Archive for the ‘“Recipes”’ Category
Posted by terrepruitt on November 3, 2012
Yay! I am so excited — I am taking the next level of Nia, Blue Belt AND I received fennel in my organic produce box. Fennel. Yay. Two new things. As you may know if you’ve read any of my posts about the delivery I receive, I ordered it partly because I wanted to try new stuff. Yeah, it is possible to go to a store or a Farmer’s Market and purchase produce I have not tried before, but I don’t. I just stick to what I know. But when I get it delivered to me then I can work with it. I am excited to be trying new things. Ok, I just realized though that while I am cooking with a new-to-me vegetable I did it the same way I do everything. I have heard about roasted fennel and again, if you’ve read anything about my cooking you know I roast pretty much all my veggies. So I did that again with the fennel. This time I also looked at the information on the website of the company that delivers the produce. Yes, I learned after chopping off the beat greens and throwing them away, that I should find out what portion of the fruit/vegetable can be used. The information indicated that the bulb can be roasted and the fronds can be used to flavor meat. I am not familiar with fennel. It is not a vegetable I even think about. So I was happy to receive some to try. Yay a new-to-me vegetable.
As soon as I cut the fennel I recognized the smell. So I must have had the flavor somewhere. Which makes sense because fennel is actually an herb that is eaten as if it were a vegetable. I’ve probably had it in a Greek dish or something from the Mediterranean region. I decided to use some of the fennel with the chicken I was cooking. I just cut off some of the fronds and put them in the dish with the chicken that I was cooking. I didn’t change the recipe I was planning for the meat, I just put the fennel tops around the chicken.
The bulb of the fennel I sliced, put in a pan, sprayed with olive oil, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, sprinkled with salt, and put in the oven at 400 degrees F. I cooked it for about 40 minutes. It was good, but I thought it was sour. My hubby didn’t think it was sour. I am wondering if it was because I took the pieces that were drenched in vinegar. He doesn’t really like vinegar so I decided to take those pieces. Or maybe it was just what I was tasting. But I will get some fennel in the future to see.
I still have some of the fronds left so I plan I using them in other dishes. Maybe cut up on a salad, added to a soup, or cooked with other meat.
Have you eaten fennel before? Do you cook with fennel? How do you cook it?
Posted in "Recipes", Food, Vegetables | Tagged: Blue Belt, fennel, fennel recipe, Greek food, Mediterranean dish, Mediterranean region, Nia, organic produce, organic produce box, roasted vegetables | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 6, 2012
Ok, I really am not going to turn this blog into a Green Smoothie blog, but . . . I have been making them almost every day and I really would like to share so we will see where it goes. And, as I have told you in the past, food posts are VERY popular. So my third ever green smoothie was Pear, Cucumber, Baby Bok Choy, and Rainbow Chard. It was pretty good. I don’t usually eat pears. There is a salad that I make in which I include pears, but beyond that, I don’t eat them. Cucumber I have almost every night in my salad. If you have read my blog for a bit you know I am in LOVE with baby bok choy. And this is my introduction to chard. I think that cucumber is a great equalizer. It really helps mellow out flavors. The pear worked well to sweeten the smoothie. I am thinking that chard is not that bitter because this was not a bitter smoothie. It was nice. It was smooth. This one goes on my list of likes. 
But right now I am just experimenting and putting whatever I have in the smoothies. I am not doing it to lose weight, or detox, or cleanse, or any other reason but to get more fruits and vegetables in my diet. So for now anything goes. And let me say, that everything does not really go!
Third Green Smoothie
1 C water
1 pear
2 inches of large cucumber
1 SMALL bunch of baby bok choy
2 leaves rainbow chard
With my fourth smoothie I was using watermelon and I thought I had read that if you use a really watery fruit such as watermelon you can skip the water. Since I was using such a large amount of watermelon I didn’t use any water. Worked out fine. It was not a pretty green so I used a dark blue glass, which made it even less pretty. But it was tasty. I really like watermelon in the smoothie.
