Archive for the ‘“Recipes”’ Category
Posted by terrepruitt on April 8, 2014
In a recent post I asked for help with the items I received in my produce box. I received some great ideas. One of them was from a Chef, he is the owner of Burke’s Grill in Douglasville, Georgia. He came up with a great idea to use EVERYTHING in the box in one dish. I never would have thought to do that so I just had to try it. I hope I didn’t ruin his recipe by not having sweet basil. I used marjoram instead. Not the same, but I love it. Also, the wild rice he recommended would have added another layer of flavor but I just used the white rice that I had. His comment of the original idea/recipe is on my post Can’t Come Up With Ideas. Below I have arranged it in more of a recipe format and documented it as I did it.
In his comment he said, “First,this is advice from a chef’s view point. Organize your items from the ground up. Onions, radishes, carrots together. Then chard alone (it’s special). Then kiwis,grapefruit and apples. Now we are cooking.” Oh yeah, now we are cooking. Here is what I did.
Ingredients for Dwight’s Delicious Dinner:
2 white spring onions
2 pippin apples
4 carrots
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 grapefruit
2 radishes
salt
pepper
1/2 – 1 teaspoon marjoram
balsamic vinegar
1 lb (or so) ground turkey
4 HUGE leaves of rainbow chard
white rice (enough to make a “bed”)
two kiwis
Chop the onion. Cut the apples and carrots into bite size pieces and saute in 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil until warm. (You don’t want to cook them too much because they are going to be used as a salsa and as an addition to the meat mixture.) After you are done, split the mixture in half. Half will be the salsa used a a topping. The other half will get added to the meat.
While the above is cooking/warming . . . squeeze the grapefruit for the juice.
I used the same pan to cook the turkey, since the mixture is set aside. Cook the turkey in 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil until almost done. While it is cooking chop the rainbow chard. When the turkey is almost done add the chard. Salt the chard and stir. Cook this until the turkey is fully cooked and the chard is how you want it to be done. 
Add the half of the onion, apple carrot mixture you are not using as salsa. Then, add a sprinkle of grapefruit juice. Only cook for a few minutes.
WHILE the turkey is cooking, mix half of the onion, apple carrot mixture with the two thinly sliced radishes, salt, pepper, and 1/2-1 teaspoon marjoram, and sprinkle of balsamic vinegar. Let that set. Add the grapefruit juice after it has set for a bit. Using as much as you want to get the right bite you would like. I probably just used a tablespoon.
At some point in all of this you need to cook the rice. We have a rice maker so I usually put it on when there is 20 minutes left of cooking. This time I forgot and my hubby came to the rescue.
Also, peel and slice the kiwis.
Once the rice is done and all is done cooking. Put the rice on your plate, spoon the turkey, chard, onion, apple carrot mixture on top of the rice. Then the onion, apple carrot salsa on top of that. Garnish the dish with the kiwis. But be sure to eat the kiwis WITH the turkey/rice/mixture, the flavors blend perfectly. This was a very happy dish.
Something I really needed. So brilliant. I never would have thought to do this. I never would have thought to add all these flavors together. I love that Dwight came up with something that used EVERYTHING in the box that I received.
Thank you so much, Dwight!!!!!!!
So . . . even if you don’t receive a box with all of these items in it . . . I will tell you it is worth it to get to the store and actually purchase these ingredients and make this dish for yourself. It is like a party for dinner.
Well, what do you think?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Burke's Grill, Dwight Burke, grapefruit, ground turkey, http://www.burkesgrill.wordpress.com, marjoram, party in your mouth meal, pippin apples, radishes, rainbow chard, Salsa, spring onions, yummy dinner | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 18, 2014
I really thought I had posted about these before. I probably decided against it because it is not the healthiest of desserts and certainly will be frowned upon by many. But . . . this is also not one of the unhealthiest desserts – as far as desserts go. It IS one of the yummiest desserts and sooooo easy. This one has a lot more calories, fat, and processed ingredients than the blended bananas, but it is pretty much just as easy. Since it is just my husband and I that are usually eating them my recipe is for two, but it is so easy to adjust you can make it for one, three, ten, or more it is up to you. I first saw this recipe in a magazine, I think it was Taste of Home. What they called them I don’t remember because my husband quickly named them Banana Boats.
.
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Recipe for two:
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Banana Boats
Two less than ripe bananas*
Aluminum foil
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup mini-marshmallows
Put your oven rack on the lowest position. Turn oven to 450° F. While the oven is heating up slice the banana down the inside-of-the-curve middle. Do not cut all the way through the skin on the outside-of-the-curve, but do cut all the way through the banana. Situate the banana in a “boat” made of aluminum foil, with the slice facing up. Use a spoon or something to open the banana a little bit so you have room to fill it. Then put half of the chocolate chips in the slice. Top the chips with half of the marshmallows. Repeat with the other banana.
