The first few days of the Guyenet-endorsed Dan's plan didn't go according to plan at all.
I just could not stick to only one spice in my coffee! I had just "booted up" a new nutmeg, and took a whole 20 minutes while monitoring the pressure cooker to grind the WHOLE THING. It is fresh and fragrant, and I wanted to use it while it is hot.
So, cinnamon and nutmeg into the coffee. I can feel myself gaining weight already. Boo hoo!
There is another known danger of using multiple spices. Since we piled on the cinnamon and put it in everything, when one container was completed, I pulled out another. I got complaints from the "service dining room" that they couldn't find the cinnamon. So I solved that problem by putting the cinnamon in a large cinnamon container and the nutmeg in the small cinnamon container.
And, you are probably laughing right now with the container mix-up, but I am telling you, living with all these spices confuses judgement even more. One of my diners sheepishly entered the kitchen to explain that he had accidentally put tons of cumin into his coffee, instead of taking from any of the numerous containers marked "cinnamon". Worse yet, the cumin doesn't have a shaker top.
I tasted the concoction. It was exotic, floral, strangely Indian, but also not. I longed for cardamom, and then disappointingly realized that cumin is just the gateway drug for all types of Indian food debauchery.
My thoughts went to giant platters of papadam, topped with bright green mint-coriander condiment, then drifted off to chick-pea sweets and tandoori chicken. If you need a visual, check out the video accompanying this post. (And look how fat and lazy they are!)
Now I am 8 pounds higher than when I drank yesterday's coffee, and I am certain that if we had just stuck to plain cinnamon, non of this tragedy would have happened.
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Friday, February 1, 2013
Monday, December 10, 2012
More Winter recipes - Hatch Bombs
This time of the year brings a bit less "garden variety" than in the summer months, but I still have plenty of peppers, both hot and medium. I don't fertilize in the later months because you never know when a deep frost will take anything out. So, the peppers are smallish, but a few hot days will create a still really hot pepper even in December. I have plenty of New Mexico, or Hatch, peppers, in varying stages of ripeness, so there is a seasonally-appropriate mix of red and green.
Hatch Bombs
Take several Hatch peppers (or Jalapeno if you can't get the good stuff)
cream cheese
green olives
bird peppers for garnish
Cut the hatch peppers lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
Fill the peppers with cream cheese
Top with a slice of green olive (this is the only "doughnut" you will find in my home!)
If you are brave, replace the red pimento thingy from the olive with a ripe bird pepper.
Down the hatch!
I can eat dozens of these around the holiday time.
Hatch Bombs
Take several Hatch peppers (or Jalapeno if you can't get the good stuff)
cream cheese
green olives
bird peppers for garnish
Cut the hatch peppers lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
Fill the peppers with cream cheese
Top with a slice of green olive (this is the only "doughnut" you will find in my home!)
If you are brave, replace the red pimento thingy from the olive with a ripe bird pepper.
Down the hatch!
I can eat dozens of these around the holiday time.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Try my new Fave Winter Recipes!
This first dish was just something I whipped up after discovering that the sale package of chicken gizzards I snagged contained a few chicken livers. I fished the livers out of the pile and set them aside, but I didn't have enough to make it worthwhile to package them away for another day. I added them to the dish-in-progress instead.
I don't have much coming out of the garden right now, but I am trying to harvest all of the sunchokes before the gophers get them and before we get another warm spell that causes them to sprout. They were confused about winter several weeks ago, and I have noticed that some of the recently-harvested roots are sporting sprouts on top and have become a bit pithy.
I seem to have lots more of these puppies, as the gophers and other ground animals take a few and spread them all over the garden. Oh well, maybe that was me, with my non-standard composting routine. (EPIC FAIL! on turning the windrow 5 times or reaching the appropriate temperature in my in-vessel or static aerated pile system~)
I harvest my sunchokes well after the stems start to dry out, wash and drain them carefully, and pack them loosely in large plastic containers in the fridge. The bulk cookie containers from Costco work great (after you have thrown away the cookies - you weren't going to eat them, were you?)
Just a few weeks ago I was cleaning out the fridge for Thanksgiving, and discovered a large container of sunchokes way in the back, from last season. They were still in very good shape, though they were sprouting. I "planted" them in the ground in an out-of-the way place until I get the time to amend the soil at their final destination.
Sunchokes and Liver Soup
(This is for two servings, and works great if you have purchased a whole chicken and have only one liver.)
1/2 cup chopped Jerusalem artichokes
1 T lard or bacon fat
1 chicken liver
1/4 cup chicken broth
4 T heavy cream
4 T parsley
1/4 t dried thyme
1/4 t dried hot red pepper
salt and black pepper to taste
Fry the sunchokes in the fat until they are tender. Add chopped liver and cook for a minute. Add broth, thyme, salt and hot pepper. Simmer for a short time until the liver is cooked. Pour mixture into soup bowls, add the heavy cream and top with chopped parsley.
OK, it is a bit grey, and it sounds pretty awful on paper, right? Try it anyway. I could eat this every day in the winter. Really. I couldn't even tell it was liver. I like liver anyway anyway and feel no need to hide it, but honestly, if I hadn't made it myself, I might never have guessed.
One serving contains 233 calories, 7 grams carb, 20 grams fat and 6 grams protein. One of the carb grams is fiber, but I usually count sunchoke carbs as half, since they are mostly inulin. YMMV on how you react to sunchokes. The C/F/P ratio is 12.4/76.6/11. Each serving contains a whopping 11 grams of arterycloggingsaturatedfat, which is why it tastes so good and I didn't eat much else for supper.
