OMG - the meat is so tender and the veggies delicious. It was a little labor intensive (or so Noah told me) but in my opinion, well worth it!

let's talk about chili!

I love chili! And it's soo easy to make. In college I looked up a recipe for chili because I had no idea what I was doing. The recipe I found called for a packet of onion soup powder mix, which tastes awesome in chili (but that stuff is too expensive in the DR). My mom likes to put Reese's peanut butter cups in chili, but I feel this is a waste of Reese's peanut butter cups. What are your CHILI SECRETS? Tell me them.

Here's a super basic vegetarian chili recipe. I just made it yesterday with what I had lying around. It was delicious! The recipe is nothing special, but it's a place to start if you've never made chili before.

Ingredients:
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 onion
some garlic
hot sauce to taste (I use three or four good shakes)
pepper to taste
(At home, I loved to put celery in chili! But celery is hard to find in the DR.)

First, chop the onion and garlic and sautee them together in a little bit of oil.

When the onions turn clear, take them off the heat. Dump all the ingredients into a pot. Don't drain the beans or tomatoes, just pour the liquids into the pot too. I don't add any water besides the tomato and bean juice.

Yumm. Bring it up to a boil and let it simmer for like half an hour. Stir it occasionally or it will burn to the bottom of your pot. Trust me :( Anyway, that's it! You made chili!

But wait! There is the question of chili TOPPINGS. Some people say sour cream. Others, shredded cheese. Or corn chips. Of course, none of these are terribly healthy. Nutritionally speaking, your chili is better off without any of those things. Whatevs! Here's my new favorite chili topping:

 

QUESO HOJUELITAS. Hojuelitas ("little sheets/pieces") are this awesome snack food that for some reason is not widely available in the US. It's basically a combination of a Cheeto and a Frito. And they are perfect on chili.

Yum!

other food blogs!

So, obviously this is already the best food blog ever. But what other food blogs do you like?

I really like to look (and drool) at Smitten Kitchen, although I've never actually made anything there. But I keep bookmarking stuff for "after I'm done with Peace Corps and have a real kitchen and a real grocery store."

I also like the Post-Punk Kitchen, which is vegan. Although a lot of the "waiting for a real grocery store" stuff applies there, too.

Also, sometimes I like to go to AllRecipes.com and do an ingredient search, like for example when I impulse bought a can of coconut milk and didn't really know what to do with it. (I ended up making this coconut rice with black beans, in case you were wondering. It was good, but didn't taste very coconutty.)

Also, I asked a gluten-free friend for recommendations, since I know Sandy is trying to start cooking gf.  She recommended Gluten-Free Girl (specifically this post) and Simply Recipes: Gluten Free. I've been looking at them and some of the recipes look delightful even if you do eat gluten.

Leave your suggestions here, and maybe we can start a food blog links section in the sidebar.

Easy Beef Stroganoff

This is probably one of my favorite weeknight recipes (especially in the winter!), not only because it's SO tasty, but also because it's quick and easy to make. It's about 20 minutes from prep to table and who can beat that, really?


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound boneless beef sirloin steak or ground beef
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small package sliced mushrooms
  
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can Campbell's® Condensed Golden Cream of Mushroom Soup
  
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (I LOVE the flavor of smoked paprika, but regular paprika works just fine too!)
  
• 1/2 cup sour cream
  
• 4 cups hot cooked egg noodles (or rice)
  

Heat half the oil in a large skillet. Cook beef until browned and set aside. Add remaining oil to the pan and saute onions until soft. Add mushrooms and saute 3 - 4 more minutes, stirring often. Add soup and paprika (you can eyeball it - I added more than the recipe called for and LOVED the flavor it gave it!) and heat to a boil. Lower heat, stir in sour cream, return beef to the skillet and heat through. Serves 4

Inspiration

I've been reading Michael Pollan's books -- just finished In Defense of Food and almost done with The Omnivore's Dilemma.

