Mediterranean Chicken with Potatoes, Fennel, and Olives

This was the other chicken dish we had while my mom was here.  She remembered the fennel and lemon, so I'm not sure which she was wanting but here is the other recipe.  This was good.  The kids weren't huge fans of the fennel, but I liked it.  It was different and good.  Probably not a top pick for me, but then again, it has to be an amazing chicken dish to be a top pick for me.  This was definitely different, but a good different -like if you are tired of the same boring chicken, try this.  I liked the fennel and orange combination.  Not something I would ever have thought to put together, but they went well together.  I will note here that the original used butter.  I did not because I am currently eating non-dairy.  The book also gives a nice vignette on olives on this recipe's page - certainly one of my favorite things about American Test Kitchen books.

• 1 lb potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes 
• 1 fennel bulb, cored, and sliced thin
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 1 package bone-in split chicken breasts, trimmed (I also removed the skins.  For this meal, I think it would be easy/nice to use boneless, skinless thighs, or something already boned for easy serving since I wasn't shredding them at the end or anything.  Maybe next time.)
• 1/2 cup pitted salt-cured black olives, rinsed and halved (I may have forgotten to add these at the end.)

Directions

1. Microwave potatoes, fennel, onion, olive oil, garlic and rosemary in a bowl for 5 minutes stirring midway through cooking.  Pour into slow cooker.  Stir in broth, orange zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.  Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to the slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook until chicken is tender, 3-4 hours on low.
3. Remove chicken and serve.  Stir olives, salt and pepper into veggies and serve.  (Can also add butter or parsley if desired.)

refried black beans food storage style

So I went to make some slow cooker refried beans today.  I've tried my sisters recipe with success in the past, and I wanted something vegetarian tonight because we've had a lot of meat this week.  I also had nothing planned so I figures surely we had dried beans.  However, we are out of dried pinto beans.  I also haven't been to costco this week and we have run out of my diced frozen onions, our bag of mini sweet bell peppers, I'm out of garlic....  You get the picture, I need to go grocery shopping.  Great reason to make this a food storage meal right?  That's what I did.  I modified my sister's recipe first and foremost using black beans instead of pinto.  Then I also used dehydrated or dried everything.  I even added some celery and bell peppers to give it a few extra veggies.
This turned out great.   I love cooking beans in the crock pot.  I totally have to remember to do that more often.  I did think it was a bit peppery.  Would love to fiddle with the spices in the recipe - less pepper, maybe add chili powder or chipotle chili powder for spice?  However, everyone ate and loved the burritos.

Ingredients

• 3 cups dried black beans
• 10 cups water
• 1 Teaspoon dried garlic minces
• 4 Tablespoons minced dried onions
• 1/2 cup freeze dried celery
• 1/4 cup dried bell pepper mix (red and green)
• 1/8 teaspoon cumin
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/4 teaspoons pepper.

Directions

1. Rinse and sort beans.  Add to crock pot with all remaining ingredients.  Cover and cook on high for 8 hours or until soft.  
2. When done, drain (saving liquid)  mash with potato masher or immersion blender or whatever you want to use to get the desired consistency, adding reserved liquid as necessary.  (My sister suggests making them a little on the runny side because they thicken over time.  
3. Serve as a side, or add 

brownie mix

I obviously found a bunch of mixes on pinterest and have been trying them out.  This one is for brownies and came from heart, hands, home website.  There are tons of mixes on this site.  I want to try more of them, but so far I've only tried the brownies.  Again, I used coconut oil when baking them (it isn't in the mix.)  It made my mix kind of thick and I worried about getting a good brownie texture, but they baked up nicely and were plenty tasty.
I can't say these are healthy, and I didn't use a healthier sugar this time, but next time I may try it with sucanant, and/or coconut sugar.

Ingredients

• 8 cups sugar
• 6 cups unbleached flour
• 2 cups cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons baking powder
• 1 Tablespoon salt

Directions:

1. Mix everything together in a large container or zip top bag.  Label.

To make Brownies, mix together

• 2 1/4 cup brownie mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil (I used coconut, melted - can use butter, or olive as well - original called for canola but I don't use that.  It was tasty with coconut)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts or chocolate chips (optional) - dried cherries would be tasty too.

Bake in a greased 8 inch square pan at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

You can also apparently make Texas sheet cake with this recipe by mixing 

• 4 cups brownie mix
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

The directions say to boil the water, oil and sour cream, then mix it with the brownie mix and add the remaining ingredients.  Bake on a greased jelly roll pan at 375 for 20-25 minutes.  Frost with the following:

• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

It says to frost while still hot.  