Coming up: part 2: Hatch bombs
I don't have much coming out of the garden right now, but I am trying to harvest all of the sunchokes before the gophers get them and before we get another warm spell that causes them to sprout. They were confused about winter several weeks ago, and I have noticed that some of the recently-harvested roots are sporting sprouts on top and have become a bit pithy.
I seem to have lots more of these puppies, as the gophers and other ground animals take a few and spread them all over the garden. Oh well, maybe that was me, with my non-standard composting routine. (EPIC FAIL! on turning the windrow 5 times or reaching the appropriate temperature in my in-vessel or static aerated pile system~)
I harvest my sunchokes well after the stems start to dry out, wash and drain them carefully, and pack them loosely in large plastic containers in the fridge. The bulk cookie containers from Costco work great (after you have thrown away the cookies - you weren't going to eat them, were you?)
Just a few weeks ago I was cleaning out the fridge for Thanksgiving, and discovered a large container of sunchokes way in the back, from last season. They were still in very good shape, though they were sprouting. I "planted" them in the ground in an out-of-the way place until I get the time to amend the soil at their final destination.
Sunchokes and Liver Soup
(This is for two servings, and works great if you have purchased a whole chicken and have only one liver.)
1/2 cup chopped Jerusalem artichokes
1 T lard or bacon fat
1 chicken liver
1/4 cup chicken broth
4 T heavy cream
4 T parsley
1/4 t dried thyme
1/4 t dried hot red pepper
salt and black pepper to taste
Fry the sunchokes in the fat until they are tender. Add chopped liver and cook for a minute. Add broth, thyme, salt and hot pepper. Simmer for a short time until the liver is cooked. Pour mixture into soup bowls, add the heavy cream and top with chopped parsley.
OK, it is a bit grey, and it sounds pretty awful on paper, right? Try it anyway. I could eat this every day in the winter. Really. I couldn't even tell it was liver. I like liver anyway anyway and feel no need to hide it, but honestly, if I hadn't made it myself, I might never have guessed.
One serving contains 233 calories, 7 grams carb, 20 grams fat and 6 grams protein. One of the carb grams is fiber, but I usually count sunchoke carbs as half, since they are mostly inulin. YMMV on how you react to sunchokes. The C/F/P ratio is 12.4/76.6/11. Each serving contains a whopping 11 grams of arterycloggingsaturatedfat, which is why it tastes so good and I didn't eat much else for supper.
Coming up: part 2: Hatch bombs
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Coconut Cream
Hi folks! Here's my take on coconut, and coconut "manna".
This stuff comes in either a small jar or a larger bag. Either way, it will probably have melted and solidified many times, and the coconut oil will have separated from the dried coconut meat. If you buy a bag, it has to be split up and stirred and then put back away into smaller containers.
Before you eat it, you need to stir it, and in order for that to work, it has to be warm enough for the oil part to be liquid. It works sort of like almond butter. You stir a bit, and realize it is not mixing well, and so dig a spoon all the way down to the bottom and then the slippery stuff on top goes sailing right on the counter (or worse, your computer screen!) so you have to lick it up or get a dog to do that for you.
Here's what I do. First, get it warm, then stir the top portion carefully. The bottom will be dry, almost flaky. To get to it, put a dull knife straight down and cut across. Lift the knife up, move it, and cut again. It is just like making cheese, when you want to preserve the curd, only for the coconut, you just don't want to try lots of stirring from top to bottom at first or there will be a mess.
When all the dry chunks at the bottom are small, then take a strong spoon and mix the chunks with the more oily part at the top.
I waited until summer to stir up one container. I stir it every few days just to keep it mixed well. When I am away for a few days, I just stick it in the fridge so it doesn't separate out again.
I don't know how much of this stuff people eat. When I first got it, I was limited by how hard it is. Now in the summer, I can eat quite alot of it if I want to. But, really, I don't care that much for the texture and prefer grated or shredded real coconut. Real coconut is cheaper and waaaaaay easier to eat. I didn't care for it in coffee either, preferring either coconut milk or real heavy cream.
What I looooove about coconut manna is that it is one of the few products these days that comes in a wide-mouth glass jar. These are keepers! I use them for small batches of sauerkraut or pickles.
This stuff comes in either a small jar or a larger bag. Either way, it will probably have melted and solidified many times, and the coconut oil will have separated from the dried coconut meat. If you buy a bag, it has to be split up and stirred and then put back away into smaller containers.
Before you eat it, you need to stir it, and in order for that to work, it has to be warm enough for the oil part to be liquid. It works sort of like almond butter. You stir a bit, and realize it is not mixing well, and so dig a spoon all the way down to the bottom and then the slippery stuff on top goes sailing right on the counter (or worse, your computer screen!) so you have to lick it up or get a dog to do that for you.
Here's what I do. First, get it warm, then stir the top portion carefully. The bottom will be dry, almost flaky. To get to it, put a dull knife straight down and cut across. Lift the knife up, move it, and cut again. It is just like making cheese, when you want to preserve the curd, only for the coconut, you just don't want to try lots of stirring from top to bottom at first or there will be a mess.
When all the dry chunks at the bottom are small, then take a strong spoon and mix the chunks with the more oily part at the top.
I waited until summer to stir up one container. I stir it every few days just to keep it mixed well. When I am away for a few days, I just stick it in the fridge so it doesn't separate out again.
I don't know how much of this stuff people eat. When I first got it, I was limited by how hard it is. Now in the summer, I can eat quite alot of it if I want to. But, really, I don't care that much for the texture and prefer grated or shredded real coconut. Real coconut is cheaper and waaaaaay easier to eat. I didn't care for it in coffee either, preferring either coconut milk or real heavy cream.
