Bakeday!

The weather people promised a warm Sunday. But it's kinda' poopy outside - cloud cover with the occasional snow flake drifting down. This is baking weather!

Last night I was dreaming of cinnamon raisin toast and stumbled onto this recipe. Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal bread? Umm, yes please!

While I was prepping my ingredients and soaking the currants (I prefer dried currants to raisins), and oats I had fond memories of making cinnamon rolls dancing in my head. Mom, my sisters and I would make oodles of cinnamon rolls from wheat berry to sink-your-teeth into these tasty confections. I do miss the assembly-line style of cooking and baking en mass so heaven help me when I start baking for just the two of us! lol.


First rise of the bread - enough for five loaves (don't worry, I freeze and give away a ton of food!)

See?


While waiting between the 3-1/2 hours of rising the bread takes I finally got around to doing something with my bag of Teff. I was up at the Natural Food Exchange a few weeks ago and noticed this grain looked like a good source of iron (something I get pretty excited about as a vegetarian). But I've never made anything with Teff so I consulted our dear Bob's Red Mill website for something creative to do with an obscure grain. Sure enough, there was a recipe I had all of the ingredients for! Carob Teff Cookies. You rock Bob!

I used my store bought Teff and my CSA barley flour in this recipe plus some honey when my molasses came up a little short. The texture of the batter was a little granular with the Teff - sort of like a coarse cornmeal had been added.



Bob says to drop the batter onto the cookie sheet in small spoonfulls. I opted to roll them into small balls instead, and I think they look much nicer out of the oven:


I'm going to sit down with a glass of Thai Tea and a couple of cookies!

Crocktober: Fresh Ham Roast

We're Fall meat shareholders with 8 o'clock Ranch out of New York state, and in this month's box we got a 2-3/4 pound fresh ham roast. I scoured the internet for a recipe for slow cooker ham roast and didn't find anything that really jumped out at me. After reading several recipes ranging from Paula Deen to Chowhound I came across a short and simple recipe involving apples and brown sugar, sounds like a perfect fall dish to me!

Recipe:
1 fresh ham
1/2 cup brown sugar
sliced apples (I used two medium and one small apple)
ceramic slow cooker

Spray the slow cooker lightly with an olive oil or vegetable oil spray. Place the ham in the bottom of the cooker and sprinkle the brown sugar over the top. Wash and slice the fresh apples and arrange around the sides of the ham. Slow cook for 8-10 hours on low or for 4-6 hours on high.

I'll be serving this with homemade mashed potatoes using the potatoes from the farm CSA box and the cooked apples.

Crocktober: Apple Butter

Making Apple Butter
Apple butter was such a delicious treat growing up! We'd spread it on peanut butter sandwiches, in peanut butter quesadillas, add it to hot oatmeal for breakfast and eat it straight out of the jar.

To make apple butter you first need apple sauce:
10-15 pounds of apples, washed, cored and chopped (your choice to peel or not)
large stock pot with 2 inches of filtered water

Bring the apples to a boil then reduce to simmer for about 20 minutes until the apples are mushy. Remove from heat and let cool, lid removed, for about half an hour or so. Using a blender, immersion blender or food processor, puree the apples into desired consistency.

Now to make apple butter:
homemade apple sauce
ceramic slow cooker (large enough to fit your quarts of applesauce)
2 tblsp. cinnamon
honey to taste (maybe a cup)
2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. allspice

Combine ingredients in the slow cooker and set on the low heat setting (8-10 hours). Apple butter needs to be cooked down, slowly, so that the liquid in the sauce evaporates. To accomplish this the lid needs to be left ajar. I used two long bamboo skewers, kabob style, to hold the lid above the seal to let the steam escape but to prevent the bubbling liquid from splattering all over the counter.

Ten hours later you should have a very thick, aromatic sauce ready for consumption! You can freeze some for later in the season, and reserve some for use over the coming week. Enjoy!