This certainly helps motivate me toward veganism, but I have such a feeling of helplessness.

My temporary solution is to grow vegetables -- this year, I want to grow eggplant. Just eggplant. Just to see how it goes.

I remember when I was very young, my grandfather had all sorts of vegetables growing: green beans, corn, tomatoes, so on and so on, and there was something so enjoyable about walking out there with him and helping him plant seeds, watch the veggies grow, and be able to eat what was produced.

I don't know. I'm not aspiring to become a farmer. I just would like to grow this and that, and hopefully this year, I can start with one item. Hopefully the motivation won't fade between now and then.

Roasted Garlic and Pumpkin Seed Pesto

I got this from vegweb.com's recipes; it is AMAZING.

Ingredients:
1 head of roasted garlic (I bought mine pre-roasted from Sunflower Market)
1-3 cups of basil (up to you how much you want; the original recipe called for three cups, but there's no way I was fitting three cups into the magic bullet)
1 cup + a smidge of Olive Oil
2 cups pumpkin seeds
1 cup walnuts (or other nuts)
salt and pepper
1/2 cup nutritional yeast (which makes it cheesy-like)

Blend all ingredients, gradually adding the olive oil and garlic -- make sure it's the right amount of garlic for you (I would guess I used about...10 cloves? Roasted garlic is milder than raw, so don't be afraid).

Use on pasta -- though we're considering also trying it on the vegan eggplant I posted about a few days ago!

I didn't measure the olive oil, just kept adding, and I think I added too much -- but it was so delicious. Highly recommended, and our new favorite vegan "thing."

veggie peanut noodles!

My friend Amanda taught me how to make this sauce and my friend Stephanie taught me how to make noodle stir fry with ramen noodles. But I was the one who combined them!! This recipe is sooo good and pretty easy. But it feels so fancy to make your own sauce!

Peanut sauce ingredients:
1/2 cup peanut butter
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup-ish water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ginger (the sugar and the ginger are optional & to taste. You could also try some garlic powder or whatever suits your fancy)

 

Put everything except the water in a bowl and stir it. Stir in the water a little bit at a time until you get the consistency you want.

 

Saucy! Make this first and set aside. OR, buy some pre-made sauce and skip that part of the recipe.

Noodle stir fry ingredients:

Some vegetables. I used 1 carrot, 1 onion, and 2 little peppers. Broccoli would be good but it's really expensive in the DR.

2 eggs (optional. Meat could also be optional here, I guess)

2 packets of ramen noodles (any flavor--you won't use the seasoning packet)

5 cloves of garlic, or a few spoonfuls of pre-minced garlic

Sesame oil (sesame oil is a little expensive but I must emphasize how totally delicious it is. If you must, you could use a different type of oil here).

I forgot to put the eggs in the picture, but y'all know what those look like, right?

Hey, maybe the reason Roland hasn't posted much at CB the last few years is that he's been busy building an oil empire!

Anyway, cut all the veggies up into bite size pieces. Mince the garlic.

 

Now! The timing here is a liiittle tricky, but not too bad. Put a pot of water on to boil. Then, start stir-frying the vegetables and garlic in some sesame oil. When the water starts to boil, put the noodles in. Don't cook them all the way! Leave them in the water for about a minute and take them out. (Throw the seasoning packets away unless you are super super thrifty and have some alternate use for ramen seasoning. I don't.) Meanwhile, crack the eggs into the veggies and scramble them in, and then dump the peanut sauce over it.

 

Mmm, almost ready! OK, after the noodles have been in for a minute-ish, take them out with a slotted spoon (or drain them) and toss them over the veggie-egg-sauce mixture. Stir fry the noodles in with everything else for a few more minutes.

Mmm-mmm good!! This serves 2 Renatas. It might serve three light eaters.

Vegan Taco Dip

This literally takes 10 minutes to make. Mmmmm, and it's delicious.

