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Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

Fancy Toast

Posted by terrepruitt on November 26, 2013

I am beginning to bet you don’t believe me when I say I was not going to post a recipe and I do. I WAS going to post a picture of the first toast I made on my Facebook page, but then when I sat down and started eating it I changed my mind. Then my hubby made yummy noises the entire time he was eating it and it confirmed my “need” to post it on my blog and tell the whole story. In my last po st I talked about my fabulous day in Santa Cruz after teaching a Nia class. I mentioned two restaurants. The one we love, Rebecca’s, is closed. I was very sad because it has really yummy food and is a very nice place to eat. But, I also recognized this as an opportunity to try a new place. Having other things to do I didn’t do any research, but my student did. Yay! She suggested River Cafe. It was on the way to where we were going. So we went there. They have a menu item called “The Daily Toast”. When we were there it was supposed to be Humboldt Fog*, Pears, walnuts, and the woman behind the counter said they would drizzle honey over it. Sounds good, huh?

I ordered that. A few moments later a woman came to our table and said she could not find the pears, but she said she had persimmons or jams. She suggested the jam, but I declined and requested the persimmons. I had some on my counter I didn’t know what to do with. I thought this would be a great way to experiment. Well, even though the persimmons weren’t ripe, they forgot the walnuts and the honey (as you can see in the first photo), it was still VERY good. So good that I wanted to try making it the next day.

We didn’t have any salty cheese so I decided not to. But then the NEXT day I decided who cares. I wanted to try it anyway. I asked my hubby if he wanted cheese toast. He said yes. Then I asked if he wanted regular cheese toast or an experiment. I have mentioned before he is pretty good about eating whatever, but he does have some food “dislikes” so when my experiment includes some of them I like to ask first.

Anyway, this turned out very yummy. It is easy to make but comes out – in my opinion – kinda fancy. I have noted the recipe as I made it, but, I think the idea of the River Cafe is better in regards to the cheese. A nice soft salty, flavorful cheese seems best, but I used what I had.

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Fancy Toast

2 pieces sliced sour dough
2 pieces wheat bread
slices of marbles Colby Jack (enough to cover all four pieces of bread)
one ripe persimmon
2 tsp of shredded parmesan cheese
a handful or two of chopped walnuts
honey (enough to drizzle over the toast)

Toast the bread, not all the way (at least with my toaster oven. I have to leave it a little “undone” so it will be perfect after the cheese melts). Top the bread with the sliced cheese. Melt the cheese on the toast. While the bread is toasting and the cheese is melting peel and slice the persimmon. After the cheese has melted, place the persimmons on the toast, sprinkle the parmesan over the persimmons. Allow to warm a bit in the toaster oven/oven. Then sprinkle the walnuts on the toast. and drizzle the honey over the top.

Serve with a fork and knife!

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I was thinking that this would be an easy type of toast to serve for brunch. Toasting the bread in the oven on a cookie sheet. I also thought it would be a nice toast to serve at a tea. Yum. I used the parmesan as the “salty” and it turned out pretty good. I was surprised my husband liked it so much. He is not fond of bread, especially toast. Not like me. He also doesn’t care for walnuts. So it is a testament to its yumminess that he loved it.

I loved it so much I had it again the next day! (I forgot the parmesan.)

Well? What do you think? Sound yummy?

*Humboldt Fog is a specific type of cheese: Cheesemaker Mary Keehn of Humboldt County, CA invented this cheese, so named for the Pacific mists, in the early 80’s. (According to Wiki).

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: breakfast, breakfast for a crowd, brunch, easy breakfast, Fancy toast, goat cheese, Humboldt Fog, Nia, Nia class, Nia student, Nia Teacher, persimmons, Rebecca's, River Cafe, Santa Cruz, teaching Nia, toast, walnuts, yummy breakfast | 10 Comments »

Easy Pasta, Good For Potlucks

Posted by terrepruitt on November 19, 2013

As often happens on blog posting day, the day has escaped me. That is one reason why I post recipes — especially if I was not planning on posting one — the time of day comes when I need to be cooking dinner and I still have no idea what to post. I recently made a favorite recipe of mine and when I made it I didn’t think I was going to post about it. I know I say that all the time, but it is true. I was having company so I didn’t take a picture of the ingredients, the process, nor the meal. After having eaten it, I fell in love with it all over again. I decided while eating it for a second meal, when it was left over, to post about it. So I did take a picture at that time, but it is with leftover pasta and some of the noodles didn’t fare so well because I left it in the pan for a long time on the night I cooked it. Well, I did mention I had company and I didn’t rush back in the kitchen after eating to tidy up. Anyway, this is a great recipe for many reasons.