Fourth Green Smoothie
1 1/2 C Watermelon
1/2 apple
1 small bunch baby bok choy
2 leaves rainbow chard
My fifth smoothie I wanted to make very green so I used a HUGE amount of kale. Four kale leaves equates to a lot of kale. This was the most bitter of the smoothies that I had at this point. That was a lot of kale. You may notice in the recipe I ended up with a lot of fruit. That is because I ended up adding the banana after I tasted it because it was really bitter. Since my point of doing this is to get more fruits and veggies and not anything else (as I’ve stated above), I don’t feel I have to suffer through my smoothies. This is not a torture, it is
supposed to be an enjoyable way to get some veggies and provide my body with additional nutrition, not make me suffer. So I added the banana. I will just use less kale next time. Because I really do want to be drinking more of a veggie smoothie than a fruit smoothie.
Fifth Green Smoothie
1.5 C Watermelon
1 apple
3 pieces baby bok choy
4 kale leaves
1 banana
It is really funny because cooking kale in foods and putting it in salad does not taste as bitter to me. But for some reason, whirred up in a smoothie . . . whew. Could be I don’t usually have THAT much kale. That was a lot of kale.
I actually have made more smoothies than I am putting in this post. So . . . I have learned a lot of things so far. That will probably be my next post. “Things I have learned on my smoothie journey so far . . . ” 🙂
Maybe there is a recipe here you might enjoy. Let me know if you try one. Or share what you are putting in your blender.
Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies | Tagged: baby bok choy, bitter smoothie, fruit smoothies, Fruits and vegetables, green smoothies, Kale, rainbow chard, smoothies | 5 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 4, 2012
I don’t like to waste my bananas. My husband won’t eat them if they have one little tiny spot of brown. And I don’t usually eat that many bananas. So you might have learned from some of my posts that I usually use the over ripe bananas in banana bread or Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies. Both of these items are not low calorie nor low fat, they are just a way for me to use up my bananas and put a treat in my hubby’s lunch. I have a great recipe I found on the internet for banana bread. I think it was called the World’s Best Banana Bread and I actually think it is. I have issues cooking it though, it never seems cooked all the way through, but that could because it is hand mixed and the bananas kind of chunk up in the batter. Well, since I got a fancy new blender I have been trying to find things to use it for. In the recipe book there is a recipe for banana bread so I thought I would give it a try. Even though the ingredients get mixed in the blender the recipe calls for the bananas to be mashed. Before I stared I grabbed my camera fully intending on taking pictures along the way. The next thing I knew I was putting the pan in the oven. DRAT! I forgot to take pictures as I was making it. But I took some of the finished product. Can you see how smooth it is? Blender bread is really like “commercially made” bread.
I liked the taste ok. It was actually good. I think the vanilla yogurt added the extra sweet, yumminess. Since it has no butter it has to be less calories and grams of fat then my other recipe. And it really was good, but it was so . . . “commercial”. It was like a loaf of bread from the store. There was no texture, no chunks, no . . . personality.
In addition to using my blender the other reason I wanted to try this recipe is because it called for two bananas and that is what I had.
I can’t find the recipe on the Blendtec website and, of course, I did some modifying anyway, so here is what I did:
_________________________________
Blender Banana Bread
Using the WildSide Jar
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1/2 C low-fat vanilla yogurt
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 C wheat flour
3/4 C white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add first six ingredients to the container and secure lid. Select “Batters.” After that has blended, add the remaining four ingredients to the container and secure the lid. Press “Pulse” 3-5 times until dry ingredients are incorporated. (Do not over blend.) Pour batter into greased 9″X5″ loan pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes.
_______________________________
I guess the WildSide Jar and the FourSide Jar for this blender are very different because there are additional/different instructions if you are using the FourSide Jar.
Well, I know that I have been posting a lot about my blender, but . . . I am trying to get a fraction of the money’s worth out of it! I will not turn this blog into a blender blog, I will post about Nia, exercises, other health stuff, and even Zumba, but I am getting some post out of my first uses of the blender.
Do you like your banana bread smooth? Or do you like it more rustic and chunky?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: banana bread, Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies, blender bread, exercise, FourSide Jar, homemade bread, low calorie, low fat, Nia, Nia exercise, power blender, WildSide Jar, Zumba | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 2, 2012
When you do something, like Nia or use a blender every day, it gives you a lot of material to post on a blog! I’ve been using my birthday present almost every day. When I first heard of “super” blenders that made soup I thought that was crazy.