I used the smallest baking casserole dish I have because I don't need a GIGANTIC TACO DIP for two people. But, next time I go to a party, I'll use a bigger one to share.

Ingredients:
1 can red kidney beans OR chili beans if you find them (I got mine at Sunflower Market)
1 package of mexican tofu "meat" -- I'll edit the note when I'm home and can tell you the brand
Vegan sour cream (Tofutti is the best)
Vegetables -- I used cucumbers, tomatoes, and avocados, but feel free to use what you have
Black olives (optional, of course)

I cooked the beans to heat them up, then blended them and used them as the bottom layer.
Heat up the tofu using the package directions and use that as the second layer.
Cucumbers, tomatoes, and avocado came next. If I had olives, they would be on top.
Sour cream on top of the vegetables.

You can chill first, or you can dig right in! It's seriously delicious. I bought corn chips to use, and made them into nachos, essentially, and there are plenty of leftovers.

My no recipe biscuits

I'm calling this a no recipe biscuit because I really make them without any recipe, just an idea of what proportions of what are needed to have a yummy biscuit. The only constant is around 2 tsp of baking powder.
During our storm this week (I know, I'm talking about it again, but we just broke a snowfall record and I got two whole days home from work out of it) I would hurry off to the gym early in the morning only to return starving. My darling other half can not cook. Will not cook-- honestly, I'm kind of happy with it-- so when I return home and he's still asleep, I know I've got to whip something together. From the time that you procure the ingredients, preheat, mix and bake, it takes about 10-15 minutes tops.
I think the basis of this recipe or proportion comes from a biscuit topping that I put on vegetable stew, but who knows. These are drop biscuits, so once you mix the batter you simply drop spoonfulls onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Here's the basics:

2 cups some flour combination
2 tsp baking powder
salt
about a cup of liquid
1/4 or 1/3 c of an oil/lipid of some kind

HI. That's it. My favorite combo was one I made yesterday. These were the lightest, fluffiest, most delicate biscuits I'd ever had. I think. The cake was only lightly flavored so it really showcased the add ins:

2 cups all purpose white flour
2 tsp baking powder
salt
1 cup soy milk
1/3 cup olive oil
-after mixed I added in freshly grated Parmesan cheese and quite a few cranks of the old pepper mill. Parmesan peppercorn biscuits if you will. Yum!

falafel, dominican style

Ingredients
1 can of chickpeas
1 medium-ish onion
2 spoonfuls-ish flour
1 egg (if you want to make this vegan you can drop the egg and use more flour, but the egg makes it less crumbly)
Spices of some sort... I use whole cumin seeds, because I just happen to have a big bag of them and I like the texture. Don't go out and buy cumin seeds, though. You could use regular cumin. Or garlic powder maybe, whatever.
S&P
Oil (I like to use like half sunflower oil and half olive oil, but whatever)

So, you're actually supposed to use parsley and stuff for falafel? But this recipe works with what's readily available in the DR, and it's delicious and super easy.

Make sure the onion isn't too big! Or don't use a whole onion if you have a big one. It will make your falafel TOO ONIONY D:

Anyway, first step is mash chickpeas! I'm posting a picture of my mortal & pestle again because I can! But you can use a fork or blender.

Mash mash mash!  Then, dice the onion (or I guess throw it in with the chickpeas if you're one of those fancy "food processor" types) and mix them together in a bowl. Crack in the egg, shake in the spices, and stir it all together. Add in some flour a spoonful at a time and keep stirring. You want it to be solid enough to hold together in balls. Heat up some oil for a few minutes, then toss in some golf ball-sized patties.

 

Fry that shit until it's golden brown (1-2 minutes on each side). You will only be hurting yourself if you get impatient and take them out sooner! I know from experience.

Okay like 1/4th of these end up getting eaten almost immediately after getting taken out of the oil and salted and peppered. SOOO GOOD when they're fresh!  Another option? On a wrap with some lettuce and tomato and whatnot. Also it's great with tahini sauce (1 spoonful tahini + the juice of one lime + a little water), but I didn't have any limes so I just used ranch dressing here. Also good!