Crocktober: October 1st - Purple Rice Pudding

I love using stoneware slow cookers this time of year! Bubbling liquids, wafting aromas and big batches of produce to "put-by" for use later in the season.

Today's recipe is inspired by Judith Finlayson's The Vegetarian Slow Cooker.

What you'll need:
1-1/2 cups Thai Sticky Rice (I'm using purple)
4 cups of water
1/2 cup of sweetener (I'm using vegan cane sugar, but I'll bet honey would be awesome!)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt (optional)
1 can of coconut milk (I like Thai Kitchen's unsweetened coconut milk)
Fresh fruit and nuts for topping

I brought the water and rice to a boil in a saucepan on the stove top, boiling for two full minutes on high. Then removed it from the heat to stir in the sugar and vanilla and a tiny pinch of sea salt.

With the slow cooker setup I gave it a quick spray of cooking oil to prevent sticking and then poured the hot, purple liquid in to cook. You can cook this on either a high setting, or start it at night to cook through to morning! I bet this would make an awesome breakfast dish with a touch less sugar.

Once it has finished cooking in the slow cooker add the coconut milk and stir thoroughly. Serve with pieces of fresh or dried fruit like banana and mango and some toasted almond slivers or a sprinkling of flake/shredded coconut. Yum!

Meal Plan for Week of July 18th

It is hot, who really wants to cook in this weather? ME, ME!!

Saturday (last) night we came home from the water park and were somehow energized to make an amazing dinner that most local restaurants could never compete with. It went like this:
- fresh mango margaritas
- sweet potato fries with cilantro garlic aiello
- plantain-bean veggie burger (the SO had a traditional frozen beef burger)

Here's what is on the menu for this week:

Monday
Breakfast: Mango Yogurt Smoothie
Lunch: Mediterranean Antipasto Salad (tuna for the SO, no tuna for me)
Dinner: Ravioli from the farmers market

Tuesday
Breakfast: Bagel from farmers market
Lunch: Leftover Veggie Burger patty from Saturday night
Dinner: Corn Chowder

Wednesday
Breakfast: Cream of Buckwheat Kasha with shredded cheese
Lunch: Risotto on a bed of salad greens
Dinner: Ravioli from the farmers market

Thursday
Breakfast: Breakfast smoothie
Lunch: Leftover chowder
Dinner: BrokeAss Gourmet's Tomato Tart

Friday I am leaving open to whatever fun things come in Thursday's box of treats, aka the CSA share.

Depending on my workload here are the desserts I am planning to work into this week's cooking:
Watermelon Yogurt Ice
Key Lime Pies

Weekly Meal Plan for June 14th

I'll admit it - I have a severe lazy streak for weekday cooking. Between long days at the office and a zillion other things I like to do with my downtime cooking often gets the short end of the stick. But I love to eat. Hrrm. So this week's meal plan is all about delicious meals that can be made quickly, or can cook while I sleep or while I'm at the office.

Monday, June 12th
Breakfast - Orange-flavored Breakfast Barley with Cranberries & Pecans (from The Vegetarian Slow Cooker pg 31)
Lunch - Mango and Avocado Salad with Cilantro
Dinner - Slow cooker Cabbage Borscht (from The Vegetarian Slow Cooker)

Tuesday, June 14th
Breakfast - Wake Up Smoothie - banana, plain greek yogurt, strawberries
Lunch - Vegetarian Reuben Sandwich
Dinner - Wheat Berry Black Bean Chili (inspired by this recipe)

Wednesday, June 15th
Breakfast - Overnight oatmeal
Lunch - Vegetarian BLT (fake bacon)
Dinner - Leftover Borscht

Thursday, June 16th
Breakfast - Creamy Grits
Lunch - Chickpea Salad Sandwich
Dinner - Leftover chili

Aquapocalypse, or boiling water isn't so bad

A few days with the boil water order brought a surge of memories from the days at Casa de las Rosas on Los Tulipanes street in San Antonio Tlayacapan. 44 kilometers from the metropolis of Guadalajara this sleepy village had a year-round non-potable water issue. But this was life in San Antonio - every morning the village had the water turned on to fill the rooftop tinaco (see the black tank in the upper right at picture above) with non-potable water for bathing and laundry. Once a week we would run out to catch the agua truck and grab a few 5-gallon bottles for drinking and cooking.