Since I teach Nia and I don’t have a corporate job I don’t experience all of the potlucks throughout the year and especially that happen over the holiday season, but this recipe is GREAT for potlucks. It is a meal that is scrumptious hot off the stove, but it is still really yummy if it is room temperature or even cold. You don’t have to worry with this dish that it is not piping hot. So it makes great leftovers. AND it is super, super, super simple.

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Walnuts and Ham Pasta

2-3 tbsp olive oil
3/4 – 1 cup chopped walnuts, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped/minced
1 package of linguine
1/2 lb cooked ham, chopped into little chunks (ABOUT pea size or bean size)
1/4 – 1/2 c Parmesan cheese
3-4 tbsp parsley

Heat the olive oil a little bit. Add the chopped walnuts to the oil. Cook the pasta according to the directions/your liking. After cooking the walnuts for a few minutes add 1/2 of the garlic. Cook two minutes. Add the ham chunks. Since the ham is already cooked you are basically just warming it up and cooking it a little bit more. When the ham is almost cooked to your liking add the rest of the garlic.

NOTE: Since the olive oil is serving as the “sauce” you may need to add more as you are cooking. It depends on how oily you want your pasta. This is one of those “recipes” — where how much you use of the ingredients is really up to your tastes.

After you have drained the cooked pasta, mix the pasta and walnut-ham-garlic mixture together. Top with the cheese and parsley.

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This recipe makes a HUGE amount of pasta. Keep that in mind and adjust accordingly. You might decide you want more walnuts or less ham. You know how the recipes are that I post . . . they are a guide . . . an idea . . . something to get you started. Make it once, then go from there . . . or start off with making it your own.

Let me know how yummy you think this is. AND let me know what you do to it!

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: easy dinner, easy pasta, easy potluck meal, holiday potlucks, Holiday season, Nia, Nia Teacher, potluck, walnut-ham-garlic mixture, walnuts and ham | 2 Comments »

Pumpkin For Dinner

Posted by terrepruitt on November 12, 2013

I received a pumpkin in my organic produce box. I didn’t know what to do with it. I was looking at one of the blogs that I read on occasion and I saw a recipe for a stuffed pumpkin. I saved the recipe so that I could make it. I looked at the post a couple of times while I was thinking about it. There was a woman who commented with a link to her version of the stuffed pumpkin. When I posted the original (to me) posting on FB one of my friends commented, “I just made those.” Which, when she posted the picture to my wall, I vaguely remembered having seen it when she originally posted it. But it was before I had received a pumpkin so it didn’t really register. When I went to make my grocery list off of JJ Begonia’s recipe, I realized it was literally like a stuffed pumpkin as in BREAD stuffing. Like a turkey. I didn’t want to just use bread. Then I remembered my friend said she stuffed hers with sausage. The first two recipes have bacon in them, but I don’t like to buy a pound of bacon for only a couple of pieces. So I decided on sausage. I took ideas from all three people and came up with the below stuffed pumpkin recipe.

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Stuffed Sugar Pie Pumpkin

1 2 to 3 pound Sugar Pie Pumpkin
1-2 tbsp olive oil
salt
Six mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1/4 pound sausage
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 cup cheese (small chunks)
2 tbsp ricotta
1 tbsp sherry
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
handful of spinach
four slices bread – toasted and cubed

Cut the top off of the pumpkin making a little lid. Scoop out the pumpkin guts. Then put a little oil and salt in the pumpkin and place it on a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° F for 45 minutes (check it after 20 minutes to see that it is not getting too cooked – after the 45 minutes you want it to be almost cooked, but not cooked so much it can’t stand another HOUR in the oven).