 

Fun fact: I worked at Subway when they first unveiled their "low carb wraps." I was always getting yelled at by the manager for not being a very good wrapper, a trait that continues to this very day. Other fun fact: this is a spinach wrap, not just moldy.

This would probably serve four people. I usually get three meals out of it, but that's because I'm a total fatkid with the fresh falafels and eat like half of them then. They are good cold in wraps or sandwiches, too. 

Baked Mac and Cheese

When I'm sick (as I am now, with bronchitis) the only thing that ever really makes me feel better is yummy comfort food. Because I'm absolutely craving this baked mac and cheese right now (but can't find the motivation to get out of bed and actually make it) I figured I'd blog about it!


INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk (or skim, if that's your preference)
1 pound cheddar cheese (16 oz block)
3/4 pound monterey jack cheese (10 oz block)
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
Pinch of nutmeg
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (more, if you want a bigger kick!)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 box (1 pound) cavatappi pasta (any kind of macaroni will do, if you can't find cavatappi)
Plain bread crumbs

*************************


Cut cheese into 1/2 inch cubes and place in fridge for later.

Pre-heat oven to 350. Butter shallow 2 1/2 quart baking dish. In large sauce pan, melt butter. Add flour and cook over moderate heat for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add milk and cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly until thickened, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add half of the cheddar and half of the jack cheese and cook over low heat, stirring until melted. Stir in mustard, nutmeg and cayenne; season with salt and pepper.

In another pan, cook pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain very well and return to pan. Add cheese sauce and the remaining cheese cubes and stir until combined. Spread macaroni in prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle top with bread crumbs and bake for 45 minutes, or until bubbling and golden on top.



I really love this mac and cheese because, not only is it super easy to make, it's super tasty. And with the dijon mustard and cayenne pepper, it's definitely not your grandmother's mac and cheese! This recipe serves 6, so you can always cut it in half or have friends over for dinner! (of, if you're like me, you'll wind up feeding your neighbors or co-workers LOL)

Fried Eggplant

If you love fried eggplant like we do (Nicole misses eggplant parmigiana...), you will love this recipe, ESPECIALLY the grapeseed oil part.

INGREDIENTS:
Eggplant
Flour
Cornstarch
Breadcrumbs
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Water
Grapeseed Oil
Lime (optional)

We peel our eggplant, but you can leave the skin on if you'd like. Slice the eggplant -- not too thick -- and soak in salt water. I probably soaked the eggplant for about thirty minutes or so.

Pat dry the eggplant with paper towels.

There will be three steps before you get to the frying pan:
Step 1: Flour, paprika, a generous amount of salt and pepper
Step 2: Cornstarch and water (You want this more liquidy than gooey, I learned)
Step 3: Breadcrumbs (if you're trying vegan, make sure your breadcrumbs don't come with cheese inside!), salt, and pepper

Dip, dip, dip, set aside. I liked doing all of them at once and then frying, but that's a personal decision.

Heat a generous amount of grapeseed oil (trust me on this one: tastes SO MUCH BETTER than olive oil) in a pan, and fry accordingly.

Make sure you don't burn them! If you've done everything right, you should have a delicious, soft, fried eggplant patty.

I put a little lime on top, but I'm sure there are other things you can use. Tomato sauce, perhaps?

Easy delicious pasta sauce!

So a forewarning: I RARELY, if ever, cook according to anything one could conceivably call an ordinary recipe with measurements. I do a lot of adding ingredients, tasting, and adjusting accordingly. Thus most of the measurements included with this recipe are rough estimates and depend, of course, on tasting. [From here forward I'll take more note of what actual proportions I use!]