I have not made this, but living in Texas, this is actually brought to many an event, so I may actually try it sometime.  It isn't however my favorite cake to eat.  I prefer brownies.  :)

Asian maple chicken

I have done a lot of crock pot recipes lately.  I used to make more on my piano lesson days but had gotten out of the habit.  I started back and have really liked it. 
This recipe comes from an e-book called crock on.  I've liked a lot of the recipes I've tried there.  What I like most is that they use real food for the most part.  Not cans of cream of something this and that.
This recipe originally called for 1 1/2 lbs of chicken breast.  I had 3 1 lb packages of thighs in my freezer so I used one and added a can of mayacoba beans (you could use pinto or navy if you want.)  I liked the beans just fine but my 14 year old didn't.  No one else complained about them.  They kind of don't go with the whole asian aspect of the meal, so feel free to leave them out.  I was just trying to use less meat and add some fiber in the process.  Also note that the original recipe was called maple sesame chicken because it was topped with toasted sesame seeds.  I just didn't feel like adding them so I didn't.  Feel free if you love them.

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped pepper (I have a mix of red, yellow, and orange diced in the freezer.)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup tamari (or soy sauce)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 can mayacoba beans rinsed and drained
• 2 Tablespoons arrowroot powder (original used flour and water.  I was lazy and mixed in arrowroot as I think it dissolves a bit easier.  You could also use corn starch and water.)

Directions

1. Place chicken in a 3-4 quart slow cooker.  Sprinkle onions and peppers on top.  In a small bowl, combine honey, maple syrup, soy sauce, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder.  Pour over chicken.
2. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.  (I added the beans in about the last 1 hour of cooking and partially shredded the chicken when I added them.)
3. Shred or chop the chicken and return to the crock pot (if you took it out.  I just shred mine with 2 forks in the crock pot.)  Add arrowroot powder.  (or other thickening agent)  I just pushed a measuring cup down on top of the chicken to get some juice in it, whisked the arrowroot into the  juice until smooth and returned it to the crock pot.  (With flour or cornstarch, I'd probably use water, whisk it together and add it to the pot.)
4. Cover and let thicken.  Serve over rice.

Bean and Tortilla Soup

This week my cookbook of choice has been another I have checked out of the library called Cheap. Fast. Good!  It is a great book full of time saving ideas ... however, I really had to pick and choose to find ideas that fit with a healthy lifestyle - lots of canned items -of course.  Seems like most of the quick cook books are.  I have to say that I have enjoyed making some quicker meals this week.
I loved this soup - think chicken tortilla soup but with beans instead of chicken.  I loved the addition of lime.  Added a great extra flavor.  I made the recipe as posted here (similar to the book in quantity and it said it served 4)  but if making again, I would more than likely add a third can of beans, more corn, and another cup of broth and adjust spices accordingly (1.5 times chili powder, cumin, sugar and lime) to make it serve my family.  Luckily DH did not eat at home and there was only about 1/2 bowl of left overs.  Aaron wasn't happy about this, but I smashed his beans and he ate at least 10 bites of soup with me spooning it too him.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 15 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen yellow corn, rinsed to defrost
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• juice of 1 small lime
• tortilla chips (a few crushed in the bottom of each bowl.
• shredded cheese (cheddar, monterrey Jack, or Mexican blend) if desired - pretty sure we skipped this.

Directions

1. In a 4 1/2 quart soup pan,  saute onion in butter until fragrant.  
2. Add beans, tomatoes, garlic, corn, chili powder, and cumin to the pot.  Stir to blend.  Add broth, sugar and lime juice.  
3. Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes to blend the flavors.  
4. To serve, crush the chips slightly and place in the bottom of the bowl.  Ladle the soup over the chips.  Top with cheese.

Pasta with bread crumbs

Yes, this sounds simple and plain, but really I liked it.  I may have over crisped my bread crumbs a bit.  I didn't mind, (they definitely weren't burned) but 2/4 boys said they were either too crispy/tasted burnt.  Benjamin LOVED this.  He was so excited to have had 2 dinners this week that he really liked.  Even had seconds.  It truly is super simple.  I think if I had not toasted the bread crumbs as long I would have had 4/4 liking this dish.
Other tips for next time - don't add the olive oil to the butter - just add it all to the pasta, and unless using the good Parmesan, I think I could probably have doubled the amount of Parmesan.  (at least 1 1/2 times.)
I doubled this from the original - feel free to cut in 1/2.  I did have a decent amount of left overs, but DH did not eat dinner with us and I didn't know that when preparing.
As is, serves 12 as a side dish, 8 as a main

Ingredients

• 1 16 oz. package short pasta (I used ditalini just because it was the only thing I had a complete package of other than spaghetti - time to go shopping.)
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups coarse soft bread crumbs (4 slices of bread for me - I just tore them up and pulsed them in the food processor until crumbly.)
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2/3 cup (I'd use at least 1 cup next time, maybe 1 1/3) grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  
2. While the pasta is cooking, melt butter in a large skillet.  Add 2 teaspoons of oil (may omit this next time) and the garlic.  Cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.  Add the bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, and salt and stir to coat the crumbs with the butter.  
3. Cook and stir until crumbs are browned and crisp (6-10 minutes.)  Remove from heat and set aside.
4.  When the pasta is done, drain, return to the pot and toss with 2 teaspoons of olive oil (I'd use a bit more next time.) and the Parmesan cheese.  Stir to mix.  Just before serving, stir in the breadcrumbs.  