What I looooove about coconut manna is that it is one of the few products these days that comes in a wide-mouth glass jar. These are keepers! I use them for small batches of sauerkraut or pickles.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Serendipity
Yesterday, I ranted to myself for my memory lapse. While out doing some errands, I discovered that I had forgotten my purse, so I didn't stop by my favorite food store on the way home.
After enjoying a nice cup of winter squash soup for lunch and attending to other life details, I ventured out again, much later than usual. Oh, I hate using up more gasoline, but it was just too hot and miserable to walk, and I was still on a 24-hour exercise restriction after the blood donation.
Just as I wheeled up to the meat counter, they were putting out the quick sale items. I got a couple of packages of salmon for $1.99 a pound and a buffalo "london broil" for $3.99 a pound. Score! The price of the steak was half what I usually pay for ground buffalo.
I am still venturing into the land of the meat-eaters, and had never cooked london broil before, and never eaten a buffalo steak. Good thing for the internet. My internet search made the process even more confusing, and I had no clue as to the actual cut of the meat. I decided to just throw some salt and seasonings on it (cumin, cinnamon, garlic, my own very hot pepper), let it sit on the counter for half an hour, and then fry it in a pan with coconut oil. NOT a french recipe, then again, buffalo meat doesn't come from France, so there. I grilled some San Marzano tomatoes. (I cooked some additional San Marzanos in the pan drippings, for some soup for a later time.)
OK, now I get what the fuss is all about. The rare steak was delicious! I can't believe that I am here, eating bloody meat with a few vegetables, and loving it. I imagine myself as Suzanne Pleshette, gliding through my modern kitchen appointed with a set of chrome-finished appliances in avocado and harvest gold, waiting for Bob Newhart to return home from the clinic, serving just steak and salad. Then I glide along to change from my apron to my caftan, and we are ready for the evening.
After enjoying a nice cup of winter squash soup for lunch and attending to other life details, I ventured out again, much later than usual. Oh, I hate using up more gasoline, but it was just too hot and miserable to walk, and I was still on a 24-hour exercise restriction after the blood donation.
Just as I wheeled up to the meat counter, they were putting out the quick sale items. I got a couple of packages of salmon for $1.99 a pound and a buffalo "london broil" for $3.99 a pound. Score! The price of the steak was half what I usually pay for ground buffalo.
I am still venturing into the land of the meat-eaters, and had never cooked london broil before, and never eaten a buffalo steak. Good thing for the internet. My internet search made the process even more confusing, and I had no clue as to the actual cut of the meat. I decided to just throw some salt and seasonings on it (cumin, cinnamon, garlic, my own very hot pepper), let it sit on the counter for half an hour, and then fry it in a pan with coconut oil. NOT a french recipe, then again, buffalo meat doesn't come from France, so there. I grilled some San Marzano tomatoes. (I cooked some additional San Marzanos in the pan drippings, for some soup for a later time.)
OK, now I get what the fuss is all about. The rare steak was delicious! I can't believe that I am here, eating bloody meat with a few vegetables, and loving it. I imagine myself as Suzanne Pleshette, gliding through my modern kitchen appointed with a set of chrome-finished appliances in avocado and harvest gold, waiting for Bob Newhart to return home from the clinic, serving just steak and salad. Then I glide along to change from my apron to my caftan, and we are ready for the evening.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Escarole Soup
This time of year, I can't give away enough of my delicious escarole that comes up on its own in the garden. Many of my friends do not like to eat it in a salad because it can be bitter. Personally, I love the bitterness and it is the main component in my winter salads. (And no, I don't buy that crap about not eating salads in winter because our ancestors wouldn't have access to it. I have tons of access to it starting from the first fall rains until spring heat sends it bolting.)
Here's my super easy escarole soup recipe using mostly seasonal ingredients:
1-1/2 cup home-made chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried wakame
1 bunching onion
1 bulb fennel
several leaves escarole
sprig parsley or celery tops
salt and pepper to taste
Soak the wakame and slice. (Complete the circle by cooling the wakame soaking water and using it to water the escarole in the garden.) Slice the tender part of the bunching onion and reserve the tops for a later batch of broth. Trim and thinly slice the fennel, reserving the tops for later. Wash and trim the tops off the escarole and chop the whitish bottom parts of the leaf (for about 1/2 to 1 cup). Bring the broth to a boil, add in the wakame, fennel and onion and cook for a few minutes until tender. Turn off the heat, add the escarole immediately. Let sit for a couple of minutes. Season and add in the parsley or celery tops.
This makes enough for a large bowl of soup or two mugs. I like it because it is crunchy and chewy, but also warm. This is also a great recipe for people who are a bit leery of home-grown escarole. Worms, snails and slugs just LOVE escarole and call it home. Here's hoping the crunch is due to the escarole itself, and not the squatters.
Here's my super easy escarole soup recipe using mostly seasonal ingredients:
1-1/2 cup home-made chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried wakame
1 bunching onion
1 bulb fennel
several leaves escarole
sprig parsley or celery tops
salt and pepper to taste
Soak the wakame and slice. (Complete the circle by cooling the wakame soaking water and using it to water the escarole in the garden.) Slice the tender part of the bunching onion and reserve the tops for a later batch of broth. Trim and thinly slice the fennel, reserving the tops for later. Wash and trim the tops off the escarole and chop the whitish bottom parts of the leaf (for about 1/2 to 1 cup). Bring the broth to a boil, add in the wakame, fennel and onion and cook for a few minutes until tender. Turn off the heat, add the escarole immediately. Let sit for a couple of minutes. Season and add in the parsley or celery tops.