Ingredients:

2 regular cans of diced tomatoes (I recommend the Italian-style kind that have basil and oregano in them, but any kind will work)

2-3 spicy Italian sausages*

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

A small handful of chopped fresh onion

3 tablespoons chopped jar garlic

3-4 cloves of fresh garlic, diced

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1-2 tablespoons dried basil

1-2 teaspoons salt

2-3 teaspoons cracked pepper

Optional: 1-2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar/balsamic vinegar/red wine (doesn't have to be good)

*I've also made this recipe with chorizo & ground beef; for vegetarians/vegans it works very well with fake ground-beef, or is also delicious without (but in that case I recommend another can of tomatoes).

Take a large sauce pan, and cover the bottom with the olive oil. Remove sausages from casings (this is extremely easy to do and essentially involves squeezing the sausage filling from the casings) and break into small chunks - about bite-sized. Sauté sausage pieces with 2 of the heads of garlic and the onions. As the sausage begins to cook, add the tomatoes directly to the pan with the sausage. Cover and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Note: the ground beef and tofu-ground beef take less cooking time; and obviously, skip the meat-prep step entirely if you intend to serve without meat.

Add the jar garlic, salt, and pepper, stir, and let simmer for about a minute. Taste. Add basil and oregano. Taste. Adjust proportions of any spices according to personal preference. Let simmer for around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the garlic and onions from burning and the sausage from sticking. Add a splash more olive oil to taste; at this point add vinegar and/or wine (I recommend only adding one, but your personal taste preference can dictate if you'd like to use both). Reduce heat, let simmer for 5-10 more minutes.

Good over pasta, in eggplant parmesan, baked with portabello caps, over veggies, etc! Served over your average-sized serving of pasta this makes about 7-9 servings (proportion based on the eating habits of 4 women in their early 20s, aka my roommates and I - this usually will feed the four of us once, and me alone about 4 times besides).

mexican chicken

This is pretty much a weekly staple in our household... mostly because it is an easy after work type meal to throw together. I don't think they eat this in Mexico but it does involve chicken so that part is legit.

Ingredients:

3 or 4 chicken breasts

1 jar of salsa -- I prefer Paul Newman's salsa. Not only was he smokin' hot but he made really good salsa. If you have more time you can make salsa from scratch. When I have more time I'll leave a good salsa recipe.

1 can of black beans

1 cup of frozen corn

1 cup of shredded cheese

Ok, preheat your oven. I think like 400 degree-ish. Mix the salsa, beans and corn together. Put the chicken in a baking dish and then put the salsa mix on top. If you're good at planning ahead you could do this step the night before and let it marinate. I never can plan that far ahead. Put the chicken in the oven and cook until the chicken looks like it's done... like 30 or 40 minutes. Just make sure the chicken is cooked through. Once it looks cooked put the cheese on top and let it cook 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted. Serve warm with spanish or brown rice. I like to put mine on the rice and add homemade guacamole. Ok, not super creative but super tasty.

If you're feeling wild you can switch up the salsas... sometimes I like to use a mango salsa or a lime salsa or whatever...

beer bread for nicole!

Ingredients:
12 ounces light beer
3 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup melted butter
Salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients together except the butter.

Grease whatever you’re going to bake it in with a little of the butter, and pour in the batter (the consistency of the mix should be doughy like yeast bread.) Dump the rest of the butter on top of the bread and spread it evenly.

In a regular oven it’s supposed to bake for about an hour at 450 degrees. In an Dutch oven, bake it for 30-45 minutes on medium-ish flame, taking it out only when the top is hard and has a golden/brown color.

(This was originally in the Peace Corps DR magazine's recipes page, submitted by a volunteer named Brianna. It's yummy! It doesn't taste like beer exactly, but it has this unique sweet-salt-rich delicious flavor. Mmmm.)