More notes --

I actually really worried that the crumbs wouldn't be crisp enough - part of the getting them too crispy problem.  I also added them right before I planned to serve this only to have a child knock a glass butter dish on the floor and I had to stop and clean the mess.  Luckily the pasta wasn't any worse for the wear.  The crumbs held their crispiness.  As left overs, the breadcrumbs are no longer crisp, but are not mushy either.  Totally still edible, and seem to have an even more intense buttery garlic flavor.  

Cheddar & Bacon biscuits with Rosemary

Brandon had been in the mood for biscuits for a while and we found this recipe in the Rodale whole foods cookbook so we tried them.  He actually made them, but I'm pretty sure I know the modifications he used.  

Warning:  These use A LOT of butter.  They also make very Large biscuits.  Original had you cut them in only 12, we went with 16 for ease of cutting, but they were still very large biscuits.

Like the scones from this book these had a nice and flaky texture.  Amazing what using some nice butter will do.  :)  

Ingredients

• 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 2 Tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
• 2 Tablespoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 cups butter (3 sticks), cold and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 oz. bacon bits (real bacon not imitation - if you want to be fancy, use prosciutto finely choped - 3/4 cup)
• 2 1/4 cups buttermilk plus more for brushing

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flours, rosemary, baking powder, salt and pepper.
3. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal but with some large pieces of butter remaining.
4. Add cheese and bacon.  Stir in buttermilk just until the mixture forms a dough;
5. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured or greased surface.  Knead quickly to incorporated any loose crumbs.  Pat into a 12 inch square.  Cut into 16  3 inch squares.  
6. Place on 2 ungreased baking sheets.  Brush the tops with buttermilk.  Bake for 30-40 minutes rotating the baking sheets in the middle.  

chocolate chip scones

Here's the recipe for the scones we tried this morning.  I really liked the combination of orange and chocolate.  YUM!  This recipe also started in The ROdale Whole foods cookbook, but I changed it around according to what I had in my kitchen and to add a bit more whole grain.  This is my version.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup white whole wheat flour
• 3 Tablespoons sucanat (I think I actually used 2 T sucanat and 1 T coconut palm sugar)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tablespoons cold butter
• zest of 1 orange (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons half and half

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.  Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in orange zest and chocolate chips.
3. In a small bowl, beat egg with 1/4 cup of the half and half.  Add to the flour mixture and mix just to combine.  
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface (or just onto the silpat I was going to cook on if you are me.)  Pat it into a circle about 1 inch thick.  Cut into 8 wedges and separate so there is 1/2 inch between.  Brush with remaining 2 teaspoons half and half.  
5. Bake on a baking sheet for 15 minutes or until golden.

black bean patties with pineapple guacamole

Must. Start. Blogging. Again.
I've gotten so out of the habit of blogging since I've not had the greatest luck with computers this year that I can't seem to get myself to actually sit down and do it.  I have sat down twice in the last 2 days to blog and ended up getting up and heading off somewhere with the kiddos - trying to squeeze out the last bit of summer before school starts on Monday.  However, the downside of not blogging --- I'd LOVE to make those pecan balls I made before vacation, but I didn't blog them and have absolutely no idea where I got the recipe.  Boo!
I'm starting with tonight's dinner.  Although 3/4 boys didn't like it, I really did -- and so did 1 boy who had seconds.  I will warn that this is quite a time consuming dish, but I expected that with a homemade guacamole.
Typing the recipe followed by my commentary this time around so you can skip it if you like.  However, it really helps me know what to do for next time.    I'd rate this 4-5 stars.  My younger 3 boys would rate it 0 I'm sure.  Oldest would give it a 5 and DH was out of town.

Guacamole

Ingredients

• 1 cup diced fresh pineapple (I actually used frozen that I let thaw)
• 1 cup peeled and diced jicama
• 2 baby sweet bell peppers, diced
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced (feel free to use a whole mine was just kind of big so I only used 1/2 here and 1/2 in the burger.)
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and diced (save pits)
• 1/2 red onion, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  (I felt like having my avocado a bit more smashed so I took a potato masher to the side were I put the avocado in.  I still had some chunks of avocado, but it looked more like guacamole that way than salsa with avocado.)  Place pits on top of guacamole to keep avocados from browning.  Cover and refrigerate to allow flavors to develop.

