Happy Insides

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles

2011-05-05T10:42:00.000-06:00

Recently in our house we have started making our own butter. It isn't anything all that exciting or difficult, but it is so nice to have fresh butter. Just pour some cream in the Kitchenaid, turn it on and let it go for awhile. It really can't get a whole lot easier. Also if you want to add stuff like salt or honey you can really customize it to your dish. Besides the awesome outcome of fresh butter you also get the bonus of fresh buttermilk! We have had an abundance of buttermilk in our house recently and I must say we are loving having nice weekend breakfasts of buttermilk pancakes and buttermilk biscuits. We decided last weekend to give buttermilk waffles a go and a quick Google search landed us with this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. It was just what we were looking for and the result were light and fluffy waffles with an excellent flavor.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes 4 generous servings

2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 t. salt
2 T. evaporated cane juice or sucanat
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 3/4 c. buttermilk
2 eggs, seperated
4 T. butter, melted and cooled
1/2 t. vanilla extract
canola spray

1) Preheat your waffle iron. In a medium bowl whisk together your whole wheat pastry flour, salt, cane juice or sucanat and baking soda.

2) In a separate bowl mix together the butter milk, egg yolks, melted and cooled butter and the vanilla. Combine the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients.

3) Either by hand or with an electric mixer (recommended) whisk the egg yolks until they hold soft peaks. Gently fold them into the batter.

4) Spray the waffle iron generously with canola spray and then ladle the batter onto the preheated waffle iron. Bake until the waffle is done. It took about 6 minutes in our machine, but it varies machine to machine. Serve warm with whatever topping you choose.

Mini frittatas

2011-04-28T04:30:00.034-06:00

For Passover this year Cassie decided to make a big batch of mini frittatas for our breakfasts. She got the idea from an old Clean Eating magazine recipe, but when the time came to make them she couldn't find to old issue with the recipe so we decided to wing it and make our own recipe. These turned out great and froze very well to last us the entire span of Passover.

These were made for Passover, but the recipe makes a great breakfast year round and would be great on your next brunch menu.

Mini Frittatas
A Jason and Cassie Original
Makes 9 servings (2 frittatas per serving)

2 c. grated potatoes
1 large egg
1/4 c. unsalted matzo meal (or breadcrumbs)
1 T. olive oil
1 c. chopped onion
1 medium bell pepper, chopped
1 c. chopped broccoli florets
2 cloves garlic minced
12 large eggs
6 oz. jack cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste or Pepperman to taste

1) Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 18 muffin pan wells with non-stick cooking spray making sure to fully coat them.

2) In a clean tea towel place grated potatoes and wring out any excess moisture from the potatoes. In a medium bowl mix potatoes with 1 egg and the matzo meal. Place a small amount of potato mixture in the bottom of each muffin well. Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes until the potatoes begin to soften and brown at the edges.

3) Meanwhile heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the onion, bell pepper and broccoli to the pan and saute for about 3 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and saute for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool somewhat.

4) When the vegetables have cooled beat the eggs in a large bowl. Mix in the cooled vegetables, cheese and salt and pepper or Pepperman. Fill muffin wells mostly full (but not all the way to the top) with the egg mixture. Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes until the eggs are set and the tops of the mini fritattas begin to brown. Let cool and either serve warm or freeze the frittatas in freezer bags for individual breakfast portions. To reheat let the fritattas defrost overnight in the refrigerator and then place them in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 5-10 minutes until heated through.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

2011-04-26T08:29:00.000-06:00

This past weekend Cassie's parents came to our house so Cassie's dad could help us with a little work on the house. A fringe benefit of having a carpenter in the family is that you get professional work done for minimal payment. As payment we knew we needed to make a great meal that wouldn't be easily forgotten. Since it was during Passover dessert posed a slight challenge, but when Cassie found the recipe for Lighter Air Chocolate Cake from Smitten Kitchen she knew that was our dessert. We found the recipe originally through the Chocolate Cake Roll post this past week, but since we don't have the right pan for a roll cake we decided to go with the stacked round cake version instead.

What resulted was a total winner. It was so light and moist and had a wonderful rich chocolate flavor. We used coffee flavored whipped cream filling and chocolate ganache to finish it off. While Jason and Cassie's dad did the work on the house, Cassie set about assembling the cake. She made the cake in two batches since we only had 2 9-inch round cake pans. You can't let the batter sit for long since it consists of mostly beaten eggs. Also she practically had to fight her mom off with a stick so she could get a picture of the cake before she started sticking her fingers in the ganache and the coffee filling.

Flourless Chocolate Cake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

For the Cake:
8 oz. good quality organic dark chocolate, chopped
4 oz. good quality organic semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
6 T. water
12 large eggs, separated, at room temperature.
1 1/3 c. evaporated cane juice
1/2 t. salt

For the filling:
2 c. heavy cream
6 T. organic powdered sugar
4 t. water
3 t. instant coffee
1 t. vanilla

1 batch chocolate ganache (recipe follows)

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prep 4 9-inch round cake pans by greasing and then lining the bottoms with parchment paper. In a small sauce pan heat chocolate and water over medium heat. When the chocolate is all melted remove from heat and let cool till it is lukewarm.

2) While the chocolate is cooling beat together the egg yolks and 2/3 c. of evaporated cane juice and salt for about 5 minutes in a medium bowl. The egg yolk mixture will get pale and very thick. When chocolate is cooled to lukewarm fold it into the egg yolk mixture until it is completely combined.

3) In a stand mixer fitted with a whip attachment beat the egg whites until they begin to form soft peaks. Add the remaining 2/3 c. evaporated cane juice a little at a time and continue beating until the egg whites form stiff peaks.

4) Fold in 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk and chocolate mixture. Then carefully fold in the remaining egg whites until it is fully combined. Divide the batter amongst the 4 prepared 9-inch cake pans and bake for 15-18 minutes until the cake is set and the tops are dry to the touch. Let the cake layers cool completely before assembling the cake. To make the layers easier to handle it is best to place them in the freezer for about 20 minutes to an hour.

5) Just before assembling the cake make the filling. In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment beat the cream until soft peaks form. Add in the organic powdered sugar and beat until well combined. Meanwhile also combine the water, instant coffee and vanilla in a small bowl. Add the coffee mixture to the cream and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

6) To assemble the cake place a layer of cake on a platter or cake stand. Top with 1/4 of the filling mixture spreading it to the edges of the layer. Add another layer of cake and another 1/4 of the filling until all layers of the cake are on. Top with the remaining 1/4 of the filling mixture and the drizzle with chocolate ganache (recipe follows).

Chocolate Ganache
Adapted from Allrecipes
2/3 c. heavy cream
6 oz. good quality organic chocolate (dark or semi-sweet), chopped.

1) In a medium saucepan heat cream over medium heat until just boiling. Remove from heat and pour into a glass bowl with the chocolate pieces. Stir the mixture until well combined and smooth.

Literary Lunch: Billy's Pan Pizza

2011-04-15T09:18:00.000-06:00

For our Literary Lunch this month we chose to focus on a series that we both just finished listening to on audiobook—The Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson, which is comprised of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. Stieg Larsson’s eye for detail, skill at creating believable characters, and intriguing plot lines have a way of completely immersing the reader in a world that is familiar because of its extremely realistic feel, but also driven by larger than life characters. The protagonists of the series are Lisbeth Salander, an oft-persecuted and socially awkward computer hacker, and Mikail Blomkvist, a moralistic journalist with whom Lisbeth gets entangled in the course of the first novel.

The series is as much a critique as it is a thriller, exploring how easily modern society, when unaccompanied by a sense of equality, can be set loose against women in a nightmarish barrage of bureaucratically-sanctioned and medically-backed physical and mental torture, a veritable hell of misogynists and sadists administering what they dub as justice under the pretext of reason but ultimately driven by the need for dominance over women, very often in the form of sexual violence. And this would all be too much to take if not for the clearly delineated good characters, who go to unheard of lengths before the series concludes to fight back against a conspiracy designed to keep the systems of control firmly in place.

Along the way we watch this cast of mainly Swedes (Larsson was Swedish, the series itself was written in Swedish and then translated into English by Reg Keeland) doing a lot of normal, everyday things. Larsson especially likes describing what the characters are eating and drinking, which is what gave us the idea to include this in our Literary Lunch.

If you’ve read any of the books, you might think we’d post about some sort of sandwich, as Swedes, according to the books at least, seem to eat sandwiches morning, noon, and night, along with a fresh brewed cup of coffee. It’s conceivable that the series could be cut down to a single book if Larsson had simply not included coffee breaks in the narrative flow. But these details are exactly what make the books so compelling, and each time a new pot is brewed and a sandwich is prepared, we get to sit back along with the character and dwell on recent developments in the story.

But as far as blogging goes, sandwiches are pretty boring fare, so we decided to go with something that pops up almost as often as sandwiches in the story—pan pizza. Specifically, Billy’s Pan Pizza, one of the foods Lisbeth Salander is so fond of buying from the convenience store (she has a horrible diet!). Although we’ve never tried Billy’s Pan Pizza (yes, it’s apparently a real product), we imagine that it’s similar to other frozen pizzas, and so decided to honor one of our favorite literary characters by making a pan pizza worthy of writing home about, although Lisbeth would probably just shrug if we served it to her and say it was ok.

We decided to make a sausage pizza since most of Lisbeth's choices usually included some sort of meat. You can choose your own toppings, but we wanted to share the whole wheat pan pizza dough recipe because it really turned out great. We used to be fans of thin crust pizzas, but I think from now on we will be making pan pizzas instead.

Whole Wheat Pan Pizza Dough

Adapted from Vegetarian Classics by Jeanne Lemlin

Makes 1-2 medium pan pizzas (depending on how thick you want the crust).

1 c. warm water, divided

1 t. evaporated cane juice

2 1/4 t. yeast (1 packet)

3 c. whole wheat flour (white wheat works best)

1 t. salt

3 T. olive oil, plus more for greasing

1) Combine 1/4 c. of the warm water and the evaporated cane juice. Stir until the cane juice is dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and let it sit for 1 minute. Stir the yeast in and let it proof for 10 minutes.

2) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook add the flour, salt, remaining 3/4 c. water, olive oil and yeast mixture. Knead on medium for 10 minutes. Remove the dough and set aside for a moment. If needed clean out the bowl of the stand mixer. Oil the bowl and press the dough into the bottom. Flip the dough over and so both sides are covering in the oil. Let rise for 30 minutes.

3) Roll dough out to desired thickness. For our pizza above we used about 2/3 of the dough for the 1 pan pizza and made a small thin crust pizza with the rest. Place the dough in a well oiled large cast iron skillet. Cover the pan with a tea towel and let rise another 30 minutes.

4) Bake dough in a preheated 450 degree oven for about 5 minutes. Top with desired toppings and then bake for an additional 8-12 minutes until your cheese is brown and bubbly. Slice and enjoy.

Baked Lemon Pasta

2011-04-14T09:16:00.000-06:00

We have both enjoyed cooking for a long time, but to be honest our cooking wasn't exactly the healthiest. It consisted of carbs, cheese, fat, more cheese and more carbs. In the last 4 years we have really worked hard to clean up our diets and work to make some significant changes to the way we eat. One of the biggest things that spurred this change was Cassie's health. She was only 25 years old and found out that because of her weight she had high blood pressure. That was the kick in the butt that we needed to really make some significant changes to our diets. These changes didn't happen overnight and in some instance we still have more changes to make, but little by little it has added up to a huge difference and meant a significant amount of weight lost for Cassie and blood pressure that is now maintained at a healthy level.

One of the challenges of going to a new way of eating is feeling like you have to give up your old favorite staple meals that you used to always eat. We really enjoy taking a lot of those recipes and really working to cut out significant portions of unnecessary calories and bad fats without sacrificing flavor (It helps to really like spicy food). Some previous posts where we have done just that are our Huevos Rancheros and Pizza along with many others.

We participated in yet another recipe swap this week. The theme of this week's swap was side dishes and once again we were given another great recipe. We received this recipe from the blogger over at Lemons & Love. Definitely check out the blog lots of other great recipes. We really enjoyed the pasta and it really made a great side dish. If you are interested we shared browned onion kugel as our entry into the swap.

Baked Lemon Pasta
Adapted from Lemons & Love
Makes 4 Servings
6 oz. whole wheat spaghetti
1.5 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 a medium lemon
zest of 1/2 a medium lemon
1/2 c. non-fat Greek yogurt (we recommend Fage 0% yogurt)
1-2 T. chopped flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1/2-1 oz. shredded Parmesan

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti until al dente.

2) Meanwhile in a separate bowl combine the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, Greek yogurt, parsley, salt and pepper. Toss spaghetti with this mixture and put into a oven proof dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Sprinkle on top with Parmesan and then bake for 15-17 minutes.

Italian Eggs over Spinach and Polenta

2011-04-11T08:29:00.039-06:00

Since we used to be vegetarians (and Jason was even vegan for awhile) we are not afraid to eat a lot of meals that don't center around meat. A lot of people have recently started trying to have meatless Mondays or are trying to give up meal for 1 meal a week. We think that is a really great effort and really applaud anyone who is willing to try it. There are so many really delicious meatless meals out there too many people are missing because they think it HAS to have meat to be a "real" meal. We really recommend to everyone to really give it a fair chance and you may find that you actually like (possibly even love) plenty of vegetarian dishes. Just remember that not every dish is suited for every palate and not every cooking technique will be liked by every person. So if you try something and aren't thrilled with the results don't give up. Keep trying!

While perusing the Cooking Light website not to long ago we came across this wonderful looking dish that we knew we just had to try. It looked super easy and really tasty. Plus we just love to use eggs in our dinners. They are a very healthy and really cheap source of protein. Even if you buy pasture raised eggs and a dozen runs you closer to $4 than to $2 you can still get a lot of good meals out of that dozen eggs.

Italian Eggs over Spinach and Polenta
Adapted from Cooking Light
Makes 4 servings
1 16 oz. tube of polenta, cut into 12 slices
cooking spray
2 c. tomato basil pasta sauce (fresh or store bought)
1 5 oz. package of Fresh baby spinach, washed
4-8 eggs (depending on if you want 1 or 2 per person)
2 oz. Parmesan
Fresh basil, shredded for garnish

1) Preheat your broiler to high. Line a baking sheet with foil. Spray polenta rounds with cooking spray and place them on the baking sheet. Broil for about 3-5 minutes until heated through and begin to get crispy on top. Set aside.

2) Meanwhile bring your sauce to a simmer in a large skillet. Add the spinach. Cover and cook for 1-2 minutes until the spinach has wilted. Make 4-8 (depending on how many eggs you are using) indentations in the spinach mixture with the back of a spoon. Carefully crack an egg into each indentation. Reduce heat a little and cover. Let eggs cook about 5-7 minutes till they are the desired doneness. Serve by placing 3 polenta rounds in a dish. Spoon the spinach mixture over each round and top with one or two eggs. Sprinkle with Parmesan and basil and serve.

Southwestern Egg & Black Bean Skillet

2011-04-08T04:11:00.041-06:00

We have to say that we were pretty shocked that we had yet to blog about this recipe yet. It is one of our favorite weeknight meals. It is easy, healthy, and inexpensive to make. We usually end up making it about once a month, which for us is quite frequent.

We found this dish on one of our favorite food blogs Cara's Cravings. We have eaten a ton of her recipes and enjoyed every one we made. We definitely recommend it as a great source for new eats. One of the things that originally sold us on the dish was the giant fan of avocado across the top of the dish. You can almost always guarantee that if a dish uses avocado (even if just for garnish) we will end up trying it. It did not disappoint and while the avocado may look like garnish we would definitely recommend that you NOT skip it. It really adds a nice creaminess and great flavor to the rest of the dish. It is pretty integral in our opinion. Along those same lines don't skip the cilantro garnish either. We are also of the mind that cilantro makes many things better.

Southwestern Egg & Black Bean Skillet
Adapted from Cara's Cravings
Makes 2 Servings
1 t. olive oil
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 c. frozen corn
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t. chili powder
1 10 oz. can of diced tomatoes with green chilies (we use Rotell Original or with habanero)
2 large eggs
1-2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
chopped cilantro and sliced avocado for garnish

1) In a skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until it begins to be translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic, corn and black beans and cook another 2 or so minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder.

2) Add the diced tomatoes with green chilies to the skillet and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Remove the cover and make two small indents into the beans. Carefully break an egg into each indent and then replace the cover. Continue to cook covered for another 5 minutes until eggs are set and depending on your desired results (runny yolks or fully cooked). Serve with feta cheese, avocado and cilantro.

Pasta with Swiss Chard and Italian Sausage

2011-04-06T08:11:00.000-06:00

Once again this week we were part of another great recipe swap that Cassie signed us up for. The theme for this week's swap was a pasta dish. We, once again, really enjoyed the recipe we got and although we may have done quite a bit of adapting of the recipe, so much so that we couldn't use the original title, we feel that the spirit of the dish was upheld and it was still full of the flavors intended. The recipe was a Martha Stewart recipe, but it was recommended to us by a the blogger Lisa from Lisa's Cooking Adventures. Thanks Lisa! We loved every minute of this dish!

As mentioned above we did quite a bit of adapting of this recipe. It was originally called Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe. We shop at a pretty small natural grocery store so quite a few of the title ingredients weren't available to us, but the substitutes we definitely close ones. First we chose to use a different whole wheat shape pasta to eat more whole grains and because orcchiette was not available. We didn't have time to make the pasta homemade either so we just stuck with the store bought and it was great. Second there was no broccoli rabe to be found so we subbed out Swiss chard that also gave the dish a little bit of a pinkish color.

Pasta with Swiss Chard and Italian Sausage
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes 4 Servings
12 oz. whole wheat pasta
4 hot Italian sausages, removed from casings
7 T. extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2-1 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1 bunch fresh Swiss Chard, well washed and chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 oz. Parmesan

1) Over high heat bring a pot of well salted water to a boil. Prepare Pasta to Al-dente and then drain and set aside.

2) In a skillet over medium heat crumble Italian sausages and cook fully. Remove the sausages from the pan and drain off any excess fat from the pan. Add in the olive oil, the garlic, and the red pepper flakes. Cook for about 30 seconds. Add in the Swiss chard and cook about 5 minutes until wilted. Return the sausage to the pan. Salt and pepper to taste.

