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Carrot Soup

March 25th, 2012 Melissa

What to do with fresh carrots? I purchased a couple pounds last week. Of course, there’s carrot cake but I wanted to get the most out of my carrots. I decided I could do carrot soup and carrot cake. If I juiced the carrots for the soup, I’d have more than plenty carrot pulp to use in the cake.

Here’s the soup recipe (adapted from 3 Martha Stewart recipes)

  • 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 inch knob fresh ginger, minced
  • 1 green onion, large white & greens finely chopped
  • 1-2 pound carrots, cleaned
  • 2 cups freshly made carrot juice
  • 1 cups homemade chicken stock
  • 1 cup cooked or steamed carrot coins
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1/3 cup fresh cream

In a soup pan, melt butter and add onions, ginger, garlic and cook until tender. While those are cooking, juice carrots in a juicer until you have 2 cups of juice. When onion mixture is tender, add carrot coins, chicken stock,carrot juice and 3/4 cup of carrot pulp from juice pulp collector to pan and bring to simmer. Puree soup in blender and return to pan. Add cream and honey and bring back to simmer. Serve hot or chilled with a dollop of creme fraiche and chives &/or parsley.

Enjoy,

 

 

 

Pineapple Coconut Smoothie

March 18th, 2012 Melissa

I had purchased about 5 fresh pineapple when Wal-Mart recently had them at $2.50 a piece. That is a good price around here as they are normally $3 and up. I had one pineapple left and it was on the verge of over-ripeness. Tired of eating fresh sliced pineapple with strawberries and yogurt or pineapple-carrot juice, I set off looking for something different.

I came across a Pina Colada Smoothie recipe on FoodNetwork.com that looked promising. Whenever I make a new recipe, I always make it exactly. I did not this time and wish I had because then I could have made a first batch i.e. the original recipe and a second test batch of my modifications.

Here’s what I made:

  • 1 whole fresh pineapple, chunked
  • 1 can (13 oz) unsweetened coconut milk
  • 1 banana (I used a frozen one)
  • 1/4 cup ice cubes

In a blender, combine the pineapple chunks, coconut milk, banana, and ice. Puree until smooth. Pour into glass. Garnish each serving with a pineapple wedge.

Didn’t like the banana in it. When I make this again, I will delete banana and add more ice and some rum. :-)

What are some of your favorite pineapple and/or coconut milk recipes? Let me know.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Meyer Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce

February 26th, 2012 Melissa

Yield: 8-10 pancakes

Ingredients:

To make the strawberry sauce:

1 cup fresh/frozen & defrosted strawberries
1/2 c. sugar
1. Puree 1 cup of fresh or defrosted frozen strawberries in a blender with 1/4 c. of water.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the berries, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer until the sauce thickens slightly.  Cover to keep warm and set aside.

To make the pancakes:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup fresh meyer lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated meyer lemon zest
1/3-2/3 cups skim milk

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese, egg, egg whites, lemon juice, lemon zest, and milk. Gently fold this mixture into the dry ingredients until flour disappears. Don’t over mix. The batter will be thick.

3. Heat a griddle or a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray.  Drop about 1/3 cup of batter onto the hot griddle or skillet. Cook the pancakes until browned on the underside and beginning to set, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the pancakes on the other side, about two minutes longer. Continue making pancakes until batter is gone. Serve warm with strawberry sauce and a dollop of whipped cream or sweetened ricotta.

adapted from Two Peas

Tuscan White Bean Soup

January 21st, 2012 Melissa

It has been a bit cold here this past week. I was really wanting to make some cannellini beans but I have a hard time finding canned (which I don’t like but they do in a pinch) and I never find dried ones in the stores here. I decided to stop in a different Wal-Mart (I usually shop the one closest to my home). I picked up what I needed and then decided to look just to see if they had any canned cannellini. Not only did they have them in cans, they had them in dry! YAY!!! Needless to say I grabbed a couple cans and a couple packs of dried beans.

This week I took half a bag of beans and soaked them in cold water overnight. I had to leave the next day for a few hours and noticed the beans weren’t quite rehydrated to my liking so I rinsed the beans and changed the water. I let them soak a while longer while I was gone. When I got home I drained and rinsed the beans again. I left them in the strainer to continue to drain up while I diced the onion, carrot, garlic and celery.

