Cold sore?

I saw this tip in a magazine.  It's in the October issue of For Women First.  (page 6).

If you have a cold sore, put honey on it.  The honey has antiviral compounds!

What the hay? Or maybe -- the Green, green grass of home

Yep, if you recognize that as a song lyric -- you're old (as I am)  ;)  Had a milestone birthday this week.

Well, this is my foray into grass.... wheat grass --- although I have nothing against marijuana -- medicinal or otherwise.

So, when I went to my sprouts class a couple weeks back, one of the topics was wheat grass.  I find it intriguing -- the supposed benefits.

I know people get "wheat grass shots" in smoothies, etc.  I just was never one of them.

Well, my prospective has changed.  I don't want to wait for a "health event" to start my wheat grass regiment.

This is my wheat grass juicer.  Much to my surprise there's an art to this.  Single auger, non-metal -- juicer thingie.

grass goes in on the top.  It (the juicer) is "attached" to the counter.  You crank the handle (it's a manual one).

Extruded from the end is the "pulp" the waste once the juice is extracted.  I joked to my husband that we should braid it and make ropes.

It takes a bit of grass to get the 2 ounces recommended for drinking

that's the first tablespoon of juice.  It is SUPER green.  It smells like a freshly mowed lawn.  It is sweeter than I expected.  Everyone says it is bitter.  I'm very sensitive to bitter and didn't find it bitter.

Here's the rope that is left behind once the 4 ounces (2 for me 2 for the hubby) were extracted.

Wild rice??

Couldn't believe I found this gem at the local Walmart.  Organic wild rice.... What a find.

Chicken under a brick

So, I started with a trip to Home Depot.

This is no ordinary brick.  It is a paver and is about 2 times as wide as a regular brick.

They are cement so I tried to find one without any dyes or coloring.

It will be wrapped in aluminum foil anyway.

This recipe started when my husband had a similar dish at our newly favorite restaurant Max's Grill in Delray Beach.

I found this recipe on the internet  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grilled-Citrus-Chicken-Under-a-Brick-242115#

It's made with orange, lemon and lime

I marinated the chicken overnight (I had to butterfly the chicken -- I will spare you the photos)

Also, it called for inserting orange slices under the chest and back cavity's skin....

This is once it was flipped and the brick replaced on top

And without the brick:

Now, although it looked nice and it had a beautiful crunchy skin, I'd like to say it was delicious, however, mine was rubbery -- the flesh was anything but tender.  Not sure what went wrong -- but not sure that I would make this again (ever).

Simple Salads...

My base is usually organic spinach or organic spring mix (both available in bulk at Costco).  Then I add some fresh sprouts (sunflower or pea -- or whatever I have).  I usually throw in some organic grape tomatoes, avocado, or whatever else I have laying around.  I used to top my salads with croutons (sort of signifying it was done -- complete)-- Now I use raw hemp hearts.

This has the homemade mango dressing and apples.

Kamut Berry Salad

I found this recipe on line.  Here:  http://www.poorgirleatswell.com/2009/06/recipe-kamut-berry-salad.html 

I improvised somewhat, adding pomegranate kernels.

My husband thought it was great!

I threw in some organic greens and some sprouts... Viola a late lunch

Got Bread?

I'm old enough to remember when bread was a slang for money.  There's no joke in that today.  With loaves of bread costing $5 and $6.  No, I'm not talking about the $1.99 white bread available at the local Walmart -- I'm talking about bread without chemical additives, fillers, extenders and whatever else that can pack into the oh so affordable, however, really not good for you variety.

Don't get me wrong, for years I loved Pepperidge Farm white bread.  At some point I noticed there was high fructose corn syrup in it -- For me, I might as well read the word "poison" on a label.  I see hfcs -- it goes back!  I have no interest in ingesting that stuff.  Severely saddened, I switched to Arnold (no hfcs) bread, but I realized something -- It's more than whether there's sugar or not -- white flour in general -- I needed to eat better.  I switch to whole wheat -- but even the whole wheat store bought bread isn't particularly good for you.