3) Toss the sausage and chard mixture with the pasta and the Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Greek Chicken Mini Burgers

2011-03-30T04:43:00.000-06:00

We are big burger fans. There is nothing more satisfying on a summer evening than eating a juicy and delicious burger. We don't discriminate either. We will try almost any type of burger be it traditional or out there. We'll eat beef, chicken, vegetarian, bison, etc. when it comes to burgers. Also with toppings the sky is the limit.

With that said whenever we find a new burger recipe that intrigues us we know that we are going to have to give it a try. We saw this recipe for Greek turkey burgers on The Novice Chef Blog and knew that these would be on our menu the next week. They certainly did not disappoint. We did a little tweaking to the recipe and turned the burgers in to chicken burgers rather than turkey just for personal preference. We also decided that we would rather eat them in a pita than on a bun so there came the idea for mini burger patties much like falafel patties.

Greek Chicken Mini Burgers
Adapted from The Novice Chef Blog
Makes 4 Servings
12 oz. lean ground chicken
2 oz. crumbled feta cheese
1/4 c. sundried tomatoes, chopped (not packed in oil)
1/2 c. chopped fresh baby spinach leaves
1 t. oregano
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 t. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
4 whole wheat pitas
tzatziki sauce (recipe to follow)

1) In a medium bowl mix together the all the ingredients excluding the last two. Form the mixture into 16 mini patties about 1-2 inches in diameter.

2) Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Cook the mini burger patties about 2-3 minutes per side until cooked all the way through.

3) Meanwhile warm pitas in the oven for a few minutes. Cut the pitas in half. Fill each pita half with 2 mini burger patties, some tzatziki sauce and any other burger toppings you want (onion and some more spinach would be great). Enjoy!

Tzatziki sauce
1 medium cucumber, peeled
6 oz. fat free Greek yogurt
juice of half a medium lemon
1 t. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

1) Using a grater grate the cucumber fully. Place the shredded cucumber in a clean tea towel or paper towels and wring out as much excess moisture as you can.

2) Mix the cucumber together with the remaining ingredients and refrigerate for about an hour before serving.

Root Beer Bundt Cake

2011-03-29T15:47:00.000-06:00

Today is a very special day! It is Jason's 32nd birthday! For his birthday Cassie knew that she needed to make him a special treat. She looked around and found some stuff that looked pretty good, but when she finally found this recipe for a root beer bundt cake she knew she has found her cake. Jason is a big fan of root beer so she knew he would totally love this cake. We made it to bring to a family birthday celebration because Cassie's family has 4 birthdays all in the same week. The cake was a huge hit with Jason and with the rest of the family...Well everyone except Cassie's mom who is weird and doesn't like root beer. If you like root beer then we definitely recommend this recipe.

One thing we do recommend when making this cake is to purchase a good quality all natural root beer. Don't go for one that is full of just chemicals, coloring and high fructose corn syrup. Get the stuff made with actual sugar and real ingredients that you can recognize to flavor it. It really does make a world of difference. We used Hansen's brand Natural Soda, but Blue Sky also makes a really good all natural root beer.

Root Beer Bundt Cake
Adapted from Pink Parsley
2 cups root beer
1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 1/4 c. evaporated cane juice
3/4 c. sucanat
2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/4 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 large eggs

for the frosting:
2 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 t. salt
1/3 c. root beer, plus more as needed
2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 c. organic powdered sugar

1) In a small sauce pan combine the root beer, cocoa powder and butter. Heat over medium heat until the butter is melted. Stir in the evaporated cane juice and the sucanat and mix until dissolved. Remove from heat, pour the mix into a mixing bowl and let them cool for about 10-15 minutes. While this is cooling preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2) In a medium bowl whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda and salt.

3) Whisk the eggs until just beaten and then add them in to the cooled root beer mixture. Mix until well combined. Gently fold in the flour mix. It is ok if it is still somewhat lumpy. You don't want to over mix.

4) Pour the batter into a 10 inch bundt cake pan that has been liberally sprayed with non-stick spray and then dusted with cocoa powder. Bake the cake for about 35-45 minutes until a small knife inserted into it comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let the cake cool completely. Invert the cake to remove it from the pan.

5) To make the frosting place the dark chocolate in a double boiler over medium low heat. Stir until the chocolate is melted. Let the chocolate cool slightly before using it in the frosting. In a mixing bowl cream together the butter, salt, organic powdered sugar, and cocoa powder. Slowly add in the root beer and the melted chocolate to the mix. Beat until the mixture comes together adding more root beer if necessary. The finished frosting should thick enough to spread and shiny.

6) Spread a thick layer of frosting over the crown of the cake and let it set before serving.

Spaghetti al Limone with Shrimp

2011-03-25T04:16:00.055-06:00

Recently Cassie signed us up for a recipe swap on a message board she frequents. The theme of the swap was an easy weeknight meal. We thought it would be a fun challenge as well as a great way to try a new recipe. Plus we figured we could doctor up just about any bad recipe if need be. Well fortunately for us that was not the case. In the swap we received this great recipe from Giada deLaurentis adapted by Lisa from Lisa's Cooking Adventures. It was so good. We really enjoyed the flavors of the dish it DEFINITELY fell under the "easy" category for the night. Also just in case you are wondering this is the recipe we shared in the swap.

When we got the email for the dish we automatically knew it would be a winner for our house. You see Jason is a sour fanatic. He is one of those weird people that likes to eat lemons plain or with a little salt. He even buys pure citric acid (sour salt) and mixes it with water for a "treat". In fact he would probably rather eat a lemon than a cookie most nights. Not right, huh? Well this recipe uses three lemons. It had a great lemon flavor and immediately Jason said that we need to make it again soon.

Spaghetti al Limone with Shrimp
Adapted from Lisa's Cooking Adventures
Makes 4 Servings
12oz. whole wheat spaghetti

1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
4 cloves garlic, minced

salt to taste
3 medium lemons
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. milk or heavy cream
1/2 c. shredded Parmesan
ground black pepper to taste
small handful of fresh basil shredded
red pepper flakes

1) Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti until it is al dente. Reserve 1 c. of the pasta water and then drain pasta and set aside.

2) Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and the shrimp and saute about a minute on each side until the shrimp are pink and fully cooked. Salt to taste and set aside.

3) Also while the pasta is cooking zest and juice the three lemons. When the pasta is done in a large pot add 3/4 c. of the reserved pasta water, milk or cream, lemon juice, lemon zest and olive oil. Bring this to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for about 2-3 minutes. Return the pasta to the pan and toss well to coat with the sauce. Toss in the Parmesan and black pepper to taste. Serve with basil and red pepper flakes sprinkled on top of the pasta.

Hamentaschen

2011-03-22T10:38:00.002-06:00

Just this past weekend we celebrated the Jewish holiday of Purim. For those that don't know what Purim is can read about it here. Purim is a very fun holiday with lots of joyful celebrations, costumes, good food, and you are supposed to get a little drunk. You heard us right. Overindulging in wine is a good thing on Purim. Of course you don't want to get totally wasted, but a decent buzz is A-okay. As part of our celebration this year we made Hamentaschen. Hamentaschen are little triangle cookies filled with various fruit preserves. They are a favorite treat of Cassie's and if you are going to make 1 cookie recipe from this blog then we definitely recommend that this be the recipe you use! Everyone who had them absolutely raved about them. They were soft and moist and fruity. They were perfect.

A quick note on this recipe...We use whole wheat pastry flour in place of all purpose flour a lot in this blog. Usually can easily just switch it back to all purpose if you prefer with no real harm, but in this recipe it is important to stick with the whole wheat pastry flour or at the very least only sub half of the flour for all purpose flour. The texture will be all wrong if you use all purpose flour for 100% of the recipe. Also for this recipe we used both raspberry and blue berry preserves. You can use any flavor you want.

Hamentaschen
Adapted from Judaism 101
Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies

2/3 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. evaporated cane juice
1 egg
1/4 c. fresh squeezed orange juice
2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
your favorite preserves, pie filling or fruit butter

1) In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment cream together the butter and the evaporated cane juice. Add the egg and then the orange juice beating each until fully incorporated.

2) In a separate bowl whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Slowly add the flower mixture to the wet ingredients 1/2 c. at a time. When all the flour is incorporated turn the dough out onto plastic wrap. Wrap the dough in the plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.

3) Remove the dough from the fridge. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a well floured surface roll the dough out at thin as you can get it. Using a circle cutter cut circles approximately 3-4 inches in diameter. Place the cut out circles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. In the center of each circle add a small dollop of your filling (about 1/2-1 t. worth). Fold the circle into a triangle by folding 1 edge over the filling. Then fold the second edge over. With the third edge you want to tuck the corner under the corner of the first edge (clear as mud?). You want each of the three edges to have 1 corner on top and 1 corner underneath. This will keep the dough from opening up and spilling out your filling while baking.

4) Place baking sheet in the oven on the center rack and bake about 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely and enjoy.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-03-21T08:42:00.000-06:00

Recently there have been a lot of brown butter recipes out there. You find it in sauces, savory dishes and desserts. Browning butter before you use it gives it a rich nutty flavor that is really satisfying. We decided after we have seen so many great recipes out there with browned butter that we needed to go ahead and jump on the band wagon as well. We made these brown butter chocolate chip cookies and they were amazing. The flavors were great and everyone who had some just raved about them. The cookies were definitely more of a crispy cookie than a soft chocolate chip cookie. They all have their place, right? We hope you enjoy these as much as we did.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Christie's Corner

Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies

3/4 c. butter

3/4 c. sucanat

1/2 c. evaporated cane juice

2 large eggs

1 t. vanilla

2 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan heat butter over medium high heat till it becomes amber colored and smells nutty. Remove from heat and let the butter cool for about 5-10 minutes.

2) Meanwhile whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

3) Once the butter has cooled whisk the butter in with the sucanat and the evaporated cane juice until they have mostly dissolved. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla until they are well combined. Slowly begin to add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in batches. Let each batch mix in completely before adding the next batch. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4) Place 1 heaping tablespoon sized dollops on a cookies sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

Literary Lunch: Gunslinger Burritos

2011-03-15T04:35:00.057-06:00

We cannot tell you how excited we are to share this meal and this series of books. The meal was delicious and the books are some of the best we have ever read. We are talking about the Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. These books are Stephen King's Magnum Opus, and if you like any of his works you will love these. In fact, you will find some very familiar scenes and characters from King's other books within the pages of this series.

The story chronicles the journey of Roland of Gilead. He is the last gunslinger and is on a quest to travel to and climb to the top of the Dark Tower. The world has moved on since he was young and things such as time, distance or direction no longer are quite so measurable or trustworthy anymore. Roland, along with his new found Ka-tet (group of friends brought together by fate aka Ka), must fight against the forces of the Crimson King that wish to destroy the Dark Tower and with it all existence. This journey traverses different worlds, times, and many miles (or wheels). It also spurs many emotions within the reader and leaves you with a sense of longing after you have finished. The main characters Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, Oy, and Pere Callahan will all strike a nerve because they are all so human and so real.

The meal we planned for this story is actually drawn from the third book "The Wastelands." After traveling a great distance across a fairly desolate beach Roland and his Ka-tet come to a wooded area. There they are able to hunt deer and find vegetation to eat. One of the things they make is deer meat wrapped in leaves. These concoctions are dubbed Gunslinger burritos by Eddie at one point and we felt that they would be an excellent addition to our literary lunch. We didn't have deer meat available to us so we used beef, but feel free to use any meat or game that you want. Also we embellished on the contents of the burritos a bit and made them more into a lettuce wrap style meal. We hope you enjoy both the books and the meal.

Gunslinger Burritos
A Jason and Cassie Original
Makes 4 servings
For Steaks:
1 lb. sirloin steak (preferably grass-fed)
1/2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cumin
salt and pepper to taste

For Beans and Rice:
1 t. olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1 jalapeno diced (with or without seeds)
1 c. cooked brown rice
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c. water
1 t. chili powder
1 t. cumin
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1 small lime
1 handful cilantro leaves, rinsed and chopped

For Vegetables
1 T. olive oil
1 medium onion sliced
1 red bell pepper sliced

1 Head lettuce

1) To prepare the steaks: Season sirloin steak with the chili powder, cumin and salt and pepper. Grill steaks about 3-4 minutes per side over medium heat until medium. Set aside and let rest a few minutes before slicing.

2) To prepare the beans and rice: heat olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and jalapeno and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Add the rice, beans, water, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Simmer and let heat through for about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and add the lime juice and cilantro.

3) To prepare the vegetables: Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and peppers and let saute about 10 minutes until they soften and begin to brown.

4) Separate all the leaves on the head of lettuce. Wash each leaf well and then dry. To serve place a small amount of each of the steak, beans and rice and vegetables on top of each lettuce leaf. Wrap up and enjoy.

Jalapeno Cheese Bread

2011-03-14T09:25:00.000-06:00

Recently we have been on a homemade bread kick. It is so satisfying to eat fresh bread and this bread was no exception. We made it to go with some soup we were making one Sunday night and it turned out so wonderful. It is lightly cheesy, spicy and fluffy. We will definitely be making this again.

One thing about homemade bread is that in ever recipe the last step includes the instruction to let the finished bread cool at least 1 hour before slicing. Does anyone actually do that? In our household the bread comes out of the oven and all bets are off. In fact it was almost a miracle that we managed to get this photo taken before we ripped into it. We are of the opinion that there is nothing better than hot straight from the oven bread with a generous dollop of butter melting all over it. Pretty much heaven!

Jalapeno Cheese Bread

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Makes 1 loaf

1 c. all purpose flour

1 1/3 c. whole white wheat flour

4 oz. jack cheese, shredded + a little more for the top of the bread

1/4 c. picked jalapenos, minced + a few more whole for the top of the bread

2 T. + 2 t. evaporated cane juice

1/2 t salt

2/3 c. warm water

2 1/4 t. (1 packet) active dry yeast

1 T. + 1t. vegetable oil

1) Whisk together the all purpose flour and whole white wheat flour. Toss well with the jalapenos and cheese till they are well coated.

2) In a separate bowl mix together the evaporated cane juice, salt and water until dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water mixture and let sit 1 minutes. Stir the yeast into the water well and then let rise 10 minutes. Add the vegetable oil to the yeast mixture and stir well.

3) Slowly add the yeast mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well until just combined. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed the dough for about 10 minutes. Add more whole white wheat flour if necessary, but the dough should be sticky. Place the dough back into an oiled bowl pressing it into the bottom of the bowl and then turning over so both sides are oiled. Place the dough in a warm dry place, cover with a clean towel and let rise approximately 1 hour until doubled in size.

4) Punch dough down and then turn the dough out onto a clean and floured work surface. Press the dough out till it is in a rectangle and all air bubbles have been popped. Form dough into loaf shape and place in a greased loaf pan. Cover with the towel and let rise again approximately another 45 minutes to an hour when the dough has nearly doubled in size again.

5) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Sprinkle the extra jalapenos and cheese on top of the bread and then bake for about 50 minutes until the dough is brown on the outside and and fully cooked on the inside. Let the dough cool about 10 minutes in the pan and then turn it out onto a baking rack and let cool another hour before slicing (if you can resist that long).

Chicken Vindaloo

2011-03-06T14:19:00.000-07:00

We're always excited to make Indian dishes. That having been said, for some reason it's never the first thing that comes to mind when we're deciding on meals for the week. Cassie found this and we decided to give it a shot. This quick and fairly easy recipe is all about the preparation. Once everything is peeled and chopped up, there's nothing to it. The tangy flavor from the vinegar is almost overwhelming at first bite, but then your mouth knows what to expect and you realize how well balanced the dish is. If you enjoy this, you might also take a look at Doro Wet.

Chicken Vindaloo

Adapted From the Feb/Mar 2011 issue of Fine Cooking found via Oishii

1-1/2 TBS. curry powder
2 tsp. hot paprika (or 2 tsp. paprika + 1/8 tsp. cayenne)
Freshly ground black pepper
1-1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 3/4- to 1-inch pieces
8 medium cloves garlic, minced
3 TBS. red wine vinegar
Kosher salt
2 TBS. canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 TBS. grated fresh ginger
1 (14-1/2-oz). can diced tomatoes, drained, 1/3 cup juice reserved
3 TBS. chopped fresh cilantro

1. Combine curry powder, paprika, and 3/4 tsp. black pepper in a small bowl.

2. Place the chicken in a medium glass bowl, sprinkle with 1 TBS. of the curry powder mixture, half of the garlic, 2 TBS. of the vinegar, and 3/4 tsp. salt; toss to coat. Set aside at room temperature.

3. Heat the oil in a sauté pan over high heat. Add the onion and a 1/4 tsp. salt and cook until starting to brown.

4. Reduce heat to medium high. Add the ginger, the remainder of the garlic and curry powder mixture. Cook for about 45 seconds, stirring the mixture.

5. Add the tomatoes to the pan and mix. Stir in the chicken, reserved tomato juice, remaining 1 TBS. vinegar, and 2/3 cup water.

6. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, partially covered, until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve over brown rice.

Green Chile and Hominy Casserole

2011-03-04T01:54:00.052-07:00

Months and months ago we were having some people over for dinner and were raking our brains with what to make. Jason suggested we try our hand at Pozole so we did. Before that point in time Cassie has never had hominy. Sure she had heard of hominy and had a sketchy idea of what it was, but had never tasted it. From that Pozole on though Cassie can officially declare herself a hominy fan. When we found this recipe we knew we were going to have to give it a try. It did not disappoint. It was definitely a lot better tasting than our photo shows and we urge you to give it a try.

Green Chile and Hominy Casserole
Adapted from Elly Says Opa
Serves 4-6
2 Poblano chiles
1 T. canola oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 jalapenos (1 seeded), chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 28 oz. can hominy, drained and rinsed
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t. cayenne
1/2 c. cilantro, chopped
2 t. lime juice
2 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
salt and pepper to taste
sliced scallions

1) Place the Poblanos under a preheated broiler till their skin begins to blister and blacken. Turn to make sure all sides are blackened. Place the poblanos in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let them sit about 10-15 minutes. When the poblanos are cool enough to touch begin to rub the skin off of them. Once you have all the skin removed, remove the seeds and dice them.

2) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a cast iron (or other oven safe) skillet heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and let cook 3-5 minutes until it begins to soften. Add in the jalapeno and cook another minute or two. Add the garlic and let cook 30 seconds.

3) Remove the skillet from heat and add the diced poblanos, black beans, hominy, sour cream, Greek yogurt, cumin, cayenne, cilantro, lime juice, half of the cheddar cheese and salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.

4) Top with the remaining cheese and place in the oven. Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Top with the scallions and serve.

Chicken Pot Pie with Whole Wheat Biscuit Topping

2011-03-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

We all have those favorite recipes from when we were growing up that just scream of childhood and the comforts of home cooking. Then (at least if you are like Cassie) there are those dishes that you were served that used to fill you with dread and you just knew you were going to be sitting at that kitchen table forever, holding your nose and trying to choke down the prescribed number of bites left that your mom told you to eat....Wait, that didn't happen to you?

Ok so we will admit it...Cassie was a weird kid. She had some very strong food aversions and basically only really liked to eat tuna, fruit, cottage cheese and sprouts covered in blue cheese dressing. There were things that she didn't hate and would eat, but that list is basically what she liked (minus desserts). There were frequent battles around the kitchen table in her youth and many attempts at disposing of foods she was required to eat. Chicken Pot Pie was definitely one of those "this is going to be a struggle" meals.

Jason on the other hand was a far less picky eater than Cassie. He pretty much ate what was made for him and didn't complain too much. Even with that consideration Jason has never been much of fan of pot pies. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. So why did we decide to make this then?

Chicken pot pie is one of those dishes that just screams comfort food. It is rich, creamy, warm and usually either has some flaky pie crust or some other yummy breaded topping. With all that going for it we saw the Eating Well recipe and decided to give it another try. We made this for a comforting Sunday lunch and enjoyed it over and over through the week. It will definitely be made again.

Chicken Pot Pie with Whole Wheat Biscuit Topping
Adapted from Eating Well
Serves 6
Filling:
3 t. canola oil, divided
1 c. onions, chopped
1 c. carrots, peeled and diced
10 oz. cremini mushrooms, quartered
1 c. butternut squash, peeled and diced
2 1/2 c. reduced sodium chicken broth, divided
1/4 c. corn starch
2 c. chicken, cooked and diced
1 c. frozen peas
1/4 c. sour cream
1/2-1 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 t. salt
black pepper to taste

For biscuit topping:
1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
2 t. evaporated cane juice or sucanat
1 1/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 t. dried thyme
1 1/2 T. cold butter cut into small pieces
1 c. milk +1 T. vinegar
1 T. canola oil

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat one teaspoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and cook until they begin to soften and brown a bit, about 3 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and squash and cook, stirring often, for another 5-7 minutes.

2) Add in 2 cups broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer a few minutes. Mix the remaining 1/2 c. of broth with the cornstarch. Add this mix into the pan and cook stirring until it begins to thicken. Add in the chicken, peas, sour cream, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Transfer this mixture to a casserole dish sprayed with non-stick spray.

3) Whisk the flour, evaporated cane juice, baking powder, baking soda, salt and thyme together in a medium bowl. Using either a pastry mixer or your fingers mix the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles fine meal. Add in the milk mixture and the oil and stir until combined.

4) Drop the biscuit mixture on top of the filling mix in the casserole dish in 6 good sized lumps. Place the casserole dish on a baking sheet (to avoid any overflow in the oven) and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until the filling is bubbly and the biscuit topping is browned. Let cool about 5 minutes, serve and enjoy.

Hungarian Beef Goulash

2011-02-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

Goulash is really a very unattractive sounding dish. It doesn't sound fancy or pretty or even very appetizing. It is a very guttural word. To be honest the dish doesn't look all that beautiful either, but let's get one thing straight...this dish is wonderful. It is hearty, filling, comforting and delicious all wrapped up into one little package. Add to that the fact that the dish is extremely easy and you definitely have a winner in our book.

Hungarian Beef Goulash
Adapted from Eating Well
Makes 4 Servings
1 lb. beef stew meat
2 t. caraway seeds
1 T. Hungarian Paprika
1/4 t. salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 c. diced tomatoes
1 c. low sodium beef broth
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 T. corn starch mixed with 2 T. water
parsley, chopped (optional)

1) Using the bottom of a sauce pan, crush the caraway seeds. Add the beef to your slow cooker and season with the caraway seeds, paprika, salt and pepper. Toss well to coat. Add the remaining ingredients up through the bay leaf to a slow cooker. Mix thoroughly and cook on low for 8 hours.

2) Discard the bay leaf and skim any visible fat from the top of the broth. Add the cornstarch mixture and cook on high for 10-15 minutes until the mixture has thickened somewhat. Sprinkle with parsley and serve over whole wheat pasta.

Kung Pao Tofu

2011-02-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

As reformed vegetarians there are certain dishes that you can get either vegetarian or not, but you liked them so much in the vegetarian state that you feel like there is no need to eat them with meat in them. Kung Pao Tofu is one of those dishes. We realize that they make Kung Pao with beef, chicken and seafood as well as with tofu, but we just really like it with tofu and just don't see the point of adding meat. Sure meat can be tasty, but tofu really can be as well. Plus tofu is a LOT cheaper than ethical meat.

Kung Pao Tofu
Adapted from Jaime Cooks
Makes 4 Servings
1 c. brown rice
1 12 oz. package Extra Firm Tofu, well drained and diced
3 T. sesame oil, divided
1/2 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c. water
4 T. low sodium soy sauce
2 t. corn starch
1 t. sucanat
1 1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1 t. fresh ginger, minced
1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
1 c. snow peas
1/8 c. roasted unsalted peanuts

1) Bring 2 c. water to a boil and add rice. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 45 minutes until rice is tender. When done fluff with a fork before serving.

2) Meanwhile heat a wok or a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 T. of the sesame oil. Add the tofu to the pan and cook turing occasionally until tofu begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove tofu from the wok and set aside.

3) Add the onion to the pan and let saute about 4 minutes until the onions begin to soften. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the tofu back to the pan.

4) Combine water with the soy sauce, corn starch, sucanat, and crushed red pepper flakes. Add this mixture to the pan and bring it to a boil. Add the red bell pepper and the snow peas and toss to coat with the sauce in the pan. Let the vegetable cook for about 2-3 minutes until they are beginning to be tender, but still crisp. Toss in the peanuts and serve over brown rice.

Black Bean and Avocado Fudge

2011-02-17T02:23:00.007-07:00

When one hears of fudge made with black beans and avocados one will usually wonder how good that is going to taste. Surprisingly it is pretty darn good. We found this recipe and since Cassie will immediately go for anything that has avocado in it we knew we were going to have to give it a try. The results were great. It is a very tasty and pretty darn healthy treat that is great for a chocolaty dessert of even guilt free enough for a weekday snack. We have actually taken to making these on a weekly basis as a snack to take with us to work. Delicious, pretty healthy, full of protein, and easy to make. Can't get much better than that. These are very tasty fresh, but honestly they get even better when you let them sit overnight.

To make these you would usually use an 8x8 pan. We used a round 9 inch cake pan since we don't currently have an 8x8 pan. What can we say? We just don't make very many brownies. Since we found this recipe we will definitely be buying an 8x8 pan soon. You can use either pan. They both work great, but a square pan makes it easier to cut into uniform servings.

Black Bean and Avocado Fudge
Adapted from Branny Boils Over
Makes 12 Servings
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
5 egg whites
1/4 c. agave nectar
1 small ripe avocado
6 T. cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 t. vanilla extract
6 t. evaporated cane juice

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your baking pan with parchment paper (8x8 or 9 in round)

2) In a food processor combine black beans, egg white, agave, and the avocado. Puree until smooth making sure there are no chunks of beans or avocado.

3) Add in the cocoa powder, salt, vanilla and evaporated cane juice and blend until everything is well mixed. Scrape down the sides of the food processor if necessary.

4) Pour into your parchment lined pan and spread evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool, slice and enjoy

Literary Lunch: A Confederacy of Dunces Hot Dogs

2011-02-15T05:26:00.006-07:00

Books are pretty important part of our daily lives in the Barber home. We read a lot of books in various genres and both of us actually went to school to become librarians. I am sure you can only imagine that with 2 librarian types in the house we have quite a number of books and this with Jason's constant weeding of our collection. In fact we just realized that we have three problems. 1) We are totally out of space on our current bookshelves. 2) We have been on a bit of a book buying spree lately so we have quite a few homeless books at the moment. 3) We can't bring ourselves to get rid of any more books to make room. We have already weeded as much as we dare to. Those three things brought us to the realization that we need a new book case...and soon.

So what does this have to do with our blog? Well our love of books and our love of food have somehow combined to create a monthly series that we will call Literary Lunch. As we have both realized recently a lot of books discuss food quite a bit amongst their pages. That got us thinking that we could use the books we read as inspiration for some of the meals we eat. These posts may or may not include a recipe, but we will discuss the book briefly and how the food fits into the picture. You can look for meals posted on the 15th of every month.

So on to our first book/meal of choice. We chose the book A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. This is a pretty odd and amazing book and we definitely thoroughly enjoyed it. The book is about Ignatius Jacques Reilly and his exploits. Ignatius is an adult male that lives at home with his widowed mother and basically sponges off her as he takes time to critique modern society. He has biting commentary for almost anything and everything. His favorite pastimes include going to the movies to yell at the screen, eating, and spending time alone in his room or in the bathroom. Along the way his mother begins to stand up for herself and makes Ignatius go out to find a job. Ignatius manages to get a job as a hot dog vendor. So without telling you any more of the story we present the A Confederacy of Dunces Hot Dog.

There is no recipe here this month, because honestly it isn't difficult to make a hot dog, but we thought it would be a great first for our Literary Lunch Series. It certainly makes for a satisfying Saturday lunch just as the book A Confederacy of Dunces makes for a truly entertaining read. Enjoy!

Cocoa-Infused Black Bean Soup

2011-02-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

We have mentioned before how much we like our grocery store, Natural Grocers. They sell really quality products and always have tons of great meal ideas in there store. This meal came from their magazine they were giving away Delicious Living. In the February 2011 issue they have a section on cooking with cocoa. This instantly drew our attention and when we saw the black bean soup we knew we had to make it. It just sounded way too good.

Cocoa-Infused Black Bean Soup

Adapted from February 2011 Delicious Living

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 red onion, diced

3 bay leaves

1/2 t. salt

2 stalks celery, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 c. tomato puree

1 t. chili powder

1/4-1/2 t. cayenne pepper

4 c. low sodium vegetable broth

1 25 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 T. Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/2 t. black pepper

1/4 t. paprika

1 c. cilantro, coarsely chopped

1) Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, bay leaves and salt. Cook for about 4-5 minutes until the onion begin to soften. Add the celery, carrots, and bell pepper. Continue cooking for another 7-8 minutes. Add the chili powder and cayenne pepper and stir to coat. Cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute until fragrant. Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

2) Stir in beans, cocoa powder, pepper and paprika. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Stir in the cilantro and serve.

Swiss Chard Lasagna Roll Ups

2011-02-07T10:15:00.002-07:00

A trendy food ingredient has emerged in recent years. This ingredient has caused some concern on our part and we could even go as far to say that we are disturbed by this trend. Pine nuts are taking over food. You see them topping salads, mixed in sauces, pesto is everywhere...Wait...Why is this disturbing?

Well it is only really disturbing if you are like Cassie and have severe allergy to pine nuts. One bite or drop of cross contamination sparks a pretty nasty reaction that can last for days and often leads to a trip to the Emergency Room. It also makes eating out at restaurants that use pine nuts slightly dangerous. Cross contamination is a big issue in those busy kitchens for people with severe food allergies. Plus there are so many really yummy looking recipes out there that call for pine nuts! At least with those recipes we aren't afraid to take them on and either omit the pine nuts completely or sub them out for another nut. That is the case with these really yummy Swiss Chard Lasagna Roll-ups that we made. We used walnuts in place of the pine nuts and it made for a really satisfying meal.

Swiss Chard Lasagna Roll-ups
Adapted from Leslie Sarna
Serves 4-6
12 oz. ground chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, chopped

12 Swiss Chard Leaves, washed and the stalks removed
3 c. prepared tomato sauce (jarred or homemade)
15 oz. part skim ricotta cheese
1/3 c. golden rasins
1/3 c. walnuts
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, shredded and divided
1/2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
salt and pepper

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a casserole for your oven by spraying it with olive oil cooking spray. Spoon about 1/2 a c. of the tomato sauce into the bottom of the casserole dish to cover it.

2) Brown ground chicken in a medium skillet over medium heat with the onion and the 2 minced garlic cloves. When it is cooked through, drain the meat and set aside to cool slightly.

3) In a medium to large bowl combine the ricotta, raisins, walnuts, 1/4 c. of the Parmesan and 1/4 c. of the Mozzarella. Once the chicken has cooled a little mix it in with the cheese mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4) To prepare the roll-ups take 1 chard leaf and spoon about 1/3 c. of the mixture on to one end of the leaves. Roll it up in the leaves tucking the sides in (like a burrito) to keep the filling inside the chard leaves and then place into the casserole dish. Do this to all 12 leaves. You may have some filling leftover. Pour the remaining sauce over the roll-ups and then sprinkle the remaining Parmesan and mozzarella on top.

5) Bake in the oven about 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

Mexican Hot Chocolate with Spicy Dulce De Leche Whipped Cream

2011-01-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Right off the bat, let's just get one thing straight...In no way shape or form is this recipe healthy. I mean I guess it is made of whole/real ingredients and not some powder full of corn derivatives. So it is better than those in a way, but it sure as heck isn't healthy. Not at all. Not even a smidge...BUT is is pretty darn amazing. We bought all the stuff for this meal for Christmas Eve night, but didn't make it. We had all the stuff sitting around for awhile till finally we got around to whipping up a glass. Oh My God! This stuff was amazing. It was so incredibly rich and so very tasty. The whipped cream was our favorite part. We will be using this whipped cream over and over and over again. Plus when it says it is spicy whipped cream...it means it! If you don't like spicy then you should probably omit the all or part of the cayenne and maybe even some of the red pepper flakes.

Mexican Hot Chocolate
Adapted from Babble
Makes 4-6 servings
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
4 c. milk
2 c. organic vanilla bean ice cream
3/4 c. sucanat
1 1/2 c. water
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
3 t. vanilla extract
1 batch spicy dulce de leche whipped cream (recipe below)

1) Grate the chocolate with a fine grater or a microplane.

2) Heat a medium sauce pan on low. Add the milk, ice cream and sugar. Mix well until just before it simmers. Whisk in the grated chocolate. Keep whisking until it begins to melt and be incorporated. Whisk in the cinnamon vanilla and water. Heat until just before it simmers. Serve with spicy whipped cream.

Spicy Dulce de Leche Whipped Cream
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1/3 c. sucanat
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. cayenne
1/4 t. red pepper flakes

1) About 1 hour to 30 minutes before you make the whipped cream freeze the bowl you plan to whip it in and the whisk.

2) In the cold bowl add the whipping cream and beat until it begins to form soft peaks. Slowly add the sucanat until it is well incorporated. Beat in the cinnamon and cayenne. Spoon or pipe onto hot chocolate and then top with red pepper flakes.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

2011-01-26T06:29:00.000-07:00

Mitch Hedberg was a very hilarious comedian. He took some of the simplest jokes and made them amazing through his laid back delivery. One joke of Mitch Hedberg that comes to mind is when he was talking about how you have to "start a show strong and end the show strong. You can't be like pancakes. They are all exciting at first, but by the end your f*cking sick of them." Well Mitch...We can assure you that you won't be sick of these pancakes when you are done with them. They are not only delicious and easy to whip together, but they are packed with whole grains so you don't feel a huge carb crash after eating them.

Whole Wheat Pancakes
Adapted from Vegetarian Classics by Jeanne Lemlin
Makes 4 very generous servings

2 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 c. evaporated cane juice or sucanat
2 1/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
3 large eggs
2 1/4 c. milk
4 T. butter, melted and slightly cooled
vegetable oil spray or a non stick pan
maple syrup

1) Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. In a large bowl whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, evaporate cane juice, baking powder and salt.

2) Whisk eggs in a medium bowl. Add in milk and melted butter.

3) Pour the egg mixture in with the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.

4) If you are not using a non stick pan spray pan with oil spray. Pour about 1/3 to 1/2 a cup on batter into the pan for each pancake depending on how large you like your pancakes.

5) Flip pancakes when bubbles begin to form in the top of the pancake and don't disappear after they have burst. Cook for another few minutes until both sides are nice and golden brown. Serve immediately with maple syrup and butter.

Kale and Pinto Bean Enchiladas

2011-01-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

Mexican food is serious comfort food around our house. We both grew up in areas with lots and lots of good Mexican food (Texas and Southern California). In fact the debate about what is better, Tex Mex or more authentic Mexican food, is a pretty common around our household. Jason being the Texan of course thinks Tex Mex is better while Cassie holds that authentic Mexican food beats out Tex Mex any day. We will probably never reach an agreement on this subject. One thing we do know is that we both love enchiladas and were very excited to find this healthy enchilada recipe that can be a made anytime rather than just waiting for a special occasion. Also the sauce from this recipe was wonderful. It will now be our go to recipe for enchilada sauce.

Kale and Pinto Bean Enchiladas
Adapted from Cate's World Kitchen
Serves 4

1 t. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 large onion, chopped
1-2 jalapenos, with or without seeds, diced
1 t. cumin
2 small zucchinis, finely diced
1 bunch kale, roughly chopped
1 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c. cilantro, minced
1 recipe enchilada sauce, below
12 corn tortillas
1 c. grated jack cheese
salt and pepper

1) Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, garlic, onion, and jalapeno. Cook for a few minutes until the onion begins to soften. Add the cumin, zucchini and salt to taste. Cook for another 3 minutes and then add the kale. Stir until the kale has wilted.

2) Remove from heat and stir in the pinto beans, some black pepper, the cilantro, and a few spoon fulls of the enchilada sauce.