I thought that the blender had a heating element to heat up the soup. And there are some like that. But with the high-speed blenders, I didn’t realize the blades go fast enough to cause heat and heat up the soup. They go so fast it is hot! I didn’t think it would be something I would like. As you may know I love to make soup and one of the things I love about the soup I make is the fact that I do it all in one pot and then I use my immersion blender. I really like that. I don’t like having to pour cooked soup into a blender then blend it then pour it back into the pot to re-warm it. The soup recipes that I have seen for blender soup either have you doing that or have you cooking some if not the majority of ingredients before putting them in the blender. At this point, for some of my soups I will stick to my one pot and stick blender recipes. Another reason I like to make the soup in a pot is because I believe that cooking some of the ingredients as you go allows you to layer the flavors. Now, I know that phrase from cooking shows and I could be off base with what it means and what I am doing, but that is what I consider myself doing when I sauté onions and then garlic and then add the butternut squash and sauté it. Then add other spices, etc. It layers the flavors. But in a lot of the blender soup recipes you just dump it all in. Well, since I got the dang thing I decided to at least try one of the recipes for soup. I picked a recipe that does not require any other cooking. Just dump all the ingredients in the blender container and press soup. Now with that kind of ease I could maybe live without the layer of flavor if I liked the soup.
I like it ok. I think that if I followed the recipe exactly it would have more flavor, but I also think that if I follow the recipe exactly it would be too hot for me.
The recipe that came with the Blendtec Blender and is on their website is for Tortilla Soup.
Tortilla Soup
2 cups warm water
2 Roma tomatoes
1/2 large carrot
1 1 inch strip of red pepper
1/4 avocado
an onion wedge
1 1 inch X 1/2 inch chunk of pepper jack cheese Monterey jack
2 sprigs fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon no-salt herb seasoning Italian seasoning
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
The ingredients go into the blender in the order that they are listed then you press “Soups” on the blender and let it do its thing. It does really go so fast that it actually does get hot! Some people might like their soup piping hot so this MIGHT not be hot enough for them. But this type of soup is perfect at the temperature that the blender makes it.
It was not spicy because I didn’t use the pepper jack. I bet if you like that hot (spicy) cheese the soup is good with it. I will make it one day with the pepper jack because even if it ends up being too spicy hot for me, my hubby will eat it. For now, I am just using the Monterey jack.
The first time I made this it took me 30 minutes because I was going slow. The second time I made it, it was ready to eat in 20 minutes. So my title, So Fast It’s Hot, applies to the blades of the blender AND to the fact that this can be made and in a bowl in 20 minutes. Now that is HOT!
Before I got the blender I had an opinion about blender soup, what about you? What do you think about blender soup?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: 20 minute meal, 20 minute soup, blender soup, Blendtec, fast soup, hot soup, immersion blender, Nia, pepper cheese, Tomatoes, Tortilla Soup | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 27, 2012
Yup, I am trying to do the Green Smoothie thing. Awhile back, I posted about not having time to eat breakfast before my Nia Classes. It is not that I don’t get up in time, it is that I don’t like to eat right when I get up. Then I think some time needs to pass after eating before I teach an exercise class. You might remember my post about how I was eating a banana on the way to class and I was ending up with heartburn. So I either have to get up an hour earlier or eat right when I get up. And/or maybe a green smoothie will help. Although I need to work on getting more protein in them then. Also, I am not sure about having that much liquid before class. I have found that the smoothies make about two glasses. Maybe I can drink one before class and save the other for after class. Oh, and, yes, I do do a lot of my thinking out loud on my blog . . . . 🙂 My last post was about my birthday present. So far I have used it five times. I’ve made three different green smoothies.
My second green smoothie consisted of:
1 Cup water
1 apple chopped
1/2 of a large cucumber (cut up)
2 leaves of rainbow chard (cut up)
4 ice moons
I started out with only one half of the apple. But after blending it, I decided that I wanted more flavor so I added another half. It seems that cucumbers are REALLY good at masking flavor, while they do have a distinct flavor it is very mild so it can somewhat cancel out some harsher flavors . . . . maybe . . . I will have to see. That seems to be what I have found so far . . . on my SECOND green smoothie.