Black bean patties

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon ground golden flax seeds (see commentary)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded (again I used a half, but feel free to use a whole)
• 1/4 onion, peeled (I used a sweet onion)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (1/2 Tablespoon)
• 4 cups cooked black beans (if using canned you'll need 3 cans minus about 1/2 cup.)
• 2/3 cup cornmeal
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil for frying (although see my commentary)

Directions

1. Soak flax in a bowl with 3 Tablespoons water for 20 minutes.  (I did this while preparing the rest of the burgers and was fine.)
2. In a food processor, finely chop garlic, jalapeno and onion, stopping to scrape the sides down if necessary.  Add the cilantro and cumin and pulse to combine.  
3. Add 2 cups black beans and cornmeal and process just until combined.  Pour into a large bowl.  Fold in soaked flax seed and remaining 2 cups black beans and season to taste with salt and pepper.  (see commentary below)
4. Heat skillet over medium high head.  Add 2 Tablespoons oil.  Form bean mixture into 8 patties.  Fry 3-4 minutes on each side adding more oil as needed.  
5. Serve topped with guacamole.

Commentary

• flax seeds - I ground my 1 Tablespoon of seeds in a coffee grinder.  That made 2 Tablespoons of flax seed meal.  I used only 1 Tablespoon of that but think I could have/should have used it all.  The gel it made was a bit watery on top and I didn't really want to add that to the beans because it would make them a more mushy texture.  I added them anyway today, but next time would just go ahead and toss in all of the ground flaxseed.
• black beans - I have a small food processor so only 2 cups of black beans fit in it.  I chopped that with 1/3 cup cornmeal, dumped it into a bowl, then did the other 2 cups black beans with the other 1/3 cup cornmeal.  I know the recipe says fold them in, but I know my youngest won't try beans if they look at all like beans and he will spit them out if he feels something in his mouth that feels like a bean.  Knowing that, I wanted to chop all of my black beans.  That worked out just fine. After I chopped the second batch of beans, I put them in the bowl and mixed the 2 batches together.
• Oil for frying - I actually preferred the way these cooked on the second side - the side that didn't have much oil.  (because it had absorbed into the first side as it cooked.)   They seemed to hold together better and crisp up a bit better without the oil.  I almost wish I would have tried my second batch without oil.  I cooked these in a ridged pan that makes them look like they have grill marks - mostly I like that is is square and fit 4 patties nicely.  But the oil seemed to do something to the cornmeal that made it crumbly or something - just on the outside layer -I just didn't have this problem on the second side when the pan didn't have much oil left in it.  

Family Tuscan Pizza bowl

This is another recipe I saw at my moms  in her Demarle catalog and had to try.  I loved it.  The kids all griped about it.  I think Benjamin ended up actually liking it once he ate it because he ate his whole piece.  Tavio said he wasn't hungry, but ended up finishing his piece - but I know he didn't like it much.  Brandon, myself and my mom all liked it.
Again I had to make some changes and rearranges with this recipe - starting with the fact that we didn't have the size pan they wanted.  We also didn't have their dough mix or spices.  So here is what we did and I LOVED it.  Very fresh tasting because the veggies only got to crisp tender because they were only heated until the cheese melted.

Lets start with the pizza dough recipe.  I looked up my quick wheat recipe and clicked the link back to Mel's kitchen cafe and used her recipe with some extra spices.  Turned out great, and we really did make it quick and easy - mom didn't knead it long at all.  Super simple

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 Tablespoon yeast
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon each thyme, oregano and basil

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425.  Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl until well combined.  Let the mixer knead it for a minute or 2.  
2. Roll out into a very large circle.  WE put this over a 14 X 2 inch pan.  I know I don't have one of these at home, but that is what my mom had, so the circle was probably 16 inches.  
3. Either brush the dough with oil or spray your pan with cooking spray.  Gently lay the dough over the reverse side of your pan (ours was 14 X 2 - original recipe's was 11 1/2 x 2. You may also get away with 2 smaller cake pans.) 
4. Bake 12-15 minutes until center is light golden brown and edges are cooked.  Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.  Take it off the cake pan and place it on a pizza peel or cookie sheet (if it fits - ours went on the peel because it didn't fit anywhere else.  

While the crust is baking and cooling, prepare the veggies for the rest of the pizza

Ingredients

• crust above
• 12 stalks asparagus, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 golden bell pepper, chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped (That was 8 for me.  I didn't use all of the whites, but I did use most of them and all of the greens.)
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 1/2 cup fresh basil (I stuffed the cup somewhat - not tight, but not super loose for both the Spinach and the basil.)
• 1 vine tomato, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (Mom had kosher so that is what we used.)
• 1/4 teaspoon Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning.
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan (optional - we didn't measure this and we used the powder stuff because that is what we had but we just sprinkled)
• cheddar cheese - we just added a tiny sprinkle of cheddar for color and flavor-maybe 1/4 cup

Directions

1. Prepare veggies while the crust is cooking - chop and put in a bowl.  Add the salt and garlic mix.  Toss to combine/coat everything.  
2. Pour veggies into the pizza crust bowl made above.
3. Top with Mozzarella cheese.  Sprinkle with Parmesan and cheddar.
4. Return to oven and cook until the cheese melts.  (We placed this directly on a pizza stone to cook the second time around.