Heat the olive oil in the pan with the 1/2 of the onions. Once the onions are translucent put the mushrooms in the pan and cook them. Sprinkle with salt. As they are cooking mix in one clove of garlic. Cook the sausage, either after the mushrooms are cooked or use a different pan. If the sausage has a lot of grease drain it off once the sausage is cooked before you add the sausage to the rest of the ingredients.

Mix the mushrooms and the sausage in a bowl. Add the rosemary and thyme. Mix in the remaining two cloves of garlic and the onions. Mix in the cheese. Mix in the sherry and most of the cream (save a splash for the inside bottom of pumpkin). Add the spinach and bread cubes last. Mix it all carefully.

Pour the remaining splash of cream in the pumpkin. Spoon the mixture into the pumpkin. I used the spoon to press it down into the pumpkin.

Put the pumpkin in the oven for 60 minutes. After about 20 minutes I put the “lid” on. The pumpkin is done when you can gently pierce its side with a sharp object. Check to verify the inside it cooked to your liking. Since the mushrooms and the sausage are already cooked it is just a matter of it heating up and melting the cheese.

Slice and serve.

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This was good, BUT . . . . . I have some adjustments I would make for next time. I was thinking it would be full of flavor so I hardly used any salt which left it almost flavorless except for the thyme. Next time I will use LESS thyme and more salt and some pepper. You will notice I didn’t put any pepper in this. I don’t use pepper. But I can when I think that a recipe needs it. I will salt the inside of the pumpkin more prior to baking and prior to filling.

This was ALL that we had for dinner with a small salad and it was PLENTY! We were full. We each had a half. We did not have a pumpkin each. 🙂

As you can see from just this post there are at least four recipes to make stuffed pumpkin. I purposefully didn’t say what type of sausage, cheese, or bread I used because I want you to find your own flavor and texture. So follow one of the recipes or do it your own way. You have the basics . . . go play! If you do not follow my recipe . . . . please, please, please, tell us what you did. I would love to hear of more ways to make a pumpkin dinner!

Happy Fall!

I had not stuffed a pumpkin before. Have you ever stuffed a pumpkin and baked it?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Cheese, Facebook, Fall Meal, FB, JJ Begonia, organic produce, pumpkin for dinner, pumpkin recipe, Sausage, Stuffed pumpkin | 9 Comments »

Really Easy Pizza

Posted by terrepruitt on November 2, 2013

I have always wanted to make “pizza” using eggplant. But I usually don’t have tomato sauce. The eggplant “pizza” I have always wanted to make is using a slice of eggplant as the “crust”. Not putting eggplant ON the pizza, nor making the crust with flour and eggplant. Just a slice of eggplant as the “crust”. You might be familiar with me not really liking tomatoes. That lends to me not really liking tomato sauce. When we have pasta we don’t normally have tomato sauce. Although lately I have been buying some. Yes, the jarred kinds. I know it is silly to buy the jar kind when it is so easy to make, but since I don’t really like it, it is one of those things that I don’t bother making. If I can buy an organic jar of tomato sauce for a quick dinner every once in a while I do. Well, the last time I used it I made the My First Tomato Sauce Lasagna. I didn’t use the whole jar. Recently I bought an eggplant and it was HUGE. Normally I slice them in half and roast them, but this one was huge, but I was really looking forward to the roasted kind, so I didn’t want to make pizza out of it all. So I sliced it in thirds lengthwise. Planning to use the middle slice for the pizza crust. I finally had eggplant pizza!

I roasted it first. Then I piled on my toppings. I realized I needed to roast it longer. The eggplant got VERY soggy after all of the toppings were on it. If you REALLY like eggplant it is no big deal. I am not sure if the eggplant pizza would ever be a pick-up-and-eat-it-like-regular-pizza type of pizza, but it was really good.

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Eggplant Pizza

One large eggplant, sliced in either rounds or length-wise (about 1/2 inch thick)
olive oil
salt
your favorite pizza/tomato sauce
your favorite pizza toppings

Sprinkle oil on the eggplant and roast at 400° F for about 20 minutes . . . depends on the size of your eggplant and how thick you cut it. After 20 minutes flip it over sprinkle with oil and salt. Cook for another 15 or 20 minutes. Check it and decide how cooked you want it.

