Where does the time go???

I suppose being in Florida, it goes faster as one day fades into another and there are no seasons to speak of.

I realized something recently.  My daughter was visiting from Boston and she said "can we get strawberries" -- for some reason, I assumed conventional strawberries were shipped every where and available everywhere.

It is definitely citrus season here, but it seems to be corn harvesting time here too.  I know that's the fall in other regions.

So, I looked up a corn recipe (in Forks over Knives cookbook) -- Corn, quinoa and black beans -- it is a little different from the one I usually make--

I roasted and removed from the cob

Then I made my old recipe (didn't make the Forks over Knives one) --

It's black beans, quinoa, corn, tomato, peppers, shallot, cilantro, lime juice and white balsamic

Baba Ghanoush

I just love the sound of that.  I call my husband, my little baba ghanoush.

I got this recipe from the "Forks over Knives cookbook".

Here's my eggplant, pricked and ready for roasting.

Once I roasted it, I cut it down the middle and scooped out the innerds --

Tossed that in the cuisinart with garlic, cumin, lemon

and

I then served this for lunch on a ezekiel tortilla

with 

grape tomatoes marinated in white balsamic with cilantro and garlic

Love these kale chips!

Everyone who has had them seem to love them.  My niece, my sister in law, my other nieces --  My one niece asked: "These are good for you?"

I think they are delicious.  I've tried the store bought ones, but nothing beats homemade.

The cheesy sauce is a nutritional yeast, nut and vegetable combo -- tastes like nachos!

Ball's herb keeper

This is another Christmas gift from my daughter.  This is a little gem.

In the past, I put my herbs in the fridge in a glass with water, but this does seem to keep them longer!

I hate to run out of herbs and I do prefer fresh over dried so this is a perfect thing.

My only complaint is it could be a little bigger.

As you can see, my cilantro is crammed in there.

Ball is branching out from their canning jars -- interesting.

beet.... tops.

I was in the farmer's market and someone said to the guy -- I don't want to pay for the tops -- he said try them sauteed with garlic...  Hmmm....

I've been throwing mine away.

So, I gave it a whirl.

I took out the stems and chopped the leaves.

Into the pan with some coconut oil and garlic and viola!

It tastes like a cross between swiss chard and kale.

Very tasty.  Glad I was in the farmer's market and overhead that conversation!

Smoothie day....

Just threw some stuff in the blender....

These carrots are almost red and super skinny ;)  Organic variety pack.

Filled up with some honeydew, papaya, spinach, almond butter, maca powder, cacao, wheatgrass powder, dates, almond milk (and a partridge in a pear tree) ....

Veggie bags??

I'm a little skeptical, but with the price of organic produce being what it is, I'm willing to try anything for longevity.

Someone told me they "work".  I try to schedule things out so I use up fruits and veggies relatively quickly -- but there's always that extra whatever available at the green market that you want to try...

I pulled out a bunch of things I got from the green market and the farmers market.

I got an eggplant, a summer squash and some beets...

All need preserving.

Got these at Crate and Barrel.  I think the brand is Debbie Meyer?  She makes "green bags" --

They come in a package of 5.  The size of these are ample.

It has a draw string top and here it is with an iphone for comparison.

Wheat grass wine????

I had a crazy idea... what if wheat grass could be made into some sort of alcoholic beverage -- probably counter productive -- but "fun" just the same.  I went on line and found all sorts of discussions, but there isn't anyone "doing"? it.  There was mention of a Tampa wheatgrass wine...

Just wondering....  is it "out there" and can I find it...

Hmmm????

My sunflower sprouts

We had a "cold" snap here (that means 40's at night in Florida) last week.

I noticed something though...  The size and green of my sunflower sprouts.  The leaves are bigger and the color is darker.  This is really interesting because I was at a green market recently and I couldn't believe the size of their sunflower sprouts (I thought it must be a different variety of seed, mine never look like that).

I'm wondering if they will taste any different.

By harvest, they were very large (leaves that is)

dessert! Chocolate chia pudding

I thought I'd make my usual chia pudding (but I am growing tired of the same old same old) -- So I look up chocolate chia pudding -- sure enough looks like what I'd make "out of my head" -- I'll try their recipe and tweak it if necessary.

As pudding is, it needs to be made ahead.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-chia-seed-pudding/

So, I substituted Almond milk for the cow's milk, used organic sugar only one tablespoon.

I decided to whisk it as it wasn't mixing quite how I thought it should look.

poured it into glass ramekins

It will chill in the fridge for two hours and viola!

OD'ing on shellfish

So, we saw "middle neck clams" for sale. -- I've never cooked them, but I figured why not try it.

I looked up a recipe...  To my surprise there was a recipe -- very similar to the drunken mussels we made (last week) -- yesterday was coconut milk.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/steamed-clams-recipe/index.html

Talk about easy peasy --- couldn't be faster.