Lemon Meringue Tartlets

Although I'm on vacation, I still have been able to cook a bit and try some new recipes.  I really need to get them posted before I forget what we did.  This first one is a tartlet that I made for Brandon's birthday.  He and I both have an unhealthy addiction to the lemon tarts at La Madeline.  I was trying to find something similar to make him for his birthday.  This came close.  The meringue was different but so pretty I had to try it.  I really liked it.  The lemon on the bottom was a bit more tart than those at La Madeline, but I liked it that way with the sweet meringue top.  I thought the custard center was a bit too dry/ not creamy enough/ overdone.  I think if I were making these again I may try to either get the custard off the oven a little sooner, or let it thicken the same amount, but pre-cook the shells partially to all of the way, depending on how creamy the custard was.  I think the oven time just made the texture different - It was still good, and probably more like a lemon meringue pie - I was just going for the custard type tart from La Madeline and this didn't hit the texture factor.
This recipe comes from a book my mom got from Demarle called Classic French Pastries.  The recipe was horribly written in the book - good thing we know how to cook or we never would have made it through the recipe.  The book is full of recipes that look super yummy, but none look like they are written particularly well.  OK- I best get on with the recipe if I want to do a second recipe tonight.  :)  Here is what we ended up doing -with much better directions.  :)
I'll get pictures posted of these cuties when I get back from vacation.

Shortbread Ingredients

• 7 Tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 oz sugar (this was just shy of 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 1/3 cup flour
• 2-3 Tablespoons ice water if necessary

Lemon custard ingredients

• 3 lemons (zest and juice)  -original called for 2, but 3 oz of juice.  3 gave me 3.3 oz juice so that is what I used.  I zested all 3.    Be the judge of the size of your lemons.
• 6 1/2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 6 large eggs, beaten

Meringue ingredients

• 4 oz sugar
• 3 Tablespoons water
• 2 egg whites

Directions

1. To make the shortbread; Beat butter and sugar in a mixer.  Blend in flour and salt.  If looking crumbly, add ice water a teaspoon at a time until a dough forms.  (original called for no water, we just found it necessary.)
2. Roll out dough on a silicon mat and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
3. Using a 3 7/8 inch round, scalloped dough cutter, make 12 circles of dough. Line a tartlet mold with the dough circles.  (As a reference, we used a Demarle tartlet tray.  It made 12 tarts that were 3 1/4 " x 3/4" and 2 oz.  I loved the idea of cutting the tart crust out with the scalloped circle. It made the tarts so cute with no extra effort.  You could adjust the size of the tart as necessary, but may need to adjust cooking time as well.)  
4. Heat oven to 340.  
5. For the lemon custard;  Heat lemon juice and zest with butter until melted.  Add powdered sugar.  Slowly whisk some of the hot liquid into the beaten eggs to temper the eggs.  When they have warmed a bit, pour them slowly into the remaining lemon mixture whisking continuously.  
6. Heat over low heat until thickened.  
7. Fill the tartlet shells with the cream.  Bake for 20 minutes.
8. To make the Meringue.
9. Heat sugar and water.  When the temperature reaches 200, whip up the egg whites until firm.  
10. When the sugar syrup reaches 225, remove from heat and slowly pour into the egg whites while still beating them.  Beat until mixture has cooled down.
11. Place the meringue in a pastry bag with a small fluted tip.  Pipe onto the tartlets in a circle pattern (or as desired.)
12. Place tarts on a baking sheet and broil for a few seconds - until browned on top.

Pistachio lemon pilaf

Here is another pilaf I tried out.  Again, I thought it was great, but I had planned it thinking that my younger 2 would like it because they like rice and neither of them were enthused by it.  For some reason the youngest has decided he only  likes white rice.  (Sorry, but I rarely make white rice.)  This rice was brown rice, but looked yellow again - different seasonings than last week but same effect.
While I didn't like this as much as the rice from last week, I did still like it a lot.  It was a great pilaf.  I thought it should have had a bit more lemon flavor and actually sqeezed the juice of the lemon into the rice when it finished.  Still didn't taste like a rice that had lemon in the title.  I would definitely use a second lemon if making this again.  (That is if you want the rice to taste like pistachio lemon rice.)
My inspiration for this recipe came from my book 366 delicious ways to cook rice, beans, and grains.
She seems to use mostly white rice in that book though, so I always change it to brown rice and again she called for shallots - not going to happen when I already have 8 sweet onions on my counter.  :)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 large sweet onion, diced (3/4 -1 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 lemon (zest and juice) -I'd use 2 next time
• 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 cup shelled roasted pistachio nuts, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
• freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