Then top with your favorite pizza/tomato sauce and your favorite pizza toppings. Bake it until your cheese is melted.

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Mine had tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and sautéed mushrooms. It was sooooo good. Mushrooms are my favorite pizza topping. When I make pizza, it is usually just with mushrooms. I prefer to cook the mushrooms first — no matter what crust I am using — to get out most of the moisture and ensure that they are cooked when I eat my pizza.

Anyway . . . this was very good. So good I made it again but this time I sliced the eggplant in rounds. I used the same toppings. This second time the eggplant was a little less soggy, but it was still not something you could pick up like a regular piece of pizza.

I roasted the slices for about 20 minutes on each side. The eggplant adds a nice flavor to the pizza toppings I used (tomato sauce, cheese, and mushrooms). And as long as your sauce and your toppings are gluten free this is a great pizza to have for those who are avoiding it!

What about you? Have you ever wanted to try eggplant as your pizza crust? Have you ever tried eggplant as your pizza crust?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: aubergine, aubergine pizza, Eggplant pizza, gluten free, mushrooms, pizza crust made of eggplant, quick and easy pizza, roasted eggplant | 4 Comments »

Brisket In A CrockPot

Posted by terrepruitt on October 29, 2013

I have a friend who buys a grass-fed cow for beef by offering portions to her friends. So my husband and I purchased a portion. The meat is really amazing. If you have read any of my meat posts you know that I prefer to douse my meat in marinades and seasonings. Well, with this beef I don’t do that normally because the grass-fed flavor of the meat is good. When I picked up my meat my friend gave me a few choices about some of the cuts. I know nothing about cuts of meat. I based my selection on this cut being one or two servings and that cut being three to four. Of course I chose the value. Plus a couple of the selections were new-to-me cuts. So I was excited at the prospect of learning how to cook different cuts of meat. Well, as I said, I was excited at the prospect. I haven’t had as much time since I picked up the meat. I have not spent time learning how to cook both the different cuts AND the way this meat cooks. So I have been cooking the ground beef — A LOT. I make burgers often. Used to be I couldn’t get my hubby to want to eat a burger that I handmade, now he LOVES them. The beef is spectacular! Anyway . . . I finally have to get to cooking the meat in my freezer so my first attempt — BRISKET.

On Facebook I asked my friend what to do and she said, “Brisket: crockpot, red wine, bay leaves, onions. Can add bell pepper, tomato sauce too. Cook. FYI: I say crockpot because I’m guessing you have one. I don’t use them, so I couldn’t fathom how much time. Brisket is one of my faves. Remember what I said: look up how to cook grass fed. Because this cow was so lean, look up veal. Not the same product, but the cooking is the same.”

I am really not a fan of brisket, unless my friend cooks it. I had one she made once and I was so amazed. But as she said, she doesn’t use a crock pot, but I did.

I don’t like cooked bell pepper that much so I nixed that idea and I am also not a fan of tomato sauce so I decided against that. What I did was I looked up crockpot brisket and found a bunch of recipes. I looked at the ingredients I liked from each one and decided I would put them together and see what I get.

Here is what I used. I actually thought to write it down BEFORE I prepared it.

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Crockpot Brisket

About 3 pounds of brisket
-4 or 5 cloves of garlic, minced
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-1 tsp salt
-1/8 tsp pepper   (1/4 tsp)
-1/2 tsp dry (powdered) mustard   (3/4 tsp)
-1/2 tsp cumin    (3/4 tsp)
-1/2 tsp thyme
-1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce (1 1/2 tbsp)

-3/4 of an onion, chopped
-1 tbsp of sherry
-1 bottle of beer
-1 cup water
-1 tsp Better than Bouillon

Mix all the dry ingredients including the Worcestershire sauce together in a bowl, then rub it on the meat. Cover all of the meat. Put some of the onions on the bottom of the pot. Place the meat in the pot on top of the onions. Put the rest of the onions on top of the meat. Then pour in the sherry, beer, and broth (I had mixed the water with the Better than Bouillon).

Sprinkle more cumin on top.

Set it on low and cook it for 5 hours. (I will cook it for less next time.)