Yummy and quick.

Mussels

So, a restaurant named Mussel Beach opened in Delray Beach, FL -- when my daughter was here, we tried it.  Excellent really.  I loved my mussels which came in a "Le Creuset" like pot to the table.  A short "stock pot".

I have made 2 versions since then.  One was a recipe for "druken mussels"

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/drunken-mussels/

Very good.  I did take someone's tip and used a bit less wine.

The second version was with Coconut milk.

I made this in a skillet.  I put onion and garlic in a bit of coconut oil heated them.  I then added coconut milk and a bit of ginger -- let it come to a boil -- then added the mussels -- covered the pot and then they only took about 7 minutes to cook from that point.

Now, I apologize  -- both times -- with the rush of getting dinner out -- I forgot to take any photos!!!
Silly me.

Sunday = smoothie day

I've been trying to "mix it up" -- tiring of the same old smoothie...

But for breakfast, pretty much its the "mother of all" smoothies.

Perhaps I should call it anything but the kitchen sink.

It has some staples, but for the most part -- it is whatever is in the refrigerator (within reason).

Today's started with some left over yogurt and spinach, carrots

Threw in

papaya and honeydew

Then came....

almond milk and almond butter

Maca powder and wheat grass

Then I added dates, hemp protein, cacao and some ice and viola --

Or should I say "boom, there goes the dynamite!"

It's got fruit, vegetables, protein and so much more!  Trust me, does not taste bad.

swiss chard

Before I started this journey of eating better last fall, I had never even had swiss chard -- I'm not sure if I  had even seen it before....

Now, it is one of my favorites -- I eat it sauteed with garlic and a bit of coconut oil

This is red chard, I've had the green and the rainbow -- they all taste approximately the same to me...

Chicken under a brick -- Again

I'm determined to get this recipe right.

My husband loves this when we go out -- I've attempted (and failed miserably) at making this recipe.

So, I'll start over.

I bought a fresh chicken at the green market.... (i thought that might have been the culprit in the past)

I looked up yet another recipe -- last one was on the barbeque with orange.  This is New York Times...
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/recipe-of-the-day-chicken-under-a-brick/?_r=0


I took out the back bone (not too difficult with kitchen shears)

then I flattened it:

then seasoned it:

I have a huge brick -- wrapped it with aluminum foil

Chicken was put in a very large preheated skillet on the stove

Brick placed on top....

(It's a very big "brick")

After 5 minutes... I transferred it to a shallow baking pan

Into the oven for 15 minutes at 500 degrees ---


Then brick is removed, chicken flipped and back in for 10 more minutes

Then it comes out....

served with wedged lemon

I've got to say, better than last time -- still not the moist delicious chicken my husband gets when we are out....

A "simple" salad

I realize my salads aren't that "simple" any more.

I used to have lettuce, tomato, cucumber, (maybe carrot, eggs or cheese) and croutons -- and store bought dressing.

Those days are behind me.

My "typical" salad has organic greens (as the base) -- pumpkin seeds, cranberries, pomegranate, hemp seeds, broccoli sprouts, sunflower sprouts--( maybe carrot, tomato or egg) and of course some home made dressing.  I realize I wasn't crazy about salads before because I was bored with the ingredients and the store bought dressings.

I've embraced having salad and probably have one at least 4 times a week -- either for a meal (lunch) or on the side...

Red lentil Dal

Yet another recipe from Forks over Knives cookbook.  I bought some lentils as I read somewhere that lentils help with fat reduction.  I don't normally eat lentils, so I thought I'd give them a try.

Started off with saute onion, added ginger and garlic, then spices...

This recipe called for whole coriander and whole cumin to be toasted and then ground...

I did that with a mortar and pestle.

then, I added the lentils and water...

(It looked like soup! -- I covered it and let cook for 20 minutes)

Looked almost like a risotto to me...

Some recipes I'm trying --Aloo Gobi

Aloo Gobi -- again from the forks over knives cookbook.

I don't usually eat white potato (I had some left over from when my kids were visiting)

Starting out early for this one:

It's potato, tomato, peas, cauliflower, onion, spices (ginger, bay leaves, cloves, coriander, cumin, red pepper)

I gathered up my stuff --slow start.

First, saute the onion....

recipe said 7 minutes.  I have a professional cooktop -- I was done in about 4

I added the garlic and the ginger....

Then it said to add the potato, cauliflower and tomato -- I only added the potato, as it takes longer to cook.

I let that cook for a few minutes....

Then I added the cauliflower and tomato

Then I put in the spices...

The bay leaves look washed out from the flash...

The spices colored everything nicely.....

All that was left to do was to add the peas and cilantro.

It was pretty good.  I added salt (none called for in the recipe?)....

I served it with brown basmati rice.