With the lobster pot at a rolling boil in Stoneham, my mind was transported to Central Mexico and the daily chore of working with two different kinds of water. But my Stoneham residence is missing an avocado tree, and we don't have Marta's piping hot tortilla service down the street so I'm happy to have the order lifted and potable water running through my faucets again! How did you fair in the great "Aquapocalypse" of 2010?

My CSA Passover

We celebrated Passover this year with a couple of great friends on Sunday evening (had to adjust for work conflicts on Monday evening, the official start of Passover). I hadn't participated in this Jewish holiday since I was 14 so it took some hours of pouring through search engine results to prepare everything.

I was able to use sweet potatoes, yukon potatoes, red potatoes, carrots, and apples from the farm share when cooking and preparing our meal.


The menu:
*Mock Chicken Soup from Vegetarians in Paradise
*Vegetarian Matzoh Balls from Epicurious
*Basic Chicken Broth Soup for the non-vegetarians at the table
*Potato Mushroom Kugel (pictured to the left)
*Apple Charoset
*Sweet Potato Kugel (pictured above)

Barley Brownies

This week's CSA gave me a bounty of Barley flour. I've used a whole slew of grain flours but can't recall ever using barley in baking before. So I did some online sleuthing and discovered the awesomeness of barley flour recipes! :-)

This afternoon I baked up a small batch of Bob's Red Mill Barley Brownies. I LOVE carob - both chips and powder - so this was quite the treat for my tastebuds. I used Himalayan salt instead of sea salt and added a smidgen more chopped walnuts than the recipe called for.

I'd love to find a version that doesn't include a half cup of vegetable oil, it seemed a little overkill for that much oil. Maybe I'll experiment with some oil and applesauce ratios...or do another google search.

(image Copyright David Thomson)

CSA Arugula: Chickpea Soup with Arugula

In February I tried Martha Stewart's Pasta with Roasted Vegetables and Arugula. It was delicious! I crumbled some Feta cheese on top which really ramped up the dish for me - I literally had 3 bowls of this before I forced myself to stop!

Last night I wanted to try something different with my CSA Arugula so I scoured the internet for recipes until I stumbled across Epicurious' Chickpea Soup with Arugula. Arugula, in a soup? Had to try it!

I used two of the carrots from the CSA box, a few leaves of just-picked basil from my AeroGarden, *two* cans of chickpeas, and the entire can of tomato paste (who uses only a tablespoon? what do you do with the rest of the can??). Oh, I also left off the cheese - it really didn't need it.

The soup was nice and the arugula wilted up a bit but still had a little crispness to it. I used the stick blender (thanks Uncle Ron and Aunt Leslie for the awesome wedding gift!) to puree about 1/4 of the soup which thickened the soup up just a bit.

The CSAs are coming the CSAs are coming!

For the first time in nearly a decade I'm involved in a CSA again. I'm tickled pink over it!

Back "home" in the mountains we had a very large organic garden with all of the accoutrements:
*Chickens - for fertilizer + eggs
*Goats - for fertilizer + milk
*Dogs - to chase the bears out of the compost
*Compost heap - those crunchy garden supply places have nothing on my momma's compost heap
*Recycled wooden pallets - for the potato growing boxes

At one time I signed up for a CSA that included manual labor as part of the program. You'd pay a reduced fee for volunteering a certain number of hours on the farm during peak planting or harvesting times. It was a lot of fun being shoulder-to-shoulder with other foodies while we tilled up the soil.

Alas my current home has the backyard equal to the square centimeters of the first class postage stamp with a 95% chance of shade from mid-June through September. I've become quite adept at container gardening but often the squirrels beat me to the harvest.