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When I looked up brisket I saw times from 6 to 9 hours. So I had been planning on cooking it for 5 hours. But then I looked up veal and it said 7 to 9 hours. So I set one timer for 7 hours and another for 5. At 5 hours I checked on it and it seemed done so I turned off the crockpot. I will cook if for less next time because, as you know, it keeps cooking even after you turn off the heat. I will also remove the crock pot from the heat next time.

The meat actually came out moist and fine. But I would like it a little less cooked.

My husband loves meat, especially beef, so he loved it. He kept making yummy noises. And I actually observed him eat the meat except for one piece. Then he eat everything else then the last piece of his meat. He saved it for last. He wanted to savor the last bits. As I have said before, I am blessed because he likes pretty much anything, but he loved this.

The amounts in parenthesis are the amounts that I am going to use next time. I want a little more flavor. But I am happy with my first cooking of brisket. And now you know what? Yup, my favorite . . . . leftovers!

Are you a brisket fan? Do you have a brisket recipe? How do you cook brisket?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: beef, better than bouillon, brisket, crockpot, crockpot veal, cumin, easy dinner, Facebook, grass-fed cow, hamburgers, Worcestershire Sauce | Leave a Comment »

My First Tomato Sauce Lasagna

Posted by terrepruitt on October 19, 2013

So when I have classes to teach in the evening – Nia or Gentle Yoga, I like to have dinner planned. Sometimes I just have the idea of what I am going to do. Sometimes I have the ingredients and I might make something the day before that last a few days so we can just heat up leftovers. Love them left overs. And sometimes I prepare something that just needs to be baked. This time I decided to make a lasagna. I don’t think I have ever made red sauce lasagna. I make a Chicken Divan lasagna that is super yummy, but not being a fan of tomato sauce, I don’t think I have ever bothered making lasagna with a tomato sauce. Another reason is, I really think that lasagna sauce as with spaghetti sauce is best from scratch, but since I don’t make either, it seems daunting to me. So I have never made the effort with the lasagna because I don’t want to make the sauce. Well, sometimes, in order to get things done, I have to take short cuts. So I used a sauce in a jar. It is a really easy lasagna recipe, however, I made it a bit different.

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Super Easy Tomato Sauce Lasagna

Ingredients:

1/4 of an onion
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 pound of mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 pound lean ground beef*
1 32 ounce jar of the tomato/pasta sauce of your choice
12 uncooked lasagna noodles (as many as your dish requires)
1/4 of a 32 ounce container ricotta cheese
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

You might want to use the entire jar of sauce and or add the 1/4 cup water to the dish before baking (as instructed in the original recipe)

Preparation:

Heat onion in oil. Cook the mushrooms until half way done. Add salt and garlic powder. Then add the beef. Cook beef in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain, if necessary (our beef does not have anything to drain off). Stir in 3 cups of the pasta sauce.

Spread a thin layer of the remaining sauce into the 9 X 13 casserole dish; layer with enough noodles to cover the bottom of the dish. Then layer the ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese over the noodles. Then add 1/2 of the meat sauce. Then add a little mozzarella. Then a layer of noodles, a layer of ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese. Then a layer of the remainder of the meat sauce. Then add the rest of the mozzarella. (This is where you would pour 1/4 cup hot water around edge of dish.) Tightly cover baking dish with 2 layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil.

Bake at 375° for 45 minutes; uncover and bake 10 more minutes. Note: Check the lasagna to see if it is done to your liking. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

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I covered mine with plastic wrap and foil and froze it. The day I wanted to cook it I took it out to thaw for a few hours. It was still frozen when I put it in the oven. I removed the plastic wrap before I baked it at 375° for 90 minutes. I left it in the oven after the 90 minutes. I SHOULD have taken it out. It was just the tiniest bit over done. But otherwise it was great.

I had put it on time bake so I was not home to check it. I arrived home JUST as the oven was turning off. I had other things to do so I didn’t check the lasagna right away and I should have.

My husband loved it. Since I have given myself permission to use jarred sauce, I might be making this more often. Next time I want to add zucchini. And, yes, we had enough left over for a couple of meals. You know I love that!

Do you have a favorite lasagna recipe? Would you share it?