This makes enough for a large bowl of soup or two mugs. I like it because it is crunchy and chewy, but also warm. This is also a great recipe for people who are a bit leery of home-grown escarole. Worms, snails and slugs just LOVE escarole and call it home. Here's hoping the crunch is due to the escarole itself, and not the squatters.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving
It has been a wonderful year, and there are lots of people worth thanking. So, Thank You!
This week I've been busy getting ready for a houseful of company, with good friends, good food and family from near and far. Do to all the abundance, things get pretty crazy in November. I am trying to get the "bed-and-breakfast" place ready, while at the same time, finish the year's seed-saving operations, finish drying and processing the herbs, get the garlic beds ready and tend to all the peppers.
The peppers are all hung on the Christmas tree with care. We are a little late in taking the tree down this year, and I ran out of room to hang all the peppers. So....the Christmas tree is loaded with my best crop ever of giant cayenne, espanola and other numex-style pepper crosses. All hung high enough not to tempt visiting dogs, hopefully. Deck the halls with boughs of ..uh.. PEPPER?!
We're doing the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with the usual fixin's. I am not really in charge of the meal, but did provide input into the quantities. We are having only one pie, only a few potatoes, half the amount of stuffing, and NO dinner rolls. Half of us are on healthy lower carb, and one guest is on an Ornish-type diet. For this evening, my guests are bringing "cowboy beans", which sound like a HFCS bomb. I also cooked up four pounds of baby burgers for tonight's feast, featuring southwestern American food. No bottled bbq sauce for me, cause I cooked up a batch of habanero sauce so hot even I can't eat much of it. Instead of baking the usual three batches of cornbread, I just bought a package of plain corn tortillas. This afternoon, I'll be selecting the sweetest pumpkin out of the patch, and cooking it up for pies and breakfast smoothies. I will also be cooking up a pound of pork sausage into old-fashioned country sausage for breakfasts.
Here's my hot sauce recipe this year: 8 orange habanero peppers, 1 red jalapeno pepper, 1 giant dried cayenne pepper (or use 6 smaller peppers), 1 large onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 carrot, dash of salt, vinegar. Cut up the vegetables and cook mostly covered in vinegar until soft. Cool. Blend until smooth. Return to pan and cook over low heat. Pour into glass jars and chill in the fridge. It keeps for a few weeks.
Usually I am farther ahead, but this year we both caught colds, and now my husband has pneumonia, so there are just some things that won't get done before the house gets full. Have a great Thanksgiving holiday!
This week I've been busy getting ready for a houseful of company, with good friends, good food and family from near and far. Do to all the abundance, things get pretty crazy in November. I am trying to get the "bed-and-breakfast" place ready, while at the same time, finish the year's seed-saving operations, finish drying and processing the herbs, get the garlic beds ready and tend to all the peppers.
The peppers are all hung on the Christmas tree with care. We are a little late in taking the tree down this year, and I ran out of room to hang all the peppers. So....the Christmas tree is loaded with my best crop ever of giant cayenne, espanola and other numex-style pepper crosses. All hung high enough not to tempt visiting dogs, hopefully. Deck the halls with boughs of ..uh.. PEPPER?!
We're doing the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with the usual fixin's. I am not really in charge of the meal, but did provide input into the quantities. We are having only one pie, only a few potatoes, half the amount of stuffing, and NO dinner rolls. Half of us are on healthy lower carb, and one guest is on an Ornish-type diet. For this evening, my guests are bringing "cowboy beans", which sound like a HFCS bomb. I also cooked up four pounds of baby burgers for tonight's feast, featuring southwestern American food. No bottled bbq sauce for me, cause I cooked up a batch of habanero sauce so hot even I can't eat much of it. Instead of baking the usual three batches of cornbread, I just bought a package of plain corn tortillas. This afternoon, I'll be selecting the sweetest pumpkin out of the patch, and cooking it up for pies and breakfast smoothies. I will also be cooking up a pound of pork sausage into old-fashioned country sausage for breakfasts.
Here's my hot sauce recipe this year: 8 orange habanero peppers, 1 red jalapeno pepper, 1 giant dried cayenne pepper (or use 6 smaller peppers), 1 large onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 carrot, dash of salt, vinegar. Cut up the vegetables and cook mostly covered in vinegar until soft. Cool. Blend until smooth. Return to pan and cook over low heat. Pour into glass jars and chill in the fridge. It keeps for a few weeks.
Usually I am farther ahead, but this year we both caught colds, and now my husband has pneumonia, so there are just some things that won't get done before the house gets full. Have a great Thanksgiving holiday!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Giving 'em the Finger
I am attending several Halloween parties this year and need to bring along some finger food. Last year, a friend introduced me to "witches fingers" and they were pretty gross. Perfect! Here's some photo's.
I prefer my recipe, and this is what I'll be taking to the parties. I think they're the hands-down winner. To make them, you'll need a small bag of baby carrots, a small bag of slivered almonds, a small container of almond butter and some finely grated nutmeg.
Wash and dry the carrots. Dig out a shallow nail bed on the narrow end of the baby carrot. I do this with a melon baller, the small side. Works like a charm!!! Use a paring knife to lightly score the carrots width-wise, for wrinkles. Fill the nail bed with a dab of almond butter. Don't use too much. Press a large slivered almond piece onto the nail bed. Dust the finger with grated nutmeg and rub into the wrinkles. Adding more nutmeg or even cinnamon will make the fingers look even more freshly-dug.
I prefer my recipe, and this is what I'll be taking to the parties. I think they're the hands-down winner. To make them, you'll need a small bag of baby carrots, a small bag of slivered almonds, a small container of almond butter and some finely grated nutmeg.