I read on one website (I can’t remember which one I have looked at so many) the idea that green smoothies taste better cold. I think that is a valid opinion. I tend to agree.
I am laughing as I look at my pictures though because the amounts and ingredients listed yield two glasses and have you ever seen people make smoothies? And have you ever seen the pictures? The blender container is full to the top. Now I would say that two leaves of rainbow chard and a half of a cucumber is one serving of vegetables if not more, but AT LEAST one. And a whole apple is one serving of fruit. I think that is pretty good. I am not sure I can DRINK more. Plus I do still love to EAT my fruits and veggies. I am just curious as to who actually drinks a full blender container full. But we will see, maybe I will be that person. But for now I will drink my additional serving (or so) of veggies and my additional serving of fruit in my 24 ounces of green smoothie.
Would adding more veggies and less water yield as much? Is that how on shows, cookbooks, and websites the blender container is so full? Less water more vegetables? What do you think? Do you drink green smoothies?
Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies, Vegetables | Tagged: banana smoothie, breakfast, exercise class, going green, green smoothies, heartburn, Nia, Nia class, Nia exercise, rainbow chard | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 25, 2012
This year my husband was really on the ball. In July he started asking me what I wanted for my birthday. Since going out of town isn’t something we have in our budget, I thought about it for a bit, then decided that is what I wanted to do for my birthday. I wanted to go to a bed a breakfast place on the coast that we both love. So I got my heart set on a weekend at THAT particular bed and breakfast. When I looked it up on the internet I was happy to see it is still there, however, it is no longer a bed and breakfast establishment. The house is for rent as a vacation rental, but it is no longer a place to rent a room for the weekend. I was sad. I was so bummed that one of our places is gone. Plus I was bummed because I had to come up with something else for my birthday. He asked me every month. I thought I had found something, but then circumstances changed and so that didn’t work out. Then I remembered there was a time when I entertained the thought of one of those super blenders. But really, to me that is an outrageous purchase unless you are really going to use it. Having it sit in my cupboard would be a waste. In my opinion there are a lot of things that are outrageous if they just sit and not get used, but when I use things often I feel I get my money’s worth. I would like to include more vegetables in my diet. I like to serve a green salad every night and a vegetable, so I was thinking another way to add fruits and vegetables would be to make green smoothies. I don’t drink fruit smoothies so I really wanted to TRY a green one before I had my hubby make the investment. I hear that green smoothies are an acquired taste and I don’t just want to blend fruit. I want more veggies than fruit. But then I started looking at some recipes online of other things I could make in a “super blender”. I think I have posted about how my hummus is not smooth. I made a joke about being the inventor of “whole bean” hummus — which is basically just chickpeas. So I thought I could use the power of a super blender to make hummus. So I decided to ask for a blender for my birthday.
When I received my blender I didn’t have any greens, but I was going to get some delivered the very next day. In my box I received a new-to-me veggie. The box contained Rainbow Chard and so I thought I could put that in my first smoothie. I think of it as a fruit smoothie with some green since it really didn’t have that much green. I am breaking myself in slowly — as has been suggested.
Another suggestion that I have seen on various website is that if it is an “ugly” green smoothie put it in a mug and if it is a “pretty” green smoothie use a pretty glass. I think that is just the type of silly suggestion I can follow. It makes an odd kind of sense.
Well so far I have used my blender four times. I am sure you are going to hear about each time in future posts. Well, perhaps not all four times . . . but maybe, we will see.
So my first fruit/”green” smoothie was:
1 Cup water
1/2 of apple chopped
1 banana (sliced)
1 leaf of rainbow chard (cut up)
My blender has a smoothie button so I just used that and it worked great. There were NO chunks at all. What I really love and was somewhat surprised to see is, it comes out frothy!
I think my first “green” smoothie was pretty good. Although, I think that one leaf of green and 1.5 “fruits” is a larger fruit ratio than I want to stick with. I am going to work my way up to more greens and less fruit. My idea is to like and drink the more-veggie-than-fruit smoothies, but also enjoy the more-fruit-than-veggie smoothies when I feel the desire.