*I actually am not sure how much ground beef I used because ours is from a cow we bought a portion of. It is wrapped in butcher paper with no weight. I think it is about a pound.

The original Extra-Easy Lasagna.

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: chicken divan lasagna, extra easy lasagna, favorite lasagna, frozen lasagna, homemade lasagna, leftovers, mozzarella and ricotta, mushrooms, Time Bake, tomato sauce lasagna | 6 Comments »

Boneless Pork Chops In The Crockpot

Posted by terrepruitt on October 15, 2013

If you have read any of my recipe posts you probably know I love leftovers. It just makes a lot of sense to me to cook once and have some of the meal left over for a quick meal later on. This is really a great help for people who are busy or who’s schedule does not allow for cooking every night. This week I am going to be busy three nights in a row. Two nights I am subbing Nia for Hot Hula and the third night I have Gentle Yoga. So Monday I did some cooking. Monday I actually prepared dinner that will be our dinner for a couple of nights, but I also prepared a lasagna. I froze it and I will put in the oven before I go to class one night this week, so it will be done around the time I get home. I will use time bake for that so we will see. But last night we had Crockpot Balsamic Pork.

I modified a chicken recipe I had seen on Facebook. First of all I used pork instead of chicken. I love chicken and I have been “missing” it. We haven’t had any for a while. Then the people-getting-sick-from-chicken thing came up and I was happy we hadn’t purchased any. Then I found some in our freezer hiding behind something and I was happy. It was purchased way before the latest issue and we had eaten the other chicken from the batch so I was so glad to have found it. So we had just had chicken and I didn’t feel comfortable buying any so I bought pork. I know that I like pork and balsamic so I thought it would work.

I rarely use my crockpot. Something about cooking meat for HOURS, just doesn’t sound good to me. This recipe called for FOUR hours on high. Well, I figured that pork would NOT need FOUR hours so I decided to try it for two and see how it looked.

The recipe also calls for dried basil, but for some reason I thought fresh would be better. Not sure why and not sure that it was.

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Crock Pot Balsamic Pork

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 heaping tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 heaping tsps dried minced onion
1/2 cup of fresh chopped basil
5 garlic cloves, pressed with garlic press
2 tblsp olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
7 thick cut boneless pork chops
chopped parsley for the top

Combine the first four ingredients in a small bowl, then spread over one side of pork, saving half for the other side. Use half the basil piling a little on each piece. Let the pork stand a bit. Then flip the pork over and use the rest of the dry ingredients and basil to coat the pork.

Use the garlic and the oil to coat the pot of the crockpot. Then place the pork inside. Pour the vinegar over.

Set to high and cook for about two hours.

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An hour and 45 minutes later I turned my pot down to low so that I could keep preparing my salad for dinner and my lasagna for later. I think I will cook it less next time. I think turning it off at an hour and 45 minutes would have been better. Although our pork was not overcooked, we just prefer it a little less cooked.

I know the thing that people think is so great about crockpots is you put it on and forget it. Even though this is not hours and hours of “forgetting” it is still at least an hour and 45 minutes. I would think it could be the four hours on low.

This was good. My husband and I love garlic and that was a primary flavor . . . so I think if I want the balsamic to stand out more I will use less garlic. If I had used dried basil – as the original recipe calls for – this would have been a super simple meal. Adding the basil (washing and chopping) dropped it down to a simple meal.

It was good. I can see me making this again. And one day I will even try it with chicken. Last night we had it with a spinach salad and my favorite Smashed Potatoes! I did not take pictures of the finished product. I was doing too many things at the time!

Do you use a slow cooker/crockpot? What is your favorite thing to cook in the crockpot? Does meat you cook in a crockpot come out well done?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: balsamic chicken, balsamic pork, boneless pork, chicken, crockpot, easy dinner recipe, gentle yoga, Hot Hula, lasagna, left overs, Nia, Nia class, pork chops, slow cooker recipe, teaching Nia | 4 Comments »

