Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
Posted by terrepruitt on July 6, 2013
Six weeks ago I met a friend after teaching Nia and she mentioned making yogurt. I love yogurt. I get frustrated because all that I can find in the store is either non-fat or full fat. I want either 1% or 2%, but I can’t find it. Plus I am not a fan of most of the flavors of yogurt. I don’t care for berries and that is a HUGE portion of the flavors out there; strawberry, cherry, raspberry, etc. Not my thing. What I sometimes do is I buy plain non-fat yogurt and I mix it a full fat flavored kind, but lately I have not been able to find a flavor that I like. I love the Greek yogurt, but again I run into the same flavor and fat issue as non-Greek yogurt. So anyway, when she said she makes yogurt, I know my eyes got big because I think that is difficult. I also thought it required a yogurt MAKER. But nope, she uses a two pots and a cooler. So she invited me over to make it with her. It was super easy. I can honestly say the most difficult part is filling the jars without spilling — so I gave up on that. So the part that is actually most difficult is washing the equipment. Yeah, really, the “hardest” part of making yogurt is washing everything you are going to need to make the yogurt. Doesn’t that tell you how easy making yogurt is?
So the very first time I made yogurt I did it with my friend. Actually she did it and I just assisted. But, again, it really is so easy there is not much to do. The second time I made yogurt I did it on my own. One thing you need to make yogurt is a thermometer. See with yogurt you are heating the milk up to kill off the bad bacteria, then cooling it down to a nice cozy temperature to allow the good bacteria to grow. So it helps to have a thermometer. It actually seems wise to have one. Although when I made my second batch, the one I did all by myself, I didn’t have a thermometer. Well, I did, it just didn’t work. It is not calibrated. It started off at 180° (I got is down to 160° prior to using it). It registered that the milk did heat up but I am not certain exactly how hot it actually got. The instructions I have state that slowly heating the milk shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes. So I heated the milk for almost 20 minutes. Then I began to smell it. I remembered when I made it with my friend I smelled it too. So I figured I was doing ok. At 20 minutes I took it of the burner and put it in the ice bath and even though my thermometer was not registering the CORRECT temperature, I watched it go down the 60 or 70° needed.
Two things I had wanted to do different with my second batch was heat it higher than the first batch and let it ferment longer. Well, I don’t think I heated it higher because I didn’t have a good thermometer, but I did let it sit longer. And that is the second most difficult part of making yogurt. Letting it set without bothering it. Without checking it. Just leaving it alone.
As far as I can tell it came out fine. It didn’t seem as tart as the first batch, but it seemed a tad bit thicker. A half gallon of milk made 11 canning jars. I have one and a half left and today I made my third batch. Second on my own. This time I had a thermometer. I heated the milk to the temperature I wanted and I will let the yogurt ferment for 12 hours.
I started to write up the instructions, but I thought I had better make sure this batch comes out before I claim the recipe with the changes I have made a success. After making the first batch I started looking up things and there is so much information out there I kind of was able to pick and choose. After my second batch, I chose to believe the woman who said she never uses a thermometer and goes by steam and smell. I hadn’t remembered it steaming so I was a bit worried, but it was fine. I am working off of the people who want thicker yogurt and they heat it higher and let it sit longer. I have not yet strained any yogurt, so my product is very runny. But I like it. It is good.
Here is to future posts about yogurt! Can’t wait! (Yogurt Making Tips post – 07.23.13 / Yogurt Instructions post 07.25.13)
Do you like yogurt? What brand? What flavor?
Posted in Food, Yogurt | Tagged: 12 hour yogurt, bacteria, canning jars, ferment, flavored yogurt, Greek yogurt, Homemade yogurt, plain yogurt, store bought yogurt, straining yogurt, thick yogurt, working thermometer, yogurt instructions, Yogurt making tips | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 25, 2013
I had seen it on Facebook. You’ve probably seen it too. I am not sure who I saw originally post it. But I bought avocados because I knew my husband would love it. Then I had company for a week and didn’t make it. Breakfast doesn’t happen for my hubby around here during the week. I had been meaning to look up the recipe when another friend posted a picture of hers on Facebook. She told me to bake them at 450° F for 10 to 12 minutes. I bought small avocados thinking since he would be eating en entire avocado it would be better to eat a whole small avocado than a whole big one. I didn’t think about it being too small for the large egg. When I actually went to make these that is when I realized I should have bought the larger avocados. I didn’t remember my friend saying anything about making more room for the egg so I looked up some info. I found a lot of recipes on the web. Just like me, when people see it, they do it then the post about it. My friend topped hers with bacon. Don’t tell my hubby because one of the GREAT things about this is that it is sooooo easy. Bacon would just add another component to complicate it and be messy. Right now it is so quick and easy I can make it for him all the time! He loved it so much I made it two days in a row!