I am thinking I might have a smoothie before Nia, but I am not sure. I usually try not to drink so much liquid before class. 🙂
Have you heard of these blenders that blend SMOOTH smoothies?
Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies, Vegetables | Tagged: birthday present, Blendtec, chickpeas, fruit smoothie, green smoothie, hummus, Nia, Nia class, rainbow chard, vegetable smoothie | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 20, 2012
You might have read in my blog I am having an organic box of produce delivered to us. I love it. It is so nice to have produce and not have to go to the store. It is nice to have organic produce. So far I really like this. You might also know that part of the reason I decided to have a box of fruits and vegetables delivered is because I was hoping I would be “forced” to use produce that I normally wouldn’t buy. The last box I received had figs in it. Turns out I am ok with figs. I so enjoyed the salad with figs I had made, I tried to order the next box that had figs but I waited too long. I only have delivery every other week. Farm Fresh To You posts what will be delivered in a week the week before so I had known for a whole week, but I waited until the day before to decide that I actually wanted an additional delivery. It was not enough time for them to do it. So I missed out on another delivery of figs. But . . . in addition to the figs you might have noticed in the picture I posted on the first fig post that I had beets delivered. Now, I KNOW I don’t like beets. I have tried them, and I don’t like them. They taste like dirt. For those of you that don’t know what dirt tastes like, eat a beet and then you will know. So here I was with dirt to deal with. I was wondering, “WHAT DO I DO WITH A BEET?”
In the same conversations I had with people about figs I had asked about beets. One person said to boil them, peel them (the skin will come right off), and then put them in a salad. I think she said she cooks them then uses them as she needs them (within a reasonable amount of time. A couple of days or so.). Another person said she didn’t like beets, so she had no suggestions. Again, I was faced with a salad. That was the only thing I found that sounded remotely appealing. I was thinking I would boil the beets and then put them on a salad with goat cheese. Goat cheese seemed to be what I was finding as the cheese of choice with beets.
But you might have read that I was thinking about making a salad with figs. The recipes I was finding for figs in salads called for feta. But for me, I was thinking that the goat cheese would go better with the figs as it is creamy and mild — almost flavorless. And the feta — which to me is firm and much more flavorful — would go better with the beets. I was thinking the beets needed a strong flavor to help drown out the “dirt” taste.
One recipe I spotted said to roast the beets. Well, heck, why didn’t I think of that? Perhaps you know roasting is my prefered method! Geez, can’t understand why I didn’t think of that. Especially since I mentioned roasting beets in Borscht is Beets! Well, just as I did with the figs I didn’t read the recipes because I thought I could figure it out. I skimmed them and I saw some say, roast on a pan without foil and some say use foil. One recipe said the skin will come right off. Well, it didn’t so much for me, but it turned out ok.
I roasted them until they felt somewhat soft. I think it was at least 50 minutes, but I am not sure because I just kept resetting the timer and would run off to do whatever it was I was doing.
I had roasted the beets with olive oil and salt and a little garlic salt and I have to admit that even though while I was cutting them they smelled like dirt, they didn’t taste overwhelmingly like dirt.
Salad with beets:
mixed greens
pecans
beets (roasted with olive oil, salt, garlic salt — 375 degrees F for about 50 minutes)
feta cheese
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
Yay! Another produce item that I had not eaten before and I NEVER would have bought at a store or farmer’s market.
How about you? Do you like beets?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: balsamic vinegar, beet salad, beets, boiled beets, Farmers Market, feta cheese, figs, fresh figs, goat cheese, olive oil, organic produce, roasted beets, Salad with beets | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 18, 2012
Figs are considered a fruit. Most fruit has a lot of sugar. As I had explained in my Fresh Figs So Unlike Fig Newtons posts, most of the recipes I found for figs were dessert recipes that actually had additional sugar in the recipe. I didn’t want to make a dessert, so I ended up making a salad. It was very good. But as usual after having eaten something I don’t know much about I get curious as to what type of nutrition it has. Sometimes I actually am curious BEFORE eating it and I take the time to look it up, but this time it was after the fact.
Figs are a good source of potassium and fiber.