Time For Thyme

Posted by terrepruitt on October 10, 2013

Just this week I was cooking dinner and my husband walked in the house and asked what smelled so good. I had cooked some pasta for dinner a few days or so earlier. Having been in a rush I didn’t measure or think, I just dumped the remainder of the pasta into the pot and cooked it. I ended up with a lot of pasta! We have been eating it for days! For a couple of the meals I added meat and vegetables. But one day I hadn’t defrosted any meat so I needed something. You know how I like to have something quick to cook after teaching a class whether it is Nia or Gentle Yoga. I often pair up beans and rice — as you know my favorite recipe is Red Beans and Rice. But I had never put beans with pasta, but I thought, “Why not?” So I added a bell pepper and some garbanzo beans to the pasta. When cooking my primary spices are onions and garlic, I decided since we had been eating pasta for days I needed to change up the flavor a bit. I normally save thyme for marinades and the aforementioned recipe. By “save” I don’t really mean I keep it just for those things, I really mean I don’t even think about it except when making those things. I use it when a recipe calls for it, but I don’t think to just put it in what I am cooking. So, I think what my husband was smelling was the thyme. It was a different type of yummy aroma. Of course, I wanted to learn more about thyme.

According to Wiki the Greeks thought it was a source of courage. And the Egyptians used it for embalming. Also, Wiki states it is thought that the Romans were responsible for the spread of thyme throughout Europe by using it “to purify their rooms and to ‘give an aromatic flavor to cheese and liqueurs’.”

I think of it as being “twiggy” or leaves so recently when I received some ground I was surprised. I know the leaves, especially fresh, are more flavorful, but I sometimes do not like to have the leaves in my food. So I was happy to have the ground thyme to include in my pasta dish. I just put the past in a pan to warm it up, added the garbanzo beans, cheese, and some green bell pepper. As it was warming I sprinkled on some thyme and salt. I was actually surprised at the flavor. It was really good. Whenever I learn something or get surprised I think to post about it. I mean, I didn’t know. I never thought to just put thyme in my pasta. I also never thought to put garbanzo beans with my pasta. I know many people use thyme frequently and with confidence, but I hadn’t until now!

If you consume thyme by the tablespoon you’ll receive a good dose of vitamin K and iron. Per tablespoon 30% of the Daily Value and about 9.5% of the DV respectively.

Turns out that thyme oil or at least a component of it is an antiseptic and it is used in mouthwashes. It also has antibiotic properties and helps fight fungal infections.

The leaves can be made into a tea to help with coughs and bronchitis.

The World’s Healthiest Foods’ website says there are “about sixty different varieties including French (common) thyme, lemon thyme, orange thyme and silver thyme”. Seems like I need to get to using thyme more so that I work my way through all the varieties.

How about you? Do you cook with thyme often? Did you know there were so many varieties?

Posted in Food | Tagged: beans and pasts, French thyme, Garbanzo beans, lemon thyme, Nia class, pasta for dinner, Red Beans and Rice, silver thyme, tasty dinner, thyme, Wiki, Yoga class | 5 Comments »

Avocado Eggs Helpful Tips

Posted by terrepruitt on October 8, 2013

I have been making avocado eggs for my husband almost every weekend. Sometimes BOTH days of the weekend. Once I think I made them for him for dinner. They are easy and he loves them. So I really don’t mind. I have not tried eating them, myself. I am not a fan of avocados nor baked eggs. But preparing them is easy, cooking them is easy, and clean up is easy. What more could you ask for, right? Since cooking them for my hubby, I have learned a few things that I thought I would share. I shared what I have learned about Smashed Banana Eggs, I thought I would share about these too. Hopefully these things will make it even easier for you to enjoy Avocado Eggs.

—Wash the avocado

First thing I do is I wash the avocado. Normally I wouldn’t wash the outside of a fruit I am just going to peel off and throw away, but this one SITS in the egg, so I figure it would be nice if it were clean. So I wash it.

—Oil the foil

At first I didn’t put anything on the foil and the egg whites stuck to it. So now I oil it so the egg whites slide right off.

—Be sure to pick the correct way to cut the avocado

Find the two sides of the avocado that allow it to rest level. Then slice it accordingly. This helps with it staying level. Doesn’t always ENSURE that it will be level once you slice it. It also doesn’t ensure it will STAY level in the oven.