Put the banana on the lowest oven rack (the one you remembered to lower BEFORE you turned the oven on) and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Check the banana. With the rack at the lowest possible point the chocolate should be melted and the banana warm. The marshmallows might be browning. You decide how brown you like your marshmallows. The banana skin will turn black and look rather not-pretty. But your banana will be fine. When the marshmallows are browned to your liking, take the bananas out of the oven. I like mine around 7 minutes.
How you serve them is up to you. We usually just put the banana on a plate and use a spoon to scoop out the chocolatey-marshmallowey-banana goodness.
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Usually my husband grills them. He grills them at a kinda low to medium temp. Then he watches them until they have black skin and melted/browned marshmallows. Of course every grill is different so the low to medium might not work on your grill. Basically just keep an eye on them.
*Regarding the ripeness of the bananas. We have found that ripe bananas do not work as well. I honestly can’t remember why. I just remember it was not as yummy. So they do work and it will still be a great dessert, but not as yummy as when the bananas are on the hard – less-than ripe side.
All of the pictures are courtesy of my hubby! Thanks, Hubby!
What do you think?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: 10 minute dessert, Banana Boats, Chocolate, dessert, easy dessert, fruit deassert, grilled banana, oven baked banana, Taste of Home | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 4, 2014
For many food might not be something you want to talk about right now. I know many of us might have had many large and delicious meals over the Holidays. I know many that are thinking of cutting back on their food intake since they might have had more over the Holidays than they normally would have had. Well, no matter what your present relationship is with food, I am confident that you will be eating. So what is it you are eating? I am looking to get some ideas here. I am not asking for any particular TYPE of recipe, as in, I don’t need it to be gluten free, dairy free, meat free, or fat free. I am just wondering what you are eating. Not everyone that reads this blog is looking for any of that so ANY recipe you want to share would be welcome. What can happen is that people can make adjustments as necessary. Just give us your ideas and/or recipes as to what to eat!
It can be breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even a snack recipe. I am often looking for dinner recipes. You know my normal fare; roasted veggie, ground turkey, something in a tortilla (although I have been avoiding the flours ones because of the transfat/partially hydrogenated oils). My friend just pointed me to a Martha Stewart recipe that I am sure you will be hearing about soon. I am kind of interested in Polenta. What about you? Do you have any Polenta recipes? I have been making a lot of Sausage, Beans, and Rice. It is so flavorful and so easy, when I don’t have time to think of something else, I make that.
I am still enjoying my organic box of produce. I love when we get fennel. I love that Fennel Turkey Recipe I came up with. I just made it the other day. We haven’t really gotten anything new in the box lately, except cranberries and I have not idea what to do with them same as last year when I receive them. What do you do with fresh cranberries? My sister in-law put some in the stuffing over Christmas. What about you?
Maybe you had a yummy dish over the Holidays you want to share. That would be great too! Just tell me what you are making and eating. Give me some ideas. You know most of mine ideas. You know I have a stove, an oven, and a crock pot. I am not versed in how to use the grill, but I might venture out to do so, if I can get at it before my hubby gets home. He claims that as his — well, it is.
Ok so this is a call out for ideas and recipes. Any and all is fine, I reserve the right to pick and choose because somethings I don’t eat, but you can still post the recipe because there are other who eat things I don’t eat.
C’mon, help me out. What have you got?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: crockpot, dairy free, dinner ideas, fat free, food ideas, gluten free, grill, Holiday meals, Martha Stewart recipe, meat free, Partially Hydrogenated Oils, recipes, transfat | 12 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 24, 2013
For many it is Christmas Eve. Some might not celebrate Christmas or it is past the day, but here, where I am, it is Christmas Eve. It is Tuesday so normally I would have had a Nia class in the morning, but the Park and Recreation Department of San Jose took the day off so there was no Nia this morning. They also have instituted a very abbreviated Group Ex schedule so my Nia classes with the City of San Jose are done for the year. We will be back Thursday, January 2, 2014. (WHOA! 2014!) I have one more Nia class in Willow Glen this year and one more class this year that I am subbing for the YMCA. Then onto the next year! So today I had a very relaxing Christmas Eve Day. Probably thee most relaxing Christmas Eve Day I have had in a LONG time. It was nice. One thing I had to do today was make spinach dip. In my world this is a common party treat. I have been making it for as long as I can remember. Although I had not made it in a long time. I think I first heard about spinach dip when I worked at my first mortgage job in the mid ’80s. So that is a long time. Spinach dip seems pretty common and timeless.
One thing I notice over Thanksgiving when I made a quadruple batch was that the recipe calls for a 10 ounce package of frozen spinach. Well our big green friend now makes his frozen spinach in 9 ounces sizes. I thought that was funny. Then today as I happened to be READING the recipe I noticed something that had me saying, “WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!” The directions actually say to COOK the spinach. I have never heard of such a thing. I have NEVER cooked the spinach. And as I mentioned I have been making spinach dip for YEARS. Cook the spinach? Really?