So here's my first box of the half share from Heavens Harvest Farm. Isn't it lovely? This is a half bushel of fresh fruit and vegetables - plenty for my partner and I for a week!

I can't wait to start trying out all manner of recipes as the CSA continues for the next 10 weeks.

Birth of the weekly meal planner

If you give up half of your Sunday to plan and shop for over a week's worth of meals you can't just let that go can you? Well, neither could I!

It all started with a subscription to Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. Each month this full-color, pocketbook-sized magazine landed in my mailbox and I cherished it. Recipes emphasized seasonal cooking, relative quick preparation, but with a dash of inspiration - be an exotic-sounding spice, or a cooking technique that required a new gadget from Williams Sonoma.

Then when Fall arrived last year I started swapping meals with a friend. I'd cook a large batch of something, she'd cook a large batch of something and we'd give each other a dish that could be frozen or warmed for serving. Genius! I began making lists of different dishes I could create throughout the week, on a whim. One list read: slow cooker arroz con queso, wild rice and mushroom casserole, tortellini soup, sweet potato-peanut bisque, and so forth. At random I would pick something from this list on my fridge and make it for dinner that night. Fresh new recipes, inspired dinners, I loved being in the kitchen.

After returning from vacation recently I discovered I needed more structure. The inner workaholic wasn't giving me a break - I'd forget all of cool breakfast options I had available and *settle* for toast or a boring bowl of oatmeal. Blah!

The Weekly Menu Planner was born - I googled for the perfect template that included everything I wanted: three squares, a snack column, reminders for the following day's meal prep, a grocery list and an area for notes. Then with the help of the most recent issues of Everyday Food and EatingWell magazines I dove in. This is what my first week looks like (keeping in mind that I'm a vegetarian who enjoys a little dairy, doesn't like eggs and struggles with breakfast, lol):

*Monday 2/1*
Breakfast - Savory Polenta with mushrooms and cheddar
Lunch - Black bean, brown rice, lettuce tortilla wrap
Dinner - Whole grain rigatoni with roasted vegetables and wilted arugula

*Tuesday 2/2*
Breakfast - Jamaican oatmeal
Lunch - leftover pasta from Monday night
Dinner - Veggie stir-fry (hubby's will have shrimp) with brown rice

*Wednesday 2/3*
Breakfast - Hot rice breakfast drink (using leftover rice from Tuesday night's dinner)
Lunch - Marscapone and strawberries sandwiches, handful of roasted almonds
Dinner - Baked Tostadas (hubby's will have canned pink salmon)

*Thursday 2/4*
Breakfast - Savory breakfast muffins (with veggie bacon)
Lunch - Mango Dal with brown rice
Dinner - Cabbage soup

*Friday 2/5*
Breakfast - Blueberry, banana protein smoothie with whole grain toast
Lunch - Feta, hummus, veggie tortilla wrap
Dinner - Warm apple and lentil salad, sauteed kale (cooking lamb for hubby's main course)

*Saturday 2/6*
Breakfast - Blueberry-Ricotta Pancakes
Lunch - Chickpea salad sandwich (egg salad sandwich for hubby)
Dinner - Treat! Go out for dinner

*Sunday 2/7*
Breakfast - Breakfast burritos (without eggs for me, with for the hubby)
Lunch - Baked tamale pie
Dinner - Honey Ginger stir fry (with chicken for hubby)

*Monday 2/8*
Breakfast - Brown rice porridge with honey and almonds (using leftover rice)
Lunch - Leftover tamale pie
Dinner - Black bean soup

Vegetarian Pot Pie

I've been making this dish for about six-seven years or so and I update the ingredients based on what it is in the crisper and the freezer. This recipe can also be expanded for a make-ahead frozen dinner, just cover and freeze after you've put the sauteed vegetables in the baking dish and before it goes in the oven. Thaw it out when you're ready and bake it for about a half an hour.