According to Calorie Count Two large figs (2-1/2″ diameter) contain about 100 calories and roughly the following:
Total Fat – 0.4g
Cholesterol – 0mg
Sodium – 2mg
Total Carbohydrates – 24.6g
Dietary Fiber – 3g
Protein – 1g
According to an article in 1999 by Dr. Sheldon Margen and Dale A. Ogar:
Figs “have the highest fiber and mineral content of all common fruits, nuts or vegetables. They also have as much as 1,000 times more calcium than other common fruits and by weight they actually have more calcium than skim milk.
Figs are 80% higher in potassium than bananas, and are extremely easy to digest. They also have more iron than any other of the common fruits and are extremely high in magnesium. All of this for about 20 to 40 calories per fig.”
I had an idea I would make a salad when I bought the crumbled goat cheese. I know, not exciting, but it was really good!
When I went to make the salad I realized I didn’t know what to do with the figs. My husband said he peeled them and ate the inside. So I tried doing that, but when I peeled off the purple he said that I needed to peel off the white part too and only eat the inside. So I tried that and as I was doing it I decided that it was ridiculous and could not be right. Maybe opening them and eating the flesh works, but it does not work when trying to add them to a salad. Then I remembered all the pictures I saw having purple (to me it is purple) on them. So I Googled them again and figured out that they just need to be cut up the way they were and we could just eat the whole thing. Unfortunately I waited too long to use them and we ended up only able to eat about half. The other half had gotten moldy.
I just made a simple salad:
chopped up figs
lettuce
crumbled goat cheese
fig balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt
pepper (for my husband)
I wish I would have taken pictures. It was nice. Simple and yummy. Just enough sweet, creamy, and savory.
I saw recipes that said to use feta but I thought the creaminess of the goat cheese would go better with the figs.
Did you know figs are often referred to as the “perfect” fruit?
Posted in "Recipes", Food, Fruit | Tagged: Calorie Count, dietary fiber, Fig Newtons, fig salad, Fresh Fig Nutrition, goat cheese, perfect fruit, Potassium | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 17, 2012
I often have mentioned the 52 Nia Moves. I am taking my time posting about them, but they are in the Nia Technique Book. You could always order a copy from Amazon if you are interested. That is how I started my Nia practice. In the book after the section on the 52 Nia Moves there are pages and pages of other moves too. There is the 13 Joint Exercise, explanations of combinations of some of the 52 Nia Moves, Spinal Melts, and T’ai Chi Sways, and many more. They are organized in the Nia Cycles. The moves that are part of the warm up are in the Warm up section the more active moves are in the Get Moving section. Each move has a “Classic” explanation and an “Athletic” explanation. Nia is done in bare feet so there is no to very little impact, but that does not mean there is no intensity. Intensity comes from BIGGER moves. Bigger moves can be more arm movement either faster or further away from the body or both. Bigger moves can be moving deeper into a move. So the explanation of “Athletic” contains bigger or faster (or both) movements. There are over 75 pages of moves. Each with a set of pictures. Both the classic and the athletic has pictures. If you have the slightest interest in Nia or movement in general I would strongly recommend this book.
I felt I had to share that because there really is so much in the book.
That popped into my head as I was sitting here thinking about going to go make dinner. Here is what we are having:
Terre’s version of the Rantings of an Amateur Chef’s recipe:
Cauliflower Stuffed Portobello Caps
4 large Portobello mushroom caps
most of an entire head of cauliflower
3 green onions
1/2 C cooked and chopped bacon
1/3 C milk
3/4 C shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 C shredded Gouda cheese
salt, pepper, and garlic powder
Cook the bacon.
Scrape out the inside of the cap to remove the stem and gills.
Chop the green onions.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the cauliflower into large pieces. Steam for 6-8 minutes. Place hot cauliflower into the blender and some of the milk. Blend. Add milk as needed to achieve a mashed potato-like consistency. Mix with bacon and onions.
Fill caps with cauliflower mixture. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic to taste. Sprinkle with shredded chesses. Put a few onions on top. Place on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes on the lowest rack in the oven.
The first time I made this I didn’t use the bacon and I will be doing that version a lot more often. It is really good! But I also wanted to try it with the bacon.