With this first run, I bought small avocados. Next time I am going to by bigger ones. Not HUGE ones, but bigger.
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Here is what I did:
1 small avocado
2 eggs
salt and pepper
Turn on oven to 450° F. Put some aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Put the avocado on a flat surface and find the best resting sides. I actually smashed it a little to make it flat on two sides so that it would sit level in the pan and not spill out so much egg. Cut the avocado in half, take out the seed, make more room for the egg by scooping out some of the avocado. Put the avocado on the foil on the pan. Crack an egg and put it in the avocado half. One egg per half. Add salt and pepper. Bake for 12 minutes. Check it and see if it is how you like your eggs. I cooked the first batch for 14 minutes. The second day I cooked them longer (2 minutes) and the yolks weren’t runny. So I am going to settle on 14 minutes.
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You can probably tell from the pictures that a lot of the egg white ended up on the foil the first time. To me that is just as if it were a fried egg and hubby didn’t complain about eating it. The first set of avocado eggs was served with pico de gallo. We had some leftover so my hubby topped them with that. You might also be able to see the plain lump of avocado on the plate. That is the amount I scooped out from both halves.
The next set of avocado eggs, the next day, were just topped with scallions. Also less egg white because I decided to have it for my breakfast. Shhh . . . again, don’t tell my husband. Some of this stuff really needs to remain between you and me. 😉
After he ate them we discussed topping them with cheese. I am sure ONE of these days I will top them with bacon for him, but I am not doing to make that the norm. As I said, this recipe is so easy I don’t want to complicate it with bacon.
As I have posted before avocados are soooooo good for you. They have incredibly UNIQUE fat so I consider this a healthy breakfast. Also considering it will not be made during the work week and more than likely not every weekend, it’s great. The next time I make it, I might even taste it.
(October 08, 2013 . . . . I posted some things I have learned about making these at Avocado Eggs Helpful Tips)
Do you like avocados? Is this your kinda breakfast?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: avocado, avocado eggs, baked breakfast, baked eggs, easy breakfast, egg breakfast, Facebook, good fat, pico de gallo, quick breakfast, unique fat | 13 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 20, 2013
Someone once said to me they love my food blog. Eeek! My blog is not a food blog. I want it to be about health and wellness so yes, food plays a part in that, but it is not the only thing. I really like to share about Nia. But I have also mentioned before that food is international. Everyone eats. Seems like people like to see what other people are eating. People like to get ideas on what to eat. People like ideas on how to eat and what to eat. So yes, I do post about food! Recently I attended a “Baby Reveal Party”. Oh yeah, have you heard of these? I hadn’t, but apparently they are the “in” thing. It is a party where the parents DO NOT KNOW THE GENDER OF THE BABY, but everyone else does! Then at the party the sex is revealed to the parents in some way. The party I attended had BLUE frosting in the center of the cake. The parents cut into it for the surprise. It was cute. The parents were surprised and happy. They were excited to be having a baby brother for their daughter. Anyway . . . the party organizer asked me to bring a vegetable tray. She didn’t really care what veggies I brought she just wanted to make sure that I used bell peppers as the dip bowls. While I don’t think using a perfectly good bell pepper as a bowl — ack! I LOVE bell peppers! — is a MUST HAVE, I DO think veggies are a must have. I love to bring the vegetables to a party because then I know for certain there WILL be something I can eat and I know for certain there will be vegetables at the party!
So I bought two bell peppers to chop off the tops and fill with dip. When you do this make certain that use use the bell peppers that will actually stand on their own. You might even have to cut a TINY bit off the bottom. Don’t cut so much that you cut a hole in the bottom. 🙂 I believe my cousin saw the idea on Pinterest.