Take a nice 6-8 qt. pot and heat 1 T. olive oil (or brown up your pancetta) and throw in the onion and cook for about 3 minutes. Then add in carrot, garlic & celery. Let those cook down a bit, another 2-3 minutes. Next add your beans with some pepper and throw in a bit of dried basil (about 1/2 t.). Cover your beans with water (just enough to barely cover the beans). Let these simmer for about 30 minutes. The water should have reduced down some into a nice creamy thickened broth. I next add in about 1/2 cup of homemade pasta sauce with the rind of parmesean or asiago cheese (if you hvae no rind, just dice up a couple ounces of the cheese and throw it in the pot) with a 2 inch piece of fresh rosemary and another 2 inch peice of fresh oregano. I let it cook up just a bit longer until your beans are tender to your liking.

Serve up in shallow bowls with a nice slice of crusty bread or my herbed focaccia.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Oven Baked Fries You’ll Probably Ever Have & Spicy Chicken

January 21st, 2012 Melissa

Searching Pinterest, I found these awesome looking fries. They are garlicky, crispy, heavenly and best of all oven baked.

We’ve made them 3 times now. The first time, Emma and I made a test batch and ate them with nothing else…makes a great snack. The next time we made them as a side for a chicken breast and broccoli. The last time we made spicy chicken strips and had these as our side. Each time they have not disappointed.

SPICY CHICKEN

1 chicken breast per person, cut into strips

OR

3-4 chicken tenders per person

1 bottle of Franks RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 t. each: salt, pepper, garlic powder & onion powder

 

Marinate your chicken in a shallow dish with enough of the Franks to completely cover your chicken. I add enough to coat the bottom of my dish, place in the chicken and then pour more on top to cover. Refrigerate for a few hours.

When you are ready to make dinner: I first make the fries, while they are in the oven heat up your oil. I use a deep fryer set @ 400 degrees F. While my oil is coming up to temp, I take the flour and spices and mix in a shallow pie dish and dredge my marinated chicken in the flour, back in some Franks and flour once again before putting in the fryer. Fry up a few pieces at a time (you don’t want to crowd) and place on a warm plate and cover with a towel to keep warm.

Serve potatoes and chicken with a few celery stix and blue cheese or ranch dip or dressing.

This is a great meal instead of opting for fast food but please don’t eat this every day even though it can be tempting.  :-)

I also like to do this technique with entire chicken breasts that I’ve pounded out a bit flatter. Add in a nice bun and some mayo with lettuce and onion and tomatoes. You can then have a spicy chicken sandwich that tastes better than the fast food place.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Today’s Juice

December 22nd, 2011 Melissa

Today’s juice was:

  • 3-5 leaves each of swiss chard, spinach, kale
  • 5 sprigs of parsley
  • 2 large carrots
  • 1/2 english cucumber
  • 4 strawberries
  • 1 medium green apple (I quarter mine just so I can help juice flow thru after leaves)

Wrap parsley and all leaves into a bundle or two and put thru juicer with a juicy apple quarter to help those thicker green juices flow thru. Then juice cucumber, berries, carrots and finish with apple.

Enjoy!

 

 

Organizing & Streamlining

December 22nd, 2011 Melissa

Hello my name is Melissa and I’m a software junkie. I’m not afraid to admit it. I’m always on the look out for new software that will make life easier and more organized. Plus I just love trying out new programs, always have.

Yesterday, I happened upon an ad in a magazine for Manilla. It’s a free service that allows you to manage your bills online. No more paper bills, no more filing or the hassle of storage each year! I do get most of my bills emailed to me already but sometimes those emails get lost in the shuffle even though I have rules and folders in place for each. This service collects all your billing statements and store them for you in one place. Manilla allows unlimited document storage as long as you have an active account and for up to 30 days after you leave the service. They also use bank-level security for your protection.

I signed up and will be giving it a test run this week.

What software/sites do you use and find make your life a little more easier and organized? I’d love to hear from you.

 

 

 

 

White & Red Bean Soup with Greens & Pancetta

December 21st, 2011 Melissa

As you know I’m trying to incorporate more greens into my diet. I love a lot of different veggies and greens but some just aren’t as palatable to eat raw in a salad and as I’ve said before I’m not a huge fan of cooked greens. I did find a way to stir-fry them that i love but it gets old eating the same thing weeks on end even though I do it often. I save my pulp after I juice my veggies. I added a cup or so to the soup to thicken it so I didn’t have to mash the beans.