1. Rinse rice.  Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add onion and garlica and saute until softened.  (3 minutes) Add rice and saute until rice appears a bit toasted and has absorbed some oil. (4-5 minutes)  
2. Stir in chicken brown, lemon zest and turmeric.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer until liquid has been absorbed and rice is tender (about 45 minutes)
3. Stir in pistachios, cilantro, pepper, and lemon juice.  Dry pot lid.  Place a kitchen towel over saucepan and replace lid.  Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. (I liked this step.  It seemed to help the rice absorb the last bit of liquid.)

raw strawberry oatmeal

This is the other raw breakfast recipe I tried.  It is from a book I bought called Raw Energy.  The original called for cayenne pepper which I couldn't bring myself to attempt.
This had a great texture - very chewy for an oatmeal, but it was just soaked oat groats so I expected that.  I also found it to be just about the right sweetness for me.  Maybe even a little sweeter than I usually eat my oatmeal.  Honestly, the weirdest thing about this oatmeal was the fact that it was cold.  I can't say that I would crave or want hot oatmeal in the summer and I plan to try some other overnight oats recipes from Oh She glows, but it really was strange to me to eat cold oats.  (And I used frozen strawberries, so my oats were very cold.  Then the left overs were refrigerated, so again, very cold.  I guess I'll have to get used to that if I want to eat more raw oats.)
Here is how I made it.   Again, pardon the iphone picture.  Not the greatest, but enough for me to get the idea.

Soaking required - start the night before.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup oat groats
• 1/4 cup raw almonds
• 1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 teaspoons raw honey
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt (if desired - I can't remember if I threw this in or not.)

Directions

1. Soak the oats and almonds for 10-12 hours in enough water to cover by 1 inch.  Drain and rinse.
2. If using fresh berries, toss everything into the blender or food processor and blend until the oats and almonds are cracked and everything is moist and oatmeal - like.  Do not overprocess or it will turn into a paste.  (I used frozen berries so I tossed those in my blender first and blended them up into a nice puree.  Then I added everything else and blended it.)

2 More popcorn snacks/cereal combinations

Last month I made a chocolate peanut butter popcorn cereal/snack.  I posted then that I wanted to try some variations.  I just made up my second one today and figured I ought to go ahead and post both of them.

Cinnamon Popcorn - This one was Super tasty. (5 star)  I think everyone loved this flavor.   Even Tavio who didn't like the chocolate peanut butter version.

Ingredients

• 1 cup pop corn kernels
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Directions

1. Pop the popcorn kernels in an air popcorn popper. (It is 2 batches in mine)  Remove unpopped kernels.
2. Heat the honey, coconut oil and cinnamon in a small saucepan just until melted and smooth.
3. Pour the liquid over the kernels and stir until well coated.  (I actually dump mine in a very large stock pot I have.  It is really the only thing in the kitchen that fits the entire batch.)
4. Prepare 2 cookie sheets by covering with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.  When the popcorn is coated, divide it among the 2 cookie sheets.  
5. Bake at 300 for 5 minutes.   After 5 minutes turn the oven off and leave the popcorn in there for a couple of hours.  Remove from oven and store in an airtight container.

Maple pecan popcorn (4 star) - this one is tasty, but I liked cinnamon better.  The pecans also don't stay put, and for some reason I must have stirred this one more vigorously or something because I have a lot of crushed popcorn.  Go figure.  The flavor is good though.  I did find it was harder to mix.  I ended up mixing with my hands just to feel if it had coated well because you couldn't really tell just by looking at it.  I'm also not sure I'd add the nuts again.  I like them in there, but they sink to the bottom.  It did however give me the idea to try and make a granola type popcorn bar that could be a breakfast bar --- writing it down here or I'll forget.  :)

Ingredients

• 1 cup popcorn kernels
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (I used a bit over 1/2 a cup -it was just what I had left.  The amount was OK.  I could have put more, but again, they kind of fall to the bottom anyway.)
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• sea salt ---I did not add salt, but when eating this, I felt like it would have been tasty with some added salt.  Kind of like a kettle corn -so I'm adding this for next time.  I'd just toss it in with the maple syrup so it gets coated well.

Directions

1. Pop the popcorn kernels in an air popcorn popper.  Remove unpopped kernels.  
2. Heat the butter and pecans in a small saucepan until pecans are a bit toasted.  (Really it took about that long for my butter to melt because I tossed the whole chunk in there straight from the fridge.  Worked out perfectly.)  Add the maple syrup(and salt if using)  and stir to combine.  
3. Continue with 3-5 from above.  Mix, bake, let cool in oven, store.  