3) To assemble the enchiladas heat a small skillet over medium heat. Warm each tortilla in the skillet for about 30-60 seconds per side until soft and pliable. Fill the warmed tortilla with the kale and pinto bean mixture and then form into a roll. Place in a oven proof dish with a layer of enchilada sauce on the bottom. Repeat this step until you have 12 enchiladas. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and then sprinkle the cheese on top.

4) Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes until cheese is melted and begins to bubble. Serve warm.

Enchilada Sauce
1 large poblano pepper
2 T. vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz. can of whole fire roasted tomatoes and their juice.
1 t. agave nectar
1 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
1-2 t. lime juice

1) Cut the chili in half and place it cut side down in a pan. Place the chili under the broiler in your oven for about 10 minutes until the skin is charred and bubbly. Cover with cold water and soak for 15 minutes. Dice the chili finely.

2) Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the chili, onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes, stirring. When the onion has softened add the tomatoes, agave, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste. Use a spoon to mash up the tomatoes as they soften. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
3) Stir in the cilantro and lime juice. Using an immersion blender puree mixture until it is smooth. This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated. The sauce is best when it has sat for a few hours to let the flavors really meld.

Chicken, Pea and Pasta Salad

2011-01-14T06:17:00.023-07:00

One of the things we are trying to do in 2011 is to shop our pantry before we plan meals and make a grocery list so we can use items we already have and avoid buying items that we didn't really need to begin with. When searching through our pantry this particular week we came across 1/2 a package of whole wheat macaroni and some frozen peas. We set to work thinking about what we could make with these and in our brains blossomed this idea for a pasta salad with chicken and peas. What resulted from this little idea was a great weeknight meal that was quick to throw together and very delicious.

Chicken, Pea and Pasta Salad
A Jason and Cassie Original
Makes 4 servings

8 oz. dried whole wheat pasta, preferably a small pasta like macaroni
5 oz. frozen peas
2 slices whole grain bread (we used sprouted multigrain bread
5 T. olive oil, divided
3 T. balsamic vinegar
1/2 t. oregano
1/2 t. basil
1/2-1 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, baked and cubed.
Salt and pepper

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook till al dente. When the pasta is just done, throw the peas into the pot with the pasta. Let sit for about 30 seconds and then drain. Place in a large serving bowl.

2) Take slices of bread and cut into small cubes. Toss with 1 T. olive oil and salt and pepper. Line bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 5 minutes until golden and crunchy.

3) Meanwhile make the dressing by combining 4 T. of olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Set aside. Let this sit together for at least 10 minutes so the flavors can combine.

4) In the bowl with the pasta and peas add the chicken, dressing and Parmesan cheese. Refrigerate until cool. This can be made ahead of time up to this point. The salad is actually better when it has sat together for a few hours. Just before serving toss the croutons in with the rest of the salad. Enjoy.

Grilled Turkey and Sun Dried Tomato Sandwiches

2011-01-13T06:00:00.028-07:00

We have been having a serious cold front lately. Here in Denver we have had some snow, but on top of the snow we have had temperatures below 10 degrees the last few days. That is just bitter and it begs a person to have some serious comfort food. One of the best comfort foods on a cold day is soup and sandwiches. It is an easy meal and oh so warming and satisfying.

We had our tomato soup picked out so all we needed was a good sandwich recipe. While trying to decide we stumbled across a recipe in the January issue of Clean Eating Magazine. This recipe was stuck on 1/2 a tear out page filled with subscription cards. We only found it because we were intent on ripping it out of the magazine. Good thing we took a good look at it before we did because this sandwich was very yummy and so easy to make. Plus it was really healthy!

Grilled Turkey and Sun Dried Tomato Sandwiches
Adapted from the January Issue of Clean Eating Magazine
Makes 4 sandwiches

8 slices rye sprouted grain bread (We used Alvarado Street Bakery)
12 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, patted dry and halved
2 oz. Jack cheese, thinly sliced
4 servings of low sodium turkey breast meat
1 1/2 c. arugula leaves, washed

1) Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat.

2) While the skillet is heating assemble the sandwiches by taking 4 slices of bread. Place 6 sun-dried tomato halves on each slice of bread and cover with 1/2 an oz. of Jack cheese on each piece of bread. Layer 1 serving of turkey breast over each sandwich and then the arugula. Top with the remaining 4 slices of bread.

3) In the dry, heated skillet place 1 to 2 sandwiches (or however many you can fit) and cover with a lid. Let the sandwiches cook for about 2-4 minutes per side until the desired doneness of the bread. Flip over, cover and cook for another 2-4 minutes on the other side and the cheese has melted. Serve warm.

Saag Tofu

2011-01-12T08:00:00.001-07:00

Indian food is definitely a favorite in our household. We love the flavors involved and it is a great use to bring out a ton of spices and really just have some fun in the kitchen. One of our favorite Indian dishes is saag. The greens mixed with all the spices turns out a very creamy and flavorful meal that is very fulfilling and perfect for a cold night. You can make saag with almost any protein. Paneer, lamb, chicken, etc. It all goes well. Our favorite saag is with paneer (Indian cheese). Paneer can be a bit of a high calorie addition to the meal so we decided to give it a try with tofu instead of paneer. What resulted was a truly delicious and extremely healthy dish that will definitely be made in our household again.

Saag Tofu
Adapted from Chef In You
Serves 4

1 c. brown basmati rice
1 bunch chard or Mustard leaves
1 bunch spinach
5-10 parsley leaves (for freshness)
generous handful of fresh cilantro leaves
1-2 green chilis, with or without seeds depending on taste
2 T. canola oil, divided
1 onion, finely chopped
1 t. crushed garlic
1 t. crushed ginger
1 package firm tofu, well drained and cubed
1 t. garam masala
pinch of tumeric
1/2 t. corriander, ground
1/2 t. cumin
salt to taste

1) Rinse rice and prepare according to package directions.

2) Wash and roughly chop the chard and spinach. In a large pot steam the first four ingredients until wilted. Place all the wilted greens in a blender with the green chilis and puree until smooth. You can add a little water if the mixture is too thick to puree.

3) Meanwhile heat 1 T. oil in a medium skillet. Add tofu and cook for 5-10 minutes until it begins to brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.

4) Add the remaining 1 T. of oil to the pan along with the onion, garlic, ginger and spices. Heat for 5 minutes until onions begin to soften. Add the tofu back to the pan and let cook for another 5 minutes. Add in the greens puree and bring to a boil. If the mixture is too watery you can add some corn starch to thicken it up. If it is too thick you can add some water. Salt to taste and serve warm over the basmati rice.

Egyptian Edamame Stew

2011-01-03T15:36:00.000-07:00

This dish was incredibly simple, hearty, filling, inexpensive, healthy and delicious. In our opinion all of that adds up to a total winner in our book! We really enjoyed this stew and it was perfect for a cold winter week night.

Egyptian Edamame Stew
Adapted from EatingWell.com
Makes 4 servings

1 c. quinoa, uncooked
15 oz. frozen edamame, thawed
1 T. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 zucchini, diced
2 t. ground cumin
1 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. cayenne pepper (or less if you don't like spicy food)
28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 small lemon

1) Rinse quinoa and then prepare according to package directions.

2) Meanwhile fill a pot with water and the soy beans and bring to a boil. Cook for 4 or 5 minutes, drain and then set aside.

3) Heat the oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat and add the onions. Let cook for about 5 minutes then add the zucchini. Let cook for another 3 minutes until the onion begins to brown.

4) Add garlic, cumin, corriander, cayenne and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, bring to a boil, and simmer for about 5 minutes.

5) Add the edamame to the tomato mixture and cook until it is heated through. It should only take a few more minutes. Stir in the cilantro and the lemon juice and serve over quinoa.

Red Pepper Peanut Butter Hummus

2010-12-28T01:50:00.021-07:00

Tahini is a wonderful thing. It is tasty and can really be used to make a lot of yummy dishes. Our problem with tahini is that it can be relatively expensive and it always seems to spoil before we can use it all. That means that we tend to very rarely purchase it. The other day while on her way to work Cassie caught the tail end of an interview on National Public Radio with a chef who had a new book coming out. She was talking about some of her favorite holiday dishes in this new book. Unfortunately Cassie did not catch who the chef was or what her new book was called, but she did catch her speaking about making hummus with peanut butter in place of tahini. Peanut butter is a staple in our home and we always have some spare peanut butter around so we decided to make some hummus for a healthy snack on Christmas Eve. We never got around to making it Christmas eve, but we did make it the day after Christmas and it was wonderful. There isn't a huge difference from hummus with tahini, but it gives it a bit of a peanuty hint of flavor. We both really enjoyed it.

Red Pepper Peanut Butter Hummus

Adapted from About.com and the mystery interview on NPR

1 16 oz. can chickpeas, drained

1/4 c. water

juice from 1 medium lemon

2 T. all natural peanut butter

2 cloves garlic minced

1 t. salt

3 T. olive oil

1/2- 1 t. red pepper flakes

1) Add all ingredients to a mini chopper or food processor and pulse until smooth. If the mixture is too grainy add some more water or olive oil until you reach the desired consistency.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

2010-12-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

Buttermilk biscuits are a comfort food that we haven't indulged in recently. We like biscuits a lot, but since they aren't normally the picture of healthy food we tend to only have them on special occasions. Well we recently had one such special occasion...Christmas. We decided to make some buttermilk biscuits for Christmas morning this year, but instead of using normal all purpose flour we decided to go ahead and try our hand at making them whole wheat as we both just enjoy whole wheat stuff so much more these days.

We selected whole white wheat flour since it tends to be more mild and palatable than a lot of normal (or red) whole wheat flours. We also thought it would be mild in flavor to let the buttermilk and buttery flavors shine through. We certainly weren't disappointed. What resulted was a warm and flaky biscuit that had a great soft texture, but the heartiness of whole grain.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

Adapted from Epicurious.com

Makes 6 biscuits

1 1/2 c. whole white wheat flour +more for dusting

1 1/2 T. evaporated cane juice

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. baking soda

4 T. unsalted butter, chilled

3/4 c. well shaken buttermilk

1 T. milk or cream for brushing

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl whisk together whole white wheat flour, evaporated cane juice, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Whisk thoroughly so the ingredients are well combined and fluffed.

2) Cut butter into small cubes and add into the flour mixture. Using your hands combine the butter and flour mixture until it resembles fine meal.

3) Using a fork stir in buttermilk until well combined. Turn the dough out on to a floured work surface and using floured hands knead dough 6 times. Use your hands to form a 8 x 6 inch rectangle with the dough. You can either use a glass or biscuit cutter and cut out 6 biscuits from the dough or you can use a floured knife to cut 6 square biscuits from the dough. We opted for round biscuits.

4) Brush the tops of the biscuits with either milk or cream and bake for 12-15 minutes on an ungreased/unlined baking sheet until they begin to turn golden brown.

Spaghetti with Calmata Olives and Capers

2010-12-22T03:21:00.001-07:00

Back in September we told you the story of Our Soup. A dish that came about one night while scrounging in the cabinets to see what we had. Well this pasta dish's beginnings were created in much the same way. Since we have added on and perfected the mix, but we like to think of this (and frequently call it) Our Pasta. It is an easy, but delicious meal and adds a bit of a kick to regular spaghetti. We have used various forms of protein in this spaghetti and can be made with just about anything. In this recipe we use Chicken Italian Sausages, but you can also use beans, tofu, ground meat, chicken breasts, etc. or you can just omit them totally.

Spaghetti with Calmata Olives and Capers

A Jason and Cassie Original

Makes 4 servings

8 oz. whole wheat spaghetti

1 T. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

1 14 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 t. oregano

1 t. basil

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

1/2 t.agave nectar

salt and pepper to taste

4 chicken Italian sausages (we use Organic Valley precooked variety) (optional)

1/4 c. Calmata Olives, cut in half

2 T. capers

2 oz. feta cheese

2 oz. Parmesan Cheese

1) Heat oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and the red pepper flakes and saute for about a minute. Add the crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, cayenne pepper, agave nectar, salt and pepper. Stir well and cover and let simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes.

2)Meanwhile in boil water in a large pot and cook spaghetti until al dente.

3) If you are using the sausages warm them according to package directions and then slice them into coins. Add them to the sauce along with the Calmata olives and the capers. Let simmer for another 10 minutes. If you are using a different form of protein add it (fully cooked) at this time.

4) Mix the sauce in with the spaghetti noodles and then top each serving with a 1/2 oz. of feta and a 1/2 oz. of Parmesan. enjoy

Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-12-20T02:36:00.034-07:00

Did you read that full title? If not you should definitely go back and read it again. The title tells you all you need to know about this recipe to know it is going to be amazing. Let's see...chocolate...check. Peanut butter...check. Double chocolate...check. Salted...check. Yup pretty much the best cookies ever. These cookies also made it in to our holiday cookie packages this year.

Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from Food 52 found via Brown Eyed Baker

1 1/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c. creamy all natural peanut butter
2/3 c. sucanat
1/3 c. evaporated cane juice
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
coarse sea salt or kosher salt for sprinkling

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2) In a medium bowl whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.

3) In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (you can also use a hand mixer) cream together the butter, peanut butter, sucanat and evaporated cane juice. Add each egg one at a time and let mix until well incorporated.. Add the vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients a little at a time until they are well incorporated. Using a spoon stir in the chocolate chips and the peanuts.

4) Form 2 inch balls of dough and place them on the baking sheets. Sprinkle a small amount of salt on top of each cookie and bake for 12-14 minutes until the outside edges begin to set, but the insides are still soft. Cool cookies completely before serving.

Avocado Cream Cheese Cookies

2010-12-19T14:36:00.002-07:00

Tons of people like avocados. Avocados are rich and delicious and just a truly satisfying food. There are few people that you meet that don't like avocados. Then just occasionally you meet someone that loves avocados that it borders on obsession. That just might be Cassie. She could eat avocados at every meal and any recipe that features a lot of avocados she automatically wants to try it. It doesn't matter what the recipe is. I can be a breakfast, lunch or dinner...or a dessert. When we found this recipe for Avocado Cream Cheese cookies Cassie knew they were going to have to make them. The result of these cookies were a nice creamy tasting cookie with a light citrus and poppy flavors. They are a great cookie and I am sure that even people who aren't avocado enthusiasts like us will like them too. We included these yummy little treats into our holiday cookie packages this year.

Avocado Cream Cheese Cookies
Adapted from Vegan Yum Yum found via Angie's Recipes
7 T. butter, softened
1/2 avocado, mashed
5 oz. cream cheese, softened
120 g.evaporated cane juice or sucanat
2 t. lemon juice
1 T. poppy seeds
230 g. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 t. baking soda

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2) In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you can also use a hand mixer) cream together the butter, avocado, cream cheese and sugar. Add the lemon juice and the poppy seeds and continue to mix until the mixture is light and fluffy.

3) In a separate bowl whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour and the baking soda. Add the flour mixture in with the rest of the ingredients. Work in small batches adding a little at a time mixing until it is well incorporated and then adding a little more.

4) Roll the dough into 1 1/2 to 2 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. You should be able to put them fairly close together as these cookies don't spread much. Bake them in the oven for about 13-16 minutes until they being to turn a light gold color. Let the cookies cook completely on a rack.

Chile Relleno Casserole

2010-12-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

We admit that for the most part it tends to take us awhile to blog about meals. Sometimes it will be weeks or months after we actually have the meal before we actually blog about it. Not the case with this meal. We were both just so excited about it and enjoyed it so much we wanted to get it up on the blog ASAP. This meal came to be (at least for us) because of a huge hankering for chile rellenos. We both just love Mexican food and we wanted to find a somewhat healthy recipe for them rather than cheese laden deep fried version that you normally get in restaurants here. So we headed over to our old reliable source for delicious yet healthy recipes, Eating Well. There we found this casserole that isn't only healthy and delicious, but it is ridiculously easy. It takes just a few minutes to whip up before you pop it in the oven. This meal is definitely going into our regular rotation from now on.

Chile Relleno Casserole

Adapted from Eatingwell.com

Makes 4 servings

2 4 oz. cans of diced green chilis, drained and dried

3/4 c. frozen corn, thawed and dried

5 scallions, thinly sliced

1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 1/2 c. skim milk

6 egg whites

4 eggs

1/4 t. salt

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray.

2) line the bottom of the casserole dis with green chilis, corn and scallions. Sprinkle 1 c. of the cheddar cheese over the mixture.

3) In a medium bowl combine the milk, egg whites, eggs and salt and whisk well. Pour the egg mixture over the green chili mixture in the casserole dish and then top with the remaining 1/2 c. of cheddar cheese.

4) Bake for 45-50 minutes until the casserole is set and the cheese on top is brown and bubbly.

Seared Scallops Over Salad Greens with Blue Cheese

2010-12-08T05:54:00.001-07:00

During her undergrad degree Cassie minored in Spanish. When she had the opportunity to study in Spain for two summers she jumped at the chance. She spent the summer of 2001 and 2002 in Madrid living it up, perfecting her conversational Spanish and having fun...and doing some studying too. As previously mentioned Cassie is a reformed picky eater. The first time there she wasn't too fond of the food offered, but during her second trip she gained a big appreciation for the wonderful flavors of Spanish cooking. One of her favorite things to do during her second trip was to go to Tapas bars. It was great to get a variety of delicious little plates of food.

Seared Scallops over Salad Greens with Blue Cheese

Adpated from Everyday Tapas

Serve 4-6

4 T. olive oil

3 T. almond oil

3 T. fresh orange juice

salt and pepper

1-1 1/2 lb. shelled scallops

salad greens, washed and dried

6 oz. blue cheese, crumbled

2 T. fresh dill chopped

1) Whisk together 3 T. of the olive oil with the almond oil and the orange juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

2) Heat the remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add teh scallops and cook on each side about 1 minute or until golden.

3) In salad bowls distribute the salad greens. Top with scallops, blue cheese crumbles and dill. Drizzle the orange juice and oil mixture over the bowls and serve.