Vegetarian Pot Pie
inspired by the Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook

In a large stockpot heat about a half a cup of vegetable broth over medium heat to simmer. Add one diced onion and let simmer for a minute or two until slightly translucent. Then add the following vegetables:
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup green beans (I use frozen)
1/2 cup peas (I use frozen)
1 cup diced red peppers
1/2 cup corn (I prefer frozen over canned)

Sometimes I mix and match vegetables, again based on what is available in my fridge.

While the vegetables are sauteing in the broth prepare a 2 quart or larger casserole dish with olive oil spray and preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cook the vegetables for about ten minutes then add 1/4-1/3 cup of whole wheat flour, stirring until well combined. The veggies will start to get pasty and sticky. Then add two cups of vegetable broth and a cup of milk or milk substitute (I prefer whole organic milk but have used unsweetened soy milk). Season with soy sauce (a teaspoon or splash should do), thyme, sage, black pepper or your other favorite herbs. Today I used fresh sage and savory and a dried herbs de province blend from Red Monkey. You can also add a sprinkle of cayenne if you want a little heat.

Stir the vegetables frequently until the mixture has thickened. Pour it into the prepared baking dish and add a biscuit topping - I use Jiffy mix ratio of 2-1/3 cups of mix to 2/3 cup milk and slather over the top. Make sure you don't seal the edges with the biscuit dough so the juices can breathe and not bubble over.

Put the uncovered baking dish in the oven for 20 minutes to a half hour. You want the biscuit topping to be golden and the juices to be bubbling.

No yogurt for you! No fishies for you!

The So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage is delightful! I love it in my coffee (they should make a creamer - hint hint), on my cereal and with my protein shake on mornings I am flying out the door. But, I can't get the darn stuff to turn into yogurt. In my last posting you'll see my ill-fated attempt (and excitement) in making coconut milk yogurt with my first jug of this stuff. Alas, it came out as thin as it first went into the thermos, but tasted strongly of the yogurt starter. Maybe I'll try again.

In sad news: 'Google', my studio's Red Moor Pop-Eyed Goldfish, passed away today after struggling over the weekend of nitrate poisoning. Apparently we discovered the poisoning too late to give him a full recovery. :-(

And since I was feeling rather fishy after flushing my precious goldfish down the toilet (did his tail move? Nope, that's just the water flow Amy), I decided it was time to add an Omega-3 supplement to my diet. Being a vegetarian, and fish lover, I was delighted to find Udo's Choice 3 6 9 "fish free" liquid supplement in the Natural Food Exchange's refrigerated cooler.

So, I pour my fish free Omegas over my pasta and wish Requiescat in pace (may he rest in peace) dear Google.

This must be Heaven

Who knew a Wednesday could be so cool?! I trekked over to the Natural Food Exchange for some of the So Delicious coconut milk (the kind in the refrigerated section), and I also picked up some wheat bran, coconut flakes and sesame seeds.

So Delicious Coconut Milk

So yes, So Delicious' milk is exactly that: So Delicious! Slightly sweet with a subtle coconut flavor at the end. And here I thought this was going to taste like drinking a pina coloda!

I promptly heated two cups of the coconut milk beverage, added a half packet of Yogurmet yogurt starter and poured it into the purple thermos seen in this image. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Nutty Carob Truffles

I ran across this amazing recipe for Nutty Carob Truffles on one of my Twitter friend's blog over a month ago and kept telling myself to make it. I procrastinated for weeks and finally got the rest of the ingredients this morning. These little guys are super tasty. My rendition was as follows:
*Mike's local honey from Jamaica Plain
*Creamy Organic Almond Butter
*Coarse Organic Wheat Bran
*Carob Powder
*Black Organic Toasted Sesame Seeds
*Toasted Organic Walnuts (chopped)
*Zante Currants

I can't wait to share these with my girlfriends at the knitting group tonight!