Green waffles

So my older boys and husband are gone to scout camp.  It makes it hard for me to be motivated to make a big dinner for myself and the little boys.  Yesterday was supposed to be egg rolls, but when I asked what the kids wanted for dinner, they said waffles.  How could I object?  I didn't have buttermilk to make my regular waffles so I started looking in my new greensmoothiegirl.com readers' favorite health recipes book for a waffle recipe and found this one for pancakes.  I added a bit extra spinach because I didn't feel like making a green smoothie, and just a handful and a half in because that is what I had left in the box.  These made some very green  waffles.  They would be awesome for St. Patrick's day. I can't wait to get a picture of them but alas my camera is at scout camp.  :(
 They did turn out soft and would probably be better suited to pancakes as the original recipe stated.  They were a bit hard to get out of the waffle iron because of their softness.  They were tasty though.
In the future, I don't think they need the honey, especially if you plan to put syrup on them.  If eating them plain, by all means, add the honey.  It is a nice sweetness, but we had ours with maple syrup and peanut butter, and I felt they were a bit too sweet for that.
Here is how I made them. (Which was totally not following the directions - I lazily just made the entire batter in the blender.)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3-4 grinds of pink himalayan pink salt (or sea salt)
• 3 Tablespoons honey (I will probably omit this next time -or lessen it to 1-2 teaspoons)
• 1 1/2 handfuls baby spinach
• 1/2 banana
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg

Directions

1. Place milk, spinach and banana in blender and pulse a few times to blend.  Add the egg, coconut oil and spinach and pulse a couple more times to blend.
2. Add flour, baking powder, and salt.  At this point I just pushed batters on my blendtec.  If you don't have a batters button, just pulse or blend until combined.  
3. Bake in a waffle iron until desired done-ness.  (Or make as pancakes - probably preferred with this dough, but my little boys LOVE waffles.)

Ranch dressing

I'm looking for the perfect Ranch dressing.  I found a ton of new ideas to try today.  This was one of the simplest, but of course I had to do my own thing too.  I made only a half batch (mostly to make sure I liked it and not waste ingredients.)  It was pretty good and went well on our wraps.

Ingredients

• 6 Tablespoons mayo
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 1/2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teapsoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon chives
• 1/4 teaspoon parsley
• pinch dill (maybe 1/8 teaspoon
• about 2 Tablespoons buttermilk (I'd use more to thin it out/add flavor if using this as salad dressing.)

Directions

1. Stir all ingredients together until well combined.

taco seasoning

This is the recipe I've been using for a while for taco seasoning.  I love it because it has a lot of veggies in it in addition to the spices.  I never feel bad adding more for spice because I'm only adding more veggies.  I like the mix.  It does call for items that are not run of the mill grocery items like dried celery, dried bell peppers, and tomato powder.  My favorite place to purchase those items is currently honeyvillegrain.com mostly because of their 1 low price shipping charge.  They also have regular sale codes for 10 or 15 % off. Truth be told though, I think my tomato powder is from one place (possibly honeyville) and my celery and bell peppers are from shelf reliance, so use what you like.

Ingredients

• 1 cup tomato powder
• 1/2 cup dried onions
• 1/2 cup dried celery
• 1/2 cup dried bell peppers (I have a red/green mix)
• 1/2 Tablespoon Garlic minces or garlic powder
• 1/2 cup chili powder
• 3 Tablespoons cumin
• 3 Tablespoons coriander
• 1 Tablespoon sea salt.

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in an airtight container.  I store mine in a large canning jar.  I always shake this up before using it.  

Apple Barley Tart

This original recipe intrigued me for 2 reasons.  1 because it used quince and I have never even heard of that fruit let alone tried it.  Sadly I couldn't find it in the 3 stores I checked in over the week.  However, I was also intrigued by the use of barley.  I'm always interested in using different grains.  This was quite tasty.  Benjamin absolutely loved it and had seconds and thirds.  That is a treat because he usually hates all dinners.  Aaron wouldn't really eat it - ate his 3 bites worth and filled up on salad.  Tavio complained it was too sweet but ate his whole piece.  The rest of us liked it, so go figure - mixed reviews.  It was pretty sweet for a dinner meal, but it also had the Swiss cheese in there to counter act the sweet of the apple.  Thank goodness my apple jelly was expired or it would have been even sweeter.  As it was, I don't think I would have wanted any more sweetness, and I was glad I didn't have the apple jelly that was in the original recipe.  Here is how we made it.