I prefer the Knorr Vegetable soup mix. But one year I couldn’t find it ANYWHERE and I ended up with the SPRING Vegetable mix and that was awesome because it had mushrooms in it. Now I can’t find that. I have also used other soup mix and have not been as happy as when I use Knorr. But this “cooked” really made me laugh out loud. Here is the recipe I am sure many of you are familiar with:
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Knorr Spinach Dip
Ingredients
1 box (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, cooked, cooled and squeezed dry
1 container (16 oz.) sour cream
1 cup Hellmann’s® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
1 package Knorr® Vegetable recipe mix
1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped (optional)
3 green onions, chopped (optional)
Directions
1. Combine all ingredients and chill about 2 hours. Serve with your favorite dippers to your favorite people.
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Also, for me, the water chestnuts are NOT optional! They are a requirement. In fact, to me, the are the best part. If you watch me getting some spinach dip you will probably see me pushing my cracker/bread/veggie through the dish just trying to get at that chunk of chestnut.
In addition to the change in weight of the spinach they also now package it in a plastic, which helped when squeezing the water out. After I squeeze the spinach it is all clumped together so I use forks to pull it a part.
So I have two main questions for you:
1) Do you COOK your spinach?
2) How do you squeeze all the water out of the frozen spinach? To me that is the worst part.
Let me know because I am soooooo curious.
And to all I say:
Merry Christmas!
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise, Christmas, Christmas celebration, Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve Day, City of San Jose, Diane Bacho - 1948 to March 11, 2014, frozen spinach, Group Ex, January 2, Knorr Vegetable soup, Merry Christmas, mortgage job, Nia, Nia class, Nia class in Willow Glen, Park and Recreation Department of San Jose, spinach dip, Thanksgiving, Thursday, water chestnuts, YMCA | 12 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 10, 2013
I read a blog written by a man in France. He writes his posts in French and English. He owns and runs a Bed and Breakfast in France. He takes fabulous pictures and posts a lot of yummy and interesting recipes. One recipe he posted I couldn’t wait to try, but I had to. When I read the post it was the week of Thanksgiving and I was going out of town so I couldn’t make the recipe. When I got back I had forgotten about it, but he replied to my comment which notifies me so I was reminded. I went to the store the next day to get the ingredients. There are only two or three in his recipe (I added a couple more)! It is so easy. It is one of those dishes that tastes rich and fancy but it super simple. The link to his post is here. Do go to his blog and check it out. As I was making this I realized his recipes are like mine or mine are like his — a guide. Here is how I made his mushroom soup recipe.
I only bought two pounds of mushrooms because 1) I thought that would be enough for my husband and I and 2) Mushrooms are $4.49 a pound and I didn’t want to spend $20.00 on mushrooms. 🙂 I also only purchased two shallots. I thought I had one in my refrigerator but I didn’t so I only ended up using two. Which was fine. I also didn’t use any cream. With his recipe he put a drizzle of cream on top or instructed how to blend it in. I didn’t bother with the cream. I am so glad I didn’t because the mushrooms and shallots are rich enough. It was so yummy. I am going to make it again this week.
I wash my mushrooms. I know many chefs say to just dust them off, but . . . . I prefer to wash mine.
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Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
(makes 4 servings)
2 large shallots, roughly chopped
3 tbsp butter
2 lbs mushrooms, quartered
1-2 cups white wine
1-2 cups water
2 tbsp chopped onion
2-4 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese
Heat a tablespoon of butter. Once melted add the chopped shallots and a tablespoon of butter. Cook the shallots, when they start to become translucent add the mushroom and the remaining tablespoon of butter. Cook/brown the mushrooms. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add enough white wine and water in combination (whatever combination YOU desire) to cover the mushrooms. Bring to a boil. Lower the temperature to a simmer. Simmer for 30 – 40 minutes.
Blend in a blender or with a stick blender.
Once blended, spoon/pour into bowls. Top each bowl with chopped onions and Parmesan cheese.
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Be certain that you blend the soup according to your blenders specifications — most instructions on blenders say to cool before blending. I barely let mine cool because I wanted hot soup. I have a Blendtec which heats the soup up while it blends. So, blend and heat as is necessary according to your blender. Stéphane’s recipe recommends garnishing the soup with mushrooms. I know that presentation is a big part of serving dinner and he is really good at that. For me, I am just happy to get a meal on the table and I rarely think of presentation. You may be better at that than me so please — have at it. I am convinced that the presentation — no matter what it is will be long forgotten once they taste this soup. It is so yummy, they won’t care how it is served!
I am grateful to Stephane for posting such a simple recipe that is so yummy! My husband really loved this so we will be eating it often.
Do you like mushrooms? Can you believe how simple this soup is? What are you going to add to this recipe to make it perfect for you?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Bed and Breakfast in France, blender soup, Blendtec, butter, easy dinner, France, gluten free, Mushroom Soup, My French Heaven, shallots, super easy recipe, white wine | 8 Comments »
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 post 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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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