So I am going to go cook, then take pictures and post it all at one time!**
Do look at the Ranting Chef’s blog as he cooks some amazing things. The difference between his recipe and mine is he did not determine from the get go how many mushrooms. His recipe calls for only one half of the cauliflower head, he used bacon bits out of a package (which is uber smart because it helps keep the recipe easy!), his seasoning is pepper and pepper only, and his instructions are to cook it only for 5 minutes.
I don’t like pepper so what I do is just sprinkle each mushroom individually so that my husband, who likes pepper, can have more of that flavor, while I just barely do a turn of the pepper grinder. I also like my mushrooms more cooked when they are stuffed. I have made stuffed small mushrooms and find that I like to cook them a bit before hand.
It’s your turn. Make this recipe and let me know how you like it. Let me know how you adjusted it.
**Ok, so I didn’t like it with the bacon, but my husband did. I like crisp bacon and putting it in with the cauliflower made it just like bits of meat in the mix. I also forgot to mix the onions IN so ended up with them just on top. The bacon bits from a package might make it worth it, but dealing with bacon was not worth it to me.
Don’t The Cauliflower Stuffed Portobello Caps sound yummy?
Posted in "Recipes", 52 Moves (of Nia), Food, Nia | Tagged: 13 Joint Exercise, 52 Nia Moves, Amazon.com, Bacon, Cauliflower Stuffed Portobello Caps, Gouda cheese, Nia, Nia cycles, Nia Practice, Portobello mushrooms, Rantings of an Amateur Chef, Spinal Melts, T'ai Chi Sways, The Nia Technique book | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 15, 2012
You know I started this blog to share things with you. I wanted to share about Nia, exercises, things I think are healthy, and stuff I learn. I don’t think I had thought about posting recipes, but I probably didn’t think I would limit myself from doing so. It is funny that food posts get the most views and even more fun spark the most conversations. (I love the bloggey conversations.) We love our food, huh? It is universal. Everyone eats. Not everyone works out, not everyone dances, not everyone goes to exercise classes, and not everyone does Nia, but everyone eats. Even though we all eat different things it is still something that we all have in common.
As you might have noticed, when I try a new recipe, or just try making something I sometimes like to share. Even if the recipe still needs some adjustments I have to start somewhere. I like to post my recipes because I find myself using my blog when I am going to make something. I can even be at the store and get the idea that I want to make a certain recipe then I think, “Shoot I don’t know what it is in . . . . ahhhh, but I posted it on my blog!” So I use my blog at the store to grocery shop sometimes. Here is a recipe of something that I made that I need to work on.
I haven’t always liked hummus, but once I started eating it. I really liked it. There is a brand that my husband found that is really good. It is smooth and creamy. We used to eat it often. But it has Canola Oil in it. I prefer not to eat Canola oil. I have always wanted to make my own hummus so I thought not eating our favorite brand would inspire me. It did not. My issue was tahini. I don’t think of tahini. So when I go to the store I am not thinking, “Oh yeah, I need tahini.” I know you can make hummus without it. I believe my friend makes hummus all the time and she never used tahini. I haven’t tasted her hummus that I can remember so I don’t know if it is good without tahini or not.
The other day I was online and I actually bought tahini. I decided on wanted to finally make some hummus. There are a lot of recipes out there for hummus so I took some ideas from several of them. I need to work on it.
I used:
2 cups canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
3 teaspoons liquid from the beans
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon garlic flavored olive oil
I put everything in the blender and blended until smooth.
I prefer my hummus a little more smooth and actually creamy, but the blender was making odd noises so I didn’t want to push it too far.
First of all I think it is too salty. Next time I am going to use less salt and less tahini. I am also going to use less lemon juice. I am also going to use fresh garlic. I used some we have from a jar.
Not too bad for my first try, but not so great. But sometimes I just need to get in there and do it — make the recipe — so I can see it is easy to do so then I can play with it and make adjustments.
Do you like hummus? Do you make your own?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Canola Oil, chickpeas, creamy hummus, dance exercise, dance exercise class, Garbanzo beans, garlic oil, healthy recipes, hummus, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia workout, olive oil, tahini | 6 Comments »
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