White & Red Bean Soup with Greens & Pancetta

  • 2 cups white canellini or small white bean of your choice
  • 2 cups red kidney or small red bean of your choice
  • 1/2 cup pancetta or thick cut bacon diced into half inch cubes
  • 1 large white onion, chopped or diced
  • 5 ribs of celery, cleaned and chopped or diced
  • 5 carrots, cleaned and chopped or diced
  • 5 cloves of garlic, minced
  • greens of your choice; kale, spinach, chard, bok choy, mustard, collards etc. – rough chopped
  • pepper to taste
  • pinch of salt
  • water

Soak beans together in a bowl of water overnight. In the morning, drain, rinse and pick thru.

Set soup pot on stove and turn burner on medium to get pan hot while you are cleaning and chopping the veg. Once pan is very hot, add pancetta and let it melt down and crisp up. Next add onion, celery and carrots. Put lid on pot and let cook over med-high heat for 5 minutes, stir and cook until veg are browned and tender crisp. Add beans and garlic. Cook another 5 minutes and then add just enough water to just cover the beans and veg. Cook over medium low heat at a simmer for 3 hours or until beans are the consistency you like. Then mash some of the beans up to thicken or add some carrot and greens pulp from your juicing to thicken. Add your greens and let them wilt into the soup.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Juice, Anyone?

December 19th, 2011 Melissa

I started juicing again. It’s been a couple years since I juiced. It’s hard to juice in the winter, esp. since I don’t have my Sam’s Club membership active right now to get fresher fruit in bulk. But this is the time of year there is an abundance of root veg and multitudinous offerings of the brassica family.

Green drinks seem to be all the rage the past couple years. I was intrigued and looked into it. They are surprisingly delicious. It’s a good way to ensure you are getting your daily allowance of fruits and veggies which is hard for most people. Just make sure to add in some fruit juice because too much green veg juice is considered bad for your body.

Here’s what I had today for the first half of my breakfast:

3-5 kale leaves
3-5 spinach leaves
1/2 bunch parsley
1/2 green apple
5 carrots
3 ribs celery

I wrapped parsley in spinach and kale leaves and juiced with apple half to help flow of thicker green juice. Next I juiced celery then carrots.

Made 2 cups. Drink right away as the juice oxidizes in the air and loses its potency and taste.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

The Most Awesome Fall & Winter Greens

December 17th, 2011 Melissa

I’m not a fan of cooked greens but I know how good they are for you. I came upon a recipe today that changed my mind about cooked greens and undoubtedly will change yours too. I found this while looking for something to do with all the chard, kale, bok choy, cabbages and the like that I purchased from our local slow food co-op. I was tired of the usual raw greens salad I usually do.

I started by selecting and washing my veg. I chose a head of baby bok choy, three big kale leaves, 5 big swiss chard leaves and I used the beautiful red stems too, I also used 3 green onions, 2 ribs of celery and 2 cloves garlic. I didn’t dry the leaves because you need the moisture to create steam in the cooking process.

I minced the garlic and set aside, next I sliced the green onion, celery, chard stems, bok choy stems about an inch in size. I tore some of the greens down but not too small as they will cook up to nothing.

1. Heat a large frying pan (one that has a lid) on your highest heat until it is very hot.

2. Add a little oil (I used 1/2 tablespoon) to the hot pan. Now this can create a lot of smoke esp. if you are using an oil with a low smoke point. I suggest peanut.

3. Drop in your celery and stems, cover with the lid. Cook for 2 minutes.

4. Stir with a wooden spoon. Add rest of your ingredients, garlic last. Cover and cook for 2 more minutes.

5. Taste veg, if it needs more time, leave it for another minute or so. If necessary add a splash (1 T) more water. Cook for a further 2 minutes with the lid on.

6. Put in a bowl and sprinkle with Braggs Liquid Aminos and a little red pepper flake or your favorite soy or hot sauce or whatever you like.

This serves 1 and I added some cooked sliced pork to round out the dish with some protein.

You can find the original recipe here complete with a helpful video.

Enjoy,

 

 

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