Then arrange any veggies you want on the tray to be dipped in the bell peppers. I like to use a lot of colors. You can see I have red, green, orange, white, and yellow. Go for as many colors that you can to get the largest variety of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients. You might notice there are carrots on the tray and carrots in a bowl. I have found in my party going experiences that carrots are the most popular so I had an auxiliary bowl of carrots.
When cutting up the vegetables I like to make them easy to eat. Broccoli — to me — is one of those veggies that tend to leave remnants in your teeth so I don’t like to bite into it at a party. So I cut the broccoli small enough to fit in my mouth (which I consider average) but I left it in the flower type formation so it will look nice on the tray.
I also have this cool tool that makes tealight sized circles in fruit. I made candle fruit. I used grapefruit and lemons. You can see them in on the table. The candles weren’t lit when I took the pictures. Ha, ha, the candle filled fruit is not a “MUST HAVE” but veggies sure are.
What do YOU think a potluck “MUST HAVE” is?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: Baby Reveal Party, candle fruit, food blog, Nia, potluck, surprise party, tealight candles | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 18, 2013
I used to not like cilantro. Or at least I thought I didn’t like it. Funny how that happens, isn’t it? I really thought I didn’t like it then one night I was at someone’s house and they had made a salad . . . a BEAN salad at that and I tried some and I liked it. I don’t like beans and I don’t like cilantro and I don’t normally eat onions . . . . .well, that is what I would have said all that time, many months ago. When I tried the salad I decided that I did like beans and cilantro, but only in that particular salad. I figured it was the combination of all of the ingredients that made it acceptable. You might have read in some of my other posts though that I will eat kidney beans in a recipe I make called Red Beans and Rice. It is NOT the typical Red Beans and Rice recipe, click here to see. Since I do make the bean salad recipe I find myself with left over cilantro. And since I have discovered I like it, I put it in my green salad. It is a nice addition to the salad to give it a different flavor. I actually haven’t tried it in anything else I can think of. It seems like people either LOVE cilantro or HATE it. I like it. I don’t LOVE it, but it is a nice change of flavor. Today while I was making the Bean Salad I decided to give a look at what cilantro has to offer.
First of all cilantro is the leaves of the coriander plant. Coriander is the little round pellet type seasoning. Wiki states that all parts of the plant are edible, but it is the leaves and the dried seeds that are most commonly used. That is cilantro and coriander. Also, “the leaves are variously referred to as coriander leaves, fresh coriander, Chinese parsley, or cilantro (particularly in North America).”
Cilantro contains antioxidants. Coriander does too, but the leaves were found to have a stronger effect.
According an article on the Global Healing Center’s website, consuming large amounts of cilantro regularly can help clear the body of toxic metals.
Cilantro contains potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, and magnesium. It also has many vitamins including vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin K. The website Power Your Diet states that there is 30% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin C, about 225% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin A, and about 258% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin K, but in 100 grams. That seems like a lot of cilantro to eat. When I put it in my green salads or bean salad I don’t think I put but a small fraction of that. I think I put about a cup of cilantro in the bean salad today, but I don’t think it weighed near 100 grams. I still think that health benefits can be received. I don’t really need 200% of any recommend value.
I believe herbs are a good way to both flavor our food and get nutrients we need to assist our bodies in being healthy. Do you like cilantro? Do you cook with it?
Posted in Food | Tagged: antioxidants, bean salad, Chinese parsley, cilantro, coriander, coriander leaves, fresh coriander, Global Healing Center, Green Salad, healthful herbs, Potassium, vitamin C, vitamin K | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 15, 2013
I know that this would not work for every family. This is another recipe using one piece of meat with beans as the source of protein. I know that people have their own ideas about what makes up a dinner. Some people have to have meat. And not just a little meat, but a full serving or more otherwise to them, it is just not dinner. I understand that people are different. If that is you or someone in your family then this will not work for you. But as long as I don’t do it three nights in a row, my husband is ok with it. What I often do is cook three pieces of meat. The first night we each have a piece of meat. Then the next night I stretch the remaining piece into a meal for two. Sometimes . . . . depends on what I am cooking in turns into a meal for four. I have mentioned this before in some of my other post so I like to share “recipe” ideas. Even though it is really easy to throw something together, sometimes it is nice to have someone else do the thinking for you. With everything else that has to be done, if you can just look at something and have it all figured out — YAY!