Work like you don't need the money

"Happiness is a process, not a destination. So work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. And dance as though no one is watching." - anonymous

My first job was for a ranch that ran snowmobile tours in the winter and horseback rides in the summer. I could only work on weekends and holidays but this was the best first job one could have. When the weather was bad I would stay in the main lobby and bake coffee cake and serve it with cider or cocoa. Some days I would be backup guide on a tour, which was delightful!

I learned early on that I do my best work when I have varied tasks to perform (i.e. bathing horses, fueling up snowmobiles, sending direct mail campaigns, answering the phone, baking cakes). And over the years I have discovered that there is no reason for work to feel like work. Perhaps I have the seven dwarfs complex but I truly love what I do, and do what I love. Somewhere along the lines I get paid for it.

Don't worry! Be happy!

Half of Beantown Hospitals won't let you have a VBAC

I'm quite upset about this month's news from ICAN. Almost half of the hospitals polled in Massachusetts have either out right bans on VBACs or simply have de-facto bans because their rules are so strict no practitioner will perform them.

So where does this leave a woman in Massachusetts that had a cesarean previously but wants a vaginal birth? Either driving further to a hospital and practitioner that will support her, or to find a homebirth midwife that will support an HBAC: Home Birth After Cesarean.

Vegetarian Confusion

I went to the Midwest Grill on Route 1 recently. My partner loves these Brazilian grills and I usually tag along for rice and plantains. Imagine my surprise when the menu says they offer a vegetarian plate from the kitchen, awesome! So our server comes over, explains the process and starts to take our drink orders - two large glasses of fresh mango juice. I begin to order the vegetarian option and she repeats "seafood and vegetarian plate," ummm, no, just the vegetarian plate. She argues with me that seafood *is* vegetarian, at least according to their menu. After going in circles a few times I finally explain that I get violently ill if I consume ANY animal products. Okay, okay, she understands, but they don't have a vegetarian plate without meat. Ugh! I browse the buffet - they do have rice, and plantains, I go for the buffet instead.

In the last week I've had four instances of vegetarian confusion. It goes like this:
Me: I'm a vegetarian
Them: Oh, but fish is okay, right?
Me: Nope, can't eat fish
Them: Hmmm, what about tuna?
Me: No meat, at all
Them: Do you eat chicken?
Me: No

What is a vegetarian you might ask? Well, a vegetarian, is someone who does not consume any fish, meat, poultry or animal byproducts. So, if I am a vegetarian why do people assume I eat fish or poultry? I may be more confused about it than they are.

Goodbye holidays, hello foot pain

As it turns out I seem to have developed that painful condition called plantar fasciitis. This occurs in the heel of the foot and can be related to injury, inappropriate footwear or occupations that require a lot of standing. With my luck the first time I wear house slippers in my life I develop heel pain within 14 days.

My self-prescribed plan is to receive weekly Reflexology sessions and bi-weekly therapeutic massages. Between the two and a rigorous self-care routine I should have my foot happy in no time! Or at least hoping that it won't take the typical six months to two years to heal.

What is Reflexology, Exactly?

I receive this question rather frequently but I also see a lot of disinformation, misinformation and plain myth being published as fact on the topic. It is very sad to see some folks publishing articles that refer to Reflexology as a massage modality, or recommend that it is something one could learn over a weekend, or sadder yet...that one of my largest populations of clients cannot receive Reflexology. If only I had a large stage and could set the story straight. I'll do my best with the internet though!

First myth busted: Reflexology is not a massage style or even related to massage. It *is* a form of bodywork but is more closely related to Acupuncture than massage.

Second myth busted: Reflexology is easy to learn for self-help techniques - I frequently send clients home with points to rub between sessions. But to practice Reflexology as a profession, that's at least six months at a vocational school, not something taught over the weekend.

Third myth busted: Reflexology is so effective during pregnancy that studies show women have shorter labors, less need for pain medications and better outcomes. So try telling my clients that have had such great outcomes because of Reflexology during their pregnancy that it is contraindicated!

Want more? Read What is Reflexology?