Wash and dry the carrots. Dig out a shallow nail bed on the narrow end of the baby carrot. I do this with a melon baller, the small side. Works like a charm!!! Use a paring knife to lightly score the carrots width-wise, for wrinkles. Fill the nail bed with a dab of almond butter. Don't use too much. Press a large slivered almond piece onto the nail bed. Dust the finger with grated nutmeg and rub into the wrinkles. Adding more nutmeg or even cinnamon will make the fingers look even more freshly-dug.
Monday, August 8, 2011
It's Pumpkin Time!
I met Dr. Mary Dan Eades at the Ancestral Health Symposium and had a nice chat with her. I mentioned that her pumpkin blogpost is one of my favorites. So many people had been asking about potassium, and also insisting that everyone needs to eat lots of bananas in order to get enough potassium. I'm happy to report that she has set the record straight, so I send lots of people over to her site to read about the Great pumpkin.
I harvested my first pumpkin of the season yesterday. It is a Baby Pam pumkin, and only about a pound or so. It is curing on the patio, and I will probably "boot it up" next week. By that time, the green taste will have disappeared. I love this pumpkin because it is early, tasty and small. The seed quality is fantastic, but unfortunately, it is not much of a keeper. I grow it to eat in the summer and early fall, and it tastes terrible by Halloween or Thanksgiving. I suppose I could have more if I had a root cellar. Not gonna happen unless I dig a hole in the ground myself.
I also harvested a couple of tatume squashes. I grow this variety because it is in my summer squash variety pack. I enjoy it on the grill when immature, but this year, not only did I have a seed snafu, but all the other summer squash plants did well and I was overwhelmed, so I let the tatume's continue to grow. The first years, I grew a few out, but didn't prefer the flavor to the sweeter varieties. Since then, like the Mexicans, I have developed a liking for the tatume, and also other overgrown summer squashes.
Here's my new favorite soup recipe.
Squash soup
tatume, chayote or overgrown summer squash (4 cups chunks)
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon hot curry powder (my curry blend already contains a bit of salt)
lemon basil
Cut and peel the squash, cut into chunks and cook in chicken broth in a saucepan until tender. (I usually start my chicken in a bit of bacon fat, and so enjoy the bacon flavor in the soup, too.) Cool. Blend the squash, add the curry, and then return to the pan and reheat. Remove from heat and stir in the cream. Garnish with lemon basil.
I also make the squash puree, add the curry, and then store it in the fridge. It keeps well for several days, and I just add the cream after reheating the squash.
Here's Dr. Eades' pumpkin post: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmd_blog/recipes/waiting-for-the-great-pumpkin-soup-that-is/
Here's another one of her pumpkin posts: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmd_blog/pumpkins-back/ Check out her picture of Cinderella pumpkins. I grow these, too, and the first one will be ready in a few weeks. Even though you aren't really supposed to count the pumpkins until they hatch, yesterday I counted 12 Cinderella pumpkins.
I harvested my first pumpkin of the season yesterday. It is a Baby Pam pumkin, and only about a pound or so. It is curing on the patio, and I will probably "boot it up" next week. By that time, the green taste will have disappeared. I love this pumpkin because it is early, tasty and small. The seed quality is fantastic, but unfortunately, it is not much of a keeper. I grow it to eat in the summer and early fall, and it tastes terrible by Halloween or Thanksgiving. I suppose I could have more if I had a root cellar. Not gonna happen unless I dig a hole in the ground myself.
I also harvested a couple of tatume squashes. I grow this variety because it is in my summer squash variety pack. I enjoy it on the grill when immature, but this year, not only did I have a seed snafu, but all the other summer squash plants did well and I was overwhelmed, so I let the tatume's continue to grow. The first years, I grew a few out, but didn't prefer the flavor to the sweeter varieties. Since then, like the Mexicans, I have developed a liking for the tatume, and also other overgrown summer squashes.
Here's my new favorite soup recipe.
Squash soup
tatume, chayote or overgrown summer squash (4 cups chunks)
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon hot curry powder (my curry blend already contains a bit of salt)
lemon basil
Cut and peel the squash, cut into chunks and cook in chicken broth in a saucepan until tender. (I usually start my chicken in a bit of bacon fat, and so enjoy the bacon flavor in the soup, too.) Cool. Blend the squash, add the curry, and then return to the pan and reheat. Remove from heat and stir in the cream. Garnish with lemon basil.
I also make the squash puree, add the curry, and then store it in the fridge. It keeps well for several days, and I just add the cream after reheating the squash.
Here's Dr. Eades' pumpkin post: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmd_blog/recipes/waiting-for-the-great-pumpkin-soup-that-is/
Here's another one of her pumpkin posts: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmd_blog/pumpkins-back/ Check out her picture of Cinderella pumpkins. I grow these, too, and the first one will be ready in a few weeks. Even though you aren't really supposed to count the pumpkins until they hatch, yesterday I counted 12 Cinderella pumpkins.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Paleo Pizza Deconstructed
(this tasty recipe first appeared on another website on March 17)
The only reason I didn't put this into a real recipe for extra points is that I thought it would get rejected. It is a real recipe (OK, parts of it.) Thanks to another poster for the suggestion.
Paleo Pizza Deconstructed
They do it on TOP CHEF, why not in your kitchen? It is easy to deconstruct your favorite foods and remake them the way nature intended!!!
Ingredients:
1 large whole red ripe tomato (3"diam), thinly sliced
1 Jalapeno pepper, diced
.25 cup chopped scallions
.5 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
5 jumbo black olives
.125 t oregano powder
10 basil leaves
2 pork sausage links (4 x 7/8 inch)
.5 cup fresh bell pepper strips
You will also need 1/4 cup whole wheat berries for this party dish.