I went to the whole grain, organic and natural breads -- and the prices plumed.  From about $3 a loaf to about $6.  My husband always jokes, just pick the most expensive one, it's probably the best for you -- unfortunately, this is some times true.  I thought, I'll make my own bread, how hard could it be? -- I realize I should NEVER start off with that premise.

My first step was searching recipes.  I have the Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook -- so that's going to be a plus (right?).... I looked over a bunch of recipes...

Took out my "big guns" -- German loaf pan...

I settled on this one. http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-basic-whole-wheat-sandwich-bread-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-167267.   I decided I'd improvise.  I hate honey -- I know nectar of the gods, blah, blah, blah.  I just don't like the taste.  Yes, I've tried orange blossom and every other type known to man and no I haven't found one I like.

So, I added molasses.  Hopefully that won't "do anything" to the recipe.

Then I had some add ins.  (organic -- oats, flax seeds ground, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds).

(if you are wondering about the weird jars -- I buy in bulk and I reuse my glass jars.)

Threw everything into the mixer.

With the dough hook in place, I let it rip.

Once the machine did its work.....

I covered with damp clean cloth and placed in a warm place to rise.

As I am penning this, the dough is rising.

The texture was perfect (got lucky) -- not too dense.

Mother and Child reunion Salad

Ok, so years ago I read a story (I don't know if it's true) -- It is about Paul Simon and the song Mother and Child reunion.  The story was that it was a menu item.  It was eggs with chicken (Mother and child)-- I get it.  The story stuck with me and whenever (and it's not often) that Eggs and Chicken are in the same dish -- I think Mother and Child reunion.  So simply, this is a salad topped with eggs and chicken.

Hemp hearts are the grainy looking substance.  This one has pea sprouts and sunflower sprouts.

Protein... Powders, potions

For protein supplements, I need something practical.  Today, I tried this one.  It is brown rice.

It was in a smoothie, so I couldn't really tell -- the flavor --  I have NO IDEA why this photo came out sideways.  I didn't turn the camera???

Yes, I'm anal enough to take 3 additional photos to get one in the right direction...  My photos aren't great, but I would like them to be upright.  Great... out of focus?????  No winning.

You get the idea.  On to the other proteins...

Currently, I have hemp, whey and organic whey -- all in my kitchen.  There's been a lot of controversy on Whey and whether it is even good for you.  The American Dairy Society would like to you to think you should have milk and milk products everyday.  I'm not so sure, so I keep it to no more than once a week for whey protein.

Beef.... Yes, I do eat beef

I eat beef, although I try to only eat grass fed, organic (no hormone) beef.  A couple "problems" with doing this.  1. It's somewhat hard to find, although my local supermarket is carrying some 2. Being accustomed to corn fed beef -- grass fed is tougher 3. Price -- whenever you see a great sale on beef, it is almost NEVER on grass fed beef.

I think there are way too many hormones in beef, so I try to stay away from anything not organic.  It is easy to get carried away with the grass fed part of it and other labeling such as natural -- if it doesn't say organic it's probably got hormones in it.  If the hormones make the animal gain weight faster -- what does it do to people (nothing -- according to the FDA).  I think the jury is still out on that.

I like to use the crockpot on grass fed beef (my insurance policy for tender beef) -- except for the tenderloin -- tender as ever -- Happens to be $30+ a pound...  We don't have it often.

This was flank steak.  I cut it in cubes, but I could have left it whole.

The second batch of beef being browned in a regular skillet.

I remove it from the pan as soon as it is browned and put it in the crock pot.

I put carrots and shallots in the same pan

Added some grape tomatoes

put the sauted mixture into the cuisinart

I pulse it for a couple seconds.  

It goes back in the pan and gets "browned".

I add cheap red wine...  I don't buy cooking wine, I just use something cheap...

Here it is in it's stew like glory.

Kamut berries???

Huh??  What the....  Never heard of them.  Well, I hadn't tried or really heard of Farrow either, so here goes nothing.

