Compare and contrast, it's a wonderful thing to do in English class but in life, I feel like we do it to often with other people in our lives. This person has a better career than me, this person got their masters before I did, this person is better at music than I ever will be... so on and so on. No matter where you are in your life, please know that it's just that, YOUR life. People move at different speeds, some know that they want kids right away, others have one career goal and have been working towards that, it's nothing to be embarrassed or upset about if you don't have the things you want right away. Things take time, practice, discipline and most of all patience. I hear way too much of this with my age group and we just need to sit back, breath and remember we're still young! There's time!
Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale, leaves removed from stem.
1 small sugar pumpkin, baked and cubed
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
1 shallot, diced
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup craisins
1/4 cup goat cheese
Because it's morning and I'm in a weird mood, here's a clip of one of my favorite comedians instead of music:
Directions:
In a large skillet fry shallot in olive oil, once soft add your kale leaves.
Once kale begins to wilt, add your vinegar, salt and pepper and pumpkin.
When the mixture is well cooked place in individual bowls.
It's been a rough couple of weeks, it seems like if something can have a snag in it, it will. I've been trying to keep a positive mindset and just accept the reality at hand but sometimes it's just easier to stress eat and watch shows that borderline soap operas so that you have someone to share your melodramas with. The moral of these past few weeks is that being an adult is hard. I just want to curl up in a fort, watch my nerd movies and maybe read a book from my childhood. Alas, no matter how hard you try to avoid it sometimes you just got to take life by the horns and do what you can to wrangle it in. Starting with dinner. No matter what, at least I have great food to cook and share.
Ingredients:
4 small round pumpkins
5-6 small russet potatoes, washed and cut into cubes
4-5 leaves of fresh sage, chopped finely
3 shallots chopped
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 lb ground turkey (optional)
1 tbsp butter
olive oil
salt and pepper
One of my favorite bands of all time is The Band, I believe Levon Helm to be one of the greatest singer songwriters to have walked this great planet. Even in his old age he was still making beautiful music, his album Dirt Farmer is a beautiful folk album featuring his daughter on backing vocals. It's one to listen to folks:
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Cut a cap off of each pumpkin, then remove seeds and stringy bits.
Next drizzle olive oil in each, place on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
In a large skillet, start frying your shallots in the butter. Once soft add curry powder and mix well.
Then you will add your sage and potatoes and cook until the potatoes are easy to pierce with a fork. Add salt and pepper to taste.
If you are adding meat, cook in a separate skillet then add to your potato mixture.
When pumpkins are done, place the stuffing in each pumpkin, put the top of each pumpkin back on and bake for another 15-20 minutes.
Happy Eatings Everyone! Here's to things turning around!
It's the middle of freaking October and we're enduring 70 degree weather. I do not approve. When the trees start changing color and the everything harvest starts popping up I don't want to be sweating, I want to see my breath, I want to be chilled and in need of my big wool socks. So, lately I have been conjuring up fall in other areas of my life, mainly in the kitchen as you probably already know. If you are in an area struggling to grasp that autumn season weather here is a recipe to help keep you in the mood.
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, cut in half and seeds removed.
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 tsp garlic powder
1 zest of a lime (set aside)
Juice from 2 limes
3 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup roughly chopped peanuts
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
2 tsp sriracha
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp curry powder
1 cup milk
3 cups chicken broth
1 can (14 oz) unsweetened coconut milk
In no relation to anything on this post, I have had this song stuck in my head for about a week now and I don't even care. I love this movie and I believe Hollywood made a huge mistake remaking such a classic flick. It didn't offer any of the same glorious feelings of imagination and wonderment that the original did, not to mention it didn't have Gene Wilder and ergo sucked.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place squash face up on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour.
When done, remove skin and dice.
Mix together all ingredients in you slow cooker, minus peanuts, zest and cilantro.
Low cook for 5 hours.
In a blender, blend your soup until creamy.
Sprinkle your remaining ingredients over each individual serving of soup.
Ok it's a bit late, had a trip over the weekend with no computer and just some good hearted people. It was a good time visiting an old place full of memories not all good, but some how when I am there I forget the bad and remember all the wonderful times I had. Ugh, that's so corny and I am making myself sick with how sentimental I get. Anyway, I am so happy to share this super tasty recipe, though late to the party on the blog site it did partake in my apple week last week, and it served two well deserving bellies last friday!
Not the best picture, but oh well!
Ingredients:
1 granny smith, sliced thinly, core removed
Hamburger buns
1 lb ground turkey, made into 2 1/2 lb patties, or 4 1/4lb patties
Mayo
2-4 pieces of bacon cut in half and cooked
In leu of my trip back to my college town. I have but one thing to share with all of you. Please enjoy this talented man and his fiddle:
Directions:
Cook your patties how you prefer, I used stove top, 5 minutes on each side. But if you want to grill, go crazy and grill!
Spread mayo on one half of each bun. Place 4-5 slices of granny smith on each bun.