Growlie

This past weekend in Philadelphia we endured a paralyzing snowpocalypse/blizzarmageddon that tested the fortitude of all. Blizzarmageddons are one of the times that living in a City can really have his benefits. Semi-pedestrain friendly ammenities are nearby and, for me, a fun walk away. I live in a neighborhood that is traditionally known for its Italian population-- their restaurants and grocery stores have endured. The Italian presence is now balanced with a whole mix of others: at least 8 Pho spots, 10+ tacquerias, Viatnamese groceries, Middle Eastern dry goods and more, all within a five minute walk. I can buy a pound of my favorite coffees: Portland's Stumptown Roasters Hairbender, or New Orleans Cafe du Monde while out for a walk. I bring this up because during a blizzard, if you haven't counted your neighborhoods amenities, you do.

One of the things that I am the most greatful for, by far, is the availablity of fine fine microbrews in my area. The best beer distributor in the City is nearby, and I can count two places where I can get my glass growlers filled with premium brews at a reasonable price.

What is a growler you might ask? It is basically a special refillable dark glass flask for holding draft beers. In Pennsylvania, the totally ridiculous Liquor Control Board doesn't want us to have any fun ever, so there are all kinds of rules in place about how and where you can transport draft beer out of a bar or brewery. Many good beer bars fill growlers as a way of helping to move their kegs and keep them rotated. In any case, on Thursday night I went to a local pub with some people (pre-blizzard) for free growlers night. Pictured, you will see my growler of Sixpoint Sweet Action sitting in my refrigerator. This is a low ABV Blonde Ale that offers crisp flavors making it pairable with a variety of dishes. It doesn't carry a sweetness-- otherwise I wouldn't have touched it. I drank a pint beside a bowl of spicy tomato soup and had wished that I had used some of the hoppy-citrusy ale in the broth that I had made. It worked really nicely with the tomato.
You will also notice two bottles of fine Pennsylvania brews: the Lancaster Milk Stout and PBC Kenzinger. The Milk Stout is a good introductory stout for those who normally don't care for dark brews. It has pretty muted stout tastes- chocolate, coffee, caramel, malts-- that beginners won't find them to be off-putting. No big flavors and a pedestrian friendly low ABV. Its lighter mouth feel makes it a good session stout (is that even a term?) for me. The other bottle, the Kenzinger is our local default brew of choice.
Thanks to the many easily accessible fine beers in Philadelphia we made it through the blizzard in reasonably decent spirits. We're anticipating more snow on Tuesday night and you can bet I'll be seeking out some warming libations before hand.

An intro

Today my jeans are too tight on me. Serves me right. I've been eating like crap for six months now. The first half of 2009, I was doing great. I was on Weight Watchers and training to walk in the 3 Day - 60 miles in 3 days. And then the day before the walk, I received some news -my son's preschool teacher suspected he may be autistic. That began a quick downfall - I wasn't training anymore and eating made me feel better. Especially all those foods I had been depriving myself of for months. I forgot all the rules and just started buying junk for all of us. Not. Good. I said "Well, we'll just get through the holidays" but here it is, February 8th and I am still not even thinking what goes in my mouth. Last night we had bread dipped in olive oil and I found myself sticking my finger in the oil and eating it that way. Gross. I stopped myself and thought - what are you doing?

So in November, L was diagnosed with PDDNOS - and one of the things that other parents say helps is a gluten-free/casein-free diet. It just seems impossible to me. He has such a limited diet as it is - and it consists of nothing but pasta with butter sauce, pancakes, muffins and snacks. Oh and chocolate milk. So how am I going to take away all the food he eats?

I guess I'll use this blog as some inspiration from my fellow bloggers and to chronicle some serious life style changes in our house. I hope I'm ready.

Simple Bean Dip

Sorry for the lack of pictures, y'all. Our puppy chewed the camera cord, so we have technical difficulties.