Directions:
Wash the wheat berries, soak them in cool water for several hours, spread them on a tray with potting soil. After a few days, they will sprout and you can feed the grass to your cat.
You won't be eating any of the wheat yourself.
For the actual pizza you can eat, cut up the sausage and fry in a pan until cooked. Add the peppers, scallions, mushrooms, olives and oregano, stir and turn off the heat.
Let the mixture cool a couple of minutes. Arrange artfully on a round plate with basil leaves and sliced tomato. You can eat it in sections or just dig in and eat the whole pizza all by yourself.
This should be filed under: beef and pork, dinner, Italian, low carb, Paleo, Party, 4 days prep time for the kitty grass, 10 minutes prep time for the part you will eat, 5 minutes cooking time, 5 minutes plating. (You can also save on clean up time if you let your cat lick the plate. After your cat gets rid of the fur ball, he'll be hungry enough for it, even with all that oregano.)
Nutrition Facts
Deconstructed Paleo Pizza
1 Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 208.5
Total Fat 12.0 g
Saturated Fat 3.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.7 g
Monounsaturated Fat 5.8 g
Cholesterol 21.6 mg
Sodium 732.6 mg
Potassium 848.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate 19.7 g
Dietary Fiber 5.6 g
Sugars 4.0 g
Protein 9.6 g
Vitamin A 42.2 %
Vitamin B-12 7.7 %
Vitamin B-6 26.5 %
Vitamin C 137.2 %
Vitamin D 6.7 %
Vitamin E 12.9 %
Calcium 9.4 %
Copper 23.8 %
Folate 17.6 %
Iron 20.7 %
Magnesium 12.1 %
Manganese 23.4 %
Niacin 21.7 %
Pantothenic Acid 12.9 %
Phosphorus 15.2 %
Riboflavin 20.7 %
Selenium 13.4 %
Thiamin 27.3 %
Zinc 9.0 %
Paleo Pizza Deconstructed
They do it on TOP CHEF, why not in your kitchen? It is easy to deconstruct your favorite foods and remake them the way nature intended!!!
Ingredients:
1 large whole red ripe tomato (3"diam), thinly sliced
1 Jalapeno pepper, diced
.25 cup chopped scallions
.5 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
5 jumbo black olives
.125 t oregano powder
10 basil leaves
2 pork sausage links (4 x 7/8 inch)
.5 cup fresh bell pepper strips
You will also need 1/4 cup whole wheat berries for this party dish.
Directions:
Wash the wheat berries, soak them in cool water for several hours, spread them on a tray with potting soil. After a few days, they will sprout and you can feed the grass to your cat.
You won't be eating any of the wheat yourself.
For the actual pizza you can eat, cut up the sausage and fry in a pan until cooked. Add the peppers, scallions, mushrooms, olives and oregano, stir and turn off the heat.
Let the mixture cool a couple of minutes. Arrange artfully on a round plate with basil leaves and sliced tomato. You can eat it in sections or just dig in and eat the whole pizza all by yourself.
This should be filed under: beef and pork, dinner, Italian, low carb, Paleo, Party, 4 days prep time for the kitty grass, 10 minutes prep time for the part you will eat, 5 minutes cooking time, 5 minutes plating. (You can also save on clean up time if you let your cat lick the plate. After your cat gets rid of the fur ball, he'll be hungry enough for it, even with all that oregano.)
Nutrition Facts
Deconstructed Paleo Pizza
1 Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 208.5
Total Fat 12.0 g
Saturated Fat 3.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.7 g
Monounsaturated Fat 5.8 g
Cholesterol 21.6 mg
Sodium 732.6 mg
Potassium 848.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate 19.7 g
Dietary Fiber 5.6 g
Sugars 4.0 g
Protein 9.6 g
Vitamin A 42.2 %
Vitamin B-12 7.7 %
Vitamin B-6 26.5 %
Vitamin C 137.2 %
Vitamin D 6.7 %
Vitamin E 12.9 %
Calcium 9.4 %
Copper 23.8 %
Folate 17.6 %
Iron 20.7 %
Magnesium 12.1 %
Manganese 23.4 %
Niacin 21.7 %
Pantothenic Acid 12.9 %
Phosphorus 15.2 %
Riboflavin 20.7 %
Selenium 13.4 %
Thiamin 27.3 %
Zinc 9.0 %
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Am I that boring?
I've been reading that some diet "experts" have been saying that a low-carb diet is so boring. It certainly has been a challenge.
Last night was so dreadful, my husband jumped away from the table after dinner and quickly did something else. (In other words, he wasn't sleepy from too many carbs.)
We enjoyed fresh haddock fillets with sauted onion, carrot, fennel, thyme, celery, parsley, lemon and anaheim pepper. I served it with a fresh tartar sauce, home-made cole-slaw and some strawberries with whipped cream. All the fruits/veggies were from the garden except for the onion and the strawberries.
For lunch, we suffered through a vegetable stir-fry with curry powder, garam masala and my own intensly-hot red caribbean pepper sauce. I put a bit of chicken in it, with some basmati rice steamed with vegetable broth and turmeric. (OK, I had a tablespoon of the rice, too!)
I didn't know how I would be able to get through another day, but since the goal of preparing healthy and satisfying meals is on my action-list, I struggled through breakfast.
This morning I had a small amount of coffee with a splash of cinnamon and real cream. I made eggs again, with butter, kale and fresh marjoram. At the market yesterday, all the bulk items were on sale so I decided to try some coconut flour. My first trial was to make pancakes. I used an egg, 1/4 cup coconut flour, 1/4 cup ground almonds, 1/4 cup cream, 1/2 cup water and 1/4 t baking powder. The recipe needs some tinkering, but my husband declared the pancakes edible and came into the kitchen for more. He put blackberry jam on his, and I topped mine with sliced strawberries. Boring, I know. We had strawberries for dinner, and I might be stuck with eating them for lunch, too.