Stuffed Mushrooms

2010-12-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

Cassie is a reformed picky eater. She used to not like anything. With some challenging from Jason she has come to realize that not only does she not hate most of the foods she was so sure of before, she really likes most of them. For the longest time mushrooms were solidly on the hate list. In fact it wasn't until pretty recently that she has finally has eased up on the mushroom hate and decided to give them a genuine try. So until recently our diets have been pretty devoid of mushrooms, but now we are certainly making up for some lost time.

As part of her Impressive Dinner, Cassie made Stuffed Mushrooms as an appetizer. These were really simple to make and turned out really delicious. They were a great way to start out the meal.

Stuffed Mushrooms
Adapted from Epicurious.com
3 slices sprouted grain or whole grain sandwich bread
2 T. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
20 large cremini mushrooms + about 4 or 5 more
2 T. unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 c. celery, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 t. dried oregano
1 oz. Gorgonzola cheese
1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Tear bread into large pieces and place in a food processor. Pulse in the processor until you have breadcrumbs. Place the breadcrumbs in a bowl and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper till they are well coated. Spread the breadcrumbs on a baking sheet and place in the oven to cook for 6-8 minutes. Transfer them back to a bowl.

2) Meanwhile, wash and remove the stems from all the mushrooms. Separate the 20 you will make into stuffed mushrooms from the extra. Put those 20 in a baking dish cap side down and bake about 10 minutes. Remove and set aside.

3) While the mushrooms are baking chop the remaining extra mushrooms into a fine dice. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the chopped mushrooms, onion, celery, garlic and oregano. Saute till the onion is golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let the vegetables cool slightly and then toss them with the breadcrumbs, Gorgonzola cheese and parsley.

4) Turn the mushroom caps in the baking dish stem side up and pack the empty space with the breadcrumb and vegetable mixture. Bake in the oven for another 20 or so minutes until the filling is golden brown. Serve warm.

An Impressive Dinner

2010-12-05T07:58:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Jason had a great idea. We would take turns and make to plan, shop for and cook multi-course "Impressive" meal for the other. It was a challenge, but not necessarily a competition. Just a chance to do something nice for the other person and a way to celebrate the holidays. Cassie went first. She had about a week to plan her meal and then had a full day to prepare it (although she only needed about half of it). One of her methods of approach for this impressive meal was to push herself outside her comfort zone to make a truly impressive meal. While everything turned out wonderfully she definitely decided that she won't make a meal of that proportion without help again. The menu included the following.

Course 1: Stuffed Mushrooms

Course 2: Seared Scallops Over Salad Greens with Blue Cheese

Course 3: Grilled Marinated Steaks with Dill Butter, Sauteed Mushrooms and Onions with Gorganzola

Course 4: Twice Baked Garlic Souffles

Course 5 (not pictured): Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Homemade Dark Chocolate Sauce

Check back for a few of the recipes.

Sufganiyot (jelly filled donuts)

2010-12-04T17:08:00.000-07:00

It's Hanukkah and that can mean only one thing. A whole lot of good food. Not just any food either, fried food! You eat fried foods on Hanukkah to celebrate the miracle of the oil. For many that means latkes, but another traditional Hanukkah food is sufaganiyot, or jelly filled donuts. Donuts were never a tradition in Cassie's family, but when we heard they were a traditional food we felt that they deserved to be part of a new tradition for the family. So this year we gathered the ingredients and set about making some delicious donuts. Theses were really easy to make and fun to do at the same time.

Sufganiyot
Adapted from Epicurious.com
Makes 12 donuts
1 T. active dry yeast
4 T. evaporated cane juice, divided
3/4 c. warm water
2 1/2 c. all purpose flower
pinch of salt
1 t.ground cinnamon
2 eggs, seperated
2 T. butter, softened
Apricot preserves (or any flavor you want)
organic powdered sugar
vegetable oil for frying

1) Mix the yeast, 2 T. of the cane juice and the water. Sit to the side and let it proof for a few minutes. It should bubble. If it doesn't your yeast is not active and you will need to get some more.

2) Sift the flour and mix it with 2 T. cane juice, cinnamon, and salt. Then add the egg yolks and the yeast mixture. Mix well until combined. Knead the dough to form a ball and then add the butter and knead until it is well incorporated into the dough. Place in a bowl and cover with a towel. Let the dough rise in the refrigerator overnight.

3) In the morning remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for about half an hour. Then roll it out till it is about 1/8 inch thick. Take a juice glass or a any 2 inch circular cookie cutter and cut out 24 rounds. Place a 1/2 t. of fruit preserves on 12 of the rounds. Take the remaining 12 rounds and place them on top of the rounds with the preserves. Using your thumb and forefinger crimp the edges of the rounds together very well and then seal them with egg whites.

4) Cover the completed sufganiyot with a towel and let them rise for another 30 minutes.

5) In a medium sauce pan heat about 2 inches of oil over medium heat. Test the oil by throwing a small bit of bread into the pot. When it bubbles your oil is ready. Fry your donuts in small batches. Make sure the oil doesn't get too hot. You don't want to be left with doughy insides and burnt outsides. You should fry the donuts about 3-4 minutes total flipping midway through. Place them on a plate with paper towels to drain. When they have drained roll the sufganiyo in the powdered sugar to add a thin coating. Serve either warm or room temperature. Enjoy!

Asian Chicken Noodle Bowls

2010-12-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

Recently both of us have gotten into clean eating. Clean eating is a pretty simple concept. You eat "real" natural food ingredients in a minimally processed state and you eat several (5-6) well balanced meals everyday. On top of all this you reduce the amount of saturated fat and sugar in your diet. It can be difficult to tackle some of the changes initially, but in our opinion it is well worth it. It leaves you feeling energized and properly nourished.

To begin researching clean eating Cassie read the book The Eat Clean Diet Recharged by Tosca Reno. It is a really quick read and she highly recommends the book to anyone interested in eating more healthfully. The book also has about 30 or so recipes included in it in the back. This is where we found the recipe for the noodle bowl. To be honest the recipe was a little poorly conceived ( for example called for way too small of a pot and we had to move the meal to a bigger pot twice), but in the end we felt like it was a good starting point for the dish and I think we ironed out most of the kinks in the recipe below.

Asian Chicken Noodle Bowl

Makes 4 generous servings

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch cubes

2 T. low sodium soy sauce

1 t. fresh ginger, minced

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

2 T. rice vinegar

2 T. sesame oil

4 c. low sodium chicken broth

1 package (8 oz.) dry soba noodles

2 c. broccoli spears

1 c. crimini mushrooms, sliced

1/2 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 carrot, peeled and grated

4 scallions, sliced

4 generous handfuls of spinach, washed

red pepper flakes

1) Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat. Combine chicken, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, vinegar and sesame oil and cook mixture for about 5 minutes until chicken begins to brown.

2) Add the chicken broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Let simmer till the chicken is fully cooked, at least 10 minutes.

3) Meanwhile prepare soba noodles to package direction in a separate pot. When they are cooked, rinse the noodles and set them aside.

4) Add the broccoli, mushrooms and red bell pepper. Cook for another 5 or so minutes till the broccoli is bright green, but still crisp. Stir in the carrots, scallions and soba noodles and let heat for another few minutes.

5) To serve place a handful of spinach in the bottom of each bowl and ladle a 1/4 of the noodle soup over the spinach. Top with a generous amount of red pepper flakes. Server immediately.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-11-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

Just recently Cassie's grandma celebrated her 81st birthday. As a way to celebrate and to give a gift to the woman who has everything we decided to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Grandma has always been crystal clear that she LOVES cookies and that chocolate chip is her absolute favorite cookie. The choice was an easy one and the morning before her birthday celebration we went to work crafting some extra special cookies just for her. Cassie even hand made the box that they are in. If you are interested in learning how to make a gift box yourself check out her craft blog.

We found this recipe from another blog and it looked too good to not try. The results were fantastic. They will definitely be our go to chocolate chip cookie recipe from now on. The cookies were soft and chewy and really packed with chocolatey goodness.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Baking Illustrated found via Annie's Eats

2 cups plus 2 tbsp. whole wheat pastry flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm

1 cup brown sucanat

½ cup evaporated cane juice

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup organic dark chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2) In a medium bowl whisk together the pastry flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Combine butter, sucanat and the evaporated cane juice using a mixer until well combined. Add the egg, yolk and the vanilla until the batter is well combined. Using a large spoon mix in the chocolate chips by hand until they are evenly dispersed on through the cookie dough.

3) Take 2 T. of dough and place in a rounded mound on the prepared cookie sheets. Let cookies bake in the oven for 11-14 minutes until they start to harden at the edges, but are not yet hard in the center. Let cookies cool on the sheet until they can be lifted without falling apart and then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Black Bean and Salmon Toastadas

2010-11-19T05:04:00.056-07:00

One thing people find hard to believe is that the two of us have managed to live without a functioning microwave for over 2 and a half years now. While microwaves are truly a convenient invention neither of us feel particularly inclined to remedy our situation any time soon. In all honesty we do have a microwave. There it sat, above our stove, when we purchased our house, but we soon found out that it was not a functioning appliance (ahhh the joys of buying a foreclosed home). We haven't gotten around to replacing it as we have had many other priorities to take care of in our now cozy little home. So there it sits and it makes a wonderful timer. We do plan to replace it one of these days, but we are leaning more towards replacing it with a range hood rather than another over the stove microwave when we do that. The more you live without a microwave the more you realize how it really isn't all that hard to live without one.

So why the heck are we talking about microwaves? Well the recipe we are sharing today actually has a step with some microwaving in it. These usually aren't a big deal and are easily adapted (as was this recipe), but there are some that tend to just throw us for a bit of a loop. Creating a double boiler of water and a glass bowl on the stove to melt stuff can be quite a pain in the rear. Sure it isn't that hard, but occasionally (just occasionally), life really would be simpler with one, but we still will probably be one of those crazy households without for a very long time. So...anyway if you want to revert heating the bean mixture in this recipe back to the microwave then more power to you.

Black Bean and Salmon Toastada
Adapted from EatingWell.com
Makes 4 servings
8 6-inch corn tortillas
non stick canola cooking spray
1/2 T. canola oil
6 oz. salmon fillet
1 avocado, diced
4 T. pickled jalapenos, mince
3 T. pickled jalapeno juice reserved
2 c. purple cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, shredded
2 T. chopped cilantro
1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed
3 T. sour cream
2 T. prepared salsa
2 scallions, chopped
Lime wedges, optional (but highly recommended)

1) Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange corn tortillas on 2 baking sheets in a single layer. Spray each side of the tortillas with canola spray. Bake for 12-14 minutes, flipping once and rotating the baking sheets midway through, until light brown.

2) Meanwhile, heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook salmon fillet about 6 minutes per side till it is cooked through. When it is done flake the meat.

3) In a food processor, process beans, sour cream, salsa and scallions until smooth. Heat these over medium heat in a small sauce pan for about 5-8 minutes until warm.

4) Combine the salmon, avocado and jalapeno in a bowl. Combine the cabbage, carrot, jalapeno pickling juice, and cilantro in another bowl.

5) Spread each tortilla with an 1/8 of the bean mixture. Add an 1/8 of the salmon mixture and then top with an 1/8 of the cabbage mixture. Serve immediately.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

2010-11-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

When we started out to make these we were supposed to be having stuffed zucchini, but we soon realized we had a problem. We had the tiniest zucchini on the planet. This is what happens when Jason shops for zucchini. He always grabs super tiny ones. As we amassed the stuff we were supposed to actually stuff into this tiny zucchini onto the counter we realized...this isn't gonna work. So, being the resourceful people that we are we decided to make stuffed bell pepper instead. Regardless of the mix up it was a great dish with lots of flavor and made eating those veggies to be truly enjoyable. Plus...bonus, these are really easy to make.

The recipe for this wonderful side dish came from kind of a funny place...a calendar. Way back at the beginning of 2010 our Grocery store, Natural Grocers, was giving out free calendars. We didn't yet have a 2010 calendar so we snatched one up and brought it home. It was filled with a new recipe card every month and a coupon. Hooray. Many many months passed and neither of us spent much time paying attention to our calendar as it was hanging in our spare room next to the very rarely used treadmill. That was all until a few weeks ago when Cassie injured her knee and was unable to go running outside and had to settle for walking slowly on the treadmill. As she passed to tedious time her gaze shifted from the wall in front of her to the October page of the calendar to her right. She was looking at the recipe and decided that it looked pretty good and it needed to make an appearance on our menu sometime soon. Boy are we glad it did too. This may become one of our new favorite ways to eat a load of vegetables.

Stuffed Bell Peppers
Adapted from our Natural Grocers 2010 calendar
1 medium green bell pepper
1/2 T. olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium zucchini or summer squash, diced
1 large tomato, diced
4 scallions sliced
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1/4 c. whole wheat bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
1 large egg, gently whisked

1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice green bell pepper in half from top to bottom, remove the seeds and the stem and set aside.

2) In a skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add the onion and red bell pepper to the skillet and saute for about 7-10 minutes until they begin to soften. Add the zucchini, tomato and scallions and saute another 3-5 minutes.

3) Meanwhile in a medium bowl mix together Parmesan, red pepper flakes, bread crumbs and salt and pepper. Stir till they are well combined and then add the egg. Mix well into the breadcrumb and cheese mixture until incorporated. After the vegetables are done add them to the bowl with the other ingredients and mix well until they are well coated.

4) Fill the green bell pepper halves with the vegetable mixture and place in a non stick oven dish. Bake for about 20-30 minutes until the tops of the stuffed peppers are golden brown. Serve hot.

Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato and Feta Pie

2010-11-11T15:22:00.002-07:00

Here we go with another sweet potato recipe. What did I say before? We just can't get enough of these things. They are so great for the cold fall weather. We found this recipe and couldn't wait to make it. Not only was it delicious looking, but it also included fresh rosemary which we happened to have on hand and wanted to use up before it dried out. The recipe can take some time, but it is definitely worth it. It is perfect for a hearty Sunday night meal. We really enjoyed the flavor of the squash, caramelized onion and feta all together. It really created a satisfying meal. We added bacon to the pie because, well honestly, because we are both a bit of bacon fanatics. It added another layer of flavor and was a really good addition, but certainly isn't necessary to the overall pie and would be perfectly delicious left vegetarian.

Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato and Feta Pie
Adapted from Christine's Recipes
Makes 4 generous main dish servings or 6 side dish servings

Shortcrust Pastry:
8 oz. whole wheat pastry flour
4 oz. chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 T. cold water

Pie:
15 oz. butternut squash,diced
7 oz. sweet potato, diced
6 cloves garlic unpeeled
3 T. olive oil, divided
3 oz. feta cheese
2 small red onions, thinly sliced
1 T. balsamic vinegar
1 T. sucanat
2 t. finely chopped fresh rosemary
4 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)
salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 egg, whisked
shortcrust pastry

To make the pastry:
1) Place the flour and butter into the food processor and pulse until well combined and crumble. Add the cold water and pulse again until the dough begins to come together.

2) Knead the dough into a circular disc shape and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes until you are ready to use it.

To make the pie:
1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the squash, sweet potatoes, and garlic cloves into a baking dish and toss with 1 1/2 T. of olive oil. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the mixture is tender. Remove from the oven.

2) Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan. Cook the onions over medium heat for about 10-12 minutes. Add the vinegar and the sucanat and cook for another 12 minutes until the onions are caramelized.

3) Squeeze the roasted garlic out of their husks and discard the husks. Return the garlic to the roasted vegetables. Add the onions, rosemary, feta, salt, pepper and bacon (if using) into the roasted vegetables.

4) On parchment paper roll the pastry till it is about a 11 inch circle. Heap the vegetable mixture in the center of the pie leaving a 1 1/2 inch border of crust. You may have some filling left over. Fold the edges of the pastry up pleating it as you go. Brush the crust with the whisked egg.

5) Bake for 25-30 minutes on 400 until the crust is golden. Serve immediately.

Chicken and Sweet Potato Stew

2010-11-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

We have been on a pretty big sweet potato kick lately. It is a fairly new found love as Cassie is a reformed picky eater and was pretty sure she didn't like sweet potatoes for the longest time. It is pretty amazing how she has gone from not liking anything to now liking just about everything.

Anyway, back to sweet potatoes and this stew...We found this recipe and it looked like a really easy, but hearty dish for a fall evening. It is filling and warm, but still healthy and not too heavy. We substituted red wine and red wine vinegar for white wine and white wine vinegar because that is what we had in the house and they both added a great full flavor to the meal.

Chicken and Sweet Potato Stew
Adapted from Eatingwell.com
Serves 4
4 bone in chicken thighs with the skins removed and trimmed of fat
2 lbs. sweet potatoes, cut into spears
1/2 lb. cremini mushrooms, sliced
6 large shallots, peeled and halved
4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 c. dry red wine
2 t. chopped fresh rosemary
1 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1 1/2 T. red wine-vinegar
1 c. low sodium chicken broth

1) Place all ingredients into a slow cooker and stir to combine.

2) Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove the bones from the chicken if desired and serve warm over vegetables.

Bacon, Fig and Balsamic Pizza

2010-11-04T11:04:00.007-06:00

As we've posted before, pizza is probably our favorite thing to cook. When we have dinner guests, especially for the first time, we usually bust out the old reliable pizza, because almost everyone likes it, you can feed quite a few people for very little money, and a well planned and executed pizza is just impressive. Not everyone is as crazy as we are about pizza, and a lot of people would consider what we put on them to be unacceptable, not because it's not good, but because it sounds sort of bizarre. We usually save our pizza experiments for when we're not expecting anyone over, so as not to offend anyone with our sometimes crazy notions. A few weekends back we experimented with bacon, fig and balsamic vinegar. It was absolutely fantastic, so we thought we'd share.

Toppings (for 2 pies):
10 fresh figs
1 onion
7 or 8 large mushrooms
4 strips of bacon, cooked
Fresh basil
Balsamic vinegar

Begin by following our basic pizza recipe for the crust and sauce. Thinly slice the figs, onion, and mushrooms. Leave the basil leaves whole and crumble up or slice the bacon. Place half the cheese on the pizzas, then the toppings, and then the rest of the cheese. Drizzle a little vinegar over each of the pizzas and put them in the oven. Cook for 12 minutes at 450 degrees or until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

2010-11-03T06:23:00.002-06:00

We are big fans of savory and sweet mixed together. We are always combining things like fruit and cheese, salt and chocolate, etc. When we saw this recipe for chocolate bacon cupcakes we knew that this was a recipe we just had to try. Chocolate and bacon are two of our favorite foods so mixing them together sounded like genius. The we decided to add peanut butter frosting into the mix and it sent these cupcakes to a whole different level of amazing. Both of us agree that these are by far our favorite cupcakes that we have ever had. We will be making these again and again and again. We served these at our Halloween Party and they were a huge crowd pleaser. Everyone was a little hesitant at first, but once they tried them every single one of our guests raved about them.

Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes

Adapted from The Novice Chef Blog

3/4 c. unsweetened organic cocoa powder

3/4 c. hot water

3 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

1 1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 c. butter

2 1/4 c. evaporated cane juice or sucanat

4 large eggs

1 T. plus 1 t. vanilla extract

1 c. sour cream

3/4 c bacon, cooked and chopped

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line standard muffin tins with paper liners.

2) Shisk together hot water and cocoa powder until smooth. In a seperate bowl whisk together whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

3) Melt the butter and beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 3-5 minutes until cool. Add sugar and mix until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time beating until each is incorporated. Add the vanilla and the cocoa mixture. Add the flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream. Stop the mixer and gently fold the bacon into the batter.

4) Pour about 1/3 c. of batter into the muffin tins filling them about 3/4 of the way. Bake until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting

Adapted from the FoodNetwork.com

3 c. organic powdered sugar

1 c. butter, softened

1 t. vanilla extract

1-2 T. whipping cream

1/3 c. peanut butter +more if desired.

1) Whip together butter and powdered sugar at a low speed until well combined. Increase speed to medium and add the vanilla extract and the whipping cream until it is the desired consistency. Add in the peanut butter and beat until well combined. Taste the frosting to make sure you have the desired peanut butter potency if not add a little more.

Whole Wheat Caramelized Onion & Rosemary Bread

2010-11-01T05:34:00.029-06:00

We made these for our Halloween Party this week and they were so good. We will definitely be making these again. The sweet onion with the rosemary were a great combination and these are probably going to show up on our Thanksgiving menu this year.

Whole Wheat Caramelized Onion & Rosemary Bread

Adapted from Simply Scratch

1 large sweet onion

1 T. butter

1 T. olive oil

2 cloves garlic minced

1 1/2 c. warm water

3 t. active dry yeast

3 T. olive oil +more for oiling

3 c. fine ground whole wheat flour

1 c. stone ground whole wheat flour

2 t. salt

2 sprigs rosemary, leaves removed and chopped

1-2 T. butter, melted

1) Warm oil and butter over medium heat in a medium skillet. Saute the onions and garlic about 15-20 minutes until they are browned and carmelized.

2) Pour warm water into a bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water. Then mix in the honey and olive oil. Let stand for about 5-10 minutes until the yeast begins to bubble.

3) In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook combine the flour and the salt. Add the onions and garlic and toss to coat. Add the yeast mixture and mix in the mixture in the stand mixer until well combined. The dough will be very wet. Add more flour as necessary till you have a sticky, but easier to handle dough. Let the dough hook knead the bread for about 5-8 minutes and then turn the dough out into a bowl greased with olive oil. Cover and allow the dough to rise for 1.5 to 2 hours until it has doubled in size.

4) Divide the dough into 12 even portions and roll them roughly into balls. Cover again and let them rise for another 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 400 degrees.

5) Bake the dough for 9-10 minutes. Brush with melted butter and then return them to the oven for another 9-10 minutes until they are golden brown.

Hellraising Halloween Party

2010-10-31T17:34:00.003-06:00

Last night we hosted a Halloween party for a few of our closest friends. It was a great time and we had a lot of fun planning and preparing for the party. We had a bit of a Hellraiser theme to the party, especially in the decorations. We had planned to watch Hellraiser, but we ended not ever putting in the movie. It was fun regardless and we wanted to share both some photos of the party and our menu. To check out some of the crafts in more detail visit Cassie's craft blog.

This is a bit of our set up before we got all the food out on the table.

You can see the cupcake flags and dish I.D. tags in this photo with the food.

Menu

Appetizers:

Chips and salsa

Blue Cheese and Bacon Dip

Honey Mustard Glazed Sweet Potato fries

assorted cheeses and crackers

Main dish:

Skyline Chili w/ a toppings bar

Whole Wheat Caramelized Onion and Rosemary Bread

Desserts:

Chocolate and Bacon Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cinnabites (Snickerdoodles)

There will be additional recipes posted later in the week to fill out the rest of the menu so please check back.

Other than that we will leave you with just a few photos from the party.

Jason was Hunter S. Thompson and our friend was his attorney.

Our dog, Bruno, was dressed as Zeus. He was the cutest little Zeus ever.

This is Cassie with her brother. He was Thor and she was Athena.

Picadillo Tacos

2010-10-27T19:10:00.001-06:00

Picadillo is a traditional Latin American dish using ground meat. It has some wonderful spices and excellent flavor combinations in the dish. We discovered it several months ago and since it has become a staple meal in our house. We tend to make picadillo tacos rather than "normal" ground beef tacos with spice packets. This way we have a lot more control about what spices we use and how much sodium goes into the dish. Also the flavors just beat any taco seasoning packet hands down. The sweetness of the raisins and the cinnamon mixed with the spice of the chili powder and cayenne are perfect. As always we opted to up the amount of cayenne that we use in the picadillo. What can we say? We like spicy food.

Picadillo

Adapted from EatingWell.com

Serves 4

2 eggs, hard boiled and sliced (optional, but highly recommended)

1 lb. lean ground beef

2 t. extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 c. scallions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 t. chili powder

1 1/2 t. dried oregano

3/4 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. cayennne pepper

1/2 c. golden raisins

1/2 c. pitted green olives, chopped

2 T. tomato paste

1 c. water

1/2 t. ground black pepper

8 corn tortillas, warmed

Toppings:

pico de gallo

light sour cream

lettuce

cilantro

salsa

1) Cook meat in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, until it is no longer pink. Drain the fat from the meat and set it aside.

2) Heat the oil in the skillet and add the onion, scallions and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until softened about 2-3 minutes. Add the chili powder, oregano, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne. Cook until it is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the raisins, olives, tomato paste, water and return the meat to the pan, stirring. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Season with pepper.

3) To serve place a layer of picadillo on each tortilla, garnish with a few egg slices and then top with your favorite taco toppings.

Honey Mustard Glazed Oven Fries

2010-10-24T16:59:00.003-06:00

When we were on vacation in Texas this summer we were staying at a friend's house. One night while we were sitting around talking he had an episode of Grill It with Bobby Flay playing in the background. Cassie always has an issue of paying full attention to either a conversation or the show playing when the T.V. is on, so her focus was swinging randomly between the two. When Bobby Flay started talking about some sweet potato fries her attention was caught for the time being and she watched the recipe. That night we ran to the grocery store and got the ingredients to make these fries for dinner.

Now months and months later armed with only a faint memory of the recipe we decided to go ahead and try to recreate them at home using our oven rather than the grill. The grill would have been great, but we only have a cast iron grill pan and no large outdoor grill. We were not up to trying to grill these. We would have had to work in small batches and it would have taken WAY too long. So we adapted this recipe for the oven and I think we did a pretty good job recreating it. The flavors that caught us the first time around were all there again and it was much easier to do.

Honey Mustard Glazed Oven Fries
Adapted from Grill It with Bobby Flay

2 medium sweet potatoes scrubbed and cut into thin wedges
1 T. canola oil
1-2 T. McCormick Grill Mates Cinnamon Chipotle Rub (or any other chipotle cinnamon mixture you can find/make)
4 T. dijon mustard
2 T. honey

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly brush the sweet potatoes with canola oil and line them up on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the cinnamon chipotle rub over the fries, making sure they have a nice thin coat.

2) Bake the fries in the oven for 15 minutes. Meanwhile in a small bowl mix the dijon mustard and the honey. Remove from the fries from the oven and brush both sides of the fries with the mustard mixture. Return to the oven to bake approximately another 15 minutes until slightly crispy and the glaze is nicely browned.

Snickerdoodles

2010-10-24T16:59:00.000-06:00

Snickerdoodles are one of those cookies that are easily forgotten about. They aren't super fancy or chocolatey, but they are just down right good. Nothing is more satisfying and nostalgic than eating a warm and buttery snickerdoodle. Plus who doesn't like cookies that are coated in cinnamon and sugar.

Snickerdoodles
Adapted From The Novice Chef
2 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking soda
1 c.. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. evaporated cane juice
2 large eggs
1 T. vanilla extract

For the topping:
1/2 c. evaporated cane juice
3 T. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Cream the evaporated cane juice and butter until they are smooth. Add the eggs and the vanilla paste. Add the baking powder, salt and whole wheat pastry flour.

3) Roll the dough into 1.5-2 inch balls. Mix all topping ingredients in a small bowl and roll each dough ball into the topping mixture. Place the balls on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Use the bottom of a glass to press each ball flat. Press the cookies thinner if you like them crispier or leave them about 1/4 inch thick for thicker softer cookies. Bake for 8-9 minutes.

High Protein Waffles

2010-10-24T16:06:00.000-06:00

For about 3 or 4 years now we have been eating roughly the same breakfast every weekday. Toast with peanut butter. There have been a few times where we have experimented, but it always comes back to toast with peanut butter. We decided recently to start playing around with some different breakfast recipes that were easy, tasty and healthy. We found these protein waffles and they are great to make ahead of time and put in the freezer. Every morning we can just pop one into the toaster and TADA, waffles for breakfast. You can top them with whatever you want, but of course we have taken to topping them with peanut butter and just a drizzle of honey. What can we say? We are creatures of habit (that and we are pretty giant peanut butter fans). This recipe makes 10 4" waffles. We usually just double the batch and we have enough to get us through 2 weeks. The waffles are made using a base of beans and oats. You would never know though. They taste great and are very hearty. They aren't a whole lot different than regular waffles.

High Protein Waffles
Adapted from NutritionMD.org
1/2 c. dry cannellini, white kidney, or great Northern beans
2 1/4 c. water
1 3/4 c. old-fashioned oats
2 T. sugar or 1 T. agave nectar
3/4 t. whole flaxseeds
1 T. baking powder
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 t. salt
5 scoops of plain protein powder
1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
non-stick spray

1) The night before you make the waffles soak beans in cold water so that it covers the beans completely.

2) Drain the beans and discard the soaking water. Place all ingredients through the whole wheat pastry flour in a blender or a food processor and blend until the beans and the oats are smooth.

3) Heat waffle iron. Once it is heated spray the iron with non stick spray and then add 1/3 c. of batter to each 4" waffle spot in the iron. Let cook for 8-9 minutes until fully cooked. If the waffle iron is difficult to open then let the waffles cook for another minute or too.

Note: If you plan on freezing the waffles let them cool completely then place them in a zippered freezer bag to freeze. They need to be cooked at a medium setting in the toaster.

Skyline Chili

2010-10-18T06:14:00.002-06:00

A few months ago Cassie participated in a swap with some online friends. You were supposed to pick some local stuff from your area and send it out to your swap partner so they could learn about and get a feel for where you live. Cassie's swap buddy was from Cincinnati. We received a lot of really great stuff, but one of the things that we enjoyed most was a few cans of Skyline Chili. We are both really big chili fans and we really enjoyed the twist of seasonings in the chili. After some hunting on the internet we were able to find a good copycat recipe and with some more tweaking of our own we were able to make it easier and a little healthier, but still really delicious. We decided to make this meal for the first time to break our fast on Yom Kippur. We didn't want something that was going to be really involved while we were really hungry. We figured something we could just throw in the crockpot in the morning when we weren't too incredibly hungry yet would be ideal. This chili was very easy to adapt to the crockpot.

Skyline Chili

Adapted from Food.com

Makes 6-8 servings

1 lb. ground beef

1 c. chopped onions

2 c. beef stock

1 15 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 15 oz. can of tomato sauce

1 1/2 T. chili powder

1 T. apple cider vinegar

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

2 T. cocoa powder

1 t. minced garlic

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. ground cumin

1/4 t. salt

1/2 - 1 t. cayenne pepper

1/8 t. ground allspice

1/8 t. ground cloves

1 bay leaf

1 1lb. whole wheat Spaghetti

Toppings:

chopped onions

shredded cheddar cheese

1)Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat. Drain the fat from the ground beef and add it to the crockpot with all the remaining ingredients through the bayleaf and turn on low for 8 hours.

2) When chili is almost done, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the whole wheat spaghetti and cook until al dente.

3) Serve chili over whole wheat spaghetti lightly topped with cheddar cheese and onions. Enjoy!

Black Bean, Chicken and Roasted Pepper Stew

2010-10-13T06:21:00.000-06:00

We found this recipe one day when browsing on Annie Eats. It looked like such a hearty and warming meal perfect for the cooling fall weather. It is full of delicious and healthy ingredients and really leaves you feeling satisfied after the meal. As always we added a little extra spice to this. We forgot to buy the green chilis and the flavor of the stew was still amazing, but we still included them in the recipe because we feel they would still be a good addition and add even more flavor.

Black Bean, Chicken and Roasted Pepper Stew
From Kayln's Kitchen found via Annie Eats

2 T. olive oil, divided
2-3 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 15 oz. cans black beans drained
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
2-3 bell peppers, roasted and cut into strips (we used yellow)
1 4oz. can diced green chilis
2 c. reduced sodium chicken stock
2 T. cumin
1 t. cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

1)In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, heat 1 T. of the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook stirring until browned and cooked through. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2) Heat the remaining T. of olive oil. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

3)Mix in the black beans, diced tomatoes, bell peppers, green chilis, stock, cumin, and cayenne. Return the chicken to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer uncovered for 45 minutes.

4) Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the fresh cilantro.

Doro W'et

2010-10-10T17:12:00.003-06:00

Doro W'et is an spicy Ethiopian chicken stew. It is a very good and filling meal. We stumbled across it one day while looking in our cookbook "A World of Curries" by Dave Dewitt and Arthur Pais. We have made this several times in the past, but seemed to have forgotten about it recently. That was until Cassie started looking at the round 2 entries for Project Food Blog on FoodBuzz. In those entries she saw several entries for this dish and our hunger for it was rekindled. The original recipe calls for bone in chicken pieces, but we have made it with both bone in and boneless chicken and we feel like the recipe really works best with boneless chicken. It is just easier to eat so we noted this in the recipe below. The recipe for berbere below makes about 1.5 cups worth. You only need 1/4 c. for the stew, but this will keep well in the refrigerator for about a month and can be used in other curries.

Doro W'et
Adapted from "A World of Curries" by Dave Dewitt and Arthur Pais

Berbere:
1 t. ground cardamom
2 t. cumin seeds
1/2 t. coriander seeds
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t. whole black peppercorns
1/2 t. fenugreek seeds
1 small onion, coarsley chopped
4 cloves garlic peeled
1 c. water
14 small dried hot red chiles, seeds and stems removed
1 T. cayenne
2 T. paprika
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. allspice
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. ground cloves
3 T. dry red wine
3 T. vegetable oil

1) Toast the cardamom, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, peppercorns and fenugreek in a hot skillet, shaking constantly, for a couple of minutes, untl they start to toast and gain aroma. Grind the spices to form a powder.

2) Combine the onion, galric and 1/2 c. water in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Add the toasted spice powder, chiles, cayenne, paprika, ginger, allspice, nutmeg and cloves. Continue to blend. Slowly add the remaining 1/2 c. water, wine and oil and blend until smooth.

3) Place sauce n a saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes to blend falvors and thicken.

Doro We't:
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken (breasts or thighs will work)
3 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 large onion, chopped
2 c. garlic peeled and minced
2 T. butter
1/4 c. berbere
2 T. paprika
2 t. ground ginger
1 t. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 t. ground cardamom
1/4 t. nutmeg
2 c. water
4 hard-boiled eggs, left whole

1) Cut chicken into small bite sized pieces. Rub the chicken with the lemon juice and let it marinate, covered, for 30 minutes at room temperature.

2) Saute the onion and the garlic in the butter until browned. Add the berbere, paprika and remaining spices, and saute for 2-3 minutes.

3) Add the chicken with its marinade to the pan and toss to coat. Stir in enough of the 2 c. water to form a thick sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

4) Using a fork poke holes all over the eggs, then add them to the stew. Cover again and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Serve the Doro W'et over a piece of crusty bread.

Egg Nests

2010-10-06T06:22:00.003-06:00

Egg nests is one of our favorite meals. It is delicious, easy, super healthy and you feel great after you eat it. We frequently make these for breakfast on Saturday mornings. They are a great way to use up any leftover veggies in your fridge from the previous week. You saute veggies in a pan and then make small wells and crack eggs into those and the eggs cook and adhere to the vegetables making them into a nest around the egg. The recipe below is just what we happened to use the day we took this picture, but really the possibilities are endless. You can use any type of green, add any vegetables that you want and try any combination of spices that you desire.

Egg Nests
Got the idea from the blog Clean Eating Machines
2 Servings
1 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 head kale, washed and chopped
1 zucchini, diced
1 jalapeno, minced (seeded or not depending on your preference)
4 eggs
2 T. Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1) heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add the zucchini and saute for about 2 more minutes. Add the kale and saute until wilted.

2) your vegetables should cover the entire bottom of the pan. Make four wells in the vegetable and crack an egg into each well. Cover the pan and let the eggs cook until they have cooked through, about 4 minutes. They should still be slightly soft to the touch. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Shrimp Chili Cornbread Casserole

2010-10-03T17:37:00.001-06:00

The weather is starting to turn colder (or at least it should be) and that means warmer and more heartier meals are on the menu. Here in Denver we are having an uncharacteristically warm autumn, but that hasn't stopped the two of us from craving some good autumn food. Chili is one thing that we tend to enjoy in many different forms (vegetarian, spicy, green, Cincinnati style, etc.). When we saw this shrimp chili with a cornbread topping we knew we would have to give it a try. First we had never had shrimp chili and second it was just genius to combine chili and cornbread into one wonderful dish. This dish was very flavorful and satisfying and will definitely be on the menu again. Heck we may just used the cornbread topping on other batches of chili that we make this year too. Again I say whoever came up with this idea is genius.