So this recipe is pretty much like the one in Dinner Desperation. See? It works when you are “desperate”.
Mushrooms, Kale, Beans, Chicken, and Rice
—2 tablespoon olive oil
—1/2 of an onion, chopped
—1 lb mushrooms, chopped or sliced
—2 cups cooked rice (out of the fridge, so leftover)
—2 tablespoons of butter
—one LARGE chicken breast, cooked and chopped
—1 15 1/2-ounce can garbanzo beans/chickpeas, drained and rinsed
—2 teaspoons granulated garlic
—1 bunch of kale, chopped
—salt
—Garlic Salt, to taste
—Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Heat the olive oil and the chopped onion. Add the mushrooms. Cook until almost done. (Done to YOUR tastes) Add a little salt. (Just a little because you need to “save” your salt “layer” for the kale.) Add the rice breaking it up and letting it get soft. Stirring it and allowing it to cook. Use the butter to help the rice get moist (might need to use a bit of liquid too). When the rice is soft, add the chopped chicken. Let it cook for a little bit. Then add the can of garbanzo beans. Sprinkle half of the garlic over mixture. Then add the kale. Sprinkle the rest of the garlic over the kale. And salt. Then stir and cook. Then add more salt and garlic if you want, and pepper.
With this mixture the mushrooms need to cook. Some people don’t like their mushrooms really cooked, I do. So I let them cook pretty much all the way as if I were going to just eat them. When in the other recipe I don’t cook the asparagus THAT much because I like it less cooked. So I add the rice sooner. But in THIS recipe I wait until the mushrooms are done. Also remember, if you are using freshly cooked rice then it won’t take as long to cook/heat up. Also the chicken I used had been seasoned when cooked so that is something to keep in mind when you are flavoring your dish.
Kale is really a great green, however, I think it is really bitter. So I use the salt to tame the bitter. That is why I “save” the salting of the dish for after the kale is added. Typically I would salt the mushrooms, but with kale, I wait for the kale. So the salt goes directly on the kale.
Of course, this is just how I do it. This is an explanation of the order I like it in. You might come up with your own. Oh, maybe you like your kale to be REALLY cooked, so you might want to add it with or after the mushrooms? I like mine just wilted so it goes last.
So what do you think? Mushrooms and kale, anyone?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: beans, chicken, Dinner Desperation, dinner recipe, Kale, mushrooms, protein, stretch the meat | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 11, 2013
Ok, the thing about recipes is you sometimes have to adapt them for your family’s tastes, but it is nice to have the idea, ya know the starting point. I love the ease of canned soups, but I have decided to work through my present supply and then no longer use them because I don’t care for the ingredients in them. Yeah, I could just throw them out but I have issues with wasting “food stuffs” and money so I am working my way through what I have. It is taking me a long time too because I keep finding recipes for which I concoct my own “soup” or, like the recipe in this post, not use soup, but still get the creamy soupy taste and texture. The following recipe is from the blog Rantings of an Amateur Chef. If you have not visited the Ranting Chef’s blog, you might want to. It is full of all kinds of recipes. He even has a cooking competition that you might want to participate in. Go check it out . . . . after you read my post first, of course!
I changed the ingredients to work for what we like. I’ve swapped out the Miracle Whip for mayonnaise. We DO NOT like Miracle Whip so that was switched out no doubt. I used the chicken option, as stated in the recipe. I made my own “croutons”. To assist in avoiding some of the “extra” ingredients in store bought croutons. Celery is in a lot of recipes. I don’t know if I have ever mentioned that I do not like celery. If I make this again, I might use celery, but this first time, I used fennel. I know I have mentioned how much I love fennel. Originally I was going to use ground turkey. You may have read a post or two about how much I love ground turkey. I have a Turkey and Fennel recipe. I love the way those two flavors marry. But I decided that if I used turkey in this it would be too much like my other meal so I opted for the chicken.