—Remove enough avocado from the skin

If you like egg whites/fried eggs, then the part of the egg that spills on the foil will be ok especially if you wash the avocado and don’t over cook the egg whites. But you still want a good portion of the egg IN the avocado, so make sure you take enough out. And “enough” is how much YOU decide. But it is good to decide BEFORE you crack the egg into it. 🙂

—Remove eggs whites from oven when done cooking

I take the egg whites off the pan before the egg in the avocado is done cooking. The egg whites that spill onto the foil get done cooking a lot faster than the eggs in the avocado so I just pick up the avocado with some tongs and scoop up the egg whites. With the oil on the foil the egg whites just slide right off. Taking them out of the oven before the rest is done ensure they don’t get over cooked and turn into rubber.

—Check the eggs while baking

Be sure to check the eggs while baking. While the time is a great guide every egg and avocado is different. I usually set the time for 7 minutes and check them then. Often that is enough time for the egg whites on the foil to cook.

So that is what I have learned with the avocado eggs. What can you add to help us out?

Posted in Food | Tagged: avocado eggs, baked eggs, easy breakfast, egg whites, gluten free pancakes, smashed banana eggs | 4 Comments »

My Perfect Smashed Banana Eggs

Posted by terrepruitt on October 5, 2013

I wrote this post to post on Thursday, but I got distracted and forgot to post it. I wrote it before I went to Gentle Yoga, my intent was to come home and review, edit it, then post it. But when I got home I was distracted and I completely forgot about it. I didn’t remember it until Friday when I was making my smashed banana eggs. I really don’t like to call them pancakes because I don’t want people to think they are “pancakey”. I have read people post that they didn’t like them because they are NOTHING like pancakes, so I am hoping by not calling them pancakes people will not have that “cake” idea in their mind. Since I have been making them I have learned a few things. I thought I would share what I have learned. Perhaps some of the things I have learned can help you make the perfect Smashed Banana Eggs.

Some of the things are obvious if you were to think about them. I didn’t until I experienced it.

—Use a small pan and cook one at a time. Or use a pan you can get really hot.

I am certain cooking these depends on your stove and the pan you are using. For me, I finally found the right pan to use. The last three batches I made were perfect. I use a small pan and just cook one at a time. Originally I was using a large pan so I could cook more than one at a time. That was not working very well.

—Be patient and let them cook until they bubble and are not runny, then flip them.

I still have not been able to cook them to a point where I would eat them in the 20 to 30 seconds that the original recipe that I saw said to cook them. Ewwww. I think maybe I like my eggs a little more done. I cook them until they are the way I like them. I have learned I have to be patient and I can’t flip them too soon. When I wait, they don’t break apart. I am certain you can find the right timing for YOURS. Cook them the way YOU like them!

—The more ripe the banana, the sweeter the “pancake” will be.

My husband does not like to eat bananas if they are ripe. If a banana has one tiny little brown spot on it, he doesn’t like to eat it. He will eat it sometimes, but he doesn’t like it. So if I have any bananas around that are greenish they go in his lunch. They don’t stay greenish that long so it is normally just a day or two where he gets a banana in his lunch. The rest I have to use. When I use ripe ones in Banana Softserve he will eat them. When I make banana bread he loves it. It is just eating a banana with a spot he does not like. I just recently bought slightly green bananas and used them, the end product was less sweet than normal (normally I use ripe bananas), of course. Bananas get sweeter as they ripen. I just had never had unripe bananas to use with the eggs before.

—DO NOT FORGET THE SALT!

I did it a couple of times and they just are not good without salt. Eggs require salt.

—Be generous with the cinnamon.

Cinnamon really makes them yummy.

—Try THREE eggs to one banana.

I have not it yet, but I have a friend who said that she uses THREE eggs to one banana and mixes it up in the blender. I usually make John avocado eggs for breakfast and so I am the one that eats the smashed banana eggs and I don’t want to eat three eggs. I have only made them with two eggs and one banana.

I hope these lessons I learned help you make a perfect protein filled breakfast you will enjoy! Let me know what you have learned. How do you make YOUR PERFECT smashed banana eggs?

Posted in Food | Tagged: avocado eggs, banana pancakes, cinnamon, easy breakfast, gentle yoga, gluten free pancakes, smashed banana eggs | 6 Comments »

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Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

I teach yoga, Nia, and stretch online!

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