Someone pluck me out of my misery! My diet is boring and none of my clothes fit this week.
[Note: a version of this was posted on Feb 26, 2011 on another site.]
Last night was so dreadful, my husband jumped away from the table after dinner and quickly did something else. (In other words, he wasn't sleepy from too many carbs.)
We enjoyed fresh haddock fillets with sauted onion, carrot, fennel, thyme, celery, parsley, lemon and anaheim pepper. I served it with a fresh tartar sauce, home-made cole-slaw and some strawberries with whipped cream. All the fruits/veggies were from the garden except for the onion and the strawberries.
For lunch, we suffered through a vegetable stir-fry with curry powder, garam masala and my own intensly-hot red caribbean pepper sauce. I put a bit of chicken in it, with some basmati rice steamed with vegetable broth and turmeric. (OK, I had a tablespoon of the rice, too!)
I didn't know how I would be able to get through another day, but since the goal of preparing healthy and satisfying meals is on my action-list, I struggled through breakfast.
This morning I had a small amount of coffee with a splash of cinnamon and real cream. I made eggs again, with butter, kale and fresh marjoram. At the market yesterday, all the bulk items were on sale so I decided to try some coconut flour. My first trial was to make pancakes. I used an egg, 1/4 cup coconut flour, 1/4 cup ground almonds, 1/4 cup cream, 1/2 cup water and 1/4 t baking powder. The recipe needs some tinkering, but my husband declared the pancakes edible and came into the kitchen for more. He put blackberry jam on his, and I topped mine with sliced strawberries. Boring, I know. We had strawberries for dinner, and I might be stuck with eating them for lunch, too.
Someone pluck me out of my misery! My diet is boring and none of my clothes fit this week.
[Note: a version of this was posted on Feb 26, 2011 on another site.]
Oh, Why do I Keep Doing This?
I know I know, I should know better right?
I know that very few people read my blogs about clinical studies. Y'all really like artichokes and garden escapades much much better. I get that. But, why do I continue to post about obesity and clinical studies when few people read them or care?
I have been on a quest to understand what has been happening to me. Last summer I was on a months-long plateau, following my plan the best I could, not losing weight, becoming miserable and depressed, having sleeplessness and lots of night-time cravings. I tried to make up for my cravings by exercising, and then ended up in an increasing eating/exercising spiral that left me exhausted and injured, and more depressed and slug-like.
The only difference between this response and other times I tried to lose weight is that this time I just didn't give up. I kept tracking my food intake and exercise, encouraged my friends, kept going despite dismal failure. Each day I would wake up with all good intents, but by the evening, I was feeding the cravings, promising myself I'd do better tomorrow. And the next day, I would try the same thing, and get the same results.
Isn't this the definition of insanity?????
Then I made a few easy changes (not recommended by the "experts", in fact, they had warned me....) and I started having success. I was astounded. Why hadn't anyone told me about this before? It was always, "eat less, exercise more, use small plates...", all prescribed on the assumption that my problem was one of laziness, will-power and lack of character, lack of planning, and my love of fatty food like coconut and black olives.
I went to the internet, and searched all the way to the end, to try to make sense of it all. That lead me to many prominent diet doctors, and then to researchers and then to Gary Taubes.
I read all sorts of books, reports, studies, blogs, position papers, statements. Eventually I think I figured out why certain things started working for me and why certain things did not. But it was what Gary Taubes wrote that really started to make me mad, and to start talking about it.
In his book, "Good Calories Bad Calories", he described a study that Ancel Keys did during WWII. In the study, he put a number of healthy young men on a "semi-starvation" diet to see what the effects of food shortages (like in Europe) would be. The diet was about 1500 calories and consisted of things like mostly ww bread, potatoes, turnips, cabbage, and a bit of meat or milk. So far, it doesn't sound that bad, except 1500 calories seems a bit low for men. They also followed a walking program.
The men lost weight, sure enough, but the really interesting thing is that several had to drop out because of psychiatric problems, including depression and self-mutilation. When the diet was over, the men (still monitored) ate more, gained more and ended up fatter than where they started, and they still continued to eat! (And some still continued with the psychological problems for quite some time.)
But the thing that really made me mad is that Ancel Keys did this study on conscious objectors. These were Quakers, Mennonites and Bretheren who were so into non-violence that they risked quite a bit to not participate in the war. WWII wasn't like Vietnam. It wasn't an unpopular war. People then didn't just escape to Canada for a few years. They had to prove that they had been born into one of these religions (the "birthright" religions) and demonstrate a life-long commitment to non-violence, and then go up against the notion of the times, that the war was justified. They had to follow up their intent with letters, witness statements, church records, etc. in order to be a CO. Many times they were just jailed. (I knew several CO's and their families because many were assigned out West in the forestry agencies, mainly fighting dangerous wildfires. Their families moved to this region with them and many stayed after the war.) Life wasn't as good for these CO's as people might have imagined. They weren't coddled.
I found it amazing that a reducing diet would have led some of these peace-loving men to self-mutilation. This just doesn't seem to be what you would expect to see from a man who had devoted his life to peace. Their diet led them to later obesity and violence.
So why is it that we are recommending such a reduced-calorie, low-fat, low-protein diet now? Why is it that when this diet fails, we just tell ourselves that tomorrow will be different? That tomorrow we'll be able to sleep? That tomorrow we refuse to be depressed? That tomorrow we WILL get on that treadmill?