I bought these in the bulk section of whole foods...  Just because.  I hadn't tried (or even heard) of them.

Perhaps, once a month, I'll just explore around and find something I haven't eaten -- and try it.  I've gotten some hits (and some misses).

A while back,  I was in Massachusetts.  I went to the Christmas Tree Shop there.  For those of you that don't know it, it has very little to do with Christmas.  It may have started off having something to do with Christmas -- now it is just a plethora of marked down things (mostly made in China) and a food section.  There was a pretty large selection of Bob's Red Mill stuff.  Whole foods carry Bob's as do select Walmart -- I'm most familiar with the flour selection. -- TO my point.  When I looked up the directions on how to cook the kamut berries -- Bob's has a site -- and the instructions.  http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes.php?recipe=1319&print=true

Quinoa Salad

Got this recipe from the Overnight Diet book.

It is a pretty quick recipe with cooking of the Quinoa taking the most time.

It is cooked Quinoa, frozen corn (thawed), a cup of canned black beans, red pepper, tomato, onion, (I throw in some sprouts -- sunflower this time, and cilantro).

Dolphin -- the fish, not the mammal

When I went to Hawaii many years ago, we had Mahi.  I liked it very much.  I remember cooking in on a grill at the "hotel" where we stayed.  It was more of a condo with a hotel lobby and daily cleaning.  Moving to Florida brought back all those memories when I saw Mahi at the local fish store.  It's dolphin some one said --sound of record coming to a screeching halt. "Are you kidding me?"  -- Dolphin the fish, not flipper.  "Oh....  ok".

I got some today and pan seared it.  I paired that with a citrus, fennel salad.  I love this salad.  It is fennel, grapefruit, orange, shallots, avocado and sprouts with white balsamic vinegar and a bit of olive oil.  Throw in some shallot and toast and ground some fennel seed and viola -- I got the recipe from the Overnight Diet book.

Here are my basic ingredients for the salad:

Motar and pestle to grind the toasted fennel seeds:

and Viola!

Ceramic Knives

So, I heard I needed to get some ceramic knives --as in order to harvest my sprouts I'm growing I'm going to need one.

I went ahead and looked on line.  Found the closest, cheapest ones at Walmart.  They had two, one for $15 and one for $20 that was slightly larger.

I then went to Tuesday Morning (name of a discount store) and found a Cuisinart brand one with a bamboo cutting board for $20 -- best deal yet.

These knives are weird.  They almost look plastic.  They seem a bit translucent, lighter than metal.  I had been warned that they are extremely sharp....

The blade's color is like a milky white.

It comes with a sheath

Harvesting the sprouts....

Ok... So, greened up and ready to go.  I harvested and gave some to my friend Maria whom I was meeting for lunch.  I thought -- will she even know what these are -- I wouldn't have a couple months ago.  So funny,  I got there with my "bag of sprouts" -- back to my very first post about family and friends always exchanging food....  She knew right away and asked about the place where I took my sprouting class.  I guess she gets microgreens from a farm and they are sourced from Got Sprouts? in Riviera Beach.

I digress.  It was time so I got my trusty ceramic knife and began my harvest. (more on the knives tomorrow)... For today, I want to focus on the joy of growing and providing your own food.  This is enough for a salad -- I mean really, you could actually provide a good portion of your food by growing it yourself.  Unbelievable.

The density is unbelievable.

Here's a close up of a section cut away

And finally, what they looked like on the wax paper for harvest

The black are some seed casings left behind....

I see dinner's salad!!!

Cute ramekins

Recently went to Sur La Table.  Very interesting things in that store.  I found myself in the back (clearance section) -- no surprise there.  As I always joke -- any idiot can buy it full price -- getting a deal is an art form.

I rummaged through all the "interesting" albeit somewhat useless things.  Reason it ended up on clearance.  I got some lovely glazed earthenware.  A container for my garlic, a berry basket and some cute ramekins.  I think one of the tricks to portioning food is having attractive ramekins -- to disguise the fact that you will only be getting a half cup of rice with your dinner.  Works for me.