Shrimp Chili Cornbread Casserole
Adapted from Eating Well

Shrimp Chili:
2 t. canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium zucchini, diced
1 1/2 T. chili powder
1 1/2 T. cumin
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
28 oz. can of no salt added diced tomatoes
1 1/2 lb. raw shrimp
1/2 c. cilantro

Cornbread Topping:
1 c. yellow cornmeal
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2/4 c. milk
1/4 c. canola oil
l large egg
1 T. honey

1) To prepare the filling heat 2 t. of oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook, stirring often, until softened. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Stir in zucchini and cook for about 3 more minutes. Stir in chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and 1 t. salt cooking for 20 more seconds. Pour in the tomatoes and their juice, bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat. Stir in the shirmp and cilantro. Pour into a 9 x 13 baking pan sprayed with non-stick spray.

2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3) To prepare the cornbread topping whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and 1/2 t. salt in a large bowl. Whisk milk, 1/4 c. oil, egg and honey in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Drop by heaping tablespoons over the shrimp mixture.

4) Bake the casserole, uncovered for 40-45 minutes, until the top is browned and the filling is bubbling. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Adobo Rubbed Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Coleslaw

2010-09-29T06:27:00.001-06:00

Fish tacos have been one of our staple dishes this summer. They are pretty quick and easy to make and they pack a huge flavor punch. Plus they are really healthy. We have tried various recipes, but so far we like the recipe we found in the June issue of Eating Well the best. It has great flavor and the coleslaw is excellent. This meal is perfect to sit out with on your back porch, enjoy a warm summer evening and a nice cool beer.

Adobo Rubbed Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Coleslaw
Adapted from the June 2010 issue of Eating Well

Adobo rub:
4 t. chili powder
2 T. lime juice
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 t. cumin
1 t. onion powder
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt
1/2 t. freshly ground pepper

Fish:
Adobo rub
2 lbs. of a white fish such as Mahi Mahi or Tilapia
1 t. oil

Coleslaw:
1/4 c. sour cream
1/4 c. low fat mayonaise
2-4 T. chopped fresh cilantro
1 t. lime zest
2 T. lime juice
1/8 t. salt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
3 c. shredded red cabbage

12 corn tortillas (warmed)

1) mix all ingredients for the adobo rub in a small bowl. Rub it all over the fish and let it sit for 20-30 minutes.

2) To prepare the coleslaw combine sour cream, mayo, cilantro, lime zest, lime juice, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Mix until smoot. Add the cabbage and toss to goat. Refrigerate until ready to use.

3) Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan to heat. Cook fish on each side until cooked through (about 3-5 minutes per side). Seperate the fish into large chunks.

4) Serve by placing some fish on a corn tortilla and then topping with coleslaw. Additional toppings can include tomatoes, onions, salsa, etc.

Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes with Honey Buttercream Frosting

2010-09-26T18:12:00.001-06:00

During Rosh Hashanah celebrants of the Jewish New Year typically eat lots of sweet foods. This is to start out a new year on the right track hoping that the year to come will be a sweet one. A very traditional combination is apples and honey. Dipping apple slices in honey has been a tradition that Cassie has enjoyed as far back as she can remember. This year when her family decided to have a belated Rosh Hashanah celebration Cassie offered to make dessert. She wanted something different and delicious, but still with a bit of tradition. What she found was a recipe for apple cinnamon cupcakes. The cupcakes called for mead frosting, but instead Cassie decided to experiment with a normal buttercream frosting with the addition of honey to it. We used a good alfalfa honey because it typically has a stronger flavor than normal clover honey. It provided a really rich honey flavor to the frosting. We doubled the cupcake recipe and had enough batter for ~36 cupcakes.

Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes
adapted from the blog Cupcake Project

2 sticks of butter softened
1 c. + 2 T. evaporated cane juice
2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. applesauce (unsweetened)
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1 large apple, cored, peeled and chopped

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2) With a mixer cream the butter and sugar on medium. Add the eggs 1 at a time until incorporated. Slowly add the flour.

3) Once the flour is incorporated add the applesauce and the cinnamon and mix well. Stir in the apples.

4) Measure about 1/3 cup of batter into paper lined muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool fully before frosting.

Honey Buttercream Frosting
adapted from this recipe found on the Food Network website

3 c. organic confectioners' sugar
1 c. butter softened
1 t. vanilla extract
1-2 T. milk
honey to taste (we probably used close to a 1/4 c. of honey)

1) In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

2) Add vanilla and the milk and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add more milk as necessary for the desired consistency.

3) Slowly start adding honey to the frosting while the mixer is still going. It will give the frosting a nice honey hue. Add the honey till you have the desired potency of flavor. Frost cupcakes and enjoy.

Our Soup (Spicy Tomato Soup)

2010-09-23T20:20:00.004-06:00

Our Soup came about one evening when both of us came home from grad school classes. We were hungry and had no clue what to have for dinner. We didn't want to order out but our cupboards were also nearly bare. We noticed a few key ingredients and decided to make a tomato soup to at least fill our bellies. What resulted was a very tasty and satisfying soup that we have made countless times since and for some reason we always just called it "our soup". It is broth based tomato soup with a hint of lime and plenty of kick. It is really simple too and perfect for a quick weeknight meal.

Spicy Tomato Soup
A Jason and Cassie Original
1 T. olive oil
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/4-1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
5 c. low sodium vegetable broth
1 t. basil
1 t. oregano
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1-2 bay leaves
1 can quartered artichoke hearts
5-8 oz. whole wheat pasta (preferably small noodles like macaroni)
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt and pepper to taste

1) heat oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and the red pepper flakes and let them cook for a minute.

2) Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer until pasta is fully cooked.

3) Remove the bay leaves and serve warm with a crust bread.

Whole Wheat Challah

2010-09-22T05:00:00.003-06:00

Challah is an amazing bread. It is such a comfort food for Cassie that we have been searching for a good whole wheat recipe ever since we started eating clean. This is the second recipe we tried and we think we found a winner. It is fairly easy, but takes some time for all the various rises and steps. It is well worth the effort. We used stone ground whole wheat flour to make the bread because that is what we had. It was very good, but definitely made a heavier bread. A finer ground would give a more light and fluffy texture that is characteristic of challah, but the stone ground loaf was definitely still a winner. We made this to break our Yom Kippur fast with. It was SO satisfying after a long day without food. Also it made great challah French toast the next morning.

Whole Wheat Challah
Recipe from Peter Reinhart's "Whole Grain Breads" Found via The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Soaker:
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. water

Biga:
1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 t. yeast
1/4 t. evaporated cane juice or agave nectar
1/2 c. water
2 T. vegetable oil
1 large egg
4 large egg yolks

For Final Dough:
the soaker
the biga
7 T. whole wheat flour, plus more for adjustments
3/4 t. salt
2 1/4 t. yeast
1 1/2 T. agave nectar or honey
2 T. vegetable oil

Toppings:
1 egg
1 T. water
pinch salt
poppy seeds or sesame seeds (optional)

1) For the soaker: In a medium mixing bowl, mix all of the ingredients together. Cover and leave at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours, or refridgerate for up to 3 days. If the dough is refrigerated, leave it at room temperature for 2 hours before mixing the final dough.

2) For the biga: In a medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients together. Knead for 2 minutes; the dough will feel very tacky. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then knead for 1 minute. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days. Leave it at room temperature for 2 hours before mixing the final dough.

3) For the final dough: Cut the soaker and the biga into 12 smaller pieces. Put the pieces in a mixing bowl along with 7 T. of flour, the salt, the yeast, sugar, and oil. You can mix these in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or by hand. Mix on slow for about 1 minute, until the dough comes together and then increase speed to medium-high and continue mixing and kneading for 6 minutes. Add flour if necessary (we had to add quite a bit more to get it to the right consistency). The dough should be soft and tacky, but not sticky. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes then resume kneading for 1 minute. Form the dough into a ball and place it in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise at room temperature for 45 to 60 minutes until it is about 1 1/2 times its original size.

4) Gently transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into 6 evenly sized pieces for 2 small loaves or 3 evenly sized pieces for 1 large loaf. Roll each portion of dough into a rope about 10-14 inches long and about 1-2 inches thick. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Braid the ropes.

5) Place the braid(s) on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. To make the egg wash, whisk the egg, water and salt together. Brush the braids with the egg wash, cover and let rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

6) Brush the dough with the egg wash again, then top with poppy seeds or sesame seeds, if using. Leave the dough uncovered and let rise for 15 more minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

7) Place the challah on the middle shelf. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees, and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the loaf 180 degrees and bake another 20 minutes. Check the bread and rotate again if it is baking unevenly. Continue to bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the bread is a rich brown all around and sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom.

8) Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and let it cool for at least 1 hour before serving.

Caraway Chicken Breasts with Sweet-and-Sour Cabbage

2010-09-19T18:47:00.003-06:00

This dish is so delicious. Now most people would read that the chicken is cooked in bacon grease and automatically put this dish in the "better not eat" category. Now normally we would agree, but this uses only 1 slice of bacon. That is only about 45 calories and that 1 slice packs a serious flavor punch! Not only is this dish tasty, but it is relatively easy too. We frequently make this dish on Thursday nights. Why Thursdays? Well Thursday nights seem to be the nights that we are most likely to not want to cook and just order pizza. That always leaves us feeling gross and wishing we hadn't This is so good that we look forward to cooking and eating. The thought of pizza never enters out mind. We served this with some steamed summer squash and brown rice.

Caraway Chicken Breasts with Sweet-and-Sour Cabbage
Adapted from February 2010 Bon Appetit Magazine
Makes 2 servings
1 t. caraway seeds
1/2 t. ground allspice, divided
2 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 slice thick cut applewood-smoked bacon
3 c. thinly sliced red cabbage
1/2 c. sliced shallots
1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
2 1/2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 T. sucanat

1) Sprinkle caraway and 1/4 t. allspice on both sides of chicken breasts and then sprinkle with salt and pepper

2) Cook bacon until crisp in a skillet over medium heat. Transfer to a plate. Chop bacon.

3) Add chicken to drippings in skilled. Sautee until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

4) Add the cabbage, shallots, broth, vinegar, sucanat, and 1/4 t. allspice to the skillet. Cook over medium high heat until the liquid is reduced to glaze and the cabbage is crisp-tender. Mix in the bacon and season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Browned Onion Kugel

2010-09-09T20:05:00.002-06:00

Well it is that time of year again...Rosh Hashannah. One of Cassie's favorite New Year's treats is kugel. For those who have never had kugel it is a dish made with either egg noodles or matzoh (during passover) with cottage cheese, sour cream and eggs. Kugel can take many forms, but Cassie mainly grew up with her grandmother's sweet kugel. When she found this savory individual kugel recipe on epicurious.com she knew we would be making these for Rosh Hashannah. When Jason tried them he decided that these kugel may need to make semi-regular appearances through-out the year. They are made in regular muffin tins for an individual kugel for each person. This recipe makes 12 kugels. Sorry for the less than perfect photo on these. The weather was gloomy and they didn't stick around for an extra day to try again.

Browned Onion Kugel
Recipe from Gourmet February 2005 found through Epicurious

6 oz. egg noodles
1 stick unsalted butter
3 c. chopped onions
1 1/4 c. sour cream
1 1/4 c. cottage cheese
1 T. poppy seeds
4 large eggs
1 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper

1) preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2) Cook noodles until aldente, drain in colander and then rinse with cool water and drain well.

3) Melt the butter in a skillet over moderate heat. Brush the muffin cups with butter. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned (~20 minutes). Transfer to a large bowl and sir in noodles, sour cream, cottage cheese and poppy seeds. Lightly beat the eggs with salt and pepper and then mix in to the rest of the ingredients until well combined.

4) Divide the mixture evenly between the 12 cups of the muffin tin and bake until puffed and golden, about 20-25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Zucchini Bread

2010-08-29T16:34:00.001-06:00

It is gardening season. Unfortunately we weren't able to plant a garden this year, but we do know plenty of people who did. So many people seem to plant zucchini in their home gardens and if you have ever had a zucchini plant in your garden you know that those little buggers can easily and quickly go from a small zucchini to a monster in the span of 2 or 3 days. That is how this zucchini bread came to be. Cassie's co-worker brought in a giant zucchini from her garden that had to be at least 10 lbs. The thing was so big that there was really only 1 thing to do with it and that was to make zucchini bread. We made 3 loaves and froze enough shredded zucchini that we still probably have enough to make another 3-4 loaves. Good thing we like zucchini bread.

We made two types of bread. A sweet and a savory. They were both super good. The sweet recipe was your classic zucchini bread, but we used whole wheat flour and some oats in it. The savory we made a cheddar loaf. We added some jalapenos to it and it was wonderful. I think the loaf probably could have been cheesier so I changed the recipe to show that.

Zucchini Cheddar Bread
adapted from Honey and Jam
Makes 1 loaf

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
4 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 c. shredded zucchini
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c. scallions
3 T. cilantro
1/4 c. pickled jalapeno slices
2 large eggs
1 c. buttermilk
4 t. unsalted butter melted

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

2) whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add the zucchini, cheddar, scallions, cilantro, and jalapenos tossing them to coat them in the flour mixture.

3) In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just incorporated. Do not overmix. The batter will not be smooth.

4) bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Will take about 55-60 minutes. Let it cook completely before slicing.

For the sweeter version of the zucchini bread we used a recipe from Eating Well. We unfortunately did not get a photo of this loaf because one loaf got eaten too quickly and Cassie took the other loaf to work to share with co-workers.

Zucchini Bread
adapted from Eating Well
makes 2 loaves

1 1/2 c. rolled oats
3 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 T. baking powder
2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. cloves
1 1/2 t. salt
2 c. sucanat
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
3/4 c. apple sauce
1/3 c. canola oil
3 c. shredded zucchini

1) preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 2 9x5 inch loaf pans with cooking spray. Spread the oats on a separate baking sheet and bake until lightly toasts, about 5-10 minutes.

2)Stir together all but 2 T. of the toasted oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt in a mixing bowl.

3) In a separate bowl, whisk together sucanat, eggs, egg whites, apple sauce and oil. Stir in zucchini. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until just combined.

4) Divide batter between the loaf pans and sprinkle 1 T. of the reserved oats on to each loaf. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45-55 minutes. Let the loaves cool completely before serving.

Egg and Potato Burritos

2010-08-23T18:28:00.003-06:00

Both of us are huge fans of burritos. Especially breakfast burritos. We love experimenting and playing around. We also love to eat breakfast for dinner. We came up with these burritos on the fly one day while trying to create our meal plan for the week. Jason came up with the overarching idea and then we fleshed it out together. These are really hearty and filling and would make an excellent breakfast, lunch or dinner. Best part is that they come together pretty quickly. We added some vegetable to our home fries to make the dish a little more complete. Our tortillas were a little small for all the filling so we ended up eating these more taco style than like a burrito. That seems to happen to us a lot.

Egg and Potato Burritos
1-2 T. canola oil
1 potato baked to 3/4 of the way done and finely diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 medium onion finely chopped
2 jalapenos minced (with or without seeds depending on your preference)
1 small zucchini or summer squash diced
8 kale large leaves washed and torn into small pieces
1 t. season-all salt
1 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
6 eggs
2 oz. colby jack cheese grated
your favorite prepared salsa
4 whole wheat tortillas

1) Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the potatoes, garlic, onion and jalapeno. Sautee for about 5 minutes.

2) In a 300 degree preheated oven place tortillas, wrapped in foil, in to the oven to warm for about 5 minutes.

3) Add the zucchini and kale. Add the season-all salt, cumin and chili powder. Toss to coat. Cook another 5-10 minutes until the kale is wilted and the rest of the vegetables start to get a bit of some charring on them.

5) While the potato mixture is cooking scramble the eggs in a non-stick skillet

5) To assemble place some potato mixture on a tortilla, add a layer of eggs and then top with cheese and a few spoonfuls of your favorite salsa. Wrap up the tortilla and enjoy.

Chocolate Chip and Pretzel Cookies

2010-07-26T08:17:00.001-06:00

Recently we decided to give up refined carbs and refined sugar. This has not been an easy task. Especially when it comes to treats. Cassie is a big sweets fan and not being able to eat a lot of the treats out there has made her turn to baking more often. Cassie found this recipe on The Mess Pot for Chocolate Chip and Pretzel Cookie Bars. The recipe looked great and we felt that with some tweaking we could come up with a great adaptation of this recipe. We decided to make it into cookies rather than cookie bars for the main reason that the two of us don't need to eat a pan of cookies bars. With cookies we could bake just a few at a time and freeze the rest for future use.

To make these more friendly to our new food rules we swapped all purpose flour for whole wheat pastry flour, sugar for evaporated cane juice, and brown sugar for sucanat. For the pretzels make sure you get a whole grain variety.

These were definitely delicious and we are going to be making them again in the future. Especially since we have a large bag of cookie dough in the freezer.

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies
Source: The Mess Pot (adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod)

2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 c. sucanat
1/2 c. evaporated cane juice
2 large eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
1 bag organic chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. whole grain mini pretzel twists chopped
1/4 c. peanut butter

1) pre heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2) in a medium bowl, whisk the flour, bkaing soda and salt. Using a mixer, beat the butter, evaporated cane juice and sucanat at medium speed until well mixed and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. On a low speed beat in the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and pretzel pieces.

3) Place 1 T. balls of dough on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 9-12 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.

4) You can either melt the pb a little a drizzle it over the cookies or you can just put a small dollop of pb on top of each cookie.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

2010-07-17T08:48:00.003-06:00

We have been seeing a ton of recipes for various types of lettuce wraps lately. We decided to give it a go and see if we could come up with a good recipe of our own. What resulted was a spicy and sweet meal that was definitely a crowd pleaser...or at least a Jason and Cassie pleaser. Both of us were very happy with how the meal turned out and certainly plan to make it again. You cook the chicken ahead of time in the crock pot making this meal not only really tasty, but also very simple.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Makes 4 servings
1-1.5 lbs. skinless chicken thighs (bone-in)
2 c. low sodium stock
3 T. low sodium soy sauce
2 T. rice vinegar
1 t. dried ginger
1 t. cumin
1/8 t. cayenne
1 t. sucanat
1 T. canola oil
1 c. mushrooms diced
1 c. green bell peppers diced
1/2 c. carrots diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 c. cooked brown rice
1 T. all natural peanut butter
2 T. Siracha
1 T. rice vinegar
1 T. low sodium soy sauce
8-12 large romaine lettuce leaves cleaned and dried

1) in the morning ahead of time put the first 8 ingredients into the crock pot and let cook on low for 8 hours. Chicken should be moist and will shred easily. Remove the bones and shred the chicken.