I read lots of blogs here, probably yours. If you comment on my page or blog, I visit your page and read them all. I know what people are saying about their progress. Many posts indicate frustration, depression, exhaustion, and while many friends have been successful, many have not. That's when I decided to write more about it.
Friends, I REALLY do care about you. You are real people! I know you aren't weak-willed, or lazy or undisciplined. You have mentioned that you are doing "all the right things", and when you ask for help, the answer is usually to continue to do even more of "all the right things." And I think that's just insanity.
This "insanity" is what has led several prominent diet researchers to throw up their hands, declare defeat, and recommend lap-band for everyone. And, it led me, a former vegan/vegetarian for 25 years, to start eating some meat again. And that has been surprising and difficult, since I have identified with the vegetarian movement for years and now finding myself a bit ostracized by them, and finding the paleo's to be more welcoming. Gosh, I never thought that would happen!
Anyway, enough rambling. If you read this far, thank you for reading and listening. If you leave a reply, again, I will send you a 5-points-worth goodie that won't make you hungry or raise your insulin level.
[Note: a version of this was posted on Feb 26, 2011 on another site.]
I know that very few people read my blogs about clinical studies. Y'all really like artichokes and garden escapades much much better. I get that. But, why do I continue to post about obesity and clinical studies when few people read them or care?
I have been on a quest to understand what has been happening to me. Last summer I was on a months-long plateau, following my plan the best I could, not losing weight, becoming miserable and depressed, having sleeplessness and lots of night-time cravings. I tried to make up for my cravings by exercising, and then ended up in an increasing eating/exercising spiral that left me exhausted and injured, and more depressed and slug-like.
The only difference between this response and other times I tried to lose weight is that this time I just didn't give up. I kept tracking my food intake and exercise, encouraged my friends, kept going despite dismal failure. Each day I would wake up with all good intents, but by the evening, I was feeding the cravings, promising myself I'd do better tomorrow. And the next day, I would try the same thing, and get the same results.
Isn't this the definition of insanity?????
Then I made a few easy changes (not recommended by the "experts", in fact, they had warned me....) and I started having success. I was astounded. Why hadn't anyone told me about this before? It was always, "eat less, exercise more, use small plates...", all prescribed on the assumption that my problem was one of laziness, will-power and lack of character, lack of planning, and my love of fatty food like coconut and black olives.
I went to the internet, and searched all the way to the end, to try to make sense of it all. That lead me to many prominent diet doctors, and then to researchers and then to Gary Taubes.
I read all sorts of books, reports, studies, blogs, position papers, statements. Eventually I think I figured out why certain things started working for me and why certain things did not. But it was what Gary Taubes wrote that really started to make me mad, and to start talking about it.
In his book, "Good Calories Bad Calories", he described a study that Ancel Keys did during WWII. In the study, he put a number of healthy young men on a "semi-starvation" diet to see what the effects of food shortages (like in Europe) would be. The diet was about 1500 calories and consisted of things like mostly ww bread, potatoes, turnips, cabbage, and a bit of meat or milk. So far, it doesn't sound that bad, except 1500 calories seems a bit low for men. They also followed a walking program.
The men lost weight, sure enough, but the really interesting thing is that several had to drop out because of psychiatric problems, including depression and self-mutilation. When the diet was over, the men (still monitored) ate more, gained more and ended up fatter than where they started, and they still continued to eat! (And some still continued with the psychological problems for quite some time.)
But the thing that really made me mad is that Ancel Keys did this study on conscious objectors. These were Quakers, Mennonites and Bretheren who were so into non-violence that they risked quite a bit to not participate in the war. WWII wasn't like Vietnam. It wasn't an unpopular war. People then didn't just escape to Canada for a few years. They had to prove that they had been born into one of these religions (the "birthright" religions) and demonstrate a life-long commitment to non-violence, and then go up against the notion of the times, that the war was justified. They had to follow up their intent with letters, witness statements, church records, etc. in order to be a CO. Many times they were just jailed. (I knew several CO's and their families because many were assigned out West in the forestry agencies, mainly fighting dangerous wildfires. Their families moved to this region with them and many stayed after the war.) Life wasn't as good for these CO's as people might have imagined. They weren't coddled.
I found it amazing that a reducing diet would have led some of these peace-loving men to self-mutilation. This just doesn't seem to be what you would expect to see from a man who had devoted his life to peace. Their diet led them to later obesity and violence.
So why is it that we are recommending such a reduced-calorie, low-fat, low-protein diet now? Why is it that when this diet fails, we just tell ourselves that tomorrow will be different? That tomorrow we'll be able to sleep? That tomorrow we refuse to be depressed? That tomorrow we WILL get on that treadmill?
I read lots of blogs here, probably yours. If you comment on my page or blog, I visit your page and read them all. I know what people are saying about their progress. Many posts indicate frustration, depression, exhaustion, and while many friends have been successful, many have not. That's when I decided to write more about it.
Friends, I REALLY do care about you. You are real people! I know you aren't weak-willed, or lazy or undisciplined. You have mentioned that you are doing "all the right things", and when you ask for help, the answer is usually to continue to do even more of "all the right things." And I think that's just insanity.
This "insanity" is what has led several prominent diet researchers to throw up their hands, declare defeat, and recommend lap-band for everyone. And, it led me, a former vegan/vegetarian for 25 years, to start eating some meat again. And that has been surprising and difficult, since I have identified with the vegetarian movement for years and now finding myself a bit ostracized by them, and finding the paleo's to be more welcoming. Gosh, I never thought that would happen!
Anyway, enough rambling. If you read this far, thank you for reading and listening. If you leave a reply, again, I will send you a 5-points-worth goodie that won't make you hungry or raise your insulin level.
[Note: a version of this was posted on Feb 26, 2011 on another site.]
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