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (I used Jarlsberg)
• 2 cups barley cooked and cooled (I used whole grain barley -both whole grain and pearled say simmer 1 cup in 3 cups water for 45-50 minutes. Worked well for me and I had left over.)
• 1 red apple cored and diced
• 1 green apple cored and diced
• 1/2 cup chopped dates
• 1 - 9 inch deep dish pie crust (I used this recipe with wheat flour and coconut palm sugar)   

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.  
2. Lightly beat eggs in a large mixing bowl.  Stir in cheese, barley, apples and dates.  Pour into the pie crust.
3. Bake for 30 minutes or so until the bottom browns (I believe I had to add a few minutes 2-5)

Lentil burgers

I don't know why, but I really love to admit on my blog when I try something that I'm a bit afraid to try.  Vegetarian burgers of any type are high on my list of things I just don't have a huge desire to try. (store bought maybe, but make at home - not so much.)  The only other time I've tried one it was black beans and I tried it because I thought it went with the theme of a Mexican burger.  Today's burger was a Lentil burger, but spiced with cumin and coriander and served with a Greek salad.  Somehow it reminded me of falafel or something and managed to make it on my menu.  I actually liked it.  I think I probably over cooked the burgers a bit - I was afraid of them being too mushy, but I don't think that a bit more moisture would have been bad inside the pita.  So - note to self for next time (and anyone else interested) don't overcook the burger if putting them in a pita.
 You can cut this recipe down if not needing to make as much.  I did a 1 1/2 batch of the original.  The original came from a book I have and enjoy called 366 delicious ways to cook rice, beans, and grains.  I will say I did change the directions to saute everything before boiling just to add flavor.  However, the original just tossed everything in a pot and boiled - feel free to do that if short on time.

yield - 6 servings (I made 8 patties and 1 tiny one, but it really did a good job of feeding my family of 6.)

Burger Ingredients

• 3/4 cup dried green or brown lentils, rinsed
• 3/4 cup uncooked brown rice (I used basmati because I love that stuff.)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced  (I had a very large onion.  I used a bit over 1 cup in the burger and served the remainder as an optional topping)
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 teaspoons (1.5 Tablespoons) cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 3 3/4 cups water

Other optional ingredients

• chopped lettuce (I'm partial to romaine)
• chopped cucumber (I seed and chop)
• feta cheese
• onions
• olives (I used kalmata)
• tomatoes (I had some orange cherry tomatoes - sweet and yummy (and I didn't have to chop them.)
• Caesar dressing (I used the this recipe)
• pitas (I used this recipe -only I divided it in 8 not 9 - I liked that better.  I also used a bit of dough I had left over in a bucket of 5 minute a day dough - don't worry it will be a future post - made great pitas.)

Directions

1. Saute onion in olive oil until fragrant adding the carrot as it get chopped.  Add garlic, then rice and lentils, then the cumin, coriander and salt.  (Basically I chop my onion, then start cooking as I finish chopping and measuring.)  Once everything is in, I really only saute it a few seconds to get everything coated.  Add the water.  
2. Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and boil gently until rice and entils are tender and all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 40 minutes.  (Took mine probably 45.)  Drain in a colander to remove any excess liquid.
3. Let cool slightly then puree in a food processor, blender, or my tool of choice this day - the immersion blender.  
4. Form into 3-4 inch patties and fry burgers on a medium hot fire in the grill, under the broiler, in a George foreman grill, or I did mine in a frying pan that has ridges so it looked grilled.  Cook until browned and crisp o both sides (5-10 minutes per side depending on how high of a temperature you are using.)  
5. Serve in pitas topped with lettuce, cucumber, feta, onions, olives, tomatoes and/or Caesar dressing.  I put all of these ingredients out on the table and told my kiddos they had to have lettuce, but then they could choose 2 other veggies plus feta and/ or dressing if desired.  That worked great.  For myself, I made my salad on my plate, tossed it with my dressing, then put as much as would fit in the pita with my burger, and ate the rest as a side.  Worked wonderfully well.  

Caesar Dressing

I have been trying various new salad dressing recipes lately with our new huge increase in salad eating combined with my decrease in eating foods with lots of preservatives.   Unfortunately I've had a hard time finding many that I really  like.  This one wasn't bad.  I could make it again, and I actually chose it over the homemade catalina the other night (only because I had had catalina on my lunch salad - it is still my favorite.)  However, this one is definitely blog worthy and will be made again.  I have seen another version of Caesar dressing somewhere and if I find it again, I may try it too, but for the time being, this was nice, didn't make too much, and didn't use raw egg (various of the recipes I've seen do.)
I was a bit shy on lemon juice so I tossed in a tiny bit f lemon zest.  I don't think I'd do that again - not that it was bad, I could just taste a hint of lemon that way, and Caesar dressing shouldn't have a hint of lemon in my mind.  I didn't notice this as much the next day, so it may not be that big of a deal.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/8 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (OK, looking at my recipe it actually said 1/4 cup and 4 Tablespoons I'm sure I only put 1/4 cup -since 1/4 cup and 4 Tablespoons are the same thing??  but I used real Parmesan not Kraft powdery stuff so it had some flavor.  I may have even used me Parmiggiano Reggiano -I can't remember.  It had plenty of flavor or I would have added more.  Depending on the cheese you use, you may want to add more. - there that is my disclaimer. :)
• 2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Toss in a blender and blend until smooth.