2) heat canola oil in a medium pan and saute the mushrooms, bell pepper, carrots and garlic until tender.

3) Meanwhile whisk together the peanut butter, Siracha, rice vinegar and soy sauce.

4) Add the rice and chicken to the pan with the vegetables and mix well. Add the sauce and heat for a minute.

5) Serve the chicken and rice mixture on a plate with 2-3 lettuce leaves per person.

Chicken Salad Pitas with Baba Ghanoush using homemade whole wheat pitas

2010-07-06T18:06:00.001-06:00

One day at work Cassie noticed a stack of discarded Food Network Magazines and decided to grab them to see if there were any hidden jewels. Among them we found a recipe for these Chicken Salad pitas that sounded like a great, fresh, summer dinner. We decided to go ahead and make them this week. After the grocery shopping had been done, we realized that we'd forgotten to get pitas from the store. An oversight for sure, but not one that we let get in the way of our meal. We are both pretty adept at making bread like recipes for things like tortillas, nan and pizza dough. We have most bread recipe staples in our pantry so we hit the internet and found a great recipe for Whole Wheat pitas to go with it.

The pita recipe is an Emeril Lagasse recipe that we found on the Planet Green Website. Give yourself about 2.5-3 hours before you want to eat to make the pitas as they need time to rise. Other than the rising time they are very simple and delicious.

Whole Wheat Pitas
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 package (2 1/4 t.) active dry yeast
1 1/2 T. extra virgin olive oil + 1t.
1/2 t. honey
3 c. whole wheat flour +more for dusting
2 t. salt (I probably only used 1 t.)

1) Pour water into a bowl. Add yeast olive oil and honey. Allow yeast to bloom until it begins to foam, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and salt. Knead dough for about 5 minutes until round smooth and elastic. I used our Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook, but by hand would work fine as well. Grease the bottom of a clean bowl with olive oil and press the dough into the bottom greasing the entire ball of dough. Cover the dough and sit aside in a relatively warm place. Allow dough to rise for 2 hours till it has doubled in size.

2) Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and knead it by hand until it is round and smooth. Divide the dough into 16 2 ounce balls. Cover and allow to rise for another 20 minutes.

3) Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees and place an overturned baking sheet or a baking stone on the middle rack.

4) When the dough is done rising roll out the dough on a clean work surface that is dusted with more flour. Each pita should be about 6 inches in diameter. Place as many pitas onto the baking pan in the oven and allow to bake for about 2 minutes until it starts to bubble. Remove with a metal spatula and repeat with the remaining dough.

5) Serve warm or room temperature.

Chicken Salad Pita with Baba Ghanoush
Adapted from Food Network Magazine
2 T. apple cider vinegar
1 sprig rosemary leaves
3-4 leaves of fresh basil chopped
3/4 t. red pepper flakes
2 T. canola oil
2 cloves garlic minced.
Kosher salt or sea salt
1 T. olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 c. grape tomatoes halved
1 cucumber chopped
Fresh ground black pepper
4 pocketless pitas
1/2 c. baba ghanoush
2 c. coarsely chopped romaine lettuce or spinach

1) Whisk the vinegar, rosemary, basil, oil, red pepper flakes, garlic and salt to taste a shallow dish. Add the chicken and let marinate for at least 30 minutes
2) Mix the tomatoes, cucumbers salt and pepper in a bowl. Drizzle with 1 T. of olive oil
3) Grill Chicken until cooked through 2-3 minutes per side. Cut into 1/2 inch thick strips. Toss with the vegetables.
4) Place a pita on each plate. Brush with baba ghanoush. Top with lettuce and the chicken salad.

This really was a very enjoyable meal and we will definitely be making this again. Hope you enjoy it.

Crock Pot Sausage, Yam and Kale Soup

2010-06-25T15:25:00.001-06:00

We recently joined a CSA like organization called Door to Door Organics that delivers mostly local organic produce to your house once a week. This was week 2 and so far we are enjoying the fresh produce we have been getting. It is so much fun to try to plan meals around what you will be getting in your box every week. This week we got kale, celery, carrots, and fresh basil among other things. Jason came up with the idea to make a soup using these ingredients. Cassie had recently seen a recipe for a sausage, potato and kale soup on the main web-page of eatingwell.com (but didn't look at the recipe). We decided to make something like that and ended up creating our very own and very delicious soup. It had some great flavors and the yams added such a nice hint of sweetness. Next time we will probably add some cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to give the soup some spice. I am adding red pepper flakes to the recipe because I think they will be a great addition

Sausage, Yam and Kale Soup
1 T. olive oil
3 carrots diced
3 celery stalks diced
1/2 medium onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
6 c. low sodium beef broth
1 yam diced
1 bunch kale chopped
4 turkey Italian Sausages
2 T. chopped fresh basil or 1 t. dried
1/2 t. rosemary
1 t. oregano
1 t. salt
1 t. black pepper

1) Remove the turkey sausages from their casings and brown in a pan over medium. Crumble the meat to be like ground burger.
2) Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Saute the carrots, celery and onion until tender about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for another minute or two.
3) Place the sauteed vegetable and the remaining ingredients in a crockpot and put on low heat for 8 hours.

This really was so simple. There was lots of chopping to do, but everything else came together nice and easy. We used beef broth because we had some in the house, but I am sure chicken or vegetable broth would work as well.

Biscuits and Gravy

2010-05-23T16:06:00.002-06:00

What the heck is biscuits and gravy doing on a healthy eating blog? Well we both firmly believe that a healthy lifestyle contains the occasional unhealthy food. Splurging once in awhile helps keep you from feeling deprived and then binging. Biscuits and gravy really don't need any kind of introductory hype. They're just flat-out, savory goodness. We've made basic biscuits and gravy before, then we discovered a recipe for Cheddar, Bacon, and Fresh Chive Biscuits in Bon Appetite magazine, so we thought why not use those instead of your regular buttermilk variety. We adapted the recipe to include jalapenos and no chives, which added a complimentary spice.

Gravy (found at: http://www.foodreference.com/html/artbiscuitsandgravy.html)

½ lb. ground breakfast sausage.
2 T. butter
4 T. all purpose flour
3 c. cold milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the sausage until it is cooked and has released as much of its fat as possible. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and do NOT drain the grease. You'll need it to make the roux...

You should have about 2 tablespoons of rendered pork fat. Add the butter and melt it. Then add the flour a little at a time over medium heat, constantly whisking. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Now start adding the cold milk a little at a time, whisking incessantly. Toward the end of the milk add the sausage back in. When you reach the desired consistency add salt and pepper to taste.

Cheddar, Bacon, and Jalapeno Biscuits (adapted from Bon Appetit, Feb. 2010)
Makes 6 biscuits

3 thick-cut bacon slices
2 cups bread flour
3/4 T. baking powder
3/4 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
1/2 c. chilled, unsalted butter,
cut into half inch cubes
1 jalapeno, minced
3/4 c. chilled buttermilk

Position rack just above center of oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Line heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown. Transfer bacon to paper towels and drain, then chop coarsely.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in processor. Add butter cubes. Blend until coarse meal forms, about 30 seconds. Transfer flour mixture to large bowl. Add cheddar cheese, jalapenos, and copped bacon; toss to blend. Gradually add buttermilk, stirring to moisten evenly (batter will feel sticky).

Using lightly floured hands, drop generous 1/2 cup batter for each biscuit onto prepared baking sheet, spacing batter mounds about 2 inches apart.

Bake biscuits until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.

Now, split two biscuits onto each plate and pour the gravy on top.

Remember, you don't have to live in the deep South to eat like the world is going to end tomorrow, so when you're craving something that'll leave you and your dinner guests speechless, give this a try.

Servings: 3

Calories: Don't ask

Huevos Rancheros

2010-05-23T15:31:00.002-06:00

Huevos Rancheros is definitely one of our favorite meals. We both love it a lot, but it can be pretty unhealthy with a little tweaking we have been able to take Emril Lagasse's recipe for Huevos Rancheros and turn it into a meal that can be enjoyed any time and with a lot fewer calories and less unnecessary fat. We actually love to make 2 servings of this during the week and then use the remaining ranchero sauce and make 2 more servings on Saturday mornings for a nice, but healthy weekend breakfast.

Huevos Rancheros
Adapted from Emril Lagasse

Ranchero sauce:
1 T. vegetable oil
1 c. chopped white onions
1 c. chopped bell pepper
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. cayenne
1 minced jalapeno (with or without seeds depending on your preference)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 c. chopped fresh tomatoes and their juices
1 c. low sodium chicken or vegetable stock
3 T. chopped cilantro

4 corn tortillas
1 c. refried beans (preferably low sodium)
2 T. butter
8 large eggs
2 oz. pepper jack cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the Ranchero sauce, in a medium pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and bell peppers, and cook stirring for 3 - 5 minutes. Add the cumin, salt, cayenne, jalapeno and garlic. Cook stirring for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and their juices and cook stirring for 2 minutes. Add the stock and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add the cilantro. Cover and keep warm.

Put 1/4 of the refried beans on each tortilla and place on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 7-9 minutes until the tortilla is slightly crispy at the edges and the beans are warm.

In a medium skillet melt 1/2 T. of butter. Break 2 eggs into the skillet and fry until begining to set. Repeat until all eggs are cooked.

Place 2 eggs on top of each tortilla with refried beans. Top with 1/4 of the ranchero sauce and sprinkle 1/2 oz of cheese on top.

Server immediately.

Persian Cauliflower Kuku

2010-05-23T15:15:00.002-06:00

We tried this dish for the first time this week and it was SO good. We found it in the cookbook "Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey" by Najmieh Batmanglij. This cookbook is one of our absolute favorites, as it has some amazing and authentic vegetarian recipes. It follows the Silk Road and you can find a variety of delicious dishes that you would never think to make. The Persian Cauliflower Kuku is no exception to that. It is a hearty meal that is much like a Spanish tortilla made using cauliflower instead of potatoes. It would be good paired with yogurt and flat bread or some quinoa.

Persian Cauliflower Kuku
Silk Road Cooking: A vegetarian journey
6 eggs
1/2 t. baking powder
1 T. flour or bread crumbs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese or fresh mozzarella shredded
1/4 c. vegetable oil, butter or ghee
1 small red onion thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 small head of cauliflower coarsely chopped
2 t. salt (we used less about 1 t.)
1/2 t. black pepper
1 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. paprika
1/4 t. turmeric
1 green bird chili chopped or 1/8 t. cayenne
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley or basil

1. Break the eggs into a mixing bowl, add the baking powder, flour, milk and cheese. Whisk lightly.

2. Heat the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over low heat. Add the onion and stir-fry for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic, cauliflower, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, turmeric, chili and parsley. Stir-fry for 5-10 minutes until the cauliflower is soft.

3. Pour the egg mixture over the cauliflower in the skillet. Cook over low heat 6-12 minutes until set.

4. Place the skillet under a preheated broiler for 1-3 minutes to brown the top.

5. Serve warm of cold.

4-6 servings
300 calories per serving for 4 servings.
200 calories per serving for 6 servings.

Strawberry Tuna Salad

2010-05-17T09:39:00.003-06:00

Tuna salad is one of our favorite quick and easy lunches. It's very tasty and so simple to whip up a batch. The problem with tuna salad is that it can pack a pretty high calorie punch from all the mayo used to make it. We substitute 0% fat Fage plain Greek Yogurt for mayo for a great fresh flavor and a fraction of the calories of mayo. The addition of strawberries to the salad adds a great tart, but sweet flavor and some beautiful color. Finally we use Frontier brand's Pepperman to add some salt and a great mix of peppers. We highly recommend this seasoning mix...it's so flavorful and quite addictive. We use it in almost all our cooking.

Strawberry Tuna Salad
1 can solid white albacore tuna packed in water (preferably the no salt added variety)
4 T. Greek yogurt
2 T. relish
1/4 t. Pepperman
5-7 strawberries chopped

Drain tuna well and place in a small bowl. Flake the tuna with a fork until it is in small chunks Add the Greek yogurt, relish and Pepperman and mix well. Fold in the chopped strawberries. Serve on your favorite whole grain bread.

Serves 2
Calories: 175

Pizza!

2010-05-10T10:24:00.002-06:00

Pizza is one of our all time favorite foods! We could eat it almost every night and not get sick of it. Our quest to be more healthy eaters hasn't made us give up on pizza, but we have had to make some changes to our recipes. By using homemade sauce, whole wheat crust, loading it with vegetables and going light on the cheese you come out with a delicious, but healthy alternative to your normal take out. Also pizza is easy! It does take some planning because you need to allow the dough to rise, but the steps involved aren't too difficult. OK Let's get this started with the dough.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 packet active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 t.)
1 t. sugar
1 c. warm water divided
1 t. salt
3 T. olive oil plus more for greasing

Combine a 1/4 c. of the warm water with the sugar. Make sure sugar is dissolved. Pour the yeast on top of the water mixture and let sit for 1 minute. Stir the yeast into the water/sugar mix and then let rise for 10 minutes. Combine the yeast mixture with the flour, salt, olive oil, and remaining water. Knead dough for about 10 minutes (a stand mixer with a dough hook is a great help for this step). Press dough into the bottom of a bowl lightly greased with olive oil. Turn over and cover in bowl and let rise for 90 minutes.

This will make enough dough for about 2 medium pizzas.

About 30 minutes before the dough is done rising you will want to start making the sauce and toppings for the pizza. When we make sauce it tends to be a "little of this, little of that" process, but here is the basic recipe. You can adjust the seasonings to fit your taste.

Tomato Sauce
2-3 c. canned crushed tomatoes
1 T. olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic minced or crushed
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1 t. oregano
1 t. basil
salt and pepper to taste (I usually don't add to much to keep the dish low in sodium).

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to the oil and let cook for about 1 minute until fragrant. Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

At this time you should also pre heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Toppings
6 oz. of cheese
3 c. fresh spinach (washed and dried)
1 c. diced onions
1 large tomato seeded and chopped.

To assemble the pizzas you will first need to divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Use non-stick canola spray and spray your 2 pizza pans. Roll each part into a large thin circle to fit your pizza pan. The dough should hang over the edge of the pan. Roll the edges to create a crust. Poke holes in the dough with a fork to keep the crust from bubbling up. Top the dough with as much or as little sauce as you want. Add the vegetable toppings divided among the two pizzas. Cover with 3 oz. of cheese per pizza.

Bake pizzas in oven for about 16 minutes. Switch positions (from bottom to top rack and top to bottom) of pizza about half way through to make sure both get cooked evenly. The cheese should be light brown and bubbly. Slice pizzas into 8 slices.

Each slice of pizza has 132 calories.

Japanese Chicken-Scallion Rice Bowl

2010-05-02T18:13:00.001-06:00

This meal was a quick and easy way to finish off our lazy Sunday. Everything about it was tasty, from the chicken broth (which we didn't make from scratch this time, but used some good organic stock out of a carton), to the egg and chicken combination. We've never been able to successfully make egg drop soup. After following this recipe and having it turn out we realized that it's good to have more egg white than egg yoke and to not mix it together fully. This is another great recipe from Eating Well that Cassie found online. We've only just discovered this goldmine of delicious recipes, so bear with us as the next few posts may also come from them. We promise to post some of our own recipes or ones from other sources soon.

Japanese Chicken-Scallion Rice Bowl
from Eating Well April/May 2005
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/japanese_chicken_scallion_rice_bowl.html

Vegetarian Taco Salad

2010-04-28T19:28:00.001-06:00

For our dinner tonight we made a vegetarian taco salad. Admittedly neither of use were super excited about this meal, but it turned out to be delicious! The flavors are so good together that you don't miss having meat in the meal at all.

The recipe originally called for brown rice, but we substituted it with quinoa as it cooks much quicker than brown rice and both of us just like it a lot better. It was a great swap that really complimented the salad. We also omitted the salt as the tortilla chips were plenty salty for the meal. Our final swap was to substitute spinach for regular lettuce leaves.

Vegetarian Taco Salad
adapted from Eating Well Magazine June 2010

2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 c. corn kernels
4 large tomatoes
1 1/2c. cooked quinoa.
15 ounce can of black, kidney or pinto beans rinsed
1 T. chili powder
1 1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 c. cilantro chopped
1/3 c. prepared salsa
2 c. shredded spinach
1 c. shredded Jack Cheese
2 1/2 c. coarsley crumbled tortilla chips
lime wedges for garnish

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and corn; cook, stirring, until the onion begins to brown. Coarsely chop 1 tomato. Add it to the pan along with rice, beans, chili powder and 1 t. of oregano. Cook stirring frequently until the tomato cooks, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly.
2. Chop the remaining 2 tomatoes and combine them with the cilantro, the salsa and the remaining oregano in a medium bowl.
3. Toss lettuce in a large bowl with the bean mixture. Add the cheese and the salsa mixture. Top each serving with a portion of the chips. Garnish with limes. Squeeze some of the lime juice on the salad at the table.

Serves 6
Per Serving: Calories 395, 17 g. of fat, 52 g. of carbs,14 g. of protein, 9 g. of fiber

Bloggity Blog Blog

2010-04-26T18:38:00.000-06:00

Welcome to our food blog. We created this to share our passion for food. Both of us thoroughly enjoy cooking, dining, and discussing food with each other and anyone else who'll listen. We felt this would be a good place to share stories, recipes, and whatever insights we might have into healthy, but delicious eating. Our philosophy of cooking is to stick with real food ingredients in a minimally processed state, as well as meat that's been raised in a humane and natural manner. Along with good ingredients, we believe that a meal should be an event that is prepared, shared, and savored with friends and family, not a chore or a mindless ritual. Thanks for taking the time to share our interest.

Cassie and Jason