Original SWISS ‘N TURKEY CASSEROLE from the Ranting Chef
Ingredients:
1 cup Miracle Whip
4 cups chopped cooked turkey (or chicken)
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
2 cups croutons
2 cups sliced celery
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped onion
Directions:
Mix all ingredients. Spoon into 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with croutons if desired. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, or until thoroughly heated.
MY version: (this time)
Swiss and Chicken Casserole
Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
4 cups cooked and chopped chicken
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
2 cups croutons
2 HEAPING cups fennel, chopped
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
a few turns of the pepper mill
Directions:
Mix almost all the ingredients together, save some of the cheese for the top, if you want. Spoon the mixture into 2-quart casserole dish. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. Then sprinkle with the remaining cheese and extra croutons if desired. And bake for 20 more minutes.
So this was a really good treat! It really taste like warm chicken salad. I can see myself using less mayonnaise when I make it again or maybe even something else (stayed tuned for THAT post!). Some may argue that casseroles are not a very healthy meal, but to me, it beats fast food and sometimes they are a nice change of pace. Maybe not something you have all the time. And in fact, I will say this is a pretty rich casserole.
Do you like Miracle Whip? Are you a mayo family or a Miracle Whip family?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: canned soup, casseroles. Miracle Whip, celery, croutons, fennel, ground turkey, homemade croutons, Ranting Chef's blog, Ranting Chef's cooking competition, Rantings of an Amateur Chef, swiss cheese | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 25, 2013
So I am not always a big fan of salsa. I am not always feeling the love for tomatoes and I am NEVER feeling the love for the hot spicy of most salsa. Most of the time I will just “wet” my chip in the salsa. Since tomatoes aren’t something I really like I don’t usually like Pico De Gallo. Recently I saw a pico de gallo recipe with cucumbers in it. Yes, I know there are a lot of different types of salsa and chunky “salsas”. You can make what people call salsa out of anything now a days, just like you can make “aioli” out of anything even though aioli is “traditional sauce made of garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and egg yolks” and salsa and pico de gallo are traditionally made with tomatoes. This was a tomato pico de gallo but it has cucumbers in it. I thought that would be cool. I saved the recipe with a plan to make it later.
Then one day, the day I was detoured by that little produce store on my way home from Nia Class in San Jose, where I bought my broccoli, I bought some tomatoes too. I was thinking I would make that pico de gallo. I knew I had cucumber and cilantro. Well, as sometimes happens, I didn’t get around to making it right away. I ended up using the cucumber I had for salads.
Of course, by the time I got some cucumber and decided to make the pico de gallo my cilantro was a bag of mush. That stuff goes fast and it was the bottom shelf so I hadn’t seen how bad off it was. So I ended up not having cilantro. But I had fennel. I thought I could try a “pico de gallo” with fennel tops. Not a traditional pico de gallo anyway because it has cucumbers in it.
Since it was not going to have any cilantro and fennel is not very strong I put in a lot of onions! A LOT. For me . . . too many. I think it made it too hot. But my husband liked it. The original recipe can be found here.
I made it like this:
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Pico de Gallo/Salsa Fresca
2 Roma tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 medium onion, finely chopped
4 T finely chopped cucumber
2 T fresh fennel tops
2 garlic cloves
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Squeeze of 1/2 fresh lemon
I pressed the garlic in a garlic press, then combined all the ingredients. I let it chill for a few hours.
________________________________________________
My husband liked it. But he is really easy to cook for because he likes pretty much everything. But he said it was good. I think the onions carried it. I am not sure the fennel was strong enough to add that much of a flavor. But I know it was very different than pico de gallo with cilantro.
The next day there was some left over and I added avocados to it. I didn’t even taste it because I don’t like guacamole, but my hubby enjoyed it.
I might actually try this again with the actual fennel BULB! I really like fennel! And I LOVE the idea of cucumbers in pico de gallo!