Place a bun on opposite half of each bun. Then put 2 pieces of bacon on each hamburger.
Hellooooooo curry powder! Sometimes spices will sit in my spice drawer, untouched, unloved for so long and it's heart breaking. I try so many recipes that sometimes I get stuck in a spice rut. Cumin, chili powder, paprika repeat, repeat, repeat. It get's a tad mundane and I crave my unique spices, the ones that like to stand out, rosemary, dill and most of all curry powder. These guys know how to liven up a party. Come on and spice up my life! HA! Pun most definitely intended.
Ingredients:
1lb pork tenderloin
2 tsp curry powder
2 apples (I grated mine in a cheese grater to get it sliced so thin)
1/4 red onion julienned
1/2 cup grated carrots
7 oz plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp sombal oelek
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
Hamburger buns
It's my husbands choice tonight and OF COURSE he goes jazzy with some good ole John Coltrane and one of his favorite seasonal songs. The whole song should take you the length it takes to make dinner!
Directions:
Combine your peanut butter, sambal, ginger, vinegar and soy sauce. Mix together well.
In a medium sized bowl combine your yogurt, carrots, onion and apples. Stir until yogurt is coated over everything.
Cut your pork tenderloin into medallions or 2-3 inch pieces. Sprinkle both sides of each piece with the curry powder.
Fry until no longer pink in the middle.
While pork is frying spread some peanut butter mixture on one side of a hamburger bun, then top with slaw mix. There should be about 3 pieces of pork per sandwich.
Come and get it! The rains of autumn are here and that means its soup season baby! It also happens to still be in the middle of my apple week and I love taking what's normally a sweet treat and making it savory. This soup was the perfect 'Welcome Cold Weather!' recipe my belly just needed right now. When you make it I would suggest adding salt and pepper and tasting it throughout if you don't add enough salt it starts having a hot apple sauce with onions flavor, which isn't my idea of om nom good. Let's do this Fall 2015.
Ingredients:
8 oz brie, rind removed
16 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 bottle of beer, something fall flavored to accent
1 bouillon cube
2 cups water
1 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
1 sweet onion
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp thyme
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2/3 cups apple cider
2 gala apples, cored and diced
1/2 cup Pecans, chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp butter
I've been feeling like REM really get's me these days. Their songs have hit a chord with my heart and I am sold. So here's a well known favorite that I woke up to this morning:
Directions:
In a small bowl melt butter in with pecans in the microwave. Remove and stir in your cinnamon and brown sugar until the pecans are coated. Set aside to cool.
In another small bowl whisk together milk and flour until the flour completely mixed.
Then add your your bouillon, water, beer, spices, and apples. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 10 minutes or until your apples are soft.
Next blend your apple and beer mix in a blender until its chunky smooth or just smooth.
Put the contents of the blender back into your soup pot and add you milk and cheeses. Stir until cheese is melted and soup thickens. Salt and pepper to taste, really taste after each addition until it's savory and to your liking.
Apple week is full of recipes so far and I am ready to share 'em. I've got a soup, some sweets and this absolutely wonderfully scrumptious pizza that you need in your life right now. Just now I happen to be watching the wonderful show Bob's Burgers, I love this show. One of my favorite aspects is the pun intended burger names always so nicely displayed for us to enjoy. I wish I could just do pizza all the time and place a wonderfully pun-tactic name over the top but alas, I can't make pizza all the time and I don't own a pizza shop, so here it is:
Under the Deep Bleu Pizza
Ingredients:
1/2 cup bleu cheese
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
1 pizza crust (I get pre baked crusts)
2 pieces bacon cut into bits and cooked
1 apple cored and sliced thinly
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup maple syrup
I could never get enough of this man's voice, it commands your attention and begs you to stay. He makes me feel powerful, sexy, bad ass and poetic all at once. I give you my undying love Mr.Waits:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Drizzle the maple syrup over your crust.
Place your apple slices in a pinwheel pattern on top.
Then spread your monterey jack over the crust evenly. Do the same with the rest of your ingredients.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and your crust is a bit crunchy.
My apple week is under way! The husband and I went up to the orchards the other day and stocked up for my recipes and we are just going to eat like kings this week. We have some decadent things planned but also some simple succulent ones as well. I hope you can partake in some of these, it's only day one and I have already done two recipes! Now that's being productive. Any way, please go out and pick your own apples this season, it's not only a great date day or family outing, but you also just get this extreme satisfaction of know exactly where your fruit came from. From our hands to pot, here is my first apple recipe:
Ingredients:
2 apples, cores removed and diced
1/2 gallon of apple cider
1.5 liters of Brut champagne
Been listening to this classic a lot lately. Came up on the radio one day and gave me a hankering to revisit Pink Floyd, never really stopped listening to them per say, but haven't avidly listened to them since I was like seventeen.
Directions:
Pour your cider into a punch bowl or drink dispenser, then add your other ingredients slowly.