Anyway, here is the simple bean dip I made for Super Bowl today:

1 can of pinto beans, cooked, drained, and rinsed
1 tomato, peeled and seeded
3 cloves minced garlic
2-3 TBL of lime juice
Cumin (I didn't measure)
Salt, pepper, cayenne (I didn't measure)

I used the Magic Bullet (yes, from all of those really lame infomercials) to mix this all together. Play with the spices, and feel free to add others, or perhaps lose the lime (Nicole isn't a fan of lime, so I'll try it without next time). I really liked the "kick" the cayenne gave this.

The Super Bowl is over, and it's all gone!

banana bread

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter  
3/4 cup brown sugar* (the original recipe, which I think came from AllRecipes.com, calls for brown sugar, but brown sugar is hard to come by in the DR so I use raw cane sugar. You could probably even use regular white sugar if that's all you have.)
2 eggs
3 or 4 mashed overripe bananas

I like to bake on Sunday evenings and bring in fresh baked goods on Monday morning! My co-workers like it too :) Banana bread is great because you feel like you are a hero for not wasting nasty bananas. But I really like banana bread so sometimes I just go out and buy brown bananas for this exact purpose.

The bananas should basically be straight-up nasty looking. If your bananas reach this nasty stage and you don't feel like making banana bread yet, you can freeze them and then thaw them later. (By the way, I like taking pictures of all the ingredients for the blog, but also I always set everything out before I start making something to make sure I have everything! It's super frustrating if you get halfway through a recipe and realize you're out of eggs.)

If your butter is in the fridge, set it out and let it get to room temperature before you start baking. Microwaving it makes recipes turn out a little weird.

Anyway, measure out the dry ingredients except for the sugar and mix them up in a bowl. (I spaced out this time and mixed the sugar in with everything else and it worked out okay though.) Cream together the butter and the sugar in a different bowl, and add the eggs and bananas (mashed with a fork). Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix it with a fork enough to moisten everything, but don't over-stir it or you'll eff it all up!! Just kidding, but it will make the bread more tough. Not like in a Joan Jett way, but just like not quite as tasty.

Pour your batter into a lightly greased pan of some sort. (This might make two loaf pan-sized loaves.) I use this Dutch oven, because I don't have a real oven. Tip: sprinkle a little sugar on top of the batter! It'll give your bread a shiny, delicious top. If you are using a Dutch oven, which you are probably not, cook this on a low-ish flame for like half an hour. If you are using a real oven, the original recipe calls for 60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Are you... curious about my Dutch oven?

 

As you can see, it's round with a hole in the middle, so everything I make with it looks like a Bundt cake! Or a wreath! It fits over a gas stove burner and it directs the heat so it bakes evenly. Pretty awesome! There are also Dutch ovens for camping, which are basically just cast iron pots with lids that you can stick directly into coals to bake with.

 

Mmm, it's done when it's golden-brown and a toothpick (or fork, because who the hell has toothpicks?) comes out clean!

garlic hummus

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas
1 lime/lemon, or like a spoonful of lime/lemon juice
2 spoonfuls tahini
5 minced cloves of garlic (less if you don't like garlic that much, more if you want to ward off vampires)

Oh man, do I love hummus. This is a super easy recipe that you can make even if you are in the Peace Corps. The tahini is kind of a splurge (it was like $6 for that jar) but it is worth it, because it lasts a really long time and makes hummus sooo much better than just plain mashed chickpeas.

Anyway, here's what you're going to do. First, mash the chickpeas! I use a pilon (mortar & pestle) which is pretty fun. You can use a blender if you have one, or a fork.

Yeahhhh. Then, add the garlic and mash it a little bit. (Tip: crush a garlic clove with the flat edge of the knife before you peel it. It'll make the skin easier to peel off and will start crushing the garlic a little bit. Other tip: if you are in America and cook with garlic often, just buy a jar of pre-minced garlic. So much easier than dealing with chopping and garlic-scented hands all the time.)

 

Then, add the citrus juice and the tahini! Stir it around real good and eat it!

 

Yum! I like hummus on tortilla chips, carrot sticks, bread, crackers... basically anything is better with hummus on it.

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