***(Added June 19, 2013) According to Wiki: “In Mexican cuisine, pico de gallo (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpiko ðe ˈɣaʎo], literally rooster’s beak), also called salsa fresca”***
What do you put in you pico de gallo? Do you make chunky salsa?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: broccoli, chips and salsa, chunky salsa, cilantro, Cucumbers And Fennel, fennel bulb, garlic, Nia, Nia class, Nia San Jose, pico de gallo, Rooster's Beak, Salsa, San Jose Nia, Tomatoes | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 18, 2013
The other day we were out of vegetables. OH MY! On my way home from Nia in Willow Glen I was going to go to the store to get some. For some reason there’s a street in Willow Glen that has been closed for quite some time now so I was unable to take that street home. So the detour had me going past a different store than I was planning on going to. It is a produce store. Maybe kind of more like a small market because they have dry goods also. The produce there is not that great so I decided not to get lettuce and salad fixings. I thought I could just grab a veggie for that night’s dinner since I was going to be going to the store the very next day after my Nia class at the community center. All I bought was broccoli. When I got home I decided to have a sandwich. I like lettuce on my sandwiches or cucumbers or bell peppers something like that. I usually put at least one of those vegetables, sometimes all three, or a combination on my sandwich. But I didn’t have any because I didn’t buy any salad ingredients. Argh! I had only the broccoli I had bought. I started thinking. I’ve had shaved broccoli on pizza before and it was good but I didn’t think the shaved broccoli would go that well on my sandwich. I remember having posted something about broccoli before and people saying that you could use the stocks or stems so I thought, “Can I do that?” So I peeled a stock of broccoli and sliced it thinly and put on the sandwich was pretty good. I was happy I had a vegetable on my sandwich.
I guess I could do that all the time. In the comments of the post where I spoke about broccoli the one in which people told me to use the stems I said I would start and I haven’t. I have left more of the stem on when using broccoli but haven’t necessarily used the stocks. I suppose I could begin making my sandwiches with broccoli stocks in them. It is a good way to get additional vegetables and use broccoli stocks.
We used to have a dog that ate broccoli stocks. She loved them. She loved salad too!
Speaking of salads . . . . I didn’t use all the stocks in my sandwich. So the next night when I did get around to making a salad I decided to add some of the stocks to our salads. To me the stocks are a bit fibrous and stringy so I chopped them up pretty small. I tossed it on the salads as an added veggie. I think that worked out well. My hubby didn’t say, “Ewww. What is this? A broccoli stock on my salad???” So it must have been ok. I liked it.
At first I was not happy that I didn’t buy any produce that I would normally put on my sandwich. But now I am glad that I didn’t. I caused me to think of using the stems. And since my friend had shared that she eats the stems it encouraged me to try something new. Lovely. It has only taken me three years from when I originally posted! 🙂
What about you? Do you like produce on your sandwich? What do you prefer? Do you make use of broccoli stocks?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: broccoli, broccoli stocks, Community Center Nia classes, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia in Willow Glen, salad fixings, sandwich fixings, sandwich produce, Vegetables, veggieless, Willow Glen Nia | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 14, 2013
Oh my!!! Easy-peasy, just takes forethought of freezing the bananas!
The recipe is from the Blendtec website – I am not sure it is in my recipe book because I think the Twister Jar is new!
Appliances: Blendtec blender and Twister Jar
INGREDIENTS
2 bananas , peeled, quartered and frozen
INSTRUCTIONS
Peel and quarter bananas; freeze until solid. Add frozen, quartered banana pieces to Twister jar, and place lid on jar. Hold lid firmly with one hand, and with the other hand press “Pulse” 15–20 times or until smooth. Turn Twister lid counterclockwise during blending. Serve with fresh berries, drizzle with syrup, or sprinkle with granola for a little crunch.
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Well, I don’t have a twisted jar and for $200, I probably won’t until I am rolling in the dough. But I did look at a video of someone making “ice cream” with just fruit (bananas and strawberries) . . . . so somewhat the same thing as this, but with strawberries . . . and the twister jar is cool. I makes the fruit very creamy AND I think it does it without heating it up too much.
I just made this recently and it was a little melty. I think that might be because the blender does get a little warm. That is why it can make hot soup.
Anyway . . . . I made it with two frozen bananas and a little splash of milk in my Wildside Jar. I just let the blender blend on 1 until it was only blending “smooth”, then I stopped it and pushed the bananas close to the blade, then blended until it was only blending “smooth”, etc. I probably did it about four times.
I was thinking if I didn’t want the bananas to be melty I could put them back in the freezer for a bit.
I had my bananas with almond slivers and chocolate port wine sauce. My hubby skipped the almonds.
We don’t usually have dessert so when I told him after dinner we were having dessert he said, “No thanks.” I knew he would say that because I told him RIGHT after dinner. So we were full from dinner. But I also knew that by the time I made it he would want some AND he would be interested because it was frozen fruit. He is not much of a dessert eater and does not like cake and things like that so I know that won’t interest him, but he really likes bananas. Also he is very supportive of my experiments with the blender so he was more than willing to try it. I waited a couple of hours before making it. He was happy and a bit surprised that it was JUST bananas (oh, the little bit of milk — I bet it was only about two tablespoons. Next time I will measure.)
Of course, as I mentioned about the video I saw with the twister jar in it, they used strawberries. I imagine you can use any berry you want. You could probably use any fruit you want. I am not a berry person or a sherbet person, so I will stick to bananas. Awww, well, I guess, I should try some other fruit because my hubby likes it. Yeah, I’ll do that . . . eventually.
The next time I make this though I am going to use three bananas! And I will measure the milk and report back.
So what do you think about fruit ice “cream”? Could you see yourself enjoying a dish? What would you put in yours?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: almonds, Blendtec, cake, cold fruit dessert, fresh berries, frozen bananas, fruit smoothie, granola, ice cream, port wine sauce, strawberries, twister jar, WildSide Jar | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 11, 2013
As you might know, I purchased some dried garbanzo beans. I thought I would go the dried bean route and try to avoid the canned because of the stuff they say is in the can that you should avoid. But then I didn’t know how to process them. A quick search on the internet said I needed to soak them for at least 4 hours or that I could do a “Quick” Soak Method. Well, I did the soaking method a few weeks ago and I have been meaning to do the “Quick” Soak Method but I have not had time. I mean, honestly, putting beans in a bowl and letting them soak for however long—until I am ready to use them—seems so much easier than boiling them on the stove. Well when I finally went to do the “Quick” Soak Method I looked it up again and one blog said to boil them, rinse them, let them set for an hour, then boil them again, rinse them, let them set for an hour . . . . I was failing to see the QUICK in that method at all. Then I found one that said boil them until they had little bubbles then let them set for an hour then rinse them. Ok, that is more like it, but still, I had to be in the kitchen to watch for the bubbles. In the “long” soak method, I left them to soak unsupervised. I am thinking that the “Quick” Soak Method might be quicker, but to me it is not easier.
So I followed the directions I found on About.com:
Rinse beans in cold water. Put them in a large pot and cover with about 3 inches of cold water. Bring almost to a boil (small bubbles appear around the edges of the pot), cover, and remove from heat. Let sit for 1 hour. Drain. The beans will be “soaked” and ready to cook.
I actually let them sit for TWO hours because when I poked them they didn’t seem very soft. What I have been seeing articles say is that if the beans looked shriveled to begin with they will not get soft. Well, one of the reasons I don’t like beans is because of the texture. I don’t like soft and mushy. So I really think I like the dried beans because they don’t get that soft.
This time I managed to NOT burn them when I cooked them. I like the roasted chickpeas crunchy. So I really like this dried bean route. I think I will use them from now on. I will have a few cans on hand in case I don’t remember to soak them in advance, but really if I don’t remember to soak my beans in advance the “Quick Soak Method” is not going to help me. It doesn’t really save that much time. I mean, if the “long” soak method only requires four hours and most “Quick” soaks require at least 90 minutes . . . . I think I can plan ahead. I might even try freezing some that I have soaked.
Anyway . . . the end result to me, is that either soaking method results in about the same type of textured bean and the “Quick” Soak is not quick or easier enough for me. I like the put-them-in-a-bowl-full-of-water-and forget-about-them-method better.
Now I need to try it with other beans, right? Since the only other bean I eat is kidney beans, I will try it with them . . . . eventually. But I will skip the “Quick Soak Method” and just use the overnight one.
How about you? Do you have a preferred method for soaking your beans?
Posted in Food | Tagged: canned beans, chickpeas, dried beans, dried garbanzo beans, Garbanzo beans, quick soak method, roasted garbanzo beans | Leave a Comment »
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